Random thoughts on Reviews

1. glorify the past, i.e. relate to classics only, which results in losing sight of modern creations.
Guilty as charged.

That are interesting points you raise, Dlane, thanks for sharing.
Sure, some contemporary frags aren't interesting. But I bet there was trash around in the good old days as well, it just did not survive.

As for dropping too many chemical names and ingredients etc. into the review, I am absolutely with you. That's part of my training as well and I very much appreciate insightful reviews. But occasionally I come across reviews that dissect a frag to the last molecule and I can't help it but think it's bravado.

Not knowing about constraints: I have edited my previous post. What I understand from Mr. K is, that the end product is not the sole criteria to judge a perfume because the process of creation supposedly needs to be taken into account as well. And I don't agree with that. Of course, if something outstanding has been created on a budget, e.g. Femme, it does showcase the nose's skill. But if a mediocre concoction or even plain crap is the outcome, that "frame" he refers to, is no justification, it merely explains.
I don't know if he minds beginners voicing their thoughts on perfume, and if he does, who cares anyway.

I understand it's both, result as much as process.

I'll tell you this much, I find myself reading tons of reviews. I make sure that my opinion stays my opinion, and not something borrowed from another reviewer. There are many catch phrases in the fragrance business, and yes, we all find ourselves using them from time to time. I struggle every time I write a review, with the creative process and the uniqueness of my descriptions. I pay close attention to other reviews on the web, and find many of them are filled with phrases or sentences taken directly from other reviewers works, or better yet, from the fragrance manufactures own site. For me, reviews are a personal take on a fragrance. If you have to borrow someones else's words to express your own opinion, it doesn't seem like you had much of a personal opinion to start with.

I agree.

"You don't judge a perfume just on the scent"?

Hmmmm ... this makes so little sense that I can't even muster a snarky sarcastic reply.

The thing about worshipping classics, well that does cover a portion of us, but the other portion thinks they're old-fashioned and only buys new releases. The nose wants what it wants, what can you do.

And.some people DO know about ingredients, why should they dumb down their paragraphs for me?

And so do I.

I would have loved one.


But surely loving classics and fabulous modern creations isn't mutually exclusive, is it?

Oooh, looks like the bloggers' activities hit a nerve with Mr. K! Interesting that he should react in such way, given that his creations are among the most lauded ones in existence.

I guess it's not all that easy for the people in the industry to come to terms with the fact that they are not the only ones with knowledge anymore, nor capable of forcing mediocre product on the savvy users via marketing hoopla...

But again - how on Earth can all this be of concern to Maestro Kurkdjian and others in his league, pray tell

And there's that too, they certainly aren't mutually exclusive.

When I first stumbled upon the online perfume community, my first thought was, "What on earth do people find to discuss about fragrance, it's such a sensual experience, what is there to discuss?"

Obviously I was wrong about that. But the bottom line is that it either smells good to me, or it doesn't. I can now better identify the reasons why that is, but understanding why I dislike something doesn't make me not dislike it.

Although, I suppose I know what he means, that, like a movie or book reviewer, perfume reviewers should be neutral enough to recognize and give credit for quality even if the product doesn't appeal to them personally. In fact, I appreciate and admire when a reviewer is able to set aside their own preferences when describing a perfume. I try to do that, but don't always succeed.

Who said to not judge a perfume just on the scent? LMFAO! That is the ONLY way I judge it. Well sometimes I will judge the bottle as well but that is completely separate from scent assessment.

I wear my scents for aromatherapy. I wear them for me. Compliments are nice but do not govern my choices. Therefore, the quality of the scent is truly all that matters to me. Longevity and sillage are secondary. If it doesn't smell completely beautiful to me, I don't want it.

I worship some classics. I dislike other classics. I love some new releases. I despise some new releases. Everything behaves individually on each person's skin.

I describe how the notes or accords bloom on my skin throughout development. Then if I feel so moved, I will describe how the scent affects me emotionally and what sounds or images it brings to mind. I don't know how else to describe it. This can be either positive or negative as I very subjectively perceive it. However, it will be honest. That much I can say.

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I don't think it is necessary to set aside your preferences when describing a perfume. I never try to dampen either my enthusiasm and adoration, or my frank revulsion or disgust at a particular scent.
I feel that would make the review much less honest.

I will, as best I can, describe the notes as I detect them on my own skin and the following development of the notes as I perceive them.
Even this portion of my review will be filled with adjectives describing how I perceive that accord on my skin, how it develops, and it is impossible to keep out all preferential adjectives because some of them are by default negatively or positively perceived in context. This is as far as I am concerned, a necessary differential that is experienced by all of us since we all have different skin chemistry.

For example:
A thin, scratchy, poorly blended nose-stinging Lavender with harsh edges that clashes with top-thin rose de mai accord.
OR
A rich, freshly sweet and rounded Lavender that melts into the velvety silken Bulgarian Damascena Rose accord.

So I've described two accords in radically different manner as accurately as I possibly can. Obviously I like #2. I would be dishonest if I attempted to conceal my personal preference because there would be no other way I could accurately describe the accords.

What is perceived as "Quality" is something that I think is totally subjective.

What am I actually saying about the perfume if I say, "This is a quality perfume but I cannot stand it." ????

What exactly makes it such that I cannot stand this, "quality perfume"?

If I describe only the accords, sillage, and longevity without any hint of like/dislike, is there a point to it? Would we even need a review section of individual paragraph writing?

I suppose we could train bloodhounds to identify certain molecules (since they can) and bark/howl out a loud WOOF when they recognize XYZ accord like they do when tracking humans, and that would be a totally objective and fair descriptive. But is there a point to that? Who cares ONLY about identified accords?

I feel that you can let yourself completely go and PASSIONATELY describe your like, dislike, love, or hatred of XYZ perfume. THAT is where the human element is described regarding the scent really. THAT is where you can describe how it touches you spiritually (if you wish) and what that means to you.

I am interested in reading everyone's HONEST opinion, whether they agree with me or not regarding a particular scent. I wish everyone would feel free to unleash themselves and their true feelings in depth if they choose to write a review.

Everyone's writing style is different. Everyone's vocation in life is different. We have all come to Parfumo with different backgrounds. Those of us that write reviews do so with desire and relish because we truly want to describe our feelings about the perfumes we have tried. I've noticed there is a style difference here that takes a reader more onto a journey with the reviewer with their experience of the perfume, rather than at F, where the reviewer may simply dissect the designer, use catch phrases or term a perfume "old lady", "very young", etc. Some reviewers have writing experience and bring that to the table. They shouldn't be chastized for their abilities or writing style. Nor should they "dumb down" as another person has said. Their reviews are more on the educational side, which are just as qualitative as those that may accurately describe true feelings and/or emotions associated with particular perfumes. The more people write, the more reviews we have, the better comparisons readers will have to read. I enjoy reading the quality reviews here at Parfumo. I never have to scroll down through meandering copy to find interesting and relevant reviews. I find them all passionate, from the heart, and well-worded.

A new REPORT feature has just been installed.

There was really no need for it, here on the International site, but just in case ...

www.parfumo.de/Benutzer/DonVanVliet/Blog/Eintr ag/KommentarAntworten_knnen_jetzt_gemeldet_wer den

I also find neutrality rather pointless in fragrance reviews. I'm not interested in something dispassionate; all that such a review tells me is that the reviewer wasn't much moved or is such a master or mistress at stifling their own emotions that he or she could double as a machine -- either way, creepy in a bad way, and definitely weird.

And the reporting function? Oh. I think that is a spectacularly bad idea. Usually that is the crack through which censorship spills in and cliques enforce the rule of the mob.

As long as I have been here, there was no need to have a REPORT feature on the International site. The International site is younger and generally very polite.

The German site exists longer and after some recent drama, the REPORT feature has been added, maybe to test it out. Definitely it makes for more work to read the REPORT and act upon it.

It opens the door to quickly REPORT something that may not be so outlandish at all ... just not to the like or taste of the reporting member.

Outlandish for me is - vulgar language, discrimination language, not just simply terms like "cat piss" "old lady smell" etc. etc.

So, let's just see where it goes. It is available. It ought to be used with caution. Otherwise, we have a "revolution" and not a happy playground for passionate perfumistos/perfumistas.

One feature is that the blog article writer or the review writer always had the option to delete replies to his/her prose. That I find a very useful feature, but also to be used with discretion.

When I publish a piece of text, I must expect that not everyone agrees with it. But do I quickly delete negative replies? No. They are in the interest of the whole. To educate each other and learn from each other.

Only mean replies will be deleted, speaking for myself. Once or twice, I had to do it. The comments were spiteful and mean, like "mediocre German language skills" well, that was mean.

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I agree. My reviews contain my personal preferences aplenty. Nothing wrong with that.

I just admire when a person has such an indepth appreciation for the art of perfumery that they can write a very descriptive and complimentary review of a perfume that isn't in their wheelhouse. Nothing wrong with that either.

When I first arrived at Fragrantica I remember reading a beautifully written and fairly comprehensive positive review, and after a few paragraphs, the very last sentence revealed that this perfume was not of a category that the reviewer herself wears. I thought there was something very cool and sophisticated about that. It reminded me of a professional critic's approach and was the mark of a person passionate about perfume.

By the way, over on the much maligned Fragrantica there are tons of outstanding reviews mixed in with the flippant one-liners and sophomoric expressions of disgust. Visually, the format over there seems to detract from the importance of these good reviews, whereas the format on parfumo is much better in that sense, giving each review the look of an online essay. Much more sohpisticated, I think.

But yeah, I appreciate all kinds of review writing styles. Some are ruined by sophomoric exageration and histrionics, but those I just skip over.

I guess it's not that big of a problem on the international site gladly. but on the german site every now and then people are at each other (sometimes for nothing). especially when a review to a beloved fragrance is provocatively negative or even worse just to cause trouble (or evokes to cause trouble). When they try to bash each other they now have the report function. We'll see how much misuse of this button will be done

Indeed.

Maybe this is not the best new feature ever. Everybody can look after his own reviews and the comments and delete a comment in the very rare case when this should be necessary.

No need to encourage squeelers.