It's Wednesday, National Dog Day and Women’s Equality Day. Birthdays: Guillaume Apollinaire, Jimmy Rushing, Christopher Isherwood, Mother Teresa, Julio Cortázar. RIP Dolly Parton. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm not generally a fan of celebrity perfumes, but Sarah Jessica Parker Covet is great fun. (But I can't really claim community project points because there are too many exceptions to call it a rule.)
Reminder: on 8/28 we're doing "the exception to the rule"...wear a fragrance that you love despite not generally caring for fragrances of its kind, or its brand, or its main note, or whatever...you come up with the rule and the exception.
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: top image is Yellow flower [cropped] by 白士 李 at flickr; some rights reserved.
Hello.
Sotd is Balenciaga Le Dix.
I ordered Guerlain’s new L’Heure Bleue edp earlier this morning and it’s already left the warehouse because I chose expedited shipping. I am hoping to receive it by Friday. Woohoo sooo excited!
Jalapeno, thank you so much for the flaxseed oil recommendation. I will go to the drugstore later! A few years back my dry eye was so severe that my own tears would sting my eyes so badly because of the natural salt in them and my eye doctor told me I had micro abrasions on my cornea. Eeek.
Ohhh, Let us know about the LHB! I love shiny new sparkly things, perfume’s at the top of this list.
I hope your eye troubles resolve. As Jalapeno mentioned flaxseed oil works very well, I use it in salad dressings, and also take fish oil. Both take a while to work but help with dry eye and joint discomfort. I take them with vitamin D/calcium and a fatty meal, the absorption has improved immensely. Report back how it works!
Will definitely share my thoughts on LHB!
I used to take fish oil many years ago, I forgot why I stopped, probably because I was young and had no adult issues… I will grab them too on my drugstore visit later! So a fatty meal and Vit D/calcium aids absorption? Thank you so much for the recommendation and tip!
I forgot to mention that I have Crohn’s disease, which comes with malabsorption problems, and don’t have a gall bladder, so fatty vitamins like D absorb better when taken with food.
I had a deficiency/stress fracture of my pelvis this past spring. I was advised by my GI team and RD to take Calcium, D, K, and fish oil together with a fatty meal to aid absorption.
According to the RD, taking K helps the calcium to go to the bones and not the arteries. I just had my labs done and my levels improved.
FYI, this isn’t intended as medical advice – Robin, please delete if it’s against the rules.
I am so sorry about your Crohn’s disease, my mum has it too and it’s no joke as she is in constant pain.
I’m a former RD, and yes on the D+K and with a meal for best absorption.
It is allowed, no worries.
I hope you will love it! I read “ozonic” and decided it was not for me. Bottle looks gorgeous!
Me too with the ozonic but the iris won me over, on paper anyway. If it comes tomorrow (tracking says it does omg!), it might be my perfect CP scent!!!
Fingers crossed!!
I didn’t see LHB on the Guerlain website.
It’s also on pre-launch countdown on the Canadian Guerlain website but I signed up for a preview and got an early purchase link. According to the website it should properly launch in 1 day 13 hours!
What was the price?
Pre-tax:
30ml C$120
50ml C$160
100ml C$220
Am I crazy thinking $120 is practically the new ‘free’??
Fun! I recently moved and am just now starting to unpack the perfume samples and decants I had stored in my desk. I am doing a handful at a time, and today’s included L’Heure Bleu! Beautiful stuff. Perfect for late August, where I am not ready for summer to be over AND I cannot wait for fall to start.
Congrats on your new bottle!
Thanks! I am so excited, might be even more excited than when I was waiting for my Rose Shalimar!
Did you like Rose Shalimar? I love it!
Thanks for the information about LHB. I put in a request for the purchase review too now.
Good luck with the supplements and vitamins! I hope they work out for you.
There is one perfume in my collection that breaks (or is the exception that proves?) three of my general rules, and I’ll save that for Friday. Meanwhile, I’m taking a break from today from the apricot-osmanthus glory of Monserrat in another Fzotic, Creosote. (I did deviate from The Monserrat Show yesterday morning with Voyage d’Hermes, but by late afternoon was back in the new love.)
Yum.
Hi all,
My SOTD is Crown Perfumery Sarcanthus. An under rated soft floral, with LOV, greens, and a sandalwood dry down. I enjoy this style of scent, it’s low sillage but easy to wear and non obtrusive.
I’m a little bummed, I missed the chance to purchase a vintage Samsara refill bottle. I had it on my watched list but forgot to pull the trigger. And it was reasonably priced too. *sigh* if it’s meant to be, another one will pop up at some point.
Speaking of shiny new things, I just ordered a mini of Ruffles by Oscar de la Renta, which should arrive by Saturday. Hearing someone mention it the other day on NST (Glannys??) prompted me to search on flea bay. Found one for under $20, not too much damage to report to Donnatella.
Thanks for the well wishes yesterday, you all are so kind. The nurses and doctors enjoyed the cookies, the nutella cookies were definitely a hit but didn’t travel well. But I’ve never seen anyone turn down a broken cookie, (I wouldn’t)!!
But will have to find another way to transport them for next time!
I adored Ruffles when it came out. I really hope you like it!
Thanks! At some point in the 1980’s all the women in my family were wearing it. That and Bill Blass and the OG Giorgio were popular. We all had big hair and a taste for big perfumes…
If memory serves, it was a little sweet and a lotta floral but it was fun and very pretty.
I don’t think I’d spring $120+ for a 50ml for a trip down memory lane, but a mini will scratch that itch!
Ooooooooooh, I can see why missing out on that vintage Samsara refill would bum a person out.
Today I’m in Lalique edp. I’m very confused as to which perfume this actually is because it seems there have been many Lalique fragrances and the names, reformulations, and reissues just aren’t mathing in my head. This is the little spray sample I received when I got my much adored ring, which I’m also wearing. 💍❤️ I have no bottle to help identify the specifics either.
So, looking up notes etc., thoroughly confuses me. Most reviews are describing it as a non-foody vanilla…some are describing it as an iris/heliotrope melange. Honestly, I have no clue but when I wear it I get all kinds of FLORALS (usually my nemesis)…like *almost* too big solar white florals but toned down enough not to screech at me. I never would have even tried this if not for the sample I received because it’s just not a category I like in general. However, there something about this one that I really enjoy in an oddly skewed manner. First my nose is all “ewww!” then it’s all “ahhhh!” so make of my impoverished description what you will. 🙃
Stayed up last night watching all the Dolly Love on the internet. What a gem of a human and such a loss to the world. 😢 I loved her honesty, humor, and cheer. Who else could describe Bob Dylan as a “weird buckaroo”? 🤣
Also, for those of you interested in perfume pajamas, here you go:
https://a.co/d/032jj3Vn
I have a version of these (short sleeve with shorts) in a different print and they are really lovely not to mention affordable.
Also, on a closer look at the perfume pajamas I’m seeing bottles that are dupes of several Guerlain bottles but of course there no actual text names…I see a Shalimar and I see a flacon with rolled shoulders, I see Mitsouko, I see L’Heure Bleue…
https://youtu.be/dSYebpvdOEY?is=ZI-lMxyQkaDybfCo
I think Dolly Parton has to be one of the most universally loved people on the planet. I love Lalique, but could never nail down which one it was. Kind of like NR Musk series. Thankfully, I love the original in the black bottle and Essence or I would never remember!
I love a good PJ set! Thanks for the link! I’m a hot sleeper, this sounds like the perfect solution.
100% agree about Dolly! I really love the PJ’s. They have cute little rhinestones on the buttons, which I don’t realize until I got them. They are 100% polyester so not sure they’d be great for a hot sleeper. I bought the short sleeve/shorts version because of this and because I’m hot ALL the time. 🥵
For anyone who missed the Dolly Parton’s America podcast back in 2019, I highly recommend it!
Thank you! I’m late getting into podcasts but I will look into this!
I’ll will check that out. I haven’t listened to a podcast in donkey years.
“First my nose is all ewww and then it’s all ahhh.” Perfect description and made me laugh with recognition, Deva.
Lalique’s perfume nomenclature is almost as bad as Narciso Rodriguez.
Wearing TF Noir de Noir today — someone mentioned it recently and it works well for the CP for me. I’ve mentioned this before: I often don’t get along with patchouli (looking at you, Coco Mademoiselle, and Angel and many others), but in Noir de Noir, I find it beautifully integrated and a warm background to the other notes. That made me brave enough to try other fragrances with patchouli and find a few more that I really liked. So now the rule is that I often — but not always — don’t like fragrances with patchouli. 🙂
I should mention that I singled out Coco Mad and Angel because back in the early oughts when I worked at a middle school, our vice principal used to douse herself with these fragrances and not only was that level of scent unpleasant (and a little odd in a middle school office of all places), but I also found her abrasive and difficult to work with. Thus, those two fragrances are particularly difficult for me. However, if someone nice wears them and at a much more appropriate volume, I’m fine!
I used to have a boss that wore gallons of Red Door. It’s only been recently that I could smell it, and not feel suffocated.
I get along with Angel but when someone wears it heavily, tend to gag. By heavily I mean wearing enough that I can taste it on my tongue 👅-oy!
I find TF Noir de Noir beautiful too, springpansy. It was my entry drug into the TF Private Blends universe. I’d avoided those for a long time because I was afraid they were overly hyped, and also just very expensive, even back then. And there were so many of them to keep straight and I couldn’t. And now they’re more expensive, of course, and faked so much online. But a perfume friend in LA turned me onto NdN last year and now I have a bunch of other TFs on my wishlist. My husband likes Grey Vetiver and I got him some, but I have other vets I like more.
I love Angel (but only one spritz, under my blouse). Angel and Coco can get a bit ‘muchy-much’ as Tama used to say.
There’s a flanker version of Angel called Sunessence, it’s a beachy, citrus version. It’s lighter (to my mind).
I spritzed some version of Angel at Ulta a few weeks ago and I could still smell it in the atmosphere a half an hour later as I stood in line to check out on the other side of the store. She’s MIGHTY!
Unpleasant scent/smell associations are difficult to shake off once they’ve been established.
RIP Dolly Parton. And Tim Curry too.
I am not CP-compliant, wearing Eau de Rochas Citron Soleil.
I read about Tim Curry, how very sad. I really enjoyed his work.
I did not realize that Tim Curry had been in a wheelchair since having a stroke in 2012. He was such a prolific voice actor by then.
Rest in peace, Dolly Parton!! This hit everyone hard, no matter the age. She, at 80 years of age, seemed so youthful, charismatic and just full of life. Of course we didn’t know Her personally, but my Mom says some celebrity deaths make Her so sad, usually the case of very younger people that met their tragic end too soon. But the news of Dolly just saddened us. We all know the true Angel that She was, but to throw my two cents in, when I heard of the passing of Her Dear Husband passing, I was very sad for Her and I worried that as is the case with many couples that happily spend almost 60 decades together, You already know what happens very often… One passes and it’s not that long before the other one follows. I always wondered how hard did the death of Her Husband hit Her? Another thing is I will not mention names but many of these famous ladies just are hard to look at when they age and will not give up the pursuit to stay young too desperately: too many plastic surgeries, exposing too much skin at a certain age. But Dolly was different. Her image was great. Just the heavier make up and fancy outfits absolutely fit Her. She was a gem. It was Dolly, are You kidding me? All that glitter and rhinestones fit Her so perfectly. She had a great taste and always looked great. She was the rare kind of woman that could pull all that off and I fancied Her every time. I am sad but I hope that She made it safely to heaven and can be reunited with Her soulmate of a Husband.
There was an amazing, recent book about Dolly’s outfits, called “Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones” possibly by one of her costumers.
Oh it has to be an amazing book, I will try to look for it to gift my Mom.
Yesterday I met up with a perfume pal for the first time in a year. We passed along a couple of items to each other and one item I received was a travel spray of Mevlana, by local perfume house Untamed. To my nose it’s mainly wood and cocoa powder, and the notes also include coffee, tobacco and dried fruit. Really interesting
What fun! And that sounds good, the Mevlana.
Yesteday when moving a couple of boxes full of Chanel treasures I dropped one and there went my half full decant of Chanel 19 Poudre. Smashed and I could have had a couple more full wearings.
On the other note I found an almost empty 10ml of Chanel Eau Fraiche EdT and emptied it – very delicate and fresh, very sweet but not in a cloying way. Eau Fraiche EdT and Eau Fraiche EdP are different from each other. The EdT is like a field of meadow flowers, EdP is heavier on patchouli and it’s greenness has an almost of an aquatic quality (without being anything close to the one I could never stand: Davidoff Cool Water).
One little thing I have noticed with Eau Fraiche EdT is that it is kept in a similar tone to the 19 Poudre. It’s like a person who seems one can easily love the other.
A moment of silence for your Chanel No. 19 Poudre decant.
So sorry!!
Dolly Parton and Tim Curry, too. The world is a little bit dimmer.
I went to the gym, not feeling it today but I went anyway. I am wanting something loud so I’m wearing EL Tuberose Gardenia. The light is changing towards the autumn slant, and I have to get some wears in of my BWFs.
Your dedication to the gym has inspired me to get some better walking shoes. Just bought them at Scheels today. It remains to be seen if I’ll actually start walking more, but I’ll try. This morning was comfortable, temperature wise, so that’s a definite incentive. The hood in which I’m currently residing is not the best but I have a “guard dog” and pepper spray, so I think I’m good. Your weight workouts have got me thinking of getting another kettle bell. I used one all the time before I started gallivanting, but it’s hard to secure one of those in the small space of the camper…
I had to do something, I was losing functional strength. I used to hoist 40 lb. bags of kitty litter out of the car with no problem, but found myself gradually unable to lift them.
I would think that with T-Rex you must get lots of walking done when the weather permits. New shoes are always nice!
Another fellow Gym Rat, yay! It’s my happy place and helps keep me leveled out. Do you try the classes? Or weights only?
I love weights (3x/week) and the pool (usually one mile 2-3x per week). I like barre or pilates for core conditioning but usually do that at home.
I do love a new set of sneakers, bright orange is my go-to, I wanna be seen from space. 😉
I do weights 2x a week in the gym, run/walk 2x a week, and do flexibility on Sundays. I need a day to recover in between weight days and cardio days, I don’t bounce back as fast as I used to. But I do love the way my jaw unclenches after a workout.
Ha! That last comment is a hoot! 🤣
I admit, there’s something so relaxing after a workout, it blows out the cobwebs. And yep, my jaw definitely unclenches from the day’s stress.
RIP Tim Curry, that’s another face from my past. I saw the Rocky Horror Picture Show when I was 18, loved it and still do. I had no idea at the time how subversive it really was.
I’m visiting my mother, and have a handful of travel sprays with me. I’m wearing Armani Privé Magenta Tanzanite, it’s possibly a little sweeter than I usually wear, so I’ll claim a tenuous link with the CP.
Tenuous links are always welcome 🙂
I’m posting before the day gets away from me. It’s a little stormy here, and I discovered I might have a leak in my roof. I hope it’s an easy fix, because I can’t get a new one.
I’m wearing Libre Platine today, from the purse stash.
How old is your roof? The average is supposed to be between 20 and 25 years. I’m lucky in that the association is responsible for maintaining it and replace when necessary.
I think I am at 23 years!
oh, I’m hoping the leak is nothing serious or expensive. Any home repairs lately seem so $$$. Fingers crossed for you!
Thank you!
Ugh, roof leaks are a PITA. But you’ve had a good run with 23 years.
Why can’t you get a new roof? Too expensive? Insurance doesn’t cover?
I don’t really have a reason to contact my insurance, because it’s regular wear and tear. It’s just too expensive to replace.
SOTD = Sonoma Scent Studio Bee’s Bliss
I lied. There’s no lemon ont his one but it is wonderful nonetheless!
In other news, 8 hours of sleep seem to be the norm these days. Surprisingly, that is not usually the case as the average tends to be between 7 and 7 1/2! For what it’s worth, here’s an article from the New York Post about it.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/25/health/forget-8-hours-new-research-reveals-how-much-sleep-adults-really-need/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&utm_source=mail_app
🤣🤣🤣!
I read that same article earlier today before popping in to NST!
Trying Neith today. It’s nicely done overall but it does have some amber woods. I think amber woods have become what cilantro is to my brother. He can’t tolerate it in any amount. ehaeheh I am good w/ it in salsa etc. but don’t want big chunks on my tacos. Amber woods are used judiciously here but still easily detected. Sometimes I think I was a dog in another life…specifically a bloodhound! 🕵🏻 🐕😆
RIP Dolly and Tim Curry….the world is dimmer now as Foxbins noted. 😔
On an uplifting note…a freaked out dog who is new to the neighborhood and ran by me on Monday morning was miraculously reunited w/ its owner last night! 😅 It spent Monday night hiding the canyons….this is in San Diego where coyotes are plentiful w/ even the occasional mountain lion for good measure….a true miracle! Behold the power of Nextdoor and a kind neighborhood…who said social media was all bad? 😉 Sometimes me….eahehaeh sometimes I do say that…. 🤣
That is a great story, She-ra, and that is one lucky pup indeed.
So happy doggo found his way home thanks to some caring humans! ❤️
Well that’s a very happy ending! I love those! Usually I’m hesitant to get on ND, so much stress/angst to avoid on there.
I’m so glad he was returned home safely!
Super lucky doggo!
My exception to the rule for today is a bit different. The rule, which is totally based on my fickle personality, is that I rarely wear a perfume more than 1-2 days at a time. I just get bored and want a new distraction, no matter how much I love the perfume. The exception this summer, and probably due to our heat wave in L.A. right now, is that I find myself reaching for my Honore de Payane Vetyver day after day and in between other fragrances, but especially after exercise and showering. It is quenching but it doesn’t last long, that’s why I can wear it daily and yet still have time for other fragrances.
Any signs that your heat wave is breaking soon?
A glass of water with the juice of an unwaxed lemon. Now, the original 2005 Miss Dior Chérie was never on my radar but when the 2011 version came out I fell for this elegant modern chypre, widely underrated and several years after when I spotted a very affordable 2005 version, I thought why not? It sat in the cabinet for some years but I eventually realized that I loved it almost as much, so that’s what I wore this morning, perfect for summer as while it’s fruity-sweet with the gourmand aspect of pop corn, it is still airy. Tonight it’s vintage White Shoulders, I recently found a 44ml bottle, mostly full for £12 and confessing to Donatella here. It’s beautiful but very potent.
My Grandmother had White Shoulders body powder. I have always liked it.
I’m jealous of your Miss Diors. I wore the Le Parfum the other day.
It really feels like a perfume of another time, that doesn’t bother me in the least, your grandmother smelled beautiful.
We share a love of Le Parfum and have lamented our dwindling bottles as prices have made it out of reach. I love it best of all three I think.
Based on the notes, the 2005 Miss Dior Cherie should be a hot mess. But it works.
ITA, you expect something sticky and syrupy and it’s not.
Happy National Dog Day to those of you lucky enough to be a parent to a special furbaby! In my adult life I’ve tried to have 2 🐱 🐱 and 1 🐶 but somehow the cats have increasingly prevented that from happening because they keep ‘appearing!’ At one time I had 4 cats and 1 dog- yes, it was too much! Finally, when my two sisters 😻😽 had their first birthday I was ready to adopt another dog and then I found little sister😺in our backyard. So much for that!
Like many of you I watched a lot of the coverage about Dolly yesterday and she is still with me. I’m sure there are many fans joining me in my SOTD Dolly’s Scent From Above to honor her today. I bought this fragrance initially because of her, but it is a pleasurable light floral and I think the bottle is beautiful with its pale pink butterfly wings that Dolly has now exchanged for angel 🪽 🪽.
Looking forward to a fundraiser for our historical society tonight at a local restaurant featuring a curated selection of bourbons and ryes to complement 5 yummy-sounding small plates. I doubt we will get to the annual folk fest in September this year in Kentucky so this will be my ‘pretend’ trip to that beautiful state, and to keep that vibe going, I’ll be wearing Dolly’s Smoky Mountain, a deeper woody floral.
Lastly, here’s a delightful Dolly story you probably won’t see in all the news coverage that I saw in one of my daily baseball newsletters. Almost 40 years ago, she visited Yankee Stadium and showed off her swing. Be sure to watch the brief video clip. So Dolly!
https://www.mlb.com/news/dolly-parton-visit-to-yankee-stadium?partnerId=it-20260826-19564704-mlb-1-B&utm_id=it-20260826-19564704-mlb-1-B&lctg=22472708
I will always love💔you, Dolly.😢
Thanks for sharing, I love this little clip of her.
Me, too! Thanks for viewing!
She’s so dang adorable! I love her ability to joke about herself. You hardly come across self-deprecating humor anymore. She’s a legend.
Thanks for that clip!
You’re welcome! I too love her self deprecating humor. When she said she’s not a dumb blonde, ‘I’m not dumb, and I’m not blonde.’ 😂
That “dumb blonde” comment of hers was so awesome! And subversive.
Thanks for this link!
Hope you enjoyed it!
You are a regular stop for the Cat Distribution System! 🐈🐈⬛
A number of years ago, the last time we had 2 cats + 1 dog, we found a young male cat about a year old in our yard (this was before all the shelters that are available now) who, long story short, joined our family. Ditto a year later when the story repeated itself; hence, our family of 4 cats + 1 dog. I remember going in the backyard and proclaiming that even if the original Lassie appeared in our yard, he would NOT be staying. And it worked! At least until I found Adorable😸 8 years ago. Cat distribution system indeed!
Song of the Day:
https://youtu.be/RfinvuRolR0?list=RDRfinvuRolR0
Despite coming out in 1977, this Dolly Parton song was totally new to me until I heard it playing on the radio earlier today. Country-western wasn’t my genre growing up. It was my Dad’s. We would argue about the radio when I hit my tweens and wanted to listen to “my” music. I think you all can guess how that turned out.
RIP Tim Curry. “It’s just a jump to the left…”
SOTD = Angel EdP. This covers 2 categories for me WRT to the CP: gourmands and patchouli. I was appalled the first time I smelled TM Angel. Pretty sure I thought of NST-unsafe language back then. I’ve done a complete 180 on Angel and patchouli. Gourmands are still tricky for me.
Thanks for the Song of the Day, I was not familiar with it either. I never really listened to country music growing up either until learning to appreciate it in recent years, probably because it seems there are so many country music specials on TV in recent years. Glad you’ve done a complete 180 on Angel and patchouli, I ❤️ both. Also ❤️ gourmands, but only in fall/winter and much cooler weather.
Right now, the only gourmand perfumes I think I have are Angel EdT and EdP, Prada Candy, and ELdO Fils de Dieu. Not including samples in this tally.
My Mom was from the South. She listened to country music and rock music. Dolly was a favorite.
I hated Angel when it first came out. I just didn’t understand it, but I was also very intrigued.
I couldn’t reconcile the fruity and sweet notes in the OG Angel with the patchouli, which had fangs at the time. It has been tamed with successive reformulations over time.
I think I need to be Magenta for Halloween this year.
Now what perfume would she wear??
Magenta would wear a perfume that is either unhinged or super skanky. Something like Smell Bent Prairie Nymph, for example.
🩵 the song, thank you.
You’re welcome!
There is now a petition here in the US to rename Nashville’s airport after Dolly Parton. It seems to have really taken off (pun intended).
I’m wearing L’Artisan Parfumeur Voleur de Roses today. I am surprised that I appreciate this as much as I do.
Someone described it as Dracula’s fragrance and it could be the gothic, balsamic, geranium and metalic (blood) notes that I usually don’t like, as a loose rule.
But it’s just weird enough, and I do like the patchouli and rose combo that it strangely compels me.
As a side note, I happened to attend a perfume event a couple of years ago and I knew that Antonia, one of the owners of SF’s Ministry of Scent would be there. I had just purchased a partial bottle of Voleur de Roses and I brought it so that she could tell me if it was off or if that’s how it’s supposed to smell. She took one whiff and said, “That’s how I remember it. Amazing!” My appreciation of it might have something to do with her fragrant blessing❤️
I was fortunate enough to get a manufacturer’s sample of Voleur de Roses from jepster. Loved it!
It’s one of a kind🌹
I got a sample of it 20 years ago when I used to shop on L’Artisan website. Remember it vividly. Rose and patch. Wasn’t it of a more masculine rose? Wasn’t it even targeted for men? Do You remember when L’Artisan used to send out hard copy wonderful catalogs? Oh the illustrations!!
Yes, definitely more masculine leaning. Awww, catalogs – the good old days😊