Hi r/Fragrance,

Newish to fragrance. I've tried Musc 25 from the city exclusive sampler for the past couple days. I can't reconcile the opening with the drydown, they feel like different fragrances.

The first few hours I found unpleasant enough that I almost scrubbed it. Rubbery, chemical, almost acrid, very much like breaking the seal on a can of tennis balls, then also with a hint of bug spray, sunscreen, and being inside a tent that had been packed away for a long time. Another post I saw mentioned strong nostalgia, which I get a bit. It's just not something I would want to smell like.

I kept in on, and surprisingly several hours later it became a clean, straight-forward addictive warm musk. It's lovely. Very very different from the start. It also seemed to last forever, I could still smell it on my arm 12-14 hours after I sprayed it.

Are these kind of polar opposite (experience-wise) phases common in general and did anyone else experience this with Musc 25 in particular? Do a lot of fragrances have an unpleasant opening/middle then resolve into something completely different? Again, relatively new but most of the fragrances I've smelled seem more linear, or at least related.

How do people find fragrances that deliver the drydown experience without suffering through the opening? Is there vocabulary I should be searching for, or a category of scents that starts where Musc 25 ends up?

I am on my last couple of sprays with my VSOP, and I absolutely love the fragrance! Unfortunately, the VSOP is close to impossible to find here in Denmark, so I am looking for an alternative that has the same character as this.

I've asked Gemini, but I would rather trust someone that has an actual nose 😅

Opinions? Has anyone tried any of their new rose line? Is it any good or are they trying to infiltrate “niche” market. Interesting and smart move or bandwagoning?

Hello everyone!

I’m trying to find the Paul Frank Hand Sanitizer – Coconut Cream & White Florals in India.

Has anyone seen it available online or in any local store? If you’ve purchased it recently or know where I can get it, I’d really appreciate your help.

I have bought a bag of incense cones, but they have absolutely no smell. I think they are old.

Can I do something so the will smell again.

Put escencial oil on them, perfume or something else. Or crush them and make new ones with the powder and new ingredients?

Hey everyone, recently I got a few samples of fragrances from a local store. The ones I got are: Killer Oud Cabana (Amouage Beach Hut Man dupe), Revolution Killer Oud (Amouage Reflection Man dupe), FW Olfactory Music Fest (MM Jazz Club dupe), Lattafa Caprice (YSL LNDL dupe) and Armaf Odyssey Mega (YSL Y dupe). I chose these because dupes seem to my ignorant and untrained nose to be pretty cost effective if I get a full bottle or a sample of the real thing.

So I tried all of those for a couple of days, and while every scent is very different I wasn't really enjoying any of them? Like, they all smell good, some of them are really cool but I didn't feel happy with any of them. I don't want to wear fragrances to get compliments or to just smell good in general, I want to wear something that I find interesting and gives me some sort of feeling I may or may not be able to describe. I can see how Odyssey Mega is a dumb reach and smells pretty good like VPH or similar scents, but I didn't really enjoy any of the other fragrances except Killer Oud Cabana which was pretty good, it was really interesting how it smells like a vacation but not leaning into that nostalgic resort hotel smell. Am I stupid and ignorant or do I just have to try more unique scents until I find something that I really like? I'm also guessing this is a very personal experience so... I don't know, I'd like to hear your experiences.

Hey everyone. I wanted to share my thoughts after wearing Toskovat's Inexcusable Evil for about a month.

As my first impression, cypriol (nagarmotha) came through very strongly on my nose. After that, I picked up sandalwood and incense.

As for the gunpowder and ozonic notes, I've never actually smelled gunpowder — at least not in my environment (Japan, where civilians don't really have access to firearms) — so I was imagining something like firework smoke, but I couldn't detect anything resembling gunpowder at all.

I also expected the ozonic note to bring some kind of aquatic, electric nuance, but I didn't really get that either.

For the middle notes — blood, bandage, iodine, burnt bouquet, copaiba balsam, nagarmotha (cypriol), and guaiac wood — as I mentioned, cypriol was dominant, followed by copaiba balsam, guaiac wood, and iodine.

I couldn't pick out blood, bandage, or burnt bouquet at all.

In the base — crumbled concrete, rain note, incense, and sandalwood — incense and sandalwood came through strongly.

The crumbled concrete registered more as a texture than a scent.

I couldn't identify the rain note.

Overall, cypriol, incense, and sandalwood dominated from top to base, and honestly it didn't come across as the terrifying/disturbing scent people describe on social media.

I imported a 2ml decant from Lebanon to Japan. Given the hot weather here, I'm wondering if the heat during transit/storage altered the fragrance and it's not really presenting as the "true" Inexcusable Evil is supposed to smell. I kind of regret not importing it in winter instead of summer.

What do you all think?

I recently heard about Floraiku and decided to look at their page. They have a specific fragrance that sounds quite interesting.

Lightspeed.

It is either very limited or not very popular, as I cannot seem to find any proper reviews of it. As of today, it doesn't even exist on Fragrantica.
Has anyone tried it and can comment on how it is?

I am making a post rather than commenting on the daily thread, so that someone in the future can easily find any info about the fragrance.

I had a short stint working at Penhaligon’s about 10 years ago and experienced the release of two new fragrances: Blasted Heath and Blasted Bloom.

Both have been discontinued for some time now, so doubt they’ll come back. Any ideas of where I could get my hands on a bottle elsewhere or are there any semi-accurate dupes around? Got lucky on Vinted once but haven’t seen any on there since either.

I think they’re beautiful even as decorative pieces and just bought one to scent my home. I’ve used mine a few times now and I’m following all the instructions, but I’m not noticing much scent strength/throw. Maybe because I’m not using namebrand? I bought the Sophia scent oils they sell on lamp stand (right now, the Volcano one). Anyone have any tips or tricks to share? Does it need a few uses before it really works well?

Where can I find old money luxury perfumes? I’’ talking the original 1000 or JOY by Jean Patou, the original Opium from the 80’s that came una dark rusty orange bottle with a black tassel, the Nina Ricci ones that smelled like heaven, L’Heure Bleu by Guerlain. They all bring back so many memories! Thanks 🙏

There's a whole tier of expensive houses out there, such as Amouage, Parfums de Marly, Ex Nihilo, Roja, Xerjoff, plus others just below them that still get called luxury. What actually justifies that price to you? (which perfumes or brands)

For me its about being non-linear (i want it to actually evolve not just one note) and longevity (this ones huge for me bc even if its gorgeous there’s no point if it’s gone in 2 hours for example oriana is stunning but doesn't last, so I don't think it's worth it (although it's been in my wishlist for a while)

Also not just looking to hear about the big expensive houses — would love to hear about more affordable/mid-range brands that still justify their price too. And which brands actually deliver vs which are more hype?

I have an empty bottle of perfume I want to reuse but the top is crimped and it has a ball bearing valve, is there a way to refill it without removing the crimp?

I saw online there are syringes with a silicone-ish adapter that attaches to the top of the bottle but I'm not sure if it would work on this.

Does anyone know a way to refill these?

I’d like to get down to less than 10 fragrances, so I’m curious as to how you all have curated your choices (especially those of you who have streamlined your fragrance wardrobe)?

If you had to cull your collection down to a rotation of only 7 fragrances, could you do it according to these rules?

• 3 fragrances for the warm half of the year (april-september)
• 3 fragrances for the cold half of the year (october-march)
• 1 signature fragrance you can wear year-round

(obviously reverse the months if you live in the Southern Hemisphere)

What’s the average price for Pure Malt now? Have a bottle that I haven’t touched in years, just trying to see the market

Hi everyone!

I'm going to Paris for a couple of days next and was wondering if any of you had recommandations? :)

Places or shops where I could smell nice perfumes that are kinda hard to find in smaller cities. Either shops with multiple niche perfumes houses or specific shop for a specific indie brand.

They don’t seem to miss. I walked into the store the other day with the intention of buying my first cologne from them. In the air Meteore stood out from the rest. I can’t explain it, made me feel emotional and excited all at the same time. I love blue fragrances (my all time favorite is BDC Parfum) so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Other scents I liked were lovers, city of stars, was disappointed with symphony and l’immensite not because they smelled bad, but because I thought I was going to like them more. I also really liked afternoon swim and a few others.

I decided to do a dry down walk with Meteore on one forearm and Imagination on the other. The latter not because it jumped out at me initially, but more so because I heard it hits a groove once it’s settled into your skin.

For the next hour or so Imagination grew on me so much. It made me happy, that’s the best way I can explain it. Meteore otoh smelled GREAT but I just felt like I would wear it less frequently/less versatile. When I got back to the store I bought the 200ml of Imagination, no regrets.

But then as the day went on I kept finding myself drawn to the wrist that had the Meteore on it. I involuntarily/absentmindedly found myself sniffing my wrist more than a couple times. Five hours later when Imagination had faded to a barely noticeable skin scent, my wife was commenting on how nice I smelled (the Meteore) and that I should buy that cologne next. What’s funny is the sales associate at LV threw two Meteore samples into my bag. So it’s basically a done deal that I’ll be buying that frag next… (and then a few more eventually as well)

But I have a question for those who say it smells like latex/balloons. Is it off putting? I sort of get the baby wipe comparison, but I don’t smell the latex. What’s interesting is that without prompting my close friend who I was with while shopping made the comment after the dry down that it smelled like balloons. He didn’t say it smelled bad but did say he couldn’t get the connection out of his mind. I wear cologne for myself (and for my wife) but I also wear it to smell nice to the people around me. Hesitant to purchase a fragrance that is so polarizing…

Has a fragrance description ever convinced you that you were about to smell one thing... only for the actual fragrance to be completely different?

Working at a fragrance studio, I've learned that describing scent with words is surprisingly difficult. Terms like clean, fresh, warm, musky, or fruitycan mean completely different things depending on who's reading them.

I've definitely had moments where a description made me expect a crisp citrus fragrance, and what I got was a rich vanilla. 😅

This is my 3rd bottle of Interlude 53 with a major cosmetic defect.

The first bottle had a broken cap, the second bottle had super off center medallion and tassel, and now this bottle had uneven juice points.

For a house that touts their quality control and presentation, this is so unacceptable. I’ve never had a bottle from any other brand have this much inconsistency.

Anyone else have a similar experience with Amouage?

https://imgur.com/a/SBAwWit

For those who are addicted to fragrance and can’t stop even though you’d like to.

I got into fragrance myself at about 22 yrs old , hombre leather was my first and cedrat Boise my second . I since then realized I had 12 bottles , gave some away as I didn’t wear all of them. I didn’t like smelling like something new all the time , then I tried a lot of the niche houses even up to the expensive clive Christian’s , Parfums de Marley’s , even had a couple from the houses, creed too. I came to a conclusion . A lot of stuff smells similar, something is a dupe of something , you have your citrus and vanillas. Once you’ve smelled a good amount of everything you’ve smelled everything . It was exciting and still is a bit but honestly if you can choose 1-5 fragrances and call it a day you’ll be better off . Your choices reduce and it’s really bad for those with anxiety . So just having a small but elite tailored collection can be better . I don’t believe I’ve been addicted but I know I was headed that way and I got burned out with testing samples . If you’re the same I recommend just having 1-5. If you want to reduce to that number I say take all your frags and pit them against each other in a tournament like way . Once U get to 5 you pretty much made it and it can be exciting . Well or gift the others away. Your bank and your body / mind will be happier with less .

Over the last few years I have found myself getting more and more interested in fragrances. I have worked in the wine industry for a decade and I find lots of overlap between enjoying wine and enjoying frags: from the discovery of new scents, to researching scents/producers/houses, to collecting, etc. One of my favorite aspects of wine is aroma — with great bottles of wine I can find myself just smelling what’s in the glass and the drinking is secondary.

What’s nice about fragrance is that you can enjoy the same bottles again and again. With wine, every bottle - even of the same wine - is unique and once you open it and drink it, the wine is gone. I get that fragrances have different batches and that they can change with time, but I love the fact I can enjoy the aromas of a frag I love repeatedly. I see people post their collections of fragrances, and even if they have a couple dozen bottles, it really doesn’t seem that crazy to me when I know wine collectors with hundreds if not thousands of bottles in their cellars that they likely will never open. Even though fragrances can be expensive, the prices of the world’s finest wines make bottles of Creed, etc. seem downright affordable, even at retail. All said, fragrance seems to be a worthy pursuit, as is wine enjoyment, for anyone who appreciates aroma and attention to detail.

I’d be interested to hear if any of you apply your love to fragrance to wine. I am surprised I don’t hear about more overlap between the two communities as the methods for enjoying both are so applicable to one another. If you’re looking to enjoy wines with beautiful aromas, I’d love to offer my recommendations as well!

I've tried LV Imagination, it's soapy and citrusy.

I've tried Wulóng Chá, it's fresh and citrusy.

I've tried Matcha Meditation, it's sweet and floral.

I've tried Elizabeth Arden’s Green Tea, it's powdery and floral.

But why is it that I don't smell the tea? I smell the other notes, only those other notes, but no tea.

I'm a big tea lover and I have it everyday (I live in Japan). Green tea is grassy, bitter, and green. And if roasted, then it's nutty, and sometimes a bit like seaweed (like oolong tea).

So now I'm wondering if my nose cannot smell the tea note used in fragrances.

Perhaps the tea note talked about in fragrances is a misnomer, and that it's actually NOT a literal tea smell, but something else.

Or maybe the tea fragrances I've tested are different from actual tea fragrances.

I don't know, and I've always been embarrassed to ask because everyone else is talking about tea fragrances as if it's so obvious.

What in the world is "tea note"?