Vetyver by Le Galion
by

Vetyver by Le Galion

Heya Looking Glassers, Last week Jin walked into my perfume room while I was writing Trivia Q&A. He started reaching around my grab tray with his eyes closed and came out with Le Galion Vetyver. He does like the note and we have bought three or four vetiver heavy fragrances while traveling, for him. They often end up brought to me to put with my collection. I’m not really sure why, they smell excellent on him and he MUST like the scent profile. Anyway, he LOVED this and tried to sneak out with the bottle. HA! Little brat. One loud OI! and he was scuttling back and putting it in its place. So I thought we could talk about one of my faves. To be clear, this is a total reimagining of the 1968 Paul Vacher creation, rebooted by Thomas Fontaine.

Vetyver by Le Galion 2015 reboot

Vetyver Le Galion site

Le Galion gives these featured accords:
Top: Black pepper, violet leaf
Heart: Turmeric roots & leaves, mastic
Base: Vetiver, cedar

Vetyver is heavily advertised towards the gents. I really don’t understand why. It’s far too interesting and nuanced to be only single sex wearable. So please ignore the advertising guff if you’re a woman who loves a green fragrance, a grassy scent or a pepper. I’m also a proponent of shoulder season fragrances. Ones that seem to fit Spring and Autumn perfectly. Warm-ish days, cool nights.

First spritz is like I’m chopping parsley and bell peppers for a salad. It’s green, fresh and grassy. In a minute or two a hit of cracked black pepper dryness moves in and a ginger sharp fizz rises underneath. One of the things I love most about Le Galion is their beautiful blending and interesting rides. Vetyver is no exception.

As I head towards the heart the dry crushed turmeric is cool and ready to hit the pan. It even has the smell of the feel of the turmeric powder in my fingers. It’s like powder but even silkier to touch. Already in the heart I’m getting the familiar scent of cedar.That pencil shavings and plastic paint smell from my childhood. The grassiness starts to take a dryer smell and that slightly petrochemical oiliness of vetiver really makes an appearance. The heart towards base lasts and lasts. It does warm through slightly and I’m surprised that amber isn’t one of the notes. Maybe it’s the mastic resin, but my memory of that is a much more citrus leaning balminess.

Dried grasses and cedar with some sizzle left from th pepper and a curious warmth take us all the way to fade.

Vetyver Le Galion

The bottle I’m using is an older style (above) bought retail but I also have a modern bottle the men gave me last time we were in Paris. The scents are almost exactly the same with a little variation accounted by annual harvest changes.

See, much too interesting and beautiful to be gate kept for the dudes.

Are you a vetiver fan?
Portia xx

Siren by Paris Hilton
by

Siren by Paris Hilton

Hi Crew, Bet you didn’t think there’d be a Paris Hilton fragrance on a perfumista blog. It’s spring here in the southern hemisphere and I’ve just opened my Siren by Paris Hilton backup bottle. So, as any addicted to shopping perfumista will do at this point, I started looking for a new backup bottle. OH NO! Quell Surprise! Looks like Siren is DISCONTINUED! The price on the auction sites (the only place I could find a full bottle) has gone ridiculous. Oh WHY didn’t I buy a few bottles when I could get them for a tenner!?!?

Siren by Paris Hilton 2009

Siren by Paris Hilton

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Apricot nectar, Frangipani, Mandarin orange
Heart: Coconut orchid, Honeysuckle, Water lily
Base: Musk, Sandalwood, Vanilla

Siren has been my hot weather fridge fragrance for years.

Don’t get excited. Siren is very nice and suits me BUT it’s no group breaking super scent that you need to knock down other shoppers to get your hands on. It’s a lot like Viva La Juicy from Juicy Couture. Not the same but in the same vein. It’s a watery, tropical, tinned fruit with some peony like flowers and vanilla. In the heat it is a perfect cool down spritz.

While I’m sad that at the end of this bottle I won’t have it anymore, there will be no demented buying up of all the world’s remaining bottles. I’m going to be a big boy and let this be the last summer of Siren.

I’ve only just learned today that the bottle is also the 1990 Daniel de Fasson perfume bottle, with a different lid. Interestingly, that perfume is apparently an amber and the minis are selling for big bank on the resale sites. Amazing. Do any of you remember this fragrance?

Daniel de Fasson

Did you ever try or wear Siren? Any other Paris Hilton Fragrances?
Portia xx

by

Saturday Question: What Do You Think Of Perfume Balms?

When it comes to perfume, we’re used to a few familiar formats: sprays or dabs for alcohol-based perfumes, oils and solids. Hair perfumes came in later and earned their place in many brands’ line-up. Perfume balm, however, is a relatively new format, at least to me.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #304:

What Do You Think Of Perfume Balms?

Have you tried any? Do you consider wearing perfumes in this format? On its own or as a layering base?

My Answer

As I mentioned, perfume balms are a relatively new discovery for me. Last year, at Sephora, I noticed a perfume display for Rare Beauty‘s new perfume, Rare. I hadn’t tried their original perfume, Rare Beginnings, and wouldn’t have tried this one either, but four small tubes captured my attention. They were introduced as a new Fragrance Layering Balm. Four initially released scents were AMBER (vanilla), FLORAL (peony blossom), FRESH (bergamot) and WOODY (oak).

It wasn’t just a curiosity for a new format. Rare Beauty products hold a special place in my beauty universe because of Selena Gomez, whom I like because of Only Murders in the Building (I can’t wait to watch season six!).

Don’t ask me how it happened that until then (hmm… since then as well) I had ignored her perfumes. I will give them some skin time the next time I visit Sephora. But in general, when it comes to most perfumes one can find at my local Sephora stores, I stopped expecting much a long time ago, and I usually skip trying them. But the combination of the brand, a new medium and layering (yeah, one more aspect that has theoretically attracted me for the last 20 years) was irresistible. So, all four balms immediately went on different sections of my wrists. By the time I got home, I liked them all – some more, some less, but none of them was unpleasant. But.

First, I couldn’t remember which one I applied where. Second, even at $19 per tube (currently $20), I couldn’t justify buying all four of them, especially knowing myself: I wouldn’t be doing any “layering.” And finally, after the launch, these were so popular that both the brand’s site and Sephora were sold out.

After a while, new batches were produced. I tried all of them at a store again and decided to buy the one I wouldn’t have guessed to be my favorite if I were going by the name alone – FRESH. It’s lovely. It’s bright, uplifting and extremely long-lasting on my skin – though quite intimate, without strong projection. I think it will make a nice new plane scent for my future trips.

Also, I wouldn’t mind having a couple of my favorite perfumes in that format.

Sephora Display for Rare Beauty Perfume Balms

How about you?

 

What Do You Think Of Perfume Balms?

Midnight Birch by Dr Squatch
by

Midnight Birch by Dr Squatch

Hi there Crew, I was trawling Surrender To Chance recently and a name caught my attention. Midnight Birch by Dr Squatch. Come ON! What a name and what a house title. Obviously I read the name slightly wrong and it was MUCH naughtier but being fair the name still holds when PGd. So, of course, a 3ml decant jumped into my cart and made it all the way to checkout.

As the Northern Hemisphere heads towards Autumn I thought you might like something that works for the days heat and the cool of the evenings. This should fit the bill perfectly. Before you read further though. This is an affordable fragrance that sits around the US$60 mark. I don’t want you expecting it to smell like a Le Galion, Hermès or an Amouage. It’s not playing in that ballpark. What I will say though is that expensive doesn’t always equal good and affordable can smell very good. When looking at the scoreboard smelling good is the important bit, right?

Midnight Birch by Dr Squatch

Midnight Birch by Dr Squatch

Dr Squelch gives these featured accords:
Vanilla, Lavender, Cedarwood, Crisp Air, Fresh Cut Birch, Warm Musk, Amber

Alright, first spritz is a very lightly salted fresh breeze off the sea and into the forest. This is not a new genre of fragrance and it’s full of that generic scratchy amber woods. It smells like a mens gym locker room in the 1990s. I remember this scent so vividly. It’s kind of soapy and dark woodsy with a really clean water vibe. In South Korea the bathhouses still have a version of this scent.

The woods smell really pine like to me and then I started thinking about the Norsca deodorant a few of us used to wear. There are definitely some references in Midnight Birch.

Midnight Birch by Dr Squatch

Seriously old fashioned masculine. A real barbershop scent. I’d love to smell it on a woman. It would be SO subversive. Like a regular suited gent wearing Fracas or La Vie set Belle. In fact I’m going to give it to my goddaughter and see if she will rock it.

No, it doesn’t smell expensive, or luxurious. It smells clean, fresh and well cared for. Midnight Birch smells like someone wants to smell good in a traditional way, without fanfare or ceremony. The question is, would I choose it over the rest of my scents to wear? Probably not. I’m not a snob but this isn’t the way I want to smell. It would feel like I’m an imposter and that is not how I live.

Could it be for you?
Portia xx

 

Piment Brulant by L’Artisan Parfumeur
by

Piment Brulant by L’Artisan Parfumeur

Hey there ULGers. Summer in the Northern Hemisphere so I’m going cooling yet cuddly. Yes I’m talking about another discontinued gem. Sorry, but also not sorry. It’s nice to reminisce, especially when the waves of new product keep crashing over us. Sometimes it’s nice to look back and remember the good things that are no longer. Available from 2002 to approximately 2012 Piment Brulant came out as a part of a trio of non sweet gourmands, Poivre Piquant and Safran Troublant, known as the Les Épices de la Passion (Spices of Passion) trilogy. They were all signed by the legend herself, Olivia Giacobetti. I feel like I could stop writing there and you’d already know how lovely, and forward thinking these scents were. No such luck, you’re getting a review.

Piment Brulant by L’Artisan Parfumeur 2002

Piment Brulant by L'Artisan Parfumeur

These were the offered featured accords:
Amber, cinnamon, musk, poppy, vanilla, dark chocolate, cacao, clove and chili pepper

The smell of fresh cut chili opens Piment Brulant! It’s about as real as you could hope and it jumps off my skin in the first minute or two like I’m in the kitchen. This first juicy moment doesn’t last long enough. Not even two minutes in and other spices start making their way to my noses attention. It’s too quick but these spices are like you’ve thrown them into the pan together and they are sizzling.

The vanilla and a very mocha smell of chocolate come in with a dusting of flour. There is still that green snap of the chili and spiciness that follows deep into the heart and on towards dry down.

All the major freaky gourmand fireworks happen in the first ten minutes, so just for you. This is not about going into the world making a statement. It’s like, WAKE UP and enjoy this magic because it’s fleeting. Then you get to wander around the world in a more traditional fragrance.

Piment Brulant becomes a lightly spicy green fragrance with warm undercurrents of amber sprinkled with mocha. It’s not boring but it’s not going to cause a riot either. At about the 30 minute mark it has noticeably softened and is very introverted. Just for you to smell, and those that get very close. By about three hours it becomes a wash of very lightly green amber and stays that way till it gently fades away.

What is a favourite discontinued L’Artisan Parfumeur fragrance you wish was still around?
Portia xx

by

Saturday Question: When Did You Accumulate Most of Your Collection?

Based on the recurring statements from most of my readers, our days of actively acquiring perfumes are in the past. I rarely hear about new perfume loves from you these days. At the same time, the second often mentioned sentiment is that our collections, as they currently exist, will outlive us. This tells me that the number of perfumes you own is significant, especially compared with “civilians” (© Tara). So…

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #303:

When Did You Accumulate Most of Your Collection?

Unless you have detailed records you can check, I’m asking about your impression. Can you pinpoint years (or maybe decades) during which you acquired the majority of perfumes you currently own? Or were you just a steady collector who kept adding approximately the same number of new bottles year after year?

My Answer

Even though I have a database where I record all types of information about my perfumes, it took me several years to start recording when and how perfumes were added to my collection. But while my numbers are not exact, they paint a clear enough picture: about 60% of all of my full bottles, travel bottles and ~10ml decants were added between 2010 and 2012. The years 2013 to 2021 were quite steady, at 3% to 6% per year. And after that, between my “no-buy” and my diminished interest in new perfumes, I added just a handful of bottles, mostly travel-sized ones. I haven’t bought a single bottle so far this year.

How about you?

 

When Did You Accumulate Most of Your Collection?

L’Esprit Libre by Divine Parfums
by

L’Esprit Libre by Divine Parfums

Hi there Looking Glassers, You may recall that I’m trying to downsize my collection. It’s going very badly and the perfume room/office/dressing room is littered with boxes of perfumes that should have been sold, sent and out of the way. Sadly, letting go is harder than imagined. Last week is a case in point. My mate TinaG came over and after lunch we had a little sniffy. We smelled a recent survivor of the purge L’Artisan Glacialis Terra (a salty breeze ramble among greenery and bracken) and that led me to grab to others tangentially aligned in my mind: Parfum d’Empire Le Cri de la Lumier and today’s post Divine Parfums L’Esprit Libre. All were about to get the heave ho but resmelling them gave me a new and deep appreciation. GAH! So this is what I’m dealing with.

L’Esprit Libre by Divine Parfums 2021

L'Esprit Libre Divine Parfums

Divine gives these featured accords:
Top: Ozone, green notes, bergamot, green mandarine, peony, magnolia
Heart: Iris essence, talc, earth, butter of iris
Base: Musk, ambergris

The opening is crisp and green over a lovely juicy citrus. The feeling is a warm summer day and you’re sitting in the sunny garden smelling a very tart sparkling lemonade. It’s a lazy, calm and unhurried scent. Not a big beast mode but a lovely subtle murmur. Originally I had written L’Esprit Libre as uninspired and lackluster but nothing could be further from the truth. I needed to smell it again and really take note of how beautifully balanced it is.

The iris heart is neither doughy nor rooty. It has a feel of old fashioned body lotion. Yes, there is a little carrot seed and cardboard but only because I’m huffing at a one centimeter distance. From further it’s a creamy iris still surrounded by twinkles of citrus. As we head further into the heart it’s like the sun has gone behind a cloud. Not cold but cooler.

L'Esprit Libre Divine Parfums

For something so low key L’Esprit Libre has remarkable tenacity. The heart keeps beating for hours and hours. That coolness continues and becomes a breeze. I keep hoping that there’ll be a salty twang of the ambergris but it does not land. Shame.

I can’t work out why this has been aimed directly at women alone. L’Esprit Libre is unisex. My thought is that it could so easily become a signature scent for those that do such things. It’s so beautifully poised and would work in any situation, no matter how closely you are working or sitting.

I bought this bottle expecting something quite different and was let down. Now I understand what was trying to be said here. I’m impressed. Another bottle that will not be going on the chopping block. Damnit! but also YAY.

Portia xx

by

Sunday Question: What’s in Your Perfume Rotation This Summer?

We’re officially over the hump: less of 2026 is left than has already passed. And for those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere, summer is definitely in full swing. So, by now, I would expect we’ve all figured out our summer wardrobes, both clothes- and perfume-wise.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Sunday Question #302:

What’s in Your Perfume Rotation This Summer (or Winter, for Portia)?

Which perfumes are you wearing these days? Has the weather where you live influenced your choices? What’s the weather like where you are?

My Answer

So far, our summer is great: we haven’t had particularly hot weather (yet). It’s unmistakably summer, but it’s a pleasantly mellow one that doesn’t make you wish it to be over. A good testament to how cool (both literally and figuratively) it was is that I am still wearing Amouage perfumes, which previously were predominantly reserved to the Fall/Winter season.

On a lighter side, I finished my sample of Phaedon Oriental Mint. I thought it was such a great Summer perfume that I decided that I needed it in my collection. I found what I think were the last two bottles of that discontinued beauty – one in Canada (scentrique.com) and one in France. The Canadian site didn’t ship to the US (and their US site didn’t have that perfume), so I went with the French one, undeterred by the understandably high S&H. Unfortunately, several days later, they refunded my money because they didn’t have that perfume anymore. I shouldn’t have waited that long!

 

How about you?

 

What’s in Your Perfume Rotation This Summer?

Chemin D’Amande by Une Nuit Nomade 2025 NEW! NEW!
by

Chemin D’Amande by Une Nuit Nomade 2025 NEW! NEW!

Hi there ULGers, Today I thought we could talk about an interesting niche brand that I fell madly in love with. Their Memory Motel was amazing, until it turned on me and started giving me headaches. SHAME! I was so bummed. Somehow its lush plastic amber and sweaty humanity stopped being fragrance and started being torture. Not so long ago, I was given two manufacturer boxed samples of their work. Une Nuit Nomade are the crew and today we are smelling Chemin D’Amande.

From Une Nuit Nomade: Long ago, before Portugal was Portugal, the Moorish king Ibn-Almundim ruled over Chelb in the Algarve. Returning victorious from conquest, he brought many captives, including Gilda, a beautiful queen from the northern lands. Though initially content, Gilda grew increasingly sorrowful, longing deeply for snow’s whiteness. Healers failed to cure her sadness until, advised by a mysterious woman, the king filled the valley with blooming almond trees. When Gilda saw the valley blanketed in white blossoms, her joy returned. Ever since, the Algarve remains the kingdom of almond blossoms, guardian of this ancient tale.

Chemin D’Amande by Une Nuit Nomade 2025

Chemin D'Amande by Une Nuit Nomade

Une Nuit Nomade gives these featured accords:
Almond • Wheat Absolute • Pure Jungle Essence Conscious Bourbon Vanilla

HA! That warm, sweet nutty opening is so glorious. It’s everything as advertised. I smell photorealistic Almond flour, the Wheatiness you get from Korean grain tea and that ridiculously multifaceted boozy darkness of Bourbon vanilla. The fragrance is thick and luscious. What a sensational opening.

As we head towards the heart there is a whisper of metallic mechanical or electrical zing. Oh, it’s so surprising and takes the scent from pure gourmand to fine fragrance. A beautiful frisson between the sweet gooeyness and something so industrial. Alongside that I get a spicy, dry… I want to say BarBQ crisp but I’m not sure if that translates internationally. Like the taste of a hard taco shell with freshly cut chili and HP Brown Sauce. WOW! Chemin D’Amande delivers so much more than a simple sweetness. Don’t get me wrong, the sweetness remains. This is all running concurrently.

Chemin D'Amande by Une Nuit Nomade 2025

Chemin D’Amande does not collapse in to a boring, tired trope of a base either. It remains interesting and so wearable. Over the boozy vanilla sweetness there is a labdanum rich amber throwing some darkness. The twang of electrical sparks and the dregs of grain tea with that dry crack of almond shells. This is so bloody good, I’m swooning right to the end. Imagine Ead d’Italie Morn to Dusk but more nuanced, more ride and more niche.

If Une Nuit Nomade did 10 or 15ml Travel Size one of them would be winging their way to me right now.

Did you get the chance to try Chemin D’Amande yet?
Portia xx

by

Saturday Question: Jo Malone Brit Veggie Collection – Should We Even Bother?

Jo Malone (brand) has done it again – launched another quirky limited edition, the Brit Veggie Collection, that consists of three fragrances – Carrot Blossom, Velvety Butternut and Scarlet Beetroot – in unique, colorful bottles.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #301:

Jo Malone Brit Veggie Collection – Should We Even Bother?

Did you try these perfumes? Do you want to? Will you? What about the next new collection from the brand?

My Answer

Jo Malone was my “starter brand” (back when it still could be considered a niche brand). I still own and wear many of their creations. At least three of them will easily make it into my top 25 (and several more would not be far behind). Some of my favorites behave amazingly on my skin. Others are more fleeting, but I don’t mind reapplying them throughout the day. Every time I read about a new limited edition collection, my immediate reaction is: I should try it before it’s gone!

The last time I liked a new perfume from the brand was two years ago, when I briefly contemplated buying one (or three) bottles from their Mementos Collection. I didn’t buy any of the bottles (I haven’t even finished the set of samples yet!), and I don’t think I’ve ever regretted it. But still, it was a positive experience.

Since then, I’ve tried everything new I came across in stores, and I can barely remember even that I did, let alone the details of how those perfumes smelled (other than that I wasn’t impressed).

Today, the main goal of venturing into the local mall was to check out this new Brit Veggie Collection: even though I found the inspiration behind that collection odd, I thought it could be interesting and unusual. It wasn’t. The bottles were quite cute. The perfumes were so uninspiring, even on the first spray, that I wasn’t tempted to try any of them on my skin.

I am officially annoyed: there is no justification for releasing such boring perfumes in a line with 40+ current fragrances. $90 for 30 ml isn’t the highest price out there, but at that quality level, the lineup of brands available at Sephora beats these hands down. It could have been so much more interesting! Those bottles are new and unique; it’s not as though they needed to reuse an existing bottle size. They could have done smaller bottles for the same price with better ingredients and more interesting compositions – and they would sell out anyway. But they chose mediocrity. And I think that I shouldn’t even bother checking out this brand any longer. It’s sad.

Jo Malone Brit Veggie Collection

Jo Malone Brit Veggie Collection – Should We Even Bother?