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The Perfume Challenge

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!

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@Titian06 It is really nice and gives a real warm and comforting vibe. It might be a little rich for the summer but totally fine if you spritz lightly I think! Definitely more versatile than some of the more aggressively spicy smoky scents I've tried.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

I realize this was posted quite a long time ago but it's SUCH a great idea. I have a ton of neglected perfume, both full sized bottles and sample sizes. I adore fragrance. I just need to make myself switch it up a bit. Who knows, I may just find a new favorite!

Re: The Perfume Challenge

Testing one of the newest releases by Libertine, Chlorophyllia. From the house's LE Proportion series. I got samples for both scents and will be reviewing Burrow later.

 

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Chlorophyllia captures the first melt of spring with startling accuracy. The scent is truly aquatic, not in that awful 90s calone, "sea breeze" sense, but in a visceral, photorealistic sense. Everything is damp, the icicles are dripping, the snow banks are melting.

 

The opening is bright and striking. It's a Vent Vert level of green that manages to be higher pitched yet gentler. I'd say it's a neon green except that suggests a kind of harsh, artificial brightness when in fact, it recalls to mind the kind of warm, neon green you see when foliage is backlit by the sun. It lacks the harsh edges of more traditional green perfumes, instead imparting an approachable vibe I associate with this house. The opening is further mellowed out with a rooty orris. Orris can become overly candied or brutally dust-dry on my skin, but mercifully, with Chlorophyllia, the orris retains a balanced, earthy character.

 

As we enter the heart of the fragrance, the ylang ylang asserts itself and the fragrance reaches its most difficult phase. White florals can be challenging because of their indoles, chemicals involved in the scents of decomposition, halitosis, excrement and other unsavory smells. I've found that Libertine really shies away from anything skanky but here, when I draw my nose close there is an unexpected pissy quality to the ylang ylang. If I take my nose further away, there is more of an impression of waterlogged flowers, delicate soggy petals that are breaking down in fresh water, almost like fresh cut blooms that have been macerated and are decaying in water. It's not exactly pretty and this stage lasts for some time.

 

The scent becomes truly lovely in the dry down as the ylang ylang becomes less assertive and the complexity of the vetiver starts to come through. It blends seamlessly with the other notes, such that I would not call this a vetiver scent like the ad copy suggests. I would describe it as the male lead in a pas de deux with the orris. The vetiver here is a rich and variegated jade green that carries all the pungency and complexity of vetiver essential oil. Dries down to wet earth, a touch of smoke, jade vetiver and the memory of water-logged florals.

 

A fantastic effort, creative and honest, one of the best fragrances I have smelled in a very long time.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

Anyone had a chance to try ELDO Soul Of My Soul? What is it like? How do you like it?

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@RavenR I'd love to hear other people's thoughts too, the notes sound great

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@pocketvenus I ordered a sample yesterday. Hopefully it'll be here asap! Can't wait! The powdery aspect of it is worrying me a bit ( some reviews say it's pretty powdery ), but I am hoping it won't be overwhelming on me. I hope it's subtle and well blended with other stuff. I really dislike dominant powder scents. Usually. Oh, well. I guess we'll see soon. In any case, I agree; the notes sound great, and worth giving it a shot!

Re: The Perfume Challenge

I've tried Amouage's Ashore a couple more times and there's something in it that tweaks me the wrong way. I had better luck with Meander, which is more sweet and less aromatic than I expected from the notes pyramid.

 

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I suppose because this is marketed as a masculine scent, I was expecting something completely different, especially with its emphasis on frankincense. This is a soft scent with an almost gummy like or creamy texture, rather than something resinous. The carrot in the notes pyramid made me think of earthy iris but the sweetness of it really comes out in Meander to the point where it's almost candied.

 

It's nice which is not a word I'd associate with Amouage. It does not at all impart the kind of vegetal earthiness referenced in the ad copy. Those words make me think of scents like French Lover, Coven, actually earthy scents. When I let go of expectations, it's a pleasant wear.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

I think I started posting new scents in the wearing today thread. Wow, I can't believe this hasn't been updated since 2018??

 

I'm testing Amouage's Ashore today. It's a jasmine soliflore and lacks of kaleidoscopic depth of former Amouages. It's quite bright yet still indolic. Starts off sheer and easy, notions of jasmine tea come to mind. However the intoxicating vibe grows heavier and more imposing with wear. So I'm surprized the reviews I've read describe it as simple or happy. On my skin, Ashore is more domineering than that. In addition, I don't find it beachy. There isn't that sun-tan lotion or coconut cream character to it.

 

I'll have to try it again and think more about how to describe this one. So far, it's not my favourite jasmine. Those honours go to Serge Lutens' leathery Sarrasins and Libertine's warm and approachable Sex & Jasmine.

 

AmouageAshore-20201020125158362

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@pocketvenus  Wow gorgeous bottle!

Re: The Perfume Challenge

How do I find the Sephora sample section would love to get some samples I am a sample lover.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@Tina30219 A lot of the brands have sample sets you can order! I love getting the sample sets. Just check out gift sets or scroll through the various brands. 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@Tina30219  So, I stopped by my Sephora today after I haven't been there in forever, and asked about fragrance samples. They are not making them anymore because of the virus... But they still have testers and you can try them on yourself or on paper. 

 

I guess your best bet is to stalk Rewards Bazaar or GWPs, as @pocketvenus mentioned. Or you can order samples on some of many fragrance samples web sites. But those are not free. 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@Tina30219 You go to any Sephora store that carries fragrances, and ask SA to make you sample/s. It used to be up to 3 samples in my store before the apocalypse. I don't know if that is still the case now. Haven't stopped by in forever. It also depends on stores, SAs, this, that... But it won't hurt to ask. 🙂

Re: The Perfume Challenge

Thank you was not sure if it was something that was online or not.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@Tina30219 Sometimes manufacturer's perfume samples show up as Beauty Insider Rewards or the GWP Beauty Offers but these are pretty random. 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

A sample of Tom Ford's Rose Prick found its way to me recently, and I've been testing it last few days. This might be the first TF fragrance I really like. I am really, really enjoying this. Which is a shocker to me. A rose! ( Not a fan, but something strange's been going on lately... ) It's a beautiful, warm, spicy, musky rose. There's even some wood later on. At first it is a blast of fresh, green, rose. Then spices emerge and take over pushing the rose to the background. After a while the whole thing turns musky, tad powdery ( not much ), softer, and a bit woody. With spices still going strong, and the constant rose in the background. Not dominant, but not quiet, either. I like the rollercoaster and how it is all mixed together so wonderfully. Simply beautiful! Kind of old fashioned rose made modern. It smells like both at the same, if that even make any sense. Whatever and in any case; it really speaks to me. So much so that I am thinking about getting me a travel size to properly test it and see if it warrants the full size bottle. 

 

Oh. Don't let the pink bottle fool you - this is not a super feminine scent. At least not on me. It leans almost masculine on me. And I love it! 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@RavenR Thanks for your review.  I've had my eye on this one.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

You're welcome, @ragdoll4mom ! Let us know what you think if you try it! I am curious to hear other people's thoughts on it. 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@RavenR @ragdoll4mom I was surprized with this one, I didn't find it rose forward as implied by the name. Instead, the tonka really came to the fore for me. I seem to recall it being earthy and powdery too.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@pocketvenus Thanks for the info.  I dislike fragrances with a powdery scent.  Reminds me of Loves Baby Soft perfume that was so popular when I was a teen.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@ragdoll4mom I don't like powdery fragrances, either. At all! This one has just a touch of powder on me. So little, actually, that I keep thinking is it there, or am I imagining it? Nothing major, and totally ok even with me. I usually really can't stand powdery scents. It would be the best if you could get a sample and try it because you know how fragrances can smell and develop so differently on different people. 

testing