Happy Friday! It’s also International Polar Bear Day, Pokémon Day, World NGO Day and Anosmia Awareness Day. Birthdays: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Steinbeck, Mildred Bailey, Dexter Gordon and Elizabeth Taylor. Our community project for today: wear an amber fragrance, if you have one. (This is a repeat from 2018.)
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 still can't find my Ambre Narguile, and if I have any Prada Homme left, I couldn't find that either. I'm in Hermès L'Ambre des Merveilles.
Reminder: 3/6 is The Day of the Dude. Our community project: Take it easy, man. (This is a repeat from 2020.)
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: top image is Sperm Whale. Kaikoura.NZ [cropped] by Bernard Spragg. NZ at flickr; public domain.
I am wearing Jo Malone Dark Amber & Ginger Lily for the CP.
Another nice, sunny day in the 40s. Going out for lunch to take advantage of the walk.
Happy Friday! 🌞
Happy Friday pl67, you’re smelling wonderful!
Thank you, Ringthing! 🌻
That is such a pretty JM scent!
It is! Nice and enjoyable.
I love a good whale picture 🙂
I chose Goutal Paris Ambre Sauvage. This is a beautiful deep amber scent and fits well with their scent line based on Quatari princess scents. I do find amber scents in general last forever on my skin and this one is no exception to that rule.
Looking forward to see what everyone else is choosing for their SOTD. It’s above zero here and I can start to see the first buds on trees-so welcome. Seems like winter has been going on for a long time.
Amber last on my skin as well! I haven’t smelled your SOTD but I love anything from Goutal
I’ve not smelled that one but I did like Ambre Fetiche quite a bit.
I’m enjoying reading The Lost Garden. Thanks for mentioning it
The snow has finally melted in my front yard, I need to go search for snowdrops, they are probably up…
Hello and tgif!
Sotd is SL Ambre Sultan, my favourite amber. Don’t have much cold weather left to wear it so it’s now or next winter!
I am still trying to warm up to any one of the Merveilles but still nope. It’s weird because in my mind I know they’re great scents but I just don’t like them…
I know that for many people, that’s the best amber perfume. I bought a bottle early on in my collecting experience but never got over feeling that it smells like turpentine. Sorry! I have saved the bottle this whole time (20 years) in the hope that some day I will learn to appreciate it more.
Twins!
I am one who absolutely loves all the Merveilles and find it fascinating how we all smell things so differently and wonder why.. If you don’t like it, that’s ok,, no reason to feel bad about it. There are numerous scents that people rave about and I don’t like at all, I either smell something different than what they describe or just don’t care for the way it smells on me. And that’s ok., too.
I totally agree with you.
I’m going for extra points, wearing Aftelier Amber Tapestry, an amber perfume with real ambergris in it. It is a very unusual take on amber, but it is, as promised, very shimmery scent, with yellow mandarin, pear and cinnamon, sambac and grandiflorum jasmine notes woven into classic labdanum amber base laced with ambergris, coumarin and castoreum.
You must smell marvelous, akimon. Those notes sound great.
Scent twins today with Robin in L’Ambre des Merveilles.
Triplets! It might be a big family today…
🙂
Did you end up getting this one?
A wonderful NSTer gave me a partial bottle of it.
That’s awesome!
I’m in Omnia Ambra this morning, and feeling sleep-deprived. Our birthday dinner last night was great fun and so delicious. My order surprised everyone except our waiter, who had recommended the sea bass and was delighted when I went with it. Delectable! And for a steakhouse to do a delicate fish that well is truly remarkable.
Sounds like you have a fun evening
Nice, so glad it was a birthday-worthy dinner!
Mmmm! 😋 Glad you had a great time!
I am sad today, one of my perfume friends has died unexpectedly. We never met in person but her wit, generosity, and intelligence made for lively online discussions. I will miss Cookbot so much. We had very different tastes in perfume, but we both liked Paco Rabanne La Nuit parfum, so I am wearing it today in remembrance of her.
Wow, I’m so sorry. It’s always hard to lose a friend but when it’s completely unexpected it somehow seems even worse. Very thoughtful to wear a perfume you both enjoyed.
Oh dear, that’s sad and I’m so sorry. I have a close connection with many people who are “merely” online friends, and would be quite upset at losing them.
I am so sorry. Hugs.
I’m sorry you’ve lost a real connection and a friend.
Very sorry foxbins. My condolences.
More condolences, that is hard.
I’m so sorry for your sudden loss, foxbins. Wearing a shared fragrance is a lovely way to keep her close💕
So sorry foxbins, it’s hard to lose a friend.
I’m sorry for your unexpected loss, sending you a fragrant hug!
Oh, I’m so very sorry. 🤗
My sympathies on the loss of your friend, foxbins. Hugs.
I’m very sorry for your loss foxbins.
So sorry foxbins. Hugs.
So very sorry, foxbins. Sending you comfort and hugs.
I am wearing MPG Ambre precieux, from an old decant bottle I forgot I had.
Going to lunch with family and friends to celebrate my birthday, turning 60 this year.
Watching on Netflix the series The museum of Innocence of Orhan Pamuk, one of my favourite books of all time. I was debating whether i should watch it since sometimes the series don’t make justice to the book, I thought this one was very well done, the characters and places were as I imagined .
Happy Birthday! And I am putting this series on my two watch list
I’m glad to hear about that show! I love Orhan Pamuk, and in fact, got an autographed copy of that book when he spoke here in Houston around the time in came out. Honestly, it’s not one of my favorites of his (that would be My Name is Red, Snow, and Black Book), but I’m still interested to see how they made it into a TV series.
You are lucky to have an autographed book. I love My Name is Red, Snow too. For some reason the Museum of Innocence is special for me because of the collecting of objects and also I am familiar with the 70’s Istanbul, each detail reminds me of that time. I also visited the actual museum in Istanbul, soooo interesting.
Happy birthday! I love Orhan Pamuk too and have read all his books. His essays, All the Colours is also terrific. I didn’t realise Netflix had serialised Museum of Innocence ( but we have a very meagre version of Netflix because of distribution rights so it might not be showing here)
That’s a beauty, Hera. Mmmmm.
For anyone who can read it:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/world/europe/orhan-pamuk-istanbul-turkey-museum-of-innocence.html
The opening…
“Six years ago, the Turkish author and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk received the plot summary of a planned television adaptation of one of his most celebrated novels, “The Museum of Innocence.” As he flipped through its pages, he was horrified.
The production company had taken liberties far beyond what Mr. Pamuk considered reasonable in condensing for the screen his 500-page-plus tale of obsessive love in Istanbul in the 1970s and ‘80s, adding plot twists that he felt egregiously diverted his narrative.
So he struck back, suing the producer to reclaim the rights to his story.”
Thanks for the article. Good on him for putting up a fight.
Happy Birthday! Wishing you a wonderful year ahead filled with all good things!🥳
Happy Scented Birthday, Hera! 🎉🎁🎂💐
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday, Hera! 🎂
Thank you for all the birthday wishes.
Welp, a lot of nonsense happened yesterday in my little part of the world. I’ll spare everyone, since it doesn’t compare to the bigger picture these days.😉
Today is another one of my favorite perfumes and it’s the absolute definition of this week’s CP: Profumum Roma Ambra Aurea.
She thicc! She smoooth! She’ll light a fire in your heart even if you’re wandering the high arctic in January in the middle of a white out with polar bears hot on your trail. One spray will ignite fingers and toes, swaddle you in warmth and comfort, tame the most hungry polar bear, and probably save your life. It’s that good.
I have a little 18ml travel spray and when I went to apply it today, there was some crystallization right on the spray outlet. I carefully poured some hot water over it to see if I could dissolve it so the spray mechanism would work correctly. The fragrance that arose from the steamy sink almost sent me into Neverland. Absolutely stunning. 🤩
For those that enjoy very long, very detailed fragrance reviews, here’s some feedback on this perfume:
https://kafkaesqueblog.com/2013/06/07/perfume-review-ambra-aurea-by-profumum-roma/
Stay safe!
Her reviews were always over-the-top, sometimes rather pretentious imho, but at other times, insightful.
Really? That’s an interesting take.
I had a creative writing student this year and when I suggested her work was over-written in places ( so elaborate and image laden) she responded that the paragraphs were, in fact, ‘ audacious’.
I was going to ask if you (a) still had some Ambra Aurea, and (b) if you experienced the crystal-formation thing. My travel spray of it also gets crystals around the spray nozzle, and I just gently dislodge them before spraying. I should try hot water, as the spray isn’t quite right even after the dislodging.
Well, before you do that I should clarify the word “hot.” I used WARM water but it’s so cold this morning, steam was rising from the sink. I’m afraid really “HOT” water might damage or crack your bottle. And, after I did that, it did spray like brand new. I did use a q-tip as well to gently scrub the outlet, too. Good luck!
Good advice – thanks!
Great description and I agree with you! Sorry about the nonsense in your world.
It’s a wonderful perfume, if you like ambers. Definitely get your nose on it if you come across it. 🙂
Ugh, hope the nonsense is over. Though when is it ever…
Absolutely never. But, I’m listening to some music, doing a little beading project, and getting on with my day. 🙃
You smell great! I wore AA earlier this week and it’s even better than I remembered…sending you hugs! 🤗
CSP Vanille Ambre today, simplicity itself, a beautiful amber laced with that irresistible CSP vanilla.
Sounds delicious
Happy Friday everyone.
I chose En Voyage perfumes Captured in Amber layered over a perfume gift.
A dear friend just got back from Morocco and she went to a market and bought me a little bottle of scented oil, and videotaped the experience so I could feel like I was there. It’s sweet but not OTT, I can’t parse any notes but it’s soft and pretty. I mixed a few drops with unscented lotion and used it this morning, then applied Captured in Amber and it smells great.
What a thoughtful friend, and that is a great idea to take a video.
It was! She was traveling on business and knows nothing about perfume, so that made it especially sweet of her.
What your friend did was so freaking cool!
How sweet of your friend.
SL Ambre Sultan, pre-reformulation. I had to save it for Friday!
That’s a great choice.
Me too, Glannys. For me, she is the queen, the sultana, of ambers. She was one of the two original Lutens scents that bewitched me when I first got into this world. Fumerie Turque was the other witch.
Not participating in today’s CP since I have no amber perfumes. So it’s Cheirosa 62 today. I don’t know why I was poking around the Chanel website last night but was. It looks like no 5 has some new packaging and sizes. The new sizes are 2.5 ounces or 5 ounces and the bottle looks more like the no 19 edt bottle. So it is probably safer to say that the edt might be reformulated.
Saw those new sizes. Safer to say everything reformulated everywhere all the time 😉
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/round-midnight-1986
I’m scenting the terrific Bertrand Tavernier movie Round Midnight which starred Dexter Gordon as the main character, Dale Turner. I haven’t seen the movie for years but I used to rent it on video and watch it several times a year as the smoky Paris jazz club scenes with Gordon playing, or the street scenes were so beautiful. It will be on the criterion channel ( which we don’t get down here). Pairing with Breath if God for the scene where Gordon’s character blows out a candle ( a brief, but astounding scene ).
I keep eying the criterion channel but we are trying to par down streaming services, not add to. But it’s very tempting.
I have never heard of this movie and would love to see it, thank you Kanuka!
I have CC, and thank you for the movie suggestion:)
Funny little story: Our younger son and his girlfriend were over the other day to ‘borrow’ the dog for a hike (lucky dog, eh?) and afterward I gave them both some almonds (we had bought an extra bag) and his girlfriend mentioned that she loved almonds and marzipan and the scent of almonds in general. So that got my little perfume brain clicking madly like a click beetle and yesterday I gave my son a partial mid-vintage bottle of Dior Hypnotic Poison for her and told him that if she didn’t care for it, she shouldn’t feel obliged to keep it, just send it back. (I don’t want to overwhelm her with perfume and have given her a few minis and decants in the past). He texted me later in the evening to thank me and say that she’d fallen in love with it.
That is so sweet of You!! Nowadays many fragrance brands advertise almond everywhere but back in the day Hypnotic Poison offered a unique note. I think it’s a spot-on for someone who loves almond.
Whenever someone I know mentions that they love a certain smell like plants or nuts or fruits it also makes my brain click and I automatically try to assign a fragrance for that person – which very often ends up with me purchasing such perfume for that person (if I like them) because I LOVE gifting ESPECIALLY perfume.
One of my lady friends who never wears perfume, well I asked Her if She liked perfume and She confirmed she loves perfume but with 6 kids cannot afford it. That made my brain click instantly, I knew right away I will be getting Her some. I asked Her what kind of perfume does She like and when She said: sweet, fruity-floral, my brain clicked again and I ordered a bottle of Chanel Chance Eau Tendre and gifted Her with it. She was overjoyed!! And I mean overjoyed.
That’s the best! When you give a gift and it fits the person you’ve gifted like a puzzle piece. Also, my dog is available for walks any time, so pass it on. 🙂
How nice of you to spread the love!
My perfume brain was clicking as I was reading. That’s great that she loves it!
Fantastic!!
OK, last story. We walk our dog in a local park each morning and today I got to talking perfume with one of the ladies who often joins us with her standard poodle She said she has gotten a lot of gifts of Chanel perfume and others over the years but that she barely wears them now that she’s retired. Last year she was cleaning house and took many of her old perfumes that her husband and bosses and friends had given her and threw them away because they were ‘old’ and she no longer had a reason to wear them since she didn’t work anymore.
I could not suppress a bit of a moan at hearing that. Vintage Chanels!!!
The sad thing is that we’ve been casual dogpark friends for at least 3 years, we just never talked about perfume before. So I could have saved those vintage perfumes had I known, or at least gotten her to donate them to charity. I told her that some of them could be valuable and also cherished by people who could no longer find their faves.
Wow, I don’t even know what to say… And here I am spent $$$s by now purchasing vintage Chanels… I wish You could have talked to Her before She threw it all away.
Sigh.
I’m reminiscing today how one day I found on evilbay a completely authentic, never opened and sealed 6ml pure parfum spray for #22 for… $33 and literally couple of dollas shipping. I also found on Poshmark a 75% full bottle of vintage EdT Sycomore – also absolutely authentic – for $40 and cents for shipping. That Sycomore EdT is a BEAST even for me. The woodiest of woodiests of fragrances I ever came across. Compliment magnet. Strong vail.
Sotd is Jersey from my sample. Couldn’t resist and I put a tiny drop of Boy somewhere on my arm so I can compare. It’s definite that both offer a similar overall tone. Both have this tiny vintage-y undernote that I love so much in Chanel.
OMG $40 for Sycomore!!!!! Love that one and I also like the EdP a lot, to my surprise. & that was very nice of you to gift your friend a bottle of Chance Eau Tendre. Perfume can make us so happy, both getting and giving!
And DeniseH: I’m not laughing!!
😭😭😭 Those vintage perfume bottles! What a terrible waste.
My heart just sank into my stomach.
Happy Friday! Musc Ravageur today ❤️🔥! I am comparing a sample to a used FB I bought off Ebay a month or so ago. They are very similar. 😅 I did due diligence w/ the eBay purchase but googled Frederic Malle fakes after and it’s so prevalent. Even though my bottle checked out w/ all the helpful pics people have posted in forums to verify I wanted to double check.
Q1 is very busy for me at work and this will be the first weekend I won’t work in 6 weeks!!! 🥳 I plan to continue sniffing w/ Project Amber and decluttering the Close of Shame. I have gotten rid of 17 bottles in the last 3 months…just don’t ask me how many new bottles I’ve bought during that time… 🤭 PIPO….Perfume In, Perfume Out
She-ra: what does it mean that they are very similar? Was it authentic after all?
Yes, was being tongue in cheek 😉 it is authentic…I was just surprised when I researched after how good the fakes look…the boxes and bottles have gotten even better in the last few years and lots of people post good pics and telltale signs, etc.
How do you get rid of bottles?
Ebay
I’m delighted to report that it’s a beautiful Saturday morning here, it’s got a definite autumn feel, but we’ve got blue sky and sunshine!
I hope those of you hit by heavy snow are recovering, we looked at some of the coverage, it was extraordinary.
My amber perfumes have had a great outing this week, and I’ve saved a favourite for today, PdN’s Sacrebleu Intense.
Hurray for finally seeing the sun! You’ve had a long, miserable gloomy stretch.
Enjoy your sun! We had a lovely sunny Friday, almost 50f 🌞
I’m in PdN Amber Oud for the CP today, as it’s one of the few amber-forward scents I have. I got it as a sample when I purchased a FB from them. It’s nice enough in the drydown but a bit too stereotypically “masculine” at first, probably because of the lavender.
Seeing some sun and the flowers are starting to bloom here — there’s a rhododendron just down the street that’s in full pink bloom. It’s a nice change from the snow when I was back East earlier this week. 🙂
Cannot wait for flowers!! Still have amaryllis and paperwhite bulbs blooming inside, and at the moment, 3 orchid plants, all back from hibernation, but I am ready for “real” flowers growing out of ground.
Once again my wildly unpredictable schedule has me not dropping in here for a long stretch. So I wasn’t aware of the CP – sad because Amber is my favorite genre. Would probably have chosen Ambre Sultan or Ambre Precieux. Instead I’m wearing Dusita Tonka Latte. Happy weekend to all!
Waving hello!
Hiya MMKinPA!
Happy weekend!
SOTD = Fzotic Ummagumma
… just the regular AND.OH.SO.GOOD! DeniseR reminded me of it and I was like, why not?
In other news, there’s no other news. Heh! There’s always SOME news, right? Right! Today’s other news has to do with another brokerage account. What in the heck that I couldn’t find a phone number to call to withdraw cash? I used the chat feature and it led me to go to another brokerage company. It’s the same one but I had to sign in again. Oy vey! I suppose maybe it’s a good thing as I really need to get cracking on finding another bank because I really don’t want to exceed the insurance threshold.
DeniseH, not DeniseR. It’s not a spell-check issue …
Almost house twins today! But I decided to go with Guerlain instead of Fzotic. Been *really* enjoying Deixis lately. So so good.
Frozen red fruits and yogurt smoothie
What happened to Robin with Ambre Narguilé happened to me this morning with Stendhal Ambre Sublime, so I had to improvise and chose Empire des Indes which smelled mighty fine. Tonight I spritzed some HdP Ambre 114, very smooth and lovely.
HdP had some good stuff about 10 years ago.
Definitely, their amber is so satisfying, I also remember their patchouli.
I couldn’t find my Ambre Narguile either.
It’s an epidemic😃
They have all run off together!!
😃
I had a very satisfying visit to the doctor today. Well, satisfying in that several issues were resolved, one of which has been bothering me for years. It was a skin issue my doctor misdiagnosed last year, finally she called in a dermatologist this time and I’m all sorted now. It was nothing after all!
I wore a little spritz of Jersey this morning, but tonight I will wear Gallivant’s Istanbul for the CP. This would be at least a travel size purchase if I didn’t already have so many ambers.
Congrats on getting good news at the doctor today!
Yay for good health news!
Yes indeed, I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders!
Gallivant has some great scents. Istanbul I have not tried, but there are some other great ones by this house that I really liked.
I’m so glad you got the “all clear”!
Wow! Spring arrived for just a day today with temps going up to 65, 🌞, and blue sky! We took advantage of it after a virtual yoga class with a dip in the hot tub and some bird-watching.
SOTD for the cp is the Elixir from the Merveilles line layered over BBW’s Snowy Citrus Swirl body products. Mmm good 😊 Lots of spicy orange over warm amber perfectly reflected the warmth of the 🌞 .
Grocery shopping this afternoon and now we’re getting ready to go out for fish&chips followed by a Shakespeare Project of Chicago performance of Richard II at a nearby library, an unusual opportunity to enjoy entertainment like this at no cost. Last night’s Old Town School program featuring John Lennon’s music played on the guitar he used in 1975 (we saw a photo of him with it) was awesome. The program is held in the school’s cozy library, and you’re surrounded by some of their collection of 17,000+ music items, including 9,000 record albums plus books. (Members are allowed to borrow them, too!). Lots of interesting stories about John and Yoko added to the fun. There will be 3 more programs in this Teachers’ Series and I’m really looking forward to them.
Time to go! Have a nice night!
Love Elixir so I know you smell fabulous.
The John Lennon event sounds wonderful, hope tonight’s Richard II is as well.
Fish ‘n chips, Shakespeare and Lennon! 🥰 You are a lucky woman, Laila! 🙂
RIP Neal Sedaka.
Turned off the heat in my apartment this morning. Didn’t need it. And I have pulled out a fan to circulate air around and feel a little cooler. I do NOT want to turn on my A/C in February! But there are rumors of a change in the weather pattern out here in March. Fingers crossed!
SOTD = Guerlain Encens Mythique, paired with Josie Maran Golden Hour Body Butter, which is supposed to be amber and white musk. It smells like a vanilla forward amber to me. Meanwhile, the Encens Mythique is a little bit soapy today. Curiouser and curiouser!
RIP Neal Sedaka. He and Paul Anka were my first musical loves when I was a mere child.
His music was some of the stuff my parents listened to that I didn’t mind. 😉
I think that’s the body butter I tried the other day at Sephora. It moisturized my hands really well.
Did you like it?
I use the unscented one on my hands, since I don’t like perfumed lotion there.
Soapy? I haven’t heard that description of EM. Hmmmmm.
I was rather surprised about it, but there was definitely a soapy note in EM that I haven’t encountered before. Wonder if the weather brought it out?
Wow, had not thought of Neil Sedaka in eons. RIP.
I know I have some amber-ish perfumes but I went with a sample of Ambre Sultan since I have been intending to try it out. I didn’t have much of an impression in the first hour or so but later in the day I was getting whiffs of something that smelled really good and it was the Ambre Sultan.
I wish the Serge Lutens were more available here in the USA.
Me too!
A long day for me, but it was beautiful outside.
I am wearing Angels Share for the first time in awhile. I forgot how much I enjoy it.
Akro sent me a coupon email. Code AKROVP50
For fifty percent off certain perfumes, in case anyone is interested.
You smell really nice!
Thank you!
Glad that you had nice weather today. It’s been a rough winter for you.
I think it got up to 52 today!
Angels’ Share is one of my two Killians, you smell delicious, I remember how elated I was to score a new tester bottle for a third of retail price just after it got released, I don’t want to think what it must cost now😮
Oof I’ve been so bad at getting here early, or at all, to comment lately. But I’ve smelled of glorious ambers all week long. Today was an old, discontinued Ava Luxe perfume called Ambre d’Or. Here’s the original description: A premium imported Tunisian golden amber. This amber has a thicker consistency , with a slight sweet and smoky almost tobacco like character with incense overtones.
I love it and should pull it out more often. Others I’ve worn this week: Fzotic Deixis, i Profumi di Firenze Ambra del Nepal, Frederic Malle Musk Ravageur, Estee Lauder Private Collection Amber Ylang Ylang, and Le Labo Labdanum 18. Like I said, it’s been a really good smelling week!
So glad to see a mention of my old favorite Ambra del Nepal! I would have worn that this week if I still had any.
I really cherish my old bottle of it, and it’s actually still one of my very favorite perfumes. Last year I swapped for a small bottle of the more recent version, and it still smells the same but lacking the richness and longevity of the old. Maybe it’ll age well though. I have about 15ml left in my old bottle, I think.
We might have been perfume twins earlier this week. I have really been enjoying Deixis. Very pleased with how it works on me.
I wore it on Monday. I’m also very happy with it, it’s a delight to wear.
I hear you re: posting late. It’s hard for us west coasters!
You have been smelling wonderful this week!
Thank you, allo! And I know you understand about the time difference. 😉