2025 is over, but we can't wipe the slate clean just yet. Donatella Versace, Our Lady of Fragranced Forgiveness,1 has a few free moments after recovering from her New Year party at Claridge's, and she wants to help you move into 2026 with a clean conscience. Do confess — Donatella always forgives.
Tell us about your purchases for the fourth quarter (October, November and December) of 2025 in the comments. You can just tell us the number of bottles, or you can list your acquisitions, whatever you like.
My purchases...
...I don't think I bought anything all year? Am I forgetting a decant? Who knows! Anyway Donatella has long since given up on me.
As always, we don't include samples or gifts, and you can count miniatures, decants and bottle-splits howsoever you like (I usually count them as half bottles). Samples don't generally count at all, even though some of us spend considerable sums obtaining them.
1. Why does Donatella host (against her will, mind you) the damage polls? There is no real reason other than the picture of her perfume collection, which shows that she indulges regularly at the perfume counter. The image, by the way, is originally from Allure magazine and appears here courtesy of Blogdorf Goodman.
Donatella doesn’t have much to forgive me for, I bought just one bottle – Diorama, the version from Les Créations de Monsieur Dior.
It was a blind buy, my rule to never buy unsniffed is a thing of the past!
I had hoped to find it when I was overseas last year, but didn’t run across it, so gave in to temptation. I’m very pleased I took the risk, it’s lovely.
So glad the blind buy worked out!
My purchases are all under the radar — mostly samples. I think the only one is a travel size of Ummagumma Extra, so 0.5 for me?
I’m actually questioning whether I got Ummagumma Extra. The bottle and box on the travel size say “Ummagumma” only. I’ve tested them against each other and I don’t notice a difference. But it definitely said “Extra” when I ordered it, and says it on the invoice.
Huh. Hope you got the right thing.
I think Ummagumma Extra is the only version available now. I didn’t see the other one on Fzotic’s website back in November.
Nothing. Zero. Sorry Donatella!
Zero twins! We can stand in the corner together. Lol.
Lol! I am glad to have company!
I think I bought one bottle plus some samples. Not a huge spender!
I hope you have a bottle — or some sort of lovely present! — coming for after your surgery 🙂
Seconding this!
Forgive me Our Lady of Fragranced Forgiveness La Bella Donnatella (and such a hostess with the mostess – see David Furnish IG) for I have purchased three bottles 4q25.
Natura Ilia Plena – a steal at $55 for a lovely 50ml bottle, which I couldn’t resist. It’s rosier than POAL, which it reminds me of. Bottle is Rothko-inspired. I think I will quite enjoy wearing this in the full bloom of late spring, when everything seems to bursting out, but the languor of heat hasn’t drained you.
Abel Laundry Day – totally unplanned but at too good a price to resist because they redesigned the bottle (which I don’t care for). This purchase allowed me my first Thunk of its predecessor! I had no idea a Thunk would be so deeply satisfying after many sample PLINKS.
LV City of Stars – another Rothko inspired bottle. This was sold out and I signed up to be notified, figuring this gesture was just to assuage the disappointed. Low and behold, they restocked, contacted me, then delivered a month early with stellar service at in-store pick-up. I couldn’t resist this scent because of the notes, the beautiful bottle, and the name (feel free to tease me on this) because Stars is in my street name, as I live near Galaxy and Constellation. And the scent was Los Angeles inspired. Having moved here from my beloved Pittsburgh, PA (waves to MMKinPA), I do try to appreciate my beautiful adopted home. As much as I deeply loved living in Pittsburgh, she doesn’t inspire fragrances as far as I know. As for City of Stars herself, she’s gentle, springlike, with little throw like a triple air kiss, intimate, yet restrained. It’s a scent that’s appreciated when people hug you, burying their face in your neck as they linger.
Planned purchases: nothing for January. Dry January, not just for alcohol! lol
Ha, yes, fragrances for Pittsburgh are not likely! I was born there but never lived there past babyhood.
You were born in Pgh, PA! I’m utterly delighted to know this! And yes it’s very unlikely she will inspire an olfactory homage.
🙂
I still have a tiny bit of family there but not much…did make regular visits up until about 2010.
Eau de Merveilles (not sure if I reported that one or not)
No 5 Leau
A mini of Maxim’s Paris, Mini splash RL safari
Very restrained ltsg!
This quarter I had bought 3 bottles of Sol de janeiro offerings, I know one was Cheirosa 62 but since I am away from the house, can’t remember the other 2. Bought a Lush That’s my Jam gift set and then a 5 ounce bottle of Narciso Rodriguez for her edp. I might have been gifted some Pleasures but got a back up bottle.
That Lush gift set is VERY tempting, I have just used up my shower gel. Hmmmm…..
I bought very few fragrances in early 2025. In the last quarter, I got (at a discount):
– Twilly d’Hermès Eau Ginger (gift set: 85 ml + 7.5 ml mini + 80 ml body lotion)
– Hermès Le Jardin de Monsieur Li (50 ml + body lotion)
I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked Eau Ginger as I hadn’t paid much attention to it before. Through the body lotion, I have also come to like the original, but I’m not rushing out to buy it just yet.
Correction: it’s a 30 ml bottle of Le Jardin de Monsieur Li (and a 200 ml bottle of body lotion).
Hermes does such nice lotions, too.
Dear Donatella,
I’ve been a good girl in Q4. Nothing over 3 ml, so everything technically counts as samples.
That said, I bought quite a few of them — so chances are I’ll fall for at least a couple and end up buying decants this quarter.
Anyway, I’m starting the year as clean as Pantone’s Color of the Year! 😂
Ha, indeed you are!
As exciting it is to track and then rip open new packages with all my Chanel purchases… It would be so long and boring to list them all. It’s hard for me to even wrap my head around how many Chanel perfumes I have purchased since September. I can just say one thing: I bought many Chanel perfumes. Never in my life did I buy so much perfume as I have in the last few months since deciding I want to collect Chanel fragrances.
Don’t worry, Donatella knows 🙂
May your Chanel collection bring you much pleasure!
Is there any one Chanel that stand out for you?
I didn’t buy any perfume. There hasn’t really been anything that has caught my attention at a decent price point.
Some of the prices are getting ridiculous!
On a delight per $1 spent, the Brazilian Natura Ilia Plena for $55 for 50 ml in the beautiful bottle was my happiest surprise.
They really are! Even on discount.
Not even the Guerlain LPRN Honey Rose?
I am afraid to blind buy it, because I am afraid it will have ambroxan in it. It’s such a prevalent note, and not always listed.
Gah. Only five bottles, but 17 samples ordered! At least most of the samples have actually been tried, and most have not been what I was hoping for so maybe I should take a lesson there. I’m counting my most recent blind buy (Courreges Blanc) in 2026. And hopefully reining in the impulse buys. For a while. 🙂
You liked the Courreges Blanc and got it at a good price, right?
Perfume samples are like potato chips. Can’t get just one!
Wow, someone’s got to pick up the slack around here, and I guess it’s going to be me. 😉
I went a little nuts, but I got some great deals and also got excited about the smaller sized Arquiste bottles and Lush bringing back some old scents. The Yog Nog Body Spray is the only purchase that hasn’t arrived yet, as I got it in their boxing day sale.
Arquiste Venice Rococo 30ml $105
Arquiste Misfit 30ml $105
Exaltatum St. Paul’s 5ml decant $17
Fzotic Creosote 5ml decant $30
Lush Snowcake 6.7oz body spray $45
Lush 25:43 6.7oz body spray $50
Lush Yog Nog Body Spray 3.3oz $14.25
Amouage Memoir Woman 80/100ml partial bottle $165
Atelier des Ors Lune Feline 100ml $93
Mugler Les Exceptionales Oriental Express 75ml $75
Parfumerie Generale L’Ombre Fauve 50ml bottle $45
The Amouage, Mugler, and PG are older bottles that I was super excited to snag!
TRF, that’s a Gold Medal 🥇 buying performance imho!
I love Amouge Memoir
Well done! I’m also impressed that you found the PG for $45. I really like that brand and think it’s under-rated. Maybe not here at NST but in the world at large. Good quality.
I agree, I don’t keep up with Pierre Guillaume releases these days, but there are many gems in the Parfumerie Generale line. He’s a great perfumer.
I got my amazing bottle deal from our cazaubon!
Where on earth did you find such a good price on Oriental Express?!
I belong to a few fragrance sales and swap groups on Facebook, and I got this from cazaubon there!
L’Ombre Fauve – nice pickup! Loved those old PGs.
You found some Perfume Unicorns this past quarter! Excellent!
Like the rabbiflower I made Donatella proud this last quarter, a combination of BF prices for my wishlist and acquired some long-standing wants
Coromandel edp 200ml £162, I have the extrait from several years ago but I’m going to be able to spray this EDP lavishly, a different experience
Hiram Green Vivacious 50ml £112, my first Hiram Green
PG Tonka Bodykon 40/50ml £49.25, a blind buy and like my other 3 PG I love it dearly and can’t resist Tonka it seems
Miller Harris Violet Ida 100ml £42, it’s a lovely mostly iris
Vintage Ungaro Diva 50ml £22.99 with free shipping, this is technically a backup for a partial I misplaced months ago, it drove me crazy, I haven’t opened it yet, hope it smells alright
Ormonde Jayne Champaca 88ml extrait £112.51, my first OJ, I hesitated but the beautiful citrus of Champaca had stayed in my mind
Lancôme Absolue 6 am Rose 50ml £88.65, I was expecting to fall in love with 1001 Roses but it’s this one which captured my heart, seems I still can’t resist a pink rose
AG Bois d’Hadrien 45/50ml £31.99 I blame several of you who described they loved it and so do I and it was rather a bargain, love these classic AG perfumes
Miss Dior Rose Essence 100ml £37.65, I couldn’t forget trying this LE, a late lovely by the great François Demachy which was available for a minute it seems, hardly ever pounced so fast on a bottle on eBay, it doesn’t last very long, I remembered this but is part of its charm, I certainly wouldn’t want nasty aromachemicals to make it last longer
Vintage JL Scherrer edt 100ml £29.50, it is pristine and smells perfect, I love my modern EDP but always wanted a vintage version, this is one of my favorite perfumes
That’s all folks! I made a resolution after this spree.
*rabbits flower, so sorry
I had a chance to buy one of the Lancome exclusives, but didn’t want to blind buy. Have you tried many?
Not all, just the roses, 6am was the winner, it’s delicate and lovely.
Wow wow wow! Aurora, you’re such an excellent shopper. Those deals! May I ask where you got so many delicious deals?
You might remember I’m in the UK, it’s a mix of a little of department stores discounted perfumes for BF which were very good this year, second-hand sites, we have a newish one, so I carefully dipped a tow, and a selection of trusted sellers on ebay.uk, I have been dealing with them sometimes for 15 years. Also, being patient helps a lot on second-hand sites.
Gosh being patient is like a super power sometimes and a huge challenge for me. Glad to know your patience paid off Aurora!
Envy!
😀
Vintage Ungaro Diva!! 😍
😀I’m so glad to have it back in my life.
You did a great job this quarter!
Both of us were holding the fort😀
Well my bottle of Chanel #18 is supposed to arrive today via FedEx!! I’m super excited. It is my most anticipated, loved perfume ever!! I love things like iris, good real vanilla, “oriental” notes, spices and so on… But something that captures me the most is when a fragrance is bubbly, effervescent, sparkling like club soda that I drink all day every day… FIZZY!! Chanel #18 is the most fizzy perfume I have every smelled.
Yesterday my sample of Coromandel arrived and I still have it on my wrist after like 16 hours. Amazing perfume. I am a huge fan of the original Chance and Coco Mademoiselle as long as #1932 and 31 Rue Cambon. Coromandel smells like the sun of all of them. It smells like the most “Chanelesque”, like the Big Daddy to all of them (I know that Coco Mademoiselle was first in the group but this is just my description). Someone said Coromandel is not just a perfume but rather and experience and I wholeheartedly agree. If You like me enjoy before mentioned perfumes – You will understand why Coromandel is an absolute must.
The other day my pure parfum bottles of original Allure and Coco Mademoiselle arrived. I have several bottles of Allure Parfum already but it was my first time smelling Coco Mademoiselle extrait. It smells lovely. I used to wear Coco Mademoiselle EdT and Edp some 20 years ago. I have a deep connection with Coco Mademoiselle but it was the first time smelling the extrait and I am absolutely smitten. It smells like an amplified Coco Mademoiselle. I can’t stop thinking about how much I love it. When I get a little money I will get a 15 ml of Coromandel extrait as well.
Like the “sum” of all of them*
Another Coro fan here! Congrats on your growing Chanel collection, majokkobiachan.
This is an engaging post MkKBC! What inspired this Chanel passion so suddenly and completely? As a rookie perfumista of only one year, I’m intrigued.
Coromandel is simultaneously over the top but has that Chanel edge of restraint. IDK how they do it.
Just one, a chance buy at Glasgow airport! Le labo Santal.
That’s quite an airport shop to stock Le Labo Santal! XF, do they regularly stock fragrance there in the gift shop and you knew to go looking or was this a case of serendipity?
I bought four bottles in October, nothing since.
TF Cherry Smoke because a coming IFRA ban of benzaldehyde means reformulation
Ajmal 1001 Nights
Ajmal Purely Oriental Santal
Both Ajmals from a discounter. I wanted oud but not too stinky.
Maxsim Perfumes Cologne d’Agar. LT liked it so I bought a 9ml travel spray. I like it too.
You’ve wanted TF Cherry Smoke for a while now. Glad you got it now.
I bought too many to list, despite my wish to downsize, but sometimes I rationalized by saying, I’m buying this for a son’s girlfriend, that for my sister in law, this other one for a niece, that cute one over there for my sister. It was the holidays, after all. But that still left plenty for meeeee.
My happiest find was a long d/c 4 oz bottle of D’Orsay Tilleul Friction de Nuit (why this weird name??). My sister loves linden scents and this was a splash so I decanted her a huge amount into a spray bottle, which she prefers. I told her I’ll refill it when she runs out. Meanwhile there is plenty for me too so win-win. I also got her the Nuxe Neroli Huile Prodigeuse. She likes the original and she likes citrus so I took a chance.
*Some* of my other purchases: A mini of L’Occitane Herbae, a mini of the original Benetton Colors, a large mini of the original Mila Schoen (a very pretty floral chypre), Coromandel EdT, vintage Puig Quorum, (men) vintage Cerutti 1881 women, vintage Alexander Julian Colors (men but very unisex) , Goutal Le Chat Perchee, & Bond Chinatown (which I can never make up my mind about and thus I’ve probably bought and sold/swapped 3x).
I’ve stuck with my one bottle of Chinatown over the years, but it will probably take me ages to ever use it up. At least it has apricot, so good to the CP this week!
I’m not sure about Chinatown either but I am firmly of the belief that it’s worth having in one’s collection.
I’ve never smelled Bond No. 5 Chinatown. Is it as weird as some reviews say?
Congrats on the D’Orsay find! I never tried that one but loved the original Tilleul.
I am pretty sure it was in the fall that I finally bought Chanel No. 5 l’Eau, as well as a partial bottle of Coromandel. The seller for the latter also passed along a partial bottle of PN Iris de Medicis, knowing how much I like iris, and it is a nice one.
Great choices!
Well done picking up those Chanels!
Just samples and samples for me. But I plan to have more to report at our next damage poll, so don’t give up on me, Donatella!
Anything really good on the sample front?
It was lots of fun and furthered my fragrance education, but no full bottles came of it. Which is okay!
Had to do some digging to find out what exactly I had picked up in Q4 besides a bunch of samples. But NST canon says that those don’t count.
1. Jimmy Choo EdP (the OG), 50mL — $47.37
2. Dior Hypnotic Poison EdT, 30mL — $75.93
Total for the quarter = $123.30, not bad at all!
Total for 2025 = $810.50. Trending downwards for 2024, thankfully.
Not “for”, FROM! I derped on that.
Not bad at all and I am jealous of your HP 🙂
2 great one’s!
So glad you treated yourself to a small bottle of HP since you enjoy it.
This last quarter I gave in buying more perfumes
-Dolce & Gabanna Q EdP Intense
-Tumi Continuum
– Tumi Atlas
-Ferragamo E Pur Si Muove
-Ferragamo Convivio
– Vince Camuto Illuminare Intensa
– Oscar de la Renta Extraordinary
-Oscar de la Renta Extraordinary Petale
-Oscar de la Renta Bella Night
-Oscar de la Renta Oscar Rose
-Oscar de la Renta Oscar Jasmine
– Nikos Sculpture Voyage en Orient
-Nikos Sculpture Air de Lune
-Memoire Archives Cabin Retreat
-Ferragamo Sublime Leather
-Mugler A*Men Fantasm
-Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan
-Serge Lutens Feminite du Bois
-Ralph Lauren Safari for men
-Guy Laroche Drakkar Noir
-Banana Republic Dark Cherry & Amber
-Banana Republic Tobacco & Tonka Bean
Hopefully Donatella won’t get upset because I got all on sale.
What a lovely haul, you really got quite a mix of things! Wear it all in good health 🙂
What a varied list, congratulations.