...My gosh! I don't think I would like it after that; it must have been overwhelming.I love Aromatics Elixir but it's this sour developing to Marmite that has gone wrong with the 2016.They are always tweaking it hence I wondered what this year's was like.One year they put in tree moss which irritated my skin (the one and only reaction I have had to this perfume). I've tried a couple of other modern formulas (can't remember which ones off hand) that end up smelling of Marmite on me. I don't know what it is but maybe one of the artificial animalics they are using at the moment.I'm still waiting for them to bring back the candle (lovely) and the tablet soaps (love perfumed soap).

...Has anyone tried the latest rendition of Aromatics Elixir?I have two batches. One is April 2016 and the other is either July 2009 or July 1999 (they reuse codes every 10 years).The older one is lovely. The newer one is nice but has a sour note that lasts forever and my skin ends up smelling a bit savoury, like Marmite.Has anyone tried the latest batch. I've not quite given up on having Aromatics Elixir in my life but the 2016 one is not good.

...I have a couple of travel sprays that were used in error by a perfume shop to send me my samples.I am trying to clean one of them to reuse but cannot wash the perfume out (a niche, artificial type of scent). I have washed thoroughly and soaked in 99% alcohol and it smelt clean enough but on use, with a decant of Aromatics Elixir, those artificial notes from the old sample are clearly coming through.Is there anything I can do to assist with the washing? Does the perfume eat into the plastic tubing/pump and so no chance or do I need to use a different solvent to the alcohol?Of course if I had bought a travel spray just to use for my favourite perfume I wouldn't have noticed the problem so maybe they aren't really designed for swapping scents. Any experience of this?

...I wore Old Spice today and would like something with a similar feel.Why not just wear Old Spice? Well my son wears Old Spice (and it does smell better on him than it does on me) and I don't want him thinking he is going around smelling like his old mum.Any suggestions? It smells like a sweet, soapy carnation with a very gentle balsam/vanilla in the dry down.So I am looking for soft, clean and soapy, bit of spice.

...I can't see why Mon parfum Cheri par Camille was discontinued. It was and is popular. And Annick Goutal is a bit niche anyway but maybe they wanted to go more mainstream. Don't know but I was disappointed as I had chosen it to be my signature scent, my posh scent for special occasions.

...Actually I hardly ever smell people with too much perfume, excepting the powerful smell of washing powders and soft rinses. So I think a lot of whether something is too much is also what a person is used to smelling. Like my neighbour with hair spray that I thought was strong perfume.

...Depends entirely on the perfume.My Fracas I only spray about half a spray (it's got a good controllable spray head). I think it is the strongest perfume I own.My Aromatics Elixir one from the old bottle and two from the new (which I only wear around the house as it turns to Marmite on my skin - why?).My latest acquisition, Vol de Nuit edt, I can spray with gay abandon as it has (I am reliably told) zero projection on me which ties in with my experience of it of only being able to smell it if I stick my nose up close or if I am getting a bit hot under the collar.I complimented my neighbour the other day on her perfume (which was really very nice) as it was quite noticeable standing three feet from her in the street. Imagine my embarrassment when she said she didn't have any on and it must be her hairspray or soap. Oops.

...What is happening with the Vero Profumo brand?My perfume shop said that shortly before her death, Vero Kern had sold off the rights and that the company that bought them were not producing the perfumes so they (the perfume shop) couldn't get a hold of any.Does anyone know who bought the rights to manufacture Vero Kern's perfumes and what is happening to them?

...I notice that the note list for En Avion is very sparse but in accordance with the Caron website which lists Neroli and orange, Jasmine and lilac, Opoponox and amber.Not at all like the bottle I had which was a carnation, leather, oily, powder.Have they reformulated? I am thinking if they have reformulated by toning down the harsh rendition of carnation that it might be more like the original and I might like to try it again (because I did like it except for the carnation which didn't work on my skin and screamed Zoflora at me).

...How do I find out where an original note list came from.E.g. Rubj by Vero Profumo has a note list which is in accordance with how I smell the scent. Another site has a substantially different list which is quite out of step with what I smell.Where did the Rubj Extrait perfume note list come from. It isn't listed on the Vero Profumo site.

...Many congratulations. I can't believe a year has passed.So far I am pleased with the two recent blind purchases I made of Amber Oud and Romance oils by Rasasi.The slightly warmer weather means I can pull out the oils and get them into rotation. I guess if I had central heating I could wear them in the winter but I don't and find they just sit there in a lump on my arm in the cold.

...I would like to see your reviews. So, if I were you I would write them. Ha ha.I think it would be helpful. If I found the same problem with one of the perfumes then I would know to splash my cash on some other samples.There are a few artificials that play havoc with my nose. Fantasy raspberry notes, grapefruit, some of the musks, all overpower so I can't smell anything else.I know if anyone had the same experience with Teint de Neige as I do (the most astonishingly powdery, musky, sucker punching bombshell I have ever smelt) then if they also had that same experience with another perfume it would be very useful to me so that I could go smell something else. After all, I am not particularly looking for a new purchase (but one never knows) but am in it for the experience.

...It looked a lot like that except that underneath each brand name all the perfumes they had in stock were listed as links so one could instantly see what was available.They replied to my e-mail and said they had added more filters so now to see what is in stock you have to click on the brand link one at a time. I think it is a change for the worse.

...I use the AllBeauty website a lot.They used to have, recently, a full listing of the perfumes by brand under the Women/Perfume menu. This took you to a page where all the perfumes were listed underneath each brand, in alphabetical order by brand. There was a ribbon menu so that you could go directing to the letter. You could see at a glace all perfumes in stock.This has gone (again). What do you think of this? I have just e-mailed a complaint. When they made this change previously they got a lot of complaints and brought this facility back.

...Ha! I had seen it. Cherry in the notes. I haven't smelt any of the Aromatics Flankers. This is exclusive to Harrods.

...I very much enjoyed reading your experience with these perfumes.I think I would like to visit the perfume extravaganza of Roja Dove at Harrods and further know that it is a jolly good job I am unable to do so what with having fallen on straitened times and the tendency of Mr. Credit Card to lead me into a false sense of security.I tried Shalimar in my local department store a few years ago and am sorry to say that I could barely smell anything such was the fog of scent in the air (Christmas Rush - a crowded perfume counter in a department store is likely the worst place to try out a good qaulity perfume - Truth or Dare smelt somewat tame!) When I have cleared the decks I will add shalimar back onto my list of perfumes to buy samples of.

...I was browsing 'bargain buy perfumes' on Amazon uk and noticed that a company called Prism Parfums has relaunched Lutece, Raffinee, Vanilla Fields, Moon Drops, and Gemineese.Has anybody tried them?Does anyone know anything about this company?I am tempted to try one of them just to see what it is like (same price point as Tabu is currently).

...Fhaldara, although I didn't know your mother I am saddened by her sudden demise for the loss you are experiencing. Please accept my condolences.All in all I have been left uninspired by the perfumes I have sampled this year (purchased decants or manufacturer's carded samples) and put through their paces.Most have been high end or niche and all have been underwhelming to such an extent that I can't bring myself to write a review for most of them.I am finding that modern formulas are smelling artificial to me and many make me feel unwell which I think is down to some of the artificial musks. And linear, so very linear in performance.My biggest disappointment has to be the reformulation of Aromatics Elixir which brings me out in an angry red rash and has a lemony top that I find out of place to say nothing of the general thinness or lack of depth to the scent (compared, of course, to my bottle from around 20 years ago which is absolutely intact and dry in smell - fruity top, no thanks).My biggest success has to be 3ml rollerballs from Ajmal, in particular Himalayan Rose - lovely and sweet, a little Indian rose josstick vibe about it, and 1001 Nights which I went on to buy a full bottle of. I am planning on using up my perfumes this year (or at least drawing right down on them) and hiding at the back of the cupboard those that I don't like to wear but don't like to throw out as they act as reference points for me.My biggest surprise was the reformulation of Dior Poison which I found shocking. All I can say here is that any who loved the original must be feeling as disappointed as I do over the loss of Magie Noir.I am not sure I know where to try next as I am definitely over sensitive to some of the modern aroma chemicals. What is that minty but not mint running through Madonna Truth or Dare Naked, making it smell so cold? What is that odd fruityness that can't be identified that is found in many perfumes? What is that woodyness that is very present, makes me feel unwell, and yet I can't really smell it - dreadful, feels like drifting into and out of consciousness. And what is it in some of these modern perfumes that makes them so difficult to wash off the skin (some surviving several days and showers) and so difficult to wash out of man made fibres? I have never had essential oils that won't wash off or out. Some perfumes I tested stuck to the skin so hard that I couldn't test another perfume on that patch for days!Reading back through this post it all sounds rather negative and I think that reflects how I feel at the moment - flat.There are some perfumes I really like that I would still like to test the newest formula (Phul Nana, Nuit de Noel, Caleche, Amazone, Magie Noir) just in case the manufacturer's pulled something out of the hat so that I could bring a long lost love back into my life.Otherwise I think I can see myself not testing anything for at least a year.

...Prompted by your post I went through my perfumes and found that the only one I (apparently) have tried with a dominent lavender note is Tova Signature so I went ahead and tried it again and jotted down my experience of it in a short review.I haven't shied away from lavender and indeed am always partial to a drop of lavender essential oil in my aromatherapy mixes; I use lavender, rosemary, ginger, and frankincense as a rheumatic mix for my poor aching thumbs (I find it takes a little sting out of them and has the added bonus that it smells lovely).Lavender to me is very wearable; a grandmother of mine only ever wore a drop of lavender water on a hadkerchief which she kept in her 'going out' handbag so I associate it with exciting days of visiting family out in the country (so exciting for a towny like me, to see wide open spaces, lovely old cottages, horses, the smell of dried hay, vegetables picked fresh, and my dear, darling, Victorian/Edwardian relatives).I grow and dry my own lavender some of which I use to make lavender bottles (pick very long stems whilst the stems are still soft, fold a few inches below the flowerheads so as to form a cage of stems around the flowers and tie them together so there is a cage of flowers and some stems below them; hang them up to dry and then use in dry flower arrangements or between winter bedding in store).I have several lavender essential oils from the sweet French lavender (lavendula augustifolia) to the more resinous Spike lavender (lavendula latifolia) and several English lavender species growing in the garden.Recently I made some very successful cold process soap which I scented with a mix of peppermint, lavender, and rosemary. It is a peppermint dominent smell but the lavender and rosemary make it more gentle, almost creamy. Yardley used to made thyme & lavender, and rosemary & lavender soaps - they imparted a nice delicate fragrance that was suitable for office wear. I certainly appreciate having a nice scented tablet soap in the shower.Of perfumes with a dominent lavender note I think Sarah Jessica Parker's Covet looks interesting; plenty of bottles still sloshing around so maybe one day I will.I haven't tried any of those mentioned by Tar but I think Blenheim Bouquet is one to sample. Of those mentioned by Briarthorn I do have Blue Grass which isn't working for me at the moment (perhaps the perfume has turned). I very much like the older versions of Youth Dew although I haven't tried the most up to date as I was put off by the version from a couple of years ago which was, for me and mum, one reformulation too many.So I haven't got any recommendations as I haven't tried enough lavender dominent scents but I hope to see lots of recommendations from others on this site.

...ok. It might be that I got mixed up with Opium in Red Rouge Fatal (limited edition bottling I think rather than a new perfume) and then dreamt it.How many flankers does that make? 28? 29? 30?