Author: Old Herbaceous

Perfume Chat Room, September 24
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Perfume Chat Room, September 24

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, September 24, and it is officially fall in my part of the world! I do love the fall season, but not for the reasons some autumn-lovers give. I don’t particularly care for cinnamon, pumpkin, harvest themes, etc., though I don’t dislike them. What I do love about fall is the often sudden improvement in the weather, from hot, muggy and buggy, to cool, clear and dry. My garden often goes out of control in August, when the attacks of mosquitoes drive me indoors after doing the bare minimum of weeding and watering. In the fall, I can venture out again; and in the Southeastern United States where I live, fall is a whole new gardening season unto itself, with cool weather vegetables and flowers that will produce all winter. The autumn air just smells good to me: crisper, but with undertones of earth and leaves. And I adore Japanese maples, so I always look forward to their color changes in my garden.

I’ve been enjoying comments here and on other blogs about the different fragrances people are wearing in the fall. I treated myself for my birthday to a bottle of Jean Louis Scherrer, a chypre with plenty of floral and green notes which some of you have mentioned before. I really like chypre fragrances, and I think they work very well in this transitional fall weather, so I’m enjoying it very much!

Fall also feels to me like a time of renewal, probably due to its long association in my mind with the start of each school year, and I find myself more motivated to reorganize things. We are in the last stage of restoring our house to order after last winter’s plumbing disaster and the moves in and out of our young adult children. We’re waiting for a couple of new rugs, and the return of three rugs from the cleaner, so we can rearrange furniture and bedrooms; then the hardwood floors on the main level will be refurbished so we can put back the rugs and furniture in the living room and dining room. I will also reorganize my perfume collection (gulp!). Do you have any reorganization plans afoot? What fall fragrances did you wear this week?

Featured image from www.amycampion.com.

Perfume Chat Room, September 17
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Perfume Chat Room, September 17

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, September 17, and we have had several days of birthdays in this household! Mine was at the start of the month and my husband’s was last week, so we’ve had serial and shared celebrations with our kids. And yes, a few new fragrances snuck into the house. The highlight of the shared celebrations was our family trip to see the musical Hamilton, a long-delayed Christmas gift from December 2019. We had seen it once before, all but my son, and it was just as enthralling the second time. My son was blown away by it. This was the first live performance any of us had attended since March 2020, which added to its impact. We also went out for a fancy family dinner on a different night, given that Hamilton was an entire evening unto itself. We tried a new Italian restaurant nearby, and it was terrific! Again, our perceptions may have been enhanced by how long it has been since we really went out to dinner, but we loved this place and will go back.

The birthday fragrances I received (bought for myself on behalf of my family, lol!) were: Jean Louis Scherrer, Mont de Narcisse, Choeur des Anges, and Crepuscule des Ames. A dear friend surprised me with a lovely gift of body lotion and soap from Lili Bermuda, which she recently visited, in my favorite Lily. It’s very difficult to find gifts for my husband because 1) he actually doesn’t want much; and 2) if he does want something for himself, which is rare, he’ll often just get it. But this year, I was able to surprise him with a bottle of a new botanical gin, which we’ll enjoy (slowly) together. We started down this road a few years ago when we discovered Hendricks. Given how rarely we drink cocktails or hard liquor, I expect this bottle will be with us for a long time!

Do you have your eye on any upcoming birthday fragrances? Or have you recently received any?

Perfume Chat Room, September 10
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Perfume Chat Room, September 10

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, September 10, and we are seeing many programs about 9/11, with its 20th anniversary tomorrow. A somber date, to be sure. However, I am choosing to dwell on this week’s scientific revelation that hummingbirds do, indeed, have a sense of smell: Hummingbirds Use Sense of Smell to Avoid Danger. We had many visits from hummingbirds this summer, more than we’ve ever had before. I credit my new, cheap feeder that I put on a short stake in the rail planter of herbs on our deck, right outside the kitchen door. My husband claims that he has a magic touch when it comes to making sugar water. Whatever the reason, we’ve enjoyed their visits very much! Those have tapered off recently, I think due to migration patterns.

Who knew that they have a sense of smell? Nature is miraculous.

As previously reported, I have been drawn into a zoning battle with our city on behalf of our neighborhood, so I’m wearing a lot more Chanel No. 19 than usual. I feel it stiffens my backbone. Do you have a scent that makes you feel brave?

Perfume Chat Room, September 3
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Perfume Chat Room, September 3

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, September 3, and it is the start of the Labor Day weekend here in the US! I was remiss last week in not posting the usual Chat Room — my apologies! Our neighborhood is in the middle of a zoning battle and I’ve been dragged into it against my better judgment, which has taken up time. When I realized last weekend that I had missed my Friday post, I decided to just wait until this week and the start of a new month.

It’s amazing how the weather has changed! On September 1 and 2, we suddenly had blue skies and much lower humidity, which has continued today. That has revived my fragrance mojo a bit — the very hot, sticky weather had left me stuck in a rut with just a few fragrances I was enjoying in the heat.

I’ll be looking out for any good Labor Day sales — how about you?

Sometimes it’s just the feeling we recall — Now Smell This
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Sometimes it’s just the feeling we recall — Now Smell This

Interestingly, smell has the ability to elicit a strong emotional response without the recollection of an explicit memory. Sometimes it’s just the feeling we recall. When you encounter a smell tied to something meaningful in your past, you first feel the emotion followed by a cognitive recognition, information that was stored in your brain. Often…

Sometimes it’s just the feeling we recall — Now Smell This

Fascinating! This is why I’m collaborating with a playwright and composer on a “scent score” for a new play with music.

Illustration of human sense of smell and brain connections
Illustration of scent and its effect on brain
Perfume Chat Room, August 20
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Perfume Chat Room, August 20

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, August 20, and I have been swarmed by mosquitoes in a 15-minute trip to my backyard. So my theme for today is bug repellent. I spray Deet formulas on outer clothes, and a lemon/eucalytpus blend on skin. I actually sort of like the way it smells. Do you have any secret scent formulas to keep bugs away? Or do any of your favorite fragrances seem to attract bugs more than the norm?

Perfume Chat Room, August 13
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Perfume Chat Room, August 13

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, August 13 — how has your luck held up? I thought about wearing Frederic Malle’s Superstitious as my SOTD, but work was so busy today that I haven’t worn any fragrance yet! (And that’s also why I’m late posting — apologies!). What’s your SOTD? Do you harbor any superstitions? Do you remember vinyl records from the 20th century?

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The scent of this scenery

The scent of this scenery

The scent of this scenery


— Read on nstperfume.com/2021/08/07/the-scent-of-this-scenery/

Another reason to return to Catalonia and Barcelona, where I have visited several marvelous perfumeries!

Perfume Chat Room, August 6
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Perfume Chat Room, August 6

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, August 6, and I am SO READY for the weekend! Even though I had a short work week, I was in my office for three straight full workdays, and I had forgotten how tiring that is. I have to conserve some energy, as our oldest daughter is moving back out this weekend, after having lived at home for the past year because of COVID. She started a great new job earlier this week, and she will be sharing a small rented house with two friends. It’s very exciting! Our second daughter moved out last month, to share an apartment with her bestie from high school. So our chickadees are re-launching! We’re very proud of their perseverance during the past year of challenges.

And now that their belongings will be out of our house, we will finally repaint the several rooms that were damaged and had to be replastered after last fall’s plumbing disaster, including their bedrooms. That is supposed to start next week, and I’m really pleased with the paint colors I’ve chosen. About half will be the same, and half will be variations on the original colors. We’re splurging on doing the living room in a gorgeous dark red from Farrow & Ball, and I’m finally changing our dining room walls from a light taupe to a more greenish neutral, to go better with the William Morris rug in that room. I will rearrange the art we had on the walls in those rooms, and hang more art in the bedrooms, since I have several pieces from my late mother’s house that I hadn’t yet hung. Our youngest (the only boy) will finally get to move into the largest kids’ bedroom, which makes him very happy.

Speaking of happiness, today’s Community Project over at “Now Smell This” is to wear a fragrance that evokes happiness, however you choose to interpret that. I’m wearing Blyss, from Perfumology, the independent perfumery in Philadelphia, PA. It comes in parfum strength, and Perfumology has a discovery set that includes Blyss and three other fragrances commissioned by owner Nir Guy. The set is currently sold out; I hope it gets re-stocked soon!

Have you tried any of the Perfumology scents? What is currently making you happy?

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Theme parks sniffing tour (Universal Studios and Disney World)

Possible spoiler alerts for how certain rides smell at Universal Studios and Disney World.

Theme parks sniffing tour (Universal Studios and Disney World)

A firsthand account of how theme parks are using (or misusing) fragrance!