Happy Valentine's Day! Four questions — as always, answer as many or as few as you like.
1. Name one fragrance to which you'd like to say "be mine".
2. Name a fragrance you think would make a perfect Valentine's Day present for your perfect (real or imagined) Valentine.
3. Name a fragrance that says "I'm single and perfectly happy about it, thank you".
4. Tell us about the last great chocolate you ate!
Note: top image is { heart } [cropped] by ^@^ina (Irina Patrascu Gheorghita ) at flickr; some rights reserved.
1. M. Micallef Rose Extreme or Creed FdTRB.
2. Divine L’homme Infini (he’s wearing it today).
3. The original Private Collection.
4. Sander’s Chocolate Caramel Bar (local brand).
Happy Valentine’s Day all!
Nice pick for #3! Even the name fits.
Ha!!
Ooh, great pick for #2!
1. Name one fragrance to which you’d like to say “be mine”.
I am still basically in a place of contentment with my collection, so there isn’t a single fragrance on my WANT list right now. However, should they ever rerelease the Malle Coffret, I will not hesitate at the opportunity to buy it this time! I SOOOOooooo regret that I didn’t jump at the chance when I could have. 🙁 So painful these unfulfilled glimpses of love!
2. Name a fragrance you think would make a perfect Valentine’s Day present for your perfect (real or imagined) Valentine.
Does Ormonde Jayne make a green leather for men? If so, that may be close to what I’d want to smell! Lots of bootstrap and dust, rugged but not dirty.
3. Name a fragrance that says “I’m single and perfectly happy about it, thank you”.
When I wanted to feel beautiful and celebrate it, years before I was ready to date again, I wore vintage Shalimar and a slinky, vintage-inspired wrap dress. Still seems like a perfect celebration combination!
(As an aside, perfume came into my life PRECISELY at this moment. I needed to feel like I was taking care of myself and focussing on my own needs, not something I did well when I was with my former partner. Perfume seemed like the perfect way to be wonderfully selfish, in the best sense. I still treat it that way–I love when someone else loves my fragrances, but I wear them for me!)
4. Tell us about the last great chocolate you ate!
Not great in the glamorous sense–no saving the lowland gorillas or 92% cocoa bitterness–but we discovered Cadbury’s chocolate bars on our last trip to Canada. Specifically, we fell in love with the caramel corn flavor–real chunks of buttery, toffee-crusted popcorn mixed into creamy milk chocolate. Delicious stuff!
Whoa! I wrote a novel! I guess these are good topics, Robin! Happy Valentine’s Day, in any case! 😀
No apologizing! It was a fun read.
Thanks!
It was a good novel.
Malle has another one coming out…Cologne Indelebile. Betcha he will eventually redo the coffret w/ that and Magnolia? We can hope.
Yes, I wondered about that, too–including the new scents in an updated coffret. But then, there’s this fear-voice in my head that says that new management will change it all, and I missed my glimpse at the dodo (to mix my metaphors!).
Oh my, that chocolate bar sounds amazing…
All I can say is, it’s a good thing I have to cross an International border to get more!
It does, I’m a sucker for a slightly salty taste with my chocolate. My current favorite is a candy bar by BT McElrath and the flavor is Buttered Toast. McElrath is a local Minneapolis guy but he’s everywhere now. The dark chocolate with little bits of candied ginger is a close second.
There’s some proper foodie goodness to be had in the Twin Cities! I *still* buy my coffee from Peace Coffee and have them ship it to me. (Not as enviro-chic as their old bicycle delivery system, I admit, but the coffee still tastes great!)
I could have sworn I bought Cadbury chocolate at a Fred Meyer in Washington state a few years ago. I remember it being not quite as good as the Cadbury up here. I think it was made by Hershey under license. I do remember as a kid how exciting it was to buy exotic American bars like Fifth Avenue, Baby Ruth, and Charleston Chew while on vacation, lol.
Yes, you are right. We have “Cadbury’s,” but it’s not actual Cadbury’s, and it’s mostly available at Easter-time. The chocolate isn’t nearly as nice–much sweeter, less actual chocolate, I suspect. Funny how brands can be exotic and only a stones-throw away!
Oh, re: 2, this came up in a daily thread recently–is Lonestar not quite right? Or, Kevin reports that PdE Ambre Russe is similar but more mannered (https://nstperfume.com/2007/01/12/tauer-perfumes-lonestar-memories-fragrance-with-an-aside-on-parfum-dempire-ambre-russe/ ). Or a slightly farther afield but very good, Merlin’s suggestion of SMN Nostalgia?
I haven’t tested Lonestar in a while, but I don’t remember loving it. . . maybe there’s too much smoke and not enough vegetation? I have some Amber Russe somewhere, I will have to remind myself of that one. . .
I haven’t tested Nostalgia, so I can’t speak to that one.
Yeah true, vegetation is not the first word that comes to mind for any of those… I’ll keep my eye out! You know how I like a shopping challenge 🙂
Marjorie Rose, I an Canadian, and see those bars almost every day, so if the craving ever becaomes too much to handle, email me at t f k 3 1 (remove spaces) @yahooooooodotcaum and I’ll be happy to send you a couple.
Wow, thank you! I *do* have some Canadian connections, but it’s always good to know one has a back-up plan. 🙂
Weird! I’m eating that chocolate bar RIGHT NOW!! 🙂
Sure, rub it in!!! 😉
You never got the coffret? I thought we had convinced you at one point to get it? Next time you’ll listen to all of us won’t you?
No and yes! I was finally convinced, and then when I went to get one, NO ONE had one. The were LE and appeared to be sold out absolutely everywhere. I really *was* gonna buy one. . . 🙁
1. DelRae Wit, please be mine. My decant is almost gone.
2. Toughie… I just bought a 5ml decant of FM Musc Ravageur, which I think is sexy as heck. We have recently established that The CEO likes aromatic fougeres best, but I had thought I might give him this little decant in hopes that he’d occasionally wear it. HOWEVER… my 16-year-old son came downstairs this morning, found the package lying on my dresser and stuck his nose into the mailer as far as it would go. “What is this? Is this for men? This smells really good. Can I have it?”
So. I’m a little torn here, but I think Gaze will wind up with the Musc Ravageur, since he obviously appreciates it more than his father would. Teenage girls, look out.
3. Of course, it should be whatever makes you feel attractive and happy and confident. I might choose MFK Lumiere Noire for Her, if I were single again.
4. A Lindor dark chocolate truffle. Yum.
Wow. Kinda love and definitely fearful of the notion of 16 year old boy in Malle! He’s going to be very distracting in class. 😉
Yeah, that’s awesome and cute 😉
He has a good nose.
He sure does!
I just got back from Costcomand they were demo-ing Lindor truffles. You betcha I asked for the black one 🙂
That would be Costco.!You know I probably have fat fingers.
Ha! Made me laugh 🙂
1) Noir Epices
2) Invasion Barbare or PdN New York
3) Rien
4) I’m not a great chocolate fan, love the taste but unfortunately it makes my stomach turn.
Ha nice pick for #3!
There are times I wish that chocolate made my stomach turn. I’m down to just a few cookies left from the batch I baked the other day and I know that most ended up in my stomach and not my hubby’s. Which means they’ll be showing up on my hips any day now.
Be Mine=Sacrebleu. We’re talking forever, right? I have it but would love to have more original formula.
Sacrebleu is the perfect scent because my guy loves it on me. He doesn’t wear perfume so my wearing it IS something wonderful. If he did wear scent then Puredistance M is the sexiest scent on a guy
The best scent for singles is Chinatown– nothing else quite says I am a sexy, amazing goddess!
Hot white chocolate with vanilla beans while hanging out with Squirrely at Marie Belle in Soho
Puredistance M is SO sexy!
Fun poll! 😀 Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all. And President’s Day, if you’re lucky enough to live in the US and have off from work this Monday. Yay for long weekends!
1. If I was gonna go wild, I’d get Neela Vermeire Mohur or Carner Barcelona Tardes blind!
2. A lifetime supply of Guerlain L’Instant Pour Homme! I got my fiance a bottle a few years ago when it was easier to come by, and I’ll be sad when it runs out. Why are the good ones always discontinued?
3. Any favorite scent sprayed with wild abandon, I’d bet! 😀
4. Oh gosh, good question. I haven’t eaten any really decadent, toe-curlingly good chocolate lately. I need to go remedy that, pronto!
It is a shame…the men’s L’Instant was way better than the women’s, IMHO.
1. fate amouage
2. Pink sugar
3. Good girl gone bad
4. Maison du chocolate
#3 – nice one! Apt, funny and I love it.
1. Flowerhead. Of course, I love the only freakin’ Byredo that doesn’t come in anything but a large bottle. I want to carry it on my purse so I can indulge in that fabulous opening.
2. I would love my husband to wear either Dev I or Dev IV but it’s a no go. He’s a gourmand guy.
3. Not sure about this one. Coco, maybe?
4. I haven’t had really good chocolate for such a long time but I did have some crappy chocolate (a Mr. Goodbar and a Kiss) last night with my really good wine, Mauritson 2011 Rockpile Cabernet, yum!
Wish we had another bottle, even the dregs when I did the washing up this morning smelled wonderful.
Flowerhead is really great.
1. Name one fragrance to which you’d like to say “be mine”.
I FINALLY got my Apres L’Ondee, so I’m pretty satisfied! However, I’ve been saying this for awhile, but I still would never turn down a bell jar of Iris Silver Mist!
2. Name a fragrance you think would make a perfect Valentine’s Day present for your perfect (real or imagined) Valentine.
So it will have to be imagined this year….. Mmmmmm, maybe Vetiver Extraordinaire? Anything with vetiver really. Something refined, and sophisticated, yet manly. Think Don Draper at his best and least cad-ish, ha!
3. Name a fragrance that says “I’m single and perfectly happy about it, thank you.”
I think this question could have two meanings? a) Either a scent that I love with a loud voice that turns people off, but I don’t really care and wear it anyway; or, b) something that exudes confidence and happiness and self-esteem. In which case….
a) Oh definitely Lush Lust. And lots of that jasmine-y stink bomb! I never wear it because I know how polarizing it can be, and I also don’t like to generally be that outre. But definitely makes me feel sexy and loud!
b) I think Chanel Beige! It always makes me feel happy and confident and youthful! I get lots of compliments when I wear it.
4. Tell us about the last great chocolate you ate!
I work part-time in a drop-in center for people with chronic mental illness and I bought them a bunch of V-day chocolate yesterday. I must have eaten a handful of Reese’s peanut butter hearts and Hershey’s kisses. They were delish. But as far as fancy chocolates, someone from the lovely NST community sent me a sea salt chocolate cube in a swap last week, and it was delicious! Was it you, allgirlmafia??? Last, but not least, I had Talbot’s chocolate-covered strawberry black tea last week – strange, but delicious!
Happy V-day, all!
And I, too, wrote a novel. Sorry, haha!
I appreciate the good company. 🙂
Oh Lust is such a good pick. I love it but yeah, I don’t count on anyone else loving it on me, necessarily!
1. Amouage Ubar.
2. Tom Ford Oud Wood.
3. Myrrhe Imperiale.
4. Christopher Elbow Strawberry Balsamic Truffles. (Actually, anything from CE)
Wow, gorgeous chocolates!
Yeah, they are! I’m not sure I could eat something so pretty!
Trust me, you could and then curse the empty box.
They are stunners!
You sound like you’re speaking from experience! 😉
1) I’m really wanting a bottle of Cuir de Russie right now. I’d like either (or both!) the EDT and the extrait
2) Voleur de Roses. Smells so good on guys, and I love it when a guy has the confidence to wear rose
3) I’ll pick two. Olivier Durbano Black Tourmaline because it isn’t traditionally feminine and makes me feel tough. A second choice would be Lancôme Climat. I think it’s pretty and airy, but it is a chyypre and this smells “old fashioned” and less approachable.
4) Chuao Honeycomb bar. Dark chocolate and honey – yum!
I like Climat, and I don’t wear it as often as I should.
My Wal-mart (!) used to carry Chuao, and I got addicted to the Firecracker bar before they stopped stocking it. Sigh.
I’ll put on some Climat (I have a small from Les Collections), once or twice in the spring. Lovely stuff.
Wow, Mals! You have a classier Walmart than what we have (it’s pretty much Hershey’s or nothing at ours).
Well, like I said, they stopped carrying Chuao. But they do carry Ghirardelli and Green&Black and Lindt, it’s not all Hershey. Thank goodness. 🙂
Love that bar! I’m a big fan of Chuao in general.
1. Name one fragrance to which you’d like to say “be mine”.
Neela Vermeire Mohur extrait. Fabulous!
2. Name a fragrance you think would make a perfect Valentine’s Day present for your perfect (real or imagined) Valentine.
No fragrance, so probably Soap on a Rope. (Do they still make this?!)
3. Name a fragrance that says “I’m single and perfectly happy about it, thank you”.
Original Miss Dior.
4. Tell us about the last great chocolate you ate!
The brownies I’m going to make this afternoon!
Original Miss Dior is a great pick too 🙂
Oh yeah! Miss Dior is just like Honey Badger. She just don’t care.
Incidentally, I had a conversation with a non-perfumista friend recently, who was telling me that she liked Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet, and had I ever smelled the original Miss Dior. I proceeded to blow her mind by telling her the saga of Miss Dior, Miss Dior Cherie, and the whole sorry renaming deal. She was all, “Wait, they can DO that? Just change its name?”
What has happened to Dior is just sad 🙁
And BTW, who is Honey Badger?
Might I be so bold as to ask where you got to try Mohur? I have it on my list to test when and if I get to Lucky Scent this year.
Honey Badger is worth knowing about. If you are easily offended skip the You Tube video and watch the program PBS did on one, and the lovely man who cared for a HB named Stoffel.
A very bright, albeit nasty tempered member of the wolverine family
It’s become an Internet meme: “Honey Badger don’t care.”
Honey Badger is also a talking stuffed animal. Don’t ask me how I know this. 😉
What?!?! A talking honey badger stuffed animal? I may have to get one 🙂 For a friend …
@juicejones: My teensy sample was sent from a friend. And thank you for the info on Honey Badger!
I’m with you on Mohur extrait. So delicious, round and satisfying!
Soap-in-a-rope — love it! And so my Valentine too.
Sorry, that soap would be ON the rope and not in it 🙂
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Love others, love yourself first.
Be mine: Amouage Beloved (soon, hopefully, very soon!)
VD present: original AG Eau de Monsieur
Single and loving it: any vintage Chanel No 5
Great chocolate: I’m going to a chocolate party later, so no comment yet! Otherwise, mint smidgens from Gertrude Hawke leftover from Xmas.
Ok – update on the chocolate. I’ve had the most divine, locally made chocolates by Heidi Fred of Daley Chocolates. Melt in your mouth, rich, creamy, utterly delicious. It’s been a long time since I’ve had artisan chocolates, and they really hit the spot. They were even airbrushed different colors. Wonderful!
1. Providence Perfume Branch and Vine.
2. Atelier Gold Leather.
3. No idea. I guess you can wear anything you want with no one to object.
4. Purdy’s Sweet Georgia Brown. Like a Turtle but ten times better.
Branch and Vine sounds really nice. So does the Sweet Georgia Brown…
Well, that pick is based entirely on ‘sounds really nice’ because, in truth, I’ve never actually smelled it. However, the notes look great and I’m fascinated by the idea of all natural perfumes.
As for the Sweet Georgia Browns, they are to die for but I think Purdy’s is only in Canada. Here’s a pretty decent recipe though.
http://cleanseyourpalate.blogspot.ca/2010/11/sweet-georgia-browns.html?m=1
I’ve made them a few times and I was pretty pleased with how they turned out.
Ah. I generally have poor luck with all-naturals – the longevity leaves a lot to be desired, and since I have scent-eating skin anyway, I usually can’t see the point in shelling out for them. There have been exceptions, I note: DSH Rose Vert and Honore des Pres Vamp a NY have decent longevity on me. Moon Bloom wasn’t terrible (about four hours, where Vamp a NY can go, like, 8).
oh Gold Leather… how I want Gold Leather to be mine!
Me too. It’s annoying how the more expensive ranges for Atelier Cologne are not available in the 30ml unless you buy the huge 200ml bottle.
Be mine? There are several Chanel extraits I covet…Beige, Jersey…
Gift: the smell if fine leather wafting from a beautiful new wallet (done)
Single badass: Bombay Bling (Because it says, I don’t make empty promises, do you?)
Chocolate: In the fridge. My husband bought it from an Indian woman would makes the chocolate from scratch and then creates unusual flavors… She told him the candies need to be eaten right away as they are very fresh…. He special ordered them a month or so ago before I had “the dental disaster.” So for now, I am only imagining how wonderful they must be!
Oh dear, I hope your mouth improves enough for a smidge of chocolate later today!
Me toooooo(fthhhhh)!
I’ve had my share of dental disasters so I feel your pain. Are you improving at all?
Thanks Poodle.
Last night watched Taken an Taken 2 on my IPad in bed, which managed to distract me…. The DH is up skiing w our youngest, so my 13 year old brought me a V-day card this AM… So tooth agonies aside… Am having a luxurious lie-in. Now only if I could get this bloody pain under control!
Oh dear. sorry you are in pain. Did they give you some painkillers at the dentist’s? Or do you have some left over from another appointment?
On the bright side, there’s nothing better than the sensation of pain leaving your body, which it will soon.
1. Heliotrope Blanc (Oriza LeGrand). Outside my normal preference, but works so well in winter (and I didn’t like any of the others from this brand!) Unfortunately only available in a huge bottle, so I’ll probably never get it.
2. Eau Sauvage, preferably vintage
3. Iris Silver Mist
4. Bernard Callebaut champagne truffle. Good thing these are so expensive, keeps them in the once-in-awhile splurge category. Am dying to try some of the many bars offered on the French Broad site.
Hmm. I did VERY badly with 75% of the other Orizas I tested. But I’m drawn by Heliotrope Blanc… might sample.
Perhaps consider splitting this during Splitmeet. This line is now available at Twisted Lily and I am curious enough to want to take a trek out to Brooklyn to sniff this and others. Have you seen the bottles? It comes as a splash bottle with an atomizer packaged in the box so it is really easy to split.
Haven’t seen the bottles in person. Hope the atomizers aren’t the bulb variety. I’ve asked STC whether they’re going to carry this one–if not, I may participate in a split.
The atomizer is not the bulb variety. I split Chypre Mousse during the first SplitMeet. I just checked the Twisted Lily website and did not see Heliotrope Blanc.
Such lovely questions!
1) I guess Gold Leather. And I’m still pining for a sample of Cuir d’Ange – but just a sample, no blind buys for this girl!
2) Hmm, my hubby doesn’t really wear cologne, but I think he’d smell really good in Field Notes from Paris.
3) If I were single and loving it, I’d probably still be pining for Gold Leather 🙂
4) I haven’t had good chocolate in a while. 🙁 I need to go buy chocolate right now! RIGHT NOW!
#4 — yes, you do!
Be mine-I would love a lifetime supply of Bois des Iles extrait.
SO frag-I have no idea. I think I have liked some Tom Fords–Tobacco Vanille, maybe?
Single and loving it-I am wearing AG Songes today. I think it smells like romance. If I were going the independent route, EL Tuberose Gardenia would be my pick.
Good Chocolate–yep, I’m eating the Saunders Sea Salt Caramels as well. I bought four tubs at Costco and put three in the freezer for later in the year.
Laughing at your #1, because my 15 ml bottle probably WILL turn out to be a lifetime supply 😉
If I owned as much as you do, I wouldn’t need anymore either! But my little 4ml bottle of BdL is half gone, not six months old, and I expect to live another 30 years!
Then surely you need more!
Happy Valentines day!
1 be mine, La Via del Profumo Tawaf
2 My husband is pretty much scent free, but I keep trying.
3 Not gonna open that Pandora’s box
4 Lily’s dark chocolate bar made with stevia
dh surprised me this morning with a bottle of Indochine. Such a light, calming, elegant perfume.
I just tried a sample that came with the Indochine and I’m changing my answer to question 1 to PG Isparta
Scratch that. On me, the development of isparta is turning into a mess. Smells like a recently fumigated Indian kitchen. Boohoo, it was so gorgeous in the beginning. On the other wrist, I put a dab of Cadjmere, which I didn’t like in the beginning, but it has developed into something that smells an awful lot like Bvlgari au the vert. So be mine again, Tawaf.
And, full circle. Tawaf is good stuff!
Love Indochine! It’s one that I find myself turning to quite frequently this winter, as it’s very warming. One of my non-perfumista friends always tells me how good I smell when I wear it.
After testing Isparta and Cadjmere I’m happy I got the right PG frag for me (Indochine). Good to know the grass isn’t always greener.
Be mine: Onda or Absolue Pour le Soir
For my Valentine: Puredistance M
Single: all the perfumes that I love but hubby doesn’t.
Chocolate: the chocolate chip cookies I baked the other day to cheer myself up.
Lots of votes for Puredistance M today, and an out-of-town friend tells me her husband wears it too. Guess I really need to try this one!
A perfume pal spritzed my arm just as I was leaving for the train home. I had many perfumes on my jacket and clothes so I didn’t pay much attention at first. On the train I kept getting whiffs of something fabulous and kept looking to see who it might be that smelled so good. It wasn’t until I got in my truck to go home and took off my jacket that I realized the fabulous smelling stranger was my left arm.
lol!
Oh that is the best endorsement of all!
Aaaaand now I need to put that on my to sample list!
Hmmm I just tested kurkdjian absolou pour le soir. It is a fine frag but my skin amps up a kitty fur after she went potty note and just won’t let go of it. I’m not yet sophisticated enough to see that as a good thing. You can have my sample. orange underscore vermilion at msn dot com
“I’m not yet sophisticated enough to see that as a good thing.” I shall have to remember that one 🙂
Harhar, glad to be of service.
I compromised today by putting on a touch neroli fresh ladylike poo (l’air de rien) which I adore.
Angela said that L’air de rien smells like dried horse droppings. Horse poo is very ladylike compared to kitty poo 🙂
1. The one I want is the one I can’t have Amouage Homage Attar. Sigh.
2. My valentine does not wear fragrance despite all my urgings. At least he indulges my fanaticism.
3. Gucci Rush!
4. Homemade ginger truffles with lindt dark chocolate.
I love dark chocolate with ginger! A friend gave me some homemade dark chocolate and ginger candies, and I ate almost all of them on the ride home from her house.
1. Be mine: Annick Goutal Mon Parfum Cheri par Camille. It’s back, hooray!
2. For my Valentine: Knize Ten
3. Single: Jolie Madame
4. Chocolate: Vosges Red Fire bar. Dark chocolate with cinnamon and chilies!
Ha great minds, on Jolie Madame!
1. I still haven’t bought En Passant. I don’t know what my problem is. I keep double-clutching.
2. I am still in the market for a dude to spray Sampaquita on, I really like florals on men. Applicant does not even have to sign up to be my Valentine, this can be a strictly fragrant proposition 🙂
3. Name a fragrance that says “I’m single and perfectly happy about it, thank you”. I think for me, Jolie Madame is the perfect self-contained fragrance–it has everything you could ever want, runs the gamut all the way from violets to leather, and therefore renders anything else superfluous 🙂 (Ha ok now I know what to put on after this run! Even better, will take this opportunity to open a precious vintage mini from mals86–thank you so much for giving me such a perfect treat for today!)
4. Mmmm, I have to admit I don’t really pay quite enough attention (my main question about chocolate is: is it chocolate? yes? great, I’ll take it), but at some recently point, I had a salted bar that was really excellent. Should try to find that again!
Oh, enjoy that Jolie Madame! I went through a stage where I was sort of, um, collecting minis on ebay. I love the extrait.
I thank my lucky stars for this phrase of your perfume trajectory!! 🙂
Hahaha, laughing at the “purely fragrant proposition!” I think there’s a market for this service! Maybe reasonably good-looking people should mill around the perfume aisles at Barney’s and hold their arms out surreptitiously. . . .
Hahahaha so glad to hear you think this sounds plausible as actually, I think it is the outer limit of how much I am up to right this moment–some perfume sniffing, end of date. laugh/sob
Oh, so sorry! I think it’s ok to take a break and process and be on your own for a while, so I hope you’re being nice to yourself about it! If I were a reasonably attractive male and on the east coast, I would stick my arm out for ya’! 😉
1. Mohur extrait. Please, be mine.
2. Amouage Beloved Man
3 Any iteration of Shalimar
4. A Milkyway bar
Happy Valentine’s Day, NST!
agree on milky way, it is my go to bar when i need a quick fix.
1. Lumiere Noire pour Femme.
2. Musc Ravageur or L’Air de Rien.
3. My first reaction to this was “Bandit!” but on second thought I agree with the previous poster who said Gucci Rush. Definitely. It’s got this “Girls just wanna have fun” vibe.
4. The other day an Italian colleague brought me a tiny box of chocolates from Italy called Venchi. I had never heard of them. Absolutely earth-moving, world-rocking chocolates. The box had all sorts of flavours; the one I fell in love with was the gianduiotto (a soft, creamy sort of chocolate) made of bitter chocolate. I went online and yes – they do deliver to Greece. Now I have to justify the cost of ordering chocolate from abroad…
Venchi is great chocolate. They have really wonderful chocolate bars, too. Even though I usually prefer dark chocolate, I love the Venchi milk chocolate. Pricey stuff, though.
1. Name one fragrance to which you’d like to say “be mine”.
Serge Lutens Rose de Nuit – I wish I could find this one in an export bottle.
2. Name a fragrance you think would make a perfect Valentine’s Day present for your perfect (real or imagined) Valentine.
Cartier Declaration – very sexy (and I like to wear it myself also).
3. Name a fragrance that says “I’m single and perfectly happy about it, thank you”.
Chanel No. 19.
4. Tell us about the last great chocolate you ate!
Rittersport dark chocolate-covered martzipan.
Now I want that chocolate
Yes, Chanel No. 19. why didn’t I think of that???
I want the chocolate too! I also love the choice for No. 2 🙂
Rittersport is very underrated. Love their chocolate-covered marzipan!
That stuff IS good. I might rather have the dark chocolate hazelnut, but the marzipan is yummy too.
Be mine: Chanel Jersey Parfum
Valentine: A case of speed stick active fresh
Single ladies: Chanel 31 Rue Cambon for its confidence and elegance
Chocolate: Bird Bath chocolate chip cookies – yum!!
Happy V-Day!
LOL at your Valentine!
the croissants from Birdbath look super! Yet another NYC destination.
1. Iris Poudre, fell in love when I went to Paris (I smelt soooooo much perfume in 2 days), Iris Poudre was the most “me”. Angling for a small bottle for my birthday 😉
2. Musc Ravageur (yes another Malle!) because of all the scent I made my long suffering husband smell on my return from Paris, this one he REALLY liked. It’d suit him too.
3. Something bad ass; Fracas?!
4. Not great in the sense you mean but great to me as we always have them for Valentine’s …. Maltesers! Those light as air, melt in the mouth, malty, nostalgic balls of Heaven. The red packaging is very valentine too and – bonus – they are not the most fattening chocolates around! Bliss.
Shamelessly rambling on….
Malted milk balls are a very under-rated candy. Love them.
1. Vintage JAR Golconda
2. Puredistance M
3. Puredistance Opardu
4. Yikes – Here goes for the week from the most recent: Dark Chocolate-covered strawberries from Wegmans (hey – if a gorgeous guy offered you FREE chocolate covered strawberries while you were shopping for broccoli, would you refuse?), Lindor Extra Dark Chocolate Truffle (free at Costco), assorted chocolates from a swap (I started with the small squares and all the big bars are still intact — thank you allgirlmafia!)
…I wish I had a Wegmans… my SIL has a Wegmans. I like to visit. 🙂
I love Wegmans although I think a Whole Foods would be nice, too!
Wegman’s makes me really happy, for some inexplicable reason. It feels like a grocery store (which I love anyway, because I love food) plus some extra magic glow. I really like their breads, too.
Gosh, I have both nearby, but also a grocery-store phobia. Maybe chocolate will help me overcome it :-).
Gosh, I miss Wegmans. My kids loved the model train that went in circles above the candy display.
At my Wegmans, the train makes a loop by the dairy case and skirts the edge of the candy aisle. The store also used to have a childcare room but it sadly closed down. While I understand that many used it for its intended purpose (leave your child while you do your regular shopping at Wegmans), some had taken advantage and would leave their child for several hours at a time while they shopped at other stores in the same shopping complex. The clincher though was a lawsuit, basis unknown.
We shopped at Wegman’s once, just to check it out and pick up a few things. The tiny cart filled up all by itself and we ended up spending over $200 LOL. They must have specialists in human behaviour on their planning and execution staff because we left happier, poorer and with the vague but nagging feeling we had been abducted and the pleasure centres of our brains experimented on by a benevolent, alien Wegmans overlord.
Oh and we got fat fingers too!
Haha. The people who work at Wegmans are the most helpful out of all the grocery stores I’ve been to, probably because the company treats them well (or perhaps, better than how the other stores treat their employees). Happy (workers + shoppers) = $$$POOF$$$
I’m still giggling about your fat fingers comment and in your honor will be writing copy for a fragrance featuring a fat fingers note for this year’s prix au faux.
Be mine, Maison Francis Kurkdjian À la Rose.
Valentine, Dipytque Eau Plurielle.
Solo, vintage Ysatis de Givenchy.
Cocoa, La Maison du Chocolat ganaches.
I have a decades-old department store sample of Ysatis. I only wear it when I know I’ll be solo for a few hours. It follows me around the house so strongly, it seems like I’m not alone . . . weird and wonderful.
Have you gotten to sniff A La Rose yet? I’m dying to hear what folks think of it.
Not yet, but it’s on my list. I hope À la Rose will be lovely. It should hit several of my favorite spots – citrus top, floral heart, cedar base notes. Fingers crossed.
I have to agree with a few other people on here and say that allgirlmafia has really good chocolate. I don’t know where she gets the stuff but it’s delicious.
1. “be mine”: Shalimar extrait in the LE Black Mystery bottle. ‘The one that got away’ that I most regret. Yesterday’s frequent posts about Shalimar brought back all the old longing. Just about the most beautiful bottle ever.
2. a perfect Valentine’s Day present for your perfect (real or imagined) Valentine: Eau Sauvage, always and forever. I have given my sweetie this, and he won’t wear it. Or anything. But the good news is that he started wearing the deodorant when they changed the fragrance of his beloved Classic Old Spice. I call that a victory!
3. “I’m single and perfectly happy about it, thank you”: the original Jean Louis Scherrer.
Can’t resist adding that I’m wearing my idea of the quintessential Valentine’s scent for a woman: OJ Ta’if.
4. Tell us about the last great chocolate you ate!
My aunt collected perfumes just for the bottles. The family thought she was funny for not wearing the fragrances. The LE Shalimar bottle is so beautiful it could have tipped me over into “funny aunt territory.”
I have given Eau Sauvage as a gift, then worn it myself when it sat unused. 🙂 Win!
Jean Louis Scherrer was gorgeous! I wore it in the mid eighties. Big shoulders, big hair and sipping a Champagne cocktail at Le Dome.
Loves me some aldehydes!
Yeah, those were the days, huh?
Yay for Ta’if! It really is a wonderful, romantic scent. Perfectly Valentines-y!
oops, forgot #4: Theo Fig and Fennel. Worth trying to find!
I love this bar too. My favorite of theirs is the curry one but the box is always empty at my local chocolate store.
1. Be Mine: Guerlain Metallica. It’s not that I think it’s so beautiful, but it makes me feel great. It was like falling in love with the boy next door, and now that my decant is almost empty, I dream that a bottle of this discontinued gem will somehow, someday come my way.
2. For Him: He doesn’t wear scent. But he loves a very few perfumes on me. So I’ll get this one so he can sniff it on me, as often as he likes: Amouage Jubilation 25.
3: For Single Me: A lifetime supply of vintage Mitsouko extrait. It’s not a people pleaser for sure, but I’ll be more than pleasing myself.
4. Best Recent Chocolate: Charles Chocolate (from San Francisco), in particular the salty sweet dark chocolate hazelnut bar. He doesn’t go overboard with the creative flavors, just does classic things absolutely perfectly.
5. Valentine’s Day Chocolate: He’s making me the chocolate-mint sorbet from last Thursday’s New York Times food section. (It’s still before dinner out here in California.)
Metallica is really nice. My decant is about half gone.
1. I am not currently jonesing for anything in particular but sampled Guerlain Santal Royal at Saks today and it was a much better version of Tom Ford Oud Wood – missing that sharp note that out me off.
2. I love when my husband wears YSL La Nuit de L’Homme. Yum!
3. 1985 version of Fendi
4. Mo’s bacon bar – salty chocolate deliciousness!’
1. A big bottle of vintage Tabac Blond. So beautiful.
2. Eau Sauvage, without a doubt my favorite fragrance on men.
3. Whatever Marlene Dietrich’s signature scent *really* was.
4. The dark chocolate covered Almond Roca my husband brought home to have for dessert after our Valentines Day dinner – pretty good stuff!
I am late on the Valentine’s repky train! Don’t depart yet!!
Okay my selections:
1. Be mine: Amouage Lyric Woman. Yes Please!
2. For the imaginary Valentine: Bond no.9’s New Haarlem. This scent never worked on me but I kept hearing how others could bring out the coffee, cocoa and all sorts of deliciousness. If this imaginary Valentine’s could do the same… 😛
3. Single and Lovin’ it: I am mostly in this mind set so and most frangrances pretty much do the same because I think people can kind of read it off my face…ha! But If I have to pick, I woukd say something bold and self confident, say, Amouage Gold Woman or Fracas.
4. Good chocolate: Not recently no! Currently on a diet so, eyes only!
Sorry for all those mistakes and typos! One should really not type on the phone while commuting by the metro.
Be Mine: Oud for Love, but at that price you can stay at the shop.
Be Yours: Bf is pretty indifferent to scent though he sometimes wears it for me. Once when we were out, however, he tried Leather Oud, and surprise surprise, liked it! One day, I need to get it for him!
Need no-one: Azuree
Chocolate: Can’t remember the name but the other day I had a dark chocolate bar with bits of licorice inside – very nice!
Good morning, and happy post-Valentine’s Day!
Yesterday, my lovely boyfriend, Mr. Spicebomb, settled my yo-yo-ing about that back-up bottle of PHI: Une Rose de Khandahar and went to Our Lady and bought it for me! So, I now most-certainly have nearly a lifetime’s supply. 😀 I’m a lucky girl.
I wore Lipstick Rose yesterday, which seemed perfect for the trying-to-be-springtime warm-in-the-sunshine day. I hate to be so cliched, but roses really do seem to suit this time of year just wonderfully. OTOH, I’ve become such a rose-ho, I’m probably not the best judge!!
Lunch this afternoon with Mr. S’s family. Perhaps I’ll wear a spritz or two of PHI for the occassion. 🙂
Lucky indeed! And rosy and almondy.
Resolved perfume angst is a gift in itself.
Yes! It really is a gift of peace of mind! 😀
Haha, that Mr. Spicebomb, he really keeps hitting it out of the park!! Well done, sir. (And totally agree with JuiceJones, how nice not just to have the bottle but also to have the question resolved for you!)
Yeah, I know he’s got my perfumista friends’ approval!
Mmmmmmm YES! I’ so happy Mr S got you the PHI back up bottle. Even better, sounds like he gets it about the need for a backup bottle.
He’s very understanding. And I look the other way when he buys another signed basketball or bobblehead. . .
Sounds like you got a keeper there. 🙂
1. Paris Hilton for men
2. FAN di FENDI uomo ASSOLUTO
3. ÉGOÏSTE
4.Milka chocolate blanco
I prefer extra dark chocolate. I used to rely on Lindt 90 percent cocoa bars, but can’t find them around here anymore. Searching online, I discovered that the Lindt website actually lists a 99 percent cocoa bar. !!!!! However, it’s out of stock now.
1. Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur Extrait. I’d LOVE to add this to my collection, but with its price tag, I think this will be a relationship that exists only in my dreams.
2. My husband adores L’Aromatica’s Desert Man and it smells fantastic on him. He’s from a desert country too, so it fits thematically as well!
3. Mugler’s Alien. That knocks-you-on-your-butt jasmine to me says “Try me if you dare!”
4. I took a tour recently of Theo’s Chocolate factory in Seattle, and ate soooo many delicious chocolate samples. Mmmm!
Mm that makes me want to revisit Alien 🙂
I do wish that, if by magic that they (Le Labo) would bring back Aldehyde 44. That would be my single and enjoying it perfume. My Valentine’s scent would have to be En Passant. But I am thinking, just screw it and get myself a bottle for spring.
Let’s both, for the En Passant. It’s almost time to wear it, I know I will, and I’ve emptied my last decant. What better perfume purchase is there, really!
1. Slumberhouse Sadanne extrait
2. Cartier Declaration D’Un Soir
3. Any Vintage Estée Lauder, my husband only complains about these when they are freshly applied, once they settle he’s fine.
4. Any curry/chocolate combo, apparently I am not the only one who likes these as they disappear rapidly from the chocolate shop!
1. Vintage Magie Noire
2. Vintage Aramis
3. Vintage Ma Griffe
4. (To my surprise) Russell Stover Dark Chocolate Mint Patty
They are about to play an interview with Mandy Aftel on the Splendid Table on NPR.
1. All the yummy Shalimar flankers, I’ll take one of everything!
2. I actually prefer men who do not wear any scented products.
3. Any of my favorites would be what I want whether single and loving it or coupled and loving it!
4. These delicious dark chocolate hearts from Valentine’s! They were from Agatha & Valentina.
I know I’m late to the party, but..
1. Be mine: Ooh I don’t know.. maybe a bottle of Aftelier Palimpsest or Amouage Lyric
2. SO Fragrance: maybe Histoires de Parfums 1828 Jules Verne. I like it a lot, and I think I’d rather smell it on a man than on me.
3. Single: Since I am single, I guess it can be whatever I say it is on any given day. 🙂 If I have to name one, maybe vintage Bal a Versailles.
4. Chocolate: I’m a fan of Vosges chocolates, and I really like the black sea salt caramel bar. There is also a local brand called Araya that’s really great, though pricey.