Alas, it's Monday again. Also, National Violin Day and National Hot Cocoa Day. Birthdays: Mary Todd Lincoln, Emily Carr, Ella Baker, Dick Van Dyke, Jamie Foxx. RIP Anne Rice. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm smelling like spring in Kerosene Pretty Machine.
Reminder: 12/17 will be Best Buy Friday...wear your favorite fragrance purchase of 2021. If you didn't buy anything this year, pick a favorite from a prior year. (This is a repeat from 2016)
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2021, where I'll try to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is Christmas wreath with red bow, Washington Mews, Greenwich Village, New York [cropped] by Spencer Means at flickr; some rights reserved.
Still wafting the wonderful Au Coeur Du Désert after 13 long hours. I’m seeing a FB in my future. ?
It’s my Friday and I’m overjoyed! The countdown has begun! Two more weeks and I’m hitting the road. ?
Happy Monday to all.
Yay for hitting the road!
Indeed!
You smell gorgeous! We are hitting the road next Monday, getting the camper ready today. We will be driving up the California coast and staying in Morro Bay for a few days before heading to SF to visit mom & dad.
Yay for your Friday and only two weeks to go! Where are you headed next?
Happy camping and safe travels to you and the family!
I currently have feelers out is AZ, NM, and coastal Oregon…
Also curious where you are headed next…happy Monday! 🙂 Do you ever think you’ll come to CA?
Well, never say never to California, but I’m not anticipating doing any contracts there. I’ve done a couple so far- one in Napa and one in San Jose.
Thirding about your plans, excited for you.
Thanks!
Happy trails to you in the near future!
Thanks!
Woke up at 4:50, made the fatal mistake of thinking about work and couldn’t go back to sleep. So I will take my bad mood downstairs to my little yoga area for remediation shortly.
The good news: I’m wearing 10 Corso Como and I have homemade stollen to look forward to for breakfast.
Hope the remediation, delicious breakfast and 10 Corso Como all helped, springpansy!
Stollen — yum! I need to get on my holiday baking. Just haven’t quite been able to get my head in the Christmas space yet.
You smell great and stollen is so yummy. 🙂
A neighbour makes a soft version of stollen and it is too tasty.
Work really is a chore. ehaehaeh 😉 I say that jokingly but earnestly. And yay for stollen!
If our lives were a Venn diagram, here is surely where our happy places would overlap!: “I’m wearing 10 Corso Como and I have homemade stollen to look forward to for breakfast.”
Lovely beginning of a day.
This reminded me (thank you ?) that I bought some stollen at the weekend from a good bakery. It’s delicious, but I bet it’s even better when it’s homemade! Enjoy!
I hope your day improves, you smell great and stollen sounds yummy. I’ll have to check Aldi’s, they have really good stollen think time of year.
Good morning.
To honour Hot Cocoa Day I am wearing Prada Candy Night. Smooth milk chocolate goodness.
Currently drinking vanilla rooibos tea.
I now feel like an entremet. Yum.
And I have cacao husks brewed into my black tea…not *quite* hot chocolate but close as I am going to get 🙂
I’m wearing Dame Dark Horse, from a sample. I think I need a full bottle, but the Dame website shows the edp as sold out. Oh well, I’ll check again after the New Year.
You can send them an email to ask.
Up and down and up and down the stairs doing laundry (the laundry room in in the basement, I’m on the third floor), and I’m in L’Artisan Parfumeur Vanilia, which I dunno is traditionally worn while doing household chores? Or I just felt like it because it smells nice, one or the other. It’s such a good vanilla, resolutely unsugary but still warm and cozy.
Wearing a classy perfume for housework is a great idea! I spritzed on some Paris-Venise and did the sweeping up.
Yesterday I wore Pomegranate Noir, because you just can’t go wrong with (most) Jo Malones. I smelled like Christmas.
Today I think I’m gonna go big with Prada Candy. I have 2 samples and am debating to use both.
Happy Monday.
Even if you go wrong with a Jo Malone the mistake usually lasts less than an hour…
Oh, I know girl; I had said I smelled like Christmas but, let’s just say that the holidays just came and went, even with two samples. ;(
Red Roses is the only exception. I still have half a sample left of that.
You two have inspired me–
I sprayed a bit of Blackberry & Bay for the morning.
I will switch to something a bit warmer later today!
I’m getting started with the CP in Diptyque Eau de Sens, which I bought early last spring (I think?) as an encouragement to myself to keep grinding through the terrible school year.
I love this one and gave myself 6 generous sprays to enjoy today!
That’s a nice reminder that you made it through the year!
Songe d’un bois d’été by Guerlain. It even fits the CP as I got it discounted somewhere at some point. It is a lovely woody fragrance with some laurel.
You smel’ great, I love Songe.
After a very travel / family-intensive weekend, where I couldn’t even read NST (shock, horror), I am relaxing in the peace of the office, wearing Caleche.
Aren’t we comparatively peaceful 🙂
NST is always a breath of fresh and nicely scented air!
Welcome back!
Another dark rainy day, will be same tomorrow, then hopefully sun for the rest of the week.?
Wearing an oddballl scent my husband picked up years ago on his travels in Europe, it’s called Skiron and the cap is a cute bird. You can see it on Fragrantica. I have it set out with my holiday decorations so I spritzed some on for the hell of it. Will likely switch to 4160 Tuesdays Over the Chocolate Shop in honor of hot chocolate day.
Sending you some sunshine, we have lots here!
Just curious if you’ve received your 4160 Tuesdays Pink Friday order?
I’m waiting for mine except it’s strange that it is FedEx and just said there’s a delay.
Thanks h! I appreciate your response. I can’t get any updates on my parcel since the day it was picked up by FedEx originally.
FedEx has been horrible for updates this year! My brother has been calling them “FedUp”!
Thanks Jalapeno! Your brother is right on with that!
Also curious what you got from the Pink Friday sale….
I am curious about Drive Them Wild and Fluffy Lemon Top.
The box is still stuck in Memphis!
Oh no! But I also feel better; I can’t get any updates.
Monday, alas. But I’m doing my best — wearing Ella because I found my decant over the weekend, and now that I’m home from the rainy walk to school I’m doing battle with the winter wardrobe blahs in white cashmere and pink silk velvet and the obligatory thick woolly socks. It’s good to see the rain return; the creek is up and there were good puddles for stomping in along our 0.7-mile commute-by-wellies.
I like to think of you stomping along in your wellies in pink silk velvet and white cashmere 🙂
Love your fashion statement!
Starting off the CP in Esprit d’Oscar, which is literally my best buy financially coming in at $15.99 for 50ml. I smell quite elegant.
Getting my booster and my flu shot later this afternoon! Looks like I’ll probably be walking the 28 minutes to this particular CVS in the rain. I’ve already scheduled a sick day for tomorrow based on my intense headache, body aches, and fatigue I got after the first two shots. Hoping for the best though and at least will get to eat a comfort meal tonight because my boyfriend made a pork, veggie, and lentil stew yesterday.
VERY good luck with your shots!
Thanks, Robin!
Good luck with your shots! I was totally wiped out and had a foggy brain the day after my second shot (forgot to brush my teeth for the first time ever, was useless at work, and went to be at 4pm), but was only mildly tired the day after getting my booster + flue shot (felt spent while shopping in Target after work and then went to bed two hours earlier). Hoping your after effects are similarly mild.
flu not flue! 🙂
I think flue is catching, no pun intended. Someone here spells it that way too and I think it has something to do with spell check ??♀️.
Thanks, Vee! I hope mine are mild like yours too. ?
Good luck on your shots. No side effects for me – I got the J&J shot as I did not want to mix and match
I ended up with Pfizer all the way, though I’d have gone with whichever booster was available soonest and closest. So far feeling mostly ok other than a little fatigue and funny feeling head and a sore arm.
Hope that you don’t have any problems with side effects from either shot!
Thanks, feeling mostly ok so far!
Best of luck! Everyone’s different, but I found that I felt much better after my booster than I had after my second shot — really just manifested as me being a bit tired and cranky for an afternoon. May you have a gentle time of it!
Thanks! I’ve been feeling mostly ok so far and actually in a pretty good mood tonight. I hope I stay lucky.
Hello everyone! I didn’t think I’d get to the end of my workday today as I had my 3rd vaccination yesterday and did not sleep last night (from worry rather than any actual side effects) but here I am, just logging off now…I wore rather a lot of Madame Rochas this morning, as it seemed like the kind of perfume a tough dame would wear-someone who perhaps raises an eyebrow at the trials of life, but that’s about as much self-expression as she would allow herself (I really wish I could be more like that!). Now for the evening, something more peaceful-maybe Monsieur Li for some delicate refinement? Wishing you all well. It’s St Lucy’s Day today so I hope you find some light in all this darkness.
Hope you do get to relax and unwind. I was listening to the birds at dusk last night, at 9.50pm and back awake this morning starting at 4.30am for some, so long days compared to winter, and I wondered if they get tired, or need an afternoon nap.
Thank you Kanuka!
Hope you can get some rest this evening, you smell classically good.
Thank you Aurora! I’m just about ready to fall asleep now ?
OMG my dears. So. Here’s the deal. About a month or so ago, as a joke, I filled in my husband’s email address on Twisted Lily’s website to receive updates on when their advent calendar would be released. I always meant tell him, but then I forgot. SO, last night my husband pulls out a huge package, which he had wrapped!!!!, and was so excited to give me. And, well, you know where this is going, it was the Twisted Lily advent calendar (12-day). He was so happy to have surprised me about something perfume related. Had I heard of it he asked. He expressed bemusement and gratitude about getting the news about it in the first place. He was just thrilled to have truly surprised me. I mumbled something about other perfume shops selling their email lists. . .
Anyway, he wouldn’t let me open the first door this morning. He wants me to do it in synch with TL’s social media campaign, opening each door at the same time as everyone else sort of thing. (Whatever emails they have been sending him, must have been good because he is not the social media/shared experience type!)
So feeling very lucky, and a little guilty this morning. Wearing the last of a Dusita Cavatina sample, and praying that the rain here, much needed, won’t lead to too much havoc around the Bay.
I bought this calendar too! 🙂 Am curious what the products will be.
You minx! Perfect!
What a wonderful story!! Hope the calendar is great fun, and hope he gets a kick out of it too.
Ha! That is awesome! Looking forward to hearing about what they included.
I officially envy you your husband. Mine would have assumed TL got his email from somewhere else, ignored the first couple of marketing emails, and then unsubscribed, all without saying anything to me. I mean, he knows I’m into perfume and all, but the connection would never have entered his mind. Obviously he has other redeeming qualities or we wouldn’t have made it to our 23rd date-iversary this past weekend. ?
Awe! This makes me feel so happy for you! How sweet!
That is SO sweet!
So pleased for you, what a nice husband.
This is beyond sweet!! What a cute Christmas story!
Love everything about this ❤️
how sweet!!
What a lovely surprise! It sounds like he is delighted about it, so just enjoy the adventure together!
What a nice hubby! I hope you BOTH enjoy his gift.
This is so warming. Do post it on IG!
Squee! Love this!
So very heartwarming!
I bought the Twisted Lily Advent calendar which is 12 days and starts today. (no affiliation) They are doing an unveiling on Instagram I think each day but the spoilers/contents are already posted as well…I haven’t looked though so it will all be a surprise to me. 🙂 Going to break into it later today.
I debated some other beauty Advent calendars but this one is perfume-focused and seemed like a good option. I like make-up and skincare but those items can be hit or miss for me whereas fragrance is always of interest. 😉
I’ve been vicariously enjoying everyone’s scent-related advent gifts. Looking forward to hearing about your TL surprises!
I peeked since I didn’t buy it and yes, it looks like lots of fun!
Have fun!
That sounds great!
Well, here’s a series of random thoughts on this sunny and mild day (49°F)
Scent: Currently scent-free. Ordered a few samples from LuckyScent, so I’m excited about that. Might apply something green soon, like Demeter Dandelion or Hermes Un Jardin Sur le Nil.
Remodeling: We’re in the midst of a bathroom remodel, and I’m living in pure chaos. So, trying to deal with that. But! The bath wasn’t even functional anymore (the 50 year old shower base had cracked, and I understand that inclination), so it’s going to be really great to be able to use it again. Am now trying to get the tile choices going on for second bath, but my brain is scattered.
Holiday Shopping: Due to remodeling focus, I didn’t start holiday shopping until last week. It’s going far better than I had any right to expect, so I’m grateful for that. I finally embraced shipping costs – took me long enough; it’s just the cost of buying stuff I can’t source locally. Also, the MoMA store! YAY for the MoMA store!
Good luck with the bathroom remodel! We redid two ourselves this year; a burst pipe in one forced our hand, and then we just figured, if we’re going to be in renovation chaos, we might as well do over the other (old, not functioning) bathroom on the same floor. Thankfully, they’re almost completely done, we just have to get a couple of original fixtures reglazed. May your remodel go well, and smoothly!
Thank you! We’ve just hit the sort-of-expected delay (because there’s always something), so today has been a bit rough for me. Encouragement is greatly appreciated!
I’ve misplaced my CB I Am a Dandelion, but dandelion scents deserve more bandwidth in my opinion! So cheering.
Please, don’t mention the MoMA store or I will never be able to afford a bathroom remodel 😉
(And very good luck on yours, hope it is so beautiful when it’s done that you forget the pain)
Wearing Smell Bent 1997 which I found when I was tidying yesterday. A little surprise tucked at the back of the sock drawer. Pablo santo, fir, bitter orange, amber. An orange oil opening, then wood oil. Feeling polished …like furniture. Nice.
I like the Christmas wreath – hope yours went well, Robin. My childhood home had a solid wooden door so we always made a wreath ( plus the bay and holly trees we used grew by the doorstep) but now I’m in a 1960s sliding glass door type place so I’d have to hang it on the dog kennel or BBQ.
Your front door is a slider?
Yep
That is very 60s.
How cool is that!?
I can picture it in my head. I have a slider in the back.
My husband’s wreath turned out shockingly well, considering how dubious I was about the undertaking, ha — he is very handy but not really what I’d call artistic or creative.
My Yves Rocher package arrived, and I now have a year’s worth of shower gel, and presents to boot. The holiday Orange Fondante shower gel is a lot like a previous YR orange, smelling like a Terry Chocolate Orange. Fun!
Enjoy you YR goodies.
That Orange Fondante shower gel sounds perfect for this time of year!
I enjoyed wearing Cuir Mauresque so much yesterday that I’m in it again today.
Nice!
I’m going to sample my way through the recent Zara x Jo Loves discovery set this week. First up is Boldly Seoul and Creatively Shanghai. With BS I get 2/3 violet and 1/3 mimosa ground into a soft fine powder. Pretty but not my scent. Maybe if the balance of violet to mimosa was swapped. I am three hours and it is mostly gone at this point. With CS I get grapefruity citrus oil with cedar in background. If is there is any cardamom, it is melting into the cedar and I can’t tease it out as in individual note. Smells good but is not particularly noteworthy.
Drinking a pot of Fortmason tea and enjoying the orange blossom scent. My last F&M advent tea was a plain rooibos and it was tasty, but not particularly special.
Plain rooibos does seem an odd thing to include! OB however sounds wonderful.
Another wet day, blah. I’ll perk up the day with Guerlain’s Chant d’Arômes.
You smell lovely.
I went looking for that exact sample in my Sample Stash earlier today!
i was a little bit hungover this morning, so i needed some spine stiffening to manage my day. Aromatics. Elixir did a good job. Will go to bed early today.
Hm. I have parties both Saturday (in-person but small, all vaxxed, and we are all doing PRC tests beforehand) and Sunday (virtual, 50th birthday for a good friend). The Saturday party is hosted by lovely people who pour with generous hands. I am going to add AE to my recovery arsenal!
PCR tests, of course (!)
L’Artisan La Chasse aux Papillons and a nice cup of jasmine green tea to drink to start my week.
A good jasmine green tea does a lot to take the sting out of a Monday.
I was out walking this morning and got an early Christmas present. Running toward me was a tall, shirtless man in excellent shape juggling two balls as he ran. I was stunned, first because he was gorgeous, and second because his stride had to be so smooth and his coordination so finely tuned. When I run, I think I look like a scarecrow about to come apart. It was a great start to the day. I’m wearing Messe de Minuit because I should really go to church and give thanks for handsome running men without shirts.
?
Thanks for the laughs, and the visuals!
???!
Omg! Thanks for the laugh, I needed that!
SOTD = Slumberhouse Jeke
Day 24 of my perfume advent calendar! Sweet and incensey tobacco with very patchouli. I love this type of flacon a lot!
It’s my day off but I wanted to send an email while logged in and my connection is telling me I should just wait because it kept getting disconnected!
4 more days and I will be on a 2 week vacation. I have no plans to travel anywhere and looking forward to meeting up with family.
Eep, here’s my IG post on Jeke:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CXbxbBuuIyq/?utm_medium=copy_link
And if you’re interested in the contents of my other advent calendars, jut look through my account.
Those “Undina Owls” are all so adorable!! ??
Wearing two forgotten bottles of perfumes today: This morning VC&A Midnight in Paris, for men but perfectly unisex with it’s baby leather, now wish I had more than my 30ml bottle but it’s discontinued, and this evening it’s Worth Dan’s la Nuit, vintage in a dark blue 50ml bottle, I hadn’t worn it in so long and find it gorgeous today, all kind of flowers like carnation, violet, rose, ylang and jasmine, on a sweet spicy, oriental base, not dated at all, I find that Worth is often forgotten about as a perfume house, Je Reviens is of course a classic but there is a handful of other very good perfumes, I believe Courtesan is the most recent one.
It’s a mystery why some perfume houses fly under the radar, isn’t it?
An extremely wet day here, but I’m grateful for the rain. One more week of work before winter break for my family, I can’t wait! But it feels like there’s a lot to be done before.
I’m staying cozy in Feve Delicieuse and a lot of yerba mate tea today.
Hang in there tulipani!
This article really isn’t so much about perfume as about Covid and the loss of smell. I found it interesting although worrisome. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22783776/long-covid-loss-of-smell-taste?fbclid=IwAR2ylO75kKUzRm3ze2heK1iYZf9fLkSpVHhtWZnCXwRsuQs4IQ5MHujix0g
Saw that one, decided I could not bear to read a single more article about covid related anosmia! It really is worrisome.
I love today’s pic, Robin! Washington Mews is a favorite spot and it reminds me of my wonderful years horseback riding out of a mews stable in London.
Still whizzing through decant dregs, my count thus far is 24 this month woot! I’m so happy that I’ve stuck with it and made progress.
Wow! You did enough dregs to make up for my slacking! ?? I got distracted by other scented goodies.
I pulled all of them out and set them aside and as the days go by it’s getting easier. I really simply don’t want to have all of this stuff stick around anymore!
Starting the week with Puredistance Sheiduna.
You smell wonderful!
We have a beautiful blue sky and sunshine day here for a change, so I got out my bottle of Arpege. It smells so familiar, and so good.
Familiar but good is perfect for a nice sunny day 🙂
An early start was had for a paid sick day. I needed to see my doctor in Pasadena and decided yep, good day to get stuff done. I have only seen him on zoom calls for almost two years.
He looks tired but said my tests always indicate I will live to 100.
Went to Old Pasadena and hit up a few stores, dropped off donations and finished at post office all in time to get home without the rain starting.
Very chilly and I wore copious sprays of Les Imondables Vanille Havanna. Ordered Encens Japonaise samples from Aedes.
Now I have a few delicious hours all to lay across bed and read or watch the rest of Get Back. or take a nap. ahhhhh the choices.
Sounded like you had an extremely productive day! And you smell great! Living to 100 means you have to buy more perfume!
True confession…pretty sure I have enough on hand to go to 100.
LOL – you need enough for 100 100-year old lifetimes. This is the other part of perfumath that never gets talked about.
Sotd is TF Eau de Soliel Blanc. A great buy last spring.
Funny story- yesterday while my son and I were in the breakroom, 2 new hire 18 year old girls asked if I was his grandmother! Today I am wearing a little bit of makeup. lol!
Oh no, not the kind of things you want to hear ever lol, but very smart of you to wear make-up today.
ZOMG! That’s horrible, what those girls said!
Those girls should be told how to be more sensitive ??♀️
One of them quickly said
” you don’t look old, but your son looks really young” lol. It just made it worse.
Yep, what Vee said. They deserved the death stare.
I hope you gave them a hard stare, a la Paddington.
Started the day in SL Fils de Joie from the spring splitmeet. It is beautiful, but it is so NOT me. Post-shower, no perfume for my scent-sensitive hairstylist. Now I am home, with the most flattering haircut I’ve had in years AND with my brows shaped (at a different salon) for the first time since January 2020. I feel like a much better version of myself, so have topped it off with a couple dabs of No. 5 parfum, which was purchased just about a year ago. I am not sure that No. 5 is really “me,” either, but I am enjoying it and feel ridiculously elegant. Just what I need as I continue grading exams!
Oh yay, that’s lovely!
Song of the Day: https://youtu.be/ZcXpKiY2MXE
Rather nice weather today for mid-December. Sunny and cool. Mount Laundry has been cut down to size at last, yay!
PSA for the Oreo-interested: I picked up a package of the Java Chip Flavor Creme the last time I went grocery shopping. Verdict: not bad at all! My favorite flavor is still the Dark Chocolate Oreos, though.
SOTD = more Mitsouko, from the sample that keeps on giving…
You smell marvellous, I purchased extrait this quarter and fell in love with Mitsi all over again.
Thanks Aurora! I bet the extrait is otherworldly!
It’s lovely, but it’s a commitment, so edt or edp have their merit too.
Every other trip to Wegmans I stop by the Oreo aisle and never see anything interesting. Will stop by this weekend!
I’ve been finding the unusual Oreo flavors at either Tar-zhay, or the small local grocery store in my neighborhood.
Aw, I just learned that Michael Nesmith died from seeing the comments on that video.
Is your Mitsouko the current version or vintage?
I have no idea how old my little dabber sample is. I got it a few years ago from one of the decanting sites.
I’m sure I have a few of those myself. ?
And yeah, I was bummed hearing about Michael Nesmith over this past weekend. Lots on Monkees songs on the radio… I remember watching them on TV as a very small unit.
Oh I hadn’t heard!
R.I.P.
Yay for The Monkees!
And…. Dark chocolate Oreo’s! I have never seen them.
I saw them side by side with the regular Chocolate Oreos this time. No Lemon Oreos this time, though.
The lemon Thin Oreos are my favorite. I love the cracker-like texture.
Speaking of coffee-flavored cookies, does anyone remember the Pepperidge Farm cappuccino cookies? I so wish I could resurrect them…
SOTD this morning was UNUM Rosa Nigra, from a sample in my DIY fragrance Advent calendar. Nice, but no rose. I’ll have to think about my CP scent(s); I found some great buys this year, but I also subscribed to DSH’s Heirloom Elixirs, and I’ve enjoyed them very much!
I’m currently nursing a toothache and have to see an endodontist on Friday, so please send healing thoughts!
Oh wow, best of luck and sending healing thoughts your way!
Thanks!
Commiserations on the toothache, Friday may seem a long way off, hope you are on Good pain-killers.
Thanks! OTC painkillers for now, but also now taking an antibiotic. We have stronger pain relief in the house, though, if needed!
Hoping that the endodontist appointment goes smoothly, and your healing is uneventful! ???
Oy, healing thoughts going your way!
What did you think of Raisin d’Ete?
So sorry about your toothache! Sending healing thoughts to you.
Super cute Floraiku In The Rain travel spray arrived today in it’s super cute packaging and super pretty pouch. Another one was ordered by me and should be arriving soon too. I ordered one then soon after was like, let me get a back up before I even try this one!!
I love love LOVE rain and rainy days and really wanted a perfume that reflects that.
By Kilian Dark Lord for me today. Mmmm, boozy vetiver. I’ll miss this sample when it’s gone.
I just received a Serge Lutens discovery set (what I wouldn’t have given for that in my early perfumista days! From Hudson’s Bay: shorturl.at/osGO8) and wore Un Bois Vanille today.