Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I recently ordered a perfume sampler, and did a bunch of reading on review sites to learn more about the world of female fragrance.  Back when I was male I owned a few different scents, and yet again I have a growing collection! 

What are some of your favorites?

So far I have:
Black Orchid by Tom Ford
Acqua di Giola by Giorgio Armania
No 5 by Chanel
Vanille Insemme by Atletier
Eau de Issey by Issey Miyakie

I was also thinking about Light Blue by Dolce and Gabana, but it sounded too similar to Acqua di Giola for me.  And while Flowerbomb by Viktor and Wolf has high reviews, I'm just not into "flowery" scents.  It's a shame Creed doesn't have anything for women that seems to rate high, as Aventus used to be my favorite cologne.

My signature scent is My NY by DKNY.

My fav is haut couture by givinchy

Gaultier II is one that works great with my chemistry!  :D

TBH, my favourite fragrance is none.  I find most scents way, way, way too strong for me.  I look for unscented products when I can.

Someone had recommended Nivea for my skin.  Lordy, I can't get that stuff near my face!  Even on my elbows, I get too much of it in my nose.  It smells like toxic waste.  Then my wife recommended a cream by Alba than smelled of mangoes.  Well, mangoes are nice, but the stuff smelled like a truckload of mangoes had been dumped on my head!  Any strong smell like that makes my sinuses burn and my eyes water.

I finally found a skin cream called Nova Scotia Fisherman, made locally, that not only works well to moisturize my skin, but it also has a very mild scent of kelp that is not unpleasant, and, more importantly, is not overpowering.

While I would like a nice, subtle floral scent, the trick is not to get run over by it.

Love Victoria Secret's "Tease" for perfume and mist. And for a good scented body lotion got to have my Warm Vanilla Sugar!

So many great choices. My favorite ever was Yohji which hasn't been made in over a decade.

Things I have (and husband very carefully, as perfume is so pricy, most of these bottles I've had for 5-10 years)

Angel (Thierry Mugler) .. so sexy, really not a daily wear scent for me
Pure Poison (Dior) .. nice sillage, one of very few florals I like
Prada .. I find it sexy but it's an odd scent, too large sillage for daily wear
Acqua di Parma (Colonia) .. found at a local shop, close to Yohji, nominally a men's scent
Amber ... Just that, for a monotone, it's lovely
Angel Alien (Thierry Mugler) .. a more fecund, alien version of Angel I live it infrequently

A couple of honorable mentions I haven't tried to replace

Rouge Hermes .. which did a spectacular job of capturing the base notes of leather, not a popular fragrance but we liked it
The original l'Agent from Agent Provocateur ... Tiny egg shaped btl, overpriced :-/

My GF's go-to scent is Chanel Bois des Illes, sometimes we swap that role. She also has the Guerlain scents l'Huere Bleue (soft, sublime), Mitsuko and Shalimar as well as a tiny bottle of whatever l'agent perfume Agent Provocateur had when she visited there a few years ago. She also has a few scents by Creed, a forgettable perfumier hat talks a big game.

And then there are my go-to inexpensive scents, I think of them as my pre-transition scents. I've certainly bought more fluid oz of these than all other scents combined, however, haven't replaced either in a couple of years

Dream Angel Heavenly from Vic Secret .. used to be the most popular perfume in the world and I can't figure out why, its based on white musk and while peony and it's 100% recognizeable, I used to be amused when I noted women wearing it at work
Opium (YSL) .. relatively affordable, I haven't replaced it in a long time, invariably will someday.

And Sadie makes another wall o' text ;-) right now wearing the fading scents of acqua di Parma and TM Angel that I put on this morning

I'm broke. So I stick with what I can get from Walmart. I don't go heavy on any scents, but I like berry or citrus scents.

Quote from: SadieBlake on April 11, 2018, 01:17:38 AM
So many great choices. My favorite ever was Yohji which hasn't been made in over a decade.

Things I have (and husband very carefully, as perfume is so pricy, most of these bottles I've had for 5-10 years)

Angel (Thierry Mugler) .. so sexy, really not a daily wear scent for me
Pure Poison (Dior) .. nice sillage, one of very few florals I like
Prada .. I find it sexy but it's an odd scent, too large sillage for daily wear
Acqua di Parma (Colonia) .. found at a local shop, close to Yohji, nominally a men's scent
Amber ... Just that, for a monotone, it's lovely
Angel Alien (Thierry Mugler) .. a more fecund, alien version of Angel I live it infrequently

A couple of honorable mentions I haven't tried to replace

Rouge Hermes .. which did a spectacular job of capturing the base notes of leather, not a popular fragrance but we liked it
The original l'Agent from Agent Provocateur ... Tiny egg shaped btl, overpriced :-/

My GF's go-to scent is Chanel Bois des Illes, sometimes we swap that role. She also has the Guerlain scents l'Huere Bleue (soft, sublime), Mitsuko and Shalimar as well as a tiny bottle of whatever l'agent perfume Agent Provocateur had when she visited there a few years ago. She also has a few scents by Creed, a forgettable perfumier hat talks a big game.

And then there are my go-to inexpensive scents, I think of them as my pre-transition scents. I've certainly bought more fluid oz of these than all other scents combined, however, haven't replaced either in a couple of years

Dream Angel Heavenly from Vic Secret .. used to be the most popular perfume in the world and I can't figure out why, its based on white musk and while peony and it's 100% recognizeable, I used to be amused when I noted women wearing it at work
Opium (YSL) .. relatively affordable, I haven't replaced it in a long time, invariably will someday.

And Sadie makes another wall o' text ;-) right now wearing the fading scents of acqua di Parma and TM Angel that I put on this morning

Thanks Sadie!  I'm trying to find some new and different things, so I'll have to find and try some of those.

Fragrance is still something I know very little about. Most of my cis women friends don't wear any, so they're no help. I've got a peach body spray I use nearly every day for work, and I picked up a couple perfumes I liked the scent of (both between $10-15, so nothing fancy), but I haven't used them. Most of my date nights aren't that fancy....

MARC JACOBS Daisy Eau So Fresh
<3

WD 40....

Have not really found one yet. Tried looking but most have been too strong for my taste

I like fireworks, by sexiest fantasies.
The only thing is, is that it wears off quickly.

Bacon. No, really!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKOqMHiAnlc

I wear Flower by Kenzo.

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Just got a great rose and vanilla body spray from Walmart. I really like it.

Pure frankense  oil.... a touch behinds the ears and your body heat activates it.... combines with your Your Own body scent

I love fragrance, I am self confessed fume head :-)

Penhaligons
* Sartorial
* Halfeti
* Blasted Bloom
* Lothair

Guerlain
* Shalimar
* Habit Rouge

I have an insane collection of fragrances, I have been thinking of putting a website community together for fellow fumeheads :-)

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Quote from: Megan. on June 23, 2018, 01:52:51 AM
I wear Flower by Kenzo.

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I like the fragrance too.  I am a fan of the floral scents and have a Tea Rose that is like being in the actual green house with roses.  I wear them in 100% male presentation and often in the evening.  I love fragrances and only wish I started wearing them eairlier.   

Quote from: Susan H on June 22, 2018, 06:33:55 PM
I like fireworks, by sexiest fantasies.
The only thing is, is that it wears off quickly.

If you want something that lingers, choose a Perfume (most concentrated) or Eau de Parfum.


Does anyone else think patchouli smells like dirty socks😀

Try a decent patchouli, like aged patchouli in Guerlains Extract or their Idylle Duet Rose patchouli. Nahema is amazing and their La Petite Robe Noire EDP is perfect. I still wear Habit Rouge but need to pick up a bottle of their Extract, they only sell it in their Paris store which is a pain, but a good excuse for a detour when I get back.

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I love fragrance, I spent a long time in Paris and London so I lean more to European scents, many American scents are different and tailored to the US market. There are some amazing American scents, DS and Durga does amazing niche fragrances and the couple are very approachable and you can find their scents in a lot of stores now.

https://dsanddurga.com/

If you're interested in more European, check out

https://www.penhaligons.com/

Or Floris, they will do custom fragrances for you. https://www.florislondon.com/en_usd they have been doing bespoke fragrances since 1730

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I think one of the reasons I love perfume was the quote from Jaques Guerlain,

"Perfume is the memory of a woman when she has left the room."

Scent is magical, modern day alchemy.

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Great information NC Rose!  I was looking at the DS and Durga website.  The marketing alone has me very intrigued (which, I guess, is the point of marketing).  I also like that you can be a customized sampler set.  It drives me crazy when super expensive perfumes seem to expect you to buy a bottle without any ability to smell it first.

Penhaligons send decent samples for free, most places don't do a sample you can wear. DS& Durga are also good, you can also find them in stores too. Each perfume they make tells a story which I love.

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I saw a mention about going with EDP (perfume) over EDT which is a good idea, it's also worth mentioning that most perfumes marketed to the US market can be quite different between the different concentrations. Givenchy is a good example, the same perfume can have different notes between, EDT and EDP. Try a sample before you buy. Any good niche perfume should provide samples and enough of a quantity that you can wear it and see how it smells as it shifts between it's notes.

It may seem like a lot of money, but it's worth it over time, a good fragrance should last a long time with just a small amount. As it goes through stages, from the Head notes, through to the base you get a vastly different experience over a long time. Two of my faves (Sartorial and Lothair) last through to the next day. A bottle also lasts a long time. I have had a bottle of Sartorial for 4 years now, so it's more than worth the price.

I also don't think of gender when it comes to perfume, I find it funny when I tell men who say the essence of masculinity is Old Spice, that it's base notes are Geranium and White pepper. It was originally marketed as a womens fragrance in the 20's. Most mens fragrances over 50 years ago, were nearly all floral. Cary Grants signature scent was Rose based. So don't limit yourself to just a feminine perfume, if you find a fragrance that's marketed to men or is unisex, try it. If you love it, wear it and totally own it :-)

One of my fave old school fragrances is Shallamar, it was a ground breaking fragrance of it's day and many modern day fragrances grew from Shallamar's influence. Its vanilla and aged patchouli and I found a bottle in my local Wallgreens and very cheap. It's a classic and I wear it round the house.

Another thing worth noting, cultural differences. Chanel Blue was developed for the American market, it doesn't sell well in Europe (at all) there are so many differences between cultures that it's worth looking outside of the popular fragrances and look at scents from perfume houses from England or France. They are so different from what you are familiar with that you may find something extraordinary.

Ok, I have to admit, I am a perfume geek. I love fragrance. I love to know who the perfumer was, other scents they have made and what was their inspiration. Perfume is an art form.

Estee Lauder - Beautiful and Pleasures

J'Adore (but it's so expensive)

White Shoulders

Windsong

Ann Taylor - Ann

Coty - Exclamation Noir (I just can't help myself)