Saturday is The Day of the Dude. We're taking it easy, man, with our standard open thread poll. Talk about anything you like — the fragrance you’re wearing today, your most dude-ish fragrance, whatever.
Or, ask a question about fragrance, then see if anyone else has asked a question that you can answer…
Note: the Ordained Dudeist Priest Patch, "The Dudeist seal of iron-on approval", is $5 at Dudeism.
Just wanted to add that it’s been a busy week, and I am WAY behind on reading comments. I will catch up! Meanwhile if you said something to me and I didn’t answer, you could post a nudge here.
Be like the Dude; don’t put too much pressure on yourself.
LOL — thank you, excellent advice.
🙂 !
Maybe a White Russian would help? The Dude abides.
I used to love white russians. And they always helped. Now I am a vermouth & soda person, which is probably very un-dude-ish and is perhaps my whole problem.
I do a sweet vermouth and tart cherry juice over ice sometimes. Like a little tonic for the taste buds!
Add a splash of grapefruit soda and it’s a very refreshing appertif!
Black Perfecto EdT today. I missed CP yesterday because I didn’t bring my Baiser de Russie with me to get new car and check out new home.
A few extra gray hairs getting used to new car and a new city at the same time, but I successfully made it to the house. So pleasant just sitting in an empty place at the kitchen counter, with fireplace going. I brought a portable Bluetooth speaker so was listening to Leonard Cohen this morning.
The tough part begins tomorrow, as I drive back to NYC. It’s the Chicago part that scares me. Once I hit I-80, I’ll relax. If you don’t hear from me by Wednesday, send out the hounds….
Oh that all sounds lovely!! A few gray hairs never killed anybody 😉
Very good wishes for the ride home.
A new house is so exciting! And a fireplace is a must in Wisconsin.? Best of luck with the drive! I hear you about Chicago, I always take a coach bus when I have to go alone. Are you driving back to NYC alone?
Hope the sun is out for you today too!?
I’m very excited for you starting your new home in WI and all that entails. Best of luck with your drive back to NYC! Let us know how that goes.
Good luck w/ the drive! I tried original BP but never the EDT I don’t think.
I decided to try a small, cheap bottle of this to see how it compared. So far I prefer the EdP.
Good luck with the drive! I’m really excited for your move. You will just love the summers!
Yeah, driving on Chicago freeways is no joke! I am a confident driver, but they just drive SO fast around there.
Good luck and enjoy your solo drive back home!
Chicago is exciting driving! Can you drop down to I-80 way west of Chicago and miss most of it?
I could and have thought of that, but my drive is already 9 hours to my overnight stay, not sure I want to add extra time. I’ll be going thru Chicago afternoon on a Sunday, so hoping it’s a bit calmer.
My neighbor recommended skirting west too. Said it isn’t as much longer as I would think.
Good luck on the drive! Which car did you end up getting? (You may have mentioned previously)
Forester! Which I think you have. Love it so far.
Super! My “new” car is now 8 years old!
You smell wonderful, and here’s to wonderful moments in WI from now on!
Thanks!
Best of luck for a safe uneventful drive!
Thanks. Someone recommended a podcast series on the history of Rome.
Welcome to Wisconsin! There’s a few perfumistas here, as you can see. You might be ok through Chicago since things like live entertainment and air travel are still low.
The winters are beautiful here too, as long as you dress for it : )
I can tell it’s beautiful. Only two things about winter concern me: the length and driving. I do fine in cold weather itself…it’s just adding clothes and accessories! (As opposed to summer in NYC, when there’s only so much you can take off….). Very much looking forward to exploring.
I ignored Kevin’s recent sage advice about not buying more samples and got various samples from LuckyScent in the mail yesterday. It’s still a treat getting a package in the mail! Wearing Une Nuit a Doha today and it’s delicious.
My question for anyone: on the Hermes website where they offer buying the Hermessences as a “gift set of four 15 ml travel sprays,” they don’t list all their Hermessences in the dropdown choices, only seven or so. Does anyone know if it’s possible to choose others, maybe by visiting an Hermes boutique? Or calling?
Well, on the Europe website they rotate them round a bit. So you get a certain choice for x months and then others, at least that was my experience few months back when I was hoping they would have santal massoia and kept checking back. and one day they did.
What I ultimately want to do is to offer a split, I’ll take one or two of them and see if others want to join. But I was hoping that we could all choose whichever ones we want. I didn’t realize it was only certain ones.
Yay for buying samples…a necessary evil imo! My problem is more that so many recent houses in the last 5-10 are poser niche and then there is great disappointment with you try the samples vs. the problem actually being the samples…it’s the houses…let’s hold them accountable for being meh and overpriced! 😉
Agree–if I really want to try something, I have to do samples so I don’t make a more expensive mistake. I keep a list going and only order about twice a year.
Agree about the recent houses! Not all, but many are so disappointing.
They really are…no excuses or bailout for poser niche houses…just don’t buy FBs. 😉
They list what they have in stock for shipping. Yes, a local store might have something that isn’t on the website, but it works both ways — they might be out of something else.
Okay, got it. Thanks.
I suggest choosing a boutique and calling them to place an order.
Thanks, hajusuuri. You are the expert! I’ll wait until I’m ready to organize a split and then call a boutique or two and announce here.
This morning was a toss up between 10 Corso Como and Dune. I went with 10CC and will probably wear Dune tomorrow.
The sun is out and I have a 5 day weekend which is awesome. I also have to write 2 papers while I’m off, which is not awesome. I’m gonna try and get out and enjoy the sun for awhile each day anyway.
I’m pretty excited that my favorite small town coffee shop has opened a cafe here and I no longer have to drive 90 miles to get my favorite chai tea latte. Their secret is it’s house made, not out of a box like some other coffee stores-who shall remain nameless?-use. Now it’s just a 10 minute drive away and I treated myself to one this morning.
In skincare related news, I just got my first order of Paulas choice face wash and toner to try. Curious to see if I will notice any difference in my skin.
Oh, I’m loving so much of this! 5 day weekend! Homemade chai! And Dune?! Good luck on the papers. I hope the muses smile upon you and the writing goes smoothly!
Yay for caffeine! Have been debating over a moisturizer w/ SPF and a Niacinamide treatment from Paula’s Choice and probably should just buy them already.
I mix my sunscreen with my primer so can choose any moisturizer should I feel like I need it. I haven’t worn make-up since June / July last year except one day a few weeks back but I still try to follow a skin care routine that normally happens pre-makeup.
That’s a good idea. I too haven’t been wearing much makeup. I do like a good lip balm though. I have tried and like Dionis Vanilla Bean and have an extra from a gift set I can send your way if interested. I bought one w/ hand creme and quite liked it so I bought a multi-set of lip balms and have an extra Vanilla Bean unused. Moisturizes nicely, isn’t tacky and the roll up/down mechanism is sound. 😉
https://www.ulta.com/vanilla-bean-goat-milk-lip-balm?productId=xlsImpprod13681873
Thanks for the offer. Alas, I just bought yet another tube of O’Keefe’s Lip Repair with SPF 35 – it’s very emollient and no white cast whatsoever!
Happy 5 day weekend!
I love Paula’s Choice – good value and fragrance-free for those of us with sensitive skin. She’s added a lot of “trendy” items lately (boosters and such with things like acai berries or chia seeds) that haven’t really done anything for me, but her basics (cleansers, toners and moisturizers) are generally pretty good. There’s usually an opportunity to order samples of things, which I appreciate.
I second this PC basics rec — good ingredients at a great price point
Enjoy your long weekend! ?
Haven’t tried PC cleanser or toner, but the exfoliants/night creams are good repurchases for me–the Advanced Smoothing treatment 10% AHA, 1% Retinol treatment and Intensive Repair Cream are all great.
Chai-YUM!!
Yay for the 5-day weekend and boo hiss on the 2 papers … you’re almost done though ?
That’s what I was thinking – are you finishing this semester?!?
Tell the coffee place to open up near me, please.
I love my PC toner. I really should try the niacinimide.
Oh, please tell me the name of the shop since 1) I’m in the Madison area, and 2) I adore masala chai! 3) I’ll help make it worth their while.
I hope you can enjoy the spring weather on your 5- day weekend!
It’s Wonderstate coffee down on the capitol square. Best chai I’ve ever had. Let me know if you give it a try!
I have been using PC products for almost a decade and have been very happy with them. The 2% BHA toner is fantastic.
Happy weekend!
Sotd – Ulrich Lang Lightscape – Violet, Galbanum, Lemon, Iris…
Just liberated this one from Mr. allo – I got it for free (perfume math) at my local perfume shop’s annual garage sale and somehow it ended up with his “collection.” I’m not sure why I thought he would like this (he doesn’t like anything powdery or soapy). But I love the violet and iris, even though longevity isn’t great. A fleeting pleasure.
Lightscape is a lovely and evocative name for a scent.
Iris + violet sound good to me right now. 😉
Went for my first bike ride since a while and I guess this was my inauguration of a biking season 2021 (well, unless we get lots of snow again which is not impossoble to happen).
I rarely have time to take nice IG photos on weekdays so my today’s shot is already dedicated to International Women’s Day.
Wearing Diptyque Eau Capitale, love this rose chypre and the travel size is very handy. I scored it thanks to NST swapmeet.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMEyQd4hBoW/?igshid=27sg8m3ujmev
I tried Eau Capitale a few days ago and loved the opening but the drydown seemed a bit overpowering/synthetic somehow…I may have over sprayed…I found it to have pretty strong sillage. Then I kept smelling it on a jacket I wore and will need to revisit b/c it smelled wonderful. 🙂
It is pretty potent, yes.
Luckily I don’t have issues with it at any stage at all.
Beautiful flowers!
For Women’s Day for my mum
Aww.. that makes me happy!??
??
Beautiful, elegant and happy picture! Love it! ❤
Why thank you! Hope you have a lovely weekend.
Biking season is nice. I will recover some more and then will try to commute by bike again.
Hope that comes soon for you.
I like your perfume and the picture is great!
Thank you darling
Woke up at 3:40 this morning, tossed & turned for about an hour then went back to sleep till 8:30–feeling dazed & confused now.
Guess it’s practice for next week’s dreaded spring forward.
Still dithering about SOTD, but wanted to report to fellow lipstick enthusiasts that I purchased a Byredo lipstick in a moment of pandemic ennui. Shade is Red & Blue satin, little discernable scent, performs well. Happy it worked out.
I have been curious about the Byredo lipsticks…nice field work for the team. 😉
I so dislike the time changes. Every year it gets harder and harder for me to adapt. This past year, I hardly adapted at all, and have still been waking up too early every day. Maybe the spring forward will get me back to where I need to be. Fingers crossed.
D-mn! They really should do away with time changes.
Not only have I come to dislike the time change, which our state only adopted around 10 years ago, but our state, Indiana, really ought to be on Central Time, not Eastern, based on where the sun actually is at noon. Parts of the state are on Central Time, too; even nuttier IMHO. It’s kind of a little burr in my saddle; thanks for listening. 🙂
Mass confusion with only parts of a state having to change time. Years ago, several of us travelled to Indianapolis for a one-day meeting. We arrived an hour early and the car service was missing in action and we had to scramble to change our return flight to an hour later.
I’m in one of my Beauty Even purchases: Music for A While.
Should have been called, Pineapple Forever.
Pineapple is not just a citrus top note in this one. If any of you ever purchased a whole pineapple, you will know that there is a central fibers core which is usually disposed of to make the soft sweet rings. I have always kind of liked that core.
Well, when you first spray it, the smell of that core (pineapple with a little woodiness) hits full frontal. After a few seconds, pepper comes up underneath, and then for about an hour the pineapple, pepper and menthol battle it out, but the pineapple never really lose control. A few hours later, lavender and vanilla rise up to support the pineapple.
I’ve only tried Music for a While from a sample and you are spot on!
Astute observation about the core of pineapple – I always, um, well, *gnaw* the core with relish. I would like a perfume like that better than one like the rings.
The sun is shining! I thought we were supposed to get rain all weekend, but I am excited that my run this morning will not be a soggy one. (I actually sometimes enjoy a good, rainy run. It keeps me from overheating.) I’m trying to increase my (very limited) running mileage again, so my goal is to run 3×5 this spring–doing a 5k each month for 3 months, March-May. So, I need to get comfortable with running 3-ish miles at a time again. Over the winter, I did a lot more run-walks, so there’s some endurance I need to build up to meet my goal.
I participated in the CP yesterday, even though I didn’t comment. I wore Reglisse Noire, as my closest match to the project.
Yay for the sun ☀️
Sunshine is terribly unreliable this time of year in Oregon, but so welcome when it comes out! Daffodils have started blooming, though, so it is officially spring.
Decided on vintage Chanel No. 19 for my post-run scent. Smells like spring to me, so green and bright.
Yay for your run and for smelling wonderful in No. 19!
Thanks, MossyBerry!
Sampling The Favourite today compliments of a generous NSTer…stumbled upon Victoria’s review at BdJ this morning and remembered I had it. It’s a lovely fruity violet so far.
Feeling bad for my niece in CT who is recovering from Covid but has no sense of smell or taste…she has had it almost 10 days now. 🙁 Her brother had it too but his case was much milder and he never lost either. Thankful my sister is vaccinated and my brother-in-law never got it luckily and tested negative multiple times.
Also signed up Mr. She-ra for his first vaccine for this Friday. 🙂 Online shopping has honed my cyber transaction skills and I made quick work of Rite Aid’s website…sadly there were no samples to add or codes to use when I checked out. 😉
I’m wishing a quick full recovery to your niece!
Lol at no samples!?
No samples and no free shipping either…but I have been thoroughly trained to checkout and maximize the outcome. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. And all that. 😉
Wishing a speedy recovery to your niece!
Thanks, PL67!
She-ra, so sorry about your niece.
Thank you.
Hoping your niece recovers soon. Good to know that online shopping skills are transferable 🙂
Indeed they are! 😉
Well wishes for your niece and hurray for signing up the dude in the house, not counting the kitten.
The cats got a feline leukemia vaccine last weekend…we are all doing our part. 😉
’cause we all need more samples! ;). But seriously, I hope your niece makes a full recovery.
Thank you!
I’m sure your niece is overloaded with advice, but the NYT article earlier this week suggests that a sense of scent might be reawakened with gentle retraining by exposing repeatedly to the same mild scents.
Thanks…maybe it was the one below? I have been sending her links ehaeheh and waiting for her to say please stop…but I feel some articles are a good thing…too many…maybe not.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/02/dining/covid-loss-of-smell.html
Yes, that is the article I meant.
It’s celebrity Saturday for me. I’m wearing Sofia Vergara Sofia today.
My brother brought his dog to my house for a visit. We will be dog sitting for him next month, so we are trying to get him used to us and the house. I’m very uncomfortable around dog’s, but he offered to pay me. Apparently, I will do anything for money except finish school and get a better job?
He’s an old and mellow dog, but I have to get used to him too. We are doing a few days a week until my brother takes his vacation.
You are too funny! It’s great you’re practicing.
This total Crazy Cat Lady and DH, a Crazy Cat Man, have dog sat many times and it does take a little getting used to but the walking is fun. Bet you will find it easier to get your steps in. Our charges from various family and friends over the years were: a Jack Russell (our favorite but don’t tell), an almost human and sweet bijon frise, a cherished black lab, and a beautiful and mellow cocker-golden mix. I have Sofia Vergara Love, picked up thrifting, and it has a wonderful vanilla-coffee vibe.
Sending you luck!! At least old dogs are less likely to do crazy things!
I dog-sat an older rescue greyhound twice and was… not enamored, but resigned to the situation.
After he passed, I dog-sat the young long-haired whippet that was his successor exactly once and was like “my dog sitting days are OVER, never again, cats only” ?
Aww…methinks you will be sad perhaps even crying when he leaves.?
Or you will rue the day he arrived…50/50. 😉
I’m going with 80/20 on rueing!
LOL and good luck!
Day of the Dude? Well, I am a dude and today I am wearing Vanilla Girls from Des Filles à la Vanille, from that bag of vanilla decants I discovered. It’s…. vanilla. Very nice, but not really anything except vanilla. You could do worse.
Vanilla Girls is just a funny name, I don’t know why.
Sampling weekend for me thanks to the very nice and generous package I received from SarahN. Thank you! ?
Wearing Ormonde Jayne Montabaco. Leather and tobacco are notes that I find difficult to wear, unless they are very well blended. Montabaco is rather pleasant, airy, light and comfy. I am enjoying it a lot!
Last night from the same package, I rushed to have two tiny sprays of SL Participe Pasee. I was so excited about it. But I am also so thankful that I was able to sample this before I had gone to the worst full bottle blind buy of my life. This is the most horrific scent I have ever worn, even worse than ELDO Secretions Magnifique or Perris Montecarlo Ambre Gris. It was a huge bomb of cumin and curry in a very offensive way. Even my mother who has never ever complained about my perfume wearing asked me if I was cooking something with a big amount of curry. We were both overwhelmed with the smell. I braved to keep it on for about 3 hours, hoping that at the end it would morph into something acceptable. It never happened. Even after taking a shower and lavishly putting on Chanel Paris-Venise body lotion, I could still smell it. Needless to say, I had to wash the clothes I was wearing, towels, etc and had to open the windows for a while to air my apartment. I have never been so disappointed with a Serge Lutens scent. Samples are definitely a life saver!
Having my second cup of coffee with a piece of saffron and nuts Turkish Delight and ready to start on some tasks at home that I have been postponing for a while.
Happy weekend, everyone! ?
Wow, the SL sounds awful! You have the worst luck when it comes to perfume that you don’t get along with! I have to laugh though, at the way you tell it? hope it’s a great weekend!
LOL! You should have seen me dealing with that stuff! It would have made your day! ?
Three hours! You have a patient soul.
I still don’t understand how I was able to cope with it for so long. A scent like that I usually scrub it off after an hour. I think that just because I love/like most of SL scents, I didn’t want to quit on it so easily.
I tested this Lutens and it reminded me of some cough pastilles, that I had in my childhood.
I wish it had smelled of cough drops! I was so surprised, because most reviews are very positive. I guess I was very sensitive to cumin here, even though I have no issues wearing scents with cumin. It shocked me also that my mother had the same reaction I did.
Even after the shower? O boy.
Oh dear! You have no idea!
It’s always fascinating to read other views on perfume. I get burnt sugar from Participe Passé, and actually like it enough to have a FB, but I wouldn’t wear it out of the house. The first time I wore it, my beloved asked if I’d burnt something in the kitchen.
Like you, I don’t like a curry note in perfume. Your description is what I got from L’Innomable, another recent Lutens, and I couldn’t wear that.
One of the reasons Le Participe Pasee was in my full bottle purchase list was because of the description and positive reviews about being a gourmand scent with delicious burnt sugar, caramel and resin notes among other nice ones. I never expected what I experienced. I wonder if I should give it a last try at a later time or just put it in the good bye pile immediately.
I have to be very careful now if I come across L’Innomable. Thanks for letting me know it has a prominent curry note. I may not be able to wear it either.
Gawd this sounds horrific. Uncle Serge and I don’t get along except for A la Nuit
I love A la Nuit and it is my favorite jasmine scent. However, I decided not to get more because it is very fleeting and I went thru my full bottle in less than a year.
I think I got my decant of A La Nuit from you during a swap meet actually! I agree about how fleeting it is. But it such a beautiful jasmine
I had a similar experience with SL PP. ugh. Thankfully mine was a free sample also.
I am glad I am not alone in my experience with PP. I thought my nose was off for some weird reason.
Oh I am blushing; I recently got a travel spray of SL PP, and it did not work for me. I just offered it to another NST’er as a possibility. I promise it was not a shameless *foist* but it has a very strong foody spice character, and I did not see myself ever coming around to it as I have with some other strange perfumes. I can totally see where you are coming from, PL67, LOL! How is Yei, by the way: I hope his treatments are making him feel better?
I am relieved to know you also got the same foody, spicy character on PP. I wouldn’t feel bad about passing my sample to someone else, as other people have had a totally different experience with it. Let somebody else enjoy it!
Thanks for asking about Yei. He has shown some improvement with the treatment and he seems to be in less pain now. I hope he fully recovers soon.
Sending some scritches to his ears and/or chin, or other favorite spot!
Thank you! ?
I didn’t like PP either. Glad to hear Yei is improving!
Thank you, Cazaubon!
I’ve never heard this from anyone else, but I get a pronounced curry note in the opening of Unknown Pleasures by Kerosene. Fortunately I like lemon curry dishes!
It is very interesting how we all have different experiences with scents. I only get a blast of syrupy lemon on the opening of Kerosene Unknown Pleasures.
I love and enjoy curry in dishes only, not in my perfumes.
Fortunately the curry note passes ?
LOL!
Oh dear, that is quite a reaction! I’ve had some scents that you can try to wash off but they don’t budge (for me one was Hermes Un Jardin Sur la Toit). For that one, I sprayed a teeny amount and it lasted well over 8 hours. The drydown was finally fantastic, but the 8 hours in between was torturous for me. I may have to try it again? My sister bought the bottle on a trip to Europe but didn’t want it anymore so passed it on to me to try; maybe she had the same reaction I did.
Sorry the Serge was so traumatic for you; I do recall your tragic tale of woe with SM as I read it in horror! Thankfully Chanel to the rescue!
This type of extreme reactions are unforgettable, specially when you cannot wash off the scent so easily. This is the third scent in my life to join that traumatic list.
I didn’t know Sur le Toit was so torturous for you. I find it very pleasant, even though I don’t wear it often.
It’s very difficult to forget a scent gone wrong, that’s for sure. I will have to try the Hermes again. The notes seemed ok, which is the weird thing. It’s possible that it was a dirty vase-water undertone I detected.
That dirty vase-water smell if what I get from Hiram Green Dilettante. Unfortunately, I can’t wear it.
I get lots of dirty vase water from that Hermes!
I got a spasm thinking about what you went through!
So unfortunate! I was so excited about it!
Oh no, it’s awful when that happens! Such a disappointment. Funnily enough I had that same reaction to most Ormond Jayne perfumes, especially Montabaco! Smell of insecticide and could not wash them off. It started my journey of ISO-E super avoidance, I am hypersensitive to it. Isn’t it interesting how we all smell so different? SL does not agree with me either except for also A la Nuit!
One of the things I find so fascinating about this perfume hobby is how different we all react to scents. Ormonde Jayne is a brand that has always worked for me. I like Montabaco because the leather and tobacco are not so strong and those notes, especially when they are together are almost impossible for me to wear.
It causes me great anxiety when a perfume is so difficult to wash off. I can imagine how frustrating it was for you when you could not scrub off Montabaco. I wish all the perfumes I love were so persistent, but those are the ones that don’t last as much as I want.
It was a scrubber for me, too! Please pass it on to someone else who *thinks* they will love it 😉
I can not thank you enough for giving me the opportunity to try Le Participe Passe. You saved me from a very unsuccessful full bottle blind buy. I am a crazy Lutens fan and since all the scents I have tried from the line have worked for me so far, I thought PP was not going to be the exception. It will be very safe to pass the sample to someone else who can enjoy it. I see that most people either like it or love it. It just doesn’t work for few of us.
I remember when you posted the story of SM! That was epic in a horrible way. Sorry to hear that you had another perfume “gross encounter of the worst kind”!
Well, it’s part of the perfume journey, but when a perfume wants to hit me bad it does it with all its fury! ? Thanks God it doesn’t happen often! ?
Today I was not in the mood to make a decision. Before the farmers market I wanted to finished my week of Chanel, first I tried 1957, then Jersey, then No 19 Poudre. Now I can’t smell any one of them. Help! Someone just throw some Chanel perfume at me..
100 pages from finishing Klara and The Sun. Next on the ? pile is finishing two series , one is a Vow so Bold and Deadly and the other a court of silver flames.
In Chanel makeup up today
They must have chanelled each other out, pun intended ?.
Good one! ?
HA! yup
Dzing! for today. I just pottered around in my apartment, did some cleaning and finally started a half finished sewing project again. It’s a denim jacket and the most complicated sew I every tried.
You smell delish!
Good Luck with your sewing project.
It can be daunting to sew something out of your comfort zone.
Best wishes!
One spray of Dear Polly. Not great sleep. many worries all at once who knows why. Listening to new Kristen Hannah – The Four Winds? off to a very good start.
Mani pedi later today.
Yuck for restless night. Yeah for well-cared for nails!
The forecast here is for strong southerly winds (remembering that south means colder for us southern hemisphere folk!) but it’s a nice morning so far. We’ve got supermarket shopping to do today, we usually do that on Saturday morning, but have waited for our Covid restrictions to be lifted. We were in level 2 for a week after cases were detected in Auckland, but that now seems to be under control. The restrictions weren’t big, but did mean limits on numbers in supermarkets and other indoor places.
I didn’t manage my planned wearing of Memoir for the CP. Much as I love it, I have to be in the right frame of mind to commit to Memoir 🙂
I’m still checking out my most recent samples (Luckyscent, STC, TPC and a set from Francesca Bianchi, all over the last couple of months), so will dab a little something post shower.
What do you think of the Francesca Bianchi perfumes?
I’ve tried most of her range now, and I like all of them! I bought a FB of Lost in Heaven, and am very tempted to get The Dark Side and Under My Skin. They come in 30ml bottles, which is a good size for potent perfumes. They are all rich and heavy and animalic, that doesn’t always work for me, but these do.
Lost in Heaven is my favorite too, and the most full bottle worthy. But I haven’t bought a bottle yet…
SOTM is Nanadebary Bronze for a haircut appointment (yay!). Will probably switch to something else this afternoon – we’re going out for sushi! Dinner out of the house – a rare treat!
And sushi, too – very exciting!
Definitely!
Enjoy your dinner out!
Thanks! I will give it my all! ?
What fun!!! We live around the corner from a great sushi restaurant (Bamboo Sushi), but they haven’t been offering outdoor seating, and I’m still high risk for medical complications, even with the COVID vaccine. I look forward to finally being able to eat away from our kitchen again! Please enjoy it a little extra for me, and then maybe report back what you get so I can enjoy it vicariously?! What do you like to order?
I’m fairly unadventurous so nothing spicy or overly sauced. My absolute favorite is salmon sashimi, but I also like various nigiri and various rolls. Cannot do mackerel – yeccchhh. Mr. G introduced me to ankimo (won’t go into detail on that), and it can be delicious in very small quantities.
Oh, I had some amazing salmon sashimi maybe half a year before the world closed down. It was so buttery and almost sweet. Delicious!
Every Saturday night (sounds like a song) for the past few months, I have been eating a Poke Bowl (used to be salmon but the tuna poke got cheaper so that’s what I’ve been having) and salmon sashimi, both bought at Wegmans.
I love poke bowls! We have a food cart pod not far away where there are a couple of carts that make wonderful poke bowls.
Yay for haircuts and sushi!
Both were great! ?
Excited that you had both an awesome haircut and sushi!
Two of my favorite things!
The Dude! Not dude, The Dude!
SOTD: Rem Patchouli, layered with Ombre Leather and vanilla lotion.
Random question:
Can Covid show up on bloodwork?
My guess is yes for antibodies as blood is used as a therapy.
Thanks! I’ll have her add it on.
Hi Annie!
Blood tests will detect only COVID antibodies (which can take days to weeks to show up in one’s blood after infection so this is not a useful diagnostic method). To diagnose an active COVID infection you need to perform a molecular (PCR) or antigen test, neither of which are blood tests. To my knowledge there is no diagnostic blood test currently available for Covid.
Hey!
Thanks. My bloodwork looks like an infection, so my gp is having a retest done next week. I was asked if I have symptoms, but I don’t.
I hope the retest comes out fine, Annie. Thinking of you! ? I am emailing you back soon!
Oh, I see. If your blood work is showing Covid antibodies that means you were infected at some point and showed no symptoms (or maybe had mild nonspecific symptoms in the past few weeks). The only other way to have antibodies would be through vaccination.
No, no. They didn’t test for Covid. The regular bloodwork was taken at the ER. I happened to check out the bloodwork a week later and called my gp right away.
I’m in Shalimar hmm hmm Route de Mexique today. I just love this. I might love it more than the original Shalimar, I’m not sure. Hopefully that doesn’t make me a philistine.
It an absolutely gorgeous day out there. I’m going to rake out the herb bed, take a walk, get the Wild One to the dog park and maybe go through some more photo albums for the digitizing effort today.
?? ??♂️
Thank you for the reminder which becomes a nudge for my long languishing digitizing project. Are you doing yours your self, or organizing for a service vendor? Don’t know that Shalimar flanker, but cannot imagine that you would not smell wonderful!
I’m going through family photo albums, circa 1961 – 2015ish. I’m pulling them and grouping them for a professional to handle. I digitized about 80 photos for my dad’s memorial service two years ago, and that was quite a process, so we’re paying for a professional to take care of the rest.
Sounds like you have the same kind of project!
Yep. Wonderful pictures of my parents’ courtship in Hawaii circa 1951; and many family members and memories about the same “circa” as yours. We have wonderful local shop, and I need to get the items over to them.
I am not a huge vanilla perfume fan, but I would drop everything to have a perfume that smells like my tea this morning—its a black tea with vanilla made by a local purveyor of wonderful vanilla–beans, extracts, the whole kit and caboodle. I’m not much of a tea drinker, but this one smells divine. I had to force myself to remove the tea bag from my nose and actually steep it.
As for perfume, I’m in a generous lashing of Bois D’Ascese. I picked up a vintage leather jacket for a song off Poshmark (just an old J Crew–not really a fashionista brand, but the jacket’s been “patinaed” beautifully in its vintageness, and while wearing it no one is the wiser) and wore it out this morning in the cold sunshine . . . to take my cat to the vet for inoculations. Oh well, my attempts at hipness are lost in a flurry of proverbial soccer-mom errands.
If we have to run errands we might as well do so in style. I have taken to wearing glamorous eye shadow and blingy rings just to go to CVS ?
I’m still teaching from home, and sometimes I put on a dress. I haven’t bothered with make-up since Halloween, but I miss feeling frilly sometimes.
Oh I love it: I’ve been dressing up at work again, and gone quite glam-edgy on the eyes and brows, even though our office has very limited opening! Sure do miss my lipsticks!
Really? I notice mine smeared on the inside of my masks every day 😉 !
If the tea is that delicious smelling, I’d try to infuse some of the scent into an oil, and wear that.
Ooh, that tea must have smelled yummy. 🙂
Does your tea purveyor have a website? ?
No affiliation! But I love these guys–I buy the tea from https://saffron.com/ BUT, your question got me curious about the origins of their tea–which is delicious but has pretty basic packaging. Found the website of the actual tea maker–interesting organization in Spain: https://www.josenea.bio/asociacion-josenea/
TMI?
It is a beautiful morning here on the Central California Coast!
I took my Starbucks chai and went to watch the surfers.
It rained last night and it was crisp and clear.
The air smelled lovely.
Wearing JM Blackberry&Bay, enjoying the sweet and herbal combination.
Sounds like a great morning!
That sounds like an amazing morning.
Vanille Havane for a sunny but cold day here.
I have now sampled everything from Les Indemonables I think and my favorites are Rose de Jamal and Cuir de Chine. But the whole line really deserves the love it’s getting. I haven’t been this wowed by a niche brand in very long
We are twins today and I agree about being wowed by this whole Indemodables line. The VH is particularly smoky and tobacco forward on me today but I know it will settle into cozy vanilla soon…
I just ordered a sample of this.
My sample set just arrived, and I can’t wait to try everything! Also wearing VH today ?.
Agreed. It is a good and worthy line.
It’s just so heartening to see perfume done right. I will keep my fingers crossed that someone will do a split of something from this line eventually…although I might cave and have that someone be me.
No perfume yet, although I may remedy that. Actually no perfume this whole week, which has been rather stressful. I was in a minor car accident Tuesday on my way home from work. I got rear-ended when I had stopped for the vehicle in front of me which had stopped to make a left turn, and the vehicle behind me didn’t stop. Or rather, it stopped into the rear of my car. I’m OK, I didn’t get injured, although I was tired and sort of achy for a couple of days. I don’t think it was actually physical effects of the accident. More likely, it was reaction to the stress of the accident and dealing with all the whatnot that has to be done afterward. I had planned to spend today doing as little as possible, and I think in honor of the Day of the Dude I will do just that.
Oh no! Glad you’re okay but really, what was the other car driver thinking?
Well, it was a young guy–looked to be in his early 20’s–so I am guessing he was probably looking at his phone. He had a passenger, who was another young guy who looked about the same age. What really irritated me is that after we had both pulled off the road into a parking lot, as I was calling the PD and my husband and waiting to sort the matter out, the two of them were over by their vehicle talking and laughing. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but I didn’t find the situation funny. It was actually scary, because I was in a compact sedan and his vehicle was a full-size pickup truck. He could easily have done some serious damage hitting me with that truck.
How infuriating, on top of scary and stressful! I’m so sorry you went through this but glad you were not hurt and I hope you can get some rest this weekend.
OMG, they were LAUGHING!? I hope they lose insurance benefits or SOMETHING. Hope you feel better soon!
He won’t be laughing when his insurance goes up and he gets points on his license #@%^&
Glad you are ok psycially. Hope you can relax today.
2nd that.
ugh!!!!
I’m so sorry to hear about this. I’ve had a couple of accidents and yes that flood of adrenaline wreaks havoc on your body, and the paperwork etc. are also very taxing. Good idea to take it easy today.
What a stressful situation! Take it easy!
Glad you are ok; I have to drive very little, and I see people who still look at their phones as they are going along. Sigh.
I’m so glad you weren’t hurt!
Glad you are physically ok! Accidents can cause emotional trauma as well. Be kind to yourself. Hopefully there will be some karma swirling back to the guy who hit you.
So sorry about your accident, that is scary (and annoying). Wishing you a better week ahead.
Also sorry to hear about your accident. Big hugs and hope you feel better.
Oh, dear! I’m glad you’re physically okay. Please treat yourself gently for a while and try to take some low-activity days for yourself. *Hugs*
Sorry to hear about your accident! I’m glad you weren’t physically hurt but do take care, as I’m sure you might be holding in a lot of tension.
Sorry to hear about your car accident. Even minor ones are major stressors.
I started the morning in Bombay Bling for a run to the Farmers Market, where I ended up buying some pastries and coffee beans.
After a brief workout and a shower I put on some Vanille Havane on one arm and Musc des Sables on the other, because I find that two Indemodables are always better than one ?
Wishing all of you a nice, peaceful weekend!
Bombay Bling, coffee and pastries! It could not be better! ?
I would have to agree with that. Happy weekend PL67!
Your morning is squad goals!
I had to look up that term, thank you! ?
Completely agree! 🙂
Pastries, coffee and perfume…what a great Saturday! 🙂
You smell great on both arms! I tried Musc de Sable before bed one night and I swear I had the best sleep
SOTD is Rose Barbare. Looking forward to a chill weekend, maybe a walk if the snow melts a little more.
You smell great! Enjoy the walk!
So happy DH and I got shot #1 of our vaccines today! Wore Winter Flowers for the event; it’s much like Flower, but it sort of faded. Our shot was at a Kroger Pharmacy Clinic; then we did our shopping. DH felt a little woozy at about 45 minutes after, so I drove home. But we are fine now. It was the Pfizer, and we go back in three weeks. After lunch I spritzed on SJP Covet, which gave me a cozy, chocolate, green musk happy vibe. Have a good weekend, all; I will try to keep up with SotD’s and comments, but work has been busy and a few home projects are keeping me from the world of perfume – at least keeping me from it as much as I like!
Yay for vaccines!
Congrats on getting your vaccines!
That’s great you got vaccinated! I felt very very tired after my first one (Pfizer also). Hope you’ll feel fine. I’m so eager to get my second one, especially given our situation in Texas now.
So far, so good; but I counted on having the weekend to be very restful!
Yep, I got that woozy feeling after dose 1, too. Otherwise, no issues. I hope that’s true for you two, too!
Yay for double vaccines! Some light in this tunnel at last! 😉
Congratulations on your vaccinations!
How’s your husband feeling today? And you?
FREEBIES! For NST regulars only please, and for those in the US only. Dibs here then email me at my NST username at gmail.
If you want two lots/items, that’s fine with me. I grouped these how I thought they made the most sense. NOTE that many of these decants have experienced some evaporation, so you’ll want to use them sooner than later.
1. Random mix of low-fill decants: Floris Honey Oud ~1ml, Tauer Phi une Rose de Kandahar ~1ml, Parfum d’Empire Cuir Ottoman 1ml, Comme des Garcons Daphne less than 1ml and very concentrated/oily (I can add some perfumer’s alcohol to it if you’d like), Papillon Angelique 1.5ml
2. Floral decants: Creed Fantasia de Fleurs 3ml, Guerlain Idylle 2.5ml, Anthousa White Tuberose 3ml, Oscar de la Renta Esprit d’Oscar 4ml
3. Vintage decants: Gres Cabochard 4ml and Fabergé Woodhue 3ml
4. Marc Jacobs Daisy 10ml travel spray
5. Ava Luxe Sweet Absinthe 10ml/15ml bottle
Dibs on #5 please, thanks!
Oops – meant to reply w/ dibs on #3. Thank you!
1 and 2 are spoken for as well.
Come on, who wants a Daisy travel spray?! This is only my third or fourth time posting it as a freebie. ???
All the freebies have been claimed!
I wore Eau des Merveilles today. We went to the art museum because I really needed a change of scenery – I can’t tell you how nice it was to wander around a sculpture garden and get lost in modern art.
Thanks so much for everyone’s kind words and support last night.
Glad you were able to have a nice day today. It makes a huge difference.
It really did!
That’s so nice! Was the museum enforcing any safety rules?
Oh yeah – timed tickets, very limited number of visitors, clearly marked (and enforced by polite guards) one way traffic, masks – it was really serene, actually.
Museums are wonderful. 🙂
I started the day out with a few swipes of Amouage Fate from a sample. I’ve now changed to Heeley Bubblegum Chic, another sample. Fate was a bit much; it’s probably better on a colder day.
I love Fate, but I agree, it requires either you or the day to be in the right mood!
I love Bubblegum Chic! But only when I’m in the right mood.
It’s pretty fun! I needed something like this today.
Today’s scent: DKNY Pure. I have had that sample in my box for years now, and finally (!) i decided to use it.
Have to say I have not seen the Dude’s movie yet. But I liked the Stella Artois commercial with him and SJP in it.
That commercial was very funny. I have only seen snippets of the movie; not being a fan of a certain Anglo-Saxon-roots word I couldn’t take the whole show, but will admit the general style of humor in the movie makes me chortle.
Apoteker Tepe the Peradam on this lovely sunny breezy day. Off for a lazy Saturday afternoon nap.
Enjoy your nap! Thanks for the confirmation about the Hermes above; I knew it was something that didn’t agree with me!
I’ve never heard of that–what’s it like?
It’s discontinued, the company went under at least two years ago. It’s an iris scent with very earthy undertones. Orris, jasmine, lily and sandalwood are what Fragrantica lists.
I was feeling very blah today, having bad hip pain. No reason why at some times it comes back and haunts me. I had to take a long nap this afternoon. Finally got up, showered, and dressed. I put on Zoologist Musk Deer because it is simple and comforting. Later I went for a nice long walk because our weather is GORGEOUS. Sad though to see the many yards and gardens with things all struck down dead by the freeze. I am really, really, really hoping that the gardenias and jasmine all made it and will blossom and scent my world in another few weeks!
I hope that the affected plants and trees can rebound. If you have some troubled ones in your yard, a bit of extra water can help immensely. ???
I want to try Musk Deer, it sounds nice. Hope you feel more chipper tomorrow!
Sending a fragrant hug, Calypso; and best wishes for your gardenias. They sure don’t like a freeze! In case you missed my earlier comment, I got so much happiness from the Love and Hisses website you recommended recently, watching Canasta and her kittens! Totally heart warming.
I second this!!! Canasta and the kittens have become my new go-to endorphin hit!
Oh, so glad you’re both enjoying the site. It’s so much fun to see the kittens develop. Their eyes are starting to open now! That mana Canasta is quite a character!
Thirding on “Love and Hisses”!
Big hugs to you, Calypso…hope your hip feels better.
Sending you big hugs. I hope nature is resilient and your hip feels better soon.
Ouch on the hip pain. I hope you’re all better now.
Oh, sorry to hear about your hip pain — I hope it resolves quickly! And may your flowers rebound and bloom wonderfully this year!
Today’s SotD Vierges et Toreros.
I had a medium-boiled duck egg as part of my breakfast this morning. To my delight when I cut open the egg, it was a double yolk!
Nice chill Saturday, baking and stretching and reading. I just finished supper and am relaxing with a glass of non-alcoholic merlot.
Perfumelover67 inspired me to want wine and pasta last night, but I’ve been doing no/low alcohol, so I went for a bottle of Vin(Zero) at the grocery store.
I mean, it’s definitely not wine but it’s surprisingly tolerable, if anyone else is considering back on alcohol intake. I say this as someone who finds any regular fruit juice WAY too sugary, though, so YMMV.
Glad you had a nice dinner last night!
I ate close to my own body weight in tortellini after doing a social-distance walk with a friend. It was our first time catching up in almost two years – we walked 9km (6mi) without even realizing! That meal was heavenly.
I hope your pasta and wine hit the spot just as well!!!
I love tortellini! I made a simple pasta primavera and overindulge in it! ?. I am burning all those extra calories doing plenty of things at home this weekend that requires lots of physical activity. Pizza and pasta for next weekend as planned? I think I have to wait longer for it!
Does duck egg taste any different from chicken egg? I love eating duck but never tried duck egg.
Duck egg whites will be a firmer/thicker when cooked (higher protein and lower water content) and the yolks tend to be more creamy – they’re usually higher in fat content and cholesterol. But overall it still tastes like a chicken egg IMO.
Apparently if they really go to town on eating bugs/slugs it can change the flavor since ducks evidently like a more varied diet than chickens, but I’ve never noticed this eating commercial duck eggs, just the textural changes.
I love finding double-yolk eggs! They were pretty common among the farmers’ market eggs we bought when I was a kid, and my dad always saved them for making pasta since that *little* bit more volume made for the perfect-sized batch.
Hey all! Happy weekend! I’m wearing some perfume oil my brother was given when he was living in Kuwait, and he didn’t like it so he gave it to me. I can’t tell what it is since the writing’s all in Arabic, which I can’t read, but it is heavenly! I tried to use an Arabic keyboard to write it out, and then Google translate, and what I got was Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, haha!!
What does it smell like?
If you’re on Reddit, you can take a picture and post your question.
If you’re on Instagram, you can do the same thing.
I’m really bad at identifying notes, but I’d guess it has some white flowers and something that makes me think of orange. Not orange juice really, but maybe a little amber? I’m probably way off, which is why I’m trying to train my nose better so I don’t have to look at fragrance descriptions in order to recognize what I’m smelling!
I am on Instagram, but I’ve never posted anything–I first joined so I could keep an eye on the work account, and then I started following lots of puppies and funny stuff. I will take a picture of the perfume tomorrow when the light is better, and make that my first post. Watch out, world!
Woot! Do let us know your Insta name or DM me – would love to see it!
Okay, here’s the link!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMH4Ud4BVgM/
If you find a way to post the image here I can translate it for you
Thank you so much! I’ll post a reply tomorrow!
Here it is: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMH4Ud4BVgM/
Oops–see above, I replied to myself instead of you!
Quick question for anyone with a Scent of Wood subscription – my fried was wondering how you would rate the quality of the candles? She’s thinking of subscribing since they opened up more slots and trees are her jam.
I’ve never burnt the candles but they smell really good. Can’t go wrong with $34 / no and half the year is over already.
Ping me if she wants more of the candles 🙂 I have a subscription which I got for the perfume. My husband tolerates my perfume obsession but draws the line at scented candles… emc dawt 7 1 1 7 in the land of g-mayle.
Thanks! I’ll let her know.
What do you think of the perfume? The subscription sounds very enticing, but I’ve never tried anything from them before.
Well, I’d planned on taking at least an hour long walk this afternoon but waited too long, and the weather turned. So it was just a 40 minute walk in which we picked up burgers and onion rings for late lunch. I know, I know. It definitely wasn’t a healthy choice, but my boyfriend and I both had a craving. I wore Guerlain Une Dimanche a la Campagne for the walk and now Lubin Kismet post shower. We’re just starting a Joan Crawford thriller, Strait Jacket. We changed our cable/internet plan and have to switch our cable box, so we’re working on watching some DVR’d movies before we activate the new box. I am really looking forward to the much faster internet speed we’re switching to.
How do you like Kismet? I have a FB of this and hosted a split for it a few years ago. I am always giving it a second chance but have yet to totally love it.
Kismet is nice and cuddly. It’s definitely a descendent of Shalimar but softer and less oppoponax heavy. It’s not a unique perfume, but it hits the spot when you want a citrus, balsamic amber. I’ve got about 1-2ml left in my decant.
SOTD = Scents of Wood Plum in Cognac
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ woody boozy myrrh and a vanilla forward amber. The bottle is stunning and today, I paired the bottle with my Mexican folk art owl!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMFsB_IhY9o/?igshid=1hvygdtbtfnef
In other news:
1. Beautyhabit 20% off $100+ purchase with code SPRINGTREAT. Good through March 9th. There are some exclusions.
2. Saw an Amazon minivan barreling down my street which has 4 speed bumps; the van had to have gone through at least one. The issue: the van door to the undelivered boxes was kept wide open! If you ever wondered why sometimes your package looked dirty, maybe it fell during a careless delivery run. Reminded me of the time when I was on vacation at a very popular city and saw a cash delivery van parked outside a bank with bags of currency with the door wide open and no one guarding the money.
3. ? The gas prices! I don’t drive much and when I do, it’s within 10 miles from my house so it usually takes almost 2 months for my gas gauge to get down to a quarter left. There was a time when I waited until it got even lower because I wanted to purchase $20 worth to almost a full tank, if not a full tank. I filled up last week with a quarter tank left and I paid $31. Yuck.
That owl is the perfect bottle match! Like you mentioned, the texture and the ears… they were made for each other.
I’m with you on the gas prices, and it usually goes up around memorial day!
Thank you. It’s still cold enough for gasoline to have the additive to make it cheaper. I’m not looking forward to over $4 / liter gasoline ?
That would be $4 / gallon. God help us if the price is per liter ?
Stunning bottle and owl! What a great picture!
Thank you very much!
Gorgeous owl and fragrance bottle matching!
Wood Plum in Cognac sounds so good. I thought I once saw that they had smaller travel sizes of their fragrances for sale, but don’t see them now. The subscription seems like too much commitment for me right now.
Scentbird, I think. I don’t think they’re doing too well with customer service but that is hearsay.
Probably one of your best owl pictures yet, IMO.
Thank you ?
Fantastic photo and I love that owl!
Thank you. I’m glad I got it as a memento of our visit!
Hello!
Nothing really to report with perfumes lately, though I’ll certainly be able to cover a project involving flowery scents this coming week. 😀
*Hugs* to those who need or want them. It’s been a rough few weeks for many. I remind myself that I’m more fortunate than many people, but would like to at least have a date scheduled for getting a vaccination. I’m glad my mother got her first shot of Moderna a couple of weeks ago, and that my dad will be getting his second shot in a few days.
My mood has been up and down, but we’re hanging in there. We still have a fair amount of snow in the yard, and I’m ready for it to melt so I can see what’s going on out there. In spots where it has melted, I can see snowdrops in bud and the tips of daffodil leaves coming up. The hyacinths I planted in the “herb garden” in the fall are just showing the tips of their leaves, too. They’ve certainly had the proper amount of chilling that they require. I imagine that for a couple of weeks in April we’ll be smelling hyacinths when we open the kitchen windows.
“Herb garden” is in quotes because at this point it has just about everything but herbs. It has lemon balm and bee balm, but that’s about it for what I would count as herbs. It currently has lilies on both sides and tulips planted in the middle. I’ve put some hardware cloth around them, but I have a feeling they’ll be deer food. I tried planting several roses in there when I ordered a good number of roses. The survivors are the Buck rose ‘Aunt Honey,’ deliberately selected for health and the ability to survive very low temperatures; and the surprisingly (to me) extremely hardy David Austin English rose ‘Sharifa Asma.’ Both have lovely fragrances.
Sorry, it turned into a gardening commentary rather than anything about perfumes.
I like gardening commentary! And now I’m wishing my hyacinths were planted where I could smell them from the kitchen window, that just sounds lovely.
And join you in being happy for everyone around me getting vaccines (including my husband), but I want one — bad! — and no idea when I’ll be eligible.
Glad my flower rambling is okay! I doubt my mother realizes how many hyacinths ended up back there, but she can tolerate the fragrance much better outside than when a blooming plant is actually inside the house. lol! I enjoy it, of course. 🙂
It should be interesting when the Uchida lilies, Formosa lily and regal lilies start blooming, though they’re a little farther from the kitchen…
I’m glad your husband got vaccinated. You’ve mentioned your concern for him. That must be quite a relief. 🙂
Chester County hasn’t done too well in getting vaccines, though I have faith that the health system here will be able to manage things all right once there’s more of a supply. I know it’s frustrating to local doctors and other medical staff. We’ll hope that the counties near Philadelphia can get a larger and more reliably appearing amount of vaccines.
Take care!
I read yesterday that Chester county is 6th in the state in population, 33rd in # of vaccines received. No idea why that is. But I’m not eligible in any county, so doesn’t make that much difference to me — yet!
Your yard must be lovely. I ought to spend more time on mine. Almost all of my effort over the past year has been on the indoors.
Apparently Delaware County, 4th in the state in population, also received a relatively small proportion of vaccines. However, the media and the powers-that-be are aware of the problem and have had things to say, so I’m sure there will be attempts to fix the issue.
Large parts of the yard are a wild tangle. We have brush and brambles and dead trees, and live trees that need to be cut back. I try to think of it as a wildlife sanctuary (lol!). But there’s a lot I can’t physically do, and that Dad shouldn’t try to do anymore. Please send arborists our way. 🙂 Some of those trees really need a tree surgeon.
We had a tree guy briefly last year, very expensive and so we had to scale back our plans! Good luck.
I loved your commentary – I can practically smell the hyacinths through the open window.
Thanks! Here’s hoping! 🙂
*Note: Dr. Buck was the one who was selecting for health and cold-hardiness in the roses he introduced. I was more interested in how pretty and fragrant the flowers of ‘Aunt Honey’ are, but I also appreciate how it’s survived for several years here. 🙂
I love reading about your gardening, so keep reporting! I found Chives, Thyme, Sage, and Oregano are pretty hardy (thyme) to extremely (chives) hardy and low-maintenance. Mint is hardy too; if you find a way to corral it, otherwise it takes over. Cilantro will self-sow very easily if you let some go to seed (which is really easy, i’ve had plants in seed in June)
Other herbs like parsley and dill are pretty much annuals but you can sow in place.
Basil is best started indoors, I’ve succeeded with leggy plants started on a windowsill; pinch when more than two leaves are on the same stem to get it to bush up. Tarragon and rosemary were mote challenging since I was pushing it climate-wise (USDA 4-b). Lavender was difficult too but I blame heavy clay soil for that.
Other herbs I tried – borage, burnet, summer savory; they worked ok.
Now I’m restricted to a north-west facing patio so I just do a couple basil, parsley, and cilantro.
Deer never bothered my herbs or bulbs but they sure ate the crap out of my hydrangeas : (
Hoping your snow melts soon to show off the spring bulbs!
Thanks! I’ve tried most of those. The dill and cilantro were very appetizing for some sort of animal that lives here. We have rabbits and various rodents. “What kind of animal would eat cilantro?” I asked at the time.
My parsley must have been in its first year last year. It’s come back, but will be seeking to bolt as soon as possible. I’ll try to remember to watch for that.
Zone 4b is *way* too cold for rosemary and tarragon. And I blame heavy clay soil for a lot. lol! The shale and clay mix that makes up our “soil” is a big reason that a lot of my flowers end up in pots.
The borage was pretty, but I didn’t actually do anything with it but admire the little flowers. The bees loved the flowers, too. I like the flavor of salad burnet, but haven’t had too much success with that. Either animals eat it or it bolts as soon as possible. Lovage has a stronger but somewhat similar flavor — a bit more like celery leaves? — and that lasts better for me.
Sometimes I succeed with basil, and sometimes I don’t. Odds are that I’ll try it again this year, though. 🙂
My son the extremely-picky-eater *loves* borage flowers in his salads, as do I, so I always make room for it in our garden — bonus points that the gophers and deer leave it alone!
Oh, very interesting! I’ll keep that in mind. 🙂
Your comment on bolting reminded me…I planted dill once about three years ago, and it bolted almost immediately. Like, in 2 weeks. I swear it didn’t look bolt-ready when I bought it, so maybe it just grows really well in 9A. Hubster doesn’t like dill at all, but fresh dill is so wonderful when making refrigerator pickles! Maybe I’ll try again this year.
My Italian parsley went nuts last year, so I will only plant a couple of those this time around. I certainly used it a lot.
Good luck with the basil! I hope it’s a good gardening season for you.
First, thank you for my share of the hugs – I’m a hugger and have missed that over the last year.
Second, thanks for mentioning lemon balm! I planted it one year and loved it, but it was a bit too spreading and invasive – why did I never think of putting it in a raised bed? I have three in the “south forty” and they’ve been sadly neglected for years now. That’s partly because they weren’t getting much light, but we very recently cleared a lot of low growth from that end of the yard, and the beds might be more useful now.
You’re welcome! 🙂 Good luck with raising plants in the raised beds. 🙂
A little perfume commentary to add: I caught up on some of the comments from recent days, and saw a mention of SL Un Bois Vanille, so I sprayed myself generously with that last night. 🙂 I didn’t especially pick up a licorice aspect to the fragrance, but I love it anyway. 🙂 So I went to dreamland on a nearly literal cloud of the scent. lol!
Today, my dear brother, who has been fully vaccinated against Covid, stopped by for a visit. It’s been several months since we’ve seen him. That was a nice surprise. He let us know this morning that he’d be able to come see us. 🙂
He’s been collecting comics. I found enough from my old collection to hopefully persuade him not to get X-Men (or other mutant-related) or Daredevil comics from the 1980s. I’d been insisting to him that I already had them, and he shouldn’t duplicate my efforts. My sister-in-law may have to kill him and me when she discovers that he’s smuggling dusty old comics into her house, but at least he’ll be able to say he didn’t buy them? Yes, it does sound like a feeble defense, doesn’t it? LOL!
The Miles Morales version of Spider-Man was after my time, so he knows there’s no overlap there. 🙂 Sometime I’ll borrow his Miles Morales comics…
Dad has been watching WandaVision, which I should catch up on. I asked about Billy and Tommy, and Dad said there was a WandaVision version. I have the comic book mini-series starting with them as a twinkle in Vision’s eye, so to speak, but the teenaged versions were way after my time. I’ve heard about them, though. Perhaps not as convoluted as the Summers family tree? Anyway…
Have a good week, folks!
We watched Wandavision! My son & husband are Marvel fans so they understood far more than I did.
Wanda and Pietro had origins that were strange and rewritten a few times. However, I just remember that their mother delivered them on Wundagore Mountain with a cow-person named Bova acting as a midwife, and I don’t feel like I have to take all the subsequent stories terribly seriously. Clearly the creators weren’t always taking it seriously. 😀 While there are things I can appreciate more from having read certain comic books, there are still lots of things you can appreciate without knowing it all in great detail.
Wundagore!
I said to my husband the whole series was highly enjoyable but seemed like it was written by 14 year old boys with a little advice from their girlfriends, and he was offended 🙂
Your gardening commentary includes “smelly things” so I’d say keep on telling us about your stuff! Plus, some of us can only garden in pots or containers, so a whole yard is something pleasant to daydream about.
Thanks, Jalapeno! Hopefully life will be more like “normal” in the summer, and you could come smell the roses. 🙂
Take care!
Late to the party. SOTD Wisteria Hysteria. I love this less than I used to, because I have another Wisteria perfume, Dame’s Wisteria, which smells better to me- no screeetchiness, and a better value. This smells good, the Dame just smells better.
In further adventures in gardening, I tidied up my indoor garden, updated the grow lights, tossed some trash, and consolidated the astounding number of packets of seeds I have bought and not planted over the last three years. I will probably plant some radishes and mesclun tomorrow. Gardening is always such a hopeful thing!
I’ve not smelled it but do love the CdG name and bottle 😀
Enjoy your gardening!
Last year we planted 2 types of radishes; French Breakfast and Early Scarlet. The FB ones were so peppery and flavorful; can’t wait to be able to plant up here.
Working on cleaning up the house a little bit. You know, dishes, vacuuming, laundry and some organizing in no 5 edt. People in my house are probably going to Costco today and I am probably going to skip Costco. One, I don’t need anything from Costco and I would rather not get into an argument over how I do my laundry. After my shower, I will probably go and switch to vintage Miss Dior or vintage BaV. Haven’t worn both in a while.
Hi Dawn,
I love that you do chores in no 5!
Good Morning NSTers
Having a quiet morning at home. Mr L made waffles and I am drinking several cups of tea.
Inspired by Dawn, I will wear No 5 parfum, I have a small mini from the 90’s when they use to do the fragrance wardrobes.
Yay for waffles!
Sampling Gallivant Brooklyn. I like this a lot! It is the perfect spring/summer scent, green, citrusy, resinous with a very nice powdery touch. Easy to wear and office friendly. I see a full bottle joining my collection in the future.
My nephew, who is diabetic, was finally able to schedule his appointment for the Covid vaccine for next Saturday. We are so relieved now that my mom and he will get the shot soon!
It is cold and windy today, but very sunny. I ran errands early in the morning and after finishing my second cup of coffee I will continue my tasks at home.
Have a healthy Sunday, everyone! ?
Funny – I get absolutely no green in Brooklyn. It’s all citrus and resin on me. But I love it.
Great news for your nephew!
It is not literally a green scent. It smells to me like a city garden full of orange and lemon trees. I get the citrusy scent of the fruits which are the prominent notes, but also the green aspect of the surroundings. For me it doesn’t qualify only as a fruity scent.
That’s terrific news about your nephew getting vaccinated soon! I’m so happy hearing that more and more people are getting vaccines.
Thank you, Tulipani! He is in the mid 20’s and he has been most of the pandemic in a panic mode. It has been very difficult to deal with that situation. We hope he feels more relaxed after the first dose.
Oh, thank goodness for your nephew’s upcoming vaccination! People with risky pre-existing conditions are still well back in the queue here, which has been frustrating, but it’s so uplifting to hear that vaccines are reaching people in need!
Thank you, Isabella!
I hope and pray people with pre-existing conditions in your area have the opportunity to get vaccinated soon. It is so much needed!
Congratulations to your nephew and your mom! It is ?. You are reminding me to get a second cup of coffee.
Have a wonderful day!
Thank you, Annie! Enjoy your coffee! ☕
Great news about your mom and nephew getting vax appointments scheduled!
Thank you, Jalapeno! ?
Woke up to intermittent sunshine, so I’m in Eau d’Hadrien this morning … and thinking about lemon balm thanks to neyronrose. ?
Self-isolating, which on a cold lazy day, does not feel too bad. My Causebox package arrived! I haven’t opened it, but am very excited.
I just smelled my fragrance I made last week. It is a bright, skanky floral. Only one week in the making and I didn’t intend for it to be something I would wear. Hit the mark!
Cheers!
Sorry, SherriG, didn’t mean to hijack! Eau d’Hadrien is a happy fragrance. My first big perfume purchase. Lemonbalm ?
No worries! ?
Happy Sunday everyone, I’m catching up with posts now.
I had a lovely Saturday, wearing La Pausa to match the spring weather. We ran some errands and picked up lunch to eat outside, I had a delicious patty melt and iced coffee! It felt like such a treat. I stayed up way too late finishing the show Bodyguard last night. I’m a bit late to this show (think it came out a couple years ago?), it was stressful and perhaps raised my heartbeat a bit much, but I enjoyed it.
I haven’t chosen a scent yet today, but I think I want something deeper and cozy, despite the continued bright sunshine here. I might stick with Chanel and wear Coromandel.
Your Saturday does sound lovely! And you smelled great too. Wish it had not been so cold here this weekend, really looking forward to iced coffee weather 🙂
I’m wearing a sample of Dame Perfumery’s Cactus Orchid. I have no idea what a cactus orchid smells like in real life, but this perfume smells really nice and fresh. It reminds me of the smell of the air in a greenhouse full of succulents.
That sounds nice. I have a cactus orchid in my living room, but it steadfastly refuses to bloom.
The air in a greenhouse is a wonderful smell! Have you tried Smell Bent’s Florist’s Fridge? It’s got that sort of vibe, but more distinct and forced (that is to say, it’s not a natural sort of smell).
Cycled through 3 scents so far – began with Farenheit to get myself going, repeated spritzes of Kumquat & Myrrh (some hours in) helped keep me alert – and when my mood took a dip I turned to Milk Musk for some solace. I should probably put on something bracing and do some exercise but it’s nearly 10pm and I’ll probably just do some more Milk Musk and turn in early.
I just spritzed some perfume to keep me alert, as well (The Porter House, from Scotch Porter). Been grading for a few hours, and would really like to finish with at least one section today. Perfume definitely helps, by keeping a wider array of my senses engaged, and by lifting my mood.
I’m supporting your decision to turn in early, though – get a good night’s sleep!
Thank you, I did! Citrus does help wake me up. Does Porter House work?
Well, I’ve done my taxes and had my nose swabbed, so time to have fun with what’s left of the weekend. I’m trying out Zoologist Snowy Owl today, and not getting any of the coconut or musk in the advertised notes — to my nose it’s a very Brosius-esque geosmin bomb with a hint of iris, very earthy-decaying-leaves-on-a-cold-day. I like it, and since I’ll likely be hoeing in a muddy garden this afternoon I think I smell very on-point.
I swore I would start the taxes this weekend! It’s almost 11 pm on Sunday so I guess not. Congrats to you for finishing!
Ex Idolo “Ryder” today, which is dudey enough I think.
I took Tue and Wed off this week and powered through a bunch of admin – new wills for Spanish law, registered at health centre, annual UK company taxes and quarterly UK company VAT and biannual UK personal tax and a backlog of 4 months of Spanish expenses admin.
And then we got to this weekend, when I had planned to do a bunch of household chores, but in fact all l managed was a haircut. Very indifferent weather in Malaga for more than a week now; non stop clouds and cool winds. I think we may get some sun by Thursday.
Wow, that is a LOT of admin, good for you for getting it all done. Nice you relaxed over the weekend even if it wasn’t your plan.
Scent today was Dovana; I actually used up both the samples I had and it worked out fine.
Work was insane. We are apparently allowed to go back to 100% capacity in a couple of weeks; are we ready for it? Nah, don’t think so.
Oh dear. Hope you manage to get work more organized for ramping up, and/or convince them that just because they CAN go back to 100% capacity doesn’t mean they should!
Cool and grey here today, started off in Montale Sweet Oriental Dream and have just respritzed with Montale Mukhallat.
OMG that’s a lot of sweet! I have and love both ?
I’m in Laura Mercier Ambre Vanille body creme. I will finish this up before the cool weather is gone. I WILL.
Philosophy Fresh Cream Soft Suede
Casmir
I smell yummy.
Crazy weather here today – sunny, thunderstorm, torrential downpour and rainbow.
Perfume-wearing to match: started off in a melange of iris inspired samples I put together in the Trimerous spray bottle, followed later by ISM, followed by Infusion d’Iris EdP Absolue. I’m restless and apparently needing to smell myself to know I exist (absolument).
I smell,
therefore
I am
😀
Yes!