Hump Day! What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm trying La Parfumerie Moderne Années Folles. Tea at the moment is a Mangalam Estate Assam.
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.
Shaal Nur (Etro). Happy Hump Day! 🙂
Oh, you smell great! (Better than I do, for sure)
I liked Annees Folles enough to get a bottle
SOTD is Lollia Relax
It is really well done, I’m impressed with the brand so far. But don’t love this one.
Wearing Perle de Mousse, and a tiny dab of Alahine on my wrist. Trying to get my head around the latter. It’s pretty, but at the same time a bit indigestible. Let’s say it needs more time for me to make up my mind about it. PdM is lovely.
Tea is an organic Earl Grey Goût Russe.
I will be moving on to Earl Grey soon — VERY extra tired today.
I tend to use Lapsang to wake me up. Although I do drink Early Grey mostly in the mornings.
Should you ever be in Brussels, the small tea shop on the Sablon has the best Earl Greys ever! Better even than MF, and I love MF.
Not likely I will ever be in Brussels again, but if I am, I’ll remember!
Perle de Mousse is wonderful, Alahine was not for me (I tried it a long time ago, though).
You have to like ambers to enjoy it, and I don’t think that’s a category you are fond of.
No, it’s not. I can wear some, but quite often it’s the thing that ruins the scent for me.
It took me 4 wearings to fall for Allahine..at first I thought what is all the fuss about. Then by the 4th try I was under its spell
Four tries for me as well. And I don’t particularly enjoy ambers!
I remember, I will try again, but I doubt it will be love. There is something in the base that puts me off. Similar to what I smell in a lot of Lutens’s fragrances. Some woody note I guess, as I can handle most ambers well. But it’s an elegant, intriguing and well put together perfume.
Alahine is way too ambery for me
I love amber, but not Alahine. I get a big soapy rose on top of the amber, which just doesn’t work for me.
I put some of my Alahine sample on today, and I find a little of this, too. Nice amber, nice spice, but a sheen of soap that’s not quite to my liking. Still think it’s a pretty scent, though.
Staying warm in Shalimar today- not spring yet in the big apple
Not spring here today either!
Perfectly cosy scent, Shalimar is!
CdG Ouarzazate. I don’t think of this as particularly spring like, but I haven’t worn it in ages and it is working like a treat to keep me calm during budget season/end of semester/close of financial year.
I am drinking some medium oxidized High Mountain Oolong from an unknown source. It has some wonderful floral hints without being all treble no bass like some oolongs.
Scent twin????
Went from the low 70’s to the 50’s so I am back with the mostly heavy hitters. Now I am in Epic.
Working my way through favorite spring perfumes this week. Today’s SOTD is Paco Rabanne Calandre.
I think I had that back in the ’90s and liked it. Is it still produced?
Twins! 🙂 Calandre is one of my spring favorites too. My bottle is dwindling and I am feeling a little sad about it, but it’s perfect for this weather.
The weather is not improving, there is rain, there is snow, there is hail. Consequently, I’m wearing Olfactive Studio Lumiere Blanche. I love this scent.
Rain, snow AND hail? What god did Brussels piss off today?
You smell wonderful. I really do like that one a lot. I just wish it lasted longer on me.
So the royal family in the Netherlands is doing their very festive yearly city walk, in honour of the King’s birthday. For some it is the event of the year. When asked how they kept warm on this cold cold spring day, they said they were wearing thermal ski underwear.
And Annikky smells lovely.
Ha, that’s nice that they were prepared for the weather and honest about it. That’s rather cool that they do a yearly walk like that.
Thanks!
And I should probably get some thermal underwear, too.
Well at least the weather isn’t boring 😉
I only tried Lumière Blanche once, I seem to remember enjoying it, but also found it a tad underwhelming. The image they used was stunning.
True, it’s not a statement fragrance, but it’s lovely and easy and non-stupid. But I’m fine with some people liking it less than I do 🙂
Good, it’s very woody, and I’m iffy on woods.
I seem to be gravitating towards frilly, statement fragrances for the most part. I find this tendency slightly disturbing, as I may be many things, but frilly I’m not.
This is what the stunning image they used for Lumière Blanche reminded me of, it’s from 17:00 minutes onwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HJVWVhIyXg
I am surprised there are no falling frogs!
I’m expecting locusts any moment now…
Uh, speaking of locusts….U.S. news has been reporting that locusts here have been hibernating (my word) for 7 years, and this year they are expected to hit with a vengeance. Forewarned is forearmed.
I really love Olfactive Studio. I think they do a good job. Have you smelled Still Life in Rio?
I think so, too. And I smelled Rio very briefly last weekend, but I didn’t really pay attention : ( Have you?
Olfactive Studio are in my top ten of best designed, most aesthetically pleasing perfume bottles. Recently, i have begun to get tired of the copies of Byredo-style sans serif fonts. I like Byredo design but don’t want it to become the blue print foe every other ‘modernist’ scent design.
Does anyone else spend time anguishing over design…when you find a perfume you love in a bottle you hate? A deal breaker for me.
Love Lumiere Blanche. It is on my fantasy list.
If I really like something, I don’t care if the bottle is awful. But I really appreciate nice bottles and I’m capable of buying things I only like, not love if the design appeals to me (case in point: Narciso). And I bought Fleur du Male because I think the bottle is like a small, stunning sculpture. I absolutely cannot wear it.
Olfactive Studio bottles are great and their candles are beautiful, too.
I can’t do it, no matter how great the scent. It’s like happening upon the perfect evening gown only to discover it is made of polyester/ bri nylon. And wobbly plastic caps…don’t get me started!
I’m the same as you if I don’t like the bottle. I also feel the same way if I’m turned off by either the brand name or the name of the fragrance. itself. For me, it’s either the whole package or nothing at all.
I can’t think of a perfume I love in a bottle I hate… But that may be because I know that if I really hate the sight of a bottle enough I generally can’t even bring myself to sniff the juice inside. I can deal with a bottle I don’t love, but one that I genuinely hate, well, as the kids say nowadays, “I just can’t.”
It’s only Wednesday!? This week has been crawling for me.
Rather cool today, but I’m ok with that. My allergies needed a break. Wearing La Chasse aux Papillons today, which is very cheerful and bright and contrasting greatly with the weather.
Starting on second cup of tea: usually office stuffs (Twinings)
Crawling for me as well!
This has been the slowest week ever for me, and it’s beginning to feel more like one endless day.
Yes, exactly this.
i love juan les pins !! it’s such a cute little village !! great memories of going up to grasse from there too…
i’m still wearing cuir d’ange and liking it more each day ! i tend to wear the same fragrance for 2-3 consecutive days unless there’s a specific push to change up – usually weather-related, otherwise activity or event related.
I do the same, though for some reason I fight it. Usually I do it anyway.
It feels like fall today, not spring at all but I have decided to wear one of my spring scents anyway , FM Lys Mediterranee.
Still too cold here to wear a spring favourite. So it is Safran Troublant, a comfort scent if ever there was one, but a lovely one (and on its way to Brussels A.!)
Cannot wait! Thank you so much. I’m sure you smell lovely, but I’ll be able to voice a more informed opinion soon 🙂
I’m trying Ma Bete from Eris Perfumes!
I think I liked that one best of the three, but didn’t really fall for any of them. They are perhaps not floral enough for my tastes.
I didn’t quite fall for any either, but I was impressed at how legitimately vintage/retro one smelled (I am sure there are some of us who will be DELIGHTED to get to buy it retail!), and a second one struck me as very unusual, interesting composition. If only I could remember which name went with which fragrance!
How are you liking it? Is that the very vintage-y one? (Or maybe they all are and my nose is just failing to identify it 🙂 )
Wearing the ever figgy The Noir 29, maybe my favorite of the regular line. I certainly wouldn’t turn down a bottle but that cost is kind of high for what it is.
Ah, just checked and they went up again! I would rather buy an Hermessence any day….
The Noir is all Christmas tree on me; I’ll have to go back and see if I can sniff out some figgy pudding in it. 🙂
SOTD is Encre Noire, smelling great from my shirt
You smell great.
Love Encre Noire. I have a l’extreme on my try list.
Mmmm love that one too! Deliciously dirty. It’s on my to-buy short list–nice and cheap on the discount sites 🙂
Currently enjoying the VS Rose Bergamot, and anticipating winning an auction of vintage Je Reviens. *sigh* Still waffling on those Rose Absolues, though I suspect I’ll buy them on Friday. 🙂
Good luck on the auction!
Good luck on the auction, vintage Je Reviens was my first growup perfume love. I treasure my tiny blue bottle of its extrait, precious drops indeed! And I love the story behind the scent as well.
Alas! Today was Administrative Professionals’ Day AND an attorney’s birthday. The bosses fed us lunch and I left my phone at my desk. I was outbid at the last minute! Drat!
… I guess that’s $25 extra to put towards the Yves Rocher–so now the two rose scents will end up being less than $90 combined? *does her crooked math to justify spending* Mwahaha!
Elie Saab EDT for today. I never see this mentioned so it seems I forget about it, but actually love it. To the front of the cupboard it goes for this spring.
I haven’t smelled the EDT, but I’m sure you smell great–because I have the EDP and like it a lot!
Elie Saab is gorgeous. Love it’s honey blossom assertiveness 🙂
SOTD: Britney Spears’ Island Fantasy.
GOOD DEAL ALERT: Kohls has Island Fantasy (30ml bottles) on clearnance 1/2 price, for $16.50. Used a $10 Kohls reward and got it for 5 BUCKS last night! 🙂
Analysis of super bargain above: It’s a light, gentle summer scent…fruit cocktail all the way. Office friendly, but duration of action is pitiful: 2 hours in, and it’s ’bout near gone. But hey! For 5 bucks, my expectations have been met…..
“clearance”…..not clearnance! Sheesh! Also used a 15% off coupon, to get the final price down to 5 dollars….. 🙂
Nice deal!!
Nice deal! I was at Kohl’s yesterday and saw it there, too, along with the Adam Levine I almost bought. But I restrained myself, I need no more bottles!
It’s cool and rainy (again) here today, so I’m in Dior Homme (again) today. It’s perfect. On both counts, actually – I love rain … as long as it isn’t simultaneously blowing sideways.
I really like Dior Homme. I have Intense and Cologne. I sometimes think about getting the regular Homme.
I haven’t tried the Cologne formulation, but can report that I like Homme better than the Intense version. For what that’s worth. 😉
I like the one you and I both own the best.
Cologne has nothing in common with the Homme line. It’s just a very well made, simple fresh fragrance (but high quality to my nose). I love it!
Ah, I see. Good to know, and thanks for the clarification!
L’Artisan Havana Vanille (I think it was renamed). I’m always on the fence about this one. One sniff I love it and the next the watery note (maybe I’m confusing banana leaf with watery??) is too much. I have to figure out which note bothers me.
Well I just re-read NST’s and Bois de Jasimin’s review of Havana Vanille and I really don’t think those descriptions are even close to what I get. It’ so funny, I don’t get any resins or incense or anything like that. For me it’s much more like Hermes Vanille Galante (which I adore) with a banana accord than Guerlain Spiritueuse Double Vanille. Actually now that I think about it, maybe it’s a lychee note in HV?….so strange.
To me it has a milky note that I find a bit off-putting at first – I just don’t think of milk as a perfume note. Once my brain adjusts, though, I really enjoy this perfume.
Yes, sweet milky, lychee, something like that….I wish my brain would adjust sooner because otherwise I really like it.
I don’t remember a banana/sweet milky thing in it… I don’t love the top half of it (and HV lasts for a good 12 hours on me, as opposed to most fragrances). I don’t love the tobacco, which seems flat and dull. But the drydown is lovely.
Loewe Por Homme Sport from a sample. Nice cedar note for a couple of hours. After that it goes the woody generic route.
My SOTD is Outremer Oceanic Hotel Nice. Very springlike, and will be good for summer also. It is really pleasant and green. I keep sniffing my wrist because I am smitten with this fragrance. Plus, the image on the bottle looks like a vintage post card — very much like the image Robin posted for the picture today.
Today is a grey but dry day in Toulouse, where I’m sitting in a café after a profitable visit to Le Palais des Thés (Koyel’s recommendation). My partner picked up a 2016 first flush Darjeeling, Golden Haired Monkey (Jin Hou), a ruby oolong and a Malawi oolong, and enjoyed talking to the knowledgeable SA.
SOTD is “O/E” from Bogue, one of Blooms Spring selection from the March pack. This is complex and fairly hefty; I picked up on cedar and juniper on application and later a very nice lemon scent. Sniffing the nozzle it qualifies as a Spring scent, but it doesn’t really behave like that on skin. Lasting well as a skin scent now, after projecting decently for a couple of hours in trying circumstances. I’m going to need to trial this one again but in the meantime I reckon it’s 4/5 for me.
Oh, I had a *wonderful* time in Toulouse around Christmastime some years ago. What a beautiful city!
I loved the Toulouse Palais des Thés. And the rest of the city is gorgeous. I was there on a very sunny day in September a few years back.
I’m so glad you went! I hope you got a chance to visit a couple perfumeries, too? (I just remembered that I forgot to mention Les Elixirs, in Place Saint-Etienne!) I hope you enjoyed your day despite the weather 🙂
One today (l’autre parfum), two planned for tomorrow. That should do me! :^)
It is a rainy and dreary day here, and I am wearing Guerlain’s apres l’ondee and drinking my usual Stash’s chai green tea.
You smell lovely
Yes.
SOTD is Volutes edt. Glad I have half a bottle left of this stuff.
Have to go to a “mandatory” luncheon for work today. It’s my day off and it may be petty, but it irks me that I have attend. I was texted by the CEO this morning at 8am as a “reminder.”
Crickey, Batman!
oooo, that sort of stuff just makes me grit my teeth. Hope the food is good, anyway!
If it’s mandatory then they should pay you for your time.
Agreed!
The cat women have come to a consensus! 🙂
And the dog woman too! I was deinitely paid ????
And offer champagne
Oh, I hated anything held “off-site” when I was working. Also anything characterized as “team-building.” I’m an introvert through and through and those activities were just excruciatingly hard for me.
I’m an extrovert, but usually hate teambuilding with a passion.
Number 7 (although they are not numbered):
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-your-office-job-is-destroying-your-health-2016-4
I’m an introvert as well, but have no problem speaking up about things that I feel are important. What burns me up is that meetings like these are all pretense- a kind of “We hold these meetings so you think that we care but really, we have no intention of changing anything”
Grrrrr. Waste of everyone’s time.
Alternatively: “We hold these meetings so we can have healthy communications throughout the company, but since we haven’t troubled ourselves to work out how to use them well, we end up wasting everybody’s time. Ultimately we are bewildered why it didn’t work and blame the workforce rather than ourselves” (You end up in the same place, of course, but the stupidity is more endearing than the malice)
Lolita Lempicka Si Lolita midnight today. I need to establish some kind of schedule so all my perfumes get some skin time 🙁
I have a question: what is the difference between parfum de toilette and eau de parfum? Fragrancenet has Jacomo Silences in Eau de Parfum and Parfum de Toilette, and I thought those were the same?
I think they’re generally comparable in terms of percentage of fragrance oil. But parfum de toilette is an older name for it – I think most companies stopped using pdt in the 80s.
So I went to F’net to check out the Silences they have for sale. The edp is the more recent production and the pdt is older, maybe 90s. I have pdt and love it very much, but can’t tell you if the edp is the same.
Thanks! That helps!
I’m wearing one of my favorite scents, 24 Faubourg. Unfortunately, we had a massive storm early this morning which impacted electricity all over our small town, and I couldn’t shower (no hot water). I feel semi-grungy, but at least I smell good. Strangely enough, my work place, which is less than a mile away from home, has electricity, so yay.
Ugh, that grungy feeling can really get to you. I hope your electricity is back up so you can shower properly. In the meantime, you do smell good.
Wearing Lonesome Rider today, on a bleak cool day. Can’t wait for Friday, when I have a day off, but that is followed by a 12 hour shift on Saturday, working a special event at the adoption center.
Perfect fragrance for the weather!
Cold and rainy outside. I’m in Eau de shalimar. Powdery lime.
Eau des Merveilles! (Unfortunately, it’s making my throat a bit scratchy today, but it’s usually love, at least.)
I’ve worn that twice since the weekend and really love it. I was lucky enough to receive a partial bottle in last year’s swap meet from a lovely NSTer who was just as happy with my part of the swap.
My hand hovered over this one today, but then went to Volutes. We’re “almost scent twins” ????
Scent of the day was going to be Mythique, but I was out in the backyard last evening, and the mosquitos came over to play. . . so my SOTD is Eau de ChiggerX, a lovely blend of camphor, peppermint and clove oil. Projection and sillage are phenomenal; luckily the longevity is brief. 🙂
Well, put it this way; Mythique wouldn’t have worked so well, in pest control!
Big bites are the worst! When I am on the east coast ina few weeks I will be wearing a bug band on each ankle. Stay away bugs!!!
Yes, bug bands for ankles, wrists, headbands, knees, elbows….
😛
True confessions time. I have been reading and enjoying Luca Turin’s new blog and ordering samples of fascinating fragrances described there with absolutely no attempt at restraint. I hate samples. Dabbing never renders the same scent as spraying and it is usually not enough to drench myself in. For good or for ill, this is how I test things. But you know what I hate more? Blind buying bottles I will never wear! Or never getting to try new things. I did a pretty big order from STC, everything in 5 ml size so I may inundate myself with scent, maybe more than once! Is it possible that Chanel Sycomore is the most beautiful vetiver perfume in the world and my search for the perfect vetiver is over? What say you?
Chanel Sycamore is a deeply wonderful scent. I mean, if you were restricted to just ONE perfume to wear, that, or Bois des Illes, would be the one to have.
I am ruthless with samples and beg for them at departments stores! But then I have to REALLY like the scent because I will buy from the store.
Ditto on Luca Turin’s blog and immediately ordering samples of absolutely everything he recommends. 😀
I’m pretty much only buying samples and decants these days. This is supposedly part of my attempt to spend less.
I’m sure there is more than one perfect vetiver. 🙂
It is nice to have such good company in my naughty sample ordering spree! I am sure you are right about vetiver fragrances. Encre Noir was it for me until I started having problems with Iso E Super. So now I am searching for a replacement. Arguably, Encre Noir is quite a bit rougher than Sycomore so maybe I am looking for a bad boy vetiver and not a beautifully refined one.
It’s a matter of personal preferences, of course. I personally don’t care for what I might describe as “oriental” vetivers, such as SL Vetiver Oriental, Hermes Vetiver Tonka, and Sycomore, but each of these has loyal fans. If I had to name a single fav it would be AG Vetiver, and I also love the two Turtle Vetivers that I’ve been able to try: Front and Back. I also wear good ol’ Guerlain Vetiver on steamy summer days for a blast of olfactory AC. But these won’t be my last. I bought TDC Sel de Vetiver at Arielle Shoshana recently; I do like vetiver modulated in that marine direction.
If Sycomore is your fav, you are in good company!
Have you tried the Givenchy?
I don’t think so. I’ll look for it.
Try Fat Electrician!
I have a sample of that!
Sycomore is a stunning vetiver. I’m not Chanel’s biggest fan, and I own quite a few vertivers ( although not Sycomore) but S. is great. A really beautiful interpretation. But I agree with Nozkoz, there are many great vetivers out there.
I was not a huge Chanel fan until recently. I love No. 5 but that was the only one I owned. I purchased Pour Monsieur and No. 19 EDT and experienced all the Exclusifs at a Chanel boutique. To say I was impressed and covetous would be an understatement. I think perhaps I was not ready for them until now. I needed to evolve in my perfume journey before I was open to the very special offerings from this house. The one caveat being that I think the recent formula of Coco is disappointing. I remember her from the 1990’s as quite a bit richer and spicier.
what’s the web address for his new blog?
https://perfumesilove.com/2016/03/07/perfumes-i-love/ will get you there! Enjoy!
I haven’t found a vetiver I like as much as Sycomore.
Also, isn’t “wordpress” in Luca’s web address somewhere? I know this because I’ve both left it out, and mistakenly used “blogspot.”
On both topics, happy hunting!
Ok, now I take it back. I know I have been bounced for the address I entered, but it seems now to be just “perfumesilove.com” . Someone please tell me I haven’t lost my mind. Oh, never mind, it just told me it doesn’t care.
I say absolutely! There are lots of great vetivers but I am 100% in agreement that Sycomore is THE vetiver.
Oh, how I share your addiction! And I don’t even read his blog (as of two minutes ago). I think a lot about exactly what I crave in my rampant blind buys but haven’t come to a conclusion that feels quite right. I did do something for the first time last week–bought a scent FOR ITS BOTTLE. Help!
I experienced very good luck with blind buys initially because I was guided by an excellent template here and in The Guide. Once I went off the well trod path I got into trouble. So essentially, the bulk of my collection is perfumes originally manufactured well before the 2000’s. Despite my love of strange and powerful scents, most of what I own and wear is classic perfumery.
If it helps, I bought AG Nuit Etoilee for the unique blue bottle after convincing myself that I liked the scent. In the end, I do. I hope yours grows on you, too!
The problem with me is that I covet the square bottle for Nuit Etoilée, but want the EDP, and that comes in the other bottle.
Now that is a classic perfumista dilemma!
I think you could justifiably blame Rochester’s winters for your misstep – perfectly plausible.
That must be the answer!
I keep trying to find something remarkable about Miu Miu because the bottle is so lovely but, alas, no.
I think you have found the ultimate vetiver. You can’t climb higher that the mountain top, so stop now and begin the search for a different “ultimate”.. Seems you are, actually. I envy you guys the sampling houses, or at least, I think I do.
I don’t think there is an objective way to declare something THE vetiver, but I personally adore Sycomore. I’ve tried – and liked – quite a few, but if I had to pick one, that would be it.
Then again, I’m on the record as mildly obsessed with the excusifs, so I guess I would say that 🙂
I too, happen to think that Sycomore is the best of the ‘balanced’ vetivers that I’ve tried. And I’m far from crazy about most of the Exclusifs. Mind you I haven’t tried the Givenchy, which is supposed to be great as well.
If you want a bolder rendition I would suggest the ones that Isabelle Doyen did, both for Goutal (the original Vetiver, not the cologne) and LesNez.
And Route du Vetiver is interesting, especially the opening.
I do not know why I am tweeked this way. As of finding the best vetiver would make me lose interest in all others……
As if finding….maybe I am doing that! Like I am putting a moratorium on future sniffing because I found the penultimate one. How dull would that be?
Yay for Thursday, we’re now closer that father to the weekend.
Scent of the day is Atelier des Ors Musc Immortel, their new one
Still Wednesday here, and I’m trying not to resent you for your weekend proximity. How do you like the new Atelier?
What did I do at the weekend? I don’t understand…
I like it, it’s a nice softer type of immortelle. I often have issues with this note as it tends to smell of burnt plastic on my skin often. This one is just spicy and bit caramely.
Half asleep in Missoni 1982. Whenever I wear this tart red-berry chypre– I envision that I’m surrounded by a vast raspberry bramble like Sleeping Beauty. (Wait… Is that why I’m yawning?)
I’ve been sampling Roja Dove Lilac extrait. The lilac tones down a bit after the initial burst and I wish it didn’t, but it smells good.
Robin, FYI, on iPhone news I saw that there is an article in The New Yorker entitled “Is Digital Smell Doomed?” It’s about a device to transmit scents. Did not read it yet but it looks to be worth a post or a tweet.
Oh thanks! Will look for it.
I meant to mention, the weekend before last The Guardian did a piece on an artist who has created a perfume to represent the Apocalypse. Visitors to the exhibition get to smell it.
Intriguing! I wonder if it smells like oud. 😉
If oud is mentioned in Revelations, it will be in there somewhere. :^) She definitely included burnt horn, stone and incense if I remember the review rightly.
Burnt horn would be hard to take. I am tempted to see mainstream “ouds” as a sign of end times. 😉
I did post something about that!
Oh, good! I’ve noticed that the iPhone news app does sometimes bring up articles that are not so recent, which is not all bad.
It’s not feeling at all spring-like here today, so SOTD is Arquiste Nanban. Needed something ‘warm’.
you smell wonderful.
A great perfume to liven up a chilly or dull day. :^)
Cool and grey here today. Road testing Habanita L’Esprit. Definitely falls into comfort scent territory.
I haven’t sampled Habanita but I wonder how the L’Esprit compares to the regular scent?
It’s as if they took out the dirtier, harsher bits, and made it more feminine. Now that I’ve worn it for several hours, it’s boiling down to a soft, powdery, sweetish musk with something floral in there.
It sounds pretty. I have always been curious about Habanita but have been distracted by the new shiny things.
I can send you a sample of Habanita if you like–email my username at a oh ell dotty com.
Wow, thanks foxbins!
Augh, I’ve sniffed and loathed Habanita. That scent minus the dirty, harsh bits might be interesting.
I started the day with Isis from Agonist. It’s a tropical, fruity scent with pineapple, mangoes, oranges and vanilla. Not your regular Escada summer scent at all, it’s more like Byredo Pulp. A different kind of fruity.
And now, I’m in vintage Tresor from the late nineties. Just lovely.
I’m wearing Byredo 1996 today. Yum. I came into the office this morning at stupid early o’clock to handle something on a client’s website that would be best done when I could put it in maintenance mode without anybody noticing too much, and since it was so early I wanted something comfy. And I had been passing this one over lately for newer, shinier things so I decided it needed some attention.
1996 is lovely! I’m very excited that my sample of it should be showing up any day now
I should get a sample – I’m so curious how it will smell when not already drenched in 50 other perfumes. 🙂
Scent cousins! I am in Byredo Gypsy Water today.
Very grey today, so am wearing a sample Caleche, which is richer and warmer than Caleche Soie- but it is just as shy! It sticks really close to the skin on me, and feel very pretty and powdery on this grey day!
OOTD: Marigold yellow blouse, high waist dark denim, short suede boots (purchased on sale!). The jeans are starting to remind me that breakfast pastries really should not be a thing.
OH! I remember my jeans telling me that about 20 years ago!
Tee Hee! 😀 But did you listen? 😀
I have fallen in love with nazook, a pastry sold by the crate here in the PDX area. It’s a perfect pastry- sweet, but not too sweet, stuff with walnut filling and perfect with sweet chai made with rich milk or a hot pressed coffee. 15 minutes of bliss in the early morning!
But my jeans are starting to protest a bit!
Sounds so delicious. Look, pastries or not, gravity and time have their own ideas of what we should fit into. Just enjoy, ok – in moderation, and sniff a lot.
I’ve got to I look those pastries up…
I’d really welcome a gutsier, Lauren Bacall version of Caleche!
Testing Bvlgari Omnia Paraiba today, or I WAS… put it on at 10am and it’s already down to a very faint skin scent. It was nice while it lasted, just a fruity floral but not a stupid frooty one – a lot like the smell of a peach that wasn’t *quite* ripe enough to cut yet.
And according to Robin it’s such a CHEERFUL scent 😉
I think I’d agree, cheerful. But not long-lasting at all.
The review was hilarious, because she kept mentioning how very uplifting it was. I haven’t tried but I will. I love some of their older creations, Pour Femme and Thé Vert in particular.
You can’t be cheerful forever 😉
You just keep on reapplying 🙂
Apparently not!
En Passant this morning. I just really love this one.
Ahhhh… It is beautiful. I have to wait for quite warm weather for it to really bloom on me.
Pre-shower, I’m testing Ys-Uzac Monodie for the first time. Not too sure what I think yet. Very fruity and tart, a bit plasticky.
It is my least favourite of the series. Something about it is very jarring. I like scents that play up contrasts but there has to be a sense of balance whereas Monodie clashes, somehow. I love most of the other Ys.Uzacs though…except the Dragon Tattoo one.
Good to know! I didn’t enjoy Monodie (yay for my wallet and the fact that my sample pile diminishes).
After shower, I change perfume for another that’s new-to-me: Caleche.
I’ve been neglecting Serge and suddenly had an urge for Bas de Soie. I feel very womanly and delicious in my slippers and robe before I dress. Yes – it’s late for that…no matter where you live.
L’Eau d’Hiver today. I wore it to bed last night and found it so cozy and happiness-inducing that I reached for it again this morning.
It’s a gorgeous sunny but cold spring day so my SOTD is Bois de Violette. I seem to prefer to wear it on perfect spring days.
Perfect scent for a perfect Spring day!
Well, it doesn’t really matter what I put on this morning because I had a perfume disaster when I got to work. I brought in a sample of Salomé to explain a concept to my class and my sample leaked EVERYWHERE. Now I smell strongly (overwhelmingly!) of Salomé, which is delicious of course, but also . . . now I’m out of Salomé. I was thinking about saving up for a full bottle – we’ll see how much I miss it. For the moment, I’m very disappointed.
Oh, dear! I want to take a class where a perfume like Salome is a topic of discussion. 🙂
We were talking about disgust as an aesthetic value, but I didn’t actually get to talk about Salomé in much specificity – though they all certainly got to SMELL it. I also brought in Putain des Palaces, which didn’t leak. There’s no justice in the world!
Great lead-in to that topic. This did make me laugh, though, despite my empathy.
I don’t blame you for laughing, it’s very funny. 🙂
Just opened my carefully packaged STC order and that naughty Salome was detectable the minute the package was able to sigh out it’s delectable odor. No sign of leaking, just a strong one!
Yes, it’s hard to ignore! I hope the experience is only pleasantly overwhelming for my coworkers today. . .
I’ve been wearing Misia the last couple of days and really enjoying it’s combination of beauty and bracing. It’s definitely what I’ve needed to get through the last of the term. And on me, it lasts pretty well, unlike some of the other executives. Other longer wearing ones?
I think 31 Rue Cambon is and that is absolutely beautiful.
Ditto
Misia lasts long on me too and also Bois des Iles edt
Oops exclusives. Spell check!
There is something about Chanel perfumes that reminds one of executives, to be fair.
I was thinking the same thing actually! Spellcheck might be on to something.
I thought the same thing as well 🙂
Yep, cool and overcast today so I’m in the cozy warmth of SSS Champagne de Bois. I’m also trying to decide whether to buy a big decant or a full bottle of Desarmant. Perfumista decisions are tough…
I’ll take a portion if you decide to split it 😉
I am considering it as well.
Wearing Un Jardin Sur Le Toit today…
I was liberal with my spraying and shall see how long it lasts…
SOTD is Chanel Beige. Not my favorite, but it works for the office today. Pouring down rain and cold so Beige brings a little sunshine to the air.
that was my wedding fragrance..perfect for that day and that moment..and then I passed it on..
That’s actually a really nice way to think of a wedding fragrance–that it’s specifically a one-time thing, like your dress. I’ve been struggling with the idea of even having a wedding fragrance, because (among other reasons) that loads a single perfume with so many memories, but this is a nice way to circumvent that question.
I am wearing Cuir de Lancome from my sample on one arm and Bulgari Black on the other. The reason is I own Black and love it but not sure whether to buy a full bottle of Cuir… so just comparing them as they both have leather. Cair has rose and Black doesn´t, I´m in conflict!
Try Dzing!
I did but I don´t remember anything special about it. Maybe I need to revisit! Thank you.
To me, they are not at all alike (Black and Cuir) EXCEPT they are both very inexpensive and discontinued and enjoyable. Black is more rubber than leather IMHO. And Austenfan’s suggestion of Dzing was very cute. Add sawdust into the equation with that one, but do smell it.
Testing Figue en Fleur by Andree Putman. Do I have a favorite new fig fragrance?
Sounds like you do..
Is it that good?
Givenchy Dahlia Divin from a free sample. Meh. Pleasant and clean. My first sniff made me think of scented dishwashing soap for some reason. That’s gone away, and it is softer now. I like it, just wouldn’t need it.
Have you fully moved in to your new place?
Unfortunately, we are more than FULLY moved in. We are still trying to figure out where some of the excess items go. It is like packing a car trunk for a cross-country trip… The fragrances are in their cabinet, so better organized. That is good.
SOTD is a bit of MFK Lumiere Noire Pour Femme. I decided to enjoy it while I still can because I think it would be impossible to wear once the scorching summer temperatures arrive.
Gah, I love that one.
I wish the rose note would last longer (or maybe it just burns off quickly on me?), but it is really, really nice.
I would love to know your hot weather perfumes and which ones you wear when it is dry vs when it’s humid unless it never gets humid where you are. New Jersey is worse than a stinky armpit when it gets hot AND humid.
LOL!
Hey, Jalapeno, with your screen name I gotta ask: are you in the SW? (I’m in southern AZ.)
I recently realized that I have far too few summer perfumes, so that’s a well-timed question!
The desert joke/mantra is “But it’s a dry heat!” It’s really only humid when we’re having monsoons. But even without bad humidity, imho, when it’s 105+ outside, you’ve got to watch what you spritz. I’ve worn mostly linear-leaning stuff like Pacifica’s Malibu Lemon Blossom and Nerola Orange Blossom and D&G Dolce. I also wear VS fragrance mists, like last year’s Heavenly Summer (bergamot and ‘orris water’–love it!). That said, I can also wear Stella (McCartney) and Narcisso Rodriguez For Her, especially in the evening. My mother wears Oscar in the summer, and it’s nice.
I think 31RC might work; I’ll have to try my sample when it gets hot. I also think O de Lancôme would be right up my alley.
Do you have any suggestions?What do you wear??
I won a lucky draw held at my local department store! It was one of those fill in a card, pop it in a box and forget you ever entered things…except I won. A big pink box containing a million metres of decoratively scrunched pink and red cellophane and ribbons and full bottles of Ralph Lauren Midnight Romance, Giorgio Armani Code Satin, Viktor and Ralph Bon Bon and Flowerbomb, and, for some reason, a nylon coin purse ( think they must have been decluttering). The downside is that I have no idea what the Ralph Lauren or Armani perfumes smell like and there are no samples in the store to try. Do I open or save and pass on as gifts? Bon Bon is a Non Non for me. Flowerbon is something I can smell in my memory so don’t need. Fun though…and fancy winning! I was told that 8 people entered!!!!that’s Dunedin for you.
Wearing/ re trying Monodie to see if I still don’t like it as much as I recall not liking it.
Congrats! Sometimes it’s just the thrill of winning anything. Kind of like the time I won one of those travel sewing kits in a game of Simon Says. You’d have thought I’d won a yacht to go with the private island 🙂
Congratulations. But only eight! Are Otago’s students on their mid-semester break, or do they never shop? Sadly, my observations of your perfume choices suggest you won’t like your prize, but still, winning! Eggzellent! I won a bottle of Barcadi in 1984, and it’s the only thing ever. I don’t enjoy Barcadi, but I still remember the pleasure of winning!
Congratulations on your win! I say go with the freebie aspect and look at it as a sniffing opportunity: open them up and test them out, and you can still pass them along as a freebie to someone else of you don’t like them!
Congrats, what fun!
Congratulations! On a cruise, I was such an ethusiastic clapper that the art auction auctioneer awarded me a bottle of champagne. I don’t know champagnes, I think it was Brut, and I enjoyed sharing it with my dinner companions later that evening.
Should be an Academy Award for that: And the prize for most enthusiastic clapper goes to Hajusuuri for Cruise Ship Passenger.
I was convinced that I will only last for 2 days of spring florals but I saw someone mentioning SSS Yin & Ylang and ta-da!
SOTD = SSS Yin & Ylang
I got my bottle as a gift from Laurie and Michelyn Camen (Cafleurebon) at my first Sniffapalooza in 2014. It is a very pretty fragrance reminiscent of 31 Rue Cambon. While 31RC is a chypre and Yin & Ylang a floriental, they both share bergamot and ylang as notes and both smell spicy and floral.
Sniffapalooza is coming up this Saturday and Sunday! Who’s signed up to attend, besides me???
You smell great! I have a sample of Yin and Ylang and am trying to make it last until I can buy some more. That’s an interesting comparison with 31RC. I think you’ve put your finger on why I like them both so much: bergamot and ylang-ylang!
i’ll send you some to tide you over… just click on my username to get my email
OK!
I think Ylang-Ylang is just so good it verges on edible. This fragrance sounds divine.
I’m going too. Look forward to seeing you.
Yay! Are you going to the Twisted Lily event on Friday?
I’m planning on it-may be there on the later side.
Would love to camp out there! Are you going?
Hello, hello. I’m a little embarrassed to say my SOTD, ‘cos mostly perfumistas seem to quiver their finely-tuned nostrils in horror when its name comes up, but here goes: I’m in Cashmere Mist. I like it! It’s sweet and gentle and undemanding, but yet it has a slightly interesting something-or-other happening at the edges. It’s an easy companion for working at home today, though I should really have chosen something with more fortitude, considering the things I’m dealing with!
Pffft! Wear what you like and hold your head high! Me, I have several Victoria’s Secret fragrance mists I love wearing around the house because I can spritz them liberally on t-shirts or whatever. …I’m sending fortitude your way!
2nd that. Really, there is a huge range here, and I have yet to see anybody’s nostrils quivering.
We don’t have VS here, so I’ve never smelt the perfumes, but I have to say I occasionally yearn for some of the underwear. It looks superbly, glamorously, uncomfortable: the sort of thing you put on solely to have it taken off, and sooner rather than later, with any luck. If the dear one is able to take long flights next year (here’s hoping!) I will venture in to a VS store and try their perfumes.
Oh, I have a VS addiction problem. Most of the lines (like the Body by Victoria or T-Shirt) are primarily functional, and some of the others veer toward the territory you described. I actually do have a set that qualifies as “OMG where could I actually wear this?!?” which I love to put under an opaque shirt and then and snigger at the world having absolutely no idea what scandalous thing I’m wearing underneath! 😉
Anyway, to the VS perfumes. I like a few of the older ones (Very Sexy, Heavenly, etc.), but I only ever buy them when they go on sale or clearance. The body mist versions and the rollerballs are more reasonably priced.
Checking in very late, but I wanted to put in a word for Beige in this thread. ( I guess Chanel would not like being in a category with VS or CM, but ….) I sprayed some after the discussion yesterday (?). It was one of my early loves. It lost something after the initial aldehydes and flowers and I thought I had moved on. But then it just hung in later as one of those scents that remains and you try to recall what that lovely scent you applied earlier was. It was a quiet softly sweet demure floral- like wearing a satin slip with a simple strand of pearls.
I am wearing Cashmere Mist deodorant, it is one of the best and nicest deo’s!
Wear whatever makes you happy! I have all kinds of inexpensive perfumes and fragrance mists, and I wear what suits my mood! 🙂
When I first smelled Cashmere Mist it seemed totally meh to me, but my husband loves it, so I wear it on a fairly regular basis for him, and it has grown on me.
I agree with all of the above, wear what pleases you, and be grateful for all the varieties of perfume experience available! The last time I wore CM, I got three “What is that you are wearing? It smells great” comments, and one of those times was hours later when I was just thinking I needed to reapply something new to get me through the day…:-)
Just this morning, I got into an elevator with someone who smelled ambery and lovely, and I told her I loved perfume and asked her what she had on. She was embarrassed and said, “I love perfume too, but this is a Victoria’s Secret – E A U – they say it oh, “Eau So Sexy,” but it does smell good, doesn’t it?”
I am not sure if she was embarrassed to be wearing something called oh so sexy at 7:45 in the morning heading into work, or if she was embarrassed to be wearing something as down market as Victoria’s Secret – she whispered the name, even tho we two were the only people in the elevator.
Bottom line – Never apologize! Unless of course, someone starts having an anaphylatic attack right in front of you…
Eau So Sexy (or really, anything that self-proclaims attractiveness) is kind of an embarrassing name even if it’s not morning or a workday 🙂
As the devoted yet embarrassed wearer of a perfume entitled Sexy Angelic, I can attest that when asked what I have on, I virtually always say it’s from a small French line called Honoré des Pres (and usually that’s enough to put the question to rest). I’ve long suspected there must be a right age at which one can toss off such names with perfect insouciance, and either I have not yet arrived at that age or else I blinked at just the wrong moment and missed it entirely as it passed me by 🙂
Sexy Angelic? That somehow seems the wrong way round…it seems possible to me that one (not me!) might be angelically sexy, but somehow much more difficult to be sexily angelic. But whatever: the way the name works is a moot. I’m pootling off right now to look the perfume up.
Oh, and CM proved an agreeable companion for coffee. It got me one compliment, which led to a shared table in the crowded cafe. I ended up having an entertaining conversation with an older man and his two adorable and very funny grandsons. Not a bad haul, by and large.
Heh, I agree, it’s a completely peculiar name. My suspicion is that it was named by a French marketing team, not an Anglophone one, I dare say 🙂 But the fragrance more than makes up for it–pastry-inspired yet airy, wonderful orange (others get more melon but to me it’s orange) and marzipan. It’s very hard to find in retail at present, but I’m assured it has NOT been discontinued…
Not a bad haul at all! So delighted to hear how many people were enjoying CM today 🙂
Actually, now I think of it, Richard rather likes CM too, so perhaps i should file it with Beloved. The warmer this perfume gets, the nicer it seems. I’ve just finished one big task, and now I think I’ll take it out to a cafe for a latte and see if its company is as pleasing when I’m out and about.
And thank you all for the confidence boost. Perhaps I’m not so much shame-faced about what I like as about not being fully sensitive to the notes/synthetic accords/ bad STUFF that others pick up and comment on. I often sit here Downunder reading the erudite comments about perfumes and going, ‘Fancy! I never knew that! I wouldn’t have noticed in a millennium!” But that’s how to learn. And on that philosophical remark, I shall depart these shores for Cafe Espresso.
For what it’s worth–I wouldn’t be in any hurry to learn to notice aforementioned “bad STUFF”! I feel like I’m working in the other direction now, that there are some cheery mainstream things I kinda ruined for myself with vigilance toward “that chemical note” and now am making a point to try to enjoy for what they are, when I wear one–and I think they can be worth wearing, honestly I think there’s a risk of underrating the catchy, earworm-for-your-nose quality that department store fragrances sometimes really nail. So if you can enjoy it, then I think you must be doing it right 😉
I am wearing Adam Levine for Her today so there shall be no nostril quivering from this direction…..
Oh I have GOT to try that!
There are other ears inside an elevator so the whisper is probably appropriate. Imagine her declaring this while a bunch of guys (and/or gals) monitoring building activity hear “Oh so sexy” out of the blue on a boring morning. There are also cameras so comb-over guys can’t hide and one should also never attempt to “adjust” clothing.
Heh, this is VERY sage advice!
I’ve had conversations with younger friends about this very topic. They have mentioned being embarrassed about their tastes in whatever, and I have responded with “Hey, you like what you like. Go with it!”
I have been wearing Vittoria Apuana for the last few days, and I have received so many compliments. People are swooning over the summer-feelings this coconut/pineapple/tropical something scent gives you. And that is just what we need here in Scandinavia now. Summer in a bottle. April has been so cold!
Wore the last of my sample of CB I Hate Perfume Russian Caravan Tea. Never got the smoke, mostly tea up top and rose throughout – which isn’t long. Still, compared to how overwhelmed I get with most roses and/or smoke/incense, I think I need a bottle of this. Yes, need.
Mmmm, you smell good!
Was your sample the water perfume or the absolute?
I got a little overwhelmed today trying to pick my SOTD, and was running late. I ended up grabbing Gucci Rush, and calling it good.
Rushing in the morning is the reason why I need to already have a good idea of the next day’s SOTD the night before.
Chilly and rainy here today, too, with temps only in the mid 40’s. SOTD is AG Neroli, a blind buy for me I bought somewhere discounted because Goutal scents usually work well for me. I’ve only worn it once or twice as It’s probably my least favorite of the ones I have, way too much floral, only a tad green, and the woody notes I love so much escape me in this one. I bought it before I realized that of all bitter orange-related notes (which I love) orange blossom and neroli are my least-favorite. Next time I’ll try it layered over a woody or green fragrance or lotion.
I love neroli scents but haven’t sniffed the AG. Layering it next time sounds like a plan. …I saw that the temperature was like 36 with windchill last night at the Cubs game; meanwhile the roof and panels were open at Chase Field. (Desert humblebrag. Though the Cardinals whooped us, so there’s my karma.)
Cubs’ game was postponed tonight due to cold/rain, my Sox won their sixth in a row in Toronto! Neither Wrigley (Cubs) nor The Cell ( Sox) parks have roof or walls, we are open to the elements but we are tough! Sox have best record in AL, Cubs best record in NL. Should be an interesting baseball season on both sides of town!
Yay for the Sox! Yeah, the Cubs are tearin’ it up; we’ve played them already. We get plenty of cold playing the Rockies! But Chase has to have that roof because from May-ish through August visitors would quite literally die in Phoenix. The universities’ stadiums are open, though….