It's Hump Day, and 50 days until the end of winter. Birthdays: Edward Abbey, Anton Chekhov, Thomas Paine, Oprah Winfrey. What fragrance are you wearing?
I’m 50 days ahead of schedule, in L’Artisan Parfumeur Jacinthe des Bois.
Reminder: on 1/31, celebrate Backward Day by reversing your usual perfume choice or routine in some way.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2020, where I'll try to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is Pink Hyacinth [cropped, flipped & doubled] by Paul VanDerWerf at flickr; some rights reserved.
Winter Woods
Simplicity of choice is nice sometimes, isn’t it. You smell lovely, as always.
It really is.
Making my life easier.
Plus it really works with my chemistry. Got another compliment this morning.
Well, no points for me today as I’m in Indochine – a huge favorite in the wintertime. But yesterday (when I didn’t get to chime in because craziness abounded in my world), I claim points for wearing Balenciaga Le Dix when it’s not spring, or summer, or anything remotely like them. Cold rain here by the oodle, as Miss Fisher might say. Happy Friday Eve Eve, everybody.
You smell super great!!
I’m in Magie Noire. My little bottle is special to me because I bought it at the first estate sale I ever went to; I was so nervous about not knowing what to expect that I made my husband come with me. It’s funny to think about now because it’s my favorite weekend activity! This is still one of my best finds, though.
Nice find! What year do you think it’s from?
I don’t know enough to say, but it’s not the current one – it’s got the orange-and-maroon chevron.
I think that’s late seventies. I used to work with a lady who had that bottle. It smelled amazing!
That bottle sounds like it’s from the late 70’s, and an amazing find!
A fabulous find indeed! I really wish I were sitting beside you today.
Ohhhh, glorious! And what a fabulous find!
I will forever be envious of the time you found a bottle of vintage Malmaison at an estate sale (I think that was you). I’ve never been to one and don’t even know how I would find one!
Craigslist. But just like it’s rare to find a great perfume there, it’s also rare (at least where I live) to find an estate sale that is not overrun with people (prepare to line up) yet at the same time mostly filled with stuff that nobody wants. I did find some Chanel No.5 Parfum though – a teeny bit, but it was only a dollar, too.
Clever! Oof, that sounds annoying.
Yes Malmaison was probably objectively my best find, but I love MN more. Estatesales.net has a wonderful app! You can browse pics by location and, once you find one you like, it will give you directions! I tend not to go right when they open to avoid lines as Eschmeling mentions. I’m more of a casual dipper-inner.
Magie Noire = ?
Diptyque day 3. Today I’m in the work friendly Fleur de Peau, but enjoying an unexpected morning off due to overstaffing. Another gray one here, last night the weatherman said we haven’t seen the sun in a week, definitely feelin’ it.
In other perfume related news, I have some rapidly(!) evaporating decants, Aedes Palissandre d’Or among them. If anyone would like to use this one up before it’s gone, shoot me a line at pkwisdom in the yahooland and I will send it to you. I’ll throw in a handful or two of samples also.?
Decant is spoken for, thanks!?
No sun for me either! In the last 16 days I’ve seen it once.
Ugh, cloudy winter doldrums here too, multiple days of no sun. This morning at yoga, spoke to one person headed to AZ, and another to Hawaii. So frenvious!
Long gray stretches are the worst. Our winter has been unseasonably mild, but I’d trade a few degrees for some sun!
Backward in Timbuktu, which I was pretty sure I didn’t t like, but now I’m not so sure. It’s still a little soapy on me, but it’s not unpleasant!
It is soapy on me too, but I love it.
It took me a while to appreciate that one too. I enjoy it especially in the heat.
Neither backward nor forward in Une Fleur de Cassie. I feel intelligent, poised and elegant. Whether I actually am any of these things is of course open to question
I think you smell smart and elegant too, and I have a feeling you are those things. ?
I would be willing to bet you are all of these things.
I am sure you are exactly like your perfume is! It is a very beautiful and elegant scent. I haven’t reach for my decant in a while. Thanks for the reminder.
I get the impression you are all of those things! ?
Oh and you smell marvellous, of course.
Going through my samples today, I found a small vial of Shalimar and that is my SOTD along with the body powder.
I have a very cute outfit today, (all consignment) a RL blazer and a sort of riding hat, I look like I am ready to go horseback riding.
I missed out on the freebie meet, I can’t get myself together. I have some things that need a new home. If you want please call dibs leave your email below.
Looking Winter in the eye (I guess?) in L’eau d’Hiver. Yes, it’s soft and quiet, reminding me of walking through falling snow in an early-morning landscape. But I dislike winter and today I would prefer to be either cozy and warm (Casmir! l’Elephant!) or in one of the gorgeous-sounding spring florals that Robin has been sporting this week. Oh well, I’ll pick something else this evening…
I love L’eau D’hiver. I think of spring when I smell it.
That’s it: I should shift my mental model of LEdH from winter to spring.
Snowdrops and crocuses pushing up from the snow…
Yes!
SOTD Akro Dark until the scent of roast duck takes over the entire house at some point tonight.
Currently doing work admin and pretending I won’t have to go outside at some point in -14°C with wind chill to get potatoes.
You smell wonderful of course.
Good luck getting your potatoes in such a cold day! You smell great!
-14 degrees C?? No thanks!
Are you cooking a duck, or does that fragrance smell like roasting duck? Seriously?
Wafting lavander everywhere wearing a huge dose of Burberry Brit Rhythm for Her. I had completely forgotten about this bottle and saw it by accident this morning in the back of my cabinet. This is another forgotten friend that I like a lot and makes me feel pretty and comfy every time I wear it.
That’s a good one. It’s quite sexy to my nose.
It is really good! A shame that I don’t reach for it more often, but it is always a pleasure to revisit it!
I remember wearing a sample of that as a comfort scent a couple of years ago. I should bring my bottle out.
It is perfect for this season, especially on gray, cold, rainy days.
Jo Malone Wood Sage & Sea Salt
Robin, your SOTD sounds lovely! And with the picture, I’m counting those 50 days til Spring. Though it’s sunny out and not too freezing, so I’ll take that for now.
SOTD is PMC Ylang Ylang Nosy Be. Yum.
I sure love that one. You smell wonderful!
Thank you! It is really nice
I am surprised at how well this bottle has held up! It does smell like the picture
Have to try that PMC one of these days (ylang fan).
You’re the poster who plays uke, right? The other day on the Outlaw Country channel, I heard the duo Folk Uke for the 1st time, a song called Mother****** Got F’d Up, which I won’t link here as definitely NSFW. It’s on youtube if you haven’t heard it–cracked me up.
I do play uke, but haven’t heard of them, but will definitely look it up! Sounds like a hoot ?
Wonder if our area will get a nasty weather surprise in February?
Oh, I so hope not! ?
Adding my vote!
Oh, I love love love that! I’m getting it out to wear tomorrow!
SotD is Rahele.
And yay! My new cashmere sweater has just arrived.
Colour is a beautiful dark red, it has a v-neck, and it fits like a dream. ???
congrats on your purchase. I am sporting a new piece today, a RL gray blazer
You smell AND look classy ?
Grey is such a good colour for clothes. I have 4 grey woolen sweaters ? #dontask
(There used to be 5 but I just gave one away to my sister in law)
You made me think of something one of my students told me: She had 7 Rottweilers and when I asked why she had 7 she said, “Because we sold the other 5.”
?
But 7 rottweilers???!! Wow…. ?
That is the best answer!!!
Heh. This morning, as I pulled on a grey cashmere sweater, I realized this was my third grey cashmere sweater of the week, and I have at least one other one. Perhaps grey is the new black.
? yay for grey!
And now I have an itch to buy a cashmere grey sweater. Because of all the grey sweaters I have…not one is made from cashmere ?
But I need to save up first…just spent my clothing money on this bordeaux one)
I would be embarrassed to report the percentage of my clothing that is white, black or grey.
It sounds beautiful, enjoy!
Rahele! I have a decant of that one floating around. Now I wish I had worn it today as well.
I would not be surprised if it is one of my most worn fragrances in 2019!
And I have a way to find out
I keep a very simple scent log (a note pad on my phone) where i write down ALMOST everyday what my SotD is, but I still need to put it in Excel…
If I ever get this done I’ll let you guys know of course. ?
Start putting it into a spreadsheet right now! You can get a spreadsheet app for your phone. That way, if you do transcribe everything from your notepad to the spreadsheet later, at least you won’t have to do it for today forward!
Yup that’s smart
Thank you!
do you happen to know a good app?
I use Google Sheets
I love Rahele!
Oh, that sounds dreamy!
Drained the last dregs of my Envoyage’s Zelda. Enjoyed the decant, but do not need a more. So it goes. So it goes….
“So it goes” you made me think of Linda Elerbee, if I’m remembering correctly.
And I think of Vonnegut!
So do I.
Yep.
Read about you rat woes a bit late, so commenting here. Do not worry about having to explain that you DO in fact have a clean house. I once, very apologetically, told a friend (who has a beautiful, modern, spotless house- in part because she only has one child, a girl, as well as a full time housekeeper) about the waves of little brown mice that plague our house. She just smiled before taking me on a tour of her house, pointing out all the fringes on her Persian carpets that had been eaten by rats!
That is so kind of you to say! Who knew they ate wool as well? Ayeeeah! Anyway, at some point this too shall pass… but for now it is a battle. We live in a city, but in a part of the city where there are single family homes–mostly built between 1915-1935. And our 1927 house abuts a wooded area, near a stream. So we get all sorts of border animals, which is really nice–except the rats. (Shudders!)
That sounds like a great house btw, but rats argh.
I live in an old house in the city and we have mice now. Not as bad as rats, but still…unwanted guests!
(Years before there was a neighborhood cat who paid us visits more than a few times a week. She kept the mice away. But the neighbors and the cat moved…..)
We started using mouse traps now (with the classic piece of cheese in it ?) and every day we find a victim in it.
Good luck with your fight against the rats!
Yuck on the mice! I know what a dead mouse smells like, and I wish I did not have that particular knowledge.
Hey Oakland, how is your foot doing? Hope you’re on the mend. ?
Oh gosh. I waddled about in a boot for three days, icing it at night and taking ibuprophen, and it is all better now. I must have just strained something–thank goodness!!
Thank you for asking!
You are most welcome. I’m so happy to hear it wasn’t any worse that a strain. ?
I’m in YSL Parisienne thanks to an NST friend and really enjoying it. I don’t often do rose fragrances, but I don’t dislike them – so maybe half a point for me?
I am thinking of doing rose for Friday. I am not a rose person either.
I always think of Parisienne as a juicy blackberry scent. That note is so strong that I hardly get the rose.
And on me, I get mostly violet.
You smell lovely.
Today’s Francesca Bianchi is Under My Skin. I think it shares similarity with Bengale Rouge but is different enough that I’m contemplating my need for more. I think it has more florals than BR and is richly spiced with vanillic, leathery, smooth animalic base. Love!
I think they are different enough too.
Now I am not that skilled at picking out notes but Under my skin to my memory is a fat iris/orris + leather, while Bengale rouge is more about honeyed myrrh.
But I see some similarities. they are both very cuddly and awesome.
…..and now you made me look up and use my Bengale rouge sample…. ?
Yeah, they’re definitely different. The orris hadn’t shown up for me yet when I posted earlier but it definitely did in the mid development to dry down. Yep, I love them both. And nice to note that Under My Skin isn’t a sillage bomb like BR. At least as long as you don’t overspray.
Trying out Sensuous Nude.
How do you like?
Oh, that’s a good one. You smell great today!
I’ll be popping on and off the subway as I move about town today, so what better day than to wear Replica Beach Walk?
(I was in cheapest of the cheap yesterday in Old Spice Amber body spray. I guess that also fits CP because it was marketed to men…manly men…)
Testing a sample that came in my package yesterday from indie perfumer Annette Neuffer, A Sanctified Rose. Not surprisingly, it smells like rose and incense. Very nice. I tested her Narcissus Poeticus last night, also lovely.
Hey, interesting, a brand/perfumer I never heard of! I just checked out her website….woa those samples are not cheap, but I am intrigued.
I read she is a jazz musician as well. Woman of many talents!
Her perfumes are all natural extraits, so a bit pricey, but very lovely. And she gives 5 free samples with a bottle purchase.
I just peeked, too. Beautiful packaging!
A rose and incense scent sounds lovely!
Habit Rouge. Sort of fits the CP…
How’s your little dog doing today?
MM Untitled for my continuing incense week. Now cooking some chicken paprikash for winner.
Yum!!
SOTD = Hiram Green Voyage 2019
I’m continuing Indie Week as I have way more indies than I originally thought! So far in January, I’ve worn perfumes from 25 different indie houses!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B76ayvDhd0-/?igshid=1aycm0vbg3oas
In other news, just as I was about to strategize how to handle collecting what we paid out of pocket for mom’s care at the sub-acute rehab center (SARC), the accountant there called. Apparently, the SARC had submitted the claim for reimbursement but Medicare rejected it because the SARC delayed too long to submit the claim. Oy vey. Ultimately, the SARC has to give me back the money REGARDLESS of the Medicare claim status. The accountant asked for, and I will gladly provide, the appeals timeline to show that the delay is reasonable and appropriate considering the established appeals duration. Medicare had 60 days to appeal the decision and that 60 days ran out on January 12th and since we have not heard one peep about their appeal, we have to assume that won’t happen. In any case, an hour’s work is better than having to engage a lawyer!
Thanks to those who responded to my inquiry regarding what you would do if did not want to shake hands at church or anywhere. I think I’ll stick to a suggested made of doing an elbow bump and I will say “I prefer not to shake hands, how about a light elbow bump instead?”
That place is something else. I hope they do right by you soon.
I hope so!
Just figured I’d give a big raspberry to that SARC for you in case you haven’t done so already. PHBLLLLLT!
Raspberries is right!
Oops,I meant 15 different houses. Stupid fat fingers! ?
I’ve run into the refusal to shake hands from some Muslim male students and others, such as once when I was on a local TV show about how to address and define evil, with a lot of diverse clergy people. I find it extremely aggravating. Because of the sexism, even though it’s a sincerely held religious view. It makes me feel rejected and “dirty”. So, I would probably go ahead and shake in the church situation but then discreetly use hand sanitizer sheets.
That stinks! I was unaware of this.
This is also the case in the Orthodox Jewish community, because men are not supposed to touch any woman except their wife. I find that less offensive. Not sure what the Muslim rationale is though, possibly similar.
I think it’s totally acceptable in social environment (where I can choose not to communicate with them if I don’t like their behavior) or if they are temporary visiting on business from their country/countries. But if they chose to live and work here, the only way I would tolerate it in business environment is if they weren’t shaking hands at all, whether with men or women: I do not respect customs of those who doesn’t respect ours.
You smell lovely. I’m wearing HG Moon Bloom as my scent of the evening. Hope you get your money soon!
Had a doctor’s appointment this morning followed by a quick trip to the grocery store. Making corned beef for dinner tonight and about to eat some lunch. Just put on some Lonestar Memories for today.
You smell great Dawn! Hope the corned beef was delicious.
I am in How You Love by indie Jazmin Sarai. The grapefruit, cardamom and jasmine combo is doing wonders for my SAD. I’m addicted!
But sadly the 10 ml travel spray appears to be evaporating rapidly
I’m worried on splurging on a 50 ml bottle and having the same happen.
I think I should email the perfumer – they need to have better bottles for this Amazing beauty.
Bummer, and I think it’s a good idea to email her- she’d probably want to know. Is it a screw top atomizer? Maybe you can transfer it to a better atomizer?
I find screw top bottles do that. The crimped sprays I have have lasted for years.
And it is a nice scent- I got to smell her range at a shop here.
Yes crimped sprays are the way to go
Do you have any Parafilm or electrician’s tape you could put around the neck of your travel spray? Maybe that would help re: evaporation.
I did but unfortunately it didn’t end the evaporation
Oh no!
I had the same problem with a Hiram Green travel sprey. I think those travel sprays are not always well-crimped/sealed.
Perfumelover67’s mention of lavendar reminded me that I haven’t worn SL’s Gris Clair for ages, so that will be my perfume today.
You smell wonderful!
Hey house twin!
I’m wearing Violet Blonde for work tonight. The lack of sun is starting to get to me. I just want to sleep and eat. The clouds do keep the temp up though, so it’s a trade off.
Another beautiful perfume!You smell wayyyy tooo good!!???
Thank you, kind sir!
And I just want to sleep and NOT eat lol ? Pass me your good appetite!
Cm8, I have been famished for weeks! I’m stuffing my face like crazy!
LOL ? ?
It will pass once spring gets here ????️???
I know it’s a favorite of yours, I enjoy it too, I appreciate that sweetness is subtle in that one, it’s rather austere, violet perfumes sometimes are too sweet for me. My favorite is SL Bois de Violette, do you know it?
I do not know it. I wore this on purpose today for our district visit. I wanted to smell subtle high end, but not too fancy, lol.
I’ll try to send the sun your way lillyjo! I hope the invasion of the bigwigs went well, or was at least tolerable for you.
My boss hasn’t yelled at anyone yet, so maybe it wasn’t too bad. Lol
You and me both! I took a nap yesterday and today.?
Yesterday I stopped at McDonald’s on my way to work and ordered the chicken pancake breakfast! And I had already eaten breakfast!
Haha, that’s awesome! I’m literally lol’ing right now.?
In Molyneux Quartz today which to my nose has always been an easier going Diorella.
I don’t see a connection to Diorella with Quartz. Not sure I tried that Dior, though. But Quartz is a pretty “I’m a grown-up” scent for sure.
Inspired by Robin’s sotd and the pic, I’m wearing Tauer’s Hyacinth and a Mechanic. It took me a while to find my little decant which I’ve never tried, as I thought it might be something that smells interesting but perhaps best kept for use at home. It’s much tamer than I expected, and I like but don’t love it. It’s definitely aptly named and very well done, and oddly enough I do have a scent memory involving hyacinths and burning coal fumes/soot that I thought I might be able to revisit, but this is most certainly gasoline and lube.
Oh! and forgot to say that I suddenly recalled that there’s a character named Hyacinth, and I envisioned her um, with a mechanic cuz where on earth does Andy come up with this stuff? Anyway, I thought it might be Basil’s wife on Fawlty Towers, but it’s actually a character on Keeping Up Appearances.
Yes, Basil’s wife was Sybil.
I think there was a story behind the Tauer, hope someone will chime in because I forget!
Hi all, SOTD is Diptyque’s L’Ombre dans l’Eau, wafting a green spicy/rose and black current bud today. Happy Hump day!
Yum, I have not worn that in ages.
I’m down to my last few spritzes. It’s been a very good run though. I love fragrances with black currant bud.
Me too, though I know it can be a difficult note.
Wearing Milk of Flowers. Waiting around the airport. Will be in Brussels tomorrow morning. Yay!
Safe travels! Enjoy Brussels!
Have a safe and enjoyable trip! ✈
Bon Voyage and happy shopping!
Day 3 of my Top 5 of all time belonged to….
ELdO’s Bendelirious!!
My go-to party perfume!This is such an underrated symphony of aldehydes,cherry lollipops and a big orris/suede note.
They might as well have named it Johano-lirious,because I truly feel happier,more bubbly and energetic whenever I wear this.And honestly,to me it is very very sexy!
Sadly discontinued,but my stash will last forever!
Happy Wednesday folks!
?
Ooo that sounds good!
It’s a riot of notes, enjoy it!
Never tried Bendelirious, but it sounds great and I am sure you smell wonderful!
sounds wonderful!
This is the perfume that reminds me of you the most. The first time I ever heard of it was through you! ?
I wonder when ELdO d/c’ed that one? Must have been recently.
Did your friend guess what you wore?
It’s a perfume that says, “Whee!” Have a 10 ml backup bottle, tom keep the party going…
Happy Hump Day while I wear Prada Amber Pour Homme Intense.
Mmmmm good!
Found a few more mls of Tam Dao so I’m in that today as I contemplate the fact that I really, really need to start a job hunt because this place is unsustainable. Smart colleagues and interesting work can only go so far.
Anyway, we finally got the delivery of our outdoor furniture! The weather will have highs in the 60s this week, so I wish I could lounge outside on our brand-new outdoor couch with a big mug of something hot, but unfortunately, work does not permit joy.
Yay for finding more Tam Dao in your stash, plus getting your outdoor furniture! I’m a little concerned to see your comment about “work does not permit joy” though. That’s a huge red flag in my book. Is your resume updated?
Yep. I just need to focus and look for other places with fun work
I find that since my father passed away, I’m much less interested in putting up with stupid crap at work. I know I HAVE to leave. I just need to find a good place to land!
You smell great! There are cute 30 ml bottles of Tam Dao readily available on eBay….just sayin’.?
I know…I saw. And quite affordable too. But I am supposed to be on a no-buy…!
Wait, what?! But you reached your health goal! You should get it if you want it.
Yeah, but then I bought a house in the Bay Area >.< Also, I may have more perfume than I can wear in my life!
Yay for new patio furniture! Hope you can find a great new job. Life is too short to stay at a crappy job. I found my happy place and stayed there for 21 years.
That sounds wonderful
I hope I can do that, too!
Backwards day 3: Wearing an out of season perfume – Baiser Vole Extrait, hmm, I should wear this more often!
Ah, good call!
SB Incensed. Everyone is yelling at me today. No siree BUB! ??♀️ <—-this is me walking away. Not my communication style, people!
Sounds like “incensed” could describe the emotional tenor of where you’re at today. What a PITA.
But surely not T-Rex, right?
Ugh. Sorry Deva.
Another grey warm-ish day here. The weather has been strange here this January… almost 6 degrees F warmer than average, and between 8.5 and 9 inches short of snow. Now, some of that “snow total” has fallen as rain, so I’m not thinking of drought yet.
Spooky kitty has been sneezing a lot today. It isn’t constant, but a string of 5 or 6 sneezes on occasion. She usually doesn’t sneeze or cough at all. I hope it isn’t connected to the new (and $$$) prescription food I just switched her to. Or the new medicine. Ugh.
SOTD = L’Artisan Voleur de Roses, from the sample stash. Yep, back in perfume today. @teebear, not wearing perfume to avoid a bad association isn’t an original idea of mine. Several posters here have mentioned it in the past. I just know a good idea when I see (or hear of) it. ?
OK, I really need to pay more attention to the view outside. Today was bright and sunny! No clouds at all. Tsk. ☀
Hope you get sun tomorrow so you can enjoy it! I’m short on snow this year too. I hope February doesn’t make up for it. Although, I hadn’t thought about the rain figuring into the equation.
See, I think you just jinxed it ?
Oh no! You’re probably right. I take it back!
There might be some sun in the forecast, but I had a couple of things come up this afternoon that took my attention away from that. NBD, the weather is going to do what the weather is going to do.
I was too heads down to come up for air. Glad you got the sunshine!
I realized that I had looked around while walking to the mailbox, and noticed the powdery blue color of the sky. Nice to see the sun, even if the wind was a bit chilly.
Very strange weather. I was just thinking today of how many times lately I’ve run errands in a warm sweater instead of a coat…that’s not usual for January. Hope we do not have the pay the piper in February and March.
Ambre 114. Had a rough day so at least I smelled good.
Sorry about your rough day. I hope tomorrow will be better, amber twin!
Hope it’s a great day tomorrow!
Fingers crossed that tomorrow is an improvement.
Hope tomorrow’s better!
Sending positive vibes for a good rest of the week!
You smell nice, hope your day is better tomorrow!
Ambre Sultan for me, over Andy’s amber flush body oil. ❤️
Amber flush never worked for me. Maybe I should try layering!
It is dry for an amber, and has a chalkiness to it. Is that what bothers you?
Wow! That combo sounds delish! I need to layer both now!
Enjoy it! ?
Great combo.
I have on Calling All Angels today, because Hajusuuri wore it yesterday, plus it’s gorgeous. I’m planning to try a new recipe tonight for spaghetti squash “pasta” with asparagus and goat cheese. I’ll report back later.
Tomorrow will be interesting. A former student fro LONG ago who now runs a small restaurant invited me to participate in a writers’ lunch discussion group about a recent very controversial science fiction story. Long story but I’m curious to see what it will be like, and flattered he still wants to hear from his old lady retired professor!
That spaghetti squash recipe sounds yummy! ?
I second this!
Come on . . . what is the scifi story???! “Controversial” is a siren song for some of us . . .
“I identify sexually as an Attack Helicopter,” published in Clarkesworld, then withdrawn. I have a copy though.
In Jicky this afternoon and evening. When I use up this sample, I’ll get another one, or a small decant, most likely from StC. Out of the older perfumes I’ve tried, this is one of the very easiest for me to wear.
Oh, and I’ll note that a good bit of my reading material lately has been steampunk — Victorian era meets science fiction or magic of a clockwork variety. I’m not defining it well, but some is fun. Of course, my preference is for the lighter takes on it. And I also favor the stories that have very different ideas about the abilities of women and people of color than the average white Victorian male author did. I enjoy the subversion or overturning of stereotypes in some of the steampunk books.
Some folks get more into the fashion side of it, which is generally somewhat Victorian-looking, but often with elaborate goggles and accessories with lots of cogs in the design and such.
What I’m looking at currently is a book titled Steampunk Tea Party, which includes “30 Neo-Victorian Steampunk Recipes…”
There’s a cookie recipe that has absinthe-flavored frosting, to give you an idea. Also, edible gold powder is used on some of the cookies and cakes and such. I found it endearing that one biscuit recipe called for lemon thyme, the first use in a recipe that I’ve seen for that outside of books about herbs. Another herb mix for savory biscuits includes fresh lovage. I don’t have a bottle of absinthe lying around, but I have a decent assortment of herbs and spices. And I have a box of parchment paper lying around. I know where I can get rosewater suitable for cooking with. One of my books about Indian cooking has a glossary at the end that gives the American English equivalents of the British “caster sugar,” “icing sugar,” “double cream” and other terminology.
Robin and irisjasmine may find this interesting: Many of the steampunk craft and hobby books in the county library system are at the Honey Brook library. I’ve been wondering, “Why Honey Brook?” Perhaps folks around there have businesses where they make steampunk jewelry or gadgets? idk
I’ll let NST folks know if I try any of those steampunk tea party recipes.
If you enjoy the lighter-themed Steampunk genre, you might want to check out “Girl Genius”. It’s an online graphic novel/series that follows the adventures of Agatha Heterodyne. It’s been running since 2002.
I have wondered, but never tried to find out, if the library sensibly concentrates genres at certain branches? I don’t mind, we have an unusually fast inter library loan system.
I wore Cristalle yesterday (Wednesday); it smells like early spring to me! Tomorrow I might wear Guerlain’s L’Homme Ideal Cologne, which I got at a great discount at TJ Maxx (I think it is discontinued). It is “backward” for me because I normally wear classically feminine scents, lots of florals.