...I'd like to organize a group of DIY perfume makers to meet periodically in NYC for sharing knowledge and critiquing each other's work.Anyone interested? Also, anyone know if something like this has existed in the past and if so, how to get in touch with those folks?Feel free to answer in the thread or via PM.Thanks!

...I'm also a bit skeptical, but for different reasons. I rather appreciate some democratization of the market, but I do wonder about how the incentives to produce quality scents are influenced by the minimization of overhead/startup costs. On the other hand, these imagined incentives don't seem to work particularly well on established firms, so perhaps the point is moot.Even more than that, though, I really prefer to smell a fragrance first in a bricks-and-mortar shop, then to try a sample at my leisure, and finally to consider whether or not I am interested in some sort of purchase. Etsy and the like don't seem to provide a platform for that kind of exposure.And while I've only sampled a few scents from BPAL and maybe just one from Alkemia, I found them all repulsive, unfortunately. If I'm being honest, that might be the main source of my skepticism.I think the naturals issue is completely separate. I won a giveaway once from Roxana Illuminated, and the scent was fantastic. I got a Phoenix Botanicals mini from a perfume buddy and found it very lovely. I think the BPAL and Alkemia scents I tried were so awful precisely because of the poorly-judged use of overpowering aromachemicals. Mind you, I tend to dislike smells that feel obviously synthetic to me, and I tend to enjoy naturals, so this is also a matter of taste. But I do think that it must be easier to produce something bad when using synthetics. The couple dozen aromachems that I have smelled are really terrible on their own. The couple dozen natural extracts that I have smelled are all quite wonderful on their own. I understand that once the materials are blended together, the properties of the blend are different from those of its constituents, but still, it stands to reason that starting out with good-smelling ingredients should make it easier to produce a good-smelling mixture, doesn't it?

...so I say not sweet, regardless of who is wearing the powerhouse.I do like a powerhouse in the right circumstances. I like the sweet stuff softer and more elusive.Great question!

...Yes, the beads are brilliant. And great pix! Thank you both for great ideas.

...I can't say I actually smell the cherries, so this may not be what you're looking for at all. But I find it a wonderful musk.

...I tried the Alpine one recently. I don't know. It smelled a lot like fir needle oil. I love that smell, but I was hoping for more. I was just wearing it, with some awareness, but not constantly sniffing to see what was going on. And worn that way (the normal way to wear perfume, I think), it just didn't do anything. It was a nice coniferous scent for a short time, and then it was gone.

...Tresor is all about peach, for me.Ditto for Micallef Rouge No. 1, but expensive!

...'Barrier' doesn't necessarily sound so good for the skin...

...Perhaps Sisley Eau de Campagne. Perks me right up!

...Great examples! I will start looking for these correspondences now.

...I absolutely love this scent. It's what I wish L'Heure Bleue would smell like. But it is so insanely expensive!

...I think Sideris is miles ahead of the other three mentioned so far. It's surprising, but familiarly churchy, and still beautiful. I don't know PoaL or Paestum Rose very well, but they never hit me very hard from the counter. Incense Rose is completely different and very very Tauer. Personally I can't tolerate that loud Tauer base, but he has plenty of devotees.