It's Monday. Also, Darwin Day and Lincoln’s birthday. RIP Ellen Gilchrist. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm going for spring, in Providence Perfume Co Magnolia Mist.
Reminder: 2/16 is National Almond Day! You know what to do.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2024, where I'll try (but usually fail) to have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is Dreamin' Dreamin'... The buds of today's almond. [cropped] by halfrain at flickr; some rights reserved.
In the mood for Halston Catalyst for Men, an herbal fougère with lots and lots of clove, very suave, just sexy as all get-out.
Hmmmmmm… that fits my mood much better than what I applied this morning. I think I’ll go rummage for something more suave and sexy to make up for my damp hair pinned up quickly, topped by my stretched-out, oversized, striped hoody, and the requisite faded (once black) sweats.
I am also jonesing for spring in L’Eau d’hiver. Such beautiful heliotrope and powdery iris. Yesterday I discovered Jo Malone Blackberry and Bay yesterday and am now on the hunt for that, I think it would be great year-round.
Scent twins. This is a very pretty scent. I can smell some almond in this and of course iris😊
I’m doing blind grabs from my Alkemia bag. Today is Gingerbread Alchemy, a perfume oil that is an exact dupe of real gingerbread. I’ve been wearing Alkemia perfume oils on the weekends, and I’m finding that on my skin they have real staying power.
PriscillaE I like this line as well.
https://youtu.be/IO0C8ttSbW8?feature=shared
Here’s a video that is talking about how her perfume no buy is going so far this year. I thought it might be interesting for those of you also on a no/ low buy.
Thanks, I will watch this at lunch time. I’m not officially on a no/low buy, but I did set myself a goal of spending in Q1 less than I spent in 2023 Q4.
I’m currently half way through the quarter (more or less) but at 80% of allotted spend. 😬
Yikes. Unimpressed with myself!
She mentions 24 Faubourg Eau Delicate being back on the market, but I couldn’t find it by googling. Does anyone know if that’s true? I would love to find it.
I think what happened is it popped up on fragrance net. I don’t think it was re-released. It might be worth while to stalk some discounters.
Thanks, lillyjo!
Thanks for posting the video, I’m on a no buy and can relate to her struggles with difficult moments when the urge to buy is strong.
Watching you like a hawk in partnership 🤣.
Maybe we should call it modified no-buy. For example, I just got a refund of $336.76 from overpaying my auto insurance. Guess where that’s going? I have no purchases planned as yet but I know it’s there when I want to use it.
I started watching but stopped and will continue later! Thanks for posting.
Thank you Lillyjo, it can be a bit of a struggle.
Appreciated that video! I had to laugh a couple of times.
Watched most of it. I totally understand how the speaker feels when she says she finished a decant and strongly wanted a bottle. A lot of my purchases came from having a sample and feeling that I was absolutely NOT done smelling the perfume. Not even that the scent was so spectacular but I simply wasn’t done with it. I have tried to start buying small bottles, 30 ml, if able but it just isn’t possible sometimes.
I haven’t bought anything yet for 2024 but I have some potentials. I am just trying to go back to my 2-3 bottles I was doing before 2023. And I don’t count samples or travel size, has to be over 10ml. It isn’t so much cost but trying to assess if I realistically can use the perfume I have.
This was SO relatable it was a little frightening. “Crazy monkey mind.” Yup. The extreme FOMO and scarcity mentality. Yup yup yup yup.
Aw, RIP also Bob Edwards of Morning Edition at NPR.
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/12/165681524/bob-edwards-dead-npr-host
Ahhhh. Another track in the soundtrack of my life. I missed the sad news.
Such sad news😔 I was a huge fan of Bob Edwards and had him sign his book at a reading he did several years ago.
Wearing Le Labo Iris 39 from a Swapmeet decant and it is so lovely
Full bottle worthy?
Yes. Very green and earthy/rooty.
Wasn’t there some talk about that one getting d/c’ed?
I’m wearing Bvlgari Omnia today. I’m getting so low the sprayer is starting to spit because there’s so little left in the bottom. I have a BUB tucked away, so I’m good.
Another dreary, rainy day here. Bleh! But Saturday was sunny and as I was ambling about a local park, I started chatting with a couple of men flying planes, drones, what have you. They let me put on a head set so I could have the drones eye view as he flew it and it was so cool! Even though you KNOW you don’t have to cock your head up, down, and around, I still did. He told me it’s called the “Stevie Wonder Effect” and everyone does it. I looked just like Stevie! At first I felt like an idiot, but then I just leaned into it and went with the groove. 😎 It was so much fun! Really nice people who took the time to explain the difference in the physics of flying planes vs drones, batteries, cost, flight time, etc. Every single time I stomp around muttering “People suck!” I end up meeting some nice folks who set my world right side up. 😊
Happy Monday!
The same thing happens to me.
Whenever I have truly given up on the human race I get sent an Angel. I am always grateful to be reminded of the good out there.
Hooray for a BUB.
That’s sounds like a cool experience.😎
That sounds like a lot of fun! Same here, whenever I get grumpy I run into someone who makes me less disheartened.
How cool! I hope that you keep meeting good people in your travels.
Oh that sounds so fun!
Wearing a spritz of DSH Inner Sanctum, which is so good. I put my bottle in an easier to reach spot so I’ll wear it more often.
Meeting with a surgeon today about my knee. I absolutely don’t want another surgery but I can’t walk much either these days, so I’d like to get it over with before spring.
I’ve heard nothing but good reports about knee replacements. Not sure if that’s what you need but the technology seems to be good nowadays.
I had my other knee replacement 10 yrs ago and it got infected right away, not a fun experience. I’ve heard that the surgery is much better now.
Oh no, I can understand some trepidation going in. Hope the meeting goes well! And yes, I’m sure they’ve made fantastic advances in the last 10 years.
Good luck with the surgeon, hope it goes well.
Ouch! Hope all goes well!
Hope the medical visit will answer your problems.
You smell wonderful today and sending you well wishes for your knee.
I hope the visit went well and your surgeon gave you confidence! Do you take supplements, by the way? My dad was on a waiting list for a knee replacement but he started taking chondroitin sulfate and collagen and the knee stopped hurting after about 6 weeks.
I am in the medical field and was skeptic about these things but there is evidence now to support it, and rheumatologist here do prescribe it (chondroitin). I have a dysplastic hip and worn down tmj and these 2 things also helped. Obviously it won’t replace surgery most of the time if you need it, but worth a try if joints hurt!
Thank you for the recommendations, Cicely!
Yikes. Hope that your appointment/consultation went well today.
Funny you should post this. My husband is having knee surgery this week. I asked him to schedule on my vacation but after putting the surgery off for years, he decided he is in too much pain and needs the surgery ASAP. Our daughter is taking 2 days off to help because I cannot get time off without planning way in advance.
Hope you can go for surgery and it goes well.
Hope all goes well with your husband!
Hello.
Sotd is F-ing Fabulous.
I tried Vanilla S-x and luckily I don’t feel much about it. I was so tempted when I saw the news and bottle. There’s something about that cream shade that’s so pretty.
That cream shade is so on target…everything is that color now. They know what they are doing at TF.
Gosh, Ellen Gilchrist. Victory Over Japan got me through some bleak times. I loved her books.
Slept like a champ.
Post shower I think Fenty.
Yay for good sleep!
I’ve had a couple of good nights too. Good sleep makes all the difference.
I loved her books when I was younger. I have not found rereading them as fulfilling, and her newer ones did not touch me so much. But Victory over Japan and In The Land of Dreamy Dreams really were wonderful, and I probably read another 5 or 6 of her books after that.
This is why I don’t want to reread them. I loved them in my 20s. I am happy with those memories.
Agree. That was for a different time.
Glossier You for me today.
I’m on day 12 of my Whole30 challenge and I dreamt about a vanilla latte last night lol. The struggle is real y’all. I miss nothing else, not pasta, bread, cookies or even cheese! And I’m a Wisconsinite. But the latte, ooh, that’s been hard one to give up.
Anyone else watch the Super Bowl last night? The first half of that game was sure boring, and non of the commercials really impressed me this year.🤷♀️ I made some good food anyway. My crispy wings for the kick off and sloppy joes for half time.
We did watch the Super Bowl last night, though thankfully did not have the party we usually do. I just made nachos (which took a long time, as I made every part of it down to frying the chips). It was a good game — pretty evenly matched — but no one in the house cares about either team.
We only get to see a handful of the commercials here in Canada; mostly it’s just the same lame Canadian commercials we see all the time (like ads for Ontario, Saskatchewan, and trucking), so there’s not even that aspect of the game to keep it interesting. Funny thing, though — Doritos did a riff on that in their Canadian commercial, putting two people on claiming to reenact (badly) the US commercials for us.
With my typical sports viewing luck, this Bay Area gal only managed to turn on the tube for the overtime (if that is what they even call it?). LOL! 😂😂😂
Yes, watched the Super Bowl. A few good commercials, but they don’t seem to be as funny as they used to be. It’s probably just me, but getting a little tired of the Kelce and Swift show. I made chicken fajitas for supper instead of a bunch of snacks. I am a big Vikings fan so obviously they were not in the game😂 I was hoping the 49ers would win. Oh, well.
Streamed the Super Bowl on my laptop. Not sure I will do that again, since the stream froze up several times during the game. At least it was a free trial. I would have been seriously P.O.ed if I had paid for that.
Agree with Kris on the lack of amusing ads. Some were painfully dumb.
I made a big batch of chili yesterday and will be enjoying that for a while. After all, it’s one of those things that gets better as it sits, right?
I did not watch it but I streamed what were supposedly the best commercials, and was extremely unimpressed. Not a good year for super bowl commercials!
I spent the weekend collecting earth pigments ( clays) that I have been mixing with a binder ( gum Arabic and honey, and water) to make watercolours, which set hard in pans ( I use the screw lid from wine bottles). I haven’t used them yet but I’m curious to see what they will be like. You can also use charcoal to make black, or crushed leaves, berries etc. it was a lot of fun and I’m going to buy a muller, which is made from glass and used for grinding and binding the mix ( like a pestle/ darning mushroom). The dawn chorus is very quiet now, and will stay this way while the birds moult. There are still a few fledglings around hasssling the adults. Honey bees have taken over the sugar water and it’s good to see them back, as they have been absent all summer. Wearing Furze.
Ooh, making the watercolours sounds like fun!
I love Furze (very fitting for the wildlife and botany around you) and the descriptions of your surroundings!
I thought of you a couple of days ago when the local tawny owl appeared to be so close by its hooting. So I opened the window to try and locate it, and it flew off the tree in my garden a couple minutes later. I was so excited! It’s interesting how wild animals have taken cities in the UK. Foxes roaming around the neighbourhood in plain daylight and owls perching on gardens. I don’t complain!
Your natural pigment watercolour project sounds fascinating.
Except for not actually being a painter, this sounds exactly like the kind of project I would research, buy 5 how-to books on (because you can’t just buy one if the super secret magic info is in the others, which you won’t know until you buy them all), dream up all the paintings I’d want to paint, spend $100 on supplies, and then never actually do the project.
TL;DR: I admire your follow through.
Also: I’m very interested to hear about the experience of painting with your self-made watercolors.
Goodness me, I am Thematic! Wearing Ortigia Sicilia Mandorla, perfect for late winter.
Points for you!
I fell in love with Mandorla on a trip to Sicily, but 5 years later have yet to attempt making them (despite a lot of talk of doing so). I should try the perfume!
Because it is the end of carnival i dug out my funniest scent: Dzing! seemed to be a good choice today.
Excellent.
I forgot that Ash Wednesday is this week.
Love Dzing!
Wearing a crazy fruity leather scent my husband brought back from Munich last year, Lengling Sekushi parfum. Not really my favorite category but my husband likes to smell it on me.
That is a sweet gift in any case!
I’m in Le Temps d’une Fête this morning, because I need something cheery. Got some disappointing news early this morning, though it was about something I wasn’t even sure we wanted to do anyway, so I guess it’s not that disappointing.
The sun is coming out, so I’ll take that, too.
Sorry ockeghem! Sun always helps.
I’ll have to think about almond, but meanwhile I’m wearing Ormond Jayne’s Ta’if.
And meanwhile you smell great!
SOTD = Molinard Habanita EDP
Nice! I should wear this more often!
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3QhAt0R1Ge/?igsh=MTlheHIxN3ZlOTM5dQ==
FWIW, speaking of Darwin Day, this is probably on the negative rung of Darwin’s theory. I went to Wegmans this morning (as I did yesterday) and saw a guy with a smaller shopping cart of grocery items. As he was walking around to shop for more items, he stopped every so often. I was wondering why until I saw him using chopsticks 🥢 (or could be a fork) digging into a Wegmans by the pound takeout container! As much as I would like to think that he paid for it already, my spidey sense is thinking he probably has not. I mean seriously? Theft happens everywhere and no one is saying anything about it!
I think your spidey senses are correct.
Stores are pretty much not allowed to confront people who are stealing. A few years back a manager here walked out of the door to get a thieves plate number. She was fired for violation of company policy. The only thing you are allowed to do is ask if they need assistance. It’s ridiculous.
Oh, heartfelt condolences to Bob Edwards’ family. He is my all-time favorite male radio voice.
I did not realize it was so long since they took him off Morning Edition…2004. I always liked him.
Almond is one of my least favorite notes so I will have to find a scent where it is deeply buried on Friday. My team in the Puppy Bowl, Team Fluff, lost to Team Ruff 72-69. We will win next year. This morning I am doing chores and wearing Fleur de Chine. The little decant is coming to an end, 1-2 more wearings, I think. It’s beautiful but I won’t track down any more.
My condolences on the loss!
Sorry I haven’t been on here as much as I like. Having some tooth woes. I am commando as today I had to go to the dentist as something is up with my tooth. Turns out part of the filling chipped off and now I need to go back the following week. URGH!
We are having a snow storm tomorrow so I will be cuddled up with the kids. I am also crocheting grandma squares to put together to make a blanket or something else.
I am lemming the new lip oils from Guerlain. Anyone try them yet?
I wanted to let you know that I finished The Guest by Cline. I didn’t really care for the ending, but the book was good. I found it exhausting though with all the different men in her life.
yes..lots of different men! it was a crazy book
What are you reading now?
I love the thrillers written by Freda McFadden. They are quick reads and usually have a lot of twists in them. Currently, I am reading The Teacher by her.
Ugh, so sorry!
You don’t have to twist my arm at all to participate in the CP all week. I absolutely love almond perfumes! I’m starting off the week in L’Artisan Jour de Fete by the wonderful Olivia Giacobetti.
Oh perfect, and almost nobody owns that anymore I bet.
Apple, pear and yogurt smoothie
I pulled Diorling today, the newish version I like so much, saving vintage for more special occasions. Tonight BV Eau de velours. Those two are my kind of leather, along with the original BV.
Very elegant Monday for you!
Thank you Jalapeno, I love these two so much.
Began the day in Chloe Sevigny Little Flower. Meh! Not enough of anything. (At other times, I quite like this one, but today it is a fail). Inspired by Pyramus, I went hunting for something suave and sexy, but still remotely related. Landed on BDK’s Tabac Rose, and am a little more cheerful–to say nothing of being much more in-your-nose fragrant.
I love Tabac Rose and you smell wonderful in it!
Copying Lunagrrrl in L’Eau d’hiver today. I am smelling almond with the iris so may be the one day I am compliant with the CP.
And you both smell great!
Akro Bake – been charging through my decant. It’s comfy and cozy and I can use that at the beginning of the year!
Yep, it’s that time of year for sure.
I wore Belle Ame today. It’s a gently sweet iris that smells very earthy and a bit chocolatey. I really like it. And now I’m winding down with the Killian Loukhoum candle I’ve been burning. I’m already thinking of how to replace it (I bought it from eBay new/ second hand) as it’s crazy expensive, but oh so addictive.
SotD Nexin. Andy Tauer does lemon and vetiver with casual elegance. I see the friendly, clean-cut guy who loves to play tennis and is always in a good mood. I think this might need a warmer day to bring out the florals and the musk. I’m enjoying the oakmoss, but overall, this feels too masculine for my comfort zone.
Tauer’s previous vetiver scent also was on the masculine side.
Gosh, I literally forgot about that one and I meant to try it!
Watching Teflon kitty thunder thru the apartment. The fancy raw food seems to have given her extra pep in the step, so to speak. So that is getting added to her permanent diet. 😻
Today was a day of chores, most of which were ordinary. Still trying to get permanent checks from my financial institution after a month. First they weren’t ordered, now the mailing address was incomplete. FFS people. Is it really that hard? (rant over now)
SOTD = back to being commando, except for Boyfriend Body Creme on my shins. I spent the entire weekend in the EdP.
Good for Teflon Kitty!
I usually feed her dinner around this time, so maybe I ought to do that.
Gosh, good luck with the checks!
Hopefully it doesn’t get to the point of “I am coming to deal with this in person, d@mn1t!”
So far it’s been mildly aggravating phone calls.
Sadly, it does seem that difficult to get something done these days. I hope the checks are done properly very soon.
Glad that the new kitty food is helping.
Introducing the new food was a little tricky, because cat. She’s a big fan of it now.
I do have some Fortiflora around if she needs it, too. Probably ought to keep an eye on the expiration date of that.
Glad Teflon is happy on her new food. Sympathy on the checks.
It’s a rough night here at the store.
I dove into the sample stash and am wearing Radical Rose by Matiere Premiere. It started out as an ambroxan bomb but now it’s a very nice rose. Similar to Rose Jam. I like it well enough.
Sorry to hear about the rough night. Hugs, friend.
Sending more hugs and hoping the rough night smooths out💕
So sorry lillyjo!
Sorry it’s a bad night. I hope it gets better.
I tried their Vanilla Powder recently and it was a near scrubber for me due to the Ambroxan
Oh dear, I hope the latter part of the night was better than the beginning.
Ambroxan, shudder.
Turns out I don’t have much almond in my collection so I’ll save my one almond fragrance for Friday.
I started the day in Iris Torréfié and I smelled good😋
Love your fragrance you wore today!
Same. I’m also saving a perfume I know has almond in it for Friday. We shall see what my mood (and the weather) is like then.
Wearing Ambrosia Imperiale. This one has some lingering note that I can’t identify but also comes out in my Vanilla Powder sample. Whatever it is, the note lasts forever and I quite like it. Vanilla Powder would probably go on my wish list if the Ambrosia Imperiale were not so similar.
Working this week again in tiny office with 3 others so will be pulling out my “skin scents”. Difficult to know what won’t offend people. My husband would go off the rails for EL Pleasures which is a soapy floral freshy in my view.
Good luck staying under your co-workers radar!
I accidentally wore almond today! SOTD is HdP 1725, because a sample came free with an order and it was on my dining room table. Lo and behold, it has almond! I’m really enjoying it. I’m sure I have another sample of it, but it didn’t speak to me the first time I tried it. Would love a 15ml of they’re still out there.
Spent a couple hours weeding this afternoon, after ignoring my yard all winter. A lot more to do, but it’s a start.