With one of the “big” holidays approaching, even if Christmas isn’t “your” holiday, it’s hard not to catch at least some festive vibes. So I decided to come up with a question that would somewhat cover both celebrations (in general) and our mutual hobby.

Saturday Question #195:

What Is Your Favorite Alcoholic Drink Smell?

Regardless of whether you actually drink alcohol (and that particular drink) or not, you might still like how it smells. Would you like to have it in a perfume form? Do you have perfume with such a smell or note in your collection? Do you like it as a drink?

A bonus question for those who celebrate: what perfume will you wear to the main celebratory meal?

My Answer

I find it slightly ironic that periodically after I come up with a question for an SQ post, it takes me a while to figure out my answer. This question was one of those.

I realized that I like many scents related to alcoholic beverages. I’m not sure that I would want to smell like each of them, but I find at least several pleasant enough to be worth making them into perfume.

While I can’t choose the most favorite scent, let me pick one of them. Cognac. I realize that there are many different smells, and my choice is quite generic. But, on the other hand, it’s not more generic than “rose” or “leather.” So, cognac it is!

I have a perfume that is supposed to have this note, but I don’t think it really smells like that – so, I’ll leave it for the designated post I’ll do soon. But I tried another perfume that for my nose has a bouquet that reminds me of the scent I like in cognac. Frapin 1270. I used up my sample and still think I want more. So, I will get a travel bottle of it eventually. I like to have a several-sips-worth pour of a good cognac now and then, but it calls for a special state of mind, I never drink it casually.

I don’t know yet what perfume I’ll wear on Christmas Eve when we go to our friends’ house. It’s not because I haven’t decided yet but because I randomly chose one of my all-time favorites when creating this year’s perfume Advent Calendar, and I don’t know yet what it was.

How about you?

What Is Your Favorite Alcoholic Drink Smell?

We all mentioned more than once that we do not need more perfumes and that there are too many brands and perfumes to keep track. But since we’re still in this hobby, I assume somehow we come across information about new releases or perfumes new to us.

Saturday Question #194:

How Do You Learn About New Perfume Releases?

Do you read about them on blogs? Do you watch YouTube videos? Come across them on Instagram? Get newsletters? Visit stores? Some other way?

 Bonus question: what was the last new perfume you learned about?

My Answer

Blogs used to be my main source of information. Recently, less and less people write about perfumes, so my sources of information is evenly spread between periodic visits to NST, direct emails from several brands I follow, random posts on Instagram and rare shopping (well, browsing) trips to Neiman Marcus.

The last new perfume I learned about was new (old) perfumes duo Amouage launched for their 40th anniversary – Cristal & Gold. I saw posts on Instagram. Sounds and looks great. But at $1,950 for 50 ml I will admire it from afar.

How about you?

How Do You Learn About New Perfume Releases?

A couple of SQs ago, alytike wrote about Radical Rose by Matiere Premiere: “The opening was a gorgeous plush rose vanilla. […] The spearmint chewing gum joined the party & these 3 notes stayed for days! I mean scrubbing & multiple baths/ showers. It just didn’t know when to quit!” And it reminded me of that commercial for the Energizer Bunny that keeps going and going and going…

Saturday Question #190:

Do You Have “Energizer Bunny” Perfumes In Your Collection?

It doesn’t matter whether you appreciate their tenacity or get tired of them—name the heroes (or culprits?)?

My Answer

Tauer Perfume’s L’Air du desert marocain, which I like, is so potent and tenacious that I have to decant it into a dab vial to apply just a tiny amount; otherwise, it overwhelms me. I think that this is how it should be worn. Or diluted to the EdT strength.

How about you?

Do You Have “Energizer Bunny” Perfumes In Your Collection?

We all periodically complain about high perfume prices. Sometimes, it’s not a general “too expensive” but “too expensive for me” or “isn’t worth the price.” But probably we would be tempted by a deeply discounted “too expensive” reject. Unless, of course, we are on a circumstantial or self-imposed “no-buys.” In general, we all like a good deal and would rather pay less than more. But stepping away from all that and not considering your financial situation at this time…

Saturday Question #189:

What Do You Consider a Fair Price for Niche Perfume?

Creating, producing, packaging and selling perfumes cost money. It is a business, and we don’t think brands/perfumers should do it out of altruism. But what do you think is a fair price for, let’s say, a 50 ml bottle of good niche perfume?

You might not have even $20 for discretionary spending now, you might not be buying any more perfume, period, or your budget might easily fit a real bespoke perfume – it doesn’t matter, it’s not about buying. The question is about your perception of a fair price, not what you’d pay for perfume you love or like.

My Answer

I think my threshold for a 50 ml bottle of niche perfume is about $200. How did I arrive at this number? If Andy Tauer, Hiram Green and Ormonde Jayne whose perfumes I like and who I trust use good ingredients can do that and stay in business, I don’t see why others wouldn’t be able to do the same.

It doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t buy more expensive perfumes (when I’m back to buying), and on a case-by-case basis, I might consider justifiable a higher price for perfumes with the most expensive ingredients (e.g., iris, ambergris or agarwood), but as a rule, anything above $200/50 ml seems greedy.

How about you?

What Do You Consider a Fair Price for Niche Perfume?

Three days ago, I got an email from one of the online perfumeries advertising a new limited edition from Creed – “The pinnacle of the Creed legend – The New Absolu Aventus.” A funny part was that they misspelled the name in the subject line and then three more times in the body of the email. They called it “Absolue Adventus” – and that was what actually caught my attention. Since Advent Calendars (of beauty, fragrance and food types) were recently on my mind, I didn’t realize initially that it was a typo and seriously considered that Creed decided to release a limited edition with a season-appropriate name. Another interesting point about that release:

To insure (sic.) its meticulous craftsmanship and presentation, Creed has requested no samples, sampling on blotters or testers on display. Rather, our sales staff is available to provide you with a personal presentation and spritz on your skin for your discovery of this amazing Absolu Aventus.

The quote is from the same email, but I saw similar information elsewhere. Combined with a high even by Creed’s standards price ($545 for 75 ml), this seems like a serious commitment, which I imagine might come only from love for the original perfume. (I’m not counting those who treat it as an investment hoping to resell it for a higher price later or to split it for profit.) And that’s how I arrived at today’s question.

Saturday Question #188:

Have You Ever Tried Creed Aventus?

Do you know how it smells? Would you recognize it if you were to smell it blind? Do you like this perfume? Do you own it? Are you curious about that limited edition?

My Answer

I know that I smelled it at least once. I have a record in my database that I thought it was too masculine for my liking. And I didn’t like it enough to seek it out for my vSO. But I don’t think I would recognize it had I smelled it “in the wild,” and I don’t understand the hype around it. But maybe I smelled a “wrong batch”?

If I happen to be at a store that carried Creed, and they still have Absolu Aventus, if they do not allow testing on paper, I will use my vSO as a human blotter to try it – just out of curiosity and not because I think I’ll like it. But I won’t even try to go to such a store just for that.

How about you?

Have You Ever Tried Creed Aventus?

Initially, I planned to ask about a new brand you discovered, but then I thought that since, with hundreds of brands out there, finding a new brand became less novel than it used to be 10 years ago, we mostly stopped being interested in brands’ stories. So, the question is about the brand that you haven’t tried before – be it a newly hatched or a well-established one.

Saturday Question #187:

What Was The Last Brand You Discovered?

Were you seeking it out or just came across their perfume(s)? Did you like what you tried? Did/will you add anything from that brand to your collection?

My Answer

These days, new (for me) brands rarely cross my path since I rarely visit stores that carry unusual/rare lines. And even when I do, there are so many perfumes from the brands I know that I haven’t tried that I usually do not have any energy left for discovering gems in the rough. Even when I go to high-end department stores, I rarely stop to try any brand I do not recognize: everything seems to be smelling like everything else and not worth engaging in the usual “dances” with an SA (“What type of perfumes do you like?”, “This is our most popular fragrance!”, etc.).

Mind Games attracted me with their bottles. There is something very appealing in chess pieces-themed bottles, though, it’s a dead end for the line since it’s limited by the number of different pieces. Unless, of course, they decide to create perfumes for each piece on the board (though, at this point, they chose not to use a pawn as an inspiration, even for a single perfume).

Our local Neiman Marcus didn’t carry all 10 perfumes in the line, but I tested 6 and even got samples to take home. What do I think about this collection? They are fine. Not good. Not bad. I thought that a couple was more interesting than the others, but in the end, I wasn’t impressed enough even to do a designated post about them. If, at some point, one of the decanters that I follow were to offer Gardez (pepper, spice, jasmine, orris, fruits, leather and wood), I would probably get a decant. The rest – I don’t think I’ll even finish the samples. But if anyone in the US is interested, Scentbird has 5 out of 10 perfumes from this line.

How about you?

What Was The Last Brand You Discovered?

My dear friends and readers, I know I’m slightly behind in responding to your comments. I want you to know that even though I do not always answer in a timely manner, I read all the comments the same day you leave them. And, as a rule, I get to them eventually – so, if you don’t subscribe to notifications, please check back in a week or so.

Saturday Question #186:

Do You Compliment Others On Their Perfume?

Do you tell your friends, relatives or loved ones that you like how they smell? How about co-workers, neighbors and other acquaintances? Do you ever compliment strangers?

My Answer

A short answer would be: Yes.

Not too many of the people I know personally wear perfumes. But whenever they do, I always notice and tell them if I like what I smell (and then sometimes the game “Can you tell what I’m wearing?” ensues).

In the office environment (while we still were coming daily to the same place to work), it was extremely rare to smell anything from co-workers or other people in the same office building. So, whenever I smelled anything, my knee-jerk reaction was to say something nice – just to acknowledge my appreciation of the fact that somebody was applying perfume. I think people react similarly to seeing a bright-colored blouse or statement jewelry piece: they compliment it not necessarily because they like it (and not even to be nice), but because they noticed it, and it was an easy thing to do… And then one day I stopped myself because I realized that I might be encouraging a person to keep wearing perfume I didn’t like. But unlike somebody else’s blouse that might not please you aesthetically but doesn’t really affect you, a scent that you do not like might be quite bothering… From that time, I would compliment someone only if I liked what I smelled and not the idea that I could smell something instead of the usual scentless sterility.

Whenever I smell something that I like on a complete stranger, if the situation permits, I do express my delight. And usually people like it. Annoyingly, on a couple of occasions recently I couldn’t figure out who to compliment: I looked around and even followed a couple of people in a store but didn’t find a person leaving that great sillage. Of course, I was annoyed not because I missed a conversation with a stranger, but because I really wanted to know what they were wearing.

How about you?

Do You Compliment Others On Their Perfume?