Same old: talk about anything you like — the perfume you’re wearing today, the latest perfume you thought you'd love but didn't, whatever.
Or, ask a question about fragrance, then see if anyone else has asked a question that you can answer…
Note: top image is snow on flowers [cropped] by zepsilon at flickr; some rights reserved.
Hello perfume friends! Did you have a good week?
This week I received three samples of Carner Barcelona fragrances. Today I’m in Rima XI. I like it less than Tardes and D600, the latter being my favourite. I think I’m gonna buy it soon (still haven’t made my first new perfume purchase of 2013)
And there will be a celebration on Sunday – I’m turning 23.
Happy almost-birthday!!! 😀
Thank you Ari!
I visited Carner’s website today – they have worldwide free shipping now, very tempting. I’m tempted to buy some samples – especially Cuirs. Could you describe your impressions of Rima? Oh, and happy birthday!
Cuirs is the one I didn’t try but since my spot for leather is filled with Cuir Ottoman I decided to pass on that one. Exactly, I think I’ll use this free shipping option!
I will describe Rima XI shortly: vanilla cookies, amber and roasted nuts.
Happy Birthday!
Thank you Robin.
Yes, happy birthday Lucas!
Thanks a lot Lys!
Happy birthday! So glad you have some new treats to help the celebration.
Thanks C.H. I’m liking D600 more and more. I think this will become my birthday present.
Perfect timing! 🙂
It is definitely just in time.
Happy birthday Lucas! That perfume line looks really nice and I am planning on trying it as well. 🙂
Thanks Scentualist! Carner Barcelona line is pretty solid. I wonder what are your thoughts on the fragrances.
Happy birthweekend!
Haha, a birthweekend! Thank you.
Adding my very best wishes for a lovely birthday, Lucasai…it’s been such a delight reading your posts here as well your blog.
Thank you Joliefleurs. Pleased to read that.
Happy, happy! Sending you a private e-card tomorrow (safe to open).
Thank you Jonette! I just opened a card from you, it’s beautiful.
Happy Birthday!
Thank you Abyss
Happy birthday! Hope you get good presents!
If not then I’ll buy a self-gift 😉
Happy birthday!
Thank you dear Poodle!
Happy Fragrant Birthday Lucas!
Thanks sweetie!
Wishing you a happy and fragrant birthday!
I got a sample of Chanel 1932 and was wearing it all day today. I’m a bit disappointed to be honest. It doesn’t last very long, and it’s pretty but spineless and forgettable. A bit floral, a bit soapy, a touch fruity (I’m thinking I get a bit of peach,. which is lovely, but maybe I’m just confusing it with the jasmine?) What am I missing? If you’ve tried it and loved, it, why? I feel like I want to like it but can’t find it in me. And I was so looking for ward to a new Exclusif!
Hi Tippi, I’m sharing your disappointment.
…you know, after the first few minutes I didn’t even find 1932 pretty: it smelled cheap and generic, getting worse (cheaper and more screechy) by the minute…
Like you, I was looking very much forward to the new exclusif!
It’s been quite a while since I liked a “new” launch, and I’m getting worried…
My wallet, on the other side, is making the “snoopy-dance”.
(I did it this morning when I sprayed Montale Intense Tiaré ;))
Ops sorry, I mispelled your name!
I should read twice what I write…
OMG, “wallet doing the snoopy-dance” made my day!
totally agree…doesn’t come across as a scent that’s supposed to be evocative of sparkling fine jewelry. 31 RC is much more satisfying.
I’ve been busy sampling:
Jour d’Hermes: enjoyed opening; drydown too musky
BV orig and eau legere: neither worked for me
Marni (from scentstrip in Mar Vogue) smells oriental, don’t do fragrances in the oriental category
FK Amyris, liked but not enough to purchase
Vert pour Madam: enjoying this one, esp in the far drydown, very springlike without being too green.
ADP’s Profumo, 31 RC, no 19 and vintage Diorama are in heavy rotation at present.
If anyone has recs for chypres that aren’t too powerful, I’d love to hear them!
Have you tried Pandora by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz? I just got a sample of it, and it’s a really nice green chypre that doesn’t go soapy like I find some of them do. It didn’t seem too powerful to me, but your mileage may vary.
Plum by Mary Greenwell
I’m testing Vert Pour Madame myself now. I tend to struggle with green chypres (No 19 hates me). How about Estee Lauder Private Collection? That one works for me.
I do really well with citrus-chypres as well (Chanel Cristalle EDP, Clarins Eau Eau Dynamisante).
thanks, Pandora & Plum are added to the list. Still have to try Private Collection…I’ve shied away as Lauder frags tend to amplify on me. Used to love Cristalle, but the latest iteration (edt) seems strong…perhaps the edp is different, will try. Also ordered a sample of OJ Woman to see what all the fuss is about. Hope it doesn’t veer too oriental…
MDCI Enlevement au Serail!
Possibly my least favorite of the set 🙁
Yikes!
Oh, seconding the yikes. On the other hand, I was just wondering whether I had to make myself look presentable this afternoon so I could go give this a try at the Chanel boutique…so I’m sort of glad to hear it can wait for another day!
Oh, no, worse than Jersey, Gardenia and Beige?
I think so, but see what you think. I really dislike Coromandel but it’s obviously terrifically well-done, it’s just not me. This one, I don’t know — just seems like an error in judgment.
On its own merits, I happen to like it very much – good for everyday casual wear, or with a nice spring dress. However, I do agree that it is probably not of the LE caliber.
Sorry to hear of your disappointment. I’ve ordered a small decant and am hoping I’ll like it. I liked Beige, so I’m keeping an open mind.
Ditto, and something went very sour on me in the drydown.
Barring 19, which I love, I am not a Chanel girl to start with, but I did have hopes for this, based on all the internet-love.
Maybe it’s time for Chanel to give their new releases a twist. 1932 is a an elegant, feminine and wearable floral but so are 28 and 31 and Beige. Of course it’s the Chanel style but it gets a little boring if they keep repeating themselves. I wish they would try something – like they did with Coromandel. I also wish they would do something about the short lastingpower of Les Exclusifs.
I agree Chamade. If they are committed to flankers (Coco Noir . . . eeek) maybe they could do a few flankers to their exclusifs and bring us Cuir de Russie in all its former glory (Cuir de Russie Noir anyone?), same for Dior. While I really enjoy Diorling and Diorama, there is no mistaking the missing bits and pieces that used to comprise all the greats that were made for grownups. If you’re bringing something back, bring it all the way back and save the modern twists for new releases. And I don’t believe for one minute that it can’t be done due to bases that no longer exist, just do it already!! 🙂
I also tried it today, and at first I thought it was lovely but nothing to write home about, but then somehow in the base I have got this lovely pretty pure gardenia scent… I don’t know how and why, but it was there. So that was a pleasant surprise!
I’ll try and look out for the gardenia (one of my favourite notes, too) in the dry down. Don’t want to write 1932 off so quickly, but maybe it’s destined to go into the “nice but not for me” category…
Yikes . . . I’m suddenly much less anxious to test the sample of 1932 that arrived yesterday!
Today I’m wearing Jour d’Hermes. I went to the mall for the first time in ages and sniffed lots of new (well, not that new anymore!) stuff, which was lots of fun. Jour is a bit too floral for me, but the citrusy opening is great! Also sniffed DK Woman (liked it a lot, but think it’s more wintery so maybe next year. Bottle is cool too), Coco Noir (eh, but the bottle is a beauty), and See by Chloe (All apple all the time! And I like apple!), Agent Provacateur Petale Noire (not my style). Hope to get to the fancy mall soon to try the new Jo Malones – the Nordstrom at the mall by my office has a teeny tiny fragrance department with no JM.
I just tried Jour de Hermes at Nordstrom yesterday too! It’s not my thang, but it’s pretty perfect for Hermes.
Odonata and Ari, so curious to hear more about what you thought of Jour. I’ve just it once and think I def need to give it a second round–my first impression that it was kind of what I wished Beige had been (I found Beige super likable at first but then too linear; Jour felt similarly appealing but with a shade more texture, happily). Is that a completely nonsensical thought? I’ve only smelled each one time, and months apart, so maybe I’m totally off-base! May need to make a circuit through both boutiques to try them side-by-side 🙂
I’m no good at describing things – I think Robin’s review here and on Olfactoria’s Travels are good for an idea of the scent. The beginning is very crisp citrus and quite lovely, and then it goes very springy, green mixed floral – nothing stands out. I didn’t get much from the drydown. Some people mentioned it was a bit musky, so perhaps one I am anosmic to? It is quite nice, but not my style.
Oh, thanks for these accounts (yours and the reviews), they are refreshing my memory! Yes, that sounds right… and like something that could be my thing. Will def have to go for another test!
Jour d’Hermes is not available in Poland yet but I think I’m more interested on those two new that Robin has just reported.
Lucasai, since Jour d’Hermes hasn’t reached S.A. yet, I’m hoping the new colognes will make it by the end of the decade!
I hope they will make it to Poland soon. I want to try that Mandarine Ambree think.
I want to try the Mandarine Ambree, too! Happy Birthday tomorrow, Lucas.
Thank you Fears Mice. Let’s hope we’ll get a chance to try that Hermes soon.
You may not wish to get your hopes up for those Malones. Notice I dropped the Jo b/c Ms. Malone and I aren’t on speaking terms ever since I tried the Sugar and Spices.
Hahahaha, yes, regrettably these things happen. One doesn’t wish to be a snob but standards must be upheld! 😉
On the other hand, Jo Malone the fragrance line is kind of zombie Jo Malone, no? Or possibly an evil clone? Since Jo Malone the person has since departed the company. I suppose we should forgive her for any atrocities being done in her name.
I shouldn’t complain though; I’m thinking pretty seriously of buying Blackberry & Bay (a post-departure fragrance, I think?) in the body cream. This is a doubly-insane purchase for me, as $75 seems like an unfathomable price to pay for lotion, and that’s even before we get to the fact that… I really don’t like lotions, period (ever since I was a kid, I’ve always found the texture just icky.) But damn does it smell fantastic on skin. I have to say, on me at least, I prefer it to the spray.
Oh no. I rescind my comment. Sorry Jo Malone. No animus toward you! My complaint is with your fragrance line!
Yeah. She actually has a new line called “Jo Loves.” The two fragrances I’ve tried from that line have actually been pretty interesting – definitely in her simple, fresh, evocative-of-nature style, but well done and not dumb.
I never put the two together. Which Jo Loves do you recommend?
Oh nice! I haven’t smelled any of those–yes would love to hear which you’ve tried!
I’ve tried Gardenia and Green Orange and Coriander. Gardenia was really quite good, with a kind of mushroominess to it, which I didn’t expect given how clean Jo Malone scents usually read. Green Orange and Coriander smells exactly like the name – no sweetness, just green orange and coriander.
I also had an on-card sample of the newest one, Pink Vetiver… that name sort of made me roll my eyes but on card anyway, it smelled OK. It’s pink pepper + vetiver and didn’t smell completely dumb like the name led me to believe.
The gardenia and the vetiver both sound like something I should try.
I would have assumed “Pink Vetiver” was not a combo it was possible to do well… but if it is, I have to admit that interests me very much! 🙂 Thanks for the recs.
I have a fb of Pink Vetiver and like it very much!
Thanks, I like vetiver so I’ll have to hunt this one down.
Yeah me too! Thanks for the rec.
I decided to wear Pink Vetiver today. It is lovely and I’m so glad I bought a full bottle. Just in case any of you are fervid cumin-haters, you need to know that it opens with a vague whiff of cumin which disappears (on my skin) within one minute.
I tried Jour a while back – even made a special trip to the Hermes Boutique even – and thought it was pretty. I wasn’t swayed to buy a bottle on the spot, but I would like a sample for more thorough testing.
If you are in the US and don’t feel like heading back to the boutique, I’m happy to send you my sample (from Nordstrom – not official!) . You can email me at jasouza9 at hotmail dot com.
Jour is a must try to me!
Todays perfume is VC&As Orchidee Vanille. I love the opening but it just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter on my skin. It also gives off a plastic vibe that I’m just not digging. It’s a little bit like a scented baby doll. Lys Carmin also has that plastic effect but I don’t mind it as much. In fact, Lys Carmin is one of those scents that I probably won’t buy for myself but I would be thrilled to get it as a gift.
The scent that I was sooo looking forward to was Lutens Une Voix Noire. I adore white florals and I can’t seem to find a gardenia that I can love. UVX was a HUGE disappointment. It literally makes me ill! The metallic note in it it reminds me of blood. uugh.
I did not like either of those 2 either 🙁
Would appreciate some advice: I’m trying to decide on a (mostly) blind buy between Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay cologne, and the newly-available 15 ml size of L’Artisan Mure and Musc. I tried the Jo Malone last fall–briefly–and liked it, but have never tried the L’Artisan. For those familiar with both, which would you recommend? Or are they different enough that I might consider both? Thanks in advance, and hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
They are very different. B&B is savory/tart, Mure et Musc is sweet. Have you tried Philosophy Falling in Love? Luca Turin calls it a Mure et Musc clone. I like both of your choices, but Mure et Musc has been copied enough at this point that I’m sure you could find a cheaper alternative.
Would agree with Ari to try Falling in Love. I have the rollerball and it is quite sweet, but I love it. Blackberry & Bay is much more crisp – love it too and planning on getting a bottle, so the 2 aren’t that close. Haven’t tried the Mure & Musc, but would suggest trying the Philosophy first since it is super cheap!
Hi Sharon, how blind are these buys? I agree with Ari that these are very different–I love Blackberry & Bay and consequently assumed I would love Mure et Musc, but the latter didn’t worked for me at all. And not really in a way of one being obviously better for the other–I could easily imagine other people having just the opposite preference. If it helps, I’d add to Ari’s savory/sweet comparison that Blackberry & Bay has a strong woodsy dimension, where Mure et Musc is much more straight fruit. Also, I really got apple from Mure et Musc, which for me is a no-go but perhaps a selling point for others?
I can’t speak to the Blackberry and Bay, but Mure et Musc, on me, is only crisp in a synthetic, febreezey kind of, before it becomes very musky. I was disappointed, but then again, Cate Blanchett apparently wears it, and I can’t imagine her wearing something that was not fabulous, so maybe it’s just my skin. Anyways, I have a small sample vial of Mure et Musc that I could send to you if you’re in the US. Also, in the same vein as the Philosophy, Trish McEvoy’s No. 9 Blackberry & Vanilla Musk is pretty nice. Much more ambient that Mure et Musc, with a diffuse kind of sweetness.
Ha, I like your theory about Cate Blanchett! I bet its fabulousness depends greatly on both the vintage of the M&M and how you perceive the musk. I understand it was reformed at some point? I found the musk in my sample to be pleasantly natural, i.e., more like slightly sweaty skin than laundry soap.
That’s a good point! I had heard rumors (and denials of rumors) of reformulation, but my sample is brand new, so perhaps that is the source of the unnaturalness to the musk.
When Kevin reviewed it on NST in 2008, he said he perceived it to have been reformulated at that point.
https://nstperfume.com/2008/12/11/lartisan-parfumeur-mure-et-musc-fragrance-reviews/
Falling in Love is a very nice scent. Of the Philosophy line, it’s one of two that I like (the other is Amazing Grace). Before I got my perfumista card, I wore these two pretty much exclusively. Definately worth a try. I never really tried to compare to Mure et Musc. For what it’s worth, I like Falling in Love and I do not like Mure et Musc (although, I really like the shower gel versions of both scents! Totally worth splurging on!)
I found M&M to be almost unbearably musky. (I do think it was the older version)
Yup–it is almost pure dryer sheet on me. Not a scent I’d buy without a proper test, as clearly masks read very differently person to person.
*musks* that is!
(those are?)
Thank you to all who weighed in on my Blackerry & Bay/Mure and Musc request! As I have Falling in Love Summer, and like it very much, I’ll go with the Jo Malone creation (which I suspected I would prefer, because of the crispness/savory-tart aspects). And E. Lime, I appreciate your offer of a sample, but perhaps someone else will benefit from it.
Oh, I hope someone can help me!
Recently, I’ve been missing the original Victora by Victoria’s Secret. Has anyone come across something that smells similar?
I’m not familiar with any victoria’s fragrances but bombshell. Have you try it yet?
I have sniffed. I’m not crazy about any of the VS fragrances except Victoria – it’s really just a memory thing.
You are not alone. Such a beautiful scent and so far removed from what they push now.
I’ve seen lots of people remembering this one longingly – I’ve never smelt it.
Am really unsure whether I am remembering the right VS scent, but at the time I was reminded of D&G Feminine. Don’t spend any money in case I am not remembering right, but do have a sniff sometime…
By Kilian Forbidden Games reminds me a lot of Victoria!
Thank you so much to everyone who suggested hospital-safe Valentine’s Day presents for my little brother. I am wearing Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay to visit him today- it is his favorite non-Axe scent.
Speaking of perfume and brothers, I have long been curious about whether our scent preferences are heritable. Are your tastes in perfume similar to your parents’ or your siblings’?
Love Blackberry & Bay, thinking about splurging on a FB – would be my first 2013 purchase. I’m not sure about whether it’s hereditary, but I like a lot of the perfumes my mother likes – that is mostly, chypres, green and classic perfumes. But of course, we don’t agree in everything. I also like some of the perfumes my brother likes (I’ve been buying most of his bottles for him according to what I discovered he likes over the time) – but honestly I hate his most beloved perfume- Dior’s Fahrenheit 😀
hope your brother gets well soon
My own experience says that fragrance tastes or a love for perfume are probably not inherited, at least not in a biological way. I say that because my mother had a rather large (for her generation) perfume collection, perhaps 20 bottles or so, but seldom wore it, and really didn’t seem to care for it one way or another. I think for her it was sort of a status thing or a cultural norm. Women were supposed to have perfume, and they were supposed to want the prestigious scents (no. 5, Joy, etc), and the husbands were supposed to buy it for their wives, and you were supposed to wear perfume when you got dressed up to go out, and so forth. I, on the other hand, wear perfume daily, I buy my own, and I love it for its own sake. I don’t really care about impressing anyone with what I have. I acquired a love for it at a very early age, in large part because I had access to a pretty good collection of it on my mother’s dressing table. I quickly noticed how they seemed to have different personalities, and how some of them smelled similar to one another (no. 5 and Arpege, for example), long before I knew anything about fragrance families or scent types. As I grew older I was able to buy some of my own perfume or began requesting it as Christmas/birthday gifts. Naturally, my mother seemed to disdain most of my preferred choices; our tastes are really totally dissimilar in just about everything–clothing styles, colors, food, and so forth. If I inherited any of my tastes or preferences, it was not from my mother. Maybe it skips a generation?
That’s a very interesting thought, Ari. I assume that the sense of scent is inherited just like sight and hearing. Most people don’t work at honing it like the other senses. I know my interest in perfume is due in large part to my mom. She loved to wear it but we always wore different scents. I believe that was due to the fact that she could wear the richer “grown up” scents and as a kid I stuck with what was new and trendy. Now, I appreciate a wide range of scents and I believe it’s both an inherited as well as a learned ability.
Mm yes I do think it’s likely that _ability_ to smell things is likely heritable. I have some friends whose mom is a chef, and one of them pretty clearly inherited their mom’s ability to pick out every flavor that composes a dish (i.e. he can reverse-engineer most anything, because he can identify all the different elements of the dish on taste), while the other did not. Would not surprise me if there’s something similarly genetic in the ability to detect smells. (For that matter, it may be that smell is much of what my friend and his mom are talking about when they say flavor, anyway.)
Which smells one likes, though, seems so heavily influenced by culture–varies so widely across geography and history–that it seems more learned than inherited… so hard to say though, maybe within a certain culture/time period, people with shared genetic material tend to share tastes as well? E.g. my mom really likes classics and I do not, but growing up three decades ahead of me (and in a fairly different demographic), she had a really different set of formative smells… I wonder what she would like if she’d grown up in the same fragrance context that I did! (Or vice versa 🙂 )
Ooh, I wil look forward to hearing other people’s answers to this question–I haven’t really found that I share fragrance tastes with immediate relatives (my mom is into classics, L’Air du Temps, etc., which I can’t do it at all; and my sister is pretty anti-fragrance altogether, really sensitive to it in a way that’s unpleasant for her.) But it does seem like something that should be heritable, though I realize other kinds of aesthetic preferences often are not–my taste in clothing is also pretty different from my mom and sister’s!
Meanwhile I love that your brother digs Blackberry & Bay. Great taste. Say hi for us, I hope he is doing well.
My mom wears Aromatics Elixir and has for years, and I unfortunately cannot tolerate it, though I have found that I do like patchouli-based fragrances, so perhaps some of it trickled through to me… surprisingly, we both love Gucci Envy and PDN’s Le Temps D’Une Fete, so we do tend towards the green, too. I wonder if that is coincidence or inheritance…
My mom is super sensitive to perfume, gives her sneezes and headaches, so she never wore it. My dad, on the other hand, seems to like almost all perfume!
I would say the only thing I inherited from my mom, fragrance-taste-wise, is a liking for musks. However, my mom’s taste tends toward white musks and I like mine a bit darker. When I was growing up, she wore Oscar de la Renta. I don’t remember super well what it smelled like back in the day, but I tried it a few months ago to see if I could jog my memory. I don’t like the current version. I found it really powdery all the way through. I don’t remember it being that way when my mom wore it, but that was back in the ’80s so who knows what contortions the formula has been put through since then.
My dad is a Brut man. Has been my whole life and still is now.
I can’t say a whole lot about anyone else in my family because I’m the only one who’s into perfume in any real way. I don’t think my brother uses anything (which is a good thing for my sister-in-law since she’s sensitive to it — not horribly so.. stuffy nose, not migraines or anything like that).
Enjoy your time with your brother, Ari. Hope he enjoys his goodies. 🙂
Definitely similar to my mother, but completely opposite to my sister (go figure…)
Interesting question – to add to your data, my mum and dad are indifferent to perfume. They don’t wear them but don’t mind when other people wear them.
My eldest sister (only 3 years older than me, same bkgrd etc.) likes patch heavy perfumes – lolita lempika, coromandel. My 2nd sister (2 yrs older, ditto ditto) likes powdery florals (which my eldest sister dislikes). I am the perfume nut – who tends to like sweet orientals, if I have to declare a preference, but that is not the extent of my perfumes, of course! 😀
I’m wearing Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Vert Pour Madame, from my brand new tiny dram bottle. SOOOOOO CUTE, those DSH minis. I just put in a big order (well, big for me) with her, including a lot of things I’d been lemming for some time. VpM is quite nice, green without being scary. Private Collection has been my go-to green but VpM is warmer, which I might like more. I just struggle with cold/aggressive green chypres.
I struggle with green fragrances as well. Some of them are just too cold and intimidating. I agree that VpM is warmer than most, and I also have a mini of it. Those little dram bottles of hers are wonderful! It really is the perfect size for things when you need more than a tiny sample vial but don’t need a FB. I also am pleased that she is adding a 10 ml spray size for all her EdPs.
I love those dram bottles. LOVE.
Isn’t VpM terrific? I recently got a 10 ml spray (in the same DSH sale that I suspect you took advantage of) — I love most green scents, but I find that this one is a nice change of pace from No. 19 and its ilk. And agree about the DSH drams; I think I have 10 of those in various stages of used-up-ness.
Yes, I really liked it. Really green, yet cozy, which is something. I always want to like green scents, but it’s hard. No. 19 HATES me. At least the EDT, which is all you can generally find in US department stores.
And yes on the same sale part! I have a hard time resisting her sales, especially since the drams are such a great size. Love her!
Each month I pass by downtown perfume store cause it’s so close to my dentist’s clinic 🙂
March though would be all about chloe’s fragrances. unfortunately I missed nearly all of the limited edition flankers, now I got the chance to test only the classics. I may give victoria’s secret bombshell a second shot too & see if I like it.
I hope this is not out of rules in here but has anybody saw exorcismus or the devil’s rejects movies ? I’m fond of all horror movies there are no movie out there I haven’t see, maybe a few. Suggest anything, I mean horror or fragrances for me to test or watch ok?
I like some horror movies but am no good with suggestions – sounds like you could suggest a few to me! What kind of horror do you like? What have YOU seen recently you recommend? >:)
Oh boy I saw too many to remember anyway but I’ll suggest a few yeah. I’ll never forget texas chainsaw massacre 2003 & also the texas chainsaw massacre the beginning 2006. Leather face is the baddest guy of all time.
Have you seen a norwegian movie called next door? it’s a must see & you’ll never forget it again. Silent hill is my all time favorite & I can’t stop watching the revelation 3D sequal of it. Dark water along with a tale of two sisters, the original ashain versions of course are the best. Shutter is also good, pan’s labyrinth is too good for words & well made. I saw all the series of nightmare on elm street & liked them all. What else? maybe x-files too?
Pan’s Labrynth was really good. I find that if Guillermo del Toro is the director it’s hard to go wrong. The Orphanage is great too. I like horror movies that rely less on gore. I want to be scared not sickened if that makes any sense.
You will like A Tale of Two Sisters (Korean version like Carine said).
Hi Poodle, how is your dog doing?
My thoughts: I think of Pan’s Labyrinth as a fantasy, or dark fantasy, rather than a horror. It may be officially categorised as a horror, but I think its quite different.. Still, that one monster-man-creature who has his eyeballs on a saucer, and who lunches on children, was quite horrific!
There are definitely two types of horror, the butcher type that some people call torture porn (saw, hostel, etc) and the supernatural horror (The Omen, Rosemary’s Baby, the Ring, etc). I also prefer this second type! I’m fascinated by the first but would be unable to watch a whole movie like that.
Merlin, Greta is doing better. She’s still on antibiotics. I think they wanted her on them for 14 days to make sure they get rid of it on the first try. Thankfully she hasn’t had a reaction to them yet. I was fully expecting to have a dog with diarrhea by this point. We’ve been able to leave her uncrated when we go out with no accidents so that’s good. She did not like being crated like a common dog but mommy did not like coming home to pee on the rug. 😉
Understandable!
A Tale of Two Sisters is boss; haven’t seen Dark Water. Is Silent Hill good? Video game movies kind of make me cringe. Now I will have to watch it.
Here’s a few from me, even tho I haven’t seen too many good ones lately: The Ruins is a bad movie but fun schlocky horror and like Two Sisters doesn’t rely on dark rooms and hard-to-see ghost images for scares. I thought I wouldn’t be able to stomach Hostel (the first one) but it was actually fun. Audition is kind of fun if you still haven’t seen it, if a bit extreme. Two low budget ones: Splinter has great creature effects; Marebito is less horror but really interesting for being weird.
Will check out Next Door.
The norwegian movie next door is a must watch, you gotta see it & ladies in this movie used lots of fragrances 🙂
just tell me what you think about it when you see it don’t forget that 🙂
I nominate Secretions Magnifique by Etat Libre d’ Orange. It’s a scent and a horror at the same time!
what does it smell like? fart? LOL
‘Fart’ would belong to comedy.
SM has notes that include blood and semen. On almost everyone, and on paper, it is abhorrent but apparently there are a few individuals on whom it smells good. One reviewer described it as smelling like a crime scene. (may have been Katie Puckrik but I’m not sure).
Ain’t that lady Gaga’s fame that has blood & semen? and how did that person figure out what a crime scen smells like? weird.
No, Gagga claimed her perfume would smell like blood and semen. Have you smelled it?
(Also S.M. came out long long before)
Not really weird: like with so many other things we need to use our imagination to experience things that we have not experienced (and don’t want to experience) in real life.
Also the crime scene image captures very well the sense of visceral revulsion that most people get from the perfume.
I wasn’t really proposing that you would like it – I was more commenting on the sense of horror most people feel when they consider giving it another sniff!
Apologise for being a little obscure in my first comment…
Merlin, you’re right; it was Katie who reviewed it.
Carine – watch her review here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7QQxSevDu0
It is hysterical!
LOL, Merlin!
Hi there,
I too am a big fan of horror movies. One of the creepiest I’ve seen in a long time is Ty West’s “House of the Devil”. For horror/humor, I really liked “Drag me to Hell”.
I saw them all & I never laughed so hard like I did when I saw drag me to hell. That movie was a bummer.
Hello, everyone! I’ve been lurking on Luckyscent, debating whether to purchase a FB of Amouage’s Ubar. I love it, and I just got my annual bonus at work, so I’m thinking I may have to splurge on a bottle. Thoughts?
SOTD is Carnal Flower. I usually don’t wear CF much in the winter, but today I wanted something that smelled like spring!
I guess the question is why you are hesitating. If it is because you really don’t think you need or will use a FB, perhaps it is best to hold off. If it is just the money, I say go for it, as long as you have “extra” money to use and won’t be depriving yourself of anything more essential. I get a bonus at work each year also, and I like to use at least a small part of it to buy myself something special that I want but couldn’t otherwise afford or justify.
Yes, it’s just the money. Spending that much on a single bottle of scent just gives me pause. But I do want to treat myself with part of my bonus, and you’re right. I should buy something I wouldn’t normally buy for myself! 🙂
If you really love it, I say go for it. I think it is better to have one expensive bottle that you really love than 4 or 5 cheaper ones that you merely like, and which collectively cost as much or more than the expensive one. Besides, Ubar is quite potent, at least on my skin, so it should last a long time. It is not as if you were spending the money for something that will be used up in a short time. Buy it, wear it, and enjoy it!
Yes, with Ubar’s potency, a 100 ml bottle will last me forever. I really do love it, so I need to just stop waffling and buy it!
I went through a similar hesitation before I bought my bottle of Memoir. I haven’t regretted the purchase a single moment, though! And it really will last me forever! Ubar is lovely, too, although I find fewer occasions when I want it. I have considered a large decant instead, which could be an alternative for you I suppose (but one I’d find potentially less satisfying for a BIG LOVE scent).
Such a lovely scent. Go for it! You worked hard for the bonus, you deserve the reward. And it will last forever.
I am wearing a sample of La Fille de Berlin, and I am in love with it. Warm, spicy, rosy, musky. In the beginning stages it reminds me a tiny bit of Tea Rose, which I used to wear religiously, but it’s like they took the intense realism of that scent and turned it into an oil painting with thick brush strokes and a beautiful ornate frame. Is anyone else trying this and loving it? Or hating it? Or in between? Does it make anyone else sneeze right when it’s first applied? I find I don’t mind this, as it makes me smile.
Oh no, musky? That loses me with that one. It sounded so good until I read musky. I don’t like a musky rose.
To my nose, the musk is very mild, more sweet and sensual than raunchy. Don’t know if that makes it any better!
Oh gosh I really might need to order a sample. That sounds divine and my closest store stocking Serge is very unreliable… Don’t know if I can wait to get to NYC!
Yes, that makes it a bit better! Thanks!
Ah, now I am dying to smell it–“warm, spicy, rosy, musky”, those are like the magic words 🙂
oh man. Maybe this will finally be MY SERGE.
Oh, how funny — Tea Rose is exactly what I thought of when I smelled the top notes!
I’ve also been thinking that the drydown reminds me of a fuzzy, winter version of Yuzu Rouge (not a bad thing, as I love Yuzu Rouge).
Does anybody recall unilever lux rose velvet soap? it’s discontinued or so it seems & I never smelled anything like it. It was soapy, rosey, ultra clean & just unique. Should I go to some store to make something similar to it? or would you guys be kind enough & suggest something to try? I have dior addict sensuell in my list & I think it’s soapy & rosey but not any closer to my long gon love rose velvet soap 🙁
Carine Yezn, this soap is available on the Sears (US) website. For under 21 dollars, you can score 18 bars. It’s in stock but can’t say how much they actually have of it.
I don’t buy anything this way 🙁 I wish it will come back sometime. I’m so sad it’s now gon & can’t find any closer scent. I tried yardley english rose soap bars it’s not even close :/
All week, I’ve been wearing Sikkim girls from Lush, and it’s the most fantastic scent. It’s got lots of patch, sweet spices, jasmine, creamy tuberose, and cardamom. It’s complex and changes a lot on skin, a interesting scent. Right now, it’s my conteder for best scent of 2013. Try it.
Anna, how strong is the jasmine in it? Is it predominantly a jasmine scent?
No, not a jasmine scent at all, I think. Tuberose is most prominent of the flowers, in the middle stages. It’s notat att jasmineylike, say, Alien.
I wish it was coming to the Austin store… le sigh
Patchouli, spices and my big love, cardomom! I HAVE to try this!
This sounds very nice – I like cardamom as well
I’ve recently splurged on a few bottles of perfume and they arrived yesterday! Today I’m wearing Parfums de Nicholai Number One Intense – a lovely mix of jasmine, tuberose and orange blossom with a sandalwood amber base. I’m usually squeazzy around tuberose and jasmine, but this one isn’t indolic at all. Must be getting ready for spring because I’m craving white florals like no one’s business.
Other goodies: Barney’s Event gift bag and a travel set of Iris Poudre and a bottle of SL Un Bois Vanille
Favorite samples: Child Perfume and Antica Farmacista Ala Moana La Perfume.
To Do list: visit estate sale looking for perfume; visit Neimans and (possibly) buy that Houbigant Orangers en Fleurs during the beauty event. Oh Donatella… is it too early to confess my sins?
LOL…you’re going to have plenty of sin to confess! Congrats on your haul.
CM! I also got the Iris Poudre travel set at the Barneys event! I also got CDG Series 3 Kyoto. I got samples of “made on the spot” samples of 10 Corso Como (I’m looking at you Poodle) and something called Attache Moi. I purposely avoided the Le Labo and the Serge Lutens reps as I was lavished with samples in December but ended up not buying any new Le Labos or SLs (maybe next time).
Yum, Kyoto is great!
Bought my boyfriend Geranium Pour Monsieur for his birthday (and outsourced the wrapping to a coworker! Shame.) and I personally love it. I think he may be humoring me for now but give it a few months and I think he’ll love it. I was flabbergasted at the price of Malle’s fragrances though. I forgot about that. 😛
the very nice saleswoman gave me quite a few By Kilian samples, though, and spritzed me with Straight to Heaven. Too bad that one is crazy spendy, because I loved it.
The security guard at my apartment complex, a very cute young lady, walked by me and my sillage. She exclaimed, “Honey, what are you wearing? It smells so good! You’re working it!” It was very sweet.
I love Straight to Heaven. You should get that for your boyfriend next time. Just keep him away from the cute security guard.
I wish but I’m trying to wean him off blue-colored Aqua flankers. GpM will hopefully be the gateway to interesting things.
I love Striaght to Heaven, but my husband tells me I smell like a dude when I wear it! The travel refills are not too expensive if you want a cheaper option, but the real bottles and travel sprays are so lovely (but pricey!)
I just saw, but at the same time I think I would rather get a Serge Lutens anyway; I’ve been courting the notion of a bottle of Borneo 1834. It is nice to have options, though. I totally love the travel spray container.
Hi everyone. I’m loving this much more traditional midwestern winter since it gives me an excuse to wear my orientals and gourmands longer!
Recently, I got the sample set from Alice & Peter which arrived in a lovely little presentation set. Cheery Cherry is probably my favorite, but the lasting power for all five is so very minimal it is disappointing. But the cherry/light patchouli of CC is so much fun and they’re all well done if a bit brief.
My birthday is next week and I’m so excited since I’m going to be gifting myself with an order from Sonoma Scent Studio. I’ve wanted bottles of Velvet Rose and Rose Musc for ages, and have a few travel sprays and samples in there, too. I can’t wait!
Speaking of indi perfumers, has anyone had difficulty getting in touch with Ava Luxe? I’ve been trying for a while now and can’t seem to reach anyone there with some questions I have about products and orders, including an order I’ve recently placed. I love the fragrances but am concerned at the lack of customer service.
I’ve also fallen hard for Spicebomb and Musc Tonkin after trying decants and have decided I simply have to get a bottle of the latter. I hope I can still track one down. It is beyond sexy and amazing.
Here’s wishing everyone a great weekend with lots of new, great smelling discoveries. 🙂
Happy birthday!
I blind-bought the berry and orange Alice and Peter cupcakes for the bottles. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the juice! These would be awesome for a young perfumista, I think; heck, I have reached for the Bloody Orange more than once since buying them.
I agree that the ccomplexity of each is wonderful. They aren’t nearly as exclusively foody as one might think and the price is reasonable. It is either the orange or berry that has the most marvelous iris in it. Stunning!
Perhaps these would last longer in the summer rather than the really cold, dry winter climate. I’m so tempted to buy the cherry. I wore my sample during my twins’ birthday party and it just worked so well… It was just grown up enough but fit in well with the fun and festivities. And the packaging and ad campagne is just so cute!
Oh, SOTD is ELdO Divin’Enfant, which I finally got an fb of last week. I scored some wonderful goodies during C.O. Bigelow’s last 25% off sale and am still pinching myself! Talk about Snoopy Dance. 😀
Buy it, buy it! 😛
Oh, and thank you, Jolie Fleurs! That orange is something, isn’t it?
I do enjoy it! I mean, it’s not gonna replace Joy or Jubilation 25 anytime soon, but it’s fun, especially for the price, right??
Jolie Fleurs, don’t tempt me. I just might snap it up! 🙂
Serena is being fairly regular about replying to comments on her Facebook page, so you could try reaching her that way. I’m so happy to see her active again!
(Just in case you don’t know): Serena is the perfumer behind Ava Luxe.
Musc Tonkin is still available on the Parfum d’Empire site.
Happy advance birthday!
Jonette, thank youu for the info regarding Serena and Ava Luxe, as well as the Parfum d’Empire advice. I’m trying to work out shipping but that might be the way to go.
Robin, thank you!
Joining the wishes here! 🙂
I totally disagree on winter scents: I prefer frozen florals and irises of the cheerless variety. Orientals are for summer! 😀
Thank you for the weekend wishes. To you the same.
Coumerin, I’ve been known to rock some Angel or Kingdom in the middle of summer, but only around those who really love me. 🙂
I have to agree that sometimes a good lilac or rose works beautifully in winter, almost as if the fragrance is sticking out a tongue at the snow and being cheeky to spite it. 🙂
Hermès’s Rose Ikebana (and Iris Ukiyoé, though I still need a bottle) and SL’s ISM are my winter standards.
I have dreams that McQueen’s Kingdom is my soul mate fragrance but who knows! I bring out Shalimar or Vol de Nuit for scorchers. I’m excited to try my new love, Ambre des Merveilles, in the heat as well.
I’m with you on wearing Vol de Nuit in the summer. The floral heart blooms beautifully in the heat. In the same vein, most folks like SSS Champagne de Bois in the winter, and I prefer that in the summer as well. Aldehydes in the winter stab my nose!
Coumarin, those Guerlain Deserts d’Orient are totally meant for hot weather wear. Probably no coincidence since they were targeted at the MidEast market.
I’ve been mostly wearing DSH samples this week. SOTD is DSH Mahjoun. I like it. It seems really similar to Ginestet Botrytis. I kind of think it might be a dead ringer, but I’d have to find the remains of my Botrytis sample to compare. I’ve thought that about other things before and been wrong.
I was on Luckyscent the other day and was fighting the urge to blind buy Parfums de Nicolai Fig Tea when I saw how inexpensive it was. I mean, her line isn’t that expensive in general, but that one was only $35. I didn’t do it.. I’ll probably get a sample though.
Fig Tea is a lovely fragrance! I have the 30 ml bottle, and I’ve never regretted it! It doesn’t last long, so I have to reapply during the day, but it’s just right for a summer day. Or a day that you wish it were summer.
Good to know. Thanks! I have a thing for fig, so it’s really tempting.
Sweetgrass, have you tried the SSS Fig Tree? I love it and it lasts most of the day on me.
Oh, a lazy poll on a Friday, fab! I just spent 3 hours de-icing the freezer (is there a chore more tedious?) so now all I want to do is to spritz myself with something fabulous and spend the rest of the evening relaxing with a bourboun sour. I’m just trying to decide between Lyric Woman, Tubéreuse Criminelle or Incense Rosé.
An incredibly kind reader recently sent me a sample of Marni which didn’t disappoint, hopefully the trend will continue for the rest of the year with some more good releases.
Ooooh, definitely Lyric Woman! That’s such a gorgeous fragrance–one of my faves!
I’ll put in my vote for Incense Rose. 😉
I settled on Lyric simply because I wore the other two recently and it’s been a while since Lyric had its last outing.
Well, I’m home today, so once again I’m reeking of Estee Lauder’ s “Youth Dew Amber Nude”. Yum, just the thing for a dreary, cold and damp day.
I will always regret not buying a bottle of that when it was available.
I’ve caught a cold and cannot smell a thing, not even coffee or bacon. Hopefully my “nose” returns soon. Life is strangely lacking without it.
Get better soon!
Oh, sad to not be able to smell bacon! Get well.
Something I’ve often wondered: why do so many modern mainstream fragrances (esp. of the fruity floral persuasion) give me headaches? It seems like so many of them have a sharp, piercing topnote that really hurts to smell.
So they’ll smell intense on paper, is my guess.
I finally found a piece of advice on making perfumes last which is effective – even for me!
So, for others with the same problem: (moisturiser may work a little – makes ones skin nicer, but not preserving the scent very much) – the answer is da da da *petroleum jelly*. In my country its called vaseline – I don’t know elsewhere. The skin does not really absorb petroleum jelly; instead it forms a fine layer on the skin so that it is sealed off from external elements. So, spritzed onto the vaseline – the fragrance cannot disappear into the skin.
Ok, chemically, I don’t know how it works (maybe Lucasi can help) but – it does work. It may be that this interferes with the natural progression of the scent; but for people like me its preferable to a 15 minute, or less, life-span of a loved scent. Also, I think the perfume may be truer to the way the perfumer meant it to smell…
(Applying vaseline to a large area of skin may not be too good. I just put a little where I plan to spray…)
Shea butter (straight) works too 🙂
I know L’occitaine has a pure shea butter – but its quite pricey! Do more ordinary health brands have it as well? P.G is really cheap but shea butter is no doubt better for the skin…
Oh yes, you can get it from NOW or Alaffia, or many other brands.
Nice one, thanks. I’m going to give it a try too. I’m in Australia and petroleum jelly is Vaseline here too.
Its cheap enough to experiment! with!
I was a little disappointed today though, because even on vaseline Malle’s Eau d’ Hiver had hardly any smell on me. Well just enough of a smell for me to WISH I could really smell it…
Latest perfume I thought I’d like but didn’t: Coromandel. Today!
I’m a Borneo fiend so I was all about Coromandel from the moment I read about. It took years for me to get around to trying it. It’s hippy amber. WTH?
I had a mental projection of what Coromandel smelled like as a more refined, lighter, powdery version of Borneo’s dark materiality. And instead it’s a patchouli amber. I’m an amber-phobe but somehow I just never put it together that I would dislike Coromandel. I thought it would be aldehydic-powdery or something. That amber is huge and just eats up the frankincense. Am I missing something with Coromandel?
And are there any fellow amber-phobes here? Finding amber in a composition when you don’t expect it is like someone forgetting to tell you that space aliens show up halfway through the film they recommended, and it’s some nineteenth-century period piece or something. Amber the unspoken is just that jarring to an amber-phobe.
I don’t like many amber fragrances. I find them… I don’t know. Too sweet and easy. There are very few ambers that I really love. There are some that I like but on the whole it’s one of my least favorite notes/genres.
It’s funny, because I don’t mind sweetness in fragrance, or fruit in fragrance, but ambers bug me a lot. REALLY did not like Coromandel (though I tried it only very briefly).
LOL I should have known, you are my taste-in-perfume twin. I find ambers sweet and stuffy, not a good combo.
Don’t think you are missing anything, it’s a patch with an amber base. I like it (don’t mind amber) but I do find the drydown a little unexciting and often wish that the patch part lasted a little bit longer.
Glad to hear that at least I understood the plot. Which Exclusif is your favorite?
The three I own are Cuir de Russie, 31 Rue Cambon and Sycomore. Now and again I toy with the idea of Bois des Îles in parfum which is slightly less fleeting than EDT.
In fact, if Chanel decided to treat me to a full set of Les Exclusfis (ha!), I’d happily wear most of them except Beige, Jersey and Gardenia.
Ah, I’m so glad for the opportunity to out myself as another amber-phobe. There are a few I like but generally they are so mild that they are essentially the exceptions that prove my anti-amber rule. (I <3 you, Dark Amber & Ginger Lily, but there's no use pretending you're not a very gentle soul.) Tolu, Shalimar–these sorts of things literally make me gag. Alas.
Speaking of gagging, I completely know what you mean about the sense of unwelcome surprise–it really is just like getting smacked with something unexpected and unpleasant in a film! My sister is still mad at me over a movie rec from last spring; I didn't think to warn that the high-concept indie suspense flick included a graphic vomiting scene. Whoops!
I think it’s assumed that if you’re a perfumista you like or at least tolerate amber. And it’s the hidden surprise in just about all classic leathers too.
Umm, re: your sister, was that an intentional omission?
Hahaha, she DEFINITELY feels like it must have been! As with amber, she feels like this is something I should certainly have known needing a warning label! I maintain that it honestly did not occur to me. The movie also has a character who is maybe-really-from-the-future (but really!) I got a little caught up in that and forgot about the puking.
yeah, there certainly seem to be certain genres that more perfumistas are assumed to appreciate, and amber is usually one of them. It’s always made me feel awkward about not liking amber.
I usually despise amber, for sure! I did enjoy Coromandel, but to me it is much less compelling than Borneo. It’s like the scent has been dusted with that light-diffusing HD make-up, and PhotoShop’d to make it smell… Tame. Very much a Chanel scent, though, I will say.
That’s a good way to describe it. Also, glad to hear there are other non-amber perfume people.
Well I am enjoying this blog, especially when I am supposed to be writing… it seems deadlines be damned when there’s the NST chatter to read. You all are much more interesting that what’s been coming from my tap tap tap tap tapppppppppppppping….. Anyhoo… I was laughing so hard last week at the complaints about the fragrance name “Provactive Woman’– having been labeled as such in hs thru graduate school (and we’ll just be mum about how I was provactive–as your imagination will be much more interesting than the curly-headed, foot-noting, fact-flailing contrarian that scowled her way from class to class). So I searched the web for some cheap version I could sniff. Found Provactive Woman in a “silk touch frangrance gel” form (I know, eeyuck!) but it was only $8 and I couldn’t resist. More Sucker Woman than Provactive Woman these days….thanks for all your good humor, especially the philosophers’ frangrance names! Anyone reading Julian Barnes? His titles would make some great perfumes–you all are far better at imagining the the notes than I:
Before She Met Me
The Sense (Scents?) of an Ending
The Lemon Table
Nothing to Be Frightened Of
Pulse
Something to Declare
Love, Etc.
Hmmm.. but not a good speller!
You’re right, those Julian Barnes titles would make great perfume names!
Great names…
Hello again, everyone. I’m settling in with some comfort food (taco dip and a glass of white) for a diet free evening of watching The Tudors on Netflix. I’m expecting wild inaccuracy, but sometimes that’s fun. Divin’Enfant is still going strong.
I was wondering if there are any Los Angeles perfumisto/as who might be willing to help an addict out? Lucky Scent/Scent Bar has only two left of a particular fragrance I want to buy in stock, but they say they’re only for their in store clients and won’t allow me to order them over the phone.
Obviously, LA from Michigan isn’t anything I’m doing soon, so I was wondering if anyone would, pleasy please, be willing to work out an acquisition for me? I’d be happy to throw in decants for your trouble along with arrangements, of course. Feel free to email me at mds4pak at sbcglobal dot net, and thank you sooo much in advance. I just hate when stores do in store preference only sales/items since there’s nothing out here where I live and 99% of my non-grocery/home shopping is done online. Thanks! 🙂
Seriously, why would they care who bought them? That seems odd.
I have recently tried a bunch of the Tom Ford Private Blend scents, and despite the blah factor most people give to them, I found a few of them to be knock outs. I had already fell in love with Velvet Gardenia- a honeyed gardenia with a dank, dark, earthy core. But Noir de Noir and Japon Noir are gorgeous!!!! Silly names yes, but gorgeous.
Noir de Noir is a boozy rose with patchouli, oud, and earthy but chocolaty black truffles.
Japon Noir- I don’t know how to describe it really but I found it really sexy. Lots of leather and smoky-powdery incense with a slinky amber core. Jasmine is also there somewhere.
Where can one find Japon Noir these days? It seems totally worth a sniff.
I got a sample from:
http://surrendertochance.com/
Interesting, japon Noir is my least favorite of the ones I tried.
Hi all and happy weekend!
I was in a local perfume store today, somewhat of an old school landmark in my area, and asked to smell Bandit and a couple of Lalique perfumes. The owner asked me how I know about these perfumes and I mentioned reading about them on line and putting comments on perfume blogs. Then he asked me what qualifies me to blog about perfume? I kind of cringed and just said that I have no education but I like sniffing and sampling. He just left me alone with the sample strips at that point. I must say I found the whole interaction quite intimidating. In any case, I thanked him and left the shop with the strips. Bandit was really amazing, like a total dope slap of a perfume, after a little while it made me feel quite nauseus. The proprietor also gave me spray strips of Lalique (original) and Lalique Amethyst. Both of the Laliques perfumes were lovely, but I especially liked Amethyst. Just curious about what other people would say if asked what qualifiies you to blog about perfume?
Depending on my mood, I would counter with “Interesting! While I think about what qualifies me to blog, tell me, what qualifies YOU to be an SA?” or “No qualification required except having an opinion”
hee hee that’s great. What’s an SA?
SA = Sales Associate
Oh, ok SA is sales assistant. This guy was definitely not an SA. Pretty sure he’s the store owner and has been dealing in perfumes for many years, it may be a family business that has been there for generations. I was speculating a bit and could be wrong here, but if I were a brick and mortar store owner, any mention of internet commerce would kind of piss me off. I’m sure that many people sample the perfumes in his shop and then go and get them for a cheaper price on the internet. If that’s the case, I kind of want to spend the extra couple of bucks and buy perfume from a store maybe even his store.
And I would buy from his store if he wasn’t such a dick!
Even more so as a store owner…instead of coming off sounding like he is challenging you, he should have been more welcoming and smoothly probing to determine if you will be a regular visitor/shopper. Regardless of whether or not you buy from him, you ARE a customer and should be treated like a King/Queen.
I totally agree, Hajusurri.
Yup, all you need is an opinion and a nose. What qualifications do most reviewers have? Are movie critics qualified by anything other than the fact that they watch a lot of movies? Granted, not everyone is an expert but everyone has opinions.
Thank you for your supportive comments, Poodle. The whole interaction with the shop owner felt like I was being slam dunked into my place (if that makes sense). Not a good feeling at all.
Was he an older gentleman? Some people that don’t visit blogs (and I know, I know!, age isn’t at all an indication of online savvy) think it’s a really official-type situation, commenting online and receiving comments and such. Depending on his tone, could he have been genuinely interested in whether you were a perfume writer?
Thanks for your comment Lys. It’s hard to say where he was coming from. He was really hard to read and had zero affect. When I answered his question he didn’t respond at all. I thought I was obviously not very knowledgeable about perfume. In any case he sprayed the samples and wrote the perfumes on the strips, which was very nice. It was such a strange experience.
Yeah, Lys I had same thought. I feel like there’s a generation of people who have no idea that while yes, the internet now contains New York Review of Books-style work, much, much more of it bears a closer resemblance to a neighborhood book club.
Generation of course meaning segment of the population, not age-group.
Such a good point. I confess I had been thinking of it in terms of age, just because I think the Very Youngs basically can’t avoid knowing about this phenomenon, but you’re totally right that after that, it doesn’t divide neatly by age, who is or isn’t aware of the discussion-board element of the internet.
After reading all your comments here I have to ask – By any chance are you in Cambridge, MA?
I was wondering that, too.
Oh, now I’m curious! I used to live in Cambridge, but before I got into perfume. Are there good perfume stores there? (Potentially surly owner notwithstanding.)
Hi Lucy,
Since my post was somewhat less than positive about the perfume store owner, I think I will decline to identify where it is located. Regardless of my impressions, there may be very good reasons why the man behaved as he did (or maybe not). In any case, I was more interested in how people would respond to an intimidating question.
Fair enough. I was just curious because I had a nearly identical experience at a landmark status shop there. I even chose to test Bandit that day.
But doesn’t blogging mean that you have your own blog? You told him you comment on blogs and that is quite different. Not that one needs a qualification of any sort to have a blog in the first place…
Reminds me off a quote I will likely incorrectly paraphrase: Never let ignorance get in the way of having a strong opinion! 🙂
I thought about the definiton of blogging and initially thought you have to have your own blog to be called a blogger; however, now I think commenters are bloggers, too. For the blogs that have a LIKE button, the one time I liked a post, my avatar appeared in the section “x bloggers like this” so if WordPress thinks commenters are bloggers, well, I’m a blogger!
Yeah I take this as a sign that he just has no idea what’s on the internet or how it functions.
I think you guys have hit the nail on the head about people not familiar with the blog world and I think that might be the case with the perfume shop gentleman. The shop is very fuddy duddy and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was using an adding machine in the back room.
I had an experience like that, sort of, but it was my own fault. I was once in a perfumery which is a very old and established place and I made some remark about a perfume I bought online. I was half speaking to myself really, but the owner leapt on me like an angry cat and told me ‘Well, it was probably old stock then!!’ I decided not to prolong the discussion by saying that many of us love ‘old stock’ because that may mean ‘pre-reformulation’!
Anyway, she was very rude and she has a well-deserved reputation for rudeness, but as you say, people in her position are very vulnerable to online commerce. I’m in Australia and the price difference between online and bricks and mortar, for perfume and many other commodities, is often quite substantial. People certainly do test in shops and then go home and order online. This lady has her testers lined up on a bench with a sign in front of it saying ‘Do not touch’. As an extra measure, she guards them by perching herself on a high stool in front of the bench. Amazing, especially because across the road are two department stores with very large fragrance floors, including a lot of niche stuff, where you can spritz to your heart’s content.
Anyone living in Melbourne knows the place I mean …
Hi Annemarie,
Your saleslady description reminded me of a dragon guarding her treasure. Don’t they know that if they engage a customer and help him/her to find a good fragrance, there’s more of a chance that the person will have a positive association and make a purchase in their store? There’s a small clothing boutique in my area that I love to go to because they’re really into helping me find stuff I can wear. Of course I can get clothing on line for a little cheaper, but it’s such a pleasure to go to that store.
Well, she does engage, but very aggressively. She’s the type to quiz you in detail about what you already wear, and will hand you testers on that basis, and only let you sniff a few before declaring that anything else would be ‘wasting the testers’. So if you go in there for a random browse, or with the attitude that ‘I’ll know what I want when I smell it’, you are toast. Honestly, I don’t know how she stays in business.
Your clothes shop sounds fun!
This sales tactic makes so little sense to me, yet every SA does it. If you wanted what you already wear you’d be wearing it and wouldn’t be in her store. How many opportunities does she miss to help customers find something new and different?
SOTD = SSS Tabac Aurea (nice!)
I went to Saks today to try the new Jo Malone Sugar & Spice colognes and ugh.. talk about.over-promising and under-delivering. Most were meh:
Lemon Tart – nothing special…watered down sweet lemon
Redcurrant and Cream – where’s the cream? and the redcurrant was fruit punch
Bitter Orange & Chocolate – I was the most exclted about this and tried this first. The chocolate smelled flat and the orange was actually quite strong
Elderflower and Gooseberry – it was so unremarkable I don’t remember what it smelled like
Ginger Biscuit – I liked this one and bought it. It is a nice blend of ginger and nutmeg. I need more perfumes with ginger!
The SA also mentioned a Sugar & Spice launch event on March 14th 6-8PM where they will be serving the inspiration desserts as each cologne is featured. I’m planning to be there as long as I am in the office that day.
I found the Bitter Orange & Chocolate remarkable for how artificial it smelled, like the artificial chocolate scent used to scent magazine pudding ads or something. Most of these smelled like the scent equivalent of artificial flavors. Remarkable! I secretly adore foody dessert perfumes but to me mostly these were not that.
But how nice that the Ginger Biscuit worked for you – that one was the only one that delivered in terms of verisimilitude but on me it turned … weird. I completely hope you get to go to that event. Seriously, that sounds really fun.
Lys, yes, the orange in Bitter Orange & Chocolate smelled artificial – it was too strong in a bad way.
I am looking forward to the event!
Disappointing to hear about the Bitter Orange and Chocolate…
Hi all! Long time lurker with a question.
I am a newbie to the perfumista world. I have been trying to put together a collection for myself and have found some scents that I love. But, I keep reading perfume blogs that rave about the wonderful Serge Lutens and Frederic Malle fragrances. So, I think I have been remiss in not smelling any of these. I was wondering if you all would recommend a Lutens or Malle (or several) for me to try based on the fragrances I like, or your own favorites. I really like everything I have, but I also love sampling! Here’s what I have that I love:
Amouage Lyric Woman
L’Artisan Seville a l’Aube
SSS To Dream
SSS Jour Ensoleille
Laura Mercier Minuit Enchantee
Prada Candy (didn’t think I would like it based on the name, but I do)
Ineke After My Own Heart
Recommendations? Thanks so much! I love reading all the comments and posts. I have learned so much from you all.
No secret I’m a Malle lover, but the two I’ve found FBW so far are L’eau d’Hiver (powdery heliotrope and clean warmth) and Lipstick Rose (quirky rose and violet). There are many more worth a sniff, though, as they all seem so well done as far as I’ve tested so far. Of course, for a small investment, there’s a lovely coffret of minis available! 😉
Serge is tougher to recommend. There’s a personality to his scents that seem to either be love ’em or scrub ’em for folks. I like but don’t love several of the spicier ones, like 5 o’clock au Gingimbre. I own Gris Clair (lavender), but I don’t reach for it often.
Both are fun and quality lines, in any case. Enjoy your explorations!
I second Fredric Malle L’Eau D’Hiver. For Serge Lutens, I suggest you try Douce Amere and Daim Blonde. Congratulations on your new interest and hope you will enjoy discovering new fragrances!
I agree. L’eau d’Hiver is totally FB worthy.
Thanks for the recommendations! I will put them on my list to try. Lipstick Rose sounds like a definite possibility, and I love the name.
LOL @ “small investment” – are you trying for an enabler pin?
Hahahaha! She’s wavering, I can tell!
No, no, not me! I overspent fourth quarter. More like a general enticement, that line.
NO IDEA what you’re talking about! Just providing some sound advice. That’s all! 😉
Looking at your favourites I would think you might enjoy Lutens’ Fleur d’Orange. Also, you don’t sound like a newbie, having some impressive niche loves, but I’v discovered that I like sampling the well known scents more, just because it allows me to follow on-line perfume discussions better!
Thats my tendency though – don’t know if it would work for you.
I agree with Marjorie Rose in recommending these lines – they seem to be cornerstones of the niche world, whether one personally likes them or not.
My favourite Malle so far (but I don’t own it) is Portrait of a Lady – the third in his rose triad. And, though I don’t ‘like’ that many Serge Lutens, I do adore Chergui: and I’m huffing through my bottle of it at an alarming speed.
Something else I have discovered is that if you google ‘favourite Lutens fragrance’ or similar terms you can find on-line polls about which perfume people most like from a range.
You might not find your favourite perfume this way, but its always interesting to know!
Merlin, I think that is part of it. I love my niche scents, but often find myself wondering about the big name scents because I read so much about them here and elsewhere. Although I haven’t found as many loves in the well known scents so far, expanding my testing of them would probably make it a lot easier to follow the discussions. 🙂
Thanks for your recommendations!
I find Lutens easier than Malle (!) and I don’t think Malle is as interesting in his materials as Lutens. That being said, IMO Lutens is more subject to smelling a certain way on certain people do to personal chemistry, hence love it or hate it. Among my likes are Filles en Aiguilles, Fourneau Noir and Boxeuses; if you like jasmines, A la nuit or better Sarrasins; Daim blond; Muscs Koublaï Khän for the right skin type; and the conventional Nuit de Cellophane.
With Candy and Minuit Enchantee (great bottle, great packaging!) on your list maybe even bold Musc Ravageur and Dans tes Bras in the Malles, along with L’Eau de Hiver? You should know Carnal Flower. Malles have great attention to the artistry of the composition. En Passant is a wonderful if short-lived lilac.
Hi Gator, just want to cosign with the numerous good recs above that L’Eau d’Hiver sounds like it could be a good match; I feel like it has a certain sophisticated sweetness in common with Seville a l’Aube and Candy.
Ineke After My Own Heart is one of my favorites too; if you like it, I think you should definitely try En Passant. After My Own Heart has heliotropin, which makes it sweeter (like L’Eau d’Hiver, actually), and En Passant does not, but the lilacs are incredible–heart-breaking, actually. Both En Passant and After My Own Heart made me cry.
FWIW, Surrender to Chance has an “Malle gateway” (or something like that) pack of three samples, and both En Passant and L’Eau d’Hiver are included (the third is Musc Ravageur). So if you don’t live near a Malle counter, you could try that. I’m not affiliated, just had great experiences ordering from them.
Oh, as for Serge though, I find those harder to recommend. I tend to like the weird ones, in a way that I totally would not have been able to guess from the notes, which makes me think that if you can get an opportunity to sniff them in person, that might be the best way, just to be able to see what leaps out at you. Alas ordering samples of the whole line is a rather pricey prospect! 🙂
I think that both lines worth taking your time to explore. My favourite Malle is L’Eau d’Hiver that’s already been mentioned more than once. Gorgeous and spookily realistic mimosa. Carnal Flower is another popular choice (tuberose with crushed green stems and coconut, you must like tuberose). It seems like you like florals and gourmands so Portrait of a Lady & Une Rose are probably safe bets. Lipstick Rose does exactly what it says on the tin, Une Fleur De Cassie and Le Parfum de Therese are slightly more off-beat florals.
Lutens is a huge line so it’s tricky to pick a starting point but I’m going to suggest Feminite du Bois since you like Lyric and it’s one of the less challenging/more wearable but still interesting compositions from the line.
Lastly, I’d say try no to approach them with a “will you be my next love?” mindset. Just take your time, keep an open mind and enjoy the process (sound like dating advice, doesn’t it? :D)
Hahaha laughing about the dating advice. Taking notes! But I think that’s definitely right. Lots of the Serges especially, the fun for me has been less in finding things I’d necessarily want to wear regularly, and just enjoying the surprise and artistry of the compositions. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot of perfume is much more like a film than a photograph or painting–you can get a great deal out of watching it unfold once or just a few times, you don’t necessarily need to have it hanging on your wall to look at every day (even if you can afford to do so!)
SL Bas de Soie is pretty, my only buy in the line so far. I hear hear your about “should” like, or try the line…
Sampled Barr yesterday and it had the rather strange effect of smelling like lotion on me (notes milk, oatmeal, vanilla and vetiver if I remember correctly). Of course they also make a lotion and soap but I’m not sure I’ve ever tested something that made me think “lotion” when I sprayed it on. Kind of like it actually.
Contemplating running to Saks for a small bottle of Marni. Sounds perfect. Has anyone else tried it?
And Happy Birthday, Lucas!
I’ve tried Marni and love it. I bought the little ugly doll and it came with the travel spray 🙂 It reminds me a lot of FM Portrait of a Lady but in an understated sort of way. It starts stewed fruity green and then comes spicy-woody-rose-incense with the stewed fruit peeking through. It is a light well-rounded fragrance although it has medium longevity on me (~ 4 hours). I am a considering a FB — the bottle is really cute too.
The doll is creeptastic, oddly compelling. Bottle looks lovely. Thanks, and thanks to Lys as well. I will head to Saks later.
Thumbs up on Marni.
Gosh I really love it, which is saying something as usually incense will stop me dead in my tracks. It’s so good in fact that it’s become kind of a quandary! I reeeeeally would prefer not to smell even mildly like church, but I find this so interesting and incredibly likable (how did they make a juicy rose?!) that my sample is rapidly disappearing. Seeming like I will probably have to buy some.
Marni is both wearable and tremendously enjoyable. Thumbs up from me too.
Yes! Marni is great. I had some time after work last week and went into the Saks here to sniff things. I have to say that the sales ladies in the perfume department at Saks are the nicest, sweetest women. I’ve never had a bad experience there. Marni was one of the few perfumes that I really liked. And the little doll is really wierd and fun. I’m sure it will become a collectable.
SOTD PG Indochine from a sample the lovely folks at Osswald gave me. It reminds me of a really good cappuccino – great for a cold winter Saturday.
Almost every day this week, I’ve worn Cartier Le Baiser du Dragon and am finally sure I want to get a FB. I bought a small sample of this last year and hated it — a real scrubber! Oh why didn’t I trust Luca Turin’s opinion? (Well, because L.T. and I disagree very much about a number of fragrances)
Recently, I’ve been re-testing many of my saved samples and decided to try this again, convinced I’d be sorry. Instead of hating it, I fell in love. I thought maybe this was a one-off, something to do with my mood or what I’d eaten. But no, after a whole week, I’m as much in love as ever! It’s the pure perfume.
Isn’t it fun and surprising how ones read on a fragrance can change? It’s moments like that which make me stingy to use up samples or get rid of them, even if I don’t like them.
I don’t think I have ever gone from hate to love with a perfume, although that may be largely because I tend not to retest things I hated. I have, however, gone from meh to head-over-heels in love, and it seems that it often does have to do with mood or time of year. I didn’t care much for Champagne de Bois in the summer, but I love it in chilly weather. Recently, I retested DSH Jitterbug, which I had been lukewarm on the first time, and loved it so much I had to get a small bottle. Marjorie Rose–I was the same way with samples for quite a while, but I finally decided I just had too many of them, and some of them were evaporating out of the vials. I finally gave away quite a few unloved samples in the last couple of swaps. I will give something another try if I am unsure or if I think that I might like it better in different weather or something, but I have decided that if I am sure I don’t like it, I shouldn’t keep it unless it is something I want to have on hand for reference.
I gave away my sample of Champagne de Bois because I did not like it when I first tried it and this after waiting so long for it to become available. I also got a lot of complaints from household members (they’re very opinionated and this got a special mention of yuck!).
Come to think of it, I tried it when the weather was warm. The next time I place an order, I’ll include another sample of that as a request.
It’s funny how that can happen! I remember when I first tried Vetiver Tonka, I thought it smelled awful on me, like wet wool in the worst way. But I still had my sample, and for some reason I tried it again like 3 years later — and, total magic! It still remains in my top 5 scents. Usually, when I go back and re-try samples that didn’t work for me, I still don’t like them. But there’s that rare occasion when some mysterious shift occurs!
Hi all,
Can anyone recommend shops for perfume shopping in bruges?
Or chocolates, pastries?
FYI, there is an article in the New York Times Style and Fashion section on Jessica Chastain and YSL Manifesto entitled “Sweet Smell of Success”:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/fashion/jessica-chastains-sweet-smell-of-success.html?hpw
Robin posted the Manifesto video spot “The Game is On” with Ms. Chastain a few months ago:
https://nstperfume.com/2012/09/12/the-game-is-on/
Is Chanel No 5 Eau Premiere discontinued? While I was never able to get close to its big sister, I remember liking this “lighter” version. Wanted to refresh my scent memories of it, but I don’t see it in the stores anymore (and I looked in multiple countries, several retailers) don’t recall it being a limited edition, maybe it didn’t sell well?
You can still buy it from the Chanel website.
Found it in my local (Memphis TN) Sephora, and it’s on their website, too. Macy’s website has it as well.
Does anyone know if the Chanel boutiques have a standard policy regarding testing fragrances or even supplying samples? About 1 1/2 years ago, I visited the Chanel Boutique in Amsterdam. The saleswoman was an extremely snooty Japanese/French woman and reluctantly let me try some fragrance on my wrists and inner elbows after she sprayed some of those long paper strips (I can’t think what they’re called, if there’s a name for them). I said I’d have to go away for a half-hour or so to see how the fragrance develops, and she looked at me as if I’d said a rude word. I didn’t get to return, but was pretty sure I’d be buying the 31 Rue Cambon someday. I wish I had asked for some samples, but doubt I would have been successful. I’m wondering if I can get some when I buy the RC. I’m just not yet certain if I might not like one of the other Exclusiefs more. Does anyone have experience with samples directly from the boutiques?
This makes me think of when my good friend visited the Santa Maria Novella shop in London and bought me some soap and hand cream there. They said they never give or even sell samples of their scents. I was hoping to get some samples directly that way without having to order from one of the sample suppliers.
I’ve always found them pretty accommodating with LE samples. The local concession have never said no to me and I’ve even called a boutique in London once and they happily posted a couple to me.
I guess it might depend on how snooty the SAs at your local store are (they are mostly very nice here) and how easily intimidated you are (I’m shameless), but, really, I’d recommend just having a friendly chat with them and asking nicely.
Thanks for your input, Abyss. I am not easily (if ever) intimidated. Perhaps I had the misfortune to run into the snootiest assistant, or she was having an off-day (no excuse for her behavior). I’ll try again when I can get over there.
I have not found the Chanel Boutiques to be generous with samples, even if you buy (and even less so if the SA senses that time spent will not result in a sale). You have to ask and ask and ask and the reluctance shows.
Contrary to popular beiief, “free” samples do cost the fragrance companies something. Unfortunately, counters do not receive an infinite supply which may account for not so generously giving them out. A local dept. store used to put “Yes, I can!” on employee badges. Obviously this could not be observed 100% of the time but it made for the right attitude like the old “The customer is always right!” Also because some companies supply very little else in the way of gifts, SA’s tend to save what few samples they get for those who make a purchase. I think customers whom the SA can read as sincere should be given a sample so that they can live with the fragrance and then return to purchase—hopefully.
Celestia – free is really not free as you said. The Chanel Boutique I mentioned above was actually the Chanel store on 57th and 5th – there was absolutely zero excuse, specially AFTER I purchased 2 Les Exclusifs bottles.
Yikes how decidedly unfun. As with Abyss my experience has been better, but I’ve only been into their boutiques in the States, and generally I do find that U.S. retail shopping generally tends to be a lot more laidback than in Europe (can’t speak to perfume in particular; sadly I only got into perfume after I moved back here, what a waste!)
In case it can be helpful though–I do find Chanel SAs become more responsive when I show I know some things about the fragrances. Sometimes I’ll even ask dummy questions I already know the answer to, just to show I’m in the loop (“So I know this comes in x,y,z sizes; is it the same for this other one?”) They’ve seemed psyched to talk to someone who’s genuinely interested, and for that matter often I know more about the fragrances than they do, which can be useful. Once I sold a bottle of 28 La Pausa to a dude who was there buying his mom a purse for Christmas. Hahaha.
I am FINALLY over my two-week-long cold and have a whole backlog of samples to test — six from Histoires de Parfum, a couple of SSS-es, Chanel 1932 (though maybe I don’t need to be very excited about that one), and a few different gardenias. I am determined to find a gardenia to love, but with my luck it’ll end up being the vintage Tuvache Jungle Gardenia parfum that I am sampling for, ahem, educational purposes.
I think SSS Rose Volupté is growing on me, despite rose being a note that I don’t usually enjoy. I know I’ll be ordering a small bottle of Nostalgie when my sample runs out, but I might have to throw in a travel spray of Rose Volupté, too.
Glad you’re feeling better! I owe you an email…
What’s the best “doll head accord” perfume out there? I confess I might not actually want to wear such a thing, but would be curious to at least try it…
To me? Definitely..Jlo Glow, I get total doll head on this!
Ah yes, the brand spanking new My Little Pony accord. Plasticky, sweet and entirely pleasent. I get this from Elizabeth Taylor’s Black Pearl when I first spray it on. I think I smell this accord as well, in one of the Lolita Lempicka flankers, but I do not recall which one. I think my nose perceives leather notes strangely. Botega Veneta smelled like St Joseph’s Aspirin for Children, after trying it several different times!
Yesterday I picked up a 3/4 full bottle of Kenzo Flower EDP in a thrift shop. Even at $12 this was a risk, because when I tried Flower a few years ago if from a tester, the musks (or something) turned very nasty, reminding me of cold bacon fat (!). Maybe that was the EDT, because this time, with the EDP, I don’t get the same effect, thankfully. The musks do take a sharp turn about midway in the development, but they are not awful at all. I’m loving the powdery but weightless rose-violet accord.
But has anyone else had weird experiences with Flower (the original)? Reviews are very mixed. Despite its popularity, some people HATE it.
I hated it at first but then tried it again about a year later and loved it. I actually ended up buying a bottle. It didn’t last long on me so I was very generous with the spritzing and I blew through that bottle in no time. I think in order to like it you have to like powdery scents. The fruit-chouli crowd might have a tough time with it.
That’s interesting – the lasting power on me is moderately good, but no more than that. And yet I’ve seen other people remark that they easily get a day out of NR4H. Again, maybe it depends on how your scent-brain perceives the musks?
You are right about the powder.
I love it. It’s a polarizing scent for sure, but to me it’s so comforting. it’s like a hug from a dear person wearing a thick and soft whool sweater.
Yes, I’m finding that a spritz or two under my clothes is like carrying my own personal comforter around. My $12 investment is paying off!
It is Estonia’s Independence Day today and as our President has invited my boyfriend to the celebrations, I’ll be going, too. As the whole thing is televised and everyone will be commenting on the appearance of the guests, there is a bit of pressure (although I have tried hard to act cool…). Cue lots of fussing over the dress, shoes, and, of course, the scent. In the end, the scent part was easy – as my dress is pale lilac and it’s a beautiful, frosty winter day, I plan to wear Arquiste Aleksandr. To me, it smells like violets in the snow and the sillage is delicate enough for such a huge event.
You look and smell gorgeous! Enjoy your big day.
I hope you have a good time! I don’t know this Arquiste but I am sure you smell really good!
Have a wonderful day, Annikky!
I have a personal favor to ask of you. I’m a writer, and want to participate in a special short story contest that involves the Estonian language. Can you possibly help me? If so, please write to me privately at Jonmarie at Stabbert dot com
That’s cool! Tell us the experience on the next LWP!!!!! 🙂
Thank you for the support, everybody! I can already report that I am alive and well, more details to follow next weekend:)
And Jonette, I will drop you an email – if there is anything I can do, I will of course help.
Thank you so much, Annikky. I look forward to receiving your email.
Have a good week, everybody!