So last February, we did a covid-19 poll, and then we did another around Memorial Day. Today, we're checking in again after a long break: seven questions, including 4 about the pandemic. As always, answer as many or as few as you like.
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
2. Is your daily life pretty much back to normal, or is the pandemic still affecting your work or personal life?
3. Did the pandemic have any silver linings for you? (Anything really, maybe something you learned about yourself, or ways in which you improved your life?)
4. What is the main thing you wish you could now tell your pre-pandemic self?
5. Did the pandemic change your relationship to fragrance, and if so, how?
6. What's the next fragrance you think you'll buy?
7. Share something wonderful with us! It can be anything — something delicious you ate, a great movie you saw recently, the last good book you read, any fabulous news you recently received — really, anything.
Note: top image is February Winter Freeze [cropped] by James Mann at flickr; some rights reserved.
Happy Weekend guys!
It’s been a rainy overcast day after a scorcher of a week,so the cooler weather was very welcome!
The poll!
1.) SOTD!Amouage Sunshine,a bottle muled over from Dubai by a friend who was there just as it was released.I do love it
2.)My life was never not “normal” during the height of the pandemic.We still went to work as normal,although there was a quiet period during April 2020.I’ve never been too much of a socialite anyway,so quiet weekends at home are typical for me.
3.)Silver linings of the pandemic:It did give me time to also pause and reflect.I truly believe the pause in movement and restrictions on people had a positive effect on nature.Despite the recent flooding,the past 2 years we saw the rainy season which is Summer being as close to “normal” as it has ever been!Also traffic to work was(and somehow still is!!)a breeze!!
4.)Uhmmm…nothing really.I’ve been content-more or less-with my life recently.My cutting out and off of fake friends/too much “stuff”/unpleasant situations have been ongoing since wayyy before the pandemic,and I have mentioned some of it here over the years(my capsule wardrobe is perfection,for instance!haha!)
5.)Perfume has always been a source of joy and comfort for me,and it has been that pre-,intra-,and dare I say post-pandemic?That will never change,even when I do get my “not interested” days.Thank goodness I have not had Covid,or the loss of my sense of smell.I intend to keep it that way.
6.)Already bought my next fragrance,today!Haha!I visited the shop I mentioned that sells the Fragonard range,in Johannesburg today.I got two of their discovery sets which I cannot wait to get into,and also fell madly in love with the Fleur de la Passion edt,awesome passion fruit note.Well priced as well.
7.)The best news lately was that I will not be moving for at least another year.I honestly am not ready yet,although I do want to relocate eventually.Just.Not.Now.Haha!
I have a “Top 10 desert island perfumes” list I want to do,I’ll share it in another post!
XO’s
hi JB, my commute is sort, but even so I’m thrilled that traffic to work has remained lighter than usual for so long. 🙂
Me too!Lots of people still working remotely from home here.
1. None yet but it’s cold and windy. Might wear Alahine.
2. No longer working as a preschool music teacher – could not teach the way I want with everyone masked. But my sports photography business is normal.
3. Even when a door closes, there’s another that opens. Still reinventing myself at age 53. And that the community I live in isn’t where I belong long term – not a positive except that it clarifies what we want for our eventual retirement.
4. Nothing that doesn’t sound negative and cynical, so I won’t answer.
5. Now that I’m not teaching, I’m free to spray at hajussuri levels. Liberating.
6. Doing a no buy again, so I have no idea. Will see what’s interesting to me in 6 months to a year.
7. My son will graduate from high school this June and will study chemical engineering at Case Western in Cleveland. He will play football, and we are driving distance from there and most of their opponents so we get to enjoy watching him do what he loves for a little while longer. He’s our only child so the emotions are truly mixed.
I am curious about Alahine. Tell me more.
Your son sounds like a great kid. I was an only child too and I know how my parents had mixed emotions when I left for college.
Alahine has gotten a lot of attention here in the past. It’s an amber, with a prominent ylang ylang note. One of my favorites.
Thanks so much?
Is Alahine the one sometimes spelled on this board with alot of iiiis…Alahiiinnee? What’s community lore behind that spelling?
I was wondering that too.
I think it was a combination of a before-my-time NST inside joke together with autocorrect doing its darnedest to correct the word Alahine. My autocorrect has learned it now, but there were some comical suggestions when I first typed it.
I wonder what the inside joke was about!
I don’t get to sing with students at my elementary school anymore, and they tell me every day how much they miss it. Maybe someday vocal music will come back. For now I’m grateful I can teach in another role.
Congrats to your son! I hope you feel very proud. 🙂
For Jalapeno and Hajusuuri(and anyone who loves a list!)
My Top 10 Current Desert Island Perfumes.
1.)Iris Silver Mist
2.)Bendelirious
3.)Portrait of a Lady
4.)Bois Farine
5.)Jo Malone Blackberry and Bay cologne
6.)Hermès Hiris
7.)Iris Poudre
8.)Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel
9.)ELDO Rossy de Palma Eau de Protection
10.)Byredo Accord Oud(my first love from Byredo!!)
Comment if you are surprised at something ON the list,or that does not feature!
?✌??
BENDELIRIOUS!
Always makes me think of you?
Haha!I’m glad.So many memories connected to that perfume,I might get emotional just now!
XO
Iris Poudre – love it. What a great list. Johano – took me a while to figure out it was you. ♥
It be me springpansy!Haha!
If I run out of Iris Poudre on the island,at least I still have the Jo Malone!??✌??
I have #5 and #9 on your list. I will have you for company on the island!
If you enjoy #5,you will also love #7 I think,have you tried Iris Poudre?
I have not tried it, but I am not a huge iris fan. I guess you never know. Maybe I will have to try sometime.
It’s a wonderful different take on Iris,I think!I have mentioned before that Blackberry and Bay-well to me-is fairly close to the drydown of Iris Poudre which is my favorite part of the perfume!Also why I think you MUST try it!✌??
I’m surprised at how many perfumes from your list I really like, own and enjoy wearing (five!): that almost never happens to me with other perfumistas’ lists! 🙂
Haha!That is awesome Undina,should I find myself stranded on an island I hope it’s with you!?????✌???
I also love PoaL and I’m glad to see Bois Farine on your list. It’s so unique that I can see it being a favorite of a yours ?
Thank you!
Bois Farine is just so much fun to wear!
I love a top 10 list!
Me too!About anything really!!
Bendelirious = Wheee! in a bottle
Exactly!??✌?
Wow, I am rather surprised at all the iris perfumes that are on your list! But not surprised by the two rose scents that you have. ? Curiouser and curiouser!
Surprised by the Iris perfumes?My favorite note!!Then comes vanilla/rose/cherry/almond/heliotrope!Hehe!
I am surprised there are no Guerlain perfumes on my Top 10 list,but there are defo a couple on a Top 20 list!
I’ve been ooooooooohing and aaaaaaaaaaaaahing so much over some of your vintage lovelies that I didn’t quite notice the thread connecting a lot of your very favorites.
Woo hoo! Let’s be on that desert island together! I have 7 out of your Top Ten. The only ones I don’t have are JM Blackberry & Bay (I gave it away), ELDO Rossy de Palma Eau de Protection and Byredo Oud Accord.
We’ll be a great tribe on that island then!Are you able to do a Top 10 from your stash?
To me!! And it was swiftly ” borrowed” by eldest
I was hoping to het the 3-eyed owl back sometime ??
I’ve loved wearing 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 on your list and have to agree they are all desert island worthy. 🙂 Now I’ll have to try 2, 7, 9, and 10!
Let me know if you do try 2,7,9 and 10,always curious what others think of my “beloveds”!
Bois Farine and Hiris are also in my top 10!
Wonderful!We’ll get along famously on the island!????
Oh I also love lists! Great choices.
I’m also a huge iris lover! I have 1, 6 and 7 in my stash.
You are a certified iris lover then,absolutely!??
Wow I love your list! It’s so varied and superb! I think you’ve got something for whatever moods hits you on this island. ?
1. SMN Rosa Novella. I don’t love it.
2. It’s settled into something resembling a new normal? We’ve been very lucky and neither of the kid’s schools have shut down since September (yay test and stay!)
3. Yes it/a full body rash and hair falling out forced me to take stock of the impact of any always unhealthy work environment and think about what I want my life to look like.
4. Hahaha well if I told her she would change her mind about getting pregnant that would ruin all the fun wouldn’t it?!
5. No but man do I miss wandering through stores and testing fragrances.
6. I have no idea!
7. I quit my job for a better one this week! (See #3)
hurray for a better job! My workplace has been drama-free and stress-free for many years, until this year when a new-hire decided to bring it. It’s tolerable, but I do wonder if the grass is greener elsewhere. 😉
#4 made me laugh, and congrats on #7!
Congrats on quitting and finding a better job!
Congratulations on the new job!!
1. Chanel Coromandel
2. I would say it is pretty much back to normal and since I am retired now I don’t have to go anywhere if I don’t want to.
3. Well, my husband and I got every part of our townhouse scrubbed that we normally don’t do as often such as inside cupboards, drawers and the refrigerator.
4. Slow down.
5. Since I was working from home and then retired during the pandemic I purchased some stronger perfumes and now I can spray like crazy! I definitely became more interested in perfume.
6. I am thinking about Montale Paris Rose Elixir. If anyone has tried it please give me your opinion.
7. I am always reading and the latest book is Beautiful World, Where Are You by Salley Rooney. I have not read anything by her so am trying to get accustomed to her writing style. I am not sure that I think the book is wonderful, but the day is always wonderful for me when I can take time to read.
Have a good weekend!
Your #2 is my dream. Good for you!
You smell great!
Roses Elixir is great!
Thanks. Good to know. Thanks ?
oh! thank you for the reminder, I need to scrub my fridge. 🙂
1. VC&A Bois d’Iris
2. Still working remotely but back to office soon. Since I work for University of Wash Medicine, it’s still top of mind.
3. So many things were silver linings along with the sad and bad. I took my normal commute time and worked out – yoga almost every day plus afternoon walks. Lots of thinking about upcoming retirement and where and how I want my life to look.
4. Life is all about change and I need to learn to roll with it as gracefully as possible. Be careful and smart but not fearful.
5. I loved fragrance before and I still love it now. I do think it helps me when I’m stressed. (And I may have spent a wee bit more on stress buys during the pandemic…)
6. Currently on the list: OJ Woman, Fzotic Ummagumma, DSHPerfumes Lumiere.
7. Let’s see. Coming up in early May: a four-day weekend trip to Calistoga, CA for a wedding that coincides with my birthday. Really looking forward to that.
Your #7 sounds fun. Enjoy yourself.
Bring your SOTD to the island please,only because I had no room left for it!!??✌??
That was funny, J B!!
?✌?
Ha – will do!
Oh! Enjoy Calistoga – my favorite town in Napa area. (Unfortunately, my favorite spa closed…) It’s also a quick jaunt over the hills to Sonoma County and Healdsburg, where we got married.
Yes – thanks, planning a jaunt over to Healdsburg for sure.
Is a trip to SSS in the offing?
???
I love Calistoga! Have an amazing birthday/ wedding weekend.
Showered and spritzed with a little decant of Shalimar Souffle d’Oranger. Which reinforces my view that Shalimar limited-edition flankers should be blind bought asap. I’d love a bottle of this one.
I’ve been at life-as-normal pretty much the last year, which I embraced since I’m vaccinated and boosted. I do comply with mask and vaccine proof mandates as required, which is generally very rare where I live.
Pandemic likely spurred our move to small-town WI from NYC. If not for COVID, we may have looked to move upstate along the Hudson or the Berkshires. Pandemic priced us out. But, I’m quite happy things turned out as they did.
Buying a home here changed my relationship with perfumes, since there’s nowhere to go sniffing. So, I am focusing more on things I already have than new scents. If I were younger, I’d consider opening a store here with scented products, beyond the ubiquitous local soap places.
Nothing wonderful to share, other than life is good. We go to a valentine’s thing tonight for music and hors d’oeuvres, which will be nice.
I agree that being vaccinated and boosted has made it a little easier to get back to some type of normal. I go with any mask requirements as well, but they are pretty rare in South Dakota.
I am sure small town Wisconsin is a lot different than NYC. It is a much slower pace than what you are probably used to.
I’ve followed your move to WI with interest. Mr. SP is a huge Packers fan and over the years, we spent lots of vacations with our kids visiting grandparents (no longer with us, sadly) up in the U.P. I think I could live in Door County pretty happily.
Come on up!
My answers:
1. Arielle Shoshana Friday, again
2. Nearly back to normal. We have a vacation planned in a few weeks so I’m still doing fewer public things (eating in restaurants, etc) so I don’t get sick before I go (and have to forfeit all our deposits). Knock on wood, when we get back we will be pretty close to pre-2020 life.
3. Quite a few silver linings, really. We did extensive decorating and upkeep work on our (old) house, inside and out, and it’s a much more comfortable place to spend time now. I read more, and listened to more music, and biked and walked more.
4. Adjust to doing yoga by yourself at home now, because you will not be back in the gym soon!
5. Not at all.
6. I probably won’t buy anything, but I’ve been tempted by the new travel size of Kilian Apple Brandy.
7. I am really excited about our vacation. Last night I finished reading Jane Austen’s Emma for about the millionth time and it made me just as happy as it did the first time.
Enjoy your vacation Robin!?
Thank you!
I hear you on the pre-travel caution! We had to postpone our Antarctica trip last year due to husband catching covid shortly before the trip. If we only had that sequence of events to do over… and we just found out there’s going to be a family wedding only a week before our rescheduled Antarctica trip. We won’t be attending that wedding, don’t want to risk a repeat.
Antarctica!!!Wow!!Epic!
I always think of that wonderful mini-series/play:Angels in America whenever I hear the word Antarctica!
I hope you take 1000’s of pics!!
I sure hope we get to go this time! I’m sure we will take a ludicrous amount of photos, lol.
Antarctica!! Yes, don’t breathe between now and then, that is a major trip. We are just going for a winter beach break.
When are you going?
November. Fingers, toes, and everything else crossed.
Crossing mine for you too!
We also did some redecorating/fixing in our house and appreciate it more now. We have to make our little nests as comfortable as can be given how much time we had to spend inside of them.
I hope your travel plans go without a hitch!
Exacty! It really paid off given how long we were pretty much stuck at home, plus, kept me occupied!
I’ve read Emma over and over again. Much like my Jeeves and Wooster compendium, Emma never disappoints. 🙂
Exactly!
LOVE Emma,
Did you see the new movie version yet Robin? I’m a little hesitant because the Gwyneth version felt like it captured the whole mood perfectly.
I am guessing you mean the 2020 one? Yes, I enjoyed it even if it takes huge liberties…you will probably like it better if you just see it as a fun costume romp and don’t try to relate it to Austen.
Seriously I think I like just about all the versions of Emma I’ve seen, TV and movies, and I’m not attached to any of them, unlike P&P, where I just don’t like any of them other than the Colin Firth / Jennifer Ehle. The Keira Knightley one made me nuts.
I like the 1995 version of Persuasion with Ciaran Hinds. Mmmmm. Might be my favorite film adaptation of an Austen novel.
Yes, that one was good! I might re-read that one next.
I love Austen and Emma too. Along with Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, one of my most revisited books! I also much, much prefer the 1995 mini series adaptation with Firth and Ehle. I read somewhere that the 2020 adaptation film of Emma was brilliant in the costume design, very accurate up to smallest details.
Colin Firth … yum.
I loved the new version! It’s definitely a different style than the traditional Austen movie but a lot of fun.
Good luck with your vacation plans! Bon voyage!
Thank you Jalapeno!
Yoga at home is great, isn’t it? Also wishing you a lovely holiday!
Well, gosh, I feel bad that I don’t find it great. I am finally making myself do it, but I can’t make myself do a whole hour. I think I do better with a class! But glad it works for you (and I think for many people).
Have a fabulous trip!
Thanks sistine!
Congrats on #3! We also did lots of work on our old house, not all of it voluntarily because we had a major pipe break, but all the interior renovation is done, and much exterior work (repainted the whole house and repaired a lot of woodwork). We’re embarking on our final (for now!) landscaping project, a dry creek to divert water away from the house and into a rain garden.
Oh, that sounds big…good luck!
I have a colleague, another lit teacher, who hates Jane Austen. I just don’t understand it! I reread them as well when I just want to chuckle and feel better.
That is interesting…I wonder what authors she habitually re-reads.
Good morning, all you lovely-smelling peoples. My poll answers:
1. I’m in Gucci EDP, or “Gucci Brown!” as my mom and I refer to it. A top-ten favorite for sure.
2. Work life – no, because, like Kris above, I retired during the pandemic. Personal life – yes. I’m still leery of going out to restaurants, and where I live there are still indoor masking requirements so I’ve mostly been shopping online except for the local drugstore. Because of that, I’ve mostly given up wearing makeup (hard to manage makeup and mask-wearing) … but I try to do my face once a week or so, just so I don’t forget how to!
3. Silver linings … well, no. The silver linings here have been tied more to retiring than the pandemic.
4. If I could go back, I’d tell myself how very long the pandemic would drag on. I think it might have been less wearing and depressing not to have repeatedly gotten hopes up that it was ending when it really wasn’t.
5. Not really. I was mostly ordering perfume online even in the before times, and mostly wearing it in office-friendly proportions. It’s possible I rely on it more now for comfort than I used to.
6. Oh, tough question. Lately I’ve been ping-ponging between thinking that I don’t really *need* to add anything to my collection to wishing for FBs of a few of the things I only have samples of, or wanting to sample some new things. The wishes and wants change frequently, as does my LuckyScent cart contents. ? Right now it has samples of two salty rose scents in it, but a week ago the cart contained a travel spray of Erawan and a month ago it had a FB of Wazamba.
7. Something wonderful? It has to do with our ongoing home repair project, but I’ve already jinxed it twice and am trying to avoid doing THAT again! Stay tuned. ?
I feel you on number 4. Sigh.
Good luck with the home repairs!?
I also really agree on number 4. I would rather have the bad news straight up then false hope.
Exactly. Rip the bandaid off, please. Sigh.
Well, if we ever have another pandemic in my lifetime, at least now we know it will last two years. I think that is standard, didn’t the Spanish flu epidemic last 2 years? Par for the course it seems.
I’m really hoping that there’s another 100-year break between this and the next one. ?
You and me both! But not likely.
Oooooh, that’s one of the last really good Gucci perfumes! Although I must admit that I rather liked the original Bloom and Memoire d’une Odeur.
It is really, really good. I’ve thunked two small bottles so far, and am well into the big, squatty, blunt-object-murder-weapon one. It’s hard to spray from, which is kind of good because that slows my usage down a bit. ?
LOL on “blunt-object-murder-weapon one”! But yeah, that description sure fits.
Soivohle made a perfume that was really similar to that particular Gucci… it’s called Harbinger. A little less sweet than the Gucci but remarkably close to it according to my nose.
I just wrote a fabulously long essay for you all to enjoy, and somehow hit the log out button just as I finished 🙁
In brief, I’m trying a sample of PdN’s Cap Neroli, I quite like it, but it gets a bit musky.
Life has been mostly close to normal here, we got on top of everything else with periodic lockdowns and closed borders, but we can’t stop Omicron. Everyone I know is fully vaccinated and getting boosted, so we’re in a good place.
I am not even thinking about my next purchase, I’ve spent a lot of money on all sorts of things recently, particularly dress fabric.
I found myself in heaven yesterday, when a local fabric shop had a huge amount of ends-of-roll fabrics from a New Zealand designer. I’d walked over, but couldn’t carry all my purchases home, so I had to go back with the car!!
Ugh, I’ve done that before.
I love looking at fabric. How many new dresses will you make?
I think I’ve bought enough fabric for about 20 🙂
All that fabric — what fun!
I love your fabric-shopping story! Have fun with it all!
1. I’m in MmmVP Shalimar. Goes well with my cashmere sweater.
6. I’m thinking either Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Nerolia Bianca or Hermès Sur Le Nil for the May splitmeet. Anyone interested? I am easily swayed either way.?
7. So many good things.?
a. After years of my dry, sensitive skin cracking and basically looking it’s worst during the winter months, I think I have finally found the perfect moisturizing cleaners thanks to Caroline Hirons. Jordan Samuel the aftershow for sensitive skin in the am and Emma Hardie moringa cleansing balm in the pm. The latter smells like a dream. If it came in a perfume, I would wear it. My skin actually looks and feels soft and no more cracking. Would highly recommend either one. Or both.?
b. Got the sweetest text from my college girl yesterday.
c. Walked into Macy’s this morning and on my way to the dressing room I spotted a Ralph Lauren houndstooth wool coat hanging on the end of a coat rack-IN MY SIZE. I’ve been looking for one all season. Scored 50% off PLUS another 25% off with my Macy’s card. I couldn’t NOT get it. I think hajusuuri would approve.
d. The sun is out!?
Congratulations on your new coat, it sounds fab!
Thanks ringthing! I think it’s a classic style that I will have for years.
Wonderful coat purchase!And yes,sounds like an investment classic!(even better at that massive discount!)
Seriously you had to get the coat!
That’s is a great deal on the jacket — I love it when that happens. And you smell great.
Can’t go past a discount like that!
Ooh, love to hear of Successful Shopping!
Well done on finding that coat!
Brava! And perfumath free!
That coat sounds gorgeous. Great score!
Hello lovely scented peeps!
1. Been sampling like mad this morning (doing a whole week’s worth of CP in a day, and then some) so I’m wearing a ridiculous mix of things.
2. Daily life is same as it has been for some time. I retired during the pandemic so everything’s different than pre-pandemic anyway. Mostly we stay home, work on house projects, go hiking. Still not back to travelling the way we’d like to.
3. Silver linings… well, covid confirmed that I really was ready to retire, when I knew I still wanted to retire despite all my do-stuff retirement plans being postponed.
4. Main thing I’d tell my pre-pandemic self? Travel more, while you can.
5. No change to my relationship with fragrance, although I did finally get the PERFUME CABINET of my dreams. No more stashing bottles all over the place!
6. Dunno about the next fragrance. Sampling today has been pretty much a bust, except for one amber scent (Anka Kus Ambre Destan) but do I really need another amber???
7. Something wonderful: we visited friends last weekend. They’ve both had recent health scares (non-covid) but we were so glad to see that they are really recovering well. Phew! We had been quite concerned.
I still need the Perfume cabinet of my dreams!
Tell us more about this cabinet!
It’s an IKEA Billy bookcase in birch veneer, with glass doors. I had to wait months for it to come into stock.
Nice, I can see how that would really work for perfume!
I’m with you on no. 4!
Yay for meeting up with friends and finding out that they are all right after everything!
1. Today I’m wearing a big cloud of Black Orchid, like 6 sprays.
2. I still wear a mask everywhere and I’m leery of restaurants and other crowded places.
3. No real silver linings to the pandemic that I can see.
4. I would tell my pre pandemic self to wear all of my big earrings because they’re impossible to wear with a mask.
5. In 2020, I went through several months of tharn, which Watership Down readers may recall. Not feeling normal at all. I just couldn’t be bothered with perfume or other things that got in the way of my anxiety. That’s turned completely around and my love for and interest in fragrance are stronger than ever.
6. Right now I don’t have anything in mind to buy but that could change anytime.
7. I’ve been able to do things around the house, including some rather elaborate (for me) meals and I’ve even driven a car with a clutch in the last couple of weeks. Yay! Thanks for all the support since my surgery. I love it here on NST.
See below!
Haha!I always chuckle about the mostly automatic cars in the US,we HAVE to get our licence with a stick-gear over here!
Everyone should know how to drive one imho but I grew up in a Volkswagen house, that’s all we had. When I first got my license, I was driving a stick shift. They’re fun!
I think it used to be the same here, but I see very few manuals now (as we call them).
So Very with you on the earrrings, which I haven’t started to wear again yet!
I’m so glad you’re healing well. Learning to drive with a clutch made me proud of myself. Good for you! 🙂
My first car had a manual transmission, because that’s what I wanted. I grew up with those. My mom didn’t even want an automatic until she was in her early 70’s, IIRC.
Now it’s almost impossible to find a stick shift here in the US in a new car.
I couldn’t remember exactly when my Mom switched cars and went with an automatic transmission, so I texted my brother and asked him. Turns out she changed up in her mid- to late 60’s. Got tired of having to use a clutch, she said.
Ringthing! I beg to differ about the earrings.
No problem wearing the big sparklers with a mask, as long as you’re careful when onning and offing. I’ve only lost one earring due to mask drama. Over a two year period that’s a lot less breakages for me because I’m so much more careful.
I didn’t care for Black Orchid at first, but when I got the parfum version I fell in love with it. Funny how our tastes can change.
Yay you on no.7! And with a clutch!
It’s my mom’s car but what I need to get her to appointments and everything. I have to have the seat pulled all the way up to have a short length for my left leg to push in the clutch, it’s funny looking.
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
Musc de Sable — I like the opening but then it turns too sweet.
2. Is your daily life pretty much back to normal, or is the pandemic still affecting your work or personal life?
Life is definitely not back to normal unfortunately. The daycare and school keeps closing, which is stressful in terms of keeping up with work. Because of the daycare’s strict exposure policy and long quarantine, we are still avoiding most indoor activities, especially eating.
3. Did the pandemic have any silver linings for you? (Anything really, maybe something you learned about yourself, or ways in which you improved your life?)
I learned to appreciate my health much more and not take it for granted. And also that I don’t need to do or have alot to be happy. Quality over quantity. But I also learned how much I love being around other people and doing things socially.
4. What is the main thing you wish you could now tell your pre-pandemic self?
This is a great question. Everything I am thinking of seems cliched, like “live in the moment, don’t worry too much about the future…”
5. Did the pandemic change your relationship to fragrance, and if so, how?
I am buying less and wearing more what I have. Which fits the theme of the answers above.
6. What’s the next fragrance you think you’ll buy?
I have a giftcard to purchase Rose de Jamal but they are out of it at the perfumery. Boo!
7. Share something wonderful with us! It can be anything — something delicious you ate, a great movie you saw recently, the last good book you read, any fabulous news you recently received — really, anything…
If you love chicken and paprika and creamy noodles, you HAVE to make the NYT recipe “Chicken Paprikash.” It is the most amazing thing ever. I make it now once a week and we still can’t get enough.
If you are looking for a heart-warming and poignant tale of female friendship, I highly recommend the novel “Mrs. Benson’s Beetle.” It was a break from my usual crime fiction reading and I really liked it.
Rose de Jamal is lovely!
Pandemic life helped me move closer to accepting that I need much less than I have. I no longer get nervous when something is missing from the shelves at the grocery store. And I’ll never run out of perfume, so there’s that. 😉
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
I’m wearing Lost Cherry.
2. Is your daily life pretty much back to normal, or is the pandemic still affecting your work or personal life?
As a hard-core introvert, daily life is pretty much the same, pandemic or not. I do miss volunteering at the Humane Society but I don’t want to go back until mask mandates are gone.
3. Did the pandemic have any silver linings for you?
I had wanted to start running again after I retired but every time I tried I got some kind of injury. A long daily walk for a year built strength and endurance that has allowed me to start run/walking again. Looking forward to running a 5K sometime this summer.
5. Did the pandemic change your relationship to fragrance, and if so, how?
Not really, although not being able to go sniff in a shop made me want to really badly, but I got over it.
6. What’s the next fragrance you think you’ll buy?
Probably Chipmunk, though a travel size Erawan is a possibility.
7. Share something wonderful with us! It can be anything — something delicious you ate, a great movie you saw recently, the last good book you read, any fabulous news you recently received — really, anything.
Mrs. Maisel is back on Amazon, there’s a new Sparks & Bainbridge mystery on the horizon, and I really love the condo I bought last June.
My daughter is an Olympic gold medal level introvert so pandemic life has been interesting for her. I’m in awe of your 5K running goal. I walk a lot and have thought about speeding up to a jog someday. Maybe today? 😉
1. SOTD is Bois de Paradis. Someone mentioned it lately and that brought it to mind. Also when Johanob listed his top 10, it made me begin to ponder what mine would be. I think either this one or Amoureuse–perhaps both, would be on my list.
2. The pandemic didn’t affect my work life much, since I retired in 2019; but I think the depression of isolation did lower my productivity, because I just didn’t feel like writing, and I was late on several deadlines and had to withdraw from one planned volume. I’m somewhat back to normal, if you can be normal while recovering from hip replacement surgery–would like to be able to get out more to shops and restaurants. Perhaps by the time I’m more mobile, the Omicron wave will have subsided, with no new variant, enough to resume my usual activities.
3. Silver linings–??–more time with cats (plus more cats, eek!), some more bonding with scattered friends through Zoom happy hours and letter-writing (via e-mail); more time in reading and watching decent TV shows.
4. Tell pre-pandemic self: do more now to clear out all those things that are on the list–donate clothes to charity, throw out old papers, sort out paperwork, get more bookshelves to unpack boxes of books from my office, etc.
5. I don’t think there’s been a change in my relation to fragrance. I’m still wearing it every day,, unlike makeup! The biggest change is that I have not been able to get out to stores to sniff things in person, with perhaps one exception during the break and optimistic period when I was all maxed and boosted and before Delta hit,
6. Next fragrance is likely to be one from Zoologist, but I’m not sure what yet. Waiting to try Seahorse and Chipmunk.
7. Good thing: Mom has been doing very well in Memory Care. We were so afraid of moving her there but it’s been the best thing for her. I haven’t been able to visit her due to my surgery, but the activities manager just sent me cute photos of her at their Valentine’s Day party and with a few visiting therapy dogs. They are planning a Glamour Shots day and I can’t wait to see her picture from that–it’s the coolest idea!
hi Calypso, I’m glad you’re healing and smelling deliciously fragrant in Amoureuse. I waffled between that one and a bottle of Debut for a couple years. Thank you for sharing your mom, your kitties, and your adventures on insta, you make me smile every time. 🙂
whoops, you smell wonderful in Bois de Paradis not Amoureuse! I still have my samples of both, they do not disappoint. 😉
Oh, thank you for looking at my Insta!
PS: I also have a bottle of Debut. Love it too!
Calypso:
I love both Bois de Paradis and Amoureuse — you’ve got great taste!
I remember the angst you had about putting your Mom in Memory Care. I am quite happy to hear that it is working well. Hugs!
I’m glad to hear your mom is doing so well, and that you are recovering!
Hi, fragrance friends! My pink jasmine vine is just beginning to flower, which reminds me of a day 8 or so years ago. I had just regained my sense of smell, so I went looking for a pink jasmine perfume to buy. I’ve never found one, but I found all of you. Yay for NST!
I’m listening to Tom Petty’s Wildflowers album today. Crawling Back to You is playing at the moment. I’m digging it.
1. I’m wearing Tam Dao EdP from a sample. Still love it, still haven’t sprung for a bottle. Maybe someday, maybe never.
2. I work at an elementary school, so I wear a mask indoors all the time. My face is prone to mild rosacea when my skin gets too warm from my breath behind the mask. By Friday afternoon each week my face feels sunburned. I’ve learned to be extra gentle – no hot drinks, no soap, and loads of sensitive skin moisturizers. If anyone has a favorite skin soother to recommend I’d love to know about it.
3. I’ve learned that it’s ok to maintain boundaries that keep bad energy (from people, media, whatever) out of my life.
4. I wish I had known that my parents would still be ok at this point. I worried a lot about them due to my stepdad’s health issues. He had his 80th birthday last November, so I’m grateful.
5. These days I wear miniscule amounts of perfume. I can really smell it strongly when I take off my mask, as if my nose has just woken up from a long nap, so a little dab is enough. I have always been a light scent spritzer, mostly because I like to change perfumes easily throughout the day.
6. I don’t think I’ll ever buy another bottle (famous last words!) as my perfume cupboard maintains a level that is truly STABLE (STash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy). Last bottle I bought was Luci ed Ombre in 2020.
7. Today I found half a loaf of Christmas panettone hidden at the back of my freezer. It is delicious toasted then slathered with butter and jam.
That’s all I’ve got. Wishing everyone a delicious and fragrant weekend. xoxo mwah!
Boo to mask-caused rosacea! Also, deeply envious of the panettone find.
That panettone has made me happy all day long. 🙂
STABLE — so funny, and too true!
Isn’t it nice we can laugh about it together? 😀
Love it! ? I’ve also reached STABLE stage
OMG! STABLE is genius. Thinking I might be at STABLE to the power of 20 by now Tiffanie.
You are at INTERSTELLAR STABLE level, dear Portia! 😀
HA! That could be a true statement.
I’ve discovered CeraVe lotions and ointments for my poor, chapped, sometimes-have-eczema hands. They’ve been such a relief! I can post specifics later if this sounds like something which can help you.
thank you, Jalapeno! and yes, I would love to know what works for you.
I have a bottle of CeraVe PM Facial Lotion I like to use at night, supplemented with La Roche-Posay Rosaliac AR Intense and Aveeno Calm+Restore Oat Gel Moisturizer. I wash with Aveeno Ultra-calming Foaming Cleanser.
My go-to is CeraVe Healing Ointment. I also have tubes of Eucerin Eczema Relief Cream and Aquaphor Advanced Therapy Healing Ointment around. And my brother swears by CeraVe Moisturizing Cream for any chapped body parts he gets.
Right now I am using Fresh Soy Face Cleanser.
awesome! 🙂 Thank you for sharing. I love CeraVe Moisturizing Cream, too.
CeraVe is a great brand, I use their cleanser and moisturizer/sunscreen, plus their dry skin cream.
Eucerin ph5 sensitive skin face cream for face has been my staple and my family’s since I was a child- so decades using it. Whenever I try any other moisturiser (even others from the same brand) I always go back to this one, it’s really soothing, humectant and gives lasting moisture without being too greasy or occluding. Good for dry and sensitive skin. My dad has rosacea and I have dermatitis and we both like it. It’s also quite affordable.
thank you for the tip, Cicely 🙂 I’ve not heard of that brand and will try it.
I also have mask irritation from school-day wear. I’ve found that spritzing with Tower 28’s S.O.S. Save our skin daily facial rescue spray immediately when I take my mask off in the car really helps.
fantastic! thank you, sistine, I really am grateful for the advice. I will look for SOS spray today. I have a bottle of Neutrogena sensitive skin moisturizer in my school bag. As soon as I take my mask off in my car after school I slather it on. I need something better and more soothing, so this one may be it!
1. What fragrance are you wearing today? Nothing yet, but planning something nice for the evening. Might be either Natori by Natori, or Chanel Allure EdT, or arcisco Rodriquez For Her, or Chanel n 5 EP. Actually, do not have it narrowed down at all.
2. Is your daily life pretty much back to normal, or is the pandemic still affecting your work or personal life?
Still affecting daily life. Am working from home most days, which is fine but does get monotonous. Don’t see friends nearly often enough. Have been working overtime for a while, so that might have more to do with it than covid, to be fair.
3. Did the pandemic have any silver linings for you? Last summer I started doing pilates a few times a week, and already am stronger and more flexible. And it is equal parts fun and challenging. I don’t know if I would have started if i was still commuting to/from the office 5 days a week.
4. What is the main thing you wish you could now tell your pre-pandemic self? Buckle up because this s**t is going to get crazy.
5. Did the pandemic change your relationship to fragrance, and if so, how? It’s been a ride. Since 2017 my office is a no perfume policy, so I would wear a spray of SJP Lovely or Prada Infusion d’Isris under my shirt since it can easily fly under the radar. and the layers of clothing on top keep it close. So when i started working from home in March 2020 it was cool to be able to wear anything i wanted. But … i sort of just skipped it. Life had a lack of color and vibrancy and I felt apathetic about smells too. I had a Hermes travel set that i kept at my work desk that had Caleche, Eau de Rhubarbe Ecarlate, and Osmanthe Yunnan and I would spray those. And it was nice but the enthusiasm wasn’t really there. It wasn’t “And what shall I wear today!?!” More like “This one I guess.”
Then I got omicron this January and while i kept my smell and taste my system felt sensory overload easily. But! That faded after a week or so and afterwards my enjoyment came back and since then I have gotten my scent groove on. I am curious about scents again and loving rediscovering old favorites. Am using one for daytime and picking something else for going to sleep. It feels good.
6. What’s the next fragrance you think you’ll buy? Oh man. I just ordered a bunch of Zoologist samples, so maybe one of those. I’ve gotten back to ordering samples, so might just end up being a few larger decants instead of a full bottle.
7. Share something wonderful with us!
I’ve been working a lot of overtime and weekends the last couple months. But I am taking both days off this weekend and it feels awesome already!
Please report in on your Zoologist samples! I just ordered some too from Luckyscent–Seahorse among them. But Chipmunk samples were out of stock at the moment, too bad.
Good to hear that your perfume groove is back!
I tried Natori for the first time this December, as part of my “Scented Advent” series, and I liked it so much I bought a bottle! A true bargain beauty: https://scentsandsensibilities.co/2021/12/11/scented-advent-december-11/. I’m glad you recovered well from Omicron.
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
Sampling CdG Marseille. Basic clean scent, but pleasant.
2. Is your daily life pretty much back to normal, or is the pandemic still affecting your work or personal life?
The pandemic is over in San Diego for me, mask mandate ended 2/15. That was the last remaining restriction. I’m retired.
3. Did the pandemic have any silver linings for you? (Anything really, maybe something you learned about yourself, or ways in which you improved your life?)
I took up meditation and studying buddhist philosophy, which I’ve really enjoyed. I also made some big life mistakes that I’ve learned from.
4. What is the main thing you wish you could now tell your pre-pandemic self?
Don’t panic, everything is impermanent.
5. Did the pandemic change your relationship to fragrance, and if so, how?
I discovered I can’t wear much perfume when I’m anxious.
6. What’s the next fragrance you think you’ll buy?
Papillon Perfumery Hera
7. Share something wonderful with us!
I am so very happy to be enjoying the sunshine and the company of my loved ones, we are safe and well. Life is good.
Wait! Is Hera new?!?
It was announced last year, but there is no release date yet. I’m guessing June or July though.
Thanks, I look forward to trying Hera. I’ll keep my eyes peeled.
I had forgotten about this perfume! I absolutely love the sound of the notes. Being a bridal perfume, it would make sense for it to be released in spring. Looking forward to it.
Today I am wearing Fève Délicieuse on one arm and VCA Bois d’Iris on the other, the latter to remind men that post-Feve life will be Just Fine.
Life is not year normal, as I am still mostly working from home. It will be normal once I can talk to people without a mask – as it is, I can barely manage a spoken interaction at the grocery store, much less try to talk to people when I do get into work.
Silver linings were, like many people, the not-commuting, and in my case getting to know my garden-heavy neighbourhood better, sending photos to friends in colder parts of the country as a promise that Spring Will Come.
Pre-COVID self would have liked to have known that my mother would get only a mild version of it, saving me two years of worry.
To my surprise, working from home resulted in my wearing only two, gentle scents for months, namely the Bulgari blue tea and Dusita Douceur de Siam. Pretty, calming, and easy to reapply by popping into my bedroom.
Will consider buying something once I have made a real dent in the decants. A pretty mimosa would be nice, but I am not sure what since I had dithered on Mimosa Pour Moi.
Good thing is finding out that coleslaw-type salad can be grilled or fried and be very delicious.
WHAT? Please tell me the trick of this coleslaw AnnieA?? How do you dress it?
Seconding what Portia said!
Although Mr. Jalapeno’s Dad and his wife used to make a grilled Caesar salad every so often. Is it along those lines?
Something along those lines, except Romaine keeps its form and this all shrinks down, if not as much as wilted spinach.
This cunning idea came from the cookbook Sheet Pan by Kate McMillan, using red cabbage. I quickly realized that *I* didn’t have to shred the cabbage if I bought bagged salad. The original recipe called for a lot of oil in the cooking; once on the plate I add balsamic vinegar. Ooh, I’d forgotten about the recipe’s crumbled blue cheese…
OMG! Sounds bloody divine.
Yum! I’ve just looked up the book online and will try it! I cook a lot of meals on sheet pans because we get a Blue Apron meal subscription and many of their recipes call for that. So easy.
The grilled cole slaw sounds intriguing, must investigate that!
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
Just waking and eating breakfast, so I’m commando at the mo, but am leaning towards Fils de Dieu
2. Is your daily life pretty much back to normal, or is the pandemic still affecting your work or personal life?
Personal life is perfectly fine, even great, maybe since I took to “social distancing” like a duck to water! Work life continues to one continual cluster due to hospital corporation greed, governmental ineptness, and public denial of Covid. That’s all I’ll say about that! Plus I’m in an area with a booming influx of people (mostly from California) with a very small hospital system that cannot handle this huge population increase. They need bigger, better acute care facilities here. Consequently, we are always teetering on the edge of catastrophe…
3. Did the pandemic have any silver linings for you? (Anything really, maybe something you learned about yourself, or ways in which you improved your life?)
Pandemic pay has been a plus for me, but since I’ve worked my whole adult life struggling financially, living paycheck to paycheck as a staff nurse, it’s about time I was able to stuff some money into savings. Really, the first time in my life I feel a significant decrease in financial insecurity. Also, simplifying my life over the past 5 years has also led to a dramatic decrease in stress.
4. What is the main thing you wish you could now tell your pre-pandemic self?
People are people, don’t expect them to do the rational thing…
5. Did the pandemic change your relationship to fragrance, and if so, how?
I’m wearing multiple sprays of multiple perfumes daily now. I went the The Scent School of Hajusuuri and have graduated top of the class! ?
6. What’s the next fragrance you think you’ll buy?
Nothing in my radar at the mo.
7. Share something wonderful with us! It can be anything — something delicious you ate, a great movie you saw recently, the last good book you read, any fabulous news you recently received — really, anything.
I’m loving facial care and giving myself facial massages when applying skin care. I love the slippery smooth feeling of a couple different products applied together and taking five minutes to really massage it in to face. Very soothing and satisfying!
WOW! Congratulations on saving during the pandemic. I’ve never understood why nurses pay is so terrible, it used to be an amazing job when my Mum was a nurse from the late 50s through to the early 90s.
Will that extra money continue for you?
Unlikely as congress wants to “cap” travel nursing pay because “hospitals can’t afford it.” However, they continue to be able to afford HUGE bonuses on top of inflated base salary for admins/CEOs. BILLIONS of dollars over the past couple years. They get these bonuses by “keeping costs down” which means staffing is slashed. So many healthcare workers lost jobs, benefits, and hours, but admin and CEOs continue to take in millions throughout the pandemic. I could really tell some horror stories about hospital greed but I’ll refrain since it’ll make my blood pressure rise and Robin will give me the boot. Although, I feel strongly the general public should know about these issues, because it’s you, the patient, that’s at risk. When it takes 30 minutes to have your call light answered, maybe the patient should ring the CEO to see if he or she could help out…??♀️
OOOHH! That is REALLY good advice. If ever I’m in need I will definitely call the Top Brass.
I’m sorry to hear this, and I agree with your take on it. Ugh. A big thank-you to you and all on the front line in healthcare!
this sounds similar to the situation in higher ed
This is why we contracted for a private duty nurse who can stay with mom pretty much while she’s awake. We originally thought that 8 hours would have been enough but we quickly upped it to 12 hours a day (8am to 8pm) so the nurse can do things that the sub-acute rehab center was supposed to do but did not or took too long to do. Also, we went to the “Top Brass” for the center and I would have gone higher if I was not listened to. At the proverbial end of the day, the profit motive was too strong and we ended up suing. We really should have sued for other things but we were not looking for compensation, just some way to hold them accountable for bad practices.
That was a long break, almost nine months. That pic is quite beautiful, tired of winter or not.
1) Bottega Veneta (again)
2) Pretty much back to normal. I still wear a mask, though.
3) I learned that I do not have to go out and about every single day,
and that I can just hang out home all day on a day off if I want.
Also, this saves on gas and keeps the mileage off of my car.
4) Stock up on TP.
5) I didn’t wear any during lock down; like everyone else, I was
home all the time, so I didn’t see the point.
6) Probably nothing for a while, trying to thin the herd just a wee
bit.
7) Nothing spectacular around here. Um, 13 years of vegetarianism
next month? That’s all I can really think of….
HA! Stock up on TP is a hilarious response. Made me laugh out loud. thanks.
Congratulations on your vegetarian diet–that’s a good long time!
lol, I almost wrote “stock up on TP” to my pre-pandemic self too! But tbh, we never got close to running out, even with all our young adult children living at home during lockdown.
1. Today I’m in Calligraphy Saffron, which has become a reliable favorite. I’m determined to try and wear this during the high heat of our desert summer, and see what happens.
2. Life is not back to normal. I’m still working from home, not going out much, feeling hesitant to interact with people OUT THERE.
3. The pandemic has boldly underlined my need to retire, and it’s going to happen at the end of the year!
4. I would tell my pre-pandemic (and, even before that) self to not take everything so seriously.
5. The name of the game these days is MORE: more often, more changes of perfume, more indiscriminate choices, and more volume. hajusuuri has influenced a lot of us in this regard. I’m not up to her level yet, but the year is still young.
6. I haven’t bought any perfume this year, and for some reason, I haven’t felt a lot of need. I look at all the new releases posted here on NST, yet I rarely feel compelled to even think about a new purchase. It’s a mood. It will pass.
7. Did I mention that I’m retiring at the end of this year? I just read a quote (originally from Twitter) in some article about employment in the U.S., which sums it up: “Sex is great, but have you ever quit a job that was ruining your mental health?”
Fingers crossed you can get across the line for your retirement. That’s a huge step.
You can make it to December!
Congrats on #3, I’m right there with you! I actually thought I might retire sooner, but one silver lining of the pandemic for me was that it made my work more manageable (remote), and it brought some new, interesting tasks, so I kept going (and earning and saving). But I’m ready.
Yes, financially, it makes more sense to keep going, if you feel good about the job. It sounds like you’re in a better place with your work, which is terrific. And you probably smell really good, too. 🙂
Hi all,
WOW! This is a big one.
1. Currently in Silences by Jacomo inspired by Undina’s what to wear for calm post.
2. Slowly getting back to normal. It’s been a tough couple of years.
3. Yes, I learned how little income I really need to survive. It was a bit more that I was getting but not a whole lot.
4. Get on a plane, buy a van and travel Europe for the next two years.
5. No change to my relationship with fragrance, it did slow my buying to a trickle?
6.There are two high on my list: Penhaligon’s Babylon and L’Artisan Couleur Vanille
7. Last week Jin and I payed off the apartment we live in. It’s a big deal.
Hope everyone’s weekend is full of fun, safe and cozy.
Portia xx
Portia, that’s great news about the apartment! It is indeed a big deal. Congrats!
Thanks LisaD. We celebrated with so many friends over the last week.
Excellent news about paying off the apartment! That is SO major!
Thanks Jalapeño. Can’t quite believe it TBH.
Portia, congratulations on your apartment! And you smell wonderful.
Thanks RingThing, on both counts.
Your #4 is tempting, but paying off the apartment, that’s huge! Congrats.
Thanks Robin, a pinch me moment if ever there was one.
Wow, congratulations on paying off your apartment!!
Thank you Sistine. Very freaking WOW for us.
Congratulations to you and Jin! We finished paying off our mortgage too, this month, and it’s a big deal! Just in time for me to get serious about retiring this year. And you smell great — I love Silences!
Congratulations on number 7!!
That‘s brilliant, congratulations!
1. I am testing Rose D’Amalfi…the opening is bit sharp but I quite like the drydown. Dislike the price.
2. I have not ventured out much but plan to do more things now that pandemic is receding and things *appear* to be improving. ?
3. Working from home is a huge silver lining and I am grateful. I have worked remote since March 2020 and generally love it. I am an introvert though so I miss seeing my coworkers in person ( to an extent 😉 hehaheeh) and I don’t have a new channel to interact with more people in the real world. But with things improving, I shall try to pursue more social outings. Making new friends as an adult is tough.
4. I would tell my pre-pandemic self to accept the weather. ☀️ ? ? ? ? ? ?
5. I love perfume even more now I think. It comforts me and is a wonderful hobby/distraction.
6. Rose D’Amalfi? see #1 otherwise not chomping at the bit for anything.
7. My sister continues to thrive post chemo and my 8 year old passed her gymnastics test today and advances from Beginner to Level 1. ?
Great news about your sister and your 8 year old! Huzzah! ???
Wonderful news about your sister! And the gymnastics, of course!
That’s such good news about your sister! And of course you smell fabulous.
I managed to mail all the split packages this afternoon; however, the shipping cost seemed too cheap. PayPal changed its shipping feature and I used it “as directed”. I wouldn’t be surprised if they all got returned to me. I don’t even have tracking numbers!
To the poll!
1. SOTD = Tauerville When We Cuddle and I Can Smell Your Perfume on My Clothes
https://www.instagram.com/p/CaLZbbqutO-/?utm_medium=copy_link
2. Daily life is not back to normal. Going into the office – masked. Grocery store and other shopping – masked. I’m not comfortable flying anywhere. I’m not going on any cruises any time soon, if ever; if I do, no more interior rooms. I don’t feel as free to go into NYC anytime (on a non-workday).
3. Pandemic silver lining – more personal time although commuting x times per week cuts into that in a major way. I have been cooking more – nothing fancy. I love my air fryer and while I wish I got it early on, I was waiting for the “perfect” one. Come to think of it, I got 2 prior to the Cuisinart and have them both away ?.
4. Cherish your loved ones because you never know what tomorrow will bring.
5. The main thing that changed is that I upped my perfume wearing to 8 spritzes pretty much every day I work from home.
6. I have no “next fragrance” in my list right now although I am very tempted by the Mohur Extrait that meredifay mentioned a few days back.
7. Three-day weekend!
You and I have the same sentiment for #4.
Ditto on #5
Hi H!
I’d love to send you some Mohur Extrait. Let me know if you’re interested. You should have my email address.
Thanks. I am just being greedy. I still have some left in the bottle.
Robin, I love today’s picture! It looks like something that could be the cover art for a science fiction or fantasy novel.
To the Poll!
1. SOTD = Chanel No. 19 EdP again. If I really like something I tend to wear it in consecutive days-long bursts.
2. Back to normal? Nope. Mr. Jalapeno is still working from home. If it continues until the Ides of March, it will have been 2 years. He was supposed to start a hybrid work schedule in January, but then there were some COVID outbreaks at his office. He isn’t going back until he feels safe. I am still masking in public spaces. I have eaten in a few restaurants over the past year, fully realizing that every time I do so, I am rolling the proverbial dice versus getting infected. So far I have been very lucky. I don’t think that the old version of normal is ever coming back.
3. Silver linings? Maybe? Since Mr. Jalapeno does work from home, I have the use of our single vehicle whenever I need it. It makes doctor, dentist, and vet visits much easier.
4. Message to my pre-pandemic self? You CAN get through this. Also, tell the people who are important to you what they mean to you while you still can.
5. Pandemic-induced change with perfume? Not really. ??
6. Next perfume purchase? I haven’t the foggiest idea. I’ve given up trying to predict what will catch my fancy next. Hopefully I can exercise some self control and have another “no buy” quarter. But if I come across any more perfume unicorns, all bets are off! ?
7. Something wonderful? Two of my friends that I was worried about due to COVID are OK now.
So glad your friends are ok now!
Me too. One of them had a mild case of COVID, and her husband didn’t get it at all.
Still worried about someone who is in the hospital, though. The last update I had was rather grim.
I have wondered whether the old version of normal will ever come back, even if covid completely disappears.
TBH, I hope some of the “old normal” doesn’t come back, like forcing employees to commute daily when there’s no need. I supervise a small group and I fully intend to keep letting them work remotely part of each week. It’s good for them and their families, and good for the environment.
I’m hoping that Mr. Jalapeno stays on a hybrid work plan. He used to come home in such a foul mood after his commute that it made some evenings terrible for both of us.
I hope you both get your wish. It does seem better to move people to working at home some of the time.
Thank you Robin. We shall see, right?
1. None today, just smell like caress soap
2. Things here are still masked up, people still on edge.
3. I got to discover more of New England since we couldn’t/didn’t want to travel outside of the USA or get on a plane.
4. I would tell myself: Acknowledge the wave, but stay with the ocean. This is more political than scientific -and don’t let it divide your friendships over the former.
5. I pile it on. 10 sprays sometimes.
6. Intimus
7. My in laws and their chai will be here in a few weeks.
I love caress soap.
Me too! It’s the only one that smells good and doesn’t dry my skin out
Yay for in laws!
Yay! ☕️ ?
I love your #4!
Me too. I have lost so many friends over this pandemic
People showed their true colors
Isn’t that the truth.
Whoo hoo for in-law visits and the wonderful chai that comes along with!
Good weekend, NSTers!
1. It is the middle of the night here and having trouble sleeping. I’m wearing Cuir Beluga in one wrist and Safand in the other one. Both hugely comforting, one a glorious vanilla, the other a sweet natural orange blossom. I have spent my Saturday with a sore throat and non stop cough (2 negative antigen tests) and smelling nice around me has cheered me up a bit.
2. My life is starting to come back to normal in that finally travel is not hindranced by numerous PCR tests and likely quarantines, so I can fly to my family that live in another country… my work is back to being chaotic and busy.
3. The only silver lining in the pandemic was the relative respite I got in my job as a particular type of eye doctor who is usually completely inundated by emergencies. In those first weeks in 2020, there was little to do but watch the news and work virtually as nobody came to hospitals unless very unwell. We weren’t particularly useful in the intensive care units so we were not called in after all.
4. I wish I could have spent more time with my grandfather, who sadly passed away from COVID.
5. My obsession with perfume increased in the pandemic if that was possible and I became a little bit of a compulsive buyer. Recently I am being much more restrained and going down the route of decants, following the good advice I read from wise NSTers. Sample in store/mail approved? Then move onto decant. Only if decant is thoroughly loved, do consider a full bottle.
6. What’s the next fragrance you think you’ll buy?
I am loving my decants of the following : Amouage Honour,(crisp white floral), Safanad Parfums de Marly, Rolling in Love Killian. So one of those. I also enjoyed Killian Angel’s Share (really interesting gourmand with cinnamon- surprised how much I liked it)
7. Today I started and finished the book Bridget Jones diary. I burst out laughing more than once, it’s a light but enjoyable read. It’s interesting to read the depiction of British women in the UK 90ies.
I have been very much into Japanese eyeshadows lately, and eastern make up in general. I find it very different and generally superior. Their products have a subtle glow and lovely textures, very far removed from the heavy bases, contour and over-lined lips etc we see so much. Their shadows are silky smooth and go from an ethereal satiny glow to subtle shimmers. A really nice alternative to mattes that I can wear.
Cicely, so sorry you don’t feel well and you aren’t sleeping, and certainly hope the antigen tests turn out accurate! And of course very sorry you lost your grandfather.
Thank you so much Robin!
Tell me what brands of makeup your are into
Suqqu, Lunasol, Etvos. Those are the ones I’ve tried. Beautiful eyeshadow formulas. All Japanese but you can probably get them through online retailers.
Thanks!
I have a large collection of eye shadows and none by these brands
My makeup products used to be rather minimal, but I also like Dior eyeshadows, and I had a couple of Anastasia palettes. Other than that, I use mineral makeup for base or just finishing powder on top of bare skin mostly (Diorskin nude which I used up, now I have a By Terry hydra powder which is really good and not dry at all). I have also a Suqqu highlighter and 3 blush powders which I love.
I hope you feel better soon!
Thank you Sistine!
Hope that you are feeling better soon! And thanks for the info on those Japanese eyeshadows. Might be nice to try one if I ever get back into wearing makeup.
Thank you Jalapeno!
I hope you’re feeling better already, and I’m so sorry to hear about your grandfather!
Thanks tulipani x
1. What fragrance are you wearing today?
Maison Lancome’s Peut-Etre
2. Is your daily life pretty much back to normal, or is the pandemic still affecting your work or personal life?
Still affecting both. I work from home more often than I ever did before COVID. I also stay in my office at work much more, with my door closed, because then I can take off my mask. We haven’t resumed going to live performances or movies yet, although we’ve gone back to church in person, which is lovely. I’ve completely changed how I shop for groceries — no desire to return to huge supermarkets.
3. Did the pandemic have any silver linings for you? (Anything really, maybe something you learned about yourself, or ways in which you improved your life?)
I’m doing a much better job of keeping limits around my work hours, and also actually using the sick days I earn. I used to just power through work when I didn’t feel well; now, I take the day off if at all possible.
4. What is the main thing you wish you could now tell your pre-pandemic self?
Put in the time to create a really nice home office!
5. Did the pandemic change your relationship to fragrance, and if so, how?
Not really, but I’ve probably tried a lot more, because I’ve spent so much time working at home and I could.
6. What’s the next fragrance you think you’ll buy?
Something by Papillon Perfumery or St. Clair Scents.
7. Forgot to share something wonderful! One, my husband and I are planning a trip to the ocean in March, and the rental will let us bring our little dog, which will make her very happy. Two, I’m planning to retire toward the end of this year, which will make ME very happy. Three, our kids (all in their 20s) have all settled into happy, contented lives post-lockdown, which is the most wonderful thing of all!
I love your something wonderful!
I vote St Clair
Yay for that trip to the ocean! ?
1. I think I will wear Floris Stephanotis today
2. The restrictions in the UK are over but I still wear a mask in public places
3. I haven’t caught a cold in two years
4. To enjoy my own company
5. Yes, it did, I now wear two perfumes a day
6. I am going to try tracking some Mystère de Rochas
7. A dear pianist friend is sending me her CD of her playing Chopin.
#3 !!!
? It’s the silver lining.
Your SOTD sounds so pretty and spring-ish!
Thank you, it’s one of the best by Floris which makes pretty florals very well.
I’ve appreciated number 3 as well!
It’s the bonus of wearing a mask in public places.
Happy Sunday!
Testing testing!
Today I dived into the “masculine” discovery set from Fragonard,testing out Concerto.Well done citrus-tea fragrance,can easily be unisex as well.There is some Blue Grass dna lurking.It’s nice.Not desert island stuff,but I did enjoy wearing it on a scorcher of a day.We just had a flash afternoon thunderstorm that cooled things down a bit,but Sun is out again.
I had to go and buy a new vacuum cleaner as well,mine just went POOF!! in the middle of chores this morning.
Be well all!
XO’s.
You had a much easier time getting a new vacuum than I did! I spent a lot of time researching models, and getting hands on certain makes/models that I was interested in. Got lucky and found what I wanted on sale right before Christmas.
I hope the poof did not spew dust all over! To your question on my Top Ten, one of these days… for sure Chanel No.19 EDP will be there!
1) My current SOTD is Dame’s New Musk. I’m thinking of wearing Lys 41 after I shower.
2) Daily life still isn’t normal – I’m a teacher, and have to deal with quarantined students in addition to all the other hassles. We’re still not comfortable being out in crowds, so evenings and weekends are all spent at home.
3) Silver lining? When I realized how short life is and that I can make choices to make sure I’m not spending the next 20 years at a job that is brutal for my mental health. I submitted my resignation paperwork on Thursday and at the end of the day on June 13, I will be officially no longer a teacher. I’m also burning the nice scented candles and using the “special” perfumes.
4) Try to keep off devices as much as possible. You are going to get so sick of screens…. And hug your parents and brother constantly when in the same location. I haven’t seen them in person since 2019.
5) It hasn’t really changed – I still love it. It was sad to have to switch from “Wear absolutely anything because you’re working from home” back to “school appropriate”.
6) Not sure, but I’d like a flowery spring scent.
7) The LA Times cooking section had a recipe for brine-braised chicken thighs with kale and avocado that is freaking amazing and super easy to make. One caveat – if you don’t like olives you probably won’t like this.
Congrats on #3! It’s clear the pandemic has had a big impact on many aspects of work, including that many workers seem to have more options now.
Best of luck with new career plans!! Yes, life is short. I have a new appreciation for that.
Congrats on your approaching retirement, and good luck with your new life paths!
Yay for #3!
I retired from nursing last year. I love it!
A good spring perfume may be Fox in the Flowerbed. It’s a good one if you like Jasmine.
Congrats on retiring!! That’s lovely.
You give me courage, Sistine! Are you retiring or moving on to something else? I also fantasize about leaving teaching, but I have no idea what I would do next. All the very best to you!
I’m not retiring (I’m only 45), but leaving teaching. For what? Well, that’s what I’m working in with a career coach. I’ll let you know what I end up doing when I figure it out!
I thought you were only a handful of years ahead of me, which is why I asked. I never thought of a career coach—thanks!
1. Remnants of last night’s Ummagumma. I may wear it again today cause it’s so good.
2. Nah, everything’s still different than it used to be. My company is still having those who can work remote full time, so I’m at home all the time. Don’t really feel comfortable with travel. Am not going many places, though we did go to the movies yesterday with the whole 20 people in the theatre masked and vaxxed.
3. I guess the biggest thing is how much I enjoy taking walks now. I go on a walk almost every day after work and most weekends. I really enjoy the evening walk alone time and the time to take in my surroundings and observe things.
4. Hmm I’m not sure I would have wanted myself back then to know how long the pandemic would last. But I would tell myself to make more effort to talk to friends and friend-coworkers more often and stifle my introvert and hermit tendencies.
5. Not really, but maybe it made perfume even more important to me. My biggest fear around covid was loss of smell.
6. Probably Jicky. It would have been Solstice Scents Violet Mallow, but I was too slow and they’ve sold out of it. They’re closing the shop for 6-8 weeks so I’ll have to wait a while to buy it now.
7. I ate a really delicious pupusa at a Salvadoran restaurant yesterday, and my boyfriend is making a pork veggie lentil stew today. Good food brings me joy!
Love Ummagumma! And #7, yes, good food helps.
Thirding “the joy of good food”! I don’t understand how people can approach food solely as fuel for the body. There has to be some enjoyment in it for me.
1. Nothing yet — lazy vacation day on an island. (Not a warm island, but still an island.) I will probably go with either Fox in the Flowerbed or Shalimar once I shower.
2. I’m not sure my daily life will ever quite get back to normal. I am now permanent work-from-home at work…well, okay, officially “flex”, which means that when they let us come into the office, I only have to come in if absolutely necessary for an in-person meeting. Another work silver lining is that I’m starting to realize it’s more feasible to look for work outside my small city, which opens up a lot more possibilities. In terms of general COVID restrictions, we’re still required to wear masks indoors and show vaccine passports to eat at restaurants. However, they just lifted the restrictions on indoor gatherings again, so concerts are back as of last week but I’m not comfortable going (I went to one in October and the sardine seating approach of old made me really uncomfortable). Oh, and they are switching to antigen tests from PCRs to get back into the country as of the end of the month. But still nowhere near “normal.”
3. Working from home permanently formalized what was already sort of happening with no supports. It’s much better when it’s formalized. (We were out of space in HQ and I didn’t have an official desk pre-COVID. At least now I can reserve a desk should I need to go in.) Also, no commute. That gives me 90 minutes a day back a few days a week.
4. Whatever you do, do not start a renovation. No. Put down the computer, stop planning, and back away.
5. I wear a lot more now, since I don’t have to go into a fragrance-free office.
6. I think I’m good for the next little while. I’ve been buying small bottles and samples lately because I’m out of space and there are few things I can see needing a really large bottle of. Maybe AS Saturday, if my travel size runs out.
7. We should finally be able to do our Africa trip. At any rate, we’re being forced to, and that’s probably a good thing. COVID has made me focus on fewer countries / places, and that’s also a good thing. I’m really looking forward to it, so let’s hope it happens.
An Africa trip sounds amazing–but what do you mean, you’re being “forced to”?
I think she said they had to go on the trip by a certain date or lose the money….
I totally agree with no. 4 btw! Never again.
Yes, Cazaubon’s right. We lose the money we’ve spent on safari lodges if we don’t book this year. I get it — we’ve carried it over two years already.
Is your renovation *finally* done?!?
Nope! Still don’t have panels on the refrigerator doors (it’s supposed to be integrated into the pantry wall). First we waited 8 months on the panels themselves (they arrived early Jan.). Then there were two small pieces missing to attach the panels, which we had to order from the appliance brand, and…well, let’s just say I’m hoping we can have this thing finally finished before it’s been a year of renovations.
O.M.G. That well and truly blows!
Holed up in my bedroom with my dog, waiting for my friend to come pick up her hound from hell we’ve been babysitting all weekend. He’s not a bad dog, but he’s a four month old puppy and he’s been driving my 3 year old girl crazy and peeing all over the house. Thankfully I have hardwood floors and the cleaning woman is coming Wednesday. We will all breath a sigh of relief when he leaves. I’m wearing SL Feminité du Bois in honor of its 30 year anniversary, I was living in France when it was launched and remember how different it was from other scents at that time.
Oh my gosh, poor you and Mila. I hope the puppy got picked up already.
Yes, he left at 4pm, hallelujah!
Oh no, I can’t even imagine puppy sitting an un-housebroken puppy! You’re very brave!
It went even worse than I thought it would – good thing we are returning to Canada soon and I will be conveniently out of town until he is a year old and hopefully better-behaved!
Oy Vey! Hope that your furry houseguest has gone home and you have some much deserved peace and quiet.
To our immense relief, he is gone. Whew.
1) The weather has cooled, so I’m finally trying hajusuuri’s duo of Vanilla Flash + Vanille Havane, and it’s terrific!
2) Life is not back to what it was pre-Covid, but we’re so used to it now. Still masking when indoors (it’s required at my workplace) and still not eating out much
3) The silver lining linked to the above is that my work is not going to return to being in the office 5 days a week ever. It will be hybrid from now, going in 3 days a week. My commute has always been the worst part of my work day, so I don’t miss it at all.
I learned that I’m very much an introvert, but I do miss certain friends and it’s been so fun to see them again.
4) I would tell my pre-pandemic self to buy a house! Hahahaha. I’ve started house hunting this past month and it’s been really dismal. I wish I had started sooner, and perhaps taken advantage of some of the dip in prices during the pandemic. It’s a total frenzy now.
5) The pandemic made me wear a lot more fragrance, still loving it! I wear/sample at least two a day.
6) Nothing pressing on my fragrance wishlist for now.
7) My aunt caught Covid….. BUT, she’s had very mild symptoms and already feeling no illness 3 days in. Phew! She’s like a second mother to me, but much closer in age to me than my mother. And she’s the one who gave me my first bottle of perfume, Lauren. I can blame her for my life long love of perfume!
Off to catch up on comments.
Glad you like the combo! We also have some generational / age mismatch. My oldest cousin’s daughter is older than my youngest cousin “S”. S is a sh-thead and insisted she call him Uncle. She refused. Just to get his goat, all the cousins still call him by the nickname my uncle gave him “[name]-boy”. I haven’t talked to him in a very long time and I am not missing out on anything.
Good luck finding a house — it is really tough right now!
1. Having unearthed the samples for last week’s CP, I attempted to wear something from Ex Nihilo. But now I remember why I never liked anything from this line: _all_ of the sprayers on the samples have popped off, I couldn’t get them back on, nor could I pull the entire top assembly off, and thus trying to wear anything from the samples has been a bust. Grrrrr. I expect I didn’t miss too much, but grrrr all the same.
2. Not normal; I don’t shop or go out or travel as in the before times. As for work, I go in to the office several times a week, but that isn’t “normal” (as in the before times), either. I suspect it will never be quite as it used to be.
3. No silver linings. The pandemic will forever be associated with the loss of my beloved oldest sister, from her cancer diagnosis in April 2020 to her death last fall.
4. There’s no such thing as “the perfect time.” Even “the right time” is nearly impossible to figure out. Let your regrets be ones of commission, rather than omission.
5. I was never one to wear perfume “just because”; I associated putting it on with getting ready to go out, so when we all started staying home in March 2020, I pretty much stopped wearing perfume. And then, there was just no emotional or mental space for perfume. I’ve only just recently made a commitment to try to wear perfume again and to participate in NST again — both as self-care and as therapy.
6. Not that far along; I’ve still got several years’ worth of catch-up sniffing to do.
7. It’s a very long story, but yesterday a couple of friends and I got together (FaceTime!) to order some items to send to another friend, including a playground for her blue-fronted Amazon parrot. She got it today, set it up, and the parrot is all over it! (Apparently, if your parrot ain’t happy, ain’t NOBODY happy!)
My condolences about your sister. That’s got to be so incredibly difficult to deal with. Hugs.
Thank you, Jalapeno. I think you may have lost your mom last year, too? Hugs back.
Yes I did. She passed away last August.
So sorry about the death of your sister. I went through the death of my mother during the pandemic. She was in a nursing home and had Alzheimer’s, but the pandemic limited the visits. Miss her so much and wish I could have seen her more often before her passing.
That’s so sad, I’m sorry that you didn’t get to spend more time with your mom. My condolences.
I’m so, so sorry about the loss of your sister. It’s nice to see you back and I hope you can start to enjoy your perfumes again.
Thank you, you are so kind!
My condolences to you on the loss of your sister.
I am glad you are posting again. You have been missed.?
Thank you, I’ve missed you all, too!
Your #4 are wise words…
1.SOTD is Vine Street which feels so springlike to go with the gorgeous weather we had today (It will snow here starting tomorrow night and possibly going through Thursday)
2.Daily life is mostly normal. Today was my first day not having to wear a mask at work! Yay, hallelujah!
3.Silver lining is I got to live 2 blocks from Waikiki Beach in Jan, Feb and March of last year
4.N/A
5. N/A
6.I thought I would get Bleu Ambree last month but my funds got diverted by the reissuing of Rosa Sur Reuse. Not buying anything until I know if I luck out in the drawing to buy Pythia
7.Mint scotchmallows are back! Also I am thrilled to not have to wear a mask to work anymore