F.O.M.O: been there, done that

It feels like much longer, but it would seem that it was just in 2021 when Maison Lattafa took the internet by storm with their vanilla-leaning gourmand- Raghba. Reviews of the 100ml bottle of amber-coloured sweetness and warmth seemed to be on every fragrance reviewer's most watched videos. I was certainly intrigued, but one comment stopped me from progressing to blind buying, 'It smells like saliva.' 

Fast forward to July 2023 and Raghba was once again on my mind. I'd started to think about what fragrances I might want to purchase to wear during the long autumn and winter months when Raghba came back into the picture. Perhaps my time had come, I thought. The hype had died down and before the fragrance would be discontinued, if it would be discontinued, I could try it. Thus I bought a little 12ml glass bottle of its perfume oil and needless to say, I must be one amongst the 10% of testers that have no love or appreciation for Raghba. 

An earlier particular experience with Jennifer Lopez' Still had been the reason why that one comment had been able to put me off blind buying a full bottle of Raghba. YouTube fragrances reviewers whose tastes appeared to mirror mine had had nothing but praise for this 'clean girl' scent and so I sourced out a full bottle, 85% convinced that I would equally fall in love. Alas the odds were against me, Still to me was a wallflower, a lukewarm cup of Earl grey tea, a bud that would never bloom. I passed my bottle to a friend who prefered light, tea fragrances and it was a hit with her.

So where am I now? I can certainly say that I have embraced acquiring samples and am more leery of blind buying. Within the past 2 months, I have gotten my nose on many fragrances, an experience which has changed my approach to collecting (I hope to write about this in my next blog post). 

Few I have loved, but with having the space and time to consider my purchase, I am yet to commit to purchasing a full bottle of any of those fragrances. Mind you, I have not been cured of blind buying. I ordered a 100ml bottle of L'Erbolario's Iris from Italy and a 75ml of Al Haramain's Junoon without ever having smelt Lorenzo Villoresi's Teint de Neige or either, on the belief that I would adore an explosion of powdery Iris. This time I played my cards right and they favoured me with a win. There are still a few fragrances I have not been able to sample that I could be persuaded into blind buying by reviews from other fragrance lovers. The fear of missing out and intrigue when looking at notes and accords is still very much alive in me.

My experiences are not unique. I believe that every fragrance lover will have some blind buy tales- wins and losses due to F.O.M.O, to tell. So tell me about them if you please, in the comments section. 

Wherever you are in the world, have a splendid day ahead!