Tell us whatever you want! Did you get any wonderful perfumed presents, are you wearing something wonderful today? Are you shopping for after-Christmas bargains?
I meant to buy myself a bottle of Diorissimo extrait for Christmas. Regular readers know I've been wanting one for a very long time. Earlier this month when Saks had a discount code, I went online and ordered it. Surprisingly, the site accepted two coupon codes, so I got a discount plus free shipping. It didn't arrive, and when I called Saks earlier this week, they had no record of my order, and whatever stock they had must had sold out because it's no longer listed on their website. Maybe next year!
Other than that, we had a perfect Christmas, and I'm polishing off the last of the brownies even as I type...
Note: image is poinsettia cutout by Steffe at flickr; some rights reserved.
All the women in my family got perfume this year…
My mom got Obsession like she always does.
I got Ava Luxe Moroccan Mint Tea
My sister, Alexa, got Coco Mademoiselle
My sister, Erin, got a sample of Tom Ford Black Orchid (I didn't get her a full bottle because I had a hard time believing she actually liked it)
And I also got a reallly cute dress, my sister got it for me because I liked Bohemian-y (as in like Czech) clothes. It is more Russian-y, though. And I got a leather motojacket. I'm wearing both right now, with my new perfume
BAD Saks, bad.
Included in the semi-annual box from Best Friend was a tin of Kamasutra Honey Dust powder. I laughed and opened it. I stopped laughing as memories of seventies head shops past flooded in, an incense melange. It tastes sweet. It's ridiculous and I love it.
You mean she asked for BO and you didn't believe her? That's funny! Did she like the sample after she tried it?
And congrats on your presents, they sound wonderful!
Very, very bad Saks. Although possibly it was user error — maybe I forgot to click some final “no really, send it to me” button?
Kamasutra Honey Dust Powder! I love the name.
she is a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl, and she used to be very anti-perfume (probably because my mom wears like 6 sprays of Obsession)
I really can't imagine her wearing Black Orchid. But she wore it yesterday and is wearing it today.
I asked for suggestions for her a while ago, she wanted a floral with patchouli.
I got samples from L'Artisan, but I only got 1/5 that I asked for- Voleur de Roses. I let her try it, and she liked it.
(I asked for Dzing!, Dzongkha, Tea for Two, and Timbuktu. I got Drole de Rose, Mure et Musc Extreme, La Chasse Aux Papillons Extreme, and Mimosa Pour Moi.) And I selected the 5, so I guess they were out of the ones I wanted.
Hi merry Christmas! Sorry about the Saks error! My new fragrances are SL Vannille love it! I wish it had more silage though,I also got Betsy Johnson, L lolita! I love vanilla as you can see, if anyone has any suggestions feel free to tell me, thank you and have a wonderful holiday season!
Good grief! Can't believe your bad luck with Diorissimo. I'm ready to chip in to buy you that sorely deserved extrait! I wore my sample of FM Noir Epices yesterday, which was perfect, like an orange pomander. I need more. Mom liked the AvaLuxe Sweet Patchouli I got her, SILs liked the cute KenzoAmour minis. Grandmother received Shalimar edt from a relative — I couldn't resist sampling before bed and found it mostly nasty until the far drydown. As for me, I'm going into NYC for the weekend and I may try to hit Aedes or the L'A boutique and gift myself something “small.” I thought your Friday poll might turn out to be “What would CatWoman wear” in honor of the late, great Ms. Eartha Kitt. Glad your holiday was perfect.
And the Diorissimo saga continues!!! That's terrible, R. I feel like putting on something mournful just thinking about it. FWIW I had a friend have something kind of similar happen with Bloomies – she signed up for a credit card etc. and then the merch evaporated.
Santa brought us a Wii Fit, which is indeed lots of fun. It has informed us all that balance is not our forte, and do we find ourselves falling over a lot? Also we have eaten enough sweets that even my sugar-junkie twins demanded protein for lunch and took a pass on the chocolates.
I wore Rochas Femme, vintage, to church. Not sure if it was appropriate, but man, I smelled good.
we are socked in with melting snow (revealing a half-inch layer of solid ice underneath:-o and increasingly dense fog. ………wearing Dzonghka to keep my spirits up.
I got an odd gift from DH – a knife set in a steel case complete with a Bowie knife the size of a Yugo and a knife for gutting game. Odd, because I don't hunt or camp, I don't field-dress livestock and I'm quite happy with my old all-purpose SWAT knife.
Christmas gifts can be so strange….
hope everyone's Christmas Day was wonderful.
xo
You are working that vintage Femme! I think it's perfectly appropriate for church. Secretions Mag, maybe not – but vintage Femme is very ladylike in public. My opinion, anyway. Can you tell it's winning me over, the vintage?
xoxoxo
got bulgari black and AG neroli on sale at loehmanns the week before christmas and got frye boots from the parents on christmas morning
Six sprays of Obsession! *faints*
Do you like amber & incense? Because i Profumi di Firenze is a great incensey-ambery vanilla. Then they also have a Vaniglia del Madagascar that's very popular.
Isn't that ridiculous! It isn't even a matter of money now — I literally don't think it's for sale in the US at the moment. Saks must have just gotten a shipment in, then sold it all??
Isn't that sad about Eartha Kitt?
Have a great time in NY, can't wait to hear what you smell.
I do , both of those are great I got samples from Beautyhabit and I think I will have to order VDM . Thank you so much!
M, I don't know why but it sort of cracked me up — it's like the fates just don't want me to have any, or they just want me to spend the rest of my life regretting not buying it from parfum1 when they had it for around $80.
Is the Wii Fit really fun? I thought about buying it once but couldn't find one to buy then forgot about it.
And we've had some chocolate, yes! And despite that my son had a peanut butter & marshmallow sandwich + chocolate milk for lunch today 🙂
Rochas Femme vintage sounds like the perfect choice to me!
Ah, then must think of something you haven't tried. Parfums de Nicolai Vanille Tonka? L'Artisan Vanilia? Guerlain's Spiriteuese Vanille whatever?
Sorry to hear about the Diorissimo!
I accidentally dropped by an Yves Rocher boutique yesterday and came upon their holiday limited edition for this year – it's called Mandarine de Noel, it is mandarin-y and green, not at all sweet and very appropriate! So I had to get a bottle, and now my holiday spirits are up:)
I bought myself 3 backup bottles of Donna Karan Gold (total 6.8 oz, plus two bottles of lotion) for about $35.
I also did NOT get the bottle of Montale Vanilla Extasy that I DID ask for and am now trying to figure out how to get some of that on my post-holiday budget!
Sometimes it benefits me that no one else likes the perfumes I like; sometimes it doesn't. 🙂
Two days before Christmas I got confirmation that a lovely shipment of the 2008 boronia absolute was on its way to me – actually to the members of the Guild, since I scored it for them. We're all delerious, as this crop was only 17.6kg worldwide, and the standing customers had to be serviced first. If you've never smelled boronia absolute, you don't know what heaven is – sparkly floral, reminiscent of freesia, high in beta ionones (think violet flower). From Arctander:
The odor of the dark green
and somewhat viscous absolute is fresh, fruitygreen,
sweet tea-like, slightly spicy -herbaceous
(reminiscent of cinnamon and tobacco leaf). The
main body notes display a tremendously rich and
tenacious floral undertone of warm, woody-sweet
character.
It should be here Monday! I saw prices of up to $100/ml on the internet (since the stock is sold out from last year and the horrid yield this year) and the Guild members will be getting it for a fraction of that. Christmas is coming a little late for us, but well worth the wait!
We had a wonderful Christmas this year! Wonderful food, family together… can't wish for more!
I got some wonderful gifts: wonderful bag full of bath and body works stuff, tons of Express/banana republic clothes, Slatkin and Co. winter candle (it smells soooo good), L'Artisan Spice coffret (and I am in love with Poivre Piquant), a 50 ml of Piment Brulant (and now I'm thinking to swap it for Poivre Piquant, but I won't, since I never get rid of my gifts:)), Aqua Allegorias in: Mandarine Basilic and Anisia Bella. I also got a 30ml bottle of Calvin Klein Euphoria Blossom. What else? 2 nice rings, a pair of earrings. There is another things I got in the mail today… I received my package from a swap with a lovely MUAer. She included some nice extras for me, one of them… a full sample of SL Mandarine Mandarin!!! I am suffering right now, it HAS to be a full bottle purchase for me. Has to be!!! It is the most beautiful, candied, smoky mandarin ever! Sigh…
Today I'm wearing some Saffran Troublant from my coffret, to see how much I actully like it. I like it a lot, it is really well done, but my favorite from the trio is definitely Poivre Piquant.
Wow, snow melting over solid ice = not fun. Hope you like being socked in! I don't know why I hate it so much, given that I spend most of my day in the house anyway, but I do get stir crazy if I'm “stuck”.
That is a rather strange gift. What does it mean — does he hunt and wants you to take it up too? He was just taken with how cool it was?
Wow, lucky you (on both the perfume & the boots). Would ask how much the AG was, but maybe I'd rather not know 😉
I'm very lucky in that my aunt loves buying the Estee Lauder solids. She gave me Cathedral Square and Nesting Dolls. They are so beautiful. Cathedral Square really takes my breath away.
My mom gave me a bottle of Paris. She herself received from my aunt a bottle of Feerie from Van Cleef & Arpels. It had such a wonderful scent. I especially love the violet notes. I hope to add that to my collection one day. I myself can't afford these things so it may take a lottery ticket or another gift giving holiday. 🙂
Can't decide if I am most envious of ISM or tamales! Cannot get good tamales here.
I did not know about that one, only about the Fleur de Noel! Sounds nice, congrats on your buy 🙂
Sorry about that Diorissimo…I found a quarter ounce for $125 at Neimann's recently and DIDN'T buy it, thinking, “I dunno…the box looks kind of old…” Of course, they don't have it anymore.
Santa's elves brought me Roja Dove's The Essence of Perfume and bottles of Le Dix and Kai. I had never tried Kai on skin, but I love it – it's cheerful on a December day and even reminds me a teeny bit of SL's Un Lys, which I've been sampling lately.
Glad you had a nice Christmas and wishing you a wonderful new year!
Ummm, vintage Femme… My DH (with a little prompting) gave me Femme parfum in the beautiful lace coffret and I've had my nose glued to my wrist all day. I think it's perfectly fine for church in the parfum, because it wears much closer than other formulations. And it is sooo elegant. My brother gave me No 5 parfum, so I think I made out very well this holiday season!
Oh, what a bummer for you! My family has stopped exchanging gifts because there are just too many of us, but I got my 12 yo a bottle of vanilla scented lotion from B&BW. My MIL, knowing my interest, sent me a tiny metal flask of…? Something unidentified, presumably from the 1950s. Then when she called, I forgot to ask her the story, so I have no idea where it came from, what it is, or anything. I'm sure one of you could sniff and identify, lol!
The only scented products I gave were assorted scented soaps to my mother as she as a fetish for them and a gift box of 8 15ml bottles of Shiseido Relaxing Fragrance to my sister in law as this is one of the few perfumes she can tolorate. She was delighted as she dropped her last bottle and was out. The minis were splash so I gave her a 30ml shatter proof plastic atomiser and a disposable pipette so hopefully there will be no further problems. The only scented gifts I received was a Bay Rum gift pack from Burts Bees that my mother had seen me drooling on. Nobody ever gets me perfume blind cos the reckon that they never know what I already have. As a treat to myself, I went on the L'Artisan site and ordered Timbuktu, Dzing, Dzonga and a three bottle set of 15mls each. I also took advantage of the oportunity to get samples of all the scents I had not smelled. I can't wait to get this parcel!!! Today is the first day shops are open here so now I am going bargain shopping. Hope everyone had a great Christmas.
I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience with Saks. As planned, I did buy myself the Diorissimo extrait with a gift card, but since I live just outside NYC I went right to the store and bought it. Hope your wish is fulfilled way sonner than next Christmas!
I received Swarovski seahorses from my husband, and wore Youth Dew to my family Christmas dinner, with compliments from all.
ok it might only be 3, but that is still 2 too many.
but she never has to go in an elevator and her job is to run errands for a bed and breakfast… so she's not killing anyone with her perfume or anything like that
I got EL Pure WHite Linen Breeze set which I had hinted at, and also Ralph Lauren Notorious. I am very happy with both and can't wait to start wearing them
to lauriej: Crabtree and Evelyn`s Vanilla Blanc has gone on sale – it has a touch a touch of jasmine!!
I am green with envy over those EL solids. I thought they were delightful!
No Christmas presents at all for me! Since I come from a large family it was getting out of control, so a few years ago we decided to give to children, nieces, and nephews. I'll be buying myself something this week though (Ava Luxe, I'm looking at you).
I did buy my niece a gift certificate to one of the online perfume stores that sent samples with the certificate; she liked one of the samples so much that she used the certificate to buy a FB! Yay!
A lovely poison ring from Ayala Sender…with Fete d'Hiver, not poison, inside 😉 …the outside is one of my favorite insects, a bee, with inlaid wings.
…I have accumulated some cash, and am trying to decide whether it will go toward L'Artisan's spice trio, or back up Black Cashmere…(nice job and congratulations to the poster who scored all that Gold…)
BTW, anyone a fan of Shiseido Zen? Good local source at old time prices…unfortunately, no Feminite du Bois. 🙁
Agree that one is enough, LOL…but glad she's not killing anyone 🙂
You made out very well!
How nice, congrats! It sounds lovely.
Wow, you got tons of perfume — I love that spice trio, it's so cute! And jealous of your Mandarine Basilic, I'm still trying to score a cheap bottle of that.
Oh, lucky you — I thought the Cathedral Square was especially beautiful too.
Sorry about the Diorissimo, R. What a disappointment! I've had that happen a few times – waited ages for the delivery of something or other, only to find that they had no record of my order. Some online stores send confirmation emails, and some don't, so you never really know what's going on. I got lots of books – hooray! – and the DVD of Mamma Mia!, so I'm very happy. Nothing to sniff, though, apart from some Arran Aromatics hand cream sent by a friend. Ah well, now that I no longer have a heap of Christmas gifts in the corner of my study, I can get down to some tidying and try to find the Poivre 23 sample that I've somehow mislaid. Don't you just hate when that happens?
Did you really? I will have to root around on the shelves at my NM, I don't think I've ever seen it there. You got lovely presents — isn't that a pretty book? Great pictures.
We don't really do adult presents either — mostly just kids. That's why if I want Diorissimo, I get it myself 🙂
And how mysterious — I wonder what your perfume is?
Yay must try the crabtree vanilla, and I want to try the vanilla tonka. I did not like the LArtisan Vanilla. Thanks and has anyone tried the Laura Mercier Vanilla?
What a nice gift for your SIL — hope she was thrilled! And hope your L'Artisan parcel arrives very soon 🙂
Hope everyone had a fun holiday! I gave my daughter a vanilla sampler that had ava lux, serge lutens, hypnotic poison, and one other little sample. i ordered the chanel exclusifs samples for myself, and am loving chanel beige. i also gave my daughter amor amor which she really loves. ALS”O we went shopping at LUSH today, and their hand-made soaps were 'buy one, get 2 free! ' i stocked up on Karma soap and fig soap. yum, must jump into the shower right now to try it!! lol
My partner and I were restrained this year and independently we ended up exchanging one gift each, but what special gifts! I got Chanel's Sycomore (apparently the last bottle in Australia my partner tells me, if the SA who sold it to him is to be believed) and not only is this fragrance just marvellous (ok, it's fantastic), but the packaging has to be seen to be believed. It's not just the wonderfully heavy glass bottle it comes in with the minimalist label, but the extremely sturdy Chanel presentation box, all inside a special Chanel Les Exclusifs bag, which comes specially sealed with a glittery black fabric flower which acts as a magnetic snap closure for the bag. Stylish is an understatement!
My partner's name is Knut, the same as the Berlin Zoo's polar bear that's been in and out of the news since it was born (which has helped my partner a lot – when people ask him to repeat his name, he now says “Knut, like the polar bear”), so I got him a limited edition Steiff masterpiece Knut polar bear, complete with authentication certificate. It's an amazing piece, almost real and my partner was at a loss for words.
Apart from the above, we've indulged our love for dark chocolate (I've just discovered the joys of Godiva chocolate) and salty dutch licorice!
Sorry to hear about the Saks blunder. I've been on your blog a little over a month now, and I have to wonder where does everyone find these perfumes??? I'm in Ft. Lauderdale. I'm already bored with Sephora, though I've learned alot…I want more. Nordstrom's is nice but limited. So is Neimans and Bloomingdales. Must I make a trip to New York just to explore perfume????
I never heard of L'Artisan, Frederick Malle, Le Labo, Serge Lutens, Comme de Garcons, CB I Hate Perfume, or Diptyque until this blog. I read the reviews….and well imagine my frustration!
I've got a huge wish list on Perfumed Court. I'll be keeping them in business!
Kamasutra Honey Dust Powder, how nice….. 😉
Sorry about the Saks snafu; how disappointing. Curiously enough, on Christmas Eve I received a package of stuff I'd never ordered, and it wasn't a gift — I called the store today, and it seems a computer glitch sent me a complete stranger's order! So maybe some Britney Spears Midnight Fantasy fan has your Diorissimo? Yikes! In any case, check your credit card statement.
As for my Christmas, technically we give presents only to the kids, but my sweet father did sneak me a few gifties, including a bottle of Penhaligon's Lily & Spice and ammo cases for my sample collection (a fabulous tip from your posts on storage!). Unfortunately, a dreadful sinus infection has prevented me from smelling anything for over a week now, so I haven't even bothered to crack open the L&S. Once my nose is back in service, I think I'm going to treat myself to L'Air du Desert Marocain and a heap of samples from TPC to kick off 2009 in style.
Hi everyone and happy holidays
Ohhh Robin, sorry about the Diorissimo, Terrible when you think it's on the way, and then this happens. Ugh!
Santa was wonderful to me… Bulgari Eau de Blanc gift set, Laura Mercier French Vanilla Souffle body creme & shower creme, L' Artisan Vanille and NARS EDT.
No shopping for us, the malls I'm sure are packed so we're staying home and playing with the kitten and watching videos.
Wishing everyone and their loved ones much good health and happiness for 2009!
You were smarter than me, but I'm too lazy to drive to Saks, LOL…
I will have to google Swarovski seahorses.
It was L de Lolita Lempicka. I believe she described it as “yummy.” 🙂
Yes, great pictures and some fun quotes, too- “…[civet] was the only ingredient that would cover the scent of the unwashed…”
Re: Diorissimo at Neimann's: the SA told me they usually didn't have it, but that “a lady had brought it back.” So they must carry it, if they took it back…though the box looked old and faded, and I wondered how long the original purchaser had kept it before returning it.
Santa was good to me this year! I asked for several things but got the thing I could least afford for myself which was 75 ml of l'Heure Bleue Eau de Parfum. Andy Tauer fulfilled another request when I fortuitously won not only Maroc pour Elle but l'Air du Desert Marocain!! I have to say he is a really nice guy as well as a great perfumer. The Rose Chypree he is previewing is amazing.
I gave EL Tuberose & Gardenia to my sister and EL Amber Ylang to my stepmom and amazingly enough they both liked and kept them.
I am down in Claremont in So. Cal and just got back from a cute shop called Bath Junkie where they have 200 fragrances you can play with to mix up and make lotion and bath goo. I mixed up jasmine with frankincense & myrrh because one of you (Robin? Angela?) was looking for a jasmine with incense and I wanted to see how that worked, even though I know those aren't traditonal “incense” exactly. It's quite divine, I must say – the SA liked it and said she had never found anyting to go with the F&M.
Sounds like you all had a good time. Robin – I can't believe your Diorissimo story! I hope they didn't charge your card! You will have it in your hands one of these days.
Just had to comment — VERY cute story. I love Knut (the bear). He was just in the news again just a couple days ago because a guy climbed into his pen because he “thought he looked lonely too.” Anyway, I also love Sycomore, and I'd own some by now if they had 50ml bottles, but 200ml…. well, all I can say is, enjoy it!
Sorry about your Diorissimo gone bad. On Christmas I wore TF Black Orchid and as presents I received 2 Aedes gift certificates…I'm thinking I might buy EDI Baume du Doge…not sure yet though. Did I ever tell you that I'm a bit of a procrastinater and so NOT the morning person? My current library puts me at an extra 10 minutes in the mornings while trying to decide what fragrance to wear. I NEVER have the drydown time in the mornings cause I'm always in a rush….and USUALLY late. I think I must have the BEST smelling scarves in Brooklyn. HA! Happy day after Christmas. Peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches reminds me of when I was young…FLUFFER NUTTER and peanut butter. I think that's what it was called. Ciao!
I had Kamasutra Honey Dust powder in 1973! A sexy gift from a long haired hippie that I ended up married to (for 34 years now) I loved that stuff, heavenly scent, I did not know that they still made it. Where can it be found nowdays? (Since I do not know of any headshops around here anymore)
Years ago I had an after-school job as an SA at I. Magnin in California, and I recall being told that if someone brought in an old tire and claimed to have bought it at I. Magnin in 1922, we had to take it back. In other words, that Diorissimo could have been really REALLY old!
I got a refill of Les Nuits d'Hadrien, of which I'm quite fond, although I prefer Eau de Sud of all the Annick Goutal fragrances in that category. I did get a jar of David Yurman body cream, which is fairly interesting. First of all, the jar is quite pretty – not as striking as the perfume bottle, but quite nice. I could see using it to store small items of jewelry if I ever ran out. When I said “if”, I meant it, too – the cream is so rich, and there's so much of it, that you could probably scent the entire 101st Airborne Division with it. As for the scent, it curiously reminds me of Ralph Lauren Pure Turquoise from a few years ago, only bigger. For what it is, it's rather nice
Since I've been in the business for 14 years, I've acquired a lot of fragrances so I rarely, if ever, buy any. In 2008, I bought two! (I know I'm your EFT.) They were Aqua Motu and a EL Pure White Linen Light Breeze set, as I bemoan the discontinuation of my favourite White Linen Breeze. The new one is a substitute but quite different from the original WLB. I know that all kinds of other perfumes have more depth of character and I can truly appreciate them but for me, the fresh ocean scents really do it.
Sounds pretty — congrats on your ring! Can't believe I still haven't smelled the new Zen. I liked the older ones though.
VanillaGirl — I lose SO many darned samples. I think my storage system is maybe a bit *too* organized.
Nice picks for both of you! Jealous of your new fig soap — and wish I had a Lush nearby.
Santemon, but what lovely gifts! Sycomore is wonderful stuff, I wish I had a bottle, and what a great idea on the Steiff bear.
There are lots of other places to get samples, see:
https://nstperfume.com/blog/_archives/2007/4/9/2866755.html
And don't worry, we're in the same boat — I'd need to go to NY to smell most of those lines in person myself.
Hope that pesky sinus infection clears up soon! And wouldn't that be funny if someone else got my Diorissimo??
Try a sample of Ava Luxe True Bluish Light. It's a yummy, powdery vanilla. I ordered a sample & had to have a full bottle.
I've often wondered how you stored your samples, because I'm sure you have tons of them. I started collecting samples a little over a year ago. I keep them all in a small box (away from light), but when I go looking for a particular one, I have to rummage through so many little vials before I find the one I'm looking for. I'm just not sure how to go about organizing them. Help!
Received 2 fragrances for Christmas, the first from a Christmas party…Escada Rockin Rio…not exactly the scent you would choose for a winter fragrance but it will be nice in the spring if layered with something a bit airy and light to dilute the cotton-candy sweetness.
I loved the second one though, a gift from my sister (she seems to know me best!) a company I never heard of called Antica Farmacista. The fragrance was Fico Verde (Green Fig) and smelled FABULOUS! This smelled light yet spicy with a hint of grass and a verrrry light sweetness. Amazing. I wore it to a gathering tonight and got so many compliments!
Were you a good girl this year? ; ) or do you think Santa is has gone haywire from stress? you may even get a better bottle soon, just for you.
I got Euphoria by CK. My sister thought it was “me” It was a syrupy jam opening, but after 15 minutes if smells beautifully dark and light after that. Beautiful dark. I am pleased. And then I got 4 compliments at Walmart today! They wanted to know what I was wearing. Hurray!
I also got two perfume books: One is about making your own perfumes by Nancy Booth, The other is more exciting- PERFUMES
The Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez. It is very witty and well written, I think you would love it Robin, of you hadn't heard of it of read it yet. It's copyrighted 2008, so I guess it's fairly new. I'm excited and can't put it down.
Joy,
Becca
talking about unsuccessful orders: has anybody else tried ordering L. Turin's guide update (should have been my Christmas present), without hearing anything else (except from the credit card company)?
well, we had an amusing discussion about Angel at Christmas, I'm the only hater, everbody else went overboard for the bath-products my aunt was giving away.
There seems to be a theme… Has anyone else had problems ordering L'Artisan online? When I try to confirm and finish my order they keep kicking me back to the credit card details page. Hmph! Oh well, I'm flying home to visit my parents next week and I'll have to stop by the boutique that sells L'Artisan and hope they have what I want.
We won't exchange gifts til New Year's and I'm planning on treating myself to a couple things as well. Looking forward to the scented stuff 🙂 Hope you all enjoy yours!
I live in Ft. Lauderdale too and you can go to Boca and smell and sample L'artisan,Serge Lutens and more at NM in Boca and Blue Merc. in the mall! I know because as a long time sniffologist I can find most of the fragrances …. good luck..
So sorry about your Diorissimo! Perhaps it'll show up in a day or two? I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
Hugs!
Although I adore the scents of Zagorsk and Cumming, I adore them on husband and not on self. Too masculine for my skin….. 🙂
After having to deal with a year of “Smell this! And this! What does it make you think of?” my boyfriend gave me a gift certificate to The Perfume House here in Portland. The box it was in was stuffed with samples! I asked “What did you say to them? I never got 20 samples at once!”
All I gave him was a bike work stand. It hardly seems a fair exchange!
It's now 60F here (central IL) and we have the windows open, to air out the house – usually not an option until late March. All the snow is gone and we now have a river running down the street. Odd….
Re 'odd' I think he just saw it and was taken with it because I am never without my knife, forgetting that I don't change up – I carry the same knife everywhere (except for eveningwear, when I carry a beautiful tiny mother-of-pearl 'dress' knife – it fits perfectly into my evening bag. Yes I am that strange:-)
But the thought was nice.
I'm putting out powerful vibes for that extrait for you!!!
xo
Oh, Santa really was wonderful to you! Good wishes to you as well in 2009.
No, they didn't charge my card — really, they say they have no record of any such order! Shame. You made out like a bandit this year — congrats on your new Guerlain as well as the Tauers.
Have heard of Bath Junkie, that sounds like fun! I miss the old Garden Botanika shops where you could mix your own, and need to get up to NY and try the same with Memoire Liquide.
TWO gift certificates — lucky you!! I really like Baume du Doge, but still don't even have a full bottle of Paestum Rose. Brain might burst if I got 2 gift certificates to Aedes, LOL…
And now happy day-after-the-day-after-Christmas, which I think makes me a worst procrastinator than you 😉
I searched yahoo and found it here:
http://www.kamasutra.com/romance/honeydust.lasso
LOL — the DY juice is very strong, so not suprised about the cream!
Hey, I really like Aqua Motu! It's one of the few aquatic scents I still like.
Where in Boca? To the TownCenter Mall on Glades? I might go there today. What is Blue Merc? Thanks for your comment!
So glad you love your new AF! They do carry them at Nordstrom if you ever need a refill 🙂
Ooh, The Perfume House. I love that store! Your boyfriend did well!
i got perfume this year, which is good, my mother decided to get everyone a perfumed gift. because we had to choose from whatever mainstream stuff there was in the internet shop, she didn't want to make it a blind guess, which is good, i got hermes l'eau des merveilles, which is lovely and i'm hapy about it's salty tones of summer sand&beach. for my boyfriend i chose the new kenzo, power, which i hadn't sampled before, but what the heck i thought, polge and kevin's review together, i took my chances, and he loves it 🙂
i also got a small bottle of dior addict 2, edp, which i….don't like at all!!! fruity/floral in its pink coat, i will give it another try but i wanted to scrub it off so badly upon first sniff
Darn it, Robin! I was so excited to be an enabler of your coveted Diorissimo parfum purchase! Hopefully 2009 will be the year you finally get it.
Your post reminds me that every so often I wish I had a little pocket knife with me – many times one would come in very handy, like for cutting tough plastic tags off new sunglasses or digging coins out of awkward crevices in the car.
You know, you're probably right!
I haven't smelled the new, either…and realize I should have pointed out I am referring to the black bottle/gold flowers version…with this recent addition, there are three now, right?
And the ring is fun… 🙂
Blue Mercury sorry , yes Town Center on Glades. check it out! and do not forget Neimans both will give you samples..
I did very well. Two of my favorite Dawn Spencer Hurwitz's fragrances , Prelude to Love by Kilian, which is amazingly like an intoxicating mimosa and moet on my skin , and the best…a bell jar of Silver Iris Mist.
Next year, vintage Habanita… This year the perfume gods sent me a full bottle of vintage Femme and I was in scent heaven for weeks
I went there today (Blue Merc) and do you know today is their last day? They are closing the Towncenter location!!!!! I was so bummed. But I smelled every one ot their SL and L'artisan samples. The ladies there were'nt very helpful-all were talking about where they were moving on to.
But I'm glad I got the exposure! Thank you. The Saks was nice and I got plenty of help and samples as well as at the Nordstroms.
Happy New Year!
Oh, sorry you didn't get your book! Who did you order it from?
You mean directly from L'Artisan's website? I've never done that. Hope you'll find them in person then — which ones are you after?
How nice! Do come back and tell us what you end up buying.
I got a bottle each of BPAL Faiza, and Arcana- Leaves Falling Like Rain and Caffeinated Death.
This blooming perfumista also got a lot of samples- Ormonde Woman, CBIHP Revelation, Parfums de Rosine Rose Kashmirie, Black Cashmere, Organza Indecence, Jaisalmer, S. S. Winter Woods, Black Tourmaline, Annick Goutal Le Jasmin, Eau de Camille, Soivohle Jo Jo, Odeur 71, Odeur 53, Boudicca’s Wode, Golden Aoud, Black Aoud, Avignon, Aoud Damascus, Patchouli Leaves, BPAL Ulalume, and free BPAL samples of Cockaigne and Machu Picchu.
Since I was little my parents would let me pick out most of my Christmas presents, then wrap and hide them and I would still act very surprised when I opened them (you had to have guessed- spoilt only child) Thus what Santa brought was always hit or miss. I'm 23 and my mother still does this. We go shopping together, and/ or I order things online and have them sent to her, only to open them on Christmas with glee and amazement at how much I love everything she gave me. She gave me most of the samples, I got a gift certificate from a friend for the Arcana, and I got the BPAL and some samples for myself. I wore Cockaigne- honeyed cakes and red wine to two Christmas parties, but wore the tropical garden/ ylang- ylangy Jo Jo on Christmas.
Hey, 2 out of 3 sounds like it went pretty well — congrats on your new Merveilles!
Amazon.com sells it. In various flavors. They sell EVERYTHING.
Love the honey dust! 🙂
eBay. Many people/shops/wholesalers seem to be clearing out their Gold 🙁 But, good for squirreling some away!
You got lots of juice 🙂
What fun to get all those samples! You got some really great scents, hope you'll like some of them.
It warmed up here too, although not quite THAT much — lucky you!
If you already carry a knife, the gift makes much more sense to me, LOL…if my husband gave me that for Xmas, I”d be VERY puzzled!
But in the case of Diorissimo extrait, the older the better!
Sounds like a winner then!
Yes, three, and I've heard rumors there's another coming for men. They must REALLY like the name, LOL…
See here:
https://nstperfume.com/blog/_archives/2006/4/21/1901349.html
And bear in mind that I also keep notes on every scent I try:
https://nstperfume.com/blog/_archives/2008/5/29/3664988.html
And in those notes, I italicize the name of the fragrance if I've got a sample. So supposedly, I always know what I've got — of course, doesn't always work that way. They have a way of going missing no matter how organized I am…
Glad you like your new perfume, and congrats on your new books as well! I don't know the Booth book but have read the Turin/Sanchez one, plus the updates.
People have given up buying me juice. So this year I got 'Perfumes: The Guide' from Santa. Tania Sanchez's fizzy prose makes me smile. I had 'gifted myself' with a few Ava Luxe samples (all the way to Europe from San Diego…) and I'm very impressed with them. Oh, and there was that bottle of Bois des Iles a few weeks before the holidays, but I'm not sure if I can squeeze that under the rubric of 'Christmas impulse buys'. I intend to be frugal and sensible in 2009 and am imposing a no-buy unless I happen to find myself in Paris and unable to to keep my mitts off a bottle of Attrape-Coeurs or Bois des Iles extrait…
I treated myself to some perfume for the holidays. Trekked to the Fredric Malle perfume counter at Barney's for Carnal Flower when we visited NYC at Thanksgiving. Got Estee Lauder Private Collection Amber. Ordered Annick Goutal Gardenia Passion and Jo Malone's Jasmine and Mint, Tuberose, and Vintage Gardenia. Have not been impressed with the Jo Malone's ones. Does not last very long. Have not tried the Annick Goutal's one. Carnal Flower is beyond wonderful. Since it costs so much, I had tried a sample of this a year ago before plunging the money. Need to give a shout out to Gus at Fredric Malle's at Barney's for his wonderful service. Have been very impressed by EL's Amber. Also owned the other scent, Tuberose in the Private Collection. Love both of these Private Collection scents although I do not care for EL's regular line since they do not last on me and the scents seem overwhelming at the beginning and dies down to nothing.
Now saving my money for Spring travel to Italy. Am looking for advice on scents from Italy that I should try to buy when I am there. Looking for scents that may only be available in Italy and not in the USA and/or scents available in Duty Free shops in Europe only. As you can tell, I like white florals. Scents that I wear everyday tends to include J'Adore, Caroline Herrera, and Marc Jacobs. Need scents with lasting power.
I casually mentioned to my parents that I would like a bottle of Covet by SJP for Christmas. Christmas day, it wasn't there and I didn't think anything of it, but the next morning, they both came to me and said that they had one more present for me that they forgot in the car, and laughed because at $80 it was the most expensive present they got me. They then handed me a box of Covet Pure Blossom.
Luckily I like it fine and would wear it occasionally on dates or to weddings or the like; and I went to Gordmans and got to 1.7 oz bottle of Covet for $15, so all ends well.
I did not get many gifts this year, a book, a porcelia bell from Hutschenreuther, but also a small gift voucher which is going to be invested well – L'Heure Bleue or Diptyque – I wonder if L'Heure Bleue is “wearable” since I admire it a lot, but when I have it on skin I have to sniff all the time 🙂 it is a masterpiece of perfume, but is it a wearable masterpiece of perfume? diptyque is “easier”.
otherwise I had a fun dinner with my former BF, we baked cookies and had wine and watched TV.
X-Mas this year was strange, strange, strange, so I am glad o hear it went so well for you!
Much love to you!
I intend to be frugal and sensible in 2009 too — hope we both manage it!
I don't know what you'll find in Italy that you can't find here…certainly many of the i Profumi di Firenze scents aren't exported, but Luckyscent now carries many of the smaller Italian lines. And Santa Maria Novella should be much cheaper there. You'll have to let us know what you find!
How sweet! And glad you managed to score the original anyway 🙂
I have perfumes I mostly wear at home, so know what you mean about Diptyque being “easier”. Still, it's nice to own a masterpiece or two! Sorry you had a strange Xmas — wishing you a wonderful 2009!
…my horoscope for 2009 says it's going to be one of my best years – that's easy when it cannot get worse! I take your advice though – a masterpiece for a class of it's own, mmh? 😉
All the best for you and a wonderfull, healthy and lucky 2009 and a successfull moving to wordpress also!
I think I've seen i Profumi di Firenze at Barney's (SF)? I don't remember how complete the line was though.
Yes, and they're sold at a few other places — but in Italy the line is at least twice again as big as it is here.
Your presents do sound great! I got a bunch of Pacifica solid perfumes for amost all the gals on my list, and a couple for myself- in love with the Morroccan Spice and Tibetan Moutain Temple scents, was given Chanel #5 and Coco by family members, and friends gave me Aromatics Elixir by Clinique and Bulgari Black. Love those smoky/incensey/peppery/spicy scents! Delicious! Tried a sample from ThePerfumedCourt of Poivre Piquant, and may get a bottle as a New Year's gift for myself. When it comes to scents, I don't stint around the holidays! Did not get to try all the new things out this year, so shall have tp play catch-up!
Hey, there, you can go online to places like:
theperfumedcourt.com
luckyscent.com
lush.com,
pacificacandles.com
avaluxe.com
aftelier.com
and you can type in the Subject line, “buy perfume online” and you will get a wide choice of sites to visit. Also, NowSmellThis has lots of links. Most of these places are quite reputable, will send confirmation emails, and you do get the items you order! Many, such as Luckyscent, also have samples you can try for prices like $3.00 and $4.00 per sample, so before you commit to a full bottle of something you can have the opportunity to try it.
Give it a go, let us know what you find! Happy hunting!
Cheers and have a great New Year,
CB
How do you get the backdated or updated info? I noticed a lot of perfumes were missing?
And just curious-have you ever kept a fragrance where you didn't like the opening, but liked it after that subsided?
Yes, I got the shower creme & body souffle for Christmas. Marvelous scent, the souffle moisturizes very well and the scent lasts for 6 or so hours….
There have been 2 updates. The first was free, the 2nd (and future) are $9.99:
https://nstperfume.com/blog/_archives/2008/12/3/4005328.html
I suppose it depends on how bad the opening is and how long it lasts, but yes, I do have scents where I don't adore the opening.