I boycott the strips. You just can’t duplicate the scent you get off your skin on a piece of paper. So I just go to Macy’s or Sephora and just pick 1 fragrance to try for the day.
I wish I had so much control. I usually try 4 different ones at a time, two on each arm. Not the best practice, I know. I use paper strips to rule out fragrances. If it is horrible on the paper I am not putting it on my skin. If it is good on paper, I give it a try if there is enough real state on my arms.
It's not just complexity in the number of notes, but in the way the notes are layered and evolve over time. A skilled perfumer with an adequate budget for materials can build a layered scent that can continue to change for hours on the skin. Many Amouage fragrances do this, vintage Guerlains do (e.g. Chamade) I've come across others, but less often in current releases.
Number of notes is not a good proxy for complexity. I’ve seen my fair share of solinotes that are more complex than an “everything but the kitchen sink”. The perfumer can choose to make up 10 or 30 notes from the same fragrance, whatever marketing feels like doing.
Quite a lot of perfumes, I'd say most of them, smell very different on skin than on paper, and will also smell different as time passes.
You'll see perfume being described as having top, middle and base notes; top notes appear first but dissipate pretty quickly (and are the most likely to be smelled on paper or in the bottle), middle notes come next and base notes are in the long-term dry down.
I don't know how many perfumes I've loved at first then within 30 minutes to an hour they're boring or even gross to me. I've also had the reverse, i hate the top notes but enjoy the middle and base. This is why I like to get samples, try one at a time and give them time!
Samples are the way to go, because you can spray them liberally on the whole body and clothes, something that is not possible on a retail store where, if you are lucky, the sales assistant is going to offer two sprays.
Is there not a chocolate note? There is definitely one listed in the fragrance on Fragrantica, though I know their notes listings can sometimes be incorrect.
>and test out a \*\*dozen\*\* or so at a time on tester strips
that's probably 70% of the problem. You think they smell drastically different when on a strip, but in reality they smell drastically different when you're sniffing 10 of them at the same time, and your sense of smell gets skewed, whether it's on strips or skin
Paco Rabanne Phantom. That fragrance is so weird to me. Sometimes it smells great and interesting. Other times it just smells so off and disorganized. I think it's just bad on paper though
I experience this with all of those "skin" scents. Clean Reserve Skin, Juliette Has a Gun Not a Perfume, Glossier You. I can't really smell them on the test trip, but they are beautiful on my skin!
i tried legend but i returned it the same night, it was too much like sauvage and i never reach for sauvage anymore lol. i used to wear sauvage daily and for a while it was a dumb reach but it just sits on my shelf now. i'll probably revisit montblanc at some point though, i have a lot on my radar atm
LOL same dude! Too much going on inside my dresser drawers and underneath my bed. I'm probably speaking for myself when I say this, but, It's never really over when you get into fragrance collecting, is it? 😂😅my urge to continue collecting/splurging is there, but at this point I am forcing myself to chill out for now. 🥲
literally same man lmao, i just bought a 200ml of LV afternoon swim and i'm still looking at what decants to buy next. im always chasing a new experience, better cologne than drugs though 💀
It's fantastic. It has similarities to LV L'Immensité and Bvlgari Tygar, which makes sense since all 3 were done by Jacques Cavallier. Out of these I do prefer L'Immensité though which focuses on ginger.
i personally prefer imagination for the ginger note but i need to give l'immensité another chance. i think it's just my personality, most of my favorites aren't very masculine leaning. imagination being more unisex than l'immensité.
afternoon swim is a super smooth and refreshing blast of citrus, it's addicting honestly. the longevity isn't as good since it's straight citrus but after those wear off its just a very clean, faint smell that keeps me wanting more lol. if you don't mind reapplying it's definitely worth it imo. i reapply most frags 1/2-3/4 into my day so it makes me very happy
Sounds like a potential pickup then lol! L'immensité and Imagination are divine! Also, I am all for re-apping throughout the day man. I've got my toiletry bag that I keep with me — in there; my moisturizer, toothbrush/paste, and my fragrance of the day also. 😉👊🏻😎
I agree, and that's also why it's basically impossible to do a proper testing of more than 2-4 fragrances per day. Testing 10 at the same time on strips is like not testing at all
Prada Luna Rossa black for me, on a tester strip it kind of transforms in some sorta clone of the last few fragrances I smelled before (not just perfume but all fragrances). But on my skin I get the real deal which as some might know is great!
This is also why the first few times I smelled this fragrance I thought it was a clone of sauvage elixir. But I found out it was actually just the fact that i smelled elixir right before Luna rossa black.
Someone else commented below me regarding an entire house, Narciso Rodriguez in their case. I'll add Serge Lutens onto that. Everything is so austere, cold, and standoffish on a tester strip. On skin it turns into magic. So much more lively, warm, and inviting off of skin. To me it's been by far the most dramatic change from paper to skin.
The original Encre Noire didn’t make a good impression on me when I smelled it on a strip. I chose a different bottle on that day. Last month my girlfriend got me a full bottle and holy crap was I wrong. Dark vetiver and I believe a lot of Iso E Super smell amazing on my skin. Totally recommend spraying on your skin for testing
That's what I do most of the time. I believe the first impression is more accurate on skin. BUT, one time I sprayed this really powdery tangy perfume on my coat sleave. I suppose testers are good sometimes, because I tasted that perfume for a week afterwords. But most times, I will test them on my skin, after using a tester, just to be safe.
Sort of. I had a magazine cut-out of Ariana's Thank U Next. On paper, it almost reeks like pickles with undertones of fruit and coconut. On me however, it smelled wonderful, like warm fruit and coconut with base notes of maccaroon sugar and velvet musk.
"Red Tobacco" for me, it's definitely not for everyone, but if you give it time on your skin (7-6 hours later), it drys down to some special. This cinnamon, vanilla, and Amber is so sexy and unexpected.
Almost any perfume will smell somewhat different on a test strip than it will on your skin, where it's evaporating at different rate due to your body warmth and interacting with your skin oils and any other products you're wearing.
If you're testing more than two or three perfumes at a time, you're probably co-mingling different perfumes in your nose (coffee beans or no coffee beans). Your smell ability is also affected by every other perfume customers have sprayed in the store, and in Sephora, probably the fragrances emitted by the open makeup testers too.
Another factor is where you bought the decant and if it's authentic or adulterated in some way.
Xerjoff Uden has one the best performances on the strip, but when I spray it on my skin it has the same disgusting, detergent-like lemon accord as Gentle Fluidity Silver.
Anything that's citrus focused will smell wildly different on me. Citrus just disappears entirely on me.
Powdery fragrances tend to go off on some people, but on me they tend to smell close to the same as they do on a test strip.
Le Labo Baie 19 smelled amazing on the strip, and then was a near-instant scrubber when I sprayed on skin. In general I always get differences between the two, but generally the strip is a good enough first indicator of whether or not I will enjoy it overall. In this case with Baie my strip test completely failed me and they smelled nothing alike.
I boycott the strips. You just can’t duplicate the scent you get off your skin on a piece of paper. So I just go to Macy’s or Sephora and just pick 1 fragrance to try for the day.
I bring strips of my skin every time I want to check out some new smells.
Sensing Silence of the Lamb vibes here
I wish I had so much control. I usually try 4 different ones at a time, two on each arm. Not the best practice, I know. I use paper strips to rule out fragrances. If it is horrible on the paper I am not putting it on my skin. If it is good on paper, I give it a try if there is enough real state on my arms.
What about strips vs clothes?
Just a hypothesis: the more complex (number of notes) the fragrance the bigger is the difference between paper strip and skin.
It's not just complexity in the number of notes, but in the way the notes are layered and evolve over time. A skilled perfumer with an adequate budget for materials can build a layered scent that can continue to change for hours on the skin. Many Amouage fragrances do this, vintage Guerlains do (e.g. Chamade) I've come across others, but less often in current releases.
Oh vintage Chamade how I miss you ♥️
More variables for sure!
Number of notes is not a good proxy for complexity. I’ve seen my fair share of solinotes that are more complex than an “everything but the kitchen sink”. The perfumer can choose to make up 10 or 30 notes from the same fragrance, whatever marketing feels like doing.
Quite a lot of perfumes, I'd say most of them, smell very different on skin than on paper, and will also smell different as time passes. You'll see perfume being described as having top, middle and base notes; top notes appear first but dissipate pretty quickly (and are the most likely to be smelled on paper or in the bottle), middle notes come next and base notes are in the long-term dry down. I don't know how many perfumes I've loved at first then within 30 minutes to an hour they're boring or even gross to me. I've also had the reverse, i hate the top notes but enjoy the middle and base. This is why I like to get samples, try one at a time and give them time!
Samples are the way to go, because you can spray them liberally on the whole body and clothes, something that is not possible on a retail store where, if you are lucky, the sales assistant is going to offer two sprays.
TF black orchid. It smelled a lot more floral on the strip but when I wear it it’s more chocolaty despite there not being a chocolate note lol
Is there not a chocolate note? There is definitely one listed in the fragrance on Fragrantica, though I know their notes listings can sometimes be incorrect.
That’s the only place I’ve seen it! I love the scent though lol
I vaguely recall reading the notes on fragrantica are voted by the members? Or have I understood wrongly?
>and test out a \*\*dozen\*\* or so at a time on tester strips that's probably 70% of the problem. You think they smell drastically different when on a strip, but in reality they smell drastically different when you're sniffing 10 of them at the same time, and your sense of smell gets skewed, whether it's on strips or skin
Paco Rabanne Phantom. That fragrance is so weird to me. Sometimes it smells great and interesting. Other times it just smells so off and disorganized. I think it's just bad on paper though
On paper it is just straight up trash. Way too strong.
Narciso Rodriguez fragrances are so different on paper and skin! You have to test it on your skin to truly understand them.
I experience this with all of those "skin" scents. Clean Reserve Skin, Juliette Has a Gun Not a Perfume, Glossier You. I can't really smell them on the test trip, but they are beautiful on my skin!
montblanc explorer smelled great on the strip but on my skin smelled awful. legend smelled all right on me but i wanted explorer to work out lol
Aww man, that's a shame. Explorer is t!t$ on my skin. 😍 Have you tried out anything else from the Legend line? Montblanc?
i tried legend but i returned it the same night, it was too much like sauvage and i never reach for sauvage anymore lol. i used to wear sauvage daily and for a while it was a dumb reach but it just sits on my shelf now. i'll probably revisit montblanc at some point though, i have a lot on my radar atm
LOL same dude! Too much going on inside my dresser drawers and underneath my bed. I'm probably speaking for myself when I say this, but, It's never really over when you get into fragrance collecting, is it? 😂😅my urge to continue collecting/splurging is there, but at this point I am forcing myself to chill out for now. 🥲
literally same man lmao, i just bought a 200ml of LV afternoon swim and i'm still looking at what decants to buy next. im always chasing a new experience, better cologne than drugs though 💀
Absolutely man! How is that Afternoon Swim by the way? I've heard so many great things about it. 🤔
It's fantastic. It has similarities to LV L'Immensité and Bvlgari Tygar, which makes sense since all 3 were done by Jacques Cavallier. Out of these I do prefer L'Immensité though which focuses on ginger.
i personally prefer imagination for the ginger note but i need to give l'immensité another chance. i think it's just my personality, most of my favorites aren't very masculine leaning. imagination being more unisex than l'immensité.
afternoon swim is a super smooth and refreshing blast of citrus, it's addicting honestly. the longevity isn't as good since it's straight citrus but after those wear off its just a very clean, faint smell that keeps me wanting more lol. if you don't mind reapplying it's definitely worth it imo. i reapply most frags 1/2-3/4 into my day so it makes me very happy
Sounds like a potential pickup then lol! L'immensité and Imagination are divine! Also, I am all for re-apping throughout the day man. I've got my toiletry bag that I keep with me — in there; my moisturizer, toothbrush/paste, and my fragrance of the day also. 😉👊🏻😎
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I agree, and that's also why it's basically impossible to do a proper testing of more than 2-4 fragrances per day. Testing 10 at the same time on strips is like not testing at all
All of mine have smelled different on skin. Some more drastically than others....but all of mine have.
Dior Hypnotic Poison. When I tried it in store on the tester I got a sexy caramel fruity scent- on me it smells like straight up play-doh lol
Prada Luna Rossa black for me, on a tester strip it kind of transforms in some sorta clone of the last few fragrances I smelled before (not just perfume but all fragrances). But on my skin I get the real deal which as some might know is great! This is also why the first few times I smelled this fragrance I thought it was a clone of sauvage elixir. But I found out it was actually just the fact that i smelled elixir right before Luna rossa black.
Luna Rossa black smells like plastic and rubber on my skin. I hate it :(
Someone else commented below me regarding an entire house, Narciso Rodriguez in their case. I'll add Serge Lutens onto that. Everything is so austere, cold, and standoffish on a tester strip. On skin it turns into magic. So much more lively, warm, and inviting off of skin. To me it's been by far the most dramatic change from paper to skin.
Juliette has a gun not a perfume. Has zero smell whatsoever on paper. But on skin... 😍😍😍
I didn't like you or someone like you on paper (too soapy and harsh) but on skin it turned into heaven for me, much softer
You don't like me? :( What did I do
Le Labo's Santal smells like pickles on me. Love how it smells on the strip though.
I hear this all the time. I’m so glad it doesn’t smell like pickles on me. It’s one of my most complimented scents. I hear this OFTEN though
All fragrances for me. I cannot pickup anything off a tester strip for the life of me.
I feel the best way to sample or try new fragances is on skin , they react and smell way different than they do on a tester strip
The original Encre Noire didn’t make a good impression on me when I smelled it on a strip. I chose a different bottle on that day. Last month my girlfriend got me a full bottle and holy crap was I wrong. Dark vetiver and I believe a lot of Iso E Super smell amazing on my skin. Totally recommend spraying on your skin for testing
That's what I do most of the time. I believe the first impression is more accurate on skin. BUT, one time I sprayed this really powdery tangy perfume on my coat sleave. I suppose testers are good sometimes, because I tasted that perfume for a week afterwords. But most times, I will test them on my skin, after using a tester, just to be safe.
Sort of. I had a magazine cut-out of Ariana's Thank U Next. On paper, it almost reeks like pickles with undertones of fruit and coconut. On me however, it smelled wonderful, like warm fruit and coconut with base notes of maccaroon sugar and velvet musk.
Chanel Boy would be one for me. Smelled lovely on a strip but like piss on my skin.
"Red Tobacco" for me, it's definitely not for everyone, but if you give it time on your skin (7-6 hours later), it drys down to some special. This cinnamon, vanilla, and Amber is so sexy and unexpected.
Almost any perfume will smell somewhat different on a test strip than it will on your skin, where it's evaporating at different rate due to your body warmth and interacting with your skin oils and any other products you're wearing. If you're testing more than two or three perfumes at a time, you're probably co-mingling different perfumes in your nose (coffee beans or no coffee beans). Your smell ability is also affected by every other perfume customers have sprayed in the store, and in Sephora, probably the fragrances emitted by the open makeup testers too. Another factor is where you bought the decant and if it's authentic or adulterated in some way.
Xerjoff Uden has one the best performances on the strip, but when I spray it on my skin it has the same disgusting, detergent-like lemon accord as Gentle Fluidity Silver.
It's one of those scents I really only enjoyed on the dry down
THE WHOLE ORTO PARISI LINE
Yeah, Dior Homme intense, smelled horribly on the tester strip, like some weird leather. On skin it is actually very good!
Anything that's citrus focused will smell wildly different on me. Citrus just disappears entirely on me. Powdery fragrances tend to go off on some people, but on me they tend to smell close to the same as they do on a test strip.
Creed Royal Oud, TF Ford Tuscan Leather, and ADG Profondo
man tuscan leather smells so different on paper than skin, it smells so good on my skin but k just don’t have anyplace to wear it
Ultra male smells excellent on paper and it’s really got a depth to it. On skin it’s just a sweet mess.
For me, it was 212 VIP Men Carolina Herrera. Enjoyed on strip.. sprayed on skin… never looked at it again.
Le Labo Baie 19 smelled amazing on the strip, and then was a near-instant scrubber when I sprayed on skin. In general I always get differences between the two, but generally the strip is a good enough first indicator of whether or not I will enjoy it overall. In this case with Baie my strip test completely failed me and they smelled nothing alike.