Month: June 2013

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Have Perfume Atomizer – Will Travel

 

Almost everybody in my surroundings knows that I am “into perfumes.” That’s how I got into my possession two different types of perfume atomizers. From there it was a short stretch to getting a couple more and putting them all to test – especially since I had this trip coming up with six flights two of which were longer than eleven hours.

I tested five decanting atomizers – plain bottle, Nordstrom Atomizer, Flo, Travalo and sen7. Ratings (where applicable) are on the 1-5 scale with 5 being the highest. My evidence is anecdotal; I do not claim a scientific approach or validity of the experiment.

Atomizers

Brand: No name plain glass bottle with clear top from SKS-Bottle
Capacity: 5 ml
Refillable from: bottles with removable sprayer, integrated sprayer and splash bottles
Ease of filling: 3
Material of the perfume container: glass
Leak proof: 4 (based on a dozen I tested)
Price, availability and options: $17.28 + S&H for 48 atomizers online
Pros: cheap per piece and works with all bottle types; made of glass
Cons: not as leak proof as other solutions: bottles from the same batch might be better or worse; for bad ones even parafilm doesn’t improve the situation – they leak during air travel (read “being mailed”); requires additional accessories to transfer perfumes from splash bottles; breaks easily.

Atomizer SKS

Brand: Nordstrom Atomizer
Capacity: 5 ml (it says 0.5oz on the page but it’s a mistake)
Refillable from: bottles with removable sprayer, integrated sprayer and splash bottles
Ease of filling: 3
Material of the perfume container: glass
Leak proof: 5 (based on two I tested)
Price, availability and options: $5 online and at Nordstrom stores, comes in 12 colors.
Pros: made of glass and protected by aluminum with anodized finish; great choice of colors; works with all bottle types
Cons: It requires additional accessories to transfer perfumes from a splash bottle and experience to fill it from a bottle with a sprayer.

Nordstrom Atomizer

Brand: FLO
Capacity: 4.7 ml
Refillable from: bottles with removable sprayer, integrated sprayer and splash bottles
Ease of filling: 5
Material of the perfume container: glass
Leak proof: 5 (based on one I tested)
Price, availability and options: $10-$15 online and in some stores; two sizes – 4.7 ml and 6 ml; 3 colors.
Pros: works with any bottle type without additional accessories; made of glass with aluminum cover and built-in funnel that makes it easy to fill it from any bottle
Cons: comes just in 3 colors; it’s bigger than other atomizers.

Atomizer Flo

Brand: Travalo Classic
Capacity: 4 ml
Refillable from: perfume bottles with removable sprayer only
Ease of filling: 5 (for bottles with a removable sprayer); 0 (for splash bottles and integrated sprayers)
Material of the perfume container: plastic
Leak proof: 5 (based on one I tested)
Price, availability and options: $10-$20 online and in many stores; two sizes – 4 ml and 5 ml, 10 colors, with or without the aluminum cover, spray or roller.
Pros: It’s really easy to fill from an appropriate bottle; it’s durable (plastic with aluminum protection cover), looks good, doesn’t leak even under pressure and allows you to have at least 10 travel companions (based on color choices)
Cons: It doesn’t work with a splash bottle; made of plastic; the place where it connects to a bottle picks up the scent (from filling in, not because it leaks) so potentially it’ll transfer to your pocket or a purse if you keep it in there; too expensive for the purpose.

Atomizer Travalo

Brand: sen7 classic
Capacity: 5.8 ml
Refillable from: bottles with removable sprayer, integrated sprayer and splash bottles
Ease of filling: 4
Material of the perfume container: plastic
Leak proof: 4 (based on one I tested)
Price, availability and options: $38 – $499 (contact them for pricing for atomizers with diamonds – I’m not kidding) online and in some B&M stores in Europe, comes in more than 20 colors, different finishes including sterling silver and rubber; with funnel or “easyfill  system”
Pros: works with any bottle type since it comes with its own funnel; polished gun-metal finish looks very stylish and protects great against breakage; it doesn’t even look like an atomizer; it’s extremely cute, pleasant for the eye and to the touch
Cons: perfume container is made of plastic; that plastic part’s strange shape resulted in me overfilling it and it leaked (at least I told myself that was the reason); the price is totally outrageous even before we go into precious metals option. But all that is nothing compared to the main complaint: it’s not that easy to use – I mean the actual use, once you managed to fill it in with your favorite perfume. It’s hard to get a good grip of to actually spray the perfume on yourself. So it’s a good thing it doesn’t break easily once it slips through your fingers.

Atomizer Sen7

 

None of the atomizers I tested addressed the issue of marking decants, which will be a problem once you make more than one in a similar container – even if you were to go with different colors. I used my label maker but those labels make atomizers less appealing. I’d recommend to manufacturers to look into some materials that allow creating a label by applying pressure with something like a stylus and then affixing that label to the atomizer or at least to designate some space on the atomizer for writing with a Sharpie marker: Travalo, Flo and sen7, it’s great that you spent time thinking on how to make your brand noticeable and recognizable on the bottle but I still care slightly more for the name of the perfume I’m decanting into those atomizers.

Atomizers

Conclusion: while simple atomizers are the most economical way of sharing or testing perfumes, when it comes to decanting favorite (“Travalo Worthy” – ©Vanessa) perfumes for my own use I will probably vote for Nordstrom’s Atomizers: they are small, made of glass (I prefer it to plastic) with protective cover, come in many different colors and do not cost one third of a full bottle price. I would have gone for Flo since it’s even better protected and is easier for refilling but three colors aren’t enough – even if I use those only for my all-time favorites.

Do you have any favorite atomizers? (share your links if different from those above).

 

Images: my own

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What we did in Paris… in less than 48 hours

 

When I planned a three-day … well, I won’t even call it a trip – stopover in Paris I knew it would be not enough even to scratch the surface of everything that this city has to offer to a tourist, a perfumista or a foodie (who I am not but just saying). But when French air traffic controllers’ strike gave me a chance to meet Birgit and Sandra in Vienna at the same time it ensured I would have to revise whatever modest plans I might have had initially for Paris.

From Paris With Love

The lady who rented us the apartment was a little strange: she refused to talk to me on the phone claiming that “I do not see the need to call me. You have all the necessary information, and I am an honest and respectable 61-year French.” Persuasive, right? But I went ahead and signed the contract.

I’m not sure how we would have got into the apartment if it weren’t for Vanessa of Bonkers about Perfume who came to Paris on a train earlier (the last-minute change of plans because of the above-mentioned strike) and offered to meet us at the apartment. She was entertaining the landlady and not letting her leave for some important errand while our taxi driver first maneuvered through the Friday traffic and then tried to figure out how to get to the required point on the one-way street (I refused to do it on feet with suitcases!).

After we got in and the landlady left Vanessa and I discussed for a while if the woman could be 60+. We both agreed that even for a Parisian who doesn’t age the same as us, mere mortals, the woman to whom we just paid money for the stay looked suspiciously young… My vSO and I agreed that we weren’t sure what would upset us more – having paid to an impostor or acknowledging that the woman we saw was actually 61.

***

They say: Be careful what you wish for. I’d add: be careful what you do not wish for.

While we were planning our itinerary for the rest of the day, I mentioned that I didn’t really need to go to either Guerlain or Serge Lutens stores since I were up to date with the most current offerings and didn’t plan of buying anything there. But since I was in Paris it was just plainly wrong not to take a look at those legendary places…

You can read more about the events that followed that day in Vanessa’s post (the link above) but from me here are two pictures of the famous stores taken from the outside.

Guerlain store in Paris

Serge Lutens store in Paris

Vanessa was such a great company that I didn’t want to let her go. But after the last excuse – helping us to book a taxi drive to the airport for the departure day – we had to say good-byes hoping to meet again one day.

The second (and the only full) day in Paris we spent alternating walking the streets and eating/drinking. In about eleven hours we covered a lot including an incredibly pleasant meeting with Neela Vermeire of Neela Vermeire Creations and the second in two days trip to Jovoy to finish the methodical sniffing Vanessa and I had to halt the day before because of the store closing and to purchase my vacation perfume.

Neela proved to be to the every last bit as nice as all interviews with and stories about her portrait her. I was glad she found time to meet with me despite her busy schedule. Now I look forward to testing the newest perfumes from the line – Mohur Esprit de Parfum and Ashoka – samples of which Neela was kind to bring for me.

Paris

It seems that my vSO enjoyed all the perfume-related interruptions during this trip. Or at least he was a good sport – and I’m grateful to him for that.

Oh, and if you were wondering what perfume I bought to remind me about this – my first – trip to Paris, I’ll tell you without asking you to guess: Bombay Bling! by Neela Vermeire Creations. As I said in my story about three perfumes from the line, “It is a full-bottle worth perfume for me.”

Rusty and Bombay Bling

 

Images: my own

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A Postcard from Undina: From Vienna with Love

 

Vienna holds a very special place in my heart: that was the very first European city I’d ever visited and I was completely enchanted by it. Since it was just an overnight plane change (back then hotel was included into the plane ticket) we didn’t plan anything. My vSO and I hopped on the bus at the airport and went to the downtown.

It was a wonderfully warm June evening. Almost everything was closed but we didn’t really care because we had no money to spend anyway. We walked curved narrow streets with old but well-preserved buildings, wide boulevards and well-maintained parks and felt as if we were transported into one of those historical books we’d read as children. By that time we both had been to Moscow, St. Petersburg and even New York but somehow Vienna stood out of all the previous experiences and was just magical.

Vienna St Stephen's Cathedral

A year later on the same route we decided to stay in Vienna one extra night, which meant paying for both since by staying longer than necessary we were forfeiting the stay paid by the airline. It was too expensive for us but we loved Vienna so much and wanted to spend more time there.

Vienna met us cold and rainy and everything was a little off: the room (in the same hotel!) wasn’t as nice as the one for which we didn’t have to pay a year earlier; on our walk in the downtown we kept looking for places to get warm so architecture outside had less appeal; and parks were much less attractive under grey skies and gloomy rain.

We still managed to get something from the trip but it wasn’t worth the money we paid for it. So even though I still thought of Vienna as of a magical city somehow for more than ten years our trail didn’t go through it.

I wouldn’t have stayed there this year as well if it weren’t for my long-time wish to meet Birgit of Olfactoria’s Travels. Our original plan involved repeating the perfect experience of an overnight stay in Vienna with a dinner in a pleasant company as a culmination. At the last moment circumstances changed and the dinner was canceled. But luckily there was the second negative – air controllers strike in France, my next destination, – so a double negative has resolved to a positive: Birgit, Sandra, my vSO and I met the next morning for a breakfast (it was lovely) and a quick perfume sniffing tour (an added bonus that understandably wasn’t planned for the dinnertime).

The weather cooperated and we had the most wonderful time – walking the streets and parks, dining at restaurants with Austrian cuisine and maybe even finding a new perfume love. Vienna is a wonderful city! Oh, and I have to say that none of the pictures Birgit showed to us do her justice: she looks even younger and more beautiful in real life.

Vienna Hofburg Palace

I wish most negatives in your life to resolve to positive!

 

With Love,
Undina

 

Images: my own

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A Postcard from Undina: From Ukraine with Love

 

This year in Ukraine summer started earlier and it’s unpleasantly hot and humid. But as an upside to that I’ve finally got to smell blooming linden again. Normally linden blooms in July; it’s even reflected in the name for that month – Липень (in Ukrainian linden – липа). But thanks to the weather it’s in full bloom now.

Linden Blossom

I’m not sure I can find the right words to describe this scent. All I can say: it is even more beautiful than I remembered and was longing for!

Early summer of my High school graduation year. Blooming linden trees in the downtown of the city where I lived. Bitter-sweet scent fills the air. Bitter-sweet feelings overflow me […]
I remember walking the streets, inhaling the bitter scent of linden blossom and wanting to be happy… It was a very abstract thought. I didn’t define what exactly “happy” would mean, I didn’t have any specific wishes; I just wanted to change that one component of my life. I was longing for a combination of a warm evening, problems left behind, wonderful bitter scent of linden and a feeling of a complete happiness.

Yesterday I went to my high school class reunion. It was an informal party picnic that left a rather pleasant impression. On my way home, as I was breathing in gorgeously gentle sweetness of blooming linden trees, I realized that I’ve got my wish granted: I am happy. Often people avoid saying something like that – not to jinx it. I’m saying it to acknowledge my appreciation for where I am in my life now. I’m grateful to everything and everybody who contributed to that feeling of happiness. And that “everybody” includes you – my friends and my readers. I took the picture for the postcard below thinking of you.

Uspenskiy Sobor And Linden

May your most special wishes come true!

 

With Love,
Undina

 

Images: my own

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Entertaining Statistics: May, 2013

 

May was pleasant when it came to the weather: there were just several very hot days and we even got a couple of showers. For me it was hectic and extremely busy. As a result my testing went down significantly.

Half a year ago I based my statistics post on the language of the perfumes names. This month I decided to look into brands themselves. I’ve discovered that more than half (66%) of the brands I wore1 or tested2 in May were from France. Neither of the other seven countries in calculation were even close to that number (see the chart).

From what country comes the perfume you’re wearing today?

My Stats May 2013

 

Quick May stats:

Numbers in parenthesis are comparison to the previous month’s numbers.

* Different perfumes worn: 26 (+2) from 20 (+4) brands on 29 (+3) occasions;

* Different perfumes tested: 28 (-12) from 18 (-3) brands on 30 (-14) occasions;

* Perfumes I tried for the first time: 9 (-9);

* Perfume house I wore most often: Chanel;

* Perfume house I tested the most: Serge Lutens;

1 When I wear a perfume I apply it to at least three-four points and usually I plan to spend at least 4-8 hours with the same scent so I’m prepared to re-apply if the original application wears off.

2 For the testing I apply a perfume to one area on my arms easily available for the repetitive sniffing. But, most likely, I’m the only one who can smell it. I can test two, sometimes even more perfumes at the same time.

 

Image: my own

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11 Most Memorable Meals of My Life

 

Elise (The French Exit) started it. Then Joan (Scentsate) posted her list and Sigrun (Riktig Parfym) joined the group. I thought it was a fun idea – even though not related to perfumes, so here’s my list of meals (or sometimes just food items) that I remembered throughout my life (in approximately chronological order).

Rusty Through the Wine Glass

1. Mashed potato after three days of fasting due to stomach problems. I was 5, I think. It was made with water in which potato boiled instead of milk or cream but it was the tastiest smashed potato I’ve ever eaten.

2. Apples at my grandparents’ garden. I don’t know the variety; I’ve never tasted it anywhere else. But those apples were unbelievably good: juicy, crunchy, with just the right balance of sweetness and tartness. And it’s not just the way I recall: many Grandma’s friends and neighbors had acknowledged at the time how exceptional those apples were.

3. Food in my kindergarten was awful. Knowing realities of the time, I think it was due to complete lack of interest in the results of their work and stealing on the part of the kitchen stuff. And we were forced to eat it. I hated every meal. One day my mom’s friend took me to see a dentist. As a reward for my sufferings she gave me several sugar cubes to take with me to the kindergarten. A cream of wheat that afternoon improved significantly (later I tried: it didn’t work with soups).

4. Traditional Thanksgiving Cranberry mold salad at my friends’ K & D place. It’s a dish made to accompany turkey instead of a regular cranberry sauce: cranberries ground with a manual grinder, sugar, chopped apples, walnuts and celery, gelatin melted in orange juice – everything mixed together and refrigerated overnight in a form. I liked it the first time I tried it and more than 10 years later still love it. As well as the traditional Thanksgiving dinner at my friends’ house.

Cranberry Mold Salad

5. Dinner at Sansei Restaurant & Sushi Bar, Maui. The chef does his take on Japanese cuisine: soy sauce is something you do not get there since each roll comes with its own sauce. My absolute favorite is Sansei’s Mango Crab Salad Roll (see below) and Panko Crusted Ahi Sashimi Sushi Roll. If you ever on Maui, visit one of their several locations (check the website I linked to) – it’s worth it!

Crab Mango Roll Sensei

6. Bar Crudo restaurant in San Francisco: each bite is just perfect. Love the food but on the last couple of visits was underwhelmed by the service. Still will give them another chance the next time I’m in vicinity. If you decide to try it, make sure you have a reservation and enough time.

Bar Crudo's Nicoise

7. My general rule is to avoid buffets: I do not eat enough to justify the price for good ones and it makes no sense to eat in bad ones. But there is an exception to this rule: buffet at Bellagio, Las Vegas. It’s not a fine dining experience and it’s not cheap but every time I’m in Vegas I try to eat there because I like both the quality of food and the variety.

8. One time vacationing on Maui with another couple for several days we discussed why we couldn’t see the moon – even though the sky was clear. It was a mystery, neither of us could think of an explanation. One evening my vSO and I decided to go for a dinner – just two of us – to a restaurant that we liked many years earlier during our first visit to Maui. That restaurant was long gone but since it was a beautiful and romantic spot we found a new restaurant there – Merryman’s. The food was even better than we remembered; the atmosphere was very romantic and, what was the most amazing: we found the moon! It turned out that it could be seen once it gets dark (see the picture) and then within an hour it goes down and hides behind the horizon.

Disappearing Moon on Maui

9. Mac and cheese made by my friend and co-worker M. for an office potluck. I’m not sure if I’d ever tried this dish before – it wasn’t something I grew up with and it didn’t seem appealing to me as an adult. But since I like most things prepared by M. I decided to try it and loved it. It’s still the only M&C I eat whenever she agrees to make it. So it’s probably good that office’s potluck happens just once a year.

Mac and Cheese

10. Rugelach from one of the bakeries close to my office. I’m addicted to it but do not get to eat them often since even though it’s usually gone really fast the bakery doesn’t make them too often. I have a network of spies who alert me when the new batch is spotted.

11. Beef Wellington cooked by my friend K. for the 1012 New Year celebration. It looked and tasted divine.

Beef Wellington

What was the latest great meal you can remember?

 

Images: Mango Crab Roll – from Sensei website; everything else – my own.