It's Friday and National Cranberry Relish Day. Birthdays: Abigail Adams, André Gide, Hoagy Carmichael and Billie Jean King. Our community project for today: we're off to Nepal! Wear a perfume that is named for a place in Nepal, or that reminds you of a (real or imaginary) trip to Nepal, or that features a local ingredient, or ?
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 did some reading this week about traditional Nepalese rope incense (short starting point here if you are interested), and decided on Chanel Bois des Iles for the sandalwood note.
Reminder: on 11/29, pick your Black Friday poison: wear the last fragrance you bought, wear a cheap thrill, or wear a fragrance you love but refuse to buy in a full size because it's too expensive. (We've done this project several times.)
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 Bhaktapur [cropped] by Keith Roper at flickr; some rights reserved. [You can read about Bhaktapur Durbar Square at Wikipedia, or see the UNESCO entry for the Kathmandu Valley.]
Adding for anyone who missed my comment the other day, Now Smell This is now on Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/nowsmellthis.bsky.social
I’m in Tea for Two, from a full bottle, perfect for autumn, spicy notes for Nepal. I love it in fall and winter.
Great choice!
Hello and tgif!
Mum’s surgery had gone smoothly and she is feeling stronger by the minute! Thank you all for your kind thoughts. ☺️
No sotd because I am still in the hospital but if I was out and about I’d be wearing Tam Dao for the sandalwood and I imagine it’d also pair very nicely with Diptyque’s Rich Butter body cream, which I have a mini sample of and smells divine!
Glad to hear all went well for your mother.
That’s great news about your mother! I’m sure you’ll appreciate your fragrances even more when you’re out of the hospital!
Wonderful news! Sending wishes for you and your mother to be out of the hospital soon. 💟
You have just created a new lemming for that body cream.
So glad, enjoy the body cream.
That’s wonderful! Be prepared for a sort of slump to happen… I think it’s somewhat common. After a major surgery one often feels great upon realizing you’ve made it through, and then after a bit longer you realize it’s still a long struggle ahead….. the after-effects can kick in later (I think this has to do with recovering from anesthesia, feeling new pain as the tissues heal, and so on). I sound like a downer and don’t mean to be! Honestly it’s great that she’s doing well, and I hope you are feeling better yourself, too.
That’s great news about your mother’s surgery.
I think someone mentioned that mangoes are a popular fruit in Nepal, so I’m wearing the mango-forward “Bombay Bling!” from Neela Vermeire.
Happy Friday, everyone.☺️
Bombay Bling is such a fun and happy fragrance, perfect for a Friday!
You smell wonderful, that’s such a happy fragrance.
Rope incense? I love it when we’re on the same wavelength, Robin!
I dedicate the final day of the CP to traditional Nepali rope incense.
While I’ve already mentioned some of its ingredients, today I’m focusing on cedarwood, sandalwood, juniper, agarwood (oud), frankincense, and cardamom.
Micallef Shanaan + Amouage Interlude Man + Goutal Encens Flamboyant
– Shanaan: incense, cedarwood
– Interlude: frankincense, sandalwood, oud (agarwood)
– Encens Flamboyant: incense, frankincense, church incense, cardamom, fir balsam
Although fir balsam is not traditionally an incense ingredient, it grows abundantly in Nepal. As noted:
“Silver fir (*Abies spectabilis*) forest is predominant between 2,900m and the treeline (3,850m).”
I enjoyed all the layerings this week. Yesterday’s was the most balanced and easiest. Today I went easy on Interlude and Goutal but sprayed a lot of Shanaan on my neck, since it is the lightest of all three. And it is mostly Shanaan I smell now. Let’s see if it holds – I might play with extra sprays from any of the three later, if needed.
I already said yesterday that you win the CP, hands down, and you’ve outdone yourself today Glannys!
Joining the sandalwood cohort in Tam Dao edt, my gold-standard sandalwood scent.
Always perfect.
I think of mountains when I think of Nepal, so I went with one of my favourite ingredients, one that happens to be a Himalayan plant, jatamansi/spikenard, and I’m wearing Chiaroscuro by Roxana Illuminated Perfumes. Aptly named, this is shadow and light play inside of a temple high in the mountains: herbal, earthy and resinous scent with a beautiful jatamansi note.
Aha, good thinking! I did not think of jatamansi at all.
Wow, that’s so interesting!
Robin mentioned honey yesterday as an export of Nepal so I’m wearing Swiss Arabian Noora, a cheapie and a goodie, which combines honey, orange and musk to smell like liquid sunshine.
That sounds pretty.
It’s really lovely.
SOTD is Indochine. It has honey and cardamom, so I believe I am compliant today🙂 I do love this scent!
Indochine is lovely. Honey and cardamom make me think of baklava.
That sounds delicious.
As planned, I unearthed my bottle of Ambra de Nepal today. It smells just as I remembered it!
Yay. I wish I had replaced my bottle when I drained it.
I am wearing Hermes Galop and drinking a cup of Irish Breakfast tea.
Wearing Musc Ravageur for coriander, clove and sandalwood.
Hello all!
Being somewhat compliant in Rose & Cuir today (my phone tried to correct to Rose & Cutie) which has a Timut pepper note. It might have been the first to use it, if I remember correctly. I really enjoy this scent though I know it’s quite polarizing.
I’ve had a headache for two days but unfortunately I can’t spend today in bed. Officially two weeks from my Physical Chemistry final, which I don’t feel ready for! Luckily I’m staying in town so my distractions will be at a minimum.
Have a great day everyone.
Sorry about your headache, but you certainly smell great!
Oh too bad about your headache. I wonder if it’s related to our recent weather front. Hope that will go away soon. Good luck with exams!
I went to Nepal and was astonished by how large the rhododendrons grew, some were as tall as trees. I have no perfume with the note, so I am going with my favorite honey fragrance, Slowdive.
Wearing one of my top 10 favorites today, which just so happens to fit the CP like a hand in a glove. Notes are:
Top notes are Cloves, Cumin and Mandarin Orange;
Middle notes are Cardamom, Caraway, Licorice, Mango, Ylang-Ylang, Heliotrope and Gardenia;
Base notes are Vanilla, Amber and Patchouli.
Guess that perfume! 😄
I’m a pretty low key, “dress for the weather” kind of gal, but every once in a while I come across a very fancy OTT dress I’d love to wear. This is the latest in my imaginary signature sartorial adventures. WOWOZA! I just love it. It’s like being dressed in the riding sun. ☀️
https://youtube.com/shorts/4dloOCN54dk?si=iQnnZzWrSoaljau0
It’s another gorgeous sunny day here. Happy friYAY to all!
*rising sun!😃
Jungle Elephant?
Ding! Ding! Ding! 🥇🏆
It’s one of my favorites too
Whatever it is, you smell fabulous!
Great dress and perfect for van life and dog walks!!!
She can swan around in her van smelling delicious!
Burberry Brit is my scent of the day. Dreamt that I found multiple bottles of Tibetan Mountain Temple heavily discounted in a store.
Too bad your dream wasn’t real! 🫤
😂
I’m so glad it’s Friday, even though I really love my job, I love my time off even better.
My SOTD is Eau du Fier, because of the tea note even though my favourite tea from Nepal isn’t smoked (I don’t even know if smoked Nepalese teas exist), but is a stunning black (red) tea called Sagarmatha Gold. It’s a bit like a good quality Yunnan, but slightly earthier, now if someone would bottle that smell…..
Double points for Sagarmatha ( Mount Everest). Have a good weekend
https://www.gwt.org.uk/news/tihar-explained/
I was thinking of the brightly coloured flower garlands that you often see in images of Kathmandu or placed around the necks of visitors . Marigolds are one of the most common flowers for festivals such as Tihar. I looked through my perfumes for a marigold note and funnily enough it’s the first note listed for Boucheron ( never fails ).
I am also wearing Journey for the honey note for a NZ a link to Edmund Hillary who was a beekeeper ( with his brother) for many years
I love the look of those garlands but honestly would not enjoy being swathed in a marigold scent.
SotD for the CP is Lyric. In addition to rose, it also has notes of incense, cardamom, and sandalwood.
Robin, thanks for the info on
Nepalese incense. My high school boyfriend introduced me to this, and I have always liked it. I have some squirreled away somewhere, but now I have to find it since I know how to burn it, lol!
The Nepal theme has encouraged some wonderful creativity here, NST folk are a clever bunch!
I’m continuing with the incense theme in CdG’s Kyoto. It’s not quite Nepal, but in the geographic neighbourhood.
Vintage Estee Lauder Cinnabar for me today. Super strong and like a very slightly more sweet vintage Opium on my skin at least. With its giant bucket of exotic spicy incensey notes, there have got to be a couple that ping the CP. And Glannys, I’m thinking of you today because I bought a packet of whole millet in efforts to expand my consumption of grains and lo and behold, it is made in Ukraine! I knew that Ukraine is known as the ‘breadbasket’ of that region for its rich black soil and wheat cultivation, but I was tickled to find that they also produce millet, which is not that easily found in U.S. supermarkets. Now to hunt down some recipes.
Frozen mango and yogurt smoothie
For the CP, it’s chai tea, Omnia and my most cardamom-forward scent, Hermès Voyage parfum.