Happy Earth Day! Unfortunately, Prince has left the premises. We're soldiering on with our community project for today: "What's in a name, part 2", that is, "misnamed" fragrances. You can interpret that howsoever you wish. The project was suggested by Dilana, who noted that Jardins d’Écrivains Orlando smelled like traditional honey cake instead of a modernist multi-gender novel or hero/heroine. If you like, tell us what your fragrance should have been called, and/or tell us what the fragrance you're wearing should have smelled like in order to fit its name.
What fragrance did you pick? As always, do chime in with your scent of the day even if you’re not participating in the community project.
I looked all over for my (misnamed!) Prince 3121, but no joy. So I'm in Hermès Vanille Galante, which is lilies floating in salty water.
Reminder: on 4/29, wear one of your "top 10 of spring" fragrances (unless it's fall where you are, in which case wear one of your "top 10 of fall" scents).
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2016, where I'll try to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is detail of the Crab nebula, a supernova remnant, as viewed by the Herschel Space Observatory and the Hubble telescope, tweeted yesterday by @NASA in honor of Prince.
For Him (Narciso Rodriguez). Devastated by the loss of Prince, I can’t believe he’s gone… 🙁
My favorite tweet from yesterday went along the lines of David Bowie leaving first to scout out a good planet, then sending word to Prince when he found one.
♡
Perfect.
I love that.
That’s good!
Its extraordinary that the two most creative and provocative male pop stars of their generations should die the same year. Wow..
Second that! It makes me sad when the icons of my youth pass away.
When Eric Clapton was asked how it felt to be the world’s best guitarist he replied: “I don’t know. Ask Prince”.
❤️
Those are great words of comfort!
Oh I love that.
Sweet.
Lovely.
JHAG Calamity J.
I think a fragrance bearing such a name should be much more temperamental. Calamity J is linear on me, and I find it comforting and cozy.
Nice pick! So far, they haven’t released anything that I think even justifies the brand name.
I agree. If this Juliette carries a gun, it is not loaded with real bullets.
Some of their perfumes are pleasant and nice to wear, but they are not edgy or provocative, as the brand name (as well as their perfume descriptions and photos) seems to suggest. By the way, I dislike the promotional picture for Calamity J, but I rather like the perfume itself.
I found it hard to find an appropriate fragrance for today’s project. In the end I chose Emotionelle by Delrae. Just because I think that most of the early Delrae’s are so beautiful, but happen to have these cheesy names. Début I can kind of live with, but Amoureuse and Emotionelle are just silly, and Mythique is such a pretentious name. And of rant.
Sorry for all the Prince fans. It sounds like a dramatic end.
I mean ‘end’ and not ‘and’.
Ha, that one should be called “Melon for Breakfast” 😉
That would be good! I think you called it Melon Hell in your review.
“Ballade avec des melons” might be rather nice.
Funny rant about the names. Now that you brought this up, I have to agree they are awful.
Wait till you get me started on the Kilians!
Oh please, by all means.
Well for a start I think it would be a great idea if ‘Straight to heaven’ would be called ‘Stairway to heaven’.
Love, don’t be shy… words fail me.
The only name I rather like in the whole œuvre noir collection is ‘Back to Black’. The rest seem like the titles of rather dubious films.
You crack me up, Austenfan!!
Prince, was so influential for me. I’m incredibly sad.
In his honor I’m wearing the most purple fragrance I could think of….Guerlain Insolence edp
Nice homage!
Brilliant!
I was choosing between McQueen’s MyQueen, Lalique’s Amethyst or Guerlain Insolence edp. I ended up wearing Amethyst (for the office) but brought along a small bottle of MyQueen for after work. I am also very saddened by Prince’s death. I saw him during his Purple Rain tour and had upfront seats. It was the best concert I have seen. I cannot believe we have lost two of the best rockers ever within a few months.
YES.
SOTD Diptyque Essences Insensees (the mimosa one from 2014, but none of that is in the official name). Nothing foolish or senseless about it. Meant to indicate that it’s made from insane amounts of mimosa perhaps, and it is heady, but not a useful name.
I also think L’Eau d’Hiver is misnamed, though it’s a pretty name to the English ear. It’s not cold and not a ‘winter warmer’ either – gourmand spices, boozy notes and so on. It’s light and graceful, anise, almond and honey, and I love Luca Turin’s association of it with Debussy and Ravel.
I do like the comparison of scent and music as scent is so hard to describe.
Agree on both counts – both are exceptionally lovely, calming scents.
That is the misnamed scent I picked also. I did not read your comment until afterwards.
Great minds! It is much more springlike. A relation of Apres L’Ondée (a better name).
Yes, I picked L’Eau d’Hiver today because it seems so un-wintery.
I was not raised on Prince’s music but I am sad to see someone so brilliant die so young (younger than my mother!). I saw the news and immediately texted my friend who had to compartmentalize her sorrow until she got home from work.
I picked Cedre today, by Serge Lutens. Cinnamon, tuberose, and more white musk that a laundromat. I wouldn’t mind a reformulation on this one! (Selfish thoughts, begone!) :p
Interdasting. Cedre is bar scrubber on me but I don’t get any laundry musk out of it. It’s aptly misnamed though. Medicinal Juicy Fruit yes, cedarwood no.
The drydown is all apple and white musk. The top notes are fine to me but the drydown in dismal and lasts forever. Even on fabric I only get two hours of top notes.
Wearing Chinatown today which smells way better than the actual NYC location with all its restaurants and open storefront markets and people and slight grimeyness
🙂
Lol!
Brilliant!
Happy Earth Day!
My hubby and I sat down last night and discussed if there is anything more we can do to decrease our carbon footprint.
Angelique Noire today.
There is nothing “Noire” about this fragrance. Should be renamed Angelique Blanc..or Sweet Angelique…
I am working the weekend..so its not a “happy” Friday for me 🙁
🙁 Same for the weekend here. On the plus side I can wear a powerhouse fragrance since nobody will be there to complain. 😉
I work in a lab so I only dab my perfume. I resigned so this weekend work will only be temporary until the end of June
I was thisclose to getting a bottle of Angelique Noir yesterday but I stipped myself as I would rather wait for a gift card event to purchase it.
Sorry about the weekend work.
Do you have a sample to get you through until the gift card event?
I have a decant somewhere 🙂
I don’t know if you have used it but there is a CoolClimate calculator developed by researchers at Berkeley University that helps figure out your carbon footprint etc. it looks really interesting.
2016 has so far been a terrible year in terms of loss. I saw Prince live a few years ago and he was as electrifying as in mid-80s.
My SOTD is Minotaure by Paloma Picasso. Although the name suggests dark and potent stuff, on me it’s a summer meadow bursting with flowers, moving onto a warm and comforting leather-amber base.
Ha! Not a dark maze at all! That sounds lovely!
And I saw Prince TWICE here in Portland. Rocked until dawn.
Interesting! I think Minotaure is PERFECTLY named, because to me it has a very strong barnyard smell.
Jean Patou Normandie
One of my favourite parts of France. What is the fragrance like?
I wondered whether you might dig up your 3121, Robin – I had been considering a mini of it from Fragrancenet for some time, so last night I went ahead and pulled the trigger. (The minis were gone, but they still had 1oz bottles for under $9.) I don’t expect it will be anything earthshaking, completely unlike His Purpleness, but white florals never seem to go amiss for me.
My local radio station is playing Prince and Prince-written music all morning. I would normally have turned off the radio by now, but I’m leaving it on.
SOTD is Tom Ford Private Blend Ombre de Hyacinth – it is definitely not as purple as “hyacinth shadows” would be. I have renamed it for myself as “Ombre Argent,” and I like it better by that name. It’s cool and silvery.
I did the same thing!! Bought a bottle for $8.00….and doubt I’ll ever open the box! 🙂
Hey, 30 ml for ten bucks is not going to break you, right? Plus, guessing those prices will go up.
Like the similar Madonna scent, it’s fine & wearable and all that, but for perfumistas used to higher-end white florals, it’s not going to stun you with its excellent use of raw materials either. (In other words, you kind of get what you pay for in this case. I doubt many, if any, real flowers went into either the Madonna or the Prince scents.)
Right, not expecting any real florals, and it clearly won’t replace my Carnal Flower decant. OTOH, I still like B&BW Velvet Tuberose, so I’ll probably get along fine with 3121.
Yeah. And I still like Kai.
Nice rename of a scent
Sad at the loss of The Purple One and still fighting this dang cold. I’ve got a full weekend too, so I really can’t be sick.
So out of it today I threw on what felt best, infusions d’iris.
U can’t go wrong with that one.
That’s a nice peaceful fragrance.
Peovine Vert (lord I cannot spell if I don’t have the bottle with me!) I don’t know if it is misnamed as peonies don’t do well here so I don’t have any to smell and compare. It seems very springish though. I always think of it in spring because I bought it on a trip through Portland, OR on spring break a few years ago when I had the great luck to stop at perfume house.
Perfume House! So fun. Only been the once myself – gosh that would be a great west coast meetup location!
It’s the best!
This is the Histoires de Parfums Vert Pivoine?
yes sorry, without the bottle I am working from memory and my desk at work
I am wearing some vintage Chanel Gardenia EdT. It should really be called Nosegay or No. 7 since it smells of aldehydes, violets and narcissus.
I am drinking Yunnan Sourcing “Purple Beauty” Sun Dried Oolong.
Interesting, I remember it as mostly jasmine! I always wondered why they didn’t just call it that.
Gucci Gucci Bamboo is my choice for this Fri. Technically named after the brand’s recent line of handbags, it smells nothing like the plant.
It works well on my skin in warm weather, I get a floral musk with a solid helping of marshmallow sweets. It is spendy for what it is, when my travel spray runs out i wonder if I will replace it or just move on. It has something soft and pretty about it that my other floral musks do not.
I tried to think of what could be a more accurate name, but came up blank. Maybe that’s what happened for Gucci too: “let’s just name it after a purse”
How about ” Floral Handbag” as a name ????
Lol! Why not!
Guerlain Cruel Gardenia.
I’d planned on this because it is such an uncomplicated floral skin scent on me.
Today the name represents our sentiments about how life is unpredictable.
Scent twins!!
It’s neither cruel nor gardenia.
It makes me think of an expensive French milled soap I’ve smelled on the past.
The French soap quality makes It quite nice for warmer weather.
Sad about Prince, and David Bowie, and Alan Rickman. I hope everybody, especially my beloved celebrities, take note and make sure they are healthy ASAP.
My most inappropriately named bottle is probably Jessica Simpson Fancy Nights. BdJ did a review quite recently that summed it up nicely – comfort woodsy oriental that has a paper accord.
However, I need something more professional to get me through the day. It’s been a long week.
SOTD = Chanel Cuir de Russie
Hope the weekend is better!
nuit de tubéreuse, it’s neither nocturnal nor a typical tuberose… the scent itself is not the issue, but I can’t come up with a better name
I almost chose this one. I’m not a big fan of tuberose but NdT is in my top five favorite perfumes!
I love that one too.
I forgot about the Friday project today, so I’m wearing Songes Edp to cheer me up on a cold grey day. Songes always makes me think of Blondies ‘Dreaming’, which I’m humming now.
This is an example of a well named perfume (I think), perfect for day dreaming..also a nice bed time fragrance too.
If I’d remembered to participate I would have chosen Carnal Flower, such a green and elegant tuberose, I don’t think it’s a ‘sexy’
Perfume really.
Oh, I agree on Carnal Flower! I don’t find it carnal in the least.
No, it’s so elegant!
Agree on Carnal Flower too, and Songes is just so happy. Have you tried Mahora, if you like Songes you might well like it?
No I haven’t, is it similar then?, maybe I should try and sample it on our perfume trip!
I think so – am obsessively smelling my left hand which I sprayed it on – definitely worth a sniff!
Oh no, I’ve just read that Mahora is being discontinued this year!- hopefully it will still be available for a little while at least.
Ok, I’m now up to date with the whole discontinuation/new name/discontinuation again thing!
Portia’s review also makes it sound wonderful, will try and get a sample from eBay.
Carnal Flower I think is a rather trashy name for such a classy scent. I actually think that most of the Malle line has good names, Le Parfum de Thérèse being my favourite name in their line up.
Yes, you’ve hit the nail on the head! & I like Le parfum de Therese too.
PdT is probably my favorite FM
Prince’s music will live on….and I will jam out to it as always! What a talented guy. I couldn’t resist picking up a bottle of his 3121 perfume last night, for a whopping $8.00. Prince had to pay $4 MILLION in legal fees, when he failed to promote the fragrance as promised! LOL I bet it’s a dud, but it will be an interesting conversation piece anyway….. 🙂
SOTD: The Dark Heart of Old Havana, by 4160 Tues. I think it should be called The JOYFUL Heart of Old Havana! It smells of sangria soaked fruits, rum, and fresh tobacco. Smells like a party to me….. 🙂
Enjoy your weekend everyone….Party like it’s 1999! (Or do like me, and hit the library and such….) 🙂
Ha!
These days a party IS the library checking out art books and the such, checking them out, and getting out a split of champagne and my drawing books!
You smell really lovely!
I am listening to Prince on the office radio while writing my post.
I didn’t have much time this week to think about the Friday community project. In the end I chose EL Sensuous Nude because to me it just smells like woody coconut. How those notes translate into sensuality and nudity is beyond me. 🙂
Agree, good pick!
SOTD is Tom Ford Soleil Blanc. I’m re-naming it Classy Coppertone…..I really like it, and it lasts longer than Bronze Goddess, but still needed to be re-applied in about 4 hours, sigh, scent eating skin.
Great name! Classy Coppertone
I agree. I love the scent too. It smells like Classy Coppertone and of Summer!
I love the name Classy Coppertone ☺
I agree and would be more tempted by that than by Soleil Blanc as a name.
I was drawing a complete blank on the challenge, and succumbed to Sycomore. Then I remembered I had a sample of Mon Petite Cheri Par Camille. Opposite end of the spectrum from petite, best left for long intimate nights. (I love it, though it does require careful planning – why am I recalling lengthy consideration of when to insert a diaphragm? Menopause is so preferable.)
MPCpC is a great choice. It’s like the Goth daughter of Jacques Fath Iris Gris.
Oh crap. I spit out my breakfast reading your entry. I don’t recall trying Mon Petite Cheri Par Camille, but I better make it a priority! Thanks for crack up!
LOL!
SOTD is Eau Suave by Parfum d’Empire. This fruity rose chypre inspired by the Empress Josephine is anything but “soft water.”
Oh, I like that one.
I would say that ”Suave” in French means more something along the lines of ”languorous”, or (subtly) sexy, than just soft. I never smelled the fragrance, so I have no idea if it applies better!
According to the Larousse bilingue it means: suave, sophisticated (manner, tone), sweet (smell) or subdued, mellow (colours)
Vol de Nuit Evasion. Nothing more baffling than naming a sent after another scent that’s entirely unrelated, especially when there’s a related scent it could have been named after! Even if you judge the name independently from earlier scents, there’s nothing night-ish, airplane-ish, or evasive about it.
True, true, and true! Apparently, it is simply the Eau de Toilette concentration of Attrape Coeur:
http://perfumeshrine.blogspot.com/2009/01/guet-apens-attrape-coeur-and-vol-de.html
A bottle of Attrape Coeur is most likely not in my future, but it was incredibly thrilling to find a bottle of VdNE. It’s the perfect kind of EDT: both noticeable and long-lasting.
I just realized I have never worn my VdN Evasion. We’re it not for one of the swapmeets, I would not have known that such a perfume existed. Anyway, the swap did not work out and I ended up getting a new tester bottle from evil-bay. Truth be told, I was miffed for losing out and gave myself permission to spend a little more to acquire it…and… I actually got it at a great price for something that is discontinued! And I also learned to choose with whom to initiate a swap arrangement.
The only perfume I could find in my collection that doesn’t match its name is Il Profumo Chocolat, so I am wearing that. It doesn’t smell like chocolate to me , it is more of a vanilla scent, very cosy and nice. It reminds me of Italy where I bought it and wore it every day during my trip.
Nice 🙂
Bollywood or Bust – at full strength it’s dancing on a table in a beer hall, and at today’s one spritz it’s suggesting that I stay home and watch a quiet movie…
LOL!
The scent that comes to my mind that is inappropriately named is Malle’s Eau d’Hiver. It should have been Eau de Printemps IMO.
Seriously!
Ditto. Wearing it today for this reason.
Running late this morning so will have to read through everyone else’s choices later. I’m in Eau Claire des Merveilles (layered over Eau des Merveilles) and it’s the Eau Claire that I think is misnamed (Google Translate says it translates to Clear Water Wonderland – French speakers, is that close?). It adds softness and floralcy and a tiny bit of powderiness rather than clarity, and later when my brain wakes up I’ll think of a more appropriate name for it.
Google translate is not very reliable! I’m not a native English speaker but this sounds wrong to me. ‘Merveilles’ are ‘marvels’, ‘wonders’ ‘gems’ or ‘treasures’.
I agree!
I was afraid of that. Well, it’s near the end of my work day and I have yet to think up a more appropriate name for Eau Claire des Merveilles. All that occurs to me is Eau Poudre des Merveilles, and that isn’t quite right either (powdery water? ewww). Maybe L’Eau Fleurs des Merveilles? (Butchering French, I’m sure – my long-ago 2 years of college French is a faint memory now.) 🙂
I agree about Google translate not being reliable. My username is the evidence. I thought I was clever in looking up “‘smells great” in 40 languages and I was happy with the Finnish translation; however, a native Finnish speaker commented in Kafka’s blog that he was curious as to why someone who loves scent would pick a name that really translates to Big Stink.
Now THAT’S funny. 🙂
LOL!
I decided to pay tribute to Prince. My wardrobe is bereft of deep purple anything so I am wearing a light purple v-neck under a high/low black cardigan, a Coach bangle with purple glass accents (i think it’s called the shopper bangle with drawings of shopping bags on top of mini bottle caps) and a pair of french wire earrings with turquoise and amethyst.
SOTD = Prada Olfactories Purple Rain
I scored a sample from Saks (!!!) yesterday before I was aware of Prince’s untimely passing.
So how is the Purple Rain?
It falls squarely between Prada Infusion d’Iris EDT and the Absolue. There is no soapiness at all (as in the case of the EDT) and the iris has more body but not as dense as that in the Absolue. My initial thought was why would I want to spend 5x the cost of the Absolue? Well, I am nutso, I have a tax refund coming, Lucas has it and loves it (we’re scent twins except for Diptique Oud Palao) and it has an ethereal smooth elegance to it that neither the EDT norr the Absolue delivered. I have not smelled the EDP in a while but I recall it being a “rougher” version.
I don’t have a bottle yet… I am waiting for a gift card event but the SA has my contact info.
Interesting, on facebook someone said the Saks SA told her Purple Rain was just a rebottled version of the Absolue. I need to do a side by side test of these two, if I ever get the chance (no Saks in my neighborhood).
On paper, they are dupes, specially if you are not smelling them side x side. With wearing and the inevitable body heat, the Absolue smells denser while Purple Rain is lighter. Also, as I am finding out now, Purple Rain is shorter lived but I think it’s because I wear the Absolue from the FB (4 sprays) and the sample from a 4 mL atomizer and I probably only got the equivalent of 2.5 sprays.
Oh I was thinking I wished I had some Purple Rain for today! What’s it like?
Hey Amy, please see above response to mals.
🙂
Oh I going to have to pursue this.
yYou look fabulous and probably smell fab, too!
Wow! That’s a real perfumista sixth sense.
I wish the news was better 🙁
Thank you!
SOTD is TF Noir. I guess it’s “noir-ish” but really I think it’s just strong, like all the other Tom Fords I have tried!
TF Noir should just be called ‘ Cuddly’. It’s so lovely and delicious but really smell like a sweet, warm hug from a sexy someone who was also making stuff in the kitchen.
This makes me reeeeally want to try this.
Wearing CdG’s “Girl.” As many people have noted, this name is not wholly accurate and is probably not something the average “girl” wears by a long shot. Also does not make me think of a girl–I think of well-loved old-fashioned furniture. But “Antiques” probably didn’t have quite the same ring, haha!
Good one! Girl definitely doesn’t match its name
Should have been called S/he.
Let me just start off by saying that I am truly devastated and heartbroken of the loss of Prince. He was my first true crush. Although I will be 43 in a few more weeks, I have been exposed to his music my whole life (since the late 70’s). He truly was a musical genius. I feel like I lost a family member. Like Oprah stated, “This IS what it sounds like when doves cry”. RIP my Purple Prince! Boy, this has been a rough week for me!
My SOTD is my favorite, Nectarine Blossom and Honey by Jo Malone. I wore it to hopefully raise my spirits. At this point, the only thing I can think of to name it would be “Sweet Harmony”. I think that would be appropriate for how it is making me feel right now.
I hope everyone has a spectacular weekend!
Good choice for you.
BTW I loved Byredo Pulp. I may have to invest in it.
Yay! So glad you like it! 🙂
SOTD is Purple Black in honor of Prince. I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to see him perform on several occasions. It’s hard to find words to describe his talent and artistry. May he rest in peace. ????
Just arrived in Béziers where it is warm but cloudy. Before leaving Avignon I stumbled across a Fragonard store and picked up a men’s coffret – €14 for 5x6ml which is good value, although I suspect some of the scents will be slight on me.
Today’s SOTD is “Derring Do” from Ineke. I don’t care for it and there’s a Ramblas-like street full of cafés waiting for me so let’s get this over with:
Pretentiousness factor: 3/5 (gadzooks!)
Incongruity factor: 4/5 (“With one bound he leaped from the yardarm and overcame the pirate king with his cheap synthetic aquatic sillage…”)
Perfume score: 2/5 (No I derring well don’t).
‘..Pirate king with his cheap aquatic silage..’ hee hee, love it!
I LOVE your analyses!!! 😀
So, so sad to hear about Prince; he’s one of those artists and cultural figures I always assumed would just go on and on infinitely because he was so important and his character so very strong. What a terrible loss.
Regarding our scent project for today, it was a challenging one, but I went through the mental exercise and decided that little baby-floral peach-puff MCMC Phoenix would be a good contender, but I didn’t really want to wear it today, and as it turned out, my sample had evaporated. So I’m wearing Bergamoss instead, which smells *exactly* like its name. I’ll be spending most of today in the woods and needed something harmonious and close to the skin, so it’s ideal. I love Bergamoss, and I so wish I could afford more than my tiny, hoarded sample!
I love Bergamoss so much. You smell amazing! And I wish it weren’t so expensive.
I’m wearing De Profundis today, for Prince.
On the mismatch between name and perfume – every Le Labo ever made would sort of be cheating, right? I don’t care that the names don’t match the scents since I’ve been wearing them since before nerding out on perfume, but sometimes they are so far off as to be hilarious. Other not so interesting picks: Carnal Flower is lovely, but not very carnal. Musc Ravageur smells like toffee to me, so again, not very ravishing, except to a five year old with a sweet tooth. Les Religieuses suggests a lot of things, but not the light slightly fluffy flowers of the juice itself. I love La Fille de Berlin, but find it way too cheerful and sunny for whatever that name is meant to suggest. If I were to wear one this spring day, FdB would be the one.
Changed into a purple dress and Bergamoss for the celebrating the life portion of the memorial service. I really love Prince. No good stories, just love.
Ha, Le Labo is definitely cheating since they make the naming strategy clear 🙂
Totally cheating! But isn’t it awesome how upset it still makes some people in the reviewing world?
I guess, but I’m probably among their number! Who can help it, after all? If you call a perfume Tubereuse, no matter how many times you remind yourself that it might not smell like Tubereuse, still, the brain wants it to smell like Tubereuse 😉
Totally fair – I meant awesome more by way of saying ‘what a strategy to purposely misdirect with the naming.’ I’ve never really understood why they do it this way other than to follow out the lab conceit.
The juice color fits for sure!
That was my thinking, plus a shared dandyism with Oscar Wilde. And I guess it’s supposed to be somewhat funereal, although I don’t get that at all. To me it’s crisp and bright. When I think funerals I think of those intensely stinky lilies that people tend to send.
How about Hermes Amazone for a misnamed scent? But I might never have bought Blue-Blooded Girl Riding in Limousine.
And I can still recall my disappointment the first time I sniffed Guy Laroche Fidji, one of the least tropical perfumes on the planet, and highly unlikely to be the signature scent of women who have their pictures taken nude on a beach.
Ha, PERFECT renaming of that one!
With a tip of the hat to Frank Sinatra’s “It was a very good year.” 😉
Agree!
I got a sniff of Amazone for the first time last Sunday (hello to my fellow SCP visitors!), and I very much agree. You like it anyway, though?
I chose Bottega Veneta Knot as the name doesn’t seem to go with the smell that is citrus, orange blossoms and neroli. Lovely for a spring day.
Prince! Only 57, with supposedly many good years ahead of him. It saddens me to no end when young, productive people who spend their life contributing beauty to this wacky world pass too soon. Makes me glad I DID hike into the Grand Canyon at age 50, even though it took me three weeks to feel normal again. One never knows…
As for SOTD, for the 3rd day in a row, I am without any perfume. Picking up extra hours at work due to staff shortages, and although my bank account is happy, I am completely exhausted. Off today, and will rectify the perfume-less state of being as soon as I finish running errands.
Be well and enjoy your day, NSTers????
Hey Deva!
Please don’t overwork yourself- and have a good weekend.
Sunday will be my lazy, do nothing but loll about day. Looking forward to it ????
Excellent! I hope you have lots of tea and pretty books and magazines!
I hope you can get some rest over the weekend.
Slept till 930 this morning! Unheard of and thoroughly enjoyable! ????
Good for u!, lie in’s are such rare & wonderful treats!
Finally chose Tauer’s Lonesome Rider because it’s very iris-y up top on me and iris = purple, right? Also, the name. Quite sure many celebrities (alas, probably ALL of us) feel like “lonesome riders” occasionally. Seemed fitting for what has turned out to be a Prince Themed Day.
Great choice! And I like your reasonong.
Started in Putain des Palaces which strikes me a mildly sexy but really just a pretty floral and somewhat excessively named – than again that could be said of a lot of that line thinking about it.
However tried Mon Precieux Nectar and Mayotte in Selfridges while dashing through and they are both rather lovely – Mayotte makes me smile and feels like an over the top piece of pop art. Might have to try them again.
PdP to me smells quite young and innocent, and the mild sexiness stems from this lack of experience. Perfect scent for today’s topic and you smell great!
Thank you! And hope you get some rest this weekend…
Agree, ELdO are serial offenders on this theme.
Right, no fat electrician I’ve met smells like the eponymous scent 😛
I’d be pleased to meet one who did, though.
Scent twins! I had a slightly different experience with PdP today, though. (Cumin!)
Prescriptives Calyx, my bottle is none the worse for the time elapsed.
Prince was always a favorite of mine, but he cemented musical genius with Sign O’ the Times.
In the span of 3 songs he goes from the funk classic Housequake to the intelligent pop of The Ballad of Dorothy Parker to the singalong Starfish and Coffee. My nieces remember me singing it them.
RIP talented men, Prince and David Bowie. 🙂
Housequake is such fun. And love Starfish & Coffee.
🙂
It was quite a shock to find out that Prince died. He wasn’t an old man and as far as I know, he wasn’t sick. I was born in the 80’s and grew up listening to his music.
Today’s scent of the day is Worth Courtesan. I think it’s badly named. It’s not all that slutty. It should be named Flirt.
He had been sick for a few weeks last I read, flu or something? But they don’t know what he died of yet.
I found this perfume-related item in the New York Times slideshow showcasing Prince’s style:
“Never one to embrace conventional eyewear, Prince wore a chainmail police hat onstage in New York in 1993 — similar to the style he wore in his 1992 ‘My Name Is Prince’ video and single album cover. Around that time, the artist opened New Power Generation, a museum-cum-store in Minneapolis dedicated to Prince-ly ephemera. As Neal Karlan wrote in 1993, the shop featured everything from a ‘‘pheromone’ display — vials of scents and oils bearing properly Princely names like ‘Love 4 One Another’ and ‘Insatiable’’ — to the hat with the chainmail, displayed behind glass.”
Here’s the original 1993 article:
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/28/style/a-prince-is-a-prince-is.html
Thanks for the link. It is a fittingly colorful piece.
I went to high school in Minneapolis around then and was just talking about his uptown store.
Wearing my sample of Satellite Padparadascha for Prince, somehow, strange and spicy and of that time…
Prince was a huge part of my high school experience. Wearing purple today along with purple perfume. Cover Pure Bloom on one arm (nothing to do with the original Covet, so I guess misnamed!) and Avon Imari Seduction on the other, which is plummy and sweet, not terribly seductive!
Wearing Le Plus Beau Jour de Ma Vie
How did you find it please? I didn’t recognize the name when I first read your comment this morning but I was poking around and saw it is mentioned on another site. Didn’t realize it was Guerlain even…where are my manners. 😉
I was in a mild state of shock yesterday; I hugged one of my supervisors, who is 56, and from Minneapolis, as she sobbed in the bathroom.
Prince performed amazing concerts- but it was the AFTERSHOWS that got really wild and wacky. I was lucky enough several years ago when Prince rolled into Portland and played an AMAZING show. OF course, the show went over, and people just let LOOSE.
After, one of my friend’s boyfriend got a text from HIS friend, and we all wound up at a place in North Portland, where His Highness, Rosey Gaines (!!!!!) and other were in attendance. Lots of drinking (juice for Prince, and only God knows what for me- I don’t remember), the room was JUMPING and SWEATY and LOUD. We were all there until what, 5 am?
SOTD: Not the community project- but am wearing Niki de St. Phalle – a hell of a green chypre, that, like a Prince, that begins with a hell of a bang, with purple prose, and has a soft, romantic side.
What an experience- there’s a lot to be said for letting “LOOSE”!! ! You smell fab! ????
Thank you! 🙂
Thanks for the story – NdSF is a great choice!
I really like Niki, although she is a bit of a weirdo. A perfect accolade to Prince who was an unique man of incredible talent. That story is amazing.
I bought her for really cheap (why? Why is this so cheap) but like Aromatic Elixir, you really have to be in the mood to be FAB. On me it settles into warm, earthy powder-fresh scent, very herbally and spicy. She’s weird, all right, but she is comfortable in her freakness and not afraid of ANYTHING.
I have a small splash bottle. For me it’s a hot weather scent so I haven’t really gotten into it yet this year. I really like it alot though but, like you, have to be in the mood. I also love the dark blue bottle with the snakes. >3 on your description… spot on!
I am tempted to buy the shower gel or the bath oil later on for the summer months!
Me too! Even had it in my cart once. I agree that it would be a great summer shower gel.
Gah! Thank you for this!! My extremely fab mother had a bottle of this in her perfume collection; I never knew what it was but loved the snake bottle. My dad got rid of it when she died before I could snag it. I’ve been meaning to find out what it was, and now I know! I’ll have to track down a bottle pronto!
Sounds like a fun night!
It was…transcendent. I see that Brooklyn and the MiniApple did all night block parties in His Highness honor. Now imagine all that in squeezed in a night club, with the man himself there.
That is a great story.
No snark- but I seriously wish you and everybody were there.
Fab story, and what a great perfume tribute to His Highness!
Jumping in here, but looking forward to catching up on others later… in the aptly named L’heure Bleue–I loved the project this week but never found a moment to choose something that fit.
I’m guessing others have been quoting the man… but here’s mine:
“U better live now Before the grim reaper come knocking on your door. Tell me, are we gonna let de-elevator bring us down. Oh, no let’s go!”
Sigh. Prince, hands down, was my all time favorite.
Great quote! Also, I think you should feel free to let us know your choice for this week’s poll at any time in the future when you do have a chance to think of it.
Sigh. Way too young.
And yes, it’s one of the best perfume names ever!
Trying for two-for-one today with PdN Amber Oud, from which is creamy lavender with no discernible oud and not much amber. It is so lavender forward that I can associate it with purple in honour of Prince.
I have mentally renamed it Lavamber, thanks to hajusuuri.
(giggles) 😀
🙂
I’m on my third SOTD: started with 10 Crosby Ellipsis, which turned very quickly into Play-Do on me; switched to Bulgari’s The Vert, which disappeared; am currently in Chanel No.19 Poudre.
I think I have found my Chanel. . . 🙂
I love No 19 Poudre
It’s really lovely and easy to wear, much easier than Chanel 19 (original)
I tested a sample of 19 Poudre earlier this week. It was so pretty! Made my heart go pitter-pat.
I forgot about today’s theme in my excitement to spritz myself with my new decant of Eric Buterbaugh’s Sultry Rose. I have a love-hate relationship with rose – so many go sour on my skin – but this one is so beautifully crafted, I couldn’t help but fall in love with it. It takes the saffron-infused, gourmand aspect of another rose fave, Saffran Troublant, but adds a tart passion fruit and hit of pepper to reduce both the sweeter and powdery tendencies of ST. The result is a jammy rose that remains fresh and slightly sweet on my skin. Perfection.
Ah, but is it sultry? Maybe you fit the theme after all 🙂
For the project, I chose Chanel Beige. Although I can understand the understated elegance of a beige outfit, the word “beige” as more of a bland/boring connotation, which put me off for a while. It bugged me a lot when I was considering it as my wedding scent, even though I know it shouldn’t have. Furthermore, to me Beige (the fragrance) is more a luminous, pastel-y yellow, or a very light gold than beige (the colour).
Beige was my wedding scent..
It was an outside wedding so fitting..and my dress was an off white
I smelled Beige last weekend for the first time. It is lovely but I don’t think the name agrees w/ the scent at all either. I think someone in Chanel’s marketing decided they wanted to name a perfume Beige and they did…regardless of the juice.
That person should have just named his/her child Beige.
Hahahahahaha. Indeed. 😉
I almost chose this one for the same reasons. The name just doesn’t fit with it.
I wore Beige last night. Sometimes it’s nice to wear a scent that just smells really pretty.
I actually don’t think I’v ever tested Beige, simply because the name is so unappealing. It’s like calling a perfume Tasteful. To my ear – that just sounds dull and atrophied!
Yay! I hoped someone would wear Beige today. It was the first scent I thought of for today’s theme. Agree the name doesn’t fit well. It is definitely a yellow-gold fragrance.
While Beige most definitely smells beautiful and very Chanel to me, it reminds me of washing my babies’ hair with Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo, and then sniffing their sweet little heads as they fell asleep in my arms. Flowers, sweetness, and clean skin.
What a sweet association!
Hello, NST! I’m glad to be back. I’ve been dealing with a hard drive failing on my old computer since April 4. Had to decide if I was going to get another hard drive for the old computer, or get a new computer. So now I’m learning the quirks of a new operating system, and double-checking that all the info from the old computer has made it onto the new one. Bleah.
Anyway, to more pleasant stuff. SotD is Le Baiser du Dragon EdP, by Cartier. I’m pretty sure I smell like an upscale pastry shop, not dragon’s breath. Lots of almond croissant, a hint of something herbaceous, and the perfumes of some of the patrons. Something reminiscent of Dune is lurking in the background, too.
I just spent several hours over the last two days resurrecting our old Windows Vista desktop (because there’s some photo editing software on it that my husband really wanted and could NOT find in the currently-available versions). I feel your pain! I like Win10, but it did take some getting used to.
Wow, bringing back a Vista machine! That’s going back a ways. So far, Win 10 isn’t as bad as I feared it would be, but I’m sure that I have a few more settings that need to be adjusted.
Hey, I just upgraded my Vista desktop a few months ago! And it was more trouble-free than my several much newer laptops.
Didn’t mean to slam Vista at all! My apologies if I came off that way.
I had a laptop running Windows XP that I loved using, but then its screen died, and by that time, I couldn’t find a machine that was running XP.
Oh, and I didn’t mean to imply you did, or that you shouldn’t! I know everybody hated Vista. I just got lucky, never had a minute’s trouble with that desktop or with the operating system, until the fan finally gave out after many years.
Trying out Fruitchouli today…
I like most of Andy’s stuff but something in this isn’t pleasing me. Perhaps I am unused to anything but clean patchouli now. 😉 I like the apricot but something almost has a spoiled smell to me deep down in this one.
Hello perfumistas and perfumistos. I’m not a very frequent commenter here at NST, but I had to log in to say how sad I am, too, at Prince’s passing. My favorite was “Raspberry Beret,” and I wore LAP La Chasse aux Papillons today because it sort of fulfills that dreamy tuberose, hot pink happy place that he occupied in my heart.
As for misnamed scents, my nominee would be Unicorn Spell, which smells like canned green beans on me. I’d rename it Potluck Dinner. What a letdown. Fortunately I only bought a sample.
love “potluck dinner” is re-name
Clever. Guess I don’t need to seek out that one.
It might smell good, like violets, on you. Skin chemistry is everything, yes? 🙂
I dunno… canned green beans really isn’t tempting me. Although I do like violet. 🙂
I really like it. It’s raw green beans, silver, and wet violets on me.
It’s all candied violets and bruised clover on me. I adore it!
I’v never ordered that one to try because there is simply no way a perfume can live up to a name like that. However, I do think Heeley’s Iris Nuit could have been called Unicorn Spell – quite evanescent and all.
YSL Cinema which really should be called Mimosa Dream since it is not very dramatic but quite cozy. Oh sweet Prince, one of the icons of my formative years. I shall never forget going to see Purple Rain under the influence of powerful hallucinogens and thinking it was the most amazing movie of all time…..
I had Cinema once upon a time. I don’t remember the scent off the top of my head but the bottle was lovely.
EVERYTHING is amazing with powerful hallucinogenics! Not that I have any personal experience in that area. Just sayin’ ????
I can see the twinkle in your eye as you wrote this comment!
Um…yes… 😀 😀 😀
I think I thought that when I saw it and I was stone-cold sober. Teenage brain, however. I’ve watched snippets since then and have changed my opinion, BUT I do think it’s a wonderfully bad movie with an amazing soundtrack 😉
I thought about wearing Cinema, but then I overthought it. Maybe there are mimosas in bloom during the Cannes Film Festival?
I’m wearing Fresh Brown Sugar. Smells more lemony than their Lemon Sugar to me.
I thought the same thing about it smelling more lemony than Lemon Sugar. You smell nice!
Thanks! Glad I am not alone in my thinking 😉
I was getting ready very quickly this morning, and I grabbed Lolita Lempicka Sweet, and that’s my SOTD. I forgot about the Friday project.
Happy Earth Day! Happy Friday!
Gotta go find some Prince tunes to blast…
For today’s project I chose Annick Goutal Gardenia Passion. Really, it’s ‘Tuberose Passion’. Or, maybe ‘Stealth Gardenia’ or ‘Ninja Gardenia’.
Just had to say, congrats on yesterday’s sweep!
Thanks! They did well. In a bit of trouble so far tonight, though…
Wearing Spicebomb today. Contrary to its rather emphatic name, it’s a soft, blurry, comforting thing that whispers instead of shrieks. It’s not A bomb, but it is THE bomb.
The single “Raspberry Beret” dropped when I was a sophomore in high school. I got a lot of ribbing from my peers about the actual raspberry-colored beret I proudly wore. I’d be just as proud today. Prince helped us wave our freak flags higher.
Truth by Calvin Klein. Everything is wrong about the name and branding.
Who calls their frag [the] Truth to start with? Who has a boring skinny naked ladee balancing on granite rocks or somesuch to evoke sincere ‘truthful’ imagery to go with the name? Who will launch a frangrance as Calvin Klein? Who decided to go with the typeface? It’s exponentionally naff, all of it. And the bottle is Fugly.
Truth opens with a verry nice clover/fresh grass note followed by vetiver, discreet woody musk and other goodies. It’s never sweet, never dull, and it’s exceptionally long-lasting.
You could reissue Truth as a niche fragrance with approprate branding, charge 10x the price and everyone would scream whatta gem it is.
Not that I’m wearing Truth today. I chose Cat Pee aka Chanel No5 EDC 😀
Your description of it sounds nice. I see several CKs around at TJ Maxx and Marshalls, but I don’t know if that’s been one. I might give it a shot if I see it.
You have made me want to try this one…and that’s the truth.
Truth is one of the few perfumes that I have owned more than one bottle of. I get a gorgeous green bamboo note in it.
Eau d’Hadrien, which ought to be called Shrove Tuesday in Boulder. I’ve already said that it smells like maple syrup and Lemon Zinger. Eau d’Hadrien ought to smell like rain on marble dust.
(Lush) Breath of God.
I mean, how would you know? I have images of God being pulled over after a night out and being ordered to huff into a breathalyzer…and I think she/ he might just be over the limit.
Ha! I think Breath of anything is kind of a turnoff to me. Except maybe Baby’s Breath.
A real turn off. And I don’t like the perfume much, either…it has a weird melon/ tar note.
I think the Guide called it smoked fruit and vetiver and I haven’t thought of a better description. Few things less appealing than the smell of smoked melon. This must be the breath of one of those kinky demigods in some alien-Egypt-new-age pantheons.
Puppy breath!!
….or what was He eating that morning? hee hee
Precisely. What say God’s favourite meal is a raw onion and sardine salad, followed by a double espresso…
????
I’m wearing a bit of Youth Dew today. I’ve gone on at length previously about why it’s a horrible name. As in that previous conversation, whether it’s actually a misnomer (or the degree to which it’s a misnomer.. either “completely” or “maybe kinda”) depends on how you interpret the name. If taken at as a representation of the scent, it makes no sense whatsoever. However, as I seem to remember someone else saying (I couldn’t find the original thread where I talked about this.. I admit I didn’t try that hard though), that if you look at it as an elixir meant to recapture youth or something like that, then.. maybe it makes a little more than zero sense? I dunno maybe? Sort of? I’m not sure I buy that either. Anyway, it’s a nice perfume with a stupid name.
I could also nominate Dior Homme (which I almost wore today but decided YD won the misnomer contest). I’m sure I’m not the first to say this, but I’m pretty sure you could slap a different name on it and put it on the women’s side at Sephora and nobody would bat an eye. I mean, there is a little herbal stuff on top — I guess the one concession to traditional masculine fragrance — but on me it’s mostly an iris gourmand.
The bottle’s pretty silly too.
Aha! Yes, Youth Dew is an outstandingly silly and mismatched name for the scent! The perfume is too sophisticated and worldly to be very youthful or innocently pure and dewy. It’s an oddity.
I believe the name speaks more to the way it was initially developed as a scented bath oil. Married women of the 50s era did not generally buy perfume for themselves, but Estee Lauder was smart enough to figure out they would by a bath oil. Especially if it was scented in a beautiful, relaxing way that might feel restorative. In that era when women (including young women) wore stronger scents, youth (as opposed to childhood) wasn’t necessarily equal with dewy purity.
Once you have a winner with a dedicated following, I imagine Lauder would have thought it foolish to change the name. It has always had a dedicated following.
And is a beautiful scent.
PG Un Crime Exotique is horribly misnamed. An exotic crime needs to smell of leather and animalics and dark deeds. If Piguet had called Bandit “Un Crime Exotique” it would have worked (although Bandit is a wonderful name). To me this smells of a cup of chai in a bakery when cinnamon rolls and gingerbread are just coming out of the oven, so the French name should be The Chai au Pain d’Epice, I think.
Ha I thought it could be called Eau d’Eggnog when I had a sample!
Now I am lemming Un Crime Exotique!
I was/am really sad about Prince even though I haven’t bought a Prince album since Purple Rain and never saw him live.
I spaced on the project today, and almost on perfume altogether! I went with Roma Imperiale since I found the sample vial open in my bag. Fortunately, there were a few healthy spritzes left. I don’t know if it smells like Rome, but it smells good 🙂
Wearing Hypnotic Poison, which does not smell dangerous or mind blowing at all, at least not to me. Should be named Dior Comfy, but that wouldn’t sell well, I guess, would it? Too much for today’s weather, anyway, I feel I should be wearing a cologne. It’s Fall here, but it’s so hot and sunny. Worse than mid summer. This is bizarre and scary, and I hope the world leaders at the UN meeting will ‘woman it up’ and decide something substantial for our beautiful planet this Earth Day.
I’m all for Dior Comfy!
The ad would bring the model in flannel pjs and socks, with a big pizza slice, a visibly cold beer and a book. My kind of aspiration.
I would want that perfume!
Morning, all. After my little rant yesterday about the rightness of the name Elephant, I was quite sure I wouldn’t have a problem addressing this project from the opposite direction, but now the time is upon me, I’m curiously bereft of ideas. Maybe Amouage Fate? Some time ago, I tried to talk myself into accepting that “fate” does not have to be dark, tumultuous, ominous–it can perfectly well match the perfume and be golden and luminous, and wouldn’t that be everyone’s dream? But the copy for Fate uses all these portentous words to create an image of darkness at the edge of chaos, and it just doesn’t match the optimism of the scent. So, this is my submission for the project: Fate, gorgeously created but seriously mis-represented both in name and story. I think I’d like to re-name Fate something to do with love, life and light, but my imagination is still asleep, and that string of words just sounds cheesey. You’ll get my drift, though. Best of days and nights to you, NST-ites everywhere.
While I can’t think of a better name for Fate, I agree that the name is pedantic and wrong. As a lot of the Amouage names are. Beloved is another that makes my hair uncurl. You have a great day too!
Agree about Fate, I, too, was thinking that this one is misnamed.
I had trouble with this assignment, too. Maybe it’s having been an English major–I can always think of a way in which one can interpret the name so that it makes sense.
Yes, I haven’t smelled Fate, but I always think it would match Orff’s Fortuna, from Carmina Burana! Extremely ominous and portentous!
I also forgot about the project and I am wearing a very appropriately named Daim Blond. It’s so beautiful on a spring day! I wonder if I need a bottle, my decant is almost gone, and my husband wears it, too.
Ps
And I am wearing a leather jacket, too, with shorts and opaque tights. 🙂
I think Annick Goutal’s Mandragore is quite a misnomer. It’s a lovely summery perfume, though the EdT is sadly very light and fleeting, but “mandrake” for me summons up visions of witches preparing evil potions under the full moon. I just can’t imagine that the witches or the potions smell like Mandragore.
I’ve been seriously blind-tempted by this perfume for ages, but I can be very literal-minded, and I just couldn’t get past the witchy associations of the name either. On the other hand, the bottle is gorgeous, and I suppose I could always re-name the perfume Harriet or Cutie- pie or Tangihua or something.
That’s one that doesn’t sound like my kind of thing at all, but has tempted me to order a sample just because the name really appeals to me. On the other hand, L’Ombre dans l’Eau turned out to be both lovely and wearable, so maybe choosing a perfume by name is just as good a method as any other.
The news about Prince came as a real shock to me. I was like, ‘Oh, no, not again…’ I’m not superstitious, but there is something seriously disturbing about the number of truly great people leaving us this year.
For today’s project, I considered wearing Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier’s Cuir Fetiche (because I don’t get anything ‘fetiche’ from it, just a mild, refined, sweetish leather) or Guerlain’s La Petite Robe Noir (because it doesn’t feel like a ‘little black dress’ to me – not to mention an obvious Chanel connection!). But I’m not in the mood for either. So I’m wearing SL’s Chene – a perfect blend of strength and comfort. And I want to send some strength and comfort to everyone who needs them today.
I did not really participate in the project today as its a no-work day and I have been feeling out of sorts emotionally. However, I had an errand to run at the mall and stopped in Lush to see if Kerbside Violet had arrived… Lo and behold, there it was. I purchased the largest size and picked up a solid of Death and Decay on a whim as well. So I smell all flowery and and my left wrist smells nice and purple.
OMG, you just enabled Retail Therapy!
You’ve definitely just solidified my plans to take a shopping trip after work!
Happy to help!
Yesterday turned out really grim, send a little light retail therapy today seems just the thing. Thank you for the inspiration, Luna Green. I need a long zip and some beautiful lining for a sewing project. I have some very conservative fabric, a fine dark wool with the tiniest pinstripe, and I’m going to give in to a mad urge to line it in a bright citrus green satin. Or deep rose pink. Or cobalt blue. Not yellow, but maybe rich rust…you can see where I’m going with this. No one but me will know what my plain little pinafore is like on the inside (well, they might catch the odd glimpse) but that’s OK.
It’s your little secret ;-). Good for you that you can make your own clothes. My mom is a good dressmker and she was bummed when none of her daughters showed any interest nor aptitude in this area. She tried to teach me how to sew a simple blouse with piping. I remember the cloth being a light yellow with raised white dots and she gave me a tip to cut the cloth for the piping on the bias so that it can stretch a little bit more. I drove her crazy asking why we can’t cut the entire blouse on the bias. In any case, despite close scrutiny, I ended up with a lopsided blouse which never got worn.
I don’t have a real gift, but I love fabric for its colours and textures, and I enjoy the process of making, so long as I’m not in a hurry. But before you think I’m some kind of really good sewer, you need to know that this pinafore is a very basic shift style that zips up the front. I have cut it with a deep-ish V neck but I might yet scoop it. My dear mama, however, is shrieking in my head hat a V is always better for someone like me who is slightly boob-y…yes, ma, I hear you. I’m also reaching for the scissors….
The Retail Therapy damage wasn’t too bad – All Good Things perfume 10 mL travel spray, the smallest size of Yummy Mummy and Jason and the Argan Oil Shampoo Bar – all for under $50! Woo hoo, this means I got them for free!
The Yummy Mummy is a shower cream. As to the shampoo bar, I had been using Rose Jam Shower Gel off-label as a shampoo, so I am looking forward to using a “real” product made specifizally for hair that smells like Rose Jam!
How are you finding Yummy Mummy? I have been contemplating it as it smells really good – but I have so much shower gel, and always end up choosing to use soap instead!
I’v used their solid soap ‘New’ and liked it a lot but I’m now using Copperhead and liking it less. I was going to go next for Jason And – but reviews seem quite mixed…
Ha! I also have an overabundance of shower gels. I bought Yummy Mummy on a whim today and haven’t used it yet.
I am down to my last few nubs of Copperhead. I like it! As to Jason’s Argan, I didn’t bother looking at reviews…for $10, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I hate it. I don’t like the Ro’s Argan body conditioner because it leaves a layer of…scum (?) on my skin and it does not feel clean.
The thing that surprised me was I actually don’t like Kerbside Violet! I have a small decant so I really need to wear it one day.
South Africa doesn’t have Kerbside Violet, unfortunately.
My hair is frizzy, fine and dry so conditioner is more important, but some shampoos can still be too drying. However, I love the solid format so will probably try one of the others when this one is finished.
I don’t mind the fine layer that Ro’s leaves behind though I can see how some would not like that. However, I don’t think it smells as nice as Rose Jam. The almond oil in it has quite a pronounced note and as my tub gets older the almond seems to get stronger!
SOTD is RL Notorious, which was said to have been inspired by old Hollywood movie-type glamour and Hitchcock classic films; specifically mentioned is Ingrid Bergman’s role in Hitchcock’s 1939 spy thriller, “Notorious.”. Working my way through his classics, I just recently watched this film for the first time and decided to wear the Notorious scent, which I hadn’t worn for a long time. While the art deco bottle, clear with black accents, offers promise, there’s nothing notorious about the fragrance itself. Classified as an oriental, to me it’s an effervescent floral fruity gourmand: mostly black currant with just a tiny bit of spice, a soft cocoa note that lingers nicely, and a gentle powdery finish – the floral notes are lost on me as is the patchouli. That having been said, I like the way it smells on me, but it doesn’t remind me of Ingrid Bergman ( I believe I read her favorite fragrance was Mitsouko?), this film, nor any other Hitchcock film, nor Hollywood glamour either. It’s actually quite ladylike and reminds me of a grown-up AG Eau de Charlotte, a favorite of my inner child self.
Nice review–I like Eau de Charlotte. I’ll have to look out for Notorious.
What a great idea to compare it with the movie! (I haven’t seen that forever. I’ll have to keep an eye out on Turner Classic Movies.)
or find it at your local library, which is what I did.
Wearing Etat Libre d’Orange Putain des Palaces, and feeling as though I’ve failed the challenge. It took me forever to think of anything. A lot of the time, when the name seems incongruous, it’s because I’m not smelling the scent properly (for instance, “Intense” perfumes I can barely smell and that disappear in 20 minutes, or, say, Casmir, which smells like nothing but burning plastic to me). Finally I remembered PdP, from the sample set, which seemed very ladylike to me when I first tried it, nothing but cosmetics and the barest hint of a leather handbag, all very quiet. Today, though, I got a big blast of cumin in the opening. (Oh, there’s the skank! Where was it before?) I’m still getting a hint of skank, I think, although maybe it’s more just a memory of it.
For those who are (or will be) in Southern California May 6-8, there will be a perfume event at the Hammer Museum. Info here: https://hammer.ucla.edu/aix-scent-fair/
Also, the jasmine started blooming this week, in the summery temperatures we’ve had, and the air blowing in from the front of the house smells much better than my perfume today. This weather has confused the plants even here (one iris is still blooming, although the dog or some critter seems to have trampled it), and I’m a bit worried that the colder temps predicted during the next week will cut the jasmine’s time short.
I’m wearing EL’s Azuree which is not azure in the least! If I could give it a soundtrack it would be Sinatra’s These Boots are Made for Walking which was ironically used for Le Petite Robe Noire, a cute fruity gourmand! (Still one of my favourite perfume ads though…)
So – Azuree is not at all a cerulean blue smell. It is tanned and cured in shades of yellow and brown, rolled in aromatic leaves and rooted in patch. Softer and more gentle dry down, but in no way whatsoever azure! Imagine if the juice of this was blue – it would be preposterous.
However, because I love Azuree, and because I am easily influenced, the word Azure now makes this quasi-blue-tinged-gold impression on me…
I tried Azuree when it first came out in 1969 just because I loved the name. But the scent itself was the first perfume I fell in love with.
Do you think the name and juice match though?
Oh good pick! I absolutely agree that this is all fall colors and no azure in sight.
No one’s mentioned Passage d’Enfer? I guess the musk was supposed to be hellish.
Yes, famously mis-named!
I have been telling myself it’s because they used musky soap to clean out a church, but it does just seem easier to say it was misnamed. Thanks for giving me that freedom!
I missed the challenge yesterday but semi-participating today in Private Collection. Which we can rename Available At Macy’s Collection.