u/EngineeringDue8007

Forgive the probably boring collection post but I have been dying to share my babies on here. I feel happy with the line-up so I’m going to slow down and enjoy what I have, between this lot and my samples it’s been hard to make a proper dent in the bottles. However it is my birthday coming up and I need gift ideas, so feel free to suggest what I’m missing ;)

Pictured L-R: Serge Lutens L’Orpheline, 4160 Tuesdays Damn Rebel Witches, Discothèque Lola at Coat Check, Byredo Desert Dawn, Santa Maria Novella Lana, Vilhelm Parfumerie Poets of Berlin, and 19-69 Female Christ.

My impressions of each:

Female Christ (patchouli, eucalyptus, vanilla) is my favorite and the one that actually got me into fragrances! I stumbled on it at a boutique and was hooked because it wasn’t like anything I ever smelled before- I used to just wear generic designers gifted to me by various aunts for christmas but this fragrance cast a powerful spell to convince me that smelling like patchouli concentrate, candy heart necklaces and an old medicine cabinet rolled together was exactly what’s been missing from my life. This was about a year ago, I was studying for my masters and there was no way I could have afforded it at the time-
so I waited and got it with the first paycheck from my grad job. Signature scent worthy but it’s been nothing but warm weather since I bought her and the patchouli shines more in the cold.

Desert Dawn (vetiver, rose petals, silk) on the other hand is perfect for summer. This is a beautifully light, airy take on wood. Like a sexy tumbleweed rolling around in the breeze. Trust me when I say the silk note is present and it’s masterful. Got this after I fell in love with it at the Byredo store and felt compelled to take a 30 min detour on my way home from work every day to smell it again.

Lana (fig and leather) was a souvenir from Florence and is I think the most beautifully blended, classy fragrance I own. Lana is Thé Noir’s sophisticated older sister. Dark and a bit sultry, perfect for a summer evening wandering around cobbled streets in Italy or France. Pairs well with a glass of grappa after dinner. Fun fact, there is a scene in Casino Royale where Bond opens Vesper Lynd’s purse and it contains a Santa Maria Novella perfume- it was Melograno, but I’m firmly convinced that if Lana existed in 2006 that would have been her choice instead

Lola at Coat Check (sandalwood, white chocolate, pink pepper) is my all-rounder, cool girl and crowd pleaser, and has gotten me the most compliments (at least from my friend group). Lola is the life of the party. If she was a person she would grow out her armpit hair, wear cowboy boots and drive a Vespa.

Damn Rebel Witches (orange, tobacco, hazelnut and oakmoss) was a very successful blind buy I got for a steal in a discontinued sale. Witchy but urban cool at the same time. This fragrance probably has micro bangs. Perfect accessory to the wine bar or small plates restaurant.

L’Orpheline (incense and musk) is my cozy, wistful, slightly melancholic skin scent for when I’m having a quiet day indoors.

Plus I got the 10ml Poets of Berlin for summer travels but to be honest, I’m not sold on it. I want to love it, I really do- I mean I lived in Berlin and love David Bowie. I was oversold on the vanilla-lemon-wood combo and intrigued by the bamboo note, but too my nose this is artificial and tooth-rottingly sweet. In my middle school it was cool for some reason to have colorful little glittery hand sanitizers dangling from your school bag and Poets smells like the blueberry muffin version of this accessory. Not sure whether to resell or hope it grows on me

Had the chance to go the gorgeous Santa Maria Novella flagship store on my holiday and fell in love with Lana!!

According to the store attendant this was created in collaboration with a clothes brand (Lana means wool in italian) and was inspired by the irish countryside. Notes are fig, tobacco leaf, leather and wood.

Most of SMN’s line is clean, soapy citrus and florals so this one stood out to me- it’s rich purple warmth and green freshness at the same time. I don’t love brighter fig renditions like Philosykos and Debaser, but the fig here is dark, jammy and sophisticated. It’s actually pretty close to Thé Noir 29 by Le Labo which I wanted to love but turned sour and boozy on me- Lana is a perfect substitute! Apart from fig the main note I pick up is a sort of plant stem smell- a slightly bitter, herbaceous green note and a sweet milky note like plant sap. Basically feels like an entire fig tree in a bottle- the ripe fruits, the leaves, the stem and the trunk.

So happy to have taken her home 🐑

Fragrance snobs really know how to suck the joy out of the hobby

My 6 full sizes after 6 months of sampling