Happy hump day! It's also Georges Seurat's birthday. What fragrance are you wearing?
And a quick PSA: our giveaway for Day 1 of the Tauer advent calendar will be open until around 11 am today, and you can find the day 2 giveaway here.
My fragrance today is the lovely Incense Pure from Sonoma Scent Studio.
Reminder: this Friday, 12/4, wear an incense fragrance. (suggested by Janice)
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2015, where I'll try to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is Jeune femme se poudrant (Young Woman Powdering Herself), Georges Seurat, 1888–90 via Wikimedia.
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No comments yet – well, now I know I’m up earlier than usual!
Good on you! What are you going to wear?
I have some appointments today, so I won’t be wearing perfume until later today. It might be Bois des Iles, because I opened one of those tiny stoppered sample bottles (vintage but not sure how old) over the weekend and cracked the neck. I decanted most of it into other containers, but still have some in the original bottle. Because of the crack, I’m afraid to close it tightly, so I’d better use it up. Not a bad problem to have, right?
Good morning! What did you decide about the YS-UZAC? I have to admit to becoming a bit taken with the descriptions of their scents and am thinking of blind purchasing. I’m really intrigued by the winter sweet note in Lale as winter sweet in nature is terrific …we have a bush but it may be a different variety ( I wish they would include their Latin botanical names) though something like Monodie sounds a safer bet for me. I think .
I wouldn’t buy them blind.
I have a bottle of Pohadka and samples of several others, but not including Sacre du Printemps – samples of that one are not listed on the website. I don’t remember Lale and Monodie right off. I think they were fairly light. If I have a chance I’ll refresh my memory and tell you more. I won’t buy Sacre du Printemps blind because it is expensive, but I’ll continue to look for samples of it.
Wise words and much appreciated
Watched this morning as the baby pulled on one of our cats tails his morning and got hissed at. Then proceeded to go over to the cat bowl and eat a piece of cat food: I had to pry her mouth open and get most of it out. This is how I started my morning so far.
In this gray and rainy day Chanel No. 22
Your baby wants to be a cat?
Half the time *I* want to be a cat, so I applaud the baby’s taste.
Ha, true. I totally wanted to be my cats this morning, as they snuggled on my down comforter while I trudged out into the snow to work.
Me too, other than the cleaning with the tongue thing. Blech!
Lol!
Oh dear. But what would a childhood be if eating revolting things occasionally didnt happen?
i know I ate dirt, and a friend i went to school with ate slugs. Yummo!
At least you managed to get there before it was swallowed
Baby and kitty will probably be best friends one of these days!
Our 4 yr cat lets my youngest son get away with more than anyone else. He drags the cat around, lays almost of top of him to hug him, and the cat just stares ahead and tolerates it. The rest of us gets a hiss and a claw warning! LOL
Wow, you have a very nice cat. My youngest was five when we got our cat. He was a bit rough with her at first, and even though it has been 10 years (my son is now fifteen) she still hasn’t completely forgiven him.
Gandalf (my cat) is getting nicer with age….Last night he climbed in my lap for the 1st time EVER!!!! He’s not a cuddler, but in cold weather he tends to get a wee bit friendlier….LOL <3
I ate dry cat food as a kid. One piece, and it tasted gross, so I never did it again.
Baby will be fine.
I am sure she will be fine! Everyone’s comments are cracking me up.
Pretty sure I’ve heard a few stories about kids eating dog biscuits, too.
Oh. Yep. I was one of them. My older sister made me eat our dog’s Good-Os, and guinea pig pellets. The bird seed I ate of my own accord…
HA!
I was into eating flowers around the yard when I was little. I was shocked when the buttercup flower tasted nothing like butter
Our cats aren’t too bad. Both rescues. One is a big fluffy gray cat that is part Maine Coon we think..or everyone who meets him says that. The other is a fragile tuxedo cat-we adopted her and she has some help problems but is good natured. Now with another baby on the way, we will all have to get along and I guess part of that is the cats being tolerant and sharing their cat food
I meant health problems not help!
I distinctly remember eating, among other disgusting things; dog food, bear biscuits, monkey biscuits (not really gross, a bit like cereal bars), and chunks of molasses lick. I was a very healthy child, if a bit strange, and had a great immune system.
Nice. I have a lot to look forward to.
Hee hee! I lost track of how much dry cat food our kid ate. The good news is, it doesn’t do them any harm, and they lose the taste for it around age 4. Don’t even get me started on the other horrors she put in her mouth…
I grew up on a farm and ate baby piglet pellets! The food, NOT the by-product! They tasted like alfalfa. I have to admit I ate them way past the age I should have, I liked them. Grandpa could always tell because my breath smelled grassy. LOL Could have been far worse I’m sure.
My family swears that I used to share peppermint stick candy with my great aunt’s Pomeranian, lick for lick.
I think we were both the better for it.
After sampling some dreadful “perfumes” this morning (scrub scrub scrub) I’ve moved on to DSH’s The Voices of Trees. *cue happy sigh*
I’m also in DSH! Sweet Dreams, which I haven’t worn in ages; it was hiding in plain sight on my dresser. It’s like a spicy lavender vanilla/amber/incense.
Oooh, I do love a lavender incense…
What was in the dreadful pile?
I was trying the Commodity fitting set (I thought it might be a good gift to try and entice some of my friends into perfumes) and “Gin” was on one arm (the awful musty musk of my brother’s old Speed Stick deodorant) and “Tea” was on the other (Lemon-white musk cleaning product).
Conclusion: Just buy your friends a few Demeter scents if you’re trying to get them into perfume.
Had a fragrance do-over today! Started with a sample of Kate Spade Live Colorfully…BLECK. Not good on me! Washed off, and covered over with a sample of Tihota. That’s the ticket! Beautiful warm vanilla happening around my personal space!
Tihota is beautiful. On my wish-list for when I just want Beautiful Vanilla.
Tihota is so expensive…makes me sad! LOL I got a sample of Atelier Vanille Insensee too, and it is a rich enough vanilla for me that I will buy that in place of Tihota when budget allows!
I like Atelier Vanilla Incensee also..reminds me of a more vanilla shalimar.
Seed enabler. I just ordered your favorite catalog!
Oakland Fresca, You’re gonna want to plant ACRES of veggies and flowers when it comes!! LOL I spend hours poring over the pages, narrowing my veggie list down…..
Can’t wait until it arrives
Tihota! Yummmm. I ended up splitting a bottle with several NSTers!
Wearing the lovely Indigo Vanilla on this rainy day. Tomorrow I will be meeting up with my fumie friends (including ones I haven’t met yet) in NY for some sniffing. If anyone wants to join us, my screen name is my contact info
Correction my screen name is my yahoo address
Dzongkha today on this very hot day. It has now started to rain, it smells beautiful, and I might go put on some Reem Acra for bed.
Changed my mind. Went for the deliciously bitter galbanum of AG’s Grand Amour. Until recently I hated galbanum, but the galb/tuberose blend of Mito VdE changed things. So now I love No19. Love Grand Amour. Still hate old fashioned chypres with oakmoss and patchouli though. They are the Last Frontier of perfume conquer-dom!!
Ha, for me, Mitsouko is that Last Frontier
Love Seurat’s work, or most of it anyway. He did some great paintings of the North of France if my memory serves me right.
I’m wearing Noir Epices.
I have Noir Epices in the old coffret mini size and have only tried it in the cold, but found it too austere and it made me colder. Am thinking of giving it a go in the heat instead. Have you tried it in warm weather austenfan?
I have, but not often. I think I prefer it in colder weather, but it does open up more quickly in warmer weather. It’s actually not cold at all in the Netherlands right now. I believe it’s around 12 degrees Celsius today.
Good grief,they breed you tough up in the other hemisphere if you think that 12 isn’t cold!
I can’t bear heat though. And I have enough natural insulation to be able to withstand slightly lower temperatures. (and it’s not 12 degrees Fahrenheit, which even I would think of as very cold).
Very timely to be reminded of Noir Epices – cold dreary weather here.
Love Seurat’s work. I like that you chose something other than the usual park photo too, Robin.
Decided to try another one from the package Annikky sent: Olfactive Studio Lumiere Blanche. It’s a beautiful light, woody fragrance – but it’s already gone
It smelled so nice when I first put it on and now I can hardly smell anything at all. I may designate this to my evening/nighttime scents.
There have been so many spoofs / parodies of “A Sunday Afternoon” — now I want to laugh whenever I see it!
Oh, too bad
I love this scent. Maybe you need a big bottle, so that you can spray more liberally ;)?
Liberal spraying is the norm for me. I truly don’t understand it when someone can get by on two sprays. Of course I’m excluding anything vintage – with vintage Diorling, for example, even ONE spray might be sufficient.
SOTD: Evening Rose by Aerin.
Still haven’t gotten round to trying her Rose de Grasse.
How do you like Evening Rose? I think that is one I need to try.
I only tried RdG quickly, but liked Evening Rose better.
I quite like Evening Rose. Haven’t tried Rose de Grasse either, but have read good things about it. On to the list…
I like Evening Rose! I was happy to find a partial bottle–I didn’t need 50ml nor did I particularly want to pay $110 for it, but I think I wound up getting like 15ml for $35 or so, which felt like just the ticket!
Really like Evening Rose. Very sensual fragrance.
It’s an icy-rainy misery out there so I’m in Vanille Galante, which has a slight but much-needed beachy feel.
Ooh. I wonder if that’s what I want to wear today.
Iris Cendre for me today. It feels like the perfect scent for this unusually warm December day.
Commando so far with traces of Portrait of a Lady from last night. Tonight I’m hosting my book club, so after cooking and cleaning I think I’ll pick an incense for the evening.
What book are you discussing?
We are reading The Witches — Salem 1692 by Stacey Shiff…just recently out. Very dense but an interesting read. Not quite finished, but that’s the beauty of our book club–nobody harangues you if you didn’t finish the book!
That’s what I’m reading now too! Schiff is an intelligent writer with a style I havent come across before.
I read it in disbelief. Im pretty sure Ive been saying ‘are you CRAZY?!!’ aloud at regular intervals…
I’m also wearing SSS Incense Pure – perfect on this cool rainy morning.
Hey twin!
I finished the last of my sample of Shanghai Lily. I totally forgot about this fragrance for some reason. It’s great, especially in cool weather!
You smell great
That one’s really nice.
sotd: PdE Musc Tonkin. lovelovelove this animalic beauty
still reeling from how much i disliked PdE Tabac Tabou. Not at all what I expected. Good thing for splits, so glad I didn’t buy a bottle unsniffed (so very close to doing that!)
What was it you hated about it, or that varied so much from description to reality?
It doesn’t smell like tobacco or suede or hay or anything like what I had expected from the description. It’s a very sharp menthol/camphor aroma with almost a rotting fruit vibe.
I was expecting something with a fresh tobacco/suede animalic focus with some florals as a minor player.
It just doesn’t work for me. To the point of revolting.
:-/ That does not sound good, yikes. Sad when a fragrance with such potential doesn’t work out.
You smell great! I got a sample of the Musc Tonkin extrait and am happy to report that I don’t find it that much better (or dirtier) than the EDP.
I’m not sure I will like Tabac Tabou, but I did get a large sample. I’ve taken a shy sniff of the vial and got a slightly unnatural hay/suede/floral which was an odd mix of “fresh” and decaying. With the current headache-that-will-not-die, I’m not going to risk it on skin. I’m not a tobacco fan, which is why I bought it, but I’m not sure I’m a fan of this either.
I needed something sunshine-y and warm on a ridiculously cold and wet morning, so my SOTD is 24, Faubourg. I’m in my own fragrant little universe!
You smell great! Definitely happy and bright with this one!
That’s such a pretty scent, enjoy! Cold and wet and miserable here in the Great Lakes, too.
Good to know I’m not alone. The Pacific Northwest is known for rain, but its winters can actually be pretty brutal. I keep hoping this one will be mild, relatively speaking (meaning a minimum of freezing rain).
SOTD Prada Candy from a Sephora sample. I’ve never worn this one, but I’m really liking it. Not overly sweet and not edible. Also smells very modern to me. Like it’s something that should be worn when going to the MOMA.
Yum, I like Prada Candy a lot. That was actually the last bottle I finished. It definitely does sweet in an uncharacteristically sophisticated and modern way.
Candy really is a lovely scent….Definitely just the right mix of sweet, yet grown up!
I never warmed up to Prada Candy-but going to the MoMa sounds fun!
I have two perfumes that I never consciously think about and yet both bottles are almost empty, so I must wear them often: Kelly Caleche and Prada Candy.
Prada Candy is one of my mainstream favorites!
Chanel Eau Premiere. Have not worn it for a few weeks. I have grown to love it.
And you smell wonderful
L’Heure Bleue this morning.
Not usually here to chat during a work day, but I’m looking for some supportive words! I did something very uncharacteristic Monday, and I’m feeling twinges of discomfort about it. . .
You see, there was that 25% off thingy at fragrancenet. And, well, the notes sounded SOOOooooo up my alley. And the original price was SOOoooo high!
So I blind bought a bottle of Amouage Beloved.
There, I said it.
In any case, if it isn’t love, I’ll surely find someone who could help me out with it, right? Maybe a split at least?
I blame it on the Malle Coffret. Buying that opened some hole in my frugal heart and pushed me to throw caution to the wind.
I hope you love it, and you’re right, it shouldn’t be difficult to find takers if you don’t
Don’t feel bad, Beloved is great! I bet you will be happy once it gets there, and if not, it should be easy to sell. I love it.
Lol!! Oh Marjorie Rose, please, come sit with me and we can slightly stress together..
After my yearly L/scent order (3 bottles, US to AUS conversion :-/), THEN another 2 bottles at Twisted Lily (Hiram Green Journey unsniffed!)…. I THEN yesterday also bought the Diptyque Essences Insensees Jasmin unsniffed too. Ltd ed. Love Jasmin. Silently going omg omg at the massive xmas present Ive just bought myself, as I dont usually ever pay full price. Maybe it all evens out then, right?
First of all, you smell great today. Secondly, woo hoo! Amouage and the Malle coffret?! Collection envy over here. Enjoy!!
Wow! Whatta splurge!
Please let us know what you feel about it!
Beloved is so beautiful! I can fully understand wanting to grab at a discount.
Sigh. I think we need to just accept the things we cannot change… My first Guerlain extrait was my gateway gagapriced-frag… I have had periods of abstinence… but I always relapse… it might be a blind buy, or a ridiculously priced full bottle, and WHAM! I am off the wagon…I have no idea where rock bottom is …maybe Mohur extrait… may be something..even..more.. But I love it here where no one judges and we can find acceptance despite our frailties and extraordinarily fantastic perfumes.
Exact same. I was totally abstaining for Q2 and Q3 this year… and then I fell spectacularly off the wagon and bought THREE bottles of an Honore des Pres I’m completely enthralled with but which seems to have been quietly discontinued. They were only 50ml bottles though! And super, super discounted, ok!!
I…I bought a 100ml full price bottle of Panorama. I wanted to support the local shop and I’m sooo weak for a big burst of green notes.
LOL!
Your honesty has led to the demise of my wallet today. I just went and bought Amouage Lyric on that site. I mean, it’s on sale AND there’s an extra coupon AND I have “extra” money in my paypal account, so it’s basically free…. right?
I’m totally justifying this purchase because I wore it on my wedding day and used up the last of it then. So I *had* to buy a bottle.
Anyhoo, I hope you love Beloved. It’s a wonderful fragrance. And that Malle set! Enjoy it!
Basically! You really had no choice.
I mean, 1, I love that you did that!!, just generally, but 2, isn’t it being discontinued? Something to do with the scent’s Bergdorf’s relationship? So if ever a blind-buy was justified, I think a d/c’ed Amouage at a discount price is really the time.
And I only know that perhaps it’s being ended because, if I’m not mistaken, there was a conversation here just the other day about decants of it having become precious. So if it doesn’t work, indeed, I imagine you will be able to find people to help you out with it!
I bought a bottle of Fate by Amouage-I loved it but wasn’t in love so it found a home in one of the NST’ers lives and is hopefully being enjoyed.
I have one full bottle of an Amouage and that is Journey. The rest are just small decants that the company makes and sells in a set. Beloved is really beautiful. I noticed though I drained most of Epic and Lyric in the small sample set.
Just relax and take a deep breath about your purchase and let us all know how you like Beloved
I really like Beloved although it took a few wearing for it to grow on me. I find it so wearable for any scenario because it doesn’t overwhelm. It’s pretty soft for an Amouage. I hope you like it! I’m sure a split will be easy to find if you don’t.
Right there with you, MR. I blind-bought Roja Dove Lilac extrait because he is discontinuing all his extraits and his prices dropped to something relatively reasonable. I also justified it by telling myself that if I didn’t like it I could sell it.
I just bought Beloved too. I haven’t told my DH that he bought it for me for Christmas.
I had a small sample and it was an instant love for me. As others have said, it is easy to wear and appropriate for most any occasion.
Mine came with a great discount so I don’t feel too bad. Enjoy!
I’m no help either. I blind buy far more frequently than I should, and mostly it’s fine. Sometimes it’s not, but Amouage is always pretty safe in BB activity unless there’s a note you hate, don’t you think? For what my opinion is worth, Beloved is seductive (ummm, so the dear man thinks, anyway) and wearable and interesting and assertive but not loud and just plain enjoyable….plus, such a bargain! Now you can direct the money you saved towards another perfume joy.
Just think of all the money you’ve saved over the years by not commuting by private jet, eating caviar for breakfast, smoking Cuban cigars, drinking Chateau de Rothschild , adding to your Picasso collection, having a Birkin bag in every colour, ,owning a small island in the Bahamas and a country pile in Provence….
Ha! Wish we all could live that lifestyle!
Oh my god, I think I just hurt myself laughing at this.
“Blind Buy” is no longer in MY dictionary. I just call it buying a large (or x mL) sample;-)
Ha! This made me laugh so much I almost spilled tea on my computer. I like the way you think
Spot on, sometimes my “blind buys”have been more successful than my not so blind buys.
Hahaha! I sure do find that once I’ve allowed ONE purchase the next one is much much easier
Santa has been very generous to me this quarter. It is odd though how much Santa looks like me. I only wish he’d use his own credit cards instead of mine….
Ha! I’m having the same Santa issue this year.
I am very very cautious in buying bottles and bought two in day. I can see how opening the door leads to more ????. Malle and Amouage how lovely!
I might could get in on a split if you were looking for candidates. So many opinions I trust love this one.
Truly laughing out loud—thank you all for your supportive and kind words!!!!
I knew this was the right place to bare my soul.
Misty and cold this morning. SOTD is Noir (pour Femme) by Tom Ford, which is quickly becoming the go to scent in these chilly mornings. Interestingly, my winter scarves hold on to scent I have noticed. So now my scarves smell of a mix of Cuir de Russie, Noir, #5 and other forgotten scents.
I love that scarf smell! What a great mix yours have.
I have to start saving for a bottle of TF Noir Femme. A wonderful perfume fairy godmother sent me a decant and it’s almost gone. Haven’t fallen this head over heels in a long time.
Yes, it’s like when I put on my scarf I am “But what is that? I did not put that on this morning…” and then I remember yes, it’s my scarf!
If you can splurge, then make it the TF Noir Femme. I have been doing tiny spritzes and it lasts ALL day- and into the night. When I shower I smell the remnants of the perfume. Just wonderful.
Tip: If you are in the United States, order through Nordtrom’s. When you do, look for the gift set of TF Noir pour Femme. You get the scented lotion and the perfume for basically the same price as the perfume. The lotion is STRONG, and so you would want to dilute that further with some unscented plain lotion.
My plastic Swatch watch band has that smell of a million perfumes, and smells absolutely fantastic, so I can imagine how gorgeous your scarf smells.
That’s a great smelling wrist!
Twins! And I love scarf/jacket smell. Who would have thought a combination of every scent could come together so nicely?
I have that with my scarf and mittens. The sweet smell of winter. ❄️
Tom Ford Noir Pour Femme today. I was surprised this one spoke to me as much as it did, but I’ve been wearing it a lot.
Perfect time of year for it too!
It feels like such a party scent. Makes me want to put on something sparkly and pour some champagne. (We’ll see how it fares for Caribbean Christmas, and whether I inadvertently knock someone out with it.)
TF Noir Femme has become a go to on these very chilly mornings! You say party scent, and i can see that, but there is also a very warm, lush sexiness to it. I don’t know about Caribbean Xmas- it might take over the party!
Such a great scent. I wear it often as well, love the dry down
I am in 31 Rue Cambon and loving it! Apparently, I really like chypres – who would have guessed??
Chypres run the gamut, for sure, but when you find one that sings to you, it’s utter heaven.
Started off with Ubar again but then added a ton of Gold. Still cold, rainy and dark here, blah.
You smell wonderful!
Wearing Obsession today. Hey, I have an unexpected day off, I’m home alone with Netflix and a mountain of laundry, it’s cold and wet outside, might as well wear something nobody likes but me
That’s gonna be some great smelling laundry! Sounds like a great day, honestly!
Have you always worn Obsession…since it came out…or is it a recent thing? I bought it in NY during my only visit there around 1990(?) and wore it every day until the bottle ran dry but haven’t thought about it since. For me Obsession has remained fixed in that time…but maybe I should hunt it out.
One of my first perfumes was obsession-everyone loved CK1 but I loved Obsession. I have never revisited it when I finished the bottle. Wonder if it has changed..
My bottle of Shalimar Ode a la Vanille Sur la Route du Mexique arrived in the mail yesterday. Happily wearing it on this wet, snowy day.
I love vintage Shalimar EDT but find it a bit much for work. Vanille Mexique is perfect.
yeah! How are you feeling these days?
Where did you find your bottle of Mexique? How are you liking it?
I’m loving Mexique! I wore it to bed last night, so cozy, and was excited to spray it on again this morning. Plus, the bottle and blue velvet trimmed box are gorgeous. I got it from Beauty Encounter via Amazon. My first order with them, no problems.
I’m feeling well – only 12 weeks to go! Getting a bit uncomfortable because she’s transverse and it’s getting a little crowded in there, but not too bad. How are you feeling? Very close to your due date, right?
Great! I have the Madagascar version which I love-I bit smokey. I have a sample of the Mexique and I am draining it. Glad you are able to wear perfume during your pregnancy.
Glad that she is moving around! I am good-no complications so far and the baby is head down now-so in the right position. I am sure she is getting ready to turn down as well! so exciting..so happy for you! And you smell fab!
Happy to hear it – you’re ready to go.
I have not yet sampled the smoky Madagascar version. Taking my time because I know I’ll end up wanting a full bottle! At least the prices are v reasonable, compared to niche.
I’m wearing Eau de Frohliche, which Kevin reviewed a couple of years ago:
https://nstperfume.com/2011/12/21/erik-kormann-eau-de-frohliche-fragrance-review/
It’s like incense mixed with sour raspberry syrup, but in a good way.
“but in a good way.”
I love that.
Pulling out my Parfum Sacre for this wettish, chilly day.
I’ve been wanting to try PS. Sounds like a perfect scent for the weather.
I may need to pull that out soon, just needs a cold snap
After being overwhelmed by the cloying sweetness of Angel yesterday, I went with something different today, My eyes fell on a discovery coffret set of Nest fragrances which I bought last year, but haven’t worn in a long while. Sniffing the bottles I decided on Dahlia & Vines, which is definitely not sweet. I may try one of the others tomorrow, or switch gears completely. Maybe I’m tired of the cold weather scents I’ve been wearing since last month and it’s time to go back to the citruses, aromatics and greens of summer.
Yes, as much as I love cozy cold-weather scents, every now and then I need a break.
Sephora was having a great black Friday sale so I gotthe Nest roll on trio for ten dollars…it is going to be a Christmas present for one of my kids (but I will definitely be “borrowing” from time to time)
I’m in Unum’s Opus 1144 from a sample… I asked my fine fellow at Scent Bar to throw in a mystery scent for me to try when I got home…. and this one is it. I am actually really enjoying it. It is a not- so-distant cousin of Shalimar–maybe a teensy bit extra floral and balsam thrown into the mix…and a little lighter on the vanilla. If you love Shalimar’s various iterations, you might want to give this a whirl… if one Shalimar is enough, than this might be one bottle too many.
Intriguing. One Shalimar is definitely not enough for me.
okay… so to amend my description above.. I would say the opening is even more bergamot-tangy/almost gourmand (but not quite) than Shalimar… and the floral (and it is very light) happens in the dry down… they share that vanilla, iris, leather thing as well, that always makes me look around for the grown-up in the room.
Looking around for the grown-up.
Your description is lovely, for sure worth sampling.
Yesterday ended up Bing what I call an up one side and down the other kind of days. Meaning, while I accomplished most of my goals, their were a lot of corosponding and unexpected difficulties along the way. Thankfully buy the evening I had a brand new bottle of Youth Dew bath oil! A Tiny drop on my skin from opening it confirmed that I like it better than the perfume version. No harsh opening, yay! A small drop in the tub and it changed quite a bit, the warm spices morphed into a cooler woody note, still sharp though, and the silage had been dialed way down. When I asked my husband what I smelled like to him (and to check if he was bothered buy it) he said ‘you smell like sandalwood’. Hm, interesting as that is not listed as one of the notes, but I’m not familiar with that scent anyway. Spent the rest of the evening reading a favorite book and enjoying the aroma. Gone by this morning, so am debating wearing a dap of Youth Dew as perfume today.
Fabulous! Makes me want to try the bath oil.
If I am not mistaken Youth Dew did start out as a bath oil and women loved the scent so much that they began wearing it as “perfume”…I believe the perfume version came later due to this…..(anyone who knows the history can correct me if I am wrong)
I’m trying to decide what to wear for the evening. We have guests coming, so I’m making garlic prawns with persimmon-watercress salad, osso bucco (this has been in the oven since the morning, at a very low temperature) with ratatouille, and an almond-pear tart. And I have a new LBD with feathers! So I’m excited. Boutonniere no 7 would suit, maybe?
I apologize if my lists of dishes are annoying, I’m a little too enthusiastic sometimes.
Sounds amassing to me,
hope you have a great evening.
Thank you and don’t worry about the spelling. I once wrote “Neatherlands” here and that wasn’t the fault of the autocorrect.
But it secretly is Neatherlands! And I’m proud to be a Neatherlander.
YUM! And that perfume would be perfect!
Thank you! Although I couldn’t find my bottle of Boutonnière in the end and had to go with Fleur de Chine…
oh man..wish I was invited!
You are, of course
I always enjoy reading about your culinary adventures. Keep posting. Recently I’ve become obsessed with a Roquefort salad with hot lardons, walnuts, and fried breadcrumbs over a base of field greens. It is the perfect thing for a cold winters night.
I make that! Except with thin apple or persimmon slices instead of bread crumbs, and curly endive instead of field greens.
And that, too!
I ned to try this, thank you!
Yum! Please host an NST potluck/open house!
I second that!
It goes without saying that whenever any of you are in Brussels, you are very welcome to come visit. I promise I’ll cook.
I love to read about your meals! Even in my mind they brighten a dreary day like this. Persimmons–haven’t seen those yet, but soon. You put together such perfect menus. But what the heck is LBD with feathers??
I think LBD here means Little Black Dress.
Anniky, I have an orange tank top with feathers, and I love it an unreasonable amount. Feathers make everything better.
Indeed, you are quite correct. And I’m in favour of feathers, too
I’m a great fan of persimmons and I had two guests today who had never tried them. I was so glad they liked the salad!
I need a plane to your place, STAT!
Hope the dinner party goes well. The menu sounds amazing!
Thank you! It did go well, we just finished
You are such a sophisticated lady! You always prepare such amazing foods. Wow! And you have immaculate taste when it comes to fragrance.
Thank you! I do have my very unsophisticated moments as well, though.
You are always making me hungry
!!
And is that the dress that you wore in your recent post? If so it is fabulous and you look stunning in it!
It’s from the same collection, but shorter and with different feathers – a cocktail dress rather than a gown.
Lol, auto correct is not my friend sometimes, and I’m a terrible speller. So please ignore any funky words( blushes with embarrassment). ☺️
Carnal flower for me this morning. I used the shower gel and then the perfume. Mmmmm
Mmmm, indeed. Pure luxury!
I’m sampling VC&A Orchidee Vanille this morning. It was lovely initially, citrus and vanilla and a chocolate note, but I can’t smell anything now and it’s been less than an hour. It can’t be gone that quickly, can it?
I bought a bottle of OV because I love the opening. I’ve been considering selling my bottle because I never reach for it. It doesn’t have great longevity on skin but I find it lasts a bit longer if I spray it on my clothes.
Having cleaned out my perfume collection I am fascinated at how much I have learned about my taste by targeting all the scents I don’t like. It’s been so much easier for me to discover what I do like by examining the little that remains on my shelves after my major spring clean. So I know, now, that I’m not keen on rose, big florals, citrus, sandalwood, vetiver, powder, melon. It seems I like cedar, leather, mineral, fig, green greens, incense, vanilla, almond and ( sometimes) gourmands. But I hadn’t been able to see this before my clean out. Basically I’m a jeans and t shirt types with random swings into the attention seeking eccentric. What a great few days …learned so much. Crying over all the money I’ve spent in the past…not really! It’s been fun.
I’m in a deep relationship with gourmands, to the point of considering a small bottle of Candy. It’s a bit young and pink, perhaps, but the pre-Christmas bargains are enticing.
I’ve fallen hard for In the Library, Kanuka. Thank you for the bottle! Wearing it today for job interviews — am appointing staff to fill the vacancies created during the year by deaths. It’s a bitter-sweet process. I know we can’t manage without new people–we all nearly buckled under the strain and extra work– but you know, it’s the final full stop to put someone else in place. .ItL seems to offer a scent experience that matches the work of the day: soft but focused. Contemplative but alert, which I had better be. I had also better be at work in the next half hour! Off to walk through the park and centre myself. Have a good day, everyone.
Wishing you well with the interviews and the lingering sadness. Hope the Library helps…it’s nice, eh.
Candy is great. I wear the original version ( not the flankers ) and it is one of my don’t have to think about it wearables.
I’m just beginning that process, but it is already educational. Yes, I’ve “wasted” a lot of $$, but it’s all for the sake of learning, so I have only minor regret.
Robin, you smell wonderful! I’m continuing with Incense Week — today’s SOTD is Heeley Cardinal. mmmmm
Hey, you smell great too!
I LOVE Cardinal!
Incense Rose for me today. I needed something bright today.
Boucheron for meetings that may get intense.
Tomorrow, probably Calling All Angels. Friday I am thinking Rose Infernale! I love perfume…
OH, and I also love Georges Suerat! Great image, Robin, and, ladies, are we all not extremely glad we don’t have to wear a corset like that? I can’t imagine sitting through meetings in that thing. No wonder they had fainting couches in Victorian times….
Lol… and here I was looking at the picture thinking how awesome it would be to be squeezed into a curvy, buxom shape like that and how much I’d love a corset, and a revival in retro undergarments…
I chose Black Cashmere for this cold rainy day. I just scored a bottle for a really good price on the bay. The scent is gone, gone, gone however. Only lasted about 3-4 hours. Too bad, it’s a beauty. Can anyone tell me if that is typical for this scent?
I wore Black Cashmere years ago, and my memory may be wrong, but I thought it was one of those all-day scents. Sorry you’re not having that experience.
I have a bottle of the modern version of Black Cashmere, and it easily lasts all day on me. I have a dabber of the old version, though, and that seems to disappear… not sure if that’s because of the dabber, or if my nose just isn’t as sensitive to the drydown of that formulation.
SOTD = SL Chergui
It is so cozy on this wet, slightly chilly day. I hope it gets better when the fumies get together tomorrow!
Perfect for today. You smell great.
Thank you, my dear!
You smell outstanding!! Two thumbs up
Forgot to mention that the sample of Chergui you included in the Tabac Tabou split package induced a full bottle purchase so you can add another enabler pin to your collection!
Eeek! The tiara is shining a little brighter today
No SOTD today. Still feeling horrible today with congestion and all. But the meds and antibiotics seem to be working. Just gonna enjoy reading everyone’s posts today.
Feel better soon!
feel better
Hope you’re well enough for at least a splash of citrus cologne soon, or maybe a warm eucalyptus-scented shower. Feeling too ill for perfume is the pits.
Hope you feel better soon.
Thanks everyone! Get a spritz or two in for me today.
Glad the meds are working. You’ll be back to form in no time!
Recently dug out a mostly-ignored sample of Oeillet Louis XV, and now I’m wondering why I ignored it. This stuff is FANTASTIC! So spicy and wonderful, and perfectly suited to today’s rain and grey.
Really? I’ll have to go look it up…always in the market for another great carnation…
Cedre. Smells a bit ‘off’ in the beginning but lubberly later on. The drydown especially is wonderful.
But the varnish n pain fumes in my apt left by the painters today were soo much better.
Ahh….
*paint fumes, obviously, or not so obviously. Stipud typing skills.
Lol.
Holy Hump Day Batman, I have been so busy I am about 3 day behind. However, thanks to a generous NSTer, I smell fabulous today in Cuir Beluga, even though I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Hope everyone’s week is going well and I KNOW you all smell fantastic!
Beautiful choice. I like the entire L’Art et la Matiere line so much, I can’t decide which bottle to lay down the $$$ for. For a year now I’ve been frozen by indecision – good for my bank account. I want a bottle and not decants, though, because the bottle is so pretty.
They are gorgeous bottles to be sure! I would love to have one for “pretty” factor alone. CB is the only one I have tried only courtesy of a generous NSTer, but maybe lack of access is a very good thing for my bank account, too
Did you name your pup?
Kanuka, I did. She is one of the reasons I have been running around like a mad man. I appreciate everyone suggestions and sorry I havent had time to post in the past few days to say “Thank You” to everyone for thier input. She has been a bit under the weather, which ramped my stress level up a bit, but hopefully she’s now on the road to recovery!
I am sure SHE thinks her name is “No!” but now it’s officially “Tess” which is not at all original or very Australian. How that name was determined is a long story but her nickname is “T-Rex Tess,” so that may tell you a bit about her. She definitely has the “heeling” drive and we are in the process of channeling that instinct towards soccer balls and other appropriate toys, rather than me
She’s smart as a whip and a real firecracker. I can totally imagine her very aggressively hearding her cattle all over creation! I watched some videos of heelers at work with cattle and they are such tough, bold, and hard working dogs.
I am always amazed and awed by the many contributions canines make to the human condition. I think its one of the greatest human failings that we treat them so poorly so frequently.
Tess is a brilliant name.
I always thought that if I could choose a super power it would be to have a dog’s sense of smell for one day..I think it would be astounding to go for a walk and notice all the things dogs notice…instead of being aware of my neighbour’s jasmine I would notice their rotting pizza boxes.
Tess is a real farm dog name.
I am a great lover of wolves and read extensively about them when I was younger and watched the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone with great joy. Canine smell is so keen! They can smell the difference between specifies of conifers I a forest, detect cancer cells in body fluid, etc- that level of olfactory discretion just astounds me!
I had a Welsh Springer Spaniel named Tess, and she was a real love. Enjoy her!
Springer Spaniels are so aptly named- that’s a breed with a lot of bounce and exuberance! I bet your Tess was a doll
Tess is a great name, and I hope you’ll find another great canine companion in her.
Dogs are the best! And yes, we often treat them very badly.
Austenfan, I was so tempted to adopt two. There was a pit bull mix with such a lovely expression and waggy tail but I have to have a dog I can lift by myself in case of emergency, and he was only 7 months and already 63 pounds. I broke my heart to leave any of them behind.
There was an exhibit at the Phillips Collection in DC earlier this year of Seurat and other Pontillists. It was interesting to see these paintings “in person,” but I found that I didn’t really enjoy this style of painting, although I could admire it. All those dots and lines had a sort of nervous feeling, unlike the smooth impressionist style.
One thing I loved, though, were Seurat’s black and white conte crayon and chalk drawings. These drawings of dance hall performers and clowns lit by gas lamps were luminous, dark and mysterious, like lingering images from dreams. MoMA still has a section of their website on an earlier retrospective of these drawings:
http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2007/seurat/seurat.html
I used up my DelRae Chang Chang sample this morning, which started with big skank–didn’t remember that at all from previous wearing. It has settled into something more agreeable but indescribable by me. I have really admired other DR scents but haven’t found a sample source. Any clues?
DelRae Chang Chang? Are you sure that’s the right brand?
For some reason I often confuse DelRae and Envoyage, just as I did today.
Shelley Waddington makes a Chang Chang: http://www.envoyageperfumes.com/collections/frontpage/products/chang-chang
Wonder if your sample was mislabeled.
Didn’t get around to commenting yesterday, but copying the incense week from others. Yesterday was Encens & Lavande, today Passage d’Enfer.
I’m pretty soaked in Rahät Loukoum to propel myself through this foggy December day full of work and boring duties. It’s working pretty well and keeps me from feeling too depressed and adult about my pretty dire, overloaded winter. I particularly love the cherry cough drop effect!
I do too…just reading that cheered me up
I’m playing with some Demeter samples I got yesterday. I have Violet on my left wrist and Iris on the back of my hand, and Fireplace on the right wrist. Violet wasn’t really what I was expecting.. it smells almost exactly like creme de violette liqueur. Not sure I expected it to be that sweet, but I guess I’ve never smelled an actual violet in person. Iris is about what you’d expect. Rooty goodness.. a bit like the poor girl’s ISM. My favorite is Fireplace, though. It’s smoky but a little sweet too. That one I’m still getting little whiffs of, while the other two are pretty much gone unless I really get nose-to-skin.
Wearing Fireside Intense today. On a cold and dreary day it’s like bringing a fireplace along with you. Off now to pick up my foster dog. This time I’ll be hosting him for a full month, which means I’ll have him through the holidays. I’ve already bought him Xmas toys and a bed.
I am also in a Sonoma Scent Studio fragrance….Sienna Musk from the “archives”…..How does Fireside compare to Winter Woods? ( I adore Winter Woods!)
Haven’t tried Winter Woods yet, though I’ve heard great things about it. I’m getting to the bottom of my Fireside Intense bottle and will have to replace, and when I do there will be a long list of samples to add to the order!
Winter Woods is fantastic, but I have never smelled Fireside (Intense) to compare it to. WW is what I always wear when it gets below 40-50 degrees here. My 17 ml bottle will last me 3 lifetimes
Heh. I wore Fireside (not the Intense version) to work once, dabbed from a sample vial, and not one person came through my “office” area failed to mention that it smelled like wood smoke in there.
“Hey, somebody build a fire back here?”
“You must have a wood stove at home and the smoke got in your sweater.”
“Smells like something’s burning.”
Maybe it’s just me – I suspect that I amp smoky notes.
I get the same effect, Fireside is just straight-up wood smoke on me.
Totally understand! But since the smell of burning wood is one of my favorite scents (along with leather, which FI has a huge dollop of), I guess I don’t care if anyone thinks I’m an off-duty firefighter. And it helps that my husband loves it. When I first sampled FI, he told me I smelled gorgeous. I guess we’re both nuts for burning wood.
In honor of Britney Spears’ birthday (she’s a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine), I’m wearing Fantasy.
Oh drat, I did not know it was her birthday! Next year…
Moved in (ish), getting accustomed to cast and also trying to wear one incense sample a day (why not?). Today is Olibanum, which is a camphorous, medicinal incense, sure to purify the head. I want to wear this on my next allergy day, and see if it soothes.
I’m wearing Rochas Muse today. I gave this scent one try during the summer, and then put it in my giveaway pile. I never tried it again until today, when I saw it out of the corner of my eye, and thought “why not?” I’m glad I didn’t give it away. I’m enjoying the banana/sandalwood combo of this scent.