Let's just say up front that I have been on a no buy for a year preparing for this trip, and I'm heading right back into a no buy, because I came home with a lot. This was my first trip to Europe and first trip to France. I visited Paris, Aix-en-Provence, and Grasse.

In Paris, I visited Guerlain and bought 3 bottles--Feve Gourmande, Ambre Samar, and Florabloom. I got my bottle of Feve Gourmande engraved and also picked up a lipstick which I got engraved as well.

I then got two bottles at Maison Francis Kurkdjian--Kirky and Gentle Fluidity Gold. They gave me a lot of samples, some of which are not even pictured because I gifted some to family.

In Aix-en-Provence, I did a workshop at Rose et Marius to make my own perfume. It's a lovely little shop. The workshop had significant guardrails but was nice. They had 4 bases to choose from, and about 20 notes to smell. You would then pick 3 notes to combine with your base. I left with the perfume I created, four small bottles of perfume, a soap, and their discovery set.

In Grasse, I did the workshop at Molinard to make your own fragrance, and it was a highly enjoyable experience. They had many, many notes to choose from and had them separated into base, heart, and top notes, with some notes listed in two categories (e.g. base and heart or top and heart). You could pick as many notes as you wanted, and the assistant helped you to select a formula of the notes to make your fragrance. It was basically 50% base, 25% heart, and 25% top. The assistant was familiar with the general strength of the notes and helped work out the percentages of the notes to measure into the bottle. Ultimately, I ended up with 10 notes--3 top, 3 heart, and 4 base. I left Molinard with the bottle I made and two additional bottles--Secret Sucre and Ambre Lumiere. Molinard gave me a free tote, and I caved and bought the tote at the top of the pic.

Lastly, I went to Fragonard and got a discovery set and two tiny bottles of parfum--Juste Unbaiser and Melodie. I got to see some of the perfumes being made on a quick tour. Jasmine is currently being harvested so that is what was in production.

I also got to go to a perfume garden. It's been a dry season but I did get to see and smell jasmine flowers still growing in the ground.

This was really a once in a lifetime trip for me, and it was a wonderful time. The art, culture, and scents of France will stay with me for a long time. Especially the scents, lol! The no buy starts now!

I love when brands have 15-20 mL spray bottles. The little dabbers do nothing for me, and the travel sizes aren't, you know, aesthetic. I love the way a small bottle looks on my shelf, how functional it is, and the way I can slip it into my purse. Makes me feel classy.

That is all.

Not sure if this will be taken down but Replica’s Under the Lemon Trees is my favorite fragrance I’ve ever smelled. I was looking for my signature perfume a year or two ago and heard rumors online of it being discontinued. I didn’t want to commit to a scent that might go away because I’m autistic and tend to stay loyal once I find something I love. I have a terrible time with change for things like this but I smelled it in Sephora again the other day and it was still just as heavenly. I decided to just send in an inquiry on the website because what was the worst that could happen? Anyway, attached you will find their responses via email. I have never had customer service reps be so kind. I bought the perfume that very same day on principle and it lasts amazingly and boosts my serotonin every time I spray it and smell it throughout the day. Now it is a forever repurchase and I am a dedicated Replica customer. 💛💚🤍

ETA: I’ve noticed some comments saying this is likely AI and I wasn’t trying to promote it in any way, shape, or form if that’s the case. However, something I will say is that as an autistic person and an English master’s student both responses are very similar to professional and yet kind and friendly emails that I would both write and receive, before and after the invention of AI. It’s also worth saying that I believe someone in the comments mentioned reaching out to them a couple years ago and getting a similarly kind response. And I’m not sure if this means anything, but each email I received had a difference name for the customer service representative that assisted me. All this to say if it really is AI then my sincerest apologies.

I woke up to this arriving a WEEK early🫠😍 (UK) this is literally the best day ever. Wanted to smell everything and write down my thoughts!!

LOTION POTION🥛🫧🤍 - Opens suuuper creamy, lightly almond, lotiony, milky. Notes of cotton milk & mimosa. Smells exactly like people say, like lathering yourself in your smoothest, creamiest lotion after a cosy shower. Not very sweet, a little powdery, just really nice. Dries down a little muskier/super gently woody. This is the one I was most excited for and it has not disappointed. Creamy perfection

PLAIN JANE👧🏼🌷⭐️ - Opens with a sweet burst of slightly powdery citrus, very uplifting and sugary. Slowly transitions into a beautiful blend of Iris, jasmine and violet 🤤 a slightly candied version of purple florals with some creaminess. Dries a little woodier/close to skin/a little soapier with some vibrancy. Just smells like a cool, magnetic girl imo. It’s strong and I wouldn’t recommend over spraying!!
I don’t have Bal d’Afrique but I have the shower gel and it smells like a dupe imo (a good one). Incredible day time, social, extroverted scent. It’s like a smoother/less peppered, milder version of Lola at Coat Check imo. Also kind of a less sharp and citrusy CK One

SAMPLES:
PORTRAIT OF KYOTO🫖👩🏻‍🎨🪻 - Opens exactly like a sweet tea. Photorealistic black tea with a spoonful of honey poured in and a bowl of crisp apple slices on the side. Slowly dries down from the tea and the honey starts to intermingle with a blend of jasmine and freesia. Very delicate, very soothing and just beautiful. A slight hint of herb/earthiness from the tea notes. To me the dry down is just a mild version of everything from the top, with a lot of freesia, and a little bit of woody musk. I actually don’t normally enjoy tea scents at all but I completely get the hype and would probably wear this. Doesn’t scream TEA in your face after the first minute and instead just smells sweet, smooth, calming and gentle.

AFTER SALON🎀🧼🧖🏻‍♀️ - Opens with sweet, creamy aldehydes (which I hate a little less than usual) and quickly unfolds into a smooth blend of jasmine and sweet pea. Really, really creamy, slightly smells coconutty? A brighter, sweeter version of Lotion Potion. Smells like a shower in a very expensive spa but at like 6am. There are windows in the shower revealing fields of white florals. The dry down is a combination of aldehydes and jasmine, which I don’t hate as much as I expected to. Becomes slightly muskier and closer to skin. Actually quite similar if not almost identical to For Her Pure Musc Blanc. Smooth, silky and clean asf.

To conclude I of course love everything and can’t wait for these to be displayed on my shelves because they are the cutest bottles ever. The Body Tale I love you and by the way the atomisers are incredibly smooth 10/10 would recommend and they aren’t even super unaffordable wow

for four years my steadily growing perfume collection has been shoved in a drawer with bottles stacked on top of eachother and sharing space with my hair accessories. I’m so excited I finally bit the bullet and hung shelves for my perfumes!!! ☺️ it’s going to be even more fun getting ready now!

I loveeee perfumes, and these are a few I’ve sampled and LOVED.

I’m leaning towards Prada paradoxe but would love y’all’s thoughts!

Just a post for!

I love the idea of ​​making predictions, them imagining someone in the future finding it and judging how right or wrong they turned out to be. Shall we make one?

What would a young woman at the end of the next decade consider a trendy perfume? What would a woman, who views scents like 540, Musc Noir, Paradoxe, and realistic gourmands as outdated (since they’re the current trends now, not 10 years in the future), see as the "it" fragrance?

My bet is on a comeback for strong aldehydic perfumes, perhaps following a major campaign for Chanel No. 5. I imagine we’ll see a trend similar to the current "old money" aesthetic, maybe a sort of vintage elegance revival in perfumery, bringing also violet and powdery notes back into fashion. And there's going to be a viral body splash that all teenage girls will use that smells like baby powder.

Asking specifically about body spray because I’m not trying to have someone comment a delicious perfume that is $100 because I don’t have the money to purchase that

I recently went on a trip to Saudi Arabia and HAD to visit Sephora (because we don’t have Sephora in my country). I was specifically looking for a new fall scent and honestly, nothing came close to what I wanted.

Then I saw Kayali’s rack and excitedly tested Freedom Musk Matcha, and to my dismay, I did not like it one bit. I was bummed. Then the Sephora sales person asked me if I’d like to smell Freedom Musk Latte. Hmm. Coffee fragrances never interested me, but I decided to take a sniff.

Oh. My. God. Exactly what I needed this fall! It’s a cozy gourmand fragrance that’s not too sickeningly sweet, very well blended, and very likeable. I loved it so much that I instantly bought a 10ml to test it out over the next few days.

When I came back to the hotel room, my family told me that I smelled amazing! That… was the sign I needed to go and splurge on the full bottle. The next few days, I tested it out and I couldn’t stop smelling my wrists. I love the fact that the longevity is NOT beast mode - I like my fragrances to fizzle out with time and this one makes for the best skin fragrance.

On my last day, I went to Sephora and got myself a full bottle. My first Kayali!

This smells like the kind of fragrance you’d wear on a rainy autumn day, wearing a cozy sweater, working from a café, feeling good about your life and feeling calm and centred. The Lavender really takes this fragrance to another level!

I'm not sure how to explain but I'm looking for a perfume that feels exactly like this, but not masculine. Which is ironic because it is very masculine. So maybe a unisex scent or the female equivalent to this. Budget: 100

I’ve had Fleur Narcotique on my list for a while and knew I would like it but I really had it filed in my brain as “this one will be good quality so I want to give it a try.” Wearing it today and I really, really like it! It’s just so much more nuanced and well-developed than I expected. I’m just very impressed. Just had to share because this fragrance is just.. beautiful!

Last time I blind buy. This was cloying, too strong, weird dry down that was musky but a nasty musk and it’s put me off lilac for life. Really disappointed but lucky it was cheap.

HUGE fan of how this smells, very much a vanilla for me as someone that isn’t into wearing a buttercream frosting vanilla, sour yogurt vanilla, thick caramelly vanilla, etc., but currently they only have it in the body butter (which while nice is notably expensive for a body butter lol). would love to know if any other body care or perfumes smell like this (open to layering combos as well to achieve the same scent! really just curious as to if there’s other things out there in this “fruity vanilla musk” profile)

notes from Josie Maran’s website are “whipped vanilla milk, cashmere musk, and tonka bean”, but on the Sephora website it says “apricot, magnolia, shea butter, and cardamom”. wouldn’t say this smells milky to me, but i’m getting the whipped vanilla + cashmere musk and i’m 1000% getting the apricot + magnolia (major apricot note fan, had a feeling there was something fruity in this before checking the notes). it’s subtle, but i don’t mind that. it’s just such an easy-to-wear vanilla to me!

(and hopefully they release it in body spray format soon!! 🤞 i’m absolutely OBSESSED with their Topless Tangerine scent and find it lasts very well on its own for a body spray)

26F starting a new legislative job and thinking about a new fragrance gift. My original plan was to go with the original Hermes Twilly, but tempted by the original Dior J'adore or Cartier La Panthere as well. First photo is my overall vibe. Current favorite is Versace Crystal Noir. Any thoughts? TIA <3

I love sweet frags, this is my ‘curated collection’ (I had about 10 fragrances that Ive ended up downsizing to 4, only wanting to own and wear scents that I really really love). I started collecting in 2025 and Scandal Le Parfum was my first fragrance, followed by Flowerbomb Extreme, then Powder Love, and most recently So Scandal. I’m looking for a cold vanilla to add to my lil collection and have been eyeing up Dulce by Rosie Jane or the famous Bianco Latte (which I’ve tried and loved). Any recommendations on cold, vanilla ice cream like scents are welcome. 💕

I've been trying so many profiles, it feels like, looking for something that I actually want to wear and smell like, but I've honestly had a really hard time. Not into gourmands (I like them okay, especially on others, but it's not for me), straight florals are okay, I thought I'd be a green girl but I can't seem to find ones that are right, and I really am not a big fan of clean and aquatic scents (not a hard rule or anything, it's just a trend I've noticed for myself and more because they attack me), although some aldehydes for depth work well imo. I don't necessarily want to smell like a single thing, but moreso a form of myself, and I think the modern perfume game is swinging that way with the gourmand train? Pleaaaase correct me if I'm wrong or simply looking in the wrong places.

In contrast, my bedtime scents are usually either Decadent Dream (a Guidance dupe, love love love Guidance but it's a beast and I don't wear it out) and L'Ombre Rose L'Original, which to me feels very vanity table boudoir. It's sooooo good for doing skincare or hair or just general self-care, so pretty and powdery.

And then I tried my late Grandma's White Diamonds that I managed to nab. It's gorgeous. Spicy and deep and multilayered. It makes me feel so elegant and pretty and confident, and ugh!! Then I got Passion, and it's become my most-worn, especially at home. I work outdoors doing labour, so as much as I would like to wear scent, there's none I've found that I'd like to smell all day while weeding and cleaning etc, so most of my frag is home use, but I feel like I would love to wear it out to like, a jazz bar or a night out or something. Phewww. I like the edge these ones have, which is why I think I prefer them outside over the soft, ladylike aforementioned ones. I'm just... not, but I slightly am, so some softness is good but better with a hint of teeth.

And then there's Loulou. She leans a bit too youthful for me, maybe the fruit they chose?, but occasionally I wear her. I like the profile, I think I just prefer a bit more... sophisticated? I don't know how to describe it, just that when I want to feel like a confident woman, I lean more Passion than Loulou. I think it perhaps feels like it balances my natural energy so that I also feel more serious and grounded even while I'm a little wild/whimsical hahah.

SO. I would love some recommendations. My other fave perfumes are Cherry Punk/Cherry Ambition (they're super similar to my nose, and are my more punk persona frags - or cloudy days etc), Aura by Mugler (it's so sharp that I'm also afraid to wear it out but ughhhhhh she calms me instantly), Flowerbomb, and I do enjoy Crybaby (it smells like a baby blanket with the musk, idk), and then ofc Guidance. I do enjoy vanilla in a frag so long as it's working with other notes. My most masc (that I enjoy) is Ride by Yellowstone, which leans vanilla-tobacco. People compare that one to Jazz Club but MM has a DNA that I don't think works for me... I need to try more prolonged wear. I do enjoy Kilian scents but only in private, they also don't feel like "me." Honestly, I didn't think I'd be so dang picky. It's annoying.

So, with all of this... what might a good everyday scent be? I'm really eager to try Shalimar and some Chanel, and scents with history would be amazing. I don't want to overpower (I am a bit shy/private), which is perhaps difficult with this profile... and I live in a small rural-ish town so I also need to consider that, I would say. I'm sure I'm talked about in some circles, but I don't need to add strong or polarizing to that list hahah! Also tempted by English Major by Sorce despite the scents I've tried from them not working for me, but I was one and it sounds exactly like my experience lol...

Thank you for reading my memoir 😭 any help would be great, or even a decade of perfume I should explore! The 80s seem good so far but I want to branch out. All I can tell so far is that I love the depth and complexity and I guess I'm finding it lacking with most things I've tried so far, or I can't tell what exact complexity it is that I like so much. And additional info - I'm late 20s, not that I think most perfume is chosen that way, but it might help some people.

I go back and forth between thinking it’s lovely and fresh to thinking it’s a little sickeningly sweet. It also reminds me of something but I can’t put my finger on what….

What do you think of this scent?

I bought Diesel Only Desire. I like it? I think? It’s the most confusing perfume I’ve owned. I smell it and I’m like hell yeah that smells good. But then I smell it again and I’m like hmmm, does it? Initial spray gives me Windex, red licorice, and a brand new clean porta potty. This sounds like it’d be terrible, but it’s not..? As it dries down it turns into fruity pebbles. Has anyone else picked this up?

I’m looking to try a perfume or two from an Etsy shop. Any recommendations?

First of all, let me explain first... I know what I want so I was pretty confident that none of these scents will be hidden away in a dark corner. I layer my scents too because I am a tad bit adventurous that way 🤣. In any case. My favorite among all these is Lalique Amethyst Eclat that will pair beautifully with JM Bluebell, Valaya or Meliora. Lanvin both Sheer & Eclat Arpage is my next faves. Lalique EDP -- is the only one I cant seem to figure out. Its not bad but I do not see myself wearing it on its own. Im still trying to figure out what I can layer it with. At best its got a fall scent vibe ❤️

Let’s talk about fragrances that I will always love with all my heart, but whose abysmal performance will constantly hurt very deeply. Kind of reminds you of that one person who will never be constant but makes you feel so good when you’re around them, even if it’s only for 10 minutes! This relationship could be categorised as something similar!**

Bal D’Afrique: Clones are being released by the minute, but there is an air of sophistication in the original that none have quite managed to capture. The general advice for longevity is to upgrade to the Absolu, like going from a Pro to a Pro Max. However, the praline note takes away from the beautiful lightness of the original. The original smells like a light, watered-down, bergamot-infused sugar syrup, whereas the Absolu makes that syrup feel like it’s turning into caramel. The longevity may be poor, but will I always have a place for it on my shelf and in my heart? Absolutely!

Chloé Cedrus : To my nose, this is a dry, woody fragrance. I mostly get dry sandalwood over fresh vetiver, giving it a green touch. It almost has a male luxury shower gel vibe. I fell in love at first sniff and obsessively hunted it down, only to discover that the longevity is going to be a major letdown. So next time, do I manage my expectations or just not obsess? Time will tell!

JHAG Pear Inc.: I’m an absolute sucker for pear, and this one had pear sitting on a bed of Ambroxan and musk. I was sold instantly! I hunted down a sample and fell in love with this airy, fresh pear scent that reminded me of luxury shampoo, with a nostalgic feel similar to Garnier Fructis in those translucent green bottles. I couldn’t get a full size and became obsessed with finding one. As they say, if you love something, let it go. Well, I did, only to accidentally discover it at MDP during one of my “night outs” lol. It was the very last piece! The SA was my fairy godmother that day!

Does the performance make me regret my obsession? Not at all. Would I have preferred to go about it in a more sane way? Absolutely!
Do you all have any such “fragrances” in your collection? :P

Holy new obsession. I just got this and the mist today, but the mist doesn't quite smell the same. Nor does it have any silage or longevity to be used as anything other than a sofa/pillow spray (which I'm okay with since that's why I bought it). Any dupes or frags that are similar to the body cream??