Ava Luxe Experience - Autumn / Winter Edition (Preliminaries)

Naturally, I'll be participating. I am also looking forward to her new offerings. Patchouli Leaves and Amber Antique came as samples with my last order as did Oude, which I adore.

I will, however, be unable to wait til October to start wearing them!

Please point me in the right direction if these questions have already been answered.

What would be the best candidates for Monday Vintage from her line? I know it does not have to be "Vintage" and can be a chypre instead, but I just wanted to ask which of her fragrances have vintage feel to them?

Are samples 1ml (0.32 oz)? (I saw 5ml EdP for $ 10.00) Are they $2.00 a shot? (Trying to do my maths here: 10x$2.00=$20.00 minus $2.00 leaves with $18.00 for a set of 10).

How much is S & H for a set of 10 samples within the USA? For International shipping to Europe? To Asia? To Australia?

...and be sure to use all lower case!!

Serena has a 'Rose Violet' in the works? Oh my. That sounds dangerously good.

Looking forward to doing Ava Luxe again.

I think I am going to try: Madame X, Shisha, Moksha, Café Noir, Fire Wood, Patchouli Leaves and Kama Extreme.

Thanks for the update Moondeva. Black Incense and Rose Violet...cannot wait to wear these two.

I'm a complete Ave Luxe novice, but I ordered some samples a while back (mostly, if not all, musk based) and I'm totally in love with Gardenia Musk. I must get round to shelling out for a full bottle of that soon...

That's one of my favourites too, Clemmie. Funny as it was a freebie Serena threw in with the samples I actually ordered, but turned out to be the one I fell in love with.

Thanks for the answers, moondeva! October 20th sounds like a plan and I am in!

October 20! Count me in, with a boatload of samples and a desire to try "Silk" which I was unable to find on the site. Rats! Anyone have a taste they can send me before October? I already have a few that are on my FBW wishlist (Kama Extreme and Firewood...)

Please help me choose some Ave Lux scents! I get so overwhelmed when I go to the site

ok, I want to participate in the AL week ... so i need 7 samples, right? I already have a sample of Film Noir that I haven't tried yet. These are what I put in my shopping cart:

Love's True Bluish Light
Madame X
Shisha

I want to try a musk or two ... I love incense and leather scents. I'm not crazy about florals or fruity stuff ...

Anyone try:
Little Love?
Sweet Absinthe?
Patchouli Leaves?

oh I could go on and on ...

Kama, without a doubt. Kama Xtreme is little too much for me, but it's great if you're looking for strong civet.


No. 23
Incense
Shambala Tibet

Try Vamp or Moksha.

I like Patchouli Leaves and No.23. I like most of her frags, but they DO NOT like me at all. However, the 2 I mentioned are the only ones that worked for me.

Nice musks:

Rasa (musk with rose...Rasa Xtreme is loved by some but has a lot of civet and is a touch faecal for me)
Love's True Bluish Light (comforting vanilla musk)
Pearl Musk
Kama

There are others like Wild Blackberry Musk and Gardenia Musk that are lovely, but not all that musky to my nose.

OOooooo - I'm in! (Of course ) - Ordering my samples right away!
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btw - for Oriental-Amber, I highly recommend Ambra Tibet if you haven't tried it yet. It's so gorgeous and long-lasting it mesmerizes me every time I wear it. Nude Musk is another of my AL addictions.
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Here's the link for Silk (which is gorgeous):

http://www.ava-luxe.com/scentindex/peaudesoie.html

OK ... I took a deep breath and then jumped in the deep end!

My idea was to order 6 samples, to combine them with the sample of Film Noir that I already have, that way having 7 samples for the Ave Lux Experience week. Well ... I couldn't decide on just 6 ...

I ordered:

Love's True Bluish Light (love the name, of course)
Little Love
Midnight Violet (to give to a good friend)
Vamp
Shisha
Madame X
Kama
Sweet Patchouli
Venus Sands (one I wasn't really considering, but I love that name too)
and I think one more, but I don't remember for sure. I guess that is what happens in a buying frenzy

Thanks to all for your help and advice ...

I'll second the Ambra Tibet. Lush, sensual, and well balanced. Not too heavy for an oriental of its caliber. Creamy, light vanilla, with a dash of animal sensuality. My choice for oriental/amber as well.

I have identified scents for each day except light musk/fresh clean day. I have Love's Truish Blue Light, White Tea, Kama, and Rasa. I have Kama Xtreme for the Intense Musk day and I would like to select something other than Kama. I am interested in your suggestions.

I like Pearl Musk for light/clean - though I hear Linen Musk is also lovely and fits the bill perfectly. Egyptian Musk is pretty clean and light as well.

Venus Sands is very nice, SoB (unfortunately abbreviation, lol!) Very holiday isle, but not too much so. It's sort of coconutty-gardenia.

I'm not much for florals, fruits, or citrus but I want to play! Here are the seven I chose. (I'm an Ava Luxe virgin... )

Ambra Tibet
Incense Tibet
Shambhala Tibet
Wild Blackberry Musk
Turkish Vanilla
No. 23
Kretek

To our resident enchanting Moon Goddess and the lovely Ms. Indiscreet,

Thank you for the wonderful light musk suggestions. I shall take them into consideration and order sampels forthwith. I need not worry about not having a thing to wear on Ava Luxe Light Musk day.

Gratefully yours,

M. Sloan

Shopping cart disabled today. Hope this is very temporary.

My Ave Luxe samples came today!! :bounce: I only wish I could smell them, I have a cold

Serena threw in THREE samples too! (which I thought was generous, since I just ordered samples.) She must be part psychic, because two of the three were scents that I had considered in this order anyway.

Bring on Ave Luxe week!

Hmm I'm thinking about ordering a sample of Venus Sands, it sounds perfect for me. When will I be able to order a sample and how much will it be?

Could you also reccomend some other fragrances for me too? I like fresh but fruity smelling perfumes, not to much citrus. A fragrance that catchs attention. I love Creeds Himalaya, Millesim Imperial, and the new beachy one. So a mix of citrus, beach (coconut), and fruits.

I think it was $2. The Luxe perfume samples are a little more.
Venus sands is very nice indeed.

The Beach
Love's True Blueish Light
Johri

A few that meet your criteria, in my opinion.

I absolutly love sniffing Ava Luxe Samples.

My favorite fragrances are
Queen Bess
Wild Blackberry Musk
Indian Summer

Honorable mention: Green Tea

wow moondeva you said it all i cannot wait to try some it has been on my list for awhile but haven't gotten to it

Moondeva - do you have any idea when Ava Luxe will be up and accepting orders? I haven't ordered mine for Ava Luxe Week yet.

I'm not Moondeva, but I emailed Serena asking her when she thought the shopping cart would be up and running again. The reply I received on Monday, September 17, said about one week.

Wow! I haven't been here (Basenotes) in ages. It's good to "see" everyone again.

Thanks Pebbles - Monday will be great.

You are welcome, mikeperez. I hope she does indeed open Monday. I am itching to order Madame X in EDP and Love's True Bluish Light in EDP.

I confess to being a bit of an Ava Luxe-aholic. I have several 5 ml bottles of extrait, among them Cafe Noir, Rasa, Bohemian Rose, Shisha, Amber Essence, Film Noir, Orange Flowers, Little Love, Loukhoum, Linden Blossom, and my beloved Madame X. I also have many samples, including the lovely Ambra Tibet, of which I am tempted to order a full bottle.

I must check out the Fall Top 10 in this thread and see how many of those listed I possess.

I would love to be included in Ava Luxe week in October! The temperature where I am is finally under 100 degrees; anything under 85 feels like fall here, lol.

Hi everyone.. I'm making a wishlist for some samples but it has to stick to a budget, so can anyone remember how much they cost? How big are they? And does anyone know what the shipping cost to the UK is?

Oh and I almost forgot - does anyone have a recommendation for the best sandalwood based Ava Luxe? Any help appreciated!

Thanks for your help moondeva! I'm not sure how I missed that post about sample prices!

It's funny what a change of weather can do to the interaction of a scent with one's chemistry. I have a sample of Vamp that I tried a couple times in the midst of summer, when the temperature was between 95 and 105 degrees. Ugh, scrubber!! It became tenacious, overwhelming, sickly sweet vanilla-almond-caramel on my skin. It literally made me nauseous.

Fast forward to today: high temperature of 75. I decided to try Vamp again after reading favorable reviews and wondering what I was missing. In this cooler weather, I love it! Now it has just a subtle undercurrent of vanilla, underneath spices and amber - and labdanum (which is the note I think I adore in Madame X).

Now I am really looking forward to the autumn edition of Ava Luxe week! I will retry some of the scents I didn't care for in the summer, and keeping trying the scents I adore.

I ordered my samples today along with a 30ml bottle of Loves True Bluish Light! I will be ready ahead of time....so unusual for me!

Ms.Moondeva - I am sooooo excited that you have decided to lead the Ava Luxe week. It gave me the motivation to do a quick inventory of my samples from her. I've been incredibly impressed with the wearability of her fragrances and how beautifully they are put together. And you are giving me an excuse to order more stuff from her.

I look forward to participating. Can't wait!!!!

did you guys get the newsletter re: new scents!!
'Madeline' and 'Sin'.

From Ava Luxe Website!!

'Madeline' - Limited Holiday Edition

Soft sparkle of snow falling through velvety night,
Sweet silent thought, memories tender delight

Arabian musk, precious woods, vanilla bourbon and amber perfectly blended with fig, liquorice and milk notes and topped with a warming mix of brandy and spices. The perfect fragrance for a beautiful Christmas.

'Sin'
The decadent fragrance of black opium tinged with amber and musks. The fragrance evokes imagery of siver screen sirens, flappers and international women of beauty and mystery.
Key notes: Black opium, Amber, Musk, Vanilla.

Oooh yeah - sounds blissfull!

I just ordered my scents for Ava Luxe Week - I'm psyched!

I'm hoping my Madeline and Sin will have arrived by then - it can take two weeks for the order to be processed and shipped (as it has to get from California to London!)
I still have a lot of samples from before as well as my own AL collection...I've got a few now!

I received my order yesterday. I bought the large spray samples of Loukhoum and Ambra Tibet ( which is incredible btw if you even like amber just a little bit). I got a free sample of Sin and I like it, it smells very vintage to me.

Just got in my brand new Ava Luxe deluxe samples today - in time for next Saturday!

I got:

Madame X
Film Noir
Midnight Violet
Moss
Green Grass of Summer
Kama
Madeline
Incense Noir
Incense Tibet
Loves True Bluish Light
Wild Blackberry Musk

I went kinda wild. I know, I know...

I got mine the other day too, but I got about 17!! Had to make the shipping cost worthwhile, that's my justification..

WANT!!!!!
I have a thing about snow (won't explain, too boring) and this just sounds fantastic anyway. Comforting gourmand winter scent. Ach, how good is that?

But then I read about Sin:
'Sin'
The decadent fragrance of black opium tinged with amber and musks. The fragrance evokes imagery of siver screen sirens, flappers and international women of beauty and mystery.
Key notes: Black opium, Amber, Musk, Vanilla.

Oh and I soooo want that too.

This is the problem with Ava Luxe. Serena is far too talented a writer. She describes things that make you drool wtih anticipation and lust. And then, dagnabit, she goes and follows though and 'makes it so' (yes, a trekkie too, I know I'm sad).

I forsee a future in which Serena goes to Tahiti for luxurious hoidays. Because I'm going to end up spending every damn penny I have on her perfumes. Ah well; she'll be rich and I'll be happy. It's a good trade.

I ordered about ten and am really hoping they'll arrive in time for Ava Luxe week. If not I still have a bunch of samples from last winter/spring.
Gotta' agree with Wordbird that Serena has a great talent for making her concoctions sound appealing. (And fortunately they are as appealing as they sound!)
Has anyone else noticed that the shopping cart on her site is disabled? I'm almost out of Milk (that sounds really funny), and am addicted and don't know what I'll do when it's all gone.

Argh, my new Avas aren't here yet...darned postal strike.
But I have plenty of FBs and older samples, thankfully.

LOL.

I will do Moondeva - Ava Luxe orphans need lots of love and you're just the one to give it to them.

Same here, I've sniffed some of my samples already and I know I won't be keeping all of them, so they need a new home!

I received my embarrassingly large Ava Luxe order today! I had some birthday money, so I splurged. I got 1-oz EDPs of Ambre Tibet, Madame X, Love's True Bluish Light, Wild Blackberry Musk, and Sin. I also got a 10-ml extrait of Madeline Serena had listed on the Etsy site for a nicely reduced price due to a slightly imperfect label. I own so many samples already, I just ordered one sample: Tuberose Diabolique. Serena generously threw in 5-ml EDP sample bottles of No. 23 and Incense Noir as gifts.

I ordered Wild Blackberry Musk, Sin, and Madeline unsniffed. I already knew I loved the others.

I love the smell of Sin! Hee, hee, that sounds funny coming from this church-going, seemingly mild-mannered elementary school teacher, lol. It reminds me of Coco in perfume form, or maybe an Opium second-cousin. I am not as adept as many of you at picking out individual notes, so this is just a general overall impression or feeling I got from Sin. I can tell it is going to be a favorite, along with my beloved Madame X. I will try it out on my gentleman friend later this evening when I meet him for coffee. ;-)

I may have a homeless sample, too. Tuberose Diabolique is just not my style. I knew gardenia-ish scents and I do not get along, but loved the name and description.

I have yet to try Wild Blackberry Musk, Madeline, and Incense Noir on my skin, but all three smell nice in the bottle.

Eeek, soon I'll have to devote an entire drawer in my dresser to my Ava Luxe obsession, with this order and my existing samples and bottles of extrait.

I'm wild about ALs too! In fact I yearn for them more than many of the glossier big name scents, which really shocks me as I started BN as a bit of an AL sceptic.

Now I have bottles of:

Moss
Madame-X (parfum)
Midnight Violet
Incense Tibet
LTBL galore
Bohemian Rose
Incense Rose
Egyptian Musk

and too many samples to name. I look at the site almost ritualistically, plotting my next spree. (wish the cart was back)

I'm with you on both wishing the cart were back and plotting my next spree. (My credit card cries for mercy....)

Wearing Ava-Luxe No. 23 today. I couldn't wait AND I wasn't entirely sure which category this fell under.

Since I'm new at all of this - is there an expected format for the Ava Luxe experience?

Thank you all for your help and knowledge. You all have no idea how useful these community boards are.