...+1 to Thierry Mugler.

...Sweetgrass! It's good to have you here. Enjoy the fragrance journey...

...Lah2o:Hello everybody!I'm a student (about to graduate this spring) from Finland and alongside my studies I do some software / application development.I became more interested in perfumes in August 2012 when I started searching for a new bottle of perfume after I had used up one that was gifted to me. At that time I realized there're so many choices that there's no way I could limit myself to just one perfume.Other things I really enjoy are nail polish, video games and cats.Hello from another Finnish user! I've been on Parfumo for a few months but I haven't really introduced myself yet. I'm 28, university student slash bench jeweller, and fan of cute dogs and hot men. I started on the perfume trail in September 2013 and have been sampling and sniffing voraciously ever since. It will take a while before I calm down :P I occasionally write a perfume blog in Finnish, and update frequently here on Parfumo. I'm really glad to be a part of this community!

...Sampling "Hannele", a rarity in that it is made for and sold by a Finnish brand.

...There's a lot of juice, both good and bad, being pumped and marketed in the names of various celebrities, now more than ever. I have already talked about my love for all things Rihanna and my obsession with "Rogue", and now I have my eyes on Beyoncé's "Rise" while I wait for my first Elizabeth Taylor scent ("Passion") to be shipped.What are you favourites, and would you recommend any? Why? Let's talk about the good ones, now, we can bash the bad stuff in other threads ;)

...Yes, I am, and it's a very recently acquired habit. One of my aunts was visiting over Christmas and she actually laughed out loud at my perfume shelf in the bathroom -- little does she know I have since moved half of it to my bedroom and even packed away some frags I don't use frequently. :D My collection is very small compared to some, but in my family it is immense. :) I'm not sure if I have anybody to pass the perfume bug on to at the moment, but if I ever have daughters they will get to play with sample sizes and maybe some bottles too.

...I find a great deal of news media and entertainment boring and irrelevant. Which is why I mostly read perfume blogs and fora ;)I'm functionally multilingual, altho this is probably only news to online acquaintances.Perfume and other little things I do to pamper myself are important for my mental health.

...Apparently I have been on shopping spree in order to exhaust my entire 2014 perfume budget by April :roll: This week's haul:full bottles:- "Bvlgari Black"- "10 La Roue de La Fortune"a set of five minis:- YSL "Opium"- Cacharel "Noa"- Elizabeth Taylor "Passion"- "Fendi"- "Laura Biagiotti"and a set of samples:- Chanel "Bois des Îles", "Sycomore"- Caron "Tabac Blond"Hope this will keep me busy for a while... In my defense both full bottles were 2nd hand and dirt cheap.

...Sweetgrass:Noooo why so cute :D :D...

...Most of them look like children's toys (as is appropriate lol) but I would buy Maleficent in a heartbeat. For the bottle.

...Thank you all for your recommendations, and please keep them coming! :D I have been meaning to test "Noa", but now I have to :)I thought I'd add for the benefit of others looking for coffee that Montale's "Intense Cafe" has a prominent coffee note indeed, but for me it is drowned out by the rose which I found screechy and nasty in the drydown. If you love rose, try it. If you hate rose, well, sample first.

..."Féerie" on the back of my hand. I need the sweet soothing floral right now.

...I didn't get the job I applied for, BUT this means I have more time to write my first children's book and work on my other art. Financially it is a huge setback but I know I will be happier for it. :)

...I haven't got a physical shop/outlet to shop for perfumes, so most of it happens over the Internet. I hunt for samples from eBay, manufacturers' websites and sometimes I get or swap them from/with other perfumistas. I have gotten so many freebies from swapping/purchasing with other perfumistas that I think that has already had an effect on my tastes. Finland is very much a distant province when it comes to perfume advertising, and the perfumes currently advertised here I have sampled long ago.But what makes me hunt for samples/decants of specific perfumes is more pertinent to the topic and it's a complex process, involving at least one of the following variables:~Classic~ status, whether it's a world-famous icon such as "Shalimar" (which I still haven't smelled btw! the horror!) or "N°5", or any other perfume often referenced by other perfumistas, reviewers and aficionados.Other perfumistas. Call it herd mentality or whatever you want, my tastes have recently been most influenced by all of YOU! And I find this entirely positive since I have found out about perfumes and brands I never would have heard of otherwise. Online interactions with other perfume lovers are a hugely important influence on me.Brand. I am definitely susceptible to brand influence and have tried most of my Chanels because of this. I sought out "Coromandel" for the former reason rather than this, but the brand was still a factor.Nostalgy. This doesn't happen often with me since most of my childhood and youth was unfragranced, but YR perfumes definitely hit my nostalgia button.Availability. I often make the choice not to seek out even a sample of perfumes that I couldn't get a full bottle of for a reasonable price without too much difficulty. I have little interest in rarities and vintages because of this, and I do not want to break my heart by finding a glorious perfume that I can never wear with reckless abandon.As for making the choice to commit to a full bottle, I will do it if after sampling I love the perfume enough to want to wear it and I have the money to spare. I am still new enough to prefer sampling new things to full bottles, but I'm getting there ;)

...I never seem to know how much is enough, though I have only gotten complaints when I wore a single dab of "LouLou" in a car. I go by five sprays, usually: two somewhere in the general direction of my hair, one in the neck, and small ones on both my arms. I wouldn't dare with "Fracas" though :lol:

...Cryptic:Shemar Moore and his gorgeous smile:LMAO! Tonight is another Criminal Minds mini-marathon on TV, praise the gods!

...I am stealing that gif! :DD

...Sweetgrass:I've never been more sorry I asked tbh.I don't know. Didn't I clear up this whole controversy a couple of years ago? http://salondeparfum-sherapop...

...Sweetgrass:I've never been more sorry I asked tbh.I don't know. Didn't I clear up this whole controversy a couple of years ago? http://salondeparfum-sherapop...

...Aaahhh, thank you both, I love adding new perfumes to my sampling list :)