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Staples versus Cravings

post #1 of 20
9/16/07 at 5:02pm
Thread Starter 
A pattern has begun to emerge in my wardrobe that I hadn't directly noticed before: There are my best-friends-forever scents I'd be happy to wear anytime and there are cravers, those scents I don't wear as often as my bffs, but I don't want to be without them cuz when I crave them, they really satisfy. Can you divide your collection into two classes?

BFFs
Guerlain's With Love
Black Vetyver Cafe
Nanadebary Green
La Chasse aux Papillons

Cravers
Chypre: Rochas Femme
Sweet: Mira Bai, Ambre Narguile
Leather/cade: Dzing, Chanel Cuir de Russie
Floral: MS Stephanie
Bedtime: Boucheron, Nuits de Noho, Miss Balmain
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post #2 of 20
9/16/07 at 5:17pm
Wow! I have perfumes just for my cravings too. It's funny because I have perfumes that I crave the smell of right before my well you.....Anyway, I will only wear them at theat time because I can't stand to wear them any other time. It's crazy to me.

My craving frags....
Boucheron....Trouble
Paul Smith....London
YSL.............Cinema
Creed...........Flourissimo

My BFF frags.....
TM.....Angel, Alien
EL......Pleasures
Chanel...Coco Madam...
Lolita Lempicka
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post #3 of 20
9/16/07 at 5:27pm
Off the top of my head (there are plenty more I could probably put in both categories - but I have an awful lot of BFFs...):

BFFS
Apres l'Ondee
Mitsouko
Joy
Narcisse Noir
Black Orchid
Meteorites
Guerlinade
Etro Patchouly
Etro Sandalo
Musc Ravageur
Philosykos
Dzing!
Ombre Rose
Paris
Jicky
No. 5
Bois d'Iris

Cravers
Bal a Versailles (when only civet will do - which is surprisingly often)
Guet Apens
Guerlain Vetiver
Farnesiana
Lipstick Rose
Mahora
Tubereuse Criminelle
Vol de Nuit
Black Oudh
l'Heure Bleue
Je Reviens
Violetta di Parma
Penhaligons Night-Scented Stocks
Bellodgia
Rochas Femme
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post #4 of 20
9/16/07 at 5:34pm
I'm on pare-down mode, 20 bottles have left my collection
I had so many impulse buys that were neither a BFF or even an occasional crave.

My BFF list:
Escada - Collection
Caron - Farnesiana, Pour Une Femme & Pour Un Homme
TM - Angel
Hanae Mori (Butterfly)
Guerlain's L'Heure Bleue, Vol De Nuit & Mahora
Creed's Vanisia
Chanel No.5 & No.22
Balenciaga Cristobal
Cacheral Loulou
Sacrebleu by PdN

Crave list:
Joop! Le bain (smells like almond lotion)
Montale's Intense Tiare
VWestwood's Boudoir & Anglomania
CK Obsession
Versace's blonde
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post #5 of 20
9/17/07 at 8:23am
BFF
AL Gardenia Musk
AL Love’s True Bluish Light
AL Madame X
Bond Coney Island
Caron Tabac Blond
Dior Hypnotic Poison
Dior Poison
FM Musc Ravageur
SL Rousse
TM Angel (extrait)
TM Garden of Stars Rose Angel

Cravings

AL Café Noir
AL Forbidden Fruits
AL Rasa
Creed REL
Creed VIW
Guerlain Mitsouko
SL Ambre Sultan
SL Chypre Rouge
SL Miel de Bois
TM Alien

Everything else in my wardrobe is either too new/seldom worn for me to figure out where it belongs, or else I’ve decided I don’t care for it all that much.
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post #6 of 20
9/17/07 at 11:13am
This is a good point. I'm not sure I've really thought about it quite in this way. There are definitely a group of fragrances that I don't wear that often but am loathe to part with because I know I will indeed have an off craving and if I can't satisfy it, I'll be very cranky! My cravings tend to be more seasonal though:

Crave:
Fall - Feminite du Bois, L'Air du Desert Marocain, Agent Provocateur, Chanel No 19, Champs Elysees
Winter - Initial, Opium Pour Homme, Malmasion Carnation, Angel Innocent, Lolita Lempicka, Chanel No 22
Spring - Winter Delice, Bulgari Pour Femme, Paris
Summer - Eau de Patou, Manifesto, Fleurs de Citronnier, Acqua di Gio


Staples:
Joy, Shalimar, Fracas, PDN Vanille Tonka, Norma Kamali Incense, Shaal Nur, Kai, Coco, Child, Trouble, Quelques Fleurs, Intense Tiare.
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post #7 of 20
9/17/07 at 11:27am
There are certainly the soulmate scents I love to wear anytime and could never be without, and scents I just crave occasionally. Can't list them all but here are some examples.

Staples: Angel, Bandit, Black Cashmere, Dzing!, Dzongkha, Eau de Charlotte, Coco, Comme des Garçons EdP, Heure Exquise, Jicky, L'Heure Bleue, Mauboussin, Messe de Minuit, Ormonde, Shalimar, Sublime, Yohji

Cravers: Magot, Mitsouko, Muscs Koublaï Khan, Mûre et Musc, La Myrrhe, Pink Sugar, Serendipitous, Un Bois Vanille
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post #8 of 20
9/17/07 at 5:47pm
Most of my scents are cravings, I'm sad to say. But when I want to slip into something that I KNOW will work, without thinking too hard about it, I go for Mure et Musc Extreme, Fleurs d'Oranger, or Daim Blond.

Then there are others that I have very specific, very powerful cravings for, such as Narcisse Noir, Passage d'Enfer, and Mitsouko. They're all "mood" scents.
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post #9 of 20
9/17/07 at 6:01pm
The Staples vs Cravings distinction totally rings true for me, too! Here's a few of the winners in each category:

Staples
  • Calvin Klein Calvin
  • Creed Bois du Portugal
  • Lorenzo Villoresi Spezie
  • Creed Erolfa
  • Chanel Pour Monsieur Concentrée
  • Hermès Terre d'Hermès


Cravings
  • C&S Citrus Paradisi
  • Montale Roses Musk
  • Ava Luxe Café Noir
  • L'Artisan Fou d'Absinthe
  • Parfum d'Empire Cuir Ottoman
  • MPG Baïmé
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post #10 of 20
9/18/07 at 12:07pm
Mine:

Staples: Narciso Rodriguez, Chanel No. 5 Sensual Elixir, Kenzo Flower EDP

Must be in the right mood to crave: Sicily, Kenzo Flower Le Parfum, Nu EDP.
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post #11 of 20
9/18/07 at 12:33pm
As much as I tried, I can't come up with a division other than this one:

Staple:
Serge Lutens Chergui, the only scent that I finished a bottle of and promptly replaced.

Cravings:
all the others. But that does not mean they are less loved.
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post #12 of 20
9/18/07 at 8:10pm
I've been wanting to reply to this thread over the past couple of days, but I was having trouble distinguishing between the craving vs staple. I think that Artisankey has the right idea though, my cravings seem to be seasonal, the staples are more everyday wearable.

Winter: Angelique Encens, Parfum Sacre, Black Cashmere, Ambre Sultan, Bal a Versailles
Spring: Voleur des Roses, Apres L'Ondee, Midnight Violets, Joy
Summer: Parfum Therese, Sous le Vent, Light Blue
Fall: Bois des Iles, Feminite du bois, Coco, Shalimar, Vol d Nuit
All seasons cravings: anything leather

Staples: Farnesiana, Narcisse Blanc, Narcisse Noir, Mitsouko, Tabac Blond, Cuir de Russie, Prada tendre, L'Heure Bleue, Mitsouko, Bois D'Armenie.... ok, yes and anything leather!
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post #13 of 20
9/24/07 at 4:05pm
This is so interesting! It's funny but I've been sort of sublimininally associating many of you with your BFFs...I guess reading your posts daily has ingrained scent associations for me.

Mine:
BFFs
Bois des Iles parfum
Coco Mademoiselle edt
Chance edt
NR For Her edp
YSL Paris edt
Patou Sublime
Patou EnJoy
En Passant

Cravers
Chypre: Comme Une Evidence, Ananas Fizz, YR Rose Absolute
Sweet: Sira des Indes, Prada, Angel, Hypnotic Poison, Blv Notte, West Side. Tocade, Noa, Chantilly
Floral: Insolence, L'Ete en douce, Kai, Park Avenue, Pur Desir de Lilas
Musk: Sage Pearl, Perfect Veil, Amazing Grace, Alma de Alma
Bedtime: Neonatura Cocoon, Susanne Lang Midnight Orchid, Falling In Love
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post #14 of 20
9/24/07 at 10:43pm
Today's craving is tomorrow's staple!
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post #15 of 20
9/25/07 at 6:34am
Hmmm... This is fun! Good idea, Q!

Faves:

Bvlgari Eau Parfumee au The Vert (and/or Extreme)
Kenzo Flower EDP
Mitsouko
AA Pamplelune
Shalimar
Shalimar Light
Dune
Valentino V
Savannah Gardens

Craves:

Fall:
AA Mentafollia
Io di Capri

Winter:
Kenzo Amour
Dior Addict
L'Instant
Kenzo Flower Le Parfum

Spring:
Guerlain With Love
Jo Malone Orange Blossom
Mandarine Tout Simplement

Summer:
Escada Rockin' Rio
DKNY Be Delicious
Ellen Tracy Imagine Shimmer
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post #16 of 20
9/25/07 at 7:35am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zibeline View Post

Today's craving is tomorrow's staple!

Ah, so. You should write for a fortune cookie producer.

I like Kotori's reclassification: FAVES vs CRAVES
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post #17 of 20
9/25/07 at 3:09pm
The thing is that as I read down other people's lists, my list of 'ooh! I'd forgotten about that' gets longer.

But I always know what my faves are:
Summer - Jicky
Winter - Vol de Nuit
Year-round - Iris Poudre and L'Eau d'Hiver depending on where I'm going and what I'm doing

Cravings... include but aren't limited to:
Un Jardin en Mediterranee - in hot weather
Pampelune - also when it's really hot
Clarins Eau Resourcante - when I'm travelling and/or stressed
L'Heure Bleue - right now! In cooler, autumnal weather
Opium - for nights out or when I want to feel powerful
Coco - ditto
Virgin Island Water - all this summer!
CSP Vanille Coco - for a snuggly vanilla hot-water-bottle feeling
L'Occitaine Neroli edp - the rich, oriental one
French supermarket eau de cologne - to feel clean and fresh on really super-hot days (alternatively O de Lancome)
YSL Nu edp - smoky incense cool elegance

I love many othersas well, but these are ones I've gone out of my way to get hold of a full bottle of. I've recently ordered a bottle of Bandit in the hope that it will join them as a staple 'craver'. I think this winter may be leathery. It's interesting to look at this list and see how the items on it almost all fall into two categories - rich orientals and refreshing hot weather scents. I think I'll have to challenge myself more and try a wider variety of things.
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post #18 of 20
9/25/07 at 3:56pm
In my admittedly uneducated world - faves tend to be fragrances that I can wear without thinking too hard. Craves are fragrances that I want to wear by name and dig through my collection to find.

That said, here are mine (please don't laugh at my uneducated and unsophisticated nose)

Faves:
- Philosophy Falling in Love
- CSP Vanille Amande
- Dior Hypnotic Poison
- Crazylilbellue and the Poppies Vanille Macaroon

Craves (to date)
- KM Gourmandises
- Crazylilbellue and the Poppies Ensence Mystic
- CdG Avignon
- Montale Sweet Oriental Dream
- Montale Blue Amber
- Montale Vanille Absolu
- Ava Luxe Palisander
- Ava Luxe Ambre Tibet
- Ava Luxe Turkish Vanilla
- Pilar and Lucy - Tiptoeing....
- Dior - Dior Addict

I have a feeling that as I get more experience in perfume and scents that some Craves will become Faves and more Craves will appear.
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post #19 of 20
9/25/07 at 5:54pm
I'm just going to pick 1 of each from my wardrobe:

Staple: Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens
Craving: Private Collection by Estee Lauder (parfum)
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post #20 of 20
9/25/07 at 6:10pm
Staples:

Dia
Cimabue
L'Homme Sage
Musc Ravageur
Eau d'Hermes
Fou d'Absinthe
Yerbamate
Idole
Santal Noble
Mandarine-Mandarin

Cravings/Special Moods:

Havana
Carnal Flower
French Lover
Patou pour Homme
Knize Ten
Black Aoud
Nuit Noire
Tubereuse Criminelle
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