Saturday Question

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Saturday Question: How Is Your Winter?

As someone who lived through a couple of really awful winters and knowing about rolling blackouts not just in theory, I am deeply concerned about people who had to experience the recent winter storm that hit Texas. But I know that all over the world these last days or even weeks were quite challenging, being either too cold or too hot, thus affecting negatively a quality of life – as if the ongoing Covid situation wasn’t enough. So, while I’ll add on a lighter perfume-related question (this being a perfume blog and all that), the main question I want to ask is how you are doing.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #52:

How Is Your Winter?

Are/were you in any area that had serious weather anomalies or especially harsh days (even if it’s not something unheard of in your area)? And, just in case I don’t know that (or you want to share with others), tell us at least your approximate location (city, state or country – whatever you keep comfortable with). Were there any negative consequences related to weather? How are you dealing with your winter in general?

What was the “warmest” perfume you wore recently?

My Answer

I know that we will be crying the next fire season, but at this point I feel really lucky: if anything, the temperature in San Francisco Bay Area was pleasantly cool this winter, and we even got some rain (though, we’re still in the state between “abnormally dry” and “moderate drought” in areas around where I live and with even more severe conditions throughout the state of California). But we have power, water and gas to heat our houses. I must say, though, that to cause the same devastation as Texas is currently experiences, in my area all you would need is a week of 0C/32F (hopefully, it’s scientifically impossible).

As to perfumes, after 10 days on a rose kick, I suddenly caught a whiff of Amouage Ubar from one of my scarves in the closet… so I’m wearing and tremendously enjoying it today. It is so warm and soft and cozy. It smells like a nice cashmere sweater feels against my skin. Today it is definitely my #3, but at any time it is in the Top 10. BTW, have you heard anything about it being discontinued? I seem not to be able to find it at online stores. I still have half of my bottle (picture below is several years old), but it scares me that I might run out of it in my lifetime…

Amouage Ubar

How Is Your Winter?

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Saturday Question: What Is Your Favorite Rose Perfume?

Regardless of how you feel about the upcoming Hallmark holiday, you’d agree that traditionally it is associated with roses more than with any other flower. So, I thought it was a good enough reason for this week’s question.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #51:

What Is Your Favorite Rose Perfume?

Do you like perfumes with a predominant rose note? If yes, which ones come to mind first? If no, what is the closest to the rose-centric perfume in your collection?

Do you do anything special for Valentine’s Day? Do you acknowledge it in any way or ignore completely?

My Answer

Even though Valentine’s Day came into my life just a couple of decades ago, I rather like it (though, I like most of the holidays, so it’s not representative). I like it despite the fact that it interferes with my personal celebration: even though my birthday is a couple of days before, everything gets harder because of the upcoming holiday. Everything – plane tickets, hotels, flowers – are more expensive and harder to get, restaurants are busier, and any possible activities are sold out if you didn’t think about it at least a month in advance.

Nevertheless, I’m trying to do something nice to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and not just as a romantic couples holiday, but in wider meaning. I think it comes from the fact that when I was growing up, similar holidays (one for men and another one for women, on different dates a couple of weeks apart), while having some romantic component, also incorporated what in the U.S. is celebrated as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, including future/potential mothers and fathers. And being that inclusive, while still slightly forced (though, is it really that different from celebrating veterans on the Veteran’s Day or parents on the mentioned above designated days?), were readily celebrated both at work, in schools and in private settings.

At home, we always make a nice dinner on February 14. If I have time, I might decorate our living room a little. Sometimes we exchange small presents. Usually I’m getting flowers. Nothing obligatory or too elaborate, but nice and quiet.

This year, since we’re not back to the office, I didn’t get to do anything “publicly” in RL, so I decided to do “the next best thing” – a mini-project on Instagram: Rose Countdown to Valentine’s Day.

I did Mini-Monday with a mini bottle of Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur EdP, Travel Tuesday with a travel spray of Hermes Rose Ikebana, Throwback Thursday with Lancome Mille et Une Roses and Favorite Friday with Ormonde Jayne Ta’if Elixir (and later I wore Ta’if Parfum for the birthday dinner). I skipped Wednesday – and not because I couldn’t think of any day-appropriate secondary project (which I didn’t – any ideas?), but because an unexpected plumbing emergency didn’t leave me any energy to even wear perfume – let alone stage a photo. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see what I’ll be doing for Saturday and Sunday (and if you don’t, check back here in the upcoming days to see the latest picture on the sidebar (web)/below (mobile)).

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Happy Valentine’s Day if you celebrate – either with someone or alone. Have a restful weekend if you don’t, and do something nice for yourself, because you do love yourself, right? You should.

Cat Rusty and Roses

What Is Your Favorite Rose Perfume?

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Saturday Question: Do You Like Skin Scents?

Tara (A Bottled Rose) has recently published a post about a newish perfume she tried Diptyque Fleur de Peau – a skin scent with an iris twist. And that prompted my thinking about that category of perfumes.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #50:

Do You Like Skin Scents?

I’m not sure if there is a strict definition for the type – “your skin but better” or perfumes that sit close to skin or perfumes that do not smell perfume-y – but whatever you imagine when you hear that term, do you like skin scents? Do you own any of them? When do you wear them?

My Answer

While I do not dislike perfumes that would be characterized as a skin scent, I gravitate to louder, more pronounced perfumes. It is ironic since for the last many years I had to carefully choose what to wear to the office, not to disturb a couple of co-workers sensitive to scents. So, I would have benefited from having more of those in my collection. Instead, I have many Jo Malone perfumes that just disappear in a while, not leaving any trace, but most are quite prominent and unapologetic.

The closest I get to perfume that matches that category is probably sadly discontinued Tiempe Passate by Antonia’s Flowers. There is a chance that when I think it stays close to my skin, in reality it projects much better (follow the link to read more about the phenomenon in my older post), but for me it is beautifully quiet perfume.

Another one that comes to mind when I think about skin scents is Tauerville‘s limited edition When We Cuddle And I Can Smell Your Perfume On My Clothes. I wouldn’t have ever tried it if it weren’t for the wonderfully generous enabler, hajusuuri. Now I’m not sure whether to thank or “curse” her: I enjoy it so much, despite my preconception about that line and general dislike of such lengthy names. I regret not buying this perfume during the short time when it was available. I think it is a perfect skin scent and enjoy wearing it in the evening – so that I can take it with me to bed. But other than these two, I can’t think of any others. Considering the size of my collection, obviously it means that I don’t really like the type. How about you?

 

Do You Like Skin Scents?

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Saturday Question: Who/What Sent You Down the Rabbit Hole?

Today’s post is slightly unusual: there will be no “My Answer” since a week ago, in the post for this blog’s 10th anniversary, not only I answered it (and, for those who missed it, even managed do do an interview with the “who” responsible for “what.” But now it’s your turn. (The question was suggested by Brigitte.)

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #49:

Who/What Sent You Down the Rabbit Hole?

Rusty
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Saturday Question: Which Perfumer Would You Like to Meet In Person?

Undina: Today your host is Narth again, and the question was suggested by Brigitte.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #48:

Which Perfumer Would You Like to Meet In Person?

When in 2000 Frederic Malle started putting perfumers’ names on perfume labels, it was something almost revolutionary because until then perfumers were, mostly, like those household spirits from Scottish folklore who were coming out at night to do various chores while everybody were asleep.

These days people who create those liquid wonders that bring us so much joy are much more visible and appreciated. But would you like to meet any of them in person?

Narth’s Answer

I arrive at my seat on the plane, thankful it’s only two across and I don’t have the window. A devout user of the “loo” no amount of views can compete with the peace the aisle seat affords in saving me from climbing over folk. After wrestling my bulging backpack into the overhead compartment (which always makes me think of a notorious tampon commercial that played in Australia – PM me for details), I take in the fellow at the window seat. Mostly bald, well dressed in an understated way, he’s typing on a device while the internet is still in play. Good, doesn’t look like a talker, a boozer, or someone who will spread himself into my space. He barely glances at me as I sit down, even better. I spend the time before we are aloft as I always do, studying the exciting/not menu for the next three meals and wishing I’d remembered to bring a sachet of chilli sauce, any chilli sauce, with me.

We’re in the air, all the bustle of take-off is over, and I unbuckle. I’ve decided I am going to have the fish on rice because it promises to contain lemongrass. Lemongrass, like chilli, covers a multitude of sins.

And then, the man speaks.

“Excuse me Miss [wow this really is a fantasy], can I ask what perfume you are wearing?”

I smile, knowing I have committed no unpardonable olfactory crimes. I have chosen my perfume with being entombed in a tin can with 300 people in mind.

“It’s my favourite scent, L’Artisan Dzongkha.”

The man’s face lights up, he is visibly familiar with Dzongkha. I ask him if he likes it.

“Oh well… Yes, I should like it as I made it. I am the perfumer.”

“BERT!!!!!”, I scream…

No, of course, I don’t scream and of course, I do not address Bertrand Duchaufour as “Bert”. I’ve affectionately called him that on the Internet because he is my dearest, most adored perfumer, and Australians do love their nicknames. It shows we like you. What really happens is I start to babble, naming every Bertrand Duchaufour scent I’ve owned and fangirling like a lunatic. Poor Mr. Duchaufour, how long is this plane ride?

I confess to you, dear readers, that this is an actual daydream I’ve had pretty much every time I’m swooning over a Bertrand Duchaufour fragrance. He’s the nose behind two of my most loved scents, the aforementioned Dzongkha and Penhaligon’s Sartorial.  I have many of his L’Artisans, and he was my idol during my Comme de Garcon groupie days. I’m wearing Olfactive Studio‘s Woody Mood in the heat today and knowing who created it means I have an affection for the scent I might otherwise not. Though I’ve gotten sidetracked by new houses and perfumers, Bert and I go back years, back to my perfume beginnings. His ability to create scents that tell stories and make you reflect was formative in my perfume relationships. I’m not sure if I would have appreciated perfume in quite the same way if Mr. Duchaufour had instead become a painter.

 

Which Perfumer Would You Like to Meet In Person?

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Saturday Question: Have You Ever Had a Significant Perfume Break?

Undina: Today your host is Narth.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #47:

Have You Ever Had a Significant Perfume Break?

Is your relationship with fragrance different now?

Narth’s Answer

I once had a long perfume break, a break that lasted several years. I still wore perfume during portions of this break but I stopped paying attention to it. I spent some time blankly applying old favourites I didn’t have to choose (I have gone through at least seven bottles of Stella). I went weeks, months, where I would often forget to wear anything at all. If I did return, briefly, to the land of fragrance it would be oddly pragmatic, a Body Shop cream or an inexpensive soap. Most tellingly, I no longer found myself thinking about every scent on my morning walk. The eucalyptus, Daphne, onion grass and possum piss no longer occupied my senses, they just smelled. Was I depressed? Maybe. Probably. Yes. I also listened to less music, ignored art entirely and took comfort in very simple food. I felt guilty because I no longer cared.

I spent many years on a perfume forum and the words of one poster who “quit” perfume kept coming back to me. “It’s only bottles of water”. Was I going to end up there, looking at my expensive and too vast collection of liquids with dismay? I didn’t want to think about that so I didn’t think at all.

I wish I could remember how I emerged from this funk. This would be a better story if on the way to buy something dull, ramekins perhaps, I paused in front of an unfamiliar bottle of fragrance and impulsively sprayed it. My senses awakened! My brain fired neurons! Words I’d not used in years appeared before me, ecstatically vibrating their essence… vervain, vetiver, vintage, vamp. Oh I wish I had this story and a fragrance I could affectionately thank for bringing me home. But it wasn’t like that. Music and perfume and making crazy food feasts just started happening again, inexplicably. For a while, I was fearful these interests would again drift away. I’ve realized too that interests, like friendships, have to be nurtured even when we feel blah about them. Perfume and humans can not be reduced to “bottles of water”.

Pot Pourri, 1897 (oil on canvas)

MAA181779 Pot Pourri, 1897 (oil on canvas) by Draper, Herbert James (1864-1920); 50.8×68.5 cm; Private Collection; Photo © The Maas Gallery, London; English, out of copyright

How about you?

 

Have You Ever Had a Significant Perfume Break?

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Saturday Question: Perfume or Fragrance?

The first week back to work (even though not “back in the office”) happened to be more taxing than I expected, and because of that I haven’t finished my statistics post in time to publish it mid-week. But since I don’t want to postpone it for much longer, today’s question is a “lighter” one, and I invite you to come back tomorrow for my Year 2020 Entertaining Statistics post.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #46:

Perfume or Fragrance?

Which of the two words do you use or use more often? Is there any distinction for you when each of the two is/should be used?

My Answer

Not being a native English speaker, in many cases I follow the flow, pick up words and phrases from things I read or hear, not thinking too much on why one or the other synonym is used – I just take it as given. And then sometimes I suddenly discover that some term, phrase or idiom that I knew was more specialized than I thought or was not as widely known as I assumed. Then I start doubting myself.

Of course, I’m familiar with both words, and came across both “perfume” and “fragrance” multiple times starting from the pre-perfumista times. But both in my writing and on other blogs, forums and FB groups I see the word “perfume” used much more often than “fragrance.”

Over the last couple of months, I’ve been watching … YouTube videos. Don’t start fainting yet: I was watching make-up reviews and tutorials. Having found myself in the situation where I had to figure out without going to stores a replacement for the discontinued tinted moisturizer that I used for many years, I turned to this channel of getting some type of a guidance. While doing that, I found several “content producers” whose videos I find useful, entertaining or both. But what I noticed while watching those videos was that on those rare occasion when the product in question was mentioned (usually mainstream or luxury lines), everybody always refers to it as “fragrance.” I was surprised but didn’t pay too much attention to that (and you don’t want to know what people who are not “into perfume” are telling others while describing those “fragrances”!). But then, following a link on Instagram, I came to the YouTube channel of “one of us.” And there, again, that guy kept calling what he was reviewing “fragrances.” After that I found several random YouTube perfume reviews just to confirm that it was a common practice. It seems so.

I decided to check. Google provided me these definitions that didn’t explain my observations:

Perfume and Fragrance Definitions

Then I decided to compare numbers (you know how I like doing that; I would have done charts if it weren’t for the statistics post that I was working on). Searches that I ran in Google produced strange results. Nobody knows Google’s algorithms, so I can’t even speculate how it happens that while there are more hits for the singular form “fragrance” (593 M) vs. “perfume” (555 M), hits for the plural form “perfumes” (644 M) beats both the singular and the plural form “fragrances” (488 M).

My next experiment was with a popular hashtag generator for Instagram. Results there were much further apart, with the form that I use being much more popular: #perfume (15.14 M), #perfumes (5.13 M), #fragrance (6.36 M), #fragrances (1.4 M).

YouTube doesn’t provide count for the searches, so I can’t check it there. But all that makes me wonder: have I just managed to come across of the example of an unrepresentative sample fallacy? Or do YouTubers actually prefer “fragrance” to “perfume”? And if yes, why? What do you think?

 

Perfume or Fragrance?

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Saturday Question: Do You Have Any Perfume-related New Year Resolutions?

So, it’s 2021. Hello New Year! Are you going to behave? ‘Coz we all saw your predecessor, and I gotta tell you: most of us wasn’t that enamored with it.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #45:

Do You Have Any Perfume-related New Year Resolutions?

It’s that time of the year when one time or the other we all got tempted to make some New Year resolutions aiming at changing our existing habits or targeting some desired result.

Was this New Year one of those times? Did you make any New Year Resolutions/Plans? (Yes/no would suffice but please share more details if you can/want – I’m always curious, and “saying it aloud” might help your motivation). If yes, were any of them perfume-related? What exactly do you hope to change or improve?

My Answer

I am making some resolutions this year. I’m painfully aware that, as many others, I would doubtfully stick to these, but if I do not try, I definitely won’t succeed. So, at least I can try. The one of the general resolutions that I’m willing to share is my intent to try to start reading something not work-related again. I remember loving to read for the first 20-25 years from when I learned how to read. It was such a joy! A good book could completely take my mind away from reality for hours. And I would have to force myself to put a book aside to get some sleep, otherwise I would be reading through the night. And then, gradually, it started going away… It wasn’t related to the language – I read many books in English after moving to the US. But somehow reading more serious books started burdening me, and reading something light didn’t seem all that virtuous or better than watching the same type of content but as TV shows or movies. But this year I will try again in a company with a couple of friends. I’ve never been in a book club, but the idea of a some type of virtual book club appeals to me. We’ll see how it goes.

As to perfume-related resolutions, I do not have any plans for changing my perfume habits, but I have two things I want to try.

  1. One day a week, I’ll wear perfumes hajusuuri-style – 8 sprays. For so many years I felt conscious about wearing perfumes to the office. First, I was a “big boss,” and I didn’t want to subject people who depended on me to the difficult choice of either tolerate perfume they didn’t like or to tell their manager they didn’t like it (though, I suggested to them to let me know if even my light application of some of my perfumes bothered them, and on several occasions they did, and I took those perfumes off my office rotation). Later, in my next work place, I had a manager who probably didn’t like any perfumes but was very delicate and complained just a couple of times when I was overly enthusiastic with the application. But both experiences trained me to under-apply (2, maybe 3 light sprays of my more office-friendly perfumes), and even working from home where my perfumes usually do not disturb anybody, I am still doing the same couple-of-sprays-light-hand application. So, now I’m curious to see how it feels with the “real application.” Though, I think I’ll start with Jo Malone colognes and similar.
  2. Doing my December CaTendar (the countdown to Rusty’s 12-year birthday on Christmas Eve) on Instagram was hard, even though I have hundreds of pictures of Rusty. But at the same time it was fun. Pictures of Rusty will appear with the same regularity as before December (or maybe more often, but I’m not making any resolutions about that), but I decided to try and post photos of perfumes a little more often. There is no way I could do daily SOTD posts. But at least sometimes, when I have more time to put together a shot of a bottle of  perfume I wear, I’ll do an IG post, even if I do not publish a blog story about it. Like I did on January 1, 2021, for Frederic Malle‘s Portrait of a Lady that I rocked in my flannel PJs recuperating from the late-night New Year celebration.

Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady perfume

How about you?

 

Do You Have Any Perfume-related New Year Resolutions?

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Saturday Question: What Perfume did You Wear on Christmas Eve?

It’s the last Saturday of 2020. Some of the winter celebrations are already behind us, but we still have some to look forward to, so let’s keep the spirit of the holidays high and talk about them a little more.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #44:

What Perfume did You Wear on Christmas Eve?

In fact, I’m curious not only what perfume you’ve chosen (for the celebration or just for that day, if it wasn’t your holiday), but I’d also want to know about the reasoning behind that choice.

Also, if you do not mind, share what you did this Christmas Eve. Did you eat anything especially great and worth mentioning? Did you get any gifts that made you happy (not necessarily perfumes, but please share if you got those as well).

My Answer

We celebrated Christmas with our “extended bubble,” even though none of us can “claim” this holiday as ours. But it’s a long-standing tradition for us, so we celebrate it every year. Since I tried my hardest to make this holidays season as great as possible despite everything that’s happening in the World, I chose to wear Ormonde Jayne Ta’if, my all-times love #2, for the holiday that I adopted after moving to the US, saving my #1, Lancome Climat, for the New Year celebration, since that perfume was with me through many new years, some of which were probably even harder for me personally than 2020 was.

When we were much younger, our traditional New Year celebration would start with a festive dinner… around 10 PM to be done by midnight, toast the New Year – and then spend the rest of the night celebrating. As we grew … up, first we stopped going through the whole night of celebration, cutting it short at 3-4 AM first and recently rarely making it to after 1:30-2 A.M. With that, our evening meals started getting lighter and lighter: the older we get, the harder it gets to eat a big dinner 3-4 hours before going to bed. At some point we figured out that Christmas Eve dinner was a much better time to eat all of our traditional New Year celebratory dishes – and that’s what we’ve been doing this year. A highlight of the dinner this year was a roasted duck that our friend cooked.

As a gift I got a funny t-short (see the picture below) that I plan to wear the next time I’m forced to participate in an early morning meeting. I bought a perfume gift for myself, but since it’s not here yet, I’ll tell you about it next year when it arrives.

Since the birthday boy refused to fully participate in my perfume photo shoot (despite my promises to reward him with treats), I made a picture of Ta’if with the Old World Christmas‘s Santa Kitty ornament, which we bought as one of the two yearly additions to our ornaments collection.

What Perfume did You Wear on Christmas Eve?

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Saturday Question: Are There Mere-exposure Effect Perfumes in Your Collection?

If you are not familiar with a psychological phenomenon called the mere-exposure effect or familiarity principle, you can read more about it in this Wikipedia article. I am using it rather jokingly, as a conversation starter for this week’s Saturday Question.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #43:

Are There Mere-exposure Effect Perfumes in Your Collection?

The idea behind that phenomenon was: “After repeated exposure, the observing organism will begin to react fondly to the once novel stimulus.”

Do you have any perfumes that you like more now then you liked them when you first bought them or got them as a gift? We’re not talking about the situation when you tested a sample or a small decant, didn’t like it, then tested more, liked and bought perfume. Or didn’t like perfume initially then tested years later and fell in love.

Can you think of any perfume that you liked but didn’t love … until you got used to it?

My Answer

I knew I would buy Annick Goutal Nuit Etoilee as soon as I saw an announcement about its launch: I liked the brand, I was very partial to their old-style colored bottles, and especially I liked that dark blue color. So, once I found it at a store, I bought it. It wasn’t a blind buy, I liked it, but at that time there were so many other great perfumes that Nuit Etoilee seemed somewhat simple and … not challenging (?). It wasn’t a statement perfume (I gravitate to those). And for a while I thought that it reminded me of Serge Lutens Fille en Aiguilles. I even solicited blind testing experiment from three fellow-parfumistas (if you weren’t around then and curious or want to read objective impressions of this perfume from reviewers who didn’t know what they were testing, take a look: Déjà vu, Episode 4: des pairs, dis-pair, Despair).

Rusty and Annick Goutal Nuit Etoilee

Starry Night? Where?!!

I wore Nuit Etoilee for a while, but then somehow forgot about it and didn’t wear it for at least 4 years. I didn’t change my mind about it. I didn’t dislike it. I just never chose to wear it.

A couple of months into the lockdown, I thought of wearing it – I don’t remember what prompted it. It was almost a shock: I liked it very much. It surprised me. What was that? Have my tastes changed? Does this perfume seem so much better now compared to endless modern concoctions? Or was it a true case of the mere-exposure effect?

[…] analysis found that the effect is strongest when unfamiliar stimuli are presented briefly. Mere exposure typically reaches its maximum effect within 10–20 presentations, and some studies even show that liking may decline after a longer series of exposures. For example, people generally like a song more after they have heard it a few times, but many repetitions can reduce this preference. A delay between exposure and the measurement of liking actually tends to increase the strength of the effect.

 

Are There Mere-exposure Effect Perfumes in Your Collection?