Happy Labor Day! (It's also Salami Day, if you prefer.) What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm wearing Gucci Bamboo (review coming up later this week).
Reminder: this Friday, 9/11, will be Freedom Friday: wear a scent that says "I’m Free!" to you, in whatever context you choose to define it. (Suggested by Laila)
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2015, where I'll try to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is Gucci bamboo shopper mini leather top handle bag, $1350 each.
Good heavens, am I first? It must be because I’ve got this thing going on right now where I go to sleep on Australian time and wake up on New Zealand time. Fortunately my sister is an indulgent and tolerant hostess and forgives my noon-time naps. SOTD was Rahat Loukhoum, one of my three scented travelling companions, and, given the perfectly horrible low temperatures here in SA, likely to be my choice tomorrow as well. I love it for its rich, sugared almond-biscuit intensity. Have a gloriously fragrant day, everyone.
Rahat Loukoum (the Serge Lutens one) always makes me think of Robin. When I was very new to NST, Robin wrote about RL being one of her favourite Lutens scents, after Iris Silver Mist. So I made this HUGE mental note: “Try Rahat Loukoum”.
And still love it 🙂
I bought it blind on your review, I think. I’m really glad I did!
So glad it worked out! Would not think it would be universally loved.
I’m wearing Cuir Cuba Intense. Still trying to figure it out, but enjoying it while I do.
I am behind on new PdNs….
I’m back on track!
No SOTD. All of my perfumes are on the sweeter side, and after getting 3 cavities filled this weekend (my sweet tooth has betrayed me!), just thinking about anything sweet makes me wince!
Oh, what rotten bad luck! Three!
As much as I would like to blame luck, I suspect that my Strawberry Nerds habit is the true culprit! 😉
Nerds are sneaky little devils.
There’s a candy I don’t know about??
I don’t know what those are, but strawberries–yum! Ate my first of the season yesterday.
Ugh, sorry!
current SOTD = spar varnish fumes, as I am trying to make some plywood waterproof enough to hold my winter lettuce pots. 🙂
After I bathe, I’ll sample something, not sure what yet…
You’re making a sort of cold frame?
Actually, it is a frame to hold a couple grow lights, so I can have little lettuce growing inside when it get cold and nasty here. I am very cheap about something, and paying $4.00 for a bundle of organic lettuce just slays me. We eat a lot of salads for dinner, so I decided I better figure out a way to have some growing inside.
I am putting spar varnish on it all, the base, which will have the pots on it and will get wet, and the frame and piece of plywood I will attach the grow lights to, because spar varnish looks the prettiest on unfinished wood. 🙂
It doesn’t smell that bad to me, but adorable hubby thinks it smells horrible, so the parts all have two coats on now, and are drying outside. I’ll put the third coat on in the morning before I go to work, and put the thing together tomorrow night. I plan on planting 4 pots that are 1.5 square feet with lettuce, one every week, so I have a rotation going…and little pots of rosemary, spearmint and basil, to have fresh herbs to put with the arugula, baby romaine and red ruffled lettuces. Yum…
But the day has gotten away from me, so here it is 5 pm and I am still scentless…
Thanks! I would love to hear how it works out. I thought it was hard to grow lettuce indoors, but we’ve never tried it. Would be fantastic to have “real” fresh arugula all winter.
I’m wearing Terracotta Le Parfum since it’s the unofficial last day of summer here, and trying to get everything together to put on the grill later. The older kids go back to school tomorrow, and if this morning’s test attempt was any indication, my thirteen year old daughter’s going to have a rough time getting up when she needs to. Perhaps an ice cube will do the trick tomorrow since I couldn’t pry her out of bed for anything today. 😉
I’m laughing in sympathy… my college-age daughter once slept through a fire drill! It was only when her roommate realized that she wasn’t huddled outside with the rest of the kids from her floor, and the roommate dashed back in to shake her by her shoulder, that she woke up. (Scary. I think she needs one of those alarm clocks for the deaf, that vibrate under the mattress.)
I sympathize – my oldest son (starting his senior year of high school tomorrow) is still in bed as we speak, and its after noon!
I’ve gone for Terracotta too; when I refresh later it’ll be the last of my decant. Alas!
I’m in Bamboo too! I rubbed it on from magazine test strip, lol. It’s not bad, but not all that memorable. I’ll be interested to hear what you thought.
Well, that about sums it up 😉
Was in Sephora a couple of nights ago and sampled it. The color of the juice says it all. Fluffy fruity pale pink.
But when I couldn’t sleep last night, I lay in bed dreaming up titles for Angela’s next mystery. One of them was “Guilty in Gucci,” which may be more apt for the perfume!
I love it! Oh please oh please – Angela, if you’re listening … 🙂
I’ll be wearing Baiser Volé, a new favorite, on this lazy day. (Thank you, Robin, for giving me a solution to disappearing feeds!)
But what was the solution??? (thought I’d just said it ought to be working)
You told me about Feedly (?), I signed up, and it’s SO much better than what I had been using. Ever grateful, ever scented.
Oh, good. Feedly works really well for me.
Embracing the apparently ever-lasting heat by wearing some Bronze Goddess body cream.
Beautiful sunny spring day today so showered with MOR Tuberose & Cyclamen gel then body butter, and Le Galion Tubereuse (re-issue). Its very pretty but I sprayed it on getting ready for work and by the time i sat down to work I couldnt smell it. Not sure if it was just my nose though, will have to try again.
Now it’s bedtime and cooler so Im all cozied up with Aramis Calligraphy Rose. Candied roses- yum.
I really like the Le Galion Tubereuse.
The Aramis has me curious but haven’t had a chance to smell yet. You make it sound like it’s worth a go. What would you compare it to?
I love salami. Wearing Cuir de Russie today. I just love that scent, probably even more than salami.
I’m wearing Cuir de Russie, too! It’s been probably a month since I wore it, and I was missing it. (However, it has certainly been less than a month since I’ve had salami.)
Hi, gorgeous-smelling twin! Cuir de Russie is probably among my Top 3, if I was forced to decide.
I think I could manage a top 33…no seriously, I’m with you. Cuir de Russie, Bois des Iles, 31 Rue Cambon, Coromandel, Bel Respiro, these are my top three (don’t tell me about my arithmetic).
Looking at it that way, my top 3 could be CdR, Rue Cambon, Sycomore, Cristalle, La Pausa and Egoiste 🙂
Have you tried Cuir Beluga from Guerlain? It is creamy soft leather, way softer than Cuir D’Ange, sitting on a base of powdery vanilla. Not sure if you like your leather soft or hard.
Both 🙂 My absolute favourites seem to be in the middle, things like Cuir de Russie and Boxeuses. I was very excited to try Cuir Beluga, but that one was too soft for me – what I smelled was nice, but unfortunately, I could not smell much of it… Wouldn’t be surprised if I was actually anosmic to something in it (same thing happens with Cruel Gardenia, another one I was sure I’d love).
Robin, I am loving those Gucci purses. I have two passions: perfume and purses. I know those purses are easily about $1500 or more. Those are new designs, so they must be around $2500 or more. Happy Labor Day to those who celebrate. Later on today, I am meeting up with friends for a good-bye dinner. One of our good friends and her hubby are moving to Colorado. So, I probably won’t put on a fragrance until I get ready for that. I will probably wear something light, but haven’t made up my mind. Any suggestions?
Shalimar is always great for a dinner out (or in, for that matter), and the EDT is pretty light.
Agreed. I thought my vintage ‘deodorant’ sample even had a barbecue sauce note.
Thanks to both of you!! I think I may have a sample of this.
Those are the mini ones — they’re less! And would not hold my hairbrush 😉
Scentless for most of the day. Now off to fitness class and couldn’t resist something salty and grabbed Wood, Sage and Sea Salt.
Nice 🙂 Have you tried the new Mimosa & Cardamom?
Not yet, but hopefully this week. I love cardamom and mimosa, so chances are high, ill love it!
I hope you like it, I found it very charming and bought a small bottle.
SOTD = Isabey Lys Noir
This one packs a punch in the sillage area. I got a dabber sample of this from Twisted Lily and I used three dabber stick smears through my hair. I’m off to run some errands…let’s see if I get any comments :-). So far, I like it. I can’t identify the individual flower notes but Fragrantica lists tuberose, lily and narcissus. I get the sandalwood and heliotrope (which on paper smells very vanilla). Overall it has a classic feel.
I am in Eau d’Italie Au Lac today. I don’t see musc listed as a note, but it seems to be there on me (and a lot of it). That’s not a bad thing; I just have to be feeling like I want to wear that note on whatever day I put this perfume on.
I’m wearing La Perla by La Perla today. It’s such a beautiful floral chypre. I have stocked up on a few bottles of the original formula after hearing that the reformulated version is not as rich and deep. Later on I may switch to Bois des Iles as I usually crave it at night as a comfort scent.
Wearing Kenzo Flower Oriental for a sunny, post-rain day.
SOTD is the cheerful Cartier Zeste de Soleil, for what feels like the last day of summer (my boys go back to school tomorrow).
Ended up combining Memoire Liquide’s Encens Liquide with my rose and bergamot oil from Urban Outfitters. At present, I think it smells sweetly divine in its ambery rose way, but that could just be me.
Sorta sounds like Parfum Sacré. 🙂
The one good thing about summer being over, I can soon wear Parfum Sacre 🙂 I
I’m wearing HdP Sexy Angelic today from my sample, as I’m trying to sort out what I hope is only a mystery about different forms of application but what I fear may be a turned bottle 🙁
I’ve now got a dabber sample, a spray decant, and a new 50ml bottle, and all three are very different. The spray decant smells about the same as the dabber but vanishes in minutes, which, ok easy enough to solve. But the bottle smells much, much more almond-heavy than the other two, and not (IMO) in a good way. (The others are much more citrus, almost evocative of Grand Marnier?) I’m hoping that this is just a matter of the bottle having a much more generous spray, and that greater quantity of liquid being applied is what brings out the almond so much… but, the shipping package (transatlantic…) was hot to the touch when I opened it, so I’m worried the citrus aspect has simply been cooked off. Plus the HdP packaging is pretty shelfworn, so maybe it’s been sitting around a while.
It seems I don’t have any clean dabber vials on hand, but that seems to be the thing I need to test whether it’s merely a matter of application method or… Unless anyone’s got any other ideas? Perhaps I just need to give it another test on a different day? (??)
Maybe you can spritz onto something dabber-like, and then apply from that. I’m thinking of those skinny straws used to stir coffee, but any clean bit of plastic might work.
Do you think you can return the bottle?
Oh, that’s true, it doesn’t have to be a dabber–maybe I could even just decant into a spray sample vial, but just unscrew the top and use the tubing to dab. (I feel like it should be something where I can decant some and then close the container, to be sure I’m applying as the liquid rather than aerosolized form? I don’t know, maybe I’m kidding myself about whether it’d make any difference.)
For better or for worse, less shipping both ways + the coupon I used on it, I’m not sure how much if anything I’d get if I sent it back, but that’s to say it didn’t cost very much to start with! (Whew.) Mainly the disappointment is that the scent is at least out of stock nearly everywhere, and possibly discontinued, so I was so excited to find a bottle at all. Maybe it’ll still be ok? I should really try it now that the bottle has had a few days to cool off…
Yeah, give it another go now, and maybe again in different weather.
Oh man, thanks so much for your suggestions, and your moral support–I feel like it might actually be ok? I tried the discussed method on one arm with the sample on the other, and while it’s not IDENTICAL, it smells much, much closer, and kind of ebbed and flowed in terms of how close the match seemed. I def will have to give it a go on another day as well (and indeed in different weather), because now I think my nose could be the culprit, too!, but I’m feeling much reassured. Thank you!! Whew 🙂
Good news! 🙂
Bill Blass Nude for me today. Simple and easy. Have we done a skin scent Friday yet?
That’s a great poll idea!
I’m still in culture shock after my New Mexico to North Carolina move: opposite ends of the spectrum in economy, color & amount of vegetation, and shopping variety. Not having made any connections yet, I feel strangely free floating.
So into Saks I marched yet again. Tried a couple of Laura Merciers, one a light floral (not really my thing) and the other a true patchouli bomb – at least on me. Waaay too much of a good thing.
Also tried Bronze Goddess, spray and body cream. Thought the coconut would be annoying but found it very pleasant, well balanced. I prefer the subtlety of the cream, but don’t know if I would actually wear it In the consistent high humidity here. Any input? Decisions, decisions……
Leathermountain – barbeque sauce? Seriously? Suppose it’s only a step from smokey.
I know, right? Sweet and sour and smokey, and there’s a moment when Shalimar is all three, at least in some specimens. A little more context: Mrs Mountain tends to describe smokey notes as “bacon.” So that might be training me to perceive smokey meats where others wouldn’t. 🙂
That is a big regional transition, I can imagine.
I’ve done several of those sorts of moves, although thankfully we’ve been in Oakland now for 11 years straight. I have two rituals when I don’t know many people and have moved to a new place… the first is exactly what you’ve done… gone shopping for fun indulgences. The second is to head for the hills or the sea or whatever are the natural wonders of my new home. North Carolina has so much gorgeous landscape!
I can imagine New Mexico to North Carolina is culture shock, weather shock, food shock!
When I move to a new place, I always join whatever Friends of the Library type group there is, and locate local art guilds to take some classes from, which always proves a good way for me to meet people I share interests with…If I were in North Carolina, I would look for a Gardening club – I have the impression everything grows there… you’ll find some friends….
I’m wearing Geranium Odorata by Diptyque.
I have a 100% natural vanilla perfume (CO2 extraction of Vanilla planifolia in jojoba oil) that smells very woody. I applied some next to the Geranium Odorata, and they work well together.
A woody vanilla CO2, how interesting! Do you know who produced that? Sounds like an inspired combo with GO.
The GO is very herbal and I’d been huffing my arm on and off for a couple of hours and thought that the woodniess of this particular vanilla (vanilla with sun-warmed pine furniture) would blend well with the herbal nature of the GO.
The vanilla CO2 is by Simplers Botanicals: http://www.shopsimplers.com/products/perfumes/vanilla-perfume-1.html. You might be able to sniff it in-person at Whole Foods.
Thank you!
Infusion d’Iris Absolue. I’ve been having a thing for this one lately, and might have to go for a small bottle. It has a nice simultaneously warm and cool quality, and I can imagine putting weirder/chillier irises on as it dries down, too…
And the prices on the Absolue are amazing! Really one of the great deals at present, I think.
Great to have some highly wearable scents that shingle well with oddballs.
I have had three different scents on today. None of them were sitting right for me today. I finally just sprayed myself with Coco. Now I am happy.
🙂 Result.
Scent twins!
Labor Day is the last day of summer in my mental calendar, so I’m enjoying Terracotta. I layered some Eau de Guerlain over it since today the weather is very warm. I need a zingy boost to beat the heat.
Sampling day, again. Tried some vintage Paco Rabanne Metal (skunked. oh well). Then Parfumerie Generale Drama Nuui (confirming, once again, as if I need to keep trying, that realistic jasmine is not my thing). And PG Bois Naufrage (confirming, once again, that fig IS my thing. This version– salty! delicious!)
We’re in for a very hot week, or so the weather dudes say. Still summer here.
Oh, too bad about the Metal. I love that scent.
Hmm, I should track down that fig. Do you like Womanity as well?
I do! Not enough to buy a FB, but I have a few manufacturer’s samples, those will do for quite a while. It’s hard for me not to like fig, it seems. Philosykos was the first FB I bought when I fell down the rabbit hole about a year ago, and is still my favorite fig, though Acqua di Parma Fico di Amalfi comes close on hot summer days. And Fragrance Republic 01/06.
Thank you! I actually bought a travel spray plus refill of Womanity and am very happy to own it. Love Philosykos, too, so I need to check out the rest.
Weird, very sad morning. We all said goodbye to one of our old cats who just has been getting sicker and sicker. It will be a relief, I know, to know that he is not suffering any more.
So while my husband is with the vet and the kitty, I am home with our boys. It is a hot day and I’ve been working in the garden wafting Nahema and thinking of our old grey fuzzball.
So sorry to hear about your furry!
I’m so sorry about your purr. I’m worrying all the time about our Isabella, mother of the gormless Dakkie. I fear we have that hard moment to face soon-ish, so I feel your pain.
Raising my glass to your family’s memories of your pet
I’m so sorry about your loss.
So sorry 🙁
Oh what a sad day 🙁 Heartbreaking. Im sure he will be going with love and a heart full of wonderful memories.
Oh gosh that is a very sad morning. I’m so sorry. Losing a pet is hard no matter–glad at least he won’t be suffering, I do hope that some comfort. The dog I had growing up died very suddenly when I was in college, and I frankly still miss him, but it was reassuring to know that he didn’t spend too much time in pain…
I’m so sorry for your loss. I know how hard it is to lose a furry family member, even if it’s for the best. Take care of yourself and have a good cry.
I am sorry to hear about your grey fuzzball. It sounds like you both did your best, and that is all you can do.
I’m wearing Jasmina from April Aromatics in hot sunny weather. It’s pretty much perfect for this. Just enough indole to be sensual but nothing that bites, tropical fruity vibe (must be tons of fantastic ylang-ylang in it), I’m flying down a hotspring waterfall in a jungle overlooking endless sea and sky, I’m a superhero, Jasmina.
Ah, what lovely, imagery, LM. I really want to try her Unter den Linden.
Me too!
I just noticed that Luckyscent has Diptyque Essences Insensees Jasmine now. I haven’t even tried the Mimosa one yet. Wearing vintage Colony because of Angela’s review.
I spent the afternoon scrolling through Lint:
http://lileks.tumblr.com/archive
No vintage perfume ads, unfortunately, but it’s easy enough to find those on ebay.
1 spray of Portrait of a Lady and 3 sprays of Un Bois Vanille.
A flash of oriental rose set next to a plate of gourmand vanilla coconut tartlet bedecked with rapsberry-currant confit…
That aside, today has been a very happy day for me when I got to smell oakmoss extract vis-à-vis a synthetic oakmoss, castoreum tincture, damask rose absolute, jasmine absolute, and a synthetic musk in the home of Andy Tauer XD… What began as an attempt to find the store turned into once-in-a-lifetime Oakmoss Experience!
How very fun!
Question for anyone who happens to be around this evening and feels inclined to indulge me in overthinking this 🙂 Any opinions on the merit of ordering a set of Iunx samples from the STC sale? In principle I’ve stopped purchasing samples because it’s a bummer to spend limited perfume pennies on things I most often won’t turn out to like. Not to mention the considerable pile of untested samples I already possess!
But, 40% off is a steep discount. And for the time being there’s no where in the US to smell them in person… (I have periodic opportunities to make requests of a mule, but I don’t think I can get samples that way, would have to know what bottle I wanted.) Opinions?
I haven’t tried very many of them but I like l’ether.
Oh I am so glad you mentioned it, I do think L’Ether’s the one I’ve heard the most enthusiasm for…and at the same time, I’m noticing it’s not among the ones currently available on STC! So maybe it’s not worth the bother just now. Thank you!
I would go for it, but then again, I tend to overindulge myself and think everyone else should (themselves, not me) as well 😉
Well this is also a good point–if I learn nothing else from perfume, I should hope it’s that being too stingy is not the way to live! 🙂
At the very least, I’d make sure first that all of those scents are still in production.
Oh, excellent advice, as a quick internet search turned up the news that Iunx has just opened a new Left Bank boutique! http://en.vogue.fr/beauty/address-of-the-week/diaporama/iunx-bring-their-best-perfumes-to-a-new-boutique/22146#iunx-interieur-boutique
Website’s under construction ( http://www.iunx-parfums.com ) but maybe one day it would be a way to get a full set of current samples?? A girl can dream!
Ah, and a few more details in a French article (non-speakers can easily just scroll down to the size and price info!) — sounds like they’re offering some nice travel sprays for not TOO much money! (Especially if one split the refills, 27Euro for 20ml, not so bad at all!)
http://www.auparfum.com/la-nouvelle-adresse-de-iunx,2415
Seems like the kind of thing that really ought to have distribution in the US, if it’s not exclusive to Costes… Hey Twisted Lily, Aedes, Luckyscent–want to help a girl out? 🙂
I say go for it, but I always feel that samples bought on sale don’t count as spending real money, even if my bank balance disagrees.
Heh, I admit that I am influenced by the fact that I have a (positive) Paypal balance that I haven’t transferred to my bank account yet. If it was never in my bank account, does it really count as spending money?? 🙂
Nope. It’s like gift cards and store credit.
Wore (and drained my sample of) Strange Invisible Perfumes Aquarian Roses today. Green rose, lovely in the heat, but slightly too peppery for the day.
Today just got away from me! It’s 5:45 pm and I just got around to putting on scent–VC&A Lys Carmin. I wish this hadn’t been discontinued, it’s lovely on me.
I honestly have no idea what I put on this morning. It was a sample and not a familiar one, kind of a vinegary amber. I had to leave Mom’s and head home today because I had made plans to be here tomorrow. Next year I will remember how dumb it is to drive across Texas on Memorial Day. My usually three hour drive took me 5.5 hours and that’s with throwing my usual caution to the wind and breaking the sound barrier on the last leg when I finally hit some open road. Mom lives in the Hill Country and the trip home takes me along the same route of egress as everyone who floods the area for camping as well as a huge music festival. The kittens were not amused by the extra travel time and my husband’s smart little ball of evil cuteness figured out how to unzip her carrier so a twist-tie was employed as an emergency lock after I risked many lives shoving her back in her bag on the interstate.
I’m going to go take a bath and drench myself in Ambre Russe as soon as I finish my dinner of tortilla chips and salsa…and gin…because I’ll be darned if I get back in the car to go to the store for real food.
The first words my eye caught in your post were “vinegary amber” and “Texas” and for one beautiful moment, I thought you were talking about barbecue!! Guess I need to find some dinner too, huh? 🙂
Or Shalimar?
Hah!
Barbecue sounds great. The chips didn’t cut it and I’m still hungry. Actually, I want a repeat of breakfast; refried beans topped with poached eggs and a gorgeous salsa made from smashed wild tomatoes,garlic, and chili pequins.
Quite an adventure! Reminded me of moving from Oregon to LA a few years ago with my furry buddy. First leg of the trip he was semi-tranquilized and loopy, but second leg he was undrugged and rather frenzied, and I was pretty sure he would find a way out of his carrier. He was a big boy, and that carrier (on the passenger seat next to me) was very … umm … animated. And distracting.
Yeah, I don’t usually suffer from distracted driving but today was a bit unnerving. It was a miracle I glanced back when I did, really. If she had gotten out I would have had a disaster. I had two kittens per carrier and would have had two terrified twerps loose in my car on the packed interstate.
So glad you and the twerps made it to your destination safely (or at least reasonably safely). Hopefully the Ambre Russe (and gin) did their calming job too. 🙂
Hope you Like Gucci Bamboo… I Think it is SO Pretty and Intriguing… Not reinventing the wheel or anything but a Very Pretty and Sensual Floral that does evoke Bamboo to my nose. I haven’t ever so far been disappointed by Gucci and this to me is one of their best!
Again, Hope it works for you! 😉
P.S. yes my Scent of the Day is BBQ Sauce, Grilled Pork Ribs and Hot Charcoal Briquette Smoke… I SMELL DELICIOUS! Good Enough to Eat! LMAO! 😀
Today I’m retesting a few rose fragrances that I’m considering purchasing: Kilian’s Rose Oud, Rose 31, and Rose Cut. I really do enjoy them all. Any opinions? Maybe I’ll pick one for the upcoming splitmeet.
It depends on what kind of rose you are looking for, of course, but I’ve had BK Rose Oud for several years and still love it.
Was just going to pipe in with similar remark–mainly a question of personal taste, I think, as all three def have their admirers!
One thing Rose 31 has going for it is that the price really does go way down if you can find some splitmates–if four people wanted to split the 500ml bottle with you, you could each have 100ml for the retail price of the 50ml bottle ($160). Or less, even–Saks carries it and it’s frequently eligible for their “$175 off a purchase of $700” (or whatever) specials.
Can you tell I’ve been thinking about this 🙂