It’s Tuesday, plus National Chocolate Cake Day and International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Birthdays: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Lewis Carroll, Jerome Kern, Bobby Blue Bland, Narciso Rodriguez and Alan Cumming. There are 52 days until the spring equinox, but only 33 days until the first day of meteorological spring. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm in Narciso by Narciso Rodriguez aka White Cube. Tea at the moment is Cascadia Breakfast from Jasmine Pearl Tea Co, brewed double strength with cardamom, with half & half and a sprinkle of nutmeg.
Reminder: 1/30 will be Play Nice Friday...wear a fragrance which, while it still bears the stamp of the perfumer’s art, is more or less guaranteed to offend no-one. (Suggested by pyramus.)
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2026, where I'll try (but usually fail) to have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: the Kintsugi Teapot ("Kintsugi Japanese art assumes contemporary shapes. The delicate porcelaine is glorified and enriched with gold fragments for a tableweare [sic] collection made of charming and unexpected compositions") is $197 at Seletti.
Hello.
Sotd is Kilian Black Phantom. Deep, dark and delicious coffee and chocolate. A seductive grown up gourmand.
Robin, looking at all those cute bird pictures you’ve posted, have we done a bird CP where we scent our own favourite bird? I am sure we’ve done a bird themed one but don’t recall the exact details.
Sounds like a great idea
Great idea!!
Gosh, I don’t think so! Great idea.
Great idea for a bird CP and your SOTD sounds wonderful!
Cool CP idea!
I am liking this weeks CP- a quiet agreement with the world to glide, not provoke.
Playing it nice in Chanel no 5 L’Eau. Chanel polish, without offending anyone.
Robin your tea with half and half and nutmeg sounds really yum! In my cup is Matin Parisien by Mariage Frères, which feels like the tea equivalent of L’Eau. Black tea brightened with citrus with a splash of milk.
I’ve just begun The Garden of Eden by Hemingway, fresh off finishing The Reader yesterday. Meeting this morning to discuss the library’s celebration of our “Semiquincentennial”-yeah, that just rolls of the tongue doesn’t it! lol
Aha, and that is a MF tea I have not tried…have not ordered from them in ages!
Hermes Cuir d’Ange for the CP – thunked my 4-ml sample. Leather scents are usually very risky, but this is the softest, the airiest floral suede, highly unlikely to offend anyone.
Congratulations on your thunking
Perfect choice for the cp Glannys.
My car said 10 degrees this morning on the way to work. woo hoo! Double digits! And in the right direction. 😉
I’m in Glossier You. Do you have one perfume that you could wear day after day not get sick of it? This is mine.
Bracing myself for an afternoon meeting that I suspect I will leave feeling frustrated. sigh
I have a few that I can wear all the time and not get sick of it. Shalimar is one, some Chanel’s and a few others
Yes, I think no 5 l’eau could also work for me. Just easy to wear.
Madtowngirl, you are lucky. I get tired of every scent after several days of wear. When I go on vacation, I take samples/decants and when I get back I don’t want to see them again for a long time.
ha! Back in the day I was a signature scent person, wearing only one perfume for a few years at a time. When I fell down the rabbit hole ~15 years ago I felt like I wanted to try everything I could. Now for some reason, I feel like getting back to just one scent. Maybe because there is so much in life that is out of my control, that the simplicity of one scent everyday IS something that I can control. 🤷♀️ idk
I think one I could wear about every day and not get sick of is Marc Jacobs Daisy-the original however, I only wear it in the warmer months.
Nice.🌞
I hope that your meeting turned out better than anticipated.
Thanks Jalapeño. It went as I expected it would, but at least it’s over!😆
I’m continuing my grab bag mini theme this week, and today’s grab was Elixir des Merveilles, perfect for the cold weather.
Yum.
I wore this yesterday along with the L’ambre flanker. You are smelling great!
I love the Elixir in winter too.❤️
Inadvertently, I think I qualify for CP points this morning, in the current version of Chanel 19 edt. I have some of the vintage version, and while it probably wouldn’t actually offend, it might wrinkle a nose or two. But the current version is, while recognizably Chanel, not likely to do anything but garner compliments.
I was trying to decide this morning if Cristalle would offend anybody…
The edp, maaaayyybe. The edt, I just don’t see how …
The EdT is what I wear. But I don’t know if modern noses can take oakmoss? Course, my old stuff is almost gone anyway.
Smelling great in No. 19 EdT!
Thanks J!
I’m wearing L’Eau D’Hiver from Frederic Malle, which is lovely anytime of the year, but perfect on this very chilly morning in Los Angeles.
Oh that one’s so nice and you smell great, Daniel. Perfect for our crisp cold but sunny weather in L.A. today.
I love your SOTD, Daniel! There’s a new FM coming out this month or so-will you try it?
Inquiring minds want to know about this new FM🧐
Sounds like it might be called Contre-Jour and be an Immortelle fragrance.
I hadn’t heard! Well, I’ll definitely want to sample it. So curious – I wonder if Frederic had a hand in its beginnings, or if it’s a thoroughly post-FM fragrance.
I love your SOTD, Daniel! There’s a new FM coming out this month or so-will you try it?
Even Los Angeles is feeling the chill this winter.
I will be wearing Chanel #18 after shower. It is my absolute #1. Last time I ordered a bottle (and haven’t opened it) I got it for $350. The very next day all Exclusifs got priced $5 more – they are now $355. I’m ordering another bottle of #18 tomorrow so I can open the first one. I am this kind of a person that I like to keep extras of what I love. But I always want to have an unopened bottle of #18 and keep it. Maybe for a wedding day gift for my Daughter?
Interesting way to look at it! I would end up with way too many bottles that way, but if you have to have it, it makes sense!
Right, I absolutely do have to have it. I can’t describe it any other way, nor do people around me would ever understand. Why? I don’t know why all I know is I have to have it. Period.
I have an opened bottle of Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche and an unopened one. Ordered from Chanel website. Same thing. Just have to have it. I have the same with Paris Venise. Opened and unopened. Lol have to have it.
The last few months I only wore Chanel – but a dear friend of mine gave me some samples and I have a vintage sample of original Angel. It is so beautiful!! I also remember when I fell in love with The Vagabond Prince some 8 years ago I bought two bottles of The Swan Princess. I still have one unopened waiting either fory Daughter to ask me for it when She’s big or idk just to have as a collectible. I have an unopened bottle of Musc Pallida – the oil version by Hermes as well as an unopened bottle of Shalini Amorem Rose. Same goes to Orris Wakan bottle of oil – just put away. My little 6.5 year old knows Mommy loves perfume. Her favorite is Chanel Chance Eau Tendre!!
I have a question: do any of You love/like original Angel by Mugler? Is it a fragrance that has a cult following? Is it considered a classic – in the sense that it was maybe the first fruitchouli that gave birth to for example Coco Mademoiselle etc.?
Yes, I love the original Angel…on other people. It was released right after I graduated from college and my college bestie wore it and still does. It smells amazing on her. I can’t wear it, it makes me feel nauseous.🤢 Same for coco mademoiselle, just can’t do it, but love to smell them on other people. And I would consider it a classic.
She still wears it? This is amazing, what it has been over 30 years now?
Definitely considered a classic and also a groundbreaking idea. Also, I think Chanel No. 18 qualifies as office-friendly/offend no one. Come sit by me!
Haha oh thanks:)
Angel is what I would call a modern classic as opposed to the likes of Shalimar, Chanel No. 5, etc. It was the first gourmand perfume.
Right, that’s what I meant to say: modern classic.
A beautiful Tuesday to all of NST!
For optimism & looking forward to spring on a brisk morning, Abel’s Laundry Day.
You have a beautiful Tuesday too, LesLiesse 🙂
🤗
I’m wearing Shalimar L’Essence from a bottle I bought months ago even though I didn’t want it at the time. I was craftily planning ahead and thinking that maybe someday in the future I would enjoy it and I was not wrong. 🙃
I was off perfume for quite a while for many reasons, but mostly because the decision making process began to stress me out. My brain was just too tired from making decisions about a lot other things and it became a joyless pursuit. When I opened my traveling perfume box, instead of going “Ahhh!🥰” I was instead going to”Ugh😞.” No fun in that!
Anyway, I just left L’Essence next to my salt and pepper grinders in the kitchen area in clear site. Started spritzing without even thinking about it. Easy peasy. It’s a great everyday scent even though I don’t wear perfume everyday anymore. However, I have somehow managed to get through three fourths of the bottle…! It’s cold where I am and I’ve doused all my scarves I bought in France a couple of years ago so that even if I don’t spray directly I still get a lovely whiff when I wrap my scarf. It really is a very calming and soothing scent, appropriate for any occasion so I think it fits the CP remarkably well.
Hope everyone is well, warm, and safe. ❤️
Deva! Nice to see you here. 🙂
DEEEEEVVVVVAAAAAA!!!!!
Hello there Deva! Glad to see you posting sometimes!
Dear Deva!!
Hoping you and T-Rex are also well, warm and safe.
Lovely to see you!
It’s so good to hear from you!!
I can definitely relate to the shades of decision fatigue when it comes to fragrances. It’s good you recognized it and can now have some easy daily enjoyment with L’Essence.
Glad to see you back, and easing back into perfume at least a bit! Looks like you’ve been having fun travels with T-Rex!
Hi Deva! We’ve missed you! How is dear doggo?
Sassy as ever, thank you. Hoping all your furry friends are happy and healthy. 🐈🐈⬛
Keep warm Deva, and T-Rex too, maybe in one of her little coats.
She’s making good use of her fleece as it’s pretty chilly here. Hope all is well in your world!
Scent twins!
So nice to see you!
So nice to see you, Deva! 🤗 🤗 to you and T-Rex.
❤️
Hiya Deva! Are you still traveling thru the US for various gigs?
Still traveling, not gigging.
Gotcha. Keep the shiny side up and the greasy side down!
Deva! L’Essence is a beautiful and easy wear! So happy to see you stop by…sending you hugs! 🥰
I am wearing Guerlain Joyeuse Tubereuse and drinking a cup of English Breakfast tea.
That is a nice pairing
In Carnal Flower for some sultry oomph. It’s up to 13, but with 18 mph winds blowing, ugh.
After watching All Creatures on Sunday, I flipped over to HGTV, which was wrapping up an episode of Celebrity IOU. The celeb was William Shatner, who sponsored a home reno for his assistant. At the end, one of the Property Brothers came out with a tray of celebratory drinks, sporting Spock ears. Shatner went over and gave him a Vulcan neck grip, haha. Appreciate moments of levity in times like these!
Ha, we are up to 22 at the moment…I could do with some Carnal Flower!
Joining you in the ‘ugh,’ I’m ready to hibernate til April. I end my TV viewing on Sun. nites after All Creatures because it always leaves me in such a good mood and I don’t want anything to dispel that feeling.
It’s definitely comfort tv.
I finally finished American Revolution, boy was that long, and it was NOT comforting…had to follow with some All Creatures.
Continuing my exploration of vintage Oscar from Oscar de La Renta – the 1970s bomb.
I have an old bottle of the EdP and I recently got an old bottle of the EdT and I decided that I like the EdT better. It was one of about five signature scents I rotated among in the old days, so maybe familiarity plays a role, but the vintage EdT and EdP are definitely different. (I think only the EdT is still in production today).
The EdP is more symphonic, heavy, floral and fruity. A rich kitchen sink. Her parents were Hermes Rue Fauburg and original Boucheron. The EdT is more streamlined. Its less floral/fruity to my nose and contains more woods and perhaps tobacco and the more stripped down notes allow some light spices to shine through. If I squint I see Serge Lutens appearing faintly on the horizon. But is it a mirage? Both versions have powdered noses.
Have you compared the older bottles to the new formulation?
Long ago I had the Oscar dusting powder. It was beautiful 🤩
No, I have not tested the new formulation but half the ingredients listed on the basenotes.net description for Oscar seem to be off limits today and the brand has changed hands so I don’t have high hopes. There seem to be lots of various age bottles floating around on the resale sites. If anyone is curious, they should look for the full name Oscar De La Renta and a clear glass bottle with a bas-relief imprint of a flower. Oh, whoops, I just looked at the label under a magnifying glass and it says “parfum.” Dang! Distributor is Sanofi. So I guess I haven’t re-tried the vintage EdT yet, LOL LOL! Well, the parfum is very nice, I can say that.
One of my relatives wore Oscar, I should re-visit
SOTD is Chergui. Just cause.
Good enough!
I’m wearing SL’s Bois de Violette, just because it’s lovely and I haven’t worn it for a while.
Also good enough!
Bois de Violette was one of the first perfumes that convinced me violet notes weren’t all bad.
Robin, you smell great. I need to pull White Cube out again.
I’m inadvertently CP-compliant, I think. I’m wearing AbdesSalaam’s chypre from his kit of perfumery bases, and he nails it but with a nice flowery twist in it.
But had I known, I’d be wearing CB I Hate Perfume’s After Party for Alan Cumming’s birthday. I suspect that’ll be my SOTE.
I wish I still had some of the original Cumming!
Me too!
I wish I had gotten some! After Party is the closest I could get.
I’m wearing Angelique Noire today. Very lovely and nothing noir about it.
You smell beautiful.
Agree, it’s not noir. I always think it should be called Angelique Verte. I
I’m wearing SL Borneo 1843, which probably doesn’t meet requirements for the CP, but it’s the third day in a row I’ve worn it! Something in its mildly spicy patchouli is perfect for our (atypically) cold weather. And it has amazing lasting power!
Ooops, Borneo 1834; I transposed the numbers.
Calypso I love your SOTD-i have it in the Gratte Ciel bottle. You smell amazing 🙂
It’s a beauty, Calypso.
Mxxx today for the pencil shaving/cacao/real ambergris. Wonderful! Off for a walk and then more organization. I guess this one doesn’t quite work for the CP, but last night’s did: I wore BK Amber Oud which (maybe surprisingly) is a very soft, subtle fragrance. In fact, many reviewers are disappointed by its delicate fragrance and the lack of oud, but I love it.
I do love pencil shavings 🙂
Wearing Lancome Iris Dragees today. It seems to float around in the air and I’m enjoying it quite a bit. It’s a perfect cool weather scent in my books.
Iris Dragees always sounds so pretty, in the best way.
I’m in a sample of DS Durga Crush Balls, which is a tame scent, even if the name is at odds with the CP 🤣 They nailed the scent of a freshly opened canister of tennis balls, plus crushed grass, and something thinly sweet – hay maybe? I’d like to try this against IA’s Soft Lawn. I think Soft Lawn would win for me with that linden note.
Tea today is Clipper Ship’s Enchanted Forest, which reminds me of Marco Polo minus the red fruits.
Marco Polo is one of my desert island teas
Hiya Vee! Do you have a sample of Soft Lawn already?
Hey Jalapeno! I do — I have a travel size of it but I was working from the office today so I didn’t have it with me.
All righty then!
Kayali Silk Santal. It’s easy and pleasant, and on a day when i am feeling blah that’s all i am looking for! A little bit candy sweet, but not headachy. Some vanilla, some of the sandalwood i like. If i pay too much attention, there’s a scratchy ambrozan-adjacent base which i don’t love, so i just keep my interest skin deep 😉
Ha, that’s the spirit! Don’t let the ambroxan get you down.
I’m in Histoire des Parfums, but annoté remember the year-it’s made with Empress Eugenie in mind. has patchouli in it, and anise. It sounds like sensory overload but it’s quiet. Shovelled the driveway again-30 cm of snow and a high wind. Without the wind it was light fluffy snow that sparkled in the night air. So sick of winter-jealous of people in England posting on Insta who have crocus blooming already:)
Crocus already! Rude of them, honestly.
Blooming crocus in January?!? That is early!
The snowdrops aren’t even out here in BC…and it seems to me that I usually see them right about now.
Today is a duplicate of yesterday, blue sky and 🌞 but bitter temps only into the mid-teens with a cold wind. I wanted something warm and cozy, so I reached for the VS Cashmere Vanilla Jasmine again layered over BBW’s Snowflakes and Cashmere body products. Like several others here, I find it inadvertently fits this week’s cp – it’s a soft creamy, woody vanilla, I don’t really smell any jasmine, and I can’t imagine it offending anyone while it still stays true to its luxurious intent.
Book discussion at the library tonight which I will force myself to attend although I feel like hibernating til April!
Happy Tuesday!🥶
Warmer weather is headed your way, I promise! It just seems to be taking its sweet time.
I started the day in VC&A Bois d’Iris, planning to do a week of Iris fragrances since most of mine fall into the category of office safe/inoffensive.
But then I tuned into an interview with Christopher Sheldrake hosted by the Osmotheque and saw all of the Serge wearing going on here today and switched to SL Bois et Fruits.
It was so fun to hear him talk about his childhood and early plans to be an architect. He also said that his inspiration for Chergui was the scent of tobacco, spices and fruits/vegetables wafting in an open market.
I was proud of myself because I could understand most of the interview, conducted in French🥰🇫🇷
Yay you!! Sounds like a great interview. I appreciate the nugget about the inspiration for Chergui.
And this might already be out there as known Serge lore but Sheldrake said that Serge likes/finds scents more interesting than he does perfume. It’s simply the necessary vehicle.
I didn’t know that. But I can understand it.
Posting late today! Had a late afternoon phone call with my brother instead of our typical evening one today.
More melting of snow here. Temps were in the mid 40’s this afternoon but it didn’t feel like it thanks to a cold breeze. The city of Denver has had only 13.4 inches of snow so far this winter. Some folks back East got more than that from last week’s storm.
SOTD = still in CK Euphoria. Don’t think this is CP compliant. It smells very much of its time as a first-generation fruitchouli. I enjoy it a lot but can see how some people might not.
Wow, yeah, we have beat you for sure, snow-wise.
Euphoria definitely not cp-compliant, enjoy!
And Denver has had more snow than where I am at.
I have a question: I have seen people online (somewhere) that talked about which bottles they would get if they ordered the 5 smaller Chanel Exclusif bottle set. From what I have seen personally I only saw that these sets used to have Coromandel, Gardenia and 1932 and/or Beige and/or 22. Now these sets have Gardenia, Sycomore, 1957, Comete and Coromandel.
It’s a shame. I really want the set but out of all the 5 they offer I would only want the Coromandel.
I have 2 bottles of Sycomore: the old EdT and the new EdP. I do want to add Coromandel to my collection eventually. I have 1957 and no desire to wear it. It is not my favorite – too many other favorite Chanel perfumes. I am not crazy about Comete and I am not crazy about Gardenia.
So paying over $800 for a little bottle of Coromandel that I desire out of the set sounds crazy. I could get the 2.5oz of Coromandel a long with a 6.8 oz one for over $800.
But I LOVE the small Les Exclusifs bottles. I was lucky I was able to purchase one 1.2oz bottle of Exclusif of #22 from a friend who had an old set.
But now I want my own set like this except out of the 5 they offer I really love/want only 1.
What can I do?
Would you consider selling me your bottle of 1957?
From what I’ve heard, if you go to the Chanel beauty boutique, you are able to choose which 5 bottles you’d like for your set (providing they have them in stock). Maybe give them a call and ask?
sotd = CdG Sticky Cake
Another random grab from the sample pile this morning, and it makes me smile this evening to come to NST and find that it’s a day of celebrating cake, with happy birthday wishes to all who celebrate life today, as well as to Wolfgang, Lewis, and Alan, artists all. 🥳🎂
Sticky Cake sounds like it’s perfect for all the chilly weather people are experiencing.
It used to be my absolute favorite fragrance some 15+ years ago!! Sticky Cake – that was when the original bottles were discontinued and before CdG revived this and Nomad Tea in the white, opaque ones. This and Nomad Tea were my favorites and so hard to find. I used to pay an arm and a leg for small samples of Sticky Cake as I couldn’t find a bottle anywhere.