MetaChat - Perfume recommendations?

MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.

06 November 2006

Perfume recommendations? My whining about wanting more perfume led to some good suggestions in another thread, but I decided I wanted a thread of my very own. Because I'm selfish like that. →[More:]

The only perfume I tend to wear these days is a simple lemon verbena scent, which I love, but I'm looking to branch out. In the past I've really liked Estee Lauder stuff (especially White Linen), but I'm looking for something a little younger, I think.

Scented oil recommendations also welcome; I got into the lemon verbena because the company gave me a vial of essential oil and it made me so very happy. But I'm unsure where to buy that sort of thing, so shopping recs also appreciated.

post by: occhiblu at: 18:01 | 34 comments

i posted this in the other thread but seriously check these folks out :

http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/

they put a lot of story in their scents and all their scents are really lovely, and it's all so fun and SPOOKY! Perfect if you, like me, aspire to being a two legged low rent spookhouse, but in a good way.

Also, have you smelt the Marc Jacobs (ermm just the regular one I think) perfume? I love that! Also the sadly now discontinued DKNY perfume was really nice and citrusy, so if you find that give it a whirl!

But seriously order yourself some samples from those black phoenix folk, i am having a love affair with them right now, and i also reading that perfume murder susskind book which leads me to thinking that they are french and monstrous.

good times!

posted by Mrs.Pants 06 November | 18:04

Just don't use those vanilla scents. I sniff those, I don't think 'sexy,' I think 'milkshake.'

posted by jonmc 06 November | 18:07

i hate to recommend it because i'm anti-celebrity-empire-of-random-merchandising, but Glow by J.Lo is a really simple slightly sweet scent: grapefruity with a very faint vanilla tone.

i, myself, wear origins ginger essence (bergamot and lime under ginger). mmmm. sometimes, i just want to lick me. but that would be weird.

posted by crush-onastick 06 November | 18:10

sometimes, i just want to lick me. but that would be weird.

Not if you were half cat.

posted by jonmc 06 November | 18:11

DKNY Delicious is what I wear; very light, pretty.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 06 November | 18:13

Younger? Have you tried Noa Perle by Cacharel? When I first saw the ad for it I cracked up as Perle (my baby girl) has a friend born soon after her named Noa - so I had to try that perfume. Much to my surprise it developed quite well on me, but like any Cacharel scent it is young. A little powdery and sweet, but not too sweet. It has notes of white peony, freesia, orange blossom, hazelnut blossom, kumquat, and pink pepper.
I smell like a blond (if that makes sense) so perfumes develop very sweet on me, if there's vanilla in it I'll pull it out and smell like the above mentioned milkshake. My mother (who is a blond) smells like a brunette, she can wear heavier perfumes keeping the top spices nicely with the sweet undertones without it being weird. I could never wear hers, they smell completly opposite on me, I pull out all the sweet and the spices fly away. Strange how that works, really. Anyway, if young is what you're after give it a go - I've been really into orange blossom and mandarin notes (think Cahanels Mademoiselle) these past few years. Might work for you too.

posted by dabitch 06 November | 18:18

I smell like a blond (if that makes sense) so perfumes develop very sweet on me, if there's vanilla in it I'll pull it out and smell like the above mentioned milkshake. My mother (who is a blond) smells like a brunette,

I want to hire a blind guy to sniff your family. You don't mind, do you?

posted by jonmc 06 November | 18:20

err.. That was supposed to be Chanel's Mademoiselle. ;)

posted by dabitch 06 November | 18:21

Before Light Blue, I really liked Stella (Stella McCartney).

There is one scent though that I cannot stand. I get sick to my stomach. It is some ingredient in perfumes like Elixir (Clinique).

posted by carmina 06 November | 18:23

I just ordered some samples from the Black Phoenix lab. Can't wait to smell them. Thanks, Mrs. Pants!

posted by Specklet 06 November | 18:23

Hehehe. Noses always used to ask what the ladies hair color was before they mixed a perfume for her. But perhaps scents develop according to skintone instead? I'm yellow based, my mother olive - and my daughter is pink pink pink. ;)

posted by dabitch 06 November | 18:24

My top 10 (and yes, i own every single one!! I have issues, and the scent i choose to wear on a particular day actually reflects my mood at the time)

1. Amour Amour - Cacharel (fresh, flirty, coconutty with a hint of sexiness - my absolute favorite)
2. Miracle - Lancome (very sexy, use when i want to get it on!!)
3. Light Blue - D&G (crisp lemony scent, good for daytime).
4. Hugo Boss for women - Hugo Boss (masculiny, use when i feel no-nonsensy)
5. Red - Hugo Boss (very musky, use sparingly when i'm mad!)
6. Envy - Gucci (sophisticated, use when i want to feel grown up)
7. Mania for men - Giorgio Armani (a men's fragrance, but oh so goddamned sexy!!!)
8. Coconut lime verbena body mist - Bath and Body works (when i take a shower before i jump into bed)
9. Sweet Jasmine scented oil - Bath and body works (a dab behind the ears lasts all day)
10. CK One - Calvin Klein (i just keep a bottle around because it's what my dad uses) so when i miss him, i spray a bit around the room.

posted by ramix 06 November | 18:26

I'm the lively shade of time expired sour cream, myself.

posted by jonmc 06 November | 18:27

Heh! Which reminds me: The perfume is coming out soon. Great book.

posted by carmina 06 November | 18:29

(also, even though I'm 'meh' on perfume and cologne generally, that I am impressed at all this information you guys have in your heads about this stuff. It's exhausting just to listen to)

posted by jonmc 06 November | 18:30

Ambergris is possibly the best thing I have ever smelled. Probably because of the pheremones in it, so it works on more levels than just "smelling nice". Link to Italian site.
One site mentions "Currently trading of Ambergris is banned in the US under legislation to protect endangered species.
(...)
For fragrance production, the ingredient is used as a fixative, and high quality formulations that contain it currently include Amouage, Miss Dior, Parure, Vol de Nuit and Black For Him by Kenneth Cole."
Odd, as these are available in the US, even though they're made with "part of and endangered animal." Go figure.

posted by Zack_Replica 06 November | 18:47

I wear Chanel Allure. It's nice and light and clean on me.

I know what you mean about smelling like a "blonde," dabitch. In my case, it means that anything remotely exotic smells like dead leaves on me, but anything sweet quickly becomes sickeningly so.

posted by jrossi4r 06 November | 18:47

diptyque's philosykos, which is their fig.

Or any jo malone, particularly black vetyvr cafe, pomegranate, or nutmeg&ginger.

posted by scala di seta 06 November | 19:10

4711 is light and citrusy. I don't know why somebody on epinion said it was expensive- it's at Big Lots all the time.

posted by auntbunny 06 November | 19:12

I recommend bear or walrus fat; musky with an aromatic tang.

It also repels black flies.

posted by simplicissimus 06 November | 19:24

Hey Auntbunny, is that fig sweet? I've been looking for the perfect not-very-sweet-but-very-green fig perfume.

I used to like L'Artisan's Premier Figuier, but only the body lotion; the perfume was too sweet. I found a good fig soap, but they don't make a perfume...

posted by Specklet 06 November | 19:37

4711 is light and citrusy. I don't know why somebody on epinion said it was expensive- it's at Big Lots all the time.

posted by auntbunny 06 November | 19:37

oops- sorry bout the double post

posted by auntbunny 06 November | 19:38

Specklet, I'm not sure if it's fig- it's sort of a yellow-green, more like bright lazy sunshine than the ripeness of fruit.

posted by auntbunny 06 November | 19:43

Eau Savage by Dior. Please don't let anyone tell/convince you it's just for men.

posted by getoffmylawn 06 November | 19:51

Another fan of D&G's Light Blue here -- I started wearing it this year as my regular daytime scent, and I love it. It reminds me of the very first time I was ever in a huge open-air fruit and flower market in Europe. Crisp but not clinical, with a citrus-floral combination that's not too sweet.

posted by scody 06 November | 21:44

carmina -- I actually also wear Clinique Elixir. It looks like I will *certainly* need to find a new perfume if we are ever to meet in person!

Thanks so much for all the suggestions, everyone. Feel free to add more; I have no free afternoons for the forseeable future, so trying and buying perfume is actually more a long-term goal...

posted by occhiblu 06 November | 22:08

Have you checked out Demeter? I know many people who swear by them, but I've never tried them myself (I was, however, driven to indulge and have ordered the Bourbon. We'll see how it is).

posted by crush-onastick 06 November | 22:49

I love the Demeter New zealand fragrance, but I might be biased there.

I also like Elixir.

posted by gaspode 06 November | 23:12

I really like The Gap's So Pink. Very light and pretty.

I'm also in love with Beyond Paradise, from Estee Lauder.

posted by sisterhavana 06 November | 23:48

Ex girlfriend wore only Bal a Versailles (bergamot, mandarin and rose with cedarwood, vanilla and jasmine.) It was very girly, but also kind of grown up. Not as green as things tend to be nowadays. About as sophisticated and classical as you can get without reminding me of something my mother would wear to a party.

posted by StickyCarpet 07 November | 00:14

I have to be careful about perfume because I'm allergic to gardenia and jasmine...that said, I like lavender, rose, violet, citrus, evergreen, ginger.

posted by brujita 07 November | 02:12

StickyCarpet - my mother used two dabs of the Bal a Versailles perfume (not the eau du toilette crap)when I was younger and I managed to score a bottle of the stuff in my mid-twenties. It was great! However that spray-on eau de toilette is just nothing like it and I can't find more bottles. So sad! :(

jrossi4r is dead on - the "blonde" thing kills many an interesting scent. Salvador Dali original and now Salvador Dali red lips works out on me tho.

posted by dabitch 07 November | 08:02

what?! 'spode and occhi both wearing Elixir... I guess I will have to do something about it, cause I really want to meet you gals someday.
Oh! I know! I will hold my nose! heh!

posted by carmina 07 November | 11:37

← oh hello! || @#%#@% CATS!!! →

HOME || REGISTER || LOGIN