On perfume...

[annwfyn]

As some of you may have noticed, I've not been posting up quite so many BPAL reviews of late. This is because I discovered I was feeling overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of little glass tubes I had, felt that my failure rate with imps was higher than my success rate, and had suddenly become very very poor.

However, despite my poverty, I've taken a break from BPAL to discover a variety of other smellies which I thought I should share.

First of all, I've developed a love for Christian Dior - Poison - which I adore on my skin. It doesn't smell overwhelming, and it makes me feel terribly grown up and sexy. I intend to slowly start trying other conventional perfume to see if anything works on me. So far I know that Midnight Poison smells awful, but Tendre Poison is quite pleasant I think.

Secondly, I've also discovered that the Body Shop has a quite nice range of rather floral scents. They are all quite light and don't last very long, but come in bigger bottles than BPAL and are lovely for light summer daytime smells. I'm strangely fond of their Aqualily scent.

Finally, I've also been wearing quite a lot of Bedlam Bouquet, by Beyond the Pale. It's a very distinctive scent - the top note of lavender is very strong - and it's not quite as subtle as BPAL - but it's quite nice and tangy, and does have this very slightly odd scent that makes me feel like I'm back in the 18th century. I don't know how to describe it, but I wear it, close my eyes, and it feels as if I'm walking through another world.

Does anyone have another recommendations of their own for me?

Scents? Perfumes? Interesting bubble bath?

Comments

[madwitch.livejournal.com]

My brother gave me some solid perfume from Morocco for my birthday. Jasmine, Sandalwood and something else.

This will be an interesting experimental departure from my usual Angel and Rush, though I'd better not get too attached. Seeing as I'm unlikely to go to Morocco. :-)

[jeckcrow.livejournal.com]

A few things of note, only marginally related to your question.

#1. "It doesn't smell overwhelming, and it makes me feel terribly grown up and sexy."

You are a grown up, and fairly sexy even without the aid of artificial scent. So nothing to worry about there.

#2. "I've developed a love for Christian Dior - Poison - which I adore on my skin."

I can't tell you how amusing I find the idea of people putting something on their skin clearly labeled "POISON"! It's like a comedy sketch waiting to happen.

#3. There is no #3. :)

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

1) I have discovered in life that one's perception of oneself and the perceptions of others are often very different. For me, I require nice underwear and nice smells to feel sexy. If I'm wearing nicely fitting silky underthings, and smell of something good, I'll feel glam and sexy whilst wearing jeans a t shirt. If I think I smell of old smoke and stale wine, I will feel awful, even if I'm wearing a corset.

That is my rule for me.

On the grown up thing, I think you mean I'm old. I know I'm not a grown up. I have yet to receive the instruction manual that I firmly believe will arrive in the post on the day I hit maturity. :p

2) But 'poison' is a very glamorous word! You've got to admit it - poison sounds like Lucretia Borgia, and other dubious women in lots of velvet with heavy rings and ominous looking pendants, offering suspicious goblets of wine to men in doublets. That makes it cool.

[ozisim.livejournal.com]

I have copious amounts of Sandalwood, Amber and Lotus oils if you want to scab some?

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Yes please :)

When shall I see you next?

[ozisim.livejournal.com]

Umm...
If you can get me some empty containers I can pass it along the cam grapevine?

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I am not properly Cam!

I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. At least, I don't want it to be.

But I shall probably see Tim over the weekend, so I'll see what I can provide.

[ozisim.livejournal.com]

NOes!
I was not implying that you or I were Cam!
Never do that!
Just saying that we can use them for our own freighty purposes!

[obake.livejournal.com]

I'm currently totally in love with Bath and Body Works' Chocolate Amber (http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=3041866&cp=2484525.3041863) scent. I have it in the lotion and it lasts all day and the throw is really noticeable. It's like perfume in a lotion.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Oooh...that looks interesting...

[lilitufire.livejournal.com]

I don't tend to experiment that much, I tend to work my way through what I have and then buy more.

At the moment my summery scent is Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue, and my going out evening and winter scent is, um, Burberry London.

I also like 4711, that has a faraway quality to it. And I used to wear Kashaya de Kenzo before it was discontinued. And Diorissimo way back when I was younger, but it's far too sweet on my skin now.

[quisalan.livejournal.com]

Sadly, it's very much like the iniquitous BPal - you just have to try and try perfumes, wear it around for a few hours, and decide what you like.

I tend to prowl airport Duty Free since I spend a proportion of my life there, and merrily gas the person next to me on the plane as everytime I move, a different scent will waft over them. Sounds romantic, but it's not good. It should probably be banned under the Geneva Convention for chemical weapons!

I tend to avoid floral perfumes because they end up smelling fake and like talc on my skin. I'm not sure why that is, but anything by Cacherel (sp?) has me running for the hills in an AWOOGA AWOOGA sort of way.

One thing that can help is if you know the style of pefume you like, you can go to a perfume salesperson and say "I like X, Y and Z. Can you suggest anything?" which can work well, but get a little samey.

FWIW, my current active set includes:

Ange ou Demon - Givency
Armani Code - Armani
212 Sexy - Carolina Herrera
Deep Red - Hugo Boss

Previous honourable mentions include Davidoff Cool Blue Woman and Issy Miake.

[quisalan.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I did have J'adore by Dior for a while, but then my Mum decided she liked it as well, bought a bottle, and I've never worn it since!

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Currently my sole knowledge of perfume is limited to 'I like Poison and Tendre Poison. I don't like Gio and Midnight Poison.'

I'm still a little unsure about the big commercial perfumes - I find most of them don't work so well on me, so I've been experimenting with different ways of making myself smell nice. I do still quite like BPAL, but in some ways I think they are a victim of their own success - they have so many scents now that it can be a bit overwhelming.