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. 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 Friday, December 4, the first Friday of the last month of 2020. Hurray! This year has been famously destructive in many ways, but I see light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. In my own religion, Christianity, the season of Advent began last Sunday, and it is one of my favorite times of the year. Not just because of preparations for holidays (with most celebrations on hold this year), but because it is a season of hope and anticipation. Many religions and cultures have some observance of this time of year, leading toward the Northern Hemisphere’s winter solstice when the Earth is tilted furthest away from the Sun and the day is shortest, night longest. Not surprisingly, a common theme is the emergence of light from darkness, since our winter solstice marks the end of daylight diminishing and the start of the gradual increase in light.
The season also brings with it many wonderful smells! Classic associations with this time of year are evergreens like pine and fir; spiced drinks like mulled wine and apple cider; beeswax from lit candles; incense from places of worship; sweet and spiced baked goods, often including vanilla; woody and smoky scents that recall hearth fires. I enjoy them all. Some perfumers try to create fragrances that evoke cold, like notes of snow, or ice, or frost. I was so excited in 2018 when Jo Malone had a limited edition fragrance called White Moss & Snowdrop, I thought I’d love it. Sadly, I didn’t. It was pleasant enough, but it didn’t make a big impression. My wallet was grateful! Now I’m excited at the news that Dawn Spencer Hurwitz will create a new fragrance for Zoologist, called Snowy Owl. Can’t wait to try it!
What fragrances do you enjoy at this time of year? They don’t have to be perfumes, you can list any scent!
Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities 
Snowy Owl sounds amazing!!! Hopefully it won’t smell like voles since that is what the owls eat. LOL My favorite Zoologist is still Bee at the moment but I love trying all the new ones. I’m enjoying all the scents of the season through candles and perfumes. My Cire Trudon Gloria candle is so spicy, rosy and gorgeous. Also loving Boy Smells candle “Hinoki Woods.” It’s like having a fireplace without all the mess from the real wood. I had seen the Boy Smells line at Luckyscent and decided to give the candles a try since they are a good price point. So far, I love them all.
As for perfumes, loving Five O’Clock du Gigembre, Chergui, Etro Paisley and Greene Street– resins, tea, tobacco, and spicy goodness. Greene Street is delightful, replete with nutmeg and coriander. I also just got my discovery set from Jo Loves and I’m in love. I really like the ‘Jo’ by Jo Loves. White Rose and Lemon Leaves and Rose 25 are also really lovely. I read your Fragrantica reviews of these and I agree! I’m trying to decide which one(s) to order. One 50 ml bottle comes with the sample set, as you know. I think ‘Jo’ will be my first bottle and I may order White Rose and Lemon Leaves, too. They are all so good it’s hard to choose…
I’m also cooking with spices. Making some cranberry and pecan muffins for hubby today and something with lots of cinnamon for him, too. He loves cinnamon so much I have to come up with lots of cinnamon items for the holidays. My favorite spices are nutmeg, cloves and cardamom. Mmmmm.
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Found your comment!
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I really liked Red Truffle too, which I hadn’t expected. And loved No. 42 The Flower Shop, which I did expect.
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My comment got eaten by the Spam filter. I’m just too verbose…. :-))
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Sorry, I can’t find it! Want to try again?
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I am not into sweet scents, but I like a dry vanilla, incense and saffron for winter. Today I am wearing Calligraphy Saffron.
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I bet that’s beautiful! I have Calligraphy Rose and I love it.
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Since our cooler weather is still not here, it’s harder to turn my mind to winter holidays. But I hope to decorate this weekend, so it’ll help to set the mood.
For me, this time of year is citruses, and especially mandarins, mostly not in perfumes (though, I really loved Jo Malone Orange Bitters) and pine, which is harder to get these days since I have an artificial tree – beautiful but not scented 🙂 I’m trying to mitigate that by using ambient scents.
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Have you tried any of the Atelier des Ors’ White Collection? They’re very beautiful and they have a common thread of citrus notes; I especially liked Nuda Veritas and Choeur des Anges.
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I saw the bottles, but I’m not sure whether I tried any of the line.
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Hey OH,
We have the same scent memories as you all for Xmas but all done in 30C+ heat. The house still smells of cooking meats and puddings, for many years our family table decoration was a bunch of pine cones strung together and spray painted silver and faux snow sprayed on them so the image (if not the scent) of pine cones and Mum would burn incense so the house smelled like a cross between a Christian mass and a souk.
We would wait the obligatory 30 minutes after lunch to swim and this time would be spent helping to clear the table, putting leftovers in Tupperware and creating a MOUNTAIN of dishes for Mum to pack into the dish washer.
Summer Xmas is so different. I’ve only spent two Xmas in the northern hemisphere but they were so magical and felt like fairy stories.
Portia xx
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Northern Christmases are lovely. We’ve spent many of them in New England, with both our families, and you can count on having snow there. One of the prettiest weddings I’ve ever attended was in Connecticut, on a night between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Lots of snow on the ground, but it wasn’t falling, it just looked lovely.
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Heavenly!
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It really was magical, and so romantic. The reception was in a classic Connecticut old-line country club; the kind that used to look like a sprawling white clapboard country house. Just beautiful in the snow. Sadly, most of those lovely older clubs have been McMansionized, at least in the NY suburbs.
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I think that’s the way the world has gone OH, those clapboard clubs are becoming unsafe, unsanitary and falling apart. It’s all steel and glass now, ala The Fountainhead.
Portia xx
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I know, so sad. And I don’t think it’s about safety, actually, I think it’s about visible displays of wealth. But don’t get me started!
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