Saturday Question

Saturday Question: What’s On Your Perfume Wishlist?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 110 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

Once a week here on Australian Perfume Junkies we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is generally 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 and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a $10 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Friday.

Last Weeks Winner: $10 Surrender To Chance Gift Card Lillibet

Saturday Question: What’s On Your Perfume Wishlist?

PDI

What’s On Your Perfume Wishlist? My Answer…

OK, so here’s my WishList from June 2015

Portia’s TO-BUY List June 2015

  1. 25.9.11 by Hilde Soliani
  2. Absolue Pour le Soir by Maison Francis Kurkdjian
  3. Aedes de Venustas – Original
  4. Ambra di Luna by Ramon Monegal
  5. Ambra Mediterranea by Profumi del Forte
  6. Barkhane by Teo Cabanel
  7. Bottega Veneta parfum
  8. Chambre Noire by Olfactive Studio
  9. Cologne by Thierry Mugler
  10. Cuir Cuba Intense by Parfums De Nicolai
  11. Eau Absolue by Mona di Orio
  12. Encens Mythique d’Orient by Guerlain
  13. eo03 by biehl parfumkunstwerke
  14. Fleur Nocturne by Isabey
  15. Grandiflora Michel by Magnolia Grandiflora
  16. Granville by Christian Dior
  17. Hedonist by Viktoria Minya
  18. Moon Bloom by Hiram Green
  19. Jasmin et Cigarette by Etat Libre d’Orange
  20. Jasmin Rouge by Tom Ford
  21. L´Ombre Fauve by Parfumerie Générale
  22. Lea by Calypso St. Barth
  23. Lux by Mona di Orio
  24. Misia by CHANEL
  25. Nuit d’Amour by Guerlain
  26. Nuit de Noel Parfum by Caron
  27. Or du Serail by Naomi Goodsir
  28. Oriental Mint by Phaedon Paris
  29. Pichola by Neela Vermeire Creations
  30.  Rozy Eau de Parfum by Vero Profumo
  31. Sensual Orchid by LM Parfums
  32. Silver Man by Amouage
  33. Special for Gentlemen by Le Galion
  34. Sushi Imperiale by Bois 1920
  35. Tobacco Rose by Papillon Perfumery
  36. Tokyo Bloom by The Different Company
  37. Tzor’a by Anat Fritz
  38. Wit by Parfums DelRae
    I may have added a few more since then
  39. Ombre de Hyacinth by Tom Ford
  40. Vert Boheme by Tom Ford
  41. No 18 EdP by CHANEL
  42. Bois des Iles EdP by CHANEL
  43. Tobacco Nuit by Atelier cologne
  44. Sables by Annick Goutal
  45. De Profundis by Serge Lutens (Vaporisateur)
  46. Dõjima by Mona di Orio
  47. Suède de Suède by Mona di Orio
  48. Tadzio by Homoelegans
  49. 754 by Maison Francis Kurkdjian
  50. Daiquiris by Laboratorio Olfattivo

Anything with a line through means I’ve bought a bottle. Anything blue means I’ve changed my mind on it for whatever reason.

Let’s keep your WISHLIST to Top 5.

So my question to you today is: What are the Top 5 things on your wishlist?

 

Saturday Question: What 5 Would You Take?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 106 Comments

.

Portia

.

Hello Fellow Fumies,

Once a week here on Australian Perfume Junkies we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is generally 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 and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

If we get over 100 responses I will draw a $10 Surrender To Chance Gift Card. If we get over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card, that should buy you a couple of ml or pay your postage. Every comment will get a place in the draw, so if you comment purposefully on your own or another comment you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw the winner on Friday and the winner will be announced in next Saturdays question.

Saturday Question: What 5 Would You Take?

This is not a new question but hopefully the way I’ve posed it will be a little different. Every time I do one of these questions the answers change so it always makes me ponder joyfully.

OK, so you’re renovating your house and you have to move out for a month. It’s an Insurance Job so they’re putting you into a Serviced Apartment for one month. You’re really happy about that but there’s a downside. There’s only room in the bathroom for your ablutary stuff and 5 bottles of fragrance. It’s not forever, right, and you only have to choose for your current weather so that cuts down the crossover. What 5 Would You Take?

What 5 Would You Take? My answer

It’s winter here so I’m going to pack mainly stuff I love for cold weather and one “pretend it’s summer” scent.

Fragrantica

Keiko Mecheri Un Jour d’Ete:

This winter my “pretend it’s summer’ scent has been Un Jour d’Ete. Its creamy summer vibe has kept it on my desk as a Go-To for months now and as the weather gets cooler I seem to be reaching for it more often. Citrus, coconut and amber meld seamlessly in this beachy beauty. It’s perfect summer scent and works equally well as a reminder.

Guerlain Tonka Imperial:

This beautiful baby came into my collection recently from another collectors wardrobe. Thick, rich, ropey gouts of gorgeous in a sweet/dry sillage that instantly warms me through. Tobacco, tonka and incense over dry woods and almonds and all the Guerlain sweetness without fairy floss-ish-ness. A very gentlemanly gourmand.

Serge Lutens Arabie FragranticaFragrantica

Serge Lutens Arabie:

One of the earliest of my Serge Lutens, this bottle has only recently made its way out from the back of the frag cupboard. It is love all over again. What a fabulous perfume. Cloves, spices, fruit mince and resins all come together to offer a pre-oud look at fragrance from the Middle-East. Smelling more like a dessert market than a desert market to our 21st century noses.

DIOR Mitzah:

Aaaah Mitzah! So bold and head turning. Spicy honeyed roses with patchouli and a resinous growl. She is such a queen of a fragrance. Sometimes I wish there were only 20 bottles in my collection so I could wear my favourites much more often. This enforced month would be heavenly.

Divine EdP Divine FragranticaFragrantica

Divine EdP:

I am not quite sure why but there is little said of the Divine Parfums range. My favourite is the original EdP but I also have the extrait. When I want glamour then Divine EdP fits the bill perfectly. A spicy peach tuberose with a very vanilla mossy dry down Divine EdP is from the 1980s but shows remarkable restraint for the era. Don’t worry, you’ll be fully fragrant all night long but not in the super bomb standards of the day.

 

So, my question to you today: What 5 Would You Take?

Saturday Question: Sample Size & Format

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 33 Comments

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Portia

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Heya APJ,

Taking an idea from Olfactoria’s Travels. Once a week there used to be a Question. Everyone would chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it would be a generally fun event each week. Taking sides never meant taking offence and everyone kept it respectful and light.

Saturday Question: Sample Size & Format

Today we are joined by Lillibet who has a Saturday Question

Portia can we have one about the ideal sample size and format (i.e. spray or dab)? I’d be really interested to know what everyone thinks.
Lil Xx

My Answer:

Hey Lillibet,

I like to get 3+ good wears out of a sample. Two or three wears of four spritzes on the back of my hand usually and one full body wear with the remainder. So when I’m buying samples I usually go for the 2ml Spray option, and my go-To for that is Surrender To Chance. If I’m lucky enough to see someone splitting a thing I’m interested in or if it sounds fun I’ll buy a decant of 5ml-10ml.

When I get a smaller dab vial it will be transferred into a disposable plastic spritz bottle and I’ll get a couple of wears out of that. It never seems enough to get a real knowledge of how a fragrance performs and I often wish for more..

So, my question to you is:

What Sample Size & Format Do You Prefer?

Saturday Question: The Case Against Fragrance by Kate Grenville

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 49 Comments

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Greg Young from AusScents.

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(Ed: Taking an idea from Olfactoria’s Travels. Once a week there used to be a Question. Everyone would chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it would be a generally fun events each week. Taking sides never meant taking offence and everyone kept it respectful and light.
Today we are joined by my mate Greg who has a book review attached to the Saturday Question)

Hi APJ,

As something of a perfume collector, I thought I owed it to myself to read this book and find out more about what is in those fragrances in the cupboard.

Kate Grenville has long known that she has an intolerance for fragrances that give her headaches. When it reached a point where she was almost totally incapacitated during a book tour, she decided to research the matter and wrote this book.

(E)-I-(2,6,6-Trimethyl-I-cyclohexa-I,3-dienyl)but-2-en-I-one
(The Name of the Rose)

Book Review: The Case Against Fragrance, by Kate Grenville

 

Book Depository

 

Grenville points out that, in modern society, fragrance is almost inescapable. It’s not just the perfumes that we wear. It’s also added to every imaginable household product from toilet paper to laundry liquid. Stores, restaurants and hotels spray fragrance in the air. It’s ubiquitous, and that’s a problem for people that are affected by it, like Grenville.

Any attempt to identify what is causing these problems founders on a few issues. First, trade secrets legislation means that the contents of “fragrance” ingredients don’t have to be revealed. Second, there are thousands of ingredients commonly used in fragrance, and only a subset of these have ever been tested for safety. Finally, nearly all the testing and certification is done by the fragrance industry itself, so conflict of interest issues apply. It’s not hard to see why a manufacturer might prefer to declare that a rose fragrance contains “parfum” rather than the chemical formula above.

Even what we do know is somewhat alarming. Grenville provides an extensive list of compounds known or suspected to be carcinogenic that are either used in fragrances or can form when fragrance ingredients interact with the air (as they unavoidably will). Chief among these is formaldehyde, although there are others.

Another concern is the prevalence of synthetic musk compounds that have proven to be almost indestructible. These compounds bioaccumulate so that they become more prevalent the higher up the food chain you go. That means that the very highest levels are seen in the most vulnerable: breastfeeding babies and foetuses in utero. These musk compounds can mimic the action of hormones such as oestrogen, creating over-supply which can lead to birth defects, genetic abnormalities and cancer.

Grenville is quick to point out that it is impossible to pin this on fragrance specifically, because there are so many other potential triggers for such conditions to emerge over a lifetime. Indeed “the case against fragrance” is largely a circumstantial one. Grenville shows that there are potentially harmful chemicals in fragrances, they have reached a point of ubiquity in the environment, and people are having adverse reactions. But there is no smoking gun; it is impossible to say for sure that there is causality here, and no scientific study would draw the kinds of conclusions that Grenville invites us to make here.

So what to do? The author’s solution is a bit simplistic. For one, she advocates embracing fragrance-free versions of products. That’s fine, except she does not apply anything like the same scrutiny to those alternatives. Just as decaffeinated coffee is not necessarily better for you due to the added chemicals, how does one know whether a fragrance-free detergent contains no harmful chemicals either?

More interesting is Grenville’s suggestion that fragrance-free workplaces may become the norm. ¬If a scientific institute such as the US Centres for Disease Control can adopt a policy that says “Fragrance is not appropriate for a professional work environment”, then it’s possible to imagine that this may one day become more widespread particularly if, as in the US, there are OH&S lawsuits decided in favour of people with fragrance intolerances.

Decades ago the idea of passive smoking was seen as cranky, now it is enshrined in law. We do not have the right to deprive others of a healthy and safe work environment; that is a very clear legal precedent. So maybe one day people who wear perfume will be like the smokers of today, skulking out the back giving themselves a shot of Shalimar before washing it off and heading back inside.

Food for thought? What do you think?
Greg x

Saturday Question: What Perfumes Remind You Of Mum?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 83 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

I have had an idea. Well, actually I’m copying an idea from Olfactoria’s Travels. Once a week there used to be a Question. Everyone would chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it would be a generally fun events each week. Taking sides never meant taking offence and everyone kept it respectful and light.

I’d like to carry on that tradition, maybe you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

If we get over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card. Every comment will get a place in the draw, so if you comment purposefully on your own or another comment you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw the winner on Friday and the winner will be announced in next Saturdays question.

Last Weeks Winner: 

Send me an eMail to portia _ turbo at yahoo dawt com dawt au

Saturday Question

What Perfumes Remind You Of Mum?

If scent is the ultimate direct line of memory then let’s talk about someone who is burned in our consciousness from the earliest days of our life. I was adopted as a baby, my sister was two years later, and being chosen was always something talked about from day one. We knew we were wanted and incredible special to Mum, even though we were terrible kids and drove the poor woman to distraction. Some of my favourite Mum memories are cuddling on the couch watching TV, her picking me up in the car after a long day of sport, school, extra curricular activity and being kissed goodnight when Mum & Dad would go out. These are the three moments I’m going to focus on in my Mum scent reminders.

My answer:

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time you might as well skip ahead because you’ve read this before, or something like it. Obviously you’re welcome to read it again.

My Mum and some of her mates wore Guerlain Shalimar for daily. She also wore for long periods 0f time CHANEL No 5 as her dressed up going out scent, Giorgio Beverly Hills and Tweed as her handbag or car bottles for respritzes after golf or whatever adventures she’d been on in the day. Some things I remember her only having one bottle of were Anais Anais (because we would all call it Anus Anus), YSL Paris, Samsara, Arpege, Joy. Mum would also share with my sister a few things like Byzance, LouLou and that’s about it for what I remember. I know there are some missing from the list, my memory is shockingly bad.

When I spritz Shalimar, No 5 or Giorgio I am transported back to my Mum. It’s like a teleport. She’s been gone since 2001 but every day I miss her still and scent takes me back to her instantly. Funnily the voice of my conscience is hers most of the time. When I ask for advice or am giving myself a dressing down it’s Mum I hear almost every time.

Here’s a pic of Mum & Dad before I came along. Aren’t they beautiful?

 

So my question to you is

What Perfumes Remind You Of Mum?

Saturday Question: What Fragrance Do You Want To Be Buried In?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 63 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

I have had an idea. Well, actually I’m copying an idea from Olfactoria’s Travels. Once a week there used to be a Question. Everyone would chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it would be a generally fun events each week. Taking sides never meant taking offence and everyone kept it respectful and light.

I’d like to carry on that tradition, maybe you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

If we get over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card. Every comment will get a place in the draw, so if you comment purposefully on your own or another comment you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw the winner on Friday and the winner will be announced in next Saturdays question.

Last Weeks Winner: 

Send me an eMail to portia _ turbo at yahoo dawt com dawt au

Saturday Question:

What Fragrance Do You Want To Be Buried In?

You’re dead and gone. Everyone is grieving, even the people you hate. You’ve been primped and powdered and set up in a casket on full display. The family has dressed you in your favourite going out for dinner or a wedding outfit, except the shoes which someone in the family wanted so you’re wearing an expensive but uncomfortable pair. Doesn’t matter, you can’t feel a thing now.

What do you want your family to spritz you with while you lay in state. It will be their last glimpse of you before your earthly body is disposed of in whatever manner you’ve chosen. Is it a showcase fragrance, a signature, something weird and wonderful? Do you go niche, department store, indie or designer? Is it a fave or something for best? Will they put the bottle in the casket with you? Will they spritz your clothes or your casket lid?

My answer:

So I have two wishes. Both of which will probably be ignored but still let’s get it out there.

The Memorial Service:

Like a wedding I’d like there to be flowers on the end of each row. Green carnations and elephants ears, very simple in a white fabric bow. I would like the bows to be soaked in Guerlain Shalimar, the casket and myself also drenched in it. When mourners walk into the church they should smell Shalimar, not headache levels but fully fragrant. Shalimar has been my on and off constant companion for decades, from my Mum and her mates to me and mine. By the time I die I’m hoping that my blood will run thick with it anyway.

 

The Interment:

I’m going to be cremated so there won’t be a burial as such. I’ve got a plot but would be just as happy shovelled into my Mum’s plot. If they inter me in a box then I’d like a Guerlain Shalimar parfum bottle in with me and the box linings to be spritzed lavishly with Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur. What better way to go on to the next adventure than smelling like a gazillion dollars?

 

So, my question to you is:

What Fragrance Do You Want To Be Buried In?

Saturday Question: What Was The First Niche Fragrance Bottle You Bought?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 97 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

I have had an idea. Well, actually I’m copying an idea from Olfactoria’s Travels. Once a week there used to be a Question. Everyone would chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it would be a generally fun events each week. Taking sides never meant taking offence and everyone kept it respectful and light.

I’d like to carry on that tradition, maybe you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

If we get over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card. Every comment will get a place in the draw, so if you comment purposefully on your own or another comment you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw the winner on Friday and the winner will be announced in next Saturdays question.

Last Weeks Winner: We did not hit enough responses. No winner this week

Send me an eMail to portia _ turbo at yahoo dawt com dawt au

Saturday Question

What Was The First Niche Fragrance Bottle You Bought?

 

This is really interesting to me because I’d been buying Designer and Drug Store scents for years, Followed the new launches and flankers assiduously. Then I discovered the world of the scentbloggosphere! Suddenly, around 2010 I was plunged into a whole new world of personal scent. TBH I can’t remember if I even got my sniff on the Serge Lutens line before then. I’d come across the Armani Prive line and CHANEL Exclusives but no real niche.

My answer:

Now we are talking about full bottles here. Before I finally took the plunge and bought a bottle I had already been sampling a little bit. I wanted to try every scent in The Little Book of Perfumes: The 100 Classics by Luca Turin. The most affordable way to do that was to buy a ml of each.

Abe Books

 

Anyway, reading every night till all hours of the morning on blogs and sites. Basically engulfing every moment of spare time I had in this amazing new world of scent. I was still wearing my Gucci Envy Man, JPG Le Male, JOOP!, Guerlain Shalimar and Elizabeth Arden Sunflowers mainly but there were already a library of scents to choose from.

One person I kept seeing referenced positively was Andy Tauer. He was handsome and urbane. Unlike so many perfumers, Andy was able to talk to all of us through his blog and it felt like he was one of us. creating masterpieces in his Swiss hideaway and sending scented parcels to the world. How romantic. A fragrant hero arriving on a sea of Tauer-ade.

After careful consideration and testing I was ready to make my first niche full bottle purchase. I really wanted to share the experience so for Christmas I purchased for my BFF a bottle of L`Air du Desert Marocain (she still wears it, though it might be her third bottle buy now).

Fragrantica

For myself at the same time I ordered Eau d’Epices (I still have that original bottle, about 1/2 full). Even now when I spritz, or even smell the nozzle, it brings back the sheer excitement of getting something so unbelievably gorgeous. A scent that was hand crafted, niche, a thing that so few people would ever have and a scent that could take me on a fragrant journey in my mind.

It came with a hand written card, signed by the master himself. I could not have felt more special or more part of the community of fragheads, perfumistas, fumies or whatever label you’d like to attach. It was wonderful.

 

So my question to you is

What Was The First Niche Fragrance Bottle You Bought?

Saturday Question: Which 3 Perfume Notes Do You Look For?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 123 Comments

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Portia

.

Hello Fellow Fumies,

I have had an idea. Well, actually I’m copying an idea from Olfactoria’s Travels. Once a week there used to be a Question. Everyone would chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it would be a generally fun events each week. Taking sides never meant taking offence and everyone kept it respectful and light.

I’d like to carry on that tradition, maybe you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

If we get over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card. Every comment will get a place in the draw, so if you comment purposefully on your own or another comment you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw the winner on Friday and the winner will be announced in next Saturdays question.

Last Weeks Winner:

Send me an eMail to portia _ turbo at yahoo dawt com dawt au

PDI

Saturday Question

Which 3 Perfume Notes Do You Look For?

OK, so most of us have a few trigger notes. You know, the ones you see in a fragrance note list that instantly catch your attention. Maybe you love it because it’s a note that you love to have overwhelming you. It could be a back story player that you find easy to notice and its participation always makes you smile. A Base note that you love because it will be the one you smell the longest in your fragrant wear. Perhaps its a top note that gives you shivers. I think we all have a few notes that we recognise with love but lets keep it to three today.

My answer:

Amber: Though not every fragrance that has amber is a favourite I do tend to like my scents warm, resinous and sweet. There’s something so comfortable about ambers, and fragrances that include it in their main ingredients. It’s a little deeper than vanilla but not so darkly animal as labdanum/styrax/benzoin alone. Some of my most loved ambers include L’Artisan L’Eau d’Ambre, Huitiem Art Ambre Cerulean, Jessica simpson Fancy Nights and Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan.

Rose: Roses come in so many different scent families. They can be sweet and jammy, citrus or tea, smoky, boozy, fruity and a whole host of others, or combined. There’s something incredibly precious about how a rose smells. Maybe because Mum loved them so much and grew them in our garden. I could have been influenced by the adoration for roses in prose, advertisement and gardening books but I really do feel a genuine attachment to the fragrances that roses emit. Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur, Soivohle Rosa sur Reuse, Olympic Orchids Ballets Rouges, Parfums DelRae Coup de Foudre and Annick Goutal Ce Soir ou Jamais are just some of my rose loves.

Lavender: Lavender is so soothing yet manages to also be gloriously alive and breathtakingly beautiful. Considering what a fragrant staple it’s been its poor reputation in the 21st century seems unwarranted. Personally I can take it straight up, blended among the crowd, a central or backing role. It scent refreshes my brain and lets me sleep like a log, whenever I change the sheets I spritz the new ones with L’Occitane Lavande de Haute-Provence. Other Lavender loves include CHANEL Boy, Le Galion Cologne Nocturne, Guerlain Jicky, Hermessence Brin de Réglisse and Jean Paul Gaultier Le Mâle.

 

So my question to you is

Which 3 Perfume Notes Do You Look For?

Saturday Question: Excellent Customer Service

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 40 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

I have had an idea. Well, actually I’m copying an idea from Olfactoria’s Travels. Once a week there used to be a Question. Everyone would chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it would be a generally fun events each week. Taking sides never meant taking offence and everyone kept it respectful and light.

I’d like to carry on that tradition, maybe you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

If we get over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card. Every comment will get a place in the draw, so if you comment purposefully on your own or another comment you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw the winner on Friday and the winner will be announced in next Saturdays question. If you win, send me an eMail to portia _ turbo at yahoo dawt com dawt au

Last Weeks Winner: Sadly we didn’t make the goal last week. Damnit! 

Saturday Question: Excellent Customer Service This week on APJ we want to read about your Best Beauty Customer Service moments.

Saturday Question

Excellent Customer Service

So often we hear about the terrible product, the poor wrapping and packaging for postage, the snarky seller, the fool SA and the gamut of bad customer service experiences. Today I’d like to turn that around. It’s so rare to get a good service story because where is the interest in sharing that? we SHOULD get good service, getting it isn’t really a surprise, right? Well I don’t agree. Currently I am MUCH more surprised to be given above and beyond service with a smile. So this week I thought we could all share the good news on brands, SAs, fragrant experiences that were better than the soul crushing norm. It will also be a boost to these companies, and who doesn’t want to shop where the product or service is excellent. Win Win all round.

My answer:

Recently I was online looking for The Scent of Departure series of fragrances. I remember loving the Bali one and Jin’s favourite city in the world is Budapest. Wouldn’t it be a perfect birthday present if I could find him a fragrance that combined his love of travel and fave city? I was super excited when I found them at The Grooming Clinic, which turns out to be a UK store.

Because when I arrived at the site they showed Euro I was unaware that they were in the UK, interestingly the do send everything to the world except fragrance because of UK postal bans. So I went right ahead and purchased these two fragrances.

Within the hour they had sent me an email. Very kindly and politely explaining their quandary with postage of frags outside the UK. They asked if I had mates in the UK who they could send it to and then they could post it for me from Europe somewhere. Thoughtful and excellent thinking but no. They also asked if I would like my money refunded with zero charge to my PayPal account. Yes, it was the best option for me.

By morning Sydney time the money was back in my account, The Grooming Clinic sent me an apology email and it was all done in such a friendly tone and seamlessly. Though I don’t have my product I am so happy to recommend these guys because the experience was 100% positive.

So my question to you is

Where Have You Had Excellent Customer Service?

Saturday Question: What Size Full Bottles Do You Buy?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 92 Comments

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Portia

.

Hello Fellow Fumies,

I have had an idea. Well, actually I’m copying an idea from Olfactoria’s Travels. Once a week there used to be a Question. Everyone would chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it would be a generally fun events each week. Taking sides never meant taking offence and everyone kept it respectful and light.

I’d like to carry on that tradition, maybe you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

OK, so you’re all sending me broke. Let’s UP THE ANTE! If we get over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card. Every comment will get a place in the draw, so if you comment purposefully on your own or another comment you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw the winner on Friday and the winner will be announced in next Saturdays question.

Last Weeks Winner: Tiffanie

Send me an eMail to portia _ turbo at yahoo dawt com dawt au

Saturday Question

What Size Full Bottles Do You Buy?

I’ve been thinking about Full Bottles. A couple of weeks ago Rosarita313 brought up her love of buying smaller bottles of fragrance and it got me to thinking. My collection contains almost every size of bottle but do I have a preference? Then that led to the obvious next step, do you all have a preference? So let’s see who thinks what about Full Bottles.

Also, we are asking the question for today. Right now. this is not an enduring answer that we will hold you to in future. Don’t think too heavily about it but do please have some reasons why.

My answer:

I think I go three ways.

Full Bottles

100ml+ Bottles

OK, these are delight and bane of my existence. When I’m in the rush of love and think this fragrance will suddenly supersede all others as my one & only favourite then I’ll often buy the 100ml full bottle or more. It’s also good if I want to Split the bottle or if a friend has already said that they’d buy some ml off me. Also when something is D/Cd then I’ll buy the biggest bottle available.

Full Bottles

30ml Bottles

I bloody LOVE 30ml full bottles. It’s the perfect size for me in most of my fragrances. There’s enough that when you want to spritz you can do it lavishly. They don’t take up ridiculously large areas in my cupboard and there’s enough to make a couple of 2ml decants for my mates.

Full Bottles

Travel Bottles

If ALL full bottles came in a 10 or 15ml Travel Bottle then my whole collection would be made up of them. They are by far the easiest. I love spending a few minutes before leaving on holiday picking a suitable selection. They fit beautifully in my carry on luggage and are also good in my pocket if I’m out for the day and into the evening. A sneaky spritz before my next adventure and I’m good to go.

So my question to you is

What Size Full Bottles Do You Buy?