Finally, it's Friday! Our community project for today: I Hate...Oh Wait. Wear a perfume you love that features a note or style you always thought you hated. Thanks to Pixel for the suggestion!
I'm wearing Reminiscence Elixir Patchouli, one of a handful of perfumes that brought me around to patchouli. Turns out, that was not so terribly helpful, since real patchouli has just about gone the way of the dodo.
Reminder: 3/25 will be Picture challenge, edition 1. Wear a perfume that matches the picture. We're staring off with Max Ernst, The Nymph Echo, 1936. (you can find larger versions here and here, and you can read the story from Greek mythology about Echo on Wikipedia.) (someone suggested the picture challenge, raise your hand if it was you!)
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 via the Reminiscence Paris Facebook page.
Gentlemen (Givenchy). Also one of the fragrances that brought me around to patchouli. I still like it tempered with something else, that raw stuff is too head shop for me!
I’m guessing that patchouli will be one of the most frequently mentioned notes today! As you say, it has to be well blended, the “patchouliest” I can go is l’air de rien, so that’s going to be my choice today
I would think patch would win
This has all made me realise I am draft and should have worn PoaL. Oh well.
I confess that I don’t notice a ton of patchouli in L’Air de Rien. But it’s very quiet, and it’s always possible that the musk in it is blocking out some things for me.
it’s enough more me, so maybe my conversion is not really that impressive?
I think the most head shop best patchouli in a fragrance that I actually really enjoy wearing is Tauer’s Maroc Pour Elle.
I have a love/hate relationship with patchouli too. It just depends on how it’s done in the fragrance (and what kind).
I’m in Mitsouko today. I didn’t think I liked chypres and wasn’t sure I’d ever come around to liking this one, but now I have a FB of it and love it.
Notes I “hate” but have come around to (always depending on how they are done in the fragrance): grapefruit and rhubarb. The sourness gets to me but now one of my absolute favorite scents (Nuit Rouge) has grapefruit in it and it’s gorgeous.
I am with you Jenkr-I did’t think I liked chypres as well. You smell wonderful..
Twins!
You smell great! Hooray for chypres.
Agree, hooray for chypres!
I have one of the Reminiscence Patchoulis in a small sample size. It is very beautiful, but I think it’s more of a rough amber.
I had a few fragrances in mind for this morning. No 5 being a prominent hate to love. Carnal Flower because up until I found it a few years ago, I detested all tuberose for making me instantly nauseous.
But the winner of hate to love today is Clinique’s Aromatics Elixir. I always wanted to like it when I was younger because it seemed so cool and adult, but yuck. Even up until just about 1.5 years ago. Yuck. And then I was going through some transformative year with vetivers. But it turns out a lot of what I was really liking in my vetivers (even though I love vetiver now) is actually oakmoss. And the hunt was on for massive oakmoss fragrances. But I even looked back – Kevin did a review of AE in 2014 and I’m still like, I remember no liking it at all, but haven’t smelled it in years blah blah. Well, shortly thereafter I was at Macys and made a point to sniff it out, like finding some muddy truffle under a tree. I’m like: where have you been all my life! Hello, Nose!. I bought a bottle on the spot. Swooning love for massive oakmoss took over. I still think it’s nearly impenetrable and difficult to love. But I enjoy it’s chewy, woody, earth mama, elegant, massive formula. Just a dab.
How lovely! I should go try it again too then.
I think it’s always good policy to revisit iconic fragrances to see if you have changed. I am still going after No 18 and No 22.
Aromatics Elixer is one of my desert island scents. That, Mitsouko, and Silences and I would be very happy.
Mitsouko is wonderful for so much – my first and fav oakmoss fragrance. Silences is lovely too. It’s like a fall and spring combo.
I Must try silences!
Ok, you’ve sold me into trying this.
Good luck!
Absolutely, you must!
I love the extreme drydown of AE. Like a three day drydown. I keep going back to try it though, hoping to like it at first spray.
Yeah – three day drydown indeed! You have to be very patient!
I have loved Aromatics Elixir since it first came out (early 70’s), from its first spray all the way through.
It is only in the last few I have changed my application method to spraying some in my hand and dabbing that in a few places.
That way I get to the beautiful rose more quickly.
Katie Puckrick’s method is one spray on her lower back.
Lower back is very sexy!
Ah, you give me hope for this many-times-tried, not-yet-liked perfume!
Spray it on a card at the store and let it breath for a bit first.
I really like AE sprayed on paper or fabric… three days afterward.
It’s actually a trick that I read on a blog – rather than spraying directly on skin, to spray on a tissue or cotton ball and then gently dab from that. It works really well for me to control it, otherwise it’s just too powerful. I put the sprayed up tissue in one of my drawers or closets, and it smells really great for a few weeks! I can see why you prefer it that way. Parfum d’ambiance!
This is my strategy with Youth Dew.
I wore AE in the early 80s and I was an 8 sprayer directly on skin (front/back of each wrist, behind each ear and crook of each elbow). you would have been running away from me AnnS!
And I’d be that creepy lady in the supermarket who seems to be following you from bin to bin… love AE.
Hysterical, Oakland!
I did actually ask the manager of the produce dept what she wears as she always smelled so good to me….believe it or not, Jessica McKlintock!
@chocolatemarzipan: I’m not sure anyone would have been running away from you. AE smells gorgeous from a distance and by the time your co-workers smelled you the top notes would have settled some.
I used to use the spray and walk through method. That meant that by the time I came home my bedroom would smell so beautiful from the perfume settling into the carpet.
WOW Chocmarz….! But you know, I really like sillage trails for big frags. 8 sprays is very bold!!
Well, it’s more that AE smells like urine to me up top. (I think it’s the sage.)
AE wasn’t love at first sniff for me either, but these days I adore it, from it’s tumultuous opening to that soft and gorgeous dry down. You smell Fab!
Thanks! I realize that Amouage Beloved (which I liked before I rediscovered AE) is that it actually smells nearly identical to the base of AE. It’s like they bottled the base of AE in Beloved. I know you like Beloved too, so I’d be interested in your thoughts on this.
This comment makes me think I need to give AE another shot.
I will need to do a comparison but I think you are right. Beloved reminded me of something else the other day, and it’s been nagging me, what exactly it reminded me off.
Sometimes I also find there is a green note in the base of the original Lancome Magie Noir that also smells similar to beloved. Maybe it’s a cross on the oakmoss? But I just checked the notes list for Beloved and there is no oakmoss listed. Maybe it’s some weird combo of the chamomile, civet and rose…. ? Very interesting.
I’ve just remembered: Jardins d’Ecrivains George. It’s the balsams that they share. It’s an interesting scent, not sure I need it, but I’m enjoying my small sample a lot.
I could have picked No. 5 or Carnal Flower, too! I actually dreamt about CF a couple nights ago. . . it’s going into my road trip travel case for spring break next week. (Mr. S. *probably* won’t pass out sitting next to me in the car!
)
If the weather had been warmer I was going to wear Carnal Flower today (but it got cold again). Carnal Flower is just totally gorgeous and I’m glad that it changed my mind about tuberose. I have fragrance dreams sometimes too!
I know. . . sunny and cold. Such a mean tease!
I think my nose must either be lacking or over-endowed with something: Aromatics Elixir, Wrappings, and straight-up patchouli are scents I LOVED at first sniff. It’s certainly unrefined.
I’m not sure if the patchouli is what put me off before. I just think I wasn’t ready for all the complexity in that type of chypre. For a long time I didn’t care for things like galbanun, vetiver, and I guess, oakmoss too, so those types of fragrances weren’t attractive to me at all. Now I love them.
Carnal Flower continues to be the only tuberose I really like. But I keep thinking I should like tuberose and am surprised when I am non-plussed . I wore Fracas a bit when I was in the hospital with my son for a year several years ago, and have kept the small roll-on for nostalgia, but really do not enjoy it anymore. And it is not just the sad associations–I genuinely just do not love it like CF.
THere is something clear and cold and joyous about CF that Fracas does not have (being more of a cold-creamy boudoir-esque thing).
CF is on another planet. IMHO it has a big vegetal aspect that really keeps it grounded and not too sweet.
And it makes me happy.
As soon as Belk and Clinique have a bonus buy offer, I’m gonna to buy a small bottle of AE. I LOVE IT! (Notice I insist on getting a few freebies along with it….)
I believe fragrancenet sells it if you want it now…discounted….
I just (!) rediscovered a complete set of L’Antichambre samples so I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone (going through all my samples plus wear something I used to hate and now don’t) and wear the iris one, La Mémoire Rétrouvée, which is supposed to be very gourmand and wonderful. It starts off with chocolate and sandalwood and such with just a touch of iris, incredibly delicious in a nineties way for a while, and then the iris gets stronger and stronger until I am NOPE NOPE NOPE.
So I fail at today’s community project because I will never love iris. And now I need to go shower this off and wear something decent.
points for trying I’d say
I’ll try anything. Once.
Post-shower I put on L’Antichambre’s Le Speculoos, which is named after the cookie and smells like sublime gingerbread. It’s really terrific. Unless there’s some iris lurking under there, god forbid.
Iris seems to be a note people don’t like today on NST!
Irisy speculoos should smell like carrot cake, yes?
Yum!!
Ahh, you just reminded me that I have a jar of TJ Cookie Butter hiding in my pantry! Gotta go fetch that now ????
Wow, you have made me want that one on the worst way!
Same here!
That makes 3!
Oh, you iris people!
Four!
Hee! Iris people of the world, unite! But, I said it first, so what could I possibly trade you for the rest of that sample that you dislike?
Email me at my username at gee mail you are open to letting it go…thanks!
If if..stupid sell check if you are open to letting it go…
SOTD: Amouage Fate Woman
Mostly, I can’t seem to wear a fragrance with pepper (regardless of the “colour” of the pepper. Pink, black, red..) without feeling like I put on food seasoning rather than perfume.
This is one of the rare few that I can stand and it actually packs some heat! I was tempted to go for a milder pepper like Bottega Veneta but it is a Friday challenge so Fate it is!
You smell fab!!
I always thought I hated certain Chypres, for instance I love No 19 but when I first smelled Mitsouko I made a sour face. I remember when the SA at Chanel sprayed 31 RC on me, I thought I was not womanly enough to wear such an elegant perfume. Well times have changed and now I love chypres and can appreciate their allure.
SOTD-using a sample of Oha by Teo-beautifully done, such rich quality
Tea is Paris Breakfast and lipstick is Beach Bum (though its anything but beach weather in NYC)
Oha is lovely. I wound up not buying any because I already had a bottle of L’Arte di Gucci and a decant of MFK Lumiere Noire pour femme – but should those fail me (my LNpf is almost gone!) I might get some Oha.
Happy Friday Mals-my Teo Cabanel enabler
Oha is lovely! I don’t think I need it either, but but but….
Have you tried any of the solid perfumes they sell?
I have not. I have had poor luck with longevity with the solids that I have tried, so I tend to avoid them. Haven’t tried the TCs.
OK, thanks for your input
Oha is very beautiful! A very well done dark rose chypre. I like that it keeps a great balance between blended and rough edges. If I already didn’t have so many rose patchoulis, I would definitely have a bottle!
Like you, I do have some rose patchoulis, but but but
80
Don’t know how the 80 got there..but I don’t want you to think I have 80 rose patchoulis! 8O!
I was about to feel a lot better about the swelling size of my own collection!
I figured it was some kind of emoji that went wrong, lol!
????????
Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay. I almost always hate fruity scents, but B&B is just tart enough for me.
That’s a good one.
Such a lovely scent.
Blackberry and Bay is one of my two favourite JMs (the other is Wood sage and sea salt). Good choice!
I love this one as well.
One of my favorites!
I thought I hated aldehydes, but have found out that in most scents I do like them.
SOTD-Bois des Isles
Well, if you are going to fall for an aldehyde, BdI is certainly about as good as it gets. BdI was my first big sandalwood love.
Well, not all aldehydes are created equally. Which aldehydes did you encounter that you didn’t like?
I didn’t used to like any Chanel fragrances and now like several.
so I’m not wearing either of these, but when I first tried (the first few times I tried) Kenzo Jungle L’Elephant and Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque I didn’t didn’t like either At All. But then, several years later, upon trying them again, they are both now among my most favorite fragrances.
Today it’s day 5 of my week of violets. Wearing Caron Violette Precieuse
“Truths and roses have thorns about them.” Henry David Thoreau
I struggle with rose scents. I either love ’em or hate ’em. For the most part, I enjoy roses in a supporting role, but not the star. Roses de Chloe and Armani’s Si Rose are yuck; however, Voleur de Roses and Lumiere Noire Pour Femme are right up my alley. It all depends on the combination of notes, I reckon!
SOTD: Jo Malone Blue Agava & Cacao. After smelling roses to decide what to wear today, I got tired of them altogether!
Ha, at least you tried!
I have only ever owned one rose scent CDG Rose from the red series and i began to feel like I was suffocating every time I wore it. Almost a physical thing, like being buried alive. For some reason our three dept. stores all have Stella on prominent display at the moment ( is it a new EDT?) and I tried that and it seemed really pretty but by the time I got home I just wanted it off. Same with violet and gardenia scents, sometimes. Perhaps rose raises some deep seated fear of being forced into wearing a dress and combing my hair and smiling through afternoon tea parties. Maybe I just need the thorns.
But i do love roses, especially at twilight, in summer.
Lavender and I just aren’t good friends. I try and try, but we just don’t seem to click except where Body Time’s China Rain is concerned. I can smell her in there, but she’s not beating me over the head with her drowsy propriety so we can make it work just fine. Also, the line of products is just so wonderful and the quality is great, so this is my version of lavender for now.
I also have a hard time with lavender.
Hope you are doing well!
I still haven’t really come around to lavender! (at max. just a hint of it is enough)
Me either.
Lavender is really tricky. Sometimes it’s medicinal and screechy. And sometimes it is plushy and warm and sweet.
I agree it’s a tough note to wear, but it’s lovely when done right. I remember being shocked that it is a staple in men’s fragrances because my mother grew bushes of lavender so I always associated them with femininity. I’ll put your scent on my try list, thanks!
Lavender makes me gloomy, for no good reason that I’ve ever been able to figure out. I almost love it in Dior Homme, though.
I like it with a touch of vanilla
Yes, I can do lavender blends like lavender and lemon or vanilla sometimes, but they really have to blur and soften the note.
Caron’s Homme has been on my small decant list for a while because it is such a frequently used note I want to appreciate it more. I even remember being so eager to try Jicky because I think that one has lavender against the animalic but found it practically intolerable, vintage or not.
It’s just funny to me because it’s such an innocuous note. Cumin? Bring it on! Civet? Oh yeah! Patchouli? Roll me in the stuff. But oh, keep those pretty flowers well back, please.
LOL, I am picturing you rolling in the patchouli as if you’re a cat rolling in catnip!
I like both the Caron and (modern) Jicky. Lavender always read masculine to me–one of my great-grandfathers use to smell of it. It’s funny that a scent called “pour Un Homme” is what won me over.
I like lavender, but a slightly annoying ex of mine was obsessed with lavender, so now it’s hard not to think of him when I smell it.
This must be the longest week in the history of time. I was too pooped to participate in “I hate…oh, wait” and went with “I knew I’d love before I even sniffed it.” SOTD is Guerlain SDV.
Hoping it gives me patience and strength. I really need patience and I need it NOW! ????
Sending patience-inducing hugs!
I am likely too late with my bucket of patience, but I hope you conjured it from somewhere and just in time.
I only have a small dabber sample of patience, myself today. TGIF
I hope you get all the patience you need.
Bandit–when I first got into perfume I couldn’t stand galbanum. Now it’s one of my favorite smells.
Yay for your galbanum! I love it. (But can’t do Bandit. Just. Can’t.)
I love galbanum too, and can’t do Bandit either.
I love green, powder, leather and vintage, but I think Bandit might have too much of all 4 for me to be able to wear or appreciate it.
I’m very happy for you! Galbanum and Bandit are both great.
I remember when I first “got” galbanum (it was AG Heure Exquise). Up until that point I really did not like at all any green galbanum scent. Now I love them all to pieces.
I still don’t really know what galbanum smells like… but I love Bandit so I guess I am okay with it.
If you’re interested, you can buy a sample of galbanum from Eden Botanicals. And lots of other lovely stuff.
Highly recommend Eden Botanicals……you can add many essential oils to existing perfumes if you want to “amp” up a particular note….their galbanum is excellent!
(makes note to self: get galbanum from Eden Botanicals. and narcissus. and heliotrope, if possible.)
Hi Mals!
Eden does not carry narcissus (but a company called “Only Natural Essential Oils” does…I have never purchased any of their products so I can’t speak to the quality). Heliotrope is tricky….I have searched for that one myself….I have found fragrance oil on several sites but not the essential oil.
And I am wondering if heliotrope is one of those that needs to be “created” by combining other essential oils (similar to lilac, musk or fruit notes) if one is looking for a natural versus synthetic version…..
White Lotus Aromatics has a stunning narcissus absolute.
Heliotrope might indeed be a tricky one… I love, love the growing flower but heliotrope scents are often too play-doh-y or cherry cough syrup, which would make sense if you can’t distill or work with the essential oil. (Kiss Me Tender/Intense from PdN I like.)
Making note of all these essential oils. The common ones you can get lots of places (rose, neroli, etc., and I have some tuberose and australian sandalwood oils as well), but I’ll have to go searching out the lesser-knowns. Thanks!
To me, heliotrope smells like powdery vanilla but perhaps I have been mistaken all along.
Almost any “green chypre” has a galbanum top note. There’s tons of it in Safari.
I continue to be puzzled by the fact that I really do not love many green chypres. Adore Safari and Jolie Madame (as you know
) but do not like AE, GIII, Bandit, YSL Y, Niki de S-P, Paloma Picasso, or Ma Griffe (yeah, surprised me too, I thought it would be love).
I need to check out Scherrer.
While I like GIII, I don’t care for Silences, YSL Y, or Ma Griffe. (Another doozie: vintage Piguet Visa vs. current Piguet Visa – totally different green animals!) They are all like chicken soup – basically the same ingredients, but all in different combos. Hard to believe there could be so many different ways to do a green chypre. It’s good we don’t all like the same ones, lol!
I found this a hard one to tackle. I don’t have specific notes that I hate or brands that I don’t like, although some have produced far more favourites than others.
My SOTD is Ostara, which was love at first sniff. The transformation in this one, is the fact that I only used to love the top notes, and now actually prefer the drydown.
All in all, my wearing perfume at all, is so out of character. Not being a fan of frills, dresses or make up. And I still sort of link a love of perfume, and in my case a decided preference for classical florals, with so called “feminine” pursuits. Which only shows how prejudiced I am. Everyone have a wonderful weekend!
Our seeming character disparities make us interesting! I hope that you have a lovely weekend too, dear austenfan.
I wore this on Monday I think and I really like it. I don’t like doing blind buys, but when the sale came out I was all in. I don’t regret that I bought it. You smell lovely.
I’m the same way. I’ve always thought of myself as being more tomboy-ish or “masculine” than being “girly” enough for perfumes. I don’t wear skirts/dresses unless I’m forced to and most days I’m too lazy to even bother doing anything with my hair or put much effort into makeup (total minimalist there). But for some reason, perfume is the one area I can indulge in and actually feel much more feminine than I may look/act.
I just got a sample of Ostara and am anxious to try it now. I’ve heard so many good things about it!
Ditto on all of that.
I hope you enjoy Ostara, I find it very lovely and surprisingly versatile.
Yep, that’s pretty much me too.
There is so much about wearing and loving fragrances that is very internal. There is a juxtaposition between the internal and the external (marketing, bottles, etc) as you say the very girly girl thing. But if you were a foodie or wine person or gardener, no one would think anything of what you looked like to pursue those sensual endeavors. It’s very cool that you have embraced your nose!
That’s a very insightful explanation. Tea is another love that doesn’t seem to require a particular outfit.
Thank god!
No idea why are they discontinuing it. Absolutely love it even though I thought I Won’t.
You smell gorgeous, and I love the drydown too.
I hate …oh wait: I’d more or less sworn off perfume the years preceding the rabbit hole, for some to me unkown reason I had convinced myself I did not like it! I would have joined the ‘no perfume at work crusade’…and then I smelled some orangeblossom in Spain, and then I started looking for an orangeblossom perfume and then a new world of pleasure and discovery opened…
I’m waiting for my Ostara to arrive from the Haute Look sale. Blind buy, but I sniffed later and quite love it. But I love florals….
Yeah me as well, I’ve been surprised by how much I enjoy perfume. Granted, I look very girly, but my personality has always been more tomboy — I played soccer very seriously for decades, studied karate in my 20’s, fell in love with surfing in my 30’s, and I’m an engineer by profession… but hey, it’s our quirks and contradictions that make us interesting, no?
I hate vanilla and have yet to find one that I can wear comfortably. I also dislike fig as a main theme in fragrance. There are scents that I like with fig in the background, but no fig forward scents EXCEPT Womanity, which is my SOTD.
I was considering wearing Shalimar for vanilla, but I don’t really hate the note, I just find most of vanilla perfumes uninteresting.
I feel that way too – not a lot of vanilla frags in my collection. I do love vintage Emeraude and Shalimar Light, and Organza Indecence, but they have more going on than the vanilla.
I like Hanae Mori, too, but it has to be very cold outside and I have to be in the mood to do berry ice cream.
Womanity is so wonderfully weird! You smell great!
Have you tried Angelique Noire? It has a dollop of vanilla but in a gentle way. I have a FB if you want to try I can send a small sample.
My favorite vanilla perfume is L’Occitane Eau des Vanilliers
I hear you on the fig. I can’t do perfumes with fig notes at all. Vanilla I can handle, but only if it’s straight and not candied or sweetened a lot.
I can’t do fig in my perfume either. It is bitter in a way that makes me want to rip skin off.
Vanilla is tough for me too. I don’t like cake batter! I think organza indecence is perhaps my fav vanilla that gets into food territory, but the big cinnamon notes save it for me. I like Annick Goutal Vanille Exquise for a very dry not sweet at all vanilla.
Yep, fig is a tough one. I do like Premier Figuier under the right conditions though.
Love Womanity! It was on sale over the holidays, but I missed it and it sold out!
Glad you’re enjoying it, though. 
Have you tried Hermes Vanille Galante? There’s a detailed review on it here at NST that I wholeheartedly agree with. It is exquisite, and quite atypical for a vanilla scent.
Still kicking myself for not grabbing the Womanity gift set at Marshall’s two years ago. I wanted to double check the tester at Sephora to be sure I still liked it and, of course, ’twas gone when I went back. $25. I shouldn’t fight my perfumista instinct on stuff like that.
Exactly. Lesson learned.
I’ve recently come around to vanilla in a major way, but fig? Not yet. Maybe I should try Womanity.
I don’t hate fig and used to wear Philosykos, but fig-centric perfumes don’t do it for me anymore. There’s so much going on in Womanity that the fig had to be pointed out for me to get it. I think it’s the coffee that I like in Womanity. Fig and coffee sounds pretty nasty actually. It works for me, though. You should try it just because it’s so different.
I love vanilla in food but not in perfume. Ditto fig. It seems odd that taste and smell, so closely related, can segregate themselves in this way.
I have a couple of scents where the fig is more of a background note, rather than in-your-face and I like them. Two that I can think of are Caligna and Un Jardin En Mediterranee. In fact, until I was taking a look at fig perfumes listed on Fragrantica, I didn’t realize that they were fig scents. I also have several vanilla fragrances and whether it is a main note or a base note, I just cannot wear it. Bulgari Black, Vanilla Insensee, Jungle l’Elephant, Tocade. I just can’t wear them.
So funny, I disliked vanilla for years but now like it quite a bit…thank Orchidee Vanille for that. I still don’t get fig. I had the PdN Fig Tea at one point but never liked it. Maybe it needs to be far in the background for me too….
I dislike fig as well, enough that I’m not willing to try any more fig-forward perfumes, so kudos to you! I always thought I hated vanilla until I discovered that vanilla in perfumery bears no similarity to the noxious concoctions that come out of Victoria’s Secret and the like.
Vanilla was my choice for today also! I still hate sweet vanillas, but when they aren’t sweet, they can be wonderful. Vanille 44 was my gateway drug, and I like Bulgari Black too.
Even though I dislike eating figs, I quite enjoy fig notes in perfume. Bring on the philosykos!
I’m wearing Tubereuse Capricieuse. There are three notes I can’t stand: tuberose, gardenia, and lily. This one I don’t love, but I can tolerate it! For all I know, maybe it doesn’t even smell like tuberose. Going for broke, I’m also testing Caron’s Tubereuse and Dame’s Gardenia. The former I’m tolerating, and as far as the latter, I’m in the “hmm, smells kinda like blue cheese” camp.
To be honest, I feel a little nauseous right now.
Hope your stomach recovers!
The Dame Gardenia is indeed blue-cheesy. I don’t mind it, but if you overapply, WHOA NELLY. For a tubey lover, I’m way behind on that HdP tubereuse set. Haven’t tried any of them.
You’re right. OMG! If you have allergies with head congestion, it will clear you right up! No need for nasal spray!????
I of course love all three
I love the Dame as well for it is the true smell of gardenias and not a watered down, blended with other notes gardenia-type fragrance. True to life odors can sometimes be overwhelming so the negative reactions don’t surprise me. A high quality orange blossom absolute is extraordinarily different from an “orange blossom” fragrance…..same for osmanthus essential oil…..I love them both in their pristine form but cannot wear them unless they are diluted in a carrier oil. Orris butter, on the other hand, is glorious in its naked state and I would highly recommend it to “iris” lovers…it is like a paste and it melts like butter on your skin.
and if you are interested I just received an email that Dame is now carrying Black Flower Mexican Vanilla, Desert Rose and DArk Horse in perfume oil rollerballs. My assumption is this new formulation is geered towards those living outside of the US who cannot get the alcohol versions. They are quite reasonably priced as well.
I love that Tubereuse Capricieuse. It was my favorite of that trio, and I have a decant of it that doesn’t see enough action, but it has such a sparkling nature.
Those notes tend to make me nauseous too. Carnal Flower saves me for some odd reason. I also love lilies in the garden, but on skin they are really overwhelming. The only lily frags I like are Cartier Baser Vole and the old Crabtree and Evelyn Savannah Gardens.
Have you tried Lys Mediterranee? It’s a springtime-and-salt-air lily, without that heavy, spiced, cloying-ness that lily can have.
No, but it sounds pretty! I’ll have to test that one.
I tested Dame Gardenia recently and it made me nauseated as well. I ended up scrubbing which I rarely do.
One of the Olfactif samples in my March shipment was Dame Gardenia….Can’t stand it!!!!! Bleck!
Y’all had better not stand downwind from me this summer
The Gardenia oil and the spray are both on my FB list.
LOL! It’s all about skin chemistry and scent memory and what you love! Enjoy! Want my sample? I’m happy to mail to you! (Seriously!)
I really like Dame’s gardenia too MM. I’ll be happy to stand next to you!
Go for the gold, Holly! I appreciate the way you are embracing today’s theme.
Patchouli is my most difficult note, too, and today I’m wearing Coromandel. I hated the first sniff of my sample, but something made me return to it again and again. Now I own a full bottle and consider it one of my HG fragrances. So, it pays to have an open mind about everything, perfume included!
Hmm. Maybe there’s hope for me. (I did hate Coromandel, though.)
Coromandel has helped me make friends with patchouli too. I enjoy the patch in Beloved as well.
I recently added a bottle of Beloved to my collection…such a beauty!
Good! Beloved is gorgeous and so easy to wear, it seems even more accessible than Gold.
There’s patch in Beloved? I never noticed it, but then I like it.
I haven’t dared to try Coromandel. Patch and I aren’t friends at all so I doubt it would work. Besides, the original Coromandel red lipstick was atrocious on me but I insisted on wearing it as a youngster because it was a classic red
I take it as a sign.
Finding the right red is so hard! But when you do, ahhh, so great.
I have not tried this one yet, but would like to.
It’s been a while since I had any Coromandel, but I remember loving it. Patchouli is a very polarizing note and I think Coromandel made it quite bearable. It’s the only (or closest scent to a) gourmand that I can handle. Methinks I need to get another decant of this somehow. You smell great.
I loved Coromandel for a while – enough to invest in some large decants. But then something changed and I have troubles with strong chocolate notes in fragrances – even the lovely Theorema got too much for me. I find that the Jessica Simpson Fancy Nights is a dead ringer for the far drydown of Coromandel, so sometimes I wear that. None of the rose accords though.
Interesting! I have both and never compared (but I will now). Thanks!
Angel scared me away from Patch, but I smelled Coromandel in the store and it was instant love. I was shocked later when I discovered the rich green and chocolate notes were from patchouli!
You smell amazing
I like patch so Coromandel was a no-brainier love for me. Have you tried Coromandel’s cousin SL Borneo 1834? I love that one as well. A bit rougher than the Chanel. But those bell$$jars$$…
No, I went through all my little SL vials, and have no Borneo 1834. Coromandel is about as rough as I can go with patch, though!
I think Coromandel is a great perfume to try for those who don’t usually like patchouli. It has that Chanel polish and artistry and balance, making even patchouli elegant
You expressed that perfectly, Annikky. There is nothing of the “head shop” about Coromandel, which is why I like it.
As a lover of patchouli I do need to defend it. There was a time when patchouli was quite “elegant”. In the 18th and 19th century the silk traders in China packed their good with patchouli leaves to ward off moths. It was this association with opulent and exotic Eastern goods that made patchouli a luxury scent for Europeans of that era. In fact, Queen Victoria used it in her linen chests. A properly aged high quality patchouli is excellent. Unfortunately, most perfume companies do not use high quality patchouli oils anymore, which may be why many perfume wearers react so negatively to it .
I *hate* patch – and even I like it when it has been aged.
Thanks Mals….I rest my case!
this conversation reminds me of a good friend of mine who hates all sandalwood perfumes…until I introduced him to New Caledonia sandalwood absolute essential oil….that is the only “sandalwood” he willingly wears…he says the synthetic sandalwood in most perfumes is “too screechy”!
I’m a patchouli fan as well. There was a girl at my high school who was very elegant. If you can imagine an amalgam of vintage 50s and goth fashion, pulled together with an air of Audrey Hepburn, this was her look. She wore loads of patchouli every day and on her it had an aura of elegance.
I’m sorry for having insulted patchouli! I didn’t really mean to, but I see now that I kinda did. My point was more about the treatment of the note – and that if one isn’t by nature a patchouli lover, I believe Coromandel is a great introduction. I don’t usually gravitate towards patchouli myself, but gladly wear some patch-heavy scents (POAL, for one). Your description has made me want to smell some good, aged patchouli right now.
You beat me…Coromandel still makes me shudder.
Really? I have this strange thing with you and Coromandel, because I read the review on NST back in 2009, where Kevin is ill and describes Coromandel as his comfort scent. I think it was pretty soon after I’d discovered NST – in any case, I didn’t yet realise that not all reviews are written by you. For years, when people said Coromandel, I had a picture in my head with you curled up under a blanket with a cup of tea…
Ha! You’re not alone, many people miss that there is more than one person writing. But it is still funny because Kevin and I agree on perfumes probably 90% of the time, and I tend to forget those we disagree on — I had entirely forgotten that he liked Coromandel.
I’m wearing Coromandel today as well, not because I hate patchouli – I like it when it’s done tastefully and doesn’t go all BO-sweaty – but because I hate every other Chanel on me. I’ve often felt like a fraud as a perfumista, because I could never find a single one that I didn’t want to scrub from my skin after 5 minutes. They are invariably too shrill, too migraine inducing, too loud, too sharp, too floral, or just too much. Coromandel was a welcome discovery. I am judicious with it – one good spray to the neck suffices for the day – but I find it a warm, comforting fragrance for cooler weather. I don’t think I’d be able to handle it in the heat of summer, however! (Thanks to SublimiSomnium for hosting the recent Coromandel split, which allowed me to have a very nice sized decant that I will enjoy for a long time to come!)
You are very welcome!
Love that everybody is enjoying their decants, and that they’ve arrived safely thus far!
Interesting that you don’t like any other Chanels…It sounds like you may be sensitive to the aldehydes – have you tried dabbing? It’s a shame you can’t appreciate the classic Chanel fragrances since they give you headaches.
At least you still smell wonderful! 
I love Coromandel! One of the few Chanel’s that I like.
My first two Les Exclusifs were Coromandel and 28 La Pausa and while I sprayed La Pausa with abandon, I tread really carefully with Coromandel and now, I don’t even think twice about 5 sprays :-).
I actually used to hate Rose perfumes ( other than YSL Paris) but Mohur cured me of that, and now several if my FBs are Rose centric scents, so today MY SOTD is Mohur Extrait….
Oh and by the way, I love next week’s assignment! An opportunity to wear all my weird green fragrances in a row!
Oh, Mohur Extrait is such a beauty. You smell fantastic!
It amazes me, but I used to say that I didn’t like rose perfumes, either! Now, it’s one of my favorite notes. The big change for me was discovering “dark” and “spicy” roses–Une Rose Chypree was probably the turning point. Still not a fan of what I think of as the “soprano” roses–light, pretty, and without much interest. (I know, spoken like an alto.
)
Yes! ROSES with some heft! Un Rose Chypree, Un Fille de Berlin, Rose Musk.. but PoaL and PHI don’t do much for me, oddly enough. I just tried PHI again, thinking I had been having a bad nose day but nope! PHI is not for me…
No PHI for me either! I’m hoping to swap away my almost full bottle tomorrow.
I’m in Hanbury – I’m not sure what happened the first time I sampled this (it kind of made me nauseous), but on retrying earlier this week after a discussion here, I find it lovely. A bit nougat-y, with mild spices (coriander?). It’s kind of a cousin to the Gucci EDP from 2002. Nice!
I adore Hanbury!
Me, too!
I was pretty adamant about my dislike of florals, green florals in particular. When I first sniffed L’Temps d’un Fete and De Profundus, they went straight to the giveaway pile. Chanel Cristalle edp almost went that way, but the more I sniffed it, the more I wanted to sniff it and now have a FB (and I’m wearing it today) and a decant if LTdF on the way!
I used to hate Cristalle when I was younger. Total swamp water. But now I love it – the perfect symphony of vetiver and oakmoss.
I have an older version which definitely has more oakmoss than the newer version. But I tried the newer version first, and live that one, too. I also have a decant if the EDT which I like as well.
I have bottles from only a few years ago. I like both the edp and the edt for different reasons. The edp hangs on with more of a regular fragrance structure. I think the edt is more like a cologne. I’ll layer them together too.
Iris.
Infusion d’Iris edp.
I don’t HATE iris, but I pretty much just don’t *get* it. WHY do I want to smell like muddy carrots?!
However, as we’ve experienced longer, hotter summers the past few years, I’ve found there is a period of time when I need simple, soft, “clean” fragrances, and I bought a bottle of Infusion d’Iris edp last year. When it’s right, it’s right.
Heh. I’m not a huge iris fan either. It’s okay, I guess, but “iris” in the title is never going to make me lemm anything. Infusion d’Iris is nice, though – clean and uncomplicated, almost business-like.
My fav iris that doesn’t get all rooty is AdP Iris Nobile edp.
I’m strangely surprised to hear of iris being difficult for so many. I’m so opposite, Iris in the name makes me an instant lemming! My very favorite note of all…and have to admit that a part of me can’t really understand that somehow this is something that doesn’t smell amazing to everyone?
I am pretty much in the any iris, any time camp!
Iris is possibly my very favorite as well! Chalky, rooty, carroty, dry, powdery, all good. I find it very amusing that noses (or brains I suppose) can be so different.
I lemming along with you on irises.
Not a big iris fan either. I hate when it’s really dry and rooty and carroty and chalky. But I can do a soft, suede-like iris.
Which ones do you like, Elisa?
I can’t get into iris fragrances. They are scrubbers on me. I have tried and tried.
Iris has really grown on me over the past few years. I like the rooty aspect much more than the powdery aspect. Bring on the muddy carrots.
I’m wearing No 22 extrait. Serious, old school aldehydes are probably the most difficult thing for me to wear and enjoy, generally speaking. Chanel No 5 and Joy are not for me (although I will give them another go now) and it would maybe be a stretch to say I love No 22. But I’m definitely fascinated by it and on certain days, it works for me. It wears especially beautifully today and I’ve just realised how impressive the sillage of this is, although I dabbed it on. I could clearly smell it when I left my office in the morning and came back in 10 minutes later. I also received a compliment from a colleague who was three meters away (and is not a classic perfume person at all!).
I still giggle every time I see you mentioning your No.22. Maybe one day you will love them, though of course you don’t have to! Chanel extraits have wonderful sillage. They don’t project very far but they last a long time.
I almost considered adding to my comment that Austenfan will certainly laugh when she reads this
I’m thinking now that I might actually like No 5 in extrait, I’ll give it a try.
Well, I considered and almost added, not ‘almost considered’.
Words can be tricky, nearly as tricky as aldehydes
No.5 in extrait was what made me realise how beautiful it actually is. I’m not Chanel’s biggest fan, but their extraits are extraordinary.
OK clearly I need to try this (the extrait that is) as I get a lot of compliments when I wear the EDP – especially when I wear the Rose Haushcka body oil as well. I assume the one highlights the other well.
I struggle with it too – sometimes I can really smell the incense and I find it amazingly brilliant in snow and really crisp cold, but other times it’s just too powdered, and I generally rather adore powder. Glad you are getting complements and yes the sillage is pretty good.
I must say I enjoy our little struggle. I know there are many other scents that I like without any struggle and I could of course only buy those, but I find it stimulating to have some challenging ones in my line-up.
Completely agree on the aldehydes. I can’t handle No 5, but I love Eau Premiere.
It has been fun watching you go back and forth with No 22.
I’m mostly just going forth, as I started from a very low base
No 22 is my Everest. One of these days I’ll get it. I do love the opening though.
I find the opening most difficult, usually.
Organized all my samples and bottles yesterday and was shocked that I have a surfeit of Chanel. Never thought of myself as an elegant lady, but obviously I agree with their aesthetic. No. 22 is yet another I will be adding to the Try list, though I fully expect I’ll get a full bottle.
As always, thanks for the classy recommendations! Also, have you seen the pictures of the New York Fashion Institute of Technology fairy tale fashion? Gorgeous!!!
I have made peace with the fact that I am a Chanel girl, especially an exclusifs one. Not very cool or rebellious, but the nose likes what it likes.
And no, I haven’t – off to google fairy tale fashion!
How lovely to receive a perfume compliment on No. 22, I’ve only tried it once, but I definitely like it a lot, probably more than no.5.
The scent on the little ceramic tester from Harrods I have still smells gorgeous 8 months on!
Fundamentally, I honestly don’t care what most people think of my scents. But compliments ARE nice, especially if they are entirely unexpected.
Huh. It was love at first sniff for me and No 22. White florals can be difficult for me, but 22 is one I find really easy to wear. I still can’t pick out aldehydes as a note, but I’m now wondering if they’re what make me swoon over both Nos 5 and 22. There is definitely a commonality between the two. I also always think of them and Cuir de Russie as a Chanel triumvirate, where if you like one, you will probably like the others (they all seem related to my nose.)
I’m the other way around, white florals are my comfort zone and I can wear most of them without any issues. Heavy aldehydes, on the other hand… I absolutely adore Cuir de Russie, but while it does have aldehydes, the dose is much smaller (I’m no expert, but I once asked Victoria from BdJ and she confirmed that CdR and Beige are much less aldehydic than 5 and 22).
I also get the impression that CdR is less aldehydic than the classic Chanels (No. 5, No. 19, and even Coco). I also agree that the treatment of the floral aspects in Chanel fragrances is very similar in that they are not overpowering and often well-blended with other notes, which is probably why the fragrances are so versatile and feel similar.
I must be the only one who does not get the aldehydes in no 22 ( I do in no 5 however). I love 22…my skin amps up what comes across as a rich incense- like buttery vanilla. It was a scent I wore frequently in the 80s in the two forms available back then- eau de toilette and pure perfume. I bought my last bottle in the mid -90s and drained it back then. I recently tried the re-formulation and rather like it…enough to consider a full size bottle.
‘Rich incense-like buttery vanilla’ sounds amazing.
Commenting late but enthusiastically as I find this comment thread fascinating.
Chanel No. 22 is the only scent I’ve ever worn that invaded my dreams and woke me from a sound sleep. It has a lovely intensity.
Aldehyde is my choice of note too. It’s not that I hated them, it’s just that I always waited for them to die down so I could get to the heart of the perfume. My choice of fragrance is First by Van Cleef & Arpels, which I love totally from aldehydey top to narcissusy bottom! Big thanks to Oakland Fresca for introducing me to it via the freebie meet.
What a classic – you smell wonderful!
I *like* aldehydes. Not sure why I don’t love First, but I don’t. Love aldehydes, love big florals, love narcissus, love those overstuffed kitchen-sinky florals of the 1970s… and First just does nothing for me.
Shrug. Everything is so personal! I’m like that with good-looking men, too. Like, say, Brad Pitt or Ryan Gosling or George Clooney, they’re all attractive, quite handsome, and yet none of them really floats my boat. Can’t say why.
For comparison’s sake, who does? Enquiring minds and all that…
When I was little I had a set of soliflore scents made for children. I remember loving the orange blossom (and being surprised that oranges had flowers!), the tuberose (which I thought was some strange, more exotic variety of rose), and the violet, but wrinkling my nose at the rose, which smelled sour to me. At thus began a nearly life-long aversion to rose, which most have broke my mother’s heart, as it was her favorite scent. I wouldn’t even try something if it was described as a rose-based scent. However, after coming around on many other once-reviled scents (galbanum, cedar), I began to explore the roses-for-rose-haters group of scents, where rose is a more buried note. That helped move me to the point where now I can happily wear scents that are primarily rose, like La Fille de Berlin. And there’s no note that I dismiss anymore.
This sounds awfully familiar to a set of children fragrances I had as well! Although I remember something like bluebell in mine, but maybe I’m remembering it wrong.
There might have been bluebell – I think it was a set of 5, but I can’t remember the fifth scent.
Card-carrying patch-hater right here (and I’m not alone, either)!
THe funny thing is, I don’t really have any hippie/headshop/pothead references for classic patchouli. It’s just that the usual version smells really… dirty. Not clean wet potting-soil dirt, either – I don’t mind that – but grimy, dusty, muddy, filthy, the muck of ages of decay. Ugh. And I still hate it. If it’s the dusty, cocoa-powder stuff, I just cannot. deal.
I hate the modern fractionated aromachem less, although it can seem screechy. What I’ve found that I actually like, though, is the aged stuff. Yeah, surprise! It seems to go through a decay-reversal process or something, and as it ages begins to smell greener and more herbal than dusty, and I really like that. Especially combined with rose.
I actually wanted to continue my Week of Violets today, so I’m not wearing L’Arte di Gucci, the one that changed my mind in a “Hey, there’s a ton of patchouli in here, but somehow I don’t mind it” way. Instead, I’m in YSL Paris.
YSL Paris is just so lovely! I was crazy for wanting some when I was in college and got a knock-off. We are one and the same in the chocolate patch category. It is sensory overload for me. But L’Arte – major game changer. The ultimate rose chypre. There is a lot going on there which may temper all those patch notes for you.
L’Arte is certainly busy! I always notice the patchouli in it, it’s just that it is very GREEN and not dusty. (I like the costus in it, too. Smells like my little boys’ heads when they’d been playing outside.)
My all time favourite. I’ve worn it since the late eighties, and I still wear it today.
Austenfan are you wearing it in Vintage or a currrent version? I wore and loved it in the eighties as well, but have some trepidation about trying the current version.
Vintage! The current edp is still quite good, but the edt is too thin, imho of course.
Thanks! Will ebay it!
So, I’m not really playing along today. I grabbed Lubin Grisette, which I’ve not worn since last summer. It’s a nice, light citrus rose that may not qualify as ground-breaking, but I like it.
As many of you have already mentioned, I did not think I would ever like patchouli notes in perfume, but Coromandel and Beloved have proved me wrong. Like Annikky, I struggle with aldehydes, but am trying to learn to appreciate them. I also find that I like musk a whole lot less than I used to. Especially that white/laundry musk.
So interesting reading everyone’s comments. This was initially pretty difficult for me to decide but I realise I should have gone for PoaL as I suddenly really like it and on first sniff found it utterly overwhelming.
However I have gone for Knowing, which I would definitely have found too much some time ago, but it became a signature for a few months 9 or so years ago and I have a decent amount left. Really enjoying it’s very definitive statement today, although how I wore more than two sprays a few years ago amazes me!
Knowing is elegant and gorgeous! A true classic.
It is and a really good reminder to use it more often.
I really need to try Knowing again, then.
Btw, Sophie – did you get my e-mail from 14 March?
How very odd I didn’t – not sure what happened but can’t find any trace of it – if you can bear it try sending again?
Of course, will re-send. I realised later that I had received an error message, but the address was definitely correct, so I’m really not sure what happened there.
Ooo, you smell great!
Thanks!
I suppose I have tried at least a few lovely perfumes featuring pear, peach, peony, raspberry or black currant [shudders to think what a dreadful combination all of these would make if combined]. However, I don’t own any, so I’m addressing a rather mild distaste instead. Although I love the smell of real oranges, my relationship with orangey perfumes is a bit tricky. So I’m wearing Eau des Merveilles, which smells like the real thing. On a beach. With pine trees around. Yum.
Yum indeed. You smell great:)
I’m wearing Stephen Jones. I used to think I didn’t like violets in perfume—I didn’t hate them, just found them not very interesting and sometimes too sweet—but I’ve discovered I like the note with a weird twist, as in Stephen Jones or Violette Fumee.
Man, that Stephen Jones is super weird – like violets growing on black lava rock weird. Wish I owned some.
I will have to look for Stephen Jones. Never heard of it, but I like weird violet twists!
Comme des Garcons, in case we weren’t clear.
Adorable bottle, too.
My Stephen Jones decant is going in the swapmeet tomorrow.
Dibs ahead of time? What do you want in trade?
I’m going with patchouli too. I still can’t wear the “real” stuff but 31RC has an amount I can tolerate (close my eyes and pretend it’s something else). It’s one of the very few scents with supposedly perceptible patch that doesn’t send me running for the migraine meds and detergent.
I’m still too chicken to try Coromandel though and Angel is completely out of the question.
The patch in Coromandel is present, but I find it to be very smoothly blended with the other notes. I find that patchouli in Chanel perfumes does not have the hairy back tooth fang thorns rolled in funky soil loam hindquarters aroma that repels me about raw patch.
HA! Omg, that was hilarious. I agree though, patch is done well in Chanels.
31RC is a favorite of mine. So much so that I splurged on a full bottle.
Yes – the patch doesn’t bother me in 31RC.
I love 31 rc, it was more or less my scent of the week, and I don’t even notice the patchouli!
You smell fantastic. Could you waft some of that 31RC my way??
As warm and humid as it is here in surprised you all can’t smell me. I’m gardening and look like Swamp Thing but smell great.
Truly dislike Angel – thought that meant I don’t like patchouli. Then I sniffed Coromandel and it was instant love. Do your nose a favor and give it a try.
You’ve talked me into it. Now I just have to find a sample, ha!
I hate hate hate gardenia. *Hate.* But I really like Narciso EDP, and was terrified to see that my decant seems to be evaporating. Guess I’ll be wearing a bunch more of this in the coming days!
Hate when decants evaporate. You smell great while it lasts!
Today is a tough one. I’m not a fan of fruity offerings especially citrus. Shalimar, Worth Courtesan, and Une Rose Vermeille are exceptions. Vanilla is another, I work in a bakery, so I often smell like a cupcake. SVD and Havana Vanille are exceptions. Wearing Une Rose Vermeille today.
Totally got the challenge today all messed up. Why did I think the challenge was to wear a fragrance that I forgot I had? Because of the Atelier post yesterday, I grabbed my Orange Sanguine this morning. I probably haven’t worn it since last summer. So, I may have on the wrong scent, but I smell like Spring.
I love Orange Sanguine year round….it is so uplifting and so versatile!
That was last week’s challenge, so maybe that was what you were thinking of? At any rate, you smell good, and that’s what matters, right?
Ditto!
Love this challenge, Robin! So many great stories and scents!
Still hate Angel, though the flankers are surprisingly good. Unfortunately the only flanker I have is Eau Sucree, which I can’t wear to work because even I would have a hard time taking myself seriously when I smell like cotton candy and berries.
So instead I gambled and am now wearing Mitsouko. I tried it at the start of my trip down the rabbit hole, and didn’t enjoy or even understand it (classic chypres are tough). Now I own and wear Aromatics Elixir so it was time to buck up and try try again. So glad I did!!! Mitsouko is lovely, and now I need a bottle. <3
Thank Pixel! And I almost wore Angel Liqueur
I tried Mitsouko at the beginning of my ‘serious’ fragrance journey, and it short circuited my brain! The classic chypre compared to ubiquitous fruity florals caused a “Does Not Compute”! But by the second wearing, it was “I neeeeeed this!” ????
I think “does not compute” is a good way to explain people first encountering chypres. I felt the exact same way about Mitsouko until I understood it.
Yaaassss! I tried to recall what I specifically did not like in Mitsouko, and couldn’t recall, so I’m inclined to believe it was a “does not compute error”. Thanks for the clarity!
Oh, too bad on the Eau Sucree! I love the idea of an engineer smelling like cotton candy! Really mess up that boys’ club!
En route again so needed something comforting, in Mimosa & Cardamom. But it does have a powdery aspect and I hated powder in the beginning!
I used to hate powder too.
Depending on how thickly it’s been laid on, I have a very contentious relationship with ethylmaltol– the candyfloss/caramel note used in so many fruitchoulis and dessert gourmands. HATED Angel at first because of it; by now I’ve made my peace with that fragrance (I’m wearing it today). But still oversensitive to it in other fragrances.
I can see there’s quite a few Angel-haters in this thread (and I’m one of those). I can always recognize it on other people! But you’re right, when applied with a light hand, it can be quite charming. Depends on the person too, of course, or maybe the day – sometimes I like it and some days it’s just too much. Sometimes I wonder what I’m missing out on. All those flankers, vintage versions, a whole world of Angel out there.
Angel still makes me gag, even at low dosages on other people..(my nightmare: my concert subscription, with the same lady sitting one row before me and wafting Angel)
Oh god, that’s a torturous thought! May it never come to pass. (I had a similar experience at anwork seminar with a colleague wearing an over-the-top teen fruitchouli from the frag aisle at Target…)
The first time I sprayed Angel, I couldn’t live with myself; I even feared that I’d have to throw out the sweater I was wearing. But once I got hold of a miniature dab bottle, I completely rediscovered it. I wouldn’t dare wear it in summer… but it suits spring chill very nicely.
Ah, so ethylmaltol must be what makes me run screaming in the opposite direction from gourmands and fruitchoulis….
Oh, it’s a screamer all right. Penetrating and sticky. I’m certain it causes cavities.
Sampled Angel when it debuted at SFA, NYC eons ago and thought it was so strange, yet it intrigued me (it was surely a groundbreaking fragrance back then)….I kept picking up the cedar notes in my sample which threw me off (is there cedar in Angel?)….I was at odds with it because of the “pencil shaving aspect” but it was on my full bottle list for over twenty some odd years…when I finally got around to owning a full bottle courtesy of a friend, I loved it and drained it quite quickly.
Wow, I wish I’d had your experience with Angel. I would say A*Men did that for me– instant love.
Aha! I had always assumed it was the patchouli in Angel that I disliked (because that was the only main note I’m not familiar with) – but it could actually be the ethylmaltol? But I like the flankers… Honestly, from all the reviews I expected Angel to be more like Coromandel’s rich and chocolatey gourmand aspect. However, Angel smelled too synthetic to be gourmand and the sweetness in it didn’t give me the impression as coming from chocolate! Wonder where I could sniff straight ethylmaltol…
I want to say “at a carnival cotton-candy stand” but it’s not state fair season :P. The idea of ethylmaltol taken straight is very daunting. You’re courageous!
I am in the minority for I love patchouli and grew up on chypre scents….so many of the heavy hitters were part of my perfume past….I think the only essential oil I don’t care for is spikenard….but I don’t know of any perfumes with that as a dominant note.
Fascinating! How were your fragrances introduced to you? I think for the majority of us it is from our parents (not me), or sniffing at department stores.
Powder. Yuck. Misia and Cartier Panthere are no nos… but here I am in Chanel No. 19 poudre. Weirdly, it now seems sweeter to me than when I bought it a couple of years ago. I still am glad I have it in my collection, but I would now categorize it as a very sweet scent. I wasn’t expecting so much sweet. I must be wearing a lot of masculine-swinging dry incense and spice these days.
Having a hard time deciding today. There are two that took me most by surprise: had a spitting hate for caramel/candy notes but out of masochistic curiosity tried Prada Candy. Then took a spritz every time I went by the perfume counter. Then had to have it. I haven’t come around to any others but here it works for me.
The other was tuberose. Moon Bloom helped me understand the appeal. I really should try Carnal Flower, too.
Interesting! So you’re saying Prada Candy could appeal to someone who hates caramel notes? I always gave it a miss, was completely certain it just wouldn’t do anything for me.
Worth a try! I think for me it is the mega-dose of benzoin in Candy that takes it someplace unusual.
Right, I’m off to the local department store tomorrow!
I hope you’ll report back, I’d love to know how it treats you. Don’t worry if you don’t like it, I’d still like to hear your impression.
I think I don’t like benzoin. Something in Candy *really* is a NO for me.
Well, I don’t really hate, but I sort of generally don’t enjoy gourmands. All this pink sugar, vanilla, loukoum, caramel, Lolita Lempicka, Angel, and so on. There are some nice ones, but generally they seem a bit.. childish to me? A bit princessy. Well, except of course I’m in Lutens’ Jeux de Peau today and I don’t mind one bit. Especially on a cold wet day like today, it’s just like having an extra woolly blanket all over me.
Happy Friday everyone!
Jeux de Peau is like palmier pastries with a dab of apricot jam at one corner and a latte across the table – very elegant gourmand, I say.
I can’t quite get the apricot notes, but I do get the pastry, bread, and yeah, the latte across the table! I keep veering towards the buttery sort, like almond croissants.
I think I would love JdP if I could get the apricot notes in it! I’ve retested several times, but I get mostly buttered pastry.
It’s almost like ghee
Well, I *was* going to wear What We Do In Paris is a Secret, as a gourmand that I wound up liking in spite of not really liking gourmands, but in my sleep-deprived haze this morning after a truly horrible night I forgot that it was Friday and doused myself in Lyric, instead, to bolster my spirits. It’s funny, because I’ll be doing fieldwork today, so I’m in grubby hiking shoes and old flannel, and wearing this gorgeous perfume…
Sounds glamorous to me!
You smell great!
I’m wearing Desert Rose today, for the peach note, which I was pretty sure I didn’t like. I’m warming up to the idea, though (I also like the stone fruit at the start of Jasmin et Cigarette). More rose than usual in Desert Rose today, which is certainly helping with my re-education project!
I really need to get around to trying that sample…
I still don’t think it’s quite to my taste, but it does smell good. Be interesting to hear how it works for you!
I totally forgot today’s project and am wearing Dzongkha, love at first sniff and still love. I think I would have worn Lyric had I remembered, rose being a difficult note, especially if she is in the lead. Or Misia, as it is compared to Lipstick Rose which is still in the scrubber category for me, but oh wait, I really like Misia very much.
Wishing everyone well and a lovely weeked.
I’m nearly at the end of my series of Cloon Keen samples and today’s is “Sybarite”. This has incense, bergamot, sandalwood and rose among other notes. It lasts and projects a lot better than the others I have tried up to now. My immediate thought is “Nanban, but painted in watercolours” and I’m holding a tiny bit back for a side by side comparison tonight. If it’s too similar I won’t need it but as a lighter Summer incense this might do the trick, so for now it’s going on the longlist.
oh, a light summer incense sound great!
This is very nice! Side-by-side with Nanban, there are some similarities but you would never confuse the two in a million years. Side-by-side, Sybarite is lighter and the rose note comes out compared to Nanban; meanwile Nanban’s leather note and slightly resinous nature finds no echo in Sybarite. Nanban projects more; Sybarite is altogether cleaner.
So: Sybarite moves from the longlist to the shortlist. Since no-one seems to do decants, my mystical powers of clairvoyance tell me a FB of this may be flying over the Irish Sea to me in short order. ;^)
I’m wearing Neela Vermiere Mohur today. There was a time, not too many years ago, that I disliked and avoided rose-based fragrances. Now it’s among my favorite genre. I’m not exactly certain what it was that made completely change my mind (although rose and patchouli are two ingredients that are in a majority of perfumes) and my collection has many rose-based perfumes in it.
Mohur is gorgeous. I’m starting to go through a similar thing with rose that you went through years ago. I really don’t like rose perfumes but by this point there are so many where the type of rose is so beautifully blended with other notes that it’s the total effect that I love. I particularly love Parfum Sacre and PHI for this reason.
Sajini, I agree with you!
Huh! Love Mohur and Parfum Sacree, but just can’t do PHI for some reason – I think the tobacco, and there is something in there that just smells like mildew to me…
PHI smells like headshop on me.
I *WISH* I got rose in Parfum Sacree. I get dry, dry ashes in that one, and even vintage samples just smell like dusty censors to me.
Jasmin Perle de The by Fragonard. My sister gave a bottle from a trip last summer. I’ve never been a tea fan but this is lovely. May be the gateway since I recently bought a Demeter tea scent….
Hmm, I need a Fragonard perfume in my collection – and this sounds nice, as I seem to be on sort of a jasmine kick lately – I will seek this out…
I despise Tuberose. It makes me feel like I’m trapped in a creepy funeral home with perfumed dead people who want to pinch my cheeks and smoosh me with a big bosomy hug. That being said, I absolutely adore Carnal Flower! And in fact, a few drops from a sample is my SOTD today.
Thanks for the challenge, Robin. I have a love/hate relationship with patchouli. The only real patch perfume I own is Patchouli Antique (old formulation) and I really have to be in the right frame of mind to wear it – it’s usually in the evening and when I’m doing something quiet like reading or drawing. An elderly client of mine had a bar of patchouli scented soap in her powder room and I really do associate the scent with a mature woman.
You smell great!
PERFUMED DEAD PEOPLE PINCHING YOUR CHEEKS. I think I love you.
I’m wearing Lolita Lempicka, which I didn’t like the first couple of times I tried it. I used to hate violet, which I have since come around to. The first time I tried LL, basically all I smelled was a big honking violet, and at the time I really wasn’t into it. Second time, I could smell more than just the violet, and I don’t think I hated violet anymore by then, but I still thought it was too sweet. And now I like it. I think it was the patchouli and vetiver and the kind of foresty effect I get from those notes that did it for me and made me a convert.
I went from meh-to-like for Bas de Soie. The first time I tried it I thought “ladylike hand cream”, but now it’s a favourite for the office. Oh, and I thought I hated patchouli, but I do now have Nombril Immense, although I only wear it in the deep of winter.
Jolie Madame Edt. I have a vintage mini, and I got it hoping for leather (because I don’t like flowers on me? especially violets). But it suits the springy day, and maybe one day I’ll find the more leathery parfum.
It’s me day, yay! So: rose. I really disliked rose scents for quite a while, to me they smelled like the air freshener in my grandmother’s bathroom, ugh.
Until I tried Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady, which knocked my socks off. Granted it’s probably the rose + patchouli combo, but still, finally a rose I could get behind. Since then I’ve found more rose scents I actually like: Heeley Hippie Rose (a less-room-clearing version of PoaL), J Crew #31, Teo Cabanel Early Roses (like those darling little pink rosebuds, you know?), By Kilian Liaisons Dangereuses… Rose will likely never be one of my favorite notes, but I don’t run away from it like I used to.
Thanks for the great project!
Seconded! I don’t have an “I hate.. no, wait!” perfume note myself, but despite not taking part I’m very much enjoying reading the opinions and experiences today! :^)
Oh, pshaw…. you’re welcome
Early Roses is so gentle – no screech to it at all.
My name is foxbins, I am a perfumista, I love oriental fragrances, and I hate Shalimar. There–I’ve said it. Perfume heresy, right? I don’t “get” Mitsouko, but I don’t hate it. Shalimar, I hate. I have tried vintage, current, and all the concentrations. No, no, no. Until Shalimar Ode a la Vanille sur la Route de Mexique. This works for me somehow. The lemon isn’t fighting whatever makes me cringe in the original. I bought a back-up bottle immediately, and I buy very few back-ups. I’m so glad I found it.
it’s really interesting to read how people’s noses work. Frankly, noses seem to be a a pretty f***ed-up bunch.
Lol! Individuality is a wondrous thing…
???? Nailed it!
????
I was horrified the first time I smelled Shalimar, the “ultimate vanilla.” I couldn’t believe people actually liked it and wore it. But something about it made me keep going back. Applying very small amounts from a decant of Ode a la Vanille Sur la route de Madagascar totally changed it for me, now it’s love!
I still haven’t found a vanilla that works for me.
Have you tried Indult Tihota?
No! Will add to list.
I kind of hate orientals. There I said it… nobody yank my perfumista card, okay?
(Kidding.) There are a few I like, but the balsamy ones are still off my list. Alahine was a game-changer for me with orientals, though.
Not a big fan of the genre either. I still haven’t tried Alahiiiine!
So funny.. You made me chuckle.
I sympathize with your Shalimar hate. For me, it is just dislike, but still, yuck.
I’m wearing Andy Tauer’s Rose Flash today. While I love (LOVE!) the scent of old-fashioned roses from the garden (and if you’ve never smelled a Bourbon rose, get yourself to a rose garden and take a whiff of a Mme Isaac Pereire rose) the “rose” note in perfume is a very tricky one for me. It’s almost always soapy or sour, or even worse, soapy and sour. Rose Flash is one of the few roses that works just the way it’s supposed to on me.
Love Rose Flash, especially layered over Lush Rose Jam.
That’s a good combo. The rose in Flash is pretty jammy!
Well, now I’ll have to try Rose Flash. I almost chose rose today, and thought of wearing Safran Troublant, which I like so much I didn’t think there was any rose in there, at first. I can smell it now, though, and it’s lovely.
I really dislike cumin and coriander in most scents. Coriander is a strong opening note in Au Dela by Fazzolari and is my SOTD. I think the balmy green chypre nature of Au Dela somehow makes it okay. I actually loved this perfume from first try.
I see many notes listed here that I used to really hate. (Rose, Iris, BWF and powdery notes, leather, animolics, and indoles) Now I really like/love most them with the exception of animalics and leather which I do like on a case-by-case basis.
Happy Friday All!
I really like Au Dela. It’s interesting how artist Bruno Fazzolari has gotten into perfume so successfully and creatively. Lampblack is amazing!
As much as I love Au Dela, I have never tried Lampblack. I should remedy that but there always seems to be something else I want to try more. Fazzolari is very talented.
You and me both with the cumin-hate! Ambrette seed smells like cumin / body odor.
Elie Saab Le Parfum for me today.
Both orange blossom/neroli and jasmine can be just too much for me IRL. I was convinced I’d hate them in perfume too, but I found a few years ago that I actually love neroli fragrances. I ended up giving ESLP a try because I like other Francis Kurkdjian scents, and, lo, I realized I like jasmine too. Thanks, Francis!
For today’s theme, I am wearing Shalimar Light which I love.
I am not a fan of the original Shalimar and sometimes powdery fragrances annoy me…but the vanilla, citrus and powder of Shalimar Light somehow transcend this and become wonderful.
I want to try old skool Shalimar again and am wondering if I need to hunt down vintage/unreformulated or if I can sniff the current releases…
And what formulation is best? Parfum or should I try a lesser please?
I’m an equal opportunity Shalimar fan. I like most of the newer flankers and really love some (Souffle, Route Mexique) but also love vintage EDT and EDC. I personally feel like vintage EDC gives a full-on rich and heady Shalimar experience and thus it is my favorite, though it took some time to warm up to. I’ve never smelled the extrait.
There are so many to try, and decants and vintage bottles can be found quite inexpensively. I’d say smell as many as you can and enjoy the experience!
Thanks.
People seem to enjoy the soufflé and mexique.
Shalimar Light is so good. (But I don’t love basic Shalimar, so I don’t have any recs for trying it.)
I did like it in this vintage 80s mini parfum de toilette I bought off ebay… but realized that I only wore it in the fall, when it was raining, and decided it should find a new home.
Agreed. I wonder why they discontinued Shalimar Light when it is so damn lovely. All good things I suppose. Not sure how it sold when it was released but we discerning perfume hobbyists seem to love it.
She-ra, where are you located? If you’re in the States, I could send you a bit of older Shalimar. I’d guess mine is from the 60’s or early 70’s and pretty different from anything more recent (lots of lovely barnyard
). Email me at marjoriehundtoft at yah-ooooooo dawt com.
I think the extrait is easier to handle (more floral and less sillage), and I can send you some too! I have the modern formulation extrait, EDP, and EDT and love ALL of them.
E-mail is linked with my gravatar!
Or not. E-mail me at my username then outlook.
Thanks so much. Will email you tomorrow.
Was just remembering my 9th grade English teacher wore Shalimar. Only know this because she mentioned it once. It is funny what the mind retains.
How kind of you.
I shall email you tomorrow. I am in CA.
I’m wearing Bronze Goddess, which sounds like a nightmare on paper (coconut? NO) but is fun to wear in the high heat of summer.
I never did like the smell of (American) tanning oil (do people still use sun products that smell like this?) nor frothy “tropical” blended drinks (even as a teenager Malibu rum made me gag) and it’s reminiscent of both. Thus, it makes me feel a bit self-conscious when I wear it in public. But the salty beach air opening is transporting and brought back memories of days spent at a swim-up bar at a pool on the Pacific ocean in Mexico, with salty air rustling the palm trees.
It’s supposed to be 60 and sunny where I am today so I was hoping it wouldn’t feel out of place, but it does. I think this is a summer-only scent for me.
I’m wearing L’AP Fleurs d’Oranger 2007, which brought me around to orange blossom. Now I have several favs, including PG Cuir Venenum, L’AP Seville a l’aube, and Astier de Villatte Eau Chic. I’m tempted by the new Hermes Neroli Dore cologne, as well.
Neroli Dore sounds lovely. I liked Robin’s review.
Can you please remind me which Michael Kors the taxi driver was wearing? Was it ultimate hand cream? Just that our local shop seems to be doing a MK coffret clearance.
It’s funny what sticks in my mind from these posts. It’s always stories like your taxi driver, or Foxbins car mats or the vegan strip club, or Annicky’s Lumi for snow stories…all wonderful snippets that get filed away.
Kanuka, it’s the Michael Kors Ultimate Body Lotion, which comes in a gold tube.
It’s also part of a gift set with some of his perfumes. I haven’t had a chance to try them, but my taxi driver had already used up whichever perfume came with her lotion.
Great observation, I love the stories, too!
Thank you. The set I saw was a perfume/ cream combo. Funny how when you travelled by taxi you got a great perfume tip and when you went by metro you got an unexpected two hour reading opportunity…life, eh?
Vanilla in perfume to me is like having a big thick wollop of whipped cream forced up my nostrils and also left ear canal. I love Shalimar though. Except I don’t *get* it’s a vanilla . . . so it doesn’t count eh? (I don’t *get* Shalimar’s citrus either, though. Shalimar’s just lovely, espcially with a hangover. I’m a barbarian.)
Vanilla that I didn’t like and repeatedly scrubbed off : SL Bois de Vanille: nice coconut opening followed by an orchestra of vanilla that KEEPS GETTING LOUDER !!! until I can’t take it anymore.
I’m not wearing either today. I’m in Chanel No5 that I used to !HATE! but rather lovingly enjoy in vintage EDC.
I love the vintage EDC. You smell gorgeous!
Whip cream up my nose would make me schneeze, too!
Hiris and Infusion d’Iris were my gateway from iris-blech to iris-love. Mistral Patchouli, the anti-patchouli for patchouli haters, is on deck for this afternoon.
SotD is Infusion d’Iris Absolue. Thanks for introducing this one to me, hannahmom! It’s a sister to the original but deeper and more-ish. Even the bottle is more-more-more, golden and substantial with a gorgeous spritz. It’s interesting how some bottles have much, much better sprayers than others.
My Friday morning American talk show giggles: Kelly Ripa says Henry Cavill, aka Superman, smells fabulous. What scent could he be wearing? According to Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck has a huge head. LOL
Happy Friday, everyone!
Yes, in The Tudors, Henry Cavill looks all big and butch compared to Johnathan Rhys Meyers, but he is a pretty wimpy Superman put up to Ben Affleck’s crazed Batman….
Far be it for me to complain about Henry Cavill now, but when he was about 21 he had the most glorious British Montgomery Clift thing going and I DO find I miss it.
I was in the Patchouli? Thanks, but no thanks camp, too until I met
SOTD = Dark Passage by Andy Tauer
This doesn’t mean I now love all patch-centric perfumes (I am looking at you Fiele Pogostemon).
Any perfume tagged as BWF also scares me, but I have found some loves – Carnal Flower comes to mind.
Hysterical Hajusuuri! I love the Fiele , perhaps because it is reported to be all natural so my assumption is real patchouli? Have you tried any others from this line?
I kept several atomizers from the sample set but I haven’t tried any since Pogostemon. I’m still hopeful
Ha! I did get in on that Tauer/TdP fundraiser where you got Dark Passage and/or Loretta, but I just got Loretta, knowing that a dark chocolatey patchouli was going to just run me outta town.
And then it turned out that Loretta nearly ran me outta town, with all that patchouli. Geesh.
LOL! I got the impression that Loretta was going to be too floral perfumey and chose DP instead.
I’m going to say Miel de Bois. I was first attracted to this scent by its name as I imagined a beautiful forest scent , all woody and mulchy (like our native beech forests) sweetened with honey dew ( which oozes from our beech trees and surrounds you in lickable sugar). So wheni tried it I was horribly disappointed because it just struck me as pissy…if you know what I mean. But then I went back to it and found that it challenged me and kept throwing up new ideas and it slowly drew me in and I wore it a lot. And then I gave it away. But definitely a negative start through to fascination.
When I first smelled Jardins d’Armide on my skin, it was instant love, even though I kept thinking, “I don’t like rose scents and I’m not big on powder either. Must get bottle ASAP”. Of course, it’s easily one of my top 10 favorites
I wanted to love Jardins d’Armide, but I just didn’t. I am fond of Marion Nous, (soapy soapy happy soapy) and Muguet Fleuri (soft friendly LOTV that goes on forever!), but as is usual for me, I was fascinated by the Jardins d”Armide bottle, looking forward to have it on my dressing table, and so of course, the juice left me cold. Story of my perfume career, if the bottle is gorgeous, it either costs$900.00, or I had the juice. LOL.
Glad you like Jardins d’Armide….
hate, not had, hate… guess I better stop blaming the spell checker and blame my fat fingers…
One of my few scrubbers is Angel. Thought it was the patch that I hated (and avoided anything with obvious patchouli for a year!), but I love it in other scents, so it must be some other note or just the combination of notes in Angel. Today I chose SSS Fig Tree. I was totally meh on anything fig until I smelled this one.
Fig Tree is a really good fig, IMO.
That’s a really lovely fig.
There’s not any particular note I dislike in Angel, and I normally like big perfumes (Alien, for instance), but I also find it unbearable. It doesn’t smell terrible to me, but I can’t stand to wear it.
Very late to the party, but I chose Donna Karen Gold for today.
It was a blind buy that made me feel a bit sick on first wearing, I found it very weird, and thought I must really hate lily, but now (in small doses), I really enjoy it, and find it quite fascinating. It’s one of my husband’s favourite’s as well.
Looking forward to sampling my mini of FM’s Lys Mediteranee, and acquiring a sample of Lys Soleiel this spring/summer.
I am jumping on the vanilla train today. It took me a LONG time to fall for vanilla. Today I’m wearing Angelique Noire and it’s still going strong 9 hours later.
So many interesting comments today, and so many patch haters! Well, I, for one, would rather wear any patchouli fragrance than a fragrance with white floral notes – they ‘screech’ and make me shudder! So, I was surprised at how much I fell for AG Songes at first sniff. I’ve loved it ever since and that’s my SOTD. Perhaps it’s the vanilla (a note I love) that makes it so palatable to me? Whatever it is, I find Songes haunting and just beautiful.
I really need to try Songes. A few other AG florals I’ve come across didn’t work for me at all, but everyone seems to agree that it is unique.
I’m cheating a little, because I knew I loved the scent of orange blossom, but I chose a ladylike floral that showed me I could love a ladylike floral: Houbigant Orangers en Fleurs (edp). It is absolutely gorgeous, and perfect for a warmish spring day. It’s not purely an OB perfume (there’s quite a bit of jasmine), and the nutmeg warms things up a bit. It isn’t quite the OB of my dreams, but it is really wonderful. I keep hoping it will turn up at the discounters, so I can buy a big bottle, although I also want it to live forever, so maybe it’s just as well that it hasn’t.