It's Hump Day and Roald Dahl Day and National Chocolate Day and Stella McCartney's birthday. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm in Stella McCartney Stella, from a decant that has seen better days.
Reminder: on 9/15 we're doing edition 2 of the Picture challenge (you can see edition 1 here). Wear a perfume that matches the picture, which is Portraits of the *** Family, called The Family Gathering, summer 1867 - early winter 1868 by Frédéric Bazille, shown recently in the exhibit Frédéric Bazille and the Birth of Impressionism. You can read more about the painting here, and you can see a larger image here.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2017, where I'll try to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is from Stella McCartney's pre-Fall 2017 campaign.
Roald Dahl Day! That is great, I love reading his books to my class. At first they are scandalized because the humor is often a the adult’s expense. Good luck that his day is on chocolate day. He and his wife did a cookbook based on his stories. and when he was a kid his school actually did tasting for a nearby chocolate company. (There is a lovely interview with his wife on America’s Test Kitchen podcast).
I am enjoying Frangipani from an Ormande Jayne sample that came in my Fumerie package. A little faint but lovely.
Thank you for the cookbook tip – I had no idea!
I didn’t know either.
I have a cherished cookbook that is based on the AA Milne Pooh stories, sent to me from an English childhood friend (her parents lived here for some years when she was small and we became friends). I’m thinking of seeking this one out.
I bet it has recipes with honey?
Yep!
And a recipe for Getting Thin.
Or recipes for bears stuck in tight places
Adorable! I’ll have to look into that.
Interesting tidbit of trivia! I’ve enjoyed re-reading some of his books as an adult.
You smell great. One of my summer favorites!
what is a fumerie package? I need one
I ordered from Fumerie in Portland and my package came with three samples and he let me choose when I was ordering over the phone.
My girls love Roald Dahl, maybe the cookbook will get them in the kitchen!!
I love his biography., Solo. Have you read it? It is the kind of wild ride you’d expect his life story to be.
I wonder what kind of fragrance would fit him?
????Thank you for the cookbook tip. I didn’t know.
Good morning!
Wearing Guerlain Idylle, and enjoying its soft white florals and musk….one of the few white florals that doesn’t stir up a headache! LOL!
School’s out again for a 3rd day due to power outages and downed trees, and the thrill is gone! LOL . It’s time to get back to routine! Still, we are BLESSED. Thinking of Texas and Florida that have a much longer recovery time ahead!
Hurricane related? Or fire? I know the west has a lot of fires.
I’m in the Atlanta area, and Irma swept thru! Just enough wind and rain to disrupt the normal routine….
Oof – I hope your power hasn’t been out for three days?
We got really lucky! Only out 8 hours, so no big deal at all. Some people have been out since Monday though!
Whew! And wow….
You smell lovely. I feel like Idylle is such a hidden gem among the Guerlains. White florals = headaches for me, too, but never with Idylle. Wasser weaved some magic in that stuff. Complements galore to boot. Have you tried any of the flankers like Duet or Sublime?
Atlanta is one tough city, but all those gorgeous trees and highrises don’t take well to that kind of wind and rain. So glad you are ok!
I actually didn’t know there were flankers to Idylle! Too many flankers in the world to keep up with….I bet they are gorgeous!
PS. My office has been incredibly slooooooow this week, so I killed some time on Ebay. (Never a wise investment LOL). Got up this morning to find I had “won” a bottle of Elie Saab Resort Collection 2017. Can’t wait to see what I bid on…..HA HA! I’ve been very restrained this quarter, so this will be a treat!
I have one of the Duets, and it is lovely
We were out of school for a week a few years ago due to flooding, and I swear I was going insane by the time I got back to work. I can’t imagine how squirrely your kids are getting!
You smell great! I also really like Idylle. Every time I wear it I think “Gee, why don’t I wear this more often?!?”
You smell lovely.
I have a bottle of Idylle, and when I wear it I receive lots of compliments. The Idylle body lotion has little glitter specks in it. So nice to wear at night
Roald Dahl Day indeed! So many options if one wanted to wear a perfume to celebrate one of his books are characters.
I’m wearing Stash– just because – I really love It. I was up all night with a vomiting child – so I just grabbed what was there.
You smell good! Hope your child feels better soon.
Thank you! Sickness is going around (already!)
I hope kiddo feels better and that you can get some rest!
Thanks Elisa P
No vomiting child, but I grabbed Stash this morning, too. We small so cool!
Yay! it’s a Stash party!
Hope you get sleep tonight!
Thank you!
Hang in there sister! Speedy recovery for your little sick boo
Thanks! Here’s hoping is a 24 hr (or less) bug
You and Karen B do smell lovely indeed!! Noticed in past few months that UTube frag com is finally discovering Stash and freaking out about how fantastic it is. Hopefully, good word of mouth will bode well for it in the long run. Saw it going for half price at Ulta a few months back and panicked that it was going to be discontinued. You know that song, “Which one of these is not like the other one…,” that’s how I feel everytime I walk into Ulta and see it sitting on the ladies fragrance shelves at Ulta.
Hope your little one is better very soon and you get some rest tonight! (or sooner, naps are a good thing)
: )
ha! that’s funny, and so true, it does stick out at ulta
I bought it blind based on the nst review and comments and was not disappointed!
I hope your kiddo feels 100% better soon!
thanks sistine!
Ugh, so sorry to hear about your kiddo. I hope you get some naptime today. On the upside, you smell amazing!!
Thanks & thank you!
Oh, so sorry you little one is sick.
Poor thing
I hope both you and your child feel better.
Hope your child feels better. You smell great!
Very busy day working outdoors for a couple of hours and then boring meetings for the rest of the day. Feeling dizzy which is pretty uncomfortable when standing on a scaffolfing. Coffee to the rescue! Wearing Hermes Un Jardin sur le Toit. Refreshing and simple!
Yikes! Careful!
Scary, but I survived!
you smell great too
be careful!
Thank you!
house cousins
Please tell us the coffee worked…
It helps sometimes! Back to the office and feeling better.
Wearing Civet from Zoologist.
I can just see the civet cat hiding in the green bushes in our painting above.
Love Civet, you smell grand.
It’s my wedding anniversary today, and I’m celebrating in Vol de Nuit extrait.
Happy anniversary! You smell divine
Happy Anniversary!
Happy anniversary! Vol de Nuit is the best perfume name.
classy!
Happy anniversary! VdN is very special to wear for a special occasion!
Happy anniversary!
<3 doing anything special?
Congratulations! You smell lovely.
Happy anniversary! You smell incredible.
Happy anniversary!
Happy anniversary!
Happy anniversary! That is one of my all time favorites–you smell wonderful!
Happy anniversary!
Happy anniversary!
Happy Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary!!
Oh my goodness- just from reviews I’ve read- you must smell lovely. Happy anniversary!
Happy anniversary!
Happy Anniversary!
We are celebrating Roald Dahl Day here at the library. My fragrance contribution is Oolong Infiniti, because what’s more British than tea?
What fun — what is the library doing?
Basically just some coloring sheets and puzzles. Nothing that involves a river of molten chocolate, I’m afraid.
Ha, but way better than nothing.
It is Dot day on Friday too, as in Peter Reynolds “The Dot”.
another book I love and read to my class before our first art project of the year!
Chanel Bel Respiro which I haven’t worn that much. Enjoying its clean, damp green-ness today. Thought it might be a good atmospheric match for the painting: green, shady, well behaved, proper, and inoffensive. Feels more like a hazy watercolor than an oil, though. And not in the least bit sexy, lol.
I imagine you smell wonderful!
So, why are the subjects staring at the painter? It looks more like a snapshot than a portrait – I guess in 1867 he might have taken a picture and based the portrait on the picture. Why isn’t the painter scootched over more to the right? So many questions with this one!
I noticed that too–that this looks like a photo, with everyone looking at the photographer. But that COULD have been because the artist was implementing a photographic aesthetic as a device. (My former teacher Alexander Nehamas proposes something like this in a lengthy discussion of Manet’s Olympia in his book Only a Promise of Happiness: The Place of Beauty in a World of Art (Princeton, 2007). Olympia was painted at 1863, and other artists were also influenced in framing and composition by some features of photography. As for the off-balance composition–weighted far more to the left–this might show influence of Japanese art on the French artists in this period, since Asian art often uses yin/yang principles of design involving more empty space and resists very centered compositions. Degas was showing Japanese influences by the 1860s. I don’t know much about Bazille, but presumably he was operating in these same circles in Paris.
How interesting! I will look at Olympia and re- look at some Degas paintings with this new info, thanks!
Sounds like an interesting book. Manet is my favorite and Olympia a masterpiece. I also don’t know much about Bazille, but I will definitely seek him out. He has a similar feel.
I just looked him up on (trusty old) Wikipedia and learned he died at a tragically young age of 28 in the Franco-Prussian War! Very sad. He had already accomplished a great deal in his art by that time, but might have gone on to do some real masterpieces.
Calypso, are you also a philosopher? Nehamas was my advisor’s advisor. Of course, you needn’t answer the question if it is too intrusive!
I ask because I’m toying with a second (well, sixth or seventh tbh) research project on perfume and am curious about other people whose interests overlap. There’s plenty of perfumista literature, and plenty of philosophy of course, but not much philosophy-perfumista literature.
Yes, who was your advisor? You can write more to me, cfreeland9999 at yahoo land.
I was guessing the same about it being done from a photograph.
Well according to this source, he was a plein air painter, and did this almost entirely out of doors.
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/paintings-analysis/family-reunion.htm
Ah, interesting. Thanks for that.
I actually find the painting kind of creepy, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. (Nor do I want to stare at it long enough to analyze it!)
They look repressed. Elisa’s choice of scent is very fitting.
I find it more melancholy than creepy. They look like they’re at a funeral rather than a birthday gathering. Or they’re the bored bourgeois.
Ha!
Twins in Bel Respiro EdP
It’s going back up to the 90s the rest of the week, so I changed my mind about wearing Scherrer 2 and I’m wearing AG Eau du Sud.
Love Eau de Sud. It is so gorgeous! Maybe I’ll wear that on Fri for the picture challange!!!
it would work, since the picture is set in the south of France. Provence perhaps? Anyway, I am pretending that they are on a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean off in the distance.
Roald Dahl and Chocolate, two of my favorite things!
My breakfast included a piece of chocolate turtle = a flat lump of nuts and caramel covered in a thick layer of bittersweet chocolate. Nom.
Drinking green tea. SOTD is Vilhelm Don’t Tell Jasmine. It registers as a barely sweet, pleasantly well behaved jasmine on me. I like it. I might have dabbed too little of it though.
Jealous of your breakfast!
At the dentist’s office with my mom. Yesterday, she got a Subaru with all these bells and whistles and she wanted me to tag along because she was nervous to drive it. Her old Subaru was 10 years old that didn’t have a lot of bells and whistles. So I decided that my SOTD would be Epic.
Lucky her a new Subaru! Unlucky you if you have to figure all the bells and whistles. I have come to love bluetooth but heaven help me if I had to rad the manual to set it up again.
It took me a year to get the phone set up in my Subaru. Finally had a friend’s son do it for me. I’m not a Luddite by any means, but jeez – that stuff is not intuitive for me any more.
I love my non-bells and whistles 2010 Subaru. I dread the days when a need a new one b/c I just don’t care for all the e-car stuff. I almost have a panic attack when I occasionally have to drive my parent’s souped-up ford explorer. Too many buttons and settings for me – too distracting, too many bleeps and bloops. I have enough computer and tech stress in my life from work without needing to see all that stuff when I get in any car. I crave analog serenity and simplicity!
Agreed. I had to set up my new desktop last weekend, which should have taken all of 10 minutes, but ended up causing me no end of stress and lost hours. It’s not the general concepts that elude me, I’m an “I can probably fix that myself” kinda woman. It’s when something goes wrong (Windows 10 not recognizing the native resolution of my second monitor), and I research it in order to diagnose the problem, apply some sort of remedy, then the remedy causes some other problem that I have to diagnose, etc.
I have found myself these days becoming quite annoyed with my phone. Having it around all the time, hearing it ping, feeling like I need to carry it 24/7, hearing it ring on the first floor when I’m on the second, and the list goes on. Perhaps I am a Luddite, after all.
I’ve started turning off my ringer and putting my phone in a drawer unless I’m expecting a call. I miss the old days of answering machines and a reasonable expectation of a wait to hear back from someone.
I took a break from my phone and other internet-connected devices on Monday. It was a relief.
I left my phone (an old Nokia slide) in Australia. On Monday, I had to ring someone who said they would get back to me and asked for my mobile number. There was a pause, then an incredulous voice said, ” You LEFT your PHONE In AUSTRALIA?” as though I had just announced with authority that there were just ten minutes until the end of the world….we never resumed the first conversation because I got bored with the way she boggled st my personal choices. My point: I don’t mind at all not being constantly available to anyone should suddenly thinks I might be useful/fun/knowledgeable or anything else.
I loved my old Nokia flip phone, and was sad when AT&T wouldn’t let me renew my contract with it.
My phone often goes flat because I forget to charge it and half the time I forget to take it with me when I go out. I am far more addicted to my iPad than my phone.
This Is the exact reason I chose the van I did: totally basic, no bells, no whistles, key required to unlock and start (I did cheat and get remote entry installed). The less computer junk installed, the less can go wrong. And in 5 years, all your car computer gegaws will be obsolete.
I drove a 2000 Subaru until 2014, then got a brand new car. Three years later, I still think it’s weird that I don’t have a regular car key anymore.
I have a 2014 Subaru, and they forgot to update the owner’s manual to explain the new steps required to change the clock. I feel like an idiot every time daylight savings time comes around and I have to sit in my car watching youtube just to get the correct time to show.
Another Subaru lover here! Just signed the lease for my new one and I should be able to pick it up in a few days. Woo hoo! My new one is even the same color as my current one, that’s how much I like it. Bring on the bells and the whistles – I’m a gadget geek.
The only thing I don’t like about my Subaru is the cup holders. I hope they have changed them when I get a new one – whenever that will be.
I dug out my fall perfumes yesterday, and found a whole bunch of stuff from the swap meet that I’d forgotten about! It was mini-Christmas in September. Wearing ELDO’s Divin Enfant today (seemed a bit Roald Dahl-ish). Everyone describes this as neroli and marshmallows, but on me the tobacco note really takes over. Nice for fall (even though it’s still 100 degrees where I live).
That one sounds interesting! It’s still too hot where I live too, I can’t wait for fall.
It wasn’t love at first sniff, but it’s really growing on me. A very easy to wear leather/tobacco with lots of sweetness in the background.
SOTD is vintage Guerlain Chamade pdt. I am totally at a loss for the painting challenge. Too many inputs for me to decide. It’s like a big brain teaser!
Chamade is beautiful and I don’t wear it often enough. I’m trying to figure out what to wear on Friday too.
I was thinking of wearing a stinky perfume that doesn’t seem like something the subjects would enjoy, since they seem to be looking at us with surly faces
Oh, me too with the painting. Though I suspect I’d be having an easier time if the weather were sunny and warm — it looks like spring or early summer in the painting, and I’m too fond of autumn to mess up the experience of wearing coordinating scents right now.
Charade is wonderful, you smell so good!
Chamade (thanks, auto-correct lol)
My SOTD is Le Labo Gaiac 10 and it is “bleh” on me. Faint musk and wood, nothing much to like or dislike.
That’s how I felt about it. I know it has lots of enthusiastic fans and nearly all the SAs said it was their fave and a best seller. Kind of baffles me.
Same exact experience here. The SA gave it high praises, but actually admitted that she drenched herself with it when she wore it. I could only detect it on skin when I got out of the mall and into my car.
I’m hankering after Rose 31 and Iris 39 from the line…thanks for the Iris 39 sample, BTW. ????
I couldn’t smell it in the shop, either. Glad you liked the Iris! I think it’s great.
31 RC EDT…
Best perfume *ever*? Please weigh in… ????
A little too much patch for me, but I can appreciate its beauty even so.
You smell lovely! Enjoy it
Yes. The edt was marvelous.
Yes. It. Is.
Thanks for helping with my fragrance decision for the day. Twinning and smelling great!
Very happy to hear about National Chocolate Day. Scent will be Profumum Sorriso from my sample.
I just bought two bars of Green & Black’s Pure dark chocolate salted caramel 70% cacao which I can now enjoy fully knowing I am in sync with the day. Or at least a piece of one.
Bar, that is. Not a piece of the day.
I’m wearing Chanel Chance Eau Vive and drinking a cup of Twinings Buttermint tea. After I read that today was National Chocolate Day, I grabbed a small handful of chocolate chips to have with my tea
we have a chocolate stash in our place..planning on eating a few bites now that the little ones are napping..
sounds like a good plan
I really like Eau Vive. It’s my favorite of the Chance line.
I enjoy wearing it. I don’t think I have ever sniffed the original Chance.
My daughter enjoys wearing Chance Eau Tendre. It smells really nice on her, but I do not enjoy wearing it as much as Eau Vive.
I bought my daughter in law Chance Eau Fraiche for her birthday last May. I have never given that one a proper try. I need to get on that.
L’Ambre Des Merveilles
Tea: Nocturne Oriental by MF
In my quest for drug store red lippy ( I splurged on Lipstick Queen and I am huge fan now) one of my friends dropped off a package of her favorite red lippy from the drugstore and they all look fab on me. Was such a sweet gift and I was so surprised. Wanted to share with anyone on NST who may be interested.
Her favorites are two balm like red (your lips but better) Revlon Kiss in Crisp Apple (this one is scented) and Almay Red-light.
And the last one is a gloss, Revlon Colorstay Ultimate in Tom Tomato.
Good tips, thanks! shopping for drug store make up is one of my simple stress reliefs.
I love the idea of wearing red lipstick casually – I’ll have to try it.
When I pulled out the wand for Top Tomato (not tom) I thought to myself..no thank you no thank you..too red! But on and a blot it is very flattering.
I’ll look for that one (sorry it’s not named Tom Tomato tho)
I also thought the name Tom Tomato was cute.
I’ve worn Top Tomato, agree it is very flattering.
I like a SHEER red lip on me (and am slightly jealous of those of you who can rock a full-on classic starlet red lippie).
Me too! I am a red lipstick scaredy-cat
Me too. And I keep wasting money trying anyway. My last fail was NARS Bette which is a stunning deep blood red. I do like applying it on the back of my hand just to look at the gorgeous color but I think it’s time to take it back to Sephora now.
You smell great!
I also love red lipstick, and Lipstick Queen’s Red Sinner is one of my favorites. Of the drug store brands, I like Revlon lipstick the best, too!
I will look that one up!
Have you tried Lush’s ‘It started with a kiss?’ It’s a classic apple red lipstick/tint ( in stick form) . I prefer the nude tint myself (sunkissed) and it lasts for ages, and is neither sheer nor too matt
ooo..I will check it out next time
I’ll have to check those out.
You smell terrific!
First day at work after vacation wasn’t so bad today.
Had like 100 mails waiting for me but went through all of them today.
SotD is Prada Amber Pour Homme Intense.
Yay – first day back is often the hardest!
Agreed! I remember last year it was terrible…
Does having a brownie with afternoon tea count for the Chocolate Day?
Having a brownie is always a good idea, whether it counts or not.
Chocolate doesn’t ask, chocolate understands, huh?
Ha! Well said.
Welcome back, I hope your vacation was awesome!
It was, it was. I just shared first part of my travelogue on the blog.
Aw, I didn’t realize it was Stella McCartney’s birthday or I would have worn Stella or Pop! As it is, I’m in BPAL The Apple of Sodom, because here in Seattle it definitely feels like fall and I felt like an apple perfume would do just the trick. Also I wanted to finish the sample.
I’m back from a lovely vacation and the dunwannas are strong. But hey, I’m doing okay so I can’t complain. I hope everyone else is having a good Wednesday!
I should have gone with Lily, this Stella is not good…
The rain and wind of yesterday (Irma overspill, even this far north) have subsided and it is dry, if cloudy, and 72F. I rather like it. SOTD is Cuir de Lancome, which today is beautifully smoky.
And here is a picture of Gaze in band uniform, playing the National Anthem before the Virginia Tech-Delaware game this past Saturday. At VT, the Highty Tighties (cadet band) and the Marching Virginians (non-cadet band) alternate pregame and halftime shows.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/42316262@N08/36319873233
Band geek alert: if you zoom in and look closely, you can see the 50 yard line marker reflected in the bell of his trombone.
Wow, what a sharp looking crew!
Neat picture and yes, I could see the big “50”!
Gorgeous breezy sunny day, wearing JM Myrrh & Tonka. I dreamt last night I was testing incense perfumes and wanted to buy something but they were all so faint I couldn’t justify a purchase. LOL
your brain telling you something?
Yes, need to stop buying perfumes!
Triple strength coffee.
Workout.
Running late, because of extra long shower.
Dove Nutrium Body Wash, milky sandalwood, hints of ylang ylang and mimosa.
Reminds me of a perfume?
Anyone know?
I almost caught it in the shower twice, but it stuck its tongue out and ran away!
LOLOLOL
Carpe Diem.
Peace.
I’ll take this coffee in an intravenous drip, please.
Stat !
Moraccan Argan Oil, version.
Very scatterbrained today……
So do I need to go smell Dove Nutrium? Is it delicious? Or you were just curious what it smelled like?
No, I showered with it today.
Make sure it has Moroccan Argan Oil at the bottom.
I have not smelled the Dove, but had to mention that my teen son uses Agadir argan oil hair mousse which smells like Bulgari Black. I sneak sniffs of his hair when he’s not looking.
Thanks for the reply, tiffanie !
you betcha, Bear, I hope you’ll let us know if that run-away perfume finds it’s way back to you.
You know what else smells like Bvlgari Black? Lush’s American Cream hair conditioner. Must be the vanilla. Anyhow, the scent lasts all day and is usually still there after the next day’s shampoo.
mmmm, that must smell delicious!
I woke up grumpy this morning, so I chose a super happy, party fragrance to trick myself into feeling better – Baccarat Rouge 540. Worked like a charm!
Smart move! Love it.
National Chocolate Day?? Heck yeah! (though, every day is pretty much national chocolate day to me.)
Started by trying out Katy Perry’s newbie, Indi. It’s Stash lite, wayyyy lite. Or perhaps I’m anosmic to one of those claimed 11 musks. Its not bad, but it’s not Stash either. Vacated my skin within an hour so it was on to the next: Tom Ford Noir Pour Femme. The vanilla, kulfi, and ginger make for a spicy milk chocolate vibe then the rose, jasmine, and orange flower mix with the sandalwood to balance the whole thing into a smooth, close-to-the-skin wonder. “F’ing Fabulous” would have worked for this one, too. ; )
I just posted below that I thought the same about Indy.
Thank you, had totally forgotten about that one and meant to announce it.
Today is a day of olfactory half measures and bumbles.
My stupid, no good, annoying, poorly designed bottle for L’Occitane’s Pierre Herme series is on its last legs, or last sprays. It is now officially leaking, whinging, and sputtering, and that is when it works. So I am determined to get the last quarter inch or so out of my flacon of Pamplemousse Rhubarbe. It is a perfectly fine grapefruit scent–veering into mouthwatering territory and not sulfuric at all. But I will be glad when I can let it go. The perfume’s been dripping, dropping, spouting, and spitting all over me and my desk for the last two days of my determined usage.
In my journey away from coffee and caffeine… (Woe is me!!!) day 6: “Chocolate” Teeccino and I’m down to half a caffeine pill. This is not chocolate, coffee, tea, or anything ANY normal human being would pursue.
Honestly, I would be tempted to take it back! But I probably never really would bother to do it.
Congrats on your caffeine journey, sounds like you’re doing great!
I’ve just been reading an article in the Guardian about the destruction of Ivory Coast forests due to chocolate production – and now feel I should give that up. Admire your caffeine cleanse…I’d probably have to start smoking to compensate.
I tried a Pierre Herme/Occitane jasmine scent last week which was pretty but the tester had similar phwuttttttt dribble drool problems
SotD is Fou d’Absinthe
Perfect for the stormy weather today.
And I feel a cold coming up…all part of the colder months…
I catch two colds every year but i hardly get really sick (like the flu), so I am fine with that.
And yay for chocolate and Roald Dahl!
Sorry, no special and warm feelings for Stella and her brand/clothes, its just waay to expensive.
….I do admire/like some expensive brands for their designs (even though I cannot afford them), but Stella McCartney just isnt my style i guess.
Nor mine! Her designs always look slightly off kilter to me.
I’m wearing Sur le Toit again to finish off my decant today. Slightly annoyed that the department that my co-worker and I were supposed to teach a workshop for today had to cancel at the last minute. The rain for cancelling was out of their control, but it’s still a bummer. I picked out an outfit specifically for being in front of a room full of people dang it. Trying to look on the bright side that now I’ll have more time to get other work done today.
Twins! You smell great!
SotD = Hiris
Hiris balances me. Soothes when I’m anxious, lifts when fatigue hits hard. Today I’m tired with a side of lazy. I need to be productive, so Hiris + chocolate feels right.
Chocolate from See’s and Lindt are my favorites. Caramel fillings are always welcome, and I can go with or without nuts in my chocolate. Have a sweet day, NST!
I like Hiris a lot but it’s gone from my skin before I get from home to the office
Hiris is a good one, but it is sad it doesn’t last for you. For me Hiris in the older blue bottle is gentler, more fleeting. The newer transparent bottle smells stronger. It has more of an edge, a little metallic perhaps, and it lasts better.
National Chocolate Day?!?! Well. That certainly shapes how this day will go. I’m in Orange Sanguine, though I should’ve gone with something peachier, since this is Roald Dahl Day, too.
I’m very excited to share with you all myyyyyyy [drumroll, please] Etsy page!!! After reading the comment policy a number of times, I think I can put this link here as long as you know that the products at the other end are mine: [Ed note: poof! see my comment below.](If I’ve misunderstood the comment policy, Robin, please feel free to delete that.) I went with Champs Elevés for the shop name (thanks, Coin-Op!), since you can’t have special characters in the name, and roseplusmary just doesn’t have the same, uh, vibe to it as rose+mary. Unfortunately, I had already written that on all my things, so I guess the body products are from rose+mary by ChampsEleves. So. Not complicated at all.
Now I shall just twiddle my thumbs waiting for someone to find my listings. After some calculation, I have despaired of ever making back the $400 I’ve sunk into the project (yes, that is up from the last number I quoted here; there are just so many lovely things to buy, you guys), but hey, at least I’m having fun, and at least I learned how to take super-emo pictures. And now I know how to make scrubs and lip balms and oils.
Good for you! I will definitely visit your site and wish you luck.
Fantastic! Best wishes!
Good luck, Koyel!
How awesome! Good luck!
Good luck in your new venture.
Congrats on your Etsy shop! I just put in an order.
Thank you, sweetgrass!!! That’s so nice of you
I’m also happy that the first sale is going to someone I “know” (and therefore, I hope, someone who will be indulgent of any mistakes…?). For example, what am I supposed to do with a USPS SCAN form? Will it still get to you if that doesn’t go anywhere on the package…? (Genuine question.)
Anyway, I so hope you enjoy it!
You are all awesome! Thanks for the encouragement!
Koyel, congrats on your new Etsy store! But this is the relevant part of the comment policy:
“Retailers, ebay merchants and perfume houses may not use the comments section to advertise, promote, or link to their wares.”
You are now a retailer!
What you can do, and I would encourage you to do so, is go into your profile here, and in the URL part, put a link to your store. Then your user name will be a link, and whenever anybody clicks on it, they’ll go to your store. But I most unfortunately do have to ask that you not try to sell products via the comments, because then everybody can, and then well, we can all imagine.
Thanks for the clarification! I mistakenly assumed that Etsy was the retailer. I’ll follow your advice
Hmm, I put in the URL, but my username hasn’t turned into a link. What am I doing wrong?
Your user name is now a link! Just took some time to show.
Oh I see! Thanks
I’m an impatient little person.
Wonderful! Good luck!
Good luck! Don’t forget to change your profile to include the link to the store.
Done
Excellent advice!
Congratulations!!
Exciting! Great job and congratulations Koyel!
And, I am so flattered you used one of my name suggestions
I will definitely check out your site – I am a beauty junkie!
Congratulations and good luck with your Esty site!
Congrats! Nice photos.
Ronald Dahl doesn’t deserve a day and probably created it himself. He could write, but all other traits were those of a bastardly and cruel tyrant who was loathed by his publisher, Knopf, and his wife, Patricia Neal, a loved and respected actor. I stopped buying his books for my children when I learned this.
So anyhow … I’m wearing Stash, or I was. I don’t think my eye doctor will be able to detect it.
Apparently Dr. Seuss didn’t like children, either, but my students would be the ones who would suffer if I only stocked the shelves with books by perfect people.
I’m predicting your shelf would be empty????
Yes, Dahl was probably a horrible person, and a racist and a bigot.
I am still very fond of his books though and of the memories of reading it in class and at home with my parents and later by myself.
If I can not separate these things (person and the work they produce) there probably is not much art/music or literature left for me to love.
One of the reasons why I try never to read anything about writers, actors, etc.
Huh, Good call
I’m always conflicted about bad people who produce things I love. With people like Hemingway, whose work I dislike, it’s easy to simply write them off. With Dahl, whose work I grew up with, it’s much more complicated.
Hemingway was bad?
Horrible misogynist.
Lol! That makes him bad? I think it makes him a typical man of his time.
Hey Stash twin!
Well, your comment led me down a rabbit hole of Dahl’s personal life internet “research”. I will never see Willy Wonka the same, that’s for sure. Life is hard, isn’t it?
I haven’t read any of the books – I understand Patricia Neal wrote an autobiography, and there was a critical Dahl biography that came out in the 2000’s, I read a guardian article with his daughter Ophelia that put him in a better light then those 2 books must. Looking at Dahls photograph, it’s hard to believe he was such a ladies man at one time. I know I would find the books fascinating, but I think overall they would just make me sad. The same effect Madmen has on me – I loved it but had to stop after season two
Oh my goodness, a single episode of Mad Men was enough to anger me enough that I couldn’t watch any more.
Those of you who haven’t yet read Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels ought to consider doing so — I think she gives an honest voice to what bothers you about guys like Dahl.
Hi there! Loewe 7, little by little I’m reaching for “heavier” scents as (dark voice) winter is coming
Sud Magnolia. I smell fresh and pretty and a little bit synthetic. But sometimes that’s what you want – I’ve got a hair cut and a gym class later today, and when this one sticks around it’s friendly to close quarters and sweating.
Enjoy your Wednesdays, everybody.
Okay, I admit it, I’m a little testy today. I had a travel size of Eau de Memo in my pocket and when I leaned into my car to look for my lunch bag, it fell out and shattered on the pavement. It splashed over my legs and shoes and I smell like I bathed in it. And after all that, I had forgotten my lunch at home.
Oh man…. You have earned the right to being testy today. Hope the day improves!
Oh no! It is really upsetting when that happens. I hope your day is getting better!
Wearing Cristalle today. It smelled perfect for a cool morning. I tested Katy Perry Indi (Indy? Idk) the other day. It smells like Stash lite. Stash doesn’t work for me, but I felt kinda mad for SJP, they smell VERY similar. Indi, however didn’t have half the longevity at least on my skin.
I would not be mad for SJP — don’t forget she built Stash out of existing products herself! There’s nothing new under the sun
Lol, you are right. I guess it’s just my weird loyalty showing through.
“There’s nothing new under the sun.” I had a writing professor tell me that once and immeditley I was so depressed and downcast! Mostly because I recognized the absolute truth of the statement.
But really it isn’t *all* depressing, is it? Art builds on itself, and the same is true in many other areas, perfume included.
I’m wearing Safran Troublant this morning. I got a surprise in the mail, a free bag of Temptations cat treats from my local supermarket. I hid some around the house and have been having fun watching the cat find them.
Love the idea of a kitty treasure hunt and you smell marvelous!
You smell wonderful.
My cat likes those treats too much – we had to stop giving them to her. It was like heroin or something.
“Like heroin or something” ????
Hi, Foxbins. We’re not letting the boys have Temptations n their own, not after Dakkie’s devotion to them. It was one of his Dakkie Things. We’re mixing Temptations with other dry food, but I’m pleased to say that all three are serious meat eaters.
I owe you an email. I keep meaning to write; I keep losing myself in crises or minutiae. I will, I promise.
That sounds delightful! My boyfriend has long wanted to create a treasure hunt for the cats, but I’m worried they won’t find them all and then we’ll have gross-smelling cat treats littering our corners and crevices.
Uh oh. As ajellyfish said, they’re addicting. I call them crack for cats. One of our cats knows where the stash is, and sits there yelling at us as we pass by. Although, it’s been nice to have them to give to our little one who needs medicine. I try to reward her after….
I am wearing Black Jade by Lubin today. Perfect for cold mornings and warm days.
I have an idea for Friday which surprises heck out of me. ????
Oh good, I look forward to the surprise!
My decant of Coromandel was calling my name this morning, so I gladly heeded the call.
Xerjoff 1866 Zefiro for me ( from Gaynor). Feels a bit leaden..like a delicious but really rich dessert after a big restaurant meal, tempting and you eat it up and then feel bloated with indigestion afterwards. So, that in perfume form.
Nuvol de Llimona so I am in a Lemon Cloud! Not related to the picture at all – just hadn’t worn it in a while. It’s cooling down a tiny bit here – perhaps it will slow down the continual march of ants in our house that has been driving me insane for the last very warm (for here) month!
And just had a Dove dark chocolate after I saw it was World Chocolate Day. The day required it!
Morning, good morning. Am very, very late this morning because I slept like a child for about ten hours. Eggzellent! I’m wearing Elephant and an extremely orange jersey, jeans and boots, an assertive, nay even aaggressive, combination. I have to have two difficult conversations today, and write a lecture. Don’t mess with me, world, I’m coming through!
Be well, all. You all smell wonderful!
Sorry you got blocked earlier!! Hope the conversations & the writing went well.
Mid-morning hike of 5 miles on easy trails. Some downded pines, a couple across power lines thanks to Irma. Crews hard at work in their bucket trucks. I wonder why one pine falls and the one next to is doesn’t? I’m full of unanswerable questions like that????
Broke out Amouage Fate Woman today. I smell fancy and much more high maintenance than I really am.
Hope everyone is having a happy humpday! ✌????
All your hiking sounds so wonderful. I’m very impressed!
Nothing impressive about it, but thanks. I’ve been sitting on my behind since Monday because of the weather. The dog and I were both going stir crazy.
I’ve noticed on our hill that the trees seem to topple in a vertical corridor (line from lower ground to higher ground) so I guess there must be a wind tunnel effect created by the topography and wind direction etc.
Have you read “The Hidden Life of Trees’ by the German forrester Peter Wohlleben. It’s terrific at answering questions like yours and really adds to forest walks. It’s available as an audible book too.
Oh, that sounds very good! I have a big love for writers like Barry Lopez (Of Wolves and Men, Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape), Bill Green (Water, Ice and Stone: Science and Memory on the Antarctic Lakes) and such. Have you read Elizabeth Arthur’s Antarctic Navigation- fiction with a very strong female protagonist? I read it years ago but never forgot it. I will go hunt down “The Hidden Life of Trees”- thank you for the recommendation.
Will look up the Elizabeth Arthur. One of my pieces of favourite Antarctic fiction is Ursula le Guin’s Sur short story. Very tongue in cheek.
Very excited to wear my first dress of spring, after winter’s skirts, jackets and boots. Admittedly, it’s a dress in a warm fabric, but still an important occasion! I’m accompanying it with OJ Woman.
Spring? You lucky thing! Auckland had a bit of a flirt with spring a few weeks back, the decided it was all just too much trouble…I’m completely fed up with winter.
I’m the same. It just feels so grey and dismal and lacking in light – and everything is so muddy and boggy. But the birds are incredibly vocal just before dawn and the hills are yellow with gorse and pollen. But a dress? That would be rather optimistic.
You smell great!
And enjoy spring
I started wearing my fall/winter coat this week…in the morning its already chilly.
I love Roald Dahl, or at least his writings. My SOTD has nothing to do with him whatsoever, I chose it as it’s one of the best confidence boosters in my wardrobe. Aromatics Elixir, 4 full sprays, I love it and these days I even enjoy the opening.
Well I just discovered on NST it is Chocolate day,so I don’t feel too guilty about dinner being a huuuuuuuuge glass of chocolate milk and “Death by chocolate” double cream black and white mousse…Nomnomnom.Normality is returning to my senses,I ventured out today in Lush Imogen Rose.More of an experiment to see if I can smell it after my recent olfactory troubles.It’s a go.It even smells richer and more rosy,but that might be my imagination or the fact that I haven’t smelled Imogen in a long time.I saw some Irma snippets on the webs today….jeepers!I am glad most of NST is still around after all that!Be safe people!
Chins up!
Friday is around the corner.
X
Hey johanob, welcome back. I saw your post yesterday. Glad your getting back your sense of smell!
I do love chocolate milk, and I almost never have it. Must have some tomorrow.
Hello y’all! I’m still playing along with The Picture People.
SOTD is “Ambre Céruléen” from Huitième Art. (Not sure that sky is cerulean, but IT’S NOT D*MN GREY!)
Notes are sandalwood, opoponax, tonka bean, lemon verbena and powdery notes. To me, it’s a nice scent but I wouldn’t really classify it as an amber; nor is is especially powdery. There’s a semi-gourmand, relaxed and comfortable feel about it. It’s maybe a little too well-mannered for me, but probably ticks a few ‘work-safe’, ‘not run-of-the-mill’, and ‘comforting’ boxes out there.
Yesterday’s scent was ELdO’s “Remarkable People” – again possibly a bit of a reach for the family in question.
Top: grapefruit, champagne and cardamom;
Mid: jasmine, curry tree and black pepper;
Base: labdanum, sandalwood and lorenox.
I’m sure a lorenox is a type of animal from a Dr. Seuss book. ;^) A nice scent, very much worth trying out. I’m too embarrassed by my large collection of FBs to add this one to it – only things that make my heart go ‘boom’ are getting past the metaphorical doorman.
In the medieval city of Lübeck on the North coast of Germany there’s a firm called Niederegger, whose 4-story building runs from cake shop on the ground floor through cafe and sweet shop up through (I think) 4 floors, all of it centred on their specialities in marzipan. You can buy their stuff all over Germany and I am just savouring the last crumbs of a walnut-rum-croquant marzipan bar covered in milk chocolate. I don’t recommend it as part of a weight loss strategy. :^)
Home from work and joining the Remarkable People posse. I like the opening but have a hard time with the mid as I am no a fan of curry. That marzipan bar sounds decadent! Enjoy!
Ooh, my husband brings back stuff from that shop to me every time he travels there. I love marzipan!
I am moving to Lubeck….NOW!!! (and as you can see from my pictures I can afford to eat all the marzipan I want!)
Would be a dream place to work for sure! ????
I used to work for a company whose headquarters were in Lubeck, and can verify that the Niederegger marzipan is the best I’ve ever had. Their plain (chocolate covered) marzipan seems less sweet and more naturally almond flavoured than others, and the sheer variety of added flavours (if you want them) and shapes and sculptures available is staggering. Yum!
The odd thing about that painting is that they all seem to be color coordinated – wearing either black and white, or the same shade of blue. Did they plan that? Was there some artistic license on the part of the painter? Were those colors the latest fashion? Is there a hidden message?
I’m having a hard time thinking of a perfume that goes with the periwinkle-ish blue that shows up on my monitor in the larger image, and I don’t really like the idea of a perfume that smells like that, either.
A different approach might be PdN Vie de Chateau.
This picture just brings up so many questions – but not a lot of inspiration for me either – I think the blue on the printed dresses are a reflection of the blue sky, and/or shadow
I’m not sure how reputable the source is but, at least at a glance, she’s done a lot of research on the topics – so here’s what I found: “French summer fashion for 1867 continued to have skirts with trains and to range in length from the ankle to the floor. Paletots and peplums, a short overskirt, were popular, as were white, blue, and pale colored toilets made from silk, muslin, and poplin. ” (https://www.geriwalton.com/french-summer-fashion-1867/)
As to the similarity of the shades, probably, unlike on the Monet’s painting Women in the Garden (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_Garden#/media/File:Claude_Monet_024.jpg), said to had been an influence for the Bazille’s work, the author concentrated less on garments and more on his family members’ faces. Also, as I read, this painting is considered not as a group portrait but rather as a series of individual portraits – so if one were to look at each character on his/her own, it wouldn’t matter that somebody else’s dress looks like taken from the next hanger in the ready-to-wear clothes store (which couldn’t be the case since it wasn’t available yet).
But all that research didn’t help me (yet?) to figure out “what to wear”
I read somewhere, possibly Wikipedia, that women wore rose and Jasmine perfumes around this period.
About the National Chocolate Day… I didn’t want to ruin it for everybody so I waited until the day was almost over for most… Robin, according to the Wikipedia page, to which linked, the NCD is on September 7th, “Not to be confused with the day of celebration of the birth of Milton S. Hershey, […] founder of The Hershey Chocolate Company and the “company town” of Hershey, Pennsylvania. (September 13, 1857). […] Celebration of the day includes the consumption of chocolate.”
It didn’t prevent me from declaring it as a National Chocolate Day in the office (nobody checked or objected) and celebrate it with “consumption of chocolate.”
Something is weird at Wikipedia … I swear there is more than one version of their page on National Chocolate Day but I cannot figure out the links. One says:
“U.S. National Chocolate Day is an observance that occurs in the United States every year on September 13.[1][2] The U.S. National Confectioners Association has stated that September 13 is the official date for the observance in the United States.[1][3] Celebration of the day includes the consumption of chocolate. The day occurs on the birthday of Milton S. Hershey,[4][5][6][7] an American confectioner, philanthropist, and founder of The Hershey Chocolate Company and the “company town” of Hershey, Pennsylvania.”
but the other is indeed what you have included in your comment.
Another resource says:
“World Chocolate Day in 2017 is on Friday, the 7th of July (7/7/2017).
World Chocolate Day (sometimes called International Chocolate Day) occurs globally every year on the 7th of July.
In the United States, International Chocolate Day is celebrated on the 13th of September.
The National Chocolate Day was created by the National Confectioners Association, and occurs on the 28th of October.”
I think the answer is to eat a bit of chocolate every day, which is what I do
Hmm..Just not being inspired by that painting. Am I the only one that thinks it has a depressing air?
So of course I don’t have anything that matches the picture.
Who would keep depressing perfumes around?
I decided to try opposite the aura the painting projects – so I chose Hermes Ambre Des Mervilles.- A couldn’t be more comforting- autumny salty, Amber and vanilla sweater scent.
I’m sadly off of chocolate until I loose the last two pounds towards my goal weight. Almost there though!
Happy Wednesday all!
Dark chocolate is good for your health
Re: the picture is more “Whatcha looking at? Now go away.”
Hahaha! That would be a perfect caption!
Yeah- love 90% dark chocolate… just at a place where I can’t even start on chocolate.;)
Posting REALLY late today! My Internet was been crazy slow tonight for about 3 or 4 hours now… it’s taking what seems like forever for things to load.
SOTD for a grey, yukky, and humid day = Atelier Cologne Pomelo Paradis, from the sample stash. Someone here had mentioned it recently, and it turned out to be PERFECT. So thank you!
Seriously?? That should be either “was” or “has been” up there.
Heh, my work seatmate noticed me saying Seriously a lot lately.
Full credit for my Pomelo Paradis love goes to jadainGA.
SOTD = Chanel No. 19 EDP
10 spritzes but practically, it was probably more like 8. Did it work? Probably. I’ll know tomorrow
I hope it worked! Escalation conversations can be dicey.
It feels like you’re working your way up to 19 spritzes there.
Testing out two things today: Tauer amber flush body oil on the left and Hiris on the right. Really like the body oil after it settles. Hiris is pretty and has a nice progression, but I think ISM and Iris 39 both have my heart. ❤️