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My first blind purchase-- Caron L'Anarchiste!

post #1 of 14
3/28/05 at 3:06pm
Thread Starter 
Well, I've finally done it. I've made my first blind purchase: Caron's L'Anarchiste. I bought it today on eBay. I can't say exactly what led me to do this. Sure, I'm an impulsive buyer, but to buy something without seeing it....touching it.....SMELLING IT, is a bit extreme. Well.....isn't it?

Maybe it was the curiosity of hearing about others' blind purchase experiences, maybe it was the anticipation I knew I would sustain waiting for my new goodie to arrive in the mail--the thrill of the first spray, the savoring of the aromas, the drydown, the critiquing......or maybe it's just a sign of my deepening obsession. Whatever the case is, it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment: a highly praised product and a great price. How could I go wrong? The notes all point to a fragrance I would like:

Top notes: Orange Blossom, Mandarin
Middle notes: Cedar Leaves, Sandal, Vetiver, Cedarwood
Base notes: Musk

The suspense is horrible......I hope it will last!

Fragrances and eBay: What a potentially HAZARDOUS combination!!!
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post #2 of 14
3/28/05 at 3:16pm
Most of my purchases are blind. Some work and some don't. Fortunately we have a fine swap board!!!!
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post #3 of 14
3/28/05 at 3:43pm
[blue]If there were no blind purchases most of us would only see our way to the things immediately in front of us. Impulsiveness, used to advantage, can enlargen one's experiences and help one step outside of constrictions. I'm all for considered impulsiveness. Like Setamp said, it's a great community for swapping and trading. Tastes are wide and varied.

Do let us know what you think of *L'Anarchiste.*

Regards,

scentemental[/blue]
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post #4 of 14
3/28/05 at 4:22pm
Yeah, you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. Not sure what that has to do with it, exactly... but I think you know what I'm trying to say.
I bought blind... Yatagan. Yuck.
I bought blind... Van Cleef & Arpels pour homme. (crazy Irishman from Braveheart voice): Excellent!
Ya puts in your nickel and ya takes your chances. That's all I'm trying to say.
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post #5 of 14
3/28/05 at 6:38pm
You chose wisely, my son.

This is a WONDERFUL frag and completely different than anything out there. The bottle rocks too.

I always by blind after reading posts here, but now that they have been lost, buying blind is a
little chancier.

A good idea is to see who owns a scent in their wardrobe from the directory and PM them about their opinion. Most everyone here will be glad to share their thoughts with you.

Enjoy!!
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post #6 of 14
3/28/05 at 7:02pm
[blue]It struck me after I rather blithely recommended buying blind that doing so is a luxury that some people cant afford or are not able to afford because of various other financial commitments. For those Basenoters who do not have the kind of expendable income that allows for buying blind, there is always the "Sell or Swap your stuff" board accessible from the Basenotes Community main page. On there you'll find a lot of members who sell and swap as wide and interesting a range of bottles and decants as you'll find anywhere in stores, the net, and even ebay, and, even more importantly, at cheaper prices than any one of those other sources. There are many trusted sellers and swappers who also send samples along with purchases or swaps to help people try out new fragrances and as part of a general sense of camaraderie. Selling and swapping fragrances is an important part of Basenotes and a great way to broaden your experience of scents and find out what you like and really don't like. You can do a straight bottle for bottle swap; you can buy bottles; you can buy or swap decants.

Speaking of decants: typically they are one third of an ounce and can run on average anywhere from $8.00 to $20.00 dollars depending on the fragrance or can be swapped for a similar priced decant. There are many generous Basenoters who will swap more expensive decants for something less expensive that they havent tried and are willing to try. If money is tight, buying or swapping decants is a judicious way of finding out what you really like and don't like. By test driving and living with a fragrance from a decant, you can very quickly learn whether that fragrance is worth spending your hard-earned, hard-to-come-by dollars on. A 1/3 oz decant used everyday could last anywhere up to two to three weeks, surprisingly much much longer if you dont use it everyday. At least by test driving the fragrances in decant form, youll know whether or not that fragrances is for you. Many Basenoters swear by roll ons, which allow for a more controlled application of scent than atomizers do. This way your decant can last longer. If you dont like your decant, you can always sell it, particularly the atomizers. In the meantime you are building your scent knowledge and scent experience, which is also very satisfying. Knowing which scents you like and which ones you don't and letting others know is another important component of Basenotes, so sampling a variety of scents also enables you to enter the conversation and develop your appreciation for all kinds of scents, even of the ones you dont especially like. People's takes on things are always interesting and make up a large part of many of our decisions about what fragrances to check out. I thought I'd never take to gourmand fragrances, but on the recommendation of a number of people whose opinions I respect, I bought some decants of gourmand fragrances, some of which I liked and some of which I didnt. One of those fragrances is now one of my all time favorites. The point is, I didnt have to go out and pay full price for the experience of figuring out which ones I would like and not like. I managed to eventually swap and sell the decants I didnt like.

If blind buying is not a option or one that you dont want to exercise, I would certainly recommend getting on the Sell and Swap your stuff board and looking around. Youll be very pleasantly surprised what youll find and, if you can practice restraint, what youll save. Just a thought (or two).

Regards,
scentemental[/blue]
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post #7 of 14
3/28/05 at 7:18pm
Welcome to the club of blind buyers [smiley=smiley.gif]

Although rationale says that it is much better to try before you buy (you will understand this better after your first blind bought stinker), there is a charm to buying blind. I think it must be the adrenaline rush or something...
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post #8 of 14
3/28/05 at 8:29pm
I love to buy blind. I have never been really disappointed and more often, have been really pleased and surprised.

As for L'Anarchiste, my all time favorite scents are those that are unmistakably singular. Singular scents are rare. L'Anarchiste is one of these. Nothing else smells even remotely like it.

Here's the best part of buying blind. If you don't like it (and you may not--it's not for everyone), there are lots of BIG L'Anarchiste fans right here on Basenotes. You can always swap or sell it!

Griff
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post #9 of 14
3/28/05 at 10:51pm
Oh, good luck. Â*L'Anarchiste is... Â*unique. Â*I'm not a L'Anarchiste fan, but I hope you enjoy it. Â*Buying blind is always a crap shoot, but I've gotten some of my best scents that way. Â*One of them - although I didn't feel that way immediately - was another Caron, Pour un Homme.

You always take the risk of hating it when you buy blind, but if you end up loving it when you buy it blind, it's somehow that much more special because it was a surprise. Â*Good luck with your purchase.
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post #10 of 14
3/29/05 at 3:24am
This was one of my earliest blind purchases and to date, still the best. This is a pretty "brave" choice and I hope you enjoy L'Anarchiste as much as I do. If not, I'm sure you'll have no issues with dealing it on the swap board.
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post #11 of 14
3/29/05 at 4:49am
The anarchist is a keeper. Got it blind myself. Mysteriously, I didn't detect much initially and wasted a bit of it overspraying. Now I don't use much as it is definitely there.

I love buying blind. It's the thrill of the chase or something. My blind acquisitions have been just as sucessful as the considered ones. There must be some flaw in my apprehensions.

I really love the avant garde metallic clove orange shimmer of L'Anarchiste. Sharp, zappy even. A bit over the top, in your face, but in a very contemporary way. Qualities that persist into the nice comfy musky dusky wane.

Some here actually have been turned off by this one. Hopefully you will join us devotees instead. A truely great one. The burn't and tarnished sun.
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post #12 of 14
3/29/05 at 4:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by scentemental

[blue]It struck me after I rather blithely recommended buying blind that doing so is a luxury that some people cant afford or are not able to afford because of various other financial commitments. For those Basenoters who do not have the kind of expendable income that allows for buying blind, there is always the "Sell or Swap your stuff" board accessible from the Basenotes Community main page. On there you'll find a lot of members who sell and swap as wide and interesting a range of bottles and decants as you'll find anywhere in stores, the net, and even ebay, and, even more importantly, at cheaper prices than any one of those other sources. There are many trusted sellers and swappers who also send samples along with purchases or swaps to help people try out new fragrances and as part of a general sense of camaraderie. Selling and swapping fragrances is an important part of Basenotes and a great way to broaden your experience of scents and find out what you like and really don't like. You can do a straight bottle for bottle swap; you can buy bottles; you can buy or swap decants.

Speaking of decants: typically they are one third of an ounce and can run on average anywhere from $8.00 to $20.00 dollars depending on the fragrance or can be swapped for a similar priced decant. There are many generous Basenoters who will swap more expensive decants for something less expensive that they havent tried and are willing to try. If money is tight, buying or swapping decants is a judicious way of finding out what you really like and don't like. By test driving and living with a fragrance from a decant, you can very quickly learn whether that fragrance is worth spending your hard-earned, hard-to-come-by dollars on. A 1/3 oz decant used everyday could last anywhere up to two to three weeks, surprisingly much much longer if you dont use it everyday. At least by test driving the fragrances in decant form, youll know whether or not that fragrances is for you. Many Basenoters swear by roll ons, which allow for a more controlled application of scent than atomizers do. This way your decant can last longer. If you dont like your decant, you can always sell it, particularly the atomizers. In the meantime you are building your scent knowledge and scent experience, which is also very satisfying. Knowing which scents you like and which ones you don't and letting others know is another important component of Basenotes, so sampling a variety of scents also enables you to enter the conversation and develop your appreciation for all kinds of scents, even of the ones you dont especially like. People's takes on things are always interesting and make up a large part of many of our decisions about what fragrances to check out. I thought I'd never take to gourmand fragrances, but on the recommendation of a number of people whose opinions I respect, I bought some decants of gourmand fragrances, some of which I liked and some which I didnt. One of those fragrances is now one of my all time favorites. The point is, I didnt have to go out and pay full price for the experience of figuring out which ones I would like and not like. I managed to eventually swap and sell the decants I didnt like.

If blind buying is not a option or one that you dont want to exercise, I would certainly recommend getting on the Sell and Swap your stuff board and looking around. Youll be very pleasantly surprised what youll find and, if you can practice restraint, what youll save. Just a thought (or two).

Regards,
scentemental[/blue]


Extremely well said. I recommend this be attached to a sticky thread as great advice for all newcomers.
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post #13 of 14
3/29/05 at 9:04pm
Thread Starter 
I want to thank you all for you kind remarks and words of encouragement. This does indeed seem to be a closely connected group of people who are very genuine and take their passion for fragrance very seriously, and at times very light-heartedly with great sense of humor! And because of this I feel very much at home here now.

Yes, it's true I do not have too much of a disposable income--although with with a fragrance wardrobe knocking at the "100th-bottle-aquired" door, some would disagree. Nevertheless, I feel I'm a middle-class guy with an upper-class taste level, so I do take this blind purchase very seriously. Have I wasted money on a fragrance that I really didn't feel all that strongly about? Sure. Have I purchased a 3.4 oz bottle when a 1.7 oz one would do just as well? You bet. Have I bought a "been there done that" second-class fragrance because the bottle design was cutting edge first-class? Once again, the answer is yes. So is this blind purchase really about frivolous spending? I don't think so.....at least not from my point of view. Perhaps if I purchased 5 or 6 blindly within a week's time the word frivolous might come to mind, along with a few other choice one's! I'm not really worried about buying a bad fragrance here, I've done my homework paying attention to the described notes and reading the comments of others. That's why this forum is very important to me--to all of us. It hasn't taken me long to realize that. Besides, if I do buy a fragrance that I end up not liking very much, there's always eBay--the same place I bought it from. In fact, I've sold quite a bit on eBay. And I'm sure I will be taking advantage of the Sell / Swap page in the future.

"If there were no blind purchases most of us would only see our way to the things immediately in front of us. Impulsiveness, used to advantage, can enlargen one's experiences and help one step outside of constrictions." ---scentemental

As a creative professional working in a creative environment, this sentence really spoke volumes and summed it up for me and how I feel about this blind purchase of Caron L'Anarchiste. In fact, I think I'll share this quote with my staff tomorrow......that is if you don't mind, scentemental.
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post #14 of 14
6/3/05 at 10:29pm
Buying blind is fun. You just need to set some rules for yourself.

Everyone will have a different threshold. For me, if it's under $30 and I've heard it highly praised here, and especially if I can't go to a store and squirt it for free, let me have it. Also, give yourself a monthly perfume allowance - and don't go over it. This was hard for me at first but it's gotten easier. Now I'm at the point of planning purchases a couple months in advance, which frankly is fun, cause I can slow down the process and enjoy the anticipation more.

You can get many, many decants and samples for the price of just a few bottles. On the one hand, there's the joy of avoiding a bad purchase (or finding something great) for the cost of a $2 sample or a $8 decant. On the other hand, there's the shock and delight of falling for something you bought blind. They're both compelling. Your mileage will vary.

As for what I think of Anarchist, scenthound said it beautifully. I particularly like to wear it when I have to have a meeting with a state senator or assemblyman. My private little joke. And it's packed in black rubber! Let us know what you think.

Actually I really like Yatagan too, and want to check out more Caron. Caron may turn out to be the house for me. Well made and eccentric... a perfect combo, IMO.
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