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!

[lyravega]

So true, @pocketvenus . I don't blind buy, either. 

[pocketvenus]

Tested Kilian’s Dark Lord today. On paper, it opens unexpectedly with smokiness for me. I was expecting citrus notes and pepper. After ten to fifteen minutes, a slinky jasmine emerges and dominates the fragrance before it dries down to share space with a dark and dry cedar that becomes more strident as the scent wears on, to the point where it felt unbalanced. Despite this, overall the scent is still quite smooth. It wears better on my skin. The smoke lingers and the cedar is more mellow. The longevity is stellar, particularly for a Kilian. My paper card is still going very strong.

I think fans of the house will enjoy this as it's very much in line with the aesthetic but you need to like that pencil-shavings cedar note. I should also note that a number of online reviews report that Dark Lord smells like Gucci’s Guilty Absolute for men. Even though it's by the same nose, I think they're fairly different. The Gucci doesn't follow a distinct path of development like Dark Lord and it doesn't have anything that compares to Dark Lord's jasmine. Guilty Absolute's notes are less distinctive and there's also something soapy about it in the dry down. I can see why people think they are similar but personally, I wouldn't even consider it a dupe.

[pocketvenus]

Wore Bel Ami today on my skin and tried the Bel Ami Vetiver on a card. Also tested BA side by side with Puredistance M. The similarities between BA and M are striking and I think it is fair to call M derivative of BA, or at least a very expensive dupe. M is not even a cover version of a song, it’s more like a remastered one. I admittedly prefer M as a dirtier, richer version but my wallet by far prefers BA haha. The BA Vetiver flanker is pleasant, but there is a sweetness to the vetiver note in its opening that I did not like. I like my vetiver very bitter.

@Vmaster, I also had a chance to briefly sniff Gyan. Nice and smoky! I think I'm starting to get your style 🙂

[lyravega]

M. Micallef Note Vanillee. 

Notes according to Luckyscent: mandarin, jasmine, honey, licorice, sandalwood, vanilla, cognac, rum.

Notes according to me: vanilla, vanilla, vanilla, sugar, honey, booze. Vanilla.

Baking sugar cookies. About to get into sugar coma. Help? Oops! Dropped and spilt my vanilla extract everywhere! Now I have to have a glass or two... or five... of rum to calm myself down and get me into da cleaning mode. Ugh... what is this honey doing here all over the floor, all sticky and gooey, crawling all over me, trying to suffocate me?! It's getting way too warm. Is it my oven? Or is it the booze? Now I have a headache, too. Oy! How did I even get myself into this mess?! 

If you're a vanilla lover, you gotta check this one out. Warm, thick, rich, sweeeeeet, cozy, boozy vanilla. Better than most I've tried. Just way too sweet, and way too... vanilla...  for me. 

( Not my photo! But I friggin love it! 😄 )

[curlychiquita]

😄 I'm sorry you didn't like it, @lyravega!  

[lyravega]

I'm not. I will try anything that gets into my grubby paws. Even if it means suffering. 😄

Curiosity level: cat.

( In my defense, it was supposed to be vanilla that is different. I like different. So... )

@curlychiquita

[Samtian]

I just finished off my sample of Mad et Len Fuego Flores. It was a pleasant musk smell on me. Wear time was pretty decent as well. I could still smell it over 6 hours into my shift. Here's a nice fancy description of it, borrowd from TwistedLily: Carmelized flower nectar, the color of shimmering gemstones. Fuego Flores plays like a scintillating, spiritual pop ballad on skin. A buoyant bevy of blossoms (the chorus) open this show, which exists on a plane that reflects all the action; think the surface of a glittering, Aqua lake as the stage. As orange blossom sashays, cartwheels, slinks and slides, it amps up our heart rate and gets us geared up for some real live action. This is when a rough and musky vetyver makes its debut: earthy, spicy and all things irresistible, vetyver bursts through the blossom entourage Channing Tatum style, undulating his way into our hearts and minds and well, pretty much everywhere! 

[txcatx]

Today, I sampled Chanel Paris-Biarritz, which is a Nordstrom exclusive. The notes are Sicilian mandarin and lily of the valley. It smelled like a nice and light fruity floral at first, but a couple hours later, the fruit has started fading, and this is really reminding me of Maison Margiela Beach Walk with more floral and less coconut. 

[Samtian]

Mmm that sounds divine.

[Wolfgirl22]

Perfume has become a bit of an obsession for me actually! My current go to is actually my cheapest perfume pink sugar however my favourite is sud pacific vanilla abricot. I am a huge fan of gourmands.I am looking for a few more. I think I want to add Tom Ford stollen cherry to my collection but if anyone has any good fragrance suggestions I am all ears!

[pocketvenus]

@Wolfgirl22, looking at your collection, you might also like

• Tom Ford Vanille Fatale
• Mugler Angel
• Frédéric Malle Musc Ravageur
• Atelier Cologne Café Tuberosa
• Elizabeth & James Nirvana Bourbon
• Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat 540
• Also try some of the Kilians and Serge Lutens, you may find them to your taste 🙂

[lyravega]

Great suggestions, @pocketvenus ! I'd just add Mugler Angel Muse to the list. Just in case @Wolfgirl22 is like me... 😛 I love, love, love Alien! But, I hate Angel. Angel Muse, though... Now, that's a completely different story. I love that one! And, I am not even into gourmands!  

[pocketvenus]

@lyravegaI haven't tried Muse, will have to track that down 🙂

[Wolfgirl22]

Those are some good suggestions! I actually have nirvana bourbon on my List to smell!! But I’ll have to add all these to my list now, thank you.

[pocketvenus]

@Wolfgirl22anytime! Would love to hear if you find any new favourites ❤️

[lyravega]

@bec215 suggested L'Artisan Parfumeur Passage d'Enfer as something nice and incensy, with better longevity than the fragrance we were talking about. I am testing it today. Or I was...? It is very nice, indeed. But, alas, it is extra subtle, and gone in a microsecond. Basically, you can only really smell it when you first spray it. After just a few minutes, it becomes a skin scent, and one where I had to bury my nose into my arm trying to find it. Shame. It was really lovely while it lasted. But not at all what one would expect ( or what I would expect ) from a fragrance with such name. I was expecting something strong and bold, sinful, dark and "demonic", a beast, really. Or at least something "church-y", if you know what I mean? What I got was quite the opposite. Subtle, subdued, clean, lovely, it made me think of ancient woods with fairies flying around, actually. 😛 No church, no hell. No passage to/through it. Just a lovely woody lily scent. With some barely there incense opening, and some shy musk later on. Mostly just woods and lilies. And then it's gone. Lovely. But zero longevity. Shame shame shame.... 

[pocketvenus]

@lyravega, that's so short! 😞 It's such a great name too!

[lyravega]

Mona Di Orio Santal Nabataea ( released in Sept 2018 ) test ride today.

Black pepper, black currant leaf, dried apricot, nerium oleander, opoponax, sustainable santalum album Australia, Indian sandalwood, sandstone, clay, tonka bean, coffee absolute.

Wow! This is simply stunning! I think this is easily my new favorite Mona Di Orio AND sandalwood scent now! I don't even know where to begin, or how to put this beauty into words. This is whole another level of extraordinary! So elegant, so luxurious, so drop dead gorgeous. Intoxicating. Mesmerizing. Otherworldly beaut. Spice, silk and incense. Clean, fresh, spicy, woody, mysterious, serene, soothing, meditative, bringer of peace and calm, gatekeeper of unseen worlds... I should stop now, huh? This scent is taking me places! Wow! And it makes me all poetic and what not. 😛 Can you say it speaks to me?! That's an understatement. It's like I've found a scent of my being, and by wearing it I can drop this material shell and fly places. Otherworldly places, of course. Too much? Forgive my being smitten with this beauty. Sorry, not sorry. 

A bit more about it. From Luckyscent. They are a bit better in putting scents into words than moi. 😉 

Spoiler

"Inspired by the shifting red, pink, and cream layers of the sandstone at Petra, Jordan, Fredrik Dalman wanted to create a perfume that might bring the memory of the 4th century BC Nabataean Kingdom, for whom Petra was the capital city, back to life. A nomadic tribe by nature, Petra was a touchstone for the Nabataeans, and the main focal point of trade in the region. Santal Nabataea honors the inspiration of Petra in two ways: via references to the exotic fruit and spices traded in Petra at the time, and by using certain materials to emulate the dusty, rosy colors and textures of the sandstone of this haunting city.

And wow, does it succeed. In exploring the dusty and sometimes astringent heart of true sandalwood, rather than its famously creamy facet, Santal Nabataea is that rare thing – a perfume that smells genuinely exotic in and of itself, rather than simply stuffed with as many exotic notes the perfumer can think of. A pared-back structure demonstrates confidence in its own ability to deliver its message without unnecessary embellishment. All the other notes here exist to showcase the sandal – the black pepper creating a spicy darkness at the back of your throat, the coffee deepening its masculine growl, and the black currant leaf and apricot notes giving off a tannic tea-like nuance that matches the wood in astringency. If it’s the brusque, aromatic dryness of real sandalwood that you love, then make sampling Santal Nabataea a priority. Featuring sustainably-sourced santalum album from Australia as well as Indian sandalwood, it’s the (rare) real deal."

[pocketvenus]

@lyravegaThis sounds amazing!!! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

[lyravega]

@pocketvenus It is! It is simply stunning! I just want it right away! But I am thinking maybe to wait and see if Twisted Lily will have it eventually. Cuz - their sales. 😛 But, I am not sure what is going on over there. They haven't restocked their oos MdOs in forever. And, when I asked about one in particular, they just said not this year... So, who even knows about new releases. 

[pocketvenus]

@lyravega😄 it's November so a sale should be coming along soon! I spoke to the TL owners back in the summer and they said they would restock the house in the fall. I'm not sure what's going on there.