Happy Mother's Day weekend! We're honoring mothers everywhere with our usual open thread poll. Talk about anything you like — the fragrance you’re wearing today, the perfume your mother wore, whatever.
Or, ask a question about fragrance, then see if anyone else has asked a question that you can answer…
Note: top image is bouquet [cropped] by MZPlus at flickr; some rights reserved.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, Robin and all!
I am wearing Kerosene’s Creature for the first and only time as the sample is done…this is a wild one! First all I got was MINT MINT MINT and now it has dried down to something that smells remotely similar to my beloved Eau de Givenchy…which means I am enjoying it…and it matches the green hue for this week’s community project too!
I just looked up the notes and finally my nose gets something correct-LOL!
LOL! <3
Oh and I forgot to answer the question…the perfume my mother wore/wears….anything and everything….she turned me on to perfume 46 years ago and her love of perfume is still going strong! She never had a signature scent as she was always a perfumista who enjoyed sampling and moving on to new things.
Good to see the sweetly scented apple didn’t fall far from the tree!
Yup and my almost 80 year old dad is a perfume nutter too!
Happy Mother’s Day all! Both my mom and mother-in-law wear EL Pleasures. MIL also likes Beautiful and the original Tova perfume (which does smell pretty good on her) and she was the one who turned me on the the cheap thrill that is BBW Moonlight Path shower gel. I am pretty lucky in both the mother and MIL departments.
Currently wearing JM Red Roses on one hand and RR layered with Pom Noir on the other with an obese white cat on my lap. There is something plastic about Red Roses that I don’t like and I’m pretty certain that my husband will hate Pom Noir, so am going to kick the cat off, scrub, and start over. Maybe just Lolita Lempicka for today.
That’s funny that your mom & mil wear the same scent! It must mean you’re married to the right person?
I would say so. Twenty years last October. Also, my mom (who thankfully doesn’t throw things out, yet isn’t a hoarder) has what’s left in a splash bottle of very vintage Diorissimo EDC that I hope and pray to get my paws on some day.
Oh, yes! Place dibs now.
Oh, and my paternal grandmother, who lived to be 101 immigrated to the states from Germany between the world wars and always wore 4711. I always think of her if I wear it. She was a lifelong swimmer and I think of her when I swim laps at the pool. The towels I bring to the pool came from her house. They’re beat up, but they still dry me off!
Love this.
That’s a great story.
Happy Mother’s Day everyone!
My other half is sick from traveling this week so it looks like I may not get a break this weekend to do some stuff I had planned. I wanted to see Paris Can Wait movie & shop a little. But that will be put on hold for now.
I am sipping some herbal tea, just came back from a natural food store to try some herbal remedies on my partner. My motivation is for him to get better, not because I want to get out and see that movie ;).
SOTD is Vanille Exquise. I love the woods in this one. Woody Vanilla
My mother wore Oscar & EL White Linen
My grandmother CK Escape and Tresor. But mostly I remember her as smelling like Biolage Shampoo
Loves, is the vanilla very sweet in that one? I’m looking for a good, nonsweet vanilla.
Its woody, dry and sharp. For an EDT is has great lasting power…
Do you live close to a AG counter to try it?
I googled it, and Saks carries it. They are downtown; maybe it’s time for a Galleria expedition. ????
Umm, would you be interested in a sample swap?
sure! email me sandrabenedict at gmail dot com
Stephane Humbert Lucas 777 Taklamakan is non-sweet vanilla.
Grrr, did not hit subscribe to follow up comments!
Thanks! That one has been mentioned a few times the past couple of weeks. Added to the ever-lengthening sample list.
Happy Mother’s Day to all. Beautiful day in sunny SoCal and it’s get my hair done day!
My bottle of box of eels EDP arrived yesterday. And it is gorgeous. From being mildly curious about this one about 8 months ago to an FB of EDT and now this, I blame, oops, I mean…thank all you nsters!
Yay! So glad the edp is a hit! ????
Yep Deva,
Fuller, rounder…the boned corset version!
Congrats on your FB!
Hurrah!
Jealous! Plus very happy for you. Beautiful scent.
Can you discuss how the EDP compares to the EDT and parfum? I dislike the EDT and love the parfum, but would love to not spend the money for the teeny parfum bottle!
Hi Now Smell This family!
It’s not a Mother’s Day here yet as in Poland we celebrate it on 26th of May, so I still have almost 2 weeks to buy her a gift. Actually during Mother’s Day my parents will be on a trip to Israel but I want to surprise her when they return. If you can keep a secret I can tell you what perfume treat I’m preparing.
My scent of the way was Jacques Fath Rosso Epicureo – pre rollerblades ride. Post rollerblades ride I’m wearing Eau d’Italie Acqua Decima.
I have yet to see anybody here keep a secret, but do tell us anyway!
I want to get her a travel version of Kilian’s Good Girl Gone Bad. Mum’s been dreaming about it for a year or two but she’s that kind of person who prefers to spend money on others rather than on herself. I’m sure she’ll be surprised but happy.
That’s a wonderful gift. Lucky mother.
It’s wonderful that you can give her something she actually likes but won’t buy for herself.
Being the giver is the best! And she’ll think of you when she wears it which will be so meaningful for her.
Aww….what a sweet son. <3
Thats curious. Its mothers day in Brazil today but in Spain it was last week. In Poland on 26th. So strange!
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. Mine has stepped off the planet but lives on in memory. Specifically, the one Mother’s Day long ago when she proudly stated, “If I had to do it all over again, I never would have had children!” Thanks Mom!
No SOTD yet, doing laundry and recovering from a 3 day stretch of work. Today will be an R&R day, just catching up and watching the circus on TV. Time well spent????
Also, the only perfume I remember my mom wearing is Opium. I still remember the bottle atop her dresser, a warm glowing amber, brought to life by the light steaming through the sheers in her bedroom.
Vintage Opium is gorgeous.
It is!
Do you want some vintage opium things next time I see you, S?
Well yes :)!
My mom said that, too!
Maybe your mom and mine were long lost sisters ????
Well, my sister is a nurse so…..
I had to chuckle at your mom’s “no kids” comment because I actually think my own mother secretly harbors the same sentiment (though she had 6 kids, which might put just about anyone off of child rearing for good!). Not everyone is cut out for motherhood, contrary to what our society at large might say.
I think I was cut out to be a mother of plants, myself.
I figured out very early that I was only suited to be a mom of cats and dogs.
Ditto this!
The key to a happy life is insight into ones own intricate clockwork. Sounds like you know yourself well????
Whether you’re cut out for motherhood or not, the other path always looks more tempting!
So true with pretty much all things in life. Grass greener & all that.
Exactly.
Just hilarious. Though most of us mothers may have thought this on more than one occasion????
Posted in the wrong place. This was a reply to Deva about her mum’s comment.
*waving to cassieflower” ???? Just visited some relatives in your part of the world last fall. Hope you’re having gorgeous weather on your beautiful island!
Waving back to you. Well we had a whole week of beautiful weather but the rain has made an unwelcome return. Par for the course round these parts????
Your mother’s comment is hilarious!
I’m chuckling at your mother’s “no children” comment. I’m as sure she didn’t really mean it as my own parents didn’t really mean their comment. It was a quote from a Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau movie (if anyone knows the movie chime in as my mother can’t remember which one it was): “The first child should be like the first waffle; you should be allowed to throw it away.” I am the first of six.
I always sign my Mother’s Day cards – Love, The Waffle.
That is hilarious! A perfect piece of dark, twisty humor, which is my favorite kind. ????
All six of us, seven counting my Dad (RIP), have that kind of humor. I’ve laughed so hard on holidays when we’re all together that my stomach hurts!
THE WAFFLE. That’s hilarious.
Well. I just celebrated Mother’s Day by eating banana waffles. They were delicious! I happen to like the first waffle because they’re endearingly imperfect. ????
I like your redeeming term “endearingly”.
“How to Parent” says the “first two should be disposable”.
HA! That would include #2, the brother who could drive a saint crazy!
My mother says the same thing! I have two kids and they re young. I´ll have to wait 20 years to say whether its worth it or not but I have many friends who do not have children and I totally understand. Motherhood is an option!
???? So glad I realized I had that option. I wouldn’t change a thing. I realized early that motherhood is the MOST IMPORTANT JOB EVER, and knew myself well enough to realize I wasn’t cut out for it. Kudos to you for rolling up your sleeves and striding into the struggle that is motherhood.
Deva, thanks for the best laugh today! I’m sure that my mother felt the same thing but was never brave enough to say it out loud.
Or maybe I just think that because by the time she had the last of her 5 kids (me and my twin brother preemie), she was pretty much done with it. She wasn’t really suited for motherhood, but circumstances weren’t friendly for her. The late 40’s and 50’s weren’t exactly a “do your own thing” time for most women.
My mother’s only fragrance was only CK’s Obsession but not the perfume itself, as she deemed it “too much” – she would only wear the body cream.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the fabulous moms out there!
My mom has always been monogamous as to fragrance, but serially. She wore Bal a Versailles for years, then L’Air du Temps (neither of which I can remember actually smelling on her), and then Coco most recently. But it doesn’t make her happy anymore, either through reformulation or changes to her personal chemistry, so she’s been searching for a new bestie for a while. I thought she had settled on Coromandel, but now am not sure it “took” – we shall see. It’s interesting to me that I remember my father’s scent (Eau Sauvage and cigar smoke) more than my mom’s.
My SOTM is Tam Dao, but will probably switch to my newly acquired Eau de Hadrien before heading off to a badly needed hair appointment later on. Happy Mothers Day Eve to all the mothers out there.
My mom also was a BaV/LAdT girl, but lately she has switched to Burberry Brit.
Interesting! Maybe I should order a sample of that for my mom to try.
You smell wonderful this morning and will again later. I love both of those!
Happy Mother’s Day!
I’m wearing Tauer Reverie au Jardin today.
My mother used to wear Van Cleef & Arpels First and Bal a Versailles, when I was younger. I need to buy a bottle of one of these scents to remind me of those times. Now she likes to wear Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater and assorted Victoria’s Secret scents.
My grandmother wore Coty L’Origan. I keep a bottle and smell it every now and then to remind me of her.
You smell lovely, Reverie au Jardin is one of my favorite perfumes from Andy Tauer.
Me too…Reverie is my fave Tauer….have you seen that it is no longer available on the Tauer website? Any inside info?
I just checked, and you can still get it in the 15ml explorer set. No full bottles, however. Luckyscent still has full bottles in stock.
House twins. ????
House triplets!
Good morning, everyone, and Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! My mom wore Bvlgari Pour Femme and Coco, and I love Coco, too. I will be missing her this weekend, and actually…I just want the weekend to be over.
I’m in Orange Star, from Andy Tauer. Someone posted on this last week, which reminded me of the sample languishing in my dresser drawer! This one is very nice, but I don’t love it as much as PHI or Lonesome Rider. I’m going to need a decant of one of those two. When it comes to Andy, my wallet is very afraid!
Sounds like a lovely scent, Andy Tauer does some great ones
Sent you an email just now, ma’am.
My first without Mom, too.
It does feel strange, but I wouldn’t wish her one more day of struggle.
PHI is a big time love of mine.
Hope you are able to get through the weekend okay.
All things must pass.
My hubby is getting me out of the house for lunch, and then to the library, which means I’ll stay occupied.
I totally know what you mean about your mom. Mine struggled too at the end. It was time. ????
That was me, you smell lovely!
Oh, awesome, thanks for the inadvertent nudge! ????
Sending hugs to you and everyone else who is having a difficult time this weekend.
Thanks, sistine.
I have a nearly full sample of Lonesome Rider that I don’t need (I tried it once and immediately bought a full bottle). Shoot me an e-mail at payne underscore cm at the yahoo if you would like me to send it your way.
Oh, my, I would love that, sistine, thank you! Sending you an email now.
Happy Mother’s Day to everyone celebrating! And if you’re not celebrating for your own good reasons, happy spring weekend!
In my family, anyone who smells overtly feminine and perfume-y and “old lady” (NOT my words!), they refer to that person as “GG”, as in my maternal grandmother (RIP). When I climb into a car or if someone walks into my home, immediately they will say, “smells like GG in here!” I take it as a compliment. She was a badass lady who rocked the perfume. So I’ll pick today’s scent in honor of her and wear the most feminine frag I own: Amouage Dia.
I love the “smells like GG in here” part.
I don’t think my mother wore perfume very often, but she had quite a lot of it. At a time when the “signature scent” idea was still so prevalent (1960s and 1970s), she had at least a dozen full-size bottles at a time. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to mind me sneaking a dab now and then. Among the first I remember smelling are Arpege and Chanel no. 5. I had never heard of a floral aldehyde, but my ~5 year old nose could tell that these two smelled “alike but different”. I also remember l’Origan, D’Orsay Divine, and Roger and Gallet Blue Carnation from her dressing table, and a number of others whose names escape me. The Blue Carnation was actually my favorite.
Wow, she did have a great collection!
What a great early perfume education! My mother’s favorite was also Blue Carnation until that became hard to find. An SA at Saks steered her to Bellodgia and she’s worn it ever since.
I haven’t been participating here lately, but I have been reading and enjoying everyones comments every day.
This weekend I will practice the use it or lose it method. Just poured on the last few drops of Iris Silver Mist from a sample. It reminds me of the Crabtree & Evelyn Iris shower gel – more root than powder. Après shower will be the last few drops of a Heeley sample, Iris de Nuit.
Perfect mix!
Lord above, what sort of timewarp is this? Everyone knows Mother’s Day was the 11th of March. (Or 7th May in Spain, presumably due to translation delays). Anyway, happy day to American Moms, and I hope your near and dear ones get you something extra-nice to make up for being 2 months late. ;^P
SOTD is Hermes “Iris Ukiyoe” which I saw mentioned in comments yesterday, although it might have been a post from last year that I was re-reading. Notes are iris, orange blossom, mandarin and rose.
I wish the world would coordinate, it’s silly not to!
Koenigsberg – thank you for making me laugh! I love the idea of a delay in translation
In Brazil it s today and in Poland someone mentioned above it is on 26th!!
Finally a bit of warmth here, things were getting desperate. A small spritz of Ambre Nuit for me today.
We are supposed to get warm, finally, tomorrow.
Happy Mother’s Day to the moms here. Mine has been gone a few years now and occasionally I will think that I haven’t talked to her in a while and I should call. Strange how habits of a lifetime stick around….She was not a perfume person but had No. 5 on her dresser and a bottle of Revlon Intimate that she wore occasionally. Mostly I associate fifties recipes with her–stuff with marshmallows, Velveeta, Miracle Whip, or condensed soup. In an effort to get us kids to eat eggplant she dipped it in batter, fried it, and poured pancake syrup on it. Well into adulthood I believed that I hated eggplant, but then I tasted ratatouille and realized I only hate it battered with syrup.
The sample sea is engulfing the whole top of the perfume cabinet so I must take action. I think I will be doing the Holly method until they are under control. This morning I am sampling Cartier L’Envol, very nice but I don’t need any more. Next up–L’Artisan Vanilia.
Love the “Holly reeking havoc” method…have been employing it myself the past two weeks.
I love that story about fried eggplant with syrup. Hilarious. I grew up in the gourmet ghetto so was no stranger to tartars, star anise, and confit at a ridiculously young age. Funny thing was that only a few days ago I was regaling my son and husband with stories about my best friend’s mum, who I loved for her polyester dresses, that she would make us Tang (remember that?) to put in out thermoses on hikes, and most magical of all were the TV dinners where the Mac n’ Cheese, corn hash, and chocolate pudding fudge stuff all cooked together in the foil tray for 30 minutes. You’d peel back the lid, and voila!
I remember Tang and I remember Swanson TV dinners.
Yep, Tang for astronauts.
TV dinners! Classic.
I would fight with my brother over the berry crumble vs the brownie.
Of course mom now is an amazing cook hosting parties left & right. That was not my memory of our kitchen/home growing up.
I loved your blast from the past food memories of the fifties and sixties! Same here with Betty Crocker cake mixes for dessert!
My mother wore Chanel no 5 exclusively for the first 25? years of my life. Then she suddenly stopped and wore no perfume for at least a decade. I asked her why about 3 years ago, and she said she “was tired of smelling like a classy lady in an old movie”. That made me laugh! I introduced her to Jo Malone and she now happily wears Blackberry & Bay and Earl Grey and Cucumber.
My maternal grandmother wore Shalimar. I don’t remember my paternal grandmother wearing any fragrance, but I only knew her when she was in decline. I know from photos that she was a bombshell in her day, so I can’t imagine that she never wore perfume.
My SOTD is Incense Rose, sampled for the first time ever. Yowza. I am in deep with this one. I thought I loved PHI, but she’s going to be mad at me when I step out with her cousin.
Last paragraph was hysterical! I loved Phi so much and drained my decant very quickly…I think I have a sample of Incense Rose at work so I will have to give that one a sniff soon.
Also a big fan of Incense Rose, I like it better than Phi, but I know I am in the minority.
I will join you in that group!
Love the Chanel No. 5 comment. I’ll have to tell my sister that, since she pretty much only wears Chanel No. 5… most everything else to her is “bug spray.” Thankfully it goes well with her Birkenstocks…
Even though I am a Mom, I have yet to associate Mothers Day with myself. This is actually the first Mothers Day I haven’t had to work that I can remember. Mothers Day was a very big holiday for my mother. She did not wear perfume because she said she was allergic. She often accused me of “trying to kill her” with my perfume (I wasn’t) for awhile after she was gone, I couldn’t enjoy wearing anything. My Grandmother wore body powder. EL Youth Dew. Once I could by presents myself, I would buy her powder versions of Beautiful, Chantilly, Gloria Vanderbilt, and White Shoulders.
My grandmother never wore perfume either, only scented powder. I wonder why….
I know my grandmother wasn’t very big on luxury items, but bath powder was probably seen as more of a hygiene item to her.
I’m in a spritz of Habit Rouge this morning but will probably switch it up after a shower this afternoon. Haven’t decided what, though.
I remember my mother wearing Gloria Vanderbilt (that bottle with the swan), Oscar, and Red Door growing up. Many years back she switched to Allure and for whatever reason that stuck, because she has worn it for years. I asked her why a while back and she just said, “I don’t know, I just love it.” So hey, whatever makes her happy.
My favorite aunt never wears perfume but always wears No. 5 lotion and powder. She smells so great every time I hug her.
YOur mother has great taste..I loved Gloria Vanderbilt and drained many bottles of it. I have never noticed anyone mention it until now.
Happy Mother’s day everyone! These weekend I will be wearing Dana Tabu to honor my mother. That has been her signature scent all her life! My hugs and love to Apsara and NancyLeandros who lost their moms recently. I am joining you both in honoring our moms with the perfumes they always enjoyed!
Dana Tabu, yes indeed.
Hugs back to you…
Hugs to you as well, and I hope you have a lovely day.
Sotd: Guerlain Cologne du Parfumeur. Wishing it had better longevity bc I love it so much. I don’t always have the opportunity to reapply, so poor longevity is a bummer. On a different note, I learned that vintage Knowing does a fantastic job of masking the disgusting smell of self tanner! ????????
Was thinking about trying a self tanner just recently.
I imagine the product is so much better than when it first came out and worth a try.
I really don’t mind being so pale in the warm months but a slight tan is very nice too.
Do you have one you would recommend?
I feel like I could write a self tanning primer, having tried a gazillion over the last few years. You really have to experiment to see how it works with your skin tone. Vita Liberata and St Tropez foams are good but take practice. ???? Clarin’s milky-lotion smells good (figs!) but doesn’t give me much color. See what I mean about giving a tutorial. I could go on and on…????????
Very helpful! The Clarins option sounds like a good one for a first timer.
Happy Mother’s day . My mom’s signature perfume is Aromatics Elixir, it smells absolutely out of this world on her, she get compliments all the time and I think it is also something to do with her skin because whatever perfume she wears smells great on her.
I am wearing CD J’adore touche de parfum today and you can see the pic on my instagram along with a childhood photo with my mom.
https://www.instagram.com/herasukyas/
Such beautiful pictures!
Thank you
AE is such a wonderful fragrance, especially the vintage!
Hera, you have quite a talent with your photography. Just beautiful pictures.
Thank you. I love taking pictures of the perfumes and love Instagram.
Love your Instagram
your insta feed is beautiful!!
You three are beautiful! And such pretty eyes! Thanks for sharing.
I love the photo with the vintage minis on a chessboard!
Lovely pictures! I spy a bottle of Byzance… I love that one so much.
Hi NST!
I am on holiday/taking a vacation right now, so my presence here will be somewhat irregular.
I am in Strasbourg right now (I really recommend it! What a beautiful city).
The Hermes store is just around the corner, had to try one of the Hermessences. I chose Osmanthe yunnan, lovely but fleeting.
Because of my vacation, I already gave my mother a present last week.
but also because she loves perfumes as well.
An Ineke sample set. A but of a gimmick-y gesture, because she shares her first name with this brand/nose.
She is really happy with it!
the Ineke sample set is a wonderful gift. The presentation is gorgeous. Each spray vial comes encased in a differing colored tissue paper which is placed in it’s own sliding box which resembles the boxes that the full size bottles come in. They are lined up in alphabetical order in yet another beautiful black box. At least that is how it was the last time I purchased a sampler.
http://www.ineke.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=41
Just in case anyone is interested….really does make a beautiful gift. Sometimes it really IS all about the presentation
Yes the packaging and the name convinced me!
About the juice.
I only tried one Ineke so far, it was not bad. I think it was Hothouse flower…
Yes it is still packaged the same way you described it and it has a very reasonable price. My mother was over the moon with it.
Happy Mother’s Day to all….my beautiful mother is no longer here and I do miss her every day. She was very low maintenance–just Pond’s Cold Cream, a good red lipstick, and Anais Anais. I am like her in that I wear little or no makeup, but as for perfume….I just can’t be faithful to one!!
SOTD–Andy’s Reverie au Jardin followed later tonight by Incense Rose. Keep it all in the family!!
I’m going to wear Reverie au Jardin tonight to be your inverse scent twin. I am all about Andy Tauer lately.
Your mother sounds like she was a lovely woman.
Thanks, she was lovely and kind. I hope to be just like her when I grow up! Still working on it.
thanks also for the Reverie info….I am getting low and may need to spring for more.
My mother has used just Pond’s Cold Cream all of her life and her skin is like velvet (she’s 83). I bet your mom has lovely skin as well.
Ack! Should be “had lovely skin”. I am terribly sorry!
My mother has always liked strong scents, most of them somewhat fruity. (Though I remember a White Linen phase when I was a kid in the 80s that probably turned me away from all perfumes until the past 5 or so years). In recent years she has liked Jil Sander No. 4, which is mostly/maybe discontinued? I got her some Parfum de Therese, which I thought she’d dig, but I think she still likes the Jil better…
The fruity chypres aren’t the best for my skin/nose.
Some Mugler cologne for now, later I’ll be gardening, and post eventual shower I’ll try to put on something exciting.
I love that Jil Sander No. 4, but it’s too much of a heavy-hitter for me to wear it much. I looked online just now and it’s available through a lot of sellers including Amazon.
Yeah I personally find it kind of oppressive so I might not help her find it. (terrible daughter) though when she wears Therese, it’s at too many spritzes as well!
I’m wearing my second favorite perfume today. Dzongkha runs a close second behind Mitsouko. The last years of my Mom’s life she wore Anais Anais pretty exclusively.
You smell great, and nice to have a scent memory of your mom.
Happy Mother’s Day!
I’m still working my way through the very many samples I received along with a perfume order last year (!) from Steven at Place Vendome. I had told him how much I love Middle Eastern fragrances. Today is my third day wearing a sample of Najm Gold by Al Haramain. I like it very, very much, but I am keeping my wallet firmly closed while impatiently awaiting my samples order from Sultan Pasha. I’m so excited about that and expect to fall in love with at least one of his fragrances!
For those of you who’ve ordered samples from him, how long did you have to wait? On I ordered on April 22 and I live in the Netherlands. I wrote to him a couple of days ago, not to nag him, but just to get an idea of the estimated date. I haven’t had a reply yet, and can’t find his group on Facebook. I just want to be sure my order hasn’t gotten lost in the post.
It differs (i’ve ordered 3 times from Sultan Pasha, I also live in The Netherlands)
One time it took more than 3 weeks, but I also had an order arriving within 8-10 days.
Thanks, Jiji. That puts my mind at rest. On eBay, he asks for five working days to process orders. I’ll just be patient.
So there are at least three of us from the Netherlands here on the forum: you, me and Hamamelis.
‘gezellig!’
(there is no perfect translation in any language for that word sorry!
Dictionary says ‘cosy’, some people say ‘hygge’ (danish) comes close, or ‘gemütlich’ (german).
You can find the fb group by searching for ‘Sultan Pasha Attars’ and i think you have to specify you are searching for a group. Its a closed group. An admin will approve within 1 or 2 days.
I understood he was flooded with orders lately and he does everything himself. But what Hajusuuri said: its worth the wait!
My most recent order from him took a month. It was worth the wait.
Ah. Thanks!
SotD = L’Heure Bleue edt, again. I’m infatuated and wonder how long it will last. It’s lovely to find something that suits my mood day to day. L’HB may have a reputation as a “mumsy” fragrance, but I find it glorious. And my life is rather mumsy, so there’s that.
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers and parents, and to all who nurture and give love, of all genders, ages, relationships, and roles.
Tomorrow I will play the piano while a youth choir sings. I’m grateful to my parents for providing me with a broad education that included the arts. And thank you, Mom, for listening to my piano practice, and encouraging me when I needed it most.
Awww. So many ways mom’s nurture us. I wish I had heeded better her encouragements with the piano playing.
I love your acknowledgment of “mother energy”.
My first Mother’s Day without my mom too, like others here. I was just looking at photos the other day. I don’t remember a particular scent, but she had a couple of EL scents. Youth Dew, Private Collection, Estee. She also had Emeraude. She sold Avon so had some of those, most especially Bird of Paradise, which I wore to her memorial last year.
I was downtown at the Hermes boutique this morning. I splurged in a different way…bought a set of three soaps for the husband. No real occasion – his birthday isn’t till July. Got an additional sample of Galop. Sprayed on Elixir de Merveilles…boy, that stays with me. The new blue one didn’t appeal. Nice on the card, but it’s not my taste.
Nasty rain out there. After messed up, crazy subway and other errands, I feel no need to venture out again.
Your mom smelled great. And that’s a great gift for your husband- no occasion needed.
Your mom smelled really beautiful! Awful rainy day, but next week looks very promising ????.
Sending hugs..
Your mom had a beautiful collection of fragrances; I remember my mom having the beribboned bottle of Youth Dew also.
Sending hugs and prayers your way today.
Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there. I’ve never felt grown-up enough myself to have children, and now in my 50s I still don’t think my sense of responsibility is well enough developed
We celebrate Mothers Day here in New Zealand this weekend, so good timing for little knick-knacks I brought back for my mother from my trip. I might have mentioned before that my mother was born without a sense of smell, so she has never been a perfume wearer, and really can’t understand or share my perfume addiction. My beloved’s mother has been faithful to Opium for many years.
That cracked me up. I’m not sure I’m responsible enough myself.
Question: Is there a trick to opening those tiny glass sample vials? I have the worst time trying to remove the little plastic stopper, and it’s also difficult to get it back in!
It’s just brute force, as far as I can tell! They look very delicate, but I think I’ve only ever broken one.
I use pliers, and often have spills. I’ve broken stoppers or caused them to be so bent they’re no longer usable. I thought maybe there is a special knack.
I very gently wiggle the stopper back and forth repeatedly until it releases. To close, I make sure it is aligned and then push down very hard with the top of my thumb.
I don’t have the strength! I have discovered that if I try to screw it back in and then push, I eventually succeed, but not without excessive bad language.
Good morning, all. I have a busy day ahead, because I had a very lazy one yesterday–we went out to play both in the morning and the afternoon, and now I have loads of washing to sort out, soup to make, casseroles to compile, vacuuming to do. Ah me! Sunday might be a little dull. The perfume to help me through all these mundane but essential tasks is Traversee du Bosphore. It’s not green –well, perhaps a little bit around the edges, a soft apple green– but it is utterly delicious. I’ve been wondering recently where my well-documented love of gourmands sprang from. It’s a big surprise to me, but a nice one.
Hope it all went quickly and painlessly — you smell great today!
Mom is a Shalimar gal, sprayed liberally.
I’ve been relaxing all day, reading and taking naps.. and the weather has been on board for such activities.
Added a dab of Rose Flash this morn.; still loving it. I should be receiving a decant of Rose Rebelle Respawn today purchased from the STC sale earlier this week. It’s a wonderful chocolate rose combo that sadly doesn’t last long on me but I miss it and have yet to find something like it.
Wishing all moms a wonderful day tomorrow!
Your mom has excellent taste!
thank you!
Happy Saturday and almost-Mother’s Day, all! Beautiful flowers, Robin.
We’ve unpacked maybe 10 boxes and have 198646245 more. That is hardly an exaggeration.
SOTD is CDG Blackpepper, thanks to the generosity of pixel. It’s such a wonderful, intriguing scent. It smells EXACTLY like black pepper, but somehow nothing like what smooshing some black pepper against my skin would be.
A repost from the xmeet follow-up, because I think I’m more likely to get a response here: A couple of times, things I’ve swapped for have ended up not agreeing with me, so I’ve swapped them again. The first couple times this happened, I asked for permission from the people I got them from. They all responded, “It’s yours now to do with as you wish,” so I’ve since stopped asking. Do you think I should continue asking when reswapping previous swaps or freebies? What if I want to swap decants from freebie or swap bottles?
IMO, if I give you samples or a freebie or a swap bottle, it’s yours to do with as you wish.
I understand that feeling of not wanting to hurt feelings or offend especially if you receive via a freebie. However, that’s the beauty of this community and what we’re doing. Ultimately we want the perfume to be loved and sometimes it takes moving it along to the next person to see if they’ll be that person that really loves it.
If you get something from me, you can do with it as you wish. It is yours and you don’t need to ask me permission for anything.
2nd.
That said, I can totally understand that if you receive something as a freebie, they may intend for you to keep paying it forward if it’s not a fit. For a swap, I think it’s absolutely fine to swap away.
So, sounds like everyone is fine with swapping away swaps, but swapping (decants of) freebies may require permission. Thanks, all!
Lots of grey and rainy weather where I am at, and Mr. Jalapeno is currently fighting a cold. I am hoping I dodge the crud. SOTD = first time to try SL Chergui, from the sample stash. I like it but am not in love with it.
Happy Mother’s Day in advance to the moms on NST. And for those of you who are feeling the absence of your mother, hugs and my sympathies.
Chergui smelled like bug spray the first time I tried it with barely 2 spritzes from a small sample. When I decided to go for broke and used 5, it became a different creature altogether and I love it!
I hope you escape the crud!
No bug spray for me when I tried Chergui. I had your advice in mind when I applied.
I did smell like a very high end tobacconist’s shop.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers.
My mom dislikes perfume. Every time she smells my perfume, she’s convinced that I am trying to kill her. I don’t recall any scent worn by either grandmother but one of my aunts loved perfume and had a refrigerator only for perfume, make-up and other body products. I remember seeing, not smelling, Chanel No. 5.
We celebrated with mom today to avoid the crowds tomorrow. She’s a picky eater these days and I suggested Appleby’s where she enjoyed the fish and chips so that’s where we went. We got there early, right when it opened and asked for a table for 8. The maitre d’ said we have to wait until all 8 people were there BEFORE he will put my name down. I swiveled my head around and said I don’t see anyone else around, we would like to be seated now. He then sat us at a booth that would barely fit 6 so I asked to be seated at two adjacent 4-tops separated by a railing. Although initially reluctant, he belatedly realized that I had just given them another option to seat large groups!
After lunch, I took my mom to an Asian food grocery as she was looking for baby corn, among other things. Customer Service pointed us to the aisle and then left us alone. As I perused the shelves, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I realized the shelves were stocked by brand and not by type of food. What is up with that? Perfumes and make-up arranged by brand? Sure, that makes sense. Canned goods arranged by brand? Nope. Seriously, what were they thinking?
And finally, SOTD = Prada Purple Rain
Laughing about your grocery store experience. But you know, in thinking about the make-up example it seems that even that would be better arranged by product rather than brand. Think about it, if you go to buy mascara, you don’t need to see the concealer or lipstick. It would be great to have all of the mascaras together to compare them. Of course, the brands would never go for that.
Having thought about this more, there are items for which i would have expected to be same thing different brand being in the same section, such as most canned goods. I do realize that ice cream, for example, is arranged by brand as I get that not all ice cream is alike.
With make-up, I think Sephora should experiment with grouping things by item instead of brand!
In another grocery rant — how about people who go to the bulk foods section on the pretense of taste testing prior to purchase? First, unsanitary! Second, that is stealing!
I shop at our local food co-op which has a fairly extensive bulk section. And in all the years I’ve shopped there, I have never once witnessed someone helping themselves to anything! You’re right on both counts though – it is stealing and gross on top of it!
I love the idea of Sephora using the “by item” idea!
I love (love) going to Asian grocery stores, though I only find time once or twice a year. The food and arrangements and packaging are soooo unique; it’s a little vacation/getaway every time I go!
Agreed! There’s always something interesting. This particular one has a good number of food tasting stations, and a bubble tea shop!
SOTD- Giverny in Bloom….gorgeous stuff and so many notes (34 is what I counted)…..so far everything I have sampled from DSH has been lovely.
She particularly makes beautiful florals, doesn’t she?
Here’s my question: if you gave or received a fragrance today for Mother’s Day, what is it and why was it chosen as the gift?
I gave my mother Dame purse sprays because she loves Dame Perfumery and prefers travel sizes.
Oooh, those sound lovely! Which ones? I haven’t tried any but they look wonderful.
My terrific children and husband “gave” me three Jo Malone scents: Blue Hyacinth, Star Magnolia, and Whisky and Cedarwood. Quote marks are because I placed the order! And it came with a bonus set of minis: Orange Blossom, and Blackberry and Bay, plus some other samples from the lovely people at Neiman Marcus. Blue Hyacinth is gorgeous: photorealistic hyacinth in the top and heart notes, and it lasted on me for several hours today, including a long walk to and through our city’s botanical garden, and some errands. I suggested these because of their limited availability; and also because I have been searching for some time for a realistic hyacinth and pink Japanese magnolia. Star Magnolia comes pretty close to the latter. Those are two of my favorite spring fragrances in the garden. I wanted Whisky and Cedarwood because it is a lot like the discontinued Arquiste for J. Crew No. 31, which I have and love.
I forgot to say what was my mother’s perfume. It’s complicated. “My Mother’s Last Perfume”: https://scentsandsensibilities.co/2016/04/16/my-mothers-perfume/
This is so touching, you write beautifully. I am so sorry. But thank you, I really needed a good cry this morning.
Thank you! I hope the rest of your day went better.
Lovely, just sent it to my mom… thank you.
Thank you for your kind comment!
This is so, so beautiful. Thank you!
Thank you for reading it!
This is beautiful, and haunting, sweet, and sad. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for reading!
Happy mother’s day to those who are celebrating! The dogs got me some very sweet cards.
Cool and damp today, perfect for Byredo 1996.
Yay for the dogs, and you smell great!
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers here – a tough, but very important job! And hugs and love to those missing their mothers today.
I celebrated yesterday with my mom, lunch which included a mimosa, her favorite, and then spent the rest of the day with her. She’s in her 80s now and less mobile than she used to be but still so young in spirit. And like I said above, she smelled wonderful in Bellodgia. I’ve never been able to wear carnation perfumes as they are “Mom’s fragrance”.
And I am celebrating with my mom tomorrow — mimosas sounds like a great idea!
Happy Mother’s Day to the moms out there! I sent my mother a small gift and card and will call her later. She has various scents she wears but among the most common are L’Air du Temps, Tresor, and Bulgari Femme. Oh and also Youth Dew. Sometimes now she over-applies, I think maybe due to some loss of sense of smell, and it can be a bit tough (especially because I hate Tresor), but I’m glad she goes to the trouble (and so also with clothes, hair, and make-up) at 85. She gets total strangers coming up to her in the grocery store saying “You’re so beautiful!”
Like yesterday and tomorrow….
My SOTD is L’Artisan Mure et Musc Extreme. I was just in the mood for something a bit light and fun for the day, which alas I have to spend grading final papers.
A lot of Tresor is a lot — but yes, glad she is still appreciating scents.
Happy Mother’s Day! I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I will be taking my daughter to the mall (her favorite place) sotd is Tendre Poison, one of my all time favorites, but also one that I horde. I have to stop doing that.
Happy Mother’s Day! I’m at work, but my mom isn’t in town so I don’t feel guilty. She also never wore perfume, as far as I know. I’m wearing Timothy Han’s “She Came to Stay.” I’ve used the sample a couple times before but today for some reason is the day I’ve gotten to really like it. Maybe because it’s a slow day and I have a lot of time to sniff my wrist. A warm, woody citrus. Not sure I $160 love it, but if anyone was ever reselling a bottle I think I’d snatch it up.
Well, the weekend here really wasn’t too bad at all in the end. Yesterday was a bit chilly but TOMK and I still managed to stroll down to the local Farmers’ Market and get some nice stuff – kombucha, olives, coffees, cheese, salami and (about the only farmer-like bit) fresh veg. Then I had to work in the evening, but it will be paid so that’s okay. And to round things off I watched an appallingly bad film about giant wasps and amused TOMK greatly by shouting at the TV when the stupid characters did whatever stupid things the stupid scriptwriters had dreamed up for them.
Today started a bit cloudy but the afternoon is warm and sunny (and therefore humid, as this is the Midlands). Got some more plants from the garden centre and trimmed most of our 100-foot long privet hedge. (Always a tedious job, but much better done early in the year than later when it becomes more like pruning than trimming). TOMK is delighted because in the morning our next door neighbour was clearing weeds and moss from our shared brick path with a new (to us) garden tool – a kind of long-handled wire brush with an additional metal pint for winkling things out. So, what delighted him is we found a similar one in the Garden Centre and now he can weed between the blocks the paths and patio without getting down on his hands and knees, or scratching away with a hoe.
SOTD was Lubin “Idole”, modern EdP. Great stuff that went well with an upbeat morning.
Top: rum, saffron, black cumin and bitter orange;
Mid: Doum palm, smoked ebony, olibanum, incense and sugar cane;
Base: leather, amber, labdanum and sandalwood.
Being the modern formulation it didn’t survive all day, so before heading for the airport I replaced with Parfums de Marly “Hamdani”, the Mother Of All Leathers.
Top: myrhh and olibanum;
Mid: guaiac wood, honey and cloves;
Base: benzoin, leather, papyrus, sandalwood, styrax and tobacco.
I am a one-man leather gang (and the mean kind, not the Tom of Finland kind). Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, NST folk. :^D
Dang, I have to get a sample of Hamdani!
I tried kombucha for the first time this weekend. Beurk – not my thing at all. It tasted like fizzy watered down apple cider vinegar.
Maybe you really will hate *all* kombucha, but it’s sort of like saying “I tried wine” — they are all so different!
I’m late this weekend, but I have a quick question and would appreciate advice.
I’ve read that bicyclists who ride to work at an office without access to showers often use wipes to clean themselves up before changing into work clothes. Does anyone know what kind of wipes might work for that? I’m looking for ones that don’t smell feminine or have any strong or unpleasant scent, and that aren’t irritating to the skin.
Asking for a friend who runs around all day teaching exercise classes and would like to freshen up on the go.
There are some larger wipes that are marketed towards campers, forget the name. They are about the size of two hand towels and generously moistened to enable full body cleaning. If I remember the brand, I will add a comment.
Here you go. I’m not affiliated in any way, FYI.
Epicwipes.com
Thanks so much, Deva!
Baby wipes are great. Really! They are gently scented or unscented, strong, inexpensive, and gentle on skin.
Good point, especially if they make unscented. They would have to be gentle.
Very good morning, NST. Why do I hate Mondays? Let me count the ways….still, this one, though cold, will be fine and bright, which lets me wear my new white boots. I know, I know–I didn’t do it in the sixties, so I’m making up for it in my 60s. Not shiny knee-high vinyl, just some rather sweet little ankle boots, but still, white boots! At the other end, I’m wearing Grandiflora Queen of the Night, which I pootled out, tried, loved and bought instantly after I read Angela’s review last year. And I still adore it, though I have to say that for such a beauty, its presence is strangely bombasti. Also, it shows off. It’s always shouting “Look at me! Aren’t I GORGEOUS?” It couldn’t be less like the restrained, urbane elegance of Chanel, yet I find myself always agreeing with is own assessment of itselft: it is indeed gorgeous. I wish it didn’t skite so much though.
In other Monday morning news, Dakkie has not only killed one of his knitted mice, but also seems to have eaten the greater portion of it. Well, that is to say, the few sad scraps of wool and stuffing I found on the floor don’t seem to add up to a whole mouse, but I could be wrong. I hope this doesn’t mean that Dakkie will have to go to his doctor for a mousectomy. Interesting to me, the mouse he demolished was the tortoiseshell one. I knew he didn’t like it!
Be well and safe, all. You and your mothers, you all smell wonderful.
I commented on this below.
Your boots sound spectacular! Do they rival the red ones?
Ummm — Ilike the red ones better, but these are good fun too. The kids on my staff said, “Oh, look at your boots….” in a tailing-off intonation that suggested disapproval. Colleagues in my age group said, “Ooooh, white boots!” in quite different tone of voice, and then reminisced about their white boot ’60s experiences…
I have a cat who eats great quantities of wool and cashmere and apparently they can pass it. I thought for sure she was going to need a sweaterectomy, followed by a scarfectomy. She’s also eaten considerable portions of the sofa’s upholstery. I do believe she has an entire woolen factory in her insides, but the vet says not.
Ack! I know that Siamese have the rep for eating wool, etc, but this is the first time that Dakkie has indulged. the dear man says he’s sure we’ll find a noxious little pile of regurgitated KM somewhere — as long this very dear but dim cat is OK, I’ll clean up anything.
Your cat sounds like a terror! How lovely — that is, she must be a real personality, but I’d be a little miffed about the sofa!
Apparently it is that polyester batting stuff that is really bad. My veterinarian brother-in-law says it pays for his vacations.
Happy mother’s day to every kind of mom, whether your babies are human, furry or green leaved! Hurrah for you and your loving support!
My paternal grandmother (who was AMAZING: a traveler, a matriarch; well-read and outspoken and fearless) passed a few months ago. Overall, I lived with her nearly half my life. She never was much for perfume, but you wouldn’t have known it from her abundant use of the Jessica McClintock which I gave her as an odd present one year. She drained the bottle and repurchased it several times, spraying it with abandon and reapplying throughout the day. On her, it smelled classy and natural. Then one day, it wasn’t replaced, and I never smelled a perfume on her again. Otherwise, she smelled of unscented lotions and red wine. What a woman! What a role model!
My own mother liked D&G The One, Safari, and Boyfriend in the last 25 or 30 years and was more or less loyal to each one in turn. She always smelled hugable and is a wonderful, warm hearted woman. I think she mainly chose perfumes that would make someone feel welcomed when they hugged her. Not a bad way to chose a perfume, even if it’s not my own approach!
Have a great day, waterdragon. I do envy foxbins and whomever is in Portland when you and your dear one will be there.
Eek, this was supposed to be a reply to waterdragon!
Thank you! Not so long now — 3 weeks yesterday. I’m closing in on the goal — 3 more lectures in 3 classes; one set of assignments to mark… then away, away, away.
I’d love to meet all of you! Wouldn’t it be the best kind of ‘school reunion’?
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! Have a wonderful day!
Today I’m in N°5 L’Eau to complement my mom, who is wearing a big spritz of the Amouage Gold sample that was part of my gift for her. We make a pretty great smelling team, if I do say so myself.????
Yes you do, and what a lovely present!
FYI, looking up information on Canoe Goods Skive, I found the creator, Jessica Hannah, has two other perfumes for sale on her website (J. Hannah Co.), a Hollywood-inspired floral and a lavender. Samples are not cheap at $30 a piece, but I’m tempted…
I should add, Skive seems to be sold out on the Canoe Goods site, but available in the J. Hannah Co. shop, although I did not try putting anything in the cart yet.
Not quite accurate, it appears you can buy it as a set with a leather tray on Canoe Goods, or a sample.
Happy Mom’s to all! I’m not a mom, but I took total advantage of the day by sleeping in and then making a couple of huge banana waffles. I am now full as a tick and ready for a nap. However, my furry daughter is giving me the “I want to go for a walk” look. So. I will oblige while wafting BoE again today. Have a great day all!
Happy Mother’s Day!
In the U.K, our Mother’s Day was in March, but I’m enjoying reading your stories. My niece (who is 22, that gives you a clue to my age) is due to have he first child. She was talking to my mum (her nan) about when she was a child and she remembered her fragrance, being, Sun,Moon and Stars. Bless her, she tried to get her a bottle, which is ludicrous amounts on eBay, so she settled for a copy (meh!)
I would so love to get her a bottle and see her face. I have tried all the websites and stores that I know without any luck.
If any of you kind people have a sample, or can point me in the right direction to buy one, I would be very grateful.
Sun Moon Stars is available from an American website called BeautyEncounter.com, currently for $27.99, and they will ship to the U.K.
A late Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers, almost-mothers, foster mothers, surrogate mothers, and mothers-in-law out there! My best wishes that you have all been feeling very loved today, no matter what the events or lack of them. ❤️
I’m wearing vintage Chanel No 5 EdT in honor of my mom.