The Great Olfactory Experiment
Posting this for an olfactory-inclined frag-hag determined to turn me into a poison perfume expert. Very dull, move along :3
Okay, through dint of scavenging in the house and a trip to Boots, where the Chanel woman stared at me and asked if I was sure I wanted to smell these perfumes (...bitch) I have checked out seven of the ten ye gave me. I'm the sort of person who lives on body spray and buys perfume once in a blue moon, so alas, my writing will not be as adept as yours.
Anais Anais (Cacharel)
Lilies and I, we don't get along. My mum can't be separated from this bottle, causing an interrogation as to how many sprays I wanted and why, and then she got defensive and launched into a speech about how I should test out the parfum, which I don't believe they sell anymore. Er, anyway.
As expected, the only topnote I got was lily. Lilylilylilylily. On my mother's skin, I can usually get something citrus-y, a little oakmoss and a lot of ylang-ylang, but even during the drydown, all I could smell was baby powder, and quite a lot of it. One tiny tiny spray and it freaking haunted me, with a little accent of cat piss. Lilies, man. They just don't like me.
Ange ou Demon (Givenchy)
The thing that annoyed me most about this was the sillage disappears so quickly, bizarre given that it's Givenchy and I know it pestered you for days. The scent starts off just - yum, really, a beautiful mix of wood and flowers and something very sweet, like vanilla or tonka. Gradually, however, the alarming note of Lily starts seeping out, and really powdery ylang-ylang that feels like it's caking inside my nostrils (pleasant, huh?). The drydown, however, diminishes the lily smell and ends up with a subtle, sweet wood scent, backed by the faint hint of cat piss (really, dude, lilies) and ylang-ylang. It's not too bad, but as I said, the sillage lasts maybe an hour and a half before I'm pretty much unsniffable.
Amarige (Givenchy)
While my sister can wear Anais Anais and get away with it, this perfume is way, way too mature for me. I smell like I'm on my way to an expensive dinner with my boss. I'm twenty-two, I don't have a job, and the perfume ladies think I'm there to rob them - talk about unsuitable.
It's heady, yeah, and I'm not quite sure what it's heady with - one minute I think it's floral, the next spicy, the next citrus-y - I'm not sure if it's ever-changing or it's a jack of all trades, master of none. You can smell it coming a mile away, like a wall of moving scent. It's really piercing, like an icepick to the brain. It smells much, much better on Sarah, more sort of fruity and warmly spiced, less like somebody stuck a bouquet of random flowers in your face.
The sillage (an apt word; I feel silly when I type it) is like a comet-trail; it stretches on indefinitely and is there for all to see. Or, er, smell. Since this heady-and-nice-on-all-but-me scent was something I quite wanted to get rid of after an hour, that was not necessarily a good thing in my case. Heavy, strong and pretty damned long-lasting. I definitely see why it's a so-called classic, but it joins the long list of perfumes that go to hell when they're sprayed on me.
Chanel No. 5 (Chanel, clearly)
It smells great, in that sophisticated, expensive-dinner-with-boss sort of way, but it's really... cold, if that's the word. I knooow, that's the attraction of it, but it doesn't develop on my skin at all. It's got rose or lily or something similar in it, which is sharp and unpleasant on my skin, it's got neroli (my sniffs around Lush have benefited my nose!) which I adore, but the mixture is just... egh. There's something spicy, or at least really warm, as well.
Plus, I'm not sure I buy the party line about not using civet. You know how I feel about cats, biyatch, and they should not be used for perfume. Substituted or not, this goddamn smell WILL NOT GO AWAY. I think it's haunting my nose.
I can imagine a really, really posh furniture shop smells exactly like this stupid perfume. Sorry, Anni, it just... nope, I'm giving another classic the thumbs-down. I've never smelled this on anyone else (I told Sarah about the cat thing and she wouldn't try it) so I can't really comment, but for me, it's disgusting.
Coco Mademoiselle (Chanel)
So as not to boggle the nose, and also to get away from the evil woman who glared at me when I dared not shout No. 5's praises, I didn't try this the same day as the last. All the same, I looked at the bottle and went "yeah, another poisonous stench incoming". I guess I'm not quite out of the phase of appreciating interesting bottles or perfume colours; Chanel's packaging looks so blank. Anni assures me that hints to the hauteur, and it's no surprise to anybody that hauteur and I will never get along.
The initial scent is an attack, and very weirdly, you can smell everything at once. Citrus, bergamot, patchouli, something musky, and some florals going on (maybe something woody?). It sure as hell grabs your attention. The jumble continues on me 'til the drydown, where it sort of calms down, and then there's a gorgeous smell, like walking into a flower shop where everyone is eating oranges and burning patchouli incense. It's nothing like what I expected from Chanel, particularly after the No. 5 disaster. It's warm, inviting, a little spicy but somehow very fresh, something I could happily wear all day. And gods know I wouldn't have to respray, it doesn't have a problem with lasting, either.
Even if I could afford it, though, I wouldn't buy it. Still bothered by the civet problem.
Ghost: Deep Night (Tanya Sarne)
Err, are you sure your fellow perfume obsessors really count this as worth it? I ask because I really like it, and I know the general reaction to the other one I really like. I have a feeling that if I like something, you snobby types must hate it xP
This is amazing. It's fruity, but I always think of fruit scents being girlish and perky, and this is actually kinda sexy. It's so rich and sweet but not overwhelmingly so. There's a dark, musky undertone and it develops slowly into something very different. I know - er, I think - that it has vanilla as a heart note (orsomethingIdunno), but with the faint fruit and musk it just warms it up. It's rich but subtle, the sillage lingers modestly, it's neither mature or young. The drydown leaves a beautiful, sweet-spiced aroma that had me sniffing my wrist for aaages.
I bought myself one of the wee sample bottles >>; It's something perfect for a spring/summer night, and I'll definitely be wearing it out to dinner (with friends, not the non-existent boss, obviously). I object to your claim that it's an everyday perfume - it smells like a special occasion, not a time-to-go-to-Tesco's perfume.
Insolence (Guerlain)
I may have to save up to get this, but my family and friends have been well-informed about it for present-exchanging days. Ye wanted me to find my signature scent, Anni (heaven forfend a girl go without a staple perfume x3) and, well, I did. G:DN might be my sexy perfume for now and then, but this is something I will wear to Tesco's. I write this from behind the little sampler bottle I bought because I couldn't leave the shop without it.
Okay. It's not really long-lasting. It's not going to bowl anybody over. There is no 'intangible, impenetrable veil of fragrance surrounding me' (which I prefer, tbh). It smells like long, fun days and nights with friends - see, Anni knew I'd get all purple-prosey over at least one perfume - before sleeping in clean sheets. Something fruity, and a flower I have since learned is iris, both suddenly fade and leave behind violets (I'm a sucker for violets) and tonka with some sort of sharp fruit, like redcurrant. It's decidedly way too feminine to suit my personality, but I keep smelling it like a bizarre kind of addict.
The overall scent is smooth, sweet, slightly smoky and almost unnervingly fresh. I love violet, iris and tonka bean, and the jumble of scents gives off something new with every unstoppable sniff. It's vibrant and fickle, smoky one second, sweet the next, smooth for a while then sharp and invigorating. Unlike G:DN, it's decidedly youthful - I'd better enjoy it while I can - but the deeper notes stop it smelling like something a teenager should be wearing. A complete break with Guerlain's usual scents, it hasn't had a good reception with lovely Anni and her frag-hag gang, and perhaps the fact that it appeals to me says more about its lack of hauteur than anything they could say, purple prose aside. It's one of the few perfumes that smells good on my skin, and one of two (the other being Karma from Lush, much to Anni's horror) that have made me determinedly save up my money to buy it.
There you go, sweets, I have fulfilled my prophecy that I would probably hate what you like and vice versa. Insolence, you despise, Ghost: Deep Night you sneer at, and Coco Mademoiselle is the one Chanel scent you actually dislike. You are a wonderful, fascinating and deeply worrying kind of person, and also a snob of the highest order.
Love you, thank you for the experiment *smooch*
Okay, through dint of scavenging in the house and a trip to Boots, where the Chanel woman stared at me and asked if I was sure I wanted to smell these perfumes (...bitch) I have checked out seven of the ten ye gave me. I'm the sort of person who lives on body spray and buys perfume once in a blue moon, so alas, my writing will not be as adept as yours.
Anais Anais (Cacharel)
Lilies and I, we don't get along. My mum can't be separated from this bottle, causing an interrogation as to how many sprays I wanted and why, and then she got defensive and launched into a speech about how I should test out the parfum, which I don't believe they sell anymore. Er, anyway.
As expected, the only topnote I got was lily. Lilylilylilylily. On my mother's skin, I can usually get something citrus-y, a little oakmoss and a lot of ylang-ylang, but even during the drydown, all I could smell was baby powder, and quite a lot of it. One tiny tiny spray and it freaking haunted me, with a little accent of cat piss. Lilies, man. They just don't like me.
Ange ou Demon (Givenchy)
The thing that annoyed me most about this was the sillage disappears so quickly, bizarre given that it's Givenchy and I know it pestered you for days. The scent starts off just - yum, really, a beautiful mix of wood and flowers and something very sweet, like vanilla or tonka. Gradually, however, the alarming note of Lily starts seeping out, and really powdery ylang-ylang that feels like it's caking inside my nostrils (pleasant, huh?). The drydown, however, diminishes the lily smell and ends up with a subtle, sweet wood scent, backed by the faint hint of cat piss (really, dude, lilies) and ylang-ylang. It's not too bad, but as I said, the sillage lasts maybe an hour and a half before I'm pretty much unsniffable.
Amarige (Givenchy)
While my sister can wear Anais Anais and get away with it, this perfume is way, way too mature for me. I smell like I'm on my way to an expensive dinner with my boss. I'm twenty-two, I don't have a job, and the perfume ladies think I'm there to rob them - talk about unsuitable.
It's heady, yeah, and I'm not quite sure what it's heady with - one minute I think it's floral, the next spicy, the next citrus-y - I'm not sure if it's ever-changing or it's a jack of all trades, master of none. You can smell it coming a mile away, like a wall of moving scent. It's really piercing, like an icepick to the brain. It smells much, much better on Sarah, more sort of fruity and warmly spiced, less like somebody stuck a bouquet of random flowers in your face.
The sillage (an apt word; I feel silly when I type it) is like a comet-trail; it stretches on indefinitely and is there for all to see. Or, er, smell. Since this heady-and-nice-on-all-but-me scent was something I quite wanted to get rid of after an hour, that was not necessarily a good thing in my case. Heavy, strong and pretty damned long-lasting. I definitely see why it's a so-called classic, but it joins the long list of perfumes that go to hell when they're sprayed on me.
Chanel No. 5 (Chanel, clearly)
It smells great, in that sophisticated, expensive-dinner-with-boss sort of way, but it's really... cold, if that's the word. I knooow, that's the attraction of it, but it doesn't develop on my skin at all. It's got rose or lily or something similar in it, which is sharp and unpleasant on my skin, it's got neroli (my sniffs around Lush have benefited my nose!) which I adore, but the mixture is just... egh. There's something spicy, or at least really warm, as well.
Plus, I'm not sure I buy the party line about not using civet. You know how I feel about cats, biyatch, and they should not be used for perfume. Substituted or not, this goddamn smell WILL NOT GO AWAY. I think it's haunting my nose.
I can imagine a really, really posh furniture shop smells exactly like this stupid perfume. Sorry, Anni, it just... nope, I'm giving another classic the thumbs-down. I've never smelled this on anyone else (I told Sarah about the cat thing and she wouldn't try it) so I can't really comment, but for me, it's disgusting.
Coco Mademoiselle (Chanel)
So as not to boggle the nose, and also to get away from the evil woman who glared at me when I dared not shout No. 5's praises, I didn't try this the same day as the last. All the same, I looked at the bottle and went "yeah, another poisonous stench incoming". I guess I'm not quite out of the phase of appreciating interesting bottles or perfume colours; Chanel's packaging looks so blank. Anni assures me that hints to the hauteur, and it's no surprise to anybody that hauteur and I will never get along.
The initial scent is an attack, and very weirdly, you can smell everything at once. Citrus, bergamot, patchouli, something musky, and some florals going on (maybe something woody?). It sure as hell grabs your attention. The jumble continues on me 'til the drydown, where it sort of calms down, and then there's a gorgeous smell, like walking into a flower shop where everyone is eating oranges and burning patchouli incense. It's nothing like what I expected from Chanel, particularly after the No. 5 disaster. It's warm, inviting, a little spicy but somehow very fresh, something I could happily wear all day. And gods know I wouldn't have to respray, it doesn't have a problem with lasting, either.
Even if I could afford it, though, I wouldn't buy it. Still bothered by the civet problem.
Ghost: Deep Night (Tanya Sarne)
Err, are you sure your fellow perfume obsessors really count this as worth it? I ask because I really like it, and I know the general reaction to the other one I really like. I have a feeling that if I like something, you snobby types must hate it xP
This is amazing. It's fruity, but I always think of fruit scents being girlish and perky, and this is actually kinda sexy. It's so rich and sweet but not overwhelmingly so. There's a dark, musky undertone and it develops slowly into something very different. I know - er, I think - that it has vanilla as a heart note (orsomethingIdunno), but with the faint fruit and musk it just warms it up. It's rich but subtle, the sillage lingers modestly, it's neither mature or young. The drydown leaves a beautiful, sweet-spiced aroma that had me sniffing my wrist for aaages.
I bought myself one of the wee sample bottles >>; It's something perfect for a spring/summer night, and I'll definitely be wearing it out to dinner (with friends, not the non-existent boss, obviously). I object to your claim that it's an everyday perfume - it smells like a special occasion, not a time-to-go-to-Tesco's perfume.
Insolence (Guerlain)
I may have to save up to get this, but my family and friends have been well-informed about it for present-exchanging days. Ye wanted me to find my signature scent, Anni (heaven forfend a girl go without a staple perfume x3) and, well, I did. G:DN might be my sexy perfume for now and then, but this is something I will wear to Tesco's. I write this from behind the little sampler bottle I bought because I couldn't leave the shop without it.
Okay. It's not really long-lasting. It's not going to bowl anybody over. There is no 'intangible, impenetrable veil of fragrance surrounding me' (which I prefer, tbh). It smells like long, fun days and nights with friends - see, Anni knew I'd get all purple-prosey over at least one perfume - before sleeping in clean sheets. Something fruity, and a flower I have since learned is iris, both suddenly fade and leave behind violets (I'm a sucker for violets) and tonka with some sort of sharp fruit, like redcurrant. It's decidedly way too feminine to suit my personality, but I keep smelling it like a bizarre kind of addict.
The overall scent is smooth, sweet, slightly smoky and almost unnervingly fresh. I love violet, iris and tonka bean, and the jumble of scents gives off something new with every unstoppable sniff. It's vibrant and fickle, smoky one second, sweet the next, smooth for a while then sharp and invigorating. Unlike G:DN, it's decidedly youthful - I'd better enjoy it while I can - but the deeper notes stop it smelling like something a teenager should be wearing. A complete break with Guerlain's usual scents, it hasn't had a good reception with lovely Anni and her frag-hag gang, and perhaps the fact that it appeals to me says more about its lack of hauteur than anything they could say, purple prose aside. It's one of the few perfumes that smells good on my skin, and one of two (the other being Karma from Lush, much to Anni's horror) that have made me determinedly save up my money to buy it.
There you go, sweets, I have fulfilled my prophecy that I would probably hate what you like and vice versa. Insolence, you despise, Ghost: Deep Night you sneer at, and Coco Mademoiselle is the one Chanel scent you actually dislike. You are a wonderful, fascinating and deeply worrying kind of person, and also a snob of the highest order.
Love you, thank you for the experiment *smooch*