Many people wrote to me, in addition to the comments section of the blog, to comment and add their own take on what proved to be a not so
underrated perfume,
White Linen by Estee Lauder which I reviewed the other day. I realized that there are some who are better disposed to actually wearing it, instead of just admiring it from the bottle and rarely on skin. as well as there are those who want to complement their aldehydics collection with one of the brightest and sparkliest in the genre. There are also newbies who would like to own some to conduct their own learning experiments.
For all these reasons I decided to giveaway my own
White Linen fragrance bottle (withholding a small quantity for my reference and wearing, about 10ml) to one eager reader who is interested.
To be eligible, please share with us in the comments section how you feel about "difficult" fragrances or fragrances you admire very much on others but rarely wear yourself. Draw is open internationally till Friday midnight. Winner to be announced sometime in the weekend. So, fire away!
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For me, perfume is a lot like reading. I like to be challenged, and to discover something new--or oftentimes old. I like to wear perfume that others might find difficult to wear. I am an Aquarius; I like to go against the grain!
ReplyDeleteI haven´t any problems wearing vintage/ old scents unless they have turned. On the contrary, almost all currently released perfumes say nothing to me (I mean commercial scents).
ReplyDeleteMitsouko is one of those perfumes that I wish worked better with my skin chemistry. I love the backstory, the spice, and the aura of mystery and romance that Mitsouko carries with it. Alas, I don't think that I'm enough of a complicated or alluring woman to pull it off. Maybe in a few years?
ReplyDeleteI have always had an affinity for difficult scents. I fell in love with (and bought) Le Feu D'Issey and YSL's M7 on first sniff, and I have a ridiculous collection of Serge Lutens scents, the odder the better — Miel de Bois is a longtime favourite along with the baffling Chergui. Even scents that now seem mainstream were odd in their day: anybody around in the mid-eighties will remember just how bizarre and out-there Poison was perceived to be (starting with the name).
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm wearing Clinique Wrappings, which is like eighties White Linen only more so — brighter, fiercer, and much stranger.
There *are* smells which I find repugnant and disgusting, but no one put those in a perfume anyway! I've personally never found a fragrance which I did not like; it is just a matter of matching the right mood with the right fragrance, that is all.
ReplyDeleteF.K.S., that's how I feel too, and you said it more clearly than I did!
DeleteWell, I find vintage Mitsouko difficult for very personal reasons, mainly familial-historical reasons. Let me explain. When I was a little girl, I had a great aunt who had a Mitsouko from the 40 if not earlier. The exact date, I don't know. She belonged to my dad's side of the family: all tall and gorgeous. I was very little and very afraid of this people. She kept a couple of this bottles as relics and she would wear them when she came to visit and I just adored the smell. I adored it then and I adore it now in its vintage self. However, I cannot wear it. It smells bad on me. I can put a tiny drop on a handkerchief and smell it for hours but the moment it reaches my skin it doesn't feel right. This was back in the 80's. Now, after 2 decades, I am afraid of trying vintage Mitsouko as well as its reformulated self. This fear sounds ridiculous but I, on the one hand, don't want to love a vintage Mitsouko now because what am I going to do about it! On the other hand, Mitsouko is plagued with images of a very sad childhood so I fear Mitsouko will create some kind of cruelly nostalgic portal of memory there. I know all of this sounds random but perfumes are what make my day. I cannot feel entirely present if I am not wearing a soft scented aura around me (or a powerful one, it all depends). So Mitsouko will for ever be a very hard fragrance that reminds me of highly stylish beautiful times on the surface but really sad, ugly ones lying underneath. Do I sound random? A bit, uh?
ReplyDeleteI've yet to come to terms with the Guerlain greats. I admire their beauty, but I have never felt drawn to wearing them. It's a bit sad really; but it keeps me humble. And it is such a pleasure to smell them on people who do suit them!
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ReplyDeleteI don't think I have tried anything that I find malignant. I usually go for samples of what I think or believe will suit my tastes and hardly ever found something too difficult with the exception perhaps of Aomassai (PG). I got it. I smelled in on the tube it was amazing. I smelled it on someone else. It was amazing on me, however, it is not bad, it is, well, difficult. I love it but not on me. Does that make sense? My skin amplifies the distortions to the point it becomes too mental for my taste.
ReplyDeleteChanel NO:5 was difficult for me but not anymore
ReplyDeleteI still struggle to find the beauty in Clinique Aromatics Elixir and Estee Lauder Youth Dew
I never had problems with the classic ES White Linen.I appreciate this very "stinging" scent but more than that I love its flanker, White Linen Light Breeze
Thanks for the draw :)
Phanie C
My tendency is to force myself to wear a difficult perfume in order to learn to appreciate it. As was said above, Aromatics Elixir still gives me a hard time, and an almost intellectual pleasure.
ReplyDeleteA difficult scent? For me it offers the chance to think about why I find it so - is it my personal preferences? Would I find it so if I had come across it without any knowledge or am I reading things into my interaction? We all seem to have difficults, but different ones.
ReplyDeleteI find the first comment, comparing with reading, interesting - there we also find great variation in who finds what difficult, which is again based on a wide variety of factors: I love Virginia Woolf and Diana Wynne Jones, but find George Eliot dull & the Game of Thrones stuff nasty - it's a combination of personal preferences blended with what we think others see, and is only a problem when someone starts claiming there is any concept of right or wrong involved.
Mitsouko is the one that smells terrible on me. When I first discovered the PS Mitsouko and Bandit and Jicky were mentioned a lot. So I ordered samples and Mitsouko was terrible on me but Bandit was awesome. Before then it was Joy and Chanel No.5. Is there a theme here? I'm here in the middle U.S. and waiting for White Linen weather. Consider me entered for the draw.
ReplyDeleteFragrances I admire but rarely wear are usually the ones with monster sillage, like Poison. I love rich and powerful perfumes but it's often difficult to wear them outside, for fear of disdain from other people. Of course, there is also a danger of suffocation and headache if you wear just a tad too much. :)
ReplyDeleteA fragrance I find difficult to wear but wonderful nonetheless is Atelier Cologne's Vanille Insensee - it's REALLY something to rave about, but SO impossible to sport on my skin. Thanks for the draw!
ReplyDeleteGenerally, if I admire something on someone else, I also want to try it on me, and so far I have not encountered anything that I've liked on another that I haven't liked on myself. I am very open to any type of fragrance, and there's very little that I would say I genuinely don't like or find too difficult. I suppose I am still getting used to strong pine or cedar notes. Thank you for this chance!
ReplyDeleteBeing a 'fumeaholic I quite often put one safe perfume on for work and then swap to a For Private Consumption humdinger when I get home. ;) I love big hitters but I try to be considerate of others. I know how much I resent it when I have to suffer through someone else's overbearing perfume choice.
ReplyDeletePS. I have an old White Linen mini, and yes I do love it. A spray would be most welcome. I promise to keep the windows shut.
Thank you for the draw. I love all perfumes, and will try any one at least a few times to see how it fares on my skin at different times. I absolutely cannot wear Cliniques's Aromatic Elixir, and I have attempted it through the years many time. Although I love the smell of Chanel No. 5, it is not one of my favorites to wear at all. Chanel No. 19 also, I have never liked. I lean more towards the orientals and prefer heavier scents. Perfumes of the '80s were always my favorites!
ReplyDeleteDNEM,
ReplyDeleteI admire White Linen for its uncompromising approach. The most 'brutal' representation of aldehydes ever, they obliterate everything else. Technically it is very good, but I probably prefer it in the bottle than on me. I'm not the keenest on aldehydes, still I can wear it without problem.
I can wear any 'difficult' perfume. There are a few I'd rather not though. The most repugnant was Secretions Magnifique! Although I have a theory that it could be useful in moderation or layering.
Thank you for the draw! White Linen is one of my shape shifters. Like Mme Rochas I wear it when I want to be me in a different, somehow more powerful version.
ReplyDeleteI love the thrill of unknown scents. Good, bad, off - doesn't matter. Much like travelling. It's the expierence I am after.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the draw! White Linen is one of my shape shifters. Like Mme Rochas I wear it when I want to be me in a different, somehow more powerful version.
I love the thrill of unknown scents. Good, bad, off - doesn't matter. Much like travelling. It's the expierence I am after.
16 years ago, when I was 16 and my mother gave me a tiny bottle of Chanel No 19 edt, all the chypres, aldehydes and thick orentals were difficult to me. Cabochard, Rive Gauche, Knowing, Paloma Picasso, Vent Vert, Diorella, Youth Dew, Dolce Vita...They all seemed not right for me, none fitted me...until I dabbed the Chanel. It was a twist. However, I carried on spraying light florals and citruses like Eternity and Eternity Moment, CK One, Acqua di Gio, Eau de Dolce Vita, Happy and Happy Heart for a long time. I actually started falling down the perfume rabbit hole 6 years ago, when I met a bunch of perfumistas, who sprayed me with Mitsouko and Aromatics elixir on a hot summer day fume brunch and there it all began...
ReplyDeleteThank you for the draw! I know White Linen from afar and I would be pleased to explore it along with my other 'soapy monsters'!
In terms of perfumes I respect but cannot wear, I should say that I love Dzing! and Muscs Koublai Khan on a man, but my skin turns them filthy, nauseating and barnish.
I am never neutral about fragrance on others, although in my opinion a compliment is always acceptable but any other sort of comment is rude. I recall giving the man who drives the bus one of my children goes to work on a big hug a few weeks ago. He had so much fragrance on (it was his birthday; hence the hug ... and the fragrance too, I figure!), I had to change my T shirt after I came inside. It was a really strong smell!
ReplyDeleteYou can love the people who surround you in your world without loving their perfume, unless they live with you and are a parr of you own family, I think!
xox jean
I am never neutral about fragrance on others, although in my opinion a compliment is always acceptable but any other sort of comment is rude. I recall giving the man who drives the bus one of my children goes to work on a big hug a few weeks ago. He had so much fragrance on (it was his birthday; hence the hug ... and the fragrance too, I figure!), I had to change my T shirt after I came inside. It was a really strong smell!
ReplyDeleteYou can love the people who surround you in your world without loving their perfume, unless they live with you and are a parr of you own family, I think!
xox jean
I own a fair number of difficult fragrances, and, despite not wearing them frequently, I tend to hang onto them for a year or two at minimum. I want to give myself enough time and space to learn to appreciate them. Eventually, though, I usually end up selling them back to some other perfume lover at a low price on eBay--just enough so that i can buy a sample of my next challenging perfume!
ReplyDeleteThat said, I've actually never smelled White Linen, so please enter me in the draw!
First, thanks for your generosity in holding the draw!
ReplyDeleteI have admired all types of Oud on others - always asking, "What are you wearing? You smell delicious!", but I cannot wear it myself. It doesn't matter which house it's from, or the concentration - it simply does not mix well with my body chemistry. And yet I adore it on others.
Recently i discovered putain des palaces, which I find very beautiful, sweet, easy to wear, comforting scent. But some reviews really shocked me. They are not many not even the majority but they feel and talk so strongly about it that leaves me wondering. Do I want to create that impression even to one person? I don't mind to wear a perfume that doesn't please the majority but being offensive in that way is out of the question. The problem is I can't even detect that kind of offensive smell, some they went so far as describe it " dirty private parts smell". Is it possible for my body chemistry to transform this monster others describe? Or my nose fails me?
ReplyDeleteI actually like White Linen and have worn it during our summers here. I've always thought that personal body chemistry has a great deal to do with whether or not a fragrance smells good on one person or another. That's why one must sample. Please include me in the draw and thank you for your generosity.
ReplyDeleteP said: WL is my absolute favorite. I have been having a love affair with floral aldehydes for years. I also love many unusual fragrances, like Paloma Picasso, Magie Noire, etc. I like the unconventional, because they are unconventional. I seem to have the chemistry for them; I always get complements when I wear them. They seem to choose me.
ReplyDeletePlease include me in the draw. Thank you so much
ReplyDeleteMy mother is a woman for whom almost every fragrance is difficult. She is just very sensitive and sometimes allergic to scents of all kinds. But I've always been one, even in childhood, who loved all kinds of scents from perfume to candles, soap, etc. Difficult to wear meant try, try again to me. I consider getting to know and love a perfume similar to getting to know and love a food. Don't give up too soon or you might miss a treasure. Thanks for the offer. Judy
ReplyDeleteFor me, i think difficult perfumes are perhaps a stage that i dont have enough confidence or perhaps experience to jump into. I have started to love the smell of orientals. For example, the first time i smelled Shalimar, i was certain i would not like it. But as the scent developed, i couldnt stop smelling it because it was so intriguing. My mum only wears no. 5 parfum, and I guess I've always felt i am not yet like her enough to try it...i guess it is a confidence issue!
ReplyDeleteJaime
If a perfume is one that either has a lot of sillage or really seems to project from me, I just put a little less on.
ReplyDeleteThee are a couple of perfumes (Angel, Aromatic Elixir are two) that have never smelled good on me, but if I happen to walk by tester for these while shopping, sometimes I do sprit them on, to see if anything has changed (either the formula or my own thoughts on the notes).
I have always wanted to own this one and somehow never did. Maybe this is meant to be? I like it a lot, just never saw myself wearing it all the time. Then again, I have recently indulged myself and built a collection, so it's not just one scent I wear all the time.
ReplyDeleteOne fragrance which I own and find difficult to wear is Organza by Givanchy; it feels suffocating when I put it on, but love it on my clothes after I worn them for the day. Go figure….
It depends.The first time I tried the Guerlain classics, I hated them all, specially Shalimar. But I insisted, and today Shalimar is by far my most often worn scent. On the other hand, yesterday I tried La Vie est Belle and hated it, and this is one I'll never, ever revisit, because that particular style (or lack thereof) makes me anxious.
ReplyDeleteConnecting to perfumed times past through vintage and lost scents soothes my soul, brings lovely images to mind and has nothing to do with scent destroying regulations.
ReplyDeleteWhite Linen sounds wonderful.
Thank you for the opportunity!
There are perfumes that I absolutely adore on others but I can't wear them easily myself. Those perfumes need what I call, taming. Or maybe it's the other way round, and I should tame myself in order to be able to wear them... It doesn't really matter. What matters is that those "difficult" perfumes eventually turn out to be everlasting loving relationships. True love. One is Aromatics Elixir. One more is Mitsouko. Only White Linen perfetly matches the triptych of intoxicating magic. The Enchanted Forest, Baking Melomakarona for Christmas (that's Mitsouko for me!) and Scintillating Crispiness -It's like bitting an Aperol-Campari ice cube!---Sophia for Constantinople
ReplyDeleteI remember many years ago now having one of those magazine inserts (on paper) with White Linen on it.
ReplyDeleteI left it by my bedside because I thought it had a most wonderful and light fragrance. Funny how the real thing was really nothing like that test strip from the magazine!
But I've also learned so much more about fragrance in the ensuing years and know that you actually have to spray the scent on your skin and live with it for awhile to know how it will work with your chemistry.
Pleasures is one that I have problems with. I can't abide it but I sure would give White Linen a go.
Difficult for me are some flowers, candied, sweetened flowers make me dizzy. M. Micallef Ylang comes to mind right now.
ReplyDeleteI am new to perfumes and still trying to train my nose. I love Mitsouko and it goes well on my skin, but find L'heure Bleue hard to like. I also wanted to love Arpege, but I find it wears me. I don't seem to be able to wear aldehydes very well, as they never seem to warm up at all. The whole skin chemistry thing is intriguing!
ReplyDelete