Quick note for UK peeps who might not be aware. Superdrug offer a service where they’ll give you a free fill from a curated fragrance selection on purchase of a Perfume Pod (a 5ml travel atomiser). The pod costs £8. Apparently, it’s everything but “premium” fragrances, but some stores are more loose with that definition than others. It’s also dependant on what testers they have. I bought one yesterday, and got a free 5ml of Stronger With You Absolutely. There were many others of interest to me too. Worth a look!

So today it is a chilly spring day and I am wearing Coral fantasy which is supposed to have a tobacco note that I really don’t get. My question is there something like transitional weather (spring/fall) that is fresh but has a stronger tobacco note in it? Like a blueish fragrance with tobacco? I figured one of you guys will have something in the bank. I’m looking for something a little more grown up as after today I think I’m going to give my son coral fantasy.

I've been working hard to build a collection that has me covered for every situation that life throws at me. Cooler weather scents are my favorite and I'm feeling good about that part of my collection. I live in the South, where warmer weather dominates eight or nine months of the year, so I'm focusing on building that part of my collection up, and I'm feeling better about what I have to work with. My weakness? Spring. When fall moves in, I'm covered, but spring, where it starts cool and steadily gets warmer, that's definitely my Achilles heel. This is the one area of my collection where I struggle to find options that really work well. What about you? What part of your collection are you fighting to get built up to where it needs to be?

We talk about this a lot, but @Jeffrey Plotka 's recent post got me thinking: Which sample / decants have you been so excited about that you converted it to a full bottle purchase? Does it happen a lot? Or do you more often than not finish up a sample and then never go back to that fragrance again? My samples that I converted: Boss Bottled Elixir City Rhythm Nashville (thank you again @Raul Olveda!) Mancera Cedrat Boise Mancera Black Noir Mancera Aoud Lemon Mint Replica Jazz Club Replica Never-ending Summer and pretty much all of the Imaginary Authors bottles I own Editing to add Third Eye Fragrances Iris Obsidian. I bought that one before I was even done with the sample. Same for Prisma Citron. Would love to know what's made it off the sample wish list to the full bottle own list.

Ok, my 50th is coming up in Sep. I think I have decided to go with a few bottles of Amouage to start my collection. For the Amouage fans, need your help. If I were to only get 4-6 bottles ever, what would you recommend? I want to start getting samples and trying them out to narrow down the ones I want to get.