A trip to London

My family and I went to London on Saturday, which was really a spur-of-the-moment decision, mainly just to get away from home and do something a little different for a change. 

London, as always, was extremely busy. Perhaps more so following the recent Jubilee celebrations. It was also the Queen's birthday, so the Trooping of the Colour was taking place down the Mall, so many surrounding roads and areas were closed off for the morning. My older child, Hannah, is currently learning about the Olympic Games and seeing as it is being held in London this year, she is also learning about famous London landmarks. Therefore we concentrated on walking past most of the famous sites, including Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and of course, the London Eye. 

One thing that always strikes me when taking children to London is how un-user-friendly the London transport systems are, particularly the Underground. I know most of the system was built in Victorian times but it is an absolute mission to get anywhere without a hassle, especially when taking along a push chair and two young kids of course. Transport issues aside, we had a great time and the children also enjoyed going to Hamleys, which is a very large toy department store on Regent Street. 

Of course, being in London meant that I had to pay a short visit to two of my favourite perfume stores, Les Senteurs and the fragrance section of Liberty. Whilst at Les Senteurs I picked up samples of the new Bex London perfumes, including SE1 and EC2. At Liberty I tried the new Annick Goutal, Nuit Etoilee, which to my mind is very good indeed. It is very green, particularly at the start and reminded me of the smell of a lush garden, while later it dried down to a fir balsam and pine accord, which fortunately did not recall bathroom cleaning products. My description probably doesn't do it justice, but it is very nice. I see that Liberty is now stocking Santal de Mysore by Serge Lutens. 

Later on I passed a House of Fraser store and purchased a bottle of Guerlain Habit Rouge, which was on special, for Fathers' Day I presume. It was a snap-decision purchase, although I should state that I have tried and enjoyed Habit Rouge for a long time now. As regular readers will know, I don't buy full bottles of perfume very often, and when I do, funnily enough they are almost always mainstream fragrances. I don't know why. I think the only non-mainstream bottles I own are Gris Clair and Tam Dao, and one could argue that Lutens and Diptyque are hardly niche perfume lines these days. Still, when I buy a perfume, I like to think that I go for quality and I really do think that Habit Rouge is an absolute classic. Even nicer is that I am highly unlikely to smell like anyone else in Tunbridge Wells, which is a good thing as far as I am concerned.

With Cymbaline in London - snifftastic

Cymbaline is a lovely lady who I've become friendly with as she has commented regularly on my blog and we've exchanged perfume samples. It also turns out that she is a Bob Dylan fan too, which is even better!

She and her friend Tanya were in London for a week's holiday recently and we agreed to meet up in London and I'd show them around the perfume 'sites', so to speak. I suppose one does not know what to expect when meeting someone for the first time, which is particularly strange when a friendship has developed over the internet. It was a first for me, but I can honestly say that Cym is as nice in the flesh as she is in cyber-world, and it turned out that Tanya was too.

I caught the train up to London and made my way over to Pimlico, meeting Cym and Tanya at their little hotel on Belgrave Road. I know the Pimlico/Victoria/Belgravia areas of London very well, having first stayed in a hostel in Victoria when my wife and I arrived for the first time in London way back in 2001. Later on, the company I worked for relocated to Victoria from Piccadilly, so I spent many a lunch hour traipsing the local streets, which coincided with the time when I first got 'into' perfume. It was just a matter of time before I discovered Les Senteurs in Elizabeth Street, not far away.

Anyway, we all walked the short distance from the hotel to Les Senteurs and spent a very enjoyable hour just sniffing and looking at what they stock. I think Cym and Tanya really enjoyed this little niche gem of a store. I know I certainly do and go back time and again. They've opened a new outlet near Marble Arch and I haven't been there yet, but I love the Belgravia branch. We sniffed so much stuff that it is hard to recall everything we tried. Tanya is a fan of leather, so I know she sampled quite a few leather fragrances, including Mona Di Orio's Cuir. Cym and Tanya must have sprayed perfume on almost every conceivable area of exposed flesh! Although my sense of smell was still not quite right on the day (still recovering from a cold) I did smell a lot too and ended up getting samples of ELDO's Rien and Antihero, MPG Iris Bleu Gris and Lorenzo Villoresi's Incensi. Cym and I also smelled the new ELDO Bijou Romantique and Fils De Dieu and Heeley's Agarwood. I have to say that none of the last three impressed me much on an initial sniff. The Agarwood in particular was very slight and to be honest, I am so over oud already, that it takes a very special oud perfume indeed to wow me.

We left Les Senteurs almost in a daze and moved on to the Amouage Boutique on Lowndes Street, not far from Harrods. Cym was very keen to visit the boutique and I must say that it is very elegant and well presented. Needless to say, it smells heavenly too. Cym ended up purchasing a solid perfume of what I think is Epic and also a cream. We also smelled the new Library Collection Opus VI. I think it is safe to say that all three of us loved it. Having tried Opus VI a few times now, I can reliably confirm that it is by far my favourite in the Library Collection and the best I have smelled from Amouage in quite some time. Its combination of dry smoky amber is potent and gorgeous. If you haven't tried it already, get your hands on a sample, I urge you!

It was lunchtime by now so we meandered over to a sandwich shop across the road from Harrods and had a quick bite to eat. Cym and Tanya found it very amusing that here in the UK most exit signs say 'Way Out' rather than 'Exit' and we also chuckled over some other British peculiarities and turns of phrase. We had a good chat about where they come from in Washington State. One thing we definitely seem to have in common is the weather!

After lunch we went into that curious temple of kitsch and style that is Harrods. After climbing about six flights of stairs we eventually made our way into Roja Dove's Haute Perfumerie. Again, I think I can safely say that we were in awe - so much good and rare stuff is on display here that it felt like a pilgrimage to me. A revelation to me was when Cym asked me to dab on Onda Parfum Extrait by Vero Profumo. Wowza! What a bomb of a fragrance and strong too. So strong that I still had it on my skin 24 hours later, but what a stunning perfume, so animalic and complex. Cym also steered me to trying Invasion Barbare by Parfums MDCI. Again, I liked it very much. I haven't tried much by MDCI but this is great. By this point we had tried so many perfumes that I honestly can't recall what else we looked at, but it was a fabulous experience.

We were so 'perfumed out' by now that we decided our last stop would be Ormonde Jayne's boutique in Mayfair, so we caught a tube to Green Park and on to the Royal Arcade. When we walked into OJ, it was empty downstairs and silent, save for the tinkling bell as we entered. We stood there and were immediately met with the distinctive OJ house note, coming no doubt from the many products on display. We heard a voice shout out from upstairs that she was coming down and soon were met by an exuberant and excitable short lady, who very charmingly started to explain the perfumes to us. Although I am sure that between us we had no space to spray, the lady began to spray us with Orris Noir, Zizan and Isfarkand and explained a bit more about her perfumes. It was only at that point that we all clicked that this was no sales assistant, but Linda Pilkington herself, the owner and creator of OJ! I am not someone who has met any perfumers, so it was a real treat to meet Linda. The thing that struck us most was how humble and gracious she was and she spent close on half an hour talking to us about where we come from, her perfumes and how they are made and sourced (only briefly of course - I doubt she would give away too many house secrets). All I can say is thank you Linda for your time and treating us like we were the most important people in your life for that short time. Charmingly, Linda had to dash, as she was about to receive a parking ticket!

And so ended our perfume extravaganza. I took Cym and Tanya through the streets of Soho to a pub, where we had a pint of good English Beer, while the rain pelted down outside as evening approached. Over a beer we chatted about lots of different things, including music and Bob Dylan, of course!

We headed back to Charing Cross Station, where I was to catch my train home. I was sad to say goodbye to Cym and Tanya, even though we had only just met really. I could have spent a few days with them. As I made my way home that evening, I ruminated on the day's events and couldn't help feeling that perfume fanatics are some of the nicest people out there.

Cym and Tanya, it was lovely meeting you in person and I sincerely hope we will get the opportunity to meet again in the not too distant future.

A visit to Les Senteurs, and some samples

I was in London for work today, and being not too far from Elizabeth Street, where Les Senteurs is located (their original store; the new one is located not far from Marble Arch near Oxford Street), I decided to pay a quick visit. As is always the case, in my experience, the service was impeccable and I was assisted by a lovely young lady, who spent a good twenty minutes running through some of their perfumes and recently arrived stock. She also provided me with some generous samples, a lovely feature of the store, whose owners know and realise that it is not all about the sale; build up a satisfied customer base and loyalty, and they will return time and time again. What I like about Les Senteurs is that their staff are always happy to talk about perfume for the sake and love of it, and for the most part they are extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic. If you haven't been here before, I strongly recommend a visit.

So, the samples I acquired this time are:

• ELDO - Jasmin et Cigarette
• Lorenzo Villoresi - Patchouli (does anyone blog about LV anymore?)
• Parfumerie Generale - L'eau Rare Matale
• Caron Nuit de Noel
• Mona Di Orio - Oud
• Heeley - Verveine Eugenie

I am quite excited to try these. I smelled them all on paper and they are great, but obviously on skin will be the acid test. Have any of you tried these, and if so, what is your take on them?

Image credit - http://www.apetogentleman.com/

A Monday visit to London

I had to be in the City of London this morning for work. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take, but in the end I finished what I had to do and instead of heading straight back to Tunbridge Wells, I decided to call in on my previous colleagues, who are based close to Victoria Station. I haven't seen them since I left the job, more than three and a half years ago, so it was great to see them all again. I never left under strained circumstances, so there is no baggage here, which made it much easier and nicer. I think they were surprised to see me, as I arrived unannounced. Although I have moved on a lot in the three years or so, I found myself feeling slightly emotional seeing them and the office again and we had a good chuckle as we relived some good times. Although to outsiders these things would appear mundane, such as some of the Christmas lunches we had, who went on the coffee run and who of our ex colleagues were the most boring, etc, it was fun to reflect on past times. I felt a bit sad as I left - I've moved on to a different life, but they are all still working in the same place, doing the same thing...

Seeing as I was but a stone's throw away, I decided to also pop into Les Senteurs on Elizabeth Street. Recently I wrote about how I was disappointed at how much their samples have increased in price, but I'm glad to say that they are just as happy to provide you with free samples if you do drop by. I managed to get samples of Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier's Ambre Precieux, ELDO's Like This and Tom of Finland, Andy Tauer's Pentachords Auburn and Parfumerie Generale's Bois Blond.

There was a lot more I would have liked to take with me, but one doesn't want to take advantage too much. I saw the new Mona di Orio Oud and, interestingly, some car fragrances from Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier, which are wonderfully packaged and I thought were simply new perfumes until I was informed otherwise.

Another visit to Les Senteurs, and some samples

Following on from my last post, as I mentioned, I spent the day in London with my family, but also managed a short visit to Les Senteurs in Elizabeth Street, Belgravia. I've gone on quite a bit about this niche perfume store in the past, and my opinion hasn't changed. If you want personal, unhurried service, friendly and knowledgeable staff, and great perfumes, then you can do a hell of a lot worse than pay a visit to this perfume institution.

On Saturday the store was busier than I have found it in the past, so I took my time and leisurely tried a few perfumes on paper that I haven't tried in the past. I always feel so good coming here. There's an atmosphere about this shop that just feels 'right'. It's hard to describe, but it feels a perfume shop for perfume lovers, owned and staffed in turn by perfume lovers. I asked for some samples and a lovely lady decanted six samples for me without hesitation. I always feel slightly guilty doing this, but Les Senteurs positively encourage you to go away with samples. I think unlike the large department stores, they realise that by building up customer loyalty and a client relationship, and giving you ample opportunity to try a perfume properly that costs sometimes well over a hundred pounds, they are more likely to make a sale in the long term, and have repeat business. I should mention that I don't just take the piss at Les Senteurs - I have bought from them before and regularly purchase samples online, which they currently charge £3 a sample for. Which is not unreasonable, considering the vials contain a very generous quantity of perfume.

The samples I got on this occasion are:

Molinard - Chypre Orient

Frederic Malle - Angeliques sous la Pluie

Parfumerie Generale - Cedre Sandaraque

Andy Tauer - Eau d'Epices

Frapin et Cie - Terre de Sarment

Caron - Secret Oud

So, I am quite excited to try these, particularly Secret Oud, which as I mentioned before, I saw at Harrods and was staggered by the price, so I was pleased to get a free sample of this. And what name is more lovely for a perfume than Angeliques sous la Pluie?

So next time you are in London, do yourself a favour and try pay a visit to this great place, or if you can't, have a look at their website instead and see what they have got. Just for the record, I have absolutely nothing to do with Les Senteurs. I like mentioning them because they are so good for perfume lovers, and that's what I know you, readers, are too!

Image credit - http://shop.lessenteurs.com/

A Saturday jaunt to the Capital

My wife and I, and our two kids, spent the day in London on Saturday. Nothing remarkable about that, except that as a family, we only get up from Tunbridge Wells about twice a year. Since leaving London in 2007 we haven't really missed the place, but as the children are getting a bit older its nice to make the odd excursion. 

On this occasion we went to the museums in South Kensington, the Science Museum and The Natural History Museum. For those of you not that familiar with London, most major museums offer free entry these days, and have done so since about 2001. Major exhibitions are different; one still pays to see these. There is actually a lot of free stuff to see and do in London, which makes it a great place to visit, and also with children. For those of you who have been to any of the museums in South Kensington, you will have probably found out for yourself that they are exceptionally busy, particularly the Natural History Museum. It was manic this weekend, with literally hundreds of kiddies running riot, including ours. Anyone with young children will know that little minds do not have great attention spans, so we only spent about an hour in each of the two museums. My older daughter Hannah enjoyed looking at the aeroplanes at the Science Museum. They have one of the engines from a Boeing 747 on display and it is a frighteningly massive piece of equipment, close up. Both children loved the Natural History Museum, which has a great (if busy) dinosaur display and lots of the to-be-expected stuffed wild animals, like a lion, tiger, gorilla, etc. Particularly impressive is the skeleton and also life-size model of a blue whale, which takes up the better part of the roof space of a huge exhibition hall. Imagine meeting one of those in real life!

Of course, London being London, and me being me, crazy perfume fanatic that I am, no visit would be complete without a brief excursion to a couple of perfume places. I popped into Les Senteurs in Belgravia (more about that in another post) and Harrods in Knightsbridge. As Valentines Day is on Monday, Harrods was awash with zombie men trying to find a last-minute perfume for their partners and of course, sales assistants waving perfume bottles in one's face. I have learned to bump them off, mostly politely, but I do find Harrods daunting at times, particularly around Christmas and Valentines Day. I did smell the two newish Guerlains on paper, Arsene Lupin Dandy and Voyou. I must say that neither made a huge impression on me, but I clearly would need to test them on skin to form a proper and fair opinion. Of the two I think I preferred Dandy, but both disappeared very quickly on paper, lasting not much more than a couple of hours. I also tried Fleurs de Sel by Miller Harris, which I've never seen before. It was interesting. Slightly weird, but worth a revisit at some point. My final spray was Secret Oud, by Caron. The sales lady said that Harrods have the exclusive right to sell this in London, but a hour later I saw it at Les Senteurs as well, so I am not convinced she was correct. In any event, it smells rather interesting, although the oud had more of a vetiver vibe on paper than the oud smell I was expecting. This is seriously expensive at about £137 for a 50ml bottle (not sure what this is in US dollars). Actually, the Guerlains are bloody expensive too, not much cheaper than the Caron, and with less staying power, on paper at least.

After the perfume detour, we popped into a pub in Victoria for a quick pint of Doom Bar beer, then it was off to a Chinese Buffet place that we always used to eat at when we lived in London. It is cheap and cheerful, and doesn't feel awfully clean, if I'm being honest, but the crispy duck and pancakes are yum, as is the crispy seaweed. My two girls loved it, having not eaten Chinese before. We eventually got home at about 9pm that night and the poor mites were utterly exhausted. Actually, we felt a bit guilty keeping them out so long, but they did have a good time and we don't do this often.

So, all in all a good day, but I must admit that one day in London at a time is more than enough for me. It can be a crazy busy place and it's always good to return to a more mundane and sedate pace of life all being told!

New samples from Les Senteurs

I haven't purchased samples for some time now, in fact not since early September. In the intervening two months, I have managed to obtain quite a number of free samples from my two local department stores, where a number of the sales staff are very generous and willing to hand these out. By way of example, I've received samples of the reissue of Houbigant's Quelques Fleurs, Pehaligon's Sartorial, Amouage's Memoir Man and Woman, Cartier's Declaration and two of the new Lubin's, to name but a few.

Anyway, I've recently ordered a handful of samples from Les Senteurs in London. I've written about Les Senteurs a couple of times before and I use their sample service relatively frequently. I like ordering from them for a number of reasons - they are friendly, the sample sizes are very generous and reasonably priced (£3 for about 2ml of juice) and their range is very good. For example, they carry the entire ranges of Amouage (excluding attars), Frederic Malle, Parfumerie Generale and Parfum d'Empire, as well as stocking Lorenzo Villoresi and Caron. Not bad.

In any event, this time I've tried to order a good mix and range of samples:

Molinard - Habanita

Frederic Malle - Portrait of a Lady

Jean Desprez - Bal a Versailles

Rosine - Twill Rose

Heeley - Iris de Nuit

Boadicea the Victorious - Complex

I'm taking a bit of a chance with some of these. For example, the first three are feminine perfumes, although I have read reviews stating that Habanita and Bal a Versailles can be worn by a man, so we'll see. Rosine has been a bit hit-or-miss for me, while I've read mostly negative reviews of Complex. As for Heeley, Sel Marin turned me stone cold, but I enjoyed Cardinal, so I'm hoping Iris de Nuit will be a good surprise. I'm sure I will get round to reviewing these in due course.

London and the Roja Dove Haute Perfumerie

Last Friday I spent a day in London, mainly visiting and browsing a number of perfume 'shops', for want of a better word. This was a little treat to myself. Usually I only get up to London these days for work-related courses, squeezing in a hurried half-an-hour or so to pop into Liberty to spray on a few fragrances. As I was on holiday last week, I left the family behind (selfish, I know) and treated myself to a unhurried stroll through the grimy streets of the Capital. I used to live in London and worked in Piccadilly and later around Victoria Station. I started my day by strolling across St James' Park to the Army and Navy Stores in Victoria Street, now sadly just another outlet of the better-known House of Fraser chain of department stores. I think Army and Navy sounds much better - I can't remember which novel it was, but Graham Greene refers to this very store as does Somerset Maugham. Anyway, as far as perfume goes, this store has a decent, albeit fairly bog-standard selection of fragrances. I had bigger fish to fry, so after a quick stop at the wonderful Neo-Byzantine Westminster Cathedral, with its quirky red-and-white-brick towers and domes, I headed on to Elizabeth Street, in the heart of Belgravia. 

Belgravia is the preserve of new money mostly from the east, including Russian and Chinese billionaires who have a few spare million pounds to blow on a modest little pied-a-terre in Eaton Square. Elizabeth Street is home to the wonderful Les Senteurs, which stocks a brilliant selection of niche perfumes. As I've blogged a couple of times before about this perfume store, I won't go into much detail here, suffice to say that as usual, they were more than happy to decant some perfume samples for me. This is the one place in London that will literally offer to give you samples - in the big department stores you'd literally have to sell your mother to get even a sample of the most dreary recent release, in my experience. This time I picked up samples of Parfum D'Empire's Eau Suave and Fougere Bengale as well as three from the Parfumerie Generale line, Corps et Ames, Leau Guerriere and Harmatan Noir. I haven't tested any of these yet, but on paper Fougere Bengale initially reminds me of Arabie by Serge Lutens, with a weird curry note, while Corps et Ames smells like a very smooth, sophisticated chypre. Harmatan Noir is a curious, minty blend. Full reviews will eventually appear here at some point.

I wandered further up into some seriously hot retail districts, heading for Lowndes Street, where one can find the newly-opened Amouage boutique. I am a huge fan of Amouage and was thrilled to be able to visit. I am very familiar with their regular line, but my reason for visiting the boutique was to check out the attars, some 12-16 of them! The sales assistant was very friendly, but explained that he couldn't allow me to buy any attars that day as there have been recent complaints of skin irritations. Needless to say, I couldn't remotely afford to buy one of the attars anyway, but I bravely put on my most disappointed face - when in Rome (or Knightsbridge) do as the Romans do I say. He did provide me with paper strips dipped in a few of the bottles though - two of them were Tribute and Homage, both lovely, while the other two were Badr Al Badour and Al Shomuk. The intensity of these attars is quite astounding and  intoxicating. If only I had the bucks.... If any of you are ever in London, do look up the Amouage store. It is beautiful and the products are set out wonderfully. Incidentally, I also got to have a sneak-preview sniff of the latest release, set for the end of the month. Memoir Man and Woman are being released soon, inspired by Baudelaire, it is claimed. As I only smelled the men's version on paper, I can't quite comment yet, suffice to say that to my nose it represents a bit of a departure for Amouage. It's smelled quite leathery and woody, with a tinge of vetiver. I'm really looking forward to trying both of these at the end of the month.

My next stop on my perfume itinerary was that glitzy, gaudy temple of kitsch, Harrods. Not usually my favourite place, Harrods holds my interest a bit more than it used to since I became  more interested in perfume. It has a wonderful range of perfumes, not least the Roja Dove Haute Perfumerie on the top floor. The amazing thing is when you walk through the main perfume hall at Harrods, you are assaulted by a legion of spritzing sales associates. It represents my worst nightmare - I hate browsing knowing that every one of those people are bearing down on me, with the sole intention of making a sale. I did try a few of the Tom Ford Private Blends, namely Tuscan Leather, Arabian Wood and Oud Wood. To be honest, the only one that made sort of an impression on me was Oud Wood, which smelled very nice. The  other two were very subdued and fleeting really, considering their premium price tag. Once I eventually made it to the Roja Dove room at the top, it was like entering another world. I've got a picture of the room at the top left, which is a sanctuary of perfume like none you have seen before. These days I am quite used to visiting high end perfume shops and trying niche perfumes, but I was blown away by this place. Seriously. If you are ever in London, this is a must-stop, please. I was befriended by a charming man, whose name I can't remember, unfortunately (it wasn't Roja Dove...) and he must have spent about half an hour showing me around, allowing me to sniff various perfumes and explaining the origins of some of the more obscure stuff. This is not an exhaustive list, but some of the perfume contained in this one room includes the Caron Urns, Clive Christian (obscene), Xerjoff, Tom Ford Private Blend, Molinard, Amouage, Roja Dove, Guerlain, Creed, Jean Patou, Grossmith, Profumum Roma, Teo Cabanel, Puredistance, Mona di Orio, Pierre de Velay and Robert Piguet. The lovely thing is that many of these lines include the harder-to-find concentrations and some vintage formulations as well. I was particularly taken with Pierre de Velay, a line that Roja Dove apparently stumbled across in Grasse, managed to buy the formulas and tweaked them for modernisation (ie read exclude oakmoss). Most of these are gorgeous, warm chypres. My 'guide' also allowed me to sniff one of Roja's own chypres (no 5 I think) - preformulated and then the modern, no-oakmoss version. The amazing thing (and this is the first time I have experienced the effect of the oakmoss debacle firsthand) is that the older version, with real oakmoss, smelled totally different to the reformulated version. They literally were different perfumes. While the new version smelled slightly thin, fruity and almost fresh, the old version was peppery, warm, velvety and enveloping. Honestly, it was a real eye opener to me. I also got to smell the new Molinard single-note oils, trying the sandalwood, amber and musk oils, as well as the crystallised rose. This sounds weird, I know, but the assistant had to scrape out some crystals from the vial with the wand and smear them onto a paper strip for me. But the smell and potency! He did warn me. I have never smelled such an intense and forceful rose absolute note before. It literally made my eyes water. Five days later and the strip now smells of exquisite rose!

The rest of my day was spent popping into my favourite haunt, Liberty, where I tried the new L'artisan Coeur de Vetiver Sacre, on skin. I'm not sure what to say about this one. It's intriguing, and unlike any other vetiver perfume I've come across. I really need to try this again to do it justice. For ages it did not even smell like vetiver to me. Strange, but beguiling.

Finally, I spent a calm half an hour in the National Art Gallery in Trafalgar Square, enjoying some peace, before I got on the train and made my way home to the rather more mundane realm of West Kent. It was a thoroughly exhausting, yet fascinating day.

It's sample time again!

This is a bit of a nonsense post I suppose, but I am quite excited as I have ordered my first batch of samples in about three months. As I'm sure most of you know, or have experienced, obtaining new perfumes can become a bit of an obsession; some would even say an addiction, whether it be full bottles, decants or samples. I can't really afford full bottles or large decants, so samples it is for me, and has been, for at least two years now. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but my usual sources of purchased samples (I'm not above literally begging sales staff for samples by the way, and am sure I am viewed as a bit of a sicko, or pest, at my local department stores) are Luckyscent in the US, First in Fragrance in Germany, and Les Senteurs in the UK. I have also purchased from The Perfumed Court, but I do find them quite expensive, but admittedly they have an incredible stock. As the pound is currently weak against the Euro, I've also found First in Fragrance quite pricy and can often get the same stuff from Luckyscent for two thirds the price, although admittedly their sample vials tend to be smaller. My experience with The Perfumed Court was good, but a little strange, at least for me. I wasn't used to receiving little packets of perfumes from the various sellers, at different times. In a way it was quite nice because I had three lots of anticipation and deliveries.

I ordered some samples from Les Senteurs yesterday, who are based in London. Again, I've mentioned it before, but for those of you from the US, if you're ever in London, do make the effort to pop into this place in Belgravia, which is but a stone's throw away from Victoria Station. They carry a lovely range of perfumes, including Frederic Malle, Caron, Parfumerie Generale, Serge Lutens, Lorenzo Villoresi, ELDO, Parfums D'Empire, Creed, Mona Di Orio, Parfums Delrae, Byredo and Robert Piguet. Here's a link to their website. What I love about Les Senteurs is that although you pay for samples if you order online, if you visit in person they will happily decant any reasonable number of samples for you, for free.

This is a list of what I ordered: 

Parfumerie Generale - Querelle

Caron - Yatagan

Mona di Orio - Les Nombres D'or Cuir

Andy Tauer - Orange Star

Frederic Malle - Iris Poudre

Byredo Baudelaire

Yatagan was one of the first niche perfumes I ever sampled, more than three years ago, but I can hardly remember what it smelled like, so am keen to try again now that I have more experience. I haven't tried the others before, but have read fairly good things about them.

I would be interested in finding out if any of you have sampled some or all of these.

Incidentally, my scents of the day today were Chanel 28 La Pausa and Czech & Speake's No 88. I have reviewed La Pausa before. I quite like it - very refined and sophisticated. Very Chanel I suppose.  No 88 just doesn't speak to me. I've had samples of this for a year or two now and have worn it at least a dozen times, but nope, it just isn't me. I know it has some ardent fans but I can't get past that slightly sweet, geranium and rose combination, which for some reason reminds me of the smell of a chewing gum we had growing up as kids, called Pepsin. It was almost a wintergreen smell and in itself is quite nice, but for some reason I just don't like it much in a perfume. In fact, I don't like the smell of geraniums very much. Is that strange?

Image credit: www.theperfumeryuk.com