No birthday is complete without presents, right? No, that doesn’t mean that I expect gifts from you now. On the very contrary – you have a chance of receiving a present in Chemist in the Bottle 7th anniversary giveaway. In the past I used to ask my favorite brands if they would be so kind & generous to offer gifts to my fantastic readers. Still having all the influencer stuff in my mind I thought that it’s not right to ask for a free bottle that could be gifted to one of you. We’ll do something new.
This blog birthday I’d like to offer to one lucky reader 3 decants from my perfume collection, 10 ml each. It can either be a surprise or you can choose what you’d like to get from my wardrobe. Additionally I’d like to share with the winner a bar of the best Polish chocolate (your choice of milk, dark or white chocolate) and a 50 gram of a loose leaf tea from a local tea shop (your selection of black, white, red tea) – it should be a feast for more than just your sense of smell.
To participate all you have to do is to tell me what is your favorite perfume review I have written during these seven years. Which was the most passionate, evocative or lemming-inducing for you? Please explain your choice shortly. Any person who is following Chemist in the Bottle for at least 3 months is eligible to enter the giveaway. You’ve got time to submit your entry until Sunday, July 21. Following that date a winner will be chosen randomly and announced on the blog. Good luck!
Chemist in the Bottle 
Please don’t enter me into the competition! But I just had to say that I genuinely think all your posts are well written; they can be thought-provoking, imaginative, educational and almost always lemming-inspiring! And it is you I have to thank for me realising that I love iris – pre-Lucas I thought that this was a note I didn’t care for, but now I seek it out. Atelier’s Silver Iris will forever remain a favourite, thanks to you.
And your blog is fun too!
Happy seventh birthday.
No problem Jillie and thank you so much for your ever kind words. We shall think of exchanging packages again, don’t you think?
I’m so happy that it was thanks to you that you started loving iris 🙂
Just this weekend I ordered sample bottles to replace all those that got lost in the move!
I am looking forward to sending you Sous les Magnolias (I found the bottle, thank goodness), together with others you may like.
x
I hope you’re finally settling in your new home. Glad the perfume wasn’t lost or damaged when you moved. Looking forward to trying this magnolia
What a lovely giveaway!
A post that you wrote and really helped me choose my mum´s perfume was Van Cleef and Arpels Rose Velourrs review. I was after a rose perfume and asked for suggestions in NST blog and some people suggested this one (I think you suggested it too!). So I came to your blog and checked it. It convinced me straight away.
My mother was thrilled and some time later my neighbor also bought a bottle!
Thank you for such a beautiful blog and happy seventh birthday!
Wow, that is fantastic that you were able to find a perfume for your mum thanks to me. I still have a little bit of Rose Velours. I think VC&A now discontinued it and ‘replaced’ the rose gap in range with Rose Rouge but I might be wrong.
You’re in the draw 🙂
Oh such a great idea and generous giveaway! I think ive mentioned elsewhere how much i enjoy perfume blogs and yours but worth mentioning again 😀
Thanks, very kind of you. If you’d like to participate make sure to answer The question 😉
While I haven’t been a regular as long as some – even though I have been on NST and seen your posts there for several years, I didn’t realize right away that you had your own blog. I’m so glad to have found it. Your reviews are so complete and so evocative of the perfumes. The one that became a lemming for me is Chanel 1957. I wouldn’t call myself a musk person but your description of 1957 made me really want to try it. I was sold at the orange blossom that would mist ones bed and the honey. Fortunately I was able to participate in a split from Hajusuuri and I have my own little decant now – and it’s as lovely as I expected! (I don’t know if it will make me want more musk but I will enjoy this one!). Congrats again on 7 years and thank you for the giveaway!!
I’m glad you finally found your way to my blog.
I agree with you regarding Chanel 1957. I’m not a person who likes musk on its own and especially white musk which I rather despise for being used so commonly in mainsteam perfume bases. Testing 1957 turned into unexpected like – didn’t expect to enjoy this scent but I do.
So happy you have a decant to enjoy 🙂
Such a generous idea! Did you notice, BTW, there was also some influencer-discussion over at the Colognoisseur blog, particularly related to those people scavenging Exsence asking for free bottles…
Regarding your question, I recall two of your reviews in particular: Your review of Orlando so many years back made me order a sample together with some other scents from Jardins d’ecrivains. You had described the special wildness and roughness of Orlando so fascinatingly, I just had to try it. Guess what? I was totally disappointed, found it too bland, too sweet and having an unfortunate allusion to mothballs. But this way I encountered Georges, of the same brand, that has been a favorite of mine all these years, and would never have happened otherwise.
The other review I recall is of Cloon Keen’s Frosted Moon. That review is just magical! I did even copy it down, for fear your blog might go offline, and I have been searching for a sample this past half year. (I never blind buy, even with a review like that.) Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a sample to be had anywhere.
Thanks your your blog. I particularly like your (almost) objective stance, and the absence of pseudo-poetical jargon. (Aren’t those perfume press releases ridiculous?)
— Sebastian
Oh yes, I have read that post of Mark in which he talks about this ‘phenomenon’ and how he doesn’t wish to be considered as one of these people.
That’s a funny story to share. You were hoping for something special from Orlando, it turned to be a scrubber on you but you found a different love. Aren’t you glad you ordered more Jardins d’Ecrivains samples back then?
Frosted Moon is lovely too but it’s a shame you weren’t able to find a place where you could get it. Depending on where you’re based I might be able to help you get one.
I hope the almost word in your last sentence was with a wink and a smile on your face 😉
Thanks for offering to help. I’m based in Germany. For example, Cloon Keen’s store locator for Germany sends me to http://www.ludwigbeck.de in Munich, but that’s a dead end: search on that site yields no hits. Likewise for Finest in Fragrance. In the UK, Thomas Brown (at https://www.brownthomas.com/brands/cloon-keen/frosted-moon-perfume-100ml/132533482.html?cgid=cloon-keen-atelier#start=1) carries it, but they don’t offer samples, only full bottles, and they don’t ship to Germany.
I retract the „almost”. But I’m sure, sometimes we all just get carried away…
Try Poland! Mood Scent Bar carries the line and I think they might be able to send to Germany. Just send them an email to ask, you have nothing to lose.
Will do. Thanks for the hint.
No problem.
Thanks a lot Lucas for such a generous giveaway! Many more anniversaries to celebrate!
I have always loved your writing and it has always helped me sample perfumes, that most of the time I have enjoyed. Your review of L’Artisan Un Air de Bretagne made me madly fall in love with the perfume, even before trying it. I blind bought a full bottle immediately and it is so far my favorite marine scent. The another review that made me go into a full bottle blind buy was Parle Moi de Parfum Orris Tattoo. Interesting perfume that I found difficult to understand at the beginning. I finally fell in love with it and it will be always part of my collection. I always wait eagerly for your iris reviews, my favorite note.
Blind buys after a review are probably the biggest compliment I can get for my writing. Glad that Un Air de Bretagne was a successful purchase for you. It’s a lovely perfume for the summer and not only.
Orris Tattoo is also dear to me 🙂 If you’re lucky winner I’ll hook you up with some new iris to try.
I am still wanting to find Unter de Linden from your review quite awhile back. Linden, honey, mimosa all sound very summery and I have very few scents that I consider summery. I think it spoke to me because it used words I had some experience. The word you used for the white pith under the zest I did not know but it was explained well so i got it. Reviews that build on the scaffold of things I do know expand my imaginary ability to smell it. Below is a portion that really sold me. Too bad have yet to find it in a brick and mortar store yet…
“Once honey note joins the composition it feels as if all these flowers were immersed in a gold liquid. Honey adds a tender sweetness to Unter den Linded but it’s not just the sweetness. I find something quite balsamic, resinous about the honey accord and I just cannot escape the impression of an animalic hint coming from it. Once it fades away, the perfume becomes more powdery – there’s a little bit of mimosa in it, that is combined with frangipani that gives a little more creamy effect. Gardenia and magnolia add a final floral touch. Also a little bit of citrus is still mingling in the background but lets not forget that it’s linden that is still in the center of attention.”
Ah the beauty of a natural perfume! Doesn’t Lucky Scent carry April Aromatics in the US? You could at least order a sample maybe to finally satisfy your nose and compare your dream vision with the reality?
I had not thought of there, I will look it up
Fingers crossed for you.
Shelly, I ordered a sample of Unter den Linden from Lucky Scent. It’s quite lovely.
As the saying goes, winner winner chicken dinner. Please do not enter me into your generous draw but I will say that you probably birthed the most lemmings. This is a partial list. Are you ready?
1) Tauer PHI Une Rose de Kandahar
2) Ann Gerard Rose Cut
3) Carner Barcelona D600
4) Dusita La Douceur de Siam
5) Le Galion Iris
6) Huitieme Art Shermine
7) MFK Amyris Femme
8) Grandiflora Queen of the Night
9) Prada Infusion de Mandarine
10) VC&A Rose Velours
11) Guerlain Lui
There’s probably more but suffice it to say I have FBs of the above, some of which I bought to split and others I bought a partial bottle. Are your reviews effective? Just look at my list! The way you described each of the above was so appealing I could not wait to smell them and the wallet usually gets a lot of exercise.
That’s already a lengthy list! Thanks a lot my dear perfume twin for having so much faith in thinking that if I love something – you’ll love it too/
So I’m thinking we could develop a perfume review to sample and perfume review to purchase conversion rate 😂
Oh my! 😉
Of course I know your comment was tongue-in-cheek, but I would still like to point out a reason why such a measure would not help to identify good reviews in any case.
When I follow a good reviewer for some time, I learn to put their review in relation to my preferences. In fact, that mostly defines what I a call a “good” reviewer. There must be recognizable consistency, and some objectiveness, some separation of clear description and emotional reaction. Good reviews, even if they are rave reviews, are sometimes helpful to me precisely because they make me decide to NOT pursue that fragrance any further!
That saves money and time, and makes me feel better, because there is altogether too much perfume being made anyway. I would never judge the quality of a review by whether it makes me want to try something.
I’m a nerd so I tend to think of ways to measure stuff. For example, but I can’t get into the math of it right now but will find the link where I explained it, many of us tend to look at various sizes of the same perfume and go with the lowest per mL cost (barring any cash layout concerns for a bigger bottle). I think that the price per mL should be adjusted by the amount that will end up not being used so in reality, purchasing a bottle with a higher per mL price may be more cost effective overall than buying one that is cheaper per mL but will not get used up.
Right. I limit myself to no more than 5 to 7 bottles open at the same time (apart from samples). So in order to be able to wear everything that interests me, I usually go with smaller bottle sizes. I love companies that offer travel sizes. I detest those that only offer 100 ml bottles, although I still sometimes buy them, but only if I am really madly in love with the stuff.
I think that’s a big leap hajusuuri has taken, it really requires faith! I find a perfume the better, the more idiosyncratic it is, the more personality it has of its own, and – importantly – the more it conjures up an image or emotion, so it must resonate with my past experiences. And then there is different physiology, not to speak of individual taste.
This makes it really, really unlikely for me to react the same way to any perfume than anyone else. I would never ever blind buy anything, regardless of who recommends it.
Good points, Sebastian!
I only read a select few perfume blogs as the number of perfumes being churned out and the number of “reviewers” have grown exponentially. I value the winnowing down of the pool and if something interests me, I usually take some kind of action. Since I don’t have a set play money budget, saving by not buying for the savings to go elsewhere is not a consideration. I also don’t go deep on the emotional connection as after all, it’s a fun hobby.
And I don’t do blind buys anymore, I just buy large samples 🤣 (is there a tongue in cheek emoticon?).
I don’t think there is, at least not an official one. Here’s the full Unicode emoji list, and it doesn’t have a tongue-in-cheek one: https://unicode.org/emoji/charts-12.0/full-emoji-list.html
I didn’t mean to be too serious with the emotional stuff, either. But I do like to associate a color, or an image of a place I’ve been or would like to be, or a mood. Some sort of spontaneous connection with a smell. (That also helps me remember it, by the way.)
Good afternoon, Lucas. My favorite of all your reviews is your review for Prada Purple Rain, from 2016. Your description really captured my imagination.
You said:
“Iris is a beautiful lady in a grey dress in this perfume and as the composition develops more new facets of the note are revealed. On my skin the aldehydes from the opening seamlessly evolve into tender orris scent. The remaining oily feel from before becomes more solid over the next couple of minutes before the buttery smell of iris becomes a dominating element of Purple Rain. It’s a very rich smell that feels soft, almost velvety. Like a luxurious veil that wraps around you and clings to your skin, melting together into one with it.”
I knew this gorgeous perfume was for me and I ordered it right away after reading your review. Purple Rain remains one of my favorite perfumes, top five list, calming, beautiful, luminous, but a little dark, with soft glimmers of light through the clouds.
This perfume matches its name IMHO, suggesting clouds of soft purplish grey irises after a rainstorm. And it lasts for hours as a gorgeous skin scent.
That’s my entry in the contest and I thank you for all the amazing and insightful reviews over the years!
I am a happy owner of Prada Purple Rain too! I still can’t believe I got it at such a good price. This person bough the perfume blindly and didn’t fancy it, they wanted to keep the print pouch though so I got the perfume with a nice bargain.
Good luck in the giveaway.