Saturday Question: What Is Your Most Expensive Perfume Purchase?

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

At APJ we have a Saturday Question. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it’s a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back regularly and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them. The aim is to generate real conversation and connection even though we are scattered around the globe.

 

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Not the Guerlain Bee. And other current stuff.

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Val the Cookie Queen

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Hey there APJ.

IMG_8577.JPG

I was in Prague last week.  My husband (mental age 23, real age just turned 60) and we went away to celebrate his big birthday in peace.  We rode more than 120 km on old bikes through the streets of Prague, discovering the beautiful city, especially fun over the cobblestones. That was all in 2 days.  As we cycled round we came across a Guerlain store, lovely windows, full of bee bottles and the parfum bottles.  I am not a true Guerlain girl and am just not interested in the tons of news stuff, including the Aqua Allegoria series (pastel colours!) nor the bottles that they are in.  If the bottle sucks you can be sure I am not gonna be interested.  I was recently talking to The Candy Perfume Boy about how incredibly important packaging is…..  Talking of CPB, I hope you have all listened to the recent Fume Chat podcast, it is back.   I did get however get excited about seeing Jicky in the window, and decided to return the next day to go in and try all three versions of it.  I had never tried it.   Yeah, yeah ,whatever.  The SA was marvelous and I sprayed hefty doses of the EdT, EdP, and the Parfum, and left.  I rather liked the parfum, but not enough to fork out the dosh.  I could not detect one single tiny hint of lavender in any of them, and would much rather drown myself in Chanel`s Boy, and I have Shalimar which is Jicky enough for me.  And anyway,  I have my own bee.

Not the Guerlain Bee.  And other current stuff.

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SOTD 15.7 – 21.7.2019

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Portia

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Hi APJ,

A SOTD (Scent Of The Day) thread is a really good conversation generator. The idea is you’ll chime in through the week with whatever scent you are wearing. You don’t need to be super knowledgable, have high faluting tastes or be a published author to comment. Just tell us what fragrance you’re wearing, smelling, buying etc. and how it makes you feel and/or anything else about it that tickles your fancy.

You can also comment on everyone else choices too. It’s great to tell someone how much you love their choice, ask for more info about it, the house or perfumer. There’s someone here from around the world 24/7 and perfume people love to chat.

SOTD 15.7 – 21.7.2019
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Saturday Question: What Cheapy Do You Wear?

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

At APJ we have a Saturday Question. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it’s a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back regularly and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them. The aim is to generate real conversation and connection even though we are scattered around the globe.

 

Continue reading

SOTD 8.7 – 14.7.2019

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Portia

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Hi APJ,

A SOTD (Scent Of The Day) thread is a really good conversation generator. The idea is you’ll chime in through the week with whatever scent you are wearing. You don’t need to be super knowledgable, have high faluting tastes or be a published author to comment. Just tell us what fragrance you’re wearing, smelling, buying etc. and how it makes you feel and/or anything else about it that tickles your fancy.

You can also comment on everyone else choices too. It’s great to tell someone how much you love their choice, ask for more info about it, the house or perfumer. There’s someone here from around the world 24/7 and perfume people love to chat.

SOTD 8.7 – 14.7.2019
Continue reading

Saturday Question: Name One Perfume Released In Your Birth Year?

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

At APJ we have a Saturday Question. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it’s a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back regularly and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them. The aim is to generate real conversation and connection even though we are scattered around the globe.

 

Continue reading

NIVEA: When the blues hit, Nivea to the rescue

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Kate Apted

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Hey APJ community!

Now and then we all get hit by the blues. Life seems devoid of joy and the usual things we do for comfort lose all appeal. It has been one of those months, and worst of all, I have hardly any interest in perfume.

NIVEA 2015

When the blues hit, Nivea to the rescue

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin, Bergamot, Lavender
Heart: Lily-of-the-valley, Rose, Freesia, Ylang-ylang
Base: Sandalwood, Musky notes

I devote an hour everyday to doing things fragrance related, such as taking a bubble bath in my latest shower gel, researching on my favoured perfume sites, catching up with perfumistas and/or re-sorting my collection. I haven’t even been doing that!

The only things I have been taking little sniffs of are related: my tin of Nivea cream that I never put on my skin, and my little sample of Nivea edt I bough a few weeks back. There is a gentle comfort to the Nivea scent that goes all the way back to when I was 8 years old.

I did try to wear Monsieur by Frederic Malle, but it made me kind of itchy in an internally restless way, so I washed it off. The smell of food has been off putting and actually made my appetite weaker than normal. I am definitely in the midst of something rather unsettling and only time will tell what it is.

Strangely, I am not inclined to sell any of my perfumes, yet a week ago, I put aside a stack ready for me to list on Facebook in various markets. Some bottles are even annoying me. My shower gels are unused and I have taken to using a bar of Allure (Chanel) soap I tucked away  for when I needed a soap with minimal scent.

See? I am not myself right now. I have faith I will come out of this and my zeal for perfume shall return. But in the meantime, I need to ride out whatever it is.

Just yesterday, my eldest, H, sprayed his usual haze of Lynx (or Axe) Australia around his body and I felt I had been gassed with WWI mustard gas. I had to leave the house for frezh air! It is a pretty decent oud-like scent and I have no qualms with him spraying with abandon.

So, back to the blue tin of Nivea cream. There is something so simple, so universally appealing about the vibrant dark blue tin with the bold white lettering. It is a piece of ‘home’ found the world over. The tin makes a marvellously alive sound as it is opened. And inside is the thick cream that used to remind me of the purest double cream I’d see at the dairy as a child. Then the scent… Oh, how does one even put that heavenly powdery, metallic, hyacinth smell to words?!

I guess I want to be around the familar; things that are pleasant, yet not overbearing or complicated. I don’t even need to think about the Nivea experience. I can visualise everything about it with hardly any effort.

What brings you comfort when the blues hit? Are there any scents you warm up to, or perhaps avoid?

May you shine on, you crazy diamonds,

Kate xx