Stressful situations are an unavoidable part of life – whether they come from work, travel, health issues or everyday logistics. While perfume obviously can’t fix any of those problems, many of us still reach for certain scents when we want a bit of comfort, distraction or a small boost of confidence.

Saturday Question #293:

What Perfumes Do You Reach for When Dealing With a Stressful Situation?

Do you have some particular perfumes? Or is it a type of scents that you choose? Or does it not affect your choice?

My Answer

It’s not a theoretical question for me: because of a recent mishap with the fire sprinklers in a neighboring condo, we ended up with water damage in ours. Since that happened, I’ve been dealing with insurance adjusters, contractors and estimates, and preparing for the upcoming demolition (they constantly use that word!) of some of the walls and flooring.

None of this is dramatic in the grand scheme of things (at least yet), but it does involve a lot of phone calls, paperwork, waiting and generally feeling that things are a little out of your control. Plus, extremely loud fans running for 14+ hours per day.

So when my morning starts, I ask myself: “What do you feel like wearing?” And, surprisingly, after a couple of days, I realized that I was craving lavender. My “go-to” perfumes recently have been Serge Lutens Gris Clair, Guerlain Jicky (both EdP and extrait) and Parfums de Marly Darley – but I suspect I’ll go through more lavender-heavy perfumes before this ordeal is behind us.

How about you?

What Perfumes Do You Reach for When Dealing With a Stressful Situation?

With shelves already full of niche bottles and cherished vintages (and with the market constantly flooded by new releases that often feel more prolific than original), it’s easy to lose interest in what’s happening in mainstream perfumery… Until one day you walk through a department store, pass a duty-free counter, or receive a sample with a purchase – and you just have to try it!

Saturday Question #291:

What Was the Last Mainstream Perfume You Tried?

Was it something you sought out intentionally, or did you just happen to come across it? Did you like it? Would you consider wearing it?

My Answer

I received a sample of Burberry Her Elixir de Parfum with a Sephora order. I didn’t request that sample, they just sent it instead of some beauty packet I chose during the checkout. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have probably even notice it in the store. But since it was already there, I tested it. Twice. I didn’t like it. It’s cloyingly sweet in the opening, plasticky-fruity, quite artificial and not particularly tenacious… though that might not be a bad thing in this case. I wouldn’t want to wear it, but as a skin scent, it becomes tolerable about 90 minutes into its development. I wouldn’t mind a shower gel with that faint residual vanilla+sandalwood combo.

How about you?

What Was the Last Mainstream Perfume You Tried?

I missed you all. I hope you had great holidays and are successfully fighting off post-holiday blues. Holidays went by too quickly! We’re in denial and not ready to let our Christmas trees go. Historically, both back in my native country and later when we moved to the U.S., we would keep decorations until January 14, the Old New Year (aka Orthodox New Year). So, on the January 15 evening, for the first time since December, I didn’t turn on the lights on the tree in the living room, thinking that I would remove decorations over the weekend, … looked for a while at the unusually dark space where I used to see those festive lights… and turned them back on. And later that evening, I also turned on the lights on my small tree in the bedroom. And then I remembered coming across an interesting post on Instagram that explained why we should keep our decorations until February 2, Candlemas. It’s decided now! I’ll keep them up until Groundhog Day!

But now back to regular programming. A Saturday Question.

Saturday Question #288:

Have You Ever Sold Any Perfumes?

If yes, where and how successfully? MUA? eBay? Craigslist? Poshmark? FB? Have you ever had any issues with that? Do you plan to sell anything in the future?

My Answer

I have absolutely no talent when it comes to selling. As I usually tell people when the topic comes up: “I wouldn’t have been able to sell anything if my life depended on it.” I’ll tell you more: I wasn’t able to sell anything when my life kind of depended on that. It was a lifetime ago, but at some point, in a bad economic situation of post-Soviet times, my vSO’s friend suggested that we pull together some funds, buy Indian Instant Coffee in bulk and sell it on our version of a flea market. Times were tough, and we needed money. It was a good plan. That coffee was quite popular back then. You could say that it was “the” coffee. Our price was the same as (if not better than) other sellers’ prices for identical items… (sigh) Luckily for us, we liked that coffee.

Moving continents and several decades, I did fine running a couple of splits; I barely managed several swaps; but nah, I still can’t sell anything for profit.

How about you?

Have You Ever Sold Any Perfumes?

Winter holidays are nearing the end, and soon we’ll start waiting for next year’s season. But while we’re still in the current one, let’s talk about it.

Saturday Question #287:

Christmas & Perfumes – Did You Celebrate? What Did You Wear? Did You Give or Receive Any Scented Presents?

Please share your holiday stories – as much or as little as you’d like, whether those include perfumes or don’t.

My Answer

I’m sure I wrote about this multiple times, but I don’t expect anyone to remember or, if you do, to mind me repeating myself. While not being religious, I kind of celebrate Hanukkah, and for many years, on Christmas Eve, we celebrated the birthday of our Christmas cat, Rusty. Which we quietly did with my vSO this year as well. On Christmas Day, we went to our friends’ house for another celebration. But since none of us can claim this holiday, it was more like an extended family gathering without a traditional gift exchange. I wore Lancôme Climat and loved it, as always.

I’ve got a small perfume gift for Christmas: the Harrods‘ Beauty Advent Calendar that I chose this year had a travel bottle of Etat Libre d’Orange Uruk. But even though I was opening a box every day to see what was there, I decided not to use any of the gifts before the New Year. So, I still haven’t tried Uruk (and based on the notes, I do not expect to like it – but we’ll see).

For the New Year, our main celebration that includes gifts, I expect a bottle of perfume (as a present from me to me). This is my only full-bottle purchase this year! I will tell you more about it next year, once I officially find it under my New Year tree. Other than that, I do not expect to receive or give any perfume-related gifts.

How about you?

Christmas & Perfumes – Did You Celebrate? What Did You Wear? Did You Give or Receive Any Scented Presents?

This time of year tends to get chilly and dim early, and the house feels noticeably cozier with a candle burning. A warm light and a familiar scent make the season easier to enjoy. So, today’s question fits the moment well.

Saturday Question #285:

What Is Your Favorite Scented Candle?

Do you repeat-purchase any scent, or do you explore new ones every time you choose the next candle?

My Answer

A flickering light that immediately makes any room warmer. A scent that gradually fills all the available space and lingers long after a candle is put out. Candles are festive, calming, relaxing and romantic…

Theoretically, I love candles – and not only scented ones. And at any time, I have at least 2-3 of them at home. But many years with Rusty, who mercilessly hunted any burning wick from a Hanukkah shamash to a birthday candle, taught me never to leave them unattended. As a result, a candle that is burned for half an hour during dinner and then safely retired to the cupboard will serve me for at least a couple of years. And even if I don’t love them, I can’t bring myself to throw them away.

I rarely buy candles; I use those that I get as gifts from friends or as a GWP. So, I can’t say that I have any real favorites. I do love my Ormonde Jayne Ta’if candle that I received as part of a gift set. But since that perfume is one of my all-time favorites, I don’t want to use it as an ambiance scent. Everything else was fine while it lasted, but I never wanted to repeat any of the candles I finished.

This year, I discovered something I wish I had found much earlier – a candle warmer. I’m sure I was the last one to learn about it, but just in case anyone else managed to miss this trend: it is a lamp that melts a candle placed under it without actually burning it. I love the idea, and it has become part of my daily evening ritual. You can choose the intensity of the light and use the timer. Some models (not the one I got) also allow you to change the distance from the candle to the light. And now I am on a quest to find the best winter candle to enjoy with my candle warmer.

How about you?

What Is Your Favorite Scented Candle?

It feels like this question needs a bit of context. When we encounter new perfumes, we try them, sometimes like them (though more often not), may revisit later or test them in different settings, and eventually either warm up to them or decide they’re not for us. That’s the “organic” path. But have you ever read a wonderful story about a perfume, fallen for the bottle, thought the notes were exactly up your alley, or even gone for a blind buy – and then, unwilling to be fully disappointed after the first sniff, kept returning to it, trying to talk yourself into thinking you probably… sort of… maybe like it?

Saturday Question #284:

Have You Ever Tried to Talk Yourself into Liking a Perfume?

Did you succeed?

My Answer

Yes, I have done it so many times. I realized that recently when, after wearing several perfumes, I got the feeling that I wasn’t really enjoying them — and that made me think back to how they got into my collection. At least several of them were the result of my insistent work on liking them. Today I probably wouldn’t have bought them. But since they are in my collection, I won’t be naming those full-bottle half-regrets. Instead, I’ll mention just several of the significantly less costly results of mental experiments on myself (believe me, there were many more).

Iris Rebelle by Atelier Cologne. I read a compelling review by who back then was my “scent twin.” I like iris as a note in perfumes. I liked the brand. I tried it and kind of liked it. Bought a travel spray. I featured it in the Scent Semantics #7: BRILLIANCE post several years ago, wore it once since then – and never even think about it.

Cuir de Lancome. It was one of everybody’s darlings 12-15 years ago. I liked it, but I liked it abstractly, from a swapped sample and later from a small decant a perfumista friend shared with me. It was still not too expensive to buy back then, but I kept telling myself that I needed to finish the decant first… And whenever it was mentioned on a blog, and commenters would all agree what a great perfume it was, I would again feel a pang of regret for not owning a bottle and try it again, telling myself that I liked it… I never bought it, and once my decant got empty (I’m not sure whether from me wearing it or from evaporation), I stopped thinking about it.

Dom Rosa by Les Liquides Imaginaires. I tried it when I visited one of the local perfumeries and liked it enough to buy it as one of five samples from that visit. But trying it again at home, I could never recreate the same feeling I experienced at the store. Still, it kept popping up for sale at a very reasonable price, so each time I would go back to my sample, hoping to recapture that initial infatuation. I remember my insistence. Luckily for me, I finished the sample and entered a verdict in my database: “Nice but nothing special.”

How about you?

Have You Ever Tried to Talk Yourself into Liking a Perfume?

As we explore perfumes over the years, we tend to collect not just bottles but also fascinating details about them. Whether it’s something about ingredients, chemistry or history, those little bits of trivia add even more charm to our hobby.

Saturday Question #283:

What’s the Most Interesting Perfume Fact You’ve Learned?

It doesn’t have to be an obscure or groundbreaking fact – just something that surprised or intrigued you when you first learned it. Maybe it’s something many perfumistas learn sooner or later, but most people outside our hobby wouldn’t know.

My Answer

I recently came across something called “olfactory training” or “smell training,” which involves regularly smelling some distinct scents (e.g., rose, lemon, clove and eucalyptus) and consciously trying to identify them. Research shows that these simple exercises act like a workout for the brain, helping to keep memory and thinking skills sharper over time. Clinical trials with older participants and patients with early Alzheimer’s suggest that this kind of mental engagement can have measurable benefits.

For example, in one recent study, participants aged 60–85 in an “enriched” group were exposed to seven different pleasant scents each week, one per night, for two hours using diffusers, while a control group received only tiny amounts of the scents. After six months, the enriched group showed significantly greater improvement on a word‑list recall test, and brain scans revealed changes in a neural pathway known to decline with age.

It’s not a treatment for dementia, of course, but at least our perfume habit has an excuse for being indulgent: it’s brain exercise! Time for round two: let’s see if I can finally pick out a few notes in the latest batch of samples.

What’s the Most Interesting Perfume Fact You’ve Learned?