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Saturday Question: Which Perfume is Your Archenemy?

I waited for a while before asking this question: there is so much negativity in our daily life that I didn’t want to extend any negativity into this Saturday Question space. But I figures that the whole last week was about perfumes we love, starting with the previous Saturday Question “What Are Your Top N Perfumes?”, followed by the post about Puredistance Rubikona, a new love for me (just a reminder – all giveaways are open until the end of Sunday), and crowned by “Which 20 Would Portia Keep?” And this is not even counting preceding Vanessa’s and Tara’s posts and then trailing post by Ines.    So, I figures that with all this perfume love going around, we can talk about perfumes that are wrong for us with the capital “W.”

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #35:

Which Perfume is Your Archenemy?

In our hobby we come across many different perfumes – those that we love, like, tolerate, dislike or even hate. But this question is about perfumes that we wanted to like for one reason or other but just cannot. Is there perfume that you know is good and loved by others, that you’d love to love and approached it more than once hoping to get a different outcome – and still, it is not for you?

My Answer

There is more than one perfume that fits that fir this question, but today I want to mention Guerlain Shalimar. It was a busy week for me, so I didn’t have time to do any statistical analysis of perfumes named by all the bloggers and commenters on those posts mentioned above, but I know that Shalimar was mentioned by at least four people (maybe more). But it is not the only reason I thought of it.

For a while now I’ve been tempted to by Shalimar parfum in the limited edition Baccarat bottle. For me that bottle is the epitome of perfect perfume representation. I stop myself because it is insane to buy an expensive bottle of something that I won’t be wearing. But I want it to (I know, sacrilege) display it on my dresser.

As to perfume itself, even before I got that bizarre idea of buying Shalimar for its bottle, I approached it dozen of times in hope that my tastes changed. Still no. But that bottle…

 

Guerlain Shalimar

 

Which Perfume is Your Archenemy?

96 thoughts on “Saturday Question: Which Perfume is Your Archenemy?”

  3. I have only one perfume I truly cannot stand, my enemy, my hated, hated companion on too many train rides, my stomach churning nemesis !! RED DOOR. I can smell that stuff a mile away and it nauseates me.

    I was going to say funny, I haven’t smelled it in ages and then I remembered that’s because I haven’t been anywhere in ages and now that I do get to go out it’s in a mask LOL!

    Red Door is like evil soap.

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  4. Another Guerlain. I haven’t tried it in a long time but it was L’Heure Bleue. It gave me a headache. It was overwhelmingly powdery and the only time I thought a perfume reminded me of my nan – not in a good way.
    I really must re-try.

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  5. Samsara. The huge amount of sandalwood knocked me down the many times I wore it. Instant headache and nausea inducing. I want it far, far away from me.
    I agree with some of you here regarding Mitsuko and L’Heure Bleue, because I can’t wear them either. I tried them so many times to see if I could finally fall in love with such beloved classics. I just could not!

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  6. Like others, I don’t care for Shalimar, Mitsouko or L’Heure Bleue, but my real nemesis is La Vie est Belle, that stomach-churning fruitchouli. Angel is bad for me too, smells like rotting melons.

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  7. I have a sad story for you Undina.
    My perfume remedied used to be one of my great loves. One day CHANEL No 22 EdC, EdT, EdP, extrait, vintage or modern suddenly became nauseous for me. I had to sell on most of my No 22 collection because even thinking about it makes me feel quite ill and headachey. What a bummer, eh?
    Portia xx

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  8. Archenemy as in being physically repelled by it, Amouage’s Ciel. It is a perfume my BFF often wears so I have tried to like it but no. As in really wanted to love Mohur. I think there is some kind of aromachemical in it that just gets on my olfactory nerves.

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    • As much as I like Amouage, somehow I’ve never tried Ciel. Mostly because I read bad impressions for it back when I was in a paid testing mode – so, I didn’t want to spend money on trying something others disliked.

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  11. I cannot abide Angel. I keep a sample around thinking someday I will appreciate it but it smells so horrible on my skin. Second place to Zoologist T Rex. I sniffed it once and was repulsed.

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  13. Good topic today! I have a few perfume ‘enemies.’ But the archenemy is Jicky by Guerlain. This smells so fecal and disgusting on me that it makes me quite nauseous. Don’t think I’ve ever smelled it on anyone else, though. Although I’m a lover of Shalimar, I definitely understand those who hate it. It’s very LOUD and can be rather sickening in an enclosed space. I only wear it at home. I am considerate of others. :-))
    Secondary ‘challenging’ perfumes for me, Angel and La Vie est Belle. My best friend wears LVEB and she makes it tolerable as she sprays only a tiny bit. Everyone else who wears it sprays doses that could bring down tall buildings. The same with Angel. I totally appreciate the importance of Angel in perfumery, its novelty, etc., it’s just too loud and too much on everyone I know who wears it. And Baccarat Rouge smells totally vile on me as well. :-))

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  14. I had a major negative response to Burberry Brit Sheer, of all things. The yuzu note was just too much for me. I’ve also pretty much given up on Nahema, my nose just doesn’t “get” what is supposed to be so great about it and in fact, I really disliked it on my own skin when I tried again recently. I don’t care much for Angel, either; I do think part of the issue there is that too many people overspray it. Those are the only three I can really think of; I actually like most fragrances, I just don’t love most of them.

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    • I have not smelled Angel on anyone in years. But Yuzu can bother me, it’s one of those potentially anxiety feeling notes to me. I don’t think I’ve tried Sheer but I’ve loved Brit edp and edt for years.

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    • I think it’s impossible not to overspray Angel :) But I will do some experimenting tomorrow.

      Nahema was a disappointment for me: I expected it to be Guerlain version of Lyric – and it wasn’t. I’m not sure that I tried it on skin though.

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  15. Back in the days it was Dior’s Poison, later it was and still is Angel. I always have that frozen fake smile on my face when some of my friends wear it in my vicinity.

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    • Note to myself: never wear Angel when meeting Neva… JK. I stopped wearing Angel outside of my house years ago, though I still like it.
      I remember that I didn’t like Poison, but I don’t remember how it smelled.

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    • Back in the day I think Poison was everyone’s archenemy, that and Giorgio. Possibly had something to do with how trigger-happy the wearer was😷

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      • I remember that theaters and concert halls smelled of Poison and all the other beautiful perfumes had absolutely no chance to get noticed :-D

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    • I loved Poison but too many people hated it. I remember the first time I tried it on, went home, and my boyfriend actually held his nose and said “PU – what smells?”

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      • While I could care less for what other “external” people think about my perfume, partners, close friends, children and parents kind of have to be included into the equation. Especially partners :)

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  16. My archenemy is Tauer Carillon Pour Une Ange. This was sprayed on a card sealed in plastic and came with an order. When I unsealed the envelope a foul smell like rotting garbage wafted you and I just about hurled (I was in my walk in closet and I’m glad I was able to keep it down 🤢.

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    • I dislike Carillon Pour Une Ange and still can’t believe anyone smells lily of the valley in that concoction. I suspect it contains some chemical (it might be a natural ingredient) that some people’s brain translates into the LotV scent, while for others (like you and I) it smells just awful. I had a similar experience with DSH’s LotV perfumes.

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    • And Carillon Pour Un Ange smells so unbelievably gorgeous on my Mother In Law it’s amazing.
      I liked it but didn’t ‘love it’ and gave her my decant. It was so beautiful on her. But she does florals very well. Gucci No. 3 smells like all roses on her and on me, it’s an oakmoss/chypre.

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  17. Reading everyone’s likes/dislikes gave me the biggest laugh today, so thanks! I love Shalimar and Samsara but only in vintage formulations. There’s something about the reformulation that is cloying/gag-inducing.
    Winner in Pond-water category: Mitsouko and Songes by AG. Both are pond-water on my skin. I feel green just thinking about them.
    Honorable mention, (Rail road spike to the sinuses): LT Blue and Vie Est Belle. I work on a college campus and our students, lord love them, overspray with such wild abandon, that I can practically taste the perfumes when I walk into the ladies room.
    *blergh*

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    • I remember not liking Songes when I tried it first many years ago, but at some point Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume) shared some of it with me after wearing and praising it for a while – and something has changed: it started smelling nice for me in summer – go figure :)

      I’m very sensitive to what I wear, and there are many perfumes that I wouldn’t wear even if those were the last perfumes on Earth. But when it comes to smelling perfumes on others, I’m much more tolerant. And I do not mean that I consciously choose not to judge or disapprove others’ choices, but rather that most perfumes bother me much less when others wear them. I think, I’m usually pleased that someone wears any perfume, and it doesn’t matter how exactly it smells.

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  18. There are many perfumes that I think are overrated (basically, the whole Guerlain L’Art et la Matiere line or Neera Vermeire perfumes) but that I generally don’t mind to smell on others. To each their own. That being said, there are a handful of scents that are no-gos for me:
    Tom Ford Noir pour Femme is one of them, it smells like one of those strong spicy oriental air-fresheners in cars, overpowering and nauseous. Then there is Chanel Beige – I wanted to love it, I really tried, but the scent smells mean to me. Like a sweet looking person that is not to be trusted. However, my strongest negative reaction was to Onda by Vero Profumo (sorry to all fans!), it smells like death to me.

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    • It’s amazing how different we all are and how many variations on favorites/nemeses combinations exist! I’m with you on Onda – it was really bad on my skin/for my nose. On the other hand, I quite like both Beige and TF that you can’t stand.

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  19. Opium. A friend’s mother wore it at nuclear levels, and that did it for me. Also wondering if Baccarat Rouge is a case of the emperor’s new clothes. I just get a nasty medicinal smell and can’t understand its great popularity.

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  20. Well now, Angel is well and truly having its wings clipped here😄 I’m also not a fan. No way no how. My other enemy is FM Dans Tes Bras – instant Tom cat’s pi$$. And then there’s No. 5 and Patou Joy, both make me nauseous. And what is it with the overspraying of LVEB? I can do sweet, but that is off the charts.
    I’ve really enjoyed reading other people’s big dislikes.

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    • I wonder if you recognized that it was the topic suggested by you when Portia asked for suggestions last February :)

      No 5 and Joy are also not for me, but I think I could wear No 5 in homeopathic doses if I had absolutely no other better choices.

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