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Saturday Question: What Do You Mispronounce In Perfumeland?

This question was suggested by Portia in response to my comment on the Arancia Di Capri by Acqua di Parma: Blu Mediterraneo Series post.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #226:

What Do You Mispronounce In Perfumeland?

Are there any perfume names, brands, perfumers or notes that you know now that you used to mispronounce?

My Answer

As I told Portia, for years I was reading the brand’s name as Acqua di Pharma. Not only I read it like that, I also recorded it in my database. And partially because of that I felt somewhat dismissive towards their perfumes. I didn’t avoid them completely and tried several, but I weren’t too motivated to seek them out.

Since then, I’ve corrected both my perception and database entry, but that initial feeling is still somewhere deep in my mind.

 

How about you?

What Do You Mispronounce In Perfumeland?

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Saturday Question: If You Can’t Find a Perfume in Your Collection, Does It Even Exist?

It is not a serious question: I couldn’t help but paraphrase the philosophical question “If a tree falls in a forest… ” It was prompted by real events earlier this week (see My Answer for more details), but for the Saturday Question post I meant it more along the line: How often does it happen to you?

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #225:

If You Can’t Find a Perfume in Your Collection, Does It Even Exist?

Is your collection small enough or well-organized so that this never happens to you? Or do you also struggle with locating perfumes you want to wear or test?

My Answer

In the beginning of the week, after reading Vanessa’s (Bonkers About Perfume) post about Epona, a new perfume from Papillon Perfumery, and its place in Vanessa’s personal hierarchy of preferences for this brand (I’m not telling – check it out in her post if you haven’t done so yet), I realized that I haven’t worn my two absolute favorites from the brand in a while and decided to rectify it. Immediately. Riiiight…

In my defense: I do not own bottles of Bengale Rouge and Hera (yet). A decant of Bengale Rouge that a generous friend shared with me still has a couple of ml. This perfume has a special meaning for me: missing Rusty while traveling to London years ago, I fell in love with Bengale Rouge. So, this bottle is on my mental “to buy” list once I finish the decant.

I bought a sample of Hera right before my self-imposed “no-buy,” so I was cherishing it, knowing that eventually this perfume would join my collection (and secretly hoping that maybe the brand would release their perfumes in travel bottles).

I spent two days looking for both perfumes. I knew that I had them. I could envision them in my mind. But I couldn’t remember in which box or drawer I put them. That’s when I thought that if I couldn’t locate a perfume when I wanted to wear it, it wasn’t much different from not having it at all. Well, in some respects, it was worse if you count my frustration from going over and over all the possible places.

I dug them out eventually, wore them again and confirmed that I still liked and wanted both. But don’t I risk “disappearing” more of my current favorites by adding more perfumes to my collection?

 

What is your experience?

 

If You Can’t Find a Perfume in Your Collection, Does It Even Exist?

Arancia Di Capri by Acqua di Parma: Blu Mediterraneo Series
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Arancia Di Capri by Acqua di Parma: Blu Mediterraneo Series

Hey there ULGers, You are ensconced in your mid-summer heatwaves so I went looking through my samples for something suitable. Maybe, I thought, we could sniff something you may have forgotten. Then my eyes spied the glorious blue of Acqua di Parma Arancia Di Capri. The fragrance is turning 25 this year, that’s a really good run. Must be something wonderful in the bottle?

My sample came with an order from First in Fragrance a couple of years ago. I remember spritzing, liking enough to keep the sample and then it languished in a box.

Arancia Di Capri by Acqua di Parma: Blu Mediterraneo Series 1999

Arancia Di Capri by Acqua di Parma: Blu Mediterraneo Series 1999

Acqua Di Parma gives the gfeatured accords:
Top: Italian Sweet Orange, Italian Mandarin, Italian Lemon
Heart: Petit Grain, Cardamom
Base: Caramel, Musk

Bittersweet citrus and smooth greenery open up Arancia Di Capri. It’s a beautifully worked reissue of the old trope. Very cologne-ish and refreshing. There is an added extra of cool earthiness like walking through dappled shade in lightly wooded, well mulched parklands. This opening lasts much longer than expected and I really get to enjoy it before we move on.

As we enter the heart the citrus becomes more pithy and there is some warmth to the greenery, sawdusty woods. I keep thinking what a beautiful everyday spritz Arancia Di Capri would make. It’s fairly simple but lovely enough that a perfumista could easily wear it daily. What I really think it would be excellent for is both the younger and much older ends of the perfume wearing spectrum. Excellent gateway to more refined fragrance and also a good go-to for someone who wants to smell good but really doesn’t care about perfumes like we do.

When they noted caramel I was expecting it to have a really gourmand base but it’s not like that at all. More of a low key amber that rides underneath a vegetal musk. The citrus pith never truly leaves and longevity for this cologne style EdT is excellent.

Arancia Di Capri by Acqua di Parma: Blu Mediterraneo Series 1999 30ml

Another thing I love about many of the Acqua Di Parma range is that they come in five sizes. Choose from the very elegant 30ml travel pictured above to an enormous 180ml behemoth. There is also a beauty/bath range and ambient fragrance choices. You and your home can be top to bottom Arancia Di Capri. If I was a one scent kinda person this would be very alluring.

Sound good?
Portia xx

 

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Saturday Question: Do You Have Any “Sport” Perfumes in Your Collection?

I remember times when Olympic games were a big deal for me: I watched even those sports that didn’t interest me at other times. Then I would watch an opening ceremony and gymnastics (Summer games) or figure skating (Winter). Then… I knew about the upcoming 2024 Olympics in France and read some news and commentaries (I still can’t believe they are going to swim in Seine!). But I wasn’t sure about the exact schedule, and a couple of days ago I thought the Olympics had already started. A couple of hours ago, I learned that the opening ceremony was earlier today, and I missed it. It didn’t even upset me. I might attempt to watch a video if I find anything online. Or not. But one way or the other, sport was on my mind.

Fragrantica has about 400 fragrances sporting (pun intended) one of the forms of this word, for example, Burberry Sport, Polo Sport by Ralph Lauren or Sporty Citrus by Michael Kors. Additionally, one can find some sport-related names (though not utilizing the word itself), such as Tennis by L’acqua di Fiori, Work Out by Womo or Rugby for Men by Pascal Morabito.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #224:

Do You Have Any “Sport” Perfumes in Your Collection?

Be as literal or metaphorical as you wish.

A bonus question: do you plan to watch any of the Olympic disciplines this time?

 

My Answer

Not only do I not own a single “sport” perfume, I am not sure whether I’ve ever tried any. I wonder if it is my attitude towards most sports activities that put me off those.

The only perfume I tried with the name vaguely reminding a sport (though not an Olympic one) is Checkmate by Mind Games. I enjoyed the fruity-rose opening every time I tested it, but that pleasant intro combination was a sprinter on an extremely short distance, and 5 minutes into the development it became somewhat boring. It gets its “second wind” the next day as a wonderful robe scent. But I disqualified it from the daily competition for the first place on my skin.

As for the Summer Olympics, I might catch a couple of after-the-fact clips of Simone Biles if she performs well. But in general I will probably miss most of the competitions.

Decanting: Tape

How about you?

 

Do You Have Any “Sport” Perfumes in Your Collection?

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Saturday Question: What Is the Best Perfume Created by a Store?

I hope you all survived well the outages caused by CrowdStrike’s issues. From what I read, it wasn’t the best day for air travel (and many other activities). Let’s hope life goes back to normal over the weekend.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #223:

What Is the Best Perfume Created by a Store?

Do you have in your collection perfumes created by/for perfume stores? What is your favorite? Did you buy it at that store?

My Answer

For many years, I didn’t like the idea of perfumes created by perfume boutiques. My thought process was that those stores should be in the business of curating existing perfumes from other brands rather than commissioning their own perfumes. I tried perfumes from 4 or 5 stores, but the only brand that impressed me was Aedes de Venustas, and the only perfume that joined my collection so far was Cierge de Lune. So, this is my answer for today’s question.

Aedes de Venustas Cierge de Lune

How about you?

What Is the Best Perfume Created by a Store?

At The Barbers by Maison Margiela
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At The Barbers by Maison Margiela

Hey there ULGers, Can you believe At The Barbers turns 10 years old in 2024? So weird. Replica from Maison Margiela seems like a newish brand to me. HA! Clearly I’m well out of the loop. I’ve seen the brand talked about a lot over the years and it’s always seemed like an upmarket take on the Demeter range. Apparently they have much better longevity than the Demeter’s though, YAY!

Anyway, trawling through the sample box tonight I found this carded sample that I have absolutely zero recollection of ever seeing before. Maybe the sample fairy has been dropping in and leaving little presents. OR maybe I still have way too many samples and decants.

At The Barbers by Replica from Maison Margiela 2014

At The Barber's Maison Martin Margiela

Maison Margiela gives these featured accords:
Top: Bigarade oil, Basil accord, Black Pepper essence
Heart: Geranium oil, Lavender essence, Rosemary oil
Base: Tonka Bean resinoïd, Evernyl, White Musks

OMG! At The Barbers is exactly as the label says. I’m instantly thrown back to my first job sweeping floors, making coffees, washing heads of hair and selling cigarettes at the Barber/Hairdresser/Tobacconist in our local mall, at the tender age of 13-15. This is such a perfect match for the potion they’d spritz heavily on all the men customers. We were the only barber-ish shop in the area and had 6 chairs/2 tubs. There would often be a long queue of families waiting their turn. Especially Thursday evenings and Saturdays. Vince the boss was a nice looking, gentle, engaging man who liked to smile and chat and he chose the rest of his crew to fit that mold. I learned a lot and enjoyed my time there so At The Barbers has super happy memories.

At The Barber's Maison Martin Margiela

Herbaceous greenery and lavender sparked up with the dry rasp of black pepper with a sweet resinous base. There’s no huge trajectory and lasting power is excellent. I can imagine a whole new generation discovering this and swooning. Really, At The Barbers is not like much of the high end fragrance available nowadays. Even at the barber they’ve gone super sweet.

I’d love to smell At The Barbers on women. Bet it would be absolutely amazing.
Portia xx

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Saturday Question: What Perfume Would You Wish To Be Named After Or Dedicated To You?

Thank you all for your kind words about my dear Rusty. Your warmth, kindness and sympathy meant a lot to me.

For a couple of years, long before Rusty got sick, thinking about the future I was telling myself that I would keep this blog going while he was with us and then stop because it would be too painful to continue. But in the last 8 months, as on many days I had to hold off wearing perfumes not to provoke Rusty’s asthma when I gave him the medication or held him on my lap and didn’t have much time, strength or inspiration to write for my blog regularly, these Saturday Question posts were the only strong link to the Perfumeland left, and I held onto it and appreciated all of you coming here week after week to talk to me (and sometimes even to each other). So, after giving it some time (Thank you, Portia, for the support!), I decided that I wanted to come back to at least these weekly posts – and then see how it goes with other topics.

I also want to mention that today’s post is somewhat special: #222 was the last post Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels) did for her Monday Question series (though, she didn’t number them), which was an inspiration to Portia’s (Australian Perfume Junkies) Saturday Question series, which I “inherited” 4+ years ago. Some of you participated in one or both of those “original” series. Some joined SQ posts on my blog. And I am happy to see all of you here, so I’ll keep coming up with new Saturday Questions.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #222:

What Perfume Would You Wish To Be Named After Or Dedicated To You?

It’s a fantasy question not connected to reality. Just think of any perfume and imagine that you could magically become an inspiration for that perfume and have it either named after you or be dedicated to you. What would it be?

My Answer

I contemplated this question for a while. I wouldn’t want a perfumes to be named after me. I mean, I wouldn’t mind creating/inspiring a wonderful new perfume called something like Undina’s Dream. But for this exercise, I don’t want to mess with what already exists. But I wouldn’t mind if I could claim that I was a muse for one of the great perfumes that I love. Strangely, my choice is not one of my top two perfume loves – Lancome Climat or Ormonde Jayne Ta’if. It’s the #3 on my list – Amouage Ubar. It would have been great to have it dedicated to me. But I would settle for just having it re-launched – not for me, I probably have enough of it for years to come, but for others. Though, judging by the fact that it was discontinued, Ubar wasn’t doing that well for the brand.

Amouage Ubar

How about you?

 

What Perfume Would You Wish To Be Named After Or Dedicated To You?

Farewell to Rusty
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Farewell to Rusty

Rusty is no longer with us.

I hoped he would be one of those long-living cats living beyond 20 years. He was mostly healthy for the first 14+ years of his life, but then suddenly it was as if his body had exhausted its resources, and multiple issues started appearing within a couple of months.

Last November, he was diagnosed with heart failure. His condition wasn’t encouraging. In December 2023, when I started on IG my traditional “count up to Rusty’s 15th birthday on Christmas Eve,” we weren’t sure he’d survive that long. But I hoped that maybe sending something positive into the Universe would return in the form of some luck for Rusty.

We fought for him, and he gifted us with an extra 8 months together.

It hurts. For 15 years, Rusty was a member of our family and one of the most joyful parts of our lives. Two weeks after we had to let him go, I’m still coming to terms with the realization that he isn’t here. He was such a wonderful, social, well-natured, curious, slightly mischievous, funny, cuddly cat!

 

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June 19, 2024

 

I am an adult. And I know that it doesn’t work like that. But just in case I don’t know something about the Universe, and whoever is reading this has such a power: I WANT MY RUSTY BACK!

Eau des Merveilles Bleue by Hermès
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Eau des Merveilles Bleue by Hermès

Hi Crew, The rumor mill has Christine Nagal finishing up at Hermès so I thought it might be nice to look at one of my favorites from her tenure. Though I didn’t LOVE everything she created there were quite a few that I did. The Vetiver Terre d’Hermès, Eau de Citron Noire, Un Jardin Sur La Lagune and à Cythère all have made full bottles bought at retail in my collection. Violette Volinka and H24 EdP are both on the list. I think that’s about half of her output? Pretty good strike rate if you ask me. Yes, I know. You didn’t. HA! So let’s talk about the one that sees the most wear around here, Eau des Merveilles Bleue. A perfect summer spritz for you all in the northern hemisphere right now.

Eau des Merveilles Bleue by Hermès 2016

Featured accords:
Sea salt, woody notes, juniper berry, patchouli

Yeah, I know a lot of the perfumista community sneers at a salty aquatic but it’s probably time to get your nose on a good one again. It may just sway your thinking. Especially as it’s summer up in the northern hemisphere and anything refreshing should be embraced wholeheartedly. Another win here is the fabulous bottle, so gorgeous in my hand. Plus it comes in a few sizes from the 15ml travel up to the 100ml.

Straight out of the gate Eau des Merveilles Bleue smells of salty juniper berries. They are piquant and green but awash with cold sea water. There are also wafts of cutting green chilis and some herbaceous greenery a little like pine needles and basil. We are taught this is a masculine configuration. In reality I can definitely imagine it smelling killer on even the most feminine of women. It would definitely be unexpected.

Through the heart and base of Eau des Merveilles Bleue have a much more seaside vibe. A little bit of seaweed, some driftwood, walking through the soft sand to sit under an enormous beach umbrella and order some margaritas. The salt dries on your body, you’re relaxed, maybe there’s a breeze and you can watch the beach and bar go by happily for a couple of hours. Some desultory conversation and a really good book.

Eau des Merveilles Bleue by Hermès

The patchouli is shorn of all things natural and comes across sheer and modern. It hardly resembles the patchouli of the head shop, chocolate or earthy varieties we wore in time gone by. As Eau des Merveilles Bleue heads towards full dry down I smell like me coming home after swimming in the ocean.

Are you game to try some aquatic fragrances this summer?
Portia xx

 

 

 

Saturday Question: What Three Would You Bring Back
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Saturday Question: What Three Would You Bring Back

Hello Fellow Fumies,

At ULG we have a Saturday Question. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it’s a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back regularly and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them. The aim is to generate real conversation and connection even though we are scattered around the globe.

Saturday Question: What Three Would You Bring Back?

So many fragrances have been Discontinued, Changed or Reformulated over time that it’s hard to wrap your head around it. Anyone buying Opium, Magie Noire, Diva or Miss Dior in 2024 will be gobsmacked by how different they smell to the originals. Even some less vintage fragrance lines like CHANEL exclusives, Maison Christian Dior Collection, Serge Lutens or the Malle line have been hacked into and given refreshes. We await changes on other brands bought out by big fragrance. Then there are the slew of fragrances that have gone from the counters forever, impossible to find for less than a small countries annual GDP and then you better hope it’s not a fake or refilled.

So what are the three you REALLY wish you could have 200ml of in pristine condition? Imagine there was a perfume fairy that could grant these wishes. No question of expense or postage, snap and the three bottles appear.

My Answer:

Guerlain Paris-Moscou

This is an old photo of my bottle which only has maybe 3ml left in the bottom. I really don’t know why this overly sweet, sticky, glug of a perfume captured me so completely and utterly. Plum cheesecake? Is there such a thing. Screamingly sweet. Still, whenever I spritz the smile goes from ear to ear and I huff deeply for about 5 hours. Loving every minute. Sadly these travel perfumes were not popular and went the way of the dodo in what felt like minutes.

Niki de Saint Phalle

While I love many of the mossy floral chypres, Niki de saint Phalle is the one that speaks loudest to me. I’m pretty sure that at least some of the reason is Niki’s story, art and sheer brazen ability to make her way in such a mans world. Fortunately I was aware they were coming to the end of the road when the discounters were practically giving bottles away and I bought a drawer full. Even if I wore Niki de Saint Phalle exclusively my stash might last 10 years.

Versace Blonde EdT & extrait

Don’t worry. I also have a stash of this magnificent tuberose/jasmine/ylang sillage monster. What makes me sad is something so fabulous and glamorous, created the year before Versace Dreamer (another favourite), heralded the pinnacle of Versace fragrances. It was the diamond that came before they seemed to give up on making fine fragrance. Yes, they still make fragrance and they are not terrible but they also miss the interest, aspirational creativity and magic of the Versace mid 1990s releases.

 

My Saturday Question to you is:

What Three Would You Bring Back?