A couple of days ago, our friend S, who recently returned from his trip to Italy, asked in a group chat:

S: It has been a while. Anyone allergic to truffles?
A (another friend): … he said with hope in his voice
I (Undina): I won’t even ask what kind of truffles since my answer will be the same: nope
S: This Saturday, let’s put it to the test, along with some gluten

First, we picked up some Italian biscotti and torrone to bring with us for dessert. Then my vSO chose an Italian variety wine from our collection. And then I thought that it would be great to also wear a perfume from an Italian brand.

Saturday Question #281:

Do You Own Any Italian Perfumes?

What is your favorite? How about any perfumes with a truffle note?

My Answer

I was so excited when I came up with the idea and the question. But then I suddenly blanked out: what do I own? I knew that I had some, but the only brand I could remember without looking it up in my database was Xerjoff, so I decided that I would wear Irisss. But then I went to the database… Duh… I have at least 10 more full bottles of perfumes from Italian brands, not counting decants that I bought to wear. Surprisingly, only 4 perfumes in my DB had truffle listed as a note, but I do not own a bottle of any of them, and they were not from an Italian brand, so I didn’t consider them.

I will not list all of Italian or truffle perfumes I discovered to allow you all to come with your own lists. But I’ll share that in the end, I changed my mind and chose to wear Armani Prive La Femme Bleue.

Do You Own Any Italian Perfumes?

Thank you to all of you who commented on my last week’s post. It was heartwarming to read your kind words.

As we were discussing fragrant choices of our fathers a couple of weeks ago, I was surprised how many of you mentioned Old Spice cologne and thought that it was amazing that it was still around (reformulated a dozen of times, I’m sure). True classic? And that brought us today’s question.

Saturday Question #269:

What Is Your Favorite Classic Perfume?

I won’t make the question harder than it is: it’s up to you to define what you consider “classic.” The perfume you choose doesn’t have to be currently in production – it can be a discontinued gem that you still own. And if it’s still available but you prefer the previous version in your collection, that works too.

My Answer

That was a hard question! I decided to consider only perfumes created before the current century (can you believe we’re already a quarter into it?!). And an additional limitation is that I still like and wear it. It provided me a list of 30 perfumes. And then I had to choose. You all know how hard it is: every time I try to select just one perfume for any reason, it feels as if I’m betraying my other favorites. But I did it!

I decided to go with one of the oldest (though, not the oldest) by the year created perfumes in my collection – Chanel Cuir de Russie.

How about you?

What Is Your Favorite Classic Perfume?

Image: my own (though, the level is much lower in my bottle now)

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

Saturday Question #234:

Which Perfumes Would You Take If You Had To Evacuate?

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

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

My Answer

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

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

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

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

How about you?

Which Perfumes Would You Take If You Had To Evacuate?

Thank you all for your kind words about my dear Rusty. Your warmth, kindness and sympathy meant a lot to me.

For a couple of years, long before Rusty got sick, thinking about the future I was telling myself that I would keep this blog going while he was with us and then stop because it would be too painful to continue. But in the last 8 months, as on many days I had to hold off wearing perfumes not to provoke Rusty’s asthma when I gave him the medication or held him on my lap and didn’t have much time, strength or inspiration to write for my blog regularly, these Saturday Question posts were the only strong link to the Perfumeland left, and I held onto it and appreciated all of you coming here week after week to talk to me (and sometimes even to each other). So, after giving it some time (Thank you, Portia, for the support!), I decided that I wanted to come back to at least these weekly posts – and then see how it goes with other topics.

I also want to mention that today’s post is somewhat special: #222 was the last post Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels) did for her Monday Question series (though, she didn’t number them), which was an inspiration to Portia’s (Australian Perfume Junkies) Saturday Question series, which I “inherited” 4+ years ago. Some of you participated in one or both of those “original” series. Some joined SQ posts on my blog. And I am happy to see all of you here, so I’ll keep coming up with new Saturday Questions.

Saturday Question #222:

What Perfume Would You Wish To Be Named After Or Dedicated To You?

It’s a fantasy question not connected to reality. Just think of any perfume and imagine that you could magically become an inspiration for that perfume and have it either named after you or be dedicated to you. What would it be?

My Answer

I contemplated this question for a while. I wouldn’t want a perfumes to be named after me. I mean, I wouldn’t mind creating/inspiring a wonderful new perfume called something like Undina’s Dream. But for this exercise, I don’t want to mess with what already exists. But I wouldn’t mind if I could claim that I was a muse for one of the great perfumes that I love. Strangely, my choice is not one of my top two perfume loves – Lancome Climat or Ormonde Jayne Ta’if. It’s the #3 on my list – Amouage Ubar. It would have been great to have it dedicated to me. But I would settle for just having it re-launched – not for me, I probably have enough of it for years to come, but for others. Though, judging by the fact that it was discontinued, Ubar wasn’t doing that well for the brand.

How about you?

What Perfume Would You Wish To Be Named After Or Dedicated To You?

How is this for a random SQ?!

Saturday Question #212:

What Do You Think About Mugler’s Angel Today?

I am curious about your thoughts on this iconic perfume and the place it takes, in your opinion, in perfume history. But also, did you ever like it enough to own and wear? How do you feel about it today?

My Answer

I haven’t worn Angel in over two years, and it didn’t cross my mind until today, while grocery shopping, I caught a whiff of it on a fellow shopper. It sparked a wave of nostalgia, prompting me to dig out my 20+ year-old bottle and apply just the tiniest amount to my wrist. It wasn’t even a full spray – just a tiny squirt from the nozzle. But wow! I don’t know how I (or anyone around me) managed to survive any of the parties to which I wore it liberally sprayed (well, not hajusuuri-style liberally, but at least 3-4 sprays, as I remember). And you know what? I still like it.

Granted, I had an unusually emotional relationship with this perfume, so I may not be entirely objective. But I am in awe of the audacity it took the brand to release that perfume 32 years ago. At that time, we still were in the era of loud, bold, unapologetic  perfumes. But they all were still mostly perfumes in a more traditional vein, years away from polite minimalistic unisex creations or scent experiments of the how-far-can-we-stretch-a-perfume-definition-type. Angel stood out as something entirely different, so when it became popular, it single-handedly created a new trend in perfumery.

I wonder why the brand altered the formula. This perfume always struck me as somewhat artificial, so can we still blame IFRA? Or was it a cost-cutting measure? Is it be possible to recreate the original formula today? While my bottle is old, the juice inside smells different from what I remember in the ’90s. I’m not entirely sure if my bottle changed more than just the color or if I had an already reformulated version. Regardless, it doesn’t quite match my memory. I doubt I’ll wear it outside of my house these days. However, I’d be willing to pay $20-$25 for a 0.5 ml sample of the original Angel – just to see if all these years later I would still experience that surprise at the first sniff.

How about you?

What Do You Think About Mugler’s Angel Today?