How Do You Smell Today?

[pavonine]

Hugo Boss Deep Red

One of my oldest scents. I got my first bottle when I was 14 and it was love at first sniff.

Colour it my guilty pleasure but I freaking love this.

 

[princess sparkle]

Thierry Mugler, Angel EdT

 

[hautechild]

Le Labo Santal

 

[bittercain]

Citta di Kyoto by Santa Maria Novella

 

[pavonine]

Serge Lutens De Profundis.

My 0.5 ml sample is over. It wasn't love at first sniff, but this has grown a lot on me, so much so that I've decided to invest in a full bottle. It turns into something achingly beautiful and transcendental on my skin.

 

[pavonine]

Frederic Malle Carnal Flower

When I sniff my wrist, it smells absolutely heavenly, but I'm not sure whether it's the $320 perfume or the £20 Cowshed body lotion (which smells simply divine, loads better than overpriced niche scents), because I dabbed a bit of the scent on my shirt as well, as my shirt smells hardly as good as my wrist.

Guess I've to try it again in isolation to decide.

 

[Spike413]

Carnal Flower is definitely a gorgeous one, but that price tag is a little scary.

Diptyque Oyedo

 

[tangerine]

L'Artisan Al Oudh

Another Duchaufour classic.

 

[pavonine]

Carnal Flower is definitely a gorgeous one, but that price tag is a little scary.

Diptyque Oyedo

Oh well, it turned out that it was indeed my body lotion (which lasted for about an hour ). The scent itself was too greenish for a tuberose, and slightly underwhelming. I mean, if I'm going to pay $320 for 100 ml (and if you're going to invest in a Malle, it makes more sense buying a 100 ml for $320 when the price of a 50 ml bottle is $215 ), then that scent has got to be extraordinary and distinctive and idiosyncratic and unmistakable. Carnal Flower isn't any of these things (on me, at least). Hell, it didn't even last for more than 3 hours. Besides, I already own Fracas and Nuit de Tubereuse and Tubereuse Criminelle, so there's no point investing in another tuberose, and an underwhelming one at that. Guess I'm in the minority.

Malle's Musc Ravageur and Noir Epices, on the other hand... I haven't worn them yet, but the glass vial does smell abso-bloody-lutely amazing.

 

[tigerrouge]

YSL - Opium Vapeurs de Parfum

On me, this smells like a one-note version of the original, made of some mid-level ingredient reformulated to vanish within two hours of wearing it.

 

[Street_a_Licious]

Britney Spears - Midnight Fantasy

don't judge. i like fruity scents. on me.

 

[Street_a_Licious]

YSL - Opium Vapeurs de Parfum

On me, this smells like a one-note version of the original, made of some mid-level ingredient reformulated to vanish within two hours of wearing it.

i actually kinda like those lighter flankers. my favorite way of wearing those is layering them over the original. the original will stick around, but the lighter notes layered on top will lighten the entire thing, meaning you end up with a good medium between 'too strong' and 'too light'.

just my 2 cents

of course there's also flankers of fragrances like Kouros, where the Eau d'Ete is MUCH easier to wear but sticks around forever, just like the regular one. one of my best purchases imo. (then again, the list of fragrances i own is ridic)

 

[Spike413]

Oh well, it turned out that it was indeed my body lotion (which lasted for about an hour ). The scent itself was too greenish for a tuberose, and slightly underwhelming. I mean, if I'm going to pay $320 for 100 ml (and if you're going to invest in a Malle, it makes more sense buying a 100 ml for $320 when the price of a 50 ml bottle is $215 ), then that scent has got to be extraordinary and distinctive and idiosyncratic and unmistakable. Carnal Flower isn't any of these things (on me, at least). Hell, it didn't even last for more than 3 hours. Besides, I already own Fracas and Nuit de Tubereuse and Tubereuse Criminelle, so there's no point investing in another tuberose, and an underwhelming one at that. Guess I'm in the minority.

Malle's Musc Ravageur and Noir Epices, on the other hand... I haven't worn them yet, but the glass vial does smell abso-bloody-lutely amazing.

Maybe it's just what I associate it with (my mother), or that it's the first tuberose-centered scent that I ever came into contact with, but nothing will ever beat Fracas for me.

 

[pavonine]

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Oud

Oud, by nature, smells a tad strange. It's not a terribly pleasant smell, and maybe an acquired taste. The oud in MFK Oud doesn't smell like those medicinal, Band-Aid like our scents that've inundated the market, but it doesn't smell very pleasant either. There's a persistent redolence of something rank and cheesy in the beginning along with a blast of saffron, but this smell quickly abates on the skin (it lingers for a while when applied on your shirt) to give way a less strident oud-y and more warm bouquet.

It's not a bad scent at all, but at $300 for 70ml, it isn't totally out of the world either, and as such not worth the price, unless, of course, it totally changes tack and turns into something heart-stoppingly beautiful after an hour or so.

Only I doubt it.




...

 

[Chanelcouture09]

Tom Ford Black Orchid

 

[tigerrouge]

i actually kinda like those lighter flankers. my favorite way of wearing those is layering them over the original. the original will stick around, but the lighter notes layered on top will lighten the entire thing, meaning you end up with a good medium between 'too strong' and 'too light'.

The first time I wore it, I had it layered over the parfum original, but on me, there's a note in Vapeurs which tends to dominate even the original, not in depth or strength, but in hardness. It's not entirely unpleasant, but whatever it is, it's too one-dimensional and never develops, it just sits there on the skin.

For me, the best variation on Opium was Orchidee de Chine, it felt like the scent had emerged into the sunlight and found its power was undiminished.

 

[castorpollux]

dolce & gabbana pour homme

 

[pavonine]

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Oud

It's not a bad scent at all, but at $300 for 70ml, it isn't totally out of the world either, and as such not worth the price, unless, of course, it totally changes tack and turns into something heart-stoppingly beautiful after an hour or so.

It didn't change drastically, but I found the scent growing on me, to the point that I actually quite liked it after about 3-4 hours.

I still think it's about $100-$120 overpriced, because at $300, a scent has got to be much, much more than just 'nice' or even 'really nice', because you get 'nice' and 'really nice' scents at one-fifth the price.

Today it's Frederic Malle Iris Poudre for me.

Crikey, an iris that I actually don't dislike! Maybe it's the iris note isn't prominent at all, but this is very pretty.

 

[gallianoboy]

Tom Ford "Lavender Palm"....Incredible, and smells perfect for men!! The scent of spring/summer this year for me!!!

 

[tangerine]

^ my sample of Lavender Palm did not impress me that much, I will have to try it again.

Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque