Fragrance Junkie Central

[Mochapj]

I know there are a few of us on BT that are fragrance addicts, so I thought it would be nice to have a dedicated place where we can share our thoughts.

This is not to take away from the lovely What Are You Wearing Today, Fragrance Edition thread, but more a place to post longer reviews, chat about new brands or releases, and just shoot the breeze on anything good and smelly 🙂

For me, I recently acquired 2 new decants that I've been anxiously awaiting.  Ever since Lachaton mentioned that MMM was releasing a new scent called By The Fireplace I've been itching to get my hands on it.  My decant arrived yesterday, so I'm looking forward to marinating in it this weekend.  Secondly, I recently picked up a tiny sample of Shiseido Nombre Noir.  Supposedly it is one of the most expensive failures in perfume history - made by Serge Lutens for Shiseido back in the 80s.  Of course, with a backstory like that, I was dying to get a sniff 😄

What's new on your scent radar?  Do tell!

 

[pocketvenus]

@Mochapj  Thank you for thinking of me and yes, excellent memory 🙂 I'll definitely remember that for my next order of samples!! ❤️

[pocketvenus]

Byredo is coming out with a new scent for patchouli fans.

Notes: Ambrette, coconut water, patchouli leaves, cocoa absolute, cotton musks, wild musk

[pocketvenus]

Had a chance to try this. The coconut is very floral. The patchouli is earthy and feels airbrushed in. There's a lot of white musk. It’s very plush and a bit dense. More creamy than hazy.

I also finally got around to trying Pulp, thinking it would be like wet paper. Wrong - it's pulp as in the flesh of a fruit! I definitely don't get crisp fruit or gentle fig. It's like guava and berries with a tinge pineapple. It's not saccharine but it's still too sweet for me. Like a fructose overdose. If you like the smell of realllllly ripe fruit, this might work for you.

[Madeline7]

For reasons I don't understand based on the notes, this one actually reminded me of a softer Comme de Garcons Concrete

[Mochapj]

Hmm, I wonder how this is going to compare to SL Borneo 1834...

[sungelly87]

I bought this! got a sample from Barney's gwp. it's lovely and quite surprising for me. patchouli in the beginning and the coconut water gives me a sweetness? there is some sort of sweetness and then musky goodness at the end. I like it cuz it's got the patchouli but no incense.

[pocketvenus]

@sungelly87  Thanks for sharing your thoughts 🙂 I love patchouli so I'm looking forward to trying this!

[Madeline7]

I've been sampling Creed Virgin Island Water this week.  This scent is soooo good!  Its predominantly a scent of fresh squeezed lime, with a mellow coconut underneath.  I don't usually like coconut in fragrances (I usually find it screechy and sunscreen-like), but this one is really nice.

I'm so tempted to buy a full bottle of this, but I wish I had discovered this earlier in the summer, because this is really a summer sunshine scent.

[pocketvenus]

I'm kicking myself because I was just in a Diptyque boutique this weekend and didn't know then about their new-ish release Kimonanthe.

It sounds amazing: "Made with exotic, succulent, complex osmanthus blossoms delicately infused with Japanese incense, Kimonanthe is totally unclassifiable, mysterious, and addictive. With notes of camphor, cloves, sandalwood, spices, and leather, the scent on the skin becomes a delicate mist of candied apricot deepening to recall exotic remedies and incense."

I love Japanese incense! Has anyone tried this? I'm wondering how it compares to CdG's Kyoto.

[belletrist9]

I was so excited by the notes of this but I was a bit disappointed. I was mostly excited for the osmanthus/apricot aspect of the fragrance to be accompanied by incense, but when I tried it I got a somewhat redundant spicy woods and neither the incense or the osmanthus/apricot really stood out to me from it. The drydown is very reminiscent of other fragrances in my collection so I skipped especially considering the cost compared to their other fragrances. 

For a great osmanthus, if you are able to get Fitzgerald & Guislain, their Extrait d'Osmanthus is absolutely excellent and beautiful.

I haven't tried CdG Kyoto so I can't comment, but recently I was really impressed by Atelier Colognes Encens Jinhae which is inspired by the incense burning in Jinhae during the cherry blossom festival. I'm generally not a cherry blossom person (find it pedestrian and powdery/cloying) but I was so pleasantly surprised by this combination. My skin amps smoke and quenches sweet, so it was a very nice incense accented by cherry blossom on me. On my bf it was more floral and less incense but still very nice. 

[pocketvenus]

@belletrist9  Thank you kindly for sharing your impressions and recommendations ❤️ I'll definitely keep those two in mind!

[belletrist9]

@pocketvenus very happy to share! happy sniffing! 😄

[Mochapj]

Looks like Etat has a new scent

[pocketvenus]

More info + notes from WWD:

Une Amouerette - which means a fling or a moment of passion in French - is a bold scent. It blends sweet notes such as cardamom with spicy, earthy ones such as oil-infused patchouli, vanilla or pink peppercorn that have a touch of provocation.

The designer worked with Givaudan perfumer Daniela Andrier. "It was a designer meeting an amazing nose, but also a man meeting a woman. Our first meeting was kind of like a date, we talked about what men feel and what women feel, about the skin and the ways we can share moments with another skin, the attraction of it, the sweat, every side of it. That was our starting point," he added. "It was quite important for me to be able to create something that already has maturity, it had to be a journey."

There was also a deeper, more personal meaning for Mouret, beyond the idea of falling in love: "When I was at school, 'amourette' was the name the kids were bullying me with. I kept my little bully name in my pocket and I'm taking it back now," he said.

[pocketvenus]

Can't wait to try this!

[Madeline7]

Did anyone else who requested a free sample of the Jo Malone English Oak collection ever get theirs? 

[kmcocoa]

I did! I’m obsessed and bought a .3 oz hours after receiving the sample from Sephora

[AnneMCC]

I never did 😕 I got an email offering samples from Neiman Marcus brand rep. I think his name is Dean. The brand reps are listed on the NM website I believe. He sent me one. It's really nice. I got both of the 2 new fall scents in samples but from NM not from that Jo Malone offer.

[Madeline7]

Nice!  Which is your favorite?

[pocketvenus]

Excited to try this - I love concrete as a building material so I am enamoured with the bottle! And I enjoy a lot of the CdGs. The notes description is rather pretentious/amusing and I'm guessing it maps onto a top/heart/base structure.

Destruction: The richness of Sandalwood is shattered to reveal its very essence, a radically new scent emerging from its fractured form.

Construction: New contrasts are created through familiar fabrics. Industrial synthetics pierce natural familiarity; artificial Rose oxide distorts an opulent woody overdose.

Creation: Layers of resinous warmth are lacquered with metallic seams, built upon a foundation of Comme des Garçons’ spice signature.

[Madeline7]

Ooh!  I got a sample of this from Luckyscent last week and found it to be...interesting. I was surprised by how sweet and caramelized it was. There definitelty is sandalwood, but for me it wasn't the strongest note like I expected.  I really like the bottle!  Curious to hear what you think of it