Saturday Question: How Many Perfumes Do You Bring to Your Vacations?

The question is inspired by the recent Portia’s post about perfume wardrobe for the South Korea trip.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #157:

How Many Perfumes Do You Bring to Your Vacations?

Do you have some rule or a tradition related to which perfumes you take with you an a vacation? Does it depend on the length of the trip, destination or a mode of transportation? Do you usually bring more or less than you need?

My Answer

As a rule, I take two perfumes for each day of the trip plus one or two extra if it’s a longer trip. And usually, I manage to wear more than half of them. But once I remember I brought 21 perfumes to my 8-day Hawaiian vacation, which was overkill even with multiple swims and showers daily.

Maui 2014 Parfums

Other than tropical vacations, I do not have any special selection of perfumes I take with me: I try to guess what I’ll enjoy wearing based on the location and expected weather there. It doesn’t always work – hence the multiple options I bring. Since I rarely go anywhere with carry-on luggage only, my choice doesn’t depend on whether it’s a flight or a drive to the destination.

 

How about you?

How Many Perfumes Do You Bring to Your Vacations?

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Saturday Question: For Which Brand(s) Do You Have a Week’s Worth of Wearable Perfumes?

I just blinked, and my week ran away from me. Due to various reasons, I didn’t wear perfumes every day. One of the reasons was decision paralysis: I felt too overwhelmed with other stuff and was afraid to make a wrong choice. That got me thinking: would it be simpler if I chose just one brand and went through 7 perfumes from that brand? Do I even have any brand with enough different scents to do that?

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #156:

For Which Brand(s) Do You Have a Week’s Worth of Wearable Perfumes?

I’m asking not about just any 7 perfume from a random brand: most of us will probably have a discovery set or 7 random perfume samples for several brands. But do you have 7 perfumes from a brand that you bought (or swapped) because you liked them and planned to wear them? You can count any bottles or decants of 5 ml or larger but not samples.

Bonus question: How often do you wear perfumes from the same brand on multiple consecutive days?

My Answer

I practically never wear the same perfume two or more days in a row. And I rarely wear perfumes from the same brand within a week.

I have several brands for which I counted enough scents to support my imaginary project. But one brand stood out: Jo Malone. Even though in recent years I lost interest in their new creations (as in “getting not more than one or two new mini bottles per year”), throughout my hobby, I accumulated enough perfumes that I like from this brand to wear a different one for at least 3 weeks.

So, starting tomorrow and until the end of March, I will wear one of Jo Malone’s perfumes. Luckily, many of them are not too tenacious, so if I apply one in the morning, I’ll be free to choose any other scent later in the afternoon.

Jo Malone

How about you?

 

For Which Brand(s) Do You Have a Week’s Worth of Wearable Perfumes?

Saturday Question: Do You Have Any Perfume Hacks?

Somewhere between the last SQ post and this one, we quietly passed a three-year mark since this series moved to Undina’s Looking Glass. I’m glad that you still keep coming back to participate. And especially I’m pleased to see when the conversation goes beyond just exchanging a couple of comments with me, and you find each other’s comments engaging (particularly when I’m late with my replies, as it was in the last couple of weeks, about which I’m sorry but wanted to let you know that even when I don’t reply, I read your comments within several hours after you post them). But I promise I’ll try to be more present.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #155:

Do You Have Any Perfume Hacks?

It doesn’t have to be something significant or unheard of. But if there is something you find helpful for yourself – be that about wearing, storing or buying perfumes, making them last longer (or getting rid of the offensive scrubbers), anything else that some people might not know (or just don’t think of it) – please share.

Bonus question: What perfume are you wearing today?

My Answer

I suddenly had the urge to wear Neela Vermeire Creations Trayee. I think it’s an amazing perfume. And I wonder how much it has changed since its first release in 2012. Has anyone had a chance to smell it from the newer bottle in the last 2-3 years?

Now to hacks.

1. It applies mainly to decants and handmade samples, but I found it to be the case with some full bottles as well: if you haven’t used them for a long while (6 months+), before spraying perfume on yourself, do the “dry run” first – let the first 1-2 sprays to go into the air (away from you) or in a sink: I noticed that for whatever reason a portion of perfume that is left in the tube and the spraying mechanism spoils faster than the rest of the vial. So, if you “clear” the stale or rancid portion, the rest might still be good to wear.

2. This is more like observation and recommendation. If you like a newly released mainstream perfume and are considering buying it, try to do it within the first year of the release. It seems like companies reformulate their fragrances as soon as they become popular. If in the past we could blame IFRA for more and more limitations, these days, I think it’s all corporate greed and desire of the brands’ executives to report to “stakeholders” an extra percent of profit, which comes from cutting corners where possible hoping that nobody notices.

Do You Have Any Perfume Hacks?

Saturday Question: What Are The Strangest Notes In Perfume You Encountered?

I came up with this question a couple of weeks ago when I told you about the gasoline accord in Parfumes Quartana Ierofante. But it was right before Valentine’s Day, so chocolate seemed like a better idea. And then I forgot.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #154:

What Are The Strangest Notes In Perfume You Encountered?

It can be a note in the perfume pyramid you own or tried. Or something you read about. Or a weird note you smelled in perfume even though it wasn’t listed.

My Answer

If I were to sift through my database, I could find more strange notes. But that would have been cheating: most of my readers do not have a database to check. So, I’m going with the note I remembered without looking: Instant film accord in Vogue 125 by Comme des Garcons.

I didn’t read notes before trying it for the first time, so this note surprised me. I didn’t recognize what it was. It reminded me of acetone, and I wondered what it was. But when I read about that note, it fit just perfectly matched what I smelled. And it has the ink note, which also isn’t the most common or expected. I don’t want to wear it, so a small sample is all I have. But it was interesting to smell.

 

How about you?

 

What Are The Strangest Notes In Perfume You Encountered?

Saturday Question: Which 3 Perfumes Would You Like To Experience Again?

Please don’t rush to answer (I know some of you who practice TL;DR). This question has a twist. Please bear with me; I’ll explain below.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #153:

Which 3 Perfumes Would You Like To Experience Again?

This is not a question about which perfume you’d like to be “resurrected.” And not about which vintage perfume in an intact condition you’d like to find one day. Perfumes that fall under this mental exercise are perfumes that 1) you previously smelled; 2) they are now either discontinued or reformulated.

So, if you were offered an opportunity to smell (OK, I’ll be generous – and wear, if you want to) again just once any perfume that fits the criteria listed above – which 3 would you have chosen?

My Answer

I thought of this SQ after exchanging comments in the last week’s post. I would love to be able to smell once again Thierry Mugler’s Angel as it was in 1993-94 (that’s when I first smelled it). My bottle is from around 1999-2000, and I’m not 100% sure that even it was the same as it was initially created. Now it’s more than 2 decades old, so it smells somewhat different from how it was when I bought it. And newer versions are definitely reformulated – even though they are still quite recognizable. But my memory of what it was like in the beginning is so vivid (not the scent but my reaction to it) that I would like to experience that Angel again. Though, I’m not sure if I’d want to wear it.

The second perfume of my choice would be my lifelong love Climat by Lancome. I’d like to smell and wear that perfume in its early 80s version. I have at least 5 different versions of it in my collection, and I love, like or appreciate them. But I remember how I thought that Climat was the most beautiful perfume ever (and couldn’t understand how not everyone felt the same about it). So, I would like to compare my memory to the actual scent.

The last wish is more practical, so to speak. Eight years ago, for the blog’s anniversary, I told the story of a perfume that I owned in my adolescent years and could never find since (due to the inconspicuous name “Paris Paris” and an unknown to me brand name). I would like to smell it again to learn if I still like it and, if yes, with my better understanding of perfumes and experience with thousands of them, to try to find something that smells similar.

Rusty and Paris-Paris Bottle

Which 3 Perfumes Would You Like To Experience Again?

Saturday Question: Do You Like A Chocolate Note In Perfume?

With the upcoming Valentine’s Day, and since we’ve previously covered a question about roses, I decided the other ubiquitous element of the celebration might be appropriate for today’s SQ.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #152:

Do You Like A Chocolate Note In Perfume?

Do you own any perfumes with that note? Do you wear them?

A bonus questions: Do you like chocolate? If yes, what is your favorite type?

 

My Answer

Let’s start with the important part: I love eating chocolate. I prefer dark chocolate with nuts. The best combination for me is dark chocolate (~72-75%) with hazelnuts.

As to perfumes, I was surprised to discover how many perfumes with this note I have and wear. I’ll name just three (and then will join you in comments if you mention any of those that I also like:

1. Mugler Angel Taste of Fragrance: unlike the original Angel, which also has this note, I still wear this one from time to time.

2. Armani Prive La Femme Bleue: I think, this is my #1 favorite chocolate perfume – I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that it also contains the most beautiful iris note?

3. Guerlein Gourmand Coquin: I wish I would have figured out earlier how much I liked this perfume. Now I should persuade myself not to hoard the remaining ml in my dab sample and enjoy wearing it last couple of times.

Rusty and Candies

How about you?

Do You Like A Chocolate Note In Perfume?

Saturday Question: Are You Tired Of Winter [Perfumes] Yet?

So, a couple of days ago, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow predicting 6 more weeks of Winter. For us, perfumistas, it also means more time to wear “heavy-heaters” in our collections. How do you feel about that?

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #151:

Are You Tired Of Winter [Perfumes] Yet?

I’m interested in answer to both questions. How is your winter this year? Do you enjoy it? Are you “done” with it and ready for the next season? How about winter perfumes? Did you have enough of them, or do you look forward to more time with them? Which perfumes are in your current rotation?

My Answer

I just have to brag! I love-love-love this winter! I mean, Northern California winters are always quite good. But this year, even though it’s slightly colder than it was in the last couple of years (today it was +8C/+46F at night and +17C/+62F during the day), it is RAINING (!), which is great after years of drought. Of course, now we have the opposite problem in some places, but in general it is really good. And I’m happy with the weather.

Also, since it’s cool, I enjoy wearing my “winter” perfumes that I neglected last year. I can’t say that any of perfumes is “in rotation” since I wear a different one every day. If not to count Papillon Artisan Perfumes Hera: since I have just a small sample, I decided to wear it until it is finished: I know that eventually I will buy a full bottle of it (I’m trying my best not to break my “no-buy” for now), so I don’t want my sample to evaporate while I’m waiting. So, I wear Hera at least once a week, and by my estimate I have  more “wears” left.

Other perfumes I enjoyed recently: Puredistance Rubikona and 12, Teo Cabanel Alahine and Floris Honey Oud. (I do not wear Fleur de Lalita now: the photo below is there for Rusty’s shadow and not perfume.)

Speaking of Rusty, he, on the other hand, doesn’t enjoy winter: he clearly prefers sunny days when he can sunbathe at the window.

Rusty Sees Shadow

How about you?

Are You Tired Of Winter [Perfumes] Yet?

Saturday Question: Have You Tried Anything New Recently?

I’m running a little late with this week’s SQ, but I hope my anniversary post kept you entertained while I was finishing this one.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #150:

Have You Tried Anything New Recently?

It’s almost the end of the first month of 2023. Have you tried anything new this year? It doesn’t have to be something just released – just new for you.

My Answer

I just went to my local Nordstrom to check if they already had new Tom Ford‘s perfumes. They did! Unfortunately, they stopped the sampling program, so I couldn’t make samples myself, and the SA I talked to didn’t have any manufacturer samples. So after I made sure that at least I didn’t hate them on paper, I courageously sprayed two perfumes on two wrists.

I’m not sure why Tom Ford decided that we needed 2 (two!) flankers for Lost Cherry – but here we have them: Cherry Smoke (2022) and Electric Cherry (2023).

On paper, I liked Electric Cherry better (notes: cherry, ginger, jasmine sambac, ambrettolide, pink pepper and musk), but as both perfumes developed, Cherry Smoke became more interesting (notes: sour cherry, saffron, leather, olive, Chinese osmanthus, apricot, woody notes, smoke and cypriol oil).

When I say “more interesting,” I don’t mean interesting enough for me to want to pay $240 for a 30 ml bottle. If you ask me, it’s a ridiculous price for this perfume. But if people pay the price, kudos to TF. Would I want to wear it if I were to get it for free? I don’t think I want more than a sample. But I’ll try to get that sample if I can.

 

How about you?

 

Have You Tried Anything New Recently?

Saturday Question: What Did You Not Know In Your Pre-perfumista Days?

I loved, owned and wore perfumes for most of my life. Recently, talking to a “civilian” friend, I realized that many things that seemed trivial and clear to me weren’t that for my friend. So, I thought it would be interesting to “compare notes” (some pun intended).

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #149:

What Did You Not Know In Your Pre-perfumista Days?

When I say “pre-perfumista,” I mean when you were not reading perfume blogs or participating in FB perfume groups. It doesn’t have to be significant, just anything you can think of.

 

My Answer

I didn’t know that:

Companies can reformulate perfumes while keeping the same name and packaging. I used to think I had just changed my mind about the perfume I used to love.

Notes listed for perfume might have nothing to do with ingredients that actually went into its making. I believed that “rose,” “jasmine,” or “lily of the valley” (yeah, this is my favorite) essential oil was used.

Flankers of most perfumes were temporary/limited editions that would disappear in 6 to 12 months and never return. I kept looking for some of them on discounters’ sites. Oh, and I didn’t know the word “flanker.”

Now it’s your turn.

 

What Did You Not Know In Your Pre-perfumista Days?

Saturday Question: What Are Your Top Five Green Perfumes?

Since I’ve been swamped recently, I don’t follow NST’s community projects any longer (not complaining – just stating the fact). So, I didn’t know this week’s topic (“True Colors: tell us your favorite color, and wear a fragrance with that color in the name, or that reminds you of that color, or that has juice in that color, or … ?”). But I got a suspicion it was related to NST and color when I saw hajusuuri’s IG post earlier today. And that was when I realized I wore four green perfumes this week. Spontaneously. In the middle of Winter. Without knowing about any projects. So, I decided why not to make it into the SQ.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #148:

What Are Your Top Five Green Perfumes?

Bonus question: Do you wear green perfumes all year round, or is there some particular season for them?

My Answer

I’ll start with answering the bonus question: as I explained in the post The Color of Spring (I used a photo from that post below even though not all of the perfumes on it made it to my Top 5 list), I associate green perfumes with Spring. But it seems this year, with its unexpected heavy rain in our area, I started craving green perfumes earlier.

My Top 5 Green Perfumes (not in particular order):

  • Chanel No 19 EdT
  • Puredistance Antonia
  • vero profumo Mito
  • Avon Deneuve
  • DSH Perfumes Vert Pour Madame

Green Perfumes

How about you?

 

What Are Your Top Five Green Perfumes?