Final selection of scents

[WhosYerBob]

As folks here are aware, I have been testing scents for my wife to approve - sample after sample - of 95 EdCs, EdTs & EdPs for months now, sometimes several per day. Cindy finally said she was scent saturated late this last week and told me she wanted to finalize the selection.

So we went down the list of 30 finalists, sprayed them on paper and waited for a couple hours of dry down to compare them for her there, culled the rejects and continued the process repeatedly until we had them down to 12. Then we skin tested them on me repeatedly until we were down to just 3. These are the final three we chose for my scent wardrobe:

• Creed / Millésime Impérial
• Creed / Néroli Sauvage
• Silvestre / Pino Silvestre

Whew - I'm glad that's finally completed!

 

[markb]

I really like the Millésime Impérial.

 

[StylinLA]

+1 on MI

 

[WhosYerBob]

Actually, she gave Millésime Impérial and Silver Mountain Water both 10 out of 10 - and upon further sniffing on my skin I prefer the Silver Mountain Water. SMW also lasts longer for me.

 

[StylinLA]

The killer with the Creeds is they seem to act differently on different people.
I like SMW, but it's got no legs on me.

 

[john parker]

Mitch, congratulations on your success after an exhaustive search! My only regret is that this may mean you are through with your excellent reviews!

 

[Scentronic]

I don't know why it all has to come down to "this" -

Why just ONE fragrance?! That's like owning ONE shirt.

You obviously have the makings of a fragrance-appreciator/collector/connoisseur, so just run with it man! All this effort in obtaining, experiencing, evaluating, comparing... THAT'S the value in all of this, not just the acquisition of one juice that you'd likely grow tired of if you wore it exclusively anyway. What - are you going to just "quit" now?

Now, if all this was just to find your "first" bottle (of what we can agree will eventually be an entirely out-of-hand fragrance collection), then I'm behind you 100%! Keep sampling and dissecting these scents! It's about the journey, not the destination!

 

[Emmett]

My hat's off to you, sir, for the dedication and thoroughness you've given to your frgance explorations.

 

[kingfisher]

I don't know why it all has to come down to "this" -

Why just ONE fragrance?! That's like owning ONE shirt.

You obviously have the makings of a fragrance-appreciator/collector/connoisseur, so just run with it man! All this effort in obtaining, experiencing, evaluating, comparing... THAT'S the value in all of this, not just the acquisition of one juice that you'd likely grow tired of if you wore it exclusively anyway. What - are you going to just "quit" now?

Now, if all this was just to find your "first" bottle (of what we can agree will eventually be an entirely out-of-hand fragrance collection), then I'm behind you 100%! Keep sampling and dissecting these scents! It's about the journey, not the destination!

My wife thinks I'm crazy because I currently own bottles of three frags and samples of several others. She thinks I should wear the same fragrance every day. I asked her how many perfumes she owns, and counted at least 4 I could remember off the top of my head. Her answer, "That's different."

 

[Biffo]

This one? Shows how YMMV, I bought the aftershave and the cologne because of the "cool" bottles and the fact they were VERY cheap at a shop near me, but I think they smell like nasty pine air fresheners

 

[StylinLA]

+1 on Scentronic's comments to a degree. He and I are both frag heads and WhosYerBob has got a bit of that in him too. It's a good thing he doens't drive past the Scent Bar everyday.

But Scentronic and I both single and fairly easily indulge our hobby. Bob's SWMBO may or may not have enjoyed this odyssey.

 

[Storm]

Yes, you're done. And you'll never purchase or sample another new fragrance ever again.

Done and completed, forever.

Rejoice!

 

[WhosYerBob]

My only regret is that this may mean you are through with your excellent reviews!

Don't worry, I still have a number of them to pound out. But they will be dwindling down in frequency, as you can readily understand.

Why just ONE fragrance?! That's like owning ONE shirt.

No - it's three frags, not one. And it's to appeal to HER, and her hyper-sensitivities and allergies, so I can get away with wearing an acceptable cologne around her and our home. She's so dang sensitive to scents that just about everything else in the house is as scent free as we can get it.

Three frags are HER way of compromising with my desire to wear a scent; she has said repeatedly that SHE would rather that I didn't wear a scent at all, but if I were to wear one, she would like to be involved so the end result would be something she could not only tolerate, but also enjoy on me. Which is a tall order and why I had to go through almost 100 frags just to find three that she liked and that don't kick off an allergic reaction with her.

You obviously have the makings of a fragrance-appreciator/collector/connoisseur, so just run with it man! All this effort in obtaining, experiencing, evaluating, comparing... THAT'S the value in all of this, not just the acquisition of one juice that you'd likely grow tired of if you wore it exclusively anyway. What - are you going to just "quit" now?

Ummm, yes - by and large I'm going to shut my scent AD down and enjoy the three frags I settled on. That won't keep me from smelling others and maybe commenting on them occasionally, but the big expense of buying all the samples and bottles that I have recently simply must come to a sharp end or it'll impact my bank account too much.

I think they smell like nasty pine air fresheners

YMMV, as does mine! I happen to really like that one.

But Scentronic and I both single and fairly easily indulge our hobby. Bob's SWMBO may or may not have enjoyed this odyssey.

She tolerated it, but her patience was beginning to wane. A good marriage is all about compromise from both ends. She tries not to push my buttons too much, and I try to do the same for her.

Yes, you're done. And you'll never purchase or sample another new fragrance ever again. Done and completed, forever.

No, not necessarily - just not at the extreme level of the past few months.

 

[warlandsboy]

It's amazing you could actually squeeze your wardrobe down to only three choices, and I can't believe two out of three are Creed's!

 

[WhosYerBob]

It's amazing you could actually squeeze your wardrobe down to only three choices, and I can't believe two out of three are Creed's!

<<sigh>>

If I had my way, I'd keep most of everything I sampled. The final choices were those deemed by my wife to be:

• First and foremost - the least problematic with her scent sensitivities
• Smelled the best to her

I like to bathe in Bay Rum - the clovier the better, but it was nixed. Same with lavender based scents. I've never met a pine/juniper/cedar/cyprus scent I didn't love - same thing.

Considering how picky she is, I'm lucky to have any.

 

[StylinLA]

Hey, I'm thrilled to see the effort you went through.

It's not the like scents you arrived at are crap either. Good stuff. A couple pricey ones.

It could be worse- she could have had a hidden "budget" agenda and you end up with Lilac Vegetal.

Count your blessings.

 

[Tricky]

Congrats on finishing the epic journey!

 

[WhosYerBob]

It could be worse- she could have had a hidden "budget" agenda and you end up with Lilac Vegetal.

Nothing hidden about her "budget" agenda - she's very cost conscious.

That's why I told her nothing about any of the scents she was comparing. She still doesn't know the name or the house of the scents - just "pine", "citrus" and "tea & black current". She'll likely have a a fit when she finally discovers how much the Creed cost.

 

[jakespoppy]

Congratulations on reaching your goal, Mitch. As I've said before, I thoroughly enjoyed your reviews, and believe they must have been helpful to others, too.

I also admire your approach in finding a way to work with your wife through this, and your comments about the "give and take" in marriage. There's much joking here about ignoring consideration for your spouse and doing only what makes you happy. It's nice to be reminded seriously that making your wife happy is an appropriate priority.

And thanks again for the Polo! If you and your wife ever have a change of heart on it, let me know and I'll send back whatever might be left.

 

[StylinLA]

Nothing hidden about her "budget" agenda - she's very cost conscious.

Should have tried Windsor.