Happy Monopoly Friday! Our community project for today: You've drawn the Community Chest Card "You Inherit $100". Wear the fragrance (presumably from a sample or decant, but it could be from a bottle if you're planning to replace or stockpile) that you'll buy with your windfall. It has to be something you can actually buy for $100 or less!
What fragrance did you pick? As always, do chime in with your scent of the day even if you’re not participating in the community project.
Me: still sick. Still commando. Didn't sleep well. (And I talked to my mother on the phone yesterday and now she is sick, so this is a very powerful bug.) I will chime in with something in the comments later today for partial credit.
Reminder: on 4/20 we're doing Can’t stop, won’t stop...wear a perfume from the most saturated category in your collection. Suggested by Coin-op.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2018, where I'll try to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Sorry you’re still not feeling well- it can take a long time to recover from the flu.
I’m wearing Joy – cheating because I already have a bottle but at least it’s a cute little 30 ml bottle that I brought for less than $100.
Ah, you smell just fantastic.
Yum! I almost wore that today. You can buy a 1 oz (30mL) bottle for about $65 from online discounters!
https://www.fragrancenet.com/perfume/jean-patou/joy/eau-de-parfum#147766
Sorry about your rough night, Robin. Hope that you can rest today and that you and your mom feel better soon!
SOTD Aroma M Geisha Green from nearly-drained sample #1. The oil would be <$100. I'll see how I still feel about it when samples are gone. But I do like it quite a bit!
I have today off in exchange for working Good Friday. Hubs and I are going to the David Bowie Is exhibit today. Super excited! Happy Friday all!
What fun — hope you have a great time!
Thanks!
Just watched the HBO documentary on Bowie’s last five years….amazing. Where is the exhibit? Remember seeing him at the Tower in Philly, oh so many years ago….
I want to see that doc! I’ll make it a Bowie weekend. The exhibit is at The Brooklyn Museum. I only saw him once live-it was his 50th bday concert so there were other bands also doing tributes. Terrible seats, but it was fun.
Excited for you! Have a great time!
Thank you! I’ll report back.
Enjoy your day off! Sounds like a great way to spend it!
Bowie on✊
Sounds like fun! Enjoy the day!
Have fun!!!
Enjoy your day off! ????
Thank you, Uncle Pennybags! With my $100 I will buy a travel sized bottle of Zoologist Elephant (and have some left over!). I love this – such fresh/bitter greens combined with soothing sandalwood; it’s weird to me that the two work together so well.
The opening of that one makes me swoon, but after an hour, it is gone.
I will be retesting from my sample after we stop the polar ice cap imitation, and hope it lasts.
The sillage vanishes on me too but I can still smell it for a looooong time if I put my nose right up against it, which I kind of like.
That’s my experience with Elephant too but there are many others I like.
Good idea — those travel bottles from Zoologist are cute.
And the Company listened to the perfume community – smaller bottles !!!
Rest well!
I will probably wear Nicolai Parfums Neroli Cap, I have a 30ml bottle and it fits under the price ceiling nicely 😀
Thank you! Actually just dozed off on the couch for a bit, so I’m working on it 🙂
I need to try the Neroli Cap. I do feel like everything I fall in love with from PdN gets axed, though.
Couch sleep is weirdly wonderful! Hope you are being very lazy and just taking care of yourself.
I sleep so much better on the couch than in bed. Less psychological pressure I think. I always feel exhausted, go to bed and then lie awake anxiously, yet I can fall asleep no problem on the couch.
I can nap on the couch no problem, for the same reason. In bed? faggeddaboudit! Way too keyed up about not being able to fall asleep, even if I am really feeling quite ill.
Robin,
I hope you and your Mom are feeling better soon.
I am in Ava Luxe’s Moroccan Mint Tea EDP for a refreshing boost on a cold and dreary day.
15 ml for $45.00 – I could buy 2, and have done.
Oh, great pick! And thank you.
I hope you and your mother get well soon, Robin. Poor you!
Tauerville Rose Flash gets my money today.
And since I would still have money left, I’d probably add Rose Delight Body Oil and Tauerville Discovery Set.
The Rose Body Oil layers so well with Lush Rose Jam too.
I am lucky enough to have both Rose Flash and Rose Delight….fantastic choice, you will smell amazing.
Was thinking of this project and browsing ebay a couple of weeks ago, when I found a 10ml bottle of Rosa Sur Reuse. It’s a backup but I’ve been wanting a backup since it was discontinued several years ago and I’d buy even more if I ever see it again so that’s what I’m wearing. This is an evil project–making me check ebay or see if a scent comes in travel sizes, etc to make sure that something is actually available for $100 or less. Now I’m feeling the urge to spend more money (all on scents to fit this project……)
Seriously! I’ve developed more lemmings this week than I have in the past 6 months…NST is a danger to the pocketbook.
Rosa sur Reuse is so good!
I bought a BUB of Centennial when Liz was revamping her site.
Bapteme du Feu today–because for me it seems to be a perfect scent on days so misty it’s like the rain paused halfway down. And because I was still thinking about oranges after the chat about Dilettante yesterday, and the different way it appears. It doesn’t read as a gourmand on me, even with the cloves. (and i recently bought a back up bottle–there are still some 50ml bottles kicking about at a hefty enough discount to keep it safely under the limit.)
Hope you are able to rest and recover. Flu is a beast.
I need to do some shopping on 50 ml bottles and see what is out there at a good price…
The prices seem to bounce up and down, but I found a really good deal in a local department store (just under half price on this and chergui, and the lovely SA threw in a freebie soap she’d been hoarding!)
Oh nice!!
That’s one of my favourite perfumes. I like how it seems like the cloves have been divided somehow…so the spice aspect is somehow dry, like powdered spice and then alongside that is a rich oil that adds peppery ( gunpowder) lushness/ depth somehow.
Thank you for putting into words what I’ve been trying to figure out for ages. That’s exactly it!
(It also makes me think of the smell that stays in the air after fireworks, on a rainy night–which is a very Edinburgh smell.)
I bought a BUB of Bapteme as well when I found it for @ $50 on fragrancenet.
that was a *total* bargain!
oh… and when I got home, I added a skoosh of Dilettante on top of the drydown… WOW.
A very powerful bug indeed 😉 I hope you’ll start to recover soon.
Contrarian that I am I chose my most expensive scent, and one of my most cherished purchases, so Enlèvement au Sérail it is. This is one stunning floral and possibly my favourite from MDCI.
If you’re not going to do cheap, “most expensive” seems the way to go!
I only have a decant of that and hoard it jealously. Darn IFRA.
I have a cherished Organza Indecence mini, which I would happily upgrade to a full bottle. Not sure about the budget though, especially for the original version that I have.
I have a 15ml bottle of original and a decant of the rerelease, and I don’t notice a great deal of difference between the two. You smell lovely.
Thank you! And it’s nice to know that the reformulation turned out well in this case.
Robin, I hope that you and your mother feel better soon.
I’m wearing Celestial Jasmine by Eric Buterbaugh Florals, from a travel spray that cost less than $100. I smell purdy.
Sorry if this was already announced, but I didn’t see it mentioned. Andy Tauer has added a 5 ml miniature version of Phi Une Rose de Kandehar to the perfumes for sale on his website.
It was a daily lemming but the reminder is a good idea!
Robin- so sorry you are still sick. Just as spring is finally showing up. Feel better soon!!!
A travel size Shangri La by Hiram Green. (And enough to buy a second travel size of one of the others, just not sure which is next on my list!)
It is gorgeous out there! I will even enjoy my grocery trip this afternoon.
Nice! Arbole Arbole is the one I’m hankering after.
(Though I’ve not yet got my mitts on a delayed sample of Slowdive.)
Poor Robin–please get well soon. Maybe some of the sun and high temps will burn it out of you this weekend.
SOTD–in Idyllwild again. Just over the limit at $110, so I will find some willing soul to split it with me, leaving money on the table for some other fab fragrance find.
Thanks for the reminder to try my sample.
I like it, but not quite sure how much (I like it), if that makes sense.
It wanders places that I don’t expect.
I hope so, thanks Jepster!
I’m pretty glum today because this morning I was supposed to be giving the keynote lecture at a conference, but I’m stuck home with this stupid hip brace. I sent in my paper and PowerPoint for the organizers to read/present, so I’m there virtually, at least. Yesterday I wore Fils de Dieu and today I’m wearing the remains of a tiny sample of Noel au Balcon. I think I can buy it with my inheritance money if someone can please remind me of how to get the ELDO coupon that was mentioned earlier this week. Both scents combine citrus and spices in a very appealing way. Noel adds in honey to the mix. It’s supposed to be a Christmas evocation but it also has orange blossom and seems really good for spring as well, and it’s cheering. Robin, I’m sorry about the potent flu bug, and hope you and your mother both improve in good time.
Type in ETAT20 (that’s what I did at least) and hopefully it will still work.
Where–what website? (Thanks!)
I found it, and it worked–thanks! I still have to kick in $20 of my own but I think I deserve this!
You certainly do!
I have an 11mm tube of that scent, and it means nothing to me. If you are in the US I’ll be glad to send it on.
Meant for Calypso, sorry.
That’s so nice of you! But I did already order my own bottle. Perhaps you can pass it on to someone else who is interested?
Hello, house twin! ????
That must be so disappointing! Shame they couldn’t hook you up with Skype or something, to at least take questions after.
Thanks to a generous NSTer (really, thank you, thank you), I am sampling Vilhelm Parfumerie’s A Lilac a Day. OMG, this is great!!!! The opening is just like a real lilac, green, then sweet, then powdery, then back again. I have found a new love for spring. It sticks around for maybe 30-60 minutes, then fades into a slightly dirty jasmine, and something maybe a little musky. A skin scent after 60 minutes, whatever it is…
And happily, a travel bottle (appx 18mL) is available for $80, so well within the project budget. 🙂 And it leaves enough leftover for some actual lilacs from the flower shop when they are in season!
Oh yay!
That sounds great!
I did it! My choice for today’s theme is vintage Le Dix (the original EDT, from a decant), and I finally pulled the trigger on a bottle of 70’s era Le Dix in EDC formulation that I’ve had my eye on for a while now. And have enough of my windfall left for some little extra treat that I haven’t figured out yet. Yay! 🙂
Oh, nice!
You smell ravishing! (Anyone sneezing near you?)
No! Do you have allergic people around you who can’t tolerate Le Dix? Or, worse yet, does it make YOU sneeze? That would be so sad.
It was my SOTD yesterday and my son was sneezing up a storm 😉
Le Dix is such a beautiful perfume!
I have a job interview for a part time job with an airline today so I can get free flights! I will be in Parfums De Nicolai New York EDT for the interview.
You smell wonderful!
Good luck with your interview 🙂
very best of luck!
Hope it all goes well, you certainly smell great 🙂
Good luck at your interview! I would be keen on free flights, too.
Aaaaaaand i got the Job. New York and Paris here I come. Lol my perfume habit just got a lot more expensive now that I can go shopping wherever I want!
Now THAT is F–king Fabulous! (Wow, that looks even cruder than I expected–but you get my drift 😉 )
congrats!
Congratulations on the job! Did New York help?
Yay!! Are you going to become our perfume mule now? 😉
Good luck to you!
Major congrats on your job interview and offer!
Hey congratulations!
Wearing my sample of Comme des Garcons Grace by Grace Coddington. I love this light, fresh minty rose. I’d buy a 50 ml of this with my Monopoly money but I’ll have to throw in $10 of my own! …And if anyone has a bottle they want to swap, please contact me using my screen name above. 🙂
I like that one, too(though I get no mint!), and didn’t have luck finding any in the swap meet. I went through a couple of Sephora samples but am sad to note that the Sephoras that had CdG don’t carry the line anymore. Though TDC Kashan Rose is in a similar vein, and I’m enjoying that one very much. Hope you find some!
Hmmm. Kashan Rose sounds very good, also. Thanks.
I was just reading an interview with her on Into the Gloss before I moused over here! She talks a bit about creating the perfume.
Thanks – heading over to Into the Gloss!
Ooh I love that in spring and summer and how gorgeous is the bottle 🙂
I’m wearing Cuir de Lancome, which is easily bought from eBay with my inheritance money. Yay!
And is such an amazing scent.
Yummy.
Gorgeous SOTD!
I was planning on wearing FM’s Cologne Indelebile all week, but it cooled off quite a bit last night, so I’m in Vetiver Extraordinaire instead. However, I would still use my $100 windfall to grab another 10ml of Cologne – I love it but have trouble justifying the expense when I have so many similar colognes, so it’s the perfect found-money splurge.
Happy Friday!
You smell great, and I like the idea of something you’d only buy with “found money”.
With my imaginary $100, I bought a bottle of CdG White, one of my favorite variations on the original theme. White almost smells like milk punch at first, and I adore it. I probably shouldn’t wait to long to get myself a bottle. 🙂
Plus, CdG is last of the great bargains in niche.
That’s 100% the truth. It feels like getting them on discount even at full price!
I’m a project fail today. Might have strep throat so am at the doctor’s office. (They’re checking my swab now.) Wearing Wit for spring cheer.
BUT, if I were playing along, I would be wearing Gres Cabaret, which smells great on my husband. Or Cocoa Pink’ s dupe of SDV, which I will definitely buy soon. The dupe is probably more simple than the real thing, but apparently that’s what I like. ????
Not strep. Whew.
Yay for no strep. Hope you feel better soon!
I hope you start feeling better soon.
Sore throat is my “biggest” symptom — hope you are not getting this flu.
I wore that yesterday- you smell so pretty! Feel better soon!
poor you! glad it’s not strep through.
ice cream to celebrate *and* sooth?
Sorry that you’re sick and hope you feel better soon!
Yay for no strep, but BooHiss for sick & sore throat!
Annick Goutal Le Chevrefeuille. I have a small sample of this, and it is really pretty.
Happy Friday!
ps. I am drinking a cup of green tea.
You smell great – I have a big bottle of this, so am glad I don’t have to hoard it any more!
I love that scent. I wonder if I can replenish my dying sample for under $100 on eBay?
Enabler alert! On fragrancenet right now for $69 with coupon code!!! Get it!
Love that one!
SotD = Berdoues Vanira Moorea
With some luck I could perhaps buy two bottles for under $100. 😉 I love this one. It makes me smile every time.
Happy Friday, y’all.
Yes, Anthropologie has them on sale for 59.95 plus 25% off sale items right now I think. I got a bottle of Assam in January for under $40!
I didn’t bite, but agree Berdoues + Anthropolgie sale = happy perfumistas. Excellent enabling! 😀
I find it very happy-making, too! It’s a scent I sometimes spray into my oil diffuser, just for that reason.
Great idea! I have a few scents I like to use to freshen the air. Vanira Moorea will be next. 😀
Went with the work friendly Dame New Musk Man today.
I was tempted to grumble about the stiff neck that I woke up with this morning, but that seems pretty trivial compared to the flu. Sorry to hear both you and your Mom are feeling sick Robin. Sending virtual well wishes!
Hi, House twin!
That’s a lovely musk at an excellent price, I layer it with lots of things.
I don’t know — it’s all relative, right, and who wants a stiff neck? I say grumble away.
Hello again from Paris, dear friends! Feel better soon, Robin 🙁
We have just come back to the hotel room after a day full of exploration and revisiting the neighborhood I used to live in way back when I lived in Paris eight years ago. My feet are sooooooo tired. Very little perfume sniffing, partly because the boyfriend is thoroughly anti-scent, and partly because my feet were so tired that I was saving my steps for more important things, like walking into every single cathedral we walked past. I did give in and go into an Atelier Cologne to sniff Iris Rebelle, which is lovely, but not really worth retail value. Which is how I feel about a lot of Atelier Cologne. I do want to own them all; I just want to pay no more than 50 % of their price.
Question: has anyone gotten back the VAT from their international perfume purchases? Is it complicated? What do I need to do? I read some articles about it online, but they sound kind of fuzzy about how to claim the refund at the airport.
Might head to Annick Goutal or Serge Lutens before dinner with some friends from grad school…or might just take a bath and ease my poor feet.
I have and it was easy, but it was >10 years ago so I can’t tell you more! I think it involved asking someone where to do it, going up to a counter, and handing them my receipt thingy.
I’ve done this and it isn’t hard, but the problem often is that there are very long lines waiting, and it will depend on whether you think it’s worthwhile to spend an hour or so in the line, and if you’re there early enough to do so. You just find the desk for VAT refunds and take the form there, and they’ll refund it, generally right onto your credit card that you used. The VAT refund desks are generally marked on airport maps.
Go early to the airport with all your receipts and the merchandise in your luggage. Go to the VAT refund desk, with your filled out forms. Then after it’s all stemped, you seal the document in the envelope and put it in the mail box right next to the booth. You get a refund back on your credit card within a week I think.
I am always way over the $800 duty free limit so I remove all tags and wrapping from new items, and after I get through the VAT duty refund line, I hand shred all the receipts so there is no proof of what I paid for anything. So far I’ve been lucky entering the US, but once when I was entering France I got the full inspection, which included going through my wallet looking for receipts.
You can claim a refund only in the last EU country on your itinerary. I had issues when I tried to do it in Sweden for the purchases made in Spain: I couldn’t find the right kiosk since there is more than one agency that collects and returns VAT in there, and they all do only “their own” kinds refusing to acknowledge anything else. After 2 lines in two different ones I gave up.
Also, both in the UK and France I had to get a specially filled forms from the places where I bought something (Harrod’s and Jovoy) to present it for the refund in the airport. Though it was 4-5 years ago, so maybe it got easier now, and you do not need those pre-filled forms and the regular receipts are enough – I don’t know.
If I do not already own at least 30 mLs of 7 out of 8 perfumes, I would buy this set of Atelier 8 x 4mL travel sprays. It is very good value at $48 and even cheaper with the VIB discount.
https://www.sephora.com/product/perfume-wardrobe-8-perfumes-for-7-days-P428265?skuId=2040087&icid2=products%20grid:p428265
On the VAT refund, the only thing I would add is that you have a choice of getting it in USD on the spot instead of waiting for the credit in your account. You do have to pay a transaction fee.
I’ve been thinking of getting that pack, and definitely would if I got a discount. Is there a coupon code you know of that I might use with Sephora, or do you have to truly be a VIB to get it?
Do you remember the size of the transaction fee?
You need to be a VIB to get the discount. It is even worth it to get it without the discount. I’m tempted to go back to get it because even though I do tend to bring the 30mLs on trips, the 4 mLs give me more options.
On the VAT refund, my experience was at Heathrow January 2017. If I was by myself, I probably would have not bothered since it wasn’t a big amount and I am all about not getting into any hassles while enjoying my vacation glow. We went to the customs desk after check-in and security as we did not have anything bulky. The customs officer stamped the paperwork but did not ask to see the items, but they could have. We then went to a VAT Travelex counter at which point we were given the option of a credit card refund or cash (Sterling or U.S.). Between the fee and the currency exchange, what I thought was going to be a $20 refund ended up being $13. Eventhough it was a relatively hefty difference, I preferred a sure thing than mailing the receipts which could fall into a black hole.
I hope you and your mother get well soon, Robin!
SotD is Eau des Merveilles.
It fits the theme! My travel mini is almost empty.
Irl I inherited money once, from my lovely and very dear grandmother, 25 years ago. I bought small golden earrings from it in the Metropolitan Museum (replicas of a museum piece, cant even remember from what era and location exactly). I still have them and wear them!
Nice. I watched The Handmaiden last night following the link to The Kenzo perfume you picked up. Really enjoyed it, just creepy enough to be unsettling without being silly. And I thought the interiror settings/ gardens/ costumes/ fabrics/ colurs etc were beautifully shot.
Yeah the art direction is stunning in that movie, the colour palettes are gorgeous.
Oh, and I need a skirt like this in my life (the muted green one)
http://www.theouterhaven.net/2018/02/the-handmaiden-becomes-first-korean-film-to-win-at-bafta-awards/
Yes to a skirt like that.
Thank you, and that’s so nice that you still wear the earrings!
Happy Friday everyone. I am much improved today – thanks everyone for the well wishes. I think my flu may have been shortened since I did have a flu shot this season. Though I also have not been sleeping well at night – perhaps from all the sleeping during the day! Hoping I’m done with it, and that yours is over soon Robin!
Wearing a tiny spritz of Bulgari Omnia Paraiba – very much on theme. Latest price on fragrancenet – $34.29 for 2.2 oz! Get some!
I like Paraiba! Glad you’re better.
OH, that is a tempting price for the Paraiba!!
And thank you. I am hoping this is the last day.
Nice to hear that you are feeling better! ????
I’ve been seeing a lot of this one in Marshalls/TJMaxx in different sizes, so if you’re a fan you might want to check those stores too!
I was going to wear Chanel No 19 EDT since my decant is getting low, but upon doing a search found the list price is $102. So switched it up and chose Hiram Green Moon Bloom. I love the affordable travel sprays and could buy this one and Dilettante for under $100!
Oh pssssh. No. 19 is your “inheritance” plus pocket change and I’d count it!
I was being a stickler! But yeah, No 19 is number one. ????
Ha! I checked earlier this week too as I only wanted to wear something under $100. I was bummed it was $2 over. That said, I am positive that my bottle cost at most, the low $90s when I bought it several years ago.
Happy Friday!
Another day, another vanilla.
Velvet Vanilla and Dolce Acqua today.
ROBIN:
GET BETTER SOUP:
ONECHICKEN (OR EVEN BETTER A BUNCH OF WINGS) SOME GREEN CABBAGE, CELERY GARLIC, A BUNCH OF CARROTS (PRE CUT IS FINE) LEEKS OR VARIOUS ONIONY THINGS AND ONE PIECE GINGER. USE ABOUT A QUARTER INCH OF GINGER AND THROW ALL OTHER ITEMS IN LARGE POT, ADD WATER TO COVER, COOK AT MEDIUM HEAT UNTIL THE CHICKEN IS COOKED THROUGH. THIS WILL COME OUT BETTER IF YOU CHOP ALL THE VEGATABLES, BUT WHO HAS THE ENERGY WHEN SICK. THE GINGER, CABBAGE, AND GARLIC ALL ADD EXTRA VITAMEN C TO THE BASIC CHICKEN SOUP RECIPE. (YOU CAN ALSO ADD LIMA BEANS, WHICH HAVE MORE VITAMEN C, BUT I LIKE A CLEAR SOUP WHEN SICK, YOU CAN ALSO ADD GENEROUS AMOUNTS OF BRANDY OR WHISKY).
OH WAIT, THIS IS A PERFUME BLOG. BACK ON TOPIC:
I DECIDED TO WEAR SOMETHING ACTUALLY INHERITED, AND WHICH I MIGHT INHERIT:
I PUT ON SOME OF MY MOM’S, UNDOUBTEDLY VINTAGE RED DOOR. IT ALMOST CERTAINLY CAME TO HER FROM MY BELOVED LATE GRANDMOTHER WHO RECEIVED EA “GIFT SETS” FOR HER WORK AND ATTENDANCE AT HADDASSAH CHARITABLE BANQUETS.
THE RICHNESS OF THIS 1980’S CIRCA BOTTLE STANDS OUT AGAINST THE THINNESS OF MOST COMMERCIAL FRAGRANCES TODAY.
*takes notes for later on soup*
Leeks actually cure many of my ills. I love love leeks. Sliced baby leaks gently boiled and drained, drizzled with olive oil and a bit of sweet butter puts a smile on my face every time.
Where was I going with this? Oh yah. Leaks in soup are just the bomb for the flu or a cold.
I love leeks too, steamed, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing.
And I just saw that I spelled leeks — leaks… haha! Your dish sounds simple and delicious too.
I enjoy sauteed leeks in scrambled eggs, preferably enough of them to turn the eggs green. It’s making my mouth water thinking about it…
Thank you so much for the recipe, that sounds delicious! I have run through all my stockpiled chicken broth so will have to make some more this weekend 🙂
I’m in Dame Dark Horse today, layered over LUSH I’m Home in the solid perfume. It’s a great combo, and both can be purchased for under 100 clams. ????
I’ve basically ignored the CP this week, so better late than never.
A layering combo for under 100 is a winner!
I fell for the Iris Rebelle travel spray, so am well under budget today. I really like it actually, more than almost any other Atelier. So win win!
I also like it best from the line. Enjoy your new goody!
Yay! And glad others fell for that spray too, it eases my guilt.
Well dang! I’m super late! But, I am totally on board with the community project in a 4ml sample of SB Gypsy! If I inherited a $100 I would sure enough snap up a bottle, which is under the $100 mark I’m pretty sure.
This is my last week of freedom and have to report to the salt mines Monday. Yesterday I found out that instead of 1 day of “corporate” orientation, this hospital does a WHOLE WEEK! I may not survive….if I were a makeup genius, I would artfully apply my eyeshadow to look like my eyes are wide open, when in reality the shades are down and I’m napping.
LOL!
Most places these days with complicated infrastruture have longer indoctrination- I mean, orientation times. Mine was about a week as well, with additional training that took a month.
Do exercise in the morning- jumping jacks, pushhups and lunges, 3 sets of 10 each, and on your breaks walk briskly. You will survive!
You left our caffeine and sugar????
HUGE good luck, I hope that the orientation does not kill you.
Thank you, and me too! Sending all kinds of good health vibes your way!
Happy Friday the 13th!
1) Moved some of the downed fence lumber over a couple of nights this week. Amazingly, neighbor has not said a peep!
2) SOTD: Jasmin by Molinard- you can buy this directly from Molinard for about $75 (imported from France) OR about $42 if you buy from online discounters. This is layered over lavender shower gel and lavender body lotion from my shower this morning The products are from a weird MLM company called Forever Living*. The effect feels like early summer, much needed on this very grey and rainy morning!
*the products I have to say are top notch and quite luxurious in feel; very skin softening without being greasy. I get them from my Japanese friend who buys them in big packages. The scent is very subtle yet persistent.
I totally didn’t know it was the 13th. Ugh… now i have to be xtra alert.
Ditto this ????
Neighbor probably did not notice!
Sadly I think that you are right! :-S
They were probably engaged in some shenanigans.
I’m wearing Imaginary Authors Slow Explosions today. A 50ml bottle is $95 and a travel spray is even better at $38.
As to what I would buy with my windfall, I’m thinking something I wouldn’t ordinarily buy for myself like a Chanel body product – No 5 powder, Coco body cream, Coco Mad body oil. Or something I’m planning to buy anyway – travel bottles of Zoologist Moth and Hyrax when they’re available, and I’d still have a bit left over for a decant of something.
Yes, windfall is perfect time to buy a luxury body product!
Those are great ideas for windfall treats. I’ve been lemming after a jar of No. 5 body cream for a while . . .
CP SOTD is Shal Nur by Etro. I blind bought Shal Nur after several positve mentions by Robin, who got an enabler pin. It can be found at the discounters for well below the $100 inhertance so maybe I’ll add a few bars of Warm Sand soap from the Shore Soap Company. Warm Sand has a great creamy suntan lotion vibe (not coconut) but the scent is subtle and perfect for summer.
Sorry that you’re still sick Robin. I am literally surrounded by sickies right now and hoping that I steer clear.
Happy weekend everyone!
That soap sounds so nice!
It’s really nice.
If you can tolerate a little sweetness, their best selling soap is Mermaid Kiss which smells like powdery marshmellows to me.
I was browsing the website – I saw that one! They are all so pretty and sound so lovely!
The quality is nice too. I usually buy their deal…I think 4 for $20, or something like that.
Yay, a pin!!
And huge good luck avoiding all the germs.
Thanks Robin. I hope that you and your poor mom turn the corner shortly.
Good morning everyone,
I’m in Ciel d’Opale Ann Gerard, thanks to a generous freebie from a fellow NST’er, and I saw one bottle on ebay for $73, so it fits the bill. I really like this one, but it’s not exactly a sillage monster. That’s why I chose it for today – close contact with students in a few minutes, and after work we’re off to Yosemite and I don’t want to attract any bears 🙂
Robin, I hope you will feel better soon.
Have fun at Yosemite! And make a lot of noise to keep the bears away.
I hope you get better soon, Robin and your mom, too. Depending on the kind of flu, I like to have a little chicken soup, something with hot sauce (I guess it’s the vitamin C in the peppers that helps) or or some ginger ale to keep the tummy settled. These are things already mentioned, but they do work for me.
I am wearing Arose by Inis, which is only $45 for 1.7 ounces, or maybe even cheaper online somewhere. It’s a nice rose, fairly light, so it can be worn anywhere. And I’m counting it as a scent to wear today because i’ll likely replace once my bottle is gone.
Thank you Mary Carol! I have been drinking lots of ginger tea but no more broth until I make another batch.
Oh, feel better soon, Robin! Sorry it’s still hanging on. ☹️
Lovely time at The Broadmoor/CO Springs earlier this week, and now in Denver.
Fantastic Degas show at the Denver Art Museum for any locals here. Really well done.
Hoping to do a little shopping this morn before we meet up with family.
Will likely wear Ninfio Mio today again. I love this for spring CO weather.
Ninfeo Mio???? You smell fabulous!
+1 for this!
Robin, wishing you and your mom good health soon. We are expecting a big ice storm this weekend, praying the power stays on. Sotd is Black Orchid, which isn’t very pretty and a little complicated, fits my mood perfectly. I’m wearing it from a mini sample and could be found for under a hundred dollars.
You smell great, lillyjo!
Thanks, i really do. This mini will last me forever, it just takes a dab.
Oh no! Fingers crossed you keep your electricity.
Thanks! Ice is the worst part about spring weather.
Ice storm? Good grief, are you in Siberia? I also hope your power stays on- do you have an alternate way to heat?
No, i don’t. My plan is to crank the heat up so it takes longer to get cold. Will it work that way? I don’t even know.
I hope that the forecasters are wrong and that an ice storm is NOT in your future lillyjo!
Me too, but they just put upgragraded me to the warning area:(
Well DRAT! ????
My CP scent is Lolita Lempicka that lots of people wore yesterday for Licorice Day. I didn’t because I couldn’t smell anything yesterday, but after going through an entire box of tissues last night I’m better today. Very cheap, smells like a million bucks, and my gateway to gourmand scents. With my leftover Monopoly $$ I’m buying another box of Kleenex 🙂
You could get those eucalyptus scented Kleenex. Hope you get even better today.
Lolita always reminds me of a teenager with heavy black eyeliner and some form of black or skull jewerly, young, lively and just a little bit of a rebel.
Ha! Great description. I know those rebel teenagers.
If i could wear whatever i wanted tk work, i would be wearing Gabrielle. In my mind i am Loving it.
And, i plan to buy a 30ml bottle ($80) in the sephora vib rouge whatever sale next week. Would love to have it publicly funded, lol!
Good deal!
I made a recent discovery relating to that research I was doing about the Grand Maori Perfume. It turns out that a local group of Ngai Tahu ( the largest South Island tribe) based thirty kilometres away have been harvesting and experimenting with taramea resin ( collected from Golden Spaniard…very spiky plant ) , one of the principal ingredients of GMP, and are selling small bottles of taramea scented oil for $60 at the local marae ( meeting house). So, i hope to go up there soon and find out more, and buy a bottle and smell it. Then I can close off that chapter and move on.
Botanical watercolour class today…a bit of a love/hate. Week six and we are now allowed to use paints but we are not yet allowed to tackle plants. I have spent 3 hours doing colour swatches , mixing colours etc. My friend , who is a writer, goes with me and every week we take mental notes for future use.
Please let us know what the taramea scented oil is like when you can!
Good luck on your quest! Looking forward to hearing what it smells like.
I’m in my new Ananda, which I purchased for way less than $100. I smell like a plush pear. I am reminded of Tresor in this one, which makes no sense if you look at the notes. But it has a similar feel. A pear flavored version of Tresor 🙂
Ebay Mysteries and Questions: What is the deal with folks selling empty perfume bottles on ebay for major mula? Does anyone really purchase an empty bottle of J’adore for $25 plus shipping!? Is there really a contingent out in the world buying up used bottles of perfume? Also, why are there so many sellers selling perfume for more than the amount one would pay from a shop, such as $100 plus shipping for Encre Noire? Simply ordering a list differently, one can usually for a dozen offers for less on eBay to say nothing about other online perfumer stores.
Very valid questions that I’d also like to know the answers to!
I am guessing that those high-priced ebay items are geared towards people who are suckers and do no research, or people who live in faraway countries that discounters don’t sell to. Buying a bottle off ebay at $$$ may be your only access if you live in Timbuktu.
I just watched a You Tube video where a lady was thrilled to have bought an ebay bottle of Pink Sugar for 60 dollars, because she couldn’t get it where she lives.
I know… but couldn’t she get it sent to her from an online store? Gah. I obviously do not get eBay.
Well…. i don’t understand it either, but i do know that some people are awful, and some people gullible.
It’s a mystery to me also, but some people collect only empty bottles. I’ve heard they sometimes (merciful heavens, I’m clutchin’ muh pearls) even pour out the juice. ????
I’m clutching my pe– okay, well wringing my sweatshirt–too!
Haha!
:))
I’ve heard that too, i think theres some perfume empty bottle society.
Some bottles are beautiful but without perfume, they are just clutter that has to be dusted. No thank you…
I had a wonderful but slightly dotty great-aunt who collected perfume bottles but had no interest in the perfume. She often gave bottles to my grandmother who would use them up then return the empties. At one point Grandma had so any bottles she would let my sister and I mix up multi-perfume concoctions in paper cups in her bathroom for fun. Then we’d decide it was stinky and pour it down the drain. Some of it was Avon and now I know there were bottles of Chanel and old houndstooth label Dior and bottles marked “Worth.” I remember thinking this stuff must not be “worth” anything if Grandma lets us play with it. 😯
I love this story!
Chanel No5 L’Eau today. I had initially dismissed this, as I love my EDP and Eau Premiere, but who am I kidding. I’m a No5 devotee. Every darn version they can come up with is wonderful to my nose. $80 for 1.2oz or $105 for 1.7 — it’s fleeting on me, so I’ll kick in my own $5 and get the 1.7oz.
Sorry you have been sick, Robin. I haven’t felt well myself, but I’ll take my sinus issues over the dreaded flu.
But the 1.2 oz is super cute and available at Sephora for 15% off with the VIB discount.
Le Labo Labdanum 18. Because if I had $100 I could at least get the 15 ml. I find this stuff absolutely intoxicating. I could bathe in it.
I wish Le Labo’s 15 ml bottles were more affordable! I’d buy quite a few.
SOTD is OJ Ta’if from a sample. There are too many NST enablers of this fragrance that I am just tossing a pin in the general direction of this blog.
I lived in Ta’if and had no good memories except finally leaving.
But, with all the good reviews I thought maybe…well…why not?
I am in love with this fragrance and while it clocks in over the monopoly limit I am directing friends to Luckyscent for potential birthday gift cards.
I bought a 50 ml bottle of Ta’if at Twisted Lily for $120 with a 20% discount. They send coupons periodically once you buy from them. No affiliation.
You smell beautiful today!
Really great choice. This is definitely in my top 10 (and I reach for it all the time).
I’m so happy you decided to try it despite your bad associations.
Ta’if is in my #2 all-time perfume loves.
Hang in there, Robin!
I’m in 24 Faubourg today, which I love more and more every time I wear it and can definitely get for under $100! Woot woot!
24Fab-u-lous! You smell lovely and classy and like a million bucks.
Robin, I’m sorry to hear that now your mom is sick, too! Hoping that you both have a short bout of this.
It’s sneezing season where I am at, but for allergies. One of the cats and I have been having fits for part of the week. Turns out that tree pollen is the culprit. I have been waiting for the wave of yellow-green pollen to show up for a couple of weeks now.
SOTD = Fils de Dieu… EdP, from the sample stash. With the ELdO discount and the cute 1 oz bottle, this clocks in well below the $100 limit.
Isn’t it just a wonderful scent? I love that moment when I spray it on and it’s like LIME, LIME, LIME!
It is! I think it is one of the few scents I can think of off the top of my head that work in all 4 seasons (at least, where I live).
I am feeling tired but otherwise WAY better today — thanks!
Send get well vibes to all the sickies!! I am not quite on project, wearing Guerlain Encens Mythique, but we’ll pretend it’s a decant, okay? 😉
Well you smell fabulous!
ooh, delicious!
I don’t often watch fragrance videos but enjoyed Jeremy Fragrance’s video tour of Guerlain’s headquarters. Interesting behind the scenes stuff. Here’s a link in case anyone has 14 minutes to spare:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUTYyCyHr64&t=
You smell gorgeous 🙂
Today I am wearing ELDO “you or Someone like you”- Lucky scent has a cute 30ml bottle for $42 in case you need a reason buy something. Nice minty spring scent.
That’s going to be my celebration scent, first sunny day I am out and about!
I’m wearing Dior Dune EdT for our first really wintery day (hah! Two days ago it was line high summer in bushfire season complete with hot winds and smoke). It’s from my 30ml bottle which I picked up for around $60 inc postage last year. A quick scan of ebay shows me there are plenty of used bottles still around for $100 or less inc postage (ooh including the cutest 15ml…I’ve never seen one of those…)
I have a 50 mL and a 30 mL. I love cute so umm, maybe I can spend my Community Chest money on a 15 mL. I have seen a mini on the OsswaldNYC mini-bottle display shelf.
The 15ml is a different shape, skinny like a little dude wearing the Dune lid for a hat:
https://m.ebay.com.au/itm/DIOR-Dune-15ml-EDT-Eau-de-Toilette-Nearly-Full/302638381491?hash=item4676a739b3:g:7GIAAOSw~o5ag~K1
Not as cute after all! Why oh why couldn’t it have been shaped like the larger bottles? Money saved. That said, I may still get it because I am curious as to what the juice smells like and the outlay is actually quite small, about USD15.
Dune is beautiful. I love the combination of beach roses and broom and I live close to a Lake Michigan area that has wonderful huge sand dunes, so Dune reminds me of happy summer dune climbing which is a major cardio workout.
Finally getting 30 seconds today to say:
Robin, I hope you’re feeling better soon
Hi! to all perfume friends
Cross your fingers for me this weekend as the weather forecast is not good for the outdoor fundraising event I’m volunteering at. 🙁
My Community Chest card is going toward travel bottles of Imaginary Authors Saint Julep and Memoirs of a Trespasser. And I’ll have $ leftover for a real Mint Julep and a memoir to read!
Fingers crossed for you!
Thx!
SOTD = Dior Dune
Oh my! As I am writing this, I just saw that Lillibet is also wearing Dune in the Southern Hemisphere. Goes to show how people classify perfumes differently as far as appropriateness to weather. It hit the 80s in NY/NJ; too warm in my opinion.
I am wearing the vintage version from the early 90s. I got it and a back up bottle a few years back. I love it but don’t wear it often enough to justify buying another BUB.
But we both smell amazing 🙂
We do, twin! I really should wear this more often.
You both smell wonderful ????
You both are smelling great! But I agree with hajusuuri on Dune… I think of it as a summer scent.
Thank you, jalapeño!
That’s so interesting! I must try it when the warmer weather comes back to see what I’ve been missing 🙂
Hello, all. I remembered to wear an on-theme perfume, and am posting early enough so that I didn’t fall asleep before I finished reading about today’s new perfume releases. Whoo! I’m in Penhaligon’s Artemisia, 50 ml of which can be found at the discounters for about $50, or in a 7.5 ml rollerball for $20 or less. My rollerball is nearly empty, and I think a FB will be my next purchase. Probably not until nearly June, though, because I am approaching Birthdaygeddon. (My mother, sister, both of my nephews, and I all have birthdays in a ten-day period in late-April/early May.) Artemisia is a lovely, fruity thing with a little spice, and unless you hate peach, well worth trying. It is very cheerful, which I appreciate lately, and is often the answer to the question, What do I feel like wearing? That being said, if I actually had $100 to spend in my hot little hand, what I’d probably do is save up another $25 (plus tax) and buy a travel set of Bombay Bling.
whoops! sorry, Laurels, I replied to you below . . .
Perhaps you can count on birthday money to make up the difference!
heehee, Birthdaygeddon, that’s fun. You must most definitely treat yourself to a new FB.
Wearing Le Jardin Retrouvé Rose Trocadéro from the sample but once I’m dome with it, I think of buying their adorable 15 ml bottle (https://lejardinretrouve.com/en/le-petit-flacon-15ml-05-oz/38-rose-trocadero-eau-de-parfum-le-petit-flacon-15ml.html ). It is a rose-dominant perfume but it is different enough from other roses that I have for me to wear it in my rotation.
I really like that the brand now is offering multiple options – from samples, the price of which is credited for the full bottle purchase, to 15 ml travel bottle, 50 ml bottle, a 120 ml refill and a set of all three.
That’s a good deal, Undina! Speaking of travel bottles, I was just at Sephora and saw that Spicebomb is marketing 20 mL bottles as “travel and gym size”.
Well… Compared to a 100 ml bottle, 20 ml seems like a very travel-friendly size (though I still prefer to take 5 -10 ml decants with me).
My most indulgent was bringing 30 and 35mL bottles of EdM Bleue and No.5 L’Eau to Vancouver and Alaska. There’s something about spraying from a full bottle…