Happy Jolie Laide Friday! (Also, National Coffee Ice Cream Day and National Read a Book Day.) Our community project for today: 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.) Thanks go to austenfan for the suggestion!
What fragrance did you pick? As always, do chime in with your scent of the day even if you’re not participating in the community project.
I'm in the OG jolie laide fragrance, Guerlain Jicky.
Reminder: on 9/13, wear the fragrance from the oldest bottle in your collection that you bought new (in other words, not counting any vintage fragrance purchases, etc). Suggested by Gail.
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 Serious Cactus Flowers [cropped] by tdlucas5000 at flickr; some rights reserved.
Hello and tgif!
My jolie laide is Uncle Serge’s La Proie Pour L’Ombre. It is Liquorice with a capital L and she’s slightly salty too. I know how everyone just “loves” salty liquorice, mmmmm. Jokes aside, this scent is actually quite beautiful, in a dark sorta way and very Lutens. Straight up liquorice, black coffee and leather; mysterious, grows on you and even better at night.
Thank you for the description happy888cat, It sounds intriguing and I have added it to my test list.
Hope you’ll like it!
I was up and around very early this morning so I expect a crash this afternoon, maybe I’ll nap. My husband is working out of town until this evening so I have the house to myself, my work is caught up so I am going to watch old movies and chill.
For the CP I chose Histoire Eau Mauboussin because it’s a lovely fragrance in an ugly bottle, I’ll try and post a link. The bottle looks like a plastic R2D2. Enjoy the day everyone.
https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Mauboussin/Histoire-d-Eau-2456.html
That bottle is very 60s — would have fit nicely on Mrs. Peel’s dressing table in an episode of The Avengers.
Perfect! I could see it on O’Hara’s desk, too.
I need to do my own CP with “what perfume would Mrs. Peel wear?” Now I have to watch an episode of TA tonight! Oh, and I bought Histoire d’Eau for the bottle; must confess I’ve not tried it!
I love it, especially this time of year. It smells like really good potpourri that contains cardamom and dried orange peel
Hope you love it!
That Eau Mauboussin bottle kind of reminds me of the one for Cartier’s Le Envol EdP.
Ack, that should be L’Envol!
Hello, NST Folk! Mr. Skal and I are now in Galway (yay!). Even better, my senses
UGH, clumsy things. As I was saying:
Even better, my sense of taste and smell has finally rebounded from Covid!
I forgot about the CP and ended up in 28 La Pausa today, which is “laide” only in that it is so fleeting. I had been planning to wear Memo Winter Palace, but forgot, and it is unusually warm here today, so the fleeting iris is better for me.
Glad you got your senses back! I had something similar when I got COVID last year — my sense of smell was extremely dulled, as if I were smelling everything though layers of cheesecloth, and it took a while to come back, but it did.
That’s great news about the return of your senses!
Wonderful news about your sense of taste & smell returning in full!
I gave it some thought and chose Creed Irisia. It’s different and beautiful. I bought this 20 years ago, maybe a bit more-Creed was all the rage on MUA. I believed the hype-storied house, made for Sophia Loren. It’s a beautiful chypre-smells like roots and leaves, as my younger brother described it.
Hope everyone enjoys a beautiful fall day, wherever they are.
I think that a lot of the vintage Creeds are actually very good and I have owned five or six over the years. The ones that date from the 70s and 80s and maybe even 90s, back when Creed was trying to make a splash in the perfume market and using good materials, and stealing all of Pierre Bourdon formulas, are definitely worth trying but of course, it’s impossible to find old bottles, and the prices have been bid up by all the fanboys. I have found mine by poking around antique markets and flea markets but would be very leery of buying online due to all the counterfeits.
I do love Pierre Bourdon’s use of fruit in fragrances-I have Ferre, which has pineapple and melon, and it’s great. I had purchased Royal Delight, also by Creed, at the same time and it had a delicious tangerine note that lasted for hours. There is supposed to be a tangerine note in Irisia, too, but I can’t decipher it.
I chose Hermes Rocabar for the CP, and it has me wondering whether it is a fragrance’s masculine notes that we perceive as the “laide” in jolie-laide. Hmmm.
That’s an interesting thought. Kind of like features would factor into evaluating a “male” vs. “female” face: strong jaw, big chin, heavy brows, etc.
I have a few that might be described as jolie-laide but today I chose to wear SL Miel de Bois, which I will certainly admit is a bit strange, perhaps even ugly, but in a way I adore. Its strangeness is its beauty.
Twins!
Wish I bought this when it was available-you and Glannys both smell terrific 🙂
Oh, I was thinking of that one myself Pyramus. It is definitely a challenging wear
I have a sample of your SOTD that keeps playing hide & seek with me. One of these days I will find it again.
Perfect, love that one and yet it is ugly.
Miel de Bois on my left arm, Jasmin et Cigarette on my right arm. I think Miel de Bois is just beautiful, but a lot of people do not share my opinion, apparently. Jasmin et Cigarette is more of an ugly-pretty scent for me – ashy, dirty jasmine.
Many thanks for your words of support yesterday.
Glannys, you smell marvelous, and those two are right on the money. I am glad you are able to come here and find a little distraction and like so many, I wish for a speedy end to this Orc invasion, and a resumption of normal life for you and your country
I hope the weekend is calm and you get a chance to relax. Thinking of you.
Thinking of you and wishing ☮️ comes soon. 🤗. A new bakery just opened in my town owned by a Ukrainian immigrant woman. I visited it for the first time this week, and when I told the owner my heart is with her people, tears welled in her eyes, she blessed me and hugged me. It was a special moment. 🥲
Thank you for saying it to her. It means a lot to us – to those both in and outside of Ukraine.
Someday I will give Miel de bois a try! Glannys, on Wednesday, I watched the Anton Ptushkin documentary about people in Ukraine who seek and rescue cats and dogs in abandoned buildings as well as lions and tigers in zoos. It touched my heart to see people overcome terrifying days and so much loss, yet still care for the animals. I must have missed it when it first aired in the US back in May. Thinking of you!
I don’t get any ashes or ashtray with Jasmin Et Cigarette, fortunately. What I smell is curing tobacco leaves instead.
Byredo 1996 Inez and Vinoodh edp for the cp.Beautiful scent with controversial inspiration.I personally could not care less about the noise around a perfume(hype/controversy/whatever).If it’s great it’s great-and in my collection.
XO’s!
HA, I remember the fragrance well but did not remember the inspiration so had to go read my own review. Good call, you smelled great today!
Cool start to this weekend. I really wanted to switch out my perfumes for the change of seasons, but it sounds like we will have a warm up again next week.
I am not sure if my SOTD fits the CP, but I thought it did so I am in TF Black Orchid.
I wait until the Rains of Autumn arrive, although the switch over is mental since all collections are on the top of my dresser.
I think Black Orchid definitely counts! It has a deep strangeness to it: I can only wear it when I’m really in the mood — it’s absolutely not an everyday scent. But I bought it at first sniff back when it was new and still wear it, so it has some sort of magnetic pull that’s the hallmark of jolie-laide.
I agree. I can’t wear it every day either or even that often. Last year it was wearing me instead of me wearing it on a few occasions. I have to be in the mood for it as well.
I think it’s a great choice!
Thanks, my dear!
TF Black Orchid definitely fits this CP!
I thought so.
Funny you should say that. I was walking out to my car this evening and got a waft of TF Black Orchid on someone coming the other way. I briefly wore TFBO a lot when I first got into perfume and it got eclipsed by the other options and I realized I missed it and thought it would be perfect jolie laide.
That’s funny. When I first bought it I loved it. Now, not so much, but I do occasionally wear it and might miss it if I didn’t have it. I can’t say I have ever smelled it on anyone nor have I ever been complimented on it.
Wearing Safran Troublant. I was just looking up its notes and there’s supposedly cumin in it, which often gives me a yuck! reaction yet not this time.
It is pretty quiet in ST…a little cumin goes a long way 🙂
Reve d’Ossian by Oriza LeGrand.
LOADS of incense. I think it’s pretty and Jin thinks it’s ugly.
Oooo – I join you in liking it, too!
Reve d’Ossian would be my first choice as a full bottle purchase from Oriza LeGrand!
I’m wearing Salome; some people think it smells like unwashed human but I think it’s beautiful.
I’m firmly on your side with Salomé-just lovely.
I’m in the teeny, tiniest spritz of the very Jolie Laide Chypre Mousse which has the undeserved reputation of smelling like a crypt. I think it’s lovely and full of life, but incredible in its strength and tenacity which can last days. For that reason I rarely wear it because it’s like the Energizer Bunny- it just keep going and going and going…it gets a bit overwhelming at times. Anyway, I find mausoleums and crypts interesting places so I don’t mind smelling like a “crypt keeper.” When I was in Paris ages ago, a couple friends and I spent the entire day in Père Lachaise cemetery wandering amongst the glitterati. I imagine them waking at night and partying amongst themselves. Chopin and Piaf shaking their respective heads at the likes of Morrison, while Wilde throws back some alcohol, madly writing his next classic. I mean, the conglomeration and concentration of talent in that resting place is unbelievable. And the crypts and mausoleums are just lovely. I went on a chilly, rainy day in April and it was fabulous. I hope to get back there one day…
Plus it has Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Sigh.
So MANY! 🪦
It’s been a while since you’ve mentioned “Eau de Crypt”!
Been a long while since I wore it! I thoroughly enjoyed though. I think teeny tiny spritzes are what’s needed with this one because it’s nuclear in its ability to completely encapsulate you in its bubble, possibly for the rest of your life! It’s a Take No Prisoners kind of perfume. 😜
Wearing no 19 edt today. It’s not the most traditionally pretty perfume marketed towards women but I think it’s pretty.
Good pick Dawn!
Non compliant with my new bottle of Eau Duelle.
Too warm here for anything else and I am getting a haircut later today.
It was 85 degrees F when I went to bed which is up there for the coast.
Wow, those overnight temps out by you are brutal.
I have not yet decided on my jolie laide but I’m leaning heavily toward Narcisse Noir, from a vintage bottle before it got defanged.
Love those fangs!
Vintage is the only way to go with Narcisse Noir.
It’s 62 degrees here. I switched over to my Fall/Winter purse and put my new squirrel with acorns table cloth on the table. I will wait another week to put the Fall door wreath up.
I am wearing Mugler Aura for the cp. It’s not conventionally pretty but is very intriguing imo.
Great choice Lillyjo. Have a good weekend!
Thank you! Have a good weekend too!
What a great theme for a tablecloth, I’ve never smelled Aura but bet you smell beautiful.
Aura is different for sure. I recommend it if you find a great deal. Just don’t over spray.
A perfect choice, and you smell wonderful. I wore the body cream earlier this week. That tart opening and the lingering vanilla drydown…
The body cream is so fragrant that you don’t even have to apply perfume.
Mugler Aura – nice! So far, I am still using my pandemic bag although the pandemic is over (IMHO with adjustments for the ones who need to be more cautious).
I had to go back to a bigger bag once I was able to go out and about again.
Lots of Mugler perfumes work for this CP!
Definitely!
I’m in “Ma Bête,” from Eris, which I think is beautifully glamorous and pungently feral all at once.
You smell wonderful! I am a huge fan of the Eris line and most everything Antoine Lie creates.
Joining the Une Fleur de Cassie contingent. This is one of my favorite FMs and I think I heard in a Dominque Ropion interview that this is one of his personal favorite creations.
Such a beautiful fragrance!
Twins! Admit that to my nose, it’s all jolie minus the laide 😉
Agreed!
Quite a few Dominique Ropion perfumes fit the “jolie laide” category.
I felt sure I couldn’t get away with calling T Rex a “jolie laide” perfume because most people would dispute the “jolie” part of it. I went. with the next best thing, Patchouli 24, and feel very happy with that choice. I’ve been out and about a bit and so far haven’t seemed to attract any attention with it!
I think Patchouli 24 is a great fit with the cp.
I’m wearing Aromatics Elixir for the CP. Big, bold and beautiful without any concessions, I love it, although it took me a while to do so.
I was originally planning to wear Manoumalia, but the weather has suddenly become autumnal and Manoumalia felt wrong somehow. I’ve had fun picking fragrances this week, and it has been interesting to read all the choices.
Excellent choice! It is uncompromisingly itself, and it never was meant to be accessible: it’s almost the opposite of a mass-market scent.
When I saw today’s theme and your name, I immediately thought: I bet Austenfan will wear Manoumalia. So close! 😊
Such a fun CP idea! Hope all is well with you.
I’m well, thanks, as today (Saturday) is sunny and will be warm, I put on some Manoumalia, she is such a beauty! Hope all is well with you as well.
Agree about Aromatics Elixir. It was on my list for this CP. Big personality, too earthy and retro to be considered conventionally pretty, although I find it very comforting. I wonder whether it was ever thought pretty and feminine or it was always considered “too much”.
Aromatics Elixir is one of my transitional perfumes. Looking forward to wearing it!
I’m using the idea of beauty through imperfection , which cut out a few potential perfumes ( mostly Chypre, or slightly masculine ) as they are actually pretty perfect ( Mitsuoko). But I didn’t want a badly made perfume as there’s a difference between muddle and twist. In the end I’ve settled for Copper, because the galbanum gives it a cigarette ash vibe, which makes me think of someone like Marguerite Duras.
I have to take a writing workshop today. The organisiers have signed up 25 people which is not ideal as it will end up more like a class than a workshop. It’s interesting how , in recent years, the number of fantasy writers has increased. Ten years ago there wouldn’t be any, now it’s about half. Anyway, it should be fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrZBiqK0p9E
RIP Sergio Mendes.
Aww.. R.I.P.
Also Eartha Kitt in that intro!
I didn’t know he had died, that was such a great song, thank you Kanuka.
What about the earrings!?!
I believe they were popular back then😀 like little planets swirling in space.
Love that video. I would have been 8 years old…
In ‘66, that is.
Love the video!
Great song!
Sample of Mal-Aime for cp points, but it’s too sharp for my preference, although I can see the beauty in the greenness. I wanted to wear Mx. which many of you know that I wear often, and which I find unconventionally beautiful, but it’s just too warm today for me to enjoy it as much.
Or maybe it’s not too warm? Sometimes I realize I have a bias regarding temp and fragrances. I haven’t even tried the Mx. in warm weather. Will remedy that!
Interested in hearing if Mx. does work for you in warm weather after all.
I spent the day in Rose Amazone but tonight for the CP it’s Weil Zibeline Parfum de toilette which is my most animalic perfume, I think of animalic notes as Jolie laide.
I’ve had my 100ml vintage bottle bought full for five years, so not so long ago, I was checking online to see what the prices are these days and they are scary, I looked at my transaction saved in my email and back then I paid £35.
I just checked the price here. You got a real bargain!
So both sides of the pond, sellers are really taking advantage.
It’s stupid crazy how prices for certain hard to find and discontinued perfumes have become! Great foresight on your part to have grabbed them while the getting was good.
I agree with you and it’s a relatively new phenomenon, five years is not so long ago.
For my jolie laide SOTD, I chose SJP Covet. I love the flower-shaped bottle with its petal cap, despite the fact that I think the green liquid + the brown petals make it rather ugly. And the combination of lemon, geranium leaves and lavender – that sounds pretty nice – but how does that work with a dark chocolate note? Sounds pretty yucky to me! But this strange mélange of notes – along with some florals and woodsy notes – seamlessly works very well! An added benefit is its versatility; although I most often wear it layered over body products with ‘green’ notes, today I’ve layered it over BBW’s Limoncello body products and am enjoying a bit of citrus sunniness. In colder weather I layer it over a chocolate body lotion and enjoy it as a cozier scent.
Now that swimming outdoors is no longer an option, I’m really enjoying the cooler weather that should be here all weekend. I’m looking forward to a book-signing tomorrow with my favorite author, William Kent Krueger, then will be spending the rest of the weekend at the first Evanston Folk Fest featuring 40 artists from around the world on 4 stages. Soon those outdoor concerts will be over, too, so I’m sure gonna enjoy this one! 🎶
Sending ❤️ and ☮️ to everyone and a great weekend ahead!
Perfect choice, and you smell great. Enjoy your concerts!
The bottle was what kept me from getting SJP Covet back in the day. I thought it was hideous.
Sounds fun, have a great time!
For the CP win: Womanity edp. I tried it because I’d come to love so many Mugler creations, and a couple NST’ers are fans. It won me over! I have and like the edt, too.
Perfect for the CP, I never could decide, I had a very scary looking sample with that little head.
Very Mugler for sure.
Oh you definitely win!
Most excellent!
Perfect one!
It was a toss up between Timbuktu and Passage d’Enfer and I ended up wearing the former.
Wishing all of you a nice weekend!
Have a nice weekend too!
Enjoy your weekend!
Happy Friday! Trying PdN Saint Honoré on skin today and it’s lovely. Notes are below. I sniffed all 3 of the new gourmands on paper earlier this week and Pavlova and Macaron Bourbon were disappointing. The latter two both had strong aroma chemicals…woody/peppery and smelled poser niche. 😉 ehaeheh I almost felt Patricia used a ghost writer/nose for those 2. 😆
Top notes are Pepper and Bergamot; middle notes are Hazelnut, Milk and Orange Blossom; base notes are Vanilla Absolute, Sandalwood, Amber and Musk.
I’ve heard your same thoughts elsewhere re the Macaron Bourbon and Pavlova. Definitely planning to try St. Honoré. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Hey, at least one of those new PdN scents worked for you!
Had to snicker at “poser niche”. That will always be funny! 🤣
SOTD = Inevitable Crimes of Passion Parfum
This is my interpretation of a jolie laide perfume: Passion for pretty and Crimes for bad. I pass because I tried?
https://www.instagram.com/p/C_lsBbNRN-1/?igsh=MW1sYTJuMHRtcGZtcQ==
In other news, for the runners here (I’m a walker), here’s an article from The New York Times about running. The title of the article is actually misleading because the sections are more encouraging than not. The summary, based on section titles are: 1) pace yourself, not race yourself; 2) set goals to fit your lifestyle; 3) fuel before and after your runs; 4) find a running crew and consider a coach; 5) keep your running gear simple; and 6) master the art of resting.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/well/move/beginner-runner-mistakes-tips.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Ik4.GTdz.ABnlIJjJbxO5&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Always points for trying, and anyway the rules were to interpret however you wanted, so really you succeeded 🙂
The hot weather really messed with my plans to wear either Mon Parfum Cheri par Camille or Narcisse Noir so I wore Choc de Cardin, which falls somewhere between rocks after it rains and the bitterness of grapefruit. Jicky is maybe the best possible pic for this project – that dead squirrel is REAL.
Choc de Cardin sounds fantastic!!
That dead squirrel really did make me laugh out loud, thank you!
I had every intention of wearing Jolie Madame this morning, but that went completely out of my head and I’m wearing Tobacco Vanille. It’s very jolie with absolutely no laide 🙂 .
Can’t complain then!
Many thanks to Therabbitsflower yesterday for reminding me that Fztoic usually has a Black Friday sale. I can wait for that!
Gorgeous blue skies here and temps in the low 80’s. Too warm for my initial picks from TM: I had been considering the Alien les Parfums de Cuir and Womanity. So I was almost house twins with MossyBerry.
Instead, I went with something better suited for the weather.
SOTD = Guerlain Mahora EdP. This is a whole lotta ylang ylang and sandalwood on me, with a weird discordant note up top. I think it might be the almond blossom. After that little scented speed bump, I think it’s absolutely gorgeous. So maybe jolie laide light?
I’ve never tried this, but it sounds nice.
If you are familiar with the drydown of Samsara EdP in the red bottle, it shares some DNA with that.
OK.
Black Friday will be here before you know it!
Too true! This year has flown by.
I don’t recall having smelled Majorca but I bet you smell good!
It’s a strange one for ylang-ylang and/or tuberose, since it’s dry and not terribly sweet.
The reformulated version, Mayotte, is a pale and wan copy of the original. Not a whole lot of “there” is there.
Oh, great pick, I have a little 30ml of Mahora but never wear it it seems, so you are reminding me to pull it out.
Nice! This would be a good time of year to wear it.
I was getting wafts of Mahora 24 hours after I applied.
I wore Bvlgari Black today. Nice composition of rubbery smell with a vanilla.
Excellent, love that one.
I phoned it in today a bit with Orchid Soleil, but it was a hot day so I needed a summery perfume. This one’s kinda hit or miss, though it has plenty of fans, because of the buttery aspect. I also read comments from people who get corn tortilla or masa from it. I personally love the weird buttery note.
I had TF Orchid Soleil on my FB wishlist, but waited too long to get it.