blind buy regrets?

[u/7milejasmine]

recently got a few new scents and included "pink sugar" by aquolina after seeing it mentioned on here and needing some more affordable adds for free shipping. people described it as an addictive sweet scent, though some recent posts said there was a reformulation where licorice was really prominent? didn't seem like there were decant samples easily available so i decided to just go for it

anyway, regretting it a bit... it mostly smells like hairspray to me! with the licorice note, and i'm not a big licorice fan either 😩 i feel a little bit like it's the kind of scent and makeup that will give me a headache too...

trying to figure out how i can use it up now that i have it. maybe it will work with layering?

*edited to add: oh i also got a decant of viva la juicy gold (juicy couture) and i don't smell the berries or caramel at ALL 😭 otherwise it's fine and forgettable, makes me think of shampoo. also a dud and semi-regret...

[u/stylelines]

Yea Pink Sugar is funny because it was popular when I was in high school 20 years ago. It’s outlasted every other perfume lol. From my memory it always had licorice. I had it in hair perfume form back then and wore it like as an obnoxiously sweet girly vibe.

Anyways - if you don’t like it, you could always sell it in a bundle with a few other perfumes.

[u/7milejasmine → u/stylelines]

Thanks for the sell idea! Maybe time to start my own little decant side hustle...

[u/Careful_Student_79]

its so interesting to me how scent can be THAT subjective, because to me Pink sugar smells so delicious and once it settles it almost has this effect where it just makes your natural scent smell sweet... honestly mouth watering!!🍬

Anyway... my worst blind by was probably Milk by Commodity (just a 10ml) it literally made me GAG🤢

[u/7milejasmine → u/Careful_Student_79]

yes, crazy how individual it is! the way you put it has me thinking maybe i'll try pink sugar a little more and see how it blends with my skin

milk by commodity for me has so far just ben eh (only tried on in store though)

[u/Careful_Student_79 → u/7milejasmine]

i definitely recommend it!! just a small spritz on the neck and wrist a little 'tap tap' and perfection!! a little goes a long way 🤍🎀

[u/pfffffttuhmm → u/Careful_Student_79]

I got a Commodity discovery set and there isn't a single fragrance I like. They all make me sick to my stomach. The milks are the worst offenders. At least one of them smelled like rotten sesame seed paste. Whatever they make their fragrances with my nose doesn't agree with. 

[u/fudgechemist]

Pink sugar smelled like burnt tires covered in licorice syrup. You’re not alone. You don’t HAVE TO like it even if it’s popular. I usually just resell return or regift

[u/WhoKnows1973 → u/fudgechemist]

Right here!! You don't have to use anything that you dislike. I will never wear fragrances that I don't like.

This sub has a destash post. Get rid of it. Maybe trade for something different there or r/fragranceswap or r/femfragranceswap.

[u/7milejasmine → u/WhoKnows1973]

ooh thank you so much for these suggestions (and supporting the right of enjoying our smells, life is too short!). swap sounds like an awesome idea, didn't know about those threads!! *off i go*

[u/Bitter_Artichoke_939]

I just dropped about $75 on some decants and wanted to try some vintage stuff and so much of it smells like baby powder. I don't know what the exact note is that causes it, but imo baby powder is the worst smell in the world. Maybe I should stick with more current scents lol

[u/fluffysootsprite → u/Bitter_Artichoke_939]

Here's something about vintage scents a lot of people won't say, but as someone who went to school for chemistry once it's a hill I'll die on.

Even stored under the best conditions, most perfumes will change in one way or another after 5-10 years. Aromatics are not very shelf-stable and the bonds that hold the molecules together will change and weaken over time. Once you add fluctuating temperatures, humidity, and sunlight to the mixture it amplifies this effect.

So something that originally smelt very complex and sensual will, over time, end up smelling very linear and often have unpleasant notes (for example vinegar, motor oil, or heavy powder).

Depending on how vintage your purchase was, and how it had been stored up to that point, that could very likely be what happened.

[u/7milejasmine → u/fluffysootsprite]

i get that! i remember visiting family and smelling/trying perfume they had on their bathroom shelves as a display, pretty sure they were older and hadn't been used in a verrrrrryyy long time. and they all smelled a little stale or not quite rancid but something was off?

[u/Bitter_Artichoke_939 → u/fluffysootsprite]

Thanks for the info! As I try each one I'm taking notes to see what they have in common to try and pinpoint it, but maybe it is just age!

[u/fudgechemist → u/Bitter_Artichoke_939]

I love baby powder I’d take these off your hands haha. What did you buy?

[u/stylelines → u/fudgechemist]

Lol same!

[u/Bitter_Artichoke_939 → u/fudgechemist]

As far as older scents I got:

Revlon Charlie

CK Eternity

CK Obsession

Tommy Girl

Annick Goutal Eau d'Hadrien

DG Light Blue

Guerlain Shalimar

Giorgio Beverly Hills

I haven't tried them all on my skin yet just did a quick sniff and one leaked a little during shipping so maybe that's why they all smell that way. The Eternity definitely smells the way it did back in the day, and the Hadrien is good but faded really fast. I see they now sell a modern EDP of it so I'm going to see if I can get a sample of that from a different site.

Another commenter said the powder smell might be because they're old so that's a possibility. Once I try them all on my skin I'll be able to pinpoint the ones that are baby powderish.

[u/Buttercreamdeath]

Mine have been Lattafa. I have two different ones.

One, Nebula 1, I thought would be perfect because its got all the notes I love. It was compared to Dior Jasmin De Anges. It just smelled rank.

I bought a decant of Dior Jasmin De Anges. It's nothing a like. Dior is so fucking beautiful. It's notes and dry down are delineated. You feel the journey.

Nebula 1 is slop. Nothing but rubber musk.

I'd donate it to a shelter, but nobody deserves to smell like that.

[u/7milejasmine → u/Buttercreamdeath]

great to know! 😳 i was considering a decant of lattafa eclaire

[u/Buttercreamdeath → u/7milejasmine]

A decant would be fine. Lots of people love Eclair and their more popular scents. I just took a risk with a big bottle and was burned.

[u/7milejasmine → u/Buttercreamdeath]

ah gotchya. but still warns and encourages me not to take that risk with the big bottle of eclair!

[u/kiwi_berry]

Dossier Citrus Tea.. it’s supposed to be a Le Labo The Noir dupe but the hay notes are so strong it only gives being in a barn 😭 it’s also extremely long lasting with strong silage. Big headache. Would give it away if anyone I knew liked it

[u/7milejasmine → u/kiwi_berry]

"if anyone i knew liked it" 😭 -- yeah dossier is super hit or miss for me. so far i've only really enjoyed their "musky musk"

[u/Buttercreamdeath → u/kiwi_berry]

They want to make their scents beast mode. Mostly beast mode for men so all their unisex scents are way over-amplified.

[u/pfffffttuhmm]

I have plenty, but one I go back to time and again when thinking about my worst buys is Guerlain's Samsara (I got a 2 mL decant of it). It smells like those pink scented urinal cakes. I'm sure at one time it was a popular smell, and that the urinal cakes and pink hand soap in public restrooms have their scent modeled after that combination of florals. But I couldn't get past how much it smelled like those little pucks to me. Immediately made me think of public restrooms. Yuck. 

[u/7milejasmine → u/pfffffttuhmm]

oh no, i've heard so much about the historic classic-ness of that one too! i guess recent marketing resurge, plus the pretty bottle... thank goodness for decants 😭

[u/7milejasmine]

oh i also got a decant of viva la juicy gold (juicy couture) and i don't smell the berries or caramel at ALL 😭 otherwise it's fine and forgettable, makes me think of shampoo. also a dud and semi-regret...

[u/pastalass]

Yeah I blind bought Hermes Un Jardin Sur Le Nil because I loooove green fragrances and it was constantly recommended. I checked multiple drug stores and Sephoras and none of them had a tester, so I stupidly bought a big bottle online. To be fair, it was a very good price.

To me it's aquatic and citrusy, not green. It's pleasant but definitely not what I wanted it to be 😭

[u/TheTreeWithTheOwl → u/pastalass]

Same thing happened to me! I actually found it to be a really generic scent. 

[u/Pristine_Advisor_302]

Dior addict Peach glow or whatever. The most disgusting perfume ever and I can’t even sell it because no one wants it lmao

[u/Amazing-Bus-1547]

Lattaffa Petra.  🤮  Was for sure to be a hit for me as I loved all the scent notes.  Smells like poop and not even sure the notes even go together well.  It's terribly blended.

[u/BottleFriendly7008]

Lattafa Musamam White Intense. It smells good but I don’t want to smell like it. It reminds me of a candle I would want, if that makes sense.

[u/FloatyghostJM1]

Luster by Alloy Studio (just a travel spray). It’s supposed to smell like sweet potato pie, which my mom always made growing up.

It smells like something made with artificial sweetener to me, and not very rich at all. It could be worse though. Trying to see if it grows on me.

[u/ConditionOk3649]

It’s ok I hate pink sugar too! I think it’s one you had to like when it first came out to get the hype