Happy 1 Star Friday! Our community project for today: wear your favorite perfume ranked only one star by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez in Perfumes: the Guide or in Luca Turin's Style Arabia columns. Partial credit for a two-star perfume!
What fragrance did you pick? As always, do chime in with your scent of the day even if you’re not participating in the community project.
I'm wearing Serge Lutens Miel de Bois. Tania Sanchez: "smells like a New York sidewalk in July", and yes, it does smell like that, especially in the early stages. I wouldn't recommend it to any but the craziest of perfumistas.
Reminder: on 2/12 we're doing 5 Star Friday: wear your favorite perfume ranked 5 stars by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez in Perfumes: the Guide (if you don't own the book, you can find a compiled list at Basenotes) or in Luca Turin's Style Arabia columns. Partial credit for a four-star perfume! And if anyone knows where other lists can be found online, do comment. (suggested by Bastet) Update: you can download the index to the 2008 Hardcover version of Perfumes: the Guide here (thanks kpaint!)
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2016, where I'll try to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is starfish.. [cropped] by Pradeep Kumbhashi at flickr; some rights reserved.
Could not face my single one star candidate, champ e. Gurlain. So instead a scent too new to be rated, Breydo Tuilpe. My spelling is terrible this morning, I am blaming the nyquil.
Hope the NyQuil helped. I actually like Guerlain Champs
I would not have given it a 1. I think a 1 should really have a strong negative component not just because it did not reach fabulous
Wearing the excitingly named Clean by Clean (1 star). Tania Sanchez: “The fruity notes in this fragrance, the first of the now-far-too-large Clean line, remind me of those candies they string on necklaces, the ones that taste and smell like flavored chalk.”
First I smelled screechy lime and laundry detergent and then nothing after first 30 minutes, which is definitely a good thing.
Or, it melted out your nasal passages
Amarige! I think of it as “bananas foster tuberose”
bananas foster if great
What an intriguing description! Now I really want to try it!
It’s like a sweet white-floral floriental…lots of mimosa too.
That makes it sound so innocuous. Like anything it’s all in the dosage. I wore it one day last week as I hadn’t smelled it in a long time. Since I was home and did not expect any guests, I went for 5 sprays, expecting what I got — nuclear!
It left a gorgeous smell on my clothes.
Now you are making this sound really pretty and interesting! I’ve never tested Amariage.
That actually sounds good!
Yeah, kinda makes me want to try it, too.
A friend of mine used to wear it, and I really enjoyed it on her. I’ve never wanted to wear it for myself however. I can’t remember any banana’s so I need to check sometime soon.
It’s not straight up bananas, but definitely has that benzyl acetate thing.
Fleur de Comores has some bananas in it. Have you ever tried it? ( not actual bananas of course)
I haven’t tried that one. But I love Intense Tiare which has a banana popsicle top note, I swear
It’s definitely a fruity floral, but in a good way.
You smell lovely, just hope you went easy on the sprayer as it has monster sillage.
I have a tiny little 1/2 ounce bottle of EDT which doesn’t spray too much; it smells nice and warm and honestly, not a million miles away from Jasmin et Cigarette. But maybe I got an amazing batch.
That is an intriguing description! I love bananas foster.
Scent twins! I went with Amarige too. I don’t get much in the way of tobacco from my bottle though.
Me either, just a sweet, dense fruitiness which is similar to the effect of the tobacco in J et C
Boucheron B. “Tinned peaches against a Glade background.” Found this on the clearance table at Marshalls a few years ago and thought the bottle was pretty. I don’t think I have ever worn it – the first sniff was too sweet. And it still is. I had a couple of other options among my minis but this had the most amusing review in the Guide!
That is a funny description. Haven’t been to Marshalls in a while but I love unearthing treasures, even too sweet treasures, there…
Funny!
I was going to wear this yesterday (I too have a bottle), but decided I couldn’t really defend it, except to say that the sample I had for some reason smelled really good, and it is a great bottle. That being said, I don’t find it overly sweet–to me it’s a summery thing like, say, Tory Burch, but less “fresh.” It’s completely inoffensive to me, which makes the one star mystifying when he gives La Vie Est Belle, which he seems to hate, three stars.
Poeme for me on this snowy morning
I like Poeme. I would say
– but I’m not really that ashamed.
I went through a bottle of Poême years ago, I loved it, but I haven’t smelled it for years. I must rectify that. It will be interesting to see if my tastes have changed. Whatever I think of it now, it will remind me of some good times
I purchased Poême in Italy in the summer of 2002 in one of those wonderful little pharmacies/cosmetic stores that seemed to be everywhere, a week or two before I met my husband. I wore it on our wedding day. Although it’s not something I would choose now, it’s a very happy fragrance for me. I didn’t wear it today, but I might spritz a bit this weekend for nostalgia’s sake – and to see if the husband notices.
I have four to choose from, and I was tempted by my adored Miel de Bois, but I had to go with Spellbound, a plush end-of-the-eighties floral oriental with echoes of the original Chanel Coco. Honestly, it’s lovely and glorious and completely undeserving of Tania Sanchez’ one-star disdain. Maybe she smelled a dismal reformulation, or a spoiled sample, or an old gym sock?
Hello twin! I totally agree. Spellbound is beautiful
I LOVED this fragrance in high school. I had the body lotion and wore it every day. I felt so glamorous wearing it. I totally get the Coco connection too. You smell great.
I was picking on Spellbound the other day, but I thought somebody out there must love it. Three somebodies, right here! I bet it smells wonderful on all of you, somehow.
My older sister used to wear Spellbound when it was first out. It always smelled really good on her. I think cinnamon? when I remember her wearing it.
TGIF!
S(tar)OTD: Spellbound
I really like it so I feel great!
Two in a row for Spellbound
I was going to wear Armani Code, which I enjoy as a fun, silly-sweet orange blossom, but honestly, it’s been a long week and I have many meetings today – so I went all out in Iris Poudre, which is as far from a one star as perfume gets from me. And I am 100% delighted with my decision.
3 stars, apparently!
Poppycock!
I know. I would have called it a 4. I’m not sure why LT liked Ferre by Ferre better; I thought it was far more dull than IP.
I really underuse this phrase.
Seconding your poppycock!
This reminded me of something that happened last month. I went shopping with my cousin, my great sniffing expedition, and she was super, super patient with my endless fascination with the perfume counters. She smelled all the samples with me and offered her opinion, but said none of them were better than her favorite, Armani Code. I had no idea what it smelled like, but based on her description I was expecting something more forceful, so I thought surely one of the things we encounter would be at least as good, if not better. I looked it up on fragrantica the other day and had to laugh. No wonder she politely disliked everything I loved! I was smelling woody, smokey, dark scents for the most part. About as polar opposite from AC as you can get!
One Star SOTD: Armani Code for Women. Bonus points for layering with the matching body lotion! YEAH BABY! I have the body lotion by pure chance: I needed a small item in an online order to get free shipping, and this was the right price. Pepe le Pew would be so proud!
It’s projecting pretty hard right now, and not in a good way, but it will settle down eventually….I hope……
Per Sanchez: “It throws in a massive dose of the cotton candy note of ethylmaltol, which turns its orange blossom directly into syrup.”
HAPPY FRIDAY to all the 5 Star perfumistas wearing 1 Star with pride today!
I really like Code – it definitely projects, but simmers down nicely.
I love the glee here – go Jada go
Ha, happy Friday!
After wearing some beautiful samples this week, this is a step in the wrong direction! LOL But it’s fun….
You go girl!
As a Klingon would say, “You smell GLORIOUS.”
chance eau fraîche
Happy snowy Friday
I actually like this one, better than the original Chance.
Same!
SOTD: Extrait De Parfum (David Yurman). Not sure how many stars this would get, maybe 2?
I love this fragrance too! Criminally under rated in my opinion….
I’m not sure how it is rated, and I love it too. I’m SO glad I didn’t buy it at Saks at full price, I got it at one of the discounters for less than $40, a bargain IMO.
The original David Yurman was good – I think it would be a better masculine b/c of that strong woody note. I always coveted that beautiful jar they put the sparkling dusting powder, and I almost bought it…..
SOTD is Amouage Sunshine, which while not technically in the Guide, was reviewed by Turin in his Style Arabia column and given one star. “Sunshine manages somehow to both banal and distinctively unpleasant.” Ha!!! I have had a hard time with most of the Amouage scents I have tried but really like this one; the stewed fruits part is really beautiful.
Ha! Sunshine is not that bad!
Amouage Sunshine Man was a hit with me. I am reconciled to the fact that my skin does strange things to perfumes and Sunshine Man comes up beautifully. Not sure if the LT comment above is for Man or Woman but I seem to remember Man wasn’t well received.
THere is something in Sunshine (woman) that I *don’t* like – something plasticky and… well, “flat” is the best I can come up with. But I didn’t think it was a disaster, either, and one star seems unjustified.
I admit that I only tried Sunshine once, but didn’t like it much. I think Luca on the whole likes Amouage so he expects them to do better.
Scent Twin! I picked the same section of the review to highlight!
I wouldn’t say I liked it as well as Lyric or Fate, but I did like it. He hated the bottle, too, which I think looks great, at least in photos.
SotD is Hiris, and it makes me happy.
Sad Iris would be a great name for a garage band for a bunch of middle school kids. Their logo would be a drooping flower with dirty roots.
Sad Iris is a perfect emo band name.
Yay! Hoping to see lots of Hiris today.
Probably too much to ask even for Science, but in a dream world I would sure be curious how the old stuff compares to more recent formulations. Especially having recently smelled Giacobetti’s Les Carottes and been knocked flat, I suspect the Hiris I’ve got has been stripped of the rootiness it once contained: it just smells simple and pretty to me.
Still I could not ask you to incur such a heartache just to satisfy my curiosity!
I don’t know how I’d do it anyway — my bottle, probably about 10 years old (?) has gone off. Perhaps others have done better with theirs.
Oh no! So sorry about your bottle! That’s really too bad.
I would love to know how old Hiris compares to new, too. I asked a friend what they think of today’s Hiris. I was told “smells like a high end department store.” Hmmph. I think it’s a bit more interesting than that.
I never did get my sad iris.. probably will arrive today in the mail.
Glad it makes you happy too!
I also wore Hiris today and that “sad iris” tagline kept making me smile every time I would think about it. My only complaint is that it lasts for about an hour or so before I have to re-apply.
Didn’t have time to seek a 1-star, so grabbed a handy 2-star, Miller Harris Coeur d’Ete (“scented tissue”). Always liked it, and annoyed my bottle seems to be going off, since I got it recently. But 2006 was indeed 10 yrs ago!
“Scented tissue” — excellent.
Creed Silver Mountain Water. Must be a mountain in a desert climate – the silver water disappeared without a trace. It would be fun to read how the guide dismissed It, if anyone is in the mood for a spot of copy-and-paste. :^)
“An unpleasant, hissy-metallic ‘fresh’ fragrance with a strange note of wood glue amid the din. LT”
I agree with every bit of the description except “unpleasant”. I don’t think it’s genius, but I can sure think of a lot of things that smell worse.
I agree – I’m not in love with it, but I found it totally inoffensive and much better than a lot of similar fragrances that are out there.
Someone on MUA called it “elf pee” years ago, and that has always stuck in my head (not least because I do think that’s just what it smells like).
That is AWESOME.
OMG! ROFL! Now I need some of this, just to be able to tell people, be careful of the bottle in the back, that’s ELF PEE! Geez, I love this place….
Yeah, just like a basenoter’s comment that Lutens Muscs Koublai Khan smells like goat butt… So now that’s how my husband and I refer to it (it smells great on him btw, clean not dirty).
And I will take elf pee over goat butt
Haha love it! .We have a tea that my boyfriend calls that donkeys butt tea. Always makes me giggle ????
I didn’t have a one star scent to choose from. Not even in my sample collection I think. Obviously this must be remedied! Wha ha haaa…
So instead, to brace myself for the slushy, wintry mix we’re having to trudge through in New York today, I chose Nirvana Black. I’m googling for a Turin review but can’t find one. Maybe he hated it – who knows? I love this thing.
I just tried that a few days ago. I love the opening, and it settled into a skin scent on me, I wanted more more more!
I love it. So cozy, isn’t it?
Or, you and Luca Turin have similar sensibilities
?
Hey, why not?
Don’t think LT/TS ever reviewed it- it’s a pretty recent release. But it gets 4 stars from me! I’ve been majorly tempted by the new Nirvana Black dry shampoo lately. Just need to make sure it’s an effective dry shampoo in addition to smelling great.
Did the dry shampoo smell like the perfume for you? I tried it once a while ago and remember it not smelling like the scent at all, but I could be mis-remembering.
Oh, and I know it wasn’t reviewed in the original book (which I pre-ordered all those years ago, and the dog-earred copy sits on a stand near my bed), but I thought LT might have reviewed it for Style Arabia.
I’m headed to the gym in Kingdom. Hoping I don’t get banned or anything, but I think I smell great. Perhaps they’ll assume I stayed out all night and just need to shower ;).
This is the scent that sent me down the rabbit hole. Oh, how I wish I still had a full bottle! LT was wrong about Kingdom and I hope he gets stuck in an elevator with someone who has layered the body lotion with three sprays of the perfume.
I ADORED Kingdom: the bottle was fantastic and the scent was so strange and interesting, very Alexander McQueen. They had it at the local parfumerie and I must have picked it up fifty times, but I never bought it! I got a sample which I drained to the last drop, and then after he died I knew someone who was selling a full bottle, and I didn’t buy that, either. Because I am an idiot.
I swapped away my bottle – now that’s idiotic.
I have not smelled this one but I love My Queen and could never understand it’s low rating.
Kingdom is a bit of a cumin bomb, but in a good way. It’s more sweaty sex than unwashed hairy man, if you know what I mean. I’ve had several men stop me over the years to ask where to get it for their wife/girlfriend.
Perish thought–please let ME be stuck in that elevator, I hate to think of that pleasure being wasted on LT!
I’ll join the chorus of those wishing they had a bottle, though I also do worry it’d make me sad to look at. Maybe it’s for the best.
Good lord, I really need new glasses, or improved brain processing. I now realise I have three one star perfumes. I bought Kingdom when it first came out, because it was so different to anything else I’d smelled. I still have most of the bottle, because it’s a perfume I really have to be in the right mood for.
I also have a summer edition, similar, but much less cumin. I rather like it, but must be in the minority, because it seems to have vanished leaving hardly a trace of its passing.
I totally missed the summer version and suspect my nice lady at Saks never had samples or I would have had a thousand of them. I sure miss those days when I could swing by for an eyeshadow and walk out with a small Saks bag brim-full of (mostly) fabulous samples that nobody was interested in.
My brother and sisters, I have failed. I didn’t have enough left of my single one-star sample (Tabac Blond) to wear and I couldn’t make myself go out and get a sample of Blue Fresh Homme Sport (or whatever one-star I could find at Walmart). It’s been a long week and I needed something wonderful to make it through these last few hours, so I am in Chamade.
I am, however, really looking forward to everyone else’s picks.
Chamaaaaade! excellent choice.
Chamade sounds like a rather perfect choice, and as you’ll see I too just couldn’t do it today.
You deserve a reward, so treat yourself.
Ah, but what a way to fail.
Blue Fresh Homme Sport – lol.
You may have talked me into wearing Chamade today…
Blue Fresh Homme Sport….and now I have goofy names going through my head!
Know Our Noir
Homme For the Holidays
Fresh and Queen
B’Oud Noir
Fantasy Sport
Love it! Fresh and Queen–it could be brilliant as a scent for Drag Queens with 1950s style!
Oud Noir Black Extreme
Black Gardenia Midnight Garden
…and other names that that remind me of going to Starbucks and ordering a “Chai tea latte”…”yes, I’d like a milk & tea with milk & tea, please”.
ahahaha!
Homme for the holidays, excellent! ????
Oh- Chamade! So lovely!!! I applaud your choice!
I just decided to be cranky and not play today.
Can’t find my sample of Champs Elysees (which I didn’t think was all THAT bad) or Chance Eau Fraiche (which I don’t really like, but I hate it less than I hate Chance) or Fig Tea, which I actually do like. Don’t have any current Emeraude, and am not in the mood for the excellent vinty stuff anyway. My Farnesiana sample is vintage as well, so that doesn’t count.
And I don’t feel like wading through the 2-star list either. I’m cranky.
So. Hmph. Gonna spritz on some Daisy (three stars in the Guide, but who’s keeping track?) and be done with it. No points for me today.
Sometimes you just need easy and happy! We can be no-points friends.
I think there are quite a few of us. Would be interesting to see which is the most backed-out of Friday project…
I considered wearing Fig Tea, I love that one too.
Wait, what? He doesn’t like PdN Fig Tea? That’s one of my summer go-tos.
TS “staggered back spitting curses” upon spraying it. Which I think is a hilarious review, but I just don’t get it for Fig Tea.
Umm…that was kinda my reaction to Fig Tea. I hope I kept the sample, as I wonder if I would feel the same way now!
In all fairness, lots of people didn’t like it, and it didn’t really smell all that much like fig or tea (to me, it was a summer osmanthus). And I don’t think it ever sold well.
I think many of us are in the same boat, noping out if this project. : )
And it is so arbitrary (not that it’s not fun!), because Daisy is a total scrubber on me, so the idea that it gets as many stars at Iris Poudre? Nonsensical!!
I know! I like Daisy, but I thought 3 stars was a fair assessment. IP got robbed.
Farnesiana today. After a bit of mimosa smells mainly of marzipan and play doh to me. Not my favorite mimosa, but I wonder what earlier versions smelled like.
I bought a tiny sample of the parfum a few years ago and think it’s beautiful. I’m pretty sure the review is for the edt/edp though, which I haven’t tried.
I haven’t tried the perfume onto the sample list it goes!
Dear All I have to admit I just couldn’t face my sample of Armani Code either this morningand as I went to open the drawer with it my hand reached for my decant of 31 RC. Which I am really relieved about as I am super tired and feel rubbish and have many meetings. Am super impressed by all of you who have actually honoured the theme though.
Ha, totally understandable.
I have to admit that if I’d not had the day off today and had to go to work I’d probably have piked out of this challenge. One can not face a long day of (potentially stressful) work if ones reassuring force-field of happy-making scent is 1star sadness
Words to live by. (Also, love “piked out”)
The challenge did mention “your FAVORITE one star perfume,” so if none of them are favorites….
I’m wearing Vent Vert, in the 1991 version, about which LT wrote quite kindly. Still it is the only one of the 1-stars that I own and the other is Tutti Kiwi. So, really the only option.
Hah!
And what exactly does Tutti Kiwi smell of, I wonder?
When pawing through my collection looking for one-stars I found some minis that I had forgotten about buying. Today I am wearing two different one-star Aqua Allegorias: Tutti Kiwi on one wrist and Pivoine Magnifica on the other. Neither are to my taste and I would probably give Kiwi two stars and Pivoine two and a half, but I would rather wear either than Teazzura. I think I would rather buy a bottle of Pivoine that get a bottle of Teazzura for free.
I am drinking Traditional Medicinals Cup of Calm, but what I really need is a bottomless urn of calm to tap throughout the day.
Good luck on finding the calm!
Mechant Loup (“wet dog”). Some people say it smells like hazelnuts, some mention maple syrup, but I mostly get fenugreek. I’ve found that most people don’t like the smell of fenugreek, but it’s fine on me,
Twins! I love Mechant Loup, and was glad of an excuse to wear it today. I recently learned that fenugreek is used to make imitation maple flavoring, so fenugreek and maple are probably close allies.
You probably know this, but fenugreek is one of the flavor components of artificial maple syrup.
For some reason I always confuse asafoetida for fenugreek and find myself scratching my head that it’s used as a perfume ingredient and that people find it pleasant. In this case it took about 5 re-readings to get it straight. Fenugreek! (Not asafoetida.)
I wore Mechant Loup a few days ago, so didn’t want to repeat myself today. I really love it!
I think it’s great!
I get more damp camper out of merchant loup, but I think my nose is not smelling some of the musks that tie that one together.
I did not have any 1 star scents. Any I had I’d given away or used up the samples. I only had one 2 star scent in my collection and didn’t feel like wearing that (The Blanc by L’Occitane).
I decided to skew the rules for myself and wanted a 5 star scent to deal with this 1 day (pun intended), because seriously, Friday is the worst day to stay focused and get through to the weekend. So I’m in Eau Premiere.
Seeing that ratings list made me realize a few things: I’ve not smelled a LOT that’s out there and my collection is ridiculously small. I know that the ratings list is small in itself, but geez, I really have a tiny collection. I’m not complaining about that though – I think it’s more shocking to me that there are SO MANY fragrances out there and a huge amount being released each year. I can see how this would make one wish for the old days of fewer releases where perfume was really treated with some better semblance of exclusivity and glamour.
Mumbling, moody moment of the day: OVER. Carry on…
Me too! Chinatown is what I needed today.
Enjoy that Eau Premiere.
Eau Premiere is a gorgeous choice! I also wish for more quality, less production.
Amongst my bottles, decants and samples it appears I have quite a few lowly 1*’s!
so pre-shower I went with Chanel Gardenia (not gardenia), then Do Son (alleged tuberose), and later Eau de Lierre (watered gin).
I’d been contemplating either Crystal Noir or Anglomania (love that plastic raincoat note), but Too Hot
From an objective viewpoint I can totally understand why most have the ratings they do even if I personally dont agree. Mostly..
And for bed Ive dabbed on my sample of MdO Nuit Noire. Seems I dont object to sweet overpowering air freshener overlaid with civet fart
Ha!!!
I decided to start with Chanel Gardenia too, then will move on to Cartier Délices this afternoon. Sadly my civet fart is in another location, or I’d wear that to bed.
Haaaaaa!
I really like the cardamon note in Crystal Noir and almost bought a discount bottle the other year.
1 star Midnight Poison FTW!
Happy Friday to all!
Great choice! I never understood the Perfume Guide hatred for it: hell, I bought a small bottle when it was launched. It’s not perfumery genius, but it’s really good for what it is.
I like that one.
Midnight Poison is great. And, another sadly discontinued scent.
You smell great! This was nearly my scent today, too – I love it! – until a last minute switch to protest the wholesale and outright absurd dismissal of the entire Mona d’Orio line.
Why this one is d/c I don’t understand. I keep trying to find a backup bottle for a semi-reasonable price, but it’s not an easy feat these days.
Once I shower and push myself out into the world, I plan to wear AG Ce Soir ou Jamais in protest. I was shocked to see this beauty on the 2-star list, which gets an unreserved 5-star rating from me.
For now I’m wearing Parfum d’Empire Ambre Russe (4-star). I wanted something melancholy and comforting this morning, since I found out last night that we did not get the house.
Boo, sorry to hear about that. You’ll find your dream house eventually. House hunting can be so draining so I totally hear you on needing a melancholy scent to get you through the day. I had a LOT of those days when I was looking.
Ohhhh, Ambre Russe is gorgeous – you smell great, even amidst the disappointment. Hopefully it’s just a temporary blip and you’ll find an even better house quickly.
Boo! The right one will come along!
I’m sure it’s because there’s a better house out there that’s perfect for you, just waiting for you to find it.
And you smell delightful
Will it help if I say everything happens for a reason? No? Didn’t think so but it’s the best I’ve got.
Really though, it sucks when you get excited about a home, decorate it in your head a hundred times, dream about your future there, and then have to start over. I am very sorry.
That was an excellent description of my love life. Everything happens for a reason, you say?
I’m sorry to hear that
House hunting is really so stressful–and so often upsetting. The Doc* advises you to stay away from 1-stars scents today and to instead wear your favorite, most comforting thing.
*Doc Sinister is not a medical doctor. Advice from Doc Sinister is followed at your own risk. Seriously, you’re going to listen to someone calling themselves “Sinister”??
I’m disappointed for you. House hunting is heartbreaking. Enjoy your comfort scents.
Ah I’m sorry to hear that. It sucks when one you like gets away.
I’m sorry you didn’t get our house. I also love Ce Soir ou Jamais!
I would have worn Chene (2 stars) or Serge Noire (1 star) today. Chene would be more likely since I do really love it and I think the review was a bit unfair. I admit Serge Noire can be challenging, and I don’t wear it often, but I am sometimes in the mood for it.
However – I got a 2ml sample of Tea/Rose in the mail yesterday from CBIHP, and really wanted to give it a full wear today, so that is what I’m wearing. It’s very subtle but still there after 4 hours. I always seem to be in the mood for flowers this time of year (anxious for spring weather I guess) and it’s a very pretty rose scent.
I only tried Serge Noire recently after having read some hilarious reviews. I thought I had a pretty high tolerance for the unconventional but that first hour nearly killed me! Kudos to anyone who can pull that off
I love Chêne but Serge Noire was horrendous – it smelled like the sweaty armpit of a long-haul trucker who hadn’t showered in a week. I scrubbed and then took the sample sealed in its ziploc bag directly outside to the trash bin.
I disliked Serge Noire enormously for the longest time, and then a couple of years ago I tried it again at Ogilvy in Montréal and liked it so much I bought it. Clearly a heavy-duty reformulation was responsible, because my taste can’t have changed that much. But it’s really good now! A female friend loved it so much that I gave her a decant.
Okay, you’ve convinced me to smell it again – but only on paper. My sample was from the original release.
Ha, the only time I’ve ever taken a sample immediately outside and put it in the trash was when I tried Insolence edp. It sounds like it would be up my alley – I like rose-violet scents – but DEAR GOD NOOOOO. Horrid. Raspy. Shrieky. I felt like I was being shouted at.
I was surprised to like Serge Noire. Yes, it’s weird, and I don’t know how it would be to spend the entire day in it (I dab verrrrry lightly from a sample vial), but I thought it was fun.
You know, I wonder if Insolence edp hasn’t been reformulated as well, because when it was first launched I thought it smelled like violet hairspray, but now I enjoy it.
I think somebody said it about the first (edt) version, that it was hairspray, but the second (edp) was better. I can’t stand either one of them – they’re SO! SHOUTY!
Had to put some of my Oriza samples in the outside trash–double wrapped, shiver!
Without a lot of what I have learned from all of you, I might have a lot in the trash. But now I give many of the scents I thought I disliked some time or another chance.
Need to sniff the Serge Noire.
Sweaty armpit was what I thought FM Bigarade Concentree smelled like. Clearly, I have a super low tolerance for this kind of smell. Refo or not (from the comments below), I will take a pass
I tried Serge Noire in a shop a few months ago, and while it was something I wouldn’t want to actually wear in public because I would smell like I hadn’t showered in a week, for some reason I couldn’t stop sniffing my arm.
I like Serge Noire a lot, too, and almost wore it today. Love Chêne, too!
Just sayin’ I like Serge Noire, too. I remember reading Kevin’s review and retrying–sniffing, and resniffing–to see if I could get what he got. Happy to say nope! I didn’t like enough to buy, but I found it quite enjoyable.
I need to explore Serge Noire a bit further. I quite liked it the one time I tried it, and it got admiring comments from others, but I’ve really enjoyed reading the negative reviews. It seems to be much harder to write entertaining positive reviews.
I went with Chypre Rouge (2 stars) but I WISH I was wearing Nina Ricci’s Premier Jour (also 2 stars). I love it because my best friend wears it, AND it has my favorite review in the whole book – too long to reproduce here, but go read it if you have a copy, it is hilarious.
I adore this idea for a Friday project – thank you, Bastet! And I adore the Guide. I don’t always agree with their taste (although I do more often than not), but to me that’s totally secondary to what a delight it is to read about my favorite subject, written about so sharply and wittily. I have read it cover to cover at least 4 times!
Chypre Rouge was my first ever Lutens, so obviously I think you smell great.
Agreed that this was a terrifically fun idea for a Friday: it makes you think about what’s good in the world of perfume, why others might disagree, and why you like what you like. Plus of course you get to smell good (to yourself, at any rate). Can’t wait for next week.
Agree, thanks to Bastet for the idea.
That review is hilarious
i know people who write those kind of Epicurious reviews!! Lol.
Also one of my favorite reviews! I would NOT make it again!
I’m glad you liked my idea! And I feel the same way about The Guide – so entertaining and informative, and I’m totally OK about not agreeing with all the reviews. I keep it by my bedside, along with Pride and Prejudice.
Good choices!
I wore Tabac Blond yesterday for 1-star week, and was going to go with Flowerbomb today … but when I went to reach for it my hand headed for Violet Blonde instead and I couldn’t resist. Ah, well.
VB is much preferred, I would say. I wish I had picked up a bottle of it before it was discontinued.
Have you checked the discounters? I think I saw it somewhere recently.
Oh man, I meant to wear Miel de Bois today–I love that one! As it is, I’m wearing the modern Tabac Blond. I have to confess that it seems a little musty today, though I’m positive I liked it the last few times I wore it.
I have a relatively new bottle of Tabac Blonde and while I’m sure it’s a pale sketch of the original, I think it still smells lovely. Like an old house―it has great bones.
I promise you the vintage TB is musty too!
Scent twins! The current TB may be a disappointment when compared with the vintage, but it’s no one-star! I’m huffing my wrist this morning and enjoying its rich leathery goodness.
I can’t imagine it would have gotten a one-star if it had been released under a new name…LT and TS are verrrry hard on reformulations they don’t care for.
I’ve never tried the vintage so I have no basis for comparison, but you’re totally right: there’s NO way this is among the worst scents I’ve ever tried. Not even remotely.
I happened to have a sample of Light Blue, so I threw caution (and good taste) to wind and went for it. It’s a snooze-fest of peach, citrus, and something vaguely metallic. Ho hum.
Light Blue reminds me of a scent I use to smell in church as a child..
I don’t smell Light Blue very often but when I do I’m shocked at how loud it is. Loud and lethal.
My mother wore it before I started gifting her Un Jardin Sur la Nil. ????
Now, that is a very good way to solve a problem!
Goodness it is!
Like when my boyfriend wore Bleu….
Light Blue is the scent equivalent of an indifferent shrug. BUT I did once overhear a man telling a woman about how amazing she smelled (of course, she was wearing Light Blue). I never much cared for it myself, but somehow managed to finish a travel spray back in the day, even though I was never actually drawn to wear it. Baffling.
Well, some men say ANYTIHNG in hopes of you-know-what.
I had a coworker who wore Light Blue, and some days she smelled very pleasant. Some days it was harsh/metallic/awful, and yet it was clearly Light Blue all the time. I have no idea what the difference was between good days and bad.
Intermittent nasal obstruction?
:-))
This is so interesting to me! I am eternally wondering about Light Blue (the first bottle I ever bought myself!); I used to find it at least pleasant on paper yet it disagreed with my skin so horribly (ugh so sour)… so maybe there’s some kind of body chemistry issue at play here?
Yep. 4 hours in and LB is turning quite sour on me. Will have to scrub soon. Thank goodness for the emergency stash in my work bag. Need an antidote, stat!
Perhaps. I only dabbed a bit on and it only lasted a couple of hours (not atypical for me) but the drydown was a pleasant wood with hints of citrus. Quite a few notes turn sour on my skin and this was not one of them.
It goes very sour on me. I once wore it to work and someone was asking why the office smelled like vomit. I didn’t tell them it was me and everyone blamed the heating ducts. Thank god like most fragrances it didn’t last long on me.
Hahaha!
My sister wears Light Blue and it smells very good on her. She could do much worse!
I have no one stars, and I was planning on wearing a 2 star today, but a set of Luckyscent samples came in the mail last night, so I decided to test.
Today I liberally daubed on Equistrus, which smells fabulous to me in the vial, but it is not a good match for my skin. It started off with a sort of masculine herby note which I just didn’t find pleasing, and now it is not horrible, but it is not much..sort of sweetish, sort of vinegary! So disappionted! I wanted to love it, but into the rehoming pile it goes! On the other hand, a lemming is put to rest, and I still have money in my pocket for something else.
Oh, so sorry that one didn’t work out for you! But, as you say, money saved!
This is why there are so many perfumes! I enjoy the hunt…
I am wearing Must de Cartier edt vintage. I had an old bottle that I was keeping. This is one of my favorites and I am surprised to see it has only one star. For me, this is one of the 5 star perfumes.
The original Must de Cartier was fabulous! Maybe the ranking is for some current formulation or something….
I think he actually is talking about the vintage… He writes like this:
“Must is the perfume that brought into the world, in expensive liquid form, the full ugliness of the chocolates nobody wants [the odd chocolates in assortment boxes, like the pineapple ones]. The basic accord of vanilla, flowers and galbanum is so indigestible that you could use it as an appetite suppressant. Worse than that, the awful idea spawned a whole industry: Venise, Dune, and Allure, though vastly better, are related to this dreadful thing.”
Seems to me that he has something fundamentally against Must, against how it is made.
I’m completely boggled by the 1 star rating too! I mean it’s a perfectly pleasant amber oriental! What’s not to like about it?? Maybe not a 5 star frag for me, but at least 4 stars!
Keeping in mind that originally, as I understood it at the time, the Must de Cartier parfum and EDT weren’t just different concentrations of the same idea but two very different scents that could be worn independently or layered. Neither of them interested me but a friend of mine wore the parfum and it was just pure sex on her.
Oh that’s true, now that you mention it- I remember that! I loved the parfum, but the EDT left me cold!
I too have the parfum and like it a lot. It is my Halloween scent for 2 reasons: first that wonderfully, witchy galbanum opening and second, it sprays on orange!!
But honestly, I can understand the reference to Russian chocolates. The vanilla aspect, for me, does have something of that sense of the creams in an inexpensive box of chocolates.
And I experience Must as 3 distinct stages, rather than a well-blended scent. Still like it though.
I didn’t get out my guide to see but I was planning either Paprika Brasil or Covet, both two stars. I chose Covet because I adore it and because it failed so bad they axed it. I love that inedible chocolate and bitter greens accord.
Covet is nice. I think it reminded me of Jean Nate a bit.
Which I’ve never smelled despite its ubiquity.
I love your profile. She-ra!
Thank you.
Covet is one of my faves, a clearance find at Marshalls. My husband really likes it on me.
I adore Covet and think it is a geranium leaf gourmand wonder. Criminally under rated.
I like Covet, and find it both unique and underrated. I thought they axed the wrong one; Lovely smelled like beer-sweat on my skin, and became my very first swap after 3 failed outings.
I’m another who adores Covet and am glad I have a backup bottle. Its geranium leaf note reminds me of the scented geraniums I used to grow. It’s extremely versatile and I enjoy layering it over various lotions – lemon, cocoa, or sometimes green – to highlight those notes in particular. It’s like having 3 or 4 different bottles of fragrance in one!
I rarely wear my Covet, but I actually do like it. There is certainly nothing else that smells anything like it. I think that geranium accord is very cheerful.
The day started super warm, and I could not bring myself to make my sweet husband endure the Lovecraftian tuberose in our morning commute. So I’m wearing Chamade, for the fouth day in a row. No points for me this time.
You get points for 4 days worth of monogamy!
SOTD 1 star Vivienne Westwood Boudoir.
“A syrupy-sweet distortion of Miss Balmain that aspires to be a taxicab air freshener. (Should have been called Bidet, not Boudoir). Sickening but not totally without interest. My first thought in smelling this was “At least it’s not a fruity floral.” -TS
I think she likes it as much as I do
LOL!
Haha!!
Muhahha! You smell GREAT!
Thanks! My husband said it only smells like dirty panties up close, not from a distance. That was reassuring before leaving the house for work!
Due to the snow this morning, I was forced to take the subway and I smelled dirty panties – the real thing YUCK!
Hahahahahaha! Dying now
I don’t have any 1 stars, and only one or two 2 stars, so that on top of having a horrible evening last night, made me reach for something more comforting. My SOTD is Diptyque Volutes, thanks to a lovely and generous NSTer. It is gloriously honeyed tobacco, and it is improving my mood already.
There are days when you just need loveliness!
There are! And to my nose it doesn’t get a lot more lovely than honey and tobacco.
You smell great! Are you in the edp or edt? Sorry for the horrible evening, hope things improve tout suite!
Thank you! I’m not sure, I don’t think the label said. Whatever concentration it is, I love it. Thanks again! I got a chance to vent to my BFF, so things are already better. It’s just been one of those weeks.
Volutes is such a great comfort scent for me, too. Hoping the sun peeks through for you today!
Thank you! It is gloriously sunny out, despite the chilly temps. Volutes is a very comforting scent. I haven’t figured out yet why tobacco notes are so comforting to me, but if I never do, that’s okay. I’ll just enjoy the lovely scents.
This sounds gorgeous. Can I ask…do you ever imagine a perfume for your game character? I tend to match my characters to perfume so am curious if you do, too?
I LOVE Diptyque Volutes, both the EDT and the EDP. I hope you are feeling on the up and up!
Lucky me! I love Loukhoum, and LT gave it a 1. So I am blissfully wearing Loukhoum, which will be with me all day because it is “diabolically long-lasting.”
Loukhoum as 1 star is another mistake. That’s just simply wrong. It’s a gorgeous scent.
The 1 star rating is a complete mystery to me too…
Inexplicable. I wish I had some.
Good heavens, does everyone have the book? Maybe I should try to get a copy. You all seem to have memorized it. Zero points for me.
I have no idea which scents are one-stars, but I truly hope my SOTD (Akkad de Lubin!) isn’t on it, because this scent is spectacular! A bright, beautiful, fresh opening followed quickly by a warm, oriental amber-vanilla that wraps itself around me. Mmmm, this sample is going to go by quickly.
It is pretty hilarious–not for those who’ll get upset if a fav is panned. Sadly, it’s also pretty out of date now. I’d give Turin’s Style Arabia column a try and, if you like his style, the book is worth it. (Disclosure: I have owned no fewer than three copies of it. The first edition. The second edition. The Kindle version–which has the cover of the second edition but is definitely missing some reviews and updates and seems more like the first edition to me.)
I second – I think it’s worth it even though out of date, just for the joy of reading. They are REALLY good and engaging writers, and it gives you lots of good ideas for things to try. I also own two copies! One for home, and the second I bought for the office when I worked down the street from a Sephora and would go down at lunch and try something on and need to read about it the second I got back to the office.
I have the second edition paperback. It is really quite fun to read even though it dates to 2009; worth it for the wit.
Don’t have it and never read it, but maybe I should. I am not familiar with you scent today, but it sounds fabulous!
His guide reviews can be somewhat light in terms of providing detailed descriptions of scents…he often prefers the grand gesture to providing information so if you’re unfamiliar with a perfume he’s describing you may not end up with a clear picture of how it actually smells, what notes develop etc. The impact the perfume made, on the other hand, will be very clear – and that’s where he looks for laughs or provocation. NST reviews are far more useful and just as entertaining.
I agree about the wonderful clarity and descriptiveness of NST reviews! It’s a toss-up between that and the wonderful commenting community for the #1 reason I keep coming back here.
Yeah, three cheers for NST!
But read his reviews on Style Arabia, or on his old blog. The book has very brief descriptions just because it covers so many perfumes!
What’s the address of his old blog? Is it still accessible?
Yeah the Style Arabia reviews are heaps better, in my opinion.
I’m wearing Hermes Hiris…Mr. Turin and Ms. Sanchez No. 1 is my go-to fragrance and has been since it came out.
Beautiful!
I’m wearing Hiris, too!! I was going to wear Miel de Bois, then Serge Noire, but ultimately decided on Hiris. I haven’t worn it in a long time!
I’m going to wear Loukhoum for the one star tonight. As a complete coincidence I have a sample of this with me and it checks the one star rating requirement. Right now I’m wearing the new Baccarat perfume by Maison Francis Kurkdijan.
How are you liking it? It was very subtle on me, just wisps of jasmine and cedar. Wish it were louder.
Same–I find it ok but really barely there. Hard to fathom the pricepoint unless there is a BIG licensing fee going to Baccarat.
it wasn’t barely there on me–but it doesn’t blow me away either. I will enjoy my sample as I find the perfume to be quite nice and an especially pretty option when I want something easy to wear and good for the office, but once it’s used up I won’t be buying it.
You’re right, quite nice and pretty are def right. I’m sure I’m largely reacting to the price. If I could buy it from Demeter, I’d probably be impressed
The review of Le Labo Ambrette 9 was so compelling that I dug out my sample to reaffirm why it is a 1 star. “With only nine materials and the gorgeous smell of ambrette seed as the main ingredient, you’d figure they couldn’t “mess”( my G rated edit) this one up….the other cheap synthetics conspire to make this one a cheap mess.
I guess it may be a waste of good materials and not worth the price.
But, I like babies.
I don’t even recall smelling this!
I had today’s theme in the back of my mind with a couple of options from my collection:The Scent of Peace would have been my first choice.I however needed some fortification for this day,so Tom Ford Jasmin Rouge came out to play.I’m not big on HUGE Jasmin perfumes,but this seemed appropriate for one bitch of a day!Have a fabulous weekend everyone!xo
Oh, yuk, hope your day wasn’t *too* bad.
Jasmin Rouge is just gorgeous. I wish I could afford a bottle! One of the best big jasmines.
I would have worn Amarige, but I dropped my sample vial, and that was the end of that…
So I’m claiming only partial credit today with Caron’s Narcisse Noir, which earned two stars, I think. I’ve got the modern version. I still think it’s lovely, it’s all sweet smoke and leather and spices and darkness. I know that the vintage version is supposed to be stunning and the new is just a pale comparison, but I’m never going to get my hands on it, let’s face it. I’ve got the extrait and it’s wonderfully log-lasting too. I can only imagine what the older version was like. It’s a bit sad, but I think I’ll never know.
Try Mona di Orio’s Nuit Noire – an older friend says it smells very much like vintage Narcisse Noire.
Oh, thanks for the suggestion – I’ll definitely try that!
I think Mona di Orio was also comprehensively panned in the Guide, wasn’t it? Might be the reason I never tested much from that line. That’s certainly a thing to be remedied.
This is actually my chief beef with the book – I felt that some modern versions of beloved oldies got fewer stars than they deserved just because they were being compared to older versions.
I know, right? And I’m so easily swayed by authority, it took me quite a long time to get away from the spell of the 5-stars and start exploring the rest. Luckily I had Narcisse Noir before I read the book, otherwise, who knows, I may never have tried it…
I’m the same way. It’s honestly only in the last few months (and the Dire Realization that I could never try any new niche stuff if I stuck to the 5-stars) that I’ve really stopped worrying about what The Guide says–I got into perfume just as the first edition came out, so I was brainwashed early!
I still think it’s a useful guide for learning about quality in board terms. But I’ve tried many 5-star perfumes now, and while I thought most of them we “pretty good”, real perfume love strikes as it will, without checking to see how many stars it may have!
I sort of don’t blame the authors for that, because if I had to compare, say, Poison or Obsession as they originally were (incomparably great) to what they are today (not so good), I wouldn’t be flattering, either. (Turin called a recent edition of Cabochard “piss” compared to what it used to be, and I happen to like the newish (10 years old?) bottle that I have, but I’ve never smelled the original.) Since the huge majority of people will never get to smell the vintage, I thought they had an obligation to try to be fair to what’s currently available.
But they’re not about fairness, they’re about savage wit, and good for them.
I think he rightly takes the perfume houses to task for butchering their fragrances with unworthy reformulations. We can complain about it here and elsewhere, but is anyone listening? He may actually have some pull.
That said, if you fall in love with an easy-to-come-by current reformulation of a classic, what a relief! And if you can sit on your hands and not start scouring the internet for vintage bottles, all the better.
Seconded
Good Morning! You smell fabulous!
And here is the thing: there are so many vintage perfumes we will never get to try. But please enjoy what you have now- perfume is so evanescent, so fleeting that you really should not hanker too much for the past!
I know, but it’s hard not to hanker for the past when it comes to perfume – according to any writer the musks were muskier, the chypres mossier, the roses redder and Guerlain reigned over all. And 99% of the time we just have to accept that.
But there are so many wonderful perfumes these days too, I think we’re more than ever blessed with quality and choice. I imagine how in 50 years’ time someone will was lyrical about this year’s release of Narciso or what have you.
Had no 1 stars in my set so going for partial credit with two star Chanel Allure (“grim floral”).
Have to admit that this one hurt, I was monogamous with Allure for a couple of years and thought it would do a bit better. Even more of a confession is that I’ve rarely worn it since, particularly with the line “the reference for women who wear fragrance not for private pleasure or to advertise their tastes but merely to signal that their status dispenses them from being pleasant”. Ugh, that stings.
Still smells great to me.
That review was OUCH, but it made me laugh, because we have ALL met those ladies!
A friend of mine used to wear this, and quite a lot of it as well. I’m iffy about a lot of Chanels, and Allure is no exception. In this case however it’s not because I find it too well behaved, but on the contrary, rather loud. Worn in small doses on others I can live with it, but on myself it’s a big no. Same goes for Coco Mademoiselle.
My ouch moment was Hiris. I really enjoy it, and for the life of me cannot understand why they only gave it one star.
I used to own a bottle of Chanel Allure edt around year 2000, and I wore it a lot, esp. for “business’ things. It was pretty basic stuff, but still pretty. The smell of Allure really reminds me of the base of Beige.
So many comments! I went with two of my fav two star fragrance, since I don’t have any of the one star group. Except vintage Emeraude, so I can’t wear that. SOTD is the best layering combo ever: 2* Annick Goutal Vanille Exquise and Ce Soir ou Jamais.
2 star or not, you smell great. I used to do the same thing – go into The Perfume House in Portland and layer those same two. Awesome.
Now that sounds like a fun field trip! I love the Perfume house. It is a great combo.
Vanille Exquise is only 2 stars. That’s crazytown. I love AG VE
It is crazy – it’s my fav vanilla that doens’t turn into cake.
Which has now ended up as a four star combo.
I like the way you think! ****
Looking at my samples, I had to choose between Chanel’s Chance Eau Fraiche, Jersey and Gardenia, so I went with Gardenia.
Gardenia does not really smell like gardenia at all. It does smell very pretty, but there is no depth or warmth to it. If it was on sale for $15-30 I would wear this as a splash in the summer. But this ish is on par with the rest of the limited Chanel collection, and so therefore it’s bullshit. It totally earns it’s 1 star.
Better gardenia-ish perfume can be had by Annick Goutal, L’Occitane, Acqua Parma and of course Tom Ford.
Bull**** was my father’s one and only curse word- it brings back fond memories
You know I mean something when I use BS or spell it out completely! Chanel honestly should be ashamed of themselves for this one.
I’m wearing Chanel Gardenia and I agree – so many better gardenia scents out there for the money. I only have it because it was in a boxed set with Bois des Îles and Cuir de Russie.
Scent triplets. Chanel Gardenia was a free sample that Nordies threw in when I bought Box of Eels. I wouldn’t buy it but it’s nice enough. My other choice is Fig Tea. Since it’s snowing like crazy here today, I just wasn’t in the mood for it. Wish they had thrown in No. 19 instead.
Right! I got this as a sample of after my purchase of Cuir de Russie, and 19 or 22 would have been more appropiate!
Thumbs up for Tom Ford! The best gardenia there is. I was kinda disappointed with Chanel’s version too, I mean, with their budgets and artistic freedom they could have done anything to the Gardenia. And they did this.
Velvet Gardenia is freaking gorgeous, and I really wish I bought a bottle or at LEAST got more samples of it. Acqua de Parma is very sheer, elegant and perfect for spring/early summer.
Hahahaha, Chanel Gardenia BS, makes me laugh.
I’m currently fangurl-ing all over No. 5, but Gardenia is just a very nice floral on me, and Beige smells like expensive J&J baby shampoo.
I have not smelled Beige- it’s supposed to exactly what’s written on the bottle- a Chanel that is subtle and not intrusive, something perfect for the office.
Not sure how many stars any of my perfumes have, according to the experts., so I went with what I consider a 5 Star Fragrance: PHI Un Rose de Kandehar.
Today is perfect for this as a cold front came through and the highs are only supposed to be in the mid 60’s. Heaven!! And PHI works so well in this weather I just couldn’t waste the gorgeous day on a less than stellar perfume.
TGIF and good wishes to all
You smell fabulous!
You smell amazing. Just love PHI!
I love Tauer perfumes in general, but PHI was the one that didn’t work for me…
Okay, not an official 1, but I have a bottle of Katy Perry’s Purr floating around… Bought for the bottle, and now bored by the bottle, I haven’t had the nerve to try to off-load it on anyone (besides the plastic “silver” band at the bottom of the bottle came off, so the bottle isn’t even complete anymore). Someone less crazy would just throw it out, but that is the emotional equivalent of book burning for me… so this is why I still own a half-full flask of Purr in the bright purple glass kitten with rhinestone eyes.
If you care a whit what this feline smells like: pale peach, vanilla, sandalwood, something buttery similar to but not exactly like coconut oil, and ambery musky stuff. Stronger than many of my frags, I have applied lightly. I don’t think I will kill anyone. I have no doubt though that Luca and Tania would roll their eyes and beg, “Why? Why? Why?!!”
Cause, baby, I’m a firework!
That sounds pretty good to me, but I’m quite sure I don’t have a superior sense of my less than discriminating tastes. I am not refined at all, so the MEOW bottle and juice sounds like fun
LOL-ing over here! My daughter was a KP megafan a few years ago (she has since moved on to Lana del Rey, heaven help us). She saved up her money and bought Meow, which must still be lurking somewhere in her room. It’s a cotton candy nightmare. Killer Queen was worse though, especially on a 10-year-old.
Oh, dear! lolol
If it makes you feel any better, I paid actual cash for the Hello Kitty atomizer that Sephora had several years ago. I did dump the “perfume” after a couple of brave trials (extra terrible cotton candy if you’re curious) and now use the bottle to mist my indoor tropical plants.
I was tempted by Purr for the bottle, but it was never cheap enough even at the discounters.
Lol, You cracked me up!
Twins! Givenchy Amarige (of course!) This is a 1 star that I feel they really wanted to give a 5 star but were being twits.
This “Twins” comment was supposed to be up under Elisa’s post about wearing Amarige…. but I don’t get bananas at all! Interesting.
Do you get bananas from other white florals?
No, never have, except perhaps Amaranthigh which is milky bananas and other dirty stuff
Autocorrect made a great Freudian slip above . Gotta love autocorrect for adding to the humor of NST.
oh, farouche, that was my intention!
I remember being kind of disappointed with Amaranthine because when I tried it I didn’t get the dirty stuff. Just a lot of ylang, which smelled a bit like milky, rubbery bananas.
Love it. I’m never going to call it anything else!
The only 1-tar I have is Must Parfum, so old its practically just oil left. Its still recognizable though and deserves more than one star. I think it is better than the similar, and 3-star Obsession.
I love Must too! It’s weird and wonderful.
Whenever I see this perfume, I think of the other definition: “having a bad smell because of wetness, old age, or lack of fresh air” (merriam-webster; “musty.”) Presumably that’s the wrong connotation, but it nevertheless was an interesting choice for a fragrance name.
You’ve got to laugh at some of these descriptions. I really like the 2-word descriptions on the exl spreadsheet via kpaint. He does nail some.
I have a few 1 star scents but was craving chocolate and so went with Guerlain’s Gourmand Coquin. I do need a chocolate in my collection and I think this one might be it.
TGIF!
I need some chocolate, too. I was craving it last night and put Eau de Charlotte on but no cocoa was to be found. It smells like baby lotion on me (specifically the Johnson & Johnson version that came in a pot many many years ago.)
My latest afternoon fix is a square of dark chocolate dipped into a jar of peanut butter. I can’t help myself!
Desert island foods- enjoyable together and separately!
LOL, snack twins! I had a Justin’s Dark Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Cup. I have to limit myself to just one cup every time I open a 2-pack.
On me, the Eau de Charlotte (edt) required several wearings and fairly heavy application before I got the cocoa.
I’m wearing Mona di Orio Nuit Noire. Luca Turin described it as “floral animalic” and “A hideously bad fragrance, in which a very powerful sweet air-freshener is overlaid with a loud civet fart, adding up to a vividly cheap and unpleasant accord.” I have no idea what he is talking about!! This is one of my favorite perfumes and there is just nothing cheap or hideous about it! It is indeed floral animalic though. Retro skank together with tuberose, orange blossom and a bit of cardamom. I LOVE skanky florals!
Luca Turins reviews of Mona di Orios fragrances really made me loose respect for the man. He heaps so much vitriol on them that it just doesn’t feel at all objective but more like he has something against Mona as a person…
Ha! So funny that we posted at the same time. Team Mona for the win!
I tend to think that his reviews are simply biased as to which perfumers he likes and which he doesn’t. He must have had a problem with Mona. And Annick Goutal which he mostly disses, and So On…..
And he loves everything Calice Becker does… Yes, I think there is a bit of personal bias at play.
He’s copped to their being close friends and thus having a bias.
I think he clearly has his preferences, but they are shared by many others. And I don’t think he disses Goutal at all. He doesn’t love every single fragrance from the house but he wrote very positively about them in his original blog. And there are a a fair number of 4 star Goutals in the Guide. (Sables, Eau de Monsieur, Heure Exquise, Vetiver, Songes, Passion)
I recall being scandalized by his review of Un Matin d’Orage – where he wrote something about it being a sort of old lady scent (not those words, but definitely alluded to that). I was so annoyed by that I may have misrepresented his take on the other Goutals you listed, which *clearly* should be 5 star ratings! Heure Exquise blows my mind every time I wear it. A beautiful classic.
I think you got confused there. He mostly describes that a certain amber is used that he is hyperosmic to, so that smelling it is a very unpleasant experience. He wasn’t alone in that. Denyse of Grain de Musc had the same problem.
The two word descriptor is ‘woody fig’.
Right, I’m out to try this beast, Nuit Noire! What’s not to like about a loud civet? I’m a Jicky lover at heart, there’s never too much civet for me.
Nuit Noire is like a film noir dame straight out of the 30s! Dropped in our world she is a bit out of place, but still a dame!!
I have Mona’s Musc, Cuir, Vanille and Amber and I’ve gotten more compliments on these than any other perfumes that I own. It puzzles me that he would write so harshly, but to each his own. I love them. Musc is one of my absolute favorites.
His reviews don’t include Musc, Cuir, Vanille or Amber. I have however tried Carnation, Lux, Oiro and Nuit Noire. These are the ones he reviews and each is truly a scrubber on me.
The only other MdO that is available where I live is Chamarre which i actually love. However, I do feel it should be x-rated…
Chamarre is my favorite! So sad they did not resurrect it instead of Lux, which smells like lemon furniture polish on me. Are you really able to buy old bottles of Chamarre there? You are so lucky!!
Cazaubon, I assume they only have the ‘old range’ here. Also one called Amyitis which is not bad, but not love for me.
I would really like to try the Oud, Vanilla, Amber etc!
I would probably not mind lemon furniture polish that much – Lux was really awful on me – like a screech. The others I disliked because the musk turns SO dirty on my skin.
Chamarre does seem to be a favorite on some of the forums, and yet I don’t see it mentioned here much. I find it a really intriguing smokey lavender. It also has that dirty musk but its at a level I can appreciate
He is harsh on MdO, but have to say that overall I don’t disagree about the scents themselves. They are not universally admired. Please don’t throw things at me
And will also add that I think it is possible that he is harsh because she made claims about her training which do not seem to be universally believed / accepted.
Whatever his reasons I still find his behaviour really unprofessional. Writing derogative things about perfumes is one thing but perfumers are persons and should deserve at least a little respect.
Oh, they are definitely not of everyone!
They are rather outrageous, some of them at least. But LT is the man who called Slumberhouse Norne a fine improper perfume, so a scent being a bit off the beaten path should not be an issue. But in essence he called all of them chemical crap, and to my nose that’s just not right!
I was all set to wear Midnight Poison today in defiance of its 1-star rating, until I was reminded in a comment yesterday that T&S have given nothing but 1-star ratings to every reviewed fragrance from Mona d’Orio’s line. I enjoy reading T&S’s reviews, even if I agree only 50% of the time, but to me, their wholesale dismissal of the House of D’Orio seems slightly vicious and almost personal, not to mention downright bizarre in the face of so many perfume horrors getting at least 3-stars (DKNY Delicious line, anyone? I mean, come ON!).
So today I am thumbing my nose at T&S and wearing the beautiful “1-star” Carnation by Mona d’Orio and reveling in its woody-spicy-resinous geranium warmth. It’s a firm 4-stars in my world.
I agree and have been wearing my Mona’s all week.
Agree about the Mona d’Orio line. And how can every fragrance deserve a 1?
Yay! I wish I had more from that old signature line! I have a decant of the current Nuit Noire, a sample of the old Nuit Noire (I find them to be pretty much identical) and a bottle of Jabu, but that’s it. But based on my limited experience, I want to try them all!
twins, and finishing my sample of my only 1-star…
I kind of hate the other MdOs I’ve tried, actually…they’ve been quite chemical and persistent on my skin. But this one is softer and weirder.
I don’t have too many official 1-stars… I do have a mini of the much-maligned Champs Elysees, which is certainly not a Great Perfume but doesn’t deserve the vitriol dished out in The Guide, IMO.
But I’m wearing a different Guerlain 1-star: Aqua Allegoria Limon Verde. In Style Arabia, Luca says: “…it seems that Guerlain jettisoned the cheerful part some time back and is now serving up grim Yves Rocher shampoo compositions for real money. This Limon Verde is so bare, so harsh, so chemical, and so completely uninteresting that one can hardly complain about it having no lasting power. In fact, the best I can say about it is that after twenty minutes it will no longer remind you of how much you paid for it.”
But I quite enjoy it. It’s lime (my favorite citrus), fig (which I adore in almost any guise), and sugar. Sugar! That amuses me no end. I don’t mean that it smells sweet (though it does, a bit), I mean it smells like sugar. For a fun summer frag, it works for me — and lasts several hours to boot, plus I bought it for small $ at a discounter. So there, LT. Eat my perfume caipirinha
I’m cheating. I’m wearing a little Hiris, which together with Fig Tea happens to be my only 1 star fragrance, but I got my bottle of Ostara yesterday and so I’m wearing that as well.
They actually do fairly well together.
I remember trying Miel de Bois ages ago and quite enjoying it. No side walk associations at all, not real love for it either.
If I still had some Nuit Noire I’d wear that, but instead today’s perfume is Tabac Blond. TB may have been better way back when (what wasn’t?) but as it is it still knocks my socks off.
OMG, it’s not yet noon eastern time and there are almost 200 comments.
I’m wearing Guerlain Mahora today. Or rather it’s wearing me. Some days it’s rich and elegant and melts into my skin. Today, well…I think I see why LT hates it so much. Still worth more then a single star though, IMHO.
Thank you kpaint for the index! I have enjoyed looking through it all week.
I wore Mayotte yesterday and I can’t understand the 1 star either… It’s far from a favorite of mine but I like it about as much as I like Fracas, and LT gave that one 5 stars…
I do think it was better when my bottle was fresh. It makes me wonder if he tested from a bottle where the top notes had faded.
You are welcome. One of these days I’ll pick up the book. It’s a hoot reading the quoted reviews today
It was just so easy to pull the list up on my iPad rather than digging out the book. I have no idea where the book is, I’d have to tear my house apart to find it.
I snagged a mini of Mahora from ebay, and quite liked it for several hours – I have scent-eating skin, but Mahora kept going for around 8 hours, at which point the drydown began to smell horribly, horribly chemical and unpleasant. I persevered for another two hours (!!) but finally had to scrub it. Another test turned out the same way, so I found the mini a new home.
Oh no! I’ve had it be too big and overwhelming, but never chemical. At least a mini wasn’t too much of a financial commitment. And kudos to you for quickly cutting your losses and getting it out of your collection. I wish I were that disciplined.
In Loukhoum as well. I strongly disagree about the 1 start rating.
Don’t have any one star offerings, so no points there. I’m wearing Chanel no 19 in edp right now. I needed a pick me up today.
You smell great.
My one star fragrance is Kingdom by Alexander McQueen. What problem did Turin have with this again? It’s great stuff.
I love Kingdom but at least for this one I can imagine that if you hate cumin, you’ll think Kingdom actually smells bad. Whereas something like Loukhoum, Soir de Lune or Mechant Loup, I’m really hard-pressed to see how they could offend anyone…
Well, I think we smell good anyway. I can see avoiding Kindgom if cumin really bothers you, but I still think that it’s a stellar perfume that was ahead of its time.
Woke up much earlier than planned thanks to my neighbor hammering away at a ridiculously early hour. A citrussy jolt of Light Blue dabbed from a Sephora postcard proved just the thing to cut through the grogginess.
While The Guide graced this with a solitary star, Chandler Burr, in the NY Times, declared it “one of the most perfectly executed perfumes of the past decade, it is almost insanely good.”
So there you go. It’s all subjective.
You know, I think Victoria at Bois de Jasmin finds LB unobjectionable as well.
Ah! Indeed. 5 stars.
Since I have been incredibly cranky all week, I decided why not just enhance the torture and sample Farnesiana again? I thought hey, maybe I actually will like it this second go-round, and it could be my favorite one-star and perhaps knock the crankiness out and I could kill two birds with one stone.
But … nope! Still cranky and I stink to boot. A shrill acetone opening rapidly segues into marzipan-scented Play-Doh and rancid pancake makeup, with a hint of boiled peanuts simmering in the background. A bad day in the kitchen with Blanche Dubois.
Ooh, I just got an email from TPC that they’re selling off full and partial bottles of Chanel. Final sale, and they’re not on their site. First come, first served. Vintage too.
Eek!
Eh, they need Paypal. My paypal still isn’t working. Dodged that shot to my wallet! Go look now if you all have not – they have some deals going on there…
Where is TPC showing the bottles?
In an email. They’re not being sold through the site.
The answer is that Chanel sent “cease and desist” letters out to the decant websites. Where does Chanel think one can sample their lines which are NOT carried in most stores? I could understand if they limited decants to, say, 15ml or less, so that one can decide on a purchase. They barely supply samples of Les Exclusifs even in venues that carry them. They never have testers in places that don’t. We should try to write a substantial letter to them and have all of us sign and send it from all the big blog sites. Get the word out!!
I don’t understand this at all.
I was told that the Perfume House stopped carrying Chanel a year or two back because they expected TPH to sell in higher volumes than they were able to do. Seems like a real loss to them to not be side-by-side with the niche, high-end, and hard-to-get at such places.
I remember having unsatisfactory customer service at the only Chanel boutique I’ve ever gone into. I said I was curious about BdI parfum, but I felt uncomfortable buying without sniffing. Basically, I was told blind-buying was my only option, even if I purchased something else.
Before my perfumista days, I didn’t even know different concentrations existed. I certainly never would have taken a sales person’s word that something was “worth it” without a test run.
Well, this is making me rethink getting a FB of Box of Eels…
I am thoroughly distressed at not being able to buy Chanel decants. What are we to do???
Yeah, what’s the story anyway? Did Chanel crack down?
I am too. I’m sure this is a concerted effort but to what purpose? I wonder if Robin, Victoria or Gaia know. I know that Patty must know, but she is on a buying trip.
I haven’t checked, but they may still be available at other decanters like Surrender to Chance.
I looked and no one is offering Chanel. I’m disappointed. I really wanted a small decant of no 5 for Valentines. I just paid for school tuition and I don’t have the money for a whole bottle. Bad timing on my part.
tejas – if you don’t mind shopping on ebay, there’s tons of that cycles through it at very reasonable prices. I bought bottles of various sizes and vintages of the extrait, EDP, EDT, and cologne ~6 months ago – each for $25ish or under.
There’s always etsy, ebay and the splitmeet that’s coming up…
I just posted a comment to Chanel on their website:
Dear Chanel — This week my favorite perfume decanting businesses all stopped carrying Chanel perfumes. I assume that this is at your insistence. I myself have bought four Chanel Les Exclusif fragrances from you because I had bought samples from decanting services, and loved them. I would not have been able to try those scents otherwise since there is no Chanel store nearby, and I would never have bought full bottles without trying them first. I think your approach to decanting services is unfortunate, and I hope you will reconsider.
I guess I should write them too, for all the good it will do (based on one bad customer service experience). I tried to get samples of some of the exclusifs from them several years ago, even offered to pay for them, and was advised to drive to Houston or Dallas if I wanted to sniff them. I think it’s why I never pulled the trigger on the samples at the decanting sites, but I am still curious about a couple of them.
Good show! How sad this is for anyone trying sniff before buying. Their decision to take out website offering decants is short-sighted and poorly thought out.
Good job. This story has put me right off Chanel, won’t be buying anything from them any more.
I just submitted a query about this on the Chanel USA website. I’ll report back if I get a response.
I’ve been afraid to buy anything off of Ebay. I guess I’ll have to now. I’ve always loved Chanel. When I was working at a country club, a lady that was so incredibly nice to me would wear chanel no 5. I always wanted to be just like her. I love perfume because its an affordable luxury unlike purses or shoes. It’s a shame that Chanel feels an economic pressure to be elitist. The lady at country club made everyone feel special. Even if you were a shy sixteen year old girl in hand me downs.
Heh, you’re outdoing LT/TS with your review!
I do tend to be rather blunt at times.
I hope you are now un-cranky
Aw, thanks! I went whole hog and decided to go shopping for makeup. Not a good move. They must buy their mirrors and lighting fixtures from the same gang that outfits the dressing rooms in the lingerie/bathing suit departments. I’m so old I’m regressing and I found myself contemplating glitter eyeshadow. At least I left feeling smug knowing that painted-on Mr. Potato Head eyebrows really are not attractive in the least.
LOL!
Lalique Le Parfum, one star, rock bottom, and I quote”The lack of mitigating circumstances make this 2005 composition a paragon of all that is wrong with perfumery today: composed by one of the world’s greatest perfumers(Dominique Ropion) and sold at a high price by a distinguished glassmaker, this fragrance should be at least bearable, if not wearable. Nothing of the sort. Vile, cheap, obnoxiously powerful and repulsively chemical, it sits in a barren wasteland somewhere between Allure and Amirage. I hope to live long enough to see this sort of faceless dreck wiped off the face of the earth. Nice bottle.” Poor Luca. Faceless dreck became much more commonplace then this powdered pastry pleasant trifle. I wore this to yoga this morning because it is a completely unobjectionable vanilla oriental without pretensions of being anything else.
Sometimes he used 1-star reviews to “make an example” of something…
Agreed in a pretty punitive way at times too….ahehaehe
Interesting. I didn’t even remember being insulted (!) by that low rating as well. Lalique Le Parfum is another in my top 10 of all time.
Interesting that both Amarige and Lalique Le Parfum are Dominique Ropion. Maybe Turin likes to put Ropin in check…
Le Parfum is an interesting and unusual vanilla oriental. I just love it and find it both unusual, complex and well done.
It does have an interesting myrtle/bay spiciness to it and I classify it in my head as a refined and polite child of Shalimar’s.
Maybe I am damning it with faint praise. I own a bottle and reach for it frequently in the winter. I really do like it and think many of our vanilla lover’s should own a bottle!
yes! it’s an herbaceous fluffy vanilla oriental. I can’t think of anything quite like it. I don’t wear gourmand fragrances (ever) so I have a difficult time finding vanillas I can wear. Lalique Le Parfum hits the spot *perfectly* for me. It’s decidedly vanilla, yet not foodie, and I love the herbal notes (which on me are a little minty and chilly) but it’s overall kind of playful and friendly. I just love the stuff! And the bottle is gorgeous.
Lalique Le Parfum is my SOTD too, and my favorite 1-star perfume (I also have Guerlain CdE but its only a like, not a love). I adore the bay note, and wear this fragrance to bed quite often in the winter, so much so that my pillows end up smelling very pleasantly of Le Parfum pretty much the whole season.
yay! another fan
This just got added to my To Try List!
Drat, I could have included it in your package.
You smell perfectly lovely.
I’ve been lurking for a while and it took Luca Turin to bring me out of the shadows. The Guide is fun to read, but I do think there are lines he and Sanchez have it out for or don’t get. On the latter, Le Labo has many annoying aspects, including the names not matching the smells. But I think that they also make much nicer perfumes than Turin and Sanchez sometimes allow. Today I’ll wear Bergamote 22, one of my first and biding perfume loves. It’s not going to set the world on fire, but it smells really good.
Welcome!
Welcome and agree totally! I haven’t smelled the Le Labos very thoroughly beyond my two favorites (Vanille 44, Rose 31) but I certainly don’t remember them being offensively bad. Like, really, in the same category with Adidas?? Hmmmm…
Oops I meant abiding! But it turns out that Bergamote 22 is too summery for what here is a snowy. I switched to Hiram Green’s Voyage. Thanks for the welcome!
And I like Rose 31 a lot too!
I love it when the lurkers come out to play! Welcome!
I considered Bergamote as well, I really like that one.
Welcome! The Guide is great, if you don’t take it too seriously, and I think also rather deceitful. LT and TS clearly have it in for some perfumers and houses, but don’t acknowledge it.
It has prompted me to try some wonderful perfumes that I might otherwise have overlooked, and some of the bad reviews are hugely entertaining.
Agreed!
I love le labos, and if money were no object I’d probably have 4 of them. (Since money is an object, I have a partial bottle from ebay of Patchouli 24, and various swapped decants and samples). Yes the concept and pricing are fruity, but so is the whole industry, and the scents smell good on me.
SOTD = Victoria Secret Heavenly (Luxe Edition, which I’m pretty sure only affects the bottle, which is adorable)
Won this, which triggered my fall down the rabbit hole. At the time I couldn’t understand why such an expensive perfume was so blah. Out of curiosity I looked into what makes a “good perfume” and here we are.
This one wasn’t reviewed by Turin, but I’m willing to bet my car that he would rate this 1 star. It is primarily a linear white musk fragrance with a skosh of vanilla, though I get some kind of fruity shampoo in the top notes. Quite obvious that their effort to avoid offense resulted in this concoction that is too bland to even be likeable. In fact, it actually smells like printer paper.
I just put on some vanilla blueberry chapstick that is completely overwhelming my perfume (despite 7 sprays), and is eminently more enjoyable. I’ll try to hang out in this all day, but if I start dozing off I’m breaking out Shalimar.
There you go… Shalimar don’t take crap off nobody; she’ll eat your Heavenly AND your scented Chapstick.
I’m in JPG Classique – “cloying notes of canned orange sections in syrup collaborate with powerful, powdery vanilla-musks to overwhelm” says Sanchez. I’ll probably switch to something else later today, but for vacuuming and laundry it’s a-okay.
That for me was one of the most incomprehensible disses in the entire book. Le Classique when it was first launched was ravishing stuff: powdery, rosy, cheerful and bosomy. A friend of mine would wear nothing else. For all I know she’s still wearing it.
Ditto. Classique is absolutely gorgeous, properly dosed of course. My top WTF moment of the entire book.
Salvador Dali Daliflor. I love it; LT despises it. Ah, well. All the more for me! : )
Today I am wearing the beautiful Private Collection Amber Ylang Ylang by Estée Lauder. “A slow-moving fog of overpowering vanilla and maple syrup clotted with an enormous, sticky yellow dose of Ylang-Ylang, like drowning in a vat of bananas Foster. Polished, rich, and blithely aggressive.” Kind of like Elisa’s Amirage but without the tuberose!!
I found, in homework for this Friday project, that I have 10 LT #1s: Emeraude, Farnesiana, Flowerbomb and Light Blue (pre-perfume obsession), Gardenia Chanel, Mahora, Omnia Green Jade, Vent Vert and Voile de Jasmin along with PCAYY. I guess it is better to be included than get no stars. Robin – a great project!!
Oh and the review was Tania’s. Does that make it 1/2 star? MEOWWWWW.
I like this perfume too and do not find their review entirely accurate. It tends to poop out on me fairly quickly but, no problem, a couple of squirts of Amber Mystique fix that!
If anyone has Luca Turin over for dinner, do not make bananas foster…
Having Luca Turin over for anything sounds terrifying ;(
I met him and Tania Sanchez at a seminar and they were charming! Not that I’d attempt to cook for them, but then I don’t do that in general.
Oh, really? That’s good to hear.
I have actually met them too (we have friends in common), they’re lovely. It was a restaurant, I don’t think bananas foster was on the menu
Twins! We do smell wonderful.
Combing that spreadsheet, I feel like I’ve just finished a homework assignment! I have two options, both for partial credit: Orris Noir (from a sample) or Infusion d’Iris. I’m home sick today, so the Orris Noir will probably win out–I could use some warmth!
Sorta disappointed something I adore isn’t on the LT 1-star list. I could enjoy feeling scandalized by his ignorance!
It is fun feeling scandalized isn’t it
Feel better! Hope you will get a few days rest, coming into the weekend here.
I think being in direct opposition to an “expert” helps me feel elite.
Thank you! A coworker suggested I take the day off after being extra droopy yesterday, and I went from laughing her off to filling out a sub request in about 4 seconds. A restful weekend will hopefully put me back on my feet and raring to go!
I always say, a great measure of intelligence is the ability to recognize and follow good advice!
It’s no fun being sick. At least you stayed home. We have some sickies who insist on coming into the office to spread their germs. Hope you feel better, Marjorie Rose.
Thanks, hajusuuri! Sometimes it can feel like more work to make sub plans than to show up sick. But really I agree with you–better not to share your cooties when you can help it.
I despise those people – especially the ones who brag about it like they deserve some kind of medal. They come in with a slobbery cold for 3 days; I get bronchitis that lasts 3 weeks. STAY. AWAY. But Marjorie Rose surely has a much more robust immune system than I do (I take it you’re a teacher?)
Yes to being a teacher. No on the robust immune system. (I am, in fact, considered to be immuno-compromised due to multiple autoimmune disorders and consequently years of chemotherapy. Ahh well. I keep telling myself that the kids’ germs are helping me stay robust! Possibly self-serving denial, but I truly can’t imagine doing other work!)
You’re a brave one!
My craziness has finally been confirmed – I loved Miel de Bois! I drained a whole bottle of it, and not by pouring it down the sink. Feel strangely liberated now…thanks Robin!
It’s really weird but all this Luca Turin stuff really leaves a dry sour taste in my mouth. Maybe it’s the ‘laughing at’ rather than ‘ laughing with ‘ tone of his reviews.
I interpret it as a deep-seated lifelong passion that erupts into anger, but to be sure, his brand of humor is not for everyone.
Yeah. Too much like being a spectator at a bitchy art event or dinner party for me.
We lovers of the spectacular, nonesuch MdB are a tiny group but unshakeable in our derangement.
Another Miel de Bois fan here. One of those perfumes where I can see what people mean who refer to pee, but that’s not what I get.
Oh oh!! I just noticed that LT one-starred an early favorite of mine, Lacoste Inspiration! Well, that’s what I’ll have to wear today. I’m not going to lie, it’s not very good. The materials are cheap and it is definitely a hallmark example of the “mall scent” style. But it has many of my favorite notes (iris, sandalwood, vanilla, pink pepper, musk) (sorry I’m sorry but I like pink pepper) and it has that kind of catchy quality of pop songs that may wear thin fast, but still it’s not without its appeal.
Now I just regret I don’t have a copy of the book because I’d like to see his full review–the index copy “sad florist” actually sounds sorta great to me. Reminds me of another objectively bad cultural product that I still enjoyed–the movie Imagine Me & You. Sad florist just works for me, I guess??
“More like Imitation (in this case of Dazzling Silver).
Oh you’re too kind to go look it up. Thank you! And I have to say, having never smelled Dazzling Silver (which is now discontinued, I see), I don’t feel particularly offended that Inspiration should be a knockoff of DS. New to me!
I remember Dazzling Silver and Dazzling Gold and believe I liked Dazzling Silver more.
I have mini’s of both in parfum form. Dazzling Gold is nice but Dazzling Silver is something else, strange and wonderful. I quite like that one.
Well now you’ve both piqued my curiosity! Hmm.. can’t hurt just to have a peak at eBay..
I like pink pepper too.
Ok that makes two of us! (And Linda Pilkington, I think, so three
)
Is that the note that’s common to (almost all) of her perfumes? I got the Discovery Set a few weeks ago and have set them aside after trying 5 or 6, finding many of them to have an identical top (or middle?) note and becoming indistinguishable from one another. I don’t dislike it, but I started to get annoyed smelling it over and over again.
I think her scents are supposed to have a lot of Iso E…
I’ve heard there is Iso E Super in many of them as well, although I’ve never smelled it on it’s own so I’m not sure if that’s what you’re noticing.
Ahhh. Now that I read this, I recall others having mentioned the Iso E Super. I’ll have to do a little research to see if it’s what I’m smelling. Whatever it is, it’s proven to be a real turn-off for me.
Yes, could be Iso E Super and could be pink pepper too–it’s in enough of them that the line rates a mention on Fragrantica’s page explaining the note! “[Geza] Schoen has used pink pepper in almost the entire Ormonde Jayne line, a carefully art-directed collection by Linda Pilington which makes use of the trendiest molecules in a way that renders artistically honest perfumes which appeal even to traditionalists. Isfarkand, Ormonde Man, Zizan and Orris Noir are but the start…” http://www.fragrantica.com/notes/Pink-Pepper-91.html
And I feel like the last time we were talking about pink pepper, Robin mentioned often finding it flattening and giving everything its in sort of a similar cast. So you would not be alone if that’s how it strikes you! (Pink pepper discussion in the comments here: https://nstperfume.com/2015/01/18/guerlain-le-bouquet-de-la-mariee-new-fragrance/ )
I bet that’s it. All I got from the last one I tried was ‘golden peach fuzz’ from start to finish and it finally clicked that I’d been smelling the same accord many times over while testing the set.
Elena Vosnaki (of perfumeshrine) describes it as “… giving a ‘velvet’ like sensation [u]sed to impart fullness… [and] create a fuzz on skin.” It’s also apparently quite resilient to mutating through drydown stages which might explain why it was so unrelenting.
Finally Friday! I am proudly wearing my 1-Star Amouage Sunshine. Notes include: blackcurrant, tobacco, vanilla.
.In his Style Arabia column, LT described Sunshine as “chemical floral” and his review included phrases such as “banal and distinctly unpleasant” and “stale, cork taint in wine” I realize there are lovers and haters of Sunshine so some of you may agree with the rating and I won’t call you LT Jr. If you do
I myself would give it 5 Stars, so not desert island territory but certainly a love. As corny as it sounds, I feel happy whenever I wear it. I will enjoy my FB for years to come. I would describe it as “apricot tobacco”.
Sunshine is my one and only Amouage FB unless I count the partial bottle of Tribute Attar.
I need to go back and read 250+ comments!
For those anticipating hajusuuri’s mini guide (really just a snarky spoof of the ratings), it will be in a separate comment below!
Ooh yay, mini guide!
Clap clap clap!
I wish NST had a “like” button!
Yes! Yay! I’m excited!
It’s taken me an hour to work through all the comments the first time!
Hajusuuri, wish I could love Sunshine. The only Amouage I can’t tolerate.
We’re still friends and I won’t judge you
You have me thinking I should try this, since I didn’t get along with any other Amouage’s (good for my wallet eh).
I got mine at Fragrancenet for cheap. If you can wait, I’ll pop a sample of this in the mail once I’m done fulfilling 2 mega swaps and the remaining freebies.
I guess 1 star challenge is as good a reason to de-lurk as any. I’ve been reading NST for 5+ years and feel really silly for not participating earlier.
Wearing Vivienne Westwood Boudoir. I have two more 1 stars: Amouage Ciel and Reflection (both are 2 mls from a sample coffret), but wanted to wear something I really like, and I haven’t made up my mind about those Amouages yet, hence Boudoir. I can see why someone might hate it, but still think that 1 star is unfair.
Hello and welcome! Glad you found a reason to de-lurk, and you smell great.
Thank you!
Hi and welcome!
Welcome! I, too, have Boudoir. And I love it. It’s not daily-wear and when sniffed from the bottle can be off-putting, but wow, some gorgeous sorcery happens when it hits the skin. This juice attracts complements of the you-smell-amazing variety instead of What are you wearing? To me, there’s a big difference. There’s really nothing else like it and was introduced during the tidal wave of fruitchoulis so I’m baffled at the 1 star rating. Unwarranted for its uniqueness alone.
I’m wearing a few dabs from my sample of Coriandre. I think this got one star as a bad reformulation of a formerly well respected member of the some-what out of vogue chypre family. Not sure of the vintage of my sample, since it was sent to me in a swap. I’m not inspired to seek out a bottle, but I can’t say it’s as offensive as Turin claims (“spray deodorant for guys who don’t care”). The one one-star fragrance I owned a bottle of and remember feeling rather crest-fallen when I read Turin’s scathing review is Cabotine des Gres. A little screechy and synthetic, but still, not THAT horrendous (“vile… should have been banned by the Geneva Convention”).
Wearing a sample of Little Italy. It smells completely artificial, which is strange because a) Bond No. 9 charges an arm and a leg and b) don’t natural citrus ingredients cost about a nickel anyway? The sample came in my Little Italy candle, which I predict will work much better in that format.
Oh, for the Bachelor No. 2 meetup I wore L’ Ambre des Merveilles, a reassuring choice.
Some others were commenting here recently about Bonds smelling synthetic.
No 1 star’s in my collection, but a couple of 2 star’s- went with Marc Jacobs Blush. This used to be my signature scent, and i still really like it. All i can smell is star anice/liquorice tho.
I didn’t read the list properly when I concluded that the Hiris I wore yesterday was the only one star perfume I owned – I also have Miel de Bois. I’ll wear that today in honour of Friday on the other side of the world. I love it, but am very mindful that many others don’t, so I wouldn’t have been game to wear it to work.
Having chimed in with my five cents worth, now going to start at the beginning and read everyone’s comments!
And now I can amend this to three, having read everyone’s comments! Hiris, Miel de Bois and Kingdom.
Amouage Sunshine for me; thankfully I only have a sample. From Turin: “Sunshine somehow manages to be both banal and distinctively unpleasant.” True.
Haha! I don’t find it at all unpleasant but I do feel like there’s not much there.
So many scents feel bland and one-dimensional Regina. This one reminded me of room freshener or dryer sheets. The last few SLs also have been really disappointing. Thank heavens for samples.
This smelled oddly to me like peaches and cream oatmeal (from the box)! Comforting and yummy, but not something I needed more than a sample of…
Too crazy a day to go back and read all comments right now. Perhaps later tonight I can do that.
But I’m wearing Coriandre today. Doesn’t smell at all like coriander/cilantro to me. It’s a kind of nice rosy-patch-vanilla-vetiver I think. Smells good on. I don’t know why they gave this one star–perhaps not enough originality? I’d rate it a solid 3.
Coriandre is one of the perfumes that LT felt was originally beautiful, and found its current (2007) reformulation and cheaper materials disappointing.
I don’t have any of The Guide’s one-star perfumes, so I’ll go for partial credit with Dior Fahrenheit, which earned a measly two stars. (I know, right?) In fairness, the late-2000s formulation, which Turin reviewed, lacks much of the bold character and depth of the original. But judged on its own merits, it’s still an incredibly distinctive and enjoyable fragrance, and the drydown of both versions is basically identical (if my nose remembers the vintage stuff correctly). I keep looking for a suitable replacement for when my bottle runs out – I rarely repurchase scents – but I have yet to find one that comes close.
I thought about Hiris (own a FB) but wanted something warmer and went with my other 1-star FB-Sisley Soir de Lune.
I really like this one and can’t understand the 1 star. I read somewhere that LT and TS tested a lot of fragrances on scent strips and I can imagine that this perfume doesn’t perform well on paper.
You smell lovely! Soir de Lune is by Dominique Ropion, and I think of it as a predecessor to Portrait of a Lady: rose, patchouli, bit of honey. Nice.
I’m a definite Soir de Lune fan!
I wonder about that, too. I saw a film in which Chandler Burr made an immediate assessment of a perfume sprayed on his knee, which made me curious as to whether Perfume Critics (I’m making a distinction here between those appointed with the title versus the equally-educated and professional bloggers such as those on this site) actually wear the scents they write about.
kpaint, I wondered about that too. What do they actually wear? I appreciate what they are trying to accomplish but not sure if it always sincere. With perfume, art and fashion, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Thank god!
My choice of available #1* LT scents is based on his review, which had me both ROTFL and totally disagreeing with: Givenchy Ange ou Demon, in body cream form. He uses many words to basically say it’s a plebian discordant cacophony, a scent that emerges from an imaginary pianococktail machine with an inner mechanism that mixes a cocktail according to the notes played. In his scenario, the ingredient bottles are filled with the last 30 fragrances launched and a 2-year old is banging on the keys.
Yes, AoD is a strong scent, but in body cream form it is beautiful (I have a mini and several samples that came with my purchase of the body cream but never wear them.). As a lover of woody notes, I appreciate the rosewood and the oakwood absolute notes that make this a dark and seductive scent with a hauntingly beautiful lily note that weaves in and out through the duration of the scent. A unique fragrance that doesn’t remind me of any other scent I’ve tried, I like it in late winter or very early spring. I envision walking through a dark, sometimes forbidding, forest and suddenly encountering a beautiful unknown white flower in a patch of sunshine, whose soft yet intoxicating fragrance somehow quiets my fears and accompanies me as I resolutely find my way back.
I agree with kanuka about LT. I can appreciate snark but his laughing at becomes too much for me after awhile. I take what he writes at face value but really don’t let it affect my enjoyment of any fragrance.
My 26 year old daughter wears this fragrance and it smells great on her.
The only 1-star perfume I that I really like is Hermes Hiris, but it’s way too cold today for that. Of the 2-stars, I do have a persistent attraction to Chanel Allure. I know Allure is not actually the perfume I am looking for, only the nearest I’ve been able to get to the ineffable scent of the perfume section in airport duty free shops of the late 1990s/early 2000s.
So I’m testing 2-star Eau d’Italie Baume du Doge. Kevin loved it, Tania Sanchez hated it. For her, it manifested a “brutal” woody amber top and boring drydown. I’m not finding it that bad, but I’ve been trying to stay away from the woody ambers. Some of them smell OK at first but tend to get stronger the more frequently you smell them. I also think men must be less sensitive to some of them; otherwise, perfumers wouldn’t be able to bear using them. I think it was Bois d’Orage that LT described at length, and TS said she couldn’t smell any of that for the towering woody amber.
Baume du Doge is reminding me of the AG Orientaliste series, which I wanted to like but wasn’t crazy about because of the woody ambers. I don’t hate it, but, to me, it’s one of those perfumes that just aren’t worth doing without real sandalwood.
Ah I agree with every thing you’ve said…
I’m pretty sensitive to woody ambers myself. But if you smell one you almost have to bow out of reviewing the scent.
I like woody ambers. But Baume du Doge went all bandaid on me
I like Baume du Doge, reminds me a bit of AG Myrrhe Ardente, which I liked even better.
I am wearing the 1-star reformulation of Caron Acaciosa. The Guide review (by Tania) seems genuinely puzzled and sad that what used to be “like Joy with a naughty streak” has become “a soapy-woody floral of not much character….” I bought this blind, having smelled the original formulation, and wondered how a distinguished French perfume house could so utterly gut what was once a glorious perfume. I keep it because I can’t see passing it on to anyone, it is that bad.
LOL! So your caging it has had a dual purpose: saving the world from smelling bad and allowing you to participate today.
I had wanted to test some Carons (I’ve never smelled any) but today’s thread has convinced me to pass on that project. Incidentally, I looked around at some vintage bottles to see if that was a reasonable (financially-speaking) way to try some out, and WOW – they have had some godawful packaging over the years. Some of those bottles and boxes might have been fine for Avon, but one expects a higher degree of aesthetics from a luxury house.
I believe for some time it had owners with a poor grasp of the term “luxury house” (or as they say, fell on hard times).
They’re not all bad. I love Parfum Sacre for example and some others are still classics, they’re on my list to try as well. Victoria at Bois de Jasmin has a great overview of http://boisdejasmin.com/2011/03/caron-fragrances-vintage-and-modern-perfume-comparisons.html
No perfume is so terrible that no one on earth loves it. (See Spellbound above.) I bet there’s someone out there who thinks it is absolutely delightful.
Love this theme! Given that there is an irreducibly subjective element to perfume appreciation, I think a lot of the outrage over Turin’s ratings miss the point.
Today I am in a ‘cheap oriental’, Eau de Shalimar, ‘a loud, cheap, air-care synthetic-vanilla top note…’
I often like airy scents with a bit of lift and for that reason i wear this more than Shalimar EDP. I also find it really cheerful, and comforting. It’s quite hard to find cheerful and comforting in the same scent as most ‘comforters’ are quite introspective?
In any case, this one is a three star in my book – not terribly profound, complex or otherwise groundbreaking, but still enjoyable.
hajusuuri’s Mini Guide to snarky edits that did not make it to the published version of Perfumes: the Guide. These are downgrades to 1-Star based on my experience. Only the Chanel will get another chance. Also, please don’t judge me for disliking something you like/adore; believe me, I tried
Le Labo Rose 31
LT/TS — 2* “not rose”
hajusuuri — rancid rose or dirty socks
FM Bigarade Concentree
LT/TS — 3* “bitter oranger’
hajusuuri — sweaty armpit
FM Lipstick Rose
LT/TS — 3* “violet rose”
hajusuuri — undertaker’s wax
Balenciaga Florabotanica
LT/TS — 4* “ghostly floral”
hajusuuri — floral formaldehyde or cleaning solvent
Serge Lutens Tubereuse Criminelle
LT/TS — 4* “menthol tuberose”
hajusuuri — tuberose icepick
Chanel Cuir de Russie
LT/TS — 5* “leather luxury”
hajusuuri — poopy leather
ELDO Secretions Magnifique
LT/TS — 5* “nautical floral”
hajusuuri — floral vomit or bloody slaughterhouse or putrid carcass or JUST NO!
Love ‘floral formaldehyde’!
So good and so true.
Remembering what it smelled like is making me shudder.
The stripey bottle doesn’t deserve the juice in it!
From your lips to the perfume gods’ ears!
Agreed on all accounts except for TCriminelle. That Florabotanica bottle is great, I was so sad that the juice sucked, I would have bought it if it had been tolerable.
Perfect description.
I think your description of CdR is spot on!
Funny thing is, that’s exactly the reason I love it.
Hahahaha so glad I’m not the only one who thought, “Hmm…is that what I like about it?!”
I guess this little touch of unpleasantness is what makes CdR a “special” perfume, not just simply “beautiful” one.
That’s so well put.
LOL. I am giving it another chance. Somewhere in Mount Decant and Mount Sample, I have several vintages (including modern) of various concentrations.
I’ve just been catching up on mals’s blog and she has such a nice reminder about the way musk notes in particular just vary enormously by nose/brain. So free pass on not liking it, I think
http://themuseinwoodenshoes.com/mini-review-roundup-late-january-2016/
These are great! Poopy leather…… Now I’m intrigued!
Good luck getting a sample!
I see what you did there
With some animal thrown in
Feel free to pass all your Lipstick Rose and Tuberose Criminelle to me.
(As a side note, I went on a couple of dates with an undertaker, before the wonderful Mr. Spicebomb came into my life. Can’t recall sniffing any wax during that time!)
And gosh. Now that I think on in a moment, I wore LR often as my “first date” scent, which means it’s more than likely, I wore it when I met the undertaker fellow!
Oh my god the undertaker!! Wow. MR you really deserve the good one you found
Oh my gosh, you have no idea! Stories I could tell. . . but this is too public a venue, even for an open book like me!
Did you know he was an undertaker before you met him?
Yes–send your dirty socks right this way!!
No decant to be had of Rose 31!
All for the best, it still reminds me of the ex I shared it with. Life lesson, before you share a favorite fragrance, triple-check that the recipient isn’t a cheater!
Maybe it got mixed in with LR
LOLOL at Lipstick Rose especially
Glad you found it funny !
LOL! I definitely agree with Tuberose Criminelle! I would even go so far as to call it “tuberose icepick… to the brain!”.
Secretions Magnifique is more of a 2 star for me. I would call it “milky metallic mess”. All I get are milky notes over metal over synthetic mess. Nothing nasty but nothing at all remarcable either.
Haven’t tried the others so I can’t say anything snarky about those.
I was originally going to use “mental tuberose”. It was icepick to the brain on me too…to the point I almost passed out at Barneys!
When Henri Bendel used to carry perfumes, all the ELDOs were on display except Secretions Magnifique. It was kept in a drawer next to a not very discreet wastebasket.
This is hilarious! I enjoyed it so much, I’ll forgive your dis of Bigarade Concentree. And hope that I never catch wind of that sweaty armpit while I’m wearing it
I’m wearing Mona di Orio Lux, which is a 1 star according to LT. He rated 4 of the perfumes from her original line as 1 star. I love Lux so much. The original bottle I own means a lot to me, with her not being around anymore and those bottles being fairly rare. Plus my office mate, who is sensitive to perfume, is out today. That makes it a lot easier to wear this one!
I know what you mean! I have a bottle of Jabu that I really treasure even though I don’t wear it very often. I put it on this evening though because it’s an original line MdO, Luca Turin would probably have had something nasty to say about it if he had cared to. The opening is quite sharp but the drydown is sooo lovely!
I love Jabu.
I’m glad you treasure yours from the original line too.
My other options today were Caron Farnesiana, Boucheron Trouble and Hermes Hiris.
Alas (or perhaps “Whew!”), I own none of the 1-star scents, so I must settle for partial credit. I am wearing the 2-star Petite Cherie, the first Goutal I ever purchased. It still makes me happy when I wear it.
I love Petite Chérie, it’s very uplifting. I can understand the rating though. Still, not every perfume needs to be a masterpiece.
Wow, how I love to read your comments! That’s what I’m doing this weekend
Late to the party today, I didn’t join in with my SOTD. My day was filled with MFK Absolue pour le Soir.
But my perfume for the evening is a sprits of Caron Tabac Blond Parfum. I flat out love it! I have worn it every Christmas since I fell for it. Like it a lot in EDP but my poison is the Parfum.
I don’t quite remember what the guide said about it, probably some reformulation issue? Well, I will most likely never get close to a vintage bottle anyway, so in this case ignorance is bliss.
I could wear Kingdom, Mona di Orio Nuit Noire, Dior Midnight Poison, or Lorenzo Villoresi Alamut.. all loved and bottled here.
What did you end up wearing?
Tabac Blond
and got a sudden urge to dig up my En Avion decant today. Gosh, I really love that one too.
I’m wearing the beautiful Hermes Hiris today. I think this is a really versatile scent; I can wear it in the office, and I think it would also smell great in a smoky bar!
Just reading your comment from Friday about Hiris. I completely agree, Hiris has presence without being loud. I feel like I can wear it any place, any time, while knowing I will enjoy it.
Wore Eau du Soir today, an LT one star. I’m starting to think of it as No. 19’s heavy handed cousin.
That sounds about right to me!
I’m so late today, but I did participate. I originally was going to wear 1 star Alfred Sung, Sung. I just couldn’t though, because it was my late best friends favourite. I will save it for another time. I have several 2 star fragrances, and ended up choosing Dior Addict ( current formulation ) It is a very cozy scent for what was a cold and gloomy day. Now to go back and read everyone’s pick!
lillyjo, I like Dior Addict too and I only have the current formulation. I am hunting for vintage to compare. You smell great!
I have an older bottle, will throw some of that into your package!
Ooh, thank you!
let me know how you think they compare. in my memory, Original Addict was stronger, with more depth, and maybe not as much vanilla? but it’s been to many years to be certain.
Wearing Estée Lauder Private Collection Amber and Ylang-Ylang. Sanchez gives it one star and calls it “Polished, rich, and blithely aggressive,” all qualities I don’t possess but wish I did. I don’t find it overly sweet, and I like the “enormous dose of sticky ylang-ylang.” I give it four stars, maybe four-and-a-half. Now off to read what everyone else wore today!
I really like Amber Ylang Ylang. It was a fun vacation fragrance for me. I would give it 4 stars.
It’s interesting because re-trying it more recently I was surprised by how refined it was – for an amber.
I used to have a bottle of Amber YY and really liked it. It was my first “pudding” vanilla. I think it is/was very similar to YSL Cinema – a bit richer and deeper.