It's Tuesday, World Nature Conservation Day and National Milk Chocolate Day. Birthdays: Beatrix Potter, Marcel Duchamp, Malcolm Lowry, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm in Chanel 28 La Pausa, from a less than pristine but still enjoyable sample that turned up this morning.
Reminder: on 7/31, wear something that reminds you of a favourite meal, however abstractly, even if it isn’t a gourmand. Suggested (ages ago) by pyramus.
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.
Note: the Ribbon Teapot from Les Collection ("The Ribbon Teapot carries the classic Ribbon Collection details: a soft, cream-colored porcelain base and a hand-painted black edge that is just slightly wonky-a whimsical addition to the collection") is $250 at Bloomingdales.
Last night I wore 4160 Tuesdays Hammersmith Tea & Biscuits. I think today I’ll go with Gallagher/Pearlescent Perfumes Baklava. It’s a bit less hot today but very humid and thunderstorms are expected. I am so sad about the fires in France as that is the area I lived in back in the 90’s. Lutens Fille en Aiguilles reminds me of the warm pines growing near the dunes, now burnt. 😢 It all feels very apocalyptic.
Agree. Awful beyond words. How lovely that you lived there in the 90s and have such great memories, cazaubon!
I am wearing Guerlain Shalimar Initial L’Eau. No apparent connection to any of my real meals, but perhaps to an imaginary one.
An elegant lady in a pale pink lace dress is sitting at a wooden table in the garden, surrounded by blossoming irises. On the table are a teapot, a cup, and a plate of vanilla cookies. Her makeup is flawless – her face is powdered and her lips are accentuated with lipstick. She lifts the teapot and pours herself a cup of Earl Grey tea, the aroma of bergamot filling the air. She takes a cookie, takes a bite, and sips the tea, leaving a lipstick stain on the rim of the cup.
Lovely image!
Gorgeous image, down to the lipstick on the delicate tea cup, Glannys.
Sampling Omnia Profumi Ambra today. 😍 I am kind of like a year-round Christmas radio station but with amber! ehaeheh 🎅🏻🎄
I don’t think I tried this one years ago but it’s lovely w/ a spicy opening. Ambers are so comforting. 🥰 Yesterday I wore Bengale Rouge. One might think summer is not the best time for ambers…but one would be wrong… 🤣☀️🐅
I admire your dedication to your quest, She-ra. I agree that ambers are comforting. A good bedtime scent for me.
😂 yes! I should also try lots of fragrances in all the seasons. You never know, right?
I am still wearing ambers on cooler summer nights. So yes – there’s no need to put them away in summer.
SOTD is another recent unicorn acquisition, Shiseido Dendrobium Polyanthum EdP. Apparently, Shiseido used to release one or more fragrances each year for the International Orchid and Flower Show, which was sold only at that show and not in stores or internationally. According to a post on Fragrantica, DP was the 2015 release. I can find no other information on this fragrance, so it seems to be rare indeed.
I have little experience with orchids in real life, although I am aware that some of them are scented. This one is reminiscent of lily-of-the-valley and lilac, or at least the common perfume representations of those flowers, as I also lack real life experience with either of them. It fortunately is missing both the cloying indolic aspect of many lilac fragrances and the burnt plastic note of so many LOTV scents.
I am finding a definite family resemblance among the Japan-exclusive Shiseidos, which has more to do with their structure and behavior than with actual fragrance profiles. They all have a lightness and transparency that keeps them from becoming overbearing. They seem determined to remain politely in the background, even with a fairly heavy application; always a supporting role, never the star. Just a quiet presence that lingers for a few hours and then disappears seemingly all at once.
That is a great description and an apt analysis of Japanese fragrances, especially in the recent past. Or maybe still. I haven’t tried J-Scent but wonder if those are also light, unobtrusive, & fade within hours. Light but excellent incense frags also came out of Japan. I own a few of those like Miyako Annayake. But that is also why it was so shocking to think of Lutens doing Feminite du Bois for Shiseido. It was a strong rich deep fragrance. How did Shiseido sign off on this? And thank goodness they did because it launched Uncle Serge.
No fragrance for me yet. Post run and shower I’ve put on a palo santo oil because my skin is so dry. I want to explore more frags with this note.
I would assume it was because FdB was intended for an international market, including the US and Europe, so they wanted something to appeal to western tastes. FdB was launched in 1992, when we were just barely out of the 1980s. The 80s had been the decade of big and bold–big hair, big shoulder pads, neon colors, punk and new wave music, and big, loud perfumes such as Giorgio, Obsession, and Poison. Big, bold perfumes with big, bold names, and often packaged in bold colors. Opium, although it was technically a 1970s release, also was extremely popular in the 80s, with its powerful scent, boldly colored packaging, and controversial name.
There would be a dramatic shift in direction very shortly, with such entries as l’Eau d’Issey, Pleasures, CK One, and Sunflowers, with their keywords being clean, fresh, and natural (even though they probably contained a larger percentage of synthetic ingredients than their heavy-hitting predecessors), and images of sunlight, fields of flowers, and flowing water. If anything, FdB should have been introduced a few years earlier than it was. I came across it around 1996, tested it, and instantly fell in love. I left with a bottle that day, and wore it constantly. About 6 or 8 months later, seeing that the level in my bottle was down to about 1/3 of its original volume, I went back to the very store where I had purchased it in order to get a BUB, and found it was nowhere to be seen. Instead, they were pushing something called Relaxing Fragrance, which was in no way, shape, or form a substitute for my beloved FdB, but which fit in perfectly with the new 1990s esthetic of light, bright, “natural”, and “clean” scents, colors, shapes, and names.
Ah, that makes sense – it was for the Western market. But you’re right, the timing wasn’t great as the minimalist 90s came in. Still, it gave Lutens the blueprint for so much of what came later. But what a disappointment to return to the shop and poof, the FdB is gone. It might not have been selling well. But it has certainly stood the test of time and survived many trends, as it is still around I think, albeit in much attenuated form.
I have plenty of FdB. Some years after its disappearance from the Shiseido counters, I managed to snag two bottles from Fragrancenet at a pretty good price. Now, of course, if you can find it online at all it is going for $$$.
I am wearing Mitsouko today, so guess what kind of meal I am thinking of!
You are correct! A peach! I’ve found some really delicious ones recently and been enjoying them at breakfast with full-fat Greek yogurt. Mmmm.
I’m wearing Lubin’s Nuit de Longchamps. It doesn’t smell remotely foody, but I often wear it when I’m going somewhere more formal for a meal. It’s not obtrusive, and makes me feel very well put together 🙂 .
Wearing the fading BBW Almond Croissant Body Creme and will top it off with something soon.
Just had an unpleasant experience with a new neighbor who I’ve never seen or met before. For some reason, he thought it was okay to step directly into my path on the walkway to the laundry, cutting off my route completely, throw out his hand like he wants to shake mine, all the while talking about the weather and telling me who he is. I said hello, adroitly stepped around him without shaking his hand, to which he responded in a really angry manner, “Fine! Be like that!” I turned on a dime and just stared at him. Stared in complete silence. Like, WTF is wrong with people? He quickly was like “Oh, I was just kidding!” I just kept staring at him. Ugh. He’s on my Watch List now. Next time I’m bringing T-Rex with me. Am I overreacting? I don’t HAVE to shake some strangers hand, do I?! People!
Yeah, I find that can be a gendered thing — I think some men think they’re being friendly and outgoing and just don’t think about how it may be taken, especially by women they don’t know. (That said, it’d put Mr. Ockeghem out, too, if it happened to him. He’s an introvert.) You absolutely don’t owe him or anyone a handshake.
Yeah, I get that, and I’m not concerned about the offer to shake hands as much as I’m concerned about his immediate anger when I stepped past him, declining that offer. And the fact he thought it was okay to totally block my way. This took an effort for him as he had to physically move into my path. That’s just a big red flag to me.🚩 But sometimes I do overthink things, so there that! 🙃
You’re not overthinking. It happens to me when I travel alone, even somehow now when I’m impossibly old to most men (it happened to me in Halifax this spring). I go to eat dinner and because I’m alone they put me at the bar. There’s always some dude there who feels it’s his right to talk to me, even though I always come armed with a book or an iPad or something to deter these conversations. They always get offended when I say I want to read or work.
Well, Mr. Ickey Pants McGee sounds like a real gem, doesn’t he?
I get unnerved by interactions like that, I’m glad you didn’t feel obligated to shake his hand. Just what is up with folks lately?
I would keep him on your watch list, and bring T-rex with you next time. I don’t trust anyone.
I’m in PdN Pavlova today. It is a gourmand, of course, but it more reminds me of the lovely meals I had in Paris on the trip where I bought this coffret. 🙂
SOTD = Jo Malone Orange Bitters
Perfect for today – I just vegged out at home because thunderstorms!
The split of Neela Vermeire Neith is not happening as I have only received two expressions of interest.
In other news, this gift article from the New York Times is a wonderful story of giving back. I’m not so sure though that the best place for such an endeavor is the NYC subway but apparently it had been done!
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/nyregion/subway-newstand-west-4th-station-nyc.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1FA.TsFn.NONPkz_dCEuJ&smid=nytcore-ios-share
Hi all, very late to the party, my SOTD is Ines de la Fressange, the 2004 version. It is a rose/chypre, but soft and green. This is so pleasant and easy to wear. And the bottle design with the leaf motif is also enjoyable.
It looks like it will be a busy week of difficult and fraught meetings. Ick. But I have to think it’s all temporary and will pass eventually.
I’m sorry to hear about the meetings. I’m in my own hell with those lately.
I spent the morning at the mechanics and kissing money goodbye. After yesterday’s storms, the weather is pleasant.
I’m wearing Dusita La Douceur de Siam.
Ugh, I have to kiss some money good bye next week when I get new tires for Biggie. It’s painful. I hope yours was an easy and inexpensive fix. 🚙
I was caught in not a storm but perhaps snit of raininess this morning. Following your example and put on a spritz of Douceur de Siam.
Wow! It was an incredible weekend weatherwise with extremely hot and humid days culminating in almost an entire day yesterday of severe storms – literally, sheets of rain, hail, flooding, tornadoes and powerful winds, trees down, power outages – not just in one area of Chicagoland but north, south, east and west.
And wow! It was one of the busiest weekends we ever had – a Black Crows concert (another of Mr. Laila’s wins) with 2 warmup bands which equaled nearly 4 hours of screaming guitars; a White Sox game (we were gifted with upgraded seats right behind home plate); a suburban pond walk (which also featured a 17-year old parrot sitting on his owner’s shoulder outside the whole time, tiny little Japanese dogs that looked like little teddy bears, and even backyard chickens). The most incredible event was last night when we were scheduled for a special Chicago lakefront and riverboat tour for donors to our local PBS station. It was expensive and I was furious that they didn’t postpone it as the weather all day was extremely dangerous, not just ‘rainy.’ Well, they didn’t and we didn’t think we could make it but suddenly the all-day storms stopped, the 🌞 came out and we literally just made it in the nick of time. 😅!
Luckily, it’s a beautiful day today. I finished my volunteer afternoon at the library and will be returning later for tonight’s book discussion. I was pleased to see She-Ra’s post and comments about amber fragrances as that’s what I’m wearing for this delightfully coolish day: Halle Berry’s Halle. A soft amber, woody scent with a delightful touch of spice from the olibanum. I’m astounded what this once inexpensive (I bought mine on clearance for cheap) is now going for on evilbay!😳
I hope to catch up on posts later and hope all is well with everyone.🤞🤗
Had a wild night of weather here last night. I think the thunderstorms then were the loudest I have heard out here in Colorado. Kind of surprised that Teflon kitty didn’t freak out.
As things stand now, I am under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 8pm tonight. I heard a few rumbles earlier in the afternoon, but nothing at all like yesterday.
SOTD = back in Eau de Neroli Dore. Been hanging out in the house of Hermes lately.