Paddock by Hermes
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Paddock by Hermes

Hi there ULGers, Quietly and without fanfare Hermes (yes I know it’s Hermès but SEO) released a complete fragrant stunner in 2024. Only available in their stand alone stores. It’s also spendy. Not Roja spendy but still, you’ll have to really NEED IT to fork over that kind of money for something that literally goes up in fragrant smoke. I really, really want Paddock. It plays on my mind in the most inopportune moments. Currently I’m down to my last 2ml of a Surrender To Chance decant. They now seem to be totally out of it!?! GAH! I can’t even scratch the itch now.

Paddock by Hermes 2024

Hermes gives this description of notes:
Honeyed hay, Amber carrot seed

Christine Nagel has received a slew of hate mail through her tenure at Hermes. Following Jean Claude Ellena was never going to be easy. He had redefined the way that Hermes perfume lovers chose to smell. His fragrances seem austere and minimalist, even when they aren’t. His gluggiest (that I love BTW) Ambre Narguile, while being warm, rich and a little over the top gourmand still feels calmly restrained.

This feels like Mz Nagel is arrived. Like Eau de Citron Noir, H24, Cardomusc Terre D’Hermes Eau Intense Vetiver and L’Ombre and Eau des Merveilles Bleue (the ones from her I paid retail for) were just practicing to become this stunningly astounding perfection.

On my first sniff I’d completely dismissed Paddock. Then, this time last year Val the Cookie Queen came to stay with us. When she wore it I suddenly got what was meant to live in someone’s sillage.

This pic makes me so sad, only a few wears away from zero Paddock.

Paddock by Hermes STC Decant Apr26

Paddock is horsey, and yard-ish, and paddock, its feed room and tack room. It’s a whiff of all those things BUT it’s also none of them. Paddock is a surrealists dream of all that, while still being pure fine fragrance.

Please don’t go try it. Don’t fall in love with it. Don’t even go near it. There’s not enough to share and I freaking WANT IT ALL.

Did you try Paddock? Thoughts?
Portia xx

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Saturday Question: Which Perfume Names Refuse to Stay in Your Memory?

With the largish collections many of us have, it happens sometimes that we forget we have a perfume (especially if it’s in a decant or sample format). It would be strange to ask you about those. With perfumes from different countries, named in different languages, we might not know the exact pronunciation of some names. Not asking about those either. Do you have perfumes in your collection that you remember owning but can never remember their exact names?

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #297:

Which Perfume Names Refuse to Stay in Your Memory?

What do you do about it? Do you have nicknames for those? Do you use partial names? Do you approximately envision the form of the name on the label?

My Answer

There are three perfumes in my collection that I can never remember – and I love them and have full bottles of each!

Mona di Orio Les Nombres d’Or Vanille – all I can remember is “Vanille,” so for my daily records in the database, I had to “rearrange” the name to Vanille Les Nombres d’Or (so that it would appear in the type-ahead field when I enter the only part that I remember).

Houbigant Quelques Fleurs Royale – that “Quelques”… Too many vowels. I checked the pronunciation, and still I can’t remember the name when I think about that perfume, even though the last two words don’t confuse me at all.

Serge Lutens La Dompteuse Encagée – even though this was one of the latest additions to my collection, the name disappears from my inner eye as soon as I stop looking at the bottle or the screen. I haven’t come up with a good mnemonic for it yet.

 

How about you?

 

Which Perfume Names Refuse to Stay in Your Memory?

Miutine by Miu Miu
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Miutine by Miu Miu

Hi there Looking Glassers, Miutine Miu Miu was released in 2025. Presented in the clear Miu Miu bottle but with black lid detail. One of two 2025 releases along with Miu Miu Rosee. They had a fallow year in 2024 and I thought they might be letting the fragrance side drop but happily not yet. I need to preface the review by saying that I really don’t think Miu Miu is making perfume with me in mind as the consumer. Though I’m madly in love with their signature bottles, especially the turquoise 2015 original, my wallet has not left my pocket for any of the offerings. They’re not bad but they just don’t seem to fit me. So I go in today with zero expectation to love this. Happy to be pleasantly surprised though. They’re selling it as a gourmand chypre, inspired by the timeless classic. As it’s created by master perfumer Dominique Ropion that gives me a thrill, his first for Miu Miu.

Miutine by Miu Miu 2025

Miutine Miu Miu

Miu Miu gives these featured accords:
Head: Wild Strawberry
Heart: Gardenia
Base: Brown Sugar, Vanilla, Patchouli oil, Oakmoss

Straight out of the gate I’m getting a confectionary, sugar free fizzy drink. Strawberry but not related to any strawberry that ever grew on earth. Also, with that strange, metallic backtaste of some of the fake sugars. I wasn’t expecting it to be SO sweet. Miutine is a bit like a strawberry Mugler Angel, but where Angel is full sugar fairy floss this is one of the pretenders.

Of gardenia I smell nothing.

The heart and dry down are extremely sweet. My hope was that as Miutine developed there would be a hit of deeper, richer patchouli and the furry weirdness of oakmoss. There is development but it’s not that. Some more bakery style confection. Maybe a strawberry iced doughnut.

My decant is from Surrender To Chance.

I can imagine someone who wants to smell like this going ape shit for it. Sadly, it’s not me. This is hyper childish feminine fragrance and smells to me like something you’d get in a $1 kids lip gloss.

Are you the target audience? Did it float your boat?
Portia xx

L’Air du Temps vintage extrait by Nina Ricci
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L’Air du Temps vintage extrait by Nina Ricci

Hellooooo Crew. Today I wanted to chat with you about a historic fragrance that seems to be long forgotten to the modern perfume community. L’Air du Temps was created for Nina Ricci by perfumer Fabrice Fabron with her son Robert, released in 1948 after WWII with a doves symbolizing peace and renewal. When I was a squirt bitch Nina Ricci was one of my counters perfume houses. Even then it was often eschewed for newer, glossier, better advertised fragrances and only its long time lovers continue to buy it. Actually, it was usually the men who bought L’Air du Temps for their loved ones.

L’Air du Temps by Nina Ricci 1948

L'Air du Temps Nina Ricci

Nina Ricci gives these current featured accords:
Top: Carnation, Gardenia
Heart: Centifolia Rose, Grasse Jasmine
Base: Mysore Sandalwood, Iris

While not being a beast mode, attack fragrance that will enter the room before you and dry clean the curtains L’Air du Temps is still a lovely fragrance. Ostensibly a pretty carnation forward floral, which is rare enough in the day of glutinous sweetness, it also still has a little growl of its animals in the base. Yes, even in the newest versions. I have a 30ml EdT bought in the last couple of years. Lighter, fresher but still unmistakable as L’Air du Temps.

The heart is a vivid amalgam bouquet and veers towards a Patou Joy type lushness but with the aldehydes of CHANEL No 5. Not exactly the same as either, and far less strident than both. L’Air du Temps feels like their cousin who never felt the need to try so hard. They’re comfortable, self possessed and, dare I say it, satisfied with their life cousin. The one who has thought about life and the world and accepts their place in it, chooses solid trustworthy friends and takes pleasure in their home and work.

As you will see below, my review bottle today is a 1990s extrait spray. Only 7.5ml and it doesn’t seem like the extrait is available to buy anymore. Shame, because it’s ridiculously beautiful.

Dry down is a floral amber/sandalwood with soft, mossy backbone. The extrait lasts for hours and hours but if I’m wearing the modern EdT it needs refreshing a couple of times a day to make it through to the end.

Aimed at the feminine but perfectly gorgeous on the dudes too.

Did you ever L’Air du Temps?
Portia xx

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Sunday Question: Would You Like To Smell Like Poo[h]?

I know, I know, it’s a juvenile joke, but I couldn’t help myself. I came across an ad for Mischief Academy perfumes on Instagram and decided to discuss their names and the concept with you.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Sunday Question #296:

Would You Like To Smell Like Poo[h]?

Perfumers Anh Ngo, Luis Hou and George Tedder created perfumes for “The Fairy Tales” collection:

  • Winnie the Pooh (Honey, Beeswax, Bergamot, Lemon, Lavender, Clary Sage, Vanilla, Tonka Bean),
  • The Little Mermaid (Pink Champagne, Lilac, Sea Salt, Ocean, Lemon Zest, Seaweed),
  • The Mad Hatter (Cognac, Rum, Toffee, Condensed Milk, Butter, Leather, Black Tea, Saffron),
  • The Cursed Apple (Red Apple, Poison (Bitter Accord), Rose, Violet, Lipstick, Wild Berries),
  • Hansel & Gretel (Gingerbread Cookies, Hot Chocolate, Rum, Cinnamon, Clove, Tonka Bean, Vanilla),
  • Pinocchio (Palo Santo, Sandalwood, Peach, Saffron, Vetiver, Cedarwood),
  • The Jungle Book (Forest Foliage, Fig Fruit, Pear, Muguet, Amber, Sandalwood, Cedarwood).

Do any of these names or notes sound interesting to you? Would you want to wear one of those (provided you liked the scent)?

My Answer

The names aside, what caught my attention was the brand behind them.

Mischief Academy, a new brand created in 2025, is one of hundreds that appear every year. It positions itself as a US-based brand (with the main address in San Francisco), but its parent company is from Vietnam. The same parent company has another perfume brand, d’Annam, which is slightly “older” (from 2023), and its portfolio holds already 25 perfumes. Two out of the three noses who created The Fairy Tales collection authored most of d’Annam’s perfumes.

d’Annam started with a Vietnamese collection, positioning itself as a Vietnamese brand. Soon after their first collection, they shifted their focus to Japan, expanding the brand’s scope to “Asian cultures.” Now we have this new brand experimenting with well-known Western fairy tales, clearly appealing to our “inner child.” For me, it feels like a pure marketing experiment without any substance, history or inspiration behind it.

But beyond all these considerations, in my opinion, perfumes for grown-ups should not be called any of those names (and perfumes for kids, even if we were to agree that something like that should exist, should not cost $120 for a 50 ml bottle). Looking back on my life, I can’t imagine any age beyond 12 years old at which I could see myself in the following dialogue:

– Mmm, you smell wonderful. What is it?
– Oh, thank you! It’s Winnie the Pooh.

 

How about you?

 

Would You Like To Smell Like Poo[h]?

Olympic Amber by Olympic Orchids
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Olympic Amber by Olympic Orchids

Hi there ULGers, Olympic Orchids is one of my all time favourite indie perfume houses. While doing the big cull clean up I can across a just over 1/10 full bottle of Olympic Amber by Olympic Orchids. Last time I used it there was at least 50% there so we’ve had some evaporation. What was once already thick, rich and luscious is now an extrait with teeth. It’s enormous, tapestried and utterly glorious.

From Olympic Orchids: This traditional amber was originally formulated as a base for other perfumes, but it stands beautifully on its own. A rich golden scent that will transport you on a jeweled magic carpet of olfactory delights.

Olympic Amber by Olympic Orchids

Olympic Amber

Olympic Orchids gives these featured accords:
Labdanum, vanilla, benzoin, incense, resins, cypress, patchouli, woods.

Vanilla rich labdanum. Furry, bed heady, a little pissy and the full, rich panoply of amber on display with what smells like a heavy dose of very animalic musks. If you are even a little amber averse then Olympic Amber will be your nemesis, your kryptonite.

The background is a very earthy patchouli, smoke and burned out campfires, sharp, green, freshly broken branches and cool breeze that’s come over lake water. You’ve smelled ambers before but they were polite and cuddly compared to this beast. A burnished amber that will rock you to your core, it may even pick you up like you’re made of cotton and give you a shake.

No other amber comes close. Don’t talk to me of Grand Soir, Musc Ravageur, Musc Koublai Khan or Prada Amber PH. These are all nice, polite, board room versions of the genre. In Olympic Amber we have the King of the Jungle.

There’s also the fact that perfumer Ellen Covey is a sweetheart, and bloody talented. If you’re going across to Olympic Orchids to buy their very affordable samples then I suggest: Olympic amber, Ballets Rouges, Chevalier Vert, Blackbird and Golden Cattleya as excellent starting points. Tropic of Capricorn and Lil are hard core, but favourites too. Just be aware that they are not doing international shipping currently. If you live outside the USA you will need a frag mule.

Do you think you could handle Olympic Amber?

Happy sniffing
Portia xx

 

 

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Sunday Question: Do You Own Any Perfumes You Don’t Like but Won’t Let Go Of?

Sometimes our perfume collections include pieces that don’t quite work for us – not anymore, or maybe never did. And yet, for one reason or another, we keep them: for the memory they hold, the person who gave them to us, their beauty as objects, or simply because we feel we should. For this SQ, let’s consider only bottles (so, no samples or decants).

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Sunday Question #295:

Do You Own Any Perfumes You Don’t Like but Won’t Let Go Of?

Why do you keep it/them?

My Answer

In general, once a bottle of perfume gets into my collection, I have a really hard time letting it go. I can justify to myself keeping almost any of those that I used to like or got as a present from someone. I can explain not parting with bottles that I bought for the bottle’s sake. I still hope to maybe wear someday perfumes that came as a part of a set with the one that I wanted to own. But there is one perfume I own for no rhyme or reason – Bitter Orange & Chocolate by Jo Malone.

It was a limited edition released in 2013 as part of the Sugar & Spice collection. Bitter Orange & Chocolate was the most popular one; it smelled divine on my co-worker, and one of my friends loved it and even bought a backup bottle. I love chocolate. I like oranges. Angel Taste of Fragrance flanker with a chocolate note was one of my favorites. At that time, I liked most of Jo Malone’s perfumes. And still, this one didn’t work for me. I tested it repeatedly, hoping to change my mind – and I didn’t. It was almost sold out, so I decided to buy a bottle, telling myself that either it would grow on me (I had a sample to keep trying) or I’d be able to sell it later…

All these years later, the bottle is still untouched, and I don’t have a good explanation why.

 

How about you?

 

Do You Own Any Perfumes You Don’t Like but Won’t Let Go Of?

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Saturday Question: What Is Your Favorite Amouage Perfume?

My living space is almost back to normal after the flooding accident a month ago, and I’m back with a Saturday Question.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #294:

What Is Your Favorite Amouage Perfume?

Have you tried their newer collections (The Odyssey or The Essences)? What do you think about the new bottles for The Essences collection? Do you follow the brand’s new releases?

My Answer

It has been several decades since I’ve done (or even closely witnessed) any home remodeling. Now I have validation of all my fears about that and reluctance to entertain any serious work where I live. It proved to be quite disruptive, even though all the crews that worked on addressing the consequences of the unfortunate fire sprinkler incident were very fast and professional. But as I said, it’s almost over, and I started feeling more inclined to get back to less serious undertakings, such as blogging or testing perfumes.

Historically, Amouage was one of my “Top 5 Favorite Brands”, and when answering the SQ question “An Ambassador of What Brand Would You Like to be?”, I chose that brand as my #1 contender, which says a lot about how I feel about their perfumes. It also wouldn’t be hard for me to name my most favorite Amouage perfume, since Ubar (sadly discontinued) is one of my top 3 all-time favorites. But I can easily name another 5 that I enjoy wearing.

All of my Amouage “loves” belong to their Main Collection. The only two perfumes from later-released collections that I wear are Love Mimosa (The Secret Garden Collection) and Guidance (The Odyssey Collection). I don’t think I’ll ever need more of the former once my decant is gone, but I would love to add the latter to my collection eventually (even though I don’t need any more FBs).

I haven’t seen a bottle from The Essence Collection in RL yet, but I like how they look online, and I’m waiting for a couple of samples from that collection in my recent Luckyscent order, hoping both to like and not to like those perfumes, since $475 still feels like an insane price for a single bottle (especially given the size of my collection).

 

How about you?

 

What Is Your Favorite Amouage Perfume?

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Eau Folle by Le Galion

Hi there Crew, Spring has spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Yes, I know some of you are still chilly but YAY it’s not long now. So let’s talk about some gorgeous springtime fragrances over the next few weeks. Please tell us what spring beauties you are wearing too. Have you rearranged the grab tray yet? I’m just thinking about what will be put forward on the Autumn one here is Sydney. You know that the Le Galion gents are my friends, they gave me this last time we were in Paris. They know how much I love a Travel Size and I’m thinking this is 15ml spritz, so .5oz. According to Google Translate Eau Folle means Crazy Water, does anyone know if that’s the meaning or does it mean like a Folly? Like something done for the joy of itself, disregarding truly rational thought? I’ll be glad to know.

Eau Folle by Le Galion 2025

Eau Folle by Le Galion

Le Galion gives these featured accords:
Top: Basil, wormwood, violet leaf
Heart: Ginger, rosemary, geranium, lavandin
Base: Vetiver, patchouli, cedarwood, olibanum

The blurb: “With an energy multiplied tenfold by the irrepressible desire for freedom, Eau Folle generously and vividly projects a bouquet of aromatic herbs with spicy, green and herbaceous facets. Tonic and stimulating…”. Created by Julien Rasquinet, you’ll know his name from Aether, Amouage, Naomi Goodsir and Jusbox. Eau Folle is his first for the Le Galion crew. Noted in Fragtrantica as an Aromatic Aquatic but I think that undersells what we get, and though it does have a salty tang, I’d really like to call it a modern chypre. That idea of an island’s greenery, yes with the scent of surrounding ocean but that’s not the main player.

The opening is greenery and the crisp, zingy, snap of fresh ginger while overlooking the sea from the kitchen window. There is also the taste of a cold metal spoon or scent of a freshly cleaned sink. That multilayered deep, inky, oily greenness of vetiver runs right through alongside the strange, sweetly bitterness of wormwood. if you want your fragrance to waken and add a zest to your morning then Eau Folle will snap you out of morning lethargy and ready you for a day of action. Opening seems to last a long while as the rest of the notes slowly move forward. This is no top heavy, collapsing perfume but a slowly opening flower. Here is my best analogy in a photograph. Very late spring night in Seoul City, South Korea. Everywhere there are trees bursting forth with blossom and greenery, the shops are closing up, people are few but it still smells like a bustling city.

Eau Folle by Le Galion Spring in Seoul City

Through the heart and on to dry down the greenery becomes more basil/rosemary oriented and you can seriously smell them both, especially the basil. This is up close, nose nearly to arm. From further Eau Folle smells like a herbal cologne with extra depth. Not overpowering but focused and refreshing.

Dry down is a green woodsiness, still bright and serenely steady. Its woodiness is fecund and signals abundance and energy. If you ever need to project the aura of effortless energetic ability and strength then Eau Folle is your fragrance. Unisex but leaning traditional modern masculine, I’m thinking a perfect scent for grounding and relaxed strength.

So, what are you hoping to wear for Spring 2026?
Portia xx

 

 

Santal Noir by DIOR
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Santal Noir by DIOR

Hi there ULGers, DIOR is one of my most collected brands. The Couturier range, now called La Collection Privée Christian Dior, has changed and evolved over time. Created by the DIOR in house perfumer at the time François Demachy. Francis Kurkdjian took the reins in 2021 and has done some interesting things. It was a surprise to me that though I own a bottle up till now I’ve not reviewed Santal Noir. The fragrance designed around Mr Christian Dior’s love for the colour black. As you can see, I rarely reach for it but when the mood strikes only Santal Noir will do.

I’m not buying any more large DIOR Collection bottles. They have changed the sizes and that shits me beyond words. Shrinkenomics in action. If I love something then I’m only buying the 40ml. Yes, it’s more expensive BUT then it won’t stand out like dogs balls as different to my 125ml and 250ml bottles. DIOR can suck it.

Santal Noir by DIOR 2018

Santal Noir by Dior

Cited featured accords:
Sandalwood, Leather, Woods, Rose, Ambrette

Opening gambit is scratchy dark woods, a little bit eucalyptus and very earthy. Pretty soon there is a jammy rose that peeks through and some smooth, sweet resins.

Not too long ago wait for a brand-new-shoe leather smell bubbling up. You know when you open the box at the store and pull out a never before touched shoe? You smell it and the mixture of leather, tanning materials, colours and finishes all greets you. It’s such a wonderful smell. Imagine you are smelling that smell but it’s in a dream. So not really but definitely in the same realm.

It’s not till all of these other notes have made their presentation that the dry yet creamy sandalwood of fragrance enters. It plays happily alongside the rest until it takes its moment to rise above. Yes, the rest of the backing chorus is still there but they have been overshadowed. It’s nice to have a sandalwood that is not buoyed by coconut, ylang or masses of vanilla. I do think there is a little amber hiding in the mix though.

Santal Noir by Dior

Is this a brand new look at sandalwood? No, we’ve smelled this kind of treatment before, especially in some of the 21st century niche and a few of the earlier masculine designers. It’s the backing players and the refined blend that makes Santal Noir stand head and shoulders above most others. I do like this dry, mainly unsweetened or tropicalised version of sandalwood. It’s restrained and solid.

Where do you stand on bottle changes mid run? Do you like the idea of a less flamboyant sandalwood?
Portia xx