L'instant de Guerlain pour homme Extreme now on Amazon

Originally Posted by JiveHippo

And its gone again...jeez this thing is like the polkaroo of fragrances!

Originally Posted by Fhaoilgeal

Is this adoration just a U.S.A. thing because it's so good and it's limited availability or does L'Instant de Guerlain pour Homme EDP get as much love in Europe?

In the Duty Free shop at the Edinburgh airport it was on the lower shelf of the Guerlain display, fully stocked, and seemingly getting no attention at all.

It seems strange that something so readily available abroad is so 'peekaboo' over here. I love the EDT and have purchased the EDP based on that, but the prices seems to be artificially high here given there isn't a shortage of supply...except in the U.S.A. of course.

Originally Posted by shadow_shooter

oolafsson, this is crazy! It was out of stock like 20 minutes ago!

Originally Posted by shadow_shooter

I'm from France so I can get if I want I am not willing to pay 110 for this! Well, if you buy from France 75ml is still about 85 dollar!

Originally Posted by shadow_shooter

Agreed, do you know a place to smell this? I don't want to blind buy. I tried EDT one yesterday though. My feelings were pretty mixed. Top notes were kinda "alcoholic" to me. I don't how else I can describe that smell. Once it settled it was something very beautiful but I can't say the longevity was that good. Well, it was only one spritz (was it the word for it? haha) but I can't comment on projection and sillage. I wish perfume vials were more widely available free. They are more freely available in Europe. In the US, you have to buy something to get a vial. It's not fair!

Originally Posted by heperd

Do not blind buy! It is extremely similar to the EDT with less projection. After 30 min the edp and edt smell the same. EDP just sort of skips the topnotes. Nice but all hype.

Originally Posted by oolafsson

Americans are just greedy that way. But usually if you ask for a vial a sales representative won't say "well you can't have a tester unless you buy it," because the whole POINT of testers is that they're meant for a few wears so a person can see how a fragrance develops on their skin before they buy 100ml of the damned stuff only to find that it turns vile on their skin! In my opinion, not having or supplying tester vials with ALL fragrance is just terrible practice. Refuse to buy from those places. Perfume is designed to be tried and bought, not just bought because it looks pretty and the bottle is nice. But then again Americans are superficial...

Originally Posted by shadow_shooter

By EDP do you also mean L'instant Extreme?




It makes two of us. We could be great friends in fact hahaha... But well we have lotsa good americans here so... I call it sample fascism here. Department stores like bloomingdale's etc, they fly kind of a bit high above the line where they categorize people who will buy perfumes at first sight. They squeeze (not sure if it's correct word again) on a card and hand it to you and then expect you to make a decision. Perfumes do not work in this way. Unless s/he is willing to wait for me 3 hours there, I'll not call a perfume nice or bad.

Originally Posted by oolafsson

Americans are just greedy that way....But then again Americans are superficial...

Originally Posted by Dorje123

Are all Icelanders so judgemental?

Originally Posted by shadow_shooter

It's one funny story oolafsson! Yesterday I was Bloomingdale's and that so-called perfume expert guy there started handing me spritzed (thx for the word!) cards. The worst he was not telling me what the names of the perfumes were! I mean it was like "mm what is this called" and he was responding "oh did you like it?", damn it! I'm asking to see if it is one of crap perfumes that smells the same shit for only 1 hour and then flies away. It was also annoying that he was all mimicking terrible french accented "parfum" here and there. I mean he was pronouncing all other names like an american (homme -> home) but was saying "pahhfummm" replace h's with french r sound there. You even don't pronounce m at the end and the ending is not like "fume" it is a direct "fa" but whatever! i was angry because i felt like he wanted to sound like good at it while terribly doing the opposite. I don't care if he reads all the names like an american, it's ok, it's your language and culture but why are you smartassing me! So I totally understand and imagine "perfume guy" in an average department store here. I like Sephora here though but unfortunately their clientele is directly average perfume consumers so they don't carry a good variety. But they don't follow you everywhere and you can stay there trying all perfumes. This is what it should be. Wow anyway from samples to here, we had a lot to say about perfumes and americans here. But that's the way it is right

Originally Posted by Nersh

I got one 3 days ago and turned out to be a local company, however its not here yet. I can see it now, they ship me L'Instant PH instead of extreme by accident, which i already own. Paid 65.00 and they said it was shipped yesterday. Will see.

Originally Posted by Nersh

This order was canceled on me for the 3rd time. Thats 3 strikes with this frag. I finally ordered it and its in the mail I hope. But I have seen it here on BN a few times.

Originally Posted by Dorje123

Are all Icelanders so judgemental?

Originally Posted by shadow_shooter

Dorje, I don't think he mean to be rude. The opposite of what he said could be said in the same way to europeans. I've heard a lot being so serious, so real, not having fun, not smiling (especially for french people). But it is obvious there is a huge cultural difference and they can be seen best in daily life like buying something or shopping. Although I've had many good american friends, the average (especially in Los Angles) is shocking superficial, lacking sense being always "nice" about things which later starts sickening you. But I know not all the same and there are good and bad people in all countries. But I think these words should not be thought as "judgemental". I am sorry if I offended you but these are my humble opinions and I had to tell them

Originally Posted by oolafsson

Someone is selling it for 90 dollars including shipping. Why not buy from them rather than amazon? Always nice to support a basenoter...

Originally Posted by oolafsson

I agree with the Sephora thing. 5-10 years ago Sephora was a lot different; I felt like they had a lot of variety, but these days they definitely don't carry as much as they used to. I think they understand perfume though. Just give me some testers, strips, and a wall of perfumes, and I can decide for myself. I don't want to be patrolled by some fascist who is trying to force me to buy something when all I want to do is see what the damned thing smells like. It's completely unnecessary. If I want a detailed rundown of a fragrance, I'm fully capable of finding a sales representative on the floor and asking them. Sometimes I just want to sniff something for a couple of seconds and walk away. Department store representatives make you feel like you need to engage in a conversation about it, and then they slant the conversation in every way possible, trying to get you to admit it's a nice fragrance. Plenty of fragrances are pleasant, but *newsflash*, that doesn't mean I'm going to buy it right then and there.

Originally Posted by shadow_shooter

Dorje, I don't think he mean to be rude. The opposite of what he said could be said in the same way to europeans. I've heard a lot from Americans me being so serious (maybe our humor is different?), so real, not having fun, not smiling (especially for french people). But it is obvious there is a huge cultural difference and this can be best seen in daily life such as buying something or shopping. Although I've had many good american friends, the average american (especially in Los Angles) is shockingly superficial, being always "nice" about things, as oolafsson said, sometimes hiding what they really think which later all start sickening you. But I know that not everyone the same and there are good and bad people in all countries. But I think these words should not be thought as "judgemental". I am sorry if I offended you but these are my humble opinions and I had to tell them

Originally Posted by Dorje123

I used to work in Denmark and have 2 sisters in Germany so I am well aware of the cultural differences. I much prefer working in Europe, mostly because of what you said about Americans hiding what they really think and putting work above family. Also, Europeans don't work as much. Some might consider Europeans lazy and rude because of that, but IMO that's not a constructive way to think about it. In the same way, interpreting American's behavior as greedy and superficial isn't constructive. Either way is looking at things in a negative, judgmental way. There are actually reasons behind what you consider superficial behavior, especially at work. We cannot get away with being as direct as most Europeans, if you want to keep your job... so most Americans are forced to smile and conceal opinions at times. That doesn't mean they are superficial, it's mostly about social convention. Believe me, I know... I worked for the Danes for a couple years and it was great. I lasted a matter of weeks when the project was transferred to Americans. My behavior was acceptable and normal in Denmark, but was seen as rude and confrontational in the US. So in general I agree with your assessment of Americans, but using blanket statement that come off as negative and judgmental isn't necessary.

Anyway, no big deal...

Originally Posted by shadow_shooter

I just like honesty of your thoughts. Don't get me wrong but I've never seen an american who would/could talk the way you wrote here. So, your thoughts will definitely be a part of my experience here. I understand how hard it could be to express your true thoughts in a work setting here due to cultural differences but I guess this evidently and eventually shifts to real life interactions of people. I've even sensed this even in usual friendships. I think it is the effect of pavlov's dog. They learn not to expose their inner feelings openly. I mean at the end you get that "flat feeling" from americans that they don't care about things which happen around them. I think this bugs many people from Europe. but hey, if we chose to be here we should accept it as a part of our experience. This is what I've been doing and pretty sure it's valid for oolafssson. People like you, though amazingly rare, continue to improve my image of americans here. I'm glad you contributed with your own opinions here. They mean more to me than your first question here. Anyway BACK to perfumes, I think

Originally Posted by Dorje123

That's a good point, I guess it depends on the crowd you keep company with... I tend to gravitate towards people that are similar to myself, or will tolerate me. I have not thought about the effect of millions of people putting on a fake smile for 40-50 hours a week might have on society, even more troubling is the lack of morality and ethical behavior in the business world. I admit I don't mix well with corporate America, for this exact reason. Maybe I need to move to Germany with my sister, it might suit me... plus I love European women.

on topic... my l'instant extreme should be here soon, I picked one up while it was still available, cost me $103 shipped. I should be able to pass it on with a minimal loss if I don't like it. I really don't have any frag even remotely like it, so I can't predict how I might like it. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive, more than I've ever seen I think... so maybe it will be worth the risk.

Originally Posted by karown

I think one of the things that is so fascinating about this fragrance is that negative reviews of it are as hard to find as the fragrance itself.

Originally Posted by karown

Yup it's amazing how something will be as abundant as water somewhere and impossible to find somewhere else. Guess guerlain didn't think the American market would be interested.