...Say, there are smells widely accessible to most people, such as common flowers (e.g. roses, lavender), common spices (e.g. cinnamon, vanilla), herbs (e.g. basil), fruits, etc. The same cannot be said about musk. I do have perfumes that are categorised as musky, but I can’t really pinpoint what it is that they have in common, and how to isolate that smell in them. Musk still baffles me. When people write about ‘loads of musk’ in a perfume they review, I wonder how they know. I’ve purchased fragrance oil called Musk. It smells gourmand to me, like zephyr. The bottle has a picture of something that looks like zephyr. Is that why the oil smells like that to me? I can’t imagine any animal or anything (originally) coming from an animal smelling like this. How can you tell a perfume is musky? How have you learned the smell?

...A touching story. I’ve got three kinds of birds nesting (Indian minas, blackbirds and turtleneck doves) in my little patio. I get a bit sad when some of their fledglings don’t survive. The doves are the least successful in their reproductive efforts. On the other hand, I enjoy watching them bathe in a bowl of water I put out for them. There are also honeyeaters that come when the bottlebrush tree is in bloom. Rainbow lorikeets try to feed on it too, but honeyeaters chase them away. The lorikeets are so brilliantly coloured but also so noisy.

...Perhaps you could mix something like Habano Vanilla, Vanilla & Tobacco Infusion, Tobacco Touch Maison Alhambra, or Tobacco Leaf Just Jack with something else that has coffee, etc. Here some more: Tabac Gourmand Patrice Martin has everything except for coffee; Sweet Tabacum, When in Havana, and Honey Havane from The Dua Brand.

...And yet complaints about longevity are a constant refrain in the reviews! I prefer not to spray perfume on my skin. That way I don’t have to harp on about ‘my skin chemistry’ and how ‘my skin eats up perfume’ - another constant refrain. It’s clothes and sometimes hair. If it’s a coat or jumper, I’m prepared to just wear that particular fragrance with that item until it’s time to clean. With other outerwear items that don’t not need to be changed every day, I just enjoy the smell of my fragrance from the day before. I actually prefer the scent not to last for longer than two days, but with rare exceptions, they do even though I don’t have anything expensive/special.