Help! i just bough aqua di gio...

bought it thinking, armani, classy quality stuff right? Yeah. I found out afterwards the rep it had...
I'm new to this whole game, and i'm looking to find a balance between unique/rare and intoxicating evening scent (to a lady's nose).

I've looked at the perfume court, and have no idea where to begin...any help pointing me in a direction would be greatly appreciated.

*edit*
they've got so many "begginner sampler packs"...whatever i buy will need to get the seal of approval from swmbo, so these seem ideal to try out for a night or two and get feedback.

bearbear said:

bought it thinking, armani, classy quality stuff right? Yeah. I found out afterwards the rep it had...
I'm new to this whole game, and i'm looking to find a balance between unique/rare and intoxicating evening scent (to a lady's nose).

I've looked at the perfume court, and have no idea where to begin...any help pointing me in a direction would be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

Man you're right, that is unfortunate. Aqua di gio is in no way unique or rare. Think positive though, you'll have no trouble finding someone to gift it to. Know anyone at work with a birthday coming up?

My 2 cents: begin with your nose, not with what you hear or read. There are too many scents to choose from. If you need help, have your significant other along as you peruse. If you have no sig other, bring your sister to assist (be sure to tell her your not necessarily interested in what's popular or cool, you're interested in something that's "unique/rare" and smells good). If you have no sister or sig other, revert to step 1: follow your nose.

FreezerBurns said:

Man you're right, that is unfortunate. Aqua di gio is in no way unique or rare. Think positive though, you'll have no trouble finding someone to gift it to. Know anyone at work with a birthday coming up?

My 2 cents: begin with your nose, not with what you hear or read. There are too many scents to choose from. If you need help, have your significant other along as you peruse. If you have no sig other, bring your sister to assist (be sure to tell her your not necessarily interested in what's popular or cool, you're interested in something that's "unique/rare" and smells good). If you have no sister or sig other, revert to step 1: follow your nose.

Click to expand...

thanks, i think i'm going to gift it to my brother, hopefully something that mainstream will get him some action

*edit*
they've got so many "begginner sampler packs"...whatever i buy will need to get the seal of approval from swmbo, so these seem ideal to try out for a night or two and get feedback.

Click to expand...

shes away right now visiting family, so i've got about a month to get started with the samples. If its any help, she wears d&g the one, which is absolutely intoxicating, the vanilla is what shines most when she wears it, but i can't tell apart the musk, vetiver plumb and abmer that are apparently in the base notes (no idea what contributes) i also don't think i smelled any of the citrussy stuff either thats in it

Oh good! Your brother who is in high school will love it!

If you are going for samples, I'd recommend Trumpers and also Czech and Speake.

I'm not sure why you're telling us all what your wife wears, do you need to match it or something?

**Again, your best bet is to get your wife, roll to the perfume store and begin the hunt.

Don't worry about the rep it has, if you think it smells good wear it. It's not anything that's going to stand out but it's a totally inoffensive scent and, to me at east, it smells good. It's a fresh, if somewhat invisible, smelling frag. I still wear Cool Water because I like the scent but so does every male in between the ages of 16-24. Walk into any restaurant and one could bet that four out of every ten guys are going to be wearing CW or AdG.

I do applaud your looking into expanding your range of scents. If you're looking for unique/rare then skip the scent counters of most department stores. If you have to go there then bring your stun baton to fend off the scent harpies trying to sell you the newest or most popular fragrance. Another thing is to hit up an "upscale" dept store and go to their scent counters. I've found that most often the employees at a joint like a Neiman-Marcus or Saks are a little more in tune with their products and they (hopefully) don't just try to sell you the latest goods. After they take the time to go through the scents with you, ask for a sample of each so you can take it back to SWMBO so she can make the final decision. Ask for the salesperson's business card also (they oftentimes will have them.) This does two things: 1) They're more likely to give you samples of whatever you request 2) You have a contact at the store if you so choose to purchase your scent there and that means more free samples (if they're a good salesperson.) Now, the prices may be a little higher at the upscale dept store so at this time it's up to you what you want to do. If you can find your scent at another store or online at a cheaper price and you're looking to save some cash then buy it at the cheaper location. If you're looking for a more personal service then get it at the upscale joint.

Requesting and purchasing samples online is also the way to go. A lot can be had for free or fairly cheap and they give you a good idea of what she'll like. Also, anything you don't like can be passed down to the little brother. No Axe for him. Anything is better than Axe.

swmbo is a gf...gave me a scare there

not necessarily looking to match it, but i thought perhaps it might say something about her preference in scents.

Shes out of town right now, and i don't mind spending a little bit on the sample packs to try out a variety, over an extended period of time.

The problem i find is when i hit a department store/perfume shop, after the first or second scent, they all smell the same, blend and i get dizzy. They smell totally different on cards than on my skin.

I've tried the coffe bean sniff, that doesn't help the situation. I'll look into samplers from what you've mention and go from there.

dwnwrdishvnwrd said:

Don't worry about the rep it has, if you think it smells good wear it. ...
*snip*

Click to expand...

Its big brother it'll probably stay on the counter/in the car as a daytime/emergency scent.

yeah, i will definitely hit them up for samples i can take back, like i mentioned before, i can't stand multiple scents, and there tends to be s residual clusterf*ck of scents wafting around. Cards don't do it for me, i find the same scent will smell different on everyone.

Yah, I sniff about four before my nose turns useless. Then I just take their samples and try them out for the next week. Coffee beans help a little but they're not a cure all.

One approach would be to look at the various scent families, then list the most highly-rated frags in each family. The reviews here and on BN will give you a variety of opinions and perhaps lead you to examples you would like to try. I don't know what shaving gear you have, but creams and/or soaps will expose you to the Three T's, all of whom carry EdT's.
Like many others on the shaving forums, I can't say enough good things about the UK scent houses, especially Penhaligon's and C&S. I guess their approach must agree with me because I pretty much like all their offerings. Pick your top two Pen's scents, and they'll mail samples. C&S and Trumper's also have samples, as does L'Artisan. Seek, and ye shall find.

just ordered the c&s sampler.

i looked at trumpers website, couldn't find anything about samples, i guess i'll send their customer service an e-mail. The three ts i would definitely look into. I've also heard great things about the french houses, so i'd like to try them out.

i was thinking about purchasing these 2 samplers from tpc

# Incense ~ L'Artisan Passage D'Enfer ~ Soft Frankincense
# Fougere/ Lavender ~ Guerlain Jicky EDP ~ A classic
# Vetiver ~ Guerlain Vetiver ~ A true Classic
# Sandalwood ~ MPG Santal Noble
# Leather ~ Knize ten
# Tobacco ~ Tom Ford Tobbaco Vanille 1/2 sample
# Musk ~ Serge Lutens Muscs Koublai Khan ~ the best men's scent ever created! 1/2 sample
# Gourmand ~ Dior Eau Noire
# Reality ~ CB I Hate Perfumes Black March ~ Reality scent of dirt ~ earthy scent

# Iris ~ Dior Homme
# Patchouly ~ Serge Lutens Borneo ~ Best Patchouli Cocoa Scent 1/2 sample
# Fig ~ L'Artisan Premier Figuier ~ Creamy fig with a hint of Coconut
# Cedar ~ Donna Karan Black Cashmere ~ Richest cedar going
# Citrus ~ Acqua di Parma Colonia ~ Classic men's citrus scent
# Green ~ Creed Green Irish Tweed ~ This is our best selling men's scent ~ hands Down!
# Smoke / Tar ~ Bvlgari Black
# Boozy ~ Annick Goutal Sables ~ Warm sweet Brandy
# Amber ~ MPG Ambre Precieux

i've heard read alot about knize ten, guerlain vetiver & aqua di parma. Also in there i see dior and bvlgari which i recognize,so they aren't to obscure.

http://www.trumpers.com/product_detail.cfm?ProductID=111547656

It's a pretty complete sample pack, deffinitely worth the small fee.

FreezerBurns said:

http://www.trumpers.com/product_detail.cfm?ProductID=111547656

It's a pretty complete sample pack, deffinitely worth the small fee.

Click to expand...

yeah, i don't mind spending a little bit to get quality. i see it as no different than buying an ounce or two of 18yo scotch from a bar before grabbing a bottle of the stuff.

i had to laugh the fee is £4.35 to canada and £5 to the uk.

You'll be happy with the Trumper's sampler. They provide some creams, shower gels, etc. and they're all high quality stuff. But you're going to LOVE the presentation of the C&S sampler. They put a lot of thought into their sampler and it's very impressive looking.

To save you a little time though, just go buy a bottle of C&S Cuba. You're going to do it eventually.

dwnwrdishvnwrd said:

You'll be happy with the Trumper's sampler. They provide some creams, shower gels, etc. and they're all high quality stuff. But you're going to LOVE the presentation of the C&S sampler. They put a lot of thought into their sampler and it's very impressive looking.

To save you a little time though, just go buy a bottle of C&S Cuba. You're going to do it eventually.

Click to expand...

Inspired by the old town of Havana, its Latin rhythms, smooth cigars, fine rums and exotic beauties, this fragrance bursts into life with the initial top notes of bergamot, lime, peppermint and a hint of rum. Layered with a melange of spicy and floral middle notes, mainly rose, clove and bay, Tonka beans add a subtle softness. The lasting base notes of tobacco mixed with the richness of frankincense, cedar wood and vetiver round off this striking fragrance.

Click to expand...

I'm going to hold off on that pc sampler untill the c&s and trumpers arrives. Very excited.

Check out the Truefitt and Hill sampler, too. I think they've got some pretty good scents.

I've been looking into some colognes recently and I liked a couple of the T&H samples. The 1805 is a marine scent (similar to Aqua Di Gio). Trafalgar was the other one I really liked; I used up the sample but can't remember the notes.

kingfisher said:

Check out the Truefitt and Hill sampler, too. I think they've got some pretty good scents.

Click to expand...

Just sent t&H an e-mail with my situation and asked about acquiring some samples, as the link in their forums is dead.. *fingers crossed*

bearbear said:

Just sent t&H an e-mail with my situation and asked about acquiring some samples, as the link in their forums is dead.. *fingers crossed*

Click to expand...

Here's the link for the They have one with the creams and aftershaves as well.

Ulysses said:

Here's the link for the http://www.truefittandhill.com/detail_10104__2.html They have one with the creams and aftershaves as well.

Click to expand...

fixed. lol you slapped the img tags instead of url. Thank you, i'll wait to hear back from them (who knows maybee i'll score a freebie).
When my dream is finnally crushed, i will order it

If you're anything like me, you'll discover it takes some doing to rein in the desire to try too many things. I never bought on of the sampler packs, but I did make several orders of multiple-decants. I've found that it takes a good while to get through a selection. A scent that bowls me over one day, may seem ho-hum on another.

For some reason, my own brand of AD seemed to generate an urgency, "I want to try..........., and I want it(them) NOW". By and large, a scent that instantly creates a desire to add it to my collection, has a good chance of collecting dust later. For some reason, the scents that seem "iffy" at first whiff, but that I come to appreciate in repeated wearings, tend to have a better chance of becoming "keepers".