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Waste of money

post #1 of 44
1/18/07 at 2:34am
Thread Starter 
Are there any scents in your collection that you regret buying after a while?

For me, such fragrances are Arpege Pour Homme and Dunhil Desire.
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post #2 of 44
1/18/07 at 3:18am
Depends what you by 'after a while' . For me, i recently 'blind bought' Acca Kappa Cedro. After the initial application i though ..'hmm not bad at all'.....half an hour later....'don't think i like this'......after an hour all i could think of was 'pencils'......consequently, i started to feel nauseus so i went straight to the bathroom,used my habit rouge soap and had a good scrub. So yes, i have myself regretted many times purchasing fragrances i think i may like.

Acca Kappa-Cedro ( the opposite is their white moss..what a fantastic fragrance!)
Dunhill Edition
Floris-Elite ( This is a box set i bought...includes EDT,shower gel and shampoo)
Thinking about giving this away.
Penhaligons-Douro
....and numerous others i can't remember at the moment.

This xmas i've practically spent a small fortune on scents....namely acqua di parma colonia, EDT,talc,soap etc ( awesome classic scent!)

My very recent purchase is Habit rouge cologne....

Hope you find that detailed enough

ED
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post #3 of 44
1/18/07 at 3:40am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Exquisite_Darkness

Depends what you by 'after a while' . For me, i recently 'blind bought' Acca Kappa Cedro. After the initial application i though ..'hmm not bad at all'.....half an hour later....'don't think i like this'......after an hour all i could think of was 'pencils'......consequently, i started to feel nauseus so i went straight to the bathroom,used my habit rouge soap and had a good scrub. So yes, i have myself regretted many times purchasing fragrances i think i may like.

Acca Kappa-Cedro ( the opposite is their white moss..what a fantastic fragrance!)
Dunhill Edition
Floris-Elite ( This is a box set i bought...includes EDT,shower gel and shampoo)
Thinking about giving this away.
Penhaligons-Douro
....and numerous others i can't remember at the moment.

This xmas i've practically spent a small fortune on scents....namely acqua di parma colonia, EDT,talc,soap etc ( awesome classic scent!)

My very recent purchase is Habit rouge cologne....

Hope you find that detailed enough

ED

By 'after a while' I mean when the impression has already settled, can I say it like that, right?

By the way, I'm thinking about buying Habit Rouge just now! We don't have neither cologne nor EDP versions here though.
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post #4 of 44
1/18/07 at 4:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by deeablow

By 'after a while' I mean when the impression has already settled, can I say it like that, right?

You can say it anyway you like mate Sometimes it takes time to dislike a fragrance,it does with me occasionally.

Quote:
By the way, I'm thinking about buying Habit Rouge just now! We don't have neither cologne nor EDP versions here though.

You'll have the EDT though,yes?
Great classic scent. I'm not normally a fan of vanilla,but i like it in this composition
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post #5 of 44
1/18/07 at 5:11am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Exquisite_Darkness

You can say it anyway you like mate Sometimes it takes time to dislike a fragrance,it does with me occasionally.

Well, for me it only happens that I start admiring the scent after several attempts, not visa-versa I think...



Quote:
Originally Posted by Exquisite_Darkness

You'll have the EDT though,yes?
Great classic scent. I'm not normally a fan of vanilla,but i like it in this composition


Yes, we have EDT here.
I think it's a classy scent, but I guess I need to give it a try a few times in case it might be to difficult to wear.

PS: why are you hiding your wardrobe btw?
PSS: I wonder why noone yet noticed I've got sweet avatar?..
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post #6 of 44
1/18/07 at 5:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by deeablow

PS: why are you hiding your wardrobe btw?

Because i don't have a wardrobe, and i can't be bothered to do one.
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post #7 of 44
1/18/07 at 5:36am
I did like Chaleur D'animale for awhile til I had wore it outside, what weak sillage and strength. The same goes for L'eau Par Kenzo.
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post #8 of 44
1/18/07 at 6:33am
My 'headache' fragrances:

Drakkar Noir
Eternity Summer
D&G Masculine

I'm just a few posts from 500. I'll be putting those up for sale once I cross that line.
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post #9 of 44
1/18/07 at 6:38am
Yes. They include Eau Sauvage, YSL Homme, Eau Orange Vert, L'Eau Par Kenzo, Versace Metal Jeans and Yohji.

This happens when I haven't paid a heavily discounted price and after a while - about two hours - I realise I can either no longer smell them, or can just barely pick up a hint of them.
Renato
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post #10 of 44
1/18/07 at 8:27am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Renato

Yes. They include Eau Sauvage, YSL Homme, Eau Orange Vert, L'Eau Par Kenzo, Versace Metal Jeans and Yohji.

This happens when I haven't paid a heavily discounted price and after a while - about two hours - I realise I can either no longer smell them, or can just barely pick up a hint of them.
Renato

I guess the 'I can either no longer smell them' point mostly applies to Eau D'Orange Verte?
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post #11 of 44
1/18/07 at 8:58am
I regret having bought:

1. Joop! (difficult to wear)
2. X-Centric (nice but there is one strange note I don't like)
3. Reaction (love the top note while the base note turns sour or too sweet I'm not sure)
4. CK BE (I compare it to Mugler Cologne and the green juice won)
5. Lanvin Oxegene (I don't know what made me buy it. I've never worn it)

These are all for now.
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post #12 of 44
1/18/07 at 9:10pm
Geir
Azzaro Visit
Rive Gauche
Givenchy PI
D&G PH
Issey Miyake


I believe all of these to be a waste of money, however I would purchase every single one of them again. My problem is I have the large bottle of each of these frags and with most of them (and my skin chemisty) 1 spray will last 12+ hours and sometimes even THAT is overkill. Point in case, woke up 5:30 in morning, did maybe 1/4th spray of Azzaro Visit on ma chest knowing its potency. 6:30pm comes and I arrive home from work, walk in the door, give the wife a kiss and she says "Gosh honey, need to go a little lighter on the cologne". Needless to say I was in shock.

If I could do it again I'd buy decants of all of these because with a large rotation no way I'll ever use an entire bottle of any of these. Ever.
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post #13 of 44
1/19/07 at 12:35am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dawkins

Geir
Azzaro Visit
Rive Gauche
Givenchy PI
D&G PH
Issey Miyake


I believe all of these to be a waste of money, however I would purchase every single one of them again. My problem is I have the large bottle of each of these frags and with most of them (and my skin chemisty) 1 spray will last 12+ hours and sometimes even THAT is overkill. Point in case, woke up 5:30 in morning, did maybe 1/4th spray of Azzaro Visit on ma chest knowing its potency. 6:30pm comes and I arrive home from work, walk in the door, give the wife a kiss and she says "Gosh honey, need to go a little lighter on the cologne". Needless to say I was in shock.

If I could do it again I'd buy decants of all of these because with a large rotation no way I'll ever use an entire bottle of any of these. Ever.


Hahahahhaha
Your skin must be somehow special...
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post #14 of 44
1/19/07 at 3:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by KiatBkk

I regret having bought:


5. Lanvin Oxegene (I don't know what made me buy it. I've never worn it)

Try wearing it - you may be surprised. I was. It was so much better in the wearing than in the testing (I only got it because it was so cheap).
Renato
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post #15 of 44
1/19/07 at 3:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by deeablow

I guess the 'I can either no longer smell them' point mostly applies to Eau D'Orange Verte?

Eau D'Orange Verte is indeed the worst of them - good for maybe half an hour tops.

To my way of thinking, if a designer scent doesn't last much longer than sprays from cans of underarm deodorant like Brut or Old Spice - well - what's the point of them?
Renato
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post #16 of 44
1/19/07 at 8:48am
Dolce & Gabbana PH...bought it blind. It's obviously very popular, but it just doesn't do it for me.
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post #17 of 44
1/19/07 at 9:03am
Salvatore Ferragamo Pour Homme:grapefruit plus grapefruit plus grapefruit and nothing else.I cannot detect spices,or fig or anything else.Rather formal too,so not very versatile...
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post #18 of 44
1/19/07 at 9:04am
Tabac Man (M&W) : i didn't even hate it that much, i felt pity for it.
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post #19 of 44
1/19/07 at 10:20am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Renato

To my way of thinking, if a designer scent doesn't last much longer than sprays from cans of underarm deodorant like Brut or Old Spice - well - what's the point of them?
Renato

Yeap, it does make sense.
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post #20 of 44
1/19/07 at 11:17am
Nope, no regrets! EXCEPT that I've bought so damn many wonderful scents that it takes months just to rotate through the collection!
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post #21 of 44
1/19/07 at 11:44am
the small prada man...i wish i had gotten the biggest size with the funky spray
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post #22 of 44
1/19/07 at 12:06pm
All the bottles I bought on eBay that did not arrive. That was definitely a waste of money!
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post #23 of 44
1/19/07 at 8:20pm
Gentleman by Yardley-- too strong, too weird, almost embarrasing.

The Yardley got me to "swear off" blind purchases. Loved the Yardley brilliantine, but hated the cologne.
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post #24 of 44
1/19/07 at 8:37pm
John Varvatos hate it
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post #25 of 44
1/19/07 at 9:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe_Frances

Gentleman by Yardley-- too strong, too weird, almost embarrasing.

The Yardley got me to "swear off" blind purchases. Loved the Yardley brilliantine, but hated the cologne.

Now that I think of it, I had Gentlemen too, and gave it away.
Yardley English Blazer I kept - a good Drakkar Noir substitute.
Renato
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post #26 of 44
1/19/07 at 10:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by squirrelmilk

the small prada man...i wish i had gotten the biggest size with the funky spray

Had me going for a second there...loving that scent. I have to say Tommy Bahama. It really is not a bad scent...really it isn't! But it just isn't my type and so it sits there. Sometimes, I would wake up and think it is gone and it has found a better home. Nope! Still there...
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post #27 of 44
1/20/07 at 12:26am
Easily a third of my wardrobe I wouldn't purchase again, knowing what I
know now about my tastes in scents. Still, I might have enjoyed decants
of most of them, but unfortunately I now have fairly full bottles of 25
scents I almost never wear. Decants are the way to go. Sample a
scent through multiple, proper, full-day wearings and then decide which
ones you really like. My wardrobe would be easily half its size.
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post #28 of 44
1/20/07 at 6:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by deeablow

....For me, such fragrances are Arpege Pour Homme and Dunhil Desire.



Dunhill Desire. Amen. Loved Dunhill but Desire was a little too sweet on the drydown. Received lots of positive comments though. Another fragrance that bored me after a few months of wearing it.

-Sloan
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post #29 of 44
1/20/07 at 6:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by deeablow

I guess the 'I can either no longer smell them' point mostly applies to Eau D'Orange Verte?

The biggest regrets were Gaultier2 and the original Yohji. But Baldessarini and Opium PH ended up practically unused, too.
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post #30 of 44
1/20/07 at 7:23am
I'm glad to see that Dolce & Gabbana PH is quite mentioned here. Seems to be a sweet/fresh and "modern" thing, but not my taste.

Others would be:

Opium PH (smells like strong feminine perfume)
Eau Sauvage (no longevity, can barely detect it)
Obsession (not unpleasant, but seems generic)
Jazz (smelled great on a friend, but not the same effect on me)
212 (just light fruity stuff)

I always tend to believe it's due to my body chemistry. On me, no matter how complex the concoction is, there's always some dominant note that takes a time to detect.

One should try a scent at least two/three times before buying, but unfortunately that's not always possible.
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post #31 of 44
1/20/07 at 7:24am
X-Centric (what was I thinking). I think I was attracted by the bottle.
Tommy
Polo Blue
All this happened several years ago. Now I try not to buy things that seem a waste of money. I received many compliments wearing even these three, but I did not enjoy smelling them, and could not wait till the smell disappears.

Have some short-lasting frags too, but I like how they smell and received them as gifts. One of them is Kemzo Jungle which I wish lasted much longer.
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post #32 of 44
1/20/07 at 7:41am
I considered that mens eau de cologne was initially intended to please the user only as a refraichissant and only for a few minutes right after application so for more than twenty years I was using Guerlains Cologne Imperial just that way until Hermès came along with the original that they renamed later Eau dorange verte. Never regarded it for a moment as a waste of money. However, the bottle of Grey Flannel I picked up at T J Max for next to nothing that I never used because the smell violently revolted me (and I am totally tolerant when it comes to scents), that was a terrible waste of good money.
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post #33 of 44
1/20/07 at 8:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by trumpet_guy

Easily a third of my wardrobe I wouldn't purchase again, knowing what I
know now about my tastes in scents. Still, I might have enjoyed decants
of most of them, but unfortunately I now have fairly full bottles of 25
scents I almost never wear. Decants are the way to go. Sample a
scent through multiple, proper, full-day wearings and then decide which
ones you really like. My wardrobe would be easily half its size.

I could not agree with you more about extended testing first. I usually find there is a honeymoon period with a new fragrance. After the honeymoon is over the limitations of a fragrance usually become very noticeable to me. Unless I can get a full bottle for an absolute killer price, I'm inclined to get a decant first and evaluate the fragrance over an extended test.

Besides, how many of us will ever be able to use all of the juice we have? By Basenotes standards, I have a very modest collection, about 15 bottles and 16 decants and I figure most will go bad before I can use everything I've got, even if I don't get anything new over the next several years.
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post #34 of 44
1/20/07 at 9:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by oolong

I could not agree with you more about extended testing first. I usually find there is a honeymoon period with a new fragrance. After the honeymoon is over the limitations of a fragrance usually become very noticeable to me. Unless I can get a full bottle for an absolute killer price, I'm inclined to get a decant first and evaluate the fragrance over an extended test.

Besides, how many of us will ever be able to use all of the juice we have? By Basenotes standards, I have a very modest collection, about 15 bottles and 16 decants and I figure most will go bad before I can use everything I've got, even if I don't get anything new over the next several years.

I second that, wholeheartedly. I've only got 13 full-sized bottles and am determined not to go beyond 15. As trumpet_guy mentioned, get a decant first and live with it (unless you come across a bargain that's too good to miss). Although I've spent a lot of money on fragrances, over the past couple of months, most of them I already had as decants - it just reached a point where I knew they were bottle worthy. However, there are still some stuff that I still have as decants, which I can't see myself buying (Daim Blond being one of them, no matter how much I love it).
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post #35 of 44
1/20/07 at 9:58am
Oh, I forgot to mention that a couple of months ago I had nearly 15 decants. Now, I'm down to 4 - I realized the 'limitations' of most of the ones I no longer have (Tam Dao: crap longevity, Douce Amere: poor sillage, etc.). However, I'm planning to add a couple more decants to my wardrobe soon.

Unless something really grabs you in every way (L'Air was the last one that really did this), it's best to control your impulses and remain sensible. It may not be easy but you'll be grateful weeks later...
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post #36 of 44
1/20/07 at 10:13am
So, oolong and Trebor, seems that I'm not the only one here who has less than 20 bottles... in fact, I own 17 large (from 30 ml to 100 ml) bottles, and about 13 miniatures/samples.

Most of the stuff was bought during the last 3 months, and stopped buying about 3 weeks ago.

Now, instead of trying new things, I'm slowly selecting/analysing what I already have, in order to make a rational use of it. Glad to know I'm not alone.
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post #37 of 44
1/20/07 at 10:35am
I also feel that decants have a place in my wardrobe, not simply as a way of testing fragrances but just as importantly was a way to add variety. There are a lot of fragrances that I really like but just don't use enough to justify a bottle. A 10ml decant will give me about 20 uses so for many fragrances, that is enough for a few years at the rate that I use them.
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post #38 of 44
1/20/07 at 10:37am
That's exactly what I'm doing now! However, having space for two more bottles (before I reach my level) is pretty cool.
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post #39 of 44
1/20/07 at 10:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by oolong

I also feel that decants have a place in my wardrobe, not simply as a way of testing fragrances but just as importantly was a way to add variety. There are a lot of fragrances that I really like but just don't use enough to justify a bottle. A 10ml decant will give me about 20 uses so for many fragrances, that is enough for a few years at the rate that I use them.

Another very valid point! I'm the same with some of my SLs - I can't really justify getting a full-sized bottle of the decants that I have (well, apart from Santal de Mysore - a 50ml bottle seems a long way off).
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post #40 of 44
1/20/07 at 10:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by smeller

Now, instead of trying new things, I'm slowly selecting/analysing what I already have, in order to make a rational use of it. Glad to know I'm not alone.

I'm still trying out new things but, being as critical as I am about any consumer good, am finding it very difficult (thank God) to discover something that totally floors me.
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post #41 of 44
1/20/07 at 2:27pm
I could say the same. Luckily, I appreciate the idea of sticking with the classics, so I don't feel the need to seek others (even knowing there's plenty of amazing stuff). Just got some of the most praised from each scent family, and it's a long way to explore them.
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post #42 of 44
1/21/07 at 3:45am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by smeller

I could say the same. Luckily, I appreciate the idea of sticking with the classics, so I don't feel the need to seek others (even knowing there's plenty of amazing stuff). Just got some of the most praised from each scent family, and it's a long way to explore them.

Yeap! Sticking with classics is smart!
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post #43 of 44
1/21/07 at 12:25pm
Gucci Rush & Dior Higher: what I did learn from buying Dior Higher; the bottle survives a serious housefire!!
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post #44 of 44
1/21/07 at 1:40pm
I forgot to mention Dior's Higher. Gave it away after 2 days.
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