Rec me a perfume!

[lunabee34]

I think I'm going to ask for an order of perfume samples from Surrender to Chance for my birthday in a couple months, and I'm looking for some inspiration.

Rec me your favorite (non-BPAL) perfume. Or maybe tell me about a perfume you think is important that everyone ought to try. Or something that you've always wanted to try but never gotten the chance.

Thanks in advance, everyone!

Comments

[splix]

Ooh!

Some of my favorites, broken down by cold/warm weather:

Cold weather frags:

Avignon by Comme des Garcons
Messe di Minuit by Etro
Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens
Twilight by Sarah Jessica Parker
Eau Duelle by Diptyque
Paisley by Etro
Obsession by Calvin Klein
L'Origan by Coty
Tokyomilk Dark Bittersweet #83
Matins Calins by Comptoir sud Pacifique
Coco Noir by Chanel

Warm weather:
Covet by Sarah Jessica Parker
Vetiver by Diptyque
Jasmine Bergamot by L'Occitane
Elixir of Love by Caswell Massey
Cristalle by Chanel [actually smells a lot like Covet, so I'd just buy Covet and save a bundle]
Lalique by Lalique
Jessica McClintock by Jessica McClintock
Jardins de Bagatelle by Guerlain
Crabtree & Evelyn Eau Fraiche [discontinued *sob*]
Molton Brown Revitalizing AB&C eau fraiche
Penhaligon Ellenisia

I've always wanted to try Chanel Beige - I hear it's quiet but lovely. And I'm still looking for a perfect rose. I've tried Tea Rose by the Perfumer's Workshop, Demeter's, a Middle Eastern perfume I can't recall the brand name of, and Pacifica's Persian Rose and the Pacifica's the best so far but not quite there yet.

ETA: And I'm dying to get my hands on some unspoiled vintage Tuxedo by Ralph Lauren, Deneuve by Catherine Deneuve, and the original Colors by Benetton fragrance for women. They reformulated it and it doesn't smell at ALL like the original. :(

[dejla]

I HATE it when they discontinue perfumes I love.

My mother, when I was very young, used to swear that when she really liked something and bought it frequently, that someone followed her around to find out what she liked and discontinue it.

[lunabee34]

Ha! I have that feeling about TV shows.

[splix]

Oh, that is the most annoying feeling. I concur with your mother in regard to lipstick. Vexing. -_-

[lunabee34]

Chanel Beige is really nice. Here's my review of it:

Beige was a wonderful surprise. It's a white floral, so I assumed it would be an instant back-button. Notes include hawthorn, frangipani, freesia, and honey accords. It's glorious, though. For the first ten minutes, it skirts the edge of possibly becoming too cloying or too sweet. But after that initial ten minutes, it settles into something a little spicy and a little floral that is just beautiful. It smells awful on Emma. It goes way too sweet on her; it's the caricature of a white floral on her skin chemistry. But it is divine on me. Tony Stark gives Pepper Potts a bottle of this for Christmas every year, and even though I do not think the scent comes in this kind of bottle, I imagine it has one of those sexy glass stoppers that slides along her throat and between her breasts. *happy sigh*

Now I get to go look up all the things you listed here and see what looks good! Thank you.

[splix]

Lovely review! Many thanks!

[lunabee34]

The Comme de Garcons Incense series is already on my list. I love Black. It's so divine. I should see if Surrender to Chance does a sampler pack of that series.

I added a bunch of these to my list, mostly the cold weather ones. I really don't like jasmine, and I have to avoid anything too floral as it bothers my husband. I wish I had a rose rec for you, but for that reason, I don't.

Thank you so much!

[splix]

I think probably re. the warm weather ones, the Vetiver and Molton Brown would suit you best as they're not flowery. Good luck!

[lunabee34]

I adore vetiver. It's my favorite single note.

We used to live somewhere with a boutique that carried Molton Brown, and I remember really liking some of their shower gel scents. That was before I got into perfume.

[teaotter]

Montale: Honey Aoud. I adore Montale in general, and this one in particular is completely amazing.

Aqaba: Sands of Aqaba. On my skin, this smells like someone crafted a fine single malt scotch out of spices and flowers. All the Aqaba fragrances I've tried have been beautifully composed and highly memorable.

[lunabee34]

Both of those look fantastic, especially the latter. I love vetiver so much. I think it's my favorite single note.

Thank you for the recs!

[teaotter]

If you really like vetiver, I also recommend Fat Electrician from Etat Libre D'Orange.

[lunabee34]

Oooh, thank you!

[rydra_wong]

I second that suggestion for an interesting vetiver!

Have you tried any Etat Libre D'Orange perfumes before? They've done some really interesting things (and can also be annoying and determined to be "shocking" in silly ways, but some of their stuff is wonderful).

[lunabee34]

Yes! I did try one: Etat Libre D'Orange La Fin du Monde

It was not a favorite. LOL

[rydra_wong]

Oh, I couldn't stand that one either! Waaaaaaaaay too sweeet. I was so sad, because "apocalyptic popcorn" seemed like such a great idea for a scent.

I won't recommend Jasmin et Cigarettes because I know you don't get on with jasmine, and I'm guessing you've already heard the reputation of Secretions Magnifiques (it's all true oh god the horror the horror), but Rien is a gorgeous incense/leather and The Afternoon of a Faun does something wonderful with the weird curry note of imortelle and lots of resins.

How do you feel about roses? I'm not generally a "floral" person, but Eau de Protection (a.k.a. "Rossy de Palma" -- it was a collaboration with the actress) is a wonderful sharp prickly rose with ginger and black pepper (and also blood and chocolate accords in there). It's a very unsweet rose with lots of leaves and thorns and dirt still attached.

[lunabee34]

Oooh, these sound fascinating, especially the Eau de Protection. I love rose and one that's not too sweet and cloying would be fantastic. I'm loving the idea of pairing it with ginger.

The Afternoon of a Faun is such a striking perfume name. Ah, it's based on a ballet. That's really cool.

[rydra_wong]

I love rose and one that's not too sweet and cloying would be fantastic.

Have you tried any Andy Tauer perfumes? He does some smashing spicy roses.

Surrender to Chance doesn't seem to have Une Rose Chypree (my personal favourite of them) in at the moment, but Incense Rose is a very cheerful rose-incense-citrus which doesn't quite tip into "Christmassy". And PHI -- Une Rose de Kandahar is a gorgeous smooooooth rose-bitter-almond-apricot-tobacco thing.

Serge Lutens Sa Majeste La Rose is a very non-cloying rose, in a photo-realistic early morning, dew-still-on-the-petals manner. Uncomplicated but good.

Le Labo Rose 31 is a deliberately androgynous "dirty rose".

[lunabee34]

Thank you so much!

I really appreciate you pointing me to so many goodies.

[rydra_wong]

TOTALLY my pleasure, seriously. I love sharing this stuff, and then it always reminds me of good things that I have samples of but haven't worn in a while.

(Which is why, today, I'm wearing Eau de Protection.)

[dejla]

Oh, Lord. I don't have just one!

Favorites:
Blue Grass
Daisy
Shalimar (I like the older version better but I can live with the newer one)
Jicky
Burberry Brit Summer
I wear the stronger ones in the winter and the lighter ones in the spring.

[jamethiel]

Ooh! Seconding Jicky!

[dejla]

And of course I tried it why? Phryne Fisher. I was amazed to find it a real perfume and still in production!

[lunabee34]

That seems like an imminently sensible reason to try a perfume. :)

Jicky smelled great and complex on me when it was wet and then dried down an inoffensive lavender. It was alright but nothing special on me. I know lots of people who post here really like it which was one of the reasons I really wanted to give it a shot.

[dejla]

Guerlain's like that, I think -- some people can wear it and on others, it's nothing.

I admit that my favorite note in complex perfumes is chypre. But on the other end, I've been wearing Daisy more and more.

I like the rollerballs and the travel sprays to test out a perfume, since it lets me try it over time.

[lunabee34]

I'm going shopping today, so I'll sniff Daisy at the counter. :)

[lunabee34]

I've tried Shalimar and Jicky, and neither of them were for me. I just can't get along with the Most Ancient and Noble House of Guerlain. I've pretty intensely disliked almost all Guerlain I've tried (I should say with the notable exceptions of Shalimar and Jicky and Angelique Noire).

Blue Grass looks intriguing. I am drawn to citrus and herbal scents quite a bit.

Thank you!

[dejla]

I like almost all Guerlain, but they pretty strong perfumes, and there are days I can't wear them at all.

Blue Grass is a lovely summer scent, I think.

[lunabee34]

I think it's the heart of Guerlain perfumes (someone called it Guerlainade somewhere that I read) that just doesn't do it for me. LOL

[jamethiel]

I am very much of the "Chypres and everything connected with them" school of perfume so my perfumes tend to be very... well, you either love them or you hate them.

That being said, I think everyone should try Mitsouko by Guerlain, Paloma Picasso. The non-classic I'm loving at the moment is Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille. It's a guy's scent but it's GORGEOUS.

[lunabee34]

As I said upthread, I have tried so hard to like Guerlain scents and usually been so disappointed. I pretty roundly despised Mitsouko.

I very much love Tom Ford. His Santal Blush is my second favorite perfume of all time (so far in the sniffing journey). I want to smell pretty much all his stuff that doesn't have jasmine in it.

Thank you for the recs!

[theora]

It feels a bit weird suggesting stuff to you, since you know much more about perfume than me ;). But the thing I'm most excited to try at the moment is Narciso Rodriguez For Her (the EDP version). You can watch a Youtube review of it here. (I've been watching lots of reviews by this reviewer lately, I find them oddly soothing.)

Also I meant to thank you for the pointer to Surrender to Chance. I'm putting together an order myself, which will include the above and a few other things.

[lunabee34]

Aw, I don't think I really know that much about it, but I'm definitely having fun testing stuff and talking to everyone about it!

I love that reviewer's voice. It is very soothing. Thanks for the rec.

And I love Surrender to Chance. They have very affordable prices; I love that they have sampler packs of different notes and brands to help you try a bunch of stuff more cheaply. I've been really happy with using them. I think Perfumed Court is another place people go, but I haven't used that site.

[subsequent]

My favourite and all-around go-to is L'ambre Des Merveilles by Hermes, but to be honest, I like the majority of what Jean Claude Ellena created for that house. May be worth an investigation? :)

(Christine Nagel has just taken over, so some of their newer works are a little different, but I respect the quality of even the ones I'm not fond of)

[lunabee34]

Thank you for the rec! I've only tried a couple Hermes fragrances before.

L'Ambre sounds very much up my alley.

[subsequent]

I'm not one for major "Luxury Brands", but Hermes won my respect with their perfume creations. Definitely worth a look at most of them!

[rydra_wong]

NOOOOO TOO MANY CHOICES CANNOT PICK. *g*

Personal favourites, that I wear a lot (please bear in mind that I am weird and so is my taste): vintage Diorella (and that probably is a historically important one that -- I won't say everyone should try, but it's significant and worth knowing, as well as so radiantly beautiful that the reformulation is a crime). Bal a Versailles. Comme Des Garcons Tea (from the "leaves" series: smells very like very smoky black tea and maté and slightly of roses and cedarwood; apart from vintage Diorella, the only perfume I've had someone spontaneously compliment me on in a public place). Dzing! Kingdom. My unholy home mix of Kingdom and Miel de Bois. Mandarine Mandarin. Onda (EDP).

Anything that might help narrow it down? Any current themes or notes or genres that you're exploring?

[lunabee34]

I can't do anything overly floral or sweet because it makes my husband get headaches.

My favorite single note is vetiver. I am deeply attracted to all sorts of woods, herbal notes, and citrus.

My favorite perfume right now is Chanel Sycomore followed by Tom Ford Santal Blush. I just tried Davidoff Relax a couple days ago and it was a vetiver dream. It's what I wanted Hermessence Vetiver Tonka to smell like after reading Luca Turin's rave review. I'm gonna write up a review of Relax soon because it marries the vetiver and tonka in a way that I really liked (I hated Vetiver Tonka).

I have issues with most jasmines. So far, the jasmine in Chanel doesn't bother me. I generally can't distinguish it. It kills a lot of Guerlain for me, any BPAL with it in there, Diptyque,etc.

Thank you so much for these recs!

*starts looking stuff up*

:)

[rydra_wong]

Guessing you've found https://surrendertochance.com/vetiver-perfumes/ ?

Of those -- Guerlain Vetiver is gorgeous (on my skin/to me), but I don't know whether it wouldn't work for you because it's a Guerlain, or whether it might be an exception.

I've never tried the LesNez Turtle Vetiver experiments, but always been curious.

[rydra_wong]

Ah, wait, I see from your past reviews that you've already tried the Guerlain Vetiver. Never mind!

[lunabee34]

I was so excited to try it, too. I think I first heard of it from you.

I'm glad that I tried it even if it didn't work out. I'm glad I've tried everything I've tried, even the spectacular scrubbers. All data points that have helped me refine what I do like.

[lunabee34]

I loved Frederic Malle Vetiver Extraordinaire. I really didn't like Hermessence Vetiver Tonka, and I was ambivalent about Guerlain Vetiver. I really want to try the Tom Ford Grey Vetiver (I kinda want to try almost all the Tom Fords).

[rydra_wong]

Also, I forgot, Onda (from Vero Profumo) is a vetiver.

This is all magnificently accurate and gives a good explanation of the differences between the extrait and the EDP:

http://www.nstperfume.com/2012/01/02/vero-profumo-onda-fragrance-review/

They're both amazing but the EDP is my personal jam. It does make me feel like I'm wearing armour, and probably (as the comments say) some sort of spiky exoskeleton armour designed by Alexander McQueen.

Won't be everyone's cup of tea, but definitely won't bore you.

[lunabee34]

That very much sounds like something I'd like to try.

Thank you for the rec!!

[rydra_wong]

I'd love to know what you make of it!

Also, I ended up review-hopping while I was retrieving that link, and this sounds rather interesting (vetiver!):

http://www.nstperfume.com/2016/09/07/sarah-jessica-parker-stash-sjp-fragrance-review/

SJP's scents have always got unexpected perfumista cred as being really rather good if you can bring yourself to wear a "celebrity scent", but I've not got round to trying any of them. I may have to check this out.

[lunabee34]

I've seen that as well; her perfumes seem to be well regarded among people who love perfume (which is an excellent sign). And since it's SJP, I bet I can actually find a bottle to smell at the department store unlike most of the rest of these mentioned in this post. Yay!