I’ve just got a word from hajusuuri: we have a winner of the draw announced in her recent post: In the Search for the Perfect Shower Gel.
The winner is Juli. Please contact me with your shipping address.
And for the rest of my readers: do not go away too far – there will be one more giveaway in the next couple of days.
I always wanted to do a post about winter holidays gifts (for my family and close friends it’s more about the New Year gifts than those for Christmas). But usually I was doing my shopping in B&M stores, so whichever interesting items I would find there I usually couldn’t recommend to my readers. This year in general and November-December in particular were so hectic for me that most of my holiday shopping was and still is happening online. So I decided to share with you my scented gift ideas.
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post in any form and it doesn’t contain affiliate links.
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While choosing perfume for somebody else is a very tricky task, some brands make it easier for both the giver and the recipient. So I’ll start with the brand that had changed my attitude towards gifting people with perfumes.
Ineke offers two discovery sets – Scent Library and Deluxe Sample Collection – both are beautifully presented and, at the price of $25 including S&H and $15 coupon towards the full bottle purchase, are perfect stocking stuffers. And if you’ve previously bought one of these and are thinking about a bottle, now is great time to go for it to take advantage of the free shipping until December 25th.
Atelier Cologne, the brand that I really appreciate, offers a good variety of stocking stuffers and gifts, starting from $18 (I’m still contemplating trying one of their soaps) plus free US & Hong Kong delivery until December 25th and free personalization for travel sprays. And if you’re serious about giving somebody special a gift of perfume, I think that their latest offering – a gift card (minimum $70) that includes 12 samples – is a great idea.
Concluding the perfume-giving part of this post, I want to mention that Dame Perfumery‘s 5 ml trial size of Black Flower Mexican Vanilla for $10 including S&H is an absolute steal! Other perfumes are also available from that link.
For those who would still rather not venture into gifting perfumes, there are other options:
Perfumed Lace Garden bracelet or Alahine scented ceramic tile from Teo Cabanel. None of them will break the bank. And for those who’s looking for something more indulgent, there’s always By Killian with his scented jewelry collections (these are new ones) and Frederic Malle’s rubber incense.
I’ve recently discovered Beautyspin online store and I want to share it with you. You’ll have to overlook the percentage they promise you’re saving or the referenced “retail price” – those are pure fictional numbers. But their prices are very good (and sometimes you can find an additional discount code).
Check out these perfect stocking stuffers: Myrrhe Ardente, Encens Flamboyant and Musc Nomade shower gels ($3.35–$5.19) by Annick Goutal or Bottega Veneta Pour Homme shower gel ($29).
After Rusty showed to me what I should do with the beautiful Amouage Dia soap, I decided that it would be a great holiday gift and bought Memoir and Epic perfumed soaps from Beautyspin ($24 each). Now I’m trying to persuade myself that those are great holiday gifts for somebody else since I still haven’t opened my Dia soap.
The person for whom you’re shopping for gifts is not into perfume-y scents? How about a fresh cut pine or coffee smell? Try these firestarters ($10 each):
And finally, if you want to steer clear of imposing any scent choice on your giftees, you might consider Blue Q You Smell Delicious socks ($9.99).
Will you be giving any scented gifts this year?
Dear friends, readers and passerby,
Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrates and just warm wishes to everybody else!
I’m going to thoroughly enjoy this holiday and I hope this day will be good to all of you, wherever you are on the globe and whatever you do.
With love,
Undina
Image: my own
When I was a child, autumn would always make me sad: it meant not only the end of the long summer break and returning to school, but also the beginning of 6-8 weather-wise miserable months. After I grew up and moved to the SF Bay Area, I started enjoying Fall/Winter season much more than summer for many reasons: it didn’t happen this year but usually I take my vacation in September; it’s never really cold where I live now; all the holidays during that period are my favorite; and I love “winter” perfumes much more than “summer” ones. By Kilian Amber Oud, Chanel Coromandel, Dior Mitzah, Guerlain Encens Mythique d’Orient, Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan and Parfum d’Empire Ambre Russe are just several of those perfumes, for which I need cold weather.
But on top of all that there are two more words to explain why I like the cooler weather: down comforter.
It is counter-intuitive but, despite the cold climate where I grew up, there were no industrially produced down duvets. There were wool blankets and comforters filled with cotton but the only down comforters I ever saw were homemade ones. My grandmother made a down-filled comforter for me and I used it for years: as a main blanket first and later, when I grew too tall to fit under it, I used it on top of my other blankets to keep me warm during those 6-8 cold months.
I bought my first adult down comforter after moving to the U.S. and immediately fell in love with it. I’m not exaggerating. It was the best comforter I’d ever owned. It cradled me in a soft and warm embrace, weightlessly enfolding my body and protecting me from the cold. During the day in the office I would catch myself thinking about my comforter and looking forward to returning home and going to bed.
It became a cliché and is considered almost mauvais ton in the Perfumeland to compare perfume to a cashmere wrap. I’ve never been even tempted to do so: not for trying to be original but just because that feeling is not in my active sensations “vocabulary” (a couple more years of “cashmere therapy” should fix it though, I think). But when I recently wore one of my winter (and all-time) favorites – Amouage Ubar – I realized that it evoked tactile sense I get from a great down comforter. Ubar is smooth and warm and enveloping. It feels luxurious and cozy at the same time. Kafka in her review painted a beautiful image calling Ubar “the white (floral) stallion.” I kept this image in my head for a while but over time only the color part stayed: for me Ubar is a perfect white goose down comforter, which I can covertly bring with me to the most formal party. I’m in love with this perfume and I’m glad the weather is finally suitable for both my real and my virtual down comforters.
I have to stop here because “I’m late! I’m late! For a very important date!” (a hint just for you, my very favorite readers: the object of my affection is on one of the images in this post and it’s neither a cat nor a bottle…)
Images: my own
On more than one occasion I tried to dissuade my readers from blind buys – be that full bottles based on somebody else’s reviews or sample sets selected by unknown authorities. But then recently I came across an article in Luxury Daily about Opulent Box, a jewelry subscription program
“While most people shop for jewelry they love, they’re missing out on the surprise factor, and that’s what we’re wanting to achieve with the Opulent Box,”
said CEO Jon Yedwabnik, Opulent Jewelers, the company that for mere 25K per quarter ($100K per year) offers their affluent consumers a surprise box with brand name estate and vintage jewelry.
I suspect that most of my readers do not have a perfume budget that amounts to even one tenth of the quarterly jewelry subscription cost but if you decide to spend $25-$100 to get a surprise factor or want to wear some popular mainstream perfumes without committing to a full bottle, one of these services might be exactly what you need.
In all years I’ve been running Undina’s Looking Glass the only time I used my “perfume blogger” status to get anything from a brand was 4 years ago when I tried to buy from a new niche line samples they haven’t offered at the time. I didn’t succeed then.
The second time I attempted that recently when I started working on this post. On the ScentBird‘s website I noticed a section For Bloggers. It offered bloggers to get their subscription free. I provided the required information – my blog address, number of subscribers, FB & Twitter accounts – and explained in the note the purpose of my subscription. I think, I even suggested holding a draw for whatever perfume I would receive. I got rejected. I don’t remember the exact polite phrasing (and for some reason I can’t find the letter now), but it was clear that my blog wasn’t big enough for their purposes. I was slightly offended (they kind of offered themselves!) but mostly amused: both services that specialize in much more expensive niche perfumes – Olfactif and ScentTrunk – had previously offered me their subscriptions (I haven’t accepted) while the mass-market-oriented one decided to save ten bucks on me.
Since my blog is my hobby and I make a living from other sources, I paid for ScentTrunk and ScentBird subscriptions (3 and 2 months correspondently, with some %% off of the first month with coupons I found online). I didn’t have to pay for Olfactif since I had a box gifted to me by Jeffrey Dame, when one of his perfumes was featured there. So here’s how these subscriptions stack up against each other.
| Name | ||
| ScentBird (https://www.scentbird.com) | ScentTrunk (https://scenttrunk.com/) | Olfactif (http://www.olfactif.com) |
| What you get | 8 ml glass spray decant (you choose your scent from the list). With the first month you get a travel case that can be used later with the following months’ decants | 3 x 2 ml plastic spray samples (selected presumably based on your profile), in a box, information cards for each scent, a drawstring bag and testing strips | 3 x 2.25 ml glass spray samples (the same set per collection for everybody) |
| Collections | Feminine and masculine. There are more than 60 brands, mostly mainstream but there are a couple of niche brands | Unisex, masculine and feminine. About 40 niche and indie brands | Unisex (“for women and adventurous men”) and masculine (“traditionally masculine scents”). There are about 35 niche and indie brands |
| Base cost | ||
| $14.95/month including S&H. US only | $18/month including S&H. US & Canada. +Tax if you’re in Canada | $18/month including S&H. US only |
| Subscription options | $84/6 months ($14/month); $162/12 months ($13.50/month) | $96/6 months ($16.5/month); $180/12 months ($15/month) | $51/3 months ($17/month); $96/6 months ($16/month); $180/12 months ($15/month) |
| Delivery | Once a month, ships on the 15th regardless of when the subscription starts | Once a month; ships within several days after the subscription starts and then every 30 days | Once a month, around the 1st. Subscriptions made before 15th of the month get that month’s subscription box |
| Payment | ||
| Credit Card only | Credit Card and PayPal | Credit Card and PayPal |
| Cancellation | Online; any time before 5th of the month. Subscription can be put on hold for a month | By e-mail request, at any time | By email request; any time before 15th of the month. Subscription can be put on hold for a month |
| Returns/Refunds | Not offered | Full refund by e-mail request if you’re not satisfied for any reason | Not offered |
| Referral program | Get a friend to subscribe – get one month free (plus a friend gets the second month free) | Points offered for recommending to a friend (see Coupons & Discounts) | Not offered |
| Full bottles | Not offered | There’s a small collection of full bottles offered for purchase. Online shopping is in its infancy: all you can do is to scroll the page to browse the selection sorted in the descending order by price | Bottles for perfumes featured in the subscription are offered. Filter by price, brand, note, season or category. |
| Coupons & Discounts | Search Internet for a one time discount code | Search Internet for a discount code for the subscription. You will also get some points for different actions on the site – placing the order, reviewing perfumes you tried, referring friends, etc. After you collect enough of these points, you can convert them into a $10 or $25 discount for the full bottle purchase from the site | $18 credit toward the full-bottle purchase of a featured fragrance every month (even for discounted subscription options). You can also find a 15% off the subscription price coupon online |
| Customer Service | After I reported the wrong perfume sent to me this month, I got a replacement within three days and they suggested keeping the wrong perfume | After I reported the duplicate box sent to me in the second month, I got an immediate refund. Unfortunately, the next box I got only the next month (and with a delay), which slightly defeats the purpose of a monthly subscription | N/A (since I didn’t subscribe, I didn’t have any experience with it – please chime in if you did) |
| What I like | You know exactly what you’re getting and 8 ml is more than enough for most perfumes if you’re not prepared to get a full bottle
Ease of cancellation (though they cleverly offer to put the subscription on hold when you’re cancelling) |
Packaging that is both cute and functional. Rusty gave the highest approval to the testing strips (see the picture below)
They try hard to be nice to customers and to engage them During the sign-up you go through some type of personalization where you get express your preferences of some aspects of perfumes – “fresh”, “floral”, “woody”, “oriental.” These are supposed to be taken into the account while preparing your monthly box. It didn’t work in my case (I got twice exactly the same box – even though after getting the first one I changed the profile) but I think it’s a good direction and hope they’ll improve with time |
You can buy additional samples (the same 2.25 ml size) for any of the perfumes they sell as well as the previous collections (unless sold out) and perfume books
If you think of starting the subscription, you have until the 15th of the month to decide if you want to do it that month and get the samples offered Very well-written and informative FAQ section |
| What I do not like | It’s an unusually deferred gratification: you pay (or at least decide that you’ll be continuing the subscription) by the 5th of the month and your order arrives around 19th. And it’s even worse if you subscribe in the end of the month: it takes almost a month to get your first order | Perfumes that I got in the first two boxes were all on the cheaper/cheapest side of the offerings, with which the site teases (not even mentioning Amouage samples used as main images all over the main page). With my final box they’ve redeemed themselves though: all three samples were “top shelf.” But I would have preferred a better mix for each of the boxes
My negative review for one of the perfumes is still awaiting an approval (for the last 2.5 months) while the positive one had no problem being approved |
Beautiful but extremely wasteful packaging |
| ~ ~ ~ | ||
Conclusion
Personally, despite the rejection from their marketing people, I found ScentBird‘s service the most useful: I got two decants I wanted (GHAG‘s Miss Charming and Montale‘s Intense Cafe) much cheaper than I could find them elsewhere (not counting split groups but they don’t always have what you want). But then it’s not really a subscription, is it? Still, if you see something you like in their online store, it might be a good value for the money. Also I think it might be a good gift (the offer is 3 months for $44) for a “civilian” (© Tara) friend.
As to the actual subscription services, I still think that you’ll be better off testing perfumes in stores (if possible), exchanging samples with other perfume enthusiasts or buying them from brands’ sites or in split groups. But if you live too far away from the stores that carry high-end mainstream or niche perfumes and you’re not too big on communicating with others to arrange exchanges or splits, I have a couple of recommendations on how to decide whether you want to play with one of the services and with which one.
If you’ve tried and/or do not want to try 50% or more of perfumes, full bottles of which a service offers in their online store, do not subscribe.
Since ScentTrunk sends “customized” boxes without disclosing who gets what, there’s a good chance that you’ll get three of the perfumes that are already in their store at the moment you’re checking it out before signing. So just look at what they offer and think how many of those you haven’t tried yet or tried and wouldn’t mind using for $3/ml.
Olfactif, on the other hand, offers for sale perfumes from their previous collections, so you do not know what you’ll get next but can try predicting the future performance by calculating the ratio of the perfumes you tried and disliked to all perfumes you tried from their collection. The smaller the result, the better chances that going forward they’ll keep selecting something that is closer to your tastes.
If you are not familiar with most of the perfumes in both stores, go with the service that offers more brands that are new to you: if you’re making a leap of faith, at least you’ll get exposed to something completely new.
Have you ever tried any subscription services (not necessarily perfume-related)?
Images: my own
Recently on the way to a dinner at our friends’ house, my vSO and I were surprised by the size of the moon in the sky. We were running late to start looking for the place to stop safely. In the next 10 seconds we had to turn. The windshield was too dirty. And there were probably several more reasons in my head for why I shouldn’t take a picture. But I still took out my phone, asked my vSO to make sure not to do the California stop at the closest sign and did my best to shift away from the streaks of dirt on the glass as I took the picture below.
It’s not as impressive as it was in real life. It is not the shot I will be proudly showing to my family or print out for decoration purposes. And you still can see smudges on the trees on the right. But as I was looking later through the pictures I took with my phone, I was amused by the fact that, without any conscious efforts on my part, I got a photo on which moon looks like an oversized street light. It got me into a philosophical mood:
SOMETIMES WHEN WE ACT DESPITE ALL THE OBSTACLES AND EXCUSES,
RESULTS MIGHT DELIGHT US
It’s a common practice these days for brands to run customers appreciation events and campaigns, such as loyalty programs, unexpected upgrades, special treats and customer spotlights. That gave me an idea for a series of posts to show my appreciation to some of my favorite brands.
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post in any form and it doesn’t contain affiliate links.
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Atelier Cologne holds a special place both in my heart and in my collection: this is one of a few niche brands that I discovered on my own, without reading anything about it on one of the perfume blogs first.
In 2010, a year after the brand was created, while I was browsing around the perfume department of Neiman Marcus, a sales associate spotted my patiently waiting vSO and suggested him to try cologne from a new line they’d just got in the store – Atelier Cologne. I rushed to the rescue but it was too late: he liked it. I knew nothing about the brand – so instead of just dragging him to the safety of shoe department and explaining why “we” don’t buy this one I had to stop and check it out. Surprisingly, I liked it too. But I liked even more another one from the line. “Liked” as in “wanted my vSO to wear it.” He, in his turn, liked it too but not as much as his original pick.
We would have probably left the store with a new bottle but we couldn’t agree on the choice. But the SA could tell we were almost hooked, so two samples went home with us – Bois Blonds and Trèfle Pur – and I can’t remember any longer which one was my favorite.
Given time to test perfume without any pressure, we often realize that the initial infatuation was just that. And we feel relieved that we didn’t give in to the impulse buy. It wasn’t the case with Atelier Cologne’s perfumes. Within a month we were back to the store. We still couldn’t agree on which one was better so we bought both. And since then Oolang Infini, Orange Sanguine and Santal Carmin bottles as well as several decants have joined the first two.
Even though I like many of Atelier Cologne’s perfumes and consider them truly unisex, I rarely wear them myself: somehow in my mind they are my vSO’s perfumes. But since he likes them and his collection is much smaller than mine, I get to enjoy these perfumes probably more often than my own favorites.
While making great perfumes is important – and, in my opinion, Atelier Cologne succeeds in this area, what makes me appreciate the brand even more is their approach to business. For years many perfume enthusiasts, including me, have been constantly complaining about lack of bottle size variety. At some point with all those 100-ml-bottles-only offerings from niche brands we were almost tricked into thinking that a 50 ml bottle was a gift.
Atelier Cologne from the beginning offered two sizes – a 30 ml bottle for those of us who likes variety and 200 ml bottle for those who are ready to go steady with a favorite scent. Both bottles have a very nicely proportional shape and everything else in packaging is done with the highest degree attention to details – just as any luxury item should be. Later Atelier Cologne introduced a 100 ml bottle. Then they had different collections of 7 x 7.5 ml travel sprays, miniature discovery set of 5 x 5 ml splash bottles, and many other options – just look under Gift Boxes on their site. And you can buy any samples – a set of 24 x 2ml samples for $30 or individual samples for $3 each (both including S&H). There is just no good reason not to try their perfumes.
Also in the U.S. (I don’t know if there is anything like that in Europe – please share in comments if you know) Sephora offers many of the perfumes from the line as individual 7.5 ml sprays, 2, 4 or 7 bottles sets – some of them spray, some splash and many other combinations.
I really appreciate that Atelier Cologne chose to be accessible and to promote good perfumes to wider audience. I’m glad they didn’t stay high-end department stores exclusive. And I like that they chose such a model in which I do not have to commit to using one – even the most great – perfume for the next couple of years.
That’s why I – and obviously many other loyal customers – have voted for Atelier Cologne to receive The Start-Up of the Year, EY award (and they did!).
No matter where you live, you have a chance to win $200 participating in their contest #MomentInABottle (see on FB or on Instagram). The moment I chose: Rusty “helping” me to make the best possible composition for the photo of my favorite perfumes.
Images: my own
Tom Ford Noir released three years ago got mixed reviews (which perfume didn’t?) but since back then I was trying to test all new releases, to which I could get access, and I was a big fan of Tom Ford’s perfumes, I got a sample as soon as I saw the perfume on the counter. After that I don’t remember anything. Either I tried it then, didn’t write down my impressions and completely forgot about it or I just forgot to test it before putting the sample away.
Tom Ford is still one of my favorite brands but after the recent disappointment with Velvet Orchid I somehow missed even the fact of one more perfume being released, which didn’t stop me from asking for a sample as soon as an SA cheerfully shared with me the news. I am glad I did.
Since now I had both samples, I decided to make it up to the one I neglected. So first I tested TF Noir on my skin. Out of the cornucopia of notes mentioned on Fragrantica, I can smell some spices, citrus, vetiver, leather and vanilla. Then I persuaded my vSO to give it a try – just to check if it smelled better on him. It is a nice perfume; I have absolutely nothing bad to say about it and I welcome it as a great addition to the mainstream perfumes stable. Moreover, I would recommend it to “civilians” of both genders before most other modern offerings. Unfortunately, it’s so… unremarkable that I can’t imagine circumstances, under which I would want my vSO to wear TF Noir instead of my other favorite Tom Ford’s perfumes – Tuscan Leather, Oud Wood or Tobacco Vanille.
Tom Ford Noir Pour Femme, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise. For a perfume that hadn’t even gotten its own name (I couldn’t help the feeling that she was referred to by her married name), it’s very self-reliant. Many hours into the drydown I can smell some similarities between two perfumes – probably the way long-married couples come to resemble each other, but out of the two Mrs. Noir… I mean, Tom Ford Noir Pour Femme is the real killer who deserves the “noir” part of the name. It’s sweet and smooth and captivating. And though I do not need any more perfumes, I’m not sure I’ll be able to resist the fatal attraction of the 30 ml bottle…
Long Live Fluffy Towel
And Toothpowder
And Fragrant Soap
And Fine-toothed Comb!
Let’s wash and slosh,
Bathe, dive and tumble
In basins, in bathtubs,
In ocean and river,
Always and everywhere
Hurray for Water!
As an epigraph I used loosely translated closing verses of Moydodyr – the poem for children by Russian poet Korney Chukovsky published in 1923. Moydodyr (Wash’em’clean) is an anthropomorphic washstand, a self-proclaimed commander of other washstands and sponges, who teaches an untidy boy (and the readers) “the virtue of hygiene“.
I doubt that in my childhood there were too many kids who didn’t read that poem or watched the cartoon. As Wikipedia correctly states, “Moydodyr character became a symbol of cleanliness.” But I must say that for the country, several generations of which grew up on this poem, we were quite unwashed masses. I’ll spare you horror stories about hygiene norms and routines from those times: hopefully, many of those are left in the past. But I want to share some of the less detestable but rather peculiar memories. Soaps.
I don’t know how it was in early 20s when the poem was written, but by 80s books were probably the only source of fragrant soap. Soap produced in the USSR was mostly functional but not something that would bring joy to any of your senses: usually it was a rectangular bar of some undefined light color and, if you were lucky, a faint unpleasant scent. I suspect that my dislike of natural/organic/handmade soaps has a root in those childhood memories.
In today’s economy whenever I read in a product’s description “Imported”, I immediately assume that it’s a euphemism for “Made in China” so in my mind it’s a disparaging attribute: had it been a “respectable” producer, it would have been named specifically – “Made in Germany/France/Italy/the U.S./etc.” Faceless “imported” usually means “a country where labor is cheap and quality is corresponding.” But when I was growing up that property had the opposite effect: it would immediately raise the status of the item. “Imported X” was universally considered of a better quality and more desirable than locally produced X. “Imported shoes”, “imported furniture” and “imported soap” are just a few examples. Usually it didn’t even matter from where those were imported (unless it was perfume, in which case it had to be French).
If anybody was lucky enough to get them, those fragrant, perfectly molded and beautifully packaged representatives of remote civilizations “imported” soaps would usually lead a life of leisure surrounded by the finest things… in underwear drawers staying there for years – until finally making a guest appearance in the bathroom. I mean, appearance for some special guests – and only after that fulfilling their utilitarian destiny.
The situation with soaps (and other imports) had significantly improved even before I left for the U.S. Camay, Palmolive, Nivea and dozens of other soap bar brands came into our lives and became something mundane and ordinary – just like it should be. And since I haven’t lived there for a long time, I don’t know if the next spiral of craziness (all-natural, artisan and such) has reached them already.
But even now and here it’s hard to get rid of old habits: almost three years have passed from the time Rusty and I demonstrated to you the wonderful linden-scented bar until I let the first drop of water touch it. It still smells nice but I think it dried out a little while waiting for its show time.
Amouage Dia soap ended up in my stash by chance: there was a closeout sale at the online store and I just couldn’t pass on a great deal. For the last couple of years I was trying to decide when the time would be right to start using it: it’s so luxurious that it felt wasteful to open it without a special occasion. Well… It’s still in its original cellophane.
I wanted to see what Rusty thought of the Dia soap’s scent. I’m not positive but does it look to you like he’s trying to show me the proper way of cleaning myself without a soap?
Since most of my readers were there for the first post in this series, I won’t repeat the detailed explanation of the idea behind (if you missed it, you can quickly scant the first couple of paragraphs here). I just want to mention that today I fight the negativity bias with a non-perfume-related post.
Not far from where I live there is an artificial pond. Despite it being a man-made body of water, many wild birds made it into their habitat. There are stilts, mallards, Canada geese and today I even saw four pelicans. I don’t know what they all find to eat in that pond but it looks like they feel quite happy.
Six or seven months ago I noticed an unusual group of three ducks: a couple of mallards (male and female) and a white domestic duck. There are more mallards in the pond and they all keep more or less close. But this trio is almost always together. I didn’t know in which relationships these three were (Are they of the same age? Or was it a case of a mistaken egg identity?), so my vSO and I just came up with a story that this white duck ran away from a farm where he would be raised for meat and joined the free flock. He seems content with his choice.
Every day, as I drive by on my way to work, I try to spot them because seeing that white domestic duck “in the wild”, completely out-of-place but happy, feels strangely comforting: everybody might get a chance to find the right place for themselves, the right surroundings – no matter how incongruous it might seem for those looking from the passing car.
Image: my own
Undina's Looking Glass 