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7 votes
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Proposal: Weekly neologism thread
I'm a terrible writer, in part because I've got that epistemophiliac adoration for obscure, archaic or onomatopoeic words, word-play, and more pedantry than most audiences can bear. That being...
I'm a terrible writer, in part because I've got that epistemophiliac adoration for obscure, archaic or onomatopoeic words, word-play, and more pedantry than most audiences can bear.
That being said, I think it would be a fun exercise to create and justify new words. A broad range of examples can be found here.
I'm suggesting this both to give serious writers new tools, and as a light-hearted lower-but-not-low effort community-building exercise to include those who don't consider themselves writers yet.
Rules:
- Any subject matter, though I'd prefer we kept this SFW.
- The "logos", or rationale, of the neologism should need little explanation, or be presented in the context of usage, e.g. "asshat", "we're not leaving town, we're staycationing this year."
- English language is not required - if you can make a logical creole word and provide English justification, that's fine.
- Please Google to ensure originality.
- Puns are going to happen. If that's a problem for you, please refrain from complaint unless you feel there's unnecessary cruelty outside the bounds of Tildes' terms of use.
Here's a starter:
mortlifting - abusing the occasion of a celebrity's death to make an unrelated political point.
7 votes -
Paul Bocuse cooking poulet au gros sel
5 votes -
'Disgrace and shame': Alan Moore points to Boris Johnson in Grenfell fire comic
6 votes -
‘The last time I held her’: How a homeless musician reclaimed the love of his life
6 votes -
When a Music Legend Dies, How Does Today’s Mostly Automated Radio React?
8 votes -
What's your opinion on using cheats/mods to boost progress in extremely grindy games, ie: GTA5 Online?
I've been using mods on GTA online for a couple of weeks now just to skip the grind. I hate cheating but I hate fucking grinding, especially with the minimal hours I have to play each week.
18 votes -
Woodleigh Research Facility - Heilige Seidhr
2 votes -
Indie Highlights - 20.08.2018 (Nintendo Switch)
5 votes -
Why the left is so afraid of Jordan Peterson
8 votes -
Bent - K.i.s.s.e.s (2009)
3 votes -
Weekly Writing Prompt Group - Week 0 - Open Voting for the Weekly Prompt
This is week 0 of the Weekly Writing Prompt Group (WWPG). After asking about interest, I've decided to try running this. This is week 0, so I'm trying to see what works and what doesn't. Feel free...
This is week 0 of the Weekly Writing Prompt Group (WWPG). After asking about interest, I've decided to try running this. This is week 0, so I'm trying to see what works and what doesn't. Feel free to make suggestions!
Vote for the prompt you like most by adding a 'vote' to the prompt in the comments. Writers and non-writers, are encouraged to vote:
The Necronaut:
Who is the traveler in the after life? What do they see? Why are they there? Are they alone or part of a team? Was this an accident? or an organized, international endeavor?An Audience of None:
Who is the performer? What are they performing? Are they truly alone? Is there a watcher after all?The Road Trip:
Are they going towards or away from something? How are they getting there? What happens if they arrive? What happens if they return?Vote closes tomorrow, Tuesday, Aug 21, 10AM EST.
Submissions will be accepted on Wednesday, Aug 29, EST (~9 days).The questions are only meant to help you get started. Make it happy or sad, adventure or horror, romance or tragedy. Go where you want. Don't feel constrained by what may seem to be the obvious response to the prompt.
This will be different from other writing prompts in three ways:
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You are encouraged to take your time with the prompt. After a prompt has been chosen, I will post another thread after a week for submissions to that week's prompt.
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I will personally read and provide feedback to every submission in the submission thread. It will be more than just a "good job" or acknowledgement. I will highlight things I liked, didn't like, how I think things could be improved etc.
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Selection of the prompt is open to everyone, even non-participants. I hope this will encourage the greater tildes community to follow the WWPG and to participate by reading and commenting on the creative works of the writers.
What I feel separates this style of prompt from others is that it encourages writers to let their ideas breathe and it provides a creative outlet for writers who may be intimidated by the faster nature of other writing prompts.
Another aspect that I feel makes this unique is the promise of feedback. I believe that if you take the time to really work on something, you should get something back. To make this possible, there are some things that I need from you:
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The submission must be completely original. In the future I may post more fan-fictiony prompts, but I want to encourage brand new ideas from the writers.
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Keep the length of your submissions between 1000 and 2000 words. This is to make it easier for me to read (as we continue I may extend the length). This should also keep you well within the 50,000 character limit.
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Avoid shopping large tracts of your writing as the goal is provide new works on the submission date. However, feel free to brainstorm ideas.
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Make sure to properly format to tildes. Feel free to also post your stories to your personal blogs etc., but I will only provide feedback for work posted in tildes.
12 votes -
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Malcolm Turnbull removes all climate change targets from energy policy in fresh bid to save leadership
13 votes -
I wrote a screenplay but I wasn't sure if it was going anywhere. So I'm turning it into a web "graphic novel".
14 votes -
Bloodbath live in 2008 at PartySan Open Air
4 votes -
Island birds would likely beat their mainland relatives in a battle of wits
3 votes -
Bumper-Sticker Computer Science
11 votes -
Advice on Google's OKR Framework
I've hard a lot of great results using Google's OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework in my roles leading technical and product teams. I've been tasked with bringing this framework across my...
I've hard a lot of great results using Google's OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework in my roles leading technical and product teams. I've been tasked with bringing this framework across my organization, including to teams like marketing and business development.
My main issue recently has been around defining the key results of the projects that our teams are going to be pursuing. All of the advice I've gotten in the past has been to ensure that KRs are quantitative, NOT qualitative. This has been at odds with some of the projects the marketing and business teams are planning on working on. These are projects like...
- create a new marketing plan given the new budget constraints
- audit the distribution process to increase our information about the retail sales process
The push back I am getting is along the lines of "when I create the new marketing plan, the project will be complete, and therefore it's just whether or not I finished the plan that matters." i.e. if the objective is finished then the project is a success. My point of view is that ALL projects should have metrics attached to them, and if we can't measure the progress then we cannot show the added value to the business as a result of our effort.
The natural response is: what metrics would you attribute to projects like these? And THAT'S where I could use help. Coming from a product/tech background, my understanding of marketing, biz, and operations leaves something to be desired.
For the marketing plan, I suggested a metric could be to reduce the monthly marketing budget from $current to $future. For the distribution audit, I suggest we track the # of insights/recommendations we produced as a result of the audit. The pushback was that these metrics "didn't really matter" and that "how can we set a goal on insights - even one good insight could be worth a lot, but I could come up with 4 crappy insights just to achieve a numerical goal."
I'm a bit at a loss. I understand their point of view, and I really feel in my heart that we need to be pursuing measurable KRs. Do you have any advice?
6 votes -
Jawar Mohammed's red-carpet return signals Ethiopia's political sea change
2 votes -
Which headphones do you recommend below 100€?
I'm looking into the ATH-M40X, which seems to be the best below 100€, but i would like to know other tilders opinion :) EDIT: preference to over ear and portable (portable is not a key feature...
I'm looking into the ATH-M40X, which seems to be the best below 100€, but i would like to know other tilders opinion :)
EDIT: preference to over ear and portable (portable is not a key feature that i'm looking, but it would be nice to be easy to carry around)
17 votes -
Moderators of Reddit, tell us about your experiences in fostering quality discussion and content (or failures to do so)
Since the moderator community here is quite large, I figure we would have quite alot of interesting perspectives over here in Tildes. Feel free to chip in even if you're not a moderator, or god...
Since the moderator community here is quite large, I figure we would have quite alot of interesting perspectives over here in Tildes. Feel free to chip in even if you're not a moderator, or god forbid, moderate such subs as T_D. Having a range of perspectives is, as always, the most valuable aspect of any discussion.
Here are some baseline questions to get you started:-
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Did your subreddit take strict measures to maintain quality ala r/AskHistorians, or was it a karmic free-for-all like r/aww?
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Do you think the model was an appropriate fit for your sub? Was it successful?
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What were the challenges faced in trying to maintain a certain quality standard (or not maintaining one at all)?
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Will any of the lessons learnt on Reddit be applicable here in Tildes?
29 votes -
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Suggestion: When unsubscribing to a group have an optional "Reason for leaving" field. For example: If a large percentage unsubscribe for 'toxicity' that's valuble information.
The idea is to help combat the echo-chamber effect, if a group goes toxic then rational people are likely to leave, further concentrating the negative users left in the conversation. So the idea...
The idea is to help combat the echo-chamber effect, if a group goes toxic then rational people are likely to leave, further concentrating the negative users left in the conversation.
So the idea is that if there's a large exodus of people unsubscribing then that's valuable information if we can determine the cause. Hence if there's an option to explain why you're leaving it can help flag a group as in trouble, first to the moderators and then to the admins that "are these moderators doing their job".
Now the parties leaving could show their protest in comments or threads, but if they're already leaving then they've already forgone that option. I know on reddit I'm not going to try help a dieing subreddit, I'm just going to leave.
26 votes -
Scientists warn of the imminent depletion of groundwater in Chile’s Atacama desert
6 votes -
How ‘bling’ makes us human
5 votes -
Best job in the world? Luxury resort in Maldives seeks bookseller
7 votes -
Shocking pictures show Indonesian preschoolers dressed in ‘ISIS costumes’
From Al Arabiya: Shocking pictures show Indonesian preschoolers dressed in ‘ISIS costumes’ From the Guardian: Kindergarten dresses children as jihadists for parade in Indonesia From the Australian...
From Al Arabiya: Shocking pictures show Indonesian preschoolers dressed in ‘ISIS costumes’
From the Guardian: Kindergarten dresses children as jihadists for parade in Indonesia
From the Australian Broadcasting Commission: Kindergarten under fire after parading children in niqabs, AK47s on Indonesian Independence Day
2 votes -
Bandidos informant granted refugee status by Canada after cover blown in Australia
4 votes -
Police raid Malaysian gay bar to ‘stop the spread of LGBT culture in society’
18 votes -
What operating system do you use?
I'd imagine that this website probably has an above average linux user percentage, considering that one of the main principles of tildes is to respect your privacy. Personally I use fedora. I...
I'd imagine that this website probably has an above average linux user percentage, considering that one of the main principles of tildes is to respect your privacy.
Personally I use fedora. I started with windows, than moved to ubuntu when windows 10 came out. I tried a few others and settled on fedora because I wanted an operating system with a quicker package update cycle than debian, but I wanted it to "just work".
42 votes -
What little-known online co-op games do you enjoy and why?
I'm a huge fan of co-op games and have played over 100 by now, sometimes I stumble on a little co-op game I had never heard of and give it a go, I'm curious to hear about them. I'm going to throw...
I'm a huge fan of co-op games and have played over 100 by now, sometimes I stumble on a little co-op game I had never heard of and give it a go, I'm curious to hear about them.
I'm going to throw in Clandestine, which is an asymmetric infiltration game where one player is a field operative in a 3rd person stealth shooter, and the other player is a hacker that has to control a little avatar on the network, manage CCTV cameras so the field operative isn't spotted, crack door key codes, direct the field operative to mission objectives, disable guards by overloading power and water utilities, and even call in for body cleanup and ammo/health drops.
I love the asymmetric cooperative nature of the game and Hacktag appears to be similar, though I've never tried it. I'm played through the whole campaign as a field operative and now I'm going through as the hacker and finding myself enjoying a whole new way to play the game, which has been challenging.
20 votes -
Garum, Rome's favorite condiment
6 votes -
How would you feel about "levels" a user could gain with accompanying priviledges?
Lately, there's been talk about new priviledges users could gain, either by requesting them (and being judged as fit) or discussing if everyone should gain a new ability like editing titles The...
Lately, there's been talk about new priviledges users could gain, either by requesting them (and being judged as fit) or discussing if everyone should gain a new ability like editing titles
The problem with new priviledges is of course that they can be abused by malicious users. One of the overall goals of Tildes is to trust users, but punish abuse, however I don't see this working with a large userbase. Even if this site grows slowly and the community remains mostly small or perhaps invite only, eventually we will reach a tipping point where the mods, if you want to call them that, won't be able to effectively manage the userbase. I feel like if we locked certain abilities (like editing titles, even within a time limit) behind tiers or levels users could achieve with certain actions, we could manage to keep low-effort trolls out and use it a sort of tutorial, where after certain actions for a new user (like writing their first comment or receiving their first vote) a window could pop up, informing them that they now have gained a new ability like voting, simultaniously explaining what the goal with the actual votes is.
I understand that this would gamify the system, but it would stop new users from abusing the system and lock those more dangerous abilities behind things they needed to do, ideally things that require a time investment so they'd feel less inclined to abuse the tools they've been granted (because they'd value their account more due to said time investment). It would also automate some things for the masses, which would make moderating easier.
An example:
A new user joins the site, at first, he can only vote. After casting his first vote, a message pops up, telling him that he can now post comments. Maybe there's a link to the rules and code of conduct there, maybe just a little tidbit about how stuff works on Tildes. Things that require more trust in the user are locked behind more difficult milestones, maybe editing titles is locked behind writing a hundred comments or receiving a hundred votes, maybe both.
What are your thoughts on this?
13 votes -
Has anyone else found it progressively harder to get into new music?
In the past, I used to find something like twelve new bands a month that I loved; then I'd go through bands they'd tour with and pick up a few bands from that, bands that were on whatever...
In the past, I used to find something like twelve new bands a month that I loved; then I'd go through bands they'd tour with and pick up a few bands from that, bands that were on whatever compilations they were on (think the old Fat Wreck comps that used to come out a few times a year), and however else.
Nowadays, it's more like twenty-four new bands a year that I find myself enjoying. It's so frustrating, because there's no shortage of new music coming out! I just...can't get myself to like much of it.
Any of you guys experiencing something similar?
23 votes -
California Senate passes bill to ban gay conversion therapy
23 votes -
The great Chinese art heist
7 votes -
Pop songs in English, written by native speakers of Swedish
5 votes -
Users can now be (manually) granted permissions to re-tag topics, move them between groups, and edit titles
It's a bit late tonight (for those of us in North America, anyway) so I'm not sure how much attention this will get today or how many people I'll start granting permissions to yet, but it's now...
It's a bit late tonight (for those of us in North America, anyway) so I'm not sure how much attention this will get today or how many people I'll start granting permissions to yet, but it's now possible for people-who-are-not-me to start helping with some moderation-like tasks.
As of right now, these abilities are restricted to (and I can grant each individually):
- Changing the tags on topics
- Moving topics between groups
- Editing topic titles (I may not actually give anyone this permission yet)
All these actions will be logged publicly, and if any of them are taken, they'll display in the topic's sidebar, in the "Topic log" (which you have to click to expand, and will only show up at all if anything's been done). I've changed the tags on this post so that you can see an example here.
For the immediate future, these permissions will be getting granted manually, will apply site-wide (not to specific groups), and will probably only be given to people that specifically express interest in helping with these tasks. I've written about grand, vague plans for a "trust"-based system that will hopefully help with doing this automatically in the future, but for now we'll have a more rudimentary trust system. Here's how it works:
- I trust you, and give you access to more powerful tools.
- If you abuse it, I take the tools away, and don't trust you any more.
It's not very sophisticated, but I think it should do the trick for a while.
So if you're interested in helping keep things organized, please let me know (post here or send me a message if you prefer). I'd probably prefer if you had at least some history of submitting well-tagged/titled topics to appropriate groups, but it's not necessarily required.
Edit: I would prefer that you have at least been around on the site for at least a week or two though. This is mostly important because the tasks are mainly organizational, so I think it's best if you've had some time to get accustomed to what's "typical" on Tildes for tags, which types of posts go in which groups, and so on.
109 votes -
I'm sorry for the silly question, but where is the search function?
I can't find it anywhere on the website or in the documentation. Is this a design choice or am I missing something?
15 votes -
What happened today that you want to share?
24 votes -
Facebook addiction linked to staking your self-worth on social acceptance
12 votes -
CMU engineers find innovative way to make a low-cost 3D bioprinter
3 votes -
The US establishment thinks Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is too radical – with an impending climate disaster, the worry is she isn't radical enough
21 votes -
In the Cape Town enclave that survived apartheid, the new enemy is gentrification
4 votes -
It’s hard to have an unusual name in China
12 votes -
Researcher at the center of an epic fraud remains an enigma to those who exposed him
11 votes -
LGBTI political party to be founded in Israel
14 votes -
What artists really surprised you?
Have there been any musicians you didn't think much of at first, but upon closer inspection, really surprised you? I've recently listened to Barenaked Ladies' album Maroon and it's a surprisingly...
Have there been any musicians you didn't think much of at first, but upon closer inspection, really surprised you? I've recently listened to Barenaked Ladies' album Maroon and it's a surprisingly introspective and melancholy record, but with upbeat sounds. Off The Hook and Conventioneers are fantastic songs that I've heard nothing about
11 votes -
Contributing to Tildes - Accessing on localhost
Hi, I've started developing syntax highlighting, but I'm unable to connect to Tildes on localhost. It's running, I can connect to Prometheus, but not to Tildes. I use Ubuntu. I know there are few...
Hi, I've started developing syntax highlighting, but I'm unable to connect to Tildes on localhost. It's running, I can connect to Prometheus, but not to Tildes. I use Ubuntu.
I know there are few people here who already contributed to Tildes, how do you connect to Tildes?
- Firefox shows
Secure Connection Failed, even after adding exception inabout:configfor domainslocalhost,*,127.0.0.1, both with and without port, I even tried addinghttps://before them. - Qutebrowser displays nothing
- Chromium displays
ERR_CONNECTION_RESET(not something like insecure connection) - Chrome displays
ERR_CONNECTION_RESET(not something like insecure connection) - Curl displays
OpenSSL SSL_connect: SSL_ERROR_SYSCALL in connection to localhost:4443 - wget displays
Unable to establish SSL connection. - lynx displays
Unable to connect to remote host.
Could someone tell me how to config Firefox / install certificate for Tildes on localhost / move Tildes to
http?Thank you
Edit: I tried setting firefox security exception in a different way and this happened.
6 votes - Firefox shows
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Guerlain - A beginner's guide
This post is taken from one made several years ago on /r/fragrance by /u/acleverpseudonym. It's very well written, but I've edited and added to it a bit. The concept of a perfume house probably...
This post is taken from one made several years ago on /r/fragrance by /u/acleverpseudonym. It's very well written, but I've edited and added to it a bit.
The concept of a perfume house probably isn't that familiar to most of you - it's a fairly niche topic even for those who wear the stuff. Generally speaking, there are a few "great" perfume houses: Chanel, Lanvin, and Creed for example, but the greatest among them, the one considered "legendary", is Guerlain.
When approaching a history as long and a catalogue as extensive as Guerlain's, it can be intimidating. It's hard to know where to start and olfactory fatigue limits the number of fragrances you can really appreciate in a single outing. It can be hard to tell which fragrances are the important and good ones and which are the fillers and by the time you smell some of the really complex and beautiful classics, your nose might be blown out already and unable to appreciate them.
This is a guide to those important scents, and why they matter.
About Guerlain
Guerlain is one of the oldest and most respected perfume houses in the world. They first opened in a small shop in Paris in 1828 making custom fragrances for the moneyed classes (and royalty - Pierre-François Guerlain was His Majesty's Official Perfumer to Emperor Napoleon III of France). Guerlain sold the first fragrance marketed as a parfum (Jicky, 1889). This was also among the first fragrances to use synthetic ingredients. Guerlain also sold the first Oriental fragrance (Shalimar, 1925) (my personal favourite, and one I wear very often).
Guerlain fragrances are famous for sharing a common olfactory accord called "Guerlinade" that was originally created back 1800s, This accord can be found in most all of their famous fragrances. It was developed by Aimé Guerlain, the creator of Jicky, and is said to contain bergamot, rose, jasmine, tonka bean, iris, and vanilla. Once you become familiar with it, it's very easy to pick up on it in many Guerlain scents.
There have been 5 master perfumers for Guerlain over their almost 200 year life; 4 of them have been from the Guerlain family. The most recent, Theirry Wasser, is not.
The Perfumers
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Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain, active 1828-1864 - founder. So far as I can tell, only a single fragrance of his is still made, Eau de Cologne Imperiale, 1860, made for the Emperor Napoleon III's wife.
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Aimé Guerlain, active 1864-~1900. 3 of his fragrances are still around. Jicky, 1889 is by far the most famous and most important.
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Jacques Guerlain, active ~1900-1955. He made most of Guerlain's most famous women's fragrances. He hold's 40% of the slots in Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez's top 10 women's fragrances ever made, including the fragrance that is LT's favorite Mitsouko, 1919. He made the first Oriental fragrance as well. If one were trying to decide on the best perfumer to ever live, he would certainly be on the short list. His fragrances are complex, subtle and deep.
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Jean-Paul Guerlain, active 1955-current, though he hasn't been the official master perfumer for years. He made most of Guerlain's most famous men's fragrances...and some pretty famous women's fragrances as well. I think of him as one of the last old-school perfumers. He might think that "aquatic" is a bad word. His fragrances are more bold than Jacques Guerlain, but not in a bad way.
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Thierry Wasser, active 2008-current. I was skeptical, but I've been won over. He's certainly taking Guerlain in a slightly different direction, but he's also made several amazing fragrances. His are by far the most modern of Guerlains, but they still manage to keep the signature Guerlain flair. He also has done something awesome: try to fix the reformulations of the old stuff. He’s spent significant amounts of time and money on better synthetic oakmoss and on reformulating Guerlain’s classics so that they smell more like the originals. Mitsouko, in particular, has benefited from this.
Where can I smell them
If you live in the US and you only shop at Sephora and mid range department stores, you’ve probably only seen a very limited selection of Guerlains, many of which are poor examples.
The common ones are:
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La Petite Robe Noir, 2009 - a very new line, done under the direction of Theirry Wasser by Delphine Jelk. People like it, but it’s not really the classic Guerlain I’m trying to introduce to all of you. It's not something I'd personally wear.
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Shalimar, 1925 - One of the classics, but not department store sniff friendly. Shalimar is made to smell amazing on the skin 2 hours after being put on, not smell amazing on a paper strip 30 seconds after being put on. Also, It wasn’t made to be sold in EdT concentration like you find it in many stores (EdC concentration in drug stores). It was made to be smelled in parfum extrait concentration. I’ll talk more about Shalimar in a bit.
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Guerlain Homme, 2008 - This is a HUGE departure for Guerlain. Not characteristic of them at all.
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Samsara, 1989 - A feminine masterpiece from Jean-Paul Guerlain and an good example of Guerlain, but it also probably smells to many like their mothers (or grandmothers) and their mother's friends
To get a good selection of Guerlain fragrances, you need to go somewhere like Neiman Marcus. The best place in the US is the Guerlain boutique in the Venetian in Las Vegas. Canadians have a distinct advantage here: we have one of the few actual Guerlain Institutes in North America, located in Toronto on Bloor Street. It's one of my "must visit" destinations whenever I'm in the area. The best place in the world is at their flagship store in Paris.
How expensive are they?
Retail is generally $100/100ml for EdTs, $125/100ml for EdPs and $330/oz for perfum extraits. (US prices)
Some special edition items are more than the standard EdT/EdP price, running from $200/bottle-$300/bottle. Many of the common ones are available on Fragrancenet and other online fragrance discounters. There isn’t a huge counterfeit market for Guerlain like there is for Creed and Chanel. I've bought a number of items in my collection on fragrancenet, and can attest to their authenticity.What should I smell
That depends on whether you want an education, or you’re looking for something for the club. Guerlain has many, many, beautifully constructed, classic fragrances that are wearable on a daily basis, but they reflect a different aesthetic than mainstream fragrances today do. You’ll notice an almost complete lack of aquatics, for example. Guerlain fragrances are made for the dry down, not the opening like many of today’s fragrances. They show better on the skin than on test strips.
I’m going to create 2 lists for this: one for education and one for some additional modern scents.
A note on reformulations
Guerlain has been forced to reformulate most of their most famous fragrances throughout the ages due to changes in IFRA regulations limiting the amounts of certain ingredients that can be uses. Many of these are only a shadow of their former glory. Vintage bottles are often still available on ebay, and this is where most of my personal collection comes from.
Smelling the History of Guerlain
This list covers the most famous and influential of their fragrances. I’ll note if a particular fragrance is REALLY hard to find (Mouchoir de Monsieur, I’m looking at you, bud)
Also, as a note, a couple of the classic women’s fragrances have a “matching” men's fragrance that smells similar, but is named differently. It’s a quirk of Guerlain that they did it this way, possibly because it was before the “pour homme” and “pour elle” stuff caught on.
- Eau de Cologne Imperiale
- Jicky
- Apres l’Ondee
- L’Heure Bleu
- Mitsouko
- Shalimar
- Vol de Nuit
- Vetiver
- Habit Rouge
- Samsara
The list, in depth
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Eau de Cologne Imperiale, 1860 - Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain - This was the fragrance made for Napoleon III’s wife. Unisex, though it’s officially for women. Citrus, neroli and lemon verbena with rosemary and a bit of Tonka bean. If you try wearing this as a fragrance now, you will be sorely disappointed in the longevity. It was meant to only last for a few minutes as a refreshing scent or to scent handkerchiefs. It’s certainly pleasant and wearable, but it’s like the fragrance version of the Model T, not hugely complex and not very long lasting. As a side note, though, it’s become traditional for every master perfumer to make a traditional Eau De Cologne. Theirry Wasser’s is brilliant and relatively long lasting (Eau de Cologne du Parfumeur, 2010).
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Jicky, 1889 - Aimé Guerlain - Considered the first modern perfume. Before this, fragrances were used differently and constructed differently. It was considered to be a fougere back then, though it doesn’t really meet the modern definition. It’s officially for women, but it very unisex. The legend is that it was originally meant for men, but the fashion of the time didn’t call for men to wear fragrances so they sold it to women instead. It was famously worn by Sean Connery though. It smells of lavender, citrus, herbs, tonka bean, vanilla…and civet. It has a very animalic smell that is certainly out of fashion now, but was very much considered sexy back then. It was supposed to be like a summer garden party with an edge of sexuality to it. Jaques Guerlain made a something that was very clearly supposed to be a men’s version of it (even though Jicky is very unisex) in 1904 called Mouchoir de Monsieur. Good luck finding somewhere to smell in the US outside of the Guerlain boutique in Vegas.
I love this description of Jicky from /r/fragrance:
Oh my. Regardless of what you think about a man who aspired to expose (and sell!) his mistress's bottom to the general public, Aime Guerlain certainly nailed it. Yes, a revolutionary fragrance, bold, modern, enduring, etc... Jicky smells like taint.
I've been lucky enough to try this scent in Extrait concentration (thank you, GI Toronto!), and on me it was... not that. There IS a distinct note of civet, but it was very soft and wearable.
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Apres l’Ondee, 1906 - Jacques Guerlain - For women. This is supposed to be one of Jacques Guerlain’s best fragrances, a mix of violet, orange blossom, and heliotrope. A light, easy to wear scent, perfect for a summer's afternoon.
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L’Heure Bleue, 1912 - Jacques Guerlain - For women. It’s considered a masterpiece because, well, it is. Where Apres l'Ondee is all about the violet, L'Heure Bleue is all about the iris. This is rich, decadent, while retaining a lightness that makes it approachable.
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Mitsouko, 1919 - Jacques Guerlain - This fragrance is amazing, one of the first Chypres. It’s a woman’s scent, but can be worn by a confident man - it's peach and woods and oakmoss and vetiver. I also catch a fair amount of labdanum from it. It’s gloriously complex and exotic, moody and introspective, and lingers close to the skin. This is Luca Turin’s favorite fragrance, and also one of mine. It’s also the fragrance that benefited the most from Theirry Wasser’s attempt to improve the reformulations. The most recent version is MUCH better than the one from 7 years ago. Guerlain has the best synthetic oak moss out there, and it shines in Mitsouko.
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Shalimar, 1925 - Jacques Guerlain - For women. Vanilla, incense, leather, citrus and florals. This was the first Oriental fragrance, and remains the classic example of it for a reason. Often imitated by inferior perfumeries (if you've ever smelled BPAL's Snake Oil, this is what it's trying to be), it’s shocked many a woman idly spritzing the latest from Gucci and Jessica Simpson and Marc Jacobs onto test strips. It is not meant to be smelled on test strips, it’s meant to be worn. The opening can smell a bit medicinal, but it dries down to a glorious, sexy vanilla. A sample of vintage Shalimar extrait is what started me on my Guerlain perfume obsession, and I have since amassed quite the collection. The men’s companion to this scent is Habit Rouge, 1965
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Vol de Nuit, 1933 - Jacques Guerlain - For women, but wearable by men. A lovely cool, oakmossy, green, aldehydic scent. Cool, yet warm. It name means “Night flight” and it smells like a flight on a cool, autumn night across moonlit vistas.
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Vetiver, 1961 - Jean-Paul Guerlain - For men. I fell in love the first time I sniffed this. It was so different from what I had been smelling that I was shocked. It’s not sweet at all. It’s citrus is a very dry citrus and with heavy overtones of pepper and nutmeg. It dries down to grass and pipe tobacco and vetiver with an incense smell to it. I’ve heard it described as “what a board room must have smelled like in 1950.” Very grown up. I had sprayed some on my skin and kept going back to it. If you’ve smelled Tom Ford’s Grey Vetiver, it’s an homage to Guerlain Vetiver, a modernized version of it.
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Habit Rouge, 1965 - Jean-Paul Guerlain - For men. The masculine version of Shalimar. Definitely a fall/Winter scent. It opens smelling of very dry citrus and an almost paraffin scent. It dries down to a sweet vanilla leather scent. Apparently it’s best experiences as a vintage EdC. I haven’t gotten a bottle of the vintage, but it’s readily available
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Samsara, 1989 - Jean-Paul Guerlain - For women. A gorgeous, luxurious, sandalwood jasmine and ylang-ylang fragrance. I personally love it, but it does have that 1980’s “I’m here!” boldness to it. I suspect that many folks here will associate it with older women in their lives.
BONUS
- Derby, 1985 - Jean Paul Guerlain - For men. I've never personally smelled this. I think the only source of it may be vintage stock on ebay; the reformulation isn't worth persuing. The old one made Luca Turin’s top 10 list of all time for men. An oakmossy, nutmeg and leather chypre.
Some great modern Guerlains to smell
Here’s where I’m putting the things that are a bit more modern (post 1990) that I really like.
- Eau de Cologne du Parfumeur
- Encense Mythique d'Orient
- Tonka Imperiale
The second list, in depth
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Eau de Cologne de Parfumeur, 2010 - Theirry Wasser - Unisex. This is a beautiful, traditional eau de cologne with fresh juicy citrus, neroli, lavender and just enough green notes to keep it interesting (galbanum, fresh cut grass and mint primarily). Unlike most colognes in this style though, it lasts for several hours (though it turns more into a fresh citrusy musk after 2-3 hours).
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Encens Mythique d’Orient, 2012 - Theirry Wasser - Unisex. Incense, rose, aldehydes and ambergris (either real ambergris or the best synthetic anyone has ever smelled). Wow. This is a stunner. Available to smell at maybe a dozen places in the US. It was originally intended only for the middle eastern market, but has since become more widely available, comparatively speaking.
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Tonka Imperiale, 2010 - Theirry Wasser - Unisex. Tonka, rosemary, spices, white honey, vanilla, almond, woody notes, amber and tobacco. This is my go-to winter scent, it's like being wrapped in a warm amber and vanilla cloud. Hard to find, but worth it.
10 votes -
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The city born in a day: The origin story of Oklahoma City
5 votes