(PSA: Knock on wood, I'm leaving town on a short trip, and will be even more absent than usual through Tuesday afternoon.)
Meantime, we're celebrating this November weekend with our usual open thread poll. Talk about anything you like — the fragrance you’re wearing today, the fragrance you're thinking you might pick up if there's a good pre-holiday sale, whatever.
Or, ask a question about fragrance, then see if anyone else has asked a question that you can answer…
Note: top image is Savannah Sparrow [cropped] by Becky Matsubara at flickr; some rights reserved.
First comment? I’d love a bottle of the new Shangri-La. I missed trying it the first time around.
I’ve learned to wait until Cyber Monday for the best deals!
Randomly chose Serge Lutens Arabie to wear today, and I had more or less forgotten how much I like it, all those Lutens-esque dried fruits, spices, and dusty amber.
By a coincidence I also have in front of me some “Middle Eastern inspired” President’s Choice white chocolate with pistachios, rose flavour, and sea salt, and try as I might, I can’t detect any rose at all with my brutish palate, not a speck. Still nice, though (if you are the sort who likes white chocolate, which I am).
Hi All,
Wore Parfum d’Hermès today. I’d forgotten how smooth and suave it is. Perfect weekend adventure wear.
Portia x
VERY smooth and suave. It’s one of my all-time favourite scents. I have a half-ounce bottle of extrait that is something I’d save in a fire.
Woo Hoo Pyramus, How stunning is the extrait?
HA! Yep, I hear you. It’s a beauty.
Portia xx
Hiya!
Hey Jalapeño!
Hope your weekend was nice.
Portia x
The Tom Ford company is up for sale. The most likely buyers are Ester Lauder which actually produces the fragrance and beauty line and the company which owns Gucci, which has fallen in profits and perceived cool since the days when Mr. Ford was in charge design.
Which buyer may make a difference to fragrance lovers. Lauder’s interest is in protecting the beauty line, which is Lauder’s prestige line and apparently a primary (or the primary source) of the Tom Ford company revenue. It is speculated the Lauder would either use Tom Ford Company to enter into the clothing and handbag business.
Gucci is rumored to want Mr. Ford himself back to at least give some guidance to the bag and clothing Gucci businesses, as well as to have the Ford urban elegance chic for its own line. It is speculated that Gucci might eventually terminate the Tom Fotd beauty license withLauder and run Gucci and Tom Ford perfume lines together.
Interesting. I’m guessing Estée Lauder will take over. Don’t they own almost everybody at this point? lol
Ditto
Wonder if that means “get what you want from TF while the getting is good”?
This. ^
Fendi Theorema today. And coffee with a little eggnog, which I did looooong before it was a thing at coffee shops. Yay Saturday!
And I confess to a small spritz of La Pausa on one hand out of curiosity. (Thanks to allo.)
❤️
Have not tried La Pusa, but I think I might like it.
Beautiful, but oh so fleeting!
Safe travels Robin!
Hey friends! I’ve been absent all week, it’s good to be back. Work was so busy, no time to comment but I did play along in Carons Pour Un Homme for most of the week from a rapidly evaporating decant. Use it or lose it. Simple and comforting was perfect for the week following the time change and the third anniversary of my beloved granny’s passing.
Thursday and Friday I was out of town for a conference. In person! With other people! I haven’t been to a conference in sooo long (2016) and it was fun to have a little getaway and a hotel room for the night all to myself. Some people hate staying at hotels, but I love it. Always have ever since I was a little girl. I was pretty impressed with the hotel’s food, yesterday they had the most delicious caramel apple cheesecake bars after lunch and now I’m craving them- I have to find a copycat recipe so I can make them.
Yesterdays SotD was 31 rue cambon from a new sample and today is 1957, from a generous NSTer. I am slowly but surely making my way through the exclusif line, 10 down, 9 to go. I have liked them all and I’ve thought that if I had to limit myself to one perfume brand for life, it would probably be Chanel. ….or Diptyque, or…just kidding. What would yours be?
Happy Saturday!😀
Welcome back!
I am with you and Chanel. If I wasn’t a crazy perfume person I could probably live with just Coco and No.5 L’Eau. I would love to have 22 and 18 also. Oh and Cristalle.. oh and… lol.
Thanks! Yeah, I’m with you on no 5 l’eau. I’ve been keeping a log of my perfume wears over the last few months and that was one of my most reached for over the summer, which surprised me because I thought I liked Eau premiere more.🤔 I read your description of Chanel yesterday, and you summed it up perfectly!
Totally with you on loving hotel rooms. There’s something so relaxing about them.
Yes, and I love going into the bathroom and seeing all those perfectly folded white towels and mini toiletries just waiting to be opened.
I could definitely do Chanel, but if you had asked me ten years ago, I would have told you, “No way!” My favorites are L’Eau, 31 RC and Coco Noir. I could probably just stick with all the Exclusif line, but it would get pretty spendy. As you go through them you will find out that they are all well done. I have tested about 6 of them and enjoyed them all.
Same. When I first started really exploring perfumes I was only familiar with the Chanel’s I could find in my department store or Sephora….no 5 and coco mad, both of which I appreciate but they are not for me.
I really liked 31 RC, I could smell a bit of 1932 and a bit of Coromandel. I can see why people like it so. But yes, pricey.☹️
I would commit to either Chanel or L’Artisan.
LAP does have a wide range of scents, too.
I also love hotel rooms.
Your question about one line for life is so tough! My first impulse was Hermes, but I think L’Artisan and ELDO may have something to say about that.
I feel like I do see you wear quite a few from ELDO.
Wanted to tell you, I made your (gwyneth) chili recipe last weekend and it was good! As I was eating it, it made me think that it would be tasty with leftover thanksgiving turkey cubed instead of ground turkey also.
Oh, that would be an excellent way to use up leftover turkey!!!
My First house was Guerlain as my second perfume was l’Heure Bleue. Many years later it’s still Guerlain😃
Aww, I love this Aurora.😊
Same here, diehard Guerlain girl.
I have often thought about the one brand only quetion, and I think Diptyque or Hermes !
Those are good ones, they would be high on my list as runners up.😉
I might be able to do L’Artisan IF it’s the old L’Artisan that includes Dzing!, Tea for Two, Safran Troublant, etc. Or possibly Pierre Guillaume. Or Fendi or YSL. LOL, hard to commit!!
Chanel all the way for me!
Not sure I could ever limit myself to one house.
Oh, and welcome back!
Reached for Mitsouko today, which I don’t usually wear when I’m heading to work. But…we had our first snow flurries today, so it felt appropriate.
Had an interview/conversation about some potential remote work yesterday. They may not go that direction, but it was a nice conversation nonetheless. I didn’t go with simple and comforting. I went with Chanel No. 19.
I hope you get favorable news from your interview!
Good luck!
Great sotd choice too!
Best of luck! It’s promising to even have the conversation.
Chanel No. 19 is great for work meetings! I wear it when I anticipate difficulties. I wear Cristalle when I expect a friendlier but still professional exchange, lol.
Nice to hear about the remote work possibility. And I’m copying you by wearing Mitsouko today! Not going anywhere much except the grocery store, so I sprayed it on lavishly. We have what passes for cool weather here (57F), and now’s the time to put it on!
SOTD is Nahema. Very nice dark rose.
I am still looking for more iris scents. I know JB had an entire list, but of course I failed to write it down. I am enjoying FM Iris Poudre and She Was an Anomaly. I love Dusita Splendiris, but it is fleeting on me so don’t want to spend the money for a full bottle. It seems like I enjoy the orris root and powder. I know I have asked before, but if anyone can think of others I should try let me know. I tried something with oud the other day and it turned to a skunk smell so I want to stay away from oud and a lot of cedar. TIA.
This may or may not be your thing, but I really like La Curie Ossuary. It’s iris with incense and smoke. The nice thing is that she has 15 ml bottles so it’s possible to try it and not break the bank; I picked that one up on a whim when we were in Tucson and have really enjoyed it since.
I’m guessing you’ve tried Iris Silver Mist, another of my go-to iris scents? Also Aedes Iris Nazarena is one I like.
Thanks so much for your suggestions. Writing them down😊
Masque Milano l’Attessa is one to try. To me, it is one of the most Iris-y irises after Iris Silver Mist.
Thanks Gi. Not familiar with that one.
From a big iris lover. These scents come quickly to mind, which are or were in my collection. I am sure I am missing more, but my iris collection is huge and I do not remember all of them, unless I go thru my cabinet. I am sure other iris lover NSTers will chime in with more suggestions.
-Masque Milano L’Attesa (my favorite)
-Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist
-Chanel No.28 La Pausa, EdT
-Chanel No. 19
-Hermes Hiris
-Naomi Goodsir Iris Cendre
-Atelier Cologne Silver Iris,
-Atelier Cologne Iris Rebelle
-Gallivant Bukhara
-Honore Des Pres I Love Les Carottes
-Prada Infusion d’Iris
-Prada Infusion d’Iris Absolue
-Penhaligon’s Iris Prima
-Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile
-Armani Iris Celadon
-Le Labo Iris 39
-Nomenclature Iri_Del
-Ramon Monegal Impossible Iris
-Carner Barcelona D600
-The Different Company Bois d’Iris
-Boucheron Iris de Syracuse
-Parle Moi de Parfum Orris Tattoo
-Aedes de Venustas Iris Nazarena
-Frederic Malle Iris Poudre
-Guerlain Iris Torrefie
-Annick Goutal Heure Exquise
-Courregès Blanc
-Bulgari Au the Bleu
-Dusita Splendiris
-Heely Iris de Nuit
-Van Cleef & Arpels Bois d’Iris
-Bulgari Ashlemah
And nothing beats Carrot Seed oil.
Thanks PL67, great list! I think you and I were posting at the same time, I got bounced out somehow when I hit post. You’ve covered everything!
Thank you, Gail! I am happy to read other NSTers comments on iris. I am always eager to try new to me iris scents!
OMG that is a list alright😊Thanks so much.
Bowing down before the majesty of that list, Iris Queen! 👑
Wow, what a list! The only thing I could add to that is Papillon Perfumes Angélique.
Thanks Gaynor!
Have you tried Montale Intense So Iris? That sounds good to me. Also, just got some samples from Imaginary Authors and I believe there is an iris one in there.
It is a nice musky, powdery iris. Not so exciting, imho. Poor longevity and ok sillage.
Kris, I sold the Montale. Something with it didn’t agree with me..ymmv! I found it a bit screechy. Sample first!
I didn’t go beyond my small decant. It didn’t move my heart at all.
I do have a sample coming as I like some of Montale’s other scents. We will see.
Wow, that’s a list….only thing to add, if it ever pops up (discontinued) is Regime des Fleurs — Dove Gray, a beautiful icy iris.
I never tried it. To my sample list it goes, in case I find it. Thank you.
The new Byredo Eyes Closed is an intriguing combination of iris and cinnamon. Their 1996 has a nice iris note as well. Then there is Cartier Les Heures VII L’Heure Défendue, a funky iris, patchouli & cacao scent. Today I wore Areej le Doré Plumeria de Orris, earlier this week PG Cuir d’Iris. Then there is Slumberhouse New Sibet. A few oddball additions to your magistral list. 🙂
The Byredo Eyes Closed sounds very, very interesting! I need to try it asap. Thank you!
Thanks for more additions to my list😊
Oh, I forgot to mention Apoteker Tepe The Peradam, a gloriously funky iris sandalwood, recently relaunched.
The Peradam is a quirky beauty!
Oh, I see it toward the bottom of this impressive and definitive list!
Oh man, I need more coffee. That was supposed to go with my comment about VC&A Bois d’Iris.
Adding my thanks — I’ve taken a screenshot of this list.
The Different Company’s Bois d’Iris is great. On me, glossier’s You is all orris and powder, although I don’t think that’s a universal experience.
Thanks Sistine!
I recently acquired E. Coudray Iris Rose and find it so nice maybe you would like it.
Not familiar with that one either. Thanks.
Van Cleef and Arpels Bois d’Iris is a winter favorite of mine, which no one else as mentioned yet. I have an older bottle- it may have been reformulated or something.
Thanks again!
I really like Iris Rebelle: https://scentsandsensibilities.co/2018/12/16/scent-sample-sunday-iris-rebelle/. Also Miller Harris’ Violet Ida, which to my nose is more iris and heliotrope than violet; and Laboratorio Olfattivo’s Nirmal: https://scentsandsensibilities.co/2016/12/03/fragrance-friday-nirmal/.
Thanks so much. I know Iris Rebelle was mentioned. Need to check these out.
I am curious about Miller Harris. I have nothing by that house, but have looked at it in the past.
IDK if you will see this Kris, but no one has mentioned the d/c’ed Annick Goutal Mon Parfum Cheri, Par Camille. It’s one of the strangest iris scents I have smelled.
I need to smell that again, all I get is plum and patchouli.
Just saw this now. Not sure about this one. I have never had good luck with this perfume house. Thanks.
Royal Elixir by OJ
Reading Way Points by Sam Heughan, I would say the book is so so but it’s making me want to visit Scotland which I have never thought about…
Hosting a sleep over this weekend. Wish me luck
Bon courage!
Thanks , it’s two girls this time .
😮
Scotland is wonderful — I highly recommend a trip. We’ve loved just about everywhere we’ve been, from Edinburgh to Islay to Skye to the Shetland Islands.
Wow! You have been lots of places there 🏴
I agree! Scotland is a wonderful place to visit, and I’d love to see more of it, even after two visits.
In Rogue Jasmin Antique on a crisp, sunny Seattle day.
Looking forward to seeing my “little” sister (30 years younger), her husband and his parents for an early dinner. I’m so grateful that she married such a wonderful person and that he comes with 2 wonderful parents😊
Enjoy your visit and dinner!
Thank you, lillyo. We had a great time😊And congrats on your auction win!
Have a great time! You’ll be smelling wonderful.
Thank you, SP!
So happy for you that you will spend quality time with loved ones.
I’m so grateful for these get togethers and long hugs with my sister.
Yay for being able to spend face to face time with your sister!
There’s nothing like being in person and the ways that only she and I can make each other laugh.
I’m going to dig into samples, have been away from them for a while. Today’s pick is Champaca. Funny, I seem to like All the OJ’s I’ve tried but never any one enough to get a fb.
I love OJ Champaca, but I do have to be in the right mood for it.
Wearing Comme des Garcons Avignon for more needed comfort.
Another beautiful warm, sunny day. Nothing special to do this weekend. I am feeling terribly sad and depressed. Very bad news about my mother’s health. God with us.
Happy weekend, everyone! 🌻
Sending virtual hugs to you, Pl67💕
I’m sorry pl67.
Prayers and love for your Mother and you.
Thinking of you, PL67. Hugs.
Sending hugs and prayers to you and your family.
Sending you big hugs!
So sorry to hear about your mother. I know how important they are and miss mine every day🥲 Hugs to you.
So sorry about the news! Hoping your mom is reliving all her greatest memories as she declines. I think this is what my dad did. He rarely interacted with us as his health failed, but it makes my heart warm thinking he was in his head remembering all his best life events. 💔
I’m very sorry to hear about your mother.
So sorry, hugs, maybe do something nice tomorrow, even just a walk to lift some of your sadness, fresh air is God’s gift.
So sorry to hear that, and sending good thoughts your way.
So sorry to hear about comfort needed for your mom. I hope her health is the best it could be at this time in her life.
Very sorry to hear about your Mom’s health decline. Big hugs to you.
Sending hugs and prayers to you.
I’m so sorry about your mother’s bad health news. Hugs.
So sorry, pl67. May you have the time you need with her, even if it will not be the time you want.
In Wood Sage and Sea Salt again. The people across the street are mowing their lawn and the fresh cut grass smell is intoxicating. What a treat for November!
Love that scent!
I sighed a happy sigh thinking of that fresh cut grass smell.
Another great photo today in the header. Robin, hope you have a spectacular weekend!
Just finished brekkie and I made too much so shared it with the bestie who didn’t seem to mind. Scrambled eggs with mushrooms and spinach are lip smacking good according to the Baby T. Chilly today but fabulously sunny, so I’m loving it. I wish it were like this all winter. But, then I would be in Arizona, not Washington. The desert is calling but I cannot go. Yet.
Continuing “comfort” theme (what a great suggestion because everyone can certainly participate with this one! 👍🏼) by wearing Profvmvm Ambra Aurea. So snuggly and soothing. Makes me want to crawl back in bed and get cozy. But, such a gorg day I don’t want to waste it.
Happy weekend all! ✌🏼
I should move to Arizona.
You’d hate the dust storms. Google “haboob”.
Just looked it up.
No thanks!
How can you not love something called “haboob”?! 😂
It’s desperately hot and dry, you’d hate it. Come to San Diego!
Love San Diego!
I liked Arizona when I lived there. It is very dry, but I like that over humidity.
Ditto!
House twins with you in Alba.
Hi twin! 👋🏼
And you smell wonderful.
I ordered a few samples from Luckyscent last week, they have departed the US, so getting closer. Tracking their progress certainly adds to the anticipation.
I’m wearing a dab of OJ Osmanthus, which I got in my last lot of samples. Like Gi, I like most of the Ormond Jayne’s that I’ve tried. I’m keen to try the newer Route de Soie collection sometime. Does anyone have any thoughts on any of them?
I’m in Narciso White Cube today. Haven’t had this one out for a while, and forgot how it just feels like a warm, fuzzy sweater to me.
Happy Belated Birthday, Robin, and I hope you have a wonderful time in Savannah. It’s such a beautiful and interesting little city! Your plans are probably already set but the Pink House really does live up to its reputation–amazing food there. I also learned in Savannah that shrimp and grits can be to die for, omg! Hope the weather is good and you get to enjoy some beautiful squares, shopping, huge old trees, and general ambience.
After a fierce front blew through last night with driving rain and dropped temperatures about 30 degrees, today is just gorgeously clear and cool. I had a giddy search through my closet for long-sleeved shirts, and jackets, and sweaters–oh my, oh my! This afternoon after a few errands I went to a lovely part of town and took a short two-block walk (back and forward) to enjoy the nice weather along with some gorgeous big trees and old (for us) houses.
Later tonight I have a “digital ticket” to a local early music concert featuring music by Vivaldi with the amazing counter-tenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen. I saw him in the opera Saul a few years ago (pre-Covid) and thought he was not only an incredible singer but quite easy on the eye, too! ;-). I’ll just enjoy the concert from home, watching on my computer. Fine by me.
Today I’m wearing Sables, and feeling rather richly gourmand.
I’m wearing LPRN Black Perfecto today, and spent an hour crying over the last pages of “Marmee: A Novel of Little Women.” Beth’s been dead since 1868 and it still gets me every time. Black Perfecto was, strangely, a good perfume pairing. Slightly melancholic and medicinal.
Aww, that’s so good when a book (or a song or a piece of visual art) hits you in that way! 😭
Late check in today. I wore Cuir Beluga from a decant I discovered last night. Twins one day apart with cazaubon. 😊
It’s so fun discovering decants we forgot we had!
You smell fab. 🙂
It was a beautiful, sunny, mild day and I spent it in Ma Griffe which I wore recently and fell in love again.
Tonight I am in Shalimar parfum de toilette. I have the extrait too but there is something in the pdt I particularly love.
You smell great Aurora! I think I will wear Ma Griffe tomorrow.
😃Nothing smells quite like it. Robin was saying she forgets to wear it. It’s that soft greenness which makes it so special.
I’m sending a little more nice weather your way. Enjoy!
Thank you Jalapeno, gratefully accepted, I think today is going to be similar.
Hello hello everyone!
My sotd is YSL Champagne. With it comes the story of how I accidentally bought a 20ml bottle…
See, I was browsing on shop goodwill late at night and saw this on auction with 2 minutes to go. My auction history has always ended with me being outbid. I couldn’t resist giving it a try though so I bid with no intention of winning. ( I didn’t even want to win because it wasn’t in my budget) well you guessed it I won! Lol. $47 dollars and a week later and I smell great! Lol
It smells just as I remember.🌞
Robin, I hope you have a great mini vacation!
Nice to have an online auction go your way!
Congrats on your win, it was fate! You smell lovely.
Wonderful Lillyjo, you smell lovely, with our large collection 20ml is plenty, I have a partial 50ml myself, won on eBay, I figured I didn’t need a full bottle.
Well, congrats! It’s always nice to win once in a while, even if you didn’t intend to! 🙌
Congratulations! I bet the fragrance is fantastic!
Gorgeous late autumn day here. It’s going to be the last day of its kind. Temps are taking a substantial tumble and staying there for the foreseeable future.
SOTD = No. 5 L’Eau. Taking advantage of the nice weather to get another wearing in. 😉 Did not thunk my decant yet, but oh so close!
Great scent, isn’t it? Now you need to go for the FB. You won’t regret it!
I wore Areej le Doré Plumeria de Orris today, on theme with the iris discussion. Then I headed over to Nordies to smell the new Byredo Eyes Closed. Turns out it is a funky iris cinnamon scent. My husband said it smells like green notes and half-baked snickerdoodle cookies. LOL. I get mostly iris with an interlude of cinnamon in the middle. The re-released Byredo Symphonium candle was pretty fantastic too. Triple points thru tomorrow. 🙂
That’s a hilarious description of the new perfume! good for your husband!
It is cold here, and I am putting the summer florals away for a winter’s nap! Rest well, linden, LOTV, wisteria, lilac! Hello, incense and amber and Oud and complicated rich beauties! Yesterday I wore a drop of my dwindling decant of Malmaison. Today I discover I need to visit DSH and get more Oeillets Rouge! Always fun to have an excuse to do something I want to do anyway…replacing something isn’t really a splurge, now, is it?
Especially if it is something that you love! 😉
Gorgeous sunny and cold day outside…I’ll take this over any other kind of day!
SOTY = 4160Tuesdays Hammersmith Tea and Biscuits
SOTD = Le Lion de Chanel
They are both loves! 🥰
I am quite close to thunking the big bottle I used to do the splits but really not bad on getting it thunked, when it happens. Perhaps 2-3 more full wearings?
Christmas decors are out. The first full display is a creche / something religious at what I think is a parish house of some sort. When December hits, I will take a walk around the neighborhood and see what’s what this year. The best that I noticed was Christmas 2020 and then it went downhill!
Do you have a BUB stashed away? I’ve got my fingers crossed that you do! I remember the old days in the Chicago suburbs when we would pile in the car and drive around to look at lights, freezing our 🍑’s off while waiting for the car to heat up. The sound of the snow crunching under the tires, the fogged up windows…🥶 When I was in my late teens, we were living on the intercoastal in Florida and the lights came to us via the lighted boat parades the floated by our dock every season. Do people still drive around to look at lights with their kids? With the price of gas, it may have gone the way of the dodo…
I do have a BUB!
Re: the lights…I don’t ever recall driving around to look at the lights. In NJ, there are destination neighborhoods but I couldn’t be bothered.
As to the lighted boat parades, my brother sees them all and there were a few occasions when he hosted get-togethers at his place since they have a dock and can also watch from the comfort of their house. One of these days I’ll make it there in time for the light show!
They are so much fun! Especially if you’re on a dock, having a nice adult beverage with lots of friends! And just now thinking you may need to get a BUB of that BUB 😉
I remember driving around in Colorado to see Christmas lights with my parents, and later on, with Mr. Jalapeno when we were dating.
Haven’t done that in forever.
We have often driven around and looked at lights. Our neighborhood is pretty festive.
I love Tea & Biscuits!
Late check-in, as I spent most of Saturday doing some last-minute planting before the temps dropped from the 60s to the 30s overnight! Today is beautiful but cold, with absolutely clear blue skies. When it warms up a bit, I’ll finish mulching my rose bushes. In this climate, they will still bloom well into November but I had to cut and rescue a few blossoms before last night’s cold snap. So I have them in a small vase sitting next to me, and they smell great!
Have a great trip, Robin — are you actually going to Savannah? I hope you eat lots of delicious food.
Onda VdE. Enough said. 😁
Whoo hoo, you got it! 🎊
Woot, congratulations!
I’m wearing Byredo Bibliothèque to bed. Good night!