Random thoughts on Reviews

Oh no, such a statement would be against the netiquette on Parfumo!

It is okay to use harsh words if a perfume deserves it but please make sure your criticism is aimed at the perfume and not the people who wear it.

Of course, Apicius.
This colorful example is hyperbolized.
As well as I wouldn't use precisely this Jack Nicholson herein
Such language could be used to be funny;
in a serious review, in order to be your criticism scathing - you don't need it.

Ok it's good to clarify, so direct associative NEGATIVE criticisms using humans as parallel would be against Parfumo's netiqutte.

(I do see the parallel reverse used allover quite liberally such as, "A ravishingly beautiful exotic princess luxuriating in a milk-bath scattered with roses would smell like this.")

That is hysterical. Might get a picture back in reverse with a photo of an irate Hannibal Lecter. LMFAO!

To be more precise, I would presumably tolerate a statement saying "this perfume smells like a drug addict on crack" although I would not consider this very witty or interesting. But saying "all who wear this perfume are drug addicts, gangsters, underclass people and so on" should be avoided. This would be aimed at the wearers, and people who like this fragrance might feel personally offended.

If I read such a statement I would at least leave a comment.

Pardon? Translation, please.

LOL Apicius, thanks for the candor. Clarity is appreciated. And it sounds reasonable to me.

I like that actually! Now I have to find a perfume to use it on!

I think the worst references I've seen, although not here, are when a reviewer likens a perfume to an "old lady smell" or "smells like my grandma". Oh how I take offense to that! My Gramma always smelled wonderful. And what exactly is an "old lady smell"? My wish for these reviewers is to have someone donate to them a thesaurus and teach them how to use it. Or install a "Word A Day" program on their computers.
When a reviewer writes a discerning story about a perfume, we appreciate it. When they write a review with negative images about a perfume that someone enjoys, is it wrong? Not at all. What is important is how the visuals are communicated. Are they rude and offensive? If so, that's simply wrong. Are they in all caps? Don't yell at me because you don't like the perfume. There is one time I used an unpleasant association in a review, and it was the truth. I really did get that odor from it. But that wasn't all I wrote. I explained much more. I'm very honest in my writing. It's my background and my degree. Plus, I guess I'm old-fashioned in my personal rules for writing. I take time to write a review, re-read them before I post, and even spell-check. But that's my style. Everyone has their own, but I would think they would want to aspire to learn the basic rudimentary skills of how to critique. The old "who, what, where, when and how" is simple to apply as a basic.

Old ladies smell?

I have discovered a new word in German that could be used instead of old ladies smell: "madamig".

Literally translated, this means "madame-like", in opposite to ladylike. This word comes from the world of fashion but I have heard it being used on perfume as well. If something is "madamig" it is too old-fashioned and out of style to still be called ladylike. It once was intended to be ladylike but now it has no pep or verve.

I.e., I just read the statement (in German): "This fashion fall will be a tightrope walk between ladylike and madamig and so you should be wide awake when you go shopping."

It is not easy to describe the overall character of a perfume, and so I think those descriptions should be accepted.

I also find the term "old lady" to be highly offensive since it is almost always used in a denigratory manner. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that there are far better descriptives that can be used.

Madamig! I never heard this term but I suppose it another descriptive to be employed.

Madamig is actually as scrumptious a word as they get. I can see it being popularized on Parfumo
"Old-lady perfume" on the other hand, in most cases tells much more about the reviewer's intellectual impotency than about the perfume.

I second that!

I'll raise to a three.

I'm new to this site and certainly excited to read the reviews. I wish more listed perfumes had reviews but I suppose that will come with time.

I am a fan of the "negative" review. If something is unpleasant to you- I want to know what, why, and by how much?

I TRUELY believe that we should all wear what WE like, but if I'm being honest I don't want other people to recoil in horror when they smell my perfume. I consider negative reviews to be helpful, like a PSA (public service announcement).

I enjoy a good positive review, but I love the specific negative ones even more. Most people are mature enough to realize being different and liking different scents keeps life interesting. It would be so boring if we all wanted to smell the same.

So thank you all for the reviews, and keep them coming please!

That's true. It's important to give specifics in a negative review just as you give specifics in a positive review.
The negative reviews that use one-liners such as "Haha, no"..."Yuck"..."..."Made me gag"...or the infamous..."Old lady smell" have absolutely no merit in a forum. Those reviews show the mental acuity of the poster, I realize, but use up valuable space.
I also appreciate why a reviewer didn't appreciate a particular fragrance. Specifics are important to me even if they are negative.

I like a good negative review too. In some ways they are more helpful than accolades.
We're lucky it's impossible to thumb a negative review down into nonexistence here on Parfumo, heh

So do I and also find them helpful more often than not. Researcher's attempts to shed some light on consumer psychology apparently made clear that negative reviews are not only seen as more trustworthy but also perceived as being of greater use. However, a fragrance I do not like or find flat out poorly executed relatively seldom inspires me enough to write a review; I wonder why.

My hypothesis is that you have limited time to dwell on these things, and you'd rather dwell on the ones you enjoy.