Welcome to the Friday 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 17, and I hope you all had a pleasant week, including Valentine’s Day if you celebrated it and just a great week if you didn’t. I can now reveal that the Valentine’s gift I got for my dear husband is one for us to share — a large bottle of Parfums de Nicolai’s New York. Not New York Intense, though I’ve read that is also very good. I borrowed from his small bottle I had given him some years ago while we were out of town, and I really enjoyed it on me as well as him! So now we’ll share it. I suspect he will use more than I will, because I have so many other options, lol!
How’s this for serendipitous: I was trying to figure out what might be a fun Portuguese perfume to bring home from our upcoming trip, and one of you suggested I reach out to Miguel Matos to ask him, but meanwhile I found out that The Perfumery in Barcelona carries Miguel’s own line! And we’ll be in Barcelona before Portugal. So I’ll go try some of Miguel’s scents and see if there’s one I’d like to bring home as a souvenir of both Barcelona and Portugal.
Our weather here has careened from chilly and wet, to sunny and warm, back to freezing cold and wet today. It’s not literally freezing yet, but it’s barely above that level and will dip below 32 F tonight. Glad I got in some overdue garden cleanup yesterday, when I think it was in the 70s! Sadly, the many pink magnolias that had popped open this past week will undoubtedly brown up and lose their blossoms after tonight’s freeze. They’ve been beautiful while they lasted.
Next week will be Portia’s and my next “CounterPoint“, posting on Monday! We’ll be writing about our different experiences and versions of Chanel No. 5. Please join us!
What’s new in your world? I’ve been enjoying NST‘s community project this week, which was to match a fragrance with a textile or wear a fragrance that reminds you of a textile. So this week, I’ve worn Cristalle (textile-adjacent), Dior’s New Look 1947, and today — Grey Flannel, which I’m really enjoying.
Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities 
We are in Nashville this weekend, belatedly celebrating our 25th anniversary (in the fall, but we had football every weekend this year…) I’m wearing Dame Dark Horse today, mostly because I have a travel-friendly oil rollerball. We’re going to a concert tonight – someone we’ve never heard of – but it’s nice to be someplace vibrant! Have a great weekend!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congratulations! I’ve only been to Nashville a couple of times but it has so much to offer. Including some GREAT food. Enjoy! And you smell great!
LikeLike
Oh, is that it for the pink magnolias, so soon? I was fortunate to receive a bouquet of roses for V-Day and feel the same sadness now that they are wilting. They smelled and looked beautiful. I don’t follow NST but I suppose Ag (silver) by Ted Baker counts as “textile adjacent” – I realized I hadn’t worn it for over a year and it’s the leather fragrance I never knew I had, as the powdery violet note stands out to me much more.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think magnolias and cut roses are designed to remind us that beauty can be fleeting. How interesting that you’ve had this insight into your Ted Baker fragrance!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You did SO WELL sat the NST CP this week OH, I’m completely jealous of your ability to fabric fragrance match.
Bummer about your magnolias. The pinkish ones are my favourite.
World Pride has begun this week in Sydney. It’s combining with our annual Mardi Gras season. I’m only peripherally involved this year because it all became quite overwhelming but I’ve already hosted a fundraiser to extradite LGBTQI+ from Russia and Ukraine where the new laws have been taken to heart by the citizenry as well as the police. Will be hosting a life story event where 5 LGBTQI+ and family will be telling their story, important for youth, family, survivors and questioning people to hear that all the growing pain is survivable and there is a rainbow on the other side.
So though I’m not partying, Jin has a South Korean buddy coming here to stay with us and they will party enough for me, by a long shot.
Portia x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good for you!! Such important work. I truly don’t understand why anyone can’t live and let live.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, it’s this strange part of human nature.
LikeLike
I love it when a woman wears Grey Flannel. I wore it in high school. Such a bracing violet leaf it was back then!
I wore All That Matters,No 19 and Cardinal this past week.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ooh, you smelled great!
LikeLike