EXILED! The stories from Defected Fragrantican Members

I have visited both sites for the longest time. But it has become extremely boring over at Fragrantica. The only thing that I feel is better are bigger visual stimulating pictures.

Here one photo can be added and even made bigger. But over there, we used to tell whole stories just with pictures.

Threads like, "You imagine a scent like that, and then you get THAT." Making jokes like that.

Or, match music to images of scents.

Or, one joke after another ... that, too, has dried up.

Too many young folks are enjoying the Fragrantica site and are spreading their innocent questions and comments.

Well, to each their own. People will automatically gather where they like it.

Fragrantica is such a shitty place I hate it by now.
I posted my review of Killer Queen to shut up those idiotic comments about nothing when the perfume hasn't been officially released and they voted it off.
This site has absolutely no control over the voting system and needs an upgrade on the comments section. bECAUSe right now it's total shit
I stay off there for now. it's no use.

of voting upon reviews ... is what makes the trouble. It could be "the blind leading the blind" - in its worst form, like you know where.

There is a small discussion on the German site of Parfumo where feathers are bristled when reviews are not well received.

The core of the matter is that REVIEWS ARE SUBJECTIVE ... so they are bound not always be well received when a favorite scent is bashed.

"It is the tone that makes the music."

It was simple test.
I don't like that they vote on notes on not even released perfumes.
So I put Killer Queen on there to show them a real review.
And interestingly, the real thing is of none interest
So, they didn't pass the test.

It just proves what you already said, that they don't vote because of thoughts on the review, but because of dislike of the message as such.

After I posted the voting for Celosia as main note rose from 18 to 43 - any questions?

I'm fine with that anyway since this site doesn't "deserve" my reviews
But it's funny how shallow things are. I usually keep out of this mess, but it seems I hit a nerve.

OMG! Hmm, makes me wonder...This story made me recall that also one time mentioned a great website for general perfume definitions was for answering terminology questions--not evening a review site for the serious learners like "What is a Chypre, etc.". I found a really neat site-non profit not a forum, not competing at all with Z's site. But I put the link it as a helpful tip. and I got a negative response saying basically that this information was not welcome and now I am wondering if this along with a few other unintentional innocent "slips" trying to spread honest info for fragrance lovers lead to my problems over there.

Whatever! I don't like all that pomp & circumstance and fake snobbery anyway they can keep there espionage and backstabbing, we've got a good clean site here and I don't miss the bad attitudes over there one bit. If we are missing anything- it's content and that just takes time- it is why I spend what free time I have trying to test and comment of fragrances. I'd like to suggest a new topic too, of new innovative features that are not the same as on the other sites, but even better- I know we have some IT people who are also Fragrance lovers...let the creativity flow!

Hopefully more people will just throw in a few words about any and all fragrances they've been exposed to so we will have as much opinion content and reviews as other sites as soon as possible. I have tons of samples that I've checked out and I'm done with if anyone will agree to write a short or long review on this site for them and they are state side- wants to try them email me- in the US- I'll just send them to you for free...anytime!

Yep, Bingo! I noticed that too before I left...certain members had written lovely reviews but when I tried to give awards it popped up that 'this member is banned", etc/ or it just wouldn't process...well know I know why. Very High school. Glad I'm out of it.

People cannot thrive in a hectic set-up. Eventually, everyone will gather where they like it the best.

So they ban people but still make use of their work? This seems to be a remarkable difference to Parfumo!

In the very rare case when a user was banned from Parfumo, or if a user decides to cancel his membership and completely leave Parfumo, all reviews of that user are physically deleted from the database. I don't find it appropriate to pretend that somebody is still an active user if he has left.

Who is the copyright owner of the reviews at Fragrantica? The author? Or do they have a clause in their terms of use that you give them the copyright on all work you submitted? If not, is there a delete function for your reviews like we have here? If you want to leave Fragrantica would they delete your reviews on request?

This is a very good way to support Parfumo, Flavorite!

When the German site was still very small in 2010 I did something similar. (The Souk and the trading came much later). I bought a little funnel and a box of empty spray samplers and gave away samples of my favorite perfumes. There was one condition: the user who received a few of my samples would have to agree to write a review after testing. It worked out in about 90%. Soon, other users did the same, and this was how we got some content and some discussions to start. I never gave away perfume samples that I do not own the regular bottle as I like to keep them for reference purposes.

Nowadays, I stopped doing so since sample swaps have generally replaced the giveaways, and because Parfumo.de is going strong and reviews about nearly all of my perfumes are being posted without that kind of help.

If you have a big perfume collection as I do it is very likely you will not finish any of your 3.4 oz bottles before they get rotten, so why not give away some samples to friends from Parfumo?

I agree!... let's 'pay it forward'... we will all benefit in the end if we have the best reviews and most reviews of any other site out there. In fact, I'm going to post a separate topic listing sets of 3-4 free samples from various houses/groups- the samples are just sitting around and will go bad after a few years anyway since they've already been decanted by luckyscent, surrender to chance, etc. If you live in the US/Canada and you want to try them send me your address...it may take me up to 2 weeks for them to arrive but I'll spot the 2 bucks here any there as long as you write a review with 2 months. Even if you just say "I tried this and it didn't work for me because..." that is good information, as far as I'm concerned because I live someplace remote so a lot of fragrances I have to blind buy or gamble on or make my decisions from these types of reviews, so other peoples opinions are very important to me.

Hello all,
Bit of a ramble...
I'm a new Parfumo member and find this site welcoming, entertaining and, above all, informative. I'm not a member (exiled or otherwise) of the other sites and, after reading your posts, am grateful I'm not! I visit those sites randomly and occasionally to read fragrance reviews, particularly when there's a shortage of opinions at Parfumo, but I never once considered joining them - there really didn't seem to be any point.
I stumbled upon Parfumo when Googling for reviews for some fragrance or other and, well, I kept coming back as a silent lurker because what Parfumo lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality. I sensed that here was a site that really did feel like a community where reviews are consistently well written, with a good dose of humour and thoughtful insight, and where there was a good chance of getting help through the forums, when needed.
I think there's another thread somewhere about recruiting more reviews from members and it is a bit surprising to see that a fragrance owned by, say 100 members, has only garnered a handful of reviews. I think some of us feel ill-equipped to make expert comments on formulas or feel we lack the breadth of experience to make useful comparisons to similar fragrances. I agree, though, that it's helpful to read opinions from a broad cross section of perfume users, regardless of our perceived olfactory deficiencies (as long as reviews are not of the one line "OMG - it's AWESOME!" variety). I'm on the way to posting some of my own, modestly inexpert, reviews - to share my experiences and, ahem, for the vanity of seeing my words on screen (no, kidding about the last bit!).
I do have a query - this may not be the place to ask - but is there some way I can see which members live in my country (Australia) without visiting every member's page individually? Geographic remoteness is a bit of an impediment sometimes, especially with sample swaps and finding stockists.

I am sorry, Triffid, but we do not have this function (yet). This is not the first time somebody brings this idea forward - so, maybe we will have a member search according to country eventually.

Very good that finally, people can find us via Google. Parfumo's listing by Google has obviously improved.

Thank you for a prompt response, Apicius. No problem, at least I now know that I'm not missing an existing search function. If I really want to find Australian members, I can always post a question on the forum.

Triffid: Good thoughts, all! I think the reason why that happens sometimes, though, is that the page will show everyone who owns the perfume on both the .net and the .de sites. Sometimes I see that 20 people own a perfume and no one has reviewed it. But then I click through on the member names and discover I'm the only one from .net. (The .de site has been around longer and is more established.) But you're right - more reviews would be great.

There are some reviewers on here, though, who are SO eloquent, that I regularly read what they've written and thought, "Yep. That says it all." I don't have the gift for beautiful metaphor that some do, and my terse, factual style seems so prosaic next to the work of Ysbrand, Coutureguru, Sherapop, jtd, Silverfire, and others. (Those were the first few who came to mind. The full list is prob 2-3 dozen.) But I'll still write a review if one of them hasn't!

PitbullFriend,
Yours are always a good read, your "prose" is inviting, you're one of my faves, so don't sell yourself short.

Oh, oops. That was not fishing for compliments. Thanks, Dulcemio!

Hello to all. I feel most welcome here vs. the other F site and although I'm not new to fragrance, I am new to a fragrance site. When I decided to join F, I thought it was an ok community of perfume lovers. Until I began to participate in the forums, and saw the cliques. The camaraderie wasn't there. Nor was a feeling of friendship. One could almost feel others being shunted away. Still, I persisted, not knowing of Parfumo. Then, the childish forums began, such as the ones others have listed earlier. On top of that, I would constantly see forum topics such as "Find me a fragrance that smells Rich", "Smells like Money", etc., and I'd start thinking, is this what people really care about? It seems as if labels and cost were more important to folks over there than what a perfume's fumes are about. On top of that, they have a really simple way to find a perfume by notes. Yet, constantly, someone would ask for suggestions on "Suggestions for a vanilla perfume with florals". And I'd think, can't these people use the site's searches themselves? Are they that lazy? I'd read the reviews posted, and many were good, but many also were written simply about who the designer was, or if they considered the perfume (such as Shalimar, for example) an "old lady's perfume" so then to the writer, it "stank", was "gross", or "elderly". The demographics weren't suiting me. I needed to find a place where intelligence prevailed, education was encouraged and warmth was prevalent. I found it here. I love perfumes, always have. I'm new to Parfumo, and I'm diligently attempting to write my reviews and post my pictures so the history of perfumes can be documented in a fashion that they deserve. Over at "F", I couldn't post my photos, either without opening another account because they don't host photos.
And a huge thank you to Apicius for welcoming me when I first joined. It felt wonderful joining this community that day and I knew I was home! I'm glad I'm here, and altho I do use Fragrantica to compare information on perfumes, this is where I feel at home.

This is actually Luca Turin's fault...I paid 25 bucks for his book of perfume reviews and some of his are so frustratingly limited...I think many much better opinions come from Us, the average fragrance users. I'd rather spend 25 bucks getting samples I've got just sitting around out to Us than to him and his publishing company. Ok, got the first 3 sets packed addressed and ready to go out tomorrow- including one for you! I wrote a detailed list of what I ended up putting in each little package under the "Samples for Swap" topic. I may not be able to do this very often, but got these covered. I had so many samples that I tried didn't like and I'm done with...it's worth it to pass them on because other people's opinions matter- at least for fragrance reviews! Thought I'd light a match and soon, maybe there will be a whole forest fire of sharing!

Among questions to the members, what always got to me at F is something like, "I am going on a camping trip, please look at my wardrobe and choose for me what I should wear."
That kind of "Please choose for me" thing ... don't anybody have a nose to sniff and make decisions for yourself???

Exactly! That's what I would wonder! What do they think when they purchase their own perfumes? Do they just buy for the sake of having a stock collection? I know I myself sit in front of mine and sniff them, test them, etc., I've learned about them through the years so I know when and where is the appropriate time to wear them. But laziness prevails, I guess. It's a mind-set, too of not wanting to take the time to learn.