I’ve loved perfume all my life, in a fairly ignorant, uninformed but impassioned way. I stumbled across blogs, just as Robin suggested, by typing in the name of a perfume I was hesitating over. I very soon discovered, to my delight (and particular thanks to Patty and March), that I didn’t have to go out and buy that very expensive bottle, but I could get a sample or a decant for a fraction of the price. Responsible bloggers constantly warn about buying unsniffed. They are decidely not urging us to rush out and buy the latest hot product - the ones who seem to break the rule most consistently are other bloggers. What I got from blogs was incredibly useful, pro-consumer and anti-commercial.

I’m very new to this world, this community - but I like it. I think it is full of lovely, genuine people and only the occasional village idiot. There must be many like me who appreciate you for your wit, warmth, honesty and (on occasion) completely justifiable and understandable bias. We’re talking subjective love, not objective science, here.

As communities grow, guidelines about acceptable behaviour are bound to change and develop. Without official police, communities need to base their developing codes on consensus and self-regulation. Any accusation needs a calm and reasoned response but witch-hunts are never a good way forward. Robin is a case in point - she has learned from experience and has adapted her practice and is not afraid to explain herself. She emerges even more fragrant than before. (Smelling, I think, of Passage L’Enfer or Avignon - sanctity rather than roses.)

With love

I have loved fragrance since I was a young girl (a loooong time ago), and had no idea that there was a whole community out there of others with the same interest. I have learned so much, and I have discovered the most wonderful, beautiful fragrances through the reviews. I’ve also discovered that I love vintage fragrances. My “black and blue” credit card can attest to that! The reviews are beautifully written, and very informative, as are the responsive comments. If I’m interested in a particular fragrance after a review, for the most part, I’ll get a small sample or a decant, to see if it’s full bottle worthy. I’ve got to say, however, that I’ve purchased one or two bottles, unsniffed, and the reviews were so “spot on”, that I was very happy with the purchases.

A conflict of interest never occurred to me, and it still does not. How are we to discover other fragrances, unless the Bloggers obtain them, sample and review them? I had never even heard of a “niche house” fragrance - I just knew I liked different, and not something everybody else was wearing.

No one’s twisting our arms to purchase a fragrance because it received a good review, or not to purchase due to a negative review - part of the fun are the samples and the decants anyway.

Keep up the good work - you all brighten my day!

J

You’re welcome to not read Aromascope, by the way. But you seem to be coming back. LOL!

I wrote this post because you didn’t sound like a perfume lover. I wrote it because you sounded like a rather clueless perfume snob. And I used to love your blog.

People trying to ‘undermine’ your credibility? Again, how exciting! LOL!

Your readers are smart people you know, and we’re certainly entitled to question the credibility of perfume blogs.

So it goes on . . . .