He thought it was his birthday, anyway. Either way, if you're interested, read five reasons why Harrison might be the greatest Beatle.
But we're here today for our usual open thread routine. Talk about anything you like — the perfume you’re wearing today, the last perfume you were sorry you purchased, the fragrance you should have bought instead, whatever.
Or, ask a question about fragrance, then see if anyone else has asked a question that you can answer…
(And before I forget: huge thanks to everyone who chimed in last week with suggestions for future polls!)
Note: image is ζξ │ ט [spacing adjusted] by Môsieur J. [version 6.1b] at flickr; some rights reserved.
Harrison! I was thinking of George this week! I’m too young to have listened to The Beatles except as an “oldie,” but my hippie father has the most respect for GH of the lot. Anyway, I got a new kitty last weekend, and I’ve been trying to rename him. Harrison was one of my thoughts. (The name he came with was “Oreo Pickle,” which is totally unacceptable!)
Oh, and I’m currently wearing SSS To Dream, which has really grown on me. I might have to give in and buy a little bottle of it. (My list of SSS scents that I feel that way about keeps getting longer!)
I haven’t had any regrettable perfume purchases recently. I’ve been buying more than I usually mean to (in $$$), but all the purchases are either samples or long-awaited bottles.
Eek, I haven’t tried ‘to dream’ or ‘nostalgie’ or the two violets. Since packages are a bit of a risk through the post I think I will get two purse-sprays of 5ml each – Winter Woods and Lieu de Rieves and some more samples!
Nostalgie is on my bottle list, too!
We also recently got a new kitty who had to be renamed. A coworker had been caring for a stray, but her other cats didn’t like the newcomer, so the coworker gave the cat to me. Once I got the cat home, I discovered that “Wendy” was a boy, so a change of name was in order.
Gender-confused names have been common in my pet-history! Growing up, we had a female cat named Herbert, a female dog named Max, and a male cat named Audrey! My family always just kept the “wrong” name and let it be a family joke. But I can see how if you discover your error soon enough, you might as well change it!
It wasn’t my error, it was my coworker’s. She had been calling the cat “Wendy” for three weeks. Her daughter had worked at a vet clinic last summer and was sure the cat was a girl! I discovered the mistake within about an hour of getting “Wendy” home, so “Wendy” is now Felix. The name means “happy” in Latin, and Felix is about the happiest cat I have ever seen. In all fairness, Felix is long-haired, and it is harder to tell on a long-haired cat.
Oops! I meant that as a general “your” not a specific one! It’s such a disadvantage to English that we don’t have two (or three) different words for inclusive and exclusive and plural “yous.”
Malagasy has two forms of “we”–inclusive we and exclusive (not you, too) we. I never really thought about it before, but once I had the option, I realized how useful the distinction can be!
A rescue place I know recently got a cat that had been saved from euthanasia (he is a bit of a bitey-boy) and the person handing the cat over said – I think it’s a boy. The girls who took him took one look at the fully-formed kitty-balls and was really wondering how on earth the person missed those. And that person works for a vet!
Years ago my mother adopted two handsome young kitties, one boy (named G.T. – for “gifted and talented”) and one girl, Rosie. Oops! A trip to the vet’s office and Rosie was determined to be a nickname for Roosevelt!
LOL! Many years ago, when I lived in N. Va., I named a kitten Thomas Jefferson (of course). The tradition stuck, and since then, I’ve continued to name my cats after U. S. Presidents. No political implications, just picking names. Currently I have Andrew (Jackson) and Pierce (Franklin).
A good friend had a kitten he named Oscar. Months later, he discovered Oscar was a female. My friend was a gynecologist!
The cat kept the name.
Just wanted to chime in liking your new gravatar! I spotted it before I found the thread leading up to it, was pretty funny!
Agree on both. HUGE cat lover here and also had a kitten with a mistaken identity!
Perhaps the gravatar is part of your psyching up for vacation?
I think you’re right about the picture! I took it on another spring break trip several years ago. I put it on my desktop a few weeks ago, and I can just about smell the olive trees when I look at it! I hope I get some good pictures in Hawaii!
To Dream and Nostalgie are both very lovely!
Do you think Laurie would do a punch card frequent-buyers discount for me? I could easily spend a few hundred dollars on several of those wonderful, “affordable” 17 mL bottles! (Only affordable if I can limit myself to a few at a time!)
It was my birthday yesterday, so it made me forget for a moment that I had tough, exhausting week. There’s still a lot of chocolate-cherry cake in the fridge. Anyone reflects for a slice, haha? I didn’t get any frags but my parents gifted me with a great jacket from the newest collection from my favourite brand. And there’s still my friends’ bday surprise waiting for me – we’ll have a small party next week.
I celebrated my birthday wearing Prada Amber Pour Homme. Today, Prada Infusion d’Homme is what I’m wearing; just to continue my Prada weekend routine.
I’ll take a slice of that cake. I have nothing in the house as far as cookies or cake and something sweet right now would be wonderful. Glad you had a nice birthday and happy to hear the fun will continue next week.
Sending one big slice for you Poodle! Too bad that cake can’t be send via e-mail in megabytes.
The party was supposed to be this thursday, the day before my birthday but I postponed it one week on my friends’ request. I wonder what they’re planning to get for me as a bday gift.
Belated birthday wishes. I now need to go and find some chocolate cherry cake!
Thank you so much. Hope you’ll find one as tasty as mine!
Well, I am going to wish you a happy birthday now since I just found out! I love that you get to extend it out an entire week. I think I will plan on that for my November birthday.
Happiest of birthdays to you, and I hope this new year is a special one for you.
Thanks Joliefleurs! Actually it wasn’t planned, my friends asked my to postpone in one week because some of them couldn’t make it this week.
Happy belated birthday, Lucas!
Thanks a lot!
And how was your week?
Hectic 🙂
Almost like mine…
Happy Birthday week!
I guess you can call it like that! I’ve never had one before, seems like fun!
Lucas, I was admiring your new gravatar yesterday. Is it any big deal to create? I am kinda tired of my geometric design!
Oh, thank you Marjorie Rose! I was tired of my geometric design too. And having an avatar makes you more recognizable I think.
It’s not a big deal. If you need any help just let me know and I’ll lend you a hand. I also offer finding a good picture for you 🙂
You just have to create an account with Gravatar. It is free, and only takes a few minutes. You just need one or more email addresses. You can then add as many images as you like to your account, either images you get off the web, or your own photos. Mine is a picture of one of the roses in my garden. I just uploaded the photo from my camera to my PC, then from my PC to my gravatar account. By using your own picture, you can be sure that no one else will have the exact same gravatar as you. You list all the email addresses for which you want to use a gravatar, and select an image for each one. They can be the same, or you can use a different image for each email address. Then every time you comment on a site for which you use one of those email addresses, the image you selected will be displayed as your avatar.
Thanks. You make it sound so easy. I’m sick of my generic gravatar too so maybe I’ll work on changing it this week. I need to be in the right frame of mind to do stuff like that though because it’s never as easy as it seems.
thanks for the tutorial roses! I agree, for those of us who are not so savvy with these types of things it can seem like such a bigger time warp than it is for those where things come naturally. When I ask my techy hubby for help I always feel like a nincompoop!
The only part of it that is potentially troublesome is uploading the images to your computer. Some cameras make it easier than others, and it may depend on just what software you have on your computer. In the future, anytime you want to change your gravatar, you just go into your account and select a different image. when you do, it automatically changes it on every site where your gravatar is displayed. I had hesitated a while too, thinking it would be really tricky and need greater techie skills than I possess, but it is really simple.
Thank you, Lucas and 50_Roses, for the help. Maybe I’ll make that a mini project this weekend. It seems like cats and flowers are both popular choices!
Nice gravatar!!
LOL…you changed it already. It was poppies?
Hi, Robin! I’m having too much fun with that, aren’t I?
Yes, it was poppies–a picture from my art car. Then I tried a picture of Claude, kitty #2. Now I’m trying some fields in Montana. . . 🙂
Do you like the poppies best? (Matches the post picture!)
See, now that wasn’t so hard, was it?
No, not hard at all! Hardest part is settling on one! I think I like these olive trees best, at least for the moment! (Can you see how it’s taking me over a week to settle on a name for my new kitty?! I am not the most decisive person.)
Popped back on tonight (Saturday evening) to find out Marjorie Rose is already rockin’ the gravatar. Niiiiice. I like the trees with the sun behind them.
Thanks! I took this picture somewhere in central California. It was one of those happy accidents at a rest stop!
You did it Marjorie! That’s a beautiful gravatar! Now it’ll be easier to find your great comments down there 🙂
BTW, Before I settled for shirt&tie gravatar I tested few more, like cinnamon sticks, books etc.
Thanks, Lucas! Glad to hear I’m not the only one who had to trial-and-error it a bit! I would try one and wait for it to load onto NST to see what it looked like before trying another! I think I’ll stick with these trees (for a while at least!).
The trees are really great as a gravatar. But if you find it difficult to stick to this one only, I suggest changing it with the season cycle & eventually match it, if you know what i mean.
Lucas, I was thinking along those lines, myself! This picture was taken in March (although it feels more autumn-like to me), so it is in fact seasonal!
Happy Birthday!
Thank you Abyss!
Just noticed the gravatar as well, lucasai, and I really like. Clean, distinctive, just perfect. I find gravatars are a real help when getting to know voices online.
Happy birthday!
Dionne, it took me some time to find it. I wanted it to be clean & distinctive just like my beloved Prada Amber Pour Homme. Seems like I reached my goal.
Thank you for the wishes!
happy birthday lucasai, did you get your new scent from sephora for yourself?
No, not yet Dilettante. I’m still waiting for my next week late-birthday party with my friends. They’re probably getting me a sephora gift card. If that would be true then I’ll buy myself some perfume there.
I’m just not sure if I should go instantly for Chanel Blanche or should I wait to sniff new D&G Anthology 4 L’Empereur or Prada Infusion d’Iris Absolue.
Happy birthday, Lucas!
Thank you 🙂
Happy Birthday, Lucasai! Liking the new avatar as well – very distinctive.
Thank you Vanessa for the wishes! I like my new gravatar too.
A very happy birthday to you Lucas! And I’ll give you a laugh – when I first saw your new gravatar, I thought it was a lighthouse or a tower! lol!
Thank you Rappleyea! Hah, that is funny, you’re pretty creative, I wouldn’t come up with a tower idea looking at this gravatar picture.
Do you like it? I enjoy it much.
When I looked more closely and realized what it was, I *really* liked it! Very suave!
Glad to hear that 🙂
Ah, and let me ask you – how was your week?
Just finding this on Mon. a.m. But in case you come back, my week was fine – pretty quiet actually as it’s the slow time of the year at work, weather is unseasonably warm, and it’s still college basketball season (which, as you can tell from my gravatar, I love!). Thanks for asking. 🙂 How about you?
Tough – a lot of university work to do. But my birthday made me forget about those pains.
Happy birthday, and LOVE Amber Pour Homme, one of my wear-it-everywhere fragrances.
Thanks Olenska. Prada Amber Pour Homme is my great love. I discovered it years ago (just after it launched probably) and fell in love instantly and this love still lasts. At first place it was too expensive for me as a young high school student, but I stocked up some money and bought it after 3 years of dreaming about it.
Belated happy birthday!
Thanks a lot.
Belated Happy Birthday wishes! And remember, good fragrances trump good cake every time.
Thanks for the wishes Jonette! I’ll be sure to remember that:)
He IS the best Beatle!
To me, he is not the best Beatle, but he’s the best post-Beatles Beatle — in other words, I like his solo career the best of the 4.
I’m just in love with him! 😉
THE BEST. *slaps the tabletop and orders a fresh round for everyone*
It’s funny – I would never have said that George was the “best Beatle,” or the most talented one, or the most influential, or what have you… I think John would have succeeded at just about anything self-expresive that he set out to do, and Paul has just so much musical talent.
But George wrote my very favorite of-all-time Beatles song, and I love him for it: Here Comes the Sun.
I love that and ‘Heading for the Light’ (that he wrote/sang with The Traveling Wilburys).
George is the best Beattle! When I was a kid my sisters and I would watch that Beattles cartoon. George was my boyfriend! Ha. His album All Things Must Past is one of the greatest records of all time. “I’d have you Anytime” is one of the greatest songs ever.
It is a lovely spring-sunshiney day in London today and SOTD is Tubereuse Criminelle (so grateful that this finally arrived in the export line!).
The last fragrance purchase I fear I may regret (yes, I still hold hope) is Cuir de Lancome. I love leather – Cuir de Russie, Bottega Veneta, Traversee du Bosphore, Cuir Mauresque, Dzing and Tea for Two – and the online raves, coupled with the very low prices online tempted me into a blind buy. But now I find that it smells almost startingly like the inside of my mother’s leather handbags – a little too lifelike everyday leather to wear comfortably. And yes, it does feel a little “old” for me. I have an idea that amping up the rather pale florals might just make it work – any ideas for what perfumes / body products it can be layered with?
I also went for a blind swap of Cuir de Lancôme, and it wasn’t what I expected either. But I like it more and more! I don’t have any suggestions for you, but I hope you’ll find a way to wear it and like it!
Thanks, Alnysie. Wishing and hoping!
Cuir de Lancôme was also a blind buy for me a couple of years ago. I was a little surprised at first for the same reasons you describe, but I really came to love it after a few months. Give it time — I also found that spraying very, very lightly was helpful. Good luck!
I will try it a few more times before it starts getting too warm here. I hope it works – I did really want to love it.
I’m not much of a leather fan (I like it as an accent, not a focal point) – and I love Cuir de Lancome for exactly the reason that it smells like the inside of my mother’s good leather purse, ca. 1974: leather, lipstick, face powder, her hanky spritzed with Chanel No. 5…
I find it very versatile. It’s floral, but strong, quiet with plenty of backbone when I need a little extra. It was perfect for taking my bleeding kid to the ER last fall. (Fell off his bike, cut his hand on the gravel. He’s fine.)
I think my problem is that I would like it to be a little more floral but will give it a few more tries to see if it grows on me as is. Sorry to hear about the ER episode – glad all is well!
I blind-bought CdL a couple of years ago … at first, I wasn’t sure if I liked it. I had to wear it a few times before I “got” it, now it’s one of my top 5 all-time favorites. So don’t give up too soon!
Will persevere! Thanks for helping me keep the faith… 😉
I’m having a little bit of swap withdrawal. I had a great time in the Perfume Posse Swapmania a few weeks ago, and it was great to find homes for unloved bottles and to get some wonderful things in return. Nothing lifts my spirits better after a long, tiring day at work than to come home and find a package of perfume waiting for me! I just wish I could do it again and get rid of the rest of my unloved bottles.
Oh, I totally understand! February was such a prolific month for perfume exchange for me–it was so much fun. Sad to see it wrapping up. I guess there’s the summer swap to look forward to?
How very funny that you posted this today. I, too, am having a bit of post-swap let down,and was going through my notes to sort of relive the glory, and I came across one that says….”send 50 Roses the Keiko samples, wanted to explore a house”
Does that make sense to you, lol? Had you mentioned wanting to get to know a particular house?
I’d be delighted to send them to you, I always enjoy your posts so much!
Yes, it does make sense. I mentioned in one of my swap posts that I would take a selection of samples in exchange for a bottle, and that I enjoy a chance to explore a range of samples from one house. By sampling a bunch of samples from the same house, I can get a good sense of the overall style of that house, and it can determine whether or not I pay much attention to it in the future. I assume you mean Keiko Mecheri, which is a brand I have never tried, so I would be happy to sample. Email me at Roses_50 atsign yahoo period com, and we can work out the details. I can send you my list of remaining bottles, in case there is anything you want.
I sent you an email!
The Scents of Self is organizing a charity sale of perfume for a women’s refuge: thescentsofself.com/2012/02/22/donate-and-do-good
It wouldn’t get you any NEW perfume, but it might be a place to get rid of unloved bottles?
I didn’t get my act together in time for swapmania. Maybe someone here (eh hem, roses) who is computer-literate, could create a private google/yahoo group for nst-ers to swap? I know mua does this, but to me it just seems so daunting to start there. Am I the only one who feels that way about mua? Anywho, I’d love to swap with some of you lovely ladies and gents!
No, I agree with you about MUA. I’m sure they are lovely (and many may also be here on NST), but I feel that I don’t know them. I’d much rather swap here.
I totally agree. I don’t want to spend all my time looking for swaps, I would rather wait for the posse swapmania (or here…if there was one)…I find the auction style kind of exciting, and I think it keeps it fun that it only happens once in awhile.
Agree! Had a great time with Swapmania and ended up with lots of new things to try. It’s also added to my “to buy” list. What I would love is a small community to swap with and maybe split the occasional bottle? Never done this, but it appears to be a good way to aquire fragrance that you don’t need a huge quantity of.
I’d like to join such a group if it existed!
I’m jumping on this bandwagon too. I don’t have much to offer but if and when I do I would want to swap with you folks.
Me, too!
50 R – You’re still on my list to contact…. 😉
You can contact me at Roses_50 atsign yahoo period com.
Am I the last one to learn that some of the previously discontinued Donna Karan fragrances are back in production? Chaos and Black Cashmere are available again at Neiman Marcus, at least online – I don’t know about in the stores. I’m curious if anyone has tried these since the reformulations and I’d love to know what you think. I’m hoping the blind buy of Chaos will show up on my doorstep this beautiful, Spring-like morning.
I hadn’t heard that! Are they exclusive to NM?
Those came back in 2008. I have never done direct comparisons, and have heard different accounts of how good they are.
https://freebox.it.com/2008/08/11/donna-karan-relaunches-iconic-fragrances/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Thanks, Robin!
It was searching for any information about Chaos that brought me to NST and down the rabbit hole! I have the rerelease Chaos and find it matches very closely to my memory of the initial release. I blind-bought, sprayed, sniffed and said ‘Finally!’. I do think some of the drydown has changed a tiny bit but overall I am very very pleased. I can spray with abandon and enjoy without needing a second mortgage to buy a bottle. Black Cashmere I was less familiar with but having received the old pebble bottle in Swapmania (colour me ecstatic) and sniffing the rerelease I note very little difference again. Shame they didn’t reissue the fabulous bottles as well…ah well, the juice is what counts!
Yeah – the new bottles look like shampoo bottles. That’s okay, I’m going to try to see it as a reminder that it’s what’s inside that really counts, packaging is superfluous, with perfumes and people.
I just checked. I saw Chaos as one of the NM Donna Karan exclusives, but not Black Cashmere. Did I miss it?
It’s on the Donna Karan website if you want to buy:
http://www.donnakaran.com/
I’m still on a high from Swapmania and the following acquisition frenzy I went through — I now have dozens and dozens of new samples to sniff, as well as many glorious new bottles to wear! People were so generous with their swaps and included a ton of samples in their packages…
This morning I tested Jacomo Silences and I really like it, it reminded me of SL Bas de Soie and for $28 I think it’ll be hard to resist! And right now I’m testing PdN Vie de Château and it’s really lovely. I love that the two fragrances I’m kind of liking the most among those I sampled recently, are also among the cheapest! For once! 🙂
Also last weekend I sniffed all of Monsillage’s fragrances and brought back a sample of Aviation Club, with notes of tobacco and leather. I really like it, especially the first half-hour.
I love Vie de Chateau — wish I had a bottle!
Alnysie, have you heard that they’re going to reformulate Silences? (Grrrrr. As a Silences lover, this is me growling.) If you like it, I’d snatch one up soon.
Wait, that last phrase was confusing, make that “If you like it, you might consider snatching it up soon.”
No, I didn’t! Actually, hasn’t it already been reformulated since 1978? In any case, thanks for the heads up, Dionne! I guess I now have an official excuse to not wait before buying it! Ha!
I’m pretty sure it’s been reformulated at least once since 1978, as older bottles are in a parfum de toilette concentration, but the new version just announced sounds like a major revision (why? why do that?)
I learned about it this last week when Mals at Muse in Wooden Shoes had a post about the reformulation – it’s because of her I tried it in the first place.
Oh, no — I feel a blind buy coming on in the wake of this information. I’ve been interested in Silences for a long time but have never taken the plunge, and it seems like now would be a good time to do that. (But a $28 blind buy doesn’t REALLY count, right?)
Darnit! Another one to add to my bulging TPC shopping cart! It actually doesn’t sound like “me,” but so intriguing, I really wanna sniff, anyway!
Although is it crazy of me to assume that if a reformulation is in the works, it’ll probably not reach the shelves (and even less so Fragrancenet’s shelves) before a few months at least?
I LOVE Silences, the satiny meditative eerieness of it – which is why news of the announced relaunch burns my shorts. It sounds like they’re going for a greenish floral and taking the oakmoss out of the formula – and if they don’t take the opportunity to cheap out on the florals, the new version could possibly be good. It just doesn’t sound like it will be very Silences-like.
You can still find the old-style parfum de toilette (what I have) all over ebay. I have smelled the more modern eau de parfum and it’s not bad.
The sample I have is very likely to be the modern EDP. I guess that’s what I’d order… Going on Ebay and blind-buying the old-style version seems like too much trouble! :/
and there will be even more soon!
Haha! Yay!
The original packaging is in the grey box while the initial reformulation is in the black box with multiple Silences printed over it. The older PDT also has the removable plastic covers while the newer ones are attached and have the spray mechanism built-in….
I received a sample of SL Eau Froide yesterday. It changed several times in the space of the first 10-15 minutes and then all but disappeared (I suspect I might be anosmic since I think Denyse found it rather tenacious). No matter, I didn’t care for it and the disappearing act it performed simply meant that I could go ahead and spritz some Bandit instead.
Besides, having to currently live with the reality of a broken boiler and icy water coming out of taps rather took the shine off the poetic idea behind the fragrance 😀
I may just sit Eau Froide out — not really interested.
So sorry about your broken boiler!
Probably wise, you won’t be missing out on much…imo, of course 😉 I didn’t like L’Eau and didn’t expect for this to be an improvement either. The only reason I tried it was because SL sent out free samples which is always very nice of them. I just wish they did it with non-export releases too.
I just wish he’d send them to the States! I get the emails and it makes me sad every time!
This is destined to be another Serge I am inexplicably drawn to and inevitably disappointed with.
Sounds like you and I have a very similar relationship with SL fragrances!
I have naive high hopes for samples of Miel de Bois and De Profundis coming my way.
Please let us know what you think of De Profundis. I’ve been itching to sample it since I read Victoria’s review at Bois de Jasmin.
I will dutifully report back! Victoria’s review is also responsible for speeding this to the top of my “must-sample” list.
I spritzed some herba fresca on my upper arms, the other day, and just a little Ambre Russe on my wrists and chest, and really enjoyed the effect. Mostly cool and grassy but the ocassional amber and tea warmth.
So today I tried Herba Fresca (upper arms) and Eau de Beaux on wrists and chest, but it somehow didn’t work quite as well. The Eau de Beaux is not as deep chested and so there wasn’t that lovely contrast, perhaps?
As to purchases: I’m still dithering over Delices Des Fleurs (which wont be around much longer). Because the excitement of a possible impulse purchase has died down I am no longer trigger happy. I almost nearly have permission to buy it as its starting to near 3 months.
And instead I am all agog over M7 which I recently tried. I have no idea how long it will be around (is it discontinued?) There is a 20% discount on it at a local store in a few days. If I tried to take advantage of that I would be breaking my 3 month rule and may well be impulse buying…
I guess the sensible thing would be to buy neither and see how I feel in 3 months?
I am always a sucker for a sale so if you wait you might miss out on the sale price. I had a similar thing happen recently. I wanted to get a new cage for my parrot and found one I liked. It wasn’t on sale so I thought since it wasn’t an urgent need I would wait until it went on sale because I just didn’t want to drop that much money and then have it go on sale the next week (which is usually my luck). Well, I waited, and the price did change. It went up $30. So now I’m waiting for it to go on sale for the original price that I thought was too much. Grrrr.
The moral of the story is if you like it and the price is right and you’re really close to the three month mark perhaps you should treat yourself a little early.
Poodle, the same thing just happened to me with a Chanel nail polish! Given all my recent lemmings though I think I’ll just forget about my nails for a while!
Actually the M7 I have only tried a few times – nowhere near my recommended 3 month period!
The L’Occitaine I have dutifully waited for but-
1) its just starting to get cooler where I live so it is no longer quite so tempting (though summer here is much longer than winter)
and 2) its been quite overshadowed by my recent testing of M7!
Ooo I want me soem herba fresca. I bet it’s great for layering.
Layering never works for me, in terms of applying one perfume OVER another. But I do enjoy wearing 2 or even 3 different perfumes on different areas of skin. When I do this I don’t experience a mix of fragrances simultaneously. Instead I get a whiff of one, and at another moment a whiff of the other. Or, more usually, there is one main fragrance surrounding me most of the day that I become a bit anosmic to, and then another, say on my wrists that I get occassional huffs of. This keeps me from getting bored!
Oh, and I would definitely recommend H.F. It has turned into a summer staple. My main summer frags have been Infusion d’ Iris and Herba Fresca. My other two summery frags, Christalle eau de Verte and Apres la Mousseau fell a little by the wayside. Delices de Fleur may become a new member of the ‘summer contingent’ but I need to decide before it disappears as it is a limited!
Thanks Merlin! I am definitely interesting in it, whether it will (or how soon!) win out over my other fbw loves is yet to be seen.
holy types… Some* interested* ! sheesh, too late to be posting to anything coherently.
holy typos… Some* interested* ! sheesh, too late to be posting to anything coherently.
Sometimes it seems quite accidental which bottle wins out!
I’ve got a question I’ve been meaning to ask the Weekend Pollster crowd for a while now: What Canadian perfume bloggers do you know? I’m aware of One Thousand Scents, PereDePierre, Redolent of Spices, Scent of the Day and Perfume Chronices. Is there anyone else?
And of course Erin here at NST and Nava at the Posse.
I only knew one of those was Canadian… (my fellow Montrealer Normand from TPChronicles!) so I’m really not a reference, unfortunately!
Normand was the other one I was thinking of!
Ayala Moriel’s Smelly Blog:
http://ayalasmellyblog.blogspot.com/
Jane of Daly Beauty. (She does makeup and nail polish too, but is a huge frag hound.)
I think I might make a mall run today, although I’m not at all sure I’ll find any new perfumes on shelves.
Meanwhile I’ve been obsessing about the new fragrance that Andy Tauer teased on his blog all last week. Cocoa, birch tar, patchouli, vetiver, patchouli, beeswax…. and somehow related to film noir. I actually have a theory about what it could be related to, but I could be all wet…
I’m very curious about that scent too. His blog has got my curiosity level at high alert. I love how it sounds so far.
I’ll admit that it doesn’t necessarily sound like something that I’d be dying to sample if it wasn’t from Andy. But it’s from Andy, so you know I’ll try it! He has such a way of creating anticipation with his blog.
I am dying to see if my theory is right about what Dark Passages was created for. In some ways it seems circumstances seem too coincidental to NOT be correct; in others, it seems too good to be true and also too random to be possible. arrrrrrgh! Curiosity will kill the perfumista.
I have a question to you all: which scents would you consider as having the most distinctive and recognizable tonka note? (besides the obiously named tonkamande and vetiver tonka, already on my list for a re-try)
Prada Amber Pour Homme, my personal favourite. It has tonka bean accord, but I don’t know if it’ll be recognizable enough for you
There’s also Guerlain Tonka Imperiale.
Montale Boise Vanille has a decent slug of tonka, too.
I get a lot of tonka in Lolita Lempicka, original and Eau de Minuit, as well as in Jicky.
thanks, I’ll check them out!
Wearing Roget & Gallet Bois d’Orange today. Loving this lately.
I’ve always had a fondness for George Harrison. 🙂
I was so excited to find this, in the spray AND a soap, at a store this week! I love it too!
Great find!
Did you see that pretty LE bottle of the R&G?
I didn’t — will have to look for it!
Scroll down:
https://freebox.it.com/2012/02/08/bunch-o-limited-edition-collector-bottles-2012-part-3/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Oh, thanks Robin! They are really pretty!
I need no convincing that George was the best Beatle. He who created “Here Comes the Sun” is deserving of the title. 🙂
I think I’ll go amber today and wear Amber Ylang-ylang. I’m wishing for Agent P Strip. I think the two are similar in feel, but Strip has a delicious, penetrating warmth.
Glad to see the George fans today. Everyone else in my house is a Paul fan.
Strip is terrific. And still not convinced that George was the “best Beatle,” but Here Comes the Sun is my favorite Beatles song. Ever.
Well George financed the making of The Life of Brian, to me a good enough reason to be the greatest Beatle.
Wearing Rien today. When I will have finished my two samples I will get me a bottle of this glorious stuff!
He did?!? Okay, he gets my vote, too.
Fabulous factoid about Life of Brian, one of our favorites. Thanks for sharing.
Of an age to have grown up with a crush on Paul and respect for John’s genius. George seemed like a gentle soul. Ringo is Ringo.
Has anyone tried Bond No. 9 Andy Warhol Union Square? Looking forward to spring and need something with lily of the valley.
Best subversive dialogue ever!
The crowd speaks, “We’re all individuals!”
“I’m not”
(and he’s shushed by the crowd) 😀
I did not know that about Life of Brian!
Being a huge fan of Python I have watched a whole load of interviews with all of them. In several it is mentioned that George Harrison so loved the script and the whole idea of Brian that he wanted to put up the money. His reasoning: I want to see the movie. He actually pawned his house and an office that he owned to make it possible.
One of the Pythons mentioned it, saying that it was the most anyone had ever paid for a movie ticket. Mind you, Brian being the controversial film that it was, was very successful from a financial point of view. Eric Idle was great friends with George Harrison so that is how it all came together.
Great story, thanks! I will tell my son, who is a huge Beatles fan and a huge Monty Python fan.
My brothers and I are big Python and Beatles fan — they’ll love this info.
Hi all,
This is my first post – I’ve been lurking, learning, and admiring for a while. My friends are saying I’m “obsessed” with perfume. So I thought I’d seek a like-minded non-judgemental group here!
I can’t say who the greatest Beatle is or was, but can honestly say George was always my favorite. My husband and I were thrilled to be able to meet Dhani Harrison along with Ben Harper last year at a Fistful of Mercy gig. Dhani is like a replica of his dad. Amazing, and a very kind soul, too.
I have a Mitsouko question. I love it. I would love it just a bit more if I could add a touch of sweetness to it. Is it sacrilege to layer Mitsouko with a sweet amber or something like that? 🙂
I don’t think it is sacrilege to layer anything you want together, unless it is something like, say, Angel and Poison together, or Opium and Giorgio. In that case, you might have to be quarantined until it wears off.
Suddenly I have an image of there being a perfume car on the train like the smoking car. . .a place for the unwanted to congregate and commiserate!
Wow! I’m jealous! Yes, he is so much like his Dad. George was my fav too, then John. I don’t really relate to Paul, though I bet he had better energy when Linda was still alive.
Sujaan, yes I feel the same about Paul (profound talent notwithstanding!) I sure hope to see him perform again soon. Dhani has a tremendous amount of humility.
I mean to say see Dhani perform soon…!
Welcome! NST is not only non-judgmental about being “obsessive,” they’re downright encouraging!
Thank you Marjorie, and good to meet you!
Welcome! And layering is great. I’ve read plenty of comments about different scents layered with Mitsy. Beware, however, that Mitsy generally eats other scents!
Thank you for the advice!
Hi and welcome!
I say layer what you like, esp. if it makes you love the perfume more.
Thank you Robin!
Wearing Lanvin Avant Garde bought unsniffed yesterday. Not regreting my $30 find.
Question: I am going on a cruise next month with stops in Grand Turk, St Thomas USVI, and a stop at Chicago airport? Any info about the best place for frag shopping?
Wow, great buy!
I am sad to say I have a purchase regret, though thankfully it was only a small bottle. I smelled Providence Perfumes Osmanthus Oolong at the recent Elements show and loved it, but it just doesn’t smell right on me at all. I will be donating it to the Scents of Self fundraiser.
What a shame, so sorry!
I don’t know much about George Harrison. I like him but can’t call myself a die hard fan of the Beatles.
I have to go to a Neil Diamond tribute band concert tonight. I’m ripping tickets at the door. Not sure how I got suckered into this job but it may be fun. Having trouble deciding what would be a good scent for the occasion.
Ha! I don’t know if it’s kosher to admit to this on George Harrison’s quasi-birthday, but I do adore Neil Diamond. What is the name of the tribute band?
Off-the-cuff perfume suggestions: Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass (for Kentucky Woman), anything with rose (for Cracklin’ Rosie), anything with cherry (for Cherry Cherry).
**raises hand**
I’ll admit it – I sing along to “Sweet Caroline” every time I hear it.
Who doesn’t, LOL? Cracklin Rosie will get me singing too.
The only song I could remember was Sweet Caroline because they play it at Fenway Park for some reason and people go nuts. So I chose Carolina Herrera to stick with the whole Caroline thing.
I think the band/show was called Solitary Man. The guy was pretty good. The audience seemed to enjoy themselves.
I used to date a hard-core member of Red Sox Nation, and apparently Sweet Caroline is essential to the Fenway experience. Not exactly sure why, though.
I am a huge Dave Matthews fan, and he has been regularly covering ‘sweet caroline’ on his summer tours for the past few years and people go nuts for it everytime. Maybe that’s why the song is seeing a resurgence in popularity?
A couple weeks ago, I listened to Neil Diamond all day whilst working from home, courtesy of Spotify. I was a little too young to appreciate him when he was touring and such but his songs are really uplifting – except Love on the Rocks, I guess but it’s still a great song.
Oh, but he’s still touring! And he puts on quite a show — quite the old trouper. I know he’s coming to the Bay Area this summer.
I hesitate to raise the sensitive oakmoss issue, but can anyone remind me of the rules for small and indie perfume houses? Oakmoss is okay to use in some circumstances? I feel I should know this but I have forgotten.
Several niche fragrances I have been trying lately have it – SSS’s Nostalgie, Parfum d’Empire’s Azemour les Oranges, Artelier Cologne’s Vanille Insensee. This makes me think that while we mourn oakmoss’s demise in perfumes like Miss Dior, there are plenty of small perfumers out there offering some fantastic oakmossy stuff.
I tried to sift through all the jargon on the IFRA website once before. What i read made it seem like adherence to the regulations was only mandatory for members of the association. If you wanted to make a fragrance with banned materials, you could as long as you were not a member. I could be wrong, but i believe only a few select countries adopted legislation that put these rules and regulations into actual law.
Oh good, that was my understanding too. Thanks!
After all the comments here and there about Azemour les Orangers having oakmoss I was surprised to see that it was not listed in the ingredients on the sample packet. ( I splurged on the sample set from P d’I and am enjoying trying them all.) A les O smells very nice, but no oakmoss.
George was ever my favorite Beatle…. SOTD Aromatics Elixir.
Got Badgley Mischka for $9.99 at Marshalls last week – not sure I feel the same way about it as Tania Sanchez, but I don’t regret buying it.
Hmmm … now you mention it, it is not on the sample packet. I just checked mine too.
PdE’s website just mentions ‘moss’ as a note in Az les O. Whether that is oakmoss, or whether a mossy smell is conjured in some other fashion I don’t know. It certainly smells mossy.
Anybody can use oakmoss. IFRA members have agreed not to use over a certain percentage without labeling, that’s all.
Celebrating the arrival yesterday of my long-backordered bottle of Tilda Swinton Like This. If ever there were a Christmas present worth waiting for, this is it.
Just as exciting is that Luckyscent granted my request for a sample of Vero Profumo Onda EDP, which I plan to try out today or tomorrow. I inferred from Angela’s recent review that it’s probably not a work-appropriate fragrance. Also have samples of Parfum d’ Empire Osmanthus Interdite, ELO Charogne, and The Different Company Osmanthus (which I’ve tried in the interim, but oh well).
I love Onda, but I will agree it’s not a work scent. I wore it out with girlfriends one night and their looks definitely said, I’m not sure at this one, Sujaan. Whatever! I love it!
I tried Onda yesterday afternoon/evening, and damn — I can’t think of anything I’ve tried that’s even remotely similar to it. It started off with a kind of dank, stony, faintly incense-y vibe, then got a little powdery, then became intensely peppery, then seemed to veer into cedarwood or something similar, and by the time I went to bed I was getting VERY old leather with a bit of powder and maybe some kind of resin that I couldn’t quite identify. I couldn’t pick out any floralcy at all. Its various phases seemed unpredictable, yet they all made sense as parts of the whole. A bottle of the EDP (fantastic packaging, BTW) has been promoted to the top of my wish list.
Congrats on Like This!
Thank you! I was beginning to despair of it ever arriving.
How are you finding its sillage in the Winter? My friend who owns a bottle insists it is fimly a ‘warm weather scent’–saying the sillage radiates beautifully in the spring and summer but that it is thin on her in Winter. Odd, because I know many consider it a Fall staple.
I may not be the best person to ask about winter sillage, since I live in the Bay Area and (in my opinion) it never gets properly wintery here. It’s in the mid-50s today, and I have no complaints about Like This’s performance — really, I think it could be appropriate in any weather, though I’d definitely spritz lightly in the heat.
Hurray for Like This!
Indeed! Even though I’m not doing the signature-fragrance thing anymore, this one would be a strong contender.
I am waiting on a sample of Like This. Can’t wait to see if I like it as much as everyone else seems to. I hope it comes in the mail tomorrow. *crossing fingers and toes*
Do report back and let us know what you think!
I’ve got Narciso Rodriguez for Her on my left wrist & Samsara on my right. There are five spray cards down on the table with Violet Blonde. Be Delicious, Joy edt, Estée Lauder Private Collection & Azuree on them. Care to guess where I went this morning? 😉 I was stressing out over medical bills & work so a visit to the perfume counter at Von Maur was in order. It helped. I didn’t realize the NR would smell so much like Lovely; I’m not sure my nose could spot the difference.
Me & my Malti-Pom are relaxing with The Children of the Corn. I know, it’s weird to wind down with a horror movie but for some reason it works for me. I haven’t been able to find Gaslight since I moved.
I got that too with NR and Lovely! I really enjoy NR, but I already had a bottle of Lovely and they are just too similar to my nose to justify having both.
The NR’s dry down is more interesting to me, but I lack the vocabulary to say why. Lovely always lasts a long time on me, I only wear it occasionally because it sometimes triggers a migraine.
There’s a good question for my fellow commenters! I have hay fever in the spring & fall, & the occasional migraine headache (1-4 times a month, depending on my stress level). Despite this, I’d feel undressed without a spritz after the morning shower. What are some good perfumes that are the least likely to trigger headaches? (2 that I’ve found trigger mine are Lovely & Mitsouko).
I get migraines, too, but *so far* have not found any scents to bug me! (knocks on wood while throwing salt over my shoulder)
There are actual flowers that really bug me–carnations, Shasta daisies, various uber-sweet, heady-scented flowers–but none of my perfumes have been an issue. I wonder how individual it is? Does chocolate bug you? I have to be really careful with too much chocolate, coffee or strong cheeses. And of course, stress, getting enough sleep, and hormone fluctuations!
Coffee & chocolate don’t bother me, but onions, peppers & garlic do. Those recipes that say to roast garlic? Yeah, instant trigger for me. Raw onions do it, too. Hormone fluctuations affect mine as well. I think it is pretty individual as to the triggers.
There seems to be no rhyme or reason for the sudden appearance of a migraine. Even though I’m now “past it”, I still get them maybe twice a month. One would think that no hormones=no more migraines. Nope! I just spent a day and a half in bed from one bout. Headache-inducing perfumes are the white flower ones: White Diamonds, Jardins de Bagatelle, White Shoulders, Eternity, Oscar de la Renta, Michael Kors, Amarige, Poison, Poeme, etc.
Suggestion for a poll: Five or Ten Fragrances I Wish Weren’t Discontinued.
I went through a horrendous two-three years of migranes. Ultimately, I learned my triggers. Some were very easy to detect _chocolate, alcohool, white flour. Others were hard to diagnose, but I came to realize certain additives, including those in most headache medications (and in cold and cough medicine) were acting as triggers. Once I stopped those, and got my lifestyle (regular sleep habits, ) in order, the migranes substnatially stopped. Therefore, what may seem random, may be simply be that your triggers include some very pervasive stuff.
If the thought of a fragrance, food, drink or even Over the Counter medication makes your eyes hurt, avoid it. Eventually you will figure out what common linkages there are.
Wearing a dab of Balmain Ivoire parfum from a vintage mini I picked up in an antique shop for a few dollars today. Creamy, spicy, mellow, perfect.
Good score! I love finding vintage that still smells good.
Yeah, another vintage Ivoire fan! I’ve got to get my bottle out for Spring. Too often I forget about that one.
Now PIGUET, from which my beloved Bandit sprung, is releasing a flood of fragrance?! What IS this obsession with volume releases? It’s as though these houses are throwing scent at the wall to see what will stick. How could it even be cost-effective? What are they thinking? Oy vey. Must go inhale some vintage 19.
Vintage No. 19 is the antidote to just about everything! 🙂
😉 Agree totally!
Yep.
I feel the same way about the upcoming Piguets. The fact that one’s named Oud doesn’t help either.
Exactly. The house of Piguet has joined the lemming rush to oud. Oud, schnoud. Just makes me want to buy up all the unreformulated scent I can find. Recently wanted to re-sniff an Rabanne’s Metal, a fave I had as a teen. Watching some on ebay.
Love Metal!
Yeah, I’m conflicted about the impending Piguet-a-thon. I’ve enjoyed the re-releases of Fracas, Futur, Calypso, and am trying to make friends with Bandit, and I’ve been thinking that it would be nice to see some new fragrances from that house. But five at once (including the obligatory oud) doesn’t seem the best way of going about things.
I’m mainly an armchair internet shopper, but I took an afternoon off on Friday and visited some actual stores. At Neiman Marcus, I tested the Jo Malone Iris & Lady Moore from the new limited edition London Blooms collection by Christine Nagel. Flowers on the bottle instead of the usual minimalist label. Very pleasant but a bit mumsy: it has that base that keeps Black Vetyver Cafe from being as interesting as it should.
Also stopped at Anthropologie and tried Belle de Soir, “by the creators of Le Labo,” which has been reviewed on NST. I found it interesting – sort of chypre- and fougere-ish – perversely old fashioned – somewhere between steam-punk and dusty old shops in Cairo that haven’t changed since the thirties except that anything that might have been worth buying was sold decades ago. Imagine a L’Eau de Caron Third Man with a drop of Yatagan. I already have enough vintage/pre-reform perfume to be embalmed in, so I refrained, but wish it came in a 30 ml size.
Oh, so sorry to hear that about London Blooms, although it’s exactly what I would have expected.
I also tried this this weekend. I thought it had much better staying power than most of the Jo Malone line but there wasn’t anything particularly unique about it. I’m a big iris fan so I’ll very happily stick with Hermes Hiris and Prada Infusion d’Iris. Something about it reminded me of Balenciaga Paris, too. That’s not a bad thing, IMO – again just not very original.
Agree, that iris really lasts. Anyone who likes Jo Malone in general should really try it.
And while I’m at it, I have a question about musk. Does anyone remember the musk perfumes of the late 70’s through the mid-80’s? They were industrial-strength and so skanky that it put me off anything with “musk” in the name for a long time. What WAS that? For a while it seemed like it was everywhere (it may have been drugstore Jovan Musk).
I haven’t run across it, even in perfume described as “skanky” (e.g. Jicky, Bal a Versailles, which are simply rich and voluptuous).
Yes, musk was definitely one of the popular scents of the 70’s, and they definitely were more assertive than the squeaky clean “laundry musk” so prevalent today. I liked them and couldn’t understand why so many people didn’t. I remember one description I heard from a musk-hater that musk smelled like “horse sweat”. I have since concluded that I must be hyposmic to most musks. I can smell them, but they are not nearly as intense to my nose as they are to many others. The currently ubiquitous white musks seem to be barely perceptible to me. I have some Coty Wild Musk from 1990 that still has that 70’s style intensity to it.
I’m right there with you on the 70s musks. Spent most of that decade in Caswell Massey Musk Oil. A few years ago, they offered their oils again and I got a bottle of musk. It’s nice, but lacks the depth/richness I remember. My reaction upon first smelling MKK was “what a nice, soft, musk”. I can barely smell anything of the egyptian-style musks and Body Shop White Musk (thankfully GWP) smells disappointingly clean/blah to me. I live in the woods with 3 dogs and a husband, and they all roll in stuff. All of them. Either I am anosmic to many musks, or I smell it so much at home, I don’t even notice anymore.
Lol. Sounds like my house. Three dogs and a husband and they all stink sometimes.
My poor guy can hardly smell anything. Once, after working on the tractor, he wiped the grease off himself with what he thought was soapy water. The minute he stepped into the cabin, I knew it was gasoline & got to him just as he was about to light his pipe.
Smiling at the dogs scent wearing your nose down! Growing up, we had a lab-mix who LOVED to roll in stinky things! When we didn’t have anything good to offer, she’d sneak bags of bread or lumps of cheese or whatever from the kitchen counter and bury it in the back yard. After it had ripened properly, she’d dig it up again and roll away! She was always so proud of her stink!
They’re funny like that, aren’t they? We have a Mountain Feist, white with brown spots, and sometimes I’ll find an “extra” spot/stripe on him, usually when he’s cuddling or in bed with me. He always seems so proud that I’ve noticed.
50_Roses: I’m anosmic to a lot of musks. I can always tell when it’s happening b/c a fragrance will either not be there at all (eg, Feminite du Bois, DK Chaos), will smell absolutely *wrong*, or be kind of wavey like it’s coming or going. There is not much I can do about it, so I just figure I’ll spend money on something else. But I can smell the old gorgeous nitro musks, and I get it and miss it the most in Chanel No 5 parfum. The vintage dry down of that stuff is just to die for. The current is still good, but you know it’s just too clean – all aldehydes and jasmine – and not sensual enough. The balance the big aldehydes had against the backdrop of nitro musks was so perfect. Sigh.
(Bows down to the drydown of vintage No.5 parfum. Amaaaazing stuff.)
Ohhh, Nitro musks, and boy do I ever miss them! It probably was Jovan, though there were tons of others as well. They never smelled ‘skanky’ or sweat-like to me, just warm and soft. I have yet to smell anything that even comes close in the modern frags…white musk just reminds me of fancy laundry detergent.
It’s not easy being a cantankerous old broad, so don’t even get me started on the loss of true oakmoss as well! 😉
I never got to experience the musks of yesteryear, but I’m familiar with some of the light musks being sold nowadays and don’t care for them. I adore Montale Roses Musk! It is strong and animalic but I think it’s very beautiful. (To be worn in small doses).
Today was my second day at a new job so I wanted something quietly reassuring, went for Frankincense essential oil. Since being home, however, I doused myself in Back to Black for a studious night of chinese takeout and schoolwork.
I don’t really regret any recent purchases… I’m glad to have them all. I feel like I’ll never get through all my bottles though, so I guess I regret not buying decants instead. Have to try to make the crossover…
Meh, you still have so many years before you… 🙂
I hope the new job went well!
Good luck with the new job!
Congrats on the new job, Meg! I know what you mean about too many bottles, but I’m not sure I’ll ever “make the switch” to decants. I am no bottle ho, but I DO like them! My current compromise is to try to buy smaller bottles, even though they’re not as good a deal. Just bought a 1.7 of Traversee du Bosphore. It’s probably still more than I need, but very cute!
Traversée du Bosphore is delicious!
I’m thinking it will finally happen when I can’t resist buying some luctor et emergo anymore. The only bottle size available is $180 whereas an 8ml decant is 32.50, which seems much more palatable.
I totally get that! My aforementioned bulging TPC shopping cart has a decant of Bois des Iles for similar reasons. I would love a real bottle all my own, but if I want to own the scent sooner, I would settle for a decant!
I have a question. In the beginning of April I am going to New York. I would really like o find a fragrance that suits the April weather and the city. My favorite notes are patchouli, orange blossom and tuberose. Maybe someone has a good tip for me? 🙂
I’m no tuberose connoisseur, but maybe Diptyque Do Son? There’s no patchouli but there’s orange blossom as well, and as Robin herself wrote it’s “rather like tuberose petals submerged in water, … more fresh than sultry, and probably more suited to spring than fall.” I admit it’s the one that made me like tuberose, so I’m happy to suggest it. 🙂 I don’t know whether it’s maybe not tuberose-y enough for a tuberose lover!
https://freebox.it.com/2005/11/07/diptyque-do-son-perfume-review/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Thank you! it sounds wonderful!
New York? OJ Blossom? Tuberose? Well, pop along to Le Labo and take a hit off their city exclusive Tubereuse. You can’t not do it if you’re there!
Oh, I’m going to NYC too, I hadn’t checked what the exclusive le labo is yet, tuberose, yummy, so that might be my souvenir 🙂
Saran-
If you really like orange blossom and tuberose, I would say to get the orange blossom lotion and the vintage gardenia cologne by Jo Malone. It is a wondrful combination and smells great!
Hi Saran: I think the Annick Goutal Gardenia Passion is quite a lovely bright tuberose. It’s not going to knock you on your butt intense – it’s very Pretty. My favorite spring time fragrances have some fresh linden in them though – you should try the L’Artisan Parfumeur Mimosa Pour Moi. Good luck! There is nothing like NYC in the spring!
You probably want the notes all together in one perfume, but 7 virtues has a very pretty Afghanistan Orange Blossom (might be just online in US), and Etat Libre d’Orange has Nombril Immense for patchouli…
George was always my favorite Beatle, followed closed by John, then Paul and Ringo.
This morning I found some old Le Labo samples and I’ve been spraying them on my wrists to see if there are any others I really like. (I love Santal, Rose and Iris.)
Trying Mary Greenwell Plum this morning. I’ve been exploring chypres this winter—it’s Andy Tauer’s fault; I really like Une Rose Chypree. I am enjoying Plum, too! It is a sparkling, fruity thing without being girly, or reminiscent of bubble gum. Could definitely be enjoyed as a spring scent!
LOVE PLUM! I don’t find it terribly chypre-ish, though there’s what I think of as a “teeny slice” of moss-patchouli-amber in the drydown, under all those florals. Very girly-wirly in a delightful way.
I’m excited because a friend is driving me to a really huge perfume shop this week! They told me on the phone they have testers for most of their scents (Yippee!) I’ll finally be able to purchase my third fb of Amouage Epic Woman. I have sampled some other Amouages, but didn’t like anything except this one. The shop carries a large range of Amouage. Can anyone suggest what I might possibly like? I know I’m a fan of sandalwood, patchouli, spices (especially cardamon). I love several Montale aouds: Black Aoud, Roses Petals and my favorite: Roses Musk.
Suggestions are welcome! I have to try scents on my skin to know if I really can wear them, and I can’t try too many at one time.
I don’t get out often and a trip to a big perfume shop is a BIG DEAL!
I dont have enough experience of niche to be helpful but did want to wish you a wonderful day! i hope your friend is on the same wavelength and you can enjoy shopping together 🙂
Have fun, Jonette! I haven’t smelled any Amouage so I can’t help, but I’m sure you’ll have a great day!
Have you tried Honour Man? Yes, I know it is a “masculine”, but I happily wear it (have a decant) and in general I run away from anything veering to the masculine side of unisex. Try it at least! Btw, I ADORE Epic Woman 🙂 Have you tried the extract? If not, you have to!
Thanks for the suggestion. And Epic Woman is also available as an extract? Be still, my beating heart! I just looked online. Agghhh, my aching wallet. I do want it, though. No chance of sampling it, I think. I’ll have to look at TPC or FiF to see if they offer it in a small decant.
What fun, Jonette!
For spicy, I’d try several Serge Lutens: Rousse, Feminitie de Bois, 5 o’clock au Gingimbre, Serge Noire.
If they have L’Artisan, there’s lots of fun to be had there, too. I like Tea for Two (spicy, smokey tea), and I bought a bottle of Patchouli Patch for my dad–as a step up from his usual patchouli oil.
Finally, if you’re lucky enough to have access to anything Frederic Malle, I’d sniff them all! I own and adore Lipstick Rose and L’eau d’Hiver, but everything I’ve tried is nicely made.
If you’ve tried other Amouage, I assume you tried Memoir, too? It’s my fave Amouage, but I remember sniffing Epic Woman and really liking it, too.
Enjoy, and report back if you make any discoveries!
I guess you already know that Tea for Two is being discontinued?
I heard that rumor last weekend, but I don’t want to believe that it’s true! It was the first niche scent that I bought (all of a year ago!), so to me it is iconic. It seems a shame to discontinue something so lovely! And I would think it would have broad enough appeal to sell well. . .any word why they are discontinuing it?
I have almost completely used up the sample of Tea for Two and although it has no lasting power on me I love it. I may have to just buy a bottle after all. I’m figuring if I’m spraying it on some will get on my clothes and maybe the scent will linger. It’s just so cozy to me. Well, at least for about an hour and a half it is.
So glad you’ve enjoyed the sample, poodle! Parfum1 has sales from time to time, and they carry L’Artisan. That’s how I got my bottle of Traversee du Bosphore–20% off!
Thanks for the suggestions! I’ll report back.
I have been trying the Jo Malone Cologne Intense range and really like these. I have heard some people comment about Dark Amber and Ginger Lilly, (an earlier release – I think) but not about the others. Has anyone smelled the others? In particular the Bergamot and Oud (I know everyone is sick of oud, but this frag is really lovely) and the Amber and Patchouli which may be my entry ticket to Patchouli…
Someone with more knowledge than me should confirm this, but I think the Amber and Lily was a carry-over from their Japanese-themed limited editions, hence it’s been reviewed more and is more known. The others I haven’t tried b/c I’ve only done the Jo Malone thing at Nordstroms so far and they don’t have the intenses.
Fits in with what i have gathered!
Hi Merlin – I was just in the Jo Malone boutique yesterday and the SA suggested pairing the Bergamot and Oud with the Nectarine Blossom & Honey and it was very nice. I only smelled the Bergamot & Oud on paper but thought it was nice — the oud seemed to lean a bit toward the sharp note that some describe as “medicinal” but I didn’t mind that at all. I’m not yet ‘burned out’ on oud, as some others are- probably because I haven’t yet smelled the 100 of perfumes out there with that note. Today, I’m wearing the Rose Water and Vanilla intense from Jo Malone. It’s sweeter than I would normally go but my husband loves it, which often makes me reconsider a fragrance. I say why not, he’s got good taste and it’s nice to wear something “for him”.
The Rose Water and Vanilla didn’t immediately appeal to me, but, by my second testing I was starting to like it! I’v only tried the oud and Bergamot once, and though it was wonderful I was unsure of its longevity. The amber and Patchouli may survive longer on my skin.
Second that GREAT suggestion and adding another for your April evenings in NY:
Vamp à NY, Honoré des Pres; a playful, fun tuberose. I wouldn´t cathegorize it “springy”, but it is not heavy or cloying. Read the review from NST below.
https://freebox.it.com/2010/12/10/honore-des-pres-vamp-a-ny-perfume-review/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
…the above post was intended as a comment to Blimunda´s suggestion to saran 🙂
I’m jumping in at the end here: Any Philly people out there have suggestions on where to sniff in the city? I’ll be at a convention in Philly in a few weeks and wouldn’t mind jumping in a shop for once. Thanks for any tips!
hey Ann, there is a blue mercury at 17th and walnut st. They carry serge lutens and l’artisans, among others.
Oh Yeah! Perfect! I know I won’t have time to get out to the shops at Bala Cyn-whatever. I’ll probably have about 1 hour or less to do any of it, so I was very hopeful there’d be something downtown. This is perfect and I’ve not tested any of the “new” SL’s for the past year or so.
R, I always forget about yelp for non-restaurant things! Ann, bala cynwood (weirdly pronounced kin-wood) has a saks, but its not easily accessible to downtown area, which is where I assume you will be?
That’s the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood — lots of good shopping, although more & more of it is chains you can find elsewhere, and offhand can’t think of any great perfume places. But this might help you find other stores:
http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=shopping&find_desc=&find_loc=Rittenhouse+Square%2C+Philadelphia%2C+PA
Another latecomer….any suggestions for a friend looking for a jasmine/carnation combo?
She loves A La Nuit, but is looking for a spicier jasmine.
A bit late to the party, but I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s comments 🙂
I’ve been wearing Theorema recently, for the first time, and loving every minute of it.
What I regret buying… Elie Saab, perhaps, but it was cheap anyways and it’s growing on me.