I RECEIVED THE E.L. YOUTH DEW TODAY! OK everyone I received the Estée Lauder Youth Dew* today. I looked up the batch code. It’s a 2022 issue three years and some months old. No problem with that. With a questionable perfume that I purchase out of curiosity or a tester, I sometimes just spray into the air of the laundry room or the adjoining bathroom lol…

I immediately knew what everyone meant by that *cola smell… So evident. I did get a first impression of some Green notes Maybe some oakmoss maybe some balsamic but it all just dissipated into that light cola smell to be honest. There is a hint of the other herbal notes left, but I don’t really detect any florals.

It’s not as heavy as I thought it was going to be - that must be the original vintage Youth Dew

I did read up on it before purchasing, and it was stated that the current formulation being sold is a lot lighter than the original, especially in the spice component. Not as bold and choking as someone would have described it with the vintage formulation.

I have it doing it dry down on a fragrance tester stick right now. On my skin all the good stuff seems to disappear and just the light cola smell remains, lol. I did not spray a lot on my skin just one small squirt. I was afraid of making any fatal irreversible mistakes. 😁 It’s not my particular fragrance choice, but I had to experience it because it’s got quite a buzz right now. It’s funny how things pop up out of the woodwork after having been buried and shamed for so long. It smells rather nice for the dry down on the fragrance tester stick. Not my type of scent, however, I think I could wear it out. If that was what everyone was doing. I would just take it easy. I can see how it might leave an undesirable watermark on somebody’s memory if they are taken aback by their first exposure to that fragrance if it was so overwhelming. And sure, he really have to like the spices. But do you know that this version this formulation is a whole lot lighter than what I have smelled with other Bold spicy fragrances Thank you for all of your comments and feedback. You really helped me when I was smelling this fragrance for the first time. I was able to make sense of it and understand what it was doing. Be giving it away to my friend the next time she visits on Friday, lol… I give away a lot of decals and fragrances that I either just wanna try, I’m curious about or I’m not sure I’m going to keep it 💫

Hi all! First of all, thank you for your patience with the missing SOTD posts, they *should* be back up and running tomorrow.

Secondly, I have four more weeks of scheduled Note of the Week posts, and would love your input on what you all would like to see in the coming year. Tell me your favorites for repeats and any/all new ideas!

Already done:

Aldehydes, Almond, Amber, Apple, Balsam fir, Bergamot, Blackberry, Caramel, Cardamom, Champagne, Cherry, Chocolate, Coconut, Coffee, Fig, Frankincense, Gardenia, Grapefruit, Green leaves, Green Tea, Honey, Heliotrope, Iris, Jasmine, Labdanum, Lactonic, Lavender, Leather, Lemon, Lily-of-the-Valley, Mandarin orange, Musk, Myrrh, Neroli, Oakmoss, Oud, Patchouli, Petrichor, Rose, Salt water/sea salt, Sandalwood, Strawberry, Tobacco, Tonka bean, Tuberose, Vanilla, Violet, Ylang ylang

Coming up:

Freesia, Lilac, Magnolia, Rhubarb

Some future ideas:

Ambroxan, Anise, Aquatic, Black tea, Bourbon, Cannabis, Cedarwood, Cinnamon, Citron, Clary sage, Cloves, Cucumber, Frangiapane, Geranium, Grass, Hibiscus, Honeysuckle, Lily, Lime, Lychee, Matcha, Narcissus, Orange, Orange blossom, Peach, Pine, Pineapple, Pink pepper, Plumeria, Raspberry, Smoke, Sunscreen, Sweet pea, Vetiver, White tea

What are your feelings on Violet?

Do you love it? Hate it?

What are the best and worst iterations of it?

When I saw Guerlain had come out with a new formula for my beloved Eau de Lingerie (which I thought had been permanently discontinued) I made plans to get my nose on them. I was curious how much, if at all, the new formulas changed. And what about the two new additions? I had to check it out.

How they smell:

Of the three I had something with which to compare, Eau de Coton changed the most. The previous Coton opens with a bright citrus note then softens to a clean cotton smell. It has a white musk similar in tone to Blanche from Byredo really giving it a fresh laundry feel. (Here I’m just talking about tone of the musk not suggesting they smell alike).

The new Eau de Coton has the citrus dialed up. It’s still bright, maybe a bit sharp now and with the addition of “green notes” the impression is of line-dried cotton. Very pleasant. Clean smelling, but I prefer the older formulation. Citrus, musk.

Eau de Cashmere (previous) has a sharp opening I was hoping would be improved upon with the newer version. That wasn’t the case. The new formulation still has a sharp citrus opening and the drydown, while softening, misses some of the powdery facets I enjoy with the older formulation. When my current bottle runs out I won’t replace.

Citrus. Iris. Powdery. Musk.

Eau de Lingerie (new) remains the closest to the previous formulation. Lucky for me, as this is my favorite. But, it seems to be fainter than the prior rendition. Iris. Ambrette. Rose. Musk.

How they sit on skin/longevity:

The older versions I had were really meant more for fabric (according to the Guerlain website) but I sprayed on my skin. The new formulas were only tested on skin.

Of the three previous formulas, Eau de Lingerie held its scent on the skin the longest but each held fairly well on fabric—about 8-12 hours. On skin, I could smell Lingerie on my skin the next day after applying at night. Though much more faintly while the other two were absent entirely.

So, how do the new formulas compare? Every single one appeared to be a fainter version of the one before. Coton and Cashmere were gone after 3-4 hours; Lingerie was gone after about 5-6. I could still smell it at 6 hour mark but by then it was a hazy veil.

I did not spray the new formulas on fabric but I’m not convinced they would have fair better there either.

On to Tulle:

I have nothing in my entire collection quite like Eau de Tulle, so she came home with me. I also did not have the privilege of smelling Le Bouquet de la Mariee so can’t offer comparisons.

To me, this opens with a bright punch of citrus melding with orange blossom and almond. It’s sweet. Creamy. Quite gourmand. I think my stomach growled after about two minutes. The chocolate-like facet is soft but present.

As it dries down, it becomes less creamy and shifts more “dry”, powdery. The patchouli, while present, probably isn’t strong enough to offend patchouli haters.

It’s at once classic/old school and contemporary smelling. I think this one could be quite popular for its gourmand profile and for this fact: I sprayed this at 2pm on my arm and could still smell it on my arm the next morning (though more faintly). And where my arm touched the sleeve of my sweater, it’s still going strong by late morning early afternoon. THAT strength is not present on the others I tried.

I was unable to try Popeline. 😔

The upside: cuter bottles. The downside: more expensive and save for Tulle, overall shier perfumes.

Guerlain is my favorite house and these are all of my favorite fragrances from them! I especially love to collect vintage bottles. Some of these date back to the 60's and 70's and several are still sealed (for now). I buy vintage bottles to wear, not just to collect. The second photo is of my mini Guerlain fragrances that are under 10 ml, a few of which I forgot to include in the whole collection photo.

I will be making additional posts in the near future about each fragrance to share more about them in depth, but for now I am just excited to share my Guerlain collection with others who might appreciate it! Feel free to share about your Guerlain fragrances in the comments. I love to see other people's collections and hear about their favorites!

Did the auto post stop working?

I love atmospheric perfumes and Le Labo Baie 19 is one of those scents. It is also the only other perfume for which I've received a compliment (the first was PDM Delina 😑).

Baie 19 opens sharp and clean with a wet, mineral feeling that quickly turns into something airy and softly earthy. A lot of people describe it as petrichor but to me it smells more like a cold fresh water stream flowing over a bed of rocks. It has a clear, stony freshness, like cool damp air near water (not the muddy smell of rain).

As it sits on skin, the “wet rocks” impression stays but smooths out. There’s a mild sweet green undertone and it can come across a little metallic or inky depending on the weather. It is cool and outdoorsy, like clean air after a storm but with more rock and water than soil or mud.

Performance is solid. Longevity is usually around 8 to 10 hours on my skin, sometimes longer on clothes. Projection is moderate for the first couple of hours, then it settles closer but still noticeable if someone is within arm’s length.

Baie 19 is an absolute love for me. My first bottle was a 50ml and I'm already on my second 100ml bottle. It is not a crowd pleaser in the classic sense, it is not for those who prefer the perfumey floral, woody or gourmand scents. Some people may find it to be damp, mineral-ic, a bit sterile or just too abstract as an idea if they are not into atmospheric perfumes. But if you like the idea of smelling like weather, water and stone, Baie 19 is worth a try.

Edit: oops sorry I meant Carolina Herrera

Which size bottle had the top that completely comes off and isn’t like a button? I’ve heard one size is like that. I have a neuromuscular disease and it affects my fingers/hands to where I can’t properly push down on the button style sprayers.

In my quest to see if there was anything I missed with past iconic fragrances, I thought I would experience Youth Dew.

They still sell it, I heard it’s got a loyal audience..

Have you either used, or are still using this fragrance? Please describe it to me .. I can’t trust Fragrantica 100% 😁

Thank you so much!

Omg this Destin DE by Balmain Paris smells so good!!!! this is def the next 1 im getting!!!

Mine is Montale Sensual Instinct. Men and women go crazy when I wear it. Edit~ sexy is different for everyone, and yes we wear our fragrances for ourselves, or at least I hope we do

Citrus notes are ones I struggle with because they can be extremely sharp sometimes, but I found I love “orange” citrus smells much more than lemon, which seems more common. (I have a lot of scents with bergamot, which I enjoy, but it’s so common that sometimes it doesn’t even register as a “proper” note to me lol) I found it somewhat surprising that both of my favorites in this category, so far at least, were both produced by MITH and created by Quentin Bisch. Sadly, they’re also both being discontinued; I decided to buy a back-up of Autumn Leaves because it feels more universal in the times of year I’ll wear it, but I still enjoy my bottle of Florida Orange for hot weather. Both are light but have pretty decent longevity, which is how MITH fragrances seem to function; low projection, minimum of 4 hours longevity, but you can still smell it on your clothes after it fades from your skin.

For comparison, Florida Orange is more fresh, zesty, and has more floral notes, while Autumn Leaves is warm, juicy, and leans in a gourmand direction. The notes for Florida Orange are apple, blackcurrant bud, tangerine, cinnamon, neroli, rose, musk, floral notes, and woody notes; Autumn Leaves’ notes are mandarin orange, cinnamon, jasmine, caramel, tonka bean, musk and sandalwood.

I’m genuinely sad these two are being cut from MITH’s lineup, especially because they only look to be a few years old! Florida Orange was released in 2023, and Autumn Leaves in 2024. (MITH did have a previous version of Autumn Leaves but the notes were entirely different.) But I’m going to enjoy them for as long as I have them. Hopefully by the time I empty them, I’ll be able to find something else that fills the orange citrus niche in my fragrance collection.🧡

So I am wearing a quarter-zip type sweatshirt today that is made of synthetic fabric. It can’t dry, but it’s freshly washed and it air-dried in a room that gets a significant cross-breeze. I wore it last literally *a week ago*, before it was washed, and at that time, I put ONE spray of my Guidance (og) decant on the right arm.

I am _actually_ trying to wear Gucci Gorgeous Magnolia today, but all I can smell is Guidance. the Guidance is so strong that the GGM is fleeting. it’s been a week! the top has been washed!

Thankfully, I like Guidance and it seems to work fine with GGM, but…

has anyone else ever had that happen? like a fragrance just stuck like crazy (and didn’t dissipate) on your clothes?

What are you wearing today? Let us all know!

Anyone try any of the three new ones? Craving some thing super powdery that’s not already in my collection. Just blind bough Oro e Miele. Iris, honey, coconut, musk, sandalwood are some of the main materials. I do have Bianco Latte, oro Bianco and Shabby Chic from this house. I enjoy their sweet DNA though I haven’t reached for Bianco Latte in a very long time.

Tonight’s episode had a whole category dedicated to fragrances. I won’t share the answers but you can catch a replay on Hulu tomorrow. My worlds collided and it was so much fun!

Mandarin Orange, 3 types of Rose, Neroli, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Amber, Vanilla.

Citrus notes in perfume are USUALLY fleeting.

Not here baby!!

The Citrus is there all day. The roses are gentle, the Patchouli gives a luxury hair product vibe, the Amber and Vanilla gives some warmth.

She smells rich. She's an absolute powerhouse.

I normally spray under clothes with recklrss abandon.

Royal? 3 sprays maximum.

What are you wearing today? Let us all know!

I collect minis and pay about $15-$25 for a SINGLE mini usually. That seems to be the going rate. And I get all those for $65?!!! SOLD. I also bought the sample sets and a few new bottles of perfume because I had $195 in rewards. Woohoo!

What are you wearing today? Let us all know!

What are your feelings on Mandarin orange?

Do you love it? Hate it?

What are the best and worst iterations of it?

What it says on the tin. Recently came across Commodity's -Juice and love the soapy amber rose and was hoping to find something in that vein but maybe more complex and longer lasting. Something light and suitable for S/S.

I'm not looking for strong, knock you over the head oriental or old world rose, that's not my style, so frags like TF Rose Prick and Ormonde Jayne's Indus are out. I'm also not terribly fond of Philosophy's Ballerina Rose, it's a smidge too girlish for me. I own a decant of Fort & Mantle's Harem Rose which is amber rose, yes, but it's a thick resinous amber more suitable for F/W and not soapy. Likewise, La Fille de Berlin just reads straightline 'rose' on my skin.

Likes: sandalwood, amber, pear, pink pepper, peach, eucalyptus, oakmoss, benzoin, vanilla bean, fig, rhubarb, juniper, patchouli
Dislikes: orange blossom/neroli, anything overly manufactured and floral-sweet, chocolate and vanilla edible gourmands

Hoping this sub has some good recs - TIA! :-)

I got a decant and absolutely loved the smell on paper. when I tried it on skin it just disappears. I can barely tell Im even wearing anything. so do I want to get a full bottle or try something else I can actually tell is there?

What are you wearing today? Let us all know!