The Perfume Challenge

[txcatx]

Do you have a box full of perfume vials and/or a vanity covered in perfume bottles? Are you the Goldilocks of perfume, just looking for the perfect signature scent? Do you want an opportunity to post daily about how your perfume of the day smells oaky and smoky with hints of blackberry and currant, like a cigar in a whisky barrel rolling through a Mediterranean orchard on a breezy summer morning?

If you answered yes to any of the above, or you just want to hop on board for the ride, join us for a 31 days of perfume challenge starting January 1st! Some of us from the 25 days of lipstick challenge wanted to continue the fun and exploration, and since many of us have so many perfume samples, we thought this challenge would be perfect. If you don't have 31 perfumes or hate everything that doesn't smell like Meyer lemons and fresh goat cream, that's fine--we're just aiming to use the neglected perfumes we have laying around and incorporate them into our perfume rotations.

And if you want more perfume vials, there's no better time than now to take a peek at Sephora's samples section.

Edit: Anyone can join in at anytime! We're here to support, live vicariously through, and encourage everyone in their olfactory adventures!

[Titian06]

Thanks, @Vmaster !  I didn't know Karl Lagerfeld passed away.  I'm interested in your review on his fragrances.  I have a tendency to migrate towards male scents (for myself).

[pocketvenus]

@Vmasterthanks for sharing - always great to find an excellent cheapie 🙂

[pocketvenus]

Tried Ellis Brooklyn's Sci Fi today. I'm not a big vanilla fan but read this was an unusual vanilla so gave it a shot. It was definitely not my style. There's a momentary mixing of orange and vanilla that's pleasant. I read a review that said it was not "orange creamsicle" but there definitely was a bit of that for me. Then it just became sweet and generic. No "jolt of green tea" or "otherworldiness." Unless you really want this temporary orange creamsicle experience, I don't think it's worth the price, you can get cheaper vanilla perfumes that smell similar in the dry down.

Hesitant to try the other Ellis fragrances. So far, I'd say the Phlurs are better and cheaper.

[lyravega]

Yeah. This was a disappointment. As a fan of science fiction, you could imagine how excited I was to try this one. I don't understand what exactly is "sci fi" about it. Creamsicle and sugar water dry-down? What am I missing? It sure is not otherworldly, sci fi, alien, or whatever else. It's very meh and forgettable. Such a great name wasted on such a mediocre fragrance. Smh. ( I am still sour about it, obviously. 😄 )

@pocketvenus 

[pocketvenus]

@lyravega, oh so good to know I'm not the only one underwhelmed!! I read a lot of good reviews about it - but now that I'm looking again, they all repeated the same "so amazing you've never smelled vanilla like this" line and it was from fashion magazines and blogs, not perfume forums and critics I trust. I'm guessing that was all a PR blitz?? Having said that, there were a couple BIC members who said it worked out well for them. I guess we'll always have Alien!

[pocketvenus]

Tried Phlur today on paper:

• PHLUR - Sandara Eau de Parfum mostly sandalwood, pretty generic and one-dimensional. I don't get the edge of violet leaf, or the bitter depth of oakmoss.
• PHLUR - Olmsted & Vaux Eau de Parfum easy citrus.
• PHLUR - Moab Eau de Parfum: sweet dates. Definitely did not feel dry or spicy despite the pepper and clove notes. Dries down to a warm, slightly fruity vanilla.

Overall, these are nice but I find them flat and lacking complexity on paper. Maybe they wear better on skin? Of course, they are affordable and made with safe synthetics only.

A bit disappointing because there are some big names associated with the house. Chandler Burr was an advisor. Moab is by Ralf Schwieger who did Etat Libre's Fils de Dieu and Malle's Lipstick Rose.

[pocketvenus]

I tried Bohea Boheme today which is a tea scent. And it's probably the first tea fragrance I've tried that really reminds me of actual tea. In fact, it reminds of the tea I usually drink (loose leaf Oolong). Most of the tea scents I know are watery and abstract, like tea vapour? Whereas BB is very grounding to me. It's more like wet tea leaves left unfurled in an old teapot than it is about tea itself. It's smoky without being dry, and a little earthy. Unfortunately, the dry down is a little harsh, something is becoming candied on my skin. I'll have to test it again on another day and see if it develops the same way because I don't think it's supposed to do this.

Tagging you @lyravega since I know you like the house 🙂

[lyravega]

I agree, it is a very nice, "real deal", tea fragrance. At first. On me, it starts out as a slightly smoky tea, with damp, musty, earthy forest in the background. Very faint. The tea aspect is the most dominant, and it is very, very nice. After an hour or so it starts turning into amber, stronger woods, and a hint of something powdery. But still very much a tea fragrance. Then soon after it takes this quite unexpected turn ( on me ) into something sharper, old school kind of masculine, and "burnt tiers" ( a kind of "smoke" I don't like ). But, it is not really "offensive" ( to my nose and with all the burnt tiers 😄 ) as the fragrance is very light, and at this point barely there. It is a skin scent on me, with very poor projection and longevity. It starts out very nice and pleasant, but it just turns into this weird mess on me that I do not like. Lovely ( the tea aspect of it ), but not my fav from the house. I wish the tea part(y) lasted longer. It is truly nicely done, realistic and enjoyable. 

Thanks for the tag, @pocketvenus  ! ❤️ 

[pocketvenus]

@lyravegaohhhhhhh I guess I'm not the only one then! Yes, this fragrance does change in the dry-down. I would say for me it gets sweet and incensey, not at all tea-like. It wasn't as sharp as the first time, but I'm not a huge fan of the development. But as you say, it's not offensive. Maybe it will grow on me.

[lyravega]

@pocketvenus  You're definitely not the only one. The dry-down is really surprising. I mean, it's like a completely different fragrance on me compared to that wonderful tea I get for the first hour or so. 

[pocketvenus]

After @lyravegahad such a good experience with Santal Nabataea, I snagged a sample and.... I cannot even begin. It is good. It is really, really good. I am not a huge fan of sandalwood because most sandalwood notes are super synthetic and just very bland to me. A kind of sweet and creamy one-dimensional woody note that’s about as close to the real thing as fruit loops are to fruit. SN, on the other hand, has a lush creaminess combined with other facets. It's fresh, aromatic, spicy, arid, dusty, bitter. It’s swooningly beautiful, exquisite and complex, just tear-inducingly good. Everytime I sniff my wrist it’s too much. Mona di Orio has made the only vanilla perfume I care for, and now, the only sandalwood!! Ultimately, this is not a "me" fragrance, but I really appreciate it. It's like encountering a gorgeous dress on a hanger that you know won't work on you but you just want to keep looking at it and touching and examining it. @Vmaster, you might enjoy trying a sample of this 🙂

[lyravega]

@pocketvenus  Glad you like it. It is DIVINE! I'm obsessed with it! I used to think that I like sandalwood. I mean, I do. But the truth is, I don't like most sandalwood fragrances out there. So maybe I don't? Or maybe it is exactly what you're talking about here: they are  "as close to the real thing as fruit loops are to fruit." Ha! Love it! And so true. Plus, the combo of notes in this one is just perfect! Everything about it is pure perfection! I just love how it's all put together. It's a true masterpiece to me personally. ( I don't even remember the last time I was so taken/smitten by a fragrance. ) 😛

[pocketvenus]

@lyravega, oh I love it! And I can totally see why you're so taken with it. Thank you for posting about it here ❤️ I know what you mean, I thought, the opening is amazing but it's going to flatten. Instead the complexity remained in the dry down, I was really impressed, just so wonderful. And yes, all the notes supporting and bringing out the sandalwood in a beautiful way. Such a good find!!

[Vmaster]

@pocketvenusThat does sound interesting, thank you! If you are ever on etsy, check out Rising Phoenix perfumes. The attars he makes uses a 100% Australian sandalwood base oil. Myself and a number of others on Basenotes were able to participate in a sample pass for his attars. He distills the sandalwood and oud himself. Great products!

[pocketvenus]

@Vmaster, wow, I admire people who learn to work on ingredients like this! I'm curious, what did people think of how his sandalwood smells compared to commercial perfumery?

[Vmaster]

@pocketvenus, Everyone loved his fragrances. Many even purchased the product for themselves.

Real sandalwood oil compared to a synthetic sandalwood note is like the difference between night and day. The real oil is deep, multi-faceted and complex where the synthetic sandalwood is more one dimensional (pretty much the same between real oud and synthetic oud).

Along with the attar samples, he had also included a two samples of sandalwood oil from 2013 and 2014 (those two years are from memory so I may be off). Anyway, one was a dry sandalwood and the other was a creamy sandalwood. Bother were amazing, in my opinion. The creamy one was my favorite.

Due to the attars having a sandalwood oil base, that note was prominent throughout the experience (wand application through the dry down). Yes the attars are expensive, but then again the real stuff usually is since it has to go through the distillation process, which takes months for some ingredients and more than six months for oud.

I would also like to add that house Rising Phoenix was kicked out of the IFRA when they found out he used non-synthetics.

[pocketvenus]

@Vmasterglad people loved it 🙂 6 months distillation process!!! I have some oils from India that are called ittars, but I'm not sure they're the same thing. They don't remind me of the pure extracts that I have smelled.

[Vmaster]

@pocketvenus  Attars and Ittars are one in the same. In India they are called Ittar. Normally Attars/Ittars are essential oils derived from botanical sources. Many places (but not all places) these days use synthetics due to the cheaper cost. Oud takes a very long time to distill. The length of time plus the age of some of the agarwood equals the crazy prices you see for real oud which run anywhere between $250 US to $10,000 US for 3 ml which is also known as a quarter Tola (a Tola being 12 ml).

[pocketvenus]

@Vmaster, thank you for all the info!! I figured ittars were the same thing and I'm guessing the word itself has the same etymological root as attar but I always associated the latter with being very expensive and natural. I'm pretty sure the floral ittars I have are dosed up on synthetics. They smell great but not natural. Though there might be different norms for different areas, all using the same name so I'm guessing there are more natural/expensive Indian ittars too.

[pocketvenus]

Tested Louis Vuitton’s Le Jour se Leve on paper. Generic and unforgettable citrus with a musky dry down. This pricey line has been rather disappointing for the most part.

[moxiepancakes]

I recived my Libertine fragrance sampler pack yesterday. So far I've tried Eros Fig and Sex and Jasmine. Eros Fig was very easy and pleasant to wear nice strong bite of fig leaf on the top drying down to a mellow woody scent. I had low expectations for Sex and Jasmine as most jasmine fragrances smell acrid and totally unlike the flower to me. I got that acrid smell for just a second before it settled to a pleasant floral that I would describe as more of a lily than a jasmine scent.