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!

 

[missjeanie]

@SportyGirly125 Ah yes!  I even had to go check my stash of fragrances... It was the purple one that I missed out on last year.  Nice to know there's one I skip now lol

[Margalee]

I've been hoping for a long tome that Sephora would bring in Kayali Burning Cherry in the cute little mini bottle but I see now that they've also done away with the little mini bottle of Eden and gotten in the tall thin travel vials. At least the other mini bottle scents are still available. Also I see the mini bottles in Ellis Brooklyn are available but was hoping they were sprayers like the Kayali but they aren't. I'm glad to have a $25 version that I can buy. Anyone on here a fan of Myth?

[LCResz]

@Margalee  I love Myth! It’s such a clean, my-skin-but-better scent. It is excellent for layering, goes really well with EB Super Amber and Salt! Ellis Brooklyn SALT Eau de Parfum Ellis Brooklyn SUPER AMBER Eau de Parfum 1.7 oz/ 50 mL 

[pocketvenus]

OK one last post! TF is introducing Grey Vetiver Parfum! I hope it isn't much of a change from the original, which was one of my favourite "all purpose" vetivers!!

Oh, and there's a new soleil flanker, Soleil de Feu

[Sunnysmom]

@pocketvenus thanks as always for all of your amazing info and knowledge! 💞I just tried the new TF Soleil Feu and whoa I actually really like it. I’m usually not a big fan of TF fragrance as I seldom to never buy them but this one may get me!  So good. Have you tried it?! I can not put my finger on it but I know you can! 🥰

[pocketvenus]

@Sunnysmom I haven't tried it but I'm so happy it worked out for you ❤️

[Sunnysmom]

I didn’t buy it yet either @pocketvenus but it remained so pretty the entire day and night. It’s on my list for the sale tho! TOM FORD Soleil de Feu Eau de Parfum Fragrance 1 oz / 30 mL eau de parfum spray . 💞

[pocketvenus]

@Sunnysmom Yes, often one of the key indicators of a higher quality scent is that the dry down is not just long but remains pleasing!

[Margalee]

@pocketvenus Ouch! Soliel Orchid is selling for $275! Maybe I'd better sample Feu.

[pocketvenus]

@Margalee Oof, I've been following the price hikes on the Private Label line and didn't realize the other fragrances had been dramatically hiked up as well 😕  For what it's worth, Orchid Soleil is nothing like Black Orchid! Though there really isn't anything like Black Orchid ❤️

[Margalee]

@pocketvenus  I have a couple of the Soliels. I am not a fan. So sorry I bought the Brulee or brulant. Someone talked it up and I did a blind buy. I would suggest testing the line before purchase. I thought it'd be warm and caramel, spicy. It was much more "white" and nose tweaky than I expected. I'm looking to use that nice gold case for a stand in perfume. I haven't done it yet but maybe this summer. 

[Margalee]

@pocketvenus  I was sad too. I love Black Orchid. I was hoping for more in that style. Soliel Blanc is in that style but something in it is a bit overwhelming and a bit nose tweaker. Hopefully Soliel Orchid is a better fit.

[pocketvenus]

@Margalee sorry this line didn't work out for you! :'( Maybe the Soleil Orchid would be more your speed? I personally found it too dense but I remember it as a kind of a sweet, nougaty scent.

[pocketvenus]

And from niche brands we're following

Zoologist's Tiger sounds right up my alley

Top Notes: Kumquat, Cardamom, Saffron
Heart: Sambac Jasmine, Incense, Carrot Seeds
Base: Vetiver, Ebony Wood, Papyrus

DS & Durga's at it again with Steamed Rainbow

red mandarin, orange, yellow elemi resin

green cedar, blue almond flower, indigo grass

violet, vetyver vapors

Nasomatto's Sadonaso doesn't have a notes pyramid as is typical. I might give it a sample.

I don't think I can share the photo of the bottle which is a little different than the one pictured here but you can search for it easily online if you wish. Personally I find it very gimmicky.

[pocketvenus]

JM's British release this year is The Highlands, featuring four fragrances: Highland Heather, Mallow On The Moor, Melancholy Thistle and Wild Achillea.

The bottles are very pretty 💐

Highland Heather "Morning haze across the Highlands fades to reveal a wilderness blanketed by swathes of heather. An amethyst vision captured in a woody scent, enhanced with English lavender and freshened by cypress, grounded in sensual amber."

Mallow On The Moor "Purple mallow flowers spill across an untamed landscape, beckoning bees with their vivid color. These pretty petals flutter alongside powdery heliotrope in this soft floral scent enriched by the naturality of violet leaves."

Melancholy Thistle "Bold and bright Melancholy Thistles guard a long-abandoned castle in the Scottish Highlands. Entwined with a green freshness, this woody aromatic scent is underpinned by coolwood to summon the ivy-covered stone walls inside a majestic relic."

Wild Achillea ~ "Golden bundles of wild achillea frame remote ruins alive with nature. Sparkling with bright bergamot entwined with the tangy sting of nettle, the greenness balanced on a base of soft white musk." This one is a reissue of Nettle & Wild Achillea.

[Baho]

Love the bottles!

[pocketvenus]

Diptyque has released an LE sakura candle for the spring

As well, in April, it's releasing Eau Nabati which captures the essence of nature and the Mediterranean coast. Inspired by the scent of a lush garden filled with aromatic plants, trees and flowers, it opens with a burst of citrusy bergamot and the fresh, green scent of petitgrain, balanced by the rich aroma of amber and the sweet scent of [Peru] Balsam.

[LCResz]

Wow, D.S. & Durga has gone into overdrive offering up new scents with a quickness! What is this, like the fourth or fifth new scent since the start of the year? 

[pocketvenus]

@LCResz Yes, they have definitely been expanding! They opened a second location in 2021 and I recall reading the house has plans for more locations. They seem to be increasing distribution as well. It's impressive as I gather they are still an independent house. 

[pocketvenus]

New Serge Lutens

Écrin de Fumée,

As always, the ad copy is evocative but doesn't describe the scent at all. Quick, quick, the world is ending! Our very existence needs urgent tending. Amid the roar of the cannons, the champagne flows. Corks in the air, could they be aflame? Beneath the smokescreen, life is a decadent game.

Notes are reported on Fragrantica to be cacao, tobacco, rum, hot spices, woods, smoke. On the website, there's this message about ingredient pyramids The primary essence of a Serge Lutens perfume does not reside in the assembly of a list of ingredients, but in an experience, a sensitivity. Doubts, anger, fragility, joy (also)... each of them represents a moment of ourselves. Discordering, torturing raw materials to make them confess, Serge Lutens has not made a profession of it but an art!

On that note - ha ha - a house notorious for not revealing any notes pyramids, Nasomatto is apparently now disclosing them? They're listed on SSENSE. Not sure when this change happened.

[pocketvenus]

Nicolai is releasing Caravanserail Intense, another cardamom coffee

Caravansérail Intense is a stopover at the crossing of the coffee and spice roads. A historic site of hospitality not far from arid deserts, pioneer explorers and traveling souls are welcomed by a hot, addictive traditional coffee whose swirls reveal the fresh facets of cardamom seeds.”

Top notes: coffee, plum, raspberry
Middle notes: cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, patchouli, sandalwood
Base notes: amber, vanilla, tonka bean, immortelle

Mona di Orio is releasing a lily of the valley soliflore as a response to the legendary Edmond Roudnitska's Diorissimo. (Roudnitska was di Orio's mentor and the house's nose is now Fredrik Dalman.)

Roudnitska's version is almost photorealistic, whereas Dalman's attempt is slightly fresher and more indolic with a rounder floral effect. A less watery scent, with hints of warm spring soil and a warmer, more full-bodied floral effect.