Hey Perfume Junkies,

I wear a lot of perfume and write about surprisingly little of it, you probably find that hard to believe?  The Sunday QuickSniff Review page is opened on Monday morning and every time I spritz and am near the computer I’ll give a 3 sentence review with a rating out of 5 each for, well, see the key after the reviews.

SMELL OF FREEDOM PART 2: OLD DELHI STATION.  I love how this scent was inspired by LUSH perfumer Simon’s journey through India to meet a Tibetan monk in exile, and this being the smell of Old Delhi station when he returned; spices, flowers and people. Glorious warm and sexy perfume but has little correlation to my memories of Old Delhi Station at any time of day. Unfortunately not available in Australia, I need to find a fragrance mule. S=**** L=**** D=****

DREAMING EdP by TOMMY HILFIGER 2007. This is a sweet, fresh scent that starts pretty and then goes to that slightly boring clean peach scent. This is very similar to but much lighter than Gwen Stefani’s L. It is saved from absolute nothingness by its lovely bottle. FragrancesAndCosmetics have 30ml for $19 S=** L=** D=**

CHANEL No 5 EdP (FAKE). This fake smells much more like my memory of Mum’s Chanel No 5 EdP than the real thing. Same opening burst of magic, wears right alongside the real deal till about 35 mins in then a glorious, urinous, skanky, sexual undertone flows through the flowers, woods and spice giving it a depth and darkness that current No 5 just can’t match. I bought it off Ebay thinking it was the real deal but this is better. S=***** L=**** D=****

L’ANTIMATIERE by ISABELLA DOYEN for LES NEZ 2006. This was sent to me by Birgit at Olfactoria’s Travels, THANK YOU! If you read my blog you’ll know that I love big brassy 80’s fragrances but this is not one and I am enjoying it immensely. No top notes; just burning off alcohol and then nothing for a minute or so and then delicately warm and sweaty, like children who have been playing at the beach, swimming, playing some more back home and as you ready them for bed at the end of a weeks wear of pyjamas there is a soft whispery, salt and sweat smell mixed with warm cuddly child and bed head. I smell great. It’s $105 for 50ml at LuckyScent which is $20 cheaper than Lez Nes site S=***** L=*** D=****

Photo Stolen from shirtsays

Scent, Obviously the number 1 priority here is how does it smell. My reviews are completely subjective and will differ widely from your own experience with the scent but it’s a good starting point. As yet I am not a trained perfumer so any and all descriptions are merely that, descriptions. There are plenty of blogs that offer technical details and chemistry, in 3 sentences I’ll pass.
Longevity, This is a biggie for me because like enfleurage where flower petals are left in fats to steal the scent, my fatty body works the same and eats it up, yum. So for a scent to last well on me, it will probably last a whole day on you and need a radioactive decontamination shower to defuse it from your skin.
Desirabilty, Wrapped up in this is scent, price, house, history, longevity, packaging, availability and a billion other things.

Photo Stolen from bittbox

* in any of these being the, “You couldn’t pay enough to spray this God awful stink on me again, it smells like public toilets in India, long time fridge malfunction while on Summer holiday and the vile stench of poverty all rolled into one.” You are putting innocent people in danger if you wear this.
** means it’s a nothing, wearable, boring, maybe the price is prohibitive for what you get or it’s ubiquitous. You should definitely get a sample of this to stop a buying boo boo.
*** is a perfectly good product that smells good and lasts a while at a decent price. You should definitely think about trying a sample or squirt but should you miss out your life will continue. Sample size worthy.
**** is the one you try, want a lot but can wait for a birthday/Christmas. It’s better than most of the stuff you’ve sniffed and may fill a void in your library. This is also an excellent decant product 5ml will get you through the season and maybe buy it next year.
***** meaning, stop reading this, grab your cash, credit card (or partners), roll the elderly or rob a petrol station and purchase this product. NOW! If you don’t have this fragrance you could die.

Hopefully this has given you a little inside track on fragrances to buy, want, avoid, sample. What did you try this week?

Portia xx