Weekly Scent Discussion #21: Your newest discovery

Recently I've been introduced to Byredo perfumes. I was blown away by not just the strength of them, (fills the room) but by the quality of these scents. I am lucky enough to have a friend who allows me to take decants from her bottles because I cannot afford to purchase these scents on my own. I haven't sniffed a scent from this house I don't at least like and many of these scents are very unique and interesting. Notably I enjoyed Pulp, Inflorescence, La Tulipe, Seven Veils, and Oliver Peoples among others.

What have you recently discovered?

I'm afraid I have, to date, been universally underwhelmed by the perfumes I have tried.

I started testing because I was looking for a new 'special event' perfume or 'signature scent' and so headed off to a couple of niche shops and began purchasing samples online.

Some of the perfumes I have tried have been very nice, most have been underwhelming, some have definitely been the perfumer's version of The Emporer's New Clothes, none have had that wow factor that would make me part with heavy cash although I would wear them if someone bought me any for Christmas.

So I think my newest discovery is that we had some absolutely blinding scents created in the 1920s through to the 1980s and I didn't appreciate how good they were until they were lost.

Gone but not forgotten
Caleche
Amazone
Tabu
Phul Nana
Dolce Vita
Aromatics Elixir
Magie Noir
Poison

Have hope DorothyGrace! I managed to pick up a few bottles of vintage Tabu on Ebay and Etsy for a really good price. Only one of the bottles I found from the 1980s had the top notes gone off. One bottle had the top notes flattened out a bit but the other bottles were pristine and the heart and drydown of all the bottles I found were perfect. With a bit of research you can find this lovely from the 1980s with out spending too much. Also, have you tried Kenzo Jungle. It has the same kinda vibe for me that my Tabu and Youth Dew have. It's not a smell alike in anyway but It's grouped with those scents in my mind and the current version isn't expensive but it's still a lovely powerhouse. Also the Current version of Habanita is completely lovely. Like Jungle It's filed in my powerhouse from the 1980s spot in my mind. It's not a exact replica of the 1980s Habanita but it's still definitely Habanita and really beautiful.

I think I am over sensitive to some of the modern aroma chemicals so the balance of some perfumes is off for me.

As an example, Teint de Neige is one of the most powerful, owerwhelming scents I have ever tried; there is not a dab small enough to reduce it to a strength of smell that is reasonable and it seems to gather pace as the hours pass. Nice smell but mind blowingly strong.

Habanita I wanted to love as the advertising blurb says it is made with the same 600 ingredients as the original, but to me it has a powerful sour medicinal wintergreen/Germoline smell that takes over completely. Onda has this note as well so that is all I can smell.

I haven't tried Kenzo Jungle; they don't carry that one in my local department store. Is it still made?

Testing, testing, one, two, three.

"Watch Collection - Time for Love" is a soft nice perfume.

You girls complained about scents which are overwhelmingly strong. I would add "Norell" to those which with the tiniest dab fill a whole room. Not my thing.

A perfume - for me - should just be a companion. Not a blazing advertisement, here she is. Or leave a trail, here she was. "Molinard de Molinard" also announces the person and leaves a crisp trail. Waft, sillage, or whatever.

That "whatever" ought to be soft, to be liked by yourself and the ones close around you.

So, among the recent and further back discoveries - of the discreet type - I would like to add "La Route d'Emeraude - 2012".

That's it. My one and a half scents [sic] to the discussion.

I picked up Jungle off of Fragrancenet for $40 I think.