...As they don't ship here, I bought some and mailed it to a friend with their agreement that they would forward it to me. That was five months ago, still waiting for them to post it, grr! As soon as it arrives I'll happily review how useful it is.

...Thank you Eurochick. I'll definitely be seeking out more Serge Lutens while I'm there, it's very hard to locate here and when I tried to get their Little Black Book sent out they told me they no longer deliver it to Australia. :( So they are high on my sniff hitlist!

...Welcome Darkmatter. :) While I don't think any community full of people passionate about a topic is immune to drama, Parfumo is certainly the most friendly and respectful of the perfume forums I have frequented.

...A cute update: The other day I finally managed to visit Klein's in Melbourne. It was heavenly. The shop assistants were both knowledgeable and generous, spraying samples of what I asked for and also what they thought I'd enjoy. I was able to knock out some perfumes I was curious about ("Timbuktu" was a bit too fresh for me to wear often) and decide that others were 100% for my buy list (Tokyo Milk's "Bulletproof" will be mine ASAP!) Anyway, my SO knew how long I was likely to spend indulging my nose so at first he went to browse other stores on the street. He eventually came back and watched, much amused. I don't get out much and it has been a stressful day of getting things done in the CBD so not only was I in my element, my happiness was infectious. "Like a kid in a proverbial store." Just as we were about to leave (read: I had to drag myself away) I said, "Hey, let me find a perfume for you to try!" At first I looked seriously, thinking, hmm, what will he really enjoy? There were so many brands to choose from. But then I spied the Demeter range! Haha! I have tried to explain Demeter's shtick to him before but I don't think he quite believed how close to the mark their scents can get, so when I prayed some "Pizza" on his wrist, he went from dubious to amazed to bewildered. We laughingly agreed that while it was a perfect impression of margherita pizza (slightly burnt cheese, doughy crust and italian herbs) he didn't particularly want to smell like a pizza!

...DarkMatter:I'm so jealous! I want to visit Harajuku so badly! Le sigh...*green with envy*. :lol:This is my first real flight/holiday, so I'm nervous and excited about it! :shock: My partner snapped up these tickets, two-way tickets for about $500 per person, a cheap deal in the off-season. But keep in mind that price is Melbourne to Japan, a relatively short distance.

...Indeed it is Whisper of Musk, and you'll notice the release of that fragrance also matches the song's year. (The time/year hint was supposed to rule out the other results of a search using the word whisper.)

...Oh, that's quite clever Triffid, but not the perfume I had in mind. In hindsight I should have possibly chosen that fragrance instead, but I didn't know GM's first name was Georgios! But you are on the right track with 1984.

...Don't worry Triffid, more than only perfume on the cards. 8) Most of all I am looking forward to visiting some Shinto shrines. But there will also be kit-kats of EVERY flavour raining down from the sky, and I love nigiri-zushi so I will basically be eating sushi ALL WEEK. My trip isn't until May but I've had an unbelievably stressful last couple of weeks (applying for a passport with estranged parents... GG. I've lived in Aus my whole life but I have to fill out a 119 for immigration, and due to lack of parental documents I had to go the long way around... let's just say OMG BUREAUCRAP!) so I'm trying to stack up all the things I'm looking forward to, to keep the goal in sight.

...Can someone in the know please recommend stores to visit?I'm primarily interested in niche brands, fragrances I won't be able to sample elsewhere. I'll be in Tokyo.I did find a wonderful brand list here: http://your-perfume-guide.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/tokyo-japan.htmlBut I would love some personal opinions or lesser-known brands.

...A little bit of fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaoLU6zKawsYou may think me careless, but a glance back in time will reveal only one answer matches both song and perfume.

...You mean his alias, 007? So she's M7. Hah. "M7". Yeah, when you said names I was envisioning words, not numbers. That's cute though. :)

...Okay. You probably should have let us know these were fictitious characters.James Bond, who was in the books a Commander, has no middle name. Either way that makes his boss M, there's no other female "boss" I can think of him ever having besides the Queen, but he has served the Queen for more than 6 years. However in the books, M is actually male, so I'm assuming this is all about the films. In the films they hint that M's name is Olivia Mansfield, but nothing in the database matches any iteration, nor Olivia Bond, and searching just for M Bond brings up endless Bond No.9 perfumes, none of which fit. In the books, the male M's name is Miles, and that doesn't work either.And unfortunately searching for plain 007 brings up a tonne of perfume release years.

...My first thought was Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, which would make the most likely boss/wife Queen Anne. But I can't find anything that particularly matches that. I think a part of the clue here is that she has to toss both his first and middle names... many of the most lauded British commanders didn't have middle names. Narrows it down a bit, or perhaps moves the time bracker forward to when middle names were more common?Would love to look further, but I'm already procrastinating regarding an appointment!

...Hmmm, how many perfumes for this clue? I was considering "Le Mans", since it's both a car race and for 'for chaps', also because fish is often garnished with lemons... phonetically similar to le mans. But it's not really a gourmand, unless you consider citruses gourmand? The part about flankers coming in colours doesn't fit either. But it was a fun guess!

...Greysolon:I read the sentence, "I made the mistake of putting mine in my gym bag...", and thought the story was headed for a different, more fragrant ending. :o My wife loves the old fashioned bulb atomizers. Of course, they were, at one time, a necessity for spraying but now it's more about nostalgia for the glamour and elegance of the past. I just like that companies take the time to think about the tactile and visual aesthetics of their products. However, if it's poorly designed then what's the point, right?I wouldn't mind if that were the case, Crave is one of a few perfumes I almost never OD from. It's a great perfume for summer, totally underrated IMHO! As for bulb atomisers, I think they look great on the right bottle, but I have heard they introduce much more air into the perfume and speed up the decay of a fragrance. So I avoid them.Beckham's "Instinct" has one of those magnetic caps you mention. It's quite satisfying. If I were to design a bottle I would likely go with the wonderful metallic glass of the Kenzo "Power" bottle with a magnetic cap. Have any of you handled a "Power" bottle? It's opaque, which is always a hassle, but the bottle is always cool and shiny silver but with the touch and sound of glass. Classy!Edit: Hmm, it's showing the wrong bottle. Does anyone know how to specify the right perfume when there are multiple name matches?

...For "Crave" by CK you have to squeeze a rubbery indent on the plastic jacket/container, which puts pressure on a plastic strip which then presses down on the nozzle. It's cute the first few times you use it, but the novelty wears off pretty fast. I made the mistake of putting mine in my gym bag... the mechanism disconnected inside the plastic container and I had to prise the whole thing open and use it as a splash from then on.

...A few years ago at Supernova (a geeky/comic convention here in Melbourne) I was waiting for a friend to come out of an auditorium at the end of a talk that John Rhys-Davies was doing. Most people waiting were back behind a barrier but the security guard knew me and we were chatting just outside the door. All of a sudden the doors open and I prepare to be trampled by a deluge of fans exiting, but instead it's John Rhys-Davies being ushered out by his assistant/handler/something. He was remarkably chipper, gave me a hug and a big smile totally out of the blue.I missed out on meeting Jack White of the White Stripes by bare minutes. He visited Gallin's Guitars while my bf at the time was working there, all dressed up in a swank black suit and top hat.

...Have you discovered a note others love that you just don't like or "get", even in the most lauded fragrance?What is a smell others can't stand, that you love?

...Triffid:And he does get nervous about the expanding army of perfume boxes that seem to be colonising every barren nook in the bedroom.:lol:Between my postage boxes from ordering samples and full bottles online and my SO's boardgame obsession/addiction and the packages they come in, I doubt I'll ever be short of cardboard storage again! We really must to invest in some renter's insurance, the mental image of my perfumes and his huge stacks of games fuelling each other in a great ball of flame is nightmare material.

...My partner supports my perfume interest. He never used perfume previously, only deodorant spray. However he has slowly picked up some appreciation by osmosis. I joked on here a while ago that, if I held my wrist to him and asked him what he smelled, it was always 'flowers'. The fragrance might be gourmand, spicy, or aquatic, but always he would say 'flowers'! But now he has a little more understanding of notes, maybe three or four additional descriptives! :lol: In truth he is probably the reason I feel I can actually buy perfumes without too much guilt... he encourages my interest because he sees that it makes me happy, so if he walks in on me umming and aaaahing over an eBay listing, he is usually the one to say, within reason, "treat yourself"! He is also a good sport when it comes to me randomly sampling perfumes on him. My other housemates and guests are also quite used to it by now. :wink: