Scent Diary 30.3-5.4.2026

Portia

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Hello Australian Perfume Junkies and friends, Scent Diary tells the story of my week past in fragrance, friends and fun. Join us for a recap and then tell us what happened in your week, what you wore, did any of my wears give you a thrill. Comment so it feels less like I’m shouting into the void and more like we are connected and sharing our lives, please.

Scent Diary

Scent Diary: 30.3-5.4.2026

Monday

Woke really early and knew that there was no sleep left in me. Morning Routine: 10 Minutes.

  • Don’t Touch the Phone
  • Get Sunlight in My Eyes
  • Drink Water
  • Move Body 3 Minutes
  • Set One Intention
  • Avoid Negative Input (TV, Socials, Arguments)
  • One Small Win

Took the dogs for a wee in the beautiful cool morning sunlight. Now they’re curled up on their beds under the TV till I feed them and give them a proper walk later.

Guerlain Shalimar (Sha-Lemur)

Hit the computer. Blogging, commenting on socials, made coffee.

Started writing this weeks Trivia Q&A

Jin and I went out to get him some medical imaging. Did some grocery shopping and grabbed two new goldfish to replace a couple of losses while we were away. They are SO cute!

Then Jin cooked some pork in a Korean style. When he tasted it though the pork was not good. Dogs will be thrilled.

After lunch I wanted something a bit fizzy over the Sha-Lemur. Liberté by Cacharel. One of my all time favourites.

Back to the computer and Trivia.

Fed and walked the dogs. Weather’s gone cool and a bit cloudy. Nice.

Jin is watching a series called Evil. WAY too scary for me. It’s got so many TV stars in it. Like a who’s who of second leads.

Reading Twenty Years Together.

Jin cooked Bulgogi and rice. He used two different supermarket bottles to see how they stacked up. It wasn’t the worst but was nowhere near as good as his usual, made from scratch deliciousness. We ate it, no one died.

Read.

Maria Candida Gentile Exultat

Tuesday

Up and Morning Routine: 10 Minutes. done. Taking the dogs for a wee was so beautiful. I think it must have rained last night. Everything is sparkly and fresh. Sunlight making everything glitter.

Twilly d’Hermès got the spritz this morning. Such a happy, sweet nothing.

Twilly d'Hermès

Reading and starting to review Twenty Years Together.

Had the most delightful bath. Soaked for an hour, then shaved, washed myself and went back to the book.

Jin came home with a nanny cam for the garage. It joins to his phone and is loaded to the cloud so if any drama occurs we have video evidence. This after his home tool kit got nicked from the garage when he accidentally left the door open. If it happens again at least we will see who was responsible.

Off to work. No drag because of this bloody sty. Spritzed Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur. SWOON!

Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur Scent Diary

Work was excellent. 90+ players. So much fun.

Home. Jin is on the couch because somehow his room is full of mosquitos ands they LOVE him. He’s really allergic to their bites too and comes up in great welts.

I’ve had a cuppa, done some computer stuff, now going to read.

Fed and walked the dogs. Late evening wanders are so calm. We are on the verge of a full pink moon and I’m exited for it.

Over my tattered remnants of Musc Ravageur Tom Ford Oud Minerale from a FragranceNet decant.

Sleep.

Wednesday

Morning Routine: 10 Minutes. Did a set of 10 Burpee’s this morning. O M G! I’m so out of shape and my strength is negligible. My body was complaining the whole time. I used to be able to do 100 of them in a training session. I’d like to work up to 25 in a go.

Gucci Bloom Acqua di Fiori. Salty white flowers. Y U M

Gucci Bloom Acqua di Fiori Scent Diary

Morning, getting two blog posts for this month on Undina’s Looking Glass started. Woo Hoo! Upcoming L’Air du Temps and Olympic Orchids pieces.

Dusting, lunch, then vacuum. Yes, I know it’s a Monday job but Jin and I spent some time together on Monday. Happily be behind in my housework for time with him.

Well, Jin came home while I was having lunch and fell asleep on the couch. No vacuuming today.

Work tonight at Greystanes Hotel. Wearing Le Galion Aesthete. Old pic, bottle is a good deal emptier now.

Took this pic in the hotel carpark as I arrived. You can see the full pink moon even in daylight.

Home. Dogs fed and walked. HUGE pink moon tonight, so enormous but only a little pink so far. Tomorrow night should be a showstopper. I wished on the moon, so hard. Let’s hope it heard and will act kindly.

Had a midnight shower with the bathroom lights out. Only the light from a low hall lamp making sure I didn’t fall. It was lovely and peaceful.

For bed I heavily spritzed L’Artisan Skin on Skin

Thursday

OMG! I was up at sparrows fart to get myself out and about in time for the day. Morning Routine: 10 Minutes. It took longer than 10 minutes because I fed and walked the dogs for a while because Jin and I would be out all day. So getting sunlight in my eyes was well and truly done.

Sarah Jessica Parker Stash Unspoken this morning. Light, bright and breezy. Smells so nice but totally low key.

In the car and drove 90+ minutes to breakfast with Eve and a surprise visit from her lovely daughter Lola, my goddaughter. We sat outside in Eve’s fave restaurant/cafe down near Manly beach, they live nearby.

Eve and I did a coastal drive to meet and chat with various venues about Turbo Trivia. We hit 8 venues together and had some lovely interactions. Fingers crossed.

On my way to my lunch appointment also dropped into another venue. So, very chuffed with myself for getting NINE cards into the venues. It doesn’t sound like a lot but personal interactions are the best way to drum up business.

Lunch with the gorgeous Lisa. She is photo averse so here are some shots of the new Chatswood stand alone Libertine Parfumerie that we spent a very happy hour perusing, sniffing and generally enjoying. Benz was our SA for the day and she had some interesting and insightful input. She also has an excellent sense of humour. I’ll be back in the very near future.

Sniffed maybe 40 fragrances and not one of them called for a spritz on my skin. Who even am I?

Home. I was wrecked so instead of cleaning the house up I went straight to bed for a disco nap. A blissful hour later Jin arrived home, he hit the couch for a 40 minute nap while I did some extremely low key tidying.

Gave myself a single back of neck spray of CHANEL Jersey EdT

Jin, masterchef and teacher, had organized with Anthony and Jacinta to teach them some simple Korean cookery. Scotty was invited too but he already had other plans. The menu was Beef & Seaweed Soup, Beef Bulgogi and Cucumber Salad. The three dishes were done simply and quickly. While they were eating the soup I cooked the Bulgogi. Jin had already organized the plentiful side dishes that Korean food is so famous for. He has a hint if your Kimchi has been in the fridge for a long time and gone a little too sour. Grab some, throw it in a frying pan for a minute with a drizzle of Sesame Oil and a little bit of Sugar; then it will be much more palatable. It was a really enjoyable evening.

After they left we watched some football and then Jin went to bed.

I fed and walked the dogs in a perfectly clear evening, cool and crisp. The full pink moon was on display and I made wishes on it.

Bed, reading, sleep.

Friday

Woke up slowly and in my own time. Morning Routine: 10 Minutes. Today I did 20 slow Jumping Jacks and 40 fast ones, some stretching and Squats.

Morning spritz of Solar Lavender Issey Miyake PH. So satisfying and lovely in this less hot warmth.

Finished reading Twenty Years Together and wrote my review, Sent in. ONE DAY EARLY!

My girlfriend Betty came and the two of us went out for Thai food. She had never eaten it before and was pleasantly surprised at how yum it was. We had Veg Spring Rolls, Curry Puffs, Chicken and Peanut sauce with Egg Fried Rice. She has recently lost her Mum so there was lots of loving chats about her. Also about her current situation and how far forward she has come. Really nice catch up.

Lazed around the house. Dogs came and took over most of my bed.

Had a haircut by my personal barber, Jin Seo. Feeling refreshed.

Jin went out for a round of golf.

Victoria Beckham 2150 Reverie from STC decant. This smells like a plastic/chemical plant fire wearing glossy lipstick. Do better Posh.

We had table BarBQ tonight. Duck breast and Pork belly. Yes, I know it is Good Friday. Sorry if you’re all worried about me. If you think THAT is the thing I’m going to hell for then we need to have a chat. It was so delicious. Here’s Jin stuffing his face serenely.

I had a bubble bath, HOT!

We watched the footy and Jin hit the hay.

Dogs fed and walked.

Roja Dove Mischief from a decant. I can’t remember what it smelled like originally, can’t remember if it smelled this dirty then. Bloody love it.

Saturday

OMG! I slept till 9.30am. HEAVEN! Morning Routine: 10 Minutes.

This is how I found Jin and the dogs upon awakening. It continued blissfully until we had lunch. TV blasting rubbish, them in and out of sleep.

This morning was a bit rainy. Scattered showers. Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur. Something deep, rich and rosy. Love this old photo, taken in Milan.

We had Thai reheats for lunch.

Started reading a new book to review. It’s called Staying Kind in an Unkind World by Kate Baker. I’ve known Kate for decades, since last century. She has always been a bright spot in the LGBTQIA+ scene and became a Police Officer for 25 years of that time. This is a help yourself by helping the world around you book. She has given me a small assignment in the first chapter and I’m finding the read enlightening.

Jin asked if I’d like to wander eight holes with him. To be honest it was not what I wanted to do but he asked nicely and we do have this four day weekend without major plans so…

The ducks are so unperturbed by golfers. here Jin has made a bunch of new buddies who are cheering on his putting ability.

Had to shoo this family from in front of the tee. Mr Duck was not very happy about it and tried to give me cheek.

This is the view up the 9th, straight to downtown Parramatta. The course in beautifully situated, and only a 5ish minute drive from our place.

So glad to have gone and wandered the club. It was a beautiful wander.

Dinner, some footy on the TV and after Jin went to bed I fed and walked the dogs. Then got to blogging and reading. All very low key.

Spritzed some Teo Cabanel Barkhane. Sweet, vanilla/tonka rich, oudh/leathery gorgeousness.

Got the urge to do some perfume blogging. Always nice to have some pre-written posts. Tried to get some Trivia Q&A done but couldn’t sleep my head straight enough for that, tomorrow.

Hoping to still be awake at 4am Oz EST (20.00 CET) for Val the Cookie Queen on the radio.
Stayed up till 3.40am. Wrote to Val saying I was going to listen. IT WAS YESTERDAY!

Sunday

Jin woke me at around 7am. He took the dogs for a wee and left the keys inside. GRRR! You can imagine how thrilled I was.

Did a truncated Morning Routine: 10 Minutes.

Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely Noir. I wanted sweet, but chewy, caramel sweet. This stuff is happily disgusting.

We watched some Korean TV. I went back to bed.

Woke to a couple of Lindt bunnies hanging on our front door. Mine was nearly demolished in one sitting.

Jin’s BFF Matt played ASSHOLE today. Hilarious.

BFF Kath came for lunch. Did a Portia retake of Eggs Benedict with available ingredients, and fried eggs for ease. Plates were cleaned. Both photos of Eggs Portia by Kath. Afterwards we walked the dogs.

Hung with Jin. Watched some footy.

Had a bath. O M G! Soaked for an hour before getting myself clean. So good.

Amouage Ubar today in honor of ping ponging messages with Val the Cookie Queen. This is an old photo, MUCH more air in the bottle now.

Lazy evening.

We had Chinese at the local. SO DELICIOUS!

Jin had to do a special call out to a country depot. 9pm we set off. Four hour drive each way.

Home. Slept.

2 thoughts on “Scent Diary 30.3-5.4.2026

  1. Another good week! Just FYI that because a blank draft of this seemed to have been posted last week, in my feed that is still the placement even though it’s now been fully populated. Hopefully everyone still finds it!

    I can relate to Jin’s predicament with the mosquitoes! Hope he has managed to eradicate them all. I’m also a mozzie magnet and come up in bumps and welts with their bites.

    Wore J’Adore several days this week as I’m trying to use up my mini. Super cute tiny bottle with a screw cap! It’s also deliciously juicy with that fruity pear note.

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    • Hey there Nose Prose, yes, wrong button pressed early by accident. GRR! Very annoying.
      Sorry to read you are a mosquito sufferer. I watch Jin with horror every summer. It’s a curse.

      Finally found the J’Adore for me last year. It is the L’Or flanker. HEAVEN!
      Portia xx

      Like

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