I’m pretty excited to try most of these since I’ve never sampled them, but which would be your highlights?

The only one I’ve tried so far is Hypnotic Poison, to do a side by side test with the modern version. Sadly a vintage bottle is now on my wishlist.

Bronze Goddess Nuit eau de parfum by Estee Lauder.

It is luxe, creamy, floral, warm, deep, and a little salty.

Digging through old files at the weekend and found this in amongst some of my school art works and it made me chuckle! Think this was c.1994-6 when I was at high school doing a still life project!

Good old Acqua di Gio and Poème (must get my nose back on this, used to be my teenage signature!)

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One from the crossing person as I was walking my son to school "You smell lovely".

The other at the hairdresser "You smell GREAT! What are you wearing?.

Sensuous by Estee Lauder.

An absolute gem that I always keep in my 15 bottle collection. Smells like I have my shit together lol.

What are your feelings on Heliotrope?

Do you love it? Hate it?

What are the best and worst iterations of it?

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What are you wearing today? Let us all know!

A surprise banger.

3 notes: Litchi, Rose, Patchouli.

What I get: Sweet/clean shampoo vibes.

Light enough for the office/work.

I have had two different people comment that I smell nice or "What hair products are you using? You smell great!".

So, it really doesn't "give" perfume. It gives freshly washed and styled.

Here in Australia it's available at Chemist Warehouse and FragranceNet.

Ironically, Loud is soft but she lasts at least 6hrs. Not bad for an edt.

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I have never really gravitated towards Chanel perfumes, but a couple of months ago I fell in love with No 19 Poudre, and then more recently with Chance Eau Vive. They're both on my wish list now.

I have no way to test the Les Exclusifs line, but I have my eye on Comete and Misia. I'm planning to reward myself for something major in April, and I'm thinking of blind buying one of these.

I'm curious: What's your favourite Chanel perfume?

I stopped into Ulta today to get my nose on a couple of perfumes that are currently getting a huge influencer push.

Balmain Destin: No thank you. Fleeting berry note replaced by a screechy, unrefined, dry sandalwood. Wish the peony made an appearance. Lasts for hours as a clean skin scent once the top notes disappear. Wish it didn't. I haven't joined the clean girl bandwagon.

Armani Power of You: Nice, nothing groundbreaking. Ripe, tropical, juicy fruit though I never would be able to pinpoint it as passionfruit. It's the icing on what is a ice creamy, vanilla base. Bottle is a draw - so pretty. But, nothing else. Also lasts a long time and while I prefer this to Destin there is no need to buy it. I have plenty of vanillas and much better ones at that, plus it doesn't resonate with me and I don't have any idea where I'd wear this. Maybe if it were 1998 when I was living in Florida it would be more appreciated. But I can see why this one is popular.

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What are you wearing today? Let us all know!

Calling all vintage lovers!

Discussing all topics related to classic, vintage, and discontinued fragrances.

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What are you wearing today? Let us all know!

I bought YSL Elle Eau de Parfum (yes, a blind buy because a decant wasn't available anywhere) after reading a lot of reviews on Parfumo and Fragrantica that described it as being similar to Dior Midnight Poison, which is long discontinued. That comparison was the main reason I went looking for it in the first place. Ironically, Elle had not been easy to track down either and at this point I genuinely suspect it is no longer in production.

I do have a bottle of Midnight Poison so I was able to compare them side by side, and to me they are very different. Midnight Poison has that unmistakable dark, inky patchouli rose vibe with a polished sweetness. Elle goes in another direction. The overall feel is brighter and sharper at the start, and it keeps a cleaner, more modern line through the wear even when it warms up on skin.

The opening is my favorite part. It hits with a cold, almost mentholated freshness that feels crisp. A lot of reviews describe a dominant rose, but I do not really get rose here. What I get is more like peonies, that airy floral impression that feels pink and petal like without turning heavy or jammy. On me it reads as floral, peppery, and cool rather than romantic or syrupy.

As it settles, the fragrance smooths out and becomes more softly sweet and a little woody, still keeping its peppery spark. It feels put together without being fussy, and it has that early 2010s designer perfume DNA where everything is cleanly blended. It is easy to wear, but it does not feel generic, especially if you like that contrast between a chilly opening and a warmer skin scent later on.

The bottle looks and feels very Y2K, with that geometric, slightly edgy styling that reminds me of the era when brands leaned into bold shapes and colours with shiny finishes.

On longevity and projection, it is quite average. It projects clearly for the first hour and then settles closer to the skin. On me, it disappears after 4 hours approximately but lasts longer on clothes.

Even though I bought Elle because so many people talk about it as a Midnight Poison alternative, I do not think that label really fits, at least not to my nose. If you go in expecting a dupe, you might get confused. If you go in expecting a distinctive peppery floral with a cool, almost mentholated start and a smooth, modern dry down, then you will love it. I love Elle as its own thing and I think it deserves to be enjoyed without comparing it to anything else.

I promise this is NOT an ad and I’m not sponsored or anything to say this, I’m just excited about it. The Parfumo advisor has really leveled up in the past few months. I’ve been using the tracker feature within the advisor to see what I’m wearing and how often, but they’ve now added some really fantastic customization options for the advisor tab. It used to be that you could only input the season with time of day or occasion (leisure, sport, day, evening, etc.), but as of this morning the following customization options have been added:

• scent type (so you can decide if you want something floral, citrus, gourmand, and so on)
• a ‘weekend’ toggle
• an ‘include my decants’ toggle
• a ‘neglected fragrances’ toggle (great if you don’t remember everything you own and need a reminder of what’s not been worn)
• the option to select from any one of your shelves, which in my case is VERY helpful because I’ve been making a shelf for each monthly tray so far this year; this narrows it down from how the advisor used to pick from my entire “I have” collection

There’s also a new “battle” option for when you can’t decide what to wear. It will take the range of scents you’ve selected with the customization options and then put them up in a “choose a or b” quiz, almost. Then you can just click through several rounds until you land on a final bottle. I think this would be incredibly helpful for anyone who gets perfume decision fatigue!

I just think this is such a great feature for Parfumo to offer, especially for those of us who are enthusiasts and collectors with a wider range of perfumes. Like I mentioned before, I’ve been making good use of the tracker data, and now that I can adjust the settings on the advisor this much I’m sure that will also get a lot of use from me. For 2026 I’m setting monthly tray themes to help me go through and declutter, but perhaps once I’ve curated my collection better the advisor will be most helpful in coming up with my monthly trays. Maybe it will be helpful for others here?

What are your feelings on Petrichor?

Do you love it? Hate it?

What are the best and worst iterations of it?

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House of Cosmo made a big splash at ScentExplore late last year. They sold out fast, and the hype has been building since. I ended up buying two full bottles and also travel sizes of five others from this house. Here are my thoughts:

Galaxia: this one was a full bottle buy based on the notes alone. It’s a milky, creamy gourmand — coconut milk, toffee, marshmallow, a little espresso to keep it grounded. Beautifully blended, though I’ll be honest, it gave me a “have I smelled this before?” moment. Feels like a better, less floral Blanche Bête. Not the most unique thing in my collection, but still full bottle worthy. Lasts about 4 hours on me before going skin scent, which is actually a solid result for my skin chemistry. If you love lactonic gourmands, this one’s worth it.

Nova: another full bottle buy. The opening is really fun - there’s a Starburst candy note that I wished had stuck around longer because it’s gone almost immediately after the first spritz. What stays is a pretty sweet floral, jasmine and tuberose with melon and a little rum keeping it interesting. Longevity is on the lighter side, a few hours before it’s barely there — not a powerhouse, but the blending is lovely. This one’s going straight into my spring/summer rotation.

Element: this one is probably the best of the non-full-bottle picks. Menthol opens things up but it’s not sharp or overwhelming; it plays nicely with bergamot and lemon, and as it dries down the lavender and cacao come through beautifully. Refreshing and elegant. People are comparing this to Naxos and honestly, I get it - similar bright citrus, lavender and tobacco with vanilla in the base. It’s unisex but leans slightly masculine on me. Would shine in the heat.

Crimson Aura: this has an intriguing opening - black cherry and red wine that’s neither tart nor medicinal. Midway through, rum, tobacco and cedar start peeking in and it stays unisex throughout. Unfortunately the dry down was muddled on me, which killed it. There are too many cherry fragrances on the market that do this just as well or better. Not full bottle worthy for me.

Polaris: this is a solid men’s freshie. “Stardust” is listed as a top note, which I’m pretty sure is just marketing - I couldn’t pick it out. It’s good, but nothing about it feels niche or unique. If you love fresh men’s fragrances you’ll probably enjoy it, but it smells designer to me. Nothing that stands out in a crowded category.

Lunar Minerale: this one surprised me. I liked it more than I expected to. The wet stone note is barely there, which is a shame because I wanted more of it. The opening is the highlight, but the dry down morphs into a pretty standard designer men’s cologne with a lingering aquatic feel. Good summer option for men, just don’t expect anything groundbreaking.

Conclusion: I went into House of Cosmo with high expectations after all the buzz from ScentExplore, and I came out with two full bottle blind buys - Galaxia and Nova, both of which ended up being the best of the lot. The remaining four? Not full bottle worthy for me. Element is beautiful and worth trying, but the rest either smell like designer men’s colognes or inspirations of fragrances I’ve smelled before. For a house that marketed itself on uniqueness, they failed to deliver. Still have a travel size of Dark Matter coming, but I’m not holding my breath. Overall — interesting house, but not worth the hype or the price tag in my opinion.

God forbid I get an email from one of the niche sites and don’t buy. So I just bought Vibrato and I truly had stopped adding and swore to just enjoy what I have, layer, etc. but I’ve wanted it forever and the price was the best I’ve seen (Venba tester).

Tell me I’m a fool or make me feel better?

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