(Full disclaimer I have no idea if some of these are discontinued)
Karma by Lush is one of my favourites too so I think you might like these. They're not the same but I feel have a similar ✨je ne sais quoi✨
Amber Nod (Marks and Spencer): love little amber amber perfume. Marks and Spencer perfumes are wicked. Warmth by the apothecary range is like £13 and is a dupe for Santal 33 by Le Labo. Yeah it doesn't last quite as long on your skin but at £13 you can go crazy with the top ups. All the Apothecary range is really really nice
420 by Lush: A really woody CBD infused scent. It's kind of weird but in an enjoyable way.
Neroli perfume oil by Wanderflower - a warming comforting neroli scent. Oil based perfume is a nice more affordable option over eau de toilette because it lasts longer on the skin (though the scent often has a different and less fresh quality imo)
Arket perfume oil trio - The Oakmoss one especially is top tier. Really nice to layer due to their simplicity.
Alexander McQueen - One of the only "celebrity" perfumes I've actually loved. It's so hot and sexy and mysterious and smells like a strange flower you'd find somewhere magical. It is quite weird and this one is definitely discontinued and I don't know how much I'd recommend as a blind buy but it's an amazing perfume. Also the scent changes over the day in a really nice way. More for evening wear though
White Dahlia by Reiss - it's very fresh and quite cologne-y and even though it has no leather notes it still smells like leather to me? Not sure why that is but it's a very unisex scent and I feel compelled to wear this when I'm wearing a suit for some reason
May 31, 2025
Related Recs
my favourite perfume - Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Rose, Sandalwood. I love Jasmine and Rose so much, and I love how Jasmine can smell kind of gross. This perfume smells really different on different people and I always inexplicably think it smells like paper on me and I smell like an old library that someones left old flowers a bit too long in in a good way. It’s the perfume my bf thinks now smells of me. It’s affordable! But it stains my skin and any light clothing red/orange so I have to be careful with it.
I also wear:
M&S warm neroli - casual daytime. Neroli, bergamot, musk. Feels quite meditative.
Blue and Shay Atropa Belladonna or Black Tulip - Both heady florals. The belladonna is sweeter than I’d buy myself but it was a gift and I wear it occasionally. The black tulip to me smells again like old flowers (although others have said it smells fresh so maybe I’m just weird). I generally prefer to smell a bit old and rotten than fresh and bright.
i recently discovered Cherry Smoke by Tom Ford and I’ve fallen in love. I’ve been wearing it as my nighttime scent. Cherry, smoked wood, apricot, leather, olive. It’s sweet but smokey like a Manhattan. it’s sexy as FUCK. But I absolutely cannot afford it once this tester runs out so it’s a flash in the pan love affair.
In terms of other scents - my laundry is always lavender cause wool moths don’t like it, and I usually always buy rose or jasmine scented body wash, but atm it’s a huge bar of pomegranate soap that caskeyc got me for Christmas, and I like to burn sandalwood or jasmine in my room.
Apr 6, 2024
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Oh I'm so about to give you an essay. and I'd be more than happy to help you out with a consultation if you'd like to. I'm going to focus on more easy to find frangances:
🔹 Amo by Ferragamo (my favourite scent)
Sweet vanilla but not your usual overly commercial vanilla, more tonka bean leaning, like italian biscuit with orange cream, some might say. But the heart of it has some sting to it. It's addictive. Smells a little bit organic but not enough to not be called commercial.
🔹 Classic J'adore and J'adore L'or
Fairly synthetic smelling but amazing florals, I must admit that just like le baisser du dragon, it might be too old fashioned but it is very special. Brings me good memories about my grandma. And L'or is experimental for me but paired with any other scent makes it smell amazing.
🔹 Miss Dior with the colored sparks in the fabric bow
Soft and sweet in the most elegants of ways. Definitely not as similar to her sisters but I find it something absolutely wearable for every day and not too overwhelming.
🔹 Olympea line in general but Aqua
Beautiful and special citric, admittedly very synthetic but stays all day, has some punch to it and sharp enough to feel fresh and clean.
🔹 Le baisser Du Dragon by Cartier (Hear me out. I know it smells like it's meant for a different age group, but I promise, a splash of this can be so absolutely powerful)
I disagree with the idea that it is similar to channel NO. 5. I find it deeper and deeply organic. Sure, it is strong, very, but dries sweet and I love it. I love to use it in very important ocations. Unpopular opinion: This is an absolute winter fragrance, not autumn AT ALL.
🔹 Velvet orchid by Tom Ford (Don't put it on unless you want get sniffed by every living being)
This is like the angel twin of black orchid. Might be too exotic but that's something great if individuality appeals to you. But I'm an absolute sucker for orange blossom, honey and rum so I adore it.
May 12, 2025
👃
I used to exclusively wear only one perfume at a time until the bottle ran out. This era I wore:
Misia - Chanel
Smells like a 1920s dressing room with powder and violets and roses everywhere
Red Roses - Jo Malone
Just the most beautiful rose smell. I would always get asked by taxi drivers what I was wearing when I had this on.
Now I've gotten into nicher perfumes that are more unisex and a bit weirder so I rotate them depending on season/occasion/time of day.
Current Spring rotation
For the office: Morning Chess - Vilhelm Parfumerie
It's woody and leathery but also very fresh and green. The creator says it was inspired by mornings in a cottage on the swedish coast. Smelling this at my desk makes me remember the world is a bigger place than emails.
For the evening: Mississippi Medicine - DS and Durga
Smells like old churches. Based on the rituals of a death cult from the 1200s. Heavy on incense, cedar and frankincense.
For walks outside: Sakura - Lush
Super clean and refreshing. Feel awake when I smell this. Smells like jasmine and orange blossom and salt. Like being near the sea but also delicate flowers.
I used to really love having one singular signature scent (whenever anybody would tell me I always smelled like roses I would reply "yes, so when I'm dead and you smell roses you'll think of me") but the older I get the more I feel like I have more facets of myself to perfume. I like that I can change my mood with fragrance or have some kind of escapism from reality with it.
Apr 6, 2024
Top Recs from @caskeyc
May 21, 2025
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1. Don't set an alarm and wake up naturally. Snooze for however long you want to, it's okay
2. Have breakfast. For me it's toast. Have it with butter/jam/honey and a lot of water and coffee and juice.
3. Listen to an album in full and do some puzzles until it ends. I like to stick a record on and do the nyt games (connections, then wordle, then the mini, then I'm ready for a crossword)
4. Shower and use all your best stuff. Smell great. Make your hair feel soft.
5. Wear an outfit you don't get to wear that often. I tend to wear the same thing over and over at work so I wear something a bit more fun and less practical.
6. Go outside. I live near a road with secondhand shops that are great browsing but quite tempting on a budget. To beat the temptation just look in the windows and then walk round the streets or to a green space if it's a nice day. Walk as fast or as slow as you like. Try and spot cats that might let you stroke them. See how each place you go smells different. Walk down streets that you've not been down before just because.
7. Come home and decide how much energy you have. If you have energy do an activity (I would write, play an instrument, do some art, read, play a game) if you don't then watch something from your watchlist. Saturdays feel like a good day to watch something new.
8. Cook yourself a meal. Start before you're hungry and spend ages on it. Use every pot. Listen to music. Sing whilst you wash the dishes.
9. Play! Video games, board games, internet games, card games, phone games, rearrange your plushies, embrace your inner child. Play with ideas, experiment with felt tip pens, write a limerick. Get silly with it.
10. Talk to your friends. Invite them over, call somebody up, text that person back you didn't have time to. I like to spend a good day off by myself then have a great time talking to people after I've recharged.
11. Have so much fun getting to do whatever you want you fall asleep at whatever time. Monday - Friday is about appeasing your body clock, Saturdays are for filthy pleasures like falling asleep at 3am because you were too busy flirting or reading or watching videos.
Apr 16, 2024
