March Blind Sniff -- Orient Express: The Red Line - Page 3

Still up. Di d we rule out Dior? Did we rule in feminine?

Weirdness, huffing the damp cotton ball in the Ziploc® bag I'm getting cherry pipe tobacco (unlit)———? Really?

So glad I peeked before going to bed—unless, of course, this keeps me up another hour!

Still having trouble believing I got it right after a few incorrect guesses, I've never tried to guess a perfume based on scent descriptions, notes & clues before. This thread is so much fun! I'm a big fan of Agatha Christie's books & the clues lead the way to the house.

Good morning here, from the middle of the corn sticks. I will be home until 4 pm (Central) -- 2 pm Warum's and 5 pm Cacio's time.

Off to check PMs, I have got 6.

Allready then: we have got the correct guess from another spectator -- Haunani-- she read the book, I suppose, and knew what we were talking about, alphabet-wise.

Ju, neither the house of Dior, not the feminines in general have been confirmed or ruled out.

Now, I guess, I will confirm that C is a feminine scent, but it is quite pleasant on a right man's skin too: it is not very sweet or fluffy.

I actually thought guessing Vial C would be a breeze when I first smelled it... Blind sniffs always serve you a slice of humble pie.

Saripatates has just submitted his final guess -- and guess what? -- a wonderfully correct one!

time and time again the name came up in fragrantica searches, but I skipped it for some reason.
well, at least my nose did better than my brain.

We have got developments in C -- cacio has just sent us a correct guess.

Jujy?

Jujy and the spectators! You guys can ask us questions if you want to -- we will do whatever to bring you closer.

So true Sari!! It's a part of the experience, isn't it? But I have to tell you, from the outside looking in, that all the players in this sniff have impressed the heck out of me!

H., thanks for supporting us and encouraging our sniffers.

We have got the PM from cacio -- it was his first time sniffing blind -- and our sniff is encouraging him to write more reviews. I have to jump on the same band wagon and start writing reviews too, the only thing is that I change my mind so often (whore-rible, I know).

LOLz

This has been fun. Many thanks to our good-natured hosts and my cordial co-sniffers. And the spectators cheering us on.

Good.

We were sort of quick, weren't we?

yeah, now what do we do! :P

I'd like to thank to all those involved in the sniff and congratulate my co-sniffers for an excellent job.
I still can't believe how we managed to guess vial B

Warum and twolf, while it drove me slightly mad it was a great theme. I had fun.
I love classics, I love chypre and I still can't stand mediocrity and liquid desserts. These are the things I've already known, but it's good to confirm them. Also, I guess I should stop overthinking things.

please share these hugs among yourselves:

(((((((((((((((((
)))))))))))))))))

W's is the first line, mine is the second.

Signed,
Togogirl

Thanks to both of you for our magisterial organization and direction of this blind sniff. It was a lot of fun! The clues were very clever. Without clues, it would have been a little bit like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack, but the clues made us use our brains in a more creative way. Thank-you so much again!

I had not smelled any of the perfumes, so that was interesting in itself. In retrospect, the easiest was Loukoum, simply because it has the clearest structure (whether good or bad is another matter). The other two are too generic members or their class (cheap mainstream and chi-chi designer), identifiable only because of the clues and (in the case of pdh) for the kitchen sink list of notes. I'm always happy to smell vintage. Luca Turin harshly criticizes Rouge (which I have not smelled); PdH doesn't deserve this, it is pleasant and with quality ingredients. But like its successor, it suffers for being a little bit of everything, chypre-ish rosy flowers cum resins, with no spark of individuality (save for a very brief oily top, whether hyacinth or thick bergamot).

cacio

Thanks to both of you for our magisterial organization and direction of this blind sniff. It was a lot of fun! The clues were very clever. Without clues, it would have been a little bit like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack, but the clues made us use our brains in a more creative way. Thank-you so much again!

I had not smelled any of the perfumes, so that was interesting in itself. In retrospect, the easiest was Loukoum, simply because it has the clearest structure (whether good or bad is another matter). The other two are too generic members or their class (cheap mainstream and chi-chi designer), identifiable only because of the clues and (in the case of pdh) for the kitchen sink list of notes. I'm always happy to smell vintage. Luca Turin harshly criticizes Rouge (which I have not smelled); PdH doesn't deserve this, it is pleasant and with quality ingredients. But like its successor, it suffers for being a little bit of everything, chypre-ish rosy flowers cum resins, with no spark of individuality (save for a very brief oily top, whether hyacinth or thick bergamot).

cacio

Loved the Lokhoum! Thanks for the chance to explore new olfactory sensations. Here's what's odd: after a week "out of my element"—that element being good old civet—I put on some Antilope and was jarred by its relatively discreet dose of skank. Helps me understand why new BNers can occasionally register shock.

Best of luck to the April hosts and sniffers.

What a strange coincidence! Today I stopped by Neiman Marcus and tried Hermes Rouge!

I really loved following along with you all & I totally loved the Agatha Christie/Orient Express theme. Well done, everyone!

I'm curious to know if any of the sniffers or host/co-host got a Heaven Sent vibe from Loukhoum Parfum du Soir especially in the middle & drydown phases. When I tested this perfume I was really surprised by that Heaven Sent but better vibe I got from the KM scent.

Warum asked me nicely, and if I do not feel too much pressure I will do things generously. It was the last drops of my PdH that you guys got to sniff, but I am not mourning the loss -- I have comfortably got both Dia and Rouge now (and consider Rouge a significant improvement over PdH's oily aldehydes and non-descript kitchen-skink (thanks, cacio!) drydown) and the most Guerlain-esque one of the whole Hermes lineup (Chamade once again comes to mind) with more pronounced rose-iris and resins-vanilla combos that wear kindly on this skin. W. asked me like 5 times if I was absolutely positively sure about its inclusion into the sniff -- I guess she realized how rare and impossible to replace it would be -- and I was determined.

This sniff has been wonderfully different and differently wonderful: I particularly appreciate the level of thinking you guys all brought into the sniffs -- I am absolutely positively against the passive unfriendliness, i.e. without the actual hostility -- that's why I'd rather teach at the University than a kindergarten -- manifesting itself through note by note (achingly dull!) discussions, short answers and quick solutions. Who wants any fragrance dissected and reeking of formaldehyde like some butchered frog? Not me! Sometimes I feel vulgar and naked if there is too much note analysis. I ultimately want it happy (excluding everything that does not fit the narrow spectrum of my likes), just like the rest of you.

Jujy, you are vulnerable and at the same time fearless, the combination I find irresistible in women. Please jump in into the most difficult discussions, I will read your comments with interest. You have passed the test of your savoir-faire.

3Potatoes, you always find something to comment on, be surprised by, moan about, or, perhaps, most importantly, agree with! We sniffed blindly together last year, and I know that you know what I know, if you know what I am talking about. LOL Keiko Mecheri seems to be breathing heavily into the back of your neck, does not she, following you around? But!!!!!!!!!! You know what it also means? That you are further ahead! LOL

Cacio, do leave reviews. On so many an occasion I find that you and me are thinking along the same lines (and even of the same book!), it is practically insane. You are alive, you know? I am not saying bad things about fragrances, unrounded, immature, boring, etc. -- we feel the same way -- there are many out there whose full value and appeal yet elude me, ersatzes whose role in life is to make every other scent in the world smell better in comparison. You have your way with the words, simple but not droopy, they are elegant and intricate loveliness out of your mouth.

Thanks all.

Twolf, I think most of my family would be laughing root beer out their noses at the vulnerable part, but you are indeed onto something. I used to describe my late mom as a rock wrapped in marshmallow, while my dad was marshmallow inside a rock. Friends know me as a loudmouthed introvert; really, aren't we each one of us a bundle of alluring contradictions, much like the sweet yet dangerous Lokhoum Parfum du Soir? To carry the metaphor over to fragrance, we are each our own pyramid, over time we discover ours and one another's top, middle, and base notes. Thanks for kind words. XXXOOO

Twolf, I don't know how I should feel after those remarks but I'm smiling so I guess it's not something bad
I also saw cacio in a different light. Great reviews and more importantly for me, similar thoughts about the fragrances. It's always good to have such reviewers when arranging the "to-sample" list. Do post more in the directory please.

I think that parfum d'hermes is neither here nor there, and I like focused fragrances better. While I love the chypre family, and while it was the best of the bunch, I have better fragrances than that at hand, new and old. I'm glad to have no desire to look for any of the fragrances I've smelled.

See you guys in the April sniff. Don't have high expectations please

Many congratulations to all the sniffers and, of course, to the hosts. I could not watch as closely as I wanted to but I tried to catch up with everything. I loved the theme and the format of the sniff.

Warum, there is a Neiman Marcus on my way back from work, but I rarely stop by. Yesterday I did, probably because of some telepathic waves from BN. I noticed they had a bottle of Hiris. Unfortunately it was just a tester and they did not have the perfume in stock. Then I noticed Rouge and tried it on paper. I loved it so much. Unfortunately the blotter got too close to another one -Bel Ami- and they both got contaminated. I will make sure to go back next week and perhaps I will ask them to make me a very tiny sample. The sales assistant there seem very nice but they kept pushing me to smell what they wanted (something from Cartier, Noir de Noir and one from Houbigant they I could not stand at all).

Anyway, you guys had such a nice game here. I am already looking forward to the next one.

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