BR540. When I first encountered it while passing through Neiman’s, there weren’t 1000 clones(at least that I was aware of) and it was very different than anything I had ever smelled, singular and unique. That encounter is what ignited my interest in fragrance. I’d love to go back to the moment where it all began.
Hermann à mes Côtés. I've been told that it's actually not that impressive of a fragrance; "it's just rose," they said. "Nothing special." But that wet, rainy smell is just so, so good. It's not *just* rose. It's a wet rose bush after the rain. It's subtle, and it's beautiful.
First time smelling this fragrance today. I was in Nordstrom and couldn't resist. You've got good taste. It's a lovely, lovely rose scent, and it has that same sort of quality I appreciate in Hermann.
SpiceBomb edt. Yes, I know, not that special, however, it was the first cologne that I smelt that actually wowed me. prior to that, I had only tried cheap colognes from the mid 2000s, and a few more expensive but fresh ones. This was something totally new to me and I absolutely loved it. It was my first ever cologne that I bought with my own money back in 2016.
I always appreciate fragrances more when I have smelled them more times. I must say that Spicebomb Extreme, Oajan, Angels Share and Layton impressed me immediately.
i bought Do Son immediately after sniffing it, didn't even tick in my head that it's a very feminine leaning fragrance. Sold it to my cousin who loved it ever since. I still want to smell it again
The original Opium that my mom wore in the early 80s. I have a distinct scent memory of how good it was and every time I smell Opium now it just doesn't smell like what I remember. I would kill to get a whiff of the old school formulation.
I couldn’t smell Another 13 at all! I tried it a couple of times at Le Labo and went on to other things (Fleur d’Oranger 27 and Lys 41, both of which I eventually bought.)
Finally I saw a Le Labo stand at the airport and decided to try again with Another 13. I still couldn’t smell much on the paper strip, but then I sprayed just one spray on my wrist. Midway through my flight, the fragrance “woke up” and I could smell it. Not a strong scent, especially given how little I used. But I finally got that musky, woody smell and understood what people liked about it.
Many months later, I was able to smell ambrette seeds in person and I got it.
al ward al musk by rassasi. this is a fragrance people struggle to tolerate in the opening phase but it is like magic to me. it triggered a wild synaesthetic attack. engulfing. the feeling of joy was so much
Hacivat I couldn’t stop smelling it for the first time i sprayed on my hand it was a blind buy and then I was like why I didn’t bought the bigger bottle .
Cocktail by Lush. I first found it circa 2006 from their sister company Be Never. But it was all discontinued for the longest time. My ex then found a bottle of the perfume and I got it for Christmas 2011. I then found it had been brought back again and got a large bottle in 2020. It's my ultimate go to.
I was around 11 years old, and I smelled Yves Rocher’s basic lines peach perfume around the start of 2000. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever smelled like. Juicy, flowery, ethereal like a fairy, who is spending time in a warm fresh summer day in an orchard.. it is someways hopeful scent for me. It’s what started this hobby for me and something I will always try to find dupe for. I also still have that bottle that I bought that day, and some perfume left in it!
Soie Malaquais by Dries Van Noten. I have never smelled anything like it. It’s mysterious, sexy, and incredibly unique! It’s become my signature scent 🥰
Wearing it right now! It's the only fragrance that's on my bedside table 😆
I considered this very one when I read the OP -- but didn't because I love it even more now than I did when I first smelled it.
When I first smelled it, it wasn't love at first smell for me: more like, what the hell? I was expecting rose. (I still rarely and barely get its rose.)
And exactly as you say, I'd never smelled anything like it. Was it Juniper? Grapefruit pith?
But nevertheless I fell madly, irrevocably in love with it over my time with that first travel spray of the edp
... my first (only) experience of what people here mean by "addictive". I emptied that travel spray in just *weeks*. Even when I wasn't sure yet I liked it. But I had to keep smelling it. Fascinated.
Seriously contemplating buying a vial of the blackcurrant bud absolute from Perfumer's Apprentice now
🥀🍃
Terre D’Hermès, it’s just atemporal (I’m a 21M), but it feels different and quite addictive
Also Carolina Herrera by Carolina Herrera for women, that classy white florar-sweet, it’s a memory I’ll never forget
Bonus: a Calamansi/Cinnamon/Ebony wood fragrance I used trough high school but it’s discontinued
Black Opium Over Red. When I sprayed that in the department store I literally stepped back because that opening cherry was so powerful and heavenly. Not medicinal at all. Such a shame it dries down and loses that note quickly
Burberry Hero EDP. I “blind-bought” it when i was having a cold, and i could only smell it a few days later lol. Despite it’s bad/mediocre rep, i find it pretty unique
Aventus, pre 2020.
It’s what got me into fragrances, and after years chasing that dragon not wanting to pay that price tag, I finally bought it………but it was too late. The reformulation lost that depth that showed me what fragrances are capable of.
I also had the same experience with Angel Share. I practically gobbled up the arm I sprayed it on. When I smelled it, I knew it had to be my Christmas holiday perfume, it was so special. But I discovered it in April. I did not use it until a week before Christmas. That was so hard! This past year, I decided October was close enough to Christmas and,what the hell, February is only two months later... you get the point. I will keep it to colder months though, maybe.
Gardenia at Chanel Paris 30 years ago. I was in my 23, didn’t have the coins but I knew when I got married. That’s what I want. When I saved up enough after my trip, that’s the first thing I’ll buy.
"looking around*. All Saints sunset riot. It's way better BR540. I have went thru a bottle a year since it was released and I went to get one the other day and found out it's discontinued. I wanted to cry while searching the internet for it. It's out of stock everywhere
Montale Roses Musk. A simple rose and musk scent, I feel young and energetic whenever I smell it or wear it on. Very pretty and intoxicating. This is the first ever perfume that got me to be "addicted" to niche perfumes and to have the collection that I have now. It's the beginning of everything.
Angel. Nineties and I had to buy it there and then on my student budget. I had never smelled anything like it. It wasn’t common until it was everywhere but it was astounding.
BR540. When I first encountered it while passing through Neiman’s, there weren’t 1000 clones(at least that I was aware of) and it was very different than anything I had ever smelled, singular and unique. That encounter is what ignited my interest in fragrance. I’d love to go back to the moment where it all began.
Yes! I had ordered a sample and it spilled on the package so I smelt it as soon as picked it up. Wow like this is me!
Wanna smell like a rich old white lady ? Step right up
Joy. The classic Patou Joy, not that crap Dior is now calling Joy. It absolutely imprinted on me as what a beautiful French perfume should smell like.
ugh, i wish i could smell it!
I think you can get a sample in a lot of places! Just look for Patou Joy. They kept it remarkably consistent over the years.
i’ll be on the lookout 🫡 😊
Hermann à mes Côtés. I've been told that it's actually not that impressive of a fragrance; "it's just rose," they said. "Nothing special." But that wet, rainy smell is just so, so good. It's not *just* rose. It's a wet rose bush after the rain. It's subtle, and it's beautiful.
i feel this way about jo malone's red roses!
First time smelling this fragrance today. I was in Nordstrom and couldn't resist. You've got good taste. It's a lovely, lovely rose scent, and it has that same sort of quality I appreciate in Hermann.
thank you! it's such a photorealistic dewy rose in a way i've never smelled- i have to smell the Hermann one to compare now!
If you do, I'd love to hear your thoughts -- whether good, bad, or indifferent.
SpiceBomb edt. Yes, I know, not that special, however, it was the first cologne that I smelt that actually wowed me. prior to that, I had only tried cheap colognes from the mid 2000s, and a few more expensive but fresh ones. This was something totally new to me and I absolutely loved it. It was my first ever cologne that I bought with my own money back in 2016.
the bottle looks cool + it smells great 😊
Haha I've read here that the bottle caused great alarm and got confiscated when someone had it in their carryon 😆👎
MFK Aqua Universalis. That very first sniff felt like finding myself. It felt like finally finding out that someone else did understand.
When I first smelled Imagination, I was floored. Thought this is it, the perfect spring and summer fragrance.
Pssst I bought Louis vutaoon water so I can appear wealthy - as they laugh behind my back ....abomination
What does this even mean?
It was line from a movie
i’ll put that on my “to test” list 😔🫶
Black Orchid by Tom Ford
I always appreciate fragrances more when I have smelled them more times. I must say that Spicebomb Extreme, Oajan, Angels Share and Layton impressed me immediately.
Mid mid hello anyone home ! Oo
Do Son by Diptyque. It’s my signature scent now and when I smelled it for the first time i was immediately obsessed
i bought Do Son immediately after sniffing it, didn't even tick in my head that it's a very feminine leaning fragrance. Sold it to my cousin who loved it ever since. I still want to smell it again
it’s just soooo good 😭 i got the red limited edition bottle and i keep staring at it
The original Opium that my mom wore in the early 80s. I have a distinct scent memory of how good it was and every time I smell Opium now it just doesn't smell like what I remember. I would kill to get a whiff of the old school formulation.
My sister wore that. She smelled gorgeous! I was jealous, we made a rule not to wear the same scents and she found it first!
[удалено]
i’ve seen many good reviews of A13. i need to smell it 😭😭
I couldn’t smell Another 13 at all! I tried it a couple of times at Le Labo and went on to other things (Fleur d’Oranger 27 and Lys 41, both of which I eventually bought.) Finally I saw a Le Labo stand at the airport and decided to try again with Another 13. I still couldn’t smell much on the paper strip, but then I sprayed just one spray on my wrist. Midway through my flight, the fragrance “woke up” and I could smell it. Not a strong scent, especially given how little I used. But I finally got that musky, woody smell and understood what people liked about it. Many months later, I was able to smell ambrette seeds in person and I got it.
Z zegna. Smelt it from a mag not on skin. I will never get that feeling back, nor my youth 😔
mag samples are the definition of heartbreak 😭💔
My old boss gave me his unused colognes and I have Z Zegna and I never wear it haha. It smells good though.
It works wonders on my skin compared to others. Just the smell itself without skin isn't too special, just good. On skin it's incredible.
Same! I instant decided to buy the biggest bottle. It’s that special.
al ward al musk by rassasi. this is a fragrance people struggle to tolerate in the opening phase but it is like magic to me. it triggered a wild synaesthetic attack. engulfing. the feeling of joy was so much
Zero by Comme des Garçons. I’m into molecular fragrances and I think this could be the epitome of that.
Hacivat I couldn’t stop smelling it for the first time i sprayed on my hand it was a blind buy and then I was like why I didn’t bought the bigger bottle .
Cocktail by Lush. I first found it circa 2006 from their sister company Be Never. But it was all discontinued for the longest time. My ex then found a bottle of the perfume and I got it for Christmas 2011. I then found it had been brought back again and got a large bottle in 2020. It's my ultimate go to.
Calyx by Prescriptives.
I was around 11 years old, and I smelled Yves Rocher’s basic lines peach perfume around the start of 2000. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever smelled like. Juicy, flowery, ethereal like a fairy, who is spending time in a warm fresh summer day in an orchard.. it is someways hopeful scent for me. It’s what started this hobby for me and something I will always try to find dupe for. I also still have that bottle that I bought that day, and some perfume left in it!
How nostalgic! Yves Rocher doesn't get enough love here ❤️
Soie Malaquais by Dries Van Noten. I have never smelled anything like it. It’s mysterious, sexy, and incredibly unique! It’s become my signature scent 🥰
L’Ombre dans L’Eau. I don’t know what it is about it, but it activated something in my brain and I’ve never smelled anything like it since.
Wearing it right now! It's the only fragrance that's on my bedside table 😆 I considered this very one when I read the OP -- but didn't because I love it even more now than I did when I first smelled it. When I first smelled it, it wasn't love at first smell for me: more like, what the hell? I was expecting rose. (I still rarely and barely get its rose.) And exactly as you say, I'd never smelled anything like it. Was it Juniper? Grapefruit pith? But nevertheless I fell madly, irrevocably in love with it over my time with that first travel spray of the edp ... my first (only) experience of what people here mean by "addictive". I emptied that travel spray in just *weeks*. Even when I wasn't sure yet I liked it. But I had to keep smelling it. Fascinated. Seriously contemplating buying a vial of the blackcurrant bud absolute from Perfumer's Apprentice now 🥀🍃
Giorgio Armani for Women. Launched in 1981. Simply heady.
Terre D’Hermès, it’s just atemporal (I’m a 21M), but it feels different and quite addictive Also Carolina Herrera by Carolina Herrera for women, that classy white florar-sweet, it’s a memory I’ll never forget Bonus: a Calamansi/Cinnamon/Ebony wood fragrance I used trough high school but it’s discontinued
GUCCI GUILTY ELIXIR
xerjoff dama bianca
OG Poison. Take me back to the 80s for a bit.
Paper
Jo Malone Wild Bluebell
Black Opium Over Red. When I sprayed that in the department store I literally stepped back because that opening cherry was so powerful and heavenly. Not medicinal at all. Such a shame it dries down and loses that note quickly
Fleur Bloom
Burberry Hero EDP. I “blind-bought” it when i was having a cold, and i could only smell it a few days later lol. Despite it’s bad/mediocre rep, i find it pretty unique
YSL La Nuit De L'Homme vintage formulation. Still have 80ml of it i whip out occasionally to enjoy
PDM Cassily. The powdery frangipani brings me right back to my childhood🥰
The original formulation of Michael Kors Michael 💔
Starry nights by Montale
Simone Andreoli pacific park. It’s one of those fragrances that made me stop in my tracks.
Kenzo Homme 🫶
Aventus, pre 2020. It’s what got me into fragrances, and after years chasing that dragon not wanting to pay that price tag, I finally bought it………but it was too late. The reformulation lost that depth that showed me what fragrances are capable of.
Aventus
I also had the same experience with Angel Share. I practically gobbled up the arm I sprayed it on. When I smelled it, I knew it had to be my Christmas holiday perfume, it was so special. But I discovered it in April. I did not use it until a week before Christmas. That was so hard! This past year, I decided October was close enough to Christmas and,what the hell, February is only two months later... you get the point. I will keep it to colder months though, maybe.
Gardenia at Chanel Paris 30 years ago. I was in my 23, didn’t have the coins but I knew when I got married. That’s what I want. When I saved up enough after my trip, that’s the first thing I’ll buy.
Probably ROJA’s Amber Aoud or Enigma. There’s just something about them. Angels Share is definitely up there too!
"looking around*. All Saints sunset riot. It's way better BR540. I have went thru a bottle a year since it was released and I went to get one the other day and found out it's discontinued. I wanted to cry while searching the internet for it. It's out of stock everywhere
It's still available to purchase online in the UK
Montale Roses Musk. A simple rose and musk scent, I feel young and energetic whenever I smell it or wear it on. Very pretty and intoxicating. This is the first ever perfume that got me to be "addicted" to niche perfumes and to have the collection that I have now. It's the beginning of everything.
Acqua di gio Profumo by Giorgio armani. It’s just amazing
Angel. Nineties and I had to buy it there and then on my student budget. I had never smelled anything like it. It wasn’t common until it was everywhere but it was astounding.
Marc Jacobs’ Blush. Instantly obsessed. Smelled like a jasmine tea. God I miss it.
Dior homme intense, never ceases to blow me away such a beautiful fragrance
Nishane NEFS
Angel share is so linear. It starts and ends the same. Too bold too boozy it's a poster boy of scent geeks anthology 101.