Of Shalimar and Decants

When Portia on Perfume Posse announced that she was getting back into the habit of using up samples and decants for the year of 2025. I leapt at the chance of using up some of my decants and samples as well. I figured that with all the decants and samples that I have, I really should start using some of what I have. The decants that I am currently working on is Patou Joy extrait, Amouage Honour and one of my decants of Diagilev. I figure to start out with 3 a month and stick to my dabber samples right now. If I can work on getting more than 3 a month, that would be awesome and it would be a bonus if I could actually use up some travel sprays and full bottles this year as well. But with the 3 that I mentioned that I am working on, I am almost done with those. And when I finish those 3, I will move on to something else.

But what do I do when I commit to this decant challenge/resolution thing? I order 2 more decants. I ordered another decant of Tigress Musk and a sample of Memoir Man. I think that since that I don't order decants too often anymore, it's okay, I just won't get more samples for a long while. What works a little more in my favor is the TPC doesn't do as many sales as they used to and I can't recall the last time that STC had a sale. I figure with inflation and all, it's not exactly worth it. Without sales and coupons, I am less tempted to buy. But I am doing that even with groceries (looking at sales and coupons). I am only trying Memoir Man because I haven't tried too many of Amouage's men's offerings and maybe I should try more. I did try the men's version of Lyric and Epic way back when and wasn't too terribly impressed. The men's version of Gold was something I liked much better than the women's version. But we shall see how Memoir Man fairs.

There is a reason that I did mention Fabrege Tigress Musk. Earlier, I did pull out one of my bottles of Shalimar and sprayed an unhealthy amount. The Shalimar bottle that I used was when it was the early days of my perfume journey. It's kind of vintage but not really and I haven't pulled out a vintage bottle of Shalimar or vintage anything in a long time. Shalimar was always a lovely perfume on my skin. But I had forgotten how slutty Shalimar is. It's not exactly vintage Bal a Versailles or MKK but the sluttyness is there. When I sprayed Shalimar, I started to get a really wicked craving for Tigress Musk and naturally it's in the pile of decants that I can't get to at the moment. The decant of Tigress Musk that I have already is probably half full. The reason that I only ordered a decant is because getting a full bottle never quite works out. When I remember to look, it's either not available or the cost is a little over the top for me.
 

Green Perfumes for Fall and Winter

I do not have a whole lot in terms of what is called "green" in perfume. Green can be floral or could be like cut grass or leaves or a few other things in terms of perfume. But there isn't much of a presence of green in perfume.

The greens that I do have fall into two camps. It's either geared for spring and summer or geared more for fall and winter. The long lamented Deneuve in either edt or extrait form is more of the spring/summer type of thing. Chanel no 19 is in the same category. Spring is where the days are getting longer and warmer and full of promise. The days of wearing short sleeves and shorts are either in full swing or just beginning.

Givenchy III and the queen, Mitsouko fall into the fall/winter camp. Where daylight is in short supply and it's either pretty cool out or outright cold. The large decant if the Givenchy III just doesn't give the whole spring/summer vibe when I wear it. Givenchy III gives off more of the late fall/early winter type of vibe. Where most of the leaves have fallen from the trees, it's mostly rainy outside and I would rather just stay indoors. I still wouldn't associate Givenchy III with any kind of fall activity or food. I can associate many of Andy Tauer offerings with state fairs or clam bakes.

Now we get to the queen, Mitsouko. When I do wear Mitsouko, I usually wear the vintage edt or the current edp. I cannot get the current edt to last anymore than an hour or two on skin or clothes, so the current edp it is. I am not spending major amounts of money on something that lasts only an hour or two on skin. The reason that  I have so much of the vintage stuff is the oakmoss. The vintage edt has some staying power that rivals the current edp. I remember someone saying that Mitsouko is like a Tiffany lamp. The light of a Tiffany lamp is muted and gives a soft glow and Mitsouko does the same thing in terms of perfume. 

The reason that I'm really not going to mention Diaghilev is that I only have two dabber samples. The other reason is that the sheer price point for a 100ml is either a full months rent or mortgage payment for a lot of people. Unless you are swimming in fun money, I don't think anyone would really have a bottle. Even with Afterpay, a payment would be most of one of my paychecks.
 

Roja Dove Diaghilev Extrait de Parfum Review

There are very few perfumes that I want to try but in ways I am scared to try them. It could be for a variety of factors, cost, vintage, how hard is it to find and a couple others. Amouage exceptional extraits are one of them due to cost even though I tried the Epic one. But then came Roja Dove Diaghilev extrait de parfum.

For the longest time I wanted to try Diaghilev but was hesitant. Mainly due to the $1050 price tag. I can't afford to love any perfume with that kind of price tag. But I have a dabber sample and decided to test it out. I figured what is the worst that can really happen?

Let's just say that this is Diaghilev is divine. To my nose, it's a cross between vintage Mitsouko and vintage Givenchy III. Some have said that it reminds them a little bit like Amouage 25 but I am not getting that vibe. I absolutely love vintage Mitsouko in all of it's oakmoss goodness but have just a little bit of Givenchy III. Diaghilev has the lasting power of nuclear waste and some pretty good sillage for my having just a dabber sample. So if you have enough Givenchy III and or vintage Mitsouko, you can get away with not having Diaghilev.

In all honesty, while I love it, there is no way I can swing over a thousand dollars for 100ml. Not even with Afterpay and I am okay with that at the end of the day. I have enough vintage Mitsouko and enough of Givenchy III to where it's not in anyway saddening that Diaghilev is out of my reach. Sometimes I think that the prices of some of the niche offerings is outrageous. I might buy some niche but sometimes that I think even mainstream prices have gotten to be a little much. I know we are coming out of a pandemic but sheesh. I don't care if it is extrait de parfum but over $1,000 for 100ml isn't something that is really worth it to me.