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Post by Poodle
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Hi folks! It’s Poodle again.
I wanted to love it, I did. I tried to. Sadly, White just wasn’t that into me.
White by Puredistance 2015
White by Antoine Lie
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
French may rose, Venezuelan tonka absolute, Italian orris root absolute, Mysore sandalwood, Italian bergamot, musk, Haitian vetiver, Indonesian patchouli
Sometimes I get caught up in the hype around a product. By all accounts I should love Puredistance White. It’s supposed to be almost magical. Happiness bottled is what they promised me. One sniff and I’m going to be grinning from ear to ear. That’s what the press release said. That’s what the bloggers said. It took a while for me to get a sample but finally I did. I was almost afraid to try it for fear I would fall hard and then have to figure out how to save my pennies to buy a bottle. The only reason I didn’t blind buy is the price. (I do have limits on how much I’ll spend on blind buys.) When the sample arrived I gave myself a couple of good sprays from the sample vial and then sniffed.
Hmmm…did I get an instant shot of happiness?
PDI
No. Not exactly.
A few days later I tried again. My impressions were a bit different the second time and the third time I tried it but I can tell you with certainty this one is not for me.
The first spraying was sweet. Toothache sweet. I’ve never snorted any type of white powder but each time I brought my wrist to nose I couldn’t help but think of how this must be what it’s like to do lines of confectioners sugar. I like a lot of sweet perfumes but this wasn’t working for me. It was very dry, powdery, and saccharine. I couldn’t pick out any notes. It stayed linear and sugary and either faded away or my nose just stopped registering it. My guess is my wacky skin chemistry amplified the Tonka and orris root and turned them into a powdery sweet mess.
The next try was a bit different but still not much better. I got a bit of rose which was soured by the bergamot and again dusted with a dry, confectioners sugar. This was followed by the musk which was very clean and white.
I wish I could say all the wonderful things everyone else did but it seems that White and I were just not destined to be friends. I’m not blaming the perfume at all. I’m quite sure it’s made with the best ingredients and is totally quality like other Puredistance perfumes. It’s all me. My skin can take notes in perfumes that smell horrible on others and make them magical but it also can do the exact opposite which is what I think happened here. I know the rest of the world loves this fragrance but I do suggest you try before you buy just in case.
PDI
Further reading: Non Blonde and Perfume Posse
LuckyScent has $190/17.5ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/0.25ml
Do tell, what perfume just didn’t play nicely with you?
Hugs
Poodle
Australian Perfume Junkies 
My dear Poodle. I’m so sorry that White didn’t work for you. It is my FAVORITE and it doesn’t get sweet on me at all…smooth as silk florals with a warm base. I can’t get enough of it. I also love I and Opardu and am contemplating purchases…but do I really need more perfume??! xoxoxo
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My sweet Houndy, you always need more perfume. 😉
I remember you loving this one. I wanted to. I tried. I can tame the panther pee of Opus VII but not this. Go figure.
Xoxo
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Hi Poodle, the Pure Distance perfumes didn’t sit so right with me either, I think there was something in them that got on my olfactory nerves! But…the perfume that doesn’t play nicely on me and which is unanimously loved it seems is Mohur, even the extract. Bows head in shame…scrubber.
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Puredistance M is a winner for me. I smell great with that one. I like Mohur but it isn’t love for me either. I prefer Trayee. Mohur is very rosy and can go sour on me at times. No need to bow your head in shame. We can’t all like the same ones.
Xoxo
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I adore White (and also Opardu) from Puredistance – they smell really beautiful on me!
What didn’t work on me was Tauer’s ‘Zeta’ or Jeux de Peau by Serge Lutens….. no no no!!!
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Jeux de Peau is great on me. I can see how it would be tough on some folks though.
I do like most of the other Puredistance perfumes so I thought this would work. I’ll stick with M.
Xoxo
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Hey Poodle, I had the same expectations of White as you did, but it was awful on me. I don’t remember what it did but it wasn’t good. Several friends did not like it either. Masque Milano Romanza was one I thought I would love. I had really high expectations. It was an uninteresting narcissus with no nuances at all. Very disappointing.
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Oh thank goodness I’m not the only one. I’m happy I’m not the only one.
Dull narcissus. I don’t really like dull perfumes. I’d almost rather have a scrubber. At least a scrubber makes you feel something. The uninteresting ones are depressing to me.
Xoxo
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Hey Poodle,
I haven’t tried White. Wasn’t even interested until now when I see it generating such a mix of reactions.
At least your wallet must be breathing a sigh of relief.
Portia xx
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My wallet is quite happy but you know me, I’ll find something to spend my money on. I’d be curious to know what you think of this one. It would probably be fab on you.
Xoxo
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Hi Poodle,
I hate to say it – but it is often a relief (and not a disappointment) to me when I don’t like an expensive, heavily hyped fragrance on the first try. It has to do with my wallet, of, course, but there is something else going on there too. I’m such a glutton, though, that I have to try what I don’t like again and again, hoping for a better outcome.
For years Shalimar did nothing for me but lately I like it more and more. Maybe this change is a factor of age or perhaps because I’ve switched to the cologne which has more of a bite on me than the parfum. ?
Azar xx
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I like not liking perfumes for monetary reasons too but I also love to swoon. I wanted to swoon over this like other people did.
I’ve always loved Shalimar for sentimental reasons. Chanel No 5 was one it took me a while to warm up to. I understand completely.
Xoxo
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Hi Poodle!
I was gifted a gorgeous Puredistance “master perfume” set presented in a sleek white box and lined in pristine poofy white satin. I absolutely KNEW that I would love White, so that was first outta the box.
Well. I got a … smell … but never in a million years could I have told you what the notes are. I kept at it during the one time I tested, you know how you can keep sniffing WAITING for the magic to arise from your skin, but I wasn’t interested at any point, really. I’m definitely going to give it another go or two – maybe a spritz on hair or clothes will ignite it? Sounds like you’ve given it a good run, and it ain’t for you. Next!
Holly xo
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Trying it in different weather might help. What a nice thing to be gifted! If you don’t like White hopefully there’s another one or two that you do like in the set.
Xoxo
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Hi Poodle – sorry to hear you didn’t like White but oh well there are plenty of perfumes out there and hey you saved a LOT of money on that one! I loved it and am now getting the dregs out of my samples. As to those I don’t like – TSH wrote about some the other day – the rock n’roll brand that escapes me right now (I had to look it up it’s Room 1015). None worked for me, really awful chemical smell on my skin. I actually sprayed one of them on someone else because they smelled so bad on me, but they were fine on her. Perfume plays in mysterious ways. I don’t like Chanel No 5 that much but am keen to try the new flanker. XX to you.
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I haven’t tried that brand but I know that chemical smell you mean. I’ve had that happen with other scents. People who don’t believe in skin chemistry should sniff my arm sometime. Lol.
I was sniffing Eau Premiere at Sephora earlier and I like it. There’s another new flanker isn’t there? I haven’t seen it yet. I’d like to try it too.
Xoxo
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Tocade, which many people seem to love, smells like scented nail polish remover on me. Totally chemical , not even a salvageable dry down. 😦
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I agree! Nothing good there for me either. I’ve never understood the love for Tocade until I asked someone what she was wearing and that was her reply. On her it was very nice.
Xoxo
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We must be skin twins. As much as I love M and Opardu and like all the others, White was not quite a scrubber but very much too sweet for me.
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Yup, scent twins. M is magical to me. Love it. I’m sorry White didn’t work for you either but I’m happy I’m not alone.
Xoxo
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Hey Poodle… White built up the very same expectations for me, wow! A perfume that makes one grin happily and stupidly, how cool is that? Sadly it was a like for me, not a love and so I passed on it. I think I set my own personal bar quite high now, looking at the shelves of bottles in my cupboard a new scent has to really speak to me to go into the “buy” column, because it’s not as if I have NOTHING else to wear! As for expectations shattered, a few of the Nasomatto’s have been that way, too cerebral for me. And curiously their Nuda is one of my all time favorite jasmine! As my mom used to say, “Go know..” Jewish moms…god love ’em!
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I’ve gotten a bit fussier on what I’ll buy now too. I do succumb to the blind buy at times I must admit but not nearly as much as I used to.
Nuda is one of the Nasomatto’s that I like too.
Don’t you just wish White lived up to the ad copy? I do. I wanted to smile too. Why do we let ourselves get sucked in by those promises?
Xoxo
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I don’t care for any of the PD perfumes I have tried on me. I wanted to. They just have no character on my skin, despite being seamlessly made. I had Antonia (the 15ml bottle) but gave it away. Something about it really disturbed me. I don’t get sucked into any of the bullshit blurb because I live by the motto “Don’t believe a thing they say. Neither notes nor promises. Ever.” I have not given White a go but most certainly will when I come across it – how could I not? Bussis. xxxxx
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I know what you mean. Trust no one, especially not perfume ad copy.
They are seamless and that’s probably exactly why you don’t care for them. I think you like a bit more going on in your perfumes. Not necessarily a challenge but a definite journey of sorts. No boring cookies. No boring perfumes.
Xoxo
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Hi Poodle, I’ve never tried any of the Puredistance perfumes although I’d like to, of course. It’s just that there is other stuff around that interests me much more…
As for the perfumes that are not working with me…well, I must say that some of the Tauers I have tried so far develop a certain gasoline smell on my skin and I’m not really into it.
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The Tauer’s seem to be popular for either working really well or not at all. I have some I love but some do not love me.
There are so many perfumes out there. Good for us I think. It’s not quite so bad when you come across one that doesn’t work. There are plenty of others out there.
Xoxo
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Francois Demachy’s version of Diorissimo, the eau de parfum, did not work well for me. The opening was great but the drydown became nasty and urinous. Burberry Brit Sheer was the opposite: horrible sour opening on my skin, but the drydown was quite nice an hour later. Life is too short for me to wear either!
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I really like White. “Like” as in actually contemplate buying a bottle. It doesn’t go too sweet on me, but I’m known for not smelling some sweet ingredients in perfumes. This is the second Puredistance perfume that works for me (the first one is Antonia), and I will be happily wearing it once I get it into my collection. But I know exactly what you mean because similar to what you described, I tried to like Puredistance I. After reading so many favorable reviews, I kept coming back to it hoping that I’ll finally get it. Nope. It doesn’t work for me. I could have probably worn it if I had absolutely nothing else to wear but it would never be my first-second-even-tenth choice.
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