This year, as seven years before, I was thinking about what to do for my blog’s anniversary. And then I missed it. I didn’t forget about it, I wasn’t busy with something else (well, I was busy but it wasn’t a reason) – I just mixed dates. Somehow in my mind the 8th anniversary was supposed to be on January 28th whereas in reality I published my first post on 24th, which I realized only two days after the date. For some reason it upset me so much that I couldn’t make myself to finish this post even for the wrongly remembered date. I was I know that I’m not the first blogger to miss a blogoversary. But I find it ironic that I managed to publish something else on the date (though, serendipitously, it was a story about Ormonde Jayne Tsarina – one of the perfumes I previously mentioned in my blog’s sixth anniversary post; back then it was the only perfume in the list without a story).
Anyway, what is a couple of days compared to the infinity of the Universe… or even to 8 years of blogging (which, if you were to tilt your head, would look like the infinity symbol ∞)?
When I started this blog eight years ago, I didn’t plan to do perfume reviews. The idea was to tell life stories that were more or less related to perfumes. All these years later I still do not think I can do what many of you, my readers, easily do in your blogs or comments to other people’s posts: describe in details how perfumes smell to you. From time to time I venture into putting what I smell into words, especially when it comes to perfumes with which I do not plan to go beyond samples, since that minimizes their chances to become one of my stories. But I do it as an added feature, to be more diverse in topics but not because I ran out of stories: to my surprise, I still have a Word file with pages of ideas for future posts. I just wait for the right time or mood to tell those.
Also, as I was planning this blog, I didn’t know Rusty would become such a star. But I’m glad to have such an adorable mascot (mascAt?).
Since I’ve just recently done a year round-up statistics post, I don’t want to play with numbers for the anniversary post. But out of curiosity I looked up what perfumes I wore on that date in the past: on four occasions I wore Lancôme Climat – purposefully to mark the date; one time for each Chanel No 19, Amouage Lyric, Mona di Orio Vanille 44 and Parfumerie Generale Felanilla. And the day I published my very first post on this blog I wore La Prairie Life Threads Platinum.
In 2010, as I get from my notes, I’d already started the descent into the rabbit hole of testing niche perfumes, so I wasn’t specifically looking for another mainstream perfume to add to my collection. There were other precious metals and gemstones in La Prairie’s perfume lineup, but only Life Threads Platinum attracted my attention, and after trying it several times at a store I ended up buying a box of 1.5 ml samples from eBay (for less than $10!).
I enjoyed wearing it for a while and even thought I would buy a bottle eventually. But then Perfumeland happened. How many of you knows about this perfume or tried it? The brand wasn’t popular with perfumistas. Nobody discussed it or wrote posts about it. And there were so many interesting new perfumes to try and discuss!
January 24th, 2011, the day I published the first post on my blog was the last time I wore Life Threads Platinum. In the following years I shared some of the samples from my box with others during samples exchanges, probably secretly hoping that someone else would also find it interesting and validate my feelings. It never happened. And when I found the remaining 7 samples recently, I discovered that they evaporated leaving just a half-drop of a very concentrated liquid on the bottom of the plastic vial, not enough to do an actual testing but maybe just to give a vague reminder of how it smelled.
Thanks to the records of each wearing that I keep, I can tell that, without comparing them side-by-side, Life Threads Platinum reminded me of Chanel No 19. I checked: they have just 5 officially listed notes in common – rose, oakmoss, galbanum, iris and vetiver. These are 5 out of 7 notes of my rainbow colors mnemonic perfumista-style from my seventh anniversary post.
These days I could buy a bottle of Life Threads Platinum for half of its original price, if not less. I’m tempted but shouldn’t I rather wear No 19 more often? We’ll see. At this point I sniffed the remaining smidgen of perfume from the vial and let Rusty play with it (on the pictures below that out-of-focus object flying off the sideboard is a vial Rusty propelled to the floor and then watched it rolling there before jumping down to continue the hunt).
While writing this post, I came up with an idea for this year February. I previously did a Month of Roses with Lucas in 2017 and Februiris in 2018. This year, if you play with me, I’ll do a “Readers’ Choice Month.”
How would it work? It’s simple. Tell me any date (day, month and year) from the last 8 years that had any significance to you (you can elaborate on why you chose that date or leave it a mystery). I will check my perfume database and one day in February will wear perfume that I wore (or tested) on “your” date, and in the month’s round-up I will reveal perfumes chosen for me and tell you how my impressions of it these days compares to how I felt about it on the date you chose.
Images: my own
Undina's Looking Glass 
Happy 8th Anniversary!
August 23 is the date I pick (my first date with the hubs…I wore Heaven on that day). Hope you wore something wonderful on that day :)
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I can change mine to August 22 (family member’s bday) so that Crikey can have number 23.
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Thank you, Brigitte.
It looks like I haven’t explained the concept correctly :) I tried to get an actual date from the stretch of 8 years to look-up what I actually wore on that date, not to choose on which day in February to wear something. Just a day and a month give 8 dates (2011 – 2018). I still can work with it since I don’t think I’ll get 28 suggestions anyway. So let’s keep your initial pick since I liked the story of Heaven a lot.
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OOOOh! OK Now I get it-LOL! yes, then keep my date :)
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Happy eighth blogday! May I choose 23rd May, which is my wedding anniversary?
p.s. ah, Rusty. That picture with the twig is particularly fetching.
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May 23rd it is! (I’ll see what year to use)
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If you want to narrow it down, 2011 and 2017 keeps it to prime numbers. Otherwise, please pick whichever year provides the perfume you most want to wear again :)
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happy 8th blogday. i have a naughty cat who does this.
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Thank you, Matty!
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Happy 8th Anniversary! I love your stories and 8 years is an infinity in perfume blogging.
Rusty was always going to be a star.
Can we pick a date now? I’d pick 8th February 2014, the day I met Val and Portia for the first time.
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Thank you, Tara. Rusty was definitely born to be a star, I just didn’t think he would be a star of this blog.
Perfect date! Thank you.
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Happy Anniversary! I enjoy your perspective as it is so different than how my mind works.
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Thank you, Doreen. It’s probably better that we all are so different in our approaches – or it would have been a very monotonous reading otherwise.
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Happy Blogoversary to you and Rusty!! I will pick December 15. The most significant dates for me in the last 8 years were those of the passing of my parents. Both happened in the spring but I prefer to pick my mom’s Birthday which is a happier date for me. She loved perfume too, but only had a couple of bottles – her favorite was Perfumers Workshop Tea Rose.
btw never heard of the La Prairie perfumes!
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Thank you, MMKinPA!
If you do not mind me asking, what year did you celebrate your mom’s birthday with her the last time?
As to La Prairie, it looks like perfume business didn’t really work for them: they stopped launching new perfumes a while ago, which is surprising seeing how everyone else keeps jumping into it.
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Happy blog anniversary. I choose Feb. 12, my dear friend’s 90th birthday. We are going to Louisiana to help him celebrate. I have a massive love for iris notes in perfume, second only to roses and lavender.
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Thank you, rickyrebarco.
It’s my birthday too, so I’ll gladly take any of the 8 years (and, most likely, will wear during February all perfumes I wore on previous years on that day).
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Hi Darling!
Have a very happy 8th blogoversary! I can’t believe it’s been so long since we’re in this writing world of perfume together. Sure feels like light years for the online world.
I think that not writing actual perfume reviews is the most unique aspect of your blog – not everyone has so many perfume-related life stories to share with the others and you do it perfectly for so any years.
And there’s Rusty! The most handsome orange cat in the perfume universe.
I’m so glad we were able to become friends over the years and I truly can’t wait until the day we’ll be able to meet face to face.
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How about February 24 which is my birthday?
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Which year (I need a date with a year in range 2011 – 2018) ?:)
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Can be 2014, a year of my unuversity graduation
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Noted! :)
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Thank you for your kind words, Lucas. Time flies in a good company.
I’m sure we’ll meet one day: the World is tiny.
I’ll give Rusty treat from you later (he sleeps soundly on my lap now).
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Ooooohhhh, la prairie! I live my Life Threads Silver. Tuberose, naturally. The range is hard to get in Oz. A shame because I am very keen to grab Platinum and Ruby.
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I remember that I tried several others from the line but I don’t remember which ones. I’m not sure if they are still available from department stores here but they can be found from discounter sites.
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I met my boyfriend on 19th of june, and i think i wore AG Petit Cherie (pre-parfumista days….), so what did you wear?
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What year was it? I’ll have a list of everything I end up wearing in the beginning of March – come back to check it out :)
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2014
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Thanks!
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Congratulations Undina! My birthday is 24 January so that is an easy date for your project.
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Happy belated birthday! Was any of the celebrations in the last 8 years more memorable than the others? (I’m “shopping” for the full date, including year – otherwise it’ll be 8 dates, one for each year of blogging)
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Thank you! Yes, 2013, my 50th!
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Happy 8th Blog Anniversary!! Rusty is so cute. I don’t have a date to offer, but I just wanted to send my congrats and best wishes for many more happy blogging years. :)
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Thank you, Laurie. It’s great to see you here.
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Congratulations Undina on 8 years! That’s a great age for a blog. :)
As for the date, I’m going with July 7, 2017.
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Thank you, Ines. Love the date ;)
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Congratulations, Undina, on eight years of creating one of the most unique and engaging blogs on the perfume blogosphere! (And congrats to Rusty, too, for “cat”apaulting himself to stardom simply by being so entertainingly photogenic and handsome.) As for the date, I’ll choose April 23, 2014, which is the day I met you in person and we went on our Sonoma wine tour. (I believe you were wearing a Jo Malone fragrance that day and will be interested to find out if my memory is correct. I do remember you wearing Jo Malone Saffron Cologne Intense on at least one of those days, and it smelling so good on you.)
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Thank you, Suzanne! I appreciate your continuous support all these years.
Unfortunately, I cannot tell you right now which perfume I wore then but I’ll check it out once I get to my home computer, will definitely wear whatever it was and report back.
I tried to remember what you wore… But in my head I have conflicting Marron Chic and Chanel 22 but I can’t remember why I think of these two in relation to your visit. Any help? :)
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Either of those two perfumes are likely; I can’t say for sure, because I never recorded my wearings. But I’m impressed by your memory, because I was wearing those two perfumes a lot back then, and I had travel decants of both.
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Whatever it was, I remember that it smelled great on you!
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Happy anniversary, Undina. Long may you continue to bring us your posts full of insights. I didn’t know La Prairie had perfumes. I will choose 5 Feb 2015, as that’s the day of my son’s birthday.
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Thank you, Richard. I’ll be glad to celebrate your son’s birthday this year with whatever perfume I discover I wore on the date of his birthday :)
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Many congratulations on your 8th blog anniversary. So many entertaining and original posts, winsomely accented by Rusty! Oh those Prairie perfumes… I remember them, but not what they smelt like, hehe. I do seem to recall they had pointy bottles? I promise I am not copying Suzanne, but I had decided to go with the first time I met you, which was 14th June, 2013, in Paris. I have been keeping my handbag shut in public places ever since.
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Thank you, Vanessa. I keep learning new words from you (“winsomely” isn’t something I saw before so I had to check the meaning)!
I think that you were referring to La Prairie’s “rain” perfumes – Silver Rain (https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/La-Prairie/Silver-Rain-823.html), Midnight Rain, etc. I own one of them (the original one) but do not wear any longer… Hm… I should probably use it on my decorative perfume tray. :)
Those that I was talking about are rectangular (https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/La-Prairie/Life-Threads-Platinum-6652.html). Ugly bottles.
I should check what I was wearing… If I was flying that day, I was probably in one of the “plane travel designated” perfumes. But I’ll check and let you know.
As to the closing your handbag, I’m glad that I left that trace in your psyche. And I should let you know that I associate having a spare pair of shoes with you ;)
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Congrats on 8 years! And I always look forward to a new post since they are unique. May I choose Jan 4th 2017, the day I arrived in Chile?
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Thank you, Mariann. I’ll be glad to see you around more often. And thank you for the date. Are you still in Chile, or was it a temporary gig?
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WOW! 8 years is wonderful Undina! Congratulations.
Thank you for always being a beacon and support. The web would be infinitely less fun without you. There would definitely be no APJ.
My date is July 29 2018 please
Portia xx
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Thank you, dear Portia. The feelings are mutual, and I’m happy to have such a great company.
Your date is noted (and I know why you’ve chosen it :) ).
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8 years!!! How is that possible. Congratulations to one of the best bloggers. I have to say that I never thought I would see perfume and statistics grouped together, but you have made that a feature that’s hard to resist. And then there of course is Rusty….he is a star for sure! Oh, and my date is 10/11/13, the date of my wedding! xoxoxox
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Thank you, Steve. I’m not sure I would have been doing it for that long if it weren’t for great friends I met here over those 8 years.
I’ll see what I was wearing on that special for you date and let you know.
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Tardy congratulations!! And thank you for all your great posts here and elsewhere!
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Thank you! Since I was several days late myself, I do not mind prolonging getting congratulations for a few days longer :)
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Congrats on 8 years!!! That is an achievement. I’m grateful that you’ve been around for so long, and that you’ve introduced Rusty to all of us! I love the photo of him knocking the vial on the floor. :)
I will choose July 24th 2018 — my birthday last year!
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Thank you, Caitlin.
Rusty really enjoyed playing with that vial, and I didn’t have to protect it from him since it was 1) made of plastic and 2) empty.
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Happy Anniversary, Undina, and congratulations. You have done a fabulous job. Out of all the personal blogs, I think yours is the most diversely international and we almost one back over and over again to see what Undina is up to. As to my date, I will pick 19 August 2016 and we’ll let the very specific reason a mystery!
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Thank you, hajusuuri! Your input into this blog is invaluable (both as an author, a perfume triplet and a generous friend).
Date is noted.
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