As always, answer as many or as few as you like.
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
2. Name the last new (or new to you) fragrance that you smelled and thought right away, I might need a bottle of this! Did you buy it?
3. Name a fragrance you can no longer wear, because you grew up, or you broke up, or the new formulation makes you want to throw up. (suggested by juicejones)
4. Share something wonderful with us! It can be anything: something you discovered, or bought, or read, or saw, or something great that happened to you recently.
Note: top image is tulip magnolia (Magnolia liliiflora) [cropped] by Philip Cohen at flickr; some rights reserved.
“Gooooooood morning Vietnam!”
Whew, got that out of my system…
California Reverie and Hanbury (which actually share some notes but are entirely different…) snuck up on me as major crushes this summer…. I do not own an FB of CR, but it is on the short list.
Random other comment… I have become ridiculously addicted to Anne Perry’s historical mystery series around Hester and William Monk– they aren’t great, but they are good enough to keep me compelled to read the next one and the next one and the…. Anyway, last night looking at movies to stream on Netflix I read up on the flick Heavenly Creature about a horrible murder by two teens in NZ in the 1950s of one of the girls’ mothers. It is a true story that was worldwide news when it happened. Turns out that one of the girls, not the daughter but the friend, is real life mystery writer Anne Perry… I am still gobsmacked!
I didn’t know that about AP. I liked both the Monk series and the Pitt series but haven’t caught up on them in several years. Good entertainment.
I am pretty sure I learned that from the movie too!
Hi there!
I grew up in Christchurch and went to university there….the house lived in by the Anne Perry character is the university staff club….which always appealed to my imagination even though I am too young to remember the crime itself….You might be interested in a biography of Anne Perry written by Joanne Drayton. Drayton – a New Zealand biographer/ historian – travelled to Scotland meet and interview Perry and the resulting book is fascinating: The Search for Anne Perry
http://www.joannedrayton.net/the-search-for-anne-perry.html
Victoria Bush …the crime scene….is a beautiful native bush and tussock hillside park just above Christchurch. At this time of year the first Kowhai …..tree…..will be flowering and full of bird life. I used to run 8km through the there when I was a student.
Kowhai! I haven’t see one so far this spring. I must go on my own 8k run and find one.
I didn’t know that about the staff club at Canterbury, Kanuka. I was there not so very long ago: I wish I’d been more aware.
Morning, Oakland. The back story of the movie is part of my cultural capital, I guess. When the murder took place, I was quite small, and for reasons I can’t fathom, Mum explained it to me in some detail. Maybe I read the paper and asked awkward questions: I don’t know. Anyhow, I was the kind of child who soaked up stories and words and retained them, and in this case, to my mother’s lasting embarrassment, I later used the details in an IQ test. The question was something about other uses for a brick, so I put down the obvious things like wedging it under tyres of a car…stopping things from blowing away….putting it in a sock as a murder weapon. The melon hit the fan, you might say! The school called mum and dad in, almost unheard of in the 1960s, some psychologist turned up to look deep into my head (poor man! What a way to earn his living that week) and everything was quite torrid until Dad suggested that somebody ask me my reasoning. I must have explained it logically, because I think the matter finished that afternoon, but I do remember Dad later giving me A Talking To about things we say in the family staying in the family. Oddly, I can’t recall that Mum said anything, but I just bet she did!
Sorry I went on here, but that was quite a sharp reminder of my pig-tailed self in more innocent times. I knew about Anne Perry, but I haven’t read the books. Perhaps I will now.
That’s a great story. And what a brilliant IQ test…made me laugh, anyway.
The Parker-Hulme murder is something I’ve somehow always known about. It happened nearly 10 years before I was born, but it was still talked about. The added horror in the 1950s was that one of the girl’s parents weren’t married, I remember that featuring strongly when people talked about it decades later!
I’ve read one of Anne Perry’s books, I remember enjoying it, but I read it largely because I knew who she was.
I was hoping folks from south of the equator would weigh-in (no pun intended), as I missed the movie and never heard of the crime before.
Funny how events can imprint themselves on the young, even from newspapers (goodness, it must be so much worse for little ones now with 24 hour news cycles and the internet…).
In my childhood, it was cults. Rajneesh, Moonies, and most tragically the Peoples’ Temple. I grew up in Berkeley and there was a lot of conversation around the dinner table about mind control and the invidious power of demagogues.
Sorry this got so off topic, but thanks for all your perspectives!!!
Really?! I read a lot of that series years ago, but I don’t think (or remember) that she was also the author of a murder. Seems worth a biography by yet another author.
And the People’s Temple and the murders of Moscone and Milk broke my heart. One of my butchers lost his family to Jim Jones, and I was working in the public health bldg across the street when Moscone and Milk were killed. Those tragedies will haunt me always.
Perfume? I discovered California Reverie this summer and like it very much. SOTD is Matin d’Orages, which I’ve also worn a lot.
1. I’m commando so far. Had a headache last evening and am wary of triggering another. I think I’ll wear Mohur if I get brave enough.
2. Salome! I haven’t bought a bottle yet but I’m pretty sure I need one.
3. Lolita Lempika. I have no idea why but it just gets on my nerves anymore. Overdosed on it? I have a perfectly nice, almost-full bottle that I would hate to get rid of so I hope I grow back into it.
4. Nothing much has happened lately but I’m happy to report that Haineko lost both loose kitten-teeth (and we even found one!) and Doolittle’s giant bumblebee-stung paw is completely back to normal so she doesn’t look like she’s wearing a little ginger catcher’s mitt anymore. They have all pretty much stopped fighting the harnesses since they’ve figured out that wearing them means a trip outside!
Also, the Alexander McQueen fall collection is making me unusually aware of fashion. I need a winning lotto ticket. That kimono pattern gown!!
I OD’ed on my decant of OJ Ta’if once, and simply Could Not Face It anymore. Passed on the decant to a new owner, and only miss it occasionally – in the sense of “Wish I still liked Ta’if.”
Fragrance: Rive Gauche (feminine); found last October in duty-free, found I didn’t want to be without it
Sniffed and needed: Chypre Mousse, two samples later, I bought the full bottle. More than I want to pay, but there’s simply nothing else like it on the market right now
No longer wear: Giorgio Red (masculine). The one from the 80s was (and is, if you find it) outrageously rich, the new version is a soapy/sweet fougere and not much more
Something wonderful: a really terrific banjo player, Danny Barnes, got the Steve Martin award this year, and it is really well-deserved. It isn’t based on accolades because he’s not terribly popular. He’s just really solid, driving, innovative, and has his own thoughts about where the banjo should be going and what you can do with it.
1. OJ Seraphim.
2. Tough. I haven’t tried anything new in a long, long time. Speaking of which– has anyone smelled the new Ormonde Jayne Vanille d’Iris?? Robin and Jessica and Angela et al– please review it!!
3. So many of these. I outgrew a lot of my teen perfumes, like RL Romance and they ruined others. I don’t wear so much of some of my early perfumisa PdN frags, which I should do. Maybe I will wear some tomorrow.
4. Something wonderful— finally reading Station Eleven, which is as great as everyone said. Loving the song Holocene by Bon Iver (great video too) and the netflix drama Narcos. And curiously, after years of not “getting” it, I am loving Sycomore, in all its vetiver goodness.
A very brief review is on today’s splitmeet!!
“I have a sample of this and to me it smells like a very rich but not terribly rooty iris (think 28 La Pausa but longer lasting), with a little jasmine and musk. I don’t get a lot of vanilla from it.”
Hello I have tried this and get a very smooth vanilla with a definite feeling of being lifted by a smooth quiet iris. Feels close to the skin and to me very enjoyable- the interest of iris and an elegant not sweet vanilla. Seriously considering a small bottle.
I’m commando at the moment (although my nightgown smells delicious from something) and I don’t really have an answer to any of your questions. But I wanted to mention HOW MANY perfumes I have bought, unsniffed, because you, Victoria, Gaia or Patty have talked about them or I have seen them at a more reasonable price (mostly on ebay). The amazing thing, though, is that I have never been disappointed (ok, I still don’t love “I Love Carottes” Honore des Pres, but I do get it). From Coco to Amaranthine to Amere Douce to Un Lys…I love all my bottle babies at different times in different tempers and weathers. An embarrassment of riches.
Are there a lot of others who find themselves doing this, or finding that their decant choices are often wonderful choices?
Yes, PrincessTonk, I do that too. I read the notes, I read the gloriously evocative reviews, I buy. I’ve had a few disappointments –Marni was one, for me– but that’s been because I didn’t properly understand my tastes. I’m learning all the time: I now know that I love gourmands, woods and incense, for instance, but that I don’t much like rose, and that I definitely don’t like amber as a genre. I’m endlessly grateful to the reviewers for their clear, helpful commentaries. The time they must put in to give us these insights! BTW, Marni went to a loving home a few months back–it’s nice to give pleasure where I had none.
That is funny – I tried buying Marni several times on ebay and missed it. After a while I realized I didn’t really want it but I still haven’t sniffed it!
I have few rules anymore. Things I thought I really don’t like (green: love Silences, rose: enjoy La Fille de Berlin, vetiver: love Vetiver Oriental, orientals, aldehydes – same thing, etc). Like you, I am in love with gourmands. I trust Serge and L’Artisan and sometimes, Guerlain. So much works so well…I fell down the rabbit hole only a year ago! So much has happened since I became entranced with these blogs.
1. I’m wearing Amouage Gold today from a sample bottle. I can appreciate that it is beautiful but it seems somehow too bland for me, so I will pass on the FB.
2. Just tried CdG Blue Santal yesterday and am mulling it over. The combination of sandalwood and juniper was interesting and a nice twist. It’s still hot weather in Houston and this seemed cooling. (Last night the weatherman said our forecast for this week might as well be for a week in July. Sigh.)
3. Last weekend I wrote about no longer being able to wear Estee Lauder Intuition because it is associated with my divorce.
4. I got new furniture this week! A loveseat and a chair! I’m excited as it’s been at least 10 years. I didn’t buy more because I have a problem with cat behavior in relation to furniture… The cats have taken things over but I have pet slipcovers on, which helps.
New furniture, awesome!
That’s my obstacle to buying furniture I really love. Our (cheap) black leather couch is getting pretty scratched up. I’m not always great about claw clipping because none of us looks forward to that much fun
I’ve given up on buying expensive couches and chairs due to Cat Issues. On the other hand, a former cat (dearly departed) helped justify the purchase of a whole new dining room set. The first set we had had upholstered rails across the chair backs, and Espresso felt that swinging off the upholstery was tremendous fun. The next (current) set had lovely cherry wood backs. Thanks kitty!
1. L’Arte di Gucci. Because sometimes you need a b*tch rose. (I can’t be the only one, right?)
2. DelRae Wit has been nudging me to buy ever since I smelled it. I’ll have to save up for it, and I do still have about 2ml in my decant. Maybe birthday in January? Or next anniversary/Mother’s Day.
3. The original Karl Lagerfeld Chloe. Wore it through my teens and it’s soaked in Teenage Me. Also, the current version is horrrrrrible. (Snagged a mini off ebay, and the vintage stuff is still great but I can’t really wear it anymore.)
4. Something wonderful… Hmm. I’m rereading old favorites, listening to old favorite music, and sort of down because my high school graduating class just lost another member. That’s 5 of 243: two cancer, one car wreck, one suicide, and the latest due to the damage of longterm alcoholism. Just makes me sad. The bright spot on my horizon is the onset of high school marching band season, and our low brass section’s mastery of “trombone suicides,” which are really fun to watch.
the HS graduating class deaths are so sad. Attended a memorial service last month for a guy in my class who spent the last couple of yrs of his (short) life wheelchair-bound, because of a fall from a roof some yrs ago. Always hire a professional for those roof jobs!!
Oh, I’m so sorry for the loss. That’s really hard. I’m glad you have some old favorites to keep you company.
And marching band! Won’t you please tell us what trombone suicides are?? I can’t even imagine!
Short video of a HS band (not ours) doing them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU8LLVzdGqc
Wow. Clearly that takes practice. Do they wear helmets while learning?
Wow indeed! My high school was too small to have a marching band. Seems like I missed some good fun!
I’m wearing Armani Prive Incens Satin this morning, from a sample sent by a generous NSTer (Thanks!).
I tried two Grossmith fragrances, Phul-Nana and Shem-el-Nessim, and loved both, but the prices! Also, Shem-el-Nessim reminds me of L’Heure Bleue, which I already own.
Due to reformulation or discontinuation I can’t wear Germaine Monteil perfume, DVF Tatiana, Tocade, or Muguet des Bois. Too bad, they were great in their day.
I read Chrissy Hynde’s autobiography, Reckless, about starting the Pretenders. She said that the first things she bought after she had a hit record were a pair of custom-made platform boots, a red leather jacket, and an eight-ounce bottle of Fracas.
Tatiana used to be really great.
EIGHT OUNCES OF FRACAS… wow. I bow to Her Awesomeness.
Same here!! I would love to know how long it lasted her.
I love the Pretenders and CH(and biographies of rock stars) 8oz is serious business!
I’m glad I have samples of those Grossmiths, but they are heavy, as well as expensive. L’Heure Bleue is much more wearable.
1)Another episode of Saturday Samples&Coffee: sampling Les Parfums de Rosine Rose Praline, AG Sables, Balenciaga vintage Quadrille parfum. So far, I like them all!
2)Stephane Humbert Lucas 777 Rose de Petra. A fellow fumie sent me a sample in the winter and it was love at first sniff. I just caved and bought it 2 weeks ago. Still love it.
3)There’s lots of those but mostly because my tastes have changed or, before I knew how to sample, perfume I’d buy on the spot that became grating later(Agent Provacateur, Prada Amber Intense por Homme to name a couple)
4) I watched an entire season of Inside Amy Schumer on my flight back east from LA and I was laughing and crying at the same time. The guy next to me looked a little perplexed.
For a very funny story about crying on airplanes watching movies…check out Brett Martin’s story about bursting into tears at the end of Sweet Home Alabama, while on a plane– from This American Life!
Here’s a fun Atlantic story on the phenomenon: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/why-we-cry-on-planes/280143/
Thanks! Will check ’em out.
I may make 1 & 2 the same–going to try my sample of the Diptyque Essences Insensees Jasmine today, and already wondering whether I might want to split a bottle! I’m a relatively recent jasmine convert, after discovering that while I don’t much care for jasmine tea-style scents, I do like the full monty!
And this seems pretty lush. That said, I’m a little concerned about practicalities as the fancy atomizer was broken on the tester I used to get my sample–it was spraying a good portion of each spritz out at a totally different angle. Not great for making decants! Anyone have experience with this year’s or last year’s bottle? How’s it holding up?
3. Light Blue. Loved it when it came out (tho sadly not on my skin–on paper/others), then thought at least it smelled pleasant…but in a yoga class this week, the college student on the mat next to me was wearing it was, WOOF was it a long 75 minutes! Amazing how strongly olfactory preferences can change over time.
4. Veep! Took me a while to get around to it because none of the clips I’d seen here or there really worked for me–but at the insistence of a friend, I finally gave the full episodes a go, and I’m completely converted, I think it’s hysterical.
Veep can be so funny
This past season was stronger than the season before. Love it when a show gets better as it goes along.
I tried to smell this new jasmine this weekend but the atomizer did not work, in the store! This has happened before with the mimosa scent. Why would I spend 200+ dollars on a fragrance that I will be able to get out of the bottle?
1. Commando still; will be testing samples today, not sure which ones just yet. If I’m really brave I may finally get around to testing some 80’s classics… Poison is taunting me.
2. Just tried By Kilian Liaisons Dangereuses last night, and immediately put it on the ‘pondering to buy’ list. I’m not a big rose fan but this shot right to the #2 spot on my Rose list (#1 being firmly occupied by Portrait of a Lady).
3. Nope. Only fell down the rabbit hole about a year ago, so I don’t have bad perfume history. Though I did recently try my bottle of Lauren from the 80’s and I’m not so sure about it
4. Almost finished reading ‘Uttermost Part of the Earth’ by E. Lucas Bridges, written in 1947. It’s about Tierra del Fuego, the earliest European settlers, and the native cultures, written by a man who was one of the first Europeans born there. Fascinating subject, and well written. We’re going there soon so I’ve been doing some reading up on the region. Also good: Bruce Chatwin “In Patagonia” and Dallas Murphy “Rounding the Horn”. Now I just have to go try to teach myself some Spanish (not my first attempt at this…)
Poison has been defanged lately, so if you’re sampling a newer version it might not be so vicious.
I tested current – which was not scary, actually pretty nice, plum is one of my favorite notes. Still, it’s definitely not ‘me’. And I tested vintage at the same time. My bottle was a bit skunked but I can see how it must’ve been a good deal stronger back in the day
I did recognize the scent so clearly I have encountered it in days gone by 
I love Liaisons Dangereuses! I liked basically all of the BK Calice Beckers through Rose Oud, but haven’t enjoyed the rest. I wonder if it’s due to IFRA or the BK company marketing decisions.
I’m wearing Shanghai Lily at the moment. It’s lovely, but probably not suited to the hot, sunny weather we’re having…I’ve been sampling like crazy lately, and have fallen in love lots of things, but the ones I feel like I need to have are Wit and Ormonde Jayne Tiare…I never wear Trish McEvoy Gardenia Musk anymore. I used to love it and think of it as my signature scent, but since I’ve started sampling it’s been pushed aside by many others. Now it just feels like an ill fitting pair of pants…According to weather.com, today should be the last hot, sticky day for the next 10 days, and, fingers crossed, year. That, to me, is wonderful!
Let me encourage you to get the Tiare– what a beautiful, intelligent perfume! Its great in the winter, perfect in summer, fitting in spring. I reach for it all the time. I like Shanghai Lily too (but don’t wear it much; it just doesn’t fit many weathers or occasions on me).
1) Nirvana Black in my hair and on my clothes, a little bit of Coollife’s second scent on the back of one hand and some Rose Omeyyade on the other.
2) I just tried this Rose Omeyyade last night for the first time and was rather smitten. We’ll see where this relationship goes.
3) I bought a bottle of Emporio Armani for Women online a few months ago because it was the scent I wore in late high school and early college. I do still like it but there’s something different about it now. Probably a reformulation.
4) I took two friends to see the Hitchcock film Notorious at BAM in Brooklyn last night and they loved it. One of my favorites and it was fantastsic to be able to share it with them in a theater.
Notorious is one of my favourites too. But I’ve never seen it on a big screen! That sounds like a lovely movie night.
I’m wearing Prada Candy today, it’s been a long time favourite of mine, I remember draining a large amount bottle of it in less than a year. Still love it!
The last perfume I sniffed and immediately purchased was Bois des Iles extrait. Actually Allure Sensuelle as well. I like warm, delicious, and sexy.
The best thing that happened to me recently was spending the day at the beach Thursday and eating two ice cream cones!
Wearing the new Diptyque Essences Jasmine–very pretty, and longer-lived than the mimosa one, but still pretty short-lived–doubt I’ll buy it, though the materials seem high quality. Plus, that darned bulb atomizer.
Something good: went to the “friends of the library” book sale yesterday, and scored: Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being, Waters The Paying Guests (all hardcover) and a Dandy Warhols cd, all for $35. Could have waited till tomorrow’s half price day, but didn’t want to miss out on the cookbooks!
So I’m not the only one who finds that atomizer a drawback huh? It looks pretty (and I’m sure it’s a big part of why they’re charging $175 for 75ml!!), but seeing a broken atomizer on a nearly full tester did not inspire confidence…
yeah, definite drawback, though to be fair, the tester’s probably broken from non-perfumistas fiddling with it.
How to Cook Everything is a great cookbook! My husband and I got it after going to a cooking class that he taught at Central Market in Austin, TX several years ago and still use it all the time.
1 and 2 are the same – Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile EDT. It’s so much nicer than the EDP, and wouldn’t you just know the EDT is the discontinued version. Hmphf.
3 could be either of Anais Anais or Tresor, both of which just became too … something. I can’t remember exactly when I wore them, but over time each just stopped thrilling me. I’d like to revisit some other old favorites (Byzance, Aliage) to see whether I’ve aged out of them, or maybe they’ve been reformulated past recognition.
4 has to be the redwood grove we visited a couple of days ago – just amazingly beautiful and majestic. The weather was sprinkly and sunny at the same time so everything sparkled. Very zen.
I was going to say Anais Anais. Way back I saw it, go figure, as a golden sort of scent, but now it’s just a very plain green floral.
I think it was a bit magical when it first came out … but I’m not sure exactly when it lost its specialness.
1. Wearing Vent Vert
2. I really, really need a bottle of Mohur.
3. Current Jolie Madame is too weak for my taste.
4. Our recent beach trip was wonderful and much needed.
As an aside, browsed the Nordstrom beauty section because of triple points. Nothing grabbed me personally, but saw a 6 oz (!!) bottle of a Donna Karan frag, cute minis of some Tom Fords ($345!) and an equally cute Prada Candy trio ($80).
Quick thank you to Clarissa and general PSA to US shoppers–I had not known until she posted this info to the splitmeet that First in Fragrance will discount the TVA (19%) to shipments outside Europe AND ship for free over a certain threshold. Basically if you have two or three bottles to order at once, this becomes a pretty great deal. (Especially so, I’d imagine, if you have a credit card that doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee.) Thanks for pointing this out, Clarissa!
1. Enjoyed the last bits of Diamant Noir that I applied yesterday. Otherwise, commando.
2. Trying to maintain a buying moratorium, so haven’t smelled anything new in ages. Sigh…
3. I’ve never gone off my perfumes because of a breakup, preferring instead to be repulsed by whatever He was wearing… Not too long ago, however, I realized I had finally, finally forgiven Obsession for Men for its sins back in the 80s (um, yes I can hold grudges for ages). There are a couple more recent ones I’m still working on.
4. Wonderful, because I actually made myself do it: a weights workout this morning, after a looong hiatus. Sadly, I’ll probably be too sore to get out of bed tomorrow morning. If only the cats could bring me coffee…
Sigh… weights. Have not pulled off a deadlift in three weeks due to a knee injury but I just kicked butt at the gym yesterday which means I have no excuses to just do cardio.
Sorry to hear about your injury; be careful, okay? I, too, hope to kick butt — just as soon as I regain the full use of my limbs…
I haven’t forgiven Obsession for Women yet. Doubt I ever will. It haunted too much of my college years, worn too insistently by too many of my peers. (I did, on the other hand, finally forgive Poison.)
Bet you’re not alone RE Obsession for Women. Fortunately, I was living outside the US during the worst part of the Poison and OfW era; the encounter with Obsession for Men was just an unlucky accident…
1. SOTD = Bvlgari Black – do I hear an amen? Amen!
2. Aftelier Bergamoss – I don’t like or use solid perfumes but this one grabbed me. I had been watching the weather forecast to decide when to buy and I ordered it a few days ago so it should arrive when it is not stiflingly hot. I am keeping my fingers, toes and eyes crossed that it will arrive in good shape because I just have to have it.
4. I am getting together with 50 or so friends and friends of friends for a big house party. I’m bringing store-bought dessert. The menu – probably Italian or half-Italian half-Chinese.
Now I need to go post my Splitmeet goodies!
Amen!
and we ended up with Filipino food! Yummy!
Bergamoss… Definitely need to move that to the top of my “to sample” list! I have never bought one of Aftel’s vintage compacts, but they are lovely…. Is yours coming in a compact? (Solid perfume never feels “real” to me…. It is like a kid’s version, a safety version because it is so hard of over apply.) But those compacts…..
Yes, the Bergamoss will come in a compact – I can’t wait to see it in person!
1. SL Jeux de Peaux. This is as gourmand as I can go – detox week.
2. Tuberose Gardenia: I’ve been coveting this one for a long time. because it is never offered by discounters. Every spritz makes me feel gorgeous!
3. Tommy Girl: still too ubiquitous.
4. Have not been on here for a bit so here it is: I passed my PhD defense at the end of July! Oooh! And some more postive news: this art historian/aspiring musicologist will be selecting images to complement a concert at the symphony.
Shameful mistake for a 19th French specialist but I meant ‘peau’. Yes, I am a spelling and grammar freak. Oh, I just realized that I lied about number 1: I have Frangelico in my coffee.
Congrats on the successful defense!!! and on your selection as the “synesthetician” for the symphony.
Congratuations on a successful defense! Wasn’t it wonderful to be called “Doctor” after so much hard work?
Congratulations!
Congrats!
Hey Dr. Distracted! Congratulations, that is terrific. What will be the music at the concert?
Thanks for the congrats all. Just in my “what now?” phase although I have my daytime job as a middle school teacher.
Oakland Fresca:
Vaughan Williams: London Symphony
Walton: Viola Concerto
Barber: School of Scandal
1. What fragrance are you wearing today? Coco EDT
2. Name the last new (or new to you) fragrance that you smelled and thought right away, I might need a bottle of this! Did you buy it? Coco EDT so I did buy it.
3. Name a fragrance you can no longer wear, because you grew up, or you broke up, or the new formulation makes you want to throw up. (suggested by juicejones) RL Romance just not smell as good to me but men love it.
4. Share something wonderful with us! It can be anything: something you discovered, or bought, or read, or saw, or something great that happened to you recently. Reading lots of good books lately. Finished Gone with the Wind a few weeks ago. All these years and had never read it. Reading Friction by Sandra Brown now that is really good.
GWTW is such a great book. I have read it at least 3 times, I think. I have the book that my grandmother gave to my great-grandmother from Germany in 1939 (not a translation, GGM was fluent in 5 different languages!). She must have sent it back or left it here on a visit to the U.S. Not a first edition, but pretty special to me. I never met my GGM, but was very close to my grandmother.
That was my academic epiphany book. I was in sixth grade, and was a slow reader… Not as to difficulty or content, but I just read the words more slowly than many of my peers. We had to do a our first major book report… It was to be 10 pages ( handwritten back then!) with a synopsis and a review and my teacher said I could not possibly do Gone With the Wind… So I dug my heels in and read every waking moment and wrote notes on dozens of index cards, and two weeks later I turned in my report on time. It really helped that I loved the book. But I also realized how powerful was my teacher’s underestimation of me. Decades later, My older son was Dxed with orthographic dyslexia. He also reads slowly, but does really well in school…. How times have changed!
I always wondered if I reread the book now, after years and years of human rights work, whether I would find its racial characterizations and spin on the Civil War too painful, so I have left it to nostalgia. But at its heart it is such a good love story!
Wearing Oriental Lounge on one hand and Encens Mythique on the other. Recently gave Cristalle one more try in all its iterations, but the love is gone. Jasmine White Moss has been a good pinch-hitter, but now it’s discontinued, alas. New(-to-me) love: trying out 90’s music. Recently watched the Daria series and movies, and was curious about the original music. It wasn’t and all hip-hop, wailing and wispy voices after all…
Daria was a great show!
90s music also included singers braying like donkeys … I’m looking at you Alanis Morissette and Dolores O’Riordan.
Ha! Now that you mention it…I was a fan, however. Especially the Irish brayer.
Hee, hee. That reminds of the term “Irish crooner.” That made me look at the Wikipedia entry for “crooner.” It seems like crooning was made possible by the advent of the microphone. Interesting.
All of this 90s music talk has made me pull out the stuff I was listening to back then — mainly punk rock and British indie pop. They can have my CDs and seven inches when they pry them out of my cold dead hands
This made me think back to what I listened to in the 90s. There was Nirvana, Pulp, Bjork. I was/am stuck in 80’s post punk/new wave. I know nothing about current music.
Have youd tried Ormonde Jayne Tiare? It’d be a good replacement for Cristalle and Jwm.
I once had a travel spray of Tiare, which I found pretty but didn’t think of as a replacement. Maybe I will get another decant/travel size of it. Thanks for the suggestion!
1. I am wearing Tropical Vial by SIP, applied lightly on mosquito bites on my legs, and remains of Mitsy, plus smell of burnt brakes and rubber in my hair. I am currently in Singapore for the F1 race. It’s after midnight but it’s still over 30C/90F degrees with some 100% humidity.
2. I came upon 4711 Melissa & Verbena (at Mustafa’s – they really do have everything), sniffed it briefly and decided to get it right away. It’s lovely. BTW they also had these amazing, giant, I think 5 liter bottles of regular 4711, but that was too big to stick in my suitcase.
3. DH had used up a bottle of Penhaligon’s Douro and when we went to get a new one in HK Penhaligon’s store, upon first sniff from the tester it was almost unrecognizable – changed from deep laudanum and musk scent to pukey, vaguely aquatic and generic men’s scent. What shame…
4. Now that I have spent a little bit of time in East Asia, I can see why wearing a strong perfume is such a no-no in social settings. The heat and the close quarters, especially on the subways, really make strong assertive scents almost offensive. I came upon one Western tourist leaving our hotel at the same time as us in the morning, and leaving a trail of strong tuberose scent behind and I did find it rather inappropriate. I have been wearing Mitsouko EdT (new formula is very good) and even a bit of extrait on this trip but I do apply them lightly, early in the morning, and I sincerely hope that I only emit discrete wafts of the scent..
Have fun at the race! I’ve been to Monza and Silverstone but not yet been to a night race. Been to Singapore on business… super hot and humid. A co-worker advised me to just bring several changes of clothes per day, and plan to take lots of showers. He was right
Is the night zoo still open? That was fun. So is Jurong Bird Park. And the food is wonderful everywhere…
Apparently there is a “Night Ride” zoo but I have not investigated that yet. We have been to the Bird Park, it was great though the amount of walking was a challenge in this heat. It was also the first place where I found the frangipani blooms, red and white, they smell wonderful.
The food is great, I don’t think it’s possible to have a bad meal here; Singaporeans take their food really seriously.
I am always disappointed by amusement park activities… The cost and hype never ever ever lives up, BUT the Singapore Night Safari was so fabulous (at least in 2011.) And most zoos give me the heebie jeebies… The trick is to get there late, after 9:30 PM when most of the folks from the zillion tour busses have left. Let me say, walking around a park in the pitch black with a canteen purchased cocktail, ogling the big cats who are wide awake and up close and personal, is a very unique experience! Most memorable were the bat exhibits… And even the animal show, still cheesy, was great.
This post got me thinking about one of early favourites: Magie Noire by Lancôme. I used to love it when I first went to university and then my brother got a girl friend and she wore it…and that just made it a bit creepy for me to keep wearing it. I wonder if we just had a very limited and narrow choice of perfumes back then…so everyone wore the same perfumes, more or less…Chanel, Guerlain, Dior and then Opium, Opium and more Opium!
There were certainly far fewer perfumes. And the big ones were such icons, no one wanted to miss out. They had very clear signatures, too, so you knew who was wearing what. Now, so many mainstream perfumes are hard to tell apart and not memorable.
Haven’t commented in a while – good to be back. Wearing Fleur de Chine, recently smelled Vanilla Iris by Ormomde Jayne and seriously considering a bottle. Nothing I can’t wear anymore but wish Samsara was as i first smelled it on a school friend in the early nineties- I really enjoy wearing a recent edp of it though. Something wonderful- it was a beautiful sunny autumn day in the UK which feels pretty amazing after the most icredibly wet August!
I wore Samsara for the first time today – LOVE it! I guess it’s true – what you don’t know can’t hurt you – so this juice smells good to me, not having tried it when it came out. It surprised me!
Isn’t it wonderful? Glad you’re enjoying it!
Wearing Marc Jacobs Decadence today. It took about three hours after me testing it to me buying it. Those are the scents I love the most, the ones that scream my name. I can no longer wear Hypnotic Poison due to bad associations. I generally prefer to visit my fragrance history in my memories. Gucci Rush is really the only one I still wear. I just finished watching a documentary on the 1970′ s. on CNN. It was fascinating to see news footage of my memories.
“news footage of my memories” Great description!
Good morning, and all good things to everyone. I’m not yet wearing any perfume, because I’ve just surfaced from a very deep and long sleep, but I will be in Wit. I intended to try it last night after the party, but I fell asleep with the Gump’s bag in my hand. I slept all night with Wit beside me, untested. I really am old!
Something nearly bought: I smelt the new Bulgari The Bleu in Sydney and liked it very much. It didn’t buy it because I know that it will soon reach A-NZ, but I think I will get it. It strikes me as pleasant and versatile, like a dinner guest who never puts a social foot wrong but isn’t the most stimulating conversationalist at the table. Every party needs a few of those.
Name a fragrance you can no longer wear…Aaiee! Just the one? Then, umm, Amarige, which I loathe with the fiery passion of ten thousand supernovas because someone I know who wears it is cruel. I hate cruelty and I hate spitting. I bet she spits in private…perhaps not even in private!
Something wonderful: spring is bumbling about awkwardly, but it’s definitely on its way. There are tui in the park, and mist afternoons when I come home, there’s a rosella with a mad look in its eye swooping about startling the natives with its vulgar (but fun) outfit. I have recently read the Chronicles of St Mary’s by Jodie Taylor. They aren’t what I would call “wonderful”, but they are well-written and make a thumping good read at two o’clock in the morning (I customarily sleep very badly, so I’m always looking for “after mid-night books”). Also (though this shows how deeply shallow I am), I have just re-organised my wardrobe and when I open the doors, I relish the lighter, softer textures and brighter colours of spring and summer. I’m going to tidy my perfumes today for the same effect, if you see what I mean. Small wonders that give intense pleasure! Tobin, thank you for the question–it made me think about life and Life.
Oh,nRobin, I don’t know how I made you “Tobin”–well, I do, I was simply careless– but I should have noticed before I pressed post. Sorry!
Not the worst thing I’ve ever been called
Waterdragon, as someone who looks forward to reading your thoughtful, sincere, witty, and oftentimes hysterical posts, trust me when I say that ” shallow” will never be a word used to describe you.
Aww…you’re so kind. I mostly just chatter, you know. I like chatting: I think I was probably born to hang over a back fence yarning with a neighbour while a pot boils dry inside.
Hear, hear!
Again, you made my day! Or rather evening. Please do go on chatting, or babbling as Lord Peter Wimsey used to call it.
Not wearing anything yet, but planning to test a few samples after I’ve done some house work.
I recently tried Myrrhe Imperiale in the Armani Privé line, just stunning. I would have bought a bottle within 5 minutes regardless of the financial damage, if only I could. The closest I can get it is Australia, not far on a global scale, but still a few hours away. I think I need to start saving for a trip…
I nearly bought it last week. I loved it. I don’t know what unusual prudence stayed my credit card hand, but now I need to find an obliging mule.
1.Narciso in the beautiful white cube for me today. Perfectly lovely and cozy as a sweater on this cool, drizzly Saturday.
2. Encens Satin from Armani Privee is my most wanted at the moment. I seem to be lacking incense in my wardrobe, and this one struck a chord with me in recent incense sample-a-looza. Alas, it is just too pricy for my current situation.
3. YSL Paris. I wore this one as a signature in my 20’s and still have a 1/4 bottle left from then. It now reminds me too much of my angsty times.
1. My SOTD is Vanilla Orchid Signature Scent by Caswell-Massey. The notes are vanilla, orchid, mango, and coconut, but I don’t smell any fruit. I walked by my husband shortly after applying it and he told me that I smelled good
2. Kulfi by L’Aromatica. I plan to purchase the oil- and alcohol- based versions soon.
3. I usually don’t like tobacco or leather notes in perfume, but I used to love Spicebomb. It’s not a new formulation; I’m working from the same bottle, but I just can’t handle the tobacco any longer. It has become overwhelming and nauseating
4. The Naked Ladies (aka “Belladonna Lilies,” but it is so much more fun to say “Naked Ladies”) in my front yard are blooming and they smell like taffy and bubblegum, but in a subtle, plant-y way. I would love a perfume that smelled like these flowers. According to Wikipedia, “The plant has a symbiotic relationship with Carpenter bees,” and I saw a Carpenter bee in the yard right after I finished huffing the flowers.
Our old house would sprout Naked Ladies and I loved my little boys’ giggles whenever I mentioned them (this was a while ago
)
Speaking of Spicebomb, haven’t heard from Marjorie Rose in awhile. Hope she is well.
Ah, Marjorie Rose is one of my favorite NST commenters. She’s a way-cool junior high science teacher like my mom
Hopefully, she is busy with fun and fulfilling things.
Yup was going to say, beginning of school year, I bet she’s busy. Same for my college roommate, teachers get busy!
Weekend heating up! Retrying Jo Malone’s Lily-of-the-Vally & Ivy,seems to work better in the heat!
Answer to 1, 2 and 4 – Santa Maria Novella Tobacco Toscano. Yes I bought it
Answer to 3 is Dior’s Dune: it makes me as miserable as I felt back in high school!
My sister, who has always been a 1 scent kinda woman, texted me yesterday asking if I had ever smelled Toscana, which I haven’t. She said it was intoxicating. I think spending 2 weeks with her might have planted some fumie seeds.
I find it more comforting and soothing than intoxicating which I tend to associate with heady florals! But it is the smoothest, most gentle blend of tobacco, vanilla and leather
Oof indeed would not wear anything that had the slightest hint of high school!!
I know there are people out there who loved high school and more power to ’em but…not so much for me!
I continue to be suspicious of people who enjoyed high school too much! It’s a nice new prejudice to add to the armory
SOTD is Amouage Sunshine. It starts out a bit too sweet, but I really enjoy it when it is drying down and mellowing out.
There are too many things that I have recently tried and considered buying. Tom Ford Noir for women was instant love (momentary confusion when I accidentally spritzed myself with the sample of Noir Extreme that I had gotten for my husband). Also really considering Shalimar Souffle de Parfum. No relation to Shalimar at all, but it’s a really soft, easy fragrance to wear. Also looking at the sampler set from Neela Vermeire. I am restraining myself for the moment, having just bought Bois des Iles Extrait and also waiting to hear about layoffs at Walmart corporate. My husband works in the international tax dept. They are about to do some big-time restructuring. He thinks his dept is pretty safe, but even though they have an open position, there is now a hiring freeze for his group, so I am nervous. I currently work part-time, which suits me really well. I can do what needs to be done for our boys and not get burnt out at work. I would probably have to see about moving up to full-time. And then there would probably be another move to consider. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
In good news, my older son is one of the student aides for the school librarian, and she had so much praise for him when I spoke to her this week that it made me really proud of him. I am not telling him for now because he would get a little too puffed up, but he is turning into a pretty neat guy.
How nice about your son–sounds like a great endeavor for him! Isn’t Walmart hq in the Bentonville area? Used to do business with a freight forwarder based there, and every 2 yrs they would host a Mudbug fest. Went one time, and was taken by the town itself–very quaint & lovely. Hope your hub can stay put.
I’d really like to see Crystal Bridges…
Crossing my fingers for you Sapphire!
Crystal Bridges is really neat. Well worth a visit just to see the architecture and setting, not to mention the art.
I definitely want to go there!
The few photos I’ve seen look amazing!
I have been to Crystal Bridges and it is FABULOUS!
and the 21c Museumhotel is so cute and has a great restaurant
Oh thanks for this rec! Making a note.
WM is in Bentonville, and it is really cute and quaint. Lots of old Victorian homes.
Oh, that’s so nice about your son. So cool that he’s working in the library, too — I have a soft spot for libraries.
Oh, dear. Didn’t you just move there? I will keep my fingers crossed that your husband is able to keep his job.
Yes, we moved here only a year ago. My initial practice contract with Mercy healthcare still has a year on it. Hoping not to have to pull up stakes after that. It is really disruptive for patients to have to find a new doc.
Fingers crossed for you and your family.
Thanks for everyone’s well wishes! Should find out at the end of the month.
You can’t leave yet, I still have to go visit you! JK
Good wishes for hubby’s work sitation!
The last new (or new to you) fragrance that I smelled and thought right away, I might need a bottle of this was Bruno Fazzolari Lampblack. I haven’t bought it yet, partly because I am still testing the other fragrances in the sample pack. It’s reasonable in price, you get a discount from the sample set, and I like the idea of supporting an artist, so I probably will.
I recently finished Stephen Booth’s murder mystery series featuring Cooper and Fry. I enjoyed the books, especially their setting in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England.
Hey, did you try Rom 237 yet?
I’m skeered!!! I’m thinking of spraying it on a kleenex, leaving it in another room, and approaching cautiously. OTOH, I’ve had a sample of ELd’O Secretions Magnifiques since 2009 that I’ve never tried.
No need to do anything rash. OTOH, since you tried it, perhaps I should show a little solidarity?
Here’s a mature and measured response… maybe you can trick someone you know into trying it and sniffing it on him/her?
That would indeed be a mature and measured response to the behavior of certain individuals.
1. No fragrance today. It is still hot here, about 90 F, I am tired of “summer” perfumes, but my heavier scents feel like too much in the heat. Come on, fall!
2. Papillon Salome. This is some serious perfume, and I may end up caving and buying a bottle.
3. Poison. It was love at first sniff back in the day, but I can’t abide it now.
4. My husband and I recently celebrated our 25th anniversary. I don’t think anyone in our families expected it to work out, but here we are all these years later, still happy together.
Awww! Happy Anniversary and congrats on beating the odds.
Oh congratulations! That’s great. Thanks for sharing with us, makes me happy to hear it
You know what, that’s the best story! Congratulations on your silver anniversary. My husband and I stirred up commentaries from nay-sayers when we hurtled into marriage: “You’re too young/he’s too old…you’re too different…too immature…” and my personal favourite, “You’re too poor!” Forty-three years on, we’re still happily ignoring everyone’s opinions! May you have another 25 years of utter contentment and bliss together!
Congratulations on 43 years of proving everyone else wrong! Sometimes you just have to do what you know is right for you and ignore everyone else’s input.
Congrats and many more!
That is super!
Happy anniversary!
Congratulations!
And I feel your pain about the heat!
Thanks to everyone for the anniversary wishes. It really does feel like a milestone.
Happy Weekend Everyone! Here are my responses to the following questions:
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
( My SOTD is Chloe Eau De Parfum – such a beautiful fragrance)
2. Name the last new (or new to you) fragrance that you smelled and thought right away, I might need a bottle of this! Did you buy it?
( I actually was willing to blind-buy JM’s Mimosa and Cardamom unsniffed. Surprisingly, so many NST commenters really liked this one. I just knew that I would fall in love with it. I didn’t buy it. The reason was because I actually had a sample of it and forgot that I did. I wasn’t wowed by it at all and that’s why I must have put it back with my other samples. I would have been so disappointed if I would have gone through and purchased it.)
3. Name a fragrance you can no longer wear, because you grew up, or you broke up, or the new formulation makes you want to throw up. (suggested by juicejones)
(For me, it was the original Michael Kohrs fragrance. When I first smelled it, I loved it and had to have it. But then, something strange happened. Every time I smelled it, I literally became sick to my stomach. I don’t know why this happened, but I ended up giving it away to one of my friends.)
4. Share something wonderful with us! It can be anything: something you discovered, or bought, or read, or saw, or something great that happened to you recently…
( Just recently, my brother began taping his new talk show. They needed someone to do the voice-overs, and I was given the opportunity. I am so excited about the doors that will possibly be opened for me from doing this. I dream BIG! Hoping to one day do commercials, television shows, and movies. I have been blessed with some major opportunities and I don’t take any of them for granted!)
I enjoyed reading your Mimosa and Cardamom story! If not to everyone here, it could happen to me for sure
Thanks! And, so true.
I love that you dream Big! What a great and fun opportunity for you!
Thanks. So excited about it .
I had the same exact sane experience with Michael Kors! I bought it quickly after smelling it and couldn’t wear it for the same reason.
Hoping your dreams come to fruition!
I am glad to see that I am not the only one. I thought there was something wrong with me. It must be one of the notes that causes nausea.
I was sure I was going to love JM’s Mimosa and Cardamom and I didn’t care for it at all. I am with you on that one.
Same with Michael Kors. I loved it a few years ago and now I just can’t wear it.
We are just too much alike. It is scary.
I know. They say that everyone has a twin somewhere in the world. We are definitely scent twins seperated at birth. Lol!
Wore today: BFMV (oomphed up with vetiver EO). Just put on Bois d’Argent.
Need: Sycomore (I know, I know….still)
Can’t wear: MaGriffe. Loved it in my teens; just isn’t the same.
Wonderful: The town we moved to had an Artists’ Tour today, with demonstrations of techniques. Tomorrow we have tickets to a local theater production. So nice to live somewhere with activities, and have someone to attend them with.
BFMV?
Probably Black Flower Mexican Vanilla by Dame Perfumery
Oh! Thank you
1. No fragrance today as I am travelling/on holiday/ and its hot
2. Resmelt Eau de Merveilles and it went to the top of the buy list.
3. Noa was the first perfume I was given. I did like it but compared to all the wonders out there I find it boring now.
4. In Hong Kong right now. I just adore this city, the gorgeous setting, the hustle and bustle, the food, the tropical heat, anything seems possible here.
I’m envious of you getting to enjoy Hong Kong. I’ve never been.
I love Eau de Merveilles and also the Elixir. I have the bath gel too and it’s really nice. You only need a small amount and it’s so refreshing.
1. Gucci Rush for Men. Have been saving the last about 1/4 inch of juice in the bottle cus it’s SO DAMN EXPENSIVE to find and buy, but couldn’t help myself today. I needed to reacquaint myself with it.
2. Black Opium by YSL. MUST HAVE! It’s SO Gorgeous! Smells like a Caffeinated Version of Flowerbomb and I am buying it to wear Myself as soon as I am back in the Work Force!
I am also a fan of Black Opium. I am still trying to smell the coffee in it. Haha, though, I’ve always been slow at ” waking up and smelling the coffee” Anyway, I wish a bottle for you soon.
That’s okay… You are taking the time to smell the flowers….
Trying out layering Amouage Sunshine with L’air de Rien today. Not bad. The L’AdR tones down the sweetness in Sunshine, which tones down the barnyard aspects of L’AdR.
Wearing 28 La Pausa today. Oh how I wish it would last. I’ve been so close to buying Bois d’Ascese several times now, but I still haven’t done it. The guys at scent bar/lucky scent were even singing its praises this summer. I need to bite the bullet soon! I don’t seem to wear tea for two anymore. The bottle I recently bought is just too synthetic smelling. A reformulation or just changing taste? Who knows.
I have been fooling around on my computer most of the day so far and haven’t as yet picked my SOTD. As for perfumes I’ve smelled and think I need a bottle of: All Neely Vermiere scents. I already have Mahur, Trayee and Ashoka but still want Bombay Bling, Pichola and Mohur Extrait. Eventually, I will have at least one of the three.
Oops, I meant Neela Vermeer.
Neela Vermiere! I honestly typed it this way not like my previous post.
Hello, everyone. I’m bounding off to work today wearing spring colours, winter warmth, and Wit. I like Wit very much at the moment, and will probably love it to bits by the end of the day. The only reason I didn’t adore it immediately is that it isn’t quite what I expected, and I’m having to re-calibrate my ideas about it from anticipation to reality. I like its heart and base very much, but it wears a bit upside-down on me and I seem to miss the crisp lemony floral sweetness of daphne in the opening, which, in my imagination, was rather the point. I’m very pleased with my fools-rush-in buy, though: phew! ‘cos the price was a little eye-watering.
Rest assured, Wit is divine – you smell amazing!
I wore Wit today too. It’s a perfect in-between seasons scent to me. Warm enough for our lame excuse for fall and bright enough for spring. I’m relieved you like it, although I don’t know why I should be. It wasn’t what I expected when I first sampled it either (I wasn’t expecting daphne because I’m not familiar enough with it to do so, I expected it to be sharper), but I find it very wearable and unlikely to get on my nerves.
1) Shalimar–really loving it now that it’s cooling down.
2) Nothing really. Haven’t tried anything new for awhile.
3) Gucci Rush. I was wearing it when I got dumped out of nowhere a couple months ago and the smell still induces panic. I don’t think I was dumped BECAUSE I was wearing Gucci Rush, but for all I know it could be related. No idea what happened with that boy. I hope this feeling goes away because I miss wearing it.
4) At least it’s a beautiful day outside!
1. Marni by Marni.
2. Dark Amber & Ginger Lily by Jo Malone. I’m accustomed to fragrances that smell like something delicious I’d love to eat. This one made me want to drink it? That’s new. So I might get it for Christmas.
3. Ninfeo Mio by Annick Goutal. I tested this plenty before buying, but I must have tested it in cold weather! Turns out this perfume is one I absolutely adore, until heat is applied, when the boxwood/cat pee note kills it for me. As applying heat includes everything from rushing around to using a hairdryer, I just had to stop wearing it.
4. I don’t usually go in for cosy mystery stories, but the ITV show “Grantchester” won me over completely. It’s about a handsome young vicar in an English village in the 1950s, who solves crimes with the help of an older Detective Inspector. And it’s a treat. Here’s a link to the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipu6elDudyo
I like Grantchester, too. Sidney is a cutie
When I first spelled Marni on a magazine strip I wanted to drop everything to go buy it. I was in grad school at the time with no cash for splurges. Although I can get it now on eBay, I feel like that ship has sailed…hoping Marni Spice makes its way to the US market.
Wearing Infusion d’Iris again. I could not handle this scent when I first tried it a year ago, but now it’s perfect on a hot day.
New to me, and I like it much more than I thought I would, is a sample of La Perla Eclix. It has the citrus-floral-vanilla notes that get to me. It is discontinued so I won’t go looking for a bottle.
Ewww, smelled Halston Z14 out in the wild recently. I used to enjoy it on others, but leather in fragrance is no longer my friend.
Thank you to everyone who commented this weekend. I’ve enjoyed your reminders of fragrances to try. Two Shalimars are back on my list – Souffle and the newer cologne.
Elisa P and Oakland Fresca, I’m glad I’m not the only one who cries on airplanes. A few years ago I cried for almost an entire 6 hour flight. I think I scared the couple in my row. I blamed it on watching all of Downton Abbey season 3. Really it was the heartache of being separated from loved ones.
I have one episode of Downton Abbey season 5 left to watch. I’m putting it off for a moment when I feel ready. For now I’m watching Grantchester. Hellooooo, James Norton and Robson Green. I love Morven Christie, too. Time to check out a few Sidney Chambers’ mysteries from the library.
And I think I got my knitting mojo back. A co-worker is expecting a baby, so I’m working on baby hat #2. I’ll stop when I run out of yarn or get bored.
Wearing Calvin Klein Reveal, my latest blind buy after reading Jessica’s fall fragrance review. It’s just like Jessica describes, a salty amber with vanilla. I smell a little cola in the dry down, maybe that’s the vanilla? Although not mind blowing I really like it and can see myself grabbing for it in the fall with out having to think too much – it will be a frequent, easy wear. And a bonus, after first applying it I was chatting with my 12 year old son who was visibly trying to sniff out what smelled so good!
Went through two bottles of Trish McEvoy #9 in my late 20s. I loved the blackberry and vanilla at the time and still like it on others but can’t imagine wearing it now.
Big and wonderful news from the weekend…I drove my daughter to college yesterday!! I’m so excited for her and I know she is ready for this next adventure, but I can’t help missing her. A couple perfume notes…She brought seven (!) small bottles of perfume with her and purchased a print of a vintage perfume poster for her room!
Congratulations to your daughter (and to you for years of behind-the-scenes work). Glad she will smell great as she has her first college “I hope I’m in the right classroom” or “what do you mean, of course we should already know the basics? This is an intro class!” moment
Thank you!!!
That is awesome!
????
Hello Everyone,
The Splitmeet is open.
https://nstperfume.com/2015/09/19/the-splitmeet-episode-4/#comments
I have 2 splits still open:
Thierry Mugler Les Exceptions Oriental Express – see Robin’s review — https://nstperfume.com/2014/08/07/thierry-mugler-oriental-express-perfume-review/
and
Pick your own 15mL Hermessence
Today I was in Ormonde Jayne Woman. First crisp day that felt more fall like to me. My husband likes it a lot and could still smell it this evening.
The new Guerlain (Mon Exclusif) struck me as something to want. But some distance has muted that. Nothing that I can’t wear that I once could. It may actually be the opposite.
What is currently wonderful is being on vacation in the Berkshires. Day started with a relaxing coffee at a local spot that was sunny and lovely. Ended at at a local tavern eating meatloaf. Crisp, sunny weather.