They're really good, though I'm not sure how easy Guerlain is to find depending on where you are. And if you do find them, they really need a full day's wear.
Perfume Chat Thread
- Thread starter JenJBS
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I have found that in order to give anything a fighting chance, it needs to be applied on my neck or chest, as fragrances disappear straight away on my wrist, and they often take several hours to mellow into the base notes. As for availability, there is nothing available where I live; I order samples online. The closest Nordstrom is about 70 miles away, but my SA there can often order things. Thanks for the suggestions and guidance!
The discussion on leather in perfumes led me to pulling out my sample box yesterday and digging around for some leather perfume samples. I found a sample of Bottega Veneta Bottega Veneta, Penhaligon's Iris Prima (iris and suede), and my Guerlain Cuir Beluga sample. I finished my sample of Chanel Cuir de Russie a while ago, but wish I still had it as I would have loved to refresh my memory of the scent.
I was also looking for Hermes Kelly Caleche, since I thought I had a sample of that one, but could not find it. It has been a few years since I tried Kelly Caleche but I remember it as being a nice fragrance -- leather with a light rose maybe? Perhaps @papertiger has tried it and can give us some thoughts on Kelly Caleche and Hermes Galop, which is also a leather-centric scent I believe. I think both Bottega Veneta Bottega Veneta and Kelly Caleche should hopefully be easier to find in places like Sephora or the department store to test.
If I were to buy a leather perfume from among the ones I have sampled, it would probably be either Cuir Beluga or Cuir de Russie. I have not tried the Tom Ford leather scents, but would love to sample Kelly Caleche again.
I was also looking for Hermes Kelly Caleche, since I thought I had a sample of that one, but could not find it. It has been a few years since I tried Kelly Caleche but I remember it as being a nice fragrance -- leather with a light rose maybe? Perhaps @papertiger has tried it and can give us some thoughts on Kelly Caleche and Hermes Galop, which is also a leather-centric scent I believe. I think both Bottega Veneta Bottega Veneta and Kelly Caleche should hopefully be easier to find in places like Sephora or the department store to test.
If I were to buy a leather perfume from among the ones I have sampled, it would probably be either Cuir Beluga or Cuir de Russie. I have not tried the Tom Ford leather scents, but would love to sample Kelly Caleche again.
My mother's signature scents were YSL's Opium, H Kelly Caleche and Lavin's Arpege. I cannot ever wear any of these 3 scents but I am more than familiar with them.
Hermes' KC is more a 'feminine' version of Terre but either is unisex IMO (shame the juice is pink). More rose (I love it - what could be more sensual than leather and rose?) but less rose than Rose Amazone. I think newer versions are lighter than I remember, but I can still recognise it immediately. It's not cheap and I think you have to buy it from H because of the leather cord (it pulls the lid off).
Gallop is far richer, think leather and earthy-sweetness rather than rose/floral. This is one of my favourite scents ever and I hope they keep making it. Shall we say wine and leather? I mean, wine and leather, less 'classy' and sophisticated than KC, but a whole lot more fun
(and also unisex - but also more sexy and undone). I'm gonna wear it tomorrow - now.Wine and leather, and roses and leather...sounds very interesting! Thank you for the descriptions. I must make a trip out to Sephora to test them (I remember that is where I tried Kelly Caleche a few years ago.) When you mentioned Terre, were you referring to Terre d'Hermes or some other perfume? I agree that Kelly Caleche struck me as being unisex. As for Rose Amazone, I think they discontinued it, but there are still a few bottles floating around online so now may be the time to buy a back up, before they become scarce.My mother's signature scents were YSL's Opium, H Kelly Caleche and Lavin's Arpege. I cannot ever wear any of these 3 scents but I am more than familiar with them.
Hermes' KC is more a 'feminine' version of Terre but either is unisex IMO (shame the juice is pink). More rose (I love it - what could be more sensual than leather and rose?) but less rose than Rose Amazone. I think newer versions are lighter than I remember, but I can still recognise it immediately. It's not cheap and I think you have to buy it from H because of the leather cord (it pulls the lid off).
Gallop is far richer, think leather and earthy-sweetness rather than rose/floral. This is one of my favourite scents ever and I hope they keep making it. Shall we say wine and leather? I mean, wine and leather, less 'classy' and sophisticated than KC, but a whole lot more fun
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Sorry, to clarify
Terre d'Hermes - the classic H leather scent. Somehow not working for me anymore (after going through 2 bottles). Rose Amazone was from a few years ago and was my go-to Summer fail safe scent. Coming to the end of my bottle now and have BV Knot as a replacement (although nothing like it but still says Summer to me).
Interesting. Terre d'Hermes, the masculine release from 2006? I've never heard of anyone relating that to leather at all. It's very citrus-y, dry, spicy, and woodsy to my nose.Sorry, to clarify
That's what Frangrantica says, but sold to DH (and me) as leathery. Probably, H's most well-known fragrance, certainly woodsy too. I don't like it on me anymore anyway.
The new H24 is even more wood, practically a pine forest - one I didn't want to be in.
Another one I love from Hermes is Bel Amis, I have the leather treasure and get a refill. I will die is they discontinue or change it.
That's very odd. I've honestly never ever heard of anyone saying they thought it was a leather fragrance. Either way, I've always thought it was terribly nostril burning because of the crazy amount of iso e-super in it. Just... Not good. It just smells like cheap chemicals to me, almost as bad as Dior Sauvage.
H24 is better, but it's still pretty chemical-y due to the sclarene.
For me the odd thing is it used to smell good on me and now it smells - off
Anybody else had that experience with an old favourite?
I have not tried most of the masculine fragrances from Hermes. Also, the entire Jardin series, and many of their exclusive line of perfumes. Sometimes I feel like it's such a balancing act. I am always curious to try new things, not necessarily to own a bottle or buy, but more out of plain old curiosity.
However, I also have a large collection and every time I take time to sample new stuff, it means I am not wearing enough of my existing collection. And another by-product of sampling is that you sometimes fall in love with a new scent and have to add it to your collection. On the whole though, I have done pretty well this year. Just two perfumes ordered and we are already half way through the year. I plan on getting something, maybe a Guerlain exclusive later this year. Let's see if I can be good till then. I haven't been too terrible. I think I've just gotten two full bottles and one travel spray. I'll be in Europe next month, though, and that will be dangerous with the lower prices and VAT refund.I have not tried most of the masculine fragrances from Hermes. Also, the entire Jardin series, and many of their exclusive line of perfumes. Sometimes I feel like it's such a balancing act. I am always curious to try new things, not necessarily to own a bottle or buy, but more out of plain old curiosity.
If I was going to Europe, I would be very tempted to get some bottles. There's the VAT refund, and then there's also the fact that you will have access to exclusive perfumes that are not available here.
I will probably get a Guerlain exclusive later this year. I wanted to get Rose Nacree du Desert but that one is out of reach now. I also want to test a few more from Frederic Malle -- Noir Epices, Dans tes Bras and planning on one more. Just not sure which one, but I will probably just get the samples from their website since I cannot find them to test in my area.
My collection grew a lot between about 2015 to 2018 including some blind buys. I've slowed down since then, but I still have a lot of the bottles from that time period in my collection.
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Oh yes. A friend and I already have our eyes on the 40ml Dior bottles that cannot be bought here, and Dior also now has travel sprays. I am also tempted by some more Frederic Malles because those are less expensive over there than over here. I'm not sure what I can expect to find in terms of fragrances that aren't available here, though, as I'll be in Greece and not France. Still, there is at least one Greek brand I'm very interested in checking out.
There will be a new Frederic Malle coming out relatively soon. I texted my SA at Neiman Marcus about it several weeks ago, but he hadn't heard anything about it yet. I saw him again the other day, and he just recently learned about it from the company. I don't remember the names or the notes--and he didn't know them--but I'm definitely looking forward to it.