Well, it's Monday again! It's also Rosa Parks Day. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm in Stella McCartney Stella, for no particular reason.
Reminder: on 2/8 our theme is Fire and Ice...wear something that keeps you warm in winter (Fire) OR wear something that reminds you of snow and chilly winter air (Ice). Suggested by Glannys.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2019, where I'll try to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is Kaia Gerber for Stella McCartney's Spring 2019 ad campaign.
I’m in Bois Farine for the first time. I like it. The powdery notes don’t bother me like I thought that they would.
You smell wonderful! I love Bios Farine.
Me three, wish I had a small bottle.
You smell really great.
I’m wearing Bruno Fazzolari Vetiverissimo. It’s seems like a good for the warmer temps.
Vetiverissimo is the only perfume that has ever tempted me purely because of the bottle design. Love that label.
You smell great! My coat cuffs smell like Vetiverissimo from this weekend.
Good morning all! Hope you’re well.
Continuing to enjoy my 14 ml little bottle of Jasmins Marzipane, which I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on (so as it turns out, it does indeed project reasonably well).
After a tough 2018, trying to keep up some optimism for 2019, and have been helped in that by the birth of my niece last month (who I inadvertently made smell like Jasmins Marzipane when I held her for the first time – whoops).
Also debating a move to the DC area….any votes?
Again, hope you’re all well!
Congratulations on your new family addition! I have a new grand niece and it’s like the world became a little brighter?
Absolutely – her existence has just added a lot of joy to our lives.
Congratulations! Enjoy your beautiful baby niece! Perhaps you already made a future perfumista by transferring some of your Jasmins Marzipane to her ?. Wishing you a better year!
Haha – we can only hope! Thanks so much PerfumeLover – you too!
She might grow up to have a penchant for flowery gourmands – how fabulous would that be?
Pretty fabulous. Will do what I can to make it happen – haha
Hooray for your niece! Congratulations auntie. I hope your year continues to go well.
Thanks Sistine! Hope you have a great year too!
New York is the place to live
I will never be able to afford to buy an apartment here though…
This is why I want to leave NY. It’s becoming more and more expensive….high taxes and very high cost of living is driving the middle class out. Have you thought about the Carolinas? I think DC and Virginia will be expensive as well as most of the federal government employees are amoungst the highest paid in the country which drives everything up.
Northern Virginia (the DC suburbs) are expensive, and DC is as well. Every time we visit my SIL I cringe. Farther west/south, things are more reasonably priced, but not big-city living.
And I just saw what you wrote below. I would go straight to North Carolina. Lots of New Yorkers there now. I am looking at the area myself for retirement and my kids may make the move even before I do because they couldn’t afford to live where they grew up. It’s all about quality of life and if you have to work yourself ragged to live somewhere it just isn’t worth it.
Why would you want to buy a place? New Yorkers rent.
Also hiiiii! Hope you and the family are well!
Hard to say re DC. I lived there a long time ago (in my 20s) but I really enjoyed it. Very livable. It’s probably even more so now, which also likely means more expensive.
But not as expensive as here, which is the key. I feel like New York is systematically making it more and more difficult for non-wealthy people to survive here.
I agree. Even the outskirts are now becoming expensive. However as I said above I think DC is comparable.
No DC and the DC area aren’t as expensive as NYC, either in terms of real estate, or other expenses.
But I see we get into much more detail about this below!
Congratulations on your new niece! The little ones do bring smiles and brighten our days.
I’ve have zero experience with NYC vs DC but have heard that NY is a tough place to be single. It really depends on what you want and whether a new adventure will make you happier.
Nice to read your post.
Thanks so much Petunia! And yes, you’re right re: New York and singleness. But I also wouldn’t mind owning property at some point, and almost no one I know here can afford to do that unless they live very far out. It’s been an amazing place to be young but yes, I think I want other things from life that New York can’t support (not without major sacrifices anyway).
I live far out and it’s much more expensive. Many folks in my area work two to three jobs to pay the increase in taxes over the years and much higher cost of food and other Staples like oil,gas and electric. The state of NY is experiencing a mass exodus now because very few working folks can afford to live here.
Sounds like California.
(1) There are 14-mL bottles?! Ugh, such temptation.
(2) Congrats on the niece!
(3) NYC > DC, obviously, BUT DC is pretty great. It’s a little more affordable than NYC, but you will likely need to leave the city for actual affordability (and even then, the Metro-connected suburbs are pricey for the US as a whole). DC is a LOT cleaner than NYC, so there’s that 🙂 and all those free museums! and all those beautiful parks! Lots of green spaces and rivers and creeks and monuments, tons of good jobs, a Metro system that, well, could be worse. And so much of the suburbs in MD and VA are city-accessible. So I’m a definite pro vote. (My parents live in Silver Spring, which is on the red line just outside of the city. I did most of my growing up in the DC suburbs of MD.)
1) There are, and mine is lasting a long time – only $35! It’s exactly what Robin and others have been saying that these high end lines should do for years, and now they’ve listened. So happy with my little bottle, and will for sure buy another.
2) Thank you!
3) My best friend lives in Silver Spring too, and her commute – from a suburb! – is shorter than mine from Brooklyn! AND it’s more reliable. And, as you noted, a lot cleaner. The apartments I’m looking at in that area provide so much more space, and always a laundry unit in the building, which I have never had as an adult. And then, last but not least, the comparatively far superior dating experience in that area vs. the soul-sucking one here.
Also, so many of the things I loved about New York are being killed off, and there are so many empty storefronts (I just passed Bendels the other day, and while it hasn’t had its glorious perfume section since 2014, it’s still sad.) I love this place, but it’s also not making it easy for me to stay and have the life I want on a normal person’s salary.
I think it is time to move! And congratulations on your new niece!
🙂 Thanks Stinker-Kit!
It’s hard because New York is New York, and I love it. But also, yeah – not an easy place if you’re anything but very young.
I grew up in Silver Spring and Bethesda. To me, neither are suburbs anymore in the traditional sense. When I grew up they were more like bedroom communities, but now they’re more like small cities….in both cases, many people live there AND work there. Even back when I used to work in Silver Spring (early 90s) there were people who commuted from farther out in the suburbs but also people like me who commuted up from DC.
The bonus of living in MD or VA is you will get better public services for your tax money than you will in DC.
But I do think the DC area as a whole is on the same road as NY in terms of making it hard for anyone who isn’t wealthy to live there. It just isn’t quite as far along that road. But the apartment where I lived when I left the city in the mid 90s would be out of my reach now. So if you are trying to escape that, it’s worth considering whether you want to find somewhere not quite so far along on that path.
Robin, thanks so so much for this insight! Yes, I agree, the DC area is on that path, but I thought it might be a less-jarring transition place for a few years before an eventual move to North Carolina (where my sister’s family lives, and where my parents will soon be retiring). Especially because I know some people in the Maryland suburbs and don’t know anyone in NC. I don’t *want* to leave New York, but when I see my friend’s lifestyle in Silver Spring, and it’s just kind of like….yeah, I’d like that.
How was the transition away from a major metropolitan area for you? Was it a hard adjustment? And do you miss it?
It was hard, and I do miss it. Agree it might be a way less jarring transition! Mine was VERY jarring, although now that I’ve been here 20 years and *this* area has grown, it’s not as stark as it was.
But whenever I go anywhere where I used to live (that includes SoCal) I realize I don’t want to live there now: too expensive, too money-oriented in general, too crowded, too many stressed people). If I had a free pass to move anyplace on earth right now, I don’t know where I’d pick.
My mother lives in Chevy Chase at the moment, right by what we call the “wall of bling” (a row with Saks, Tiffany, I don’t remember what else) and while I like the easy access to shopping and great restaurants, every time I go there I am very happy to come back home to my small town where nobody cares what logo is on your purse.
Also many of the things I loved best about living in DC are just so crowded now that they’re not as much fun to me as they used to be. You used to be able to just pop in to the Smithsonian and see whatever you wanted…now half the museums and/or exhibits require a timed ticket and waiting in line, and then being jostled by crowds even after you get in.
I am an old crank 🙂
Robin I join you in being an old crank. I was born in and lived in NYC for 30 years. Would not want to live there now even if someone paid me.
Robin and CM, I getting closer to old crank status every day.
I have truly loved so many elements of living in New York, but yeah – it may not be able to give me what I want for the next phase of my life.
Well, reading my reply I am being maybe too cranky. There are people here who are very money oriented, and there are people in DC who aren’t. I just think life outside of the large cities is less stressful / less rat race, and many of the things that used to attract me to large cities have disappeared anyway as the cities have gotten more popular.
I would love to find a small-to-mid sized city with good weather and reasonable costs, that wasn’t too popular. I love Portland, ME where my dad lives, but it’s too cold.
Re: “it’s also not making it easy for me to stay and have the life I want on a normal person’s salary,” I definitely know what you mean. I live in the Bay Area, which has a similar issue. We’ve been talking about whether to stay or leave, because the kind of house we can afford to buy in the Bay Area is not the kind of house we’d like to live in >.< Hard issues. I am hoping the housing market gets a little more reasonable in the near future, but it's a stretch.
Oh! And my mother commutes from Silver Spring to the city for work, and her commute is < 30 min 🙂 (including walking and such). So yeah, commuting from the suburbs really isn't too bad.
I had heard about these issues being even more serious in the Bay Area, despite how beautiful a place it is. Sorry you’re going through it too! But hey, want to join me and your mom in Silver Spring? 🙂 And then would could go on sniffing adventures together! 🙂
NYC really bums me out these days to be honest and DC and the DC area have a lot of good things going for them. It sounds like you *do* want to move too.
Hey! Congrats on your niece! I saw some IG pics and can verify her adorableness ?
I hear you on the NYC dilemma. I will never be able to own anything here, except maybe a closet way out in Queens somewhere ?
Thanks Elisa! She’s got the best little face, doesn’t she?
And it’s nice to hear that I’m not the only one. 🙂
Congrats on the niece and she’s a cutie. I vote for North Carolina. Why do an interim move when you can just move to where you’re going to end up?
I second this !!!
Congratulations Aunt ihadanidea! 🙂 Baby will always associate you with beautiful scents!
I gotta throw this in the mix….consider the Atlanta area! Great weather, city life if you want that, and you can buy a house in the burbs….
Awww – thanks Jada! I will take it into consideration. 🙂
I am contemplating a move too, from Montreal to Victoria. I love the urban feel of Montreal but not the weather or the high taxes. Will see this week if Victoria is too small for me. Good luck on your decision!
Sotd is Allure edp, for no particular reason. ?
Smelling good Lillyjo!
You smell great, as you know!
Sometimes “no particular reason” is the best reason of all to wear a perfume!
And of course congratulations to you too!
This was meant as a reply to Lillyjo above – whoops!
T-Rex. Based on the ad copy and some reviews, I expected this to be avant-garde to the point of unwearability. In fact, I have postponed trying it for fear that I would become a stinky dinosaur. But to my nose, it is reasonably friendly, not far outside the Tauer ballpark in terms of smoky austerity. Guess I won’t have an excuse to quarantine myself today after all. Kinda sad about that…..
I totally appreciate your sadness at not being able to quarantine yourself because your perfume was not strange enough or strong enough…..
I am your scent twin today in T-Rex. I agree, it’s not shockingly different or unique, and quite wearable. The deeply smokey note is unusual in my experience, but I love it, and it has other notes to make it more interesting as it goes along, too.
Definitely not a linear experience. I often think the “backstory” of perfumes is irrelevant or silly, but can actually feel it playing out here. Hope you’re enjoying it too, Calypso.
I need to try T-Rex again. The first whiff was off putting to me but then again I’m kind of a weenie.
Hello all!
I’m wearing Christian Lacroix EdP today, the one in the seashell bottle. It was on my Sophia Grojsman checklist and I found a bottle in an antique mall.
The first time I sprayed it I thought the top notes were some of the worst in recent memory, harsh and green. But the drydown was so warm and lovely. Now I’m getting used to the top notes too.
I have never smelled that one, but it was such a cool bottle.
It is! It has a huge tarragon note that lasts forever but the base is creamy and perfect.
Back at work after taking most of last week off with an upper respiratory infection. I am armed with Sudafed and Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa, a soothing Chinese herbal honey syrup. I was scentless but remembered I have a solid of Breath of God in my drawer, so that’s what I’m wearing. Fire, ice. Inhale, exhale.
Take it easy, if you can today.
Get well soon!
Feel better!
Oof, sorry to hear about your infection. Glad you’re feeling better!
Ugh, respiratory infections suck!
I’m in Memo Italian Leather. We might get a bit of snow sometime today (that isn’t supposed to accumulate), so I wanted warmth in my fragrance.
You smell super great!
SOTD is Bvlgari Eau Parfumee au the bleu. While it’s not icy, it has a cool menthol-like note, so I think it fits.
My favorite from Bvlgari! You smell great!
I like this too – I’ve always saved it for summer but maybe I’ll give it a whirl on a cold day!
In Chanel No.19 EdT because after doing some decanting last night I craved for it this morning. Beautiful warm, sunny day after last week polar vortex. I hope this is the sign of spring knocking on the door already.
Have a easy Monday everyone!
Twins!
Hello twin! ?. We smell terrific!
House twins! And weather wishing twins!????
????☀️???
Ahaha! ???I didn’t know there were chicks??
Ha! Start using them! ????
Weather wishing triplet!!!!???
???????
????????
You smell wonderful!
Thank you! ?
Smelling great today!
Thank you! You also smell fabulous in Ummagumma!
You smell fab.
Thamk you! ?
No. 19 is one of my options for “Ice” on Friday if I decide to go that route. The weather is going to heavily influence which kind of perfume I will find appealing.
No. 19 is a good option for the cp. I might also wear it on Friday.
Definitely ice today – snow and ice in Seattle today and windy as heck so I’m working from home, but I’m going to wear a little fire for warmth: DSH Gingembre on one wrist and SL 5 O’Clock Au Gingembre on the other.
Yum! You smell lovely and possibly edible! ?
You know, maybe I do, but I don’t personally find either one very foody or sweet. The DSH takes a very oriental, more perfumey turn, while SL’s feels more dry-spicy-woodsy to me. I think others find it sweeter than I do.
I am enjoying both. And I enjoy comparisons like this because they help me find some of the notes due to their differences, if that makes any sense.
Ah! Thanks for convincing me that I don’t need to try the DSH take on it. I already find the SL to be rather “perfumey,” and if the DSH is even more so, I don’t expect it’s for me 🙂
I agree! One of the reasons I enjoy both of these is the dry, non foody aspect, yet they’re both very pleasant.
I am not familiar with DSH Gingembre, but 5 O’Clock Au Gingembre is definitely a “fire” scent. Sounds like a creat combo.
Lush All Good Things. Current stage is “smoked lemon cake”
Now I’m getting grilled pineapple
Do continue the updates!
Settled down to slightly smoky vanilla 🙂
These ARE all good things!
Do you like it? That’s one I liked when I tried it in the store last year, but I never followed through with getting a small bottle before Lush changed their packaging.
This was my first wear — it’s interesting, weird but not boring! I don’t think it’s love but I’ll enjoy the sample.
It’s apparently the Everlasting Gobstopper of scent…. 🙂
Pretty much!
That LUSH scent sounded very tasty! Your description was making me hungry.
Chanel No 19 EDT today. Haven’t worn it in awhile and it just sounded good.
One of my freebiemeet packages arrived this weekend with a decant of Aroma M Geisha Noire. It has a resinous-dry-woody feel that reminds me a bit of LADDM (if you swapped out the spices in LADDM for ambergris). It’s really nice, and is totally reaffirming my love of ambergris. Thanks adanst!
You smell great. I love Geisha Noire so much!
I second that emotion. No 19 is fabulous too.
Wanted to share an update here too, as a follow-up on a makeup/skincare post I made awhile ago.
Many thanks to everyone who made highlighter recommendations! I ended up getting elf baked highlighter in “moonlight pearls.” It’s just what I was looking for – subtle (but buildable) shimmer with no added color.
I also mentioned that I started using a niacinamide + zinc serum and rosehip seed oil daily. It’s been about a month and my acne has almost entirely cleared up. Now I only get maybe 1-2 pimples per week, and they are *much* smaller and less inflamed than before. Amazing! It hasn’t done anything for my post-acne marks, so I’ll need a different plan of attack there. Let the exfoliating begin.
Rosehip seed oil is amazing! I use it for my mature skin. Ede gets an enabler pin from me ?
It feels so nice! I read that some people think it smells fishy, but I don’t get that. It’s more like a dry, herbal smell to me.
I love how it smells!
Where do you get it from?
I bought mine from Ulta (the brand is called Trilogy) before I realized that you can get the same exact thing for less than half the price from The Ordinary. I bet you could pick it up pretty inexpensively from a health food store too.
Vitacost….Now Essentials. But you could also find it at a health food store
Same highlighter my daughter uses! Can’t beat the price.?
You can’t go wrong with No. 19!
I love both of these
Thanks for the skincare update!
I’m wearing Osmanthe Yunnan today. It was a blind buy because the Hermes store didn’t have a travel spray of Iris Ukiyoe in stock when I stopped in to buy my travel set. Unlike my other blind buys, this one was a great success! I really enjoy this scent.
Have a great Monday. I’m coming down with a cold, so it’s non-stop tea for me!
I looove that one. You smell great. Feel better!
Hope you feel better! I had a bit of a cold last week and was able to kick it fairly fast thankfully!
Yay for success!
House twin
Great blind buy, that one is so pretty!
Oh, that one is so good – you smell gorgeous.
Nicely done with the Osmanthe Yunnan!
Serge Lutens Bas de Soie.
I saw a cheap bottle on eBay, so I’m wearing it today to remind myself that YES I have a bottle of this; and NO I don’t need to buy another!
No, you DON’T! ?. Enjoy your bottle! You smell great!
Love this one! Makes me think of cold, early spring….or bright, fresh snow. Gorgeous either way.
It’s over 50° here in Boston and sunny so I’m pretending it’s spring by wearing Soivohle Lilas et Narcissus
Hey Neighbor! Enjoy the sunshine!
I’m in no kind of fire at all today. I was looking for Replica By the Fireplace, but found a sample of their At the Barber’s, and put it on because, eh, same house, who feels like putting in the work to find the right sample? Anyway, I smell exactly like shaving cream and aftershave. Great. I wouldn’t call this a scrubber, but I do hope it fades soon so I can put on something more interesting.
Ha! I haven’t tried that one, but I still think I know exactly what you mean!
Heh. Such a disappointment to smell like my father’s face!
I was recently out with a friend who was wearing Replica By the Fireplace. I kept grabbing her wrist to inhale deeply and was pleasantly surprised by the slightly sweet note…so good!!
Agreed, it’s lovely!
Are you familiar with Imaginary Authors Memoirs of a Trespasser? I always wonder how the two compare.
No, I haven’t tried that one! I think I have a sample of it, so I need to try it. I have tried and loved IA City on Fire, though!
I love At the Barber’s on my husband but not on me – I get lots of lavender from it.
I can see that. I only get lavender when I think about lavender while sniffing it 🙂 otherwise I just get clean-smelling man post-shower. Which is something I’d rather smell on a man than on myself.
I don’t know the scent, but I know the feeling – “OK, but I’d rather wear something else”.
Yes, precisely! SOTAfternoon is Rose Flash. MUCH better!
Ooof. I can’t handle shaving cream notes at all. I would have called “At The Barber’s” a scrubber!
That’s fair 🙂 It was definitely uncomfortable on me!
Wearing Fortune Cookie Soap’s Rum Butter. It’s basically what it sounds like, imagine Prada Candy but the powdery bits replaced with boozy.
Also thanks everyone for the anniversary wishes over the weekend! We were out and about too much to get to reply to everyone individually, but we had a nice time and lots of good food 😀
Oh good!
This morning I had tamales for breakfast with my Mexican friends
Lili Bermuda frangipani
Hey, I saw my ULTA has Lipstick Queen forty percent off!, I know you like that brand,maybe yours does too.
Uh oh. When I see that kind of sale, I worry about something being discontinued. LQ makes my favorite everyday color….
I’m thinking the same thing about discontinuation.
Amazon has LQ at good prices. Often discounted.
wow! Thank you!
I am wearing my red shade of LQ today, someone on this blog recommended it .
Mmmm, I envy your breakfast tamales
I had never had tamales for breakfast until I moved here, but let me tell you, it’s one of my favorites breakfasts now! So good!
I ate leftover chicken tortilla casserole for breakfast. Yummy.
Tamales are so good! It’s been forever since I’ve had any, must remedy that.
Ahh the moment of freshly unwrapping a back up bottle of ambre sultan….
Nice!!
yay!
Yay! I have a bottle that I’ve hardly used (purchased in my early perfume obsession days) and should find it a happy home. Need another backup? Haha
Erm, if that’s a serious offer, I’d be interested in a swap! If you’re up for it, please e-mail me at ko bhatta at gmail!
Intensely satisfying!!
I am wearing Sballo perfume oil by Bruno Acampora. It is very much a cozy winter perfume for me. It’s classified as an oriental but feels more like a dusty geranium-rose chypre with a heavy dose of resinous hay. It’s quite dusty and rough and has great longevity. I haven’t worn it much this year but I love it when I do.
I love it for that hay note!You smell awesome!
Aww…thanks!
Diptyque Eau Trois, finishing off a sample. It’s nice and all, woody incense and myrrh, but it has absolutely no projection — it just sits there sullenly, and even body heat doesn’t drive it away from the skin. I guess if I were looking for a skin scent, something that nobody but I could ever smell, it wouldn’t be a bad choice, but I like a fragrance that at least wafts around a little as I move through space. I like to be surprised by an unexpected ribbon of scent.
LOL at “sits there sullenly”!
I remember it being much stronger in the olden days, but maybe I remember wrong.
I tipped a half a sample vial on the back of my hand and still couldn’t detect it from a foot away. And it’s not my nose: I just put on a tiny tiny dab of SL Gris Clair…. (after reading about the disappointing L’Eau d’Armoise) on the backs of my hands, and I can smell it wafting up from the vicinity of the keyboard. Whatever Eau Trois used to be, it sure isn’t any more.
Say a prayer for Gris Clair — so few perfumes are what they used to be !
Not feeling my best today + lot’s of nerves and frustrations at work this monday.
I wore Lorenzo Villoresi Atman Xaman for the first time to test it but I wasn’t a fan. Incense, leather and spices but presented in quite chaotic way. Immortelle kept bothering me all the time…
Hope Tuesday is better.
Hugs and positive thoughts sent your way, lucasai. Hope Tuesday is better for you.
Sending positive vibes and wishing you a better week!
Sending more positive thoughts to you!
It sucks when the week starts out like that!Hang in there and keep smelling fabulous!✌?
Thank you all so much <3
Hope Tuesday is better, too.
I hear you! My day was anxiety-inducing too. Wishing you a better Tuesday and every day after!
Sampling some Gallivant the past couple of days (thanks to a super wonderful NSTer). So far I’m enjoying Istanbul, Tokyo, and Brooklyn which is my SOTD. Wasn’t crazy about Tel Aviv. Looking forward to trying the others!
Tokyo is my favorite.
It’s my favorite so far too.
I haven’t tried tokyo yet but liked Istanbul and Brooklyn
Paprika Brasil
No need to say more! ?
???
Nice!
❤️????
You go! I admire your persistence with your SOTD.
If I really like something I have no issues with wearing if for several days at a time 🙂
I’m in Theorema by Fendi. It’s one of those Dutch winter days. Grey, wet and generally miserable. Theorema helps.
You smell glorious!
Theorema ALWAYS helps. It’s wondrous.
SOTD: FM’s Noir Epices. My husband gave me the FM anniversary coffret set for Valentine’s Day two years ago and this was the very last one I tried & I’m sorry I waited. It’s a low-key but lovely orange + spices scent that I wore a lot over the holidays. It also pairs well with the BS Satsuma body butter I am trying to finish off (no matter how much I use there’s always more in that container – what’s up with that?) The downside is it has very little lasting power . . .
It lasts really well on me. It’s a gorgeous scent, one of my mulled wine ones. You smell good!
I sprayed double my usual amount today and it lasted pretty well! I guess I was being too timid . . .
(I keep having that same experience with scented body lotions I’m trying to use up. What gives?)
I think body products are living organisms that absorb nutrients from the air and grow in their containers. You have to use them faster than they grow. I’ve had it happen with lotion, cream, shower gel, you name it. It seems that the closer I get to the end of the container, the slower the level drops, no matter how much I use.
There’s a scientific term for why lotions, creams, etc. don’t seem to get used up — inverse utilization vortex. That said said,mother same thing happens to me too. For solids, like soap, I just call it “the [soap] that won’t die”.
It seems like the first 1/4 of a soap bar takes 1/10 as long to use and the last 1/4.
Ha – I’m glad it’s not just me re the body butter. I remember thinking that the container was small when I got it but I’ve been using it since November and it’s maaaybe a third gone? On the other hand, I feel like I’ve used my British Rose shower gel like 5 times and it’s half gone.
Wearing PdN Neroli Intense from a newly acquired (30ml) bottle. I sampled both PdN nerolis and opted for this one since it has more heft for winter, and what I thought was better longevity, but I think I’m wrong about the longevity ? I like it, though! It fits the spring-like weather today. The beeswax is definitely noticeable early on, along with the green tarragon. But it literally is fizzled out in less than 2 hours. 30ml won’t last long. Ah, well…
At least it won’t be hanging out in your collection forever. ?
Very true! I was light on the spritzing today, but I’m thinking a good 4-5 sprays might hold better. And hoping it’s not because I’m anosmic to something.
Mac Shadescents in Ruby Woo.Sexy red bottle.Fun fragrance with the lipstick note!I love it.
Maybe I’ll wear vintage Fire and Ice on Friday!Used to love the one for guys!
Happy Monday people!
✌?❤️?
Oh, man! I had the women’s version of F&I that I got as a Secret Santa gift at work back in the 90s. I liked it, but never finished it. I think it couldn’t quite compete with some Banana Republic perfume I had at the time- Modern, maybe?
Happy Monday back!
Today I am wearing Hermes Eau de Narcisse Bleu and drinking a cup of citron green tea.
That sounds like a good pair for warm weather 🙂
Staying warm in Ummagumma. Seattle got its first snow of the season, and I got a snow day out of the deal. Work is still open, but my boss urged a few of us to stay home and is working remote herself. It’s only 3-4 inches, but that’s a lot for us. Plus the city is all hills and people really don’t know how to drive in it around here. Funny thing is I had every intention of going in, got dressed and bundled up, walked uphill to get to my car, and then realized how bad the roads were. Plus it’s still lightly snowing with a lot of wind. My boyfriend is one of two people at his workplace. I’m hoping he gets to come back home in a few hours when the essential work is done. Luckily, he takes public transit so I worry less than if he drove.
I will probably need to wear Ummagumma again tomorrow because I already got it on the sleeves of my work clothes that will become tomorrow’s outfit. I promptly put my pjs back on after I got inside.
Enjoy your snow day and stay safe! 3-4 inches is no joke if your city doesn’t have snow plows and salt trucks at the ready.
Twins! And we”re having spring weather in the 50s (will be in the 60s tomorrow). Stay safe!
I’m wearing Musc Tonkin and it’s keeping me pretty warm. Snow flurries are forecast for Portland but at my house there are none so far.
Jaisalmer for a cold day. ?
Ice station pineapple. Pineapple and pine and coconut. Might do a smellbent week as their perfumes make me smile, which is a nice way to start the day .
Went foraging up on the hill yesterday but the blackberries are very late this year compared to previous years . A couple of small boletes under the pines which I am drying because they can be full of watery/ liquid when cooked that I am not so keen on . The broom and bracken were incredible in the early morning heat…think of Daim Blond blended with myrrh and that was the smell. I am going nuts with my work. I decided to turn a novel written in the present tense into the past tense and it is taking weeks to alter…haves, have had, had had, would have had, would have, would, was, were, would have was had have…it gets to the point where you can’t get it to sit on the page without going all LSD on you.
I had to look up boletes because I’d never heard that word before. Good find!
I’m really loving your nature posts 🙂 Best of luck with your was were would have beens.
Proofing copy gets incredibly difficult when the letters start moving around on their own! Good luck with it all.
I’m in the last of my Omnia Madera sample (thunk) for a gray day of running errands.
Went downtown this morning to pay our property taxes, and joy of all joys, we escrowed more last year than our bill was!??
We did that last year too, yay!
No scent yet due to feeling plague-y. Which is down to short sleep, which is all Mother Nature’s fault, since we had wind / heavy rain / hail til 3am. I’ve heard that as you get older you need less sleep, but clearly I’m not old enough for that, yet.
Tonight the forecast is for several inches of snow! Rare for us. At least snow is *quiet*.
Are you serious?? Aren’t you just like 30 mi south of me?? The very idea of snow feels ludicrous up where I am! Stay safe.
Yup. But 2000+ ft higher in elevation. You will not see snow, but it is already 34 degrees and snowing here. They’ve upped the forecast to 4-8″ for us… yikes!
Holy cow. Stay warm and dry! (And I thought it was cold and miserable up here, at 47 °F and rainy!)
Stay safe and warm! I hope you get the lower end of the predicted snowfall, rather than the upper.
It was insane yesterday. My dad was cleaning out our computer room and somehow, the puppy got a hold of a thumbtack. I tried to get it out but she swallowed it. We had to do a hydrogen peroxide thing to make her puke. The good news is my decanting supplies come in the mail today so I can save my L’Heure Bleue extrait (vintage) from evaporation. Wearing vintage BaV while going out to get dog food.
OH YIKES! Poor puppy! Three years ago, Hunter the Freaky Squeaky Rescue Dog sneak-ate half a pan of brownies, and the ensuing hour was totally nuts (frantic call to the cow vet, since the regular vet was closed at 11 pm on Sunday + dosage check + H2O2 + freezing walk in the yard waiting for dog to vomit + removing dog back to the house + removing dog vomit from yard).
Ohmygod that’s scary
Oh no! Glad pupper (and L’Heure Bleue) are okay!
Awww poor puppy – and frantic poor puppy owner! G
The puppy is OK now, right?
Sidney seems to be doing ok but we are gonna keep an eye on her for the next couple days though. She is 11 months old and we thought that the trying to eat non edible things was a thing of the past. Got the dog food and went to Malley’s Chocolates afterwards. I finished decanting to two bottles of vintage L’heure Bleue extrait and they did take up both of the 10ml decants.
Oh my goodness, poor puppy!
Even more amazing than perfume was that last night my husband and I watched a baby fox and its mother frolic (yup! they were frolicking!!) in the branches of the Oak tree that is just outside the doors to our back deck. The baby was the size of a small cat, but with a huge fluffy tale. The mother was so funny and inquisitive. She stool on the railing of our deck and spun the bird feeder about. . . . Anyway, it was deeply cool.
In other news, far more relevant–NSTer Nancyleandros and her cousin came by yesterday for brunch and perfume. They’d been to the Aftel Museum the day before. By the time they left, my coffee table was a solid sea of perfume bottles and decants. Cousin was not a perfumista, but considering she left with samples of Dzongkha, Timbuktu, and Encre Noir, looked to me like she was seriously contemplating a quick nip down the rabbit hole.
And finally, I am testing Flash Back in New York. Once the inescapable cumin oh-hell-why-did-I-apply-this-without-first-testing-on-paper opening dies down, the scent reminds me of And The World Is Yours–similar in scent profile and feel (at least to me).
Cool! Did you get good photos??
No. The light was very low AND I didn’t want to miss the show by running to grab my phone. Your fox pic is my aspiration!
Foxes are magical. I still think of one who appeared alongside the road to bid me good journey on a misty morning around 5 am when I was starting a long drive into a new stage of my life. Little benedictory spirits!
What a wonderful sight. Pity the turkey wasn’t there for them. We don’t have foxes but I have seen them in the wild in Australia, the only time I have seen them.
Ohhhhh my goodness that sounds ADORABLE.
Everything about this post sounds awesome!
Awwwwww! That interlude with the mama fox and her kit sounds so sweet! I am always struck by how small foxes appear whenever I have seen them. ?
Wow! That must have been so amazing. I think its a pretty rare event to see them.
We found out last week that The CEO did not, after all, get that job in Hawai’i. We’re disappointed. And relieved. And making plans to redo some things in the house, which includes some truly savage and ruthless decluttering (today I have gone through four bookcases and made each book earn its way back to the shelves).
Memoir Woman. Not sure it was a great choice, as I’m already feeling unsettled.
Sounds like Marie Kondo would be proud of your efforts!
How are you getting on with your mother’s stash of ornaments etc.? Sorry about the job.
Sorry to hear that Mals. But hope that the results of your Kondo-ing make you feel better in the end.
Sorry about the job 🙁 but I’m glad that also involves relief!
Best of luck with the decluttering! ?
Glad at least part of it is relief!
I KonMaried my socks and underwear. Now all looks great and is easy to find
Thank you so much for the kind messages yesterday, I really appreciate it. Today I gave myself a treat and took some aspirin with codeine. So good to get some pain relief, although my stomach can only handle it a couple of times a week. Taking advantage of the few hours of respite to get my last preparations in for the trip done before it wears off. I was even able to put some perfume on today, Amouage Beloved.
Hope you feel better soon. My husband is dealing with frozen shoulder too (residue of his broken arm) but at least is not feeling pain. It’s just… frozen. Last week he got his first cortisone shot, we are hoping that will help loosen it up. As usual (he is an eternal pessimist) he declared immediately that the cortisone is ‘doing nothing’ while also demonstrating that he can lift his arm up significantly further than before… lol
LOL. 🙂 I will be thrilled once I get past the intense pain stage… apparently once it’s frozen it will stop hurting. I keep doing the PT exercises but there is no lasting effect, my only hope is it will better retain mobility.
Yes…don’t overdo it but keep them moving!
You smell beautiful.
Not sure if it’s similar but I’ve had severe issues in the past due to a pinched nerve in my neck. It felt like it was coming back last week with sharp searing, stabbing pain in my shoulder bland general ache. I’ve been doing the exercises they taught me and it feels so much better. It’s still there but just a twinge and soreness. It is stress related for me. Maybe PT would help you?
I am doing the PT exercises, hurts like hell and doesn’t have any lasting effects, but hopefully it will help in the long run.
Glad you have some relief from the pain today. Hope the Beloved helps.
I did, and it was so nice to enjoy some perfume today.
Feel better soon!
Oh gosh, feel better soon!
Feel better soon!
Safe travels on your upcoming trip! I hope that you are feeling better soon.
LDDM because i am dreaming of heat and summer…
Twins! I’m wearing it because I’m making travel arrangements for Taos 🙂
It’s snowing a little bit here and the roads are icy from rain that froze overnight. It’s a good day for vanilla. I’m in Reminiscence Vanille.
The bad weather hasn’t stopped the wild turkeys in my back yard. I don’t see them often, but they were there today and making all kinds of turkey sounds.
The wild turkeys used to roost in the trees of my parent’s back yard a few years ago but not after that. We keep wondering where they’ve gone ?
A very nice vanilla this is
SOTD = Bruno Fazzolari Ummagumma
W00t. I should wear this more often. I am doing a personal challenge for February which I am calling the Red Package Challenge: wear a perfume that has red packaging. My definition of packaging is the box, the bottle and/or the label. This means all my Chanels don’t qualify except for my L’eau Red. Frederic Malle is in, as is Bruno Fazzolari except Fontevraud. I am even counting decants / attars in bottles with red, including the jewel that sits atop the dabbers. If I am desperate, for partial credit, I will wear a perfume where one of the notes is typically red (I know, kind of wimpy but my challenge, my rules ???).
Yes, you should wear Ummagumma more often! ?? I’ll be watching Red February with interest. Can you go an entire month without a Chanel…? Is there a reward for success? Like a new Red bottle to add to your collection…?
I can wear No.5 L’eau because red bottle. I better find a spine stiffener but if not, No.19 still qualifies because it has rose and it is likely red that was used for my bottle ???
Do you keep your perfume boxes/ packaging?
I do for most of them!
SOTD = Cardamusc, the Hermessence oil I’ve sampled with great determination several times now, mainly in the disbelief that I actually don’t like it. The Hermes SA who doled out a second vial said she only liked it layered under a few sprays of earlier Hermessences. I have to agree Ambre Narguile does go deep when combined with Cardamusc. But none of it is interesting enough for a third vial.
Oh i didn’t know they also have samples of this
OMG! There are samples of this?? I need to get to an Hermes that has these samples. (But…I’d only want the sample to try to convince myself that I DON’T want it.)
I LOVED it by itself and also under Ambre Narguile.
The Hermes gal at my local Bloomies made the samples for me from the tester in store. Not “official samples” which I agree, seem not to exist.
I’m glad you love it. I thought I would too, since I adore a good musk and truly love cardamom in just about any form. Surprisingly, Musc Pallida worked better on me. And with Myrrhe Eglantine over it, it’s particularly gorgeous.
Well that was nice of her. Sorry it doesn’t work for you! (But, money saved, right?)
Hello Y’all….
Been away a few days focusing on work and my teenagers…. OY VEY
Wearing my January Luxury Scent Box pick: Penhaligon’s Orange Blossom Edt. I like it, don’t love it, will happily use it up over time and move right along! 🙂
Bless you over and over for dealing with teenagers! ?? Not sure how my parents did it!?
I am in l’ambre des merveilles. I made the mistake of layering this with Virgile which has been playing nicely with many things. Nope. I think I am ready to let l’ambre go
Sorry, I hate layering mistakes!
Fragonard “F!” – a fairly anaemic fresh masculine thing which will offend no-one. Supposed notes are juniper, guaiac wood and leather.
Today I am doing the monthly invoicing, which is dragging more than usual, but this is literally what pays the bills so I gotta press on.
I have a bottle of F de Fragonard, from the seventies, I think. I wonder if it’s the same? It smells very old school masculine, aftershavey to me.
I suspect a reformulation of the same juice – mine is a mini from 2016. I can’t imagine anything from the 70s being this discreet. :^)
Still dealing with this whatever-it-is virus that I have picked up. I don’t feel terribly sick, just really tired and weak. I made it through half a day at work before I came back home. It could be much worse–I can eat, and I have my appetite, and I can still smell, so the food isn’t tasteless. I just have no patience with being sick. I want to be well, and I want to be well right now!
I’m sorry 🙁 feel better soon!
Bleah. Those bugs that leave you feeling “Meh” are sometimes worse.
Yeah, I hate being just a little bit sick. I feel too sick to be at work all day but too healthy to stay in bed.
I hear you – I want to be well right now too!
Another beautiful, sunny, almost-spring like day here. Massive piles of salt are littering the streets and sidewalks, though. Yuk. Hopefully some of this mild weather will make its way to the folks who are really winter-weary!
SOTD = back in CK Euphoria. I am enjoying it quite a bit. Too bad I don’t have a pomegranate emoji.
I think it got to 47 today here, but it’s raining and lots of fog. Overnight we go back to the 20s and stay there, with the dreaded wintery mix by Wednesday. Lol, I’m such a weather nerd!
Have you tried any of the Euphoria flankers?
Ick on your impending wintry mix! Maybe it won’t happen?
I sniffed a couple of the Euphoria flankers that were more floral focused at ULTA when they came out, and I was not impressed. I haven’t seen the Deep Euphoria at all.
I sometimes see it, but never with a tester.
Gray and rainy and unseasonably warm here today, a 70F temperature change in 4 days. Blech.
Thanks to the lovely generosity of the freebie meet, I’m wearing Chergui today. This is a perfume which, on paper, should definitely work for me, but I’ve tried it several times over the last 17 years and it just hasn’t. However, I unwrapped my latest try today (because it’s been several years since I’ve tried Chergui, at least) and what do you know, it smells wonderful! On my skin! I’m thrilled, it smells cosy but sexy which is fine with me. I don’t know why but I just had a feeling that things might be different this time and I will be looking for a full bottle now. Perfume is an amazing hobby!
What fun — good thing you kept at it!
I can’t even remember what I wore to work, but post-shower (And glorious 60-degree-weather walk!) I’m in Perris Monte Carlo Tubereuse Absolue. It’s chewy and green, unsweet and glamorous. I remember this sample as just “nice”, but tonight it feels perfect.
Wearing a few drops of Prada Oeillet from a mini. I may have to decant this into a sprayer.
I just love carnations and hope to find some heavily scented ones this year when the garden shop opens. The sign says opening on March, so there is hope.
Having a salad for supper which has some of my hubby’s grape tomatoes that he grew in the summer (he offiicially won the tomato wars we had going on, lol). They have ripened up slowly in the garage since about September?
Wow, really did not know you could keep them that long!
We just left them on their vines in a shallow box lined with newspaper and also loosely covered with additional newspaper. They were perfect.
Thank you! I have been told you can keep tomatoes for a long time wrapped in newspaper but have never tried it. We have a very chilly garage so I should give it a shot!