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Portia
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Hey Hey Frag Family,
This week has been a watercolour about getting life back to normal. We are both back working, looking after the dogs, trying to scrape together time and see our friends. There have been a few losing control moments, where everything has seemed to spiral and grow overwhelming, skating the edges of darkness. Jin still seems to be existing in the fog lands of grief but we will come out OK.
Scent Diary 24.4 – 30.4.17
Monday 24:
Jin and I both had the day off today so we decided to go into Parramatta and get my hair cut and his sexual health tests done.
From there we trained into town to organise our trains across Australia trip later in the year. We are hoping to do the Indian Pacific from Sydney to Adelaide, then the Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin. It’s already heavily booked so Jin has to get his motor running to make it happen in 2017.
Todays fragrance was brought to you by IUNX Splash Forte. I’m nearly out.
After that we wandered around Broadway & Chippendale seeing the new areas opened up as public green spaces, foodie areas, shopping and how much the UTS university has spread. It’s the most modern and happening part of Sydney right now and reminded us of Asia with its high rise apartments and shared green (faux grass) living areas. High density living which still manages to feel spacious.
We caught the train in and back and felt pretty good about using that much less petrol and not clogging up the roadways.
I wore Parfum d’Empire Equistrius tonight. LOVE it. One of the best iris + scents I know.
Tuesday 25:
Woke up, walked dogs, cleaned house. THEN I spritzed a bit of Daniel Barros Cuir Mojito. Freakiest damn shit I ever smelled. LOVE IT! Perfectly named, smells like drinking booze in a horsetack shop. Bit rangier than an Hermès event.
Jin and I had our mate TinaG over for lunch, it was a fun catch-up after her USA holiday. I forgot everything closed on ANZAC Day here so I grabbed a loaf of bread from the local Convenience Store and we had ham, cheese, tomato waffle sandwiches and loads of tea. TinaG had bought us some souvenir USA chocolate and we made that our dessert. We were having so much fun I forgot to take photos so I text and asked them for a car shot, this is what they sent……
The only thing new-to-me that TinaG wanted was Ulrich Lang Lightscape so I thought she better have 5ml. VERY happy girl.
For work I heavily spritzed my Lolita Lempicka Au Masculin. I have gone through a couple of decants and saw it for a good price in someones sale list a while ago so I jumped on it. Not really much different from the rest of the range, male and female centric, but I do like the bottle.
Wednesday 26:
Sleep in. I know, gloating is so unattractive. 8.22am my body woke up of my own accord. It was a blissful rising from the depths of slumber. I feel alive, awake, refreshed and ready for the day. A couple of spritzes of Armani Prive: Cuir Amethyst and I’m ready to feed and walk the dogs in the cool autumn sunshine.
Today is about playing catch-up on the blog so I’m kind of desk bound. It seems very naughty and ungrateful to be inside on a day so gorgeous. I’ll have my lunch in the park across the road to make up for it. Almost ZERO catch up done but the sun was lovely.
Boring for you but exciting for us, new screen door! Now we can have full cross ventilation through the apartment. This is a BIG win. We ordered the damn thing in January but then we were overseas and when we came back he was booked out for mornings weeks in advance. So today it finally arrived and I am so happy. Yeah, little things.
Work tonight in the original Agent Provocateur EdP rosiness. This frag is so good and still cheap as chips. I predict it will become a very expensive, highly sought after vintage in 40 years time.
Going to bed before midnight! Unheard of. Keiko Mecheri Un Jour d’Ete and a sleeping tablet. Fingers crossed for 8 hours of blissful sweet nothingness.
Thursday 27:
WOW! Woke up at 7.49am and it was like rising from the dead, surfacing from deep slumber is beautiful when your body does it of its own accord. That’s only my second sleeping tablet this year but sometimes I need to get the ultimate sleep, this was it.
Sun is shining on a newly chill Parramatta, the air is crisp and frosty. I can still smell soft, floral/vanilla hints from last nights Keiko Mecheri Un Jour d’Ete, I’m not wanting to smell exactly like that this morning and am happy to divert slightly so I’m hitting the Tom Ford Vert Boheme.
This evening it’s all the fabulous shit with Thierry Mugler A*Men Kryptomint. PHWOAR! Outrageous.
Friday 28:
It’s Friday morning and Jin has arrived home from work. Apparently I left the door to the apartment open last night and now I have the heebejeebees, as if people were wandering through here last night. To dispel any lasting discomfort I gave myself 5 big spitzes of Ramon Monegal Umbra. It’s a non candy kinda sweet, herbal concoction. Very grounding and beautiful.
For lunch I wanted to add some candy so some Guerlain Spiritueuse Double Vanille was a perfect, sweet, boozy, vanilla custard slice. Already more than halfway through my 10ml decant but I’m pretty sure when it’s done I won’t repurchase. It is fabulous but the wearings are few & far between.
Tonight it was Ainslie Walker’s birthday. We had too much food & fun to take any photos but I wore DIOR Mitzah. Loads of it. I was 100% fragrant. Fuck the world, I smelled so good.
Saturday 29:
DIOR Mitzah. Still smelling it as I wake up and lay peacefully in bed in half slumber.
Today I’m trying to get as much of next weeks blog done as possible. Having no post ready on Friday and then doing a half assed job after arriving home from a beautiful dinner upset me. I’m finding it hard to shift the disquiet so my best plan is to action myself out of the angst hole.
Currently I have a couple of the Miller et Bertaux fragrances on my fingers because there’s going to be a Monday GIVEAWAY. Finishing a sample of a Dawn Spencer Hurwitz on the wrist that has been on the back burner to review for a while now, review next week. There’s also some Maison Francis Kurkdjian from 2016 on my left forearm. I like having a few scents around my person, especially if I know them, it helps compare & contrast and brings out things I’d otherwise miss.
Jin and I were going to see Guardians of the Galaxy 2 but decided at the last minute we would rather stay home, get pizza and watch a Gilmore Girls marathon. It was super fun. We just slothed around the couch. I had a very hot bath, we fed and walked the dogs. I can’t think of a nicer way to spend a Saturday night.
There was some very late night drama though. Our BFFs Mum fell over during the evening and broke some ribs and fractured her arm. Bloody hell, getting old is tough. Thankfully fully insured and close to good hospital care but nevertheless……
Sunday 30:
This morning Paris, my perfect, gorgeous, smart and beautiful dog decided to wee in the carpeted stairwell as I was locking our front door. Thank goodness Jin was with me to catch it happening so we could run him outside quickly. So I spent some time while they were walking cleaning that mess up. What a way to wake up on a Sunday.
I’m wearing Maison Francis Kurkdjian Grand Soir. I find it a neutered, prettified version of the Le Soirs and it reminds me of Pierre Guillaume’s work, in a complimentary way. Review to come.
Off to work this evening. I’m thinking it might be a Versace Blonde evening but yet to be fully decided at this point.
Australian Perfume Junkies 
Wowser what a week you had! You always seem to pack so much in and love your delightful fragrant commentary that absolutely intertwines the stories you tell. I miss your face, love to Jin too. X
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Heya Margeaux,
It was a good week. We do keep it pretty busy, I just wish I could remember to take more photos. The crew keeps getting left out and I love to see their happy, smiling faces.
Portia xx
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The Aussie train trip sounds amazing. Hope you manage to get booked up.
Lunch with Tina must have been fun. Her LA holiday looked all kinds of awesome.
There’s evidence that something seemingly small – like a new screen door- that improves your life every day is even better than a big one-off mood boosting event.
I feel so much for Jin. It will get better but in the meantime it just sucks.
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Hey Tara,
Yeah, the train thing is SUPER exciting. We seem to have become train people. I love them so much more than planes and the attendant drama with plane travel.
TinaG is so great, her stories, reminiscences and pics were a great way to spend some time.
Aha! I think that could very well be a thing. Every time I see that door I get all smiley, even though locking it was the reason Paris peed. It’s great having that extra air.
Jin is resilient. We’ll love him right through this drama.
Portia xx
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Love your scented week! Glad to hear equilibrium is returning in your lives 💗
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Thanks Marion,
Portia xx
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Amused to read how you ‘redeemed’ your oversight in leaving the door open by spritzing heaps of perfume on yourself! I myself have left the front door completely unlocked more than once, going out for the entire day and come home to find nothing touched. Just my luck I guess. The problem is a security screen that has such dark frame that I fail to see the door behind it is still ajar and then I drive off! I’m glad to see your new security gate is bright and see through. 🙂 🙂 :)I was told that had this happened in Sydney, my house would have been robbed empty. Obviously whoever told me that was wrong after all, after I read your story.
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HA! Well, we live in a very quiet, middle class, unassuming apartment block in the Sydney suburbs Hage. There are only 7 residences in the building and we know them all by face, if not name. If we left the apartment complex front door open it would be a different thing. We also would NEVER leave the town apartment unlocked for even a second and the house I grew up in was locked up tight since the mid 1970s when our street had a rash of burglaries. We were spared but a guy tried to climb in my sisters bedroom window while she was sleeping and that was scary enough.
Portia xx
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Love to read your writing, thank you for that!
Ok, here’s a list of wearings from this week:
Monday – Lumière Noire pour homme, love this caraway comfort and I am just nuts about artemisia;
Tuesday – Aura Sublime by Bijon, HELLO!!… a sample that came in with a buy, I’m in love……. It’s always the unexpected ones, right?!
Wednesday – Johana by Keiko Mecheri, a recent chypre discovery, chrysanthemum, galbanum and cacao: soft and sublime, I love it.
Thursday – Ambre Nuit, well, what’s not to like, but I prefer this one in winter, I must say. Brings out the freshness (and marvelousness) more.
Friday – Caravelle Epicée by Frapin, first try. Good. I will wear this again in winter (we are having springtimes here), this is too spicy for me right now.
Switched in the evening to another free sample: Cristalle Eau Verte by Chanel, which I ended up pouring out all over me as it is Incredibly Weak, but nice.
Saturday – Santal Majuscule by Lutens, a re-try, which is just nice, I’m not impressed.
Sunday – time for a huge love of mine (a bottle will be bought soon!): Les Zazous by Keiko Mecheri. Amber, lavender and resins….. All is well again. 😉
Ciao!
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Hey Fanny,
I love some of your choices like Lumière Noire pour home, Ambre Nuit and Santal Majuscule. A whole lot of them I’ve never tried. V nice week in scent.
Portia xx
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Hey Portia,
Your train trip sounds great…BUT you seem to be missing Perth! 😦
Beautiful weekend here, SOTD is lupin mulch!
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Hi JackieB,
Yes, we are not doing WA this year. I think that it needs its own dedicated holiday. When we were kids we drove from Perth to Albany and back. I’d like to take Jin to Broome to see where Paspally pearls come from and swim with the dolphins at Monkey Mia. Recently I also saw that people can swim with the Whale sharks too.
Perth is such a great city. My BFF Kath & I were going to move there but it never happened. One of my lifelong friends was in the WA Ballet there. I’ve also done some events there.
One day.
Portia xx
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What a week! Grief steals energy,I hope Jin will feel better little by little. Your holiday plan to go by train on some special rail lines do sound fabulous.
Please don’t feel bad about writing a less than perfect post on Friday. I am sure people could feel how much you love Dior Mitzah (I have a few other favourites in that line, but no full bottles yet). I bet you smelt good in Equistrius earlier in the week. That one has so much more going on than just iris.
The sun and real spring has finally returned here, so having finished my income tax form, I finally am going out for a walk. I’m wearing Bottega Veneta Knot edp which is a new bottle in my collection, bought with some discount. I like both the scent and the bottle design and hope it will prove to be a versatile scent.
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Ingeborg,
You are the sweetest. Thanks for your lovely message.
Enjoy the sun. I reckon you’ve earned it.
Bottega Venetta makes very nice fragrance, their original EdP is one of my faves.
Portia xxx
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I’m happy you understood what I intended to say! Not a good idea to write in a foreign language when I am too tired.
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Your post reminds me I’m due for a sexual health test check up too.
Post also made me smile this morning seeing how I’m the midst of grief and life in general, you and Jin do your best to still enjoy life; book next holiday, see friends, enjoy each other’s company with pizza and Gilmore girls. Isn’t that the very essence of life? Finding joy and creating happiness.
I feel for Jin, I really do. My best friend since childhood committed suicide a year ago and the one thing I would’ve appreciated then is someone just being present, patient and understanding to what I’m going through. Jin to so lucky to have that in you.
How exciting is the railway trip!! I hope they are comfy seats!
P.S. always love reading what you’ve been wearing during the week.
I tried Grand Soir at Mecca recently. Indeed, it is gorgeous!
Warm hugs and kisses to you and Jin darling x
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Hey Latai,
Bloody Hell. Friends suiciding is far too common. You live around the corner, come hang for Gilmore Girls one night.
Jin would agree with you about 75% of the time, he he he.
Yeah, The Ghan & Indian Pacific were things my Mum talked about doing. She didn’t live long enough to fit everything in. So we are going to take a photo of her with us. That was we can say we took Mum.
Smoothies right back.
Portia xxx
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Hey Portia, it was great to see you & Jin last week – so glad we managed to sneak in a lunch. Laughing at my failed attempt at selfies, I’m so bad at them! Haha! Thanks for the Lightscape, I’m a bit obsessed with it at the moment & must source a bottle. Your sample was gratefully recieved, thank you. You did have loads of interesting frags on the table!! Similar to my Europe trip last year, but this LA trip not so much. Took it easy frag-wise.
Lots of love for a great start to the week.
xx Tina G
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Hey TinaG,
Selfies are an art, it’s all a very calculated adventure.
You’re welcome to the Lightscape, so good isn’t it?
Portia xx
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I love Monegal’s Umbra.
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Oh Yeas Rickyrebarco, Umbra is gorgeous.
Portia xxx
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I always want to like Equistrius but on me it comes out muddy and messy. The notes always seem to go cross-ways on my skin.
Cuir Mojito sounds super fun, adding it to my radar!
I also think it’s cool how you’ve mentioned sexual health tests. The stigma about such things helps nobody and it’s always great to see it mentioned as a normal, sensible thing to do.
Sending supportive thoughts to Jin and yourself.
P.S. Love the screen door. Sometimes it is these “basic” functional additions that make all the difference to quality of life.
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Hey Morrigan,
Bummer about Equistrius, do the whole range do that or just that one?
Sexual Health Tests are pretty important,.
Thanks, I’ll pass your good wishes on to Jin.
Portia xx
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