It's Monday's ugly little sister, better known as Tuesday! What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm wearing La Parfumerie Moderne Désarmant, because Anniky kept talking about it in the comments. I would agree with Kevin's assessment: if you like your lilacs done in pastels, it's very much worth trying. Anniky called it classic but not old-fashioned, I'll vote for that too. It's beautifully done, and I probably like it better than Kevin, but in the end it's not really me either. I'd be tempted to buy a decant, though, if I had not given up on decants.
Reminder: on 4/29, wear one of your "top 10 of spring" fragrances (unless it's fall where you are, in which case wear one of your "top 10 of fall" scents).
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.
Note: image is Purple Lilacs [cropped] by Eric Kilby at flickr; some rights reserved.
I’m able to breathe today and my head isn’t fuzzy. These are good things. The bad is I barely slept last night and am being bombarded by emails at work.
Since my nose is still ‘eh’, I used up the last of my Derring Do sample from Ineke. It’s technically a masculine scent, but I liked it a lot from the alphabet series.
Thank goodness for clearheadedness. Never tried Ineke.
Yes, even though I’m dead tired at least I’m not in zombie mode like I was yesterday.
A friend gave me the Ineke alphabet series sampler set. Most of the scents I wasn’t too thrilled about. They are decent enough, but not FB worthy. The best one out of the series is F – Field Notes From Paris. I also liked D- Derring Do and C – Chemical Bonding.
I liked Field Notes best too.
Derring Do really didn’t work for me; I only got a blast of an artificial note I think is meant to be “fresh” or “aquatic”, similar to my current bog standard shaving gel.
I’m glad you’re feeling better. I hope you can get through today at work, and get a good night’s sleep tonight.
Thank you. I’m actually at home now. Stupid Comcast had another power outage and since our company has to have the internet to function (digital marketing), we had to send everyone home. I am feeling better in general.
Yeah I am right there with you for being sick. Pretty tenacious
I am at work feeling sleepy and tired. I am wearing CD Mitzah.
LOVE
At least you smell wonderful!
While pretending it’s spring, it’s very cold, windy and rainy here today, I’m wearing Un Zest de Rose. One of my favourite light roses.
The weather is horrible. I hope the Rosine is helping.
It is, it’s just lovely. I tend to overlook the Rosines in my collection, while I so enjoy wearing them. Plus I’m sitting inside.
This is one of my favorite roses altogether. Have you tried Goutal’s Rose Splendide, in the same style? I think it’s wonderful, too. Stella, on the other hand, which is often compared to these, pales in comparison, to my nose, as does Diptyque’s Eau Rose.
Marianne Wiesebron, from Leiden, just wrote an article about my country’s route downhill in De Volkstrant. Wish I could read Dutch, but she is an specialist and it appears to be very well reseached, in case you are interested, Austenfan. I feel so hopeless.
All I could find was an interview with Wiesebron. Is that what you meant? It was published on the 18th. I just read it. Very informative and incredibly sad.
I have tried Rose Splendide and I loved it when I did. Greener than both Un Zest and Ecume, another light rose favourite of mine. All three are great in that airy rose genre. I’ve never tried Eau Rose, but I remember trying Stella years ago. It’s a little similar to Mille et une Roses, more of a sheer ambery rose. I enjoyed it, but it lacks the joyfulness of the 2 Rosines and the Goutal.
Oh and bon courage, I don’t know what else to say, it must be so difficult.
Thank you, Austenfan! It means the world. And yes, Écume is very nice, too. And Rose d’Eté is one of my favorite musky perfumes, since we are at that. 🙂
Spent too much on a 5-ml mini ($30) of MFK’s A la Rose. Knew I’d never need a FB, and am a sucker for the adorable packaging. I’d tried it at N-M, and my little atomizer actually has better persistence and longevity. It’s improving my mood on this gray day.
There is something in my brain that makes me unable to resist mini products. Goes for beauty and skincare too.
🙂
Top 10 for spring:
OJ woman… Like stepping into a forest but I am in Manhattan
Every time I see this scent, I perk up a little. I guess that means I REALLY WANT IT and may cave in soon to buying it. I have maybe one application left from my sample. Needless to say, you smell awesome.
It really is addicting.
I say treat yourself to a bottle ✨
Ooh, you smell amazing.
I agree with others – you smell great.
Thank you!
Primary election day in PA,
I’m wearing Lalique pour Homme- pleasant and smiling.
😀
Hope your lines are speedy!
I am going to vote mid-afternoon when hopefully there are no lines. Although really, we rarely have lines here.
You will smell good online to vote
Thanks all ! Number 221 @ 10:30. Democracy in action! !! ✌????????
Democracy is everything! Congrats, Bear.
I am with you in spirit, solanace. As are many others. Take care of yourself! 🙂
SOTD Cuir d’Ange. Good to wear as the drydown is the best part and lasts for ages. So I enjoy it more and more as the day goes on. Not a spring scent though. It’s not warm here (we just had a thunderstorm with snow shower) but I have lots of fresh vetiver and citrus lined up.
You smell great! I need to get a small bottle of CdA.
Wearing the remnants of Chamade before I hop into the shower. Since I have a doctor’s appointment today, I will wear no 19 in Parfum form.
Love remnants of Chamade – the most gorgeous drydown. No 19 is the perfect follow up!
Krizia Uomo 🙂
today it’s Profumi del Forte Roma Imperiale
Waft some my way. You smell goooood. 🙂
I’m wearing Nicolai’s Number One Intense. Our weather is hot and humid today, and I probably should have gone for something more aromatic, but it is quite pretty.
Got the original No 1 a couple of yrs ago when New London Pharmacy had it–never tried the intense. Thanks for reminding me about it–you do smell pretty!
Byredo Green which is such a great scent when I’m in the mood for it
it is. I also like Atelier Trefle Pur when I’m in the mood for it (last night in fact!)
Misia for today. This has become a spring favourite for me.
I am sampling Désarmant this morning too, I would be willing to buy it if my budget for the year weren’t already exhausted.
ALERT to Kanuka! The Australian Perfume Junkies blog today has a post on Gri Gri fragrance line of which the first one is a Maori theme and lists a note of kanuka. I personally need to locate the second one, which is called Tara Mantra.
As for my SOTD, it’s Roja Dove Unspoken extrait.
After my comments yesterday I immediately started to worry that maybe it’s not that good a scent a t all and everybody will be disappointed… So I’m glad to see you like it 🙂
Perfume is so subjective. We all enjoy reading that one of us has found a scent that they’re excited about. The buzz is part of the fun.
Oh, I think it’s a good scent. I think Kevin thought it was a good scent too.
The Scent Phone in my Perfume Cave has just received a perfume alert ….beep, beep, beep….time to suit up and grab my teletranspoder fragrantsnifferdetector nosereceptor and check out Gri Gri. Thank you CazWoman.
In real life, Kanuka isn’t particularly strong scented…if you pick and crush the leaves they smell a little bit evergreen and almost leathery. Manuka is the big hitter. But kanuka is green and feathery to touch, quite soft, and the flowers are beautiful. Now it is cold upon the hill they are very muted.
I will see if I can hunt down the perfume though.
L’Eau d’Hiver for the first warm day of April
Lovely!
I’m in Dior Homme today – first time with a “full dose” since a larger decant arrived in yesterday’s mail. So far it’s heavenly – sweet without being too sweet, warm without being too warm … and, in a healthier spraying, the cardboard note at the top has become less cardboard-y and more papery. Pretty sure it’s true love, and I’ll be tracking down a FB of this at some point.
One of my favorites. You smell divine!
That really is a fantastic scent.
I’m going to have to try this one. I almost blind bought it (free with Shopper’s points) but am a bit tentative about the homme aisle still.
Angel Aqua Chic is what I’m wearing this morning, and drinking a cup of English Breakfast Tea.
I’m wearing Chant d’Arômes (Guerlain) this morning. A few years back I bought a tester online so I have no idea of the vintage, but it smells great. It won’t last much longer, though (I left the house before 6 AM this morning) so I will need to find something else to wear, probably SSS Yin & Ylang from the purse spray I have in my bag. Yay, so much fun wearing Spring scents again!
You smell wonderful. I love Chant des Aromes!
SOTD TF Tuscan Leather
Going to bury my nose in my clothes all day
That’s a nice one. I might have about 1ml left in my decant, and I’ll be sorry when it’s gone.
If I get another leather scent, it would be this one. I love how it’s more of a raw leather smell over the more suede ones I have.
Good Morning….it’s a BEAUTIFUL Spring day in the suburbs of Atlanta! 🙂 Spent yesterday outside, planting veggies, herbs, and flowers to my heart’s content. Gardening ranks right up there with perfume in my world!
SOTD: TokyoMilk Tainted Love #62. Mmmm…good mix of good notes!
I’m so curious about Tokyo Milk, partly because I love the packaging. Have you tried Bulletproof, by any chance?
My sister likes Gin & Rosewater, fwiw.
I have a 4 pk sampler, and YES! Bulletproof is included. A tad too smoky on my skin, but I’ll try it again in the fall/winter.
Tokyo Milk definitely offers deep, rich scents….very different from my usual go-to smellies! 🙂
I liked Bulletproof. I thought it was true to the notes listed and it was pretty smoky on me, too. Coconut and hickory smoke. I have to be in the mood for that kind of thing, though. My favorite is Bittersweet, which is the only one I own.
Smoke is fine with me, although as I ordered it in the hand cream format, that might be a bit weird. But I wanted that tube and I have a friend in the States this very moment, hopefully looking at my list in a Sephora somewhere ????
Yes, Bittersweet, renamed Cake Batter by yours truly!
I have a sweet ceramic plaque given to me by a dear friend which says, “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need,” to which I would add, “except a cat and some perfume.”
I wore bulletproof a lot last year and I found it had a nice bitter chocolate note ( which was probably the tea note, really). It is very long lasting on me. I wore it again the other day but found it a bit boring but I will wear it today and report back.
Really enjoying Jaan Kross by the way. He strikes me as a very observant writer, and so skilled in the way he handles character and plot. I have finished Czar’s Madman and am onto Treading Air. Then I will read People in the Trees. I also enjoyed Six Four…a very slow Japanese police thriller for non-thriller readers!
Three hour update on Bulletproof
Dark chocolate+milky coconut tea stirred with a pencil+ Dame New Musk (or Body Shop White Musk original). But not in a bad way!
I would spend all my time gardening if I could!
Gardening is great for the soul, love it! And no perfume is better than damp earth!
I really like Tainted Love. I chanced upon a bunch of their fragrances which were very discounted from their originally already quite low prices, so I bought a number of them, but Tainted Love is the only one I love.
Oh. I do go on about things, don’t I?
Wearing Cierge de Lune today and it is lovely, but I find it sooo quiet and soft. I wonder if it’s just my nose or I should spray much more forcefully – although no-one can accuse me of being a shy sprayer.
Well I’m glad you did, it was worth more attention than I gave it the first time — I didn’t pay a ton of attention because I knew Kevin was going to review it. Now I really should try the others again.
Thank you. I’m sure one reason I give these scents so much attention was that someone was talking me through them with sincere enthusiasm – it always has an impact on me when I see people care about the quality and the meaning of perfume, even if the perfumes themselves are not for me. And I like brands that don’t have too many scents! I think Annees Folles might be the most interesting of the lot, but it’s too ambery for my taste. And I hear there’s an iris in the works…
Oh, iris is good news, thanks! If you ever see that man again, do mention the beauty of a 30 ml bottle to him, will you? 😉
I really should have had the presence of mind to tell him then and there! I think for this brand especially, most of the audience is people seriously interested in perfume and many of them do not need 100ml of anything (I don’t either, but my collection isn’t crazy big yet nad I don’t like decants).
It is quiet. I layer over a vanilla lotion and spray liberally.
Good to know, thank you!
Hermes Eau de Narcisse Bleu. The Colognes and Jardins have been staples for spring and summer. I was thinking of how nice a collection of the bottles would be to display, even in the living room, especially now with the addition of the golden Neroli and Rhubarbe.
Perhaps the family would understand an acquisition from that perspective 😀
I love this one and have the 15ml version. Will probably get a full version of some point, as it’s a spring staple for me too.
Spring flowers are so lovely. I’ve got it in mind to try Eau de Narcisse Bleu against Ostara to see which comes out on top.
Salome today. Slightly inappropriate for my plans, but I think it’s the best able to stand up to tornados. Also, the sample is EXTREMELY powerful and it’s hard to focus on anything else when I pick through them.
I have to say, tornados aside, I do like spring – but I’m awfully bored of waking up everyday with a faux hangover.
Yikes, tornados – good luck!!!
Thanks!
They almost never actually show up where I live, but waiting them out is a little nerve-wracking.
Must say that I’ve never had to factor tornadoes into my SOTD plans. Good luck and stay safe
I should probably figure out what my Top 10 Spring Scents If Your Spring Includes Tornados list would be.
Please do. Tornadoes sound hard. Good luck!
Haha, I want to see the list when you make it????
Thank you for all the reference patchouli suggestions. I really did not fall in love with this note until I got my hands on a very fine essential oil. Now that I have a better grasp of how rich and nuanced patch can be, I am searching for the one. Testing LAVS Unum today. All cool and wonderful Myrrh on my skin, probably an incense fragrance that would keep it’s cool in the summer and it comes with Papal approval!
I am a confirmed patchophobe… but I smelled some aged (purportedly 18 years) patchouli oil and it was lovely. Very herbal and green, without the dusty-dirty-cocoa aspect I hate.
I know what you mean. When I smell patchouli, I want to smell a leafy forest floor. For me, the most important aspect is this dry, and not sweet, suggestion of leaf decay with a hint of whole leaf tobacco.
I once had a 40-year old patchouli from a long defunct head shop. It had aged like wine and was a revelation.
After talking about it yesterday, I’m wearing Un Jardin en Mediterranée. So perfectly refreshing on what promises to be a very warm day here. I need to remember to wear Hermes scents more often.
Yes to Hermes! 🙂
Temps d’une fête… thanks mals for reminding me!
ENJOY!
You smell fabulous! I just got another decant which was in my hand on Friday and I put it down and have no idea what I did with it 🙁 I hope I didn’t absentmindedly throw it out!
I’m curious about Desarmant now from your and Annikky’s descriptions.
I’m in BV today as I’m in a meeting with close quarters. Nice but inoffensive and office friendly IMO.
True confessions:
I visited my favorite brick n mortar discounter shop and walked out with a tester of Habanita L’Esprit, which I quite like and definitely is related to its father, especially in the drydown. It’s lighter and airier and reminds me of ELDO PdP.
Also got a full tester of AA Herba Fresca which I’m really looking forward to over spraying on a hot, humid day.
Good to know about L’Esprit, thanks!
SOTD is Ysatis by Givenchy. This is an old favorite of mine that I just reconnected with. Haven’t worn this in years (almost 20). I remembered it being such a beautiful fragrance. My memory was right and I am enjoying it. Might not be a “spring” type fragrance, but I’m enjoying it today nonetheless. Hope everyone has a great day!
Had to let you know that I loved Pulp and invested in a FB that is coming on Saturday.
I swear we like the same things. Lol!
So glad you liked it. You will have to let me in on some of the scents you really like so I can give them a try. But, I’m sure if you like it, I know I will. 🙂
I swore not to buy Byredos but than I smelt Pulp and that resolution went out of the door.
Kai and JM Vintage Gardenia for gardenia, La Chasse Aux Papillons and Do Son for tuberose, Chanel Bois des Isles and 31 Rue Cambon for beautiful, Ostara and BV Knot for spring, Love, Chloe for powder and rice, and Viva la Juicy and now Pulp for fun. I have about a dozen more, but can’t think of them right off hand. That is a start.
I’m glad as well 🙂
Ysatis is one of my old loves too. Is yours the current version? if so, how does it compare?
Vintage No. 19 edt today, for Invisible Armor.
Gorgeous!
No. 19 scared me away from the Chanel fragrance counter when I was in my twenties. I’ve made it far enough in life that now it’s time for another go at it.
You smell fantastic!
Scent twins! No 19 is fabulous isn’t it?
Lovely Rose de Siwa for me today. One of my top ten spring scents to warm up this cold and rainy day.
Rose di Siwa is so beautiful. I’m trying to be sparing with my decant, but not TOO sparing, lest it evaporate before I can love every drop. 🙂
Tried Mona di Orio’s pretty Rose Etoile de Holland yesterday afternoon and enjoyed that one as well.
I really love RdS too and also have the tendency to hoard my most loved decants. I’ve resisted buying a bottle but I may have to break down eventually. Maybe for my next birthday unless another shiny object diverts my attention. 🙂
How do the two scents compare? Or, do they compare at all? I have never sampled anything from Mona di Orio. People really seem to like her vanilla scent.
Sampling Chanel Beige. Could be a lovely spring scent, but it isn’t for me, although I like beige…It is colder this month than it was in December. Snow on blossoms.
I think Beige is a little meh, but others love it.
I actually think the original version of Allure extrait smells better than and is the blueprint for Beige.
April wears her white hat! 😉
That’s a lovely way of putting it!
Hamamelis told this from an old dutch saying. I’m sure she would say it better than me!
Roughly translated it is something like:
Although little April is sweet, she sometimes wears a white hat (Aprilletje zoet draagt ook weleens een witte hoed).
Apparently it is the coldest 26 april ever here in the Lowlands!
No snow where I live,but we are having an odd spring, after this really odd winter. I find Beige incredibly boring, sorry for the fans.
I think boring is apt.
When I tried the exclusifs for the first time, Beige and Gardenia were my favourites. Now I think they are the most boring ones in the line. I hardly ever wear Beige, despite having a full bottle. To be fair, it’s well done and nice, just very unexciting.
I’m wearing my very last drop of SL Fumerie Turque from a decant a dear friend gave to me.
I loved Fumerie when I tried it, but never got round to trying it again. You smell good!
Thank you! I sure will miss it.
Teo Cabanel Early Roses before walking the dog. Then Lace Garden after my shower. Maybe because I’m dabbing, these all seem very soft to me.
I love Lace Garden..haven’t tried Early Roses. How are you finding Teo Cabanel line?
Dabbing from the sample vials, I find I need to be pretty generous to get any kind of longevity or projection. The early roses was soft on me. Lace Garden – white flowers; not something I need. I enjoyed Alahine but need to use more next time to see if it really works. So far, nice perfumes but nothing I can’t live without. The sampler is really nice, though!
The only Teo Cabanel that I really fell for was Oha. In fact, that was my SOTD today.
SOTD is La Chasse Aux Papillons. Soft and pretty.
LCaP is so very pretty. It’s like a sweet smile in a bottle.
Good heavens, all this talk of Désarmant is making me want to try it more and more. I’ll have to cave and buy a sample ASAP.
SOTD is Nuit de Tubéreuse, because I only tried it once before and didn’t like it much. I found it just lovely today, once the initial horrific chemical stench burned off after ~10 min. This happened to me with la Chasse aux Papillons, too. Am I the only one super-bothered by the metallic opening on those two? I haven’t seen anyone talk about it.
Hi, Koyel, where are you? In the States?
I actually split my time between the US (California) and France (Toulouse), so I have addresses in both places 🙂 You?
Where in CA are you? I split my time between San Diego and Montreal but Toulouse is my favorite city in France.
I think you told me that once! (You sent me something once in a Perfume Posse FGM post! Tauer, I think.) I’m in the South Bay, in Mountain View. If you ever want to come back to Toulouse, do let me know 🙂 I’d love to say hi and introduce you to our perfumeries!
If you are willing to wait a bit, I could send you some to France? I’m currently in Brussels, but originally from Estonia. I’m happy to share, but I’m hopeless with the logistics – I never have any sample vials and as my work is intense, getting to the post office takes some doing. So it may take some time to happen. If you’re interested, drop me an e-mail: my name in reverse dot genius mail.
That is so kind of you!!! I shall e-mail you right away 🙂 and I will desperately hope I get your e-mail address right.
Thanks to today’s scent choices by Wendysue and Eleebelle, Hermes is on my mind. I’m enjoying Jour d’Hermes this morning, perfectly uplifting for a Tuesday and wonderful for springtime.
And the circle continues…now you’ve put Jour d’Hermes in MY head and I’ll have to wear it tomorrow. I always seem to forget about it and am always delighted the rare time I remember it.
Library is a polling station today….bake sale, book sale… long day. SOTD No 5 Sensual Elixir which is what’s in my bag.
Stay strong, fellow biblio!
Thanks!
Songes again today for comfort, I’ve been wearing this one a lot recently. Had some difficult news last night, and been a bit wobbly today. We’ve been waiting on hospital results for my step mum for two weeks, and finally got them yesterday. Now we are waiting on an assessment to see if she is strong enough to cope with surgery, which is worrying especially as she is tiny, and physically fragile at the moment.
Sending strength you and yours step mum’s way.
Thank u
She has such a strong life force, but is so worn out..
So sorry to read it. Hope Songes helps. And kisses from Henry!
Yes perfume and pets, comforting indeed, I’m going to have a cuddle with him now. x
Hoping for the best outcome for all of you.
Thank u for you’re kind words.
Sending you some get well wishes..and healing thoughts
Oh that’s rough. Sending more good wishes to you both.
Sorry to hear that – all best wishes to her and to you all.
Sending you comforting thoughts and prayers for a good outcome.
I hope everything turns out ok, Mayfly. Such a stressful situation.
Sending hopeful thoughts to you and your family.
Hugs!
Sending you my best wishes, hoping for the best for your mother.
Hopes and prayers for your family.
Sending you and yours positive energies and healing prayers.
Sending healing thoughts to your stepmum, mayfly.
It stinks when loved ones aren’t well. Fingers crossed for a good outcome.
Thank u all so much, I feel so lucky to be part of this wonderful (not to mention fabulous smelling!) community, and it never fails to amaze me how kind and compasionate u all are. NST is a very special place indeed.
Reading you’re comments cheering me up this morning. X
Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass “flower mist” today. This is the only fragrance I’ve ever owned where I could see the essential oils separate out at the bottom (in little globules). I shake it up and it’s just fine. This is vintage, and anything else I’ve owned, whether more concentrated or newer formulation, just isn’t the same, with an artificial smell. A little bit of ebay luck!
Have a good day, all.
That’s kind of cool!
I have a very, very old bottle of blue grass bath bubbles? some sort of bath liquid soap that used to belong to my grandmother. It must be from the 70s. I always remember it in her bathroom and it is only partially used. It is a miracle that it still exists – it’s on my dresser.
Sweet story! I wish I had something of my grandmother’s.
Blue Grass is a favorite of mine on a sunny May day when the grass is green and the sky is blue. Never heard of the ‘flower mist,’ thank you for sharing.
Sampling California Reverie today…
Quite nice…but so far I agree w/ Robin’s review that there is no real oomph for this one. I will report back if the oomph rears its end…
Just last night I deleted it from my (largely irrelevant!) FB to-buy list. Errrr just in case anyone asks for it with Mothers’ Day around the corner…. I have gone through a few 5 ml decants, but find I cannot recall what it smells like and it no longer seems like a priority.
I felt the same.. Pretty, but a bit vacuous -‘ no oomph’is a good way to describe how I found it too.
Speaking for the opposite point of view… it’s one of my top 2 favorites 🙂
+1. Pixel introduced me to it – I have to re-spray it all re time, but it is lovely
I have to agree with pixel – for me California Reverie is like the quintessential pretty, wearable scent. It’s happiness in a bottle!
More for u I say! It would be so boring if we all liked and disliked the same things. It probably smells wonderful on u all, and me and Oakland are missing out!
Okay okay… You got me. So what is the other one Pixel? 🙂
Armani Prive Bois d’Encens. That’s about as ‘me’ as a fragrance gets.
Interesting… very interesting…
This would be a great Friday project – Wear the perfume with the most “Oomph” of any in your collection….I like Oomph a lot – I’d have several to pick from….
I agree. Oomph = eggzellent (all other things being equal).
I wanted to love this one for the name, but it is just meh on me.
It is cold-ish and rainy today, which I am counteracting with Parfum DelRae’s Début. This one is a super-green lily-of-the-valley and practically screams “Spring!” I love it.
sounds lovely!
Début is beautiful. It’s cold and rainy here as well. My olfactory armour against it is a summery rose.
Testing CBIHP Black March today, which is quite a literal take on spring: damp dark rich dirt and new flowers just opening. Makes me want to putter about in my garden instead of working; I quite like this.
Also testing Under the Arbor which is a bit sticky-grape-jelly on me.
Oh Black March is so nice. I’m not always of the hyperrealist school, but there are exceptions.
Exactly!
Yum.
Black March brought tears to my eyes. I’m not going to WEAR it, but I’m so glad it exists.
It’s been on my list for soooo long.
Testing Beloved (woman). Beautiful! Smells like a well done version of something very familiar…perhaps Nostalgie? I don’t know. I was thinking of the name, Beloved, or Habibi in Arabic, which is such a common word/theme in Arabic songs and poetry… Which made me consider other Amouage names like Lyric, Interlude, Opus, and even Epic. Gorgeously arranged notes in all of them.
Beloved is beautiful! It does smell familiar, but I think it’s that it smells like a modernized old-school classic floral aldehyde. Maybe even like No 5, but warmer and sweeter? In any event, you’re smelling pretty and classy today.
IMHO parts of Beloved smell like the middle and drydown of Aromatics Elixir and also some of the green and civety parts of vintage Magie Noir.
Some days Beloved reminds me of 1970s chypres, specifically Balenciaga Cialenga. Some days it reminds me of Roja Dove Diaghilev. I also agree with AnnS on Aromatics Elixir. The focus shifts from chypre, to incense, to leather on different days, for no discernible reason. It’s composition must balance on an ideal perfume fulcrum point. One of my top ten.
(I think Beloved is more like our idealized memory of such perfumes than the actual perfumes.)
I think you hit the nail on the head there.
Me too!
I suppose I should retry Beloved – I remember it as being a total powder bomb on me, which those others you mention are *not.* Hmm.
Beloved is such a beauty, and Amouages so satisfying. I got my husband a decant of Beloved Man and it’s THE best fougère ever, not too strong, just perfect. (Off topic, but since you showed solidarity the other day, there are good articles about my country’s awful situation being published now at The Guardian.)
Oh Solanace I have been thinking of you!!!! Heard a wonderfully thoughtful Brazilian feminist commentator the other day who crystallized my thoughts and concerns. Our local public radio station was doing a wonderful job on covering “events” (what to call the list of calamities?) in Brazil, but like all news in America, this week it has been supplanted by our elections.
You and your country are very much in my thoughts!
Love Beloved! One of my more expensive purchases, but also one of the best.
This is becoming a very enabling thread… oh my!
Wearing Ôponé today. Also trying out La Parfumerie Moderne Désarmant on my left arm. Different than I expected. Pretty, but not for me. I’m curious to see how Ex Nihilo Sweet Morphine will be. I also want to smell A Lilac a Day by Vilhelm Parfumerie. En Passant is still my go to lilac.
I want to smell Sweet Morphine too, but Luckyscent was out of samples. Next time.
I’m in Pink Quartz by Olivier Durbano today. Love this combination of rose and incese. Especially in this cold and rainy weather like today
That one is lovely. My all-time favorite is Heliotrope though.
Heliotrope is also nice. I would be curious to see his rendition of iris + incense.
Update. Had enough of Beige and am wearing the lovely fluffy yellow mimosa goodness of Essences Insensees 2014, from the solid, enabled by Ann and courtesy of the excellent Celeste perfumery in The Hague.
I am so glad that you got the solid and the SA sounds like a wonderful person for getting it to you. Nothing is more uplifting than mimosa!
That mimosa is so pretty and tranquil, like a perfect May day in the country.
Trying out Fils de Dieu etc. from my recently acquired ELDO sampler set. I like it — it’s like eau de cologne spilled over jasmine rice.
Bulgari Black, which I haven’t done in ages.
Nice! Maybe I’ll wear it as a spring fragrance 😉
A pleasant if chilly day in Carcassonne. Grey morning visit to the market; lunch on a boat on the Canal du Midi; sunny, breezy afternoon clambering around the castle. “D600” by Carner Barcelona was the SOTD – pleasant and a bit ‘different’; reminded me unnaccountably of Beaufort “East India” out of the bottle, but it’s very different on the skin.
Top: bergamot, black pepper, grapefruit (which I ought to hate).
Heart: cardamom, jasmine, iris.
Base: vanilla, vetiver, cedar.
Doesn’t make me think of Spring. Perfume score 3/5, it’s fine but I don’t need it.
I like D600 very much, one of my favorite powdery irises.
It’s a lovely scent but (as per Angela’s recent post) I can’t be doing with perfumes that slope off when their work is not yet done. :^)
Are you planning on doing more visiting? If you venture towards Toulouse, Albi is very much worth a visit as well. Stunning cathedral and great Lautrec museum.
Only Toulouse and Bordeaux left now! Plenty of South West France left for another time: Narbonne, Perpignan, Agen, Albi… :^)
I’ve never visited Bordeaux, but Toulouse is gorgeous!
Hermes Jardin en Mediterranee for me today. Fig and cedary goodness.
Love this time of year here – many of the office buildings by my office use star jasmine (not the “real” stuff, but nice all the same) as ground cover since it has nice green shiny leaves year round. It’s blooming now and I just took a walk around the office to stretch my legs – there are block-length carpets of the blooms and the smell is so heavenly!
I was just on a walk and went past the same house three times so I could smell the blooming star jasmine that covers a fence. I love this scent. It reminds me of childhood. My elementary school had it growing all around.
Scent twins today with Mayfly in Songes. This was a one sniff, must-have-a-bottle scent for me, and I still love it. White flower heaven.
Under the heading of “More Portland Oddities” I discovered last night that the city is under the protection of the Members of the Cloud City Garrison, 501st Legion of Imperial Stormtroopers. Also, someone crocheted a woolen cozy for the bike rack at the library in a variety of patterns and colors…
From one of my favorite twitter accounts:
https://twitter.com/inthemoodfortw/status/717973766970585089
🙂
It’s much too early for lilacs here, but oh those deep purple violets that (I allow to) run rampant here are in full glory. And, ever since discovering Balenciaga Le Dix, violet is a favorite floral note, running a close second to rose. I always have a violet fragrance in my monthly rotation. This month, and my SOTD, is AG La Violette, with notes of violet flowers, violet leaf, and a touch of rose. I really don’t smell the rose, the green is a gentle and wispy touch, and the violets are a bit candied. It would’ve been too sweet for yesterday’s 80 degree warmth, but it’s perfect for today’s mid-50’s gray day.
La Violette is lovely.
Such a pretty one! The rose just peeks out from “under,” so to speak.
Wearing Cuir de Russie EDT Les Exclusifs. Wow this stuff has been reformulated a lot since I first smelt it years ago. Still gorgeous but seriously lighter and sharper.
Ostara today. I realized that most of my fragrance choices thus far this spring haven’t been especially springy, so I decided to go springy today.
Was feeling the same way, and put on some Jour d’Hermes Absolu.
Just received and sprayed my Hermessence Muguet Porcelaine this morning. It is delicious and has a waft, slightly honeyed, in the dry down. Diorissimo and this Muguet now complete my LOV wardrobe beautifully.
Still waiting for this one… So many good reviews. I am hoping Hermes in Montreal will have it soon.
I am curious about this one too, I hope they will have it till friday but the last time I checked , a week ago, it wasn’t there .
oh that sounds lovely!
Morning, all. Your spring choices are just gorgeous. Me, I’m beginning to bundle up against the southerlies: I’m encased in Black Cashmere, one of my forever favourites. I will be very sad when I run out of this particular lovely. The dear man’s favourite on me is Beloved, that slightly skanky good-girl-gone-bad floral, but even he appreciates BC, though he’s prone to say that I remind him of a wood heap. Sigh….he really doesn’t do romantic in any conventional way.
At least he notices 😉
Does he like gourmands on you better? You do indulge him with cookies!
He doesn’t often comment unless I ask, or he hates it. His reaction to Beloved was unexpected and inexplicable. I love gourmands, but I don’t think he’s noticed. Truly, I think sometimes that I could turn purple and he would just think it was a new look I was trying out….
Wearing very old Anais Anais, a gift from a dear friend who is now far away.
This feels like a soft embrace and I’ll have to give her a call!
Oh, nice!
My first ever proper perfume! You smell wonderful.
Today I’m in a bit of Dame Perfumery Dark Horse, to take advantage of the slightly cooler temperature.
Oh, I love this one in the fall, which it feels like today. It was supposed to be in the mid-fifties, but it’s only gotten to the mid-forties. After yesterday’s 80 degrees, brrr! If my Dark Horse wasn’t already put away in the back of the closet, it would’ve been a great choice for today.
Today I wore Chanel Gardenia, and thanks so some extra sprays from the toddler, some Chanel Chance eau tendre. But then we went to the petting farm, so who knows what I smell like now. 🙂
Cuir de Russie?
Tee hee
In Cuir de Lancome today, and it is Not Working. The first 15 minutes were delightful, but the powdery aspects have gotten progressively more noticeable to the point of unpleasantness. I don’t want to smell like powder! Only one application left in my sample, and despite all the love it gets here, I don’t think I’ll be sorry to see this go.
You aren’t alone–I bought it blind, tried to love it, but never did. It went to a new home a while back.
I love Cuir de Lancome. I got a sample from Surrender to chance and bought a bottle on FRagrancex. I have heard horrible things about them, any experience? I paid and have received no mails… so strange.
Busy day coming up, I think the delightfully named Mad Madame will help with that. I’ve certainly entertained my co-workers in the past with the name 🙂
That sounds like an ideal perfume name for me, most days! Certainly, my students would tend to agree with it….who is it by?
It is by Juliette has a gun. Some of the notes are rose oxyde, blackcurrant, and ambroxan. I usually don’t go for much rose, but I love Mad Madame. To me, it is a metallic, modern rose. Personally, I think it is pretty badass.
Today (a red boots day), badass is appealing in every way. I shall seek it out.
Masque Russian Tea from a sample. I did not particularly like it in the beginning. A lot of mint and a bit of leather, and as for the tea, it’s more of Lapsang Souchong than any russian tea I know. But it withstood the shower, so I went with it. Now it’s close to 8 hours post application, and it smells better, mint is gone, and not so smoky, more like black tea. It’s potent stuff though, I rarely am able to smell fragrances after 8 hours, let alone with an added shower along the route.
Cold and a little rainy. Obviously a day for wearing Coco.
Better than an umbrella!
2nd day of Spring perfume —
SOTD = Tauer Zeta
Nice light lemony perfume with a mix of flowers so wel-blended I can’t tease out the individual notes. Th dry down is classic but soft Tauerade. I had it out as I will be decanting shortly. I would say that it is more appropriate for high summer to allow it to bloom.
Now to read the other comments…
SOTD was Teo Cabanel Oha. Why don’t I wear this one more often?
Say what you like about Tuesday, I still can’t hate it as much as Monday. By Tuesday, I have gotten into the routine and accepted it. Monday always has an underscore of resentment that the weekend is over much too soon.
I love Cuir de Lancome. I got a sample from Surrender to chance and bought a bottle on FRagrancex. I have heard horrible things about them, any experience? I paid and have received no mails… so strange.