It's Tuesday and National Candy Day. What fragrance are you wearing? (Update: and meant to say, the splitmeet is still open!)
I'm in Serge Lutens Chêne. Tea at the moment is a blend of Assams from Upton.
Reminder: there will be a community project on 11/7, and I will post it online by Sunday sorry I am so behind! by the end of the day I promise! Update: wear a fragrance with vetiver, if you have one.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2025, where I'll try (but usually fail) to have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: the Yoko teapot ("YOKO is a distinct tableware collection inspired by the design duo Stilleben’s first trip to Japan, hence the Japanese girl’s name Yoko. The simple, sculptural shapes challenge the porcelain’s material: it should be sharp, yet the material is soft. The teapot is the centerpiece of the collection, and the mug and little pitcher add a ceremonial feeling to the set"), shown in red (also available in navy) is $141 at Motarasu.
National Candy Day-I’ll support that, proudly:)
SOTD is Suede de Suede, again, cause even after showering I could still smell yesterday’s SOTD. I think it’s gorgeous and that cloudberry note plus the musk dry down is great. Wonder what their in house nose is up to today.
Getting lots of rain here, which we need so badly. Not the epic amounts we were supposed to get.
I join you in supporting National Candy Day!
I’m wearing Eau de Protection because I couldn’t decide what to wear, and I grabbed this decant out of a box. I think it is FBW. I haven’t worn it much, but I am enjoying it quite a bit.
Fragrancenet has it…just saying!
Eau de Protection is one of ELdO’s best, IMO.
I completely forgot to post yesterday. For the concert on Sunday, I went with no 22. It was an okay concert and I am not a huge fan of folk music. Yesterday I wore no 5 edp. Today is going to be an Infusion d’iris day since I will be going to work.
I completely forgot to read comments last night, so we mesh! I am very behind on everything.
It’s Classic 1970s Week here at my house, though, you know, I could easily stretch this into a month long celebration.
Over the weekend, I wore vintage Charlie from Revlon (1973,) and vintage Halston (1975,) both purchased as samples from Surrender To Chance. I can’t be sure exactly how old they are, but presumably they’re old enough to pre-date any major reformulations.
I don’t have any memories of smelling Charlie back in the ‘70s, (and I didn’t have the response to it that Angela had in her beautifully written and painfully evocative NST review.) In fact, I had no strong reaction to it; it just wasn’t very interesting. Bright, somewhat green, with (to my nose) non-specific powdery floral notes, with some faintly fuzzy clean musk. Sort of undistinguished all around. I didn’t hate it, but I’m not sure what made it so popular – maybe Shelley Hack’s lovely smile and fabulous slacks. Certainly a triumph of marketing.
I had much more luck with the vintage Halston. This was actually a delight to wear – a kind of peachy, rosy, mossy chypre, with a warm, ambery dry down. It’s credited to Bernard Chant, who created some of my all-time favorite perfumes. (Side note: I can find very little info about Mr. Chant himself – an elusive figure in the perfume world.)
Yesterday, I wore vintage First, from Van Cleef & Arpels, (1976.) It’s a very early creation from Jean-Claude Elléna, and it’s a gem. What a gorgeous, glamorous, abstract floral. Would I immediately identify it as a ‘70s fragrance? I don’t know. I’m by no means a fragrance historian, or an authority on such things, but it seems like a classic from an even older era. I think Elléna’s genius trick is that he’s made it huge, but not the least bit heavy; it truly sparkles.
Today, I’m in another mainstream perfume marketed to women: Anaïs Anaïs, from Cacharel, (1979.) Ah, the scent worn by my college girlfriend. This is always a tricky one for me to wear, since it’s so evocative of her – “the one that got away.” It’s very pretty, soft, citrusy, floral… lovely stuff.
I also have vintage Halston, and I quite enjoy it. But I have memories associated with it, because it was my mom’s perfume in the early ’80s.
Same here, ockeghem. I can close my eyes and see the bottle on her dresser.
I’ve been waiting for your 70s week, Daniel, and it doesn’t disappoint. I absolutely lurrve vintage Halston. An incredibly green oakmossy oleaginous chypre with all the bells and whistles. To me it’s timeless.
First by VCA is very evocative of some 70s perfumes for me – those starched green aldehydic florals. It reminds me of Balmain Ivoire, Ma Griffe by Carven, even a bit of Chanel No. 19 though not as rounded and smooth. I’ve got some vintage EdT that has really warmed and mellowed and prolly lost some of the aldehydes over time, which is fine with me. It is not my fave genre and seems to fly in the face of the 70s hippie inspired scents. The two opposing poles of scent! Button down crisp white shirt aldehydes vs patchouli, sandalwood, & earthy notes.
Looking forward to reading your choices for the rest of the week!
Looking forward to your commentary on Daniels’ choices!
Denise, I love your perspective on these – and “oleaginous” is now my current favorite perfume word!
I wore Halston back in the day, it was just lovely and the original bottle was so perfect.
I do remember smelling Charlie on other people at the time but it did not make a big impression on me.
First…I never smelled it until I became a perfumista, much later!
I think Charlie was popular due to marketing and availability. I have never really cared for it. I laughed at your Shelly Hack Slacks comment!
You are brave to wear an old loves perfume. I couldn’t do it.
Daniel, I wore every fragrance you mention back in the day when they were first released. Charlie was super special because my mom and I reached owned our own bottle. And in the 70s the basenotes of sandalwood and oak moss were the real deal. It was absolutely GLORIOUS!!! Unfortunately, vintage will never smell the same now as it did back in the day because the top notes go off. Or it really isn’t vintage what you are sampling.
Would love to have the experience with it that you and your mom had. I’m sure it had a lot more going for it than Shelley Hack!
It certainly did!!!!
I will also add that I had a vintage Aliage sample from Surrender to Chance that smelled NOTHING like the Aliage Sport Spray I wore in the 70s. Again, makes me wonder how vintage is it? Or is it just the degradation of the perfume over the years? I wore these fragrances when they were first released and top notes were intact. I remember Laurie Erickson of Sonoma Scent Studio telling me REPEATEDLY that top notes “ go off” after a year or two. So it made sense to me that vintage will NEVER smell the same as it did back in the day.
Yes, it’s not really fair of me to judge “Charlie” from an old sample, especially since I don’t know the original.
There’s a saying in the wine world: “There are no great vintage wines; there are great *bottles* of vintage wines.” In other words, you might get lucky and have a great bottle of 1961 Chateau Latour, but you can’t be sure that every ’61 Latour will be in good shape. No doubt the same is true of perfume.
Exactly. And honestly from my experience even vintage in the most pristine condition will NEVER smell as it did when it was first released.Because all top notes go off after time. I consider myself so incredibly fortunate to have experienced the fragrances of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s when they were current and also NOT reformulated.
I remember wearing Charlie as a tween. It was far from insipid then! That, and Love’s Baby Soft in the splash bottle.
Loves Baby Soft!!!! Yes!!!!!! And Loves Fresh Lemon!!!!
Love’s Rain was so good too.
Oh my goodness!!! I had that too!!! And Loves Wind Scent as well!!!
Late to the party here, Daniel, but what a fragrance host you are! Totally enamoured with this chain of 1970’s scent memories! Thank you for this!
Late to the party here, Daniel, but what a fragrance host you are! Totally enamoured with this chain of 1970’s scent memories! Thank you for this!
darnit, triplicate. Robin, please delete extras. Thank you!
Late to the party here, Daniel, but what a fragrance host you are! Totally enamoured with this chain of 1970’s scent memories! Thank you for this!
Oops, meant to add, that I’ve thunked my Lutens Douce Amere bottle. It was far from full when I got it in a long-ago swap and I wore it with great pleasure and this morning it only had a few drops left, I think when bottles get super low the fragrance sometimes can evaporate faster, so I finished it. What a gorgeous and odd scent that only the ferbrile mind of Uncle Serge could have come up with. Sweet, bitter, sexy, cool, warm, anisic, herbal like those bitter Italian aperitifs or something concocted in a Medieval apothecary by monks, spicy exotic, a thoroughly modern construction inspired by ancient touchstones. RIP my bottle. I think I have a decant somewhere, let’s hope so.
Oh, moment of silence! Love Douce Amere.
I am wearing Prada Infusion d’Oeillet.
Cold, windy, sunny day in the low 50s. I have been feeling very tired and sleepy lately. I might take some time off from work either around Thanksgiving or Christmas time to decompress.
Coffee, coffee and more coffee and a pumpkin donut to keep me awake.
Happy Tuesday! ☕️☕️☕️
Hope the coffee is helping, pl67
It is! 😊
Pass me a donut 🍩 please
🍩🍩🍩
Triple strength coffee for you today! Stat!
I’ll take it! Almost on my way home. 🥱
Taking a break from the Forest Quest, I dove into Mt. Sample and came up with Oriza L. Legrand Horizon. The 1920s spawned some really delicious fragrances, and this was one of them. It was apparently created as a masculine scent, but to me it’s definitely unisex, with notes listed by fragrantica as: Marmalade, Tangerine, Petitgrain and Rose at the top; middle notes are Patchouli, Cacao, Tobacco Leaf, Cognac, Oak, Almond and Amber; base notes are Peat, White Tobacco, Leather, Benzoin, Vanilla, Honey and Ambergris. Lovely, and if they made small bottles (but with the adorable tassel!) I’d be all over it. I have two sample vials and that will probably be enough.
Meanwhile! I have once again indulged in blind buying, but small quantities this time at least. Therabbitsflower suggested a few scents from the LVNEA line as possibilities for the Quest, and I agree. Small amounts of three of them, in various formulations, are on their way. Amber Forest, Ghost Pine and Holy Oak, as parfum crème, perfume oil and EDP, respectively.
ShopFrance can get 50mL bottles of Oriza L. Legrand. IDK if that is still too much for you.
I can’t remember which NSTer told me that, several years ago.
Eek. 😉
Woot, keeping my fingers crossed you’ll find a new love in those samples.
And I really like Horizon and also can’t imagine going through a whole bottle since it’s so rich and strong. My 10ml decant would be plenty.
I hope so too. And yes, Horizon has presence to spare — a rare case where dabs from a dabber vial are quite sufficient!
I nearly wore Chene today but eventually went with Pour un homme by Caron – green, creamy lavender. Very relaxing.
Every time I see someone mention “Pour un Homme”, I think of CM8’s nickname for it: Pour Un Gimme! 🤣
lol!!!! I totally forgot about that!!!
Gimme, gimme, gimme un homme after midnight!
Glannys, PuH was a huge love of mine but my middle child “ borrowed “ my bottle when she went off to university and finished it. I had to buy her a new bottle!
Well, you raised her right – not about stealing your bottle, but about loving PuH.
Fell asleep fully dressed and woke at 3 a.m., hot and hungry. Found out we have a theme now. After some soup, a shower, and changing into pyjamas, I figured I might as well be CP-compliant.
Scent for the rest of the night is Aedes de Venustas Grenadille d’Afrique (vetiver, lavender, violet) – the vetiver is very prominent. Back to bed – see you all tomorrow.
Ack, extra points for starting at 3 am!!! And again, so sorry I was late. Hope you get great sleep.
I have the day off and am on my third load of laundry. Mostly bedding. I also had to make phone calls. Yuk. I then went into the basement and started pitching and shredding. I will be donating the rest of my mom’s scary porcelain dolls. I did find my old scarecrow door wreath which is now on my door. I will be heading to the grocery store soon. All this just to avoid what really needs to be done.. cleaning the bathroom. Lol.
Anyway.. yesterday I wore Opium so I decided to wear another heavy hitter today. Angel Innocent with the matching lotion.
Angel Innocent is so nice!
It really is. It’s probably my favorite flanker.
Scary dolls. You can do it!
They are packed up and ready to go!
If I lived near you I’d happily clean your bathroom. I have been known to spend two hours cleaning the bathtub. Ask Undina 😆
It’s mainly the tub I hate to clean. My elbows run out of grease pretty quickly. Lol.
And that’s my specialty!! Invite me over 😂
OMG, do drop by any time!!
Good for you, tackling the basement clutter!
A little bit here and there seems to be making a difference.
I started out doing iris week wearing Shalimar MI yesterday. Today I had to go to the optometrist so decided I would go with Courreges Blanc since it is fairly light. Depending on what the CP is this week, I may just keep going with iris.
Vetiver…choose your root 🙂
The heritage roses are almost at their peak now in the cemetery so I’ve been dawdling and sniffing.. one was the most beautiful rose with a strong lemon note, a beautiful blend of rose and squeezed lemon. Who would have thought? I didn’t have my notebook so locked the name of the rose into my memory bank, which somehow got withdrawn by the time I arrived back at the car. It was a female name, but not one of those “ Madame” ones. I will try retracing my steps when I go back.
It’s Guy Fawkes here tonight which absolutely terrifies my dog. She will try and hide in a cupboard to get away from the fireworks. Two nights ago students staged a fireworks ‘ battle’ firing rockets at each other, and then the police when they intervened. All the students will leave next week for the summer so things calm down then. Going ‘70s with Rive Gauche.
Aww.. poor pup!
Firing fireworks at each other!! Glad the term is almost over, and good luck tonight.
I’ve woken up in the mood for rose today, so I’m wearing La Rose from Le Galion.
Gosh, I have not worn rose in eons. Must rectify that soon…
I’m wearing Meo Fusciuni Luce this morning, and waiting for a Luckyscent package of Maksim Cologne d’Agar. There was a lull in the rain so I have already walked, and now I’m in the recliner with kitties.
Yes to kitty snuggles!
I too reached for Chene and ended up with the one behind it – Ecrin De Fumee. Perfect for the day.
I am meeting with the LAPL language leader next week to review all of my training and will get my location and class assigment then.
Anxious about how all the voting will turn out so a good day to keep busy.
Hey almost-twin!
Yesterday my packet of samples from Luckyscent was arrived and so now I have three new Jorum Studio scents to try out. I did wear the Boswellia one yesterday and liked it, though I don’t think it’s something I need to buy. Today I’m wearing Nectary, which is somewhat odd–it’s a rather stinky rose. At first I couldn’t smell rose at all, but just something a bit plasticky (maybe the oud?). Now the rose is strong, but so is the dirty stuff underneath (or on top of) it! The notes include ambergris, civet, musk, and castoreum, in addition to the oud, and there’s some cranberry (I do not detect this note at all!) plus incense (also undetected thus far). To be fair, I was asking for something a bit strange when selecting to try this one with that combination of notes! It’s an interesting perfume, but also not one I need to buy. Ideally, I’d give these a sniff after some good sprays. but all I have are the little dabbers. There’s still one more to go, Healing Berry–and judging from a sniff of the vial, it is a VERY realistic fruity smell, so I look forward to taking it for a whirl soon.
That does sound interesting. Is it real civet and castoreum? They are so rare now seems silly to waste them by mixing with oud.
I’m smelling like tart leather in a sample of Cognoscenti’s Tomato Leather. I get much more leather and very little tomato leaf from this. And a mellow whiff of gasoline in the background. I image fans of leather notes would like this, but it is not for me.
Tea today is Honey Orchid from Clipper Ship. It is a plummy, sweet tobacco smelling tea. I haven’t tried Mugler’s Naughty Fruity, but I imagine they are similar. I added milk today, but I think I prefer it on its own because it is medium-light bodied.
Tart leather? I’m trying to wrap my head around that combination of notes.
You know how leather notes sometimes have a fruity ester facet? It’s that dialed up to 11.
Byredo Blanche day 10? I lost count. I’ve already drained 25 ml of my 100 ml bottle
And may I add, sent to me by one of my dearest friends which makes it extra special
I love your enthusiastic spraying and spraying!
I’m a notorious oversprayer. Been that way for five decades. Can I blame my dry skin? 😂
100ml! I will hear the thunk from here! Lol.
I promise to “announce “ the ThUnK. I promise you, it WILL happen
Almost forgot to tell you..
I heard BBW is bringing back Brown Sugar and Fig for the next semi annual sale. If I recall you were a fan. I’m going to stock up!
Tea of the afternoon is Throat Coat because I can’t completely shake a little sore throat.
Sotd is AdV Signature. The combo of rhubarb, tomato leaf and vetiver makes it one of my favorite fragrances.
Oh yuck. Sorry to hear that you have a sore/scratchy throat.
You smell awesome!
Wearing Shalimar l’essence today as I had an appointment so didn’t want anything too intrusive. Yesterday I was in Ciara.
Ciara! Yum! Blast from my past.
I second this.
It’s so good, especially in the cold weather.
Ciara is sooo good!
It sure is. Somehow I missed out on it long ago.
Never tried Ciara back in the day. Sounds like I missed out.
It’s a relatively new one for me; it’s worth trying (even if you can test it in-store). I got a huge bottle (ridiculously inexpensively).
Good to know this, thanks!
Hurray, hurray, the clothes washer was repaired today! I can now wash loads without worrying if the cycle will finish or not. What a relief. Also had someone inspecting the furnace today and changing the HVAC filter. Furnace works as it should. Definitely NOT a day where it is needed, though. Temps were in the upper 70’s here.
SOTD = commando again.
Yay for working appliances!
For sure! Now I can do something about my full laundry hamper! 🤣🤣
A working clothes washer and furnace sure does make one appreciate what we often take for granted, doesn’t it? 😻😽😼want to know how’s Teflon Kitty today?
I had to turn on the furnace a couple of times before today, but it’s nice to know that it’s operating within specs.
Teflon has had a couple of naps in a sunbeam today. She is NOT enjoying the ear drops, but was a relatively good sport about it this morning. We shall see if it is that easy tonight…
Yay for peace of mind that the appliances are working!
Oh yeah!!
Gosh that was a long wait! Enjoy the clean clothes 🙂
A replacement part had to be ordered. That was probably the biggest chunk of the wait time.
But now I have clean towels!
SotD Guerlain’s Bois d’Armenie, because Vee’s offering of it over at the Splitmeet reminded me I’ve not worn it in a while. I smell sweet woods and just a little smoke. The Moon is just rising here, and it is so beautiful I bet it it won’t be too much better for tomorrow’s Super Moon!
😎
Just read that the Beaver supermoon will peak at 8:19 am…but will be good night of 11/5 too.
Another nice day here similar to yesterday. I treated myself to a dip in the hot tub this morning and enjoyed watching the birds and squirrels busy at our feeding stations and the little chipmunks scurrying away with food to prepare for the cold weather they know is coming.
An online yoga class to follow and YR Ode au Reve with its sandalwood and incense notes to keep the day’s zen mood going.
Sending ☮️ to all ✌️!
Chipmunks are adorable when they are outside, where they belong. 🐿️
Happy Election Day in the U.S.! Hope everyone exercised their right to vote!
Sotd The Harmonist Moon Glory in honor of the full moon, which is the Beaver Moon I believe.
The nose behind this fragrance is Guillaume Flavigny.
Top notes are Ylang-Ylang, Hawaiian Jasmine and Litchi;
middle notes are Honey, Passion Flower and Queen of the Night Flower;
base notes are Peru Balsam, White Musk and Hinoki Wood.
A divine fragrance to me. Sweet from the honey and litchi, but not cloying. The balsam gives the dry down a smoky note to me, like a steaming cup of Lapsang Souchong tea with generous honey. Part of the Sun and Moon collection, along with Sun Force.
Quite enjoying all the 70’s discussions. Those days for me were Halston, Dioressence and Love’s Fresh Lemon. Although I always wanted to run off with the male model in the Wind Song print ads.
I loved the TV ad Wind Song guy!
So tweedy and dreamy!
With huge apologies I know it’s late! But Friday’s project will be vetiver…we have done it before but not since 2017.
Nice, thanks! List made!
Thanks Robin!