Rate my haul!!!

[PuddleMonkey]

Today I drove 30 minutes to go to Saks for the first time. Complete waste of time, the selection is worse than Nordstroms and there are no testers to even try anything. So on my way back I come across this house that had been turned into a perfume shop. Apparently it's been there 25 years but this is the first time I noticed it. The fragrance smell was extremely heavy going in and it took my senses a good 15-20 minutes to settle down.

They have pretty much everything! Too many things to test in one trip, I fried my senses pretty quick. I did pick up a couple things while there:

Serge Lutens - Chergui
L Artisan Parfumeur - Fou d`Absinthe

Got samples of the following:
Serge Lutens - Serge Noire
Serge Lutens - Fille en Aiguilles (wanted to buy this but they were out)
Carthusia - Uomo
Miller Harris - Feuilles de Tabac
Amouage - Reflection Man


I saw Montale's for the first time today, decided to go right to the wrist with one... MISTAKE! It was so strong and mind numbing, if I had a pocket knife with me I probably would have cut my arm off and thrown it out the window on the drive home. I'll definitely be going back next week, family owned business and everyone there is very helpful. They actually know their frags unlike most SA's at department stores.

[Oaksbluff]

lucky you!

I've phone-ordered from them in the past, and it was a top-notch experience. If I remember correctly, they were selling the CdG Synthetic series for about $26 a pop, so I bought all of them!

[PuddleMonkey]

lucky you!

I've phone-ordered from them in the past, and it was a top-notch experience. If I remember correctly, they were selling the CdG Synthetic series for about $26 a pop, so I bought all of them!

They have an entire case full of CdG's, I almost bought Wonderwood.

[mr. reasonable]

Sounds like a nice find - cool little house.

I think if I had to own just one Lutens and L'Artisan it would probably be Chergui & Fou d'Absinthe (with Daim Blond & Dzing coming a close second). And Amouage here we come, eh? hehehe

[PuddleMonkey]

And Amouage here we come, eh? hehehe

Yeah, Reflection smells great! I struggle with it being a EDT though, a $300 EDT, wtf?

[Surfacing]

Wow, I really envy you for having such a place to go to. Only in my wildest dreams.....

Anyways, I thought you did pretty darn good. Chergui is nice ( although to me, kind of overhyped on Basenotes and other sites). The L'Artisan is a goodnutmeg and woods scent. Very nice haul !

But whats with all this mass exageration in your posts ? 15-20 minutes for your senses to calm down ? You wanted to cut off your arm after spraying it with a Montale ? Montales are not that strong. Which Montale was it ?

[noggs]

Good haul!

I think you'll be very pleased with your bottles of Chergui and Fou d'Absinthe, two of the better ones from their respective houses.

Lutens is one of my favorite houses, and IMO you got three really good ones. I think I'm becoming addicted to Fille en Aiguilles, especially now that it has gotten cooler.

Feuilles de Tabac in also an excellent fragrance, one of my faves from Miller Harris. I like Reflection Man but it isn't one of my favorites from the Amouage line. But there are several members here who are crazy about it.

I may have tested Carthusia Uomo years ago, but can't remember enough to comment on it. I'm interested to hear what you have to say about it.

I predict that you'll probably end up getting full bottles of most of the ones you have samples for!

BTW, interesting looking shop! Wouldn't it be fun to have a business like that?

noggs

[mr. reasonable]

These terms EDT & EDP don't always give a true indication of what you're in store for with Amouage IMO. Reflection Man performs really well and seems to last forever for me . . .

[PuddleMonkey]

But whats with all this mass exageration in your posts ? 15-20 minutes for your senses to calm down ? You wanted to cut off your arm after spraying it with a Montale ? Montales are not that strong. Which Montale was it ?

No exaggeration, it took a good 15-20 minutes before I could smell anything. The perfume smell (woman's) when you first walk in is beyond anything my nose has had to deal with before. It's a house, and all the spraying/testing takes it's toll. It's also winter, so no windows or doors are open to air it out.

The Montale was a black bottle and called something like Boise Vanilla (sp?). Total monstrosity!

[A. Homme]

I saw Montale's for the first time today, decided to go right to the wrist with one... MISTAKE! It was so strong and mind numbing, if I had a pocket knife with me I probably would have cut my arm off and thrown it out the window on the drive home.

Best laugh I've had all day!

[Surfacing]

No exaggeration, it took a good 15-20 minutes before I could smell anything. The perfume smell (woman's) when you first walk in is beyond anything my nose has had to deal with before. It's a house, and all the spraying/testing takes it's toll. It's also winter, so no windows or doors are open to air it out.

The Montale was a black bottle and called something like Boise Vanilla (sp?). Total monstrosity!

Hmmm. This is one Montale I have not sampled yet, but I'll try to get ahold of a vial. Thanks for letting me know which one it was PM.

[ajmc]

Congrats on the Chergui and FdA. Both are excellent.

Serge Noire - Good stuff. But it doesn't compare to his older scents.
Fille en Aiguilles - Overrated, boring and not worth the price. Pass!
Carthusia Uomo - Decent scent. Somewhat unique. Good for Summer.
M/H - FdT - Decent scent. But there are much better tobacco fragrances out there IMO.
Reflection - Top Notch. Excellent fragrance. I love it. (I have the old style bottle - I'm not sure if it was reformulated when they changed bottles.)

[Bigsly]

My house is starting to beome a perfume house too. LOL.

[noggs]

My house is starting to beome a perfume house too. LOL.

I know what you mean. Some of the local SAs are telling me that I have more perfumes at home than they do in their shops!

[hednic]

Congrats on getting the Serge Lutens and L'Artisan!

[PuddleMonkey]

Congrats on the Chergui and FdA. Both are excellent.

Serge Noire - Good stuff. But it doesn't compare to his older scents.
Fille en Aiguilles - Overrated, boring and not worth the price. Pass!
Carthusia Uomo - Decent scent. Somewhat unique. Good for Summer.
M/H - FdT - Decent scent. But there are much better tobacco fragrances out there IMO.
Reflection - Top Notch. Excellent fragrance. I love it. (I have the old style bottle - I'm not sure if it was reformulated when they changed bottles.)

I have some Miller Harris on now... not really liking it much. What are some better tobacco's?

[PuddleMonkey]

Hmmm. This is one Montale I have not sampled yet, but I'll try to get ahold of a vial. Thanks for letting me know which one it was PM.

I just looked it up, it's called "Boise Vanille" and it's for women. I can tell you this though, if a woman got in my car smelling of this, I'd kick her out. Even if it were Arianny Celeste, she'd be walking.

[cacio]

Congrats for the finds! Where is this nice shop (ie in which town)?

cacio

[joshmpdx]

It's a wonderful shop!

as i was reading your post, i thought ...it's got to be! it's very nice to see someone from my town

[PuddleMonkey]

Congrats for the finds! Where is this nice shop (ie in which town)?

cacio

Portland Oregon

[PuddleMonkey]

It's a wonderful shop!

as i was reading your post, i thought ...it's got to be! it's very nice to see someone from my town

It's great! They're gonna get to know me very well, I'll probably be there every week. lol

[joshmpdx]

Let me know what time, i'll stop in!

[PuddleMonkey]

It'll definitely be on the weekends, I gotta work all week to support my addiction

[StylinLA]

Who knew there was a Saks on Wake Island?!?

[PuddleMonkey]

Who knew there was a Saks on Wake Island?!?

lol I like the flag

[PuddleMonkey]

Serious question, are all Saks like the one I went to today? No testers on the shelf, just sealed boxes. All predictable crap, CK, Burberry, etc. No Bond 9's, no Acqua Di Parma's, none of the stuff I saw on-line.

[Gollnick]

I see that you live in Portland, Orgeon. Yes, the Perfume house is an amazing place. Huge selection and a refreshingly knowledgable staff.

[SculptureOfSoul]

Hi PuddleMonkey -

Just wanted to let you know that if you got a Reflection sample that was EdT, it was from the old bottle. The new bottle Reflection is labeled EdP, and is very strong and long lasting, but from what I've heard is no different than the original besides strength.

Is the color of the juice in your sample a light violet/purple color? If so, I'd gladly be willing to trade you that sample for a couple mL sample of the new juice from my bottle. I am dying to try the old bottle stuff.

And yeah, Boise Vanille is fricken DISGUSTING. One of the few scents I've ever given 1 star to. Blech! Good luck getting that off of yourself!

[Redneck Perfumisto]

Serious question, are all Saks like the one I went to today? No testers on the shelf, just sealed boxes. All predictable crap, CK, Burberry, etc. No Bond 9's, no Acqua Di Parma's, none of the stuff I saw on-line.

No way. The Saks everywhere else are loaded with Bond, Creed, Cartier, Hermès, Tom Ford, Chanel, Armani Prive, Mugler, and some semi-designer femme-leaning niche like Jo Malone and Annick Goutal, too. But forget it. You've got that Perfume Safe House! SO AWESOME.

Fou d'Absinthe is a favorite of mine - same with Feuilles de Tabac (not all that much tabac, but it will grow on you). For more tobacco I like Back in Black and Straight to Heaven from By Kilian. There's a touch in CH Men, too, that's nice.

[StylinLA]

Saks has kind of withdrawn to some degree in the frag world-- at least in my view. A couple of months back, my Saks SAs say they eliminated providing them little test spray cards or strips. I was in there today, and unless you want a scent sprayed on your arm, they have to dig around a spray it on Kleenex.

The Beverly Hills Saks goes pretty deep on scents. Bond No. 9 has a big presence. By Killian is there. It's the best source in LA for Guerlain. But outside of those two, it's mostly standard designer fare. Can't remember if they carry Tom Ford. Maybe.

Nieman and Barneys compliment Saks here. There're all within a couple of blocks of each other.

The Beverly Hills Saks has a fair number of testers, but they often have some scents with no testers open- especially when you're looking at something a bit out of mainstream like Mouchoir de Monsieur.

I'm pretty familiar with Portland, and I know it's probably not a very "frag friendly" city. I have seen write ups about that house you pictured in other forums. It's kind of a tough city for niche scents. Still, kind of a bummer the Portland Saks seems to be pretty mainstream in their fragrance department.

One trick I've noticed for you next trip. Some of the scents in Saks may be kept in the women's department. Don't ask me to explain the rationale. But in Bev Hills, the Guerlains and Bond No. 9 are all in the women's department along with the feminine offerings from those house. If anything is remotely unisex in my Saks, it's in the larger women's cosmeitics/fragrance department.