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Sunday Question: Do You TikTok?

A day late, so it’s Sunday, not Saturday question this week. Even if you live outside of the main arena of the unfolding TikTok drama, most likely you at least read something about it. So, I thought it would be interesting to do a question related to a hot-button issue.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #249:

Do You TikTok?

Do you have an account there? Do you use it? If you do, is any of the content you watch there perfume-related? What other content do you find interesting there? Would it affect you if it were to be banned in your country?

My Answer

I thought I registered an account at some point, but I can’t remember under which username. I recollect I thought of having my account registered with the name I use elsewhere – just in case, but now it is not recognized on the web, and it looks like either I’ve never installed it on my phone or deleted it after the initial sign-up. So, this probably answers most of today’s questions.

Even though I don’t use TikTok, I’ve always felt an instinctive animosity towards it: for me, it was the worst combination of Twitter (which I disliked for the short and short-lived content) and YouTube (not all the content, but I refer to those videos made specifically to click-bate users into watching them or to provoke the response). So, when shortly it was going down, I felt a twinge of schadenfreude. On the other hand, I have a guilty pleasure: on YouTube, I watch (not subscribe but watch when it finds me) a channel that covers different TikTok dramas. So, I would have missed that type of entertainment had the ban gone through. So, plus (schadenfreude) and minus (entertainment) cancel each other out.

Now, it looks like the crisis has been averted, and everything will be how it was. It doesn’t change anything for me and doesn’t affect me in the least. So, it means that I would be fine both ways – with or without TikTok available in the US.

How about you?

Do You TikTok?

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Saturday Question: Have You Ever Experienced a Chimera Scent?

Occasionally, I try a perfume for the first time and feel an immediate rush of excitement. It smells so wonderful, so perfect, that I think I’ve discovered a new favorite. But then, on subsequent tries, I can never recreate that initial feeling. The magic seems to vanish, leaving me wondering if I imagined it all.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #248:

Have You Ever Experienced a Chimera Scent?

Has that ever happened to you? Do you remember any specific perfumes that behaved this way? Have you ever been able to recreate that initial feeling with the same perfume?

My Answer

As it’s clear from the introduction to this post, this has happened to me more than once. I’d discover a perfume that seems perfect on the first try, only for that magical connection to slip away on subsequent wears. Luckily for me, these discoveries would occur before I paid for a full bottle. And still it feels disappointing.

Atelier des Ors has never been “my brand.” Those perfumes that I tried, I didn’t dislike, but none of them clicked with me. To explain how much I didn’t care for the brand, I must share that I refused free samples that a fellow-perfumista who worked with the brand at that time offered to send me: based on the previous experience, I didn’t expect to like other perfumes from the line, and I wanted to avoid an awkward explanation why I wouldn’t be writing anything positive about the brand.

On my visit to ZGO, a San Francisco-based perfumery, I tried a relatively new perfume, Pink me Up, only because I was fascinated by its color and thought that the name was a clever play on it. I liked it very much. The opening fruity-champagne burst was so appealing and carefree that I felt falling in love with the scent with each next whiff. It was one of the five samples that I bought there this day.

A couple of days ago, I tried Pink me Up again, for the last time. My sample is empty. Never once in these 15 months was I able to relive the scent I smelled at the store. I kept hoping it was an anomaly, and the next time I’d experience perfume I liked the first time. It hasn’t happened.

I do not have a theory why it happened in this case. Was my nose conditioned by the dozen of other perfumes I tried before it? Was I just excited to be at a great perfume store after a couple of years of “sensory starvation” caused by quarantine restrictions on travels? Was I seduced by the bottle?

It reminds me of wine tasting at vineyards. There, a wine sampled in the picturesque surroundings of a winery can seem extraordinary. Yet, when that same bottle is opened at home, it might not live up to the memory. Interestingly, with wine, the opposite can also happen: a wine that seemed just “nice” (bought on the trip in lieu of paying for testing) can transform into something special when enjoyed in a more relaxed, familiar setting or with good food. I don’t remember that ever happening with perfumes though.

 

How about you?

Have You Ever Experienced a Chimera Scent?

Silly Season 2025 in Review
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Silly Season 2025 in Review

Hey crew, Well, it’s all over for another year of mayhem. Hope whatever you did, didn’t do, whoever you were with or without, that you had an OK time. That your mental health survived in tact. we had a roller coaster here in Oz.

Silly Season 2025 in Review

Christmas Eve Eve Jin, Kath and I go to the Sydney Fish markets. There have been others that joined us but for the last ten or eleven years we have been the core. We have some dinner on the waterfront and then Jin & Kath buy prawns for the festivities. It’s a lovely, fun thing to do and we have usually gone around 10pm but this year we went early, at about 8pm and got to see the sunset. Beautiful.

Silly Season 2025 in Review

Christmas Eve we always fill the table with friends and Jin does his famous roast pork with extra crackling. He also bakes a cauliflower. I do the rest of the baked vegetables and salads. This year we had 11 at the table and it was a riotous affair. Loads of stories and catching up. There were presents and booze. It never goes late because 4-5 hours of people is my limit. At about 10.45pm I stood up, thanked everyone and they were gone by 11pm. That meant I could clean the table, run the dishwasher a couple of times, have everything packed away and be in a huge, cool bubble bath by midnight. Heaven.

Silly Season 2025 in Review

This year on Christmas Day I did my best but honestly, I really did not want to go to my best friend’s sisters house. She’s a bully, a white-ant-er, a liar and a manipulator. I’ve sat by and smiled while she has undermined and humiliated my best friend for 25 years because my BFF has asked me to keep the peace as the sister uses her daughters as collateral. Just being around this woman is skeevy, makes me want to have a shower. Anyway, we were there 15 minutes and it was already pretty grim and then she started in on Kath. Hello Portia explosion. Not my finest moment. Was basically pushed off the property and told to leave or the police would be called. Oh well. Funny thing is, we had brought most of the food and she threw our cooler bags out with us. So there were about 10 people and we brought the prawns, ham, chicken, pork, potato salad, green salad and green bean salad. Don’t know what they ate but Kath came back to ours and we had a very quiet Xmas lunch that suited us perfectly. Jin is the smart one, as soon as he heard it was at the sisters place he said no, not going. So we came home, had loads of stories, some tears and laughter and generally enjoyed being together (as always)

Silly Season 2025 in Review

Jin and I had decided to do nothing this year for New Years Eve. He is on call 24/7 at the moment, covering jobs above him on the railways. Then one of our girlfriends who works at the Sydney Opera House found herself with four spare tickets to House Kitchen. It’s the eatery closest to the very point facing the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour. Jin didn’t want to come so I rounded up three girlfriends and we had the most amazing time. All our food was included and it was very extravagant, delicious finger food. There were bands, singers, DJs and a slew of roving entertainment. All we had to pay for were drinks. AMAZING! We had a table to ourselves, seats all day and night, toilets nearby that were clean right to the end. Seriously, we had the chillest, most comfortable NYE of my life. I was driving so didn’t have much alcohol all night, just a sip of champagne with the girls at midnight, less than two fingers of drink in a flute.
We got a lift back to my car from one of my girlfriends. I felt something sharp poke me hard when I sat down but just moved my ass thinking I’d sat on a pin or coat hanger. Suddenly I felt so tired and really out of it just sitting in the back of the car, my eyes were unfocusing and I was just a little nauseous. It was like drugs but not in a fun way. By the time we got to my car I was just sleepy but opened the windows, drank a bunch of water and felt better, but not quite right. Dropped the girls home, drove to my home, fell into bed. Slept like dead people.
Next morning I wake up with a bad head, super dry throat, my bones aching, joints creaking and I feel pretty rough. My guess at this moment is I’ve got C19. I do a test, negative. Can’t think what’s wrong. About 6 pm though I sit awkwardly on a chair and feel this contusion on my ass. It’s a tender lump about the size of the palm of my hand. I get Jin to have a look and there are two really large holes in my ass, about 1.5cm apart. I’ve been bit by a spider. Yes, I have. No wonder. It takes me three days to properly recover. HA! How wild is that?

Silly Season 2025 in Review

Silly Season 2025 in Review Fireworks Tina

Silly Season 2025 in Review Kath

Christmas Eve was modern Cabochard by Gres, Christmas Day I wore Sancti by Liquides Imaginaires and NYE Ambre Nuit by DIOR with a couple of swipes of vintage Guerlain Shalimar extrait. These were good choices.

So there’s my run down,
Tell me your high and low lights please,
Portia xx

 

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Saturday Question: Is “Interesting” A Compliment In A Perfume Description?

In everyday conversations, the word “interesting” often wears many hats. At times, it’s a sincere compliment, a way to acknowledge something as novel, captivating or thought-provoking. But in some contexts, “interesting” becomes a social buffer, a diplomatic way to mask uncertainty or mild disapproval. Whether it’s a friend’s questionable outfit choice or a movie that missed the mark, “interesting” is often a stand-in for “I’m not sure what to say, but I don’t want to sound rude.”

Perfumes conversations aren’t immune to that phenomenon. We often encounter scents that defy easy categorization. When words like “beautiful,” “fresh,” or “sensual” don’t quite fit or are not enough, “interesting” easily slips into the description. But what does it really mean when we call a fragrance “interesting”? Is it praise, critique or simply a placeholder for mixed emotions?

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #247:

Is “Interesting” A Compliment In A Perfume Description?

When do you characterize perfumes as “interesting”? Do you have any examples? What do you think when you read someone else’s description that includes this adjective?

My Answer

While I was thinking about this question, I was sure that in my vocabulary this definition came mostly in combination with “but not for me” or “but I don’t want to wear it.” But once I started looking into what I actually write as impressions in my daily wear diary, I discovered that during my testing, in 1/3 of the time when I mentioned that something was “interesting,” it was for perfumes that I liked (but didn’t love from the first sniff), wanted to test more and ended up getting at least a decant (and sometimes a bottle). But in the majority of cases, while acknowledging that perfume in question wasn’t bad, I knew that I wouldn’t want to wear it.

“Interesting” perfumes that stayed just that (an example, there were many more of such): By Killian Back to Black, Eris Parfums Belle de Jour and Frederic Malle Carnal Flower. “Interesting” that became “love”: Annick Goutal Ambre Fétiche, Hiram Green Arbolé Arbolé and Serge Lutens Boxeuses.

 

How about you?

 

Is “Interesting” A Compliment In A Perfume Description?

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Perfume Advent Calendars: Count Me Out

Since discovering several years ago that I enjoy advent calendars, every August-September, I research offerings in the space.

While beauty and different “edible” (tea, chocolate, jam, etc.) calendars were my main focus, and in the last 3 years I either bought or improvised my own calendars in these categories, I would investigate other curious varieties when they entwine into my search results.

I haven’t done any scientific calculations, but just as an impression: this year, everyone went crazy releasing their version of an advent calendar. In my opinion, rare ones are worth buying. But I’ll get to it later in the post. For now, let’s just observe what was happening in the fragrance space.

* * *

For over a decade, around holidays, Sephora has been selling sets of perfume samples with a voucher for a full bottle of one of the perfumes included. Even though I haven’t been a target audience for perfumes in those sets, I always thought that it was a great idea for a gift for a “civilian” perfume enthusiast. That was probably the closest to a fragrance advent calendar I’ve seen until recently.

Last year, Harrods made the first (I think) Perfume Advent Calendar. It included 12 mini bottles of very high-end fragrances. It was fantastic value and sold out within days, while I debated getting it instead of the beauty calendar.

This year Harrods released another Perfume Advent Calendar with 13 high-end perfumes (different from the previous year). Perfumes included: Parfums De Marly Oriana, Etat Libre D’Orange Nostos, Montale Rendez Vous Chez Harrods, Thameen Peregrina, Tiziana Terenzi La Superba Rossa, Acqua Di Parma Oud and Zagara, Graff EDP VI, Xerjoff Alexandria II, Creed Queen of Silk, Amouage Guidance, Amouage Reflection, Roja London Elysium, The Merchant of Venice Queen of the Night.

Priced at £175 (with a declared £1,144 value), it disappeared during a pre-sale.

Harrods Perfume Advent Calendar 2024

And then, fragrance advent calendars were everywhere.

There were several main types of these calendars – multi-brand fragrance calendars with mini/travel bottles of perfumes and candles only, multi-brand beauty calendars with a significant number of perfume-related items, single-brand perfume calendars or perfume-heavy beauty calendars with a mix of full bottles, travel bottles, miniatures and other scent-related items, and finally, multi-brand sampling perfume calendars containing perfume samples (with or without a future redemption option).

Multi-brand Perfume Calendars 2024

In addition to Harrods’ 12 Days of Fragrance Advent Calendar, four more stores offered perfume-centric advent calendars:

Harvey Nichols 12 Days Of Fragrance calendar, priced at £165 (declared value £730), contains 17 mini/travel bottles of high-end and niche perfumes: Acqua di Parma Colonia Hatbox, Bdk Parfums Gris Charnel, Byredo Bal d’Afrique, Creed Carmina, D.S. & Durga I Don’t Know What, Escentric Molecules Escentric O2, Ex-Nihilo The Hedonist, Frederic Malle Portrait Of A Lady, Hermetica Paris Verticaloud, Memo Paris Irish Leather, Maison Crivelli Neroli Nasimba, Nishane Hacivat, Parfums de Marly Delina, Sisley Paris Eau Révée D’hubert, Tocca Cleopatra, Veronique Gabai Oud Elixir, Xerjoff Naxos. Sold out.

Harvey Nichols 12 Days Of Fragrance Advent Calendar 2024

Space NK 12 Days Of Fragrance calendar, $195/£560, has 3 full bottles (DedCool Xtra Milk, Malin + Goetz Leather and Phlur Vanilla Skin Body Mist), 14 mini/travel bottles (Byredo Mojave Ghost, Boy Smells Hinoki Fantome, Diptyque Eau Rose, D.S & Durga I Don’t Know What, E11EVEN Fragrance Oil, Escentric Molecules MO1, Escentric Molecules EO4, Floral Street Wonderland Peony, Glossier You, Jo By Jo Loves, Juliette Has A Gun Not A Perfume, Maison Margiela Lazy Sunday Morning, Vyrao Witchy Woo) and a candle (Shimmering Spice Scented Candle). Sold out.

SpaceNK 12 Days Of Fragrance Advent Calendar 2024

Bloomingdale’s 12 Days of Luxury Fragrance Advent Calendar ($125/$275) offers 11 mini/travel perfumes (5-7 ml) and one hand cream: Maison Margiela REPLICA By the Fireplace, DS & Durga I Don’t Know What, Initio Parfums Privés Oud for Greatness, Diptyque Eau Rose, Vilhelm Parfumerie Poets of Berlin, Parfums de Marly Delina body cream, Acqua di Parma Signatures of the Sun Zafferano, Mind Games J’Adoube, Byredo Gypsy Water, Bond No. 9 New York Greenwich Village, Memo Paris Marfa, Armani/Privé Santal Dan Sha. Sold out mid-December.

Bloomingdales 12 Days Of Luxury Fragrance Advent Calendar 2024

Neiman Marcus 12 Days Of Fragrance Advent Calendar, $155 ($375 value), included 10 travel/mini bottles of perfumes, one mini candle and one lotion. I can’t believe it, but it’s sold out! 60 ml of perfume(s), a 30 g candle and 75 ml lotion. $155.

Neiman Marcus 12 Days Of Fragrance Advent Calendar 2024

Multi-brand “Fragrance-heavy” Beauty Calendars 2024

Cult Beauty released one of their beauty calendars with a perfume twist: Scent With Love Advent Calendar (£235/£1,100). I didn’t get why they stressed it out that much (and limited countries to which that calendar could be delivered) because, among 45 products, there were only a couple of perfume-related items. Sold out quickly.

Selfridges’s beauty calendar (£250/£1,000+) had 2 full bottles, 3 travel bottles and 1 candle among 38 products. Sold out.

Saks Fifth Avenue 25-Day Advent Calendar ($295/$1,200) included 5 travel bottles of perfumes and a candle. Sold out (just a couple of days ago).

Single-brand Perfume and Beauty Calendars 2024

I was surprised by the number of perfume brands that came up with advent calendars. This isn’t a comprehensive list – just those that I came across in my searches and recognized.

Juliette has a gun released a 6-item set called (surprise!) Not an advent calendar. Priced at $160 ($200 value), it includes (all names preceded by “Not a”) bar soap, hand cream, body lotion, a mini bottle of Not a perfume, a mini candle and hair & body mist. As I write it, the set is still available.

JHAG Not An Advent Calendar 2024

Ormonde Jayne offered a set – 8 Days of Christmas (“extending the joy of discovery from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve”). It included one full bottle (Levant), 4 travel bottles (Verano, Sakura, Champaca and Osmanthus) and 3 special holiday candles (Nocturne, Etoile and Infini). It was sold out in a blink of an eye; I don’t even remember the price.

Ormonde Jayne 8 Days Of Christmas 2024

Maison Margiela offers Fragrance Advent Calendar that includes one 30 ml bottle (By the Fireplace), 2 travel bottles (Beach Walk and Jazz Club), travel bottles of a shower gel and body lotion and 2 mini candles. $120/$165. Still available.

Maison Margiela Fragrance Advent Calendar 2024

Diptyque was one of the brands for which it wasn’t the first rodeo: I recall at least two of their previous calendars. This year, it was priced at $495 (I’m not sure the value was even mentioned). As always, it was sold out quickly. It included 10 mini candles, 1 larger candle, room spray, solid perfume, 7 travel sprays (L’Eau Papier, Do Son, Philosykos, Fleur de Peau, Orphéon, Tam Dao, Eau Rose), soap, travel sizes of hand and body gel and hand and body lotion, exfoliating hand wash and a set of decorations.

Diptyque Advent Calendar 2024

Same as Diptyque, Jo Malone is known for their yearly Advent Calendars. At $495, it was sold out a long time ago. The collection contained: one 30 ml bottle (Orange Bitters), twelve 9 ml travel bottles (Blackberry & Bay, Fir & Artemisia, Velvet Rose & Oud, English Pear & Freesia, Wood Sage & Sea Salt, English Pear & Sweet Pea, Cypress & Grapevine, Myrrh & Tonka, Wild Bluebell, Lime Basil & Mandarin, Oud & Bergamot, Red Hibiscus), 3 mini candles, 2 travel candles, a soap, 2 body & hand washes, 1 body & hand lotion, 2 body & hand creams and 1 hand cream.

Jo Malone 25 Day Advent Calendar 2024

For $525, L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Advent Calendar offers one 50 ml bottle (Histoire d’Orangers), 10 travel bottles (Cuir Grenat, Passage d’ Enfer, Mémoire de Roses, Un Air de Bretagne, Mûre et Musc, Tonka Blanc, Abyssae, Vetiver Ecarlate, Fables D’Orient, Tenebrae), 3 mini bottles (Ode a L’Oudh, Il Etait un Bois, A Fleur de Peche), 2 travel body washes, 2 travel hand & body lotions, 2 hand creams, 2 hand soaps, red leather pouch and a ceramic object. Still available (I’m not surprised).

L'Artisan Parfumeur Advent Calendar 2024

Penhaligon’s 24-Day Advent Calendar, for $570, includes 1 30 ml full bottle (Luna EdT), 9 travel sprays (Halfeti, The Tragedy of Lord George, Quercus, Duchess Rose, Empressa, The Blazing Mr. Sam, Eau The Audacity, Juniper Sling, Highgrove), 4 mini bottles (Elisabethan Rose, Al Ula, Endymion, Halfeti Leather), 4 mini candle, two travel size body washes and a body lotion, a hand cream, a mini soap and a Christmas charm. It is almost sold out.

Penhaligon's 24-Day Advent Calendar 2024

Acqua di Parma had a 25-day Holiday Advent Calendar, $650, with twelve 12 ml travel bottles (Colonia Futura, Colonia C.L.U.B., Colonia Essenza, Signatures Oud, Signatures Quercia, Signatures Sandalo, Signatures Osmanthus, Signatures Yuzu, SignaturesLily of the Valley, Arancia di Capri, Fico di Amalfi, Mirto di Panarea), 20 ml bottle of Colonia EdC, travel sizes of different body products and 2 mini candles Sold out.

Acqua di Parma Advent Calendar 2024

Guerlain had their traditional fragrance-heavy The Hive of Wonders Advent Calendar ($720). Among the 25 products, it included seven 10 ml L’Art & La Matière miniatures (Musc Outreblanc, Cuir Beluga, Oud Nude, Angélique Noire, Néroli Outrenoir, Jasmin Bonheur and Herbes Troublantes, a 7.5 ml miniature of Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic Forte and a 5 ml miniature of Shalimar EdP, 4 mini candles, 2 perfume soaps and 2 ceramics to perfume. Not that I was planning to buy it, but I am not even sure it ever came to the site.

Guerlein The Hive of Wonders 2024

Dior this year had two beauty advent calendars. The more “egalitarian” one, just for $750, included a tiny 3.5 ml mini bottle of J’adore l’Or, five 5 ml mini bottles (J’adore EdP, J’adore Parfum d’eau, Miss Dior EdP, Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet and Miss Dior Parfum), three 10 ml mini bottles (Sauvage EdP, Sauvage EdT and Dior Homme EdT) and a mini candle. Sold out.

Dior Advent Calendar 2024

The Trunk of Dreams, a limited edition (as an opposite to what?) Dior’s advent calendar is the most expensive advent calendar I’ve ever encountered in my searches. Among 24 items, this $4,400 calendar included five full bottles of their La Collection Privée line, the smallest 40 ml size, (Gris Dior, Jasmin des Anges, Ambre Nuit, Oud Rosewood and New Look), 1 full-size scented candle, 3 mini candles and 3 full-size hair perfumes (Gris Dior, Oud Rosewood and Jasmin des Anges). Only 120 calendars were produced. Sold out.

Dior Advent Calendar 2024

Maison Francis Kurkdjian re-released his limited edition of The Countdown Calendar. Priced at $995 on the brand’s site, it is sold out, but it’s still available from Harrods for $1,100. The set includes a full bottle (70 ml) of Baccarat Rouge 540 extrait de parfum, a Baccarat Rouge 540 scented body oil (35 ml), a trio of 724 precious elixirs (3×4 ml), a trio of mini candles, a limited-edition Mon beau Sapin scented candle (95 g), Grand Soir EdP (35 ml), OUD satin mood sparkling oil (200 ml) and a miniature of Aqua Universalis (10 ml).

MFK The Countdown Calendar 2024

Other single-brand perfume calendars that I saw this season: Jo Loves (£375/£750UK only; sold out), M.Micallef (295.00 € or $295, still available), Mind Games ($225, still available) and several designer brands I won’t even mention.

Multi-brand Sampling Perfume Calendars 2024

Surprisingly, I didn’t see too many advent calendars with perfume samples. Macy’s still has a $35 13-Pc. Macy’s Favorite Scents 12 Days Of Scent For Her Advent Calendar with the current releases of designer fragrances. Sephora, as always, had several sets of designer fragrance samples with a redeemable voucher for either a travel-size or a full-size bottle (dependent on the set). These are not calendars per se but are quite a convenient “civilian” gift. This is probably why most of them are sold out.

ScentBird decided to participate with a 12-day advent calendar. For $52, they offered twelve 1.5 ml samples of designers fragrances. The set included Versace Bright Crystal Absolu, Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue, Prada Candy, Juliette Has A Gun Not A Perfume, Commodity Rain, Michel Germain Sugarful, Room 105 Cherry Punk, Confessions Of A Rebel Get A Room, Dedcool Xtra Milk, Deck of Scarlet Not Your Girl, Catherine Malandrino Violet Gem. Was available almost until Christmas.

Scent Bird 12 Day Advent Calendar 2024

If you think the ScentBird’s offering is expensive, wait till I tell you about Olfactif’s Advent Calendar.

For $225, you get to enjoy 24 days of 2 ml samples of undisclosed perfumes. The only known fact is that they are not the same as were previously features in their subscription boxes.They made just 50 sets. Five of these have a $100 gift card. The rest just get 48 ml of random perfumes for $225. Still available on the site.

Olfactif 24 Days Advent Calendar 2024

* * *

Are you still with me? Let me share my thoughts about these calendars and in general the idea of fragrance advent calendars.

High-value multi-brand calendars are the most likely to be useful: if they contain 2-3 perfumes you know, like and want to own, and their price equals or exceeds the price of the advent calendar, the rest might be considered a GWP.

Similar considerations apply to beauty calendars: if the price of the items that you would buy otherwise covers the price of the calendar, having additional perfumes to try is a pleasant bonus.

Single-brand perfume calendars confound me: if someone is a devotee of the brand, wouldn’t they already have all the possible products from it? And if they are not, what are the chances that they would like the whole lineup (if multiple perfumes included) or need the complete range of the products? Especially considering that the prices are, mostly, retail minus 20-25%. It isn’t a bad discount for a bottle of specific perfume you want to buy. But why would you pay that price for a selection of products someone else made?

As to sampling advent calendars, 18 ml of designer perfumes $52 or 48 ml of who knows what for $225… I find it the strangest idea. And judging by the availability of those calendars long after the time they were supposed to be used, the brands didn’t trick others either.

* * *

This December I went through two Advent Calendars – a multi-brand beauty advent calendar that I bought for myself from SpaceNK and a loose leaf tea calendar that I made for me and my vSO from 4-5 discovery sets I bought and repackaged into the box from the last year’s Cult Beauty Advent Calendar. We both enjoyed the daily ritual of finding a new gift in the numbered box. 70% of the calendar cost could be counted towards 6 products that I like, currently use and would have repurchased during the upcoming year anyway. And I was more than happy to pay the remaining 30% of the cost to try all the other included products. Ironically, the only two items from that calendar I didn’t care for and wasn’t happy to get were… two perfumes – D.S. & Durga I Don’t Know What and Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa ’62 perfume mist. So, if I decide to go for another Advent Calendar next year, I don’t think it’ll be a perfume one. Unless I get 24 samples of my choosing and make my own calendar, which might be not such a bad idea.

Space NK Beauty Advent Calendar 2024

Images: All images but the last one are from brands or stores’ websites.

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Saturday Question: What Are Your Top 10 (5? 3? Any?) Favorite Perfumes of 2024?

I hope everyone who celebrates had wonderful time with people (and furry creatures) important in your life. One more holiday to go – and then another year waiting for the next holiday season. Oh, well… Meanwhile, let’s see what this year brought us in terms of our common hobby.

 

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

 

Saturday Question #246:

What Are Your Top 10 (5? 3? Any?) Favorite Perfumes of 2024?

Do you remember years in the past when bloggers ran multiple lists of the best perfumes of the year, sometimes in different categories, from different authors… These days, I wouldn’t trust most of the lists that are made to place affiliated links to those products. But in our almost hermetic environment, let’s name those perfumes that impressed you in 2024. And if you can’t come up with anything created this year, it might be something significant that you tried this year for the first time.

My Answer

I was sloppy this year with my record keeping: I still have some records that are stored in the text file that I need to transfer to my database. So, I might be a couple of perfumes off. But looking through my database, I see that in total, I tested just about 15 perfumes created in 2024.

Out of these 15, I kind of liked 3 of the 4 perfumes in Jo Malone‘s Scented Mementos limited edition collection (Ginger Beer, Passiflora and Emerald Thyme) and two perfumes from  The Estée Lauder Legacy Collection (Azuree Legacy and Estee Legacy). But this “like” was as in “it was pleasant, I might consider finishing my sample,” and it haven’t resulted in buying anything.

The only new favorite that I want to mention was 2023 Ormonde Jayne release, Arabesque, that I tried and appreciated this year.

 

How about you?

 

What Are Your Top 10 (5? 3? Any?) Favorite Perfumes of 2024?

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Saturday Question: Will You Give Any Fragrant Gifts This Holiday Season?

Holidays are officially here. Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year. Love and look forward to all of them.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #245:

Will You Give Any Fragrant Gifts This Holiday Season?

Not necessarily perfume, but anything scent-related – candles, room sprays, aroma diffusers, etc.?

Do you expect to get any presents of this type yourself?

My Answer

This year, we keep the gift exchange to a minimum. The closest to the topic of this SQ gift that I’m giving is a set of skincare products for my MIL: I made sure they are scented because I noticed that she didn’t enjoy a great, in my opinion, scent-free moisturizer from Ordinary that I gave her.

I know that I’m getting a scented item as a New Year gift from my vSO. It was my choice, and I’ll write about it soon. I can’t wait to use it!

 

How about you?

Will You Give Any Fragrant Gifts This Holiday Season?

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Shalimar Reflections

Hi Crew. We are in the summer heat here in Sydney. It’s gorgeous but there are days when I’d like to shirk my skin and lie around just bones under the fan. The heat itself is fine but the humidly tends to have me wilt just a little. So how does Shalimar fit into the heat? Well, I have a bottle of the extrait on my desk. It was a gift from one of my dearest friends. Whenever the world gets overwhelming I give myself a swipe on my forearm and suddenly everything seems less spectacularly oppressive. This year has had some significant bumps, mainly business related. Though I’ve run businesses for years I’m not actually very good at it. Fortunately my ideas have been good enough to push through my basic inability to function. Of course with every changing of the guard there are growing and dying pains. Study has also been a big part of the year and I’m poor at focus and time management, HA! That’s being generous. Seriously. Add to that the many plates spinning at any given time. Trivia, apartments, blogging perfume, cleaning house and laundry PLUS now studying and doing book reviews. One wheel gets shaky and my whole train collapses in a heap. I know, definitely the problems of the wealthy. I’m super grateful for everything we have. Also, fully acknowledged how fortunate we are in terms of home, work, love and friends. Jin recently moved up and across at his work and if I can get my bloody Celebrant Course done then there will be an extra cash stream to pick up the rising interest cost of the mortgage.

Sorry, I got sidetracked.

Shalimar Reflections

Shalimar and Reflections

There are dozens of note list but here’s a pretty good summation:
Bergamot, lemon, iris, jasmine, rose, patchouli, vetiver, opopanax, tonka bean, frankincense, sandalwood, musk, civet, ambergris, leather, vanilla

This evening the world got overwhelming. Just too much input and it left me breathless.

SWIPE

Seriously, the relief to just let myself revel in the inimitable beauty of Shalimar extrait. Suddenly my shoulders unclench, my back straightens and I can quietly go have a lie down under the fan for 15 minutes and get lost in the fragrance.

Shalimar is also chock full of happy memories of Mum and some of her girlfriends that wore it as daywear. Big fragrant hugs and them all laughing, planning, chattering, sniping over lunch or afternoon tea. Not always happy, there were meetings of solidarity for all of life’s aches and pains, home troubles, illness or financial woes. Still, though there were tears, the love held them all together.

It has since become one of my go-to event fragrances. The event might be a big gig, party, dinner or it may be to make a mundane event like groceries and cleaning into something wonderful.

So with Shalimar I get not only to drift off with the scent but also a plethora of memories.

Do you have a fragrance that gives you surcease but also is full of magical memories?
Portia xx

 

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Saturday Question: Where Do You Forage for Perfume Content?

First, I want to share something not related to this week’s question. Do you remember a SQ from a couple of months ago? Which Perfumes Would You Take If You Had To Evacuate? Last week, I went through that exercise. We had a tsunami warning and an evacuation… well, not order but advice. We had about 30 minutes to collect things and drive to a higher grounds. Since even in the worst case scenario I didn’t expect that water would come to the second floor where my perfume collection resides, I voted against trying to pack even those 5 perfumes from my list, but took a single bottle from the top of that list – Lancome Climat. Luckily, soon after we got to the grocery store on the hill, the warning was lifted, and we could return home. All-in-all, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience. I do not recommend. But back to this week’s question.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #244:

Where Do You Forage for Perfume Content?

Which blogs do you read? Do you visit any of the forums/sites? Do you belong to any Facebook perfume groups? Do you use Instagram? X? Do you subscribe to any newsletters? Watch YouTube channels? Something else I didn’t think of?

My Answer

My perfume world has shrunk significantly in the last several years. I still read all blogs from the “My Reading List” section (see the list on the right (desktop)/further down (mobile)). I am still subscribed to several more blogs that are hidden from the list because they stopped publishing, so if a new post appears, I’ll read it.

I regularly visit Instagram, but I’m not actively seeking any new content and mostly watch perfume-related posts from people I follow.

I stopped using Facebook (for no particular reason), and Twitter was abandoned by the most of whom I followed long time before it became X.

I tried watching several perfume channels on YouTube, but as much as I like beauty content, seeing perfume bottles and hearing scents’ descriptions weren’t “my thing.”

So, my main grazing ground is Perfume Blogosphere.

 

How about you?

Where Do You Forage for Perfume Content?

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Saturday Question: What Is The Most Mainstream Perfume In Your Collection?

Recently, I watched a random beauty channel on YouTube where the creator repeatedly mentioned being “into perfume” and having another perfume-centric channel. Then, over the course of the video, it became obvious that she wasn’t really familiar with Guerlain perfumes – other than vaguely knowing Shalimar and recalling trying one of the Aqua Allegoria scents. That made me realize that many people who like and buy perfumes might never venture beyond what’s offered at major department stores. Now I’m curious about your choices when it comes to that category of perfumes.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #243:

What Is The Most Mainstream Perfume In Your Collection?

You can define “mainstream” however you see fit. The only condition is that it must be a full bottle you bought yourself or swapped (so, no gifts or “pass-overs”).

My Answer

Eons ago, I created a classification system for perfumes in my collection (Sorting Hat: Perfume Categories). I subdivided them into the following categories: Mall scents, Mainstream,  High-end mainstream, Boutique, Niche, High-end niche, Indie and One of a kind. According to this system:

Mainstream – this category will include mass-market, designer and celebrity perfumes (e.g. Estee Lauder, Lancome, Prada, YSL, Thierry Mugler, Bvlgari);

Using this approach, I’d say the “most” mainstream perfume in my collection is Prada Infusion d’Iris EdP. It’s one of the few perfumes in this category in my collection that is still in production. Most of the rest, from my “civilian” days, have since been discontinued.

Perfume Categories

How about you?

What Is The Most Mainstream Perfume In Your Collection?