Breathtaking... Stunning... And hefty loads of samples....

Breathtaking... Stunning... And hefty loads of samples....

Indeed very nice haul and I agree with you: Europe SAs are very generous with giving away samples.

Bro Astroboy22, Great hunt... love all ur haul.

   

Nice haul !!!

Congratulation on your haul, Astroboy22 

Here's mine from Essenza Nobile delivered after 3 weeks by DHL/PosLaju (not DHL Express) :-
- Tauer's LDDM
- Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet (Sample)
- Atkinsons' Oud Save The King EdP (Sample) - Free
- Jean Patou's Joy Forever EdT (sample) - Free
- Some cosmetics samples - Free

Tauer's LDDM is $83.19euro (exchange rate was 4.7). Shipping is $9.99 for orders >= $100. Actually, ordered some Floris samples but they were all out of stock and they refunded my $ but shipping fee of $9.99 remained unchanged.

Luckily I managed to grab the last bottle this time as I was told I had the last one. I'm aware it's one of the bestsellers but I didn't expect it selling like hot cakes.

Apparently the three free samples I requested were not available and replaced with random samples mentioned above. The following were the samples I requested :-
(1) Xerjoff XJ 17/17 - Irisss - EdP
(2) Xerjoff - Shooting Stars - Nio - EdP
(3) (untitled) - Maison Martin Margiela - EdP

Briefly tried all the samples. Oud Save The King smells like many generic oud scents in the market now. Joy Forever smells generic with rose and jasmine. It's far from the classic Joy, which my mom has a vintage bottle of. That one's an aldehydes bomb.

Oh yeah, my decant bottles (glass) of 3ml and 10ml from Taobao came in as well.

Superb !!     

Wow... i also come join the haul trend, i know mine abit late dont laugh at me ya.... have to bring food to office eat for the next 2 months

Haha... This weekend im going down to kl to cele belated mothers day with my lady's family, and quite bog down with project and target datelines...

here are my last haul while im in KL last month plus some FB bought online... and By Kilian's sample
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So it is the "what would you blind-buy" time again!

What would you blind-buy gentlemen?
1. Houbigant Fougere Royale
2. Colonia Intensa
3. Colonia Oud
4. Colonia Essenza

Thanks for the recommendations guys.

Now I am in dilemma: MFK Oud or Colonia Oud. One is RM800 and the latter at RM650.....

2nd and final perfume purchase from HK
Le Labo Labdanum 18. I got a 50ml at HKD$1380. The 100ml is HKD$1980. All the other ones I tried, only this one appealed to me. No city exclusive for Hong Kong is available and known yet. They will let me know once it becomes available. The boutique is very low profile and away from main road but with the help of Google Map/GPS it was quite easy to locate.

TBH, Le Labo is not a house I'm too crazy about and to buy it seems like against my style but I only wanted the unique fresh bottling experience in its boutique. There are currently only two boutiques in Asia, Tokyo and Hong Kong. However, partner stores in Asia are available in Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore (ESCENTIALS, Paragon Mall) :-
- http://lelabofragrances.com/inter_en/locations

On my skin and to my nose, Labdanum 18 smells a bit like Musc Ravageur (both composed by Maurice Roucel) and Musc Ravageur smells like Shalimar with clove and cinamom added. Below is a review I did based on a tiny decant from luckyscent I posted on fragrantica a while ago :-

As a BIG fan of amber (as major note), I just wanted to know how labdanum smells like, which is part of the makeup of amber note (created in lab). It's the sweet, resinous, cozy and warm qualities I love so much about.

I kinda agree to the reference to Musc Ravageur by Frederic Malle except without the prominent clove in MR, which I tried recently and quite like it.

Back to the scent itself. Labdanum 18 opens with prominent animalic notes but they are subtle. I generally can't take any skanky note but surprisingly this one is acceptable for me. Amber starts to peek out after an hour. However, projection and longevity are below average. Overall, it's pretty much a skin scent. Short but sweet.

yup i truely agree... experience is nothing we can never put a price on it

finally 1H14 ended, damn busy with the closing... finally can breathe edi... Tone, nice le labo     

last weekend was at kl for meeting and managed to squeeze a bit wee time to sniff the elusive hermessence line

Hermessence. Sense, essence, essential. The essence of Hermes and the very soul of perfume. A collection of olfactory poems, with sobriety and intensity, which freely explore new facets of emotion. Nature reinvented, unexpected and poetic. Unique and surprising associations of the most noble elements of perfumery.

Jean-Claude Ellena, perfumer to the house of Hermes, has created this collection of fragrances for both men and women which touch the heart and speak directly to the senses.

in other word, u will have to be a fan of minimalist art work by JCE, he is really a masterclass perfumer.. i fell in love with his touch after i gotten bigarade concentree. ya i know kinda bored but then do let me continue a few lines before i go to the next agenda...

Even though Hermes gave JCE take the lead and no new Hermessence launch unless JCE give an 'ok' signal but it is still abit constrain compared to what have he created for Frederic Malle... BC can last on me though out the day, and my female colleagues and friends say i smell nice... Hermessence.. spoiler ahead... well i like his approach of "man, u smell nice" rather than "yo, ur perfume smell nice"

so i went to Hermes in Gardens where i gotten my first bel ami, the SA recognize me lol... and i bite the bullet went for the travel gift set consist of 4x15ml spray.. (a very smart marketing move).. and Hermes is very generous with their samples... when i say generous.. it is generous

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look on how they pay attention to small detail... on the travel set

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the spray vial is in an individual pouch... the sample is 4ml vial... more on that later

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after i strip them naked and do a group photo...

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close up on my SOTD

one word can sums up their presentation... luxury...

after a few days dosing myself with them, i realise that JCE wanna portrait a discreet, luxury scent to a group of consumers who is i) ppl who dont care abt the price, just wan the orange bag or ii) JCE fan.. well i am the later

yes the ones that i choose are: Osmanthe Yunnan, Iris Ukiyoe, Santal Massoia, Epice Marine, as for samples: Vanille Galante, brin de reglisse, amber narguile... no rose??? well they ran out of stock, if not my first choice would be Rose Ikebana lol

do explore this line only if and only if longevity is not ur concern... notice the word "dosing" i mention just now... these babies have problem go past the 5th hr, if u lucky 6th hour  but the scent quality.. impeccable.

This line is perfect for Malaysia climate, light, airy, transparent, wont offend, compliment getter, unique.. Eventually the four will be FBW in my collection... i look past the longevity issues and i can wear 2-3 frags a day which is pretty good lol... i know it is kinda long... i will put up individual review of the scent later but i can summary:

Osmanthe Yunnan - Sweet Apricot Tea
Epice Marine - Salty sea breeze at coast beside pier on an early morning
Santal Massoia - milky, creamy sandalwood
Iris Ukiyoe - Iris petal water with orange blossom

i think i better stop here... update later thanks for spending time reading such long essay

So the package has arrived my office today.

Shipped on 17 June
Cleared by customs on 25 June
Arrived office on 30 June

I ain't even complaining.

Haul of the classic - Shalimar by Guerlain
Luca Turin calls it the reference oriental. I was totally ignoring it all this while after I first sniffed it two years ago. It put me off with the old lady vibe. My nose wasn't ready yet I should say. After my sampling last time round I grew to love it. Partly has to thank Musc Ravageur too, which I love and shares some similarities with Shalimar.

I got my 90ml EdP from a LYN seller for RM240. He was kind enough to give me free PosLaju shipping after I identified myself as a regular of this perfume forum thread.

I know my crappy Ipad camera doesn't do this legend justice but here goes anyway.

So sweet la bro... Unit Famarsi no kacau ur parcel since it is way high value?

haha nasomatto i tried pardon n BA... really monster performance but quite hard to wear over here

Nice haul as always. Blamage has an interesting cap and thanks for sharing with us the house of Naomi Goodsir.

A note on perfume import into Malaysia, since perfumes are non-taxable, as long as it doesn't exceed MYR2,000 you'll be fine.

hi guys, i'm new here and would ask a question. what do u guys recommend to get if i want a fragrance that has strong vanilla smell and long lasting? but i want it to be more masculine. also, i prefer if its less powdery/synthetic. thinking about tom ford tobacco vanille but i think its too pricey for me though. any recommendations? thx

Just bought these two..ysl intense kinda nice