Do you have a perfume role model?
Is there someone whose opinions you respect and whose tastes you admire?
Are you influenced by someone’s fragrant loves?
My Answer:
There are several bloggers whose opinion I value highly, first of all The Non-Blonde, Victoria of Bois de Jasmin, Marina and Marla of Perfume-Smellin’ Things and the great Robin of Now Smell This.
But aside from the usual suspects, there is someone who profoundly influenced my perfume loves and purchases even, because not only do I love this person’s reviews and writing style, but her taste is very close to mine. I have come to adore most of what she has reviewed and thankfully I don’t have to go far to find her.
Bois d’Argent, 31 Rue Cambon, Cuir de Russie, Botrytis, Bois d’Armenie and Diorella – all perfumes I fell very much in love with over the past months, and all have been reviewed right here on OT by the lovely Tara.
I’m lucky having found someone whose taste is so close to mine and whose opinion I can implicitly trust.
Who are your influencers?
Olfactoria's Travels 
Right at the moment I’m finishing the post in which I name some names 🙂 Please come and read it tomorrow. But I’m going to reveal a name of one of my great influencers – it’s you, dear Birgit.
I certainly will! Thank you, Undina, I’m honored. 🙂
Interesting question. 🙂
I don’t know if I’m influenced by someone in my perfume choices but there are 2 people whose suggestions and opinions (when it comes to me) I trust – Asali and another virtual friend I have here with who I only talked through emails but it seems his taste is impeccable and he always recommends good things for me to try.
I also trust Denyse from Grain de Musc not to lead me astray. 🙂
Oh yes, Asali has great taste, she got me interested in some scents she generously sent me as well.
Thank you, I’m very honored:-) Both of you are a great inspiration to me
My taste and understanding of perfume was definitely formed by Marina (PST), she was my “teacher”. Another blogger who’s opinion counts a lot is a certain Birgit… Then there is my best friend who’s skin chemistry must be the complete opposite of mine – that results in some interesting “encounters” perfume-wise.
I seem to be a perfume loner…
It must be interesting to compare notes with your friend, if not particularly helpful. 😦
Oh no, it’s not helpful at all – she and me, we could never wear the same scent. But it’s fun, nevertheless.
Well, it is a good thing the two of us can wear the same scent… 🙂
Ooh, good question. The top reviewers whose opinions I respect are Robin of NST (who has the most similar taste to me, also among perfumistas generally), Marina of PST, Gaia of The Non-Blonde, Elena of Perfumeshrine and Victoria of Boisdejasmin.
My good friend Lovethescents in Canada has been my biggest enabler and influencer hustorically – we met on NST when she was the Monday “find a perfume” candidate and I carried on my recs for her back channel. Before we knew it, we were emailing back and forth, and swapping on a regular basis. It is she who probably knows my taste inside out.
Then I would definitely also include you as a key influence lately – you have picked out some cracking scents for me, notably Ael -Mat, Guerlain No 68, Gelsonimo Nobile & Sweet Redemption to name but a few.
You do, however, have much wider taste than me – and crucially, magic skin! – so while I am curious to try a lot of the scents you give a glowing review, I don’t necessarily think I will like a lot of them, whereas the perfumes you have put together for me have had a very good hit rate! And many thanks for those.
I’m so glad my “success rate” with you is so high! 🙂
It is great you found such a good friend like lovethescents through blogging, that is the beauty of our community!
Oh wow, I am positively bursting with pride! You’ve made my day Birgit! I am so happy to have introduced you to some of your perfume loves. I certainly have so many to thank you for. I can’t seem to stop wearing Puredistance 1, for a start. It’s funny how our tastes have seemed to converge.
Before I read your answer, mine was of course, YOU!
It is entirely my pleasure! 😀
So happy you love Puredistance I!!!
Oh good question, well you were the first blogger that I signed up to, I take notice for any perfumes that you rave about, you have given me some little gems in my collection (too many to mention) as well as given me a lot of advice that has been gratefully received.
I also read Bois de Jasmin which I enjoy and The Candy perfume boy is a brilliant read that makes me LMAO. Gran de Musc is also another one which was a brilliant insight into Paris before travelling there.
I like LT’s reviews and have the book on my phone but I do take them with a pinch of salt (I will never ever forgive him for Missoni by Missoni)
Agreed – Tara’s reviews have been brilliant. 🙂
Thanks, Andrea! I have a lot to live up to with Birgit’s amazingly high standard of writing.
The Candy Perfume Boy is one of my favorite blogs too by now, he is funny, entertaining and profound.
Thank you for your kind words, Andrea! My husband saw todays question and said I was fishing for compliments with it. That was not my intention at all, but I wanted to showcase Tara’s great reviews and taste.
I read the following blogs and I take into consideration their opinion on perfumes: Bois de Jasmin, Now Smell This, Grain de Musc, Perfume Shrine, Perfume-Smellin’Things and yours. I wish I had more time to read more.
My taste is very similar to yours so I can pretty much say I would like a perfume that you like and the other way around. It is very helpful to have someone like this. It is much easier to find something I like than crawling just by myself through all that stuff. There is too much of everything.
I’m glad to hear we have similar tastes, Civava. You are right, there is so much out there, a little “pre-selection” is so helpful. 🙂
I am most influenced by the perfume recommendations of “The Non-Blonde”, Gaia. I have not disagreed with a review of hers in years!
Hers is the first blog I open every day, she brought me to perfume blogging in the first place. I owe a lot to Gaia.
Gaia is probably the most reliably similar in taste, but Carrie Meredith I think is a close second— I tend to love perfumes that they love! However, even if our taste and chemistry is a little bit different, you are the force that has inspired mr to try things outside of my “go-to” categories: Vetiver Tonka and Coeur de Vetiver Sacre are two favorite discoveries, as well as Guerlain Philtre d’Amour and Vega! 🙂
Same here! You brought my attention to many perfumes I thought I’d hate and fell in love instead.
I would have to agree with you – I have learned so much about Uncle Serge through Gaia, Carrie Merridth and Joey have taught me a lot about Aroma M and I have found great influence from you, Birgit! Also, a lot of the folks in our FFF group have influenced me GREATLY in just the past three months…very scary.
I like to run my scent discoveries with my husband – he either gives me a disgruntled “DON’T LIKE IT” or a very casual “that’s good” – nothing has made him jump up and down just yet. At this point, I no longer care – just don’t want to offend his nose when he hugs me!
Oh yes, FFF is a great group of influencers and enablers. 🙂 (Gotta love it there!)
I my experience husbands are a very unreliable scent testing instrument. 😉
Agreed, especially when he tells me when I smell like a musty attic or a piece of cardboard left out in the rain when I’m testing certain musks…that always pisses me off since I love musks!
You.
And I always check Bois de Jasmin’s opinion and EauMG before buying things, mainly because I share tastes and opinions with them. Another wonderful enabler and fragrance twin was Selfstyledsiren, who now blogs about films.
There are many bloggers whose opinion I value highly, among them Octavian and Denyse. I also love Persolaise’s blog, Perfumeshrine, The Scented Salamander, Perfume smellin things and I love the completeness of Now Smell This.
Yesterday’s Perfume is another must.
There are some great blogs out there. Yours is wonderful too, Caro! I loved your post about the chypres, I’m sorry, I should have commented, but time is so short sometimes. 😦
Thank you, dear!
A friend of mine works as a fragrance SA and has guided me towards a couple of my go to fragrances Prada’s Infusion D’Iris (which she wears herself) and Eau Ambree. Otherwise Robin at NST and Victoria at BdJ have both led me to fragrances I love. I am just starting to read more fragrance blogs now. Perfumes the Guide is fun and snarky to read, but I just don’t get the big love they give to Estee Lauder fragrances.
Hi scentandshinythings,
It must be great to have a friend working in the industry!
I don’t agree with most of the Guide reviews, but they are well-written and entertaining, for me perfume reviews are ultimately a matter of personal taste.
Brigit,
this is a great question! It has actually inspired me to close the computer and go write a long answer in my long hand. I need to have time with this question and write my way through it and out of it. I am an introvert, so sometimes I cannot give my answers immediately, but I can acknowledge that this question has already sent me to an unplanned Monday writing retreat!
Obviously that question resonated with you. I hope you will have some interesting insights.
Good question!
I read and love; Olfactoria’s Travels (I don’t know if you know this blog? :P), Bonkers About Perfume, Now Smell This, Persolaise, Beauty on the Outside, Scents of Self, grr there’s just too many to name.
I think I take a little bit from everyone, I know how their tastes relate to mine and whether I would like/dislike what they like/dislike. You and Vanessa have particularly influenced my tastes of late, I would never have tried Puredistance I if it weren’t for both your reviews (and V’s sample). I definitely think we have a lot more in common than we did in our Evil Scent Twin days 😛
I think I’ve heard of it… 😉
Oh yes, the two of us share a lot of common ground now, I rather like that. 🙂
Oh, goodness! I find most perfume writing to be very inspiring indeed, especially your wise, lovely reviews here Birgit, but those that I would trust most with the old olfactive in terms of taste are Victoria at Bois de Jasmin (who led me down the rabbit hole in the first place), Angela at NST, Elena at Perfumeshrine, and Denyse at Grain de musc.
Those four are wonderful perfume writers, there is so much to learn from them.
Great question, Birgit! I must admit I read most of the blogs I read because I enjoy the writing more than because I expect their tastes to give me some indication of what I will like. I used to expect that more, but lately I have come to think that there are so many “wild card” elements in how we (or maybe just me?) react to perfume that it’s rare to share a lot of similar tastes. But again, it could just be me! That said, I’m so grateful for all the blogs that help me discover new things and push me to reconsider old things.
It is true, when I like the style of a blogger it doesn’t matter what he or she writes about, I will still read it.
My morning coffee break treat is this blog followed by Non-Blonde, so you are both a huge influence on my wish and sample lists. I blame my current obsession with Parfums d’Empire (loved Equistrius, became emotional over Cuir Ottomen) on you and my obsession with Andy Tauer on Gaia! Other than that NST is a regular pit stop for information.
I’m honored to be in such good company!
Enjoy your little obsession with Parfum d’Empire and Andy Tauer. You sure smell great! 🙂
Great question! Initially (5 or so years ago), I ordered samples based on on Robin’s posts- but discovered that though we share many loves, there is plenty of non-overlap. Soon after, I discovered PST and realized that from among the people in the blogosphere (at that time), Marina’s tastes seemed closest to mine. Also Tom’s. I also rely on Victoria (Bois de Jasmin) who has led me to some of my loves e.g: by asking me to retry Carnal Flower on my skin (because how could I love tuberoses and not love it!) and suggesting Noir Epices as a substitute for Caron’s Poivre. Also, Mals has influenced my search and love for vintage perfume (on ebay)
More recently (right here on your blog), I’ve discovered an almost scent twin in Suzanne..:)
I have to credit you and Carrie though for pushing me to rediscover Mandy’s perfumes..
That is why it is so beneficial that there are more than five bloggers out there (even if that fact has caused some strife), it is so nice to get a little impulse from here and there.
So glad Carrie and I got you going back to exploring your Aftelier samples, I loved your reviews.
Thanks Birgit! I had sniffed Aftelier years ago in Bendel’s, NY and loved Shiso and Cacao..But during our (you and I) chat on twitter when I was asking you about which concentration to order samples in, Mandy ‘heard’ and offered to send me some samples and the rest, ofcourse, is history (I LOVE her perfumes). So you are actually directly responsible..:D
Mandy is so nice and generous and very savvy with social media.
I’m glad having brought about your re-introduction.
Hello!! I m new to your blog, as well as the other perfume blogs out there. I will say, that your blog has been my favorite to read so far. I am enjoying your writing, and the descriptions you give are inspiring me in many ways, and have made me want to try several fragrances. In fact, I just purchased Amber Fetich, because of your description. I hope I love it as much as you do!!!!!! I want to try all the Mona di Orio fragrances (I want want want!!!!!!! It is too bad for the perfume world that such an amazing and creative soul had to leave the earth). She had a lot to say with her fragrances.
I do however feel torn sometimes, because so many perfumes seem too ubiquitous. I am not fond of mainstream anything really, just because there is often little depth within it. Yep, I am a snob, with absolutely no reason to be!!!! There is value in mainstream, and variety is so important. It allows us to appreciate when there is something special in the midst.
I am an artist so I like to get my hands in the clay and create. I have been attempting to blend “my perfect scent”, only to find, that I am entering a world that is an art unto itself. I have fast realized that perfumery is a fine art, that should be respected deeply. My respect is growing daily. Being a perfumer is not really my vision, but I would love to learn more about the art and play. In my quest to learn more about perfume making, I have stumbled upon this blog, as well as some of the ones you have mentioned, and because I am olfactory obsessed I have been so interested in what I am learning.
I am very impressed with your perfume collection. As I explore your blog and others, I am wanting to try different scents and branch out a bit. I thought I wanted a “signature scent”, but one scent seems a bit limiting, especially after reading some of your descriptions, as well as some of the perfumers that I have resonated with. I honestly don’t want too many though, because I think I might be overwhelmed by too many options. Not to mention, I could break the bank, between essential oils and perfumes. My oh my!!!!!!
Thank you for your blog and sharing your passion.
Hello Arline,
welcome! Thank you for reading and commenting, I’m glad you like my blog.
The perfume world can be overwhelming indeed, but it is so exciting to discover new amd girgeous things every day, isn’t it?
Many of us started out lookimg for a new signature scent and stumbled down the rabbit hole to Perfumeland. Enjoy the ride, few have ever found theur way back out… 🙂
There were several basenotes members that I noticed had a similar taste to mine. I used to look at their wardrobe and reviews often (when I was more active on bn). Other than that, it’s your reviews and those on the badgerandblade.com forum that I pay particular attention to.
That is very flattering to hear, Jim! Thank you! 🙂
You’re very welcome!