Happy New Year again, and 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, January 8, and it’s been quite a week. I know some of you don’t live in the US and are wondering what on earth is going on here. So are many Americans, except that many of us have feared exactly what we saw on Wednesday. This isn’t a political blog, so I won’t say much more, except that most of America is NOT rioting and I believe people of good will from both parties and all points of view will unite to oppose the violence the world saw in our capital this week. I have little or no such confidence in the media, social and traditional, that thrive on conspiracy theories and make money from them as clickbait.
Getting back to fragrance, but with a dose of dark humor — I believe I will pull out my discovery set from BeauFort London, which includes fragrances with notes of gunpowder and smoke. The first launches, the collection “Come Hell or High Water”, is named for aspects of British history. According to the US Capitol historian, the last time the Capitol was breached by a large hostile force was in the British invasion of DC in 1814, during the War of 1812. I first tried the BeauFort London fragrances at a favorite independent perfumery in London, Bloom, where I bought the discovery set. They are unisex, possibly leaning masculine; I especially liked Fathom V. Have you tried any of BeauFort London’s scents? Do you know of others that include a note of gunpowder? Or, in the other direction, any favorite perfumes that incorporate the word “Peace”?
Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities 
I’m wearing Teo Cabanel Alahine today. Decided to add to my year long project goals – “Favorite Fridays”. Will see if I can come up with enough favorites throughout the year that seem appropriate to the season and mood!
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What a great idea — please share your Friday Favorites in comments here!
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And if you post photos on Instagram, feel free to include links in comments here!
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What a week indeed. 2021 has certainly roared in like a lion. At this stage the best way to deal with the narcissistic Oompa Loompa is to deprive him of oxygen and column inches. Leave it to the powers that be to decide on the proper punishment. I haven’t tried any of the BeauFort line yet, and now that Brexit has finalised I won’t have the opportunity as cost will now be prohibitive due to extra taxes and duties. The upside is that I won’t be buying nearly as much. Can’t think off the top of my head if I have tried any perfume featuring gunpowder as a note, but I think it would be very interesting. I’ll have to check on fragrantica to see where else it features.
We’re back in top level of lockdown again here as there has been an explosion of cases and hospitals are under huge pressure, with a lot of staff out sick. Vaccinations started a few weeks ago and hopefully by spring we will see some small improvements in our way of life. Small bit of happy perfume news is that I scored a large decant of Fève Délicieuse which has cheered me up no end☺️ Wishing you a very happy and safe year. Things can only get better.
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So perfectly names Cassieflower, Fève Délicieuse is definitely a yummy bean.
Portia xx
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Think my comment is gone to spam.
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I’ll go look!
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I found it and approved it, I hope it will show up shortly! Sorry about that!
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Hey there OH,
Sorry I’ve been MIA.
All the hugs for our USA friends. It’s been appalling to watch, can’t even imagine living it.
Lately I have found myself behind in blog posts, even completely missing a couple over at Undina’s. My current use of work free time is catching up and getting myself back in a comfortable position. That’s meant wearing LOADS of samples, decants and old faves to get them all up to speed. It’s been a fun whirlwind. Current favourite new discovery is Gris Charnel by BDK Parfums. Neither grey nor carnal but it is so beautifully put together. MMMM
Portia xx
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I haven’t tried anything from that brand and can’t think of any perfume that has gunpowder as a note (and I’m not sure I’d like to wear such perfume), but I can suggest perfume that fits the theme – Black Powder by Jusbox.
I had a hard week at work (HOW I hate company politics! Why can’t people just be straight and deal with issues instead of trying to avoid them hoping it would somehow go away or resolve itself?!), so I wore Boxeuses for moral support :). Today I relaxed and put on By Kilian Amber Oud. I enjoy this perfume every time I wear it. It’s one of a few agarwood perfumes that work for me (which usually means that it’s not real 🙂 ).
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I’ll have to look up Black Powder. The fragrance with oud that suits me best, I would say, is David Yurman Limited Edition, where the rose outweighs the oud.
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