Happy Friday the 13th! It’s also National Violin Day and National Hot Cocoa Day. Birthdays: Mary Todd Lincoln, Emily Carr, Ella Baker, Dick Van Dyke, Jamie Foxx. Our community project for today: wear a fragrance with ginger, if you have one.
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 my bestest ginger, Demeter Gingerale.
Reminder: 12/20 will be the Holiday Special...wear a perfume inspired by or based on a holiday — any holiday! — or wear a perfume that seems perfectly suited to the holiday of your choice. Suggested by therabbitsflower.
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 this year's army [cropped] by Paul Jerry at flickr; some rights reserved.
I am wearing a ginger scent I hadn’t originally planned: Molinard Gingembre. I got it this week along with a bunch of other samples. While it lives up to its name, it leans very much toward a spring/summer vibe – fresh citrus ginger, not warm ginger. To add some depth, I layered it over a DIY body lotion: unscented lotion mixed with FuturePrimitive Soap Winter Solstice aromatic oil.
Here’s the oil’s description:
“Effervescent notes of 5 Fold Orange & Lime open up to reveal soft notes of Neroli, Myrrh, Frankincense & Ginger, all resting on a base heavy concoction of 10 Fold Vanilla, Himalayan Cedar, Indian Amber & aged Patchouli with the barest hint of Clove Buds. A luxurious blend to mimic the scent of Cathedral incense at Yuletide.”
While the oil isn’t particularly ginger-forward, it still has a ginger note and blends nicely with Gingembre.
By the way, I also got samples of a few 2024 perfume releases. I plan to give them a brief test before the “Best of 2024” week and then wear them again during the CP week, posting mini-reviews. If anyone’s curious, here’s what I picked up: Fragonard Lilas, Guerlain Absolus Allegoria Rose Amira, Serge Lutens La Fille Tour de Fer, Celine Zouzou, and Jul et Mad Callisto. Two roses, two vanillas and a lilac.
I’ve only tried Lilas so far, and I’m sorry to report that my first impressions are negative. But we’ll see if my opinion improves.
Looking forward to your “Best Of 2024” 😄
That oil sounds amazing!
I’m curious to hear your thoughts on La Fille and Rose Amira, they are only two from your list I’ve tried.
I’m keen to hear more about those two as well, they’re on my list of future sniffing.
Did you like them, fellow rose enjoyer? 😊
Very interested to read your impression of the Fragonard Lilac! It is such a tricky note to get right.
After spending all of 2024 regretting that I did not do this last year, I ordered Mushroom Girl from Choosing Keeping:
https://choosingkeeping.com/products/christmas-ornament-spun-cotton-mushroom-girl-out-of-rose-bud?srsltid=AfmBOooI3dXEzpDJDU9os2R61eYl1_pHpYgFzBsqKkAjF5PvQDg2HNQ2
She looks exactly like the photo, which one can never be certain of when an item is handcrafted and based on found objects.
The cherry on this ice cream sundae was that Choosing Keeping included a charming catalogue of all their glass ornaments with little essays on some of their craftspeople.
I’m wearing Annick Goutal Nuit Etoilee because Christmas is coming and I am setting up my miniature tree. ✨🌟💫
Miniature tree twins! My mom made mine, back when I lived in student housing and had zero space, and I put it out every year. It’s really adorable — she even made tiny wrapped presents to go under it.
Ooh — your mother is a genius! Tiny ornamental presents would be perfect and so fun to construct! 💚❤️
I am always having bits of wrapping paper that are too pretty to throw away but too useless keep. Now I know what I can do with them — thanks so much and enjoy your precious tree, SheriG!
I will, and you too! 🥰
Oh, that Mushroom Girl is adorable 😊
I am wearing one of my favorite (and easily found) ginger, Ginger Piccante. I had a plethora of choices with ginger, but this is almost always my go-to. I am definitely getting rose as well as ginger, which is an unexpectedly nice combination.
Twins!!!!
Triplets although I actually got the idea from you!
I’m wafting mostly nutmeg, in Jo Malone Ginger and Nutmeg. Baked my second batch of banana bread from a cooking website that I’ve been trying, and it’s delicious but had a small unbaked area right where it forms the characteristic crack down the middle of the top. Doesn’t seem like it would be due to underbaking because that usually creates the unbaked portion in the middle-middle rather than the top. Anybody have a cure for this? Even a scientific explanation would be helpful.
Do you have an electric or gas oven? What rack was the loaf pan on? Both of those variables can affect cooking/baking. Also, time in oven or unpreheated oven can cause differing results. One thing I’ve found trying to follow internet (specifically YouTube and IG) recipes is that many of them are way off. Unless you go to a reputable recipe site, such All Recipes, you may just be wasting money. Many IG recipes are in it for the clicks/likes and when you actually try out the recipes, the proportions/time/temp are way off and you end up with a less than stellar outcome. They show pretty food made by pretty people in pretty pans in pretty kitchens and are only after the “likes” to increase their revenue. Just food for thought…🙃
It’s late in the day now so you might not see this, but:
Electric oven, and I had the rack set in the middle slot.
Bought an oven thermometer and the oven temperature actually is accurate (to my vast surprise).
The website is Alexandra’s Kitchen, and it’s where I found an awesome peasant bread recipe that I’ve made many times. I do find that I have to give the peasant bread an extra few minutes in the oven, so maybe that’s the fix for the banana bread recipe.
I also find that if the recipe calls for metal pans, don’t use Pyrex pans without making adjustments to both temperature (lower it by 25 degrees) and baking time (lengthen by 5 to 15 minutes). These recs are based on separate research — Alexandra didn’t weigh in. 😉
Are you baking at altitude?
No — I think our house is at about 300 feet above sea level. 😆
I am CP compliant with chai tea that has ginger 🫚, that I am sipping with a ginger snap cookie.
My SOTD is Journey Woman by Amouge. In this cold weather it’s wearing differently, I love it
Not my father in laws chai! Soon !
You must be looking forward to FIL Chai! Meantime I’m sure yours was delicious with a ginger snap.
Yesterday was very cold and windy here, so I hesitated between my two favorites for frigid weather: Ambre Russe and Alahine. In the end I chose Alahine, which I think of as Ambre Russe’s Parisienne cousin. It was delightful! Today I’m wearing Omnia which is always delicously comfortable.
Forgot to say I’ve been burning a candle from Linnea called Tinsel which has notes of champagne, ginger and plum. It is very gingery and the ginger makes it feel sparkly like champagne bubbles.
I read “spanky” and had to re-read …
That would be an “entirely” different candle! Hah!
I love Alahine
I agree – I’m also finding Omnia to be ‘deliciously comfortable’ today, too! 👍
I love both Alahine and Ambre Russe!
PSA: 20% off $150 in fragrances at beautyhabit
I’m in Hiram Green Vetiver for its ginger note. Hopefully it will warm me up on this frigid day
Glad I did not see this until late in the day…I would probably not have spent it anyway, but would surely have messed around filling a cart 🙂
Frigid here too!
Finally CP compliant today! Up from the depths of the Sample Sea PdE Aziyadé has been tossed upon my shore. Is it lovely? Hell yeah, but I love cumin, and apparently there’s a dump truck load in this perfume. It also has ginger and a laundry list of other spices, but my nose doesn’t give a single hoot because it’s too busy enjoying all this wonderful spice!
Kafkaesque had a differing opinion. In her lengthy review she wrote:
“A strong vein of animalic musk runs underneath it all. It’s not akin to dirty, unwashed panties on my skin, but it definitely smells a little raunchy, a little naughty.”
Back in 2008, Robin wrote:
“I like it well enough, but I’m not even close to enchanted, and the only reason I’m not firmly in the “no” camp is that the first couple hours are so enjoyable. After that, it’s mostly cumin-infused pencil shavings on me. Those of you who read here regularly know I love pencil shavings; cumin, not so much.”
If you’re a cumin fan, give it a whirl. I am by no means a perfume reviewer but all I’m getting is nice spice fest so far. Nothing dirty or raunchy. More like a kitchen with ten cooks making mysterious and delicious dishes my American midwestern self is completely unfamiliar with but very willing to taste.
On another perfume note (see what I did there?🙃), ever since my visit to the upscale mall where I probably couldn’t afford even the cost of parking, one of the perfumes I tested has been constantly in my head. I WILL own a bottle eventually, but in the meantime I found a song that perfectly captures my obsession with it. Because I’m an official “old folk,” this song is on the soundtrack of my childhood and I still remember hearing for the first time on my new fancy-schmancy clock radio. Me so hip! 🙃
https://youtu.be/BLmqy0O6fvc?si=5cy3DxiPDdPRMbqQ
Have a great day, peeps!
I remember Aziyade! I tried it years ago. In my mini-review, I described it as a “spicy sweet bubble gum” scent.😁
I was trying to explain our childhood valve radios to a young person the other day, the way they needed to warm up before any noise came out. It did not compute
We still have a cordless landline phone. When it wasn’t working properly we temporarily replaced it with an old dial phone we had tucked away, and my teenage granddaughter could not figure it out. It was hysterical! Wish I had videoed it, I probably could’ve won on America’s Funniest Home Videos program. 😂
I remember those old clock radios! If you weren’t exactly on a station frequency, you’d wake up to a huge blast of static. Some of my friends had them back in the day.
I still use mine!
There are no qualifications, you know…if I’m a perfume reviewer, so are you! You just wrote a review!
Also, gosh, 2008 wasn’t THAT long ago but had no memory of it at all and had to go read the whole review. Ha.
I have been using Mrs. Myer’s Gingerbread hand soap and dish soap to add a little festiveness to mundane tasks this holiday season.
I am wearing Jo Malone Ginger Biscuit for the CP today, which is also to try to bring in some pre-holiday cheer to myself.
Ah, will have to check out the local store selling Mrs. Meyers and see whether they stock the Gingerbread. Like you, am in the Ginger Biscuit .
I am absolutely not CP compliant. I got this wild hare to try something completely different.
Well, it was the most awful smell I’ve applied in years. Seriously, my cuddly kitten jumped up on my lap then skedaddled. Of course it is nuclear cling on mode. I washed with Dr. Bronners twice, wiped with rubbing alcohol and it is still with me. It is chemical, plastic and chokingly sweet (and I enjoy odd plastic scents like ELdO’s Ghost in the Shell) I came here to NST, as I’m sure you will understand!
I love trying new things. I like getting out of my comfort zone. Sometimes it’s an epic fail, hilariously bad. I’m sitting in my own stink and considering my options to cover or mask this. Maybe something massive and sweet like the Nazgûl…
Hope your fragrant experiments go well!
What did you apply that was so awful? Inquiring minds…🤔
I would hate to hurt anyone’s feelings, and I don’t like to blast small companies. It’s art. It was not a hit for me, but someone else might be charmed by it. Sorry!
Argh, hate when this happens and I kick myself for not spraying on a blotter first!
Do you have any oil-based body scrubs, like a sugar or salt scrub? Those seem to work for me.
Oil based cleanser is a BRILLIANT idea. Thanks! I wish I’d thought of that.😁
It’s all in the daring of giving it some skin. Some things are better on skin. I took a bold leap, and fell on my nose but it’s worth a laugh. Scrubbers are part of the hobby.
I had to laugh about your major SOTD fail chasing off your kitten. Sorry! 😾
Ugh, so sorry!
I was going to go with Safran Troublant today but after listening to Persolaise review several Le Labo fragrances, I reached for Iris 39. I didn’t realize this had a ginger note and I’m glad to be revisiting it.
PSA for those in the Seattle area, the second annual Scented in Seattle Holiday Market and Swap Meet takes place tomorrow (Saturday) from 10am – 6pm at 2931 1st Ave South; Suite A. I found the info on the Orcas Paley instagram site. Come sniff and swap!🎁🎄
Have fun tomorrow!!!
Thank you! Wish you could join us!
That Swap Meet sounds awesome! Wish I could be there. Enjoy!
Oh my goodness. How wonderful is that? L.A. people, we need to organize something like this.
Oh, I wish I had read this sooner. How does one get on the list to find out about these happenings? Hope you had fun!
Hello:).
Been a bit busy with some things but hope everyone is doing well!
In Five O’ Clock Au Gingembre SL
And already celebrated hot cocoa day with a large cup!
Five O’ Clock Au Gingembre and hot cocoa? Both are delicious!
Scent twins!
I will drink mine later although I think chocolate has caffeine. Also, I have the K-cup version and methinks there’s a variant of Stevia (meh) …
A chilly and beautiful morning here in LA, which started auspiciously for me when I became a Queen Bee on the NYT Spelling Bee puzzle. A rare occurrence.🐝
In keeping with this week’s theme, I’m wearing Boundless from Amouage. Its blood orange and ginger opening is spectacular.
Blood orange is a note that I think should be used more often in perfumes. 😋😉 Wonder why it isn’t?
Was thinking of Arabie but it would be a little too much for work. I do not have anything with ginger in it that I know of. Wearing Kyoto today.
Kyoto is perfect, and perfect for work. Hope it was a good day Dawn.
Hello and tgif!
Sotd is one of my top mainstream ginger, Twilly d’Hermes. I also love to wear it to bed after shower, it’s somehow comforting.
Has anyone smelled Wicked x Lush body sprays?
I haven’t smelled them but would like to…but would not like to go to the mall 🙂
I thought that someone who posts here did, but I am not sure.
I am compliant today in Eau de Protection. It may be my only perfume with ginger. Not one I grab often, but it is very nice 😊
Smelling great today Kris!
Thanks Jalapeno!
I am wearing Origins Ginger Essence this morning. Later I’m planning to wrap Christmas gifts since they all must be shipped, and have a manicure. I’m reading “Gray Matters,” a history of brain surgery. It’s interesting.
Oh good for you to have them all wrapped already!
I will have to look up Gray Matters, that does sound interesting.
Wearing Five O’Clock au Gingembre today, it was a toss up between that and Ginger Piccante. I also conveniently dug up a bunch of my Lutens so I’m all set for the holidays with Fille en Aiguille and Arabie which has been mentioned recently. There’s also Santal Blanc and Santal Majuscule… there are just too many Lutens scents I crave this time of year!
I have lots of errands to run today, have to get some packages shipped (hopefully) in time for the holidays and also an eye doctor appointment. And tomorrow, I plan to go to a Christmas market, there’s rain in the forecast so maybe it will be less crowded. I don’t do well with crowds these days.
Gosh, I really should pull out the Santal Blanc!
Hope you got it all done today!
I’m wearing Yosh Ginger Ciao because it has ginger in the name, I think it’s for ginger lily.
I’m enjoying cold sunny weather today. Happy Friday NST!
Happy Friday ringthing!
I really had planned on being CP compliant but could not find my Omnia mini and the Bulgari The/Tea (sorry I don’t know how to do the accent) Rouge mini jumped out at me instead so I grabbed it and doused, hoping it might have ginger. It’s got lots of cool notes, but tea is not one of them. May have to spring for a big bottle one of these days. The one I have is clear glass/liquid but I notice that some of the big bottles are red and going for much cheaper on the ‘bay than the clear ones. Was this a reformulation, does anyone know? So confusing these changes in packaging and endless reformulations.
I mean *ginger* is not one of the notes. Obviously it’s got tea. Rooibos to be precise
Sending some gentle wafts of my yummy Omnia your way!
Thank you Laila.
DeniseH, if you are posting from a Windows-based laptop, you can get the accented e using the emoji menu. I can provide more details if you are interested.
Yes, I am posting from a Windows Laptop.
I don’t even know where the emoji menu is, sady.
Pls feel free to continue this convo via email.
You need to send me your address anyway!
Done and done! 😸
I had a great time last night trying my latest samples from Luckyscent. I had little smears all over my arms, ran out of space and dabbed the last ones on my knees. The weather is warming up and I’ve realised how useful it is to have bare legs as extra surface area for perfume testing. My beloved did look askance at me as I sat on the couch sniffing my knees 🙂 .
I think I’ll join the Safran Troublant crowd this morning.
lol! only a perfuminsta would understand the sniffing ones knees from a sample you dabbed there..
🤣 on the sniffing the knees. I have done similar things to try and find an extra place on my skin to test yet another fragrance.
Been there, trying to find more skin space to test perfumes!
I had intended to wear Divine Bergamote, but reading here this week, I realised that Eau de Protection also has ginger, so that is what I am wearing today.
Divine Bergamote is lovely!
JM Dark Amber and Ginger Lily post shower today.
I have a bottle of that somewhere and forgot all about it!
I was planning on wearing Pacifica Mountain Temple Incense for today’s cp but someone mentioned Omnia recently and that became my choice for SOTD. Soft and cuddly warm, perfect for a December day. ❤️
It’s been bitterly cold the last few days w/no sun – 4 degrees F. yesterday a.m. & 5 degrees F. this a.m. – but we’re finally getting some 🌞 today and temps are climbing all the way up to 30 F. Woo hoo!
Putting me in the holiday spirit were 2 nice programs this week at our library & history center, one on the history of carols and songs, the other on the famous Christmas tree ship that used to bring 🌲 🌲 🌲 to Chicago. And I was lucky to see 2 of my favorite holiday movies – it’s a Wonderful Life and Elf – on the big screen in our historic theater. No matter how many times I see Wonderful Life I never tire of it and always discover some new detail I’ve missed before. This time I marveled at the range of emotions James Stewart was able to express – and I know that returning from WWII he had some PTSD which probably contributed to his realistic portrayal. Yet I wondered, has there ever been a more excellent performance by an actor than his in this film?
Will be finishing the holiday decorating this weekend, still have a lot to do! 😩 Wishing everyone a nice weekend ahead! 🎄
I love James Stewart and that particular film as well. We also always watched White Christmas and Holiday Inn because my mom was big on musicals. And The Quiet Man. Not a holiday film but we always watched it during Christmas time. Maureen O’Hara lived down the road from the farm where my dad was born. It was their small claim to fame having her as a “neighbor.” 🇮🇪 Have you had much snow up there yet?
Thanks for your reply, very interesting! Very cool about Maureen O’Hara (where was that?). I’ve never seen The Quiet Man, will have to check that out. No snow here, just a few flurries a couple of times. Supposed to warm up to the mid-40’s this weekend, with rain starting tomorrow afternoon and lasting into the early week. Yuk!
Well, I always tell people where in descending order of “town” size because otherwise no one has heard of it. So it goes like this: Bantry, Glengarriff, Ardnatrush Beg. Ardnatrush beg is in between the two off of N71. It’s not a town but a few far flung farms which are gradually being sold off for holiday homes in the past 20 or so years. My cousin still owns and lives on the farm there, at least last I heard. O’Hara lived on an estate just north on the N71 on the way to Glengarriff. Apparently, she was quite the recluse and who could blame her?
Thank you for this interesting tidbit of movie star history. I knew you were of Irish heritage but didn’t know your dad was born there.
I’d never heard of the Chicago Christmas Tree Ship! 🎄🚢
Now you have:
https://www.christmasship.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=27
And its legacy carries on!
https://www.christmasship.org/
Thanks Laila!
In my most festive, orangey and ginger scent, Panettone.
Your SOTD sounds good enough to eat! 😋
Oh, so true, I think it’s my best gourmand, so sophisticated and not too sweet.
SOTD = Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Ginger Piccante
Oy! I had to go back and correct the spelling on IG. It’s a glorious one – maybe extra points for having the word “ginger”? 🤎
https://www.instagram.com/p/DDhoWG0xb_P/?igsh=c2RpOGwyandnNW1l
For those following the saga of my NJTransit rail ticket refund, I was able to leave a message this morning. Let’s see how it goes. I’ll wait until Monday afternoon before I follow up or maybe even Wednesday since I’ll be in NYC on Tuesday.
Oh, and I think it is Taylor Swift’s birthday although I don’t follow her …
Yes, and she’s only 35 today, and Dick Van Dyke is ‘only’ 99 today!🥳
Floofy kitteh is floofy!
Wearing Lush Ginger. To me it isn’t a gingerbread spice scent. Instead, I find it more earthy; a nice choice for this grey day.
Gosh, seems like I smelled that at some point but can’t remember. But you’ve made me realize Lush could probably do a perfect gingerbread, wonder if they ever did? Would love a gingerbread shower gel.
Did some excavating for the CP and unearthed my venerable bottle of Lothantique Ginger edt. It’s a nice one in the same quadrant as Origins Ginger Essence. And of course discontinued.
Gosh, have not heard Lothantique mentioned in ages.
Triplets with Omega and Tulipani in Five O’Clock Au Gingembre from the sample stash. I’m getting Old Spice vibes, a scent that I like to smell on others and that seems masculine to me, rather than unisex. I like it enough to try it again but Five is one of the very good perfumes that just is not me.
It’s the perfume equivalent of putting a square peg in a round hole, huh?
Yes!
I got the same thing from Five. It’s much too masculine for me.
Those spices…
A cold wind is blowing off the Rockies today, making it feel truly like Winter here. Brrrrrrrrrr! 🥶🌬️❄️🧊
SOTD = doubling down on the CP today with ELdO Fils de Dieu and Soivohle Ginger Piquant Absolute Oil Parfum.
Fils de Dieu is rather citrussy on me, and I don’t really notice any ginger. Plenty of rice and unsweetened coconut with it, though. The Ginger Piquant brings plenty of ginger to the party, and quietly purrs along staying very close to skin.
Will you be getting any snow?
Nope! Nothing like that in the 10-day forecast here.
But the mountains are still getting snow, which should make the ski resorts happy. I’ve been hearing ski reports on the radio in the mornings.
Radio ski resorts must be a nice kind of local color.
Definitely something I did not hear when I lived in NJ!
Keep warm, windy is terrible weather.
I’m trying my hand at making beef stew tonight. I’m following a recipe so hopefully it turns out ok. My sotd is Demeter Gingerbread. I don’t care much for regular ginger in perfume or anything else really.
Oh except ginger ale.
Good luck with dinner tonight!
Hope it was a success Lillyjo.
I’m in a fun one today, Solstice Scents Dark Ginger Spicecake. It actually wears lighter than you’d think after the initial blast of smelling strongly like its name.
Yesterday I wore Five O’Clock au Gingembre thanks to a sweet NSTer.