Get to know my collection!

I watched a video from Heather The Scent Manager (Blu84HB on Parfumo) doing this tag and thought it looked fun. The original creator of the questions was My Scent Bouquet on youtube, I believe. (I hope I got all those credits right).
Now, I don't like being on camera...so here is a blog post instead!

Note: as a primarily sample/decant collector, I define my collection as anything I have a sample, decant or full bottle of. Some of these questions were tricky to answer because of the nature of my collection, so I've left them out.

Newest perfume: Chakra 1, Chakra 3 and Chakra 5 which just arrived today. I'm currently wearing the first one, which is a lovely earthy, leafy and resinous natural patchouli. The others are soft lavender, and a sticky resinous grapefruit, respectively. These were successful blind buys, believe it or not! (I do not endorse blind buying. Do as I say, not as I do)

Oldest perfume: La Religieuse. One of the perfumes I got in my very first order when I decided to get into the hobby, and a risky blind buy...it's still a favorite, and something of a signature scent for me. It's dark, bitter and sweet, with a slightly creamy musk drydown. Although jasmine is the dominant note, you probably wouldn't suspect it's a jasmine perfume without seeing the notes. A friend said it smelled like licorice and leather. It feels moody and beautiful and I find it comfortingly melancholy.

Most expensive perfume: L'Homme aux Gants - I only have a sample of this (which was a gift) and it will stay that way for good reason! But, if I could afford to full-size it, it would be worth every penny. This is the BEST vanilla-wood perfume I have ever smelled, so soft and refined. I use my tiny 1ml sample very, very sparingly, and will probably have to get a small decant once it runs out.

Most affordable in collection: Thorns by Aether, a local cosmetic company in Australia. $18.95 for 125ml (it is a body mist, but a decently strong one). This is my favorite rose perfume - it's a dark, spicy, green rose-geranium with a teakwood backdrop and musky drydown. It's witchy, natural and photorealistic. I also have another scent from them, Arcanum, which is a pretty realistic vanillic "old paper" scent, but I find Thorns easier to wear, as the vanilla in Arcanum can be a bit cloying and I have to be in the right mood for it.

Favorite easy reach: Bat Song Perfume Oil. This is a very soothing, mellow lavender with cashmeran that I love to wear before bed.

Favorite bottle design: Blanche Bête - I only have a sample of this, but I'm slightly tempted to buy it for the bottle. The scent is beautiful, a creamy white floral with a slight incense note, but it's far too strong for me, so I shall refrain from a bottle purchase and just enjoy the beauty vicariously through people's photos.

Best memory association: Snow Gardenia Perfume Oil. This scent always reminds me of when I first smelled it - the bath products in an apartment I stayed at during a major life transition. It smells like positive change and relief.

Worth the hype: Buveur de Vent. A wonderful earthy leather with a resinous pine backdrop and just the right amount of rawness.

Not worth the hype: Memoir Man. I'll do a proper write-up on this some day, but I kept getting recommended this one when I was doing an incense deep-dive, and I was so excited for it. But on me it doesn't smell of incense at all, it's just a generic (if beautiful) woody amber.

Favorite fragrance from favorite house: Fleurs d'oranger. There were a number of contenders for this position, but they all have minor (very minor) flaws, where Fleurs d'Oranger is just...perfect. It smells like a lush blooming garden in summertime. It's intoxicating and heady and never fails to make me happy.

Most used fragrance: La dompteuse encagée. This is such an easy reach because it's so fresh, pleasant, and clean - it always makes me feel happy and refreshed, and it's totally inoffensive. I like to wear it after a shower to make me feel soapy fresh.

Top 3 favorite perfume notes: frankincense, tobacco, basically all heady white/yellow florals. (runners up: pine, teakwood, cistus...this question was really hard)

A perfume you hate: Snoqualmie. I'm a big fan of Pineward in general, but this particular one did not work for me. It smelled nice on the atomiser and on paper, where it was a very green minty scent, but it turned very, very bitter and sweet-woody on my skin in a way I found deeply unpleasant and could almost taste. I guess they can't all be winners.

Best clone: Palermo's dupe of Fille en aiguilles is better than the original - far superior performance, and with more depth and richness. The closest original fragrance I've found to this dupe is Arso, which I would pick over the original Fille en Aiguilles any day. Sorry, Serge.

Perfume every person should have: I don’t believe there is one perfume everyone should have!! There’s a whole universe of perfumes out there, and there’s something for everyone, but there isn’t ONE thing for everyone. I don't believe there's even one category or style of perfume everyone should have in their collection. We all wear fragrance for different reasons. Explore, order cheap samples/decants (NOT full bottles) and figure out what resonates with you!

Most complimented scent: I have never had anyone comment on a fragrance I wear. This is a relief because I wear fragrance for myself and tend to enjoy more obscure or challenging scent profiles, which I don't want to intrude on other's olfactory experiences. I hope the lack of comments (positive or negative) means people simply can't smell me, and not that they're too polite to say I smell like poop and garbage. LOL!

What’s on my wishlist: right now, I'm impatiently waiting to finish my favorite Alkemia samples (the vials are incredibly annoying to use, hence the impatience) so that I can justify purchasing bottles. I'm especially looking forward to getting As Dark Things Are Meant to be Loved and Bibliotheca. In terms of samples, I'm planning an order from Neil Morris, especially Cathedral.