Saturday Question

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Saturday Question: What Was the Last Perfume in Your Collection that Wowed You?

Do you know how hard it is to put some questions in a short form? Something simple like “What is Your Favorite Beach Scent?” or “Name Your Top 10 Birch Tar Perfumes” is easy. But every time I try to ask something more complex (in form), I risk either running a 3-line question or to confusing you all. I just hope you read my explanations and do not rush to answer based on the first impression.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #175:

What Was the Last Perfume in Your Collection that Wowed You?

So, I’m not asking about the last perfume that you loved and bought. We have great collections, and I assume we like most of the fragrances we own. I’m asking about the case when you sprayed on one of your favorites from your fragrant wardrobe and thought to yourself: “Wow! It is so beautiful!” (or something along the line).

What was that perfume? When?

My Answer

This year isn’t the easiest for my family, and I noticed that my perception of perfume is slightly skewed: more often than I’d like it to, I put on a scent I own and think: “It is nice, but I remember liking/loving it much more.” It doesn’t go into the territory where I dislike those perfumes, but I can’t help feeling slightly disappointed by not being enamored of it as I used to be. So, these days, when I do admire perfume I’m wearing, I feel especially grateful to it.

The last time it happened was a couple of days ago when I reached out to Atelier Cologne Clémentine California. I always liked and enjoyed wearing it, but when I bought it six years ago, I thought it was in the same category as the other two citrus perfumes that I liked from the brand (When Life Gives You Clementines, Enjoy Them). Since then, it grew on me, becoming my favorite Atelier Cologne perfume. But that last time, as I put it on, it was that “Wow” reaction that I hope for every time I spray on my SOTD but don’t get often.

Rusty and Atelier Cologne Clementine California

How about you?

 

What Was the Last Perfume in Your Collection that Wowed You?

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Saturday Question: How Many Chances do You Give Perfumes You didn’t Like?

I’m running late this week, so it’s more like a Sunday Question, but I decided to keep the title.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #174:

How Many Chances do You Give Perfumes You didn’t Like?

If you have a sample in your possession, tried it and didn’t like – what do you do? Do you try it again? How many times? What do you do with those samples after that?

My Answer

I’m a sample hoarder. Which wouldn’t have been that bad on its own since most of my samples are tiny (so, I don’t waste too much of perfumes), but unfortunately, I keep testing them again and again. There are two scenarios, and I don’t even know which one is more frustrating.

In some cases, I can’t believe that I didn’t like that perfume (on the previous dozen of occasions!) and think that maybe this time… But even more often I just don’t remember what I thought about that sample and instead of checking my database (as any sane person would do), I decide to try it again. Only recently, I started setting aside those samples that I decided I shouldn’t test any longer – if I don’t forget, of course. I need to learn to be more ruthless and save my testing time for those perfumes that have any potential either for wearing or at least for becoming a part of a story.

 

How about you?

How Many Chances do You Give Perfumes You didn’t Like?

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Saturday Question: An Ambassador of What Brand Would You Like to be?

How is your summer going? Is it hot now where you live? Do you spend more time outside these days? I hope you’re still around to participate in this week’s Saturday Question.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #173:

An Ambassador of What Brand Would You Like to be?

I know that none of us is influential enough to be even considered for this role for any of the brands, either upcoming or well established. But just as a mental exercise, if you were given such an opportunity, an ambassador of what brand would you like to be?

My Answer

Our weather is almost perfect: it’s not going to be above 27C/80F for the next 10 days, and as soon as our hot summer sun goes down, the temperature drops, and 15 degrees difference between the hottest and the coolest temperature of the day is great to cool off everything around.

When I came up with this question, I thought that it would be hard for me to choose a brand. But as I went through the list of all of my favorite perfumes, I realized that there were just 3 brands that I love enough to consider for such an important commitment. I do not want to “take” it from you, so I won’t name the contenders (I’ll chime in if anyone mentions my two “runner ups”). The brand I chose is Amouage. Even though my biggest loves from the brand are from their earlier years, I still find their perfumes interesting and try to test everything they release (when I’m not on “no-buy,” of course). And with each next perfume they create, I hope for the next Ubar, Gold, Dia or Lyric. And not only I like many of their perfumes and aesthetics, last year on Instagram they did a series where they presented people who worked on their perfumes. Not a creative director or a perfumer, but regular workers – the woman who glues golden seals on the flacons, the man who oversees the maturation and maceration of concentrates and others. I remember thinking that it was a clever campaign.

Amouage Collection

How about you?

An Ambassador of What Brand Would You Like to be?

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Saturday Question: Have You Had a Change of Heart About Any of Your Perfumes Recently?

After a series of “favorite perfume” Saturday Questions, let’s do the opposite.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #172:

Have You Had a Change of Heart About Any of Your Perfumes Recently?

We’re not talking about perfumes that never worked for you or those that you never got because you weren’t sure if you cared for them. The question is about perfume that you used to like and still have in your collection but no longer feel attracted to.

A bonus question: Do you plan to keep it?

My Answer

For many years, I don’t remember significantly changing my mind about my perfumes: once I got any into my collection, I would feel attached to it and happily wear it occasionally. But in the last year, something has changed, and I periodically surprise myself with the realization that I don’t enjoy any longer perfume I just put on.

The most recent disappointment was Penhaligon’s Ostara. It has never been my top favorite, but I liked wearing it in Spring. I sprayed it a couple of weeks ago and almost immediately regretted it. It wasn’t awful, but for some reason that day, it felt “off,” and I could barely wait for it to dissipate.

I don’t plan to do anything about Ostara for now: I’ll try it again next year to see if I would like it again. Since it had been discontinued and can’t be repurchased, I don’t want to regret later parting with it on a whim.

 

How about you?

Have You Had a Change of Heart About Any of Your Perfumes Recently?

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Saturday Question: What Perfume Would You Wear for Your Wedding Today?

I know, I know: most of my loyal readers are either already married or do not plan to. But it’s my anniversary week, so I have weddings on my mind. And by the power vested in me by WordPress G-ds… Well, since it’s my blog, let’s talk about weddings perfumes.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #171:

What Perfume Would You Wear for Your Wedding Today?

I mean, if you were to get married today, what would be your perfume of choice?

My Answer

Many moons ago, my wedding perfume was my all-time favorite Lancome Climat. So, would it have been today, I would have still chosen it, I think. Though, I might go for my second long-time favorite – Ormonde Jayne Ta’if.

Other contenders for me would be Amouage Gold (though, it would be very similar to Climat), Amouage Dia, Armani La Femme Bleue or Les Parfums de Rosine Rose d’Amour.

How about you?

What Perfume Would You Wear for Your Wedding Today?

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Saturday Question: What Is Your Favorite Guerlain L’Art & La Matière?

After questions about the private lines of Chanel and Dior, I think it’s time to see how we fare with everyone’s darling Guerlain.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #170:

What Is Your Favorite Guerlain L’Art & La Matière?

Do you love any of them? Too many or not at all? Do you own them? Do you wear them?

Have you tried any of the new ones that they released last year?

My Answer

My most favorite perfume from the line, Cruel Gardenia, is from pre-reformulation time. I was so scared when I learned about the upcoming repackaging that I bought a backup bottle. Recently, I tried a new version at a store: without comparing it side-by-side with the one that I have, I can’t tell how much it has changed.

I smelled several new perfumes released in 2022, but since I’m not an agarwood fan, I didn’t give them any skin time, so I didn’t form a definitive impression of them. Anyway, I have at least two perfumes in the line that I would buy before any of the new ones.

Guerlain Cruel Gardenia

How about you?

 

What Is Your Favorite Guerlain L’Art & La Matière?

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Saturday Question: What Is Your Favorite La Collection Privée Dior?

Last week we discussed Les Exclusif de Chanel, so I thought it would be interesting to try another grand house – Dior.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #169:

What Is Your Favorite La Collection Privée Dior?

Do you love any of them? Too many or not at all? Do you own them? Do you wear them? What was the last new one you tried?

My Answer

My relationships with Dior cooled off when they stripped my favorite Miss Dior of its name to promote the “impostor” pink juice (not even in the original kind of interesting formulation!). And then they repackaged their Privée line. I didn’t mind it in principle, but they released so many new perfumes that I felt completely lost and overwhelmed. So, I am not even sure which perfumes I tried and which I didn’t. The last one that I tried and liked was Vanilla Diorama. I don’t want a large bottle of it, but I like it enough to wear it from the sample a friend sent me.

Technically, I do not have a favorite La Collection Privee perfume since 2 I own came from the pre-reformulation La Collection Couturier Parfumeur line. But since “my” perfume is still present in the updated collection, I will nominate it: New Look 1947, the first full bottle I bought from this line. It feels very elegant. It is present but quiet. Slightly powdery, with a exquisitely balanced floral and amber notes. Tenacious but not tiring.

Dior New Look 1947

How about you?

What Is Your Favorite La Collection Privée Dior?

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Saturday Question: What Is Your Favorite Les Exclusifs de Chanel?

I was thinking about large brands’ exclusive lines and realized that it has been a while since Chanel released their last perfume in their Les Exclusifs collection (it was Le Lion, back in 2020). I was too absent recently, so I haven’t heard any news about new launches from Chanel. Have you? Meanwhile, let’s talk about our existing favorites.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #168:

What Is Your Favorite Les Exclusifs de Chanel?

Do you love any of them? Too many or not at all? Do you own them? Do you wear them?

My Answer

While I like many perfumes from this line, I have just two full bottles, a couple of minis and a few decants in my collection. So it makes sense to choose one of the two FBs. I think.

So, if I had to choose just one, it would be Cuir de Russie, probably the most favorite leather perfume in my collection. (And I’ll chime in if you mention my other favorites in your comments.)

How about you?

What Is Your Favorite Les Exclusifs de Chanel?

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Saturday Question: What Do You Think About Opaque Perfume Bottles?

Last week brought an unexpected interruption, and I couldn’t publish the SQ post. But I’m back, and I’ll try not to skip these traditional posts in the future.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #167:

What Do You Think About Opaque Perfume Bottles?

Do you like them? Do you own them? Or do you avoid them?

My Answer

I have mixed feelings about opaque bottles: many of those I’ve seen were beautiful. I almost bought Chanel Coco Noir even though I wasn’t that enamored by the scent. And I would have bought Chanel No.5 Red Edition if I hadn’t missed it – and I don’t even like No. 5!

But when it comes to owning and using those perfumes in opaque bottles, it bothers me that I can’t clearly see how much juice is left in the bottle, which is especially annoying with heavy, quality bottles. I know that it is not rational: I won’t go through most bottles I have, so it’s not like I need to be prepared or will buy a backup bottle. And still.

 

How about you?

What Do You Think About Opaque Perfume Bottles?

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Saturday Question: What Is Your Favorite Vanilla Perfume?

One of the YouTube creators recently did a short video on the scent that, according to researchers, people consider the most pleasant. Of course, even before they ran a mini-poll asking to choose from the 4 quite ubiquitous aromas, I knew the answer – that’s why I won’t even try running it here (hence the topic). But I looked up the study, and I thought that the conclusions were interesting:

  • Culture plays a minimal role in the perception of odor pleasantness.
  • Individuals within cultures vary as to which odors they find pleasant.
  • Human olfactory perception is strongly constrained by universal principles.

Odor preference rankings were collected from nine culturally and geographically diverse populations. These included the three hunter-gatherer groups, Seri from a coastal desert and Maniq and Semaq Beri from tropical rainforest, one shoreline forager, Mah Meri, from a tropical coast; one swidden-horticulturalist, Semelai, from tropical rainforest; one farmer-foraging community, Chachi, from tropical rainforest; one subsistence agriculturalist community, Imbabura Quichua, from temperate highlands; and two urban dwellers from industrial and postindustrial communities of bustling urban settings, Mexican and Thai. The data from these nine communities were then related to available data from a large dataset on odor preference collected from urban dwellers from the USA (New York City).

If you want to read through the study, here’s a link.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #166:

What Is Your Favorite Vanilla Perfume?

Similar to bergamot, rose and jasmine, vanilla is a “usual suspect” in many compositions. But this question is about perfumes where one can unmistakably pinpoint that ingredient as a main player.

Do you have many vanilla perfumes? Any? How often do you wear those?

 

My Answer

I do not love vanilla in perfumes. I do not dislike it either. Over the years, I found 5-6 vanilla-centric perfumes I like and wear. Vanilla perfumes are my rainy day perfumes. Vanilla perfumes are my sick-day-but-still-don’t-want-going-commando perfumes. And sometimes those are “just because” – but not too often.

Today I wore Le Labo Vanille 44. I’m on my second decant, which means that I like it. If it weren’t for Le Labo’s idiotic “city exclusive” gimmick, I would have probably bought a small bottle of it by now, despite the price. I’m still contemplating getting a bottle of Tauer‘s Vanilla Flash. But my #1 vanilla perfume is still Mona di Orio Vanille.

 

How about you?

What Is Your Favorite Vanilla Perfume?