Scent Diary: 3.2-9.2.2020

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies

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Portia

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Hey there APJ Crew,

This week was kind of chill. Loads of fragrance and some good food.
We have had the most gorgeous amounts of real, driving rain. I don’t remember it being so plentiful in the five years we’ve lived in Parramatta. It’s dog walking with a golf umbrella and wellies kind of rain.

Scent Diary: 3.2-9.2.2020

Monday 3:

6am Aqua

Dropped car off for grease & oil and a Rego check

Walked home in the sprinkling rain.

SOTMorning: Opium Posie de Chine by Yves Saint Laurent

Went back to sleep for an hour. HEAVEN

Hung out with Jin and had some breakfast.

Fed dogs and Jin walked me half way to the car fixer with them.

Dusted, vacuumed and washed tile floors. Bathroom and kitchen pretty good boy clean but not “Mother In Law First Visit” clean. Sweating like I’ve just come out of the pool.

Burning my beautiful Rainbow Candle from Ainslie Walker to cleanse the house of negative energy.

Already done 5000 steps at 1pm.

SOTAfternoon: Pichola by Neela Vermeire Creations.

TRIVIA Q&A.

Had a nap around 5-6pm

Jin and I went grocery shopping. He cooked us a magnificent Korean BarBQ with salads and veg. So much amazing food and all really healthy.

TRIVIA Q&A

3.10am and I’m done & dusted

SOTBed: Tobacco Nuit by Atelier Cologne

Tuesday 4:

Jin had the day off.

We slept late. Walked the dogs.

SOTDay: White Queen by 4160 Tuesdays. This is my second 5ml decant thunk. It could be FB time.

Visited Scotty at work and took some stuff for goodwill. Bought dog food and a couple of lamb bones for teeth cleaning treats. This is Tara the Rescue Kitty. Isn’t she the sweetest? Jin really wants a cat.

Went to the Post Office (collecting only). Had a hamburger and fries lunch.

Comment replies on APJ. So many wonderful, thoughtful and heart felt comments about APJ closing. Thank you all. Living proof that YOU LOT are the special ones in the equation, I’m just a conduit.

Came home. Did some final weekly TRIVIA organising.

Sat down in my chair at the desk and it EXPLODED! I fell back onto my perfume shelves and thought by the sound that I’d smashed a bunch of my vintage Guerlains. Fortunately only I was scratch slightly, all perfume OK. PHEW!

Here’s a pic of the love and light of my life Jin. He’s buying the tickets for his parents and aunty to travel with us to Europe later this year. They are all so freaking excited, it’s cute AF. It’s their first European trip and they will get to spend time with Jin’s brother & kids in the town they live in Slovakia. We are also taking them to Bratislava, Vienna and Prague. It should be a riot.

BATHTIME!

SOTEvening: Granville by DIOR

Work was amazing. Only our second Tuesday in the new venue and 81 players. I love Club Parramatta so much.

Home. Hung with Jin as he finalises November. It’s all looking amazing.

Fed & walked the dogs.

Hung around the computer for a while.

SOTBed: Songes by Annick Goutal because Cassieflower reminded me in the Mood scent 4 comments.

Wednesday 5:

Was supposed to go to Aquarobics but when our alarms went off this morning apparently I said to Jin that I was sick, couldn’t get out of bed. No memory of this, at all.

Finally I rose at about 11am. My body is seriously sleeping lately. Must be doing some work on itself.

SOTMorning: Vintage Guerlain Shalimar extrait. Just a couple of dabs on my neck. Smells divine.

Spent a couple of hours organising, packing and posting the backlog of Perfumed Parcels that needed to be sent. Sorry if you’ve been waiting.

Fed & walked the dogs.

Lounged and watch Netflibx.

SOTEvening: Gentlemen’s Jockey Club by Oriza L Legrand

Work was fun tonight. The Greystanes Inn crew are so lovely to hang with, they’re funny and sweet. It’s like family evening.

Home. Chill.

SOTBed: Oriental Brulant by Guerlain. It’s just cool enough here in Sydney to wear this sweet, rich, fruity tonka/vanilla bomb with just a hint of animalic backing. Cozy.

Thursday 6:

SLEEP! I must be needing it for some reason. 10.30am wake.

One of our poor dogs couldn’t hold it any longer and there was a great steaming pile of poop on the verandah. My first job of the day was to was away his misadventure. Poor boys, they both looked so sheepish.

SOTDay: Opium Posie de Chine by Yves Saint Laurent. the perfect summer lightness with full Opium DNA. Second wearing this week.

LAZY DAY ON THE COUCH! Heaven

Finished watching Messiah on Netflix. WATCH IT NOW! I loved every minute, PLUS Dermot Mulroney plays the President.

SOTAfternoon: Dolce Patchouli by I Profumi de Firenze. A soft patchouli, friendly and pretty.

Faffed around the computer, ate lunch, took the dogs out for a wee.

BATHTIME!

SOTEvening: Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker

Work was pretty good. Started the night with 33 players. Ended with about 24. It was a  lovely group and I think everyone had fun. Food is amazing.

Full Frontal Nerdity won the night. they’ve been playing for ages and never won before.

Home.

Walked dogs in the rain.

Watched SpiderMan homecoming. sweet but kind of boring. Michael Keaton is excellent.

SOTBed: Boucheron Femme EdT

Friday 7:

BUM! Jin woke me at 5am this morning on his way to work.

SOTDay: Aesthete by Le Galion

Patrick & Wayne masks

Home

Fed and walked the dogs at lunch time. I was waiting for the rain to slow. It did. Then halfway through the walk it began again in earnest. Wet dogs, wet Portia. The boys love getting towel dried so it was all a big game for them.

TV curled up on the couch.

Jin came home. I cooked us spaghetti & meatballs. He did garlic sourdough bread. Good meal, good company.

We watched TV.

SOTBed: Divine EdP. This beautiful aldehydic floral wraps me in its incredibly fragrant arms to drift off to sleep. Deep, dreaming, perfumed rest.

Saturday 8:

Woke up to the sounds of Jin organising the dogs breakfast and taking then for a walk. Rolled over and drifted off again into a light doze. Woke fully when they came home. Perfect way to wake.

SOTMorning: Vintage Jazz by YSL. Every time I spritz this I think of Scotty who found this beautiful memory scent for me. SO MANY MEMORIES!

LAZY DAY!
Jin snoring on the couch. Me doing a little computer stuff. LAZY!

SOTEvening: Caron Pour Un Homme.

It was supposed to be a 10 person dinner at Liu Rose but it has been raining torrentially here in Sydney, roads are closed, trains are not running to timetable and the clever kids are staying home. I rang Liu Rose to change the booking to 4 people and they had a blackout for the last three hours.

QUICK PLAN CHANGE: Indian around the corner with TinaG, Kath and Alice. It was so bloody delicious, we all ate tiller’s we were paining with our bloatedness. OMG! Unbelievably delicious.

Then TinaG and I came back here and had a massive sniffathon. It was so much fun. It started out with the newest arrivals. Viktoria Minya’s beautiful Absolute series (Iris is fabulous). DSH Perfumes set arrived this week so we got stuck into them (St Petersburg is my favourite, so good). Then we started on roses. Inspired by the Viktoria Minya rose absolute. From Lutens to Goutal, Guerlain to Amorvero and beyond.  We must have smelled 25 rose fragrances. Every one beautiful and completely different. Such a fun way to spend an evening.

Started watching the Pikachu movie but my head wasn’t in the game so I went to bed.

SOTBed: Bellodgia by Caron. My idea of the perfect carnation fragrance.

Sunday 9:

Jin got home around 5.30am and I woke up. Couldn’t get back to sleep so I jumped out of bed, made tea and started getting my TRIVIA Q&A organised for when Jin and I go overseas next week. Got all the Jackpot questions done for the next few weeks by 8am!

SOTMorning: Leather Oud by DIOR. I felt the need for something heavy, dark and rich in this rainy weather. Perfect!

Did some blogging to clear my head.

The rain has been coming down non stop. Beautiful, heavy, driving rain. The poor dogs haven’t been fed yet because it’s way too wet to take them out for poops. They are curled up on their beds in the lounge room.

I went and had some more sleep. Love falling asleep and waking to the sound of rain.

Trivia Cancelled tonight because of flooding in the Austral area. Better to be safe than sorry.

The hot water system in our building has stopped heating. It happens every time we have a significant rain event. No bathing today, or yesterday, or the night before. OMG!

Couldn’t wait any longer to feed and walk the dogs. They’ve been so good. At 4pm I took them out into the storm to wee and poop. They freaking loved it and jumped in puddles, splashed about, kicked their heels in freezing rivers of escaping water. I got absolutely drenched. It was fabulous fun. The rain was so heavy I didn’t want to get my phone out and take photos.
When we got back they had their favourite towel rub downs. HAPPY dogs.
Now they’re inside on their beds.

Jin and I hung out watching TV.

Chatted to some mates here and overseas on the phone.

Chilled.

SOTEvening: Ashoka by Neela Vermeire Creations

OK, I realised that it has been some time since my last bath because we haven’t had hot water and I’m starting to smell my own nasty self. The idea came to me as I was boiling the jug for a cuppa. 3/4 filled the bucket with cold water, added a jugful of boiling. PERFECT! It was easily enough to get myself washed with a face cloth and some rose scented Caudalie shower gel. There was more than half left to give myself a final swoosh down with clean water. I feel like I’m living in the wild west.

SOTBed: Mitzah by DIOR. The rosiest, sweet, amber-ish thing with all the trimmings.

 

 

 

 

 

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

51 thoughts on “Scent Diary: 3.2-9.2.2020”

  1. OMG my heart nearly stopped at the thought of smashing vintage Guerlains !!!
    I loved both Prague and Vienna.We weren’t in Bratislava for long as we flew in and out to get to Vienna on the train. Wht we did manage to see on a walk round seemed very pretty.

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    • Hey there Matty,
      MY heart nearly stopped when I realised what happened.
      One of the things I love most about Prague is that we can get very reasonable tickets to see the “favourites” concert every evening in the Mucha painted concert hall. I’m hoping we can make Jin’s Mum & Dad come with us for it. It’s all the most loved pieces written in and around Prague, so fun.
      Vienna is my favourite city in the world. Were you reading when I explained one of my ballet school friends was in the Vienna Stat Opera Ballet while I lived in London and we saw each other a lot in those two years? Vienna is special to me.
      Bratislava is lovely but you probably saw most of what there is to see on your wander.
      Portia xx

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      • I dom’t know if I was reading when you mentioned your ballet friend. We probably did see most of Bratislava, it’s very small isn’t it. i loved the quirky street art.

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  2. Thank gods you and your Guerlains survived the broken chair!!
    YOU
    MUST
    GET
    A
    CAT ( for Jin 😻😻)

    I was sick most of the week. No sense of taste or smell. Wore some Casablanca a la Cassie midweek but couldn’t smell it. Yesterday was Paramela during the day, vintage Shalimar EDC at night and Reglisse Noire today. Tonight I might go with my custom made Sarah Horowitz Brigitte. I have you to thank for that one. After your post on one of her fragrances I left a comment about this custom blend from 22 years ago and Sarah responded back that she still had the formulation.

    I brought up from the basement Brigitte, vintage Reglisse Noire ( both you and AnnieA gifted me your vintage bottles) , Paramela and vintage Shalimar EDC and am proudly displaying them on the shelf in my bedroom. These all remind me of my friends on APJ so I will wear them for a while.

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    • Interesting degree Brigitte!
      Not sure what my nearly broken Giuerlains have to do with getting a hell hound?
      Isn’t Sarah Horowitz the absolute gem of indie perfumers? So glad I could be a little part of your reconnection.
      LOVE that we’ve made it to your room as fragrant momentous. what a perfect way to keep APJ alive.
      Love you Princess.
      Portia xx

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      • The ramblings of my middle age brain LOL 🤣
        When you say hell hound it reminds me of that hysterical cartoon Fazal shared with us not that long ago.
        To me cats are gifts from heaven/ nature/ Universe ( whatever you subscribe to). Promise me you’ll consider one for Jin.

        And,yes, Sarah is amazing and so glad that after two decades my custom blend lives with me again!

        Loves ya right back 😘❤️❣️

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        • The cat has been considered. Jin has been given parameters. If he wants a cat then he has to jump through a few hoops. He will also have to be very careful because the greyhounds will tear it apart given half a chance. Also, he needs to think about where it will go when we are away on adventures. I’m not giving up my fabulous life for a cat, so if he wants to join in the fun he’ll need to be prepared with place and money to board. Otherwise I’ll leave him here to look after it and go see the world solo.

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          • I really hope Jin will decide against getting a cat: your beautiful hunters might prove to be dangerous neighbours. I love cats and dogs equally, but since they don’t always get along, it’s better to keep them apart.

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          • A case of ‘it’s the cat or me’🤣. You’re right, though, about the danger the dogs would pose to a cat. My girl had a massive hunting instinct (that’s what they were bred for originally) and woe betide any unsuspecting cat who strayed into our garden. Even though she spent most of her time lazing indoors her bed looked out on the garden through French doors and at the sight of either cat or rabbit she’d jump up and open the doors herself and take off like a bullet out of a gun. She never got lucky with a cat but lots of rabbits didn’t make it out alive😬

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              • HA! Brigitte! THAT’s what I’ve been telling you.
                If Jin builds a cattery on our bedroom balcony and ONLY has the cat in our bedroom with closed doors it will work. It’s a big job but doable if he REALLY wants a cat. Though we both have a dog each and Jin pays for their food it up to me to do almost everything else. I’m 100% OK with that and knew it would be like that before we even discussed getting more dogs. No problem.
                If Jin gets a cat though it will be 100% his responsibility.
                It’s a lot for a boy who has never had such trust placed in him by an animal to contemplate.

                We really have thought it all out.
                Obviously Jin is free to make his own choices about everything but these are the fairest and safest parameters.
                It’s incredibly rare for me to even give Jin boundaries but we are talking about bringing another life to live here.

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          • I once had greyhound, lurcher and a labrador plus 3 cats, all introduces at various ages and stages, and there were no problems. All but one of the cats were rescues, so had absolutely no idea of their histories. Once each had been introduced properly, they took to each other well. You should be fine. Greyhounds make the best pets, don’t they! They lie upside down because they have such deep chests. They also love your chairs, your sofas and your bed 😆

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          • I don’t want to speak out of place; however, my personal experience of mixing Greyhounds with cats is very tragic. My best friend years ago had a beloved cat, and then decided to rescue a Greyhound. She tried to separate them from each other and thought the cat safe. After going out to dinner, the dog killed the cat. Tragic for all. I know that all dogs are different and as long as you know your dogs. However, it concerns me for the cat that they would not be able to relax in your home and always have to be separated. Just something to think about.

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  3. Thank faaaaaark the Guerlies are ok 😳
    I’m heading to Vienna, Prague and Bratislava before meeting friends in Budapest in August. Can’t WAIT! 🤩

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  4. Out of the blue question
    Anyone try the new LE Spring 2020 Jo Malones that focus on lavender? Wondering if they are any good.

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  5. Hi, Portia! Glad to hear it’s finally raining in Australia, and that you and your precious Guerlains have survived the chair misfortune.

    I had a quiet week: lots of films, music and just the right amount of exercise. It’s been snowing and freezing cod for the last two days, there’s not much to do, anyway.

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    • Diana,
      Your week sounds wonderful. Snow always sounds so glamorous to me. The only times I’ve ever seen it are on holidays though so my perception is skewed.
      Any good films?
      Do you like film soundtracks? I’m currently listening to Bourne Supremacy. It’s been on repeat for about three weeks.
      Portia xx

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      • Hi, Portia!
        Having seen the latest DC film about Harley Quinn, I started watching the TV series about her which I like even more than the full-feature! I really enjoy the character development, the dialogues, and the energy! Looking forward to seeing the new Guy Ritchie film The Gentlemen, but there probably won’t be anything interesting in the local cinema ’til March 😦

        I LOVE soundtracks! Last summer was all Bad Times at El Royale (the 60es sound!) and Rocketman. I like Moby’s Extreme Ways, too. Not a day without music!

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  7. Met up with some perfume pals yesterday for brunch, and then we strolled and sniffed for a bit. One nice place was closing down, which was sad, despite Fragonards being on sale (bought some of their soap). Lovely to catch up with people who love perfume too.

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      • Don’t know that I ever saw the owners in person, since they probably aren’t the pretty 22-year-olds I’d see floating about. One of the pals on Saturday is a huge Fragonard fan and managed to buy an almost half-price back-up bottle of her favourite.

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  8. I’m so thrilled about the rain there. If only it had arrived two months ago! I just had a massive giggle to myself about your no bath situation. The answer was staring you in the face all along: The dogs had the right idea. You should have taken your clothes off, grabbed a bar of soap and gone out and jumped around in the rain like a greyhound. Then gone home and had Jin ready with a warm towel😝 Of course I know all about rain and floods and whatnot, we wrote the instruction manual here. Glad I reminded you to bust out the Songes. What an amazing scent it is. And Pichola is another stunner. Nothing of note happening with me, the usual meetups with friends and staying out late (but not every night) and a full spa day yesterday with my daughter. I was zonked tired last night after doing absolutely nothing but pooling, steaming, saunaing (my word) and massage and facial. Could I sleep the full night though? Hmph, no, we had a storm battering the house and the rain on the windows sounded like someone was pebbledashing them. Plus howling winds. Is next week your Thailand trip? Have a wonderful time. Oh,, silly thing, the other morning when I woke up I had been dreaming about Jinx and Paris, can’t remember what but I know it was them. Am I losing it or what?

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    • HA HA HA HA HA HA! Cassieflower, I was only in a singlet and shorts to walk the dogs anyway. It wouldn’t have been much to whip them off and get myself clean. Could have done it in under 2 minutes while wandering the graveyard park across the road.
      I do think the answer found was a slightly more dignified and warm event though.
      SPA DAY!
      WOW! You really are getting some weather. Stay safe.
      Dreaming about my Greyhounds means you’re coming to Australia to visit in 2021. I just looked up the dream book.
      Portia xx

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  9. So many great scents this week you wore! So glad no serious damage other than the demise of the chair. And very happy you are getting rain!

    I want to get a cat too, but logistically it won’t work right now with our nomadic life. Will wait until I’m 65 and settle down in one country.

    Pretty quiet here, we’re having a bit of rain too. I’ve been wearing my new favourite incense scent, Arte Profumi Samharam, along with Traversée du Bosphore, St. Barth Vanilla, Dulcis in Fundo and Hypnotic Poison. Today is Kilian Love. I will so miss these weekly recaps. Can you please post them on Perfume Posse? 🙂

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    • Yes TaraC,
      I’m 100% with you on waiting for a cat till our 70s. That means Jin and I have 8 years to buy one more property. 10 years of travelling the world. Then we can settle down, get a house on a moderate sized block. Have a couple of hounds, a couple of cats, chooks, a veggie garden and a swimming pool.
      Nice line up of scent for you this week too. Traversée du Bosphore is so lovely but I always forget to wear it. I will search it out today.
      Yeah, I will miss Scent Diary too. It’s too time heavy though. What looks like a light and airy flick through my week is actually hours and hours of writing and editing. Doing it also means I get lost in rubbish computer time wasters and there goes even more time. While I love the interaction and so much that goes with it I really want some time back. It may be that I continue to waste all this time anyway and then I’ll rethink the exercise, maybe.
      Hugs and love.
      Portia xx

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      • Portia I completely get that as I do the same…. it’s a great distract or and time sucker, this internet. When APJ shuts down I am seriously considering going offline for a while.

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  10. I can relate to busting a chair. It happened to me but I didn’t fall into a bunch of Guerlains. Just sent a box of Dame perfumery samples flying all across the room. It was one of those ‘good for your back’ chairs where you kind of sit forward on your knees and doesn’t have a back. A key bolt had worked itself very loose and one day calamity happened.
    It’s wonderful to hear about rain coming your way finally after hearing about the fires. I hope you get more.
    Messiah didn’t look like my kind of thing when I scrolled past it and I never thought I would watch it but I enjoyed ‘Atypical’ so much after you recommended that one I think I’ll give it a go. Thanks again for a peek into your life. It’s fun to read about Jin’s delight in planning your trip with his family.

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  11. I agree with Tara, lots of lovely scents this week and I will miss these weekly updates on your scents and life. So glad there was no damage to the Guerlains. I hope you are ok as well.
    Given the prey instinct of your dogs, I would have to say no to a cat. We had a cat. Then Dear Daughter decided she wanted a dog too. We picked one out from the SPCA and brought her home. I worked with that dog daily, but can’t say I was making much progress in her behaviour considering she was a rescue in every sense of the word. After we had her several weeks Dear Daughter and Dear Husband went camping together and left me at home with cat and dog. Sitting on sofa reading one evening with dog snoozing at my feet. Cat comes and sits in doorway to room. All of a sudden the dog was across the room with the cat in her mouth thrashing the poor cat about. Immediately I was upon them yelling, drop her, drop her now. Luckily the dog dropped the cat and the cat slunk away. The dog spent the remainder of the long holiday weekend in her crate except when I walked her or let her out in the yard to do her business. The cat spent the weekend at the vet and was never the same. Called the SPCA and explained the incident. They took the dog back and used every bit of info I could give them to find the dog a better fit for a home. Sigh. If we had the dog first the cat would have gone back, but as it were, we had the cat for a couple of years so it was the dog who went back. Only telling this story to prevent another traumatized animal.
    Glad to hear you’re finally getting some rain. We haven’t had rain in weeks and this is our “rainy” season. I fear water rationing in the summer and more fires this autumn.

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  12. I’m going to bust out my Songes too!

    And I love these recaps, they are my favourite part of APJ. Hoping you will continue them somewhere 😀

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  13. Aquarobics, torrential rain, lots of sleep, Korean BBQ, family trip in November, fun at work, beautiful perfumes…….yup! All is right in Portia’s world 😘
    Me: great vacation, lazing and swimming, umbrella drinks poolside, lots of seafood, mostly Salome….yup! All is right in Marcella’s world 😍

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  14. Lovely is good. Def. has resemblance to NR Her. In terms of Dior Prive, Granville and Mitzah def. seem two of your most favorites. They have made frequence appearance in these scent diaries. Your opium flanker reminds me Opium Fraicheur partial bottle is on the way to me. Some fragrantica reviews said it gives a cola vibe; good enough to push me over the edge since the price was also quite good (the listing sat unsold for days so the seller accepted my offer of only $10 (excl. shipping) for a 1/3rd full bottle).

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