It's Monday, and the second day of summer. Hope everyone had a great weekend! What fragrance are you wearing today?
I'm in Diptyque L'Ombre dans L'Eau, from Jessica's Top 10 of Summer 2014.
Reminder: this Friday, 6/26, is Top 10 of Summer. Wear one of your own "top 10 of summer" fragrances (unless it's winter where you are, in which case wear one of your "top 10 of winter" scents)
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2015, where I'll try to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is Tall Roses [cropped] by jasonbolonski at flickr; some rights reserved.
Trying to get through a bunch of samples, so I put on Prada Luna Rossa, and what was I thinking? It’s super boring, indistinguishable from everything else on the market. I scrubbed it off and put on some leather Angel, which can drown out nearly anything and is fantastic, to boot, particularly on a cold rainy day like this.
Not Prada’s finest moment. Hope the new Infusions are better…
I always feel sad on the first day of summer, because I love summer and as soon as it begins it’s beginning to slip away! I know, very neurotic. I’m wearing Nasreen.
Hysterical! My advice? (not that you asked for it!) Just enjoy the moment…….
Ha, I do the same. It seems sad that the longest day of the year is gone…
Exactly! I wish it came at the end of summer instead.
Elisa, I feel the exact same way on July 5th. To me after the Fourth of July, the summer flies by.
Yep. Glad I’m not the only one who feels this way
I get what I call “July Panic” after Independence Day – all the things I was going to do and haven’t yet done…
Gosh, I thought it was only us teachers who get that way! I HATE the first of August. Means I only have a few more weeks, and summer is NEVER long enough!
My birthday is the first day of summer. I feel the same as you. Sad the days will be getting shorter. I try and see the sun rise and set to get the most out of it.
Belated Happy Birthday, lillyjo!
Thank you!
What a great idea to see the sun rise — and hope it was a great day!
Thanks. I had to work, but it was fine. I took today off because it is my daughters birthday. She just turned 12. I let her pick out her own perfume. She picked light blue.
Aw! Hope she will love her new bottle.
I absolutely agree! It drives my husband crazy, but I see solstice as less a celebration than a day of mourning. But I’ve learned not to say ‘it’s all getting darker from here’ around him any more.
Oh, I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks this way!
I’m wearing Iris Silver Mist, so I smell more alert than I am feeling today. I’m having my 8am shot of pre-cal. : )
I wholeheartedly agree with Jessica that the summertime is one of the best times to wear all natural essential oil fragrances so I am sporting Veritas Inlustrat Perfumes “Cedar” which I picked up for a steal at a local shop that is going out of business…only ten dollars for a high quality 3ml perfume that rivals anything made by Aftelier. And I love the way it morphs on my skin over time!
Seville a l’aube again. It appears to be among Ajda’s summer 2015 top 10 :).
It’s in my top four or five!
This is in my all-year top 10 – so beautiful and versatile.
I’m love it too, even took a sample with me on holiday
SOTD: Triomphe (Rance)
That line has such lovely bottles – are you liking the fragrances?
Yes! I have this and Le Roi Empereur. Would love to try L’Aigle de la Victoire yet, but haven’t run across it yet.
Rose Chypre! I love this, it is my new favorite rose, followed closely by Une Fille de Berlin, of course. What a Monday…
It’s my favourite Tauer, so beautiful!
Ajda, seems like we have similar preferences in perfume!
LOVE Une Rose Chypree! It is always changing, and each change is beautiful. Enjoy the journey!
I’m trying to shake off the Fathers Day food coma by hitting the sample pile. I started out with Cloon Keen Sybarite which walloped me with an aromachenical I couldn’t tolerate. Possibly ISOe super and possible something else but it triggered a great scrubbing. I’m now wearing Apoteker Tepe Anabasis again, I really like this line and am sorely tempted to buy several. Wish my budget could handle my whims.
I tried a couple of Cloon Keens and did not care for them. The one that got some good reviews (Castanha??) was discontinued so I never got to sample it, though.
I got a little used nightstand yesterday that I’m going to use to finally start organizing all my samples and minis. I’m incredibly excited to start this little project, because my samples have outgrown the box I’d been using, and have expanded to ziplock bags and random other little boxes and purses and probably some other places I don’t even know about. Of course, kitty already claimed the top of the nightstand, so maybe I’ll add a cushion up there for her (and some padding inside for the safety of all those little glass vials).
Wearing Rubj parfum today.
What we do to accomodate our kitties
Kitties have first dibs on everything. Good pet parenting!
Ooh, I love a new organization project! Enjoy! (And agree with your kitty priorities!)
So thoughtful of you to buy a new kittie stand!
Vero Profumo Mito today. Wish I had more of it than a small sample vial. It’s gorgeous. Definitely a good summer scent.
I agree. I will wear it tomorrow.
Want my nearly full sample vial? I finally tried it yesterday and nope it’s not me whatsoever. It wasn’t the full-blown debacle I experienced with Onda (Hi Deva!) but pretty darn close. I think I can safely say that Vero’s are Not Pixel Friendly. email me at emc dawt 7 1 1 7 in the land of g-mail.
One woman’s debacle is another woman’s joy!
My default choice today is Worth Courtesan after spilling the sample and doing the wrist-mop salvage maneuver.
L’Artisan’s Iris Pallida, which is probably not the most summery iris out there but I just had a craving for it this morning.
Aha, now I think I know what I’ll wear today – thanks for the reminder!
Oooh, I think this is summery–there is a coolness to Iris Pallida that helps tame the heat. Someone else read it as blueberry, but my nose reads it as a cool tinge to the iris and gaiac woods. I need to find my IP and wear it, soon. Great idea.
It’s funny, maybe it smells like blueberry, but I have no scent memory for blueberries. To me Iris Pallida smells a bit spicy, and definitely cool.
Today I was in a hurry to get to work on time and grabbed by old standby “Hiris”.
I need to wear this more. I love it, and it is always pretty. I recently made a sample for a friend, who wore it around me. I did not immediately recognize it on her, but complimeted and asked her what she was wearing. She laughed, and told me it was the Hiris I’d given to her. You smell great!
Yes, you smell great. I only have a little sample of this, but it is so clear, if you know what I mean.
It is SO HOT here my A/C seems to be running constantly- ugh! I tried to get the dog out this morning and she looked at me like I was nuts and went and parked herself on her bed under the A/C vent. Smart dog.
So I have returned to one of my staples here in the swamplands- EL Bronze Goddess in the form of the oil spray. Very potent stuff and leaves a glowing sheen on the skin. Love this stuff ❤️❤️
I can see the doggy dirty look now.
I’m trying to find my favorite summer fragrance group right now, whether that’s citrus, greens, light florals, etc. Today I’m trying one of three of my tea scents, Philosophy’s Tea Leaf. It’s OK, but not my favorite. I also have Honey from this line which I love, but not for the summer. Anyway the only other tea scents that I own are Elizabeth Arden’s Green Tea and Demeter’s Silvery Pekoe.
That sounds like a fun project! I don’t have a favorite summer family, although I do wear more citrus. There are perfumes that just smell better to me in the summer but they’re all over the map in terms of fragrance family.
Battling a nasty stomach bug I got from my 5yr old, so nothing for me today. Nausea is the only thing that keeps me from wearing perfume.
I’m so sorry you’re suffering. Nausea is so unsettling and awful. Hope you feel better soon!
Ugh
Hope you feel better! Wearing an amber perfume years ago when I was nauseated ruined ambers for me for a long time. I do find that geranium essential oil actually helps me when I’m queasy.
Oh, sorry and I hope you feel better soon! Nausea is also the only thing that keeps me from wanting to wear perfume
Try soaking a cotton pad in rubbing alcohol; hold it to your nose and breathe in slowly for 30 seconds or so. Repeat a few times.
Also, plain seltzer with a dash of bitters can calm an upset tummy.
Oh! Wore L’Ombre dans L’eau the other day – love it. Today I’m finishing off the sample of Parfumerie Generale Isparta. It is not an earth moving rose/oud-ish combo, but it is a nice rose/oud-ish combo.
My collection is dominated by dark wood/rose fragrances in FBs, decants and minis. They’re everywhere, I have to actually look for the white flowers come warmer days. So for Isparta…I won’t be pining for a FB, but if a bottle or half full bottle (I’m a bottle half-full kinda gal) comes along, I won’t say no.
I know exactly what you mean about having so many dark roses and having to search out the pretty florals! I have found myself doing the same thing lately! I have a sample *somewhere* of Poet’s Jasmine that I’ve been craving and I just can’t seem to locate it. . .
SOTD is Tuberose Angelica from Jo Malone.
Curious about this one…how do you like it?
I would also like to try the Cardamom and Mimosa but I don’t think it will be available until autumn.
I am really curious about this too. I am looking for a new tuberose and would love to hear what this one is like. I wear a lot of Jo Malone as well and can’t imagine not liking it.
Although it isn’t my favorite JM scent, it is a nice tuberose. I honestly like EL Tuberose Gardenia better and it lasts longer. In my opinion TA is the little sister of TG. So, if you enjoy tuberose, go with the Estee Lauder. You get more bang for your buck!
House twins with Robin today–wearing Philosykos. I will finish my sample very soon (probably only one more wear). After that, I’ll have only the 7 ml left in my Pacifica 10 ml roll-on of Mediterrannean Fig. Clearly, next summer, I will need to buy more fig scents.
Hey twin — we both smell fantastic!
We’ll have to swap at the next Swapmeet! I can spare some Philosykos from my FB. I’ve got that Pacifica roller ball, too. The MF soap is wonderful, worth seeking out.
SuzyQ, you’re on! We’ll talk when the swapmeet comes around again.
You smell great Robin!
SOTD: A La Rose from Maison Francis Kurkdjian.
I can’t believe it’s almost summer! I am still using mostly “Spring” fragrances!
I have a sample vial of A la Rose. It’s lovely. I need to try it sprayed. I have a feeling it’s best applied that way.
Thank you!
It’s already so hot here, I believe it
Such a pretty scent!
I put on Olfactive Studio’s Panorama today. I like the little blast of wasabi when you first put it on. Then it settles into a really nice green smell (not too sharp; just sort of refreshing and summery). It seems like a bit of wasabi comes back later on in the wearing, too.
It really does have a great opening with that wasabi note. So different.
I tried it when I was in Barcelona and I think it’s a great, original scent.
Not very summery, but the heart wants what it wants – wearing SL’s Feminite du Bois
Go for it! I’ve been known to bust out Boxeuses in 90+F nearly 100% humididty, because I was craving it. You smell marvelous.
Wearing Soivohle Solstice which I think was intended for 6 months ago. It’s a warm smell but not heavy do I can wear it now
Il Profumo Ambra. So good it hurts.
Wearing Tom Ford Black Orchid, from a Sephora sample.
On a rare trip to Sephora last week I decided to try Black Orchid. I liked it so much that before I left the store I stopped by the fragrance wall and doused my arms in it. Where have I been!?! This one was released in 2006! I read reviews over the weekend and agree that the strange rotting fruit (?) mushrooms (?) notes don’t last long enough. Still, very enjoyable perfume and a pleasant discovery.
Chanel No. 5 EDT. For some strange reason, I love the smell of No. 5 better in the summertime than the winter.
I like the EDT better than the EDP. It works for all types of weather for me which is why my travel spray of it has a permanent spot in my travel kit.
Oh, yes! I feel the same way. I always think No. 5 won’t ever agree with me in the winter, but then when the weather warms up I get a craving for it, especially in the evening and after a shower.
Wearing lots and lots of Volnay Brume d’Hiver. Unexpectedly I am going to meet a friend for lunch – she has lost her sense of smell almost completely but I bet even SHE will notice! Ah well, at least I smell pretty!
SOTD provinces by a generous layer of Bronze Goddess sumptuous body cream! Yum!
Today is Amouage Beloved. Was going to go with Courtesan but it just didn’t fit.
You can’t go wrong with Beloved!
I went with Courtesan this am eventhough it wasn’t my plan exactly, but it worked out nicely with the weather although it disappeared by lunchtime.
I’m wearing PdN Balle de Match today. So crisp and refreshing.
Yay! I so rarely hear it mentioned.
I’m wearing Un Jardin sur le Toit. It’s good for summer. Light, pretty, and refreshing.
You smell lovely!
It’s gorgeous, and the Jardin series are so great for the warm/hot weather. They definitely get my vote as some of the best summer fragrances around.
SOTD Hove Vetivert – ’cause it feels like New Orleans today in Chicago…
Nice! I enjoyed exploring the Hove fragrances, and really loved the Vetivert soap they sell. Wonderfully refreshing! Have you tried their soaps? Not very expensive and yet well made. I remember the Vetivert was a staple for a long time after in my home. Hmmm, need to repurchase ;D
I will need to try this! I have been in a mood for the past 6 weeks to wear really old fashioned, spicy barbershop scents- Florida water and Kanaga water, 4711, Grove (my last dregs) and it would be nice to try a soap with those scents!
Oh I love 4711! and the Florida water sells in my supermarket for so little….perhaps I shall pick one up at the end of the day….
Vetivert soap sounds great – I did get a bar of Spanish Moss b/c it was on sale. It didn’t smell like much, so perhaps that’s why it was marked down. It had a lovely texture, though.
I enjoyed the Hove shop when I was there in early June. Although I didn’t buy anything this time the staff were very nice and they have a large variety of things to sniff.
SOTD = Puredistance Opardu
Such a pretty scent. It is one of my Top Ten and not just for the summer!
It’s cold here, again. I’m wearing Olfactive Studio Lumiere Blanche as an antidote: I love it and it’s great for bad summer weather, as it’s warming, but not heavy. I’ve also been making coffee with cardamom, vanilla and rose water to make everything more bearable.
Please describe your recipe for making coffee with cardamom, vanilla and rose water…if here is not appropriate, you can email me at this username at gmail…it just sounds delicious but I have no idea of the proportions…
annikky’s lovely blog has a wonderful post today on that coffee…although I don’t remember seeing a recipe….
Thank you for your nice words, I didn’t want to share the link… And you’re right, there’s no recipe, as it really is very individual. But I did give it a try below.
You know, it really depends on how you take your coffee and how flavoured you like it. I personally prefer my coffee very strong, but I add a lot of warm milk, so it is something like a latte in proportions – just without the froth. For one cup, I use about half a teaspoon of rose water (possibly more, but for most people this is way too much), a tiny squirt of good quality vanilla paste (I will not use a vanilla bean for one cup, too impractical) and maybe a fifth of a teaspoon of ground cardamom. I warm the milk with the spices, add to the coffee and drink. For evening, it’s also excellent without the coffee and I add some honey when I need extra comfort. It works with black coffee, too, but I just don’t drink black coffee if I can help it.
I make my coffee very strong and then add 1 part milk to 2 parts coffee, so it sounds like your proportions of the spices would work for me. The caromompowdwer I have is so old as to be almost scentless. I’ll have to get some fresh. Thanks you very much!
I make cold brewed coffee and then add homemade cardamom syrup over plenty of ice. And I then serve it with homemade almond milk.
This sounds excellent. I keep meaning to try my version with almond milk…
That coffee sounds terrific!
Thanks!
I’m totally enamored with cardamom, and it’s definitely my favorite flavoring for a latte. Your coffee sounds heavenly!
Thank you! Cardamom is, indeed, genius.
I love cardamom sprinkled on vanilla ice cream!
I love cardamom on everything
I am travelling in Spain and wearing l’ambre des merveilles over l’eau des merveilles bodylotion. L’ambre blooms in hot weather and fits the lazy beach day we had very well.
You smell fabulous!
I’ll have to try wear L’Ambre des Merveilles in the summer. So far I’ve only used it as a fall/winter scent. Thanks for the idea!
It was an experiment and it turned out really well, especially with the salty note amplified.
I love it in the winter, as it is a fluffy blanket of a perfume, but for the same reason I can’t wear it in the summer.
Summer basically sprung on us a 6 weeks ago in the PNW, so I have been wearing summery stuff already!
Today I layered The Body Shop Moringa body mist (mostly light white flowers) with Carven at the pulse points. The powdery iris and white flowers all together is very pleasing, very pretty and cool seeming.
Oh, I like Moringa… have it in shower gel and body butter (the body butter is almost gone now, sad). Such a pretty, uncomplicated thing. Love Carven Le Parfum too.
Is Moringa discontinued or still available at The Body Shop?
It is still available, both in shops and online (at least here in Portland/Vancouver area).
thank you….there are many Moringa offerings online, the price is great and there is also an online sale!
Moringa is exactly that- very pretty, uncomplicated and refreshing. I like the spray AND shower gel, especially after a hot sweaty day OR to brace your self for a hot summer day.
At first I was not sure about Carven- bu the more I spray the more I like. I like WAY more than Prada Infusion d’Iris- more rounded it seems to me, much more pretty.
The moringa soap is also very good and it scents the bathroom as an extra service
I was on vacation on the shores of Lake Michigan last week. The weather was heavenly, with highs in the low to mid 70s. I suddenly remembered that I did not used hate summer before I moved to DC, because there are parts of the country when it is not always in the 90s and humid.
Did not plan what perfumes to take and just grabbed some samples/travel sizes at the last minute: Via del Profumo Tawaf, Amouage Beloved, Hermes Un Jardin sur Nil, and Kenzo Amour. Did not get around to Kenzo Amour but the others were just right.
Just got my hair done so went unscented until afterward, but now I’m in Ostara, almost the last of my spray sample.
We got any Kiwis lurking around here? Can anybody tell me where to shop for perfume in New Zealand?
Good morning, Mals86. I’m a long-time lurker from Aotearoa-New Zealand, de-cloaking to see if I can help you with your query. Where will you be in A-NZ? If you are going to be in Auckland, Northland or the Waikato, I would love to help.
We will be alllllll over the place, except the southern part of South Island, over two weeks. I don’t actually know how much time I will have in any one spot. I know we’ll be in Auckland at least a few days, and will be going through the Waikato area (so pretty).
My husband will be teaching a 3-week class at Virginia Tech this coming December/January, on international agricultural trade, two weeks of which will be solid travel. He received a grant to go to NZ this summer to set up the trip and the sites they’ll be seeing; I’m going this time to make sure he doesn’t overschedule the students.
He did his master’s at Massey and lived in Palmerston North for about 18 months, so he knows his way around. This will be my second visit, and I’m thrilled to go back. Any guidance you’ve got would be much appreciated!
Mals, it sounds as though your trip is going to be long on the road and short on shopping, but let me see if I can help a little. In Auckland, there’s always Smith & Caughey (big –for A-NZ — old-fashioned department store), which stocks the usual perfume suspects and probably won’t interest you much, given your access to the astounding range available in the USA. On the other hand, the staff there are delightful: well-informed, helpful but never pushy, and obliging. If you are keen to try any of the standard releases, Liz and her team would be the girls to help you. There is also World in Britomart, which sells (expensively) a variety of almost-niche lines, and Mecca in Newmarket, which sells others. I hate to dampen your enthusiasm for this green (and very cold) little country, but the truth is, no perfumista will ever experience A-NZ as a perfume destination, and in fact, I’m struggling to suppress an urge to apologise for the way the perfume industry is organised here.
If you have a spare hour or so in Auckland, perhaps coffee with some friendly natives would alleviate disappointment at the paucity of the perfume offerings? You might not see much to buy, but we could surely find much to talk about!
Hi Waterdragon, Just curious if you have a perfume review channel on You Tube? If you prefer not to say, I’ll understand.
Petunia, I’m replying to you under my own comment because I can’t seem to get to yours. I don’t mind saying at all that I don’t have such a YouTube channel. I have been for the last two or three years an avid consumer of the wisdom of other perfume fanciers rather than a purveyor.
I’d love to meet you (and friends) if I have time! I need to pin down the husband on our schedule and exactly how much time I’ll have and where…
I don’t have much access to free sniffery where I live, either – in southwest Virginia, which is beautiful but doesn’t have much in the way of retail.
I ‘m having the same problem with the reply. I made a silly assumption. There is a perfume reviewer on You Tube called The Perfume Nerd from NZ. She’s quirky yet fun and gives very entertaining reviews. Her channel is fairly new but I enjoy watching her when I am not reading reviews on NST! This is such a great website and everyone is so friendly.
Petunia & Waterdragon, the threads do not nest any deeper here (if they did, it would get unreadable, especially on smaller devices like phones), so when you want to continue replying, you just keep using the last reply button. Sorry if it’s confusing!
NZ is so beautiful. I can always tell when husband had a truly bad day at work, as he’ll mention “hey, I was looking at real estate in New Zealand today….”
It really is.
Echoing the other comments, NZ is pretty much a perfume desert. I’m in Wellington and it’s almost exactly like Auckland for perfume shopping. We have one department store, Kirkcaldies – lovely shop but soon to close and be replaced by a branch of an Australian department store. Kirks has the mainstream stuff, and a small branch of Mecca Cosmetica. We also have a World shop, the only place to find anything semi-niche and VERY expensive. I do buy there but only because I want to support local businesses, and it’s becoming increasingly painful.
There is a little perfume shop at the top of the Wellington cable car, Fragrifert. Francesco, the perfumer, is a friend, so I have to declare an interest when I say it’s worth visiting if you take a trip in the cable car.
If you pass through Wellington, I’d be delighted to show you the sights!
I loved the cable car! Have to go back… if there’s time, of course.
Tauer’s Vanilla Flash, somewhat rebelliously. It is not summery at all, but like Janice above, I had a craving for a vanilla, and it was the closest to hand. Its dry vanillic style isn’t a bad choice in the heat here (so far only 88F), but I don’t think I would choose it if I were planning to be outdoors all day. It seemed like a healthy indulgence, and it seems to wear fairly close to the body. Be well.
DSH Sud de France (LOVAGE!) ‘subtle oil’ over a hint of last night’s Eau de Givenchy but headed for another shower soon. Too bad, I love lovage.
I had to look it up for I had no idea what lovage is . For others who are interested…..
https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/lovage-root/profile
Thanks, chocolatemarzipan! I learned about lovage at a farmer’s market, where the farmer selling the leaves told me “it’s like celery to the 100th power,” and I must agree.
To me it always smelled like a curried version of celery. The Santa Fe Master Gardeners have an herb garden, with timed drip irrigation, of necessity. Their lovage bush was huge (I last saw it a few years ago). When we’d trim it back late spring/early summer, someone suggested using the large hollow stems as straws in bloody marys. Those perennial herbs *love* that drip irrigation.
Lots of sun and beach at the moment, so only a little perfume at night. Been reaching for vetiver, yesterday Guerlain, today TDC Sel de Vetiver.
Another warm one here in San Diego, so the SOTD is Thymes Agave Nectar. About to freshen it up with some of the hand cream.
What a coincidence! I bought a bottle of Thymes Agave Nectar cologne today. I just applied some so that we can be scent twins
I wore L’Ombre dans L’Eau yesterday. I love that one. I don’t have a lot left in my little decant. I went with Bas de Soie today.
Ok, this is a late reply, and a weird thought, but here goes: Bas de Soie is a scent that triggers synesthesia for me–it has a distinctive color that I smell with it. It’s a light periwinkle shade but more toward grey. Weird, I know! Not all perfumes strike me with color like this. I think of it as a cool fragrance (like Iris Pallida), perfect year round, but would clash with my outfit for color reasons more than scent. Do you have that with any scents? Does BdS have a color for you? Be well ;D
I am all layered up in Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert: shower gel, lotion, scent. Such a great summer scent, leaves me feeling so cool and calm. And I love how it is a shape-shifter: when I wear something really masculine/boyish, it feels light and feminine, and when I wear something really girly, it brings a nice boyish element to the mix.
I surprised myself by purchasing a FB of Knot recently. I thought it was just ok when it first came out but then it grew on me.
I love the bottle as well. Looks so nice sitting on my dresser.
And what a difference a spray from a FB makes vs a sample or decant!
Beautiful NYC day. Enjoying the summer breeze…
I was like you floralgal. I was just ok with it, but it grew on me and I bought a full bottle along with the lotion.
I would love the body cream! It’s really gorgeous on!
I’m testing Ormond Jaynes this week (at least that’s the plan of the moment). Wearing Woman this morning… it’s lunchtime here, and the scent is nearly gone. Wish it had lasted longer…
In Malibu Lemon Blossom, nice and uncomplicated.
Dior Mitzah today – it was 31C but it smells just as good in the heat as it does in winter.
Wearing Parfums Lalun Phenomene Verte tonight, and it is just perfect at the end of a warm day. It feels very grown up but comfortable at the same time, classic perfumery with a supple and rounded feel, no harsh edges, just smoooooth and lovely.
Edited to add: It’s Phenomene Verte II from Spring 2014.
Good night!