Perfume / Cologne

commodity milk is my new crush

My mom wore 4711 when I was growing up! I liked it but haven’t smelled it for ages so I can’t really describe it. Fresh and citrusy without smelling like any particular fruit. Unisex for sure. I wear Cartier EDC and it is somewhat similar iirc.

I have 4711, I spritz it liberally first thing, as an accompaniment to my coffee making. Eau de Cologne is meant to be a brief ride, not a long-lasting perfume. It smells of lemon and neroli, and there is a synthetic chemical in it I can’t identify but I once described to my bf as smelling “like a concave surface, like you’re smelling the shape of a red blood cell or a clean bathroom sink.”

As Eau de Colognes go, this is the best choice for daily usage as intended, that is, it’s good value for money. If you want this smell as a long-lasting perfume (why would you? but if you do) then try Tom Ford Neroli Portofino, which was specifically designed as “4711 as an Eau de Parfum” iirc. If you want a nicer but more expensive Eau de Cologne, there are (pricey) alternatives that I’ve smelled but cannot bring myself to splurge on; I saw a 200 mL vintage beehive bottle of my favourite Guerlain EDC Imperiale last week in a random shop, but at 280 Euro I passed.

Also it’s worth mentioning that 4711 makes amazing upholstery spray. I have an atomizer of it in my living room and spritz the couch before guests arrive and always get compliments

my mom used to have 4711! the only perfume or cologne i remember her ever using

I like Imperiale, and the non-vintage 100ml version is not expensive. Guerlain pretty much does everything right ime.

Anybody have an opinion on the defunct Minotaure by Paloma Picasso? I love it and cherish my one bottle of it but you have to get the original version which has more staying power and it evolves.

Imperiale (and Eau de Guerlain, and “Coq”) are all so pricey for what that liquid is supposed to do! My fave of them all is Chanel’s Eau De Cologne, but it’s just impossible to imagine spending that much money on something I use like a freshener

I do agree that Guerlain is generally the best :)

i got my brother dior eau sauvage for christmas. i couldn't think of anything else. it's sort of a steve mcqueen wore it, who are you to disagree type of thing. it's eternal.

Is Eau Sauvage different from the one that has Johnny Depp’s cunt face polluting duty free everywhere?

hell yes

eau sauvage is a well-balanced citrus aromatic from 1967 or whatever and sauvage is a recent lets just go overboard on ambroxan cause it's the vibe nowdays type of thing. no offense if anyone digs it.

it's like a cake that's mostly frosting. frosting is the best part, but if you have to eat a whole slice of that cake, you're sick of frosting after the first few bites. do you want a fragrance that wears that many bracelets and scarves and still has a goatee and is hanging out in the desert for no reason other than it looks cool.

Yeah I think they had Zidane advertise Eau Sauvage. I’m intrigued by your description but I’m not interested in buying from Dior probably ever again, so will have to live vicariously.

I’m not interested in buying from Dior probably ever again

Respect, and same.

My first big goal with taking perfuming classes is to recreate a few Roudnitska classics according to original recipes, including (especially) Eau Sauvage

A team-building Q: what’s your favourite note, at this point? The question was asked on Reddit and I had to think carefully.

For top notes I vote galbanum without second thought, it’s unfortunate to me that such a fierce opener is seen as “too astringent” or whatever for modern tastes

For heart note, I feel like it is cheating but it’s “birch tar”, as smelled in Cuir De Russie and Anubis. Eugenols (broadly) would be #1 except you don’t smell clove oil in contemporary fragrance

For base note I need to research what exact musk ingredient that my nose adores, but it is the musk I smell in vintage Equipage

I wish I could differentiate between the three types of notes. I'm still very much an "I know what I like" sniffer

Literally nothing wrong with that

Nothing wrong at all *leans in closer* so what do you like?

Nothing to contribute except that this thread is wonderful and I’ve been reading with pleasure. Thanks to everyone and please feel appreciated.

so what do you like?

Looking through the notes in the fragrances I've especially enjoyed: citrus, yuzu, pink pepper, bergamot / white blossom, ylang ylang, oakmoss, sea salt / ambergris, white musk/'musk' (idk the difference?), cedar, vetiver. All pretty basic, I think. Not adept enough to refine any further.

For now, depending on weather/mood, I want things that smell like a pirate ship, or a stormy sea bashing against a pine-lined shore, or a breezy tropical or Mediterranean beach, or a jungle at night, or a campfire in a forest, or some combination of those. During deepest winter I thought about trying 'warmer' fragrances, but didn't find any I loved, though I also didn't try very hard.

this Aprés by Ellis Brooklyn has been my winter jam, just glorious mix of spicy wintery woodsiness: https://www.ellisbrooklyn.com/collections/fine-fragrance/products/apres-eau-de-parfum

Looking through the notes in the fragrances I've especially enjoyed: citrus, yuzu, pink pepper, bergamot / white blossom, ylang ylang, oakmoss, sea salt / ambergris, white musk/'musk' (idk the difference?), cedar, vetiver. All pretty basic, I think. Not adept enough to refine any further.

For now, depending on weather/mood, I want things that smell like a pirate ship, or a stormy sea bashing against a pine-lined shore, or a breezy tropical or Mediterranean beach, or a jungle at night, or a campfire in a forest, or some combination of those. During deepest winter I thought about trying 'warmer' fragrances, but didn't find any I loved, though I also didn't try very hard.

For pirate ship, it might be worth checking out Tonnerre by Beaufort, which has gunpowder, marine and brandy notes, inspired by the Battle of Trafalgar.

Cape Heartache by Imaginary Authors is one of the better pine-centred things I’ve come across (pine and wild strawberry, with a touch of smoke).

Zoologist have a bunch of jungle-themed scents, from approachable (Sloth) to very divisive (Bat). Debaser by DS&Durga has been my go-to tropical-ish one recently, though.

Picked up an impossibly cheap bottle of 31 Rue Cambon at a benefit shop along the way and love it on slightly overcast days like today.

Bat by Zoologist is disgusting, don’t even try it out of curiosity. It smells exactly like it sounds, and it hangs around forever.

yes, I agree it is disgusting, but I think it's worth experiencing.

I think I like scents that don't last that long, which is one of the reasons I like Diptyque. I don't want to wake up in bed the next morning wondering if there is a stranger next to me

I love Oriza L. Legrand's Rêve d'Ossian (and the corresponding soap) and am theoretically on board with all of their scents, but they are very very strong. Their Relique d'Amour is interesting but also smells like a dank crypt, and their Chypre Mousse is lovely at first, but I can't help but eventually feel I'm being smothered under a pile of wet leaves

their Vetiver Royal Bourbon is astonishingly strong. If you want a scent that will last you all day and into the next, they are the brand for you

I wanna love Zoologist bc they’re hometown but so far… zero winners have met my nose. I got a sample of the famous T Rex and I just hate it

I’m wearing Anubis all the time. Bf is getting into “contemporary scents” to match the tastes of his co-workers and brought home a sample of frankly lovely Ariana Grande thing? It’s ridiculous off the top (marshmallows?) but dries down as nicely as a Guerlain

Civet was kinda aiight. The one I really wanted to love, sloth, I really just didn’t.

A DS&D limited I caught and absolutely wish I’d bought a second bottle of is Rockaway Beach. Smells actually of beach in a very unsentimental way

I like a lot of Zoologist fragrances but Bee is the real standout. Smells exactly like Russian Orthodox churches filled with beeswax candles.

I've been meaning to try Cape Heartache and some of the Beauforts but forgot about them when I was in Bloom last week. I ended up with Albatros by Mendittorosa and Resonant by Oddity. Albatros seems to have a similar destination to IA Every Storm a Serenade (what I've been using most), but a different journey. Resonant is citrus and 'metallic notes' which is weird but I like it and I'm trying to use my paltry 1mL sample sparingly - might save it to try in warmer weather - because a full bottle is unjustifiably expensive for me.

I like the idea of Zoologist but the ones I've tried have mostly not been good

I need to catch up with the newer Mendittorosa ones. Le Mat is an all-time great.

A friend came over with her small but amazing collection— she has a preference for intense ambers, dirty rose, conifers and iris notes. Our interests are divergent but complimentary, I have a “I want to smell everything” attitude and she has a “I want to specifically smell like this particular thing and I’m going to invest in that, specifically” attitude.

The showstopper was unfortunately the breathtakingly expensive Areej “Siberian Musk”, I think in an attar concentration. I feel like I’d been betting against that company and their ridiculous price point and claims to the finest materials; I lost the bet.

The also-spectacular was Orto Parisi “Stercus”. I had no experience with that brand and this was something really amazing.

I’m off the new buys, and I’m taking a break from the homebrewing until I can find and purchase a better bergamot ingredient— the one I got isn’t working for me. Made some Chanel No.5 for my aunt-in-law and, honestly? better than store-bought, it turned out marvellous. I’ve been stumbling hard on all other assemblies :(

Galop. The dream of smelling like the tackroom of a Jilly Cooper character. Unreal.

pretty sobering account on the World Service this morning of actual 5-year-olds gathering jasmine in egypt, which has approx half of the world market for it. starting before daybreak and working until 8pm a family can pick enough for like literally a loaf of bread

no i know they don’t make bread from jasmine ffs

Browsing Bloom's new additions, Anarchist A_ by Toskovat might be the most bizarre mix of smells I've ever seen. Don't expect I'll ever actually smell it (or would want to), a 1 mL sample is £14 ;_;

Top Notes
Credit Cards - Snow - Whiskey

Heart
Beeswax - Dirty Dollars - Ink - Orange Blossom

Base Notes
Green Sacra Resin - Holy Water - Incense - Old Confession Room - Plastic Bag - Priest’s Clothes

I am annoyed. A local perfume repository, I’ve shopped there before, probably spent upwards of $1k there, lots of interesting finds to be found.

Went by and surveyed. A bottle of Womanity, 50 mL for $80. Great, I have a friend for whom Womanity is their signature, set it aside as a future gift for them.

An older bottle of Habit Rouge EdT, 100 mL for $90. A classic and a perfect gift.

A 50 mL bottle of my favourite, Miss Dior Original, I already have a couple bottles but for $65 I thought it might be worth it.

The cashier, googling on his phone, while I’m hunting for other bottles, says “oh these bottles haven’t had their prices updated” and/or “these bottles have been mislabeled” and/or “the owners want me to be more fastidious about pricing these”, and he literally put 1s in front of every price tag. $180 for the Mugler, $190 for the Mugler, $165 for the Miss Dior.

I was appalled. He had a Bal A Versailles out that was (prob incorrectly) priced at $40 and I breezily said “nah I’ll just take that” and handed him cash and walked out before he could re-price it. Prob not going back there! It’s not about the bottles I didn’t get, it’s about the brazenness of the act!

*I said Mugler twice but the second “Mugler” was meant to be a “Guerlain”

i've said this before but fgti i'd buy your book. it's too early now, because you're still young and more things have yet to happen, but at some point there'll be to much and then: book.

also, if sometime during your lifetime, and you have nothing else occupying your attention, and you're just looking for something to do, do you have any knowledge/ opionions of grey flannel vis-a-vis vintage vs. current? i had it in the 80s and i remember it as an ultraviolet, oily, floral, leathery, sexy beast. the current iteration seems too soapy, green, and bitter, although the notes seem about the same. the balance seems off. am i wrong? do i have a false memory? i dunno. this is my bete noire; it haunts me ever so.

it seems like the youtube community has died off, or at least all the old yt's i've been accustomed to have run out of things to talk about. certainly, as far as designers go, all the old things have been talked about to death and and all the new things are crap. if you (whoever "you" is )are a youtuber you should do a video on how all the new things are crap. it's possible that this is merely a product of late capitalism and the inevitable decline of taste in the face of hyper-globalist-macroo-economic-teleological forces winnowing out individualistic preferences towards a hedgenomic consensus, or, things have changed and i'm all like, boo, boo wendy. boo wendy testeburger, boo wendy, boo.i might just be me. i used to go thrifting for vintage t-shirts and i have like a max headroom new coke t and a og dirty dancing t and a bunch of champion blue bars and old skool nikes and whatnot and there use to be a vibrant vintage t blog presence but that's gone too. things change. what's that quote from adaptation? done with fish. maybe the world is done with fish, if fish is designer fragrances.

i wish i were a niche guy because that's where all the action's at anymore. i have not the erudtion not the taste level to dance within these environs. so be it.

i did, i did do something designer related. exclamation point! a few years ago i found a 3.4 ml bottle of bvgari aqva amari at at a marshalls and i got it. it were glorious. it were about 30 bucks. however, it had a side effect wherein there was a slightly acidic, acrid, body odor effect that put me off so i repurposed it as a thrift store donation. four or five years later i decided to revisit it and there it was at the mall kiosk for 90 bucks for the 1.7 oz.. i way lost out from a financial standpoint but in a big country dreams stay with you, like a lover's voice fires the mountainside, stay alive. i came back to the thing that drew me back. the negatives are still there but but the phantasmagorical aspects are what i see. i don't care were we go, i don't care care what we do, i don't care petty baby just take me with you. it''s just a basic orang-ic, slightly aquatic with an earthy patchouli and smoky incense but there's a magic that all the old designers had that doesn't exist anymore. howard jones says sat if we threw it all away, things can only get better. throw it all away. aimee mann says hush hush, voices carry. i try hard to not get upset, but what the hell have dior or vesace or mugler given us lately? i was a bebop baby on a hard day's night,
we were liars in love and we danced. swept away for a moment by chance, and we danced and danced danced. i want to dance again. sign your name across my heart, armani.

but what the hell have dior or vesace or mugler given us lately?

i had a lot more to say but "the time needed to spend on the new" is probably the best summation of whatever it is i was going to say and also a pretty damn good line in and of itself.

also a pretty good summation of what's up with me and my life at this point in time.

Exactly like music for many people isn’t it, at some stage you lack the time and energy to keep seeking stuff out & just rely on old favourites and known quantities

i've said this before but fgti i'd buy your book. it's too early now, because you're still young and more things have yet to happen, but at some point there'll be to much and then: book.

You are too kind! I did set up a lab in my basement, to work on re-creating the old and attempting new creations. For now I feel like I'm just educating myself, learning which aromachemicals smell like what.

also, if sometime during your lifetime, and you have nothing else occupying your attention, and you're just looking for something to do, do you have any knowledge/ opionions of grey flannel vis-a-vis vintage vs. current? i had it in the 80s and i remember it as an ultraviolet, oily, floral, leathery, sexy beast. the current iteration seems too soapy, green, and bitter, although the notes seem about the same. the balance seems off. am i wrong? do i have a false memory? i dunno. this is my bete noire; it haunts me ever so.

You've piqued my curiosity, this scent is unknown to me, but I love 70s and 80s masculines with the heavy geranium and clove elements. I love that Aramis and Azzaro Pour Homme remain in excellent shape in their current formulations, compared to their vintage formats. Extremely interested in recreating Guerlain Derby... Jamie Frater recently discerned that there are four (!) now-banned nitromusks present in the vintage version. His reformulation requires a serious investment in materials (idr exactly how many ingredients he lists, but it's around 50 iirc). I've been told that Guerlain does offer modern Derby at their flagship store, sometimes, when asked, but I haven't lucked out just yet.

I have succeeded in creating an excellent home-brew version of Jicky, courtesy of Frater's formulas, which relies on using Guerlain EdC Imperial as its base (in place of perfumer's alcohol); this EdC Frater himself sells for much less than Guerlain, and it's identical to my nose. Jicky is my boyfriend's favourite, and he's very happy with my home-brew... I add a touch more castoreum and civet to make it skankier and it smells great.

So yeah, I'll track down some of that Grey Flannel and get back to you.

As for everything else you've said, it is an interesting time for "what is popular" amongst influencers. I popped by a perfume store yesterday and they only stocked the expensive shit, shit being the operative word-- Tom Ford, Creed, (k*l*an), Byredo, Ex Nihilo, Marly. I don't know why people like these boozy fragrances (Angel's Share, Grand Soir), they smell bourbon breath. I admire Delina but don't want to wear it. It was a weird and disappointing shop visit, it felt like when you go into an airport bookstore and there's only full price bestsellers in stock.

That said, there are lots of new scents I'm excited about. Hermes finally made an oud scent this year and it's really nice, Oud Alezan, it's exquisite, reminds me of Geza Schoen's stuff for Ormonde Jayne. Not a big fan of Juliette Has A Gun but the new vetiver is very very good. Haven't smelled the new Barrois but Bisch is three-for-three for Barrois so I'm certain I'll adore it. I am delighted by every Mugler flanker tbh. Givenchy continues to introduce version after version of "L'Interdit" (Ropion) and they're all awful, but their reformulations of Ysatis (Ropion again, 40 years ago) and III continue to be delicious.

I'm on vacation. I brought with me 5 mL of vintage Mitsouko, 5 mL of vintage Chamade, and my big bottle of Aramis for day-to-day wear. Boyfriend brought his predictable spread of fabulousness: Tommy Girl, Insensé, Amouage Search, Habit Rouge, Bal A Versailles, and the vintage bottle of Ysatis I bought him for his birthday. Insensé is smelling especially good in the hot damp weather

i didn't mean to give anyone a homework assignment but that's always been a big question for me: is there really a qualitative difference between vintage and current or do i just have a false memory? if i'm right, ok, i'll just buy some vintage and hope it's intact and no top notes have burnt off is as the wont, but if i'm wrong and the current is pretty much the same, then how do i re-create what i only imagined it smelled like? i don`'t have the resources.

i think perfumers are the closest modern-day thing to alchemists: as above, so below. you have this feeling you can only try to describe in words. if you make a scent that embodies the ineffable you win, but you also lose because there's no way a physical medium can communicate or express what i assume is entirely a spiritual essence or quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_dbZyuG0RU

that's def a grey flannel bottle. look at how tubbs regards the gold chain before donning `it' he's going under cover. this is serious. look at the silent tension between crockett and tubbs as they speed along towards destiny in the ferrari daytona. i know a place where dreams get crushed, sing devo. this has weight. this is the grey flannel i remember.

omg the way he straightens up his tie is so crucial: that's so the grey flannel i remember and not the iteration i have now. you might think i'm picking at threads but there's no other way i can explain.

re: aramis: fist bump. it's gloriously heinous. i saw a youtube where the guy said it smelled like guys down at the train station; it smelled like bad news. that sounds about right.

i have a bottle of azzaro that has the screw-off top so i got some oakmoss from a perfumery place and i'm no perfumer but i put a schmear in and it really amplified the citrus nd floral aspects. it's probably close to the original.

Recent scent report. Went a week ago to the newish scent bar with my bf— I hadn’t smelled the newish Bisch-for-Barrois, Tilia, and I wanted to. I was disappointed.

Bf was handling a bottle of some Tauer thing and DROPPED IT and it SHATTERED. It was, I think, the Moroccan Cologne or something— (Tauer impresses me compositionally, but his fragrances all smell to me like Alec Guinness playing Prince Faisal).

Bf is so sweet and his face got grave like he was going to cry and he started asking me to handle the bottles for him because he was so shaken up. The staff were completely whatever about it, cleaning it all up and assuring him it was ok.

I approached the owner and quietly offered to pay for the broken bottle, and she assured me that it was fine (and that the staff themselves break a bottle a week). Owner went to bf and gave him a total pep talk “don’t be upset this is 100% ok” and I decided that I’d buy a bottle of something to basically make this all good and well.

The problem ended up being, really, that there are so few niche fragrances that I care for, in the Xerjoff/Nishane/Marly axis. Local heroes Zoologist have made some interesting things but nothing I’d wear or spend money on. Hiram Green is refreshingly dramatic but uninteresting in composition. I adore Jayne Ormonde on strips but have found the concentrations to be strange and difficult to wear.

DS & Durga saved the day, had practically ignored that line but was impressed with everything on offer. Walked away with their eucalyptus scent, Big Sur, and am very happy with it.

Of note: the Barrois extraits seemed weird to me in concept as the EdPs are already powerful. The extraits however are rather strikingly different in formulation. Absolutely worth sampling— the B683 extrait takes the “new shoes” smell of the EdP and adds a subtle but effective oud note and it’s one of those rare actually-wearable-ouds.

Yesterday I popped by the luxury department store because I wanted bf to smell the Malle revamps of the Lauder classics.

I basically think that it’s all worth it for Malle’s revision of White Linen. The jasmine is pushed up above the bitter aldehydes just enough. It remains the most punishing scent in the store, the smell of a dentist’s drill, but somehow even more starchy and ravishing. I won’t buy it, White Linen’s appeal to me is tied to its price point and the Malle revisions are exorbitant, but I loved smelling it.

The Private Collection revision is also a success. Couldn’t identify the changes just on the strip but it smelled more broadly floral instead of intensely hippie green.

Azuree smelled identical to me as the lovely 00s plastic bottle revision, as somebody who wears and loves Azuree, I wore it out of the store and didn’t notice any change or revision (except the price and packaging). Knowing and Estee were not successful to my nose.

Dominique Ropion has a new $1400 a bottle Malle scent in their hideous oud line and it is so gross and garish that I literally guffawed. I don’t understand how somebody who started their career making some of my all-time favourites (Ysatis) is now responsible for the cloying awfulness on every-tenth-person-at-the-mall with his not-actually-L’Interdit L’Interdit mk. 3, as well as some of the weirdest and worst Malle offerings. “I can barely keep these UAE-market Malle scents on the shelf”, the clerk told me, and I see it online, too, that people are salivating for them. I smell them on strips and can’t imagine anybody ever wanting to wear it. Oud as an ingredient deserves better than these awful “beast mode” concoctions.

I was gonna leave, but the clerk brought us over to the Lutens area. I ignore Lutens. I’ve read about how classic and wonderful these scents are supposed to be, but I smell none of it— dusty pale nothings in expensive ugly bottles. Clerk showed us these six black tall bottles, all Sheldrakes, Lutens “fancy” line, apparently. They were very nice, very simple, very strong. A duoflore rose-oud was particularly appealing, just perfect Bulgarian-French rose combo and a clean but strong oud union. Uncomplicated but extremely nice to smell. The line is called “gratte-ciel” and they don’t get points on Fragrantica but all six that I smelled were really lovely.

I’ve been making No 5 at home for friends and family who want it, and we went to Chanel to smirk about their new Exclusif “Comete”, but also got some No 5 parfum extract on a card to refresh my memory. It’s one of the few Chanel offerings that doesn’t feel sullied by reformulation. “It’s pure perfume, undiluted” said the clerk, and I didn’t correct her. The card continues to smell like heaven this morning. I’m using it as reference today while brewing up another jar of No 5 juice

Oh, my point re: No 5. Don’t smell or wear the EdT, Eau, EdP, or “Eau premiere”. Go to the desk and ask to smell the parfum version. Get some on a card and leave the store. For me, this is as beautiful and romantic as those “always” places when you’re travelling— you’ll always see Trevi in Rome, you’ll always visit Sagrada in Barcelona, even if you’ve been there before, you go because it’s beautiful.

i love Tauer's L'Air du desert marocain, but more than anything for its drydrown - this cumin/petitgrain thing that comes on after an hour or two of wearing, just perfect in its gesture toward a feeling or a place i've never actually inhabited in life, safe and adventuresome at the same time, midway on a journey to Rohan, the edge of the Entwood, who knows. lol

i LOVE the story about your bf; i have a kind of appel du vide whenever i'm in a small art gallery or a place like a perfume store, delicately manipulating bottles. a consistent fantasy not about the feeling of destruction but about observing the subsequent response, the panicky dealing with crisis after all of the stakes are already spent.

There is a duality here, “how it smells to the wearer” vs “how it smells to others”. I ran into a friend a few nights ago who was smelling delightful, and I told him so. He told me it was Dior Homme Sport— interesting to me that synthmusk-spicy amber is immediately a “no” when I’m touring bottles, but encountering it as part of somebody else’s presentation brought its effectiveness to the forefront. I keep trying with Tauer, the frankincense is lovely, and I’ll keep trying