Weekly Scent Discussion #22: What must you have by Dec 31?

I have decided that this is the year I finally scrimp and save to get a bottle of Vagabond Prince's Enchanted Forest. I have wanted a bottle of this scent since it launched. I have a sample that I dole out on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but after a few Christmases it's almost gone. The $200 price tag has kept me from purchasing it before now, but If it's the only bottle I buy for the next 6mo, it'll be totally worth it.

What must you have to ring in the new year?

Your review makes this sound quite enticing.

But (and not trying to be a party pooper)

it came out in 2012 so for such a high priced item I highly recommend purchasing a new sample first; just in case.

Now that does make me sound like an old sour puss and grumpy face but I got caught with the reformulation of En Avion (I hadn't realised how long I had had the sample and didn't think about reformulation). It smells identical to my nose when fist applied but pulls a very sour Zoflora Carnation disinfectant on my skin after a couple of hours (the decant samples I had never did).

Sigh.

I am on the fence about Rozy Voile.

I love it. It brings back lots of memories for me but I am working my way through a second sample trying to get it to work for me.

So far I think I could pull it off under clothing as the smell coming through my sleeve today is very nice; my skin however smells like I have coated it in Sainsbury's yellow set honey (I did a side by side comparison to make sure).

But, there you are, another perfume I love that I know smells a bit stinky on me.

Hi everybody! The scent I absolutely must have by Dec. 31st *drumroll* is: Diva by Ungaro (vintage)
I smelled it years ago at a friend's house & I fell in love with it. However, I got distracted by life (and many others fragrances of course) and forgot about it for awhile. It's been on my wishlist for at least 5 years and it's time to finally scoop one up-before it's impossible to find.

The only decision to make now is: should I get the edt or edp?

I had my eye on Diva at one time (before I decided I was not going to make any more blind purchases). Also, people said the vintage was so much better and the new a bit of a disaster.

I used to browse Cheapsmells (now allbeauty) quite a bit and picked up some bargains (Parfum Sacre for one when they were selling off the current bun tops).

I had a look and they also do a Limited Edition version of Diva. I wonder if it is the same as the eau de parfum but in a new bottle or if it has any differences.

Hope you find a bottle in good condition.

What??? They increased the price! How rude. If they could make Enchanted Forest for $185 years ago, I am sure they can make it now too.

Edit: I just checked Luckyscent and realized they probably raised the price so all three of their perfumes were the same price. It is still a bad deal for consumers.

That's too funny. Our tastes seem to be fairly similar. I really think you'd love Diva, if you adore rose scents especially. It's really elegant and smooth. I smelled the new one last year and it was watered down and boring, no depth. I wouldn't say it was dreadful, but it's not Diva & it's definitely missing personality w/o the natural oakmoss amongst other things. I've never heard of a limited edition, that's interesting. I will check it out, thanks.

I haven't experienced Parfum Sacre, but I know many consider it a masterpiece. I would love to smell it one day, along with many of the other Carons.

I do look in second hand shops to see if they have had any perfume in so if I come across a bottle of Diva I will pick it up (I just don't know anything about vintage to dip my toes into the bay). Mind you the secondhad shops hardly ever get anything in unless it is in the most monstrous state (the last lot of bottles were so filthy I wouldn't pick them up without plastic gloves - they were completely off of course).

I think you are right about some similarily in taste and wonder what do you think of the new Magie Noir? I think the old is one of my absolute all time top three but I am wary of trying the new in case it disappoints.

Gone a bit off topic but I think with all the testing I have done recently I just haven't come across anything that has come up to scratch. For me to shell out the big money it has to be as good as or better than Aromatics Elixir or Magie Noir not just for the fragrance itself but in performance on my skin.

I agree DorothyGrace, it's got to be phenomenal for me to spend more than $80 on it. The only bottles I own that I paid more than $100 for are my New Haarlem and APOM. I have to save for sometime to afford the high end stuff. Thankfully I have a wonderful friend who buys the scents I could never afford and she lets me take 5ml or 10ml decants from them.

Any luck getting your must haves?

I gave up on trying to afford the Enchanted forest and just ordered another sample. We have to move soon because my landlord is raising the rent $100. We decided to just buy a house instead of paying the outrageous S.FL rent prices. Looking for a house to buy is a new kind of hell I am glad I put off as long as I have.

Back to the topic on hand. It's been a month so I hope you guys are having better luck getting your must haves.

Nice topic.

First up, dear Briarthorn, I am NOT enchanted of "Enchanted Forest" - but, of course, to each her own, and this here is the panel for discussion about what pleases, or not, of all those enticing (via ads) perfume offerings.

I went out of my comfort spending zone and ordered, from France, a sort of old-fashioned perfume -
"Divine" -
of which I had tested a sample a while ago and found it skin warm, subtle and lady-like pleasing. We shall see ...
www.divine.fr/accueil_en.php

There is an article about an interview with the owner on the German side, and I will insert the link, and in a way continue the "word of mouth" spreading of a good product's reputation.

www.parfumo.de/Benutzer/Louce/Blog/Eintrag/aSp reading_the_Word

Thanks for the link. I'll be sure to give it a read.

Do you read German? Otherwise, you may want to run the article through a computer translator, and most of the good vibes will be lost. That's too bad.

But the quality of the perfume remains.

No, I'm the classic American. English Only.

S FL is crazy for real estate, and buying a house is this long, strange journey of adapting your dreams to what is available and how much money you can borrow. Yup, just went through it myself. So it is possible to survive the journey! I live in NW FL and the housing market is better up here, but nothing like say Atlanta.

Anyhow, there are some things I would like to have by Dec 31st, but I have stopped buying stuff for myself in December. This allows the excitement and expectation for me to build until Christmas arrives. So, I hope to finally score some Atao, but we will see!

Something's on its way from my wish list, but I'm not being told what.