It's Bird Feeding Month, plus Random Acts of Kindness Day on Saturday, and Drink Wine Day on Sunday. We're celebrating all the festivities with our usual open thread poll. Talk about anything you like — the fragrance you’re wearing today, a wonderful example of perfumista kindness, your favorite wine-perfume combination, whatever.
Or, ask a question about fragrance, then see if anyone else has asked a question that you can answer…
Note: top image is February [cropped] by Jeff Sharp at flickr; public domain.
No perfume today. My nose is so stuffed up and I am feeling so much sinus pressure
Going to take a nap and when I wake up check the splitmeet
Rest and feel better Ltsg!
I hope you feel better soon! Passing you a cup of ginger tea with honey and lemon. ???? ???? ????
Hope you feel better after a good nap.
Feel better soon!
Get well soon!
I hope you feel better soon.
Hope the nap helps, ltsg! Neti pot, maybe?
Hope you are feeling better soon.
Hope you feel better soon!
Hope you feel better after your nap.
Feel better! Hopefully you’re up to perfume soon.
Clogged to the hilt here, too! Hot tea and honey time.
On my way to meet some forever friends from high school. We will spend the day together, remembering the old times and talking about the new ones. We met 2 years ago and wanted to share once again. Busy, busy day with them!
Wearing Chanel No.19 EdP and
looking forward to a great day!
Have a happy long holiday weekend everyone!
How wonderful! Have a great day ????
Thank you Lillyjo! We had a wonderful time.
That sounds like a wonderful day! Great choice with your No. 19.
It was a relaxing and rewarding day!
Enjoy your time with friends. You smell gorgeous!
Thank you Undina. We had so much fun!
That sounds so fun!
When I first got together with old high school friends after a long while, it was almost like traveling back in time. We laughed and laughed.
When my mother was in her seventies, her best friend from high school came to visit. She became a different person!! Carefree and light. They giggled and chattered. It was wonderful to see.
It is like a therapy for us to meet. We laugh a lot and even though we do not talk about good things all the time, it is very refreshing to be able to talk about everything and feel each other’ support, kindness and appreciation.
Nice!! Have a great time.
Thank you! We did!
Forever friends are the best! Have fun and you smell great!
You are right! It is great to know we can always count on each other. Even though we do not meet often, we keep in touch.
Sounds like fun! It’s a blast spending time with people “who knew you when”.
Ha! I am a little scared of this. College is as far back as I regularly go!
Lol! Guess it depends. I was pretty boring by high school standards.
Last time I saw someone I went to high school with he said, “For a smart girl, you sure did do a lot of dumb things.” Not untrue. Although it was sort of nice to have enough distance on it to have this be funny!
It has been comforting and very special to keep our friendship for so many, many years. However, I lost track of people from college. We were not close to each other those days. Different times and priorities, I guess.
Enjoy!!!
Thank you! We enjoyed a lot!
How lovely. You smell great.
Thanks! No.19 never fails!
Ugh, very jealous as I have not worn my 19 in some time and now I have a craving, but very happy for you! You smell great.
Thanks!
I’ve decided to utilize my collection list on Basenotes to evaluate what’s in my stash that isn’t getting much wear/love, and to make a conscious effort to wear them prior to the next Swapmeet in order to decide if they would be better loved in a new home.
Today’s “should it stay or should it go” fragrance (with musical accompaniment by The Clash) is Kenzo’s 7:15 a.m. in Bali, a d/c frag that I believe was only available in duty free shops.
It’s a pleasant vanilla floral that stays away from the super sweet side of vanilla. I bought this when I was more into vanilla frags. It’s pretty but definitely not among my loves, a respectable 3/5 on my scale.
Thanks for the earworm (no, really, I’m enjoying it).
I love that song!
I’m doing something similar – I have too many perfumes I love to go around wearing ones I only really like.
I have been going thru my spreadsheet deciding who stays and who goes. Long list ready to go
I accepted (first time) a sample offer from a fellow NST reader…and have been blessed with a lovely friendship…which I predict will be a life-long relationship. Thank you, NST for a great community of kind hearts.
I had the same exact experience almost two years ago….since then we have communicated almost daily and I truly consider her to be my best friend.
Maybe we have the same bff!!!????????????
LOL!!
One of my NST friends has become a wonderful friend IRL and International pen-pal. I was even lucky enough to have her at my wedding last year. So cool!
Super cool. I love it!
I met her last year!
That is so lovely! This is truly a very nice community. So refreshing in an age of trolls!
Watching the split meet and finding it very interesting for my first time around.
I received an email today that Apoteker Tepe is closing. Sad as I really liked there scents. ????
Now that I see tomorrow is National Drink Wine day I best head to the market to pick up a few bottles to celebrate and honor to day. ????????????
Every day should be Drink Wine day. At least it is in my household 🙂
🙂 !
Oh no! Their Pale Fire is gorgeous and has been on my wishlist for a while now ????. First SSS, and now AT; I hate to hear when a talented indie closes shop.
Oh, I liked Pale Fire too and never got it. Also Holy Mountain. I have a couple of others. I loved the perfumes and I loved the bottles. Sad.
Wow. I hadn’t heard that Laurie was closing shop. That’s a shame! She’s such a wonderful, sweet person and a great artist! I wish her the best, and I wish I knew someone wonderful who could take over the shop for her and do it justice.
I am smitten with The Wine Show. Fun to watch and learn about wine, plus great armchair travel.
I loved that show!!! Not so much because I am a huge wine drinker but I really love the two gents as well as the gorgeous places they visit.
Same! I don’t indulge, but I find the whole wine milieu fascinating, and all of the scenery is very easy on the eyes. *wink-wink*
Oh no!!! Glad I have purchased the scents I wanted but very sorry to see them go. 🙁
I don’t own any from that line, but have sniffed a bunch. They were definitely interesting-I considered The Paradem at one point, but never bought it. Sad to see small lines go belly up.
Thanks for the PSA!
So just this morning several kindnesses. Missed out by a minute on the first split I was interested in; then the lovely She-ra offered to share a bit of her decant with me – thank you! And then my massive commenting fails trying to join another, and Triestobeclassy emailed me that I could participate in the split even though I basically gave up! (Sometimes trying to do this on a phone is impossible!!). Anyway, thanks to both for your generosity. Today I’m going to wear my sample of Mirus Wicked Stepmother, which I received in a Facebook group draw from Ave Parfum. Wallowing in internet generosity today!
NSTers are the best ????
I’m awful at doing just about anything beyond talking on my phone. Glad everything worked out for you in the end!
Scentless for now as we are on our way to adopt a kitty (or two). Did not want to upset the cats with my fragrance :). I am more of a dog person but with our hectic schedules, dog is out of question. Kids are super excited and are fighting about kitty’s name, where the kitty is going to sleep and other things. I have a feeling we are going to end up with two kitties instead of one.
Awesome. I hope it all works out. I have been thinking about adoption. Hope you find a few forever friends.
Do two! Do two! First of all, it’ll make one more kitty’s life better, second, kids will have less reasons to fight, third, it will be easier on all family members later in life. Plus, hopefully, they will enjoy each other’s company.
I adopted two kittens together, and they were life-long buddies. So much fun to watch them grow old together! It’s a special kitty-bond!
oh hurray! The love for a cat (or two! two is best!) makes a happier home.
I changed litter boxes for close to 20 years and have currently sworn off the habit, but I know my inner cat lover will win out someday.
Good luck with adoption!
I agree that it’s better to adopt two if you can, especially a bonded pair.
Agreeing on the idea of getting two. They’ll keep each other company.
Another voice in agreement! We are always wishing we had adopted one of our cat’s siblings, because she’s a shy girl and we don’t feel like she would be happy if we got another one now.
We set out to get one kitten, and ended up with three! Three!m. But you know what! We wouldn’t part with one of them. They’re all their own little creatures, and they return our love unstintingly. You’ll have so much joy with them.
Kitties!!!!! What an exciting day.
Very sweet and memorable day for you and your family 🙂
Yay! Kitties are the best. I have 2 that came as an inseparable pair. Adults or kittens? Kittens will be as much fun and work as having a new toddler or 2 ????
Happy kitty choosing!
New kitties!!!!!! So fun! Yes, do 2. We’ve always had 2 at a time, and I think it makes them better behaved with humans — they can do their kitty roughhousing with each other, not their people.
Yay, conCATulations!! Wishing you many years of sweet furry love.
Thank you for adopting! And two is definitely the way to go – especially if you are getting kittens. That way, they can tire each other out and not get into so much trouble.
Kitties!!
Another vote for two kitties!
How wonderful! Please do let us know what the outcome was!
Yay, kitties! My child desperately wants to adopt one, but partner is still too scarred from having to put our last two down (another bonded pair) when they got sick. Kitty wars raging in our house now.
I woke up way too early with a sore throat and sinus pressure, so my plan for today is to take cold meds, bundle up, hunker down, and hope to heaven it doesn’t get any worse. SOTM is Heeley Cuir Pleine Fleur – at least I can still smell it!
Take care of yourself: it might be just a “weekend cold” – not an official name but just “a thing” in my household: we get sick on Friday night or Saturday morning, suffer through Sunday, and are healthy enough to go back to work on Monday – kind of annoying, if I have to get sick, I’d prefer to stay those 2 days off work and then recuperate on a weekend. OTOH, it beats being sick all weekend AND several days after ;).
Anyway, feel better!
YES! That “weekend cold” thing happens to me all the time! I guess it’s better than being sick for a week, and better to have it in winter than summer (she said grudgingly), but still annoying. 🙂
I hope you feel better soon. You smell great!
Thank you!
Sounds like a good plan and I do hope you feel better quickly!
Today is my name day so it feel just a little bit more festive this weekend. I continue the Month of Irises project by wearing Prada Infusion d’Iris Cedre this Saturday. It’s so much fun to wear iris perfumes with other people, so if you like iris and didn’t join yet, check Undina’s blog to see how it works.
PS. I love the photo you chose Robin.
Me too. Lovely photo!
ooooh, great choice. I have been unsure what iris scent to wear today. You made up my mind for me, thank you! I will wear Iris Cedre this evening. 17 days of iris and counting! 😀
Glad I could help
Happy name day!
Isn’t that an amazing shot??
Yes!
Happy name day!
Thanks for wishes all
Happy Name Day! Do you do anything special to mark the occasion?
Happy name day!
Today is also World Pangolin Day. What’s a pangolin, you ask? Unfortunately, the world’s most trafficked mammal. 🙁 https://www.pangolins.org/
I’m wearing Ava Luxe Cafe Noir today, and let me just tell you – I smell great! 😉 Spicy, black coffee – yum.
Really, people traffic pangolins? I had NO idea. Very sad.
Pangolins look so interesting, I’m glad they have a special day 🙂 I wonder what perfume a pangolin would wear? Certainly nothing run of the mill.
They have bad vision, but a really great sense of smell, so whatever perfume a pangolin would wear, I’m sure they’d truly have an appreciation for it!
Ha, I saw that but I didn’t know what a pangolin was either! How sad they are being trafficked.
I only just learned about pangolins recently from my 5 year old niece(in law). I initially thought she was mispronouncing “penguin”, but her mom filled me in. Apparently the class she’s in learns about a new animal every month and they spend a lot of time learning about it throughout the month. A zoology intensive immersion, if you will. ????
Oh, my goodness, they look positively prehistoric!
They are so cute! Terribly sad they are so heavily trafficked.
Testing Safran Troublant today. Such a soft spicy scent! Pretty.
Bird feeding month? I did not know, but my cat obviously did. For the past two weeks or so, we have been feeding pigeons because our cat enjoys watching them at the window. Lately she wakes us not because she wants to be fed, but because she wants us to feed pigeons. She even demands refills for them and skips her own breakfast because she is busy watching those birds. And they come flying when they see us open the window. 😀
That is hysterical!!
Ha! I used to to do that out our back window! I used millet sprays. Hours of fun, but such a mess and the weeds that it created in our tiny yard… What we won’t do to make them happy, I guess.
So funny!
That’s so cute!
Kitty TV!
Ha! My kitten just discovered the squirrels on the other side of the window. He’s not demanding we feed them, but he’s very confused why he can’t go out and play with them!
Squirrel TV!
SotD = Library of Flowers Moon Shadow
Yay for ROAK Day! Let’s do this. The world needs all the goodness we can share.
My first and second grade students have learned the Chinese folk song Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower). Yesterday I took pink jasmine flowers from my garden to school. At the end of music class students could choose to sniff the flowers (or not).
Emphatic reactions ranged from stinky! yuk! smells like socks! to yummy! green! sweet! My favorite comment was “mmmm, smells like my dog when she plays outside.” Several students commented that they couldn’t really smell anything, while others said the jasmine flowers had an overpowering scent. Interesting. 😀
It was a fun experiment – thanks for telling us, it made me smile.
If they perceive a flower scent so differently, I can only imagine how differently they (and we all) smell the same perfume!
Have a wonderful day!
Yes! I better understand why jasmine is a polarizing note. I adore it and must remind myself not everyone feels the same way.
At the end of each session (I taught 6 groups of 26 students yesterday), 3 or 4 students asked to sniff the flowers repeatedly and wanted to linger. Future perfumistas, or perhaps botanists, in the making. 😉
Very interesting !
😀
That’s a great experiment – and experience for your students! You are my kind of teacher.
thanks, Aparatchick!
Cool experiment, and yes, wish I’d had a teacher like you! Any other commonalities amongst the children with certain similar reactions, I wonder?
Thanks, Elisa! I’m lucky I get to do fun things with students. Music opens doorways across the disciplines.
The only commonality I noticed was that students who disliked the jasmine REALLY disliked it. Full on grimaces and so forth. And there were consistently 2 or 3 students in each of the six groups who refused to sniff at all for whatever reason. Maybe they just wanted to get to recess. 😀
You are an awesome teacher!
Hello, and happy weekend. I was miserable yesterday with a low-level but unremitting migraine, and didn’t really enjoy L’Ombre dans L’Eau very much. However, in good news, our fabulous vet loved the purrs. The Stripies were pronounced “superb”— they confidently took over the surgery, happily jumped onto the consulting table for their shots, purred and stropped and chatted and generally enchanted everyone. Titus had a yellow peg along for the ride, which apparently helped. He gravely offered it to Mary, as though bestowing a signal honour. That was all excellent, but Eric…Eric was pronounced a “miracle child” and he weighed in at 3.75kg, which is very small, but really good for him. He got his shot and now in a fortnight, he can have his heart scan, and then we will know for sure what we’re dealing with.
Today seems stormy, not that I’ve yet looked outside. I woke to the sound of rain, though, and it’s cooler, perhaps. I was keen to make a good perfume choice for today, because I’m still feeling a bit iffy, so I fell back on Cristalle, always reliable but in my case, perhaps a little predictable. It’s too beautiful to be boring, but it’s become a bit too safe for me. Actually, you know what? I need a new perfume direction. I should start wearing more leather and tuberose and teaching myself to like some new accords. I have a small bottle of Carnal Flower. If I feel completely well tomorrow, I’ll wear it, just see if I don’t.
And on that firmly resolved note, I shall make breakfast and get ready to spend the day in the office doing all the things I didn’t get to on Friday. Be well, all.
I’m so glad to hear Eric is doing so well! I love your kitten stories.
I’m another who loves hearing about the kittens 🙂
Stroppy. Such a good word.
3.75 kgs is small? I have a Papillon dog who is 3.3 kgs at 10 years old. Is Eric a Maine Coon?
He’s a red point Siamese. The Stripies are fully a kg heavier. My dear Dakkie was over 8kg at his heaviest, tall to the shoulder and lean and rangey, all long bones and muscle. Even Isabella got to about 4.7 kg, and she wasn’t a big cat. Eric will grow a bit more, but he’s a miniature compared with others of his breed.
Beautiful cheery photo!
SOTD SSS Yin & Ylang. I’m at work but don’t want to miss out on any goodies in the split meet, so I’m surreptitiously diving in the bathroom frequently to participate. ????
I wish I had supplies because I would like to split my incoming bottle of Chypre Mousse. Times like this I miss being home. ????
Splitmeet is active today — your co-workers must think you’re suffering from something!
I don’t recall a splitmeet ever moving so fast! It was hard to keep up this morning!
I love today’s photo. My brother in law sent me a pic taken a few weeks ago in his backyard: a beautiful shot of a male cardinal perched on the birdfeeder, which is designed to look like a porch swing. My BIL swears the cards lie down on the swing, open their beaks, and shovel in the food!
Must pick a scent to wear to an evening performance of Billie Holliday standards. I know she was famous for wearing gardenias in her hair, but I’m not up for that today. What to choose?…
She apparently wore Lentheric Tweed, in case you have any of that squirreled away.
Oh, wow! Did not know that! Tweed was one of the two bottles of perfume ((the other being Chanel No. 5) that my mother had when I was growing up. She never wore perfume at all, and I don’t know what happened to her bottle of Tweed.
I have a decant of Tweed somewhere… If I find it, that’s what I’ll wear. Thanks, Robin!
How cool! I just ordered a bottle of vintage Tweed; now it will be even more fun to wear!
As a part of the Month of Irises I’m wearing Jo Malone Orris & Sandalwood but I plan to break my “irises only” pattern for tonight for the late celebration of my birthday with friends and wear one of my all-time favorites – OJ Ta’if.
I wonder, who else from the U.S. readers does NOT have this upcoming Monday off? It seems to be one of a very few downsides of my two-years-old-new job, but I wish we had this holiday instead of the one in January (or both 🙂 ).
Wonderful weekend (long or not) to all in the NST community!
Happy late birthday celebration!
And I’ll be joining you at work on Monday. 🙁
Thank you!
Let’s look on the positive side: there will be less people on the road 🙂 And we’ll wear something extra nice to support ourselves through the “lonely” Monday at work.
I don’t have Monday off either. Boo.
Me neither. Boo Hiss.
Me either. Grrrr.
Went to Hershey spa today
Am smelling like chocolate butter.
Got caught in snow storm on wat back
To hotel so now rental smells of chocolate too!
There are bowls of kisses everywhere and I stopped at many of them!
Happy late birthday!
Thank you, Gaynor.
I have tried that Jo Malone only one time briefly. Can’t remember what I thought… ????
Let me put it this way: you wouldn’t refuse to wear it if it somehow landed on your lap, but it’s not a perfume to actively seek or dream about.
Perfect description
Happy belated Birthday! I will also be working Monday.
Thank you, lyllyjo. I enjoyed this evening a lot.
Happy belated birthday, Undina!
Thank you, Elisa.
Wishing you a belated Happy Birthday!
Thank you, Gail!
Happy birthday Undina and have a great year
Thank you, Kanuka. I’ll try my best at enjoying the year no matter what 🙂
Happy belated birthday Undina! I hope you had lots of fun at last evening celebration.
Thank you, perfumelover67! It was an extremely enjoyable evening, everything went the way I wanted, and it was just perfect.
Mr. Spicebomb has to work, and he likes to think this excuses him from chores this weekend. Ha! 🙂
You can tell him that he’s definitely excused from any chores on Monday 😉
Happy late birthday! OJ Ta’if is divine.
Annick Goutal Nuit Etoilee is my scent of the day.
Its really warm outside today, 81 degrees F.
We’ve had an unusually cold winter here, and its like Mother Nature snapped and said “No more cold”.
You smell great! Love NE.
You smell lovely!
It’s been an insane week – I was wearing iris perfumes until Wednesday, when the week flipped to terrible and I needed my best comfort perfumes. So Wood Sage and Sea Salt in the morning and Santal Massoia at night became my pattern. Today I’m trying to reboot completely and so I grabbed a random sample: Heeley’s L’amandiere. It’s a really beautiful spring scent, and I am so grateful my hand was steered to it.
I think every day should be an official kindness day. Stay fragrant and have a great weekend!
Sorry to hear about your terrible week. Thank goodness for scents that can be comforting! Hope the Heeley gives you a completely fresh start. I’ll be thinking of you and Undina on Monday…
Thank you, FearsMice.
Agree we could all use more kindness! After weeks like that it can be hard to remember that kindness exists. Here’s to better times ahead and fragrances that bring comfort.
That’s no good ???? I hope your week recovers! Yes, kindness every day sure would help a lot of things.
I am sorry about the week. I love that Heeley, but unfortunately it gives me a teensy bit of a headache. Bummer.
Hang on in there! The next week will be better! And every day is a little better with perfume.
I like Wood Sage & Sea Salt but cannot wear it in winter: it reminds me about my last tropical vacation and I don’t want to work 🙂
SOTD = Naomi Goodsir Iris Cendre
17 straight days of Iris perfumes! The notes list on this one confuses me because I pretty much just get iris, violet and Woods. I do like it and have a largish decant from a split hosted by our dear clarissa.
The splitmeet is doing brisk business! I see there was a lot of interest in Aroma M Vanilla Hinoki and kpaint’s split. I somehow ended up with 2 bottles and I will work out the numbers and list it later. I got it at 15% off but with NYC taxes, it wiped out a good chunk of that discount.
Friday Community Project idea if it has not been done before – Everything but the kitchen sink – wear a perfume with the longest notes list. Bonus points for every note you can detect!
Oh sweetie! Your splits are so good I wish I lived in the States to join some ????
I like that community project idea! I had an idea for almost the inverse of that, but I don’t know if it’s something that would only work for those newer to this obsession like I am: Pick a perfume where you cannot identify any of the individual notes. Of course, now I don’t even remember which perfume made me think of this as a project idea!!! Yours would be a fun one.
Also, impressed by the 17 straight days of iris — I think a few of you have pulled that off!
You smell amazing. I get a lot of ash with Iris Cendre and I love it!
Your splits sold out so fast I didn’t even have time to react! Next time, I guess…
Speaking of which – I was really expecting to see a bottle of Ummagumma, but none have shown up yet.
I’m lounging around in a Giacobetti haze today, as I allowed myself a good dollop of Eau du Fleuriste this morning. I love it so much and I have maybe 4 ml left, alas… This got me onto reading the notes lists for all her other perfumes in hopes that she might have made a newer version of it sometime since it was discontinued, but alas I don’t see anything close. Anyway after a nap/shower I’m in Passage d’Enfer and getting ready to go see Black Panther!
The Bruno Fazzolari FBs are only 30 mL. It may yet show up..I was hoping it is available with a discount but so far it is excluded from the coupon codes I’ve tried recently.
Fun project idea!
I like the idea of the project but I’m sure there will be no bonus points for me: I can rarely smell particular notes in complex mixes. But I enjoy them.
I’m eating my breakfast at a very nice smelling table. Last night I transferred some Tobacco Vanille to a travel spray, and managed to get several sprays worth on the table.
AngelaB – I saw your comment last night asking about Suleyman le Magnifique, and I’m wearing a drop now in the hope that I can describe it, but I am hopeless at picking notes or describing smells, despite nearly 10 years of perfume addiction. It’s rich and spicy, but not sweet, I get more of a rose note as it dries down. I don’t get the musk that people on Fragrantica note, which is a good thing from my point of view. The only reason an FB isn’t already on its way to me is because I want to try the others in the line 🙂
At least your table smells great!
Today I tried Russian Oud, by Areej Le Doré. From a sample.
Yummy stuff.
Thanks for all the get well wishes!
I am feeling slightly better. I am still coughing pretty hard, but my sense of smell (and with it my appetite) is returning 🙂
I hate the coughing fits. I hope that yours go away soon!
Testing out some new-to-me Aroma M samples that arrived yesterday (got a 12 oil sample sample pack with her sale last week). Wish you could’ve bought individual ones since I own a few of them already.
Geisha Green- bright green absinthe, liquorice, tonka, amber? Fun! A little barber-shoppy but I can see this one being addictive.
Geisha Violet: green, watery violet and unsweetened chocolate. Smells like a wet garden. Forgot who was looking for dirt this week, but this one has a loamy soil vibe to me.
Cleaning very half-heartedly and will go out later this eve. Trying to think what perfume will go with a pale grey-blue sweater…
How about Gris Montaigne or Iris Nazarena?
Oh! Either of those would be perfect. Maybe IN since the sweater is kinda unisex. Thanks! I was thinking Bruma which I’m trying spare until it warms up and it’s not buried by clothing.
I love the idea of coordinating perfume with clothes. I guess I maybe do this inadvertently, since I pick both based on mood. The intentionality of this is appealing!
A little OCD-ish on my part, but yes, my perfume needs to “go” with the whole get-up somehow. And I couldn’t really explain “go” as it’s changeable and variable. You know exactly what I mean, right?????
I do.
Oh that Geisha Violet sounds intriguing.
The drydown is reminding me of a couple of things: PdN KISS me Tender as there’s an almost banana leaf earthy smell to it. I also have a scented hair conditioner from an indie BPAL type line and the scent smells a little like the drydown. And now I’m wondering what Zoologist Bat smells like as this sounds like it might share some similarities, maybe? Anyway, it’s definitely not your typical violet.
I really didn’t like Bat. Very screechy and hi-pitched like . . . a bat, on me at least.
I had been looking at one of their sample sets but since I bought a FB I skipped it. My bottle arrived today (crazy fast shipping!) and I was hoping she might have included a few samples, but no dice 🙁
Thanks for the heads-up on the sale, though! I bought Vanilla Hinoki, which I love, and is also really different from anything else in my collection, so it’ll be nice to have a bottle. It’s a good year-rounder, too. (And thanks to everyone who participated in my split!)
I tried a bunch in person when they carried them at TL, but they don’t have them there anymore. Was curious about the rest since a few really work for me.
Glad you were able to take advantage of the sale and those split items went fast! Yeah, I guess different perfumers do different things re: adding samples. It would be nice (and good biz practice) to throw in an extra or 2 with a FB order. Hendley did that and one of the 2 extras led to a larger sized purchase so that worked in his favor.
ITA, and yes, it’s the best and easiest advertising to do. I have to admit I’m quite disappointed in the packaging overall. Instead of coming in boxes, their bottles are housed in big cardboard canisters, which is annoying. The Geisha Noire bottle is boring, if not a little cheap-looking; Vanilla Hinoki came wrapped in a pretty origami paper instead of a label, but it feels like it won’t last long. It’s also not marked, so I had to make my own label and stick it to the bottom of the bottle lest I forget which juice is inside.
I get that it’s a huge money sink to pay to have bottles, boxes and labels designed for your niche perfumery, but then again we have Andy Tauer and Dame Perfumery as examples of great design, packaging, and sample generosity coming from niche houses. It’s possible that she’s going for “hand-made” appeal, though, as the whole package looks like someone’s doing it out of their apartment rather than a commercial business.
I’ve seen photos of her studio on instagram and I’m pretty sure she does it all by hand herself with the pretty papers and all. I’ve only ever gotten the rollerbslls which are pretty standard, functional fair.
I agree with you on the packaging. A label on the bottom with the perfume’s name at the very least would be appreciated. But I quite like the Japanese paper wraps. Pity Geisha Noire is so dull with that black and white label.
Working the weekend, and it seems especially busy today. Sotd is Miss Dior Le Parfum. For anyone who doesn’t like the current Miss Diors, I suggest giving it a sniff. This really should have its own name.
Busy hands are happy hands…? Hope your day goes fast!
Hope the weekend goes fast for you. Take care!
Bird Feeding Month! I need to go refill my feeders. One of my weekend chores.
Currently sampling Jasmin des Anges, one of the new Dior Collection Prive scents. Very pretty very clean jasmine & fruit. Will be interesting to see how this develops.
Snow! There is snow in our forecast for Sunday night and Monday! Usually these warnings are false alarms, but sometimes not. Monday might be a snow day 🙂 It doesn’t take much snow to shut us down, since there’s no plowing / sanding / salting available.
Mini rant here on Bridezillas. So we’re soon headed to nephew’s destination wedding in Cancun. We’ve been instructed that the only acceptable outfits are: for women, ‘better’ maxi dresses (whatever ‘better’ means); or a sundress, short or long. For men, summer suits or khakis with a long sleeved button down linen shirt. This list seems a mite… specific to me. My grinch self mutters that if guest appearance is so crucial to the bride & groom, they should hire extras instead of inviting guests. Back in the dark ages when I got married, one specified black tie or not, that was about it. And lest you think I’m misinterpreting the instructions, when I mentioned to my SIL, the MOTG, that my husband might wear a silk shirt seeing as he doesn’t have linen, she flinched, and informed me that I need to take photos of our outfit choices (both of us) and email them to the bride for her approval. !!!!! Not Going To Happen. 🙂
Oh, man! What happened to being super grateful that people are making the extra special trek just for your (explitive) destination wedding?
We had suggested instructions last summer for a relative’s beach wedding- “beach formal” which is what you seem to be describing, but it was just a suggestion and also implying the general not-so-formal atmosphere. We were not required to submit photos for pre-approval.
Yeah I’m with you here. Honestly I think it takes a lotta nerve to plan a wedding that will cost every guest thousands merely to attend. But then to further specify exactly what they’re allowed to wear to the blessed event?? Grrr.
‘Beach formal’ makes me scratch my head anyway. Seems like an oxymoron.
Sequined Crocs, lol.
Ha!
Wow, I’ve never been invited to a wedding with such specific dress requirements.
Oh and I forgot to mention the note that ‘sleeves may be rolled up’ on the mens long-sleeved linen shirts. See how casual and fun-loving we are? GAH!!
Bah ha ha! That part takes the cake!
You could deduct the cost of the special attire from what you were going to give as a gift. ( I’m passive aggressive) my sil wanted me to get my hair and makeup done professionally done for her wedding. I explained I couldn’t afford it, and did it myself, she wasn’t very happy but, oh well.
Wow, specifying what guests can wear is bad enough but the emailing photos for approval part is truly beyond the pale. You’re guests at a party, not uniformed staff members. They sure sound like a fun couple…
That is insane. I dislike weddings, loathe destination weddings, and would completely lose my s–t over this. So let’s just say I share your pain.
I am 100% with you. I’d go to Cancun but make alternate plans for the wedding day. Sounds like the perfect day for a snorkeling expedition or fishing trip. (I’m tempted to say that I’d show up in jeans and flip-flops and photobomb everyone, but really, I’d just use it as an excuse not to go to someone’s painfully dull wedding with its overcooked catered food, forced gaiety, and uncomfortable conversations with people I have no interest in talking to.) —> wedding grinch
Glad to find another wedding grinch!
If it weren’t our nephew’s wedding, there’s no way we’d attend. That invite would have gotten an auto-reject, for sure.
I think you need to follow their better dress requirements to the letter but pair them with huge somberos and or baseball caps with built in beer straw, large plastic pineapple earrings, and ugg boots.
THIS. 🙂
🙂 That’s awesome, I love it!
LOL!!! Can we crash? ????????
I LOVE IT!
Ok that settles it, I’m bringing my big straw hat that’s got sequins on it, and wearing my loudest tropical colored jewelry. Muwahahahaha!! 😈 Crazy Aunt Pixel will ATTEND this wedding.
Ok, NOW it sounds fun!
I suppose she thinks your husbands silk shirt might ruin her perfect photographs. Unbelievable!
My nephew banned his own brother from his wedding photographs because his tie was the wrong shade of lavender.
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
I just got an email from Bridezilla with MORE rules. Now there are rules on what types of shoes we may wear (women: gladiator sandals or flat sandals. or heels, which we are permitted to remove for the ceremony on the beach. men: boat shoes or loafers. Someone stop me before I throw an Approved Shoe Type at bride & groom.) And a re-emphasis that women MUST wear dresses.
And a suggestion that we bring large insulated cups so we don’t have to stand in line so often at the bar for refills. Stand In Line? I’m paying $500 a night for this place and I have to Stand In Line At The Bar???
😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈
See, this is where Kanuka’s idea of the baseball cap with built-in straw comes in handy. No standing in line necessary. Plus it keeps one’s hands free to make bunny ears behind Bridezilla’s head during photo opps.
I am in love with all the responses in this thread.
Maybe the insulated mugs could have some snarky sayings on them – protest mugs. You must provide an update post-wedding on how it was!
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=gladiator+costumes&rlz=1C9BKJA_enNZ646NZ646&hl=en-GB&prmd=ivsn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjw1uLjna7ZAhVW57wKHfjKBlgQ_AUIESgB&biw=768&bih=909#imgrc=uC5rFfsPN0cecM:
For inspiration and ticks all the boxes
Omg, you’re killing me ????????????????
OMG! I cannot stop laughing. You are unique! ????????????????
🙂 🙂 🙂
The bride has also specified ‘airy and floaty’ for the dress styles. I’m thinking I could wear the gladiator outfit with a set of fairy wings….? Awesome!
Wait — gladiator sandals, airy and floaty — she’s talking about Hermes! The Greek god, not the design house, but work with me here. Helmet with wings? Check. Wings on the sandals? Check. Caduceus and lyre — optional but highly recommended. Short Greek toga — de rigeur. I think we have your outfit sorted.
We don’t travel without travel mugs! It’s probably the first thing my hubby throws in the suitcases.
I once knew someone who when she got married sent guests giant three ring binders full of instructions. What is wrong with people?
Did anyone send it back with corrections? Heh heh heh.
????????
A Camelbak bladder would be a classy addition to a “better” maxi — and solve that “standing in line at the bar” problem once and for all!
https://www.camelbak.com/en/packs/reservoirs
O M G, I feel sorry for you, pixel
This is insane!
I only know of antics like this from television shows. Maybe we should send a camera crew over? 😉
I hope you can still enjoy this trip though.
Wow! You would think they’d be happy to have family attending a destination wedding, not telling them what to wear!
“Better” maxi dress? heeheehee, I found you a “better” maxi dress over on ebay.
Lucky for you it’s “mislabeled” as a “vintage” “mumu” so nobody will buy it before you:
https://www.ebay.com/i/273036861489?chn=ps
Wow, that’s… um. Loverly.
I actually kind of like that dress, and with a pair of combat boots, it’s a look.
Gladiator combat boots. Hee.
Perfect!
It’s the “Mrs. Roper” look. Love it!
I really can’t believe all this crap. After receiving those instructions, I would cancel everything and refuse to attend. But I’m cranky like that.
I was the opposite of bridezilla. I cared so little about my wedding ceremony details that I let my MIL plan the whole thing and agreed to show up at the appointed time in a white dress. In fact they were worried I wouldn’t show up at all, since I arrived half an hour before the ceremony to throw on the dress and a bit of makeup (I did go to the hairdresser first). 🙂
Same. I didn’t want to any of the planning and put it in my mom’s hands. I wore pants and a sweater, though (it ended up being too cold to wear the dress I bought.) We did it as a “surprise” when my family was on vacation together already because I didn’t want people to be focused on it. My H’s family came out, and we each invited a friend. Done.
And I wouldn’t attend this wedding, either. Full stop. They’re giving people a built-in excuse not to go — tell them you don’t have the right outfit and have made other plans.
Same with me, didn’t care much about the wedding, like you , I just showed up with my wedding dress which I choose so quickly, I am happily married for 26 years. I was more worried about the future.
Oftentimes Bridezilla’s either have the same personality IRL or they are so oppressed IRL that a wedding is their only chance to exert any influence. I really do feel sorry for her; she needs psychiatric intervention.
That said, I think you and your husband should dress to the T, take a picture, make a life-size cut out and ship it to the destination. All she’s looking for is a photo-op to prove her “power”.
Keeping the peace or not, this kind of behavior will cause me to not go to the wedding but I would still send a modest gift.
Astute observations. Clearly she cares more about the photos than the enjoyment or comfort of her guests.
“Not going” might be problematic: most people are buying plane tickets that are too costly to even reschedule (if you still want to go to that destination, which might not be the case). But not attending the ceremony… That would be really tempting 🙂
What’s interesting about observing them interacting with their friends is: their friends seem to think this is how weddings are ‘done’. It’s us old folks who are gritting our teeth. Kids these days 😉
I might be missing something? Is somebody else paying for your going there? Or are you or your husband employed by that family and are concerned about your job? Because otherwise why do you care? Wear whatever you planned to wear if you feel confident enough not to be a part of the crowd, or if you’re not a confrontational person, develop a “migraine” or “food poisoning” on the day and do something else instead (they will be too busy checking everybody’s attire to figure out (or care) you’re not actually dying in your hotel room).
They’re our family. The groom is our one-and-only nephew. Considering this family has had two deaths in the past 3 weeks… well, grin & bear it is what we’re going to do.
You’re good sports and good siblings. The bride thinks it’s all about her, but it’s not. It’s about what you are doing: showing love. Your family who are in your own generation will understand. Keep calm and carry on! And kudos to you.
OMG! As another wedding grinch, this level of micromanaging the guests is completely outrageous! Even when I was a bridesmaid I didn’t have to conform to so many rules about dress…The gender specificity of it all really irks me as well. I want all the guests, male/female/nonbinary to show up in really sheer chiffon dresses with decadent undergarments on display underneath. Then I want everyone to carry around their go-cups (eco friendly, yes; beautiful, no) prominently. See how they like those pics!
Lazy Saturday indeed. It is overcast here, which always leaves me a little uninspired. I went right from the shower into sweatpants. Lol.
SotD is Ambre Précieux and dang, I smell good! I’m going to try to use the rest of my little decant this weekend, as it seems to be evaporating right before my very eyes!????
I will probably settle into the couch and watch some more olympics, if I can power through the endless commercials. I’ve got The Killers on a loop inside my head.
You smell wonderful!
You smell fab – I looooove Ambre Precieux.
I love the Killers.
Wearing Hollyrose while trying to work and half watching the Olympics. I am making my person sneeze and so may take a shower and switch to something a little less . . . sneeze inducing. (He isn’t complaining, so maybe it isn’t even the perfume.)
Can you say if it reminds you of anything? It sounds interesting to me, but I have no sample.
It sort of reminds me of what I wanted Charenton Macerations Asphalt Rainbow to smell like. Similar, but the Hollyrose is rosier and so works better for me.
Continuing Iris month as well. I showered with an Iris shower gel, then used my Crabtree and Evelyn Iris lotion. Perfume of the day is my vintage Chanel No. 19 along with Yardley Iris EDT used mostly as a body spray after my shower.
Back to snow again so it’s nice to be home. We are having turkey dinner tonight, hosting my hubby’s parents for the weekend. We always have fun with them.
That was iris to the max! Impressive 🙂
I checked into the splitmeet this morning and saw coin-op’s Carnal Flower split, so that’s what I’m wearing. I’ve been in heavy winter cozy scents every day since November, so a BWF is a big change from the usual.
I stopped in at an Ulta a couple of days ago hoping to do a little sniffing (and shopping.) Their perfume section was tiny with very little selection. They didn’t even have the SJP offerings, which seemed odd. Anyway, I did get to try the new CK Obsessed both for women and men, which I’d been kind of excited about. What a DISAPPOINTMENT. They were both a big nothing and made no – zero – none – reference to the originals. They were closer to CK One than Obsession. What?!
Heading out to a jazz tribute to Stan Getz in a few hours. Not sure what I’ll wear… maybe Bvlgari Black or Habanita or Edward Bess Genre… It is nasty as all get-out here. Windy, pouring rain, cold. Yuck.
Love Stan Getz – hope the tribute is worthy.
I’m wearing CF too! he’ll, I have 85ml’s left ????
I’m feeling very tropical in this awful never ending “wintry mix”. I hope the concert is enjoyable, I love Stan Getz too…hope you are transported to Ipanema!
I think we may have encountered “wintry mix” on the drive home last night (it’s not a term you hear out on the Left Coast.) Hail+Rain+Snow+Sleet?
It was actually a Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond tribute (I get all those white guys mixed up) and super fun. Ended up wearing Guerlain SDV, which was perfect.
Carnal Flower is divine any time of year! So good.
????
yes that’s wintry mix – sometimes wetter sometimes slushier – never fun
I’ve never tried SDV– but that’s on my short list of things to buy when I go to the flagship store on the Champs elysee – in the event that I start getting lightheaded from choices, I’ll tell my husband to quick buy it before I pass out
SOTD was Annick Goutal “Eau du Sud”.
Top: mandarin orange, basil, grapefruit and bergamot;
Mid: mint, lime, lemon verbena and jasmine;
Base: vetiver, patchouli and oakmoss.
A good, sharp, citrusy start to a warm day in the sun (a lot cooler in the shade, after all it’s still February even in Malaga). Sadly an hour or two later it’s all gone.
I haven’t tried that one. I do love Eau d’Hadrien, but as you described, it’s sadly gone in a few hours.
I read it as “Eau du Stud” – I’m cracking myself up over here.
BAhahaha!
Raising one eyebrow, holding your gaze, saying nothing… :^)
New to group… I sell niche perfume lines and vintage jewelry at Gump’s in San Francisco. For decades, I’d purchased my perfume at Jacqueline’s Perfumerie on Geary St (he retired last year). My go-to scents are Amouage Ciel and Lyric; Bal a Versailles; Fleur des Bois; Bulgari Omnia; and my first first love, Shalimar. My home scent fav is Dr. Vranges (Lavande Timo) and Tuberose by Rance.
I’m charged with selling some rather interesting lines: Aedes, Carthusia, Cochine, Nishane, Memo, Roja, Eight and Bob, et al. I don’t care for any of the Orto Parisi…. but stercus and seminalus add comic relief to an afternoon of heady scent s(m)elling.
I don’t “sell” perfume in a traditional sense (thrusting it at people)…. With your wonderful blog as my inspiration I encourage curiosity, a way for people to enter the world of scent, and have a positive experience. Helping individuals find their “signature scent” is another level of the Art I’d like to learn in the future.
My username comes from a flacon of perfume I found in a Vintage shop in Melbourne last September. It was a Lalique perfume bottle from 1920, with Isadora Duncan in full nude on the front. Her form, at least four inches, gives an idea of the size of the bottle! After an accident in the shop, only the dancer’s image remained in tact… and an artist who worked there saved it and made her into a pendant. I wear this cherished pendant when I sell perfume… a good reminder of why I do this work. Beauty, pure and simple.
What a lovely introduction, and welcome to NST!
That’s such a cool story!
Welcome.
Welcome! What a great story and great line of work.
Welcome!
Welcome! I haven’t been to Gump’s in years, there wasn’t as much of a perfume selection back then. Do people still look for signature scents? I’ve been down the niche rabbit hole for so long the notion seems almost quaint. Most of the perfume lovers I know are all about variety.
Welcome!
Nice story about your user name.
Lalique bottles are gorgeous.
(I visited the Lalique museum last year in France, it was a great trip!)
Welcome! Gumps sounds like a store I would like to visit – maybe next time when I’m visiting my sister in Berkeley.
Welcome flaconfemme! Let’s have some fun together!
Oooh that *is* a lovely intro – if only all those working at fragrance counters everywhere were like you! I’m also new here and I’m betting I’ll be learning quite a bit from you. 🙂
flaconfemme, nice to e-meet you. Great story!
I usually forget about Gump’s when I come to SF for my perfume sniffing/buying missions. I’ll try to put it on my mental list for the next time.
Welcome, and what a great story!
I am tracking my perfume expenditures this year for…let me think…that’s right…the very first time 😉 and I’ve already met 29% of my 2018 budget…seems like I’m ahead of schedule on this project. It’s like your department budget at work…have to make sure you blow it all or they’ll just take it away from you the following year.
My damage is easily accounted for: Note Vanillee, Maison Vanille sampler set and today’s fast and furious Splitmeet. The Splitmeet has such darn good deals and anything that is less than love will get swapped away next month.
And I’m also thinking I need to continue to thin my existing perfume herd. I wonder if i can offset my perfume budget by selling my own old stock and adding that amount back to my budget or if that is funny money/cooking the books/etc. What a wonderful time to be alive as I ponder my perfume budget; how it should be administered and if I would be guilty of fraud/waste/abuse based upon grey admin practices. 😉
I say whatever you get from selling perfume-related things can go under a separate account and you can either dip into it OR set it aside to reward yourself when it gets to a certain $ amount!
I say plow the sales into new loves!
I agree with Hajusuuri – also the split meet comes before the year is 1/3 over, so it makes sense that your rate of spending won’t exactly coincide with the rate of the passage of time
I’d roll the $ back into my perfume budget. I’ve put some thought into ways to fund my perfume habit, and that’s one of the methods I’ve considered. Selling decants is another. I try to use as much “free” money as possible to offset costs ($ from cashback shopping sites, selling consignment goods) and also kind of have a new rule about only buying FBs if I can split them.
I’m hoping Robin can be talked into doing a summer splitmeet – maybe in June? I always have the perfume shopping/testing bug right around that time, and those were my most expensive months last year.
I’m also way off budget this year. I set my max pretty low ($50/mo) but I bought tons of samples and decants in January, which I’d more or less stopped doing. But it’s my bday month and I was able to make lots of excuses.
Thanks for feedback. 🙂
Now that I’m keeping track of the $$$, I’ve also been looking at price per ml and this can be quite interesting.
Good ol’ LT said on his short-lived blog re: perfume prices, “let’s say $120 or so for 100 ml of EdP or a half ounce of proper extrait” which would be $1.20 per ml.
Doing some quick calculations then:
Chanel Exclusif 200 ml… $1.75 per ml
Guerlain Matiere line 74 ml… $3.51 per ml
If I find something I like for $125 or even $150 for 100 ml makes me a bit angry and wonder what I’m paying Guerlain for at $3.51 per ml…of course the heart wants what it wants to a certain extent but stuff gets pretty interesting when you look at apples to apples and price per ml.
She-ra, please don’t stomp on my Guerlain A&M buzz…????
Just hold out for a beauty or gift card event. ????
Feeling depressed today. Watching my guy pack for his long trip (5-7 weeks) away and want to cry. I’m trying to be upbeat for our last few hours together but it’s hard. I deserve some sort of acting award because I’m quite sad inside. At least I will get to see him for a few days in 3 weeks…
We’re having dinner with our best friends tonight and I will wear a dab if Shalimar extrait probably. Nothing as of yet, though.
Oh how I do love birds…obviously since I have a parrot. But I also love wild birds. I got a bird feeder for the new house and love watching them and identifying the ones I don’t know in my bird book.
It will be OK, KellyC. Sorry you’re sad.
Sorry you’ll missing your sweetie. You smell nice, though. 🙂
Thanks, guys. Sorry to be a downer!
Hey, Kelly, you don’t have to apologize for how you feel. And I feel your pain. Before Mr. Aparatchick retired, he traveled for he work all the time. One year he was home only 6 weeks out of 52. A strong support network and pursuing whatever interests you have really helps.
Cheer up! Times fly and when you see he will be already back home.
While he’s gone you’ll have plenty of time to appreciate how much you enjoy his company. 🙂 Plus you’ll have a couple of visits I think you said. I guess I’ve been married too long, I get excited when my husband says he’ll be away. 😉 But I do enjoy when he comes home.
I would/will enjoy about the first week. I do enjoy some alone time and quiet but I think after about a week I will be like, “okay, this is enough!” That seems to be our trend…1 week to 10 days we are okay, anything after that we begin missing each other terribly and declaring our undying love and such. ????
I’d be sad as well if I had to miss my husband for a long period!
Just keep yourself busy and time will fly. And nowadays we have all kinds of possibilities to stay in touch, it makes it less difficult imo. (Unless he is making a trip through the Amazon or is on a black ops mission… ????)
I remember my father going to middle east or south america somewhere in the 80s for a few weeks (for work). Calling overseas was so expensive, you could almost buy a bottle of perfume for the cost of a phone call haha. Also, air mail on very thin paper that took ages to arrive…
Yes, thankful for technology! I’m going to make a list of things to try/accomplish/explore while he’s gone since we just moved here to New Mexico a few months ago. Hoping that will keep my busy!
Hang in there KellyC! That is hard – I feel you – luckily you have perfume 🙂 maybe you could think of a project, or something specific you would be able to delve into and accomplish during this period.
Yes I’m making a list of things to do/things I can go see or explore while he’s gone. We just moved here a few months ago so there’s still plenty I haven’t seen.
Hugs.
You can go on a mini vacation or a spa. And and and,,,you can test your perfume samples at nuclear levels with no one but your bird to give you the stink eye ????????????
Yes, friend! I try and minimize how strong I spray or pour while he’s here so there will DEFINITELY be a lot of sampling going on. And probably a massage as well lol.
Hugs to you Kelly C! I think the longest we were apart was 6 weeks when I was in LA while my mother was ill. It is tough, probably harder for the one who isn’t going away. I know I get loads of cleaning/organizing done when he’s not here, so there’s that, lol.
That’s a tough one, Kelly C. We’ll be here for you while he’s gone!
The truly sad day is when he packs for 7 weeks and you DON’T care. ;^)
I work away Mon-Thu most weeks and sometimes Mon-Fri, and even that 1 extra day is difficult both for me and for TOMK. So you have my sympathy and understanding. Especially since I guess you are still putting down roots in NM?
I am drenched in a dauber’s worth of Slowdive in anticipation of a swap for it. My husband said, “Hm, musky,” when I waved my wrist in front of him. Not exactly falling head over heals, but it might also have been that I had just casually asked if he had, indeed, got us reservations for our late Valentine’s dinner for this evening. (He hadn’t, but he has now! 😎 )
Just entered a new contender in the splitmeet, if you haven’t stopped by in a while: Violette Sacrée. It will be the first time I have officially hosted a split.
Trying to do some work but I keep procrastinating… my older son’s class (well it splits into two groups, one to the High Sierras, and one to the desert–my son is going to the HS) camps out for a month in small groups, each kid spends a couple of days alone, and then an 8 mile run back to base-camp at the end. So husband and son are out shopping for boots that cost about the same as a small car. He doesn’t leave until August, but apparently he needs to start wearing his fancy boots now to break them in….
Is this the same son that travelled out of the Country last year? His school seems to do a lot of cool things.
Yes, same son. His school offers a ton of cool stuff, but the wilderness experience (son reminded me it is 3 nights solo for the kids–not 2… ) is mandatory for graduation. He is totally psyched, but there are some kids who definitely are not.
I went to Catholic school but since I am not Catholic, I was exempt from requirements having to do with religion. After my younger sister enrolled, the school set a new rule that all students must be baptized Catholics in order to enroll. While we were still in the school, I saw published statistics with student demographics that showed 4 “other religion” and that be me and my 3 siblings!
I looove Slowdive. It’s pure honey on me, not musky. Need to scoot over to splitmeet!
Me too. Honey, not musky. Mistake cost my husband taking me out to a very nice meal last night, however. 😉
VS aid great!!! Probably the only violette that I can manage
Is great
You are my enabler! Still sniffing the empty decant you sent me!!!
Hopefully I did not send you an empty bottle 🙂
Ha ha! For the record. I was NOT sent an empty 🙂
But somehow it became empty…. whaaahaahaa… WHO knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men. The Shadow knows….
that I used it all up.
Just back from dinner out, after taking pics of Gaze at Virginia Tech’s Military Ball. First time wearing his white dress uniform… and freshman cadets get full cadet privileges as of this evening (like HAIR!) so he was pretty excited.
Showered with Rose Jam shower gel. Added some Tauer Rose Delight body oil afterward, then topped off with BK Rose Oud. I am a rose-vanilla bomb tonight, and very happy about it.
Oh, you did smell wonderful! Glad Gaze can have his hair now! I bet he looked super handsome in his uniform.
There’s an Hermès boutique a short drive away from where I live now, and I finally got a sniff of Neroli Dore.
Terrible idea. Now I’m hopelessly in love with it, but spent most of my fragrance budget on the Baccarat Rouge split! Oh well, maybe next year I’ll add it to my collection.
Having an Hermes boutique a short drive away from where I live would be an impossible temptation!
At least it’s close by, so you can enjoy sniffing it frequently?
Yes! The sales associates are so chic, I feel like I need to dress up to go there and sniff things.
I’m pretty sure I saw bottles of this at Marshall’s for $49.99 and it is also already at the online discounters, not to enable or anything (famous last words).
Oooh, I’ll keep an eye out!
THANK YOU for going in on the BK split!! Fingers crossed that we end up getting the bigger bottle, which means much less expensive for what you’re buying — which means that you can get the Hermes too!! 😉
Errrr…. BR split! Nobody is splitting any Burger King around here.
Although… it’s not the WORST idea we’ve had here… :^D
If you’re up for buying on ebay, there are lots of bottles for very reasonable prices…
I just might! I’ll probably find an excuse later in the year and decide it’s a present to myself.
Sunday’s SOTD – Mendittorosa Rituale – essentially chose me, as I’m sitting in our dining room, madly decanting from the Splitmeet. Both I and the entire upstairs of the house smell divine, if I do say so myself. The SO and the dog do not necessarily agree; after shooting me slightly aggrieved looks, they have retreated to the man cave downstairs to escape ‘the fumes.’ Meh. He *does* like Rituale on me, especially in the middle and late drydown phases, so he’ll be back, lol.
At least he appreciates parts of it! I have quite a few fragrances that I love, but make me a pariah to my cat.
I’m in Traversée du Bosphore today, Iris and Loukhoum. 🙂
Lovely! :^)
SOTM is what I like to think of as “hoodie melange.” I’m wearing the ratty old hoodie jacket that keeps me warm around the house, and it’s got quite an array of fragrances infused into the collar and sleeves! Tolu, No. 19 and Lyric are all noticeably present (although the Tolu is definitely dominating)!
I was in hoodie melange as well the whole morning! 🙂
It’s quite a comforting scent, isn’t it?!
Yes, i also have a leather jacket that started to smell cosy because of all the perfume testing in stores.
Some perfumes perform better on leather than on my skin haha.
Oh and I love wearing perfume to bed, so after a while my pillow is smelling very cosy too!
Yes! Sometimes I catch a hint of something on my sheets as I’m nodding off. I find it very reassuring. 🙂
I’ve been wearing a cashmere cardigan instead of my usual bathrobe this winter, and ZOMG it smells so good. It’s full-on melange all the way up and down both sleeves, but I can usually smell yesterday’s perfume on it when I put it on in the morning. Heavenly…. My bras also smell divine 🙂
Love that!
I have one of those hoodies!!! Some mornings I put it on and go DANG! WHAT WAS THAT?? and I cannot for the life of me figure out which of my many day-before sprays left such an incredible afterburn. I just pulled Tolu out from the bottle stash last night but have not sprayed yet – now I’m excited!!
I enjoy that game–take a deep sniff and try to figure out which scent has caught my attention! I’ve been known to sniff bottles and compare to the piece of clothing to suss it out. Then, I usually apply somemore. (Not a word, but should be.)
Enjoying a snowy (!) morning enveloped in the gorgeous HG Arbole Arbole. Someone just put it up as a split, and I happened to have just received a sample of it so I thought I’d give it a test drive. Patchouli heaven! I dabbed this from a vial and it has the most amazing sillage. I feel like I’m surrounded by a veil of green smoke.
May go to see The Philadelphia Story at our favorite recliner theater today, depending on the snow situation. It seems to be playing at Regal Theaters around the country today (?) for some kind of year-long classic film festival. Later in the year they’ll be showing Sunset Boulevard, Vertigo, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Producers, and some others. I haven’t seen a classic film on the big screen for about 15 years so this is pretty exciting news for me 😉
There are 30 ml of Arbole Arbole left. Go make it happen! 😀
If Vertigo is showing on film, it’s a definite don’t-miss for the big screen. So lush. Have fun!
The Philadelphia Story is my favorite movie of all time. Period. Cary Grant, sigh….
He’s in so many of my favorites – To Catch a Thief, North by Northwest, That Touch of Mink, to name a few. I’m pretty excited to see him 20′ tall, and Katharine Hepburn’s wardrobe, which I recall as being pretty stellar.
Monday! Who thought this was a good idea? Oh, and good morning, everyone. I need to get to work early, and I need an invigorating perfume, but I dunno what I want to wear. Something…nothing…my vaguely herbal body lotion and nothing else? What on earth is wrong with me? Have I (dropping voice to a horrified whisper) Gone Off Perfume?
Yesterday I thought I might wear Carnal Flower today. I can promise you that I won’t be doing that. Maybe the greenly pleasant but not especially distinguished Ninfeo Mio? Could, I suppose. See, here’s the thing: normally I richly enjoy NM. Today, I can’t face anything. Unless…I have a bottle of Wenge, one of the Donna Karan Essences. It’s uncomplicated, but not entirely uninteresting. Perhaps that. Hmmm…it’ll do.
I wonder if I’m getting ready to clamber back up out of the rabbit hole? I shall think on this vexed matter and report back. In the meantime, be very well, NST.
I hope it’s just a phase. Perfume doldrums. New job distraction or stress? Weather change? Just need a vacation from smells for awhile? We would hate to lose you through some sort of new state of indifference.
Maybe try going perfume-free for Lent? You” enjoy your Easter all the more! ;^)
*You’ll
Try and explore your leather side? Kelly Caleche for office. Cuir de…(insert name here), Daim Blond. Or try an Aesop like marrakech Intense on your way home. Failing that send me your entire perfume collection and I will courier you seven perfumes per week as a kind of My Perfume Bag experiment. Anyway, I’m trying to plan a trip up your way in early April and I need you to be a perfume partner in crime.
We’re getting the legendary “wintry mix” today in the Willamette Valley, so I’m wearing Vanille Sauvage De Madagascar to get good dose of warm sweet woody/spicey vanilla. I’m envisioning some very hot coffee and tea today.
I was at the Russian Museum in Malaga today and in the cafe there was an unmistakable reminder we are in Spain: a list of 13 different types of drinking chocolate. I had dark chocolate with coconut. So if the wintry mix gets too much, remember hot chocolate is your friend. ;^)
I hope your apartment work is going well and not driving you crazy. Hot chocolate solves most problems.
Thank you! Work hasn’t started yet – our meeting yesterday was to challenge the cost estimates (in a constructive way) and I think we have a way forward. The work itself will likely run March-May and let’s just say I don’t expect to be confessing much to Donatella this year as all available funds go to frivolous luxuries like mattresses or chairs or lights.
Ack! That sounds absolutely delicious! I need to travel to Spain..!
You have to do it! It’s an amazingly varied country from Celtic Galicia and the snow-covered Pyrenees to the desert of Almeria and the Arabic influence in Andalucia. Also culturally closer to the US than people realise, e.g. the medieval/renaissance sheep-herders of the Altiplano in New Castile are very convincing forerunners of the cowboys of the Western Plains.
And, uh, CHOCOLATE, baybee! ;^)
You’re in the Willamette Valley! I spent many years there against my will as a child 🙂 we moved there in the 80s, when it had a close resemblance to the Napoleon dynamite (minus irony) I get a kick out of the fact that it has become so hip. Well, you smell great! Enjoy the rest of your weekend 🙂
Those dang Hipsters are ruining everything! ????
Yes, apparently Oregon is the “place to be” these days, and although I am loving my time here, I couldn’t imagine living is such a regulated, “hip” state. But then, I’m the farthest thing from a Hipster, ever…
Only a hipster would say that, Ha! ????????
Enjoying round two of the nasty flu-thing going around, and clogged silly, but desperate to smell a n y t h i n g, so after reading all the great chatter here and feeling a bit cheerier, I gave in to perfumelover67’s unintended subliminal suggestion and just sprayed a touch of Chanel 19 EdT on some cloth to let it diffuse in my space.
Happy Sunday, all. 🙂
You poor thing! I hope this bout is a short one.
Once you’re better, you should replace your toothbrush and lip balm tubes, otherwise, you may be looking at round 3. If you are a woman (but I think you’re a guy, yes?), lipstick and even mascara should be replaced…and wash your makeup brushes if you don’t do it regularly.
A dude! Yes. Add to that lot inhaler cases, too. Toothbrush is soon headed toward the trash. Thank you for the reminder!
I count myself lucky so far to never having to use an inhaler!
You actually will not catch the cold virus you already had. Once you are infected, you build develop antibodies to that particular virus (there are thousands of viral strains). It may be a comfort level thing for some people or just feeling grossed out, but there’s no scientific reason to throw out any of that stuff unless you are sharing it with others.
Feel better soon Chris! So glad that I inspired you to wear No.19. You smell fantastic! ????
Hey hey everyone…as if you haven’t been checking out the Splitmeet…I just posted split no. 5 (Aroma M Geisha Vanilla Hinoki) and no. 6 (Tom Ford F***ing Fabulous).
I have an animal charity thing to go to through the dog warden so no perfume yet. I was thinking of wearing either Lyric, Une Rose Vermielle or Noontide Petals for it.
I hope you chose Noontide Petals. It’s 100% cheerful for an animal charity function.
Kitty thing went well. We only got one kitten – poor thing is only 2 months old and has been a stray for almost her entire life – a Good Samaritan found her on a construction site and brought her to the Humane Society. She was hiding from us last night but is getting used to us now.
New kitty new kitty new kitty new kitty!!! Just the best thing in the world!! 🙂
Hehe. I share your enthusiasm 🙂
She will be ever so grateful to have a loving home! Yay for kitties!
Before you know it she will be right in the mix of things. My favorite fridge magnet says ‘this house is owned and operated strictly for the comfort and convenience of the cat’.
Hooray! If she emerged after just one night, that’s a good sign, and I agree, she’ll be running the household soon!
I’ve sampled a lot of Annick Goutal but never bought a full sized bottle. I want to get a fsb of Nifeo Mio for summer. To all NSTers who are bigger Goutal fans than me, is it true that the exact same fragrance is put in both the ribbed (women’s) and square (men’s) bottles? I’ve found that the men’s bottles are cheaper.
This does not answer your question, but wanted to mention that I have bought Goutal from Fragrancenet (a tester I think?) and it was legit. They can be a less expensive option for certain items.
Thanks. That’s where I get many of my fragrances. They’re great.
That’s my understanding PekeFan, and it hasn’t led me astray yet. The funny thing is, the square bottle feels ‘right’ for some scents and ‘wrong’ for others. But we wear the perfume not the bottle, right? ;^)
Thank you Koenigsberg. I know what you mean about bottle shape. Petite Cherie, for instance, would be all wrong in a square bottle. Having said that, I’m all about the juice and don’t pay attention to bottle aesthetics much. I even appreciate Parfums Nicolai’s zen-like stylings.
NST, I have happy news to share! After 18 months without gas (for the stove only, we’ve had heat, thankfully), WE FINALLY HAVE A WORKING STOVE AGAIN!
Chocolate chip cookies have been baked, friends have come over for brunch, and life is looking good! Scent is a combo of Gentiane Blanche (on skin) and remainder of EOV perfume on sweatshirt.
Congratulations! Heat is so necessary! Life is looking and smelling good for you. Enjoy it!
Goodness! Have you been surviving on just a microwave or what? (I’m not quite sure what ‘stove’ means to Unitedstatesians –
to me it means both oven and hob). Congratulations anway!
I’m not quite sure what “hob” means… ????but generally in the US, “stove” refers to the oven and the cooktop together.
…wait, did somebody say cookies?
Hob = cooktop (I infer – I’ve never heard the expression before, but like a lot of Americanisms it makes sense as soon as you hear it). I think I prefer the idea of hobgoblins to cooktop-goblins though. I mean, if you have to have household goblins at all.
I think the Dutch are to blame for mispronouncing “biscuits” as “cookies” though…
Those cookies will be extra special coming out of a new oven! Congrats!
mmmmm, chocolate chip cookies sound perfect right now. 😀
Congrats!
Wearing Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay for my first Monday at a new job. Don’t want to wear anything too freaky for the first day while I scope things out plus it’s still summer here and very warm.
Good luck with your new job. I hope it is a happy workspace and perfume friendly.
Best of luck with the new job.
If you don’t mind me asking, where is ‘here’ (other than the Southern Hemisphere, I infer)?
Adelaide in South Australia 🙂
And thanks!
Cool! We have friends in Adelaide, who (among other things) do the show “Liquidizer” on Wow 100.5 FM (“by the sea”, I am ordered to add).
Thanks for the warm welcome to the group!
Did anyone go to the Perfume/Chocolate Pairing at Creed NYC on Valentine’s Day?
BTW, I’m in Omnia today….. mmm.
Oh, Omnia is such an all purpose great scent! The bottle is junk but the juice is worth it. You smell great!
Deva… thank you!! A close friend of mine manages the Bulgari shop on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. She sends me Omnia (brown). The bottle shape has grown on me over time.
Did you attend the chocolate/perfume pairing at Creed NYC on Valentine’s Day? I’m curious how they did that…
best, ff
SOTD is/was Teo Cabanel “Barkhane”.
Top: bergamot;
Mid: cumin, geranium and curry tree;
Base: patchouli, vetiver, oud, labdanum, myrrh, tonka, vanilla and musk.
I enjoyed this – kind of hard to place it in the perfume family: TOMK thought there was leather and/or tobacco; Fragrantica thinks it’s an amber; I thought it kind of balsamic/powdery with somehow a cool note lurking under it all.
I am doing rather well on ‘drink wine’ day, finishing off a bottle of Cab Sauv that would otherwise go down the drain tomorrow when we check out of our weekend apartment.
Today The Other Mister Koenigsberg and I went to the Russian Museum in Malaga (an offshoot of the St Petersburg mother ship). I especially wanted to see “Radiant Future”, the exhibition of Socialist Realism, which did not disappoint.
https://www.coleccionmuseoruso.es/exposicion/arte-realismo-socialista/
Also saw a smaller exhibition of Russian artists’ reaction to travel around the world (Africa, Asia, Western Europe and the US seen through Russian eyes in the 19th and 20th centuries) . https://www.coleccionmuseoruso.es/exposicion/artistas-rusos/
All followed by tasty fried baby squid in a beach restaurant. ;^D
Back to cold Northern European Winter tomorrow. :^|
Random second act:
So last night I was out for dinner with my husband at a fancy hand-picked by virgins sort of restaurant with chi chi niche versions of classic cocktails (but pretty meh service)… I ordered The Aviation, three times. The waiter was impressed–commenting, “Hmmm… it isn’t too floral for you? All the lavender puts some people off. You know, it is sort of perfume-y. We use our own lavender-violet simple syrup, and, I keep getting told that it tastes like perfume. You’d have to really like perfume.”
Needless to say, my husband just smirked.
Count me as another fan of culinary lavender! During the spring and summer, I drink iced coffee with a lavender-honey simple syrup. It’s sublime.
Ahahaha, moments like this are always hilarious!
Question for all, I missed out on getting a split of the Arielle Shoshana so was thinking of hosting another split. Is there enough interest to get ~70ml off of my hands?
Also, what are the most reliable bottles/vials that you’ve used to send fragrance?
Bestbottles have really good bottles
Awesome, thanks!
Will just say that I think you’d do better to just open a split, and say it’s contingent on getting that much participation … people who are interested are more likely to see it there than here!
Will do!
It seems like a lot of us are sick this weekend. I came down with something yesterday, probably a sinus infection. My sinuses seem to be clearing up quickly, and I slept for 12 hours last night konked out on NyQuil. Now I just have a headache and body aches. I wore Hiris yesterday, but it exacerbated my headache. So I switched up to By Kilian Amber Oud pre-shower and Tam Dao post-shower. Today I haven’t been up for anything challenging, so I’m wearing Rebel & Mercury Orris and Tuberose body oil.
I’ve really enjoyed the split meet! I can’t wait to get some new goodies.
There really is an awful lot of crud going around! Glad you at least got plenty of sleep, and hope you’re off tomorrow.
SOTD is Tauer Une Rose Chypree. (I can’t figure out how to place the accent in here.) For the first few seconds it makes me wrinkle my nose and think “Sour rose!” But soon thereafter it calms down a bit and is just a beautiful rose. Nice for our humid and relatively warm weather this weekend in Galveston. Friday was sunny and gorgeous but Saturday and today the sun could not cut through the fog.
I am trying something new this year: I am trying to give up buying perfume for Lent. I’m five days in, with weeks to go. Full disclosure: if I make it, I plan to reward myself on a trip later this spring to London. Anyone else giving up for Lent? Note: I haven’t said I’m giving up perfume, just BUYING perfume. Baby steps.