Scent Diary: 6.1-12.1.2020

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies

.

Portia

.

Hey there APJ Crew,

This week wizzed by in a cloud a fabulous fragrance. There were lunches, catch ups, quick trips away and a 50th birthday party.

Scent Diary: 6.1-12.1.2020

Monday 6:

Wow! I slept so hard last night. No memory of even hitting the pillow.

SOTMorning: Eau de Sud by Annick Goutal.

Clothes washing, computer and dogs.

TRIVIA Q&A.

More housework

Jin taught me how to make Dumpling Soup. OMG! So simple. Delicious.

MORE TRIVIA Q&A.

SOTAfternoon: Caron Pour Un Homme. In honour of Andrew from FFF. He bought it on my recommendation. MMMMM

Dinner was Spag Bol reheats. MMMMM

Walked the dogs for an hour through the soft rain. The smell of petrichor overlaid with the perfume of wet-after-months eucalyptus. My nose was having a party and the sensation of walking through the softest, almost body temp rain was delightful too.

MORE TRIVIA Q&A.

Finished around 1.30am

BATHTIME!

SOTNight: Obsession Woman by Calvin Klein. This is a bit older, but not original, and has matured to a deep burnished animalic amber. It’s freaking gorgeous. It doesn’t get much wear because I’ll be too sad to not have it.

Tuesday 7:

SOTMorning: Divine EdP. I wanted something shimmering and glorious to beat the stink of hospital.

Up and took Jin to the hospital. Colonoscopy and gastroscopy. The lead up 48 hours has been particularly brutal, poor guy. He hardly slept a wink last night.

Went back to bed.

Collected our boy. He’s fine but groggy. Went and got some food for him.

We both came back and slept. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?

Up around 5pm to get ready to go for dinner.

SOTEvening: Mimosa Love by Amouage

Walked to dinner. It’s an easy 1.8km but it was kinda sweaty by the time I got there. Thank goodness I arrived 15 minutes early so I cooled down in the AC. Umaya, a Japanese restaurant. Very Ra Sha Sha!

Laurie and Vicky arrived and we had a fantastic catch up. Food was excellent and so many stories.

Walked back home again via the new Parramatta Club. It’s looking amazing. Only two weeks till open!

Jin is still on the couch. Poor guy. Looking 100% more with it though.

SOTNight: Monsieur Li by Hermès

Fed & walked the dogs. Did nearly 11k steps today.

Should have gone to bed with Jin but instead I stayed up and watched the first episode of Netflix Dracula. O M G! It is seriously fabulous.

SOTBed: Boucheron Femme EdT. So feral. An aldehydic feral.

Wednesday 8:

SOTMorning: Oriental Mint by Phaedon. I needed that sweet zing of a candy cane.

Jan and I met Ainslie for lunch. Good catch ups and fun over a Japanese meal. It was yummy and we were silly. Had so much fun I forgot to Take a pic.

Home and did some more garage organising.

Jin cooked sugar free cookies! OMG! So delicious.

Hung out around the house, sweating steadily.

BATHTIME!

SOTEvening: Le Temps d’Une Fete by Parfums Nicolai

Work was excellent. My lovely mate Robin, who usually plays on Tuesday came and played with a couple of the boys. Lifted them to a healthy third. Isn’t her dress gorgeous?

Home,. watched TV with Jin.

SOTBed: I Am Trash by Etat Libre d’Orange.

Thursday 9:

FINALLY went back to the pool for aquarobics this morning. It was really good to get into the pool and work it out. Jin came too but wasn’t feeling up to sport so he had a sauna and spa.

SOTMorning: Beyond Paradise Blue by Estee Lauder

After Jin and I had a cuppa in a cafe together. Nice morning.

I trained it into town.

‘YAY! Dentist appointment with Dr Ryan Nevin. He said my gums were looking excellent, teeth too.

Lunch at David Jones Food Hall with my mate Patrick. We had pasta. Mine was Four cheese ravioli and green salad. Delicious.

Met up with Alice and Tim for food, coffees and catch ups.

Back home on train and bus.

Jin and I watched Frozen II.
Yeah, it’s hard for me to be down on Disney. There’s so much to love.
We REALLY didn’t enjoy Frozen II though. The songs are so low key and boringly bleaugh (not one singalong showstopper, all B Sides), too much small scale story, the characters animation looks lopsided in parts, some of the dialogue was clunky and mawkish. The whole movie felt like a straight to DVD episode.

Tried to focus on the blog stuff but couldn’t.

Took the dogs for a big walk. Did well over 10k steps today! PLUS the Aquarobics class.

Packed a backpack for Jin’s and my adventure tomorrow. Here are my perfume choices for just shy of 48 hours away. Aoud Roses by Montale, Uptown Moonshine by DSH Perfumes, Lost Cherry by Tom Ford and Embers & Musk by Aftelier perfumes.

BATHTIME!

SOTBed: Courtesan by Worth. Freshly washed body, fruit and white laundry musks. I love this gone forever beauty.

Friday 10:

GAWD! We were up before the birds at 4am. Dogs quickly fed & walked. Faces and teeth washed, dressed and off.

SOTD: Pichola by Neela Vermeire Creations. Something gorgeous but airplane friendly.

Drove to Kath’s, dropped the car and Uber to the airport. She and Alice will be coming down tonight.

We flew into the Melbourne outskirts airport of Avalon. It’s a cheaper destination but we found out that all savings were eroded by the extra cost of the bus into and out of town. It also takes about 30-40 minutes longer each way. Good to know.

Headed for our hotel. Pullman Albert Park. The girls had already booked here so we decided to stay nearby for extra hanging out time. It was nice, breakfast was delicious. It was right across from the tram stop and was halfway between Melbourne City and Ben’s 50th Birthday venue.

Straight out to meet a different Ben (this Ben and I lived together in London 1994-5) and Margeaux! Lunch at a pub in Federation Square was well priced and we had an excellent reunion. Margeaux also bought me a bottle of Cher! Impossible to find in Australia. Ah May Zing! It smells so good. Like a CHANEL No 22 for the 21st century perfumista.

Margeaux, Jin and I went down to the National Gallery of Victoria and saw the Haring and Basquiat exhibition, there were also a couple of wonderful KAWS pieces in the lobby. I’ve only added a couple of pics but the whole exhibition was mind blowing. Our guide knew so much and was really generous with that knowledge.

SOTEvening: Embers and Musk by Aftelier Perfumes. Such a warm, rich, interesting fragrance to kill the sterile atmosphere of hotel air conditioning.

Jin was utterly exhausted so I took him back to the hotel for dinner. He had a couple of drinks, we ate an enormous mixed grill plate with greens and fries and he basically fell asleep at the table before the dessert menu could be brought.

By the time the girls arrived at the hotel, flying down after work, we were sound asleep.

Saturday 11:

SOTMorning: Lost Cherry by Tom Ford. Previous wearings from the same sample have lasted beautifully. Sadly I only got an hour of fragrance from Lost Cherry today. It is easily my second favourite cherry frag, after Black Perfecto.

Breakfasted with the girls. LOVE a buffet breakfast. The first couple of days of any holiday I stuff myself silly.

We had some time and Kath wanted to grab a hoodie. Jin also wanted to pop into UniQlo to grab a Basquiat and a Haring T=Shirt. They’ve joined forces with the NVG Exhibition and done a limited run of fabulous things.

I saw this amazing shop front and decided when I FINALLY do my perfume store this is my model.

I also made my way to CHANEL where they had a Coromandel extrait sample. Swiped myself liberally. It’s nice.

Then we trimmed it to Ben’s 50th birthday celebrations.

Sadly, due to our extra travel time back to the airport we had to leave halfway through lunch. BUMMER! The party went on till the early hours of the next day and beyond. HA! Kinda glad we left, things could have become extremely messy.

Jin was so tuckered out he fell sound asleep on the bus and quietly snored his way to the airport.

SOTBed: Le Mimosa by Annick Goutal. Comparing it to Amouage Love Mimosa. They are similar but the Amouage wears infinitely more joyfully for me.

Sunday 12:

Slept in late.

SOTMorning: JAZZ by YSL. Not only does this fragrance have young me references but now that’s it’s a gift from Scotty I’m loving it even more. What a happy scent.

Hung around the house with Jin. Watched some Korean wrestling TV. Did blog stuff.

BATHTIME

SOTAfternoon: Iris Tubereuse by Creed

Work was amazing tonight. We had a really full room and everyone had a laugh.

Home. Doing some clothes washing.

SOTBed: Umbra by Ramon Monegal. So warm and luscious. It has a base note that’s smelt a lot in 21st century niche but it is sitting with a lovely array around it that makes it wear differently.

 

 

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

63 thoughts on “Scent Diary: 6.1-12.1.2020”

  1. Oh Portia, you must open a perfume store one day!!
    Those cookies look amazing!
    Yay for rain!
    I had a super busy work week and did loads of thunkin’ via both usage and confiscation.

    Like

  2. Well that’s a total bummer! What’s a bummer? Having to leave on the afternoon of a party, that’s what. Ha, Jin is one of those lucky people who can sleep anywhere. Sometimes I wish I could just lie on the floor and sleep when I’m exhausted but that probably wouldn’t go down too well😉 That exhibition looks amazing. I watched Dracula too and loved it. Have seen all episodes. Will I tell you how it ends? Naaaa, only joking. Work is fairly light at the moment so I have seen lots of TV the past week or more. Have started watching Startup with Martin Freeman and am several episodes in. It’s good but not as good as some others. Also watched The League of Gentlemen Apocalypse again. Dark escapism that is exactly my sense of humour. Monday was last day of Christmas and my friend did dinner for our gang. Also her hubby’s surprise birthday gathering. Had a lovely evening and was home just after midnight. Wow, home early two nights this week. Maybe we’re getting sensible at last. I’m so glad you got some rain there, I wish you deluges of the stuff. Lots of gorgeous frags too, Pichola is the bomb. My Fidji du Soir arrived. It’s immediately recognisable but I would have liked a bit more soir. Hope everyone has a good week.

    Like

  3. Regular working week for me, as usual.
    My twin baby nieces arrived on this world on Thursday. We are all so happy, especially my sister and her husband. Babies and mom are fine and healthy.
    Weather has been unusually warm during the weekend. We are having spring like temperatures. No complaints, just enjoying it before they drop down again tonight.
    Wishing a great week ahead to everyone!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. The picture of the Annick Goutal reminds me of the array of bottles I had displayed on my dresser in the 80’s. I loved that bottle design. A shame they replaced it.
    Speaking of design, I love the shop front you chose. Sleek, flowing lines with no superfluous details. Nice!
    I’ve been laying low still recovering from various illnesses that started Christmas Eve day. I am no longer symptomatic but tire very easily. Hopefully that will improve, perhaps when I’m done with the antibiotics. I’ve been using my favorite perfumes only. Not in the mood for challenges of any sort.
    On a lighter note, Mr LH has booked our winter vacation. He chose Turks and Caicos and we’ll be leaving the end of this month. Whatever lingering fatigue I have will surely be wiped out by sun, heat and beach. And a steady diet of fancy, umbrella topped drinks🍹They’re healthy, right? After all my favorite has 🍍🥥!

    Like

  5. I love how you appreciate the smells of nature on your dog walks, bliss! A highlight of my life as well.
    Boucheron Femme! Fabulous perfume! And I have enjoyed a sniff of TF Lost Cherry as well, my BIL is obsessed with it.
    Agreed, colonoscopy etc prep is the worst, empathy for Jin and I hope it’s all behind him now, lol!
    Cher; modern No22! You’re speaking my language! What a fabulous gift!
    Your vision board includes designing and owning a perfume shop!? If you make it happen, I would travel to AU just to shop there with you!
    My week was uneventful as planned, needed a re-charge after the month of December. My highlight was starting a long and fabulous sniff session (I’m am incredibly slow sampler but thoroughly appreciate each one) of many fragrant samples gifted from the ever generous and thoughtful Brigitte. Sniffing so far has reinforced that I am thoroughly impressed with Arte Profumi and wish so much more available in the US.

    Like

    • Hey Kathleen,
      Sometimes I’m overwhelmed by the lovely scents when wandering with the pups. How lucky we are. I don’t reckon the world will be like this at all in ten years time. I’m drinking in all the scents of nature as if it’s the last time, every time.
      There were some good, slightly out of my regular scent space, frags this week. O M G! That CHER is amazing. you’ll love it.
      When it one day happens that we are shop owners I hope you’ll all come down for exciting sniffing events and launches. The vision includes weekends of fragrance. Workshops, masterclasses, tutorials and days of sniffing just one house over a whole day with breakfast, lunch and dinner included from locally sourced produce. AHHH! The dream is enormous.
      That Brigitte is so generous. We are lucky to have her aboard.
      Portia xx

      Like

  6. It’s been an eventful week here. For the last couple of years I have been feeling quite dissatisfied and adrift in my life, bored and passionless, not knowing what to do with myself. But the universe just sent me two strong messages and I have taken up the call. I feel intimidated by the scope of my new endeavours, but the most important part is to be patient with myself and go slow and steady, without putting undue pressure that will sap the positive energy I will need to be successful. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

    Perfume-wise, it’s been a good week with lots of Guérlain and 4160 Tuesdays.

    Like

    • Sorry to hear that you feel that way, Tara, and so glad that you had a nudge. What is the nudge? What are you called to do?

      Like

      • It’s a bit long-winded to explain, but there is a Jewish tradition to study a page of Talmud (basically Jewish law encyclopedias) every day, which takes 7.5 years to complete. The new cycle started on January 5th and I decided to join the study group on Facebook. Secondly, after receiving a flyer in the mail about a piano sale of used pianos from the San Diego Opera, I decided to re-learn to play the piano, something I did for five years as a girl and loved.

        I have heard that if you are stumped about what to pursue as an adult, you should look back to what you enjoyed as a child. Reading and piano were my two great loves as a child. It seemed the universe was sending me a message to go in these directions. It will be a journey of a thousand miles, but it begins with one step.

        Like

    • Just as every silver lining has a cloud, every cloud has a silver lining. Wishing you well in your endeavors. Maybe give us a little hint when you’re ready😉

      Like

    • TaraC,
      I absolutely LOVE that you are starting these two new adventures.
      Being raised RC I only know of the Jewish religion from our Old Testament and reading The Chosen by Chaim Potok. The whole idea of studying a page a day, doing the word number games and working together towards greater understanding gripped me.
      Piano! Wow, that too will bring so much enjoyment.
      Hugging you from here and wishing you all the satisfaction of renewed learning.

      Guérlain and 4160 Tuesdays sounds like a really good week.
      Portia xx

      Like

  7. I almost started Dracula last night after finishing The Witcher. But, I was too tired. Rough week. I put my precious darling baby girl who I’ve had for 12 years as my pal to sleep on Wednesday unexpectedly. It has ruined me. I am in a daze and just spraying whatever comes to hand. I just feel sad, exhausted and dead. What kind of cookie is it that Jin baked? Looks like it has a layer of something inside and so yummy. It has been raining here, too, and oddly up to 70 F in January when it should be 20 or below. This is not good. I am headed to the barn now to care for my horse then take Christmas down if I have the energy. Hugs to you! I donated to an Australian relief fund for the fires. Thinking of you.

    Like

    • I am so very sorry for your loss Gina. I wish I could say something to ease your pain. I understand the depths of your sorrow with the unexpected loss of one of the loves of your life. Sending big hugs and wishes that with time, happy memories will bring you comfort, Remember that you gave your precious girl a wonderful life. xoxo

      Liked by 1 person

      • It is so hard. I have no partner, siblings or children. My fur loves are my family. It is so quiet and lonely. She was always with me and followed me and slept on top of me. Even sat on the floor staring at me when I went to the bathroom. Nothing feels normal or right at the moment. And, my other baby is inconsolable. She was like a mother to him. They were together for 12 years. So, he is very needy and crying a lot. He wanders the house crying and looking for her. My heart wrings each time knowing she is gone and not coming back. I hate this. Hate it.

        Like

        • I completely understand how you feel Gina; the void that is left in your life and the pain of watching your boy feel the loss of their companion. My animals are also my children and the primary joy in my world, and we become so attached to them. Trust that time will ease the hurt, and she Will Always live in your heart xoxo

          Liked by 2 people

        • So sorry, Gina. I wish I could say something to help you. I hope that very soon you and your other are feeling less pain and more good memories. So very sorry.

          Liked by 1 person

          • Thank you. Since we are talking about scent, this just happened. I brought up a basket of blankets and sheets I had washed before she died. She had been throwing up and liked to do so in my bed. So, I was laundering quite often. I hadn’t put them away before she died. She liked to sleep in the fresh bedding in the basket when I wasn’t home. As I folded everything, my other cat ran in and started frantically sniffing all of the blankets and sheets then sniffing the air. He turned to me with a question in his eyes and started crying. Then he ran through the house sniffing the air and crying. They say animals don’t feel or think and live on instinct. Fuck they don’t. I held and kissed him then gave him catnip to try to help him forget. Or distract him for a time. I don’t have the energy to finish putting Christmas away. I am going to have a drink and a hot bath. Ugh. I wish I could smell her.

            Like

            • Aww you’re in a terrible state. I hope something will happen to lift your spirits. As for animals not having feelings, well, it’s only people who never had any pets who can say that, I think. I know my beloved girl could bloody well tell what I was thinking! And furthermore she knew when my hubby was getting sick. They’re so intuitive sometimes that they’re spooky. Shower your boy with lots of treats and cuddles and be a comfort to one another.

              Liked by 1 person

    • OHHHHHHHH Gina! So sorry you had to do that. It is a wrench. I spontaneously am crying thinking of how bad you must feel. All the hugs. Losing pets is the worst.
      It’s a sugar free choc chip cookie but the chips melt. So yummy.
      Thank you for your donation. Australia is still burning. 147 fires just in my state and all the animals and birds are being wiped out. It’s so sad.
      Hugs right back,
      Portia xx

      Liked by 1 person

  8. No perfume for the last few weeks because of an annoying sinus infection :(. What did you think of the Coromandel parfum? I have the huge bottle of Coromandel and I adore it, but I don’t think I like the parfum – it was too soapy. When you open a perfume store – can you also open one in Seattle :). We are expecting to get some snow today, just a couple of inches at the most, but snow can just shut down Seattle. You never know – it could disappear quickly or we could be dealing with black ice, hills and very bad snow drivers. For a giggle, look up bad Seattle snow drivers 🙂

    Like

    • Hope you feel better soon. I am in Ohio. We have snow all the time and people drive like fools. But this winter has been odd. It was 70 this weekend and 35 today. Wacky.

      Like

    • Hi ElizaC,
      Get you well quick. Sinus is hell.
      Coromandel is nice. I like it but not AUD$280 like it. I have the EdT and rarely spritz it. There are other patchoulis thats em to capture my attention more.
      HA! Calm the farm. Haven’t even opened one here yet.
      Good luck with the snow. I hope it’s a friendly one.
      Portia xx

      Like

  9. It’s snowed again and there is going to be a cold snap. Spent hours today catching up with friends on the phone and pottering around the house. Finally broke down after a year of yearning and bought a bottle of Puredistance Antonia, because while Mugler Supra Floral is also a pretty, (sadly expensive) floral, it didn’t completely fill all my pretty, (sadly expensive) floral needs.

    Like

  10. ahh, that boucheron reminds me I wore vintage Boucheron Pour Homme edt for the first time. The first impression was so good I was immed. thinking of buying few backup bottles. But after few hours I was of a mixed opinion because one cannot buy backup of every good perfume as even one bottle takes a long time to finish in a big collection. However, it is a very quality composition though it certainly reminds you of the era it came in.

    Like

  11. I’m so thrilled that you loved the Cher perfume Portia! As soon as she announced it, I knew I was going to get you a bottle. Enjoy, love you!

    Like

Comments are closed.