It's Tuesday plus National Pickle Day, World Diabetes Day and Claude Monet’s birthday. What fragrance are you wearing?
I am grateful that old bottles of Diorissimo (possibly the fragrance I'd grab first if I had to escape quickly) have such a fantastic shelf life, and I'm grateful for the really kind readers who have sent me old houndstooth bottles they've come across...I have enough now for life. I'm also grateful for my delicious cup of organic cacao nibs + The Art of Tea Tali's Masala Chai + Upton Keemun Mao Feng Organic with a splash of cream.
Reminder: 11/17 will be Gratitude Friday…wear a perfume that you feel grateful for coming into your life, that arrived at the right time, helped you face a difficult situation, or simply enriches your day when you wear it. Suggested by Kanuka.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2023, where I'll try (but usually fail) to have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is from a 2019 Dior-themed Prêt-à-Portea afternoon tea at The Berkeley in London (where they still do the teas, and where you can order that china tea set for two, made for The Berkeley by Bernardaud, for £325.).
I’m going shopping today for clothes. Still have 34 lbs to lose but I need clothes that fit and are warm for now. I’ve reached another weight loss plateau which is discouraging when my end goal feels reachable, but I know it will pass. So for strength and good decision making (since I hate shopping in person for anything) I am wearing vintage Chanel 19. Very grateful to NST swapmeets for this generous decant!
Congrats on the loss! Weight loss and lifestyle changes are tough – it’s tricky with family, holidays, lifestyle. But I know that you can do this! 🙂
I lost 55 lbs 22 years ago and have kept it off. Plateaus can be tough but eventually, the needle will move.
Good for you in keeping it off! I lost 82 lbs twenty years ago, had some medication changes a few years later and gained it all back, plus an extra 20 lbs through covid (I was perfecting a mac n cheese recipe lol.) This time feels different 👍
New clothes that fit are a decent reward for the weight loss you’ve already accomplished…keep at it!
New clothes will make you feel fantastic, and it will be rewarding to drop sizes after your weight loss.
buy some nice clothes, you earned them, loosing weight is no fun a a certain age!
Good luck. I don’t like to shop in person either but it does help me prevent returns.
Excellent! That is no easy task!👏🏼👏🏼
Great decision! I lost 30 pounds some years ago, and people couldn’t really tell until I bought new clothes that fit my new shape. Enjoy!
SOTD is – Tom Ford’s Noir de Noir layered over his Black Orchid body oil. Everyone have a lovely day today! 🙂
I LOVE noir de noir
Oh I bet Black Orchid body oil is wonderful stuff!
I want to know more about this body oil!
It’s very rich, and long lasting. I had to dilute it with unscented body oil. To me, the quality is reminiscent of Tauer’s body oils, highly fragranced, very luxe. I’m not sure the Tom Ford body oil is in production.
My NdN bottle is from when it was released in 2007. I think I purchased that and Oud Wood with Tama on our first shopping experience together at Neiman’s! I forget that I have it but at this point, it’ll last forever! It reminds me if a more chocolaty, smoother, less menthol version of SL’s Borneo. (which I also love and have).
Hello.
Sotd is Good Girl Gone Bad Extreme. White floral and sweet condensed milk. Nice sillage too.
Taking advantage of the cool weather to have my ACs replaced. The units are 10+yrs old and leaking refrigerant so they’re basically expensive fans at this point. Technician said it will take 2 days. So I will be stuck home tomorrow and Thrusday monitoring them.
LOL at “expensive fans”! Sorry you’re stuck at home, at least you smell great.
HC888, I don’t envy you, we bought new AC unit for the house earlier in the year and it was mind boggling how expensive it was!
You do smell fabulous, I have the original GGGB and it’s a favorite!
I’m thankful for cheap thrills fragrances that still smell wonderful, such as the Tabu that I’m wearing today. Perfect for fall.
Love Tabu, you smell great!
Cheap thrills are my fave fragrance category. You smell great!
Yay for cheap thrills.
Ooh! Has there been a “Cheap Thrills” community project? I would love to hear about everyone’s fav cheap thrill!
Tenue de Soirée for the CP. A friend of mine gifted me this bottle back when our Goutal store was open on Madison. We got coffee at Via Quadronno and went sniffing at Annick Goutal. I loved this perfume and a few weeks later I got one in the mail from her.
I am off to the library today. I took a break after my surgery and gosh I do miss it there terribly
Hope you have a great day.
You smell glorious and yay for back to the library.
What a great story. Enjoy your day!📚
Yay for a library visit! I love the smell of books. Anything interesting on your reading list?
Wishing a speedy and complete recovery! 🙂
Not much on my list these days. What about you?
I am waiting for some books from the library..
Enjoy the library, what a good friend you have.
Hello all!
So tired and on my way out the door to my morning class. I know 10am is not really but I feel like it’s 6am today. I’m having a moment with my coffee before getting in the car.
I’m in Yvresse, a true and enduring favorite. I’m sad I slept on it when bottles were going on steep discount, though I do have quite a bit that I’ve found for reasonable prices.
Have a great day all!
Yvresse is lovely and sparkling – the original name of “Champagne” really suited it.
Absolutely true!
You smell wonderful! Yvresse/Champagne is one of my favorites by the great Sophia Grojsman! Other favorites are Beautiful, Spellbound, Sun Moon Stars, and White Linen. (But I’ve never not appreciated any of her work that I have tried.)
I have quite a collection of her work and yes, I think Yvresse is the pinnacle for me.
Wearing Ungaro Diva this morning and smelling of roses and honey.
Nice 🙂
Diva is such a lovely fragrance.
Ooh, Diva is divine! Such a glorious scent.
i wore an ancient sample of it just some days ago. is yours the current formulation? if yes, is it still a good scent?
Wearing Diptyque Volutes EDT because someone mentioned it last week. Been AGES since I wore it and I don’t know why because it’s lovely ☺️
Got on my bike yesterday and for some reason I can’t shift with my left thumb. It’s absolutely killing me and I don’t know why because I haven’t injured it. Must be arthritis…the joys of getting old. Ugh! 😒
Getting old is not for sissies! (And as you’ve already proved multiple times over, you are no sissy.)
Oh dear Robin, if you could have seen me in Florida when I spotted a Palmetto bug, you would know I’m a complete Sissypants. If you haven’t been introduced to them yet, consider yourself lucky! I lose my 💩 every time I see one.
https://youtube.com/shorts/hUsyttAgBWQ?si=TVxOMUucGt-o_yh8
I have been to Florida a couple times but never saw one, hope to die never having seen one. NOT going to go look at your video, it will just give me nightmares.
We have huge house centipedes here, that is enough gross trouble for one lifetime.
Lol! I don’t blame you for not looking. I’ll probably have nightmares myself tonight…😬
We have those here too and you could have heard me scream across the state when I first encountered one in my bathroom at night. This is one thing cats are good for! They’ll play with them until I almost pity the poor creatures.
They are definitely my kryptonite. My dogs would go after them once and then never again because I think they emit some kind of stink or something when threatened. Your cats are brave!
Arthritis is no joke, i have Heberdens arthrosis and live in fear of its progression, at the moment its only on my index fingers but if it gets worse it will be difficult to knit or sew….
I hope they don’t advance because you are such a talented seamstress! Have you tried paraffin soaks? If you have arthritis pain in hands or feet, I think it does help.
Deva, I got up one morning and felt like the fingers in my left hand weren’t typing properly. I was scared it was a TIA or heart attack, but it turned out that my first rib was elevated and pressing against a nerve.
(My physical therapist figured it out, but since Virginia suspends your driver’s license if you have a stroke or TIA, I had to go through months of medical CAT scans etc. to prove the problem was peripheral rather than central. And I don’t even drive!)
I also have some osteoarthritis in my hands. There are very helpful exercises for hands. What helps me the most is practicing Chinese straight sword ⚔️ which might also come in handy in case of zombie apocalypse. 😸
Good luck!
Never heard of Chinese straight sword, but it sounds BAD 🍑 !! If the zombies make an appearance, I’m coming to your house! 🧟♀️
As for my thumb, I’m pretty sure it’s arthritis because I’ve had some joint changes.
Thumbs – that’s where “Arthur” first came to visit me.
Would love a link to the hand exercises if you have one you can share — I definitely have an arthritic thumb. The topical medication I got for it from the orthopedist was useless, but I have had very good relief from CBD balm.
Here are some basic ones.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/arthritis/in-depth/arthritis/art-20546847
Mostly I’ve picked various one up from different sources. My arthritis isn’t so bad, so far, so I do make fists and squeeze supposedly to get better fluid circulation in the joints, spread my fingers wide and straight, and something my Pilates teacher calls castanets, where you try to brush your fingers successively against the heel of the hand, starting with the little finger.
I use them as a warmup in the morning or before I do sword practice. I’m usually practicing with light weight collapsible practice swords.
There are probably a lot of videos on YouTube, too. I hope you also find ones that help!
In the castanets exercise, you can also brush the underside of your finger tips with your thumb before each finger tip reaches for the heel of the hand. A bit like snapping your fingers, but a different emphasis and starting with the little finger.
Also, that’s very interesting about the CBD balm, thanks!
The PA at my orthopedics practice recommended it when I told him during a follow-up that the Rx ointment was not having any noticeable effect.
This is the product I use — pricey but a little goes a long way. My 99-year-old FIL has started using it to relieve ankle pain. It’s not as effective for him as for me but his pain is worse than mine and he says it does give him some relief.
Obviously check your local laws to make sure there are no issues with the product (this one is 100% hemp derived):
https://pureshenandoah.com/product/cbd-muscle-balm-soothe/
I am wearing Ivoire parfum, loving it so much. It smells clean, at the same time has layers, it’s not one dimensional.
I had difficulty waking up this morning since I had to work.
You smell so elegant.
Wearing Clinique Happy today. I am happy that it is cheap in terms of perfume and pretty easy to find.
I’ve enjoyed the scented lotion of that one as well.
I have too.
Wearing another gifted sample – Officine del Profumo Lei. Behind all its ambery vanilla sweetness there is a chypre skeleton. Pyramid according to Fragrantica:
Top notes are Bergamot, Orange and Ivy; middle notes are Rose and Jasmine; base notes are Vanilla, Patchouli, Amber and Oakmoss.
To me, it smells like a cross between floral amber (flamber?) and chypre.
I don’t know why we don’t see the term flamber 🙂
Hello all! You smell lovely! Long time no chat, I’ve been away, traveling in southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia). Our first time to visit that part of this lovely blue marble we all share. It was a good trip but I’m grateful to be back home. Also grateful that the rain which was supposed to arrive last night has not shown up yet — contractors just started working on some siding repairs, and I’m glad the weather isn’t interfering.
No scent yet, I’ll be working on swapping my summer scents for winter since the season has finally changed here in CA.
Pondering my birthday gifts to self, since my birthday happened while we were away. Ordered a small bottle of TF Myrrhe Mystere, but surely I deserve more since it was a big birthday (one with a 0 on the end…)
Also pondering the new fancy Creed Aventus as a bday gift for husband. I like the regular Aventus on him; has anyone sniffed the new Absolu version?
Happy belated birthday!🎉 Sounds like a great trip.
Welcome back and happy belated birthday!💐
Happy belated birthday to you!🥳🥳
Welcome back. You must get a yuge bottle!
And also get one for your husband, preferably something you know you can wear!
Home sweet home, what an exciting trip.
Happy Belated !!
Happy belated! Definitely go for the big bottle of TF!
Hopefully the weather will cooperate, weather in N. CA is strange, warmer than I thought it would be, and I’m so happy the rain hasn’t arrived yet. I like watching the rain rain, on the couch, in my jammies, with tea and a book!
Driving in it? Not so much….
Wishing you a belated happy birthday, and you definitely deserve significant gifts to yourself for a number ending in 0!
Happy birthday (belated), pixel. I’m not familiar with either Aventus, so no help there. Definitely celebrate your birthday with some nice perfume gifts. ♥
Wowza! Sounds fabulous! ✈️🌏
Happy Birthday, glad you are home safely, and let us know what you think about the new TF!
Well I loved the sample I got, hoping the love transfers to the new bottle, whenever that arrives. It’s amber / vanilla / sandalwood / myrrh. Sweet warm spicy.
😀
Welcome back and happy birthday! Did you ever buy that bottle of Edward Bess Kiss the Sky? There are no reviews and I’m dying to hear what it smells like.
I did 🙂 It’s woody, a bit sweet, with some heft to it. I can send you a taste if you’re back in the US.
Thanks! Do you love it?
How lovely, and more belated birthday wishes to you pixel!
Welcome back, and wishing you a belated Happy Big Birthday! 🎉
Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone!!
I’m in Dear Polly. Grateful that this perfume comes in a travel spray AND that it has a really cool name, lol.
It’s another gorgeous sunny day here and I am loving it!🌞😎
Lucky you!
SOTD is Guerlain Vega. I am grateful to have been able to buy a FB of this one when it was still available. I even had a gift card, so it cost me less than $100 out of pocket. If I had to pick just one floral aldehyde to keep, this would be it.
Vega is fabulous!
Could this become a Guerlain week for me?Lol!
Herba Fresca for a hot sunny day!
I was in the mood for fresh and green.my hand hovered between Herba Fresca and Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel this morning.They’re both so pretty and green!
Happy Teapot Tuesday!
✌🏻
You smell refreshing.
Thanks,I truly do!
In L’Artisan Parfumeur Saffron Troublant and feeling grateful for this perfume house that helped usher me down a very fragrant rabbit hole😊
You smell wonderful. And so different from yesterday’s fragrance (Holy Mountain). Not that that one isn’t wonderful as well, just so different! I love how perfumistas can appreciate such a wide range of fragrance notes/types.
I know what you mean about the wide range of fragrance appreciation. I’ve learned so much from this community and come to love things I didn’t even know existed or didn’t think I would ever like, let alone love🌸
One of my old/new loves! I’m a big fan of Diptyque.
SOTD = Guerlain Les Extraits Signature Vanille Planifolia
… from a sample …
When I first got the set, I couldn’t smell Vanille. Oh lordie, today, I sprayed my usual 8 and lo and behold – this may be the 3rd one I like from the set! I am in BEEEEG trouble.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Czoo7RgR6b5/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I am thankful to be able to sample these from the comfort of my own home, thanks to generous SAs!
Which do you like best?
Iris #1, Vanille #2 and Tonka #3
I am in trouble!
I would like to be in trouble with you. 😉
Please let me know if you decide to split any. Tonka seems to be the most universally liked from reviews I’ve read followed by Iris.
Maybe I need to spray more – will give it another try tomorrow. And gift card started today! 😉
I saw that. You do need to spray a bit more!
I found a very. small sample of A Nuit Nomade Ambre Khadjar and drained it. It is a nice woody amber, labdanum heavy. Not really my style, but a nice scent for cold weather.
Probably not my style either but yes, sometimes a heavy woody amber hits the spot!
Mx. by Eris Parfums today. I’m grateful for this fragrance that is so me, for the opportunity last summer to meet Barbara Herman in person and for her sequel fragrance Mxxx. with its beautiful ambergris note. I’ve realized that when I’m stressed, I generally turn to a few things that help take the edge off: a long walk, a good book and perfume. (Good friends help, too, but are not always available.) I’m sure there are people who wouldn’t understand about the perfume, but I know all of you will!
Jealous that you got to meet Barbara!We have our own club of “celebs” in perfumeland!👌🏻👌🏻
Ha – exactly.
Apples (Gala) and yogurt smoothie
A dreary, rainy day but the rain seems to have stopped finally. I was going to apply American Cream this am but suddenly saw Rose Jam next to it and that was what I ended up wearing, it’s a little bit on the sweet side. Tonight it’s A*Men Pure Tonka which smells rich and a little cocoa powdery, I don’t look at the price of these A*Men flankers anymore, they are just beyond ridiculous, the two I have, Pure Malt is the other one are so good though.
I love Rose Jam but even the shower gel gets “layered” or it’s too sweet for me.
Clever to layer shower gel. Fortunately the sweetness is a bit cloying but not obnoxious.
I’m wearing one of my early Guerlain purchases that I don’t wear very often, Après L’Ondée.
Wonderful!
Please enjoy this beautiful, weird, and sometimes eerie selection of Christmas ornaments:
https://choosingkeeping.com/collections/christmas-2021
😉
I think I have one of the weirdest Christmas ornaments ever. It is a Santa Claus bird. That’s right-it is in the form a a bird, complete with wings and a tail, with a Santa Claus head. I don’t know exactly how old it is, but it was always on the tree every year of my childhood, and I don’t think my older siblings remember it not being there, so that would make it 1950’s at latest. As to why a Santa Claus bird–I have no idea.
Wow, that IS weird! Is it a blown glass ornament, or what?
And I love the idea of it, BTW 😺
No, it’s not blown glass. I’m not sure what it’s made of. It’s a cartoonish bird/Santa, not realistic. The body is sort of oval. the tail is a small tuft of feathers, the wings bob up and down. The head is a (cartoonish) Santa head. I’ve never seen another like it.
😻 It sounds like it should be in an outsider art museum!
We have what we call the Coke Santa – must have been some promotion by Coca Cola – Santa is carrying a 6 pack of Coke and he’s on inline or ice skates (can’t remember which) that grandma gave us at some point. Our three sons have a thing (still!) about taking a photo of themselves being the first to get the Coke Santa on the tree. Unusual ornaments are so fun!
Fantastic! ❤️🤍
Thank you for the link – very tempted by some of them: a can of sardines!?!
Yass! But beware the shipping cost if you’re in North America.
My goodness, it is shocking how many of those ornaments I want. Luckily I can’t have any of them.
I know, right? But I would love to see photos of the trees of people commit to subsets of these ornaments, e.g., a forest fairy tree with the flora and fauna ornaments.
Aftelier Ancient Resins today. I’m grateful for Mandy Aftel & her books, for Leonard Cohen and his music, and for one of my best, longest friends, who introduced me to Leonard Cohen many years ago. He’s been posting to his blog this weekend / this morning so I’ve been catching up on all of his amazing sabbatical travels.
love this!
You smell wonderful!
Love both AR and LC!
Day two in Goldfield & Banks Purple Suede, from the Splitmeet. The dry down of this one checks all my boxes. The opening is a bit too masculine-leathery, but in the best possible way like TF Ombre Leather. That was one of the few samples that I drained and enjoyed a lot, but knew it was not FB worthy for me! Purple Suede, in the dry down especially, reminds me of another love, Atelier Oud Saphir. I’ll be having fun comparing those two. Hope everyone’s week is off to a good start!
Yay for finding a new love!
Doing a final test and sample thunk of DVN Fleur du Mal.
… and what’s the verdict?
I really like the smell, but the sillage is poor, so at this point I think I’m going to have to pass.
I’ve joined PriscillaE today with a cheap thrill today, in Nejma One from Pascal Morabito. I bought this several years ago at a discounter, and loved it enough to get a BUB as well. Still like it, but don’t love it, so the BUB is getting voted off the island.
I am grateful to have enjoyed so many varied fragrances over the years, and to have met so many wonderful people in this community. ❤️
There’s a name I don’t see often! I have Or Black by him.
I think yours was the most popular, although I’m not sure if I ever tried it of not
Do you like it?
I do! It is very masculine. The notes in Fragrantica say otherwise but my nose does not detect any florals, just a man’s fragrance without the lavender.
Sometimes I’m not so sure about Fragrantica. 🤔
I like masculine scents without lavender! That’s a note which often ruins a frag for me.
Started in Silver Thread by House of Potentia mid-morning, just added Musc des Sables by Les Indemodables. I find both cosy and comforting.
I’m perplexed by the H of Potentia brand. They were only ever carried on a handful of sites, now it’s maybe 1-2 other sites (beyond their own), I don’t see any retailer list. But the packaging was very custom, clearly expensive to produce (pretty sure this is a custom bottle shape; what I have is not the basic rectangle bottle on the fragrantica page), and perfumer is Pierre Negrin.
Conclusion; There had to be a huge investment to produce this, and I don’t see how they could have made back the investment with such limited distribution and, beyond a few articles years ago, seemingly no PR. Rich person vanity project?
In any case, it’s a lovely perfume that I enjoy
Or, a miscalculation and they are not making money. I am not saying it’s true, I know nothing about the brand, but I do think it’s a very common outcome for small new brands.
This is making me want to find it!
I do like it! Olfactif has samples of it in their 40% off sample sale right now. That’s probably how I found it in the first place, as I used to get their monthly sample bundles