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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

@WinglessOne I'll be sure to tag you if I get my hands on a sample! I believe @ChristalM bought Cow and I seem to recall she enjoyed it?

 

Yes, no one wants to smell like a skunk, that is for sure!! I've grown to have a positive association with the scent, including when it gets really skunky, because you'd smell it all over downtown Toronto, even before legalization. You'd have a time in Toronto now with stores all over the place. I even have neighbours growing plants in their garden and you know immediately when you walk past their house from the odor!! So I guess the smell reminds me of home 😂 Having said that, the skunk population in Toronto has gone up and when they spray you're like, ok, that's definitely way worse!!

 

I'm ambivalent about fantasy notes. Sometimes they help you understand what someone is trying to convey but so often it is marketing fluff as you say, even if it's a real note. The number of "oud" fragrances that are just really raspy woods 🙄 But I single out cannabis because I think if companies are going to slap it in all over commercial goods like perfume, at the very least, those incarcerated for non-violent cannabis charges should be pardoned. It's absurd that possession of an ounce of pot is still a felony in some US states while certain Sackler family members sold opiates they knew to be dangerous and none of them went to jail.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@WinglessOne Do you want to write all my reviews for me lol? I like the sound of plum and lotus, but the rest oh no. 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@Samtian  🤣 

 

A friend who tried Sacred Scarab told me it smells mostly soapy on her, especially in the beginning. She gets mostly plum and lotus soap with moss and bergamot mixed in. For her, the moss ruins the whole fragrance. (She hates mossy scents, and I resisted the urge to ask why she bought a sample of a fragrance with "oakmoss" listed as a note.) 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@WinglessOne Haha that's something I would do! Hoping it was something I wouldn't end up smelling. Now her combo I could handle that. 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@WinglessOne I love your detailed descriptions!  You paint such great pictures in my mind to accompany each scent.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

Thanks @CookieGirl1 ! I try to describe fragrances the same way(s) I describe wines. I'm glad it's helpful! 🙂

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@WinglessOne The only person I can speak to in detail about fragrances who isn't into fragrance is someone who has studied wine tasting! There's so much overlap.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

Love your review, @WinglessOne !  I so completely agree with your feelings about wine as a scent note in fragrances (or any one-size-fits-all term). 💖💖💖

Re: The Perfume Challenge

Thank you @Titian06 ! The "wine" note listing is one of my biggest fragrance pet peeves. I haven't seen it often (that I recall right now). But when I do, I usually want to contact the house and ask if they'd ever just list "flowers" as a note instead of calling out individual flowers. 

 

I don't mind much when consumers describe "a floral note" or "a red wine note," or "a woody note," in fragrances. Some folks haven't smelled enough flowers, wines, or even woods to be able to identify individual scents. I totally get that. But when a fragrance creator does it—someone I assume can tell the differences—then it's very annoying. 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

34521_f

 

Testing Naomi Goodsir's Nuit de Bakelite, ostensibly one of the best tuberose fragrances to be released following Carnal Flower.

 

To be honest, I don't consider this a tuberose soliflore, although tuberose is an important note, and I wouldn't include it on lists of the great tuberose classics like Fracas, Tubereuse Criminelle and so on. I read a review by Kafkaesque that described this as tuberose-adjacent which is more accurate.

 

Opens with dark green foilage and cut woody green stems first, followed by a stunning cardboardy, starchy orris. The fragrance then continues to shift between emphasizing different notes. There's leather, then flesh, then ash. The tuberose eventually emerges but it's not the diva one would expect, it's just one note among the others in this fascinating modern chorus. And it's actually quite tame. No skanky indoles, no devastating cream, no icy menthol, just that baby softness. Eventually, as the scent dries down, this baby soft tuberose comes to the fore. Remarkably, it doesn't become candied and harsh like a lot of tuberoses, including vintage Fracas, can become on my skin. Just a sweet and gentle dry down.

 

I quite enjoy this. It's mature, complex, bewitching yet very wearable. I'm curious about the rest of the house.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@pocketvenus This seems like a super interesting fragrance, almost an experience vs. a scent. Seriously would LOVE to try this one out, I love complex fragrances. ❤️ Thank you for sharing. 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@QueenMarceline Anytime! ❤️

Re: The Perfume Challenge

Another one that you like!  You're on a roll now, @pocketvenus ! 🤣

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@Titian06 Yes, they're making up for the dreadfully marked up Maison Crivellis ha ha. I will try to finish off that sample box though! 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

Such a journey, @pocketvenus. Whether or not I would I enjoy this scent is irrelevant - I want to try it thanks in sole to your description alone! Cut, woody green stems are generally a good thing, meaning fresh flowers in a vase (which are infrequent). The idea that a scent could involve this is very welcomed. Love the thought you put into your words 💗

 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@eshoe Aw, I'm so glad! It's definitely one of the more interesting niche releases in the past few years. There are quite a few "fresh cut" green scents out there and if you think you might like to try some more, please let me know <333

Re: The Perfume Challenge

I found a new scent I really like. It's actually a combo of Josie Maran Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter 13.5 oz/ 400 mL Vanilla Apricot # and Nest Midnight Fleur roll on perfume. It was like sitting outdoors in a flower garden that had fruit trees in it. It was wonderful.It smelled very natural.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

I like the sound of that @Margalee delicious! 🌳🥭🌷

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@Margalee Vanilla Apricot sounds like a lovely convo. Surprisingly, I have yet to try out much from Josie Maran despite hearing amazing things about them for years. 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

Zoologist-Sacred-Scarab-by-Sultan-pasha-450x450

Sacred Scarab surprized me by resurrecting the old school chypre! Opens with a veil of aldehydes shimmering atop a classic, bitter, mossy green base with some galbanum for bite. Though it's gentle, maybe more of a nibble. I was expecting something more sweet and fruity, more along the lines of Chergui due to notes in the pyramid like raisins and wine. Instead I get florals first, which I'm guessing is the blue lotus, something I've never smelled, and the wine provides a smooth, rich, full-bodied depth. The civet goes down equally smooth and easy, just enough to add a touch of animalism. Wears like being draped in a lustrous, vintage velvet cloak. Recommended for vintage lovers. Those who prefer more modern compositions might not find this to their taste.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@pocketvenus  Ah, very interesting to hear another take on Sacred Scarab. I can see how old school fans would love this fragrance once the moss kicks in. (I'm sure several people get an immediate moss note, instead of a delayed note like I did.) I was a bit surprised by the lack of smoke, at least on me. But when I think of this as moss + aldehydes + amber forward, the smokeless incense makes sense. 

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