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Saturday Question: How Did You Meet Undina?

Undina: I’m not sure if anyone has noticed that, but the last week’s Saturday Question marked exactly a year since ULG picked up the baton of running (no pun intended) this weekly series from Portia (APJ). And since I was always curious as to the various ways that led all of you to this place, I took hajusuuri upon her offer to tell her story of our virtual “meet” and be the host to this week’s Saturday Question episode that opens the second year season.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #53:

How Did You Meet Undina?

The word “meet” is of Germanic origin, meaning, “come upon.” For this question, meeting Undina means any one or all of the following: met her in person, spoke with / texted her, corresponded over email, left a comment here, replied to her comments in another social media platform (e.g. another blog, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) or saw her on some platform and decided to follow her. Tell us how you “came upon” Undina and approximately when?

My Answer

I fell into the perfume rabbit hole around 2010, no thanks to all the perfume blogs that permeated the Internet even before “social media” became a popular term. I mostly lurked and noted some of the names that appeared in multiple blogs. Among the many names, I noticed someone named “Undina” whose comments in Scents of Self (Arielle Shoshana’s currently inactive blog) were always proper, smart, knowledgeable, and humorous. One day in 2012, I happened to accidentally click on her name and voila, the world of Undina’s Looking Glass opened up to me!

While I cannot swear to have read all the posts, I most certainly looked through not only the current posts but also her very helpful tips posts. It was so timely that I learned about Parafilm on her Know-How Post on Decanting, Labeling, Packing and Shipping. Soon after, on August 22, 2012, I left my first comment on the subject of Ineke Sample Sets. Looking back, I did not introduce myself and, instead, just smoothly eased into the conversation. Since then, we’ve corresponded over email, swapped, participated in each other’s splits. Undina also paid me the best compliment by making me her first guest poster in February 2014, in time to debut the new look of her blog! My only regret is I have not met Undina in person but I am confident that once we can travel safely again, we will meet in person.

Art Card Edition

Art Card Edition Original artwork from hajusuuri’s collection

How Did You Meet Undina?

62 thoughts on “Saturday Question: How Did You Meet Undina?”

  1. Wow this got me searching and I found my first comment on 14th May 2011 on a post about a meet up with Kilian. It made me feel very nostalgic, seeing all the names of commenters that aren’t around any more and remembering those heady days of a new passion and new friends.

    I’ve been fortunate to meet Undina twice in real life in London and it’s always a joy. I hope to visit her one day.

    Thanks for asking this question. Ten years. Amazing.

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    • I am green with envy with you having met up with Undina, not once but twice!

      As to 10 years, wow! I think we should come up with “perfume years” to not get a shock when we realize how long we’ve been passionately into perfumes!

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    • We still have those plans for you visiting us! They weren’t cancelled, just postponed!

      Recently I was pruning even further “My reading list” (aka blogroll), and felt sad about all the blogs that are not active any longer (I still keep those links as “Private” even though many of them do not exist any more – just to remember the list). I’m glad though that I found all the wonderful people that are still around, present company included :)

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  2. I met Undina on another perfume blog, not sure which one because we both commented and chatted on so many blogs back then…not sure of exact time, 2010? 2011? I’ve known Undina longer than I have known Portia but shorter than I have known Barbara Herman (her now defunct blog was the first one I read and commented on in 2008). I’ve also participated in private splits and exchanges of samples over the years with Undina.

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    • Brigitte!!! Oh my … so about 10 years or so too! I think I stalked APJ for a longer duration than I did Undina, and I managed to meet Portia in 2014! Also met up with Barbara Herman right around the time she was launching her perfume line.

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      • Ha! and I was thinking it was Olfactoria’s Travels where I met you and Daisy and Jordan…I think I was there first before TFM. But who knows? I think your memory might be more accurate.

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  4. What a great question! I “met” Undina online when I found her blog, probably in 2015. It immediately impressed me as the work of a knowledgeable, thoughtful person who had a lot of expertise in an area that was newly intriguing to me. (I’ve always loved fragrance but only started seriously learning about it in 2014 or so). I’ve learned so much from her and from many of the other readers and commenters here at the Looking Glass. It would be such fun to meet in person some day! Undina and I live on opposite coasts, so that day may be far off if ever, but it’s nice to imagine.

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    • We live in the same country, so the chances to meet at some point are much higher that with many other virtual friends! :) So, if one day, after you fulfill your postponed Paris and other important trips, you’ll decide to visit San Francisco or one of our wine countries, we’ll definitely meet. Or what are the main attractions/touristy things around where you live?

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      • What a wonderful thought! I live in Atlanta, and we have some great museums, lots of civil rights landmarks, several great universities, beautiful gardens. Those are the things I enjoy most, but there’s also a big sports industry and many pro sports to watch.

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  5. No idea what brought me to the blog, probably a link from elsewhere. I found an email receipt for samples from Sonoma Scent Studio for 2013 – definitely a discovery from a blog, probably NST. I lurked on various blogs for a long time before commenting – a lot of reading reviews and trying to learn. I discovered many of the blogs I read from clicking on usernames on NST – and branching out from there. One of the first things I remember reading here is a yearly statistics post showing Undina’s database. Instantly jealous – I have thought about trying to create something similar many times but always end up being overwhelmed by the task of creating it and then populating it!

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    • I, too, am quite impressed with her database and statistics posts, among other things. I’ve tried for several years to emulate her, but I ended up only doing it for a month or so, including some holes I had to fill in from memory.

      I also like being able to click through names and discovering other people who share the same interests. Even if the click through ended up leading to a non-perfume blog, it was still fascinating to see many of us have interests outside of the perfume world!

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  7. I first started reading Undina;s Looking glass in 2018 or 2019 I believe and started posting every now and then in 2019. I became a devoted follower and poster at the end of 2019 and got totally into it in 2020 as I had more time to spend sniffing and thinking about perfumes.

    I checked out Undina’s blog after seeing her posts on APJ and Chemistinthebottle blogs. And of course the photos of the fabulous Rusty totally drew me in. I love cats and Rusty’s fluffiness reminded me of my sweet deceased boy Jet, who was fluffy and jet black (hence the name). He was half Maine Coon and the sweetest boy, except when he barfed up entire geckos on the carpet. Arrgghh.

    I’m also enjoy following Undina and hajusuuri’s lovely posts on Instagram. Love the artwork above. Cats and owls, yeesssss! We have some owls living in the wooded areas in my yard and my closest neighbors’ yards. I love hearing the owls ‘talking’ to one another in the early evening.

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  8. I can’t remember how I found each of the perfume blogs I now follow, but it was probably through blogrolls on sites like NST (which I found by looking up various perfumes or perfume topics). And then if a blog also had a blogroll, I would check those out and follow if the blogs were still active. It’s a shame that many were defunct by the time I found them in 2019 or 2020. I started following and commenting on ULG in early 2020 and really appreciate how Undina always has something smart and thoughtful to say, whether in her posts, comments, or replies to comments. Cat photos are always a bonus!

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    • Your blog was the most recent addition to my blogroll. I keep there only blogs that I read, so I know that there are several more blogs that are still alive, but I don’t list them there because I don’t subscribe to/visit them. But I removed all the defunct ones (you wouldn’t believe if you saw my list of “Private” links to blogs that I used to read!).

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  9. I am guessing that I first saw Undina post in the comments of Olfactory Travels (is that correct?) and enjoyed her thoughtful replies that I decided to check out the blog. I don’t post a lot but I’ve read pretty much every post since probably back in 2014. I hope someday to meet the lovely Undina in person and so many of the bloggers I follow. I feel like you are all family now!

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  10. I am *almost* sure I first visited Undina via looking at blog rolls, too; otherwise it would be through searching for perfume reviews. APJ, NST, Olfactoria’s Travel, The Non-Blonde, Bonkers About Perfume (better stop here because I don’t want to leave anyone out who is not active ((Muse in Wooden Shoes..ok, I’ll stop))): I was totally energized by excellent writing about perfumes and I think I did pick up that some comments were by other bloggers. As for ULG, with a mermaid mascot and a handsome cat in the mix, I felt very much at home though it was years before I commented.

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  11. I would agree with the poster above. I read NST every day, back when my perfume habit first really kicked in about 10 years ago. I probably would have come to Undina’s site from the blog roll there, or one of the other blogs that have been around a long time. That is my memory, that Undina was one of the earlier bloggers. I was more of a reader and observer and less of a commenter. What brought me out of my shell was when I started my own blog about 4 years ago, and Undina reached out to comment. It was really kind and I found I enjoyed the interchange, so now I often find myself on these pages, commenting. Undina, if your memory is different, I’d love to know. My memories are not always perfect, for sure!

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  12. I had the pleasure of working with Undina on a daily basis for a little over 15 years, as we worked at the same company – I am still at the company, Undina moved on to broaden her horizons. I miss our almost daily conversations about perfumes – mainly me asking her what she was wearing as her collection is way more extensive than mine. I was often the beneficiary of perfume samples that just didn’t work for her and fell into the “never going to buy” category. Undina turned me on to several brands that have now worked their way into my small but growing collection (Jo Malone, Ineke, Atelier) – we have overlapping taste and she often has great recommendations for me. Reading and commenting on her blog came after and have enjoyed her blog posts, those that have been guest bloggers on ULG and have also enjoyed reading all the comments from her followers.

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    • I hope we will be able to meet soon. I have some samples with your name on them! :)

      Those were great times when we could just casually stop by each other’s desk and chat about perfumes. This is one of a few things that I miss from the previous job.

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  13. Such a cool question! And as it was online and quite a long time ago, I don’t really remember. Probably through comment sections of perfume blogs.
    I still hope we meet in person one day as well. 🙂

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  14. I’m not quite sure when we first started chatting online, but my assumption is that it was sometime in 2012 when I started my blog. I love her stats and helpful hints and posts which are well thought. And then of course there’s Rusty. :)

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  15. I am ashamed to say that I cannot recall how I met Undina virtually(!) and came across her blog. I think it would have been in 2011, but the exact catalyst escapes me. I first met Undina in person in Paris in June 2013, and within a few minutes was watching her iron after a long flight from the Ukraine. I have also met her twice in London and once in San Francisco, sandwiched between the sound check and performance of the band I was touring with.

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    • In Paris it was a flight not from Ukraine but from Vienna where we spent an extra day because of the flight attendants strike in France. Both my vSO and I are still grateful for your help with that “respectable 50 y.o.” flat owner (?) :) And I still can’t believe that we didn’t get in either Guerlain or SL stores!

      One day, if the World goes back to any resemblance of normal, we should venture beyond London and rent your “B&B” ;)

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  16. Oh, great question Hajusuuri. Wrecking my brain, and I hope Ines would say something that made me think, yes, that was it. But I think it must have been first at Ines’ or Birgit’s blog? And shortly after, perhaps as Undina commented on my post on Ines’ blog…
    I do remember a long discussion about De Profundis :-D however, that would have been later.

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