What did you try today? (2022)

[grant]

Please use this thread to discuss which fragrance you tried for the first time, or that you sampled today.

Try and add a bit more context than just the name of the perfume - perhaps a few words about what you thought about it, or what led you to try it?

If you have a lot to say about the fragrance you've just tried, please consider starting a new thread about it as well

 

[PStoller]

So, this supplants Sample of the Day? Works for me.

 

[hednic]

I tried my penultimate Shauran fragrance - Baroque, and just find it amazing.

 

[teardrop]

So, this supplants Sample of the Day? Works for me.

Agreed! l'll be posting here myself soon...

Will this be a monthly thread, or will it continue for the whole year?

 

[ascentofdreams]

Sampling Hermès Equipage tonight while reading a bit before bed. The intensity of the oakmoss is really surprising to me esp since this is not a vintage sample - maybe the carnation and the slightly soapy aldehydes are working synergistically to emphasize this?

 

[Brooks Otterlake]

Amouage Material

Pleasant, but it's hard to get excited about this vanilla-patch-incense because it's so conceptually familiar and it doesn't have any tricks up its sleeve.

 

[CookBot]

Try and add a bit more context than just the name of the perfume - perhaps a few words about what you thought about it, or what led you to try it?

I think he means you, PStoller. 😉

 

[bwjackson]

Got a 2ml sample of Tom Ford's Ébèné Fumé today. Lots of dark wood (sandalwood, to my nose) and pepper. Great smelling stuff, but out of my price range.

 

[hednic]

Tried my last of the 10 Shauran fragrances - Dynasty and it's a winner. Not surprised as they're all winners for me. Love it.

 

[PrinceRF]

Pineward Gluhwein - Loved it!

 

[d r e]

Nikos Sculpture pour Homme:
Pretty simple smooth and sweet Orange Blossom scent. Not very sharp or acidic. There seems to be a Vanilla-like fluffy sweetness to it, although it's not listed in the notes.

I would've guessed the notes were something like Orange Blossom, Mandarin, Jasmine, Vanilla. For the price this smells pretty natural and is very Unisex IMO.

Similar to something like Byredo Sundazed, but with more Orange & Orange Blossom rather than Lemon & Neroli.

 

[hednic]

The last of the Shauran fragrances - Dynasty which I loved like all the others.

 

[Schubertian]

Shalimar extrait, vintage from early 90s from a precious small sample.
O.M.G. Love. It. So much better than the current EDP... Now I'm wondering how the older extraits are. But seriously I'd be more than happy with this, too.

 

[PrinceRF]

Creed Virgin Island Water - Excellent boozy summer island scent!

 

[PStoller]

January Scent Project - Attaupe

I have reapplied for a deeper dive before I comment.

*

Grrr. Yesterday was not conducive to in-depth analysis. John Biebel call this “a lavender-tobacco syrup fragrance,” which it is; but, per usual for JSP, nothing is what you’d expect. “Syrup” might imply either syrupy sweetness or thickness of texture. Well, there is sweetness, but not cloying, and there is a richness of texture, but not of a gluey sort. There’s also precious little hint of the barbershop (or Provence) in the lavender, and the tobacco is decidedly unsmokey.

Well, that’s what it ain’t. Pinning down what it am, that’s gets tricky. To my nose, Attaupe is characterized by an almost plummy roundness, unsurprising in a fragrance containing several oils 75–100 years old. It’s spicy, but also incredibly smooth, the way pebbles are worn by the ocean from jagged rocks to near-perfect smoothness. It’s dark without any arch gothic pretensions; the shadowy nature of the scent, with all its muted tones, carries considerable mystery, but the conceptual foreboding (JB drew some inspiration from the Great Depression) is balanced by hope, and so it’s by no means a depressing wear. Sobering, perhaps.

What else can I say? I’m glad I set an alarm and sat with my finger at the ready on the Add to Cart button. This will bear repeated wearing when I’m in a contemplative mood. I suspect I’ll have all too many such opportunities in the coming years.

 

[CookBot]

January Scent Project - Attaupe

Notes forthcoming.

So dark! Is it an oil?

 

[PStoller]

So dark! Is it an oil?

No, it’s an extrait.

 

[CuddleCat]

Agreed! l'll be posting here myself soon...

Will this be a monthly thread, or will it continue for the whole year?

It's a yearly thread.

 

[cazaubon]

From the 4160 Tuesdays January Joy Box: Spellbinder, which has a lightly gourmand bois d’armenie smell.

 

[Cigar Guy]

Cowboy Grass. Not fond of the opening but love the drydown.

 

[Ga.Peach]

I've had a sample of Diptyque Tempo for months. Was not favorably impressed with it by just sniffing the vial when I first got it.

The only reason I was trying it out today was because I was watching old YouTube reviews and reading about L'Instant de Guerlain Extreme. It was suggested that Tempo has some similarities to original Guerlain LIDGE which I've never smelled but it's on my bucket list to at least get a whiff of it someday.

I like the current L'Instant and find it enjoyable but fleeting and rather shy.

The Diptyque Tempo has something in it I don't really prefer. May be the clary sage/patchouli combination? It has little if any similarities to modern L'instant that I can detect.

We trudge on.

 

[CookBot]

We trudge on.

That pretty much sums up how I felt about all of 2021, especially the perfumes I sampled.

 

[ascentofdreams]

The vintage EDC version of Habit Rouge - the opening was richer and had a much more distinct citrus note and felt like less geranium to me. But the base lacked the degree of sweetness found in the EDT which was a surprise, as well.
edited to add: interesting - I looked up the notes and it’s rose and carnation, no geranium. I wonder if it’s the spicy fresh rose accord of the rose and carnation that give me the geranium impression. am I totally off base here ( which is a distinct possibility, lol)?

 

[grant]

Will this be a monthly thread, or will it continue for the whole year?

All year. Unless it gets unweidly, then it will get a Part 2, Part 3 etc

 

[mrcologneguy]

I am going to wear one, just one tiny spray, of Dior Sauvage Elixir to work.

I despise Sauvage EdT, but all the online hoopla about the new Elixir flanker finally wore me down. I had to give it a sniff, just to see if I was somehow missing a new, modern masterpiece.

Let’s see how this goes. . .

 

[Ifti]

A nice bank holiday morning browse around the sniffing counters

Le Labo - Patchouli
Get the stanky birch and spicy styrax, not much in the way of patchouli as I have known it. What is this?

Le Labo - Santal
Smooth blend. Feels like a sleeper creeper.

Chanel - Lion
Yum! Comes across leathery ( the labdanum the SA informed me), a bit dirty, a bit animalic, nicely combed over with musk and vanilla. Smells old school.
Pretty darn good.

Chanel Cologne Exclusif
My ignorance- just cologney have to pull the card out again to see how's it's settled.

Racquets - 2nd time.
Really rather like it, whatever the notes are, comes across like a cologne with legs!

 

[Brian Buchanan]

Alright, seeing as there's no page for Irresistible Eau de Toilette (2021), here goes:

I suppose that calling this Irresistible, Givenchy want to convey the idea that their nuclear rose ‘iris’ and musk is so attractive
you can’t help but like it.
Well, it is irresistible; it’s so invasive and crass I can’t resist the urge to throw it in the bin.

 

[Maxtesti]

Paco Rabanne Phantom

After reading some comments, I was curious to try it. I'd seen it on the shelf before, but I disregarded it because of the shape of the bottle (never judge a book by its cover, they say). I put two sprays on the top of my hand. It's rather nice. Grassy lavender based. Not too sweet. I think it's well done.

 

[hednic]

Oud Saffron by Lesquendieu - a lovely oriental which I love.

 

[PrinceRF]

A nice bank holiday morning browse around the sniffing counters

Le Labo - Patchouli
Get the stanky birch and spicy styrax, not much in the way of patchouli as I have known it. What is this?

Le Labo - Santal
Smooth blend. Feels like a sleeper creeper.

Loved both of these. Patchouli was very different.

 

[PrinceRF]

Comme des Garcons x Monocle Hinoki - Nice airy, woody scent that has an almost meditative quality to it.

 

[Ifti]

Loved both of these. Patchouli was very different.

Ah yes that's what the SA said, patchouli like you never experienced it!
Got a real animalic stank quality to it !

 

[goodsmellingviking]

Bergamotto was the first perfume in 20+ years that made my skin burn a little when i put it on my hand, top notes was dissapointing and smelled more like house cleaning products then a perfume, midlle and base better, but meh, wont buy and dissapointing.

Cipresso de toscana, now we are talking! love this! will return and buy, super fresh but yet spicy and nothing 2021/modern sweetness, this is a perfume for a MAN wanting to smell like a MAN. (maybe it turns out im a star anise fan), just hope this last a few hours given the price, have had it on for about 1.5h now.

Ralphs Club, BORING! i mean its nice and all and sweet and modern and yada yada, just to similar to everything else these days, still its good by all means.

 

[ascentofdreams]

Moved up Hermes Vanille Galante in my to sample list as there was comment about it being animalic on another thread and so was curious - on me this is a mildly indolic blast of a jasmine opening, followed fairly quickly by a very pronounced ylang ylang with underpinning of vanilla. I find this to be less transparent that the usual Ellena style - for him, this was fairly dense though this assessment may be colored by my tolerance for sweeter spectrum white florals in general. I didnt get much of an animalic vibe apart from a hint in the opening.

 

[PrinceRF]

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Santal Noble - Amazing old-school classy fragrance with a handful of delicious notes. Rich velvety vanilla with some earthy aspects to it. Restrained patchouli is one of my favorite notes, and Santal Noble does it well, along with vetiver and smoky/spicy woods. Wish I had more than just one wear. Absolutely stunning.

 

[hednic]

Oud Edition by Montale - a Montale returning to its roots with Montale's signature ingredients: Rose, Oud, Incense, Leather, Sandalwood and a powerful musky accord.

 

[Speedway]

L’Heure Exquise by Bortnikoff, from a sample set. Is it possible to go from a “meh” at the opening to a “im crazy about this” an hour later? It seems to be working that way on me. Maybe I just needed to let the clove settle

 

[Schubertian]

Oh my giddy aunt... trying some Diaghilev today from a ridiculously expensive decant.
It's only been 2 hours or so and I'm swooning. It's not really that much like Mitsouko (though I see how vintage Mitsouko might be a reference. Added: it comes through more now as the scent evolves), but for me it's closer to Jubilation 25 (and thus, presumably, Rochas Femme).* It kicked off with strong cumin and leather/smoke, felt quite masculine and dirty, then settled and came together and I have the most beautiful florals wafting over that now only mildly skanky base on my skin. Smells very vintage, most definitely. And similar to Jubilation 25 - except this makes J25 look rough and uncouth by comparison. This feels very "special occasion" and almost like I should be wearing an evening gown, or at least something made of velvet, perhaps deep moss green. Heavenly.
(I'd never pay the full price for a bottle though, even if I could afford it. It's just obscene and I refuse. The decant will have to do.)

 

[bwjackson]

On a bit of a nostalgia kick, so I ordered a couple of retro (and I'm sure reformulated) scents for next to nothing. Today's experiment is Lagerfeld Classic, which I missed out on in 70's. Sandalwood, patchouli, vanilla, and amber. Loving it! And coincidentally a great choice for tonight's yoga class.

 

[du57in]

I am going to wear one, just one tiny spray, of Dior Sauvage Elixir to work.

I despise Sauvage EdT, but all the online hoopla about the new Elixir flanker finally wore me down. I had to give it a sniff, just to see if I was somehow missing a new, modern masterpiece.

Let’s see how this goes. . .

Any thoughts a day later?