r/fragrance

Because I'm thinking of blind buying it but i don't know if it's just another overrated fragrance.

Hi all! I've gotten into wearing sunscreen lately, not just because it's summer right now but also because I want to protect my skin overall. I'm using the Sun Bum Daily SPF 50 Sunscreen Body Lotion which I'd say has a fairly light scent. HOWEVER

Because I'm going to be using this as my body lotion year round I was wanting to find a fragrance for each season that fit with the smell of the sunscreen lotion. Thank you in advance 🫡

Edit: I was wondering if anyone knew of any fragrances I can wear in the spring, fall and winter that would go well with the sunscreen.

I am a woman in my early 20’s, and lately I’ve really liked to try and wear more masculine type fragrances when I go to work and uni. I have no issues with my identity or anything, my nose has just really liked those scents as of late. Before when I wore my feminine perfumes, I hardly got noticed. Now though that I started wearing more ‘man’ stuff ppl come up to me all the time asking about it.

Getting more compliments is nice, but when people ask what I’m wearing I feel this deep shame and embarrassment, and I usually just say that I forgot or that it was my detergent or something. The idea of admitting that I’m wearing a masculine fragrance really just sets my anxiety to 100.

Has anyone else experienced this? Does that shame ever go away or do I just have to deal with it? I still enjoy my ‘girly’ stuff and I don’t plan on only wearing masculine scents forever but it would be nice to not feel like that all the time.

EDIT: I have realized that marketing and social engineering may have had a stronger grip on my psyche than I once thought. You guys have actually been really nice about all of this so I want to say thanks. I think I’m gonna fake my confidence until I actually have it.

Hi everyone,

I refilled my Santal 33 for the first time 10 days ago in Amsterdam. The sales rep told me to wait for 5 days until it macerates, which I did.

I started using it yesterday but it barely smells like my previous bottle. It lasts less than 1 hour and even my partner says she does not notice it on my anymore.

Should I wait a few more days until the ingredients mix together, or do you think I should ask for another refill?

Thanks!

Dior sauvage is a revolutionary fragrance, sure it's very easy to over spray and it's considered an "NPC fragrance"

But let's not forget, it's a revolutionary fragrance, it got many people including me into fragrance, it shouldn't just be labeled as an NPC fragrance, I'm not saying it's the greatest but it deserves more credit and respect

I am looking to sample the lineups for Habit Rogue, L'Instant de Guerlain, and Homme Guerlain. I have looked at pretty much every major sample site, well over a dozen, looked here in Reddit, looked online, and I have not been able to find any samples for most of them, just some pricey travel sprays, and not close to all of them. Does anyone out there know someone who carries this? -Edit for clarity

I tried PDM Althair and hated it, and now currently have a bottle of its dupe (liquid brun) on my desk because I was convinced that the sample I smelled was a bad batch.

It was not

Althair smells absolutely horrid to me and I dont even detect any vanilla in there at all, it just smells like burnt oranges and cinammon sticks.

I need an actual vanilla fragrance that is mass appealing or a safe blind buy, preferrably masculine leaning

Hi everyone! , I often notice a few misunderstandings about what people call "Arab perfumes," so I thought I'd share some local perspective.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that brands like Lattafa, Armaf, Paris Corner, and similar companies represent what Gulf Arabs typically wear. While these brands are based in the UAE and have become very popular worldwide, they're mainly focused on international customers and are well known for affordable fragrances inspired by famous Western perfumes. They aren't really the fragrances most locals choose for everyday use.

The brands that have a stronger reputation within the Gulf are houses such as Amouage, OmanLuxury, Abdul Samad Al Qurashi, Arabian Oud, and other long-established regional brands. Their fragrances usually emphasize rich ingredients like natural oud, amber, saffron, frankincense, woods, spices, tobacco, and musk, creating deeper and more refined scent profiles.

Another thing many people don't realize is that perfume alone is often just one part of the routine. It's very common to apply pure oud oil or musk oil directly to the skin first, then spray fragrance over it, and finally scent the clothes with bakhoor. This layering method creates the strong projection, long-lasting performance, and distinctive scent trail that many people associate with Gulf Arabs.

So when you encounter someone from the Gulf wearing an incredible fragrance, it's usually the combination of premium raw materials and layering—not simply a single inexpensive perfume.

I'm only sharing this to provide some cultural context. If anyone wants to know more about traditional fragrance habits, ingredients, or layering techniques used in the Gulf, I'd be happy to discuss them.

Sometimes I spray perfume before going to bed. 2 nights ago I put Gucci guilty love edition edp, the newer one with matte finish. Since I shower before sleep, I use the same shirt for few nights. The last night I put Dyptique L'Eau Papier. To my surprise when I woke up, my shirt smelled like a brand new perfume (love edition is quite potent and long lasting from my experience). And I suddenly remembered it smells exactly like the decant of Armani code parfum I had a year ago.

Tried the same combo today and in the opening it's obviously not it, but it starts getting there in the drydown. Perhaps papier should be added in the drydown phase of guilty, since guilty is much more present. But it's interesting how vanilla orange blossom scent profile from guilty and rice toasted sesame seed from papier will together get you a coconut iris powder that I get from code

I’m looking for dupes that are BLIND-BUY SAFE. I’m wanting to add an Imagination and Meteore dupe to my collection. I already know about GoS and Velixir but I’m a little on the fence about those.

I recently got the ALT crystal fragrance due to asking someone irl what they were wearing. There always been a scent that i rlly like or drawn to & this fragrance is almost exactly it. The scent is kinda soap-y smelling (?) or “clean”. It’s also in the sweater weather soap from bath & body works - not the perfume as the perfume is a diff scent imo. Does anyone know what the scent could be? or are there other ways to figure it out as i’ve cross referenced diff fragrances to figure it out. i appreciate any help as i want to be able to get diff fragrances with this same smell. thank you !

Hi all! I'm trying to read more this summer. Does anyone have a favorite (nonfiction) book about perfumes or perfume history? I would also love a murder mystery 😁

Two months ago, I made a post (linked below) about cis/trans men wearing fragrances marketed to women, and vice versa.

https://www.reddit.com/r/fragrance/s/fdr7uXIRml

So many of you gave me AMAZING ideas for fragrances to ignore the gendered marketing, and I tried almost EVERY SINGLE ONE of them that I could find, including many of the vintage frags using Surrender to Chance or Fragrance Vault.

I just felt compelled to follow up now with the VERY exciting news (since I’m sure you’ve been awake nights worrying about what I decided to do 😆) that FOR ME the absolute winners, hands down, by a mile, which are now in regular rotation for me, are…

🖤CHANEL COCO NOIR🖤 and 🖤YSL BLACK OPIUM🖤

Holy Moly! These two make me personally feel so freaking good, so insanely delicious, and my whole family (all very tough critics) absolutely loves me wearing these. On a personal note - I thought I was too old to ever feel slutty again, but in very different ways, these two have basically made me feel like a fuckboy (a term that I don’t think existed when I was younger, and which I never knew could apply to a middle-aged, large, bearded, married guy. TMI?) I love it. 🤷🏻‍♂️😆

Runners up for me from your comments and suggestions have been 🧡Shalimar (all flankers, new and vintage), 🥀 Chanel No. 5 (EDP and especially Eau Premiere), and the vintage 🍃 Miss Dior … all absolutely sensational!!!

Thanks to everyone for the phenomenal recommendations!!! I had an amazing two months exploring.

I am a devout skin scent wearer but sometimes love a little something extra. My daily rotation fragrances are DedCool xtra milk, OG glossier you and Glossier You doux. Some of my other faves are JHAG Pear Inc, d&g light blue. If it’s not a skin scent, I want it to be fruity and fresh.

I was shopping at the mall yesterday and wandered into Victoria’s Secret, immediately upon entering I was like what is this DELICIOUS smell. Asked one of the women working and she pointed at their newly launched fragrance, Bare Nectar. I literally grabbed a travel size of the perfume and a body spray, bought it and walked out all within 4 minutes. It is like the perfect mix of a strong sexy skin scent with a fruity peach twist. People have compared it to Valaya by Marly. The only other VS fragrance I’ve owned is Pure Seduction. Anyway I am overjoyed because this scent is the absolute perfect summer date night fragrance. It also lasts extremely well. I sprayed it once and can still smell it on myself the next day. Has anyone else grabbed it?

i wear all of my fragrances regardless of weather and i saw a TikTok about this and it got me wondering, if i wear a “winter fragrance” during summer will i smell bad? and vice versa?

There are a lot of 80s and 90s scents out there that would still hold up today if they hadn't been reformulated into oblivion. IFRA guidelines have really neutered a lot of old classics, especially since oakmoss used to be such an integral part of men's cologne from the 1970s through the 1990s.

Are there companies out there trying to carefully recreate the proper formulations of older men's colognes so they have the same character and longevity? Not "inspired by" but "that thing only the way it was."