Perfume favourites and why?

My all time favourite Elysium by Clarins was discontinued about twenty years ago and I've never found another I like so don't often wear any at all. I do have a bottle of Space NK Happy which I can tolerate provided I just use the tiniest dab.
I absolutely loathe heavy, sickly scents like Poison, Obsession etc or any Estée Lauder.
I often prefer men's scents, still like Aramis but don't know any of the newer ones.
I'm tempted by the Provence ones mentioned by MissFoodlove and if it's a mistake they seem cheap enough.

My favourite is: "After the Rain" by Arran Aromatics. (It's made in Scotland.) DH loves me wearing "Sunflowers" by Elizabeth Arden, and always notices when I wear it. (Looking at some of the GN choices here, I think I must be a bit of a cheap date!)

When younger I used to use more exotic (FEMME) and possibly more chemical perfumes. Now I use Neals yard Rose oil which is very natural and I wouldnt leave home without it.

Clinique's Aromatics Elixir

Jo malone Red Roses. Been using it for about 8 years and everyone always compliments me on the bouquet!
We went to the Royal Albert Hall for an orchestral concert last year and shared a box with a lovely couple here from the USA, he was from the Embassy. His wife made a point of asking for the name of my perfume after commenting on it as I sat down!!
What’s nice is that my family all associate the smell of Roses with me.... let’s hope that continues as I get older!!!!

I used to use Je Reviens aeons ago! Then for ages it was Givenchy lll but they stopped making it. Since then it's been Chanel no. 5 all the way. It's expensive but recently ordered some online because mine was getting low and our birthday trip to Ghent had to be cancelled so no Duty Free. It really made me happy when it arrived.

Does our sense of smell change as we get older? I think mine has.

The first perfume I ever wore as a teenager was Charlie. It came in a blue bottle and I felt very grown up wearing it. I then progressed to Yves St Laurent Rive Gauche and when in my late 20's I loved Clinique Aromatics.

On a shopping trip with my daughter before lockdown we were in John Lewis and I fancied buying one of my old perfumes out of nostalgia. I tried both the Clinique and the Yves St Laurent and both made me heave! Why did I love them so much in my youth, yet now they make my stomach churn?

Now my favourites include Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel, Black Opium by Yves St Laurent and La Vie est Belle by Lancome xx

Unfortunately I can’t wear perfume because of various allergic reactions, although I do love the waft of perfume from others. However, if I even get a whiff of Estée Lauder Youth Dew you won’t see me for dust. Within a matter of minutes of being near somebody using this my eyelids swell up so dramatically that I can hardly see, and for a couple of days after I look like I’ve been boxing.

My first perfume ever was Sea Jade by Yardley. I loved the smell of it and have always since gone for similar fragrances. About 2 years ago my DH and I went to a place called Oakham Treasures in Bristol with our Dial a Ride group. It is laid out like old time shops with original tins and packets etc. We came across a bottle of Sea Jade in its original box. The smell transported me back 50 years to my first boyfriend and reminded me of a dance I had been to with friends. Smell is such a powerful memory!

I’ve posted about this before - but I love Chanel no19, which my partner first bought for me in about 1977, when he could I’ll afford it.

I still wear it, often friends and family members buy it for me, knowing the story. I have a bottle on the dressing table currently in use and another in the drawer for when the current one is used. I love the fresh, green, citrusy fragrance.

My favourite used to be Madame Rochas; then a few years ago I was given a bottle ... and it had changed! It smelt familiar, but different. I think manufacturers are moving to synthetics and not every one is exactly like the original.
Now I like Jo Malone, and sometimes wear two together.
I also love Philosykos (sp) which is fig-scented.
I think it is good not to wear too much, and not to reapply; our noses get used to our scent and kind of blank it out, so to add more may make us unpleasantly over-scented.

Years ago I told everyone I had all the 'granny' presents I needed. (Drawers and drawersful in fact, what hasn't been recycled to charity shops!) But I would always welcome perfume. I didn't say which, some of my family are well off and some aren't. I wear one every day - my favourites are Chanel No 5, Joy, Miss Dior, Angel, Angel Muse. The unopened are in a deep dark place under my woolens, occasionally dipped into for a friend's birthday. Perfume really is the gift that keeps on giving all through the day and into the night!

Whatever my son buys me for Christmas & birthdays- he works at Gatwick airport at times & is friendly with the girls in the duty free lounge so he gets a good discount & I get the benefit! I have a lot of perfume which I love as I can wear something gorgeous every day!

CK’s Eternity and Eau D’Issey are ones I love and keep going back to. Also discovered Jo Malone’s Basil and Neroli which I tend to keep for best or when I need to lift my spirits a bit.

Red Door by Elizabeth Arden

Comme une Evidence by Yves Rocher - now sadly unavailable in the UK.

For evenings Stella by Stella McCartney, Voile D'Ambre by Yves Rocher - again now unavailable in the UK.

I also use dupe perfumes from the FM range which are numbered - No.1 which smells like Ange Ou Demon by Givenchy, and No. 433 which smells like Little Black Dress by Guerlain. They last longer than the real thing, you can't tell the difference between them and the originals and they're a quarter of the price.

Dioressence in the summer and Cabochard in the winter.....and matching talc.

Chanel no 5 smells too sweet on me! I still have the bottle given to me by a sailor-boyfriend many years ago.

"First" is a perfume I love for glamourous evenings but I think the formula has changed. It used to last for hours and change to a warm musky scent but quite overpowering when first put on..

Aqui de Parma rose perfume is gorgeous and my go-to day perfume. I have never tried Jo Malone so those may be next on my list for trying out.

Oh my daughter got me the M&S New York, the xmas after I'd been to visit New York, but i didn't know who made it.its very nice for an 'every day' perfume.

When I was a young student it was always Rive Gauche, but my all-time favorite was the not-too-expensive Eau de Gucci, which unfortunately they stopped producing (why do they do that?). I wear Estee Lauder's Beautiful, these days, but it's not the same!

I'm wearing Cashmere Mist by Donna Karan ,it was a christmas gift form my daughter ,next in line is the Prada Candy from my son I've still got perfumes from the christmas before last so I'm working my way through them.
The first one I bought for myself was Atkinsons A 'Toi .I loved it and wore it for a few years but I wore the Aqua Manda my mum bought me daily ,she thought it was more appropriate for a 15 year old.I bought my oldest GD Aqua Manda last year and she loves it too

I dont have just one fave though,i like to ring the changes.

Lady Million by Paco Rabanne,it's just gorgeous. And why Chanel no.5 is so popular I don't understand. Chanel No. 19 for me!

I remember when i was a lot younger& my elder sister used to buy Aqua Manda- when it was out originally,a lovely strong orange smell,but then it disappeared for a long while,and now its back, but smells different.

Favourite of all time is Chanel no.5. I’ve always got some of that. I’ll also wear Must de Cartier and Youth Dew, Estee Lauder.

However day to day I like floral scents and in particular rose or lavender. For these I’ll go toL’Occitane, Yardley and even M&S.

I have 2 favourites and both are Estée Lauder. In the summer (& when I go in holiday in the winter months....if I’m lucky) I wear Bronze Goddess. It reminds me of the sun and definitely lifts my mood. One day I was wearing it and I was in the queue at the M&S cafe when suddenly the young lady serving shouted out “who’s wearing Bronze Goddess”. I obviously had to admit it was me and she said it was one of her favourites. The other perfume is Pleasures and I use that in the winter. Coco Mademoiselle is one I wear very occasionally on a special occasion.