As the year is coming to the end and with my Christmas vacation time approaching, the level of the work-related insanity got up to eleven. So, the help from my Perfume Advent Calendar in making a daily choice was greatly appreciated:
Day 8: By Kilian Amber Oud
Amber Oud, my perfect By Kilian perfume that I found five years ago, isn’t much about the “oud,” and I love it about that perfume. Amber Oud is a beautiful amber, and I enjoy it every time I put it on. This time wasn’t any different. It’s still available in Europe in a refill form, but I haven’t seen it in the US for a while.
Day 9: Hermès Eau de Mandarine Ambrée
Eau de Mandarine Ambree is one of the winners in my Search For The Perfect Mandarin. It feels right for the holidays season. This time it was surprisingly tenacious and didn’t require re-application.
Perfumes for the following three days do not have their stories told yet on my blog, but I plan to get to them eventually.
Day 10: Masque Milano Madeleine Le Donne di Masque
Madeleine is new to my collection, but with notes of chestnut, whipped cream, milk and vanilla it felt very season-appropriate (this isn’t the full notes list).
Day 11: Xerjoff Pykovaya Dama 2018
This is one of those perfumes that in my personal classification is a special occasion perfume. We don’t get too many of those recently, so I was glad to pull this name on a weekend: at least I wore it to a nice dinner at our friends’ place.
Day 12: Puredistance No. 12
No. 12 is my new perfume love. It was one of several perfumes that were pre-designated for a particular date: I thought it would be very fitting to wear perfume No. 12 on 12/12/21 and planned to do a post. It didn’t happen (unfortunately, I had to work that Sunday instead of writing my post). But I still hope to tell you its story soon.
Day 13: Jo Malone Sweet Milk
Sweet Milk is one of those perfumes that has the strongest olfactory connections to my childhood years, and it feels so warming and cozy and calming. I needed its support in the beginning of the week that came after a not exactly restful weekend – and I got it.
Day 14: Ineke Idyllwild
I can’t believe Idyllwild was launched four years ago: it feels like I just got this wonderful evergreen perfume. If you haven’t tried it, please read my original story. It was such a joy to wear it! And, just in case you have tried Idyllwild or just don’t want to go to the old post, I’ll put here the photo of Rusty from that post because I liked it but had a feeling that it was underappreciated (I’m sure that happened because everyone was taken in by my brilliant writing, I’m sure).
If you were considering purchase of any of Ineke’s perfumes, there is a nice promotion on the site now: for the price of the full bottle ($125), you can get their discovery set (currently $30) with a free delivery plus a coupon code for the full bottle with free shipping. This way you can get the discovery set free – either for yourself or to give it as a present to someone. If you’re not familiar with this brand, their discovery set (extremely well presented) comes with a $15 discount code against future full bottle purchase.
Day 15: Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan
By the time I got into the rabbit hole, discovered and bought Ambre Sultan, my first ever Serge Lutens bottle, it was such a well-loved and discussed perfume, that other than mentioning it here and there in amber-related posts or my Entertaining Statistics posts, there wasn’t much new to tell about it. Hence, there are no relevant links to provide. But I wanted to wear it this year, because I noticed my tendency to postpone wearing Ambre Sultan until it’s “cold enough,” which sometimes doesn’t happen with our winters. I still think it was worth the hype, though, of course, in the last decade many brands, both mainstream and niche, came out with really good amber perfumes. But I’m glad I have this classic of the genre for reference.
I first tricked and then bribed Rusty into posing with the Week 2 perfumes under our lit but not decorated yet Christmas Tree. For more pictures of Rusty, see the Advent CaTendar on my Instagram account (@undina_ba) – a count up to Rusty’s 13th Birthday on Christmas Eve Day.
Images: my own
Undina's Looking Glass 
I tested the last four of my Floraiku sampler. Then wore Alien Musc Mysterieuse, Idyll Love Blossom and Coco Violette…all new to me.
LikeLike
I’m not familiar with any of the perfumes you wore, other than Floraiku. What brand is Coco Violet?
LikeLike
Rusty is so beautiful. I need to try No. 12. I have Idyllwild and agree it is lovely. Also love Amber Oud and Madeleine. It feels cold here today, a good day for the Kilian. :-)
LikeLike
I’m taking advantage of that cold weather and enjoying my choices that I made when creating that calendar hoping for the cold weather.
LikeLike
That’s a brilliant photo of Rusty with his shadow! (And I was going to say that before I saw your sentence about it being underappreciated.) Also love the one of him with the oranges and sun rays! I haven’t tried any of the perfumes you listed here, but this time last year I was in a similar crazy boat as you, so sending you vibes of encouragement to get through the last few days before the holidays.
LikeLike
Thank you both for the compliment to the picture of Rusty and your good wishes. 3 more days and, hopefully, I’ll be able to relax.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, some perfumes that I didn’t know of which sounds intriguing, and some loves of mine too, Kilian Amber and Serge Amber… Can’t wait to hear your story about 12…
LikeLike
I hope to publish it rather sooner than later. I just need to get some relaxing time to collect my thoughts and spend time writing something not work-related.
LikeLike
After losing our dog last year, I started to yearn for a cat (had an outdoor cat as a child in small town Iowa). Sadly my husband is allergic to cats – he gets stuffy every time we visit my sister in law and her cat. Rusty is gorgeous. As for the perfumes, an excellent suggestion. I got the Ineke discovery set but ended up not buying a bottle as I entered my no buy year. idyllwild is beautiful. I am also enjoying my advent calendar and not having to debate internally every day!
LikeLike
I know that there are no true hypoallergenic cats, but there are breeds that produce less protein that causes allergic reactions. Maybe you could look into that and find who in your circle has such cats to try and see if it would work for you? Cats can be good companions.
LikeLike
Ooh, thanks for the reminder about Amber Oud – I am indebted to you for the tip off about that one. I love the shot of Rusty at the end of your post (possibly due to his enormous pupils), while his orange coat nicely matches the mandarins higher up.
LikeLike
It was darkish under the tree – that’s why his pupils got that huge. But I know that there are some cats whose eyes are always like that. Not sure, but I think it’s either a health condition or a reaction to a medication.
LikeLike