Guilty pleasures

Alright, so you’re into this hobby for quite some time now. And yeah of course your taste has evolved. Your nose wants nothing but niche right?

But even if you have dinner in a fancy restaurant everyday, don’t you just crave that greasy hamburger from the big yellow M every now and then?

My guilty pleasure is Sauvage Eau de Toilette . I know, you smell it on every corner of the street, but there’s a fresh bitterness to it I just can’t fail to hate. So there, that’s out of the way, I love that stuff.

So tell me if you dare, what’s your guilty pleasure?

Yeah, the niche fumes are cool but I like the designer stuff too. No snobbery with me. This evening, I'm wearing Explorer and I love it.

I adore Poison and I will never feel guilty about it 😀

I also love cheap stuff from Teufelsküche, unbeatable bangers, although people keep clutching their pearls at the names of the scents. I own a bottle of Porno Pussy and I think it's a great synthetic campy plum, which costs only 30 Euro. No shame, no guilt. These scents are just as awesome as the fancy-pants indie artisanal fragrances that I own.

As for the so-called "niche" (Nishane, Amouage, and Co.), I personally think they're overrated. I haven't found a single one I actually loved. (Not yet but I feel like giving up at this point, especially considering their prices). There are designer and cheapies out there that smell more "niche".

Well, to be honest..the hobby itself has become sort of a 'guilty pleasure'. I've spend way too much on it since I'm reading reviews, scroll the Internet, visit perfume shops etc. And there's so little I actually really love. I LOVE my signature scent and I would be just happy with it if I wouldn't bother about the 'the chance of missing out'. (like a scent that smells the same but with better sillage). 

By the way: I really don't care for niche after having smelled a few and don't care- or feel guilty about the fact that my most beloved perfume isn't niche

Although I prefer niche perfumes, I have never stopped wearing designer fragrances.

I recently wore Bleu de Chanel Eau de Parfum and enjoyed it.

admittedly i love the smell of Eros Eau de Parfum, but i'm too deep into indie perfumes. i won't buy Eros, but i'll think about it... constantly. it smells wonderful, but im afraid that if i wore it, i'd smell like my friend's 13 year old brother (it doesn't help that i look like a teenage boy too).

The whole hobby is a guilty pleasure. 

true. i paid hundreds of dollars to smell like gasoline and lemons. i make 19 bucks an hour. this is my dumbest hobby.

Very true.

My guilty pleasures are Noor and Choco Musk Concentrated Perfume . I wanted to like Bianco Latte, but it was just too intense and too rubbery. Noor is a tamer version with less longevity and I can still get a silly caramel vanilla fix. I decanted it into a roller bottle because big sprays of gourmands are not my thing.

Choco Musk was a cheap thrill. I wanted to see if it would be any good. It wasn't a total blind buy, I had tried it in a Wanderbrief from Parfumo. It's totally not bad! It needs to sit for some time before it smells more chocolatey and less syntheic. I use it as a bed time fragrance in the winter.

I have been to this hobby for 25+ years now and I have to say that in a blind test my nose probably couldn't tell the difference between the fragrances of different price points. There are niche smelling mainstream frags and cheapies and then there are niches that smell like mainstream or cheapies and everything in between. So I just couldn't care less if the fragrance is cheap or expensive, or if it's something super unique or something super popular. I just wear what I enjoy, it's that simple. So I guess just the whole hobby is a guilty pleasure for me just like @Ringtale and others said above ☺️

The sweet ones that the younger guys like provided they don't have the amberwoody brain dagger. In particular, I quite often wear JPG Le Male Elixir as a bedtime sort of thing. Can't wear Mitsouko every time I guess. 

Some of the real expensive stuff I feel a little bit guilty about sometimes but I've got to spray it or I'm an idiot for wasting the money. 

I've struggled through so much unwarranted guilt and hardship, that I have consciously chosen not to allow it to creep into this one corner of my life where I feel simple happiness and freedom. 

When I feel any degree of guilt, it's been over purchases where I should've refrained due to more pressing and important matters in life requiring funds, or when considering extended family that could've used the money. 

As for feeling tacky or unrefined, I might begin to GAF, but then make myself snap out of it. Fragrance should be fun, and anyone else's standards need not apply to how I feel about what I wear.

(This comment probably should've been on the "Hot Takes" thread 🙃...)

Haha I totally get what you mean
Even after trying niche stuff, sometimes you just want something simple but satisfying. For me, one guilty pleasure has to be Club de Nuit Intense Man Limited Edition yeah it’s popular, but that smoky citrus hit just works every time.

And honestly, a clean Musk Therapy Extrait de Parfum scent is another one for me. Nothing too complex, just that soft, fresh, skin-like vibe that’s super comforting.

Couldn't agree more 👍 Enjoying fragrances is very personal and a part of your self care and so good for mental health too so no one should be feeling guilty about adding some happiness and joy to their lives in this current dystopian world. 🙏

My guilty pleasure is Hugo, my first perfume ever 😉

Honestly, even after trying more niche stuff, I still enjoy some “loud” designer-style fragrances from time to time. My guilty pleasures are Pasha de Cartier Parfum and Club de Nuit Intense Man Limited Edition. Pasha has that classic masculine barbershop vibe that feels super comforting and classy, while CDNIM LE just hits differently with that smoky citrus opening and strong compliment factor. Sometimes you don’t want something artistic or challenging, you just want something that smells really good and makes you feel confident.

For me it's defiinitely Angel Nova Eau de Parfum . Heck it't nothing like the OG Angel (except for the projection and lasting power). Yes it's just a syrupy sweet fruity woody scent, yet I still bought it back two years after I sold it lol. I was even looking for the first batch specifically since I heard it's been repackaged and possibly reformulated.

I guess for me, guilty pleasures are more perfumes that I know are maybe repetitive or repulsive to others but I still enjoy wearing. I still love my designers, and if anything, I feel less guilty wearing them since they’re more mass appealing? I think I’m just too much of a people pleaser is what I’m saying

Santal Supreme Eau de Parfum smells similarly to Santal 33 Eau de Parfum, so anytime I wear it I feel like an imposter (everyone wears Santal 33 where I live which doesn’t help)

Scoville every time (twice) I wear this into the office people around me start sneezing like crazy it’s really obnoxious but I enjoy the smell a lot, just maybe not confined spaces anymore…

Molecule 04 another polarizing one, even my nose can pick up that it has almost sweaty skin quality to it, which I like but know can be really off putting for some

My ultimate guilty pleasure is smelling like a lit cigarette. I don’t smoke, so it’s fun for me to cosplay as this tough, glamorous girl that doesn’t care. If I had “fuck you” money, then maybe I would consider buying Nightclubbing. But I can’t justify dropping $400 on a perfume that will only give me maybe 30 seconds tops of cigarette followed by an eternity of vanilla.

My “basic” guilty pleasure perfumes are Light Blue Eau de Toilette and Tobacco Vanille Eau de Parfum. I suppose Philosykos Eau de Parfum is also technically basic, but you can take that one out of my cold, dead hands.

@Ringtale is right though. This whole hobby is a guilty pleasure!

I didn't check back on this until just now - but a very late "thank you" for your kind response ❤️

I mainly dislike youth/party fragances and sweet bombs but somehow I do like Le Beau Paradise Garden quite a lot

@Shadows444 aaaawww thanks for your beautiful words my friend! 🥰🙏

@Paredes183 Yes!! Le Beau Paradise Garden is absolutely gorgeous, one of my favourites of all time. Actually my husband just wore it last night and it was soooo good, especially during this hot summer weather! 💚

Not really.