Saturday Question

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Saturday Question: What Do You Consider A Decant?

There are almost no doubts when it comes to full bottles. I say “almost” because I could never figure out how to classify 10-15 ml bottles of pure parfums. But other than that, it’s clear. Travel bottles are also self-explanatory. But what about decants?

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #102:

What Do You Consider A Decant?

Clearly, any amount of perfume transferred from the original brand’s bottle into a generic vessel is a decant by definition. But on your personal scale, where does the demarcation line go between a sample and a decant?

My Answer

When I tried to answer my own question, I realized that my logic isn’t that straightforward. In my perfume database, everything under 2 ml I classify as a small sample; 2 ml+ is marked as a large sample; 5ml and up is a small decant; and everything 10 ml and above is a large decant.

But when talking to others, I consider 2.5 ml and below as a sample, and everything larger is a decant (terminology-wise, I always try to talk in ml).

Is it important? Not on its own, though from my experience I learned that when dealing with others, it might be useful to establish a common ground. I remember how many years ago I was swapping perfumes with another perfumista. It wasn’t a formal swap but rather a friendly exchange of perfumes one of us had and another wanted to try. So, we didn’t do any usual dance people do for a formal swap. We just discussed what we would exchange, the word “dacant” was used during email communications, and then packages went to their destinations. It was one of the first few perfume exchanges I’d done ever. So, I carefully decanted and packed several 4-5 ml spray bottles with perfumes we discussed and was eagerly awaiting for the package with treasures for me. Back then, my collection was much smaller, and I was regularly wearing perfumes from samples/decants. So, you can imagine my disappointment when I unpacked 4 or 5 half-full 1 ml dabbers. In my swapping pal’s defense, she was coming from the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab World where, as I know, it was customary to exchange 0.2-0.3 ml (since those were oils sold in small bottles to start with).

Since then, I always talk milliliters, even though now if I exchange anything with anyone, it’s with people to whom I don’t mind sending samples/decants without getting anything in return, so terminology is immaterial. Ironically, these days I prefer getting 0.7-1 ml samples for most perfumes I want to try and rarely 2.5-3 ml decants of those that I consider buying but want to wear a couple of times first.

What Do You Consider A Decant?

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Saturday Question: Do You Have Any Mugler Perfumes In Your Collection?

Since the sad news earlier this week of Thierry Mugler passing away, Perfumeland was paying tribute to his contribution to the perfume landscape of the Western world. So, I decided that we could do our own remembrance topic.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #101:

Do You Have Any Mugler Perfumes In Your Collection?

It would we hard to find any perfumista who isn’t familiar with the most famous Mugler‘s perfume – Angel. And since this is one of the brands easily available in many stores, it doesn’t take much to get to try perfumes from the brand. But do you own any of this brand’s perfumes? We’re talking any size from a full bottle to decants – as long as you paid for it.

My Answer

I like the brand. I still own the first bottle of Angel that I bought about 20 years ago. I’m not sure that even when I bought it, it still was the original formulation (but back then I didn’t even think that a brand can produce another formulation of perfume under the same name, in the same packaging), but whatever it was, I loved it when I bought it, and I can tell that the scent has changed since when I bought it. It didn’t turn (I don’t think the formula contains anything that can go rancid), but something is different (and it’s not only the color of the juice). It’s still nice, and I wear it from time to time (but strictly when I stay at home). The last time I wore it was last Monday after I heard the news.

Mugler Angel

Since I loved Angel, I also bought Angel Taste of Fragrance. It’s nice, I like it and wear from time to time. At home. The only other full bottle from the brand that I have is A MEN Pure Havane that I bought for my vSO (I should probably spray it on him this weekend).

I liked Womanity, and thought of getting a small bottle of it, but settled for a mini bottle, a part of the set that also includes Angel, Angel EdT and Alien, none of which I wear. I have small decants of Oriental Express, Over The Musk and Supra Floral: I like wearing these from time to time, but I don’t think I’ll ever go for a bottle.

For a while I was obsessed with the coffret the brand created for Süskind‘s novel Perfumer, but not only the price was completely outside of what I could pay for perfume back then (or would pay now even though I could), but it wasn’t even available in the US, so I had to let it go.

 

How about you?

 

Do You Have Any Mugler Perfumes In Your Collection?

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Saturday Question: Do You Wear Perfume When Working Out? (And Are You Working Out?)

By now, New Year resolutions about getting fit, if any of you had made them, have been already broken, and most of us should be back to the “status quo” (whatever it was pre-resolution), so it should be a good time to discuss the topic(s).

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #100:

Do You Wear Perfume When Working Out?

I realize that nobody would intentionally try to wash away perfume before working out if they happen to wear it earlier (or would you?), but what if for whatever reason before exercising you were “commando” perfume-wise – would you apply anything before going to somewhere to exercise or starting it at home? If yes, do you have any special perfumes or types of perfumes that you choose for that? If no, what’s the reason?

Bonus questions: Are you working out regularly? If yes, what do you do? If no, do you want to? Do you plan to? Do you have any favorite YouTube channels for exercising?

My Answer

While I never really enjoyed exercising, when I used to do it regularly (around the time when I started this blog), I discovered at some point that some perfumes bloomed perfectly in hot environment of Bikram yoga classes (for several years my post about it, Body Heat: Perfumes under Extreme Temperatures, was one of the most visited posts on the blog – of course, not for the content itself but because of the “Kathleen Turner body” search phrase that surprisingly a lot of people used back then).

In the recent years, due to laziness and health issues, my physical activity got to such a level where I wouldn’t call it “exercising” – so, it’s safe to say that I wasn’t working out while wearing my perfumes.

I started trying to get back to exercising before the New Year (just not to make those NY resolutions to break them later). I don’t do much: just some light stretching and a little bit of strength building. And since the only time I can make myself to do at least something is after my work day (when it ends at manageable time), and that is sometimes the first time I can pause, think about perfume and apply it, I again started combining these two activities. As I don’t disturb anyone but Rusty, who objects even more to the activity itself, I am not being mindful of my choices and wear whatever I feel like that day.

I have a quibble about many YouTube exercise videos “for beginners” that I was able to find: as someone who at some point was in a much better shape, now suffers from back issues (and plainly getting older) and tries take it slowly, I can tell that many of those stretches and yoga poses are not even close to be beginner-friendly. Unfortunately, it looks like I’ll have to seek some professional help to figure out what I can do without hurting myself. Meanwhile, it seems like my body reacts the best to the lying flat cat pose (unfortunately, extra pounds on me look not as cute as on Rusty).

Rusty on the Exercise Mat

Do You Wear Perfume When Working Out?

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Saturday Question: What Perfume Bottles Got Better After The Re-design?

We habitually lament perfume reformulation of perfumes. Change in packaging often goes hand-in-hand with the changes in how perfume smells (and almost always it’s not a positive change). But what if we were to look only at bottles themselves leaving aside negative connotations of the whole process of repackaging?

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #99:

What Perfume Bottles Got Better After The Re-design?

Can you think of any single perfume or brand’s bottles in general the second (or third) change to which you think was an improvement?

A bonus question: name 1-3 brands/perfumes where you disagree with the change and wish they haven’t done it. Don’t be “greedy”: do not do the whole laundry list of grievances. If you agree with someone else’s choice, add your negative vote to their comment – that will leave you more chances to scold the offending brand that hasn’t been named yet.

My Answer

I’m still lamenting the loss of those beautiful colored flutes of Annick Goutal, and I think that Teo Cabanel‘s glass bottles for their classic line were more attractive than the current “metallic” renditions. But I can think of at least one line whose repackaging increased their appeal to me: Mona di Orio. I know that some perfumistas preferred their champagne-bottle-style cap, but for my personal aesthetics, their second bottles interpretation for the line is much more attractive.

Rusty and Mona di Orio Vanille

What do you think?

What Perfume Bottles Got Better After The Re-design?

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Saturday Question: Do You Keep Any Perfume Records? (And My 2021 Year Round-up Entertaining Statistics)

A couple of weeks ago, in another SQ post, Jyotsna suggested this question. And I decided it was a good idea to combine it with my yearly statistics post.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #98:

Do You Keep Any Perfume Records?

Do you have a spreadsheet of your entire collection? Or maybe you’re tracking them somewhere online, as a wardrobe in one of the perfume forums? Do you record what you wear or test? Or, maybe, what you buy?

If yes, how meticulous are you? If no, do you have a desire/urge to do it?

My Answer

As many of you probably know already, I record everything related to my perfume hobby in a database. If anyone hasn’t seen it yet and is curious, in my 2017 Year Round-up post I told more about that database and shared some screenshots. Data that I record there allows me to run these yearly calculations to share with my readers. I try to record what I wear or test daily (in the last year’s statistics post, I provided an infographic that explains wear vs test concept), but some days I don’t get to the home computer where I have that database, so then later I would try to catch up for several days, if I remember what it was.

In 2021, compared to 2020, I wore fewer perfumes (178 vs 210) from fewer brands (79 vs 96) on fewer occasions (291 vs 367). It means that for 2.5 months during 2021 I didn’t wear perfumes. It doesn’t mean that I was completely scentless on those days: if not to count several occasions when I wasn’t feeling well because of the vaccination shots, I used those days to test perfumes new to me or re-test those that I’ve previously tested. But even testing went down in 2021 (compared to 2020): I tested/re-tested 180 perfumes (327) from 68 brands (126).

My traditional Top 10 brands worn chart has the same 7 brands that keep re-appearing in my yearly posts for the last 9 years in slightly different order: Ormonde Jayne, Guerlain, Amouage, Tom Ford, Jo Malone, Chanel and Serge Lutens. The remaining three brands are new on that chart: Puredistance, Olfactive Studio and Masque Milano.

My Stats Year 2021

Nose Prose just did a post on the first week of the project she runs this month: to wear different perfume for each day. When I first read about it, I was almost surprised: how else? I’m so used to my routine of not repeating the same perfume for months, that I forgot that many people, even perfumistas, often rotate through some small subset of perfumes (and I’m not even talking about Brigitte who might wear the same perfume for weeks). This year, out of 178 perfumes that I wore 110 made their appearance just once. And perfume that I wore most often, Ormonde Jayne Ta’if, I wore only 6 times (plus 3 times I wore Ta’if Elixir).

The only aspect where I “improved” is the number of 2021 releases that I tested – 38 vs 22 (2020) vs 16 (2019). The list of my Top 5 new releases for 2021 is in the previous SQ post.

 

Now it’s your turn.

 

Do You Keep Any Perfume Records?

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Saturday Question: What Are Your Top 5 Perfumes of 2021?

So, we’re in 2022. I think, by now we all learned to be rather cautious than optimistic about the year to unfold. But at the same time, in the beginning of something new (even though in this case it’s quite arbitrary, just a number accepted by a majority as an identifier for the span of time we find ourselves in), it is both customary and easy(ier?) to let yourself to be hopeful. So, let’s hope that the next 12 months will be kinder to those who had it hard in 2021 and at least not worse for those who didn’t suffer from that year much.

That was about life in general. Perfume-wise, in my opinion, 2021 wasn’t that bad. Yes, on the downside, some perfume events had been cancelled, and many of us had less opportunities to sniff something new both locally and while traveling. But at the same time, it felt like we finally got our wish: in 2021, not everyone and their uncle has launched a new perfume brand; and existing brands seemingly slowed down with new releases. And while we still had a lot more new releases than it’s feasible to test and review, somehow it felt less overwhelming (or maybe I just got used to it?).

So, I thought it might be interesting to share our “best of 2021” perfume finds.

Saturday Question #97:

What Are Your Top 5 Perfumes of 2021?

If you tried enough 2021 releases to come up with 5 that you liked, please share those. But if no, you do not have to limit yourself with just new launches: your top 5 might be of new for you perfumes that you tried in 2021 for the first time and liked. Or it can be 5 perfumes that you finally got into your collection in 2021. And if none of these apply (if you were on a strict “no buy” or just didn’t like anything), just give us your top 5 favorites that you wore in 2021.

My Answer

I plan to look into all of my 2021 numbers soon for my traditional Entertaining Statistics post, but I already looked it up and know that I tested 38 perfumes released in 2021 from 29 brands. And among those that I tested, there are enough perfumes that fit this week’s question. And I can even rank them.

#5: Chanel Paris – Edimbourg

While I don’t think I’ll buy Paris – Edimbourg for myself, I liked it, especially on my vSO. So, one day, after he finishes the samples I passed on him, he might get a bottle of it under a Christmas Tree.

#4: Eris Parfums Green Spell

What can I say? I love green perfumes. I’ll finish the sample I’ve got and then will probably get a 10 ml travel spray.

#3: Teo Cabanel Rendez Vous

Randez Vous was my favorite from the Teo Cabanel’s new line. I can see a small bottle in my future.

#2: Serge Lutens La Dompteuse Encagée

Since I reviewed La Dompteuse Encagee, I had a chance to test it in Hawaii and confirmed that I enjoy it in hot/tropical weather. But since, at least under those conditions, it is less tenacious than I would like it to be, it seems that I will “need” a bottle of it.

#1: Puredistance No. 12

I consider Puredistance to be “my brand”: I had a couple of “loves” from them over the years, and most of the rest perfumes were strong “likes.” But each of their last three releases, Gold, Rubikona and now No. 12 (why haven’t I wrote about it yet?!), was making it almost impossible for me to choose my #1 perfume from this brand. But for 2021, No. 12 is my uncontested No. 1.

Puredistance No.12

What Are Your Top 5 Perfumes of 2021?

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Saturday Question, Rusty’s 13th Birthday And Merry Christmas to All!

If any of you are allergic to cats… stories, feel free to jump to the end, to the Saturday Question part.

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We all have witnessed that scenario in real life, on TV or maybe even participated in it from one of the two sides: a loving mother would tell “a funny story” from the past about her grown-up child, and the said child would be wincing with embarrassment or displaying his/her discomfort one way or the other.

Luckily for me (and him?), Rusty does not read my blog (as far as I know), so I can get off telling his kittenhood stories scot-free.

Hiding and Jumping

The apartment where Rusty spent his first year didn’t have too many places a kitten could hide. Rusty had discovered one great spot: in the corner behind the sectional sofa (on the photo below, it’s where the floor lamp stands). The spot was perfect in all respects but one: Rusty could easily get down there from the sofa, but since the bottom was too close to the floor, he couldn’t get out that way, and since the backrest was too high, Rusty couldn’t jump back up. So, once he would get bored hiding there, he would start crying, and one of us would lie on that backrest and fish him out from that corner. It wasn’t easy: that backrest was high. And one day my vSO managed to hurt himself trying to free Rusty. At this point, we gave up and moved the side of the sofa that was under the clock away from the wall, so that Rusty could get out on his own. I think that spot lost its appeal soon after that.

Corner Sofa and Wall Clock

Speaking of the clock. It’s hard to think of what was happening in Rusty’s head: the clock didn’t have a second hand, so there wasn’t any noticeable movement. But he kept watching it for days. Then once, he stepped far away from the sofa (probably to somewhere close to the point of view for the photo above), then ran-ran-ran, jumped on the sofa, then on the back, uuuuup to the clock… What happened next looked exactly like the Glass Smack and Slide move from a cartoon: Rusty smacked into the wall under the clock and then slid down, behind that side of the sofa that we moved away from the wall. Silently. We thought that if he didn’t kill himself then definitely injured. But several long seconds later, Rusty walked out from behind the sofa, demonstrating with his demeanor that nothing had happened, and it wasn’t even him who had just fallen… He ignored that clock from that day on.

Sudden Attack of a Shopping Bag

In the same apartment, under the entryway console table, we kept a paper shopping bag that we used for recycled paper. Magazines, papers and store ads went into it as is, and for mail that one wasn’t supposed to just throw away my vSO worked as a human shredder. Rusty loved hunting in those bags. He would dive into it, find the most interesting piece of paper and play with it for a while, until either it went under the sofa, or we put it back into the bag. It went on for months, until one day Rusty managed to get his head through the bag’s handle, got spooked and started running with the half-empty bag “chasing” him. It took us some time to catch up with him and free him from that paper monster. My vSO called it “a sudden attack of a shopping bag.” It took Rusty a long time to forget about that incident. But in a while, he got over it and now considers those bags as a type of a box and either gets inside or sits on them.

Rusty in the Bag

Unexpected Effect of the Drought

With umbrellas, it was the opposite. For the first couple of years of his life, Rusty was fascinated with umbrellas, so whenever we would bring one into the house and open it to dry, Rusty would sniff it, sit under it or play with it. And then because of the 5-year drought we had in our area, umbrellas disappeared from Rusty’s life. And the next time he saw it, he unexpectedly got scared. Since then, as soon as he sees me carrying an umbrella, a closed one (!), he runs away. So, the only proof it hasn’t been always like that is those rare photos I managed to take when Rusty was much younger.

 

I have many other stories about Rusty – both from years ago and from yesterday, even though he got much smarter with age, learned a lot and taught us many things. But I’ll leave those stories for another time. Today, for his 13th birthday, Rusty got to spend quality time on our bed, enjoyed Ricotta cheese for breakfast and turkey breast for dinner (in addition to his regular meals), and was rewarded with plenty of treats for compliments he got from my readers and Instagram followers. I hope he stays healthy for many more years, keeps his kittenish mien and brings joy to us, our friends and everyone else who knows him in RL or online. And to all of you, from Rusty, my vSO and me (that photo was a collective effort):

Rusty Merry XMas 2021 and Happy NY

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Saturday Question #96:

Do You Have a Pet (and Does You Pet Like Your Perfumes)?

I know about pets companions of many of my loyal readers. Some of them virtually visited Rusty on his 10th Birthday. But I don’t know everyone’s pets, and I’m sure that many of you do not know each others’ cats, dogs, rabbits or rats (If you named your fish, I would consider those as pets as well) – so, please share your pets’ names, links to photos (if you have them publicly online) and, if you’re sure they don’t read my blog, any stories that they would have been embarrassed to hear.

What do your pets think about your perfumes (if anything)?

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

My Answer

As a kitten, Rusty didn’t mind any of my perfumes. Then later he started cleaning my wrists when I tested some perfumes. As he grew older, he started avoiding stronger scents if I apply them to my wrists: he might come to sit on my lap, but then he smells perfume from my wrist and runs away. So, when I know that he would be spending some time with me, I try not to scent my wrists (neck is OK).

 

Do You Have a Pet (and Does You Pet Like Your Perfumes)?

 

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Saturday Question: Which Perfume Gets You The Most Compliments?

Today’s question is, again, courtesy of Brigitte.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #95:

Which Perfume Gets You The Most Compliments?

I realize that the last two years weren’t the best in terms of sharing your olfactory presence with others, but maybe you remember from before our “new normal”: do you think one of your perfumes prompts positive reactions more often than other perfumes in your collection?

Bonus question: Do you choose to wear that perfume for some particular occasions because of that?

My Answer

If it weren’t for my database, I would have told you that Tom Ford‘s Violet Blonde was my mostly complimented perfume (which makes me regret not buying a bottle of it when it was available: my decant has probably a couple of applications left in it). But I would have been wrong.

After running some calculations, to my surprise, I discovered that perfume that over the last 10 years got me twice as many compliments as the next contender (Violet Blonde, so I wasn’t that off) is… my second all-time favorite Ormonde Jayne Ta’if.

If to think about it, it’s not a complete surprise: as my special occasion perfume, I wear it to those occasions where people are more inclined to compliment me. But still, it didn’t come to my mind on its own, intuitively, without involving dispassionate numbers.

Ormonde Jayne Taif Parfum

Which Perfume Gets You The Most Compliments?

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Saturday Question: What Are You Looking Forward To This Holiday Season?

Holiday season is in full swing, so I thought it would be nice to talk about nice things that are either happening already or being anticipated. We don’t need to limit ourselves by just perfume-related sides of our lives (but of course don’t hold off any of those).

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #94:

What Are You Looking Forward To This Holiday Season?

Do you have any family or friends gatherings planned? Are you giving or expecting to get any special gifts? Are there any special dishes you know you’ll cook or get to eat? Will you have any time off? Do you travel somewhere? Will you do anything special for yourself?

My Answer

I have just 7 work days left this year: starting December 23 I’m taking time off until after the New Year holidays. I hope to survive until then because the amount of work I have to complete before my staycation is just insane. But I’ll get there and will have a 12-day break – I didn’t have such a long vacation in… I don’t remember how many years.

We plan to decorate our house outside tomorrow before the predicted with the 100% probability rain on Sunday, which is a positive thing on its own because my vSO and I love rain. And while it rains outside, I’ll be decorating the Christmas Tree. I’m sure Rusty will be “helping.” And since I’m not driving anywhere, I’ll start playing my Pandora Christmas Music channel at home whenever I can. (Love-love-love all those Christmas songs that people complain getting tired of!)

My Perfume Advent Calendar turned out even better than I expected: I genuinely look forward to opening the next numbered bag every morning. I anticipate wearing my most favorite perfumes for the celebration days ahead. And I’m thinking about one last important addition to my perfume collection (about which I’ll tell you if it happens).

I plan to cook several dishes that I do only around these holidays. I don’t have the complete list yet, but I will definitely make a cranberry-apple-walnut mold salad (see the picture below) and a cheese pie. Just thinking about these two dishes makes me happy.

Cranberry Mold Salad

During our staycation, we plan to meet with several friends whom we haven’t seen in a while, make several day trips and hopefully spend more time outside of our house.

 

What Are You Looking Forward To This Holiday Season?

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Saturday Question: Do You Mind Revealing What You Are Wearing?

We all participate in different forums, blogs, groups, etc. And discussing our SOTDs is something mundane. But how do you feel about telling somebody in real life what perfume you’re wearing?

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #93:

Do You Mind Revealing What You Are Wearing?

I remember years ago reading on some of the blogs that people were reluctant to share with others (outside of the online perfume community) what perfume they were wearing. The reasons were different – from plainly not knowing how to pronounce the name to being afraid of being judged for buying too expensive perfume or even because they didn’t want others to have the same perfume they did.

So, how do you feel about that? If your friend or a co-worker were to ask what perfume you are wearing, would you tell them? How about a stranger (in a non-creepy situation)?

My Answer

In general, I’m an “oversharer” when it comes to things that I like, find useful or consider a great deal. So, if anyone were to ask (and I think it had happened more than once), I would not only tell them what perfume it was but make sure to include some information about the brand (unless it’s a well-known one), where it can be tried or bought and whatever other information I think might entice the victim of that cornucopia of information to pursue “my” perfume.

But there is one perfume that I would not “advertise” had I been asked by somebody who is (and will be) in my circle: Ormonde Jayne Ta’if. I love it so much that I feel very possessive and wouldn’t want anyone else to come to the party in a cloud of “my” scent.

If any of you is curious why I do not feel the same about my all-time favorite Lancome Climat, it’s easy: since it is discontinued, I don’t expect anyone who isn’t familiar with it to bother finding it. So, even if asked, I could freely give out the name, immediately providing the extra detail that it has been discontinued – just to be helpful, you know).

Rusty and Ormonde Jayne Ta'if

How about you?

Do You Mind Revealing What You Are Wearing?