Undinas Looking Glass Perfumed Reflections of Life

Time 2020-10-05 11:04:09

Web Name: Undinas Looking Glass Perfumed Reflections of Life

WebSite: http://undina.com

ID:71070

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Glass,Looking,Undinas,

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Today I m asking a question to which I have no answer. So, it s not a how-to type of post where I would share my ideas inviting you to add yours as a hypothetical exercise. I m actually asking for you advice.Being too careful, in many years of blogging, I mentioned my traveling during the trip just a couple of times (when we had someone staying at our place). On all other occasions I would publish something about it only post facto.This year it s different: not only we had to cancel our Hawaii vacation (I so looked forward to it!), but now, at the last moment, we have to figure out what to do with the vacation week we took, since because of the still expanding wild fires we cannot go to Napa and Sonoma, as planned. And because of the air quality, all those parks, beaches and city walks that I was always so proud of when telling anybody about the area I live, are out or reach. Combined with the COVID-19 limitations, we cannot go almost anywhere. But since both my vSO and I are tired (luckily for us, pandemic hasn t affected our jobs yet), we re still taking that time off. Now I need to think of what to do to maximize the positive effect from the vacation and not to fall back onto doing something work-related because we can t occupy ourselves.Saturday Question #33:Staycation in the Time of Pandemic What to do?Taking into the consideration that the air might not improve significantly, and we ll try not to spend outside too much time, is there anything you could recommend?I m asking for rather specific than generic advices (I mean, listen to a podcast is a solid advice, but I would appreciate a link or a name, or where to find it).Suggestions do not have to be free, but it would be great if they were implementable (so, no New Zealand is great this time of the year, please :) ). Perfume-related suggestions and other activities that are not necessarily engage both of us are welcomed as well.Staycation in the Time of Pandemic What to do? Do you remember those times when all Jo Malone perfumes were done in standard transparent bottles with black and white labels and silver caps? They were absolutely uniformed, and the only visual difference was in the name.And then twelve years ago Jo Malone released the Kohdo Wood collection. It was a limited edition collection that included two perfumes Lotus Blossom Water Lily and Dark Amber Ginger Lily. The first one came in Jo Malone’s traditional clear bottle with the only difference that the label was transparent. And the second one… The second one was a perfection: a beautiful black bottle with a black label. Especially cute it was in a 30 ml format. As far as I know, it was the first colored bottle for the brand (Cologne Intense collection appeared two years later).I liked both perfumes, but back then I wasn’t familiar yet with the limited-edition concept, so by the time I decided to buy them, both were long gone. I hunted down and bought on eBay Lotus Blossom Water Lily, but all I could get for Dark Amber Ginger Lily was a decant. So, whenever I would find myself at a Jo Malone counter, I would be asking SAs about that perfume, telling how great it was and what a pity it got discontinued. For a while it was rumored that Jo Malone would bring Dark Amber Ginger Lily back… and despite all odds three years later they did! I’m telling myself that my voice (well, multiple voices since I did it at different stores with different SAs) made a difference, and I contributed to the brand’s decision to re-release it. Unfortunately, by that time they’ve already had that Cologne Intense collection with all black bottles and only 100 ml (now they have 50 ml as well), so since they didn’t have that 30 ml black bottle that I liked so much, in addition to my decant, I bought their smaller promotional 9 ml bottle – and it’ll be enough for me for a while.Several years ago, I discovered that my bottle of Lotus Blossom Water Lily had turned. Since most of the other bottles that I bought myself, many earlier than this one, were still fine, I wasn’t sure whether the issue was with how the previous owner stored it, or if it was perfume itself that had an unstable formula. And because of that I felt reluctant to buy another bottle from eBay. But I liked Lotus Blossom Water Lily so much that I kept checking Jo Malone’s site hoping to catch it in their Archives collection. No luck so far. (Did you know about it? Only from their site you can order some of the previously discontinued perfumes, including my favorite French Lime Blossom.)And then a couple of months ago Jo Malone released two perfumes – Yuja Cologne and Waterlily Cologne.I couldn’t wait for stores to open (and I was right: you still can’t test any perfumes there) and bought 9 ml bottles of both.I wrote about Yuja in my In the Search for the Perfect Yuzu post. As to the Waterlily…Do you remember Jo Malone used to release from time to time perfume combining sets with one full bottle of their scent and a couple of small bottles of additional notes that could be layered with the main perfume to create a more unique combination. Those additional “notes” were very nice and pleasant but even more simplistic than the main line Jo Malone perfumes, if you can imagine that. Waterlily Cologne reminds me of those “additional notes.” I like the opening: to my nose it has galbanum in it, though it isn’t listed anywhere (official notes: neroli, waterlily and white musk), but in the development it’s very simplistic and just doesn’t want to stay on my skin. I’ll use up my small bottle, but it’s not something I need in my collection, and it doesn’t remind me of Lotus Blossom Water Lily at all.But Jo Malone was adamant to continue tempting me: recently they’ve released two more new perfumes Fig Lotus Flower and Cypress Grape Vine. Not only the first one had that “lotus” part in the name that filled me with hope that this one will be “it,” but also the second one was a part of the Cologne Intense collection, hence a black bottle).With stores still closed, I just had to buy those cute travel bottles from eBay. So, was the second time a charm? Not really.I like Fig Lotus Flower, especially in the opening. It’s a pleasant and light fig perfume, and sometimes in development I can smell vetiver. I don’t know how lotus flower smells, but in this perfume I don’t smell what I perceive as a lotus note in several other perfumes, my illusive favorite Lotus Blossom Water Lily included. I also compared Fig Lotus Flower with my other Jo Malone favorite, Wild Fig Cassis (also available from the Archives collection), which smells drier and more… grown-up (?) than a bright and uncomplicated new scent. I’ll wear Fig Lotus Flower from my small bottle, but I don’t think I’ll want more after that.Cypress Grape Vine had nothing to do with my waterlily or lotus quest, but since I got it as a part of the set, I tested it as well. It is too masculine for me. Cypress Grape Vine reminds me of very traditional men cologne. But if anyone likes that style, it’s very tenacious (and not just by Jo Malone standards). I’ll see if I like how it smells on my vSO, though it doesn’t seem like his style.All-in-all, I should probably stop buying Jo Malone perfumes unsniffed, even in smaller bottles: while I still have many favorites from the brand, I rarely like their new creations. But I ll be checking their Archives Collection hoping for the return of my original favorite.Images: Kohdo Wood collection – JM official; all others – my own.* I know that I’ve previously used the allusion to this quote from Heraclitus, but the temptation was too strong. Since this post isn t a review, I didn t want to add the author s name to the title, but still I bring it to your attention that this post is written by Narth. (Undina)* * *I write to you in hard lockdown. My state of Victoria has declared both a State of Emergency and a State of Disaster. If you find the double declaration confusing don t worry, so does everyone. Double states of badness are upon us! We have a curfew and cannot travel more than 5 km (3 miles) from our house. Everything is shut. The post office has called for volunteers. The children are completely glazed over and exhausted from doing schooling online for months and I m sure it is even worse for the teachers. We ve been in varying stages of this new normal for 6 months now. Mental health seems to be a tug of war between trying to throw ourselves into new interests and claim and reclaim who we were during the before times. Don t try this at home kids! is an expression that no longer has any relevance to anyone.My perfume love is just as battered and bewildered as the rest of me. I ve always said, I wear perfume for myself, not for other people , but now that there literally are no other people (!!!) I ve seen that this is only a half truth. I wear perfume as a tool for interacting with other people, for moving through public spaces, for deciding who I am that day. I always knew this, but I am suddenly painfully aware that my identity for a day, an evening, has been a core reason for my wearing perfume. It isn t just that sillage is irrelevant, it s that choosing who I will be today is irrelevant because every day is the same. A lifelong introvert, I never realized just how much time I spent with others until suddenly I am alone. All my whining in the before times that I wish I could have just one day to myself has come back to haunt me.In the beginning of this lockdown I went a bit mad with the online purchasing. It was easy to rationalize a blind buy bottle, after all I wasn t eating out anymore, and I was saving a fortune in train fares. A steady flow of books, perfume and wine in the post was surely good for me, I wanted something to look forward to! I was even buying Mystery wine because I felt like I needed a surprise to counter the tedium of sameness. Thank goodness there were no Mystery perfume offers, which would have been even worse than some of my blind buys I suspect. While waiting for the highly delayed post, I began hardcore going through my samples, I was going to catalog and take notes on them all, I was going to wear multiple samples a day for science! This kept me occupied for all of a week and then, suddenly, I was over it. I spent a month wearing only a handful of favourites, regretting blind buys and wondering if I could exist on Penhalgion s Sartorial and one random rose scent for the rest of my life. In between these quite obsessive phases were long weeks when I forgot perfume existed despite my desk being covered in it.This is a post with no conclusion. My current resolve is to sell some of my mistakes and to try and bring balance to the Force, not just in perfume but in my other interests. Reading ten hours a day or power watching K-dramas until 2am is also a little unbalanced. In the beginning we were all okay about that, these were strange times and we encouraged each other to just do that thing, that thing that felt good. But the strange times are now the new norm. Where to from here, fragrance my friend? I have plans to start matching my perfume to books and tv shows as a kind of substitute for happily overthinking what to wear to the pub for Trivia night. I ve worn Mugler s Alien to every sci fi movie I ve ever been to since it came out 15 years ago, so these plans are not without precedent but perhaps without a (sillage) audience they feel a little forced. I need my perfume mojo back, friends!Photo is of everything that was on my desk! Some of it was in a box and some of it was not…Multiply reflections:TweetLike this:Like Loading... Today I want to do something slightly differently. My main question is not about your personal preferences but rather about your opinion.Saturday Question #31:Which Serge Lutens Perfume Is The Most Famous?As someone who reads perfume-related blogs, forums and other media, in your opinion, which Serge Lutens perfume is the most recognizable by name, most often spoken of and/or loved the most by others in the Perfumeland?Of course, you can answer any way that feels right, but just a suggestion: think about your answer first. Then look through the comments posted by the time you re ready (if any). If someone else has already posted perfume you thought of, post your answer under their comment. If your answer is different than all other choices, comment under the post and see if others agree with you.Bonus Questions: Do you like that perfume? If yes, do you own or plan to buy it? If no, why?My AnswerAs I said, I m trying to do it differently this time, so I will not post my answer here not to influence your thinking. Instead, I ll add my answer in comments.Which Serge Lutens Perfume Is The Most Famous?Multiply reflections:TweetLike this:Like Loading... Hey crew, It s Portia in the Sydney spring sunshine.What a lovely time of year down here. I was in Libertine Parfumerie (Australia s most respected niche importer and distributor) offices the other day. It was so good to see everyone. Everything is being released by ZOOM meeting now, and we are all sent a package to sniff and join the conversation. It s interesting but much more clinical discussion and little room for personal experiences or interaction. Got to sniff the new Amouage Renaissance Collection! Can t wait to write about those for you. Also, I picked up my Press Bottle of today s extravaganza, Interlude Black Iris. Yes, Amouage has released its first flanker of its most popular fragrance Interlude Man.From Amouage:Crafted as an overpainting, Interlude Black Iris uses a refined palette to smoothen the facets of the original creation. A complex interplay of dark stoic serenity and buried vibrant power bursting upwards, into the light Top: Bergamot, Rosemary, Violet LeavesHeart: Orris, Amber, Frankincense, Cistus, Myrrh, VanillaBase: Leather, Agarwood Smoke, Patchouli, Sandalwood, CedarwoodRight from open mixed with the zing of citrus and cool green of violet is the dry, dusty and earthy facet of iris. The opening is so fleeting on me I had to come back for a second and third round to really get an idea of how it flows. In the time it took me to write this paragraph we are already in the heart with all the resins surrounding and lifting the iris. At this point, the iris gets a buttery softness, and the resins start to feel very churchy. The cool heart of a busy, clean church with the memories of a thousands days of worship, incense, woods and their waxy clean/preservers.I m not sure if it s the cistus, leather or oudh that brings darkness and a cold touch of otherworldliness to Interlude Black Iris. It descends like a whisper and then takes the iris to a carroty rootiness. GOSH! So interesting. It s all this way in that I finally get a whiff of the green, herbal rosemary!Dry down is a gentle woody melange with some patchouli and iris to give interest. Interlude Black Iris hums away quietly, nowhere near the beast mode power trip of the original Interlude. This is a refined, urbane, sophisticated journey. The word that I keep wanting to write is centered. Without being anything like it, I am reminded of the elegant aloofness and backbone inducing fortitude of CHANEL No 19. This is a much more 21st century niche offering, but the heart, the integrity of the scent seems similar to me.I can t wait to hear what you all think.Portia xxMultiply reflections:TweetLike this:Like Loading... Today s Saturday Question is brought to you by the letters h, a, j, u, s, u, u, r and i, and the number 8. (Undina)Saturday Question #30:Does Longevity Matter?When I use “longevity” as it relates to perfume, I am referring to how long the perfume lasts on your skin with normal wear.  To be more specific, if you typically wear 2 or 4 or X sprays, when do you stop being able to smell it without pressing your nose to wherever you applied it? Good luck if you only applied behind your ears.  Does longevity matter when you’re considering a perfume purchase?My AnswerUnlike Undina who takes her time to test and notate her sampling experiences, I am not that disciplined.  Wait, “not that disciplined” gives me too much credit!  I am NOT disciplined at all.  As a result, most of the time, not being inclined to diligently test perfumes, I end up reading reviews and making a decision based on the reviews.  Most of the reviews cover what a perfume smells like, how the perfume makes the reviewer feel and which other perfumes it is similar to.  Occasionally, the review also includes longevity; however, I don’t pay attention to this knowing that it all depends on how many sprays you use, where you apply, your skin’s moisture levels, the temperature where you live/work and whether or not perfume got on your clothes.  Therefore, as long as the notes and scent descriptions sound good, I end up buying it.What if I actually tested a perfume and found its longevity to be lacking?  Would I still buy it?  Yes, because it is how it smells that matters more than how long it lasts.  The best example of this is COMME des GARCONS Series 2: Red Carnation.  I first tried this at Barneys (R.I.P.), one of a few times that I actually sprayed it on skin versus just smelling it on a tester strip while perfume shopping. After a few minutes, I couldn’t smell it anymore; I sprayed more, and the same thing happened – POOF!  I left the store without buying it.  Over the following weeks, I kept thinking back to how much I really enjoyed the perfume, so I went back and bought a bottle!  If you really must know how long Red Carnation lasts on me – 4 sprays last 20 minutes, with detectable minute traces for up to an hour.How about you?Does Longevity Matter?Multiply reflections:TweetLike this:Like Loading... Every household has its own rules for the members, such as “Turn off the lights when leaving the room,” “Do not put an empty milk carton back in the fridge” or “No elbows or all four paws on the table.”And same as humans find creative ways of “not breaking the rule” (e.g., leaving a tablespoon of milk in the carton or claiming that they left the room just for a second), Rusty invents his own ways to assert his innocence or do what he wants.Rusty is not allowed on the dining table. He knows that. But from time to time he still jumps on the table and “hides” behind a laptop or even an iPad: “If I don’t see you, you definitely cannot see me, right?” He looks so innocent and cute, that it s almost impossible to get angry with him. Besides, I use this his desire to claim that table when I try to take pictures of him and perfumes: if I were to put anything new or unusual there, he’d immediately jump on the table to investigate.Rusty also isn’t allowed on (almost all) kitchen counters. There is a breakfast counter that we do not use. It hosts one of Rusty’s blankets where he sleeps, so this is his territory, and he’s in his right being there.Also, historically, Rusty is allowed to be on the refrigerator, which stands in the opposite side from the breakfast/blanket area. Formally, the counters between these two areas are “off limits.” But since Rusty cannot jump on the fridge without jumping first on the counter next to it, he is granted right of way and is not reprimanded for jumping there before the next jump on the fridge (look who’s talking about the cat’s logic). Rusty learned this part. So, when he wants to check something out on the forbidden part of the counter, he either jumps on it close to the refrigerator or runs through the whole length from his blanket to the fridge, then… stops and starts looking and sniffing around. If yelled at, he makes a move towards the fridge that says “I’m going, I’m going…” but stays on the counter until one of us makes a move to take him down. And then he retires to the top of the refrigerator.Several years ago, a friend of mine brought us a present from her trip to Thailand – a woven bowl. I wasn’t sure how to use it, but one day, I don’t even remember why, I put it on the counter – and Rusty declared it to be his territory. While being chased off the countertop, in addition to getting either on the blanket counter or a fridge, Rusty also might jump into that bowl, and as long as all four paws are inside, he knows that “he’s safe.”Being a cat, Rusty is a hunter. He chases, catches and eats flies, moths and even spiders. First, when he saw a prey somewhere high on the wall or the ceiling, he would keep watching it and jumping trying to catch it. Then we taught him that if he were to attract our attention to it, we would kill it and reward him with a treat. So, he would sit with his head up and meow insistently until one of us comes and acknowledges the find. From time to time, he sees “invisible insects,” as we call it. Then one of us has to raise him up so that he can see that there’s nothing there. Sometimes it takes a couple of times, because in seconds after being put down, he starts doubting: “Are you sure? Maybe something is there?”And the most recent development of the cat’s logic is that when he sleeps, and my vSO finds and kills a spider, Rusty wakes up and runs towards the kitchen where his treats are stored: clearly, he has built his own cause and effect operation: Has the spider been found and neutralized?  Treat!As you can see, Rusty is quite a logical thinker.Images: New Yorker cartoon (can be bought here); all others – my own.Multiply reflections:TweetLike this:Like Loading... It is Saturday again. My short after-Labor-Day week went in a haze. Literally. Marine layer that came down on SF Bay Area after the record high temperatures over the past weekend (+40C/104F where I live), was trapped by the smoke from all the fires in the surrounding areas, creating completely surreal effect. We haven t seen sun or even sky for several days. The picture that I used for the theme instead of the regular calming landscape, was taken at 10 AM this Wednesday. Lights controlled by sensors had never turned off that day, and from the moment pictured, it was getting only darker until day flowed into the night. Rusty looked extremely confused by the absence of the day (or maybe we just projected our own feelings). By tonight, it got better visibility-wise, but our air quality fluctuates between Unhealthy and Very Unhealthy, robbing us off a small luxury of our switch-the-work-day-off walks. But it is Saturday, and the thought of seeing you here answering my silly questions and engaging in conversations with me and each other, lifts my spirits.Saturday Question #29:Do You Like Tomatoes? In Perfumes?When we talk about tomato scent, we do not mean the fruit itself, but mostly the foliage that produces that distinct aroma. Of course, tomatoes also have their own more delicate smell, but it s aroma from leaves that in our brain is associated with real tomatoes (as an opposite to the plastic-like standard supermarket produce).Do you like tomato leaves scent in perfumes? Do you know/wear any perfumes that have that distinct scent profile?Bonus question: Do you like eating tomatoes?My AnswerA month ago I complained that, with farmers markets closed due to the quarantine, we missed out on the most of the seasonal fruit. For the same reason this year I missed my 2-months window when I usually eat local tomatoes. It upsets me enormously because fresh heirloom tomatoes with mozzarella, basil, balsamic vinegar and truffle salt is something I look forward to the whole year from one season to the next. I tried buying those tomatoes at a store, but they do not come even close to what I got used to in the last 5-6 years of buying fresh local tomatoes in season.Being upset about my tomato-less diet, I turned to the only perfume with pronounced tomato leaf note that I have No 16 (Tomato Leather) from the local San Francisco brand COGNOSCENTI. Many years ago I got samples from the brand at the First Artisan Fragrance Salon. If you re curious, you can read my post You say ‘Tomato’, I say ‘Leather’, which, among other things about this perfume, has a link to The New York Times article that explains why most of the tomatoes produced in the U.S. are tasteless. Since I published that post, I finished the samples and bought a 5 ml travel spray of Tomato Leather.I still like it and wear from time to time (it s quite strong, so a spray or two go long way), but today I m in the mood for more tomato and less leather. It must be all that smoke in the air (though, I must admit that Tomato Leather masks any surrounding odors extremely well).Do you have any recommendations for perfume with a pronounced tomato vine note?Do You Like Tomatoes?Disclaimer: this blog doesn’t use any affiliated links or benefit from any of the G-d awful ads that some of you might see inserted tastelessly by the WP engine inside the post and/or between comments. Encouraging readers to post more comments does not serve any purpose other then getting pleasure from communicating with people who share same interests.Multiply reflections:TweetLike this:Like Loading... As I mentioned once or twice before, I love orchids. But since I had almost no encounters with fragrant orchids, my love to them lives in the universe that is parallel to my perfume love: I enjoy looking at them and keep searching for perfect jewelry pieces with the orchid theme but I do not think of them as an olfactory experience. Though, once I came across a fragrant orchid.Sensual Orchid created by Jerome Epinette for Laurent Mazzone Parfums in 2012 is one of those perfumes that, very likely, I wouldn’t have ever tried if it weren’t for my (rarely visiting) guest author hajussuri. Considering her my scent twin, I decided to participate in the split she hosted, even though I haven’t tested it before then.The first thought that popped up in my head once I applied Sensual Orchid was that the name fitted it perfectly. I cannot explain what qualities of this perfume prompted the thought (it’s an I-know-when-I-see-it-type feeling), but it was a positive thing since, in general, I do not like when brands exploit sex for marketing purposes.I didn’t even finish my small decant before I found and bought a bottle of this wonderful perfume. My quick take on it: I enjoy wearing it, and a couple of years ago it inspired me to write a haiku for the NST haiku project (which is very telling if you consider that you can count any type of poetry I ever wrote with fingers on one hand):Sensual Orchid Perfume true to its name His heartbeat agreesIf you haven’t tried Sensual Orchid yet and want to know more, you should read Kafka’s (Kafkaesque) review.Have you tried any perfumes from this brand? What did you think? I was tempted by their Radikal collection (Radikal Iris sounds interesting, right?), but nobody I know ever mentioned trying those, none of the decanter sites here has them, and I’m not adventurous enough for a blind buy.Images: my ownMultiply reflections:TweetLike this:Like Loading... Hey there crew,Mid Seasons are my favourites. I love the less extreme temperatures and the chopping and changing. Whether it s Spring or Autumn, the days play similarly, and I find the same set of fragrances can often get some play. One day hot, next day cloudy, sunshiny days and chilly nights happen in both seasons. It does mean our easy reach fragrances need to be able to fit into more than a single weather mood. So I have a bunch of perfumes each year that are able to cross the borders comfortably. I pop them on the easy access tray with some all-year contenders. This year looks like it s going to be fun.Portia s Mid Season Beauties 2020 Continue reading Multiply reflections:TweetLike this:Like Loading... Privacy Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

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