...The reason I'm so familiar with the Tommy Bahama bottle design is that last year I took the leap and purchased Very Cool at Marshall's. I bought it on the basis of other reviews that were generally positive and do you know what? While it's not my thing, it's a well crafted fragrance: it holds up well and is really quite pleasant. Now, the thing to keep in mind is that Tommy Bahama's products are aimed at -and this is not a judgement statement or stereotype- a consumer who, in terms of taste and style, tends to be more conventional/conservative than those of us on Parfumo. Hey, I can say all that because, age-wise, I'm right in the sweet spot of Tommy Bahama's core demographic. By the way, if you want to test their fragrances Tommy Bahama stores are very nice about giving out carded, spray vial samples. Been there, done that!

...I started in on dabbing vs. spraying and completely forgot this thread started out about bottles.-Certainly bottle design doesn't determine whether or not I buy a perfume. But I do like that companies still care enough about the aesthetic of their product -whether for artistic or marketing reasons- to think creatively about the packaging. Besides the whole idea of perfume in an ornate vessel is part of the long history of the art, science and alchemy of fragrance. Whether it's a Greek amphora from the 3rd cent BC, an 18th cent. French flacon or Bulgari Black's "hockey puck"; I don't mind a little more art and whimsy in my life.There are limits however and marrying functionality and ergonomics with artful design is another matter. As others have mentioned something as simple as the color of the atomizer hole can make all the difference in the world when it comes to ease of use. Terre d"Hermes has the neat, self contained spin closing cap. But that design also means the atomizer spins so easily that I frequently misfire when applying. The one bottle design that brings company image, functionality and ergonomics together in one package is by Tommy Bahama. Image-wise their bottles are all about pitching their seaside merchandise: The bottle shape is that of a wave or sail and the cap looks like driftwood or a polished beach stone. In terms of ergonomics, that sail shaped (concave/convex) bottle fits perfectly in the hand and directs the spray perfectly every time. Too bad I don't actually wear Tommy Bahama!

...Olga1780:Silverfire, I hate dabbing myself.....for some reason it doesn't smell the same as spraying, and doesn't give you the right idea about sillage and longevity. That's why I don't trust my judgement when testing from a dab sample, or a mini, or a splash bottle. I always transfer the splash bottle contents in 10 ml spray vials for use. That's the only reason I do any decanting.I'm with Olga and Silverfire on this one. I feel as though I get a much better result from spraying than splashing or dabbing. The only time I decant is if I receive a sample in a plain vial. It goes right into an atomizer. I simply can't get an overall sense of a fragrance unless I spray. Oh no, we've finally found the great divide on Parfumo: Sprayers and dabbers! :wink:

...It's been a while since we received our sample box from Ineke so I hope they have the same program in place: beautiful presentation box with 7-8 samples plus the cost of the samples was (is it still?) deducted from your first order. At Apicius' suggestion I've placed a sample order with Divine and I'm awaiting its arrival. If I didn't have to pay the shipping from France it would have been a steal: about $15 US for 12 samples. Shipping/VAT doubles that price but even then, compared to what I'd pay a gray market decanter, I'm still coming out ahead money-wise. Not to mention that I'm directly supporting the artist and company.

...This topic is yet another example of the wonderful people that inhabit Parfumo! Even when the scent stories recount how others -friends, family, colleagues- have reacted in less than polite ways to our fragrance, all the anecdotes end with our fellow Parfumo-ists (Parfumicans?) showing grace, humor and civility. Bravi tutti! It's nice to hear about people being sensitive and considerate.While it's always nice to get the occasional compliment out of the blue, I wear scent primarily for the enjoyment of myself and my wife. As long as a fragrance pleases us, I'm happy. My son, on the other hand, tends to be my biggest vocal detractor. He'll let me know If he doesn't like something I'm wearing. However, he's also the source of my favorite compliments: like finding my designer label fragrances in his bathroom or smelling a familiar scent as he's rushing out the door for an evening out with friends. Those are, by far, my favorite compliments.

...Apicius:My "Frankenstein's Raspberry" refers to "Guerrilla 2" which is not a new release but an interesting perfume.The two most remarkable new releases I discovered during the last 6 months to me were Divine's "L'homme Infini" and Acqua di Stresa's "Calycanthus Brumae".For this, you don't have to buy the expensive oils... Ajmal has a 30 ml spray perfume for a moderate price: "Dahn Oudh Al Shams", and the even more intense "Dahn Oudh Al Shams Special Edition". But beware... Natural oud can have a kind of mustiness and animalic touch that could remind you of something special. In German, we use the euphemism "gesunde Landluft" for it, which means "healthy country air". Don't be afraid of the farmer's stables!DrseidThe only Q4 2012 release that wowed me was Tzora by Anat Fritz. In addition to Q4, I believe LiquidNight by A Lab On Fire was released in September and I love that one. Apicius, I read your Divine review earlier and already had that one on my list. But Aqua di Stresa? I'd never heard of the house. There's that European perspective I was counting on from you! In addition to Calycanthus Bruma I hope I can find samples of their namesake fragrance (Aqua di Stresa) and Fresh Touch. Both look interesting. Although the name, "Fresh Touch" sounds so commercially generic to my jaded American ear. Hopefully, it's just one of those quirks of language that doesn't translate poetically or its generic connotation simply wasn't a consideration in American-English.As for the oud suggestions, I'm in the process of writing a postive review of Cuir de Russie so the prospect of eine kleine gesunde Landluft musik is not necessarily a bad thing.Drseid, I, too, am a huge fan of Terre d'Hermes so Tzora will have to be sampled. As much as I enjoy Terre d'Hermes maybe it's time to move on. Also, for the all the fragrances I've sampled, I've only tried one offering by A Lab on Fire. Time to rectify that by trying LiquidNight.Cryptic, the Arquiste line sounds interesting. In addition to your suggestion, AromiErotici wrote a review of Fleurs de Louis which was also released in 2012.

...Greysolon:There have been so many new releases that I have lost all track of them! In fact, I am spending this year reviewing everything already in my house--bottle, decant, and sample--and hoping that by 2014 the niche house bubble will have burst! :lol:I started combing through the past 4 months of Parfumo reviews and it didn't take long to get completely boggled. Strange thing, nearly all the reviews were signed, "Sherapop". Ho hum, there's a surprise. :wink: Seriously, how do you keep track of it all? Actually, you posted a review of an older fragrance I intend to try: Molinard Homme II. Sounds interesting and, more importantly, cheap (i.e. I won't have to hide it from my wife).But sticking to the subject of new products, Apicius had several interesting reviews of fragrances that I assume are new and I intend to follow up on. He always seems to find fragrances I don't hear about stateside and his narrative perspective always makes for interesting finds. How about new trends? I seem to recall two reviews mentioning... RASPBERRY?! One of Apicius' reviews was entitled "Frankenstein's Raspberry"! Oh please, no... And what about passing trends? Are we still in the age of oud and iso e? Sherapop, one of your reviews said "oud-less... And beautiful!"I'll gladly accept any suggestions...

...Because of my hectic work schedule this past fall -from September through the New Year- I completely missed out on all the fragrance releases during that time, especially the holidays. Anything earth-shatteringly incredible I should be testing?

...Sensual: ...both "Habanita" and "Chanel no.19" suit really well to Film Noir and also especially to "Stalker" by Tarkowsky - being a big fan of spaghetti westerns as well, I should really once try "Ambre Sultan" in that case according to Dlane1953 - I bet I´ve seen The Good, The Bad and The Ugly 20 times by now already ! :lol:Until you mentioned film noir, I forgot all about one of my all time favorites, Double Indemnity and it's direct (yet unnamed) perfume connection. With all the smoking that goes on in film noir I always imagine Barbara Stanwyck wearing Robert Piguet Bandit or Fracas or Chanel Cuir de Russie. I love this bit of dialogue:Walter Neff: You'll be here too? Phyllis: I guess so, I usually am. Walter Neff: Same chair, same perfume, same anklet? Phyllis: I wonder if I know what you mean. Walter Neff: I wonder if you wonder. Oh yeah...As for spaghetti westerns, ditto everything you said except for me they apply to High Plains Drifter.FloraMilena, you're absolutely right, a movie set ancient Egypt requires something with an ancient sounding aromatic heritage like La Myhrre. So fitting.

...First off, Happy New Year and welcome to all those new to Parfumo for whatever the reason, be it defection or if you simply had the good fortune to stumble into our midst. Welcome! I personally defected to Parfumo from BN because I found it (BN) too impersonal, rowdy and troll-ridden. With that in mind, I'll tell you a little anecdote about the wonderful people who frequent Parfumo: Commitments related to work forced me to take a hiatus from the site for a couple of months. After being MIA for a while, friends -who I only know from my association with Parfumo- began enquiring as to my whereabouts and if I was OK. It's those personal associations, as well as the quality of discourse, that makes Parfumo one of my "happy places". I will also tell you, without a hint of exaggeration, that of any social network or forum I've been involved with, this is the friendliest, most civil and best maintained. I'm so thankful for the excellent work of the fine administrators of Parfumo.

...Forgot to mention, the one Lutens that seems universally loved that "turns on my skin" is Daim Blond. For the first half hour, it's intoxicating. Then, slowly but surely, a smell that can only be described as an old, stale perfume odor begins to...damn, I'm already reverting to old habits... Daim Blond turns on my skin. :wink:

...Coutureguru: I would dearly love to be able to wear Lutens and I have tried a significant number of them. For some reason they just turn on my skin ... every last one of them I have tried ends up smelling like I've not showered in months!!! :(. First, full disclosure: Serge Lutens is the one house -using terms found throughout this thread- of "eccentric", "chaotic" fragrances I can actually wear. I just have to find the right time to wear them, as I'll eventually explain.But I do appreciate and fully understand your phrase, "turn on my skin." As odd as this sounds, I'm happy someone has finally described this phenomenon so succinctly! Here's the typical scenario: I read about a fragrance that seems to possess every quality suited to my personal tastes and character. I shell out my shekels for a decant and anxiously await it's arrival because I just know this is going to be THE ONE. Further full disclosure (can there be such a thing?) I'm a hopeless optimist.The magic elixir finally arrives, I spritz it on and the worst possible thing happens. No, not that it smells terrible immediately. As a matter of fact, for an hour, maybe even two it smells wonderful, just as I hoped it would. But then slowly it begins to happen: the potion of my dreams "turns on my skin". As much as God Luca Turin decrees from his exalted throne that body chemistry has nothing to do with how a fragrance smells, it damn well does! There is something in the formula that turns to skank and now I smell as though I doused myself in the stuff a week ago and haven't bathed since. I feel your pain, brother, I feel your pain. From now on if I write a review that involves having to describe this unfortunate occurrence, I'm not going to get out my thesaurus looking for just the right adjective to uselessly detail the stink. I'm just going to say "it turned on my skin".Now, back to my original point of finding the right time to wear a Lutens. Something I've discovered about two of my favorite fragrances, Fille en aiguilles and Chene, is that they're very environmental. That is to say, the day has to smell like the fragrance in order for me to wear it. For instance, the city where I live is full of oak trees and on damp, rainy, fall and winter days the air is perfumed with the woody, sweet tobacco scent of oak leaves mouldering on the ground. That's when I wear Chene. If I wear it on any other day, then I feel like I smell conspicuously "eccentric" and "chaotic".

...Since I spend my professional life in formal wear my pick for a "classy" scent is Creed Baie de Genievre. There is someting about it that is just so timelessly formal and Edwardian. Very Downton Abbey.

...This is a link to an article with information about a company that makes scratch and sniff paper. You can send them images to be printed in which case multiple scents can be infused to different areas of the image. They also make pre-scentedscratch and sniff paper for your home printer. The article also has ideas for DIY infused papers.http://content.photojojo.com/diy/how-to-add-smell-to-photos/?utm_source=Photojojo+Newsletter&utm_campaign=25d55f2ae6-Add_Smell_to_Photos6_28_2012&utm_medium=email

...DL and Coutureguru, great ideas. DL, I wish we knew what some of the really old French and English fragrances smelled like, the sort of things advertised by beautifully lithographed posters and boxes.Coutureguru, Halle Berry in anything... frragrance-wise, I mean! But that era gave us such great personalities and fragrances.

...Father's Day surprise: a bottle of Sycomore! So no surprise, I'm wearing Sycomore.

...This is a link to a review of a new anthology of poetry, Penning Perfumes: when scent and poetry mix. "The book brought poets and perfumers together to inspire each other's work. Poets wrote in response to mystery fragrances (with their composition revealed on the night), while perfumers created new scents based on poems written for the purpose." The launch of the book was held at Scratch + Sniff, an established monthly event which bills itself as "an intoxicating blend of literary soirée meets perfume sampling meets social club". http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2012/jun/14/penning-perfumes-scent-poetry?CMP=twt_gu

...Mr. Darcy came to mind immediately: Creed - Baie de Genievre. It's one of my favorite fragrances but it's conservative and formal.

...Vitriol is perfect, this guy was evil personified. /quote]Although maybe Vitriol d'Œillet still works... I once worked with a conductor who insisted we play with a character of "quiet malevolence."

...Sorry DL, I did my OCD thing and changed my last entry as you gave your response. I've really got to learn to just put things out there and let it go... Geez! :roll: