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[synecdochic]

Welcome to smellsgood! Please read the community rules in the profile.

I have a good idea for the tagging scheme that I will start to implement as we get posts in the comm, so for now the ability to create tags is set to admins-only. I also want to do a post about common vocabulary items and the like for people who are newer to the perfume world.

My background also comes entirely from the essential oils and perfume oils end of things: I worked in an apothecary for a few years during the summers when I was a teenager and young adult, and got to both smell a lot of things and play around with how various oils blended. Then I ignored scent for a long time, with the exception of a few BPAL oils I got from other people, and thanks to rydra_wong's curation of perfume discussions on DW, have recently gotten back into things with a vengeance -- mostly BPAL again. So, I'm nearly entirely ignorant of the mainstream perfume world, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about those perfumes here! Pretty much everything goes.

To start off some discussion: what are you wearing today? I am wearing BPAL's "413 US 15 / Miller vs California", usually shorthanded as "obscenity caselaw" (as in, "you smell like obscenity caselaw today!" or "The cat smells like obscenity caselaw, did she rub up against you?"): "Leather, cognac, fig, ripe berry, and cream, stuffed into a plain brown paper bag." It's a limited-edition scent from 2009, and I am heartbroken that I'll never be able to get another freshly-made bottle. About a month or so ago, one of the ingredients turned a touch sour-vinegar due to age (I think it's the 'cream' note) -- fortunately, the sourness in the bottle dissipates once it's on my skin, and the overall effect is still very nice on me, but it's no longer as long-lasting on my skin (which eats oils and scents like whoa) and the "chords" of the perfume have morphed so that the notes shake out differently as they wear. Not in a bad way, but I miss the old version already.

How about you?

Comments

[ivorygates]

http://www.nstperfume.com/2014/03/26/hermes-bel-ami-vetiver-fragrance-review/

[synecdochic]

Oooh, that sounds yummy.

[kaberett]

I tried to buy some Miller vs California off the forums a few months ago and it got lost in the post - alas alack etc :-(

Currently I'm wearing some things I've been testing, but if I hadn't those then today feels like an Endymion day...

[dejla]

http://www.philosophy.com/fragrance/pure-grace-eau-de-parfum,en_US,pd.html

I have a roller of it I keep in my bag in case I zip out the door without scent. There's always an undercurrent of soap and water to it which makes me feel cleaner, even when I've just catwashed and run.

[synecdochic]

Oh, woe! If I find blank sample vials anywhere that doesn't require me to buy umpteen billion of them to get a reasonable price, I'll happily decant some for you. I do still like what it's aged into! I just miss the old version of it already, alas.

[synecdochic]

Oh, that sounds very pretty!

Sarah always forgets perfume in the morning, too. She also wants to start keeping some (BPAL imps, in our case) in her purse. Me, I work from home, so when I notice I forgot something or that something's worn off I can just go reapply :)

[musyc]

A very dear friend sent me alllllllll of her "doesn't work" BPAL scents. Arrived today; tested one before I'd even unpacked the others. XD

I was very proud of myself! My process with BPAL is to test and pick at scents before reading the catalog descriptions. I don't identify individual smells well, partially due to being a smoker, but this time I didn't have to struggle! I got the eucalyptus and mint straight off and the violet a few minutes later. Ultraviolet - One of the few imps I've been able to identify most of the notes without help! *dances*

[synecdochic]

\o/ Awesome!

[jenett]

Of course, this made me decide what I was going to put on.

Which today is apparently Blooddrop's Uffington Horse , which the description gives thusly: " The Uffington horse smells of wild, fresh herbs such as lavender, wild chamomile, small violets, mullein, sage, wild roses cozied up to a bed of soft, pale chalk."

I get a lot of violet from it. (Violet notes really like me!) I am one of those people whose skin does very well with many florals, but I don't actually want to smell like flowers all the time, so I really like the more herby-flower notes (the lavender and mullein and sage) and the chalky note in this. Though I admit I bought it mostly because of the name.

(I also have a bottle of Gem Twist out of that line, for historical reasons, and maybe I'll do a post about that this weekend here.)

[snippy]

I am wearing Comme des Garcons original eau de parfum, which has been my favorite fragrance for years now.

[dejla]

If I'm compos mentis in the morning, I remember. And then I have to choose between what I feel like wearing.

Should I admit that I have Youth Dew in my repertoire?

[synecdochic]

Hey, this is a judgement-free zone. It says so right in the userinfo and everything ;)

[synecdochic]

Oooh, I'd never seen Blooddrop before. That one sounds like it smells gorgeous! I'm a bit fascinated by the chalk: is it more powdery, or more, hrm, quicklime-and-mineral?

I always thought I did not like violet, until I realized that no, I just dislike artificial violet and things that claim to be 'violet' that really aren't. It does have a tendency to powder on me, but when it doesn't, it comes off really well.

[synecdochic]

Oh, man, the quote from the perfumer in that article cracks me up. I often wonder whether perfumers really are playing giant jokes on us. :)

[jenett]

More powdery on me than quicklime-and-mineral? Sort of chalk from a chalkboard effect. It's not a terribly strong note in the mix, just sort of there.

And Bloodrop's stuff is nice! A number of hers are more foodie than I want to smell like - I like foodie smells, just not on me! - but the non-foodie ones are fun.

[cyprinella]

Every time I read a new description or review of a CdG scent, I end up mentally adding it to the try list. I liked their original and totally fell in love with Black. But I have to get through the samples I have now before I'm allowed to order anything else.

[dejla]

True, true. And there are some days it just satisfies something in me.

[thatyourefuse]

Chanel Gardénia; sadly, while I really liked this at the sample table, on me it's going a bit Generic White Floral. I have some layering ideas I want to try at some point, though.

[synecdochic]

Somebody should totally start a discussion about Fun Layering Tricks™ :)

[rydra_wong]

Phi: Une Rose de Kandahar.

I was thinking this was gorgeous but not "me", but now after a few more wears, I may be re-considering. There's something in it that goes very deep and oud-like on me, and Andy Tauer does some of my favourite roses: dark, complicated, and not "floral".

[synecdochic]

Oooh, that might be relevant to my interests. Not that I have a shortage of things to smell!

[cyprinella]

Trying out L'Occitane Eau des Baux and being disappointed. Ah well.

[synecdochic]

Oooh, make a post about why it's disappointing you?

[cyprinella]

I did on my personal journal. I'm not sure I want to crosspost but also feel weird about just dropping a link on the comm as a post. It's been so long!

[synecdochic]

Ah, fair enough!

Although maybe for the first week we should ask people to post links to all their perfume-related discussion or review posts or something to get the place moving :D

[cyprinella]

I think since I basically liveblog into the entry window and edit it a number of times after initially posting, editing in both places would be obnoxious. But I will drop a link to my tag.

[white_aster]

I got my vials from Sunburst Bottle at one point and was pretty happy with them. They'll sell you as few as you'd like. http://www.sunburstbottle.com/clear-glass-sampler-vial/p/LSAM/ :)

[white_aster]

Moving reminded me of how many perfumes I've got that I haven't worn in ages, so I am wearing some Arsenic and Old Lace from Darkswan Indulgences...this bottle is so old that the perfumer doesn't even exist anymore, but the perfume's fine! Very dry clovey/apricoty scent.

[sathari]

Currently wearing BPAL's Dee, which was just what I needed tonight--- my quasi-synaesthetic descriptions of what it's doing on me include things like "warm darkness" along with more scent-standard descriptors like "spice, leather, and woodsmoke". (I've been wearing Hell's Belle and Jezebel a lot lately, but both of those were too much in the sweet-and-flowery on me right now.)

[synecdochic]

I am having fits trying to figure out if I love Dee or hate it. When I irst tried it, it hadn't aged enough to be wearable yet (IMO) and went into sour powder immediately. Next attempt, two months later, was gorgeous and wonderful and long-lasting and I loved it. Third attempt made me vaguely queasy, smelled like the aftershave my creepy-old-man neighbor wore while I was growing up, and also lasted forever. Fourth attempt was back to the lovely scent of try #2, but wore off within an hour.

This is all from the same imp, mind you.

I suppose it's fitting for the inspiration, but it would be nice if it would calm the fuck down and let me figure out if I like it or not!

[recessional]

BPAL The Apothecary. I still quite like it, but I need to start classing these and labelling the boxes or whatever - this is a thinking-perfume, an intellectual-pursuits perfume, not a normal-day perfume, and it's been agitating me all day. It smells nice! Just, agitating.

[sathari]

I too was not fond of Dee at first! I confess to not having been at all systematic about working out how long it takes it to be wearable on me, but I know my current bottleful is, um, well-aged.

[synecdochic]

What got me was that second through fourth attempts were all in the same week! I'm giving it some more aging to see what the hell, but really.

[pebblerocker]

Clary sage and neroli essential oils, in a shea butter base: my first attempt at blending oils together, and pretty successful. I think I can now tolerate some mainstream perfumes sometimes, but essential oils are safer to start with and I plan to try out BPAL and similar to see what I can get away with.

[rydra_wong]

Hey, Youth Dew gets serious perfumista respect nowadays! It's regarded as a grand precursor of the "spicy orientals", not to mention a pioneer of the idea that women could buy perfume for themselves (instead of having it bought for them by men).

http://boisdejasmin.com/2013/02/estee-lauder-youth-dew-perfume-review-new-and-vintage.html
http://yesterdaysperfume.typepad.com/yesterdays_perfume/2010/07/youth-dew-by-estee-lauder-1952.html
http://theperfumechronicles.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/estee-lauder-youth-dew/

Not that you need external validation for your perfume choices, but IMHO it's nice to know when something you love is being appreciated by other people too.

[sathari]

Yeah, "what the hell but really" is a fair description of both this and Jezebel, which seems to have aged from "mind-numbingly floral powder" to "joyfully sweet and complex," IDEK.

(I am seriously tempted to start threads here about a) synaesthetic responses to various scents--- because OMG, DEE; sniffing it on me is the mental equivalent of curling up in an overstuffed leather armchair in front of a roaring fire and that is just the beginning of my description) and b) signature perfumes for given fictional nouns--- persons, places or things that smell like a certain scent to those who choose to comment.)

[synecdochic]

heh. I like both ideas! Especially the second, since I originally got Dee to try to find a scent for one of my characters :)

[sathari]

Oh, wow! Thanks! I'll put up a couple of posts, probably later in the week since that's closer to most of the world's weekends, and how geeky is it that I actually googled work-weeks around the world to help me decide that? LOL.

Also, I meant to say, thanks for starting this comm--- it's already a lot of fun for just having kicked off!

[dejla]

Really? That's amazing!

I know I like orientals, and by asking a perfume store saleswoman about perfumes with chypre in them, I found Femme by Rochas.

And just found out with a tester than on me Chanel no. 5 smells good and lasts forever.