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Saturday Question: Do You Ever Put Perfumes in a Fridge?

As extensive as some of our collections are, Osmothèque Museum they are not, so I don’t expect that any of my readers (or at lest those who usually comment on my posts) maintain 12C/53F temperature where our perfumes are stored. But do you ever do that?

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #83:

Do You Ever Put Perfumes in a Fridge?

Maybe not for the permanent storage but for using on hot summer days? Or as a temporary solution for especially hot days? Or for the most precious or volatile perfumes in your collection? Or maybe for the transportation?

My Answer

I remember being impressed by Vanessa’s (Bonkers About Perfume) two wine fridges that she used to store her perfumes at some point of her fragrance j****y. And when we were getting a large wine fridge for my vSO’s wine collection (OK, it’s “ours,” but I tend to attribute it to him), I had some ideas that I would claim one shelf for storing my perfumes. But it proved to be completely impractical: I wouldn’t want to go downstairs every time I want to use one of the perfumes stored there; it’s not the healthiest way for the wine fridge to be opened once a day to get out perfume I wanted to wear that day; all of my perfumes would not fit on that one shelf anyway, and, finally, my vSO’s wine collection outgrew already the whole cabinet, so there is no extra space in it even for wine.

But I do use a regular refrigerator from tie to time. It started with me bringing my bottle of Estee Launder Bronze Goddess with me on my Hawaii vacation. It was a tradition, so unlike all other perfumes, for which I would make a decant for traveling, Bronze Goddess was coming with me for the last 10 years. I would be worried that my perfume would get too warm during the day when we were away, and an A/C was out, so I started putting it into the fridge. And then I discovered that I enjoyed spraying it cold. So, since then, on unpacking in a new vacation spot, a bottle of perfume would immediately go into the cold/

Over time, I found a couple more perfumes that I enjoyed sprayed cold from the refrigerator in summer. As an example, I could offer Jo Loves No. 42 The Flower Shop.

Recently, I bought one more perfume refrigerator-friendly perfume. I brought it with me to my Hawaii vacation, and I enjoy it immensely: a year after I told you how much Moroccanoil‘s Dry Body Oil and Hand Cream’s scent is associated for me with Hawaiian vacation, the brand came up with a Hair & Body Fragrance Mist with that scent. Of course, I had to get it and bring it with me to Big Island. Now my Bronze Goddess isn’t all lonely and intimidated by those large wine bottles.

In case you were wondering about the scent of that Hair & Body Fragrance Mist, it is very close and recognizable compared to the body and hair products, but I think that this is the case where in the oil-based form it both smells slightly better and lives longer. But I wouldn’t be able to spritz those oil products cool from the refrigerator. So, al-in-all, it was a good find for my vacation. And it combines perfectly with the body oil.

https://undina.com/2020/07/16/fantasy-vacation-scent/

Do You Ever Put Perfumes in a Fridge?

Portia’s Favourite Notes
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Portia’s Favourite Notes

Hi there crew, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what notes draw me to fragrance. The ones that seem to give me a particularly swoony head rush as well as nostrilgasms. Though there is very little in the perfumed world that I actively dislike there are some favourites. Especially when they are done well or treated in a new way that piques may interest. Some of them I keep buying even though there are already three, four or ten in the collection almost exactly the same. Yes, I know, TRAGIC! I can’t help it though. If I get a super swoony rush the chances are my credit card is out and burned before I can even get my thoughts together enough to say, “Sorry, I already have five almost exactly the same.” Please tell me some of you are just as impulsive and ridiculous..

Portia’s Favourite Notes (Today!)

Amber

I think amber is the best represented not in my collection. On it’s own I already find it sensational, don’t need to add a thing. The accord is so varied and almost every iteration of it has caught me in its snare. Give it a few extra bells & whistles and take my money. So much so that I’m having to get really tough with myself. Nowadays when I smell a new amber it has to be something extremely unusual or perfectly produced for me to go bananas. NO, that was a lie. I still go for it but then I have to rein myself in.
Favourites include L’Eau d’Ambre by L’Artisan, Ambre Ceruleen by Huitieme Art, Ambre Russe by Parfum d’Empire, Ambre 114 by Histories de Parfum, Mitzah by DIOR, Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens, Tiger’s Nest Memo Paris, Oriental Lounge by The Different Company, 24-09-11 by Hilde Soliani, Rima XI by Carner Barcelona, and Ambre Narguile by Hermès. I know I’m going to be pissed at how many I left off this list but seriously, it’s ridiculous how many bottles are here that are amber rich.

Narcissus

Narcissus crept up on me. While always loving it in the garden I didn’t really think about narcissus, or its place in perfumery, till I got hold of a decant of CB I Hate Perfume’s Narcissus Absolute. Suddenly I could tell when fragrances has a bit, or a lot. most of them keep it fairly well hidden as a back up singer, hiding among the bouquet. That’s a shame because the few that go all out are freaking stunning.
A couple I love are Jardins de Bagatelle by Guerlain (wearing it to write this!), Ostara by Penhaligon’s, Le Temps d’une Fête by Parfums de Nicolai, Infini by Caron, Narcisse by Chloé, and Volupté by Oscar de la Renta. There are so many others but these are the only bottles in my collection that I can think of.

Salt

Salt is a new love but one that I’m embracing. Actually, I think that’s not exactly true. I’ve long loved salt in fragrance but didn’t really know it until lately. It adds so much, like it does in food. Salt can be seaside, sweat, food, blood, driftwood, tears, skin, and so much more.
Gucci Bloom Acqua di Fiori, Couleur Vanille (large decant) and Batucada by L’Artisan, Eden-Roc by DIOR (large decant), Greg Lauren Barneys New York (still desperately searching for a bottle of this), Vanille Marine by M. Micallef, and though they never call themselves salted I always associate the L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme fragrances with sea water.

Sandalwood

Sandalwood seems to be ubiquitous. Indian Mysore, Australian, the replicants and something else grown I can’t remember. Having been introduced to it in Samsara while squirt bitching for Guerlain in the late 1980s, that hugely dramatic diva stole my heart and I bought it for Mum who wore it so well. Then in the early 2000s in India I was taken to a famous perfume wallah in Janpath Market in New Delhi. The sandalwood in the oils blew my mind. 
My most used. Samsara, Santal Royal and Mahora by Guerlain, Santal+++ by Miller et Bertaux, Santal Majuscule and Santal Blanc by Serge Lutens, Ashoka by Neela Vermeire Creation (Yes, I know sandalwood is secondary but it’s definitely part of why it’s so beautiful), Santal Noir by Dior, Adam Levine for Women, Dama Koupa by Baruti, Babylon by Penhaligon’s (sample, WANT a bottle so badly!) and Santal Massoïa by Hermès.

Tropical Floral

OK, so I know this is a style. Yes, it’s not a note. There is something so alluring about this genre though and if it’s done even half way good I’m a sucker for it. As kids our family spent a lot of summer time on beach or island vacations, plus we had a pool.  So those creamy floral, vanilla, coconut, ozonics make my heart skip a beat and quite often my eyes roll back in my head.
Songes and Un Matin d’Orage by Annick Goutal, Un Jour d’Ete by Keiko Mecheri, Lys Soleia by Guerlain, Rahel by Neela Vermeire Creations, Dune and Grand Bal by Dior, l’esprit libre by Divine, Saskia and Queen of the Night by Grandiflora, Elle L’aime by Lolita Lempicka, Sun by Jin Sander and even on the borderline, Ysatis by Givenchy.

 

So there you have it. I have surprised myself. These were not the 5 notes I was expecting to write about when I first sat down. This article has been banging around me head for a long while. If I’d gone Top Ten then I think lavender, incense, vanilla, rose and aquatic would have been the next 5. GAH! Then I’ve left out things like cedar, patchouli, oud, jasmine, cardamom, basil, galbanum, oakmoss, aldehydes, geranium, leather, osmanthus, violet, pepper or tea.

So how about you tell me your 5 faves. Don’t worry, it’s only for today.
The ones that make you swoon and reach for the credit card every time.

Portia xx

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Saturday Question: Do You Decant Perfumes for Personal Use?

The week ran away from me, and I didn’t publish the post I planned. More posts are coming soon, both from me and Portia, but meanwhile let’s just talk.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #82:

Do You Decant Perfumes for Personal Use?

We all buy or swap decants, so of course we use those and make them to send to others. But do you make decants from your own bottles to use yourself? If yes, why? For which perfumes? Do you replenish them?

My Answer

Yes. I have decants for almost (if not all) 50 ml and 100 ml bottles in my collection. First, I was making them to take with me on trips. Then, since I had a scent-sensitive co-worker, I would put on just a tiny amount in the morning and then later would apply more once he left or on my way home. And then my collection grew to the size where some of the perfumes had to be stored in the third, forth, etc. row, not too easily accessible – so, instead of playing perfume boxes Tetris in the morning, I’d use a decant.

These days, while working from home and not really traveling, I can use bottles again. But many of them are still in the third, forth, etc. row… And I don’t want my decants to evaporate. So, on many days I still use perfumes from decants.

Decants

Do You Decant Perfumes for Personal Use?

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Saturday Question: Do You Buy Used Perfumes?

Don’t think about vintage bottles, those are in a class of their own, and we had a poll about it not that long ago. Let’s talk about perfumes from the last 15 years (give or take a few).

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #81:

Do You Buy Used Perfumes?

If you do, where from? eBay/Mercari/Poshmark/etc.? FB groups? Basenotes or any other forums?

Do you trust those bottles to be in a good shape? Have you ever had a negative experience?

My Answer

Today this question was brought by the Google notification that informed me a couple of days ago that it found mentioning of my blog somewhere. Since it doesn’t happen too often (if ever), I got curious. It happened to be some strange site that sells perfumes… I’m still not sure whether this is a real site: only a completely clueless person would think of ordering anything from them. Nevertheless, it was there that I discovered that for one of their listings they used a picture from my old post. This one:

Victorias Secret Rapture

As I said, most likely it’s a scam: one can’t sell a bottle that they don’t have (and mine isn’t for sale), and it would be strange to show somebody else’s partial bottle if you have one to sell, because, unlike new bottles that all look alike and people might want to save efforts of taking a good picture, it will be hard to produce an identically used bottle if someone were to buy it.

But that reminded me of the thoughts I had about buying used bottles. Some time ago I made a decision that I wouldn’t be buying used bottles – unless it’s from one of a few people I know and trust. After seeing pictures of different perfumistas’ collections on FB, Instagram and YouTube, I know that many of them are stored outside of their boxes. And after reading every summer complaints from NST’s readers about how hot it gets in their places, I can only imagine through what temperature-wise live even those perfumes that aren’t exposed to the light being out of the box.

All that brought me to the realization that I perfumes that I add to my collection should be as fresh as possible (from the time of being launched) or at least from the brands’ sites. I understand that this isn’t a guarantee either. And not everyone puts their bottles on a display or subjects to the elements. But since none of the perfumes I’d buy today will be used up even in the next 5 years, the better the initial conditions of those perfumes are, the better chances I’ll get to enjoy them for at least those 5 next years.

 

Do You Buy Used Perfumes?

Lost Alice by Masque Milano NEW! NEW!
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Lost Alice by Masque Milano NEW! NEW!

Hi Crew, Lost Alice by Masque Milano is one of the decants to arrive in my latest Surrender To Chance order. Yeah, I’m affiliated with them because the STC crew are my mates. That doesn’t change the facts; they are terrific, have an excellent range and you can be guaranteed their stuff is the real deal. (OK unpaid ad over!). Lost Alice is an excellent title and the reason I bought this decant. Didn’t even look at the notes, it caught my eye as I was browsing their NEW section.

Lost Alice by Masque Milano 2021

Lost Alice by Masque Milano

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Ambrette (Musk Mallow), Black Pepper, Bergamot, Clary Sage
Heart: Black Tea, Orris, Carrot, White Rose
Base: Milk, Sandalwood, Broom

A clear and airy open, warm and cool vie against each other and are bridged by what I’m smelling as the two main players ambrette and iris. How is there no vanilla in this perfume? Maybe it’s the milk and sandalwood playing early but it doesn’t smell like them to me. The pepper and tea would normally give me a dry ache in my throat but here I get nothing.

Lost Alice is a strangely beautiful fragrance. It definitely has the feeling of yearning towards something. Maybe the blending is so good that parsing the notes is impossible (for me). It reminds me of two things without being like either of them. You know that rush of steam that blasts out if you open the dishwasher too soon? It’s a clean, hot, glasses fogging experience. Partly that feeling. The second thing is boiled lollies, not the taste but how smooth they become after you’ve sucked the edges off, just before you inevitably crunch it up.

Lost Alice by Masque Milano 2021

The whole fragrance feels barely there but is so distinctively unusual that it’s a constant presence. Do I like it? No, I haven’t fallen in love with it but Lost Alice is compelling, I’m forced to sniff it and sniff it again. Did you ever smell Dama Koupa by Baruti? Though the smell is quite different, the general attitude is the same.

After the initial fireworks burn off the thing I’m most reminded of is French Vanilla ice cream. Totally unexpected from the note list and my imaginings of what a Lost Alice would smell like. Finally, about an hour or so in a terrific, creamy sandalwood takes the spotlight and stays there for ages till fade. The whole fragrance comes together and it feels like Alice may not be so lost anymore.

Unisex, low to moderate projection but surprisingly good longevity.

Do you want to smell like a Masque Milano version of Lost Alice?
Portia xx

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Saturday Question: How Many Times Do You Test New Perfumes?

New (at least for me) perfumes have been on my (and my wrists) a lot lately.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #80:

How Many Times Do You Test New Perfumes?

If you get new samples, how many times do you test each perfume? Does it depend on the initial impression? Do you keep testing if you didn’t like it the first time? Do you test the same one several days in a row, or do you pause in between tests? If you do, for how long? How soon do you know whether you like, dislike or love perfumes you test?

My Answer

Hi! My name is Undina and I’m a sample hoarder.

When my hobby just started, I was getting anything I could get worth testing (based on whatever criteria seemed relevant then), tried perfumes I’ve never seen at the stores before (and some even still), compared them, studied them against the list of notes and then kept in the “library” returning to them from time to time – to check my previous impressions, compare to a new sample or sometimes even to wear. But in general, my “sampling” never stopped.

These days, when I get a new sample, I would try it as soon as I can (but since I rarely test more than 2 new scents at a time, if I get several samples together or as a set, it might take me several days to give each one a try). Then if I liked it a lot, I might test it again within the next couple of days – mostly with the goal to see if it would become the next candidate for joining my collection (most don’t pass and are demoted to the “didn’t like” category). Those that I didn’t like would stay somewhere nearby until I either decide to put them into one of the boxes holding other samples that I plan to re-test “one day soon” or try them once again and then put into those boxes.

I do not trick myself: I know with close to a 100% certainty not only that those samples will never become full bottle purchases, but that I don’t want even to spend any of my “wearing occasions” on those perfumes. Most of them are not of Chanel No 5 or Shalimar stature where I just want to have them “for reference” and revisit once in a while to see if they still don’t work for me. But since I usually tried those perfumes that I didn’t like just once or twice, on one hand, it’s extremely hard for me to part with them “without proper testing” (especially if I bought them, or if one of the perfumista friends made me a sample of perfume they loved), and on the other hand, I know that I don’t really want to test them any more because I didn’t like them that much on the previous attempt. Thus, they stay in limbo of that “one day soon” box – because I have to test them properly before dismissing. Right?..

I’m trying to fight with this mental loophole I created to justify my hoarding tendencies by getting the smallest samples possible and forcing myself to make a final decision in a more focused manner. Ideally, trying any perfume 2 or maximum 3 times should be more than enough. Ideally.

 

How Many Times Do You Test New Perfumes?

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Rusty the Cat: On Creams

I mentioned it before, Rusty loves if not all but most of the food. And among that food, there are some types or categories that he particularly favors. One of such categories is dairy products.

I can’t remember how it started, but at some point we came to the realization that he loves everything milk-related: milk, yogurt, cream, sour cream, ice cream, etc.

When I use sour cream in our meals or eat yogurt, Rusty always gets to leak the spoon afterwards – and does a great job while at it.

In Winter, one of my favorite desserts is hot chocolate. Rusty learned the process, and once I get milk out of the fridge, even before I open it (so, it’s not the case that he can smell it), he jumps on the counter (the part where he’s allowed to sit) and waits. After I bring milk to boil and pour it into cups with powdered chocolate, while my vSO stirs both cups, I’m busy: I feed Rusty milk film that is left on the bottom of the saucepan. Since it’s hot, I tear small pieces and give them to him. Rusty swallows each next piece in a nano-second and looks at my fingers greedily waiting for the next one. I’m strange, I know: from the childhood I like milk and, what is even stranger, hot milk and milk film. So, I would have eaten it myself. But Rusty loves it so much that I can’t deprive him of this little joy.

* * *

After the pump of the 1 liter bottle of Kiehl’s Creme de Corps stopped producing any output, I opened the bottle and kept it upside down over an empty plastic container from ice cream waiting for what was left to transfer there following the gravity. I succeeded but partially: another physical force in action – surface tension – prevented at least some portion of the cream from flowing down. So, earlier today I decided to “surgically” extract the remaining cream. I took the bottle and the jar to the kitchen, cut the bottle in half with scissors and started scooping the content.

Rusty appeared with a characteristic “meow” – the exact excited sound he usually produces when he observes food that he hopes to get. He jumped to where I was trying to save last milliliters of the cream, hovered over the jar, sniffed… and was clearly puzzled and disappointed by what he smelled: I was in the kitchen; it was an ice cream jar; the content looked like one of those tasty dairy products… and it absolutely didn’t smell as such. Since my hands were in cream, I didn’t want to touch him. So, as I was finishing my exercise in frugality, he just sat there sniffing air and not believing the cruelty of the World.

Rusty and Kiehs Creme de Corps

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Sunday Self-care, Episode 7: Give Your Hands a Hand

Long before I got concerned with my hands showing my age, I suffered from dryness of the skin. So, for many-many years I’ve been constantly using hand creams and lotions, as well as trying to avoid subjecting my hands to any household chemicals.

Nivea Soft Moisturizing Cream

For years my go-to hand cream was NIVEA Soft Moisturizing Crème. I think that I liked it mostly for its texture and scent (though, I would have preferred the scent of the original Nivea cream in a navy tin). It was nice, it absorbed quickly, but I it seemed not to keep my hands moisturized for as long as I wanted to. Sometimes, I had to re-apply it during the night if I were to wake up and think that my hands were too dry, but I assumed that was the nature of the game.

Of course, had I spent any time looking into ingredients that were beneficial in hand creams, I would have realized sooner than not all creams were created equal. But somehow, I never doubted “old and proven” Nivea… And then, I did like the scent…

Since I didn’t think that there was anything wrong with the cream I was using, my several next explorations were all based on a scent.

Moroccanoil Hand Cream

Last summer, longing for a tropical vacation, I picked up the Moroccanoil hand cream the scent of which reminded me of my last trip to Hawaii. I liked it, and I might keep buying it from time to time, but since the scent is very pronounced, I didn’t (and wouldn’t) want to use it every night and definitely not during the day, I didn’t have a chance to notice its moisturizing properties.

Thymes Frasier Fir Hand Cream

At Christmas time, I usually crave everything fir scented. Partially, it’s because our Christmas tree, while being extremely lifelike, is still artificial. So, in addition to candles, room sprays and handwash with the coveted fir scent, last December I bought a tube of Thymes Frasier Fir hand cream. I love the scent! And it did a descent job providing moisture for my hands. But fir is a seasonal scent for me. It’s like with Christmas songs: I enjoy them all December long, but come January, they are banned in our household until the next year. So was that hand cream.

Soraya Hand Cream

For my birthday, Lucas (Chemist in the Bottle) sent me (among other great things) a tube of a hand cream Plante Odżywczy from a Polish brand, Soraya. WOW. It’s the best black currant note in a beauty product I’ve ever smelled, including perfumes! If I could get it in a bottle, I would love to wear it as perfume. This 99% natural cream has nice ingredients, and I love it! But in our globalization era, there are still things that one cannot buy online and have it delivered. And this hand cream is one of those things. Maybe one day they will deliver to the US. For now, I’ll enjoy what I have.

Aquaphor Advanced Therapy Hand Cream

The most recent discovery, thanks to one of my friend’s recommendations, was Aquaphor Healing Ointment. It doesn’t have any scent. It’s colorless. I do not enjoy using it whatsoever (and my vSO plainly refuses to, claiming that “it’s greasy” – it’s not). But it works. I think that my hands have never felt better than now (I mean, since I had to start using any creams). Not only I do not need to re-apply Aquaphor cream during the night, but I recently realized that during the day I feel the need to apply a hand cream much less often than I used to. And it absolutely does not interfere with my wearing or testing perfumes. So, probably for now I found my HG of hand creams. But it won’t stop me from enjoying from time to time some of the scented beauties that I have or hunt for new miracle hand helpers.

Hand Creams

Images: my own

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Saturday Question: What Perfume Would You Wear Back to School Today?

Several years ago, when NST had a community project for the “back to school”perfume associations, I did a post about it. And those of you who were reading my blog then commented about perfumes they wore to school and other school-related topics. But today I suggest a slightly different twist: not a trip down memory lane but rather a fantasy.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #79:

What Perfume Would You Wear Back to School Today?

Think of yourself from the time of your last year at school. Imagine that you could send yourself to the past a magical gift – a bottle of any perfume that you have in your collection today or can buy now – to wear on your first day back to school. What would you choose and why?

My Answer

Have you ever thought of a great question to ask someone… and then figured out that you would have hard time coming up with the answer? This is what happened to me. As usually it happens at that time of the year, the “back to school” notion was on my mind, and I thought it would be great to do this question. But what would I want to wear on that day? That is the question.

As I mentioned more than once before, since they weren’t that affordable or easily available, perfumes weren’t widely used in the daily life when I was growing up even by adults, let alone teenagers. I’m not sure if there even were any official rules as to wearing scented products to school. The rules were strict about makeup: colorless chopstick-like balms were the closest one could get to wearing makeup to school. But I would think that any perfume one would be able to get and wear to school would be a vast improvement over odors that were “naturally” present in the day-to-day life. So, maybe it wouldn’t have been frowned upon? I don’t know.

But as rebellious as I was back then, I still wouldn’t want to be completely out of order, so probably I shouldn’t send myself to the past any sillage bombs.

Also, back then I was still mostly a signature scent person (on those rare special occasions when I wore perfume, it was my beloved Climat by Lancome – surprise!), so I wouldn’t want to send myself something I think I wouldn’t have liked at 17.

And of course I’d want to wear something that my friends would think smells great, especially that particular boy… (though, if I remember it correctly, there wasn’t a one when I was returning to school for my last year, but you got the idea).

Having taken all that into consideration, I chose Iris Poudre from Frederic Malle. My reasoning is: I like it and consider pretty any easy going. Besides, even though I tried and liked it when I was much older, since I think that Iris Poudre smells a lot like another perfume that became my favorite in just about 10 years after school, it’s very likely that I would have liked any/both of them a decade earlier as well.

Frederic Malle Iris Poudre

What Perfume Would You Wear Back to School Today?

Sycomore by CHANEL
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Sycomore by CHANEL

Hey Crew. CHANEL is one of the worlds most iconic brands. The marketing team is second to none. It’s hard to stay current and afloat in the world of fashion. Let alone doing it in the 21st century. With the historic stories of Gabrielle Chanel and her personal and political choices, any other brand would have been cancelled or censured. For more information read Hal Vaughan’s book Sleeping With The Enemy: Coco Chanel’s Secret War. She wasn’t alone according to this article. There has been some extra hype with No 5 turning 100 years old in 2021 and the release of the homewares inspired collectable Factory 5 Collection. They also manage to pump out some impressive fragrance in their Les Exclusif line. If you’re new to the perfume craving they are a good place to smell some beautifully crafted fragrance, accessible in most large department stores.

Sycomore by CHANEL EdP (2016)

Sycamore by CHANEL

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Aldehydes, Spices, Pink pepper, Sandalwood, Tobacco, Violet, Vetiver, Juniper, Cypress

Grassy greenness, the sweet shiver of pink pepper, the warm enveloping and silky smooth pairing of tobacco and sandalwood are all front and centre at the opening of Sycomore EdP. Less brilliant and sparkling than its EdT predecessor but warmer and more wearable by far. This feels more luxurious without the razza mattaz, showbiz style entrance. Don’t get me wrong, I love the EdT but there is a place in my heart for the EdP. Also, as more proof I own this small bottle of EdP and it wasn’t even on my list as an EdT.

The heart becomes a lightly spiced fresh hewn wood. Not a chest thumping, crackly, modern niche experience of woods. Here there is air between the notes. You aren’t in the sawmill, or even the lumberyard. It’s more like you’ve had a wood delivery at home and you can smell it as you enter and leave the house. I don’t know what it is but I also smell wood polish, like those lovely waxes that feed and nourish your wood table.

Dry down gets woodsier and woodsier as it fades over hours. Interestingly people around me can smell this long after I become nose blind. A perfect scent for those times you need to be softly fragrant for long periods of time.

Sycamore by CHANEL EdP

Sycomore is a modern, unisex fragrance. No matter that it was originally created in 1930. I never smelled the Ernest Beaux version but Jacques Polge and Christopher Sheldrake have done a beautiful job of revamping the EdT.

Have you spent time with any of the CHANEL Sycomores?
Portia x

(EDIT: I spelled Sycomore as SycAmore through the whole post and then was pulled up. It is in fact SycOmore. Fixed now)