It's the last Friday in May, plus World Digestive Health Day, National Biscuit Day and JFK’s birthday. Our community project for today is Shaken Not Stirred...for Ian Fleming's birthday (yesterday), honor the James Bond character howsoever you like. You can repeat the theme of a 2008 poll (name your favorite James Bond actor (the choices, for anyone who can't remember the entire line-up: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig) and what fragrance you think their version of Bond would wear) or any of the questions from a 2018 followup we did for Sean Connery's birthday, you can scent your favorite Bond movie, you can take inspiration from a specific film (or book!) locale or character, whatever you like. Thanks go to Lovestosmellgood for the idea!
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.
Sticking with my guns here, in Dior Eau Sauvage again. Pierce Brosnan was not my favorite Bond but it didn't hurt to watch him, either.
Reminder: on 6/5, wear a fragrance with eucalyptus, if you have one. Suggested by Kanuka.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2026, where I'll occasionally manage to have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
I’ve done my research. Ian Fleming himself loved Floris No. 89, which some reviewers describe as having an “English soap and barbershop aesthetic.” As for Bond himself, well…
“But it is odd that you in the West do not use perfume. All our men do.”
“We wash,” said Bond dryly.
(From Russia with Love)
😂
So, I picked Frédéric Malle Géranium Pour Monsieur for James Bond – clean, masculine and polished.
love that quote
Very nice!
Timothy Dalton is my Bond, and I think Licence to Kill is the best Bond movie ever. I’m putting him in Boucheron Pour Homme EDP, the most soigné thing I own. (I mean, I’m not, but I can dream. One of the magical things about fragrances is that they invisibly allow us to be slightly different versions of ourselves.)
Mr. allo asked me to tell you how much he agrees. Dalton is far and away his favorite Bond and thinks the criticism he received was totally unjustified.
I agree that Dalton is an underappreciated Bond.
Love your comment about “slightly different versions” of ourselves and perfume! Running with it today, in fact, and am being a Rich Lady with not one, but two Chanel Exclusives, namely Beige on one arm and Coromandel on the other.
Pyramus, you get an Enabler Pin for O de Lancome! I picked up a FOMO bottle of it recently.
I hope you like it as much as I do! The most recent (and final — it’s been discontinued) version isn’t quite what it was in the eighties, but it is still fantastic stuff.
Late to the martini party. I love Timothy Dalton as Bond. His damaged psyche matches the way Daniel Craig played him in my opinion, but with more sense of humor than DC.
I chose Kerosene Broken Theories for the CP. The tie-in to the films is Q, whose theories are translated into marvelous gadgets which Bond then proceeds to break, out of either necessity or inadvertence. There’s also a broken-theory tie to the books — originally Fleming has Bond carry a Beretta as an easily concealed firearm, but a reader familiar with such things wrote to Fleming to point out that the Beretta was much too small a caliber and was “a lady’s gun … and not a very nice lady”, and suggested the now-iconic Walther PPK instead. Fleming accepted the correction, and also incorporated that reader’s name into later books as the name of MI6’s brilliant armorer.
Cool match and story.
Q is such a fun character in the films! Nice choice!
I was so sad when I heard that the original actor who played Q had passed away. That character was a welcome touch of levity and humor in the earlier movies. Especially his resignation when handing over his latest work of art to Bond.
Love that, SheriG! The original Q used to be my favorite part of the movie.
In Eau d’Hadrien for the character Emilio Largo, the baddie from Thunderball and Spectre’s no.2 man. Mr. Eyepatch might appropriately be in Brut, but don’t own any. Anyway, an Italian-named scent for an Italian character 😉
Largo was pretty darn scary!
I wore Jicky parfum, because I read that Sean Connery wore it.
My lipstick is worthy of Vesper Lind-it’s Serge Lutens M3. It’s a beautiful deep plum sort of red-goes with everything, including a bare face. I like its miniscule size, too.
oh..I should have picked a Vesper like lipstick ! extra points
Weren’t you considering Melagrano? I’d love to learn more about this fragrance-I love their bottles 🙂 And thanks for the extra points 🙂
yes..I am wearing it today!
Should of picked a red lip to go with…
I wore Lipstick Rose earlier this week, thinking of Vesper.
I think that was an inspired choice, Glannys:)
Had a beautiful horse ride this morning.
Back home, showered, and in need of coffee before my Italian lesson. Fridays are my little “me” days.
Robin, again, great photo!
No surprise I’m wearing Melograno for Vesper today. I ordered samples out of curiosity. The opening feels beautifully “old-world” (old European apothecary quality) and elegant, and I can absolutely see why it suited Vesper so perfectly. On my skin, the dry down turns warm& spicy. I’m already longing for a full bottle once these samples are gone….ah..hide my credit card
Oh, great pick. It was in her handbag in Casino Royale.
Supposedly actress’s favorite: https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/eva-green
That’s not exactly a small bottle
A SMN travel container would be more convenient for sure. Still, it looks like 50 ml, which is not such a big bottle. Maybe she really goes through this scent quickly and there was not much left anyway. Or maybe the bottle was supposed to have a sentimental value for Vesper.
Ah, here’s the description I was hoping for! I think I’d like to explore the SMN line further-wish it was available here.
If you lived closer to me I would send you the rest of my sample. For a cologne, the last power is good, but close to the skin.
How is your muscle memory after not riding for a while?
Horse riding …Pretty bad, my foot went to far in the stirrup because my heel was not down, I was not good with my arms, I can’t do two point because my thighs are not strong enough. Should I go on with all my defaults?
You are still miles and mils ahead of me. I was on a horse only once, and as I recall, that horse was very happy when clueless me got off his back.
Ugh, that should be “miles and miles”. Missed that typo.
I’m wearing Nuit de Longchamp, which seems like it could suit both Bond and some of his ladies.
Definitely, and you smell fantastic. That’s such a good one.
Today is the last day of school.
My daughter came home with new markers from her teacher.
My sotd is TF Metalique. I am matching it to the character Jaws. I have never really seen a Bond movie, but I know this iconic character.
It sounds like a sweet gift from her teacher and such a nice way to finish the school year.
He’s a first year teacher and super nice.
That does sound like a great gift-hope your family has an awesome summer vacation, lilyjo.
Thank you carole!
Metallique for Jaws made me chuckle! Thanks for the laugh!
Anytime!
Perfect. I hope your daughter has a nice break
Thank you!
Very nice gift to your daughter!
It is, and totally unexpected. I will have to pick up some more art paper.
Very clever–if you’ve seen the movie, his character is truly unforgettable!
I really should see the movie.
Your match for Jaws made me laugh! I did consider Egoiste to pair up with him, since that metallic honeyed carnation is so strange.
I’m glad to give you a laugh!
You smell super good. Hope there are some nice out of school activities your daughter can do.
Thanks Aurora. Unfortunately there is not much to choose from around here for her age.
When she was little she could go to an autism day camp but there just isn’t much for her anymore.
Perfect matching too😄
Oh good one lillyjo.
Thanks!
Wishing you a good summer! My brother gave me Métallique for my birthday, nice scent!
I really enjoy it. I wish you a good summer too!
As predicted, I’m still in the remnants of yesterday’s Kouros. But this morning I added a little spritz of SL Rose de Nuit for Bond’s inevitable femme fatale shenanigans de nuit🌹💃♥️
Excellent combo, my friend!
Thank you, my friend!
I am finishing off Bond villain week in style with my choice for Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) in Skyfall: None other than Tyrannosaurus rex! Because it features metal, and he has that horrible jaw with prosthetic teeth, plus is a cyber-tech expert, and it features smoke, and he sets off a big bomb in the Underground to try to kill M. And because this is a super-predator, which I think he was–one of the very worst Bond villains, the one who ultimately does kill M. I’m even wearing it out of the house today, which is rather daring of me!
I haven’t smelled that one, but if wearing it out the house is risky, its a perfect Bond pairing
Nice pairing. Do you remember Jaws from the Spy Who Loved Me? I was also thinking that M describes Bond as a dinosaur in one of the Daniel Craig movies….so triple points!
Haha, I do remember Jaws, of course! but not that remark from M. So true.
I think M says that in Die Another Day after they are reviewing his post-captivity medical examination and decide to fire him.
You make me want to find my sample of Tyrannosaurus Rex!
I’m in the exceedingly obvious Woman in Gold, for Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton was the actress) who was painted gold in Goldfinger. I think Goldfinger is my favorite Bond movie, though I haven’t seen any of the Daniel Craig ones. Sean Connery is my Bond, plus Goldfinger had Oddjob and Pussy Galore in it. The characters are just so over the top it makes for a happy movie experience.
Great match. Such campy films
Definitely the best Bond movie song (though I really do love the one that Adele sang for Skyfall.
Nice one, foxbins. Everybody is so creative today.
Very nicely done!
I’m going with the obvious, too — YSL Tuxedo, which I have a mini bottle of from an advent calendar a few years back. I guess that covers all the Bonds :), but Daniel Craig is my favourite.
Good match!
Ha, yes it does!
https://www.thegentlemansjournal.com/article/heres-every-bottle-of-champagne-james-bond-ever-uncorked/
An article about every bottle of champagne mentioned in the James Bond books/ movies. Sadly, all a bit expensive and unavailable at my supermarket but I do have a vintage Champagne (YSL) on hand, and it’s not corked and still sparkles.
The perfect Champagne!
My goodness…I guess maybe AI could whip this article up for you in no time, but I’m imaging a bunch of interns forced to read every Bond book to compile this 🙂
Oh, I should have worn Champagne de Bois!
Kanuka, very enjoyable reading. Now I’m craving some bubbly. Thank you.
Wearing Lyric while at a brewery doing a little day drinking. The beer that I have is called Zombie Dust. I chose it for the name alone.
I think I have tried that beer!
How was it?
Unscented so far, after a morning of getting plants in the ground so that don’t die before I get to it. (They might die IN the ground but at least they have a chance.) Did my walking, now to tackle the housecleaning and then sit with a drink and my book.
After I am done with all that, I am going to clean myself up and go with Gentle Fluidity Silver. That is the perfume I own that most reminds me of a drink, a gin and tonic in the summer, taking the CP title very literally.
My brother was a huge Bond fan when we were growing up. I think I enjoyed watching the characters, their style and dress and manner of speaking, Bond especially but also some of the female characters.
For plot, I prefer the Bourne series or Slow Horses. Jackson Lamb is the anti-Bond but has some of the same wit I enjoyed with Bond.
Ha, Jackson Lamb is indeed to anti-Bond! I love those, love Slow Horses, love James Bond 🙂
I’m in Fig by Parfumer H because it’s dry, herbaceous, and spiky like any good martini (or Vesper) should be. Probably appropriate for all Bond actors, but Daniel Craig is my favorite.
Lovely, I 🩵 Lyn Harris but only know her work through the older Miller Harris perfumes.
I’m wearing Neela Vermeire’s Pichola, for the floating palace in Octopussy, which is on Lake Pichola.
I’ve always been a fan of the Bond movies, ever since my father took my brother and me to see Thunderball and Goldfinger when I was about ten and my brother eight – my mother did wonder later if we were a bit young, but I remain very glad that I was imprinted at a young age with Sean Connery”s Bond.
Connery remains my favourite, the movies were campy as Kanuka says, but that particularly wonderful 60s campy, and you could believe that Bond would actually shoot someone. Roger Moore never looked like an assassin 🙂 .
I’m undecided on my second favourite Bond – it’s either Timothy Dalton for carrying on the Connery type Bond, or Daniel Craig for being a bit grittier.
PS, I was just telling my beloved about this week’s CP, and I think I could probably find a Bond link for every perfume I own – the book are a bit more limited, but the movies span six decades from 1962, visit every exotic location on the planet and have a myriad of over-the-top characters.
Wow, I had no idea that Pichola was in a Bond movie, the name, I mean. And you’re probably right about being able to associate any perfume with SOMETHING from a Bond film.
Gaynor, how excellent — would NEVER have remembered that locale.
My favourite James Bond is Roger Moore and the movie is for your eyes only. I watched it while i was travelling with my father in a movie theatre in Europe. I was probably 15 or 16 years old, I was so impressed by it, the song, the scenes, everything.
I am wearing my father’s favourite perfume Dior Jules to remember him.
I love your story of traveling with your father and that Jules evokes his memory🌸
A nice memory
Excellent, and you also smelled excellent today!
I’m wearing Tauer’s Deixis from a travel spray. It’s dark and dangerous, but also has a sweet side that reveals itself unexpectedly.
My all time favorite bond is Pierce Brosnan because he’s the whole package, in my female opinion. ❤️
And that accent! 💕
I love Pierce Brosnan too!!
Sorry, that’s not Tauer—Oopsie! Bruno Fazzolari, my apologies.
Fzotic Deixis is so good! And they have travel sprays of everything, which is even better.
Only for limited time though, IIRC.
Last time I was on the website. they seemed to be permanent. But some of the scents themselves are limited release.
I think when it first came out it was marketed as “LE” like so many other perfumes. Tauer’s Une Rose de Kandahar was another that was supposedly “LE.” But, at this point I think it’s all marketing ploy to drive impulse purchases. Deixis is available as part of the permanent line now.
I need to wear that today, it’s cold and windy, Deixis would be perfect.
Didn’t Vesper Lynd wear Vent Vert in the Casino Royale book?
I don’t recall
No idea!
Apples, pomegranate fruit powder and yogurt smoothie
Like Lillyjo and Hajusuuri and maybe others among you, I prepared a donation bag, in there among other things, five perfume bottles, a Zara (I have kept two Zara perfumes), Volupté and Cabochard (as I have more vintage and smaller bottles), Woods of Windsor mimosa and something else I can’t remember, at the last minute I saved Guerlain Terracotta, as the charity shop is literally 5 minutes from home I completed the process and delivered the bag.
This morning, Floris No 89 for Roger Moore in particular (I had scented Sir DA with it just the other week) and tonight Bronnley Passion flower Eau fraîche, an absolute gem I discovered some years ago by chance.
Ha! Good for you! My perfume donation will be sometime this year. I just have to decide when to do it and I know it will take a few sessions.
I understand, for eg, it’s actually the second time I retrieved Terracotta from the donating pile😀, I have a small box of bottles to sell, started in January but I am still to commence the process to do something about it, Terracotta may well end up in there.
Pomegranate fruit powder? I have never heard of that before! Where do you find something like that, besides Amazon (aka The Evil Overlord)?
Buywholefoodonline.co.uk, it is my go-to-place but I know we are on different continents, still, I thought you might want to have a look and it’s a delicious product and organic.
I should check the Asian grocery stores in my area, just for grins.
Good for you on the donations!
I know Terracotta has never been your favorite. They changed the bottle now though. Your older bottle might be a collectors edition soon.
Ah, you know me well, I’ve always loved Nuxe Prodigieux le parfum much more. You might well be right about Terracotta becoming a collector’s item in its original bottle, I’ve put it in the to-sell-pile.
For the CP, Antaeus to scent Timothy Dalton’s roof top chase scene in The Living Daylights: spicy, some patch and castoreum. I immediately went to how James Bond would smell after any one of his crazy foot chases: The expensive fabric of his suits, his descent from habitually well-groomed to dusty and dirty, and the base notes of an expensive cologne. I saw a picture of Timothy Dalton and he seems like an Antaeus!
Great match MossyBerry.
I’m stretching today’s cp to include the plot rather than James Bond or any of the other characters. In Skyfall, Bond is inadvertently shot by Moneypenny, who is ordered by M to shoot the mercenary Patrice as he and Bond are fighting atop a train. Bond falls into a river and is presumed dead. But Bond is alive and uses his presumed death to retire, until 3 months later when he returns to active service when he learns of an attack on the M16 building.
My SOTD for today’s cp is Dame Perfumery Sky Father on the pretext that it was the ‘Sky Father’ who saved Bond’s life when he fell from the train into the river in his ‘sky fall.’ And with its warm, spicy, citrussy and woody notes, Bond could have worn it had it been created in time for the 2012 film instead of in 2017.
I like all of the Bond actors, but Sean Connery as the first one is probably my favorite.
Leaving in a few minutes for the Two Way Street Coffeehouse, which has been hosting a Friday night concert series featuring folk music for 50+ years! Our favorite Chicago troubadour Mark Dvorak❤️ is performing tonight in this lovely intimate setting.🎶
Happy weekend to all!
I know this is not a highbrow take, but I think Pierce Brosnan made a great James Bond!
What can I say?
Okay. Got that out.
In an impulse purchase I made yesterday— Liis’ Flower Glyph. Its kinda a fruity floral? But it makes me think of that Emily Dickinson line, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant, success in circuit lies.” This perfume dazzles gradually! I’m totally addicted.
Hey, the Bonds you like are the Bonds you like. Works the same way perfume does. 😉😉
I had a Spanish prof in college who was so in love with him that half our classes were at her house watching Remington Steele in Spanish. I didn’t get it until GoldenEye😂 If only I could watch Bond in Spanish!
Pierce Brosnan is definitely yummilicious, but for me he will always be Thomas Crown.
My Thomas Crown will always be Steve McQueen. And Pierce is Remington Steele!
I love the clothes in the Steve McQueen version. Absolutely, timeless.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRrF7POKfrb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
And that Folonari wicker wine bottle? 🧡
But *is* there a highbrow Bond? To my mind, if you had strict highbrow tastes you’d not be watching Bond at all. Maybe you could watch Alec Guinness in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy?
SOTD = Chanel Les Eaux Edimbourg EDT
Oy! So good! The 50mL bottle is really cute. Most of mine are larger, still wonderful although not as cute/adorable.
The tie in to James Bond is … surely some of the 007 movies were set in Scotland. If this is wrong, we can blame it on tulipani
Those 50mL bottles of the Chanel Eaux really are cute.
They are! I wish I had them all in this size.
Skyfall! It’s actually the name of Bond’s childhood house (mansion) in the Scottish Highlands.
Woohoo! Thanks!
Plus Sean Connery was Scottish.
A rather active weather day this afternoon. Had plenty of thunder and lightning earlier and the rain has just recently stopped. Glad that Teflon kitty’s vet appointment was before the weather changed!
Speaking of Teflon, there was good news and not so good news re: the vet appointment. The good news is that her ear infection is gone. The bad news was she got carsick on the drive home and threw up in the cat carrier. At least it didn’t get on my car’s upholstery.
SOTD = Dior Midnight Poison, sometimes called “the masculine Poison”. I finally noticed some floral notes in it today. Usually I just get the citrus and patchouli. If James Bond ever had a metrosexual phase, he might have worn this. Or TF Oud Wood.
Forgot my Song of the Day:
https://youtu.be/Fp4CR2HcHLQ?list=RDFp4CR2HcHLQ
🤘🎵
I hope poor Teflon kitty is all better now.
Teflon isn’t a happy camper right now, but at least she isn’t always scratching her ears anymore. Seeing signs of improvement with her allergy medication, too.
Hurray for Teflon’s ears, not so much for the throwing up. More rain☔
Yeah, I could have done without that particular mess to clean up.
Got blue skies here now.
You know, I can’t even remember what Midnight Poison smells like. I just remember thinking it was so different from the other’s in the line.
Hopefully TK is doing ok now.
Midnight Poison is supposedly citrus, rose and patchouli. 90 – 95 percent of the time I get only the top and base notes. But I enjoy those very much!
I think he’s had a metrosexual phase 🤣. Also, glad Teflon kitteh is doing much better!
Thanks!
Hope that ear infection is finally gone for good!
Fingers crossed that her allergy therapy will do the trick! But the vet said it could take as long as a year to completely kick in.
Vibes for Teflon kitty! Mila had a bad day due to thunderstorms yesterday. So hard to see our babies suffer.
Oooooooof. I understand the thunderstorms thing. Hail storms scare the daylights out of Teflon. Thankfully there haven’t been very many of those since I moved back to Colorado.
happy for your kitty
Thank you! She is looking happier today.
So glad Tef’s ear infection has cleared up!
I’ve been busy all day so just reached for what was nearest this morning and that was Rochas Byzance, Rich and opulent, just like the worlds Bond moves through. And would we call the plots Byzantine? Probably not.
Thank you DeniseH! It takes forever for that ear goop medicine to come out of her fur, though.