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Helen Hardy

@lowkeyhighflyer

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An ever increasing stash of niche fragrances (bought by me unless otherwise stated in post) - plus cats, walks and a smattering of museum digitisation

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Happy autumnal #caturday from Countess and various neighbourhood bois and queens 😻😹😻 by @lowkeyhighflyer

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9 hours ago

Getting behind myself with the #dailywalk pics but here are a few #dailyadventures as the season changes 🍁 by @lowkeyhighflyer

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2 days ago

Let’s talk about what @instagram is doing (or at least testing) with the quick reaction drawer - the set of six emojis that pop up when you want to react to a story. Specifically, let’s talk about that and the human relationship to nature. Not my usual fare I know but bear with me because this is important.

I first noticed a few weeks ago that from time to time different sets of quick reactions were showing up. It was fairly apparent that these are tailored to the content of the story they appear on. When I searched for whether Insta were testing this I got several ‘no’ responses from G**gle until I was very specific about what I was seeing, then a recognition that this must mean Instagram’s object-recognition AI is scanning the story content and rewriting the quick-reaction drawer in real-time. Many of us have reservations about unnecessary AI tools - so that’s thing one.

But rather than start an AI war right now, today I want to talk about insects. Because of my work in the natural history museum, I happen to know a LOT of insect enthusiasts. Artists, amateur photographers and scientists. So my stories are often full of lovely bugs. The quick reaction set you see in the picture on this post, hovering over my friend’s gorgeous photo, is at least the third time I have had my default heart-eyes emoji replaced with some form of negative or shocked emoji for an insect image (although I can still say the image is fire….lucky me).
I have waited until I’ve seen this more times than can just be coincidence.

Yes, I already see the argument that these suggested quick reactions based on image content reflect the reactions people ‘want’ or are ‘likely’ to prioritise. But anything which reenforces the utterly dumb stereotype that ‘bugs are bad’ and that nature is something we are not part of but find slightly gross is WILDLY damaging in these times of massive decline in vital insect populations and misunderstanding of what they contribute and how to live responsibly alongside them.

Please think again @instagram ! 🐛🦋🐌🐞🪳🪲🪰🐜🦟🦗🕷️🩷❤️🧡💛💜💙🩵💚🖤🩶🤍🤎

Anyone else spotted this?

#insectdecline #amazingbugs #insectsofinstagram🐛🐝🐞🐜 #ilovebugs #naturelovers by @lowkeyhighflyer

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4 days ago

Last week’s #saturdayscenttrio looked back to sticky summer, so this week here are three I’ve been waiting for more autumnal cool days to enjoy.

I got a great deal on Gallagher’s Septamber in the @luxeparfum_uk sale earlier this year. This feels almost quintessentially a scent for fall - every note here is a fall colour: apricot, black tea, rose, oak, maple, honey… a bouquet of reds, ambers and browns. Boozy rose fruits steep in maple and honey, held in oak barrels that are broken open for a warming sip. Nothing at all subtle about this (and I have a personal aversion to the packaging which screams ‘fragbro’ to me), but I know it will be an easy, decadent reach well into Winter.

Akro’s Malt was another generous hand me down from Maddie @veganperfumegirl . Again, this does what it says on the tin 🥃- malt whisky with a strong overtone of overripe fruit, even a hint of banana to my nose, then seaweed and patchouli give a tiny hint of some of the beach bonfire fragrances I also love. Another very warming one.

Quite honestly in a next level league and deserving a separate write up when I have a chance is Tobacco by @dshperfumes for @american.perfumer . I’m super happy I took a risk on ordering this one through the always-well-informed @sainte.cellier . This bottle is stunningly simple (and how lovely to find braille on a label). The scent is an incredible green colour. Celebrating the tobacco tradition of Kentucky, this combines a green but not sharp tobacco with a richly rounded plum, the wood of the tobacco barn, and a more delicate version of autumnal rose, honey and molasses. Leathery-sweet, waxen, smoke-on-the-breeze, bite in the throat perfection.

What are you wearing for Autumn? There’s a fall goblin in me that one day is going to spray all three of these at once, maybe for a Halloween scent trail that would wake the dead 🤣

#saturdayscent #collectionpotential #autumnperfume #mrcologne76 by @lowkeyhighflyer

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14 days ago

Countess is not available for pictures this week, but here is her unsuspecting autumnal colour ways 🧡🤎🖤🤍 #caturday by @lowkeyhighflyer

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14 days ago

More Autumn things #dailywalk #dailyadventures by @lowkeyhighflyer

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15 days ago

A #saturdayscenttrio for seasonal transitions this week and next as we are having it cold and sunny one day and super humid the next in London at present. First, here are three scents I’ve been loving on muggy days.

Bamboo Mist is a happy discoveries from sampling lots of @_floriography (more on that soon). A bitey green it has a delicious freshness thanks to bamboo and cucumber, with a lasting sharp green to wake you up in the heat from ginger and vetiver, tempered by a dash of soft melon. This is pretty without being soft, I like it when I need to get things done despite feeling hot and tired.

A more languid proposition is Fox in the Flowerbed by @imaginaryauthors - massive thanks to Maddie @veganperfumegirl for passing on her bottle of this to me, I’ve been wearing it loads. This is the softer side of jasmine - not indolic just delicious, a flutter of a wild heart rolling in a meadow of tulips and honeyed wildflowers, with a mischievous dash of pink peppercorn and thistles. Frankincense gives delicate structure and a breath of fresh air.

CKOne was my first perfume love many (soooo many…) years ago at university - the welcome realisation that scent didn’t have to be gendered and that i didn’t only have the options of smelling like a candy store, rose garden or grandmother’s wardrobe… I haven’t tried many of the limited Summer editions but believe this pop art one was from 2019 - I grabbed it at a bargain price in TKMaxx last year. It has enough of the original freesia and green tea citric cologne DNA to make me nostalgic, but is distinctly different and actually rather prettier to my nose now. A delectable tangerine note comes through up front, followed by a not-too-blue ‘Icelandic lagoon’ and a nice touch of juniper and barely perceptible matcha. Intriguing to find matcha used so long before the current fashion for match-forward fragrances. Created by Carlos Viñals, this really is a summer hit - my daughter announced that I smelled nice when I wore this which considering she smells me in lovely perfumes every day is pretty great ☀️

Next week, my ‘fume trio for the start of Autumn…

#saturdayscent #summerscent #collectionpotential by @lowkeyhighflyer

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21 days ago

It’s #caturday ! Countess may not forgive me for missing the last one but anyway here she is, along with scaredy and curious neighbourhood cats and a little cat painting testing my pretty new watercolours. Hope you have a relaxing and creative weekend 😻 #catstagram #catart by @lowkeyhighflyer

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21 days ago

It’s Autumn some days and still Summer others. Either way, the #crystalpalacedinosaurs are looking amazing with their new coat of paint, and Streatham’s rookery is super pretty 🤩 #dailywalk #dailyadventures by @lowkeyhighflyer

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25 days ago

Having run into @versatile_paris in a store and immediately fallen for God Bless Cola (spray version), I ordered their various sample sets and some gorgeous body care products, and here’s the #sampleseptember verdict.

The one I ordered with my sample sets discount is Cerise sur le Gâteaux (a roll-on) - I ought to hate this gourmand treat but it reminds me of my favourite cake with ground almonds and glace cherries that my grandmother used to make, mixed with the warm sponge topped with jam and vanilla custard of a good school dinner. Cosy and fuzzy in all the right ways.

Presser le Citron from the new fruity EdPs is also very nice, a well-sweetened lemon juice without any hint of air freshener. While Dimanche Flemme is cardamom heavy and that doesn’t always work on me the leafy green basil 🌿 and contrasting sweet notes make this a very pleasant wear. And the body cream is exquisite - luxe texture and of course a delicious scent.

The most creative perfume? Definitely the roast chicken and weed one 🤣🤣 - does in fact smell like crispy chicken and rosemary, or chicken crisps.

This whole line are creative, prettily presented and very accessibly priced - more of a pleasure to sample than some brands at three or four times the cost. Bravo.

#sampleseptember2026 #versatileparis #fragfam by @lowkeyhighflyer

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a month ago

This #caturday here are five pics of Countess being sundrunk and silly, and five of a very pretty neighbourhood cat who stopped me for scritches this week 😻 by @lowkeyhighflyer

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a month ago

Sometimes things fall together so nicely 🌹

While I’ve got some time not working, I’ve been exploring perfume materials and blending more, trying to get to know how things come together (getting to know your materials being one of @sarahmccartneythinks ‘s golden rules 😃).

As many of you know, though, I am not much of a rose fan. The @scenthusiasm_ltd ingredients kit has a rose base and a rose absolute which are great to compare but which I hadn’t used.

The astonishing Victoria @boisdejasmin gave a fascinating seminar on rose last month, partly as a thankyou to some of us who have donated to her fundraiser for the other side of her current work - rescue in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. I vastly love and admire her way of drawing out and building on beauty and joy no matter what - please do check out what she is sharing and help if you can. She shared some formulae for different rose accords - really interesting but I had none of the parts.

In stepped fate in the form of @peoplecareplanetcare Dulcie’s Citizen Subscription #BOX006 which to my great joy was perfume focussed and contained not only gorgeous incense, candle and skin oil but also a fantastic kit of 15 tiny vials of ingredients to make bespoke scented oil-perfume. These included many of the rose accords parts I had heard about on the seminar. So I have mixed Geraniol, Citronellol, Nerol, Damascone Alpha, Cedarwood Chinese and Eucalyptus Peppermint to make a deliciously damp, green, fresh rose with just a hint of sawn wood. I leaned more heavily than is usual into the damascone and cedar as the heart, with the eucalyptus keeping things fresh, cool and a little spiky, and I’m super happy to have had a play with these marvellous molecules and naturals.

#perfumefromscratch #perfumery #fragfam #roseperfume by @lowkeyhighflyer

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a month ago