Hi Posse. Lately I’ve been on a spending spree. Almost all of it perfume related. It’s not like I need more perfume, quite the opposite. Sometimes I think my addiction is acquisition, rather than fragrance. I was very excited to grab the Collection Intense Travel trio by Nicolai in a recent Fragrances & Art order. It came with Ormonde Jayne Orris Noir. This has been on my list for a while. They also have run out prices on Pierre Guillaume’s Phaedon brand, so I might have grabbed some of those too. SHH!
Land
Jin and I also bought a very smell piece of land three hours away in the Upper Hunter Valley. It’s one of Australia’s major wine growing areas and has long been a tree change getaway for Sydneysiders. We have bought 2/3 acre in a tiny little village called Bunnan, population 94. It’s a slender block that slopes into a gully in the middle that becomes a creek during rain. Jin has promised to build me a fairy tale bridge, YAY! No, I’ve no real idea what we will do with it but have a gazillion ideas. Doesn’t it look beautiful and tranquil?
Teeth
In other news I was having supper of Cheese & Biscuits the other night. Some super soft brie, seeded biscuits, salami and chilli garlic black olives. Delicious. Thought I was crunching down on a seed and it was not, it was a tiny piece of bone in the salami. CRACK! Split my upper tooth in half, right down the middle. GAH! So as soon as I could, into the dentist. Out it came. GRRR! Now I’m waiting for everything to heal up. Dentist wants me to get three teeth and sinus lifts for two of them. All my sautéed chickens are coming home to roost.
We were initially thinking to go to South Korea to get it done. The father of modern implant technology is there and it would have been half the price, including travel expenses. Then my dentist got in touch with one of his most trusted implant guys who he went to Uni with. He coincidentally has his offices just down the street from us. Through the connection he shaved over $5K off our expected costs, YAY! Plus if anything goes wrong he’s right down the road for Molotov Cocktails. So hopefully he will work out, otherwise it’s Korea.
Collection Intense Nicolai Travel Trio
The packaging on this set is suitably hefty and luxurious without being overly wasteful & huge. 15ml is a perfect size for travel, handbag, briefcase, gym bag or backpack. The bottles too are sturdy and feel like they can take a fair amount of wear and tear. I knew that even 30ml would never get used, though I do also have a fair selection of this size in the PdN line. 100ml just seems ridiculous at this point (though I’m still buying them sometimes too). At Fragrances & Art I payed around US$65 because they take the VAT off for overseas buyers. I also bought enough in that order to get Free Shipping. I don’t know about you but to me that seems like a really good deal for what it is.
Musc Intense
On open a sweetly floral adventure that reminds me so much of something I cannot put my finger on. One of those gorgeous vintage, rosy florals. What a showstopper! Is it one of the Caron’s? GAWD! This is the shizzzz! Roses, carnations, musks and some dirty animalics. If you love some of the historic beauties and wonder what on earth you could replace them with, look no further.
New York Intense
This is the smell of a suit. Clean, buffed and polished on the way to work. A functional human in a well cut garment ready to take on the world. Old school masculine done for a modern day dandy and wearable by both sexes. If you need to smell like you can do the job, any job asked of you, then New York Intense will be a very good choice. A well spiced mossy citrus built over a layer of lavender. The back end is an unsweetened vanilla, incense and soft musks.
Patchouli Intense
Well, the opening is clean and green. Orange and geranium but I smell some extra herbaceousnous that could be basil or angelica. It seems sheer and dark, maybe wormwood? Not what I would have expected but happily surprising. The opening is a stayer too. The patchouli is swamped by the florals for most of the life of the fragrance and makes a late dash into my nose towards dry down. Interesting way to work patchouli. This is my least favourite of the set but still very wearable and beautifully created.
I also talked about PdN Cuir Cuba Intense here recently.
Are you a fan of Travel sizes, Nicolai or intense versions of things?
Portia x
A gorgeous plot. A bijou house for getaways would be lovely here.
Thanks Matty,
Yes, something. Who knows how it will pan out!
Portia x
I’ve sampled Musc Intense and Poudre Musc Intense, both gorgeous. I don’t know why I don’t own any PdN perfumes? I think travel sizes are perfect for experiencing more perfume rather than purchasing full bottles.
Your land is gorgeous! Enjoy every second of dreaming and planning and I hope you can spend a lot of time there. I’ve always wanted a bridge! I adore bees, perhaps a few plants to attract butterflies? I’m sorry about your tooth issues, I’ve had my share over the years and now have a couple of implants which are much better than crowns in my opinion. xx
YAY! I’m so glad you love Musc Intense too. What an interesting beauty it is Kathleen.
HA! Yes, I’ve also dreamed of a bridge for decades. When Jin found this piece of land it only took us moments to decide yes. Yes too on the butterfly, bird and bee attractant plants. At the shop today I saw a seed mix of Australian natives, all sorts for temperate regions. I’m seriously thinking to buy a couple of packs and see how they go with just nature to make the magic.
I’m glad to read you are happy with your implants. It’s the only choice I have for these teeth so it’s nice to have someone tell me a good news story.
thanks,
Portia xx
Dental work horrified me more than just about any other malady, so I’m sorry to hear about your tooth. I hope the local option works for you!
I love travel sizes for the same reasons everybody else here does – I already own a lot of perfume, and its easier to justify the smaller price point. And portability isn’t a bad thing at all!
Congratulations on your new property – its gorgeous!
Hi there Maggiecat,
Fortunately I completely trust my dentist and he’s never steered me wrong yet. He is as gentle and understanding as you could ever hope.
Yeah, travel sizes are cool. I keep picking these up and enjoying their sturdy construction too.
Thanks. I agree. It is gorgeous.
Portia xx
I love PdN, although these sound more you than me — they do sound lovely, though! I wish I had a photo of my cringe-face while you were talking about your teeth; I literally have nightmares about terrible things happening to my teeth; that’s probably some kind of symbolic thing if I googled. On the other hand, your bit of land looks charming, I have no doubt you’ll do something fun with it!
Heya March,
Sorry to trigger you. It’s all been very sad and the expense is real. Nothing I can do though except get on with it. I’m feeling a bit self conscious about the gap.
Maybe when you finally get to Oz it will be done and ready for visitors.
Portia xx
The only PdN I have is Cap Néroli and that was a gift. I think the PdN base is just not my thing. Love your little plot of land, I would park a tiny house on it and use it as a weekend getaway. Best of luck on the tooth, my husband has multiple implants, $$$$$.
Bummer about the PdN TaraC but YAY for your wallet.
So many possibilities. Until we’ve spent some time there properly it’s all conjecture. Hopefully something fun and easy.
Yeah, it’s expensive. C’est la vie.
Portia xx
I feel you on dental accidents. Olives & ribs have been my recent downfalls & DH broke one of his on the crispy topping I put on the pasta bake! Not great when he’s having chemo.
Your land looks stunning. Could you plant vines for Portia’s Posh Sparkle? With the bees & a yurt or shepherds hut to stay in when your there?
Guessing that’s my daydream but I’ll never be able to buy a patch of virgin land in the UK.
I don’t have any PdN but these sound amazing. Travel sizes are perfect for perfumistas but expensive for perfume houses.
Hoping the dental work isn’t too painful x
Crap Alityke, wish DH my wholehearted sympathy on his tooth.
Thanks. There is a David Austen rose called Wise Portia we had in the garden at the house. Big purple/pink extra fragrant flowers on a small bush. I’m not even sure if we can get them any more but they would be gorgeous there.
Love the idea of bees and two of our friends are apiarists. I’m hoping we can get a couple of hives.
Yeah, I don’t mind paying the extra to have a smaller format. Getting 15ml of three fragrances for the cost of a low end designer felt really good with this set.
Portia xx
Portia, your post was like a roller coaster ride! Great news about the land (up!), terrible news about the cracked tooth (down!), possible trip to Korea to get it fixed (up!), getting it fixed local (quick down and up for savings!), and nice reviews of the Nicholai scents (smooth sailing!). I love travel sizes when available. Vilhelm Parfumerie does nice ones. I have Dear Polly and Don’t Tell Jasmine.
Hey DinaC,
Yes, life has been a bit of a roller coaster lately. Wishing us all a bit of comfortable level.
Yes, I too am a complete sucker for a travel size. You should see them here. It would be hilarious if it wan’t so embarrassing
Portia xx
Aiiiiiyyy! on the tooth! But glad you have financially reasonable options for excellent care & repair!
I love the living daylights out of travel sizes for certain scents – for others, part of the allure is the drama of the full size bottle (Amouage Beloved, in that glam pink box, immediately springs to mind).
Your new land looks stunning and serene. Love the idea of a fairytale bridge. A lifetime ago I fell in love with a farm in the Leelanau Peninsula (up in Michigan) in large part because it had a red bridge crossing a creek.
xoxoxo
I love the Leelanau Peninsula! It would be great for a summer retreat.
Hey Musette,
You have Beloved me into submission. I grabbed one of the last bottles on FragranceNet. Winging its way to me now.
A RED BRIDGE!! Sign me up. We are thinking stones. Maybe Jin will hide under it and make me pay a toll. (Snigger snigger snort)
Portia xx
Portia – Beloved is beyond gorgeous. It has a restrained melancholy (but not sad – just this little ‘hint’ of melancholy, like the person wearing it knows a lot about Life)
CC made this Just for Me.
I do hope you love it!
xoxox
Ooh, you make Musc Intense sound wonderful! I have a 30ml of Patchouli Intense and one of New York regular which strikes me as intense already. Travel sprays are wonderful, that 15ml size scratches the acquisition itch usually without breaking the bank.
Congratulations on the property, looks like a beautiful spot! And sorry about the tooth. I hate everything that has to do with teeth, the pain and expense…but I’m very fond of chewing.
Hey Rosarita,
Musc Intense is my fave by far.
Thanks, we are going up next weekend to have a potter and a think.
Having treated myself so badly through a decade long depression that I have ANY teeth left in my head is a miracle. This is just another expensive blip in the journey. I’m even happy that it’s taken this long for a problem of this magnitude.
Portia xx
Your new property looks gorgeous! I’m a big fan of Nicolaï although I have only just sniffed those three in the boutique. I have a good sized collection of the 30mls; if the travel sprays were more accessible I would have chosen those instead as even my 30mls will last forever. The only intense I have is Sacrebleu Intense, which on me is a bunch of spicy stewed fruits.
Thanks MMKinPA,
Those 30ml are excellent, aren’t they? I probably have three times as many as I would have bought if they were 50 or 100ml.
I think there are a few different sets of the 15ml.
My old Sacrebleu is from before the intense was created. I should get it out and give it a twirl. thanks for the reminder,
Portia xx
Ouch on the tooth. I hope the nearby dentist turns out to be wonderful. And wow on the land. What else besides a little bridge might go on it over time?
No de Nicolais have worked on me. Tried many over the years. A bit perplexing. But love travel sizes. I have 50ml bottles that are still half full after decades. Wish all houses offered smaller sizes.
Hey Cinnamon.
Fingers crossed on the local guy.
There are SO MANY options. I’m only constrained by money really. It’s mind boggling and I’m not going to rush into anything except maybe bees.
WOW! With PdNs enormous line I’d have thought at least one might work for you, Maybe it’s something in the base?
Portia xx
I like travel sizes. I am trying not to go nuts on buying since it is totally bringing coals to Newcastle at this point- they could likely cremate me with the leftovers of my collection when I die and the urn would still smell great for years after.
But these read so dreamy I may have to seek them out..
Congrats on the land buy! I hope you’re able to put a little get away on it and enjoy.
Bummer about the tooth. Sad that we seem to now outlive them: I think it’s more of a thing than most people know. Seems like every other commercial I see here is for implant dentistry. But that may be a function on the channels I watch. If they show “Murder She Wrote” or “Designing Women” it’s ads for teeth, prostate relief, home delivery of incontinence pants. Luckily I haven’t needed anything of the latter two. Yet.
Tom,
I seriously hear you. There was 100% no need to buy these but they are GORGEOUS! I’m glad I did get them.
Thanks. I keep having grandiose ideas about the land but it only needs to be comfortable. I’d like to spend a week there to really get to know it, maybe do some soil regeneration with compost, straw, sandstone and council wood chips. Pop a few native trees in and then put bee hives around it.
All conjecture at this point. Nice to be able to dream though.
Yeah, this tooth was perfect too. It’s a shame. No worries though, it will all sort itself out.
HA! Hopefully you won’t need the latter two for decades.
Portia xx