Name the fragrance you tried/smelled today for the first time. (Feminine fragrances edition!)

[ILikePeeps]

Howdy everyone. So I didn't notice a thread for frags you've just tried/smelled for the first time in regards to women marketed ones. I've been wanting to get my nose on more feminine marketed frags for a good while now and I finally bought a massive sample lot - so now's my time to shine! Haha.

Hopefully this helps educate me and evolves my nose further.

I'd also like to start this thread as a place of reference/notes - so if I see frag X compared to frag Y in the future, I can come back here and re-visit my thoughts.

Without further ado.. what feminine fragrance have you tried/smelled today for the first time (that you're aware of!), Basenotes?

--
--
--


For me: Tory Burch the original 2013 launch.

I got what I perceived to be orange right off the top, and a typical/generic (sorry, I'm not sure how to describe this accord!!) feminine floral aspect to it. In my experience with women's frags, this is a heavily heavily heavily included accord in a LOT of fragrances. Can someone help me identify what it is? It's not quite fizzy, but it's not a bad description of it. Possibly some type of white floral accord - not heavy, not sweet. It's like the feminine accord in perfume. Hopefully I'll be able to identify what it is later on as I keep going along on this journey .

But yes.. orange, that fizzy accord, and now I might get more of that citrus grapefruit-y smell.

Not bad, but not for me. I kind of get the feeling this is a run of the mill type of fragrance, no?

[Quarry]

As strange as it seems, today, as the 1,670th scent I recorded in my BN sampled wardrobe, I tried, for the first time ... D&G Light Blue!?

Although one of the most-sold frags since its intro 18 years ago, it was never of interest to me, but I was at Kohl's and this was prominently displayed. I thought I should at least make myself familiar with it. My thoughts: lemony opening turns into bathroom cleaning product with a trace of iso-e super drydown.

[Zilpha]

I really like having a thread like this for the female side of the forum, I said on the day I tested the last of hundreds of samples I've tried in the past year.

[N.CAL Fragrance Reviewer]

I did a quick sniff on one of the Auphorie samples Miyako, it smelled feminine. It reminded me of Plum Japonais by Tom Ford. It made me think of plums specifically.

[Scarce]

I did a quick sniff on one of the Auphorie samples Miyako, it smelled feminine. It reminded me of Plum Japonais by Tom Ford. It made me think of plums specifically.

One of the select few 5 star fragrances in Luca Turin's latest guide, and probably the longest review in the entire book.

[N.CAL Fragrance Reviewer]

Auphorie L'Anima Della Rosa. This one is a fruity floral that focuses on rose. It reminds me of Xerjoff Damarose. Very nice stuff.

[darkmatter]

Mugler randomly sent me a sample of Angel EDT in the mail, and it's not bad. Less mentholated patchouli than the original with lots of berries and a cotton candy vibe on me. A lighter take on the original though still quite sweet.

[Quarry]

Mugler randomly sent me a sample of Angel EDT in the mail, and it's not bad. Less mentholated patchouli than the original with lots of berries and a cotton candy vibe on me. A lighter take on the original though still quite sweet.

Whoo-hoo and welcome, darkmatter. Linger long and post often!

[ILikePeeps]

As strange as it seems, today, as the 1,670th scent I recorded in my BN sampled wardrobe, I tried, for the first time ... D&G Light Blue!?

Although one of the most-sold frags since its intro 18 years ago, it was never of interest to me, but I was at Kohl's and this was prominently displayed. I thought I should at least make myself familiar with it. My thoughts: lemony opening turns into bathroom cleaning product with a trace of iso-e super drydown.

Holy cow. I'm close behind, only..... around 1,000 more to go,

I really like having a thread like this for the female side of the forum, I said on the day I tested the last of hundreds of samples I've tried in the past year.

Haha, better late than never!

Auphorie L'Anima Della Rosa. This one is a fruity floral that focuses on rose. It reminds me of Xerjoff Damarose. Very nice stuff.

I'm not sure I've tried any from that house yet, hmmm

Mugler randomly sent me a sample of Angel EDT in the mail, and it's not bad. Less mentholated patchouli than the original with lots of berries and a cotton candy vibe on me. A lighter take on the original though still quite sweet.

Haha, me too! It arrived today. As well as one from Armani. Strange timing, but welcome nonetheless!

Edit: oh, and welcome to Basenotes!

[darkmatter]

Whoo-hoo and welcome, darkmatter. Linger long and post often!

Haha, me too! It arrived today. As well as one from Armani. Strange timing, but welcome nonetheless!

Edit: oh, and welcome to Basenotes!

Thank you guys both so much for the warm welcome, happy to be here! Please bear with me while I get the hang of this new (to me) format..

[Kotori]

As strange as it seems, today, as the 1,670th scent I recorded in my BN sampled wardrobe, I tried, for the first time ... D&G Light Blue!?

Although one of the most-sold frags since its intro 18 years ago, it was never of interest to me, but I was at Kohl's and this was prominently displayed. I thought I should at least make myself familiar with it. My thoughts: lemony opening turns into bathroom cleaning product with a trace of iso-e super drydown.

Yup. Sounds about right.

[Kotori]

Vangelis by Sylvaine Delacourte

Spicy vanilla with orange, clove, and some norlimbanol(?) static. I’d probably love this come Fall.

[Kotori]

Vahina by Sylvaine Delacourte

Fruity floral candy potpourri. Itchy and overwhelming like a makeup job done by a small child. Way too much dryer sheet musk, functional fragrance candy, and 1990’s air freshener. Scrubber.

[N.CAL Fragrance Reviewer]

Thank you guys both so much for the warm welcome, happy to be here! Please bear with me while I get the hang of this new (to me) format..

Welcome to Basenotes darkmatter. Glad to have you on board

Please check out the SOTD thread, a great way to meet other fragrance enthusiasts here

[N.CAL Fragrance Reviewer]

Vangelis by Sylvaine Delacourte

Spicy vanilla with orange, clove, and some norlimbanol(?) static. I’d probably love this come Fall.

Interesting notes. Do you see similarities to Music Ravageur?

[N.CAL Fragrance Reviewer]

I'm not sure I've tried any from that house yet, hmmm

I think some arrangements can be made in the near future.

[Kotori]

Interesting notes. Do you see similarities to Music Ravageur?

Not too much. More sheer, not very musky or yeasty, like MR. It reminds me a bit of Kenzo Jungle, though. L’Elephant.

[darkmatter]

Welcome to Basenotes darkmatter. Glad to have you on board

Please check out the SOTD thread, a great way to meet other fragrance enthusiasts here

Gracias, and appreciate the tip, N. Cal! 😀

[ILikePeeps]

Mon Guerlain EdP

Oooooh. I like this!! The opening blast was alright, and it has a decidedly feminine smell to it (I can't identify what it is though, haha)

But soon after, it surprisingly reminds me of a perfume I got VERY early on in my fragrance obsession.. I mean hobby, :P. Thallium! The blue bottle type.

This is kind of a lovely sweet fragrance. Almost powdery.

[ILikePeeps]

Vangelis by Sylvaine Delacourte

Spicy vanilla with orange, clove, and some norlimbanol(?) static. I’d probably love this come Fall.

Oh no, norlimbanol can make me weary. Have you tried Epic Man at all? That static in the beginning of that fragrance... kill me. It's waaayyy too much, haha

I think some arrangements can be made in the near future.

Haha, got a whole bunch of samples to go through! More to learn, woohoo! What a fun hobby.

[N.CAL Fragrance Reviewer]

Mon Guerlain EdP

Oooooh. I like this!! The opening blast was alright, and it has a decidedly feminine smell to it (I can't identify what it is though, haha)

But soon after, it surprisingly reminds me of a perfume I got VERY early on in my fragrance obsession.. I mean hobby, :P. Thallium! The blue bottle type.

This is kind of a lovely sweet fragrance. Almost powdery.

Mon Guerlain reminded me of L'Instant de Guerlain somewhat. I'd rather smell Mon Guerlain on a woman than on myself.

[Kotori]

Oh no, norlimbanol can make me weary. Have you tried Epic Man at all? That static in the beginning of that fragrance... kill me. It's waaayyy too much, haha

I can get headaches from too much Norlimbanol, Ambroxan, and maybe a few others, so I know what you mean. I have tried Epic Man and I thought it was one of the best of the Amouages. But I tried an older sample from the original release and I read somewhere that it was reformulated and more “sheer woods” than it used to be.

[ClockworkAlice]

I love the thread, thank you for creating it! I used to post in male forum thread from time to time but felt like an intruder there while posting about female marketed scents.
Not really today, but yesterday I tried several things for the first time, here are my short impressions:

Narciso Rodriguez Narciso EDT (the black cube). I have only tried EDP (the white cube) before as EDT was out of stock here for quite a while, so it was interesting to compare both. To me, they smell pretty much the same except EDP seems thicker, woodier, stronger and EDT is lighter. Both are great, but I would choose the white cube. Though I think I like Narciso Poudree the most out of the bunch, it has that soft creaminess that I like. (And the Rouge is a bit too heavy for me.)

Narciso Rodriguez For Her L'Absolu. I am a sucker for NR scents. I love them all, especially For Her EDT and the new Pure Musc, but I love them all. Haven't tried this one before somehow and saw it nicely discounted and I tried it, and guess what, I loved it, too. Haven't bought it there and then, but I'm considering it. It's also musky creamy flowers with some more musk like For Her, but much darker, with more patchouli and amber, with top notes that have almost plummy boozy feel. The bottle is deep purple, and the smell is also deep purple, dark and gripping, very sensual (but much subtler than, say, Poison). It's definitely too heavy for summer to me, but I would love it in evenings. Seemed to be closer to the skin and lasted on me shorter than For Her or Narcisos do (they last all day on me), but it's hard to tell after just one try.

Itislove by Salvador Dali. I bought a mini because I wanted to try it, there were no tester bottles and it was super cheap, so I really treated it like a sample. I wasn't sure if I'm going to like it but I liked how the notes looked (grapefruit!) and hoped for the best, but ehhh... I felt absolutely nothing wearing this. It's not like I didn't smell anything, I did, but it would be hard to describe what exactly did I smell, as I didn't get neither grapefruit nor sandalwood nor vanilla, just some SOMETHING, and wasn't impressed by it at all. Now I'm not sure what to do with that generous 15 ml sample.

Le Roy Soleil by Salvador Dali. Ohhhhhh, now that's a different matter. I bought two 5 ml minis at once because looking through the notes I was quite sure to like it (Salvador Dali perfumers seem to be good at making orientals I enjoy) and the bottle was super quirky and fun - so I thought to keep one for myself and gift another to my friend who also loves everything Dali. I was blown away. It's a really beautiful soft oriental with cinnamon and spices, all dripping with overripe fruit, mainly pineapple to my nose. It feels very summery because of all that fruit and it is rich at the same time, seems good for all year round. Now I'm not sure if I want to give that second mini away, I'm getting greedy.

As strange as it seems, today, as the 1,670th scent I recorded in my BN sampled wardrobe, I tried, for the first time ... D&G Light Blue!?

Although one of the most-sold frags since its intro 18 years ago, it was never of interest to me, but I was at Kohl's and this was prominently displayed. I thought I should at least make myself familiar with it. My thoughts: lemony opening turns into bathroom cleaning product with a trace of iso-e super drydown.

I also tried it for the first time a month or two ago and my impression was very similar. Though I found it quite pleasant despite that.

Mugler randomly sent me a sample of Angel EDT in the mail, and it's not bad. Less mentholated patchouli than the original with lots of berries and a cotton candy vibe on me. A lighter take on the original though still quite sweet.

darkmatter, hi and welcome to Basenotes! I saw the new Angel EDT in the store yesterday, but they didn't have a tester out so I couldn't sniff it. I smelled the new Angel Croisiere though and it was very nice fruity Angel indeed - haven't tried it on my skin yet though. It would be interesting to compare if I like it or Angel Muse better.

[Zilpha]

Narciso Rodriguez Narciso EDT (the black cube). I have only tried EDP (the white cube) before as EDT was out of stock here for quite a while, so it was interesting to compare both. To me, they smell pretty much the same except EDP seems thicker, woodier, stronger and EDT is lighter. Both are great, but I would choose the white cube. Though I think I like Narciso Poudree the most out of the bunch, it has that soft creaminess that I like. (And the Rouge is a bit too heavy for me.)

Narciso Rodriguez For Her L'Absolu. I am a sucker for NR scents. I love them all, especially For Her EDT and the new Pure Musc, but I love them all. Haven't tried this one before somehow and saw it nicely discounted and I tried it, and guess what, I loved it, too. Haven't bought it there and then, but I'm considering it. It's also musky creamy flowers with some more musk like For Her, but much darker, with more patchouli and amber, with top notes that have almost plummy boozy feel. The bottle is deep purple, and the smell is also deep purple, dark and gripping, very sensual (but much subtler than, say, Poison). It's definitely too heavy for summer to me, but I would love it in evenings. Seemed to be closer to the skin and lasted on me shorter than For Her or Narcisos do (they last all day on me), but it's hard to tell after just one try.

Me, too. I have six NR scents. I love a good musk base. I'm not much interested in the Pure notes, however, and I don't want to get redundant, so that may be all my NRs for a while.

[ClockworkAlice]

Me, too. I have six NR scents. I love a good musk base. I'm not much interested in the Pure notes, however, and I don't want to get redundant, so that may be all my NRs for a while.

...until they release something you cannot resist, of course!
Great to meet another fan
Which one of your NRs is your favourite?

[Zilpha]

...until they release something you cannot resist, of course!
Great to meet another fan
Which one of your NRs is your favourite?

I guess it's between Fleur Musc and l'Absolu, but I'm really happy with them all.

[Couronne de Violette]

Vintage L'Aimant de Coty.

It's like Shalimar's sister with glasses, in a good way.

[ClockworkAlice]

Today I smelled a bunch and tried some of Jo Malone fragrances and have to say I'm quite impressed.

Lime, Basil & Mandarin - what a beauty. I'm not surprised it's their most popular one. Very fresh and uplifting, with aromatic twist. Great for summer. Great for anyone. Too bad it's so fleeting - it was the first one to run away from my wrist.

Grapefruit - I'm biased here as I'm such a sucker for grapefruit scents. Of course I liked it. It's a more aromatic grapefruit. It also has a darker twist similarly to Pamplelune, but not quite so.

Pomegranate Noir - I really liked the way sour fruits mingle with spices and resins and patchouli here, mmm. Too bad I got mixed up where I sprayed Grapefruit and where Pomegranate Noir, as one of them is gone now and the other is still smelling faintly, but oh so pleasantly. I THINK it's this one, but I'm not sure now. Some re-testing is on my schedule now, I guess.

Myrrh & Tonka - beautiful and sensual. A bit sweet at first, then sweetness evaporates and I'm left with slighly smokey resins. I would love it in autumn. Strongest and longest lasting of them all, I still feel it quite well after 8 hours or more.


Besides those four that I tried on my skin there are some that I just sniffed and liked quite a lot and brought little perfumed papers with me:
Black Cedar & Juniper - this one leans more masculine, but I would wear it. It gives off a bit cold vibe, yet is quite comforting and soothing.

Dark Amber & Ginger Lily - oh I really do love ginger note in fragrances. This one was both warm and refreshing at the same time, very pleasant. I really want to try this out on my skin, will do that next time.

Velvet Rose & Oud - I wouldn't wear this, but I would love to smell it on someone else or as a room scent.

I also smelled Clary Sage & Sea Salt for reference and some of the more flowery ones, but wasn't interested in them. I can see why Clary Sage & Sea Salt is popular though, it's very calming and subtle.

Can't do more detailed descriptions as I continued shopping and running errands after testing them and when I finally came home 2 out of 4 were completely gone, 1 smells only faintly yet very pleasantly (too bad I can't remember which one it is, Grapefruit or Pomegranate Noir I'm guessing it's Pomegranate Noir, or maybe Grapefruit, oh. I smell some spiced pachouli, but oh, I see both of them have it in the notes. I'll have to re-test these two) and only Myrrh & Tonka is still alive and kicking in its smokey resinous beauty. My scented papers give off only very faint smell now, so the fragrances are quite fleeting - but really pleasant. The black bottle collection seems much better lasting though.

[ILikePeeps]

Oscar de la Renta - Bella Blanca

It's not bad, but I'm getting quite the generic vibe from it. I'm not wrong, am I? What gives off this typical smell? Is it jasmine + pear? or white musk + pear, or what the heck, haha.

It's floral, a bit fruity. It's definitely not bad; pleasant. But doesn't really 'wow' me. I do like the sweeter smell it gives off when sniffing up close.

[N.CAL Fragrance Reviewer]

Lime, Basil & Mandarin - what a beauty. I'm not surprised it's their most popular one. Very fresh and uplifting, with aromatic twist. Great for summer. Great for anyone. Too bad it's so fleeting - it was the first one to run away from my wrist.

I tried this one 6-7 years ago, I remember this being one of the few memorable ones that I've tried. Vanilla & anise was another one that stood out to me, it wasn't a typical vanilla scent which made it more interesting.