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, March 26, and we’ve just had some of the worst thunderstorms I can recall, all night last night. The thunder and lightning were truly epic — as in, my whole garden was lit up like a fairground every time the lightning flashed. Fairgrounds are on my mind, because I’ve been sampling Serge Lutens’ Bapteme du Feu, and that is apparently what it is meant to evoke, with its offbeat combination of gingerbread and gunpowder. It’s actually very intriguing, and I’m going to order a discounted tester.
The vaccinations continue apace; my son is now eligible, and he will get his first shot tomorrow. I’m very relieved, although it appears he must have had COVID-19 already in 2020 — we had him tested for antibodies when he came home from college for winter break, and he had them! He and we still have no idea when he might have had the virus, as he never felt unwell or showed symptoms, or tested positive under a regular screening program once he was at college. Anyway, it’s a great relief that he’ll get the protection of the vaccine and also help protect others by having it.
Spring has truly sprung in my part of the world; if it doesn’t keep raining this weekend, I plan to go out and take many photos of all of blossoms, including the spectacular pink azaleas with which my garden was blessed by long-ago owners. Their only flaw is that they aren’t fragrant. What are your plans for the weekend?
Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities 
I wore Untitled L Eau today, because it felt like spring and wore some memade clothes today. I will spend some time sewing on the weekend and make a t-shirt for my mother for Easter. Have not seen her since Christmas 2019, so I hope she will be pleased.
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How wonderful that you’ll be able to see each other for Easter! Once my husband and I are fully vaccinated, we plan to travel to see his father. Our last visit to him was October 2019.
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I’m doing lots of perfume sampling this weekend. I sampled some Abel perfumes and Franck Boclet as well. Best of all, I got my new bottle of Shalimar Philtre. Mmmmm, it’s divine, in my opinion. It’s a softer Shalimar with some Mon Guerlain lavender added in. From looking at the latest reviews on Fragrantica it seems to be a hit with people who like Guerlain. I think people who dislike Shalimar will dislike this one, too. Philtre doesn’t take over a room like the original Shalimar EDP does, but it’s longlasting and it still has the Shalimar ‘signature.’
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Philtre sounds lovely! I’ll have to look for a way to try it once I’m fully vaccinated!
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Your thunderstorms sound wonderful OH! I love them.
So happy all your Vax are happening. Excited to get mine ASAP. Probably late May.
I’ve been wearing Red Tobacco by Mancera quite a lot in the last week. It’s new to me and smells so good. Even gets random compliments when I wear it.
We are also in the market for an investment property. Didn’t win an auction this morning but put in a very solid bid on a For Sale apartment. Fingers crossed.
Portia x
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Ooh, good luck!
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It’s spring here, my daffodil garden at the front of my house is in full bloom. I wore Sonoma Scent Studio Equestrian yesterday for my Favortie Friday. Today I’m heading out to photograph a high school baseball game – I have a fledging sports photography business on the side. Haven’t done baseball before so the parents get this one for free but they want 3-4 games so they have enough shots for photo books at the end of the season. Not sure what I will wear – today will be a two-perfume day as the first will undoubtedly wear off in the sun.
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Wore Sonoma Scent Studio Equestrian yesterday for Favorite Friday. Today I’m heading out to photograph a high school baseball game – I have a fledgling sports photography business as a side hustle. Not sure what I’ll wear for my daily unique option but I’m likely to get a second choice this evening as being in the sun is likely to fade.
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Best of luck with the sports photography! I’ve enjoyed seeing your photos on Instagram. Isn’t it nice that Sonoma Scent Studio has re-emerged?
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That sounds exciting! I need some photography lessons myself.
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Did anyone else sign up for the Tigerlily perfumery class on floral accords tomorrow? I’ve always wanted to attend a class on putting the elements of a perfume together so I signed up. Looking forward to it. I’m going to do my homework tonight and make sure I know what all the ingredients are so I don’t get lost during the virtual presentation tomorrow.
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I’ve never done any of these online classes, they look like fun! Please report back on how it went.
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The floral accords perfume class from Tigerlily was amazing. I posted a photo of the materials we used on my Instagram #rickyrebarco.
The teacher was Mauricio from Herbcraft perfumes and he was great. It got intense the last 2 hours, but I learned a lot and we made a jasmine accord that really does smell like a jasmine perfume; we made a rose accord that was good also. We learned that pretty much all florals contain citrus scented molecules and rose fragrances contain geranyl or geranium scents. The most ‘rosy’ smelling element, however was phenyl ethyl alcohol and it is used in many, many floral accords. It’s gorgeous, even though it sounds like something you would put in your car!
Also, the last 45 minutes Ineke Ruhland taught us how to make the floral accord in her Angel’s Trumpet fragrance. I didn’t have enough supplies left to do it but I have the ‘recipe’ and they recorded the session so we can go back and refer to it later.
It was frankly exhausting, trying to take in so much and it was a 4 hour session. I am going to bed early, I’m so tired. But, I’m going to order some more materials from The Perfumer’s Apprentice, a company in CA that has supplies for perfumers, and try some more things. My favorite perfume elements were hedione, orange flower and linden blossom. My nose became exhausted so I stuck my face in a cup with some coffee beans a few times-lol- to clear all the floral scents out. There will be another session in May on aldehydes and other ‘finishing’ notes. I want to learn how to make my own scented candles and I think I am ready to try some with the floral accords and some wax. I have to research what type of wax to use, etc.
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That sounds really fascinating! I should try doing one.
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I’m not interested in making anything myself, but it is fascinating to read about what others do – so, I thoroughly enjoyed your report. Thanks! 🙂
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My response on the perfumery class went to Spam. I said too much!
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Found it!
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I had to work part of that last weekend because I had an important presentation this morning (it went fine). So, now I’m covered in several perfumes I’m testing for the post I still plan to publish this week 🙂
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