It's Almost-Friday and Bloomsday. Birthdays today: Geronimo, Adam Smith. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm in Diptyque L'Ombre dans L'Eau for the John Everett Millais painting Ophelia, inspired by the character from Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Reminder: 6/17 will be William Shakespeare Friday...wear a fragrance that matches a favorite line from a sonnet or play, or do something else creative with the theme. Suggested by allo.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2022, where I'll try (but obviously sometimes fail) to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is detail from Ophelia, Sir John Everett Millais, 1851, via Wikimedia Commons. (You can read more in The Tragic ‘Ophelia’ Epitomized Pre-Raphaelite Beauty. Here Are 3 Facts You Might Not Know About the Mesmerizing Painting at ArtNet.)
Sampling a natural perfume Abel in the scent cyan nori. Smells like peaches
Tonight I am going out for an event and wearing a very glamorous perfume 5th Avenue NY. Its from perfume de bois or something like that..I forget the perfume house. I am wearing a red dress so I thought this would fit perfect.
Peaches! Do like a good peach note.
Have fun tonight. What lippie goes with your red dress?
I don’t know. Any advice?
Would you do red? Or nude? Pink?
No idea. Depends on your mood I imagine. My only “nude” is Saint Pinky Nude. I can’t do most nudes.
I am thinking smokey eye and no lip
Yes!
House is Fragrance du Bois maybe?
Yes ! Here are the notes on Luckyscent
https://www.luckyscent.com/product/757035/new-york-5th-avenue-by-fragrance-du-bois
Nice!! Have a great time tonight.
Ooh, that sounds like a fun night! Have a great time.
I am smelling peachy today as well in one of Dame’s scents.
I bet you smell great!
Another rose for Shakespeare, this time Lush Rose Jam, so cheerful.
You can’t go wrong with roses
I have found I like rose scents more and more. It took me awhile, but I am all in now.
I used it too long and got tired of it (the shower gel, that is) but now I’m nearly ready for another bottle! You smell great.
I usually get the smallest size of LUSH’s shower gels. Perfect size for me, and I usually use it up before I get fed up.
Today I’m wearing Azemour. Great for another HOT Texas day.
You smell wonderful!
That is my plan for tomorrow!
I’ve always loved Pre-Raphaelite paintings for their unabashed romanticism and visual lushness. Bois de Paradis would be a good choice for the CP tomorrow — it evokes the play of jewel-like flowers amidst dense greenery.
It’s the most romantic drowning ever, right?
Agreed! And how often do you get to type that?
Bear with me on this CP-compliant (maybe CP-adjacent?) try….
I’m wearing VCA California Rêverie in reference to the 2012 film version of Much Ado About Nothing. Shakespeare language, modern setting in Los Angeles. Yes, Joss Whedon is a problematic man. But I think this back and white version filmed in his (pre-divorce) home is truly wonderful. Creative, funny, sexy and very well cast. ( I much prefer it to the Branagh version of 1993).
You smell glorious. I love California Reverie.
Nice! You smell great.
I like both of those movies.
Ack, I still need to watch that one!
Good morning.
Sotd is Tam Dao. Bringing me some much needed calmness.
Currently drinking matcha.
Tam Dao is a good one!
Even just thinking of Tam Dao makes me calm. You smell wonderful
You smell wonderful
that’s one of my calming scents, too!
Do you have the EdT, or the EdP?
Tam Dao is so good.
I’m wearing Masque Milano Lost Alice today. Sampled before from a vial with wand and didn’t love it. Just received a spray sample and am really enjoying it. I’ve got to get going on Father’s Day. Mr. SP always gets me a couple of nice things for Mother’s Day. Any ideas?
And here’s my quote from Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”
I’m lost for Fathers Day too..
So far I had my oldest make him a drawing.
Pour him a glass of fine wine and quote Shakespeare…?
Great idea!
Maybe something nostalgic that will take him back to when he was first a father: a framed photo of holding your baby, or one of teaching a child to ride a bike, a first holiday …some good memory from his first years as a father. Maybe a storybook he read from, a piece of music. Or, a pair of sunglasses for summer and bright futures.
“winged Cupid painted blind” reminds me how Shakespeare’s spare use of words can be soul-piercing. Lovely.
Father’s Day is often fraught with vague desperation in my family. We instituted a “no gifting” rule for grown ups of a certain age a few years ago, so that simplied things, but I always make sure the father’s around me feel celebrated with a favorite edible treat and a written note. I’m a rule breaker sometimes.
I wish my family would do a no gift policy! Drives me nuts trying to figure out what to buy when we are way past the age of needing anything and can afford to buy what we want.
Is Mr. Springpansy a coffee or tea aficionado?
Coffee, yes. But he drinks basic coffee in the morning only and is happy with that.
Mr madtown is getting Chanel and he’s been talking about a burr grinder for coffee, plus some locally roasted beans to go with it.
Thanks, all. I’ve ordered him a summer shirt and shorts and found a cool card where I can follow Kanuka’s suggestion and add an old photo from back in the day. Fun!
I do like the no gifting idea. What Mr. SP and I have been doing the last few years is buying something we need for camping or an activity that we enjoy doing together. But he gave me a couple of camping items this year that we’d been wanting and I couldn’t think of anything else we needed to give him (which is a nice place to be). I don’t want more STUFF!!
I am wearing vintage Dior Dior edt from a mini. It smells amazing. I have no idea why it has been discontinued. Such a beautiful scent, the bottle is so classy and beautiful too.
I was reading about Dior today in the paper, they are doing a exhibit at FIT here in NY. Dresses from the photos look amazing
You smell so elegant, I love Dior-Dior, a last masterpiece by Roudnitska.
Scent twins! Vintage Dune is wonderful stuff.
Don’t you smell good today! I had a little decant of vintage Dior-Dior once and it was magic; I love a scent that wallops you with an armload of flowers and then apologizes-but-not-really with a handful of oakmoss. (Even if it hadn’t been discontinued, it wouldn’t smell now the way it did in the seventies: it’d have been made thinner, brighter, and less interesting.)
It’s 8am. Do you know where your relief nurse is at? No, neither do I. Neither does staffing. Ugh. I’m snorting, stomping, and chomping at the bit.
Still smelling little wafts of Hera, but not for long as a shower is in the works.
I have an appointment in the Land of Nod and I’m running late…
I hope they arrived without too much more of a wait for you!
Oh, no! I remember that feeling. Hope it all works out for you.
I hope you can sleep soon.
ugh! So sorry, sleep deprivation is the worst. Hope you are nodding off with your head on a pillow very soon.
Oh no! No call, no show, that’s the worst. Hope you got out of there and got some sleep!
In Allsaints metal wave layered with Hermes Rose Ikebana today. MW has papyrus as a listed note that I think would work for Antony and Cleopatra (Egypt). Also the line:
He wears the rose
Of youth upon him. (3.11.21)
Beautiful. And that quote is almost a haiku to go with Rose Ikebana.
Today I’m in PdE Equistrius, for the character Iris in The Tempest … although I think it might be better suited to that painting of Ophelia. Dark, dreamy and mysterious. With a hint of chocolate. 🤪
mmmmm, chocolate!
You smell marvelous.
Robin, I love the painting you chose today, and the article was very interesting. Thanks for the inspiration for tomorrow! Today I’m wearing Lush’s American Cream perfume. I can’t think of any possible way to tie it to Shakespeare.
maybe because American Cream is the opposite of Shakespeare? I’m being silly now.
I love that painting, too.
Oh good, glad it helped!
And here is more…The Meaning of Strawberries in Shakespeare
https://www.uvm.edu/~hag/bosch/ross.pdf
It’s a scorching day here and I am wearing LADDM today.
Perfect for a scorching day.
Beautiful! I have a sample of LADDM that is calling to me.
Yum!
SOTD is Peach Blossom, Violet and Vanilla. One of Dame’s Women fragrances. I recently decided to blind buy this as it was half price. I find it to be a very pretty fragrance. Nothing earth shaking, but nice.
Not bad for half price!
Yes, only $37.50 for 100 ml. That’s pretty cheap.
Wonder if some of those perfumes are getting d/c’ed soon?
I never thought of that. I thought maybe it was an older supply that he was getting rid of. Who knows. For the price it was worth it😊
SOTD is L’artisan Jatamansi. Perfect for a toasty day.
Yep, you smell great!
Wearing Sarrasins while on holiday in the South of France. It’s incredibly hot here so I’m trying to do my walking early-ish in the morning. The area where I am staying is really beautiful. One of the best discoveries is the fact that there are some immortelle fields near here. The smell is just wonderful, as if someone has been liberally spraying Goutals Sables.
Sounds wonderful!
It is. Just stunning scenery.
Perfume and location envy. Enjoy!
Thanks, I will!
Immortelle field, how lovely. Yes, I heard it’s incredibly hit, especially down south.
Yes a true “canicule”
That sounds fantastic. Are there lots of cicadas and swallows? I love those sounds.
No cicadas, just crickets, the sound is similar, to me anyway. Haven’t seen any swallows. It is just gorgeous here.
Im going to the South of France in the summer. Where are those immortelle fields? They sound wonderful. Have you seen lavender fields? Also heard there is a violet festival and a jasmine festival somewhere in France.
We will also be visiting Grasse, I am not sure which perfume museum to visit as there are so many! Enjoy your trip!
I’m in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The lavender is not quite in bloom yet. But there is plenty around. Just Google Plateau de Valensole 😉
Jealousy, floating all around your post — I’m sure I’m not the only one!
Have a fantastic time, austenfan.
Doing my smell bent week, today in Spring Haze, which I love! Petitgrain in the first minutes, then settles into a fizzy orange-apricot-tuberose business. I can’t find a notes list online
so take my nose with a grain of salt. But I’m really glad I got this one 
So far my favorite (the others I have tried so far are Bollwood or Bust and Sunshine Mama’s Spiced Tea, both of which are good but not necessary for my life).
Koyel! I just started watching this video in which Anna Sui shows Vogue around her apartment, because Kevin told me to watch it. I have not even seen all of it yet, but right away I thought of you, do look at the wallpaper…
https://www.vogue.com/article/objects-of-affection-anna-sui
Ok, now I’ve seen all of it. Keep watching to the end, more wallpaper…
Oh how gorgeous; thank you for sharing that with me!! Ok, I’ve noted down the two wallpaper houses she mentioned (though Gracie seems…a bit much)(all of Anna Sui’s style seems a bit much for me; a lot much, actually).
I’m actually still working with the silk wallpaper house I posted about here a while ago (Lala Curio). It’s expensive, it’s true, but peanuts compared to the overall cost of the house, so, eh, maybe worth it. They haven’t been simple to communicate with, so maybe one of these other houses will be easier
But we went to a showroom of their wallpapers in LA, and man are they gorgeous in real life.
It is all a lot much, yes!! But I enjoyed watching it even if I would not want to live in that apartment. Actually maybe that made it even more enjoyable…
But also was impressed with the lengths she went to in order to get what she wanted (the fireplace, the tiles, etc). Some of it was about having the money but some of it was also about being persistent.
So persist with your wallpaper
The fireplace story was so funny!! Who sees someone else’s fireplace and asks, “Can I please have that?”
Seriously! And then calls back later and asks again.
In FM Une Rose and wondering how the “mistress” felt about this sonnet…
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Sonnet 130
I doubt she was pleased with this “I love you in spite of” list. The author probably wanted to be seen as noble, but it strikes me as Shakespearean Don Rickles.
Perfect description.
Ah, the original “My Funny Valentine.”
(Is your figure less than Greek? Is your mouth a little weak? When you open it to speak, are you smart?)
Wearing Atelier Silver Iris today for this mixed day of sun and cloud. Hubby is off caddying for his brother in a golf tournament so I’m enjoying the day a bit more than usual!
Solo time can be a good thing!
Hope you enjoy your day and treat yourself well.
You smell fantastic! Enjoy the day!
You smell great. I considered wearing this as it is very accessible.
Whoo hoo for solo time!
SotD = Penhaligon’s The Favourite
From a sample, kindly shared by a lovely NSTer.
“Shampoo” was my first thought when I spritzed my wrist. After a bit of time I am enjoying the florals, though freesia is not my favorite note. This scent (oddly) brings Chanel No. 22 to mind, though this one has no aldehydes and is nowhere near as whopping big. Maybe Beige would be a better comparison.
It’s lovely to see Ophelia up top today, a hearty thank you to Robin for the article. Such a beautiful painting.
I enjoyed reading about the flowers’ symbolism and learning that Ophelia is still “alive” in the painting. I always interpreted the image as if she were floating away on the water, having already drowned.
“Poor Ophelia, divided from herself and her fair judgment, without the which we are pictures or mere beasts.”
So sad.
On a happier note, I’m off to tackle today’s To Do List. First stop, my disastrous garage, desperately in need of a tidy up. I love a good tidying session.
Good luck for the garage project.
Co-sign on the good luck for the garage tidy-up. I need to get my tidy-up mojo back!
Do you see yonder cloud that’s almost in shape of a camel?
Polonius: By the mass, and ‘tis like a camel, indeed.
Hamlet: Methinks it is like a weasel.
Polonius: It is backed like a weasel.
Hamlet: Or like a whale?
Polonius: Very like a whale.”
So, do I wear Ariane Grande Cloud, Zoologist Camel, or maybe Smoked Ambergris? Too early to decide, and none of these can be reached from the comfort and warmth of my bed so it will have to wait.
I say stay in bed all day, because that would have been my pick if I’d had the choice
I also vote for staying in bed.
Un Jardin en Méditerranée, minty fig for me although no mint is listed but for the First time I noticed a nutty element from the pistachio.
Tonight it’s Dior Homme Parfum on the wrist and Dior Homme Intense on the arm. DHI has lovely citrus, parfum is more irissy.
Un Jardin en Med and Sur le Nil have some of the prettiest bottles in the Jardin series.
Yes, I have placed them side by side for this reason, la Mousson, that watery, spicy beauty is in Provence, it’s perfect for the dry heat over there.
I smelled mint in a customer’s perfume the other day and couldn’t figure it out. Maybe this was it? I didn’t want to ask.
Oh, I do that too, not wanting to comment so as not to offend, then I regret and wonder. UJeM is lovely, I had forgotten how much I like it.
I’m taking the easy option for Friday, and wearing a rose perfume, Rose Impériale from Ausmane. It is a souvenir of Paris a few years ago, and ‘ve never found much info about the brand.
The easy option is always easier, ha
The power is finally back on at my mom’s house so I am finally home, having cleaned out her refrigerator, shopped for her groceries and returned to the hotel to find her cell phone which she was convinced she lost (it was in her purse.) Wearing vintage Dune and chilling with Larry the cat, just listening to the air conditioning run. Almost Friday!
Glad your mom is back in her home and you are in yours, resting and smelling fabulous.
Thank you.
Yay for your Mom being back home, and you able to chill out with Larry the Cat!
He’s so funny. He had to punish me for leaving him, so he had nothing to do with me for a couple of hours after I got home 😂
I used to have cats who would do that; Jinx kitty in particular. The current bunch are much more laid back about the comings and goings of their humans.
So glad your mom has power again. You smell wonderful!
Thanks lillyjo!
Glad the power is back on! Did you get more storms last night? Our state did, but luckily the worst went north of us.
They missed us by about 15 miles. I’m glad.
Oh that’s good!
That’s great, glad she’s back home
I’m glad you and your mom are both at your homes!
Yay!!
You all are so well versed in your Shakespeare. I think I used Cliff notes.
Has anyone ever brought a full bottle of perfume to a show of any sort? I brought Karma, layered on top of Patchouli essential oil.
Have a wonderful evening/afternoon!
Search engines can be your best friend for finding the perfect quote! 😉
Nothing wrong with Cliff Notes! And now they’re all online
No perfume here as the temperature is incredibly high here in Barcelona. Shakespeare week reminded me of the book Hamnet, all those herbs she used… reminds me I need to infuse some this summer.
Might buy a nice soap tomorrow at Loccitane for the project.
I heard it will be scorching! Stay cool and hydrated!
SOTD = Honore des Pres I Love Les Carottes
Vegetal iris – Love! No pics yet but may later on. On theme because Shakespeare’s garden.
It’s my Friday so I am a happy camper!
I’m other news, whereas some of us are complaining that we have to be in 3x per week, the group on the other side of the floor said they had to be in 5 days a week and they finally got an email that said they can now be in 3x per week! And they don’t have client-facing work! Makes me wonder how they survived not being in the office for quite a while! We may move to 2 days a week but who knows?
Hope you weren’t out commuting in this morning’s wild weather!
So why the talk about 2 days in the office?
I sure did but I left really early (aka stupid o’clock) and I just had to open my umbrella for the last 10th of my walk.
The 2x per week (maybe at this point) were overwhelming comments from my business. We recently had an opinion survey that did not ask ANY question about the return to the office and the “flexibility” it is supposed to engender. I think that actually made people comment more or perhaps that was the plan to begin with – who knows. I know the person who did the survey but she will never reveal anything.
It’s potentially just a bunch of hot air, then? Ugh.
I hope not…I’ll give it two weeks. It was mentioned at a rather large gathering.
Yay for you and a 4 day weekend! I hope you have decent weather.
I hope so! Thanks lillyjo!
Hey Friday twin!🙌
Woo hoo! I have to start using my vacation days!
“So musical a discord, such sweet thunder!” ⚡
That was my morning wakeup call from Mother Nature at around 6:45am. Though, TBH, I was already semi-awake and not terribly startled by the boomers. Can’t say the same for both cats. Neither one was visible when I looked around after the initial outburst. 🙀🙀
SOTD = yep, more Eau de Neroli Dore EdC. Still a fair amount in my spray sample, so not close to thunking it yet.
Scaredy cats! Larry is scared of thunder too.
Spooky kitty is less bothered by thunder and lightning than Teflon kitty. Her nemesis is the doorbell.
I did not even see / hear lightning or thunder!
Nice!
One of my weather apps was going nuts with the lightning strikes this morning. I downloaded and installed it for that very reason. It’s one of the best for monitoring that kind of weather.
Those Hermes manufacturer samples are very generous. I don’t know if they still do it, but their customer service would send you complimentary samples if you call and ask.
Very generous samples with good sprayers, no less! Maybe I will get myself out to the fancy mall that has a Hermes boutique later on this summer.
I always enjoy the reports about your cats 😃
It was still in the 90’s today but much less humidity. I wore Nest Sunkissed Hibiscus.
Today I got a letter in the mail that read: Dear Lillyjo, my wife and I are looking to move into your neighborhood. Would you be interested in selling us your house at a reasonable price?
I looked the guy up and sure enough he is a realtor. A big fat liar of one too. I am so sick of all this pushy and intrusive tactics.
Lol.
Those letters are less pushy than unsolicited text messages! I got one of those from a realtor and was rather irritated.
Oh I get those too. I hate it.
I’m still getting texts and calls two years after selling my house. Crazy.
I have been getting text messages and phone calls on cell and landline phone saying I qualify for student loan forgiveness. Ok, sure – I did not take out a loan at all for any schooling.
We get those constantly and have for years!