Joni Mitchell is 72 today.
Our same old weekend open thread: talk about anything you like — the perfume you’re wearing today, the fragrance you think might "fit" Joni Mitchell, whatever.
Or, ask a question about fragrance, then see if anyone else has asked a question that you can answer…
Note: top image is Joni Mitchell's painting Clouds, used as the cover art for the album of the same name, 1969.
Good morning everyone – it looks like there will be a mini-sniff in Vancouver the afternoon of Friday, December 4. It will start at the Perfume Shoppe, and we will then amble over to a couple of other downtown locales. If you are interested in joining us, my email is a123amos at inbox dot com – more details to follow.
OOoooh! Have fun! Sniff something fabulous for me! 😀
Oh I wish I lived in Vancouver!!!
Wow! So do I!
Attempted to pick up leaves in Youth Dew Amber Nude but it’s too darn windy out there today. I got some bags filled but my piles kept blowing around so I decided to come back inside and have another cup of tea. I’m considering going Christmas shopping but not sure if I’m in the right frame of mind for it. I may just do some online stuff.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
I just ordered my yearly Christmas Calendars–I make them for most of my friends and family with photos I’ve taken over the year and lots of stupid comments and important holidays noted. (Such as “Penguin Awareness Day” and facts about umbrellas during the week of Umbrella Day.) With that done, I only have Mr. Spicebomb to consider, and last year we took a trip instead of Christmas shopping!
That sounds like a great gift, especially because you made it! I recently saw a t-shirt of a kitten surrounded by a rainbow with strips of bacon floating around…. I keep thinking how fun it would be to put a picture like that together for our holiday card… With the kids and our cats, bacon and… Perfume?
Kittens, bacon and perfume?! Not sure anyone but my Mr. Spicebomb would wear a shirt like that, and then, maybe only in the house? 🙂
A friend of Mr. S came back from a trip to Finland and Russia recently and gifted me with a Putin t-shirt. I haven’t felt comfortable wearing it. Could lead to some awkward conversations with neighbors or students from the former Soviet block!
I did have a different reply but then remembered Robin’s no politics rule.. but will say that I’d hesitate to wear that t-shirt too!
Thank you for remembering!
My calendars are “art shots” I’ve taken around town and on trips. I’m nothing special, but I get enough pretty shots each year to fill a calendar. I think folks appreciate them, and I know I appreciate not having to shop for individual gifts!
I knew someone who made a calendar of her selfies and gave it out to people. I thought that took narcissism to a whole new level. For Christmas I’m giving you and entire year of me with…wait for it…special bonus photos highlighting the dates important to me. Thankfully I wasn’t cool enough to make her gift list. 😉
Haha! That’s hilarious! I joked about filling my calendar one year with “important events” for me from the past year, but I thought the joke would wear thin pretty fast! “January 12–Marjorie went to the dentist on this day in 2015!” 😀
My sister-in-law does calendars every year. They are really well done and come in handy for remembering the in-laws birthdays.
My brother-in-law makes calendars for the family each year as well – mostly photos of my little nieces. Such a great gift idea.
I found a few more bottles of perfume that I forgot to list in the swap meet. If anyone lives in NYC and is will to pick up or interested let me know. sandrabenedict at gmail dot come
Emailing you!
The perks of living in ‘the city’ 😉
Hope you get some great stuff!
Ok!
I am going to wear Vero Perfumo’s Rubj today.
Which form? I loved the extrait but found the edp unwearable
Sorry I am answering so late. I wore the Voile D’extract, and topped it off with a few drops of the perfume. I find that I like the VDE’s more than the EDP’s in this line.
Feeling very curmudgeonly today. Hmph.
Since I need a pick-me-up, I’m going for Le Temps d’une Fete. Hoping the day improves.
Sometimes I just need to wallow in my grouchiness for a while. Hope your day becomes more satisfying one way or the other!
I agree. I’m a fan of the wallowing. Because eventually, I just get bored and it passes…
Yes, it often seems to last longer for me if I try to pretend I’m not grouchy when I am. . .
Better today, lovies.
LTDF helped. Spending the afternoon with some underprivileged people helped more.
If anything could counter the curmudgeonlies, Le Temps d’Une Fete would be it. Hope it works. 🙂
Just got back from the opera, a wonderful rendition of Faust set in 1870’s Paris. And Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Méphistophélès… Ahhh… he could almost get me to give me his soul too 😉
I wore a red and black silk dress and Absolue pour le Soir. I could also smell someone wearing Hypnotic Poison, and as always it seems when people dust off their finery, someone smelling of mothballs.
Ha! I *love* sniffing the crowd at the opera!
Sounds wonderful! Both the the event and the Absolue pour le Soir!
Maybe indolic jasmine in addition to or instead of mothballs?
If only! Eau de napthalene is such a recognisable smell, and overpowers everything else. I suspect it would even drown out the headiest jasmine :-/
Such a fun evening!
Lol. I just realised I wrote a totally incoherant sentence. He could get me to give HIM MY soul. But you’re all a smart lot so Im sure you worked it out 😉
How funny – my brain read it the right way around and I didn’t even notice the inversion. Brains are amazing things.
I read it the way you meant it too.
It’s only 7am and I already have perfume, gown and opera envy. Tahu Rhodes is wonderful …and Faust…I would love to see him in that. What a treat. I expect your neighbours in the audience were all wondering who that striking woman with the intoxicating perfume was…and I don’t mean Madame Mothballs.
This sounds absolutely perfect. I haven’t been to the opera for a while, this needs to be remedied.
I recently ordered my very first sample EVER, and it is of Absolue pour le Soir. I’m very excited to try it!
An excellent choice for a first sample.
Thank you.
I agree! Great choice! and brave. I hated it the first time I sniffed it. I sprayed it on my arm and wasnt prepared for the up-front skank at all! I was horrified, but couldnt scrub it and after a while I noticed how delicious it becomes as it dries down. I ended up craving it until I caved and bought some. I dont even notice the ‘offending’ bit anymore..
Hope you dont mind a bit of skank lillyjo 🙂
I am thinking I should be ok with it. All of you have really made me want to break out of my perfume comfort zone, or at least peek my head out. This one has really intrigued me.
Wearing the lovely Indigo Vanilla from EnVoyage. This is so perfectly perfect on me
Also for NY folk– I’ll probably be in town the first Thursday in Dec if we want to do sniffing and dinner
I may be able to swing that! I need to add a Sniffapalooza friend to our email distribution.
I volunteer at Housing Works Bookstore now on Thursday nights. 🙁 (Frowny face for not being available, not for the volunteering, which I love)
Isn’t that across the street from MIN?
Let me know, since I missed you last time!
I think you left or were moving when I started coming around here. Would love to meet you, though!
I may be able to swing this too. Keep us posted.
I’m the #SaturdayLibrarian today (it’s a thing). Safran Troublant is successfully keeping my spirits up. That, and a delivery of coffee and bagel from my thoughtful husband.
I’ve started developing a spreadsheet to help me keep track of my ever-growing perfume collection and wishlist. Does anyone have something similar? Any suggestions?
Random question: How can I change my profile picture on this website? I don’t see anywhere to edit it on my profile page.
Basically you do that at gravatar.com … more detail here:
https://freebox.it.com/about-now-smell-this/comments-user-accounts/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Success! Thank you.
Twins! I am in ST today as well from a bottle that just arrived yesterday. This may be totally shallow on my part, but this l’Artisan bottle is just beautiful- the design, the weight, the etching, the cap, the label…so lovely and it helps that I love the scent as well 😉
We smell great!
We do smell great! You are making it hard to me to resist ordering a full bottle. I see an enabler pin in your future.
Well, just to enable a bit more, I found it uber cheap on fragrancenet (not affiliated in any way) and splurged on the 100ml. I had a 10ml decant and reached for it so often I blew through it at the speed of light. Keep your eyes peeled, that bottle is calling your name 🙂
Gah! That is a great price.
Resistance is slipping… Can’t hold out much longer… Where is my credit card?
I’m pretty sure I have an offer code for FragranceNet somewhere around here. . .
Ah yes, here you go: 15% off with code TYC5P.
It says “expires soon,” so it may no longer be good. Not sure when it arrived in the mail. Enjoy!
I drained my first (smaller) bottle of Traversee du Bosphore and recently opened my back-up (larger) bottle. I really like the heft of it in my hands, and the pretty, shiny cap feels good, too!
PUTW5 is a 25 off coupon
I use parfumo.de. There’s an English-language version at parfumo.net. Potential drawbacks are you need to register (that’s actually a positive in the German forum, which is chock full of sampling, splitting and swapping opportunities) — and that your collection, wishlist etc. are visible to other users. You can get round that, if you wish, by putting everything into folders you create yourself under “settings” and marking the folders as locked.
Oops, that post was re keeping track of one’s collection:)
Parfumo.net looks interesting! Is it like goodreads.com (for books) but for perfume?
I don’t know goodreads (yet!).
Parfumo is very German in that it has set itself the task of documenting all the perfumes in existence — the amount of data so far is quite something. Anyone can suggest new perfumes and additions/corrections to existing notes under “Research”: a team of parfumo researchers then decide whether to incorporate the suggestions.
Just re-read this and not sure it reflects how wonderful parfumo is for keeping track of what you’ve tested & what you thought of it… there’s a “notes” function visible only to you; all your notes are accessible via the page for the individual perfume and via your personal “notes” page. It’s so very easy.
(Disclaimer: I’m sure someone at parfumo makes loadsamoney from advertising, but it’s not me;) )
Started with notebook, but couldn’t keep up with how much I was sampling :/
I keep my perfumes listed as a Google Sheets spreadsheet – I track size (sample, decant, purse spray, oil, or “full bottle”), date acquired, location, last date updated (so I can tell when was the last time I updated its location!!)
I keep quarter damage in a second sheet in the same document.
If you know Excel it’s perfectly easy to use, and one nice thing about it is that there are apps for the Google docs products so, for instance, I can check my sheet on my phone in a store. If I were tempted. For instance.
One of the other counselors that I work with loves Google Docs. She wants to use it for everything! I think I am just now starting to embrace it. I might use your idea of listing my perfumes on it and quarter damage as well. Great idea!
I am “enjoying” my first cold of the season. To be expected, I guess, with new kiddos and a new school this year, but I was hoping I was missing out on this one. So, I’m wearing Traversee du Bosphore which just barely breaks through the congestion and gives me a sweet, comforting feel without being too much while I’m feeling cruddy.
Hope it is a short one! You smell fantastic anyway.
Thanks! I’ve been giving this one a lot of wear lately. My kind of understated-and-yet-still-interesting fragrance.
Ugh, hope it’s a short one and you feel better soon! 🙂
I meant to say, “a short one, too!”
Not trying to bite your style, Robin, lol 🙂
No worries!
Thank you! I took Thursday off of work and felt ok that evening. Apparently, I should’a taken off Friday, too! Pretty worn down last night and this morning. No big obligations this weekend, at least, so I am enjoying accomplishing very little.
When I read someone is not feeling well, I always want to bust into song – specifically Disturbed’s “Down With The Sickness!” Hope you feel better soon 🙂
I don’t know that one, but it sounds great! Thanks for the well-wishes!
LOL and now I have that song in my head
Also, hope you feel better soon, Marjorie! I just got over my first cold of the season. no fun.
I hope you get some rest and feel better soon.
Thank you! I’m admittedly not the best at taking time to rest. My usual, non-sick resting looks a lot like other people’s to-do lists. But when forced to, I can sit still. 🙂
Hope you feel better soon! One of the perks of working with kids 😉 . When I (briefly) worked in pediatrics, I was always catching colds.
Yeah, it definitely comes with the job! I have a couple immune disorders (so far 😉 ) and my doctors tend to look a bit askance at me when I mention my line of work! I keep figuring it will help me get stronger.
Oh Marjorie Rose, I hope you feel better soon! I’m also in my first cold of the season that I thought I would escape…I didn’t start feeling bad until 5 days after my son caught it! I’m through with the worst of the congestion, so am in Le Galion Snob.
It really is a disappointment after being so smug about avoiding the cold, isn’t it?!
I was really too late to post yesterday, but my enabler pin goes to Hajusuuri for sending me a sample of Shalimar Ode a la Vanille Mexique in a swap. My husband loves it and I have made sure to have back-up bottles to last me the rest of my life!
Testing Anne Pliska today. Had never smelled it before. Reminds me of Ambre Sultan, but with an orange-y opening instead of all the herbs, so more wearable. Can also see the resemblance to Shalimar, Tendre Madeleine, and L de Lolita Lempicka, so it would probable be redundant to get any. Maybe someday…
Woo hoo, another enabler pin 🙂 I’m glad you and your hubby like it,
I’m wearing Lolita Lempicka Elle L’Aime from a sample. I got off work a little early yesterday and stopped by Marshall’s on the way home. They had a few bottles of this one for $20. I read some reviews on my phone in the store and considered it, but then I remembered I had a sample. The reviews sounded like it could go either way for me, so I’m glad I have the sample to see if it’s worth $20.
I ended up buying Kenzo Flower. Victoria at BdJ gives it 5 stars?? Well color me enabled! Staying on theme, you know. 😛
Since it’s threatening rain today, I might try to attempt going to the zoo. Parking around Hermann Park can be a nightmare on a nice day so maybe it will be easier.
I’ve had my eyes peeled for samples of Mugler Les Exceptions. I found a discovery set when TPC advertised their 30% off sale for perfume brands that begin with letter something to letter something, within which “Thierry Mugler” qualified. In typical hajusuuri fashion when emails go longer than one swipe, I did not look further and missed a further stipulation that only specific perfumes within the brands are on sale. Anyway, needless to say, I was unhappy, AGAIN, with TPC and requested they take me off their mailing list. I am 100% done with them. Fini!
But wait, there’s more! It gets better, literally 🙂 Surrender to Chance had its 15% off sale last weekend and while I originally wasn’t planning to order anything, I decided to look anyway. Lo and behold, the exact same discovery set was priced 60% less than TPC. Even if there was no sale, I would have bought it (it was $24.99), the 15% off was icing on the cake. I have a feeling this was mispriced but hey, I found it at the price marked and jumped on it ASAP.
All these to say that I am testing Chyprissime today and I am liking it. I am looking forward to trying the rest and I would not be surprised if I end up adding to my collection. I already have Oriental Express (I ended up splitting 2 bottles at the most recent Splitmeet).
The discovery set did not include the new Cuir Impertinence so I will be looking to snag a sample somewhere.
Have you tried any of the Les Exeptions? What do you think? By the way, I had looked through Robin’s announcements and saw comments that this was previously exclusive to Canada and much cheaper there!
I’ve tried most of the Les Exceptions, and really got to know Fougere Furieuse, and Oriental Express through sampling. Love them both, but haven’t gotten around to buying yet. They are currently selling for C$185 for 80 ml, which is not a bad price given the stronger USD.
Looks like I need to try Fougere Furieuse next! At Nordstrom in the U.S., a bottle is $225 so there is quite a bit of difference; however, when I think of the exhorbitant Canadian sales tax (as compared with most of the U.S. state sales tax), I am not as bummed 🙂
Yeah, I had the same frustrated response with TPC and their 30% off perfume brands starting with certain letters.
The selection was not nearly what I was hoping it would be.
Agreed. I kept looking… but gave up somewhere around the F’s. Sigh.
That said, I did order something during their recent flash sale. I find that I just have to decide if I really really want a particular item… and then wait for one of those 15-20% off sales.
Did the same 😉
I liked Oriental Express the best, followed by Suprafloral. I liked Suprafloral enough to buy a second sample on ebay, which will last me forever. I’m curious about that leather one, too.
I went to my Nordstrom today – it has a La Mer counter but not a Jo Malone – what’s up with that? Anyway, it also does not carry Les Exceptions in store. The SA said I can order, try it and if I don’t like it, return it. For what it’s worth, I don’t think I have ever returned a perfume I ended up regretting buying because I don’t like how it smells on me.
I have a sample of Over the Musk, and I love it. I’m not very good at describing scents, and I typically would not seek out a scent with musk in its name. That said, to me, it is a bold musk with a soft floral . I’m sorry, that’s probably not helpful. Basically, when I have it on, I feel like I’m in the late 1970’s And should be wearing roller skates. Not for everyone, but I like that sort of vibe.
Bold musk floral frightens me a little…. But late 70s on roller skates is a perfect image. I just know the scent would work wearing one of those pale peach-colored satin track suit jackets– I forget what we called them, but I had one!
Yes! totally fits the satin look. I just love it when people remember the past like I do.
Sounds very carefree! I look forward to trying it!
Let me know what you think. I hope to be able to try the others as well.
Blind bought Secret Obsession as I’d read nice things about it and it was el cheapo at TK Maxx. Sprayed once and got one millisecond of ‘mmm plum Feminité’ before it went bzzt. It doesn’t register at all. Nada. Some component of SO seems to block out the scent completely 😡 or I somehow managed to burn my poor nose. Nosehairs certainly felt as if they’d been had.
Oh well. This should teach me not to blind buy. I hope they accept frag returns.
Happy to report it was a burned nose only and now the scent’s there. I possibly need a few frag-free days to recalibrate anyhow.
Phew!
Gidday, all. I had one of Those Nights: horrible dreams, shallow sleep, sudden awakenings into fragments of nasty thoughts. To counter the memory of the horrids and the dark, I am wearing the gorgeous, outgoing, happy Traversee du Bosphore. I am so pleased to have a bottle of this: it’s a blithe spirit of a perfume.
Sunday already! I had meetings all day yesterday, so today will undertake some (desultory) efforts at housework and a little bit of sewing. I’m making myself a silk dress in all sorts of colours. Soothing and satisfying activity, sewing. Be well and happy, all.
I hope your colorful sewing is a restorative therapy after your difficult night!
Strange but true, there are some food products and additives which disrupt my sleep and bring on awful and restless dreams. I stay away from anything that has yeast extract or “natural flavor” listed in the ingredients when I need a good night’s sleep.
I think my anti-depressant brings on the dreams, but I’ve shared my nights with them since I was a little girl with nightmares.
Hey, thank you for the tip. I think I ate ordinary things yesterday (grilled lamb chop; steamed vegetables; fruit; homemade yoghurt) but maybe I’ve forgotten something. I’ll be aware of such things as additives for the future, anyway. And thank you, yes, the sewing is all fun. The material is white with big happy, splashy splotches patches of colour, and the style is lighthearted and relaxed, but not so casual that I would not wear the dress to work, with the right shoes. Shoes often change the story a garment tells, don’t they?
Get the red boots, to match the red coat you’re getting next winter 😉
I most likely will. I just love colour! But (confession alert!) though I love my red boots, I don’t think I’m built for a monogamous relationship with them. I have seen, and strongly fancy, a pair of ankle boots in deep sea green, with black laces. They’re just my affair, and the leather is soft like Dakkie’s furry ears. I have already built a whole range of outfits around them, in my mind.
Aaargh… I hate those nights. Especially when the next day you can’t get the images or the feelings of frustration or fear out of your mind. It seems so useless, like a headache.
They’re awful, Those Nights. But it’s Monday, and I slept really quite well last night, so I’m leaping and prancing around today. The dear one says I am NOT the Restful Companion he signed up for forty yeas ago…I swiped him with my pillow and made him get the second cups of tea.
As huge a fan as I am, I’d forgotten that today was Joni’s birthday! I’m not sure what would fit her…something poetic, enigmatic, and totally original, like the singer herself. In her song “Carey” she talks about missing “that clean white linen and that fancy French cologne”…I always wondered which “fancy French cologne” she was referring to. Any ideas?
I’ve always thought of Joni as a blue sort of person, not the feeling but more the favorite color and the “vibe.” I wonder if she was referring to L’Heure Bleue?
Oh, perfect choice! (And one of my favorites of all time too.)
Ooh, great question! No idea about the cologne… but just in case you haven’t seen it, you can learn more about that goat-dancing redneck in this great interview: http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-muse-behind-joni-mitchells-carey-1415721658
(Maybe just “eau de not living in a cave.”)
Wow, fascinating! Thanks for that link.
I’m a huge fan of hers too – more the early years than the later ones. I think she could totally have been referring to L’Heure Bleu – in my imagination, her “fancy French cologne” reference is more ironic than serious … as if she doesn’t really like it and is missing it sort of against her will, and would actually rather be wearing fresh flowers and sniffing ocean air. I agree with you that her choice of perfume would have been something nobody else wore, something completely unique.
I agree, SheriG. Unique with notes of skank, grass, spice.
Yes, I had similar thoughts. Maybe April Aromatics Bohemian Spice would suit her.
I love her too, the early stuff. I could see her in a honeyed floral… when she sings “I Always Cook with Honey” it’s so cheerful and lighthearted.
With clean white linen, I would always think of Dior colognes in the houndstooth check bottles – Diorissimo, Diorella, or Miss Dior.
Last night we a jasmine symphony! My mother surprised me with a bottle of Bruno Acampora’s Jamin T, which I had mentioned she should try if she found herself in Naples on her trip to Italy. Her itinerary took her no where near Naples, and I completely forgot I had mentioned it… The perfume is a oil-based perfume, and to call it extrait strength is a massive understatement. It is a jasmine bomb. The bottle is metal with a cork and wax top. 20 mls is going to last me a lifetime.
Robin, you reviewed it and thought it was more indolic than A la Nuit. I think it extremely strong, sillage an 11, but not as indolic as the Serge Lutens. I get the same stemmy notes as you did, an eventually the ylang ylang gets a burst of speed and passes the jasmine on some turns.
Either way, Jasmin T is only for jasmine devotees!
So how do you know if your husband loves you? Ask him to hold out his arms as you apply Joy edt to the crook of his left arm, Joy edp to the crook of his right arm, A la Nuit to his left wrist, and Acampora’s Jasmin to his right wrist. I applied the scents without him knowing which was which. Interestingly, the Acampora won hands down, with the Serge Lutens in second…. Guess my fella ain’t a Joy man.
It was a fun and hilarious experiment, but I think I broke my jasmine nose…. While it is healing I think I’ll wear Mohur or Lyric or, well, anything without Jasmine today 😉
Whhoooops. Sorry. Meant to post below!
Gosh, how DID I get all the way up here?
LOL at “broke my jasmine nose” — and what a nice gift!!
Ooohh, he gets the inaugural Cooperative Husband award. What should it look like?
Perhaps a bunch of very surprised and impressed looking ladies? Just sayin’…my husband, in spite of his willingness to wear both pink and lavender and help me shop for shoes, asks if a scent or skincare is for men before he will use it. *sigh*
I’m listening to rain falling on the iron roof and looking at our vivid green garden, watching dollops of water drip from the branches of a Kowhai (tree). I am thesis marking…200 pages plus….but dreaming of perfume and Christmas lists. Wearing No.19 because I think that’s what Waterdragon would wear when academic rigour is needed…
Ah,you lucky thing, marking a thesis! You get all the best jobs! Hey, it looks as though summer has finally got itself organised up here: the sky is a perfect, uninterrupted, silky blue, and the sun has real warmth. But rain on a tin roof is a special sound, worth the wet, I always think.
Did you get the Bulgari Bleu? It sounds tempting.
No, not yet. I set out to buy it, only to discover that S&C have decided to launch it with an event, to which I will apparently be invited, but it’s not yet a while. It’s to be a tea party, which will be fun. I have a willing mule heading to Melbourne in a few days, and I know it’s already available there, but I think I might wait for the party.
Oh dear– I’m such a child inside!
I forgot to say, yes to 19 for marking, but if it’s a good thesis and you’re enjoying it, you can profitably ease into Bois des Iles or 31 Rue Cambon when you begin to write your report. BdI in particular seems to be associated with grades over a B.
Got a feeling that Body Shop musk might be more fitting for this one….but here’s hoping
LOL. If only our students knew what we are thinking as we read and comment…
Oh. Is it as bad as a revise and re-submit? I hate those: it means the candidate’s deathless prose arrives “Splat” on my desk again, ages afterwards, when I have managed to put it out of my mind! Talk about twice the work for half a result….
I’ve never tried either of those perfumes despite all the glowing posts…next time I go to Oz I will hunt them down…or should I risk an unsniffed purchase?
You know, you could buy them unsniffed. They really are dependably beautiful.
Nothing like rain on an iron roof!
I’m listening to rain hit the windows and thinking about going to a crafts fair to hunt for Christmas presents. I’m wearing Tihota this morning after a quick mow of the lawn before the rain began.
So, did you go to the craft fair and if so, what did you buy? I love to know the fun things people find at those events.
I did go to the craft show. Many exhibitors were showing mass-produced items that were supposed to look crafted, like wooden signs with old products depicted, and there were quite a lot of people selling food items–rubs, sauces, dip mixes. The only think I saw that induced me to buy was a woman who had taken old celluloid motion picture film (now everything is digital) and created belts, purses, ties, wallets, and lamps. They were really interesting. In a small basket, she had some featuring John Holmes (the porn star). Although tempted, I went with the G-rated Gulliver’s travels belt. Gulliver is wearing red and if I wear the belt over a light shirt or sweater, the color will show.
SOTM is VC&A Bois d’Iris, from a new sample big enough to spray instead of dab. Think I might like it better dabbed – go figure. Later on I plan to switch to Dune, sprayed for the very first time instead of dabbed, and am expecting to be delighted with the result – fingers crossed!
I also want to thank Waterdragon for reminding me that I have a pair of pants that need slight alterations. Off to pull my ancient sewing machine out of the cupboard!
Aha. I don’t enjoy alterations as much a making from scratch, but even bringing something to a good fit or length is satisfying, I think.
I used to make a lot of skirts and pants, never quite got the hang of buttonholes or setting in sleeves … but I have to confess that doing alterations is a kind of instant gratification for me. None of this dropping things off at the tailor’s or dry cleaner’s and waiting two weeks for it to be ready – it’s nice to be capable of doing it myself in an afternoon. I also love using a sewing machine that my mother had before she had me – it’s avocado green and very heavy (because it’s all cast metal – they don’t make them like that anymore), but it still works beautifully.
Waterdragon’s mention of a poor-night’s sleep reminded me to post a bizarre memory from this past week. I dreamed I was watching a Top Chef/Project Runway style contest for . . .
wait for it . . .
perfumers!
It was awful. 🙁 Nobody could understand what the perfumers were talking about. I kept leaning into my screen saying, “Wait! I want to smell that! and that! and that!” I was in a sweat when I woke up.
Has there ever been a series following ‘noses’ at work…wouldn’t that be fascinating. Following the production process of one scent from start to finish, from plant and tree to shelf.
I wish the world could embrace a show like that. I would definitely tune in. I think that we are in the minority and it wouldn’t catch most people’s attention. Yet another way of experiencing new fragrances.
Something like ‘Dior and I’ but with Jean Claude Ellena. Or maybe following four or five noses…from major perfume houses through to niche. Wouldn’t you just love to be that documentary maker?!
OMG, love it. What would the elimination phrase be? “Sorry, but you’ve been… NOSED OUT.”
Or discontinued!
JCE is a fascinating person. I would love to see him on-screen. And thank you for the reminder I need to add Dior and I to my viewing queue.
Have you seen the BBC perfume documentary? JCE is featured in part if it. I’ve mentioned it before, but it was a fascinating watch. It’s on YouTube.
Thank you. I will watch it tonight.
A “Project Perfume” show would be great. While it may seem that perfume would not suit a visual and aural medium, tiffanie’s suggestion of mail-out vials would be the equivalent of Smell-A-Vision. Travelling the world to cull ingredients, concocting the juice, bottle design, packaging, and the myriad other aspects that we discuss here would fluff out the show.
Oh, awful, frustrating dream, but actually, not a bad idea for a reality TV show. I’ve certainly seen worse ideas taking airtime!
Wouldn’t it be fun to have Chandler Burr as the host with Tania Sanchez and Luca Turin as judges?
Plus Sarah Jessica Parker as producer (she could bankroll it!) so she could appear as guest judge whenever she was in the mood.
In a perfect dream world the show would offer a subscription to scented-mailings so that vials of sample scent would arrive at home in time to sniff while watching.
And then I woke up. Poof!
You have a good eye for entertaining TV. I suspect LT would be a SimonCowell type of judge, don’t you? If not Chandler Burr as host –‘cos I think he would be good as an occasional judge or as a guest mentor–what about someone perfume neutral, like Stephen Fry? I can just fancy his orotund tones introducing the contestants to the fiendish tasks…
Ah, Stephen Fry would be marvelous!
I’m with tiffanie! Stephen Fry would be marvelous at pretty much anything, in my book.
Happy Weekend Everyone! I can’t believe the week is coming to an end. I just returned last night from a Counselors Conference that I attended this week in Corpus Christi, TX. We had an amazing time. We heard some amazing speakers and attended some fantastic and informative workshops. A lot of great things that I can bring back to my campus. My SOTD is Black Orchid by Tom Ford.
Glad you had a good time. Due to our similar tastes in perfume, I ordered samples of TF Jasmine Rouge and Chanel Misia. Can hardly wait to get them. I am almost sure I am going to love them.
BTW-I am wearing Viva la Juicy today.
Wearing Le Chevrefueille (did I just make that up?), first grab out of box of small samples. So pretty and mostly gone by early afternoon, but I haven’t thought of what I’ll wear next. Speaking of dreams, I wish there were a dream contest. I remember dreams every night, and many of them are complex, detailed, and full of drama. In one night last week I dreamt that I was the prisoner of a group of Mafioso. After I managed to escape and was in a thick forest waiting for a train, I grabbed children fleeing from their captors/tormentors and shoved up hem on the trains. That sequed into a long ride on an ancient and junky train, loaded with children and also an ex-husband and his wife, who was able to work on her novel in the midst of danger and chaos. I was exhausted when the alarm woke me from the end of the train dream.
Perhaps you’re plotting books in your dreams? You certainly a got a comprehensive adventure– mine was just an incoherent jumble of nasty oddities.
I’m still on vacation in the Sierras (Tahoe west shore) and was figuring to go commando since we are heading over to hike and picnic on the east shore. But…I remembered I had a Slumberhouse Sadanne sample (say that three times fast) with me. It’s all foresty smelling, so is perfect!
I’m enjoying the commando face, though.
Have been showering up here with a small bottle of Rose Jam, and samples of the Comforter and Lord of Misrule. We’ll see if there’s a love connection…
Rose Jam! Tis the season when it will be back in shops for Christmas shopping.
I heard a very mean rumor that they weren’t going to sell it in the states this Christmas.
Better not be true 🙁
I hope that you’re having a wonderful time vacationing!
They had it in Roseville outside Sacramento. Said they had it for awhile. NY stores seemed to still be waiting…
Oh joy!
Shower twins 😉
The Sierras near Tahoe are really gorgeous. Enjoy!
I used my Rose Jam shower gel today for the first time and am now wearing Lyric, one of the few roses I truly like. It’s wonderful autum weather in Brussels: warm and romantically windy, so the leaves are falling and flying around; not raining, but with the last night’s rain gleaming on the asphalt. I devised a new pasta dish to match the weather – with chorizo, leaks, cream, hazelnuts and honey-roasted carrots.
Oh, your pasta dish sounds SO delicious!
Yum. I wonder if could achieve something similar without the cream? Maybe I could make a sauce by reducing good stock and wine? I know I’m an absolute anomaly in this little dairy-rich nation, but I don’t much like cream. It sort of sticks to the inside of my mouth, a bit the way chocolate does. Not my favourite feeling.
I think so, yes. Start with frying the chorizo, add chopped leeks, continue frying, then add wine and/or stock and braise until the liquid is practically gone and leeks are very tender. The result isn’t a traditional sauce, but wine/stock will add moisture to the leek mixture and it should work nicely. Stir it into cooked pasta, arrange the roasted carrots artfully on top, sprinkle chopped hazelnuts all over and done :)! If you like cheese better than cream, you can always add that as well.
Beautiful. I’ll do it for dinner tomorrow night. The dear man just leaned over my shoulder to send you a thumbs up. He must be looking forward to it, because his actual words were, “Onya, mate!” I have NO idea why he’s bring so aggressively Kiwi today, but that’s high approval, if you were wondering.
I hope it turns out well! You can roast the hazelnuts lightly, if you plan to use them, I just didn’t bother. And I love to drizzle some chestnut honey on the carrots when I roast them.
Noone has ever been aggressively Kiwi with me before, so I feel very excited and honored about that development 🙂
“Toast” the hazelnuts… Oh, well.
Thank you! I’m very happy with the result, too – I had the idea when I say some beautiful baby carrots in the shop, so I roasted them whole, with a little green still attached.
I’m going to have to write this one down. You had me at “chorizo” and “leeks”. I used to make a leek tart as a side dish, but always seemed to have trouble getting ALL the sand out of them. Any tricks to that one?
To wash leeks I cut the roots and top off, then slice the entire remaining stalk in half length-wise (so that the water can get in between the layers). Then rinse in a large bowl of water, scope the leeks off the top into a colander (the sand sinks to the bottom of the bowl), and repeat two or three times as needed, rinsing the bowl and colander well each time. Don’t forget to also rinse your cutting board, knife and countertop before chopping the leeks!
Thanks! As I suspected, labor intensive. But I love that tart and other leeky recipes, so worth the effort.
This was much more useful than I would ever have managed – the leeks seem to be quite clean here, so I almost never have this issue… 🙂 I’m a fan of leek tart as well, and I also make braised leeks with blue cheese, a family favourite.
That sounds so delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m testing vintage Jean Couturier Kéora EdT. Really nice perfume and great bottle (the one with the sculptural Asian duck top). The fruit and floral elements are light and subtle, enveloped in a golden glow of vanilla and real sandalwood. The overall impression is a bit spicy.
Apparently, keora or kewra comes from a variety of pandanus. The main element of the scent, 2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline, is part of what makes bread, jasmine rice, and basmati rice smell wonderful.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandanus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandanus_amaryllifolius
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline
I’ve been wondering about this perfume for a long time. The recent review by Gaia on The Non-Blonde (and, let’s be honest, that vintage ad she chose to illustrate the post) tipped me over the edge to a blind buy:
http://www.thenonblonde.com/2015/10/jean-couturier-keora.html#.Vj5XJ66rR0s
Has anyone tried the current version?
That is interesting about pandanus in scent. In Penang, pandan is used as a flavoring, sort of a nutty vanilla, in candy and desserts. My kids love pandan dodal, which if you google you’ll see bears a disturbing resemblance to a banana slug. We always get it in the triangles wrapped in cellophane… But the color is inescapable!
Oh, wow – that looks like something Martha Stewart would serve on Halloween! 😉 I’ll be on the lookout for it the next time I visit the Eden Center.
I’ve been tantalized by references to pandanus in Asian cookbooks but have never had a chance to try it, and never connected it with the perfume ingredient keora/kewra until I read the Wikipedia articles yesterday.
D.S. & Durga My Indian Childhood also contains kewra, but doesn’t smell at all like Kéora. It has a delicious fruity-floral-chocolate smell, and the overall impression is one of freshness rather than amber-spicy. There must be something magical about the way kewra blends with sandalwood.
If you’re in the DC area, I can enthusiastically recommend the Irving Penn retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery. This is not entirely OT, as there are some wonderful photos of gowns and suits by Dior, Balenciaga, Chanel, and others from the days in which their classic perfumes were created.
I was familiar with Penn’s photos for Vogue, but amazed by his range, from early surrealist photos to almost ethnographic portraits. Captions explain that he would stay on for a few weeks after fashion shoots in locations such as Morocco and Peru to make portraits of women and men in traditional dress. There’s a film clip that shows him posing the subjects in his portable canvas “studio.” It’s worth a couple of visits, actually.
This sounds wonderful. I’m so grateful for the National Portrait Gallery… love visiting it.
I especially appreciate that it is open until 7 pm most nights. There is also a beautifully staged exhibit of rare Civil War era photographs on now. They had to use low lighting to protect the photos, and they’ve painted the rooms deep colors and hung heavy matching velvet drapes, sort of a Victorian mourning effect.
Lincoln’s second ball took place in what is now one of the galleries when the building housed the U.S. Patent Office:
http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/143patentoffice/143PatentOffice.htm
http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/143patentoffice/143facts4.htm
I wonder what sort of perfumes and colognes they wore wearing! The second article describes Mrs. Lincoln’s hair “ornamented with trailing Jessamine and clustering violets most gracefully,” but I those must have been silk flowers in March.
My hubby and I were in Brooklyn earlier to pick up a vintage table and then I remembered that Andy Tauer was at Twisted Lily today, not far from where we were. I stopped in just in time to hear him talk. Lovely, humble guy. Got a sample of an unreleased perfume “Dark Mysterious Woods” and sampled the new Amber Flash which is pretty nice. Glad I got to meet him! Although I was equally interested in all the yummy snacks/drinks they had around 😉
Fun!!
Wow! That was serendipitous AND you got hubby to go to Twisted Lily!
Ha! Yes, that took some coercing and a promise we wouldn’t stay long. We were only there for a 1/2 hour. And there was cheese to keep him entertained 🙂
How excellent to see Andy in person! “Dark Mysterious Woods” sounds interesting, too.
Haven’t met Andy, just read his blog, and have had a conversation or two via email – but I’m sure he’s a darling. I hope to meet him someday.
He does seem lovely doesnt he. I’ve been chatting to him too recently by email, although not just for the fun of it. My package I ordered is having trouble getting past customs 🙁 He said there’s usually no problem but no1 wouldnt get past Singapore, and no2 got to Aus then went back to S’pore, where it sits in purgatory as Andy is busy in the U.S. I dont have high hopes for my parcel arriving 🙁
That’s such a drag about your parcel…aaarrrgggh. It becomes such a hassle – but hopefully worth it.
Super frustrating 🙁 I’d still email him, though, and let him know. Maybe he has someone who deals with his orders. Is it your 1st time ordering from his website?
Annoyingly, no. Ive ordered 3 of the discovery sets no problem. This time though I ordered another and an explorer set because I cant buy bottles and I need some more Lonestar Memories :-/ Andy said he’s had no problems sending them here.. until now.. 🙁 hmph!
It seems that these new issues mean that he’ll no longer be shipping to Aus. What a pity customs regulations are so silly :-/
I’m on my third nap of the day. I am completely wiped out from very intense conference that I ran this week. Sleep, sleep and more sleep.
Going to take in a flick tonight with my hubby, and will likely add a dab or two of Mohur Extrait. So happy with this one.
Have fun!
Rest is good.
So happy you got the a hour and are loving it!
Well that didn’t work… Happy you are loving the Mohur.
Three naps! That sounds like a perfect weekend day to me. I’m happy when I can sneak in one.
I’ve been lounging around the apartment in a generous amount of Cuir de Russie. This could count as a slow burn fragrance for me… at first it felt way too elegant for me, now I can’t get enough of it.
Wearing Shalimar Ode a la Vanille right now. I am amazed at how fabulous it is. I have many bottles of it and can’t figure out why I don’t reach for it more often.
Bombing around town today in PdE Equistrius and smellin’ fab 🙂
Prompted by all the talk of red boots recently in the comments (I’m giving a pin of the pedal sort to Waterdragon! ) I bought a pair of red suede pumps yesterday. They fit perfectly, the heel is modest for work, a pointed (but not too pointed) toe, and to top it off, they were on sale!! It was fate! Serendipity! Preordained by the gods! Written in the stars!
I am getting the goods together to make sausage, bean, and kale soup to give me that nice warm feeling inside. If only we had just the tiniest bit of fall here! But no, life is good but not perfect- it’s still in the high 80’s…
Hope everyone’s Sunday is Super Fabulosity wrapped up in Luscios Smells and tied with String of Sweet Red Licorice 🙂
Oh, thank you for the pin. Those boots sound gorgeous. I don’t have any in suede….
Best of good things to all NST! I’m going to do something today I’ve never done before: I’m going to be in a think tank. I mean, I seem to spend my life in planning and strategy meetings and so on, but they fall away in comparison with something that self-confidently calls itself a ” think tank”. It sounds very grand (that’s code for “self-aggrandising, big noting, skiting”) and the preliminary information was, frankly, not encouraging of cerebration. So, the deep question I have is, what perfume does one wear in a think tank? Should I choose a power house (hear me roar!) or something that lets me sit unnoticed on the side lines until I’ve made up my mind (I’m just a gentle flower, don’t mind me…)? I just ran some of the names past the dear man, and he laughed like a kookaburra and said, “Good luck! Doesn’t matter what you wear with that lot!” Hmmm…so, 19? Or Rahat Loukoum (I’m deep in my love affair with RL) or Femme, or my hoarded Ylang et Vanille from the early Aqua Allegoria range? Or something else? You can see from this post why I was selected for this “honour”: it’s my decisiveness and clarity!
Wear something loud and proud!
Yep. Did. The Elephant and I are going to trumpet and stomp from 9–5! I’ve added boots to the far end of my outfit, for extra “pow” factor.
I hardly dare post this, but here goes.
I’ve managed to get hold of a sample of Guet-Apens. It arrived this week as a (bought) extra to half a bottle of Fleur de Chine that I bought from a lovely parfumo user.
I don’t think I can smell it. The first time I tried it, I had Fleur de Chine on the other arm (I know, that alone makes me unworthy). I put it down to that.
The second time was yesterday after inhaling (to rule out the sinus thing), and before breakfast (I’ve read that the sense of smell is strongest first thing in the morning).
I distinctly remember thinking “oh, that’s civet, but not at all fuzzy”. Then I had ONE SWALLOW of orange juice. And it was gone. I got the merest hint of rose & violet, but it wasn’t what you would call a perfume.
I don’t dare touch what’s left in the sample vial. And yet I need to smell it.
I had a similar issue with Nahema. Now, that’s well-known as one with big sillage, but the first two times I tried it I could not smell it at all. I could tell there was something THERE, I just couldn’t actually smell it. (Finally was able to smell it and decided that either I wasn’t really missing much, or I’m missing enough of it that it’s just not a pleasant experience for me, so I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m never really going to “get” Nahema.)
Guet-Apens (which I’ve only smelled in its Attrape-Coeur iteration) is not a shy little thing, either, so either your sample is from a bottle that’s gone off (possible) or there’s something in there that’s blocking you from smelling it whole. Either way – oh well. There’s so much to smell out there, don’t get down over not smelling one. 🙂
First, I’m not sure I’ve tried Fleur de Chine, but the Tom Fords I’ve sampled seemed very loud. Your olfactory “ears” might still be ringing, so to speak. 😉 I’d encourage you to save it for a day that is warm and somewhat humid when you haven’t worn perfume for a day or two, or at least nothing strong, and give it another try.
Second, I’ve bought a few vintage perfumes that were sealed but just didn’t seem to have much scent left. The ones I particularly recall were 20-40 years older than 1999 Guet-Apens, but anything could happen in 16 years. It could have been significantly degraded by unfavorable conditions at some point. I believe LT pointed out that two weeks in a shop window would do it, for example.
Meanwhile, congrats on the Fleur de Chine – I keep reading positive comments on that one!
Thanks:) Fleur de Chine /is/ lovely — I’m not much of a classic white flower fan, but this is one I love.
Guet-Apens… what you and mals say makes so much sense. But deep inside I’m still stamping my little foot.
SOTD pre-shower is Jersey edt. For now, I don’t mind being stuck in “ChanelLand”.
Playing compare and contrast this chilly Sunday afternoon with Cuir d’Ange, Bottega Veneta and Cuir de Lancôme (the CdL I’m trying to talk myself out of buying)
Cuir d’Ange has the most leather for me and is least like the others. The BV and CdL are more similar, but alas the Cuir de Lancôme is still distinctive enough that I still want it…