Saturday Question: What Perfume Do You Wear At Home?

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

Every Saturday we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a $10 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Friday.

Last Weeks Winner:

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with the eMail you’d like me to send your Gift Card to.

Saturday Question:

While I was away I noticed a comment on one of our APJ posts and it got me thinking. I can’t find it now but the gist of the comment was “I only wear that fragrance inside my own home when I know I’ll have the house to myself.” CURIOUS! So then that led me to thinking about my own perfume wearing and I think there are some scents I tend to wear wholly and solely for my own enjoyment.

Also, because I associate a fragrance with someone or that fragrance has a very specific era.

Let’s not limit this to ONLY wear because you won’t wear it outside for whatever reason. What do you LOVE to waft around the house in by yourself, what brings you great joy just by having it there to spritz for yourself?

My answer:

Vintage Opium by Yves Saint Laurent

Yes, I know it’s absolutely gorgeous but Opium is my BFF Kath Mum’s fragrance. Yes, I loved it well before meeting her but I feel so naughty wearing her signature in  the world. Her 100%, doesn’t even own another perfume, signature. It’s getting harder and harder to find the good stuff for her but I have a small backup supply. Mum prefers to spritz so I’ve kept this original beauty for myself, you have no idea how bloody fabulous it smells.

 

Black Saffron by Byredo

This is a freak show but I love it. I do wear Black Saffron outside the house but then the magic of the ride is a bit lost on me. At home I get to really enjoy the way it works. My mate Pia Long expressed it best, “Starts out fruity floral and ends up road dirt.” Yep, nailed it. A very nice innocuous opening and you end up being tarred and tarmac. Nothing is quite like it.

Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia by Guerlain

Guerlain hasn’t really done an Aqua Allegoria with such a personality since Lys Soleia. It’s a tropical ylang and lily combination backed by vanilla and a slight dry palm and salt air giving it interest and depth. I wear it around the house all year and it instantly gives a happy sheen to the day. Particularly good for making cleaning day smell beautiful.

My Saturday Question to you is:

What Perfume Do You Wear At Home?

 

94 thoughts on “Saturday Question: What Perfume Do You Wear At Home?”

  1. There isn’t anything I own that I won’t wear out in public, but the things I love to wear at home are usually incenses (soothing) or gourmand/sweet orientals (comforting). Tauer Incense Rose, Mitzah, Gris Montaigne, Vanille Hinoki, that sort of things.

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    • Hey TaraC,
      Mitzvah is perfect at home alone. I agree, there is something so lavish about spritzing it for my own enjoyment.
      Portia xx

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  2. I think I tend to wear my perfumes outside and to work more so than at home….when I am home and know I am not going anywhere for the day I gravitate towards my essential oil perfume blends and my body oils (both of which I custom make for myself )…given their lack fo longevity I can re-apply all day long 🙂

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  3. The one fragrance that I wear at home when alone is Dzing since I can’t seem to wear it around my partner without snarls and smarmy comments about the zoo being in town and questions akin to “has someone recently stepped on poop? Everyone check your shoes!” Shortly afterwards, he’ll usually start coughing or gagging and opening windows dramatically. It’s over the top , frankly, and it becomes such a PIA to wear it around him that I just wait for him to be gone in order to indulge in my ‘poopy perfume’, as he so eloquently calls it.

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    • Hey AB,
      Sometimes our menfolk are 4 year olds. They will remain this way till death. I apologise for my sex in general but ESPECIALLY for this.
      Yes, I suffer it too.
      Portia xx

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    • LOL, your post is so funny and I know what you mean because I love Dzing too. I wear it proudly everywhere and often listen to funny comments. My greatest critic is my daughter and last year during our visit to the States we were in Charleston, SC and when we saw horses in the streets she said: Yes, that’s exactly how your perfume smells! I knew immediately which perfume she had in mind…

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      • Neva – if you enjoy the ‘horsey’ aspect of Dzing then check out Oud White by El Nabil . You can find it on EBay and it’s inexpensive. Both fragrances have a very similar vein that runs through them . Oud White is an oil though but a dab should do ya just fine . It’s as if they crammed all of Dzing’s sweaty circus animals into a tiny bottle. (Probably best to test without your daughter around) 🙂

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  4. I wear my stonking old vintage old lady fumes at home ….. tonight I wore the parfum versions of Miss Balmain and Caleche….one on each wrist. I tend to save my monsters like Giorgio, Poison, and Opium for less public occasions as well. To this day I can only wear my beloved Mitz at night and I still wear her out…

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    • Yeah Marion,
      Totally cool. Perfume is meant for contemplation, though I do wear it outside regularly. I always feel like I’ve missed so much of the beautiful story though.
      Portia xx

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  7. Great question! I wear all my perfumes outside of the house but I am my 90 year old mother’s caretaker and spend a lot of time in doctor’s offices and restaurants, so perfume at home is a matter of volume. Some perfumes just smell better BIG. My favorite is to waft big billowing clouds of Shalimar all over the house, or Angel Cuir or Gucci Rush or Obsession, or Coco, but Shalimar is my favorite wafter. If mom and I aren’t going anywhere I can turn up the volume at her house because she loves perfume and I take her lots of decants. She’s been a serial monogamist with perfume over the years but L’air du Temps has always been a love of hers and it’s the scent I associate as her signature, but she loves Commes des Garcons 2 and Amouage Opus IV, among many others 🙂

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  8. For me the perfumes I wear at home are the big hitters like Amouage. If I spray when B is home I feel self conscious when he winds down the car windows etc!

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    • Hi JackieB,
      I get a bit of that action from Jin but really he’s just being a bitch. When he flaunts his MdO Oud or NVC Bombay Bling or Lutens MKK it’s all OK.
      So I call bullshit on him and ignore.
      Portia xx

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    • I’m currently wearing the L’Artisan Parfumeurs Seville à l’Aube from the very bottle that he bought you and subsequently told you that he hated! I sprayed it at 10am and it’s still beaming beautifully at 1am. I’m so glad we made that swap!

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  9. I always go with my mood Portia, sometimes none and at others the full extravaganza lol..such as my vintage Balmain, and a middle Eastern one from Sephora in a black bottle xx you always smell good Portia

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  10. Oh, I wear things of my own hand, that I love… but that often means a perfume I am working on, too. For the last nights, I’ve been wearing to bed my Maderas de Oriente Oscuro.

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  11. Most of my collection is for when I’m home alone as I live with a fragrance hater. I love dirt scents and the one I don’t think anyone else would appreciate is Cthulhu from fabled fragrances. It’s very seaweed, wet rocks and mud like. I love it but I’m not sure that it translates to perfume in real life 😜

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    • Hey Azsa,
      Living with a fragrance hater must be hard. I hope you get some quality time each week solo so your frafgs get a spritz.
      That one sounds wonderful, but definitely in house.
      Portia xx

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  12. Like you Portia, I wear vintage Opium only at home albeit it for a different reason. It is deeply rooted in a period of my life, which is far away in the past.
    Sometimes I love to only use a soap bar and some bodylotion for a ‘lighter’ wear; other times I hit the spray (EDP is all I have at the moment) and contemplate on its bliss.
    Thankfully my BF looooves it. 🙂

    Happy weekend!

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  13. I wear anything and everything everywhere. I spritz in the morning. If I get home from the office and am nonfragrant, I spritz something else. And, I spritz before bed. Whatever I am in the mood for. Lately though, since someone in my office is allergic, I have been wearing lots of Boadicea Complex and TT Laudano Nero at home. I need their power when I am feeling less than victorious.

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    • Hey Gina,
      We spritz around the same times each day.
      Poor allergic bugger in your office. Does that mean you’re wearing lotion instead of potion?
      Portia xx

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  14. At home I usually try out samples for the first time so I can scrub them off in case they don’t work out well. If they are ok, they get a second chance out of my home.
    The other sort of perfume to be worn at home is something from my vintage collection, when I want to travel back in time to a certain period of my life. Then I wear the first Armani perfume, YSL Nu, Shiseido Zen… They remind me of people and places I loved.

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  15. I also do a lot of sampling at home, just in case. And I sometimes will wear Perfumers Workshop Tea Rose, which belonged to my mom and was her most worn perfume. I can’t wear it in public but sometimes I need the memory.

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    • PW Tea Rose is one I only wear at home. A little spritz radiates from my skin so I don’t feel I can wear it around lots of people. I adore it though because it reminds me of my grandmother who wore rose-scented lotion and body powder. I’m glad it is a memory scent for you too.

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    • Hi MmklinPA,
      Wearing Mum stuff sometimes need the quiet of home. I also use my Mum’s stuff as a spine straightener too. My Mum’s voice is still the voice of my conscience so I can hear her loud & clear on almost every subject. Wearing her fragrances amps all that.
      Portia xx

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  16. I’m in an unusual position. Due to a head injury, my husband can neither smell not taste. While it’s incredibly sad I cannot share my love of scent or food, it also has the result of me spraying with abandon, trying new scents daily, exploring all the time. I probably leave the house sometimes having “overdone it.” So what do I wear at home? Everything from Shalimar, Salome, Like This, Rien, Norne, Kiste, anything. If it’s out, I’ll wear it. Sometimes that’s when I explore a sample. Scents that I wear at home to please myself or soothe are often incense-based, like HoM Alpha, or Guerlain Ensens Mythique.

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  18. I feel nervous spraying Montale’s Aoud Cuir d’Arabie on myself unless I’m leaving the house more than an hour from then. Its top notes are incredibly skanky, cheesy, perhaps slightly faecal, but then it dries down into a gorgeous leathery oud, with a heart of soft rosy florals. I do love it, but I feel others will not always share my enthusiasm. That sai, I’ve had a couple of compliments when wearing it. I still prefer to wear it at home though. As far as modern creations go, it’s daring, but also I think, a masterwork.

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    • Hey Jesse,
      I love it too. Yeah, those first 30+ minutes are hair raising for the general public. I think you’ve got the right idea.
      Portia xx

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  19. For me it’s Chanel no.5
    I wear it only inside the house, and specifically, to bed. Especially after a shower as I tend to shower just before bed. It’s such a comfort scent for me that I associate it with clean body, cozy bed and the aldehydes send me the peacefully to la la land. Some friends gasp at wasting perfume by wearing it to bed but I don’t care. It’s my pleasure. Sometimes I spritz it on if I’m having a day home and I’m prancing around doing house work but not often as I’m usually wearing something else.
    I bought the This Works Sleep spray thing from Mecca the other day. It’s mainly a lavender scent, lovely. I spray it on my pillows and sheets. Not perfume related but it’s something I think I’ll enjoy spritzing at home.

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    • hi Latai, I do exactly the same thing with Chanel No. 5 edp. I enjoy it most in the evening after a shower. So comforting, it helps me sleep better too.

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    • Hey Latai,
      i also LOVE to wear CHANEL No 5 to bed. It’s a perfect sleep inducer.
      If it’s scented then it’s perfume related.
      Portia xx

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  20. Samples are always tried at home. I need to hear them with all my attention and get to know them. I cannot do this outside of home because so much competes for my senses and it becomes overload.
    That said, any quiet scent with a detailed story is a home only scent.

    Ones I love, of which there are only 4 or 5, I leave for home too. I don’t ever want to associate them with potentially negative times, places and people. I wear them ONLY when I feel safe and secure.

    So there is 3/4 of my collection I will wear around others, but I will avoid some if I learn of them being a signature scent. Luckily, most people I interact with have very … different … tastes to me, so avoiding them isn’t an issue.

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    • hey Kate,
      Yeah, interesting. First wears are best at home for me too. I find it almost impossible to get a handle on scent in a department store or airport. When I do buy there I think of it as a blind buy.
      Portia xx

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  21. 80s Vintage Femme. It needs to stay in the house. It would bowl over everyone or say I need a shower with its cumin body front. Too much and I wear out Opium, Jolie Madame and the big vintages…

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    • HA SuzanneS,
      That vintage Femme is outrageous. I have been known to wear it outside though, even the parfum. Naughty I know.
      Portia xx

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  23. Two home-only scents are Insolence and L’Heure Bleue. Insolence stays at home because it makes me laugh. It feels ridiculously far removed from who I think I am. L’Heure Bleue is only for evenings at home. It has an emotional impact that fills my mind and draws my attention inward.

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    • Hey Tiffanie,
      LOVE why you keep them at home. Yeah L’Heure Bleuehas a melancholy undertow, it needs careful wear monitoring.
      Portia xx

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  24. I’d wear anything home or outside, but it’s true there are some that I hesitate to wear outside, usually because they are “weird”, “offensive” or “disgusting” to the muggles even though I like them (why else would I buy them?) LAP’s Dzongkha is one. And Aromatics Elixir.

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  25. This week’s question inspired me to put on Coromandel. Coromandel shifts so much depending on temperature and humidity, so it often feels too much. Even if I do wear it outside the house, it is more often used at home. Other than that, Tauer Une rose chyprée also is one I most often enjoy at home.

    Plus, I had for a long time a sample of Lutens MKK and since it smelled like a well-groomed horse on my skin I was too nervous to use it outside.

    With very green scents I would not hesitate to use them outside,I loved a lot of perfumes with much oakmoss and galbanum. Sadly it is hard to find those deep green chypre perfumes now and mostly I found them too grown-up for myself at the time, in the mid-80s, so had no full bottles then and have decided not to hunt for vintage.

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    • Ingeborg,
      Get yourself some Jacomo Silences PdT or Niki de Saint Phalle. they are cheap as chips and cover your chypre ground PERFECTLY!
      Portia xx

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  26. I wear whatever my mood dictates. There is only one or two that I reserve for special occasions and wouldn’t wear if I was just having a day at home. Yesterday I was home all day, it was Saturday, I wore Tom Ford Sahara Noir 🙂

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  27. I dont have a particular category of home and social perfumes. But, of course, I am mindful of the fact you should not wear certain perfumes outside but such perfumes are only very extreme ones and vintage Opium would not come in that category for me neither vintage Kouros. the ones i may avoid wearing outside include such creations as vintage Mona di Orio Cuir (very very ashy) and Goutal Eau de Fier etc.

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      • Eau du Fier kind of reminds you of being in a mechanic’s garage. It is hard to describe because there are scents that also remind you of your car such as vintage Fahrenheit with its signature gasoline note. Eau du Fier is def. for those that like scents such as original formula of Bvlgari Black with burnt rubber note. To be fair, Bvlgari Black and Eau du Fier smell quite different but they both suit those with passion for cars, bikes, and racing culture.

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  28. If I know I will be home all day, I usually don’t wear any perfumes. On the rare occasions that I did wear something, I wore Guerlain Cuir Beluga or Aftelier Vanilla Smoke Extrait or Solstice Scents Pumpkin Spice Latte.

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    • Actually, I sometimes use scented hand cream before going to bed and by default, that becomes my night scent (hello FM Iris Hand Cream – so fabulous).

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      • Aha Hajuusuri! Hand creams can smell so beautiful. there’s a Korean crew called Etude House that do these small hand creams that smell amazing. SO CHEAP.
        Portia xx

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  29. What a great question — so much fun to read people’s answers! I only wear Mitsouko at home alone, because my teenaged daughter earnestly said to me, after I had spritzed it in her presence, “Mama, don’t EVER wear that fragrance again!”. LOL, as if. But I don’t wear it outside the house or when she’s around, and generally I only indulge when no one else is home or at bedtime on nights when my husband is traveling for work. I have other fragrances I’ll wear at home, with my family, or out on a date with hubby, but I won’t wear them to work. Amouage Gold Woman comes to mind. Actually, just about any Amouage comes to mind!

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    • Hey OH,
      OH NOOOOOOOO! Not the Mitsouko! You poor thing. Jin has put his foot down about a few of my loves because they make his nose fizz uncontrollable and it’s really uncomfortable for him. It seems to be mainly top notes but some frags have given him nightmares too.
      Portia xx

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  32. Hey Portia

    OMG I had that very bottle of Opium, but left it behind when I moved house. I used to store it on the top shelf of my wardrobe to make sure it didn’t get spoiled with heat or light, and to this day I still don’t know how I overlooked it. At the time I didn’t even have quarter the amount of bottles that I have now, so there was no excuse!
    As for perfumes that I just wear at home, I can’t really think of any, except for the time when I was trying out Theo Fennell Scent, which just doesn’t work on my skin, it seems to turn urinous. Ick.

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    • OH NOOOO! What a tragedy. Poor lost Opium.

      I thought Theo Fennell Scent was supposed to be a scary animalic so ruinous is par for the course, right?
      Portia xx

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  33. I’ve thought and thought about this, but nope,I can’t think of any that I wear at home and wouldn’t wear out. Unlike cassieflower above, I wore Theo Fennell’s Scent to work the other day. I have no shame. But I think it smells glorious and lush on me, even the filthy first minutes…

    I think I probably just wear *more* of whatever I’m wearing if I’m at home. A level of full and indulgent drenching with ambers, sometimes, that would get me dirty looks on the train…

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  34. At home I wear body mists, the cheap stuff you can get at Ulta. It’s me by myself so no one to impress, just something light, sweet and pretty to feel ‘dressed’ and attitude adjustment. Right now it’s a variety of Pacificas and Hempz Gogi Lemonade. If I go out shopping, I have two in current rotation–Love2Love Fresh Rose Peach and Demeter Pixie Dust.

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  35. Hi Portia,
    I wear Shalimar only at home as I am apparently incapable of applying it at non-nuclear levels.

    Kiss the hounds for me

    Tena

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