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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
This week I finally hit the pause button. Literally spent two full days on the couch or in bed reading and watching TV. Yes there was plenty of excitement on the other days and I had to work both nights but it was blissful. Amazing how two days can recharge me, do you find that?
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
We are back in business. Yes, things look a bit different around here and there will be some change. Please understand that this has been a big deal and now we are coming g back from the dead. We have lost all our followers & subscribers and will have to work really hard to get as many people back, and hopefully add a bunch of newbies too.
Scent Diary is a birdseye view of my week. Often there is a whole lot of living mixed in with the perfumes. Friends & family, food, travel, momentous events, everyday living. I love to read about your adventures too in the comments and often we get lively discussion down there. I try to reply to every comment and add my 2c, feel free to add yours when and wherever. We only ask that you keep it respectful.
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
This week turned out to be all about fragrance and friends. We also got the go-ahead to buy a new townhouse so VERY excited about that too. Life has been very generous with us and we are grateful in the extreme.
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Portia
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Happy New Year APJ,
What a week! It’s been super hot and sweaty here in Oz. Some of our peeps are in Sydney on holidays or have been off work for part of the week. So many fantastic catch ups.
This is what midnight looked like where we were. My BFF Kath took this photo just after we’d done the countdown. Cool shot huh?
Wishing you all a wonderful 2018. Fill it with loads of good stuff so the shit seems less deep. Continue reading
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Portia
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Hello Australian Perfume Junkies,
SO MUCH PERFUME this week. It seems I have spritzed every two hours.
Also loads of fun and excitement in the rest of my life. BIG week.
MONDAY morning! It started out sunny and warm while walking the dogs but just as we came home soft persistent rain appeared. It’s misty and warm rain, very nice.
Lunch with Jin at a Vietnamese place up the road.
Working tonight, filling in for one of my girls because tonight is Sydney’s gala Night of Nights; the DIVAs. Drag Industry Variety Awards. Every queen and her hairdo will be out to see who won and who lost. It used to be my favourite night of the year, something changed and now I don’t think I’ve been for a decade.
Annick Goutal Musc Nomade bubble bath, Keihl’s Original Musk lotion and Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur fragrance. It’s a musky moment here at Chez Turbo.
Great fun tonight at Stonewall filling in. It was nice to catch up with all the girls and have hellos. I didn’t stay to party but came home, had dinner, watched a movie and cleaned the kitchen.
Now I’m sitting down to finish and send the Trivia Q&A. Just spritzed Parfumerie General Suede Osmanthe. I sit swathed in beauty.
Busy boy, busy life.
I was up at sparrows fart to clean the apartment. Just the regular weekly vacuuming, bathroom (Jin cleans his own bathroom), kitchen and bin emptying. I had it all done by 9am, sat down and had a cuppa then got the dogs fed and out walking.
Wearing Goldfield & Banks Wood Infusion and loving myself sick.
Scotty is here. We got so much done today. Emails, Post Office, Bank, APJ Mailouts, Lunch and general chatter.
Bathed in Bath & Body Works Rainkissed Leaves, wearing Aedes de Venustas Palissandre d’Or. So pretty, a woodsy fragrance but the woods are tempered by a zing of pink pepper and the earthy smoothness of modern patchouli. Aides de Venustas are clever, they do fragrances that are interesting and extremely wearable, this is no exception. Not a big scent but quietly confident.
Up early, well early for me. Dogs fed and walked, had a cuppa and off for a perfume adventure with my mate Tim. A couple of chest spritzes of Guerlain Meteorites from a decant to keep me fragrant till the real sniffing starts.
So first stop was the Annual CosMax SALE. It was quite fabulous. We were like kids in a candy store. I bought Guerlain Angelique Noire and Oriental Brulant, 2 x Burberry wet packs and a 30ml each JPG Classique and Le Male. There was SO MUCH great stuff I could have spent $2000 but only spent $360! YAY!
Then we went to the Estee Lauder Staff Shop where we bumped into Willa Zheng, ex APJ writer and all round good time girl. I bought 2 x Clinique Aromatics Elixir Shower Gels and Scott’s Xmas present, sorry can’t tell you in case he reads it.
Then home for a nap on the couch, then off to work tonight again.
I’m home now but tomorrow is a very early start. Good night.
3am bedtime. Original Lolita Lempicka EdP. Sweet liquorice cotton candy. Perfect to float off to la la land.
Woke up in a sweet violet liquorice fog, beautiful scent. Straight in the bath, even before feeding and walking the dogs, because I have a daytime Christmas party gig today.
What to wear for a daytime Christmas Party? Mugler Womanity! What else?
Came home and got undressed, had a little lie down. Got back up, fixed my makeup and went out to do tonights gig. This time I was wearing CHANEL Boy. It fit in perfectly over the Womanity and I got three lovely compliments on how good I smelled. YAY!
Now I’m home and completely stuffed.
A sneaky spritz of Tom Ford Ombre de Hyacinth before bed. NIGHT!
Neela Vermeire Creations Pichola for a warm morning, full sunshine and not very humid. Perfect dog walking morning. The grevillias are blooming.
Jin and I were approved to buy a new townhouse nearby. This is a big deal. Having sold the Tasmanian properties we now have an excellent deposit for it. With it being so close it means there will be no travel to fix problems. It’s already tenanted with a family that loves it and doesn’t expect us to do a thousand improvements. Borrowing this kind of money makes me very jumpy and nervous and I relied on my Pichola to act as a calming agent, it did.
Parfum d’Empire Equistrius for a shot of gorgeous after lunch.
I can say honestly that my afternoon/evening was spent sleeping and watching TV. Nothing got done, no Trivia work, no house work, almost no blog work. It was blissful. I ate junk food, drank coffee, juice, water and was generally a slob. Currently re-watching The Crown on Netflix. Wonderful time, by myself with the dogs.
Arrivals Guerlain Lui & Insolence parfum
For the afternoon/evening I was wearing vintage Miss Dior parfum. Took Kath out for her birthday to our fave steak joint, Alice came too. It was bloody delicious. Afterwards we had ice-cream in cones YUMMMMM.
Bed Guerlain Floral Romantique from a decant.
Annick Goutal Songes inspired by a SOTD post this week. Great choice for this warm humid weather.
Jin and I grabbed charcoal chickens for Kath’s Birthday Lunch. It was a very nice morning hanging with the family.
O M G !! Walked into the house after work tonight and Jin had been cooking stuff. It stank. On top of that he had candles of all different scents burning to muffle it. My head exploded in a headache immediately. It was like being in a scent nightmare. I grabbed the dogs and fed and walked them as soon as I could to get some fresh air. Came back and it is much better, not perfect but bearable. PHEW!
It’s YOUR turn. What’s happening in your world?
Did you do anything Fun or Fragrant, with Friends and Family or maybe 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
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Portia
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WHIRLWIND WEEK APJ,
Getting ready, getting out, getting here. It’s been so bloody hectic and 100% fun. Yes, there have been some surprises, not all of them ultimately happy ones, but that’s what holiday adventures are all about. This is hope I would love to live, travelling the world in search of experience. Meeting new people and having a momentary connection, or making new friends. Heaven.
Getting ready for going away
In the evening Alice, TinaG and Phil dropped around and it was great to see them even though I was preoccupied.
A Press Sample of Parfumerie Generale Suede Osmanthe 5.1 arrived in the mail. It is unutterably beautiful. Sweet, green, fruity, plush suede and very sexy. Imagine if Daim Blond was amped towards canned fruit in sugar syrup and greened out.
Running around and getting the final things done. Scott came over and helped, Jin was of work so we ran around together. It was fun. I love these guys.
Jacomo Silences PdT was my daytime accompaniment. Excellent mossy chypre. It was about AUD$11/30ml spray from FragranceNet and smells divine.
Worked, back in drag tonight after 2 weeks out with my ankle. All seems good now.
Neela Vermeire Creations Trayee was my choice for work tonight and I smelled utterly fabulous. There were moments when I drifted off into frag head land. BLISS!
Packed the bags tonight. Cleaned the fish tank. Emptied all the bins for bin night. Cleaned up our dining table and put all my fragrances into my perfume room. Folded the washing and put it away.
Just before bed I spritzed some vintage CHANEL No 5 EdP. Sleepy time.
Took the dogs out to the kennels because Jin will be working weird hours and the boys really like their regimented life. They also love going back out to the trainers to brag about their forever home adventures. I wore vintage Caron Infini that comes in a pressurised spritz. The initial aldehydes have become shrill, oily and metallic but one minute in and HEAVEN! My mate margo reckons it’s early 1970s PdC from a gift set. Very cool.
Home for some lunch. The last of the Chinese reheats.
Here are my hairy Hobbit feet and lavish red nail polish. I’m ready for India now.
Keihl’s Original Musk lotion, Olympic Orchids Amber/Labdanum Bath Oil, Cuir Pleine Fleur James Heeley was my bathing ritual for the flight. Fragrant but hopefully not IN YOUR FACE.
Got my gear together and Jin took me to the airport. Happy to be going, sad to be leaving stuff. You get it, I know.
The American Express Lounge is not so much fun solo. I nearly drank them out of sparkling and still water. Hydration pre flight.
Historic entertainment units on China Southern. Actually it was nice not being bombarded with movies from less than a metre away and I got some solid reading done too. Finished Handmaid’s Tale and started on some new thing that was recommended but I’m not sure whether I even understand it yet.
The staff were so good, no problems, full of smiles. I enjoyed the flights immensely.
ARRIVED Delhi Airport.
We stayed in Gurgoan and had dinner there.
Showered quickly at night and doused myself in vintage Miss Dior parfum.
Hotel breakfast, more vintage Miss Dior parfum then off for a flight to Assam. Arrived safely, though the kangaroo style landing left me in doubt of our ultimate survival for a few moments. Careening around like a drunken sailor with St Vitus Dance.
We ordered an Uber who drove us the four hours into the mountains of Meghalaya state, to the capital Shillong. We only stopped once but the scenery on the journey was absolutely breathtaking. The middle shot is a boarding school, the most spectacular grounds and scenery.
For some reason Varun was expecting a tiny town perched atop a mountain, much like McLeod Gang was back in 2001 when we visited. Sadly it is a HUGE city. Well, sadly for Varun, I’m very happy here. The hustle and bustle leaves NYC for dead.
At night we wandered the markets and had Mo-Mos. A selection of steamed chicken and fried pork.
We woke at around 5am and set out on an adventure walk around 5.30am. Varun had found a nearby lake park with a walking track around the gardens. Lodki Park was designed and built by the British while they were here and it seriously looks like time has stood still since then. We wandered around it for about an hour then came back to the hotel for breakfast.
Spectacular hedges of dahlia glowed in the cool morning mist, they lit up the walk and reminded me how precious the gift of adventure is. I’ve never seen such a display and these hedges dotted the walk all around the lake and through the parklands.
Breakfast! Yeah, I know it doesn’t look like much. That’s because it’s my third helping of dal, vegetables, yoghurt and paratha. Happy place reached.
Todays excursion was to the wettest places on earth, Mawsynram and Cherrapunji. What better time to see them than in monsoon. The heavens did not disappoint. We drove through clouds more than half the day with sporadic clearings. When it rained it bucketed down and the rest of the time it drizzled and spritzed. Not terribly cold until you got into the winds.
We hiked to some spectacular waterfalls, three sets in all but we only got real photographable vision of one set.
We had Masala Chai to celebrate. Hint for India travel: buy a large bottle of mineral water and get them to make your tea with this. Saves dirt in your coffee. This place was every sort of gorgeous and the kids who run it super sweet.
We also went into a cave complex. It wasn’t terribly long, about 150m, but there were some very low and tight squeezes. We also ended up knee deep in water a couple of times and the rest was climbing over rocks. All done in bare feet. Sadly it wasn’t really photographable but it was an amazing experience.
Varun had chicken Mo-Mos and chilli jam at a roadside stall. I was feeling a bit queazy from driving the winding mountain ranges so I just drank water.
We stopped at a town and looked around a bit. Some dog started barking at me. That never happens, they always love me. I was extremely downhearted by it.
As we drove home the clouds closed in around us. Visibility was about 10m at the most. It was beautiful and eerie, like floating. Amazing trip.
We wandered around to the City Family Dhaba, Shillong’s #1 recommended restaurant. Everybody we spoke to told us it was a must visit. It didn’t disappoint either.
We were so full at the end we couldn’t even finish the garlic Naan. Sacrilege!!
Varun: What do you want to listen to
Portia (being a smart arse) Karen Carpenter of the Carpenters
Music comes on: It’s Gonna Take Some Time by the Carpenters
Consider this smart arse put in his place. SNAP!
Then we hit the club on the roof of our hotel. Varun and I danced until my t-shirt was dripping wet. We sat for a while and then I needed a shower and then bed. Bloody hell. I’m DEAD!!
Couldn’t sleep last night. The dogs of Shillong must be having gang territory wars. It sounded vicious and intense and continued for hours. From the sounds there were dogs being torn apart. Terrifying. Every time I thought it had stopped and drifted towards the lands of nod another round would begin.
So I am sleepless and a trifle sweaty this morning.
Best fixer for that? Jacomo Silences. Freaking perfect.
SORRY I’m a bit late posting this addendum! Out all day. Had a wonderful time seeing more waterfalls and lakes.
This is our Shillong driver Yuvraj, his name means prince destined to be king. He has perfect English and is excellent company, we have asked him to drive us tomorrow and day after too.
Varun took this shot. I think it a very flattering likeness.
We had lunch at the poshest place in the whole area. Took our lovely driver there with us and we all sat and chatted companionably while stuffing our faces. I made the hotel staff pull a table and chairs out of the restaurant onto the verandah so our view and the breeze would be wonderful. It was a huge drama but once we were settled it was absolutely amazing.
Hey! So what have you been doing? Tell us all in the comments below please. Anything, fun, fragrant, friends, family or food related. ANYTHING! Tell us about your week.
Portia xx
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Portia
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Hi there Fragrant Friends,
Considering how much ground I’ve covered this week and how much has been accomplished it’s all felt quite peaceful. Hectic but measured. There has been time in each day for a little nap, food and friends have been abundant and work life has sandwiched in nicely between everything else.
Don’t worry, I know how blessed my life is. I’m so grateful.
Monday Morning. Weather is overcast but quite warm for midwinter and I am feeling super lazy. Sadly there’s a shitload of things on the list that need doing and I am going to do my best to get as many done as possible by 3pm so I can have a nap. Now that is real motivation.
Spritzed myself in Queen by Queen Latifah. I am a patchouli/citrus goddess right now. It was wafting around me like crazy on our dog walk.
Ordered Bingo Books and Dabbers for our newest night starring our newest regular hostess Maxi Shield. How fabulous is the poster?
Did my invoicing for the month. Really, owning businesses is NOT for lazy people like me. HA! I had a really happy moment today thinking about how wonderful the Drag Queens we have working at Turbo are. Every week they entertain the crowds and it’s extremely rare that I get a complaint about any of our regular queens. They work hard and are grateful to be employed. In a Drag job-market shrinking daily in Sydney due to club closures and venue direction changes Turbo keeps 8 Drag Queens in weekly work. I’m really proud of that and hope we can give many more regular gigs.
Talked to my Aunty Tracey on the phone and nattered away 20 minutes happily.
The second house in Tasmania has been untenanted for two weeks but today I got a call from the Real Estate to say they have a wonderful new tenant collecting the keys on Thursday. WOO HOO! I was secretly worrying about having a house untenanted during winter, the worst time for rentals. PHEW!
Got Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday into the blog.
Got my Trivia Jackpot and Games questions written.
3.12pm NAP TIME
Jin called and asked if I wanted to go to Korean BarBQ because we missed out on Friday night. HELL YES! So I went and met him and we talked and laughed and ate SO MUCH FOOD! My tummy hurts. It was wonderful. Here is Jin, he’s wearing a top I bought him for his birthday a couple of months ago. I can tell when I’m in the good books with Jin because he wears my gifts.
Laydee also rang with a new Trivia gig today. It’s been Go-Go-Go.
Now I’m about to finish writing the weeks Trivia Q&A.
It’s nearly midnight and I can still smell my morning spritzes of Queen. AMAZING!
It’s 1.35am and I’m Q&A finished and sent. Had hoped to do one more APJ post but my hearts not in it so I’m going to make a cuppa, go read a bit and then sleep.
Today is busy. Scott is coming to do office work and the general running around that entails. I will need to do beard dying and get ready to become a glamorous Drag Queen for work tonight. Then after al the fun and madness of my day pack a small bag because I’m flying down to Melbourne tomorrow to see Margeaux’s new home that he’s just bought and spend the day hanging with him.
I’m wearing Carner Barcelona Rima XI because it smells warm and fuzzy and doesn’t distract me too much from the job at hand.
Instead of giving you a blow by blow account of my day here’s a music clip of two of Australia’s greatest rock musicians Jimmy Barnes and Marcia Hines. They’re singing one of my favourite songs since childhood. These guys are mates of mine and to hear them singing together on this track brings chills, goosebumps and tears. So many memories of people, places, times. Music is a lot like fragrance, our memories are buried deep until released by scent or sound. Happy tears and sad.
I hope it brings you as much peace as it does me. If you can, turn the volume right up.
Scott and I got so much done today. Paid bills, Post Office (letters, parcels, collecting and sending,, bills and redirections), organised Receipts for the bookkeeper and a few other bibs and bobs. I also gave him the last piece of his birthday present to arrive. Russian Carnation EdC, as Scott as I can find. he was stoked.
My bathing routine included B&BW Warm Vanilla Sugar bubble bath, Kiehl’s Original Musk lotion and Kenzo Amour
Something else I wanted to talk to you about. My mate Jye Bryant creates musicals. He has recently had one return from a hit season in New York City and it will be playing at the New Theatre in Newtown September 15-18 as part of the Sydney Fringe Festival. You can book at the New Theatre Site. Full $30 or Concession $25
BY JYE BRYANT
Steven has a secret that might tear his family apart. Meanwhile, his wife, mother, father and lover are fighting for his attention and coming to terms with their hidden feelings of betrayal, anguish, frustration and fear.
Laugh, squirm, and cry as this new Australian musical takes you on a rollercoaster ride with a modern dysfunctional family.
Got up at sparrows fart and drove into town, parked at Kath’s apartment and cabbed it to the airport. Jumped a plane and flew down to Melbourne to see my mate Margeaux (who used to write for APJ) ‘s new apartment. His first real estate buy and it is gorgeous. 15-20 minutes on a tram from Federation Square and also quite near a train station in Prahran.
I took him one of Jocelyn Fullerton’s Cult of Scent candles as a housewarming present. The apartment is all in charcoal and white so the very lavish pop of red makes an excellent point of reference. YAY! So we had a burger lunch and then Margeaux had to go back to work.
I trotted off the the National Gallery of Victoria and spent two perfect hours wandering the art with myself, the art and my thoughts for company. It was incredibly refreshing and energising. I also love how fastidiously clean the bathrooms were.
Such a diverse array. An excellent Asian collection but sadly no Korean for Jin.
Currently they are showing historical garment illustrations and magazines, very interesting.
Jin has decided his favourite impressionist is Camille Pissarro and they had a few of his works so I snapped and sent them to him.
Russian Tzar lamp, one of a pair I think by Baccarat.
Degas sculpture of dancer checking her feet.
The Alice chair, some kind of resin shaped.
Black heart, I have made it my own by adding myself to the shot.
Poor old Jesus, eternally hanging around churches, galleries and museums.
Then I trotted quickly up to Masons, the new menswear store on Flinders Lane, just up the hill and tried Philippe Starck Peau d`Ailleurs which is supposed to be earth, woods and musk but I found it quite green and wet. It had extraordinary lasting power and I could easily smell it on my hand next day. There is not much love among perfumistas for the range but I found it interesting and though subtle quite entrancing. I REALLY want to ry it again now. It’s the middle one.
Then, as I was about to grab the train to get back to the airport one of my fave handsome young gentleman frag addicts called and said he was available for catch ups! YAY! We weren’t sure he’d make it. So, over a 15 minute wine for him and coffee for me Liam Sardea and I caught up, grabbed a big hug and off I went into the sunset.
Once home I grabbed ALL the leftover Chinese, one of Jin’s pre-made rice packs, some frozen peas, a can of creamed corn and stir fried the whole lot to boiling hot. Then I sat in front of the TV and watched rubbish while I ate the yummiest reheats ever. HAPPY DAY!
Tina is home from hospital and has been staying at her parents, I went out and collected her to come back to Sydney. We had a very fun cuppa and catch up with her parents, who I bloody adore. They are so lovely.
For the day I decided on vintage Patou 1000 EdT. Excellent accompaniment to the cool sunshine of Sydney winter.
Roger & Gallet Cedrat bubble bath, Kiehl’s Original Musk lotion and Neela Vermeire Creations Nichola. You can read my review of the wear if you like.
Imagine the laziest day ever. Perfume it with DIOR Privé Sakura and you’ll understand how laid back it was.
Jin and I had lunch in the food court, then came home and hung out around the house.
For dinner we met Alice and had Peking Duck! A whole duck between three of us and San Choy Bow, then Beef & Black Bean with Cashews and Egg Fried Rice. It was heavenly! I could eat Chinese every second meal and still be excited.
Woke up and walked the dogs in frosty sunshine, my breath was making clouds.
Jin and I met Alice & Sam at DFO (a discount mall) where we bought new Uggs, some Ralph Lauren polos and a jumper, a new pillow for me because mine has been embarrassing for years and it was time and a few other bits & pieces. It was fun and silly, trying on clothes and laughing.
Jin was completely gorgeous smelling in Serge Lutens Muscs Koublai Khan, seriously drop dead gorgeous and I wafted Pozzo di Borgo: 23 Janvier 1984, which is a lovely figgy scent.
We came home and had delicious Jin made Korean Chicken Curry with Naan bread and watched The Princess Diaries with Anne Hathaway. How had I never seen it before? Loved it.
Tonight Margaritas and Tacos with Kath, Alice and Jin. We sat outside around a pub turned Taco den, at a park table and bench seats in one on the pavement. There were 5 or 6 such tables around the venue and every seat was jam packed with young mixed urban crews from all colours and wage ranges. The chill night air was comfortable and we chattered, laughed and ate a few very happy hours away. The Margaritas were quite good, we had two each, and everyone was softly merry by the end.
Just quietly, I love my life and my friends. Yes I know how lucky I am, we are.
I woke up at 1am and went to my perfume room, sat down and had the urge to read perfume blogs. This rarely happens lately as life gets busier. I got to the latest What Men Should Smell Like about Guerlain Sous le Vent and immediately dived for my bottle to live the magic. Ahhhhh, what a fragrance…… Going back to bed now to savour it. Guerlain Sous le Vent is wonderful.
Breakfasted on the verandah with these two sexy boys.
Peanut Butter Toast and a Coffee. One of lifes easiest joyful moments. YUM!
Jin was getting a bit Jealous Julie because he’s not in the Scent Diary enough. So here he is doing his very best blog smile for you all. isn’t he a fricken cutie? Love him to infinity but today he was scratching my very last nerve. We had a late evening fight to clear the air that ended in happy kisses and fervent Fuck You’s from both of us.
Today’s bathe was lovely bubbles from L`Artisan Parfumeur La Chasse aux Papillons in the pump pack which was a gift from my mate Tim, followed by a light Madonna Truth or Dare Naked lotion and I forgot to put fragrance on. I did remain softly fragrant throughout the night though and can even still smell soft vanilla sweetness at 10pm.
Now it’s your turn. Please share something fun, fragrant, friendly or foolish that you got up to this week?
We love to read your stories.
Portia xx
