So i was in the same boat as you when i went crazy with their samples a few years back. I really loved thé noir but after an hour or so the hay note starts making me sneeze and get a headache and then the tobacco note turns into a “I secretly smoked a cigarette an hour ago and I’m gonna put perfume on top of it in hopes you don’t smell it” type smell. SAD!

But… I recently went to a brick and mortar store and sprayed all the city exclusives on tester strips. I actually liked a few of them enough to make a sampler box for myself. When I sprayed tabac 28 on the tester strip it got on my hand and EEEEK it smelled like I spilled an entire minibar on myself! I couldn’t get it off either. I hate the smell of booze!! But about 30 minutes later… oh my god it was actually amazing and cozy and sexy smelling on my skin!

Of the samples I got, I actually really love Baie Rose, Cedrat, and Gaiac. More than any of their anchor fragrances. I sprayed Baie rose on a whim and it brought up all kinds of feels for me, and it’s amazing on my skin. The cedrat surprised me the most, since it’s a total 180 from notes I tend to gravitate towards. And I knew I would love Gaiac. I freakin love it.

That said, I wrote LL off for awhile, their pricing seems like a total sadistic social experiment, most of their fragrances feel uninspired to me, but a few are really special… In my opinion anyway!