It's Hump Day plus National Wildlife Day. Birthdays: Mary Renault, Richard Wright, Beyoncé. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm taking community project points in L'Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu.
Reminder: on 9/6 we'll do Jolie Laide Friday...wear a jolie laide perfume, howsoever you wish to interpret the term (for help, though, you can see The Unfairest of Them All at The New York Times.) Suggested by austenfan.
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 thistle [cropped] by Bex Ross at flickr; some rights reserved.
Hello.
Hermès Barénia had finally launched here so I tested it out for a whole day. Yay for testing out more perfumes!
Here is my review of Barénia:
So, what does a perfume 10 years in the making smells like? First, a decade is a long time. Enough to change a trend, bring it back and even change it again. It is enough to steer a passion project a thousand different directions. So, where had Christine Nagel gone with this?
It all begins with an explosion of bergamot. Juicy, bright and very, very loud. The tartness however, doesn’t really come into focus. All thanks to the addition of the much-anticipated miracle berry; touted to be able to transform any unpalatable sourness into delectable sweetness by its magical molecule called miraculin. It indeed does work. But what made it a problem is the overload of this fruit. The effect results in a viscous and sickening glob of unnatural sweetness. On the blotter, the bergamot lingers and even shows it’s pleasing floral facet. On skin however, perhaps due to body heat, any remnants of the fruit are burned off by the 20 minutes mark.
Perhaps frustrated by waiting to make a showing, a synthetic fruit-chouli begins to scream like a neglected spoilt child, head banging and flinging woodchips everywhere, demanding everybody’s full attention. Akin to all nightmares, the tantrum seems never-ending and continues to overwhelm your every sense. In what feels like an eternity, along with lots of prayers, patience and perseverance, the horror eventually fizzles out. The bitter tears of the devil child are also sweetened by miraculin, turning wails into the occasional sobs. Still not quite gone but somewhat tolerable. Leaning into your optimism, you slowly begin to relax your tense shoulders and clenched jaw because you are hopeful that this moment, although still unpalatable, shall too pass and you can finally breathe and opt for something pleasant to wear and enjoy.
It seems Ms. Nagel was in the mood of quizzing the wearer and inviting them to play “Identify the genre” when she formulated Barénia because between the initial blast of bergamot, the offensive sweetness and the patchouli and suede base, I’d not have guessed chypre. Thank goodness I’m not in school and she’s not teaching.
Finally, miracle berry might be special but what it’s magical miraculin couldn’t do was transform the tiredness and confusion of an overworked and overthought 10 years old formula into something beautiful. If something takes over a decade’s work to tweak and correct, perhaps it’s wiser to know when to call it quits and start anew.
Ugh. That was traumatic even to read.
yes, yes it was.
Yikes, I guess so, especially the ill-tempered child! Eek! Interestingly I read an article recently that mentioned that Christine Nigel has synesthesia. In that case one would suppose that her visual accompaniments to the notes in here might have led her astray–or perhaps been so alluring she gave in to them?
Ha! Well-written review. I wish there was a TL;DR because it really was painful to read. Skin space saved!
Okay! Crossing that one off the list of possible sniffers-overload of berry sweet, berry berry sweet is not what I am looking for in a perfume, ever!
Agree
Thanks for taking this perfumed hit for NST! Ugh!
In the mood for SL Écrin de Fumée. It doesn’t have the depth or the surprise of the very best Lutenses, but it’s my favourite from the last five years at least. (I got a sample on the first day of a trip last year, and by the end of the trip I had to own it.)
It’s on my buy list! The deep smokey cacao is so good.
Twins! I agree that it’s a more traditional Lutens than some other recent releases.
Lemming lemming lemming. Like rabbits rabbits rabbits but all the time.
It’s going to be very hot here for the next two or three days, so Mr. G has got the house super-chilled this morning by leaving all the windows open overnight. Consequently, I’m wearing a sweater and my favorite scarf/shawl, and went with Cuir Améthyste as my SOTM.
Your shawl will be smelling great for days!
It will! And no points for me today — there’s nothing “laide” about this one!
How I yearn for the time when I can wear a sweater. sigh.
Serge Lutens, Tubéreuse Criminelle, for the glorious but not universally pleasing top notes.
You definitely smell glorious and I find the top notes very pleasing😊
So do I, allo, but I can see how some might find a hint of Tiger Balm in that opening.
😊
I love the top notes. On me I get a huge hyacinth note later on. You smell great!
Perfect choice!
I’ve never smelled it but I bet it’s perfect for the CP.
TC does have some incredible top notes!
Today I’m wearing “Chaldée,” from Jean Patou. No idea how (or if) it resembles the 1920s original, but I like to imagine that I smell of the intoxicating sunscreen that supposedly inspired its creation.
It’s getting up to 103֯ today. Stay cool and hydrated, fellow Los Angelenos!😎
Love Chaldee, you are smelling marvelous in a heat wave.
That’s a beautiful scent in the heat-I’d love to smell this on someone.
I haven’t sniffed that one in ages. I wonder how the various iterations of it would compare. I imagine it’s perfect for a hot day! If you can’t be at the beach, at least you can smell like you are. 😉 That is HOT, though. Hope you can stay in the AC somewhere.
Stay cool!
Chaldee is wonderful stuff.
Some wicked storms overnight.T-Rex was huddled under the covers thinking it was the end of times, poor doggo. She got extra lovin’ and belly rubs this morning. Today is bright, shiny, with just a touch of coolness in the morning air. The rest of the week is supposed to be in the mid to high 70’s and full on sunshine. I guess some would call this “perfect” weather. 🌞 I decided to encourage fall by wearing the Jolie Laide Kenzo Jungle l’Elephant, because she’s big and boisterous in a Mae West kind of way. Not for everyone but definitely for me!
Off today with no goals except to get to the tiny store in the nearest tiny town where they charge $10 for a jar of jam and $5 for half a gallon of milk. I guess I’m still saving money since I’m not driving to the nearest big town that has a proper grocery which is an hour away, but still, those prices put my hackles up. The only other goal is to figure out what in the world is stinking up my fridge. I’ve emptied it, wiped it down and I just can NOT figure out what it is. And it’s definitely INSIDE because the stink the escapes every time I open the door is gag worthy…
Open box of baking soda really does work for fridge smells! But that’s another $1.50.
👍🏻 I keep one in my fridge all the time, and when it doesn’t work any longer, I put it down the kitchen sink to give the drain a little freshen-up.
Yes, I have one in there already…it’s a mystery.
Ugh then, sorry.
Or, in Germany, another $7. There’s a whole long saga behind getting real baking soda here, but I finally got it yesterday. (I need it for stains and baking. German “Natron”
doesn’t work.) And then I found out double-acting baking powder (i.e, North American baking powder) is now illegal in the EU, which is making Mr. Ockeghem, maker of Saturday pancakes in our house, very sad.
Wait what? Baking Powder is now illegal in Germany? Say more please!
It it an ingredient in bomb making..? That’s the first thing that came to mind. And no, I have no interest in making anything that goes “BOOM!” 🤣
US/Can baking powder illegal in the EU? Seriously?
I looked it up and found that this and many other things available in the US are banned in the EU due suspect additives/preservatives/chemicals.
Yep, sorry, late response but Deva figured it out. One of the ingredients in double-acting baking powder is considered untested or or not proven safe by the EU.
I wonder if it’s because lots of US baking powders have aluminum? You can buy aluminum-free here though.
When I was working, the fridge in the break room across from my desk developed a reek that wafted to my area every time someone opened it. We tried everything, but eventually it became clear that the smell had penetrated the fridge’s lining and wouldn’t go away. It got replaced. Here’s hoping yours isn’t similarly afflicted. 🤞
I hope that’s not in my future… the weird thing is that no food has gone bad…everything I emptied was normal looking and smelling, but I tossed it anyway. The only thing left in there is a couple of blocks of cream cheese that I bought about a week and a half ago. They are unopened and the thought of tossing them out rankles me. I don’t know where the heck the smell is coming from…
Better open them and look-they could have gone off in the store and are just science experiments in mycology now, or skmething.
Ugh, I’ll have to open them and take a look I guess…☹️
Meredifay has the right idea. Best to check that cream cheese just in case…
I’m in Apres La Mousson again today-I love this scent.
It seems to be a great fit
And you still smell amazing! My big bottle of this one just arrived yesterday.
I am sniffing the PdN 3 new gourmands on strips today and will weigh in with thoughts later!
I’m really interested to hear what you make of them
Apologies for the delayed update…Pavlova and Macaron were both disappointing to me. 🙁 Both had pretty strong aromachemicals and smelled like general niche and not PdN to my nose. Saint Honore was interesting and looking forward to giving that one a proper wearing on skin. Again this sniffing was on paper strips. I am a big Patricia fan girl but it almost felt like Pavlova and Macaron were done by another nose. Hoping they may all be better on skin too. 🤞🏻
This is your territory, all right! I await your verdicts as well.
Apologies for the delayed update…Pavlova and Macaron were both disappointing to me. 🙁 Both had pretty strong aromachemicals and smelled like general niche and not PdN to my nose. Saint Honore was interesting and looking forward to giving that one a proper wearing on skin. Again this sniffing was on paper strips. I am a big Patricia fan girl but it almost felt like Pavlova and Macaron were done by another nose. Hoping they may all be better on skin too. 🤞🏻
Im still up. 😉 Thanks for the update, disappointing though it may be. Perhaps there’s still hope for Saint Honoré.
I do want to be a Patricia fangirl, but the line is hit-or-miss for me. I haven’t had my socks knocked off by any of their frags since way, way back.
But, I would love to hear that the 3rd of the trio has some redeeming merit. 🍰
I am still scent-free from a couple of medical appts early this morning. Now home and eating my oats.
Super foggy at my house right now, but it’s supposed to burn off and be 75 later. We are having some beautiful fall weather. I think I’ll join austenfan in Tubéreuse Criminelle, and for the same reasoning.
We’ll both smell great!
Yes, we do!
Looking forward to your thoughts!
Oops – this was for She-ra above.
Apologies for the delayed update…Pavlova and Macaron were both disappointing to me. 🙁 Both had pretty strong aromachemicals and smelled like general niche and not PdN to my nose. Saint Honore was interesting and looking forward to giving that one a proper wearing on skin. Again this sniffing was on paper strips. I am a big Patricia fan girl but it almost felt like Pavlova and Macaron were done by another nose. Hoping they may all be better on skin too. 🤞🏻
I continue to revel in no alarm clocks and the slow reading of the NYT with coffee.
Post shower, heading to the CdG department in my cabinet to be non compliant in Ouarzazate- where it always hot.
Your mornings sound like paradise!
Well thank you!
My favorite kind of morning. Noncompliance never smelled so good! 😊
It is a great one, isn’t it?
I’m still commando and having a slow rough morning because I seemed to have a very bad case of food poisoning from something last night. It was violent but blessedly short; however, being so ill has left my body feeling weak today.
On the “jolie laide” topic, I happened to be reading some stories online today about the Venice Film Festival and saw photos of Lady Gaga there. Now that is someone I would think fits this definition to a “T.” But I don’t have her perfume, and am not sure if the definition transfers from the person to the associated scent, anyway. Would it?
Hope you will be 100% soon.
That’s rotten luck. Hope everything settles today. I seem to remember that Charlotte Gainsbourg and also Rossy de Palma may have been described as Jolie Laide at some point during film events. I wonder if the Mona Lisa would also fit the bill?
I was thinking of Rossy de Palma for perfume on Friday.
I really like Eau de Gaga and I’m not a celeb perfume person. Someone here said enough about it that I thought it was worth the $20 it cost on Amazon and I really did like it. Not sure it’s jolie laide (tho I can see where she personally fits that), but I enjoy it.
I like Eau de Gaga, too. In fact, thanks for reminding me – I think it will be perfect for our short upcoming heat wave. I guess I wouldn’t call it jolie laide, but I agree that Lady Gaga could be considered that way.
Oh no! Food poisoning really puts a person thru the wringer. I hope you recover ASAP.
I’m wearing Pd’E Mal Aimé for the CP today. I get a nice blast of green out of the box from this one. Since I love green fragrances, that’s not surprising. Then the “dirtiness” starts to mingle with the top notes, and this is where I love it most. This is also where the Jolie-laide feeling is in full force!
It really does smell like being in a dusty, scrubby field in the hot sun, reminding me of some days in middle school, when I used to lie in a nearby one and complain of boredom. With no ocean nearby, lol!
It also reminds me a little of Bandit; I remember buying a bottle of it before perfumistadom existed, and then giving it away because the far drydown always smelled like dirt. Now I’ve learned to appreciate it more.
p.s. Robin, that was a fascinating article – thanks for the link! Along the way, I found many points which I would argue about in my head. At the end, however, all was forgiven when she mentioned Angelica Huston as a current personification of jolie-laide. My thoughts exactly.
Yes, a really interesting article–I found myself arguing with it at certain points as well. I don’t think she mentions Chloe Sevigny, whom I also think might fit jolie laide well.
Yes!
I argued with bits of it too! But I think she gets the general point across.
Yes to Chloe Sevigny, and I think also Tilda Swinton, maybe Sarah Jessica Parker.
Tilda Swinton, of course!
I have a little sample of that one saved for Friday!
Nice! 😄
After Tom at the Perfume Posse blogged about Feminite du Bois, I had to pull out a bottle of it. I am wearing the Shiseido version because it was the 1st one I could find.
It’s the only version I have and mine is hideously old but still smells great.
Frozen mango smoothie, decided not to add yogurt.
I was asleep yesterday evening instead of reporting on sotd here after a bad case of insomnia the night before, Lillyjo noticed I was still posting replies very late and exhorted me to go to bed😀.
Fruity scents, this morning it was Noa l’eau, apple and blackcurrant and tonight My Burberry Black parfum, giant syrupy peach.
Hope you settle into more refreshing sleep for the rest of the week.
Thank you Kanuka, I’m hopeful😀
I am glad you were able to sleep last night.
Thank you Lillyjo😃
Happy to hear that you got some good sleep last night. Insomnia sucks.
Thank you Jalapeno.
https://nstperfume.com/2006/08/15/on-perfume-beauty-in-ugliness/
Found this old post from Angela on NST ain 2006 about beauty in ugliness and enjoyed all the comments, too.
I’m wearing Interlude Woman for the CP as it feels like its structure has been deconstructed and rebuilt in a slightly disconcerting manner. Something is still holding it together, so it has form, but it’s not easily identified. Some notes are discordant , but in an interesting, intentional way. It demands a bit of thought and attention, but still is tricky to fathom.
Hmm, interesting choice and description. I might try that one tomorrow.
I thought of that one for the CP. My notes from when I first sampled Interlude Woman were that it smelled like a perfume within a perfume and I can’t quite tune my nose to smell it properly.
Thanks for this, I missed it. I only started reading here in 2007/2008 or so.
Forgot that post, thanks Kanuka!
ps she is absolutely right about Therese which is just a little off but perfect all the same.
I forgot I had perfume coming to me from a generous NSTer and sprayed on some Shalimar edc this morning. If you are reading this, marvelous NSTer, I accidentally erased our email thread so I can’t thank you properly 🤦♀️ but your package arrived today safe and sound.
In honor of fall and cooler weather, I just made a big pot of homemade taco soup that turned out really well. Love soup season!
Taco soup sounds great! Do you have a recipe?
I kind of throw it together. It’s always pretty good but never the same lol.
I think you’re talking about me and the package with Rabbit and Bergamote. If so, I’m glad it arrived safely! I’ll be curious to read your thoughts when you do try them. But you’re smelling great in Shalimar EDC in the meantime. 😀
I completely forgot your username in a senior moment. Thanks again, I will post my thoughts..
I’m definitely jolie laide today as I noticed after putting my dress on that it got a musty smell on the drying rack (our only dryer). Tried to cover it with SMN rosewater, which intensified my SOTD, Paestum Rose, which…so many September Germany memories. Sadly the musty smell came back later, though. Apparently I have much to learn about the drying rack…sigh.
At least we got rain this morning. Then it turned muggy…but I think next week we’ll be into fall.
@austenfan, I posted (late) on your comment yesterday. I would still love to try the Hiram Green samples and posted my email yesterday. Happy to reimburse shipping — let me know!
Just sent you an e-mail!
Ew, so sorry to hear that your clothes are musty smelling!
Good morning! I managed to lose the comment I wrote yesterday and didn’t have time to re-write it.
In brief, I’m interpreting the CP as notes that I wouldn’t have thought of as attractive. Flowers are obvious candidates for perfume, but notes like leather and smoke less so, and yet make for some fabulous perfumes.
Yesterday was Diorling and today is SL’s Ecrin de Fumée.
I like that approach!
I’m wearing Jour d’Hermes edp today, so definitely the opposite of the cp. It was sitting on my tray, and close to a thunk so it begged to be worn.
So you and lillyjo will be Thunk twins at the end of this week?
We could very well be!
SOTD = a mélange from my split collection
One per day, of course: Boucheron Iris de Syracuse (pfl67), Guerlain Royal Extract II (pixel) and The People of the Labyrinths Luctor et Emergo. I paired today’s picture with a fall pumpkin flowery thing because I hope we’re on this kick of beautiful, low humidity weather. It is NJ after all so there may be a few more cycles. Oh well…
https://www.instagram.com/p/C_gdmSxxBZk/?igsh=MTd1ZzAxMjdnZXo0eQ==
In other news, there’s an article in The NY Times about healthy brain habits. I don’t necessarily believe the hooha about this but nevertheless, it was eye opening. It’s actually a 12 question quiz and like one of the commenters, when the BMI question came up, I just about gave up on it. For full disclosure, mine came out to be medium risk.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/09/03/well/mind/brain-health-quiz-dementia-depression-stroke.html?unlocked_article_code=1.H04.78Sn.a0pk2OQm7Twm&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
I think it’s pretty much been disproven that BMI is an indicator of overall health. I think I’ve read that. I’m almost 100% sure that I read that from a reputable source. It was likened to the lie detector test they used to use to tell if someone was being honest or not. And it made me feel better about my own increased BMI, so there’s that! 😃
BMI tends to underestimate desirable weight ranges for tall individuals and overestimates desirable weight ranges for short persons. Because of the way it is calculated, “ideal” weight ranges increase with the square of the height. People are 3-dimensional, so one would normally expect weight to increase with the cube of the height. After all, if one person is significantly taller than another, wouldn’t you expect that person to be larger in the other two dimensions as well?
I agree!
That’s what I thought too with BMI!
I miss seeing Perfumelover67 post here.
Me too! 😢
Me three! I miss hearing about her breakfasts and morning beverages.
I recall someone reporting that she’s doing well, a few months ago, I hope that’s still true.
Me 4!
Maybe she’ll be back in the Fall?
Me 5!
And I was thinking of Glannys, or however she spells it, due to more unrest in her country.
Oh, I guess she did have a note today on yesterday’s post.
How do you like the Boucheron?
I love it. If I were still going into the office, I will have to buy a bottle.
I’m back wearing bbw Coco Paradise. It will be thunked by the end of the week. I couldn’t resist their Labor Day sale and picked up a few shower gels. I might give some as gifts.
You *have* been a Thunking Machine! Does NST have a new Thunkinator?
Ha! I think cm8 will always have that title!
Woot woot with the almost thunk!
You’re inspiring me to thunk something! No chance of thunking any full bottles, so maybe a sample or two. ☺️
Vivacious today. So pretty. Maybe someone finds it too natural smelling? LOL
Posting a little late today. I had lunch with one of my cousins, and we caught up on most of our summer doings. This is the cousin who had been diagnosed with kidney cancer earlier this year. It was good to see her and talk face to face.
SOTD = Fzotic Monserrat EdP, from The Sample Stash. Lots of grapefruit in this one. Very much unisex.
That’s nice you were able to visit. I hope she is doing ok.
Unfortunately, she is going to require dialysis due to reduced kidney function. That kinda sucks.
Glad you were able to see your cousin.
Did you like Monserrat?
Thanks! I was happy she felt well enough to have lunch out.
Monserrat is a sweet grapefruit, not a savory one. There’s other citrus notes in it as well, plus some green stuff. It was OK on me. I’ll probably finish the sample, but not pursue it any further.
Adding on to my comments about Monserrat: It becomes more masculine on me as time passes. There’s also a bit of orange blossom peeking in and out in the heart notes.
Glad you saw your cousin, hope she’s under good care.
Thanks Aurora. Based on the conversation yesterday I had with her, it sounds like she is under the care of an informed, proactive physician. Fingers crossed.
Rodin 3 by Olio Lusso for me today thanks to a kind NSTer from a few swaps ago. Thank you!! It’s not at all CP compliant, just a lovely light geranium floral refreshing EdT cologney type gauzy summer dress of a thing with a touch of anise and other cooling herbs, maybe a spritz of mint. Created by the D.S.Durga guy.
Chiming in late to say I’m wearing Malle’s Acne Studios this evening after being too busy at work all day to grab anything. I think this scent could fit the CP. Part of it is pretty and sweet, almost too sweet and synthetic, but the other part is sharpish aldehydes that verge on screechy. Somehow, it all works, for me at least!