r/fragrance

I’m not talking about those that you just can’t understand the hype, but are still generally pleasant scents. I’m talking about those that actually smell bad to your nose.

My two are Silver Mountain Water and 40 Knots. The former smells so inky and metallic to me. I have no idea how it is supposed to evoke the Alps. The latter smells like baby wipes. For whatever reason, any marine character is lost upon me.

I know blind buying is irresponsible. I know I should sample first. I know all of this. But holy shit, I don’t think anything in this hobby compares to ordering a fragrance you’ve never smelled, obsessively checking the tracking for a few days, finally getting the package, and taking that first spray. It’s gotten to the point where I’m starting to think I’m not even addicted to fragrances, I’m addicted to the fucking anticipation of finding out what I bought lol. Please tell me I’m not alone. Is anyone else genuinely addicted to blind buying?

Im waiting for my full bottles of PDM Pegasus and Valentino Uomo Coral Fantasy as we speak lol.

I love John Early and Marissa Zappas so I had to buy for the novelty but it’s an amazing scent!! Rice notes are my absolute jam (white rice by d’Annam is my all time favorite). Maddie’s secret is incredibly wearable, slightly gourmand. I get the rice/chocolatey note heaviest at first and then the dry down shows more of the saffron/spicy/jasmine notes. Tbh I think initially it is quite similar to Glossier You Soie, which I also own and love and blind bought bc of the rice notes 😅 overall 9.5/10!!!! Curious if anyone else has bought / tried? The reviews I’ve read are such a mixed reaction to the notes I’m curious.

I had the privilege of attending a Maison Francis Kurkdjian (MFK) event at Nordstrom recently. They put on a wonderful event. It was at this event where I fell in love with the 724 fragrance and OUD Satin Mood fragrance.

Thank you Nordstrom and the MFK team!

Have any of you attended one of these classes in the past?

I finally fell for the hype, and I guess, I set my expectations way too high. To my nose, Khamrah smells exactly like every cheap autumn candle you come across.

There is also a slightly medicinal undertone in the opening that I really don't like. it’s not an awful fragrance; it is well-balanced, very wearable, and for the price you're getting a good deal.

It just isn't the groundbreaking, modern masterpiece the internet claims it is. The silver lining is that it smells nothing like the other sweet-spicy fragrances in my collection, so it at least adds something different to my shelf. I’ll probably end up layering it with something make it more interesting.

Been trying some new things in terms of layering. What are some of your favorite go to layering combinations? Right now my go to layer is Bois Imperial and Byredo Bal D’Afrique.

Urgent question!

Hi, guys! Urgent question!
Where could I buy Robert Piguet's Fracas in person in Cologne or Berlin?
A friend of mine is only staying for a few days in these cities, so a quick answer would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I HATED the perfume when I first got it two months ago but now that I smell it again today it is warm and pleasant, it doesn't smell like bathroom spray anymore.
Is this truly just a perception issue or is it possible something changed in the formula over time?

Thanks friends <3

Posted this on the daily thread already and have received mods’ permission to post here.

I'm on an if you-like-this-house-you'll-love-that-house hunt! Did a bit of a deep dive comparing houses to my fave, Serge Lutens. Which of these would you put in the same league?
Are any of these genuinely comparable to SL, for instance in price, independence, strength of creative direction or scent profiles? And are there any you really wouldn't consider on their level in any sense?

Amouage
Andy Tauer / Tauer Perfumes
Etat Libre d'Orange
Frederic Malle
Keiko Mecheri
Maison Francis Kurkdjian
Nicolaï Parfumeur-Créateur
Nishane
Parfums d'Empire

Removed Escentric Molecules from list based on the great comment I received on the daily thread, I’ve posted it below for reference, thanks u/hyperfocus1567

I saw another thread asking about black Friday sales here in August and it made me wonder, what fragrances is everyone actively plotting to add to your arsenal? Maybe something you've been thinking about for a long time or maybe the latest obsession... something you've already smelled and you KNOW its a safe bet, a fire selection. For me it's mostly more decants but I do want a full bottle of D&G The One EDP (in the gradient bottle) and I know its gotta go on sale so I'm holding out. That's my surefire hit for fall/winter

So I’ve had a new experience today. Went to grab an almost full bottle of The Noir I haven’t worn all summer and the first couple of sprays were pure alcohol. No scent really, maybe a little floral but nothing like the true scent.

I grabbed an old t shirt and sprayed it 10 or so times to really soak it, thinking maybe the bottle had turned in the 6 months I hadn’t used it. Same thing, fabric was basically saturated in slightly floral smelling vodka. Even after 10 minutes.

Pissed off I threw the bottle in a cupboard, thinking it was screwed when I noticed the smell coming off my arm had changed a bit and was getting stronger.

This ever happened to you guys? Do perfumes that have sat for a while need “waking up” or has my bottle just not fully turned and behaving weird?

This is just a PSA to let you know that it does happen, and there are people going as far as refilling a real bottle with fake juice, putting it in a real box, and sealing it in plastic so that visually and physically everything is right.

Details:
I ordered a 100ml of Black Orchid from Jomashop (first time grey market buying) and the juice itself was the give away. Didn’t have the trademark truffle scent in the opening. The smell is reminiscent of Black Orchid but not the same.

Unfortunately I can’t do anything about it because I had ordered it to my mom’s house since Jomashop either wouldn’t ship to me or that would make the shipping more expensive. My mom already had plans to visit so I figured it would be a win if she just brought it. Well, it was my fault for not examining the return policy, because the timing of everything made it so that I wasn’t in the return window.

I know the majority of their stocks are real and I just had bad luck but, I don’t think I’ll buy grey market again because I don’t want to deal with the hassle. Good luck out there 🙏

EDIT:
I should have provided more information so here are the specific reasons why I’ve concluded it’s fake.

Ultimately smell is subjective so I guess everyone would have to take my word for it (trust me bro), but I spent a lot of time deliberating on it before my conclusion.
I have a strong sense of smell. I am a massage therapist and wear a mask— partially because it makes it easier if I don’t have to smell people’s breath and body odors. I also have better than 20/20 vision and am a detail-oriented person.

1. The matching batch codes on box and bottle were for June 2025 so it’s not an older formulation.
2. Subjectively it didn’t feel right. I know what Black Orchid is supposed to smell like. The opening has always been slightly off-putting but addicting

. I only

1. got into perfume

a year ago so it’s been all I’ve known

1. . This bottle doesn’t have that.
2. Almost every dupe I’ve tried I could tell it wasn’t as well blended or refined, and also makes me queasy pretty fast. This bottle does that to me.
3. I went in person to compare. Someone said I should get second opinions so I will, because I feel committed to proving that it’s fake.

In a different scenario I got an iPad screen repaired and was dumb and assumed that I was getting an OEM screen but it was aftermarket because it was a random repair guy. The new screen hurt my eyes and was just off.
I went back to the guy and he and another customer in the store said they didn’t see anything wrong with it.
I asked two friends to use it and see if it caused any side effects and they said no after 10 mins (it took less than 5 mins for me to feel off from using it, but visually it looked off right away)
I went to an actual Apple store and Best Buy and they both agreed that the screen gave them a weird feeling and also looked bad.

I guess I’m just sharing this to show an example of picking up on details that not everyone else does.

EDIT2:

If there is anything specific you’d suggest I do to prove that it’s fake let me know !

Hey i'm currently in a quest to try a few church fragrance samples but I can't get a hand on a french/european website that gives a large amount of choice for more niche perfume I currently use nose paris but i'm willing to get a hold of more website to get all the samples I want i'd gladly get some recommendation that are safe to buy 🙏

I've just started to get into fragrance, as I was never really interested in buying perfumes until I got a discovery set from Heretic. Now, I'm noticing that I'm have a very strong reaction to a specific perfume note, and I can't figure out what it is.

I noticed it when I tried Heretic's Beekeeper. To me, it smells like unwashed human body, dirty dog, or roadkill. It is a very clear, unwashed, decay-like scent. I love honey, but I washed Beekeeper off within 10 minutes. My husband had no issue with it.

Then, I noticed a similar note in Heretic's Spectral Grace. It didn't show up at first, but as I wore it through the night, I started to smell that same decay smell. Again, husband said he didn't notice it or think it was bad.

Finally, I started to get really curious when I smelled a friend's X Nick Jonas Red by John Varvatos. It had the same smell!!

I looked up the notes to try to figure it out. At first I thought it was labdanum or vetiver, which the JVxNJ and Beekeeper share. However, no labdanum or vetiver in Spectral Grace. Heretic themselves list ambergris as a note in Spectral Grace, so maybe that is giving something similar?

I really don't know enough about perfume notes to speculate, but I'd like to get to the bottom of it. I would love to love Beekeeper-- it is really rich and warm. Spectral Grace is also a lovely, ethereal lily smell that I think is beautiful. But, I can't get past that decay smell. I think my main hang up is that I'm worried other people will think I smell like a dead animal. If I could identify it or if I knew other people appreciated it, I might be able to get over the mental block.

Does anyone else pick up these notes in similar scents? Or know what might be the culprit?

Edit: Forgot to mention that I love Heretic's Nosferatu. I purchased a full size. Guess what notes it lists? Ambergris and labdanum. Go figure.

TLDR: my favorite perfume now reminds me of a period of depression and doesn’t “feel right” to still wear even though it’s still my favorite from a scent perspective. Any experience with this??

My favorite perfume is 11 11 by lake & Skye. It feels like “me” from a scent profile perspective - clean, airy, unisex, white amber/ musk, skin scent, ozonic, I love that all. However, I’ve been going through a multi year depression that I’m recently getting out of. I stopped wearing 11 11 for the past 6 months or so? Partially due to migraine problems but also just switching it up to Persian garden kuumba made (real different I know). Even though I still love and feel connected with this perfume, I am realizing that I’m having a “scent memory” response to it and it’s making me feel like a sense of tensing up and melancholy. I feel like wearing it “brings” me back on a body/ emotional body level, if even just slightly and may not encourage this healthier “new version” of me. Im sad because I love it so much scent wise but i think I need something new for this next phase of life 😔. Has anyone experienced this before?

Seriously it feels like every time someone posts their collection or even just mentions owning more than a handful of bottles the comments immediately flock to asking if they even use all of them or if they have a problem. Like can we just appreciate the hobby for what it is. If someone enjoys collecting fragrances and has the means to do it why is it anyone else's business how many bottles they own. It's not like we're shaming stamp collectors for having too many stamps. Let people enjoy things. This community is supposed to be about passion not gatekeeping.

I’ve been wondering how common it is for people to wear fragrance as part of their everyday routine. Do you put on a fragrance every morning regardless of whether you’re going to work, going out, or just staying home by yourself? Or do you mainly save your fragrances for special occasions and when you’re around other people?

I’m also curious if wearing fragrance every day has become more of a habit or part of your personal routine for you.