Welcome back 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, February 4, the first Friday of the month; and next Monday will be the monthly “Scent Semantics” post! Come back on Monday and visit all the Scent Semantics blogs to find out the word of the month and how we connect it to fragrance.
I’ve been enjoying some fragrance in my garden lately, despite some bouts of temperatures below freezing and even a few snow flurries! (I know, I know, those of you who live in snowier climes are laughing hysterically right now). The mahonias are in bloom, and they smell like lily of the valley.
I also have a Chimonanthus praecox, or wintersweet, which wafts from its odd blossoms. A few brave narcissi have decided to bloom. Until recently, I have had a few late blossoms on my roses, which were fragrant (I mostly grow David Austin English Roses, which are bred for fragrance as well as visual beauty). Those are gone now because I have done the recommended annual pruning, which results in short, leafless stems until the spring growth bursts forth. I also have a new camellia, not yet in the ground, which is supposed to have fragrant flowers; it has lots of buds, so we’ll see if it lives up to advance billing.
This is often a transitional season for fragrance, the bridge between the warmer, spicier scents many of us choose in wintertime and the green and/or floral scents many wear in springtime. I’m still getting a lot of pleasure from my Musc Intense by Parfums de Nicolai; it has a top note of fresh pear that looks ahead to spring, but the cozy musk works well for cooler weather. What are you wearing these days?
Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities 
I chose Alahine today. One of my favorites. It’s snowing here today and we have a lot of winter to go, so I’m choosing my ambers and stronger perfumes. After being sick in January, got back to photography this week with the National signing day – we had 8 football players (pretend) sign with their colleges, including my son who will play at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland next fall. My first game will be next week – basketball. Glad to be working again!
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Congratulations to your son!! I think those pretend signing rituals are fun, my son had a couple of teammates do those too. The college he attends doesn’t have football, so not an option for him!
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We are getting more snow and ice! I miss smelling fresh flowers, and hopefully I will get to soon. I’m wearing rose perfumes every day this month up to Valentine’s Day. I wore a sample of Musc Intense around this time last year and a hair stylist liked it and asked me what it was. A few months ago I went back to the same salon and got the same stylist—I didn’t recognize him but he recognized me and reminded me that he had asked me about perfume!
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You don’t go to the same stylist every time??! (fainted) 🙂
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Hahaha… I haven’t found one worth being that loyal to! I do go to the same salon, though, as they all seem to have been trained to cut hair a certain way that works for me.
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I’m wearing Guerlain Insolence because it came in the mail today. I pick up violet, even lilac, and at times it’s like wisteria without the off notes. It’s a gorgeous color too, a divine purple and it’s the bottle with the spade lid. Since I don’t keep the house too warm on cold days like today, Insolence isn’t being insolent. A great thing to note since I have an early birthday in the year is that I signed up for a Guerlain account and they offered a free bday surprise with a purchase, so I went for it but couldn’t find out anywhere what the surprise was. Oh my goodness! They sent a full-size, Orchidée Imperériale candle with a monogrammed G coaster. Do a price check on that class-act present. This may be one of the most generous gifts ever. I hope many of you get this candle if you’re into Guerlain this year. If you know of any others like this, let us know!
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What a gorgeous surprise! Happy birthday!
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I find this time of year in the UK quite challenging, both in terms of what scent to wear & what clothes to wear, the weather is so changeable.
Take yesterday, the morning began bright with a distinctly cold snap in the air. I just spritzed 4711 as I had a dental appointment. As I drove to the dentist, around midday, the skies turned deep grey & hailstones the size of peas came down. Trying to park in a small car park on a slope in an SUV with marbles under the wheels was interesting!
Appointment over & a drive to mums in the wet & grey. More slushy rain whilst I was there.
On the way home the skies cleared as the wind had picked up & by the time I got back it was blowing a hooly & getting colder!
I applied Outremer Vanille for a touch of warmth without any curlicues.
So there we have it! Not quite four seasons in one day but a challenge to wear just one perfume in
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That is quite a litany of weather! Yes, very challenging to choose one scent for the whole day. I don’t envy your parking adventure!
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Your flowers sound wonderful. We have a few camellia blossoms, but they have no discernible scent. I’m enjoying Nicolai’s Angelys Pear and diptyque Fleur de Peau. Today was Perris Monte Carlo Rose Ta’if for me.
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That’s a gorgeous rose! I think Patricia de Nicolai has a real way with pear notes. I wasn’t expecting that in the opening of Musc Intense, but I love it.
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It’s warm and sunny here during the day (too sunny, if you ask me: we need more rain), so everything starts blooming. Yesterday I saw and smelled mimosa.
Same as NoseProse, I wear rose perfumes to celebrate upcoming Valentine’s Day.
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I know you like mimosa!
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