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Olfactory Fatigue or....

post #1 of 22
8/15/09 at 7:16pm
Thread Starter 
I wear Fracas a lot - as I think a lot of you know. When I first smelt it /tested it etc - it was strong and longevity seemd decent even on my skin eating skin. Now after some months, I have a real hard time getting whiffs of it. No longevity ,no sillage.

Opium - I can whiff quite often around myself .
Ditto Jicky, Shalimar, Beyond Love,Youth Dew. Fracas is supposed to be equal to most of these as a powerhouse scent in sillage and longevity.
I sprayed some on my husband yesterday to test it out- it doesn't seem strong on him either.
My husband has not got a good nose for perfume so it's kinda useless to ask him though I have.
I think I read that Sunnyfunny found Fracas lasted no more than 2 hours on her ?

This sounds like olfactory fatigue to me but is it or is Fracas really not all that strong after all ???
I really need help with this - it's driving me nuts.
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post #2 of 22
8/15/09 at 10:11pm
I don't find Fracas as penetrating as Opium or Youth Dew, but it is plenty potent. I'm guessing olfactory fatigue. You probably need to take a break from it for a while. Anyone can become anosmic to a scent they wear frequently.
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post #3 of 22
8/15/09 at 10:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Perfume_Addict View Post

it is plenty potent. I'm guessing olfactory fatigue. You probably need to take a break from it for a while. Anyone can become anosmic to a scent they wear frequently.

second that. i tested fracas once and the next day i could smell it on the sleeves of my jacket where the fabric touched my skin
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post #4 of 22
8/15/09 at 10:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kess View Post

second that. i tested fracas once and the next day i could smell it on the sleeves of my jacket where the fabric touched my skin

Yes, it lasts on textiles quite nicely! I actually used it as a room scent to sell my last townhouse. I sprayed some in the family room, and it gently wafted up from the carpeting for weeks. A fellow perfume addict told me there was a professional "room stager" in Manahattan who did this to sell real estate.
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post #5 of 22
8/16/09 at 7:49am
The stager also used Fracas? Or just perfume in general? That is a very interesting factoid!
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post #6 of 22
8/16/09 at 8:18am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for your replies everyone. You're all probably right about the olfactory fatigue. I'll haev to break for awhile form Fracas. I can smell it when I first spray and then a little while later it's a ghost. However,lenty more perfumes to use instead , for now !

Wow- Fracas as room scent- good pschology for selling I guess !
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post #7 of 22
8/16/09 at 12:44pm
This happened to me with Hypnotic Poison, which I wore through two bottles when it was first released. I really was not able to sense it. I remember being so frustrated by it, one day while driving and wanting to experience the scent more, that I gave away a third bottle.

Years later, I sprayed some on while shopping. When I got home, I opened the trunk of my car and the action of raising my arm released what seemed to be to be a monstrous amount of HP; how could I ever have thought it was invisible?

Fracas, which I too wear quite a bit, always seems to dry down to a vetiver with a mildly rugged and earthy edge, barren of all but one flower, a single tuberose. It has been this way for years.

I would like to point out that one day I was in the grocery and struck up a conversation with the cashier. She smelled lightly of patchouli. It was Angel. She told me that she had to spray quite a lot to smell it. This was interesting because of the admission of amount and also because I perceived it so subtly and without any of the trademark Angel fruit notes.
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post #8 of 22
8/16/09 at 12:55pm
Some frags do last a long time on your clothes and the sillage is better. The problem I found is that some notes can get accentuated and throw off the scent. In any case, to deal with OF, I have a rotation of dozens of frags, and I don't wear two similar ones consecutively.
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post #9 of 22
8/16/09 at 1:08pm
Ah, here you are! Elaborating on our earlier convo, it just never was strong on me. Quite polite and demure, actually. My skin does tend to eat certain florals, though. Chanel No. 5 doesn't last more than a couple hours on me, either, nor Narcisse Noir. I expect BIG sillage, and with the exception of one or two, my very favorites deliver. I won't be replacing my Fracas when it runs out.
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post #10 of 22
8/16/09 at 2:37pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you all for your replies.
Orion- the SAME thing happened with me and Hypnotic Poison !
Sunnyfunny- you found the thread ! Thanks darling ! I also love BIG sillage .
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post #11 of 22
8/16/09 at 3:48pm
Orion - seconding mysticknot. Went though 2 bottles. Was anosmic to it well before I quit using it as a signature scent. Others, however, knew it was me. Now I wear it occasionally and smell it much better.

Not sure if the SO would let me use Fracas as a room scent
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post #12 of 22
8/16/09 at 4:36pm
I only wear Fracas once in a blue
moon so every time i wear I Can't
stop smelling it but I really
think it depends on how
often you wear Fracas
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post #13 of 22
8/16/09 at 5:21pm
Thread Starter 
I was anosmic to Hypnotic Poison too - I went though A LOT of it ! I could not smell it at all but when I have been to Starbucks with HP on, the baristas said it was very strong and they loved it ! *LOL* Then I had a rest from it- sprayed on some- and I could not believe how potent it was. I also do wonder if Hypnotic Poison in Europe is stronger than in the US- I have a bottle from the UK and it does seem stronger to me.
Fracas - love it to death but I will have to stop using it so much because of the anosmia and the holes in my wallet due to buying so darned much of it !
I have got some proper Fracas parfum coming in the mail and I will have to compare the EDP to it and also to the mini parfums you can get quite cheaply on Ebay.
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post #14 of 22
8/17/09 at 4:47am
I haven't been wearing Fracas much lately, but my experience with it is like Sunnfunny's - it goes a bit demure on me. I've been told I smell "clean" and "fresh" when wearing it. I don't wear much, though - just one spritz - because it is a potent blaster even though it's not a bombshell on me. Unfortunately. If that makes sense. I vote OF, Mysticknot.
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post #15 of 22
8/17/09 at 7:31am
Thread Starter 
Lillybelle- it's a bummer . I think my skin eats Fracas anyhow and it's OF too. Rest time for Fracas and more time for others ...........
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post #16 of 22
8/17/09 at 10:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asha View Post

The stager also used Fracas? Or just perfume in general? That is a very interesting factoid!

Yes, the stager used Fracas.
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post #17 of 22
8/17/09 at 10:15am
I'm afraid of becoming anosmic to a favorite perfume, and applying so much everyone around me is gagging! So I carefully rotate my fragrances to make sure that doesn't happen. (BTW, I love both Fracas and Hypnotic Poison, and would hate not being able to smell them when I wore them!)
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post #18 of 22
8/17/09 at 10:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lilybelle View Post

....I don't wear much, though - just one spritz - because it is a potent blaster even though it's not a bombshell on me.

It makes me sneeze when I first spray it.

I'm a devoted member of the HP tribe, too! I freakin lurve that stuff. Fortunately I've never had any issues with it. Thus far.
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post #19 of 22
8/17/09 at 2:06pm
Thread Starter 
Seems to be a trend here ! Those who love HP love Fracas too! Isn't it sod's law that when we want to smell something we love all the time, our nose hijacks us !
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post #20 of 22
8/18/09 at 4:26am
I also have sillage and longevity issues with Fracas. On me it is very pretty, clean and green. Sometimes a little bit creamy. That's why I could never understand the fuss and its bombshell image. Too bad it doesn't work for me.
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post #21 of 22
8/18/09 at 5:27am
Sounds like Olfactory Fatigue. It makes me sad when my favourite scent becomes so much part of me that I can't smell it anymore. Take a break and go back to it perhaps? Sometimes weather changes can render a scent invisible to me as well.

As a realtor I love the Fracas home staging story. Interesting, I have found soft florals sprayed on cold light bulbs emit a lovely scent when the lights are switched on- almost like a bouquet is in the room. Or a few drops of vanilla extract on a piece of tin foil in the oven at open houses is a good idea too. But I will try Fracas! I swapped it away way back in my pre floral stage but want it back badly. Now I can expense it

Odd, I love Fracas but loathe Angel and Hypnotic Poison- I can spot the latter 2 a mile away and have yet to be wrong saying "Oh, are you wearing Angel?". Bought my daughter around 4 bottles of assorted perfumes before she would part with the 2 tester bottles of HP my girlfriend who worked for Dior gave her
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post #22 of 22
8/18/09 at 8:20am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3xasif View Post

Sounds like Olfactory Fatigue. It makes me sad when my favourite scent becomes so much part of me that I can't smell it anymore. Take a break and go back to it perhaps? Sometimes weather changes can render a scent invisible to me as well.

As a realtor I love the Fracas home staging story. Interesting, I have found soft florals sprayed on cold light bulbs emit a lovely scent when the lights are switched on- almost like a bouquet is in the room. Or a few drops of vanilla extract on a piece of tin foil in the oven at open houses is a good idea too. But I will try Fracas! I swapped it away way back in my pre floral stage but want it back badly. Now I can expense it

Odd, I love Fracas but loathe Angel and Hypnotic Poison- I can spot the latter 2 a mile away and have yet to be wrong saying "Oh, are you wearing Angel?". Bought my daughter around 4 bottles of assorted perfumes before she would part with the 2 tester bottles of HP my girlfriend who worked for Dior gave her

Your daughter must have loved HP. My husband adores HP so much that everytime I ask him which perfume do you like the best ...* offering sprayed skin to smell * regardless of what I have sprayed on for him to smell he says ...Hypnotic Poison . It got to the point where I told him to wear the darned stuff ! *LOL*
I love the vanilla on tin foil idea- I will try that some time.

Oh but Fracas- how do I love thee, let me count the ways !!!!!!!!!!! I love you in extrait, EDP ,solid perfume... I am resting it for now . I pat my bottle every once and a while- " we will be together again one day soon ,my love...don't worry ! " *LOL*
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