.
Portia
.
Scent Diary: 22.5 – 28.5.2017
Monday 22:
Hey all. Today was spent at the computer (amazing how much time you can waste doing basically nothing online) and getting my fragrant send outs done. Some of them are a week overdue.
watching some Netflix. Jake Gyllenhaal in Source Code (2011) which blew my mind. Scary real idea.
Also watched the animated Sahara (2017) which was sweet and amusing but not nearly as good as Source Code.
Being Monday I have to write Trivia Q&A tonight.
Did not spritz or dab even a drop of fragrance today. For no reason at all my body wanted a complete rest from it. It did make me notice even more the fragile scent of lavender left on my sheets after changing the bed today. I always spritz it with L’Occitane Lavender Eau de Cologne on change day. It’s scent remains all week and is a perfect relaxant for Jin. He works shift work and needs to be able to fall asleep at any time in moments.
Tuesday 23:
BUSY, wearing Madame Rochas EdC and parfum.
This morning I had a few things on the agenda, firstly tyres. My car desperately needed 4 new tyres and I had known it was coming for 12 months. Went to a tyre place I’ve used before expecting around $1000. The guy that served me was super sweet. He told me that they were importing a new brand and because this company is trying to get a toehold in Australia they are still quite cheap. So, four new tyres and a wheel alignment cost a little under $600 and I can’t believe the difference. The car is more responsive, feels like it is cornering better and the steering is lighter than it’s ever been. WIN ALLL ROUND!
It was Mother’s Day recently and I still hadn’t been to visit my Mum. The guilt was lying heavily on me and so straight after tyres I went down and saw her. Burned some Chinese Incense and Hell Bank Dollars for her and when I’m there alone I talk out loud to her as if we are sitting in the kitchen over a coffee. Anyway, I’d been rambling on about all sorts and wandering around the grave picking leaves etc off it when I noticed two groundsmen watching me and smiling. AWKWARD! They just smiled, said hello and wandered on.
Mum Waples is still in the Rehab and I went to visit her too. We had some laughs and Kath showed up to make it really cozy.
Jin has been aching to make us Peking Duck. We went and got all the stuff today, he made the pancakes himself from scratch. A couple of false starts, some not quite rightness and though it was amazing we decided to leave it and chop it all up for Sang Choy Bow tomorrow. Who cares that it wasn’t perfect, I just love the hanging out with him.
Work. Having to go to work tonight it was beard dying, a bubble bath and shave. Then some quiet nap time and ready to face the world. I spritzed Parfum d’Empire Ambre Russe lavishly and went out reeking of it. Interestingly no one commented on it, maybe they’re scared. I kept smelling old pipe tobacco all night, yummiest frag.
After work Jin and I sat up watching Frankie & Johnny Season 3, first 3 eps. Such good writing and the actors are a unit, a cohesive, perfect unit. We see ourselves and friends in different moments and characters. What a show.
Wednesday 24:
A day blogging so loads of fragrance. I don’t want to ruin all the surprise though so I’ll keep a little hush.
Perfectly wonderful day. Jin and I lazed around the house and I blogged away happily. We had lunch together, a cuddle on the couch, watched some Korean TV with him translating. I grabbed Paris and had a little nap with him in the early evening before work.
Tonight for work I wore Carner Barcelona Rima XI. Sweet amber delight. YUM!
Thursday 25:
Today started cool and crisp, there were little breath clouds as I walk the dogs. By the time we got home though it was starting to warm up nicely. I was too., a half hour wander is beautiful with these pooches for company.
Jin cooked San Choy Bow with the leftover duck today for lunch. The sad failure of our Peking Duck was well overshadowed by the great San Choy Bow triumph of May 2017! He took some artistic license with the basic recipe, adding extraordinary amounts of garlic, some extra vegetables and a nice soft kick of chilli. He should open a restaurant. Seriously. It was so bloody delicious.
We went shopping for food. Tomorrow night we are having a small dinner party. We wanted to have everything ready to go.
Collected the incoming mail. VERY nice haul today. Vintage Madame Rochas EdC and Serge Lutens Feminite du Bois and Ambre Sultan in the Vaporisators with 2 x 30ml. Same price at Mecca as the 50ml export bottle and hella cuter.
Tonight I jumped in a glorious bubble bath of Hermès Eau de Mandarine Ambrée which then led me to night at work in Guerlain Shalimar, vintage parfum and modern EdP. I sent two of the women hurtling down memory lane to their youths. One was so enraptured she said she had fully fallen back in love. I wouldn’t be surprised if she turns up next week in full Shalimar.
My rose that I was given on Mother’s day is still blooming strong and lightly fragrant.
Friday 26:
Suddenly it’s cool enough for a beanie. I particularly love this one I bought from Vanessa Musson from Bonkers About Perfume.
WHAT A DAY! I didn’t think my list was so long but it didn’t go as planned. It was meet Anna-Maria, go to David Jones and sniff, shopping for other people at DIOR, Estee Lauder Staff Store, hang with Bronwyn of Gascoigne & King Candles, Showface Theatre Makeup Store, Home for dinner party with a crew. It didn’t quite go to plan.
Went to town and met Anna-Maria for coffee and cupcakes.
Then we went to check David Jones DIOR to see if they had the 125ml Feve Delicious in case the Flagship store was out.
This fabulous woman at YSL Beauty grabbed Anna-Maria and did her lips. I nearly had to punch her in the face to use a slightly orange red on Anna-Maria but my will prevailed and I think you’ll agree it was the right choice.
Went to visit one of my favourite man SAs at MECCA in Myer where Anna-Maria got the Le Labo Santal 33 oil.
Then we trotted up to DIOR Flagship store and met Jolanta who was devastated to tell us she only had one 125ml DIOR Feve Delicious left. We had a very nice visit though. They are so friendly and helpful.
Latai met us there and we had to go back to David Jones to grab the other Feve and have lunch with Anna-Maria’s son Rocco. Then we realised we were out of time. Rushed home to join where we met up with other friends and all had Japanese/Korean fusion Self Made Nori Rolls. We had so much fun, chatter and laughter that the rest of the night passed in such a blur I completely forgot to take photos, SORRY!
After dinner I brought out a box of random niche bottles and we sniffed them and chatted, leading me to go get other bottles to illustrate, compare, contrast. By 10pm Jin was in bed and I was pooped so everyone herded out and I cleaned up. Bit of blogging and bed.
Saturday 27:
Spent today lazing around the house doing very close to nothing. I did notice that the Zygocactus are flowering though. these are all from my Mum’s windowsill. I’m pretty chuffed that though she died in 2001 her cactus are still prospering beautifully in the baskets and pots I put them in in 2003.
In honour of having the house to myself and wanting to swan around fully fragrant I gave myself 6 huge spritzes of Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur EdP. It’s so easy to get lost in its intricate folds that I lay down and let my mind wander for half an hour. So relaxing.
When Jin got home we had his Katsu Curry: Korean style. Bloody hell. My guy is such a good cook. Delicious. We watched some Gilmore Girls, season one. Jin had been rematching them and I got addicted a couple of seasons in. I’m doing catch up. LOVE this show.
Before bed I spritzed the white floral and green herbs and spices of Antonia by Puredistance. How luxe it smells.
Sunday 28:
Woke up & spritzed Niki de Saint Phalle for this perfect end of autumn sunny day. It was lovely as I wandered the dogs around our suburb.
Went and visited Kath’s Mum who is back at home now. We sat around with Dad & Kath laughing and chattering. It was a casual family morning, exactly what my should needed. Sorry but I forgot to take a snap.
Hung around the house and then got ready for work.
This week has been calm and peaceful. It’s been great to take stock and get some rest.
How about you? What did you do this week?
Did anything fragrant or fun happen?
Let us all know in the comments, hearing about your lives makes me so happy. I feel involved in the world outside my bubble.
Portia xx
Australian Perfume Junkies 
Your week sounds lovely Portia. We had a great summer four day weekend here with soaring temps, loads of sunshine and BBQs. Too much biking so I am sore. Perfumes I wore are Neela’s Mohur EdP, Ungaro Diva and Amouage Beloved which really blooms in the heat. Have a great week ahead. Sandra xoxo
LikeLike
Sunshine and BarBQs. Sounds like Rotterdam is really agreeing with you.
Biking? Motor or push? I think it’s push but ???
DIVA! Yummy.
Wishing you a great week too.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Hey Portia,
What fun you had with Anna Maria and yes, that orange red is perfect for her.
We are having an unusually hot May so I got to wear a couple of colognes. I spritzed O de Lancome properly for the first time ever and it was perfect.
Jin is such a talent. It would be my dream to live with such a great cook!
LikeLike
YAY! I knew it was the right colour Tara. The make up woman would NOT listen though, she had her mind made up on pinks and plums.
Yay! Hot May! O de Lancome is lovely. My bottle is splash so I decant and spritz too.
Living with Jin is a gastronomic delight. As you know he’s also such a good bloke that his cooking is just gilding the lily really. You’ll get the royal treatment when you stay with us. Jin will make sure of it.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Hi Portia appearances of your pooches and your mum’s cactus made your post extra nice to read! I am on holiday in Spain and we are lazying about, picking a few fresh oranges and enjoying the sun (mostly in the shade!). My husband and I share the 4 Hermes colognes in travelspray bought on the airport. I brought a couple of decants and spritzed Infusion d’Iris today, how surprising that you can love a well loved perfume all over again. Also been wearing Mona di Orio’s Tubereuse, as Birgit wrote a perfectly wearable tuberose, I am smitten.
LikeLike
Hi there Hamamelis,
Nice to see you.
How lavish to be shade hopping on holiday in Spain. LUCKY you.
How cool are the Hermès colognes in the 15ml? Perfect holiday fare. Infusion d’Iris, how better to cool down in summer, I bet you empty the decant and remember it as the scent of Spain 2017 for the rest of your life.
Have a spritzer for me please.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Howdy! I reckon you bring just as much dolce vita to Jin as he gives you. It would be fascinating to read a week from Jin’s perspective.
Agreed on Anna-Maria’s lippy. Plums etc would drag her colour south. YSL lipstick colours are divine. Especially the vibrant, Hollywood reds.
Where did you get those cute Lutens? I am really enjoying travel sized things at the moment. Means I can slip a 15ml into my tiny hand bag and refresh. Just opens more options to me.
LikeLike
Hey Kate,
A week from Jin’s perspective is GENIUS. I’ll ask him, but I’m pretty sure what the answer will be. Worth a shot.
The Lutens Vaporisators are available at Mecca Online in Australia or from the Lutens European and American sites. Be quick, there are only a few fragrances left and they won’t be around in the very near future.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Love your weekly stories, Portia!
LikeLike
Thanks Ingrid,
You have no idea how much joy it brings me to chronicle my life in this way. I went back and read a few of the early ones recently and the memories came flooding back.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Hi Portia,
I am so envious that you are able to get to DJ’s and the Mecca in Myer much easier than I am. I travel down to Sydney via train from Newcastle a couple of times a year to sample and swoon etc with my best friend. In fact last time we visited I overindulged and heading back on the train I could feel myself turning a shade of grey that I don’t wish to encounter too soon. If it is possible to suffer from alcohol poisoning then I may have suffered the equivalent with perfume. It took me a couple of perfume free days to recover and get my “perfume legs” back again. On that day I purchased Serge Lutens Gris Clair which took me quite a while to be able to wear without going light headed and woozy for all the wrong reasons! It has only been the past month or two that I can wear it with no ill-effect.
Last week I received some vintage purchases which I am wearing and enjoying. Poison Edt, Byzance Edt and Dune Edp. I have to say the Dune, oh my, I wore it when it first came out and I forgot how lovely it was. I will have to spritz the current formulation and see how it compares.
Enjoy your morning walks with your puppies, I just love Aussie autumn weather, the best time of year.
LikeLike
Hey there GailW,
Yes, a quick hour on public transport and I’m in the heart of the city. It’s amazing how clear my head is by the time I get there, watching the houses, cars and people go by and the clickety clack of the train is great for quiet reflection.
If you ever desperately want something from Sydney drop me a line, you can PayPal the cash through and I can grab it for you. Mecca has a fabulous Free Australian postage over $100.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Looks like you had yet another packed week Portia. The highlight of my week was joining 85,000 other football fans at the Dreamtime game. With the indigenous dancing, music everywhere and special jumper designs at was a great atmosphere, topped off by a thrilling game.
I got into the kitchen myself on Sunday and cooked up some jambalaya. Not bad, although a little dry. I think I will cook the rice longer and add more liquid next time.
My fragrance choices this week were Lubin Figaro, Dior Bois d’Argent, FM Noir Epices, Nasomatto Black Afgano, vintage Dior Fahrenheit, Amouage Interlude Man and L’Artisan Batucada. I don’t think the Lubin is ever going to measure up to Philosykos, so it might get moved on. The Batucada was a mistake. I blind-bought it as a StrawberryNet special but it needs to be mothballed until the warm weather comes back.
LikeLike
Hey Greg,
Jin has the Parramatta Indigenous jersey that he wears to the games. I love how beautiful it is compared to the regular line.
Jambalaya! I can’t eat it because seafood but I reckon Jin would love it.
So Batucada needs to be spritzed like crazy. There is a beautiful creamy background and it wears like a Splice Ice Cream. It’s better in cool weather than you think with less spritzes. MMMMMMMM My favourite time I wore it was in a blizzard in Chicago on top of an open Hop On Hop Off bus. We were rugged up but it was freezing and I had these magnificent swirls of limes and cream.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Oh Portia such fun on Friday or Fri-yay! Tried so many perfumes which I love, the Chanel no 19 edt, the Dior Leather Oud…..the Santal 33 …so many good sprtiz memories. Yes Jin is a top guy and he can cook!!! Cartwheels are needed Portia..food perfume good company…that’s living.😍🍒😍🍒😍
LikeLike
Why did we stop taking photos Anna-Maria? We missed out so many amazing moments of our day.
Yeah, it was a super fun adventure. Let’s do it again soon.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Loved the pictures of the cacti (someone told me they aren’t really cacti, but here we call one kind Christmas Cactus and another variety Eater Cactus). They really are hard to kill, but won’t always bloom if not given a period of rest at the right time of the year. We used to have one which was over 40 years old.
LikeLike
Monday I had a big piece of project work to finish so I wore No 19 EdT and worked late to smashed it out. Then I came home and put on Le Petite Robe Noire body cream to bedtime stories and settle my son into bed.
Tuesday was wet and cold and I had my weekly French class after work so I wore Coromandel EdP. Had to perform and energency fluffy-toy-ectomy to repair my son’s special friend. Then Le Petite Robe Noire body cream to bed.
Wednesday I wore Cuir de Russie EdP for a day of meetings and then left early to visit my grandpa in hospital. He had a fall recently and he’s not in a good way. Took forever to get home because the hospital is on the wring side of the city for me and the cab couldn’t seem to find the gate of the hospital where I was waiting. Switched to Musc Ravageur when I finally got home and then played silly computer games with my son until his bedtime.
Thursday I wore 5 O’Clock Gingembre and took my son to the dentist before school and then walked him to school. I’d taken the morning off work because I wasn’t sure hiw ling the dentist would be and the trains lined up nicely so when I got into the city I had time to sneak in a visit the art gallery and see the Versus Rodin exhibition and gave some coffee and carrot cake. After work I made spagetti and we played more silly computer games until bedtime. I wore Le Petite Robe Noire body cream to bed.
Friday was another cold day so I wore Chergui to warm it up a bit. Couldn’t wait for the workday to end. Cracked a bottle of champers with my hubbie when I got home which we drank incongrously alongside the cocktail hotdogs he cooked on the BBQ for dinner LOL. More silly computer games Le Petite Robe Noire body cream to bed (again).
Sat wore Jeax de Peau on one arm and En Passant on the other to try them out and also to participate in NST’s Friday project (which I’m almosr always a day latw for because of the time diff lol) while I did grocery shopping and other errands. Oh and my almost FB of 5 O’Clock Gingembre turned up YAY.
And that was my week…
Lil Xx
LikeLike
Great week Lillibet,
Where are you to see the Rodin? Paris? We just saw his works there earlier in the year.
Silly computer games rock the universe, the other ones don’t interest me at all.
You sure got around some of my fave frags too. Five O’Clock G, Musc R, No 19 and more. Beautiful.
Are you loving having a FB of Five O’Clock G?
Portia xx
LikeLike
No only Adelaide 😉 they have some of his works in an exhibition mixed with other artists who focus on the body. But Rodin in Paris sounds awesome!
Loving having a bottle of Gingembre 🙂 Such a gorgeous frag. A diminishing 2ml decant is just not the same.
Lil Xx
LikeLike
I love Rodin’s drawings too Lillibet. How lucky we are in Oz that so much travels here.
Portia xx
LikeLike
A week with Mohur, katsu curry, and homemade Peking duck? Sounds amaazing 🙂 This weekend, I tried making Korean soft tofu soup for the first time ever. It wasn’t as hard to make as I expected, and turned out pretty yummy too. Thanks for sharing another wonderful interesting scent diary!
LikeLike
Hey Nemo,
Sadly I am not a tofu lover. Sometimes when we have Choinese I’ll get the Tofu & Veg so Jin can have it and I eat all the greens.
Yeah, Every week around here something special happens. We are so lucky, and we know it.
Portia xx
LikeLike