The ultimate Just Starting Out Topic needs your help

Basenotes onward!

Of course I think this is a good idea, but I wonder what way to get it going will work best, and make the most members here involve themselves.

After reading your post, Lian, I can think of one way, but not necessarily the best. I certainly encourage others to suggest other ways and to find fault with this idea of mine.

We could start a series of threads, kind of a "for the newbie" series, and have them one at a time (changing weekly, say) stickied at the top of this forum. I'd say the first one, the first one on your list, say, would be subject-lined "How to Make a Good Collection, What is a Good Collection?" and its first post would be along the lines of:

"Welcome to the first thread of the new member series, in which BN members of long and any standing offer ideas about what the themes/terms of the subject line mean for them. This thread is done in typical Basenotes conversation style, with members offering ideas of theirs and elaborating on why other ideas work less for them. Further, all members posting here are asked to write what they would have a new member most understand about the question, and what they would tell a friend or co-worker about the subject if the friend or co-worker had the guts to ask them outright.

"'What makes a good collection?' Many members here have large collections of fragrances. Some they wear regularly, some they don't. Some they save to wear seldom. Some collections have hundreds of bottles in them, some a half-dozen. With luck members with only three will talk on this thread about how that number makes their ideal collection size. A collection is haphazard or designed. One can have a collection that hits a variety of elements of perfumery, a variety of styles, a variety of scent-trend eras, and some collections, maybe most, go no further than things the collector likes to wear.

"Many things can be considered in planning what one will try out and like and want to wear regularly. All Basenoters come to their own understandings of what and how to gather. You'll come up with your own. Here's what BNers say are factors in their gathering and as much as you find yourself like or unlike any of the posters, you can gain from their comments as you wish."

Something like that, Lian, but probably less institutionally sounding. That's just what popped into my mind fingers to keyboard style.

After a week, say, that sticky could be moved to JSO, and left unsticky there, but with a link to it and all the rest of the series that follows in a sticky at the top. The thread could then have a life as need be, according to additions by veteran members and new members as they are made, over there on JSO, but always be available at the command of the link in the JSO sticky. Maybe in that JSO sticky, all of the first posts or definitions of each of the series could be present so readers of the sticky could be provoked by their interest of the subject matter rather than seeing a dull link (if the JSO sticky only had a series of links that were bare subject lines, or worse, just "hey newbie, hit this link", readers would be more likely to ignore the links.)

So, well, there's an idea. I'll think about other subjects for the series too, which might be your real wish here.

Basenote abbreviations is one that was asked recently.

Basenotes abbreviations is one that was asked recently.

I'm figuring all this stuff could end up on a wiki eventually. I would just like to see some data get out there, even if it ends up getting merged, reworked, or whatever. There's been years of talk about a wiki / encyclopedia / etc. I like the fact that Lian is starting to just DO something. Abbreviations - there's a good one. You should start it, rompip. I'm going to do one about refrigeration next. I just threw out the blind buys thing just to get what was on my mind on paper. I'm sure other people have different ideas on the same topic, and I'd like to see those, too.

Organization can come sooner or later - I'm OK with either. I'd just like to see us having some stuff to organize.

How many sprays are needed?

What is a p-d scent (please do not put anything like this in the thread ).

One suggestion: have a separate forum for suggestion.

Just finished the Abbreviations thread... PM me if I've missed something.

other ideas I had on the backburner:
- Hall of Fame - basically links to old great discussions, necroed from the ether
- Reference Discussions on Notes/Families - hard to define, but basically 3-5 of the most informative discussions on a certain fragrance family or note. Eg Aquatics, or Vetiver, etc.

thoughts?

- Can a man wear (insert the name of fragrance marketed to women)? The answer is always "Yes".

- Can I wear (insert the name of fragrance) in (insert the name of season)? The answer is always "Yes".

Did I get a good deal threads. Is my cologne fake threads.

Just a comment... should we be talking about "collections" to new members? Collection of fragrance is like all collection based hobbies, and is a different motivation than finding stuff you like to wear. Would new members have caught such a virilant strain of BNitis that they start collecting straight away? Could we talk about Wardrobes, and lead into the My Wardrobe feature?

I guess this falls under the first one...building up a good collection, deciding what to try, and getting your bearings in terms of related scents:


1. Try as many as possible. Try ones that you think you'll specifically like, but also random ones at the department store. Never by a big bottle when you could buy a boxed set of minis to try for the same price.

2. Categorize, even if only in an informal way. Think about what basic family each one falls under (citrus, aquatic, green, spice, wood, leather, etc) and what others it reminds you of, or "has more x than ___", "needs more y like ___ has".

3. Don't compare things that are in very different families, or ask "should I buy x (citrus) or y (leather)", for example, because they're not comparable and you won't get very conclusive answers.

4. Don't let yourself get sucked into niche too soon. Try a bunch of designers first to get a better idea what you do or don't like before you spend the extra money. Your tastes will change for several months before levelling off.


I guess a "prerequisite class" for this one would be to summarize what ARE the often-used categories, which you might want to divide between mens and womens (noobs are going to be pretty adherent to the gender divide anyway). I still don't fully understand what a fougere and a chypre are after about 3.5 years, but since I think in terms of "dry leather" or "sweet green", it's not a major lack in my understanding. I have quite a number of very specific categories that I use myself, which would be good for the men's side.

Maybe some basic BN etiquette would be called for.

A simple explanation that if you think the main purpose of wearing a scent is to attract a mate, you're probably at the wrong forum.

As a follow-up to that, the basic explanation that perfume can be treated, appreciated, explored, and studied as art, and that this belief is largely what binds BN as a community.

The natural follow-up to that would be that all perfume is wearable by anybody, subject to your own personal tastes, but not subject to what gender the marketing department printed on the bottle.

Also, there must be a way to put politely that BN is not like any other forum on the internet, in that we don't strive to belittle each other in the name of humor. We don't abide trolls and ban quickly. And, even more specifically, many of us are older ladies and gays that don't take kindly to insults that someone is an older lady or gay, as if that's a bad thing.

More on topic, a note about overspraying causing olfactory fatigue. I'm amazed at the regularity of threads where this is the answer.

This may be a bit too specific, but a note about Creed's scents changing every year based on the raw ingredients (that's why they list the years on the bottles) and how that's the reason the bottle you bought smells different than your sample or your friend's bottle - it's probably not fake so please stop asking.

It would be great to have a list of notes/aroma chems with at least a few atypical fragrances that represent each.

What a wonderful initiative; much newby approved.

General "Philosophical Considerations" and Etiquette

Not all BN agree on issues like the what, when, why, who etc. regarding fragrances. You will NEVER get a 100% consensus on subjective things like that. I suggest, writing a wide variety of answers and perspectives so the reader can choose what best suits them: i.e.

When: Some wearers believe it is appropriate to wear frags according to season and/or occasion. If you chose to adhere to this way, then we suggest...

Why: Some wearers do this for themselves, others, significant others, pleasing potential mates, etc. or any combination. While doing so for others is appreciated by some, it may not be for all...*

Who: Some wear only fragrances marketed to their gender. If you wish to ignore such marketing, following these suggestions may help you in choosing one so you men don't come across as "girly" and you gals don't smell like a garage.

* There could be a section on Etiquette, which can cross over to the "how" (to apply) and "when" section. I can imagine different application levels for a job interview (next to none) versus a smokey club (you can get away with more).

Yeah, a section on all the BN lingo and abbreviations would help (i.e. YSL, AdG, CdG, sillage, etc.)

Before a new user starts a collection, I think they first need to get at least a rough answer to the above. It can act as a sort of map to guide them in their quest.

As a noob myself, I would like more info on this, in particular:

What types/genres/ classification of perfumes are there ( chypre, fougere etc)

and to add to that, I'd like some basic examples of each genre, so I can get a basic idea of each of them.

thanks!

^^ see my sig, self education thread, look under heading families, and check the third link (Michael Edwards Taxonomy)

This sounds like a much-needed project. The lexicon idea is a good one.

Two very important observations to consider IMO.

I strongly disagree.

explain your point please

It shouldn't be considered - it is too highly subjective. You could list thousands of fragrances because different people will have different views on it.

That would be great if questions like how and when to use the search engine, when not to resurrect a thread, where and when to start a new thread and maybe something about why the words Creed, Mugler, panty dropper, etc have developed lives of their own on Basenotes.

Other frequently asked question are: How should I store my fragrances (and related to it: how long do fragrances stay good) Where can I get samples and decants?

This is a good idea, and the question my friends always ask me how long to perfume last, how do you store them, Whats a safe temperature?

Hi,

I'm pretty new to discussing fragrance (not new to loving it!) so I think a category like "Fragrance Glossary" is a great idea. I would love to understand more about the "jargon" of scent.

In fact, one of the most powerful tools we have is being able to communicate a fragrance with words. I know it's a challenge for me so the adjectives of fragrance would make for a great list too. Fantastic idea. I wish I cold help. But I'
ll be happy to read any info that comes out of this. Thanks,
Katherine d'Armagh

Whhere to spray in order to get max projection and longetivity. Behind ear,neck and pulse.
How to make shelf life longer. Cool dark place.

I think a good way to accomplish this would be a "Notes For Noobs" sort of page consisting of good info, compiled.

Perhaps, each month (or maybe even each week?) ask a question here in the forum. Then, at the end of the week (or the month) compile some of the better answers linked back to the page in the thread where they came from. Doing this would lead to a great source of info that grows over time. Eventually, it could change to this-time, a new question. Next-time, revisiting an old question. That would lead to a great source of info that not only grows, but improves, over time.

Hey buddy it is VERY important that you describe the USE of these colognes and their purpose. One million, A'men, Le Male, Body Kouros, Rochas Man are strictly club scents and NOT daytime work juices and u can end up carrying a strong cloud everywhere u go on a work force.

If u want compliments, Euphoria, CK One, CK Be, Very Sexy for Him, Michael Jordan Legend, Fahrenheit, Burberry Brit, Burberry London, Burberry Touch, Gucci Pour Homme, Animale Animale would be good.

If you want a good practical daytime scent get a value bottle (3.3 ounce economy) size of a sporty scent at Ross or TJ Maxx. If you want a dating scent go to the department store or perfume outlets to look at le male, armani code, burberry brit, A'men and Thierry Mugler and better scents

you will start liking clean soapy scents and your tastes will evolve as you collect so its important to start with calvin klein, curve, armani, hugo boss or a basic brand and then move towards the guccis and more warmth, spice and exoticness as your tastes evolve

As an unconventional collector I can say that each person needs to find their own groove and their collection doesn't have to be an encyclopaedia. Of course if you want to be classified as somewhat of an expert you're going to need to expand and dive into multiple fragrance families, but I found it easy starting out focusing on what I like and using my own terminology. If you can build yourself a lexicon based on your likes and your preferred uses, its easy to navigate building a fuller collection and to gain a better grasp on general terminology in the fragrance world.

Agreed. I think describing qualities of a fragrance would be much more helpful than putting fragrances in to categories. If us newbies could find out what makes up a composition, then we will naturally be led to find fragrances that fit our own categories, while also not limiting ourselves.

tHIS