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Men (or women) What is your favorite perfume for women?

Frk.W

New in Town
Messages
35
Location
Stockholm, Sweden
I like a lot of fragrances, and I have a lot of fragrances. My own favourites change from time to time, and I like a lot of different things on others. I don't like "fresh" fragrances that smell like fabric softener, and I don't like sweet fragrances that smell like candy, pastries or desserts unless it's countered with something interesting (like that burning plastic/burnt sugar note in Pink Sugar, which makes the scent sort of morbidly fascinating), but I try to learn to appreciate just about anything. I prefer classically constructed scents, odd scents and scents with a lot of personality, though. I'm more interested in people who smell weird than people who smell like cupcakes.

My own favourites are Bandit, a smoky, bitter green leather chypre from 1944;
Miss Dior - the 1947 Miss Dior, a prissy green floral chypre with a dry bite to it;
M/Mink, a modern fragrance from the Swedish perfume house Byredo, which smells like ink, incense, fur and cold air;
Youth Dew, by Estée Lauder, a classic balsamic oriental from 1953, which is deliciously dirty especially in perfume.

Estée Lauder is a perfume house with a very distinct signature, and it's also a house that produces well-constructed, qualitative fragrances that have stood the test of time and are generally very well respected among perfum enthusiasts, whether the strong, brash house signature appeals to your personal taste or not. Please read Bois de Jasmin's beautiful review if you're curious, or the one at Now Smell This, or tens of reviews at perfume community http://www.basenotes.net.

As for concentrations, that's very much a matter of taste. Parfum concentrations are often made with better materials than lower concentrations, but some houses - notably Chanel - treat the different concentrations of their fragrances as variations on a theme, with differences not only in material quality and strength but also showing different aspects of the scent itself. Chanel No 5 in eau de toilette form emphasises the aldehydic sparkle, the eau de parfum is a heady 1980's iteration that brings out the the powdery aspect, and the parfum has a glorious sandalwood note that is not as prominent in the others. They are all different facets of the fragrance, not just stronger or weaker versions.
 

AvavanBlythe

Familiar Face
Messages
88
Location
US
One of my favorites is Quelques Fleurs l`Original by Houbigant. I tried it as a sample, and at first I didn't like it. It actually grew on me as I continued to wear it over a couple weeks. It's the only perfume that I own that is more floral as opposed to what I usually own: warm, spicy, and slightly powdery.
 

MikePotts

Practically Family
Messages
837
Location
Tivy, Texas.
I'm a fan of the duskier perfumes - "Perfect Oud" from Van Cleef & Arpels currently floats my boat - Tabu was an old time favourite....but now has bitter memories....
 

Joe_Frances

New in Town
Messages
41
Location
The Connecticut Gold Coast
Divine EdeP by Divine is fabulous; Vega by Guerlain is incredible; Manhattan Rose by Kriegler is captivating; Cuir de Russie by Chanel is fabulous. These are in order of preference. All of these will make a lady smell like a movie star or better yet, simply unforgettable.
 

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