It’s Almost-Friday and National Marzipan Day. Birthdays: John Singer Sargent, Jack London, Ruth Brown. RIP Jeff Beck. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm running through my favorite colors: today I'm on pink. I'm in L'Artisan Jacinthe des Bois, for the pink flowers on the bottle.
Reminder: 1/13 will be True Colors Friday. Tell us your favorite color, and wear a fragrance with that color in the name, or that reminds you of that color, or that has juice in that color, or ... ?
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2023, 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 Farrow & Ball's Kittiwake. Although Farrow & Ball does not announce a color of the year, Kittiwake is one of 11 colors the brand introduced in late 2022, some of them inspired by the fact that people working from home needed lighter, restful colors.
Another brutishly cold day, -18°C (but not to worry, tomorrow it’ll be 10° and hammering down rain, WTH?), so I’m comfy in SL Douce Amère, which I really think is one of his greatest scents, the absolutely perfect balance of sweet and bitter.
Meanwhile we are breaking new records with this heatwave down south!35° today,sun has set and it reads about 25° now….stay warm!
Yep, you smell great!
Jeff Beck’s death hit us hard. My husband was a working musician in the 60s and the influence of the Yardbirds was everywhere.
Continuing with green today in the growl of Silences.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/gallery/2023/jan/12/jeff-beck-a-life-in-pictures?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Some photos for you.
This is awesome, thanks! I especially love that photo with four of the greatest of all-time guitarists with the Queen.
That’s a great picture.
Thanks Kanuka!
Love it! Thanks, Kanuka.
I am also in Silences today.
Jeff Beck was a guitarist’s guitarist to be sure.
Herbae for me today, a very light, slightly sweet green note. The juice is a gorgeous light green, very spring-like. In fact this is perfect for spring.
And I am ready for spring!
Good morrning!
Enjoying the remnants of Hiram Green Hyde from last night. It smells like a crowded Chinese temple overflowing with josstick smoke and dried longans. I love it. It smells as brown as it looks.
I also sampled Les Indemodables Musc de Sables yesterday and realized what it reminded me of: Chanel Coromandel. I think its the patchouli-sweet incense combination that does it.
Still deciding my SOTD. I read Persolaise’s reasons why he wears perfume article (https://persolaise.com/2021/11/why-i-wear-perfume-top-10-reasons.html) last night and it really resonated, especially #3 and #4.
The latter is simple, the world needs more beauty and I would like to be part of that in the way I present and scent myself. I love people watching on the subway, enjoying all the colorful and interesting outfits, jewelry and accessories my fellow city-dwellers don for the day. I can only hope that I do the same for others.
On the former reason, however… I’m ever fascinated by the past and the power of memory — I’ve blogged about this before (https://piratefsh.github.io/2016/11/26/scented-memories.html). Prior to my perfume nerdery, I hadn’t even realized I had scented memories of my parents. And I love hearing scented memories from others. A dear friend of mine shared that her mom would wear No. 5 for nights out. Upon her return home, she would check in on my friend in bed where she could smell the full glory of her mom’s perfume. To her, that was the scent of childhood comfort.
Dad – Old Spice
Mom – powdered paper
I’m curious about the powdered paper!
Mom- Dana Tabu.
Dad- He was not so fond of perfumes. He would splash on a bit of Old Spice after shaving.
Thanks for sharing! I’ve never smelled Tabu but you just reminded me that I really should. It got name checked in a novel i was reading recently.
Mom:Madame Rochas/Anaïs Anaīs
Grandma:Revlon Moon Drops
Grandpa:Old Spice and Vitalis hair oil!
I’m fortunate to have some perfumes from my Mom’s collection,and I treasure them.
So lucky that your mom left you her perfumes! I haven’t had the courage to ask for my mom’s perfumes since she has so few.
My dad wore Aramis and I loved it on him.
My mom wore Ralph Lauren Romance and Estee Lauder Youth Dew.
Great classics!
Mom: White Shoulders and Liz Claiborne
Dad: Brut aftershave and English Leather cologne
Thanks for sharing! I’m not familiar with mom’s scents but your dad sounds like he smells fabulous
Mom – Miss Dior (original)
Dad – Old Spice and then Aramis…lots and lots of Aramis!
My dad overdid it a little on Aramis too, but I loved it on him.
💕
Your description of Hyde sounds wonderful. I’m going to dig out my sample and give it a whirl because it scared me at the first test 🧐
Please do! I’m curious to hear if your opinion has changed. I am aware though that my scent references are very different from most folks due to me growing up in SE Asia. Lots of folks described Hyde as BBQ smoky or leathery, but its not what I got at all.
It is, however, a very ‘large’ perfume and projects very much from the start, though I find that it fades nicely over the hours. I had sprayed a blotter, set it aside only to find myself sniffing the air several hours later wondering where that wonderful scent was coming from!
The scent I recall with my Mom the most was Jean Nate, in the giant splash bottle. She did order some perfume from the Avon Lady when I was in elementary school.
My Dad had a cologne from Avon in a bottle shaped like a car when I was little. But I think it was an aftershave. He didn’t wear scents on a regular basis.
Thanks for sharing! The figural Avon bottles are so fun.
Mom: Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass
Dad: Dial soap
The Dial soap sounds like my husband. I can’t get him interested in fragrance at all. He finally agreed to some Old Spice, but that would not have been my pick even though I know it’s coming back.
Perhaps you can slip him a fabulous scented soap sometime?
I love Persolaise. Thank you for the repost! Neither of more parents wore scents on a daily basis. I could never really say where my love came from, then I realized my mom always used tons of fancy powdered products for herself and for myself & sister when we were young. Not surprising I have many powder focused, makeupy, or suede like scents. Truthfully I dont think theres been powederd scent I havent liked!
Persolaise is great! One of my favorite perfume people for sure.
I too love powdery scents! I was definitely raised on Johnson’s baby powder and up till today it is such a comforting scent to me.
Do you like perfumes like FM Lipstick Rose or Iris Poudre? Those two are the most makeup-y scents that come to mind.
My mom-Je Reviens, and much later Eau de Sud and 154 from Jo Malone
Dad-would try almost anything, including hermes rhubarb scent
My younger brother-Hermes Orange Vert, Sisley Eau de Campagne (what he calls good ol’ tomato leaf), vintage Carons (gave him my Poivre extract cause he loved it ), Malle’s Monsieur, French Lover, and Cologne Bigarade, and Geranium pour Monsieur
Just read the post about your fragrance history-I found that so touching
And to keep this on topic I’m wearing L’eau de Hiver, on this -15 degree day-sharp cold clean air. Followed by a rise in temp tomorrow-up to plus 12. Tough to know what to wear.
Oh wow, your younger brother is quite a parfumista (and an JC Ellena fan!) — one of us! It must be fun to nerd out about perfume together
My younger sister probably won’t call herself a parfumista but she has a good nose (like all the women in my family), so it is fun to smell things with her.
Rhubarbe Ecarlate is so good, I had the body lotion once and slathered it on until I got sick of the scent 😂
Thanks for reading my blog post, I really appreciate it <3
In another black today wearing Tom Ford Noir Extreme. Very fleeting and it smells brownish to me. A boring bottle, but it matches my black cp ok.
Happy Thursday 🖤
Happy Thursday!
Thank you, Robin!
I agree that it does smell brownish.
I have got to get to a largish supermarket or Walmart to stock up on basics, but the closest one is across the Megler Bridge in Astoria and good grief! Even in good weather that bridge makes me quake. Now, another blustery rainy day with gusts >40mph…! I just can’t. A local told me last night, “Oh they only shut that bridge down for an accident or if it’s iced over.” Both of those incidents happened in the past two weeks with a confirmed fatality. Also, a semi was going over it (sometime in the past) and was blown over on its side and when I mentioned that to her, she was like- “Well, it didn’t go OVER the side, it just TIPPED over!” Duh me! 🙃
Here’s a photo for those interested. For some reason it reminds me of The Munsters. Must be all the metal and bolts 🤣
https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=oregon/astoriamegler/
Wearing BF Ummagumma today to stay snuggly and sane. I’ve run out of TP but I will pay the exorbitant price and taxes here rather than risk that bridge. Some may call it an irrational fear or a phobia, but I call it common sense! 🌉
And I HAVE been over that bridge in lovely weather and hated every single minute of it, but I did it. Several times in fact! (Patting myself on the shoulder!) See, I’m brave, right..? 😅
Forgot to mention Ummagumma is a soft minky brown to me.
Well, (a) you smell fantastic; (b) that bridge is LONG, omg, and I don’t blame you for being wary; and (c) they breed ‘em phlegmatic on that there peninsula, don’t they! “It didn’t go over” — hah!
It’s a tough bunch of folks out here! 😄
Well rather safe than sorry!🌹✌🏻
That’s my life’s creed! (Mostly😜)
You’re so right to want to stay safe.
Seems logical to me. 🙂
Yikes, that is NOT a reassuring looking bridge! 😬
Nope, not a soul soother in any way, shape or form!
And I thought that the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel looked terrifying! Yikes!
That one is often compared to this one for fear factor, and usually wins out.
I’ve been on the CBBT, and it isn’t nearly as bad as it looks. The worst part about it is when you lose sight of land on the bridge. But then you go into the tunnel.
Don’t go Deva!
😂 This mad me laugh! And I didn’t go, I went to bed instead! 👍🏼
I would have a heart attack going over that bridge. I can’t even look at it!
I remember in the late eighties a Yugo was blown off the Mackinac bridge.
Oh, I have to do some serious self talk as I roll up to it and then over. The worst part is that high (rickety looking) span. The rest is just like Florida bridges, no big deal. In my head “Now Deva girl, you can do this. Deep breath! Good girl. T-Rex is depending on you to not freak out. You got this. Come on, just a little more. You can do it!” Seriously, this is my inner dialogue the entire way over the bridge. 😬 You could do it if you had to lillyjo, I know you could. 💪🏼
I’m wearing black, as I often do, with Le Labo The Noir for a very literal approach to the CP. I can never quite decide about this scent, so it was a good excuse to give it another try.
I am often in black too, and grey and white.
I pretty much gave up white when my son was born, but he’s 6 now, so it has a shot at survival!
I am wearing Dior Diorissimo and drinking a cup of Blood Orange Mimosa Tea.
Pretty perfume and pretty-sounding tea!
Hi Barqs! You smell wonderful.
Lovely choice.
My favorite color is Cobalt blue. Everyday so far I have been pairing what I think fits.
-to match an Arabian adventure amongst the blue frescos in a beautiful Northern African country..
I get mostly cinnamon, incense and sandalwood. In todays cold weather is wearing completely different on me
I asked yesterday about Slovenia if anyone has vacationed there, I will also ask about that region of Italy next to it? Trieste and the towns along the coast?
I am going with you in cobalt blue today, but a different scent.
Iris Poudre for a purpley blue today.
We are back to our atmospheric river for the next few days (Seattle). I know Californians have much more to complain about, but I’m ready for some sunshine! We had just a taste for a couple of days.
Terrible sleep last night so lots of exercise today.
Scent twins. My favorite color is pink, but blue is not far behind. LTSG had an iris scent with cobalt blue the other day. so I am going with that color. We smell good. This is one perfume I always get compliments on😊
Hope you can sleep tonight.
I love all kinds of pinks as well. Most of my closet is actually black, white and various shades of fuchsia, maroon and pink. But interestingly (to me, anyway), I always think of blue as my favorite color. Pale blue, deep blue, royal blue, navy blue, I like ’em all.
Iris Poudre is so beautiful!
Wearing vintage Ungaro Diva. I love this one, and my bottle is getting low. Between this, vintage Ivoire, and Shalimar, I sometimes wonder why I own any other perfume. But my sample order from luckyscent is arriving next week
Diva is great, isn’t it?
It was a blind buy for me, and I adore it.
I just got a bottle of Diva from a discounter and love it, knowing of course that the vintage must be SO much better.
Vintage Ivoire twins! I picked up my bottle in the late 1980’s. It still smells fabulous.
Although pink is my favorite color, blue is a close second. Using LTSG’s idea of cobalt blue and going with Iris Poudre. Probably one of my best purchases in 2022. I made sure to get a BUB when I found it for a great price.
My list of favorite colors probably depends on when you ask me, but pink and blue are always on the list.
It’s another grey day, and Friday 13th to boot, so I am adding a pop of yellow with Vanillary . The smiley face of my perfume collection.
Gray here today, too, and very dark with the lower winter sun angle.
Chiming in on grey!
Grey here too.
I’m skipping green today in favor of Broken Theories, because I was in the mood for warm and sweet, and because the bottle was sitting there looking forlorn.
And we can’t have a forlorn bottle, right?
I admit I’m a softy. 😂
We actually have some sunshine this morning, after days of grey. And it’s Friday, so I feel much better about the world
Despite saying that my favourite colours were oranges and yellows, I haven’t worn those colours this week. Today’s dress is neutral tones, so will go with any perfume, and I’ve chosen PG’s Indochine, which someone mentioned earlier this week.
Glad you are feeling better about the world, Gaynor! And of course you also smell great, that helps.
Hermes Eau de Narcisse Bleu,I just love the color of the bottle and it’s a pretty pretty fragrance!
I’ve been gravitating towards more green/turquoise/blue with my decor choices,and it’s very calming.Stormy seas at work so I need a haven of cool and calm at home!
XO’s
Hope it gets more tranquil at work for you. EdNB is very pretty but it doesn’t last long on my skin, alas, so I don’t have a bottle.
I’m fortunate to have perfume-loving skin,but I also “layer” perfumes,e.g spray on skin and clothing.
I hope work gets more calm.
I love your chosen scent, and I love all those pretty coloured bottles. The NB is such a tranquil sort of blue, and something about this scent reminds me of my grandfather and horses-very nice memory.
Hallucinogenic Pearl. While I do like pearly white, the real reasonfor wearing it is that my perfume 2023 resolution to empty more decants and minis. Slow and steady wins the race…
What a great name for a perfume.
The son of a friend is in Oman for a university project, and I’ve been looking up information on Amouage and frankincense for him. So of course I’m wearing Beloved, which comes in a not quite shocking pink box with gold accents. Although I personally feel Beloved is like being enveloped in honey-colored furs and gold jewelry — all gifts, of course.
By the way, one of the things I learned in my research is that NYC-based Enfleurage operates a frankincense distillery in Oman. Also, in addition essential oils, they now offer several perfumes:
https://enfleurage.com/perfumes/
I’m debating whether to order a sample set, or their extraordinary gardenia enfleurage.
Wow, that’s a tough call. Both of those things sound great.
The gardenia enfleurage was sold out, so I didn’t have to choose, fortunately.
Their frankincense products are lovely. I have sniffed their perfumes in store and enjoyed all except for the oud (it is of the banyard-y quality, which oud doesn’t have to be). They are all true to their names. I also highly recommend their frankincense chocolate if it isn’t already on your radar!
It must be amazing to visit the store — frankincense chocolate, wow! 😻
My favorite Amouage!!You smell fantastic!!
Mine, too!
Have you tried the Opus series and found any that you liked? I didn’t really get the few that I tried.
Chiming in: I love Opus III.
I love Opus VIII, and find it extraordinary. It’s the only one I tried that I loved and bought. Kafkaesque has an amazing review of it in terms of light and shadows.
Thanks, MossyBerry and Calypso — will look into these two.
Looking for reviews, I see that some of the Enfleurage perfumes are not new at all — here’s Jessica’s review from 2015:
https://nstperfume.com/2015/11/19/enfleurage-sanctuary-roses-amber-fragrance-reviews/
No CP points today. Just loving Adieu Sagesse. After reading several reviews of several of the other Patou Heritage Collection releases, I think I would love some of them too. Shoutout to lillyjo and Jalapeño who I think have both found JP HC favorites: which ones? Great prices now at the discounters. Lemmings are fidgety.
In addition to Adieu Sagesse, I have Colony and Chaldee. Colony is a lightweight green scent with a pineapple top note that smells real, not candied or canned. Chaldee was my first Patou, and is a very luxe sun lotion scent. Different than Guerlain’s Terracotta.
Hope this info helps!
It sure does!
Yes it’s Jalapeno and myself, I recommend l’Heure Attendue, a light amber I like very much.
That one sounds very good – thank you – it’s one of the ones at FragranceNet now.
I think it’s Aurora who is a HC fan. I have yet to smell any.
Thanks, lillyjo.
You’re right Lillyjo, I own several. I answered Mossyberry.
I have Chaldee, and also eau de Patou – both are gorgeous. I have no idea why this line didn’t survive. If you’re interested, over on Undina’s blog, a woman did a really full review of almost the entire line :
https://undina.com/2020/11/10/review-by-christine-w-several-patous-oldish-and-new/
Very helpful – thank you! I will read it tomorrow.
Very helpful – thank you! I will read it tomorrow.
Thanks for that PSA about the discounters! I’ve only tried some of the vintage ones. I’m very curious about the modern versions of Vacances (lilac) and Que sais-je?.
Both of those got good reviews on Fragrantica. I’m looking forward to seeing what the reviewer at Undina’s blog has to say. I love lilac and Vacances did appeal to me. The bottles are very nice in person, too.
Akro Ink today for black, my favourite colour. Though the predominant colour around here is grey right now — rain and more rain.
Seems like a theme here? We had a few sprinkles too.
I’m wearing Hiris today, such a pretty bottle color.
That bottle is gorgeous! You smell great!
Another question for NST’ers: did anyone else get a freebie from Dame last weekend? I got an email that simply said my order was confirmed. Spam antennas started up, but since I knew Dame is very generous with samples, I investigated and found that in fact they sent me Rugir de gardenia as a gift. I will report when it arrives. My only Dame love so far is Labdanum Doux, but I’ve enjoyed any and all others I’ve sniffed.
AAaand, another question: is anyone else getting non-stop sidebar ads from “Temu?” It’s conglomerate company that sells everything from naughty products to baby goods. I. Am. So. SICK. Of. It.
Temu is on almost every web page I look. Very annoying.
Yep, lots of TEMU. Not a fan.
Norton Adblock (no affiliation) works wonders for me.
No freebies from Dame here. But I did get an email for the Gardenia Box of Love Special, which was quite tempting! But I didn’t bite.
I got the freebie email today. I hope it’s true because I really want to sample the new Gardenia.
SOTD = Chanel No. 19 EDP
W00tw00t! Utterly beautiful and the perfect green!
I really should have closed my account at this particular financial institution but I didn’t since I still have 2 CDs which I’m pretty sure will mature in November 2023. Anyway, after stopping by the branch today and being there for 35 minutes, I left with … nothing. The account rep tried to warn me that banks keep track of transactions (okaaaay, I have nothing to hide) and it may not be worth it for a small difference to go for the longer maturity (I don’t need the money) so higher is higher and have I heard of very favorable investment in T-Bills even though he’s not supposed to talk about it (no thanks…I would rather stab my eyeballs with a pencil). Bottom line, I ended up having to call the 800 number to transfer the balance to my checking and then I have to request a cashier’s check so I can take it to another bank. I’m not even sure if I can because the darn bank CLOSED almost all its branches! Bottom line, I can’t wait to get out of this bank.
Blergh on so much banking hassle for you; but your prior comments led to discovering a great CD rate at our local Credit Union. Thanks, H! <3 Oh, and you smell wonderful!
What a PAIN! Banks can be so aggravating. Hope you get outta there soon.
I can’t wait for you to get out of that bank either. Geeze what a pain.
Also you smell great!
Had a break in the rain early in the afternoon here, so I took advantage and walked over to the local pet supply store to grab a few cans of the cats’ new favorite food. They go nuts for it!
IDK why the obit for Jeff Beck that I saw yesterday said that he was 74. Either I wasn’t quite awake when I saw that, or it just goes to show that you can’t trust everything you read on the Internet.
SOTD = back in Samsara EdT.
Glad you had a rain break. I saw some drizzle but not much.
I wore OJ Ta’if today, not particularly sticking to the CP, but I was in the mood for a nice rose. Speaking of colors, though, today I began a six-week Watercolor for Beginners class! I’m very excited. Our first assignment was to make a color wheel, that is on paper, with a lot of guidance from the teacher. We began with three primary colors and then mixed the secondary and tertiary ones and placed them around on the wheel. It was great fun and not easy to make the right mixtures. After that we worked a while to make a good brown, which was rather hard, and we were also supposed to make red-brown and gray-brown variations on it. Then we learned how to do “wet on wet” painting–wet brush on moistened paper, supposedly creating some yellow and red and orange flowers. My flowers did not appear but the colors were quite exuberant and I was a messy student!
Your class sounds like fun and your fragrance is beautiful. I just finished my sample of that last week. I think it may be FB some day.
Good choice for the day! Enjoy the class! I just finished a 6 week watercolor and think I prefer your teachers approach with the color wheel. It really is amazing how hard it is to make brown!! We jumped into landscape with trees, which surprised me, so I was quite terrified overwhelmed at first.
What fun!
I wore Tonka Imperiale today and smelled wonderful.
Sadly I am behind on this week’s comments. Work has been busy with lots of drama.👎🏻
And I still have to update my acquisitions/spending spreadsheet for Q4 heaeheh I haven’t had time but am dreading seeing the numbers.😅
Ugh, so sorry for the drama, that’s the worst!
R.I.P Jeff Beck. Out of all the British Rock Guitar God’s, he seemed the coolest to me. He was about the music.
For the final inventory today I wore Angel Muse. I’ve neglected it this winter. Tonight I am wearing YSL In Love Again. This is becoming my nighttime perfume. It’s quiet and calming.
🙌 Final Inventory!
Glad that Inventory is done for a little while! Yuck.
I diverged from the Green path today and went with A la Nuit and later more vintage Coco. I’ll be back on the straight, narrow and very Green path tomorrow😇
It’s not easy being green?
Started the day in Amouage Crimson Rocks and the day just flew at work, minus an small issue with overbearing coworker I did recieve my LS package from the sale when I got home.
…..so that turned today around! Focusing on the positive.
Yay for scented goodies!
For sure!
Super late but excited to be wearing Armani Cuir Amethyste for the CP and being one of my fave jewels and colours.
Portia x
We the gays do love a good purple!!🤣🤣👍🏻👍🏻