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!

[Samtian]

@Titian06 Haha to make us suffer! Hmm. I've been wanting to try this one.

[Titian06]

@Samtian - I hope you can try this scent!  I'd like to know what you think.  😁

[LCResz]

@Titian06 I am in the camp that loved the scent at first sniff, and I ordinarily HATE fig scents, because they usually have a weird milky quality that I don’t particularly enjoy. However, on me, Fig & Lotus Flower smells very fresh and aquatic. When I layer it with Wood Sage & Sea Salt it creates a truly lovely relaxing seaside moment of tranquility. I haven’t tried the new Intense that was launched alongside Fig & Lotus Blossom, Cypress & Grapevine, but I’m hoping to smell a sample so I can get it during the sale. 

[Titian06]

@LCResz - I'm glad you like this perfume!  The card says to layer it with Wood Sage & Sea Salt.  I've been contemplating what I have that I can pair it with.  Let us know what you think of Cypress & Grapevine.  🙂

[pocketvenus]

@Titian06 Wow, usually the JMs are easy wears, not polarizing! Very curious about this one and thanks for the head's up!

[pocketvenus]

Today I'm wearing Nanban by Arquiste. I've already tried El and Ella, which are more 70s style fragrances and liked them. Nanban is a more contemporary scent, firmly in line with the smoky trend.

Nanban has an uplifting citrusy wood varnish and pepper opening that's weighted with resins and a gentle animalic touch. It starts out quite vibrant despite the heavy notes. Unfortunately, the dry down's heavier notes of smoke, tar and tea flattens the scent out. There's still spice and texture but it's like a pastry chef accidentally squashing a sumptuous layer cake with the heel of their hand. As the scent wears on, a sweet creaminess which I'm assuming is the sandalwood emerges onto the scene while the smoke becomes more dry and enters burning tires territory. That's par for the course with this genre but at this point, it smells too heavy handed.

Personally, I would recommend Vi et Armis by Beaufort over this which also goes for the spices in a ship, smoky tea and leather vibe.

Also, it's in the notes pyramid, but I do not smell coffee, just tea. Other people smell tea but not coffee? Strange.

[pocketvenus]

Testing a different fragrance, the new release from Hiram Green, Vivacious

As you can probably guess from the photo, Vivacious is a violet perfume. Violet perfumes are typically associated with makeup fragrances like Malle's Lipstick Rose and they can be powdery, soapy, candied.

This is a less demure version with a very strong opening with a loud burst of bergamot, sweet violets and earthy orris. The orris does lend the slight suggestion of powder but this is a more lively and realistic floral scent. I read some reviews comparing this to Guerlain's L'Heure Bleu but I don't know, Vivacious doesn't have that classic vintage vibe to me. Like other Hiram Greens, I get different facets from it on different wearings. The scent softens down very nicely.

I'm not a huge violets fan, I think the only fragrance I enjoy with violets is Serge Lutens La fille de Berlin 1.6 oz/ 50 mL Eau de Parfum Spray and that is more of a rose based fragrance. But I can appreciate this one for sure.

[lindseyyfaye]

Looks so pretty!

[lindseyyfaye]

These are my current obsessions are..... 😍

[pocketvenus]

@lindseyyfaye They look so nice together with everything gold and orange ❤️

[lindseyyfaye]

Awwh thanks! ☺️ love me some color coordination 🧡

[tjffc]

@lindseyyfaye Nice assortment of fragrances. 

[lindseyyfaye]

These ones are my faves! What’s yours? @tjffc

[pocketvenus]

Been awhile since I tried some new scents! I ordered some samples from Etiket.

The first is an older release, quite polarizing from the reviews, Tauer's Carillon Pour un Ange, which is supposed to be his ode to muguet or lily of the valley.

I have really enjoyed all the previous Tauers I've tried. I love Lonestar Memories and Desert Marocain. But this one was really quite horrible. I could smell the grating synthetics immediately upon opening my package. I was also really shocked at this because so many perfume bloggers who I like gave Carillon positive reviews.

The perfume does have a unique start with a cacophony of notes colliding together. There's florals, damp earth, metals, animalics, rot. It's way more than a muguet scent. This opening gives Carillon a sense of heat and excitement. But before long, the synthetics start to brutally beat back any suggestion of organic life.

So many people wrote this reminded them of spring. Well, on my skin, it's springtime in a Holodeck. There's a harshness to the scent that's total overkill. I'll say that this an interesting take on muguet that doesn't play into the delicacy or innocence I associate with the flower but it just skews way too far toward something aggressive and grating. While it didn't give me a headache, I found it truly awful. Such a shocking disappointment! Do NOT buy this without testing first!

[tjffc]

@pocketvenus Awwwww that's disappointing to hear.  Thank you for the feedback

[pocketvenus]

@tjffc Anytime! 🙂

[Titian06]

@pocketvenus - How disappointing for you to go so long without trying something new, and when you do, it's such a bust!  You very rarely write a negative review, so this scent must be really bad!  That's too bad, I think the bottle is pretty.  Thanks for sharing; I always like to know what you think.  😘

[pocketvenus]

@Titian06 Aw thanks ❤️ It's okay, this was at least a very different experience, like it wasn't a generically bad perfume? At least I was not bored 😛 And from failed experiments, you can always learn something new!

I don't necessarily want to turn people off this perfume as it seems to be a love or hate one. Some people hate it but many others have enjoyed it. Persolaise, who I often agree with even if we don't like the same fragrances, gave a very positive review. He also writes that Carillon has a synthetic aggressiveness, but for him, it is boundary pushing, interesting, and never throws the scent off balance. Whereas for me, it went way over the edge! Skin chemistry can also make a difference in how scents smell. Having said that, I was like "oh no" when I cut open the box and the first fumes hit me ha ha.

[pocketvenus]

L'Eau à La Folie

Folie is not your typical fruity fragrance. As is part of the L'Eau line, I expected a refreshing and clean fragrance. Moreover, its notes pyramid suggests a youthful and carefree affair. However, Folie is a little more mature. It opens with citrus notes and a very tarte peach, so tart that it didn't even register as peach to me until I read the notes. As the scent develops, one detects jasmine, its presence light but still showing its more leathery, animalic side and then a denser musk begins to emerge. It's still summery, but there's a weight to it. After half an hour or so, it gets too opaque for me, and at this point, I find the scent rather unpleasant. The fragrance finally settles down on a very soft, musky peach. Moss rounds out the scent at the bottom.

L'eau Mixte

A more traditional crisp, hesperidic scent sharpened with mint and made a little tarte with grapefruit. Softens into a rose with spice and bright green accents, shaded by oakmoss. Great projection for fresh scent, an easy, pleasant and sophisticated wear.

[pocketvenus]

Just got my Parfums de Nicolai samples in and am pretty impressed. The house has a reputation for maintaining its high quality with affordable prices. I would concur and hope to post more reviews soon. 

Cap Neroli

I was expecting a refreshing fragrance based on the mint and rosemary in the notes pyramid and the images of the seaside referenced in the advertising copy.

The opening is bright and citrusy, but even at the start, Cap Neroli is indolic. From a distance, the neroli feels rich, but the closer one gets, the more the indoles lend a voluptuous, unctuous weight and naphthalene edge that pushes this fragrance into more challenging territory.

L'Eau Chic

A sibling scent to Malle's Geranium Pour Monsier that's gentler and more old-fashioned. Chic opens with a cooling, very blended mint which is much softer than Geranium's minty mouthwash. As Chic develops, there's a subtle and pleasant interplay between the cooling mint up top and the warming spices underneath. As the musks start to kick in, they blend with Chic's a tangy and spicy character, lending a little more texture and interest to the dry down. Chic is not my style but it's easy going and delivers a strong performance for an EDT.

[pocketvenus]

Wearing Nar today by Jazmin Sarai. It's a really great woody smoky perfume with a hit of birch tar depth. The smoke is soft and gentle but the projection is pretty strong. Delicious dry down. Not as unique as Fayoum though but an easy wear. It just smells really good.

Oh, I just remembered, @veronika23  this is not a campfire scent, it's too soft for that, but maybe it's up your alley