It's Tuesday. Birthdays today: Louisa May Alcott, Clive Staples Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle and Chadwick Boseman. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm commando. I'm still quite sick. My husband, who wisely got his flu shot early, was only mildly ill for about 30 hours total.
Reminder: on 12/2 we're doing Ancient Resins...wear a fragrance with a significant resin component, or one inspired by ancient history. Suggested by Desirae.
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 Double-headed serpent. Turquoise mosaic on wood. Mixtec-Aztec, AD 1400-1521 via The British Museum, some rights reserved.
I’m in Dzongkha today, another perfect fall fragrance.
Yes it is!
Resins, you say? This is my week! I missed yesterday but today I’m wearing Etro Messe di Minuit.
So glad it’s your week, thanks to Desirae!
Yes, thanks Desirae! Hope you get some relief soon, Robin.
Woke up to a few inches of snow on the ground.
SOTD is Coco Noir perfume and body cream.
That Body cream is the best
It is, but I just use on my legs when I wear the perfume too. Afraid I would clear out a room if I wore too much. I love it though😊
You smell wonderful!
Thanks!
Sending very strong healing vibes, Robin!
I am just wearing a Cedar Balsam body lotion from TJ. I grabbed the lotion and hand soap set this past weekend not having many expectations. It smells like a fresh cut Christmas tree and it has a soft sillage. It is actually very nice, comfy and peaceful. A cheap thrill quite enjoyable that doesn’t overwhelm me right now.
Having my second cup of coffee and ready to face a very busy rest of the day.
Happy Tuesday! ☕️
I like your expectation levels.
💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓
I love soft sillage Christmas tree scented products this time of year
Thank you, I need them!
Scented lotions are a wonderful thing to have when perfume just isn’t A Thing.
I hope you get better quickly, Robin. I work in retail so I had many horrible flus and colds over the years, just a normal consequence of working across from a wide spectrum of the public, but (partly through luck and partly through a whole lot of precautions against COVID) I haven’t had so much as a sniffle in three years.
I’m in Mugler Angel Philtre Volupte, sold to layer with any Angel scent but quite nice on its own (in fact, I think it would be overkill when added to Angel): mostly vanilla and sandalwood, but not polished perfectly smooth — I like a wood scent with a few splinters.
I went for quite some time without a sniffle, but boy did my luck change this fall!
I’m wearing modern L’Interdit EDT, which is tuberose and…grapes? It’s such a weird combo that it works for me, and the fruitiness of this tuberose reminds me slightly of the bubblegum in Fracas, though that is much richer and was in fact too rich for me when I tried to wear it. I wonder what I’d think of it now, I tried it at the beginning of my perfume journey back when Sephora sold such things. They seem to have switched to department store fragrances, at least here.
I don’t know that I’ve ever smelled grapes in a perfume. Interesting.
I’m not even sure where the grape comes from, as the only fruit note is pear. Maybe it’s that tuberose can smell very candied at times.
I love that perfume, but have never considered the grapes before. Now I have to go try it again.
I have never tried this one.
The only Givenchy I have tried is Ysastis, or however you spell it. I didn’t realize Sephora doesn’t carry Givenchy anymore
I remember the original Poison being described as tuberose and grapes back in the day. Maybe it’s what the flower can do sometimes?
I’m in L’Artisan Bucoliques de Provence this morning, for its calming herbs and lavender.
This sounds lovely! I have been in search for a good lavender scent.
It has a bit of a leather note also — mentioning just in case leather is a nemesis for you.
On the contrary, I adore leather! Now I must seek it out.
One after my own heart. 💜😁
For a good lavender scent, have you tried Mon Guerlain in EdT?
I’m in Fleur de Peau today. After beautiful sun and blue skies yesterday, it is back to gray today.
I finally got my refund from L’artisan! A cautionary tale for my perfume friends:
In early September I saw that Tea for Two was back on the website after being out of stock for some time. I quickly ordered a bottle. Well I should have known that like everything else, it’s been reformulated. It was no longer the beautiful chai scent I remembered. When it arrived it was all smoke on my skin. Like BBQ smoke. I packaged it up and sent it back. According to tracking it made it back to LAP on 9/21 and I waited for about a week for my refund and then I called customer service. I have been making calls every week since the end of September and have always been told the same thing “yes we see the item has been returned you will be receiving your refund soon” and then “very soon”(that was 3 weeks ago). I was beginning to think their company was like the boy who called wolf and I had a feeling I was never going to get my money back. Then this morning it was in my account! Oh happy day.😀
Oof, sorry to hear about the Tea for Two saga and reformulation. Companies are so quick to take our money but slow to return it.
I’m pleasantly surprised they allowed you to return after the box had been opened, or did they also send you a sample to try?
No they didn’t. I know some companies do that and I think it’s a great idea. They have a 60 day money back guarantee. I guess it’s another 60 days for the actual refund.🤣
Haha I shall keep that in mind if I ever buy from them!
Ha! Yes, definitely do!
I’m so glad you received your refund! BBQ smoke sounds so gross to me.
It really caught me off guard because it was not at all like I remembered. I got a decant in a swap years ago.
Wow, such a hassle! Glad you got your money back in the end.
Yeah, it was pretty frustrating despite the fact that their customer service people are friendly, lol. I got the impression that one person manually enters all the returns…..?🤯 which is clearly a very inefficient system!
Thanks to your cautionary tale, I will not bother chasing a bottle of Voleur de Roses! I can find plenty of gorgeous rose/patch perfumes.
Hello fragrant friends! I am in Agar Aura’s Malayaku today. It smells of sweet old wood on me. I feel like I am visiting an old house full of exquisite wooden furniture. Incense burns in the background.
I come bearing more reads: a friend shared this interesting article by an electronic musician from 1992 with me that I found interesting: http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/interviews/detail92.html
“Like others who’ve played with perfumes, I found this somewhat unsatisfactory. I wanted a system, a map. I briefly thought I might be able to make one myself, but this plan foundered as I jotted down the resemblance between strawberries and egg yolk, between breweries and certain types of horsehair bedding. I just knew I didn’t have enough stamina to collect, let alone collate, all those sensations. I’d also noticed to my confusion that the substances “coriander” and “vetiver” were never quite the same twice.”
I am surrounded by tech folks, and this desire to constantly organize and categorize strikes me as a very engineering-brain thing to do. I love that the author succumbs to the amorphous nature of scent in the end, the way he does with rock music.
“Rock music, I kept saying, was a music of timbre and texture, of the physical experience of sound”
This is how I feel about scents, it’s all about the emotional reactions that scents evoke in me.
Did you get your Chanel perfume sold?
yes! I sold to a fellow reader on NST
I knew you would. That’s why I suggested it. We are all looking for good buys😊 So happy you were able to unload it.
Yes, it was a good call. Thank you very much
After yesterday’s Coco, currently in Tobacco Vanille today. I keep debating on if this is full bottle worthy or not, even though I have a travel spray.
I am wearing Rose Barbare, last drops of a decant.
You smell(ed) beautiful today. 🌹🌹🌹
Robin, I really hope you’ll feel better before too much longer. I wonder if your system was just vulnerable due to your recent bout with Covid. Hope your husband who didn’t have such a bad case is doing a good job helping take care of you.
I’m fulfilling the ancient resins project with aplomb! If you can say that about someone who is currently a bit stinky (in a good way)–trying out my new sample of Papillon Artisan’s Anubis. Frankincense and labdanum. There’s also leather and supposedly a few other notes I’m smelling no hints of, like pink lotus and immortelle. Maybe they’ll come out more a bit later.
If you’re looking for a new and involving show on Netflix, I heartily recommend the K-drama Mr. Sunshine (ignore that weird title). It’s an intensely romantic sweeping epic about Korea at around the turn of the 19th century, when the kingdom is about to collapse under pressure from occupying armies who are themselves in tension (US, Japan, China, Russia). It’s very beautifully filmed, with stunning exteriors and Vermeer-like interiors, and features a heroic young noblewoman and the three men who fall helplessly in love with her–each handsome and worthy in his own way. I’m not quite done yet and feel it must be heading for heartbreak, given the actual historical facts, so I’m sort of dreading the end. This is a very long series with 24 episodes each well over an hour long–involving if you get into it. (And did I say, VERY handsome men?)
You had me at handsome men
One of them is definitely your type, with very long hair; he’s Korean but has learned the arts of swordsmanship in Japan and has somewhat adopted a samurai style.
Thank you Calypso! I was wondering the same thing.
My husband is a good husband and a good man in many ways, but taking care of the sick is not one of his strong points
Maybe the men on Mr Sunshine would help right at the moment!
LOL Robin!
I was mistaken in how I put this–it’s the turn of the 20th century, i.e., it’s in the early period such as 1903, and thereafter. I got mixed up about how to describe centuries.
It’s been a while since someone here has mentioned Papillon.
Good morning, friends! I smell rosy cozy in Bollywood or Bust. Dropped my mother off at the airport this morning, so I’ve been awake since 5am, which is about two hours earlier than I usually get up. Let’s see how the day goes.
Sometimes I wonder, did I gain anything from spending five years in a cut-throat semiconductor company after grad school, besides some paychecks and ulcers? Well, for the past month or so, a younger coworker/friend at my new workplace (a research institution) and I have had very similar workloads–actually, mine has been quite a bit bigger, which makes sense because I’m in a higher position than she’s in. Anyway, she’s been visibly crumbling under the weight of her work, while I’ve been…you know, stressed and tired, but fine. So I guess that’s what I got from the semiconductor industry–the ability to handle large volumes of work in a relatively calm and organized fashion. I’ll take it.
Good for you Koyel! I’m glad you were able to take something good from your experience there.
Thanks, lillyjo! I’m very glad to have found a long-term silver lining
Good for you, and hope she adjusts!
Oh I’m confident she will. She’s smart and motivated! If I could do it, she can do it
Thank you, Desirae for the Resin CP idea. I’ve had fun making my list for the week and getting ideas from others.
Sotd is Ambre Sultan
Great start!
Oh right! You smell great
I have a lot of incense perfumes, but will need to look to see which ones have notes that fit the CP.
Meanwhile, today I’m wearing Encens Mythique d’Orient, which Fragrantica describes as having a general incense note.
One of my favorite Guerlains, besides Shalimar
Still not feeling well.
Covid earlier this year felt mild compared to this flu that I have.
I have been resting all day and trying to get some energy to watch some World Cup. Missed the games yesterday.
Hope you feel better Robin
Sending you and Robin healing vibes.
Hope you feel better soon.
I was in a bookstore today and was thinking of you as I was perusing the shelves. I saw a few you have read that I have almost picked up, but haven’t decided on. They were Paradise and another lengthy book, but the name escapes me now. Old age😊
Bookstores are dangerous places for my wallet!
What are you reading?
Right now I am reading The Overnight Guest. Good suspense book.
A Little Life was the other book that reminded me of you.
That is a heart wrenching book, but I couldn’t look away. I am reading the Palace Papers by Tina Brown.
Oh how interesting…I feel utter crap but nothing like as bad as I did with Covid, which was dire.
Hope we are both bright & bushy eyed tomorrow!
Hoping all the under the weather crowd feel better soon! Hot tea, rest, hot soup, rest, hot toddy, rest….sprinkle with Tylenol or Advil, rest….you get the picture!
I’m in the very last thick swipe of SB Incensed that I found at the bottom of my catch all bag. It’s pretty viscous at this point but I may be able to get another wearing or two by trying to clean out the vial. Wish I had a mini-spatula to really get it cleaned out! Still regretting not getting a full bottle before the doors closed, but what can you do?
❄️Snowing here and I’m not thrilled because even on a sunny dry day, people in this town drive very aggressively and rudely.
Share your hot toddy recipe if you have one
What a shame! There must be places where people still drive politely but I don’t know where they are.
I am accidentally CP compliant in DSH’s Vachi today.
My goodness cold and flu season is back with a vengeance. My colleagues at work are a wreck. My sons both have persistent bugs. And several here are under the weather. Hang in there!
In addition to fluids and rest, I also recommend hot showers and crisp, clean sheets. Maybe it comes from caring for someone in the hospital for a year, but clean cotton sheets are a big priority for my sense of wellbeing. When my son was ill, I brought stacks of kid-friendly sheets to the hospital and changed them almost every day–bright neon colors, starships, monsters, clouds, you name it!
I rarely ever get the flu, let alone sick like this. Awful 😞
Totally agree with the clean sheets!! It’s the first thing I do when I’m well enough.
Sending get well soon messages to the victims of the flu, my doctor vaccinated me last week, so I’m grateful even though the vaccine doesn’t protect against new strains.
I was in Floris Special No 127 today and tonight in TF Noir Extreme which qualifies for the CP with its mastic and Amber.
I don’t think it matters. My mom got the old people shot and felt better in less than 24 hours, my husband got the regular one and felt mostly better in 30 hours. I got no shot, and currently at about 76 hours, and still shivering and coughing.
Sadly, the no shot route produced about 6 days of yuck for me; I hope you’re about to turn the corner!
Yeah, I may end up there! But still glad I prioritized the shingles shot first, so I will live with the sad result.
Good to know, glad your entourage got vaccinated and hope you will get better soon. Maybe plenty of vitamin C.
Too late now but there is Tamiflu if you can get it within 48 hours of onset. There is a newer drug Xofluza that is one dose but both need to start with 48 hours.
I’m sampling through some Hiram Green perfumes this week, and today’s is Vivacious. Fragrantica lists the main notes as violet, carnation (both of which rarely work for me) and orris (which is mostly a miss, and very occasionally a hit for me). I had low hopes, but went for it because I want to get a sense of the brand, and WOW am I surprised at how much I like this. It is creamy and sparkly where I was expecting violet/orris powder and carnation spiciness. Very happy about it.
Tea today is Clipper Ship’s Buttercream Pu’er. (PSA – Clipper Ship Tea is 25% off today with the code “Giving” and they are donating 5% of their profit from today’s sales — no affiliation, just a fan)
I liked Vivacious too. The notes are totally different, but it still reminded me of Moon Bloom.
I know I have a sample of Vivacious in The Sample Stash. But I don’t have a scent memory of it.
Today I am wearing Shalimar Souffle Intense. It’s not a favorite but it did call my name.
I tried to get in on some cyber Monday deals yesterday but I just couldn’t decide so I didn’t buy anything. I might order some shoes for my son after work because DSW extended their sale until today.
I didn’t get anything either, was just too tired. I will see what’s left at the end of the week
We’re no Cyber-Monday purchase twins. I think I was all shopped out – imagine!
What???? I don’t believe it😂
A lot of Cyber Monday deals spilled over into today. My email Inbox was proof of that… 😏
Hello all!
So sorry to hear so many of you are sick. I hope you get the rest and care you need! Sometime fierce went through my work a few weeks ago but I seemed to avoid anything worse than a migraine (I’m still wearing masks everywhere, especially work, so I think that helped.)
I went with Myrrhe Eglantine today, since it’s warm and rainy here today. I thought it would cut through the humidity. I miss the brief 50°F weather we had a few weeks ago.
Stay safe everyone!
You smell great Coumarin! Keep on masking!
Ended up in Shalimar yesterday. Today, I am headed toward Ambra Aurea, but will wait until I’ve folded the next batch of laundry — it’s for a local charity project (I didn’t donate the clothing, but am one of the small army of volunteer launderers), and I don’t want anyone to be put off by traces of fragrance.
Looking forward to some holiday baking soon — I treated myself to some items from King Arthur (for non-US folks, this is a supplier of flours, other ingredients such as yeast, cocoa, dried fruit, and of baking equipment) that I’d had my eye on for over a year. Will start with jam thumbprints to take to a weekend party. I’ve never in my life tried to make them, but they look so pretty!
Robin, LTSG, and all the others who are under the weather — get well soon!
I love King Arthur even though I barely bake anymore. Hope your thumbprints come out great!
I think I still have some pandemic King Arthur flour which I really should throw out as the contents have expired.
Jam thumbprint cookies sound delicious! Happy baking
It’s been ages since I’ve had jam thumbprint cookies. One of my aunts made them when I was little. Good memories!
La Baie des Anges was a nice cheerful scent to counterbalance the snow and cold this morning
Don’t hear too much Herve Gambs chat in perfumeland. I have some room spray and it’s lovely and green.
Robin, has NST ever done “The one that got away” as a CP? To explain: wear a sample of a perfume that you loved, but did not purchase (for whatever reason). And now said perfume is not obtainable.
Sending major “Get Well” vibes to my fellow NSTers! 🤧🤕
I have Xmas lights up, yay! I zip tied a couple of strings to the railings on my front steps. It looks a little haphazard though. I may redo them on Saturday when the weather is nice again. For now, it is really nice to look outside and see them.
SOTD = still in Chanel Box of Eels EdT, from the Sample Stash.
Hooray and you, of course, smell terrific!
Thanks!
I’m thinking I will get some indoor lights put up later on this week. I don’t have to worry about weather with that project!
How nice about the lights!
I’d forgotten how nice it was to see them up close.
Ooh I like this CP idea! Great excuse to dig up old samples, albeit with the risk of revisiting a heartbreak 😂😂
On the flip side, there is always a new perfume love to be found out there. 😍
I will have to look! I can’t think of one but I’m near brain dead.
Robin I had to think a minute about today’s picture and decided it’s about how you feel! Here’s more wishes for a peaceful night’s sleep and better tomorrow for the morning’s cuppa. Enjoying Iris Silver Mist today after reading Bois de Jasmin’s current article on favorite Iris perfumes. I still find the carroty opening not for me, not unpleasant but maybe just too much like a man’s fragrance. But in about an hour it’s all love for what I smell.
I should read that article! I love me some Iris Silver Mist although I haven’t worn it in forever.
I was puzzling over the snake as well but since it is my spirit animal, I decided to just enjoy it!
I see that is in one of the bell jars. Has it always been?
I read the article today. They all sound nice though I wonder if 19 might be too green for me. I already have FM Iris Poudre, but am testing another on her list. Just waiting for some samples I ordered this morning.
I ended up with the picture because the pieces of the mosaic work are applied with pine and copal resins…not that you’d have any way of knowing that!
Robin, ltsg and others who are feeling under the weather, I hope you get well really soon!
SOTD = Iunx Talc
Excellent iris!
https://www.instagram.com/p/ClkDPMou7WS/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Did I mention I got my vehicle inspection done yesterday? I felt so accomplished getting that done! I could have sworn I was there last year too around almost the same time and I was debating if I should go before Thanksgiving or after (I ended up going before). I was also afraid of catching COVID and so once I got my car back (literally just driving it off of the inspection lane), I disinfected EVERY surface.
Oh yes – and I filled up my gas tank too. I have never never ever spent more than $50 for a fill-up and I did yesterday. 😱 $51 to be exact. When the nozzle flipped to say it’s full, I am ok with a top up to the next dollar. I berated the guy because I saw him top up and accidentally got to $50.02 but by the time I finished yelling, he asked for $51. I told him he should never do that and he said he had been working x years so HE knows how much more gas the tank can hold. On principle, I should have just said I will only pay $50 but I know it will come out of his pay so I have him the extra $1. This fill up should last me through the end of December…
Freebies – I got emails from all who dibbed yesterday. The following are still available – please read my rules from yesterday’s post:
2. Clinique Aromatics in White 50mL
3. D.S. & Druga sample set of 6
6. Mix & Match GWP Set A
7. Mix & Match GWP Set B
I will Dib on #2 Aromatics in White. Thanks!
We don’t have to get inspections here. Do you get a special tag for that? How do they track if all cars are complient?
NJ used to have special stickers that you put on the license plate. You could tell at a glance if someone’s car was compliant.
Here in Oregon you can’t renew your registration without a “passing” certification from the inspection station. You have to send it in with your renewal, or you can renew at the inspection station.
Hi – I’ll call dibs on either #6 or #7, I love GWP stuff. Thanks for being so generous!
You smell lovely in Talc!
I share ringthing’s love of GWP stuff so I’ll call dibs on the other one, if it’s still available. Thank you!
Dibs on #3! Thank you so much!
Accidentally CP-compliant in Tauer Rose Flash. My large sample is almost empty. Will I get more? Time will tell.
Get well soon, everyone!
I think that Tauer has small samples of it available in the same sample kit that contains Golestan.
Oh, thank you! I’ve been wanting to try golestan anyway.
Feel better, Robin! Hope you have gotten some Tamiflu or Xofluza to help you out.
Commando here due to forgetting to put anything on, but will put on some Nemat Vanilla Musk or Boucheron Trouble before I go to bed (my two bedtime scents).
Robin, I wish you speedy healing. I’m sorry you are ill. Rest, lots of fluids, and seek medical help of things aren’t heading the right direction! You are very dear to me and all your gentle readers here at NST.
I get no CD points for wearing my Fico d’India by Ortigia…but I have the same scent resin crystals, which are CD adjacent ;D Be well.