SJP Stash

Perfume Chat Room, January 3
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Perfume Chat Room, January 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, January 3, and it is 2025! Happy New Year to you all! We had a more social New Year’s Eve than usual, which was nice. We had two casual parties to go to, both of the drop-by-if-you-can type, and both close by — the second one was next door. So we socialized, had a drink at each party, and were home before 10:30 pm. We did stay awake until midnight and enjoyed seeing replays of the fireworks from around the world. Wow, Portia, those fireworks over Sydney were wonderful! And I loved the fireworks in London, too. I hope you all had enjoyable New Year’s Eves! Did you wear any special fragrances? I wore Hiram Green’s Arbolé, which I find I’ve been craving lately. Kafkaesque had a long review of it when it first came out, though it wasn’t really to her taste. I’ve realized I am sometimes very drawn to patchouli, based on my reaction to both Arbolé and SJP Stash, though I’ve never thought much about it and wouldn’t claim it among my favorite notes. It does play nicely with rose, though, which is one of my top favorites. If you have any patchouli loves, do tell!

Our next international trip will be to Vienna, Salzburg, and of course Barcelona (where the European office of my lovely husband’s employer is based). I can’t wait to see Vienna and Salzburg! We’ll be there the same week as the famous Vienna Opera Ball, though of course we’re not attending that. We are, however, going to see an opera at the Vienna State Opera House the weekend before the ball. We plan to take in museums, concerts, palaces and cathedrals all week. Do any of you know of any particularly excellent perfumeries in Vienna you would recommend I visit? And if you were going to the Opera Ball, what fragrance would you wear??

Scent Sample Sunday: SJP Stash
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Scent Sample Sunday: SJP Stash

I wrote almost two years ago about Stash Unspoken, the first flanker to 2016’s Stash SJP, by Sarah Jessica Parker, but I realized I hadn’t yet devoted a post to the original, so here it is! And I have a good reason for writing about it now, because Portia solved a problem I had been having — what to do with that bottle of “elixir oil” that came in the gift set? Undina had the same issue when she wrote about Stash back in 2017. In response to a comment somewhere, Portia suggested using a few drops of the oil in one’s bath. Eureka! I exclaimed, like Archimedes, that’s the answer!

I use bath oil more regularly now, because my skin has become so dry, especially in the winter when the house is heated. Most of the time, I use an unscented oil like Neutrogena’s sesame body oil; I just squirt some in the bath water. After Portia’s comment, I’ve added less than a dropperful of the Stash elixir oil, and it is wonderful — it scents the whole bathroom. Sillage is not a problem with this fragrance — it carries quite a way.

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Fragrance Friday: SJP Stash Unspoken
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Fragrance Friday: SJP Stash Unspoken

I developed a strange liking for the original SJP Stash when it came out — strange, because it really is not my usual vibe. I didn’t like it much when I first tried it in store, but I sprayed some on a paper slip and took that home. Lo and behold, every time I found myself sniffing the air, thinking “what is that alluring scent?”, it was the slip with Stash on it. And this went on for a week! At the end of that week, I caved and went and bought one of the gift sets on sale at Ulta.

Now there is SJP Stash Unspoken, a flanker. And I really like that too, though they are different in many ways. Stash Unspoken has these notes, according to Fragrantica:

Top: Pink pepper, Quince
Heart: Wisteria, Honeysuckle, Peony
Base: Musk, Sandalwood, Tonka bean, Frankincense

In contrast, Stash is described as having “notes of fresh grapefruit, black pepper and aromatic sage. Its heart notes include Atlas cedar, patchouli, ginger lily and pistachios, laid on the warm woody base of olibanum, massoia wood, vetiver and musk.” Only one floral in the whole pyramid: ginger lily.

Grid collage of fragrance notes of Sarah Jessica Parker's fragrance SJP Stash.

Fragrance notes of SJP Stash; image from http://www.sjpbeauty.com.

Stash Unspoken, whose heart notes are entirely floral, occupies the ground between woody, aromatic Stash and Sarah Jessica Parker’s first commercial fragrance, Lovely, which is a softer, lightly fruity floral with some spice and woody notes. To my nose, Stash Unspoken is warmer than Lovely. Its opening is fine, didn’t really excite me but didn’t bore or repel me either. Pretty quickly, the floral heart notes emerged. Among them, peony seems the strongest to me. All are light and evoke late spring/early summer; they are very pretty. Then the base notes start to take over, and that’s when I think Stash Unspoken really comes into its own. As the SJP website says: “Stash Unspoken layers brighter, softer notes of floral woods with the sensuous base notes of original Stash.” Although the two scents do not have the same listed base notes, the drydown of Stash Unspoken definitely shows its Stash DNA. There is a woody warmth, lingering on the skin, that suggests intimacy without being as “sexy” as Stash. You could absolutely think of Stash Unspoken as your daytime scent and original Stash as your nighttime scent. One would segue into the other very nicely!

Many reviewers and commenters felt that the original Stash smelled like a quality niche fragrance; it was different from the mainstream, it is quirky, it holds your interest. Stash Unspoken maintains that niche feel, while being a little more approachable than the original. Similarly, I love the bottle of Stash Unspoken. It is the twin of the original, but in a delightful shade of rose gold. Very feminine, but modern; it feels a little more mature than Lovely without being staid at all, and softer than Stash without losing the quirkiness.

Have you tried the original or the flanker? What did you think?