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!

[pocketvenus]

I'm testing Aesop's Marrakech today. Its opening is rather simple and dominated by cardamom. Floral notes emerge in the dry down before concluding with dense sandalwood. Reasonably priced, great for cardamom fans 🙂

[Magrathea]

Oh, I love cardamom! I'll have to find me a sample of this one, if possible. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, @pocketvenus !

[pocketvenus]

@Magrathea, I'm used to cardamom having a side part and not taking center stage so this was a nice surprize 🙂

[sabrinas]

I got my byredo eleventh hour sample! Sadly the spray doesnt work but thankfully I can rip it open lol.

This smell is so unique. Im not even sure how to describe it... im bad with note explanations.  It’s definitely spicy, I feel like theres some cinnamon there. It also smells woody, like fresh burning firewood. Its very cold-weather smelling, like something Id expect around christmas time. Its quite unisex id say. 

[pocketvenus]

@sabrinas, sounds nice, can't wait to try it 🙂

[RGbrown]

@sabrinasUnidentified

Spicy woody smoky cinnamon? Oh my, I can't wait...that sounds like heaven! Mine won't be here til Monday and the suspense is killing me 😖

[Titian06]

@sabrinas- Spicy and woody sounds nice!  It would be a good scent for today.  It's extremely overcast with heavy downpours throughout the day.  Definitely feels like a fall day here!

[sabrinas]

Wait! It just hit me! It smells very similar to terre d’hermes!

[Samtian]

My latest sample I am working through, I swear my last one took months, is Tom Ford Vert D'Encens. Oh man this is an earthy scent to a T!! It reminds me of being in a deep forest that is covered in lush greens and dirt. It smells pretty strong and lasts quite a while.

Vert d'Encens  Notes-

Pine resin, tree sap accord, fir balsam, incense, heliotrope, boxtree oil

[pocketvenus]

@Samtian, I liked the vert series, and Vert d'Encens also reminded me of a dark forest 🙂

[Titian06]

Sounds nice, @Samtian

[pocketvenus]

I got a chance to try Kilian's Adults and Boys today.

Adults was sweeter than I expected. The “fig milk” smelled more like “sugar milk”. In the first half hour, this was more balanced with a very earthy cedarwood, but eventually the sweetness overpowers the whole scent. It’s not as extreme as Kissing. It’s more at the same level as Princess but without any clever realistic note of anything really. When I think of milky fig fragrances I like such as Diptyque’s or L’Artisan Parfumeur’s this is just unsatisfactory and unnecessary.

Boys did better in its opening. The cola note is very fleeting, but it’s there! It’s quite accurate too. Then this is blended with a surprisingly realistic cinnamon note, like actual cinnamon sticks. I was pleasantly surprized. The first half hour or so of this was not bad. The cinnamon fades and you end up with a generic and trendy spicy woods. If it had ended there, I might have liked Boys the best, especially as it is not nearly as sweet as the others. But then came the tipping point. For about 10 minutes or so, the fragrance reminded me of a swimming pool but in a familiar way. The way your skin can smell when you’ve been swimming in chlorinated waters and then spent time out in the sun. Kind of weird, but not unpleasantly so. And then it all went terribly downhill. I have no idea if this is just the one time, some weird chemistry mix, but this ended up really, really badly on me. I concur with what others have written: generic men’s cologne, if not awful men’s cologne.

Of all the four, I like Princess the best for its realistic depiction of white grocery marshmallows in all their glory 😄

[keana1]

@pocketvenus Thank you so much for both reviews! I think Boys will be a no buy for me but I might consider buying the smallest version of Adults! Since I received a sample of Princess I’ve been wearing it every day and I like it more and more ! I have Black Opium so I’m not considering getting the Kissing version! Your reviews are so well written and helpful, I always enjoy reading them, they just are mind blowing! 😉

[pocketvenus]

Thank you @keana1! I'm so glad you find them helpful 😄

[pocketvenus]

I started out with CdG's Kyoto today, which I love but then had the chance to try Puredistance's Antonia and I was like, spray away 🙂

What a fantastic opening! Antonia has a wonderfully green opening, an earthy mix of galbanum with florals. But as the fragrance dries down, it becomes really jasmine/ylang ylang dominant. The kind of powerful, redolent and creamy jasmine that I don't like that much. Ylang-ylang also added a richness. I must confess, these two took over the scene. I couldn't smell the ivy or the iris. Not even the galbanum that started out so strong. I could sense there were other notes out there, but they were like faint wisps, dominated by the white florals. A bit disappointing.

[pocketvenus]

Yesterday, I wore Exultat by Maria Candida Gentile. The opening was very sweet although not in a harsh way. But it did remind me of candy. Luckily, hints of spice and woods gave it more interest. I also suspect it had a lot of ISO-E Super.

The dry down was disarmingly similar to 4160 Tuesdays' Sleep Knot. It took me awhile to place it as it's been so long since I've worn Sleep Knot! I prefer Sleep Knot because its opening features jasmine instead of candy. It's also a little cheaper.

[pocketvenus]

Yesterday I tried Andrea Maack's Coven. It's pretty amazing in the opening, very green, like crushed ivy leaves and rich, dark soil. It's a little dazzling at first with hints of coniferous notes. It's pretty linear and grows less complex in the dry down. Incredibly, the galbanum sharpness remains throughout. I honestly don't get any vanilla smoothing down the scent. It is wicked to the end! Unique and evocative, I really enjoyed this.

[curlychiquita]

This sounds great, @pocketvenus!

[pocketvenus]

@curlychiquita, if you enjoy very green scents, this is worth checking out! It's pretty affordable too.

[pocketvenus]

Testing Mona di Orio's Myrrh Casati today. This is deeply resinous and spicy scent with no sweet notes to detract from the bitterness of it. Dries down to a incense that I found too sharp up close, but beautiful from afar. Excellent longevity and projection, I kept getting wafts of it whenever I moved my wrist. I must say though, while I like this, it is my least favourite so far of the scents I've tried from the house. I'd rank them as follows, most favourite to least

• Vanille, ultra creamy, complex in character, original
• Oudh Osmanthus, gorgeous, rich, very smooth
• Cuir, high quality leather, a little toasty/nutty

Myrrh is a notoriously difficult note to work with though, and this is a very wearable take. So far, I am enjoying this house a lot. It's sumptuous and dramatic but never in an overstated way.

[angel7594]

This fragrance sounds lovely and interesting to me @pocketvenus!