Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Female Fragrance Discussion › MORE than Love at First Sniff....
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

MORE than Love at First Sniff....

post #1 of 28
10/26/07 at 4:27pm
Thread Starter 
I am pretty sure that most of us can name scents that, at first sniff, we find easy to love. Then there are the ones that initially are off putting, or even repulsive, and then magically, months or even years later, the skies open and you suddenly "get" it, and the one you rejected becomes a wardrobe staple.

This thread is dedicated to the fragrances that are in a third category, ones that set off fireworks, sweep you off your feet, ones that you can remember your first encounter with the way you might remember a first love.
You know the fireworks scene in Rear Window when James Stewart and Grace Kelly kiss?
That's what I mean.

Their entrance is burned into your brain cells in a stunning, rock your world sort of manner.

I can think of three fragrances that entered my world and changed it dramatically.
All three are in parfum formulation.

Tabac Blond
Chanel no. 5
Shalimar

Do you have scents that affected you in this way? Which ones are they?
Reply
Reply

Features on Basenotes

Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
post #2 of 28
10/26/07 at 4:53pm
What a great thread!! And so in keeping with your new Custom User Title.....

There's so many recent ones and lots from the past too. From the past - LHB and Chopard's Casmir....

From the present - ooooh boy!! Most recent are Ambre Russe and MIssoni and Carnal Flower and Series 2 Red: Rose by Comme des Garçons....a coupla Bonds....and oooohhh Montana Pour Homme....Mona di Orio Oiro...DelRae Amoureuse...coupla figs....

Over all ...JOY!!!

I am such a slut....
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 28
10/26/07 at 6:48pm
Thread Starter 
TaoLady, I can truly see what a beauty Joy is....and LHB is stunning.
There are so many on your list that I have not even become acquainted with....amazing
for your "kiss and tell" list
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 28
10/26/07 at 6:49pm
Great thread indeed! I am still waiting on Narciso Rodrigues For Him so I can't speak for that but here are a few:

-GIT

-Encens et Lavende

-Kyoto

-Black Aoud

-Kiton Men
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 28
10/26/07 at 8:40pm
There have been a few ...

Angel
Fumerie Turque
Dior Addict
Ambre Sultan
Musc Ravageur
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 28
10/26/07 at 9:41pm
Dia
Nuit Noire
Carnal Flower
Jaipur Homme EdP
Musc Ravageur
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 28
10/26/07 at 9:46pm
Only one so far: Eau Parfumée au Thé Rouge
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 28
10/26/07 at 10:13pm
I've talked about my Knize Ten mania around these forums too much as it is, but it's certainly the first fragrance that's wowed me, though I've liked quite a few others I've tried. I hope to have the experience again.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 28
10/26/07 at 10:21pm
Escada's Que Viva. I went through my 1st bottle in less than a month. I can remember going in Nords after Nords trying to find it when it was D/C'd. Dang limited edition crap. They haven't put out a spring/summer frag since Que Viva that I've liked. To tell you the truth they all smell the same every year to me.

Oh and Aimez Moi! Oh I just couldn't believe how beautiful it smelled. This is actually my 1st what I call real perfume. This was the perfume that turned me into the addict that I am today.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 28
10/26/07 at 11:16pm
Tubereuse Criminelle. I literally took my breath away at the very first sniff.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 28
10/26/07 at 11:33pm
Shocking (that one is still the love of my life)
Sa Majeste La Rose (couldn't believe how 'real' it smelled - still adore it)
most recent:
Prada Infusion d'Iris - simply can't get enough of this one, it's divine, and the subtle changes throughout the day keep it lively. It's so sexy on the dry-down, it just makes me want to sniff myself constantly
Annick Goutal, Songes - this one is a stunner, and I remember the first time I sniffed it vividly. It took me ages to acquire a bottle, but it was well worth the wait
Clinique Aromatics Elixir - literally stopped a woman in a shop to ask her what she was wearing, and 'discovered' this one. I prayed it would work on my skin and it does.
Bulgaria Omnia - again, I was on holiday and smelled it on another woman (a Greek lady), who told me what it was. I bought a bottle at the airport on the way home.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 28
10/26/07 at 11:36pm
Yohji
Poivre
Messe de Minuit
N'Aimez Que Moi
Ormonde (women's version)
Comme des Garçons EdP
Black Cashmere
DZING!
Fumerie Turque
Cuir Mauresque
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 28
10/27/07 at 1:30am
OH yeah....Knize 10 and Tuberose Criminelle.....Anne Pliska...1000....Premiere Figuier....Cuir Mauresque...Chinatown...
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 28
10/27/07 at 1:46am
Hypnotic Poison, MI, Chanel Mademoiselle, CK One (oh, sooooo many adolescent memories), Guerlain Vetiver for men
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 28
10/27/07 at 5:27am
Thread Starter 
Quite a list of stunners, Ladies, I feel rather tingly reading it!

And I may have to add Aimez Moi, Divatologist... and Anne Pliska, Tao Lady,
how could I have left them out?

Clemmie, enjoyed your vivid one line stories ....
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 28
10/27/07 at 6:52am
  • tdi
  • offline
  • Gender:
Wow ....this is tough because there ar many that I have fallen in love with, but as far as sweeping me off my feet....I would have to say Bois des Iles, Chinatown, Sacrebleu, Ambre Narguile, Luctor et Emergo.
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 28
10/27/07 at 6:57am
I have that reaction all the time.
Almost every perfume that I have rated with a four or five has done this to me.
(What a pushover, I know. How embarassing. I have a big heart for love.)
So, I will limit myself to my latest two head-over-heels loves.
Last week, at Kumquat's house, I smelled, for the first time--
Bois des Iles and Czech & Speake 88.
Whoo-hoo.
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 28
10/27/07 at 7:08am
  • RHM
  • offline
  • Gender:
Shalimar, when I was 16, had that effect on me.
More recently it's been: VISA by Piguet, Kilian's A Taste of Heaven, a Neil Morris Spirit of Water (which I don't think is released yet) and Bond No. 9 Silver Factory, also unreleased for now.
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 28
10/27/07 at 7:18am
Angel
Farnesiana
Sonia Rykiel Woman Not Men
POTL
Pd'E Ambre Russe
Ava Luxe's: Milk, Love's True Bluish Light, Incense Tibet, Amber Essence & Ambre Tibet
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 28
11/1/07 at 11:49am
No. 88 by C&S
Black Aoud by Montale
Ambre Sultan by SL
Rose 31 by Le Labo
Parfum des Merveilles by Hermes

To name a few...
Reply
Reply
post #21 of 28
11/1/07 at 12:22pm
Two have done this to me right away...Trouble by Boucheron and SL Chergui...My other loves Angel,Mitsouko and Narciso Rodriguez took some time for me to get used to until I finally "got it" and started to LOVE them..Eh...sorry if I'm a bit off topic now,but they had to be mentioned too!
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 28
11/1/07 at 12:57pm
AL no. 23, and recently: Iris Ganache. I spritzed my generous sample empty the first day, and tried to get some more out of it...never done that before...
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 28
11/1/07 at 2:08pm
Al a Figue by Satellite, and Chanel's Cuir de Russie. Usually I need to wear a fragrance for at least 10 seconds before I fall in love, but with those two I was smitten as soon as I opened up the sample for a test whiff.
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 28
11/1/07 at 4:35pm
I've a few to confess to:

Chanel Bois des Iles
Madame X
Tabac Blond
l'Heure Bleue
Cuir Mauresque
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 28
11/1/07 at 5:28pm
L'Heure Bleue
Vol de Nuit
Chamade

recently LTBL and Incense Tibet (DH's absolute favorite and a blind buy)

but another one that made me absolutely wild with the need to own it came as a total surprise as I had not even planned on trying it: a couple years back I went into the Caron Boutique in Manhattan and was just about to buy Farnesiana and Montaigne. The SA slipped up behind me and sprayed just a bit of Poivre into the air. I was virtually paralysed by its magnificence. I went with the large spray and the other waited for another day!
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 28
11/1/07 at 9:57pm
The first fragrance I fell in love with at first sniff was Adolfo. The next was Chanel Cristalle. I have sniffed so many since then and worn most of them... just to say I did. But the most recent one that I ordered almost before I recapped the sample was L'Artisan Fleur de Narcisse. I die a little each time I take a breath of it.
Reply
Reply
post #27 of 28
11/1/07 at 10:17pm
I fall in love with fragrances the same way I develop crushes...they could be right under my nose (hehehe) for awhile until one day BAM...something makes me look at them in a different way & then I'm head over heels. My feelings for the ones (both people & frags) that seem to "wow" me instantly never seem to last. That being said...there are 2 frags that come to mind that have been more than love at first sniff...

1. Musc Ravageur. Last winter, when I first sprayed this on the back of my hand to sample it...I couldn't pry my hand away from my nose. I was seriously having visions of myself going to the ER because I got my hand lodged in my nostril. I had never smelled anything like it, & I thought it was just perfect.

2. Clinique Happy for men. That may seem like a weird one to have that kind of reaction to, but when I first sprayed that on, that's when it hit me that I had been ignoring an entire realm of fragrances that I had never considered before - scents marketed to men.
Reply
Reply
post #28 of 28
11/1/07 at 10:36pm
Tubereuse Criminelle
--------------------------------------
Lipstick Rose
--------------------------------------
Fleurs d 'Oranger
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Female Fragrance Discussion

Features on Basenotes

Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Female Fragrance Discussion › MORE than Love at First Sniff....