Author: Undina

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Saturday Question: What Are Your Top 5 Perfumes of 2021?

So, we’re in 2022. I think, by now we all learned to be rather cautious than optimistic about the year to unfold. But at the same time, in the beginning of something new (even though in this case it’s quite arbitrary, just a number accepted by a majority as an identifier for the span of time we find ourselves in), it is both customary and easy(ier?) to let yourself to be hopeful. So, let’s hope that the next 12 months will be kinder to those who had it hard in 2021 and at least not worse for those who didn’t suffer from that year much.

That was about life in general. Perfume-wise, in my opinion, 2021 wasn’t that bad. Yes, on the downside, some perfume events had been cancelled, and many of us had less opportunities to sniff something new both locally and while traveling. But at the same time, it felt like we finally got our wish: in 2021, not everyone and their uncle has launched a new perfume brand; and existing brands seemingly slowed down with new releases. And while we still had a lot more new releases than it’s feasible to test and review, somehow it felt less overwhelming (or maybe I just got used to it?).

So, I thought it might be interesting to share our “best of 2021” perfume finds.

Saturday Question #97:

What Are Your Top 5 Perfumes of 2021?

If you tried enough 2021 releases to come up with 5 that you liked, please share those. But if no, you do not have to limit yourself with just new launches: your top 5 might be of new for you perfumes that you tried in 2021 for the first time and liked. Or it can be 5 perfumes that you finally got into your collection in 2021. And if none of these apply (if you were on a strict “no buy” or just didn’t like anything), just give us your top 5 favorites that you wore in 2021.

My Answer

I plan to look into all of my 2021 numbers soon for my traditional Entertaining Statistics post, but I already looked it up and know that I tested 38 perfumes released in 2021 from 29 brands. And among those that I tested, there are enough perfumes that fit this week’s question. And I can even rank them.

#5: Chanel Paris – Edimbourg

While I don’t think I’ll buy Paris – Edimbourg for myself, I liked it, especially on my vSO. So, one day, after he finishes the samples I passed on him, he might get a bottle of it under a Christmas Tree.

#4: Eris Parfums Green Spell

What can I say? I love green perfumes. I’ll finish the sample I’ve got and then will probably get a 10 ml travel spray.

#3: Teo Cabanel Rendez Vous

Randez Vous was my favorite from the Teo Cabanel’s new line. I can see a small bottle in my future.

#2: Serge Lutens La Dompteuse Encagée

Since I reviewed La Dompteuse Encagee, I had a chance to test it in Hawaii and confirmed that I enjoy it in hot/tropical weather. But since, at least under those conditions, it is less tenacious than I would like it to be, it seems that I will “need” a bottle of it.

#1: Puredistance No. 12

I consider Puredistance to be “my brand”: I had a couple of “loves” from them over the years, and most of the rest perfumes were strong “likes.” But each of their last three releases, Gold, Rubikona and now No. 12 (why haven’t I wrote about it yet?!), was making it almost impossible for me to choose my #1 perfume from this brand. But for 2021, No. 12 is my uncontested No. 1.

Puredistance No.12

What Are Your Top 5 Perfumes of 2021?

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Saturday Question, Rusty’s 13th Birthday And Merry Christmas to All!

If any of you are allergic to cats… stories, feel free to jump to the end, to the Saturday Question part.

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We all have witnessed that scenario in real life, on TV or maybe even participated in it from one of the two sides: a loving mother would tell “a funny story” from the past about her grown-up child, and the said child would be wincing with embarrassment or displaying his/her discomfort one way or the other.

Luckily for me (and him?), Rusty does not read my blog (as far as I know), so I can get off telling his kittenhood stories scot-free.

Hiding and Jumping

The apartment where Rusty spent his first year didn’t have too many places a kitten could hide. Rusty had discovered one great spot: in the corner behind the sectional sofa (on the photo below, it’s where the floor lamp stands). The spot was perfect in all respects but one: Rusty could easily get down there from the sofa, but since the bottom was too close to the floor, he couldn’t get out that way, and since the backrest was too high, Rusty couldn’t jump back up. So, once he would get bored hiding there, he would start crying, and one of us would lie on that backrest and fish him out from that corner. It wasn’t easy: that backrest was high. And one day my vSO managed to hurt himself trying to free Rusty. At this point, we gave up and moved the side of the sofa that was under the clock away from the wall, so that Rusty could get out on his own. I think that spot lost its appeal soon after that.

Corner Sofa and Wall Clock

Speaking of the clock. It’s hard to think of what was happening in Rusty’s head: the clock didn’t have a second hand, so there wasn’t any noticeable movement. But he kept watching it for days. Then once, he stepped far away from the sofa (probably to somewhere close to the point of view for the photo above), then ran-ran-ran, jumped on the sofa, then on the back, uuuuup to the clock… What happened next looked exactly like the Glass Smack and Slide move from a cartoon: Rusty smacked into the wall under the clock and then slid down, behind that side of the sofa that we moved away from the wall. Silently. We thought that if he didn’t kill himself then definitely injured. But several long seconds later, Rusty walked out from behind the sofa, demonstrating with his demeanor that nothing had happened, and it wasn’t even him who had just fallen… He ignored that clock from that day on.

Sudden Attack of a Shopping Bag

In the same apartment, under the entryway console table, we kept a paper shopping bag that we used for recycled paper. Magazines, papers and store ads went into it as is, and for mail that one wasn’t supposed to just throw away my vSO worked as a human shredder. Rusty loved hunting in those bags. He would dive into it, find the most interesting piece of paper and play with it for a while, until either it went under the sofa, or we put it back into the bag. It went on for months, until one day Rusty managed to get his head through the bag’s handle, got spooked and started running with the half-empty bag “chasing” him. It took us some time to catch up with him and free him from that paper monster. My vSO called it “a sudden attack of a shopping bag.” It took Rusty a long time to forget about that incident. But in a while, he got over it and now considers those bags as a type of a box and either gets inside or sits on them.

Rusty in the Bag

Unexpected Effect of the Drought

With umbrellas, it was the opposite. For the first couple of years of his life, Rusty was fascinated with umbrellas, so whenever we would bring one into the house and open it to dry, Rusty would sniff it, sit under it or play with it. And then because of the 5-year drought we had in our area, umbrellas disappeared from Rusty’s life. And the next time he saw it, he unexpectedly got scared. Since then, as soon as he sees me carrying an umbrella, a closed one (!), he runs away. So, the only proof it hasn’t been always like that is those rare photos I managed to take when Rusty was much younger.

 

I have many other stories about Rusty – both from years ago and from yesterday, even though he got much smarter with age, learned a lot and taught us many things. But I’ll leave those stories for another time. Today, for his 13th birthday, Rusty got to spend quality time on our bed, enjoyed Ricotta cheese for breakfast and turkey breast for dinner (in addition to his regular meals), and was rewarded with plenty of treats for compliments he got from my readers and Instagram followers. I hope he stays healthy for many more years, keeps his kittenish mien and brings joy to us, our friends and everyone else who knows him in RL or online. And to all of you, from Rusty, my vSO and me (that photo was a collective effort):

Rusty Merry XMas 2021 and Happy NY

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Saturday Question #96:

Do You Have a Pet (and Does You Pet Like Your Perfumes)?

I know about pets companions of many of my loyal readers. Some of them virtually visited Rusty on his 10th Birthday. But I don’t know everyone’s pets, and I’m sure that many of you do not know each others’ cats, dogs, rabbits or rats (If you named your fish, I would consider those as pets as well) – so, please share your pets’ names, links to photos (if you have them publicly online) and, if you’re sure they don’t read my blog, any stories that they would have been embarrassed to hear.

What do your pets think about your perfumes (if anything)?

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

My Answer

As a kitten, Rusty didn’t mind any of my perfumes. Then later he started cleaning my wrists when I tested some perfumes. As he grew older, he started avoiding stronger scents if I apply them to my wrists: he might come to sit on my lap, but then he smells perfume from my wrist and runs away. So, when I know that he would be spending some time with me, I try not to scent my wrists (neck is OK).

 

Do You Have a Pet (and Does You Pet Like Your Perfumes)?

 

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What I Wore Wednesday: Perfume Advent Calendar 2021, Week 3

Even my Perfume Advent Calendar was no match to my last work week this year: I was so busy that I couldn’t concentrate on anything else. The Week 2 post included 8 days, and I noticed that only after I posted it. Then I had a bad headache, so I didn’t wear anything on Day 16. And since I was too overwhelmed on my last day, Wednesday, to do this post, I decided to include the last 3 days of the calendar.

Day 17: Dior Miss Dior vintage
To catch up our breath from the year-end insanity, my vSO and I took a day off and spent it in the nearby wine country. I invited Miss Dior to join me. It was fortunate that I drew it from my Advent Calendar that day: it was easy to bring with me that parfum bottle to take pictures. Miss Dior is my long time favorite, and I still enjoy it every time I wear it. And I still think I can pull it off wearing Miss Dior if I happen to find myself in a Groundhog Day.

Miss Dior

Day 18: Dusita Le Pavillon d’Or
An understated elegance. I chose Le Pavilion d’Or for this month for its “gold” part, but I think it wears better in warmer weather. Still, it was quite enjoyable.

Rusty and Dusita Parfums Pavillon d'Or
Day 19: Dior Mitzah
In the past, whenever anyone would mention this perfume, the reaction would immediately follow: “Oh, Mitzah, Oh…” But it got discontinued, whereas many other perfumes from the Dior La Collection stayed there and were re-issued after the most recent revamp. Either it was too expensive to produce, or it wasn’t selling that well. Anyway, I got the bottle when it was still available. I haven’t worn it in a while, and this time I was surprised that I didn’t love it. I liked it, yes, but it wasn’t even close to how I remember feeling towards it before. It might be that it isn’t cold enough here for it. I’ll need to revisit it again soon.
Dior MitzahDay 20: Aedes de Venustas Cierge de Lune

Many years ago I thought that I wasn’t a vanilla fan. But since then I discovered at least several vanilla perfumes that I really liked. Cierge de Lune is one of them. I wonder how the recently re-released version smells.

Aedes de Venustas Cierge de Lune

Day 21: Teo Cabanel Alahine
After I mentioned Alahine in the Second Sunday Samples: Teo Cabanel Les Expressions Parfumées post last month, I kept thinking that I didn’t wear it in a while – so, I added it to my calendar. It was absolutely wonderful. I love it, and I feel a little sad that the brand decided to go into another direction. It’s not to say that their new perfumes aren’t good: I liked two of them and even think of getting those. But they are very different from the first line…

Day 22: Guerlain Encens Mythique d’Orient
Encens Mythique d’Orient is has such a presence that I didn’t dare to wear it to the office, especially since one of my co-workers criticized it when I first got it. Interestingly, this time when I wore it, I think I got that whiff of masculine perfumes that she referred to. It didn’t spoil my enjoyment from wearing this perfume, but it was a curious discovery.Guerlain Encens Mythique d'OrientDay 23: Shaik Chic Shaik No 30
Completely unplanned, I got in sequence two perfumes that I previously considered “not safe for work.” Small perks of working from home.

All these years I hoped one day I would come across this brand somewhere at a store to try their other offerings, including masculine ones. But it hasn’t happened: after that first time many years ago in Vienna, I haven’t seen these perfumes anywhere, and none of the US decanter sites carries the brand. So, while I’m still curious to try those, for now I’m satisfied with the one that I have (but I still can’t get over that strangest packaging it came in).

Chic Shaik No 30 by Designer Shaik

Day 24: Amouage Ubar
As I’m writing it, this 24th day hasn’t happened yet. How do I know what I will be wearing? As for a couple of other cases, I pre-arranged perfume for that day because Ubar is one of my traditional perfumes for this holiday. I plan to wrap into it tomorrow to celebrate Christmas and Rusty’s birthday.

Amouage Ubar

For more pictures of Rusty, see the Advent CaTendar on my Instagram account (@undina_ba) or stop by the blog in the next couple of days to celebrate Rusty’s 13th Birthday.

 

Images: my own

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Saturday Question: Which Perfume Gets You The Most Compliments?

Today’s question is, again, courtesy of Brigitte.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #95:

Which Perfume Gets You The Most Compliments?

I realize that the last two years weren’t the best in terms of sharing your olfactory presence with others, but maybe you remember from before our “new normal”: do you think one of your perfumes prompts positive reactions more often than other perfumes in your collection?

Bonus question: Do you choose to wear that perfume for some particular occasions because of that?

My Answer

If it weren’t for my database, I would have told you that Tom Ford‘s Violet Blonde was my mostly complimented perfume (which makes me regret not buying a bottle of it when it was available: my decant has probably a couple of applications left in it). But I would have been wrong.

After running some calculations, to my surprise, I discovered that perfume that over the last 10 years got me twice as many compliments as the next contender (Violet Blonde, so I wasn’t that off) is… my second all-time favorite Ormonde Jayne Ta’if.

If to think about it, it’s not a complete surprise: as my special occasion perfume, I wear it to those occasions where people are more inclined to compliment me. But still, it didn’t come to my mind on its own, intuitively, without involving dispassionate numbers.

Ormonde Jayne Taif Parfum

Which Perfume Gets You The Most Compliments?

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What I Wore Wednesday: Perfume Advent Calendar 2021, Week 2

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.

Rusty and By Kilian Amber Oud
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.

Rusty and Hermes Mandarine Ambree

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.

Rusty and Ineke Idyllwild

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.

Rusty and Advent Calendar Week 2 Perfumes

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

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Saturday Question: What Are You Looking Forward To This Holiday Season?

Holiday season is in full swing, so I thought it would be nice to talk about nice things that are either happening already or being anticipated. We don’t need to limit ourselves by just perfume-related sides of our lives (but of course don’t hold off any of those).

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #94:

What Are You Looking Forward To This Holiday Season?

Do you have any family or friends gatherings planned? Are you giving or expecting to get any special gifts? Are there any special dishes you know you’ll cook or get to eat? Will you have any time off? Do you travel somewhere? Will you do anything special for yourself?

My Answer

I have just 7 work days left this year: starting December 23 I’m taking time off until after the New Year holidays. I hope to survive until then because the amount of work I have to complete before my staycation is just insane. But I’ll get there and will have a 12-day break – I didn’t have such a long vacation in… I don’t remember how many years.

We plan to decorate our house outside tomorrow before the predicted with the 100% probability rain on Sunday, which is a positive thing on its own because my vSO and I love rain. And while it rains outside, I’ll be decorating the Christmas Tree. I’m sure Rusty will be “helping.” And since I’m not driving anywhere, I’ll start playing my Pandora Christmas Music channel at home whenever I can. (Love-love-love all those Christmas songs that people complain getting tired of!)

My Perfume Advent Calendar turned out even better than I expected: I genuinely look forward to opening the next numbered bag every morning. I anticipate wearing my most favorite perfumes for the celebration days ahead. And I’m thinking about one last important addition to my perfume collection (about which I’ll tell you if it happens).

I plan to cook several dishes that I do only around these holidays. I don’t have the complete list yet, but I will definitely make a cranberry-apple-walnut mold salad (see the picture below) and a cheese pie. Just thinking about these two dishes makes me happy.

Cranberry Mold Salad

During our staycation, we plan to meet with several friends whom we haven’t seen in a while, make several day trips and hopefully spend more time outside of our house.

 

What Are You Looking Forward To This Holiday Season?

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What I Wore Wednesday: Perfume Advent Calendar 2021, Week 1

The first week of December is behind us (I can’t believe it!), and here’s what my Perfume Advent Calendar helped me to choose for each day:

Day 1: Mona di Orio Vanille Les Nombres d’Or
My perfect vanilla perfume. Boozy, sweet (but not too sweet), resinous. It was symbolic that I randomly picked this one for the first day of wearing my favorite perfumes while working from home because that was one of the perfumes that I couldn’t wear to the office for a long time because my manager complained that it induced his headache (I don’t think so: I’m sure it was stress and weather, but since he was a nice guy, I stopped wearing Mdo’s Vanille to work).

Rusty and Mona di Orio Vanille
Day 2: Amouage Memoir Woman
Such a regal perfume! I enjoyed wearing it for the whole day and then could smell some remaining traces on my pillowcase for the next couple of days. Rusty, on the other hand, wasn’t amused by the fact that I used his daytime office space for my Perfume Advent Calendar and then added a strongly smelling bottle on top to take a picture.

Rusty and Amouage Memoir
Day 3: Chanel Coromandel EdT
One day when I finish this decant, I might check out the current then EdP. But for now I’m content: it’s a great perfume for colder days, not that many of which we have here.

Rusty and Chanel Coromandel
Day 4: Naomi Goodsir Or du Serail
Last year I published my story for this perfume: Better than a New-Car Scent. Beautifully complex composition that brings me joy every time I wear it. That day Rusty didn’t want to cooperate.

Naomi Goodsir Or Du Serail
Day 5: Serge Lutens Chergui
My December wouldn’t be right without Chergui. I’m sure this perfume doesn’t require an introduction, but if you weren’t around three years ago, you might find entertaining my post Almost Newcomb’s Paradox about mysteriously multiplying boxes.

Serge Lutens Chergui
Day 6: Mugler Angel Taste of Fagrance
This was one of the days in December when I didn’t leave it to the fate: I “pre-loaded” the bag #6 with this perfume’s name because I knew that I would be publishing our joint blogging Scent Semantics post, in which I pared this fragrance with the word “Angelic.”

Rusty and Mugler Taste of Fragrance
Day 7: Chanel Coco
My bottle is 11 years old (and back then I bought it new from Nordstrom), so I should have enough of this perfume for the next 10 years. But I still wonder: how much is today’s version different from what I smell here?

Rusty and Chanel Coco

And if you didn’t see enough pictures of Rusty, a reminder that I’m doing the Advent CaTendar on my Instagram account (@undina_ba) – a count up to Rusty’s 13th Birthday on Christmas Eve Day.

 

Images: my own

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Scent Semantics #2: ANGELIC

Today is the second episode of the collaboration of six bloggers: Portia (A Bottled Rose), Elena (The Plum Girl), Sheila (Alembicated Genie), Daisy (Cool Cook Style blog and IG), Old Herbaceous (Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities) and Undina (Undina’s Looking Glass).Scent Semantics Project Banner

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This month’s word is: ANGELIC

The second I read that word I couldn’t move on from Mugler’s Angel. I tried. Not that much because I didn’t want to be too literal (Why not? It’s a game), but mostly because I’ve previously told my Angel love story: it was one of the stories that I had in mind even before I started this blog, and it was quite personal.

But since the idea of this series doesn’t call for any particular form of the post, I decided to go with an angelic expression on Rusty’s face when I woke him up while trying to take a picture of him and the perfume bottle and Angel’s close relative – Angel Taste of Fragrance.

Rusty and Mugler Angel Taste of Fragrance

Angel Taste of Fragrance is such a successful flanker! Of course, you should like the original Angel to appreciate Angel Taste of Fragrance. But if you do like Angel and need a new bottle, it makes perfect sense to find that flanker instead: it is still available on eBay (and costs not more than the current version Angel), but since it was created 10 years ago and hasn’t been reissued ince, it hasn’t been reformulated, as it happened to most of the other 10+ years old perfumes, including Angel itself.

Angel Taste of Fragrance has a heavenly dark chocolate note in the first 20 minutes of its life, after which it’s just a good ol’ Angel. I stopped wearing Angel in public a long time ago, but since I still work from home, it’s my perfect chance to indulge in the guilty pleasure of spending time with my perfume ex. My only complaint is that the bottle is absolutely not photogenic. But then you have that angelic furry face to look at.

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Saturday Question: Do You Mind Revealing What You Are Wearing?

We all participate in different forums, blogs, groups, etc. And discussing our SOTDs is something mundane. But how do you feel about telling somebody in real life what perfume you’re wearing?

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #93:

Do You Mind Revealing What You Are Wearing?

I remember years ago reading on some of the blogs that people were reluctant to share with others (outside of the online perfume community) what perfume they were wearing. The reasons were different – from plainly not knowing how to pronounce the name to being afraid of being judged for buying too expensive perfume or even because they didn’t want others to have the same perfume they did.

So, how do you feel about that? If your friend or a co-worker were to ask what perfume you are wearing, would you tell them? How about a stranger (in a non-creepy situation)?

My Answer

In general, I’m an “oversharer” when it comes to things that I like, find useful or consider a great deal. So, if anyone were to ask (and I think it had happened more than once), I would not only tell them what perfume it was but make sure to include some information about the brand (unless it’s a well-known one), where it can be tried or bought and whatever other information I think might entice the victim of that cornucopia of information to pursue “my” perfume.

But there is one perfume that I would not “advertise” had I been asked by somebody who is (and will be) in my circle: Ormonde Jayne Ta’if. I love it so much that I feel very possessive and wouldn’t want anyone else to come to the party in a cloud of “my” scent.

If any of you is curious why I do not feel the same about my all-time favorite Lancome Climat, it’s easy: since it is discontinued, I don’t expect anyone who isn’t familiar with it to bother finding it. So, even if asked, I could freely give out the name, immediately providing the extra detail that it has been discontinued – just to be helpful, you know).

Rusty and Ormonde Jayne Ta'if

How about you?

Do You Mind Revealing What You Are Wearing?

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What I Wore Wednesday: Perfume Advent Calendar 2021, Introduction

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned my plan to do a Perfume Advent Calendar, and I’m doing it!

Because of all the holidays, December is my favorite month of the year, and I realized that didn’t want to spend it wearing samples that I’m unfamiliar with. So, I decided to choose my favorite perfumes to wear for the whole month. And because at least some of my bottles won’t fit into the gift bags I got for the Calendar, I went with printing 31 names, choosing 24 of them, putting each into a gift bag and numbering them randomly. This way I’ll still have an element of surprise and will not have a pressure of making a choice every day.

One more reason for me to love December is that we celebrate Rusty’s Birthday on the Christmas Eve day. For the second year, I’ll be doing the Advent CaTendar on my Instagram account (@undina_ba) – a count up to Rusty’s 13th Birthday. Running two daily posts would be an overkill for me (and, frankly speaking, for you, my readers, as well). So, my solution is to do weekly posts telling you about my choices for the previous week with links to my published stories about those perfumes and new pictures (hopefully, Rusty will cooperate at least for some of them – like on the pictures below where he’s “helping” me to make my Perfume Advent Calendar).

 

 

Are you doing any Advent Calendars this year – either your personal ones or store-bought?

 

Images: my own