Rose, Oakmoss, Ylang Ylang, Galbanum, Bergamot, Iris, Vetiver…
How do you like it for a rainbow colors mnemonic perfumista-style?
I came up with it while thinking about my blog’s 7th anniversary and the significance of this number in our culture: there are many things counted in 7 – seven rainbow colors, seven notes to the diatonic scale, seven days of the week, seven letters in the Roman numeral system, Big Dipper/Plough consists of seven bright stars and so on.
So, is the seventh anniversary special in any way for my blog? I thought about it, and I can’t say it is. I mean, it is as special as any other anniversary, but it doesn’t feel any different from the previous one.
I still like this blog. I still enjoy telling my stories to you and every time look forward to seeing your “likes” and comments (and I miss some of you when I do not see you around for a while). I still love perfumes and get thrilled by new perfumes I try (thank you to all of you who participates in friendly swaps). And I still manage to find new perfumes to love and to add to my perfume wardrobe.
Speaking of my perfume wardrobe…
In the recent couple of weeks there were discussions in Perfumeland about [not] using or even remembering perfumes from our own collections because there were too many of them. So I got curious: how good/bad am I?
I got a blank piece of paper… I mean, opened a new spreadsheet on my computer and wrote down all the full bottles (including travel sizes) that I could remember. It is a strange exercise provided I have a database with all the perfumes – but how else would I check it?
When I couldn’t think of any more perfumes, I compared results to the list from my database. I won’t divulge any incriminating numbers (as the quarterly spending poll on NST blog says: it’s between me and my credit card) but I’m happy to report that I couldn’t remember less than 5% of perfumes in my collection. The biggest surprise was that I forgot my Vacation in a Bottle perfume – Yosh Ginger Ciao, for which I just got a back-up bottle.
I decided it was a fluke. But, based on my experiment, at least I can say that I do not just buy perfumes and forget.
Speaking of not forgetting…
Without scrolling up, how many notes from those that I used in my perfumista-style rainbow mnemonics can you remember? “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information,” one of the most highly cited (according to Wikipedia) papers in psychology, “is often interpreted to argue that the number of objects an average human can hold in working memory is 7 ± 2” dependent on the type of the object and the age of the respondent (follow the link above for the more complex explanation).
Rose, Oakmoss, Ylang Ylang, Galbanum, Bergamot, Iris, Vetiver.
Serendipitously, one of the perfumes I used in the rainbow illustration above has all of these notes (I didn’t realize that when I was choosing perfumes for that picture). Would you guess which one?
Speaking of rainbows…
Did you know that in Greek mythology Iris is the Goddess of the Rainbow and a messenger of the Olympian Gods? To celebrate my blog’s seventh anniversary, I’m going to designate February as a Month of Irises. I realize that irises are not as popular as roses for that month’s big holiday but – following Lucas’s lead – I did a Month of Roses last year already. Besides, I love irises – and not only in perfume form, so I think it will fit perfectly. Will you join me for a couple of days in February?
And just not to publish an anniversary post without mentioning the most important perfume in my life, I want to state that today I wore Climat by Lancome – and loved it, as always.
Images: my own
Undina's Looking Glass 
I’m very happy that we get to be friends (even if just virtual ones for now) and it’s great to have you around and read your perfume stories. They are a great entertainment to me among the perfume blogs.
So I’m going to sing “Happy Birthday to you” and drink a glass of wine for your blog later :)
As usual – love the photos (gorgeous bouquet, and Rusty is completely not interested!)
What a great idea to make February in 2018 dedicated to Iris! Not sure if you’re going to make a calendar like I did for roses in 2017 or if you want to keep it less formal, I’ll be happy to join – I have at least 14 fragrances that I could wear for the theme.
Many hugs for 7th blog anniversary!
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Thank you, Lucas – for the kind words, for being a friend and for staying around. I’m positive that we’ll meet one day in RL.
As I complained probably more than once, this is one of Rusty’s favorite poses: turned away from the camera :)
I have 28 perfumes (including samples) for February – I counted while I was at that :) But I have at least a couple of days when I plan to wear one of my special perfumes (for my birthday), and they don’t have any iris – so I’ll definitely ask for your help for those days. As for the rest… I’ll think a couple of days, and we’ll coordinate: last year was fun.
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Yes, I think we’ll get to meet one time. Although I think it’s more probable it will happen once you come to Europe rather than me coming to the US.
The 14 I counted were only full bottles I have and I only picked one with prominent iris because iris as assisting note is not enough ;) I’ll be happy to help, just let me know when you need my service.
Well, Rusty is cute no matter what so he’s forgiven.
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In my count I had also only prominent iris perfumes – otherwise I could probably do at least half year of that note ;) but I’m not sure it’s even 14 bottles on my list – I will double check :)
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Seven years is brilliant Undina. It is not taken for granted how much work, even if pleasurable, it is to keep writing regular posts. I do have a love for iris, but not many in my collection. I wonder if I should buy something for February. I have some 10 year old Iris Silver Mist and will start with that. I am also gonna try listing my collection. I think I can, but …….. I’ll have a strong coffee later today and think of you. Never stop your musings please. Much love from me, Chris, and the Cat. xxxx
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Thank you, Val! It’s great to see you (Hi to Chris, treat to the Cat :) ).
There are so many wonderful iris perfumes! Come back during the month with what you’ve got and, who knows, maybe one of others’ favorites will tempt you.
I’ll probably finish my Iris Silver Mist decant in February: I held on to it for too long, I should enjoy it while it’s still good.
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I thoroughly enjoyed your Rainbow Anniversary post, Undina!
First of all, I only remembered 6 of the seven rainbow notes and then remembered there must be one for green which was galbanum!
Surely the perfume in the picture that contains all the rainbow notes is No.19?
Seven years is a fantastic achievement and I’d love to join you in part for a month of irises.
P.S. It’s no surprise that you remembered 95% of your collection or that you forgot your vacation perfume seeing as that must have a separate place in your mind as you only wear it outside of the country :)
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Tara, what a brilliant explanation for my forgetfulness! I love it! :)
You’re right! No 19, selected, in the first place, for its color, is the one that had all the notes. I like when I come across such coincidences (without reading too much into them though).
As to the notes and colors, I’m not 100% sure what helps me to remember what – notes remind of colors or vice versa :) But it was fun exercise – thank you for playing!
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Woo hoo! Congratulations on your seventh anniversary – it is a great achievement! Rusty’s snobbisg regal pose cracks me up!
I’m happy yo report that I recalled all 7 colors. It is a blessing and a curse to have occasional photographic memory. I wish I was better at retaining historical facts.
As to iris month, count me in! I may end up doing a whole month of iris. If you are doing a calendar like Lucas did, you can slot me in for however many days have no takers and I will try to wear a perfune that no one else selected. Sounds like a fun project!
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Thank you, hajusuuri! Rusty constantly tries to show (to my camera or phone) how much he is not interested in whatever I want to picture him with :) But if camera isn’t in sight, you immediately wish you’d have prepared it in advance: he is so cute when he is discovering something new for him.
Lucas and I think of it and coordinate with you and others our Month of Irises.
On a side note (pun intended), I wanted to confirm that you remembered all the notes, not colors ;)
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Ha! The notes of course 🌈
We have a file room in the office with individually lockable cabinets/. I was too lazy to mark the cabinets and the meys to match them so since I had rainbow colored key rings, I used the ROYGBIV mnemonic sequence to match the key to cabinet order.
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It’s a good use of the system! :)
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Happy anniversary, and thank you for sharing seven years of stories and scents. Here’s to many more (for as long as it keeps bringing you pleasure).
The seven colours/notes? I found it easy because of the mnemonic order. My collection? I made a list, and missed out four. Damn it, I thought I would get the whole set. And one of these is a regular wear! The other three have been gathering dust, though, and need to be given or swapped away to someone who will love and remember them.
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Thank you, crikey.
I don’t know the size of your collection, but I assume that not remembering just 4 is a goood result.
I have hard time letting go even perfumes I know I won’t wear – mostly those wrre gifts or some other considerations. I should work on this: why to let those perfumes slowly die when someone else might enjoy them?
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Forgetting four isn’t bad–I’ve got a weird memory that uses spatial associations to help. If I can remember one thing, I can then work out what’s next to it. It’s not eidetic or photographic but it gives me a framework and a way to start filling in details from one or two known points. (It got me through a lot of names-and-dates type exams as a child!)
It turns out I have about 50% bottles more than I thought I had. I think I might have been slightly in denial about the more-and-more cluttered cluster. It’s still under 100, though–and I counted everything from a 7.5ml travel bottle up–which probably has to remain as the upper limit. So time for some winnowing.
I hear you on the gifts. It feels almost like a betrayal to pass them on. I think it’s time for me to start admitting there are some I will never use, and also a few I will never finish and start sharing them out.
I will wear Cuir Cannage today as that is probably the most irisy scent I have.
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I’m not sure if I should feel bad about nudging you into the closer inspection of your collection :) Hopefully, it was for the best.
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Happy Anniversary, Undina! Echoing what Tara said, I’m not surprised that you remember 95% of the perfumes in your collection. You have collected your perfumes in such a discerning way. Meaning, you really put a lot of consideration into whether to add a bottle to your collection, and don’t just buy bottles on a whim … plus, you are always keeping statistics. Your blog actually made statistics a fun topic for me, come to think of it!
Chanel No. 19 is the first perfume that came to mind as possessing all the notes in your illustration. I couldn’t tell, though, what some of the bottles were in your collection. What is the Creed? I’m guessing it is Jasmin Imperatrice Eugenie? And what is the bottle directly to its right? Just curious. :)
Will wear an iris perfume today in your honor. Probably Hermes Hiris.
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Thank you, Suzanne!
I agree, that both – the way I add perfumes to collection and (especially!) the fact that I’m constantly creating some lists based on perfumes I have, contribute to my remembering most of them.
You were right about both – No 19 and Creed. And an unremarkable square bottle to the right is Ta’if parfum: it was the time when they experimented, probably, on making even more money from their perfumes: this bottle was definitely not as advertised. But the perfume itself is wonderful – so I almost forgave them :)
Hiris is nice (though extremely fleeting). I plan to wear it in February as well.
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Happy Anniversary Undina. Your blog posts are always such a pleasure to read, and this one is no exception. I am dashing to the cupboard right now to pick out an iris to wear to commemorate your 7th. Bravo! xoxo – Robert H.
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Thank you, Robert. It’s nice to have you as a reader. And I’m glad to provide an extra reason for you to wear an iris perfume :)
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Happy Anniversary! I enjoy all of your posts and of course Rusty is the added benefit! All in on iris in February.
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Thank you, MM!
I’m glad you’re joining us for the iris project. I’ll try to come up with something fun for it – stay tuned! :)
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How is it possible that it’s been 7 years and Rusty has not aged a bit. Congratulations on the fabulousness of your blog and for always keeping it fascinating with your incredible stats! xoxoxoxo
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Thank you, Steve. I’ll give Rusty a couple of treats from you :) Having all that fur definitely helps to look young(er). Though, I have to admit that in the last several years Rusty had less hair than he used to – though I’m not sure whether winters were milder, or we heat up our house better, or it’s his age.
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Happy anniversary! It is always a treat to see Rusty and to read your perfumed words.
The rainbows you shared here, especially the perfume bottles, made me smile today. Thank you for that.
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Thank you, tiffanie! I had that idea for a while but it was a challenge to implement it – so I’m glad it amused you.
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Congratulations, seven years of blogging is a real accomplishment. I have far too many perfumes to make a list and only forget 5% so I won’t even try. But I do love irises and will happily join you in Iris February!
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Thank you, Tara. I’m glad you’re joining me on the iris project.
I wonder, do you have a system for selecting what to wear that allows you to rotate through your collection?
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No I do not, and I desperately need one, as I have so many loved, neglected bottles. I tried pulling 10 bottles a week and setting them out, but inevitably felt like wearing something else, as I go completely on mood/instinct for selecting a scent. Still thinking about it.
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If you’re up to entering all of your perfumes into a spreadsheet, you could use a randomization to help you to choose what to wear (I’m not sure how comfortable you feel with Excel, you can read ideas on how to do it here; or you can contact me over e-mail once you have the spreadsheet, and I’ll guide you step-by-step).
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I’m comfortable with Excel, but the random choice generated might not be something I want to wear that day. Is the random choice generator a macro? It would need to be something I could run repeatedly until it came up with a choice I could live with. LOL.
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If you follow the link I gave, there’s an instruction/code snippet for the macro, which you can connect to a button on the ribbon – so you can re-run it as many times as you want :)
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I love the idea of an iris themed month. :)
And a very happy blog anniversary to you!
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Thank you, Ines. I hope, you have at least a couple with this note in your currently tolerated collection – so you’ll be able to join us.
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Congratulations on your blog’s anniversary! Seven years is a solid one.
Your post made me think that I don’t have enough irises in my collection… :)
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Thank you, Diana.
Come over during February – and maybe you’ll get an inspiration for your next bottle (or decant) :)
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I’m afraid I’ll get too many :) Will do, though. Resistance is futile!
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Happy, happy rainbow anniversary! Seven years of blogging without that timeframe’s proverbial ‘itch’ is great going. Keep your stories coming! They are always full of fascinating facts – I never knew the thing about Iris as a goddess, for example. I shudder to think how many bottles in my collection I could remember, but your 95% rate does not surprise me one jot. Amusingly, if I owned Ginger Ciao it is the first one I think I would remember, because it is lovely, and because it has an unusual name. One of the many perfumes I am grateful to you for introducing me to, both via the blog and offline.
Confession time – I have been quietly going off iris as a note lately – not hugely, but am much less drawn to scents where it is to the fore. I even thought about writing a post on this strange and worrying development! But I am sure I can find some iris perfs I like to be able to join you in Feb.
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Thank you, Vanessa! Having you and other friends/loyal readers helps: I’m not sure for how long I’d be able just to “broadcast” into nowhere.
I have an idea! What if you were to do a Month of Irises to see if it pushes you one way or the other? And then you’ll have even more material for that post you were thinking about. In the name of science, so to speak ;)
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I thought about it, but found the idea quite disconcerting, as I am strongly drawn to furry ambers at the moment. I picked up Chanel No 19 today, but Ambra di Luna won out, sorry. I could try it maybe at another time of the year, and it would indeed be great blog fodder, but I don’t think I can manage it in Feb…! ;)
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I’m sorry that the weather doesn’t cooperate but I completely understand. No project is more important than feeling comfortable in perfume you choose. I hope AdL kept you warm.
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Seven years is amazing Undina, Congratulations.
I would love to join you in some iris love next month.
Portia xx
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Thank you, Portia. So I count you in! It will be an extremely elegant February!
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Congratulations seven times over on your anniversary. Big HUG.
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Thank you, Lanier! It’s great to see you. I hope your move went well.
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It went perfectly…I am now ensconced in my new home Oakwood Abbey!
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Congrats on the anniversary, Undina! Seven years is a great achievement. Now that you mention the month of irises, I have a review in mind for that. R
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Thank you, Richard.
Great! You’ll join our Month of irises with your review.
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Looking forward to it, Undina!
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Late to the party but congrats! Seven years is a long time :)
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Thank you, Chocolate Marzipan! I appreciate the support.
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Happy anniversary! Seven is my favorite number; and how wonderful that you’ve kept your blog going for seven years. I have learned so much from your posts and comments — thank you! I look forward to hearing more about your iris project and would love to take part. Iris is a note that I have grown to enjoy more and more; I always liked the scent of what I now know is iris, but now I would put it among some of my favorite notes. Congratulations on the anniversary!
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Thank you, OH! I’m glad you find my blog useful :)
My favorite number is 13 – so I wonder if I can keep it going for the next 6 years? We’ll see.
I’ve just published some details on the project – see if you want to join me as a blogger.
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7, 7, 7…It’s a mantra for understanding what lies beneath! I am sorry I missed your blog’s birthday, Undina, but it is also the birthday of my girl, and I was busy making plans, celebrating and ruining plans, as well! Happy rainbow anniversary! May it bring you inspiration and a huge pile of loved fragrances! I remembered Rose, Oakmoss, Galbanum and Iris – for the record, and I suppose the 19 was the one who held it all. Kisses to Rusty xoxoxoxox
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That triple-7 will always remind me of this (take a quick look at the clip in the beginning of the post) ;)
Thank you for the wonderful wishes, I’m glad to see you – and it’s never late on my blog!
I wish your daughter a lot of happiness and more fulfilled plans than ruined.
You were right about No 19. And I hope you’ll join me at least for a couple of days in February for the iris project.
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Ahahahahahaha, yasssss, Monica was quite clear about the 7s!
Thank you for everything! It is so warming to know someone is your virtual scent pal even at the other end of the world! I will do my best to join you in the iris month!
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Wow 7 years, congratulations Undina!
Yes first comment from me…
Sometimes I hop over from NST to take a peek here but somehow I never left a comment. So many great perfume blogs, not enough time to keep track of them all. But I shall try my best to visit and comment more often here. ;)
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Hi Jiji! Welcome to my blog. I smile every time I see your avatar at NST, so I’ll be glad to see it here from time to time also, though I understand that it’s impossible to read everything, especially when dealing with health issues of loved ones.
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Hi Undina, I am one of the two readers who missed this post (as referred to in your next iris post) as I was traveling to Australia and also sick as a dog. It’s all a blur! Anyway, congratulations on sticking around so long! There are not many of you who started in the early days who still publish. I always enjoy reading, and of course, Rusty!
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Thank you, Cynthia. I’m glad to see you, and hope you’ll feel better soon. To be sick is never fun but to combine it with traveling is twice harder (I’ve just recently went through that myself, though my trip was domestic).
I look forward to your travel/perfume posts.
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