It's Thursday, plus Boxing Day, the second day of Christmas, Candy Cane Day, the first day of Kwanzaa and the second night of Hanukkah. Happy Birthday to David Sedaris! What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm in one of the two fragrances I bought this year, Imaginary Authors Dipped in Chocolate.
Reminder: on 12/27 we're doing Best of 2024...wear your favorite new release of the year, or your favorite purchase of the year, or the fragrance you wore the most in 2024, or interpret this project however you like. (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 Christmas Tree Lights Bokeh [cropped] by Carl Revell at flickr; some rights reserved.
I keep reviewing the samples of 2024 releases I tried recently.
Today I’m wearing Guerlain Absolus d’Allegoria Rose Amira.
Earlier, I compared it to Malle’s Portrait of a Lady (POAL), and I still stand by that statement. The main rose-incense-patchouli accord feels very similar to me. However, there are key differences: Rose Amira lacks the spices, has less incense, and carries a rosy fruitiness that I don’t believe POAL possesses.
Another notable distinction is the scale. POAL is a big scent – grandiose and commanding. In contrast, Rose Amira feels more modest. It projects less, which might contribute to its more intimate character.
If you love POAL, chances are you’ll like this too.
If you already own POAL, though, you probably don’t need Rose Amira. I might get a small decant later but not immediately after finishing my sample.
Thanks for the review! POAL rotated my nose the last time I sampled it, a milder rosier version might be just what I need!
Thanks for reading! Yes, Rose Amira might be more wearable for you.
Thanks for the review! POAL rotated my nose the last time I sampled it, a milder rosier version might be just what I need!
Going for CP points with special samples which also came from splits and shares by the generous and gracious NST crowd. Today’s delight is Nexin, a limited release from 2023 by Andy Tauer. Vetiver, moss, and sweet citrus blossoms pass by in waves, keeping this one interesting and unisex, maybe a little on the masculine side to my taste. Nexin is working to brighten this cloudy but not bitter cold day, especially when the florals appear. Yesterday’s dinner’s turkey breast roasted up very nicely and except for my choice not to dump so much salt on it and the side dishes anymore, my dinner brought back memories of Christmas dinners past. 🙂 Hope all the hostesses and hosts have yesterday’s holiday kitchen work cleaned up and are relaxing with delicious leftovers.
We are house twins today!
Continuing my foray into old-school “masculines” for another day, and I’m wearing “That Man,” the first fragrance for men from Revlon. It smells very old-fashioned: a mossy, herbal, musky fougere – softened by geranium and carnation. Surprisingly wearable, if you aren’t concerned about smelling like a 1950s barbershop.
The story of its name is perhaps even better than the perfume. Seems that Elizabeth Arden, whose company was in competition with Revlon, didn’t much care for Charles Revson; she refused to call him by his name, and referred to him simply as “that MAN.” To tweak Arden, Revson named Revlon’s first “male” fragrance “That Man.”
Ha ha, that’s a great story!
😂Take that, Elizabeth!
🤣
Awesome story!
Whoa, I love that photo!
I’m in Retrospect from Merit for the cp. Not my no 1 that I tried from the year, but it’s high on the list. I wore this yesterday and again my older daughter commented on how good I smelled. I might need a bottle.
We had a very relaxing day yesterday. My middle “child” never even got out of her jammies lol. We put together our best charcuterie board yet and watched the first Harry Potter movie. No one even left the house. It was nice.😊
Sounds like a wonderful day!
That sounds wonderful!
I more or less skipped Christmas this year and instead went to the movies at our newly renovated favorite old art theatre and it was fabulous, now equipped with a giant screen, comfy seats, and small tables so you can order your food and drink from a quite nice and reasonably priced menu and get things delivered by unobtrusive servers. I saw Nosferatu! Believe it or not, as a long-time vampire fan this made for the best possible Christmas gift for me.
I’ll come back later to post for the CP but at the moment I have on a small spray of Chergui. I got into a conversation on Facebook about the colors of perfume juices and it made me reflect on why certain perfumes have strong colors. As examples I thought of Sarrasins and then got out all my bottles of Serge (I had 15) to look at their colors. Of course they show up better because of his clear bottles. Chergui is quite red actually. Could they possibly include dyes?
Btw I’ve come to dislike Chergui very actively, and am giving this bottle away, to some lucky young fellow in Houston who I know from this blog. ;-). It’s yours the next time I see you!
Hi Calypso. I’m glad you had a happy day at the movies ( please report back on Nosteratu). It sounds like a perfect day to me and maybe the start of a new Christmas ritual. Chergui is a perfume that never works for me, no matter how many times I have tried to convince myself otherwise.
I like it for the first hour and after that it starts to make me nauseous.
My opinion of Nosferatu 2024 is mixed. The first half was fantastic, the third quarter was poor and campy, and the finale was marvelous. L-R Depp was somewhat good but she talks like her mouth is full of mashed potatoes. Nicholas Hoult and Bill Skarsgård are terrific. Dafoe was just plain silly; the audience I was with (a completely full house) kept laughing at his lines. Other actors were wasted. Great camera movement. A stunningly scary vampire but he lacked character and depth. The film is incredibly noisy and uses way too many jump scares amplified by thunderous sounds. It’s worth seeing for that first half, but sort of a C- overall for the rest of it being so weak. Not as good as either the original or as Herzog’s remake.
Thanks for your review. I will report back once I see it, when it gets here.
From the notes I should love Cherri, but the times I have sampled all I got was bug spray and tingling lips! Not for me!
You have pinned down exactly what happens as I wear it: BUG SPRAY.
See my comment to meredifay!
That is what I thought the first 2 times I wore it from a small atomizer. I decided to go all out with at least 8 sprays and the bug spray smell was no longer there and it became one of my favorites. Mind you, the newer ones have been reformulated and are no good.
Very interesting! Honestly, my response to bug spray is to scrub not apply more, but I will consider this in the future!
Chergui never sat right with me. And I’m OK with that. You can’t love ALL the perfumes!
SOTD for Boxjng Day cleanup =Mon Precieux Nectar which never irritates me and always cheers me up!
We are Boxing Day cleanup twins!
I have a Christmas/ summer tradition of reading a ‘ big’ classic and this year it’s East of Eden , a book I’ve never read. I feel like the dry Californian landscape matches the Central Otago area, where I am now ( stone fruit orchards, some sheep farming, former gold mining area). So, I’ve been sitting outside in the shade , looking down on the river and across the valley towards sun scorched hills, and a big sky. The sun sets at 9.45pm so the days are long at the moment. One of the nice scents on my river walks is the smell of willows, green but with a sweetness filtering through. It’s very strong and reminds me a bit of linden so I’m wearing French Lime Blossom as I have it with me.
I hope everyone can relax and take a breath now the hustle of Christmas is over. We were so disorganised and laid back in our preparations that after eating veggie wraps for dinner I realised we had nothing more in the way of ‘ sweet treats’ except two chocolate biscuits between four of us, and I ended up picking yoghurt balls out of our muesli to try and make pudding a little more festive.
I assume you’ve seen the movie, with James Dean? So fantastic.
I never have! I will read the novel first, I think. I have only seen Grapes of Wrath.
I am definitely going to relax and take a breath tomorrow!
Cracked up at your dessert efforts…frankly, more sensible than the long saga of the two complicated desserts my. mother decided to make for Christmas this year, neither of which went to plan and both of which managed to create stress for multiple generations of family who tried to help. We’d all have been happier and more relaxed if we’d just picked yogurt balls out of muesli!
That novel was voted our favorite in my book club–we have been together nearly 30 years, so that’s a lot of books!!!
I bought a copy of East of Eden a few years ago and still haven’t read it, though I’ve thought about it a couple times. Maybe this will be the year!
I purchased a few different perfumes this year that I would consider favorites. Today I am CP compliant in Shalimar MJ. Very beautiful jasmine to my nose.
Jasmine can be wonderful in winter weather.
Put the house back together after yesterday’s festivities. Will be watching the Call the Midwife Christmas special later today. Yesterday, I wore Theorema. The Amazon gift card that I got for Christmas didn’t make it 24 hours before I used it to get Quake 2 for my Xbox. Wearing no 22 today.
It’s such a good feeling to get things straightened up after being a host! I *wonder* how many people can say they are wafting No. 22 while gaming! 😁
I went to the Mall to do a return. I tried to go to Lush to look at the sale, and the line was out the door. I changed my mind.
I’m wearing vanilla again, in Shalimar Souffle Intense.
Oh dear, boxing day madness, perhaps you can check Lush sales online? I have SI too and like it but I wear the original Souffle much more somehow.
I think I wear the original more too.
Oy! I did not go near the mall at all but went to my Wegmans AND my usual (walking) route of Home Goods (bought Bag Balm on sale) and for my “free” cup of cafe ☕️! You smell nice!
You were smarter than I was. I just really wanted to get my return out of the way though.
Did not go anywhere at all today. I figured things would be crazy in all the stores. Maybe tomorrow will be better?
Maybe in the morning it won’t be as busy.
My brother said that Costco was fine. So at least getting groceries in the next day or two won’t be a madhouse. Closer to NYE will be not so fun though.
You smell wonderful – I love Souffle Intense. I got mine for almost perfume-math free on FragranceNet!
Same here!
we visited the Stuttgart zoo today, so i chose Dzing!
a fun choice for all the animalic manure scents of the zoo.
thankfully christmas is over, i managed not to fight with my mother and brother, so it was a moderate success. now i am enjoying the peace with my boyfriend…
Glad you are enjoying some peace!
Good job not having any holiday arguments with your Mom and brother!
Hooray for a moderate success! And a bonus visit to the zoo.
It poured rain here yesterday, so I stayed inside, did yoga, sang Christmas carols, and opened presents. Today was a little drier and I am sore from the yoga, so I went for a walk and I will get a haircut later. I used up all my gift tags but I really don’t want to brave the sale crowds to get more. I’m wearing Songes edt.
Good plan avoiding the crowds. I think it’s going to stay busy until after the 1st.
Went with my brother to a nearby mall to check out the sales. It wasn’t crowded so it was enjoyable. I spent the day in vintage White Linen, such a treat with its beautiful musks. Tonight I am in Deep Red.
Did you find anything good on sale?
I looked at Clarks shoes, lots of boots but I have two pairs already, and tested some products at the Body Shop.
You smell great! I figure my bottle of Deep Red might be considered vintage by now, even though I got it in the 2010s.
Thank you Jalapeno, mine is vintage too.
Well, I’ve had a humdinger of a holiday, surpassed only by the holidays of 2001 when my dad died 3 days before Christmas after a take no prisoners dance with pancreatic cancer. Yep, that bad.
Anyway, I’m in a better place now and hoping 2025 (raise you hand if you’re a snake! 🖐️) will be much better. I’m back in a spray of Devotion because it was handy in my purse. I love the name of this perfume and don’t understand how people have lost track of beautiful perfume names like this and somehow managed to think that a perfume named “More Sex” is in any way classy or dignified? Ugh.
I’m exhausted and planning on a nap after finishing a big chicken Caesar Salad, a Diet Coke, and a piece of turtle cheesecake (just to round the meal out!).
I hope everyone had a lovely holiday with friends and family. Helps if you can diplomatically sidestep any contentious conversations, although honestly I remember sitting back and watching the show when I was younger. Kind of like a tennis match: lob, lob, lob, SMASH! 😀
Oh Deva! I was hoping all was well after looking for you yesterday. I’m sorry for whatever has taken 2nd place of awful holidays.
I agree with you about perfume names. I think they saw that makeup lines were doing well with the stupid innuendo names and saw $$$.
Sending hugs💙
Is T-Rex OK?
Sorry to hear that your Christmas sucked.
Tough, facing sad memories and new issues too. Hope you are in a good place, mentally and otherwise, now. With you on salad and cheesecake 🙂
Deva, I’m so sorry to hear your holidays were bad…I hope things have stabilized for now and that better times are ahead. Naps are good!
Oh no, I’m so sorry for whatever happened and I hope it never happens again. And of course hope you had a very excellent nap.
I’m sorry about how the holiday went for you. Hopefully the new year will bring you some peace and relaxation. My mother is a snake, by the way.
Oops, that was meant for Deva.
SOTD = Chanel No.19 EDP
Love it, but you already know that! 💚 … and no IG post on this because lazy!
I have decided to take it easy (when have I not in retirement) until the new year. I have several more family and friends get-together to get through between now and then.
And for Deva – 🖐️ 🐍!
Enjoy your get-togethers!
You 🐍ssssmell wonderful!
Lots of cleaning for me today: laundry, dishes, and Teflon’s litter box. 🤣 Kind of a gloomy day, with fog and clouds to start. It almost took until lunchtime for the fog to burn off. The clouds never really left.
Considering getting a heated cat bed for Teflon kitty. As a senior she is definitely more sensitive to chilly temps. And while it is sweet having a devoted lap cat, it sometimes become quite the imPETiment. Cat sweaters are not an option.
SOTD = Tauer Heraud, from the Sample Stash.
I am sure TK would love a heated cat bed!
Maybe. Maybe not. She is surprisingly picky about that.
I could always get her another heating pad… 🤔
Hi house twin! Our kitties have six-watt, pet heating pads. They come with a cover (which is wider than the pad 🙄) but I put the whole thing under a soft hand towel and they love them. I got them at a specialty pet store. Because they are so low power, you can leave them plugged in all the time. I think Teflon would love it. One of the pads is under a basket, and the kitties still feel the warmth. I know what you mean about lap time limitations!
Teflon’s current (no pun intended!) heating pad is cat-specific. I picked it up at Chewy.com when the very first one we had bit the dust. It was originally for Jinx kitty (RIP) when she kept hanging out on floor heat vents to stay warm 6 months out of the year.
I am considering another, but wondering where on Earth I would put it. Got space limitations in the apartment.
I had a good holiday, was stressful at first but winding down. For whatever reason, I am the main cook and planner, in an addition to cleaner and organizer. My mother is visiting and tends to “stir the pot” in conversation a lot, bringing in her political point of view. Our politics are aligned quite a bit but I get exasperated when every subject has to have a political angle. Sometimes I had to firmly say, “I think we agree and covered this already” and move on.
I wore F-Inity No Limit, venturing into the butterscotch vanilla arena. I think I am more of a “dry vanilla” person but gourmand vanillas are growing on me
Winding down is always the good part! Glad the holiday was good too despite the exasperation. My son is the one in my family who likes to stir the pot, but he was good this year — helped that I threatened him several times over the past week about what would happen if he said one word about politics at Xmas dinner 🙂
ps I took the precaution of removing the Bob Dylan coffee table book that I got for my birthday…hid it in my bedroom so no visitors would feel the need to share their opinions on Bob Dylan, ha!
Draconian measures!
I went with Comete as one of my favorites of 2024 today. Quite good, but I wish the delightful top notes lasted longer.