...Hayven wrote:All words are valuable here, Madkat. I write about perfumes I don't think the majority of people like here. But someday there will be people who do, and we'll be pioneers!Very true, and I find especially reviews on "minor" ones valuable :) (which don't have a perceived number of 3000 reviews - often by the same person under different names, not on Parfumo but elsewhere- paraphrasing the same content)At least the reviews here come from an honestly felt wish to express one's thoughts, not based on 'incentives' like weekly freebies, as another website has been doing so for some time... Conveniently enough, they don't care about authentic identities--so, posting under someone else's name without disclosing is absolutely legit there, as long as it only adds to the quantity.Curiously, out of all the languages the website offers, it's only the German site that is hosting this weekly prize...seems to work out well, even 'motivating' a few German members here to relocate their reviewing activities :wink: I am glad Parfumo does not reward quantity over everything else--thus, we may well be spared of all those countless sockpuppets who are under protection elsewhere.

...Read it rather late, but I am wondering if Guerlain ever decided to launch Ylang-Vanille, at least, under a different name, no matter the price? Perhaps in one of their super-expensive special limited editions?Admittedly, it was my first self-chosen love at first sniff among the Guerlain perfumes and in general, discovered at the airport Duty Free, must've been 2000 or 2001. Thanks to the article, now I understand why my bottle looks different than the "2nd" edition circulating on auctions sites. Still remains one of my top 5 favourites so far. The next time at DF, it was Rosa Magnifica (although I wasn't a rose fan back then). and the following year, Lilia Bella hoping for an affordable Diorissiomo-substitute (it was not, unneccesary to mention...) And then, must have been after 2005 according to the article, I wanted to buy another bottle of Ylang-Vanille, my first back up ever of a fragrance, without having used up the first bottle yet, and the SA told me it was taken out! A pity, she agreed, because she liked it a lot, too. I never knew about the one-time relaunch.On another perfume site, for a long time, I was the only one mentioning my love for Ylang-Vanille on the boards at every occasion and having it listed as my favourite, also saying that if I had to choose 3 perfumes to take to an island, YV would count among them for sure! Judging from the predominance of rather non-enthusiastic reviews and lack of appreciation on that other website back then, I never imagined it having had such a strong fan base.Well, after my time on that other perfume site, I saw that suddenly several members started to mention it as their favourite from the AA/vanilla yellow floral and praising and hyping it... why did they remain silent all the while I was mentioning it in the threads, or only talked down on it saying "It smells similar to XYZ, but XYZ smells much better", I wonder.I tried Lys Soleia because of some people's likening it to Ylang-Vanille, but this caused one of my largest disappointments in fragrances ever. Honestly I can't see any remote similarity or connection at all between these two. I'd rather see YV relaunched (for the third time) than LS, or a few of other endlessly flankering Guerlain fragrances.

...Better late than never, I woud like to say hello here, after having left my scribbles on the home page several times, hopefully not itching anyone's eyes with those!Before deciding to register on parfumo.com, I had been looking up both German and English parfumo reviews for some time, at first for deciding about blind purchases, later on just for the sake of reading about perfumes - because I discovered it was fun! For me, reading comments on perfumes is a little similar to reading the musical score without actually listening to the piece rendered, and both the known and unknown is a pleasure, either you are following what you have experienced, or your phantasy gets stirred by images.When I registered, it was not about writing reviews myself or build a wardrobe here, but I just felt I needed to show my thanks and appreciation to all the wonderful people here whose comments I really found helpful and often also very enjoyable, if only by means of awarding and rating them as helpful. And I am continuing to do so, even if the reviews are from years ago and the activity of the reviewer has ceased. So, while the art of a perfume is often shorter than a life, its influences and inspirations will hopefully remain longer. My 'fragrance experience' is nothing worth mentioning, so there only remains to add that in real life, I am a very taciturn person generally happier to listen than do the talking, except for when needed. Finding words comes very hard to me, and the overall high quality of the reviews here has kept me from trying myself. Nevertheless, I have started a bit to write about fragrances I have got to know, especially on those that have not received many comments yet, or where I feel the fragrance apparently has received only comments that are not mentioning all sides of it, sometimes caused by a system based on a 'democratically' obtained censorship (not on Parfumo, but elsewhere.)I hope to be able to contribute a little, in this way.Thanks for reading :)PS. By the way, I really feel awkward that, when I post a new blog article, it is being displayed on the homepage like in a show case for an eternity, until another entry rarely replaces the position! This keeps me from writing blog articles more often.

...Just discovered this thread, very helpful! Would be nice as a sticky :wink:

...J Lopez Still + Yardley English RoseImages: One of my oldest beloved and most inspiring picture books. Childhood memories...!@Don: Cardamom, Neroli & Tuberose sounds a nice combination!

...Looks like that was it. No need to even be bothered further, since I discovered it was much the same 6 years ago. The same issue(s) mentioned by me were already reported by several users in 2011 here:https://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/fragranticacom-c403297.html#commentsFalse reviews by false accounts, sockpuppets and snarky, insulting manner of 'admin' (website owner) seem to have not changed much in the 6 years.Quotes of the comments by different users from 2011-2015:"I have been on the site for many years and never had any problems until I began to visit the forums. (...) The main admin is extremely rude. He addresses people as though they were his slaves simply because they are users on the site. Anything that is a true opinion, on perfumes or the site itself, will get deleted. The other users constantly kiss butt and assert that they always follow the rules without questioning.(...)""(...) And they do not respond to complaints on legal issues. Also, they tend to threat a lot and they mock and insult users. Yes, that's the situation there. Now, about the users(...) lick a lot of admin ### to stay on that forum, and desperately search and ask for guidelines for everything (...) And yes, there are people with multiple acounts, also a lot of people who display perfume collections they don't have in reality and/or write reviews on perfumes they never actually smelt !!!""Bad Admins - Lots of Sockpuppets - Started out nice and friendly but it has become infested with a lot of confusing processes and people wanting only to win Free Perfume. Most importantly, the website has amateur Administrators who are careless about how they speak to their members (...) Cannot recommend this site if you are a serious Perfume person as they have load of sock puppets and having multiple accounts is quite easily done."These cover my experiences there. And these comments are not by me. Had I seen these posts first, I wouldn't have stayed so long, nor offer my contributions to that website. Neither would I have expected nor wasted my time and energy to see things corrected.Really sorry for all the other few members who sincerely believed in something that never existed to begin with, and wasted their efforts and had been deeply concerned as well, for something that wasn't worth it all.

...4711 White Peach & Coriander

...Thanks for the link, ScentFan, I had read part of the website as well, but will be doing more of it in an attempt to grasp the concept!

...In order to keep it still pleasant here, I will only note that as of mid June, I am counting at least 12 multiple accounts of the one and same person posting "reviews" on Fragrantica.Since the appearance of the first fictive reviewers in early 2016, the writer had not only omitted to disclose that these characters are mere make-beliefs, but also disregarded replying to the numerous inquiries after this one-man-show had been blown up by a handful of community members.This person was also chosen for three of the Fragrantica Editor's Awards 2016, based on the fact that the editors, like the majority of the community until today, are not aware of these three "reviewers" in reality being a product of a single person.The website's owner had already been informed of this in January '17 but wished to refrain from taking any action, contrary to his initial promises to 'investigate' the matter. Since then, at least 3 more accounts were created.While the writer is allegedly a fluent English speaker, some of the fictive characters share a foreign nationality and mimick strangely broken English, in an attempt to add more credibility to their fictive background.Above all, I find this rather offensive and condescending, to say the least, added to the plagiarism the writer is allowed to continue.These "reviews", as could be proven by the community members, are not based on the writer's own actual experience of testing a fragrance, but on the reviews of other people, as well as the writer's phantasizing over the (Fragrantica) pyramid and description. Aiming for the largest common denominator as to get most readers' consent, the "reviews" show signs of self-contradiction and generalisation.Needless to say that, as such, they completely lack in authenticity and credibility and remain questionable in their quality as reliable "reviews".

...ScentFan:(...) sourced from indigenous harvesters of rare plants around the world, thereby preserving both people and plants.(...)At this point I can say that exploring NadiaZ perfumes is a worthwhile challenge, especially since some of her ingredients may never be available again.I hope you wouldn't mind me 'cropping' your post, ScentFan, if you do, I apologise! It seems to be an interesting experience indeed, and I was glad to read your thoughts both on these fragrances as well as the concept and the actual process of ordering these, also because detailed feedback seem difficult to be found.One thing that made me wonder, however, is the point I have quoted from you; as far as I could understand, part of the concept is to provide an almost 'mystical' olfactory experience to each human, but I could not fathom in what way harvesting and using rare ingredients should lead to preserving them at the same time, especially if they are of extinct nature, except for raising the demand for those via commercialising and keeping these 'cultivated' by larger sponsors. At any rate, thank you a lot for sharing your valuable experience! :-)

...Gres Cabotine Floralisme

...Cab. Floralisme+Yardley English Rose

...4711 White Peach & Coriander

...Your excitement as well as the sensations of each scent was not only palpable but contagious, and I also loved to read (feel) the sincere enthusiasm :-) Thank you about Cabotine, it is also my 'signature' if I ever had one!

...Oh dear, you make me want to sell my china and grand piano too (kidding! Especially the latter part!)You make each of them sound gorgeous, what an agony of having tasted (in this case, second-hand via your great description) something I can't obtain. My 'fashion' sense was never developed enough to appreciate the LV design, but I am sure their perfumes would appeal by far stronger to me.Thank you for the wonderful read of the lineup in a nutshell, ScentFan!

...That's a very kind offer, Briarthorn, thank you. I hadn't dared to do any requests so far, since I wouldn't be good/knowledgeable enough to fully appreciate your reviews. There are so many to choose from on your decant list...I'm looking forward to the 2 on your "next to review list", but I'd also be glad to hear your opinion on any of, for instance, Shalimar PI L'Eau, Calligraphy Rose, Arthes Love Generation Rock, Lutens Gris Clair, L'Erborario Dolcelisir, Arden Splendor, Laura Ashley No.1 - if it is the vintage, have you also, by chance, tested the newer version? Can't get even the reformulated version here in Germany any more, sadly, should've grabbed a bottle as along as it was available online, but the overall very negative feedback (apparently also based on some misunderstanding of the note "marshmallow" as the confectionary, not the plant) held me back. Too bad I can't send you the Silences Purple, it's on my swap/selling list.

...Corinne Cobson Eau de Cobson Orange Bergamote Eau fraîche

...Hey Don,Thanks for your reassurance and your welcome :) I much prefer the "secluded monastry library on the rocks" as I see parfumo.com (like the one Gandalf rides to in The Fellowship of the Ring) to something lacking in quality control, compensating it with glamour and buzz.

...Thank you for your kind words, Briarthorn. Just caught 2 more new accounts with faked identities popping up and posting there their "reviews", one even attempting at using broken English as part of her "background setting". The accounts and the "personalities" all belong to the one and same person who is playing some kind of "My own Kingdom of phantasy subjects in my head" on Facebook, a wannabe-writer practising her writing skills and playing out her imagination at heart's content on Fragrantica, with Fragrantica's quiet or explicit consent, enriching that website on a daily basis with multiple long, fabricated, largely misleading reviews by at least 11 different personae. I suppose the official version of this whole farce is, that this prominent member whom Fragrantica in the past had awarded thrice for her reviews (for each 3 different personae) has "tugged" all her "friends" from Facebook to Fragrantica to start reviewing. I just hope we won't have that "clan" coming over here and start telling phantastical stories as well.

...am: Tendre Jasmin+Cab. Rose+Stillpm: YRocher Rose Fraiche