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My Perfumania Incident....

post #1 of 11
10/16/05 at 4:34pm
Thread Starter 
On Friday I decided to end my love-hate relationship for so many years with A*Men and got myself a bottle for the very first time. There's a Perfumania within walking distance from work (terribly dangerous for me ) so I headed out there.

It's also possible that fate was working against me as well because my experience there was totally a turnoff. The store is empty of customers and to find some guy dressed like he worked at the cafe two doors down trying to pick up the woman crouched behind the counter in the store. The guy walks away, the woman stands up, and dryly says 'hi' with an attitude in her face as if I interrupted something. Nothing like the look of a young twenty-something with the world revolving around her kinda look! Gggrrrrrr! >

I ask her what the sizes of A*Men she carried, she proceeds to show me where it was and how much they cost. She asks if I usually wore it and if that's what I'm wearing now. She obviously has a terrible nose or didn't know what she offers because I was wearing Black Cashmere. I simply answered with a smile "not today, I'm not." I didn't want to elaborate any further. She was cute and all, but after her first two sentences, she suddenly looked like Dame Edna!

So she adds "do you want to try Lolita Lempicka?...They smell exactly the same." That's when I raised a brow with the most puzzled look on my face. I'll go as far as Le Male and Pi to compare to Lolita, but A*Men???!!! I left the store with the rug pulled out from under me.

So here's the issue guys....is that what people smell? That vanilla smell for the most part in A*Men and Lolita? I don't know why I even bother trying to pick the right blend of a scent if someone points out there's no difference at all, or is it just me and my inability to come to terms with my love-hate with Lolita???
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post #2 of 11
10/16/05 at 4:42pm
well, they're both gourmands :-/
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post #3 of 11
10/16/05 at 4:48pm

Nothing makes a pretty girl ugly faster than a bad attitude Â*:-X
I have a feeling the reason she might have confused the smell of A*Men with Lolita is that they are both considered gourmand.
If you like this type of scents, do check out Rochas Man. You might just like it.

Good luck.
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post #4 of 11
10/16/05 at 4:50pm
Thread Starter 
yes, gourmand, but don't people smell what's in between?...maybe I don't want to be caught smelling like Lempicka.
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post #5 of 11
10/16/05 at 4:56pm
I can understand how a non-Basenoter could compare these two. To the masses, sweet = sweet, plain and simple. But there is so much more going on in A*men that makes Lolita seem plain IMO. All I get from Lolita is liquorice while in A*men there is sharp mint mixed with dirty lavender that both revolve around the gourmand notes.

I'm also sure that she has only compared the two by sniffing them on paper test strips. I recall you posting about how the real magic to A*men lies in the sillage. I couldn't agree with you more.
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post #6 of 11
10/16/05 at 5:05pm
  • Xen
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When I first tried Lolita, I couldn't understand why people said it smelled like A*Men....

For people who have never used fragrances before, they tend to pick out certain notes in a fragrance instead of perceiving the blend as a whole. I did a little experiment:

I wore Lanvin L'Homme on the first day, Pure Lavander by Azzaro on the second. My friends thought I was wearing the same thing.(lavender)

I wore Laguna Homme on the first day, Burberry Brit on the second. My friends thought I was wearing the same thing.(tonka bean)

Try to remember the first time when you got into this hobby. Did many frags smell the 'same' to you?

Sometimes we just recognise how each frag smells on OURSELVES instead of OTHERS. Because frags smell differently on others, sometimes it's hard to recognise a fragrance you know of when you smell it on someone else. It may just smell like a familiar aquatic frag or oriental etc...

But this shouldn't be the case for someone working in a perfume shop!!!
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post #7 of 11
10/16/05 at 5:06pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks, teflon! The love runs deep for frags, and I try hard to be open with scents. I may judge harshly--after all, we still shell out some hard earned bucks for these babies! Lolita is a bit blah to me.
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post #8 of 11
10/16/05 at 5:08pm
Lolita similar to Amen??? :-? No way man! While both are gourmands, in terms of notes they are at different ends of the spectrum. Amen has a luscious chocolate note that gives it a velvety feel while Lolita is spicier with an intense anise note that projects strength and personality. These two are even further removed from Le Male which i don't even see as a gourmand but i agree with Pi. The basenotes of Amen and Lolita however, do come closer together but by then, the deed's done anyway.
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post #9 of 11
10/16/05 at 5:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xen

When I first tried Lolita, I couldn't understand why people said it smelled like A*Men....

For people who have never used fragrances before, they tend to pick out certain notes in a fragrance instead of perceiving the blend as a whole. I did a little experiment:

I wore Lanvin L'Homme on the first day, Pure Lavander by Azzaro on the second. My friends thought I was wearing the same thing.(lavender)

I wore Laguna Homme on the first day, Burberry Brit on the second. My friends thought I was wearing the same thing.(tonka bean)

Try to remember the first time when you got into this hobby. Did many frags smell the 'same' to you?

Sometimes we just recognise how each frag smells on OURSELVES instead of OTHERS. Because frags smell differently on others, sometimes it's hard to recognise a fragrance you know of when you smell it on someone else. It may just smell like a familiar aquatic frag or oriental etc...

But this shouldn't be the case for someone working in a perfume shop!!!

Definitely was just just a 'job' for her, but as for smelling frags as similar, like most of us I'm sure we have that inquisitive trait to reason that two frags could not smell alike, but perhaps be interpreted differently. That's where joy lies, at least for me.
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post #10 of 11
10/16/05 at 5:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xen

When I first tried Lolita, I couldn't understand why people said it smelled like A*Men....

For people who have never used fragrances before, they tend to pick out certain notes in a fragrance instead of perceiving the blend as a whole. I did a little experiment:

I wore Lanvin L'Homme on the first day, Pure Lavander by Azzaro on the second. My friends thought I was wearing the same thing.(lavender)

I wore Laguna Homme on the first day, Burberry Brit on the second. My friends thought I was wearing the same thing.(tonka bean)

Try to remember the first time when you got into this hobby. Did many frags smell the 'same' to you?

Sometimes we just recognise how each frag smells on OURSELVES instead of OTHERS. Because frags smell differently on others, sometimes it's hard to recognise a fragrance you know of when you smell it on someone else. It may just smell like a familiar aquatic frag or oriental etc...

But this shouldn't be the case for someone working in a perfume shop!!!

LOL. This reminds me of my GIT/Coolwater and Paco XS/Himalaya experiment. People couldn't tell the difference. But I can't blame them because sometimes even I get them confused. :
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post #11 of 11
10/16/05 at 5:32pm
Thread Starter 
LOL, I'd might as well wear the "Designer Imposter" version of my favorite scents, even if it makes my stomach turn, 'cuz it's just a figment of my imagination right? They smell the same, after all. ;D
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