How Do You Smell Today?

[tigerrouge]

Given that I now spend so much time in my own company, choosing what perfume to wear is a chance to introduce some variety into the day... not to mention what gets rediscovered when I go excavating into forgotten corners of storage shelves.

Holding up well despite the years are two Serge Lutens samples, Cuir Mauresque and Muscs Koublaï Khan, the latter of which was always a disappointment. After reading all the earthy descriptions of musky sweat and leather, when all I get is a sweet, smoky powder.

I've also made the calculated gamble of buying the Private Blend version of Tom Ford's Beau de Jour instead of the relaunched one in the Signature Line. I never went for it during the time it was out, despite always being drawn to it, and I've regretted it ever since.

I haven't been able to get near a bottle of the new one to smell it, but after getting YSL Opium pour Homme based on recommendations and hating it, I promised myself that I'd never buy another perfume "sight unseen".

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I seem to recall that someone in my dorm in college wore Opium and it smelled great. On me though, it smells like the cheapest drugstore eau What is it about Opium ...

In my world, lockdown doesn't call for perfume ... so I just smell clean I find scent a bit distracting tbh.

 

[castorpollux]

bleu de chanel

 

[dior_couture1245]

Eleventh Hour by Byredo....it's my favorite...totally intoxicating, mysterious, strange and gorgeous.

 

[tigerrouge]

Houbigant Orangers en Fleurs, because I received four samples of it with an online order. For an eau de parfum, it's got no presence whatsoever - you'd be hard-pressed to smell it even if you sprayed it on your pillow before bed.

 

[tigerrouge]

In order to streamline the amount of samples I own, I’m sitting down and making disciplined lists of products to finish off for good, which includes these tiny vials which come out occasionally, but are otherwise stashed away at the back of a drawer:

Frederic Malle - Iris Poudre
L'Artisan Parfumeur - Bana Banana
Serge Lutens - Cuir Mauresque
Serge Lutens - Muscs Koublai Khan
Serge Lutens - Borneo 1834

The Lutens samples are old, so I know none of them will compare to any current reformulations, the Bana Banana is a foregone conclusion because I already have a full-size bottle from last Christmas which I wear often enough, and the Iris Poudre smells of nothing on me at the start, and only faintly more when it warms up a while later.

 

[Colette_B]

byredo gypsy water

 

[Belowen]

Jo Malone | Wood Sage & Sea Salt

 

[castorpollux]

ysl l'homme

(I think I'm gonna order a Le Labo disovery set with the redemption card for a 100 mL bottle of whatever....)

 

[tigerrouge]

I'm going to spend Christmas using up what's left in some old Serge Lutens spray samples:

• Chergui
• Feminité du Bois
• Sa Majesté la Rose
• Fille en Aiguilles
• Nuit de Cellophane
• Vitriol d'œillet
• Jeux de Peau
• L'orpheline

It took me ages before I realised the layered meanings in fille en aiguilles/de fil en aiguille... and as much as I love Jeux de Peau, do I want to go around smelling of warm buttered toast?

 

[sheenaclifford]

I can't keep the smell of sandalwood away from me. It is like my besties can recognize by just that smell in a crowd of 100. I love to use natural body scrub only and as a salt I use sandalwood and mint bath salt. I also use red sandalwood soap on a daily basis. So smell of sandalwood all around me.

 

[castorpollux]

Le Labo Santal 33 (it’s banal in NYC, but I’m in the Midwest)

 

[Sensation]

Narciso Rodriguez - Pure Musc

 

[Feline]

YSL Elle - it's been discontinued but I was able get some online. Have missed the fragrance since my old bottle ran out.

 

[tigerrouge]

The last of some old Chanel Cristalle, from the 90s.

Both Cristalle and No. 19 used to be widely available, but if you see them on sale these days, it's like you've spotted an endangered species.

 

[tigerrouge]

Using up the last of a Tom Ford Jasmin Rouge travel spray... while nice, this is yet another range that's become far too overpriced for what it is.

So many brands push a two-tier model of perfumes, with a standard set of products and then a line of boutique 'exclusives' that cost three or four times as much, but aren't necessarily any better.

I could spend £254 if I wanted a 100ml bottle of Jasmin Rouge... or I could spend £64 on two 50ml bottles from Serge Lutens Toison d'Or range and continue the relationship I've had with Lutens since the 90s, when I read about Ambre Sultan in Vogue, and had to write, in my best French, to the Palais Royal in Paris to request the tiny book of wax samples of all the scents.

 

[Norden]

En passant by Fredric malle today

 

[vetements]

Officine Universelle Buly - Eau Triple Al Kassir

lovely powdery scent, a recent favorite. This brand recently sprouts all over Japan (10 plus stores in a short span of time), and Japanese don't wear scents very much in general, I still wonder who is buying them....

 

[tigerrouge]

Floris - Honey Oud

 

[Drusilla_]

Penhaligon's - Ostara (getting to the last of an old bottle and after this there will be no more )