I have a few dozen full sized bottles of perfumes and body sprays, and probably nearly 50 sample vials of perfume oils. Every once in a while I get the impulse to shop for some new fragrances because I just adore falling in love with a new scent. The fragrances I already have are all well and good, but there's just something so special about discovering a new fragrance love. Lately I've been craving new scents, but am trying not to make too many purchases, so I went back to my sample collection and pulled out all the vials I haven't tried yet. Fortunately there were not as many as I'd feared. I know I have all my full sized fragrances in pretty good rotation, but with samples I usually get several at once and occasionally a few go by the wayside and I don't get around to trying them.
So I thought I'd dig through the scent catacombs and search for a new love amongst the samples I haven't tried. Of course you readers get to get in on the fun as I plan to share my thoughts on these fragrances from time to time.
First up, CJ Scents:
I had read many positive reviews of this indie perfume vendor in a fragrance discussion forum I frequent. Last fall I decided to purchase several samples of different fragrances when they were having a deal. There were two fragrances in particular, Vanilla Autumn and Vanilla Autumn Nights that were highly praised and sounded like something I would love. When I received and tried those two scents I was slightly underwhelmed. They were very nice scents but they didn't wow me; maybe my expectations were too high but the scents were fleeting and of close sillage on me. I felt I already had a couple similar scents that I loved more. I also tried one of my other samples from CJ, a floral blend that I didn't care for and ended up giving to a friend. Being mildly disappointed I set the rest of my order aside and temporarily forgot about these scents. Now I am excited to give them another try and see if I discover any hidden gems.
Miscellany from Julie
My bloggy friend Julie over at The Redolent Mermaid is one of my favorite fragrance enablers. I have discovered several favorite fragrances through the samples she's sent me and since I know she has such good taste I normally test the majority of fragrances she sends me quickly. These are the few I haven't tried yet but am very intrigued by. I look forward to reporting back on these.
Do you have any favorite fragrances? How did you discover them? Do you have more sample sizes or full bottles?
I hope you can find a few you enjoy in your CJ haul! I try to keep my samples at a minimum so after testing I tend to send them off to somewhere else unless I have drained them. If I love them then I will buy a larger amount. So many scents! So little time! I do have some samples I need to use up though. Thanks for the kick in the pants!
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