Happy Lunar New Year! What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm in L'Artisan Timbuktu. 5 stars. Luca Turin: "Timbuktu is probably the first masterpiece of what, by analogy with nouvelle cuisine, I would call nouvelle parfumerie".
Reminder: on 2/12 we're doing 5 Star Friday: wear your favorite perfume ranked 5 stars by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez in Perfumes: the Guide (if you don't own the book, you can find a compiled list at Basenotes) or in Luca Turin's Style Arabia columns. Partial credit for a four-star perfume! And if anyone knows where other lists can be found online, do comment. (suggested by Bastet) Update: you can download the index to the 2008 Hardcover version of Perfumes: the Guide here (thanks kpaint!)
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2016, where I'll try to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
SOTD: Le Male Terrible (Gaultier).
l’enfant terrible!
I spent the weekend playing with my soliflores (I know everyone is probably sick and tired of me talking about these-LOL!) I found out that all six pair nice with Dame’s Musk Oil and the other five pair nice with the Rose de Mai. I also tried Mimosa & Tuberose and Mimosa & Narcissus (both perfect for spring!)
Today I am in Rose de Mai paired with Black Flower Mexican Vanilla. The BFMV makes a nice base so I think I am going to pair the rest of the soliflores with this all week.
Happy Monday, y’all!
Wow Dame has a musk oil? Must try. RdM plus BFMV sounds absolutely delicious. You smell divine!
Yes! I actually got the travel size which gives a generous amount and it is lasting!
I have it too and it is lovely!
Rose soliflores often layer very nicely with just about anything!
The Rose de Mai from Dame is what I had wanted Jo Malone’s Red Roses to be on my skin and isn’t …RdM is really fresh and dewy and yes, it layers nice with everything…really freshens things up
It sounds very pretty! I’ll have to test this.
1) Always talk about your soliflores!
2) Rose and anything seems to be a wonderful pairing!
LOL to number 1! and yes I am finding that rose is nice when paired with other fragrances.
I love hearing about the soliflores. It’s much easier to learn about scents when they aren’t complicated.
They ARE uncomplicated but so, so pretty…each in its own unique way….
I just received a rollerball of Dame’s gardenia oil over the weekend and decided to try it at bedtime last night. It was still going strong when I woke this morning and is a beautiful gardenia soliflore. I was also impressed with it’s projection for an oil. I plan to sample his rose, mimosa and osmanthus as well. Mr. Dame threw in samples of narcissus, neroli, and BFMV. All lovely.
I may have to sample these very soon…
I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. They are very nice and his prices are very reasonable.
Y’all have finally broken me down. Just ordered the Osmanthus.
Thanks so much for raving about these! My 5ml of Narcissus arrived today and I just spritzed it lightly on the back of my hand. The first two minutes is that “Holy-frijoles-Batman, this is *weird*” thing you get with narcissus, and then it is so springy and alive it nearly made me cry.
Lots of samples came with it, including Gardenia. I’ll just shout out again to how customer-focused Dame is – which is a really sweet thing in these days when LVMH yanks the creative material from a devoted fan that probably INCREASED THE COMPANY’S SALES REVENUE. (Grr. Okay, I’m done.)
Bottom line is, if you like florals, try the Dame soliflores.
Trying on the new colognes Neroli and Rhubarb from Hermes on each wrist.
Neroli is…NEROLI. Very much a soliflore, whilst Rhubarb is intense — possibly the strongest in the series. The refinement of Neroli Dore and the juiciness of Rhubarbe Ecarlate.
Oh good, can’t wait to try these!
Reminder: No buy blind for Robin.
How did I neglect to hear about these?!
I must have been studying.
I had not noticed it until I saw the pop of red and yellow there
I missed it too! Wow exciting!
Thanks for the mini-reviews! Now I’m even more excited to try the Rhubarb!
Happy to enable!
NEROLI is always something I can go for! Hermes Neroli is very tempting for spring. How us the bottld, I wonder? (Wandering off to find a pic)
Geez, please read what I meant, rather than what happened on the keyboard…I am almost tempted to get one of the new Blackberries, just to get away from this crappy on screen Android keyboard!
hahahah canary yellow and scarlet red with black caps.
Where did you pick them up? I’m dying to try the rhubarb.
I passed by the local Hermes boutique in Zurich and saw the red and yellow, and decided to check it out. It should also be out in the US as well in February.
Good to know! Do you know if they also sell the travel size bottles of Hermessence there, by any chance? I’ve never been inside.
Not at my local boutique, but I have seen some photographs of the 15 ml flacons
They will come, so just horde your samples for now
They are on the US site now! Don’t know if in stores yet.
Thank you. I’ll be looking for them.
Ewww.. another reason to stop by Hermes!
Ooh! I am pretty excited to try that Rhubarb!
I went through the list and discovered I have a LOT of the 5-star scents, mostly minis, so I’m wearing them all week. (It’s what Robin would do!) Today I’m in White Linen, which I suspect is really complex but smells mostly of aldehydes, roses, and vetiver (to me), so it has the illusion of clean, polished simplicity, like a modern marble statue. I’ve been wearing it off and on since the eighties and it always makes me feel good.
I almost bought that this weekend. Which concentration do you have?
EDP, probably about ten years old. Don’t know if it’s changed much in the interim, but what I have smells pretty much exactly as it did in the eighties. I bet it still smells great. Hard to mess up something like that (I hope).
Ha, and it is what I’m doing! We will smell great all week. Of course, we do anyway.
How do the current renditions compare to the original vintage version? I wore both White linen and Aliage in the late 70s and the last time I sampled Aliage I was very disappointed! I also have many on the five star list- Calandre (vintage perfume), Chinatown, Aromatics Elixir, Calyx and Cristalle but sadly the last three are current formulations. If I had a crystal ball I would have saved my vintage bottles instead of draining them when I first purchased them so many years ago…Calyx, Nocturnes de Caron and Heaven were staples in my fragrance wardrobe in the 1980s and 1990s and I must have drained 5-10 bottles of each. Sadly I can’t wear them anymore because the are either reformulated or discontinued. I do have an old bottle of Nocturnes (circa 1981) which I save but the top notes are off….I wish that vintage would stay in pristine shape so that everyone could experience what I have , having worn many vintage when they were first released.
I hear you. I have a long list of things that were spectacular in the eighties that just aren’t being made as they were any more, and I took them for granted. If only I had known! Tastes change, chemistry changes, nothing remains the same.
I kind of get that when I look in the mirror these days!
ahahaha! LOL
I’m not taking the moment to look up whether it was 5*, but EL Knowing in the original formula was just a total knockout. I had a small bottle in the early 90s, and loved it enough that it took Coco off the throne for my “winter” signature scent. It is still very nice, but definitely not as deep or rich as it used to be.
It WAS 5-star, and rightly so: the original Knowing was absolutely genius, one of the great floral chypres. And now of course it’s mostly patchouli.
So I recently tried Calyx for the first time, from a mini I got off eBay. I was completely underwhelmed and genuinely confused by what the fuss was all about. Perhaps I was sampling just a mere shadow of its former self?
I have Knowing and White Linen purchased in the last four years and both were scents I wore obsessively decades ago… The new formulations seemed true to me–or true enough.
Apparently if you get the Clinique (newer version) it is indeed a shadow of its former self.
The Prescriptives, older version, is what you want to try.
It was Clinique! I’ll keep a look out for Prescriptives.
The other thing about Calyx is that reportedly it goes “off” fairly quickly, so if you get an older bottle it might have already turned.
I know, that doesn’t really help.
I love Calyx…..but NOT the opening. For the 1st hour or so, I really don’t care much for it. But then….for whatever reason, the drydown is so great!
That being said, my hubby bought the 3.4oz for me for Christmas, and I will NEVER use that much, ever. I have to be in the mood for it….. Lifetime supply!
I tried whatever the current formulation is recently and my wearing was extremely unpleasant. Enough that I have no desire to chase down the vintage, although I know many many people love it.
You smell fantastic!
Ooh you have just inspired me to do that -thank you!
I planned to participate in the one-star Friday with wearing Amarige (I don’t own it, but some shops close by carry it and if I remember correctly, I’m perfectly able to wear it), but was taken down by a nasty cold. I completely lost my voice and the coughing was so bad – you know this deep, hollow, inhuman sound – that I almost wanted to do it, as it sounded so dramatic. So I wasn’t really in the mood for a fragrance at all, but I was with you in spirit when washing my hands with Honey I Washed the Kids soap.
I’m feeling better today, cough is down from ‘she is dying’ to ‘this is soooo annoying’. Was sent home by the boss anyway, so I’m recovering on the sofa in Apres l’Ondee (it wasn’t planned, but I think it’s a 5-star?) while drinking Twinings Earl Grey WITH MILK. I’m sick, I can do whatever I want.
You smell lovely and I hope you recover soon!
Thank you, Bardot!
Aww, coughs like that are the worst when they get to the annoying stage. Hope you feel better soon.
I’m already better and I’m sure it’ll be over soon. Thanks!
Sometimes tea is better with milk!
Hope you get well soon, the cough is awful. When I cough I sound like a horse with miliary tuberculosis! When I’m ill that is.
Had to look up ‘miliary’. Even your well-wishes are educational
I aim to please. Never seen it in my life though, TB is rare in these parts, fortunately.
On the tea issue; I always drink my Assams with a bit of milk, and my Ceylons as well for the most part. Other black teas I drink mostly plain.
Tea and rest sound much needed! Fast recovery coming your way..
Thank you so much, I seem to feel better already
I hope you feel better soon!
Thank you, I’m sure I will!
I’m also wearing Apres L’Ondee today — and planning like others a 5-STAR WEEK
I don’t think we’ve ever been twins before? In any case, we smell great and a 5-star week is a good idea.
I hope you feel better soon! Coughing like that is the worst, it makes rest so difficult. Can you get the puppy to cuddle or is everything too exciting? Just think, if you had gotten a parrot you could both be making awful hacking sounds
There is nothing wrong with milk in tea if you like it. I prefer my tea very slightly sweetened with maple syrup and/or with milk – unless it’s a really fabulous tea that can’t be messed with. Even then, if I’m near the bottom of the pot or its late in the afternoon I have been known to “ruin” the good stuff.
Cuddling with the puppy is possible for short periods, especially after she has been playing hard. But it seems that it’s always accompanied by intense face-licking
Hope you feel better soon and hey for those of us in the UK tea with milk is not so bad (although Earl Grey is a little unusual with milk…)
Thank you! I think The Da Vinci Code had a scene (in the book), where it was made very clear that Earl Grey should never be consumed with milk! If anything, this made me more determined to keep drinking it that way – although I know I cannot really blame the English for that specific scene.
I take nearly all my teas with milk, convention be damned. Hope you are all better soon!
Me too, even earl grey!
Yes, same here. And thank you!
In A-NZ, we drink tea with milk all the time. I prefer it that way, actually: just a drop of non-fat, no matter the type I’m drinking: the milk seems to cut any bitterness from the tannin. The choice offered is usually “black or white”. Lemon seems to create consternation because it’s unusual, so at someone’s house, I never ask for a slice. I have a strong personal dislike of full fat milk in anything, but in tea, I find it particularly unpleasant. Can’t taste anything but cream. Eeeeewwwwkkkk. Enjoy your tea any way it seems good, and be cheered by it, the way silly old Dr Johnson (was it? I think ) chuntered on.
I confess nearly every cup of black tea I drink gets a splash of half & half. Green tea I drink plain.
Yes, my habits are very similar: green tea (and oolongs, etc) plain, black tea with full-fat organic milk, as the non-organic stuff is undrinkable here.
Feel better soon!
I drink almost all my teas with milk – and don’t care how lacking in sophistication it is!
(I also add rather large amounts of sugar *blush*)
Me,too!
I used to add sugar as well, but have given up, as I eat too much sugar as it is and this was the easiest way to cut down. I don’t miss it much, but completely understand all sugar-adders
I actually usually put honey in my tea unless it is such a delicate one the the honey would overpower the taste and scent of the tea.
There is nothing worse then what I call “death rattle cough’. Ugh! Plenty of tea, plenty of broth. Don’t go to work for at least an additional day- or two.
And yes, you do smell GREAT.
Thank you! I’m one of those stupid people who feel that staying home is only fully justified when I have a fever (and I almost never have). But I’ve got a very reasonable boss, so I might in fact not go to work tomorrow.
I have that same rationale and actually do have a fever today so I’m staying home. That same cough has kept me up for many nights last week. Hoping we both recover soon!
Oh, I so sympathise! Get well (and stay home)!
Nice boss to send you home! I love the Lush honey scented products-especially It’s Raining Men shower gel. Hope the day if rest helps.
Have you tried the perfume? Because I think Turin gave it one star…
Ha! No. Don’t know if that one made it to the US or was before my Lush time. I’m not sure it would translate well to perfume. There are some smells I can appreciate more if I can wash them off.
Sorry to hear about the sickness, glad you’re on the mend though. In the meantime, try not to enjoy the new dramatic timbre of your voice too much.
I have only put milk in English breakfast, chai, or matcha teas. Never tried milk with Earl Grey; now I’m curious so I’ll try it later.
Thanks for recommending Saga! I binge read it over the weekend and it is great. Also, I would recommend Fables, which is another mature fantasy novel. Fascinating premise where folk/fairy tale, mythological, and popular literary characters flee their respective magical lands to modern times and need to assimilate to our society, while maintaining theirs from increasing unrest and mounting threat from the invaders of their homelands.
So glad you enjoyed Saga! And Fables looks great, on the list it goes. Thank you!
I often go for hot milk with spices, honey and a shot of rum when I’ve got a bad cold or such as it’s supposed to help. And if it doesn’t, at least it makes me feel a bit better.
This is an excellent idea. I might have something like that right now.
I’ve stacked up this row(!) of 5 star fragrances in one of my cupboards so I can choose more or less at random. SOTD is Chanel Pour Monsieur which is very easy to wear for a woman, as it is just beautiful.
That would turn my head
I love it too. On men, women, aliens, furniture…
I prefer it on aliens myself.
Now that reminds me of an anecdote. Diaghilev purportedly sprayed his curtains with Mitsouko — I tried with an unwanted sample of Antaeus and I wanted to vomit.
Heh. I’m imagining what would happen to my digestive system should I ever spray anything I don’t like onto my curtains.
Well, everybody has their “ew I can’t STAND that” picks, and of course it’s going to vary according to each person. For me, it’s big balsamy orientals. Cannot take them at all. (I’m always aware that I do like stuff that other people can’t bear, such as big white florals or aldehydes or galbanum. To each his own.)
I can imagine Youth Dew on curtains!!
OH NO KILL ME NOW.
Youth Dew on curtains strikes me as very Miss Havisham. And I do mean that in the worst way possible
I once inadvertently sprayed my ironing board with Maharadjah. For the life of me, I can’t remember why. Funnily enough it persuaded me to buy the candle as it’s gorgeous as parfum d’ambiance as well.
Did you press the hot iron on the spot? lol
No, but it took me a good while to realise why I was smelling Maharadjah while ironing. I still can’t remember how it happened.
The candle is very good too.
Pour Monsieur is perfectly elegant. I wish I had an older bottle! I like it almost more than No 19.
I definitely like it more than 19
I certainly like it better than No.19. It reminds me a little of PdN New York.
I did the same, Austenfan, and plan on the random grab system as well. Like minds, and all that…
Yes!
I still have a few more bottles to add. I’ve realised that I own a lot of 5 stars.
I JUST got a sample of this from STC… FINALLY. All I could lay my hands on was the concentree version. wherever I looked. I am so so so happy to sample this scent having been wanting to sniff it forevah!
Maybe I’ll wear it when today’s first round of perfume fades….
You smell fhabulus!
You smell great (and like my husband, but I agree this is soft, easy and totally unisex).
Lush Breath of God, which is a hair too sweet, but a very interesting dirty incense with fruit and flowers. It smells like the end of Songkran.
I am drinking Juniper Ridge Douglas Fir Spring Tip Tea which tastes almost exactly like you think it would.
I used to have that tea. It was nice, but one time I let it steep too long and then it tasted very medicinal. It smells great too.
It is a little medicinal, but in a comforting way. When I lived in northern Indiana, I would hike through an abandoned Christmas tree grove and I loved the scent from brushing the needles. One spring I gathered a bunch of tips to make an old ale recipe that used fir needles instead of hops.
wow, that ale recipe sounds awesome!
I’ve only worn Breath of God once, but I loved it.
Oh, I’ve been wanting to try their teas!
I love that scent. It’s a special occasion scent for me! You smell FAB.
All I get from Breath of God is pencil shavings!
I’m late in finding out about 5 star friday, so will start my week tomorrow, BOG will definitely be one of mine, i don’t wear it often, but it’s so wonderfully weird!
Commando this morning-but I can smell some Chanel no 19Poudre in my hair from yesterday evening.
Watching the snow and sipping English Breakfast, a gift a friend got me from Peets Coffee and Tea.
Lipstick today will be my new one , Chanel Message.
Chanel no19 Poudre while watching snow sounds perfectly matched.
Thanks! Its like a cashmere wrap for the cold weather
I am wearing a sample that I’ve had for four years but never tried, because the label had faded to just a few letters. I figured it out though, so I’m wearing Geisha O-Cha from Aroma M.
How do you like it?
It’s OK. It reminds me of Silences, which I love, although Silences is a lot cheaper.
Felt like something quiet and unobtrusive today. Prada Infusion d’Iris edp.
In a manic fit of online shopping due to boredom I bought that am anxiously awaiting it!
It’s really nicely done. Didn’t ‘get’ iris until this one. Hope you enjoy it!
I’m back from India, dear perfume friends. I went through Heathrow both ways and had loads of fun in the perfume area. Yowza! They really have the good stuff there. But alas I couldn’t make up my time zone and jet lag addled noodle to get anything although I was very tempted by some of the Miller Harris. I ended up buying a Chanel lipstick and calling it a day. India has made me into a cheapo… well more of a cheapo than before. I kept thinking that 80 bucks or so would feed an Indian family for a couple of months. Not the best frame of mind while considering a fb purchase.
India itself is an explosion of smells, but after the first couple of days I couldn’t smell any more, I think my olfactory sensors were just completely fried by the aromas of cooking smoke, sewage, jasmine, ripe fruit, kerosine, cow dung and pee, rickshaw exhaust, temple incense and all the interesting and different plants and flowers. Toward the end of the trip my smeller returned and I was blown away by some of the ordinary soaps and beauty products from the grocery store. I can’t remember the brand names, but just normal hand soap has the most beautiful jasmine scent, better than anything high end here in the West. The soaps they make in Auroville are also lovely and made with real plant and flower oils. Ironically when I got back I didn’t like my beloved Trayee anymore! And I once again fell madly in love with L’air de Rien for it’s body odor plus jasmine magic. So I think I’m all on track to begin using that one again. Really I already have several perfumes that I’m smelling again as if for the first time. Maybe India has reset my nose!
I loved Indian soaps, lotions, hair oils…there was a brand called Himalayan Herbals that I could get inexpensively there that I loved. You can order some of their items online, but I never have–afraid to ruin the memory, I think.
I also once got a giant bar of sandalwood soap for something like $1 US–the sandalwood content was so high that the soap would give me goosebumps (sandalwood has cooling properties). Fantastic.
Unbelievable about the goosebumps. They did have sandalwood and extra sandalwood soaps at the grocery store, but the sw content left a lot to be desired. I was on a hunt for it though, but it’s just in very short supply. I did however find some pure sandalwood beads at a mala vendor just outside Ramana ashram. He had them in a little bag and strung me a full mala with them while I waited. He had a little several spools of brightly colored silk thread, so I got to pick the color of the tassel which he also made. It will be a gift for my elderly massage client who is crazy about sandalwood.
I didn’t use it myself but my girlfriend had Himalayan anti hair-fall shampoo in her bathroom. Also I got an excellent tip on hair color. I pay $100 or more her in the West to color my hair, but for a song you can buy a product called Khadi that does an excellent job and is very good for your hair. All my friends in India were using it with great reviews.
I’v seen Himalayan Herbals in SA but mainly in health shops. And if I’m in a health shop I’m probably trying to get something with the cruelty-free bunny on the back. Himalayan Herbals has all sorts of good stuff written on the back, but I couldn’t find a bunny
What products from the range did you enjoy?
Gosh, it was years ago now, but there was a rose lotion that I loved–it smelled like rose water with a hint of herbal greenness.
I think I saw that one at the grocery store. So many things are made with rose there. Real rose! A really delicious dessert is a kind of solidified cream of wheat cooked in cream, saffron and rosewater. It’s the food version of a delectable gourmand rose perfume.
Sounds like you had a fantastic trip!
Yes. Highly recommended to go to India. It’s a bit intense at first, but after the first couple of days, it’s super easy and relaxed. I was in the South – Tamil Nadu – and absolutely loved it.
I have tech friends who live in Chennai, and I want to go visit them. The good thing is that they have the hook up on fabulously scented products, silks and finely woven cottons, mirror embroidered clothes and would be excellent guides to the greater state of Tamil.
Chennai is where the flight lands for all points Tamil Nadu. so go! Get your ticket and Scram!!
I would love to visit there one day!
Go. Just go.
Welcome back!! India does this to me also! I need total sensory quiet after for a bit.
SOTD is Berdoes Assam quite warm here in so cal today.
Have to go to Detroit in 2 weeks- can test Kerosense in person.
Berdoes Assam sounds lovely. We are stuck inside with a snow storm today so I am forced to be quiet and peaceful.
Me too! Me too! Berdoues’ Assam! Didn’t put two and two together, but you are right. The beautiful day we are having here in the north as well must have been my inspiration. I really went a little nuts spraying this stuff, but I think I like it best when over applied.
Victoria over at Bois de Jasmin did a blog story on the overuse of “noble” in describing perfume ingredients. I get a kick out of Berdoues’ use of “grand cru” in describing its colognes.
Your trip sounds amazing! All those smells. I used to love smelling and buying soaps when I traveled a long time ago. It is so interesting to smell what is common to other people and how it compares.
Yes indeed. The really interesting thing is that I felt much healthier in India. Most of the consumables and toiletries and pretty natural there because chemical substitutes are expensive. So the fruit is right off the tree that probably grows right on the street where it is bought and they still use things from nature in the beauty products. The ingredients are very basic and pure.
When I was in grad school, my Indian friends used to laugh at us and tell us we (Americans) had no idea what a real banana tastes like.
So true. There were about six kinds of bananas at the stalls in Tiruvannamalai and each one had a uniquely beautiful flavor.
I straight away want to go huff some L’air De R. Probably cos its closer than India! Sounds like a fabulous trip
That is so interesting about being inspired to wear L’Air de Rien after your trip! I want to wear that one too now, maybe it will help ground me.
Yes isn’t it? Maybe it’s the result of a month of spit baths but I was starting to really dig the smell of dirty hair and other tmi kinds of odors.
I love the idea of India as a sort of olfactory reset button!
My poor sniffer just gave up. It was too much! During the trip a friend asked me if he smelled. I guess the bad news is everyone smells, but the good new is that everyone smells so nobody can smell it.
I’ve traveled a bit in India, but the most powerful olfactive-photos for me are from my travels in Kenya–the buses… being squished on those “matatus” with the fumes of gasoline and humanity mixed in with the dust of the road…
Something we never get in US!
I’m really hoping we manage to save up enough money to go to India for our eventual honeymoon. It sounds incredible and now I’m even more excited about all of the smells!
Welcome back! That’s so interesting to hear about India resetting your nose. I’ve just started getting into perfumes, and have found that I love amber, sandalwood, and saffron perfumes because they remind me of India
(My family is from Kolkata/Delhi.) It’s especially fun when I smell “dirty” perfumes that remind me of Indian streets and that burnt-rubber smell, or things with notes of phenol in them that remind me of Indian floor cleaner. My grandmother once gave me a sandalwood fan that I used to love smelling when I was a child. I should find it the next time I go home to my parents’ house.
I’ve newly gotten to know l’Air de Rien, and it’s super-interesting, though I am not sure if I like it yet. On another note, it is unbelievable to me that Trayee might become unloved!!! My teeny Trayee sample is one of my absolute favorites. As an NRI, I get a deep, primal sense of home from it.
I’m in Tommy Girl (courtesy of the generous 50_roses)–I was so excited about this Friday and was considering doing a longer post, like I did for Noir day, but then I realized…I have to go out of town on Thursday to help teach a wildlife tracking class, so on Friday I’ll be wandering around sand dunes smelling mostly of sweat and sunblock.
But, if people would be interested in another wall o’ text I could post it early.
I am always interested in a wall of text from you, if you feel up to sharing it!
Also – what is the appropriate scent to wear while teaching a wildlife tracking class?
A brief search of fine fragrance shop Dick’s sporting goods reveals the following options… “Tink’s Hot Shot #69 Doe-in-Rut Mist”; “Red Fox-P Cover Scent”, “Still Steamin’ Premiun hot Doe Estrus”, “Coyote Mist Predator Lure”…I wonder how many stars The Guide gave them.
No review that I can find – such a gross oversight!
Doe-in-Rut sounds killer.
Something with a lot of civet in it!!! I’d wear Bal a Versailles anyway.
Back in the late 90s one of my roommates was on the team that created Tommy Girl (at IFF). She was very involved and quite excited about the scent. This was before I slide down the ol’ rabbit hole, but I can’t help but think of her whenever its mentioned.
She was a neat gal, and scent was important to her. She was always picking up on smells around the apt.
Wow – that is so cool! I wonder what else she’s gone on to create.
What a great skill to have! I watched a series of Ray Meares last year in the hope that it would help but the fact is that most tracks where I walk belong to mountain bikes . I imagine them being discovered in fossil state many years from now. Where are you going?
Monahans Sand Hills State Park (TX). It’s a really cool place and good for following long trails (the first year we went there was a really long, fresh badger trail)–but I admit, my right knee does NOT like hiking in all that sand!
Earlier this year we were in Big Bend National Park and photographed the first confirmed kit fox tracks in TX for the Inaturalist site. We also saw a momma bear and THREE cubs! Amazing.
I was just longing for a day out hiking, so this feels like a sign that I need to detour to one of the closer state parks as soon as I can manage it. One of the things about Texas that I love are the amazing natural areas.
Hope you have a wonderful time! I’ve never been to Monahans, but next time we visit my SIL we will put it on the itinerary.
Try to hit it on the full moon–the light on the dunes is really awesome.
That is amazing. I must come to America one day. We get sea lions where I live…so lots of wide drag marks (like someone has dragged a corpse ) from the sea to the dunes, and penguin tracks leading into the sand hills (yellow eyed penguins – pretty rare) . Apart from sea lions, and fur seals we don’t do much in the way of big (land) wildlife mammals. Further south, on Stewart Island, you sometimes see kiwi on the beaches – and that is cool. Have a great time and tell your knee to behave!
Will do, thanks! I’d love to check out sea lion tracks one day.
We have lots of sea lions here in California too!
One day I hope I will visit all these great places…Crater Lake, California, Texas..East Coast…turkey buzzard rooftops, squirrel woodwork, snow deep cities (sigh)
I love that stamp!
I’m in Ormonde Jayne’s Ta’if today. It’s not only gorgeous, but also office appropriate – at least it is on me. My previous boss very generously invited me to attend (and is paying for me to participate!) in a networking luncheon/lecture. I wanted to look/smell my best, and Ta’if seemed the right choice. This is what got me started on my rose kick, and I’m happy to have my split bottle.
Also celebrated the start of the Chinese New Year last night with my wonderful Chinese landlords and the amazing food they always make. What Super Bowl?
Good choice! You smell lovely and entirely appropriate.
Sounds like a great night. No Super Bowl for me, just watched Downton Abbey and got in a few zzzz’s before baby woke up.
Happy Chinese New Year!
Happy Chinese New Year to you too! Hope that Lovestosmellgood Jr. is sleeping better.
Has your little girl started to become interested in him yet?
She thinks he is just another cat and treats him as such!
As long as the pets are gentle, I guess that’s alright. The big sister attitude can come later.
Thank you! The vote of confidence is much appreciated.
That stamp is lovely, isn’t it?
I OD’ed on Ta’if once and am leery of trying it again, but I’m quite sure smelling it on someone else would be wonderful. So – you smell great!
Thank you Mals dear!
Ta’if outstanding and you smell divine! It is very work friendly – just a dab has so much oommph anyway! I love those tree peony stamps too! It makes me yearn for spring and peonies.
Thank you!
And re: the stamp – me too. The colors are just gorgeous. Makes me want to be a stamp collector.
Sounds way better than a superbowl party! Happy new year!
I tend to think so! I had abalone for the first time, and loved it, of course.
What a fun dinner date! I’ve always enjoyed and appreciated my Asian friends’ cooking for me
I have been so lucky to have them as my landlords for so many years. I’ve only missed one Chinese New Year since 2010. They treat me like family, and introduced me to real Chinese food. It’s also made me a more adventurous eater – I don’t know of anywhere else where I’d have had the chance to try pig’s feet and chicken feet.
While I’d love a larger apartment, I don’t know that I want to part with them…
Pig’s feet are traditionally prepared in Estonia on Ash Tuesday!
My Estonian friend is a vegetarian, so I’m not surprised she never mentioned this to me. I’ll have to have them Estonian-style someday!
SOTD is Beyond Paradise Men, I think I’ll try a 5 stars week.
I have a little (half-ounce spray) bottle of that and it’s okay, but I just don’t get the five-star adoration. Obviously some people can smell something in it that I can’t, because I wouldn’t be able to pick it out of a dozen similar men’s scents. Fantastic bottle, though.
I get an interesting “tropical fruit/juice” that doesn’t come often in mens’ scents but agree with you, I personally would not give it five stars.
I love that stamp picture. Seeing that and smelling Lyric on me made me smile, which is what one needs to do on Mondays.
You smell great, again
Thanks.
Btw, I liked your latest article about no-buy January. It’s incredibly difficult at times to not want to buy new beauty products! I’ve managed to get in a good routine with what I have though so I’m better in the wait-until-I’ve-used-it-all-up camp.
Oh, thank you! *blushes*
Your signature! Or at least what I’ve (perhaps mistakenly) decided is your signature.
You smell wonderful midear.
Yeah, I think if I did have a signature, this would be it. I bought the large bottle, so I may as well wear it whenever I feel like it. I just love the dusty rose and heady incense.
Such a good one. What is it about those Amouages?
I wore Epic again this weekend, and I’ve almost drained my sample. I never did exactly buy myself a “Yay, new job!” scent. Maybe this could be it, and we can be the Amouage twins.
I am also a fan of Amouage-love my Journey bottle. Lyric and Epic are great. Would also add Gold, Ubar & one other but the name escapes me.
Haha! Nice. Epic might very well be my next Amouage FB buy – but that won’t happen for at least a year.
Amouage triplets!
Way to go Peyton Manning (and Broncos)! Nice way to cap off a great career! And way to knock it out of the park with the National Anthem, Lady Gaga!
SOTD: CK Euphoria. Good stuff!
Blind Buy NIGHTMARE: I should know better than blind buys, but I saw a bottle of Something Blue for $20, and took a chance. BLECK!!!! Terrible on my skin! Hidious!! In less than 48 hours, I found a coworker willing to take it home (who likes it)….and got it out of my life! PEW!!!
Lol! Euphoria is a scent that intoxicated me waaaaay before I actually fell down the perfume rabbit hole. I LOVE the top notes, but unfortunately it doesn’t last on me at all.
I’m 6 hours in, and it’s just beginning to fade away…..Not too bad!
Oh dear. I think I tested that one in the store and thought to myself, “Why did they think the world needed this?”
Truly awful on my skin. I was thinking LIGHT floral….but this one SCREAMED floral and smells cheap. Synthetic and cheap….no wonder it’s a discounted one now!
Live and learn….and my coworker is so happy to have it, so that’s a good thing!
But do you want her to wear it to the office everyday
It was a great game, wasn’t it? I was one of many that underestimated the Bronco’s defensive game. Good for Manning.
I really wasn’t cheering for either team last night, but was rooting for Manning! YES…their defense looked top notch!
That is a gorgeous stamp! Love the colors, and happy New Year to our friends that celebrate!
Guess what? I’ve got a new cube mate and I’ve now got perfume problems. The projection of whatever she’s wearing is out of control and sadly, its not a very nice scent to boot. I’ll eventually ask her what it is she wears but she definitely over sprays and we may need to discuss… eventually. I’ve never had this problem before but now I understand all those articles I’ve read over the years about “how to deal with a office mate’s perfume”.
SOTD for me is the very subtle, but just lovely Narciso edp.
Perhaps I can introduce her to some subtler scents
You should be like “OMG – I love to wear perfume too! It’s one of my hobbies! You should try _______ ” and then lead her down the path, gently, toward more sniffer friendly frags…..
Maybe you could broach the subject by offering some samples for her to try? Say something about perfume, and being a fan, and noticing she loves to wear it, and kinda segue it from there. You might be able to get her to wear something else, at least. Unless she’s a signature scent kind of person.
Ooooy vey. I’m sorry to hear this.
I find it interesting that after having met dozens of people in our little community, I have never once found anyone’s scent to be overpowering or really anything other than tasteful, even if the scent itself wasn’t my style. You would think at least one of us would have the problem your cube mate has, but I wonder if all this time considering our scent makes us that much more aware of what/how far we project.
Appreciate the ideas… greatly!
I was just in our kitchen and a colleague said he actually could smell it down the hall and to think I sit right next to her!
It will need to be addressed, just wonder if it will be me or someone else first :/
Funny, when she was interviewing I recall passing by her and thinking “wow, that’s some strong perfume” not knowing she was interviewing for a position in my group!
I’m always very cautious of wafting too much in a public setting. I like my scent bubble to reach only about arm’s length.
HA!
What is it that she wears?
Let us know how your going to handle the situation. Maybe give her some of your unloved samples to try?
Being that today is her first day I probably don’t want to confront her about how she smells just yet.
I like the idea of finding an opportunity to ask her about her fragrance and doing so because I love fragrance.. maybe she’ll also give me an opening to say something along the lines of “its tricky in the office because people are sensitive to smells.. ” I’ll have to feel her out.
In the meantime do you think nose plugs are too obvious?
I think two wads of toilet paper stuffed up your nose and protruding from your nostrils would do the trick….she would ask to be moved away from her crazy co-worker in no time!
One of my biggest perfume fears is being that person. These are great suggestions for how to deal with it, but likely I’d make someone else do it. I’m a coward!
It’s seems like such a tough call about how to deal with those situations, especially being a perfume lover. I had to change seats in a movie theater the other week because the woman’s perfume next to me was getting to be really cloying and was giving me a sore throat. I love perfume, but not ALL perfume.
ZOMG reminds me of the time I got a new cube mate who drenched himself in Brut. Fortunately he was amenable to switching to Aramis and I could breathe easy again.
Lol! Yeah, I guess it all depends on the actual fragrance.
This gal is in an 80s whopper! I actually am really curious as to what it is..
Maybe tomorrow will be better? My skin doesn’t project much and nothing last very long on me so I apply pretty heavily. When I do wear scents that actually DO project, I always forget to apply them more lightly. I need to put red flags on my collection or something.
It was when I was wearing one of those personal sillage bombs that a co-worker asked me to stop wearing perfume. Oops!
Afternoon update: well, the smell has died down. Not as bad as it was in the morning, but the morning was rough.
Hopefully she does not reapply.
Hi floragal, sorry to hear about your cube mate’s scent. Perhaps they have the first day jitters so their body temperature is up and the fragrance is really projecting. I would wait it out for a few days, if you can, and hope for some improvement before saying anything.
Years ago I had a co-worker fond of one of the Calvin Klein scents. She always smelled like play-doh. It got better after a few people spoke up and she switched up her routine.
Eeek! We’ll have to put our heads together on this one!
My heart is heavy with the news of LVMH taking down the Monsieur Guerlain blog. I used to read it whenever I had a particular interest in Guerlain, such as learning about the recreations of historic Guerlain perfumes that Thierry Wasser has been doing. I happened to turn to it yesterday only to be redirected to the Google sign-in. Then I searched further and found the distressing news.
The Monsieur Guerlain blog had the most beautiful photos and fascinating information about Guerlain perfumes to be found anywhere. It was clearly a labor of love. This ease with which years of intelligent, creative work could be erased is one of the dark sides of the internet. This is deeply disturbing on so many levels.
No wonder I have not been able to read access it since.
The extend to which such corporate power could reach is indeed disturbing. Has there been any news as to why such a measure was taken?
That’s TERRIBLE. Like they’re erasing and rewriting history. Apparently it’s a copyright issue?
that’s sad. I loved the photographs of the bottles.
Oh, have just seen. What a petty, ugly thing to do! Don’t feel so great anymore about wearing Guerlain today…
Did they indicate why they took it down?
http://www.basenotes.net/threads/418609-Shocking-move-by-Guerlain-LVMH-closure-of-Monsieur-Guerlain-website
Just found out that it has to do with the name.
Appalling. LVMH is shameless.
I am significantly less tempted to buy bottles of Dior, Acqua di Parma, or Guerlain now. I think those are their big perfume lines, correct?
In any case, their offerings as of late have been far from stellar :/
Yes. I personally have decided to stop purchasing products made by LVMH and Chanel, due to the latest heavy-handed tactics. I stopped buying from Bond No. 9 years ago for the same reason. I won’t support bullies.
Cazaubon, what did Chanel do?? I’m dreading the answer, as I LOVE the scents and some of the make-up…
Ah! chanel too! i just splurged in a lipstick-ian a huge fan of their makeup & perfume .
Yes, Cazaubon – I would love to hear more about any issues with Chanel.
As for Bond No. 9, after having heard rumors online for years, I actually met former employees of that company, and hearing about their experiences was *highly* educational. I’ll leave it at that. :/
Chanel sent a cease and desist letter to the decanters – STC, TPC, Decantshop – and they had to quickly sell off their stock and stop selling Chanel decants. More bully tactics like Bond No. 9 and LVMH.
Yes nozknoz, I discovered the news yesterday afternoon on Kafkaesque’s blog and it is so distressing on many levels. I feel that it is tantamount to destroying precious artworks in a fit of pique.
I sincerely hope that LVMH will at some point clarify why they took this action. While social media is abuzz with this news, we can only speculate as to why this was done. Monsieur Guerlain did comment about it on Basenotes yesterday.
http://www.basenotes.net/threads/418609-Shocking-move-by-Guerlain-LVMH-closure-of-Monsieur-Guerlain-websit
Why doesn’t M.G reopen with new name? Like “Mr G”? Is all the info lost forever once the site is down? I feel down for the count between Chanel disallowing decanters and now taking down M. Guerlain.
I found this so upsetting that I couldn’t sleep last night. How horrible for him to have his life’s passion stomped on by the brand he adored. Word is they took him down with no warning, not even the standard C&D, and the excuse is copyright infringement. The loss of all that history and valuable information is appalling in either case.
I’m under the impression that Guerlain extended some courtesies to him in the past and expect that most of the actual Guerlain crew are unhappy about this too. Sadly, LVMH doesn’t care and I can’t imagine they will do anything to make this right, given their track record. I wasn’t their biggest fan anyway, but I will be going out of my way to avoid supporting them in the future.
OH my! That was my Guerlain source for new releases and for discounted bottles…
Yep yep. Mine too.
I am sure he has a fail-safe copy, but might not be allowed to publish the content so easily this time.
Sad. LVMH is the worst.
Sorry, LVMH?
From Wikipedia:
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, better known as LVMH, is a European multinational luxury goods conglomerate, headquartered in Paris, France.
I never would have guessed. Thank to both of you.
Louis Vuitton-Moet Hennessy. It’s a luxury conglomerate.
As I understand it, it is a naming issue. Years ago, Apple shut down all sorts of iPod / iPhone blogs for the same reason. You need to be very careful when you name a blog using an existing, trademarked / copyright protected name.
Hope he will be back under a new name!
It is really sad. Too bad they didn’t give him a chance to change the name first. A woman in France I was corresponding with said that LVMH also has banned the sale of Guerlain perfumes on the French Ebay site. I checked it out and only non-perfume items were listed under “Guerlain”-like promo posters etc. Ine bottle of La Petite Robe Noir managed to slip through. She said she is also blocked from buying any LVMH owned products from EBay in other countries. Sounds like some totalitarian regime!
This just happened to me with a lancome listing I put up on Ebay. I think “they” are cracking down on all the second hand sales of products, etc. I was told I was not allowed to sell the item, but I managed to get it up anyway. Pretty soon they’ll be putting trademark police at yard sales.
I had a feeling this was going to be the next wave. I am going to pretend I did not read this and thus not go on some kind of crazy shopping spree…
Apparently there’s a 500,00 euro per day for violations so at least in France, ebay is really enforcing this.
To clarify my earlier comment – of course LVMH/Guerlain has every right to do this. But they don’t HAVE to. I spent several years as a regional PR manager for what used to be the most valuable brand in the world (I think they are no 4 now). You know, bubbles? To say that they were obsessive about protecting their intellectual property is an understatement of the century. But even they let things slide sometimes, mostly for image management reasons, which clearly should have been a consideation in this case as well. A huge corporation going after the small guys that love their products is not a good look. And it also betrays a fundamental lack of understanding of the (social) media landscape of today and how brands and reputations are built and nurtured. Sure, there probably are considerations I’m not aware of, but at the very least, they have handled the communication aspect of it appallingly.
I completely agree and can see their legal right to take action, but it was just handled in a way that infuriates me. They have lost my respect by handling this situation with a complete lack of class.
You are making very important comments. There is huge benefit from that soft market of lovers of your product that is totally different from those people in the counterfeit market or from warehouse/retail theft. They should leave the die-hard historians/lovers alone and let that blogger have the chance to change the blog name.
Ditto this!
Agreed, suddenly shutting down a loyal fan does not reflect well on a corporation; especially name brands whose sales rely on their public image. I was planning on buying Dior Eau Sauvage Parfum from Sephora this week, but after learning about this incident there is no way I want to support LVMH two-fold (Sephora is owned by LVMH). Instead, I’ve half a mind to purchase a fragrance from a rival company. Any suggestions?
Grrrrrrrrlame!
Exactly!
This is so awful!- thanks for the basenote links, whichever lovelies put the link here. I’m disgusted, many perfume fan’s have said that LVMH have shot themselves in the foot- i for one will be boycoting them!
I really would like to purchase a bottle of Nahema, too but now will wait for one to come up on ebay.
Wonderful!!
It’s not reassuring to hear that it’s perfectly legal to suddenly disappear this much information and creativity. Of course, this is a broader problem with the internet and electronic storage of information, in general. There was a panic on twitter last week because the company said it may switch to algorithmic feed rather than chronological feed. People who had invested years in their establishing their twitter presences and community saw their virtual lives flash before their eyes.
Moreover, we’re one big electromagnetic pulse (EMP) away from the 21st century equivalent of the burning of the great Library of Alexandria. Somebody, please remind me to order the paperback edition of Luca Turin’s Folio Columns as a backup to my Kindle edition!
Speak of burning the library! Years ago there were (and still are) intellectual content fights going on with the new advent of ebooks. Librarians were putting in the good fight and then mostly gave up in the face of the wave of want people had for the ease of e products. Vendors/publishers, the “They” could alter contents or delete passages of ebook items that people already “owned” on their devices. Once that cookie drops into your account you have no control over the digital provenance or integrity of something that you assume you own. ANY of the e content that is put on your computer or device is really truly borrowed, and can be altered or withdrawn at any time. We pay a lot of money for things that we are really just borrowing and have no control over. Ownership is a slippery slope in the e world.
Wow! Really serious issue. Perhaps we all need to invest in high quality laser printers if a book is not easily available.
That’s true, and very scary. Unfortunately my eyesight isn’t what it once was and I can only read comfortably for extended periods on Kindle. It always bothers me when I see my local library selling off books, but what else can they do without unlimited space?
Wait, we have no evidence they have disappeared anything, just that he has lost rights to the name. We may learn more later, but Guerlain has no rights to his intellectual property, even if he cannot legally publish under the name Monsieur Guerlain.
Robin, the website has literally disappeared. I hope you are right that he can bring it back, but I wonder if he feels like doing so, if he can afford to go through it and make the changes that would be required, and whether there isn’t an element of deliberate intimidation. We’ll never know. It’s certainly not a level playing field. And to be honest, I don’t understand. You could write a book about Guerlain and call it Guerlain. There are hundreds of twitter parody accounts, including God. There’s a Facebook page for Earth (which is about the earth wind map). I guess we just are lucky the Earth and God don’t have a legal department!
I’ve also mourned when bloggers take down their websites for their own reasons, like Octavian’s 1000 Fragrances and two non-perfume blogs I used to read. All that wonderful material suddenly gone. They have every right, of course, but it’s as if you see the ground is no longer solid. That’s how ephemeral electronic media are.
I remember last year an Auckland photographer with the surname Dior (full name Sirous Dior) was faced with a legal challenge by Christian Dior when they discovered he was using his own name for his business. It is a form of bullying and intimidation and extremely stressful (and expensive) for those involved. Probably very common these days. We shoudl all change our names to Guerlain and flood the internet.
The blog has to disappear because he cannot legally have that URL unless he decides to fight it, in which case, let’s face it, he’d probably lose. But they have not “taken” his material, I presume, and so he could put it up under another URL if he wished (I assume, I have not seen details).
And yes, you can write a book and call it Guerlain, and POSSIBLY you could indeed have a blog and call it Monsieur Guerlain, but in this case, not without hiring a lawyer.
The few iphone blogs that remained way back when were very careful to use wording that made it clear they were not associated with or endorsed by Apple, and in many cases they put statements to that effect on the masthead.
Giving another chance to my sample of Chinatown. Not sure how I feel about it yet again. I’d like to hear your thoughts!
I’m wearing this one today! It’s so sweet and bombastic that I am not often in the mood for it, but when I *am* in the mood for it, nothing else quite hits that spot.
My skin tends to amplify vanilla, so I find it too sweet to be honest.
I love Chinatown, but only every now and then and only in cold weather…
I second that…I love it in the late fall
I’ve given Chinatown two chances to knock my socks off, but so far we just don’t get along. I’ll give it one more go, and then I’ll pass what’s left of the sample on to someone else.
I think that the same thing will happen to my sample.
I don’t know about you, but on paper, just looking at notes, I should LOVE Chinatown. In reality it smells musty to me. There are so many other fragrances out there that work so much better for me that I’m not inclined to waste time making Chinatown work. I figure if three wearings doesn’t make it click, it’s time to let it move on.
I love it, especially because my youngest son says it “smells like happiness”.
That’s a great comment.
How cute!
Personally I don’t enjoy that lacquer note.
Chinatown was love at first sniff for me, but it is definitely something that I have to wear at a time when I am in the mood for something big and sweet and silly. I guess it’s my “going out” perfume.
I liked it at first but lately I find it too sweet and indigestible.
So happy wearing Fendi Theorema today
That would be enough to make anybody happy.
It even makes me happy to hear about someone else wearing it
Robin, you’re making me want to hunt down some unsniffed with all the love you give it…
It is not the greatest fragrance ever made, but it’s one of my happiest. But not everyone loves it!
I don’t know if it’s 5* or not, but I’m wearing vintage Parfum Sacre edp… it is just so chill and elegant all together. I think I won’t have any troubles at all making it a 5 * week!
That’s a 4*. But you smell wonderful according to me!
Thanks!
SOTD is Arabian Oud Kalemat, from a lovely NSTer. It has a fascinating opening, both familiar and unknown at the same time. I’m looking forward to it developing as the morning goes on.
The good news is that the customer service folks over at the Bay were able to get me back into my account that I mysteriously got locked out of. The bad news is that they got me back into my account and now I’m shopping/bidding again. Oh well. At least it’s not FB sized purchases. I have a decant of Jubilation XXV coming my way, along with little samples of M7 and Cuir de Lancome. The Amouage decant was shockingly inexpensive, which made me worry about its authenticity, but no one has complained so far.
Nuxe le Parfum today. Sort of powdery and sweetly vanilla. Not terribly me but nice enough and I got to use the sample – the shower gel on the other hand is truly gorgeous.
In other news London feels like it might be blown away anytime soon – the wind and rain was so intense last night that being upstairs felt positively disturbing and I sought refuge away from it all in the basement (we have a glass roof which might explain that slightly).
Yikes! That sounds scary. The UK has gotten the short end of the stick on weather lately, hasn’t it?
It really has – we have got through storm Henry over the weekend and now have storm Imogen today…
I was so excited when Nuxe released le Parfum, but was terribly
I could bathe in that stuff. Wish it had a bit more sillage.
disappointed to find it bore little resemblance to their gorgeous Huile Oil
Yes, the perfume version is so much sweeter than the oil. Love the oil, though — I wear it all summer!
I love the smell of Nuxe, especially in the summer time. Usually I use the oil- I did not know they also had a scent!
I love the Nuxe body oil
It was awful last night wasn’t it!- didn’t get to sleep for a long while, our tiny cottage was being battered and shook, the wind was howling down the chimney too. My husbands train from london has been delayed because of weather conditions.
I’m in Costume National Homme, which was part of a Freebiemeet package of “masculine” scents from the always wonderful hajusuuri. The bundle was a birthday treat for my husband, who thought it was great fun, but I’ve ended up squirreling away a few of the vials for myself.
This is a fun one and I can see myself wearing it often (well, “often” is relative when it comes to perfumistas, isn’t it?). Very Serge Lutensy, reminds me of Chergui/Ambre Sultan/Black Cashmere. Unfortunately, the sillage isn’t there, but maybe because it’s a roller ball, so I may decant into an atomizer and see how spraying goes.
Happy Monday, all!
Enjoy the pack, Squirrely!
I’m wearing vintage Diorella EdT, a hasty splash. I was eyeing an affordable bottle on eBay but I remained strong. I still have enough for now.
I’m in the same holding pattern! Sigh…
You smell amazing.
I decided on a classic 5-star: Mitsouko (just a few light spritzes because I am in the office today).
Mitsy goes where Mitsy wants!
I decided to work my way up to this Friday’s 5-star by starting the week with a so-called 1-star. Since I exercised my righteous indignation on Mona d’Orio’s Carnation on Friday, I’m flaunting my 1-star Midnight Poison today. I really like this one, and am bummed that it’s d/c; I still need to get a backup bottle. I actually wish that *more* people found it a 1-star fragrance, because if they did, a 50-ml bottle would be going for a lot less than $150+ on eBay!
Wearing La Petite Robe Noire Couture which LT gave 4.5 stars in his Style Arabia column and I blind bought it off Ebay quite cheap based upon his rating…
Per his write-up, “Up close it is a strange cacophony of fruity, spicy, and floral notes, as if Nahéma (1979) had collided with Coco Mademoiselle.”
Haven’t tried Nahema sadly but it is quite nice…and I have the original unreformulated La Petite Robe Noire and this smells quite different…I should do a side by side to compare…
I’ll have to test this next time I’m at sephora.
Okay, here’s the wall o’ text that I was going to save for Friday (but I won’t be here!):
Ah, the joy of validation! I think a lot of us breath a (secret) sigh of relief when we find out a scent we love has received the imprimatur of a perfume expert. Even now, when I’ve finally grown away from my earlier slavish following of The Guide’s five star recommendations (Lolita Lempicka? Well every note in it seems designed to give me a headache, and I don’t like sweet things…but here it is at TJ Maxx and it did get five stars, so I’d better buy it!) I still like to read reviews from NST, BdeJ, the NonBlonde and other perfume blogs before buying something (EVEN if I’ve sampled it and like it, EVEN if I know the reviewer and I have different tastes). A good review from my favorite blogs gives me a warm glow, a good review from Chandler Burr is even better (never mind that my taste is completely different from his), but best of all…best of all is Luca Turin handling over those five stars.
Thank goodness, I think, I have good taste! Someone I’ve never met says so!
But alas, while reviews from others can help me sort the wheat from the chaff, I find that–while I may well agree that a perfume is innovative, or technically impressive, or simply smells good–reviews from other people can help me find perfumes I “like” but it’s only through trying something myself that I’ll know what I’ll “love”. My Holy Grail and yours don’t smell alike.
Of course, I’m a perfume fiend. So my “Holy Grail” is really more like of a “Holy Dozen Mis-matched Goblets”. So below, for your reading pleasure, is a list of my 5 5-stars. They’re not necessarily my top 5 favorites (no one needs to read a list composed entirely of my current obsession with galbanum bombs), I tried to include different perfume styles and houses, and things that appeal to me for different reasons. Will the list reveal dark secrets about me? Well, mostly it will reveal that my taste tends towards the classic (the “boring” for some) and that I have trouble with sweet scents and amber bases (not a single Oriental on the list, though if you’d asked me when I started this journey I would have guess I was an Oriental sort of person).
5. Tommy Girl: I love roses. I love them in the garden, in my tea, in my jam, my ice cream, my lassi…and I love them in my perfume. Tommy girl is pink rose backlit by morning light. Simple, sunny, and the perfume I’ve gotten the most compliments on. (Bonus points: I was once asked flat out by a Mexican immigrant working in a brickyard “What are you wearing? I want to get it for my wife.” And I cannot express how happy I was to be able to tell him “It’s called Tommy Girl and you can get a little bottle at Wal-mart for $20” instead of having to say “It’s Fille de Thomas but you can only order it from France….”)
4. Jicky / Apres L’Ondee: Yes it’s cheating, but I don’t care. These two perfumes smell completely different but play identical roles in my life. 1) They’re “purple” scents to me (Apres L’Ondee a pale violet-gray, Jicky a stripe of lavender wrapped in cream and chocolate brown) 2) They’re my top picks for something to wear just before bedtime. Apres L’Ondee is like lying down on a soft bed of iris with a heliotropin down comforter, Jicky like curling up on a civet fur rug with a vanilla pashmina blanket. Great, now I want to go back to bed.
3. Bandit: When I first tried it, I was appalled. Why would anyone want to smell like a dirty ashtray? Now that I’ve stopped worrying and learned to love the (galbanum) bomb, I find it a lovely dark green leather, with bitterness and leathery warmth balancing each other. One of the few leathers I’ve tried that doesn’t go completely to tar on my skin.
2. Chanel No. 5: It took me years and a short bout with Eau Premiere to love it, but now I can’t get enough. (Ladies and Gentlemen, I recently bought the foaming bath mousse at full price, so far gone am I.) The aldehydes (which originally just smelled like soap to me) now seem like a frosted glass globe over the gold and rosy light of the florals–diffusing them, blending them, and making them into something more.
1. Joy: The aldehydes in this one are like bubbles in champagne and, like a glass of the good stuff at a party, cast golden light over the rest of the proceedings. The florals (I have the vintage pafum) are as rich and dense as liqueur, and for hours only hint at the purring animalic base. I have heard people compare Joy to the smell of vase water after you’ve thrown the flowers away…and I get it, I really do. I can see how you might smell that and I won’t try to change your mind (more for me). Joy, more than any other perfume I’ve tried, can bring light to a dark day with a single sniff.
That’s the good. And, yes, those perfumes are wonderful, and I’m sure you had fun reading about them. But…isn’t it on a certain level more fun to disagree? I bet if you HATE one of the perfumes listed above, you enjoyed reading about it even more than if you loved them all. So let’s do a bonus list, shall we? Below is my (completely subjective) list of 5 star perfumes that I 1) hate, 2) have been betrayed by, or 3) simply don’t get. Let’s call this list….
“5 Ways the Doc is WRONG”
5. Beyond Paradise: I don’t get it. I like Calice Becker (witness Tommy Girl above) but BP just seems too big and abstract and clean and like a dozen other things.
4. Sarrasins: I loved it dabbed and bought a small decant. Sprayed it was bubblegum. I tried to deny it, I tried dabbing again…but it was no use.
3. Aromatics Elixir: Reminds me of the poisonous herbal concoction my kung fu instructor brewed for topical treatment of bruises. It seemed to work, but the smell was so vile that I eventually opted for the bruise.
2. Secretions Magnifiques: Do I need to explain? (Or, for those who think SM is a cop-out: Dune.)
1. Angel: I know it was innovative. I know it was hugely influential. But…I just can’t. I hate it. Is it because of the tooth-destroying sweetness? Is it the sheer power? Is it that the merest whiff can be enough to send me to bed for a day with a migraine? (Actually, thinking about it is starting to make my head twinge.)
Anyone else care to share a 5-star that they cannot abide?
Ha-ha. Tommy Girl. I sniffed it (again) after seeing it had 5 stars and thought “still hate it.”
This and Bulgari’s Tea scent turn straight to plastic on my skin!
“Holy Dozen Mis-matched Goblets” – love this. Sounds so much more interesting than a single Holy Grail!
I’m glad you posted this anyway! I enjoyed reading it.
Angel smells like the 90s to me. It’s like someone took all the ingredients of a mall and its occupants circa 1996-7 and distilled them into a perfume.
Ha! I’ve grown to really like Angel, but I definitely feel this way about Tommy Girl. Reminds me of the early aughts. My then boyfriend’s 15-yr-old cousin wore it.
If I need fun and fresh from that era, I’ll select Clinique Happy, but ultimately I can pass on both.
Joy, though, that is a desert island scent for me, for sure!
I can see feeling that way about Tommy Girl too. I tried to wear it as a teenager, but it never worked for me. My scent from that time period was EL Pleasures, which I adored. I think I would snag a bottle of that for sniffing if I needed to be reminded of that time. Happy is a good one for that era as well.
Joy, oh how I love thee. With Joy it’s as though they took all of the sparkling, seductive glamour of the age and distilled it into a perfume. It makes much more sense to capture that era in a scent.
I have tried Lolita Lempicka several times..each time a scrubber for me.
With you on every one of your 5-star hates, and for mostly the same reasons (except that AE smells like urine on the rose hedge, to me, and Angel is a giant sugar-frosted patchouli bomb).
Also with you on the realization that personal preference plays a large role in any sort of judgment – for example, “Here Comes the Sun” is hands-down my favorite Beatles song. It probably isn’t the “best” one, and even I recognize that, but there it is, it’s the one I most like to listen to. We like what we like, and that’s okay.
And I love your description of No. 5’s frosted globe aldehydes.
There’s nothing in the 5-star list that I actively hate, but there are a bunch that I can’t imagine ever wearing, like Tocade (oppressively sweet), Shalimar (it disagrees with me in some way I can’t quite pinpoint), and Dior Homme and Iris Silver Mist (I just don’t like iris-heavy scents, even if Lutens does them).
I bought Tocade blind after reading The Guide for the first time. I should have loved it, but I hated it and quickly rehomed it. I got rose and hot electricals… I wonder if now I would find it any more appealing?
That man LOVES him some Tocade. I wonder how many others have the same devotion to it? I do recall that in Chandler Burr’s book he was dismayed that so many people dismissed it, so maybe the rating comes from that? I blind-bought it for the same reason.
Hah! That would be a fun spin on The Guide projects or inquiries. Robin, maybe one day we can list The Guide four and five star perfumes we bought unsniffed to our regret… It seems like a pefumista right of passage to get worked up about a The Guide review, buy blind, a make the rather obvious discovery that perfume is, indeed, subjective.
I swear we did that as a lazy evening poll ages ago, but we could do it again! Somewhere around here I have a mini of some meh fruity floral from Jacomo I bought after he talked about it on his blog.
I admit that I bought and got rid of it because of the guide. It was sweet and weird on me… Plastic and hot electricals sounds about right.
I actively dislike Dune, Missoni, and Feu D’Issey, although I can understand their ratings.
Lol! Your Angel comment is dead on. I have been known to whimper aloud at the thought of it. Near the top of my “migraine in a bottle list” and one of the few that has had me tearfully contemplating amputation as a reasonable form of removal. Not that it actually smells bad, it just causes me physical pain.
It just smells like rotting melons on me… I wear A*men instead.
Funny, I posted that I was going to put on Sarrasines likely at the same time you were posting this great list. It doesn’t smell like bubblegum to me, but I don’t get the 5 star over-the-moon rating from LT either. I’ve got a 2ml and will likely never get more after this is gone. For jasmine and SL I much prefer A la Nuit. I am still trying to figure out jasmine and would love suggestions.
I’m a broken record here…. but I really like By Killian’s Imperial Tea. It is a jasmine tea scent!
Thank you! I haven’t tried and am relatively new to the site, so not a broken record to me.
If you’re going to the By Kilian counter anyway, Love and Tears is a beautiful jasmine. Not sure anything will top A la Nuit, though.
I think ‘A la Nuit is’ is the more interesting of the two. But ‘Love and Tears’ is gorgeous. Hate the name though.
Have you ever tried Bruno Acampora Jasmin? I’m not saying it’s better than the Lutens, but it’s even more intense.
Oh no, I haven’t tried BA or the BK jasmines. They go on the list. Thanks!
I don’t get Lolita Lempicka- it’s like wearing licorice to me! Chinatown becomes evil upon wearing, and Kenzo Flower is just plain weak.
How have I missed Tommy Girl? I like all of your Holy Grail scents and like roses. Luckily, it’s not vintage or pricey, so investigating its “5 star ness” will be relatively painless.
I never ” got” Angel, but it’s so captivating on my dear friend, that the scent memory is 4 star.
Kouros is what I would call an academic 5 star scent because of how it morphs over time. But very few people could pull off wearing it.
I love Tommy Girl, but (as other commenters have pointed out) it is very “fresh and clean” in a 90’s way. It can, very occasionally, give me a headache. But it is super easy to test!
I’m not a great fan of the 5 stars. I probably had the most adverse response to Insolence edp. I tried it at a shop, thought it smelled ‘ok’, if too loud, and then went out. All evening I felt a bit on edge and when I left to go home I could hardly drive – I was actually SHAKING! I had to pull over at a gas station and use some waterless hand cleaner to scrub it off. I had an empty atomizer of Chergui which I had negligently forgotten to refill and had to snuff the empty atomizer all the way home (Chergui is almost magically calming for me).
True, though highly neurotic and semi-hysterical story.
Insolence edp nearly skeered the pants off me. I mean, I literally felt I was being shouted at drill-sergeant style, nonstop and at very close range.
I actually love Insolence EDP. Although I use with great caution as an overdose can be deadly. I actually had that reaction with the EDT. It was so cloying I wanted to jump out if my own skin.
I’m so glad I’m not alone! Really made me doubt my sanity ????
I’ve had reactions like this too, where I felt like I was suffocating and got panicky from a perfume that I had to wash off asap. Not from Insolence though – it was so long ago I can’t remember what it was but I remember the feeling.
Yeah, I think Insolence was so bad because I didn’t realize it was the scent that was doing it and was thus in quite a state before I scrubbed it off!
Lovely wall of text!
I tend more towards the rebellious I think… If reviewers an masse pour hate on a fragrance I am more inclined to start liking it. Well not if it is cheap crap, but if others find it overwhelming, unwearable or too odd it is likely that I’ll enjoy the experience! 
I tend to disagree with The Guide rather often and the 5 stars are no different.
– Angel! If there was ever a bad idea that spawned a whole row of bad ideas, it was Angel. Read LTs review of Must de Cartier (1 star) and that’s pretty much spot on what I think about Angel!
– Bandit. Sorry lovers, I can’t do this one. I can kind of maybe respect it but I never ever want to smell it again.
– Dune. Same as with Bandit.
– Joy. Same as above.
– Chanel No. 5. Same as above.
– Fracas. At worst, headache in a bottle. At best annoyingly loud.
– Secretions Magnifique. This is just milky metallic notes on me. No secretions and nothing magnifique about it. Synthetic crap.
And then there are some that LT and TS give 5 stars that I think are rather generic, like Lolita Lempicka, Chinatown, L’Air du Desert Marocain, Aromatics Elixir, Habit Rouge, Insolence edp, PdN New York…
Is it wrong that I love hearing other people dislike my favs? Part of my just cackles maniacally and goes “more for meeeee!!”.
Woot! Love this wall of text! There’s a new advert for Coach with the tag line “It’s not Classic, it’s Original”
Anyway, here I am stuck inside a train as the train ahead of mine struck a tresspasser. It probably smells like Secretions Magnifique out there near the probably squashed body (it sounds mean but ummm, why tresspass? You play you pay and in this person’s case, he’s done for).
I’ve never consulted the guide in purchasing perfumes and have lately read through the reviews and I just shake my head and feel for those who based tbeir purchases on the star ratings. As with anything subjective, your experience could be the exact opposite of someone else’s.
Friday was a snow day for kids in NE and now Monday is too, all of which leads to canceled meetings and working at home for me. But I am going to put on some (5 star) Sarrasins and take a nap. (I don’t have any kids and try not to get annoyed when those who do, or live a distance, need to postpone things because of the snow. I’ve definitely become a New Englander in that I don’t see what the fuss is about if it isn’t a foot or mote. In the mid-Atlantic US, where I grew up, we got a snow day for an inch or two. As a kid, it was the best! For parents, I now realize, not so much.)
A foot and a mote? I meant more!
Scent twins!
I had a doctor’s appointment this morning and thought I’d be polite by wearing something quiet. I ended up in Mohur, which isn’t as quiet in real life as it is in my mind, but at least I don’t think anyone could find it offensive.
Because it’s a rose sort of day, I’m also enjoying my new Providence Perfume Co. Brambleberry Rose tea, which smells absolutely heavenly.
Funny post. I like Charna’s Brambleberry Rose tea as well.
Coco Parfum for me today. It snowed just enough to cover everything last night and a permanent chill is back in the house. Coco is perfect.
That it is.
I haven’t decided what to wear today, but on Saturday I had a transcendent, or maybe I should say “transcentent,” experience in a movie theater: I was watching “Carol” and caught a whiff of the Coco I had liberally applied at home. Coco complemented New York in the ’50s and the luxuriant Carol herself so wonderfully … It was very moving. I think whenever I wear the scent I’ll remember the movie.
Coco is just so elegant..
I must see that movie soon… The combination sounds perfect, indeed.
Once again, I’ll have to go back and read comments later.
Wearing 24 Faubourg today. I think it’s a 4-star scent. In my book, it may have grown to become a 5. I even got a compliment on it this morning!
I’m wearing Immortelle de Corse today. However much I love it, I’m still thinking that it could be better with a bit of skank so I think I’ll reapply and then layer with my trusted Smell Bent skankifier Werewolf Lumberjack Reclining on a Bearskin Rug! Then I’ll go to choir practice!
Current taste in perfume: SKANKIFY IT ALL!!
Oh wow. No one will crucify you if you show up at choir practice all skanky? (My community chorus has a standing policy of asking people not to wear fragrance to concerts, and there’s that one soprano who sits behind me who will complain if I wear anything wafty to rehearsal… luckily, she skipped practice one night I forgot about the ban and was wearing L’Arte di Gucci.)
Nobody has complained yet so I think I’m pretty safe to wear whatever! Most of the stuff I wear has pretty soft sillage though, even the skank, so I don’t think I’m suffocating anyone.
I like your style! ????
Thank you!
There are some rather ardent anti-layering advocates out there who say that a perfume is a piece of art, to be respected, not to be messed with. To them I say, there is nothing, NOTHING, that isn’t better with a bit of skank! I throw skank over florals, gourmands, herbals… everything, and it just works!
I like it! I need to try that Smell Bent. There have been times that I thought whatever I was wearing could do with a bit of skank.
Vent Vert for me today. It’s carnival and I’m taking the kids to the “bloco”, a parade of sorts consisting of a band of musicians playing old school “marchinhas” and “frevos” and a bunch of slightly drunk people following along, dancing through the streets. I was never a carnival person, more of a camping in the wild gal, but now I think this is part of the kids education, and I’m having a lot of fun. Very cathartic.
This Friday will be easy on us, bless LT.
You smell great, and be sure to get to bed as early as you can with all the Carnival fun!
Oh yeah, it’s not even 7 pm and we are all in our pjs!
Happy Monday!
We are having a bit of a spring preview today (62F! Why am I at work? I should hiking!) and so I am wearing a more ‘spring’ casual outfit along with my staple day perfume!
SOTD: Chanel Eau Premiere, layered on top of The Body Shop Moringa shower gel.
OOTD: Black cotton blazer, high waisted skinny jeans, leopard mid heel shoes, pink fitted blouse and a old Hermes white and pink scarf I got in Paris for like 3 Euros or something. Bare face except for coppery pink gloss.
I really like the Moringa body products. And Eau Premiere, of course.
The Moringa products are so fresh and pretty!
Oh, you smell wonderful. I am jealous of your scarf! But happy for you.
I’m also enjoying Eau Premiere today.
It was an amazing score. I can’t remember the exact name of the store, but it is in inner Paris, off the metro line and this shop had ALL sorts of interesting things in it- including a big box of silk scarves that just went for practically nothing!
This week except Friday, I am going to wear 4 star frags that had been robbed of a star.
Onto the first victim —
SOTD = SL Chergui
TS docked Chergui because the hay note she smelled in Chergui was not the same hay her friend gave her which she “thinks” was the same hay LT gave Uncle Serge several years back. It sounds stupid because it is stupid.
lol! I love the idea of wearing 4 stars that were robbed!
Thank you!
Oh so funny! Chergui has definitely been robbed and kudos to you for reinstalling the missing star. And you’re right-it is stooopid ????
I should have given it an extra TWO stars S as it is one of my desert island perfumes!
Great idea!
Thanks! And going through the comments, it looks like I missed congratulating you on NST’s 11th anniversary! Great job you!
Thanks
You are correct your analysis; that is very stupid. Verging on stoopid territory. It sounds like she was looking for a reason to ding Chergui, and couldn’t come up with anything valid, so she went with the first thing she could come up with.
It really didn’t even make sense because she never even smelled that original hay note! Besides, what perfumer would just use ONE note? Of course it won’t smell the same!
This is a great idea! I’d include a lot of Malles on here,but I don’t have your nose. What do you think? Any of them robbed?
I’m pretty sure I have to seek justice for Iris Poudre. My issue with the Malle ratings was none of them were rated 1 or 2. It’s as if they’re concerned about offending a friend. I downgraded two of them to 1* — Bigarade Concentree and Lipstick Rose.
I really dislike Lipstick Rose too and BG does nothing for me. I’d upgrade Iris Poudre and Portrait of a Lady. I also love Une Rose, but 4 might be right for it as it doesn’t a lot of movement.
Have. Dumb to try to respond on my phone!
I do it all the time. I blame the typos on either autocorrect or fat fingers.
I agree on all accounts. Sing it, sister!
I agree on Iris Poudre. I’d also upgrade Musc Ravageur. 3 stars?? Come on now. I’m reading this before I go to bed, so I just decided that I need to wear MR to bed tonight.
Ha. I look forward to your other entries this week.
I’m such a nut. I printed the spreadsheet twice – one set sorted by house, then fragrance name abd tbe second sorted my stars and the by house and fragrance name. I need to decide on tomorrow’s victim but I am stuck in the train (over 2.5 hours) with no outlook of how much longer. The train ahead of mine struck a trespasser!
Yeah, love this! I have a few of Turin’s 5 star perfumes, but MANY more that he ranks 4 stars. And I would most definitely give Chergui a 5.
Chergui lovers, UNITE!
Is it too repetitive if I also say I think this is genius? It is tho
Thank you!
Those comments are why the guide is such a fun read! I’ve laughed out loud at some of the reviews. Provocative writing sells!
She probably secretly showers in Chegui!
TS showers in Chergui – many samples!
I think it should be retitled Perfumes: Misguided
That does sound stupid!
That it was!
You are doing God’s work.
And yes, the reason is utterly weird and stupid.
My Lonesome Rider sample came this morning!!! Yay!
I never had the chance to smell Orris, but had in mind that this would be similar to Lonestar Memories. I am only 5 minutes into wearing it, but right away it is much lighter and not as dense. The citrus opening is almost summery, with the bergamot and pepper bright, but by 5 minutes the leather has started to show through. An easy leather, nothing too dense like TF Tuscan Leather or anything like that. I catch a hint of orris so far supporting the leather, making it feel worn and soft. Gorgeous so far, and I can’t wait to see how it develops… Andy has created a wonderful fragrance for his fans!
Oh, happy to hear this and can’t wait to give it a go!
I really like LR too
Will we be able to read a NST review soon?
Yes, hopefully this week or next!
Sounds great! Hope mine comes soon….
Me too!
Me 3!
My sample is enroute…can’t wait to try this.
Jepster! How’re you doin’? I went straight for the extra large sample and already have a split partner
Ohhhh boy I can already hear the stampede of lemmings!
Oh thank you for sharing that! I blind ordered a bottle because most Tauers are great on me, crossing my fingers that I love it.
Thanks for the mini review on this. I went to his site to order a sample and it wasn’t working.. need to try again.
Ooh, I was curious about Lonesome Rider but wasn’t sure I really needed to order any samples right now. Sounds like it’s worth a try!
Also making it a 5-star week – which should be easy!
It’s overcast and chilly here today but Apres l’Ondee was calling to me. It’s so lovely I don’t mind reapplying often.
It is certainly much easier than one-star week!
Yes! We get to wear something really good.
Lovely. I expect to reach for Apres l’Ondee one day this week.
SOTD was Eau de Merveilles, just the ticket for today.
Yay! Eau des Merveilles was my wake up scent this morning. It cheers me up and never clashes if I apply another scent later in the day.
SOTD= Costume National 21. This is friendly and spicy and cheerful on me. Good for a Monday at work!
Love that one. Wish CN was easier to find here.
SOTD is Bvlgari Omnia. Don’t know how many stars it received, but it’s a good scent for the times one is expected to “play nice” with others.
On a completely different topic, why do people talk SO much?! I love a bit of quiet now and then, but I am always getting someone yammering in my ear about stuff that is absolutely no concern of mine…sheesh, Monday!
BTW, you all smell fabulous!!
Ha, as an introvert, I totally agree with you.
Ditto. I find most conversation superficial and annoying. Present company excepted, of course.
Of course!
Ditto. I find it exhausting.
Another introvert agrees wholeheartedly.
Omnia got 4 stars. You smell great!
I often feel that way about buskers. I admire their talent but there is so much noise and I want to walk down the street , enter the supermarket, or sit in a park in the company of my own thoughts. Too many signs are another problem….yabber, yabber, yabber.
I am with you. Buskers and people – usually where I am well-meaning young adults – wanting me to sign things. And they are always trying to be heard over each other. It makes me not want to go outside.
Just this morning I found myself agitated that some people just need to make a full conversation out of every little thing. Especially when you’re trying to work, a bit of silence is a very good thing. Monday indeed!
Introverts unite!
*Y*
Some people are chatty because they are insecure and trying to get a response that gives them reassuring feedback. Or, they have trouble quieting their minds. They may need a friendly glance or simple minimal feedback to set them on a more mutually beneficial course
.
Thanks for pointing that out, Wendysue. I was exactly like that when I was younger. The world seemed filled with cool and self-possessed types, that I was doomed to annoy…
Im attempting a 5 star week in a super awful heat wave, so hopefully I have enough of the ones that wont kill me :-/
Today was Yatagan. Survived day one
I admire your determination.
I Looooooooove luv leerve Yatagan, but definitely think of it as a coolish weather scent. How does it fare in the heat?
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to wear this morning, so I consulted the 5 star list and saw that I have enough to make this a 5 star week (mostly classic Guerlains). Today is Joy parfum.
How is the house hunting?
Nothing to report. I think we need to wait for new properties to come on the market.
Oh gosh. I have to update to share my husband’s comment, “What is that smell? I can’t tell if it’s perfume or cat pee.” I had to laugh. It’s definitely Joy!!! I know some people get this *ahem* distinctive note. :-/
Blame it on the cats! (if you have any)
I do, but they are way too clean to shoulder the blame. :-p
I get cat pee from it and I like it (I’m a huge indole fan). My husband always wrinkles his nose when I first put Joy on, but an hour later, he’ll compliments me.
That’s a good story. I’ll have to make him sniff the drydown.
You smell fantastic. The skank is your friend!
Thanks!
SOTD: Lolita Lempicka. This was one of my early online blind buys (couldn’t find it around here) – no regrets. I really like the anise.
This was a blind buy for me, too, and a successful one. I enjoy wearing in the right mood, but I was surprised to see it on the 5 star list.
You smell nice! I have the more soft-spoken L’eau en Blanc flanker. If I ever run out, I’m not sure if I’ll repurchase the same, or get the original.
I am thinking about getting the Eau en Blanc flanker since it sounds good, but I love the original.
I have and really like both (if that helps.)
Thank you! It’s very cheap online, which helps too.
I am in love with the Eau en Blanc right now!
I’m unscented and grouchy today so am enjoying reading about everybody else’s SOTD. Couldn’t sleep last night, the clean shirt I put on this morning mysteriously smelled like white musk so will have to be re-laundered, and the freakin’ squirrels are back and driving me insane. On the bright side, I started to type, “the squirrels are back in the attic…” when I flashed on the GEICO commercial and made myself giggle.
My Dame soliflores should be here today so I’m considering trying them. I don’t want to ruin them with my bad mood so I can’t decide if I should save them.
Squirrels in the attic is a totally valid reason to be grumpy. They do love to rearrange furniture all night long. I grew up in a house that had cedar siding, and we had squirrel problems constantly.
“The squirrels are back in the attic” without context sounds like some kind of code, and it’s making me laugh.
We had the same problem, it sounded like a major construction project going on above our heads. Super annoying.
It’s also a great first sentence for a novel
Like the Gucci one we had a couple of weeks ago.
I’ve just found it; “Gucci Gorgeous Gardenia was completely pointless”.
Yes, I was thinking of your comment
Today I’m wearing five-star LAP Vanilia, accurately described by LT as “candy floss vanilla” and “Great Vulgar.” I don’t wear it very often (tooth-achingly sweet!), but I’m enjoying it whilst watching birds at the feeder during a snowstorm.
Snow storm twins..I am also watching the snow. No bird feeder though. The downside to living in the city I guess.
Vanilia is wonderful stuff. The vanillas L’Artisan replaced it with (Havana Vanille and then Absolument Vanille, which I guess was basically the same thing with a different name) can’t hold a candle to it.
It is! Too bad it has been discontinued :-(.
What birds do you have this morning? We have mainly house finches at the moment, but hopefully the chickadees and robins will come back after the wind dies down…
Mostly purples finches and cardinals of both genders. Just saw my first blue jay! Lots of slate-colored juncos, too. Since we have suet out in addition to the sunflower seed, we also get woodpeckers and house wrens, though I haven’t seen any yet today.
It sounds like we have most of the same birds! Our dark-eyed juncos mainly stay on the ground, though, and don’t make their way up to the feeders. I love the woodpeckers when they visit!
… enjoy it with a banana float, a sunburn, and really loud music. There will always be time for refinement later.…
Probably my favourite funny review in The Guide (together with Creed Love in White), and Vanilia is wonderful.
I have been on a kick with MFK perfumes the past couple of days.
Today I’m wearing aPom.
Happy 11th blog birthday, Robin!
Wearing Soivohle Carpathian Oud today as I start packing for a Mar 1 move. This is the 2nd move in less than a year and I have a lot of stuff, so hopefully I’ll discover stuff to ditch
Happy NST BD , Robin. Thank you.
We’re planning to move in May and I cannot wait to start throwing things out (aka, pack up in bags to take to the thrift store.) Every time I open a closet or cupboard I see things that need to be tossed. I guess there’s no reason not to start doing that now…
Gosh, you know even *I* did not remember til mid-morning — you are sweet beyond belief to remember!
I was obsessing about whether I needed more Tubereuse Criminelle yesterday and so I decided to go with another Luten’s floral today – Iris Silver Mist. And I see now its a 5 star
Honestly though – I think TC (which only gets 4 stars) blows it right out the water!
I love ISM and have a bottle, but I really should get some TC as well. It’s the most (possibly only?) interesting tuberose I know.
I can’t remember whether you’ve tried Sarrasins, I think you would find it interesting. A blend of jasmine and leather in a Serge way.
I’ve only tried the wax sample of Sarrasins – and it was certainly intriguing!
TC is spectral – like phosphorence – and just exquisite.
I’m not naturally drawn to white florals so I can’t say I usually find tuberose boring. I think I often find it too diva-esque!
Hello, everyone. I’m back to work today after our second long weekend in a row, wearing Femininite du Bois. Loved this in the winter, when it was a sharp woody smell, a little thin, perhaps, but clean, elegant, bright and invigorating; ADORE it in the heat and humidity of summer. A whole new element has blossomed in the top: a complicated bouquet of flowers that are not lush, but rather like wood themselves. Perhaps if carved roses and lilies could project a scent, they would smell like this. Summer has taken this perfume from “very nice” to “rather specia”l, in my opinion. I think I smell gorgeous! Hope your scented days are going well–mine will be pretty average, but my perfume will cheer me up!
That sounds amazingly lovely! I’ll try to remember to sample this summer.
Me, too. I tried it in the fall/winter and have to say I was not wowed.
Wow, 11 years of NST, amazing! Congratulations and deep thanks for this wonderful site!
I am in vintage Dior Addict edp today after doing some decanting.
Thank you!
I’m wearing 5-star Sarrasins today as I order my new car mats.
And I’m sure they get 5 stars in Turin’s car mat guide…but now that’s out of the way can you get back to the real necessities of life!
Annick Goutal “Sables”. I wanted something to stand up to the rigours of a tough day, and Sables has done as well as a perfume reasonably could.
Sables is beautiful. (and received 5 stars on BoisdeJasmin!)
Did you see the LT Beaufort review last week? Thought of you when I read it, wondering if you would agree etc.
Wanted to wear 5 star Nahema, but couldn’t find it. Found un-reviewed (?) Lubin Black Jade instead. I love the spices and floral that have a soft drydown. I should wear it more.
I really like Black Jade too. It’s very pretty and you smell great.
I just got a sample of this one and am still trying to figure out how I feel about it. It seems like one that would do better sprayed. It’s a bit too faint from my measly dabber vial to get a sense of it’s character. How is it sprayed?
Black Jade has a sheerness to it but yet it it not light either. It is refined and very smooth; No sharpness. I would describe it as sort of a balmy green jasmin, rose, cardamom, with light spices and wood. When I first smelled it, I really wanted a fb but was distracted by many others and never got around to buying it. My fervor for it has passed but I still think it is a really pretty scent and I may still buy it some day. If I ever see a small bottle for a great price, I will pull the trigger. I’ve read reviews where people have compared it to Marni but Black Jade is much smoother and more refined. It’s just really pretty.
Stupid iPad… Yet it is not light either… Ugh…
Thanks for your impressions!
I’ve been meaning to try it for a couple of years now, and just bit the bullet to order a sample.
With MikasMinion I am NOT celebrating wildlife today (but did anyone catch Will Ferrell, wild animal expert, last night on the Late Show after the Super Bowl? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OtMq2s0TyM so f f f funny!!!) I’ve been waiting all fall and winter for the duct dudes to come and replace all our heating ducts that wind their way outside under our deck before heading into our now FREEZING bedroom. We have been providing heat to skunks, possums, raccoons, rats, squirrels and goodness knows what else ever since the collective wild world tore our ducts into shreds. They are here today! Yea!!!
Still enjoying my liberally applied Assam.
Happy Lunar New Year Y’all!
Ugh! I hope they’re able to fix it today.
Good luck and thanks for the video – love it!
LOL! Great video!
Alien Eau Luminescente for me today. I’ve somehow developed a particularly strong association between orange clothes and orange perfume. This fits the bill very well -mandarin notes in an orange bottle!
Sounds fun!
I’m really interested in this one. Might see if I can find it in town. I’m after a happy orange.
I’m in YSL Opium Vapeurs de Parfum. Sheer incense-y orange, very pretty and a worthwhile flanker.
I find the summer flanker (Ete something or other) to be quite nice, too.
Never got to try that one, but I’ll keep an eye out (or rather, a nose).
Felt the need for a non-perfumy perfume today, so I’m wearing Jo Malone Earl Grey & Cucumber. It fits the bill. Kind of reminds me of a “shower fresh” scented deodorant now that it’s drying down.
Due to the snow emergency, I parked at a local mall and stopped in at Sephora for a little sniff. My walk home was enlivened by some Coco and Jour d’Hermes. (Verdict: I like both, but they don’t seem essential to my collection.) Now I’m in Azemour les Orangers.
Happy 11th birthday NST. So happy that you exist! This SOTD sure has taken flight…by the time I’m awake, there are usually around 300+ posts, and I enjoy reading every one.
Today is a beautiful, sunny springlike day, and it called for a little Cristalle. It is doing its job beautifully.
i love Cristalle-which version
It is the EDP, c. 2006 and very crisp and lovely
Thank you! And you smell great
I sprayed 10 Corso Como from my Olfactif box this a.m. I’m not particularly enjoying it and it’s very persistent.
After reading the other posts, I’ve also set out my 5 stars to wear throughout the week. I’ll switch to 31 Rue Cambon once I change clothes and the Corso Como wears off.
We went to see a show last night (How to Succeed in Business) and I wore PHI. I kept getting whiffs of something light and fresh with an almost greenish tinge. I couldn’t tell if it was me or someone else. Does anyone else get this from PHI? Whatever it was, it smelled really good and so did I
I dunno about light and fresh, but it does have green notes on me.
How did I miss this? HAPPY BIRTHDAY NST & Robin, Angela, Jessica, Kevin, et. al., for giving me 8 years out of your 11 of pure happiness and joy!
I missed it as well
Agree with every word, although in my case, it’s something like 5 or 6 years.
Ha, because I forgot to mention it in my post which I’d meant to do. I am usually half asleep (despite usually being on my 2nd or 3rd up of tea) when I post the SOTD. But thank you!
I missed it too! But do want to give innumerable thanks for such a wonderful space in the blogosphere. I think it’s quite unique and attracts some incredibly generous people. Not only generous in the sharing of perfumes, but also generous in knowledge, opinions, and experience. This is a great place to “be” ????
Ooh in case, belated happy birthday to NST too! And thank you so much for this space and all the effort that must go into it!
Thanks all!
PHI is not only wonderful, but its so multifaceted and long lasting. I almost wore it again today after waking up with delicious traces of it left over on my wrist.
Whoops, that comment was for kpaint!
It does have an addictive quality. I’m hoping someone will host a split when the time comes…
Bummer, if I had known, I could have sent you some from my bottle (just to hold you over until split season)!
Ah! You’re too kind. I just got a sample set with this one included. If I go through it too quickly I can always get another, seeing as how his prices are so reasonable. Thank you, though!
Happy Chinese New Year of the Monkey! In celebration I’m wearing T42, but I’ll be doing a 5 star week starting tomorrow. Super busy with work today, so I probably won’t be able to comment much, but I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s posts in bed tonight! Everyone enjoy the new year!
I am enjoying yet another snow day. SOTD is 31 Rue Cambon. Happy 11th to Robin and crew. Thank you for all of your hard work on our behalf.
31RC is the only FB on my list. Still debating if I should take the plunge and just buy it. I have a few sprays left of my sample. You smell elegant and chic.
It’s such a beautiful classic scent. It is an excellent choice for a full bottle.
Thank you! Wondering if we’ll get a snow day tomorrow.
There is a chance. In RI, snow may end at 11 PM. So possibly a one- hour delay. ????
I also want you to know how much I appreciate what you do Robin. This blog is one of my happy places!
So glad, thanks!
I just have to say, your avatar is adorable. Who is he/she?
I really need to give one of the other kitties some time in the limelight and switch mine up too.
Hi MM, He is my stray kitty that blew into our lives as a juvenile and pretty much took over. Because he wasn’t fully grown we took to calling him Baby Meowy… The first time I saw your avatar, I thought that our kitties looked like sibs. ????
I have just rediscovered a neglected lovely, miller harris fleur oriental-i could have worn this one for shalimar friday, it’s definitely a modern homage. Luca Turin gave it 3* ‘a nice powdery oriental in the mini shalimar manner, a bit thin in the drydown’. Actually, i think the dry down is lovely.
Now that’s worn off; scent of the evening mon parfum cherie par camille, my newest love, cheap partial bottle, yay! ( husband not anamourd)
Wow, so many comments to go back and read! I am wearing Narciso today.
This is one of those perfumes that I am compelled to wear (or at least go smell) every time it’s mentioned. If I weren’t so tired I’d get up and put some on.
Rather than avoiding Guerlain today, I’m wallowing in lamentably discontinued Nahema parfum alternating with 1990s EdP. BWAH-ha-ha! Never forget the lost greatness of Guerlain!
And a Luca Turin 5-star, I might add. He calls it a “virtual rose,” because of the intriguing theory that “the rose at Nahema’s core is a geometric locus bounded by a dozen facets, each due to a different ingredient,” rather than actual rose essence. We’ll never know, but to me it is very different from any other rose perfume.
LT’s review also begins with this memorable description:
“The first three minutes of Nahema are like an explosion played in reverse: a hundred disparate, torn shreds of fragrance propelled by a fierce, accelerating vortex to coalesce into a perfect form that you fancy would then walk toward you, smiling as if nothing had happened.”
I’m not sure I ever experienced that with Nahema, but I have with other novel perfumes such as L’AP Traversee du Bosphore and some other leather perfumes. That only happens once, though. After the brain once finds the key, it always brings up the finished image immediately on subsequent encounters.
I love his reviews, even though my own tastes can be quite different. And Nahema is beautiful, I’m very glad I got my bottle when I did, even though I do not wear it very often.
I was home sick today. They’ve started doing construction in the apartment above ours so not much rest to be had. But I did manage a long shower and 3/4 of a pint of peanut butter and chocolate Haagen Dazs which is clinically proven to make one feel instantly better
I’m in a couple spritzes of Noa, which I like every now and then. I’m not sure I would have given it 4 stars as I find it a bit sleepy. I never got the coffee note in it nor the cilantro TS speaks of, but if I did I’d give it the 4. Otherwise, pleasant, safe musk.
I am not familiar with Noa but I’m sure you smell great. Hagaan Daz has magical healing properties. Feel better!
Oops. Excuse my spelling. Being on the East Coast, I usually opt for Ben & Jerry’s
Ha! Full disclosure: I had to pull the empty container out of the trash to check the spelling. And thanks for the well wishes.
And that precious kitty face in your Avatar possesses equal magical powers
He’s my baby. ????
SOTD is a half-spritz from a superlatively generous loaner sample of Dark Passage (which ahem I swear I will now return to its rightful owner! We won’t say how long I’ve been hoarding my chance to test it
) Not in the Guide but surely worthy of a five-star review: it’s beautiful and moving and what more can you really ask of a perfume!
That is a seriously weird name for a perfume (or is it just me?).
Hey C.H! What’s your scent today?
That’s my Dark Passage. Want to take a sniff?
See what I mean? (Mind of a ten year old here).
maybe the secret is HOW you say it.
Like in a sexy voice?
Hey C.H! yelled the dorky New Zealander. What perfume are you wearing?
C.H. raised her eyes from her book and sighed. ‘This,’ she purred, looking into the middle distance, ‘Why, this is my Dark Pass-age. Care to inhale?’
Yep…that did it! Thanks for the tip.
*blushes furiously… looks around for something to take notes on*
That’s hilarious. It’s a Bogart and Bacall movie and probably not great as a movie title either. Although definitely worse for a perfume!
Her name was C.H, a set of initials only – but what a dame. She left a trail of scent behind her; a perfume that had ‘leopard’ written all over it, beautiful from a distance but dangerous to pet. She was a knock out all right, and I was down for the count. Dark Passage she called it. Why? I never knew. But then there were a lot of things about her that only she understood…
You could write for Prairie Home Companion. There is a recurring character named Guy Noir.
Prairie Home Companion–screenplays–whatever you want to write, Kanuka, I will thrilled to buy tickets to attend!!
That’s so much funnier than my weirdly sinister interpretation of the name
The notes sound intriguing, though!
Dude… it’s absurdly good. It’s honestly sort of criminal that we can’t all buy it, but I guess since it was done as a freebie, not for retail, it didn’t have to meet IFRA standards and I’ll concede, I will guess that’s part of what makes it so good. It is so cool to get to see what someone really talented can do when not bound to those rules. If that means I only get to smell it once in life, well, I’ll take the tradeoff.
It does make me wonder, though, whether friends and family of perfumers are all wearing secret amazing concoctions we can only dream of. (But then also, if they are…why there isn’t more of a black market for these things! Sure some of us would be willing to pay!
)
More concretely–I get a dark raw (but blended, if that makes sense) chocolatey tone that’s more natural patchouli than the obvious clean fractions but certainly no kind of headshop either. It’s deep and stirring and kiiiinda makes me want to cry altho I’ve held it together because if there were THREE Tauers that had brought me to tears, I mean, I don’t know, I might start to get a reputation
I’ve just been reading about it…and it sounds amazing. Couldn’t you keep it just a bit longer? Like ‘ the cheque’s in the mail’ longer?
Well, it sounds stunning. I’ll live vicariously through your beautiful description!
Must be a veddy veddy nice person whi loaned you Dark Passage. I say 6 stars!
666 stars
Hah!
Six stars for the fragrance and the lender, very definitely!!
19 EDT for me today – girding my whatevers for a tough week. Actually, this never happens but today I’m getting all kinds of rose out of it – anybody else experience that with the usually-steely EDT?
The rose usually hides under the wall of green-iris-vetiver in the edt, in my experience – but it’s THERE. Sometimes aspects of a scent just shift around, don’t they?
The rose is one of my favorite parts of the edp, where it is a stronger element.
I have and LOVE both the EDT and the EDP, and I agree about the EDP – if I’m in the mood for roses, the EDP is the one I ordinarily reach for. If I had to choose a favorite between the two formulations, it would probably be the EDT – I’ve just never noticed so much rose in it before. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!