A few quick reminders: the damage poll is coming up on Tuesday, so do start counting up those receipts (it's more fun than doing your taxes anyway)! The deadline for entries for the Prix Eau Faux is April 10. And our first (and maybe last! we'll see how it goes) reverse swap meet will be on April 23, followed by the freebiemeet in June.
Today, our usual weekend open thread poll: talk about anything you like — the perfume you’re wearing today, the perfume you're surprised you never see mentioned in the scent of the day polls, whatever.
Or, ask a question about fragrance, then see if anyone else has asked a question that you can answer…
Does anyone else suffer from “second bottle syndrome”?
I’ll find a perfume I adore, buy a bottle and use it all up, buy a second bottle, and about halfway through the second bottle, either it turns or I suddenly can’t stand the smell of it anymore. I don’t usually wear the same scent everyday, so I don’t think it’s from overuse. . .
SOTD is Omnia Crystalline
I only purchase backup bottles of discontinued fragrances that I love and also that I know can be traded or sold when they do, in fact, disappear. The original Bvlgari Omnia is no longer easy to find and I have seen it’s market value increase exponentially. So I only have three duplicates: Bvlgari Black, Omnia and Donna Karan Gold EDP. There are so many perfumes that I am now more accepting of the idea that all things must pass and I will find new perfume loves.
I like your way of thinking…..”all things must pass and I will find a new perfume love”. Its so hard to let go, but fun to find new ones
Gosh, not so far! To be fair, though, I’m a heavy spritzer which would reduce the risk of it going bad OR not smelling it. . . Sorry for your loss, though!
It had happened to me with Burberry Brit Sheer. It was pre-perfumista and my choices were limited and the bottle got dangerously low in a short period and I bought a back-up with a coupon. I drained the first bottle right around the time I went head first into the rabbit hole. My second bottle is untouched.
Exact same story here, all the way down to the brand–just a different Burberry Brit flanker!
Are you saying you buy the second bottle AFTER using up the first bottle? If so, there is not reason why the second bottle should go bad if it was fresh when purchased. Could it be a reformulation issue? Perhaps if you are wearing something a whole lot, you are just getting burned out?
I have not had it happen quite as you describe, but I have had things I used to love, then didn’t wear for a while (because I have so many perfumes), then when I went back to my previous love I didn’t love it so much. I ascribe that to changing tastes or a maturing nose. I find my tastes have changed as I have gotten older. I used to love heavy, rich, Orientals, but now find most of them overwhelming.
So far nothing has turned on me, but I do find that having the backup bottle makes me less interested in wearing a fragrance. It’s as if part of the attraction of wearing a fragrance is the possibility that I might not get to anymore, someday.
That may be the case with me too. I hoard until I get a backup, then once I get a backup I lose interest. Of course this does not happen with my very top favorites I’ve worn for years, mostly it happens with passing infatuations.
Yes – that’s how I’ve discovered that several new “loves” were merely infatuation. I wish there was a less expensive way of finding that out. 😛
I bought a back up bottle of Imperial Opoponax and then promptly stopped wearing from the first bottle. So now I have two 100ml bottles that I don’t use. I think I went whole hog and over-used it for a few weeks and it became boring and, well, kind of common. Anyone have a suggestion of what layers well with opoponax? Maybe I can jazz it up somehow to make it more wearable.
Oh never mind, I just sprayed a little and it is hopelessly sweet on me. Time for a reverse back up plan…
I don’t know how to jazz it up, but if you want to swap some of it email me through my user name 😉
Aw thanks jjlook. Not sure what I’m going to do with it, yet but I will keep that in mind. (no decanting supplies at the moment)
Yes if you are interested in swapping I am marianna_r in yahoooooland
Not sure what to do with it yet but thanks for your offer.
I haven’t had that happen, but I did buy a couple of back up bottles of something I liked immediately. Still working on the first bottles and interest faded somewhat…
SOTD L’Artisan Mimosa pour Moi. Pretty and springlike but the Diptyque Essences mimosa is both similar and better, I think. The beeswax note is more interesting and it lasts all day. Though the L’Artisan scores by not having a daft puffy atomiser.
Those bulb atomizers are terrible! They have a tendency to allos the perfume to evaporate from the bottle, and it is heartbreaking to discover that your perfume has disappeared. I have had it happen to me. If there is any way to replace that atomizer with a regular pump spray, do so. Alternatively, you could purchase a bottle with a regular pump spray and transfer the perfume into it.
That is so good to know!! I’ve never purchased any perfume with a bulb atomizer, but I’ve often admired how sophisticated and retro it looks.
With the Essences you can twist the top and it closes the bottle off to prevent evaporation. So that’s something. There no way of replacing the atomiser that I know of though. I also read that they’re very hard to decant from because the spray is so diffuse. Great perfume though!
That bulb atomizer has probably saved me a ton of money. I have resisted sampling the Essenses because of it*
*perfumista disclaimer: The bottles themselves are very pretty and if I happened across a bargain bottle I would probably blind buy it anyway because I am ever the sucker for a bargain.
Yes, I, too, generally feel obligated to blind buy any bargain bottle of a well-regarded limited edition. The only solution I’ve found is to stay the heck off ebay. 😉
If you are into layering, you can buy an el cheapo bottle of Demeter Beeswax and spray it on first before the L’AP.
Oooh, that sounds yummy.
Nice idea, thanks!
I love the Diptyque mimosa perfume, and the bottle is beautiful to look at and feels great in the hand. However, I it can be challenging to spray. You have to hold the bottle with one hand while squeezing the bulb with the other. To spray a wrist, you have to set the bottle on a surface and try to squeeze the bulb with the other hand without knocking it over. I don’t see how you could decant from it unless you had another person to hold the bottle, and the spray would be hard to contain.
Still, I enjoy spritzing my neck and hair, and it’s not a strong perfume so I’ll just use it all myself. 🙂
I find the atomiser is strong-necked enough that I can spray a wrist holding the bottle just by the atomiser with the other hand. I possibly shouldn’t though…
Bulb atomizers are the pits because to ise it properly requires two hands!
Mrs. Dalloway, I’m afraid the bulb will come off (although it does seem quite sturdy) or that I’ll drop it when I’m trying to squeeze, hold, and aim at the same time (yes, I’m that klutzy). An alternative is to spray the back of my neck and touch my wrists to that before it dries.
Oh man, I encountered exactly this dilemma this week, having only just gotten to try the Essences–I think it’s SO good, and it’s terrible that it comes in such an insane if beautiful bottle. Doubly painful because I thought I just didn’t like mimosa so much (Mimosa Pour Moi doesn’t really do it for me; Mimosa and Cardamom I find interesting but not true love), and now there is one I want, but, what to do about the bottle! Especially at the price, it’s pretty frustrating to have to deal with an almost-inevitably dysfunctional bottle… (Plus probs the price is so high in part to pay for an ornate bottle!)
I love the Artisan Mimosa but it doesn’t stick around love. I have a non tried sample of the Dipytique. I’ll have to try a side by side comparison tomorrow.
Jour de Fete, fleeting and spring-y.
I loved reading the Hardy Boys books when I was a boy. I also read the Nancy Drew books, when I had exhausted the Hardy series. 😉
Happy Weekend All. !!!
I loved both of these plus the Bobbsey Twins and Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators.
I liked Nancy Drew, but liked the Hardy Boys less. However I LOVED the Three Investigators! ???
I bought a few books from the 50s from evilbay a few years back. I would love to get the whole series in digital format.
Take a look at Project Gutenberg, the free online archive of public domain works. I think a number of them are there…? Or may just my favorites. (I re-read Freckles about a hundred times as a kid.)
Thanks! I looked and did not see any but I should spend a little more time exploring. That said, my books could not have been from the 50s because these were first published in 1964. The books definitely have seen better days!
Yes! The Bobbsey Twins! I also enjoyed The Borrowers.
Reading The Bobbsey Twins made me want to have a twin.
The Borrowers! I haven’t thought about them in years, but I loved them too – so inventive!
I did it in reverse–all of the Nancy Drew books, then my brother’s Hardy Boys!!
SOTD: Safran Troublant for a troubled mind. Election news is wearing me down, so for sanity’s sake I’m retreating into crafts this weekend. Favorite picture books from my childhood:
The Nutshell Library/Maurice Sendak
The Snowy Day/Ezra Jack Keats
Cranberry Thanksgiving/Wende & Harry Devlin
Paul, Arthur & the Little Explorer/Anne Rockwell
Tuhurahura and the Whale/Anne Rockwell
The Monkey’s Whiskers/Anne Rockwell
The Ice Cream Cone Coot and Other Rare Birds/Arnold Lobel
I can still recite most of the Nutshell Library by heart 🙂
🙂 I love Sendak so much. If you haven’t already seen it, Spike Jonze’s documentary about him is wonderful, too.
It’s in my Netflix queue, slowly working its way up to the top 🙂
Ooh that sounds fascinating!
Me too!- my daughter loves it now, and it lives on her ‘special treasure shelf”. Such fun to read together.
I love Maurice Sendaks work, I’ve also got a beautiful edition of Hauffmans ‘The Nutcracker and The Mouse King’ (1983) that he illustrated, it is really magical.
Magical is right! I’ve seen photos of the sets he’s designed for ballets and operas, and they’re magnificent, like giant pop-up books.
His designs for the Pacific NW Ballet’s Nutcracker were wonderful – a real delight!
I am studiously ignoring the election circus. Will be spending the weekend tending to my new lavender patch. Planted 3 different varieties.
That sounds like *heaven*. You’re very wise to choose that over the circus– it keeps me up at night.
I love the smell of Lavender. I used to have a whole bunch of plants until a yellow jacket hiding in one stung me. I guess I allergic to the stings – next day we were leaving for Disneyland and I ended up walking around the Disneyland with a swollen leg that started to turn black. Long story short – ended up in ER with antibiotic which I became allergic to as well. Took me a good 3 weeks to get over the whole ordeal. All the lavender came out very quickly after that
Oh, no! Sorry to hear this! Insect sting allergies can be very dangerous.
Loved The Snowy Day!
Yes yes! 🙂 Every time it crosses the library desk, coming or going, I actually stop and say those words out loud!
I don’t recall my parents reading me too many picture books when I was a kid, but notable exceptions were Ferdinand and Make Way for Ducklings. Though I LOVED reading my boys Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen.
I did not remember being read to so much either, but when I started reading to my son I remembered SO many books! So I must have been read to by somebody.
All of these books are classics! Wild Things is the first book I actually remember checking out of the mobile library in my neighborhood. I’d taught myself to read at age 2, so I turned the tables on my parents and read it to them, hehe.
I just bought The Snowy Day Anniversary edition. I still buy children’s books because I enjoy them! I read George and Martha when I am having a bad day and it always makes me laugh.
George & Martha are so much great, silly fun. I admit to having a soft spot for Dav Pilkey’s Dumb Bunnies, too. And Jon Scieszka’s Stinky Cheese Man!
Meant to also add for new moms and dads, some more contemporary (meaning published in the last 25 years if I am honest) books I loved to read my kids were the picture book paperbacks by Robert Munsch. Favorites were The Paper Bag Princess, We Share Everything, Love You Forever, and Murmel, Murmel, Murmel… I pick them up whenever I am in a children’s book department and still laugh out loud.
Paper Bag Princess!! Best (and easiest) literary Halloween costume ever! 😀
And you smell wonderful.
Yay! Thank you!
Wore Tauer’s Zeta last night. I really, REALLY do love it. This is my back-up-bottle, and I didn’t buy a back-up-back-up bottle. . . maybe I should investigate the discounters for one. . . It smells PERFECT to me in warm weather. sigh.
sigh. Initial searching came up with zilch. If anyone knows a sneaky source, please let me know!
Marjorie, I have one of the small travel/sample bottles that I’ve spritzed once or twice that just doesn’t work for me. It’s yours if you want it.
Wow, how generous! I promise to make good use of it! 🙂
I’ll email you. 🙂
MENTAL NOTE TAKEN 🙂
You are my secret weapon. 😀
I really like Zeta as well, but hesitated to buy a FB because I have so many perfume already, and now I can’t get it. Perhaps ask for it in the reverse swap meet coming up?
Has it been discontinued? Well, now I’m glad I never got a sample.
What I understand is that it has been taken out of production because it did not sell well. I was rather surprised by that, as it seemed to get a fair amount of love around here.
As far as I know its gone. The shop in Switzerland no longer has it. Les Senteurs in Uk had it awhile back.
I found a little spray sample of Ananas Fizz last evening which would have been great for yesterday’s challenge, so I decided to extend the challenge and wear it today. It’s one of the few l’Artisans that I would actually want a FB of.
When it wears off I’m going to break out After the Flood for another testing. The soil note reminds me of Black March and Wild Hunt but I’m trying to decide if I need more of it anyway, because you never know when you’ll need more than two perfumes that smell like dirt. I’ll be down on the riverbank digging out invasive honeysuckle, so mud will eventually be my SOTD in any case.
I have a real soft spot for perfumes that smell like dirt, and have been contemplating whether I need to add Coven to my collection. It’s very CB-esque, with that damp forest floor note.
Coven is very nice too. It’s one that jumps from my FB long list to short list and back. Anything that sweeps me away to a quiet plant-filled space makes me happy, and Coven is an interesting one that makes me feel calm and powerful. It always makes me think of wearing green dragon-scale armor for some reason.
Green dragon-scale armor? That sounds like something I’d love to try 🙂
Oh gosh, me too!!!
Thank you for that description! I’ve got a FB of Coven, next time I wear it, I’ll have a great image of dragon armour to accompany it 🙂
Try Demeter Snow, all I get from it is wet soil.
SOTD = Avignon, soothing woody incense. A good counterpoint for trips to the recycling center, Tractor Supply and the grocery store. Typical Saturday morning for me. 37 degrees …too warm to finish pruning the blue berries, not warm enough to saddle up the old pony for the first ride of the year…maybe time for a nap.
Enjoy your errands & nap!
Weekend!! Time for some MAJOR housework and yardwork. I wish I could claim to be a fantastic housekeeper, but the truth is I’m a clutterbug. Luckily, I do LOVE the feeling when it’s back under control! 🙂
SOTD: Miami Glow. Gonna be outside weeding, inside vacuuming and dusting, and taking my 6 yr old Labrador (Chewy) to an obedience refresher course. Smelling fresh and clean while my surroundings are headed towards fresh and clean as well! 🙂
Let’s do this!
Go Team Jada! 😀 I’m a pretty tidy person, but I *do* love the feeling of a newly clean and orderly home.
Good luck! It is my first tax day (usually takes me about 3 days because I hate it so much that I can only do so much at a time)…I will be very happy when I finish.
Today is also National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day in the U.S. I may have to make myself a sandwich before the day is out.
I am really looking forward to the Reverse Swap Meet. I see it as having a different focus from the regular swap meets. I think a regular swap meet is more about getting rid of things you don’t like or want, and hopefully getting something you like better in return. A reverse swap meet seems to me to be more about obtaining things you really want, and in return offering things that you don’t necessarily WANT to get rid of, but are WILLING to trade for the things you truly want to acquire.
I am looking forward to the reverse swapmeet as well although the regular swapmeet seems to be comceptually similar as I usually end up with something on my wish list and exchanging that for something that I really like but have too much of.
Myperspective is that I am down to only a few things I really want, but I have quite a number of things I would be willing to swap to get them. I don’t want to list 15 swap items when there are only 4 or 5 things I want in return, but it seems OK to list the 4 or 5 things I want and then offer the other person the choice of 15 things in exchange.
It might turn out to be too close to be useful, but we’ll see!
i have some wish list items I did not include in the swapmeet post that I’ll list in the reverse swapmeet. Also, for once, I completed my swap obligations a lot earlier than I anticipated.
I have one wish list item as well that I did not mention in the swapmeet, and some things that I am willing to trade for it that I did not offer in the swapmeet.
I haven’t gotten around to pick out a SOTD yet. Since the new Star Wars movie came out for the Kindle, I have been watching that. But I think I will wear Shalimar, I have a ton of it.
I still need to see that too! Finally got to watch Spectre last night, but for whatever reason found it dull and could not make myself watch all of it, and I’m usually a Bond fan.
I didn’t think Spectre had a very strong story line so it was just a muddy concoction of scenes.
Yeah — something like that. After about 20 minutes I realized I couldn’t care less what happened to anybody, including Bond. I stuck it out for an hour or so and then abandoned my son (who had already seen it twice and agreed it wasn’t very good) and my husband.
I was so tempted to buy The Force Awakens but stopped myself so I would be productive for at least part of the day. 🙂 Enjoy the show!
I saw it in the theater and am surprised I want to watch it again. I rarely repeat a movie without years going by.
Testing Smoke for the Soul, and smelling like I just smoked a joint. Thank god I’m not at work! If I ‘squint’ my nose, I can make out some of the individual notes – cardamom, grapefruit, thyme, maybe some vetiver – but put them all together and I just get pot.
My new dog Tracker is napping on the couch next to me, and he doesn’t care what I smell like.
Lol rubbing weed on your arms might be more cost-effective. 😀
Best kind of new dog 🙂
He is a lucky fellow.
SOTM is Aqua Di Parma Magnolia Nobile, from a decant I got in the last swapmeet. I found the initial blast a bit plasticky (as is often the case with jasmin and other white flowers), but a couple hours latter I am enjoying it a lot. It probably won’t dethrone Eau de Magnolia from my whishlist, but I’m glad to have a decant. What are your favourite magnolia fragrances? I never really smelled the real flowers (there is a magnolia tree on my street but it’s not really fragrant. I’m guessing the more fragrant types only grow in climates warmer than up here…), so I wouldn’t know how they compare to the real thing, which I hear is lush.
Is that the edp? I tried it at Holt Renfrew and found it overly sweet and cloying. Then I found a bottle of the edt at a discounter in the US and found I liked it a lot better. Of coure being an edt it is neither a powerhouse nor super long lasting, but it is perfect for a hot sticky Montreal summer day.
It’s the EDP. It’s indeed probably too sweet for warm weather, but it was quite cold today in Montreal, and I only wore one spritz, so I could handle it!
Guess I’ll have to sniff the EDT at our meetup!
I adore magnolias and I have both. AdP has that major citrus opening. But I love wearing it in the dead of summer. I find Eau d Mag very easy to wear both spring and summer????
Hi everyone! I’ve missed coming here the last couple of weeks as I am still in the midst of settling two estates I’m the executor of yuck! Paperwork galore!
DC area meetup will be at Arielle Shoshana on Saturday, 4/16. If I’ve heard from you before, then you have received an email from me today. If this is this first you’re learning about this, all are welcome to join us. You can email me at harukirumi att yawhew etc for more info.
Good to see you, Holly! Sorry about the paperwork, hope it’ll be done soon.
Enjoy the excursion, Holly! I have an event on Sunday and would be stressed out from too much excitement for a weekend.
Got up late today on account of the dratted benedryl I took last night – hay fever season has started for me. Still smelling the remains of Tea for Two I put on last night. It really does kind of mimic Dzing! in the dry down. In any case I love Dzing! so that works for me.
SOTD is “Hystera” from Gabriella Chieffo, which is the last of the aphrodisiac samples I’ve been testing through the week. I like this one; there isn’t much info on Fragrantica but from Blooms themselves I read top notes of bergamot and clary sage, heart of iris and base notes of labdanum, patchouli, vanilla and cashmere woods. It lasts quite well, and I like that I can’t nail down what it smells like. My partner got chocolate in the morning, and sweets (candy) with ice cream when I reapplied in the afternoon. I get somethig much less sweet: dusty earthiness/inkiness that reminds me somewhat of Beaufort’s Coeur de Noir (sniffed side-by-side they are not very similar, due to very different top notes I guess). Also a sourness that is not at all unpleasant, and in the dry down something more floral. Fun rating 4/5, aphrodisiac rating 3/5 (because intriguing).
You know, when you get to my age, “intriguing” gets a lot more play than the usual suspects. Thanks for the morning laugh!
I can tell you, all false modesty aside, “intriguing” is the best offer I’m going to get at this stage of my life. :^D
And so it goes!
This reads like a list of my favorite notes. Did you like this enough that you might actually wear it?
Yes, and I would get a decant of Hystera in a flash if anyone in the UK sold them. Blooms only has it in 100ml bottles for £110 so even with the 10% pack discount it’s causing me to hold off. I got a FB (50ml) of Beaufort’s Coeur de Noir today as there was an Easter discount promo and I have been mulling over that scent since January. Also a FB (30ml) of Thursday’s ‘aphrodisiac’ scent “Indigo” by Baruti. The mastic scent in Indigo reminds me of island hopping in Greece and complements the other hyacinth, rose, frankincense and sandalwood notes while raising them out of the ordinary. I am hoping to go for a 2 week holiday in a fortnight’s time and the Greek Islands are one possibility, although if my partner’s passport doesn’t come back soon we shall be spending it in the UK instead.
On second thoughts, since I realised I kept smelling myself and liking what I smelled, I went back and got the discounted FB.
The ‘aphrodisiac’ pack was actually a great success in terms of finding perfumes I liked. I shall likely get a FB of the .vero.profumo “Onda” EDP – the discount is valid 3 months so I’m not hurrying – and only its short life on my skin would stop me considering Olfactive Studio’s “Chambre Noire” as well.
I’s raining here today which I don’t mind, it’s still warm and tropical rain is pretty impressive (I love summer rain and it’s good to have such a great specimen in my collection :))
Wearing Good Girl Gone Bad – not my favourite Kilian and it’s much tamer than the name suggests. But it has a vaguely tropical vibe and it has tuberose, so I’m happy enough.
Warm summer rains, especially with big, splooshy raindrops, are the BEST!
Wearing Stoned by Solange Azaguray-Partridge, not sure if this brand even exists any more, but it’s a powdery floral along the lines of Guet-Apens. Lots of yard work today, tending the lavender patch and pulling weeds.
I loved Where the Wild Things Are, Dr. Seuss and The Giving Tree when I was a kid. And of course The Little Prince. When I got older it was Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries.
Oh, The Little Prince, how could I forget? I cry every time I read it.
SOTD = Philosophy Fresh Cream
I am continuing my Fun perfume week. Thanks to ede97005 for the inspiration to wear Fresh Cream. It is 100% office and scent-phobe safe! It smells just like vanilla cupcake with whipped cream frosting. It’s a less intense version of Indult Tihota at 1/10 of the price. I got my FB at 20% off from Sephora and a bunch of Christmas ornament minis from Macys and gave them to my nieces and a sister; I kept one for myself and may bring it on vacation. It’s now available at discounters and is a good choice if you are looking for something to get you up to the free shipping minimum.
I finally completed my passport renewal and mailed it. While the application was not difficult to fill out, I wonder why I answered questions that were right on the passport itself and/or were already answered for me to have received the passport I had been using.
I have to finish my tax returns and also do my mom’s. I know I am getting money back so woo hoo, play money for more perfumes! Maybe I don’t have to confess to Donatella if I buy perfumes using my tax refund 😉
I am on my way to a street naming ceremony, followed by a luncheon at one of the honorees’ daughter’s house.
Have a great weekend everyone.
I love Fresh Cream. The body cream is awesome. It is one of my most complimented fragrances. Have a fun day!
If I use scented body lotion, I would have bought Fresh Cream. I’m actually allergic to the unscented Philosophy body lotion :-(. (major rash wherever I applied).
Free money such as tax refunds don’t count as purchases! 😉
SOTD is AA Gentiana. I learned to read on Dr.Seuss, moved on to Nancy Drew, read through the children’s area of my local library, and moved on to adult books by the time I was 10 or 11 years old
Sounds like me. I’ve had my nose in a book my whole life 🙂
Same here. When I was 9, the school librarian asked us (4th graders) to write on a piece of paper how many books we had read. Then we passed our papers to her, and she read a few of our names and numbers of books. “And here’s someone who says she has read more than 100 books! Isn’t that a little bit of a lie, Karen?” But it was true, and I went home and indignantly told my father about the librarian who didn’t believe me. After my father talked to her, Miss Seamann never doubted me again.
Hi Karen, I had a similar experience in the 4th grade, but with a positive twist. The librarian gave out an award to the person in the lower school (grade 6 and under) who had read the most books during the school year, and I was astonished to learn I was the winner. I just assumed everyone read as much as I did. Lots of avid readers among perfumistas 🙂 .
Me too. I remember getting in trouble for reading books deemed too adult by the librarian, and actually having to point out that I had read almost everything in the children’s section at least once. Looking back, I think she probably had a point about some of the historical romances not really being for ten year olds, but I did learn quite a lot of fairly accurate history that way and I had read my way through the mystery section by then and was getting desperate.
Same here. I loved the summer reading lists, libraries and bookstores. The latter are still my feel good place to this day.
Same here. I arrived at kindergarten where they discovered I already knew how to read. It has been a love affair with books ever since. Losing my sense of smell would be really bad, but I think losing the ability to read would be just as bad.
Went through my unused samples only to find out most of them had evaporated. Sprayed what I assume was Ysatis followed by Portrait of a Lady. Interdasting combo, although it’s becoming a bit cloying. Oh well.
I accidentally got some La Vie Est Belle on my fingers, too, which I’m not too happy about. Yech.
Evaporated samples are so sad. I mourn every time I come across one, thinking of the good times I could have had wearing them.
Yes . . . on the other hand I can say I finished fragrances so I’ve room for new acquisitions. I’m hoping to achieve a ‘one out one in’ type equilibrium for both samples and bottles.
Very wise.
SOTM is the lovely Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile EDT. I had a favorite picture/story book back in the 60s, about socks disappearing in the night, and I’ve just spent far too much time on various internet searches trying to track down a name for it, with no luck. It must not have been in wide distribution, and I’m sure it’s been out of print for decades. Ah well. My favorite grown-up children’s book is The Little Prince – so poignant.
Was going to go with AdP Iris Nobile edt as well, but it started snowing this morning! Now I can’t decide what to apply.
Oh my gosh, children’s books: little kid: The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
(Beatrix Potter), Harry the Dirty Dog (Gene Zion), AA Milne, Mrs Piggle Wiggle. As an older kid, Harriet the Spy, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frank Frankweiler and every Nancy Drew and the Alfred Hitchcocks. Now I’m tempted to revisit some of these.
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle! I still read them from time to time. She never gets old.
My favorites were Squirrel Nutkin and The Two Bad Mice.
I have a copy of From the Mixed Up Files…. I bought it an adult to re-read, an I swear I lived it just as much…
Love Harry the Dirty Dog!, and Harry at the Seaside.
My mum’s passion in life is illustrated children’s literature, she’s been a collector for decades. I f any one would know, she will.! I’ll ask her about you’re book tomorrow, when I speak to her.
That would be great – thank you!
Oh, I truly want to be your friend just to get recs from your mom! ha!
It took me nearly forever to find my favorite picture book – I started looking for it when my first one was maybe three, and didn’t find a copy until she was in college. (By then it was out of print, and I only lucked into finding an old library copy.)
Sometimes i find that looking on google images helps as the cover picture might come up. I’m sure you have tried that but just in case?
Oh, good idea – the illustrations were quite distinctive. Will give that a shot – thanks!
I asked on another talkboard I frequent, and Joseph’s Other Red Sock was suggested. I guess it’s too recent but sounds a great book.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Josephs-Other-Sock-Picture-Lions/dp/0006620523
Oh, that is the WORST feeling! When I was pregnant a few years ago with my first child, I became utterly obsessed with finding all of the most amazing books from my childhood. With very few exceptions, I’ve had great success in getting my hands on them. When I couldn’t find them, I often consulted blogs and my parents. My mother has an amazing memory.
This blog (n/a) is amongst the BEST:
http://www.vintagechildrensbooksmykidloves.com/
Ok, last time I complained here that current versions of Magie Noire, Bandit, Azuree, Cabochard and few others all deliver a powerful knock to my nose and burn out my olfactory epithelium, so that I cannot even distinguish any notes or, indeed, cannot tell them one from another. I used to wear and love Maggie Noire circa 1995; while I can’t imagine that I liked the way it smells to me now, it was still possible that my nose changed dramatically. So I bought a small bottle of vintage Maggie Noire. I am happy to report that it smells the way I remembered from 1995. Having tried the new version, I can kind of smell the prototype of that scorching note from the modern version, but it is nowhere near that overbearing acidic stench, in fact, it is rather subtle and delicious
So my preliminary conclusion is that I (and, most likely, some others in the population) am hyperosmotic to one of the compounds used in reformulation of all these fragrances. I wonder how many more people who smell reformulation as toxic? And i wonder if somebody chemically inclines has any theories as to what it might be?
I have had the same experience with Magie Noire. I had a bottle that I loved in the early 1990s. When it was almost gone, about 19 years ago, I bought a new bottle, and found it completely changed. Mysore sandalwood has become almost unattainable due to protections put in place by the Indian government to prevent overharvesting. Understandable, certainly, but still it does change the scent when you switch ingredients. Magie Noir does have a sandalwood note; no doubt the vintage used the real deal, as it was once fairly inexpensive. Now it almost certainly uses either Australian sandalwood (which does not smell the same) or one of the synthetic sandalwood substitutes. All the perfumes you name include oakmoss and musk among the notes, and it could be one of those as well. Natural oakmoss has been severely restricted by IFRA regulations, and there really is no good substitute. “Musk” has been synthetic for decades, but the specific musks used have changed a number of times. The musks used in earlier decades were warm, rich, and wonderful, a far cry from the “laundry musks” so common today.
I’ve had a similar experience with almost all modern mainstream fragrances. There are some synthetics that will numb my sense of smell, but I also suspect there are differences in the base material – different quality levels of alcohols? – that cancel out everything else.
After 20 or so years of hypersensitivity (I’d moved out of large cities) I became more tolerant, starting with Bulgari The Vert, then vintages and niche, and finally am beginning to tolerate a few mainstreams like Chanels and Bottega Veneta. That progress has taken about 10 years. Hopefully it will continue. Consider yourself sensitive to quality, and good luck. (I might add that the sensitivities were at their worst during perimenopause.)
So many perfumes seem to be making up for the loss of real sandalwood oakmoss with some woody ambers that smell very strong and harsh to me. There’s one that reminds me of horseradish, for example. Denyse Bealieu of Grain de Musc calls them “spiky woods.” Even the ones that are less harsh tend to be overpowering and rather boring, too my nose.
My theory is that these notes don’t smell as strong or unpleasant to men, and male perfumers are happy to use them, but I haven’t checked this out systematically.
I generally find that note, whatever it is, is more common in male scents…I wonder if, indeed, there are certain gender-based tendencies in olfactory perceptions
Hyperosmotic… He-he…I meant hyperosmic…
SOTD is La Chasse aux Papillons by L`Artisan that I got at a good price on at Hautelook a few weeks ago. It is nice, but quite light.
What is a reverse swap meet?
I’ve been thinking of blind buying chasse too, but haven’t as I worry I won’t be able to smell it.., does it last long?
La Chasse is light on me. That’s one of the reasons I like it so much.
It is very light. It is very similar to Do Son if you have tried that or even Michael Kors. Although I find they are both stronger than Las Chasse. It is definitely a good office scent.
It gets very quiet not long after applying, but sticks close to the skin for 5-6 hours. It’s a good choice for a day you want something that won’t impinge on those around you, but you get a lovely initial blast of scent. I’m anosmic to a lot of musks, but can smell La Chasse. All that said, I don’t think there’s any such thing as a universally safe blind buy.
I’m wearing La Chasse today, too. It makes me happy.
Reverse swap: you say what you’re looking for instead of what you want to get rid of. In a regular swap, you’re not really all that likely to get the exact hard-to-get item you were hankering after.
Thanks Robin.
Happy Saturday everybody!! I picked up a Tokyo Milk sampler called Garden State for a few bucks on the Marshall’s clearance rack. It has six large sample size vials of three different scents meant to be combined as you like it. As soon as I am out of the shower I plan to begin playing around with them!
Sounds like fun, jepster!
Not too many picture books in my childhood, but loads of novels written for kids. Favorites included the Little House on the Prairie series, the Narnia series, The Hobbit, The Little Princess, The Secret Garden, Kidnapped, Treasure Island, 1000 Leagues Under the Sea, Swiss Family Robinson, the Tarzan books, and dozens more that I read over and over again. In anticipation of our summer plans in Nantucket, I pulled out my extremely well-worn copies of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Black Hearts in Battersea, and the Nightbirds on Nantucket… And am really looking forward to revisiting my old book character friends in their pages. I think when you read books when you are young, the character and stories become just a little part of your own story.
NSTer Laura sent me a ridiculously fun package of perfumes and I am planning to work my way through some Lubin samples today. My now 15 year old son is having 12 of his friends over for junk food and horsing around to celebrate his birthday… Hoping my headache lifts and I can have a cocktail or two to errrr well errr celebrate as well.
Hope you feel better soon! I credit 20000 Leagues Under The Sea with giving me a life-long itch to travel. Last fall when we were in Chile we went to the actual lighthouse at the end of the world, which inspired his novel by that name.
Ha! 1000 did seem a bit modest! Most of Verne’s books, and even, weirdly, the Tintin books, got me thinking about travel when I was still pretty young.
There is a book-and-maps shop in Málaga (on Calle Compañía) called ‘Mapas y Compañía’ which specialises in Tintin-related models and figurines. Great books for all ages as well.
When I was a kid, the Swiss Family Robinson was my absolute favourite book and I read it many times. :^)
Me too. Sigh. I should try to find my old copy and read it again. I wanted so much for them to get rescued so they could tell their stories themselves.
Busy day at work today but smelling good in Hérmes Vetiver Tonka.
I did a lot of reading as a child and loved Nancy Drew as mentioned above, Trixie Belden, the Black Stallion and anything to do with animals. Also enjoyed reading all of Farley Mowat’s books. Also, the Cherry Ames series, all handed down from my mother.
Hope everyone had a great weekend????
Me too! I’m so glad my mother kept all her books for us.
I read all my mother’s Nancy Drews, Trixie Beldens, and Cherry Ames(es?), too. Also Judy Bolton, who was a Nancy Drew ripoff, I think, but aged throughout the series. I remember she had a “rainbow wedding,” with her six bridesmaids in the colors of the rainbow, which sounded beautiful to me at the age of seven.
So glad to smell normal again– I spritzed my bedding with Milk of Flowers last night, and myself this morning. Aaaah…..
Welcome back to the fragrant world. 🙂
Nancy Drew, The Black Stallion, Lloyd Alexander’s books, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland, Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague… so many old favorites! My favorite picture book as a kid was called Pamela Learns To Ride. Which I never did do… though I recall going to a carnival once and telling the guy at the pony ride that I DID know how to ride, so he wouldn’t walk me around. Had a brief moment of panic as he let me “ride” off on my own… I’m sure the pony would simply have walked in a circle without any guidance anyway.
Testing Byredo’s today. I keep wanting to be wearing more Pulp instead 🙂
Oh, all those Black Stallion books… I went through a period in 6th grade, I think it was, when I kept getting them out of the library at school and just devouring them, one after another.
The Black Stallion books! And The Island Stallion books! Just loved them…
Pulp is nice. I tried it yesterday and really liked it. Wanna split a set of pocket sprays?
Oh, I loved Lloyd Alexander! (Still do, probably, just haven’t revisited them lately.)
Like many of you I was a big reader as a kid, including lots of things I was way too young to understand. My emotional universe was dominated by Louisa May Alcott. Not just Little Women, but Little Men, Jo’s Boys and others no one has ever heard of but me and whomever I’ve tried to make read them! Just a few years ago I find the whole set at ABEbooks and am so happy to have them again, although I haven’t reread them all.
Tested Indult Manakara today and hate it! Listed notes are rose and lychee, but it’s pure caramel sugar on me. Now for a shower and something very very dry, perhaps Iris Cendre.
Little Women and Little Men and Jo’s Boys! Yes and Yes! Forgot those.
Yes, Jo’s Boys! And Eight Cousins, too.
I loved Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom. Mac was my first major crush, much more so than Laurie.
Those were my favorites! All my cousins, unfortunately, were small and bratty.
I was infatuated with Little Women, which I read and reread when I was quite young and like all of you followed on with Jo’s Boys, Eight Cousins, and perhaps one other that I’ve forgotten. How I yearned to be Jo and to have a mother like Marmee!
Rose in Bloom? The follow up to Eight Cousins. There was also Jack and Jill and Under the Lilacs.
Yes, Little Women! And Anne of Green Gables. And Little House on the Prairie.
I loved fairy tales too, one of my favorite books was Pearl S. Buck’s Fairy Tales of the Orient. Still have it.
The weird thing to me is that I didn’t really like Anne of Green Gables or the Little House on the Prairie books. I read them, but not over and over again. Don’t really know what the difference was for me.
The Little House books had a very spare, beginning-reader style that did not appeal to me, much, either. I think I read them a couple of years too late.
I think I was reading the Little House books around the ages of 5-7, which might be perfect.
Have all the Montgomery books still, plus the tv mini series and the movies. I totally wanted to go to PEI 🙂 Nowadays my favorites are her short stories, Emily and A Tangled Web.
Read all of Alcotts books 🙂 Adored most of them and have reread several as an adult. Not all hold up equally well though.
I read everything I could get my hands on as a child. I still have the entire Trixie Belden series on my bookshelf; I can’t seem to make myself get rid of them. I read Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames, Sue Barton, Hardy Boys, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, books about dinosaurs (one I especially liked was called The Enormous Egg, about a triceratops who hatches from a chicken egg), all the Black Stallion books, and many adult books that I probably shouldn’t have been reading at age 9 or 10. I still like to read YA literature, there are some good authors concentrating on that audience.
I’m wearing Hiris today, from the swap. Thank you, Deva! I might need to buy a FB, it is so nice. Not too sweet or powdery.
Me too with the Trixie Beldens, Nancy Drews, Cherry Ameses, and Hardy Boys. I’ve still got some of them around here (my mom still has some of the ORIGINAL-original Nancy Drews, in plain dark blue bindings with no cover pics).
I wind up reading a lot of YA – I like to keep tabs on what my kids are reading. Gaze doesn’t read much, he’d rather be out doing something, but Bookworm (duh) and Taz would rather be immersed in a book than do almost anything else. YA is considerably better, in general, than it was when *I* was that age, though it does seem stuffed with dystopiae nowadays.
There is some great stuff now and I still read it even though I don’t have kids.
I read a lot of YA too, I often find the stories more interesting and the characters more relatable. But yes enough with the dystopia already 🙂
I was also a book worm as a child, and still am. My mums big passion is illustrated children’s books, so I spent a lot of my weekends being dragged around book fairs and second hand book shops on the Charing Cross Road.
Some favourites that I now enjoy with my children, are; the ‘Frog & Toad’ stories, ‘Owl At Home’ and ‘Mouse Soup’ all by Arnold Lobel, very quirky and distinctive. Also the ‘Jeanne-Marie’ stories by Francoise, the folkie illustrations are so beautiful, a vintage lovers dream! And my little girl is also starting to enjoy Beatrix potter, Alison Uttleys The Little Grey Rabbit, oh and my mums favourites (very collectable!) ‘Bill Badger and The Wandering Wind’ by BB aka D J Watkins Pitchford.
Had some awful family news earlier, and as usual NST helping me to take my mind off things.
Very sorry about your news. We had a rough week as well regarding a family friend. Just saying–there is a reason why you are feel very tired.
Thinking of you!
Sorry to hear about bad news; hope you’re OK and things will be better soon.
Sorry to hear you had bad news and hope perfume at least provides some help.
Thanks guys, you’re all so lovely.
So sorry about the bad news.
Hope things get better for you. Maybe you should curl up with a familiar book? 😉 It always helps me.
Thanks so much, I am going to bed now, and taking you’re advice.
Hope a soon to arrive package will help. One of my favourite illustrated children’s books is the Wind in the Willows.
Thanks Hamemelis. I’m sure the package will lift my spirits.
The Wind in the Willows is one of my Dads favourites, and always makes me think of him, wonderful stuff.
I’m very worried about him at the moment, and so nice to have positive reminders.
I am so sorry to read that. Do you like Van Morrison? He has such a comforting song about the Wind in the Willows.
Yes, and my Dad loves Van Morrison too, I love His album ‘Astral Weeks’, don’t remember hearing the wind in the willows song tho, will look it up now- thanks Hamemelis.
Official title is Piper at the gates of Dawn, it is from the Healing Game.
Hope everything goes well!
Thanks Mariann, waiting for results at the moment- it’s such a horrible ‘limbo’ sort of feeling.
So sorry, and hope things get better for you and your family.
Thank u for you’re kind words.
Sorry for your news, Mayfly, hope things improve.
I was not a reader as a child, but saw Wind in the Willows on PBS in my – 30’s? – and was utterly enchanted. Thanks for the reminder.
Thank u. I will hunt out the PBS drama u saw, it sounds like it was wonderful!
Arnold Lobel… ahhhh. I adore his Frog and Toad books. And my sister and i would go into laughing fits as kids over a particular story in Mouse Soup, about an old mouse and chewing gum…!
I hope things get better for you.
Oh it’s so lovely to hear from another fan!, they are wonderful stories, so sweet and funny.
Mouse soup is hilarious too, will find the one u are referring to and read it to my kids tonight, thanks!
And we’ll read Frog and Toad tonight!
Hello, everyone. Here in Aotearoa-New Zealand, today is the end of daylight saving, which is a stupid name when you think about it. I suppose summer is officially over now.. Although the afternoon temperatures still reach into the mid-twenties, there is a coolness in the morning air that speaks of the changing season, and the trees are beginning to lose their vibrant green. To welcome autumn, I have moved Black Cashmere from a lower shelf to a higher one and put Bel Respiro behind Coromandel. Oh, and I bought a cashmere and cotton jacket thing, not black though, that is so soft it’s like being wrapped in a baby’s sigh. So, I’m set for the cold weather.
Scent of the day is the ever-lovely Apres L’Ondee, which will keep me settled as I write a lecture today. I’ve got the “story” of the lecture in my head, but I have to put it together with all the relevant scholarship…it’s a full day’s work, but quite enjoyable, and will go better now that the dear one is back. Not to be pragmatic or anything, but he makes absolutely the BEST coffee, and that helps too! Be well, everyone.
Sounds like an enjoyable task and coffee well made is always a good and enjoyable start to the day.
That is very early for the clocks to fall back. Here we (in the EU) went forward last week, a week after the US and reasonably close to the March equinox. But the clocks won’t go back at the September equinox but rather at the end of October. It makes for a suitably dark Hallowe’en night but otherwise I fiercely resent losing an hour of evening light and would much rather we stayed in daylight savings time all year round.
Ah– the nights were already beginning to draw in here, Koenigsberg. By 7.30–8.00 it was already pretty dark. It would be too dark, for instance, to play a game of tennis without lights. Definitely not possible to drive without lights. In Auckland, we don’t really get the long gloaming that you would have up in the north, or that Kanuka would get. She’s the one who will suffer by losing twilight, but for me, it makes the day brighter at this end.
OK, I shall cease to be outraged on your behalf then. :^D
Apart from longitude and latitude, it probably makes a difference whether you’re a morning or an evening person. I like a bright morning but only because a dark morning leaves me zombified for far too long. Whereas evening is ‘my time’ and falling back to Winter time steals it from me. :^)
I’m totally a morning person. From the time I could pull myself up in my cot and utter words, I apparently used to wake my family by yodelling,”Wakey wakey! daylight’s come again!” I think they were only a little bit pleased! And my poor dear man converted from owl to lark when we married. It never seemed to occur to either of us that I might do the converting…I wonder why that was? I have to force myself to stay awake after 9.30, but if I let myself drift deliciously off to sleep so early, I will certainly be awake mist of the small hours.
I’m got the April Aromatics sample set and am testing Calling All Angels. It seems like a softer version of La Via del Profumo Mecca Balsam. I hope they’re not all this good. 😉
Re children’s books, when I was a child, the local supermarket sold a series of geography books for children, one book for each continent. These ignited my lifelong fascination with other places and ways of life that led me to wide-ranging interests, from archeology to international public health to tai chi. I suppose perfume is not unrelated to this.
When I was young my parents got suckered into buying a set of encyclopedias for which they paid much interest over a long time. Whenever we asked a question, we were told “There are the encyclopedias, go look it up!” I now realize this is the reason I read so much non-fiction, and not due to my naturally dull personality. Thanks, nozknoz!
I bet you are a fount of knowledge.
For the record, I used to read the encyclopedias too. AND the dictionary (Hmm, don’t know that word, better read about it). When my husband and I were dating, I discovered that he used to do the same thing.
We made sure we got our kids an actual encyclopedia set, only slightly outdated 😉 – because we wanted them to discover stuff. The other reference books that our kids seem to love (they’re teenage/college age now) are The Economist (magazine) Pocket World of Figures for each year. It’s mostly lists and statistics, but particularly my middle kid, who doesn’t really enjoy fiction, will spend HOURS with them.
I used to read the encyclopedia and the dictionary too.
I just sampled Jasmina and Purple Reign. Both very good ????.
Hah, I can see this brand is trouble. 😉
I just got the April Aromatics set from Lucky Scent, and samples of Liquid Dreams and Rose l’Orange, which are not in the sample set. The only one I don’t have is Purple Reign, as the samples are out of stock. Yes, they are very nice. I have been underwhelmed by some of the other all-natural perfumes I have tried, so I am very impressed with these. They all seem to have decent sillage and good longevity. I’m really thinking I might have to spring for a bottle of Liquid Dreams. I only wish I had a larger sample of it.
I also supplemented the set with Liquid Dreams and Rose l’Orange. I shall heed your words and pay close attention to Liquid Dreams! Anticipation is building for Purple Reign. 😉
LI just wish I had a spray vial, so I could apply it the way it would be applied from a FB. It is probably the shortest wearing of them all, at least on me. I wonder if it might last longer sprayed rather than dabbed. I only get about 2 or 3 hours out of it, although I occasionally get a whiff of it for a few hours more. It is a very pretty floral, however, and makes me think of springtime. I cannot wear anything with too much jasmine or tuberose, and so many “light” florals are too shrill for my nose. Not this one, though. I find I want to keep smelling it.
SOTD: Frouitchoili by Tauerville. I am surprised by how realisticly juicy is the opening and by how much I love it. It is an easy fragrance – perfect for while sitting in a gym class waiting for your kid to be done (the waitroom is rather small and stuffy)
I am looking forward to trying this one.
Really looking forward to trying that one!
Remik on basenotes is doing an ambassador split of it – he gets like a set of 12 or something like that – they are original bottles not decants and he sells them for 34 or so. I could not pass that deal – Donatella will approve
You enabler you :-)…I just got my Fruitchouli (may be SOTD tomorrow as I am continuing my FUN week) and Incense Flash is on order. The price is perfumath free.
Has anyone tried Tobacco Nuit by Atelier? I tested it last night and liked it. Also has anyone tried Atelier’s Musk? And lastly has anyone tried layering Atelier’s colognes and what are your suggestions? I am a big fan of layering but am a big coward when I need to experiment.
I haven’t tried the newer Ateliers but I love the older ones, especially the citrus-leaning fragrances. I sometimes begin the day with Orange Sanguine and then top up later with another scent such as Jour d’Hermes or Eau des Merveilles. I have never found them to clash.
It’s the weekend. Be bold! 🙂
Narciso today. I find it comforting.
I was a bookworm too, like many here. Favorite was A Wrinkle in Time…I still have an autographed copy and re-read now and then. Also read all the Nancy Drews, which led me to Agatha Christie, Perry Mason, Dorothy Sayers and others.
I took a Kiddie Lit class in college that was more serious than it sounds. Taught by a woman who was often on the Newberry panel. Fell in love with the Lloyd Alexander books. I still nose around and buy a Newberry winner that catches my eye.
Oh, A Wrinkle in Time. I loved that book and should read it again.
I loved A Wrinkle in Time! I also took a children’s literature class in college. Some classic children’s books are really profound.
Seriously, that book is amazing. An autographed copy?? WOW!!
Another favorite series, I loved the follow up series with Megd daughter, Polly and of course all of the Austin books. I wish there had been two more, but then I’m greedy that way 🙂
Trying out Jardin Sur Le Toit thanks to an AMAZING fragrance fairy!!! I’m really enjoying it hovering in the background. 🙂
Beautiful scent.
I can’t be the only one here who used to get in trouble for reading in class, right? (Math. Mr. Martin, 4th grade. I’d already finished the classwork but he was still teaching, and I had a library book in my desk… so…)
My favorite picture book when I was a kid was Horrible Hepzibah, by Edna Mitchell Preston (illustrations by Ray Cruz, who also did Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day – another favorite not only of mine but of my kids!). I loved that one, and Alexander, and My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett. It was wonderful to rediscover them, as well as some new ones, reading to my children.
Newer favorites of ours include The Seven Silly Eaters, Julius the Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes, The Runaway Pumpkin, and Never Poke a Squid by Denys Cazet.
SOTD is Crown Bouquet, in an effort to make myself feel better. I’ve got that weird unspecific fatigue thing going on (I suspect I’m not sleeping enough).
Many’s the time I got busted with contraband reading in grade school. What can I say? The “Little House” series was my jam. I had to KNOW whether Laura and Carrie made it home from school through the blizzard…
Mine too. Ofcourse I read them in Dutch, Het kleine huis op de prairie! My favourite one is about Almanzo’s youth in Wisconsin, Het kleine huis in het grote bos. Magical.
Oh, yes, read all those too! (But not at school, because I had Little House copies at home LUCKY ME.)
Ha! Me too. I was always reading a book tucked inside my desk.
When I was a teen my top priority in picking out a new purse was that it had to be big enough to fit all my junk AND a paperback book. Now I’ve just got kindle on my phone so I am never without a book (assuming I remembered to charge my phone, which is not always the case…)
I like my Kindle too.
I was in trouble all the time with some teachers. The better ones just let me pull out whatever I was reading once I’d finished whatever I was supposed to be doing. Looking back this might not have been good for the kids around me, but we were in big classes of 40 plus kids and so I don’t know if it had a negative impact.
My younger son’s teachers will generally let him read, once he’s done the classwork. I don’t know that it really hurts anything.
I used to skive off tennis and netball at school, and go and read behind the bushes. Needless to say I was rubbish at sports and PE.
Cleverer than I was. (Or maybe they watched us too closely in PE? I can’t imagine sneaking off and getting away with it.)
I was so rubbish at Games that my teacher (in secondary school) more or less gave up on me!
I read in class through most of the fifth grade. We moved to Indiana and the curriculum was stuff I’d already covered in 4th grade in Michigan. I just sat at the back and read, did the worksheets and took the tests until we finally reached material new to me late in the year. The teacher disliked it, I think, but never said anything because I was quiet and no trouble.
Of course, and if you already knew the material, there was no point in being so bored.
I got in trouble most of all with my parents! They succeeded in putting the fear of god in me that I’d ruin my eyesight if I read after bedtime with a flashlight, so instead I took to sneaking into the bathroom with a book…and just staying in there indefinitely. (Yes I was very cool and popular as a child 😉 )
I hid in the bathroom too.
Somebody gave Taz a flashlight headband a couple of years ago, and he reads with that (until I go in and insist that he GO TO SLEEP).
I am taking notes on your other favorites, as My Father’s Dragon and Julius, Baby of the World are in our top favorites for this year as well! Julius is so brilliant. We have adopted “Kiss! Admire! STROKE!” and “Disgusting!” into our family vocabulary. The Jolly Postman, Ladybug Girl, and Press Here by Herve Tulle are also great. Jan Brett’s illustrations always have something new to discover as well.
Me too! I’d try to read under the desk. I also would read all hours of the night when I was older, still do!
I have a friend staying so we went off yesterday searching for sweet grass in an area where it has been found and spent four hours walking along cliff tops and through forests in mist, and then down to a headland where we sat in long grass watching and listening to fur seals calling to each other, and watching young pups playing tag in the shallows. We also saw lots of sooty shearwaters, petrels, and albatrosses. The sun would slink in from time to time and light up patches of ocean so it shone silvery and flashed. I cut my nose while sniffing a length of grass that wasn’t sweet, but just cutty. So 0/10 in terms of locating Karetu. 10/10 for best day. My friend described New Musk as smelling like those weird green waxy tab things that are placed in men’s urinals…she said I smelt like a public toilet. She is one of the few people I know who really hates perfume. Will try and think of something to torment her with today…
Sounds like a wonderful day. Hope your nose is recovering – grass cuts hurt!
Kanuka, what a wonderful day! May today be just as good. I now have quite serious bird envy– the only ones I see, apart from a flight of crazy urbanised rosellas and the odd Tui, are clever little sparrows making their livings at city cafes, and ponderous pigeons. Very occasionally a seabird flies in before a storm, but that’s it. Hope your poor sore nose heals up super quickly.
I have an ongoing and deep envy of where you live!
SOTD is Le Terracotta with Bronze Goddess body cream. I loved so many books as a child but especially remember the Monster under the bed series (I think that’s what they were called) and all sorts of anthologies of literature, my grandfather reading me the Wind in the Willows, and TS Eliots Macavity cat.
Ahh, my Dad’s favourite is Wind and the Willows, and Dr Doolittle.
Lovely memories. The monster under the Bed sounds fun, will look them up.
I had a lot of books as a kid. My mom says that I could quote “The Bear Who Slept through Christmas” when I was little (not 100% sure now of I got that title right). When I was a bit older I had my mom’s old books, which included The Black Stallion books and Misty of Chincoteague (somebody else mentioned these above and brought back that memory for me–I had kind of forgotten about them).
I also remember having an illustrated animal encyclopedia that I absolutely loved. I don’t remember the author, but I remember it had a hard cover with a tiger fur pattern on it. My brother must have been fairly little (he’s only 2.5 years younger than I so I couldn’t have been very old either). I remember reading the book to him, and my Mom said I couldn’t read it to him anymore because the parts about the bugs and stuff were giving him nightmares.
So perfume-wise.. I got my HauteLook stuff yesterday, so I’m wearing Tea for Two today. I love it. I smell like a cup of chai with milk and honey. I get a little touch of smokiness but not as much as I remember from the first time I smelled it (which was a long time ago and on a blotter).
No idea that Tea for Two was chai. What a wonderful smell that is. Must try it. Sounds incredibly cozy and snuggly…
My Tea for Two just came as well, and I’m getting a lot of smokiness from it. I think I’ll enjoy it more in the fall but I’m very happy to have it!
I wonder if there were different formulations. I was expecting it to be smokier because what I had read about it described it more like a lapsang souchong scent with spices, and that is consistent with what I remember from the first time I smelled it. I remember thinking it smelled like barbecue smoke. But my bottle doesn’t smell like that at all.
Wearing Ostara and enjoying everyone’s children’s books, and sharing many favourites. Ofcourse I also loved some written by Dutch authors, maybe Austenfan will still drop in so we can compare (Het geheim van het wilde woud).
You smell wonderful. I really enjoy Ostara.
Forgot to ask my question, has anyone here ever tried Miss Dior Originale and what do you feel about it?
I like it! I would say it’s a good compromise for those who miss old-school chypres, but would prefer to be able to buy something from a retail store rather have to take on eBay and the risks of vintage perfume shopping. (For two more opinions, Robin’s review says the “whatever tinkering has been done [to the formula] has not erased its old-fashioned feel”–which is basically my feeling–but Angela’s take on the reformulation is: “I cry to think of it.” YMMV!)
Thank you, that helps.
As I child I read relatively few Dutch children’s books , most of the famous Jip and Janneke were read to me by my parents. What I did read a lot was Astrid Lindgren. I adored her books as they were fun and mostly quite feel good. And highly recommended!
I must have read Little house on the prairie and all the others, and I remember reading some of Enid Blyton’s. The great English classics I read later, once I was able to read them in English. Winnie the Pooh, Paddington and the Wind in the Willows are amongst my most loved books. In French I very much enjoy the stories of Petit Nicolas.
Wearing Perle de Mousse today, which is gorgeous.
Astrid Lindgren was daily fare for us too, wonderful. Not only Pippi but also Bolderburen and Karlson op het dak. They had such lovely illustrations. I imagined myself to be a Pippi of sorts given my freckles and being a redhead! Perle is gorgeous!
I loved Pippi!
Oh yes, they were favourites of mine too, looking forward to sharing them with my little girl in a couple of years!
Wearing Silences today. Maybe I should have worn Ostara, as I just came back from the store and bought some daffodils.
You could always layer. 🙂 Both of those are so lovely.
Testing a couple of new-to-me things today–Neroli Blanc Intense from Au Pays de la Fleur d’Oranger and Kiss Me Intense from Nicolai. I was surprised to be drawn to the Nicolai since heliotrope is usually my nemesis but as I read some reviews, everything else about it is basically my favorite: almonds, orange blossom, jasmine, woody vanilla. So now it makes more sense 🙂 Not sure yet that I need to own it, but since it comes in 30ml, I mean…
The Neroli Blanc Intense I quite like also, but def don’t need to own; having recently come into possession of some Kilian Sweet Redemption, another orange blossom in the sweet floral family would really be redundant. That said, the price is WAY better on the Neroli Blanc Intense ($98 for 100ml versus $160 for the 50ml Kilian refill !!), so anyone looking for this sort of thing has my strong encouragement to try the Au Pays take on it before shelling out for the Kilian!
SOTD L’Air d’Rien.
Busy day furniture shopping. Got a new couch that will fitbetter in the new apartment. It hasn’t been quite 2 years since we moved last and we got new stuff then to fit this place. Ugh. Such a waste- money that could be better used on perfume!
I read a lot as a kid. Wish I had the same attention span now as I did then.
I still own some kid’s books and have reread them in recent years. One of my favorites is the Phantom Tollbooth which my husband just read since he missed that one. What an awesome book.
It really is a good one.
Someone yesterday (Pyramus?) mentioned Dior Homme, so finding myself in Sephora today I tried it. Wasn’t taken with the top notes, but the rest reminded me very much of Eau Sauvage EDP, myrrh and maybe frankincense in there. Liked it, but already own the Eau Sauvage EDP.
After nozknoz’s remarks about the geography books, my only childhood reading memory is of memorizing the poem Paul Revere’s Ride (The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere?) from an encyclopedia. Oh, also the story of the headless horseman. Pretty geeky, huh? 🙂
Both great stories and not geeky at all!
Oh I LOVE The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. My dad used to recite the first verses to us as children.
Siciliana, I think I encountered the Midnight Ride in grade school. But was it one if by sea, or two if by sea? 😉
I do remember loving the book The Secret Garden by France’s Hodgson Burnett when I was a kid. I have loved to read since I was a teen but not so much when I was a young child. Back then I’d much rather ride my horse or catch fire flys and trail after my older brothers. I never sat still long enough to read.
I tested a few scents today including vintage Chamade (Wowza!). Much too elegant for housework. Post shower I’m wearing French Lilac by Pacifica; A great inexpensive scent.
Oh yes, The Secret Garden! “It was the sweetest, most mysterious-looking place anyone could imagine,” and “It’s wick!”
Opps flies…. Not flys. Ugh
SOTD is Theorema. It’s really too warm today for it, but gosh, it smells good. It’s supposed to be cooler this coming week, but I realized today that I need to bring my hot weather perfumes out of storage.
I always say that Dr. Seuss taught me to read. 🙂 Then I moved on to Nancy Drew. Mom thought they had “no literary merit” but thankfully my grandmother would let me read them at her house, so I read my way through the entire series. Grandma didn’t really mind what I read; she just wanted me to read. And I’m sure Grandma was right, because after that it was the Little House books, Little Women, and then Pride and Prejudice. And I’m still a voracious reader to this day.
Oh, and my favorite children’s books I’ve read recently are Richard Peck’s Grandma Dowdel books: A Long Way from Chicago, A Year Down Yonder, and A Season of Gifts. They are a delight, and Grandma is a memorable character – and I do mean character.
Agreed! My kids read them in lit class, and passed them on to me, and they’re *wonderful*!
Oh, children’s books. I love them. I truly love them. When we became pregnant with our first child, I spent weeks glued to my computer screen, googling and trying to find all of my favorite books from childhood. Sometimes I had a single illustration in my mind from a book and not even the story line. I believe that I have found most EXCEPT for a chapter book that I read in 3rd grade. I checked it out of the library at school but before I could finish it, my family moved. My mother PROMISED that I could check it out at the next school, but they didn’t have it, and I promptly forgot about it for 20+ years. And now I can’t quite remember what it was about.
Some of my favorite illustrated children’s books:
* Liza Lou and the Yeller Belly Swamp by Mercer Mayer
* Miss Nelson is Missing
* Debbie Visits the Countryside
* How the Trollusk Got His Hat
* One Monster After Another
* Dooly and the SnootSnort
I’ve already ordered a lot of everyone else’s suggestions from the library for our children.
Those are great titles. I think the only one I’ve seen is the Mercer Mayer one.
If you like Liza Lou you should definitely take the time to check out One Monster After Another and How The Trolls Got His Hat— bother are also written by Mayer and from the same ear and style. I love love love the illustrations. Like Sendak, these books really respected the intelligence of children.
Miss Nelson Is Missing is a different kind of pleasure, with some of the best dialogue for kids, since it BEGS to be read with different character voices. I am sure there are many youtube es reading it.
SOTD was Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay, perfect for a warm afternoon watching my nephew play pony baseball. I’m giving some serious thought to putting on some Tea for Two before bed.
Favorite picture books that I loved as a child, and have given as gifts in recent years: The Snowy Day, and The Monster at the End of this Book (Starring Loveable, Furry Old Grover). The latter was particularly fun to read to my little sister. I also love the Carl series by Alexandra Day, especially Carl’s Afternoon in the Park. When I sent a copy to an old friend after his first child was born, I learned that the series is “controversial”, and that his wife strongly disapproved of the book, because the mother is neglectful, and lets a Rottweiler mind the baby. I pointed out that it was not a parenting manual, or a documentary.
Hopefully that mother will relax by the time the second one comes along! Love the Carl books. But my favorites are Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (would definitely not be approved by your friend’s wife) and Tomie diPaolo’s Strega Nona (with her magical pasta pot).
Oh, The Monster At the End of The Book is a great one!! Great rec!!
Have you read The Great Cookie Thief? Very similar in terms of awesomeness.
No, I’ll have to look for it.
Loved The Monster at the End of This Book!
Wanted to add, don’t buy the board book version of The Monster at the End of this Book. It’s been severely edited, and the rhythm is all wrong.
Blackberry and Bay is a good one! You smell fantastic!
Grr…It’s snowing again. I am so done with winter. SOTD is Lyric Woman for comfort.
My poor daffodils!
Daffys can take a bit of snow, Petunia! Stay strong! Lyric is a great choice for this.
Thanks for the pep talk!????
Ugh snow in April. The worst. I am wearing Fille de Berlin because despite whatever the name means – and I can’t even read perfume copy so really have no idea – it is fun and reminds me of actual real spring, but with just enough substance to stand up to the cold. Argh.
Short weekend as I have to travel to Poland today. Started the day in Amouage Journey Man. As journeys go, this was a tedious suburban hop that lasted briefly but managed to be both dull and unpleasant.
At the airport, resprayed with Tom Ford Black Orchid (nice!), and bought travel sets of Hermès (4×7.5ml for £44) and Bulgari (5x5ml for £28 with a discount voucher from first purchase). Hermès 4 are Jour de H, Eau des Merveilles, Terre and Jardin/Nil.
Great selection! Duty free perfume shops may be the only redeeming feature of airports.
I think I was quite lucky at BHX. Transferring at MUC, the full bottle selection is a bit wider but the travel specials are more expensive, less ‘special’ or both. Tried a spray of the new rhubarb Hermès (forget the name) – nice but not needed when I already have rose ikebana. Also checked out a couple of bottles in the duty free shop of things I got cheap on eBay and suspect might be fakes. Both the Varvatos “Artisan” and Baldessarini “Ambré” smell stronger here.
Several of us visited the DC Hermes Boutique recently, and I was surprised by how much I liked Rose Ikebana. We split a nomad set, so I was able to get it, too. I also thought the Rhubarbe was nice but better for someone in her twenties.
More gardening and outdoor maintenance work today. NG Bois d’Ascèse to start with perfume-wise.
Oh I love Bois d’Ascese. You smell great.
My work week begins–I’m “on” from 8.00 o’clock this morning until 5.00 tomorrow, with lectures and meetings. Even lunch times will be spent in planning meetings. I’m sagging a bit at the thought, so I’m wearing some not-really vintage (about 21 years old) Femme and I’m surrounded by an aura of self-assured woman-ness, rather than femininity. I love this scent madly, but I don’t wear it all that often, probably because, I find it takes a bit of living up to. It makes me think about who I am, on multiple levels. Today and tomorrow I need a reminder of just that very thing, and also to take a breath, square my shoulders, speak calmly and, if I have to, to aim true.
I was thinking about you yesterday as my perfume hating friend marched me along a long beach at breakneck speed. I am such an ambler these days and want to potter and pause and look at things and I kept imagining a walk with you up in Northland…where we could chat and gaze about in a less determined mannner. The water down here is freezing and a southerly blew in but we saw yellow eyed penguins and fur seals. I wore Ostara which was described as Rest Home disinfectant, so better than public toilet New Musk, I guess. Hope your week goes well. I am expecting second page proofs from my publisher this week and that will be a bit of a grind.
Mmm—I definitely have two speeds: Auckland and Northland. My Auckland speed is what you might imagine, and very dull; Northland speed involves a lot of standing and looking, so my mode of progression is sometimes so slow as to be infinitesimal. I guess. I’d love to take you to Ngahau bay, which couldn’t be more different from the wild south, and we could sit under the pohutukawa and watch the waves (with any luck, we might see an orca, but probably not) and we could swim until about June. An then amble home for food…yes, I think that these days, I potter and pootle.
Scent of the day is the new Kenzo Flower Elixir, and it’s very nice – more like the glorious but discontinued Flower oriental or the red one, whatever it was called, then the original.
I was (and am) a big reader. As a kid, I loved adventure books, Treasure island, legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood, historical fiction (witch I still love! Shardlake, Crowner John, Wolf hall) and some fantasy. I loved Susan Coopers books, and have been thinking about getting the whole series for my boys.
Yes to the 10th power. I was trying to remember the name–The Dark is Rising–it would definitely have made my list above. But I was too lazy to go to the shelves upstairs and the name that kept coming to me was The Seventh Seal (obviously incorrect–sorry fans of Bergman). I loved those books too!