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Portia
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Hello Fellow Fumies,
At APJ we have a Saturday Question. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it’s 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 regularly and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them. The aim is to generate real conversation and connection even though we are scattered around the globe.
Over 100 responses I will draw a Secret Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
Last Weeks Winner: Matty
eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with your address please
Saturday Question: What Did You Score?
It has been the season of gifting and receiving. Most religions and societies have some kind of celebration over the last couple of months where presents are involved. Living in Australia where the Christmas story is the most widely seen at malls, on TV and all through my formative years being part of that religious schooling it’s my brain wired fall back. So while I call it Christmas, my meaning is any religious or secular gift giving event during this time.
My Answer:
Early on in the season my mate Alice gave me the L’Occitane Advent calendar. It has been so freaking fun to open each day and find new, interesting, surprising things and some old favourites. Such a good gift for me, kept me excited all month.
I love advent calendars…a gift every day!
Mr B bought me a decant of Xerjoff Star Musk because he liked the sweetness of it, it’s really pretty. My other score was so random. Went to an antique/collectable market recently and found a chap with vintage perfumes scattered around. Not for sale. OK so we went back today and had more chats and I came home with vintage Byzance by Rochas.
I know in other countries people find perfume in antique shops, but in Oz it never happens, and op shops will not accept used bottles.
I am thrilled. And smug!
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Congratulations, I love Byzance!
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Score!
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Hey JackieB,
O M G! A Byzance! What a freaking score. I rarely wear my stash of it because it’s so rare, and perfect. You’ll be smelling amazing in it.
Portia xx
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I had some nice perfume gifts.
Armani Diamonds Violet
Versace Woman
Michael Kors 4 Minis 7ml each in gift box,,, Sexy Amber…Sexy Ruby…Wonderlust.. Signature
Elizabeth Arden Green Tea fig and another one I can’t remember !!
Chanel Chance.. 4 sample sizes 1.5ml of Chance…Eau Tendre…Eau Fraiche..Eau Vive. They were in a lovely round pink tube packaging. Very sweet
Chanel gift set of 2 mini candles and reed diffuser.
I did really well
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Congratulations on your win, Matty!
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Thank you, Diana. Can’t wait for a Portia pressie. XXX
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Portia’s presents are the best!
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They certainly are x
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Congratulations on winning, Matty!
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Thank You. It will be like Christmas again with a Portia Pressie XX
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You sure did do well. And congratulations PPP heading your way, too. Wohoo
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Thank you Cassieflower XX
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Ooo! I am curious about the Green Tea and Fig! I have the original Green Tea and I love it. A new discovery for me.
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And hooray for your win, Matty!! I hope Portia throws in a whole bunch of extra stuff that you would normally not get to try 😁😁
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WOW Matty,
You REALLY scored perfume wise this year. Amazing.
Elizabeth Arden Green Tea series are some of the best value summer spritzes ever.
Also, send me through your address please and remind me of the things I’m supposed to be sending you
Portia xx
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My Grandaughters and my friend always spoil me with perfume at Christmas. It’s my birthday in 3 weeks I’ll probably get some more !!!! Fingers greedily crossed. XX
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My fragrant besties sent me beautiful packages full of fragrant goodies from vintage to hard to find to current releases so I am set for a long time! And I bought Mr Marzipan a new bottle of First Cut… probably more for me than him because I LOVE how it smells on him and it’s one of a very very few ( Gimme being the other one) that he enjoys wearing.
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And two beautiful scarves! One with perfume bottles from another fragrant besty!!
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A scarf with perfume bottles! Wow. That is a very cute gift.
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I love it!!
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Brigitte,
You did really well.
Sampling is your jam, eh? What a pity I can’t get you to write about them in posts. Imagine if you did a few three sentence reviews of some of the outstanding, or terrible ones. It would be sensational.
Portia xx
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Eek!! The pressure!! LOL 🤣 😂
I am just not feeling good about my writing these days, P! The words used to flow out of me but not anymore 😢😥
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I put into gift bags and under the tree some perfumes that my lovely husband bought with me in Italy this summer, and some he recently brought back from London (a 4160 Tuesdays order that I had sent to his company’s office there). BTW, if you like 4160 Tuesdays scents or have been wanting to try some, Sarah has a special now through 12/31 — if you buy a 9 ml spray online, she’ll upgrade it to one of her new 15 ml bottles for the same price. There isn’t a code, you add in the Comments on your order that you’d like to have the 15 ml upgrade. I got her “January Joy Box” as a Christmas gift and can’t wait to open it on New Year’s Day!
I also got a bottle of Un Jardin Sur La Lagune, as a memento of our first trip to Venice, and the Heirloom Elixir set from Dawn Spencer Hurwitz. Dawn is having a year-end special too — 20% off using the code starscent20, and you can apply it to anything on her website, including the Heirloom Elixir set which is available only through 12/31. I’ll take that enabler pin now, thank you!
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👍👍👍👍
You should get more than one pin!!!
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lol! I’ll have to send you a few pins too!
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🤣🤣
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OH!
I went and bought the DSH Heirloom Elixir set at 20% discount.
Pin yourself all over.
HA!
Portia xx
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I got it too! So excited to try them!
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I found a 3/4 full refill bottle of Caron Nuit de Noel at a flea market in Colorado, while visitng my daughter for the holidays. $5.00!! Merry Christmas to me!
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Oh my lordy!!!! Merry Christmas indeed!!!!
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WOW Troy,
That’s an amazing find. Congratulations!
Portia xx
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DH gifted me Kilian Woman in Gold. I got him Fahrenheit Parfum. We are both happy. 🙂
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Fahrenheit Parfum is a great one ☝️
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Fahrenheit parfum = all sorts of fabulous.
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OOOOH! That Kilian is awesome TaraC. I really loved the Gold Knight too. YUMMY!
Portia xx
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For giving, I did some shopping at Yves Rocher for bath products, as I am a wimp and never give perfume unless I am positive they want that exact item (e.g. my cousin and Chanel No. 5.)
In receiving, a friend gave me a travel spray of Sisley Soir de Lune, which surprised me. I succumbed to Boxing Day madness and bought a bottle of Puredistance Antonia – this might count as a present from my mother.
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Antonia is so beautiful! Great “gift”! 🙂
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Hey AnnieA,
Are you loving the Sisley Soir de Lune? So glamorous.
PLUS Antonia!
Big scores at yours.
Portia xx
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Nothing fragrant, I’m afraid: the one I want is too expensive, and I don’t want to buy a perfume just for the sake of it. Bought two woolen shawls from Pavlovo Posad instead.
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Don’t leave us hanging 😉 what is the one you want?
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I am guessing it’s a Dusita?
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Brigitte knows me so well 🙂 Yes, it’s Melodie de l’amour. I have a travel size bottle but it’s so small!
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Hey, J.D.! It’s Melodie de l’amour by Parfums Dusita I’m dreaming of, their le Pavillon d’or would be a nice addition, too. Melodie is an extrait de parfum so it’s costlier than her eaux de parfum (*sigh)
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* her = Pissara’s perfumes
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Ahhhhhh, it’s always a tough one when the taste is champagne and the budget is milk. I’m going through a little of that lately Diana. I’m still reckless and impulsive but it’s taking time to get used to the new normal. Hopefully in the next couple of months I’ll really calm the farm.
Portia x
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Hey Portia don’t forget your Secret Santa gift of the original YSL Jazz. What a score!
That advent calendar sounds great. L’Occitane are such an underrated house in my opinion.
Besides my Secret Santa gift I didn’t receive any fragrances this Christmas. As my wife rightfully pointed out I have enough already!
I did gift her Tom Ford Jasmin Rouge, Noir de Noir and Soleil Blanc minis as I remembered these being her favourites last time we visited a TF counter.
We also gifted her brother John Varvatos which seemed to be the nicest from the JV range we sampled.
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We do have enough already, but that’s not going to stop us from buying the next bottles, is it?
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Ha!!!
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Hey there JD,
Aha! The JAZZ was not secret Santa, I just didn’t want everyone to know who’d been so generous, they might get jealous. It was a terrific surprise, smells freaking amazing.
L’Occitane are a wonderful house. Affordable luxuries. Yes, they rarely get the props they deserve.
HA! Your wife doesn’t really understand the sickness of addiction.
Good choices for her gifts, did she love them?
John Varvatos is good stuff, a couple of them are excellent (can’t for the life of me remember which ones I loved)
Portia xx
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She did love them. Soleil Blanc is getting frequent wearing already in this heat!
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Our theme this year was more Christmas with less. The rules were clear: kids don’t buy for their parents cuz parents generally will buy what they want during the year. Their gift to me is time. Time to be together. We did buy gifts for the girls because they still need ‘stuff’. We don’t. MrLH and I will have a sunny vacation in February, so that is our gift to each other.
I did score however! A vicious gastro that began early Christmas Eve. I missed that meal entirely. Started feeling better after about 48 hours and wham! A follow up punch. Flu or something. Burning chest, fever, sore throat, hoarse…….blah, blah, blah. Most of my time is spent commando on the sofa either freezing or sweating. On the bright side, Mr LH has been very attentive to keeping my thermos topped up with ‘medicine’. It’s the Cassie Cure 😉
Congrats Matty! Woo hoo, a PPP coming your way.
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So sorry to hear that you were so ill over Christmas. Hope you’re feeeling better now.
Yay for me and a PPP.
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Yay for you and boo for me. Still ill 🥺
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Ah shite. You are truly feckin banjaxed. And you were so looking forward to your Christmas Eve feast🤕 Hopefully everyone else got the benefit of your hard work. There are terrible lurgies doing the rounds here too. One of my oldest friends missed our AGM because she was literally flat out in bed. Glad to hear that Mr. LH is taking good care of you with the special recipe🤪 Hope you can shake it all off before the next decade and be back to your fighting best. 💪🏻
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Thanks Cassie. Banjaxed is the right word alright. Fear not, I will live to fight another day 😉
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I hope by now you are starting to feel a little better.💜💜
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Oh no, what rotten timing for illness to strike. Hope you’re feeling better soon.
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I’m sorry your holidays were spoiled by the nasty bug. I hope you’ll feel better for the New Year.
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Thank you for the get well wishes. So far zero improvement. I think New Year’s Eve festivities will be off the table for me this year 😟
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What a bummer! I hate when it happens: while it’s not fun to be sick any time, during holidays it feels especially cruel. Take care of yourself (and let others to take care of you).
I’m not 100% this holiday season myself but at least I hope I’ll be able to get to the friends’ house for a couple of hours.
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I hope you do. Mend quickly!
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How you feeling now Marcella? Are you riding it out?
Portia xx
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Nobody who knows me well buys me perfume, unless I specifically ask for it😉 I have made it known on several occasions that I don’t want more ‘stuff’ such as jewellery or clothing or whatever. I gifted myself two sample packs from Sylvaine Delacourte, that’s as much as I wanted. I got nice treats such as travel vouchers, spa days and some cold hard cash 🥳
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Which two did you get? If the orange blossom is one I will be curious as to what you think. I already tried the musk and vanilla one.
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The orange blossom and the vanilla. I’m interested to see if I can find an orange blossom that has good longevity.
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Cash is king 👑
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Always👍🏼
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Cassieflower,
I think many of us are at that point where we don’t need anything.
Those Sylvaine Delacourte samples were so tempting I bought myself the lot. Waiting for their arrival.
portia xx
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Oooh have just seen that there’s a new version of Chloe Nomade. An absolue version. My eyes will be peeled for this.
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I got a bunch of samples and decants that I haven’t gone through yet from two fragrance friends. They send me their castoffs that they don’t like or have full bottles of. Luckily we like VERY different things. So, ouds, rose and others come to me. The one friend sent me a vintage bottle of Jean Louis Scherrer 2 because she hates tuberose. Come to mamma!!!!
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JLS 2 is the bomb.
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WOO HOO GinaT,
good scores there.
How come Jean Louis Scherrer 2 has completely passed me by? I think I’ll go find some.
Portia xx
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Hello gorgeous.
Almost all of my friends know not to buy fragrant stuff for me, unless it is edible. However I did receive a lovely G&K candle, a lux soap and decanting stuff from an amazing someone.
Also I gifted myself a bottle of Patou pour Homme from the heritage collection. However it felt too formal for the Xmas do so I wore something more appropriate on the day: Jubilation XXV (the XXV bit felt so right).
I did score the green Diptyque Xmas candle and the carousel that I asked for for my birthday earlier in the month.
Spoiled I am…
XXX… Tim
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If anyone deserves to be spoiled it’s YOU Tim.
Jubilation XXV is magnificent. I bet you rocked it.
How cute is the Diptyque Xmas carousel? I freaking love it.
Portia xx
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My person very kindly followed a request and gifted me a lovely new bottle of Senyoko Migration des arbres. I snuck myself 20 ml bottles of Iunx Talc and Sento. And a bunch of little things from Jorum Studio. Meanwhile I found his favorite Cire Trudon candle in a big three wick size so he’s got nice smellies too! And this was supposed to be a sensible year.
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Sensible? Of course it’s sensible! You could be out scoring crack. Now THAT wouldn’t be sensible at all😉
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Hey Amy,
Woo Hoo! Party at yours! What a great line up of glamour.
Every year we go to the Libertine sale here and buy our Cire Trudon candles at less than 1/2 price. I’m such a cheap ass . Everyone gets told when I give them that I didn’t pay full retail.
Portia xx
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Oopsie, forgot to mention my other little present to self: Fidji du Soir. Took a punt on it being ok but I have had good luck with vintage purchases so fingers crossed.
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I bought a bottle of Tantra for my SI to give to me, two diaries and the most fantastic home made advent calendar from the most special little person.,Lots of beautiful little sparkly things lovingly made over time just for me. No gift could ever surpass my advent calendar and contents. Also given TWO diaries, and a gorgeous little tea light with three very pretty candles.,Really enjoyed two days off from work, together.,Hope all the poorly ones are better now . I just know you’re going to so enjoy your surprise parcel Marty.
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WOW! A home made advent calendar is the bomb. How did they do it? Did they buy a premed thing with doors or make it?
Portia xx
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No perfume gifts this year. We both went practical with summer clothes to deal with the upcoming heat wave.
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You have Christmas all year long with your opt shop finds 🤣
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Clever Greg.
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No fragrant gifts for or from me this year but it’s alright: since I don’t know what I want now, it would have been impossible for anyone to figure out what to give me :).
For my vSO, though, I got 7 different teas (from two brands), so we’ll be tasting them, which involves smelling.
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What teas did you get? Always curious! Even if I tend to brew white or green teas myself, my stepmother and several aunts and uncles always like getting tea as a present, and often black teas, so I try to make notes during the year of what’s worth trying.
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All the teas I ordered I’m not familiar with, so I couldn’t recommend them but the brands are well-known – Palais des Thés and Kusmi Tea. Actually, I just realized that I ordered 3 different brands. The third one is Smith Teamaker (but I haven’t received it yet).
What I can recommend, is Darjeeling 1st flush from the UK company Tea2you (https://tea2you.co.uk/products/darjeeling-1st-flush ). We used to buy it when visiting London but now they have also the US web store.
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SNAP Undina,
I also got loads of teas this year. It will be sampling, smelling and drinking all the way to May I think.
Portia xx
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Gave myself Jo Malone Mimosa and Cardamom; gave my sister-in-law a decant if my Heretic Dirty Mango to try as she was intrigued when I received it for my birthday. My son bought me a pineapple mango candle at Bath and Body Works on a solo shopping trip (first time he went out on his own with his own cash), so that was extra special.
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I really like Mimosa & Cardamom. It was one of the best JM releases in several years.
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Awww! How sweet of your son!!!!!
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Hey MMKinPA,
That candle buying with his own cash is a BIG DEAL! So lovely that he bought you something scented.
Portia xx
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The amazing old Santa has brought me an super fantastic amazing bottle of Lalique Ombre Noire ( a super hard fragrance to find, probably also discontinued since i cannot see it on the Lalique official site) If you never had the chance to smell this unique juice, i would strongly recommend it, high niche quality. Until now my all time designer favourite was Dior Homme Parfum, but after smelling this elixir, Ombre Noire has taken the lead 😋👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
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WOW! I never heard of Ombre Noire Alen,
How exciting.
Portia xx
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In addition to some thoughtful gifts, I scored a selection of samples from an incredibly knowledgeable and generous fragrance bestie. Knowing her has expanded my narrow window of interests and I am grateful for her friendship. I’m waiting for my cold to clear up so that I can commence sniffing. I keep telling myself that I should spend less on sampling this year and more on fbs of what I really want, but I know I have no self control and will continue my bad habits. 🙂 I am and will always be a perfume junkie.
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As we all are 🤣🙃🤣 but it’s a great addiction 😉
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YAY! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
Sounds like you have made the perfect fragrant mentor friend Otomom. That’s amazing, and so rare.
Portia xx
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You know her, she lives in Ohio 😉
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Guerlain French Kiss from a beautiful person…so lovely..
Bought myself Chanel no 5 body gel for my daughter’s wedding ..so light..but still smell it on myself late evening ..wow .. very lucky xx
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If someone gave you uerlain French Kiss then they must really love you Anna Maria.
How lovely is that No 5? MMMMMMMM
Portia xx
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I’m getting like that too Attamom. I am new to perfumes and really don’t know exactly what I like/want, so I have started buying samples myself. I’m trying all sorts, but of a perfume slut 🤣. Just love the feeling of popping open and trying all these little bottles. Can’t bear to Chuck the empties away either!
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You’ve got it bad. You know you’re in trouble when you can’t toss the empties.
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Unlike me who thunks everything!
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Yes, well, we all know you are very….umm……”special”. Both in your thunking and testing abilities 😏
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I have my own little “sickness” 🙃🙃😬
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No, no my dear. Not at all. You have a ‘particular set of skills’
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Ha! That’s a nice way of putting it 😬
I like Portia’s phrase too…I am MENTAL….and I TOTALLY agree with that! Lol 😂
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O MG! You guys are hilarious.
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I still don’t know what is in half of my Christmas presents, since the presents went to the cabin and half of our closest family did not! My father and stepmother havee both been feeling poorly, so we won’t even join them for New Year’s Eve now.
I do hope those of you who have been ill during Christmas feel better soon!
From my brother’s family I got a lovely selection of L’Occitane products: A new to me hydrating mask in a large tub, my favourite shower oil, a lip scrub and various samples. Other than that, chocolate from a friend, some Korres body products and a no doubt both fragrant and tasty sweet wine: Fèlsina vin santo del Chianti classico (2007). Getting stuff that can be used, and used up, that’s lovely. I have most things I need, so time with friends the other day was such a treat, catching up over a good meal.
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Catching up with friends truly is a gift.
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Oh NO! I hope they’re all OK Ingeborg.
Enjoy your fragrant gifts.
Yes, consumables is the perfect way to go.
Portia xx
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