Happy Tuesday! If you have a minute, do tell us what fragrance you're wearing.
I'm wearing Serge Lutens Chêne.
Reminder: this Friday, 10/23, will be Slow Burn Friday: wear the perfume it took you the longest to love, or the longest to buy, or the longest to find.
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.
It’s gauzier than I usually like but I’m in Hermessences Cuir d’Ange: I was gonna wear Brin de Reglisse but when I opened the box of 15-mL sprays I realized I was actually in the mood for that lightweight Hermes leather.
And I love both of those 🙂
Me too! When I got a box of Hermessences this spring I got those two plus Vanille Galante, which I adore, and Epice Marine, which I can’t make up my mind about. I mean, it’s okay, but it doesn’t measure up to those other three.
Well, we’re about the same, except I have pretty much made up my mind I’ll never love Epice Marine.
Epice Marine was such an interesting collaboration, and I think it’s well done, but it makes me uncomfortable. I wish they had chosen to work with notes that I like better. Both marine and cumin are usually difficult for me, and encountering both of them in the same perfume is too much of a challenge. I don’t care for Narcisse Bleu either. I was relieved to like Cuir d’Ange.
Scent twin! I started thinking about this one while drifting off to sleep and couldn’t wait to smell it this morning.
I love it when that happens! It’s usually a Lutens that I get an irresistible urge to wear, and it smells SO GOOD when you finally get to put it on.
I think I’ll join you with some Iris Silver Mist. Perfect for this beautiful day we’re having down here.
Hoping we are going to warm up here today! You smell great.
I’m wearing VC&A Gardenia Petale. It’s a very pretty, straightforward gardenia, which is generally how I like my gardenia.
And there aren’t that many of them!
Black Cashmere today, despite the 70s predicted for this afternoon, I’m in full on fall fragrance.
Oh man. I have to get out my bottle and put it into the seasonal rotation, now that we’ve had frost two days in a row.
It’s time! One of my very favorite frags.
Testing Tauer Sotto La Luna Tuberose today, and rather pleased with it. Didn’t like the Gardenia; didn’t like the tubey thing Andy did for Tableau de Parfums (Loretta). I do like this.
hmmm… then it probably stands a chance with me too, could not stomach Loretta as well as for Gardenia, its just awful (imho)…so far all his white soli-flowers were not great for me…
Loretta didn’t work so well for me either.
I’m so happy to be home right now. Wearing Infusion d’Iris right now. I have no idea on what I’ll be wearing post shower though because I want to wear my whole collection. Should I go with current or vintage Mitsouko, vintage Bal or wear Amouage Lyric?
Ha, love “I want to wear my whole collection”!
They all sound sensational so whichever you pick will be lovely!
They all sound like great choices!!
This is when I appreciate my short-lived perfumes. 😉
SOTD is Tabac Blond extrait – yummy and perfect.
Vintage? if so.. how lucky
Vintage extrait WOULD be lucky indeed. I think it’s the current formulation (it’s from several 1 ml samples from STC) – maybe I should check the vials! 🙂
I am really curious about that – and wonder if you have any thoughts on how it compares to Tobacco Vanille?
Turns out the Tabac Blond is the current version of the extrait … but it feels vintage (if that makes any sense). I haven’t tried the Tobacco Vanille yet so I can’t say how it compares to the Caron, but if it’s any help at all, the notes listed at STC for Tabac Blond are leather, carnation, linden, iris, vetiver, ylang ylang, cedar, patchouli, vanilla, amber and musk; and those for the Tom Ford TV are tobacco leaf, spice notes, tonka bean, tobacco blossom, vanilla, cacao, dried fruits, and woody notes. Tabac Blond does have lots of lovely leather and its tobacco notes are quite subtle, so that might be a key difference between the two fragrances. (I have just added TV to my list of things to try, so an enabler pin goes to you, Sophie!)
Thank you I shall definitely try it- and always happy to enable!
I’m trying Musc Ravageur again. Tried it years ago and really didn’t get on with it, which was surprising, because I love Roucel! I think it contains a woody amber material (posing as musk I guess) I was more sensitive to then. I get more what it’s about now, but it seems like a much more refined (hence, less fun) version of his Oro for Roberto Cavalli, which is a nice cheap thrill.
Funny same here – and then I tried it out again this weekend at the new FM boutique in London and am still not sure about it.
Where about’s is the new boutique!
It’s in Burlington Arcade – I had no idea and was there recently and saw it. It’s becoming quite good for a perfume person – the Chanel boutique opposite with the Exclusifs and also Roja Dove has a boutique opening there, there’s a Penhaligons, and it’s near Fortnum and Mason. Definitely worth popping along to if you are in the area, and the FM boutique are ok with samples (and have the new to me 10ml single travel sizes available). Of course all of this is catastrophic for the wallet…
That would be dangerous. If only Roja Dove would do travel singles! Of course, if he did, they’d probably be encased in gold or something to keep them unaffordable.
Oh, I could go for a cheaper, more fun Musc Rav! Thanks, will keep an eye out.
Try L de Lolita Lempicka too, which is also super cheap at discounters and I prefer it to the Oro. But they’re all in the same spicy oriental family with some citrus.
The opening of L de Lolita is similar. Also Royce, I think. L’Erbolario Meharees is a cheap thrill that is similar. The clove is toned way down.
That’s autocorrect for Roucel.
I think he ought to change his name to Royce. Micky Royce.
😀 Sounds like an old baseball player.
Too funny????
Yes, as it dries down it’s actually more like L than Oro. But either way — both of them are cheaper and more fun!!
Is commando and very tired so far today but can still smell the leftover Kelly caleche from yesterday spray.
One of the benefits of being pregnant is that your nose is like a Fox-at 3 AM that really turned out to be helpful! Our apartment smelled like smoke – had to wake up the husband. turns out I found out this morning that two blocks away was a raging fire – we had to open all the windows in our apartment until about 7 AM this morning. The smell was basically gone by then
My goodness, how lucky u are pregnant!
Hope know one was hurt.
Super sniffer is really cool. It may stick with you for a while after you have your baby. Sometimes pregnancy body changes stay around….
After the first baby it went away. The super sniffer is how I knew I was pregnant the second time 🙂
Very cool
Fendi Theorema today. It’s is crazy that I wish this stuff were more potent?
I do wish that it was a little more potent too. And lasted a little longer on me but most of all, I wish it were not discontinued.
I just lurv it and will take it however I can, one backup at a time. sigh
My SOTD is Laboissiere Carnation EDT. It’s my favorite perfume. It’s VERY hot and spicy and everything a carnation soliflore should be IMO.
I wore carnation scents when I met my husband 25 years ago and he loves them on me. He’s been gone for three weeks and I’m picking him up from the airport today.
I don’t cook much and a dear friend made dinner so that my husband and I can have a homecooked meal when he gets home. I’m off to pick up the food from her now.
How sweet of your friend! Have a nice reunion with teh hubs.
(making note of the Laboissiere… I love carnation scents.)
Have you tried the Smell Bent carnation, Prairie Nymph? It is fun and reasonably priced!
Me? I love the first two hours of it, and then it goes into that Smell Bent dirty musk that I can’t deal with for the next six hours.
I love carnation too but Prairie Nymph turned into the Prairie Nymph’s unwashed body parts after frolicking on the prairie.
Lol.
Maybe this won’t go on the ‘to try’ list after all.
Great description. 🙂
What a wonderful friend! Good idea too!
I’m making note of the Laboissiere too 🙂
I also…I am wearing the lovely and sadly discontinued Floris Malmaison today, a spritz from my hoarded decant. How does this compare, do you know?
I have my mind set on the Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Oeillets Rouge which is a really lovely classic carnation….
I have a dram bottle of that. It’s gorgeous.
I used to wear Comme des Garcons Carnation. It was so long lasting and almost spicy ‘hot’. I think I sometimes layered it with Rose and Avignon and Kyoto ….this is why perfume wearers need to have eight arms ( or legs) like an octopus, so we can wear everything without difficult early morning decision making.
I have this one too but 4 sprays from a FB lasted 30 minutes on me!
Knize Ten… sometimes I hear something sweet like berries in the beginning and then its just leather full on… ahhhh
You’re spot on. I think it’s supposed to be a strawberry accord. And you smell terrific!
thank you!!!:)
Love Knize Ten – to me it is pure European elegance. Fruit is the secret ingredient of leathers, I think.
Inspired by Austenfan I am in Heure Exquise today. Sometimes when I smell this I wonder why I bother with other perfumes…I have the EdT and EdP, and they are both halfway empty. And I may enter one of those periods Mals commented on yesterday, hooked on one scent. I only ever had that with Heure Exquise, and in a much less dramatic way with Hiris.
Heure Exquise is sublime. I slightly prefer the edp but have and wear both. It’s true, why have anything else??
It really does tick all the boxes, doesn’t it? We smell great!
You smell great of course. I’ve never actually tried the EDT of HE. I’m plenty happy with the EPD and the small bottle of dry oil that I bought years ago.
Heure Exquise just never bores me, or gets on my nerves. It has enough presence to be eminently noticeable, but is not overpowering enough to ever outstay it’s welcome.
The edt is more sandalwood and iris, less rich rose. The edt is a love-affair with bone dry aromatic sandalwood. It has a dusty aspect. IMHO the edp is rounder, richer, more sensuous with that awesome rose more prominent in the mix.
Must one seek vintage or is the current formulation OK?
My bottles are all from a few years ago, so I don’t know about what’s current. Sometime I need to make the effort to go to a Goutal boutique so I can sniff what’s out right now.
Couldn’t answer as my bottle is a few years old, and I haven’t tried any recently from the shops.
HE is a thoroughly satisfying perfume. I’m always afraid that if I wear something too many times in a row, the magic will wear off. There isn’t really any other reason not to wear it aside from radical weather.
Ha, ha – I was thinking very seriously of wearing Heure Exquise today, but changed my mind at the last minute for Amouage Memoir. But tomorrow is supposed to be warm and it will be perfect for HE. It is one of my HG fragrances!!! I’ll never forget the first time I smelled it….
Neither will I….
Heh, I was planning on Memoir tomorrow too. Eleven wearings of “WTH *is* this stuff?” – and then it was love.
I was totally afraid of Memoir when I first tested it – it has so many things that I normally don’t or didn’t like: leather, smoke and BWF. But it was love at first sniff for me – total surprise.
I was so involved with issues at home that I forgot to put on anything. I finally put on Lollia Imagine, not really appropriate to the season. It’s one of the three fragrances that I have in my desk. I should have chosen one of the others.
SL Daim Blonde for me today. It’s been a while and I forgot how much I like this one.
Love this time of year which allows me to wear all my orientals, leathers, and musks. I do like some lighter citrus fragrances but the deeper scents are my first love.
Me too. I wear lighter stuff in the summer because it’s necessary, but the best part of the fall is breaking out the bigger guns.
You smell lovely!
Ditto that – I finally busted out the Amouage Memoir. Definitely too rich for summer.
ETIWIIWWIDWIMO. Too bad “Every time I wear it, I wonder why I don’t wear it more often” doesn’t make a better acronym. It would be save time. 😉
Whew! I’m up but tired after a nice long day of errand running in the city yesterday and a poor sleep last night. It’s supposed to be too warm for the next few days to have windows open so hopefully I can catch up on my rest.
I was awakened five times last night by noisy wildlife; coyotes in the distance, great horned owls just outside, outdoor cat trying to get in the window to investigate, coyotes just across the river, red-tailed hawks that nest in the garden. The night before, it was the silly turkeys twice (they had chosen to roost in the nearest cypress tree), some sandhill cranes that were migrating through and stopped off to sleep in the garden, and a deer barking incessantly. Whoever said nature was peaceful must have had really good earplugs 😉
Today I’m enjoying a cloud of Heure Exquise and preparing to take the kitties out for a much needed romp. They were stuck inside and alone all day yesterday and are determined to have attention today.
TUrkeys are surprisingly loud.
Wild turkeys are weird and kind of dumb. My dad was mowing the lawn a couple weeks ago and about 5 or 6 walked within a couple feet of him. They didn’t attack him or the mower, they acted like it was an everyday thing to do this sort of thing. The very next day, I had my dogs outside and they started to investigate the dogs but the dogs chased them off. Don’t they (turkeys) that my dogs are Labs? Labs are bird dogs. Now we have a resident deer that hasn’t been chased off by the dogs or won’t be. It’s a young deer and I think the neighbors are feeding him.
It’s no wonder that the turkey is also an expression for “being a turkey” as kind of a limp minded or ineffectual person. Every time a troup of turkeys comes marching through our yard, I think how easy it would be to snag one for dinner, lol!!!
I like the turkeys, but bright they aren’t. We have a fairly regular flock of about 8-10 and a random tom who always seems to be lost. I call him Gerald and get a kick out of talking to him because he generally gobbles in answer.
😉
I used to have a friend named Gerald who was a turkey farmer. True story!
The Boston _Globe_ recently ran an article about the “Harvard turkey”: http://www.boston.com/news/education/2015/10/19/harvard-kids-are-obsessed-with-this-turkey-wandering-around-campus/FP4XpqC2WYbjx9Z9QO4MKN/story.html
Romping with kitties, that sounds like fun!
Gosh, this is too funny. I was just complaining this morning to my husband about the families that live below and above us, both with young kids up at the crack of dawn dropping their toys on the floor, crying – screaming! Then came the cop cars with their sirens and of course a helicopter had to enter the picture.
I think I said something like, ‘I just want to live in the country where there’s no noise.. quiet, peace, all the time.’
Oh dear! I hope everyone next door is ok!
I live in the country surrounded by state land and ancient big bore rifle enthusiasts who seem to be out shooting things before it is light and at 10:30 at night…ugh.
I feel your pain, at home I have a neighbor who works on motorcycles, one who does demolition derby and welds late at night, and the county annex with emergency services just up the street.
I always expect peace out here but should know better since it’s where I grew up. During the day it’s a favorite area for pilots in trainer jets to buzz, plus the sounds of tractors and farm equipment, country boys in loud trucks, and guns blasting away all fall and winter. Not as quiet as you might think, at least not all the time.
Ugh! That’s a lot of noise.
My husband bought those Bose noise cancelling headphones and they really work well. Hate that I have to walk around my own apt. with these heavy headphones on my head, but sometimes its just worth it.
Ok, I’m done complaining!
Speaking as a country resident, that’s pretty funny. 🙂
Our neighbors have goats and a horse; off and on they also have a bull in their field closest to our house. Which is fine, except when we also have a bull in a field close enough that they can see each other, because then they bellow at each other nonstop. (It was worse when these neighbors had a donkey… )
Then there are our cows, and my son’s hair sheep, and wild turkeys – and I’m planning to get chickens in the spring. Not to mention tractors/farm trucks, small planes at the nearby private airport, big trucks passing on the nearby four-lane, and the other neighbor’s motorcycle and four-wheeler.
By and large, though, they’re nice noises.
Oh, yes. Bulls bawling is quite entertaining for the first few minutes, they sound so silly. We can hear the cattle at the ranch quite well and occasionally run some here, and there are two donkeys and a mule that sometimes run with the horses just across the river. I quite like having the horses close since they snort if they hear anything and I’m always a bit wary of being ambushed by hogs. I’ve been treed before (long ago on a hunt) and it isn’t fun.
I love chickens, and guineafowl, they’re so funny but quite a bit of work and we don’t have a place for them. Maybe someday.
They really do. The funny thing is that if I set my cell phone on a hard surface, particularly something wood, when it vibrates it sounds JUST LIKE BULLS BAWLING. I mean seriously – that buzzy deep hum is so much like it.
We are in a city but our backyard is woods and every woodland creature comes through, plus the border buddies (deer, raccoons, skunks…) but the weirdest noise we ever heard was one night, about 2 AM actually, the sounds of percussion that turned into strange shrieky groans. Very very loud. It sounded like a dozen zombies were outside our bedroom window, and it went on and on, louder and louder for about 45 minutes straight. Where our window is, it is difficult to see straight down to the path beside the house, but I could see the shadows of the bushes and plants being jerked back and forth violently.
After some research on all the possible suspects, this is what I found out we were hearing! (this is actually an annoying video, but the sound is perfect. Turn it up loud, and don’t watch, and you have an idea of what we were hearing on and on, deep in the night):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX0K9rBqxLY
Hee hee ….it’s 6am here and I just followed your instructions….woke my 13 year old son up AND got the dogs barking. Result!!! As they say.
Wearing Pulp today as it is a warm spring day and the garden and hillside opposite are both a lurid green with so much new growth.
I too dream of living in the country, so enjoying this thread a lot. But the video (and the story) totally made my day! ????????
We get a lot of nocturnal animal noises too, but I love hearing the owls.
Incidentally, I am looking for a good and relatively inexpensive tuberose or mixed-white-floral shower gel. (Yes, I would love to have that Carnal Flower gel, but it ain’t gonna happen in this lifetime.) I have some Moringa from The Body Shop, and some Velvet Tuberose from B&BW – anybody have other suggestions for me?
This might not work at all but I really enjoy the Nuxe Fondant shower gel – it smells strangely of almonds and mixed white flowers, quite subtle but also leaves a faint smell on the skin.
I second Nuxe!
mals86, Alba Botanica Midnight Tuberose shower gel is lovely, especially for the price. Can be found in WholeFoods Body as well as other health food stores and online. Give it a try.
Ditto!
Victoria over at boisdejasmine did a lovely article on jasmine/white floral shower gels about a week ago, which may be helpful.
Hadn’t seen that… I’m not a big jasmine fan, tbh, only like it well mixed with other white florals.
Thanks for suggestions, y’all.
Pacifica Tahitian Gardenia is in the no mans land where it’s not really a proper gardenia, but a white floral propped up by jasmine and tuberose accords….. It layers well. You could probably find the original Oscar de la Renta body wash on a discounter for a good price. That’s a pretty classic TUBEROSE.
Probably not what you are looking for but Weleda does a nice Wild rose body wash, Oilers. Good value for money
Am in So Pretty today – haven’t managed to post for the last few days but glad to be back again. Have just refreshed with Chanel Gardenia as that was what I had in the office and this one, which is normally rather too perfect for me, works with the leather effect dark red skirt I am wearing, makes it feel much less perfect and hence much more interesting.
So pretty is just so pretty! It’s one of my favorite roses.
It really is and I really should remember to wear it more often!
I wore it yesterday — and now I’m all out!
We can fix that! 😉
Just to add to Ann’s comment, I have a nearly full bottle and happy to send you some if that works from the UK!
Alert the media! Katy has found another Serge Lutens she likes, bringing the grand total to two! Yes, you read that correctly, two out of the entire line! Today it is the lovely, cool, Lavende et Encens! In complete fairness I have not tried any of the florals……and how come the two I like are only available in the huge bell jars?
Ooh, what is the other one? Serge is a tough line for me–so many scents that I love to smell…once or twice, and very few that I wear enough even to finish my sample.
It is Borneo 1834, the younger, dryer, niftier brother of Angel.
Ooh, I have not heard Borneo compared to Angel before, now I am very curious! Thanks!
I’m not a huge fan either, but I do like more than two. Four, I think, but that includes Daim Blond before she went on a diet. I mean, I guess I like several more but just in the sense that I find them inoffensive. Wouldn’t ever really wear them enough to justify even a decant. Ambre Sultan, Fille en A (if I’m in the mood), and MKK are the ones I actually wear. La Myrrhe is good too, but I’m not that familiar with it yet; a possible contender for Friday since I keep feeling the need to test it.
Scent twin, I am making note of the one’s you like and I shall sample those.
I think reformulation was very unkind to most of the once great perfumes in this line. So when I read the rhapsodic reviews it makes me sad because I can never smell that perfume as it once was…..
I’m doing the same since I haven’t tried Lavende et Encens.
I’m not a big Serge fan either. Several I have mild enjoyment for, but mostly I just don’t like them. I do love La Myrrhe.
I’m an old school Serge fangirl, but haven’t spent any time with La Myrrhe, and perhaps I need to. What is it about that one that you love?
I think you have to like aldehydes. Which I do. 🙂 That’s a big part of it. It’s hard for me to break it down – that just sometimes happens with fragrances you love, you can’t say “it’s this part” because it’s the whole that touches you.
It always makes me think of sunrise pink and golden on snow with blue shadows.
What an evocative description. Thank you Mals! This is now a priority for me to try.
I’m a bit on the fence about a lot of Lutens scents. I suppose I admire them more than love them.
Have you tried Sarrasins? It’s not as sweet as a lot of the others in the line and a gorgeous scent anyway.
Encens et Lavande is one of my favorites. I love it a lot.
Thank you for calling it by it’s correct name! My perfume memory completely deserted me!
Velvet Rose and Oud today. I’m discovering oud and I like it….don’t hate me. 🙂
And oud+rose=yum.
It’s definitely my favorite way to do oud.
I think that for a rose fiend like me, that will be the case as well. But I’m also liking this Al Oudh I just sprayed…
If you have the chance, you should seek out the Montale Oud Damascus which is probably the only oud that I like – just a whiff of it for about 5 min as an opening, and then it becomes nearly a perfect rich, sweetish damascus rose soliflore.
I have to say – I have yet to find a single Montale that I like (Coincidentally, I tried a bit of Velvet Aoud earlier today and it was less than enjoyable). On me at least, the scents seem completely lacking in smoothness and tend to leave me with an “ugh” feeling every time. Still, I haven’t tried Oud Damascus, and you and I like many of the same things so perhaps this one will work. Thanks AnnS!
As much as I always want a Montale to work for me, I’ve never been able to find it. I’ve often thought about buying Oud Damascus, but I really just want to get right to the rose, so at the price point, I can get another rose that I like better and has no oud.
Hurrah for rosy ouds. Have you tried Mohur?
I have! That price point does have me concerned though 🙂
My SOTD is Leiber by Judith Leiber. I will probably wear this one again on Friday. This was discontinued and one of my all time favorites. I recently found 2 small refill bottles on Ebay and immediately snatched them up.
Bal a Versailles, the slightly cola-ish modern edt. Not quite as epic as vintage, but a little easier to wear I think.
BaV is really great – there is just so much going on with the vintage.
I started today with Tam Dao but could immediately sense I’d need more oomph so I added just a few dabs of Bois des Iles perfume to make sure this would last the day. Sandalwood bliss.
Two of my favorites. You smell maaaahvelous.
Thank you my dear! As do you 😉 That JM is gorgeous.
The only reason I felt that Tam Dao was not essential to my collection was that it is so rich like Bois des Iles and I already have that. They are the best versions of sandalwood fragrances available.
Scent of the morning is Bombay Bling I put on late last night–initially I felt guilty about putting it on so close to bedtime, like it would be a waste to sleep through any of it! But on the other hand, my favorite parts are the top notes and the drydown, with the woodsy heart notes turning a shade drier than I might choose, so maybe this is the perfect way to wear it!
Today is a sad day, as I have to bring my foster dog back to the shelter. At least I’ll still be able to see him when I’m working there. Wearing Incense Rose, which I’ve been wearing a lot lately.
Oh you’re so good to do both of those things, fostering and working at a shelter. Either one would reduce me to a blubbering wreck. (Or, I’d wind up with like 40 dogs at my house.)
So glad you’ll still be able to see you’re furry friend, working at a shelter must be hugely rewarding, and tear jerkingly sad! Incense
Rose is so gorgeous, i’ve recently aquired a sample and am eeking it out. it’s on my full bottle list for christmas!
Sending good thoughts your way. I volunteered with rescue cats for four years, and I was terrified at the beginning of how much it would hurt, but ultimately it was incredibly rewarding. The ability to foster is even more remarkable though, so good on you. Thanks for helping to make that pup’s life better.
Thank you for fostering! I admire people who can do that. It’s going to be hard enough to give up a kitten to my cousin, can’t imagine handing someone off to a shelter.
I’m wearing Dzing!, since it was finally cool enough this morning. I have a decant of this but don’t wear it enough. Does anyone know the current status of it being discontinued or not?
Also, I am suddenly tempted to blind-buy Bvlgari Black, since I could get it for $21 including shipping…
I don’t think it is. It’s on the website. And Black is a variation on Dzing! or vice versa. I own both. Just saying…..
Good to know. I keep meaning to sniff a tester of Black but have had trouble finding it! And it has such rave reviews…
Still widely available as far as I know! And Black smells terrific. I’ll mention that something in it makes me sneeze, but I’ve never heard anyone else say that about it, so I’d think you should be fine! And the bottle is fab…
(Incidentally, other favorites of mine, if you like things along these lines: SMN Nostalgia and Histoires de Parfum Petroleum. But Bvlgari Black is certainly the best deal to be had on this theme–or heck, for good perfume of any stripe!)
I love Black, it is the same strength and sweetness level as Dzing, so you can know if you will like it, but the vibe is totally different, imo. Black feels very modern and streamlined to me, but maybe I just buy the marketing all too easily, lol. anyway, I wouldn´t regret getting Black, ever, just sayin´.
SOTD is Bulgari’s Au Te’ Bleue.
How are you liking it? I’ve got a sample but haven’t gotten around to wearing it yet.
Yes, it is very pretty.
I agree — very pretty. And, easy to wear.
In CdG’s Incense Kyoto. Ye canny whack it!
I love that scent. Have you ever been to Kyoto? I haven’t but I have a scent map of it in my mind.
I have not been to Japan, but I’d love to. (Sorry about waking your son!)
That’s a good ‘un! Just wished it lasted longer on me. I love that whole incense line!
Wearing Marron Chic again. My sinuses are still in bad shape, and the mellowness of this one is very comforting right now.
I keep reading it as Marion Chic now. Hope your sinuses start behaving themselves. Isn’t it an allergy of some sort?
LOL. Thank you, austenfan. Wish it were allergic, but I got a bad case of ear infection plus sinusitis. 10 days of heavy, stinky antibiotics. Omg, it´s so hot, I want to have a drink…
Needed something long lasting for the long long day ahead, so I chose l’AdDM. I think I applied a touch too much though; the dryness is making me thirsty!
It is def a strong one! Gorgeous tho, you smell amazing.
I’m going to do a Serge Lutens week, just because. Yesterday was De Profundis, and today is Un Bois Vanille. I have the big jasmines waiting in the wings.
How is the staying power on Un Bois Vanille? Do you get a strong coconut note in it? What about the sweetness factor – sweet vs dry?
I get about four hours from it on my wrists; longer underneath my shirt. There is a coconut note, but the vanilla is stronger and the coconut lends a creaminess to the woody notes rather than giving a tropical vibe. It is sweet–not as sweet as Hedonist (the sweetest thing I’ve ever smelled, and I just can’t wear it) but sweeter than Spiritueuse Double Vanille.
Love Un Bois Vanille. It’s the bottle that is the closest to empty in my small collection and I can’t think of a wrong time to wear it- so versatile! It’s magic in the dead of summer even down here in the swamps! You smell swell 😉
Sotd is Ca Sent Beau (Kenzo).
Vintage Scherrer EDT for the past few days . . . I bought 50mls for £5 😀
It took me for a while to ‘settle’ into the scent as it wears close to the skin. It’s lovely, though. Oakmoss, green hyacinth, vetiver and probably a lot of other things my nose can’t pick out.
I recently tried the extrait and had to buy it. I bought a mini on Etsy . I love it a lot
I should pick up a mini to try. (Except that I keep doing that for older things, and now I have Too Many Minis. Gah.)
Serge Lutens Fille De Berlin. I know this one does not get much love, but one of my favorite roses
I LOVE la Fille de Berlin. It is the leader of my list of things I must have more of, or buy, whatever. Such a gorgeous lush rose!
Duly noted 😉
😉
Not Serge’s biggest fan, but La Fille de Berlin is beautiful!
I’m wearing PdN’s Maharadjah. No longer in production, although I noticed that there are two room sprays bearing the same name.
Very late today, as work has been tough. Wearing Boxeuses to match my bronze nail polish.
You smell great, and it’s a great match! Any Amber would work well too, but you are not a great fan of ambers I think.
No idea how my comment ended up here. But you liked that polish, austenfan, so maybe there are some greater forces at play.
I think you were subliminally intrigued by Maharadjah, which I think you might like. It’s a spicy lavender. Very soothing.
I was in fact conciously intrigued by this, as I love the scent and have the body oil. I probably started saying that, but forgot half-way what I was doing.
It’s a pity they no longer make it. I think I liked Maharanih as well, but I was shopping there in late spring and was primed to buy the lighter stuff.
I’m glad we’ve got the level of your being intrigued sorted out 😉
It’s a great pity they stopped producing it. It can’t have been a crowd-pleaser as the opening is a little sudden.
Maharanih is very different. It’s more about the citrus and the civet. But a very personable fragrance as well. And I love the lighter stuff that Nicolaï does.
SOTD is Amouage Memoir Woman. I am in swooning heaven. Just a small bit on a slightly cool day – perfect!
That one is really just amazing.
(Do you have a bottle of it? It’s one I’m forever considering hosting a split for… As you say, just a bit goes a long way, so I don’t REALLY need a bottle, but I WANT one 🙂 )
Yes, and if you want to, I’m sure that we can arrange a split/swap. I do have a bottle that I bought as a special present for myself a few years ago, but in truth, I’m still working off my decant…A little goes a very long way.
Oh thank you–you know in fact I am in just the same position, still working off of the samples I’ve got yet lusting after a bottle! Thank you for offering a split, I will keep that in mind for when I finish these samples. It would certainly be more sensible than my buying a bottle! 🙂
I killed a decant and then bought a bottle – a tester, off ebay, from some Kuwaiti guy that Daisy recommended, reasonable discount. It’s got a plain cap instead of the pretty one, but I don’t care.
No scent today because I’ll be visiting someone in hospital later. My Scent of last night was Avignon layered over Lush Lord of Misrule Shower Cream. Amazing! I swear they were made for each other. I’ve used up my sample of LOM and I’ll definitely be getting a full bottle now.
SOTD was a hasty application of an untried sample of Indult Isvaraya which sounded divine from the notes of jasmine, plum, and patch. It actually smells like expensive bubblegum to me which made me a tad self-conscious at work this AM.
Hey, my daughter would love that. She says everything nice smells like bubblegum, lol!!!
Wearing Vetyverio, hastily applied while still dark this morning. It has turned out to be just the thing for the day. Ahhh, happy perfumista.
I really enjoy wear Vetyverio also. Its a happy scent!
Had a much more unrushed morning today, so was able to deliberate and then choose Eau d’Hiver. Curious to see how long it will last, as it is rather delicate.
SOTD = Guerlain Tonka Imperial
It looks like we’re moving from early winter, to early fall to late summer or n a span of 3 days. Mother Nature is fooling the foliage as we’re still quite green around here! Anyway, i didn’t want to do a heavy amber today so Tonka Imperial fit the bill as a warm woody tonka-laden light amber with almond flecks..
A very poetic description.
Our leaves haven’t fallen either. We are about 2 weeks behind in that, which is fine by me. But I hate when it snows when there are still leaves….
I always hate when it snows.
Well, that too… 😉
Day off so sampling a few things with Kerosene’s Broken Theories clearly being the best thing on my skin right now
How’s their staying power on you? On me it lasted 2 hours tops
Everything lasts on me so I’m the wrong person to ask. I can still snuffle my wrist and get traces of Dark & Stormy from yesterday and that’s an all natural!
I’m wearing a fragrance from my own line, Attico Barone. It’s got Tobacco, patchouli, agarwood, oakwood, white roses, rose de mai, black pepper.
Sounds really good.
Thanks. This made me smile:)
Wearing Eric Buterbaugh Regal Tuberose today. Just a gorgeous fragrance!
Oh, I’m so intrigued about this line. Have you tried the others as well?
I have tried 5 of 7, which I ordered from STC during one of their 20% off sales:
– Regal Tuberose (which I ended up buying…my biggest splurge ever, but worth every penny): a young, green, slightly sweet tuberose that is sheer, instead of smothering, as tuberose-centric scents can be. This is definitely not Fracas. Regal has just enough (non-indolic) jasmine and papyrus to keep it light and soft, and the tiniest touch of patch and oakmoss in the base. I don’t really detect the patch as an individual note; it just gives the fragrance a sense of depth. The sillage for me is moderate – you’d have to really dose yourself to overdo this tuberose! – and the longevity is excellent (12+ hours). This has quickly become an HG for me.
– Sultry Rose (which went on my wishlist in near-record time): a gorgeous, slightly jammy, saffron-rose. I was a bit leery of the passionfruit note, but it’s not overdone at all. It includes oud, but this is far from a Montale-like ‘rose-oud’ fragrance; the oud is very light and subtle, and works with the ambrette and a light vanilla to round and smooth the composition. It’s a spicier, slightly creamier La Fille de Berlin, to my nose. As much as Regal is my favorite tuberose ever, Sultry is my favorite rose ever.
– Celestial Jasmine: I ordered this sample despite my usual aversion to jasmine-heavy fragrances. If you like your jasmines indolic, this won’t be the fragrance for you. It’s a sheer jasmine, made slightly green by prominent linden blossom and a hint of narcissus. There is a very vague freesia note (which makes me happy, since freesia is generally awful on me), and a ‘silk tree blossom’ note that is uncanny in its resemblance to the real thing. There is definite light musk in the drydown. This won’t win over any jasmine fanatics, but it is a lovely spring garden fragrance that I would absolutely wear. It would fit right in with the Hermessences line, and could be mistaken for a JC Ellena fragrance.
– Velvet Lavender: this one didn’t win me over immediately; I am very selective about lavender scents, and while this one isn’t astringent or sharp, it starts off very….dusty, probably because of the clary sage and the lavender notes. I’m glad that I waited for it to develop, because the dustiness receded behind a lavender softened by a gorgeous apricot-vanilla-muskiness. This sounds admittedly weird, but it is really quite lovely, and I enjoyed the later drydown immensely.
– Fragile Violet: I was quite surprised that this one ended up being my least favorite of the 5. It is still quite pretty – don’t get me wrong – but on my skin, this one was much less an ode to violet then it was a white tea-citrus fragrance with a very slight hint of violet. It is lovely for what it is, but I wanted MORE violet! It’s a shame, too, because the juice of this one is a dark, velvety purple that is absolute STUNNING in the bottle.
I did not try the Virgin Lily of the Valley or the Apollo Hyancinth, because these are generally not dominant notes that appeal to me personally. In retrospect, however, I should have sampled them, because despite their names, the Buterbaugh fragrances are not really soliflores, and so Virgin and Apollo might well be wonderful. I will probably add them to my next STC order.
Anyway, this has been a very long post, but I hope it’s helpful. I would absolutely encourage anyone to sample these. At $300, they are extremely pricey, but exquisitely executed, and it’s clear that the ‘ingredients’ are top notch. Each bottle comes with an empty 10 ml spray bottle and a metal funnel, so that you can decant from the gorgeous glass-stoppered bottle to take the fragrance with you.
Thanks for the detailed descriptions!
THANK YOU FOR THIS! They sound maybe a bit too delicate for my taste, but still very, very good. Must explore the options of sampling, I don’t think these are very easily available and I’m in Europe. But there has to be a way.
I have a sample of the hyacinth one. Looking forward to trying it.
Still wearing the tee I pulled on this am from last night – kids, carpool, computer, kitchen circuit – so my SOTD is this morning’s Diptyque Essences Insensées 2015 Jasmine eau de parfum over traces of yesterday’s L’Instant De Guerlain Pour Homme. Quite a nice combo on yet another 85 degree Los Angeles October day.
Serge Lutens for me today too. I reached for Nuit du Cellophane because something sparked a scent memory of it last night. Turned out to be just the thing for the unseasonably warm weather we are having today. It’s also making me feel ‘on pointe’ at work, which helped me out during my annual performance review (surprise!). I knew it was coming, but didn’t know it would be today. All good!
SOTD = Kenzo Flower. I like the spice and the powder helps make it office appropriate. What are your unconventional office scents?
Good question- generally pretty happy to wear most things to the office but might tone down the amount sprayed. That said I do find dark roses like original Agent and Knowing very work appropriate while edgy, and incense scents- they seem thoughtful- and oddly in winter vintage opium and current samsara feel appropriate despite their reputation!
Good points! I’ll give Knowing another try and be on the lookout for Agent (Provocateur?). Incense makes alot of sense – it makes me contemplative. In addition to spice I am also partial to woodsy scents at work – yesterday I felt quite comfortable in J Crew/Arquiste No. 57, and Coco could easily be my go-to. I have not, however, subjected my coworkers to Opium (yet). Boy are they in for a treat! 😉
I wear things like Femme, Fracas and Shalimar to work, because I need some entertainement for myself during the day, darn it, so maybe I´m not the right person to answer…
Nonsense – turns out you’re a perfect person to ask! I also wear Shalimar to work (when I want to keep things interesting), so glad to know I’m not alone. Of course, this is coming from someone who wears Alien to work… 😀 I do tone it by walking through ONE spray though (I actually like my coworkers, after all).
We don’t have regulations regarding the wearing of scent to work, thank god. So I wear pretty much anything. Mind you, I don’t overdo it, and as one of the people I work with has some real allergy issues she knows that if something makes her sneeze, she can always let me know so I can eliminate that scent of the list.
It has always surprised me that the US has so many rules about personal fragrance, as it’s the place I associate most with the abundant use of room spray.
I’m wearing Hermes Le Jardin de Monsieur Li.
I am really enjoying this one 🙂
I met my friend in the mall parking lot today. She said ” something smells good out here” I said, I think it’s me. she said ” you smell like sweet buns from a bakery?” yeah…I said, I’m pretty sure I do. I’m wearing MJ Decadence. I absolutely can not get over how sweet this turns on me.
I was waiting for bloodwork to be done at my annual physical, and saw a sign that the hospital is fragrance-free. Oops. Good thing I applied Osmanthe Yunnan about 8 hours before, so I could only get a whiff under my shirt.
SOTD Is continuance of Tauer rose de Kandahar sample. I have not fell head over heels in love since Shanghai Lily got me.
I’m a goner
It is a beauty and on my full bottle list.
I really loved Lys Fume, but I just cannot justify the expense!
Fusion Sacree For Her by Majda Bekkali
I have a decant of that. I wear it occasionally but I still haven’t made up my mind as to whether I *really* like it or just don’t hate it.