...Scarletting:"Lovely" by SJP is the quintessential job interview perfume. It's the pinnacle of a clean, generic musk scent. I can't think it could offend anyone if it tried. Boring, sure... but what it does, it does well. "Truth or Dare Naked" is a rich, mature gourmand. Not sure why it has so many 0-20 votes though. While everyone is entitled to an opinion, in cases like the above it does make me wonder if some people login just to slate a brand they don't like. Also, "Instinct" by D&V Beckham is a great fragrance for the price. For $10 you just can't go wrong.There's a review of Davd Beckahm's Instinct on Basenotes about being a perfume snob that cracks me up. Big hearty chuckle

...Hi Franfran, I would love your take on Gwen Stefani's Lamb and Kate Moss's Vintage.

...I second Truth or Dare and Fancy Nights. I don't like Halle or Lovely. Today I followed a woman's sillage (she looked friendly) and I commented on her perfume. She said it was 'Charlie Blue' and that it was an old bottle that she kept cool and dark. Good God, it was lovely on her!We had a lovely interchange about perfumes, was great.

...My Mother worked as a housemaid in International Hotels. Quite often a house guest would consider the small amount left in a bottle as not worth packing and would leave it behind. Sometimes there would be a forgotten bottle and there was no way of reuniting it with the owner once they were in the air to another country. We live at the bottom of the world. My perfume collection began this way in the late sixties and I knew most mainstream French perfumes by the time I was a teenager; they ruined me for the drug store fumes such as Charlie, Intimate, etc. The perfume supply dwindled when my Mother went to work in Cinemas, not hotels. She is eighty seven now, still loves perfume. The early days made me a chypre sister, I never say never, but very sweet perfumes are not my bag, baby (Move over Austin Powers) I took them all for granted, gave them away to favorite girlfriends, had multiple bottles of Chanels, Femme, Fidji, Zen,Ma Griffe, Shocking, and many more from Rochas and Caron. I didn't discover Bal a Versailles until the late seventies. My Mum left my house the other day with my Ce Soir Ou Jamais, she loved it more than I do and I can't say no to her when we shared so much at the beginning.

...Dulcemio:Triffid:"Eau Dynamisante" from Clarins is an inexpensive classic that might fit the bill - I use it as a herbal pick-me-up fragrance and it contains a selection of what you desire: citrus, coriander, caraway, cardamom and rosemary. Woody/patchouli base but quite different to Aromatics Elixir.Ooh, yes, this one! I once owned a bottle of "Eau Dynamisante" and it was very nice, very herbal, and just as Triffid describes.I second Eau Dynamisante and wish to present for consideration 'Eau du Sud' by Annick Goutal. There is a freshness to 'Noa' that Tania Sanchez commented on as Cilantro (coriander) but I can't agree with her. It is very easy to live with though

...For me personally EL 'Beautiful' is the 80s. Did Vanderbilt come out in the 70s or the 80s?

...Noa by Cacharel has it, in the dry down, somewhere from between the bosom, or the heat of a chest, it does appear. I'm not imagining it, although I thought I was until other reviews confirmed it. Hmm, today should be a Noa day

...A cool change is forecast for Xmas Day. Here ,downunder, that is a chance for me to wear Mon Parfum Cheri par Camille. I adore stewed plums, the big Black Doris variety are so fragrant. And the scent of Xmas mince pies won't clash with MPC too much, not for long anyway

...Pipette:I don't know whether it is my particular skin, but the lasting power of "Nuit Andalouse" by MDCI Paris is practically nil. I keep on reapplying it and other than a sort of Grand Marnier liqueur orange waft, there is not much. Big failure considering such an expensive scent.But, "Le Rivage des Syrtes" by MDCI Paris has very good lasting power and a certain crispness, and so has the sweet and delicate "Vepres Siciliennes". All those scents come from a sample program which is very reasonable for a nice coffret with either 5 or 8 minis.Thanks Pipette, you are great at finding these lovely sample sets.

...Oh Sleuth, move to 221b Baker St. Bravo, some revealing threads there from Christine Nagel. Thanks muchly

...Tnahowru:Having recently joined you all I have been ordering and testing a different perfume sample every day. The only one so far with any lasting capability has been Portrait of a Lady. I was shocked that I could still smell it at least 24 hours later.POAL just happens to also smell better at the end of that time too. I had to keep smelling my wrist, I loved it so much.I think that Ambre Dore by MPG has a half life of plutonium. Very much a winter perfume it is too dense in summer. My next fume is Mon Parfum Cherie par Camille. The hesperidic scents of summer tend not to last more than an hour. Eau du Sud, Prada Infusion D'Oranger, Christalle, Tuscan Soul all take one look at a puffy white cloud and go to join it. I must get my hands on POAL.

...Triffid:Hermes is one house I want to investigate further. So far, I've not found one I dislike. There is actually a decent array of testers in one of my local department stores but usually by the time I've arrived at them, I've no available skin left. I have 24, Faubourg; Caleche and Jour d'Hermes are on the wish list; Voyage is on the "like - sample again" list and Terre d"Hermes was a winner but not preferred to Montale's Red Vetiver (which is similar but lasts a lot longer). I loved Kelly Caleche when I first tried it a few years ago but it has been bumped off the short list by stronger leather and rose fragrances sampled since.The Jardin and Merveilles series are the next to be sampled more attentively.looking over the list, I realise I've not tried any of Christine Nagel's compositions although there's certainly quite a portfolio there.I know I love Doblis. I haven't ever smelt it but I know I love it. I wear Apres La Mousson at the sound of the first Basmati rice grain falling from the jar. I love Kelly Caleche for the smell of the finest gardening gloves, the ones that Marie Antoinette wore, not the ones that we, my dear Triffid, wear in our endeavours. Rumour has it that Yardley's Citrus and Wood is a knock off for Terre D'Hermes. God bless the Union Jack. Jour d'Hermes didn't score with me but 24 Faubourg is magistral, or whatever the buzz word is of the moment.

...Sherapop:I just hope that the next step isn't capitulation to the forces that be at LVMH. Hermès need to retain an independent identity in order to continue on with integrity. LVMH has already ruined so many formerly beautiful perfumes... :roll:Hear Hear! I ran a poll with FB friends to find out what they liked and if they thought about what synthetic ingredients were in their perfumes. They know nothing! LOL, really. It's all marketing and mirrors.

...Sleuth:Which Nagel perfumes do you like or dislike? Personally I divide Hermès into "pre-Ellena" (the older ones above) and "Ellena". Eau des Merveilles is a bit of an exception, being modern but not by JC Ellena.I bought JCE's book, a year in the life of, and thoroughly enjoyed it. My husband is devoted to Terre D'Hermes. I love Kelly Caleche, Sur de Nil and APLM. Narcisso Rodriguez For Her is much loved by friends and I think it's a Christine Nagel co-creation. Where will they take us before Mr Ellena fades into the west?

...Triffid:Anosmia - so true, Dulcemio. I usually ask for a second opinion if I think a fragrance has disappeared and my husband does the same with me. Sometimes fragrances just settle quietly into a skin scent - fair enough - but some don't seem to have any fixatives at all and just evaporate away after a short time.Re anosmia: there was an article written on this and there's a link to it buried somewhere in a fragrance review. Apparently, fragrances with a high percentage of violet ionones can cause temporary anosmia by paralysing nasal receptors (or something like that). These are those fragrances that seem to come and go and come back again when you wear them (Bottega Veneta is one example) and often there will be dissention amongst reviewers about the longevity (doesn't last, lasts for ages etc). The clue is that others can usually smell the fragrance on you quite easily (at least until their noses are temporarily paralysed too).When I was a child you could buy penny bunches of violets. I would draw a long steady inhale thinking that violet was the world's most beautiful scent. I didn't know that ionone blocked the scent receptors and that would be the end of it. The flowers sat in a little glass of water as if cursed by a gypsy, withering quickly.

...Dalmajen:There are certain perfumes I wore years ago, and I can still smell them, in my memory. The fragrance will only come to my mind, when I am reminded of the perfume, or I have written about it. For example,I saw a picture of KL, a fragrance I wore a lot in the 80's, and straight away I could recall how it smelled. The same with Opium, and Estee Lauder Youth Dew...which I can recognize in an instant. Not all fragrances have the recall..but somehow, these ones are inbedded in my memory! :)Snap. I saw the Bijan bottle on the homepage and suddenly Black and then Nude came to me in memory. I always remember my Mother in law in a cloud of Je Reviens, the good stuff, I hasten to add.

...Scarletting:I made the mistake of trying out my bottle of Habanita EDP today. Between the warm weather and being a little trigger happy with a new fragrance I almost made myself sick with it. It's tricky... most perfumes fade very quickly on me. The ones that don't last so long they're almost nauseating.I owned a vintage Habanita until about 2006 when I used the remainder as a room spray before open homes at our houses. I,too, was overwhelmed by it.

...Tessa:Lately a great number of high end perfumes suffer from this "disappearance act". Reformulation? No one knows.Tauer, as mentionned, has a good longevity. Heeley perfumes, all of them, are great in this respect and I had a surprise with Dali by Dali and Origan by Coty, the vintage eau de toilette. You mention Dali which is wonderful I am led to believe. I haven't had the pleasure. I am lusting after an Explorer pack by Tauer (my birthday I hope)

...I am consumed by the thought of Heure Exquise and always looking for LIDGE at online dis counters.

...I took Cristalle and No 19 away with me, figuring that No 19 would take over from Cristalle in the evening. It did work out that way but I do wish that Cristalle lasted longer.