My name is Julia. I live in the Bay Area, California. Undina is my online name and I used it for so many years that it feels very natural to respond to it. So feel free to address me either way (here is the story of my nickname).
I loved perfumes as long as I could remember myself (since I was 4-5 years old).
Perfumes for me are mostly a sensual experience; I’m much less interested in the science behind them. I do not know, pretend to know or even plan to know too much about them.
I do not write perfume reviews per se. The majority of my posts are life stories related to perfumes. It doesn’t matter if I loved the perfume I tested or hated it: if there is no story in my head to tell about that perfume, I won’t.
The main purpose of this blog is to make friends with similar interests and maintain a conversation with them. I’m not in the competition for readership, following or industry recognition – not that there is anything wrong with that, I just want to state where I stand.
I think that blog posts’ “shelf life” is too short compared to the effort put into their creation. That’s why I welcome (and actively encourage!) my blogo-friends’ giving links to their posts related to the topic of my posts. Do not be modest – link away!
I link to my earlier posts not for the purposes of SEO (again – nothing wrong with that, it just doesn’t serve my purposes) but because I want to share them with those who joined the circle later (it’s like telling the same story at the table where some friends have already heard it and some have even been a part of it).
Being just stories, most of my posts aren’t topical so if you come across them months later feel free to comment, ask a question or add a link: I read and answer all comments.
If your blog is on my reading list I will read each of your posts. Sometimes a week later but I’ll get there. And I always come back to read your answers.
Go to My Perfume Portrait page if you want to know more about my personal perfumes preferences.
To contact me send an e-mail to: undina@myway.com
Hi
I’ve enjoyed reading your Yves Rocher reviews, I’ve tried a couple of them myself and had been contemplating new purchases, and your reviews have helped me make up my mind in this matter.
Have you tried YR Ispahan? An oriental type scent. If you’d like to try it, I’d be happy to send you a sample of it.
Best,
Marie
Hello. Your website is absolutely lovely.
I enjoy the new updates to your “About” page. You’ve got class!
Great updates, and I do agree with the idea of linking to past posts to share them with people who joined the circle later. I am one of those later discoverers of your blog, and am very glad to have done so!
Hello Julia or..Undina
I have come in way of your blog and I like it a looot!!!
Find some cool reviews! 
Juraj
BL’eauOG
I came upon your blog through the black narcissus as you left a comment on there recently. Like you, my love affair with perfume began at the age of six. There were copious amounts of bottles of classics throughout my house in the 1970s and my mother shared them all with me! For me perfume had always told a story- my story or a story I envision in my mind. Certain scents of my past can literally bring me to tears: of joy, nostalgia or even rememberance of a difficult period in my life. I am so going to enjoy perusing through your posts now that I have found you!
Stick around! I have many other stories to tell
Thank you for reading.
What a wonderful statement of intent Undina.
I’d love to take a seat at the table and join in what sounds like a very civilised conversation.
Perfumed Dandy, thank you for your kind words. I welcome you at my place and hope there is/will be something interesting for you here.
[...] I’ve always thought that the main purpose of any perfumes – great and not so – was to mask unpleasant odors, which couldn’t be dealt with otherwise in older times. In general, I do not believe in seductiveness of perfumes. Some people do react to perfumes. But, in my opinion, people are much less conditioned to react this way to perfumes than they are trained by the “culture” to react to special clothes/lingerie. When people are attracted to each other, the scent that accompanies the seduction or the following stage might be linked to the event and in future be associated with it and trigger similar feelings but the perfume itself is hardly a part in causing those initial emotions. Undina Undina’s Looking Glass [...]