Saturday is Édouard Manet's birthday, and we're marking the occasion with our same old open thread poll.
Talk about anything you like — the fragrance you’re wearing today, your favorite fragrance with a bread note, your favorite kind of bread, whatever.
Or, ask a question about fragrance, then see if anyone else has asked a question that you can answer…
Note: top image is detail from The Brioche, Edouard Manet, 1870 via The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Gift and Bequest of David and Peggy Rockefeller, 1991, 2017)
Hello everyone and happy weekend!
Decided to buy L’Ivree Bleue soon (only waiting for this shop to get new NEZ to buy them together). I’m only not sure if it’s just a perfume treat to self or already on the account of birthday in February!
I did buy some new clothes on new year sales tho. Adidas sneakers 70% off, a pair of trousers and some t-shirt at good price too.
I’m wearing Hermes Agar Ebene today.
I didn’t tell earlier but in December my photo on IG was one of the winners of Puredistance photo contest and my little bottle of Sheiduna has arrived last weekend.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKYuEnKBCPp/?igshid=1381amptk0c01
So many wonderful things, lucasai! Congratulations on all of it! 🙂
Congratulations on the win!
What an amazing photo!!! Congratulations! ?
Well done!
Thank you everyone!
Congratulations on the great clothes finds and your win! Your photos are so beautiful.
Nice shot – a deserved win!
Congratulations and Happy Early Birthday!
Congratulations! That’s a great photo.
Super pic! Captures the perfume.
Congratulations lucasai! You smell great.
Congrats! Your pictures are so gorgeous.
You’re all too kind with praising my photos ? Thank you
Congratulations on everything! Your photos are so well-composed and lovely to look at!
Great photo! Just started following you. Haven’t seen your blog before, either, so I look forward to some perfume reading this weekend.
Yay! Welcome on board and I hope my blog will deliver ?
Oooh congrats!!!
Congratulations…such beautiful photos.
Congratulations! You have an excellent eye for photography.
Aww thanks
That is indeed a great photo!
Congratulations!
Good Morning!
Well, first things first, my favorite kind of bread is a fresh baguette. My late-stepmother was a professional baker, and she made the most wonderful baguettes. I have her recipe, but somehow, I can’t get them right. The flavor is wonderful, but the texture is wrong. I can’t get the right crumb, full of airy, stretchy bubbles. I make sure to try again several times a year.
No SOTM, yet, but when I get to it, it will be something warm. It is bright and cold here in Portland today.
Reached for Tolu. Nom.
Wow, I would love to have a pro baker in the family!
I would be happy even with an amateur baker in the family 🙂
Yeah, it was a pretty great way to grow up! “Oops, this chocolate cream pie didn’t come out of the pan neatly, and I slightly burned the edges, guess it has to go home!”
Every Christmas, I’m trying to recreate something wonderful from my memories. One of these days, I’ll be brave and try to make a proper Yule Log. My step-mother’s version had chocolate sponge, mocha buttercream, brandied whipped cream in the swirl, and little meringue toadstools. It was a woerk of art and totally delicious. Maybe I’ve finally watched enough Bake-off that I can give it a go!
I got a fabulous baguette yesterday at my coop. It had it all: the crisp crust, stretchy bubbles! It is my second favorite kind of bread, with the first being toasted, buttered cinnamon raisin swirl bread.
I respect your feelings about buttered cinnamon raisin swirl toast!
😀
Baquettes are so hard!! They have to be nearly overproofed. I’ve only ever succeeded at that texture by accident ?
Right. I think it’s a mixture of timing and mixing. It’s not kneaded, and my stepmother was always very particular about creating a well in the center of the flour and pouring the liquid ingredients into that and then JUST combining. But you’re right, there’s this whole other aspect of proofing it beyond where I might another type of bread dough, and I suspect I’m overly cautious.
After a week of fairy tales, I decided to go for a straightforward, earthbound cologne. SOTD is Sel Vevetier.
Perfect, vetiver is just the way to go.
Good morning everyone! I’m in Dusita Melodie de L’Amour, and it’s shaping up to be another Yikes! sampling day. Fans of BWF would love this one. Lots of gardenia and tuberose. There’s supposedly a peach and pixi stix phase, but I’m not sure I’ll make it that far. This sample will be relegated to the freebie bag. ?
Yikes! I can easily imagine tuberose becoming peach pixistix. Wouldn’t intentionally choose a scent with that phase, though. Not a big fan of candied notes in most cases.
Have you tried Splendiris or Moonlight in Chiangmai?
They are much more wearable Dusita scents.
I haven’t tried either of those, but they sound lovely, especially Moonlight in Chiangmai. Erawan also sounds fascinating. Thank you for the suggestions!
Funny, I used a dropper to return the juice from an atomizer to the vial it came in, and the mothball/gasoline smell was evident with the little bit that leaked onto the paper towel. I don’t get any of that on skin. ?
Nancy, I’ll be glad to send you my sample of Moonlight in Chiangmai. It’s from Indigo so it’s a spray sample. Just shoot me an email!
Oh goodness, thank you! Sending you an email now.
Nancy, I can supply some Splendiris if you’re ok to cover shipping from Poland?
Oh, that’s very thoughtful of you, but I think I can sample it from around here, and I don’t want to put you to the trouble. Thank you so much for your kind offer! ?
Pixi stix? Is that on purpose?
There is something tart-ish in the drydown. I’m glad it got there.
https://youtu.be/lw-NTC9PC-A
?
Lemming: must watch that movie again!
Lol. Love that movie.?
Awesome movie scene! I’d forgotten that she winked at the end.
Loved the clip!
Melodie d’Amour can be tiring. I like it but I do not think I could ever use a full bottle. Sometimes I feel it is wearing me, not the other way around
Yep, I definitely felt a bit drug around for the first hour or so. I keep trying the BWFs, but Tubereuse Criminelle is the only one I wholeheartedly love. Queen of the Night is gorgeous, too.
Same for me! My partner loved white florals on me so I ended up with a bit of a collection but TC is the only one I really adore.
You still don’t appreciate my beautiful McQueen?
Hahaaa…I do like it in the body creme! ? The McQueen bottle is beyond gorgeous, that’s for sure.
I can wear Queen of the Night, so I’m coming around!
Queen of the Night is epic!
Isn’t it though? Definitely for grownups.
Good to know I can skip that one!
I love all bread but my favorite is Brötchen and the German rye bread that my sister-in-law used to bake for me. SOTD is Buberry Body from another sample. I’ ve decided to switch from samples to discover sets in February.
Burberry!
Yum, a good rye is a wonderful thing!
Rye toast!
Ge yeself some starter and if you make bread with both starter and yeast, and it turns out very similar to a German bakery type break. I found that out by accident – initially, my starter was so weak that I added yeast into the break dough to give it oomph. Created what is called a “Mischbrot”.
I believe that! I have refrigerated rye dough for most of a week before I got around to baking it, and it was so much more complex in flavor with that extra fermentation time.
I wish that rye hamburger buns were A Thing!
Not a bread note, exactly, but a massive quantity of baked goods: I’m wearing SL Jeux de Peau, which I fell in love with at first sniff (bought it on the spot — a decade ago!) and have never tired of.
Like so many other people, I started baking bread last March when my province went into lockdown (not to have something to do, but because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get out to get bread). I stopped over the summer, but have taken it up again with a vengeance, because I found what for me is the perfect recipe, something called Japanese milk bread — the secret is that you make a flour-and-water roux, add milk and eggs and butter, and stir that into your dry ingredients. (This is the base recipe, but I’ve made minor alterations because I can’t not tinker with a recipe: https://www.carolinescooking.com/japanese-milk-bread/). It stays fresh for days and is so light and delicious.
Japanese milk bread is delish! I have a couple of Japanese bakeries in my area and I indulge in it quite often. I may stop by tomorrow to get some.
Another recipe from an NSTer bookmarked 🙂
Same here!
I think I’ve had this in Japan for Western style breakfast – intriguing!
That looks delicious pyramus! What does it taste like — is the author’s description of brioche w/o the sweetness accurate?
It’s actually a bit sweet for me: I had to reduce the sugar by about 12%. And it doesn’t have the richness of brioche, because there’s some fat in it but not a lot. (I’ve made brioche: you have to work in tablespoonfuls of butter.) But it is lovely — soft-crusted and tender, slices fairly thinly once it’s a day or more old, makes wonderful toast. It’s the best bread I’ve ever made.
Wow, thanks.
Jeux de Peau is my favorite from SL!!
It is positively irresistible. I’m tempted to call it the last great scent that ever came from the hand of Lutens and Sheldrake. (I love La Fille de Berlin but it’s not a masterpiece, just a very nice dark rose, and most everything after that has just been bandwagoning or cannibalizing his own work.)
Oooh thanks for the recipe link!
Today I’m wearing the “relaxed” fragrance layering piece from my Waft custom fragrance. I really like it – it’s sage with a wee bit of vanilla.
Does anyone know tricks for diminishing dark under-eye circles? Mine have gotten so pronounced since March. I now feel like I have to wear concealer all the time, and I was never like that before. I’m looking for products or actions that could help.
Get a peach color corrector. It will improve your concealer so you don’t use as much, and really makes a difference. I have not found any creams or serums that actually work.
Bobbi Brown has a site wide sale going on 25% off? I deleted the email or would include the code.
Sephora used to sell a great peach corrector. Now discontinued. Unfortunate.
No help getting rid of them, but: I use the Bobbi Brown concealer kit and it works very well. I have a larger issue with tear through lines (hereditary bags under eyes), and I also feel this has gotten worse over the pandemic even though I probably get more sleep. Perhaps not enough sunlight?
Seconding Bobbi Brown, but in my case the corrector works better than the concealer. I’m fair and freckly, and the light peach shade works well for me. If you’re more cool-toned than warm-toned, the light bisque shade would be a better match.
I’ve always had dark circles, even when I was young because my skin is so fair. I use maybelline instant age rewind concealer. Suitable for any age, since my college daughter is the one who introduced me to it!?
I use the same concealer and it works well enough for me. My dark under eyes are hereditary, and they’re definitely more pronounced as I age. I’ve given up trying to “fix” them, so I like the Maybelline to just tone them down some. I use the neutralizer shade.
I heard really good things about the new Ordinary concealer.
I just exchanged a tube of that…bought the same # color as the Deciem foundation and it was far too light. Went one shade darker. In testing on my hand, I did note only a very tiny amount is necessary.
I think its hard (or impossible) to get rid of them. Try to get plenty of sleep
I use Chanel concealer and its nice and non drying.
Tarte Shape Tape Concealer is very effective, though it’s a strange name for it.
I’ve had some luck with Lancome Visionnaire Yeux Eye on Correction. It’s supposed to help with puffiness under eyes, fine lines, and dark circles too.
I’m pale-faced, so the dark circles can really stand out. When I use this stuff consistently twice a day for about a month I do see less darkness.
The SA who suggested it to me said it’s not necessary to use a full pump of the product each time, half a pump may be enough for both eyes.
And it smells nice, I would buy a perfume that smells like it. 🙂
On a non-cosmetic level, light massage/lymph drainage is great and a cool compress can help too. There’s some good Youtube videos out there for lymphatic massage, which is more like gentle tapping/pressing and smoothing motions.
Thanks everyone! Lots of great ideas to look into. I’ll be trying some lymphatic massage tonight!
You might not want to go this route but my hair stylist got undereye fillers to treat her dark circles and the results were pretty impressive. She looked well rested and bushy tailed
You could try swapping out your grandparents, since undereye darkness tends to go with certain inheritances.
Supposedly adequate sleep, minimal salt and alcohol reduce the tendency for the dark circles to appear.
Back when I wore makeup (was that really only last year- I stopped doing so in response to all those “Don’t touch your face, Covid19 warnings), i would not use mascara on my bottom eyelids since it would invariably fall into the skin beneath my eyes. Nor did I use eyeliner beneath my eyes. I leaned is to put a luminescent highlighter or foundation over the lower bone line of the eye socket. This should be either colorless or blend in with the foundation. There are some make up companies that sell color correctors. A tiny bit of transparent pinkish tone can balance out the olive skin undertones In terms of concealer, a pinkish corrector can work some. Another make up trick (which never worked for me) is to wear bright cheerful lip stick.
I like all sorts of breads. Fresh baguettes are a thing of joy. Especially with rich Brie cheese or sheep’s milk cheese and a bit of quince jam. And I love the small walnut raisin rolls sold at Zabar’s and similar. They’re like candy to me.
Sampling Angélique Noire again. I just wish it wasn’t such a skin scent.
Manet is one of my favorite artists…he and Sargent. And Olympia is one of my favorite paintings. I love her direct gaze.
I like a good baguette, but something that cost a euro in Europe can be several dollars here in the US and I never understood that!
I also like olive bread, warm, with butter.
You’re making me salivate here!!
I’ve lucked into fresh-baked, still warm Fairway baguettes a few times. Relative bargain at $2.
Wearing the last drops of Tauer
Eau d’Epices from a sample. Thunk!
Freezing, windy weather today ?. I decided then to stay inside and engage in some home tasks that I have been postponing for a while. I will run errands tomorrow.
I think I will have a thunk week of samples I like a lot and that I’d better use and enjoy before they evaporate.
Having my second cup of coffee and a thick slice of french baguette (my favorite bread) with butter.
Happy weekend, everyone! ?
Freezing here too! Enjoy your coffee and baguette.
Thank you!
I haven’t smelled Eau d’Epices for so long. Actually haven’t smelled any Tauer for some time now.
I wonder if you’re getting our freezing temps from a week ago…
Keep warm!
I have also neglected all my Tauer perfumes. So many other scents in front of them.
Plus I feel like he hasn’t made anything super very exciting since Phi…
So true!
Have you sniffed Hyacinth and a Mechanic? It wasn’t released widely, and I got mine directly from Andy when he came through town, but I think it’s interesting and usual. Probably unusual enough that he is right to think it would have a limited audience.
In any case, I think that’s the last release that really caught my attention, but I admit, I haven’t kept up on the “Flashes.”
I’m not familiar with that particular Tauer.
Not my favorite Tauer. It is a spicy woody scent that becomes powdery in the drydown on my skin, something that I was not expecting. I like it a lot but not enough to get a full bottle, so money saved.
By the description alone, I nearly blind-bought L’eau d’Epices, assuming I’d love it. Nope. Not even sure I finished my sample from the discovery set. . . might have given it away? I recall a weird, mustiness to it that didn’t sit well with me.
Agree! Not the best Tauer in my opinion. As I said, I like wearing the sample, but it didn’t move my heart enough to think about a bigger size. It was also kind of fleeting on me.
I’m wearing more of my Kyse sample package. Started with the Benjoin Vanillee, which is nice but has a little too much “mulled apple cider” going on, and now I’ve moved onto Fumee Vanille, which is suiting me down to the ground.
Happy weekend, everybody.
Oh Fume Vanille sounds really good. Would love to hear more!!
clarissa, Fumee Vanille seems like a straightforward mix — it’s vanilla with a smoky edge. The smoky note tempers the sweetness of the vanilla just enough to keep it from going too far into bakery territory (although I’m a gourmand lover, so anybody who is not would probably say this is just too darn sweet and tasty).
Interesting that you get mulled apple cider, I get fruit date smell.
Benjoin Vanillee is definitely more fruity than I expected. It reminds me a little of Ambre Narguile, except with vanilla instead of amber.
I’m wearing a dab of Neela Vermeire’s Mohur EdP. So many people love this, but it doesn’t work for me, I can’t say exactly why not. I keep trying my little sample in case it suddenly clicks, that has happened before.
I am with you there in EDP. Perfume concentration is better but I am still on the fence about it and might be partying with my bottle
I never Fell for the edp, but I adore the extrait
When NV was all the perfumista rage, I sampled several of them, and I don’t recall any of them suiting me. I totally get your desire to keep sampling, waiting for them to speak to you! They get so much love.
I don’t really eat a lot of bread, and my favorite kinds of breads are of the cake like variety: banana bread, pumpkin bread, cinnamon bread…you get the idea.
I’m in Scandalwood again. I found a great deal on a 15 ml bottle and it arrived this week. Unfortunately it doesn’t smell quite like the sample does. Has this ever happened to you? The bottle is dryer and the rose note that I loved in the sample is less pronounced. It’s a little more tam dao-ish. Ah well, I’ll wear it anyway.
Woke up to single digits this morning.?BUT the sun is out so I’m not gonna complain. I’m off to get my second vaccine this afternoon. My parents were able to get their first dose yesterday which makes me even happier than the fact that I’ve gotten mine.
My happiest piece of news this week was when my daughter found out she will actually get to be back on campus for at least one of her classes this semester. She was so excited, and I was so happy for her I almost burst into tears. She hasn’t set foot in a classroom since last March. This is not the college experience she signed up for but she has persevered and handled it with such grace. I’m so proud of her.☺️
Congrats!
She needs the college experience 🙂
Good news about your daughter! Also glad your parents got the vaccine. Did anyone else see this AP article: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-coronavirus-vaccine-1e6792a0bd4695487313fb3430429d94 ? Might be worth looking into how to get on the local last-call lists for those of us who have flexibility in our schedules.
That is such great news about your daughter. These kids are just not build for the solitude and monotony of online classes. Late teens and early twenties are supposed to be the social “it gets better” years!
I saw you were at zero this morning! 16 was my low. Lot’s of sun here too.
I’m happy for your daughter! My son is still doing online and frankly it’s been very unhelpful for him.
That’s such great news. I’m so thrilled for your daughter!
The Scandalwood packaging changed sometime in either 2018 or 2019 – I wonder if your sample might have been from the older version?
SOTD is Velvet Orchid. We’re getting tired of the roommate game so today we’re checking out a new place. Pictures look nice so keeping our fingers crossed.
Hope you find the perfect place!
Good luck finding a great, new place soon!
Good luck with the search for a new place!
Good luck!
Sending luck!!
Good luck! I hope you find a great new home.
???!
Like many others, I’ve been making sourdough since March and it’s a definite flavor upgrade even from break machine break which I made for years. However, there is a bread machine recipe for hamburger buns and hot dog rolls that is a big hit with all children. It’s an enriched dough, which might be the secret. I think I know the recipe by heart but will check for accuracy:
3 cups bread flour (or whatever white flour you’ve got lying around)
1 cup milk
1 egg
4 tablespoons butter
1.5 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoon sugar
2&1/4 teaspoos active dry yeast or 1.5 teaspoons of the rapid rise yeast (I don’t know what mine is so I use app. 2).
Layer ingredients according to your bread machine instructions (this varies by maker), press the dough cycle.
When done, make into buns the size you desire (I usually try to get 6-8 out of this bunch), I would be gentle with the dough (no rolling etc).
Let rise for 30minutes or so (depends on temperature), preheat oven to 375, use a light egg wash (egg white only, perhaps add a touch of water) and sprinkle sesame seeds or whatever seeds you like, pop in the oven (middle rack) for 18-22 minutes, you might want to rotate half way through.
that’s a great recipe! 😀 I use a similar one, slightly less milk and butter. Next time I’ll make it this way. Thank you for sharing.
Yes, I guess the secret to why most people like these might just be the amount of butter…. 🙂
Maybe someday I will try to make perfect bread. As it is, I make edible doorstops. In the meantime, SotD is *Coco edp* because of NST enablers. Full disclosure our town’s Macy’s is going out of business and though of course premium cosmetics are not marked down (the other markdowns are not so great anyway), I said one last hurrah so I marched in this morning and bought it. I love it. Soon I will need to drive about an hour if I want to shop at a major department store other than Target and Wally World. Oh Internet what have you done?
its death to the department stores, my heart breaks
Enjoy your new bottle of Coco!
Congrats on the Coco! And yeah, every close-down is so sad…
Congrats on your new bottle!
Well you bought one of the best! A sad farewell, however.
I would be sad if the nearby Macy’s-es (however way it should be pluralized) close down but come to think of it, I have only shopped the Last Act once or twice tops all of 2020.
The “Last Act” at our local Macy’s reminds me of a bad garage sale, the way JCPenney’s got before they did an overhaul. Hoards of deal-seeking women competing for 80% off on something special, digging through piles of clothes barely holding onto their hangers and shelves of partially opened junk in questionable condition. It’s really lowered my opinion of them as a brand.
I agree, the display racks are crowded, messy, and the areas that have them are very poorly lit. I stopped shopping at Macy’s long before the pandemic, which stopped me shopping altogether at malls.
Right, I haven’t been in a mall in nearly a year! But it’s been longer than that since I’ve shopped in a Macy’s.
It depends on the store. Ours is pretty bright and pretty much the only section I go to is the kitchen stuff and decor.
Our store was so small and “end of the line” that it was more like that episode of the Twilight Zone where Marcia goes to the top floor and the only thing in the glass case was the thimble. However, I did think there would be heaps of jumbled things and terrifying women with sharp elbows!
The Macy’s closest to me closed a couple of years ago, so now I have to drive for twice as long to get to one.
I get very upset when people go to a bookstore and browse, only to buy the book online. I once came back from Austria (where everything is shut down on a Sunday) and complained to a very nice Christian lady, saying that retail could shut down on a Sunday worldwide to give the store clerks some rest. She just wryly asked what all the poorer people, living in cramped apartments, should be doing when the weather is horrible out. I can ask the same: Will Amazon open their warehouses for people to browse and chat? Or will they take over the existing malls for a song and have a huge monopoly?
Taking over existing large stores where the parking lot and loading dock are accessible only to a particular store.
I have a friend who used to work at an Amazon warehouse and they are ruthless when it comes to observed productivity. She’s convinced that whichever part of her body that needed surgery (either the knee or the shoulder) was caused by overextension. It was also just a part-time job for her so one can only imagine a full time role. Come to think of it, maybe Amazon is avoiding full-timers to save on benefits ?
We should ask these questions! And ask ourselves, can we still get what we need locally….
Full time is very hard to get for that very reason, in retail.
When i first started working, many stores were closing on Sunday, or only open half a day.
There are some online alternatives, like Bookshop.org, which lets you buy books online from local independent bookstores, and Powell’s Books, powells.com, also independent (and it now has its own fragrance!). I love to browse, and buy, at a local independent bookstore that is about 50/50 gently used and new books, but I haven’t gone in there since last March.
My first full day of wearing Coco! I do have some vintage samples. I think I like the new because it is like a wonderful scent you catch on a fresh breeze. But the vintage is more my style: a rich fragrance from a smoldering cauldron.
No SOTD for me yet as I am tackling garage and trying to clean it one part of the time. Since majority of junk there is mine, I am on the hook 🙁 continuing with my fragrance de-weeding project (again), so will be testing a few things that I am thinking of voting off the island
My ‘big project’ since retiring is cleaning out the whole house. It is going slowly, not that I am in a hurry anyway. So far I have done the kitchen, dining room cabinets, and living room display shelves (amazing how much better the tchotchkes look when they are clean not just dusted!) This project will take years, lol…
It feels like the second I clean something, it gets cluttered!!! Literally last weekend I have gone thrum half of the kitchen drawers. I threw out old kids that don’t fit anything, old pans that are scratched and burnt. The drawers were empty for 3 days and are now full again. I have no clue how that happened!!! Either clutter goes into the drawers or sits on the counters!
SOTD Ninfeo Mio
finishing up this decant, do I need a bottle of this?
Mr L and I watched The Wolfwalkers last night on appletv or whatever its called. We both cried. Such an original, magical, touching animated film. The song in the film I have been listening to on repeat and now the kids know all the lyrics.
It was a cold morning at the farmers market. I bought some cider and going to make myself a “frisky bison” or “polish kiss” cocktail this evening..its a mix of apple cider (or apple juice) and Żubrówka
Hmmm, I’ll send you an email.
If you are asking, then you are not in love, and the answer is no.
Or, drain the decant, wait a month, see if you miss it. Sometimes love is slow 🙂
SOTD will probably be Diptyque Benjoin Boheme, but so far I’m still in last night’s Mad et Len Petits Papiers.
Not sure I truly have a favorite bread, but I think it might be the bagel. Or baguette as Marjorie Rose said. I just watched an episode of GBBO with a baguette challenge and it does seem really hard to get right.
My fairy tale pairings this week since I didn’t report on them:
Tuesday – Hendley Amora paired with The Fairy (The red berries and cherries make me think of rubies and in The Fairy, a kind young woman is rewarded with precious gems falling from her mouth whenever she speaks after she assisted an old beggar woman who was actually a fairy in disguise.)
Wednesday – Laura Mercier Tarte au Citron for the custard tarts that Little Red Riding Hood was taking to grandmother’s house through the woods.
Thursday – Sonoma Scent Studio Equestrian for Snow White (apples, hay, leather, and woods)
Woke up too early and couldn’t go back to sleep so a nap might be in order today. Oh, and my boyfriend is going to cut my very long, thick hair! I’m a little nervous but am looking forward to less hair to deal with.
nice fairy tale pairings
Thanks!
I meant to share my copy of Perrault’s Fairy Tales, which is this gorgeous version by The Folio Society. My boyfriend gave it to me for Christmas years ago. https://stellabooks.com/featured-book/the-fairy-tales-of-charles-perrault-illustrated-by-edmund-dulac-published-by-the-folio-society
Beautiful!! I have some books illustrated by Dulac, including a couple that belonged to my late mother when she was a child. I love those illustrations!
I especially like your Snow White pairing.
Rubies falling out of your mouth every time you speak actually sounds like a curse. Nice idea at first glance maybe, especially if you’re broke, but it would become an annoying inconvenience very quickly. I just imagine her choking on one, or having a very slapstick make-out session with her One True Love, and so on.
Ha, good point. I didn’t mention the other part of the story, which is that the kind girl’s sister was nasty to the disguised fairy so the fairy cursed her with toads and snakes to fall from her mouth when she spoke. Pretty horrifying!
Yikes! Don’t sign me up for that curse!
Same for me – I would simply die of horror and fright. I have a snake phobia.
This guy gives you fabulous Christmas presents and offers to cut your hair. What a keeper!
I wanted to say thanks for suggesting such an interesting CP – so many new and imaginative connections! I can’t comment on yours as I haven’t yet smelled those particular scents.
Yeah, he’s the best! We’ll celebrate 15 years together next month.
And my haircut turned out great. I’m impressed and relieved.
That is impressive! I’ve been cutting my husband’s hair since last year…probably early May. I finally convinced him to go to his regular cutter to clean it up. I do an okay job, but I think he needs a pro at least once a year. ???
Now that I know he can do a good job with cutting my hair, I will definitely rely on him for it again. I told him his task between now and my next hair cut is to figure out how to cut layers. ?
Great pairings! Are you planning to donate your hair?
Thank you!
No, not donating this time. I honestly didn’t think about it beforehand. I did end up shedding at least 6 inches of hair though. It hits just below my shoulder blades now.
My blotter from Diyptique excursions still smells like this one and it’s lovely. I’m surprised it doesn’t get more love
Yeah, I really like it and I’ve been trying to decide if I should buy more than my decant. But will I really need more than my 9ml? I’m still not sure.
May I ask where you got your decant from?
I got in on a split for it years ago – it was either on a Facebook group or a Google group that is now inactive.
+1 on a really good bagel. With cream cheese mixed with wasabi, smoked salmon and topped with avocado. Then sprinkled with that sushi spice with the red spices and black sesame. Can’t think of the name now.
Mmm yes please to that bagel! My favorite is a sesame bagel with cream cheese and sometimes with cucumber slices, lox or smoke salmon, and capers.
In Amoureuse. Wow. Thank you Michel Roudnitska.
I’m not usually a big tuberose fan but it’s beautiful and perfectly balanced in this fragrance.
Amoureuse is intoxicating. I sometimes regret not geting a bottle, but that’s true of too many scents. 😉
Amoureuse makes me feel both sexy and a little bit inferior, because I can’t quite live up to it! It is such a GORGEOUS perfume. I feel very happy to have a bottle of it. Might put that on tap for tomorrow!
I was going to add that I felt “all dressed up and nowhere to go” wearing it – like the scent was showing me up.
Amoureuse is stunning, glad I hot a bottle and a BUB.
Oh, I’m jealous about your BUB and glad you will be able to keep enjoying it.
SOTD is a dab of amber paste from Whole Foods, nothing spectacular just warm and comfortable.
Favorite bread is a tie, a really nice fresh baguette. Add some soft stinky cheese and I’m in heaven. And a popover, warm from the oven, loaded with melty butter. I finally found the fool-proof popover recipe after several tries, and I have the proper pan. My hubby loves them! Soup and popovers have become a Sunday evening tradition. Tomorrow is wild rice soup and yes, popovers!?
Oh, wow. I love popovers but don’t have a clue how to make them. What goes into your wild rice soup? I’ve got a bag sitting in my pantry waiting for an adventure!
Wild Rice Soup
2 T butter melted in pot. Add in some minced onion & mushroom, maybe 1/2 c each. Sauté. Blend in 1/4 c flour and 1tsp tarragon. Gradually add 4 c chicken or veggie broth. Cook, stirring until thickened. Add 2 c cooked wild rice and some shredded chicken meat if you wish. Simmer. Stir in 1 c half&half and 2 T sherry. Enjoy. Can easily be halved.
Popovers
Preheat oven and heavily greased popover pan to 375.
Beat 3 eggs, 3 T melted butter and 1 c milk. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1 c flour. Do not over-mix, just stir until all flour is incorporated. Pour into hot pan, about 1/2 full. Bake 45 minutes. Remove, stick knife into top of each popover to release steam. Return to oven for 5 minutes. Makes 6-8 depending on pan. You can use a muffin pan but they won’t “pop” as much.
I’m from MN. Wild rice is very common here, the REAL stuff, not cultivated. I buy Native gathered, wood parched from a tribe near our cabin. We’re very spoiled by access and price, I know wild rice can be very pricey.
I remember eating such wonderful wild rice when I lived in MN! I miss it. I had forgotten that you can get it was actually WILD over there and always felt sort of disappointed in the flavor when I have made it out here in Oregon. That must be the difference.
Is the flavor really different?
The restaurants in the food area of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. represent cuisine of various tribes from around the country, and there was some good stuff from the north including wild rice dishes.
Thank you very much, the soup sounds fabulous, either with or without chicken. Anything that includes the combination of mushrooms and tarragon is a winner for me! I’m copying both recipes right now to save.
Thanks for sharing – I copied both!
I have a recipe for a wild rice salad that is nice, esp in summer. Cook your rice with a cinnamon stick and split chilli. Cool. Then add a bunch of coriander, 1 avocado, 100g feta, charred sweetcorn (2 cobs) and a red onion (do them together and add smoked paprika and 3 tbsp red wine vinegar at the end). Top with 100g pecans heated in a pan with 1 tbsp icing sugar, 1 tsp cumin seeds and a tbsp of water. It comes from a cookbook by Anna Hansen called The Modern Pantry.
Oh, wow, that sounds unique and interesting, with the sweet touches and cinnamon. I’m copying the recipe right now to save. Thank you!
Sampling Saturday… I got some Rook samples this week, along with some goodies from Oakland Fresca, so that’s on the docket for today.
What a week! The windstorm earlier this week knocked us for a loop. DH was out fighting fires most of Monday and Tuesday nights. Tuesday night I didn’t get much sleep either, watching the fires burn on the last ridge before the Pacific. No risk to us but still unsettling. Fires in January, that’s not right. Power was out for 36 hours. And so much cleanup to do with all the downed branches and leaves. But the rains have returned, finally! We may even get snow at my house on Sunday/Monday.
I’ve done a fair bit of baking since last spring. That reminds me — before the rains return tonight, I need to get outside and cut some rosemary for rosemary bread.
Oh no, very sad and worrying about the fires. And yum to rosemary bread!
It sounds like such a rollercoaster. Stay safe and warm and dry!
101cookbooks has the BEST recipe for rosemary chocolate cake. Just sayin’.
Rosemary CHOCOLATE? I’m struggling to imagine that flavor combo. . .
I know it is good (or at least, that I like it) because I have had a couple really good rosemary chocolate bars.
I’ve had the same experience that Robin did. I came across a dark chocolate bar with rosemary in it, and found it delicious! It might have been a Theo chocolate bar…
Oh, wish I had some of that on hand!
Pixel’s FREEBIES. Yes the perfume cleanout continues! NST regulars only, US only. Contact me at emc dawt 71 17 a la gee-mail.
1. Givenchy Ysatis, 50ml, 95% full, batch code from Sept 2018. No box.
2. Soivohle / Liz Zorn perfume oils, 4ml each: Fig Black Tea, Ginger Piquant, Woodfire & Rain. These are rollerballs that have only been tested on paper not skin.
3. Still trying to get rid of the Demeter Mojito and Caipirinha’s. 30ml each, 99% full.
Dibs on #2 please. There’s been so much NST talk about Soivohle, I’m really curious. Thank you!
#1 is taken as well
I’m in the cheap, sexy classic, Habinita edp.
Bread. Oh do I miss bread. I could live on rye, pumpernickel, focaccia, challah, wheat levain w walnuts, sour dough studded with olives, sweet baguettes, even soda bread (a nearby bakery makes an Irish soda that is chocablock with dried apricots). Sigh. My eternal diet leaves me out in the cold with my nose pressed to the warm bakery window glass. Such wonderful goings on. Another sigh!
I think we are bread twins. 😉 I love walnuts in rustic breads, sour dough with olives makes me drool.
I eat much less bread than I used to, eating a lot of food with yeast makes me feel blah. Soda bread is another favorite, and no yeast, so I make it every March.
Why not make it year-round ??♀️
Because then I would eat too much! No self-control here, no ma’am. 😉
Sorry! That’s tough…even bread that is wholly wholewheat/rye/barley etc. (to be honest, those aren’t always scrumptious, though)? As a child, I went through a good long period where I only ate bread. No pasta, no rice, no potatoes for me, and I didn’t like lots of meats either.
But you lost such a lot of weight! Focus on that, as I truly envy you. I just don’t have any willpower to speak of.
Thank you. Well I have good days and bad days. And as a someone who LOVES to cook, and loves to cook for family and friends, and trying new foods, and eating out at new restaurants, and drinking wine and cocktails, it has been a lifestyle change. The worst is that I am now one of those people who says things like, “oh just cut me the tiniest slice,” or “I’ll just have water,” or “no dessert for me” . . . I was never THAT person before. My personal pandemic silver-lining is that my shrinking world of food coincided with my shrinking world more generally, and so it feels at times like I am just doing my part along with everyone else when I say, “no thank you.”
Your third sentence describes me as well. So more kudos to you for being able to do this during pandemic times. I will have to take up new hobbies, friends and possibly a new career to make the changes necessary to lose a substantial amount of weight!
I love bread of just about any description, but my favourites are challah and a really good French baguette.
Wearing Byredo Tobacco Mandarin today.
I was desperate for challah back in December and bought one at Trader Joe’s. It was really good! or maybe I was very desperate. 😉
love to make French toast from Challah.
yes! Challah is wonderful that way, and sometimes I make French toast from pannetone. 😉
Wow. Pannetone French toast sounds otherworldly.
How is the Tobacco Mandarin?
I heard horrified comments about the skankiness and yes there is a bit of skank on the opening but I find it very delectable and wearable. It does what it says on the bottle, tobacco & mandarin, on an ambery base. Good stuff.
Sounds lovely! Must try it on next outing 🙂
Is Tobacco Mandarin the byredo that was a Neiman Marcus exclusive for a while, or am I misremembering?
I’m not sure, it may be though because Nordstroms had the first 3 but not that one for a while. It’s also available at Nordstrom now.
You’re thinking of Belle de Tanger at Neimans. It also has an orange note. It’s quite nice but very fleeting on me!
My dad used to make challah and I loved it so much. Haven’t eaten much of it since he died many years ago.
I got challah two weeks ago when Whole Foods ran out of brioche bread. I may go back to that next week!
I made a sourdough challah a few months ago and it was so delicious! Truly a king among breads.
My favorite bread is a bialy, which I can’t get here in Portland AFAIK, but we have some local bakeries that make amazing artisan breads, so at least I can get good bread if I want it. I used to make it but I eat much less of it these days so I buy it and freeze what I won’t eat immediately.
I’m wearing En Passant today, just by coincidence!
En Passant is so pretty, and such a beautiful name.
I used to buy bialy as a treat when I needed to commute into NYC for meetings or whatever. There was a bialy guy in one of the transit hubs. Yum.
I had the most amazing bialy in Portland. Oh, when one could go places!
Where? and when?
Oh at least five or six years ago at an amazing deli-restaurant right next to the Ace Hotel and across from Powell’s bookstore. But of course I can’t remember the name.
Would it have been Kenny and Zuke’s? It’s a “kosher deli” kinda place, with homemade pastrami and such.
Oh and Portland OR. Not sure which Portland you mean!
Looking at Googlemaps that appears to be the one!
Big fan of Kenny and Zukes! I’m sad they closed Bagelworks last year.
I’m a sucker for almost any kind of bread, and it’s something my doctor and I discuss every year at my checkup. Dr.: “So you mentioned last year that you would like to cut back on carbs, especially bread. Any luck there?” Me: “Nope!” 😀
SOTD is Memoirs of a Trespasser, with a Brooklyn Candle Co. Fern + Moss candle burning in the background. Trying to talk myself out of rearranging the furniture in my home office now that it has reverted to what I call my Little Room of Zen. The current layout leaves enough space for doing yoga, so I moved a couple of plants and knickknacks around and am hoping that will satisfy the need for changes in my surroundings.
I feel you – I’m sure carbs will be pried out of my cold dead hands at the end ?
Yes! If it’s not bread, it’ll be buttered noodles. ? ? ?
Very funny!
I’m always leery of GPs who give nutrition advice. Most of them get no training or very limited training, so they are prone to the same personal biases as anyone else on the matter.
My favorite nutrition-based interaction with him was a few years ago, when I asked what the currently accepted view on eggs was – his response: “Well, they are a whole food.” True, but not as helpful as I was hoping for. ?
SOTD = Tom Ford Amber Absolute
Love this ?: incense, amber, tonka. 8 sprays of course and I want people to stay away from me when I go to the grocery.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKZnz5CBJq-/?igshid=102zgqroiz1yk
Lots of projects this weekend! Oh, and I have decided to take every Monday off in February because I have 2020 carryover days I need to take before June 30th and I still have my 5 weeks for 2021. #firstworldproblems.
Enjoy your long weekends! 🙂
Thank you! I probably have to pay for taking those Mondays off!
There were instances in which I went to town on the sprayer cos I wanted to make sure others could smell my scent. I still had to present my actual skin for them to smell it – AND I ended up choking myself 😀
LOL. The only time in early 2020 when I was in the office that someone smelled my perfume was when Imwore Coromandel (5 sprays).
I smelled a gorgeous scent on someone next to me at a show once and had to ask what it was. Coromandel! So lucky colleagues 🙂
You smell fantastic. Thanks for sharing the tidbit about Laudamiel, had no idea he was the perfumer.
Thanks. At the time, I checked Fragrantica and he was not named, but now, it is listed as his, which I think is only appropriate!
Mr. Spicebomb hoards his time off and then has to “use it or lose it” every calendar year, usually when there’s nowhere he particularly wants to go. Good for you for taking some time and enjoying it!
Thank you. I used to carry a few days and use them in early January coming back from vacation. In 2020, all employees got 5 COVID days and they were use it or lose it so I took them all ?
Nice not to have “The Mondays” in February!
Decided to take Chanel No. 19 edt out for a spin today. We had to do a bit of grocery shopping. It’s cold and windy out, but at least the sun is shining.
Like a few others, I’ve been spending some time trying to purge and tidy up – so far the last few weeks I’ve gone through my clothes and some household things. Yesterday I watched a few makeup folks on Youtube do massive cleanouts. So today I’m going through my makeup drawers of shame, and I’m feeling a bit ruthless. Seems to be a good thing to do when it’s cold outside!
Happy Saturday everyone!
I don’t have many make-up stuff but I have a lot of face care. I probably have to toss out a good amount.
Hello perfume lovers, I am so happy to be here to celebrate Édouard Manet’s birth day with you all. I migrated back to NST by way of a review sent by a client.
As a perfume maker, I must tread lightly here to remain congruent and respect the policies, thus I will share an essence I’ve been working with a loving. (Crossing my fingers that’s okay.)
Vanilla c02 from Madagascar! I decanted some yesterday in the lab and although I didn’t put any on, I can still perceive tendrils of the molecules on me today. I am finding the scent very comforting on this rather dreary day here in Santa Fe as we await a snow storm.
I love vanilla! Nice to see you here. 🙂
Was gonna say – anything with vanilla will have fans here – I’m a devotee myself! Welcome!
I lived in Madagascar for a term in college, and I regret I couldn’t figure out how to visit a vanilla farm. They are very protective of their products, rightly so, and don’t encourage visitors. I wanted to see them hand-pollinating the flowers. . . I did happily bring home about half a dozen vanilla beans, and it was a lovely treat to enjoy them with abandon when I was otherwise a cash-strapped college student.
@Marjorie, to visit a vanilla farm in Madgascar, sounds so divine. I didn’t know those farms were super secret, but it makes sense, a bit like keeping the ancient spice routes secret.
I was able to see some vanilla orchid plants while visiting a botanical garden in Ecuador, which felt really special…but Madagascar is an entire different level. That region is also known for Ylang Ylang.
Have you read Patricia Rain’s epic book “Vanilla : The Cultural History of the World’s Favorite Flavor and Fragrance”? If not highly recommend.
There’s a lovely vanilla farm on the big island of Hawaii which I visited years ago. So interesting to see the actual plant.
On Hawaii, that is a bit more do-able, how exciting! Thank you for sharing @cazaubon, that will be such a grand adventure.
Welcome! Vanilla and an approaching snowstorm in Santa Fe sound so lovely.
Thank you @Sistine, vanilla & a snowstorm in Santa Fe could be an interesting chord! There will be notes of pinon in there for sure.
Hello!
Hello back @Jalapeno
Welcome!
Thank you @hajusuuri
Hello, folks! 🙂
I like all sorts of breads, and many, many other sorts of carbs. We don’t talk about politics, but I’ll just say I’ve been “eating my feelings” for the last few weeks concerning goings-on in the U.S. The sugar rush from cinnamon rolls helped for a little bit, but then I have the sugar crash. I know I should eat more lean protein to even myself out, and more complex carbs, but it’s so much easier to reach for food that’s been processed more. Oh, well.
As for a perfume that smells like bread, I like L’Artisan Bois Farine. I think that’s one of their fun fragrances. 🙂
Speaking about cinnamon rolls made me hungry…
Later!
Perhaps you could compromise and make yourself banana bread with one of the healthier recipes. This has worked for me in the past though right now I’v fallen off the wagon with regards to sugar :/
Why is it that carbs and sugar are so addictive!? For three years I’ve been attempting to curb that addiction and no matter what I do I still yearn for them.
When I eat something containing an unnatural amount of sugar (ie. more than fruit) it feels like my brain goes back on line. So if I’m tired or moody its especially tempting.
Thanks for the suggestion, Merlin! 🙂 I’ll look at banana bread recipes. 🙂 I know my mood stays more even, too, if I’m not doing the sugar high/sugar crash cycle. And I know that eating fresh fruit or canned fruit in fruit juice is better for me than eating the sugar in icing and pastries. There’s just that big gap between knowing what I should be doing and actually doing it. But I’m sure I’m not alone with having a gap like that. (lol)
Wow, perfume that smells like bread, is there a market for that!?! I make some chocolate perfumes that I personally have a hard time wearing because they make we want to eat chocolate.
😉
You just described the entirety of my December! ? sending sympathy hugs.
I did eventually feel like the carb/sugar fest was starting to make me more moody instead of being comforting, and drifted back to a more balanced diet (which still comprises a heinous amount of carbs but also, you know, protein and fiber and fresh veg).
You can do it!
Thanks, Teebear! Hugs back! 🙂
At least I ate some celery with natural peanut butter, and also celery with light cream cheese, before the cinnamon roll this time…
I’ve been getting salad-in-a-bag mixes, and I try every so often to fill up on them before/instead of a carb binge. I think that somewhat helps, too.
But I think one trick for me is getting enough protein in before or early on in the process when I start eating carbs. Once my body registers that it’s gotten the protein that’s what it really needs, it seems to settle me a bit, and the carb cravings ease up to some extent.
I think a balanced approach, and lots of self-compassion, is a great way to go. 😀
I went on a bit of a simple carbs/sugar bender in November and December. Then my body said “OK, enough of that! Get back to your broccoli!” ?
I still have an occasional sweet treat, but have cut consumption way down from those stressful months. ?
Bedtime scent last night: CdG Blue Encens, from a sample some kindly NST person sent me. 🙂 (Thank you!)
SOTD so far is Les Indemodables Couers Velours, from which I definitely get the myrrh and spruce notes, but after a brash opening it almost immediately becomes a skin scent on me. Perhaps I just become anosmic to it very quickly and am unwittingly blazing a perfume trail wherever I go. ?♀️ Reads office and appointment friendly, a good fume if you don’t want to smell like you’re wearing a perfume. Reminded me of Maya Njie, her scents wear very similarly on my skin. Again, likable but I haven’t been compelled to purchase.
Last night did some sampling. Eris Green Spell: Indeed very green, tomato leaf comes through, would have been great for Sleeping Beauty in this week’s CP (I’m thinking of the vines protecting the castle). Like, but not coveting this one.
Masque Milano Dolceacqua le Donne: I just get a vaguely tropical floral (the ylang, I guess) made slightly more interesting by a “sea note”. Meh. Nice enough, doesn’t intrigue me, will pass it on.
Masque Milano Madeleine le Donne: Why did I order this? I guess I was curious. Milk and chestnut really comes through. Chestnut was a new note for me, and the conclusion is a resounding “Nope!”
I love a crusty sourdough, but have no baking aspirations.
sourdough is so good! 😀 I grew up eating Boudin bread, I really miss it.
I’m in the SF Bay Area (5th generation) so also had a childhood filled with good sourdough. My memories are of Bordenave’s, just north of SF. It hasn’t been operating quite as long as Boudin, but at 100 years they’re still having a good run. I hope you’re able to get some good, crusty bread wherever you are now!
I loooooved Madeleine! The other two, Dolceaqua and Petra, did nothing for me. Wish they made Madeleine in the 100ml format.
When I’m in the space to deal with mailing things again, you can have my sample! ?
Does Masque do 100ml of anything? My wishes are the reverse: I wish they made purse sprays more readily available. That said I haven’t fallen hard for anything from them since Luci ed Ombre. I did snap up a purse spray of Russian Tea, though.
When they first launched, all their bottles were 100ml. They do several still in 100ml, including the Petra & Dolceaqua LEs, but they are hard to find.
Gosh, Myrrh and Spruce is such a fabulous pairing, I’m going to go put those two on scent strips right now and inhale deeply.
😉
It IS a good combo! This one was just too fleeting for me. At least on this wearing. I’ll keep and thunk the sample.
Thanks for the sampling report. I also found Oriental Velours to wear very close to the skin, but I think it actually lasted a pretty long time. Myrrh tends to last awhile on me even if it’s quiet.
I tried Oriental Velours twice last week.
Yes it turned quiet pretty quickly but in the end I think I got a 5 to 6 h wear from it. Which is good enough for me. You can always add more or change scents ?
I don’t really care about longevity. I’m happy to switch up my fragrances throughout the day. I just could barely perceive the scent myself after a short while, so probably won’t get anymore of this one. Still, it’s very well done and folks should try for themselves. I just may go scent blind to it quickly.
Musc des Sables and Iris Perle are my favorite from them so far, though I need to get a sample of Vanille Havane.
Oh Vanille Havane is very good! Coming from someone who used to be a vanilla-phobe. i started to warm up to it slowly last year? i am still picky as hell though when it comes to vanilla. ?
SotD = Chanel No. 5 EdP
No. 5 feels comforting on this rainy, cold Saturday. It’s the perfumed hug I wish I could share with everyone.
I am helping a family member clean out her home. She is moving across the country to be near her adult son, his wife, and the grandchildren.
We found an old Rummy Z game (also known as rummy tile) that brought back memories of family gatherings – big dinners, pies for dessert, and hours of games played around the dining room table.
I brought the game home and found there are 105 tiles – there should be 106. The set is missing the blue 4 of clubs. It may yet turn up. Fingers crossed, we’ve got more boxes to sort through today.
This afternoon I’m listening to the BBC Newshour for the first time in months. I love Julian Marshall’s and James Coomarasamy’s voices, so soothing.
Not familiar with Rummy Z, but if you’re looking for new games, Rummikub is a fun, “rummy-like with a twist” tile game.
I think Rummy Z went the way of the dodo back in the 70s. Rummikub is fun too! I’ve played but not recently.
Hey @tiffanie, I’m curious, do you know what year/vintage, the #5 is? Cheers to helping your friend move, may it be filled with grace, moving can be so unsettling. Thank goodness we all love scent and can use it to feel better, right!?
Yep, I wore No. 5 today to feel better. 🙂
My bottle is relatively recent, I would guess I bought it about 5 years ago. I love it because it reminds me of the No. 5 EdT my mother wore when I was a child, even more so than the EdT I’ve smelled in recent years.
Today I’m in a combo of Eau des Missions and SMN Melograno. I tried the EdM to take away some of the sharpness of Melograno but actually the two produce something quite different. Most people think of EdM as a vanilla scent but the ingredients on the bottle include benzoin, tea leaf and ceder higher up on the list (though that doesn’t automatically mean those notes will be stronger). I’v found that an impressive number of perfumes combine well with it.
I forgot to mention that I have a weakness for just about everything baked though the only thing I can reasonably produce is apple or banana bread. On the other hand I am capable of devouring anything – from store bought white bread, to sourdough artisanal and everything in between. Add things like sugar, milk and/or butter to the recipe and my devouring will be even FASTER!
Bois Farine is my reference bread scent though it smell a bit more like peanuts to me. Sometimes I layer it with Mimosa Pour Moi for a particularly delectable sandwich.
Merlin, I have been thinking about Bois Farine lately. I am trying to imagine it with MPM though, and failing! I will take your word for it.
I need to pull my Eau de Missions out!
It’s been drizzly, chilly, and dark all day. A good day to hole up and stay home. Last night I made an incredible dish from a recipe in a cookbook updating Ancient Greek and Roman recipes: Brussels sprouts with onions, golden raisins, green olives, and pine nuts. OMG it’s so good! I had some leftovers for lunch today. Yummy. I’m wearing St. Clair Scents Eve which is a go-to scent for cheerful and pretty. Oddly I am not that much into breads. I do like some crackers with cheese from time to time, just a good crisp water biscuit, maybe with sesame seeds. Back in the 1970s during my first marriage I made bread religiously (not) every Sunday–two loaves. Might be time to try some again–a few months ago I did buy ingredients for my favorite kind, which combines whole wheat, rye and white flour, and cornmeal. It’s called Pilgrim Bread and comes out with a nice sort of grainy texture. That doesn’t sound good but it’s hard to describe, the flavor is nice but the texture is the best part. If I make it, I’ll put a picture on Instagram.
Here’s the Brussels sprouts in my dinner last night, which also included a luxury (for me) of Chilean sea bass: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKX2hrMJIXW7OQM3F6Pb3z2Y96kq3Z06o9Oxb00/.
That Brussels sprouts dish sounds really good. The addition of olive has me curious.
Did you read about the recent discovery of a “snack bar” at Pompeii? It was interesting reading the analysis of the food they thought was sold there.
No, I didn’t, and yes, that would be interesting. And yes, the tartness of the green olives is a great contrast to the sweetness of the raisins (and the sprouts have a kind of sweet taste too), plus the crunchiness of the nuts. Try it!
I love Brussels sprouts as it is. Your recipe sounds like it would take them to a whole different level!
I’m very curious about those Brussels sprouts. I might have to ask my boyfriend to make them. Oh, and you smelled wonderful today. Eve is one of my favorite from St. Clair.
Yes mine too, though I also love Casablanca. You won’t regret it if you (or the boyfriend) try the Brussels sprouts dish. In the recipe it says to cook them on the stovetop but I just roasted the whole thing, which worked fine (I added some water to help get it cooked).
Calypso, what’s the cookbook?
If it’s got carbs I love it. What I make with my sourdough is mostly boules, pizza dough and waffles, crackers, and as of this week English muffins.
Wearing the delightful Le Jardin Retrouvé Citron Boboli today from a tester. It’s the first fragrance with a clove note that hasn’t made me wrinkle my nose a little bit. It somehow stays light and refreshing. Lovely, but I also won’t repine when it’s tinked.
Mmm. Sourdough waffles!
Sourdough English muffins! All those nooks and crannies…..
ooooo: crooks and nannies! ;D
chilly and rainy in Los Angeles, I did go out to Target and Whole Foods. First time I had been in either store for over 8 months?
SOTD is Divine Vanille by Essential Perfumes. From Luckyscent. It’s nice, warm but not cloying a bit of booze and was available in 10ml size. So a little treat. get my first vaccine on Friday afternoon – the pleasure of being over 65.
Yay for going out and yay for getting your vaccine! I have kept up with grocery shopping all through this trouble; it mostly feels safe where I go. I hope you got some little treats!
I think I woo hooed your vaccine yesterday. But I also think every mention of getting a vaccine deserves a “Woo hoo!” WOO HOO!
I’m so glad to be hearing about folks getting vaccinated!
I wish I could figure out how to get mine. My immunologist told me three weeks ago that I should try to get it a.s.a.p, and when I reached out to my doctor’s office through their online portal, all I got was an impersonal form-letter response. So last week, I contacted the scheduling department, and no one’s called me back. I’m scared that there’s more virulent strains moving around the world, and I’ve stayed safe so far, but who knows?! I plan on calling the office directly this week, if I don’t hear soon. It’s hard for me to sit around on hold during the work week, though–not a lot of time for personal business during typical office hours while I’m teaching classes.
Did you try checking your country health department? Ours has a sign up portal, then they contact you when it’s your turn.
New kitten Greta was very lethargic and just not right this morning…took her to the vet today and she has an upper respiratory infection. The gave her some subcutaneous fluids and she is on antibiotics and eyedrops. She should improve in day or two but they said she might need to be hospitalized if she gets worse. Please send some thoughts and prayers her way. ??
And thanks for all the well wishes yesterday. Doc appointment went well and they did x-rays…just waiting on the results.??
I had big perfume testing plans today but am very worried about Greta so no scent yet. May try a couple new B&BW sprays in a bit.
I’m sorry to read this, hoping all the best for Greta. And for you!
Thanks, Gaynor! Greta began to perk up yesterday and is on the mend!
Oh, poor Greta! I hope she feels better soon.
Thank you…she is much improved today!
The best of health prayers to you and Greta both!
Thank you, lillyjo….she is much better today!
Oh no!!! Hope little Greta feels better soon. URIs and kitty flus are pretty common with younger kitties and especially rescues at first when they transfer environments, sending lots of good juju that it’s nothing more complicated than that, and that she bounces back quickly!
Thanks so much , teebear, she perked up after a couple hours yesterday and has kind of done a 360…so much better today!
And I am trying Stumptown Holler Mtn. today…SO good. I think you commented on having Stumptown when you lived in Portland if I am keeping my comment notes straight. 😉
Yay for Greta!!! There’s nothing sadder than a kitty with snuffles and goopy eyes.
And yes, I was definitely the one jonesing on your Stumptown… ?
I used to go back to Portland once a year or so when I was still living on the West Coast, but now I’m back East and the company I did contract work for out there has since ceased operations.
I dearly miss Powell’s, Stumptown, and the Uwajimaya grocery store out in Beaverton.
Stump town Holler Mountain is my regular weekend coffee. I’m also happy they recently started selling it ground, so I don’t have to do the i
Bah, my keyboard was acting up. That should have said “so I don’t have to do the grinding.”
It’s really damn fine coffee to quote one agent. ;)?
Awwwwww, poor little Greta! Hope that she shakes off the kitty cold ASAP!
Thanks, Jalapeno…she is do so much better today. 🙂
Big healing vibes for little Greta!
Vibes received! 🙂 She is much better today.
I am so happy to hear it!
Sending healing vibes to kitteh Greta.
Thank you! The kitteh is much improved! 🙂
Sending you and the kitten well wishes.
Thanks, she is much better today. 🙂
Hope Greta feels better soon! Sending healing vibes.
Vibes received, PL67. 🙂 She is much better today.
Sending healthy vibes to Greta.
Thanks, sistine, she is so much better today! 🙂
Me and Otto Mi Gato are sending Greta positive thoughts through the ether.
Thanks to you and Otto Mi Gato 🙂 ! Greta is much improved today!
Sorry not to have sent good wishes before but I’m so glad she is doing well!
Thank you, Merlin! 🙂
I’m very happy to read your report that the kitten is a lot better today. Wonderful news. I have often experienced this with new kittens–it seems that URI’s are pretty common in shelters or adoption places. And mine, too, perked right up after getting some treatments. I bet she’ll be racing around again very soon!
I’m working tonight and tomorrow but guess who will be on a 6 day staycation starting Monday? Yep, it’s me! I can not wait!, especially since I’m here with Mr. Grumpy pants tonight. I’m wearing original Juicy Couture as I’m loving tuberose this winter. As for bread.. I love it all. My grandmother used to bake Lebanese bread and sell it out of her basement. It remains the best bread I’ve ever tasted. More than forty years later, I still run into people that bought bread from her, and they tell me how delicious it was.
Yay for six whole days off!!
I’m very excited for it!
Nice to have the time off!
Yes! I didn’t even know I had the time. I thought I had used my vacation during the shutdown. Apparently, I didn’t and I had to use it or lose it by February 1st. I wish I could bank them, but it’s not allowed.
w00t w00t for a 6-day staycation!!
My favorite kind of vacation. You don’t have to ask me twice to stay home, lol.
Enjoy your week off! I think that Juicy Couture is a nice one. I ended up swapping my bottle a while back, but I enjoyed wearing it for a little while.
Yay! Enjoy your staycation! ?
Have a great staycation! What an amazing story about your grandmother’s bread.
Enjoy your time off! And I can only imagine how yummy your grandmother’s bread was.
Enjoy your time off! Woo hoo!
I love the story about your grandmother’s bread; it must have been so wonderful!
Hi-five for the delight of a staycation!
lillyjo, did she never teach you to make it?
Robin, she hated having kids in the kitchen. By the time i was grown up, she was no longer able to bake, so no, i never learned.?
Gotcha.
Question for fumies who do a lot of decanting:
Do you have a measuring system for accurately measuring small amounts of perfume, such as .5 – 5 mls?? What do you use? Where can I get one?/many?
The cheap, squeeze pipettes I have don’t give me confidence. Decanting today, I noticed that my bag of small spray bottles marked 2 mls held EXACTLY the same size spray bottles as my bag marked 3 mls. After trying to measure them in a variety of ways, I think that if you technically fill the little spray bottle to the very rim without putting in the sprayer, you will get just about 3 mls in the bottle. I am annoyed that I didn’t notice the discrepancy (none discrepancy?!) earlier. I don’t think I ever swapped such small amounts–usually I do 5 or 10 mls. But, never-the-less, I am really bothered by this. (I once bought 10 ml bottles that had the same issue (only way to get 10 mls in them was to over-fill up to the very rim–once I realized that they were too small, I treated them like they were 8 mls), but double-checking 10 mls is much easier than 2 mls!
I haven’t done it but I think you would need a professional pipette with ml markings on it or a small syringe.
I use plastic syringes which I had previously bought for measuring cat meds. You can get a box of 100 for about $10 on Amazon. Search for “1ml Syringe Sterile with Luer Slip Tip No Needle Individually Sealed”
Ahah! That is exactly what I used to use. I forgot and my cats have been well. I’ll purchase some of those!
If you have a lab supply store in your area, or easy access to one, they have calibrated glass pipettes with measurement marks on them. The bulb is sold as a separate piece.
When I first started decanting I measured how much to fill using a plastic pipette and the 3, 5 and 10mL atomizers I use filled to almost the top, enough room to screw in the atomizer top without spilling. I now just estimate so it is close enough. Also, after all, if we are truly splitting / swapping precisely, we should also charge for the portion that’s lost due to spillage which happens 99% of the time.
I hear you, but it is not about being concerned that I am not getting paid enough, but my worry that I am misrepresenting that I am sending more than I actually am. I just want an accurate system for checking the small bottles that I buy and use.
If we have to worry about not being paid enough or getting like value, we’re probably in the wrong business ?. In any case, time was when I read the rules of every event and I saw somewhere that if one is intending to split a bottle (fully as in not holding back a larger share), one should take into consideration decanting loss.
Hey Oakland Fresca, what about getting a digital scale? I think they are pretty cheap these days and can be used in the kitchen if your a cook. I also tell all my students to use glass droppers, they are so much better than the plastic and of course can be cleaned and used over & over.
So. Okay. Dumb question. I have a pretty sensitive kitchen scale, that weighs grams and ounces. How does the weight of something correspond to the fluid mls or fluid ounces in perfume? I feel like I should understand this, but I don’t. 😳
There are no dumb questions Oakland Fresca, especially when it comes to perfume and weight, which can be confusing.
Does your scale have a tare button? If so, you can put a small bottle on there, tare it to “zero out” the weight of the bottle, and then put your drops in to determine the amount of grams & ounces. My scale has a button that lets me see how many grams and ounces something is. So for example if my scale is set to grams I press the button and it shows me how many pounces those grams are.
One fluid ounce is approximately 30 mls, 1 ml is approximately 30 drops. One gram is approximately .0353 ounces. There are handy online converters to simplify things if your not a math head, like me: https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/weight/gram-to-ounce.html
Intending this answers your question
I am going to chime in for a selection of glass lab pipettes from eBay. They come with bulbs. You get a nice selection of sizes and widths with clear and easy markings to read. Glass is so much easier to clean than plastic and I never even draw the fragrance into the bulb with these. I just rinse with soap and water and do a final wipe with rubbing alcohol and I do not detect any of the prior fragrance at all. I also found a small set of metal funnels at the grocery store. I use the funnel to get vintage perfume from splash bottles into a little atomizer. Some of the splash openings are tiny. Cleaning these is also quite easy. I have decided that 2021 is the year that I eliminate as much single use plastic as I can. Our world is literally swimming in the stuff. I will get off my soapbox now.
I just ordered one (up to 10 mls), but in the lower mls it still looks tough to determine accuracy. The plastic syringe medicine measurers (actually, I used these a lot when my kids were little as well as with my cats) are washable. I just totally forgot about them! I’ll look for some of those as well, as you can find them for very small amounts, and they are easy to read even for .25 of a ml (Hajuusuri this is about my compulsiveness about understanding what I am doing, not about begrudging a loss of perfume ;-)).
I understand completely about compulsiveness and I have my share of them…just not on perfumes except when I first started and then realized the lack of precision does not diminish my enjoyment of them as a wearer and as a decanter for all sorts of reasons.
That said, if you are planning to use syringes to decant, the bottle from which you’re decanting should have a wider base if it’s tall (e.g. I ended up doing the spray from the bottle method for Iris Torrefie because the darn bottle would not stay upright; I could have found a styrofoam-like base to keep it steady but I was too lazy to do that).
All this talk of bread prompted me to pick up an Acme baguette at the farmer’s market earlier. And I promptly devoured 1/3 of it. Baguettes and simple toasts of any sort are probably my favorite breads.
SOTD is a sample of Eau My Soul that I’m trying to finish. I’m waffling over getting a full bottle. I love the opening but the late drydown on my skin is kind of a generic musk, still pleasant but maybe not worth a full bottle.
I’m already missing the fairytale CP! It was so fun, and it’s nice to read some late reportings today. Thank you therabbitsflower!
Eau My Soul comes in a 15mL travel spray (I have one).
As for bread, I am into brioche bread…is a loaf a week too much? ?
Did you get your 15ml travel spray directly from their UK site? I can’t seem to find it stateside. Travel sprays are my preferred size, since I have too much already!
As for a loaf of brioche a week… not too much if the rest of your diet is leafy greens?! ?
A ha ha ha. I looked at the nutritional info and the whole loaf is 8 servings … not bad since I rarely go with more than one serving at a time.
As to Eau My Soul, my ooops! I have the 30mL and I got it from LuckyScent. I have 2 parfums (Clouds and The Waft from the Loft) and these are 15mLs directly from the UK.
Loving only half of a perfume is a rather good argument for NOT getting a full bottle. My $0.02 worth.
Yes, such wise and practical advice!
I’m glad the fairy tale CP was so popular! I loved it too. And I’ve been curious to try Eau My Soul. One of these days maybe.
Loved reading through everyone’s comments!
Good recipes on the internet is Jessica In The Kitchen’s vegan waffles. Best waffles that I’ve ever made and I’ve tried a whole bunch of recipes.
Also made Mathilde’s Tomato Tart from smittenkitchen this weekend and it really is lovely.
Not wearing perfume much, my vertigo and nausea are back.
wow
I am coming over to your place for eats!
I hope you feel better soon!
Love a good tomato tart. I made many this summer. Will look up that recipe.
Hope you feel better soon!
Oh no! Feel better soon, Amyitis!
So sorry you are having problems, I had that for several months and it is miserable. Speedy recovery to you!
I hope you feel better soon!
Vertigo and nausea sound miserable, I hope they subside soon!
Yuck, vertigo and nausea are a terrible combo to be dealing with.
So sorry Amyitis!
In Montale’s Vetiver today. It’s consistently perfect 🙂
Ha, and I am in good old Bois des Iles again tonight, and same 🙂
Long time no post! For those who messaged me, I’m good! Just working through the emotions of a sudden and unexpected divorce. I’m doing well and on a good path.
A fragrant thing happened that I wanted to share. I haven’t been in the mood for perfume much in the last 60 days BUT I travel a lot for work and have this bag that I put samples and decants in, in my suitcase, and it goes in the compartment with socks etc. I was prepping for a run yesterday, sitting at the counter putting on shoes, and there was a lovely smell of perfume. I sniffed my sweater etc trying to find where it was coming from… and it was the socks! Not a single perfume but a lovely mixture of all the samples and decants. So I decided not to wear them and put them back in the drawer to sniff again later.
Only perfume people would understand!
Hope you all are well!
I’m so glad to hear you’re doing well! Your socks story is hilarious.
Love your sock story!
Sorry about your personal life, and welcome back!
Hi Gvillcreative, I’m so sorry – that’s really rough. I went through something similar and it took time for the shock and grief to wear off…but when it did I found myself doing better than I had been with the said person. I’m wishing you the same realisation!
I’m glad you are finding pleasure in scent again ?
Nice to see you here!?
Glad you are on a good path now. Sending you healing thoughts.
Loved the stock story! Indeed these are the experiences you could only share here. ?
I’m so sorry about the sudden upheaval in your life. It sounds like you’re on the way back to feeling good again. I love your sock drawer fragrance melange, and totally get it! ?
Nice to see you here! Sending love and peace! I went thru the same situation last year and I know how tough it is.
Love your socks story! You put a smile on my face! ?
Your sock mix reminds me of sniffing my pillowcase of Halloween candy when I was little. No single candy stood out but a lovely melange that was more than the sum of its parts. 🙂
Sending you big hugs! Glad you are on a good path and hope you find some comfort and enjoyment from perfume again soon.
Sock mélange… similar to sweater mélange. :-). Of course we understand. Sorry your personal life blew up but it sounds like you are recovering well. May the road rise to meet you and the wind be at your back!
Glad you posted and may you stay strong through the personal goings on.
Hi, Gvillcreative – I love your nautilus icon – “build thee more stately mansions” as you work and travel and contribute good things to life! Thanks for stopping by!
Good to hear from you (especially the socks story!), but sorry to hear about the setback in your personal life. Hugs.
gvillecreative, I am so glad to hear you are doing well despite the crazy stuff!
And love the sock story.
I still smell Ninfeo Mio in my hair so that is my SOTD
Sipping green tea.
Its is so cold here, I am not going to shower until after I come back from outside.
Onion bagel for breakfast with lots of cream cheese.
The wheat absolute note in En Passant would make that my favorite perfume with a bread note, which someone on this blog mentioned before too. All the bread is my favorite type of bread, with whipped salted butter please.
Mmm. Whipped salted butter. And honey? Just about perfection, in my book.
I am enjoying my day off today, just have to motivate myself into getting the vacuuming done. Wearing no 5 Eau Premiere right now but when I take my shower, I think that I will wear Lyric.
Good luck motivating yourself for the vacuuming. I never manage to!
I’m in Zadig & Voltaire This is Her!, on a dreary, drippy day. I’m getting a creamy vanilla with peach notes, even though peach is not listed. Plush and yummy, not too sweet, the scented version of a well-loved winter robe and fuzzy house shoes.
This was a syrupy sample, and I had to add some perfumers alcohol to loosen it up. I’m sure that, plus the age, changed the notes to some extent. ?
The descriptions of most of the Z&V line put them right up my alley – but they all share some common note that I’m averse to (at least on my skin). Disappointing cos the bottles are cute too!
Thanks for so many well wishes yesterday! Miss Greta perked up after a few hours home yesterday and is on the mend! Kind of a 360 turnaround…she is eating, playing and presently purring on my lap.?
I googled how to give cats liquid meds videos and am giving her antibiotics on top of washing machine. 🙂 I haven’t had cats in several years and for my dearly departed Charlotte I used to give her a pill for her thyroid and a couple puffs from an inhaler each night for the last year or two of her life ehaheeh and I wonder how the heck did I do it? Love finds a way!♥️
Going to probably sample a couple more from Kyse today and will weigh in later w/ thoughts.
True to my word I am comparing Macarons and Jasmine Macarons. I much prefer Macarons…I do like jasmine but somehow the it isn’t working for me with this one.
I agree, the Jasmin Macarons didn’t quite hit the spot for me, hoping Macarons will be more of a love.
Go Greta!
Love indeed finds a way. In my case, not always the best way, but a way nonetheless ?
Glad you are back to sampling today!?
Good to hear miss Greta is doing better! ?
So glad to hear that Miss Greta is recovering! And hooray for the existence of instructional videos on just about everything!
Very glad to hear that Greta is feeling much better!
It’s very true, love does find a way! I think pets know we are trying to help them and for that, they do forgive us.
Hooray for Greta! Was the washing machine going when she was on top of it?
LOL hajusuuri! And, She-ra, I am so happy about purry little Greta’s recovery!!!
It was off/not running but the lid is glass so it might have been a disconcerting if she were to look down…perhaps a bit like the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge. 😉 The height and slipperiness work well for the task.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhangjiajie_Glass_Bridge
Oh my gawd! I’m not a fan of glass-bottomed walkways! At my sister’s workplace (not sure if she’ll be back to the same place post-COVID), there’s a set of stairs that’s all glass and you can kinda see a few stories down. Shudder.
? Nope, nope, nope!
My boerboel now gets an anti-inflammatory put into the back of his mouth every day. He has the most enormous jaws but since puppyhood he has allowed me to do that. It’s pretty unbelievable!
I did not know about boerboels and that is a most magnificent and beautiful dog!! Sending him a scritch on his soft jowls!
Hurray for Greta kitteh feeling better today! ?
She-ra, so the top of the washing machine is just so Greta won’t be tempted to run away?
My mom has adopted a 10 year old cat this month, on 2 meds, and she had not had a cat in over 20 years, so she is (re)learning too.
They suggest it in a video I watched b/c it’s easiest if you’re standing at full height and not bending over trying to do it on the floor, etc. so a table or dishwasher works well. (Seems less gross than the kitchen or dining room table too. 🙂 ) And it’s slippery so the cat can’t get traction w/ the nails to get away. ehaeheh and then with the cat in front of you it can only back into you too with nowhere to go. I have given other cats liquid meds too maybe 8 or so years ago but it feels like another life. 😉
Thank you, that all makes sense!
Brutally cold, but at least sunny today. Debating if I should venture outside to run my errands, but I think I’d better go because the temperatures are not going to improve any time soon. Winter has finally arrived! ??
Wearing and thunking a sample of DSH Tea & Charcoal that a generous NSTer sent me. I like it a lot and I think is full bottle worthy. Not a priority, perhaps some day.
Happy Sunday!
Yep winter is here! Maybe go today and it won’t be as busy out?
Yep! I ended up going to a couple of places. They were busy as usual, but I am glad I finished everything!
We’re supposed to be getting some wintry mix winter storm but since it had been so cold out, I bet it be less of a mix. Stay warm!
We are also expecting wintry mix on Tuesday! I am crossing fingers it changes to rain at some point. You too stay warm!
I thunked a DSH sample today too. Mine was Mata Hari, which is very nice, though I don’t need more immediately. I’d like to try Tea and Charcoal eventually. Glad to hear you like it!
I have not tried Mata Hari yet, but I have other DSH samples to thunk this week. I highly recommend Tea & Charcoal, especially if you like smokey tea notes. Very nice and cozy for cold weather.
Oh yeah, winter is here for sure! I saw that temps might be getting colder later on this week, so getting your errands done today was a smart move.
Temps will be in the 20’s here by Thursday feeling in the single digits. Awful but expected! ?
Cold, as so many are, so I went with Shalimar. That works with the brioche trend. I don’t eat a lot of bread, but I do love baguettes with Kerry Gold whipped butter. And whoever mentioned cinnamon raisin toast has altered my shopping list for the week. Thanks, and happy Sunday.
Happy Sunday to you anngd! I have not had a slice of bread in years and reading comments today is REALLY hard, LOL…
But I do like my butter 🙂
Robin are you on keto as well as intermittent f? Every time I try keto I last for 3 days or less. Whichever plan it is – congrats on the discipline!
No, no keto! But I gave up gluten years ago (which saved my knees & other inflammation issues), and gluten free bread is not all that delicious to begin with, and in general I find that if I limit my portions of starchy carbs, I can eat more food without gaining weight. And I do like to eat 🙂
Unfortunately eating is a favourite activity for me 😀 Just for health reasons I sometimes make banana bread using oats and one can use gluten free oats. There’s also a recipe for almond apple bread with olive oil which is surprisingly yummy:
https://paleoglutenfreeguy.com/olive-oil-apple-bread/
I’ve never made the icing. It’s a lovely savoury-sweet treat!
I was going to answer above about the Bois de Farine and MpM which I’m now trying again… I think layering might delete some on the delicacy of both scents. The mimosa does sweeten up the BdF but perhaps I prefer wearing each on a different spot to get alternate whiffs of each… Might need further experimentation!
Oh, thank you for the recipe! I do eat oats several times a week.
Do not worry though, I eat really well and in large quantities. I miss “real” bread, but that’s it, I eat two rather large meals a day with all sorts of good things…I am sure I would not last long on keto either, in general I do not like doing low carb, just low-ish starch and I probably don’t eat quite as much fruit as I used to. But I have worked out a middle ground where I am not hungry all the time and am not eating meals that feel like I am being deprived of good things.
And, my weight and blood sugar are now excellent.
My son and husband eat bread, but they do not go buy really good bread so it’s awfully rare that I look at their plates and am jealous. 🙂
Sprayed on a sample of Byredo Bibliothèque for the umpteenth time hoping it would work for me but no, it still doesn’t work. I have lots of great memories of my time working in the library but this is not it. Time to cross it definitively off the list.
Wiped it off and sprayed some JM Scarlet Poppy over top, which is helping.
I just got to try Scarlet Poppy. I thought it was really good! It reminded me of something though, i could’nt place it.
4 hours to go until staycation! I’m glad I’m working today though because we are doing markdowns, so I’m picking up a turtleneck for 3 dollars and a Christmas bathrobe for 1 cent! That’s right 1 cent! I’ve never seen such a crazy markdown before.
Sotd is Alien Essence Absolute. YouTube and fragrantica would have you believe this is the greatest perfume that ever was created. It’s going for insane prices. Don’t fall for it. I like it, but I prefer some of the other flankers. It’s Alien mixed with vanilla.
Glad you are on the countdown! Wow, those are some great deals you found.
Absolutely great deals!
3 more hours, lillyjo!
You got me at the $0.01 cent bathrobe! I once bought a pink CZ necklace and thought it was $9.99 with some markdown. I had my credit card out and when the salesperson said $0.49 we both looked at the credit card and just laughed. I took out a dollar and told her to keep the change.
Ha! I thought of you when I saw that price! I won’t be using my employee discount on the robe. Turtleneck yes though.
Wow – what a deal! Alien Essence Absolue is a sample I managed to finish and probably should get a bottle of. I haven’t tried any Alien flanker that I preferred but South Africa does get a limited range… Which flankers do you prefer? I’m not that much of a floral girl!
OMG – I see it’s discontinued. So that’s why prices are rocketing?
And…is no longer available anywhere. Oh well. I’m pretty shocked because I thought it was universally loved.
The prices are skyrocketing, I think because of the discontinuation and the hype. It is very well done, but it doesn’t deserve that price, imo, but I’m cheap, and broke lol. I love The Taste of Fragrance version and Alien leather version. The one I’m bummed about missing out on is Alien Sunessence Saphir. Alien eau Sublime is very good too, if you like lemon. I just don’t think it’s right that people are being asked to pay more than retail for perfume that is less than ten years old.
I thought the absolue was really rich and lovely. Unfortunately the female Mugler’s all seem to contain something that irritates my nose a bit – this might have been why I never bought it in the end. Maybe it’s the floral notes in them because I’m fine with the unisex and male ones. Unfortunately the Taste of Fragrance versions, and the leather never got here.
With regards to pricing I think that’s just the way our economy works – if something is in demand then he who can pay the most gets it. Where this really upsets me is when it comes to actual life saving products – masks, sanitizer and vaccines.
I don’t think I have tried that one. I assume it is discontinued. I have Eau Extraordinaire which was a blind buy a few years back but it has some vanilla in the base too if memory serves…need to wear it again. I can’t keep the Alien flankers straight.?
I just googled and see the vulgar price gouging now. 😉 People, myself sometimes included, are so funny…the minute you discontinue a perfume we all suddenly want it. What a strange bunch are we.?
Yeah, I do that too. It’s pretty nuts, lol.
Major bargains for sure!! Wow! Re: the Alien Essence Absolue, I also got a bit of myrrh in with the vanilla and jasmine. I should give my bottle a sniff to see if that is still the case.
I get some benzoin. Some people call it ambery, but it’s not to me.
Yes, definitely benzoin or myrrh, it’s not just vanilla & jasmine.
Yay for those great deals! I love Alien Essence Absolue but fortunately got wind of the discontinuation in time and am well stocked. I would not pay those crazy prices.
Yeah, I’m sorry I missed it but wouldn’t pay the new asking prices.
Wearing MAAI today.
This scent changes overtime from a menthol tuberose to a mossy resinous animalic. Sometimes i feel it getting louder again after 5 hours. This stuff is GOOOOOOOD. I love it so much.❤️ dont get why it only has a 4.15 rating on fragrantica. This deserves a 6 ?
I’m in Eris Night Flower from a sample today. It’s an oddball one.
Need to get a few chores done, plus put in an hour or two of work, though I’m really foot dragging on that. Once I boot up the computer and drive in I’ll be fine. Just don’t want to.
On second cup of coffee. Spent the morning cutting out a pattern, which I need to get stitched up be next weekend as I’ve got a deadline to send feedback back to the pattern company. I probably wouldn’t get any sewing done otherwise.
Read in a magazine (People?) that Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem are going to star in a biopic of Lucy and Desi. Having a hard time imagining Nicole in that role. Not sure who I’d cast instead, though, and she’s undoubtedly a great actress.
This would be a great CP or LWP: name a TV series you would like to remake, cast it and tell is what perfume the character would wear.
Hmm… let me think ?
?come and knock on our door, we’ve been waiting for you ? LOL. Although, I barely know any current actors to recast with.
I have trouble imagining her also. She doesn’t strike me as a very physical actress. But, that might be why she is doing it…
Hmm..the redhead thing well,…I am going to root for Nicole on this one, but I feel it would be a stretch!
I’m in ISM on this cold, wet day and it’s making me happy and grateful.
Question for you all – I have a friend who owns one perfume, Portrait of a Lady, and would like to branch out a bit.
She likes sandalwood, amber, maybe boozy and vanilla notes, woody…
I’m thinking Le Labo Santal 33, Angels’ Share since so many of you have enjoyed it and I could study up on Fragrantica but thought I would check with you because you’re so knowledgeable and selfishly I like hearing which perfumes you like.
Thank you!
Has she tried Guerlain Samsara? It’s definitely got sandalwood. But I will also add the caveat that I have not smelled a new bottle. The ones I have are over 10 years old at this point.
Thank you! Samsara is a good idea – I have a more recent bottle but I’m guessing your 10 year old is even better.
I’m fairly sure she hasn’t tried it since it was easier for her to reference candle scents she liked v perfume since she has such little experience.
I’ll suggest she get a variety of samples – no better way to know what one likes.
How about Guerlain Spiritueuse Double Vanille, or Malle Dries Van Noten?
Thank you! I think she would like both of those – particularly the warmth the vanilla gives the wood.
Loving this cold weather. Church, then a stop at Sephora to return some skin care that was irritating my skin. Walk over to Muji, then Deciem to exchange concealer.
Gabrielle Essence, although it’s not what I’d normally grab in very cold weather. But, it’s inoffensive.
Back to knitting a cable beanie that was giving me fits. I finally started using stitch markers between repeats, and now I’m cooking along easily.
Go Pack Go! My husband is sick to his stomach with nerves.
I have a couple of friends who were rooting for the Packers this afternoon, too.
SOTD: I’m in Macaque. It was a wonderful evocation of the top of a forrest, until I began to get a slight headache. Was this due to the scent? I checked the notes and it had a suspicious comments about a synthetic musk, always a danger sign to me.
For perfume bottle geeks:
Blown Away is a Netflicks reality competition about glass artists. I had assumed only the family’s of contestants and I actually watched it. Netflicks, however, ordered a second season which became available this week. If you like to watch vessels-in-the-making crack and fall to the floor, or just really like art glass, this is the show for you. i happen to really like art glass.
In season 2 Episode 6, the contestants are assigned to make a small perfume bottle as well as a factice size, and the two are supposed to be identical. (They didn’t to use the word fictive.) Michael Germain was the guest judge.
The contestants each indicated his/her ignorance of perfume. Several explain that since they spend their time carrying and molding liquid glass in, or near blast furnacesGlass art boutiques, they tend to be sweaty not sweet smeiling . One decided to make a bottle to protest the killing of sperm whale to obtain amber gris. (A practice that of course no longer exists, and the whales were actually mainly killed to obtain oil for lamps). The contestants also seemed to think perfume is sold in pints, rather than milliners because even their “small bottles” were the size of water pitchers.
The two best bottles were a blue whale shaped bottle , which, if miniaturized would be a nice bottle for a beach or oceanic scent. and a black dimpled hour glass shaped bottle.
I always appreciate a dark glass bottle since the opacity protects the juice. Germain however faulted the dark glass because buyer’s supposedly want to see the sparkly liquid. (Yes, he referred to juice as a sparkly).
No black glass? Hello, has he noticed the Tom Ford private collection opaque black bottles. You can’t see the juice at all, and this a very expensive, high priced line.
Oh, how interesting. Thanks for the heads up about Blown Away. Might give it a watch sometime.
If you are you curious about how glass makers create complex color swirls, tiny flowers, or create glass animals, or if you want to see them do this, this is the show for you.
There are fewer “personality” dramas than on other competition shows, since you have to a reasonably calm temperament when working with molten glass. So if you like realty shows for the villains and the hissy fits, this is not the show for you.
Another Blown Away watcher here. Watched season one a while back, and coincidentally got started on season two earlier today. Not up to episode 6 yet, but looking forward to it after your mini-review.
Read this and laughed and then read it to my husband. I LOVE that someone was protesting the killing of Sperm whale for ambergris. That is really funny—not the near extinction of Sperm whale of course!
I’m so glad I found this on Netflix here too! I love glass art. Thanks for the recommendation!
Song of the Day: https://youtu.be/RvV3nn_de2k
Chilly, but not nearly as raw and windy as yesterday. Did a couple of outdoor tasks, then switched to inside chores.
Got a phone call from my mom, a text from my brother, and an email from my BFF, all wishing me a Happy Birthday. Pizza for dinner, but no beer this time… I ran out. Maybe I should stop in at Wegman’s sometime soon to see what they have? ??
Hope that everyone’s weekend has been rolling along!
SOWeekend = Soivohle Paracelsus, from the sample that keeps on giving.
Happy Birthday Jalapeno!??????
You and Sammy are still Rocking!???
Thanks lillyjo! ??
A very happy birthday to you Jalapeno! I think if you ran out of beer you have to have another birthday tomorrow 🙂
Thank you Robin! I might do “Beer-Thirty” tomorrow if something strikes my fancy. Depends on how errands, weather, and appointments go…
Happy birthday, Jalapeno!!! Agree w/ Robin…beer tomorrow!?
Thanks, She-ra! ? There should still be some pizza left over tomorrow!
Happy, happy, happy Birthday, Jalapeno! ????????
Thank you, perfumelover67!
Wishing you a very Happy Birthday, Jalapeno! Definitely celebrate with a beer tomorrow! ???
Thanks Gail!
Happy birthday!!
Thank you cazaubon!
Happy birthday, Jalapeno! Hope you had a fun day!
whoop! whoop! hope your day was a par-tay! happy birthday 😀
Sorry to be a day late, Jalapeno – I hope your birthday was good and that you have a good year!