I’m obsessed with this brand, I haven’t been able to smell any yet but it’s so enticing even to read about them. I’m getting myself a sample of practically every scent they have when the money I have coming in finally comes through.

Which ones have you smelled?

Which ones are the ones you think are most approachable for newbies?

Is there one you took one whiff of and wanted to throw out the window?

I love to hear how different people interpret the same scent. Gimme your opinions 💖

Title, pretty much.

Whenever I admit to how much I spray on, I get blasted on here. The general advice seems to be to only use 2-3 sprays, but why? This doesn’t line up with my IRL experience.

Nobody that I know that wears fragrance IRL is only doing 2-3 sprays. I’ve asked people about this and they’ve all told me that that’s nowhere near enough and pointless to spray on at that point.

When I’m at the office, I get complimented. My coworkers ask to see whatever bottle I brought in that day. Multiple coworkers have ordered what I’m wearing to gift to others. If it makes any difference, we’re mostly Latino, Black, and Middle Eastern at my office.

The only time I’ve had my application criticized IRL is when my wife (anglo-american) heard me spraying upstairs and said I was doing too much. Then I came downstairs and she asked if I scrubbed it off because she couldn’t smell it until she was within a foot of me. Now she sprays more of her own fragrance, too.

When I bought my mom a bottle of CK One recently, she immediately spritzed on about 15 sprays and… nobody cared. Nobody had anything but compliments if they noticed at all. I’m Cuban and I’d say the majority of my extended family also sprays it on thick. For us, good fragrance is a sign of hospitality to those around you. I’d go so far as to say it’s a part of hygiene. I know this is the case in places like the Middle East and Mediterranean, so is this just a cultural difference amplified by Reddit being majority anglo?

Sorry if it comes off as an insensitive question, I’m just genuinely curious where the disconnect is.

So after trying Rabbit, I decided on Penguin next. I think because of the heat in the UK at the moment I fancied something that gave an illusion of cooler climes.

I went in pretty blind and looked up the notes after spraying. I had a worry it was going to be the type of smell you get from penguins at the zoo, that sort of musty, fishy smell but it luckily wasn’t that.

Unfortunately, I am 0 for 2 on zoologist successes for my girlfriend, but I absolutely loved this one. As soon as I sprayed it I just got an image of gin and tonic. I’m assuming that’s mostly down to the juniper note but with the ice and ozonic notes, it was like someone had just plonked down an ice cold gin and tonic in front of me, really nice opening.

The suede comes in pretty quickly after that and is quite dominant but pleasant. It’s got a mature vibe to it would be a great date night scent in my opinion. As it dried down, it became more woody and softer, almost transitioning to a clean almost soapy woody smell.

Projection was good, I went with a couple of sprays on the back of my hand and didn’t need to bring it my face to be able to smell it. Although the longevity was a little underwhelming, became a skin scent for me after about an hour and a half and then probably got another couple of hours after that.

All that said, this is going to take some beating for me. As mentioned it has a really nice nature and sophisticated scent profile. I didn’t get an overwhelming “cold air” ozonic as much as I have read about with this, it was almost like that fresh smell that’s comes off someone’s clothing when they step inside from the cold. This is definitely wearable though, and I would strongly consider picking up a full bottle.

8.5/10

From these two services, what fragrances have you found that are great value?

I.E. getting high value scents under the basic package at Scentbird.

There are some fragrances I’ve found that are $200-$300 but an 8ml sample is quite reasonable.

Anyone else have experience here? Found some hidden gems?

Context: Recently I’ve been taking wearing and reapplying spf seriously to increase the longevity of my skin appearance.

Question #1: I like to scent stack and use lotion, oil, and perfume in that order to increase projection, longevity, and sillage of my fragrances. However I learned recently, spf should be added last in your skin care routine and I find applying SPF on top of the scented lotion and oil kinda disrupts or clashes with the aroma/scent of the lotions and oils. Even the unscented spf creams kinda dull/diminish the smell of lotions and creams. Any workaround to this?

Question #2: Again, trying to take spf seriously so I try my best to reapply every 2 hours. The thing is, when I spend an extended amount of time outside, I reapply spf spray and/or cream to my body, that includes my pulse points, which I sprayed fragrance on prior. And it’s not even a feeling at this point, I know rubbing spf into those spots on my skin absolutely kill the longevity and projection on whatever fragrance I applied prior. Even the spray spf seems to have the same affect. Any workaround to this?

I've always found Creed to be just moderately better than the typical mass market department store frags. I don't think their formulations come anywhere close to the quality of the many niche perfumers or the more capable of popular high-end brands like Tom Ford, Amouage, DS & Durga, Frédéric Malle, Byredo, etc

So, given that this sub is full of frag connoisseurs, why is Creed so highly regarded? Is my nose off?

Hi, I'm thinking about getting Fleur de Peau Hair Mist. I don't think it lasts very long. What about on clothes?

Hello! I recently purchased the roll on cereal milk fragrance from Sugar Milk Co. I was super excited because it was highly recommended for a Fruity Pebbles like scent. When I smell the actual roller it does smell exactly like fruity pebbles, but it doesn't translate when its on the skin. It doesn't smell bad, just more like a cupcake or something. It also does not last at all. Maybe a 1.5 hours. Has anyone else had this experience? I'm bummed! Open to hearing other scents that are similar!

What’s the best swy intensely dupe? And where can you buy it?

Occasionally i have noticed over the last 15 years a perfume aroma on people that smells just like classic Australian spray-on Aeroguard fragrance. What perfume brand is this?

So I have been collecting perfumes for the past 6 years and have a collection of around 35 different perfumes but I mainly use 5-6 of them and the rest are nice to have for special occasions and when I want to weat something unique.

I have learned that I am more into designer fragrances and those are the ones that I use the most often but I also have som niche bottles that I like and want in my collection just because they are nice to have.

In the last few months I found vintage versace edt 2014 and one million edt 2011 for a good price but I was disappointed with the longevity of them. I already own new batches of both of these and feel like the longevity is better. This made me think that maybe I should try to clean my collection to the ones that I use because the rest will maybe get weaker. However I have collected them through many years of learning more about myself and my taste and my perfumes are currently 'handpicked' and I really like them all. I only buy decants before buying something new because I feel like I am satisfied with my collection. I do have some in mind to buy for the future years and as my taste changes, but I also want to keep my current collection.

Should I worry about longevity?

For those that don’t want to read my rambly little pondering below, the discussion topic is: do you like your fragrance to be an added bold accessory or do you like it to feel Iike a old and loved sweater? Which fragrances do either for you?

I’m still relatively new in this “hobby”/ “lifestyle”/ “obsession”, whatever we are calling it, and understanding what I like has been a bit of a windy road (and I’ll be honest, still is.) I became a bit frustrated at some point because it seemed I disliked the majority of what was out there, or if I didn’t dislike it, once I actually wore it, it would feel like it sat strangely on me or would begin to irritate my nose. Recently I’ve come to understand that this is because I don’t actually want myself or others to be fully aware that I’m actually wearing a fragrance. I began subconsciously categorizing things I tried as fragrances that “sit on top of me” and fragrances that “melt into me”, and the “melting” ones were always the ones I would end up routinely using and enjoying.

In the beginning I thought that I didn’t like fragrances that were strong, or projected, or had 5 billion year silage. I was subconsciously enamored by the ephemeral nature of fragrance, of its impermanence and of the fact that its place of residence is primarily in our memory. That lead me to believe that my place was in fragrances labeled as skin-scents, that something light and airy and fresh was what was for me. In the real world I love a citrus, lavender, basil, and mint. I love how laundry smells right out of the machine. I love a good lemongrass soap. The smell of rain, and a room just vacuumed. I was quite dismayed to find then that all the airy musks, the minimalist, citrusy, fresh, simple and light fragrances in their elegant little silver capped bottles would end up being rather… offensive to my nose. They smelled sharp, like soap you use in a public bathroom of a gas station, like cleaner sprays, and most shockingly: they “sat on top of me”, like a separate layer that hovered around me like a mosquito and wouldn’t go away no matter how much I batted at it. On a friend of mine, however, they smelled beautiful. They smelled like her, but elevated, which is what was advertised to me.

I had up until then, avoided gourmands, as they were always described as the ones with the 5 billion year silage and the projection of the sun, and surely I wouldn’t like that. And then, I by chance tried something with vanilla in it, and it “melted” and I kept sniffing my wrist, and throughout the day I would think “what is that lovely smell?”, and I would realize it was me. After a few more tries with some other fragrances that had vanillas, but that were all labeled as “showstoppers”, I found myself a little bemused that these were the ones that I would forget was a fragrance, and instead just smelled like how I had always smelled, just a little more interesting.

I learned then that a “second skin” scent is maybe not a literal “skin-scent” for everyone. For me it’s melancholic, boozey, and a tinge dirty gourmands. For whatever reason, they mix very well with whatever particular chemistry I already have going on. I find that they don’t project on me the same way clean florals do, for example, because they just settle in and burrow themselves into the rest of me. I was talking to some friends about one fragrance in particular that I had taken to and how I had been using it a lot (a small little spray on my sweater) and a couple of their reactions was “that’s why you smell so good?”, as if a fragrance wasn’t their first guess, and that is what I learned I want from a perfume. Not a statement, but something that makes me feel more of myself.

Finding things I like has become much easier now. So far the three that have settled with me are Dark (Akro), By the Fireplace, and Babycat, and currently I’m intrigued by Sarah Baker Velvet Vendetta, and will be testing it soon to see if it becomes the 4th. Mind you, I use one spray on a single wrist which I dab on hot spots of my body, or a single spray on a sweater. I’m sure if I drenched myself in Babycat it would no longer be a second skin scent at all, but I found if I put a single spray of Diptyque Orpheon on my wrist, it would feel like I took a bath in it.

Now I’m curious, what do you seek in a fragrance?

So me and my friend love correlating like outfits. We decided to try that with our fragrances. My new scent is currently on its way called "inexcusable evil"

Is there a scent that matches but in an opposite way? I haven't gotten much into fragrances but I know more about them than he does. Not enough to know this sort of thing though

A beautiful birthday gift this year. It’s been on my wishlist since 2020, the opening is stunning, i think mostly of a medicinal syrup, herbs and dried tea flowers with honey. I also do get that muted beauty powder scent and dusty almost incense like backdrop.

I’m devastated to realize that after hour three I smell something like a toddler covered in spit who’s been outside all day. A strange musk. Body oils and sweat, a bit too sweet on the skin.

I have a theory that it’s the honey note, as I sometimes have serious issues like the one above, but I’ve had luck with other perfumes (lush the bees knees is a favorite of mine).

Has anyone else had issues with dry down? Perhaps it’s the newer formulation that got me.

I am buying a new laundry detergent online because I have been unhappy with the detergent my local store has. I am looking for any help describing the scent of basic Persil detergent. So far I have seen that it has a really divisive scent and I don't want it to overpower the fragrances I use. I have seen it described as floral, woody, overpowering and "European Clean".

Any assistance on what it smells like, or notes, or if there are similar fragrances would be incredibly helpful.

And if it really is terrible, what detergents does everyone use to not overpower their fragrances?

Thank you all in advance I appreciate your help! ❤️

Versense is my favourite perfume of all time and I got it for christmas in 2022 from my family. It's expensive as shit and I've really cherished it, since it was a gift. The bottle had a bit over a half left and I just dropped it to the bathroom floor and it shattered in half with none of the fluid salvageable.

I need to cry so bad AND vacuum glass shards off the floor, but I'm busy and leaving for an event soon.

Hey! I know Vanilla Skin by Phlur already has its own perfume, but there is something vastly different between the Vanilla Skin perfume and the Vanilla Skin Body Oil and I’ve been searching for something that smells like it or to combine with. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could layer it with and keeping the central scents?

Hi everybody I'm searching for a fragrance that is mostly based on white tea and Ginger it can be unisex

I’ve been fortunate enough to wear the new Sauvage Extrait three times thanks to a tester at the Fort Knox PX exchange store, where I also picked up a bottle.

A few thoughts after full-day wear:
This is not just Sauvage with a little oud thrown in. The fragrance evolves quite a bit throughout the wear.
The opening still has a recognizable Sauvage character,clean, polished, and very refined, the Oud is present but the real magic happens later.
Once you get into the dry down, the Vietnamese oud really comes alive. To my nose it’s sweeter than many traditional ouds, but it still has a smoky, dark character without becoming medicinal, animalic, or challenging.
The oud feels integrated into the composition rather than sitting on top of it. It never came across as harsh.
Projection on me stayed moderate well into the dry down (starts out pretty nuclear like Elixir), even when the oud became more noticeable.
For reference, I enjoy fragrances like Tom Ford Oud Wood, PdM Haltane, and other approachable luxury ouds. If you’re expecting something like LV Ombre Nomade or a heavy Middle Eastern-style oud bomb, this isn’t that. It’s much more wearable while still giving you a genuine oud experience.

After three wears, I honestly think Dior and Francis Kurkdjian nailed the balance. If you already enjoy Sauvage and have been curious about oud, I think this could be an excellent entry point into the note.
For me, it’s one of the best designer releases I’ve smelled in a long time. It is also my favorite of the Sauvage line by far.

Luckyscent has Parfum Satori fragrances listed but the bottles have been sold out forever. So I decided to message them and here's what they said:

thanks for writing in! Unfortunately, Parfum Satori had an issue that led them to discontinue their relationship with their Japan>US logistics provider, and they do not seem to have ever established a new one, so we've been unable to import their fragrances for a few years now. We remain very interested in continuing to stock them, so we hope that a new solution will present itself eventually, but it's unfortunately out of our control, so we can't predict if or when that might be. Please check back sometime in the future and hopefully the situation will have improved!

That's a shame because Iris Homme is beautiful :(

Hi guys,

Was gifted Creed Vetiver when I was 25 and have been using it ever since. Nowadays the price has gotten so ridiculous I can no longer justify purchasing it. I've tried some "similar" ones such as Terre d'Hermes but nothing is quite like it.

Where is a brother to look?

I posted in the daily discussion thread yesterday but didn't get much traction.

Background

The only scent I've ever truly fallen in love with, Havana Blues by &Other Stories, has been discontinued for a while now. I want to be more serious about finding a replacement because I haven't worn a fragrance regularly since. I know very little about perfume in general and am not yet familiar with the specific language you all use to describe scents, so please bear with me.

Here is the Fragrantica profile for reference. If you don't want to click:
Accords listed are woody, fruity, sweet, white floral, citrus, tobacco, patchouli, in that order.
Notes are black pomegranate, lemon, fig, jasmine, tobacco, cedarwood, patchouli.

I know I like unisex scents that are on the slightly heavier, tobacco-y side. What I loved about Havana Blues was the fact that it was somehow light and heavy together-- nice fig and citrus smell combined with the cedarwood and tobacco (and the price was also great, lol). I got so many compliments whenever I wore it. I love figgy smells and that is what drew me to HB in the first place.

The only perfume that I've ever tried that came close (but I don't love like I loved HB) is Thé Noir by Le Labo. I think the tea tannin scent/feel comes from the tobacco, and it also has a lightly sweet quality from the fig. On me though Thé Noir doesn't have the additional freshness that I liked.
To summarize: I think fig and something woody, like tobacco, are what I am looking for, paired with a little bit of citrus to counterbalance.

What I've tried

When I enter HB and Thé Noir into the perfume finder on Fragrantica, I get Le Labo's Thé Matcha as the first recommendation. I have never smelled it so I will try that soon. When I filter for tobacco scent options, I get Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille, but I have smelled that and found it too heavy and sweet.
I found this post about fig scents and based on that and some searches on this sub and Fragrantica I started to make a list for myself of scents to try.

The list:
- Un Jardin en Méditerranée - Hermes
- Super Cedar - Byredo
- Philosykos - Diptyque
- Thé Matcha - Le Labo
- Caligna - L’Artisan Parfumeur
- Aventus - Creed
- Fico di Amalfi - Acqua di Parma

I had time yesterday and went to my local Diptyque store to try Philosykos. The realistic fig tree/leaf smell blew me away-- I really enjoy this scent. What it seems to lack for me is the undertone of tobacco, a slightly sharp hint. I've not yet tried it on my skin though.

My question

What would you recommend I add to or remove from my list of fragrances to try?

I've only been interested in fragrances for around 1 year and only have a very small collection of Tom Ford fragrances as until recently it was one of the only houses i knew.

However over the last few months I've been doing a lot more research into other fragrances that i want to look into. I often prefer (but not exclusively) fresh, citrus, masculine scents and one brand that consistently kept coming up was Louis Vuitton.

Well yesterday I went into the store for the first time and i hate to sound like everyone who ever came before me... but wow, i was blown away.

I went into the store with my mind set on trying a fairly large number of the fragrances:

Imagination
L'Immensite
Pacific Chill
LV Lovers
Orage
Afternoon Swim
Meteore
Sur La Route
Ombre Nomade

I thought to myself, surely I'll like maybe 2-3 of the fragrances and the rest will be mid.

Well first I started with Ombre Nomade and i felt i was off to a bad start. I was not a fan of the scent at all, I could only describe the scent as oil/gasoline with some leftover old food. I immediately discarded the idea of adding that to my collection.

Next I moved onto the freshies, Imagination first. Wow, I understand the hype, clean, soapy, citrusy, tea, it smelled like you've just taken a shower at the Ritz

Then L'Immensite, even better, I could only describe it as a "wealthy man smell" my fiancé also immediately fell in love with this fragrance

Meteore, also a heavy hitter, somewhat similar to Imagination with a little more citrus than soapy, also incredible

Orage was next, I don't know what it was with this one, but I really enjoyed Orage, fresh and earthy. I was starting to feel like "surely I won't enjoy all of these?"

Sur La Route, Another blast of elegant citrus, somewhat of a mix of L'Immensite and Orage for me, but most importantly, incredible

LV Lovers was after, this was finally a fragrance that i wasn't too keen on. It smelled a little too florally for my liking, honestly still a 6.5/10 for me, but compared to everything i smelled so far, it was in a much lower league.

The two more fruity, summery fragrance were next, Afternoon Swim, and Pacific Chill. I had heard that these both had "photo-realistic scents" of certain fruits, and i was thinking to myself that i didn't exactly want to smell like a fruit bowl so i wasn't so sure.

Well i tried them both, Afternoon swim hit me with oranges, but the middle and base notes (I am not sure what they were) gave it a lingering scent that i really enjoyed.

Pacific Chill gave me an initial scent of watermelon, but very soft and with some elegance. Like i'm eating watermelon but on the side is a glass of champagne

After trying all of these fragrances and thinking to myself that my wishlist had just gotten a lot more expensive, i thought i'd also try two that i had not considered, California Dream and City Of Stars. Once again i tried them and thoroughly enjoyed them both.

At the end of this trip I now understand the hype of LV fragrances. They have SO MANY fantastic scents and i was blown away by just how incredible all their options are.

For my next payday, I'll be treating myself to either Imagination or l'Immensite or i'll get distracted and purchase one of the others i adored.

TLDR: Tried LV Fragrances for the first time feeling skeptical, left the store understanding that the hype is well and truly justified