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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

Getting back on this train ladies. I really need to shop my entire collection and use up what I have since I'm determined to stay on a need based (skin care, replenishments, etc) low buy all year. I'm really excited to start posting again! I was doing it religiously then when the swap happened and the thread got lost I never started again! I didn't wear anything yesterday (lazy day) or today (sinus headache), but on Friday I wore probably my favorite and the one I always go a back to - Lancome La Vie Est Belle. To me it's the perfect blend of floral, musk, and sweetness all rolled together. Nothing is too strong and it's nicely balanced. It's appropriate for any occasion. 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

1/15/18:Altelier Orange Sanguine: I don’t own a full size but I do enjoy the samples and mini I got. It is nice and light. Not the best orange scent I tried though.

1/16/18-1/19/18: I was so sick that I couldn’t get out of bed nor hold any food/liquids down.

1/20/18: Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb Jasmine Twist: the samples I got are interesting: 1 vial of flowerbomb and 1 vial of jasmine twist and the instruction to apply flowerbomb first then jasmine twist. So I did that. All I can detect was the flowerbomb but then couple minutes later I can smell the jasmine. It is nice but very typical V&R

1/21/18: Armani Prive Pivoine Suzhou: I lust over this ever since it came out. Over the holiday, thank to NM promotion, I was able to get the LE ones. The bottle is gorgeous. The scent is gorgeous. The only problem with it is I have to spray heavy handed or reapply since it is light (EDT). Ugh, it is probably the most expensive EDT I bought. Love it though. I got many compliments wearing it

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@blackkitty2014 glad you are feeling  better, I had a 3 day bug eairler this month and it sounds awfully similar and it was miserable. 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@blackkitty2014 

I hope this means you're feeling 100% 🙂

Re: The Perfume Challenge

Thank you so much @pocketvenus.  I think i'm myself again today.  Last week was bad.  I called in sick 3 out of 5 days lol

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@blackkitty2014 

Glad to hear you've gotten past what sounds like a pretty rough week!!!

Re: The Perfume Challenge

Fueguia's Darwin is classified as a woody citrus, but I think it is better described as a citrusy wood as the wood is more dominant. It's a pleasant scent with grapefruit and cedar. I'm starting to realize that the fragrances in this house all bear a striking resemblance to each other. Even though the notes are so different. It's like they all draw from a few basic formulas and then are tweaked this way and that.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

This week I tried Aerin linen rose cologne. It was surprisingly long lived for cologne. Last 4 hours on my dry winter skin. The first nose is a pleasant rose waft, that is followed by a clean linen. It’s like smell fresh linen dried in the sun all day that still has a hint of vintage rose brushed upon it. The final lingering note is that carnal amber warmed on flesh. It leaves me wanting a little more. The scent does float on the air.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@howconnie 

This sounds lovely!

Re: The Perfume Challenge

Regime des Fleurs' Floralia is a heady white floral fragrance featuring tuberose, jasmine and iris. It reminds me a lot of the Fueguias not in terms of smell but because of its powerful lightness. While there is a nice, rooty earthiness I would associate with iris, it lacks the sensation of depth. There's also a harshness to it that's not "chemically" or cloying but the overall effect is of candy. A very strange, ethereal candy. Died to a skin scent in four hours which is very short lived for something so ridiculously expensive.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

I was wearing Malin + Goetz Cannabis yesterday. 

 

What they say:

 

"A stimulating and bold statement of citrus, floral and earthy woods, this fragrance makes a bold statement with its spicy, herbaceous aroma. Bright bergamot and spicy black pepper elevate its earthiness, tempered with petally magnolia. A base of cedarwood, patchouli and sandalwood give the scent a warm finish. No lingering side effects."

 

To me, this smells like cheap men's cologne, plain and simple. Nasty citrus, and cheap pines. 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@lyravega - That's too bad!  The notes sound like it would be a really nice perfume.  😞

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@lyravega So, now I'm really curious. Does this fragrance smell anything like its namesake?

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@txcatx@lyravega 

I think copy writers just like to toss that in there for marketing purposes. I have come across so many fragrances that claim to include weed as a note and it's never there lol

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@txcatx  No. And, from what I get, that was not their intention, either. It is inspired by Goetz's memories of his life in Amsterdam where he moved after college. The name ( and the fragrance ) is kind of an "ode" to this particular part of his life. 

 

"... The coffee shops and the cannabis consumed in and around them became symbolic of an incredible liberation... one whiff instantly puts me back on my bicycle, pedaling along the canals through one of the happiest times of my life... One whiff and you’ll know the feeling. Lazy afternoons. Fading innocence. Endless possibilities."

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@lyravega Oh, interesting. Thanks for sharing; it's not a fragrance I would have given a chance simply because of the name. I was imagining wearing it to work and then getting sent down to HR for a drug test!

Re: The Perfume Challenge

@txcatx  😄 😄 😄

 

It was one of few free sample choices with purchase somewhere, don't remember where... And I was like, ok, why not? Let's try it. Sounded interesting. But, it is totally not. 

Re: The Perfume Challenge

I have been trying to dive into the large box of fragrance samples I have, yet I am currently working on finishing my 5 oz Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf.  I have worn it every day of the week but one day for a fun fragrance mix-up for the past idk 6 mths or longer?!  

 

I will take a picture once I finish this beast of a bottle (which will be this week most likely), since I've had it for about 1.5 years and it'll be great to have it finished and start other bottles!

Re: The Perfume Challenge

Today I tried Comme des Garcons' Sugi, which is the Japanese name for cedar. I liked another fragrance from this collaboration with Monocle and loved all of Sugi's notes – cedar, iris, pepper, pine, vetiver. But I was rather disappointed!

 

Sugi garners great reviews and I can smell why: it’s a minimalist, soft woody scent that imparts a clean, slightly sweet and soapy vibe. However. What others have described as turpentine, which I wouldn’t mind, smells more like mildew to me when I bring my nose up close. From afar, it’s like a newly reno’d, modern, wood-paneled bathroom with gleaming surfaces and fixtures - but then you step inside and discover the fluffy white towels desperately need to be laundered. After about an hour, this mildew note eventually blends more with the rest, and it’s only then that I understand why it’s there: it gives the fragrance a darkness that keeps it from becoming too soapy and gives a better impression of timbre. The note edges away and toward mildew throughout the rest of the drydown which is frustrating. Mercifully, it is a skin scent by the forth hour. I don’t think I’ll ever wear this again.

Re: The Perfume Challenge

Sorry everyone I haven’t wore/tried any perfume this week as I was sick the whole week. Will get back as soon as I can

Re: The Perfume Challenge

I'm sorry you've been sick @blackkitty2014!  Hope you feel better soon!

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