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1 - 20 by 68

kittea

What fragrance do you all wear to work?

kittea | Perfumes & Brands

... I work in a popular chain coffee shop (still trying to find something better, fingers crossed) and the rule there is 'no fragrances' but in practice... I mean, it's a coffee shop, not a hospital, people are coming in and out all day with their own personal odors. Still, it's cramped in the back and I don't want to gas out my coworkers, so I wear perfume oils that have a very low sillage or I spray underneath my clothes (and I am a light sprayer to begin with) and avoid any of my heavier retro fragrances. There is no "Joy (Eau de Parfum) | Jean Patou" allowed.

25

Smellinkel

2 months ago

kittea

Why put gender on it?

kittea | Perfume Discussions

... I'll say the same thing I said last time this question came up, and every time it does in the future... you really start to see the curtain being pulled aside, as it were, on gendered marketing, once you wear enough fragrances marketed to the opposite sex. I wear and enjoy a lot of men's fragrances, and I really think there is a bit of a feedback loop happening: something is marketed to men, so men wear it, so now people can point and say "well, if fragrances have no gender, why is it only men who wear this?" But if the very same fragrance had been marketed to women, the opposite thing would happen. Like... to my nose, "Aramis (Eau de Toilette) | Aramis" and "Cabochard (2019) (Eau de Parfum) | Grès" are almost the same fragrance (and a really good one at that). But one is 'all that a man is' and the other has a little bow on the bottle, and people buy the products that are marketed towards them. It's not that either fragrance is somehow uniquely suited to a man's or a woman's taste, it's the marketing. Guys loved "Grey Flannel (Eau de Toilette) | Geoffrey Beene" (and deservedly so, it's great!) but turned their noses up at the similar-scented but more ambiguously-gendered marketing of "Insensé (Eau de Toilette) | Givenchy" . "Stetson Original (1981) / Stetson (Cologne) | Stetson" is much sweeter than, say, "Red Door (Eau de Toilette) | Elizabeth Arden" , and yet guys wear Stetson and girls wear Elizabeth Arden. I don't think it's wrong for anyone to be more comfortable with the scents that are directly marketed towards them. There are certain categories of scents that, for whatever reason, have been assigned genders. If you're a fellow who loves fougères you will probably have more luck in the men's section, and the reverse goes if you're a girl who loves gourmands. I'm aware there's a pattern to what tends to get marketed to whom, you're probably not going to see "Fantasy (Eau de Parfum) | Britney Spears" Pour Homme. But the idea that men or women are just naturally disposed to fit within the boxes that marketers have created for us is one I have to push back on.

43

KillaAmanda

2 months ago

kittea

TOSKOVAT OPINION (FR & ENG translated)

kittea | Perfume Discussions

... Raluko111 The dude is not a perfumer. He never studied perfumery. It's just marketing and absurdly high prices. I don't know, I'm not against the idea of self-taught perfumery. There are textbooks and things available, it's perfectly feasible (though difficult) to do. That's not anywhere near an issue as much as the other stuff.

15

ExUser

3 months ago

ExUser

kittea

TOSKOVAT OPINION (FR & ENG translated)

kittea | Perfume Discussions

... I still want to try a sample set someday, because I'm afraid I'm a sucker for edgy descriptions, but the way the perfumer handles himself is very off-putting. Like, I don't know enough about the drama to know who's in the right and I don't want to, but even if Toskovat was 100% innocent in the whole thing (which I doubt), the whole "BETRAYAL" collection is just such a childish move. This is like high school mean girl drama. It's such a bad look.

15

ExUser

3 months ago

ExUser

kittea

Help Me Find My Signature Scent (M18, Love Fresh & Sweet Fra

kittea | Perfume Recommendations

... If you love BR540, I'd say you probably do like amber-heavy fragrances! There might be something else that's bothering you, cause that one's heavy on the ambroxide. You've mentioned it a couple times so I just want to tell you: don't worry about whether a fragrance will be attractive to girls. Girls have just as many different opinions on fragrances as guys do. The important thing is whether you like it, because that shows you're confident in yourself, and that more than anything will get you compliments. Your tastes in fragrance are pretty different from mine so take this with a few grains of salt but I'd recommend "Saint Julep | Imaginary Authors" (sweet but also fresh, can be found pretty cheaply especially at discounters. You might also like their "Yesterday Haze | Imaginary Authors" ) or "Toy 2 Pearl | Moschino" (more fresh than it is sweet, summertime vibes). Good luck!

6

BlindBuyer16

3 months ago

kittea

Scent has different smell on different parts of body sprayed

kittea | Perfume Discussions

... Yes, this happens a lot for me... especially the difference in fragrance under the shirt versus on the wrists like you noticed. It's mainly heat, I think. Your chest is already warmer than your wrists, and then your shirt is trapping heat near your skin, which keeps both you and your fragrance warmer, while also keeping some of that fragrant air from vanishing into the wind... So the 'curve' of which molecules vanish at which times is different.

12

Killsocket

3 months ago

kittea

Your Perfume Hot Takes

kittea | Perfume Discussions

... kushbreth Ursaw kushbreth perfumers who use ai photos should not be allowed to sell or make perfumes 😋 if youre too lazy to just take a picture with some dollar store props, your perfume probably smells like ass too Right? Or even worse, perfumes that are advertised as fully "AI-made". Why would I want to spend money on something nobody bothered to make? i would legit rather see a piece of construction paper background taken with a shitty phone camera than ai images. honestly to me it's not only fucking lazy but it shows that you have NO faith in your products - if you feel like you "have" to use ai for your advertising, then there is something about your scent that you think underperforms. either that or you're just a really uncreative cheapskate who just wants to fuck over the environment for *checks notes* a picture of a cupcake.... etsy is the WORST about this... there are so many indie sellers trying to push some shitty garbage perfume, and they ALL use ai images. miss me with that. keep your bullshit. it takes 5 minutes to set up a little photo with a bottle, and at least THAT shows me that you arent some bot or scam artist trying to sell dog water. I honestly feel kind of insulted when I see a perfumer using AI. Like, oh, you thought I wouldn't notice? The thing is that like, I know the cost of the ingredients that go into a perfume, I know that you're not paying for those any more than you're paying an artist for the cost of their oils and canvas. You're paying for the time and experience it took a perfumer to learn how to create, an artist to design the bottle, a marketer to write the story. If AI is doing those things then like, what am I paying this company for? I can type prompts too, if that's all they're bringing to the table.

95

StinkSultan

3 months ago

kittea

Your Perfume Hot Takes

kittea | Perfume Discussions

... Dargis Killsocket Hot take (maybe not): Perfume ads/commercials are some of the most cringe advertisements for any industry. I get so embarrassed when they are on tv when I am sitting next to my non-fragrance-hobbyist spouse. I agree. Not only the commercials but also the marketing, ie identity, names, bottles etc. "Le Mâle" lineup from JPG is a good example for me. Bottle and name. Call me stupid but it really keeps me off this lineup for that. A ton of Tom Ford names make me cringe. It's like you can hear the marketers giggling to themselves about how audacious they think they're being. I mean, I also have the sense of humor of a 12-year-old boy sometimes, but I don't charge people for the privilege... I totally agree on Le M â le bottles (I mean, it works for their Pride edition, it's very Tom of Finland, but the rest of the line...) I do find them genuinely funny, though.

95

StinkSultan

3 months ago

kittea

Your Perfume Hot Takes

kittea | Perfume Discussions

... On the topic of reformulations... My hot take is I think a) reformulations happen less often than the Internet would lead you to believe, and b) when reformulations do happen, the IFRA is kind of just used as a scapegoat, and the real reason is cost-cutting measures.

95

StinkSultan

3 months ago

kittea

Your Perfume Hot Takes

kittea | Perfume Discussions

... @Wusubi yeah, the "no resins in summer" thing really doesn't make sense when you consider the Middle East! Ooh, I have another one too. I hate it when people call something "photorealistic". I don't know why. It just bugs me. (I'm not judging anyone who says it, I get why people do, it's just a pet peeve).

95

StinkSultan

3 months ago

kittea

Your Perfume Hot Takes

kittea | Perfume Discussions

... Diana1983 My hot take is.... I'm tired of niche influencers/ reviewers b*tching on designer fragrances. I love niche, but there are solid designer perfumes out there that have bad reviews simply because of snobbery, or because they're not 'unique' enough. I like "Tyrannosaurus Rex | Zoologist" but I'm allowed to like "Sogno in rosso | Valentino" too 😭 100% Popular stuff is often popular for a reason! It might be less flamboyant but it's sometimes really well-constructed.

95

StinkSultan

3 months ago

kittea

Your Perfume Hot Takes

kittea | Perfume Discussions

... See, and my hot take is that I'm wondering what world people live in that fragrances aren't labelled masculine/feminine... in the niche spaces things are unisex, but most of the mass-market is very distinctly segregated! My other hot take is I don't believe like 80% of the marketing with fragrances that are like "this was extracted from a Siberian deer on the full moon by a virgin with a silver knife, blended with 500-year-old oud, and it's yours for only $600!" I mean, maybe it's just sour grapes on my part lol.

95

StinkSultan

3 months ago

kittea

Atomizers...??

kittea | Perfume Discussions

... I hate the "stream" atomizers. Yeah, that's what I wanted, to have my wrist gently peed upon, brilliant design. But sometimes being a bit more forceful with the spray can help it come out right. Some atomizers are definitely more generous than others. The ones in little sample bottles are notoriously stingy, which I suppose is just a natural trade-off from the size of them, but does get annoying when you're spraying six times to get the equivalent of one spray from a larger bottle. Weirdly enough, Lattafa has great atomizers, so I'm always a bit cynical when a much more expensive brand has a shitty one.

11

Ringtale

4 months ago

kittea

experience with alkemia? + side notes on indies

kittea | Perfumes & Brands

... Hi! I talked about this a little in the shoutouts with you, but figured I'd put down my thoughts in detail here. I have tried a lot from Alkemia (they have their own shelf in my collection). I agree with you on Andromeda's Curse, for what it's worth, and Alkemia does seem at least to avoid that candle-oil smell. They are kind of hit-or-miss, in general, which is a shame for such a large catalogue. Nothing feels cheap, but it does sometimes give me the feeling that some of them were more thought-through than others? I also get the feeling that they don't necessarily let their scents rest after blending them, so you have to leave them to sit around for a while. "Salomé | Alkemia" is the perfume I was wearing when I met my partner, and it's still one I really love. I also personally love "Ambre Gris | Alkemia" as a good, seashore-salty marine scent that feels warm and realistic. Basically, as far as the indie oils go, I think they're really far up there. Compared to non-indie fragrances then some of their fragrances are great, and some are not. I do think in my experience that the things they tend to do well are incense, spices, leathers, boozy/fruity scents, and heavy florals. Their green or citrusy scents have a tendency to run a bit soapy. They do offer a curated sample pack, so if you put in the notes the kind of scents that you like, they'll pick ones for you based on that preference. As far as lasting power goes, I personally kind of need the 'ultime' concentration if I want anyone other than me to be able to smell the oils (I haven't tried their edp sprays). Some last longer than others.

7

kushbreth

4 months ago

kittea

Favorite rose perfumes

kittea | Perfumes by Note, Accord, Genre

... "Tea Rose (Eau de Toilette) | Perfumer's Workshop" is my favorite rose. It's very alive and realistic.

20

Rubenfrags

4 months ago

kittea

What flowers are blooming where you live?

kittea | Off Topic

... Here in the Midwestern U.S.: MILKWEED! Everywhere milkweed! There's a sea of pink outside my house right now. They smell so lovely, and I think this year I will try to make an enfleurage with them (if there are enough flowers to do so). It's syrupy and heady, but it also has a bit of carnation-like spice to it... one of my goals when I started trying to learn perfumery was to create a milkweed soliflore. I would love it if someone got to it before me though.

86

ExUser

4 months ago

ExUser

kittea

What are your favourite and least favourite bottle designs?

kittea | Perfume Discussions

... I'm the opposite of you, Ursaw, sorry! I've never been a fan of the rectangular bottle shape... it just reads 'serviceable' to me. (I can imagine the Loewe ones being really nice all lined up in a rainbow, though!) I like perfume bottles that are weird and kitsch, but they have to feel nice to hold as well... so no cheap plastic mermaid or unicorn, sorry Anna Sui! "Thouq / ذوق | Lattafa Pride" is one I love because it's both fun-looking (it even comes with a silly little bell jar to hold it in) and feels heavy and solid. Penhaligon's apothecary-chic look is one I'm a fan of (they've leaned into it hard with their new collection, love that), and I loved Zoologist's old bottles. The new ones just don't display the art prominently enough. I think the only bottle designs I actively dislike as opposed to just finding meh are things like the already-mentioned upthread "Duo Men | Azzaro" , "Now Women | Azzaro" , that one brand whose name I can't remember that has bottles shaped like buttplugs... basically anything where there's a risk someone could glance at it and think you'd left a sex toy sitting out in the open. I like weird bottles but I have my limits.

48

Mitchcraft

4 months ago

kittea

What is your stance on clones?

kittea | Perfume Discussions

... My opinion's kind of controversial so I want to preface by saying I'm talking about dupes in particular... not counterfeits or fragrances that are trying to trick people into buying them instead of the original (like Al Haramain's Lovely Cherie or the like). Things that may or may not be open about their inspiration, but they're obviously not trying to pretend they are the original. I don't seek out dupes (I own a couple Lattafas that are apparently dupes for other fragrances, but I didn't buy them for that reason... I liked them and found out they were dupes later), but I have the sort of cynical view that they have their place in the fragrance ecosystem. A lot of the fragrances that are popularly duped are ones that are a) prohibitively expensive, and b) cheap to make. I think there must be a million "Baccarat Rouge 540 (Eau de Parfum) | Maison Francis Kurkdjian" dupes out there, and it's a prime example of this. It costs hundreds, it's incredibly popular, and it's made primarily out of a few very cheap aromachemicals. You can see why the dupe market pounced on it. I ultimately just don't really see it as a problem. I don't think the dupe market is necessarily hurting the sales of the original: people buying "Ana Abiyedh Rouge | Lattafa / لطافة" or "Casino Royale | The Dua Brand / Dua Fragrances" for $30 were probably never going to be splashing $400 or whatever it costs now for "Baccarat Rouge 540 (Eau de Parfum) | Maison Francis Kurkdjian" . And the kinds of fragrances that get duped are the ones that are already popular, so it's not like anyone is going to forget about the original or who created it. No one's stealing cash out of Francis Kurkdjian's hands, he'll be fine. But if the dupe market is hurting the sales of the original, if there really are people who are capable of buying either Kurkdjian or Dua and choose the latter, there's two easy ways for the company producing it to avoid that problem: a) price their fragrances lower, or b) create fragrances that are difficult to clone on the cheap with any degree of accuracy. The former might be difficult for companies that want to maintain their exclusive image, but the latter is definitely achievable. It will cost them more to produce it, but most fragrances will still be achieving a profit margin that other industries can only dream of. So I guess my view on the whole is: I wouldn't buy them myself, except on accident. But I don't think they're doing any harm to the fragrance industry, and they might even be helping it, in a ruthless survival-of-the-f ittest kind of way.

18

Aquarius1

4 months ago

kittea

The scent you disliked the most.

kittea | Perfume Discussions

... The only time I've ever felt physically sick from a fragrance was when I was messing around with a tester bottle of "Candy (Eau de Parfum) | Prada" because I thought the thing on top was a cap and not the atomizer, and I accidentally sprayed some on my hand. I have no idea why that was the one that did it for me. Never had that reaction before or since.

32

Paredes183

4 months ago

kittea

best weirdo freak perfume brands?

kittea | Perfumes & Brands

... Zoologist isn't really weird (I would call all of their scents very wearable) but they're one of my favorite brands as far as having a clear concept and sticking to it. January Scent Project is also pretty wearable, but also very conceptual. The sample set comes with little art cards depicting the fragrances, and one of them (Gong, I believe) has a matching soundscape. Orto Parisi and Nasomatto (both by the same perfumer) are also brands you might find interesting. They don't always adhere to the concepts, but they're definitely targeting the oddball market. In the indie world, some scents by Fyrinnae and Alkemia are going for unusual concepts. Edit: Oh! And Filippo Sorcinelli! Can't get much more high-concept than cutting "né il giorno né l'ora | Filippo Sorcinelli" out of its latex sheath. I don't really know what the concept is , but there's certainly one.

3

Rozz

4 months ago

Rozz

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