It’s Tuesday and the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance nope, I've got my days wrong! Birthdays today: Elsa Schiaparelli, Karl Lagerfeld, José Feliciano, Colin Firth. RIP James Earl Jones. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm (mentally) extending a long weekend at the beach with Guerlain Terracotta Le Parfum. Tea at the moment is Ahmad Cardamom.
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: the Bernardaud Albertine Teapot ("With its elegantly fine sketches, Albertine is a poetic decor that echoes the trend of the famous toiles de Jouy") is $378 (for the small size) at Bloomingdales.
Hello.
Tgif is Black Opium Over Red. Cherry, coffee and rice pudding. Delicious!
I might be late to the party but if anyone’s interested: Nuxe’s body oil in Florale (the pink one) now has a shimmer version! If you want to switch it up from the usual bronze shimmer, this might be the one. I know I want one.
Now I want some actual rice pudding with cherries & coffee!
Today I’m in nineties-vintage Guerlain Samsara, probably a bit lofty for doing household chores in, but I was in the mood for it. Better than the smell of bleach, anyway.
Elevating mundane tasks with a touch of the sublime. Nice!😊
I’m in vintage Arpège Extrait. Maybe I’m delirious from the heat, but I’m noticing for the first time how Amouage Gold (Man) borrows a lot of the Lanvin’s structure. As much as I admire the Amouage, Arpège is easier for me to wear – it doesn’t exhaust me the way Gold does.
Oh interesting…
I’m in Athenaeum again today. It’s perfect for this time of year, so I guess I’m still doing last week’s CP. 🙃
Why not?
It’s another lovely cool morning here, about 50F right now, with blasting sunshine.🌞Shaping up to be a gorgeous day, although I’m in the office all day.
The Fridge Funk conintues even though I have completely emptied it, washed it down, removed all the non-slip self liner and replace with new…Everything I threw out looked and smelled normal. Not a hint of funk in the food. I even went outside to pop the cover off the refrigerator access panel to look in there to see if by some crazy circumstance something was able to get in there and die. All negative. Color me very annoyed. 😤
To combat my mood and the stink (which only is evident when I open the fridge door) I’m wearing Ummagumma. I’ve been thinking of it a lot lately and today is the day.
Hope everyone has a lovely, non-stinky Tuesday! ✌🏼
Maybe there’s mold or mildew growing in a water supply line that isn’t visible? How incredibly annoying!
There’s no water supply to my fridge, so I don’t think that’s it. Good try though…😃
Where are you now, Deva? I missed your latest move. Have you already tried baking soda on the Fridge Funk?
Yes, I keep an open box in there all the time. I’m currently right at the border of Wyoming and Utah. Yeehaw!!
Is there a tray at the bottom of the refrigerator?
Yes, drawers for veggies and such. I removed everything and washed them, and under them as well. One thing I didn’t do is clean and disinfect the door seal, so I’ll do that today when I get done in the office. Honestly, I’m totally flummoxed because I never found any bad food or condiments…threw everything out anyway…grrrr!
Is this your own fridge that has suddenly started to smell, or one in a cabin you are staying in?
I’m just thinking if there was rotten meat, etc., left in it for a time at some point, the odor might have been absorbed by the plastic interior of the fridge or freezer and be indelible.
No, it’s my own fridge. I’ve found nothing off smelling or looking as I’ve gone through it, pitching stuff out. Suddenly started but seems to be never ending. I’m going after the door seal with vinegar and water today…🤢
If there’s a drain hole of any kind in there, go after that too.
No drain in the fridge. I think RV fridges function a bit differently than residential ones. Pretty sure it was the seal…
We are TWINS! So sorry about the Fridge Funk. I’m thinking the door seals so I hope you are able to address the situation.
Hi Twin! 👋🏼 Just got done with the door seals and I’m 75% sure that’s what is was. I forgot a carton of heavy whip cream had spilled in the fridge a couple weeks ago. I cleaned it up as soon as I discovered it (about a hour post spill) but I didn’t LOOK/CLEAN the bottom of the door at the seal. It was pretty gross..! Anyway, I cleaned and disinfected it, used a toothbrush to get into the seal but I’m afraid some might have gotten BEHIND the seal. Can’t access that without removing the entire seal, cleaning, and replacing with a brand new one. Anyway, I HOPE this is the end of it, but I may have to get a new seal. Time will tell…🤞
Oh, and of course you’re smelling fabulous! I hope it’s cooled down a bit for you.
Success — at least you found the culprit!! That’s better than having to go on wondering.
I’m going to be working through my unboxed mini fragrances this week. Most of these were purchased after I read the first edition of Luca Turin’s guide. Some were purchased before that. I found the oldest fragrance in my collection, but I didn’t buy it. I inherited it from my grandmother, who travelled regularly to Europe to visit my uncle, who worked for the World Health Organization. She brought back a lot of perfume.
Wow, you are fortunate to have something that’s probably quite old, and very special!
Seconding this!
Most of my oldest new purchases would be from The Guide days, too, or possibly 2007 when I last relocated.*
Will have to really think if I have anything at all from before that. It’s hard to tell because when I signed up for ebay in 2009, I set about finding exact vintage replacement for favorite perfumes from different points in my life.
*I mistakenly used to discard perfumes when I moved, thinking they didn’t last more than a few years and that was a good time to lighten up. Painful to think about such treasures as 1990s Caron Tabac Blond and En Avion extraits!!!
I do not actually think I can figure out my oldest-bought-new. I know my first few perfumista purchases but they were all drained and replaced since, and I did not keep records my first few years of purchasing.
Ouch on the discarded Carons!!
The green and white of that teapot is charming. 🌱
My tea of the day (post-coffee) is Kusmi Boost, which is mostly mate, plus green tea with cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom. I’ve become a big fan of yerba mate this summer. When it’s really hot, I drink their BB Detox, which is mate, green tea, and grapefruit.
I wanted to say, “Who’s a little teapot?” much as I do with kitties
😆 Just like me: short and stout.
Not sure I’ve ever had any mate tea. What’s it like?
It has a mild, earthy flavor that might take a little getting used to, but I never found it unpleasant. In the summer, I drink it iced with a touch of sugar and a piece of lime. Very refreshing!
The best thing about it is that, while it has caffeine, it doesn’t give you jitters at all. It’s a much more mellow energy. HTH!
For most of my life I was a serial monogamist, perfume-wise, and wore Aliage, Anaïs Anaïs, Trésor, Byzance, and Jil Sander No. 4 exclusively in multi-year periods. Sadly, the only bottle I kept from all those eras is JS4, and I’ll save that for Friday. Today I’m in the second-oldest newly bought bottle from the Current Age (i.e. since I fell down the rabbit hole), which is Chanel No. 19 edt.
Jil Sander No. 4 is really special. I have some, maybe 20 years old but not truly vintage. I think I’ll find it and wear that today. Thanks!
So, I’ll reply again here to say now I am smelling fairly spectacular, if a bit rank, from my fairly old bottle of Jil Sander No.. 4! I’m sure it’s around 20 years old, one of my oldest.
Wow, that’s pretty close to vintage! I think mine is a few years “younger” than yours — it was my third or fourth bottle, iirc. And yes, you do smell fabulous!
Had a wart removed from my finger yesterday. My finger is still sore from it. Wearing Clinique Happy today.
Smelling good!
I hope it will heal quickly. I had warts as a kid on one arm and back then they burned them off. Ugh, what a smell! And I still have some faint scars. I hope the process is more simple and easy now.
Your poor finger, hope it gets well soon.
Ouch. Having anything done on a finger really hurts!
Lovely teapot today! Green and white ceramics are so pretty.
I have a lot of vintage perfume, I’ll have to look through my collection to find something for Friday that I purchased new. Nothing is popping into my brain yet.
Sotd is Angel. Love it or hate it, I smell great!
I love it too!
Another Angel fan here!
I love Angel except when it coats my tongue from the super-sprayers (I don’t think I’ve ever done 8 sprays of this).
I can’t imagine doing 8 sprays of Angel! 😱
Wearing Atelier Vanille Insensee, which I trust won’t bother a visiting colleague whose perfume appraciation levels are unknown.
My oldest bottle was a Chanel No. 5 parfum given by a friend, who’d received it upon high school graduation several decades earlier. I used the heck out of it and now have the bottle in the mini perfume part of a cabinet.
I hope your colleague survived 😉
Wearing Hush Hush EDP today and it’s gorgeous. 😍 Notes are below. Yesterday I sampled the EDT which was also lovely.
And finally some relief from the heat for southern CA…Sunday was 104 🫠, today is supposed to be high 80s and later this week mid-70s.
Iris, violet and musk, a paper cigarette packet with a hint of silk stocking & rose petals, with a waft of new wooden dance floor
That sounds gorgeous! 4160 Sundays, right? I guess I’ll start my sample list now.
Oops! I guess it’s Tuesdays, lol!
Which one do you like better of the two?
I preferred the EDP…had more oomph and vanilla 😉 but would happily wear the EDT too
Happy to hear that things are cooling off for SoCal!
Still in denial about the end of summer, so I’m wearing a beautiful white floral, Jardin Blanc by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier.
I got a partial bottle of it for I think € 40 or maybe even less. I bought it during the early days of collecting, when I was often browsing in eBay. Gosh it feels like another life, and it was probably only fifteen years ago.
Aha, I should find my bottle of MPG Jeune Homme and see if it is still good.
I have been watching black and white films from the late 1920s and 1930s on YouTube. Despite the poor resolution of most, I have been able to identify a few of the more distinctive commercial perfume bottles on elegant Art Deco tables:
1. Caron Nuit de Noël (classic black bottle)
2. Caron Tabac Blond (classic stopper bottle)
3. Mon Seul Ami d’Isabey
Not the correct bottle variation in this image, but I was interested to see that the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has a collection of vintage perfume bottles!
https://emuseum.mfah.org/objects/62912/mon-seul-ami
Have any of you ever visited this section?
This is the distinctive cylindrical bottle and box I’ve seen in a couple of the films, manufactured for just a couple of years, I think:
https://hprints.com/en/item/70460/Isabey-1929-Mon-Seul-Ami-Photo-Scaioni
Most of the bottles on the film vanities are pairs that I assume were sold as decorative objects rather than containing perfume. Of the bottles that seem to have perfume or men’s cologne, most are too blurred or generic to identify, or I just haven’t seen them on ebay so far.
… on Art Deco *ladies’ vanity* tables, many of which are so beautiful!
Oh, I saw a Mitsouko bottle, too. (Although maybe that bottle was occasionally used for a different Guerlain?)
That is so interesting! I never knew that our museum had all these bottles. I just saw the main page with more, here: https://emuseum.mfah.org/collections/287803/hogg-collection-of-french-perfume-bottles/objects.
To be honest I’m not even sure where this section of the museum is. It says it’s from the Hogg collection, so it might be at one of the grand homes that are sort of adjunct parts of the museum, namely, Bayou Bend, which was Ima Hogg’s mansion. I’ve only been there a few times, mainly in spring when they have beautiful displays of azaleas out in their gardens. I’ll look into this and try to pinpoint where they are. I must say that looking at all those bottles might be a frustrating experience given that you can’t open them up and sniff them! (presumably you can’t!). I like to look for perfumes in old movies too but rarely see anything I can recognize.
Oh, I hope you can find them, Calypso! If you do, please report back. And please take photos of the setting, if allowed!
I looked through the 17 pages on the Hogg collection, which turned out to be incredibly lucky. One of the perfumes looks just like a labeless mystery bottle I bought cheaply on ebay. It looked really old to me, still contained perfume that looked in good condition, and I thought it might be an early Jean Patou, though I could never find a match for the stopper.
Now I know it’s Mareva by Doeuillet-Doucet from 1928-1929. Georges Doeuillet and Edouard Doucet were popular couturiers in the early 1900s whose businesses merged around 1928/29 and then went under very shortly thereafter.
Doeuillet’s fashion house was “at 18 Place Vendôme (an address he shared with Victor Klotz, perfumier under the name Edouard Pinaud).” I’m guessing these neighbors might have teamed up to create Mareva.
https://mimicofmodes.com/2014/10/22/georges-doeuillet-1865-1930/
Oldest bottle is still Joy from 1972.
We dropped from 102 yesterday to 70 degrees this morning. How delightful is that.
Unexpected car expenses yesterday. Darn. Have to wait a bit to pick up a small bottle of SL 5oclock gingembre.
apsara – contact me re the SL. Click on my screen name for my email.
Ugh, unexpected car expenses are the worst. Glad you’ve got some better weather today. 😃
Boo hiss on unexpected auto expenses!
Oy about the unexpected car expenses!
How fun to read about our early perfume loves. Thank you, Robin!
I’m in Balmain Ivoire edt. The temperatures dropped significantly overnight; this is creating a nice aura around me today. According to Basenotes, it was a fragrance from 1980. I looked up what could have been a batch code on my bottle, but got an error so the sticker may be the year of manufacture. I am presuming my bottle is from 1988; I probably bought it in the ’90’s so it’s one of my oldest bottles.
IIRC, you and I have the same vintage version of Ivoire.
It is very possible. Can you decipher the sticker on the bottom of the bottle? 8811B
Although it may mean absolutely nothing too!
I got my bottle in the late 1980’s. The bottom of the box says “EMB. 14220”. I was able to make out “Ref. 2626” on the sticker at the bottom of the bottle.
Thanks Jalapeno!
Angels share!
Tea is coffee lol
Sometimes you need the coffee…I drank lattes all weekend 🙂
Nothing old for me today. Lyric from my sample bottle. I do have a couple of very old samples over here, though, so I can probably play along a bit.
Happy birthday to Colin Firth…BBC Pride & Prejudice will always be the one for me! And RIP James Earl Jones, with his incredible voice.
It’s the only P&P worth rewatching 🙂
In Dusita Pelagos today.
Just took a quick look at your Instagram to catch up. Pumukkale looks UNREAL!
it’s a very picturesque place
My daughter and I stayed home sick today. I am now on antibiotics for a sinus infection. I think she just has a regular cold.
I am wearing the beautiful Narciso White Cube. I bought the 100ml bottle in 2014 or 2015. None of the flankers are as good as the original imo.
Ugh, hope you feel better soon but sinus infections take a LONG time to resolve…☹️
I have to do a 2 week antibiotic treatment. Otherwise, it will sneak back up on me. The worst part for me, is the loss of all my energy.
Hope you both will get better soon. Don’t forget to use saline solution for the sinus situation.
Thank you. I do the saline rinses pretty regularly. We both slept most of the day and I think we are on the mend.
Yuck. Sorry to hear that you and your daughter aren’t feeling well.
I hope you and your daughter recover soon!
Aww, sorry you and your daughter aren’t well, lillyjo. I hope it’s shortlived.
This is a CP I can really get into, I have a spreadsheet with all my perfumes and the year I bought them! The oldest bottle in my collection is Alexander McQueen’s Kingdom, but that isn’t a perfume I’d wear to work.
One of the next oldest is Guerlain’s AA Figue Iris, and that will be perfect for today.
My inner Virgo loves a spreadsheet complete with years of purchase. That’s fantastic!
My inner Pisces is like, “Gaynor, Organizer Extraordinaire” while simultaneously saying “Deva, you can’t even organize your sock drawer!” 🤣
I have a spreadsheet but started it only a few years ago. Wish I had kept track from the beginning but didn’t realize then what a passion this would be!
Aren’t you smart!! I bought for several years before I started keeping track.
Ooh, I’m a bit jealous of your Guerlain Figue Iris. One of those I wish I’d bought when you could still find it and for a reasonable price.
It’s a cool, sunny day here and I am loving it. Yesterday I scraped, sanded, and painted the areas on the house that were peeling and today I went to the gym, so I am feeling pretty pleased with myself. I have an oldie but goodie ready for Friday but today I am wearing TF Shanghai Lily. It’s too much in the heat and odd in the winter but just perfect for now.
I was so sorry to hear that James Earl Jones had died. Such a great talent.
Congratulations on the home improvement project.
Sometimes I think the key to enjoying perfume is finding the right season and weather for each one. Some have a relatively narrow window, like your Shanghai Lily, and sometimes it’s counterintuitive. Congrats on finding the right match!
Frozen cherries and yogurt smoothie
Today I wore YSL Yvresse from a bottle purchased fifteen years ago, it smells so fruity and lovelyI also have a partial vintage Champagne bought later. Tonight it’s vintage Cacharel Loulou which is a powerhouse.
I’m swooning over your perfume choices 😍
😀 They’re both still detectable this morning.
Swooning with lillyjo!
😃
Those are vintage treasures – love them both!
I always think of you and Lillyjo as my perfume sisters.
AG Le Chevrefeuille. I can really see the change to autumn sunlight now. But I love this cooler yet blue sky weather we are having this week.
I just signed up for a Sashiko style mending class at a local crafts store for Friday evening. Looking forward to the class (supposed to be an excellent teacher) and to meeting some likeminded folks as well.
What a find that class is! Enjoy!
Yes, thanks. I am especially happy because when I received the store’s email, it said the class was sold out. I emailed back anyway and said I’d come if they got a cancellation and they added another spot for me!
Not sure if the high temp here hit 90 today or not. If it didn’t it sure was close. Getting a bit of a cool down tomorrow, into the mid 80’s.
Might have to take Teflon kitty to the vet. She’s been scratching her ears a lot lately, so I wonder if she has something going on. Other than that, she’s been behaving normally.
SOTDs: testing Fzotic Unsettled against Soft Focus. Unsettled is drier and more focused on sandalwood than Soft Focus, which has loads of tropical fruits up top, and a chili-limon vibe in the heart notes. Sandalwood shows up much later for that one.
You’ve inspired me to wear my Fzotic perfume today. I may go with Unsettled tomorrow!
Hiya house twin!
And I hope Teflon is a-OK!
I will see what Tef is like tomorrow. If she’s still really itchy, it’s time to call the vet.
Hope she’s okay!
Thanks springpansy.
Like hajusuuri, you’ve inspired me to wear Fzotic tomorrow: Monserrat.
Cool beans!
Hope T-Kitty is ok!
Thanks lillyjo.
I envy your weather, pretty gloomy here. Could you get ear drops and treat Teflon?
Unfortunately, I don’t think ear drops are an option. Teflon LOATHES them. I have never been able to give them to her successfully.
So Tef has a vet appointment for tomorrow afternoon.
SOTD = Fzotic Ummagumma
Love! 🤎🤍🩶
https://www.instagram.com/p/C_wLv5kxVsU/?igsh=MTV0MDFrMTNldnZmaQ==
So a thing happened as part of my walk routine today: I stopped by the mall! I had my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season 🎃 (Perfect!) and I stopped by Bath & Body Works to redeem my $16.95 coupon:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C_wMtCxR7L2/?igsh=dzZtbzNzd2lnaGJo
I have a “thing” tonight from 9:00 – 10:30 PM Eastern…
You’re wearing a HEAVY hitter today!
Ummagumma was a kaiju of a perfume on me. Too big, too much!
Re: your “thing” — I see what you did there! We’re doing it too. 🤫
Oohh.. you got one of the good coupons!
I’m doing the “thing” too👋
I doubt I can remember which is my oldest purchased-new perfume, but today’s Modern Muse is one of them. It’s a very cozy clean scent, and works well for this season. My spreadsheet is not as helpful as Gaynor’s, but my entries are numbered and that helps me guess.
I will not be able to figure it out either…we can both just try to get close to the oldest.