Question:
Interesting topic on male forum, let´s add some disappointing/surprising female scents!
For me - SJP Lovely. Despite of so many raves, I cannot smell anything.

Answer:
Insolence: The official death of Guerlain.

Answer:
Kenzo Amour- not bad, but blah..., which is almost worse than bad. Well, at least it wasn't fruity!!

Answer:
L'Instant De Guerlain.
Tried it yesterday, gave me a bad eyeball-ache, couldn't wash the stuff off, almost had to chew my forearms off.

Answer:
I'll second SJP Lovely.....very nondescript and blah (and this from a girl who loves her clean, fresh, white musky scents).
My other disappointment has to go to...(I'm sorry about this folks) Shalimar. Every time I smell it I am overcome with spice.

Answer:
L'Heure Bleu and Spring Flowers are my standout Surprising disappointments. By the notes and raves I should love them both madly. L'Heure seemed heavy as lead to me and Spring Flowers was all fruit and light florals underpinned by metallic ambergris--I felt like I'd biten a cheap fork.
I'm hoping to grow into L'Heure Bleu, however. Like Apres Londee, whose sample is in front of me, I'll probably test it every year for the rest of my life!

Answer:
There have been so many disappointments for me that I could fill up a page so it's hard to imagine where to even start. Maybe it'd be easier to give a description and they are ones that so many people love and this is most surprising of all. If you took a dead cow with horrid proud BO that had just stepped in a cow-pile and smoked a cigar then got pi$$ed on by a cat and cr%^&*@ on by a beaver then rolled in cummin and sour breath you'd get some kind of an idea of what has disappointed me. And what's even better is the vintage because that stuff will stay with you for weeks.

Answer:
Creed's Virgin Island Water -it's nice, not horrible but way too much coconut, way too much lime in the drydown. I suppose if you really enjoyed coconut and lime than you'll love it. It reminds me of Margaritas, which I enjoy...but don't necessarily want to smell like. I've just saved myself a lot of $$ )

Answer:
Many and usually the ones with the huge price tags are the most disappointing.
I suppose for the premium I expect them to live up to the mythic magical hype I've read on all the blogs, but they simply don't....I've come to realize that I try to "assign" magic and delight and sometimes I have done it to justify my purchases.
I used to get angry at the scent, then at my lemming ways...now I just feel happy for those who get the thrill from them.

Answer:
Well, At least we're not bitter.
I too, have a lengthy list of disappointments. Here are a few.
Bandit (sour, mildewed leather),
Fracas (like burnt sugar),
Bijan (just awful,hairspray scent--recommended in 'Fabulous Fragrances'),
Eden (soapy passionfruit--also read it was good, not),
Insolence (Industrial strength nose candy).
All new sweet, fruity youngster juice.
All reformulations--bogus behavior of corporate shills giving us the run around. Moral of story; Always try before you buy.