Scent Diary: 28.10 – 3.11.2019

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies

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Portia

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Hey there APJ Crew,

This week my girlfriend Miharu has been in town from Japan. We used to be buddies back in my showgirl days and it’s been nice to see her again. Loads of fun perfume choices and hanging out with Jin. Work was BUSY too.

Scent Diary: 28.10 – 3.11.2019

Monday 28:

LAZY. No aqua

SOTMorning: Pichola by Neela Vermeire Creations

House is spotless from its Saturday clean and Sunday vacuum of the dining area. Just doing some clothes washing and cleaning kitchen & bathroom.

Fed & walked the dogs. Only 23C today. Very pleasant.

TRIVIA Q&A

Went and sorted out the DISHWASHER problem for Rose. Integrated dishwashers are TWICE the price and more. WHY? So stupid. They don’t even need nice looking fronts.

Ate the most enormous lunch. Vietnamese Rolls, Cheeses and Mango.

So full I had to have a sleep.

SOTAfternoon: Violetta di Murano by DSH Perfumes

On the computer answering blog comments.

TRIVIA Q&A.

The dogs didn’t get walked till 11.30pm. They didn’t mind. It was eerily quiet in the streets. VERY pre-Halloween.

Tuesday 29:

SHIT! Woke up at 9.40. Straight out with the dogs.

Anna Maria arrived at 10am to do the Office Work.

SOTMorning: Caron Pour Un Homme

Got SO MUCH done today.

Post office and found a Tara postcard and the latest Jul et Mad perfume! YAY!

We also went back to 2nds World in Auburn to fix up my ridiculous drama with Rose’s dishwasher. BLOODY HELL! No good deed goes unpunished.

Got my hair cut and beard trimmed. Anna Maria took this shot.

Anna Maria got all the paperwork in order. We had such a good time getting everything done. It all feels like it’s in really safe hands now.

BATHTIME! in L’Occitane Cherry blossom bubbles again.

SOTEvening: 24 Faubourg by Hermès

My girlfriend Miharu is in town from Japan for a few days. She came to Trivia tonight at Parramatta RSL. 63 players! Happy days.

Home. I want MANGO! So i’m going to eat one. Delicious.

SOTBed: Cuir 28 Dubai by Le Labo. This came from the 8ml sale at Surrender To Chance. Bloody good deal, and I’m really enjoying the scent too. Creamy leather and vanilla with a sandalwood backdrop.

Wednesday 30:

They are cutting down trees next door and grinding them, at 7am. Bit of a rude awakening.

Jin got home around 9am, we had some breakfast.

SOTMorning: Cabochard extrait by Gres

Collected Miharu (Miss Japan! was the nickname I gave her 20+ years ago) from the stationing went to Featherdale Wildlife Farm.  Anyone who has been reading Scent Diary for any length of time knows how much I love this place. You get to pet the animals, feed a kangaroo, quokka or wallaby, have your photo with a Koala, see heaps of feedings and interesting talks on a range of animal subjects. Today we saw the Salt Water Crocodile talk and feeding, a bit of the talk about Barking Owls and the Bilbies & Ghost Bats talk. We wandered the park meeting so many Australian native creatures from Goannas to Taipans, Tasmanian Devils and Wombats to Emus and Cassowaries.

Home for a rest.

SOTEvening: Patchouli Noire by Histoires de Parfums

Greystanes with Miharu

Drove her to Mascot

Midnight bubble bath.

SOTBed: Vanilla by Mona di Orio

Thursday 31:

I woke early. Took the dogs for a wee and then snuggled with Paris on the couch for a while. It’s cloudy and cool today.

SOTMorning: Vanille Noire by Yves Rocher

Bus and train to town.

Phil had bought me a Massage and Facial at Glow in the Sheraton Grand in Sydney. The Spa is on the 22nd floor, has a pool, sauna, spa, gym and sundeck. It all has a magnificent 360 degree view including the city, parklands, harbour and surrounds. I was told to get there early but found myself well over an hour early, and SUPER NERVOUS! I don’t really like being touched very much. As I was going up bumped into my mate Nicola and her friend David and we all went to the Exec Lounge and happily nattered an hour away over tea.

Turns out I had nothing to be nervous about. It was wonderful. I swam some laps for 20 minutes, had the massage and facial and felt amazing. The poor woman was flabbergasted by my practically flawless skin. Then when I told her it was good luck and not good management she couldn’t believe it.

SOTAfternoon: Rahele by Neela Vermeire Creations

Then I went to visit my dentist. The most handsome man in the city, Ryan. We did X Rays, a full clean and he told me my gums have improved to the point where there is no watch on any pockets. This is a big deal.

Met with Miharu at St Mary’s Cathederal. It’s an easy, beautiful landmark for non Sydney livers to find and only two minutes walk rom the dentist office.

We wandered around to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Did a little look through the Australian heritage paintings and then hit the Kaldor 50 year retrospective. Loads of interesting stuff and nice people to chat to along the way. Then we had some lunch there and more chatter.

Continuing our walk we went through the Royal Botanic Gardens. Perfect weather for wandering aimlessly.

Then down along the foreshore to the Sydney Opera House where we had some drinks at Opera Bar.

Then back into the city. We did some small shopping. Miharu wanted to find some Australian Made skincare for gifting but there wasn’t much on offer i the big chain stores. She did buy some Haig’s chocolate though, proudly Australian owned and made. While in Mecca Strand arcade I did spritz some Radio Bombay by D S & DURGA, I loved it way more than I probably should.

By this time it was after 7pm and I headed home to see Jin. He was sleepy on the couch. Isn’t he the cutest?

Friday 1:

Slept quite late today. Jin and I didn’t emerge from bed till about 9.30am. LOVELY lie in.

SOTMorning: Mimosa Love by Amouage. Can’t get enough of this beautiful clean look at mimosa. It’s just about perfect for me.

We did chores around the house. Jin had to put up a new shelf for the modem.

We took the dogs to get their bath, including nail clip and teeth clean. Then went out for lunch in the Parramatta Square. Every Friday they have a bunch of world food vans offering very reasonable meals. Jin had Gnocchi Napolitana and I had Cheese & Spinach Gozleme. I forgot to take photos.

Spent the rest of the day hanging around the house. I did some blogging and computer stuff. Nothing much really. A lovely, lazy afternoon.

SOTAfternoon: Niki de Saint Phalle EdT. I opened a brand new 30ml bottle today. It gets used a lot around here, one of my all time favourites.

We cleaned out Jin’s wardrobe and the drawers underneath our bed tonight. It was really good fun. HEAPS of stuff to give to goodwill. Jin found clothes he forgot he had. Some really lovely stuff that had been hidden away under other, newer stuff. We also rearranged his wardrobe with the coats in the middle, then shirts and then trousers. It means that there won’t be sleeves sticking out when he slides them closed. YAY!

Jin went and got us KFC for dinner. So naughty, so delicious.

We watched the movie Yesterday. It was corny but fun.

SOTBed: Coco vintage extrait by CHANEL

Saturday 2:

Woke up at 6am. Got up and had a bath and shave. Went back to bed till 9am.

Making myself gorgeous for a big day of drag. Hosting a Wedding at midday and a Trivia Fundraiser at 6.30pm.

SOTMorning: Mandragore by Annick Goutal. Needed something pretty and refreshing.

Luke & Simon’s Wedding was amazing. So many people, so much love and the speech given by their buddy Chuck was freaking hilarious. The whole room was screaming at his outrageous stories, innuendos, punchy one liners and evil intel. The boys are so clearly madly in love and it was fun to watch them still so wrapped after 20 years as partners.


I had to come home and give my feet an ice bath. They were freaking killing. Had a 20 minute lie down to recover myself. Then a quick patch job and off again in the car for the 2 hour drive.

SOTEvening: Charlatan by Fort & Manlé

A Fundraiser for the Wiseman’s Ferry Public school whose playground has recently been labelled unsafe and made off limits. They desperately need some cash to fix it up. We had 65 players and it was wonderful. Lunch a great crew.

Home. HOLY SHIT! I’m buggered.

Here’s what’s left off my beautiful make up after over 12+ hours running hither & thither.

Watched Something Borrowed on Netflix. O M G! Colin Egglesfield for the win!

SOTBed: Vaninight by Hermetica

Sunday 3:

Slept till 10am. BLISS!

SOTMorning: Map Of The Heart Gold

Gave the dogs a long walk and they were hot and bothered by the end. Me too if I’m being honest.

Watched The Windsors on Netflix. Mildly amusing. Terrible casting and acting.

Came in and checked comments. You guys have been particularly chatty, YAY!

BATHTIME! Korres Basil & Lemon

SOTEvening: Geranium Pour Monsieur by Frederic Malle

Super fun night at Austral BC tonight. I love my Sunday TRIVIA crew.

Home in the rain. I love the sound of it beating down outside.

SOTBed: L’Heure Convoiteé II Cartier. This powdery carnation is perfection. Nothing comes close.

 

 

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

38 thoughts on “Scent Diary: 28.10 – 3.11.2019”

  1. Hey Portia

    Just hearing about Featherdale Wildlife Park again is enough to lift the spirits. It’s such a special place.

    Looks like you got up to loads of fun things with Miss Japan.

    I tried the new Voyage 2019 by Hiram Green this week. A lovely amber/vanilla with dewy lotus flower on top. You’d love it.

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  2. Your photos and hearing about Featherdale Wildlife Park and the other stops on your tour for Miharu were fun. And you had another week of smelling divine! My week was unusual in that Denver had a few day snowstorm with records everything, snow accumulation and low temps. The city was shut down for awhile and I didn’t make it to work one day. Now back to seasonal temperatures, and the trails where I walk my dog are all mud as a result. I wore vintage Arpege during the very cold days, I love that perfume with cold weather. The highlight was a surprise package from Brigitte with the most amazing hand-knit hat which I am loving for my walks outdoors, as well as some very special perfume.

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    • Hi Kathleen,
      Was the freak weather terrifying or are you used to it being like that at other times during the year?
      Arpege in the cool weather is divine, a HAT and perfumes. Sounds like a pretty good week to me. Anything in the Brigitte parcel appeal to you yet?
      Portia xx

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  4. I met up with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while to have brunch and visit a winery and a distillery out in Langley. A stunning autumn day, and nice to get out of the city.

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    • OOOH! How were the wines AnnieA? Did you grab some?
      I love winery visits, even though I’m not really a drinker. Jin gets enough enjoyment for both of us. we end up ordering truckloads and Jin finds himself utterly pissed by the end of the day. Fortunately wine is great to drink and gift.
      Portia xx

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      • Yes, I bought a bottle of rose at the winery and half bottles of coffee vodka and – old style? – whisky at the distillery. Might have gone for a case of something if I didn’t have to take transit for the rest of the trip home.

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  5. OMG! Those poor feet!! LOLL. Yeah, you’re a real trooper. Twelve hours in heels is no joke. I can do about five before I throw in the towel.
    Massages. They sound fabulous and relaxing and all self-care-ish, but damn it all, I just can’t get past the weirdness of having a total stranger pawing me with greasy palms. No thanks.
    Crazy week here. Three hour power failure on Thursday cuz of too much rain. Huh? 30 hours powerless on Friday cuz it was too windy. Seriously disgusted with Hydro Quebec 😒
    Work is good. Three projects on the go now. Some intense but probably unnecessary worrying about my youngest daughter’s new boyfriend. Moved in to her place after SIX MONTHS!?!? Mommy is not pleased 😡. But, of course, it’s really none of my business, is it. (Yes! It is, lol)
    No new fumies for me, but wearing the heck out of all my rich, ooey-gooey fragrances this week. Cuir Beluga in particular is hitting the spot.
    It’s November and the weather has officially turned from crappy to shitty. Right on schedule. Time for the winter coats. It’s all about the down and fleece for the next six months. Blegh. Looking forward to hearing how damn hot it is where you are!

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    • Marcella doncha know that you’re a Mammy forever😉 As long as you’ve got breath in your body. I have to do major biting of tongue whenever I’m around my a$$h0!e son in law.

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    • Yeah, feet are still tender Marcella. HA! 115KGs bearing down on the balls of my feet is OUCHY! after a few hours.
      100% with you on that until this massage and facial Marcella. With this woman it was so clean and professional. The place and her person were spotless. I let myself drift with it for the first time ever and now I understand what people love about it. Still, I’ll not be hurrying back to do it again.
      Being powerless is no joke. Whenever I’m in India it takes me a couple of weeks to get used to the regular outages.
      If it helps calm you I had Jin move in after less than SIX WEEKS! I did make him pay full rent (same as everybody else that lived with us) until we bought a place together though. I knew within a fortnight that he was going to be the long haul. Thank goodness he saw it the same way.
      CUIR BELUGA! One of my faves too.
      We need to work out six monthly rotations. I’ll come do your winters.
      Portia xx

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      • Hahaha. Your ability to withstand women’s shoes not withstanding, you’d be outta here before the winter even got cold. A couple of days of -20C with a nice stiff wind can make the strongest tremble. You’d crack. No amount of lush, warm, enveloping or comforting perfumes would save you!
        And yesss!!! You nailed it. Powerless. I’ve always wondered why I don’t enjoy massages. It’s that feeling of being powerless. Guess I’m a control freak. No surprise there. I believe it has been mentioned 😉

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  6. I agree with Tara, Voyage 2019 is gorgeous, get some! And I love Radio Bombay too. 🙂

    You looked so fabulous for the wedding! What a stunner.

    Right now I’m up in San Francisco visiting my parents, the weather is wonderful. Wearing Hiram Green Slowdive, sooo yummy.

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  7. Oh Portia I laughed at your pic before your massage😂 You look like you were going before a firing squad. But I bet you felt great afterward. My hubby flat out refuses to go for massage. He just doesn’t get it at all how it could possibly be therapeutic. It would creep him out. I, on the other hand will gladly throw myself down for pummelling, scraping, stroking, oiling, whatever. And yet I hate going to the hairdresser. Go figure. You have had a great week again. Your wedding gigs must be a hoot. Everyone was having a laugh. Just a tad different from Catholic wedding ceremonies, eh? Though we do bloody great weddings here. Usually about three days of celebrations. Can you send me some of your ‘cool’ 23 degree weather, please. That’ll do me nicely for the winter. Good to see you giving my favourite Pichola a whirl. And Cabochard extrait must be amazing. Do you use regular or stage make-up? 12 hours of wear and still intact is very good innings indeed. It’s amazing that you have such good skin considering the amounts of regular slap. You obviously are scrupulous about removal. My week has been all work and no play😡 At the end of the second week of three hectic work weeks for me. Cannot wait until next Saturday night. I’ll be off out playing, oh yes. Have a good week everybody.

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  8. Oh Portia I laughed at your pic before your massage😂 You look like you were going before a firing squad. But I bet you felt great afterward. My hubby flat out refuses to go for massage. He just doesn’t get it at all how it could possibly be therapeutic. It would creep him out. I, on the other hand will gladly throw myself down for pummelling, scraping, stroking, oiling, whatever. And yet I hate going to the hairdresser. Go figure. You have had a great week again. Your wedding gigs must be a hoot. Everyone was having a laugh. Just a tad different from Catholic wedding ceremonies, eh? Though we do bloody great weddings here. Usually about three days of celebrations. Can you send me some of your ‘cool’ 23 degree weather, please. That’ll do me nicely for the winter. Good to see you giving my favourite Pichola a whirl. And Cabochard extrait must be amazing. Do you use regular or stage make-up? 12 hours of wear and still intact is very good innings indeed. It’s amazing that you have such good skin considering the amounts of regular slap. You obviously are scrupulous about removal. My week has been all work and no play😡 At the end of the second week of three hectic work weeks for me. Cannot wait until next Saturday night. I’ll be off out playing, oh yes. Have a good week everybody. Let’s see if this’ll post🙄

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  9. Three attempts to get my beak in here. What the dickens is the problem with me? Too much bull$h1t probably 😂 Ut might pop up later.

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    • OK, what happens is.
      Your first two went to spam. It does this regularly for about six of our regular commenters. It means that at some other WordPress site you’ve been marked as spam, usually without the site owner ever checking, and deleted as such.
      You’ve got my eMail yeah?
      If it gets lost again, try a short sentence, if that doesn’t work email me and I’ll go hunt for it. ALWAYS save your comment before pressing post.
      Sorry for the inconvenience Cassieflower, you know I love you.
      Portia xx

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  10. Oh Portia I laughed at your pic before your massage😂 You look like you were going before a firing squad. But I bet you felt great afterward. My hubby flat out refuses to go for massage. He just doesn’t get it at all how it could possibly be therapeutic. It would creep him out. I, on the other hand will gladly throw myself down for pummelling, scraping, stroking, oiling, whatever. And yet I hate going to the hairdresser. Go figure. post🙄

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    • HA! That’s about how excited I was to be there. It’s embarrassing having someone get their hands allover me. This woman was so clinical though that it felt OK. Sure, I have my bits waxed regularly and THAT doesn’t freak me out. We are ALL a series of contradictions.
      Portia xx

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  11. You have had a great week again. Your wedding gigs must be a hoot. Everyone was having a laugh. Just a tad different from Catholic wedding ceremonies, eh? Though we do bloody great weddings here. Usually about three days of celebrations. Can you send me some of your ‘cool’ 23 degree weather, please. That’ll do me nicely for the winter. Good to see you giving my favourite Pichola a whirl. And Cabochard extrait must be amazing. Do you use regular or stage make-up? 12 hours of wear and still intact is very good innings indeed. It’s amazing that you have such good skin considering the amounts of regular slap. You obviously are scrupulous about removal. My week has been all work and no play😡 At the end of the second week of three hectic work weeks for me. Cannot wait until next Saturday night. I’ll be off out playing, oh yes. Have a good week everybody.

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    • This was only my first gig as a faux celebrant. Every other wedding I’ve been MC and entertainment. At least 10 people came up afterwards and asked if I’d become a real celebrant and do their weddings. I’m seriously thinking about it.
      Have you ever done an Indian Wedding? Five days of parties. it’s amazing.
      HA! Yeah, 23C is my happy temp too.
      I use Kryolin TV Pan Stick as foundation. Four colours blended for high and low lights. Most of my colour and shading gets done straight into the wet oil. It gets beaten dry with their powder and then another layer of colour over the top and my brown, lips and liner. Then I use Hair Lacquer and give it a really good spray. Once that dries I’m pretty good to go for 24 hours with the occasional lip touch up and a toilet paper pat down to reduce oily shine. Before each new gig I also lightly repowder.
      Make up removal is with oil. Right now I’m using Avocado oil and I wipe it off with a towel.
      The rest of my beauty regime is soap, water and after shave balm after a shave.
      Where are you going out to play next Saturday? Kick up your heels princess.
      Portia xx

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      • Wow! That is impressive make-up application. How the heck did you figure that all out? How long does it take to do the entire process? I’m sure it’s easily an hour. Probably more.
        I think it would be very cool if you decided to do the wedding gigs. You’d have a front row seat to see how different ceremonies can be.
        I’d love it. But then again, I’m a nosey sort. Ooo, and you could watch all the disasters and goof-ups. Do it!

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  12. Oh I love your weeks Portia!! … 12 hours in heels damn gurl!!… fun day in city with Miss Japan, the carnation in Cartier sound nice, well all your choices really lol.
    I have been working everyday except Sunday Bridal shower in Bondi very nice view xx

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    • Hey there Anna Maria,
      We sure did miss you last night. We had a new team come and play though so that was excellent.
      Yeah, my feet are still pounding. WOE IS ME! HA!
      Love you.
      Hopefully we get to go to the ballet together.
      Portia xx

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  13. That “Miharu is a sexy bi***”” picture is too funny…Noir Patchouli is good, kinda gives tribute to older floral chypre perfumes which reminds me I tried Arquiste El and Ella this week. El has Kouros DNA all over it and Ella has floral chypre dna such as that of Paloma Picasso all over it. Both are redundant and going on the sale block. I have now tried 5 Arquiste perfumes and overall this house is a disappointment. I think the only one worthy in the line is Anima Dulcis and I must add though that Anima Dulcis is one of the best gourmand perfumes I have ever tried and I am not really a huge fan of gourmand category.

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    • He He He He! Thanks for noticing that Fazal. We were laughing so much it was hard to take that photo. We left it there for anyone to see. SO NAUGHTY!
      Anima Dulcis is superb, you are absolutely right. It’s by far the best of the line. They did one about Louis too that I really liked.
      Portia xx

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  14. All you massage-hating lot can package them all up and send them to meeee, I love having my knots kneaded!
    All our exams are officially over and we are working on performances. And I will host a work drinks/lunch on Friday because all my colleagues are usually bah humbug about such things, and that is a shame.

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    • HA! If you lived in Sydney I would definitely pass them along JackieB,
      Congratulations on getting the stufdents through exams. Enjoy your staff Drinks too. People are Bah Humbug until you make them do it and then they love it.
      Portia x

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