Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly — I’ve been known to write on this blog about biryani, one of my favorite dishes to eat and one I am still learning to make! (If you have a great recipe for it, please share!). This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV. Today is March 6, and I am with my family on a spring break holiday in Jamaica, for our first visit here, coronavirus be d—ned! Scent of the day is Montale’s Roses Musk, a soft rose fragrance that goes well with the tropical but temperate climate here. What is your SOTD? Have you been to Jamaica? What scents evoke the Caribbean or other tropics to you?
Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities 
I was in Jamaica 30 years ago, in Negril. Back then it was a hard to get to sleepy backwater. I imagine it is very different today. My favorite beach scent forever is a huge old bottle of Bronze Goddess, back when Estee Lauder called it Azuree Soleil. I have many others but none have dethroned this one! Enjoy Jamaica!
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I have Bronze Goddess, one of the recent versions of eau fraiche. I like it a lot! We are at a resort at Montego Bay, so it’s very la la land. Not our usual style of travel, but it’s where this large group of seniors wanted to go as a special pre-graduation trip. And I must say, we are enjoying it very much.
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I’m also a huge Bronze Goddess fan. Every trip to Hawaii I bring the bottle with me: it’s the only FB of any perfume that ever travels – for everything else for any destination it’s either a travel bottle or decant.
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I saw you photos on insta, enjoy your trip.
I like Terracotta and Batucada for tropical summers
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Thanks! I like Terracotta too, glad I got some before it was discontinued. I have a small bottle of Batucada but haven’t opened it yet, I’ll have to try it when we get home!
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I’ve never been to Jamaica. Bronze Goddess gets a lot of love. Is it discontinued ?
I have got Terracotta. I really like it,
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Yes, Terracotta is getting lots of love right here! I have a version of Bronze Goddess; not sure if they still do this, but they used to put out a slightly different version of it every year. Mine is from a few years back. I have a travel spray of it — should have brought it, but I grabbed a Scentbird spray instead, which turned out to be Roses Musk.
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EL used to produces Bronze Goddess every year in spring-summer time sometimes together with a flanker. I’m not sure if the current version is now all you can get (and I haven’t tried it), but judging by the fact that my bottle survived about 9 years, it keeps well, so it should be safe(r) to look around at discounter sites.
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Have any of you tried Bobbi Brown’s Beach? It’s a great tropical scent, smells JUST like Coppertone sun lotion.
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I was disappointed not to get the Coppertone hit from Beach. See below.
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I’m so surprised you didn’t get that! To me, it hits me in the nose the minute I just open Beach. I mean, serious flashbacks! I like it but I have to be in the right mood for it.
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I think the tester might have been off. I didn’t get any beachy vibe at all. I’ll retest next time I see it. Though, do I want to test something and end up liking it? I’m well serviced in the beach vibe department 😉
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Have the best time ever on your vacation OH! I visited Jamaica over 30 years ago as a teenager and we stayed at Negril Beach Club. I recently had a sample of Bobbi Brown’s Beach and enjoyed it very much. I’ve also had a bottle of EL Terracotta in the past and thunked the bottle.
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Thanks!
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Lucky you having fun in Jamaica. I’ve had a quick visit – one day – to Jamaica ten years ago. The only thing we all wanted to do was visit Bob Marley’s homeplace. So off up the mountain with us in a mini van. All those years after his demise he was still providing employment and income in his area. Before getting back on board ship we had some authentic jerk chicken 😋
I have gone through several bottles of Bronze Goddess, I always have one on the go, along with the body oil. I have Terracotta, too. Love them both. I tried Bobbi Brown’s Beach years ago but I thought it was a bit meh. I wondered if the tester was off. I haven’t seen it anywhere recently so perhaps it’s discontinued?
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It’s still available at Sephora, so I guess it’s not discontinued. But you’re right, I don’t see it around as often as before.
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I’ve never been to Jamaica and, I suspect, it’ll stay that way: it’s too far away from me, and it’s easier to get to Hawaii.
I have a set of ”tropical”perfumes that I always take with me. In addition to Bronze Goddess that I mentioned above, it’s Byredo Pulp, Yosh Ginger Ciao and L’Artisan Traversee du Bosphore.
Enjoy your vacation!
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Thanks! Where do you like to visit in Hawaii? We’re thinking of going there in 2020, as other options seem to be shrinking and I’m wary of getting stuck outside US borders while this virus is worrying people.
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I spent two weeks in Jamaica. 1989. Chanel’s Coco, saltfish, and a ton of weed were the scents of the trip. We stayed in a bamboo hut up on the north of the island and paid a couple of dreads to act as bodyguards when we went out. I wrote about it on A Bottled Rose.
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I remember your story!
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SOTD is Sonoma Scent Studio’s Champagne de Bois, courtesy of Undina! Wow, it is just beautiful. Thank you, Undina! Has anyone else here tried it?
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I’m glad you like it! I really wanted more people to get to wear it: I think it’s unfair that great scents get forgotten because of thousands of new releases.
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So true!
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My most favorite sandalwood. I wore it many years ago.
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Yep. I’ve got it. It’s a beauty. And as for staying power, it’s fantastic. I get really good mileage from all the SSS line.
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Not perfume-related, but the university where I work has just announced it is extending spring break for students for another week and will transition to remote learning. This is all happening very fast! I do think it’s the responsible thing to do, but it will create a LOT of challenges for students, which we’ll all have to do our best to address. We are in new territory, folks.
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