Month: March 2025

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Saturday Question: Have You Ever Lost a Sense of Smell?

Thank you to Portia for holding the fort last week. I’m back and feeling better. But my last week’s malaise brought us this topic.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #258:

Have You Ever Lost a Sense of Smell?

If yes, how long did it last? Did you keep wearing perfumes? If you were to experience these for a prolonged period of time, do you think you would keep applying perfumes?

My Answer

Last week I got sick. It was some type of a virus that goes around. Several of our friends got it, then my vSO followed them. I was the last one to finally succumb to it. I thought I escaped it, but almost a week after my vSO got sick, I eventually followed him. Not a fun experience. Do not recommend.

One night, feeling feverish and thirsty, I took a sip from the bottle of Smart Water on my night stand and in half-dream thought: “So, now they decided to reformulate this water as well?” Water didn’t taste the way I remembered it. The next thought woke me up: “Wait a minute… It’s not a new bottle, I had some water from it the day before, and it tasted fine…” I immediately picked up my Vicks VapoInhaler – just to confirm my suspicion: I couldn’t smell neither menthol nor camphor, both of which are very well represented in that inhaler. “Can it be that I do have Covid?” – I thought and went back to sleep, since there was absolutely nothing I could do at this point.

It wasn’t Covid after all, and a day later, as the inflammation in my nose subsided, the sense of smell came back. But before it restored, I was extremely upset thinking that it would have been quite unfortunate if I were to lose my sense of smell for any prolonged period of time (I didn’t even consider a possibility of a permanent loss!). I didn’t wear any perfume while I was sick (I couldn’t get out of bed, so perfume wasn’t a priority), but I was thinking that once I feel better, I would put something on – even if I can’t smell it for a while. Luckily, I didn’t get a chance to live through wearing perfumes without being able to smell them. But the thought was scary.

Have You Ever Lost a Sense of Smell?

Saturday Question: Best Perfume Names?
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Saturday Question: Best Perfume Names?

Hello Fellow Fumies,

At ULG we have a Saturday Question. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it’s a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back regularly and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them. The aim is to generate real conversation and connection even though we are scattered around the globe.

Undina has found herself unwell so I’m filling in today.
Portia xxx

Saturday Question: Best Perfume Names?

SO MANY amazing names for the scents we wear. From the simple to the sublime and ridiculous. Some are long, short, crazy, meaningful, over the top and others are zippy, attention grabbing, exotic, creative, thought provoking, impossible to say or descriptive. What are your favourites? What makes you take notice (or cringe)? What makes you want to tell your friends what you’re wearing? Is the name important at all?

My Answer:

OK, for me the name should be easy to say, simple to remember and hopefully not stupid or douche-y. An evocative name that falls easily off the tongue and inspires interest. Some good ones include: YSL Opium and Rive Gauche, DIOR Granville and Miss Dior, Gucci Bloom and Guilty are all stellar. I like Special For Gentlemen by Le Galion, Slowdive by Hiram Green, Black Saffron by Byredo, Patou Joy and Exultat by Maris Candida Gentile.

I think my favourite name of them all is Shalimar by Guerlain.

Named for the famed Lahore Mughal garden created for Shah Jahan, who also had the Taj Mahal built in honour of his favourite wife. Shalimar Bagh was built in the 1640s and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and major Pakistan tourist destination. When I spray Shalimar all of that names history runs through my wearing of it and I often think about my time in India visiting the relics of past rule.

Just as an addition. One perfume I never bought because the name seemed so dumb and I would have hated being asked what it was: I Love My Man by Dear Rose. If it had have been even a slightly better name I would definitely own a bottle and probably a back up.

My Saturday Question to you is:

What are the Best Perfume Names?

Gentry Jockey Club Oriza L. Legrand
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Gentry Jockey Club Oriza L. Legrand

Heya Crew. Since their resurrection I’ve loved and followed the continuing brilliance of the Oriza L. Legrand house. It’s a house that has its fair share of devotees but if the style doesn’t work for you then maybe only three or four of their oeuvre will smell good to and on you. Luckily I love powdery, billowing, over the top glamstrosities that wear divinely on men and women alike. Actually wearing a big fluffy powder bomb feels unbelievably subversive as I wander the shops and mall here in Parramatta, or even in Sydney CBD. I feel like we perfumed gents are living in a golden age where not only the gays but the whole bro-niverse is smelling fine. So my wafts are not out of place, just regular Joe. Gentry Jockey Club is one fragrance that might fit for you if the Oriza main body of work isn’t your style.

Gentry Jockey Club by Oriza L. Legrand 2017

Gentry Jockey Club Oriza L. Legrand

Oriza L Legrand gives these featured accords:
Top: Ylang, Saffron
Heart: Iris Pallida, Leathery notes, Birch essence
Base: Sandalwood, Tonka Bean, Vetiver.

That beautiful, creamy ylang, sandalwood and dry cardboard/lipstick iris are totally contrasted by the scratchy saffron and birch. While Gentry Jockey Club is a leather fragrance it is also so much more. PLUS there’s nary a hint of powder anywhere near this perfume.

Things I’m surprised are not in the note list, plum, raspberry or some dark sweet fruit and resins like myrrh, labdanum or even elemi. The notes do not seem to cover the wealth of breadth Gentry Jockey Club displays. It’s in the same wheelhouse as Daim Blond or Bottega Veneta EdP but does it so differently. Dryer, less fashion and more… it’s not like working leather, or even boots. I’m really finding it difficult to pigeon hole. Yes leather, yes some fruit, some smoky resin, plush and creamy ylang and sandalwood but with zero Samsara feel. Through the heart and into the base I get a drying hay waft and some engine oil.

Gentry Jockey Club by Oriza L. Legrand

If Bandit was created in the 21st century then I think this is how it would smell. Two enthusiastic thumbs up. Unisex leaning towards traditional masculine with moderate projection and awesome longevity. If you want to smell good all day without the need for touch ups. Different from the crowd but well under the weird factor. If your job is based on solid structure but you need to be (or smell like) an effective think outside the box-er but not a maverick then I’m thinking Gentry Jockey Club might be perfect fit. It’s also bloody sexy on Jin.

Sadly I have no memory of where this decant came from. There’s maybe 4 of 10ml left and I’m enjoying it immensely.

Are you a leather or Oriza Legrand fan? Favourites?
Portia xx

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Saturday Question: Do You Miss Atelier Cologne?

It’s been three years since Atelier Cologne disappeared from most markets. At first, I thought they had only withdrawn from the US and Canada, but it seems that, aside from old stock at various discounters, their presence is now limited to online sales in Europe and about ten brick-and-mortar stores in Asia. So while some of us still have bottles to enjoy, for many perfumistas, it’s become just another name in perfume history – and for the next generation of perfume enthusiasts, it probably won’t even be that. Atelier Cologne’s fresh yet long-lasting citrus compositions were fun, but they weren’t groundbreaking, aside from introducing eau de parfum concentrations while still calling them colognes (or cologne absolue).

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #256:

Do You Miss Atelier Cologne?

Were you a fan of the brand while it was around? Do you have any of their perfumes in your collection? Will you miss any of them when they are gone completely?

My Answer

Atelier Cologne was one of my favorite brands. I can’t believe that I published my Brand Appreciation post about them almost 10 years ago! I still have some perfumes left, and I’m not sure I’ll use them up before they spoil. The only perfume that I will actually miss when I don’t have it any more is my most favorite perfume from the brand – Clementine California. Not only I enjoy how it smells on my skin, but also because of the “photo shoot” for that post, it reminds me of Rusty (he had such an angelic look on those photos!). Now I need to negotiate with myself that I do not need a backup bottle. Or do I?

Still, I’m sad about the brand’s fate. I still don’t understand why large companies do what they do buying good brands and destroying them. There were some talks about Atelier Cologne coming back “rebranded” – whatever it means and for whatever reason the parent company thinks it might be better/easier to do that than keeping the brand present on the market without a 3-year hiatus. If it happens, I will try them. I saw that Atelier Cologne released this year Mandarine Fauve, a fruity chypre with the notes citrus, green mandarin, fir and patchouli. Notes sound like something that I might like, but so far I liked just a single creation of Maurice Roucel, who is a nose behind this composition. But I will try it if I ever get a chance.

How about you?

Do You Miss Atelier Cologne?

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Saturday Question: What Was The Last Perfume You Decided Not To Buy?

The last week ran away from me, and I missed the SQ. At least, it was a good reason: we went for a short trip with our friends, and I didn’t realize I wouldn’t be making back in time to ask Portia to take over for that week’s SQ. But now I’m back, so let’s do it!

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #255:

What Was The Last Perfume You Decided Not To Buy?

It has to be something you liked and seriously considered as a contender to join your collection despite the fact you don’t need any more perfumes – and then, in the end, decided not to buy. Is it a final decision, or do you plan to revisit it in the future?

My Answer

A month ago, while talking about a wish list, I mentioned Parfums de Marly Delina Exclusif: it kept pulling me in, I was thinking about it and even did a couple of searches trying to find it with at least some discount. I got a sample from the store and wore it several times while going back and forth on whether I want to buy it.

Today I went to the store, sprayed it liberally from the bottle (I’d say, about 5 sprays), which is different from using a small sample, lived with it until the end of the day, and finally came to the conclusion that I do not love it. If it were to drop from the sky, I wouldn’t have said “No.” But even in that case, I don’t think I would wear it often enough. Hence, I just can’t justify buying it – not now, not ever. I am a little sad because of it: I thought I was in love with that perfume.

How about you?

What Was The Last Perfume You Decided Not To Buy?

Ambre Mythique by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier
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Ambre Mythique by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier

Hi there Looking Glassers, While you’re still stuck in cool weather but heading into warmer I thought we could look at one more gorgeous amber. Just for the love of it. Most of you would have heard of Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier ‘… founded in 1988 by the renowned perfumer Jean-François Laporte. Rooted in the tradition of 17th-century French perfumery, the brand draws its inspiration from travel, the world of opera, and baroque aesthetics.’ You’ll know Jean Laport from creating l’Artisan Parfumeur in 1976. He is quite the innovator and even when he is working within a trope he does it so flawlessly it’s like the idea has been perfected. Sadly the house has been lost in all the noise of new.

Ambre Mythique by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier 2016

Ambre Mythique by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Geranium, Coriander, Incense
Heart: Myrrh, Lavender, Ciste labdanum
Base: Patchouli, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Tonka Beans

For many of the readers here a new amber perfume is the last thing on their list of needs. Yes, I’m much the same. Amber is one of my great perfume loves and the wardrobe is bristling with them. Last winter less than half of them even got worn. Yet, had I been in a shop with funds for spending I’d own the 120ml bottle already.

Opening with a deep patchouli/labdanum/incense smokiness, Ambre Mythique is furry and goat-ish but also has a whisper of crisp rose and greenery. A seriously warming fragrance that is leaning heavily into the heat here in the dying gasps of Sydney summer. Fire, smoke, woods and that beautiful animalic resinous sweetness of amber. So rich and burnished.

Very diffusive but not a screaming beast, longevity is off the charts. Spritz at 6am and you’ll still smell the rich remnants at midnight. GAH! I really want a full bottle of Ambre Mythique right now.

Ambre Mythique by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier

You can see I just shook the decant in the photo before spritzing because some of the ingredients had sedimented over time. There’s only about 2ml left and it is a glorious amber colour.

LuckyScent still has bottles and samples

Are you a too many ambers person or is there room for one more?
Portia xx