Our fourth annual 'stepping back' poll: can this group of shameless enablers help each other not buy perfume? Let's find out.
Name a perfume you've been itching to buy but suspect you might not need, and tell us why you think it might not really be a good use of your money. Maybe everyone will talk you out of it.
If you participated in this poll last year, tell us if you ended up buying the fragrance anyway!
Note: image is Crater Lake [cropped] by aspearing at flickr; some rights reserved.
Crater Lake is one of the most BEAUTIFUL places I’ve been to…..one day I’ll go back!
At this point in my perfume collection, there is not a single perfume I need to buy. Notta. Zilch. I have enough to last me my lifetime.
BUT…perfume is always a WANT. And therefore, I’m sure I’ll continue to splurge, order samples, and keep the ScentBird coming month after month. Current want: Belk has a collection of Liquid Cashmere travel size, (Liquid Black, Liquid White, and Liquid Blush) that I would REALLY like to have for $42. Don’t need it! Will probably cave in anyway….. 🙂
Plus your girls will need some new scents too? I see sometimes you post about shopping with both of them..or maybe I have you mixed up with someone else.
It’s definitely ME with the 2 sweet smelling girlies! (And a 10 yr boy who is NOT interested! LOL)
Between the 3 of us, we are fully stocked for years to come!! We have perfumes, hand soaps, lotions, candles…..LOL
The day after Christmas, I went ahead and got some 50% gift sets to give them for Valentines. I bought Guess Girl and Katy Perry Royal Revolution for them. My son is getting a Nerf gun accessory set! 🙂 That’s why I totally admit that we are overstocked with things to spray around here!
I agree with you on Crater Lake! It is completely gorgeous on a sunny day, which is pretty rare, but the water is always clear. If you ever make it out on a hot day make sure you go swimming in the lake, at the end of the Cleetwood Cove trail.
I’ve never smelled any Donna Karan’s, so I’m afraid I’m currently unqualified to dissuade you from your purchase. Good luck!
Haha, yesterday my fiance accidentally ‘talked me down from the ledge.’ I was testing out Vero Profumo Rozy VdE. I was intrigued by the off-kilter tuberose and foresty cassis, and I was enjoying the smoky vetiver honey of the far dry-down. It exhibited lots of twists and turns and kept me entertained throughout the work day. I wanted it, but the price point is above and beyond my usual limits. When I got home, I asked my fiance what he thought. He hesitated for about 1.5 seconds before saying, pretty much verbatim: “Your perfume smells like feet, but not in a bad way. It smells like someone rubbed their feet with play-doh and now they actually smell pretty good.” Oh dear. I guess that Rozy’s not going to be on my list until I erase that comment from my memory.
This morning I am trying another sample. Zelda by En Voyage Perfumes is a really interesting, ice cold, almost minty magnolia right now. It has a tactile, three-dimensional, waxy-petal feeling and a backdrop that reminds me of rum, and when I first dabbed it on I got a lovely whiff of galbanum. I don’t have anything else like it. I’m only meeting Zelda for the first time, so I don’t want to be talked down yet. 😉
LOL! That story is priceless. On the other hand, I’ve been wanting to try Zelda too.
Zelda is worth trying out! Even if it turns out you don’t like it, it’s always fun to test drive a perfume with some personality.
I bought 5 ml of Rozy voile d’extrait for the same reasons you hesitated to buy a full bottle. Really 5 ml may be all you need. It’s highly concentrated. My rule is: use up a decant before buying a FB. I can’t tell you how much money this rule has saved me! (Lots!) Often the initial passion fades, as hard as that is to believe when you’re first swept off your feet by a new love. What a relief not to have spent the big bucks.
Sound advice! I wish I could live by this rule of decants more often. I think I may be starting to learn my lesson. I took a hard look at my collection recently and realized that I have a few large (50 or 100mL) bottles in my collection that are not used very often. I bought them after using up tiny 1mL sample vials, and now I regret them. If I get up the courage to make decants myself, perhaps I could spread the love. They would have been better off as 5 or 10mL decants.
Aw, honey – don’t be afraid of decants! There’s a wonderful guide to decanting at Bois de Jasmin if you aren’t sure where to start (she demonstrates the technique to decant without taking apart bottles). Personally, it’s a lot of fun decanting and I especially enjoy the odd mixture of scents left on my fingers. Also, decanting is useful when you go on trips (especially via airplane) and don’t want to bring a full bottle!
Oh my, I am once again not following the rules and confirming (and enabling) Zelda is gorgeous! I bought a FB after sampling. At the time I was waffling between this and Onda VdE, and chose Zelda due to price point. Also further justified my purchase by telling myself I need to support small indie perfumers in my home country. Further justification came when I told myself I have nothing else remotely like Zelda. She IS glorious.
That “feet smelling” story is hilarious ????
A fellow Zelda fan! (Yeah, at this point in my day I am confidently a fan of this fragrance.) Is the bottle as adorable in person as it appears in photos? And yes, it is nice to support small indie perfumers! Shelley is a talented perfumer, and also very sweet.
The bottle is lovely and so is Shelley Waddington…everything En Voyage that I’ve sampled has been great on me. Zelda is fascinating, there are many facets that appear at different times and it lasts forever. I have to enable because it was my favorite purchase from 2015, I really love it!
OK, now that I’m officially been enabled in an anti-enabling thread I’m moving Zelda to the top of the shortlist. 😉 I am so glad I tried the sample, finally. The list of notes didn’t do anything in particular for me so the poor sample was just sitting around in a basket for over a month! It makes me think I should branch out from my “usual suspects” and try more diverse fragrances.
HA! Your fiance should do reviews more often! That is pretty entertaining. 🙂
Yeah, you could rent him out to people like me who want to be talked out of buying stuff.
“Your perfume smells like feet, but not in a bad way. It smells like someone rubbed their feet with play-doh and now they actually smell pretty good.” Oh dear indeed!
I second!
I appreciate that he actually had something to say. My Mr. Spicebomb mostly just says “You smell good,” or “You smell spicy.” Not much feedback!
LOL! Most of the time his assessments aren’t quite this funny. He can ID certain notes and accords nowadays, so I’m never sure if I’ll get a “review” along the lines of “did you just clean the cat litter?” or “you smell nice, like plummy roses and cedar.”
Oooh – he’s got a better nose than I do. I want to smell like plummy roses and cedar! Which one is he reviewing with that assessment?
To be fair, I think anyone would have been able to come up with a similar comment after smelling the scent in question that time: SSS Rose Volupte, quite possibly the strongest and most straightforward plum and rose perfume in existence!
Since you like it, maybe don’t let your guy sniff you in Zelda? You know, just in case. 😉
Too late! XD He sniffed it and said that it reminds him of mentos candy. I don’t entirely disagree, and I’m totally OK with that. My gateway drugs to perfume were BPAL oils, and one of the first I tried and liked was Ultraviolet, which smelled of eucalyptus, mint, and violet. Zelda doesn’t have much in common with Ultraviolet besides a bit of floral chill, but it makes me feel pleasantly nostalgic.
Which flavor Mentos? My husband told me Apres l’Onde and Insolence smell like “the men’s room” or more specifically “urinal cakes”. I can actually totally see what he means, but I still love both scents.
He specified chewy wintergreen mentos… although I don’t think I’ve ever seen that flavor in stores? In either case, kudos for not letting “urinal cakes” get in the way of your enjoyment. 😉 I have actually never tried Apres L’Ondee or Insolence… I need to go remedy that soon!
XD His description was oddly specific, but perhaps even more odd is that I can exactly imagine the scent he described! It’s great that he can make you (and us) laugh. And good that you have somebody that can talk you off a ledge in person (my S.O. does the same, but only if I directly ask him to).
Is it weird that this makes me want to try it?
Well, if it does, I’ll join the weirdo club because now I want to try it, too.
Where were you when I bought a $54 bottle of 5 O’clock au Gingembre!!! 🙁
I’m excited though. I could own every export Lutens at that price.
I already own and very much enjoy 5 o’clock so I would have been no help.
I bought a $10 (5ml) decant of 5 o’clock and love it. $54 for a full bottle was a “have to” buy!! 🙂
Oooh, where did you find a $10 SL decant?? I’d love to get my hands on a few of those!!!
Ebay! I think it was pure luck….the auction closed within a few hours of me finding it. I really enjoy it, but I do have to be in the mood for it….It’s the only SL I have so far!
I’ve been eBay hunting for SL for more time than I should have; I’ll keep my eyes open for another auction like that 🙂 I am so happy you enjoy it (sometimes), though! I looove 5 o’clock gingembre and almost everything else from SL that I’ve tried, except for A la nuit and Serge noire. I own nothing though (yet! just you wait, eBay sales).
I haven’t been super tempted by anything so far this year. After I realized how much I had spent on fragrance last year I am trying to set up an actual budget for perfume. Since I tend to buy minis, decants and travel sizes I am hoping that $25 per month is enough. I also made a resolution to not buy anything new until I’ve worn everything in my collection at least once. That will give my monthly allotment a chance to accumulate, so I can buy something more expensive later in the year. Of course it may take a year to go through the collection.
Last year I also set aside money every month. It worked well! I’m doing it again this year, but I lowered the amount. But I also decided to set aside money for charities. If I can buy I can also give.
I love that philosophy!!
I do that too – the rule is, I can’t spend more on perfume than I do on charitable giving.
Same here. Church gets the largest chunk and my eyes popped when I got the annual statement!
That is a great idea! I could justify buying if I am also giving.
So smart. Helps me to have a budget for this as well. Being aware of where the $ goes makes all the difference and allows me to enjoy more.
Was just drooling over an unopened 15 ml bottle of vintage Mitsouko extrait for sale in a facebook group. I already have some vintage edt, which I love, specially in the summer, but I have never tried the extrait… I feel a need coming on! Pricy stuff though so reasons not to take the plunge would be appreciated.
My 70’s extrait is gorgeous and worth a sample but it is too ephemeral for the high prices. I only get two soft hours from it. I say get a 3ml dab decantand you’ll be set.
I found my bottle in an antique store, maybe10’ll for $80. But the settler have me a discount so I only paid $65. I’d do it again but I wouldn’t pay much more than that $65. I’m perfectly happy with my modern EdP for what it is worth
10ml. Damned phone!
Well 2 hours is rather too little to spend over a 100 € on. Thank you! I’ll keep an eye out for a somewhat affordable sample or mini though. I LOVE vintage minis!
I bought a new Mitsouko edp from Fragrancenet (very good price) and I am very happy with it. I also have the vintage extrait and they are very similar so I wouldn’t pay a big amount for the extrait, doesn’t justify the price difference
An other very good reason not to spend! Thank you! I can’t find the current Mitsouko over here so I’ve never tried it. I think I need to!
Though, on second though… What with the whole LVMH vs. Monsieur Guerlain debacle I don’t think I want to support LVMH by buying current Guerlains. I think a boycott is in order. Only vintage Guerlain for me!
That is too funny! I swear someone texted me the photo of the same bottle (I bet she is in your Facebook group). Honestly, that seems like a lot of money for a tiny bit of extrait. I passed. I keep hoping I’ll stumble across a better deal in a dusty old perfume shop or estate sale (these things do happen to me). Does that help?
I’m afraid that stumbling across a better deal will never happen. Mitsouko is too well known and well loved for that to ever happen I think. (And I have never found vintage perfume for sale over here so the dusty bottle at an estate sale will not be happening.) I know the person who is selling too, which makes it extra tempting… feeling secure is worth a bit of money. But I think I’ll hold back for now. I can satisfy my Mitsouko craving with the vintage edt that I have. 🙂
In no 22 and cleaning before guests arrive to visit baby!
I am have been wanting to buy 31 Rue Cambon.
Let me know your thoughts
Back to dusting with one crazy toddler and one screaming newborn.
Allow me to enable you to stop cleaning…you have both a toddler and a newborn. If guests are coming over, they should be prepared to a) bring you a casserole, and b) do a load of laundry, c) ignore any dust that may exist anywhere in your house. Oh, and d) make you a cup of tea while you simultaneously chat with them and attend to the newborn. While they are making the tea, they can also hang out with the toddler.
After reading this-I stopped cleaning. Handed the newborn off to my husband and took a nice long hot shower. Heaven.
You are right..who cares about dust!
Yes!
So true, Missionista! Thank you for saying that.
Delighted to read this. Good work Missionista. Treat yo’ self!
All true! Well said, M.
Listen to this lady! No more cleaning.
Totally agree with missionista…..(Although I would be dusting too, LOL)…..let the housework go and enjoy! The guests won’t notice the dust! They’ll only have eyes for Baby and family! 🙂
True! They will focus on the babies not our apartment.
I can’t tell you not to buy 31 Rue Cambon, because I bought a full bottle and absolutely love it!!! I would have to say it is by far one of my favorites.
When I look at my perfume wardrobe, I think I have no 22 and no 5, do I need Rue Cambon? But I feel as though its much different then those two. What do you think? ITs just so elegant and I feel very chic when I wear it.
How often to you reach for 31 RC?
Not sure what 22 is like, but Rue to me is much different than no 5. I reach for it about once/week.
I don’t know 22 and seriously dislike no. 5, but I reach for Rue once a week. I’m currently having a mad love affair with Coromandel and reach for it 2-3 times a week.
Good morning, everyone! lovestosmellgood, there is nothing else quite like 31RC. It is quietly assertive, elegant but not in a cold or distant way, and so versatile it is very good value for money. I think that the world would be a more peaceful place if everyone had access to a bottle: it’s the sort of perfume that induces “best behaviour”. The United Nations should know about it, truly…. I cannot possibly talk you down, because I fully intend to buy a b/u bottle quite soon, in case it get reformulated.
Love this and your completely nailed the power of 31 RC.
It is a best behavior type of fragrance.
I’m absolutely no help here. I’m also wearing No 22 today and itching to buy a bottle of 31 RC!
Scent twins!
I do love 31 RC
Triplets. I bought a small sample of the Extrait at the recent decant sale. It is gorgeous.
Thank goodness for missionista’s advice and bravo to you for following it! I hope you have a serene day from here on out.
31 Rue Cambon is so lovely, and I really think it suits pretty much any occasion. Elegant and chic are definitely needed as a break from mommy time, right? Have you tried all the exclusifs? If not, then perhaps you could do that first and make sure which one you like the best, and which formulation. Of course, you might end up wanting them all, but fortunately they’re easy enough to find and there’s no hurry. And well, Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and you’re never too old for an Easter basket, either.
That is my problem. I have tried several of the exclusifs and would like most of them. I decided on 31 Rue for the elegance of it and Beige for use at work.
I hear you. It’s a dangerous line to sample.
Agree. Chanel Exclusifs are seriously good juice. Assuming you like the Chanel aesthetic, there’s not a bad one in the bunch.
Beige is one of the only decants I’ve ever used up. Super work friendly. I also love La Pausa for work and am getting dangerously close to finishing that decant.
But my favorite is definitely CdR.
I have, I wore Beige for my wedding- but then handed it off to someone else. 22 is my favorite, I didn’t like Misia, Jeresy is ok, 18 was fleeting and so was 28 la pausa. I went through one bottle of Bel Respiro but I don’t want to repurchase that one again
I just checked another decanting site, The Posh Peasant. 31 Rue Cambon is “temporarily out of stock” but who knows, maybe she’ll have it again. She does still carry Chanel.
lovestosmellgood – 28 La Pausa requires a heavy hand. I use 8 sprays per wearing and it lasts all day! I can’t wait for an extrait to come out (not starting a rumor by the way)!
Wow. I really have to try spraying something 8 times. You are so brave! I don’t think I’ve every sprayed more than 2 sprays of anything in my entire collection.
La Pausa for me only lasts from spray to wrist, then totally gone. Great trip, yes, but frustrating for that. 8-10 sprays may be in order here.
I love 31 rue Cambon and wish I could buy another bottle so hopefully someone else can chime in.
I loved 31 RC at first and went through a sample, but since getting a 30 ml decant I’ve pretty much gone off it. It feels too plushy, sweet and overpowering. I’ve been torn between trying to swap it and hanging on to see if the love comes back.
I know how that is. I got a freebie awhile back that I tried to love. No dice. I finally have it away.
31rc would be super in demand if you do decide to part with it.
My policy is the keep the sample a year and try it in every season. Sometimes the weather can make a big difference on my impression of a scent (for instance, BWF can easily become cloying in summer).
This is a tough one since now you can’t just buy another decant. But it looks like quite a few people here are wanting 31 RC. Maybe you can all hook up and do a split?
Another option is to keep an eye out on other sites to see if smaller bottles are available. I found a seller recently who was selling sets of 2 each of the 4 ml bottles of some of the Exclusifs (so 8 ml total.) I bought 3 sets for about half of what one FB costs. 8 ml is the perfect amount for me.
Ah! That is the perfect amount!
It might be hard to come by another seller offering sets, but you could probably find a 4ml, then get a 2nd one if you feel the need.
I can be of no help here. I drained quite a few decants of Cambon and will get a FB as soon as I have a chance. it’s so chic and empowering. And deliciously satisfying. I bet you have been working very hard. You deserve it.
I can’t be of help, either. The Exclusifs are very persuasive, once sniffed. I bought a fb of Rue and Bois des Iles. I have a decant of Coromandel, but absolutely have to have a fb.
No regrets!
Do we have any updates on the report? rumor? suspicion? that Chanel sent a cease and desist letter to decanters to force them to stop selling decants of Chanel perfume?
I mentioned this to my Mr. Spicebomb and he thought that if it *is* true, the decanters should fight it. He points out that something similar happened when musicians/producers didn’t want used CDs being sold. They lost that fight, of course, as once something is owned, we have a right to do with it as we please. I can appreciate that Chanel is the big dog in the room, but I would love to hear that someone decided to test the strength of their bite.
Yes- surrender to chance stopped decanting- and I am sure I saw Chanel on their website
31 Rue Cambon is WORTH the money, if you can do it. You will get a MASSIVE bottle, which last you for at least several years.
Onda VdE. She continues to haunt me and I didn’t purchase last year and will not purchase this year. I am leaning towards a small decant….
SOTD is PG Felanilla. I’m not a fella but I love me some nilla! This is an angora sweater like scent and even though it skews a bit masculine on me, I love it 🙂
Get the decant. Surrender to Chance has 15% off through Sunday night. Yes, I’m enabling but only on a small scale 😉
Unfortunately they don’t have the VdE listed in stock. ☹️
TPC has it, Deva. I’m sure they’ll have a sale soon.
And yep, just now got the email from TPC: 12% off, code SUPERBOWL50.
Ha, you may have convinced me ????
Sadly, this does not apply to me. You inadvertantly prolonged my No Buy as I had about $90’s worth of decants in my cart and then couldn’t get any percentage off and said to myself “fagedaboudit!”
Deva, the email says that the sale starts today, 2/6 at 6pm EST and continues until 6pm tomorrow. I betcha that’s why you didn’t see the discount.
Or, you could fagedaboudit!
Love Felanilla but I’ve only sampled it a few times.
I’ve never tried this one, but read the review last night in The Guide. Do you get iris and green banana?? Because I love both of those smells, and can’t believe I’ve never tried it…
I am not very good at picking out notes but I got mostly sort of lightly spiced vanilla/banana. I’ve only tried it a few times at night. I didn’t notice any Iris. Perhaps Deva or someone with more familiarity could chime in?
I haven’t sniffed it in a long time. I kept the empty sample vial for quite a while and would often uncap and get a good snootful of it when a needed it. I remember it as a warm animalic, don’t remember any fruits and flowers, but then I’m not good at picking out individual notes. My perfume descriptors are 1) ugh, gross! 2) not bad 3) hey, I like this one! 4) omg, this is fantastic, and last but not least 5) a gasp of surprise and joy at the beauty of a mostly colorless fluid, eyes roll back in my head, and loss of consciousness.
The VdE was a number 5 for me. I have a bit of the edp and that concentration definitely has some fruits and flowers in it, hence the reason I don’t really care for it.
I buy based only on reviews and comments because I can’t get my hands on much in stores. I have a very long list of scents I want to buy someday , and one at the top is Champagne de Bois. i won’t buy samples–too many already–and it can be hard to find decants of some indie scents, so I keep stalling on this (among others). What say you?
I also have a question: To this day my idea of what sandalwood smells like is based on a discontinued sandalwood for men that was carried by Crabtree & Evelyn. How can I obtain a realistic appreciation of sandalwood these days? I have many perfumes that contain it, but I can hardly ferret it out.
Laurie sells 5ml decants for something like $17. CdB is a big scent so 5ml will probably hold you over for a while. Also, you may not want a FB if you already own Bois des Iles.
This! Champagne de Bois is a wonderful deal in so many ways. Such a good pricepoint and indeed lasts so well. Sorry I can’t walk you back: I actually think it’s one of the best possible buys.
Haha, ditto. I guess I’m failing to abide by the rules here, but… Laurie at SSS makes it easy to indulge. I love Champagne de Bois and you can get reasonably priced decants right at the source.
I can’t talk you back on this one; Champagne de Bois is just beautiful, long-lasting (as everyone has pointed out), and Laurie’s 5 ml travel sprays are really nice metal over glass containers.
Why did I not know that?? I appreciate everyone’s honesty here in not talking me out of the buy. Many thanks to all. ????
Maybe a little jar of Pacifica sandalwood (solid perfume)….or sniff some sandalwood essential oil? (You could even sniff a tester in the store)…..
Buy a Mysore Sandalwood soap on Amazon. http://boisdejasmin.com/2014/11/mysore-sandal-soap-bath-body-review.html
Great idea. Awesome soap.
Need to try this! Thks!
I do have the soap. I just want to know if that’s really how sandalwood smells. It’s more subtle than I imagined, but of course my imagination is based on that old men’s cologne. Thank you all for the helpful suggestions. NSTers are the best!
I know you don’t want more samples, but Eden Botanicals carries a sampler pack of six different sandalwoods for $15. They are pure, unadulterated sandalwood of high quality. You can also buy eensy samples for $3 from them. They give you a good idea of the difference between the different types, and you can use them later to add to lotions, candles, or to layer with your perfumes.
Interesting! Filing this nugget away.
Me, too. Thanks!
I second Holly…the essential oils are amazing and I have bought every single sample pack and have not been disappointed!
That’s a terrific suggestion that I’m going to follow through on! Thanks so much, Holly.
You’re welcome! I’ve found these sample packs to be very helpful, and like bardot, I’ve bought them all. I do want to mention that the amounts you receive are miniscule, but enough to give you a good sense of the different variations. In the case of sandalwood, a little goes a very long way. It starts off soft and does not have huge projection, but it is quite tenacious.
Go to an antique shop and ask if they have any fans or decorative boxes made of sandalwood…and take a deep breath!
Long ago I had a great aunt’s carved sandalwood fan. It was beautiful and smelled warm and lovely. ????
My birthday is coming in a couple of weeks & I already decided on a perfume that I’m going to treat myself with and you won’t talk me out of it.
On the other hand as an obsessive iris lover I keep thinking of getting a bottle of Huitieme Art Shermine and since few days ago I’ve been thinking about buying Andy Tauer new Lonesome Rider because it has iris as one of the notes. And it costs $75 for the time being. But I didn’t even sniff it!
Help!
Sniff it first! 🙂
2nd that. Tauer’s samples sets on his website are reasonably prices and you can choose your samples. Shipping cost is not bad either
Also the problem here is that Andy can only ship his new perfume to US or Switzerland and I’m not located at any of those… Well, I guess this one will be a no for now unless I can have a perfume mule
What about STC, TPC, Posh Peasant or Olfactif?
They are all foreign services. I guess I will just wait until Lonesome Rider can be bought in Poland and I will get a sample then
Oh, well in that case I think maybe your problem is solved: alas it’s not really an option at present, for the $75 price, so you might as well wait to sample first.
(But I am very excited to hear about your birthday fragrance! Happy returns of the soon-to-be-day!)
Birthday perfumes definitely don’t count! One SHOULD celebrate a birthday! 🙂
Of course! And I will!
Order one of the nice Lonesome Rider samples first unless you are one of the people for whom every Tauer works. I was tempted too, until I remembered just how horrifyingly wrong the wrong Tauer can be for me.
Not every of his creations are good on me, especially his latest Sotto La Luna Gardenia and Tuberose were meh to my nose
I liked the Tuberose and really, really disliked the Gardenia.
Ditto. The gardenia was not for me but tuberose was lovely.
What are you giving yourself for your birthday?
Thanks for your review of Shermine, btw. I bought a sample, and it’s lovely, very unusual. I have begun to think there’s a Guillaumeade!
I agree that you should not buy Lonesome Rider unsniffed, but if you decide you want it, I’d be happy to order it and send it to you. Otherwise, I’ll get you a sample and then I’ll mail it off to you. Problem solved!
Hello Holly!
I think I’ll treat myself to Atelier Cologne Mimosa Indigo. I’ll just wait until it appears at Sephora to buy with with discount (Atelier prices are going up as of this month)
I’ll be very happy if you could get a sample of Lonesome Rider for me. Perhaps we could think of some slightly bigger exchange. I’ll be happy to send you some goodies as well. I’ve successful with US swaps, all my packages were delivered in perfect condition.
Great! I’ll email you.
Looking forward to trying this Atelier after reading your review 😉
Interested especially in the leather note in this.
It does sound great, doesn’t it?
It would be nice if Sephora offered all of the Ateliers in the 7 ml spray size. (And offered the entire line.) I’m planning on picking up the Bergamote during the spring sale.
Ooooh and I will email you and Holly because if she is willing to be mule, I can send you some Shermine!
Great!
Emailing you too dearest Holly seeing that you may be muling for Lucas 🙂
I am definitely muling!
Blind buys can end badly
Failing to step back! Last week I got the last small bottle of Shalimar EDP at Ulta. Today I went in for some shampoo and came out with a 35 ml bottle of Chanel No. 5 EDP! I tel me self I am replenishing staples. LOL!
I know…I just bought a 5ml vintage mini of Samsara and a 1960 Shalimar Extrait off the Bay. The prices were excellent so I couldn’t resist.
I Never ever go to the bay! Those sound like excellent finds, tho. Vintage Samsara is sanalwoody fragrant wonder!
My curiosity always gets the better of me. I really don’t need to own them but I do want to smell them. ????
Perfumes ARE staples!
Samsara is my sandalwood bliss!
I haven’t sniffed the vintage of this one. I *almost* like the current formulation, but it’s missing something. Makes me think I’d be happy with an older bottle, but I’ve forced myself not to blind-buy one off of ebay or whatever.
I have an older bottle – the clear coffin with a gold top. It is different then the current version and I blind bought it, not trying to be an enabler
My Angelique Noire and Spiritueuse Double Vanille bottles are dangerously low… But I am telling myself if I can wait until my birthday in April, I will feel better about myself. I also want to buy Encens Satin and NR L’Absolu from Beautyspin but I am trying to wait until birthday as well. Sigh.
I’m in the Guerlain camp as well itching for a bottle of Gourmand Coquin.
Dont you agree this is the perfect Valentine Day gift? 😉
Yes, plus the Guerlains layer so well! I’ve come up with some divine combos 😉
Do share your combos
I am an Angelique Noir fan myself- spray lightly until your birthday
Thank you, I am going to do this. Sage advice.
I wore NR L’absolu today. I think it is a beautiful scent.
I have enough new fbs and samples (I ordered even more samples after my big load from Germany!), but I am thinking of ordering some Guerlain samples when I buy my Coromandel. I can’t find shops here that sell or have testers of Spiritueuse Double Vanille and other classics I’ve never yet tried. I got to sniff Vol de Nuit while in Germany and loved it, but held back from buying it because I had many samples on my skin and didn’t trust my nose. The only way I can get samples reasonably nearby is to order from Belgium, and that’s only possible if I’m buying a fb of something. I do need to have at least one Guerlain, don’t I?
Little voice saying “Yes”.
No temptations for me… so far. I made (and fulfilled) a New Year’s resolution to reduce my perfume collection by at least two-thirds, keeping the scents that truly felt like close friends and consigning the rest. Having stepped back, I hope to stay back… and whenever the itch to acquire stirs again, I will try hard to be content with one sniff.
A really impressive accomplishment. I’m too new at this to do that yet, but hope to be able to if needed. Whatever the number of bottles, if we are contented and at peace at the end of the day, IMHO that’s what it’s about.
So true. It took me a long time (and too many bottles of perfume) to learn this.
So good to see you here again. I am sorry to hear of your health prognosis. Thank you for posting your archives. I got such pleasure out of reading your posts, and how you often connected scent to history. I will enjoy reading them again.
Hey there Lindaloo, it’s good to see you too– many thanks for the friendly greetings & encouraging words. Glad to peek back into Perfumeland, it’s been a long time…
Where did you consign your bottles? An antique store or similar? (Not shopping, mind you, just curious how it is done. 🙂 )
My husband discovered a very hip independent consignment shop several towns over. He had a good experience selling collectibles there & suggested I bring my hoard. They gladly accepted it and split the profit from any sales with us. Good deal. : )
M, I can’t overstate how happy I am to see you here. Do any of your old email addresses still work? If not, info at arielleshoshana dot com whenever you’re up to it. Lots and lots of love.
Dear Ari, sweet scent sister, thank you from my heart and soul. I’m parfumieren at gmail, and I *shall* write to you.<3
Yikes! Sounds like a perfume crash diet. Not for me.
“Perfume crash diet”– yes, sort of. 🙂 I found out the hard way that too much to choose from leads to a fear of making any choice of all…
I find myself buying less expensive bottles that are a good deal and I enjoy these purchases but then I think I could have purchased 1 bottle of something I adore that is spendy and not purchased all these good deals!
Same here! I’m trying to stop buying the good deals and focus on my true loves.
We’ve all been there. Keep those spendy bottles in the forefront of your mind!
I can’t help you because I do this all the time. I could knock a few pricey full bottles off my wish list but find myself ordering samples or picking up bargains instead. Some of my bargains lately have been on my wish list, but some of them haven’t. I don’t do this with clothing or anything else.
I do the same, but there are very few (if any) FBs of anything that I particularly want.
I do it too.
help!! Naomi Goodsir Iris Cendre has been put in endless shopping carts without hitting the purchase button.
Haven’t sampled it
Love all other in this label
Should I get a back up bottle of phi de rose Kandahar or take the leap or what? This is taking up lots of head time ????
Apsara, do you have any other irises like SL Iris Silver Mist? Iris Cendre is in similar manner but more “tamed”
Yes, it was nearly identical to ISM on me, so I ended up not purchasing Iris Cendre.
This killed my lemming. Thanks!
Sample it first. I was absolutely certain I was going to love it. I didn’t. Good thing I got a sample!
Ditto!
I liked it and even I want to sample again before I buy: not a no-brainer for me either. Strong yes on sample 🙂
Buy the bottle of PHI and a sample of NG. If they have Iris Cendre at STC, this weekend would be a good time to try it (15% off.)
excellent advice!!
why didn’t I think of that. I am so easily lulled.
I have a 3 ml decant of Guerlain Ne m’Oubliez Pas in my STC basket – $35 with this weekend’s discount code. This would be a blind buy, but a fairly safe and affordable one, I think. Then again, my resolution this year was to stop buying deals and decants to focus on the big game (31 RC, Osmanthe Yunnan, Beloved).
That is a lot of $ per ml for a Thierry Wasser. Have you loved anything by him that much?
Good point. I guess not. I think I want some because it’s exclusive. :-/
I know I never have!
I haven’t tried this one- what’s it like?
I’ve never tried it, but it’s supposed to be a spicy, woody oriental.
That’s a lot for 3ml, unless you are very seriously considering a purchase of that bottle and need to test it first, I would save your $$ for a FB.
I’m definitely not considering a FB (over $500!). I’ve stepped back from the edge. 🙂
Don’t blind buy it. Very few of the recent Guerlains–sadly, because I adore the vintage ones–are anything special. Save up for a true love that you have tested more than once.
I was about to look at the Barney’s website because I had been considering the Frederic Malle 15 th Anniversary Collection Box after missing the last one, and having exerted control lately, But instead, I checked in here first and coincidentally found this amazing topic! I already have POAL and the small refill spray of Carnal Flower and Musc Ravageur. Realistically, who needs them all? Except that they are already organized 😉 .
The splitmeet is next week…you could always wait and see if you could find takers for the ones you don’t want before you buy (?)
Hi Robin! Is the split meet next week or the week after?
You’re right, the week after! Sorry about that.
To help you wait patiently, the ever so amazing Barney’s beauty bag event will be coming in a month or so 😉 That is helping me wait for my next Malle!
Great strategy!
I bought the new coffret as soon as it came out. I love it! A collection of well-made, diverse fragrances. (Don’t really care about the book.)
I know, not talking you off the ledge. But I never claimed to be a nice person. 😉
Wendysue! It is a GREAT deal and absolutely wait ’til the Beauty Bag Event. Sorry, not sorry — MWAHAHAHAHAHA
Sounds strange for the price tag but it truly is a great deal.
What is the Beauty Bag event?
Good question!
Twice a year, Barneys has a gift with purchase event where if you spend $200 (or $250 not so sure) on any brand combination of beauty stuff you get a “Beauty Bag”, essentially a huge make-up bag filled with samples, some of which are actually full size (see, I got spoiled by Barneys, hence my tendency to buy ginormous perfume “samples”). The event is usually February and September but I remember one year being March and October. The event in the fall usually coincides with when the Le Labo City Exclusives visit other cities.
So this is my problem too–I would’ve done it, except 2015 was already the year I bought 30ml and 50ml of my two favorites from FM (before I found out about the coffret. Of course.) And that will hold me for quite a long time on both of those–so I’d be spending $590 to have my less-loved FMs. Doesn’t make so much sense, for me at least. Do you have many more you would def wear though? You could look and see what they go for individually–if the sum is only like $200, maybe just buy those and consider it $400 saved!
I really want to try Narcissus and Osmanthus from Dame Perfumery… and they are such a bargain at 5ml for $8.50!! Surely worth sampling?? My favorite osmanthus is from The Different Company, and I LOVED the top notes of Ostara but didn’t care for the warm drydown… has anyone tried these and know how they compare?
I JUST put in an order for the gardenia soliflore and the the mandarin, neroli, ceder one… $17… No tax, no shipping. Hardly broke a sweat!
eswift83, bardot was talking about these here on NST this past week and she loves them. If I didn’t have so many samples I haven’t gotten to, I’d buy them in a heartbeat. Jeffrey is such a sweetheart, too.
Ok I know i am supposed to talk you out of this but I say “Get em!!”
Oh and the osmanthus is interesting…it morphs on my skin every few hours…starts off real sweet and citrusy, then gets “tea like” and then “figgy” …it keeps changing…my only experience with osmanthus is the essential oil from Eden Botanicals which is more “apricoty” …the Narcissus is one when I first smelled said “What the heck is this?” but the drydown is gorgeous!!!! I love it…and I also love the Mimosa…and the Rose is so fresh and dewy and blends well with the other soliflores to freshen them up…the mimosa blends well with the other soliflores to soften them up…and the musk blends well with all the soliflores (today I have combined the musk with the rose…tomorrow I may try the rose with the Black Flower Mexican Vanilla)……goodness they are all good! I know….I am supposed to be talking you out of this….sorry!!!! I am breaking the rules of this post :)!!
Hahaha! Now I’m intrigued!
Oh man… I think sometime this week I might break down and try them…
I can’t help talk you down either since I ordered all of them the other day. I will, however, compare them to Ostara for you when I get my order. I love the opening to Ostara but it suddenly turns all evil laundry detergent on me after about ten minutes. I will try a few more times but I really don’t like that drydown. Haven’t tried TDC Osmanthus so won’t be any help there.
Thanks so much for doing a comparison for me! I look forward to it!
Can’t help you, either. The Dame soliflores are on my “must buy to try” list in BOLD. Normally I avoid niche since they are usually too expensive, are missing a “wow” factor, and tend to discontinue fragrances regardless of whether they are good or not. That said, I have a soft spot for small businesses and would love to support a one-man shop that offers scents with glowing reviews by NSTrs and official reviewers alike at reasonable prices.
Oh dear, this turned into an enabler post. Sorry, Robin!
No help here- the Narcissus is my favorite of the Soliflores, and they’re very fairly priced.
I really loved the way everyone ‘reclaimed’ their perfumes yesterday, a great reminder that we don’t experience perfumes in sterile lab environments, or carry our scents around on blotter strips, but embrace them within our own life stories without the need for judgment or stars.
My perfume temptation is Joy. I’ve put off buying this perfume for years and years and years (did I say years) because deep down I think the experience of yearning for a scent might be as pleasurable as owning it. I don’t want to wake up with it on my desk, and think , ‘and now what?’
I have scents I have avoided buying for just that reason!
Thank you. So well said.
As for Joy…my mom had some of the most beautiful fragrances while I was growing up. I only recently understood the gems she had on her vanity. She recently gave me her Bal de V and No.5. But she would not part with the Joy!
And I have bought scents and ended up with exactly that reaction!
Great perspective, and reminder.
Yes, to all of this!
Joining the chorus of “Yes!!”
Well said, however I have quite the opposite mindset. Perhaps because I tend to over-analyze and obsess? So yearning is not an emotion I can enjoy for a long period of time…
Given the years and years (and did I say years? 😉 ) of fragrance development I feel rather like I am constantly trying to catch up. Every year there also seem to be more and more fragrances that could possibly make me fall in love, so much so that I have no worry that I will ever be able to say “now what?” That possibility of finding a new scent that makes me swoon helps make perfumes exciting for me.
Why simply yearn after an unrequited love when you know you can win it? Why deny yourself the possibility of falling in love all over again after realizing new facets? Why not live life fully and be confident you will at least learn from disappointments?
Sorry if this sounds like an overbearing rant (and after considering, this seems like another enabler post – sorry, Robin!). However, I wish you the best and sincerely hope one day you can attain Joy.
But I can still smell it without owning it…just as I can enjoy a beautiful art work, or stunning landscape, or foreign land without having it in my Hoem, or within sight. Not having it makes it special. But, good companions are also worth their weight in gold so I understand your view point completely.
Sorry, What I said sounds pompous..what I meant was I like what you’re saying. And you should get the Eau Savauge. That was my dad’s perfume, when he was alive, and although I’ve only worn it once since his death, I love it.
Oh dear, I want so many pretty things I’d be ashamed to tell you all of them! Right now at this very minute, however, what I want most is a bottle of Ambre Narguile. I have to wait until the end of June when I’m in Melbourne, because I can’t buy it in A-NZ, but unless you can come up with 4 convincing reasons, a bottle will be mine! On the other hand, I’m also very keen to place an order with Luckyscent (they will post to A-NZ) for a bottle of something (anything) that you have all agreed is wonderful. This will be very expensive AND a blind buy, so I wouldn’t mind being talked back from this particular cliff edge. I feel it crumbling away beneath my toes as we speak!
Oh heavens, June is so far, far away. Who knows what will happen between now and then?
I believe you bought a bottle of Wit unsniffed, hmm? How did that work out?
Ah, Wit. Mmmm…that works better for other people than for me, sadly. I like it, and I wear it, but other people like it more on me than I do. I seem to miss a whole heap of the fresh top notes and go straight to smelling the base. But I often have good luck with blind buys: Rahat Loukoum is a case in point.
Not wanting to enable, but Luckyscent includes free samples with purchases, so that could be seen as an investment to avoid future blind buys 🙂 Also an offset against the horrendous postage costs.
Aha! You see, Gaynor, I knew you were a right-minded person! My thinking exactly! I just need to decide what– I swing between Salome and Anubis; I dither over L’Air du Desert Marocain; I wonder about the Slumberhouse offerings. When I can’t sleep, which is often, I wander round the website, fingering this and stroking that, but I don’t get any more decisive!
Me too! I spend a lot of time just looking at what I might buy, checking the exchange rate, thinking “that’s only X many coffees”, etc. Then after a while I feel I can justify a purchase because I’ve invested so much time contemplating it.
Anubis was a bit too medicinal for me, but Salome is on my list of future FBs.
Perfume is such a dangerous hobby for us insomniacs! 🙂
Have you tested Ambre Narguille…just asking as it’s top of my list too. i am convinced it is ‘ the one’ despite never having tried it. But 4 reasons not to buy:
1. Some of your other perfumes might feel neglected and sad if they suddenly find themselves pushed to the back of the shelf.
2. Number 19 might get jealous and refuse to play nicely again
3. Your new work mates might become so distracted by how good you smell that they forget to work and your whole department may fall into disarray.
4. As a result of the newly signed TPPA all perfume will be discounted to $5 a litre so it would be unwise to fork out $$$ before it is ratified….yeah, right!
Hi Kanuka,
Popping in to say that Ambre Narguille sounded fabulous to me as I love tobacco notes and warm amber scents. I also adore the smell of hubbly bubblies. Actually, as it often turns out for me, i don’t like it at all. It’s just too sweet and smells like apple crumble on my skin.
Oh no…you are making me feel hungry! Apple crumble with a big dollop of cream. What could be better for a Sunday breakfast.
I re-sampled the white cube Narciso yesterday and this time my brain went, Nougat! Sticky, sweet, nutty nougat….cut me a slice, feed me….I had nougat cravings all day.
Really? Now I have to try N again 🙂
I have tested AN– my optician turns out to be a perfumista, and we have exchanged samples. He was kind enough to give me a very generous sample a few weeks back, and I fell heavily in love. On me it has a distinctly apple crumble note, all buttery and cinnamony and caramelised apple, yet I don’t feel like pudding in it. Other people who have tried it don’t get the apple so much. The dry down is sweet, but not sugary, and is cut by a gentle amber glow. It’s a bit like light coming through golden stained glass. As you can see, though your four reasons form the basis of an original and engaging argument, you are not going to pull me back. In fact, I LOVE the idea of stopping work from being done because I smell beguilingly delicious…are you old enough to remember the bra advertisement from the sixties, with the tagline, “I dreamed I stopped the traffic in my Maidenform bra”? It showed a girl with boobs compressed into an improbable pointy shape wandering around downtown somewhere, looking more than a little gormless, though I suppose it might be hard to have a normal facial expression when your boobs have had to take on the shape of ice cream cones. Anyhow (now that’s out of the way), I could dream I stopped research in my Ambre Narguile. Or something.
I’m breaking the rules here, but this is such a great scent for Autumn that you’ll really be missing out if you hold out until June.
Oh, you’re kind to encourage an early purchase, but I’m in Aotearoa-New Zealand., so June is the beginning of our winter. Also, we don’t have an Hermes specialist store in Auckland (that I know about, anyway) so unless I can find a mule, I have to wait until I’m in Australia to buy it. I think I can possess my soul in patience until then. I still have some if the sample left,band ibwill eke it out–save it for high days and holidays, perhaps.
I love the apple in Nude in the fall.
Do you remember the Ponds advert: Oh Marvin, I never dreamed you’d want to marry me? As a kid I thought that was hilarious…and I don’t remember the bra advert ( though I do remember being dragged into Farmers as a 14 year old and my mum, being frugal, buying me a bra I would grow into).
I think Melbourne and AN sound like a fabulous combination. Such a great city and what a happy time you will have at the Hermes shop, testing and watching the to and froing of all the other Hermes customers out of the corner of your eye.
Yes! That advertisement annoyed my mother enormously. She gave me many a lecture along the lines of “brains and character last; good humour attracts; beauty is transient and it doesn’t come out of a pot”. I know I wanted to believe that she was right, but all evidence was to the contrary in my teenaged world: my best friend, you see, had legs past her ears, eyelashes like a Jersey cow and boyfriends in droves. Her chancy disposition and rather grim outlook on life didn’t seem to be a handicap!
Oh, you make me laugh…’chancy disposition and grim outllook’ I can just picture her.
I love the idea of a bra ‘that you would grow into’.
My sister is a lot younger than I am, and my mother was never one for spending a lot of money on us, least of all on underwear, so my poor little sister had really awful bra’s. So I took her to a much more trendy shop and got her one of her own choosing. The most memorable part was that she tripped on entering the shop, and sort made a near nose-dive into all the assorted underwear. All in all, it was a very merry expedition!
Austenfan, you sound like the best sister ever!
You can order just samples from Luckyscent, too, and I’d recommend ordering a large number of samples of the many perfumes that have piqued your interest here, rather than one unsniffed bottle. That way, you also learn more about what brands you love and which commenters are your scent twins, and the range of the art.
This is not necessarily less expensive that a bottle, but it might be more interesting.
Samples from Luckyscent have saved me from several expensive errors! But also made my Full Bottle Someday list grow, I must admit.
Waterdragon, have you checked whether First In Fragrance also stocks what it is you want from Luckyscent? With the dismal exchange rate, FIF is actually much cheaper.
Also, when in Melbourne there’s a niche perfume store- Peony. Maybe you could do some sniffing of hard-to-finds while there 🙂 (it would prevent potential blind-buys!)
I haven’t, but I will. And I can wait for Melbourne…I suppose. Just about. Maybe. My birthday is at the end of May, though….I love Downunder, but the perfume situation is very trying.
My wishes are, as usual, quite modest. I only really need a bottle of Guerlain’s Une Rose Nacrée du Désert, Amouage Ubar, and By Kilian’s Beyond Love and A Taste of Heaven. I’m sure this will be easily resolved.
LOL! Sure, no biggie 😉 I give you permission to buy them all, today.
I wore Rose Nacrée earlier this week and really liked it. I’m holding out hope that maybe there’s something similar at a much lower price point. Like maybe an attar..?
The thing is, I already own so many roses, but this one is soooo good. Have you read the review on Bois de Jasmin?
I have – that’s why I ordered a decant. It’s really beautiful. I’ve got a ton of roses, too, and another one is hard for me to justify. I wear them a lot at night, though. Rose is my standard evening/bedtime comfort scent.
😉
Hahahahaha I am so glad someone understands my predicament. There’s sort of nothing I want, just my own bottles of Memoir Woman, Vanille 44, and Helmut Lang EDP. Nbd.
I love (but do not own) all three of those. Secret twins?
Ooh! This really seems like something we ought to be able to take advantage of!
The entire full bottle collection (six in all) of Dame Perfumery’s Soliflores….I have not only enjoyed them all individually but they layer beautifully together as well as with his new Musk! (oh yeah, so that means I need an fb of the Musk too :)!!!!
Have you tried the non-soliflores? (What I’m really asking is if you prefer the soliflores over the others :))
I have now tried the ENTIRE collection…not one in the bunch I don’t like and MANY that I love….including Leather Man! I think I am really enjoying the soliflores now b/c spring is just around the corner 🙂
Spring is a big push for me to try a couple, too!
Robin, reading over the “stepping back from the edge” episode 3, I took note again of how many people were interested in doing sample swaps or giveaways. Do you think that we could get that going with minimal hassle for you? I found myself not offering my samples during the last two freebiemeets as it seemed that people were not as eager to claim those, probably hoping for something more desirable to come along. I would love to rehome many of my samples to someone who really wants them, and I’m honestly not looking to swap for more. Could we do something like a sample Sunday spree on occasion if others were interested? And gosh, I hope I’m not being a pita (again). 😉
I, for one, think a monthly Sunday Sample Spree would be awesome!
I third this. I have so many samples that I’d like to give away.
I have about 100 samples that I want to give away.
Oh heavens yes. I cleared out my orphans at the freebiemeet, and yet here I am again with my orphan-box full.
How would it be organized? Like a freebiemeet, but samples only? Or more like a swap, or … ?
I’ll send you an email shortly. If anyone else has any thoughts, let us know!
I think a samples-only freebiemeet would be wonderful. A fragrant itty-bitty-meet!
NST is one of my favorite places because of the generosity and kindness shown here so often.
I learned what I like (or not) about the current fragrance market quickly because of the swaps and freebies. And once I had more samples than I could use, it felt great to pay it forward by sending them to new homes.
No perfume would be a good use of my money, because as a grad student, I have no money, and yet spent $100 on perfumes last month. That said, I’m salivating for some SL Arabie or Femininité du Bois or Ambre Sultan, FM Portrait of a Lady, or TF Black Orchid. I’m looking through eBay listings and trying to remind myself of all the samples I already have that are awaiting second tries.
A free sample of Black Orchid should be easy to come by. I think all the Sephoras carry it. I’ve been trying to force myself out of the house where I can sample for free rather than buying samples/decants online – especially with stuff that’s easy to come by… And you probably have a Barneys/Neimans/Saks where the others can be found?
My Sephora only gives samples with purchase 🙁
ORLY? I’ve never asked for perfume samples there, I have to admit. I have gotten makeup samples on demand at my local Sephora, though. I thought it was standard policy to offer up testers of everything they carry. That is LAME.
Never heard this of a Sephora. Their whole MO is sample, sample, sample. I’d log a complaint.
Me too. I have never been refused a sample at Sephora, though I have had a SA roll her eyes when I asked. I’m pretty sure all brick-and-mortar stores are supposed to allow samples unless something has changed drastically.
Weird! I’ve been to multiple different kinds of shops (not just Sephoras) where they say no samples without purchase! Maybe I just seem skeevy to them :-/
Wait Koyel what country are you in? I have the impression it’s a no-go at Sephora in France for instance.
And even in the US, re: no luck with samples from non-Sephora locations, you’re not at all alone: Nordstrom’s mainly the only other place I’ve gotten them. No luck at Saks, Macy’s, Neiman’s, even one prominent NYC perfume boutique (ahem). Alas. Very much feel the grad student budget pain!
Yep, I’m in France! I’ve tried at Sephora, Douglas, and Galerie Lafayette (all of which have good selections). It’s good to hear it isn’t just me!
Oh, but I have also made a promise to myself to check stuff out at stores before buying samples. It’s just that I’ve already fallen in love with Black Orchid, and a little spray on my wrist no longer satisfies me! (I think I’ve gone back and sprayed myself with a tiny bit of it three times now.)
Some stores will make samples for you. My local Nordstrom has little decanting kits all over the beauty department. So that’s what I was talking about, as far as trying to change my own habits.
As to your own wish list, maybe buy one this month; one the next month; and so on. You’ll satisfy your cravings but still have something to look forward to as the year ticks on… (maybe? I’m trying really hard not to enable here)
Are you sure that’s what you’re trying to do? 🙂 It sounds like you might be nearly as poor an influence on me as my own heart is!
The German chain Douglas, available in Holland and maybe other parts of Europe, makes decants for customers. This is the way I test some scents that I don’t want to just test in the shop. They have mostly only current commercial fragrances, though.
Ah, my Douglas (in France) doesn’t want to :-/
NST’s beloved hajusuuri brings her own decanting supplies when shopping so that the SAs have no excuse not to provide her with the juice. 😀
Are decants from STC/TPC not something you are interested in, or are you out of their shipping range?
I’ve been tempted to do this, but I wonder if they’d be ok with me doing that. Like, do you ask someone, Would you mind if I made myself a sample of this? Or do you just go for it without asking?
I’ve been sorely tempted by STC samples; I’m stopped by how much higher the price per mL is in decant form than in bottle form. Which totally makes sense; it just bugs me. I restrict sample buying to things I haven’t been able to find in stores for now (though I might cave and buy a bunch of SL samples to put off buying FBs for at least a while).
Haha. I practiced with FearsMice when she was in NYC late last year 🙂
I carry around a little hard side plastic case that fits two 3mL atomizers and two 1mL dabbers and labels.
Koyel, typically, you would start by sniffing 4-5 perfumes which the SA usually helpfully spritzes for you on paper strips, always making sure that you include 2-3 of the ones you really really would like to obtain a sample of even if you had already sniffed them previously. Then you say, you would like to spend more time with perfume x and y but cannot wear them on skin right at the store because it will clash with what you already have on. If the SA says, I love to but we have ran out of atomizers, you then say I brought my own atomizers, could you fill them for me? Some stores/counters just won’t do it (Macy’s, Saks although one could get lucky sometimes). Barneys and Bergdorfs are usually good.
As others have said, Sephora freely gives out samples, up to 3 per visit.
Oh, and if you have a Nordstrom by you, a friendly SA may be kind enough to fill a travel atomizer you can buy at the counter for $6 with the perfume of your choice. Please note that this is not universally true of all Nordstroms.
!! Hajusuuri, you and FearsMice are my idols 🙂
Ha ha! I role-played the snootiest SA I could muster, and Hajusuuri swept all my objections aside like yesterday’s trash!
Hajusuuri is not to be denied! 😉
I’m so sad I can’t like comments in this blog. You guys are awesome.
PSA: the decanting site The Posh Peasant has a few Chanels left in the event that you missed the STC/TPC clearance. Some of them are listed as “temporarily out of stock” and some are “sold out” so I have no idea if they will ever restock. I’ve bought from them in the past, and have had no issues whatsoever.
Ahhh, thank you! I missed on a sample of No 19 parfum from STC — they ran out — so now I’ve ordered it from PP. I don’t often “work” on a perfume but I’m determined to figure out No 19. From the notes it sounds like I should love it, and so many of you do, but so far it eludes me. Now I’ll have samples of all the concentrations so I can puzzle them out. Box of Eels eluded my grasp until I got hold of the parfum, so now I do my best to try all concentrations of Chanels.
Oh good! I would never talk anyone down from No. 19! Do you actually dislike it, or is it just meh? What does it smell like to you? I personally love it, and I discovered Silences after reading that it’s similar. I also love Heure Exquise, but I don’t find it as similar as many others do.
I actually dislike it, so far. Rather sharp and spiky. But I’m going to give it another go, see if it appeals more than it did a year ago.
I tend to love sharp and spikey. I’m not sure if this means I myself am sharp and spikey, or I’m lacking in sharpness and spikeyness and therefore am seeking balance. 😉
I’ve been working my way through tiny decants from TPC and STC. I’ve decided I don’t need to keep so many little samples of things that didn’t wow me, but of course I’ve found a couple of things that now seem to FB worthy, so they’ve gone on the list. So, right now, AG’s Mandragore is top of mind, it’s cheap as chips even with exchange rate and postage, but there are other things on the list that I’ve wanted for longer…
I like the fun of having a list of things I want but that I won’t allow myself to have yet. Part of that is financial, but a large part is wanting to prove to myself that I have some moral fibre and can actually resist temptation 🙂
If only you had posted this last week!
For several months I’ve been pondering vintage Chanel 19 extrait bottle, and after many millions of hours obsessing, I finally bought it on Thursday. It hasn’t arrived yet, but honestly, I’m thankful to at least not be thinking about it so many hours a day.
I’m planning a vintage 19 EDT purchase. I’m holding out until April to use my ebay bucks. Congrats on your purchase! And I hear you about quelling obsessive thoughts.
Wait. What are ebay bucks?
I had to look it up too! I didn’t know about this until now! And while I was signing up, I suddenly remembered I signed up for ebates,which hajusuuri had mentioned. They’re not related, but that’s also a good thing to check out. I need an app that will track whenever I’m about to purchase something and remind me of this stuff.
Ebates has an app on their site that will do just that. I just got a $90 rebate from them this week.
They accrue per quarter with each ebay purchase. It’s a very small increment – 2% or something? Once you accrue $5, it becomes available for you to use toward a purchase in the first month of the following quarter (i.e., january, april, july, oct.) IIRC in the last 2 quarters I accrued $15 or so and used toward pricier bottles.
Lovely purchase! Congrats!
Love 19!
Not sure exactly where to post this, so I’ll put it here.
Robin – is the “subscribe to posts” function up and running again? I’m actually one of those people who likes to subscribe.
I recently changed my email address in my profile, and I’ve tested it to make sure I entered it correctly, and I have. I’ve also gotten reply updates from bdj at the new address. But I’ve never gotten an NST one.
My old address was at gmail and I always got the updates at that address. The new address is at outlook. I also had problems when I was initially trying to sign up with NST using a hotmail account and never could get it to work.
Any ideas? Thank you!
Well I didn’t know it was ever not working, other than that for a few hours it subscribed people who didn’t mean to be subscribed.
Just checked, you are subscribed to this post, under your outlook address.
Hope someone else will chime in if it’s not working for them…or let me know if it is, that helps too.
I get about 1 out of 8 responses sent to my email address.
Well, that’s weird. When I’ve tested it I get them all, so my suspicion is that the problem is not on my end. A lot of email gets filtered these days, even when the end user is not aware of it.
And will add that kpaint’s problem seems likely to be related to that, since she had no problem at gmail and is now having problems elsewhere. The fact that other mail does come through may simply means that it passes whatever filtering outlook is doing, and mail from nst does not.
Possibly. I only mentioned it because you asked. In the scheme of things it is not a problem!
Ha…I know you did, and it was helpful! Sorry if I sounded defensive!
I wondered if it was a filtering issue, too, but since the bdj ones come through, that didn’t seem to explain it. I’ll check my settings again, though.
That’s about my average as well but I just go back and check. No harm done if I miss responses to my comments!
Same! (One e-mail per many responses.) And I’m using gmail. Weird!
Thanks Koyel & Hajusuuri! I will have to test it again this week.
Oh my. This post just had the complete opposite consequence than intended. It made me think about perfumes I have wanted to buy for some time now and the one that first came to mind was Lys Epona by Jovoy. In ticks all the boxes for me, why haven’t I bought it yet? It is just my thing, floral macabre! It is limited edition (100 bottles) and impossible to find decants of (at a reasonable price). It is just amazing! (Kafkaesque has a great review!) And my sample is running out. And oh my is the bottle ((which is vintage, made in the 30s)) beautiful! So I just put on a couple precious drops from my sample, swooned and ordered a bottle, in that order, in very rapid succession. I am now 250 € poorer than I was but hopefully one unforgettable perfume richer! 😀
Congratulations. This is one I would definitely try if still available the next time I go to Paris…no date yet.
I could mail you a sample after I get my bottle if you want! Of course that might be setting you up for heartbreak since Lys Epona is difficult to get outside of Europe…
Wow, congratulations–that sounds like a really special bottle.
This is a self-congratulatory post for exercising restraint:
1. I did not buy any perfume for (almost) a week. [I won a bottle of No 19 Poudre for $43 and won’t beat myself up for that. It followed a 6-day no-buy and I really really wanted it]
2. I will not shop the STC sale because I recently got 3 orders of decants in the mail, almost all of which are untouched, and I know that unused samples make me feel stressed out and guilty.
3. I did not use my anthropologie birthday discount, as my winter wardrobe is complete [I’ll wait to buy the skirt I want once it’s on sale]
4. I followed my new rule of not eating past 9 pm and did not wake up to stomach cramps. [We’ll see about that one – the day’s not over yet.]
What I did do:
1. Went to the gym twice.
2. Used a $20 discount to buy my HG but overpriced lip balm that never goes on sale. I knew I’d regret it if I passed it up.
3. Returned a facial cleanser I don’t really like or use to pay for one I do like and use daily and was almost out of.
4. Tested some perfumes and got a couple of free decants of scents I wanted to try when I was at the mall returning said cleanser. Money saved!
What I will do:
1. Pare down my K-beauty order to a more reasonable amount. Note to self: I do not need 20 sheet masks.
2. Same as above with my Upton Teas order. Maybe.
Lol! It usually takes me a week to place a K-beauty order because I have to pare down my cart in small steps. Freakin’ sheet masks breed in the basket while I’m browsing, I swear!
IKR? I’ve had my cart open for over a week now; loading, unloading, reloading, delete, add, ad infinitum.
Awwww… you’re just showing off. Bet you didn’t study for the test either!
Sigh. Okay. I admire you….(shakes open wallet up side down in the now fruitless hope that something other than an expired CVS coupon falls out).
Hahahahahaha as the kids are saying: IT ME.
That really wasn’t my intent! I have been actively trying to rein things in after seriously, massively, overdoing it last month. And the month before. And the month before that. So I figured patting myself on the back for the things I’d done well this week would be a good way to maintain my resolve.
I think I am still in the massively overdoing it phase…
You are doing great!
Oh, and I also did not use the $210 amazon GC, $125 sephora GC, or $50 anthropologie GCs that I have. *pats head*
Just hold on a mo…you can return cleansers!!!??? Is this something you can actually do? I’m impressed.
Lots of places (at least in the US) will take back beauty/bath & body products with less fuss than you would imagine. If you buy something you don’t like it doesn’t hurt to ask if they’ll take it back,
Wow! It would just NEVER happen here unless you could show that it was causing a bad reaction or something! I’m astounded and slightly envious, as I am of your estate sale/ pre-loved perfumes in charity shops.
Waterdragon wrote exactly what I was planning to write!
I have a hard enough time trying to get served when I want to buy something…can’t imagine what would happen if I tried to return it. Stunned silence , followed by muffled laughter?
Cosign this advice (while admitting it’s certainly a verrrry US thing.) But a good one, it does make me buy more freely. Had a bummer with a Jo Malone shower oil that smelled off, but they took it back even though I tried it a couple different days to make sure it wasn’t just my nose having a bad day. Consequently felt free to buy the bath oil instead! Haven’t tried it yet but for sure would not have if I couldn’t take back the first disappointing product. A win for everyone I think.
In the US you can return evvveerrryyything. My favorite clothing store will take returns for 365 days after purchase, even things that have been worn and washed many times over. I wouldn’t buy beauty products from stores that didn’t take returns, but I don’t even know that such a store exists.
But my sister lives in Canada, and that’s certainly not the case there.
Wow! Just–wow! You can return worn and washed clothes? But why, unless the product fails? I mean, I once bought a dress, wore it, and discovered it had turned my underwear navy blue, so they took it back because clearly the dye was all wrong, but here, as a general rule, if you wear something, it’s yours forever. I can’t even get my head around the 365 day and worn/washed thing! That’s astounding service!
It’s not common. I only know of 2 stores that do it. But I appreciate it and they have my loyalty.
I’m from the town where Nordstrom originated and from the beginning it was their policy that you could return anything, any time, in any condition, no receipts or tags needed, no questions asked. (It was an inside joke that you could take your husband in for a refund if you got tired of him.)
I’m not sure they have such a generous policy anymore though. Back in the day you could return items that you didn’t even buy there. It was store policy, and they would knowingly accept items they knew people bought elsewhere. That slowly changed, though, and I don’t think they’ve done that since the 90s.
But in the US we’ve come to expect liberal return and exchange policies so everyone kind of has to jump on board to compete. I would point to amazon as the current leader in upping the game online.
Outrageous! What happens to all the returned stuff…like the worn and washed clothing? This is like discovering that the yellow brick road and the Land of Oz is real. Totally gobsmacked.
Lands End lifetime warranty does not expire! I don’t abuse the privelege but when I’ve had a clothing fail not because of clothing age or my own sloppy clothing care, I returned it and got a full refund.
Oooh, what is your HG lipbalm?
Yeah, I was wondering this too…
The By Terry one (Baume de Rose?) Most sites that sell it exclude it from sales, so it’s hard to come by at a discount.
I have to have it, Fresh Sugar Advanced Therapy, and the clear Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment on hand at all times.
So it’s not as if I don’t already have enough lipbalms to last me a few years without them going bad … But I will have to check out the By Terry. I used to use the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment bit have never tried the Advanced Therapy which I will check out as well.
What do you mean you don’t need 20 sheet masks? 😉 They’ve been my dry face’s saving grace this winter. But there are probably other items that are more cost-effective and are less wasteful in terms of packaging. Where do you like to order k-beauty online? I usually order from Jolse, but I have been kind of avoiding k-beauty blogs and stuff while I’ve been using up my current stash, so I feel like I may be missing out on cool brands and shops elsewhere…
I’m placing a 2nd order from beautius.com. Prices and shipping are very reasonable. It’s a new company and the customer service is very good. There’s a 99 cent store (actually $1.49, but that’s not as catchy) nearby where I’ve bought a few things. I’ve been buying my daily a.m. skincare from Korean sellers via amazon for a few years now. I’ve also picked up a few other fun items from here and there on amazon. There are thousands and thousands of products available through marketplace vendors. It can actually be really overwhelming.
Sheet masks have been my savior, too. I don’t know that there’s a comparable product as far as really being able to pack on the moisture. And I tell myself that if I were to use the same amount of essence on my skin in one sitting, I’d be using $30 worth of product – so really, they’re a bargain 😉
What sheet masks do you recommend?
Oh man I need to bite the bullet and read up on k-beauty don’t I.
It’s all impressive but I’m especially impressed by your taking back the cleanser. I waste a lot of money not taking things that don’t work for me back to the store. They usually sit around until I eventually give them away or throw them out. I’m super lazy that way.
Still hankering for:
Two Fiele Fragrances’, Cedrus and Myrrh,a and a replacement No. 19 parfum, and Aftelier’s parfum extrait Wild Roses and and and ….
In Azemour, which is perfect for this sunny cool day and the walk I am girding my lazy self to take.
Just sent a ginormous check to someone I don’t know but who is ostensibly renting us her house on Nantucket for two weeks this summer (thank you VRBO!). So the threat of being totally broke and hugely fat on Nantucket should spur me on to not spending money and getting some exercise… Rather “thar she blows” not refer to me if I can help it!
Did you miss the latest study that shows that wearing perfume aids weight loss. Applying, and reapplying, and lifting your wrist to your nose burns 200 calories a day. Stretching towards your collection increases flexibility and mobility, especially if you keep your collection on the floor. Walking to perfume stores burns an extra 1000 calories…and if you strap bottles to your arms and power walk to the store you may burn as much as 1500 calories. You owe it to your health and well being.
And, if that fails, and you turn into a whale, you can sell all your ambergris and buy even more new perfume.
😀
Wonderful!
And, the study also said that the sniffing improved lung capacity!
Geniuuuuuuuuuus!
This is hilarious!I guess after turning into a whale the next perfume purchase would be Prends Moi??(the “miracle” weight-loss fume!)Haha!
Hahahaha!
🙂 🙂 🙂
Love this!
Oops! I guess I’m reading this a couple of hours to late… I just bit the bullet and bought the last bottle of Fleur de Chine at my local Sephora! That means my perfume budget is pretty much all gone for a while (maybe until my birthday? I really want Eau de Magnolia next!) It also takes the spot of my most expensive fragrance, but I figured it was my last chance before it became even more expensive online and harder to find… At least I saved some money recently by not blind-buying Aftelier Bergamoss (with the exchange rate and the shipping, it would have ended up a little over a 100 Canadian dollars for a unsniffed 9 ml…)
This post almost had the opposite effect than intended for me! I looked into Fleur de Chine at about 20 different websites, and it is indeed expensive on all of them. However, I am imposing self-restraint and will not buy (today). Don’t let me know how good it is until after this weekend! 😉
I won’t! 😉
If it makes you feel better, I read in a blog that FdC is being discontinued. I asked a SA at a large Tom Ford counter to confirm and he said that’s the buzz. So, I promptly bought a bottle and am so glad I did! I adore it’s versatility and wear it often when I’m just not sure what to wear. I also got Eau de Magnolia this summer. Love love love it! Wore it a lot this summer. And can’t wait til spring to start up again!
Yes, this is what made me pull the trigger right now, before it’s too late.
Debating new Andy Tauer Lonesome Ryder. I have a great admiration of his work, although the recent one, Amber Flash, was meh. But, Lonesome Ryder has Iris, and Leather, and the price is really appealing.
Try a sample!! I love some Tauers but others definitely don’t work for me, despite the notes. The shipping is very reasonable! I ordered mine this week. 🙂
Samples don’t count as purchases, right? At most they are potholes, not cliffs, so no need to talk you off the edge. 😉
Threads like this, always make me go…WHAT DID I MISS? So, yes, I missed the announcement about Lonesome Rider…and my credit card was just exercised 🙂
We’ll have to compare notes!
Well since you’ve already done it… is it safe for me to say I think this is one of the best blind buys one could make? $75 for a Tauer variation on Lonestar Memories–I feel like there is def a group of people who can know with great confidence this is something they’ll like! People not in that group shouldn’t do it, of course, but I think for those who consistently love his work really can’t miss with 45% discount on a new work that’s an explicit homage to something in his existing oeuvre!
It’s a helluva deal, that’s for sure.
I don’t have much of a to-buy list at the moment. Mostly, I’m happy with what I have, although I admit to some fair amount of gluttony the past few months. I’m really good at taking advantage of the sales around the holidays. 🙂
You ARE good at that 🙂
I’m in posession of a sample of Amouage’s new Lilac Love!Currently only at Harrods,and my kind mule brought me a sample back!I “like” it,but it’s very close to Aerin’s Lilac Path to my nose.The bottle is gorgeous and I’m a fan of Amouage….so….FB of Lilac Love or Lilac Path?Splurge or Save?Or Do Not Buy??Lol.The Amouage is £260 by the way….HELP!!
Which one do you actually like best, not in terms of the brand or bottle, but the perfume itself? Maybe you could get a friend to help you do a blind test?
This is a great idea!
I do agree,although I’ll need a clone of me rather than a friend,as my perfumed-bestie(Hallo Merlin!!) and I have VERY different takes and tastes in perfume!
A different taste in perfume is irrelevant – in a blind test it is YOU who decide what you prefer – while being ‘blinded’ to the name and brand of what you are smelling.
However, the point of the blind test is to decide which smell you prefer in the absence of such factors as marketing story, bottle and brand. If these additional factors are important to you, then a blind test would miss the point.
Yes M,but you missed the point there.You doing a blind test with me to “help” me decide would be pointless as we have perceived similar perfumes in very different ways.Patou 1000 for an example!lol.
That’s a very tough question to answer!Lol!You got me!I like the aesthetics And smell of both.I have tested the Aerin extensively over 6 months and wasn’t swayed to actually purchase it.The Amouage reminded me of Lilac Path so much that I revisited it again.I guess the exclusivity of the Amouage as a brand is the big drawing card for me.Which of course I should know as a seasoned perfumista makes no sense at all….But thanks for the input!
Oh my gosh, what confusion, lol! assumed Nozknoz suggested a blind test with help of a friend because it’s harder to perform a blind test on ones own. (Spray without knowing what you are spaying in a way you can find out later). I don’t think someone else’s opinion would be of much significance.
Um…that is *spraying*. I definitely don’t think spaying should be done blind ????
Hahaha!Preferably NOT.;-))
Unless I understood wrong and that WAS the actual suggestion?Lol.Anyway!
😉
If they smell similar to you, then logically wouldnt it make sense to get the Aerin? (and after all that perfume purging you did you may not want to make more impetuous buys just for it being rare or pretty then regret it and have to purge again…)
Ah Perthgirl:The Voice of Reason!Lol.I didn’t think anyone would remember my purging!!Lol!But yes you are right.I am in fact still in the process of curating and downsizing my collection so another purchase(expensive/exclusive/cheap/everywhere) needs way more careful consideration!xo
But you might feel less inclined to purge a very expensive bottle in the future. So spending more on the Amouage but using the entire bottle might be better than buying the Aerin and only using half before you purge. Worst option: buying the Aerin cause it’s cheaper whilst still pining for the Amouage…and then buying the Amouage, too….which makes the Aerin sad. So get the Amouage and save money!
There’s a perfumista logic underpinning this that I find utterly entrancing. I started by thinking you should get the Aerin or nothing, Johanob, but now I think the Amouage should be yours by the end of the week. Go forth with credit card at the ready!
The thing is I LOVE perfume,but I will NEVER get to everything in my current collection.It just got way out of hand and I lost some enjoyment from it for a bit.I have had no qualms letting go of niche stuff,heck I sold one Amouage Beloved 100ml to a fellow perfumista,who is currently getting way more joy out of it than I had with it sealed in the cupboard.
I had to look it up too! I didn’t know about this until now! And while I was signing up, I suddenly remembered I signed up for ebates,which hajusuuri had mentioned. They’re not related, but that’s also a good thing to check out. I need an app that will track whenever I’m about to purchase something and remind me of this stuff.
Eek! How did this repost here? Disregard!
I’ve been figuratively biting my tongue for three whole hours! You weren’t moved to buy the Aerin, and the Amouage smells very similar. So it’s not the juice you’re really interested in. If you buy either, it should be the Amouage because you like the bottle. Do you enjoy your bottles for themselves enough to pay the price for the Amouage? Do you still admire your Sunshine bottle and feel that seeing the Lilac Love would bring you joy?
I’ve been secretly thinking how FANTASTIC Lilac Love and Sunshine would look,displayed alongside each other!!Haha!But for now decided against it.I have not worn Sunshine but for 2 sprays when it arrived in 2014.True Story.And enough said I guess….lol
Well, I didn’t want to be rude and announce that I figured you might be thinking that. They would definitely look great together, but I’m glad you have put that purchase on the back burner. Plus I can consider myself slightly redeemed after enabling across the board here. 😉
I actually became enamoured with the Aedes Iris Nazarena bottle and then suddenly I was eyeing Mohur extrait weeks later and was wondering now, what was it I hankered after recently? What was it? Oh yeah, Iris Nazarena! I decided to get a decant, right? Hmm, where did I put it? So I certainly understand that lust that seems like it must be requited immediately!
Holly,don’t even get me started on my tale of Iris Nazarena!!Lol!It was a TOTAL but successful blind buy.I liked the big bottle,but I was IN LOVE/ENTRANCED/OBSESSED with the gorgeous travel atomizer,and just had to have it!!And now I have it,and I have no idea what Iris Nazarena smells like,because it got lost in the organised chaos of my perfume collection.This is why I need to purge more and buy less.And actually USE the lovelies!!;-))
P.S:to make it worse,I am not a bottle collector at all…Yes I know,I’m the weirdest perfumista in town.
Gosh, Lilac Path at that price?? Thank you though, now I know I don’t need to try it!
Lilac LOVE is £260,I think the Aerin is going at one fifth of that price.You can be proud of your flock Robin as they HAVE talked me down the ledge….for now.;-))
I’ll just be straight up and say £260 for something you merely “like” sounds like crazy talk. If I’m reading into your post correctly, it sounds like you don’t really love either and are trying to force a purchase. Just sayin’.
Correcto…!Thanks for clearing up what I’ve actually been thinking!hehe
For my birthday I was planning on buying African Leather, but I’ve been skiing and hiking a lot and when I get in the car my boots are wet, muddy, or both. So instead of perfume I’m buying those custom-fitted floor mats. Boring, yes, but practical. I haven’t bought anything but a few samples so far this year.
Car floor mats are on my list too before more perfume. I’m sure I will be gladder for longer when I have them.
Donatella would be proud!Esp. if the floormats are custom-Versace!:-)
I can appreciate good floor mats.
YES! Good floormats are worth their weight in perfume.
But that’s terrible! No! Take a spare pair of clean shoes, stuff your muddy boots in the boot (trunk), slip feet in shoes, take new perfume from handy perfume dispenser ( who needs coffee cup holders?) and spray with abandon. Buying floor mats instead of perfume is just wrong, wrong, wrong. And what next? Tea towels, snow shovels, bus tickets!!! Oh the horror.
Oh you are so sweet to encourage me when I have enough scents to fill a bath tub! (I wonder what all my perfumes mixed in a tub would smell like? A stonking big floral-oriental is my guess.) And I don’t have a snow shovel and they might be on sale now…
Plus, the Oregon Symphony just sent out their subscription renewal bills for the 2016-2017 season. Priorities, priorities! Too many good things to buy and not enough $$$.
You could always buy a spa bath for the perfume and hire a piano trio to serenade you while you soak
Kanuka, are you willing to move to the U.S. (and also invent time-travel so as to have been born here)? I would like to vote for you for President.
Ba ha ha!
Reading these comments is just making me think about samples I’ve been wanting to get. STC does have a discount code for this weekend, so even though I shouldn’t, I probably will. 😛
Me too 🙁 I’m never good with restraint.
Res…what? That must be a culturally specific word that I don’t know.
🙂
😀
Me too. My logic is I ordered decants of Cristalle and Coromandel in the Chanel sale but got a refund because they ran out of Coromandel. That refund needs to be reinvested into my perfume account!
Currently I’m trying to talk myself out of Tom Ford Noir Pour Femme, Marni and Houbigant Orangers en Fleurs. I have tons of perfume, but these have been calling to me so much lately and I’ve been through several samples of all three… When I tell myself I should just choose one and that will be my fb for a while, then I start telling myself how unique each one is and its particular place in my collection because…
Noir Pour Femme is now available in rollerball, right? And the Marni is available in a travel spray. So you could get those in small sizes and see how you like them, and save the Houbigant for when you have more money than you know what to do with 🙂
Good call, Robin. I could totally pick up both and not feel guilty at all! And yes, I can hold out for the Houbigant as I have half a spray vial left, and do believe I’ve seen some parfum travel sprays available. I have only tried the edp, so imagine the parfum must be similar enough, and I don’t think that one’s going anywhere. 😉
The Marni bottles are darling though… Sorry!! 🙂
Where do you live? I have a FB of TF Noir pour femme. Maybe I can help you out
Oh, and at lovestosmellgood, I live in Michigan in the US. 🙂
Great. Send me an email sandrabenedict at gmail dot com
Get the Marni 10ml with Creepy doll set.Then you can sell the doll online(I know they are a popular collectors item) to help fund another purchase?
Are you in the US? If so, I have a still sealed decant of the HOF I may never get to. I am ann Dottie eisenberg Attagirl comcast Dottie com…
Thanks, everyone for the ideas and suggestions. I’ll definitely be in touch! 🙂
Those Marni dolls are great, and that is an idea for sure.
Hope everyone’s having a wonderful Sunday.
There is no reason for me to buy another perfume. EVER. That said, I have recently sampled Miu Miu, and I am very smitten. It doesn’t smell like any of the reviews said, on me anyway. Certainly, not like LT said ” A women whose soul has been scorched” or something like that. Anyway, My plan was to hold out for original old favorites, but I Really like this one.
Is there something in particular that you liked about this one? Part of the reason Turin gives such scathing reviews is that the perfume in question doesn’t bring anything new to the table. If you can identify what you like about the scent then perhaps we can help you find an alternative that you love even more. 🙂 Worth a try, right?
It really seems to be a very quiet fragrance. On me, it smells creamy citrusy. with a little pepper. Most of the reviews I read said the pepper is prominent. Normally I wear stronger scents, so I’m actually surprised I like this as much as I do. Maybe I just need a little quiet.
And it’s a cool bottle…and the advertisement features a cute kitten so what more do you need? And it’s probably a reasonable price so if you like it…and, if you’re in US you can just return it,apparently, if it turns out to be wrong…hee hee, I love this game.
You are so right! I had forgotten about our great return policy. Thanks!
Nordstrom totally takes back used perfumes, and they carry Miu Miu. If you really like it, buy it. I’ve been wanting someone to sing its praises because of the bottle and the, widdle tuxedo kitten! 😀 Also, I have always quite liked Miu Miu as a brand.
I think I have talked myself into a stop at Nordies to sniff.
I tested the MM at Sephora the other day, and was not moved… Except to see my 12 year old trying to convince me that the perfume was perfect because he LOVED the kitten in the marketing poster…..
Maybe just buy the kitten!!??
I’d buy it for the bottle alone!!
At some point last year, I considered limiting myself to 1 or 2 bottle purchases per year. Being 61, that would mean 30 more bottles of perfume in the remainder of my natural life. STILL TOO MANY! So the new (vague) rule is: less than a bottle a year. Also, if I make every effort to get my samples free, I can keep to 1 sample order a year for the scents I wasn’t able to get free.
So far, so good. Of course, if I win the lottery….
Mmmmm, I know this feeling but I don’t give in to it. I’m 64 this year, and I have enough perfume to be embalmed in, but I still want bottles of some things. And back ups. I have a colleague who has decided not to buy any more clothes because she’s going to retire soon and she doesn’t need them. I’m not thinking like that either. I hope you will all like my new red winter coat…
I love your red coat! Especially in winter, when the general drollness of the surroundings increase red’s vibrancy. Enjoy that coat, I love mine. 😉
You took the words right out of my mouth! Waterdragon you look smashing.
I retired last year and did stop buying clothes… But only so I could spend the money on perfume. 🙂 I just love my perfumes and even though I won’t use up all the juice, I plan to enjoy them for as long as I live.
Goodness, I’d be tempted to take up shoplifting.
Ha! Perfume: a life of crime… 🙂
I know I don’t need any more perfume, but it makes me happy. I sometimes like to think about where it will end up after I’m dead. I imagine it at Goodwill and perfumistas snapping up my old bottles, wondering where all this “vintage” stuff came from. That pleases me quite a lot.
That’s really nice 🙂
Wouldn’t it be great.
If you decide to declutter early, Angie and I both frequent the Goodwill off 7th Ave. . . 😉
Giiirrrrlllll, you KNOW that’s gonna be one hell of a sample order! They’ll need 2 UPS drivers just to carry the box to your door.
I tried a previously untested sample today: Monsillage’s Ipanema Posto Nove.
In case anyone was thinking of buying this, DON’T! It has nice notes listed, but all it smells like on skin is calone. Total scrubber, but today’s schedule did not permit immediate scrubbing. So I’ve been walking around in cruddy perfume all day. Ugh. That is one sample I will NOT be finishing this year (or ever.)
Calone! **shudder** I can’t imagine having to walk around all day in that. I think you deserve a cookie (or a drink!).
As it happens, I’ve had both! 🙂 I like how you think.
For the past year I’ve been eyeing a bottle of Dior Eau Sauvage Parfum. Unlike the EDT which is a phenomenal classic cologne, the citrus in the Parfum quickly disappears and the entire fragrance turns smoky on me (probably from the combination of the myrrh and vetiver) and lasts for hours. After about a year of sampling I haven’t encountered anything like it, although admittedly I mostly avoid sampling “men’s” fragrances. Obviously I haven’t been able to forget it, either.
The price seems to be the same everywhere on the net for the Parfum version, and after a year of checking I know it’s not likely to go on sale. Now that Sephora has their 3x beauty points event, and they have taken the Parfum off their shelves (which leads me to believe they are close to discontinuing selling this fragrance), I am very tempted to just buy it full price ($98 for 3.4 oz, which is pretty good). Should I go for it?
Beautyspin has it for less, and a smaller size is available. I’d say if you have been thinking about it for a year and have nothing else like it, go for it.
This thread has done the opposite of it’s intent! I now just want to try all this stuff that everyone else is in love with.
And it’s especially unhelpful after Robin’s post yesterday with the top winter iris fumes, which has me itching for OJ Vanille d’Iris even though it wasn’t on her list.
Lately I’ve suffered from Discontinuation Anxiety. I’ve read about DC of Nahema extrait and Mayotte and suddenly feel that maybe I should make a blind buy because soon they will be gone! This despite the fact that I’m not sure I would like them…
I did almost blind buy TF Fleur de Chine this week after only the slightest sniff at the store, although from the descriptions I was quite sure I would like it.
After wearing it once I like it so much I’m starting to think about a back-up bottle (despite rarely if ever finishing of a FB…)
I would pass on Nahema unless you are a huge fan. Its so expensive and there are other pretty roses that are not going to break the bank.
Plus if you don’t use it all up, I read somewhere that it doesn’t last very well in the bottle, but do check up on that. Trying to have you back away from the edge..but if you must buy it then have fun!
I would also factor in your success rate with blind buys. My ability to predict what I will like is so weak that it makes no sense for me! But others are better at this.
The trick is to consult multiple reviews on different blogs/sites, and try to ID which reviewers share your tastes and skin chemistry. 😉 Hope that helps your success rate!
Nope, my taste is all over the place! To be honest I don’t blind buy but there have been many times I have expected to adore a scent based on reviews and notes, etc. I almost never end up loving the scents I expect to, which is why I know blind-buying would be insane (for me).
What about purchasing samples rather than blind buying? If an extrait sample is too expensive you can try the EDP (usually you’ll like the extrait if you like the EDP).
I thought I would love Nahema and seriously considered a blind buy too. But I’m so glad I waited til I could test it on me (over a year wait) bc I did not love it on me. I do love and own Fleur de Chine. I read in a blog that it was on the chopping block and confirmed that it is headed for the door. So don’t wait too long on that one if you really love it!
Yes, sampling is probably best- I understand Nahema isn’t a bland inoffensive scent…
I bought one bottle of FdC (lovely!) right away at the store-the burning question is, do I need two? 🙂
Eva S, maybe you should find out how long you have to decide? Now that you have a bottle it would be better if you had time to wear it for a while to see how often you actually reach for it; how well it gels with your lifestyle, etc etc…
I know how daunting discontinuations are though! It’s worth have a look at where it is still available so you have various sources at hand if you decide on it.
I have the following dilemma: I have 3/4 of a bottle of Tubereuse Criminelle. It was a gateway to tuberose, for me, and is still my favourite. However, I bought it two years ago and have only used a quarter. I guess as a precious Lutens I am fairly restrained with it! A local shop (in Joburg) is now selling it half price! Should I buy a back-up?
On the one hand I hardly ever drain a full bottle of anything. On the other hand, I could use it more freely knowing I had a back-up AND I think it’s a limited export AND my partner loves it on me. Did I mention it’s my favourite tuberose?
Well if its on sale…
True, but it’s only a saving if I actually finish my fb and move onto it. Given that I have about 130 bottles of perfume, will I actually use it up?
The chances are you may not use it up. Money saved I’d say!
Ah, but I think that’s not quite true! If the backup bottle will help you enjoy the one you’ve got more freely, then I think it serves a purpose right away. Plus even using it sparingly you’ve used 25% in two years? I think you’ll be onto that second one soon enough.
Sounds like you actually would use it if you had plenty to offset the thrift thing (I have that gene too: ration the good stuff!), plus half-price is really beyond reasonable. I bought an extra 100ml of something I knew I would wear if I had backup, and it did make a huge difference in how frequently I reach for it. Also, more than 40% discount on something I love usually pretty much clinches a sale for me.
Due to inflation and exchange rate, the price of Lutens has doubled here in the last 5 years! So it’s actually still a tidy sum, but you are right: although I do try wear all my scents I veer away when I see the bottle getting low – especially if I adore the scent. And since these are 50ml bottles…
Well I said to you privately what plan B is,but I wanna mention it here again as well!Lol!My unloved Tubereuse Criminelle is waiting to be swapped for something faaaaaaahbulousss from your collection!!Lol!xx
Sounds like by the time you use your current bottle, you’ll have to worry about shelf life. I’d say no.
Does Lutens perfumes not age well?
Well, we’re talking here about potentially 8 years before she finishes the 2nd bottle. Very hard to say and there are so many variables (you don’t know how old it is when you buy it, storage conditions, etc etc), but I’d be worried.
Yes,all true.The local retailer is selling lots of Lutens at 50% off,specifically ones that Lutens pulled back to Bell Jars only quite a while back.So definitely not superfresh stock.
Thanks everyone, lots of helpful feedback!
And J, it’s great to have another option, thank you.
All I can think about is what else is on sale that you don’t already own?
That’s my thought too. Why not add something new to your collection?
Well the short answer is that I’m wary of falling in love with something because it’s on sale.
I don’t own any of the other sale items because I’m not crazy about them…with the possible exception of Douce Amere which I didn’t like before – but all of a sudden find quite lovely! It’s a much quieter white floral with a sexy musk-cinnamon-vanilla dry down…
It really is pretty, but certainly not as exquisite as TC 🙂
I’m having flashbacks of last years’ Metropolitain CRAZY sale….haha!!
And that’s EXACTLY what I’m trying to avoid ????
Buy a bottle for your boyfriend for Valentines and invite him to spray it on all the places he loves ( on you ). That should use up at least a third of the bottle to begin with, and provide good memories while you finish the bottle over the coming year.
Kanuka, I like the way you think! 😀
As proof that Un-enabling is counterproductive, yesterday I ordered small decants of the following:
1) Maai
2) Onda VdE
3) MDCI Indes Galantes
4) Salome
5) Noir Exquis
SOTD is Tea for Two topped off with Safran Troublant. I’m getting some nice wafting up through my layers today.
Hat tip and enabler pins to those who induced my jump off the ledge yesterday 🙂
I like the gourmand and skanky selection of scents! 😀
Oh my gosh you are going to smell amazing though!
Oooh, in the interesting of feeding the enabling forward, please do report back on your experiences with all of them! Specially the Salome,,which I read great things of but can’t entirely envisage.
Sounds like your leap had a nice soft landing. A life or risk and adventure has certain rewards, I’d say.
Nice selection! I’m suffering from the effects of reverse psychology reading everyone’s comments here. I just tried Salome. I’ll be curious to know what you think of it and some of the others that are hanging out in my Luckyscent cart.
Oh, my. We really are a hopeless bunch.
Ooh Maai! I nearly finished off my sample a few nights ago and went from blech, ready to drop into bed and getting over a cold to the most glamourous lady on the block, “laundry day” pajamas and all. It’s been on my buy list for ages, and I think I will be treating myself for my birthday in a couple weeks.
The abilities of perfumes to inspire moods and feelings are amazing. And Maai is right up there with Daim Blond, Diva, L’arte di Gucci and Muscs Ravageur to take me from exhausted single mom of teens and a toddler to Empress of my little palace in just one spritz. 🙂
I hope you’ll love it.
Sleepy Monday morning. Last night was very warm and Auckland is filled with supporters of the Rugby Nines, so the city centre was heaving. I slept the sleep of the just until 1.00 a.m, when some crazy stood in the middle of our street and began singing, then swearing, then screaming. He was wearing only a Tee-shirt….where, do you suppose, did he mislay his pants? And how? Do you think he lost them in a poker game? Or just took them off and abandoned them? Anyway, he staggered off, then someone started playing the drums–badly–and then there were drunks and sirens and parties, and now there’s me, feeling a bit sad and flat, having slept for about an hour and a half. It’s a lot to ask of a perfume, to keep me alert until tonight, but that is the task I’ve set Narcisse Bleu. I hope it gets an A+!
Oh dear. You’ve just reminded me that the Super Bowl game is this afternoon. I actually know (and remember) who is playing because I like both of their logos— Panthers and Broncos. My husband’s hospital is gearing up for the game/post game partying by having some sort of emergency war room set up. Pray it is not needed.
For no reason at all I am wearing Euphoria this AM and finding it just the thing.
Weekend damage poll? I ordered samples of:
Jubilation XXV
Gardenia Soliflore, Dame
Mandarine, Neroli, Ceder by Dame
Angelique Noire
Feve Delicieuse
Cross of Asia
Caldey Island Lavender
I have seven more Amouages on my “to sample” list, so I got pulled back from the edge, but my boots, tent, backpack and most of my water went tumbling over…..
Congrats on your survival 😉
Barefoot and sweetly scented, I am looking at the view….!
What a funny story (said one who didn’t have to live through it!)
Good choice on NB. I find it quite soothing as well.
It’s a pity about losing your boots, but at least your hat didn’t go too.
I’m so hoping that Dame will eventually post to obscure places like A-NZ. You all seem to enjoy his perfumes very much, and Dark Horse sounds intriguing. Will you let me know what you think of Feve D? My local Dior boutique didn’t have a tester.
And I’m hoping he’ll post to SA – but that would be daring!
Wow! Just checking in and so many comments to go back and read. I had a mild cold last week that seemed to be resolving only to feel like I’ve come down with flu since yesterday so I’ve been holed up at home mostly this weekend 🙁
I (and hopefully some other locals) will be at Twisted Lily on Friday and I’m plotting to buy ELDO Jasmin et Cigarette since I’ve been thinking about it for a long time now. I love it and don’t own a FB of any jasmine-centric fragrances so I think this is a totally necessary purchase. Of course, if anyone has favorite jasmines they’d care to share about, please do!
I’d like to add a jasmine or two to my collection. We should collaborate on this 😉
Sounds like a good project! I’m sorry you can’t come to Twisted Lily Friday 🙁
Well Robin, I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s posts. It has taken me two sittings to get through all of them though, lol! It rivals the last Donatella confessional. I love how as a collective we strive not to enable each other, but can’t help ourselves. My list of “must try” has certainly grown 😉
My brain is still reeling from the fact that you can return unloved, opened cleansers and perfume bottles at Nordstroms ( you’re joking, right) and that in a duel between fitted car mats and perfume, the car mats win! Feel like NST has been hacked by a Consumer magazine editor with a warped sense of humour. Can’t wait for today’s proceedings and startling revelations!
I’m still struggling with car mats too. I have a friend who classifies the essential food groups as (1) custard squares (2) meat pies and other baked goods (3) barbecues and roasts (4) pudding & (5) frozen yoghurt. I think we should develop an equally comprehensive taxonomy of perfumista needs and establish where car mats feature within it.
I think we’re going to be getting ourselves in trouble soon.
Just want to say – I have nothing against car mats, or returns of any kind. (And returns of car mats – excellent!)
Yes–you’re right. I didn’t mean to offend, if I did. Comfort matters hugely!
I, for one, am not the least bit offended! I can only conclude that in New Zealand, A) cars already come outfitted with exceptional car mats or B) you all are a country of neat-niks whose cars never get to the level of dirtiness that mine achieves so easily.
It’s just that I can’t see the floor of my car through all the rubbish and dirt!
Is your friend single Waterdragon?Cuz I would marry him/her/it just because our essential foodlist is an EXACT match!;-))
Single, male, and a good cook, evidence of the food groups to the contrary! He’s one of those infuriating people who never seems to gain a single gramme, even though he seldom eats anything that contains a vitamin or nutritional value.
Uhmmmm….lol….me too….I lose weight when I eat a whole chocolate cake and gain weight when it’s a salad….;-))
Right? What can they do with opened products? Sell them on eBay? Even though I know I can, I don’t think I ever would – feels wrong, somehow.
And I actually agree with the car mats. I find it is much easier to enjoy my perfume during my commute when I am not worrying about the placement of my feet. Good car mats are a one time purchase, and save you time and money from car cleaning, which also leaves more in the bank for perfume. So glad I can share this life hack with my perfumista buddies 😉
Well, I’ve been all over the place this weekend, fragrance-wise – wore Cuir Pleine Fleur yesterday morning, then switched to Eau des Merveilles after a massage and a shower; and started today in Escale a Portofino, but switched to Or du Serail for an urban hike along Portland’s riverfront. What a gorgeous springlike day we had here!
Not sure anyone is left to talk me off my current ledge, but I’m a little obsessed lately with finding some more vintage Tabac Blond. There’s a partial bottle here and there on the Bay, but I’m fussy about the seller’s rating … especially for vintage. I worry about inadequate packaging resulting in a mostly empty bottle on arrival, or the juice turning out to be colored water instead of the precioussss. I keep telling myself that there are lots and lots of other fragrances to try, some of which might be even more wonderful (and easier to come by), but nothing works – I’m still obsessed!
I’m still up debating if I should call in sick for tomorrow. I’m also fussy about ratings and review what people have to say and in what time frame. It would be a shame to not get what you payed for and then just walk around ticked off. I’d rather wait and pay a little more than buy from a not-so-good seller.
Yeah, I agree. I wish I had a nearby vintage fragrance consignment shop … preferably that no other Tabac Blond lovers knew anything about. 🙂
Yeah, I agree with this advice about waiting for the ‘right’ seller and bottle (even if it’s still on ebay). I bought 3 things on ebay that went bad and all of them were NOT worth the savings (and loss).
ha, also monitoring ebay, but for a (reasonably priced) vintage formulation of Vol de Nuit. I agree about sticking with well-rated sellers, and the ones who offer a 14-day return window (though once I got a turned bottle of No 19 edt from a “no return” seller, and convinced him to take it back). One good thing about buying on ebay these days is that sellers are very concerned about getting positive feedback. Would love to try orig Tabac Blond too–vintage is an obsession unto itself.
Vintage = obsession – so true! And vintage VdN is wonderful – I hope you find the perfect seller/deal one day.
Good luck with your quest!