summer

Perfume Chat Room, August 5
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Perfume Chat Room, August 5

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 5, and I have family on my mind. This is mostly because we have gone to New Hampshire with our young adult children for the specific purpose of seeing my elderly father-in-law, who is their only remaining grandparent. We’re having a great time! We have had some fabulous weather, although today is overcast after some heavy rain last night. As hoped, we have seen and heard several loons. Their calls are so distinctive, and instantly bring back memories of past vacations in New England.

The other reason family is on my mind is that the “Scent Semantics” blogging crew, of which I am one thanks to Portia, posted this week about the word “family.” I wrote about the family of fragrances launched by one of my favorite perfumers, Liz Moores, and her independent brand Papillon Artisan Perfumes. Please check it out, as well as the other Scent Semantics blog posts!

Scent Semantics blog list
Links to Scent Semantics blogs

It feels as if summer is coming to a close, and I’m not quite ready for that. How about you?

New England lake with loons
Loons on lake in Maine
Perfume Chat Room, June 18
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Perfume Chat Room, June 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, June 18, and we have been having some post-lockdown adventures! Most importantly, we have been able to visit my husband’s elderly father for several days, going over to the assisted living facility where he lives for a few hours every afternoon. Since our kids are young adults, they are holding down the fort at home. We are in New England, the part of the US where my husband and I both spent parts of our childhood and that feels like “home” in so many ways. Staying in a rustic lake cottage surrounded by the scent of balsam trees and other vegetation brings back a lot of happy childhood memories! Not to mention the distinctive sounds of loons, which takes me right back to childhood and earlier vacations when our own children were very young.

We also went to a big restaurant the other night, for the first time in over a year. People here are literally giddy with happiness at the ongoing return to normalcy. As we waited for our table, a total stranger turned to me, beaming, and said “Isn’t it wonderful to be in a crowded restaurant again, full of happy people?” Yes, I said. And it was. This particular restaurant is by the side of a lake, with most of the seating in a huge screened porch that runs the length of the building, so we enjoyed plenty of fresh air circulating as well as a gorgeous view.

Since I’m partially on vacation (working remotely most mornings, taking off most afternoons), and it’s easier to focus on fragrance when I’m more at leisure, I brought with me a box full of fragrance samples to try, but I haven’t pulled many out yet. Mostly I’ve been enjoying the smells of New England summer, which are so different from the smells of a Southern summer. Have you been trying any new fragrances lately?