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Saturday Question: Which Perfumes Would You Take If You Had To Evacuate?

Last week, in the Perfume Chat Room at the Serenity Now blog, rickyrebarco told about having to evacuate because of Hurricane Helene and shared which perfumes she took with her. I commented that I was recently thinking about how hard it would have been to make such a choice. And Old Herbaceous suggested that it would be an excellent SQ. And here we are.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #234:

Which Perfumes Would You Take If You Had To Evacuate?

This isn’t a “house on fire” question. Hopefully, it would never happen to any of you, but if it does, grab your kids, your pets and, if there is time, the most important documents and run: not a single perfume or jewelry item, even an irreplaceable heirloom is worth your life. But with these evacuation orders that happen from time to time in different areas, usually, there is some time to put together things you might need until you can return and items you wouldn’t want to lose if the worse comes worst.

So, the question is about just that type of evacuation: you got everything your family needs for the next 3-5 days, the “worst case scenario” items are safely packed in your car. You have 10 minutes before you have to leave. Do you think you’d pack any of your favorites, just in case? If yes, which ones (and maybe why)?

 

My Answer

As I mentioned, I thought about it for a while. When I came up with my short list (I had to be realistic: I wouldn’t be able to safely pack more in the allocated 10 minutes), my first thought was that my choice was kind of “boring.” Not in terms of me selecting bad perfumes but rather because I periodically have the exactly same list when I answer other questions about my favorites. But then I realized that my choices weren’t made just because I love those perfumes and don’t want to be without them, but also because it would be hard (if not impossible) to replace them.

My list of perfumes that I would try to save if I could:

Lancôme Climat (the La Collection version, 2005)
Ormonde Jayne Ta’if (in parfum concentration)
Amouage Ubar (sadly discontinued)
Armani Prive La Femme Bleue (limited edition)
Jo Malone French Lime Blossom (again, discontinued)

But my heart would be breaking for at least 15 more perfumes from my collection I would hate not to have.

 

How about you?

Which Perfumes Would You Take If You Had To Evacuate?

40 thoughts on “Saturday Question: Which Perfumes Would You Take If You Had To Evacuate?”

  1. These questions give me hives Undina, so many of my faves are discontinued.
    I’ve got a box each of vintage department store Guerlains, Diors and CHANELs, plus a box of Privé Dior, CHANEL and Neela Vermeire
    Yes, Ubar, Liberté, Silences
    I think it would be interesting to see what I’d really take
    Portia xx

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  2. Hives over here, too at the thought of it! I’m reminded of Scarlett O’Hara trying to flee the invading army.

    In 1995 my parents gave me the Meteorites compact, lipstick holder, and perfume bottle holder in the original Meteorites design. I’d have to take all three mostly for sentimental reasons. My Coromandel edt. I keep my Guerlain’s in a basket-that would be easy to bring, and I’d be covering a lot of bases. Is that cheating? I’d swipe Mon Parfum, Cherie, in its beautiful plum coloured bottle. D’zing! Would make the cut.

    I really wouldn’t be a good person in a crisis :)

    Carole

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  3. Almost impossible question! I decided to set a scenario where I could only take my laptop backpack (which is roomy); it would contain my laptop and SSDs that hold all of my photos, my flute, a small pouch of jewelry from my mom and husband, and my bottle of SJP Stash. I don’t really own anything vintage so I picked the one bottle that always works and has the most significant memories. Everything else could be replaced (or not).

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  4. The amount of time I have spent pondering this SQ the truthful answer would be nothing. So I’ve had to decide what I would put in my prepacked “Emergency Evacuation Box”.
    That box would have the deeds to the house, birth & wedding certifications, NI & NHS numbers, car registration & insurance documents, house insurance documents, dog health record, though most are online documents now.
    Perfumes would be irreplaceable vintages then other irreplaceables such as Madonna if the Almonds & Tonkamande. If there was still room I would pack everything my DH has bought me.
    Great question!

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    • I usually think about this type of questions as if something depended on my answer.

      Most documents are replaceable these days, which is good, but I’d still grab all I could (I actually did, many years ago, when there was a fire in the apartment building I lived in; no perfumes worth saving I owned at the time though).

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  5. Having lived in SW FL for 22 years, I’ve had to evacuate more than I care to remember! Besides my emergency go-bag and cat Smokey, all my vintage scents are in a dedicated box for ease of transport, Niki de St Phalle Extrait (the snake bottle), Chanel No. 19, No. 22, and No. 5, and Coromandel edt, Gucci III and L’ Arte di Gucci, Estee Lauder Private Collection and Knowing, Lancome Magie Noire Extrait, Shiseido Feminite du Bois extrait, Shiseido Murasaki, Fendi by Fendi, Theorema, and Asja, Hermes Amazone, Opium Extrait, Nina Ricci Farouche, Antonia’s Flowers Tiempe Pasaat, Minuit Enchante by Laura Mercier, Femme by Henry Jacques, Narcisco Rodriguez Musc oil for her (2005 version), vintage Halston extrait and Halston Couture and my L’Ocean Bleu by Lubin Kissing Dolphins Baccarat crystal perfume bottle. Looking at this list, it seems a little obscene how many scents I ‘can’t live without’, but they are all very near and dear to my heart, and not replaceable.

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  6. I usually have time to pack before going on vacation and I don’t really spend much time doing that, including perfumes or jewelry. So, to answer the SQ (first time I am using this acronym!), I will say I will bring — ta da — Chanel No.19 EDP. Why? It is my favorite and is appropriate for all weather all occasion and the bottle is solid.

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  7. This is a stressful question! Maybe ones that had higher resale value so they could be turned to cash in the aftermath? Otherwise Galop because it’s easy to grab and more expensive to replace, strangelove deadofnight for the same reason, The Body Shop Amorito because it’s long discontinued, and Givenchy Reve d’Escapade and Penhaligon’s The Coveted Duchess Rose because they were (requested) gifts and therefore sentimental.

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  8. I’m with you, Undina, in thinking about the ones that would be hard to replace as well my favorites. And given the recent climate disasters in my region, I’m actually thinking of packing a “go-box” with them! I doubt I’d have to leave this house entirely, but it’s possible I’d have to move some things to a safer location (there are still some massive old oaks behind our lot, on a neighbor’s property, that I eye nervously during big storms. I love them but I respect their potential for destruction, having had another neighbor’s oak tree fall on our house 29 years ago).
    So in my box, I would put: Chanel No. 22 edt, No. 19 edt, Papillon’s Dryad and Bengale Rouge, vintage Guerlain Parure, Ormonde Jayne’s Ta’if, Penhaligon’s Ostara, Laboratorio Olfattivo Décou-Vert, Hermès Muguet Porcelaine, VCA Muguet Blanc, Amouage Gold, vintage Diorissimo. There are others I love that have been discontinued, like Jean Patou’s Collection Héritage and Joy, but it is still possible to find those for sale at sane prices if one had to replace them.
    I have other things I would grab too, like precious books, portraits, and pieces of embroidery, but most of those are already in the safer parts of our house away from the neighbor’s oaks!

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    • I love your list! And yes, please make sure everything is safe from the oaks (this way they’ll stand another 30 years :) ).

      I really hope none of us will ever have to decide what to save and what to leave behind. But even thinking about it makes me value my favorite things even more.

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  10. Oh that is funny…I just posted an article on Facebook that I wrote 20 years ago about being evacuated from Hurricane Jeanne.

    I actually love many of my samples more than my bottles, which might skew my answer if I only have to have enough perfume to tide me over, and will be reunited with my collection shortly. But let’s assume you mean bottles, which might actually be easier to answer as there are fewer I love to consider.

    Maybe……

    Vintage Shalimar Parfum

    Caron Parfum Sacre

    Tauer L’Air du Desert Marocain

    Annick Goutal Songes edt

    Bvlgari Jasmin Noir (it’s quite grabbable)

    OR Ormonde Jayne Ta’if

    This is so hard, as others have said!

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  11. 🤔 By the time I would have decided, the impending doom that initiated this untimely exodus would have come to pass. I’m a collector by nature, so perfumes aren’t my only passion. If faced with this decision, I would quickly grab Crown Perfumery Crown Park Royal, Serge Lutens Cuir mauresque, Puredistance Gold, and Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille.

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  12. Supposing I had all important documents and photos safely packed to go I’d grab my Opium, Magie Noire and Fidji families. Yes, families, as I have several bottles in varying strengths, plus matching body products. They’d all fit in one plastic box that I’d be able to carry.

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    • I like it that you sound very decisive. It’s a good idea to include “families”! I should amend my list with families for Climat and Ta’if. For Ubar and French Lime Blossom I have backup bottles that I should “grab” as well. And only Armani is unique and completely “solo”.

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  13. Love this question. I have already lost an irreplaceable 1945 vintage Shalimar parfum!! What would I take? Likely, similar to you, I would take the ones hardest to replace: definitely my vintage Shalimar parfums, Coromandel EDT (from just before it was discontinued), OJ Tolu parfum (and also Woman & Taif EDP because they are so easy to wear and I bought them with Tara and Vanessa ), Amouage Lyric. Lots of vintage samples/decants that I would be tempted to grab.

    I just came back from a last minute very quick trip to Paris (my first) and finally paid homage to the Serge Lutens Boutique & bought my first bell jars (Un Lys & very surprisingly for me: Rahat Loukoum – I’d grab these as well esp Un Lys). Since the trip I have had a longing to discuss perfume with my old perfume friends. Just now was thinking of you (and Suzanne). So I came over to see if you had posted recently. This trip is making me very tempted to write a perfume post- it’s been so long.

    Hope you have been well!

    Lavanya (Iogged in with a really old WordPress account)

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    • Lavanya!!! I’m so glad to see you here! I see your posts on IG from time to time (though, I don’t visit it too often anymore), but here – it’s like a blust from the past!

      Just in case you don’t have a platform for that type of a content, you’re more than welcome to publish a guest post (or ten) on ULG.

      On my first (and only) trip to Paris, we didn’t get into the SL store: Vanessa and I found it, but it was closed! :)

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  14. Pingback: Saturday Question: Where Do You Forage for Perfume Content? – Undina's Looking Glass

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