Fragrance Junkie Central

[Mochapj]

I know there are a few of us on BT that are fragrance addicts, so I thought it would be nice to have a dedicated place where we can share our thoughts.

This is not to take away from the lovely What Are You Wearing Today, Fragrance Edition thread, but more a place to post longer reviews, chat about new brands or releases, and just shoot the breeze on anything good and smelly 🙂

For me, I recently acquired 2 new decants that I've been anxiously awaiting.  Ever since Lachaton mentioned that MMM was releasing a new scent called By The Fireplace I've been itching to get my hands on it.  My decant arrived yesterday, so I'm looking forward to marinating in it this weekend.  Secondly, I recently picked up a tiny sample of Shiseido Nombre Noir.  Supposedly it is one of the most expensive failures in perfume history - made by Serge Lutens for Shiseido back in the 80s.  Of course, with a backstory like that, I was dying to get a sniff 😄

What's new on your scent radar?  Do tell!

 

[lipstick4soul]

ooh, I want a glam room!!

[veronika23]

Jo Malone is live on Sephora US!

http://www.sephora.com/jo-malone-london

[RoseCharlie]

Hello Ladies,

I was wondering if anyone has tried any of the new AERIN rose-centred eau de cologne releases? In Canada they are only available as rollerballs right now but that's perfect for me because I have quite a large collection i mostly buy smaller sizes so I can own different things.  I do buy full bottles but only a few per year, and only once I am absolutely positive I love a perfume.  Otherwise - it's rollerball or travel size for me and as an aside I LOVE that Sephora offers this it makes me so happy!

Anyhow - that aside I ADORE AERIN - everything she does smells beautiful to me and Lilac Path is on of my top 3 full-bottle scents that I wear again and again.  I adore roses - rose is my favourite note and I tend to like rose notes that allow the beauty of the rose to shine through.  I ordered the Linen Rose eau de cologne because I loved the description:

"The energizing rush of sun-drenched top notes scatter like orange flower petals among lemon leaves to create a vivid burst of freshness. They flow through the enveloping warmth of the rose-filled heart of the fragrance: white Bulgarian rose, exotic ylang-ylang, refreshing coconut water, Bulgarian rose absolute, Bulgarian rose oil, and rose bouton. Like the sun upon the sand and sea, a golden glow emerges in the final notes of vanilla and amber. Sun-bleached vetiver adds the final modern note of depth and refinement."

I didn't have a kind of warm but clean rose like that in my collection and I was intrigued to try it.  It was maybe not a wise choice for me to make for myself since coconut water is listed as a note and I'm ok with coconut if it is VERY subtle but if it is prominent the scent tends to make me feel nauseous.  I can objectively say that this scent is well-done and unique, like the line and I am still excited about the other two but I think I may not have picked the right EDC from this collection.  I should probably have picked Garden Rose or Bamboo Rose because the coconut is quite prominent in Linen Rose.  It's well done but to me it drowns out the rose and ends up making it difficult for me to pick up the other notes.  I do get some amber and some vanilla but I'm not getting as much crisp rose, orange flower blossom or lemon tree freshness as I would have liked.  I get mostly coconut water, sea breeze, underscored by a little rose that I know to be there because of the composition but that I can't quite reach through the stronger notes, that, backed by a nice amber and vanilla with just a hint of earthy vetiver as the description says.  

Because of the success of "beachy" fragrances I think that these must be notes that really appeal to people and it's not that I think the effect is not pretty it's just that reading the description I assumed the "coconut water" note would be a VERY subtle background note and to me that is not the case.  That, combined with the fact that coconut does something a little funny to me but I feel like I should stress that this is the result of my own particularities and the fact that I made what was a bad choice considering those particularities.  I can still objectively say that for someone else who does not have that reaction to coconut this is a beautiful, well-done and very unique scent.  I haven't smelled anything quite like it and it is very pretty and summery.  

Anyhow, I really do love rose and i was so excited for this release especially since I can buy it in rollerball so I was hoping someone could help me out and let me know what they thought of these fragrances if anyone else has tried them? I'm trying to decide about whether i should order the other two.  I also don't know if they will be made available in stores or if they will only be available online.  If they were to become available in store I would go down and smell them first but I also don't want to miss the opportunity to buy rollerball sized if they might not be available in a few weeks here in Canada...

So - ladies - has anyone tried these? What did y'all think?

[Madeline7]

I haven't tried this brand before, but wow, what a pretty bottle!  Have you tried the Gardenia or Waterlily?  I'm super tempted to blind buy this because of the packaging o_o

http://www.sephora.com/gardenia-rattan-P388764?skuId=1639210&icid2=products%20grid:p388764

[lachaton]

@RoseCharlie I haven't tried any of these, but I was also unsure if the coconut water would overpower the rose (I'm not a huge fan of it generally). 

If you're ever looking for the larger bottle instead of a rollerball, Estee Lauder direct has the large bottles available for Canada (but no rollerballs). 

[RoseCharlie]

@lachaton Thank you for the heads up about the AERIN website! If I ended up really loving one of these scents I would probably definitely invest in the full bottle… I notice that these 2 “eau de cologne” come in a different full-sized bottles – they are 200ml for $165USD which would be around $220CAD which is pretty steep : O I guess the bottles are much bigger though – that’s a little over 6.7 ounces which is a little over twice as big as a big full-sized bottle. So I suppose that if you look at it that way it’s a regularly priced fragrance that comes in at about $110CAD/100ml or 3.3oz. But honestly I was SUPER thrilled to see Sephora carry the rollerballs first on a new perfume product, I thought that was awesome of Sephora because it’s a much lower-risk way to try new fragrances. I know that rollerballs are not economical if a person really loves the frangrance but I think they are the best thing because I love to try many different new things and even with fragrances I can try in the store I think I need to wear it on its own a few times outside of a scented environment and see how it interacts with my body’s chemistry over times. You were right to be suspicious of that coconut note, to my nose it does overpower the rose but I could see how other people who don’t wear as many ROSEY ROSE rose-soliflores as I do might experience this eau differently. I wear quite a few – Annick Goutal’s Rose Absolue and Serge Lutens Sa Majeste la Rose when I want a rich rose’s rose experience and Chloe Roses or Cartier Goutte de Rose for a lighter sort of every day office scent when I was a lighter rose. So to my mind and nose when the fragrance’s name includes the word “rose” I kind of think it will be a rose in the lead with maybe a few other elements in the distant background playing up different elements of the rose. I can see how a person who wears fragrances that are not quite as rose-centered might not think the coconut drowns out the rose in this fragrance. I imagine they might experience the rose as being the co-star, but for me, well I was expecting it to be the star of the show and this isn’t quite what I had in mind. Still, I can see how it is well done and interested, this particular one just isn’t for me. I am hopeful for the other two! : )

[lachaton]

@RoseCharlie Your guess was really close - EL is selling the 200 ml Aerin Rose line for $215. Definitely too steep for me on a blind buy 🙂 

I agree with you, I prefer for a rose fragrance to feature rose as the dominant note. I haven't tried SL Sa Majeste la Rose, but I have La Fille de Berlin which is one of my favourite roses. I also like diptyque's rose scents. Have you tried Aerin's Evening Rose? In general, I find I don't love Aerin overall, but I quite like ER.

[RoseCharlie]

@lachaton  I quite like evening rose! : ) Actually you are reminding me that I might buy a rollerball of evening rose if it is available in that format because I’ve only had the chance to sample it on my skin in the store I haven’t had the chance to really wear it a couple of times and see how it works for me (and for me I find I do need a couple days of wear to fully make up my mind on how it works for me). I do wish that the AERIN samples came up on free samples or bonus codes more often because I really would like to try some. I know I could ask for a sample at the store but I always feel a bit too embarrassed to ask. Sorry - I get sidetracked so easily lol – but I would be so interested to see what you thought because my impression was only based on a couple sniffs off my wrist at the store but I felt like Evening Rose had this real juice/wine like kind of rosy feel but in a beautiful way – kind of like a wine made of roses and a few berries with a pinch of incense added to the mix. I liked it a lot I thought it was very interesting and original and I thought that it managed to evoke a duskier/more evening-like or darker rose very well without being heavy in any way.   Re: SL’s La Fille de Berlin, I actually ending up buying a 10ml frag split of La FIlle de Berlin and I have to say it’s also very interesting as a rose fragrance! It’s a fragrance that I think as being very feminine but with a little bit of a (small) masculine element I can’t quite put my hands on and it has sillage for days! The SLs, I find, having really great lasting power and sillage. It has a very nice prominent rose and a jammy sort of feel that is very opulent but is not, for some reason, sweet. I know that probably doesn’t sound like it makes any sense but I feel like maybe it’s because of the peppery notes? The peppery notes sort of counteract the rich jammy feel of the dark red rose in la fille de berlin? I have a full bottle of sa majeste la rose and I really really like it but I can see how some people might find it either too linear because it really does smell - straight up - like a strong red rose with a bit of honey and a bit of guaiac wood hovering in the deep background but the main thrust of it is really the rose. I’m not by any means an SL expert but from what I understand the simplicity and directness of “Sa Majeste la Rose” makes it a bit of an exception in his collection. I find it to be really true the smell – not of a fresh rose – but of rose otto, its more like a concentrated rose essence. Actually, I recall that I read in a perfume blog that Sa Majeste la Rose is one of the perfumes on the market with the highest concentration of actual rose absolute and rose otto – something like 1% or 2% - which is apparently very very rare because the natural essence is so darn expensive. Since I remember reading this years ago and I don’t think La Fille de Berlin was out then I think it stands to reason that La Fille de Berlin also probably has a lot of natural rose absolute given that it is also a SL rose fragrance and given that the two are so similarly priced and there is some consistency in his collection when it comes to the quality of the raw material. I recall reading that at 1% or 2% concentrations the wearer was likely spritzing the essence of 3 whole roses on their skin with every spray of the perfume! Don’t know if that is accurate but I find it very romantic to think about : ) Ohhh Dyptique is one of the lines I’ve been curious to try but have never had the chance to even smell or sample anywhere so I would love to know what their stuff is like. I also would love to have the chance to try Amouage Rose and Amouage Lyric Woman which is apparently much more complex but heavily rose-inspired. A friend gave me a little sample of Amouage Journey Woman and it is not the kind of perfume profile I would usually enjoy but I was absolutely bowled over by the richness, the complexity, the quality and the honeyed luxuriousness of that fragrance so now I would love to know what they do with my favourite perfume note! : )

[k617]

I have no input but I also love Aerin & roses!! I'm going to have to check these out!

I was really excited to try Rose de Grasse when I was looking for a rose fragrance and sadly that one wasn't for me. It was just too faint, and not rosy enough for me. Hopefully these new ones are better!

I think I'll order Garden Rose, that one sounds most like what I'd enjoy.

[RoseCharlie]

@k617 Hi : ) I’m so glad there’s a fellow AERIN and Rose lover here! I know EXACTLY what you mean in reference to Rose de Grasse! I experienced it in the EXACT same way! I guess because of the description and because of the premium price-point compared to the other perfumes in the line I was expecting something a lot more impressive but I was surprised to be underwhelmed and I agree with your description – way too faint, so faint I could barely smell it in the Sephora perfume department and though it was hard to tell because I always find it hard to properly assess a perfume in a an environment where there are so many competing fragrances – well I also found it just wasn’t rosey enough for me. Have you tried Serge Lutens Sa Majeste la Rose? They carry the Serge Lutens line in Toronto Sephoras which I think is very cool! : ) OH! You know what’s strange? This little line of three rose-based fragranes refers to each as “eau de cologne” and typically in terms of scent concentration that would be wearker than the stronger EDP and even weaker than the slightly less strong EDT but if the Linen Rose is representative of the fragrance potency in all 3 of these frangrances I found it was actually more potent than the Eau de Parfums in the AERIN line, particularly the rose-centred ones. I think I am also going to try again with Garden Rose because like you, I also feel this one will likely be the one to appeal to me. I had been curious about linen rose because I wanted a rose-dominant composition with warmth and a hint of a few gourmand notes but unfortunately, by virtue of the coconut’s prominence in this composition, I can’t wear this one myself. If you do get Garden Rose I would really love to hear you thoughts on it either here or in a PM! : )

[Tamara76]

I was feeling overwhelmed by my fragrance sample stash, so I bought a set of 7 little atomizers and spent the day organizing all my samples.  Several went into a giveaway bag, a few were thrown out and the rest were organized by designer and fragrance.

I chose seven to pour/spray into the little atomizers:

Spoiler

1. Miss Dior
2.  Replica Beach Walk
3.  Atelier Vanilla Intensee
4.  Wildfox
5.  Miu Miu
6.  Versace Eros Pour Femme
7.  Replica Lipstick On (my fave!!!!!)

[MariekeBT]

Wow that's a lot of fragrance samples! I thought I had a lot, but nevermind. 😄 It's nice that you got enough to put into some atomizers. 🙂 

[wickedlollipop]

@Tamara76 what a great idea! I have a bunch of samples too, should do this! also, where did you get the atomizers? I have a few, but the ones you got are really cute! 

[Tamara76]

@wickedlollipop  Amazon!  It was like $11.50 for the set - the actual perfume vials inside the metal canisters are glass.  I just ordered a set for my daughter - since I've been giving her the bulk of my fragrance samples, she wants to make some purse sprays, as well. 🙂

[RoseCharlie]

@Tamara76 Oh wow, this is amazing! What a great idea and what a great collection!

[Tamara76]

Thanks! @RoseCharlie

It was a lot of fun organizing and selecting fragrances.  I gave up on my stash a few months back - at this point, most of my fragrance samples go to friends/family and I only keep the ones I like best or that I want to try before buying, but I needed to declutter what I already had.

And now I have 7 lovely new purse sprays. 🙂

[Samtian]

Thats fantastic! I love lipstick on!

[Tamara76]

Same!  I think I may buy the full size during the sale.... ❤️    @Samtian

[sister13]

Awesome!  So productive!!!

[Mcakes]

This is awesome @Tamara76!

[Tamara76]

Thank you!  I love organizing and I am excited that I'll actually use some of these samples now.  :).  @sister13 @Mcakes