Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Female Fragrance Discussion › Fracas: Too Heady For The Office?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Fracas: Too Heady For The Office?

post #1 of 10
1/30/06 at 1:48pm
Thread Starter 
I never had second thoughts about this until yesterday when I pulled a sample out of a Victoria's Secret insert & rubbed a tiny bit of the Fracas fragrance strip onto my wrist. Phew!!!!!! I don't ever remember Fracas being that "intense." I woke up this morning & I could still detect the scent of it, as if it had only been on my wrist for a half hour.
I used to wear Fracas to work in the spirng & summer, but now I'm wondering - is it a bit much for the work environment?
Reply
Reply

Features on Basenotes

Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
post #2 of 10
1/30/06 at 3:27pm
Well, since I adore Fracas AND it tends to be a light fragrance on me, I'm probably not the best judge. Â*

That all being said, it seems these days that fragrances which are more neutral in character are more work-place appropriate. Â*While I dislike the whole 'politically correct' atmosphere that seems to be cropping up in work places, it does seem more evident that less and less people are even wearing fragrance to work. Â*If you're worried at all about offending others, perfumes with "personalities" are probably not the best route to go. Â*If you think it's too strong than it probably is.

As an aside- are you telling me that Fracas is now sold at Victoria's Secret therefore making it more mainstream and possibly plebian? Â*Oye Vey! Â*
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 10
1/31/06 at 7:52am
Thread Starter 
Yes, Victoria's Secret is now selling it in their catalogues. Don't know if this trend will carry through to the actual stores (where they like to hawk their own brands - lol), but god only knows I have seen everything else known to woman and mankind cosmeticwise featured in their catalogues over the past year...
The marketing hype they are using behind Fracas is not how great it's been since the 40's, nothing mentioning its creator Robert Piguet, but, rather, they go into the whole who-wears-it-who's-hip shpeel: Madonna, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Carolina Herrera, Vera Wang, Courtney Love, etc., etc., etc......
Whenever I have purchased Fracas, I've done so in SPITE of the celebrities who wear it. I mean, who cares? It's a great, timeless scent and it's stood on its own legs for 50 years - why do they need to give it shameful Hollywood hype?
That said, I deplore marketing & advertising in this 2006 age. It's not telling me anything I don't already know & it's insulting to those of us who are more than fragrance-savvy.
I think that when the spring dawns and it is finally time for the initial wafts of Fracas to appear, I will wear the extrait, as it is truer & less intense on me.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 10
1/31/06 at 3:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RitaMae

I deplore marketing & advertising in this 2006 age. It's not telling me anything I don't already know & it's insulting to those of us who are more than fragrance-savvy.
I think that when the spring dawns and it is finally time for the initial wafts of Fracas to appear, I will wear the extrait, as it is truer & less intense on me.

Here, here! The amount of money and effort that goes into advertising these days is almost mythic. I too could not care less what celebrity wears Fracas- or Shalimar, or Angel for that matter. What bothers me most is when a fragrance becomes so mass-marketed that you smell it on every one. While I want classics to be appreciated, there is something to be said for a bit of exclusivity too. I rather enjoy the love it/hate it controversy surrounding Fracas and to have it become more mainstream would take away some of that mystique.

I am also a fan of the extrait- it's a bit more animalic at opening on me, but hovers closer to the skin and is womanly beyond comparison.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 10
2/1/06 at 11:04am
  • RHM
  • offline
  • Gender:
I don't care who is wearing what fragrance, I wear what smells great on me. Fracas can be rather "strong" smelling but there again, it depends on your chemistry. If it's "light" smelling on you then where it to the office. Enjoy!
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 10
2/1/06 at 7:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RitaMae

I never had second thoughts about Â*this until yesterday when I pulled a sample out of a Victoria's Secret insert & rubbed a tiny bit of the Fracas fragrance strip onto my wrist. Phew!!!!!! I don't ever remember Fracas being that "intense." I woke up this morning & I could still detect the scent of it, as if it had only been on my wrist for a half hour.
I used to wear Fracas to work in the spirng & summer, but now I'm wondering - is it a bit much for the work environment?

Yikes, I'm going to probably the only one to say "Yes. It is too strong for office wear." However, please let me add that if applied very sparingly, it could be a hit. (How's that for diplomacy. :)
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 10
2/1/06 at 7:57pm
Hello, all.

Well, it's certainly strong enough to convince me to make my first post.

Yes, I believe that Fracas is too strong for the office. Quite frankly, on me it's too strong for anywhere (and believe me, ladies, I use perfume very sparingly).

Perhaps it's just my body chemistry, but even if I put a little bit on, it smells like I bathed in it. And the "do I smell it" test kicks in - if I can smell it, those around me can smell it tenfold.

I gave mine away.

To someone who lives very, very far away.

(I don't mean to insult anyone; I totally believe in the "body chemistry" theory and am convinced it smells differently on those who like it.)
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 10
2/1/06 at 8:43pm
RitaMae, I don't know if you know or remember Serpent, but he worked with a lady a few years ago who wore Fracas and he absolutely loved it; not only loved it but thought it very sexy as well. He would most likely appreciate it. I think you should go with the extrait as planned... see what happens! I've never smelled the Fracas extrait but I bet it's gorgeous!
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 10
2/2/06 at 2:41am
I adore Fracas and i think it depends a lot on the dosis (it IS a strong juice!) and also bit on the working place itself. And of course skin type is important. On some women it seems to be very very sharp, on myself it's more kind of creamy/soft but still a white floral.
Maybe i would wear less (maybe really only one drop in the neck or cleavage if i was a nurse and maybe i'd dare to wear two spritzes on each wrist if i was a shop assistant or so. As apersonal assistant or secratary, i'd take the middle way. Of course if you're the boss, you can drown all your office in a black-pink liquid shiny rubber cloud... ;-)
Enjoy!

Do you all share the opinion thatit wears better in warmer temperatures or is there anyone who can recommend it for winter/colder temperatures also?
I only wear it at home, this time, as it's too cool outside, i feel.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 10
2/2/06 at 7:50am
Thread Starter 
Well, I'm kind of working out of the regular office "loophold" - that is - in a room far from the rest of the office congregation, so it shouldn't offend anyone. But with Fracas, as many have mentioned, there is a tendency to overspray, so I think I will stick with the extrait as it goes on smoothly and is not as detectable as the spray.

Most women & men around here, sadly, don't wear ANY fragrance. I look at people like that every day and I think, "Don't you have a PERSONALITY? An identity?" LOL Because, to me, starting your day with fragrance distinguishes you as an individual. I personally could never think of starting or ending my day without fragrance. Even when I'm sick, lying under piles of blankets and the only thing I can detect is the Vicks underneath my nose, I feel compelled to spray my pillowcases & sheets with lavender.

On the flip side of Robert Piguet, I did wear Bandit to the office around the holidays and received negative reactions from women but very positive ones from the men. I think it's the feeling of confidence you get from wearing a fragrance like Bandit that makes you seem like more of an all-around-well rounded type of woman, hence, the attraction factor. Both Piguets are excellent experiments into the world of pheremones.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Female Fragrance Discussion

Features on Basenotes

Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Female Fragrance Discussion › Fracas: Too Heady For The Office?