Christian Dior

Spice Blend by DIOR
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Spice Blend by DIOR

Hey there ULGers, With my recent Vanilla Diorama came a sample of DIOR Spice Blend in its gorgeous box. They have definitely gone down market from the original 8ml miniatures and now we get a 2ml sample but at least it’s now a SPRITZ! YAY! That means we get to smell exactly what the fragrance will smell like as it’s jetted out of our full bottles. So though they aren’t as glam they are better for us perfume peeps to really know what’s coming. Also, 8ml is quite a lot of perfume. 2ml is exactly enough to get me giddy with excitement over a couple of wears and leave me wanting more.

Spice Blend by DIOR 2019

Spice Blend DIOR

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Bay rum, Ginger, Madagascar pepper, Pink pepper, Cinnamon, Rum absolute

The opening moments of Spice Blend are delightfully boozy with a sharp spicy flare up. I say flare up but in fact the spices are cool and still in their bottles but fragrant and portentous. It’s spicy but not overwhelming. This excitement lasts better than most openings and doesn’t really calm for nearly 30 minutes with only a few changes.

Once we hot the heart are still in a softly spicy place, maybe walking past a spice cart. Now I feel like unnamed resins are making a smooth play that changes the feeling of Spice Blend to a more sophisticated, less dazzle dazzle adventure. The heart stays linear for a while, the next hour or so. At this point still fragrant, done in the very laid back, under the radar gorgeousness of DIOR Prive style. My feeling is that you’ll still stand out but moderately. If someone passes you or spends a moment sitting near you they will be enamoured by Spice Blend. It’s different enough to elicit comment but similar enough not to be obnoxious. It’s at this point that I can smell the cinnamon as plain as day, quite a surprise that it’s taken so long to hoist its flag. It’s a fun moment that I can only really smell/taste when huffing up close and it remains till we head towards dry down.

What I find at the end is a sweet, resinous wash that fades to a better than me scent hours and hours later. For something so low key the longevity is excellent.

Spice Blend by DIOR sample

If you have not got a spicy, booze laden fragrance in your collection then Spice Blend could definitely be the one to fill that niche.

Is Spice Blend lovely? Yes. Beautifully blended? Yes. Does it make me yearn for a bottle? Yes. Are there other fragrances out there that scratch a similar itch? Yes, many, even a few in my collection. Is it so special that I really need to buy it, even in 40ml form? So here is my conundrum: Do I lay down money for something that delights me but in all reality will probably be passed over in favour of others that I’ve loved and worn for years? Or does it eclipse them and I wear Spice Blend over them, relegating old loves to the dreaded “love but don’t reach for” category?

Have you tried Spice Blend?
Portia xx

 

Had a BIRTHDAY!
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Had a BIRTHDAY!

OMG! So sorry Looking Glassers. I’m late. All my fault, take full responsibility. OOOPSIE! TBH I really thought I’d finished the half finished post that you’ll now get in a fortnight. Last week was Festivus de Portia, organised by my beautiful husband Jin. Every year he puts on quite a show for the week of my birthday (refuses to let us do it for him though).

Had a BIRTHDAY!

The event of my turning 54 started on the Monday with home Korean BarBQ. Just us. Delicious.

Wednesday evening Jin and his BFF Matt came and played Trivia at the pub I host in. It’s always nice having the home crowd in.

THEN Jin took Thursday & Friday off work. We were supposed to go to Melbourne for the day. 6am flight to and 8.30pm flight from. Then Australia got a Public Holiday on the Thursday and we knew it was going to be bedlam at the airport, in the galleries and restaurants etc. So we cancelled our flight, got a Voucher Refund and decided to keep it low key. Hung around the house together, I think we had pizza.

Friday was Jin’s big adventure birthday day for us. We were up at sparrows fart and on a bus, train and ferry to Taronga Zoo. He bought us annual passes, we saw the Giraffe feeding and keeper talk, the Seal show and the Bird show. The reptiles were surprisingly active and we got to watch the Red Pandas, Elephants, monkeys and big apes and a slew of other wonderful things. Lunch was meat pies and peppermint tea. We flew in the cable cars and then caught public transport home.
That evening my BFF Kath and Jin had organised a party at our favourite Nepalese restaurant. Nearly 30 people took over more than half the place and it was wonderful, overwhelming to see so many people we love in one room. Gosh, our friends are so gorgeous, very handsome crew.
The brief for gifts (Yes, I’d like it if no one bought me anything but it’s better to give them a focus and then they get to be givers and I get what I really want, mercenary I know) was “Please write me a card and put $10 in it.” The thing I really needed and wanted was a new toothbrush. Yeah, it’s a whiz bang one. Oral B, rose gold, five speed/functions, notifies me every 30 seconds. It comes with a travel case, that holds it and two heads, with a USB plug as well as the regular ones. Perfect for travelling. I’ll use that toothbrush twice a day for the next few years and every time I will think of all the friends who contributed, and the couple who didn’t. HA!

Saturday Jin and I hung together eating junk and watching TV and Sunday (the day of my birthday) BFF Kath, Jin and I went and had Peking Duck at my favourite Chinese. HEAVEN! Then I went off to work.

 

What a week! I’m pooped.

 

Perfumes? Bought myself the new DIOR 40ml Captain Kurk reprises. WOW! He doesn’t disappoint.

 

Back to regular scheduled stuff next time.

Stay well crew,
Portia xx

Sakura by DIOR
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Sakura by DIOR

Hi there crew. we are having a moment of remarkably spring-like weather. When I say remarkable I mean EVERYONE is saying it feels like spring. In almost every conversation. As banal and boring as that sounds, it does. We have had such a weird, wet, cool summer that finding ourselves in autumn and having these glorious sunshiny days, not too hot, is blissful.

On top of that my courtesy aunt, Aunty Tracey, is in town for a week and we are out day & night on adventures. We’ve been shopping, visiting, visiting the graves of our dead, lunching and generally hanging out in the daytimes. Every trivia she has come and Jin has accompanied. It’s been wonderful. Writing this on Thursday and I’m BUSHED! We only have a few more days but both Jin & I are definitely going to need a rest.

Sakura by DIOR

Sakura by DIOR

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Green Notes
Heart: Japanese Cherry Blossom, Rose, Jasmine, Hedione
Base: Mimosa, Violet, White Musk

Sakura is astringently sweet and green on open, like cherry, alcohol, and citrus pith. Soon it gets a soft fluffy feeling like to cool, softness of rubbing cherry blossom petals against your cheek. It smells like that feeling. As if it was in the cool late winter morning sunshine.

The heart is mimosa, cherry(isa) and something I can not put a name to. Like what I think the fur of a bee might smell like. Animal, honey, floral and something else.

As we head to dry down clean musks lead the charge to fade.

Sakura is lovely and I really like to wear it. It doesn’t smell like an expensive perfume though. It smells like a cheapy. Maybe I’m missing something here. If you’re a big fan could you explain please?

Low key, pretty, smells nice, lasts OK. Perfect for the young, people who want a fragrance but need it to be under the radar. Also good for those that like functional fragrance but don’t like perfume perfume. A perfectly poised sweet nothing that whispers spring.

Are you doing soft fruity florals like Sakura this Spring?
Porttia xx

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Gris Dior by Dior

Hi there. Those temps should be getting high up there in the Northern Hemisphere. Sometimes in high heat I like to go super restrained with my fragrance. Luxurious but introverted. The way a sotto voce fragrance can surround you with a barely there nimbus of fragrance can be powerful in its understatement. Also, I like that a tenacious one can surprise me with little huffs of reminder through the day. Once called Gris Montaigne after the grey of the Rue de Montaigne store (I think i remember that rightly) and now called simply Gris Dior.

Gris Dior by Maison Christian Dior Collection 2018

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Calabrian bergamot, Turkish rose, Patchouli, Jasmine sambac, Amber, Oakmoss, Cedar, Sandalwood

OK, so Gris Dior is a softer, less intense version of the original Gris Montaigne. They are saying it’s the exact same thing but the big fragrance crews have often played fast and loose with the truth. Still beautiful, still luxurious and interesting but like a fraiche version of itself.

If a Middle Eastern rose/patch, hefty kinda perfume is your wish then go grab a bottle of something else. Gris Dior includes a lot of the ingredients but doesn’t do its thing flamboyantly.

The opening is rose water marmalade and a wash of cool white flowers. A light, airy fragrance that only hints at any darkness. Actually, Gris Dior is like smelling someone else’s perfume at lunch. Tangible and lovely but non intrusive.

Into the low level rose/woods heart Gris Dior continues to pump out a very low key prettiness. It’s an under the radar beauty. Until i purposely try to resmell it I’m blissfully unaware of any fragrance, unless there’s a surprise huff from my shirt.

Underwhelming sounds mean but I think that is exactly what François Demachy was aiming for here. Beautiful, poised and luxurious but barely there. A cool whisper of scent that you can wear anytime and anywhere.

Did you try Gris Dior?
Portia xx