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Fragrance Junkie Central

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!

 

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Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

Noir Exquis, on me, to my nose, smelled just like Commodity Gold. Which I love.

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

I'll take a look at what they have and let you know 😉

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

@Mochapj, thanks in advance for your help!  I love how active you are in posting your fragrance reviews -- I knew I could count on you for recs!  🙂

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

Here are some notes on ones I've tried that they have for sale:

Spoiler
Bois Farine: 
Notes: tree from Reunion Island; floral, woody, powdery
 
Smells like a peanut butter and honey sandwich, but flowery.  Strangest thing I’ve ever tried.  Sweet and Playdoh-y.  Fades to skin scent.

Dzing!: 
Notes: leather, ginger, tonka, musk, white woods, caramel, saffron, toffee, candy apple, cotton candy
 
Gingery leather, with a hint of medicinal quality to it.  Slightly powdery and sweet.  A fair amount of musk is present.  Reminds me of melting Barbie plastic fumes.  Definitely gourmand.  Lots of sugary caramel and toffee notes.  Powdery.

Mechant Loup: 
Notes: hazelnut, honey, sandalwood, cedar, licorice, myrrh
 
Very toasted nuts.  Then, black licorice-y.  Makes me smell like I’m dirty.

Noir Exquis: 
Notes: chestnut, orange, orange blossom, coffee, maple, ebony, heliotrope, vanilla, tonka, sandalwood
 
Sweet chestnuts and a bit of wood.  Warm, holiday scent.  Has all the toasty, earthy warming qualities of sweet vanilla, tonka and sandalwood.  Smells rich and soothing.  I get no maple and only hints of coffee.  Yeasty.

Timbuktu: 
Notes: mango, pink pepper, frankincense, papyrus, smoke, karo karounde flower, vetiver, balsam, spices, patchouli, myrrh, woody, resins
 
Opens with lots of frankincense and balsam.  Patchouli sneaks around.  Some myrrh and smoke.  A bit lemony.  The papyrus comes through.  Gets woody and resinous.  Very spicy, with a hit of wood smoke.  Quite a bit of vetiver.  Semi-masculine.  

Tea for Two: 
Notes: bergamot, star anise, tea, cinnamon, ginger, spices, gingerbread, honey, vanilla, leather, tobacco
 
Loads of licoricy star anise, and leather.  Spicy ginger, tea and tobacco.  Musty books and leather belt.  Cinnamon.

Haute Voltige: 
Notes: pomegranate, black pepper, peony, juniper, woody, oak moss, balsam fir
 
Mr Clean?  The juniper, woods and fir make it piney fresh.  Some sweet tartness from the pomegranate.  Oak moss pops out, making it a bit mossy/grassy/green.  Smells like Sweet Tarts.  Fruity.

Rappelle Toi: 
Notes: gin, szechuan pepper, gardenia, incense, sandalwood, musk, honey
 
Lots of herbal gin notes.  Mixed with gardenia is quite strange.  Some honey makes it smell like ammonia.  It has the numbing, mentholic quality that szechuan pepper has.  The honey eventually softens.  Complex and beautiful.  

Amour Nocturne: 
Notes: cedar, hot milk, caramel, gunpowder, orchid
 
This is very, very odd.  So briefly it had the scent of milk left over from Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  But then it goes full on cedar, mixed with the ashiness of gunpowder/embers.  Some caramelly nuances.  Also, the smell of old newspaper.  And metal.  

Skin on Skin: 
Notes: iris, suede, saffron, whiskey, lavender, rose, musk
 
Lots of iris, suede, musk.  Whispers of rose, but the iris overpowers most of it.  The saffron and lavender blend into a sort of cough syrup vibe.  

Deliria: 
Notes: metal, rum, toffee, apple, cotton candy
 
Starts out smelling like Hubba Bubba bubble gum.  A hint of apple, too.  Sweet and fruity.   Too candy sweet.

  

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

@Mochapj, thank you so, so much for your notes!  Too bad that most of the scents from the Explosions d'Emotions collection sound like duds -- I was planning on picking up one of the more hard-to-find scents from the Hautelook sale.

 

Tea for Two sounds like something that I would like, though!

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

Holy Moly. Look what i just received in the mail.

All i did was email them asking if they offered sample vials for the 4 perfumes below. Those 4ml vials came a couple weeks after i received a positive reply from them.

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Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these, specifically the Iris Ukiyoe. I love iris!

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

I found it to be a beautifully reserved green-white flower scent. It was slightly earthy and a little powdery, but still transparent. I felt like i was inhaling from a flower bud in a shady corner of a garden- i would like to say 'iris bud', but i don't remember what actual iris smells like so..

 

After the initial burst of brightness, it was a very quiet scent- it was a 'skin scent' from the get go, and lasted about 4 hours on me.

 

A FS bottle is out of the question because the price is way too high for something so quiet and evanescent, but i will probably carefully use up my sample vial 🙂

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

Wow, what a great description!!! This sounds lovely.

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

I followed your lead and got a quick response offering to send samples as well! Thanks for sharing!

 

I requested the following:

 

Rose Ikebana
Iris Ukiyoe
Osmanthe Yunnan
Brin de Reglisse

 

I had never heard of this line before (the Hermesences), so I googled to see where they can be purchased.  All I'm seeing is resellers.  I'm kind of confused,but still excited to try some new scents!

 

 

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

Awesome. I have either liked or loved everything i have tried made by Jean Claude Ellena so I am excited to try my samples.

 

I don't know of other sources, but you can buy from Hermes direct.

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

I got a sample of the new Byredo Eau de Parfum in Super Cedar! I like it a lot. If you like Cedar and Vetiver I think you would like it. A lot of people have called this linear but it wasn't like that for me.

 

First spray was very sweet, vetiver, and cedar. Then it turned immediately more dark and bitter on my wrist. The drydown was a wonderful dry cedar, still sweet and musky.

 

To me it has a similar effect as the Tom Ford Grey Vetiver Edt. but Byredo is much more bitter.

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

I have been trying a few Frederic Malle sample vials.

 

- En Passant: this is SO lovely. A late spring breeze bringing you the fresh scent of lilac. It is shimmery and ephemeral, and elevates your mood instantly. Sadly it is -as its name implies?- too brief of an embrace. The scent fades within an hour or two. I still really really like this.

 

- Parfum De Therese: the opening is beautiful and complex. I get a mix of fruit, green floral, and spices. Unfortunately it then turns into a fairly monotonous fruity scent on me. It reminds me of nectarines and apricots but i guess it's the melon listed in the scent notes. I get occasional whiffs of something more complex, but not enough to keep me excited.

 

- Une Rose: i am very much into roses and enjoy several rose-based frags to different degrees (Chloe Rose, Stella, JM Tudor Rose & Amber, AC Rose Absolue, Byredo Rose of No Man's Land, TF Cafe Rose, SL La Fille de Berlin, the Diptyque ones etc) but this one is special. It is this strong blast of almost-pure, green and earthy rose that keeps subtly changing during its incredibly long wear time. Other reviews mention wine dregs, truffle notes, etc but my nose isn't sophisticated enough to distinguish them. I know i am in love though.

 

- Carnal Flower: I heard about this one a lot, but i was hesitant to wear it because the few tuberoses i have tried have been a little too much for me. (e.g. Fracas.) I am surprised by how much i like this though. It is definitely a blast of white flowers, but it is also green, and complex, and.. words fail me. It is quietly heady.

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

Those are some fab choices of FM samples you got there. 🙂 I love all of these and my favorites are Parfum de Therese (on my purchase list) and Carnal Flower. Une Rose is a really special rose scent. I don't usually like rose scents, but this one I would actually wear.

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

So is there any sort of protocol for asking if one can get a sample or decant of a fragrance, like if you're at Nordstrom and perusing at one of the counters?

 

I'm trying to expand my fragrance horizons and ordering decants online that have to be shipped is sometimes too long for impatient me. 😛

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

I don't know if there is a protocol, but I sniff around using the paper strips then ask an SA if s/he can get me sample vials for the ones (1-3 usually) i am interested in. Most SAs have been pretty accomodating 🙂

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

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(photo: A Model Recommends)

 

Here's a review of the McQueen Parfum:

http://www.amodelrecommends.com/2016/03/01/mcqueen-parfum-by-alexander-mcqueen/

 

 

Also contains extra notes of Pink pepper, black pepper, clove, and vetiver (I read on WWD).

 

 

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

thank you for the link. instead of doing work, i am reading up on this parfum. my wallet may scream by lunch time today...

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

I'm gonna try to smell it when they get it in the boutiques. Apparently you get a gift or something with purchase. It's like a ceramic glass infused with the perfume.

 

This is bad...very bad for my wallet.

 

I was gonna purchase a Byredo and the new Diptyque in March. Now I might have to wait and get this.

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

Tauer has a new fragrance

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Fragrance Notes:

Grapefruit, Bergamot, Pepper, Clove, Rose, Iris, Leather, Castoreum, Vetiver, Ambergris, Sandalwood

Re: Fragrance Junkie Central

this looks so retro !!!!!!!!

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