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?

Saturday Question: What Would Your City’s Le Labo Exclusive Smell Of?
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Saturday Question: What Would Your City’s Le Labo Exclusive Smell Of?

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 Would Your City’s Le Labo Exclusive Smell Of?

Found this amazing question on  Facebook many years ago. Audrey posed the question and there were some really terrific answers. Don’t worry if your city has been done. Give it your own twist, tell your story through scent.

If Le Labo did a city exclusive for your closest city, what would be the note focus? You can only choose one city for the name but include a bunch of notes that you think would be symbolic of the atmosphere there.

My Answer:

Sydney: Aquatic, Ozonic, Salty, Car Fumes, Eucalyptus and Mown Grass with the smell of baristas making sweet, clean Coffee running in and out through the whole life of the fragrance. There would also need to be some Spices, Sydney is very multicultural and one of the things I love about walking its streets is the diversity of food smells coming from shops and homes. I’m thinking there should also be hints of smoke from the famous Aussie BarBQs.

My Saturday Question to you is:

What Would Your City’s Le Labo Exclusive Smell Of?

Assam of India by Parfums Berdoues
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Assam of India by Parfums Berdoues

Hey Hey ULGers! Lovely to have you in the blog-house. Over the years Robin and the NST crew have talked lovingly of Assam of India. I tried it early on and loved it but then completely forgot it even existed till a couple of years ago when it came up again on a few Friday Community Projects over there. Having spent every cent on travel last year and other expenses this year it’s been a financially enforced low buy 18 months. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel meant I gave myself permission to grab a couple of things. Jin’s signature perfume Bottega Veneta EdP has been DCd, so I grabbed him a backup or two from FragranceNet (not affiliated). While there I noticed Assam of India Testers were cheap, so it went in the cart. YAY! Now it has arrived and I’m thinking you all up in the warming Northern Hemisphere will go ape shit for its super summer wearability.

Assam of India by Parfums Berdoues 2015

Assam of India by Parfums Berdoues

Parfums Berdous give these featured accords:
Menton lemon, Indian tea, Mysore sandalwood

Do you ever wish for a crisp, beautiful, no nonsense but lovely to smell tea forward fragrance that will suit any mood in the warmer months and many in the cooler? Does the bottle make a difference? Is super cuteness without being childish a win? Then we might just have the perfect scent for you here today.

Immediately a sweet citrus, much sweeter and softer than lemon to my nose. Veery pomelo. Soon after there is a hint of those little square travel mints and then, interestingly it turns less sweet and gets the tart edge I expect from lemon.

You’d expect the tea to be very Earl Grey with such a burst of citrus. It’s not. While I do get the dry back of throat feeling that tea in perfume often gives me it’s not black tea. More of a green tea herbal concoction and I get very specific chamomile and dandelion references. Also lovely hints of basil and later a bitter green angelica. The sandalwood never really makes much of an appearance and Assam of India stays fairly green tea and herbs.

Yes, I’m sure you all get entirely different rides but these are consistent olfactory markers for me through a few wears. Funny how it happens.

Assam of India by Parfums Berdoues short shot

Utterly unisex. Lasts surprisingly well before becoming a wash of green nothings. Not a huge perfume but definitely changes the air around you. Like a bit of a creeper that someone will notice after minutes sitting right next to you, then they’ll say something. I do get why it’s so popular and think it would make a terrific gift to non perfumistas who are after something more interesting than most department store fare.

Are any of you fans of Assam of India?
Portia xx

 

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Saturday Question: What Is the Most Youthful Perfume in Your Collection?

I’m running a little late this week because in the last moment, I decided to make a question that I had into a longer post (hopefully, coming up soon), and then I had to quickly find another SQ that would feel right for today. But here we go.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #219:

What Is the Most Youthful Perfume in Your Collection?

Leaving aside that we all subscribe to the idea that any perfume can be worn by any gender or age and not trying to use any formal definition of “youthful perfume” – just based on your internal feeling and personal classification, what perfume from those that you have in any format (not counting samples) you would consider the most youthful? If it helps, imagine that you would want to make a decant for a 12 years old niece or recommend to a 14 years old son of a friends whose tastes you do not know but had to limit the choice only by what you have at home. If 12-14 is too young, try 16-18.

My Answer

I think I mentioned it before, I come with these Saturday Questions first and then start thinking how I would answer. So, imagine my surprise when I went through the list of perfumes I own and realized that I would have a really hard time making that decant. Looking through my favorites, I find them either not interesting enough or … “too much” for an imaginary teen or adolescent.

But I can’t not answer my own question, can I? So, I spent some time sifting through the list and came up with three perfumes I think might fit the bill: Jo Loves No. 42 The Flower Shop, Jo Malone Peony & Blush Suede and Ineke Hothouse Flower.

Rusty and Jo Loves The Flower Shop

How about you?

 

What Is the Most Youthful Perfume in Your Collection?

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Second Sunday Samples: Jo Malone Scented Mementos Collection

Jo Malone is a very special brand for me: over the years, I’ve tested over a hundred of their perfumes, more than any other single brand. And thanks to the combination of their accessibility (several stores nearby carry the line), pioneering small format (10-15 years ago, not that many brands had even 30 ml bottles), relative affordability and focus on my favorite perfume family, florals, Jo Malone is the best-represented brand in my collection.

My top 12 perfumes from the brand are French Lime Blossom, Sweet Milk, Mimosa & Cardamom, Orange Bitters, Blackberry & Bay, Dark Amber & Ginger Lily, English Pear & Freesia, Lotus Blossom & Water Lily, Pomegranate Noir, Wild Fig & Cassis, Black Vetyver Cafe, Wood Sage & Sea Salt.

And even though in the last five years, only a couple of new perfumes interested me enough to get a mini bottle, I continue to check all their new releases religiously.

My recent trip to the Jo Malone counter at Nordstrom has almost resulted in an impulsive purchase. I saw their Scented Mementos collection and wanted it before I even sprayed any on paper.

Jo Malone Scented Mementos Collection

“A limited-edition collection inspired by unique pieces filled with memories, found at the British antique market.”

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I’m not into antiques or trinkets. I don’t even like vintage perfumes. But every time in our travels we come across an antique store, in some childish hope I expect to find there something magical there… In all the years that I’ve been doing that, I bought just a couple of mini bottles. But since one of them was a perfect replica of Chamade extrait bottle, I keep searching.

I saw all of Jo Malone’s limited edition collections in the last 13 years, and I liked many of the perfumes as well as the colorful variations on the standard Jo Malone bottles. But these bottles from the Scented Mementos collection fit the theme spectacularly. Not only they are very different from anything previously released by the brand, but they are so eclectic and random that you can easily imagine them being picked up at a garage sale, flea market or provincial antique shop. In the photo above, they seem larger than they are in real life, and I was drawn to them.

I sprayed them all on paper strips… and liked three out of four, which paradoxically saved me from an impulse purchase right there on the spot. Even if it weren’t for my low-buy year, I couldn’t imagine buying three perfumes after a brief sniff, no matter how cute and cohesive I found the collection to be. So, I sprayed two perfumes on my wrist, borrowed my vSO’s wrist for the third, and continued shopping, periodically sniffing all three wrists to decide which one should come home with me. By the time I was ready to leave, I still couldn’t make up my mind and left without getting any of them.

At home, as we probably all do from time to time after sniffing something we liked, I started searching the web to see if maybe one of the stores had some promotion that would entice me to buy one of them… but then, even if could find any, which one? In the end, I was happy to see that the Jo Malone site had a discovery set for the collection (smart!) and bought it without hesitation.

Jo Malone Scented Mementos Collection Samples

Musk Memento (the rightmost on the photo) with a bottle that strongly reminds me of vintage Estee Lauder Pleasures perfume was the only one from this collection that I didn’t like. To my nose, it smells like a laundry detergent, and I wouldn’t have used it even as such since I prefer unscented ones. The positive aspect of this perfume is that it smells exactly as intended if judged by the brand’s description:

“A clean musk scent inspired by a ceramic soap dish. I’ve long loved the scent of a traditional soap bar […]. The nostalgia and comfort are captured in clean notes of soft musk and aldehyde, a sprinkle of English lavender and elegant cedarwood.” If I deciphered correctly from the recent interview in The Cheshire Magazine, the nose behind this perfume is Marie Salamagne. I liked just a couple of plethora of perfumes she authored, so I’m not surprised that Musk Memento left me unimpressed. Ironically, it is the most tenacious of all.

Ginger Beer created by (I think) Yann Vasnier is a spicy woody composition with a prominent citrus opening that quickly subsides, and after about 20 minutes all I get is a delightful slightly sweet skin scent. I can’t tell if it smells even reminiscent of the beverage it borrowed its name from (I’m not sure I’ve ever tried it), but I like how it smell. The Ginger Beer bottle doesn’t remind me of anything in particular, but it looks well-made and is pleasant to hold.

The last two perfumes, Emerald Thyme and Passiflora, were created by Anne Flipo. Emerald Thyme is a heavenly cologne for all 15 minutes of its development, and then it becomes a very pleasant skin scent. The juicy bright and slightly sweet lemon opening is mouthwatering (literally!). As it dries down, the sweetness goes away together with the lemon, and what is left is a masculine-leaning dry composition grounded by herbs. The Emerald Thyme’s bottle looks like many cologne bottles I saw before, but I can’t pinpoint any specific one.

Passiflora is the most feminine perfume in the collection. It’s warm and smooth from the first slightly spicy cardamom burst until the comforting ambery-vanilla skin scent in 30 minutes after the application. When I picture Passiflora’s bottle in my mind, I feel on the verge of recognition: I definitely saw another perfume in a similar bottle… but it slips away, and I cannot place it.

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I love these bottles. I quite enjoy Ginger Beer, Emerald Thyme and Passiflora, and would gladly wear them. But at $3/ml, these perfumes just shouldn’t be that fleeting! I can live with reapplying perfumes after 2-3 hours, and my collection of Jo Malone perfumes is proof of that. But a skin scent 20-30 minutes into the development?! It feels like they are giving customers just enough time to make a purchase decision at a counter. That doesn’t feel right.

Despite that, if they had released a set of mini-bottles for this collection, I would have paid even more per ml just because I would love to have this bottles in my collection.

 

Images: my own

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Saturday Question: Are You Tempted by Chanel No 5 L’Eau Drop Bottle?

On June 13, Chanel is releasing a new limited edition of their Chanel No 5 flanker – Chanel No 5 L’Eau. It’ll be available in their boutiques and on chanel.com. I’m not sure why they decided to call it “Drop”: it looks rather like an egg, but that’s how it is referenced on the Chanel site. And “a drop of perfume” sounds a lot better than… you got it. It holds the same No 5 L’eau from 2016 (or at least they claim so: who knows how many reformulations it went through in the years passed). It will be available in one size, 50 ml, and the US price is $155. You might be more than positive that it will sold out, and even if it gets to one of the retailers, it won’t survive long enough to wait for some site-wide promotion.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #218:

Are You Tempted by Chanel No 5 L’Eau Drop Bottle?

Do you like this perfume? Do you have it in your collection? Are you contemplating the purchase of this limited edition bottle?

My Answer

I tried just a tiny sample of No 5 L’Eau (that’s how I requested it from a perfumista friend since I didn’t expect to like it and didn’t want to waste her perfume), and unexpectedly I liked it. It wasn’t love-love to send me buying that perfume immediately, but I was considering a purchase if I happen to come across it at a Duty-free store. It haven’t happened yet.

This bottle looks appealing to me. If it weren’t for my “low-buy” this year, I would have tried to buy it. I am arguing with myself and still not sure if I want to make an exception. We’ll see.

How about you?

 

Are You Tempted by Chanel No 5 L’Eau Drop Bottle?