Need help with my 15 Scent ultimate collection

Aramis Havana
Rochas Man
Creed Silver Mountain Water

Based off your list, those three came to mind

Well, in a 15 fragrance "ultimate" collection, I definitely think you need something from MPG (preferably vintage). Top choice would be Santal Noble. It looks like you're missing a good Amber, a good Incense, and a good Patchouli. For amber, I'd go with either MPG's Ambre Precieux, Luten's Ambre Sultan, or Hermessence's Ambre Narguille. I'll have to think about the Incense (maybe CdG's Avignon?), but for Patchouli I'd either go with Jalaine's Patchouli or HdP's Noir Patchouli. Oh yea! Where's your vetiver? Without a doubt, an "ultimate" collection definitely needs a good vetiver and for that, I'd go with Malle's Vetiver Extraordinaire or Jalaine's Vetiver. Any which way you go, good luck!

You definitely need vetiver, you need Vetiver Extraordinaire

+1 to some vetiver like Encre Noire

I can agree on a need for a vetiver...perhaps a leather fragrance as well?

Gris Clair for a lavender. Try Sel de Vetiver as well.

It's gorgeous. It's not as heavy as the typical ambers I've encountered. It's a Jean-Claude Ellena creation, who is known for "transparence" and relative minimalism in his fragrances. Because of this, Ambre Narguille can be worn year-round as opposed to your typical heavy and heady amber which is most appropriate in the Fall or Winter. Hope this helps.

I see you're from London. Have you been to a Ted Baker store? I'd encourage you to check out
Ted Baker Endurance and see what you think. If you like ginger, I think you'll love Endurance.

A few Malle's: Vetiver Extraordinaire and Musc Ravaguer
Creed Green Valley or Chanel no. 19

Maybe a leather fragrance like Neurosis said. I can recommend:
Cuir Pleine Fleur by Heeley. A modern, modest leather.

No such thing as an ultimate collection without Kouros.

No, answer me! What are the 39 steps?

I'm a bit confused by your question.

" after sampling almost hundreds of scents, i only want 15 bottles, 15 of the best ive ever smelled "

But in the first place you don't list the hundreds you've smelled and we have no way of knowing which ones you thought were 5 star+ fragrances.

I don't think it's possible to guess which ones you thought absolutely terrific by knowing what your collection is so far.
The fact that one of them is Ford's Tobacco Vanille offers no clue as to whether you'd like Encre Noir, Gris Glair, Havana or Buddha alone knows what.

So " I need help completing my final 5 spots, and i have no clue what to look for! can anyone help, based on my collection so far, that i might like???? "

No. Not really.

And what happened to the " . . . best I've ever smelled? "

The responses you've been getting are more along the lines of;

" This is what I think no great collection should be without. "

But that's not what you asked. What are the best you've smelled? If you can narrow it down to say, 30 I'm sure someone would oblige you by narrowing it down further.

Unless " What fragrances should no great collection be without " is indeed what you meant in the first place.

Could you clarify?

Cheers,

Mario

Every man with a interest for fragrances should have Hermes Bel Ami and Chanel Egoiste in their collection.

Hello JLouisMi,

I've imposed on myself practically the same constraints as you, my aim being to get a perfect 10. My method seems a bit different from yours, however. If you go to my wardrobe and browse my wish list, you'll see I divided the perfumes I loved most into 9 categories. I can then pick one perfume from each category, plus an extra, to make 10.

Of course, the categories change over time, as does their content. The point of this method is simply to focus my search so that even a small collection might span a number of recognised genres. You could make up other categories (eg. "80s powerhouse") or even be more classical than I am so far (eg. "chypre" etc.).

In any case, I recognise the fact that even when I reach my perfect 10, my tastes will change over time with repercussions on the shape of my collection. That's why I prefer to keep such a list to allow myself to have a "dynamic 10" while keeping some order.

My main reason for trying to keep to 10 is simply practicality and fun, by the way. I don't want to buy things I'll end up not using, and I want to keep the hunt as interesting as the "catch" (in this case: owning beautiful smells).

Absolutely right!

In that case your best shot might be to look up the ones you already love and own in the review section and find a reviewer who feels the same way (preferably one that feels the same way about 3 or more of the frags you love) who you think is spot on about the reasons why you both think these are terrific scents,
--And look up his other reviews for whatever else he considers the best of the best.
Or check out his wardrobe.

Pax,

Mario

Oh, even from my limited experience in perfumes I can say you're missing so much. 15 is way too little...anyhow the main things that come to my mind:

1. Most importantly you need a good Amber: There are two types of Ambers to my nose, sweet soft creamy amber and dark deep, woody somewhat leathery Animalic amber (and everything in between). I'd recommend MPG Ambre Precieux (my all time favorite perfume) for a soft creamy amber. And a middle eastern one if you want to go the deep amber route, CK obsession is the only western one I like and it's somewhat cheap/synthetic. If you want something in between go for Serge Lutens Amber Sultan or Tom Ford Amber Absolute, both are simply fantastic but similar, I like the tom ford better.

2. Vetiver: Encre Noire, Encre Noire, Encre Noire but not everybody can appreciate so if you want an-appeal to everyone vetiver I suppose Guerlain or Tom Fords are decent. I'm not a vetiver expert by the way.

3. Aoud: that's a whole world to discover, but M7 is a great perfume with Aoud in it, one of my all time favorites. However it is not really an "Aoud" fragrance, just a perfume with Aoud in it. For an actual Aoud- centered fragrance I'd go for something by Montale (many to chose from), Tom Fords Aoud wood, Amouage Gold. Or one of the many middle eastern attars, I wouldn't recommend pure Aoud oil though since I personally don't find it convenient but you could go that route as well.

4. Patchouli: I hate to recommend another Tom Ford, but it's well deserve; Purple or White patchouli are nice.

And maybe as some people recommended Leather and incense perfumes, even though I don't find them as much of a must-have like the other ones I mentioned personally. Also some of my recommendations are a bit expensive, but hey it's worth it if it's for your ultimate collection