Perfume doesn't seem to last

Oh Jo Malone perfumes are lovely. My son and Dil gave me Pomegranete Noir for Christmas.

I must be one of the few people that doesn't get the general love for Jo Malone perfumes. On me they all smell like cat wee.

I have at last found my perfect scent, from an independent perfumer (is that the correct term?) who uses pure ingredients and, most important of all, is completely cruelty free. The first time I put on my favourite it was like coming home.

Loving this thread! Well done overthehill! As for Jo Malone - have tried a couple now and find that they wear off in no time and no one can smell them on me, but strangely as I have now started to leave it on the shelf it is starting to smell stronger. Just wondering do perfumes 'mature' (I always thought the opposite)? My favourites are Dolce Vita (my son always buys this for me on Christmas/birthdays when I run out), Youth Dew (in a moment of nostalgia I bought a bottle, but it doesn't smell the same as when I was in my 20s), Aromatics Elixir and the new (to me!) Flower Bomb by Viktor Rolfe. I spray on the nape of my neck, carotid and radial pulses and my decolletage! Apparently, one should spray on all pulse points on your body (not your clothes) as the smell mixes with your own body chemistry to smell unique on you. On your clothing the perfume wears you, not the other way round!

Oh thank you, nightowl, I thought it was just me. My son and his partner bought me some Jo Malone cologne for Christmas and I thought exactly as you do. The one they got for me would, I think, smell OK on a man, but I'd rather be identified as a woman. Although it's very kind of my family to buy perfume for me, I'd really rather choose my own as their choices very often don't suit me - though my sister did get me some duty free Chanel no 5 for which I was very grateful!

sometimes you are so used to the smell you don't notice it much but other people do

Now I have problems with Chanel 5 - within five minutes it smells like carbolic soap on me!

Oznan what a good idea im going to try the vaseline trick tomorrow

Strange how what smells lovely on one person smells like something the cat brought in on another! My neighbour was wearing Clinique Aromatiques which I thought was lovely, so when next at the airport I tried it - absolutely disgusting on me and couldn't believe it was the same perfume. On the way home, I sidled up to the Clinique counter again and tried one called Summer Fragrance - it's absolutely me! I saw the neighbour yesterday and she commented on my perfume 'Lovely' she said, 'but I couldn't wear that!'

I used to like Revlon's Aquamarine which disappeared shortly after I discovered it - just my luck!

Years ago I worked the checkout in Sainsbury's and I kept smelling this awful smell. I reckoned it must be perfume but didn't know which one.

The next time if wafted round I asked the lady in question what it was, "Oh it is Poison" she said, "lots of people compliment me on it". I didn't disillusion her, but to me it smelt of damp cardboard.

My sister used to use Opium (the perfume) and tried very hard to persuade me to try it but I just knew it wouldn't suit me and the one time I did try it I was proved right. To be honest, I don't think it really suited her either, but I was tactful and didn't say so.

I don't think we really notice our own perfume after a while. Today I met DD for lunch and when she walked into the restaurant she said " you are wearing the perfume I bought you " a very expensive perfume and quite unusual but full marks to her nose because I could barely smell it by then.

I love perfume. I think it’s so cool to have a scent that adds to the ambiance of who you are, and one that people remember you by. Scent is the most powerful memory trigger.

"ambience"??
Agree with the sentiment though.

I love perfume, and think it has got weaker over the years. The only one I can still afford which does last quite well is M&S Florentyna.

My MIL always wears Clinique Aromatiques, I can't abide the smell of it

I've worn different perfumes through the years, Ma Griffe was my first, given to me by the woman whose children I babysat. I loved it but experimented with many different scents after that. I then wore Obsession for about ten years, it was very much my signature scent. I could never understand how other women varied their perfumes, every item of clothes I wore had a faint smell of Obsession. I can't wear it now, I stopped at a turning point in my life and I associate the perfume with that time.

For the past couple of years I've worn Jo Malone Red Roses, it suits me but I'm not fond of any of the others.

I use Clinique Aromatics and am always complemented on it - which scares me as I then wonder if it is too noticeable!

Love JO Malone but that doesn't last either.

My all time favourite has to be Femme by Rochas - I'm having a holiday from it at the moment and have been using on alternate days; YSL Paris; Mitsouko; Shalimar and Chanel No 5 body lotion. Love them all - perfume is my one indulgence. I went on a tour of the Molinard factory in Grasse, France a couple of years ago and was in heaven!

I think the trick is to alternate your perfumes but never to add more!

I did a tour of the Fragonard factory in Grasse a few years ago. I bought one of their pure perfumes. It was quite expensive and came in a little metal container. You only needed a tiny drop and it lasted and lasted. M&S are selling Fragonard colognes now, they smell lovely but don't last as well as the perfumes.

I love Estee Lauder, as they are mostly oil based which Probably lasts longer on the skin.

Oooh the memories this thread has brought back, thank you. I've realised that I wore different perfumes for about a decade each. (Not exclusively, I was a little bit of a scent tart so I did play away too). Ma Griffe 20s, Madame Rochas 30s, Fidji 40s, Caléche 50s and now Iris Poudré by Fréderic Malle. I can remember what each decade brought with it

In the fragrance world, there are some scents described as "skin scents."

Does anyone remember Tabu? It was the first perfume I ever used, back in the 1960's. A tiny bottle of pure sensuality. I know they tried to revive it in a cheap and cheerful way not that long ago but I thought that the later version bore no resemblance to that heady stuff back then. I THINK it had Spanish origins but I'm not sure.

I'd forgotten about Tabu, one of my first perfumes too! I can still remember the smell.
Can anyone remember Somewhere? I think it was by Avon.