u/moods-

Very excited to be at Level 2, finally. I have been prioritizing Dreaming Spanish (and I’m almost at Level 5 there!) but enjoy both equally.

A breakdown of the input:
- ~19 hours of French Comprehensible Input (lots of rewatching beginner videos)
- ~10 hours of Immersion
- ~20 hours of Dreaming French
- A single 2 minute Alice Ayel video (not because her content isn’t good! Just because I’ve been focused on the others)

No podcasts yet for me though I listen to Radio France a lot when I’m working and wish there was an equivalent for Spanish and English (I feel like Radio France has NPR vibes if that makes sense). I don’t count any of it towards input, I just like listening to French speakers🫣

I recently tried samples from four houses, plus a sample from Thin Wild Mercury I had but never tried for some reason.

Ratings:
⭐️= One and done.
⭐️⭐️= Liked it and will continue to wear the sample till it’s gone, but likely won’t buy a full bottle
⭐️⭐️⭐️= Obsessed, would totally buy a full bottle, or this fragrance has become my new personality

Thin Wild Mercury
- Laurel Canyon 1966: This is the perfume I picture Daisy Jones from Daisy Jones & The Six wearing. A note of cannabis that isn’t unpleasant for me⭐️⭐️⭐️

Xerjoff
- Accento: Smells quite masculine to me, are the flowers and the fruit in the room with us?? That said, I think I’d love this scent on a man. ⭐️
- Alexandria II: It smells like that pink soap you find in every public restroom. It’s very highly rated though, so perhaps there’s something wrong with my nose or skin. ⭐️
- Renaissance: like it, but will happily just wear the rest of the sample, but not a scent I typically go for⭐️⭐️
- Naxos: My second time getting this sample. I’ve reviewed it before. ⭐️⭐️

Byredo
- Mojave Ghost: supposed to be floral, but smells like fresh pears on me. I personally love it and would wear it all summer. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Biblioteque: smells like your sticky hands and fingers after eating a very ripe and in season plum 😋 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Blanche: The aldehydes ruin this one for me, which is a shame because Blanche is my favorite character on Golden Girls 👵🏻 Smells like bubble solution. ⭐️
- Bal D’Afrique: I’m in love with everything about this one! Strong, commanding, but not overpowering. I want to wear this on the first day I wear a sweater in the fall⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Gypsy Water: Had the same effect on me as Juliet Has a Gun’s Not a Perfume. Could not smell it at all on me. ⭐️
- Rose of No Man’s Land: A rose by any other name…I like rose, just don’t think I need a thousand rose perfumes ⭐️

DS&Durga:
- Amber Kiso: It has this note that reminds me of Nostos by Etat Libre D’Orange, that smells like a sterilized Band-Aid. I *think* this is the frankincense. Still, I love it! ⭐️⭐️
- Black Magenta: Spicy fruit draws me in every time! ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Big Sur Eucalyptus. LOVE! If you’ve tried Pineward’s Coastal Veil, they’re pretty much identical. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Jasmin Yucatán: This one reminds me SO much of a Replica fragrance but I couldn’t determine which one. I wanna wear this all summer long! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Creed:
- Carmina: in October 2024 I went on a hike in Snoqualmie Falls near Seattle with a group of strangers. I walked behind a woman wearing Carmina and loved the scent, but didn’t think to ask what it was until we were ready to leave the park. I still associate my memory of that hike with Carmina, and am excited I finally got to try it as a sample! Carmina is floral in nature, but she’s dark and sexy too ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (I know Pineward has a perfume called Snoqualmie too! It’s on my list)
- Love in Black: Leather. Presumably what Jess from Gilmore Girls smells like. I love leather, but prefer Imaginary Authors Slow Explosions or Memo’s take on leather scents (African Leather, Irish Leather, Sicilian Leather, etc)⭐️⭐️
- Royal Oud: I love it. I smell like my mom. I’d happily buy a full bottle. Such a perfect marriage of a wide variety of notes. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I did some analysis on these samples because I’m a huge nerd. Of the highest rated samples:
- Most liked fragrance family: Woody-Spicy
- Most common notes: Cardamom, musk, patchouli, vetiver

I’m adding an inventory of my perfumes because I genuinely want to know what I like (and I just love data). I just realized tonight that 3 of my top fragrances come from the same perfumer/nose:

Mathilde Bijaoui!

- BDK’s Gris Charnel
- ELDO Spice Must Flow
- ELDO Frustration

This makes me so happy!

Also, if you’re curious, two other things I’m discovering:

- Cardamom is one of my favorite notes
- Ambroxan does nothing for me

They’re all actors!