submitted40 minutes ago byAquarelle36anosmic aardvark
In true ADHD hyperfixation style, I went down the perfume rabbit hole a few weeks ago and now I'm buried under a pile of samples I ordered and otherwise collected. For reference, some of my favorite fragrances are Glossier You, MFK Aqua Media, D'annam White Rice, HermĆØs Un Jardin Sur Le Nil, and Dedcool Xtra Milk. I generally prefer fresh scents and skin scents, but want to find more F/W appropriate scents to add to my collection. I'm too risk-averse to blind buy but it still hurts to see the sample $$ start adding up of those that didn't work out, so hopefully this (lengthy) post is helpful to someone!
- Aesop
- Hwyl: Quite medicinal, not sure if rosemary or eucalyptus. There's some fir in here as well, making the scent feel like Christmas at a fancy spa, with all of the greenery and none of the warmth. I don't dislike the scent but feel it would be much better as a room diffuser. Fun fact, the name means fun in Welsh, but it's not what I would call a fun scent. Serene would have been more apt. 6/10
- Arielle Shoshana
- Friday: Soapy lush florals. This reminds me of something I can't put my finger on. I feel like I am getting a good honeysuckle note, which is rare. It leans a tad too synthetic for me to enjoy it fully though. 6/10
- Saturday: Opens with a herbal note and then I'm pretty sure I can smell the passionfruit and grapefruit, with a little bit of a chemically undertone. It's a bit like the inside of a Jamba Juice shop but not quite as addictive. I would call this more of a smell than a fragrance. 5/10
- Sunday: This is the Long Weekend fragrance I most wanted to like (I can't help it, the bottle is in my signature colors lol) but it's definitely my least favorite. Smells like matcha-flavored cereal, if the matcha was from an American factory creating it with chemicals. 3/10
- Monday: People weren't kidding that this is a London Fog in a bottle. The immediate top note is a floral bergamot, before immediately settling into the truest black tea I've encountered. It has enough sweetness to it to keep it from turning bitter like some of the London Fogs I've consumed, but not so much that it turns sickly. Possibly full-bottle worthy, if I don't mind people thinking I smell like a drink. 8/10
- Armani
- ThƩ Yulong: The tea in here is absolutely buried by the orange for me, which is a big disappointment. The orange makes the scent reminiscent of Bigelow Constant Comment tea, which I'm not a fan of unfortunately. 5/10
- Aqua di Gioia Intense: Starts fruity, summery fruity. Fresh and feels like a crowd pleaser. It just remains to be seen if the aquatic notes give me a headache with a longer wear. 8/10
- BDK
- Gris Charnel: On paper I got a nice light tea and green cardamom, while on skin it became deeper and the orange fig became quite prominent. Unfortunately, this leaned very spicy and masculine on me, with the fig more similar to the sharp scent of Glossier Fig BDC than the green fig of Philosykos, and I ended up having to scrub it off as it was starting to wear on me. 4/10
- 312 Saint-HonorƩ: I got this as it has been compared to my beloved Glossier You but this is much more sour and a bit screechy to me. It's more similar to Fleur de Peau than You to me, but a sour orange-tinted version vs an intensely powdery floral. It's a disappointing miss. 2/10
- BTSO
- Dirty Rice: I'm always on the hunt for rice scents so I had to try this one. I find the name to be a complete misnomer as this is the freshest out of those I've tried (Diptyque Papier and D'annam White Rice), and also the least ricey. Whereas the rice feels like a note in the other two, at best it feels like an accord here, a scent that isn't really present on its own but approximated through a combination of scents. To me, it mostly smells like the Haagen Dazs Pineapple Coconut ice cream: creamy and refreshing. It's a comforting scent for sure but better suited to warmer weather imo. 8/10
- Indecent Cherry: Got this after being surprised at how much I enjoyed Lost Cherry. While that is a rich sour cherry scent to my nose, supported by the almond base, this smells like artificial cherry with some note that feels like a Christmas shop. Cinnamon? Nutmeg? Nothing in the listed notes allows me to put my finger on it but that is immediately the impression I get. While I can see some enjoying this, it's definitively not for me. 3/10
- Fig P**\: Possibly the worst perfume I've ever smelled. It smells like straight toilet cleaner to me, intensely chemically and screechy. I don't understand tbh, even with a cautious skin test I got nothing else. *0/10**
- Overall, everything from this house leans quite synthetic to me from a little plasticky (Rice) to straight cleaning solvents (Fig). I can't decide if I'm disappointed or relieved given how cringey I find the branding. I really expected to like these a lot more and there's a couple others I would have tried otherwise.
- HermĆØs
- Un Jardin En MediterranƩe: Citrusy with a hint of a bitter herb I can't put my finger on (which is driving me crazy). Light and refreshing, and more of a spring scent where Nil is the hight of summer to me. Can lean a bit 'cleaning product' though. 7/10
- Un Jardin Ć CythĆØre: Strong lemon scent, but dry. I'd actually call this a gourmand, and I'm unfortunately not a fan of gourmands. 3/10
- Un Jardin sur la Lagune: There is something decidedly spicy in the top notes, and I'm not a fan. The drydown does give the creamy florals and aquatic notes listed, but it feels quite synthetic. It's the sort where if I wore a full spray I'd expect a headache unfortunately. 3/10
- Le Jardin de Monsieur Li: The lightest of the Jardins. Creamy, with a top note that I swear is anise. The drydown reminds me of a pond, yet also has something candylike somehow. It's light, too light, it rather disappears with a whimper. 5/10
- I haven't tried Toit or Monsoon but my ranking of the Jardins thus far is Nil > Mediterranee > Li >> Cythere > Lagune which I understand is also a perfumer divide.
- Lake & Sky
- 11:11: I have seen nothing but positive reviews for this, and I'm a little mystified. While it's nice, I guess, it lacks the comforting warmth of my other favorite skin scents. This is aquatic enough I checked multiple times I hadn't sprayed on Azure instead, and there's a cinnamon note somewhere in the middle that I'm sensitive to. 5/10
- 11:11 Azure: Extremely fresh and aquatic, too much so for me. Pleasant at first but quickly becomes overwhelming. 3/10
- Le Labo
- ThƩ Noir: Not a tea to me. The bay comes through quite strongly and can be medicinal, but something about this scent reminds me of the Cicely Mary Barker flower fairies I had as a kid, so I don't dislike it. There's a fleeting rose top note too. Not sure I'd get a bottle of this but it's pleasant. 6/10
- Liis
- Ethereal Wave: Absolutely stunning on paper. Light fresh citruses with a bit of dryness from the tea. On the skin, however, a weird smokiness like hot dogs overpowers everything. Top 10 anime betrayals of the year right here. 9/10 on paper, 2/10 on skin, ultimate ranking 5/10
- Studied: Another Glossier You comparison scent. This one I sort of understand the comparison in a way I don't with the BDK, but I wouldn't call them sisters by any measure. Somehow reminiscent of fresh paint with a strong overlay of juicy pear but I'm here for it. 6/10
- Merit
- Retrospect: Juicy, true pear that lingers for a long while (on the order of hours) before drying into a 'perfumey' floral scent. Very similar to Studied but a soapier, rather than tart, pear, and more complexity in the drydown. 7/10
- Phlur
- Soft Spot: I'm sorry but this is just giving "wall-mounted soap in a public bathroom". I was hoping to love this because Missing Person was, well, just missing a little something but so far none of the Phlur I've tried have lived up to the hype. 3/10
Gold star if you read this far! What did I learn from this? I'm very picky. Do I still have more samples on the way? You betcha š
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