Saturday Question: Which Cheapy Perfume Do You Wear Often?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

Every Saturday we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
This week:

  1. Montale Aoud Amber Rose
  2. Vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC
  3. INeKE Chemical Bonding
  4. Vintage Arpege EdT
  5. Estes Lauder Bronze Goddess

Last Weeks Winner:

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with your address please

Saturday Question: Which Cheapy Perfume Do You Wear Often?

Here is a twist on the eternal budget frag question. We all have them in our collections. Couldn’t help myself because it was so cheap. Maybe you bought it on 50%+ discount or there are the inevitable celebuscents and drug store faves. Maybe it is a few years old and has lost its in store lustre, it was a tester sale or a shop went out of business. Whatever the reason, however it came to your collection, most of them end up at the back of the wardrobe, unmixed, unloved and unused.

So today I want to know which ones were winners? Which get used often and are part of your regular rotation?

My Answer:

OK I have a few but I’m only going to talk about 3.

Truth or Dare Madonna

OK, before you all start getting bitchy about how this one is NOT cheap anymore. I know. When I was buying them though they were rock bottom cheap. I think I was getting the set with 75ml & 10ml fragrance, 75ml each of lotion and shower gel for about US$22 + Shipping. They were seriously bargain and I bought a bunch. I gave all the 10ml away to friends & frag heads and am slowly making my way through the rest. The lotion is my go-to if I’m wearing anything with a white floral in it. White flowers with a softly musky vanilla base. Smells great with excellent longevity and projection.

Lolita Lempicka EdP

Yes, I bang on about this little lovely a lot. It’s the most comfortable of the gourmands inspired by Mugler Angel. All the fun but none of the OTT headache inducing overload. Violets, liquorice and spun sugar over praline & tonka. Smells wonderful on the guys and girls, fizzing away softly until you cuddle up and then serious fireworks. I reach for Lolita Lempicka at least fortnightly. It seems to fit so many moods and events, never feels too much or little, manages to fly under the radar but is always there if you need scented reassurance. Let’s not forget the fabulous bottle too, so fun to spritz the poisoned apple. Available at places like FragranceNet 100ml under AUD$40.

Guerlain L’Homme Ideal Cologne

26+ years ago, just before the Angel revolution, this would have been a new Guerlain pillar fragrance for women and it would have been hailed as a masterstroke, recreating the colognes of summer with a modern Guerlain foody edge. Had it included cheaper elements or been created by a lesser perfumer it could easily have been a celbuscent by the likes of Taylor swift or SJP. What we got though is a wonderful modern cologne that gives definite nods to Guerlain’s past and 21st century perfumery. Citrus, almonds, white flowers and a slightly green tinged musky base. All in impeccably precise proportions and on my skin utterly delicious. Not too far a walk from Mon Guerlain, L’Art et la Matiere or the Aqua Allegoria lines yet standing alone as my L’Homme Ideal of choice. I scored my 50ml FragranceNet bottle around AUD$30 + Shipping.

My Saturday Question to you is:

Which Cheapy Perfume Do You Wear Often?

 

131 thoughts on “Saturday Question: Which Cheapy Perfume Do You Wear Often?”

  1. All of my indie oils are very reasonably priced, but the cheapest are my $12 bottles from Alkemia. They are lovely oils. I am now wearing Les Mysteres, a concoction of bkack figsm frank and amber. Mmm!

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  2. I prefer to consider “cheapies” only the fragrances whose initial, catalogue price is lower than 20 euros or so.
    With this in mind, I very often wear the fabulous colognes of Comptoir Cologne (around 11 euros in French super markets or parapharmacies!), the unbelievable body splash Persephone by Greek natural product brand Fresh Line (under 17 euros), and Roger & Gallet Fleur De Figuier and Bois d’Orange (under 20 euros).
    If I were to include purchases of full bottles in discounted prices, considering how many I find on beauteprivee.fr and similar sites, I’d have to mention some of my favorite recent acquisitions like Caron’s Nocturnes and Pour Une Femme (both under 15 euros, found in a site specializing in miniatures, but also carries a few full-size bottles), Galliano’s Parlez Moi D’Amour EDP (16 euros), as well as 3 fragrances I wear really often: personal favorite Ungaro Diva (under 30 euros), Cabotine by Grès (under 20 euros), Fath de Fath by Jacques Fath (under 20 euros).
    I’m sure I’ll think of several more later! 🙂

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    • Interesting thoughts Despina.
      Love that you have found some initial cheapie as well as the discounted ones. Good shopping.
      Portia x

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  3. I bought a 5 ml bottle of Australian santalum album for about 40$ and it’s superb I smear it under my favourite sandal TF santalum blush and it’s divine but prob not budget in the scheme of things

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  4. My favorite cheapie (found at TJ Maxx years ago for a song) is SJP Covet. Probably one of my top 10 full bottles. My husband loves it on me which is a bonus. I also have a lovely bottle of Barbara Bui that I got for a song, it gets quite a few wears when I’m not on a “use up my samples” rampage.

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    • I was quite ‘late’ to the Covet appreciation society, and only acquired a bottle during 2017. I’ve found it very good on my skin from a longevity point of view. As for the smell, I have a hate/ love affair with it and I really have to be in the mood for it…
      Hubby describes it as cat pee ,so I wear it when he isn’t around.

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    • And to think that I’ve only recently discovered this little gem! There was a bell ringing in my head the first time I wore it, so similar to something else, and then I thought of it. Ego Facto Poopoo Pidoo. The notes don’t read as similar at all, but wearing it on skin tells an altogether different story.

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    • what?????????????? Many cheap perfumes I know far surpass the expensive ones I have smelled. It seems like you are an ideal client for overpriced brands with no quality

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    • Yes, please do enlighten us Camilla – I’d dearly love to know what you consider “nasty”. I’ve tried samples of perfumes that sell for several hundreds of dollars for as little as a 30ml bottle, and they’ve been absolute rubbish, and cheap ones that have been divine. Money doesn’t guarantee quality. Just sayin’.

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  6. We don’t have any real and reliable discounters here. I have a mini of Y. Rocher Voile d’ambre in my desk drawer at work. Not as cheap as in other countries, but still on the cheaper side. I also find Korres perfumes cheap compared to the quality. I use my Korres White Tea, Bergamot and Freesia perfume a lot in the warmer months. Now Douglas is in the market here, the 4711 classic cologne is also possible to find at a fair price. However, I have only bought the shower gel so far.

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  8. Easily my favourite “cheapie” perfume is Molinard Habanita. I purchased my bottle for $26, and it has the quality and longevity of perfumes I’ve spend ten times for. I adore vintage fragrances and love the history. Although this is a reformulation, and I’ve never sniffed vintage Habanita, this version feels very classic and vintage to me. I have a bottle of Roja Dove Creation Enslaved which I love and smells very close to Habanita.

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    • Great suggestion for enriching my collection, Kathleen!
      However I haven’t found it at such a low price – YET!
      I’ve actually smelled vintage Habanita at a book presentation accompanied by an olfactory testing of all the classics included, and loved it so!
      I’ve never tried the modern reformulations though.
      I’d like to hear the comparative opinion of someone who has tried it in its original glory, and the modern reformulation.

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      • Envy! I’d love to smell vintage Habanita! I’m guessing you and Saffyishere perhaps don’t live in the US? Habanita is available on discount fragrance sites such as Fragrancenet.com for about $26-28. The lotion is gorgeous and similarly priced.

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      • Indeed Kathleen I live in France and in Greece 🙂
        Habanita is rather hard to find in Paris (only in few physical shops, more often online), which is astonishing considering it’s an icon of French perfumery.
        As for its price, I’ve seen it on a small discount on Amazon, but from Molinard’s site it costs approximately 48 Euros/30ml, 94 Euros/75ml!
        Vintage Habanita was wild, idiosyncratic and so sensual – I tried 100 vintage perfumes that day, and it managed to stand out beautifully.

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  9. I’m fickle, so even the cheapies I really like go through phases of use, then sit idle for a while! Some faves are: Vicky Tiel Sirene, Gres Cabaret, Adam Levine for Her, Jessica McClintock. SJP Stash, Salvador Dali (in the black bottle), Madonna Truth or Dare Naked, Marilyn Miglin Pheromone.

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  10. I second Lolita Lempica, but prefer the Midnight version, as it is more and deeper without being sweeter. I spray at night for sweet dreams. Favorite that I wear all the time is Natori, it’s deep red roses and plums, a spicy chypre,with peony, jasmine,yland-ylang, amber, musk, Paatchouli, vanilla, sandalwood, vintage-y. Some say it dries down similar to ARMANI’S Cuir Amethyst. A large spray runs about $45.

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    • Yes! Yatagan has the absolute best ratio between cost and performance in my collection. I love to wear it and I give decants as gifts to male friends whenever the opportunity arises. It’s truly a well crafted and unique scent. It goes head to head with Bertrand Duchaufour works like Timbuktu.

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  13. I guess that Dune could be considered a “cheap” fragrance…I started wearing it when it first came out in the early ’90’s, and I still wear it..It’s just right for me since I no longer like sweet ones and prefer those that are dry…You can even buy it in the drugstore! So far it hasn’t’ shown up at Walmart…

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    • Me, too! I went through so many bottles of this when I was young and I still keep a bottle. Do you remember when they were also doing other solo fleurs? I had a jasmine, too. I am glad the rose is still available.

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  15. I don’t buy perfumes from this category and, similar to what Old Herbaceous said above, whatever perfumes I have, I do not wear too often. So the closest one that fits this question is probably SJP Stash that I got on a good sale.

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    • Hmm. I’ve never tried anything of JLo’s other than Deseo, which was a recent try. I should rectify that before hers are discontinued.

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  18. Eternity Moment has been in my collection for years, with bottles replaced a few times. Now, strictly speaking I haven’t worn it in a while, but it is definitely my cheapest perfume buy. The most worn from the cheaper end of the market is Stash. I better not say this too loud but this smells like something that’s three times its price.🙊 I also like Truth or Dare, and its flanker Naked. They’re still cheap as chips in this part of the world.

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  19. Kiehl’s Original Musk but others I would wear, if they are within easy reach (they are in storage), include grey flannel and old spice.

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  20. Mmm…. for me there are unashamedly quite a few!
    I am a proud user of Lovely-SJP, Diamonds and Emeralds-Elizabeth Taylor, Tabu-Dana, Mor roll on collection, a range of hippy Indian oils, a range of glorious Evocative Perfume oils, cheap in price but not quality.
    And I could go on …..

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      • I know what you mean…they are gone from the shelves. I have bought myself Elizabeth Taylor’s Gardenia in a thrift shop in the States but we don’t have thrift shops around here so I can only buy expensive stuff on ebay.

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  21. Covet and Stash by SJP are the ones which spring to mind immediately. Oh and I once picked up a BARGAIN when I found and bought a 100ml bottle of L’ Occitaine Cherry Blossom at an op shop for $8. There was possibly 5 mls which had been used. I will be buying another bottle in Spring

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  22. I just picked up a small bottle of Philosophy Pure Grace Nude Rose and it’s very nice! I loved SHO Lovely too. Lots of wonderful bargains out there

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  23. Goodness you make that Guerlain sound good. I will try it. My fave at the mo is D&G Light Blue. Got a little bottle for $40. I’m wearing it often this hot summer including today, waiting for an interstate coach to take me home. Not complex, but breezy and refreshing. I think of it as a hard working fragrance; its citrusy edge cuts through the fug of a hot day for hours and hours.

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  24. Maroussia by Slavia Zaitsev – for under $20 at chemists everywhere, it’s a pseudo-vintage gem. It is an intense old-school floral oriental with a sultry woody/amber base. It will make you smell like a 1940s black-and-white movie villainess, complete with fur stole and diamonds. Vintage lovers should definitely check out this cheapy.

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    • I’ve never heard about this fragrance. After reading reviews, it sounds like a fragrance I would love and need to sniff. Thanks for introducing!

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      • Oh, yes!! A winter favourite! I forget all about this one. My mum has some in her cupboard, unopened from the early 90s. Thanks for reminding me of it. I need to find mine now.

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    • It seems such a long time ago that I introduced a uni friend to Maroussia. It suited her so much. Your post brought back memories of her delighted smile when I spritzed her.

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  25. I wear Love2Love Fresh Rose + Peach edt, which is a cheapie that was produced for discount stores and I picked up at Wal-Mart for $5/100 ml. It was formulated by Calice Becker! I find it great for weekend and running errands.

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  26. I love the Laurence Dumont Vanille collection – so many cheap and cheerful lovelies! I’ve also found several beautiful scents from Zara – great for casual use.

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  27. I love a bargain and always feel happy when I find something really good under $50. So I would include Lolita Lempicka too, and Natori, and Al Rehab Choco Musk, my latest fixation.

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  29. Revlon’s Charlie, the Blue one, only about £6 in chemist stores, and brings back all the memories of wearing it in my teens.Still smells good to me as well.

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    • I still buy Charlie Gold myself, although I use it as a room/home fragrance.
      At the price of 3 euros for the 100ml bottle, one can afford it very easily.

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  30. Where do I start!? I love a good cheapie!

    I have all three SJPs – Covet is my fave, followed by Lovely and then Stash. I haven’t tried the New York one yet.

    Laurence Dumont: I love the vanillas they are great for layering – I have at least 6 of those.

    Monotheme: these are pretty cheap and not especially outstanding but I use them before bed as they are very comforting

    Meharees! I love this stuff and only $50 shipped to Australia. So happy. I need more of the L’arborario range (don’t know if I spelled that right!).

    Lady Gaga Eau de Gaga – so fresh and simple and not what you’d expect.

    Calvin Klein: I have Eternity but I like most of them for the 90’s memories.

    Joop Le Bain – a recent discovery and I can’t get enough. So plush!

    Tresori Oriente: currently waiting on three of these to arrive in the post. $55 for 3x 100ml and most of that cost was the shipping. I looove the vanilla ginger one and I bought muscho Bianco and Mirra (myrrh) unsniffed.

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  31. I’ve been dousing myself in Acque di Parma Essenza for days now, as most of my collection is packed away.All my AdPs were bought on sale; I think this one cost me $20 or so.

    Similarly my Hermes Concentre d’Orange Verte gets a lot of love in summer and was also $20 on sale.

    When the weather gets cooler, Cuir Ottoman gets a run; $15 on sale.

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  32. I am going to leave out two because they are the focus of some upcoming posts. Some others are pretty much all that have been mentioned by you other awesome souls! Beauty by Calvin Klein is a fab stand by and I adore both Queen Latifah’s scents. Ohhhh, Kokorico by JPG gets a bit of love too. But the cheapest bargain I’ve ever bought must be Armani’s Code Luna. I got a 50ml bottle for $10 at a chemist changing management. They were clearing out old stock.

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  33. I have some gorgeous, nameless attars that I bought at a bazaar in India some years ago. Rose, sandalwood and one called lotus lily or something equivalent. i don’t wear them often- I get all silly, sentimental, & maudlin.

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    • Jyotsna, what a marvellous little stash of goodies you have! I bet any money one cannot buy thatcqyality of oil any more. Given that you bought them in India, I think it perfectly normal you have an emotional attachment to them. I am sure they smell utterly divine and unique. Xx

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  34. Hiding my face behind a towel as I say this, but I have always had this thing and obsession for the smell of Brut Faberge edt (for men) the original one that was around since the 60s? So that is my cheapie which I still spray on liberally when not going out, and I have yet to find a higher price brand that smells exactly like that one. Any suggestions welcome! I think it reminds me of the dates I used to go with who were all wearing that during that era. Different times then and we led simpler lives with simpler fragrances.

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    • No shame at all. It was omnipresent when I was a youngster and it was the only fragrance my hubby owned when I first met him at 14, and he was 16. He has broadened his horizons since then. I remember the lovely bottle it came in, dark green glass with a little silver necklace-style medallion. I must give it a sniff again if I ever see it on my travels.

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      • Still able to get the dark green bottle w the silver logo around its neck, that is the only one I will buy as it retains much of the original scent from the 60s! The deodorants are so reformulated and different. I had to order the dark green bottle online from USA or India if I wanted the ones with the silver medallion hanging. The USA ones were made in Mexico. Great scent.

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    • Incredible to learn Habanita is difficult to find in Paris and more expensive in Europe than the US. But you are in France! I can only imagine the gorgeous fragrance shops you can visit. I so want to visit the fragrance houses and the fragrance museum. I would be in heaven!

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      • Oops, that was a response to Despina Veneti, an earlier post.
        However, Brut Faberge was a fragrance was Dad wore in my childhood and has so many fond fragrance memories for me.

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    • Um, Hage, we ALL have that one scent we are a little loathe to admit to. Given my son adores the scent and has the shower gel, deodorant and splash (with back ups!), I’ve had to grow accustomed to it. I can put a new association to it now. Sort of…but I am trying.

      Mine is Poison Girl edt. I love the stuff! It goes against everything I think I am, but there we have it. Towel please!

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      • OMG Kate, in my world of perfume spending, Poison Girl EDT is not what I consider a cheapie! The last time I inquired it’s price at DJ, it was in the over $100s….😱😱this is what makes this topic interesting.

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  35. I have tried a few cheapy scents but my favourites are SJP Lovely and Covert, Madonna Truth or Dare and Naked, Queen Latifah and Fancy Night. These are so well made and they smell a lot nicer and more expensive than some niche fragrances I have tried. Certainly not cheap and nasty.

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  36. This is such a stimulating question. I’m trying to be very thoughtful about my answer because as a resident of the Midwest US nearly any fragrance can be a “cheapie” if you consider my purchase prices. On a place like eBay it’s just a matter of time until some collector passes away and her nephew puts it all up for a song, not realizing he’s sitting on a gold mine. #winning So my least expensive favorites which are actually cheap by msrp are Yatagan and 4711. My favorite easily/cheaply obtained old fave is Colors de Benetton. Modern Arpege can be gotten here for about $20 and is absolutely lovely and undiminished in comparison to vintage bottles in my opinion. Cabaret is really nice considering how extremely cheap it is here but I sold mine because it actually smelled like a shyer Bond no 9 New York Oud, which I wear more frequently, which ironically I could count as a cheapie because I only paid about $1 per month for mine. I love the questions and conversations on this blog. Stay fragrant APJ’s!
    Alanna

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  37. Queen by Queen Latifah and Fancy Nights (groan…that name) by Jessica Simpson. Both wonderful and worthy of backup bottles!

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  38. I miss the old Roger and Gallet carnation scent, that was a beautiful cheapy. Paloma Picasso is usually madly discounted at Boots–under £20–and maybe it’s mostly nostalgia but I still love it. I might not often wear it, but I’m glad it’s there.

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  39. I’m taking notes, people 🙂

    I’m certainly not above buying and wearing some cheap fragrances: I’ve been eyeballing SJP’s stuff for quite some time now, I have Fancy Nights, – yes, the name is not fancy at all, but when I sent a sample of it to a friend of mine for a blond testing he was perplexed: is it some reformulation of Jicky or some other Guerlain?! Huh!
    I own a bottle of Lolita Lempicka and a few Russian perfumes. When a perfume’s good, it’s good, no matter the price!

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  40. Perfumer’s Workshop Tea Rose has been mentioned and I’ll add my vote. It is beautiful and lives up to the name, smelling like tea roses in a bottle.

    Another cheapy I enjoy often is L. T. Piver Heliotrope Blanc. It’s a happy floral-almond-vanilla combination.

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    • Love Tea Rose, first got wind of it at Uni when a fellow mature student in my group smelled glorious of it, maybe too much! I went out and got a bottle immediately. Have been searching for Perfumer’s Workshop Jasmine, to no avail. I think it came out and then got discontinued. Same bottle packaging as tea rose, purple juice.

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  41. I am so taking notes here!

    Bergamot from Calabria my cousin brought back smells exactly like O de Lancome!
    Truth or Dare and Stash are my favs right now!

    Also 100ml of Ma Griffe Carven very nice for $69 smells vintage I know its a modern formula.

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  42. BPAL Snake Oil and Ava Luxe Vanilla Musk are under $20.00 CAD each and in constant rotation. Dame Perfumes also have very reasonable prices.

    Please DNEM as I was lucky enough to win recently

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  43. Covet and Covet Pure Bloom. Jovan Musk, which I love putting on after a shower at the end of a horrid sticky day (like today) because it’s so fresh and clean smelling. And Tabu – an oldie but a goodie!

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  44. Cheap scents in the price category most of you are mentioning are impossible to find here in Croatia. We don’t have perfumes from SJP, Madonna, Queen Latifah…probably the market is too small and it doesn’t pay to import them.
    My favourite cheap scent is Elizabeth Arden’s Green Tea and its flankers.

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    • Hey Neva (and any other Europe dwellers experiencing the same sadness),

      I can personally recommend Fragrance X for acquiring these cheapies…not as ridiculously barginous as in the US, but even with taxes and shipping most of these frags are still only £30-ish per 100ml. And it’s a great source of Nikki de Saint Phalle 🙂

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      • Good to know, thank you. I’ve never tried Fragrance X because some friends told me they have paid customs duties and taxes so I was cautious. I’ll give it a try with one product.

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  45. Portia, just wondering if you have tried Madonna Truth or Dare Naked? Exact same packaging, bottle, but gold juice in a transparent glass. I ordered that from an online shop only for them to send me this white bottle one that you love. Have read lovely reviews about Naked. I was disappointed and never got hold of the Naked.

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  46. Rochas Femme. It’s a vintage one, but even those are cheap on ebay! It was “that smells soooo good” love at first spray and gets worn often.
    A newer purchase, but L’Artisan L’eau d’Ambre Extreme is probably going to become a stalwart, and only £35 for 100ml from TK Maxx. Still mentioning it – ’cause their old bottles are still widely available for these kinds of prices!

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  47. Glorious posts here- thanks for sharing. I enjoy reading and I am taking so notes. And the memories they bring back – oh just the best. Mmmm. xx

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  48. Am I the only one who has never tried any SJP perfume!?!? I think Stash has made it onto my list. I think I’ll sample it first.

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