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/

Sample time again

At long last. I haven't ordered samples for what seems like an age. I went through a phase this year where I managed to get a lot of stuff from friends, both online and in various stores, and thanks as always to those people who kindly fueled my perfume habit. You know who you are if you're reading this!

So, this week I ordered a whole lot of samples from The Perfumed Court. I've only ordered from them once before, way back in about May last year. Although I find their stuff to be slightly expensive, one has to concede that they stock an amazing and varied amount of perfume.

This is what I ordered:

• Serge Lutens - Iris Silver Mist, Santal de Mysore, Rose de Nuit, Boxeuse, Encens et Lavande
• Maison Kurkdjian - the whole range, other than Absolue Poir Le Soir, unfortunately, as I love it
• Dior Jules
• Ajmal Dahn Oudh Al Shams
• Ungaro 1, 2 and 3
• CB I Hate Perfume - Wild Hunt, Black March and Musk Reinvention (all absolutes)

Happy days!

Spring and sample time again

I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front this last week. This is probably partly due to the fact that I am on holiday this week and that the weather has been so glorious that I have felt the urge to spend more time outdoors than sat in front of a computer.

It's amazing how quickly one can get out of touch. Only several days absence and already I don't know what everyone has been writing about and what is going on. In the blogosphere one can fade into obscurity in a flash!

After much deliberation and procrastination I have finally ordered some more samples, after abstaining since as far back as September. I think that's rather impressive myself, although I would prefer to practice rather less restraint!

This is the list of what I have ordered:

Delrae Panache

Xerjoff Madoc

Comme de Garcon Original, Palisander, Kyoto, Quarzazate

Farmacia SS Annunziata Patchouly Indonesiano

Il Profumo Patchouli Noir

Keiko Mecheri Les Zazous

L'Artisan Dzongkha

Le Labo Labdanum 18

Montale Oud Musk, Full Incense

Profumi di Pantelleria Maestrale

Sinfonia di Note Fleur de Santal

Different Company De Bachmakov

Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight in Paris

So, as you might gather, lots of incense and patchouli and not much in the way of greener, spring-like fragrances. These are the styles I generally prefer however, so I am really looking forward to trying them, whatever the weather.

Today is my wife Wendy's birthday. Wed are celebrating by going out for lunch with the children and a friend of ours. It should be good. Oh, and now that the weather is changing for the better, I'm cracking open the gin bottle again and it's G&Ts all round. Cheers! 

Sample heaven, or hell?

I don't know about you, but I have collected a sizable collection of samples over the last four years. It's become a bit of an obsession you see, although I suspect I'm not the only one to suffer from this malaise. As much as I love sampling perfume, it does become a double-edged sword after a while. 

There are two issues as I see it. The first issue is storage, or the lack of it. I would guess that my collection now numbers well into the hundreds, and as you might appreciate, even though sample vials are not that big, two to three hundred-plus little vials, some carded, some loose, do amount to something quite big. Part of the storage issue is how to categorise these perfumes, and how to catalogue them. As they all look pretty much the same, it can be a nightmare to locate the one I am looking for. I currently store my samples in a large, multi-tiered plastic box with a snap on secure lid, to keep the smells in. Within each tier is a plastic tray with little compartments, a little like an old fashioned printer's tray, if you've ever seen those. It works well, but as I said, if I'm in a hurry, and want to find something specific, it can be time consuming.

The other issue is usage. I haven't done an exact calculation, but even at this stage in my perfume journey, I would estimate that should I choose not to buy another sample ever again, it would still take me at least two years to work through what I've got. Although I am not a huge collector of full bottles, I still own at least 15-20 at last count, and those would probably take me another six years to work through, I reckon. So, I have enough perfume to last for what I would conservatively guess the best part of a decade! And in reality I am nowhere near stopping yet, oh no...

So what is the point of this post? Well, nothing really, except it serves to illustrate just how quickly this little 'hobby' of ours can spiral out of control! I still love doing this though, and as I collect more stuff, I think I am far more open to sharing this with others. I haven't really got into proper swapping yet, but I think I should start being more generous, perfume wise.

Do any of you have a perfume dilemma? How many samples do you have, and is it as much a nightmare storing and cataloguing them for you as it is for me?

Ooh, I've just thought of another 'complexity' in my shallow little perfume life - I'm always taking samples out of my storage box, so I keep loads at work in my desk drawer, some in my suit jacket pockets, and who knows where else!

Latest perfume samples

 Some of you may recall that a few weeks ago I wrote about my desire to try a few perfumes by Indie perfumers, here. Since then, a very kind and generous lady, Carol, offered to send me some samples she had. I'm sure a lot of you already know of Carol (Waft blog), but in case you don't her perfume blog and fragrance boutique can be found here, and here respectively. 

I knew the package was on its way, but as we've had some severe postal delays in the UK as a result of the severe snowy weather recently, I wasn't sure if it would arrive before Christmas. In any event, when I arrived home last night, lo and behold there was the package in the hall. Hurray!

I'm really excited about trying these, as I've literally not encountered any of them before, so it is a unique experience for me. I'm approaching these samples with no preconceived ideas and am looking forward to writing about some of them over the next few weeks.

I won't mention individual perfumes, but some of the perfumers include:

• Dawn Spencer Hurwitz
• Ayala Moriel
• I Profumi di Firenze
• Roxana Villa
• Bruno Acampora
• Amanda Feeley
• Laurie Stern

I'd just like to say a special thanks to Carol again.

Image credit - http://www.flickr.com/photos/helenaliu