It's Heritage Treasures Day in the UK, and we're marking the occasion with our usual open thread poll. Talk about anything you like — the fragrance you’re wearing today, the fragrance you consider to be an important part of our collective cultural heritage, whatever.
Or, ask a question about fragrance, then see if anyone else has asked a question that you can answer…
Note: top image is Yorkshire Dales [cropped] by lee roberts at flickr; some rights reserved.
Beautiful landscape on that pictures. The clouds look rather mesmerizing.
I’m wearing Histoires de Parfums 1725 today. The weather is rather sad so I felt like wearing something soft and comforting to to along with my mood.
I hope you got comfort from the perfume!
Yes, Thank you.
Yes, the picture makes me want to go to Yorkshire! Hope you are feeling better.
It’s a beautiful day here!
I am in Shalimar body powder and missing the perfume this morning.. it should be part of collective cultural heritage!
Making a leek/mushroom frittata this morning and sipping chai tea..
I just wanted to give a big thank you to all the book recommendations I have gotten here, I loved Silk (thanks Kanuka) and now back to Mary Renault thanks to OaklandF.
Glad you enjoyed it. I hope you get more shalimar soon
Your frittata sounds delicious!
Ten hours of sleep and the ability to fit in a size small dress!
Yes!
Hair day, something cozy for a chilly day. Am loving JM vetiver and golden vanilla. Had my nose down in my sweater the other day inhaling.
Yay for the dress size! And for the sleep. My Fitbit registered almost 9 hours of actual sleep time. It’s amazing what that can do for one’s mood.
Wish I’d seen this yesterday as I walked by a Jo Malone store. That scent sounds delicious. I would have detoured.
You can always walk that way again!
Apsara, what is your avatar? It looks like it might be a crocheted elephant.
It’s a small Han carved wood elephant that has Masai beadwork across the face and ears. I love him.
Ahh, thank you! The texture of the beads must be what my brain interpreted as crochet stitching.
Mmm the new JM sounds very nice
It was a blind buy. It starts out fresh with grapefruit and ends warm and not sweet. I was afraid the vanilla would be headache inducing cloying. It’s anything but.
Wow, I wasn’t interested until I read your description. Now I’ll make sure to sample it!
Visited the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition in the Louvre. I really like his drawings and sketchbooks, but to be honest I am not a fan of is painting style.
And off course some perfume sniffing was done.
But I ended up buying something familiar: a bottle of Le Cri (in Jovoy). ☺️
Btw soo many many brand shops here in one street (neighbourhood)…from Le Labo and Byredo to Penhaligon’s and Marly,….
It may sound weird, but somehow never feel the urge to enter to those kind of shops. ?
Jovoy is overwhelming! I’ve visited with pre-planned purchases in mind, otherwise I’d be reduced to a helpless wreck.
I realise I have a similar feeling to you about all the individual stores. With limited time, I need breadth rather than depth
Jovoy in London are very generous with free samples, I haven’t been to the one in Paris tho.
The individual stores tend to be more willing to provide samples.
Wow, I’m early in the chain of comments today. Sitting here with my second cup of coffee and my big tuxedo cat Jet beside me threatening to type some random keys himself. My SOTD is Memo Marfa, courtesy of a generous NST-er. No big plans for today except to visit Mom. A big storm blew through here last night with tons of wind, but the thunder and rain were not as bad as predicted. It’s dropped the temperatures a lot though from yesterday. I kind of like that, since it gives me more of a chance to wear some winter sweaters for a change! (I was just in a short-sleeved t-shirt all weekend.)
I think it is colder in Texas than in NJ – we’re in the mid-60s ? which is so wrong this time of year. The cherry blossoms will get confused again and bloom later this month.
Thank goodness all that winds didn’t do any damage, at least to my knowledge! There was some real worried guests at my work last night. I am loving this beautiful day!
I love Marfa! It’s first on my “buy perfume once I’ve actually used some up” list. I hope you have a warm and relaxing weekend.
Thank you. Yes, about Marfa–the more I wear it, the more I like it! You won’t be disappointed.
Warm out here today, so it should be a good day to go for a walk, or go to a public garden if we get that ambitious.
An important cultural heritage fragrance product from Eurasia is attar of roses.
We didn’t get ambitious, but I walked around the yard in the late afternoon. The irises are still alive. I’m still getting over “heirloom” irises including those that were introduced in the 1990s. The 1990s doesn’t seem that long ago to me.
Some of the snowdrops are very confused and coming up now. I’m not too concerned about them, given how hardy they are.
I took out the dead plants that I’d brought inside that had succumbed to not getting much light and getting watered rather erratically. This included the rosemary and a couple of the big geraniums. It gives me more room on the far reaches of the plant stands, and I’ll get more geraniums in the spring.
I’ve got some herbs to pull up in the container garden that are well and truly kaput. Maybe that will get done tomorrow.
I have more of cutting down dead stalks of some herbs and flowers to do outside. I cut off the dead stalks from some bee balm (Monarda). There’s a lot more cleanup I can do out there.
Evening fragrance on Saturday: Tauer Amber Flash. Got a Play-Doh note from that, too.
Bedtime scent: Serge Lutens Fleurs d’Oranger. I found it pretty. I was getting orange blossom and other florals, and then I conked out. I don’t think I got a note of cumin from it. I believe I would recognize something approximate to the cumin used in food.
I hear they have really toned down the cumin in the newer versions of FdO.
That’s what some of the perfume reviews of it said, yes.
Sunday morning scent: Parfum d’Empire Ambre Russe. This one is really nice. Thank you to the generous folks who have sent me Parfum d’Empire samples! I’m *not* getting a Play-Doh note from this one. (My perception of Iso E Super?) It’s just rich amber-y deliciousness to me.
I wore this yesterday too! I agree with your assessment that it’s rich ambery deliciousness.
Very warm here today! We might reach 68 degrees today and tomorrow! ?. No complaints at all! ?
Wearing Jacomo Silences to match the warm, gorgeous day outside running errands and taking a long walk in the park.
Happy weekend!
And I just ranted about it being too warm ?. Will your nieces be able to take some fresh air outside today?
You know that I love warm/hot weather a lot! ?.
My nieces were already out today for a half hour. They seemed to like it, because according to my sister they were sleeping all the time! ?
I will see them again tonight.
I’m glad you’re getting the time to enjoy your new nieces.
And I’m glad you enjoyed the warm temperatures.
Thank you, Neyronrose! It is so wonderful to have my nieces already in the family. ?.
I hope you also enjoyed the warm temperatures. It was really nice here in NY.
Enjoy your spring-like temperatures! Super jealous?
We are about to bundle up to walk to the grocery store; the snow just started again!
Thank you! One more day and we will be back to cold temps. I hope you have a break from the snow soon! ?
Enjoy your 68 degrees! I wouldn’t be complaining with that temp either!
Also, big congrats on your nieces!!??
Thanks, Mtg! ?
Crazy warm weather twins! I actually turned the heat off in the house today, and will probably kick off the blankets in bed tonight.
I opened the windows for many hours in the afternoon. It was a wonderful day!
SOTD = planning to wear Aftelier Vanilla Smoke
… to continue Indie Week and to make up for wearing niche yesterday.
My nephew is home from college and will go back next Sunday. In the meantime, I have commandeered his time (with generous pay) to help me do spring cleaning which should have been done last year ?. Anyway, this morning, on a whim, I looked up bulk item recycling for my township and they were open! I have two shoe racks that I had been wanting to get rid of for the past 4 months but they were too bulky for me to transport on my own. I will have quite a few more things to drop off next Saturday (hope the weather cooperates!) but I’m just pleased I know how to get there and now have some familiarity with the process.
In other news, does anyone know how to rehabilitate orchid plants? The flowers have all died off and I’m wondering if I should just throw out the plants or continue to water them and wait for the flowers to come out when they want to?
Depends on what kind of orchid it is, but most of them will continue to live if they get bright filtered light, a little bit of air movement, and a dunk-drain-and-dry-out watering regimen. I’m not saying they’ll rebloom much though – I had one that rebloomed about every 5 to 8 years. Finally got tired of it and put it in the compost bin.
My mother would prune them, similarly to how you prune roses.
All the instructions are there, waiting for you, on the Internet!
It’s been a while since I last tested something from Mandy Aftel…
What Sheri G. said about the orchids. I’ve never tried to grow them, but Longwood Gardens has a huge collection of them. There they just bring out the ones that are blooming. My impression is that most orchids will bloom once a year if they’re perfectly happy with the conditions they’re in. The flowers can last for some time on some species and cultivars. As long as the leaves are green, the orchid is alive. Just most of the year it won’t be actively flowering.
I used to keep quite a few Phalaenopsis orchids (aka moth orchids) back in the early 2000’s. I even had some of them bloom multiple times. What I learned: after the plant is done blooming, cut off the flower spike to about 1 inch above the soil. Do NOT overwater your orchids!!! At this time of year, they seem to need a lot less water than later on. Don’t let your orchids catch a cold… keep them away from drafts. If the leaves are still green and rigid, you are doing something right.
Good luck! ???
Now is when you should fertilize , all grocery stores pretty sell it in the plant area. Spritz with a water sprayer one to two times a week as they love humidity and wither in our drier winter house temps. You can get new blooms soon depending on the variety. Good bright indirect light is your best spot. They can be quite unfussy.
What everyone else said, though I don’t aggressively prune (just snip the ends). Be super careful not to overwater. If you don’t overwater, they will re bloom in my experience. Some people use the ice cube method for watering if they have a hard time doing little though I don’t like the cold water.
L’Artisan Nuit de Tuberose…my first blind buy of 2020 and I love it. It reminds me of my first trip to Canada, back in the 1970s. Plane trips were a bit longer back then and we had to stop first in Fiji, then Hawaii ( then LA) but it is the moment of stepping out of the plane at Nadi airport that this perfume captures so wonderfully. It was deep night time and my first experience of tropical heat and smells, and how incredible that experience was…the humidity, the heavy sweet smell of flowers and decaying fruit…for me it was like a jungle experience and like nothing I had ever known. Now, not only do I get a reminder of that night standing in the doorway of the plane (DC10, first overseas trip) but also a hint of Feu d’Issey, one of my all time favourites.
I remember a midnight refuelling stop in Hawai’i 30 years ago. I don’t recall the airport smelling so exotic, but I do remember warmth of the night. Having grown up in southern New Zealand, darkness and warmth felt unnatural
Lovely memory, and I think Nuit de Tuberose is great too.
The only refueling stop I’ve ever had was in Saskatoon! Yours sounds much more pleasant.
Saskatoon sounds really good to me. One of the most convuluted cheap flights I made took me from Glasgow to London to Houston to Denver to LA to Hawaii to Tahiti to NZ …the joys of student travel…save $300 and take forever.
I really want to smell this perfume now. I love your descriptions.
I really like it when there are no airbridges and you get hit by the air when the aeroplane door opens…and then you walk down the stairs and onto the tarmac. Air bridges kind of kill the romance of travel.
Me too lilyjo! Now I am very curious.
It reminds me of my first arrival in Hawaii but i’d never have recalled that sensation without Kanuka’s memory.
What a great scent memory. I remember the wall of heat and humidity hitting me at 3am landing in Barbados, but no tropical flowers. Nuit de Tubéreuse though did make my eyes roll back in my head the first time I smelled it.
Hanging out this morning in L’Ambre des Merveilles for our usual crossword puzzle dueling and coffee drinking. It rained like the dickens last night, but right now the sun is trying to peek out a bit. The rest of the day will be full of laundry and (if I can get myself psyched up enough) finishing painting the little home office. Stupid high ceilings – I mean, I love them and the light they let in and all, but ladders are scary!
Ladders are scary! Stay safe! What color is your office going to be when it’s done?
It’s SW Balanced Beige, and in that room it’s a lovely, soft mushroom-y taupe that doesn’t skew too pink or too yellow – it’s a very neutral greige, and just the right balance between light and not-so-light. It reads completely differently in the bedroom, though – in there it’s too dark, and a bit too grey. When I finish the office, I’m going to try Sandbar in the bedroom – on the sample chip it’s just a bit lighter and a bit more tan than grey. Fingers crossed.
The Yorkshire Dales! I read all of James Herriot’s books and the Dales seemed like a wild and wonderful place to live. One of these days I will have to visit the north of England. I’ve only ever been to London.
Today I’m wearing African Leather, and trying to figure out how to take a selfie that will be acceptable for an Indian visa. The trip is coming up in March.
I’m not very good at selfies. Hope you have better luck than I do!
I loved James Herriot too.
Happy weekend all! I’m perfuming my Sunday morning housework with a dab of Memo’s Winter Palace.
Mmm… waft some of it here. ?
Olfactive Studios Flash Back from the splitmeet. Love this one.
Y’all have a good Saturday!
Hello all! How you have a great weekend planned.
I’m in Cedre Sambac, which might now be one of my favorite Hermessences. I love it start to finish, and love the way it clings to my clothing.
It’s sunny but chilly here in Houston and I’m enjoying driving with my windows down. ?
Must not be too chilly if you can drive with the windows down.? I just left Phoenix this morning and had to laugh how the weather lady was warning it was going to be a bit chilly there today. The predicted high is 62.?
I received a,sample pack of incense scents, so i tested Musc Encensé and bm03. I liked the Biehl much better… Now wearing Bottega Veneta and making plans for our holidays.
You smell fabulous!
A very good night’s sleep, other than about 20 minutes or so of wake time around 4 am. Got up, made coffee, headed down to the basement and empty laundry room a bit after 9 am. Ended up doing three loads. So very satisfying.
Since it’s so warm, I decided to wear SSS Jour Ensolleille. So happy it’s back. We are heading out to see a Bong Joon Ho movie this evening (Mother) and a very unfancy dinner after at a nearby diner.
I agree, there is something so satisfying about doing laundry. Wonder what it is about 3 and 4 am? That is my insomnia time too, if and when I have it.
But the problem with laundry is that it never ends!
Yep, yep, yep. I had it almost gone yesterday, and today I have another mountain of laundry.
You smell wonderful, and I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts on Mother. It’s been sitting on my Amazon Prime streaming movie list for a while.
Good movie. Quite fascinating. Slow but tense. I don’t really know how he does it, but his movies do have a certain tension in their slowness….
I’m volunteering at a convention my partner helps run this weekend and wearing 1000 again— it’s quickly becoming one of my go-to “perfume-y” scents, I think.
Ooh, 1000 is a classic – you smell elegant.
Wearing a couple sprays of Wrappings today since it’s weather appropriate.
It’s going to be a weekend of cooking yummy food. Beef and barley soup for dinners and maybe white chicken chili for lunches. Stay warm everyone!
I love white chicken chili! I haven’t made it yet this season, have to remedy that soon.
Currently in Eau de lavender patch, left over from my flight home from Phoenix this morning. My daughter and I are back from a whirlwind three night stay with my aunt and uncle. We crammed a lot of sightseeing in, but the highlight was yesterday’s drive out into the mountains on the Apache trail past canyon lake. Sooo beautiful, we were just in awe the whole time. I took so many pictures, but my phone just doesn’t do it justice. I’m already planning what I’d like to do on my next trip.? The flight home was a bit bumpy and my daughter is not a fan of flying in the first place but she was a trooper, one of my favorite traveling companions. Coming with was her birthday gift to me.
I will probably switch to Tam Dao later for birthday pizza out.
That sounds amazing. I’m glad ypu got so much time with your daughter, aunt and uncle. I love Arizona!
What a wonderful experience. I would love to travel through America …one day, maybe
Had a lazy morning after not being able to sleep from 6ish to 7 and then sleeping later than usual until 9:45. Now showered and in Cuir Ottoman because someone here wore it this week. Heading out to see Uncut Gems at our local indie theater and will grab dinner out afterwards. Happy weekend all!
One of my best friends at work is extremely allergic to citrus scents, so I’m saving them all for weekends. Today I’m wearing Las Flores by Provision Scents.
For the last 8 years, the church near my house has played “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” on their bells every hour. Every day of the year. Since the new year, they’ve been playing a different song every day. Today’s song is “Ode to Joy”. I’m thrilled by the change!
I like Provision Scents – they deserve to be better known
Wow, 8 years! I guess that might be familiar & comforting but I’d be thrilled by the change too.
I started my day in Tauerville Tuberose Flash. We had a cooking lesson at the Fairmont Pittsburgh this afternoon (my husband won a silent auction for the lesson + one night of hotel), so we are celebrating our anniversary several months late. On our actual anniversary we were enjoying a very cold high school football game. I put the Vanilla Flash rollerball in my overnight bag so I’m wearing that to dinner.
Wow that sounds so nice! Enjoy. I just got out my Flashes for the winter.
Does the Fairmont still offer Le Labo Rose 31 toiletries?
They do still have Rose 31 toiletries!
No personal scent but I’m burning my Frazier Fir candle. So question?
Is anyone else’s LUSH Yog Nog shower gel curdled/separating? Mine has a weird orange tannish clear liquid at the top and the bottom thicker part looks like chunky sour milk. It won’t shake back together.
It smells fine, it just looks awful. I don’t want to take it back because at this point it’s not like they can replace my bottle. So wondering if I got a bad batch or if others have experienced this too?
I have not experienced that with Yog Nog, but I did have another Lush shower gel that separated and wouldn’t shake back together, and I went ahead and used it anyway.
Thanks Robin. I think it’s just visual, like I said it smells fine. But I’ll be using it up quickly.
I went with Geisha Noire for a non stop rain day. I can still smell it 12 hours later.
That’s one of my favorites, maybe top ten. You smell fantastic today!
Super busy day but I chose my perfume based on today’s photo: 4160 Tuesdays Clouds.
Sounds like a perfect match!
SOTD was Mem, earlier I did my side by side comparison of OJ woman and OJ Elixir.
I will do the layering version and report back tomorrow.
Happy weekend.
I stopped into a shop selling all British items today, where I haven’t been for over a decade, and had a blast! Such beautiful tea sets, crystal, and china. Lots of fancy teas and jams, crackers and biscuits. Many lovely cards and tea towels. Lots of fragrant items such as Yardley soaps and lotions, Floris, Penhaligon’s, and more. I tried on sprays of Equestrius and Blenheim Bouquet. Both nice; I prefer the former. I bought some adorable kitten stuffed door stoppers. They are hard to describe, but maybe I can add a picture later. (The shop is British Isles in Rice Village, if you’re in Houston.)
I’ve been in that store, too! It’s been a long time, but I remember the selection of teas being extraordinary. Not that I need any more tea….but maybe we can drop by there tomorrow if we have time!
Great idea!
Just come back to Germany from a few weeks in the UK, where I‘ve been helping my 90+ mum get back on her feet after a serious operation.
I participated in a split of Phul-Nana extrait before going and took the decant over … oh-oh … I‘m contemplating going part time to be able to take more care of mum in the near future … this was /not/ the time to fall in love with a Grossmith extrait;)
Good luck figuring out how to help your mum. We were just talking about my husbands parents last night and what kind of care they may need in the near future. It is a challenging time. She is lucky to have you.
Thank you, MMKinPA! It works both ways, I‘m definitely lucky to have her. All the best with your in-laws‘ care.
P.S. to meander round to the heritage topic: Mum reckoned that my grandmother used to wear Phul-Nana (in the 1930s??) and that she got it from… drum roll… Woolworths!
Oh, that is funny!
Hello Nst! I’m back at my house after 5 weeks away. It’s been a jam packed 5 weeks with medical drama and emergency rooms and work drama and holidays and colds and surgeries and even a trip to Disney. The time was equally lucky and too much stress, and everyone has survived well, and I’m thankful for the luck with it all. I’ve had a bad bout of bronchitis so I haven’t worn perfume much in a month. I put on Rose 31 last night which is my recent obsession. It’s even better than I remember! A month off of perfume makes it all smell even better. Hope you all are well!
Wow, that sounds like a crazy 5 weeks. I hope the next 5 weeks are 100% uneventful in the best, most peaceful way.
It sounds tough all you have been going thru lately. Hope everything starts getting better for you soon!
Good grief, I hope things let up for you from here on out! You smell lovely in Rose 31.
Oy vey! That is exhausting just reading about it. It must have been overwhelming to be in the thick of it all. Fingers crossed for a nice stretch of boring and uneventful! ?
Busted open my travel set of Chanel no 5 yesterday night. I had gotten the edp version but it smells a little different than the full bottle that I purchased 5 years ago. I don’t know yet if that’s a good thing or not because it still smells like no 5 but yet doesn’t. Just lounging around the house wearing Shalimar Ode a la Vanille right now.
Sounds like a great Sunday. I hope you can enjoy your new No 5 and that it’s not too different from what you’re used to. ?
Hey guys, been a little under the weather, but I’m back to stupid work today. We had lots of wintery mix yesterday. High five to the salt truck guys! I’m wearing Tam Dao today courtesy of Madtowngirl. First time smelling it, and not at all what I expected. I like it! I was afraid I wouldn’t because I’m sensitive to sandalwood. Cazaubon, if I recall, you have smelled Wonder Bouquet? I remember that I really liked the opening, but can’t remember the dry down. Any imput is appreciated.
Hope you cheer up soon, Lillyjo!
I am glad to hear that the sandalwood in Tam Dao is not so prominent. I have never smelled it before fearing that the sandalwood would be too much for me. I will definitely give it a try soon.
I definitely smell the sandalwood, but it seems really blended. This is the edt version, and I only put some on my wrists, not up by my face.
Tam Dao doesn’t read as sandalwood to me for either concentration. It is woody, though. So the sandalwood averse should check it out anyway, IMO.
You’re brave Lillyjo to go back to work while you’re not 100%. I’ve liked Tam Dao when I tried it, I think it was the EDP but then, I enjoy sandalwood usually.
I’m being totally lazy this afternoon after grading all morning. My cat is on my lap and I am about to take a nap. My scent of the day is Vaporocindro by January Scent Project. I love the floral/ wood/ pepper notes that really bloom from my skin.
Very lazy day here too! Hope you had a good nap.
G O T E X A N S ! ! ! Wooooo hooooo!!!
Okay, now that I’ve taken care of important business, I’m in FM Vetiver Extraordinaire. I’m about finished with this little 3ml sample, and I’m still not sure I like it enough to get a full bottle of it. It’s just not a love. Now Eau Rose, that’s a completely different situation. ❤️❤️?❤️?❤️
I know it’s not baseball season, so is it football your team is winning at?
Regardless GOTEXANS!
Yes, football. They started off rocking it, then completely lost their composure. We shall see!
I hope your week goes well, and get back to 100% very soon. ?
Sorry it turned out badly.
More weirdly warm, if not outright record breaking warm, weather for me. The heat in the house was turned off yesterday at lunchtime, and it’s still off. Maybe we might need it in the wee hours tonight… not sure. ??
SOTD = FM Carnal Flower, from the sample stash and Hajusuuri. It’s a much better fit for weather & mood than yesterday’s pick, which was Spadaro Nero Sole. That one is much more a cool to cold weather scent for me.
You smell lovely, Jalapeno.
Thank you Aurora!
I should wear mine and I also now have that special bottle.
A “special bottle”? Ooooh, share details, please! Is it a souvenir from one of your trips?
I went to the lake today, it’s a five minute walk from where I live and I should go more often. Saw all kinds ducks, two swans, and three wild geese which were very tame, I gave them wholemeal seeded bread, they seemed to enjoy it. I’ve been wearing vintage Diva EDP, still going strong with its honeyed drydown.
That sounds like a wonderful Sunday.
Posting a second time to share this link that fits in with this Weekend’s topic perfectly:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200108-why-preserving-certain-scents-is-important
Great article. I don’t know if any perfumery has captured the smell of (name a place) accurately yet, despite all the scientific tools and research available!
I love the concept of intangible heritage, so glad some people care about scent. Old books smell so good.
Lovely, I will post a blurb from that tomorrow for everyone who didn’t see this!
That was a thought-provoking article. I’ve got plenty of old books.
Some are in better shape than others. The majority of what I have are from the 1930s, with some from the 1920s. Some are reprints of older books yet, like Dean Hole’s book about roses. That’s the age of the content, though, not the age of the physical book. And I sure wish I could find some of the dianthus (carnations, pinks, Sweet Williams) that were popular in the 1910s and 1920s and listed as highly scented in books of the time. But I digress.
Someone interested in smells said that when the wood pulp fibers of books (lignin?) break down, it makes something of a vanilla scent. I can see saving some scents of old leather, too. Saving old varieties of mold sounds like lung infections waiting to happen, but that’s not a project that I’m involved in.