Thursday Free-For-All

[synecdochic]

Before I forget!

This post is a free-for-all for people to:

a) post links to perfume-related content they posted elsewhere (on or off DW)
b) talk about anything they want to talk about that isn't big enough for a full post
c) socialize and hang out without worrying about "off topic"
d) or anything else that comes to mind!

Comments

[sathari]

I know things smell different on people than they do in the bottle--- so what are everyone's general thoughts about scents that don't smell good in the bottle, i.e. when you get a sample that doesn't smell too interesting in the bottle, do you go ahead and skin-test it to see what it does on you, or do you write it off and move on? And do you have a different policy for samples you've selected versus surprise "freebies"? (I'm thinking specifically of BPAL's frimps).

For myself, I lean toward not skin-testing if something doesn't make a good "first impression"--- I'll try to do a review post later, but out of my most recent BPAL order, only three imps out of twelve made it onto my skin (and I'm only buying a full size of one). So especially if anyone has any thoughts about how to go about deciding whether to skin-test something that doesn't "grab" you in the bottle, I'm interested!

[jenett]

I find that the smell in the bottle and the smell on skin can be so very different that the bottle's not giving a scent a fair shake. I mean, what'm I losing by skin testing on a day when I'm sitting around the computer? I might need to go wash my wrist.

I don't test things that have notes I know I have significant trouble with (I'm sensitive to chamomile, and I'd hate to, say, fall in love with something that had it, and then have to deal with the allergy issues.) And I generally won't test something that smells truly miserable in the bottle.

But most other stuff? I'll test it. Eventually. I usually go much more by the notes and 'do I maybe want to smell like this thing' and there are some things I do weed out at that point. But otherwise it goes in the bin of things to test sometime. (Which could be months, I admit, and then I'll do a day of trying half a dozen at a time (three on each arm) and seeing whihc I want to try more thoroughly.

[sathari]

Good points!

I've tried both approaches (three-to-an-arm, washing off) and my own personal problem with those approaches is that on the one hand scents tend to "cling" to my skin (I've used peroxide, alcohol, dish soap, and permutations and combinations thereof, and I still smell at least partly like whatever-it-was) and on the other putting multiple scents to an arm changes all of them, so a scent I like when it's a couple of inches away from another scent on me may not smell so good on its own.

TL;DR, it seems like scents are a bigger "time investment" for me than for some, thanks probably to skin-chemistry REASONS.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

I skintest everything; I've seen too many scents (especially perfume oils like BPAL) that smell very different on skin than they do in the bottle to want to do otherwise. Something that makes a bad impression in the bottle or lists notes that I know tend not to work will generally go to the very end of the line, but I'll still eventually test them once simply for curiosity's sake. Even if the scent lives down to my low expectations, I find it interesting just to see how it changes with skin contact and warmth and drydown; but there have been quite a few cases where something that was fairly unprepossessing in the bottle turned out to be much more interesting and pleasant on skin.

[lunabee34]

I'm testing it all because at this point I don't know enough about why I don't like what I don't like if that makes any sense. I might change my mind when I have a clearer idea of what I do and don't like.

[synecdochic]

Belatedly: I skin-test everything eventually, even the stuff I don't think is going to work, unless the predominant notes of the scent are ones I know I will never, ever, ever wear. (For instance, I skintested Omen, which is heavy on the patchouli, despite generally hating patchouli -- and sure enough, it didn't work well on me! but I can tell that maybe in another few months of aging it might be nice -- but I got a decant of Pumpkin Hard Candy as a frimp with an ebay purchase, and I hate pumpkin scents, so I didn't bother.)

This occasionally leads to surprises! This morning I opened the bottle of La Vita Nuova that I also got off eBay, and my immediate reaction was "ugh this smells like fruity shampoo and not in the good way". But on me it bloomed into a very lovely gentle soft herbal underpinned by rose, with just a tiny hint of fruit, and it was very refreshing and springlike without being cloying or too femme for my tastes.

My general rule is: Plan on skin-testing everything. For the stuff I really hate in the imp, I apply sparingly to just one wrist and don't dab it that wrist on the other, so it minimizes the amount I'll have to scrub. Then I do my very best to sit with the scent for at least five minutes before deciding "nope", unless it's so revolting that I'm physically recoiling from it. After five minutes, I'm allowed to scrub it off if I know the first wave of the scent is so awful on me that there's no chance it can be redeemed if it morphs past that.

Mind you, my skin chemistry makes most bpal scents morph like whoa. But starting from the assumption that I'll be skin-testing everything has led me to discover a few I otherwise wouldn't have. We got a frimp of Paris with our last order, for instance, and I never would have picked it on my own, and I was super-dubious about it in the imp. Then I put it on, and it was lovely.

[sathari]

No problem with the somewhat-belatedness (as witness my own delay in responding)!

Yeah, the general consensus seems to be to skin-test everything! I'll admit I'm still on the fence about my own habits in that area, though--- not only does my skin cling to scents, as I mentioned above, but I got forcibly reminded this week of another reason why I'm cautious about trying scents--- I have apparently managed to be allergic to something in not one but (at least) two different things I tried within the last week, so I'm "benched" from testing until I heal up, ugh! So anything I test really needs to be worth the risk of an allergic reaction. Sigh.

[synecdochic]

Ugh, allergies.

(You can generally remove a stubborn scent with rubbing alcohol, or oil and then rubbing alcohol. Just for the record!)

[sathari]

Ugh, indeed!

Thanks for the suggestion! I've used alcohol, and peroxide, and soap-and-water, and combinations thereof, until I'm honestly worried I'll scrub the skin raw, but if a scent wants to linger on me, it's going to. :( Ugh again!