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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: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

@aydasuOoooh I love scents that have recognizable honey notes I would love to try this it sounds lovely!

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

I love honey notes too! Original Chloe is also a fav. But this one is more fresh and young.

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

I recently purchased the Nectarine and Honey Blossom too. Just love it! 

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

Awesome! Any other JM favs?

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

I also like Peony and Blush Suede. I'm new to JM, so there are still several that I haven't tried.  How about you?  Any other favorites? 

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

Yes! I love love love wood sage & sea salt, blackberry & bay and wild fig & cassis (discontinued). Also I remember trying a sample of Oud and bergamot (or smth like that - the black bottle) and loving it!

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

Hey y'all... I thought I would do a little two-fer by trying a "dupe" i was trying out for one of my favourite perfumes.  Here is my pic of both! I had heard that Pacifica's "French Lilac" is not a bad Duper for AERIN's "Lilac Path"... I have reviewed Lilac Path rather enthusiastically before and suffice it to say it is a freaking dream of a perfume - beautiful sophisticated etc.  It is, however, a tad pricey and Pacifica's perfumes are well... Not pricey. I bought the solid perfume version for $13.75CAD and it just arrived and I have Lilac path on one wrist and French Lilac on the other.  Here is my impression of how they compare out of the container Pacifica's French Lilac is suprisingly pleasant though I saw "suprising" because I had very low expectations.  It smells very fresh and I can definitely pick up the Lilac scent though I would say it is not as "true" or as nuanced and sophisticated as the AERIN perfume my initial impression was that given the price this is actually a pretty good option for someone looking to pick up something sort of similar on the cheap.  10 minutes after application however, on my own wrist and reacting to my own chemistry it smells different.  My body's chemistry is bringing out a much soapier and cloying note in the Pacifica fragrance... At this stage I decide that while the Pacifica does smell like a light spring floral lilac the quality difference between this and the AERIN perfume is rather glaring.  However, about 1 hour after initial application things improve and the cloying/soapy synthetic note in the Pacifica perfume is less prominent than it was at first.  I would note that while the Pacifica website says that they use natural compenents in their perfumes they don't claim to use ONLY natural components for the fragrance itself and by the smell of this I probably wouldn't believe it if they said they did.

 

The VERDICT: Pacifica's French Lilac is very inexpensive, in the US the full fized 30ml version is only $22USD via the Pacifica website.  For the price point I think it's worth checking out if you love Lilac and can't shell out the $115 USD to get the small version of AERIN Lilac Path.  HOWEVER - to me there is no contest, Lilac Path is much more "true", sophisticated and luminous scent and spring floral.  It manages to smell excactly like Lilac, beautiful, clean and bright like liquid sunshine without adding any of the unpleasant scents that sometimes come with this territory like soapiness or a cloying saccharine quality.  If you don't mind a soapy quality then give it a try but for me after a couple hours of wear I am sick of the Pacifica and off to wash it off... I would invite anyone who would like this French Lilac by Pacifica solid perfume to let me know because if someone wants it I would be happy to send it.  Swatched once.

Poor man's lilac path.jpg

 

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

Thank you so much for this review!  I bought Lilac Path a while back (I think after seeing your review!) and absolutely love it...but now that I'm only buying cruelty-free this looks like a good alternative 🙂

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

@Madeline7Oh wow that's so nice thank you! Smiley HappyOooh nooo though I didn't know that AERIN did animal testing 😢 that is good to know though I would rather know than not know... I think it might be worth a try if you don't mind a little soapiness (I'm getting some notes I think of as soapy in the French Lilac but I think it's also not reacting very well with my personal chemistry and it might be very different on someone else)  because of the price point it's not too much of an investment to see if you like it the solid perfume is the cheapest ($9USD) but it's also available in rollerball ($12USD) and 1 oz format so if it works well that would be a nice dupe... Smiley Happy If anyone tries some of their other scents I would be curious to hear what they think!

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

@RoseCharlie yeah I was really sad to learn that they test on animals (along with my other favorite Jo Malone 😞 ).  I've actually never tried solid perfume before so maybe I'll give that a try!

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

@Madeline7That's awful WTH? Whyyyyy??? I don't even see why companies even do that anymore when they could just pay humans who agree a little bit of money to try cosmetics and have better tests?!? Rubbish Smiley Sad Ooooh oooh you know what you know what - I really like LUSH's "Death and Decay" solid perfume which has a very weird name because it smells nothing like its name it's all beautiful light florals with a bit of Tonka sweetness.  It has a comparable price point to the Pacifica solid perfume and LUSH is SUPER ethical and all and I like that for a few extra bucks you get some real plant and essential oils in it! To me it smells quite rich and complex and more on the "expensive" side if that makes any sense? I like to use solid perfume because it really fits nicely in the purse AND because there's no alcohol you can use it in your hair and because they usually use a sort of oil base that is good for hair and skin you can kind of even add a bit of moisture and shine to your hair.  I think hair is a great diffuser of perfume I love getting a whiff of nice smelling hair lol.  Ok this is dragging on a little but I just wanted to say although "death and decay" has no Lilac it is a nice light fresh spring floral so I feel like if you like Lilac Path you there is at the very least no way you would hate Death and Decay (which I have to believe they named that way as a joke I'm not sure?)

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

I think the main problem is that animal testing is required by law in mainland China (even though its unnecessary).  So any brand that wants to sell there needs to do it 😞  Hopefully that requirement will change in the future

 

 

Interesting!  I didn't even read the notes of "Death and Decay" because that is such a disturbing name lol.  I'll have to check it out since I love Lush's products!

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

@Madeline7Whhaaaaat?! That's seriously messed up - they need to revise those laws it's so unnecessary : ( I understand it's a huge market though so now that I know that I guess it makes more sense to me though that doesn't make it right... Just seems so needlessly cruel.

 

Ha - re: death and decay I kind of skipped over it too assuming I wouldn't like it and my favourite salesperson at the store showed it to me last time I was there and i was surprised to see I loved it - kind of like pure lillies with a hint of sweetness.  The solid perfume is like $15.

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

Today I'm sampling Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay....I have to say, this is my first total Jo Malone bust!

 

I'm not sure if they sent me a bad sample, or what, but even right after spray I can't smell anything?  I get the tiniest hint of spice...but besides that.  No blackberry at all.  To be fair, now that I think about it, I've never noticed blackberries having a particularly strong/distinctive scent.  But this is the first time I've sprayed a perfume and wondered if its just water 😧

 

Has anyone else experienced this?

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

My husband thinks this one smells like plastic while I truly am in love with it 😄 Such a polarizing scent.

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

@Madeline7 That doesn't sound right at all! Blackberry Bay is one of my favorite scents from any maker. It's got a very soft fruity sweetness, but the spicy/herbal notes tone that sweetness down to keep it from being too cloying or too heavy or too juvenile.

 

As a counterpoint to @LCResz, Blackberry Bay was my very first JM experience, and I'm glad I found it first. I have since gotten samples of Peony Blush & Suede (gag, too floral) and Wood Sage & Sea Salt (ok, but it doesn't speak to me like BB). I'd love to try some others, but it'll have to be as I get my hands on more samples since I'm so picky about scents. 

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

So I went in to a Jo Malone boutique and smelled the Blackberry there...still nothing!  I've heard about people who can't smell apples, maybe I have that for blackberries! lol

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

This is me with Armani Si. I can't smell anything at all nada

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

I am not a fan of JM Blackberry and Bay at all. On me it smells like B.O.; thank goodness it was not my first JM experience or else I would never fallen down the rabbit hole so utterly.

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

Jolie.jpeg

Today I am wearing "Mon Guerlain" so Angelina and I are basically the same person today LOL

 

Yesterday I tried LUSH Rose Jam solid perfume (not, unfortunately, part of the collection but occasionally made by the LUSH kitchen in the UK which charges exorbitant fees for delivery across the pond and sell out quickly so I've purchased this off E-bay at a significant premium from the original sell price).

 

My impression of LUSH Rose Jam

Spoiler
I love the fresh, sweet rosy and gourmand smell of the shower gel that smells like rich rose absolute, vanilla, fresh lemon and goji and a sort of candied sugary quality and I was hoping for the same in the solid perfume.  The LUSH solid perfumes are a great deal if you like the scents, they are actually good for your hair, they last forever and they are all under $16CAD.  And when I say they last - they last, I still have some I purchased years ago and have worn pretty often.

Anyhoo - the LUSH rose jam solid perfume is nice and I can tell is it the same scent family but unfortunately in the solid form I am not quite getting the same freshness and rosy-sugar i get in the shower gel.  The lemon is more prominent and there is a slight hint of spice.  Still - I can tell it is the rose jam scent and I still like it but it's just that for some reason - maybe deliberate or maybe a reason that has to do with the different ingredients involved in both formulation that are not perfume related - in any case it is like the same scent with different facets of it highlighted if that makes any sense.

Today, I am trying "Mon Guerlain" I enjoy smelling the heavier Guerlain mainstream scents and I think they are always well-made but I haven't fallen in love with perfumes like "la petite robe noire" etc.  I am VERY impressed with "Mon Guerlain" though - I really like this and I'm surprised that this is something i would definitely buy and wear because it is a little heavier than the kind of scents I am usually drawn to.  It is just so darn well-made and sexy though.

Spoiler
I can really smell the fresh lavender in the opening and it's picked up by what I can tell is a fresh citrus, bergamot the notes say and that sounds about right.  I think the lavender and Iris are dominant in the floral category with the jasmine and another unamed light floral being less distinguishable but nevertheless present.  Iris gives it that powdery quality and  it works well here there is also, I think, a nice radiant floral note in there I can't quite identify though it is nice.  Anyhoo - I quite like this because I always think that a nice lavender that is more floral than herbaceous blends beautifully with sweet tonka/coumarin notes and the Thierry Wasser version of the famous "Guerlinade" perfume-base is one that I really like - tonka, coumarin, almondy marzipan,  sweet rich vanilla and Sandalwood, in "Mon Guerlain" the Guerlinade base works really well with the lavender, bergamot, jasmine and iris in this composition.  Anyhoo, I really like this I think it's quite sexy and it has great lasting power and some considerable though not excessive sillage.  I feel like the dry-down leaves me smelling sweet in a sinful kind of way that I quite like and keep sniffing again and again lol.

Re: 31 Days of Perfume Challenge

Stopped into the new downtown DC Sephora last night and was sniffing the testers in the rollerball section and ended up randomly buying the mini bottle of Derek Lam Drunk on Youth.  I've been on a floral kick lately, just bought Pinrose's L'il Dipper and Tambourine Dreamer last weekend, and this fit in with those nicely.

 

So far I really like it, it has a very nostalgic feel about it, definitely reminds me of perfumes I wore as a teen in the 90s with its fresh fruitiness, but in a less juvenile and more sophisticated way.

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