So, over at Basenotes, the perfume forum I am a member of, today’s synch is about ”Your first ”investment perfume”…”
Hum, I don’t ”invest” in perfumes, I use them!
But I did ”invest” in a few extra bottle of Balmain de Balmain (by… guess who? Pierre Balmain) when I learned that this gorgeous perfume is going to be discontinued. I found a seller on Ebay with a very good deal too.
It’s sad though. All good perfumes are discontinued by now, and that’s because the ingredient which makes all my favorite scents, ”Oakmoss” has been banned ostensibly because somewhere, somebody, sometime, had a slight tiny bot of irritation when exposed to a dollop of the stuff. I think in reality it is because it’s an expensive ingredient and they want to move on to more synthetics. I base this opinion on the fact that alcohol, is far more irritating to a colossal larger amount of people, (I am one of them) and they’re not banning alcohol. The upshot is that all perfumes which used it have been reformulated by now and don’t smell as good.
Balmain used to make some of the best perfumes in history, My first perfume and enduring love, ”Miss Balmain”. the unique ”Jolie Madame”, the super green ”Vent Vert”, ”Ivoire”, and the quite late addition ”Balmain de Balmain”. One wonders how it is possible that Balmain formulated such a good intelligent perfume, (for intelligent strong women with taste) in an era when all new perfumes are pink, sugary, fruity/flowery, sickly sweet children’s candy scents. And of course it is discontinued now. One of the few scents I actually get compliments for!
Aafke.Art 
I don’t fully understand the phrase “investment perfume” but I do understand that perfume is an investment in your own pleasure and the relationships you have. š
I don’t understand it either. I suppose today’s synch means a perfume which is very expensive, and you keep it for a couple of years and then sell it for a lot more? I wouldn’t dream of doing that. If I buy a perfume I really want to wear it and just finish the bottle! š
(Sub rosa: I think this is a silly synch, and I adapted it to something more reasonable)
It’s a fun concept though, Every Friday all over the world basenotes members wear something which is linked. And on the forum we tell something about the fragrance and why we have it or why we love it.
And basenotes is a very friendly forum, where everybody is nice and very generous. Far, far different than the forum we met on š
I love your Balmain painting. She is so chic. You know so much about everything!
I learned most of what I know about perfumes at Basenotes! For example, I learned why I suddenly went off ”Miss Balmain”, never even finished my last bottle, I know now that they reformulated the scent in the 90s. They never tell you they reformulate perfumes, but they do all the time, and you know it when you smell a vintage version versus the modern dishwater version. It’s never an improvement.
Hey guys, aren’t you happy I am back? Blogging and having fun?
I know I am.
And I am very glad you are all on here making comments!!!