Donatella, Our Lady of Perfumed Plenitude,1 is busy as ever (she helped Beyoncé dress for her birthday, then did retro checkerboard at Milan Fashion week, followed by a fiery political speech, and then she hosted an Icons dinner with Anne Hathaway) but she has a free moment now to hear the confessions of her flock. She'd very much like to know what you bought in the 3rd quarter (July, August and September) of 2023.
Note that if you have javascript disabled, you won't be able to vote in the poll, but you can still record your purchases in the comments.
My purchases...
Donatella, I have bought nothing, yet again. I am hanging my head in shame.
As always, report your purchases in the comments if you dare! And as always, we don't include samples or gifts, and you can count miniatures, decants and bottle-splits howsoever you like (I usually count them as half bottles). Samples don't generally count at all, even though some of us spend considerable sums obtaining them.
1. Why does Donatella host (against her will, mind you) the damage polls? There is no real reason other than the picture of her perfume collection, which shows that she indulges regularly at the perfume counter. The image, by the way, is originally from Allure magazine and appears here courtesy of Blogdorf Goodman.
I am so sorry, Donatella, but this past quarter, I only bought a 10ml rollerball dupe of Lost Cherry from Oil Perfumery, and that doesn’t count for you at all.
So, zero purchases from my side.
I personally would count that. Don’t know what Donatella thinks on the subject 😉
She will reject that thought! 😄
How is the Lost Cherry dupe? I’m a fan of Oil Perfumery.
I think they do a fantastic job. Of course, nothing is going to be *exact* – how could it be? – but they get it as close to the originals as possible, without having the actual formulas. I’ve purchased quite a few things – dupes of things I don’t own as well as dupes of things in my collection. Haven’t been disappointed yet.
It is a straightforward cherry scent from the beginning to the end. It lacks the smoke and woody notes of Tom Ford. It has great sillage and longevity, something that Tom Ford doesn’t have. Overall, it satisfies your cherry cravings, and for the price, it is really good. I like it and I will definitely wear it in colder weather.
Thanks! I just got a sample of Cherry Smoke and really like it. The OP dupe of LC does sound good for colder weather.
Did you ever have the TF Lost Cherry?
Yes, I have a travel spray of Tom Ford that I am about to finish, so I was looking for a more affordable alternative. The Oil Perfumery dupe is ok for when I crave for a cherry scent.
You might like Kayali Love Fest Burning Cherry.
I have not tried it yet. To my sample list, it goes now. Thank you.
I actually bought a bottle of Clinique Happy. I had a TJMaxx store credit and it was on sale, so my collection has officially expanded by one bottle. And I still have sample Happy lotions that I can layer it with when the weather gets cold.
You were very well behaved then!
Basically what I bought is beneath Donatella’s notice. She probably never buys decants or travel sprays, and I bought one of each this quarter.
TF Lost Cherry 10ml travel spray
Guerlain Tobacco Honey 10ml decant
I caved to FOMO and bought a bottle of Guerlain Shalimar Millisime Iris. So really, two bottles in total. We will talk about Donatella’s stance on testers next month…
She doesn’t buy them, it’s true, but I always count decants and travel sprays as half bottles.
After nearly 2 years of zero (0, zip, nada) perfume purchases, I did buy some perfume this quarter. I am counting my purchases as a total of 2 bottles. My only actual FB purchase was a bottle of DSH December. I’ve decided this is my favorite of her “holiday” scents, and my little mini is just about empty. I also purchased a Phlur sample set, 2 travel sprays of the Phlur scents not in the sample set, and a mini bottle of vintage (at least I hope it is actually vintage) Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass, all of which I figure add up to about one bottle in total. So far, the Phlur sample set is the only thing to have arrived, so I guess that means some “free” perfume in the fourth quarter. That is, since I am fessing up to it now, I don’t have to count it for the next damage poll.
This was also one of my most restrained quarters (among those in which I actually bought something).
DSH December – $ 80
Phlur sample set $ 40
Phlur travel sprays $ 26
Blue Grass mini $ 20
Total $166
I love many of her holiday scents, but will have to see if I have any December…I can’t remember. What year was it?
2010.
Thank you!
Only 1, but it’s so wonderful: Arquiste Indigo Smoke.
Plus two not-so-cheap samples from Le Labo, Poivre 23 and Myrrhe 55.
One wonderful thing is wonderful 🙂
Someday, I will follow you in your purchase of Indigo Smoke. But not this quarter, lol!
They usually have a good black friday discount, I bought mine last year with that. Sign up for their mailing list.
Thanks for the tip!
I’m a slacker. I bottle of Shalimar MI, although I’m not sure if I should really count that because I don’t have it in my hot little hands just yet. Also purchased CSP fragrances but can’t remember if it was third quarter on not..? Also, they are all 10ml travels sizes so I’m sure Big D would completely dismiss them. I bought travel spray of each: Vanille Apricot, Vanille Passion, Vanille Banane, and Coco Figue, of which I had a big honkin’ bottle a few years ago, swapped it away, and missed it.
All told, D would dismiss all of the above and file me under the “Loser” label. 😢 I have nothing to confess.
You can decide whether to include the Shalimar as last quarter or this quarter, but to me, your travel CSPs constitute 2 bottles.
And hey, you’re not as big a loser as I am! I have not bought anything since 4th quarter last year.
Dear Donatella, would it please you to know that this past quarter I bought 9 bottles:
Zara Leather Jardin (3 bottles! Let’s just count this as 1…), Lost Cherry, Cafe Rose, Shalimar Millesime Iris, La Vie Est Belle L’Extrait, Montale Ristretto Intense Cafe, Aerin Rose de Grasse Rouge, Tiziana Terenzi Bianca Puro, J’adore L’Or (version before reformulation).
It would please her 🙂
This was my most restrained quarter in a very long time — I bought a coffret of Hermessences, which I am counting as half-bottles, and nothing else. So my total this time is 2.
Plus, such cute little bottles 🙂
I had a really good quarter. I still probably brought in more than I should have, but the amounts were kept quite low with the exception of one full bottle, full price purchase (Shalimar MI).
Providence Perfume Co. Divine 6ml travel spray (bought secondhand, barely used) $10
Soivohle Iris Underground 15ml, Lavender Quest 15ml, and Honeysuckle Bird 15ml (she included a free 15ml bottle of Jazz Berry Mint!) $54 total
Rebecca Minkoff EDP 30ml $16.85
Guerlain Shalimar Millesime Iris 50ml $135
How do you like the Soivohle Iris Underground?
It’s a really nice powdery, earthy, rooty Iris.
Thanks!
I didn’t buy any full bottles this quarter but bought an Aerin Jasmin travel spray and a Happy roller ball.
Dawn, are you enjoying it?
3 for me in the third quarter: Shalimar MI, Leather Jardin, and Vapeur Blanche. That’s really a lot for me, actually — I rarely buy FBs. So Donatella should be happy!
She is beaming with pleasure 🙂
I only made one real splurge this quarter plus sold some bottles for the first time to boot (and that felt good!) but bought the Chanel discovery coffret. It was wildly overpriced but I absolutely love to look at the perfect little tiny rows of bottles, like a happy little choir. So cute!
Envy! And I am sure one of us could fiddle the books, I mean do some perfume math on how the coffret was in fact a deal…
That’s an excellent buy. And you know it’s just going to go up in price the next time it shows up, since it’s done that the last couple of times it’s been offered. That’s huge perfume math discount, I say!
I’ve only bought the 10ml Twilly Tutti Frutti but my birthday happened this quarter and my husband must have entered that strange perfume-induced daze of the perfume counter parallel universe and bought me three bottles : Coco Mademoiselle, Alien Goddess and CDC Floriental. And Gaynor gave me the most amazing selection of samples and a bottle of Dusita Pavillion D’Or which I love.
Nice!
I really enjoyed Tutti Twilly when I sampled it at the store!
What a generous gifting spree from your husband!
I just tried Tutti Frutti today and liked it. It also works well for a song match cp!
Nary a thing for me, this quarter. I don’t even think I ordered any samples — just trying to get through my sample backlog and appreciate what I already have, which is perfume enough for three or four lifetimes! 😀
I saw something on Sunday afternoon that made me think of you. A single Monarch butterfly was weaving thru my neighborhood then. 🦋
Aww! I’ve been seeing a few here and there in recent weeks, and each one makes my heart sing!
I bought a set of four 15 mL Hermessences and in my memory of having them before years ago I thought I liked them more than I actually do. I got a full size bottle of Philosophy Fresh Cream Warm Cashmere from an Ulta 50% off sale which was a bargain…and I like it better than the Hermes ones. I definitely am not a perfumista I suppose and am more plebeian in my perfume tastes and that is alright with me.
Which Hermessences did you get?
Is anyone besides me curious to know who are the two people (so far) who bought more than 15 bottles?
We won’t judge
I miss BobH — he always had a list as long as my arm for these polls.
And he had such good taste!
Yes! This! He always had several jaw dropping finds in his list.
And so witty with his lists!
I bought Casamorati Bouquet ideal, Piper and Perabo Arid, and (drumroll) Ginger Biscuit. I also gave away 3 1/2 bottles of fancy perfume to a good home. To clarify, it’s fancy as in “too good to donate to a thrift store”, not JS Fancy.
🙂
I bought a lot, as usual. But some are minis!
vintage Le Galion Sortilege mini
vintage Le Galion Megara mini
Rochas Mystere mini
Eau de Lalique mini
Bill Blass mini
Guy Laroche Clandestine mini
DelRae Mythique partial bottle
Masque Hemingway
vintage Nina Ricci partial bottle
vintage Norell cologne
Guerlain Millesime Iris
vintage Jacomo Silences
Jealous of that Mythique!
2-4
-Rollerball of the new Miss Dior EdP (no patchouli, wearing it now, really lovely for fall/winter)
-30 ml of the new Tom Ford Cafe Rose
-I am sure there is at least one more and I am just blanking on them.
Sometimes it’s best not to remember everything.
After my wild perfume shopping on holiday in April, I’m very glad to say I bought just one bottle this quarter, Tiger By Her Side from Sana Jardin. But I do have my eye on quite a few…
Donatella looks forward to seeing what you cave on 4th quarter 🙂
Zero, zip, zilch. I’m thinking about a couple of things, though, although they’re just travel sprays.
What’s catching your eye?
Harvest Mouse for one. And Imaginary Authors has released body oils in some of their scents, Memoirs of a Trespasser oil is tempting. But I need other things like clothes and shoes.
Donatella would be proud.
I bought a lot during my trip.
100Bon Jasmin & Musc
Voskanian Histoire d’une Rose
Voskanian Iris Boisé
Laboratorio Olfattivo Til
I am happy with my purchases !!
So glad you are happy!
I was so restrained this quarter. I joined those of you who purchased a full bottle of Millesime Iris. And thanks to a generous NSTer, this was the first Millesime that wasn’t a blind buy for me! So, extra restrained, I would say. Other than that, I bought a discover set of Sous Le Manteau.
I bet that was the “most bought” bottle this quarter, and maybe next.
It went better than last quarter, it’s a relief, for the low buy project:
Vintage Lalique de Lalique 50ml edp £28
Acqua di Parma Vaniglia 100ml £45 free shipping
Vintage l’Air du temps extrait 50ml £26, smells wonderful, my best bargain
Vintage Jean Patou Eau de Patou £34.99 free postage and Héritage Eau de Patou £28.99, they smell different, both great
Vintage Bois des Iles extrait 15ml £42
Lancôme LVEB Iris Absolu £37 free postage
You’re a vintage hound like I am. Congratulations on the bois des iles!
Thank you Sarah, I am drawn to vintage perfumes, it’s true, glad you’re like me.
Vintage L’Air du Temps, that must smell especially gorgeous. It’s my mother’s perfume.
It is stupendous, still sealed which must have preserved the scent – as l’AdT is difficult to maintain in good condition – I will keep it in the fridge.
Super deal on the Bois des Iles!
I was curious to smell the extrait, it’s very smooth, smoother than my edp.
Nice job on the Lalique and Patou perfumes!
The Heritage Eau de Patou is very good, different from the vintage which is equally good (grapefruit foreward).
I was sorely tempted by the Heritage Eau de Patou last year. But I had to draw the line somewhere!
Oh, and Lalique is very enjoyable.
Woow! Amazing finds, congratulations. Enjoy .
Thank you Hera, it was a good quarter, more restrained than the one before.
Awesome acquisitions Aurora!
AAA+ for you😀
Thank you Lillyjo, the zIris Absolu is inspired by you.
Hope Lady D approves of my Guerlain splurge this quarter… 🙂
– Guerlain AA Harvest Nerolia Vetiver — No regrets, I couldn’t stop thinking about the honey in this,
– Guerlain Shalimar MVP — Secondhand find after draining two decants but still craved more. Also no regrets.
– Guerlain Shalimar MI — A just-for-fun buy, still remains to be seen if I love it!
– Chanel No 5 Eau Premiere vintage — Backup bottle found for a decent price. Gotta hoard one since I prefer the vintage over modern.
– Penhaligons Lavandula – Secondhand find for a decent price. This one is hard to come by and I missed it from having worn it in the mid 2010s. Glad to have it, no regrets!
Pretty solid quarter, almost all were thought out and intentional. Feeling pretty good! I also sold and swapped away almost all the perfume I don’t wear anymore, so that’s a win!
That’s a rather elegant batch of scents!
No fragrance purchases at all — not even shower gel, of which I am totally out except for a really old Molton Brown mini from a long-ago hotel stay. (Instead of buying shower gel, I am working through my stash of scented soaps).
I even unloaded two sets of Hermes minis (four bottles/each) and probably 10-15 sample vials when we visited our daughter in August. I think that means I have credit balance in Skalolazka’s Perfume Fund. But there is nothing I am craving right now.
No shower gel!! But I should do that and use up the soap too.
(Facepalm)
I have missed out on a No Buy Quarter yet again, Lady Donatella. And with this quarter’s purchases I have gone over my total bottle purchase goal for 2023. This is embarrassing, especially since one of the purchases was on September 30.
1. Givenchy L’Interdit EdP, 50mL — $63.96
2. Fenty EdP travel spray, 10mL — $39.00
Total for the quarter = $102.96
I’ve been tempted by the L’interdit.
I found it on Amazon. I’m not upset that I got it. Just mad that I lost track of things last quarter.
The L’Interdit smells wonderful in hot & humid weather. It’s definitely a BWF.
We’re twins in having a rather failed quarter compared to our intentions. Better next time.
Yep! At least I am in excellent company. 😉
I got two bottles this quarter, both at a discount.
Histoires de Parfums Colette and Fils de Dieu du Riz et des Agrumes (a BUB).
I forgot to list my purchases of last quarter so I’ll include it here. One bottle: Divine’s L’Esprit libre, bought at the source in Dinard. I think I didn’t buy any perfume in 2022 though. Or maybe just one bottle. Anyway, 2023 is shaping up to be a bit more extravagant.
I love Colette! Good choice.
Me three!
A bottle each of CSP Vanille Banane (for the silliness — that’s my pick for this Friday) and Vanille Abricot (as a backup, because my old bottle is close to thunking), $51 each on sale, which makes $102 more than I expected to spend this year, but how could I resist?
You couldn’t possibly!
I bought a coffret of Hermessences (Rose Ikebana, Osmanthe Yunnan, Iris Ukiyoe and Vetiver Tonka) and I count this as 1 very expensive bottle…
Nice set NinaV!
Whoops! I nearly missed Donatella. But she turns up her nose at me these days, so…
I bought just one bottle this past quarter: Neil Morris’s Garden of the Heart of Heaven from American Perfumer’s drawing. Which I haven’t even sniffed yet, and am not gonna do it today since I’m wiped out from my covid booster yesterday (yay to having gotten it, anyway). And now it’s nap time…
Hope you are feeling better by now Pixel, that shot is a doozy!
A bottle and BUB of Shalimar MI! Noticed that Guerlain Advent calendar has some really great stuff this year (for the eye-popping sum of $720, which is too rich for me).
Shalimar MI seems to be the hot bottle of the quarter here at NST.
Well done me for sticking to no buy.
And congrats to those of you who bought something fragrant!
YAY you! I hope to follow your example for the 4th quarter.
I bought a mini of Henry and Rose Sheep’s Clothing when I ordered a full size bottle of Smyth as a birthday gift for my daughter. And a tiny Solinotes Rose from the grocery store. I have layered those 2.
I am on a no buy for rest of 2023 aside from samples I am exploring for 2024. I seem to be veering into expensive gourmand category and I am sure I will be finding some things for next year.
Good luck!
Only 1 for me this quarter. I jumped on the Shalimar MI bandwagon immediately. I didn’t want to miss out since I didn’t get to try MVP or the Tonka version.
I’m not entirely sure if I confessed the 4160 Tuesdays Hush Hush trio last quarter; plus I added bottle of Clouds to that order since it was coming over anyways. I’m weak, I know! So 4 additional bottles from last quarter. I chalk this purchase up to the stress of selling our condo and driving back home in the Spring; these probably don’t even count!
Clouds is my holy grail. Great choice!
Donatella and I are thick as thieves after a whirlwind tour of Paris this summer. I would tell you all about it but she made me sign a non disclosure agreement concerning our various whereabouts and olfactory exploits😬
🤣👍
Hahaha!
Excellent!
After hardly buying anything the last couple of years (a bottle or travel spray once or twice a year has been more my speed) I returned to the more highly fragrant world with three full bottle purchases this quarter:
1) Iris 39 1.7oz – I haven’t seen it in stock at LL in ages and sadly had to get rid of my turned (rather large) decant a few years back. The Nordies that stocked it locally has a habit of storing bottles improperly, so I didn’t want to buy from them even though they had it the last couple of years. And then I realized it was slowly disappearing from most other retailers, too, and heard it could be on the chopping block…so I went for it though LuckyScent, who can apparently still run down the street and have a fresh bottle made. 🙌🏼 It’s one of my favorites from when I first started collecting perfume, so I’m very happy to have it around for the fall!
2) Ylang 49 1.7oz – I loved this when it and the Lys came out, but picked up the Lys due to it being the more wearable of the two. I love the Lys, but honestly, this is probably the one I should have snagged the first time around. And once I broke my relative no-buy, well… 😂 So I grabbed this one and the following the next month.
3) Heeley Iris de Nuit 100mL – I tried this in the same sample order as the Iris 39 all those years back and loved it and went through a decant and thought, “Why not?” while I was ordering the Ylang.
No samples or minis or decants or travel sizes this quarter. This isn’t as gonzo as my early days, but I feel like I’ll definitely have to go back to no-buy land for a bit. I have myself limited to one smallish cabinet for my fragrances and it’s full.
If I were to get something from LL, Ylang 49 would be my first choice.
I got the Shalimar Iris, plus Tobacco Honey and Tonka Imperiale. Then I signed up for the Scents of Wood monthly subscription, first month’s bottle just shipped. Then there was a partial bottle of Angel’s Share, and a 30ml of CSP Vanille Banane just for fun. Oh, and the crowdfunded scents from 4160 Tuesdays Hush Hush and My Eau My.
Next quarter will be a doozy with the Guerlain Extraits coming out.
Good Guerlain haul 🙂 How are you liking Tobacco Honey?
It gives me a splitting headache if I wear it in anything but a homeopathic dose due to the synthetic oud base they used. I plan to spray some of it into a dabber bottle and put one dab on each wrist. It layers beautifully with Tonka Imperiale and I love the smell, just have to be judicious with application.
oof yeah that sounds tricky to wear. i can’t do that kind of synthetic amber-woody notes either.
My nosebrain reacts poorly to that synth oud as well, and as for the synthetic amber-woody accord that is everywhere these days, a perfumista I know calls it ‘screamwood.’
@DeniseH I feel you on that! Screamwood is so funny. I got so annoyed and went as far as to buy samples of all the synthetics so I can identify exactly which ones I hate. Turns out, Amberwood, Amber Extreme and Ambermax are the ones that fall in that category.
Ambroxan gets a bad rep but IMO its very different from the first 3 and is actually pleasantly musky for me.
Love “screamwood” as a note descriptor. That should join the NST lexicon!