The days are marching by...welcome to October! What fragrance are you wearing?
I've wearing Hermès Kelly Calèche Eau de Toilette layered with Cuir d'Ange. They do play nicely together. Later I'll try Cuir d'Ange with the Kelly Calèche Eau de Parfum.
Reminder: this Friday, 3 October, is Purgatory Basket Friday...find a sample you haven't been able to make up your mind about, give it a second chance. The following Friday, 10/10, wear a fragrance you discovered via a blog or other online review, and link to the review if you can. Bonus points for not linking to a review on Now Smell This, since everyone commenting here already knows about Now Smell This — hopefully this will help all of us expand our perfume reading!
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2014, where I'll try to always have the next six or seven weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: shown is the Le Flaneur d'Hermes "unisex leisure bicycle in Spanish white carbon", $11,300.
I’m wearing Rosa Sur Reuse by Liz Zorn, such an unusual spicy rose, doesn’t smell like any other perfume I’ve ever tried. Oddly, there’s something in here that reminds me of tamales. Weird but kind of addictive.
There is some sort of accord in Tauer’s Une Rose Chypree that always makes me think of Mexican food, and it’s not cumin. I don’t know what it is!
Interesting! I’ve never noticed that, will look for it the next time I wear it. I know there is cinnamon in URC so that’s probably involved.
Now I’m hungry. It’s been ages since I’ve had a really good tamale.
I pretty much only eat them when I’m in my home town (El Paso), because they usually don’t taste right to me anywhere else.
Tamales! Funny.
I have noticed before that URC and Rosa sur Reuse have something in common (beyond the rose), though I don’t know what it is exactly.
Now that I think of it they do have overlap, I just never noticed because the cinnamon is so much more prominent in RSR. I’m thinking it’s the combination of rose, cinnamon, and the amber-meets-chypre base.
Hi! My sotd is Traversee du Bosphore for the second day in a row, which I rarely do, but it smelled so good yesterday that I wanted to repeat the process 🙂
Nice!
It’s popularity in the past few days is making me need to try this…
It’s kind of an oddball but nice for early fall. I don’t know why but leather scents seem just right for cool weather,to me, anyway.
I’m definitely putting TdB on today – it’ss perfect for early fall!
You smell great! I wore TdB a couple of days ago, but it’s supposed to be nearly 100F here for the next few days. Fall frags are going back in their corner (sigh).
I am still dipping into the purgatory basket. Today I am wearing Ormond Jayne Orris Noir EdP. It is an over-priced yawner on me. I wish I got the dark incense that I have read about in some reviews. It smells like a slightly niched up recent Aqua Allegoria. It isn’t terrible, but it does smell kind of cheap and dull.
I did not like that one either.
I love Orris Noir, but it makes me break out in a poison-ivy-like rash wherever it lands … so sad.
I’m wearing Prada Amber with Stella – they go well together and hopefully won’t offend anyone in the office.
Nice combo!
I love Kelly Caleche! The EDP bottle was an early Perfumista purchase. I remember thinking just how pretty and ladylike it smelled.
I’m in Chanel #19 EDP today. For strength and power. At the moment, I am feeling sad and powerless against the forces against me, so this is a reminder that it’s all really about attitude. I’m practicing being strong and positive so that I will become strong and positive. Positive Scentittude!
I “rediscovered” my EDP bottle over the weekend as I was reorganizing my perfumes. It was hiding in a corner. The EDP is softer and rosier than the vintage EDT I’ve been wearing all spring & summer. Good stuff!
I love #19. As soon as I finish purgatory week, I am digging out my decant.
Hi CM
My heart goes out to you. Here’s a mantra: Today I want to feel how I feel the moment before opening a brand new full bottle purchase of an exquisitey lovely perfume.
Nice!
No 19 is definitely a power fragrance. Best wishes with your troubles.
I’m with you on loving both No. 19 and the Kelly Caleche (I *only* like the edp in that one – the edt is too vegetal, not floral enough for me). Hang in there.
So sorry you’re feeling that way…hope things are better soon.
Hope you feel better soon. Isn’t it great to have scents to help us modulate our moods?
Truly.
Thanks everyone for the positive energy! The thing I was dreading this morning turned out to be ok. So many things can be “fixed” by positive energy. And, of course, a good perfume helps 🙂
That is one beautiful bike!
I’m in Cuir de Russie EDT today.
You smell divine, dear.
Thank you, I think so too 😀
It is cool, but gosh. I’d be afraid to get mud on it.
FYI, Rustoleum makes a spray that appears to work like Teflon on bikes and other sports equipment. 😉
Bolstered by Kafkaesque’s confession that Roberto Cavalli is her trashy secret love, I have finally admitted to myself that I secretly love it too. Since it’s release everytime I walk by it I spray a card to take with me, simultaneously sticking my nose up at the super trashiness of the whole Cavalli aesthetic.
So. Given a $100 voucher, a part of it got spent today on a little 30ml/1oz bottle and I’ve sprayed copious amounts all over me. And as I dance around the house singing Fireball by Pitbull coz it’s so much FUN (and its stuck in my head really), wearing this perfume is also so much trashy fun! 😀
Have you tried Roberto Cavalli Oro? Definitely the tackiest bottle in my collection, but it’s a nice spicy oriental with citrus, kind of in the Theorema mold (by Maurice Roucel).
I adore RC Oro. It’s the first thing I’ve found that’s perfectly “me” since Opium (not the current one). I haven’t worn an animal print since high school, though.
I’ll have to try this one, and Oro too! There are several trashy perfumes I love (Rumba comes immediately to mind).
That sounds like a fun idea for theme Fridays…trashy secret loves! I think mine right now might be Gucci Rush.
Balenciaga or Ted Lapidus?
I am wearing Mary Greenwell Plum today. It’s raining here today, and somehow I always like that one when the weather is cool and damp.
Mmm, Plum.
Wearing EM Escentric 02 today. Lovely and fizzy.
I rarely wear the same scent two days in a row (ADD? lol), but I enjoyed Organza so much yesterday that I did a redux today. Organza, ‘part deux’.
Organza, part deux sounds like a modern ballet 🙂
I’m all over the place today. I just couldn’t decide what I wanted – warm, cozy, calming, rich, warm, different, whatever. I have Prada L’Eau Ambre on my wrists, which I really like, but eventually it bores me, and Ungaro Diva on my neck. I found a mini bottle of Diva in my drawer that I completely forgot I have. Diva reminds me a lot of Coco edp, which I never noticed before. Does anyone know if the Diva you can get now is similar to how it was?
I have a mini of what I assume is the current Diva, and it has a certain thinness to it, something lacking in the base, that I suspect is new. (I don’t remember the original, unfortunately.) It’s pleasant, but it didn’t remind me of Coco.
I’m wearing Heure Exquise, both the dry oil and the EDP. I do smell nice even though I say so myself.
I might actually wear Kelly tomorrow.
The dry body oil is just heavenly! It’s my favorite of the HE’s.
It is lovely, such a shame they stopped making it.
I got lucky – I stocked up when it was still cheap at the discounters. I just had a feeling that it wasn’t long for this world. Thankfully the scent has not diminished in my open bottle. I got a small 5 ml roller ball decant that I made which I carry around in my purse.
I bought mine from an American discounter years ago. It was still quite cheap then. I recently checked on ebay and bottles are sold for over 100 $. The fragrance in my bottle is still perfect, very close to my edp which is kept in the fridge.
Penhaligon’s Peoneve, providing a lovely dose of sunshine without falling flat on a rainy day. What is this even doing in purgatory? It’s beautiful, I’d get a ton of wear out of it and I bet I could hunt it down at a steep discount.
I’m taking another Fragrance Republic sample for a spin, this time 04 and it really is nice.
04 is by Amélie Bourgeois and it’s notes are listed as – Yellow Italian Mandarin, Sweet Orange, Jasmine, Fleur de cassie, Mimosa Maroc, Magnolia, Sesame, Tonka Bean, White Musks
Words that come to mind to describe the wafts I’m getting of it are soft though tart, feminine, compelling. Really an interesting mandarin in this one. May be fbw
True to yesterday’s post, I am wearing Knot, the new release from Bottega Veneta. It is my fourth time and I usually take a long time to form an opinion, but for now here goes.
The initial spray made me think “bride fragrance” and I could absolutely see the new Mrs Clooney wearing this at her wedding, despite the fact that Bpttega selected a blonde young model as the face of Knot. The fragrance is elegant, well-behaved and festive, with sexy undertones but just undertones. The first Bottega is practically raunchy in comparison. There is fresh orange and neroli and well-blended white flowers. Take Narciso Rodriguez Essence, remove the urban metallic note and add a drop of Seville a L’Aube and you have the head notes nailed.
The heart is quite Givenchy-like, Amarige to be exact. There is a definite nod at Amarige , possibly Amarige Mariage. Oh well, if you’re tying the Knot, it figures.
After the first hour it remains unchanged, the orange and blossoms enlivened by a bit of clean musk and possibly tonka. Sillage is moderate but it is a tenacious, shower-resistant fragrance.
My verdict: excellent choice for a posh office and /or a bride in and over her mid-30’s.
Thanks for the review! I will have to give it a try when I stop by Nordstrom to pick up a birthday present for my brother’s beaux.
“The first Bottega is practically raunchy in comparison.” Yep.
Great review!
Great review. I dont’t work in a posh office and am far from being a bride, but am still anxious to try this! I’ve sampled the original BV and am planning to give it another try on Friday. Perhaps Knot is the way to go for me.
The BV Eau Legère is really nice, too. It works better for me than the original. Knot hasn’t made it to my local mall yet–I’m worried it’ll be one of those things my Nordstrom just never gets.
Unfortunately I got a distinct and unpleasant note of calone, or something like it, I Knot’s mid-phase. Can’t do it! I’m sticking with the original release, which as you suggest, is much sexier.
I’m with you in team ‘nuh’. I find it boring. No depth, no character. The first 3 minutes are nice then it’s just bland.
And it’s not like we lack good orange blossom fragrances!
If it doesn’t show up near me, I will just have to assume I wouldn’t like it either. Thank you both!
Wearing by Killian Rose Oud today to celebrate my anniversary. Yesterday I ordered the Andy Tauer Flash Rose (or Rose Flash?) only to find out that the stock here in the US had already sold out, so I’ll have to wait for more to be shipped from Switzerland. Wow, that was fast! After missing out on PHI, I knew I would have to move fast, but I didn’t expect to have to move that fast. I guess I should have ordered as soon as I got the email – I know I love whatever Andy does with rose.
Happy Anniversary! And hopefully the new AT rose will be available again in the future.
It is, I believe, still available. It just will take longer to receive, since it will be shipped from Switzerland, rather than from wherever they keep the US stock. But I don’t know how much longer the Swiss stock will be around, given the quick sell-out of US stock.
Okay, I just checked and the scent will be shipping October 10th. So not too long to wait, right? But again, I don’t know how much they have left.
Wow, that WAS fast!
Ok then, I guess I can’t dither around about deciding to get this.
Happy anniversary!
Happy anniversary!
I ordered Rose flash quickly too and still missed the first US shipment. He has to be stressed to the max monitoring how many he has left and scrambling to ship another load to the US.
Safran Troublant, which has been one of my default scents this fall.
Me too, Squirrely. I’ve gone through several decants of this, so it may be time for a FB!
I am wearing Kenzo, Jungle The Elephant. It is a rather peculiar fragrance. It has very beautiful base but it smells as though that beautiful base was layered with the recipe for Red Hot Ball candies.
I would be curious to know if anyone else has an opinion on this scent.
I love Jungle Elephant, top notes and all. Its so rich and warm. I do see the Red Hot connection, though, because of all the spices.
I love Kenzo Jungle Elephant, though I don’t know how the Red Hot Ball candies smell. To me, this is the scent of the 90s! It’s all spice and exotic fruit, at least how I then imagined it to be. True, maybe it’s a bit tacky in the beginningm, but the base is beautiful and long lasting. I only have a mni bottle of this and never really wear Jungle Elephant for the whoel day. But I love to take it out and smell it, it just takes me back to when I first smelled it in the shop – it was just impossibly fashionable and I couldn’t afford it!
I did not try it previous to last week, but both Mr. S and I got “holiday candle” from the decant we sampled.
Tippie – impossibly fashionable and unaffordable is a decadent mix!
Ha Dilana! I am wearing Elephant today too. Just a tiny half spray under the shirt is more than enough. It’s kind of rainy and drab today and I just spent 90 minutes in the chair getting a broken tooth fixed, so I wanted to warm up a little with The elephant. The scent reminds me of a Christmas pudding with stewed plums on it. Plus vanilla. With a little Aretha playing in the background. Say wouldn’t it be nice if the dentist had a treasure chest full of perfume minis to choose from as a reward for being good?
MUCH better than a lollipop, which always had the subtext of, “Come back soon!”
hahaha
I love Jungle L’Elephant during cold weather. It always seems too much of a good thing when it’s warm outside. I usually only wear mine December – February, since I live in East Texas where the weather is usually quite warm 9 months of the year. I love the spicy, fruity fragrance of Jungle L’Elephant. I wish I could get hold of Jungle L’Tigre. I’ve always wondered how they were different.
I have a sample of Tigre kindly sent to me to try, and they quite different. Tigre is nice, but it’s a floriental and isn’t as distinctive as Elephant. It’s a pity they d/c’d it, but if one had to go I’m glad it was that one.
I also have Jungle and also find it a peculiar, strange, odd scent. Similar to several posts above, I only wear a tiny half spray only when the weather is cold and it’s not one I want to wear for the whole day either. Although it’s the type of scent I usually enjoy, there’s a note in it I find disconcerting, even more so because I can’t isolate what that note is. Will have to think more about this next time I pull it out, which won’t be for awhile – I’m not ready for cold weather yet!
Love Elephant! Yes it’s spices and prune, but they have no foodie connotations to me.
I’m taking out vintage Guerlain Parure edt today. Bizarrely, it reminds me of Roja Dove Diaghilev, though nowhere nearly as potent. Of course, I only tried Diaghilev in the shop from a tester… But then I had to go and root through all my old stuff to find what it reminded me of, it’s hovering between Parure, Dioressence, Le Dix and Arpege. I know these are nothing like each other, but I can’t put my finger on the common note that unites them. And I don’t find the Diaghilev is like Mitsouko at all. Maybe my Mitsoukos are all too old now…
I tested Diaghilev in the original EdP (limited edition, not the extrait that Roja is selling now) and was surprised to smell my middle school in it. So I’m sitting there and going, “Middle school? WTH? I have no idea what exactl– oh. Oh yeah. We had choir class on the auditorium stage.” And on the stage was, yes, a velvet stage curtain. Freaky.
I remember Diaghilev as being an aldehydic chypre, so I wonder if the aldehydes are your connecting thread. I haven’t smelled Dioressence, but I know the other three you mention have them.
Oh! I had one of those moments recently! Damn I wish I remember what perfume it was (maybe Wit?) that reminded me of one of my kindy teachers from 1982. I wonder what she wore to remind me of her?
Aldehydic chypre, maybe that’s it! I have to swot up on my perfume jargon, otherwise I’ll end up just waving my hand uncertainly in the air, saying “it’s like that other thing, you know, but not quite”.
You know what else smells of school? Shalimar! All the teachers wore it.
Another day, another Ormonde Jayne discovery set adventure.
Today it’s Tiare – which is gorgeous – and Osmanthus, which seems quite nice too.
Also a bit of my stand by, VC&A Bois d’Iris on my upper arm.
Smelling up the neighborhood over here.
Have a lovely day dears!
Has anyone else had longevity and projection problems with these?
More and more, I know I have scent-eater skin. Poopies.
Osmanthus is pretty short-lived on me too, but Tiare does a bit better.
All of them seem to have relatively short skin life-spans on me, but maybe it’s just the day…
Poopies indeed 🙁 Ah, well, there are other lines to fall in love with, no?
Oh I love the line – do not doubt it. I just wish it lasted longer….
Most OJs disappear on contact with my skin. Exceptions are Woman, Orris Noire, Taif and Tolu. And none of those are powerhouses.
Several others have had the same problem. Just so you know you are not alone, lol!
I’m glad it’s not just me!
I’ll second this. I think a good spray of Tolu lasts nearly 24 hours!
I’ve never had longevity issues with any of the OJ scents but then I always spray on fabric.
Absolutely adore Tiare and also like Woman, Tolu and Frangipani.
I’ll do this next time then – thanks!
It is cold, windy and rainy today so I’m wearing Tobacco Oud by Killian. Cozy, warm and just for me as I hunker down in my office.
And yesterday I went wild and crazy and ordered Ladyboy and Imogene Rose solid frags from Lush! What as I thinking? LOL. Oh well, they were fairly cheap and if I don’t like they will go to my niece.
Guerlain Spiriteuse Double Vanille, going through my decant much too quickly for such a spendy, discontinued scent.
Is it discontinued? May as well cross it off my list. If Guerlain will just keep discontinuing all their extra-pricey perfumes that sound irresistible, my little budget will be grateful.
No, I just called the Guerlain boutique in Vegas and it is NOT being discontinued. Myrrhe et Delires will be discontinued at the end of this year but not Spiritueuse Double Vanille.
Right now, I am going commando but thinking of no 5 in edt or Shalimar.
Can’t lose with those two!
SOTD is Cristalle by Chanel. Since Fall is in the air, it seemed appropriate to wear today. It is a crisp scent that smells like an autumn day!
You smell divine. 🙂
SOTD is Encre Noire (Lalique). The first day of October seems like a fine day to wear such a beautiful smoky vetiver. Cheers! 🙂
Sign me up for that $11K Hermes bike! Awesome! What a ride that must be.
Today I’m wearing Sous le toit de Paris in large amounts and loving it!
Like Dilana, today I’m wearing Kenzo Jungle L’elephant. I used a tiny amount and it’s still going strong, seems to get fruitier and cinnamonier with time and body heat. So cozy on a rainy day.
last night before bed I put on some Jovoy Ambre Premier from a sample and this morning woke up with “what’s that gorgeous smell” sensation. The dry down is very rosy and patchy on me. I ‘d love to get some but STC and pc don’t have it. I’d trade something great for a little more of JAP in the swap meet (making a note).
Sajini, The Perfume Shoppe (add a dot com) carries the Jovoy line including Ambre Premier and they do a “decant on demand” service — 3 x 3.3 ml sprays or a travelo style 4ml spray. I have no affiliation with them, just happy to enable 😉
Cleaning up some of my mom’s things, dropped a sample of Jour d’Hermes on the bathroom floor and it smashed into a million shards.
So that is now all of our SOTD 😳 😕
Ah – that’s awful. Well, your bathroom smells nice now!
Good for the bathroom, I noticed when vacuuming. I have never liked it on me, but it would make a delightful (expensive) bathroom cleaner.
For as much as we joke about laundry musks, I actually wish they made cleaner that smells like No 19 Poudre!
Today I’m layering more Musc Nomade, only it’s under a spray of Pacifica French Lilac. It works really well but when I was putting on the French Lilac, it made me think of White Shoulders. I haven’t smelled that one since the mid 90’s when one of my best friends used to wear it. Now I have to go research and see if it’s worth tracking down or if it’s been ruined beyond all recognition. Fingers crossed since I really want to wear some now. 😉
They’ve messed with it.
At least, it’s very little like the White Shoulders I remember smelling in the drugstore when I was a kid in the 70s. Maybe you could hit eBay to look – it was an inexpensive fragrance, and usually those are easy to find in vintage.
Oh, I love the old White Shoulders!
Hi Mals. You know, I figured they might have though I never got to try the 70’s version and bet it was amazing. I’d be happy with the mid 90’s stuff if the 70’s is hard to come by, though I don’t know what the box looked like when my friend wore it and don’t remember whether the bottle was frosted or clear… Do you have any tips or suggestions on tracking down various vintages?
AnnS, I leaned more toward chypres and orientals when my friend wore White Shoulders, so to me she always smelled so grand and old-fashioned in the best way. I’m a Yankee and haven’t been down South very much, but if Southern gardens had a romantasized smell that exists only in my mind, White Shoulders would be it. 🙂
I’ve gotten fairly older vintages of White Shoulders off eBay (gold foil label) fairly cheaply and they’re great. I usually go with the assumption that if it is in a splash bottle or claims to be cologne strength, that I’m dealing with vintage
My SOTD is also Kelly Caleche EDT completely influenced by Robin’s post yesterday. I discovered it when still a lurker on NST and it was the fragrance that sent me down my (tiny) rabbit hole. I wore it exclusively for a time am working on my second bottle. Although I rarely wore it last year it has been fun to rediscover.
Yes…I don’t wear it enough these days either! I do need to go try the Extrait.
I´m wearing TF Shangai Lilly layered with Serge Noire. The Lutens nicely amplifies the spiciness of the TF, but I can´t say this is an entirely office friendly combo, lol!
Shanghai Lily goes through a 20-minute period of serious skank on me before getting comfortable again.
I liked Shanghai Lily when I tried it, not enough to want to pay that price though. Serge Noir, I’ve so been on the fence about. The combination sounds like something else. Are there perfume rules in Brazil?
Ran late today so put on Bulgari Black again. Over an hour of the rubber topnote, again…
Lovely and sunny though autumny here in Stockholm. I chose Miss Dior, which just might be my favourite perfume classic. I don’t get along with the Chanels and am content to admire many classic Guerlains from a distance, but Miss Dior just snuggles up beside me saying: You and me.
It is lovely! I could never figure out why they keep assigning its name to newer incarnations that have nothing to do with the original.
Wearing Rochas Alchimie, which is perfect on a wet, grey day. Feels just like wrapping up in a cozy blanket.
Alchimie is fantastic! I’m on my second bottle, although to me it is a spring fragrance.
Wearing PG Isparta from a sample today. This really could have been a candidate for Friday. I want to like it, but there is a metallic thing in there that is kind of bugging me. Pretty sure I’m not rushing out to buy a bottle at any rate.
SOTD is Hedonist by Viktoria Minya from a sample. Although I love jasmine, I don’t love this jasmine. Too, too heavily sweet–almost syrupy. I’m glad I tried it but I won’t be wanting any more.
I have only smelled it from a vial, not on skin or even on paper, but I immediately knew it wasn’t for me. I like sweet, but it was sweet in the wrong way somehow.
I think this will be my purgatory scent for Friday. Still haven’t figured it out, but I think it’s too sweet for me, and I think the peach is to blame. I know it also has honey, but I usually get along well with that.
I love this rich honey laced scent. Drained a decant and bought the bottle… in summer… in TX. 🙂 I get apricot/peach opening drenched in honey. I can almost hear the bees circling every time I spray. It IS sweet and heavy, but it works for me.
I love the peach but it is really syrupy and I agree that it wears well in the TX summer. I’m still a bit undecided about it too because the peach makes me all swoony, then the honey/jasmine swings by and claws at my throat – and I second guess my application, then the bliss of the drydown.
Happy October to everyone! Enjoying a bright, sunshiney beautiful fall day here in Vanille Fleurie de Tahiti (Maison de la Vanille), a sweet almost-marshmallowy vanilla I enjoy in the cooler weather. Although incense is listed as a note, I have never, ever smelled this note before wearing it today yet I’ve probably worn this fragrance a dozen times in the past couple of years since it was gifted to me, how strange is that? But I’m enjoying this new pleasure immensely!
I’m wearing Le Temps d’Une Fete today and revelling in it!
Good stuff.
Rose Ikebana. My split just arrived, and I couldn’t wait to try it. I love rhubarb, and I’m getting a lot of tart fruit from this one.
Thank you, Hajusuuri!
Wow, that was quick! The pleasure was all mine…I have to break out my Vetiver Tonka which was the most popular scent in the split.
I’m so glad I got the sample of VT. It is large enough to last me awhile, too!
I’m wearing Alien today and the drydown seems a bit different unless it is my imagination.
After getting needled, I wandered off in search of new smells and randomly tried a couple of Hilde Soliani scents. Crema di Latte was peculiar– am not sure why I found smelling like hot, scalded and slightly caramelized milk disquieting but I did. Am now home and can put on something better– IRIS GANACHE!!! (One of the best scents ever)
You smell good, goddess!
SOTD = Ann Gerard Rose Cut
I am a week early for the wear something you discovered via a blog…well, because I discovered many via blogs. I might be able to keep going for a month or more but we’ll stick to 2 weeks (next week I may not be able to post links unless I figure out how to do it on my iPhone).
Anyway, today’s SOTD is courtesy of our very own Lucas’ review. I re-read my comment and it was indeed instant lemming. After reading the review, I immediately requested my favorite basenotes splitter to please please offer a bottle and he did. Since I got more than half the volume of the FB, I got to keep the beautiful bottle. Here’s Lucas’ review at Chemist in the Bottle:
http://chemistinthebottle.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/ann-gerard-rose-cut/