Scent Diary: 14.1 – 20.1.2019

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies

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Portia

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Hey there APJ Crew,

We are SWELTERING here in Sydney. Parramatta has been hitting 40C+ regularly this week. Walking the dogs has become a fiery furnace. LOADS of fragrance though, I’m easily able to grab them cause I’m not leaving the house if possible. Still managed a few catch ups too.

Scent Diary: 14.1 – 20.1.2019

You might want to go have a look at my post on A Bottled Rose, Portia’s Winter List. It’s a few of my winter staples, you can tell me yours there too.

Monday 14:

6am Aquarobics. It felt so good to be in the pool this morning. I needed to work out a few kinks after nearly three weeks of sporadic exercise and holiday eating.

Weigh In. OK, so I aded a kilo over the Xmas break. No problem. Back to the pools and gym and sensible eating this week.

SOTMorning: Bois Bleu by Robert Piguet. Violets, vetiver and spiced woods. It has a light airiness that is unexpected. I’m surprised lavender isn’t a note.

Wendy and I did a Doctors Day. Skin specialist for the cancer on her face, Nurse to dress the foot wounds and check the spread of dead skin, GP to get scripts, Eyes for a check up, Woolworths to get her some healthy choices of food.

SOTAfternoon. Lolita Lempicka EdP

Cooked Savoury Mince. Yeah, I know it looks like shit but it’s bloody delicious, full of vegetables and meat, is easy to reheat and have on toast and it fits the bill for diabetic and weight loss eating. I made a huge batch and will be eating it all week. Mum used to make a bucket of Savoury Mince for us a couple of times each winter and it would become our staple reheat for the week. Every vegetable she could get her hands on, mushrooms and some of the savoury fruits would all be piled in with a kilo of mince beef, loads of garlic, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, a pinch of chilli powder and bolognese herbs. Simmer it for about three hours and done.

Jin was home today. We spent a couple of comfortable hours doing nothing much.

Nap

SOTEvening: Dior Granville. Perfect as a foil for the heat. Green floral beauty.

Trivia Q&A

SOTBed: 1000 Lilies by DSH Perfumes. SO freaking fabulous in the heat, NOT helping me concentrate on my work though. I’m going to bed.

Tuesday 15:

Scott woke me. Office day. Very low key.

Bunch of new things on my skin but nothing that warrants comment. A new Surrender To Chance order arrived so plenty of choice but I think the heat has me beat. It’s 41C here today and HUMID! Like being in a Chennai monsoon morning, before the rain hits. Sticky and enervating.

Fed and walked the dogs. We stuck to the shade as much as possible.

Bathed, Shaved and Lotioned.

SOTAfternoon: Tom Ford Lost Cherry. OMG! Sour Cherry Cheesecake sprinkled with almonds and arriving in new Tupperware! This shit is my jam.

Nap.

Sweating while trying to put makeup on is a freaking bitch. It got done. I wasn’t too hideous.

Opened my newly arrived bottle of L’Eau Bleue d’Issey Pour Homme. It’s a lighter, less over the top, fresh and fairly low key reinterpretation of the original. Only very fragrant for the first 30 minutes in this heat then it fades to a whisper that lingers. The ocean breeze and woodsy, herbal, citrus that could easily be the smell of a cocktail.

We had $500 Jackpot Winners tonight at Turbo Trivia. Amazing!

Jin fell asleep on the lounge where the A/C is best because this heat is impossible to sleep in. Still 27C at 11.30pm.

Enjoying L’Eau Bleue d’Issey PH so I reapplied to one arm, on the other I have vintage Bal A Versailles extrait. Quite the pair of opposites.

Bloody hell. Couldn’t sleep. 1am and WIDE AWAKE! This continued till 3.30am. No reason, just wide awake.

Wednesday 16:

Slept until 10.30am. Missed my Aquarobics class. BUM.

SOTMorning: Aroma M Desert Flower. It’s a limited edition made especially for American Perfumer. My interview with Maria McElroy and review are up on Perfume Posse today.

Also wearing DSH Perfumes Colorado. O M G! This is the shit. If you like rich, warm, resinous woods then you MUST at least try this Limited Edition.

Sat at my desk and sweated while blogging. It sounds like I hate the heat but I’m quite enjoying it. The only problem is how hard it is to keep myself dry, bucketloads.

Diptyque Eau Duelle to calm the heat. It’s a soothing balm.

Work was so busy tonight. We were absolutely chuffed.

SO HOT!! Ha! Nothing I can do about it. Jin has the A/C on, it’s cooling the air.

SOTBed: OUD Satin Mood by Maison Francis Kurkdjian

Thursday 17:

SOTMorning: Dojima by Mona di Orio

Up early to return a shredder that didn’t shred like it said it would to OfficeWorks.

Dropped off the car at the mechanics for a grease & oil, tyre check and pink slip.

Jumped a bus and train to Sydney to meet TinaG and her friend Alice, who’s in town from the UK, at AGNSW . There was a little time before the main event to see some Australian art, including the Aboriginal Burial Totems. We went and saw the Hermitage (of course). Had a sensational guide who knew so much and was very generous with his tit bits and back stories.

Afterwards we went for lunch.

I raced back to catch the mechanic before he closed. The car was sitting in the sun in 39C heat. O M G! I couldn’t even touch the steering wheel with my whole hand.

Went to the Post Office and sent a whole bunch of Postcards and my stuff for the bookkeeper. Grabbed some stuff at Coles.

Came home and undressed in record time and sat under the fan for a while to get my temperature down a bit. Feeling infinitely better so I’m at the computer catching up.

Jin came home and we went to the gym. It was a nice hour of working out together. We even chatted to a super hottie for a bit.

I cooked us Pork Cutlets, Potato Salad, Broccoli and Snow Peas for dinner. It was yum.

SOTBed: O M G! I just gave myself a drenching of L’Eau Bleue d’Issey and 10 minutes later, without thinking, spritzed some Versace Blonde.. It’s a BIG fragrant stink in here.
Fabulous. Who knew Issey needed Tuberose?

Friday 18:

SOTMorning: Vintage Miss Dior EdT.

Lazy day.

SOTAfternoon: Granville by DIOR. I had to keep reapplying it in this heat.

SOTEvening: Kiehl’s Original Musk. Bloody hell! This blooms in the heat like nothing else. I smell freaking amazing. I needed something to take me driving, beach cafe and then dinner. Perfect choice for summer, who knew?

On purpose I arrived an hour early to my dinner date so I could take 40 minutes to sit in a cafe and chill down by Freshwater beach. It was so beautiful. I was kind of reading but really looking out at the magnificent view. This pic looks as sun blasted as the day felt. 40C and relentless.

Walked up the hill to dinner with the Chaloners in Queenscliff. Loads of excellent food and chatter. It was a tremendous night. So good, I forgot to take photos.

Jin is tired and snoring on the couch.

I thunked a vial of Aqaba Spring. It’s pretty but not me at all. A lightly spiced fruity floral with no depth.

Saturday 19:

SOTMorning: L’Ombre Dans L’Eau by Diptyque. Cross L’eau d’Issey with Perfumers Tea Rose and L’Artisan L’Eau d’Ambre.

Jin and I went to the mall, he had a Dr appointment. Then we had some lunch in the food court. Nothing special, just two dudes hanging out.

The weather is not as hot but humidity still runs high. No sunshine but walking the dogs I came back drenched in sweat. So unglamorous.

We had one of our rare fights today. Grumpy words said. Thoughtful silence. Jin came and helped me see his point, he was right. Apology. Friends again.

Testing Loree Rodkin Gothic I, Aziyade by Parfum d’Empire, YSL Black Opium and a few others.

Jin slept on the lounge, I read in our room and had a nap. Jin’s gone to work tonight. I’m slothing on the couch and doing desultory blogging and social media.

SOTEvening: Seville a l’Aube by L’Artisan. So glad I saw this beauty on someone’s SOTD on FB today. Good reminder. I smell fabulous.

Walked the dogs for over an hour and still Jinx didn’t poo. So homeward we went.

Grimm on Netflix till quite late.

SOTBed: Wan Chai by Teone Reinthal. Thick and treacle like gouts of fragrance puffing up from my skin in this humid heat. Stellar!

Sunday 20:

Woke up when Jin came home and was WIDE AWAKE so instead of ruining his mornings sleep I got up, walked the dogs and answered blog comments. It has been a wonderful 4 hours. Now I’m HUNGRY!

We both have been soothing around the house since 12.30pm when Jin surfaced.

Thunked one of TinaGs set of Molton Brown Mini Shower Gels, Orange & Bergamot.

SOTAfternoon: Al Oudh by L’Artisan Parfumeur. A little bit barnyard at the start with loads of excitement and quickly calms to a soft, woodsy, slightly animalic vanilla.

WONDERFUL night at work tonight. Turbo Trivia at Austral Bowling Club. The Sluts United won our $1000 Jackpot which they were very chuffed about.

Here are a few of my faves from Austral. Rita, Anna Maria and Katrina.

Michael just purchased a vintage Jaguar, completely renovated and purrs like a kitten. So freaking glam.

SOTBed: Fairy Dust by Paris Hilton. It’s a plastic white floral with main note of lily, could even be lily of the valley. Smells a LOT better than the AUD$8 I paid for it and sometimes I just like to smell like a trashy millionaire ho.

 

 

It’s YOUR turn. What’s happening in your world?

Did you do anything Fragrant, Fun, Friends, Family or even had some less than Fabulous news you want to share? Now’s the time, in the comments below.
We love to read what’s happening to YOU.
Portia xx

71 thoughts on “Scent Diary: 14.1 – 20.1.2019”

  1. So nice to walk the dogs when it’s cool, we were at the beach by 7 today and all had a dip. Delicious before it hit 41C!
    Did you really wear Satin Mood for bed, I would find it too stimulating and not sleep. I do love it tho.
    I wish you hadn’t reminded me about Kiehls, it was on my list for Christmas and Santa did not deliver. Going to search. Thanks. I think.

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    • Hey JackieB,
      Yeah, the early mornings and late evenings have been gorgeous for the dogs. A couple of days I took them later and we all ended up panting messes.
      Yep, I really like to be overwhelmed by fragrance for bed. My mind starts thinking of correlations and suddenly I’m dreaming.
      Sorry. Kiehl’s is good though.
      Portia xx

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  2. My goodness you are dealing with some heat! (although I would gladly take it off your hands! We are in the midst of a massive blizzard and severe drop in temperature)

    Like you Portia I kinda fell off the wagon by literally devouring 12 cookies in one sitting the other night…the girls brought them home and the temptation was too great.

    Girls also headed back to university after being home for several weeks..they took along a sh$$tload of samples, decants and perfumes which I consider to be thunks because they aren’t here anymore-LOL! I told them to share with their friends and suitemates…I love this idea of encouraging a whole new generation of perfumistas….many of the scents brought back and even ones already in their rooms most of their friends (who wear Bath and Body Works , Victoria Secret and dept store mainstream stuff) had never even heard of let alone tried. Ineke’s Field Notes from Paris has been a big hit.

    Another week of my own thunking but I think this week I will concentrate on a gifted bottle that I am absolutely adoring….Amor America Paramela…might just stay with it for the whole week long.

    and I always love mention of Woolworths…as a child my dad always took me to the counter for some grub…and I loved all the oddball stuff they used to carry….sadly they went out of business in the States.

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    • Heya Brigitte,
      12 cookies! Go you good thing.

      Woo Hoo! On thew thunking extavaganza. Also on the enabling.

      Woolworths here in Oz are one of the two big supermarkets. They rip us off regularly, care more for their shareholders than their staff or customers and don’t even offer top notch produce. Add to that their way of sending the little guys in their area bankrupt and then jacking the prices up. I shop with them but loathe doing it.

      Portia xx

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      • That’s a shame! It sounds like our Walmart or Target! Woolworths was always very friendly folks and great prices. Here in the States Amazon has just about put every mom and pop shop out of business.

        Good news though for me too is that I gained another pound! so I am up to 96 which equates to 43.54 kilos according to the online conversion. Marcella would be proud of me! No exercise for me today though because shoveling heavy wet snow is about all I can handle.

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  3. It was my birthday on Saturday. Perfume Pressies included 50ml Valeur Absolue Rouge Passion
    Gift set…. Black Opium Candle and Perfume
    Black Opium Floral Shock 30ml
    I know Black Opium doesn’t get a lot of love , these were gifts chosen by a very dear friend.

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  4. You had a wonderful fragrant week Portia! I love that you doubled up and added Versace Blond to your d’Issey!
    I am going to wear Alahine today as a tribute to Jean-Francois Latty who recently passed away; another loss to the fragrance world. He’s done some wonderful work and most recent as house perfumer for Teo Cabanel.
    Funny story: My 5 year old great niece loves my perfume armoire. Whenever she visits, we make a very special trip downstairs for her to choose a fragrance (at her age it’s all about the prettiest bottle when selecting). I went to her house for dinner last eve (my nephew’s birthday dinner) and brought her a carded sample vial of Burberry Baby Touch. She was thrilled to have her first own perfume. Her first question was “what happens when this runs out?” And quickly asked, “will you find me TWO more vials!?” LOL! She automatically thought of back ups! I’m still amused! She is a perfumista in the making.

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    • Love that story!!! that was the exact age I feel down the rabbit hole…and I demanded a perfume wardrobe with an enabling mother who acquiesced ! I say get your grand niece some mini bottles that she can enjoy. She is already a perfumista in my eyes 🙂

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      • Now that I see how much she enjoys fragrance and was so thrilled to have some of her own, I will definitely get her mini bottles going forward. She has a birthday in April; any suggestions for a little girl?

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        • OOOO! an April birthday! Me too!
          I would suggest you look at some of the online discounters (not sure where you are but fragrancenet in the States has a huge assortment of minis that are very reasonably priced). Also, I highly recommend Avon…not sure if they still do but they used to sell mini/travel bottles in both splash and spray for good prices…that was my first bottle….Avon Field Flowers..because my mom got tired of me stealing her perfume! Also, Pacifica makes some nice scents for the younger crowd in 1 oz sizes and the bottles are so pretty. Also, maybe check Ulta as they often do mini packs of various mainstream designer scents (not sure what your grand niece likes)..and I think Ulta sells the newer Pacificas too if you want to see what they smell like. And Target also carries their own line of perfumes that are nice for a young girl and also reasonable priced.

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          • These are new from Avon and how adorable are they?

            https://www.avon.com/search/avon%20stories%20eau%20de%20toilette

            I will also recommend the Jo Malone travel sprays that come as gift with purchase…if you catch it at the right time you can sometimes get a travel spray with no minimum purchase…so buy a soap and get a travel spray with it…unfortunately they don’t let you choose which scent but they are all relatively benign and would be enjoyed by a little girl I would say.

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          • Oh my goodness Brigitte, you’re all kinds of wonderful! Thank you so much for taking the time to respond with so many good options for girl fragrance. I love you memory of Avon Field Flowers as your first bottle. I’m trying to give Evie the same fond first fragrance experience memories. Her 6th birthday is on April 18 and I’ll have time to explore your ideas and find some fun fragrance gifts for her. I live in the US and have purchased samples and bottles from fragrancenet. Great idea for minis, as well as Avon, Pacifica, Target and Ulta. So appreciated! xoxo

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          • Avon and Pacifica are brilliant suggestions for fragrance for a little girl. The Avon Stories are cute, and Pacifica smell so lovely. Both were off my radar and I appreciate you reminding me! I have Pacifica Lilac which is one of the best Lilac scents I’ve smelled.

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        • Kathleen I agree…Pacifica’s French Lilac is amazing! I think I’ve drained about three bottles of that one! Such a pretty and affordable lilac! I bet you your niece would like that one too!

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    • 😂 just like my own 5 year-old mini perfumista granddaughter. It’s open season on the perfume when she’s here. So cute. I’ve bought some mini decant bottles in pink just for her.

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      • How fun you have a 5 year-old mini perfumista as well! Isn’t it such fun when they visit and find the perfumes so very special? Love the idea of the pink mini decant bottles! Any suggestions of little girl perfume that your granddaughter enjoys are welcome.

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        • Well she enjoys almost anything floral, it seems. She’s especially partial to No 19 Poudre. I don’t have any especially for her but I make decants of any that she’d like to take home. She likes Iris Rebelle and Courreges Blanc a lot too, so iris is her thing at the moment it seems. I think that like you I might get her a special little bottle just for herself for her 6th birthday.

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          • Thank you for responding with the wonderful iris recommendations. I have and love No 19 Poudre and will research your other two iris suggestions.
            So t the 6 year olds be thrilled with their own little mini bottle?!

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    • HA! What a fantastic story Kathleen,
      DEFINITELY a perfumista in the making.
      I really like the Tea Cabanel range, all so wearable and pretty. I love their metallic looking bottles too (though most of mine are a the old bottle)
      Portia xx

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  5. A good Sunday to you, lovely Portia!

    Yes, I feel the annoyance of those holiday pounds! I lost 85 pounds last year doing the ketogenic way of eating and went a bit off the path between Thanksgiving and NYE. Nothing drastic, mostly sodium weight so now I am back eating as I had been. Also discovered a dairy free European cultured butter as well as freaking fantastic dairy free gourmet cheese from Miyoko’s Creamery. I’m not vegan but have learned that dairy and gluten are inflammatories to my system (I have arthritis, fibromyalgia) and Hashimoto’s so finding delicious dairy substitutes is almost as good as finding a half gallon of Guerlain’s Djedi at the back of the cupboard. : )

    It’s winter in my hemisphere but we have outrageously hot, humid summers that seem to go on forever. The heat I can tolerate; the humidity is a bitch. Yes, trying to get makeup on a hot, wet, sweating face is no mean feat.

    Rearranging drawers and found a mini of Caron’s French Can Can. Awesome stuff. They don’t make ’em like they used to.

    Finally, you are so utterly and completely dear to take the time to respond to blog comments. How can we NOT love you?! ❤

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    • Hey Cee,
      WOW! They sound like good finds. Are they yummy too? A half gallon of Djedi would probably give you the deposit for an investment property.
      Yeah, that’s so true. I can take heat but the humidity kicks me in the ass. I turn into a delicate flower and wilt.
      Woo Hoo! On the Can Can.
      YAY! Love is all we need. (Honestly though, having us all chatter and comment is amazing for me. The idea was always to have APJ as a meeting place for perfumistas, a place for us to share ourselves, our passion and our lives. Having us all here together is my joy.)
      Portia xx

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  6. It was a good week here, reorganized all my samples & decants in preparation for the NST freebiemeet coming up. Been thunking like crazy, finished at least 10 decants. Would love to smell those two LE scents from American Perfumer, alas, I am on a no-buy this year. I do love the Loree Rodkin and Aziyade you wore, yum stuff! Unfortunately we had a plumbing crisis Thursday, but they were able to send someone out within 3 hours and by supper time we had water again, but ouch the bill was huuuuuge. Not what we needed with a looming $15k roof repair. But thankfully we have the money set aside so all is well. Just tighten the belt a little bit. It’s not as if I will run out of perfume in this lifetime!! LOL.

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  7. A wonderful busy week, as always, Portia. My week was, again and alas, was pretty uneventful: work and watching TV series. About that: I’ve finished the first season of an absolutely brilliant Spanish series named La Casa de Papel/Money Heist. It should be on Netflix. It’s dramatic, engaging, the cast and the characters are really great. A bonus for me: I’ve remembered some Spanish I’d learnt at university.
    This is it, I guess.

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      • I’m curious to know if you’ll like it, Brigitte. Still don’t know if you’ve managed to watch Leverage, but La casa de papel is like Leverage but with bad guys 🙂

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        • I have watched some of leverage.my Netflix took it away 😭 . It really irks me that different countries get different shows. We should all get the same.

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          • Boo at them depriving you of such pleasure! Anyway, and I might have mentioned it before, so forgive me if I repeat myself, – have you seen Mozart in the jungle? It’s Amazon. And I forgot to mention Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes produced by Youtube Premium, – it’s a funny police procedural. Don’t know if you like this sort of series, just needed to share: people I know usually say that they don’t have time for TV series 😦

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          • I don’t get amazon but am seriously thinking of joining amazon prime to get the better shows….I will look into that you tube you mentioned (I usually spend time on youtube watching perfume reviews-LOL!)…..I am one of those folks who loves tv series….lazy me in my bed binge watching TV….this makes me very happy!

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        • La Casa del Papel is not on my Netflix 😦
          Our Netflix does not seem nearly as good as everyone else’s (I don’t get Grimm either….boo hoo!)

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      • Hi Portia! You know, I’d love to have more chances to go out but it is what it is where I live now, and frankly, I’m very self-centered so I can deal with an uneventful life. I’m working on changing the current situation, of course: there are so many things I haven’t seen or done.

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        • I would definitely count it as a thunk…but it’s so gorgeous…I recently got a decant from a good friend and my middle one confiscated it from me-LOL! You gave it away? I hope the recipient thoroughly enjoys it!

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          • I see no point in keeping a bottle in my cupboard just for the sake of it. I loved the opening but found the drydown too buttery. (I wear her Musc and Amber a lot though.) However – I swopped it for an old, full bottle of Dries Van Noten, and a partly full bottle of Absolue Pour le Soir, also an old version.
            Both of us are extremely happy. 🔥

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  9. Thanks for sharing Portia. A quiet week for me – just working and watching lots of tennis each night on the tv. And trying to keep the garden alive given all the hot weather. Finished one of my many unfinished knitting projects. Orders from STC and Decantshop arrived so lots to sniff and thunk!

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    • Hey Melanie,
      I’ve watched snippets of the tennis too. What a shame about Federer, I love it when he makes the finals.
      Congratulations on the knitting project. Doesn’t it feel weird knitting in the height of summer?
      Have fun with your new arrivals. Keep us updated.
      Portia xx

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  11. Late to the party but was busy yesterday. I hope you’re not still melting into puddles there! It’s one thing having high temperatures but accompanying humidity is the killer. It just drains all your energy. I’m loving some of your fumes this week, but some I’m not familiar with at all. I’ve ordered a few samples this week, nothing major or expensive, they’ll be here tomorrow. I can’t help myself😉 I have loved my Miss Dior edt, layered with Parfum, it certainly adds a whole other dimension to the scent. Thanks to you and your PPP!

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    • WOO HOO! Those two are SO beautiful together. I’d be lost without my stash of the old Miss Dior Cassieflower.
      How fab that you order and they arrive tomorrow,. that’s FAST! We wait weeks here.
      Yeah, humidity is enervating.
      Portia xx

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