Yes, it is December. Thanksgiving is behind us. Let’s decorate. Even if you do not have any holiday to celebrate this month or do not feel in the mood, let’s find something positive and worth looking forward to. Lights, scents and festive food usually help.

Saturday Question #242:

Do You Scent Your Home For Holidays?

Do you have any special ways to introduce holidays-related or holidays-inspired aromas into your home?

A bonus question: do you plan to decorate your space for any of the upcoming holidays?

My Answer

I love-love-love winter holidays! If the weather permits, we might put on outdoor lights this weekend. Since our tree is artificial, we can put it up at any time. I’m not sure when we will though. Probably not this weekend, but maybe next. But since it is artificial, I miss the smell of fir and resin that a natural tree brings. And to rectify that, over years, I introduced different sprays (one was very naturally smelling… but it had something headache-inducing, so I had to get rid of it), fir-scented candles (so far, I haven’t found the one I would like to re-purchase – any advice?) and, the most successful product, Frasier Fir hand wash from Thymes (I have a little left from the previous year, but I haven’t checked yet if it’s still good, and I need to get a refill soon).

Additionally, this year I decided to get a small natural wreath… but hang it inside – just for the smell. I found just what I was looking for at Trader Joe’s and hanged it on one of the walls using a sheet of foil wrap as a backdrop to prevent damage to the wall behind in case the branches used in the wreath still have any sap or resin left. I know it’s unorthodox, but once I got that idea in my head, I just had to do it.

How about you?

Do You Scent Your Home For Holidays?

I was going to use the word “hoarder,” but it felt too serious for a lighthearted SQ. I decided to rephrase. As I discovered, various characteristics are attributed to this small furry creature and meanings of that comparison range widely (including quite cheesy pickup lines). I’m using it in a fun and lighthearted way to describe someone who keeps more than they need but isn’t truly excessive but in a sense of resourcefulness and foresight.

Saturday Question #241:

Are You A Squirrel?

First, let’s talk about perfumes. And to clarify further, we are not talking about the number of different perfumes in our collections (it is a collection after all). But what about different sizes, different concentrations, multiple “vintages” and backup bottles? Do you keep samples and decants even after you’ve gotten a bottle of that perfume? Do you have EdT, EdP and extrait of your favorite perfumes and then maybe a hair mist or a body lotion? If yes, do you wear all of these?

Switching the focus from perfumes, do you have a tendency to stash away acorns supplies for future use? Do you buy multiple items in advance when you get a good deal? Or do you live in the moment going by what you need now?

My Answer

Guilty. For perfumes I love, I want to have them in all possible versions and forms – sometimes even multiple bottles of the same size – and it’s tough for me to let go of a sample or decant, even if I already have a lifetime supply of that perfume. What if I need a smaller size to take with me? It’s irrational: not only can I always make myself a decant for traveling if I need to, but I also have no issues making a sample or a small decant from my bottle for someone else. But that first sample/decant that came before the bottle… Oh, and usually I wear only one of the versions I have – but I still want to have the rest. Just in case. Luckily, it’s just a handful of perfumes that make me feel this way.

With non-perfume stuff, I am awful: since I don’t like change, if something works for me – be it household items, supplies, beauty products or even clothes – I want to be able to use it… always. So, if there is a chance something will become unavailable, or if I find a good deal or a bulk purchase at a better per-unit price, my knee-jerk reaction is to buy and squirrel it away. I think I was always inclined to be over-prepared, but COVID has exacerbated it – not so much in terms of fearing unavailability, but rather to avoid being dependent on the external world or having to venture into it unless absolutely necessary.

This year “Black Friday month” is especially hard for me. I don’t think I’ve ever planned to or bought a big-ticket item during that traditional American pastime, so for years, I thought I was immune to it. But for the last 3 weeks, I’ve been bombarded with deals for the most mundane items – skincare, hair care, tea, socks, vitamins, cleaning supplies, etc., etc. And then, some non-recurring items are offered at a much better price than I saw them since I started watching them planning to buy eventually (for example, wine glasses I wanted to buy for a while). I can’t buy everything, even if it’s something I will use up (and eventually buy more): both my budget and storage space have limits I must respect. But psychologically, it bothers me that in six months, I might have to spend extra money on something I could have bought cheaper today – even if it’s just a $3-$5 difference.

How about you?

Are You A Squirrel?

Before COVID, in larger cities perfume enthusiasts used to organize in-person events – Sniffapalooza in New York, Perfume Lovers London and others. When the pandemic started, many events moved online, which made a lot of sense: samples can be delivered via post, and then the discussion might happen virtually. These days, some events returned to brick-and-mortar boutiques, while others maintain their online format. So, the question for you this week:

Saturday Question #240:

Do You Participate In Perfume Events?

Event in person where a specific brand is presenting their lineup (if it’s a new brand) or the most recent collection. Or a virtual one where samples are delivered in advance of the online meeting? If you do, do you enjoy the format? If you don’t, why?

My Answer

In the last couple of years, I’ve been in a low-buy to no-buy mode. So, from time to time I decide that, being a perfume blog, I have to do some testing of current offerings that I can’t try in my local department stores. So, from time to time, I sign up for online events that include receiving sets of samples. A part of signing up for these events, paying and receiving the sets work for me wonderfully: samples bought this way are much cheaper than you’d pay for the same number/volume of samples if you were to order them separately. But after that… I did connected to a couple of events organized by the Beautyhabit. But, in general, after trying perfumes when they arrive and not liking most of them (a regular thing for me), I don’t feel compelled to spend another hour listening to how the brand had arrived at the creation of perfumes that I didn’t like – so, after getting and testing samples I just skip the meeting itself.

The last brand I tried this way was Frederico Perfumes. It was organized by Sniffapalooza. I got a set of 6 perfume samples, tried them all and realized that since I do not even like, let alone love, any of them, I could care less about the story behind their creation. So, I skipped the meeting altogether.

There are a couple of in-person event in the next month in San Francisco, but since I do not plan to buy any of those perfumes, it doesn’t make much sense to attend them. I’m still eyeing the Beautyhabit‘s Up Close & Personal event with Parfums de Nicolai. They offer 5 new fragrances for $30 (including S&H and a $10 discount for future purchases), so it seems like a good offer – but I am not really into gourmand scents, and there’s just one Nicolai’s perfume that I like – so I’m not sure if I should spend even $30 to try these new perfumes…

So, if I’m being completely honest, I do not care much for these events, but I treat them as an opportunity to test perfumes I wouldn’t have otherwise, not expecting to find the next Holly Grail.

I know that you’re here not for this. But if have a postal address in the US and would like to try Frederico Perfumes, just add to your comment “I’m in the US” or “I’m in,” and I’ll add you to the draw for an almost new set of 5 samples from this brand – maybe they’ll work better for you.

How about you?

Do You Participate In Perfume Events?

I know it’s Sunday already, but let’s pretend I published it yesterday. Leaving aside that most of us shouldn’t be buying more perfumes, period, and that most of us would break and buy a bottle we wouldn’t have otherwise if tempted by an especially good deal…

Saturday Question #239:

What Perfume Do You Not Buy Only Because Of Its Price?

Is there a perfume you really like and would want to wear, but you just can’t bring yourself to pay full price (or even with a 10-15% discount)? Do you keep checking hoping for a better price or leave it to chance?

My Answer

I have such a perfume! Byredo La Selle. When it launched in 2016, it was very expensive compared to most perfumes (Xerjoff, Roja Dove and Clive Christian excluded). So, even though I liked it when I tried it, I didn’t even think of buying it.

Thanks to a kind perfumista friend, I got a sample of La Selle, and recently, when I decided to use it up before it turned, I realized how much I enjoyed it. What did I do? I went to check its price. I discovered two things. First, La Selle was re-released under a new name: Sellier (I hope it still smells the same, but I’ll have to test it eventually to confirm). Second, these days its price doesn’t look that obnoxious any longer. I mean, it’s still very expensive. But in the last 8 years, perfume prices have soared, both for existing brands and for hundreds of newly emerged brands. And now, the price for this Byredo’s “special” edition perfume doesn’t look as surprising.

As I mentioned, I liked La Selle very much, and I would wear it if it was in my collection: it’s a soft leather perfume that works for me. But I am not prepared to pay $375 + tax. Theoretically, it should be possible to catch it with a 20% discount, but even that wouldn’t move the needle. I am not saying that it’s not worth it (it’s worth as much as they can sell it for). But with the size of my collection and at this point in my life, I’ve decided, I refuse to pay that much. How much would I pay for it? I’d say around $200 would make me think really hard.

Now it’s your turn.

What Perfume Do You Not Buy Only Because Of Its Price?

With online shopping growing all over the world, we have to communicate with live people less and less. But for us perfumistas, a visit to a brick-and-mortar store often means a chance to try something new without spending money and accumulating even more samples that stay in our collections, dying a slow (but, hopefully, not painful) death of evaporation. But approaching a perfume counter or visiting a specialized store often means human interactions.

Saturday Question #238:

Do You Talk To Sales Associates?

Are you a “talkative” type who uses any chance to discuss your hobby? Or are you quick with a “just browsing” dismissal and get back to what you planned to do?

And if you do talk to an SA, what do you think is the best answer to their question: “Which Perfumes Do You Like?” Or, maybe, not the best, but what do you usually answer?

My Answer

For a long time, whether I talked to an SA depended mostly on my intent to ask for a sample. I considered “the talk” to be a currency I had to pay instead of spending money. And usually, it worked.

These days, I rarely want samples from department stores, so usually, I politely decline any help and just proceed with trying what I came there to try without even attempting to get anything from the visit other than a sniff test. Rarely, I’ll engage if the person seems bored and genuinely interested in perfumes, which doesn’t happen often.

I used to be annoyed by the question about what perfumes I liked and used a variety of answers that, in more or less polite form, meant “Leave me alone!” These days I feel much less confrontational, so I usually cheerfully share my 5-6 favorite notes (and 1-2 that I don’t like), which most of the time puts out their enthusiasm for finding which of the du jour “most popular” perfumes might interest me.

When I visit specialized stores, I try to set expectations immediately. On rare occasions when I plan to buy something (usually while traveling), I say so. Otherwise, I tell them directly that I’m there to see what lines they have and to try new perfumes, but I do not plan to make a purchase that day, except for samples if they sell them.

How about you?

Do You Talk To Sales Associates?

Vacations are great. Coming back from them has its drawbacks, one of which, for those of us who still hold full-time “office” jobs, is catching up on emails, MS Teams/Slack/etc. messages and tickets in Jira. (Ha! My browser doesn’t know this word and suggests replacing it with “Lira,” “Mira,” “Kira” or maybe even “IRA”—I wonder, does it mean “Individual Retirement Arrangements” or “Irish Republican Army”? Anyway, getting tickets from either of the two upon return would have been, let’s say, unexpected if not disturbing. But I digress.) All that to say, I didn’t have time to “develop film” and still hope to share additional photos soon. But the majority of illustrations for today’s post are from that recent trip.

Saturday Question #236:

What Is Your Favorite Water-inspired Perfume?

I know, I know, many perfumistas shudder just from hearing the scary A-word (I mean, “aquatic”). But fear not: if you are one of those, I didn’t necessarily mean only “fresh, watery, and often marine-quality” scents. The question is much broader. It still can be a marine-related aroma. But it also can be something inspired by any body of water – an ocean, a seaside, a river bank, a pond or even a pool. The association can be by the scent, the name or any other connection.

My Answer

Hapuna Beach, where I spent my most recent Big Island (Hawaii) vacation, didn’t smell of “ocean” (you know, that combination of decaying seaweed, algae and decomposing marine life that we all romanticize when talking about our olfactory impressions from spending time at the seaside). And I like it because it’s not a scent I particularly enjoy, even though I don’t mind brief encounters with it.

The photos above are not from the beach I mentioned. That beach is a beautiful white sand beach, but since we go there for short swims, I usually don’t take my phone with me, so the only photo of that beach I was able to find was from 3 years ago.

Most photos I have of that beach were taken at sunset from the balcony of the condo we rented, so most aromas were food- and drink-related.

There were some floral aromas when we visited that waterfall at the Botanical Garden, but nothing to think of any particular perfume. The infinity pool at Mauka Meadows Botanical Garden and Coffee Plantation smelled of coffee that we were tasting sitting in front of it. And I suspect that the man-made pond at the golf course at best (worst?) would whiff of some disinfecting agent had I come closer, but luckily I didn’t have a chance to spoil the impression from that beautiful view.

The perfume I decided to offer as my favorite water-inspired scent is L’Artisan Parfumeur Traversee du Bosphore. As you can see, its connection to the topic is strictly in the name. That and the fact that Traversee du Bosphore is one of my favorite perfumes for a tropical vacation. And during this trip, as I almost finished my decant, I felt a pang of regret that I didn’t buy it when it was available because I didn’t want another 100 ml bottle in my collection… (sigh)

During this trip, while I wore my other favorites as well, Traversee du Bosphore fit my mood and the place the most.

Bosphorus Bridge (Jorge1767, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

How about you?

What Is Your Favorite Water-inspired Perfume?

In the early years of my descent into the proverbial rabbit hole, Le Labo‘s City Exclusives collection was available in September. I didn’t follow it closely, so I’m not sure when it changed, but this year I noticed that the collection opened for online orders on August 1st. I wonder if it’s the beginning of the end of that exclusivity idea. Anyway, earlier today I came across their “Last Call” ad: just 3 more days (until September 30th) left to buy one of these “special” perfumes.

Saturday Question #233:

Do You Own Any Of Le Labo City Exclusives Perfumes?

If yes, which ones? Do you keep trying new cities when they are added? In general, what do you think about this approach to rationing access to perfumes?

My Answer

I do not own a single full bottle of Le Labo perfumes, either from their Exclusives collection or their Classic line. With the Classic collection, it’s the brand’s “fault”: even though I like Rose 31 and Iris 39 a lot, I always thought their bottles weren’t attractive at all. Because of that, I wasn’t tempted to buy a bottle and instead voted for a much more economical (and not significantly less visually pleasing) decants from a FB splits group.

With the Exclusives collection, everything is even worse: not only are the bottles still the same ugly (for my taste, you might disagree), but the prices seem over the top. Le Labo’s regular perfumes aren’t the most affordable ($3.35/ml if you buy a 100 ml bottle), but the City Exclusives collection went even further charging $5.35/ml. And one has to jump through the hoops to buy these perfumes! I just don’t believe that raw materials for perfumes in that line cost more than for the regular line. And did I mention that I despise their apothecary-style bottles?

Still, I liked two of their perfumes enough to pay for decants. No, it wasn’t $5+ per ml. The first one, Poivre 23, I bought years ago for my vSO. Back then it was much cheaper. I think, there is still a couple of ml left in that decant. The second one, Vanille 44, almost made it to my full bottle collection, but in the wrist-to-wrist competition, Vanille by Mona di Orio won that spot in the end. Since then, after I finished the first decant generously shared with me by a perfumista friend, I bought the next one from Royalty Scents. I still don’t know how they could pull off the price I paid (they claim all their perfumes are authentic).

I said it before: I find stupid the idea of offering these days “hard-to-get” expensive perfumes in minimalistic packaging: times of niche scarcity are gone, and brands need to come up with something more dazzling and enticing to persuade consumers to splurge on that particular perfume out of thousands being released every year. For one, this consumer is not super interested even to drive 30 minutes to the boutique to try a new “exclusive” perfume for free.

How about you?

Do You Own Any Of Le Labo City Exclusives Perfumes?