Less likely to buy discontinued fragrances?

As I peruse the database, here, I find new and interesting fragrances that I'd love trying. Sadly, some of these fragrances that sound so appealing are no longer in production, and it makes me far less inclined to try them. I don't want to find myself loving something that isn't readily available.

IE: I saw a scent from Gainsboro, last night, and I went out to research it as it had 3 100% ratings and some notes I thought sounded appealing. Gainsboro Excpetion is out of production and I feel like it's better to not smell it, at all, then to smell it and not be able to get it later on. I do realize some out of production scents are relatively still easy to find but a lot of them aren't.

Do out of production fragrances dissuade you from testing?

Of course not! If I can get hold of some samples I gladly test them. Like all other fragrances there are some that seen to be well worth knowing, and others that are not.

There are dicontinued perfumes that are a big loss, wheras some others aren't.

Barolo, lots of discontinued fragrances can be found at discount emporia, often at reasonable if not low prices. Others are sold at astronomical prices by e-bay hawks. But the important point is: many are still available...

Hey Sherapop...would love the link to the site you typed about. My googling came up empty.

As I said, above, I know lots of discontinued fragrances are still easy to find, but some aren't, and I wondered if that dissuaded some from buying them in the first place.

I certainly don't want to get my hands on something I think is the greatest thing I ever smelled and then find I can't get my hands on it, again.

Barolo, the specific fragrance you're looking for I have never even heard of, much less seen, at any discounters, but maybe it is available somewhere... Sorry your googling did not turn anything up.

I'll give you one happy example. I just saw that Kenzo Jungle L'Eléphant can be purchased for $70 from parfum1.com. (They have a 15% off promo, so it's really only about $60.) They also recently offered a bunch of discontinued perfumes from La Perla, including Eclix, which I purchased and like.

So to get back to your question: my answer is: no. But I do not use decanters, so basically I either try discontinued perfumes from my pals, or else I buy scent unsniffed, based on my belief about the house's other offerings...

I also agree with the view expressed by Apicius: that it's always good to have tried something even if you may never have a bottle for yourself. That happens a lot by accident, too, whenever I buy a bottle based on a sample of a perfume which was reformulated between the time I tested it and the time the newer bottle was produced. That's always very disappointing--or nearly always--so I am becoming more vigilant about reformulations

I tend to agree with Barolo on this one. If I don't think something is available somewhere (eBay, discounters), then I usually avoid it for fear of having my heart broken. (Yes, I know. I'm such a delicate flower! )

I also am likely not to try a scent that goes for $200 and up per bottle. At that price, I am unlikely to find even a decant I can afford, and there are relatively few parfumistas/os who might be willing to trade me one.

Even if I had more money, there's something about $200/bottle that seems like the very far end of my extravagance.

I'm always a bit sad when seeing someone desperately trying to find a fragrance they had thirty years or so ago.

Don't get me wrong, I get the nostalgia factor and what have you, but it always brings to mind the image of a junky dreaming of reliving their first fix ... move on I say, there's plenty of other goodies out there, and if one day you happen to stumble upon the "long lost fantasy scent", don't come complaining that it's changed because chances are, it has (or your taste has).

Saying this, I would never turn down the opportunity to either test or acquire a bottle of a rare perfume.
Either way, and for however long the pleasure it offers me is, it's always better than none.


My dear Barolo, "emporia" is simply the plural of the word "emporium". This is not an online retailer per se but an all encompassing term describing the discounters, hence the reason why Google came back empty handed.
What is it you said to me about "sharpest knife"?

Thank you, Dolby... Yes, indeed, Thank you.

No knife, here... but...you know I just wanna spoon.

I do appreciate you clearing that up for me. I can stop entering it into every search engine I can think of.

BTW: Nice to see you honoring the rules around here. Breakin' them from the get go...importing a fragrantica smiley into the parfumo chat board. Soon, you will be in timeout.

Erm ... and what bit about "using emoticons sparingly so as not to annoy others do you not understand" :

You're always annoyed so I figured smileys would have no further impact upon your current level of annoyance. I was tempted to put a smiley back there, but I'll be a good boy.

I say leave the vintage fragrances and smileys alone.

It's so nice to see a bit of feisty sparring around these parts. You two are old friends, I gather, Barolo and Dolby?

I'd say she's more like an ex-wife after a very contentious divorce. No smiley.

Yeah, Dolby is someone I consider a friend from fragrantica.

I'm sorry you might be stuck with her. Although, the divorce was messy, I was able to get out...you all won't be so lucky. No smiley and I'm not even tempted this time.

+1, no smiley

+1
wait--that's a contradiction! (p & ~p)!!!!!!

Hey Apicius...it's becoming quite evident that we need a "no smiley" smiley. No smiley.

Actually, we ask the Parfumo users to use the Parfumo smileys sparingly, and no smileys and emoticons from other sites. As I see, you are currently testing in this thread if the smiley function is working correctly and has no bugs. Thanks for your technical support!

I can affirm that the smileys are in tip-top shape!

~(~ ())

I will try anything I can get my hands on.
I just google my brains out.
Bottles (or decants) are out there: all you need is patience and a good insight in how to trick Google in to showing you things

And yes: very expensive bottles I try, but I stopped wanting them.
It is just not worth it on so many levels.

off topic: Dolby; I am so happy you are here!

Oh, yes, it's really sad to fall in love with a perfume that isn't being produced anymore... I've had the opportunity to test some discontinued fragrances and I'm now so in love with "Jour de Fête" but it's very hard to find it at a decent price anymore, or at all for that matter.

I'm thinking about purchasing a bigger decant from The Perfumed Court... they still have perfumes that are discontinued.

I used to have that attitude, and for many years I followed a similar rule.

Only recently I've begun to broaden my horizons and seek out long lost treasures. Discontinued Rochas fragrances are my current obsession. There are many quality scents that are no longer in production, that I would give my eye-tooth to own or see on the shelves once again.

I have had a little bit of luck finding vintage and rare fragrances. I seek them out mostly because of the way people long for them years after they have been off the market. I hope to find something worthwhile next week when I go antiquing.

I suppose it depends on the fragrance. I tend to not search for vintages as I am not interested in them generally. I used to chase Miss Dior Cherie bottles from 2005, but there is a sea of fakes on eBay plus bottles than have turned bad. It seems a lot (not all; and mind you I like cheapies, fruity florals, and gourmands) of perfumes made post 2000 tend to not last long in the bottles, even if in sealed packages away from light and heat. Sometimes I am lucky and find a rare gem to me that ends up still being good, but I don't actively seek out discontinued fragrances anymore.