A version of a poll we did in early 2016 and again in early 2017, and yes, we're a little late this year! As always, answer as many or as few as you like, or, likewise as always, feel free to talk about something else altogether.
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
2. Do you have any fragrance resolutions for 2018? Buy more bottles, buy fewer? Anything new you'd like to try, any notes or brands you'd like to know better?
3. What 2018 release are you most looking forward to, so far?
4. And your fantasy 2018 release? Name the brand and describe the fragrance you think they should develop.
5. What else (anything, really!) are you looking forward to this year?
Note: top image is Gerbera [flipped & doubled] by gen gibler at flickr; some rights reserved.
1. Goldfield and Banks Wood Infusion
2. Buy no bottles
3. Not sure what is being released this year
4. Would love a fragrance that smells like Jergens Lotion (almond cherry scent). Mr. CM recently revealed to me that this is his most favorite scent as it brings back childhood memories for him (this coming from a man who NEVER comments on any of my fragrances) and would be happy if Jeffrey Dame made it as I love his brand and love the affordability of his line.
and if anyone knows of any fragrance that already exists which smells like almonds please chime in 🙂
Well my favourite almond inspired fragrance is Douce Amère, but imagine very sophisticated, bitter and alcoholic almonds for that.
Almond cherry to me is SL Rahat Loukhoum.
Me too.
Interesting! I hope you find a perfume that smells like Jergens.
I was wondering about what the bases are for scents in lotion and shampoo – I like Lubriderm – but what is that smell? And I like finesse and Prell – but what is that? Is it tea?
Sort of an oddity, but Majda Bekkali Tuleytulah smells like a cherry almond lotion to me.
I would absolutely LOVE a cherrry/almond scent that riffs on original Jergens. My favorite almond scent right now is Shay & Blue’s Almond Cucumber cologne. It’s very clean and pleasant without being a boring laundry musk.
thank you all for your wonderful suggestions!!!!!!
I will cheer you on for no. 2.
🙂
After testing, oh, maybe 6-8 almondy fragrances, I found that I really like Montale Amandes Orientales. I wanted something that smells like almond flavoring, and a small decant of that one did the trick.
Mmm, almond flavoring is the best smell!! I’ll have to keep my eyes open for this one.
Thanks for posting this… almond cherry recommendations noted!
I’m now remembering an almond scent I absolutely loved… L’Occitane Almond Blossom Dew. It definitely had that Jergens vibe. Soft and lovely.
I don’t know what Jergens smells like, but Yves Rocher Cherry Bloom is lovely.
Black Perfecto fits in my opinion!
Luctor Et Emergo The People Of The Labyrinths for women
Have not smelled this, but read about it in Angela’s article about lemmings from 2010
Actually, article is from 2014
If there are any Parisians in our NST community I am sending you sun ☀️
Black Perfecto this morning, Pleine Lune tea
I saw Shape of Water last night ????????????????????
So far the Moscow perfume from Guerlain is my favorite release this year.
These days I am trying to finish some books and not binge watch the new season of grace and frankie
Beautiful day out and will take the little ones to the park
It feels like Spring today! Enjoy the park.
Cabin fever be gone…
Great tea!!
Have you tried Pleine Lune? Its wonderful and perfect all year round..
It is my favorite rea
I looked up this tea and it sounds like something I’d really like.
Are there any tea blogs folks can recommend?
All the tea blogs I used to read have folded, so I would love to know this too!
I should start one!
Floragal, would you like me to send you some?
Yes, please! Thank you!
1. My lovely Promesse à l’aube
2. Not really, not buy too many bottles, but I don’t buy that many anyway. Make up my mind about Mohur extrait.
3. This belongs to the realms of fantasy but I would love Goutal to re-release Eau du Fier, Eau de Monsieur (the original) and MPCPC in extrait.
4. I wish JC Ellena would do another stonking great animalic jasmin, I’m even willing to drive to Cabris myself to collect it in person.
5. Hoping to get my degree in translations, it will be nice to get that done.
Hey, What’s a degree in translations? Sounds challenging and completely beyond my skill set.
I’ve been attending a training in translating French-Dutch and vice versa in a specialised school for nearly 4 years. I don’t know if such a thing exists in the USA. I suppose it’s like a college, but completely geared to training translators, and it’s aimed mostly at older students.
Ahh… I’ve been so curious about the exams you occasionally mention. I suppose the translation degree explains that. Well, it sounds daunting to me, but I’m certain you will prevail! And smell fantastic all the while.
It’s taking over my life a bit at the moment, but I hope all will be well in the end.
I aim to be the best smelling translator ever!
So, is Dutch your A language, French your B language and English your C language? I considered doing translation back when I was a teen, then never ended up pursuing it. Best of luck to you! I know you’ll do brilliantly.
My French and English are at about the same level, but I’ve had more training in French than English, still I find writing in English easier than in French and speak both equally ‘fluently’. So yes, Dutch is A and French and English are B languages. I’m doing a minor in English-Dutch translating.
Translators have been some of the brightest folks I’ve ever worked with (insert image of me vainly trying my mediocre Spanish in all situations where I have communication breakdowns). We do have language schools and degrees in languages here in the US of course, but I don’t know what sorts of translation certifications there are–I am guessing that they are pretty daunting as Americans are hopeless when it comes to proficiency in foreign languages, and for business and political meetings frequently rely on translators.
The big language school in the US is in Monterey, CA. I believe that’s where the military train their translators.
Interestingly the countries in the western world with supposedly the best translation training are the countries with more than one official language. I’m thinking of Switzerland, Belgium and Canada.
I am not surprised at all by that. A good friend from college who was the daughter of missionaries and was raised in Honduras was trilingual–English, French and Spanish. She married a man from Cote d’Iviore who spoke French, Chinese, English and local languages (no idea which ones) all fluently. Their kids are absolutely brilliant. Worldly but kind, empathetic, and engaging.
Really liking your #4. JCE, are you listening?
We can make it a car pool / road trip, as I would also be happy to do in-person pick up!
I’ll very happily drive all of us to Cabris, I know the way!
Can I join you? And, why didn’t Malle push for a jasmine scent when he was securing great perfumers…..?!?
More than welcome, I’ll get a van!
Hello NST’ers
No SOTD yet, but the remains of Une Rose from yesterday. Had a wonderful lunch yesterday with an old friend in a new little french cafe near me. It seemed fitting to wear my first niche scent purchased in Paris at the mothership!!! BTW, the onion soup was great.
My 2018 resolution overall is to downsize, so I will be wearing and enjoying what I have, gifting or swapping away what I no longer love, and resisting temptation…..wonder how long that will last….
I am looking forward to improving my health this year and planning some travel adventures–maybe Iceland, maybe Spain, could be Italy, I need to get out and about.
Good luck with your travel
Thanks, although I may be content to have some of your homemade chai.
May I say again that I love your icon picture?
Thanks, it’s a beautiful picture, just wish I looked like that in real life!
I adore onion soup. Hard to find it well done outside of France.
The secret I think is to really caramelize the onions, like 45 minutes to an hour, in a ton of butter….and fresh thyme makes all the difference. A good project for a snow day or a sick day!!
I spoke to a chef in Paris about his onion soup (it was a small bistro and I couldn’t help myself) and he said they actually take weeks to just create the broth! The idea is to create layers upon layers of flavor. Drool.
1. This morning I’m wearing the fragrant residue of some pu-erh tea. Not a perfume, but a perfume in itself. Reminds me of the danker qualities of some strong oakwood. Not sure what actual perfume I’ll follow-up with yet, but hopefully the comments of others will inspire.
2. This year I’m trying to wear more perfume — sounds crazy, yes, but I tend to temper my daily wearings and want to become more liberal with my use. Hashtag hoarder!
3. No idea! But….
4. … hopefully Liz Moores plans a launch.
5. Looking forward to the next camping trip in Death Valley. Truly a world away from the world.
I am with you on no. 2! Need to wear more.
Ditto on #2 as well!
Haha! Funny, I don’t picture you as a hoarder, but especially not a #hoarder. I love this forum because we get an idea of who people are from the thinnest of evidence. I shall now add #hoarder to your profile.
Oh good, I’m not the only one! Hoarders of the world, unite and take over.
I’m on the wear more train myself! I have a lot of samples but haven’t made my way through them at all. Good luck! And enjoy Death Valley!
I agree with your resolution to wear more – I’m trying to do that too! Hair spritz added into the “wrist, wrist, throat” routine.
Death Valley is so amazing – I loved it so much. I still sometimes dream of it. Have a great trip!
I love your idea of the “hair spritz”! Now I’m adding it to my routine too, because I sorely need to wear more of my collection!
Wrist, wrist, hair, throat, elbow, elbow, décolletage. . .
A good tip when doing a hair spritz is that if the perfume is alcohol-based, spritz it onto something like a comb instead, let the alcohol blow off, and then run it through your hair. This avoids drying out your hair unnecessarily from applying alcohol.
1. Right now, just a dab from an unlabeled mini that I must have gotten in a swap. I hate it when they don’t put the name of the perfume on the bottle. I will have to try to figure out what it is.
2. To wear more perfume. To go through my collection and decide about all those neglected bottles. To wear what I do love and give away what I don’t. To finally work through some of those multitudinous samples.
3. I have no idea what is coming. DSH is always worth a look, as she does some interesting things.
4. I wish Guerlain would rerelease some of their back catalog, although probably the regulations these days would make most of them impossible.
5. I am looking forward to more travel. One of my bucket list items is to visit all 50 states (38 so far), and my husband wants to tour all the state capitols (so far we have seen 21 of them together). We are hoping to add a couple of capitols to the list this year.
Ditto #4
What a great project! I am at your exact level, believe it or not — 12 to go (I just counted). They are nearly all contiguous so one long road trip would bring me into spitting distance.
Most of mine are in the northeastern part of the US, so I could cover several of them in one trip. It all depends on how much time I wanted to spend in each one. It is always a balancing act between covering as much ground as possible and really taking in a place in some depth. The one notable exception is Hawaii. Obviously, that will need to be a trip all by itself.
Mine are in the upper middle, mostly — drove cross country quite a few times, but always the southern route. Have done the whole of the East, up and down, and most of the West (have not been in Washington).
I was in Hawaii, but don’t know if it’s cheating to count places you briefly visited as a child, maybe that’s cheating!
Anyway, that’s a great project.
There is a wonderful diner in Glendive, Montana (just off the freeway, on the Eastern border of the state), which is the highlight of my trip every time I drive west-east. The dinner special includes salad bar, homemade potato soup, the meal itself and some kind of fruit crumble or cobbler for dessert. All the real deal, made in the kitchen on site! I highly recommend you add it to your itinerary!
I don’t know the name, but the town is tiny and the diner is sandwiched between Dollar tree and a chain hotel like Motel 6.
Perfect, because Montana is on my list. And just lowered my number because I realized I have in fact driven through part of Idaho.
When you come through New Jersey, look me up!! I can tour you throughout the state and give a kick ass tour of Trenton–such an important site in the Revolutionary War and to the American pottery industry. Check it out!!
#4 is my dream too!
Is Indiana one of the states you’ve been to? Any recommendations for stuff to do in Indianapolis? I’m heading there imminently for a few days…
Thanks!
I have been in Indiana, but not since I was 15 years old. I don’t think we actually spent much time there–mostly just drove through–so I am afraid I can’t help you much. We will need to go to Indianapolis some day, however, to tour the capitol. We have found that the capitols in the Midwestern states have been, somewhat counterintuitively perhaps, among the most impressive. The Iowa capitol is hands-down the best one we have seen so far, with Missouri’s capitol running a close second. I would strongly urge you to take a tour of the capitol if you can. It looks stunning from the photos, and I would not be surprised if it is just as beautiful on the inside. As I mentioned, we have toured 21 state capitols and all of them have been worthwhile.
Thanks for the rec! I will try to do that, but am here for work, so not sure if the timing will work out.
1. Miel de Bois. I won a bid on eBay (less than my max bid so I’m happy) and it arrived last night. Glorious stuff. I think all that crazy hot pee smell fades pretty quickly.
2. I need to slow down a bit. Only buy perfumes I really want. 2017 was sort of a mad dash to collect them all before something was discontinued.
3. Nagel’s Hermessences. I’m cautiously optimistic, though there’s… An oud….
4. I don’t know what brand to trust with this but… A persimmon chypre. Doesn’t have to be as baroque as Mitsouko, but just a subtle spicy thing. I’ll even say hold most of the oakmoss! It just seems so good in my head.
5. Paying off my (relatively tiny) credit card debt. This new job is going to get me there!
Oh and as always, interested in your answers, Robin.
Just added at bottom!
An oud from Hermes, righto.
Again, cautiously optimistic. I think only Chanel is left…?
You mean cautiously optimistic that it will be good? I am prepared to change my mind, but for the moment, don’t even care — I thought it took balls for Hermes to avoid trends in general, including oud, so I’m disappointed they’re doing one.
And yes, I know I’m a snot 🙂
Honestly, I want to feel the same way but we’ll see how it all turns out. Maybe Nagel will have something fresh to say.
I panic-bought last year as well last year – need to concentrate just on big loves this year.
That Guerlain repackaging meant a lot of discount pick-ups for this fool. Haven’t been disappointed yet, but I could calm down a bit.
My panic year was 2009! I can assure you that it will pass ????
Fingers crossed!!
I bought one on EBay and turned around a sold it the next day. The honey was way too much for me.
Luckily I’d sampled it beforehand, but I absolutely adore it.
You smell wonderful today!
I wish I was the type of person who could pull of Miel de Bois. You smell great!
Thank you! I’m honestly very stubborn about wearing what I want, as I usually wear so little at a time.
I take note when my coworkers don’t like something, though. Last crowd displeaser was the Tadashi Shoji. No one likes a loud rose. 🙁
I personally love a loud rose, but I can imagine one not going over so well in an office setting. Such a shame!
Ooh, love persimmons. That would smell lovely! Know of any persimmon frags out there already?
1. Wearing the last drops of Yves Rocher Rose Oud. Another bottle that I finish and it feels really good.
2. Resolutions: Not to buy at all or reduce significantly the amount of perfume purchases this year.
3. I do not know yet.
4. Anything breathtaking from Chanel. They have not released anything really interesting in many years.
5. I wish I could rest more. That seems to be impossible, but you never know…
Yes to No. 4 and I hope you find a way to get some rest!
Let’s dream about Chanel….
????????????????????????♂️
????
Ringing in with another endorsement for your Chanel plaint. Even theExclusifs are getting rather boring. I think they’re really stifling themselves by making everything try to smell like No. 5 plus [ ].
Chanel is my favorite perfume house. However, their latest releases have been very dissapointing for me, including their Exclusifs EdPs. Still, I never lose my hopes. Maybe some day…..
My answer for number four was exactly the same as yours.
It looks like many of us are tired of waiting and really anxious to see something great from Chanel.
I wish you could rest more too.
Let’s hope Lillyjo, let’s hope… 🙁
Yes! to #4
It’s early Sunday and it’s going to be a ridiculously hot day and I’m just enjoying the garden scents mixed with a sweet rotting sillage from the neighbour’s kune kune (pig) pen.
My resolution was that I woukd not buy any perfume until I’ve finished Middlemarch. Over the years I’ve read the first hundred pages several times and then drifted off. Anyway…I’ve broken that resolution as I!ve blind ordered Grandiflora Boronia. So that’s lowered the bar on resolutions.
I’m looking forward to the JM English Fields collection as I like the sound of all those grains. I suspect I may be disappointed though
Fantasy release: Amouage does a discount line
You made the right choice on Boronia, it is lovely.
I liked Middlemarch, but I decided to read Proust / In Search of Lost Time and started the first book probably 10 times before finishing it. I think I then took 10+ years to read the rest. So there is hope, you’ll read it when you’re ready.
I am still trying to get through the first 10 pages of book 1. I have all the volumes, sitting on the shelf mocking me.
You know, I did eventually get sucked in and enjoy it, but, will also say that I only put so much effort into it because I thought I ought to, and when I finally finished I was proud of myself….and now, a few years later, that all seems rather silly and I wonder if it was really the happiest possible use of my reading time.
So I say just mock them back!
I keep getting distracted by other books, most recently Sagaland which is a kind of travel book / literature mish mash (hybrid) / friendship and identity / looking at Iceland’s sagas and the locations. It’s written by two Australians , one with an Icelandic background and kind of reminiscent of the Auden/ McNeice or more recent Simon Armitage and Glyn Maxwell Moon Country. It’s interesting…especially if you were going to Iceland but not as good as simply reading the sagas ( in translation ).
HA — by chance just came across this — Salman Rushdie cannot finish Middlemarch either:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jan/26/salman-rushdie-the-books-that-changed-me
LOL. And I couldn’t read his Satanic Verses either.
My husband has become a very avid reader, but the way he does it is to work on several books at a time. He will have one he reads in the morning, for instance, one in the afternoon, one in the evening, one at bedtime, and so on. He typically reads just one chapter at a time from a given book, so however many chapters a book has, that is how many days it takes him. It took him about 8 or 9 months to read War and Peace this way (the book is very long, but the chapters are rather short) but he did read it all. He has also watched the Soviet-era film version of it (after reading the book), which has a total running time of about 8 hours.
1. Needed to a break from big winter scents today, so I’m wearing Infusion d’Iris edp. I feel clean and understated.
5. I am looking forward to vacation time without major life events or travel this year. The wedding and honeymoon were lovely, and now I want to be bored at home Spring and Summer breaks–read books, garden, pick up heavy things and put them back down again. Sounds like enough of a plan for me! *Fingers crossed* Mr. Spicebomb doesn’t want to buy a new house right away!
That sounds like a great plan to me! Is Mr. Spicebomb dreaming of real estate?
He wants a garage. And a bigger room for entertaining. I don’t disagree with those goals, in theory. I just hope they’re not urgent, either.
Good luck!
Hello brothers and sisters in l’eau. It’s a family reunion weekend for me as families of my dad’s two sisters are coming for a visit. It’s going to be funny.
1. Wearing Memo Italian Leather today
2. Don’t save rare perfume for later. Use it up & move on.
3. Hermes Musc Pallida for the moment
4. New Prada Infusion from Daniela Andrier. How about Lavande or Cassis
5. Few days ago I bought a Cotton Flower & Mimosa shower gel at Yves Rocher, can’t wait to start using it.
You smell fabulous!
Why thank you!
A lavande Prada Infusion! Yes!
Infusion de Lavande sounds nice, doesn’t it?
Yessss!!! to your #4.
Which one would you like more? I’m guessing cassis since you like that and black currant
Actually, I’m not sure: I love lavender, and, I think, it’s easier to do a good lavender for the mass production than a good black currant. But I’d try both!
Cassis! There’s a note I’d love to get to know more and the Prada aesthetic might be the winner.
1) Testing out Hendley Perfumes Bourbon in the new edc concentration. It’s a gauzy, sparkly Shalimar-esque little number. Quite lovely.
2) Ugh. I’ve alteady started 2018 with too many acquisitions, though small-sized items. But on the Hendley note, this is my intro to this line and so far I’ve really liked everything I’ve tried (Rosenthal, Amora, Bourbon edc). I’d like to try Mown and Jade as well, especially Mown.
And like Chris Rusak, I’d like to be a less timid sprayer with what I do wear.
3) & 4) can’t think of anything right now.
5) This will hopefully be The Year that I finally enroll in a nursing (online) degree program. I have no desire to do it, don’t need it for what I’m doing now, so the decision is practical, partly to ensure job security and hire-ability should I need to leave my current position, which I’m not planningto do any time soon. This is going to be a delayed-gratification sort of endeavor.
Good luck with #5! It’s really hard to start something when it doesn’t pressure you as an immediate need. But I hope you’ll find strength to do it this year.
Thank you Undina! That’s precisely why it’s taken me years to actually start taking action. I like the work I do, but I don’t enjoy the subject as an academic pursuit.
It would be a great insurance policy for sure, but it’s a lot of work, especially when there is no driving motivation. Bon courage to you!
Thanks cazaubon! Yes, it’s sort of like getting a colonoscopy. No fun, but a really good idea in the end (ha! Unintended pun).
Who you callin’ timid!? 😉
Ha! Me, for sure. But I sort of have to be for work. It’s carried over into time off, which isn’t necessary, however.
I hear you. Olfactive conditioning of the worst sort.
Good for you on your #5! My brother is almost done with nursing school, did it online but some class time too. So proud of him.
How great for him! So many more men in nursing now than when I started out.
Fortunately I won’t have to do anything in person or clinical work since I’ve been an RN for 24 years. Yikes! Makes me feel old.
I’m testing samples from Une Nuit à Bali today. My goals for 2018 are to wear more perfume and buy fewer bottles. So far it’s not going too well but I haven’t given up!
Can’t think of any 2018 release I’m waiting on. Would love for Guerlain to replenish Iris Ganache stocks.
I am looking forward to a long hot summer filled with lots of delicious ice cream. 🙂 Also a camping trip in July to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Never give up!
1. Chamade edt current release – enjoying it much more today now that I am less congested
2. Wear more! I may have to get more decants so I can touchup at work – or maybe look into good layering options so I can wear two different perfumes that my complement each other in the same day
4. How about Patou joy de la fille – with some Magnolia notes
5. Looking forward to April in Paris
I’d like to get better at layering scents to. Enjoy Paris in the spring!
Thanks Stephanie!
If you are a beauty junkie you must visit the famous pharmacy while you are in Paris for cheap pharmacy finds!
Yes, that sounds fantastic! what’s it called?
I believe LTSG is referring to Citypharma located at 26 Rue du Four, 75006. ????
Why thank you! does not sound like a place I would like to miss ????
I can’t wait to get back to Paris. We always go in the fall, would be nice to do the spring for our next trip.
Floral gal – where are your favorite places to visit in Paris? My girlfriends and I are all making our wish lists now – our husbands are joining us at the end of our trip
Such a hard question! Every visit is different, and I always do lots of research online beforehand. I love to shop, really enjoy just walking around aimlessly and popping in stores and cafes. We stay in a different neighborhood each visit to get to really know it. I always visit the Louvre since it’s massive amount of art one will never really get through. I also see what exhibits are going on in the city that I might want to see, what new restaurants and anything else that the locals are excited about.
Thanks Floralgal! Shopping walking around eating and people watching are my favorites as well 🙂
As attributed to Audrey Hepburn–“Paris is always a good idea.”
Yes, agree! ????
1. Wearing: Phi de Kandahar from the last swap meet! So delicious and warm.
2. Resolution: Buy more judiciously! But what I really really really want, not just what I want that is on sale.
3. New releases: The new Hermessences! And the weird Hermès layering scents?
4. Fantasy: I want SSS to come back with the old scents at the old prices!
5. I’m looking forward to my trip to Paris, now that I have an income and a list of things to try/buy!
I’m on a train to the ballet right now! I haven’t seen Sleeping Beauty since I was a child, so it’ll be fun to see it through adult eyes 🙂 happy freebiemeet and weekend, all!
Oh how lovely – have a great time at the ballet! And Paris – when is that?
Thanks! Paris will be 11 – 19 April. I can’t wait!
Sleeping Beauty is a great ballet! Hope you have a lovely time.
It was just as gorgeous as I had hoped 🙂 thanks!
Definitely sharing your resolution…especially not being tempted simply by sale.
Isn’t it tough??? I’ve recently started scouting eBay, and there are such great deals on perfumes I want but do not NEED. Grump.
Sing it, sister! I am a sucker for a good deal.
Koyel, I just found a Trayee decant in my stash, can you send me your mailing address please? taracaz in the land of geemail.
Oh how exciting; thanks!! Will do asap!
1. Sacrebleu Intense for the second day in a row. Obviously didn’t get enough yesterday.
2. Use up/give away most of my ridiculous collection of samples. Keep just a small reference library of classics and the very small handful that might go on my FB list. Everything else must go!!
3. Well, I work a couple of years behind in new releases but I’m always interested in what Andy Tauer is doing. (Still sad about Laurie Erickson because I always eagerly awaited her new releases.)
4.I got nothin’ here.
5. Get through to June. I’m working on a state convention committee for a women’s organization for the first weekend in June. I’m the Treasurer and in charge of registration so I’m a little under water for a few months. And get more sleep!
I have a similar idea about samples.
As a follow up to the Jergens memory, do any of you have a fragrance memory that equates to the very happiest time of your life??
Yes! A few. The smell of cottonwood in the air near a river brings me right back to my childhood, it makes me so happy. I’d love to see (or make) a perfume that combined cottonwood and magnolia, that would be my perfect childhood-memory scent. The scent of the original Herbal Essence shampoo, when it actually smelled like herbs. I found a replacement for it, Van Arf’s bright green shampoo. Jergen’s original is one of mine, too.
Cottonwood and magnolia sound like Heaven.
Sierra granite, pine trees and dirt from times at my family’s cabin.
That sounds delicious
A few: the smell of hay in the hot August sun. The smell of bare rocks baked by the sunshine. Blooming lemon trees in the valleys of California. Whiskey, tobacco and my husband’s skin. Salt water on rocks.
Yum to all. Beautiful
Not the same but have you tried Hermès Eau des Merveilles Bleue? It has a mineral note that I’ve found to be appealing.
Don’t know about the *very* happiest time, but the smell of sea air & eucalyptus when I arrived in San Diego for graduate school is very firmly fixed in my mind.
Lovely
Rochas Byzance reminds me of being 20 years old with the whole world of possibilities open to me. I still love it and have a good stash of the parfum, edp and edt.
I’ve never tried that. Thx!
The smell of salty ocean breezes mainly. Also the smell of fresh coffee, the smell of italian bread being baked and the smell of popcorn. Up to these days they are still my favorites.
You just reminded me, one of my favorite smells is when my mom would bake Cinnamon raisin bread.
Cinnamon raisin bread is a favorite of my mom. She eats it almost everyday for breakfast. I eat it once in a while and when I do I really enjoy it.
Cinnamon is right up there on my list of best aromas!! Do you have the recipe??
Wow! You are me! I’d just add the smell of jelly beans mixed with outdoor spring air.. grandma’s home 🙂
I always associate jelly beans with spring time, and therefore I indulge myself in plenty of them during the season. My favorites flavors: cotton candy, cherry, banana and bubble gum. Craving now… 😀
Craving too!
Jiffy Pop used to smell delicious…all that hot butter and salt
1. SotD = Jour d’Hermes
2. I want to hold steady at a fairly constant number of bottles. I like the feeling that all the bottles are within arm’s reach.
Tauer, aroma M, Le Labo, and 4160 Tuesdays are on my list of brands I hope to sample more from this year.
3. Averting my eyes from new releases.
4. Fantasy scents: Eau des Merveilles flankers! A white floral in a coral-pink-tinged bottle, a green floral in shades of emerald, and an aromatic floral in a lavender-grey bottle.
5. Looking forward to the first big bloom from the pink jasmine vine I planted a few years ago. 🙂
Oh, interesting EdM flankers!
yah, I’m still a bit bitter that EdM Bleue didn’t work for me. 😉
It’s a shame they wasted the color on *that*, LOL…
Oh but it worked for me! I ended up buying the really cute 30 mL so I can bring the bottle on vacation instead of lugging the 50 mL (I did the same thing with No.5 L’eau because the 25 mL is super cute). Anyway, I am looking forward to a green-hued EdM flanker and I won’t even care what it smells like.
I know lots of people like it, and glad you do! I can’t help it, I resent Hermes making things I don’t like 😉
Sotd: Penhaligon’s Elixir
Perfect for what feels like a fall day. My 2018 resolution is to continue my sample “no buy.” And I can’t wait to try TF Vanille Fatale!
Happy Weekend everyone!
You smell great! I love Elixir. TF Vanille Fatale was delicious but didn’t have much lasting power/sillage on me.
Thank you! That’s disappointing especially given it’s price. ????
1. BoE
2. I’d like to explore a couple of indie brands such as Slumberhouse
3. Nothing in particular. Would love to see Onda VdE or Naja in travel size, which I could possiby afford.
4. No real fragrance fantasies- looking forward to using what I have.
5. Looking forward to selling my house and potentially buying an RV.
If I ever win the lottery, I want to get one of those big Sprinter vans, they look fab.
Yeah, those are pretty popular.. I definitely don’t want a diesel) for a variety of reasons) and unfortunately very few Mercedes dealerships are authorized to work on them. They need to be taken to a specialized sprinter dealership/garage for any service. But they are SWEET! ????
Hi Deva, I got some Naja in the last Splitmeet and alas and a lack, linden and I are officially not friends. Let me know you if you’re interested and it shall be yours. I can be reached via gmail where I’m sherainsocal
Oh! I was so excited I accidently emailed NST at first. Then I emailed you and got a return email saying no such address. On the third time, I think I finally got it right!! My fingers are doing a tap dance! ????
No email yet. It is sherainsocal with our friends at gmail. Or you can share your email and I will be in touch. ????
See below. This is what happens when I get excited while working- can seem to function normally ????
Taiga101 in the land of yahooligans✌????
Wearing Amouage Fate Woman from my discovery set today. I really like it but have happily talked myself out of buying, as on second wearing I’m finding it more frankincensey and that’s not my favourite note.
I had a NYR to buy virtually nothing, which I’ve resoundingly broken, but plan to resume. Want to wear and appreciate the 95+ bottles and 100s of samples I already have and love (the bottles at least).
Looking forward to my trip to Paris ( will visit the Guerlain mothership and Le Jardin Retrouvé and perfume will be bought!). Also, very much, to Luca and Tania’s new Guide: hope that will come out this year.
New guide? A real new guide? New reviews of newer perfumes? What fun!!!
1. SOTD is Bois Lumière from a sample. Can’t remember when or why I acquired this, but I don’t like it at all, and it seems it will be with me all day.
2. No buys of any size since Jan 1, and I plan to continue this until the end of June.
3. New releases? What are those?
4. I was devastated to learn that Laurie of SSS is retiring or has retired. Anything new from her would have been my fantasy scent.
5. I am looking forward to my daughter’s visit in May to celebrate our same-day birthday!
I love that your daughter’s birthday is the same as yours! I’ve not met anyone who can say this. Very special, and hope it’s a fun visit!
I have a niece, two first cousins and a cousin’s daughter (all on my dad’s side of the family) whose birthday is on March 27!
Wow! What a day March 27 is in your family! That’s really quite something.
1. Continuing on with my SDV experiment by wearing my Le Couvent des Minimes Cologne of the Missions. While I didn’t think this was all that similar to my old decant of SDV, I do find it quite similar to SDV from a much more recent bottle.
2. Fragrant resolutions: I’m going to have a budget and stick to it for both bottles and samples – I will go with a total of $350 for 2018. That means I need to be very discriminating in my purchases as well as sell some that I no longer love (and that I’ll be participating in the next Splitmeet).
3. 2018 release – I am curious to try Pierre Guillaume’s Superlady, despite the name. But can’t even remember what else is coming!
4. Fantasy 2018 release? I’d like to see one of the mainstream fragrance companies create something a little out of the ordinary, yet still more affordable. Maybe a delicate floral amber? A sunny woods? A fruity/boozy leather?
5. Making our new home (Seattle) feel more like home.
1) I’m wearing Eric Buterbaugh’s Florals Velvet Lavender today. I’ve only tried this twice before. It’s much better in colder weather! When I wore it in the heat of August all I could smell was sugar and vanilla. This time there’s a much more apparent lavender.
2). Try more and buy more. I want to take advantage of living in LA and actually go out and sniff things in person more often, and maybe even try going to one or two perfume-related events.
3). I’m not sure what release I’m looking forward to most!
4). Ideal fantasy release: Chanel launches a complete surprise fragrance and it’s actually an interesting, complex one (so completely dissimilar to Gabrielle). Maybe an updated, modern take on the 1980s powerhouse oriental genre.
5). There’s a lot to look forward to for me. My best friend is coming into town for a visit, I’m in the middle of updating my apartment’s decor, and I might be starting a new job soon.
Wishing you luck to all of your number five!
I got a small decant of Velvet Lavender from ScentBird and trying to figure out if I like it enough to wear. Thank you for the tip on colder weather wearing – I’ll try it.
1. SOTD – nothing for now. Trying to figure out if I am taking my son for a hike or my daughter to a bday party at Build-a-bear. That would help with the scent.
2. Resolution – use at least one FB before buying any new FBs – I already broke this one – I blame this on pixel and her evil ways of helping me find new deals.
3. New releases – I am a big fan of Unum, Slumberhouse, Papilon, The Rising Phoenix and Sultan Pasha. Anything these guys release, I get excited. Also a huge fan of Bogue but was underwhelmed by Noun.
4. Fantasy release – oh that is hard. An impressive combo of Iris, Sandalwood and Rose.
Hahaha, so what did you get?
1. I’m wearing No. 5 L’eau on one hand and Poison Girl edt on the other. I’m thinking about using my Ulta points and trying to pick something. 2. I guess my resolution would be to quit worrying about the perfume I don’t wear, and just wear what I love. 3. I hear another Alien flanker is coming out, so looking forward to that. 4. I would like Dior to make a really badass perfume in the designer line, with it’s own name, without a bow. Honestly, I don’t like bows. 5. Right now, I’m looking forward to spring. In June, my son and I both will be having big birthdays, so that’s something.
I am with you on 2, 3 and 4!
I’m actually super excited about the new Alien! I’ve rarely been disappointed in the flankers.
Do you mean Aura or something else?
I think it’s the new Alien Flora Futura.
Heh, sounds like I am 6 months behind!
Yes! The Futura I’ve tried Aura twice now from a towelette sample ( they are dumb) wasn’t blown away, but will try again if I can get a spray sample.
SOOOOOOOO with you on the bows…
ditto
1. L’Artisan Safran Toublant, and a few wisps of yesterday’s Helmut Lang EDP (the original) from my sweater sleeves.
2. I want to buy just what I truly want, rather than 4 or 5 bargain bottles of perfectly fine fragrance that is not what I truly want. I started the new year right by getting a long-desired bottle of Spiritueuse Double Vanille at the Guerlain shop at Epcot.
3. Excited about nothing new in 2018 – yet.
4. My dream is to have Dior reformulate Dioressence so that it smells again like the 1969 original, but tweaked every so slightly so that no one in my family comments that I smell like an old lady.
5. I always feel happy for fresh beginnings. I like the Rilke quote, “And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been.” Or smelled!
Thanks. That’s a great quote.
Oh, I found a pretty nice drugstore body wash this week! It’s the Murumuru Rose shower foam from Love Beauty & Planet. It’s a surprisingly nice pale pink rose scent that lasts for a few hours, and the foam quality is good too. What body products are you all using lately?
I’ve been wondering about that line. Thanks for the info on the rose!
I’m really bad about accumulating shower gels. I love the Yuzu shower gel from Shikai, and Jack Black Turbo Wash when I really need something to help me wake up.
My boyfriend alternates the Jack Black Turbo and an Old Spice body wash with an illustration of a giant squid on it (of all things!) that actually smells really nice.
I ended up with the rose body wash because my local drug store was out of my favorite cheap body wash, Softsoap Luminous Oils in iris with avocado oil. I’m glad the Love Beauty & Planet turned out to be a good purchase!
I love any scented soaps and bath gels. Used up a travel size of Hinoki bath gel by Le Labo in record time.
I bought some French scented soaps at Christmas markets. Looking forward to trying one soon, once we finish off the Lush soap currently in the shower. Gave my husband a gift of some Hermes soaps last summer…expensive, but beautiful.
I guess it qualifies as a body product…I’m addicted to Old Spice Amber anti-perspirant. I bought the deodorant by mistake, which was fine but the a-p smells better. It makes me happy.
Thanks for reminding me of that Hinoki shower gel, I want to get some! I normally use Lush.
I’m intrigued by the idea of the Old Spice anti-perspirant. You might have inadvertently created a lemming there. Hermès soaps are out of my budget range but such a dream item.
1. I’m wearing remnants of stuff (that are soap-n-water resistant – ugh!) I’ve sprayed this morning just to be absolutely sure that I really don’t like them! Those have to go! And I need a nice long shower…
2. See # 1. I need to move things that I don’t truly love along to others who might. I need to get my samples and decants better organized. Heck, I need to actually try some of the samples I’ve got! That said, there’s still so much stuff I want to try… The perfume lover’s curse: to have too much and still want more?
5. I’m hoping to explore New York state this summer.
+1 on No. 2
If No. 5 brings you to NYC again, you know where I am!
Would love to go larking about the city with you!
#2 is my prime motivator for participating in the freebiemeet!
Must get my freebies posted today!
1. LL The Noir 29
2. Judiciously invest in 1 or 2 full bottles that I truly love and wear them often. Simplify my perfume wardrobe.
3. Not sure
4. A perfume that smells exactly like Schmidt’s Jasmine Green Tea deodorant.
5. Going to Florida with just my little family. This is the first time we’ve been able to afford a week-long vacation just for us.
I love Schmidt’s deodorant! I just discovered it at TJ Maxx. It’s very similar to what I used to make myself, but… way easier to buy. 🙂
And congratulations on the vacation. A whole week sounds dreamy!
I’m just trying out the Schmidt’s green tea deodorant – they sent me one to try after I told them how their regular line didn’t work out for me ( if it does for you, the cedarwood one smells really good). I find the Jasmine green tea note surprisingly accurate – but also so strong that it interferes a little with other perfume.
1. Going through samples and neglected bottles, so I’m wearing Flowertag, TF Soleil Blanc and Aerin Linen Rose. I like the Aerin! It has a little coconut in it, but just a tickle, which suits me just fine.
2. I need to be more mindful of my purchases. Fewer impulse purchases and more “true love” purchases. Fewer purchases overall. I know y’all get me. Also need to organize my decants and samples more effectively so I can quickly find what I’m hankering for. (Where are you, Cuir de Lancome?!?). Also need to recreate my spreadsheet, and maybe even track what I wear on a daily basis. Brands to try: I’d like to try the earlier L’Artisans this year. Dzongkha is first on my list.
3. I don’t know much about what’s coming up this year, but new releases from Hermès are always exciting!
4. This is a toughie. I would be happy to see a collection of really well done perfumes focused on vetiver , ranging from light and summery to something for winter. Maybe this has been done before. I’m a rookie.
5. I’d like to take a vacation to the LA area this year, and to SF as well. Would love to visit the Aftel perfume museum. But I would need two hours. One just won’t cut it.
I will add some Dzongkha to your package!
Wheeee! Thank you so much. ????
1. I started today in Osmanthe Yunnan, and after the gym and a shower, switched to Eau des Merveilles. It’s an Hermes day!
2. I have set a budget, and since I want to buy some souvenir bottles on my vacation this summer, need to mind it! I’d also like to finish at least one bottle. And no more buying samples!
3. Um, I pre-ordered Arizona by Proenza Schouler. “Interesting mineral accord” grabbed me.
4. I’m stil waiting for Andy Tauer to create a coffee and cigarette fragrance.
5. I’m looking forward to my summer vacation – we will definitely be going to Germany, and England or Scotland could get added on.
Have a safe, fragrant and happy weekend!
#2 is a very reasonable approach but not if it’s replaced by #3 (or did you actually try that perfume before pre-ordering?)
#3 oh! I just replied that i was lookig forward to this release. The mineral accord aso grabbed me, along with the orris.
Coffee by Tauer I can get on board with. Coffee Flash?
Andy with coffee and smoke–I’m in, blind buy and all!!!
My answers:
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
Little dab of Miss Dior, because it was still sitting on my desk from yesterday.
2. Do you have any fragrance resolutions for 2018? Buy more bottles, buy fewer? Anything new you’d like to try, any notes or brands you’d like to know better?
Buy more perfume. I have a hard time buying anything.
3. What 2018 release are you most looking forward to, so far?
I can’t say that I’ve heard of anything I’m potentially dying for, so far.
4. And your fantasy 2018 release? Name the brand and describe the fragrance you think they should develop.
I would like Lush to make a fragrance that matches Happy Hippie.
5. What else (anything, really!) are you looking forward to this year?
My big work this month has been de-stressing, and I hope to get myself into a state of zen-like bliss by December.
You may be the only one who wants to buy more perfume ????
True! But other collectors may eventually reach the same point. Actually, I suspect that many do reach the point where they feel sated and don’t want to buy more, and they just stop coming to NST 🙂
I admit I have wondered what the turnover rate is on NST, and if people drift away when sated, or stay away in a self-preservation effort. 😀
I have a mental list of those who have drifted away and there aren’t that many (from the ranks of those who regularly posted).
And I don’t even know. It’s hard to tell from the comments, too, because all the pre-2009 comments lost their usernames and now say “anonymous”.
I come here everyday, but I must admit my perfume purchasing has slowed down considerably. When I calculate the ounces available to me in my current collection, I could spray with abandon, live to be 100, and still be able to give out some decants at my funeral!! I love to keep up with everybody, but I am not following all the new releases….just those from my faves (Tauer/Hermes/Ineke)…
#5 is also a big goal of mine, although I suspect a lot of my emotional issues are hormone related at this time (the dreaded menopause).
I feel pretty well sated and don’t want to buy more but I still love coming to NST. 🙂
Let’s hope we both find a way to stay centered and calm!
Interesting!
SpringPansie’s goal to spend $350 impressed me – I think that might be harder than not buying any perfume at all.
And you don’t want to buy full bottles right? That makes it tricky too.
I just read Gretchen Rubin’s The Four Tendencies – she describes people who are “abstainers” – people who find it easier to not do something entirely & “moderators” – people who can handle eating one square of chocolate and night as a treat.
Good luck and keep us posted!
I agree – I’m a moderator rather than abstainer, but that would be too much for me to handle at that low of a level. I would be saying no to myself constantly which would take more willpower than just saying no once and swearing it off entirely. But more power to her!
Right – that’s not a lot of money in the perfume world. I guess you could think about variety instead of dollars – like you could get a decant every three weeks, or something like that it’s interesting to think about though!
Oh no, I want only full bottles, but they must be small! My “rule” is 30 ml or below, my preference is 15 ml or below. So that narrows the field quite a bit.
Oh that is a challenge!
I like 1.7 oz size bottle aesthetically – but I see your point – it’s nice to have a bottle but why have more perfume than you may ever use?
1. I’m wearing Slowdive today. There is a little bottle in my future.
2. I’d like to know the Vero Profumo line better, but that’s about it for perfume resolutions.
3. I find out about new stuff on NST! I don’t know what’s in the pipeline for 2018.
4. Can’t think of anything, although I’ll be interested in a new Arielle Shoshanna perfume if one is released.
5. I am looking forward to my trip to the Siberian Arctic this summer. I’ve tried to go before, but the Russians were angry with the US and wouldn’t grant visas to the area. By going with a non-US company I hope to get there this year.
I tried Slowdive last week and liked it too. Thought it might be too similar to APLS or Back to Black but it isn’t. The small bottle would be plenty for me as it’s quite potent, amazingly so for a natural perfume.
1. I am wearing the last of my sample of Lyric, because
2. My resolution is to use up more of my samples.
3&4. I have no idea what’s coming this year, but I’m always interested in what Andy Tauer is doing.
5. My 30th anniversary is this year, and we’re planning a trip to Jamaica to celebrate. Will have to make reservations soon, since the place I want to stay at is small and books up fast, but I’m a little worried since we will be going in hurricane season. But I guess I can always get travel insurance for that.
Hooray for #5!
No. 5 sounds fantastic!
1. Wearing a hefty spray of the very-pretty floral LeLong pour femme (go read Musette’s review at the Posse, really funny)
2. Planning to divest myself of some purchases I don’t love and stick to a budget of $350. (That means if I want a bottle of Epidor and some samples, there can be no more vintage-mini purchases. Nor can I continue to “rescue” low-priced Jolie Madame minis and bottles of original-release Safari cologne spray, both of which I have actually purchased in the past week.)
3. No idea what’s coming. None. Probably don’t care. (Well. Until something delightful shows up in a sample package, that is.)
4. I wish someone would release a peach-rose-hyacinth-sandalwood fragrance for summer. Maybe Dame would do it? And then it would be within my price range, too 🙂
5. The CEO (my husband) is collaborating with a friend and former colleague on an academic presentation for a conference on sustainable agriculture, conference to be held in Hawaii . . . so I *miiiight* get to go to Kauai again this summer.
Annnnnd planning to self-publish an ebook on Amazon this summer. (Ducks, because avoiding questions for the moment. More info later. 🙂 )
Good luck with #2 & #5.
So glad to hear that your book is coming along.
1. I’m trying two perfumes (not worth mentioning). Will figure out what to wear and spray with abandonment later.
2. I stopped wearing perfumes from samples several years ago so it doesn’t make any sense to keep even those samples that I liked when I tried them – let alone those that didn’t work for me. So I should either wear perfumes from samples that I liked but decided not to get a FB or give them away (which is more likely since why to wear these when I have bottles or decants of perfumes that I liked more?).
3. 2018 releases I look forward to? Nothing, I’ll go with a flow.
4. I’m still waiting on somebody to create a perfect Daphne odorata perfume (Wit is nice but is not what I’m looking for).
5. It would be nice to get at least one vacation in 2018 when either I or my vSO aren’t sick – is it too much to ask? 🙂
Well, for some reason, I thought your vacation to Barcelona, London (and was it Stockholm?) was illness free!
Not even close! 🙁 We still tried to enjoy it but it was a struggle.
You’re no 4. is mine too, if u discover it please let me know!
My Daphne bush inexplicably died last spring, I’m really going to miss it, hopefully will get around to planting a new one this year.
Mine is still alive but it didn’t bloom last year and it doesn’t look like it will this year either 🙁
So, it’s a pact, mayfly! Whoever finds that unicorn perfume, alerts another one!
I am with you on #2. Giving all my samples away this week.
I too barely use samples anymore. I never did make big Luckyscent purchases, but it seems like i haven’t needed any in so long!
1. Hiram Green Slowdive. The key must be more sprays. With 2 stingy sprays, it starts off quite animalic. With just a tad more, the honey sweetness (though bit tooth-achingly sugar sweet) takes over. I have the travel spray so I am all set!
2. I have set a theoretical budget of 10% of my net bonus (which really means 20% because I give an equal or more amount to a not for profit for however much I spend on perfumes). Another 10% is already earmarked for church. 10% will be to enhance my vacation (either spending money or travel upgrades). The rest I will invest. Sounds like a plan!
3. Nothing comes to mind right now but history had shown I am easily lemmed by the new and shiny.
4. 28 La Pausa and Coromandel extrait
5. I would like for 2018 to be the year I consolidate my accounts so that I can better track them. At the end of the day, my individual stock holdings should only consist of my company’s stock (I had been buying them at a 5% discount through payroll deduction since I started working and I’ve worked for more years than some of you had been alive) and Carnival Cruise Line (pays a dividend and shareholders with at least 100 shares get an onboard credit with the amount depending upon the number of days of a booked cruise). Not to sound morbid but I also need to work on a will!
On number 5, that’s a worthwhile goal. Best not to leave a mess of accounts for someone else to untangle. I got my husband to consolidate all his investments at Vanguard and close any non-essential bank accounts. I also made him do a will and set up a trust. If you own real estate and/or have kids it’s a really good idea.
I need to take a look at the trust construct!
Even if you don’t have kids a trust is a good idea; easier to transfer assets to your heirs. It’s not morbid, but practical and a blessing for those left behind if you do the work now. When my aunt died with papers and accounts scattered everywhere it took nearly a year to reconcile her estate. Do some research, get an estate attorney and go for it!
ps–I agree that Vanguard is great and their website alone is a great resource as is AARP.
I agree with the Vanguard comment too and have an account.
Of course you need a will: what will you change otherwise when a (hypothetical) favorite niece starts dating a struggling artist or decides to join the circus? 🙂
As to the company stocks… If my company were to offer any discount, I would have probably invested some (they don’t! 🙁 ) but even with a discount and for the best of the best company, usually all financial advisors teach us to diversify – do you?
Absolutely! What happened to my sister-in-law’s brother-in-law and thousands of employees of a particular company that went bankrupt during the financial crisis 10 years ago should serve as a lesson – no matter how well a company is doing, do not have all or the bulk of your 401k in your company’s stock.
1. Wearing Kelly Caleche EdT today. I could wear this every day.
2. Resolutions are many. Don’t buy something just because price is great – be more thoughtful and disciplined. Use up the samples I’ve collected and try to make sense of what I like and why I like it. Keep track of recommendations and comments I see here so that I keep a list of scents to try and also keep a wishlist. (I tend to be easily distracted by the latest shiny object….)
3. Nothing comes to mind, other than I’ll be interested in what Hermès does. I tend to like that house.
4. No fantasy release. Hoping someone buys SSS and re-starts production.
5. Being able to see my Dad more this year. Pay better attention to health…I tend to take my relative good health for granted and have reached an age where that’s rather foolish. Hoping to get back to Tahoe and environs. I need the Sierras or other big western mountains.
Hear hear to #4!
Yep, that’s me on #5 too. I NEED to exercise. I hate it, but I have to do it. Because I walk so much here in the city I use that as an excuse for not needing to exercise. Bad.
Maybe spend summer months with dad?
1. Wore TF Vert d’Encens today. One more day and I will be done with my sample ????
2. For 2018, I hope to do more sampling and keep my full bottle count at unchanged by selling/swapping and purchasing decants instead.
3. I just read about Proenza Schouler Arizona being released in late February. It has notes of cactus flower, orris, and minerality, which all aound promising. I don’t recall other releases.. oh wait, I am excited about the new Hermessences!
4. Hmm fantasy 2018.. nothing specific, but I hope houses such ad Neela Vermeire, Frederic Malle and Naomi Goodsir keep coming up with interesting scents.
5. This year I am hoping to pass a professional exam, establish myself at work, and visit my home country for the first time in years.
1. Trying out SL Rousse today. Nice, but I don’t think I need it.
2. Resolutions? I don’t really make them, but I do think I should wear my FBs more, and sample less. Odds of success? 50/50 (see answer to #1)
3. No idea what’s coming; I’ll just have to be surprised 🙂
4. Fantasy new scent? Hoping Neela Vermeire redeems herself from Rahele, which I thought I’d love but didn’t. (it’s all about ME, you know)
5. Looking forward to this year… hmm, dunno; got a nice vacation planned for the fall but it’s a bit sad if I have to look that far forward. Will have to come up with something closer to hand. Perhaps a trip to Yosemite, we’re overdue for that.
Well I survived my 3-day work meeting… why is it so tiring to sit in a conference room all day?! I am mostly just relaxing this weekend. I’m sure you’re all dying to know what scents I decided were sufficiently SFW for a crowded warm conference room: my picks were SL Cedre, SL Five O’Clock Au Gingembre, and Ralph Lauren Notorious. Cedre proved a bit much but the others were well behaved. I was sorry to miss this week’s excuse to wear Favorite Winter Scents, perhaps I’ll do that next week to make up for this week. So there’s something close at hand to look forward to 🙂
1. I started the day by shearing myself with the clippers on #1… this led to the desire for a barbershop-like vibe, involving some Florida Water and Caron’s Troisieme Homme. I’ve been wearing the Caron as a work scent (it is persistent!) through a pretty stressful period. I am always impressed by how unpretentious but good the Caron ‘Holy Trinity’ is. On the other hand, I’d forgotten that Florida Water can be awfully strong! After getting home from work, I tried to start all over again, out of the navy pinstripe suit and into a corduroy coat and some Habit Rouge…
2. Goal this year is just to pare down things. I’d love to acquire a fuller regime (aftershave, deodorant, etc.) for a favourite few fragrances. It is surprisingly tough to track down an aftershave splash for Eau Sauvage, or Caron Pour un Homme or Habit Rouge these days, especially up here in Canada…
3./4. I really don’t know! I’m kind of hung up on the classics, so ( hoping this doesn’t sound too pathetic) I sometimes just hope for a decently managed reformulation…Or no further reformulations to the things I already like?
5. This has got to be a public year (writing & exhibiting…) The last few years have been all about making & managing, so some kind of splash is in order.
The clippers on #1!!!
Some guys look so great with that short hair. And some, like my 19-year-old son… do not. He’s joined the Corps of Cadets within his university, so he is obligated to keep his hair short (zeroed on back and sides, no longer than #2 setting on top) his freshman year. I think next year it can be #2 on back and sides, longer on top, and trust me, I am looking forward to it. He’s a good-looking kid, but with zeroed hair he looks something like a naked mole rat. (SSSSHHHH I DID NOT SAY THAT.)
I have that sort of love for Yatagan. I never get bored of it and it makes me feel exotic and ever-ready all at once.
Yes, I really enjoy Yatagan too, though it only suits my mood once in awhile (but then it really, really does.) For me, Habit Rouge is probably the exotic/ever-ready scent, though Caron Pour Un Homme remains the one thing that, for whatever reason, occupies some kind of transcendent, Platonic definition of what a fragrance can be.
1. I’m wearing Myrrhe ardent Annick Goutal with a dash of Serge Lutens Bois Vanille
2. I’m planning to buy 1 or 2 bottle Memo – Lalibela and Armanie Privé Figuier Eden
3. What 2018 release are you most looking forward to, so far? none I dont really keep myself up to date in that department
4. And your fantasy 2018 release? Name the brand and describe the fragrance you think they should develop. humm I’m thinking Serge Lutens: Almond, Leather, tobacco with some amber in the dry down?
5. What else (anything, really!) are you looking forward to this year? the Olympics! I love them and with Agent Orange the Olympics does not have enough visibility!
You smelled great! I recently finished my Myhhre Ardente shower gel and thought that I should have bought this perfume… I wonder if it’s still possible to find in “feminine” bottle.
I completely forgot about the Olympics! Had I remembered, I might have kept my cable subscription for another month. Now I’ll have to figure out how to watch it.
Ditto on # 5!
OH yeah, Olympics! I am ready for watching those.
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
SOTD was 24 Faubourg, one of my top five favorites.
2. Do you have any fragrance resolutions for 2018?
Several posters today have described variations on my resolutions, which are to enjoy my favorite fragrances and not hoard them, to buy only what I truly love, and to give away the ones that don’t work for me.
3. What 2018 release are you most looking forward to, so far?
I don’t pay a lot of attention to news about upcoming releases, but the new flanker to Dolce does sound interesting.
4. And your fantasy 2018 release? Name the brand and describe the fragrance you think they should develop.
I would love a new Dior that blended warm spices, leather and iris. Bonus points if they hired Daniela Andrier to do it.
5. What else (anything, really!) are you looking forward to this year?
I can’t say without violating NST’s comments policy. :O
Your No. 4 sounds wonderful!
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
– I’m in Slumberhouse Sådanne today. A beautiful animatic strawberry, somewhat reminding of Keiko Mecheris Gourmandises
2. Do you have any fragrance resolutions for 2018? Buy more bottles, buy fewer? Anything new you’d like to try, any notes or brands you’d like to know better?
– I would love to downsize my collection. But I don’t really think I can.
3. What 2018 release are you most looking forward to, so far?
– Gucci Guilty absolute pour femme. I have high hopes.
4. And your fantasy 2018 release? Name the brand and describe the fragrance you think they should develop.
– I’d love a a deep dark black currant cent with woody undertones. From Slumberhouse I’d Diptyque.
5. What else (anything, really!) are you looking forward to this year?
– I’m feeling drained and low in energy and spirits right now. So summer holiday maybe?
SOTD is the last of my sample of Un Coeur en Mai
My fragrance resolution is the same as last year– to try more samples than I acquire (I still have a backlog). I was up 20 last year but down 40 the year before
I will try most things that Soivohle, DSH Perfumes and EnVoyage release. I also tend to want to try things that have carnation or gardenia in them
My fantasy release is a slinky, sexy carnation scent from DSH which if I have the funds, I’ll have custom made for my 50th birthday in Sept
I’m looking forward to going to St Kitts in just over a month, my wedding in June and turning 50
You smell wonderful!
Woo hoo! How is the wedding perfume coming along?
A little on hold since my essential oils are all in storage (along with most of my other possessions)
Sounds like you have a great year lined up!
A June wedding is perfect. What an exciting time for you!
1. Brin de Reglisse
2. I´d like to get more samples. It´s difficult to get a hold of them where I live (Argentina)
3. Looking forward to try the recently announced Hermes perfumes and extraits. and see how C. Nagel does at the Hermessences!
4. I would create a brand called “Encyclopaedia des Parfums” and have it recreate classic/discontinued perfumes in 15/30/100ml deluxe boxes with a small magazine/booklet with pictures, research, and essay by the recreating perfumer and, as we are dreaming, full support from the house that it belongs to. Price wouldn’t be over 2USD per ml.
5. Having fun. I’ve been working non-stop (save for a yearly 2 week vacation) for the last 17 years. Now I am suddenly and unexpectedly without a job, but I can manage some kind of sabbatical-part time job year… So I think I want to have fun this year, and for a workaholic, this is a tough proposition!
Good luck on #5!
And also meant to comment that I love your idea for #4
Thank you Hajusuuri! 🙂
Jadore Touche oil – it’s really pretty. Almost like a floral Samsara to my nose. Will add Diaghilev, I love that one also.
Perfume resolutions – I’m writing each sotd in my new perfume diary. I am also going to stop buying samples/decants for awhile now. And no more vintages. I’ve been lucky, as about 98% of the vintages I’ve purchased smell fine, it’s such a gamble though.
My new obsession is pearls. So that cuts into perfume purchases.
Ooh, what kind of pearls?
I know you mean real pearls but whenever I hear pearls, I remember an ad I saw in Parade magazine touting Genuine Faux Pearls ????
Ha too funny! I’ve bought some vintage akoya and some new freshwater. I’d love a Tahitian strand or some earrings. Also looking at vintage Mikimoto. It’s fun to look. Still learning. Do you like/wear pearls?
I prefer precious / semi-precious stones and don’t recall the last time I wore pearls. The pearls I have were passed down frrom the grands on both sides and my mom had also distributed her jewelry (she made up 4 sets and we drew lots).
SOTD; Heure exquise edp
Perfumes I most want to try are the Vero Profumo’s particularly Rubj edp.
Nothing new particularly, but really looking forward to Turin &Sanchez’s new Book.
I’m half way through my first year of Psychotherapy studies (3 clinical years after this one). It’s a huge commitment, and I feel so lucky to be studying now. looking forward to seeing where I am with it in July.
You smelled great! (It’s one of my favorite perfumes)
Good luck with your studies!
Hi everyone
1 Un jardin au Nil
2. Fill up some gaps in my fragrance wardrobe and actually buy some FBs.
3. The Jm fields and new Hermessence collections mentioned above sound interesting. Otherwise catching up with some 2017 releases 🙂
4. A rerelease of Vetiver pour elle and Chaos and anything good with incense in it.
5. I have a yearly goal of visting one new country to satisfy my travellust and I want to enrole in a couple of work and hobby related courses. So hopefully will stop procrastinating long enough to get it done.
1. In the dry down of Epic and after my shower, I will switch to vintage Bal.
2. I’m hoping that I can make up my mind on which perfume that will be added to my collection. It’s either SDV or Au Coeur due Desert. I will be getting a decent tax refund this year. Could I afford both? Yes, but I can only get 1.
I can’t wait until my sister and nephews come in from California for Easter. That’s why I won’t go for two bottles of perfume. So that is why I am doing my taxes earlier than normal.
I vote for Au Coeur du Desert. A lot more bang for the buck since SDV has been watered down.
I vote for Tauer as well: it’s a much better quality perfume made with love by a real person.
Busy putting together my freebiemeet packages today. I am wearing a big dose of Attrape-Coeur.
1. …anatomy lab
2. Find one fragrance I enjoy enough that choosing between wearing it and a new sample every day will be tough.
3. Not looking!
4. Caron re-releasing pre-IFRA formulations of their mainstays as not-intended-for-skin room sprays *wink*
5. Do well on the quickly approaching Step 1 exam!
Mmmm less resolution, more project — I moved to the NE from a hot and humid place, and nothing seems to live on my skin any more, with or without lotion! Mitsouko doesn’t draw a smile, even Ambre Sultan smells different! So I’m now wearing a lot of light green things, go figure. The project is to try more things to see whether it’s a skin chemistry/nose operation thing that’s changed, or that my brain has just given up on the big move!
I’m in vintage Chanel Cristalle EDT this morning, having come across the bottle while hunting down the boxes for my freebie offers (just posted, Koyel). It’s so faint and has lost its top notes entirely, but still so beautiful. Had fun going through my stash of boxes, reminding myself of all the lovely scents I’ve discovered over the years – made me feel slightly better about giving away the ones that I wanted to love but don’t. Will make me very happy to find them new owners.
1. Not SOTD yet, but I can smell remnants of yesterday’s Le Baiser du Dragon on my sweatshirt sleeves. I wore it for the first time and wish I’d tried it sooner.
2. Use up more samples and decants that I’ve had for a long time. Get caught up on sampling some newer lines. Spray more perfume. I can’t do that on work days, but I can on nights and weekends.
3. Hmm I’m not sure how excited I am for the Hermessence releases, so I’ll just look forward to trying Slowdive and whatever new perfume(s) Bruno Fazzolari conjures up.
4. A perfume that smells just like the original Herbal Essence shampoo.
5. I’m looking forward to professional development and hopefully a promotion and raise. My SO just found out he will be getting more responsibility at work, which means a pay increase and title change. So I hope there will be positive growth for both of us! And I want to keep exploring the Pacific Northwest and not get caught up in the rut of daily life.
What do you like about Le Baiser du Dragon? Was it the EDT, EDP or extrait. I almost pulled the trigger on a bottle upon seeing it included in the Non-Blonde’s top winter scents and then read Angela’s review from way back and held back.
Good morning, NST. I went missing for a couple of weeks without a word—sorry. It was nothing in particular, just rushed in the mornings, busy and pre-occupied with work, recuperate with myself on multiple levels, and in consequence of all these minor grumbles, full of boring, self-centred gripes that turned me inwards, not out into the light. Today is Auckland’s Anniversary Day, though, so I have time to re-establish my equilibrium and begin to enjoy small things again.
I’m not wearing any perfume yet, but my choice will be something cooling. It’s HORRIBLY hot here, and we watch the kittens spend their days moving from their water bowl to a new cool spot on the tiles to flop onto.
My ambition for perfume in 2018 is to buy selectively and with real excitement. I want to feel a thrill with every purchase. Then I want to wear with conscious pleasure and share with joy.
My hope, like that of a few others here, is for a truly stupendous new addition to the Chanel Exclusifs. I like Misia well enough, but it’s a perfume for a definite mood for me, not an easy go-to like Bel Respiro or La Pausa. I’d like something as versatile and sophisticated as 31 Rue Cambon, elegant without being overwrought. I’m probably wishing for the moon…sigh. But then again, why not? All good perfume is about aspiring to the ideal, one way or another.
Must dash. The dear man is driving to Whanganui today to see his mother, quite possibly for the last time. I need to iron for him, and pack a lunch. He is externally phlegmatic but internally, suffering all sorts of complicated emotions, not all of them unalloyed sorrow. I hurt for him.
Hey, it’s nice to be back. Be well, all.
Oh I’m so glad you are back! I’ve missed you, and the kittens. I will keep your husband in my thoughts and prayers – this is a difficult time of transition.
It’s nice to read you, welcome back.
I wish your family a lot of strength.
And sorry— I have no idea where “ recuperate” came from! I don’t even recall what I was intending to say. Something to do with being fed up with myself, but what the word was completely escapes me now.
Gotta dash!
Fun to read everyone’s poll answers. Some good ideas here!
1. SOTD: YSL’s Sleek Suede – more chocolate and less oud would make this work for me. Definitely a high quality scent, however.
2. No real resolution for 2018 around perfume but I will say in general I’ve gotten more selective on what I spend on, especially samples.
3. Curious about Proenza Schouler’s first scent that’s coming out. I find it interesting to see how a designer thinks of their brand, style & aesthetic from a fragrance point of view.
4. Almond and carnation (without dominating clove) are two notes I’d like to see focused on more. A modern take on these with some interesting twist is what I’m after.
5. One New Year resolution I’ve made, and already benefiting from (and excited about!), is to do at least one cultural activity a month. This can be theater, museum, dance, music, etc. It’s a common confession of those that live in NYC that we don’t take advantage of all the amazing cultural options the city has to offer, me included, and so I’ve decided I really need to be intentional about doing so.
Agree with your #4. Almond and carnation are underrepresented and I love them in fragrance.
It’s Sunday and I feel the need to shape my world like a cathedral and so I’m rocking some Etro Messe de Minuit. Definitely helping to transport me to warmer times.
That’s a great intention for wearing perfume, and Messe de Minuit is just the one to do it.
Happy Sunday Everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Here are my responses to the poll:
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
Wearing “Jersey” by Chanel. I got a few samples a while back from the Chanel counter when I visited there and this was one of the ones I received. Its nice enough, but not FB worthy for me. All Chanel fragrances have that one note that is used in all of their fragrances and it is apparent in this one as well. I know Chanel is a powerhouse and has a cult following, but I have never been able to jump on their bandwagon.
2. Do you have any fragrance resolutions for 2018? Buy more bottles, buy fewer? Anything new you’d like to try, any notes or brands you’d like to know better?
My fragrance resolution was that I would only buy FB’s of new houses that I have never owned before. I would only get decants of previously owned FB’s. I say every year that I would like to expand my collection of different houses. I already have my eye on the houses of “Parfums de Marley” and “LeGalion”. I have never owned anything from these houses and will probably look into obtaining some this year.
3. What 2018 release are you most looking forward to, so far?
I’m always interested in any new releases that Jo Malone has
4. And your fantasy 2018 release? Name the brand and describe the fragrance you think they should develop.
N/A
5. What else (anything, really!) are you looking forward to this year?
N/A
1. Elizabeth and James Nirvana Black for Her right now, switching to Vol de Nuit shortly.
2. Buy fewer bottles with the intention of something I that I love, not just buying something due to being ‘pressed at the moment to make a decision’. And to wear the fragrances, not hoard them, as others have mentioned..
4. Wishing they could bring back pre-IFRA version of fragrances of Dior and Chanel. Like Miss Dior, Diorissimo and No 19.
Maybe a carnation scent by either house would be great.
5. Looking forward to trying to get more exercise daily. I start out good early in the year, then stop for no apparent reason.
1. The Micalef/Denis Duran collab. Very woody. And long lasting, isn’t that always the way when you don’t care or something?
2. I’d like to sample so many houses I’ve heard of, but never tried. Slumberhouse, Le Labo, Masque Milano, Neela Vermeire Creations , Naomi Goodsir, Dusita, Hiram Greene. So many perfumes, so little time. I’d also like to try Chanel’s Gardenia for some reason.
3. Not really sure what is being released.
4. I’d like someone to do a true night-scented stock fragrance. Penhaligon’s didn’t come close.
5. Looking forward to some traveling this Fall.
1. Diptyque Eau Lente. It smells far better than the Masala chai I tried (and failed) to make this morning.
2. I’d like to learn more about patchouli and mint. Four fragrance samples that piqued my interest in the last couple of months were Patchouli Patch, Geranium pour Monsieur, and Cartier Roadster. (I’m new to fragrances and a little green.)
5. Working through my samples. They pile up!
Late to the party–I blame travel.
Wearing Smell of Weather turning, which I just bought recently! Yay! It has lasted all day.
I’m not looking forward to anything in particular for the year, just interested to see what comes. However, I have a bunch of resolutions:
1) Use up Alchimie (done, as of a few days ago!)
2) Use up Eau de Gentiane Blanche (about 20 ml left…)
3) Use up Diorissimo (about 10 mL left…)
4) So that I can open up my backup of vintage Diorissimo and decant it into the lovely perfume bottle I was just given for my birthday
5) Use up 12 samples, averaging 1 per month, and I’m on track to use one up by end of January
6) Keep using what I already have, especially try out all the minis, so I can put something into the NEXT freebie meet.
Hi everyone,
Still newish to the board but loving this post – interesting and informative (there are new hermessences coming? Ooh!)
1. My perfume has faded but it was AA herba fresca, using up the last of a sample I had. Not sure about this one – I love the scent, but not really on me.
2. Resolution for 2018 – explore guerlain more – I live in a perfume desert (Ulta, Sephora and Macy’s all carry pretty much the exact limited range and I had to point out the Shalimar bottle to the SA at Macy’s ????) but I am in Europe this summer (dad’s in Berlin, husband’s from Ireland, work for hubby in Switzerland) and will hopefully get to try out some scents there (though I’m usually too intimidated to ask for samples over there). Oh, and try more Hermes stuff (that got me down the rabbit hole last summer after several years off the wagon. Or is it on the wagon?).
3. Excited about any new Hermes releases!
4. I have no perfume fantasies – still in the happy sampling mode.
5. Other resolution: 10000 steps every day.
Happy Sunday!