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Orange Cats in My Life – Part I: Found and Lost

 

Usually in this blog I write not-a-review life stories about perfumes. This one is a life story that has no perfumes connection whatsoever.

 

Do you know how children usually ask parents to get a dog and parents are reluctant since they know it will be an extra chore for them? When I was a kid in my family roles were switched: my mother used to bring home homeless dogs to live with us (luckily one at a time) and I tried to dissuade her (without any success). So even though I was always more of a cat person it had never even occurred to me to ask for a cat.

The first cat appeared in my life after I got married. One morning my mother in law knocked at our bedroom door (we lived together at the time), peeped inside and asked unsurely: Did you bring home a kitten last night? We woke up completely, looked at each other, back at her and asked: What kitten?

As we deduced later (though we weren’t sure), a little kitten sneaked into the apartment the day before and hid. I’m not sure what would have happened to him had one of us stumbled upon him that night. But he was smart, lucky or just scared and showed up when there was no chance anyone would get spooked by that scrawny white and orange lump of fur. It was late autumn, cold and unpleasant outside and we just couldn’t throw him out there.

I named him Rizhik.

Lactarius deliciosus (Rizhik)

He was a funny kitten. He loved to lie on my lap with his belly up. He cartoonishly followed his reflection in the polished wood to the end of the reflective surface and tried to peek quickly around the corner to see where it went. He used to purr so loudly at night that my vSO would through him out of the bed.

He grew up, became an outdoor cat, stopped chasing his reflection and didn’t purr anymore. We moved out and Rizhik stayed at the parents’ place but whenever we visited he still liked spending time with me.

One winter he disappeared. Not as mysteriously as he came into our lives: he just went outside, as usual, and didn’t come back. We didn’t know what happened to him.  But it was a very bad winter in the country – economically- and weather-wise. It was rumored that homeless were eating stray dogs and cats…

Months later we saw on a street a cat that looked exactly like Rizhik. We followed him as he was running away (as cats usually do); I kept calling his name, he stopped for a second, turned his head as if recognizing my voice and then he was gone. We tried looking for him again – with no luck.

We chose to believe that he just found a place where he was happy and decided to stay there.

 

Image: from the Wikimedia Commons

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Joint Blogging Event: Three Ghosts of Christmas – Ghosts of Perfume Past, Present and Future

 

Ghost of Perfume Past

She was 27, single mom and worked as a CEO’s personal assistant (even though she graduated from a university – those were strange times in my native country). From time to time our boss used her real specialty – a translator – during business meetings with English-speaking suppliers. On one of those trips she met and started dating an older American guy. I’d never seen him but heard a lot about him from her.

Looking back now I think he was just a creep who figured it wouldn’t cost him much to get a younger lover in a poor country to where he had to travel on business. But back then both she and I were quite naïve and we both thought about those relationships as real and going somewhere.

On one of his visits he brought her a lot of clothes from Victoria’s Secret catalog (do you know any men shopping that catalog??!) and a perfume. Rapture.

For me it was love from the first sniff. I liked everything about Rapture – the scent, the heart-shaped bottle, that it came from the U.S. My co-worker let me try it once but after that I was tortured by her wearing the perfume I wanted.

Until then I’d never heard about that brand, it wasn’t present in the country. But I wanted to get it so much that I asked a friend who by that time moved to the U.S. for help. It was before Christmas when he’d got to the store and there was some huge promotion happening so I got not only a bottle of the perfume but also some other treasures.

Because of customs, it didn’t make it to me in time for Christmas or New Year. But eventually I got it and owning this bottle that came to me from another part of the world made me happy.

When I moved to the U.S. that bottle of Rapture came with me. For several years I enjoyed wearing it but since it was my “dressed-up” perfume I didn’t go through the full bottle. And then I grew out of Rapture as well as Victoria’s Secret’s other offerings. But I just couldn’t throw away that bottle!

Victorias Secret Rapture

The remaining juice is more concentrated than it used to be and, I think, the smell changed though not much: those were quality chemicals, you know. I need to take a trip to the mall and check out how Rapture smells today though it’s a commitment: once Rapture bonds with my skin it stays there for hours – even 15 years old juice from my bottle.

What is the oldest perfume bottle in your collection (not by vintage but by the time you owned it)?

 

Ghost of a Perfume Present

What is your favorite color? For many years my favorite color in clothes was black. The reason was rather unpoetical: when you do not own too many items black is the easiest to combine and the most stain resistant. Even now with enough clothes not even to joke about “absolutely nothing to wear” the number of black pieces especially when it comes to shoes is completely disproportional.

When it comes to perfumes, this year I suddenly developed a soft spot for blue/navy bottles and juice.

My Bleu Bottles

Yes, I have a long love story with Angel and its great flanker Angel Taste of Fragrance was a logical continuation of it. My star bottle is old and the color has changed a little – that’s why there is a small bottle of the same perfume in the picture.

Yes, I liked Lancome‘s Mille et Une Roses for a while and used up some samples before snatching a partial bottle on eBay.

Yes, I hoped I’d like Annick Goutal‘s Nuit Étoilée not only because I liked the brand but because I loved the bottle. But at least I tried the perfume before adding that beautiful bottle to my collection.

And yes, I did test Armani‘s La Femme Bleue from a small test vial before deciding if I want to open the bottle I’ve bought un-sniffed.

But there is no reasonable explanation to why I’m browsing Internet for cheap bottles of Van Clef & Arpels’ Midnight in Paris and Feerie: I’m not sure I smelled them – let alone tried on skin.

I am under a Blue Spell.

Will you guess what perfume I plan to test next – solely because of the color?

 

Ghost of a Perfume Future (aka New Year Resolutions)

From the list of New Year resolutions for the current year I failed mostly on the new bottles in collection limits so for 2013 I made a decision … to remove any limits.

I’m restricted to some extent by a common sense, budget considerations and space limitations – so I think those will be enough for me not to go overboard completely. But otherwise I do not want to restrict or formalize my hobby any more.

I decided not to care how many untested samples I’ve accumulated already – as long as I know that I have them. I’ll get a hundred more (though I’m still not ready to pay for most of them – let’s swap!): one day I might want to test them even if I don’t feel like doing it today.

I will not hold back on publishing pictures of Rusty: he’s one of the best perfumed cats since he spends a lot of time on my lap and doesn’t mind an inevitable transfer of the perfumes I test from my wrists to his fur.

Rusty December 2012

I’m not sure if I’ll make any general NY resolutions but when it comes to the fragrant part of my life my resolutions are to enjoy my perfumes, my blog and my perfume friends.

 

Images: my own

 

Take a look at more Christmas Ghost posts on these blogs today:

All I Am – A Redhead
Another Perfume Blog
ChickenFreak’s Obsessions
EauMG
The Muse in Wooden Shoes
Olfactoria’s Travels
Suzanne’s Perfume Journal

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“What’s in a name?” Once again about Miss Dior

 

Feeling emotionally connected to Miss Dior perfume for a while I considered risking an eBay purchase of another bottle of it. But then I finally tested a decant of the modern (pre-renaming-nonsense) version sent to me by Natalie (Another Perfume Blog) – and I liked it. So I figured I’d try to find Miss Dior not marked as “Originale.” It might be not as great as the older version but it would have taken away possible disappointment that comes with a spoiled vintage purchase.

Last year, when the news about Dior‘s decision to use the name of this classic perfume for the reformulated beyond recognition Miss Dior Cherie hit the Blogosphere, there was no lack of strong emotions. Perfume enthusiasts thought it was an awful decision that was really unfair towards both consumers and perfume’s legacy. I remember commenting somewhere that the next generation of customers will have no idea they smell a completely different perfume and will be really puzzled reading older reviews.

Little did I know how fast my prediction would come true!

In November I participated in the Perfume Posse’s swap event. It was mostly successful for me (one full bottle and multiple decants exchange). One of the perfumes I tried to add to my collection was Miss Dior. A member who offered a bottle for a swap mentioned that it had been bought from Saks and was definitely not Miss Dior Cherie. Since I was fine with any of real Miss Dior‘s existing formulations I asked only if it came with the original box – and we agreed on the swap terms.

When the package arrived I didn’t even have to smell it (though I did) to realize that I’ve got the officially authorized imposter.

Miss Dior Cherie

The sad thing was that the sender was genuinely surprised: she was sure she had real Miss Dior that just didn’t work for her. Yes, she’s probably not the most experienced perfumista but she reads at least Perfume Posse. There is nothing to expect from a regular consumer. Dior has successfully rewritten the history.

Off to eBay for the vintage Miss Dior hunting.

 

Image: my own.

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In the Search for the Perfect Leather

 

It was one of the first cool days of the last fall. We were driving home after a pleasant evening at our friends’ house. I kept sniffing the air thinking to myself: I haven’t noticed before that my leather jacket smells that nice… Too nice… What’s going on?

That’s when I realized that the smell was coming from a blotter sticking out of the vent grid where I affixed it several hours earlier.

 

Tom Ford Tuscan Leather

 

That evening before going to the party I stopped by Neiman Marcus to sniff several perfumes. I didn’t want to put anything on my skin to avoid arriving to the party smelling like a perfume counter. So after sniffing from a blotter Tom Ford’s Tuscan Leather (I missed it somehow in my previous tests) and talking for a while to the SA I asked him: “How does it develop on the skin?” thinking of asking next to make me a sample. In response he silently took a fresh blotter, sprayed it with Tuscan Leather and handed it to me… I was so amused that all I could do was to thank him and leave.

I think that Tuscan Leather is a gorgeous masculine fragrance. Can a woman pull it off? Of course! I would have worn it myself if I haven’t had somebody else to put it on. My vSO likes it so I’ll use a decant I have on him. And then I’ll want more.

I like leather perfumes but do not own too many of them. Cuir Ottoman by Parfum d’Empire – a bottle that I bought for my vSO (he likes it a lot) but he doesn’t mind sharing.

The only full bottle of a “leather” perfume that I have for myself is Cuir de Russie by Chanel. It’s such an elegant perfume!

 

Chanel Cuir De Russie PdE Cuir Ottoman

 

Tabac Aurea  by Sonoma Scent Studio doesn’t smell too much of leather but it’s a very pleasant dry woodsy scent that works well on my skin in cooler weather. Once I’m done with my 2.5 ml spray bottle I’ll probably get a purse spray.

Boxeuses by Serge Lutens – one of my Bikram yoga favorites and recently I discovered that I liked it as a sleep scent as well. I haven’t tried wearing Boxeuses sprayed but once my roll-on sample is empty I’ll want a decant of this strange and interesting perfume.

Another Serge Lutens’ leather perfume, of which I have a decant already, Cuir Mauresque unfortunately doesn’t work for me. I tried to wear it several times and still no. It smells harsh, dirty and somewhat unpleasant on me.

I reviewed Scent No.16 Tomato Leather by Cognoscenti a couple of months ago (You say ‘Tomato’, I say ‘Leather’). I still like it but I’ll wait for Cognoscenti to release their perfumes in a smaller bottle.

I didn’t like Traversee du Bosphore by L’Artisan Parfumeur when I first tried it but it grew on me. It wears nicely in warm weather and one day it might join my collection.

Another perfume I wasn’t a fan of initially – Bottega Veneta. Last year when everybody praised it I just shrugged my shoulders. What changed my mind was me testing recently Cuir Amethyste by Giorgio Armani. It started harsh and too leather-y to my taste but then mellowed down to a very smooth and buttery suede accord that reminded me of Bottega Veneta. I thought I found another smell-alike for my Déjà vu series but while I was trying to compare notes (there are just two in common among declared) I found out that the same nose, Michel Almairac, was behind both. I’ll see if I need more of Bottega Veneta Parfum once my mini bottle is gone.

Cuir de Lancome by Lancome – everybody seems to love this one. I want to like it but I’m not sure if I do. Sometimes I think that maybe my sample is off.  Nevertheless, I want this bottle in my collection – not that there was any logic in that.

 

Leather Perfumes Samples

 

Other perfumes with prominent leather that I’ve tried and liked: Cuir Beluga by Guerlain (it’s growing on me, I want to get a decant to test more), Cuirelle by Ramon Monegal (starts a little too sweet but develops nicely; needs more testing preferably from a spray bottle), Napa Noir by Six Scents (I had a tiny, one application sample, but I liked what I smelled), Lonestar Memories by Tauer Perfumes (have to get a new sample since the one I have become too concentrated as a result of evaporation) and Vanille Cuir by M.Micallef (something appeals to me in this fragrance; I’ll keep testing it and see if I want to werat it).

Perfumes that didn’t work for me: Leather Oud by Dior (it’s nice on my vSO but a little too much on me), Songe d’un Bois d’été by Guerlain (it’s too harsh on my skin; I find something pleasant two-three hours into the development but I won’t wait for that long to enjoy my perfume), Mon Cuir by Ramon Monegal (a strange combination of leather and what I think of as a traditional men cologne) and Kelly Calèche by Hermès (I can smell no leather at all. Do I have a wrong sample?)

What is your favorite leather perfume?

 

Images: my own.

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Entertaining Statistics: November, 2012

 

November was unusually warm even for our area. But I decided it was time for my heavier perfumes. Ambers and vanillas keep me feeling warm but, as a small price for that, stay on my skin long enough not to allow the change of the scent or even proper testing of new fragrances.

Also I noticed an unusual for me pattern: there were five perfumes that I wore twice during the month. I’m not even close to Birgit’s (Olfactoria’s Travels) sudden perfume monogamy but it’s still rather unusual for me. It must be something in the air.

For the entertaining part of this post I chose to look at how many notes are listed for perfumes I wore or tested in November. Of course, it’s all based on just officially reported notes and each brand chooses how much to disclose.

Stats for Nov 2012

Most of the perfumes I used this month (twenty-nine) had six to nine notes listed. Thirteen perfumes had eleven to fifteen notes; ten fell into the minimalistic basket with less than six notes listed; four were in the “the more, the merrier” camp with sixteen to twenty notes listed and one was almost off the chart (figuratively and literally) with twenty-two notes.

 

Quick November stats:

Numbers in parenthesis are comparison to the previous month’s numbers.

* Different perfumes worn1: 22 (-3) from 13 (-5) brands on 27 (-3) occasions;

* Different perfumes tested2: 41 (-12) from 29 (0) brands on 45 (-15) occasions;

* Perfumes I tried for the first time: 17 (-10);

* Perfume house I wore most often: Guerlain (I can’t believe: third month in a row!);

* Perfume house I tested the most: By Kilian;

* Most popular notes (only from perfumes I chose to wear): top – (not counting bergamot) pepper, cardamom, galbanum and sage; middle – (not counting rose) jasmine and iris root; base – musk, vanilla and sandalwood;

 

Can you guess (at least) the brand of the perfume with 22 notes?

 

1 For the testing I apply a perfume to one area on my arms easily available for the repetitive sniffing. But, most likely, I’m the only one who can smell it. I can test two, sometimes even more perfumes at the same time.

2 When I wear a perfume I apply it to at least three-four points and usually I plan to spend at least 4-8 hours with the same scent so I’m prepared to re-apply if the original application wears off.

 

Image: my own (well, I compiled it)

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To Dream or not To Dream: Sleep Scents

 

Under normal circumstances (bar sickness and problems of cosmic proportions, such as a broken umbrella) I’m a sound sleeper. Even loudly meowing cat cannot disturb my peace in the morning. But to fall asleep I need 15-20 minutes of full darkness and silence. I’ve never dozed off while watching TV or reading a book. I have to cease all activities, turn off everything – and only then I can sleep. The smallest noise or light bothers me: ticking clocks on the wall, humming cleaning machines at the supermarket down the block or flickering lights of a wireless router kept me sleepless for hours.

Scents do not bother me. I wouldn’t probably spray myself lavishly with Shalimar before going to bed (ok, strike everything after the perfume name) but I always enjoy remains of the perfume I wore earlier coming from my skin or hair as I’m drifting off to sleep.

The second type of perfumes I enjoy wearing to bed: perfumes that I actually designate as sleep scents. Usually those are perfumes that I like as scents but do not often wear as perfumes. I’m not sure what exactly sets them apart from perfumes I wear in my everyday life but I do have that category in my perfume collection.

Sonoma Scent Studio To Dream

The first fragrance that I defined for myself as a sleep scent was To Dream by Sonoma Scent Studio – created in 2011 by Laurie Erickson, notes include violet, rose, heliotrope, cedar, amber, frankincense, oakwood absolute, vetiver, tonka, orris, vanilla, musk, sandalwood, oakmoss absolute, subtle suede, cocoa and aldehydes. I do not know if the name lead me into it or if it happened on its own but To Dream became one of my favorite sleep scents.

Like many others Sonoma Scent Studio’s perfumes, To Dream is too concentrated for me to use from the spray bottle so I usually decant it into a dab vial and apply a little before going to bed. If you follow the link above you’ll find many links to other bloggers’ reviews so I won’t even try to describe the scent. I just want to say that if you haven’t tried it yet you should. I really like the travel spray option: yes, it’s more expensive per ml but it’s a very chic atomizer and with 20-24% concentration those 5 ml will last you forever.

SSS Fig Tree Shea Cream

Recently Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels) introduced the “new idea” from Parfums d’Orsay – alcohol-free hydrating perfume. It reminded me of another amazing product from Sonoma Scent Studio – shea body creams. For the last year I’ve been using Fig Tree shea cream from time to time as my night hand lotion/sleep scent (though I love wearing Fig Tree perfume as my daytime perfume as well – see my In the Search for the Perfect Fig). Shea creams will be available soon on the site (they are seasonal items). Don’t miss them because they will be gone until the next holiday season.

 

Do you wear perfumes to bed?

 

 

Images: my own

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Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 27

 

It was a great week: warm and sunny weather (though for my vSO it’s a negative thing since he’s concerned about the drought), a lot of great food and wonderful time spent with my family and friends (including a perfumista friend – which was an extra treat).

I tried to catch up reading the blogs on my Reading List but I still have some posts to go through. I laughed a lot in the real life but didn’t find (or remember) anything for my Laughs section. Lemmings are still in a turkey coma so just a couple of lackadaisical ones are leisurely looking towards Spring 2013.

Lemmings after Thanksiving

Lemmings

Since I’m a fan, I can’t help but get excited about this new Jo Malone Sugar & Spice collection though I’m annoyed that, again, it’ll be a limited edition and there will be 5 (five!) new scents. In a smaller bottles (30 ml) – which is good. A set of 9 ml bottles of the complete collection would have been even better.

 

Loves

Parfumista (Parfumistans blog) reviews wonderful Chypre Palatin by Parfums MDCI (and rates it 5): Chypre Palatin is a pleasant, versatile, elegant and very wearable fragrance that could be worn in daytime for office or formal events year around except during warm summer days. My precious decant came from Suzanne (Eiderdown Press). Every time I wear it I think of her with a gratitude. If you missed it, read her take on this perfume.

*

Lanier (scents memory): Named for Christian Dior’s muse and friend Mitzah Bricard it is heady and hypnotic but never overwhelming. It is what I would call deep and
multi layered in its design, a real stunner for me that never shouts but rather insinuates and seduces the one who wears it. I love this perfume and it’ll join my collection once my decant is gone.

 

One holiday is done, more to go. And I’m looking forward to all of them.

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A Postcard from Undina: Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I haven’t grew up with it but for the last 15 years it was one of the most enjoyable days of the year. I’m grateful to all the people who contributed to that on all levels of my life and wish everybody who celebrates this day to enjoy it to the fullest ;)

Thanksgiving Food

Undina

 

Image: my own

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My Wish List for the Perfume Industry

 

The holiday season is upon us, we start at least thinking about all the lists – to sum up the past or plan the future. So I decided to get to it early and prepared my personal Wish List for the perfume industry.

I’m not going to come up with anything new: we all are saying all these things now and again while discussing brands, perfumes and new releases. But with my tendency to collect things I did it for a while for that topic. I do not think that brands/companies have to follow these requests (some of them might not be the best economic strategies from companies’ stand point) but I wish they would.

Samples and Sample-to-buy programs: many brands aren’t easily accessible for testing in B&M stores. So, first of all, there should be samples available for purchase and preferably with the same delivery mechanism as the actual perfume (spraying or dabbing). Also since most brands spend money on marketing anyway they could arrange programs where customers pay for samples (that will ensure that people aren’t just hoarding samples for selling on eBay or using instead of buying perfumes) but if customers decide to buy a bottle they’d get a discount for the amount paid for the sample set.

Sizes for bottles: 5-10-15-30 ml. For big lines – mix/match sets of smaller “travel” bottles. Regular customers do not need more than a couple of perfumes at a time and “collectors” do not need most of the perfumes even in 30 ml size. For many brands I would have paid more for the official small bottle than for the same size decant.

"Shalimar" Bottles and Rusty

Warnings about any reformulation: it’s unfair for consumers to buy a perfume they thought they knew and liked without realizing the formula has changed. I don’t think even Rusty is capable of smelling anything from a sealed bottle (and a domestic cat’s sense of smell is known to be about fourteen times as strong as a human’s). There should be at least some change in packaging to indicate that it’s not the same perfume.

Production Date (Year): since perfumes are perishable and they cannot be tested before the purchase, I think it is only fair to require brands to put at least a year of production on the packaging. It would be fun to discuss perfumes’ vintages: “Oh, I remember, 1985 was a good year for Miss Dior” or “Miss Dior Cherie 2006 was still drinkable wearable.”

Warnings about the upcoming changes/discontinuation: companies might be able to sell more perfumes for the original price before they are moved to various discount stores if those who love perfumes being put on the chopping block know they need to buy a back-up bottle (or a box of bottles?).

Discontinued perfumes re-issuing: companies could do even something like a Perfume Club (similar to wine clubs) or pre-orders where first they gather requests (even with a deposit) and then produce a perfume once the necessary minimum number of orders is received. Maybe even in more generic packaging – for those who know the perfume and want it for the perfume itself.

Limited new launches: three-four perfumes simultaneously is a good number for a new brand launch but well established brands shouldn’t bombard customers with all those endless multiple new releases.

Packaging: do not waste beautiful bottles on mediocre perfumes and do not undermine a beautiful perfume by an ugly vessel for it.

Perfume notes: please no more oud (agarwood) perfumes! There are so many wonderful ingredients; customers won’t think less of the brand if it doesn’t jump on every note du jour wagon.

Naming: most people are really bad with numbers. Just saying…

 

Have I missed anything?

 

Image: my own

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Entertaining Statistics: October, 2012

 

Before I talk about this month statistics I want to try one more time and if it doesn’t work I’ll drop it: please vote for me. You do not need to register, log in or do anything of that kind. All you need to do is to click on the link, wait for five seconds (flash loading) and then click on I ♥ TOO. That’s it. People! I cannot even dream of wining a trip to Paris looking at the modest number of votes I managed to get by pleading with my readers, FB friends, Twitter followers and even abusing my position at work. Now back to regular programming.

It was a wonderful October this year – mostly warm and sunny. I’ve got some cooler weather on my trip to New York but it was still nice. I’m extremely glad that I’ve got to visit that one of the best cities in the world before the Cruel Sandy did.

During that trip, while visiting different stores and talking to people about perfumes, I realized that there were so many names in different languages meaning different things. I got curious and once I got home I’ve added more information to my perfumes database and for this month’s statistics post I calculated the number of perfume names in different languages that I wore and tested during October.

Stats October 2012

Abstract (not real words) – 11, English – 19, French – 33, Italian – 3 and NA (names, streets, etc.) – 7.

 

Quick October stats:

Numbers in parenthesis are comparison to the previous month’s numbers.

* Different perfumes worn1: 25 (0) from 18 (0) brands on 30 (+1) occasions;

* Different perfumes tested2: 53 (+1) from 29 (+4) brands on 60 (0) occasions;

* Perfumes I tried for the first time: 27 (+5);

* Perfume house I wore most often: Guerlain (again! Who would have thought a year ago);

* Perfume house I tested the most: Serge Lutens;

* Most popular notes (only from perfumes I chose to wear): top – (not counting bergamot) galbanum, peach and rose; middle – (not counting rose) ylang ylang that has surpassed jasmine and iris root; base – vanilla, sandalwood andmusk;

 

What is the most “exotic” language for a perfume in your collection?

 

1 For the testing I apply a perfume to one area on my arms easily available for the repetitive sniffing. But, most likely, I’m the only one who can smell it. I can test two, sometimes even more perfumes at the same time.

2 When I wear a perfume I apply it to at least three-four points and usually I plan to spend at least 4-8 hours with the same scent so I’m prepared to re-apply if the original application wears off.

 

Image: my own (well, I compiled it)