Perfume Chat Room, December 25
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Perfume Chat Room, December 25

Merry Christmas, 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, December 25, and it is Christmas Day! Happy Christmas to all who celebrate it! This year, it is a strange holiday, with church services online, many fewer gatherings, less Christmas shopping, etc. Not to mention the ongoing distractions here in the US from our crazy-making election year, which seems never to end. But, as “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” reminds us, “Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. ‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.’” And so it does.

At Christmas 2020, my family is so thankful for our many blessings. As some of you readers know, I occasionally do a post on “What Went Well” which is a mindfulness and gratitude exercise also called “Three Blessings.” The idea is that one lists a number of things that went well, or turned out to be blessings, in a given period of time. So here are some of mine, for 2020:

  • Good health for all of us, despite one daughter having had COVID 19 this fall (thankfully, she recovered quickly);
  • An effective COVID 19 vaccine, which was given this week to my beloved father-in-law (our sole remaining parent/grandparent) at his assisted living facility;
  • Continued employment for 3 out of the 4 working adults in our family, and an upcoming callback interview for the 4th in the New Year;
  • A roof over our heads in a home we love, in spite of unexpected plumbing repairs and gaping holes in plaster ceilings beneath dismantled bathrooms (!);
  • The ability to afford the repairs;
  • Our loving family that has been able to live together amicably, back together under said roof, during this pandemic;
  • The opportunity and ability to give gifts to each other and to various charities in these troubled times.

What about you, what are the blessings that come to your mind? Or what went well for you recently? And of course, since I mostly write here about fragrance, what fragrance are you wearing for the holidays? I’m currently in Bond No. 9’s I Love New York For Holidays. I expect to try out some of Jo Malone’s Christmas Cologne Sampler later today!

Scent Sample Sunday: St. Clair Scents’ Frost
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Scent Sample Sunday: St. Clair Scents’ Frost

I have long been a fan of Diane St. Clair’s fragrance creations, especially Gardener’s Glove but also First Cut. Frost is the third of that trio, her first releases which arrived in 2018. (For three very comprehensive reviews, you must read Kafkaesque’s detailed dissection of each). When I first read the name of that scent, I thought it would relate to frost, as in fall and winter temperatures, but instead, it refers to the poet Robert Frost, who wrote many of his most famous poems a short distance from Diane’s dairy farm in Vermont. Per her website:

“This scent follows the story of Frost’s poem, “To Earthward” which describes the transformation of youthful love, from “sweet like the petals of the rose” and “sprays of honeysuckle” to painful love, which stings like “bitter bark”, “burning clove” and “rough earth.”

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Perfume Chat Room, December 18
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Perfume Chat Room, December 18

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, December 18, and it is exactly one week before Christmas Day, as well as the last day of Hanukkah. What fragrant gifts do you expect to give, or hope to get? I have a few ideas: for instance, IKEA still has in stock its line of scented candles from its collaboration with Byredo’s Ben Gorham. I bought some when they were first in stores, and they’re very appealing: nice scents in pretty ceramic jars with matching lids. Everyone in my family likes scented candles, so they’ll get some of those. Zara has finally brought its “Zara Emotions” line to the US, the fragrances created by Jo Malone of Jo Loves, that launched last year in Europe. I’ve bought the discovery set, I’ll be interested to try them. There are several gift options on the website, including sets with candles in matching scents.

I’m planning to assemble a box of unused or underused fragrances from my collection for my kids to rummage through and choose what they like. I don’t have many options to put in there for my son, but he likes Cool Water, so I’ll give him that, and I’m going to see if he likes Gucci’s Memoire d’Une Odeur. I have plenty of options to offer my daughters! I’ve bought a few things for my husband to “give” me, lol, mostly from independent artisan perfumers like Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, and Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays.

I sent my two sisters in New England sets of Stash’s “Christmas in Paris” tea, with china mugs decorated with scenes of Paris. The tea is supposed to combine flavors of chocolate, lavender and mint! It sounds lovely and I may have to get some for my own family to try. I’m also looking forward to starting some real holiday cooking, which always makes the house smell wonderful.

What are you planning?

COVID-19 and Smells
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COVID-19 and Smells

The New York Times has published an essay by a writer who lost her sense of smell after having COVID-19 last spring; she hasn’t yet recovered it, although many people do (including my daughter, who lost her senses of smell and taste for a few weeks after having the virus this fall but has luckily recovered). The essay is a powerful reminder of how much smells and fragrance affect us: Covid Stole My Sense of Smell. For most of us perfumistas, we take for granted our sense of smell, so that fragrance has become our hobby, but it’s actually a very important part of human perception. I hope the writer is able to regain her sense of smell via the “scent training” recommended by her doctor.

Update: I also just found this article on WebMD about retraining one’s sense of smell: Smell Training Might Speed the Sense’s Return After COVID.

Stay safe, everyone! We have vaccines, but we still need to take all precautions like wearing masks and washing hands, until they are fully distributed and administered.

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Gifts of the Three Magi: Frankly Frankincense — takeonethingoff.com

Each of the gifts of the three Magi carried a special symbolic meaning – gold representing kingship, myrrh foreshadowing the death of Jesus (myrrh being commonly used as an embalming and purifying ointment in the final sendoff of a soul), and finally, frankincense for divinity. 171 more words

Gifts of the Three Magi: Frankly Frankincense — takeonethingoff.com

Reposting this from a blog I like very much: Take One Thing Off. So many incense-based fragrances! I’ve tried some but not all — which ones have you tried? Any favorites?

Perfume Chat Room, December 11
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Perfume Chat Room, December 11

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, December 11, and I am loving a fragrance I got earlier this year from House of Matriarch. It’s called Violet Flame and I pulled it out because of NST’s Community Project today, which is to wear a violet-forward scent. House of Matriarch is an independent, artisan perfumery with a focus on natural materials. Its fragrances have won awards, including a 2020 Art & Olfaction Award for Bonsai, and the ones I’ve tried quite special. I haven’t bought any full bottles because I have so many of their sample and travel sized sprays.

Have you tried any from this house? Or do you have a favorite violet-based fragrance? Are you ready for the holidays? And finally, Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate it! (Yes, I know the featured image shows all the candles lit and that doesn’t happen yet, I just love the photo and the text).

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‘Multi-coloured Monday’: a cyber sale of woolly wares (aka Bonkers knits). — Bonkers about Perfume

Following on from Black Friday, and my custom perfume purchase for my friend during 4160 Tuesdays’ Hot Pink Weekend, I decided to invent a new cyber sale colour of my own – or rather, a multi-coloured one, to reflect the nature of the items on offer. And they are not merely multi-coloured on aggregate, but…

‘Multi-coloured Monday’: a cyber sale of woolly wares (aka Bonkers knits). — Bonkers about Perfume

Wouldn’t you like to give someone a Bonkers knitted item for the holidays? Take a look at what is for sale — so many wonderful things! And supporting a fellow perfumista as an added bonus.

Perfume Chat Room, December 4
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Perfume Chat Room, December 4

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, December 4, the first Friday of the last month of 2020. Hurray! This year has been famously destructive in many ways, but I see light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. In my own religion, Christianity, the season of Advent began last Sunday, and it is one of my favorite times of the year. Not just because of preparations for holidays (with most celebrations on hold this year), but because it is a season of hope and anticipation. Many religions and cultures have some observance of this time of year, leading toward the Northern Hemisphere’s winter solstice when the Earth is tilted furthest away from the Sun and the day is shortest, night longest. Not surprisingly, a common theme is the emergence of light from darkness, since our winter solstice marks the end of daylight diminishing and the start of the gradual increase in light.

The season also brings with it many wonderful smells! Classic associations with this time of year are evergreens like pine and fir; spiced drinks like mulled wine and apple cider; beeswax from lit candles; incense from places of worship; sweet and spiced baked goods, often including vanilla; woody and smoky scents that recall hearth fires. I enjoy them all. Some perfumers try to create fragrances that evoke cold, like notes of snow, or ice, or frost. I was so excited in 2018 when Jo Malone had a limited edition fragrance called White Moss & Snowdrop, I thought I’d love it. Sadly, I didn’t. It was pleasant enough, but it didn’t make a big impression. My wallet was grateful! Now I’m excited at the news that Dawn Spencer Hurwitz will create a new fragrance for Zoologist, called Snowy Owl. Can’t wait to try it!

What fragrances do you enjoy at this time of year? They don’t have to be perfumes, you can list any scent!

Small Business Saturday 2020: Perfumology in Philadelphia +#Shopsmall Draw — ÇaFleureBon Perfume Blog
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Small Business Saturday 2020: Perfumology in Philadelphia +#Shopsmall Draw — ÇaFleureBon Perfume Blog

Supporting small businesses at our small family shop feels right. I’m grateful to do so during these difficult times.-Nir Guy of Perfumology The post Small Business Saturday 2020: Perfumology in Philadelphia +#Shopsmall Draw appeared first on ÇaFleureBon Perfume Blog.

Small Business Saturday 2020: Perfumology in Philadelphia +#Shopsmall Draw — ÇaFleureBon Perfume Blog

As part of what has become “Black Friday” weekend, today we have “Small Business Saturday”, and the blog CaFleureBon is highlighting a well-regarded niche perfumery based in Philadelphia, Perfumology. It is a small, family-owned business owned and run by Nir Guy. Like many small businesses in retail, it has had its challenges in 2020, especially as it had focused on in-person service and events, which are currently not feasible (though they’ve taken some events online, apparently). I placed a small order today (a discovery set) to show support. I appreciate the role that niche perfumeries play in discovering and supporting independent perfumers.

Do you have a favorite brick-and-mortar perfumery?

Featured image from http://www.perfumology.com.

Perfume Chat Room, November 27
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Perfume Chat Room, November 27

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, November 27, and it is “Black Friday”, the day after Thanksgiving when traditionally American retailers offer special sales prices on all kinds of goods to kick off the holiday shopping season, hoping to get off to a strong start. This year is especially tricky for retailers, as the global pandemic has affected that sector so deeply. Brick-and-mortar stores have seen much of their business plunge; some online retails have thrived. In the middle of all this, small or independent businesses have struggled. So, if you’re doing any holiday shopping today or this week, here are a few suggestions to support such businesses:

4160 Tuesdays: Independent artisan perfumer Sarah McCartney is holding her annual special sales. “Current Collection perfumes. If you buy a 15ml we send you a 30ml. 30ml => 50. 50ml => 100. Today until 10th December 2020. Please write News in the delivery notes.” Today is also her “Hot Pink Friday” sale, which has many special buys on past bestsellers, special editions, etc. And finally, for the rest of November, with a minimum 50 GBP purchase of a single scent, you can ask her to add one ingredient to that scent to customize it for you. You pick the ingredient! Tell her in the Notes. And yes, US buyers can take part if you place an order soon; she is preparing a shipment to go to the US in another week or so.

Bookshop: Bookshop is an alternative to Amazon.com, where you can buy books and support local booksellers online, even when you can’t go to the bookstore!

DSH Perfumes: Perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz has an incredible range of fragrances, including many she has created as artistic collaborations with art museums. For 20% off now through December, use the code: “bright20.” Dawn’s discount codes often work on top of a listed sale price, so try it!

Indigo Perfumery: Today through Sunday, 11/29, Indigo is offering 10% off orders of in-stock full bottles totalling $75 or more, with the code: “blackfriday2020.”

Twisted Lily Perfumery: Sadly, this Brooklyn boutique closed its retail location this summer, but it is still open online! Today through November 30, take 20% off purchases of $100 or more with this code: “EARLY20LXG7DS5T.”

Have you come across any alluring Black Friday sales you’d like to share? Enjoy your holiday weekend!