...I don't know that there's anything worth writing about here in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, US. We have the standard department stores that are in many other US cities. :roll:But I love what the rest of you are writing & hope I get a chance to use your good information some time! Thank you for writing it!!!

...Here's an interesting article at the Huffington Post. Did you know how many people are born with no sense of smell?

...Hey, Lola: I think Apicius has a good point here. And I know that so many people go through phases where they even lose interest in perfume. (I've been through a couple of phases like that for a week or two, but some people lose interest for months.)I bet something good will come along & you will find yourself wanting to say something about it! :D

...Hey, triplex: We're having freaky warm weather here, so my lychees have moved to the top of my list. Sweet, pretty, simple but not cloying. Have you tried Demeter Lychee or TokyoMilk Kabuki? If you'd like to, let me know.

...Hi folks:Sometimes I run into a wonderful article about perfume and am looking for a way to bookmark it. So thought I'd start a list here. It'd be great if others would add to it!Victoria of Bois de Jasmin writes some really good articles about understanding the chemistry of perfume (I think she's a chemist). Like this, for instance:Her site is well worth visiting. I think most parfumistas/os would be interested in the links to her most-read articles on her home page.

...Oooh, Lola. That sounds dirrrrrty!Have you ever tried the old Idole by Lubin? Very boozy & saffrony - might be your thing. (I don't have any to send, alas.)

...Sounds like a great excuse for a trip to Paris, Apicius! I learn so much from you. :D

...Thanks, Apicius. I always love to hear more about the plants and animals of different countries. I wondered about woodruff!Do German women still like to commemorate spring by wearing lily of the valley fragrances, or is that an older thing? My mom, a German immigrant, liked to have a splash of Coty Muguet des Bois in the spring. (But if she were alive, she would be in her mid-80s.)We're having an odd week of summery weather here - significantly above normal temps (the daily high right now should be maybe 8 degrees C, and instead, today, it's about 25!) I haven't done my clothing & perfume wardrobe changeover yet, but I keep my Clarins Eau Dynamisante out all year & have been wearing it more lately. My lychee scents (Demeter Lychee and TokyoMilk Kabuki) are also calling out to be worn... :)

...Oh, my! New Jersey does NOT sound like something I want to try.I hated the popcorn + sweet notes in Miss Dior Cherie. There's a store called Candyland near me that makes huge vats of caramel popcorn all day. They fan the scent out into the street, where people passing by suddenly find themselves with a desperate need for sweets! It's good marketing, but I like to be able to walk away from that scent after a while, not live with it for a few hours! :shock: When you read the ads for perfume, though, you see that it is really hard to come up with new ideas. I mean, how many perfumes are supposed to evoke Paris, London, Berlin, New York, Tokyo, Rio, Provence, Bali? Too many!I appreciate it when a perfumer at least picks a new place for dedicating his perfume - like New Jersey, or Madagascar...

...I like it, Franfan! Have you smelled any of the Gendarme "7 Sinful Scents" series? I tried a few & thought they were pretty bad.I guess it would be avaricious for me to say that I really want the Avarice one you listed - it sounds especially delicious. As for gluttony, Aquolina Pink Sugar and Blue Sugar both make me feel like I ate too much candy and went on a rollercoaster... (Hmmm, where's the emoticon for "vomiting?")

...Thanks for the background, Apicius. I don't think it's that "rose" is the same in both languages. Several that are the same in both languages are on the list (patchouli, vetiver, ylang-ylang, orange). Shera Pop, I think you should name your next cat Veilchen! :D

...Are these the ones that show up most often in people's collections? Or the ones that are in the ones that people say they are wearing?Either way, it's a nice list, Apicius. I love seeing the words for everything in German - sounds like a list I should memorize! :)(Especially Maigloeckchen! I love the idea of little May bells!)

...I want SO much to like TokyoMilk. The bottles are cute & I love the small size and reasonable price.But I've tried at least five or so and have only found one that I wanted to wear more than once - that would be Kabuki. I really like what it does with lychee (litchi), making it fruity but quirky, and not a traditional fruity-floral.I have a couple more samples to try & hope I like them better. :(

...Hey, nobody better disrespect my Hidden Fantasy! :lol: (I like the idea that sometimes expensive perfumes don't work for us, and sometimes ones from the drugstore do.)Thank you for the ideas about the award feature and the review comments! I'll use them more now!

...So far, I like it here very much. Of the two other sites, I have felt that one has been not-so-welcoming to gay people and one has been not-so-welcoming to women. I haven't seen evidence of either of those issues here, and I also haven't seen anyone insulting anyone else. Parfumo has felt closer to my personality lately, and I'm looking forward to spending more time here when I can and posting more reviews. But I know we've talked elsewhere before, Lola, and you and I have really different personalities. So, if you find it more comfortable someplace else, do what makes you comfortable! We do this to enjoy ourselves!

...Hey, Aromi! I just looked at your FB profile & you're in my part of the world. (OK, pretty far over in my part of the world... there is some serious landmass in between.) You're the first parfumisto I've met online from that state. Isn't cyberspace great? (Even though I live in a fairly large metro, I know NO other perfume freaks here.)

...Hi Aromi! When I saw this, I tried to find the page on FB and couldn't. OK, now I just tried again & found it as parfumo.com. If you type "parfumo," it doesn't come up at all. So I guess the biggest thing is to let people know about it here on the site? And, once we discover it, we can mention it to our other perfumy FB friends. -Ellen

...Thanks, Apicius! This is especially helpful for those of us who are just learning our way around here!

...My pleasure, sweet Guusje! Hope you find things you like in there!

...I'm a native English speaker & not fluent in anything else. I can speak/read/write haltingly in French, more haltingly in Spanish, and I can probably only speak Russian with someone who is accustomed to dealing with infants. (Not especially bright infants, actually.) Was fluent in Dutch as a child (lived in the Netherlands) and am sorry I let that go. Can understand a bit of German, primarily dealing with issues of food and illness, as those were my grandparents' most frequent topics... :wink: Wish I had put some serious effort into real fluency at one of these languages - might still do so.