Work

Suffolk Lavender by Julie Masse for Shay & Blue 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

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Kate Apted

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Hi APJ,

I hear a lot about scents being ‘office friendly’; meaning the scent is likely to receive a warmer reception to a wider range of people than others. I am sure you have a list of scents you consider safe to wear at any given event or location. I have given a substantial deal of thought to what I deem safe to wear to work, and it has taken a great deal of trial and error.

I am a truck mechanic and what I wear has to fit a number of criteria. I will not wear a strongly feminine scent, as a lot of our customers and my co-workers are male and I am not too keen to leave a lingering, smouldering scent in the cabin of a truck. My scent also has to rise above the strong environmental scents competing for my attention, yet it has to be markedly different so to not prevent me from smelling dangerous odours, such as LPG leaks and welding fires.

I found the very scent that has become my work daily: Shay & Blue’s Suffolk Lavender. I am particularly partial to lavender that plays the starring role, but isn’t a soliflor. I find the lavender in Suffolk Lavender isn’t sleep inducing, but helps to ground and calm me, while being inherently interesting.

Suffolk Lavender by Julie Masse for Shay & Blue 2013

Finding my ideal work scent

Suffolk Lavender Shay & Blue London FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lavender
Heart: Incense, melon
Base: Praline, musk, pine tree

This opens with a salty lavender. This very linear, moderate projection stays for a good hour. The lavender is quite dry, but full bodied and slightly creamy. I spray it on my torso, because with body heat, I get an oomph of scent that wafts up in a way I don’t get from wrist sprays alone. I have not tried this during summer, but I am guessing from its response to heat, it will be adaptable to the temperature without losing its character.

After about two hours, Suffolk Lavender slowly becomes a skin scent, but the deeper incense notes make their appearance. Like a song with moderate volume that has deep, booming base notes that make the song seem louder than the volume indicates, this scent does the same with the incense. So, it isn’t until lunch time, about 5-6 hours later, that I need to think of reapplying.

WikiCommons

What makes Suffolk Lavender noteworthy, for me at least, is while it uses quite dark and deep notes, the overall composition has the trademark Shay & Blue light handedness. The scent transitions so gently from salty lavender to a mild incense creamy lavender and then tails off to a faintly woody wheat bag type lavender.

I do not get any of the fruit or sweetness this is purported to have. It tends to sit with more pronounced lavender on my eldest son, and heads straight to the incense notes after ten minutes. I love the fact Suffolk Lavender is completely unisex. I can pack this away on trips and know a single bottle will suffice.

David Jones Australia has a limited Shay & Blue range.
Shay & Blue ships to almost the entire world, not ANZ though

What is your work environment like? And what factors guide your scent choices?

Kate XXXoX

Perfumes That Never Offend My Coworkers

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

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Post by FeralJasmine

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I work with a fantastic bunch of ladies. We have all been together for several years now, and couldn’t be happier with the arrangement. We know each other’s thought patterns, can predict each other pretty well, and have no serious trouble making decisions by concensus.

So when does the serpent enter paradise? Usually it has to do with perfume. My good colleagues are (thank The Lord and/or Lady) very outspoken and not given to passive aggression, which means that when I wear a scent that one of them doesn’t like, I am going to hear about it. Sometimes this is pretty damn funny: one of them calls anything that she dislikes “patchouli,” which leads to hilarious remarks like “I don’t like that patchouli perfume you’re wearing today” when I’m drifting around in Chanel #5. Aldehydes are a total no-go. Gagging pantomimes greet anything too sweet.

Perfumes That Never Offend My Coworkers

So what does work? I have a stable of stuff that draws purely positive comment. To my surprise, two of them are patchouli scents (but don’t tell my colleague!) Vanillas are happily tolerated if they aren’t too sweet, confirming my suspicion that for many of us, vanilla is THE primal comfort scent. The players are:

Boyfriend Kate Walsh FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Kate Walsh Boyfriend: this lovely warm patchouli-plum-tobacco scent is miles above the usual celebrity perfume and therefore is discontinued, but is still readily available on eBay. I have stocked up and will not be bidding against you.

Unknown Pleasures Kerosene FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Kerosene Unknown Pleasures: Earl Grey tea followed by a soft slightly sweet bakery vanilla. What’s not to like? This one is a great value, and I have obtained a backup bottle.

Lira Xerjoff FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Xerjoff Lira: An exquisite soft vanilla that wafts in the most delicate and appealing way. Unfortunately, it is also $285 a bottle, which works out to quite a bit per waft. Still, I wear it sometimes because there is nothing quite like it. But Unknown Pleasures, after the somewhat brash lemony opening, ends up in much the same place for less than half the price, so no back-up bottles of Lira for me.

Pink Gardenia DSH Perfumes FragranticaPhoto Stolen DSH Perfumes

DSH Pink Gardenia: my one objection to Ms. Hurwitz’s vanillic gardenia is that it is too civilized and private. Which is why I can wear it to work to universal approval. Nobody is aware of it unless they happen to get very close, and then they like it. Now, if only she made a louder version to put on when I get home…

Coze Parfumerie Generale FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

PG Coze: I can’t get my mind around wearing this one to work. But I did once, by mistake, and people loved it. Even the Patchouli-Slaying Queen commented on the lovely spicy resins. So I wear it once in a while at work, and a lot on weekends.

Here are a couple of sample sites that you can go see to try these.
Surrender To Chance
Posh Peasant
My Perfume Samples

I should add that I have dry perfume-euthanizing skin and these might not be subtle enough on everyone. But unless your workplace forbids perfume, there is something that you can get away with. Solicit honest feedback from a few work-buddies, and pay careful attention to what they say. After all, it’s their airspace too!

FeralJasmine X