Let's be honest... [please contribute]

[Suppressor]

A lot of people on Basenotes seem to have so many fragrances, it's amazing.

I have been sending private messages with some people, and the term
"working in the industry" popped up a lot.

This brings me to the following question(s):

Do you work in the fragrance industry?
And if you do, do you buy your frags at a really low price?

If you do work in the industry, but you don't like to post about it
please answer the anonymous poll.

Thanks

[teger]

no, but I imagine you'd have to work for a conglomerate company such as LVMH to get a good amount of fragrances...

[Simon Moon]

I don't work in the fragrance industry, but I live fairly close to the Fashion District in Los Angeles, and there are many great deals to be had there!

[Jock_With_Scents]

I don't work in the fragrance industry, but I sure do contribute to it financially as an avid supporter.
I work in Information Technology; surrounded by staid, nerdy types that, for the most part, have minimal interest in anything other than Best Buy, computer games, and Dockers.

[MiaKulpa]

...I live fairly close to the Fashion District in Los Angeles, and there are many great deals to be had there!

oooooh, me so jealous. (except that you lack a Trader Joe's in the area, which would make the area uninhabitable for me).


And I voted *no*.

...and Dockers.

*snort* oh dear, poor you.

[Sugandaraja]

I'm not connected to the perfume industry, but I think it's great we have perfumers here. Off hand, I can think of three perfumers who post regularly here: Michael Storer, Ayala Sender and whoever is behind http://www.profumo.it.

[Boal]

I don't work in the fragrance industry, but I live fairly close to the Fashion District in Los Angeles, and there are many great deals to be had there!

Aren't there many fakes in those kinds of places?

[Simon Moon]

"Aren't there many fakes in those kinds of places?"

I haven't run into any and I feel I'm pretty savvy. There is a good combination of boxed and testers of almost all designer fragrances and a few niche.

Early on I compared a couple of the ones I got down there to the bottles at various stores and there is no difference. Now I know they're legit.

The best thing is the ability to buy some of the older classics and discontinued scents for great prices! It's better than buying off the internet because you can examine them before you buy.

If you live anywhere close, I'd highly recommend going yourself and checking it out. There's at least 20 stores with amazing selections!

[Amit]

I'm in the Networking and Virtual Infrastructure Management field... and a contributor to the fragrance industry as a buyer of genuine wares... no counterfeits or knockoffs here!

[MiaKulpa]

"Aren't there many fakes in those kinds of places?"

I haven't run into any and I feel I'm pretty savvy. There is a good combination of boxed and testers of almost all designer fragrances and a few niche.

Early on I compared a couple of the ones I got down there to the bottles at various stores and there is no difference. Now I know they're legit.

The best thing is the ability to buy some of the older classics and discontinued scents for great prices! It's better than buying off the internet because you can examine them before you buy.

If you live anywhere close, I'd highly recommend going yourself and checking it out. There's at least 20 stores with amazing selections!

Are you talking about Santee Alley or the fashion district in general? Any specific storefronts to recommend that are trustworthy and have good buys? And do you know any parking lots with reasonable/non-sxtortion rates? Thanks in advance.

[Sorcery of Scent]

Until April 2006 I worked 7 years in the industry.

So thats a NO I DONT, but also a YES I DID.

And answering your question, yes we could obtain fragrances at a discounted rate through the store we worked in.
Also at each new launch from our fragrance house, we would be given a *free* bottle of the specific scent in question.

[fredricktoo]

I doubt that anyone in the fragrance industry even signs on with visibility set on so they're not about to take part in surveys or any other threads for that matter. There's no secret though that this is an excellent place to get the pulse of the men's side of the fragrance industry. M7 fresh is available again, other scents seem to be easier to get. If people are willing to pay $100 for an old bottle and sing it's praises in public here...

And what is the interpretation of owned? If I get a half bottle or 5 ml or a NIB do I own all three? I'd say yes.

[Simon Moon]

"Are you talking about Santee Alley or the fashion district in general? Any specific storefronts to recommend that are trustworthy and have good buys? And do you know any parking lots with reasonable/non-sxtortion rates? Thanks in advance. "

The Fashion District in general, but Santee has some good shops. There's some great shops on Los Angeles St and Maple between Pico and Olympic. I can't remember names of shops. I've gotten good buys at quite a few. Most are at or below Internet prices. The cheapest parking I found (about $5) is at Pico and Broadway, it looks far on a map, but the walk is not bad.

You just got to go and explore! It's fun. Although maybe wait until after the holidays, it's always crowded on weekends, but now it's probably a complete zoo!
--------------------------------------

oooooh, me so jealous. (except that you lack a Trader Joe's in the area, which would make the area uninhabitable for me).

By fairly close I meant 25 miles or so! A half hour drive is nothing to score great deals!

I live very close to 2 Trader Joe's!

[MiaKulpa]

Thanks for the tips, Simon Moon!

And I figured you were one of those hip Downtown loft people. You know, the ones who have to step over the passed out homeless people and dodge the dicarded crack pipes when exiting their high six-figure loft buildings.

[LiveJazz]

I work in Information Technology; surrounded by staid, nerdy types that, for the most part, have minimal interest in anything other than Best Buy, computer games, and Dockers.

Oh how I feel your pain. I'm in about the most conservative company you can imagine, and most employees
are ex-military engineers who aren't exactly in touch with their sensual side.
And here I am wearing Dior Homme around.

[Simon Moon]

Thanks for the tips, Simon Moon!

And I figured you were one of those hip Downtown loft people. You know, the ones who have to step over the passed out homeless people and dodge the dicarded crack pipes when exiting their high six-figure loft buildings.

No, just have to step over the passed out homeless people and dodge discarded crack pipes when exiting my 5 figure a month apartment in Canoga Park

But it has it's perks. Only a few miles away from the porn capital of the world!

[MiaKulpa]

No, just have to step over the passed out homeless people and dodge discarded crack pipes when exiting my 5 figure a month apartment in Canoga Park

But it has it's perks. Only a few miles away from the porn capital of the world!

off topic: sorry peeps

WAIT: did you just say *FIVE* figures a *MONTH*? Like 10k + ? Cause dude, you gotta move if you did, that's redonk. I hope that includes cable and utilities at least. Maybe covered parking.

On the plus side, you have a TJ Maxx near you. What you save on Tumult and Asprey Purple Water will surely help ease the rent burden.

And high-fiving you from the East Valley. Like, oh my God!

[phibess]

There's no secret though that this is an excellent place to get the pulse of the men's side of the fragrance industry. M7 fresh is available again, other scents seem to be easier to get. If people are willing to pay $100 for an old bottle and sing it's praises in public here...

I wish you were right and they're indeed watching this site but I'll believe it only when at least one of the two most bemoaned frags here - Patou PH & Havana will be back in production. Until then, wishful thinking....

[LiveJazz]

Like, oh my God!

[lookingglass]

I voted that I am in the "industry", although it is only a cottage industry. I make natural perfumes and sell them to friends and in a few little shops. I don't exclusively wear naturals and I am not here to sell or advertise. I just wanted to contribute and become part of the fragrance loving community.

[Scentsibility]

Oh how I feel your pain. I'm in about the most conservative company you can imagine, and most employees
are ex-military engineers who aren't exactly in touch with their sensual side.
And here I am wearing Dior Homme around.

LMAO!!! What a visual that passage evoked!
I work in telecommunications and my office is in a switch site (the gear that completes cellular calls). There are no females in my office, and I'm usually surrounded by Jock's, "staid nerdy types" in the field...

Sometimes I wonder what they're thinking when I'm rocking the Musc Ravageur....

[MFfan310]

I don't work in the fragrance industry... I'm just a college student, majoring in marketing.

However, I do know a few fragrance vendor reps. One of them (for BPI) also happens to work at the same place my dad works, too, hence the reason I know her so well. And we both smell good. Honest.

[KMF]

I don't work in the fragrance industry. I work in finance...

[Simon Moon]

off topic: sorry peeps

WAIT: did you just say *FIVE* figures a *MONTH*? Like 10k + ? Cause dude, you gotta move if you did, that's redonk. I hope that includes cable and utilities at least. Maybe covered parking.

On the plus side, you have a TJ Maxx near you. What you save on Tumult and Asprey Purple Water will surely help ease the rent burden.

And high-fiving you from the East Valley. Like, oh my God!

Oops! Meant 3 figures. Like $950.

[moon_fish]

Nope, I`m in advertising industry. TV-spots, etc.
But I should say that after a long way here and in my own perfume-blog - I got some extra-job in web-journals and magazines devoted to style. And I`m writing about colognes - so I earn extra-money to afford more colognes to write about