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Saturday Question: Which Perfumes Would You Take If You Had To Evacuate?

Last week, in the Perfume Chat Room at the Serenity Now blog, rickyrebarco told about having to evacuate because of Hurricane Helene and shared which perfumes she took with her. I commented that I was recently thinking about how hard it would have been to make such a choice. And Old Herbaceous suggested that it would be an excellent SQ. And here we are.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #234:

Which Perfumes Would You Take If You Had To Evacuate?

This isn’t a “house on fire” question. Hopefully, it would never happen to any of you, but if it does, grab your kids, your pets and, if there is time, the most important documents and run: not a single perfume or jewelry item, even an irreplaceable heirloom is worth your life. But with these evacuation orders that happen from time to time in different areas, usually, there is some time to put together things you might need until you can return and items you wouldn’t want to lose if the worse comes worst.

So, the question is about just that type of evacuation: you got everything your family needs for the next 3-5 days, the “worst case scenario” items are safely packed in your car. You have 10 minutes before you have to leave. Do you think you’d pack any of your favorites, just in case? If yes, which ones (and maybe why)?

 

My Answer

As I mentioned, I thought about it for a while. When I came up with my short list (I had to be realistic: I wouldn’t be able to safely pack more in the allocated 10 minutes), my first thought was that my choice was kind of “boring.” Not in terms of me selecting bad perfumes but rather because I periodically have the exactly same list when I answer other questions about my favorites. But then I realized that my choices weren’t made just because I love those perfumes and don’t want to be without them, but also because it would be hard (if not impossible) to replace them.

My list of perfumes that I would try to save if I could:

Lancôme Climat (the La Collection version, 2005)
Ormonde Jayne Ta’if (in parfum concentration)
Amouage Ubar (sadly discontinued)
Armani Prive La Femme Bleue (limited edition)
Jo Malone French Lime Blossom (again, discontinued)

But my heart would be breaking for at least 15 more perfumes from my collection I would hate not to have.

 

How about you?

Which Perfumes Would You Take If You Had To Evacuate?

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Saturday Question: Do You Own Any Of Le Labo City Exclusives Perfumes?

In the early years of my descent into the proverbial rabbit hole, Le Labo‘s City Exclusives collection was available in September. I didn’t follow it closely, so I’m not sure when it changed, but this year I noticed that the collection opened for online orders on August 1st. I wonder if it’s the beginning of the end of that exclusivity idea. Anyway, earlier today I came across their “Last Call” ad: just 3 more days (until September 30th) left to buy one of these “special” perfumes.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #233:

Do You Own Any Of Le Labo City Exclusives Perfumes?

If yes, which ones? Do you keep trying new cities when they are added? In general, what do you think about this approach to rationing access to perfumes?

My Answer

I do not own a single full bottle of Le Labo perfumes, either from their Exclusives collection or their Classic line. With the Classic collection, it’s the brand’s “fault”: even though I like Rose 31 and Iris 39 a lot, I always thought their bottles weren’t attractive at all. Because of that, I wasn’t tempted to buy a bottle and instead voted for a much more economical (and not significantly less visually pleasing) decants from a FB splits group.

With the Exclusives collection, everything is even worse: not only are the bottles still the same ugly (for my taste, you might disagree), but the prices seem over the top. Le Labo’s regular perfumes aren’t the most affordable ($3.35/ml if you buy a 100 ml bottle), but the City Exclusives collection went even further charging $5.35/ml. And one has to jump through the hoops to buy these perfumes! I just don’t believe that raw materials for perfumes in that line cost more than for the regular line. And did I mention that I despise their apothecary-style bottles?

Still, I liked two of their perfumes enough to pay for decants. No, it wasn’t $5+ per ml. The first one, Poivre 23, I bought years ago for my vSO. Back then it was much cheaper. I think, there is still a couple of ml left in that decant. The second one, Vanille 44, almost made it to my full bottle collection, but in the wrist-to-wrist competition, Vanille by Mona di Orio won that spot in the end. Since then, after I finished the first decant generously shared with me by a perfumista friend, I bought the next one from Royalty Scents. I still don’t know how they could pull off the price I paid (they claim all their perfumes are authentic).

I said it before: I find stupid the idea of offering these days “hard-to-get” expensive perfumes in minimalistic packaging: times of niche scarcity are gone, and brands need to come up with something more dazzling and enticing to persuade consumers to splurge on that particular perfume out of thousands being released every year. For one, this consumer is not super interested even to drive 30 minutes to the boutique to try a new “exclusive” perfume for free.

 

How about you?

Do You Own Any Of Le Labo City Exclusives Perfumes?

Portia 56
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Portia 56

Hey there ULG crew. Yes, it’s birthday time. This year I’m leaning into the celebration.

Sunday night trivia at Austral Bowling Club they had a cake for me. Here is my super butch reaction to snuffing the candle with wet fingers.

Just had my Birthday phone call from Varun in India (my last long term partner) can’t believe he left Australia 22 years ago. Still miss his stupid face.

My Birthday day (Wednesday 25th) is all about study because I’ve been too busy to get anything done in the last week and I have stuff due. Actually due weeks ago. It’s causing me stomach curdling anxiety. Thing is, weddings, extra gigs and funerals aren’t something that can be put off.

The evening will be Trivia with my Greystanes Inn crew. Jin, BFF Kath and her Dad are coming for that. I’m pretty happy with this small scale on the day event.

Thursday night Jin is taking us to the Darling Harbour Sofitel for the night with dinner at a restaurant I like and hotel breakfast. Just us. Super chill.

Saturday we are having a bit of a party at the local Chinese restaurant. It serves Authentic 1970s Australian Chinese Food. Believe me, it’s a thing. We have this extraordinary history of Aussie Chinese. It’s getting hard to find nowadays because everyone is going much more Traditional Chinese FROM China. Anyway, it’s cheap as chips and the food is So Good!

It has been a toss up whether to buy a big ticket perfume that’s been on the To Buy List or art. I haven’t been able to decide, and we already have a surfeit of both. So I’m hoarding my money for our November family trip to Taiwan.

Rahele by Neela Vermeire Creations is my birthday perfume. It’s the scent of events ever since our wedding in 2018. It has been the perfect fragrance for important moments because it’s beautiful enough to be intoxicating but not so overwhelming it takes precedence. Osmanthus, violet and mossy leather with a whole bouquet to back it up. Perfection.

Notes of green mandarin, cardamom, cinnamon, violet leaf, osmanthus, rose, magnolia, jasmine, iris, violet, cedar, sandalwood, oakmoss, patchouli and leather.

Well, I’m off to get things done,
Portia xx

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Saturday Question: What Brand Has The Best Atomizer?

While talking about oil-based perfumes last week, we confirmed once again that most respondents preferred spraying their perfumes. So, this week’s SQ is about spray atomizers (and some ranting).

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #232:

What Brand Has The Best Atomizer?

Do you even think in these categories? If yes, what aspects of that distribution mechanism are the most important to you? Fineness of the mist? Spray distribution? Pressure sensitivity? Durability? Leak/evaporation prevention? Design? Something else?

My Answer

For a long time I didn’t even think about this part of the perfume bottle: as long as it worked, I didn’t notice anything else. Later, I started paying more attention to aesthetics and started noticing that some atomizers complemented the design of the bottle (think about Mugler‘s Angel). And then I bought my first bottle of Chanel. I still remember that first “Wow!” moment of realization of how incredibly smooth was the action, how amazingly fine was the burst of Coco from that beautiful bottle and how well-made the atomizer looked.

Chanel Coco

I am sure that my collection has many other perfumes with good atomizers. But all these years, every time I used one of my favorite Chanel perfumes, I would again and again mentally pay tribute to this iconic brand for the pleasure I felt gently pressing the nozzle and getting an evenly distributed finest mist exactly where I planned to apply it.

So, until very recently, I would have answered “Chanel” without thinking twice. What has changed? I gave up and bought a limited edition bottle of No 5 L’Eau. On the positive side: I like this perfume and will enjoy wearing it. And a friend got it for me in the duty-free in Paris, so the price was quite right. On the negative side… First of all, while that egg-shaped bottle (I’m not sure whose idea was that it’s a “drop”!) is pleasing to look at, it is extremely awkward when you try opening it. I even thought that my bottle was defective, or that I clever enough to solve the puzzle that held that cap in place. Nope. It was just hard to grip the cap firmly enough to apply the necessary force. I managed to do it eventually, but since then I struggle with it every time. But what upset me even more was the atomizer. It is not bad by any measure. It works. It doesn’t leak. It distributes perfume evenly without spewing. But it doesn’t have that…  je ne sais quoi, so to speak, that made Chanel atomizers special. And it is sad because I don’t think it happened for any good reason but in the name of greed – in order for some executive to smugly report up-the-chain that they saved 25 cents per bottle without anyone even noticing the difference. I noticed. So, while for now I’ll keep the highest spot for my older Chanel bottles (as recent as Paris – Venise they were still superb), I will start taking notice of how my other favorites’ pumps work.

Chanel No5 L'EAU

And I welcome your thoughts on which brands deserve praise.

What Brand Has The Best Atomizer?

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Saturday Question: Do You Own Oil-based Perfumes?

Recently, while preparing the SQ about Serge Lutens perfumes, I was looking through their current offerings and discovered that now they offer something called confit de parfum. The investigation revealed that it stands for “oil perfume” (which wasn’t obvious from description on the brand’s site).

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #231:

Do You Own Oil-based Perfumes?

Do you have any in your collection? When do you wear them? Do you like them in principle?

My Answer

Over years, I tried several oil perfumes when a sample came my way, and some of those that I tried weren’t bad. Even though I think that perfumes in high concentrations (extraits) are better when applied dabbed, for some reason oil-based perfumes aren’t “my thing.” But I do have several.

First, I bought a mini bottle of Milk by Ava Luxe. It reminds me my favorite Sweet Milk by Jo Malone, and I enjoy wearing it in colder months.

Ava Luxe Milk

Two years ago I bought a sample set of Amouage attars. I brought it with me to the vacation in Sedona, and since then revisited them several times, but I haven’t warmed up to any of the six attars enough to want more.

Amouage Attars

How about you?

 

Do You Own Oil-based Perfumes?

Encens Suave by Matiere Premiere
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Encens Suave by Matiere Premiere

Hey there ULGers, Encens Suave by Matiere Premiere has been sitting on my desk awaiting the Northern Hemispheres cooling. It feels like a good time to give you some good perfume news. I’m pretty sure this arrived with a Libertine Parfumerie order as a GWP. I do love a boxed manufacturers sample, so cool. This is one of my favourites from the line and I’ve given myself the odd spritz while in the big Sydney city department stores.

Encens Suave by Matiere Premiere 2019

Encens Suave Matiere Premiere

Accords include:
Top: Coffee
Heart: Incense, Madagascar Vanilla
Base: Benzoin, Labdanum

That coffee note is really rich, more like chocolate on me. Dark chocolate. It’s a very interesting opening that is soon cut through with a smoky, very Asiatic incense and warm sweet resinous amber. For all the simplicity of my words Encens Suave is very nuanced and a some beautiful trajectory.

Once it hits dry down, an hour or more in the fragrance becomes a lightly smoky amber, with some charred woods. There’s sweetness but it’s low key for me, though on other people it seems to wear sweeter. This is my favorite part of the ride and it hums away for hours and hours. We are now in very linear territory and I love to get random huffs throughout the day/evening.

Encens Suave by Matiere Premiere 2019

Unisex, very fragrant and longevity is off the charts. Encens Suave is definitely pandering to the Beast Mode Bros love of all things enormous and everlasting. The first time I wore it while out frag sniffing with a couple of mates I may have gone a bit overboard. It was HUGE and eternal.

One thing I really like is that Matiere Premiere offer 6ml, 50ml and 100ml. This is one perfume brand that I think is worth the extra $$$ and still manages to be within my boundaries. 50ml is €155 from the brand.

Have you? Would you try Encens Suave?
Portia xx

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Saturday Question: Do You Differentiate Weekday and Weekend Perfumes?

One would think that working a “short week” after a three-day weekend makes it easier. But somehow, days after holidays and vacations tend to be so busy with additional tasks that would have been completed in that extra day, that by the end of the “easy” week I wholeheartedly welcome a weekend. This after-Labor-Day week was one of those.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #230:

Do You Differentiate Weekday and Weekend Perfumes?

Do you reserve certain perfumes for weekends, or does your mood dictate what you wear regardless of the day?

My Answer

In pre-pandemic times, when I worked mostly from the office, I used to classify some of my perfumes as office-friendly and wore them for that purpose. Additionally, I had “special occasion” perfumes that I wore predominantly for said occasions. The rest of my collection consisted of perfumes that I thought weren’t suitable for work but at the same time weren’t “special” enough. Those I wore “after hours,” on weekends and while traveling.

These days, working from home, I still lean toward “SFW” scents during the day (if I remember to put anything on at all) – probably out of habit, which was further reinforced by my concerns that strong perfumes could bother Rusty when he wasn’t feeling well or wanted to spend time on my lap. So, on weekends, especially if we leave the house, I try to “air,” so to speak, all my bolder favorites. Tomorrow, I’ll probably go with Encens Mythique d’Orient.

Guerlain Encens Mythique d’Orient

How about you?

 

Do You Differentiate Weekday and Weekend Perfumes?

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Saturday Question: What Perfume Will You Wear for the Last Day of Summer?

I know that in our diverse world people have quite a variety of definitions even for such a seemingly simple notion as “summer.” In the Northern Hemisphere, from an astronomical view, summer starts at the solstice (around June 21st) and ends with autumnal equinox (around September 21st). Summer is considered between 1st of May and 31st of July according to the solar season (and Irish calendar). “Reckoning by cultural festivals, the summer season in the United States is traditionally regarded as beginning on Memorial Day weekend (the last weekend in May) and ending on Labor Day (the first Monday in September)” (Wikipedia). And I won’t even start about the Southern Hemisphere! But for today’s question, I’m going by the meteorological convention that defines summer as comprising the months of June, July, and August in the Northern Hemisphere. Hence, today is the last day of Summer.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #229:

What Perfume Will You Wear for the Last Day of Summer (or Winter)?

Even if your choice doesn’t have anything to do with the specific date, you are wearing perfume, aren’t you? What guided your choice today?

My Answer

It’s a Labor Day weekend in the US, so today I will be wearing white. Puredistance WHITE.

Puredistance White

How about you?

What Perfume Will You Wear for the Last Day of Summer?

Hussar by Aquaflor Firenze
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Hussar by Aquaflor Firenze

Hiya Fellow Fulies, Hussar by Aquaflor Firenze came to my attention through my mate Clayton Illolahia. He is the genius behind now gone What Men Should Smell Like blog. We started blogging here in Sydney within two months of each other and have spent a lot of time around the perfume traps. He went on to study perfume and is now working with the Michael Edwards Fragrances of the World team. Nowadays he’s really busy travelling the world six months a year. On the occasions we get together to sniff his favorites from the latest adventures he only gives me the most standout to his unbelievably well curated bring home bottles. Seriously, he’s lucky to pick five from the hundreds he smells at each event. So that’s how impressive he found this scent and through our sniff I too fell madly and wildly in love. I think you can only buy these fragrances from the online store, shipping is VERY expensive. It might be cheaper to have a Florence vacation, worth it.

Hussar by Aquaflor Firenze

Hussar by Aquaflor Firenze

Aquaflor Firenze gives these featured accords:
Head: Citrus, Cloves
Heart: Jasmine, Leather
Base: Birch, Vetiver, Amber, Vanilla

Hussar is a Russian Leather. I learned something today. Russian Leather is named for the Russian military boots leather. How bloody interesting is that? So last fortnight I spoke of the CHANEL Cuir de Russie which alludes to the saddles and in particular the soap the Russians (and now the world) used to keep them supple and make them last decades. Quite different takes on the Russian Leather experience, very cool.

The opening is sharp, clove heavy and vanilla prominent. From the outset Hussar is more forthright and has much greater sillage than CdR. Also, it feels less refined and exclusive. Rugged but not rough. Think of Twilight’s Edward and Jacob. Hussar is definitely the Jacob.

Hussar by Aquaflor Firenze

It’s not long till the dark, smoky leather pushes forward and becomes the star player. Somewhere in the heart we get this unbelievably glorious lipstick type orris, it’s a welcome surprise and adds layers to the fragrance ride. Spicy vanilla rich amber and smoky leather with a very slight soapy texture takes us to dry down which pumps out for hours before fade.

So good. Also, this does not feel like a winter leather. It’s more a shoulder season and I think it might sing beautifully in the heat.

Do you have a favourite leather?
Portia xx

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Saturday Question: Do You Think of Others When Choosing Which Perfume to Wear?

We all try to be considerate when applying perfumes before going to a theater or boarding a plane (well, at least we try). Sometimes, we find ourselves in the company of a scentophobe or in a fragrance-free work environment. Today’s question is not about those situations.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #228:

Do You Think of Others When Choosing Which Perfume to Wear?

If there are no limitations, you do not expect any objections, and you can choose any perfume from your collection, do you think of people you’ll be meeting in terms of whether they would like what you plan to wear? Or do you go with what you feel like wearing regardless of the potential “audience”?

My Answer

For many-many years, the main driver of my choices was how I felt about the perfume, how it fit the event, my outfit and my mood. I would consider the specific preferences of particular people (as in “what not to wear”), but other than that, I was at the center of all considerations.

In recent years, I started catching myself trying to figure out which of the perfumes I could wear might please people I was going to spend time with. I consider many of my perfumes great. But I would be trying to choose the one that I thought others might consider pleasant, beautiful or at least nice. It’s not that I want people to like me (they already do – we’re friends), but rather I want them to like my perfume. At least partially, I think, it’s because I know that they know about my hobby, so, in some sense, I don’t want to disappoint them or miss an opportunity to impress them with some rare beauty.

 

How about you?

Do You Think of Others When Choosing Which Perfume to Wear?