Do you ever buy a perfume on a whim?
Did you take advantage of a sale recently?
Did you snap up a perfume without second thought?
Any great deals in the last few months for you?
My Answer:
I did break my self-inflicted embargo recently, it is sale season, that is different. (No arguments to the contrary, please!) 😉
I took advantage of the sale at L’Artisan Parfumeur and came away with a very cheap bottle of Iris Pallida 2007 , Mûre Et Musc extrait by Bertrand Duchaufour (18€!!) and a bottle of Jour de Fête, unsniffed (!) and long believed to be discontinued. I just had to snap this up. Should I hate it, many of you will get lucky and get the chance to win a decant. Should I love it, a few will still get lucky, only not so many. 😉
What about you? Come on, let us in on your dirty secrets!
Olfactoria's Travels 
There was that 8mL of Hermes Vetiver Tonka that you inspired (love it, by the way), and I finally bought a mini of Silences this month, after it having languished on my wish-list for ages; but, other than those two I haven’t bought any perfume lately. Fortunately, it was my birthday month, and friends were *very* good to me 😉
I swear, something about that bottle of Memoir back in February re-set my impulses, because I’ve felt particularly content with my collection. Chanel no 19 Poudre is the thing that I’m looking forward to next (that might be an unsniffed purchase!), but that’s not until August! 🙂
Ha! July, according to this article in the Independent, but maybe that is just the British launch date. Not that I’m paying ANY attention to this release. None at all.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/one-green-bottle-meet-the-brains-ndash-and-noses-ndash-behind-chanel-no-19-2301063.html
Thank you for that article, annemarie, not that I pay attention either…
July 15th! Chanel has been giving me such a run-around. I called and spoke with customer relations, I spoke with PR (she was Rude), and emailed customer relations at least three times, and could NOT get a straight answer. What a pain! You’d think they’d be more forthcoming…
Playing hard to get is a tactic, methinks, to keep you yearning and yearning. Or so Chanel may think.
I am looking forward to N°19 Poudre as well. There is bunch of flankers that interest me this summer actually – Sensuous Nude, Balenciaga L’Essence and Love, Chloé Intense. Doom!
Did you like Silences? Right now I think I find it a bit too green and mean for me, but things are wont to chance in that respect regularly for me.
Glad you are loving the Hermessence! 🙂
I wish N°19 Poudre would just release already! WANT.
Love, Chloé Intense is on my to-sniff list too— I liked the original Love quite a bit, but not enough to purchase a bottle. This might be the one for me! 😉 Doom is right! I wore Sensuous Noir the other night, and if it were just a little less sweet, it would be perfect.
Silences is a dream. It’s drier and less “rounded” than no. 19, lacks the creaminess of Antonia, but perfectly hits the spot when I want green and neither of those ‘fumes fit the bill.
Vetiver Tonka is stunning! I LOVE it; however (big fat However), it burns of my skin at a ridiculously fast pace, so after my decant runs out, I probably won’t follow up with a full-bottle. At least until I have a bigger cabinet 😉
That is too bad, on me Vetiver Tonka is incredibly tenacious!
We seem to be anticipating the same things… 🙂
I sometimes get a fragrance in my head and won’t let go until I buy a bottle. It’s been a while since that’s happened, but two recent fragrances this happend with were Antaeus and Quorum. Habit Rouge was this way, too. But I already know I’m getting it for my birthday. I need to do some more fragrance browsing soon.
I know what you mean sometimes a small obsession is only to be overcome by a full bottle. 😉
I usually don’t buy perfume on a whim, but I did buy a bottle of L’Arte di Gucci EDP very recently after March (Perfume Posse) posted a link to it..The EDP is usually never available except on ebay, so I bought it sort of unsniffed (though, to be fair, I *had* sniffed the EDT version ages ago and liked it). Also bought the travel pack of Carnal Flower yesterday..That wasn’t on a whim (I played with my sample for a week before deciding), but it is the quickest that I have fallen in love with a perfume and made a decision to buy some (I still don’t have full bottles of some of my holy grails, but am trying to remedy that..:D)
L’Arte di Gucci got a lot of exposure lately, great that you nabbed a bottle!
It is a great thing that Malle offers travel sets. Here in Vienna they even combine the bottles, so you can buy three different ones as a set. Love those people! 🙂
That’s great- I need to ask the SA if she will do that..Do they then just charge you the price of the most expensive travel set? (since all of them are differently priced)
They just take the individual prices and add them up. Very good service, they don’t do it in London, as a friend of mine is painfully aware of. Hopefully your counter is as consumer-friendly as mine. 🙂
Oh- that’s so nice of them..definitely a perfumista’s dream. The lovely SA at scentbar /luckyscent mentioned that one could combine bottles at Barneys, but I thought maybe they did it for her because she knew the Malle SA (who used to work at scent bar etc etc)- so I didn’t even ask. Drat! This time it doesn’t matter because I want all three Carnal Flowers- but the next time, I will atleast ask..lol (I have Une rose and Iris Poudre creeping up on my list.)
I fell for the limited edition trap with respect to Frapin 1697 and bought it unsniffed. Normally I would sniff it first, but as it was unavailable here I just ordered it – especially after reading your lovely review! 😉 And I must thank you because it is one of my favorite perfumes. I also admit to snapping up two bottles of JM Sweet Milk – of course because they are limited editions.
Sandra, you have excellent taste! Frapin 1697 and Sweet Milk are wonderful perfumes. Couldn’t have chosen better myself. 😉
Oh man, narrowly avoided disaster! I’m so glad that you love the Frapin—that would have been an expensive regret! 😉
Jacomo #8 was my last impulse purchase, but it turned out great. Loved your review of it the other day.
Oh, and yesterday I snapped up two minis – Deneuve and Diva – from the Miniature Perfume Shoppe, which has a whole bunch of new stock. I think both are in parfums, so I wanted to grab them before they disappeared. Excited!
I snapped up Jacomo #08 after your review and as you know, it turned out great for me too. 🙂
The minis are a great find, congratulations!
Half the L’Artisan sale !! Well a few that should have arrived and I have to chase up.Roses and Violets of course .
Ha, another L’Artisan sale victim! Too many good things to pass them up, weren’t there?
They just arrived , Drole Rose , Verte Violette x2 , Voleur de Roses 2x.
Ah, good to hear you got your package already, I hope mine arrives soon as well! Drole de Rose is lovely, it is so quaint and old-fashioned in a good way. 🙂
I was drooling over Iris Pallida for about half an hour but had to resist….
Do you ever buy a perfume on a whim? All the time
Did you take advantage of a sale recently? Jacomo #8 like annemariec and Bijan Nude Man because I loved the bottle and I read interesting reviews.
Did you snap up a perfume without second thought? I think about it a couple of times trying to find the best way to give in.
Any great deals in the last few months for you? A 70% full bottle of Louve for less than 30 euros and the ones I mention above for less than 20 each
“Thinking about it a couple of times trying to find the best way to give in” – I know that so well! 🙂
These are some incredible deals you found, good for you, Christos!
Aaargh! Where did you find that Mure et Musc extrait? I want one! 🙂
Unfortunately, I always take advantage of a sale, that’s how I ended up with AG Des Lys and I’m not sure now it’s right for me.
Perfect! Let’s swap a little Mure et Musc extrait and a little AG De Lys, which I have been looking for forever!!! That is the beauty of the perfume community! 😀
Perfect! 😀
I’m preparing your package finally, so I’ll put some De Lys in it.
Yeey for perfume community!
I didn’t get the L’Artisan yet, I’ll send it as soon as I receive my order. 🙂
No worries, I’m still going through the last one.
A truly wonderful package! 🙂
So happy you like it! 🙂
I bought 4711 for a cheap as chips €7.50. Very uncomplicated, simple cologne. Reminds me of my granny too!
It reminds me of my Granny as well! 4711 is a good bargain, ideal for summer splashing with abandon! 🙂
It must be a real granny thing 🙂
I also took advantage of the sale at L’Artisan Parfumeur and came away with Mûre Et Musc and a bottle of Jour de Fête, both unsniffed. Yikes!!! I figure that if I dont like them then I will have already got a couple of Xmas presents for friends. I would be interested to see your review of Jour de Fête, you are always so eloquent and your descriptions make me feel I can almost smell what each perfume is like.
Thank you for that lovely compliment, Andrea!
I’ll certainly review Jour de Fete, I hope for the best as well! 🙂
Worst case scenario – ebay or keep the Jour de Fete as a collectors item. I cant wait to smell both of the perfumes, what a pity that it sems to take so long, there is no better feeling than getting home to a parcel containing new perfume. 🙂
Oh, yes! I love that feeling! Nothing yet, though… 😦
My last buy was “on a whim” buy was L’Artisan’s Fleur de Oranger. Iit wasn’t in the sale but it felt like a bargain at 60 euro after the original sky-high price. It was an unsniffed impulse purchase because I was panicked by the Limited Edition tag (as a sales technique it realy works, unfortunately). Luckily I love it, but it’s made me very curious about the discontinued Fleur de Narcisse, have you tried it?
Congrats on your wonderful sale buys, B. Definitely worth breaking the embargo for – it would have been rude not to!
Lol, right, it would have been rude to ignore the sale! 😉
Fleur d’Oranger has certainly a good price now. I never tried Narcisse unfortunately. Sorry, I’m no help there. 😦
Mine would be Lalique Flora Bella(!), and I consider it a great bargain. Otherwise my restraint has been exemplary this year. : – )
Congratulations on both the bargain and the restraint! 🙂
I bought Narciso Rodriguez for Him Musc Collection recently cause I really liked the shiny bottle and the scent immediately
I wore For Her for years, so I understand the appeal! It is a pretty bottle and no Versace bathroom necessary! 😉
I’m totally smitten with this scent it’s even better than kublai khan
Well…I snapped up a bottle each of Dior Homme and Homme Intense in EdP for total 50€ on sale and a whim, and am I ever glad I did…especially now!
I’ve had…impulse, unsniffed birthday wish perfumes that all came out beautifully…Jacomo SIlences, Balmain Ivoire, Caron Bellodgia, and my latest coup…DSH 1000 Lilies parfum, which is, if I may say so…amazing. Finally, a true lily, as opposed to a lily-of-the-valley. Nothing wrong with those, but I like lilies better.
Last but not least, there was the impulse unsniffed what-the-hey decant fit I had with Iris Ganache…can’t wait until it’s cool enough to bloom, because it’s…something else! And the ‘can’t live without Tabac Blond, and while you’re at it, throw in Odin NY 04-Petrana, too!’
These days, I have to restrain myself, à la thou shalt not go to Les Senteurs, do not hit the ‘add to cart’ for that bottle of Memoir Woman/Opus V, do NOT….
But I’ll bet you I’ll hotfoot it straight to a decant in the fall…along with Ambre Sultan. and Bois de Violette, and…
It never ends, does it? LOL 😀
No, I don’t think it ever ends, it’ll get a bit better though with time. 🙂 You have snapped up some wonderful things lately! Btw, is Les Senteurs cheaper for you than First in Fragrance? Just curious…
Actually, somewhat to my surprise, it is! I’m amazed. I had this handy little converter app that converts anything to anything, and Les Senteurs is a tad cheaper – by 30€.
Not that I’d use ‘cheap’ in any sentence containing the word ‘Amouage’…;)
30€ is not to be scoffed at, good to know…
For my very last impulse buy I thank/blame 😉 you – I bought Tea for Two during L’Artisan sale. It wasn’t an unsniffed buy, I planned to buy it eventually – just wasn’t sure if I wanted/needed a full bottle. But it was a good sale…
Okay, blame me, that is alright1 😉 It was a good sale…
I’m careful with impulse parfum buys these days : every time I did it – it was a regret and a result was a sad bottle in my collection enviously ogling the other much used parfumes…
I tend to impulse buy, when my husband gives his “choose one, and I buy it for you” – the last one was some Rouge Bunny R. make-up in Budapest, and the Fig scent from Nez a Nez in Venice. And I quite like them all – a well considered impulse.
Unfortunately, non of the parfumes on my to-buy list were on sale…
Great husband!!! 🙂
It is probably a good idea to carefully pick and choose and take time before you actually commit to a bottle, but sometimes it is so fun to give in to an impulse…
My last impulse buy was Guerlain Vetivier which I snapped up in the airport shop, all the while looking like “I’m buying this for a man in my life, not for myself, of course not…” The first masculine I’ve bought and I love it!
Good for you! It is a classic.