my 1st purchases

I can definitely reccomend John Varvatos. It's versatile and classy, and not overpowering.

As a beginner, read many positive things about Guerlain Vetiver, but I just can't like the smell. Smells like old soap.

Just like most beginners, I like lighter scents.

Try testing some YSL Kouros or Boss No1, you'll think 'how the **** can ANYONE wear this', but already starting to appreciate somewhat heavier scents like YSL M7 - though this one still smells like an Asian Drug store. And actually Chanel Antaeus really dried down very nice on my skin, after the initial feeling of having a truck run over my arm.

My trouble is indeed to sample / test as many different scents as possible without breaking the bank. Testing it on a piece of paper in the store isn't just the same as testing it every day for a week at home.

I try to refrain from becoming a fragrance snob and appreciate scents on what they are, not what their name tags say.

This "snobbery" is one of the most intimidating things to a newbie on the board. I have a buddy who looked over the board and said he had never heard of any of the fragrances that were being talked about, and that he thought AdG smelled good to him, but that there must be something wrong with his nose because most on the boards hated it. I agree that a scent can smell good if it's from Creed, Ralph Lauren, YSL, etc. Great observation.

Did you test them out before your purchase?

I guess the measure of how succesful you were is how much you like wearing them.

Hi Primetime and Stereotomy,

I agree that joining a board like this can be a bit daunting at first - the lingo, the acronyms/abbreviations, and the host of scents that are discussed that may be completely unfamiliar. But I guess the point of places like basenotes is to expand ones horizons - if all that was discussed here were the same scents that anyone can sniff in department stores - there would really be little need for this forum. BN has opened up a whole new world for me - and it behooves me to become a student - ask questions, do research (read reviews) and get samples. There are many posts here where people discuss classic mainstream frags - available anywhere, not just niche things, and there are extremes of opinion on lots of scents. I agree that if you like something, on you, no matter what other folks say then wear it. But I didn't come here to stay with what I like and know already - I came here to learn about what's out there that I know nothing about - and to begin to figure out why I like what I do - and how I can add variety to my wardrobe in my taste range.

I've happily made purchases of inexpensive and wonderful scents like Yve's Rocher's Rose Absolue and Voile D'Ambre - because of suggestions from other BN'ers. Yes there are probably some posters here who revel in having things that are not run-of- the-mill - but that's true on car forums, art forums, garden forums, cooking forums - as well.

I've found folks here to be very welcoming - extremely generous (I can't believe the pile of samples I'm wallowing in - sent by lovely BN'ers) and not snobby at all. And I'm a newbie too.

I will continue to wear my Department store favs, and even a few drugstore specials - and could care less what anyone other than my nose thinks about it.

Tell your friend to come back - and dive in- he may be fragrantly surprised

Oh, he's still lurking. I appreciate what you are saying though. Although there are "fragrance snobs" on the board, even they are helpful in expanding our fragrance horizons. I appreciate what you are saying.

People are very helpful and I've never had a question not answered, so I hope my previous post didn't come off as me saying that people here aren't helpful. They certainly are very helpful, and I truly appreciate this board and the tremendous amount of help it has given me. Thank you DeeOlive for reminding me of that.

Hi Primetime,

No - it didn't - and glad you are enjoying the experience here the same way I am. Tell your friend to delurk - and let's see if we can get him started sniffing some new things

BTW - what are some of the scents you've been wishing to try/experience since you joined basenotes? I spend so many hours here drooling over reviews - and puzzling out the names of perfumers I had never dreamed of before...I have fun reading the men's board too - since I've been pleased to find that many of us - male and female share similar tastes.

I just wanted to second this post, at the risk of reviving a long gone thread. There is a massive tedency today to shoot down just about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that is more complex, refined, higher quality, deeper, more nuanced, more virtuous, less superficial...you name it... with the tyranical weapon of massification. That applies to just about anything from products/goods, to literature, to philosophies, values, ways of life, people...and yes, to perfumes as well.

Quality and snobbery are not the same thing. Be careful when attempting to tell one from the other.
Cries of "elitism" or "snobbery" well cushioned under relativistic theories soooo popular today will never change the NATURAL fact that some things, ways and attributes ARE superior to others and that natural hierarchies exist. All things, all ways and all people WERE NOT created equal...no matter how much indoctrination in the opposite direction the past few generations have undergone.

This reality applies to perfumes as well...or to people interested in perfumes. As jakeNY noted, some people simply become very educated in a certain area (= non-superficiality) so their perceptions in that particular area of interest become sharpened.
Just because something is not easily accesible or understandable to the masses, does not make it null and with no merit whatsoever.

As a matter of fact, as history has proven, it is usually quite the contrary.

Massification is not a value. It is junk - it has always been.

PS: Just wanted to add that I do not consider myself a perfume expert (one of those people with "a nose") but I am quite convinced that there are people whose noses ... can teach me something in the fragrance area. I certainly don't feel the need to call them snobs. They just know their stuff.

Very wise. It's important to be true to yourself and your own nose, regardless of what you read, or what the 'majority' opinion is. Just because loads of people say a fragrance is fabulous, doesn't mean you have to if your nose says 'yuck'! I sometimes think I'm a terrible philistine for not loving Mitsouko, and not getting on with some of the niche frags that get talked about here, but at the end of the day, I want to smell great (to me!), and if a fragrance doesn't give me that feeling, then it doesn't matter how many 'experts' love it. If I don't, then I won't wear it, simple as that. I have chased after many a sample having read rave reviews, and then, when I get it, and I smell it, I find myself going "what's the big deal?" - not always though. I've also found some real gems based on reviews from here. Open mind, open nose, and lots of experimenting and most of all having FUN. That's the key.
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Absolutely. It's a real education sometimes, isn't it? I might not always agree with some of the opinions, but I always value them for what they are. I'd love to be able to differentiate individual notes the way some people can. Also - one of the things I really love about this place is that it's NOT snobby. People here are always respectful towards each other, regardless of knowledge or experience. I once frequented a piano list (I'm a pianist, among other things), and honestly, the way some people picked at total beginners for asking a perfectly legitimate question used to drive me mad. I gave up contributing in the end, because I became ashamed of being an advanced pianist when the others belittled the beginners so much. There's just no need for it. I'm so glad that this place is more welcoming and generous. It's a real honour to be a part of this community.

John Varvatos is decent, Terre d'Hermes is quite good as well.

Guerlain Vetiver needs some intense testing. I can't stand this one, but try it, it might become your signature.

Wow! Good choices. I believe all are sampled at Sephora. Go get em and let us know which one works the best!

I would also sample Tom Ford for Men and Cartier Pasha as Varvatos alternates. (Varvatos, Pasha being close, and Tom Ford with some added muskiness)

I tried all of those you listed and ended up with Hermes Terre D'Hermes. Has a great woody sandalwood note on me that I just love. The Vetiver doesn't smell good on me (glue and old soap) in Extreme or Regular versions, and while I desperately *wanted* to like it - it just did not work for me - though I did wear it when folks around me were smoking and the scent improved markedly - so perhaps that is the secret to it - needs smoke?

I would really widen the search and include: Cartier Pasha, Hermes (Concintree) d'Orange Verte, Tom Ford for Men, Chanel por Monseur and Egoiste/Platinum Egoiste - all are very well constructed with Pasha, non Platinum Egoiste and Monseur being a bit more old fashioned (but great).

I own Cartier Pasha, Hermes Concintree d'Orange Vert and have samples of everything I said you should try - all ought to be available for sale and sample at Sephora!

No, it is not. I absolutely agree. In the begining I asked questions that now would make me blush and yet nobody ever hinted at my "courseness" in the ways of fragrance. At the same time, I have noticed how so many people here have serious expertise in detecting notes, distinguishing between refined and "middle of the road" perfumes, being able to tell what kind of perfume evokes what kind of sensation, you name it.
It would be very easy to brush these people off and call them "perfume snobs", but this would be a mistake.

How many intellectuals, writers, artists, potential leaders or political figures... and all sorts of other people are nowadays written off as "snobs" or "elitists" simply because their views/products are not accesible to, or popular among the masses and their level of understanding - even though what these people have to offer IS INHERENTLY superior to what the mainstream is capable of promoting or appreciating.

But then again, we no longer live in a society that respects or appreciates natural elites. It's massification and the lowest common denominator that are to be appreciated. To my nose...that just plain stinks.

These are really fantastic choices. Each one is unique, classic in its own right, and very versatile. For a newbie it looks like you hit a home run. Good job!

I know a bit more about wine than I do fragrances, but they have quite a bit of similarities.

When people start drinking wine - they tend toward simple, white and fruity/sweet - and as they try various wines (or do a wine tasting tour in an established wine region) over time, their tastes will go towards more complex, drier and heavier. Just time and experience will do that generally. Sometimes they hit a particular place on the wide spectrum and stay there, sometimes not - but as time goes on - you will appreciate the complexities and tastes that will arise you never tasted before. I went all th way to thick, dry heavy reds, and then all the way back to being able to enjoy nearly any wine for what it is (even though I may prefer other types). I also found out I actually have TASTE for some kinds - I developed my own preferences as well. (in case anyone wants to know - a complex dry lighter side of average red of nearly any grape - though I appreciate a well made wine of nearly any kind)

I am starting to notice that about fragrances, though I can tell my perfume palette is much less refined than my wine tasting one.

But once tasting wine for a few years off and on, I pretty much figured out what I liked, the rest of the time I learned to appreciate the other stuff as well as appreciating the complexities in good examples of what I liked.