Happy Almost-Friday! It’s also the fifth day of Christmas (five golden rings) and the fourth day of Kwanzaa (Ujamaa: cooperative economics). What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm in Prada Infusion d’Iris Absolue.
Reminder: on 12/30, we're doing Best of 2022...wear your favorite new release of the year, or your favorite purchase of the year, or the fragrance you wore the most in 2022, or interpret this project however you like.
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 shows Jeff Goldblum and a teddy bear for Prada's Winter 2022 campaign.
Hello all!
Nervously dropping off my car at the mechanic. Now I have an entire day to putter carlessly. My regular mechanic couldn’t see me until Monday so I hopped over to my friend’s mechanic on the other side of town. Unfortunately it would be a pretty expensive Uber trip so I’m waiting it out. Might walk over to the nearby Half-Price books once I finish the one I brought.
I’m in Bois Des Iles EdT, sparkling and creamy in equal measures.
Have a great day all!
Hope your car gets sorted in a flash!
Mine’s annual service also coming up in January,I usually take the day off,hop on the train to Johannesburg and spend the day windowshopping/coffeeshop-exploring/shoe-bargain-hunting!
🌹🤗
In my experience if they know I’m waiting my car gets done faster. I hope that is the case for you.
Thank goodness there’s a bookstore nearby!
Good luck!
Hope it passes quickly!
I find Half Price Books can gobble up *lots* of time in a pleasant way!
We got a little sunshine yesterday which made me happy as a clam. Raining again now. 🙄
Soon will be headed to the land of nod in a hefty dose of Safran Troublant from the kegger of a bottle I bought way back when. I love the older bottles with the weighty gold caps. They make me feel as if I’m prepared to defend myself because if I hurl that at someone’s head, they’re going DOWN! 💀
Happy Almost Friday Day!
Yay for sunshine!And I agree about the old L’Artisan bottles,LOVE those gold caps!
XO’s
Lol at kegger of a bottle!🤣
Me too 😆
Me three!
Fourth! I quite literally laughed out loud. I haven’t heard the word “kegger” in forever!
Right!? Lol
You smell amazing. I love Safran Troublant. I hope the sun comes back soon!
Ha ha! I have similar thoughts about hefty bottles. I find myself thinking “You could kill someone with this”.
We had the sun almost all day yesterday, it was lovely. Now we’re back to the permacloud.
Happy almost-Friday!
Hope everyone in the US is safe and warm,I’ve been seeing some crazy footage of frozen homes on the news!
SOTD!
Lush Love.
Yup,it is indeed LOVE!Is that lemon blossom?Pretty.
First day off!I literally did NOTHING.We had a flash cloudburst this morning and the rest of the day was kinda wet.
In other news!
I have my “from-me-to-me” Christmas present arriving tomorrow.It will be(hopefully) my SOTD!So excited,and I’ve been looking for a fb since forever.Any guesses?Lol.
XO’s
Aahhh! I can’t concentrate enough to guess right now. I can’t wait to find out!
Hahaha!All will be revealed tomorrow!
Here’s a clue:Bittersweet
🙈🤣🤗
5:53pm,by the way!
XO
Yay for a me to me gift. I’ll guess, however unlikely my answer is. Bittersweet always makes me think of Lutens Douce Amere. Can’t wait to find out the real answer!
Getting warmer with your guess,but no,not Lutens…indeed niche
I have no idea, but I’m super excited for you!!!
Haha!Yay!🥳🥳
No guesses but yay for you!
PIctures of the frozen houses by Lake Erie were amazing. We have had nothing like that here at all, knock on wood.
Oh yeah,I saw those pictures!
I’ve never experienced cold temps like that,so I cannot even imagine!
Stay warm!🤗🤗
It’s better to not imagine..
Can hardly wait to find out tomorrow!
Eek!!
Looking forward to finding out about your “from-me-to-me” Christmas present”!
😉🤗🌹
Very excited to hear about your “Merry Christmas to Me” choice!
There is someone here on NST that lives in Canada that knows the correct answer!Haha!
Clue nr.2😉
This is the one I was thinking of. But I can’t remember the name. I think it’s a Tauer?
Love the from-me-to-me idea. I have done the same and bought a large sample of Bengale Rouge (mine hás just finished and I felt an urge to wear it on New Year´s Eve). I also bought Dusitas Melodie de Lamour. I got to pick 3 free samples as well!
Oh wonderful!Which samples did you select?
Calling all angels, Arcadia and Dusita Erawan
Enjoy your treat!
I am excited that you got a good present for yourself and am looking forward to The Reveal!
Your post is going to be the most hotly anticipated one tomorrow!
Looks like water wings on that coat 🤨
Haven’t picked a scent yet but seeing as it has warmed up, I might choose something green or fresh.
To me, Jeff Goldblum appears to be in costume as a very expensive woman’s glove.
Ha, he does! But he is Jeff Goldblum and can wear whatever he wants (and he does wear crazy clothes even in real life)
Hahaha – perfect!
That coat is a lot like a coat one of my grandma’s had in the roaring twenties, or maybe before, long heavy wool with a big fur ruff around the bottom, and the cuffs of the sleeves, but hers had a big fur collar to match, and she had a fur hat, very “al la Russe”, or else, very Wild West school marm who rode in an open carriage from her cottage to the school where she taught all winter long…so that coat looks unfinished to me. I wonder if they had planned on adding more but had to get away from “Dr. Zhivago comes to America” when empire building fantasies, the arrest of Brittany Griner, and the increasing danger of windows, sort of damaged Russia’s party destination cachet? Sorry if this is too political, do take it down if it is offensive. Don’t mean to be cranky. I am wearing DS & Durga Durga, and I smell good after all this time.
My SOTD is Yesterday Haze, inspired by yesterday’s Imaginary Authors lemming. It’s great to put on a perfume that I haven’t worn for a while and it’s better than I remembered.
Quiet day today – reading on the couch with the dog and later cooking cabbage rolls. Trying to figure out what to make for a nice dinner on Saturday- I am so ready to close the door on 2022 and welcome in a new year. Any suggestions?
We were vaguely thinking of doing that Jacques Pepin video with lobster tails in artichoke hearts, but I suspect when I check the price of lobster that will get nixed. One year we did do the French Laundry Butter Poached Lobster Mac & Cheese, that was amazing but too fiddly to ever do again.
I suspect we’ll do some nice steaks…
I read the French Laundry cookbook and there wasn’t a single recipe that I seriously considered making (it all seemed very fiddly, as you say): that mac & cheese recipe has a *lot* of moving parts. My one takeaway from the book was, and I’m paraphrasing only slightly, “No liquid ever passes from one vessel to another except through a sieve” — they even force potato purée through an extremely fine sieve — and I did start using sieves a lot more after I read that: it means extra dishes to wash but you get really smooth, lush puréed soups. (Never made those mashed potatoes, though: their recipe is about 40% butter and cream by weight, which is too rich for my blood.)
Exactly! It was a lot of work.
The Jacques Pepin recipes tend to be easier. We almost made his scallops with spinach and cream sauce for Xmas eve but the price of scallops was insane.
We did make the Food Lab American Pot Roast a couple weeks ago, and I considered that recipe too fiddly but it was in fact the best pot roast. I am going to experiment with taking parts of that recipe and meshing into my usual “throw chuck roast in slow cooker with wine” method.
We make the Cookwise mashed potato and they are only a wee bit fiddly, plus convenient because you get them partially cooked earlier in the day.
We’ve eaten at his two other Napa restaurants, Ad Hoc and Bouchon. Both very good. I have the Ad Hoc cookbook and took a look at the recipe for their friend chicken — holy moly! I think I’ll just drive to Napa to eat it at the restaurant, it’s probably quicker than making that recipe, lol.
‘Friend’ chicken? Thanks autocorrect! Should be ‘fried’ chicken, bwahahaha…
I was ready to google “friend chicken”….🤣🤣
Mr. G and I managed to have dinner at French Laundry on our honeymoon and it was ah-mazing. There are two memories that stand out for both of us. One was the salt tray (over a dozen different salts to choose from, and that was just the salad course!). The other was the suggestion from our waiter, midway through the multi-course extravaganza, that we looked like we could use a break, and would we like to go out to the garden area to rest and gather our strength, and they would be more than happy to hold our table for as long as we wished. We did, and they did, and the rest of the meal was also amazing. I still have the menu somewhere in my “wedding box”.
What a lovely memory!
That sounds like a simply delightful meal! Taking a break in the garden. How civilized! LOL.
The price of King Crab has gone thru the roof in the past year or so. We used to get it as an occasional treat at our Costco. Not anymore. 😢 I bet lobster is just as bad, if not worse, price-wise.
Love cabbage rolls. Haven’t made them in years. I just may need to think about making them soon.
I love cabbage rolls! My grandma and mom made the best ones (although I’m probably a bit biased). That dish signified Christmas or a special occasion to me. Enjoy!
We are doing something really simple: fresh pasta with a sauce made of feta and cherry tomatoes with shrimp, it´s delicious! And champagne Tattinger, the best part!
I can’t quite believe Christmas is over, and New Year almost here-I’m so ready to say good bye to 2022, too.
Small spritz of L’eau d’Hiver for me. Just across my finger tips. That way I can enjoy it but if the day gets unwieldy, I can wash it off lol.
If anyone’s tried Ormonde Jayne’s Evernia can you share your thoughts, please? I’m not a woman who can rock a man’s scent, and I know scents are genderless-but some skew more one way than another. Eau Sauvage is awful on me.
Hope everyone has a good day,
Carole
I was thinking I was ready to say good bye to 2022 too, but then I realized it’s probably how I have felt about every year since 2018, so maybe it’s time to readjust my own attitude, LOL…
lol-two minds, one thought-you’re absolutely right
Here’s wishing us both serenity in 2023!
Christmas weekend is a blur to me,we were at work most of it!
I’m also ready for 2023,but sometimes feel guilty about wishing the days away.
I can’t wait to hear what is your from me-to me purchase
I’m joining Deva in Safran Troublant. I also have that giant bottle. I love the scent but I will never get through it all. I have to run to the grocery store for bread and milk but otherwise I’m staying home on this damp, overcast day.
Twins! 🙌
And I’m a triplet with you guys! I hadn’t selected any SOTD and thought, “Why not?” and I’m a very happy camper.
In Coco Noir body cream and perfume. This is definitely one of my favorites in the winter months.
You smell wonderful!
Thanks Ringthing.
I’m wearing Ouarzazate today, and I’m planning on wearing more incense this winter. All of the CdG incense series are so good.
I am actually enjoying Japanes incense, its so calming this time of year.
Meant to write Japanese…
Ourzazate – I should get another sample of that. I bought a rustic pair of sandles, with tire tread soles and rough hand made brass buckles in Ourzazate. Ah, Morroco, good times.
You smell great, AND I swear that stuff relaxes me instantly.
I came across a perfect cep ( porcini) when I was walking under some oak trees yesterday and brought it home for an omelette. It’s rained overnight so I will go back and look for more, just in case. I don’t often find ceps around here – the most common fungi are the boletes that grow under pine trees which can be quite spongy and watery, and shaggy parasols. Today I’m meeting my friend in the gardens and we’re taking our sketch pads and paints. She always paints leaves ( meticulously) and I always end up painting grass and clover as it’s easy and quick., and fills the page …and I can do it without looking, and while talking. Not very Kew Gardens! Wearing Chypre Mousse, nice in the heat.
Stay warm!!
https://www.first-nature.com/fungi/boletus-edulis.php
A lovely to spend time with a friend, and you smell fabulous!
Your painting get-together sounds so lovely.
In Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady.
Summertime here! 46 degrees, lol!
On my second cup of coffee and a scallion pancake with avocado.
Happy almost Friday! ☕️
49 here. Woo-hoo!🌞🌻
We can’t complain! 💃💃
Well you do smell spectacular!!🌹🌹
Thank you! I always remember you when I wear it! 🌹
That makes me so happy M!
🤗🌹
We got to 52! I took my walk in just a hat and sweatshirt.
Oh, and pants! 8o
🤣🤣🤣
I am eagerly looking forward to 60 next Wednesday. It sounds like a swimming day!
It’s snowing again but at least that means it’s not brutally cold (always one or the other here): I’m wrapped up in Demeter Mahogany, which may or may not smell like actual mahogany, I’m no expert, but does smell convincingly like a woodworking shop. It’s very nice.
Never tried that one but sounds like I should.
Hey guys.
I am at work and about an hour ago I realized I had lost my pendent. It’s a St. Thomas medallion. My mom gave it to me when I was a pre-teen. I’m asking for positivity to be sent my way that I find it.
I actually have a nice story I wanted to share but I will do that tomorrow when I am not so sad.
My sotd is Fenty.
I’m sending loads of positivity your way! Have you retraced your steps? Maybe in the car? Wherever you took your coat off? I wish I was there because I have a knack for finding these sorts of things. I’ll just redouble the positivity vibes instead😊
Check your clothes!!! Good luck.
All my prayers to St. Thomas so you find the pendant very soon! Be positive!
Oh I do hope you find it. I once lost a bracelet very dear to me and I grabbed a friend and asked her to help me find it. She did! I think it’s good to have a set of eyes that might look different places.
Sending you lots of luck . I have my fingers crossed that your pendant returns to you before the end of the day. Big hugs!
Sending wishes you find your pendant, Lillyjo!
Positive vibes to you for finding your pendant!
XO’s
You should try this(it worked for me once!):
A friend of mine’s Mom told me to turn a glass upside down and just put it somewhere in the house(wine glass,tumbler,whatever),and the lost item would show up.It actually did!
Fingers crossed you find it.
Fingers and toes crossed that you find your pendant.
Be sure to look among any wires/surge protectors/baseboards around your desk, check with your building management, and leave a note for the cleaning staff. Just some thoughts…with a prayer added.
Hope your pendant is (already!) found.
“St Thomas, please find your way back to Lillyjo! She misses you!” 🙏🏼
I like to supplicate directly to the holy folks but sadly, they don’t often hear me. I will pray extra loud for you and your medallion because I think the holy folks are a bit hard of hearing.
Adding my good thoughts that your pendant shows up! Many wonderful suggestions have already been offered so I’m hoping it surfaces quickly.
I hope that Saint Jude gives your Saint Thomas pendant a nudge, and you are reunited with it.
I hope your pendant turns up soon!
Prayers to St. Jude for the return of your lost pendant!
Sending great big hugs to you, lillyjo.
Please triple check your car too!
Oh no. Please let us know if you find it!
You guys I found it!
Sure enough it was in my clothes. I did check them the best I could while I was at work with no luck. I just got home and found it while I was changing. I truly believe it was all of your good thoughts and prayers that let it stay me all this time. Thank you all so much! ❤️
Omg!! So glad that you found it! What a relief! 😅
That’s wonderful news!!
YAY!!!!
Great! So happy for you!
I believe in positive energy!!
And yay for finding it!🤗🤗
Yippeee!
That’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time!
Yay!!! Such excellent news.
Yay!!! So glad!
SOTM is Broken Theories, from the bottle opened on Christmas morning. Yummy. We’re back to rain here, which is good because we need it, and the high winds we were having seem to be taking a rest, which is also good.
Yep, you smell great!
I was digging around to see what I haven’t worn in forever and I am in Ubar. Forgot how great this is and I didn’t care for it too much when I first tried it all those years ago.
What do you think changed? Have your tastes changed or what?
I’m in Hermes Eau de Neroli Dore today, a Christmas gift from my little sis. I smell fantastic!
We’re finally home alone after six days of hosting and visiting. I’m exhausted, but it’s always wonderful to see loved ones.
Lovely present, and do enjoy the down time!
We’ve woken up to another sunny morning. The forecast isn’t quite so good for the rest of the day, but right now, it looks perfect.
Post-shower, I’m thinking of wearing the light and summery Un Jardin Sur La Nil.
Yay for a sunny morning!
We are back to grey, and 10C so enjoy the sun.
Gray day here. It was nice to get a break in the rain yesterday, but we’ve got rain rain and more rain in the forecast. Might be time for a movie-and-popcorn afternoon.
SOTD yesterday was Penhaligon’s Elixir. Today I’m sampling, trying to work thru my samples by the end of the year. It’s possible… just unlikely
Funny how you are “gray” and we are “grey”. Same weather, different spellings!
And I spell it both ways (although I used ‘gray’ below). I think (?) because growing up I read lots of non-U.S. authors, especially British.
I never can remember which is preferred in US English. I think I usually use “gray.” But spelling is always a challenge for me.
I think standard “American” usage is “gray”. I use “grey” because of Tolkien and a certain wizard in his works.
Same here!! I use both and can never remember which I’m supposed to use.
Also “grey” here,maybe it’s a Southern hemisphere thing?Lol!
Blame the American Revolution ( and Noah Webster)
https://blog.oup.com/2014/01/gray-etymology-word-origin/
But this is quite interesting
Thanks, Kanuka: love the article!
Super interesting. &heart;s thanks.
Today’s owl is “Gray”.
Elixir is so good, especially to spice things up when it’s cold and dreary.
I’m determinedly going through my Pineward sample set, two days left!
TF Noir de Noir today. We also have a gray day, but the enjoyment provided by my long walk yesterday is still buoying me up. I ended up going 6.5 miles and wasn’t a bit sore. It was wonderful!
What a great walk, very cool.
I’m so behind on taking my daily brisk walks on the estate.Goal for 2023!!
You smell great!
Hello all and happy holidays!
I disappeared off NST for awhile during the holidays to spend time with my sister and friends. It was super fun, glad to have loved ones to spend time with away from home. Hope y’all had a good one as well.
SOTD is Chanel Coromandel parfum, kindly decanted from hajuusuri. Really loving it so far, so plush and warm.
oh! and a fragrant recommendation:
Frankincense chocolate from Enfleurage. It’s good chocolate and you can absolutely taste the frankincense. To me, it tastes of a peppery nutmeg ganache. A delicious and affordable thrill.
https://enfleurage.com/chocolates-frankincense/
What a treat, enjoy.
Thank you, Aurora!
Thanks for the chocolate info. Just at the right time, because I will be in the neighborhood tomorrow. I placed the order online already to pick it up at the store!
Oh that’s wonderful! Enfleurage is such a fragrant gem — enjoy your trip there tomorrow, and enjoy the chocolates
I’m already planning a trip back for a second box.
Wow, that’s tempting!
go for it!! frankincense aside, it’s really delicious chocolate.
Hi, pfsh! You smell wonderful!
Thank you, friend! Good to see you around
Hope you had a good holiday season!
I indulged in some vanilla fudge today.
Wore Liz Earle Essence No1, a citrus chypre, probably my most uplifting scent and tonight it’s MFK Grand Soir with its calming lavender.
This kind of vanilla fudge?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuisGkFcDXI
😉
🤘
😁
Ah ha! That’s why I can’t totally love Grand Soir. I didn’t realize it had lavender.
Yes, it’s quite pronounced on my skin. I’ll try to remember you don’t like lavender, so se’re not completely scent twins after all😀
I’m coping you for Friday SOTD. I could use some calming lavender!
Crawling through today…no sleep last night, due to ongoing coughing fits. BUT: I am home, finally, as of 11 p.m. last night, after flight delays, horrible ear and throat issues, and 2/3 of our luggage being lost. I was so excited to go to a Canadian drugstore this morning to finally get real cold medicine, such as it exists, and…the shelves have been ransacked. (Well, at one store, they’d put Campbell’s chicken noodle soup onto the cold medicine shelves so they wouldn’t be empty.) Here I am, kind of wishing I actually had COVID, because at least that’s been of short duration and fairly mild for me, thanks to immunizations. RSV is hell, even a week in. Not sure I want to travel at the holidays again any time soon
No SOTD because I can’t smell. Hoping I can get some sort of nap in this afternoon, though I’m supposed to be working. I have SO MANY scented goodies waiting on me, but won’t be able to sample for a while yet.
Oh, that’s miserable! I hope you recover soon and have an extra healthy 2023.
I love that someone put that soup on the shelf
Yuck. I hope you feel better soon, and can get the meds you need.
Hope you feel better asap! Fluids, fluids, and more fluids! All the chemicals in that chicken noodle soup would surely kill the most recalcitrant bug! Maybe try it? 😉
Blergh! That’s a rough “Welcome Home”.
Oy! Hope you get better soon!
Poor you. I agree about not traveling over the holidays, I always got sick. Praying that I can avoid the plague next week when I have to fly to Montréal.
Feel better soon!
What an ordeal. Glad you are home, hope you feel better soon.
Oh my. I hope just being home makes you feel better.
Sotd Aerin Ambrette de Noir. One of my Plato’s Closet finds. I like it the best of any Aerin scents I’ve tried. It actually lasts all day, though it has no sillage. No CP points; I’m wanting to see if I can really decide what my 2022 favorite was. Tauer Sundowner, lookin’ at you; but Donatella knows there’s a longer list.
LOL — Donatella knows!
SOTD is Dzongkha. Simultaneously comforting and intriguing.
Went to an art museum yesterday with a good friend — almost an hour’s drive each way for me, and 90 minutes plus for her —and it was glorious. I have to keep reminding myself that a day out almost always results on renewed focus for work! Fortunately, clear and safe driving conditions — we did not get anything like the catastrophic snow that Buffalo has (we are only 100 miles away but in our own microclimate).
Aren’t microclimates amazing?
RIP soccer legend Pele. At one time, he was the highest paid athlete in the world! ⚽
Got another appointment made today. I am making progress on all those end of year phone calls; only 2 left.
SOTD = still commando-ish. Still wearing the Pacifica Persian Rose body butter on my shins.
Heard about Pele … R.I.P.
You must be loving that Persian Rose smell!
It’s a favorite for wintertime. Roses, maybe a bit of amber and very moisturizing!
And Vivienne Westwood, who was just a year younger than Pele…
Yeah, I heard about her after I posted.
I have to get a new calendar to write down all my new appointments in.
SOTD = Zara Man Silver EDT
Cheap as chips at $12.90 for 30mL. Nice, with an overall light lavender amber aesthetic!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CmxWqkAOe3i/?igshid=Zjc2ZTc4Nzk=
Now off to read comments from the bottom up.
Yay for cheap as chips!
That bottle looks really expensive!
Zara gets alot of YouTube love. I’m not familiar with them myself.
Did you get my email?
I don’t know where my email went to you from yesterday. I just sent you another note. Let me know if you get it tomorrow.
I started off with Hypnotic Poison (small dose) but now I’ve got a ton of Pineward samples on me. Trying to get through this bag of samples by new year. So looking forward to 2023 and closing the doir on the disaster that the last three years have been.
Pineward makes such interesting scents, looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them!
I hope 2023 makes up everything to you!
Thank you lillyjo, I do too.
After a late-day shower, I’m wearing some Honest Beauty body lotion augmented with carrot seed oil. Like cazaubon, I’m ready to see the behind of 2022 and prior!
The best I can say about 2022 is that it didn’t suck as much as 2021 did for me. And that ain’t saying much.
Not saying much, indeed! Let’s hope for better things in 2023.
Yes indeed! I agree there.
Are you feeling 100% yet?
I think I’m about 90% back.
Very late check in today. Went into town to get a haircut and then went thrifting afterwards. Didn’t find anything interesting; maybe next time. Vacuumed my place, did laundry and went to the gym. I’m starting to gather up some things for donation, but I’m not making much headway!
SOTD = Guerlain Rose Cherie, from a sample
You smell great! It’s a new favorite for me.
Isn’t it pretty? I was surprised I liked it so much.
Same here.
Maybe once I’m back to 100% you and I can do some thrifting around Montrose and/or the Heights!
Hey, I’d love to! We had a good time on that excursion right before covid shut us down. 🙂
You smell great, I love Rose Chérie.