EXILED! The stories from Defected Fragrantican Members

I just did too! Happy to be here!

Hi Miss13Scent! I recognize your Fragrantica name. I am (soon-to-be was) El Capitan. I've asked to have my account deleted after the Pride article debacle. 

Hi!  Glad to see you here!

Hi, I'm an escapee, too, but following the horrors of abuse fellow human brings are being subjected to, it was more than time to go.  My user name 'over there' is/was Lady of Wahey.  Glad to see several others on here I recognise.  Bear with me as I've not added any of my wardrobe yet.  

Over and out for now! 

Good to see a lot of new joiners recently. Welcome to Parfumo all ✌ 

Thank you! 

Hello, Barbamama from Fragrantica looking for a new and friendlier neighborhood here. New user name is Bellondee. Perfume is my daily respite from the general worries of the world and the specifics of my personal life. Not finding that on “that other place”, so I’ll look around and see if this is a happier place.

And yes, I was also reacting to the anti-pride campaign and toxicity. I’ve no tolerance for gaslighting anymore in any part of my life.

Happy to see former Fragrantica users like unearthlyapothecary, LadyofWahey, El Capitan etc here. People who are thoughtful and empathic. Hi!

Good for you!  This is a much better place, with nicer people!

Hi Modernista (Lady of Wahey)!

Great to see you've made the move over! Hope All is well! I've got my collection up and a photo album and look forward to seeing yours again soon. It already feels really good to be here in a more welcoming community. I'm still learning to navigate the site, but it's very enjoyable.

See you soon! 😊

VieilleDame1 (formerly El Capitan) 

Thanks so much! Great to be here! 😊

Same here! (formerly curiouscats) It looks like there are quite a few of us. Hopefully there are many more to come!

My comments supporting Patric and other LGBTQ+ folks kept getting deleted by the mods. Yet the despicable vitriol kept getting posted. Unfortunately for Patric, they took down his article sometime this morning.

If it wasn't for TranceNdendalist over there mentioning Parfumo in a comment in the Pride article, I would've never known to come here.

I'm still in the process of transferring everything over but I already prefer Parfumo's interface. Parfumo seems like a much more welcoming place too. I'm happy to see Non-Binary as a Gender option. AND there's explicit anti-discrimination language in the Community Rules specifically including sexuality and gender.

So lovely to see you here!  I might have to start calling you Cap'n, although I love your new moniker, too!  Speak soon! 

Before the article was removed, there were several more supportive comments, which were then obviously removed, including one I wrote about how it must look, from an employment law perspective, and that I'd quite like to read a managing editor/owner's statement of defence regarding both condoning bullying and abuse as well as indulging in this themselves.  Most oddly, they decided to remove that one!  

Not surprised the mods were deleting all the supportive comments. And good for you, Modernista! I really feel awful for Patric and other writers/contributors who experience(d) similar. I hope they all move on somewhere else that appreciates their work. His article was gorgeous and very well written. He didn't deserve any of that.

I'm so happy to see y'all over here!

I have a terrible feeling that Patric was purposely set up or they took the opportunity to "make an example of him". Either way, their behavior was despicable.

Thank you! Parfumo is wonderfully welcoming.

Hi Arcenciel! 

I am glad to see you here! Like you, I'm pleased to see the non-binary option here. As a straight cisgender woman I was sickened by the comments under Patric's wonderful article. My downvotes for all the hate speech kept getting removed. 
I've only been on Parfumo a few days and already really like it here! 🥰

I've been on both sites for years, but I've always been more active on fragrantica. Even though I'm German and parfumo.de is very active, I preferred the worldwide community and I also enjoyed practicing my English by writing reviews. To be honest I also liked that fragrantica seemed a little more low-brow at times, but nowadays the difference isn't huge anymore.

Well, the politics of the owners are really off-putting. I've been ignoring and downplaying it in my mind for a long time, even when they changed the logo, but the recent balloon change has kind of been a catalyst for me to do a little deep dive into that topic. The gross comments on Le Mâle Pride Edition 2023 and the admins' reaction to them did the rest. What a joke.

I never wrote reviews on here because mine tend to be way too long for the statement section but not as poetic and long as many of the German reviews, but maybe I'll start. I definitely won't fill fragrantica with free content under the recent circumstances 🙃 I hope English parfumo will get more popular. The user interface is better anyways.

I am not new here on Parfumo but left Fragrantica about 3 months ago due to the relentless insults and discriminatory and hateful comments in the articles. And the way E. kept adding salt to the wounds was really disgusting. In my opinion, an editor-in-chief who doesn't even protect her own team of writers is the cause of the exodus within Fragrantica. I also read Patric's article and I felt how much pain and sorrow it caused him that his article, written with care and dedication, was so exploited by hateful comments. Once again it was E. who fanned the fire of demeaning and hateful comments. If this happened in an article that she wrote, you knew in advance that the article would soon be removed.... If even team members/writers/perfumers like John and Miguel stand up for Patric, it must ring a bell by her, right? And... the article was removed when almost only positive reactions were posted by members. I have never been active in the forum & articles, only when I just started (2016) on Fragrantica but I was active on Fragram. Also there's a lot of disrespect going on the last few months. If you can read between the lines you know that Fragrantica /Fragram is not a safe place to to be.

English is not my native language so some words/expressions may be misrepresented but I guess you all understand what I mean

I haven't had any horrible experiences myself as I never really talked to anyone. (I've heard of the rampant homophobia and transphobia though, yikes.) The main reason I left is that the UI here is so much cleaner and more intuitive. It feels like the 90's on Fragrantica and not in a good way. The fact that the owners are anti-vaxxers is another nail in the coffin.

I just have to vent here for a moment. The post upvote/downvote system on Fragrantica is balloons. Sometimes in the article discussions the upvote/downvote has been reversed, at least for some of us. Suddenly I was upvoting hate speech and downvoting post advocating  human rights for all. Popping balloons by upvoting feels bad. Giving a nice heartshaped balloon to someone who gleefully insults other people feels even worse.

 In the forum for site related issues I’ve asked this apparant glitch in a sober manner. My post have been removed. One was edited. With no warning. Not leaving an “edited by mods” or “deleted by mods” comment. I mentioned that I wondered if I had posted anything at all and how disconcerting it feels to question your own senses, and it was deleted. That is not okay at all.

Update: I asked in their suggestions and improvement thread this morning: Could admins please add a “comment edited by mod” or “comment deleted by mods” when they edit or delete a post. That suggestion was immediately deleted. Sigh

They delete everything hinting to the obviously rigged balloons in the pride article. It's not a glitch, they did it on purpose and it's really embarrassing.

I'm also annoyed that they don't care to moderate idiotic behavior, for example the trolling in the "reminds me of" section or useless non-reviews. Every new designer fragrance gets votes as similar to Slut (2019), Anal, Ugly Bastard, random children's perfumes like Trolls or Barbie, or weirdly Elvira's Zombie line or even Fantasy Eau de Parfum line. Sooo funny, it never gets old 🥱
The site owners should keep the site usable instead of adding fuel to the fire in controversial discussions (about things that should not be controversial to start with!) and promoting their ideology.

It is with great excitement that I extend a warm welcome to our new members joining us from different corners of the fragrance world. Parfumo is meant to be a place for those who share a passion for exploring fragrance! 👋

When I set out on the journey to create Parfumo almost 15 years ago, my vision was clear: I wanted to create a place where all fragrance lovers, regardless of their background, could come together to discuss and share their common passion for fragrances. This is still the guiding principle today!
Here at Parfumo, our common bond is our shared love for fragrances. It is this shared passion that brings us together, allowing us to appreciate the beauty of our diverse community. And in this diversity, we advocate for a universal respect for each other's individuality and refrain from engaging in political discussions.

This is a space created exclusively for you to explore the fragrance world, without the distractions or disruptions often associated with politics. As much as political discussions have their relevance, I firmly believe that our platform isn't the place for them. We've consciously made this choice to ensure that Parfumo remains a peaceful haven, where discussions revolve solely around our shared olfactory passions.

Moreover, tolerance is not just a virtue Parfumo strives for, it is a fundamental element of our community. Every member, old and new, is expected to respect this principle. We envisage a community that nurtures each other’s passion for fragrances, an environment free from unrelated distractions or discordance.

Once more, we are thrilled to have you with us. By being a part of Parfumo, you are contributing to a community that truly embodies the very essence of fragrance appreciation. I am confident that together we can create an enriching space where we all can explore, learn and share in the magic of fragrances!

Thank you for the warm welcome! This seems like a place after my heart. I promise that I will not be spreading negativity. I would only engage in politics here if it were to defend someone against bullying and to protect their human rights. With your lovely policy and a useful report button, that shouldn’t be necessary. I hope that I can contribute in a positive way when I get my bearings