As always, answer as few or as many as you like.
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
2. The last new (or new to you) fragrance that blew your socks off? Did you buy it?
3. What's the last thing you smelled that made you think wow, someone should make a perfume that smells just like this.
4. Are there any great movies or television series that you really think your fellow perfumistas need to watch this summer? (And by the way, the summer reading poll is coming up in a couple of weeks.)
5. Share something wonderful with us! It can be anything: something you discovered, or bought, or that happened to you recently.
Note: top image is gerbera brushes [cropped] by Liz West at flickr; some rights reserved.
1. CdG Avignon
2. Probably Vetiver Tonka. The 4 ml sample vial should last me a while yet.
3. Mountain Ash (aka Rowan). These trees have a very interesting if pungent scent.
4. Not sure on this one. Maybe True Detective? Someone on here recommended it and I really enjoyed it especially the part where Matthew Mcconaughey’s character coincidentally explains the plot of interstellar.
5. Got a new bike. Been hitting the trails a lot. Also, pedaling around the city in the evening I can smell lilacs pretty much continuously.
Yum, love Vetiver Tonka!
1. Sampling Tokyomilk Crushed today
2.Lots of scents go on my to buy list but I think Desarmant was the last one I HAD to own
5.Something wonderful– even though this has been my worst move ever, I am so relieved to be out of NJ and back in Boston. It’s like my soul can exhale.
I know that feeling – you’ve described exactly how I felt when I moved back to Oregon from LA 10 years ago. It still feels like that to this very day. Ahhhhhhh. 🙂
SheriG, me too! I can breathe up here, and it rains! I was a terrible Californian, didn’t appreciate the climate at all. I wanted seasons and weather.
Rain – yes! Where I worked in Santa Monica, there were these floor-to-ceiling windows, and I would stand and stare longingly out on those rare days when it actually did rain, and my coworkers would walk past mumbling, “there’s Sheri, watching the rain again”. I appreciate the changing of the seasons so much more now.
Who’s crazy enough NOT to watch and adore rain in a drought stricken state?
Desarmant is beautiful!
I love it
Yes! I moved to Boston for college and felt I was “home”.
Me too, Bexca!
I moved here after college and only moved to NJ for a few years of grad school but it was never home
1) Eau Premiere today, from column bottle (bought the huge 5 oz version so I’ll never have to face the reform)
2) best thing I’ve tried in recent weeks is vintage Patou 1000 (from an online store called The Miniature Perfume Shoppe). It’s osmanthus heaven. Also got minis of Norell and Infini, but the 1000 is my fave. The current version strikes me as loud and blunt in comparison.
3) all the gardening aromas I’ve experienced recently aren’t scents one would want to wear
4) said it before, but I can’t recommend The Americans enough. You really have to start from the beginning. I get a kick out of Denis Leary, so I’m looking forward to Sex & Drugs & Rock n Roll.
5) have recently discovered the entertainment of acquiring & accessorizing with scarves–not as challenging as I’d previously thought. Found a Ferragamo and a Leonard Paris for chips on ebay–in great condition!
If you like scarves I can thoroughly recommend Maitaispicturebook.com Her scarfrings are fantastic. I bought some Hermes scarves for reasonable prices on Ebay.
thanks, the dark mother of pearl rings DO look fantastic.
I have bought several of her scarf rings and one of the necklaces, and can attest to the high quality of items on her site. Plus, she is a lovely person to do business with.
Scarfs are awesome fun! Get an old stick pin if you can find one, and then you’ll have even more.
Love scarves. And the Miniature Perfume Shoppe is terrific, too.
Ditto on the scarf comment–they can make an outfit. Have bought several Hermes scarves on evilbay–just be careful, they’re addictive! Hermes also has scarf-tying guides, and YouTube is a good source of instruction (is there anything you can’t learn how to do on YouTube?)
Just curious – how do you know the scarves are authentic?
Or I should rephrase – what should one look for to check for the authenticity of an Hermes scarf?
There’s “Hermes Scarf Guides” on Facebook (and I think the author also has a guide on eBay) that has really good info on determining authenticity. Also, The RealReal and its-all-goode.com do authenticated resale if you don’t want to risk the wilds of eBay.
Also the common sense “if it is too good to be true it isn’t” applies.
1. Eau de Cologne today.
2. Amouage Sunshine was my last purchase- for the price it sure better blow me away. 🙂
3. Mariage Ferers Paris Breakfast would make a lovely tea perfume
4. I am watching Grace and Frankie and Netflix and laughing a lot
5. My daughter is going to be six months next month and she has started to do the “worm” where her legs go up under her thighs and her butt sticks up high in the air. Soon she will be crawling!!
I so often smell a tea and wish it was a perfume!
me too. Nothing beats that sniff of a tin containing tea.
(1) SOTD is Eau Claire des Merveilles (2) 31 Rue Cambon – I just got a small decant last fall so it’s newish to me. It’s not really my style, but I fell in love with it anyway. It’s a big, beautiful, special occasion kind of scent. I haven’t gotten a FB…yet 🙂 (3) Late May/early June evenings in Virginia smell amazing to me; grassy, earthy with the scent of honeysuckle drifting over everything. I wish someone could capture that in a perfume. (4) We’ve been watching the TV show Treme on DVD and it’s really, really good. It’s about post-Katrina New Orleans, specifically the Treme neighborhood. Great acting and amazing music! (5) I just found out I’m going to be an aunt for the first time, which I think is pretty wonderful! Have a great weekend everyone!
Treme is very absorbing…could have continued for another season or two.
Fell in love with some of the Treme characters. A lively and bittersweet series.
1) Might be SSS Nostalgia. Just the right scent for the Mets game we’ll be at today ;-).
2)Tauer Sotto la Luna Gardenia which was a surprise as I thought it would be my least favorite in my discovery set. No FB yet. Maybe a larger decant.
3)a black tea pot de creme with pine nut biscuit dessert I had recently.
4) Im way behind on TV series but 2 foreign films I enjoyed recently were “Violette” and “A Coffee in Berlin”
5) My hubby randomly bought me 2 books for my b-day last week: “Perfume: the Story of a Murder” &”The Perfume Collector” which was sweet because he is couldn’t be less interested in my perfume fetish. Anyone read either of these?
I have both of those books I bought at one of our library book sales but they are both in my ‘to read’ pile. Thanks for the reminder to move those to the top!
I loved the Perfume Collector. Great read.
Thanks for the rec! Think I’ll start with that one.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is terrific, but fair warning, it can be pretty disturbing.
Thanks for the warning! Not bed-time reading, then.
It stays with you a while…
1. Le Labo Bergamont. And got a compliment about it!
2. Donna Karan Gold. Just bought it blind due to fellow NSTer suggestions and comments, and it’s amazing. Wore it many times last week during the day and to bed.
3. When I run around my neighborhood, I get wonderful wafts of green, honeysuckle, and foresty earth. I know there are scents that capture this and I just haven’t tried them yet. Also – I would love something that smells as good asy kitty’s head – yeah, crazy cat lady here 😉
4. The Color of Paradise. It is an Iranian film and it is just done so beautifully. The story of a blind boy and his father, and the way they portray the blind boy’s other senses is really neat.
5. I have a houseguest staying with us – indefinitely as she recently left a relationship – and she has been buying flowers for the house. The lilies smell great and are so pretty! Also, she has a sweet tooth so now I have someone to bake for (my boyfriend does not have one) 🙂 I made funfetti cupcakes from scratch yesterday.
Ha! I always say I want to bottle my Sphynx cat’s (hairless) scent which is a combo of raw potato, mushrooms, and Fritos. Another crazy cat lady here 🙂 And that film sounds right up my alley.
Yes! Cat scent is wonderful. Have you tried Winter Kitty by For Strange Women? It doesn’t actually smell like kitty (unless your cat smells much sweeter and mintier than mine) but it’s a very nice cozy natural. Besides, I always try to support other crazy cat folk 🙂
1. Today I am wearing that wonderful rose oil I got from Urban Outfitters. NY has begun its sweaty summer and it’s helping me cope.
3. Herbal Essences has brought back a couple of their shampoos and conditioners (scent wise anyway) that were around in the late 90s/early 00s, and I’m in love with the pink-bottled conditioner. Wonderful smell.
4. Just watched Beginners with Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor and loved it.
5. I was just now standing on an elevated subway platform in the heat and a cool breeze came through that was just about the most pleasurable thing ever. Simple but beautiful.
What! Herbal Essences is back!? Excellent!
I’m not sure how many of them, but the green shampoo and pink conditioner have returned, and I am greatly enjoying both of them.
I’ll take it!
1. Annick Goutal Songes
2. I liked Cuir D’Ange very much, but I haven’t bought it (yet).
3. A lovely old Rioja wine from Spain, which smelled like strawberry, vanilla, and old furniture. Really!
4. I’m a little obsessed with Inside Amy Schumer right now. She really has her finger on the spirit of the times.
5. I went to a spa for the first time in my life yesterday! I never would have gone without the gift certificate I received as a present last year. It was a very fancy place located in a beautiful old house. I had a facial which involved some lovely botanical oils, including lavender and ylang-ylang. I don’t think I can afford to have one regularly, but I appreciated the experience.
I have also been obsessed with Amy Schumer! Her skits really point out some hilarious absurdities in our society. One of my favorites is the Compliments skit.
Songes is wonderful, almost wore it today too.
That old Rioja sounds wonderful.
I like Cuir D’Ange very much too! Sometimes last winter, I got myself one of those small bottles from a set (on eBay) and I’ve been using it more than anything else (but still have some left).
1. Calyx. I’ve wanted to wear it for a few days but couldn’t find it. Turns out in was hiding in plain sight on the bookshelf with all of the other bottles. This may be a sign that I own too many?
2. I can’t remember the last time something blew my socks off. Recent purchases are JM Birch and Black Pepper and Atelier Sud de Magnolia. They blew one sock off.
3. I have never liked peony. It a note that ruins a fragrance for me and I can only think of one scent I really like that has it. But yesterday I stopped at a Whole Foods that had just opened mid-week and they had peonies on sale. They were so fresh, a little tart, and gorgeous. They are in my kitchen window now and I can’t stop leaning in to smell them. Someone should make a peony fragrance that actually smells like a peony!
4. I haven’t seen a movie in forever and am embarrassed to admit I love fluffy television in the summer. (I can’t wait for Mistresses to start back up!) I agree with Galbanumgal above, The Americans is an amazing show and I’m also excited about the new Denis Leary show. (I love Sirens too.) A year or two ago I recommended Broadchurch on BBC America. The second season aired this spring here, but if they run it again I hope some NSTers will tune in. It is a stunningly great show.
5. Mr. Lucy and I have decided to take Baby Jack to my parents house in northern Michigan for a week in June. It’s nothing groundbreaking but I am very excited about getting away and getting some rest while Grandma and Grandpa occupy Jack. I love him but he needs constant attention and doesn’t nap. Momma needs some sleep.
Did you watch the American adaptation called Gracepoint? I watched both that and Broadchurch, loved Tennant in Broadchurch but didn’t care for him in Gracepoint. Amazing that he played both the English and American version of the same character!
One sock off! LOL.
I’m right there with you on #3.
My husband recently brought home a few peonies and the scent was incredibly beautiful and so romantic, but this is not the peony I get with fragrances focused on the note.
I’d love a solifore of that live peonies scent.
I’m quite fond of Peoneve by Penhaligon’s, but it has some rose in it as well.
Happy Saturday everyone!
1. Scent of the day is Prada Infusion d’Homme (due to anticipation for INfusion d’Oeillet)
2. Would be Jul et Mad Nin-Shar and Atelier des Ors Cuir Sacree, I got the latter one so far.
3. Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice would make a nice perfume note.
4. I’ve been watching ‘How to get away with murder’ lately and I like it a lot
5. I have a long weekend ahead starting on Wednesday afternoon next week 🙂
Have fun on your long weekend, sweetie!
Thank you, I’m sure I will
Testing iris scents this morning – VC&A Bois d’Iris on one arm and Iris Nobile EDT on the other. Both are like, not love, and Iris Nobile is ahead by more than a nose (apologies for the terrible pun). Last scent that blew my socks off was Olfactive Studios Lumiere Blanche (just yesterday, in fact). Not sure yet whether that or Chambre Noire will be my next purchase, but one of them likely will be … or maybe both?
This weekend is my mom and stepfather’s 48th anniversary, and I think that’s pretty darn wonderful.
Congrats to them, yes, that is pretty darn wonderful!
Lumiere Blanche is indeed amazing.
1. Wearing Seville a l’Aube.
2. Misia. Wow, when I first smelled it, I thought Chanel had made it just for me 🙂 Probably I’ll buy a bottle before the end of the year. The price of decants can add up.
3. I love the smell of tire stores, but I don’t want to smell like new tires!
4&5. I discovered Shout Factory, which I stream through my Roku player. I watched two Werner Herzog films last week. They also have old TV shows and Mystery Science Theatre 3000. You can watch for free with ads or rent.
Fun — I still have a few Werner Herzog movies I need to see.
SOTD is Annie Oakley Morning Dew, the fragrance of rain-washed lilacs, as I bid farewell to the last of my lilacs being washed away in today’s rain.
Dame Perfumery Scottsdale Dark Horse. I liked it so much I bought a FB, a rarity for me these days.
Korean Spice or Juddi Viburnum.
Midsomer Murders, a British TV detective drama that takes place in the idyllic picturesque but deadly villages of the fictional county of Midsomer. This series is so beautifully filmed sometimes the plot seems secondary! Currently filming its 18th season, I was delighted to find my library has the entire series on DVD’s – at least 3 or 4 full shelves of them. Although the crime-solvers are continuing characters, each episode is distinct, making the series a great TV-filler when you’re in the mood for an hour-and-a-half or so of a good British murder mystery. (They’re best enjoyed by a fire with a cuppa.) I take two DVD’s out at a time and look forward to enjoying these for a long time to come!
One day walking home from the library hand-in-hand with my visiting Little One, she tells me when she grows up she wants to live in my town because there’s so many fun things to do and then we can see each other every day
Big Midsommer Murders fan here, too. Lucky you for having a well stocked library!
That’s a truly wonderful experience with the visiting Little One!
Score on library! Every day we all are privileged to live in a society with public libraries is the best day ever. Your little one sounds great.
1. Copal Azur with a little dab of Parfum Sacre vintage extrait on the back of one hand.
2. Afore mentioned Parfum Sacre, courtesy of a generous NSTer! I searched around and bought a bottle of older EDP of this, which is supposed to show up on my door any day now. The extrait is heart and pocketbook breakingly spendy.
3. The purple irises starting to bloom in my garden smell like ripe grapes and orris root! This is a fruity scent I would wear…
4. I need to catch up on my reading..the last thing I read that held my attention all the way through is Gone Girl, but it was really that good a book…
5. Hmmm. Working too much, guess I need to arrange for some more fun in my life…
Vintage Parfum Sacre is shimmering, complex and gorgeous! You will enjoy it for sure!
I feel the same way about Gone Girl – it fascinated in that “I can’t look away” kind of way, but it wasn’t that great a book, a little bit soap-opera-y or something. Can’t get excited about the movie version at all.
I didn’t read the book but watched the movie the other night. For a movie it wasn’t bad but I don’t think I’d read the book after watching it which I sometimes do. Sometimes the movies are better than the books. I thought that about Notes on a Scandal too. I saw the movie then read the book for that and I preferred the tweaks to the story line in the movie.
Really not that good of a book. Ugh.
1. An essential oil blend called Meditation with cedar, myrtle, Australian sandalwood, and patchouli.
2. Vintage Shiseido Murasaki. Yes.
3. I was drinking a Duvel outside near a teak table I had sanded and weatherproofed that morning, I could smell the sweet almond and banana shrub (related to champaca not bananas), the turpentine/latex smell of the weatherproofing, the teak, my beer and the general hot, humid smell of Miami evenings with just a tiny touch of chlorine from the pool. I wish I could get CB:IHP to bottle it.
4. I watched a new print of Eric Rohmer’s Marquise of O. I had forgotten how good his historical dramas are.
5. A couple of weeks ago, I spent a few days in and around Pasadena with my partner looking at Spanish Revival houses, traipsing through the magnificent gardens at the Huntington, drinking great coffee at Jameson Brown, and eating more than well. A relaxed and fantastic vacation.
I’ll buy it, if you get him to make it.
If you can get CB to bottle your fantasy scent I would totally buy it 🙂
I lived in Pasadena for five years. It is a glorious place. I bet you saw many homes with a second story porch. Charming!
I love love love Murasaki. It is one of the only perfumes I have ever bought after one spray.
1. SOTD is Voyage.
2. Last perfume that blew me away was Narcisco – also my last purchase.
3. Hmm, maybe my linden tree, which still is unmatched by any linden perfume I’ve tried, though I do love Zeta.
4. Saw Mad Max: Fury Road, and loved it. Non-stop action and great female roles. Also recommend the series Justified. It just wrapped up this year, so you can binge watch it. Great for those who loved the language of the series Deadwood.
5. Looking forward to my nephew’s wedding in a few weeks. It’s in Minnesota, so we’ll be combining it with a vacation to the Apostle Islands, and I’m looking forward to kayaking the sea caves there.
Mad Max is a great movie!
I loved Deadwood- the dialogue was fantastic and I so wish they would do a second season but I guess that won’t happen at this point. I will check out Justified as I love binge watching and don’t have a tv, so hoping it’s available on Amazon Prime!
I’d like to watch Deadwood again – I missed some of the episodes when it was on – and also like to watch it with my husband. There was a lot of stunning, shocking?, moments in that series that I’d like to see again. I grew up watching Ian McShane on Lovejoy with my parents so to see him so powerful and vulgar was amazing.
Ian McShane is the bomb digity! To me, the entire series was “unexpected”- not only the dialogue and setting, but the series of events that drove the storyline, as well. It was quite unique, which is why I liked it so much I think.
Calamity Jane gave me real shock since I had imagined her since childhood in a totally different way!
1. I am wearing Guerlain eau de fleurs de cédrat again
2. Bal à Versailles vintage extrait
3. The magnolia flowers on our tree, I would like to find a perfume with the same scent.
4. I watched Homeland and enjoyed it a lot, waiting impatiently for the new season
5. I am on vacation whole summer and enjoying this a lot.
on vacation whole summer! yes, do enjoy it 🙂
vintage Bal a Versailles is amazing!
1. SOTD = Bvlgari Black
2. Dior Feve Delicieuse – mmmmm good!
3. Not what I smelled most recently but I think some should bottle the dry-down of Iris Poudre
4. Beyond the Tank is a follow-up show to the entrepreneurs that showed up on Shark Tank. It also features those that did not get any of the Sharks to invest. The other show I like, although not new, is Tiny Homes on HGTV – although I can’t imagine downsizing to a 90 sq. ft. home, it makes me want to keep de-cluttering.
5. It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood 🙂
Anna mentioned LUSH. Thanks to Jonas (i think), I decided to check out Copperhead solid shampoo. I had never used a solid shampoo and was quite skeptical; however, upon using it for the first time, uesterday I do like the format and Copperhead was quite nice. I did not know it was more expensive than the other solid shampoos and the SA mentioned the regular lower price so when I went to pay, I was not happy and insisted that I need to get it for the lower price. Meanwhile the line was getting longer (once again, only one register was functioning) and the manager realized I was not about to back down and reluctantly but appropriately charged me the lower price. The difference was $2 and will not break the bank but I stood my ground on principle.
Atta girl! 🙂 I am very proud of you!
Yup, that was me. I’m glad you like it so far. I’ve been using mine almost daily for the past month and I really like how my hair looks and feels. I think I’ve used maybe a fifth of the bar (short hair though) so it’s definitely a good value for me.
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
– Elie Saab edt. I’m in Side, Turkey on holiday and it suits the place well.
2. The last new (or new to you) fragrance that blew your socks off? Did you buy it?
– New…last fall, I fel hard for Le Labo Benjoin 19. Since then, I’ve found two new loves, Hermes Un jardin sur le Nil & Eau des Merveilles. Lovely, but I wouldnt sell a kidney for them.
3. What’s the last thing you smelled that made you think wow, someone should make a perfume that smells just like this.
– A jar of homemade gooseberry marmalade, cooked with sliced ginger and cinnamon sticks.
4. Are there any great movies or television series that you really think your fellow perfumistas need to watch this summer? (And by the way, the summer reading poll is coming up in a couple of weeks.)
– Everybody really should watch The blacklist. And for history buffs, both Outlander and Black sails are great adventures.
5. Share something wonderful with us! It can be anything: something you discovered, or bought, or that happened to you recently.
– The BIG shampoo from Lush is really great! And fun to use, with a lot of coarse salt in the mix. And smells nice of lemon and orange blossom.
Blacksails is great!
Your number three sounds like a gourmand even I would wear!
1. SOTD=SJP Lovely
2. Chanel no 22 extrait, both socks. This needs saving for. Also still without socks because of Unum Lavs.
3. The scent of honeybush (Cyclopia). It is related to rooibos, but has a more aromatic honeylike scent. Lovely as tea, would love it as perfume.
4. I watched a hilarious French movie: Bon Dieu! Very lighthearted and very funny. Not as good as L’intouchables, but good for a real laugh.
5. I suppose waking up to a new day is wonderful. Seeing my husband. Training my dog. Anticipating the arrival of a freebie package (infusion d’iris)! A lovely gift from my best friend who visited New York: a silk scarf with a japanese print, bought in the Met. Many many birds in my garden, goldfinch, hawfinch, woodpecker, Old world flycatcher, Mistle Thrush. Yellow flagirises round my pond, azalea in full bloom.
Like reading your #5 response! I am trying to focus more on the beauty of the everyday; fragrances and NST are helpful in that regard.
Seeing the simple beauty in every day is the best thing there is. A wonderful bagel…. the smell of coffee (or tea)…. a lovely hot shower.
1. I’m staying in all day, so just Laura Mercier Fresh Fig lotion for me.
2. After reading a review of it here, I bought A Lab on Fire’s Paris L.A. unsniffed, and it did not disappoint! It smells like something a master pastry chef would whip up.
3. Nothing comes to mind offhand.
4. Hannibal, which returns next week. Fair warning, it can be EXTREMELY gory, especially for network TV, but the cinematography is absolutely stunning. They photograph Hannibal’s feasts so beautifully that I always find my mouth watering until I remember what most of it is! And Hannibal once smelled perfume on a woman and identified it as JAR’s Bolt of Lightning.
5. My partner is out of town this weekend, which is unfortunate in some ways because I really miss him, but on the other hand, it’s nice to have two full days completely to myself! I have a huge stack of magazines and books (including The Blondes by Emily Schultz, which is excellent), a couple of Netflix discs, and a stash of junk food to keep me occupied until he returns. And, of course, there will be naps!
I keep trying to persuade my lovely husband to take our daughter to visit his mom in Portland – just the two of them. I love them and we all get along just fine, but I would LOVE to have about 5 days all to myself….
1. dropped in a Sephora to test Infusion d’Iris EDP which indeed smells closer to the body lotion (that I love).
2. Chanel Beige! BTW I am still looking for recommendations of fragrances or body products that smell like the top notes of Beige, if anyone has any idea?
3. Not sure about this one. Maybe Lush’s scrub Rub Rub Rub? Or their orange blossom conditionner (can’t remember the name)
4. Recently, Homeland, True Detectives and of course Game of Throne. Oh! And Lillihammer.
5. One of my aunt is making my wedding dress! How exciting!?!
4.
Lillihammer is hilarious.
A handmade wedding dress sounds so romantic and wonderful to me.
1. Hermés Hiris
2. Chanel Box of Eels- blew my socks AND my shoes right off! A FB purchase is imminent!
3. Oh geez, I just ate it: cottage cheese with a sprinkle of cinnamon with granola, coconut, sliced banana, and a drizzle of honey. Yep, you read that right! Smelled AND tasted delish!
4. Orphan Black. Love the very real concept behind it and the lead actress is outstanding!
5. Air conditioning. No joke, it’s HOT here!
Snack sounds good, may try it w ricotta instead (am trying to eat less salt…cottage cheese has a lot of sodium)
Thanks for pointing that out- I had no idea!
I am trying to get off dairy altogether but wanted to use up what I have on hand. I made some “ice cream” with frozen bananas, almond butter, a splash of almond milk, some cinnamon and a teensy bit of vanilla extract yesterday in my effort to break up with Mr. Moose Tracks Ice Cream.
I was surprisingly delighted with the result 🙂
It does boost the sugar content a little but I usually add some finely diced soft dates to my banana “ice cream”. I prefer Halawi but Medjools are good too. It’s like having chunks of caramel. Otherwise, my recipe is just like yours and now I really want some.
Your ice cream sounds absolutely delicious.
That sounds delicious. I did something similar once with canned pumpkin and spices to make a pumpkin pie “ice cream”.
I thought Orphan Black was excellent, but it made me too tense to watch…
Same here. I finally convinced myself it wasn’t worth it.
I have friends who are really into that show, but I haven’t been able to start it yet. I wish they would add it to Netflix streaming.
1. SOTD is Eau des Merveilles. Perfect for the warm sunny day today.
2. Shangri La, and yes I bought it and can’t get enough of it. Kinda amazing I’m not wearing it right now!
3. Had some “French scented’ earl grey tea from a local tea house yesterday with a hefty dose of bergamot plus corn flowers and hibiscus. Lovely!
4. Total summer guilty pleasure…Mad Max. Loved it, I might even go again. Silly but supercharged fun.
5. Swimming. After a long hiatus, I’ve gone back to the pool. Wish I’d never stopped, it is so mentally and physically calming.
I love action movies – good ones and cheesy ones. I want to see Mad Max (love Charlize Theron!), and also the new Terminator later this summer….
1. Monsieur Li and his garden
2. Fleur de Chine (bought a bottle, despite the price) and vintage Diorella (didn’t buy a bottle, for obvious reasons)
3. I just made one of my favourite salads: pomegranate seeds, tarragon, parsley, tomato, cucumber, arugula and other salad leaves, finely chopped, dressed with pomegranate molasses. It smells as amazing as it tastes: green and herbal and tart and sweet all at the same time, the aniseedy tarragon working so well with the fruity pomegranate. I would wear that.
4. I second what Jirish said – Mad Max was amazing. And if you haven’t yet, watch La Grande Bellezza.
5. I’m drinking Mariage Freres Alexandra David-Neel, just bought it today. I like the inspiration behind the tea and the tea itself. It’s pretty spicy, but that’s what I needed on a cold day like today.
5. Also, eating Dulce de Leche from a jar.
Oh, have been curious about that particular MF. Is it that different from any old regular chai?
I have only drunk it twice and with milk, but I suppose it is different – it’s fruitier than other chais I’ve tried, so I believe some people might prefer it without milk. The aftertaste has quite a kick to it, however, from the pepper and possibly ginger. I should try it next to Chandernagor, maybe that would inspire some useful insight.
Thanks so much!
Wearing Chantecaille Petales (from a sample). I like the animalic aspects of this one. Anybody a fan?
The last new fragrance is Ostara. I bought a roller and am happy that they made it in the small size as well (just because I came to a point where I really don’t need anything in a big bottle).
I have a banana croton plant that is blooming, and I was exactly thinking: “wow, someone should make a perfume that smells just like this.” If somebody knows of one, please direct me!
1. Today I’m in Laura Tonatto Fior D’Arancio and it’s perfect for the sunny, but not too hot day we’re having here.
2. Slumberhouse Kiste Yes, I bought a bottle. It just smells so good and is different from anything else I own.
3. Today when I was out running errands, I saw some white Siberian irises (cut flowers) at a store and they have a nice light-but-definitely-there kind of iris scent. I had never seen white ones before. Of course, I bought them. That would be a nice scent to somehow bottle.
4. I am sort of a game show junkie (Jeopardy, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, etc.) and I enjoyed 500 Questions when it was on. I also enjoyed the Scripps Spelling Bee this past week. Not a game show, but fun to watch in the same way.
5. I am a townhouse person and we had some Korean lilac bushes planted right behind my home two years ago. This year they bloomed for the first time and there are so many flowers. They’ve been blooming for at least 3 weeks now. I have to also count the white irises I got today in this last question because they’re lovely, too.
Shhh…I think Kiste might be my next blind buy. Even though I have issues with peach sometimes I just have a feeling that this one would be perfect for me.
I didn’t enjoy Kiste as ai thought I would. The peach was persistent and not in a good way.
Poodle, I have promised myself no more blind buys, but this one is really speaking to me…..
1. I’m wearing Hermes Jardin en Mediterrannee today.
2. I think it might be Bogue Maai. The opening is a little rough but it’s gorgeous after that.
5. I’m taking a first-time homebuyers class today (on lunch break now, actually). It’s a little overwhelming, frankly
I have a sample of Maai that I’ve been saving. Maybe I’ll try it tonight.
Ymmv but I think whether you’ll like it depends on how your skin reacts with animalics. I think my skin deemphasizes them a bit so things with super skanky reputations aren’t always so to me.
Try and get a recommendation for a realtor you can really trust and it will make the whole thing easier. It’s still a hard leap to go into home ownership, but a good realtor will make a big difference, b/c they’ll have tips on mortgage brokers (even if you are doing FHA stuff), getting pre-certified, and also on good inspectors, etc. You can tell right away if it’s a good realtor b/c they’ll only show you the houses you can afford and are comfortable with. Good luck!
Thanks.. I just got home and my head is swimming a bit. I think it’s just all the costs and stuff aside from the down payment that I wasn’t thinking about, which is just more stuff to save for, and debt to income ratios and all that stuff. It really could have been a 2-day class for all the information they try to pack in.
SOTD is Penhalgion’s Violetta – I’ve been reaching for it all week as temperatures climb above 80. Can’t think of any perfume that has blown my socks off lately, but I’m looking forward to trying MCMC’s new ones that are limited release to Anthropologie. I’m years late to it, but Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries are fun and I can imagine her wearing the great perfumes of the 1920s!
1. Trefle Pur
2. My most recent purchase was Musc Tonkin EDP and although it wasn’t love at first sniff it has become a hot weather staple for me. I had expected it to be a cozy winter scent and it didn’t work that way for me.
3. Nobody would want to wear it but me but my hands the other day when I had been cleaning up some old rusty tools smelled awesome. Hot steel and 3 in 1 oil.
4. I don’t really watch TV unless I’m at Mom’s so I’m no help here. We did watch The Tingler last night. I love Vincent Price.
5. I had completely forgotten how much joy I get from swimming. My husband says it’s almost the only time he sees me ecstatic, which is kind of sad really. I’ve been like a little kid anticipating hopping in the river again tomorrow.
I love your #3 response! It reminds me of a time a few years ago when I had gone to the gun range with a friend of mine and later, we were cleaning our guns and he remarked “Nothing better than the smell of Hoppe’s in the afternoon!”
Hoppe’s is a gun cleaning oil and quite pungent 🙂
Hoppe’s #9 is a great smell! They make air fresheners that are like the little trees you hang in your car, except in the shape of the Hoppe’s bottle. Smells just like the real thing.
Sign me up for #3! I love a lot of metal smells in general. Also the smell of WD-40, on a related note. Guess it comes from having grown up in a shooting sports family!
Yes, gun oil smells amazing too. I love farm and hunting smells. My grandpa’s old (then abandoned) foundry and machine shop was one of my favorite places to sniff stuff when I was little. Also the abandoned canning factory and garage. There were wonderful old machine and metal smells everyplace. I also used to get in trouble for stopping behind diesel trucks to huff the exhaust (I actually still do).
MikasMinion, if you haven’t tried it yet, you must try HdP Petroleum. I could be wrong but I think there are 3 different perfumes in the series.
I haven’t tried them but will put them at the top of my sample list. Thanks!
I love to swim as well. It really makes me so happy and the ocean is my absolute favorite.
I think my husband would probably say the same about me.
Happy Saturday to Everyone! I hope the weather is better where you are than here in Texas. Well, to answer the questions:
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
Wild Fig and Cassis (Jo Malone)
2. The last new (or new to you) fragrance that blew your socks off? Did you buy it?
Well technically, it isn’t new anymore, but “Knot”. I still have not purchased it, but it is in the near future.
3. What’s the last thing you smelled that made you think wow, someone should make a perfume that smells just like this.
Jo Malone’s Sweet Almond & Macaroon Home Candle – it would be an amazing perfume.
4. Are there any great movies or television series that you really think your fellow perfumistas need to watch this summer? (And by the way, the summer reading poll is coming up in a couple of weeks.)
I would recommend everyone that doesn’t have Netflix to get it. I think it has something for everyone. I will be glued to it this summer.
5. Share something wonderful with us! It can be anything: something you discovered, or bought, or that happened to you recently…
My summer vacation officially starts on June 10th. This school year has been a tough one for me (health wise and all) and am excited to begin my summer break.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Every time I wear Wild Fig & Cassis I think how great it is and wonder why it doesn’t get more love in the Perfumeland.
Enjoy your upcoming vacation!
It is good stuff. You have amazing taste! 🙂
Hi Scentfromabove – I impulse-bought Knot yesterday after testing on skin. The SA threw in the adorable teeny bottle and a perfume tray. Of course two hours later all I could smell was an indistinct flower-musk drone. Let me know if you’re interested in acquiring it before I head back to Nordstrom.
Hi anngd,
Please let me know how much you are willing to let it go for. Email me at tlsmith0511@yahoo.com.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Will do.
1. OJ Frangipani. Only other choice was La Chasse aux Papillons, but I gave my sister the travel spray I brought because she loved it.
2. Nothing has blown my socks off, but I got compliments the two times I sprayed on Guerlain Gourmand Coquin… I think I love VC&A California Reverie, though.
3. Someone already made a scent of a smell I love… Juniper Ridge’s Sierra Granite. I don’t think I’d wear the cologne but the room spray does smell like my beloved Sierras.
4. Movie: Joss Whedon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream from a couple of years ago. I love that movie. Sexy Shakespeare.
5. Just visiting parents. They’re old, so it isn’t easy, but it’s a blessing. And spending time with my two crazy (good crazy) sisters.
1. Started with Terracotta this morn and just added a few spritzes of Le Jardin de Monsieur Li
2. Mohur Extrait is a scent that has been haunting me and I’d love to have a lifetime supply
3. I commented above about a solifore peony that is as true to the real deal as possible
4. Although not TV a new author I’m thoroughly enjoying and I’m pretty sure someone from NST turned me on to her is Elizabeth Peters and her Amelia Peabody series
Such a fun read and Amelia is an inspiring and unique character
5. Sunshine and outdoors warm air has really lifted me spirits, especially at twilight when there’s an easy breeze – feel like the wait this winter for this would never end
I think that might have been me, floragal, I’ve been an Elizabeth Peters lover since back when she was writing romances (Do try and find Legend in Green Velvet if you haven’t already, such a hoot.) I was so sorry to hear she died recently. No more Amelia and family.
Legend in Green Velvet is one of my favorites too. Actually, all of her earlier romance adventures are fun reading.
I’m so glad to have learned about her! Thank you!! She has left a treasure trove of stories for many to enjoy for years to come.
Excited to try Legend in Green Velvet too..
Now what scent would miss Peabody wear I wonder? Or maybe her indifference and downright annoyance at times to female primping would make her run from the stuff.
Nah, she wouldn’t admit to it but she would totally wear perfume. Probably something super skanky for evening at least. Don’t know what might have been available then but if I were dressing her in non period appropriate scents I could see her wearing a discreet dab of BaV and a good rose chypre for daytime.
Greetings on a beautiful spring day!
1. SOT am was Caswell & Massey Elixir of Love #1 b/c it’s just so gardeny…. SOTpm is Cristalle edt.
2. blew my socks off…. SL La Fille de Berlin… not yet, but hopefully soon…
3. Someone (Annick Goutal) should make a scent that smells like fresh spring air with a dash of sweet hay scented fern in it. Eau de Ciel is almost there, but it’s not green enough.
4. Movies to watch this summer: an oldie but very goodie – the foreign film, Mediterraneo from 1991. It is just so perfectly about how people are, and there is nothing wrong with escaping to Greece for a few hours.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102426/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
And, also, the great 2009 indie movie based on a great indie book: Youth in Revolt, starring Micheal Cera and some other hysterical people. It reminds you of what it’s like to be young and awkward.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403702/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
5. The most amazing thing that happened to me was finding a mis-tagged rose at the Kmart garden center mixed in with the always lovely Oklahoma roses. The gorgeous and apparently not common Medallion rose. Hopefully I can keep it alive in my zone 5!
1. Tuxedo Ralph Lauren
2. Field notes from Paris Ineke. I could not resist
3. My guilty pleasure recently is watching Little Women LA
4. On walks all month I’ve been pausing to whiff Sugar Pine sap.
5. My 5-year old was visiting the perfume boutique where I work he grabs a bottle of Lolita Lempicka & said it smelled like a “gross chai” while making disgusted face. He cracks me up.
I didn’t realize there was an updated Louisa May Alcott television series… so I looked it up…. errr.. Okay. Not Alcott at all!
1. SOTD is California Reverie
2. The last scent that blew my socks off was the discontinued Paco Rabanne La Nuit. Hearing that Luca Turin had compared it to “Spraying Tabu on a horse,” naturally I had to try it. I now have a mini and a big bottle of the edp and I love it. It was cheap, too.
3. I was making decants and the smell of Apres l’Ondee and La Liturgie des Heures was lovely, lilacs in church. The lilacs were quickly devoured by the incense, but I’m sure a perfumer could balance the two.
4. I am reading “The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons” by Sam Kean. Similar to the early books of Oliver Sacks, about the brain and how it can go awry due to disease or trauma.
5. I have taken up hiking since I keep getting tendonitis when I run. So far I’m loving it. And I love my goofy dog.
Foxbins! What kind of dog you have?
He’s a Tibetan Mastiff! 108 lbs of furry.
Mastiffs are big dogs! My. brother lives in Lake Oswego and he used to have an English Mastiff that was 180 lbs at her heaviest. Now he has two King Charles Cavaliers.
Goofy dogs are the best! I have one too and she just makes me bust out laughing sometimes. Such an expressive face and kooky personality! When a dog hits the trail, they just come fully and joyously ALIVE!
I’m wearing Borsari Violetta di Parma from a sample. Really like it!
The last thing I smelled that might be perfume-worthy is newly mowed lawn with lawnmower exhaust lingering in the air. Smells like summer!
Recently watched Black Mirror on Netflix. Sort of a modern- day Twilight Zone and not for the faint of heart. Very dark.
Something wonderful is that my 13 month old son can climb up his little castle play structure (it’s only like 2 feet tall, but still!) and go down the slide all by himself. Such a big boy! I’m very proud of him and proud of myself for being able to just let him do it without hovering and freaking out. Feeling happy he can do it himself and sad he doesn’t need me to help him. Why must the most wonderful things be tinged with heartbreak?!
1. CdG’s Kyoto. It does work fine in hot weather, but it just doesn’t work on me in any weather, I’ve decided. Hoping to swap it away soon.
2. House of Matriarch’s Lucid. I did get a FB, in swap! Swapping has been working exceptionally well for me lately.
3. The Thai soup I made, with a lot of help from my friendly neighborhood Thai grocer. Someone told me that one of the Etat Libre d’Orange perfumes smells like this soup, but then again that person did not come over and eat *my* soup!
4. My wife and I enjoyed the first season of Turn: Washington’s Spies. The second season is less interesting so far. We also liked the first season of Halt and Catch Fire, and I think the second is starting very soon. I don’t imagine the second season is likely to hold up very well on that one either. This is pretty much how I feel about flankers of all kinds.
5. We were at a friend’s birthday party, and we realized that most of us have known most of the rest of us for quite a few years now. It turns out that as you get older, you get older friendships, too.
Ooh! I love Kyoto! What are you hoping to get?
I don’t have anything in particular in mind. It’s just a decant, maybe 6mL left in it. If that still gives you ideas, by all means Gmail me. I’m alederberg. 🙂
The best perfume I’ve smelled in the last three months or so is 1990s AG Heure Exquise. My more recent version (purchased around 2008) is also great in its own right, but those old ingredients are so fabulous.
I’m wearing an accidental combination of Prada Infusion d’Iris on one wrist and CSP Bois de Filao on the other that happens to work very well.
I’m reading P.D. James’s Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, which are terrific. I had seen a couple of them as films starring Roy Marsden years ago. Now it appears that a different actor, Martin Shaw, played Dalgliesh in the later installments. I’m considering whether to watch the films after I finish the books and how I’ll feel about the change in actors if I do. 🙂 Also looking forward to reading the author’s autobiography, Time to Be in Earnest.
I love PD James! Her characters are so well done, I feel like I know them personally. I was so sorry to hear of here passing recently. She left a wonderful body of work.
Yes, her characters seem very real. I love her descriptions of places, too, and how she often notes the artists whose paintings decorate the characters’ homes or offices. I like to look them up with Google image searches.
Deva, is there anyone else whose mysteries you would particularly recommend? (I’ve also read Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache, Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs, Susan Hill’s Simon Serrailler, and Dorothy Sayers’s Lord Peter Wimsey.)
Nozknoz, I love HE above all, am very fond of Gamache, and can recommend Martin Shaw in any role, one of my favourite actors. Probably superfluous, but I can recommend all Elizabeth George’s books, and wonderful Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie.
I hope you like The Winter Queen and the comment is obviously meant for everyone who might be intrested 🙂
Who is HE?
If you’re willing to branch out a bit, at least in terms of cultural backgorund, then I recommend Boris Akunin’s Erast Fandorin series. I think if you like Wimsey, you might enjoy this, although these books are more diverse in terms of the genre – some are more classic detective stories than others. I have not read all of them, I think there are 13 books by now. The first (The Winter Queen), is not the best, but I still recommend starting with it, for the backstory. I personally find the 19th century Russian setting extremely fascinating and I like the characters.
Hi Anniky, I know this is meant for Nozknoz, but I am busily writing it down and the Winter Queen now sits in my Amazon basket!
Annicky, I’ve read Russian classics and some science fiction, so I’m looking forward to adding mysteries!
I was riveted to the Jack Taylor series by Ken Bruen for quite a long while. It the epitome of “noir” (unlike so many fumes the sport that name!) and can be disturbing to some, I would imagine.
Taylor was an Irish guarda who was booted from the force due to drink, ironically. He spends his days in a local pub and becomes a quasi private investigator for the desperate and disenfranchised.
The books are filled with wonderfully colored characters, including a self righteous crooked priest who is chain smoking himself all the way to hell, a gay female guarda who is Jack’s best friend and worst enemy, and a biker, ex-addict who owns a local pub where Jack drinks, and a very cultured metrosexual zen drug dealer who Jack sometimes obtains “supplies” from.
The development of these relationships is very intriguing and Bruen does what so many authors try to do and fail- he gives the reader a completely flawed, wreck of a character who is obnoxious, pitiful, judgemental, brutal, bitter, vulnerable, and cynical, yet I find myself constantly rooting for him and liking him immensely.
There are no happy endings in this series, and the writing style is quite abrupt, poetic, and sharp edged. Not a series for everyone, but I find it refreshingly honest.
These sound great – thanks!
Have you ever read any Minette Walters? I remember being very impressed with both The Dark Room and The Scold’s Bridle. Ruth Rendell is very good. She is a contemporary of James. She has also written a number of novels as Barbara Vine. A Dark Adapted Eye is very, very good.
Thanks, austenfan!
Nozknoz – I’ve been on a mystery reading kick lately and would add to your list the Donna Leon Inspector Brunetti series, Charles Todd’s Bess Crawford series (also a WWI nurse like Maisie Dobbs), and in a much lighter vein, M. C. Beaton’s Hamish MacBeth series.
It’s very relaxing to read mysteries, isn’t it? More good series to catch up on!
This is in response to Nozknoz and the chain of mystery suggestions: I am totally, embarrassingly, and ridiculously addicted to Anne Perry’s William Monk (Victorian England just after the Crimean War) series… but the first three were the best I think. I read them serially and it was like a sickness! Also reading the very addictive Charles Todd mysteries about Inspector Ian Rutledge (post WWI England)…!
I’m really intrigued by a Victorian series!
I think I preferred Marsden though Shaw is arguably a more versatile actor. The first Dalgliesh Shaw featured in is “Death in Holy Orders” which is probably my favourite Dalgliesh. Something very poignant in that story.
Thanks for the recommendations, everyone!
Austenfan, yes, there was something about Death in Holy Orders (the book). I still remember Devices and Desires with Marsden (and also loved the book). I feel that without being at all obvious about it, P.D. James was exploring different facets of human nature in each of her books – ambition, guilt, growing up without love, and so on. Especially the ripple effects.
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
Reverie au Jardin–needed something cool to counter this humid weather.
2. The last new (or new to you) fragrance that blew your socks off? Did you buy it?
I have been happily trying a number of fragrances and not buying any…..see my answer to question #5
3. What’s the last thing you smelled that made you think wow, someone should make a perfume that smells just like this.
Every June, when I drive after dark with the windows down on the back roads, I am amazed at what I call the “warm June smell.” Honeysuckle and other various vegetation. If they bottled it, I would pay big time.
4. Are there any great movies or television series that you really think your fellow perfumistas need to watch this summer? (And by the way, the summer reading poll is coming up in a couple of weeks.)
I’ll wait for the reading poll…..
5. Share something wonderful with us! It can be anything: something you discovered, or bought, or that happened to you recently.
Well, for those of you who attended the recent Sniffapalooza, I was the lucky Bergdorf’s raffle winner! 19 bottles of wonderful that I am still working my way through. I plan to sniff, enjoy, and then share. Thanks to the Karens for a wonderful event, and to Hajusuuri, Daisy, and Star Fire Red for helping me really enjoy the day.
Woo hoo! Tbat was quite a haul!
Out of order and random…
Surfing The Sample Sea today: Bandit. Third go round. Nope. Mens’ shoes plus flowers, pass. Intriguing but difficult. Difficult not appreciated at present.
Huge love plus willing to pay? Nothing. I’m seriously considering early retirement. As in a hut in Ecuador versus another ten years of working. Not being facetious!
I’ll join others in peony love, and thanks to mals for her Muse in Wooden Shoes peony post. I would also love a true hyacinth perfume.
Not doing tv at present. Current book : “The Yellow Birds.” An exploration of a soldier’s experience of his time in Iraq. Simple, stark and compelling.
I just finished “The Summer Book” which is a lovely comforting yet conflicted story about a young girl and her grandmother. The voices of the characters are astonishing and I found myself within them.
Monday, June first will be Move on Monday for me. I have a lot to do. I will be a first time home seller, and I need to get that together. Eep!
Wow, sorry things are so discouraging. Working for others is almost impossible these days (assuming you value your sanity). Hang in there, hope things improve.
Thank you, that’s very sweet 🙂
I should clarify it’s really not discouraging. I actually can retire early if I join the expat gang. It’s a HUGE decision, but it definitely has made me aware of the need to consider what I want my life to be in the coming years.
1. Nothing yet but testing NVC’s Pichola on one wrist and Ashoka on the other.
2. Krigler Lieber Gustav 14. I haven’t bought it yet but I plan to.
3. Daphne odora. None of the two perfumes that are supposed to smell like it (Eau de Tommi Sooni II and DelRae Wit – love both) come even close to the great smell of this plant.
4 & 5. Sorry, can’t think of anything.
No. 2 has been on the To Buy list for a long time!
What a wonderful thread this has been today!
1) SOTD is Chergui
2) Sox off, a FB of Penhaligon’s As Sawira and I am really loving it. My sis and I had a trip to Morocco planned for last month including a weekend in Paris for my birthday – my gift to me was going to be hours at SL store, I mean the euro/dollar thing was going to make a cloche bell look really good – but alas a family illness forced us to cancel. So… the As Sawira was kind of a consolation present. And, I really love it’s warmth.
3) Kitty’s heads do smell wonderful. I would like to see Jo Malone Black Coffee and Vetiver have some more…muchness? I travel to Asia a lot and there is a certain subtle, sweetish, smoky dustiness of the early mornings in Northern Thailand and Laos that I would bottle if I could. PG Indochine has been a close fit – it has tanaka powder that brings me to Burma.
4) When I was younger I lived in Iran for about 5 years. The movies that come out of Iran leave me speechless with their language and beauty. I hope one day Americans can travel to this beautiful country. Teheran had a distinct smell on cold winter mornings, all of the street vendors would roast giant sugar beets and people would eat them like apples on their way to work or school, I can smell the sweet roasted sugar and snow even now in my mind.
I lived in Pasadena for 20 years, the jacarandas are amazing there. A few years ago, I moved to be nearer the water, and its’ about 20 degrees cooler here today.
The Yellow Birds I really enjoyed, Holly. TV watching – Call the Midwife is so wonderful, the nurses and nuns just are the best.
Today I did major dead lifts, squats, lunges and planks. Now onto the laundry.
Mary Carol – please tell more about Slumberhouse Kiste. I am wavering. It’s in my cart at Lucky Scent. What do you love about it?
You’re right, I sort of like Jo Malone Black Vetyver Cafe, but there is much more potential to the idea. First off, that boring Jo Malone base (common to so many of her fragrances) has to go go.
Roasted sugar beets? I grew up in a sugar beet growing area, but I never heard of anyone getting that creative! I tell my sister who is still at home to try it out…
I’d love to see Iran and Iraq and Afghanistan, but I have to admit, I wouldn’t feel safe going there right, as unsettled as the area is.
Hi Apsara– I have family in Penang and LOVE the smell of the air in the morning…damp tropical trees and smokey incense. A while back I bought a box of Nag Champa incense that I keep in my scarf drawer, and it scents my scarves beautifully–a little like those Penang mornings.
OF- yes I love Penang, too. And I buy incense and put in all my drawers. I enjoy buying different incense as much as testing fragrance. Japanese incense knocks my gaita off. Have you read the novel, ” The Gift of Rain” by Tang Eng? It’s set in Penang. Lovely, haunting stuff.
I have read that book, but for some reason it just bugged me… it might have been the too thinly veiled homoerotic descriptions of joyfully endured sword thrusts…etc. It felt stiflingly closeted to me… (I kept wanting the author to say what he really meant or keep it less pseudo graphic!) but I agree that the descriptions of post war Penang were beautiful!
1. Dior Homme Intense. A gender-bending dark scent that I simply adore. I only have the 100ml new formulation and I always wonder how the original one smells like.
2. Hermes Cuir d’Ange. Leather is my fetish note and I appreciate every type of leather. But Jean Claude Ellena hit me from the left field with CdA with his transparent white-floral rendition of leather that I couldn’t even imagine before I smelled it. I have the 5ml sample and someday I’m going to get either the 50ml or 100ml bottle.
3. Someone should make a perfume that smells exactly like freshly baked bread. One that comes right off the stove. If this is the most loved scent from the kitchen, I don’t see why it shouldn’t be made into a perfume.
4. Giving this question a pass since I don’t really watch TV programs.
5. My friend just had a birthday dinner party and I simply decided to attempt at inviting his long-lost friend whom he hasn’t contacted for almost 2 years. The reunion – and a whole lot of catching up – made me so glad I decided to invite his friend, especially when I thought he wouldn’t come because of work.
Work dominates our lives all the time, but don’t forget to make some time for your friends, especially those whom you haven’t talked to for a long time~!
1. Nu_be Lithium. I love the sweet florals contrasted to the bitter spicy background, slightly weird but very pleasurable.
2. Joy (current, haven’t had the chance to try vintage version). I haven’t bought a bottle yet but why shouldn’t guys enjoy big classic white florals?
3. The scent of cypress on a hot afternoon.
4. Penny Dreadful is a must-watch for anyone who has a taste for the victorian gothic aesthetic, plus there’s a couple of references to perfume (ever wondered what Dorian Gray wore?)
5. I recently had a great time on a trip to Lisbon and came back with the best of memories, now I’m looking forward to a summer vacation consisting mostly of swimming and reading.
1. Received a batch of samples, so happily testing on after the other. Zeta scheduled for today.
2. 4170s Sexiest Scent, but it will have to wait for a trip to London.
4. No movies lately and most of my favorite series are now on hiatus. But just binged watched Madam Secretary! And been doing a lot of reading. I have a weakness for young adult and fantasy fiction. Just finished an Ember in the Ashes, which was great!
Hah! I’m reading Ember in the Ashes right now 🙂 I read in very different genres, but when I’m totally worn out by work, I often gravitate towards YA/fantasy/sci-fi. I just finished Seraphina (also good) and was looking at Red Queen on Amazon – have you read it, by any chance?
Yes I have. Its not in the same league as Ember though. But a fun quick read. Of course, I now have to know how it ends 🙂
Just finished Ember, pretty good inteed. Anything else you have read lately and would recommend?
Oh, the horror, have just discovered the typo above. Indeed.
Station Eleven was fantastic, still thinking about it weeks later. On the YA side, I also loved I’ll give you the sun. The luckiest girl alive was not bad either. Next up: The Martian & Mandy Aftels Fragrant 🙂 What about you?
I’ve had Station Eleven lined up for months – boyfriend is reading it right now, so I need to wait for a couple of days. The fantasy book I’ve enjoyed the most recently (I’d even say in recent years) was City of Stairs. The Goblin Emperor was good fun. In sci-fi, both Ann Leckie’s books were great.
That sounds like the perfect book for my holiday end of the month, thanks! As for bigtime favorites, I havent met a Tad Williams, Robin Hobb or Terry Pratchett book I didn’t like
1. Chanel No. 5 EDP
2. Bottega Veneta. Wow, this is just beautiful! I haven’t purchased it yet.
3. I’ve always loved the way the frozen foods department smells in the grocery store. I’ve loved this smell from when I was a little girl. Not sure what is is — frost? chemical refrigerant?
4. The Fall on Netflix is excellent. Gillian Anderson, who has aged beautifully, plays a very smart detective trying to catch a serial killer.
5. Ghirardelli Intense Dark Cherry Tango chocolate bar is delicious! A square here and there satisfies my sweet tooth.
1. SOTD–this last week got 5 mls of Masque Milano Russian Tea in a split, and still trying to decide if I like it. Bit of heavy going in the opening, but that drydown is heaven. Very long-lasting on fabric–I’m huffing the T-shirt from yesterday that I put on this morning.
2. Blown sox–would have to be Masque Milano Terralba. Finally broke down and bought a full bottle after telling myself for months that I didn’t need it. Wretched word, “need.” So glad I have it! Anything described as “Mediterranean” seems to suit me down to the ground.
3. Should Be a Perfume–I second the comment above about real magnolia flowers. Here in Georgia the colossal Grandifloras are starting to bloom with their faintly lemony/greenish/waxy scent. Just delicious.
4. Watch–Masterpiece Theater’s Wolf Hall with a fabulous cast including Mark Rylance. Wonderful acting and a stunning visual treat if you love historic interiors and costumes. I hope MP will make a second series to complete Cromwell’s story after Hilary Mantel completes the last novel in the trilogy. In the same vein: Mr. Turner, with the fantastic Timothy Spall.
5. Wonderful–sitting in my garden. Couple-three years ago we splurged on some major landscaping and created a private little terrace that is a perfect place to escape with a cold drink and a book. The husband and I call it “going to the south of France.” I love it!
Masque Milano is a tempting line. I like Russian Tea and Montecristo, looking forward to trying the others, too.
Hi all. De-lurking after quite a spell. Hope you’re enjoying Sunday.
1. Nicolai Eau d’ Été. Meh. Back in the sample pile.
2. Amouage Fate. Need to buy a full bottle.
3. Agree with many about peony. Ours are blooming and smell heavenly.
4. Had planned to watch Wolf Hall, need to get to it. We’ve been watching the Red Sox and I am profoundly depressed.
5. Went to my three year old granddaughter’s dance recital yesterday. Almost three hours of hell on earth, but three sweet minutes of watching her in the Little Ducky dance. Who thought up recitals?
Off to the bookstore.
Welcome, and I agree with you about the peonies and rhe recitals. But aren’t those of us who have dancing granddaughters truly blessed to have those three sweet minutes?
Laila, blessed is the right word. Moms are run off their feet for years. Grandmothers have more time, and perspective, to appreciate kids where they are.
And this Grandma is doubly appreciative because my mom’s stay on this earth was so short she never knew the joy that relationship brings. I am truly blessed!
Oh, and I fully sympathize with the often-depressing nature of watching one’s favorite baseball team. For one game, at least, I can put that feeling aside as my White Sox have a big lead in the seventh inning (fingers and toes remain crossed). I just try and take it one game at a time.
Nice to hear from you, anngd. 🙂 I sampled Eau d’Ete today, too, and thought ‘meh’ as well. But I spritzed liberally, so it’s now in the recycling pile, empty.
1) Noir Epices
2) I’m incredibly behind on new launches so apart from Le Jardin de Monsieur Li, which I liked a lot although my socks stayed put, I don’t remember having a weak in the knees experience with any recent launches. What did blow my socks of was L’Enlèvement au Sérail, which I bought a bottle of in March. The drydown of it nearly makes me cry. It is that beautiful.
3) The Wisteria that I smelled on my holiday in Burgundy. Gorgeous deep floral smell, with green and purple accents. As it had been raining a lot where I was the wisteria combined beautifully with the smell of damp earth. I thought it would be a great idea if someone would make a nouveau chypre with wisteria at it’s core.
4) I’ve watched a number of times now but it moves me every single time. Les Choses de la Vie with Michel Piccoli and the unforgettable Romy Schneider.
They don’t make ’em like L’Enlèvement anymore.
Nope, they can’t. The rest of the line is pretty impressive as well. Do you like La Promesse?
Am so late to this party… that I just wanted to add on the sock blowing front Volnay’s Etoile d’Or…got a sample when we were in NYC last October, and I am still thinking about it with great longing!
Thinking of this rather late, but I must say I’m enjoying the two Masque Milanos that I’ve tried so far (Russian Tea and Montecristo). I’m rather exhausted with new brands, but this one does seem worthwhile.