I am traveling for pleasure this week, and I will have a chance to visit a couple of specialized perfume stores. I do not know what niche or high-end mainstream brands they carry, but it doesn’t matter since in the last several years my new releases testing was almost nonexistent. So, please recommend me perfumes that I should try if I come across them.

Saturday Question #270:

What 3 New(ish) Perfumes Would You Recommend to Try?

The best recommendation would be something that you bought or consider buying despite not needing any more perfumes. But if you don’t have any such perfumes, anything you tried, liked and thought that you would have bought it if it weren’t for the size of your collection will also fit the bill.

My Answer

Well, if I knew, I wouldn’t have asked you. But I know that when I get to such stores these days, everything seems unfamiliar (brands) and repetitive (perfumes). So, it would be nice to have at least some hypothetical list of what to look for.

What 3 New(ish) Perfumes Would You Recommend to Try?

I’m late this week, but it’s still Sunday, and I decided not to skip our weekly topic. It’s Father’s Day in the U.S., and since we haven’t covered this question before, I decided it would be quite appropriate – even though my loyal respondents are all around the globe and even if celebrate a similar holiday, most likely, do it on a different date.

Sunday Question #268:

Does/Did Your Father Wear Perfume?

If yes, do you know/remember which one(s)? How about your grandfather(s)?

A bonus question: do you have Father’s Day or a similar celebration where you live now?

My Answer

All men in my family wore colognes when I was growing up. Men’s colognes, as practical aftershave products, were much more prevalent then women’s perfumes. Most of them weren’t fancy (though, my father and one of my grandfathers were known to get a better ones), but men used them – both at home and as the last step in getting a haircut at a barbershop.

My father uses perfumes these days. We leave 5+ hours flight away from each other, so I do not know what is in his scent wardrobe these days, but I remember him wearing Jo Malone Dark Amber & Ginger Lily, Chanel Egoiste Platinum, Creed Aventus and Ineke Field Notes From Paris (which I bought him for his birthday 3 years ago).

Now it’s your turn.

Does/Did Your Father Wear Perfume?

Can you believe it – I didn’t ask this question before? I was sure that we did it at some point and planned to ask anyway since it was long ago. But I checked – and no.

Saturday Question #267:

Which Are Your Top 5 Favorite Brands?

You do not have to give away or stop wearing any of the brands you won’t include. You do not need to rank these five – unless you want to, of course. These are not necessarily brands that are represented the most in your collection. And you can change your mind tomorrow. But today, please make an effort and choose just 5.

My Answer

My perfume database currently contains 388 brands. It doesn’t mean that I own even a sample from all of them, but I tested at least one of their perfumes at some point. I could have also tested some additional brands but didn’t think I would ever be interested in their perfumes – so, those experiences haven’t been recorded.

I selected top 3 without thinking or looking in my records – Ormonde Jayne, Amouage and Puredistance. Each of these brands have numerous perfumes I enjoy wearing, and while there were releases that didn’t work for me, each of them had something new that I liked quite recently.

But then it took me some time to choose the last two. I like many individual perfumes, but that doesn’t mean that I like the brand. For some brands I have multiple bottles, but then I start thinking about their most recent releases, and I’m not sure if I like them any longer. Finally, after sifting through the list, I decided on Chanel and Masque Milano. (I have to clarify: I do not like Chanel as a brand, but I like their perfumes.)

How about you?

Which Are Your Top 5 Favorite Brands?

I can’t believe it’s the last day of a Meteorological Spring already! Today was the hottest day (so far) this year – +88F/+31C, and I am already thinking about Fall. I know that we need summer (I love eating local fruits, and grapes for wines that we buy need at least some sun), but if it were for me, I would have been happy with a “jacket weather” all year long.

Saturday Question #266:

Do You Still Buy Perfumes?

Yes, we do not need more perfumes, and yes, most of us still have a wish list, even if it’s a small one. But have you actually spent any money on perfumes this year? Everything counts – bottles, decants and samples. As long as you paid for it.

What have you bought?

My Answer

Had I asked this question a week ago, my answer would have been “No.” I tried a number of newer perfumes at the local Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, but haven’t pulled the trigger on any new bottles. I was tempted a couple of times by Luckyscent’s sample packs, but by the time I would see them advertised in their newsletters and get to the website, they would be sold out.

Last weekend, since Luckyscent was running the Memorial Day sale, I decided it was a good reason to buy some samples. Since it was a spur-of-the-moment purchase, I bought just 3 samples – the latest Puredistance perfume Divanche (it was the main reason for that purchase) and 2 Amouage perfumes, Guidance 46 (I like the original Guidance, so I am curious to try this extrait de parfum version) and their newest Reasons (I wanted to try others from the same launch, but Luckiscent was out of samples for them). I haven’t received them yet, but hopefully early next week they will be here.

Since I have some trips planned later this year, I will be testing more perfumes than I did in the last 3-4 years, so I might find something that I’ll want to add to my collection. But, in general, I’m currently on a very-slow-buy.

How about you?

Do You Still Buy Perfumes?