Hope everyone's weekend has started off well! We're doing our same old open thread poll: talk about anything you like — the perfume you’re wearing today, the fragrance you might have picked only it's too hot to wear it, whatever.
Or, ask a question about fragrance, then see if anyone else has asked a question that you can answer…
Note: image is Buttonbush 6-14-15 [cropped] by Larry Smith at flickr; some rights reserved.
I’m wearing No. 19 EDT and lotion for a morning of yard work. 🙂
19 is great for yard work – it almost makes me forget I’m pulling weeds. 🙂
Sometimes the weeds smell sort of like galbanum…
(I love galbanum.)
I’ll have to pay more attention – weed-pulling is in my immediate future. 🙂
I’m wearing Cristalle, because I was reminded of it by everyone wearing it last week. Working the Saturday shift at my library.
Hope your shift goes peacefully 🙂
Apres L’Ondée this morning. Now wearing Astier de Villatte Eau de Cologne, to try and liven myself up on a muggy afternoon.
Muggy here too, but now it’s raining — hoping it will cool things off.
Fragrance free at the moment but will be wearing Memo French Leather in a little bit. I’m smitten and it works beautifully in San Francisco’s micro climates.
Ahhhh, I love French Leather! Happy to see that someone else does as well????
Since most of the US will be trapped in a 90s-100s heat wave this weekend – Denver will be in the mid-90s – I am all about scents that will make me believe I am lying on a beach in Hawaii! Today I’m being transported there by Olivine Atelier’s Amongst the Waves (oil version), the most beautiful, tropical coconut fragrance I’ve ever found. Creamy, realistic coconut – kept tamed from toothache inducing sweetness by sea salt – layered over musk, sandalwood, water lily, and tiger lily. This one has been a summer favorite for several years now.
Amongst the Waves sounds amazing! Do you have any other transportive fragrances?
Just bought the Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess body oil (with sparkles!) in anticipation of an actual Hawaii trip and can see why many consider it an essential summer vacation scent. Plus sparkles!
The ELBG body oil is really good! (And who doesn’t love sparkles for a beach vacation!). I prefer it to the edp. I’m finding that for myself, tropical scents are better for me in oil versions, as they tend to keep the sillage of the floral notes lower, and amp up the base notes – sandalwood, musk, vanilla – more, which makes me very happy!
I confess that I’m not a big plumeria/gardenia/frangipani fan, so my other “beach vacation’ scents aren’t of the ‘big white floral’ persuasion:
– Atelier’s Gigi oil (papaya, bergamot, ylang, vanilla, sandalwood, musk, and green tea), like Amongst the Waves, super-easy to wear for day or night, although this one is a bit more va va voom than AtW;
– Berdoues Collection Grand Crus Assam of India – which Robin also likes! – (black tea, lemon, and sandalwood), a zippy little fragrance that’s perfect for daytime;
– Berdoues Collection Grand Crus Selva do Brasil (petitgrain, guaiac, and tonka). It’s surprisingly light, dry, and kinda sexy.
I should mention, too, that Atelier has a ‘beachy hair mist’ called “Love + Salt” that is fragranced by Amongst the Waves. It’s great alone during the day, if you want a really light scent, and it works great layered with the AtW oil as well. Plus, who doesn’t love beachy hair?
Enjoy your wonderful trip to Hawaii!
This sounds lovely! I can’t find it in Europe, so need to think about ordering the oil from the US. I see there is an oil sampler set, but this is the scent that interests me, so I have to decide whether to chance a blind buy. The only coconut scent I’ve found that I like is a discontinued one from years ago from Ava Luxe. I have tried a lot of different ones, but no love yet!
Was that the Black Coconut perfume oil from Ava Luxe? I had a small bottle of that years ago; it was wonderful. If I’m remembering correctly, that one was a bit boozy, without much in the way of a floral aspect, while Amongst the Waves has a very light lily and and good dose of musk and sandalwood.
I don’t know if this helps you at all, but if you ever buy from BeautyHabit in the US – they ship internationally via MyUS.com – you can also get Olivine products through them (or ask for a sample with purchase of something else). Plus, they’re eligible for BeautyHabit’s occasional sales codes in the spring and late fall.
As I noted in my previous comment, I’m not a big gardenia fan, and many of the Olivine fragrances are gardenia-heavy (they are very well done, just not something that I feel I wear well); however, in addition to Amongst the Waves, I really love Gigi and also Bluebird. The latter has gardenia, but it’s more of a supporting note, and in a concentration that I can appreciate. If you’re at all curious about those, they are definitely worth a sample. It says something that these oil versions are sold in 5 ml bottles, and I still have ~1 ml of each remaining after 3 years of steady use!
The Love + Salt beach hair mist that I mentioned above – scented with Amongst the Waves – is also fantastic. I think that one is also safe to ship overseas.
I took a picture of a button bush while I was on a walk a few weeks ago because I thought it looked cool, but didn’t know what it was called. Now I know! Probably not wearing anything today because we will be going to pick up my older son at a Boy Scout camp and will be staying for the dinner and campfire program. There are tons of ticks, chiggers and mosquitoes in Arkansas and I’d rather not be bait. I made the mistake of washing with BBW Dark Kiss while on a Cub Scout campout and wound up with more chiggers than I’d had since I was a kid. So will probably shower with unscented Dove just in case.
Have you ever tried Avon Skin So Soft? It has a powdery scent and is supposed to repel bugs. I used it years ago and it seemed ok.
Have a good time.
Too scared of tick fever from ehrlichiosis not to use the strong stuff. Have had two patients in ICU from it.
Got it!
Too bad! Dark Kiss is some great stuff! Hope you remain bite-free.
L’Artisan Nuit de Tubereuse is what I’m wearing this morning . Currently drinking a cup of earl grey tea.
I am brewing my after lunch Earl Grey right this minute. Then back to painting — am thoroughly sick of painting!
I’m still at the color selection phase myself, but have a couple of areas that really need updating. Will be thoroughly sick of painting in about October, I expect.
Nuit de Tubereuse is wonderful, and the tea makes me want to use my Lush massage bar that smells like Earl Grey.
I love Atelier Cologne’s Oolang Infini (I have the soap and the cologne). To me, this smells very much like Earl Grey, rather than Oolang. I often use it as a sleep scent for pleasant dreams.
I am wearing Misia today. It is a very nice summer perfume.
I think it is a very nice any time of year perfume! You smell great.
I’m wearing Jo Malone wood sage and sea salt. Happy weekend everyone! I hope that each of us is reminded in some unexpected way of the beauty and goodness that is around us.
You smell great! Thanks for the reminder ????
You smell nice and think smart!
I think I’ll go with Dzongkha today, both meditative and earthy. Truly a masterpiece.
I agree. Adore Dzongkha.
Good idea, I’ll join you wearing some.
Dzongkha is transportive. Sometimes it doesn’t work on me but on those times when it does, oh so serene.
One of my all-time favorites.
Another rainy night shift tonight but thankfully not as late as last night, but all the half-dressed, drunk teenagers tonight are feral. Such potty mouths!
Had a craving for Baghari tonight, and its pretty floral aldehydey-ness is feeling very Chanel.
You smell fabulous — too bad those teens aren’t worthy of your aldehyde-goddess-ness!
You’ve just reminded me of the Last Train to Freo film. Hope your Sunday is sweet scented and the weather heats up for a nice afternoon.
Zelda by En Voyage. I really hadn’t looked at what sample I sprayed and then thought I smelled great. Comforting, summery enough, relaxed, a little yummy…a great scent wafting about as I wait on hold again with Comcast.
Later I plan to wear Eau de Narcisse Bleu. tiffanie’s “Yes to Hermes”
motto resonates with me.
Love Zelda! You smell great!!
You smell fabulous.
I would wear a “Yes to Hermes” t-shirt if I had a little bit more nerve. 😀
Nude right now, perfume wise. LOL (Am I really that sophomoric? LOL I guess I am.)
Braved the Acme on a Saturday morning and will do some yard work. Post shower………..
Hey ! Maybe I’ll put on YSL NU, heatwave be d@mned !
Happy Saturday Everyone!
😉
Anyone lucky enough to have Nu should wear it, no matter the weather. I might try an incense myself…
Oh no, is it discontinued?! I got a sample from the generous hamamelis and fell completely in love with it. How disappointing!
You can occasionally find the original on ebay for not so much, but I think it’s been horribly transformed and put into boring white bottles.
Nu is great, even in the heat. Do it.
SOTM is Philosykos layered with Tam Dao. I’m infatuated with this combination – so fresh yet sexy/earthy. Yum.
I’m going to have to try this????
I have layered Philosykos with their Eau Rose and it’s beautiful!
Never thought of that – I have a huge bottle of Eau Rose just sitting there, pining to be experimented with.
Well, yesterday was my birthday – the bog five-oh – and I spent it pottering about Paris doing silly little things that were great fun for me.
I started the day in Nishane “Boszporusz” which I don’t like all that much. It was only a 1.2ml sample and wore off by lunchtime, so I dropped into the Annick Goutal shop on Rue Castiglione where they sprayed me with “Ninfeo Mio” as I thought it smelled very good adn fresh for a hot day. Also smelled “Eau du Sud” and “Cologne pout Monsieur” (or somesuch) which I didn’t like as much.
Then on to Jovoy where they were very accommodating. I smelled maybe 15 or 20 scents on paper and walked away with samples of 6 I liked best. From a bunch of Parfum d’Empire, I chose “Ambre Russe” and “Aziyadé”. Tried the 4 from Parfumerie Moderne and selected “Cuir X” and “Années Folles”. And for something lighter, “Acqua Viva” from Profumum Roma and MDCI “Invasion Barbare”.
Today I’m wearing that Invasion Barbare sample and very much enjoying it. I’ve had to re-spray twice though, so I’m not sure it’s practical for me (most days I do not walk around with a 3ml decant). I’ll see how I feel at the end of the day. :^)
*Big* five-oh. I’ll do the bog five-oh another time.
Happy Birthday Koenigsberg! Many more.
Happy Birthday, young ‘un!
Happy Birthday!
Joyeux anniversaire!!!
Happy birthday! Sounds like you had a fantastic day!
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday! Will join the five-oh club next year.
I like this birthday pefume fun! Enjoy!
Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Did someone just say they turned the big five-oh????
Happy birthday Koenisberg!!!!
Sounds like it was a lovely birthday!
Happy birthday! You picked some great scents to celebrate with. I love Ambre Russe, though it’s not really the right weather for it now.
Belated Happy Birthday! It sounds as if you had a great day.
Happy belated birthday! I joined the 50 club in April, welcome aboard!
Happy Birthday. I joined the club in February.
Hey Ratty! Glad you had a good birthday…tell us about what cake you had. You can’t be in Paris on your birthday and not eat cake…can you?
Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday! How lovely to spend part of the day sniffing in Jovoy.
Happy birthday! Incidentally, I own a bottle of Aziyade – don’t see it mentioned often and don’t wear it that often myself, but I enjoy it when I do.
Happy birthday! Keep making the most of your trip, and of course rock those samples. 🙂
Happy Birthday! A birthday in Paris sounds lovely. Will have to try that someday 🙂
Happy birthday! I’ll be joining you in the big-five-oh next year. I can’t think of a better way to spend a big birthday than sniffing in Paris 🙂
Happy, happy birthday to you.
You smell mahhhhh-vel-ous!
Sounds like a lovely day. Happy birthday!
50 is great, enjoy the decade!
Happy belated birthday! Nice way to spend it.
What a great birthday! I love the Profumum. Tell what you think when you have the chance.
Belated birthday wishes! Sounds like you had a fabulous one.
Starting my one week vacation in Spring Lake in the Jersey Shore. It is great and relaxing here. As planned, I wore AG Vetiver in my way here. Later on I will be on some Bobby Brown Beach. Enjoy the weekend everyone!
Have not heard of Spring Lake. Hope the weather is agreeable, either way it’s nice to be away and relaxing.
It is a small and beautful victorian town surrounded by pristine beaches. Really nice and relaxing.
http://www.visitspringlake.com/
Weather so far good. At least the heat is more bearable with the nice ocean breeze. Fingers cross for a nice weather for the rest of the week ????
Wearing Champagne edt and I smell goooood. Not sure I ever wore it in the heat before– it seems more like champagne and less cozy than usual at the moment
You do smell good!! Waft some my way…
Yes you do! I’m going to try it on the next scorcher.
I was very surprised to see Organza Indecence at my local Ulta. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a tester available. I wonder how it compares to the original. Has anyone tried it?
Really?!?!? Note to self to go to Ulta soon.
When it came back a few years ago, I heard it was very good if not quite perfect — which nothing is. But do not know if it is still that… Does Ulta take returns?
I have some of the old one and also smelled the newer one. Not having done a side-by-side, I think they smelled roughly the same.
Today I’m in Désarmant, sent to me by the very generous Annikky! It started out smelling fabulously lilac-y, and I wanted to bathe in it. A few hours later, my wrists and elbow creases smell strongly like gym clothes. You know, that odor of old sweat. I did walk around a lot in hot weather, so it’s not IMpossible that that is just my body odor, but that’s not how I usually smell when sweating…. I’ll have to try it again in milder conditions.
A question: Does angélique smell like cigarettes? I’ve never smelled it by itself, but l’AC Jasmin Angélique reeks of cigarettes on me, though it’s not listed in the notes on Fragrantica. I don’t dislike it–it’s so odd that I just keep putting it on again and again–but it’s just so stinky-dirty-cigarette-y against all odds.
Update on last night’s baked camembert with red wine: Delicious. Would make it again tonight if I had any kind of decent metabolism.
Oh! And an update on the l’Occitane huiles de soin l’Arlésienne that shattered in transit when I bought them online: The shop kindly replaced them 🙂 So now I am back to the problem I had right after I ordered them, which is that I need to give them the love they deserve before they go bad. Not the worst problem. Might try to get rid of one or two in the swapmeet, if it doesn’t look like I’m on track to use them all up soon by then.
You can put them in the fridge, they’ll keep for years like that.
Well, I get cigarettes from galbanum sometimes. Does l’AC Jasmin Angélique have galbanum?
Interesting. Yes, according to Fragrantica, it does! I’ve always wondered what galbanum smells like. Where else does galbanum smell like cigarettes to you?
Primarily older classic green or chypre fragrances. Chanel No. 19 for one. Here’s a quote from a response to an NST post (https://freebox.it.com/2010/05/10/perfume-and-cigarette-smoke/%3C/a%3E%29:%3Cbr /> ‘The blend of galbanum, jasmine and oak moss is particularly suited to the smell of cigarettes because it does give off a faint ashtray aroma, hence the association between green chypres and cigarettes.’
Oh and I get it from Maison Martin Margiela (untitled). Here’s a couple of quotes from Fragrantica by folks who feel similarly:
“Well, i was a little disappointed, especially at the early stage. The opening notes smell EXACTLY like an ashtray with old cigarette ashes/butts…”
“The wet ashtray scent is the galbanum overdose; if you try Silences by Jacomo you’ll get the same effect.”
Totally agree with this (and like both 19 and Untitled)– though I never realized it’s the galbanum causing that effect for me. Great insight!
I always think it’s interesting when I read reviews of MMM Untitled saying that they were disapointend in how “safe” it seemed to them. To me, it seems like white incense and ashtray mixed with citrus (but in a lovely way). I wonder if it’s a different interpretation of galbanum that’s causing the disparity.
Hah, I’m sorry about the gym clothes bit???? But sometimes it’s just good to test things and determine – possibly with relief – that you don’t need a full bottle of this or that.
Assuming that’s Atelier Cologne, I absolutely smell cigarettes in Jasmine Angelique. It was so striking that I laughed! I actually enjoy it but I prefer Etat’s Jasmin et Cigarette which I find a little bit more humorous.
I am so relieved to read this! Springpansy’s comments gave me hope, but the absence of something I smell in a list of notes always throws me off. It’s incredibly striking! I need to try Jasmin et Cigarette, if only to compare it to Jasmin Angélique.
JeC is more like the party sister with teased hair and cigarettes. JA is not like a natural sister with button down shirts and cigarillos. They both have incredible bone structure though.
Saturday… sigh. Thank God for weekends.
I’m doing a little Jo Malone Blue Agava & Cacao body cream today. Had the floral/chocolate urge.
Very disappointed in the coffee I made this morning. Thought I’d try a new brand, Lavazza dark roast, but unfortunately it turned out to have a very odd flavor. Bummer..
Sorry about the coffee! Hope you had something more satisfying on hand.
No I didn’t.. 🙁
Going to hop out later and do some coffee shopping!
Ooh, that could be fun! Sending you good coffee vibes from Portland.
Hmmm… I like the Lavazza Classico.
I decided to give it another try this morning and added a little cinnamon and it was much better. There was a flavor that just didn’t sit right with me. Maybe the cinnamon helped.
I wonder if it was stale or something. The Lavazza with the green label is my back-up for when I run out of my fancy stuff, and it tastes pretty decent to me.
Yeah, first time trying it and was really surprised at what ever that particular flavor was.. really not good.
Peet’s is my favorite but I refuse to pay $15 a bag when I can get it for half that price online. Need to order more.
I’m not a big fan of Lavazza but I find a lot of people who are disappointed with coffee don’t clean their brewers regularly. I used to sell coffee almost exclusively. Hopefully that is the case so you can enjoy your purchase!
Pretty good at cleaning our french press. Thanks for the input, however. That sounds like a fun job. Another sensory experience getting to know the various nuances in coffee.
Hello NST folks!
Until 5 PM I was in Lavande 44 by Rania J.
Right now, after a bike ride and a shower with Le Petit Marsellais Verveine & Citron I surrounded myself with a cloud of Le Galion Cologne.
Mmmm… I smell good 😀
I’ve got to try some of those Le Galions . . .
Hunkered down in the a/c and enjoying Terracotta le Parfum by Guerlain.
Oooohhhh, Terracotta. Very pretty. 🙂
Wearing Shalimar today. It’s hard to get motivated to do anything in this awful weather. I have my A/C set to Arctic Blast but still working up a sweat while I continue to winnow my worldly possessions. I haven’t dealt will all the books yet and have a few more loads to go, then will move onto clothes. Egads, it’s never ending. How did I accumulate so much stuff?!
I WAS motivated to eat the last of my warmed Blueberry Crisp topped with vanilla frozen yogurt, which was delish ????
Yum!
Its amazing that we can have so much stuff. I’m hoping to downsize within my current place. But, Shalimar is a good fortifier for your task. I may try it for motivation.
Have a productive day!
I am baking a blueberry dessert with biscuit topping right now–6 cups of berries in an 8×8 dish is a lot, and I think I might have a mess on the bottom of the oven when done. But what blueberry heaven awaits!
I spent this morning picking blueberries and now I’m too tired to do anything with them except eat some with whipped cream. I had spritzed myself with some Aqua Allegoria Neroli Blanca (I think that’s right?}, so I imagined a sunny orange grove instead of a rainy windy blueberry patch.
My boyfriend chastised me for all my books and records during our last move and despite my best efforts I couldn’t whittle out to much but I sure did try.
I’m in leftover Chergui. And I like it. I have a half chipmunk face – had gum surgery on Thursday. Not a good look, so hanging around the house for the weekend. Heading out to work in the yard.
Oh no–hope you’re recovering well, chipmunk face and all!
Hope the recovery goes well!
Hope you heal soon! I’ve had gum surgery as well – no fun at all, although I guess there’s really no surgery that’s fun. At least you smell great in your Chergui.
Thank you. It definitely ranks as one of the more not-fun surgeries. I’m not that uncomfortable, but I look hideous and I don’t love the soft food diet.
I’m in SSS Rose Volupté, which I’m still really enjoying. It’s so luxurious. Makes me feel like a 19th century opera singer, or something. Really, it deserves décolleté and diamonds, but I’m afraid all I’ve got today are yoga pants. Maybe I’ll pop open a grapefruit shandy in a bit – it’s not champagne, but . . .
Got a draft of a hopefully-for-publication paper to my relevant committee members yesterday, and feeling a bit proud of myself for that. Now to get the other hopefully-for-publication to my advisor. And write a dissertation. And and and. One thing at a time.
“And write a dissertation” gave me a good laugh…yes, one thing at a time! Congrats on finishing the paper, to start.
Thanks!
I actually have a good start on the dissertation. My trouble is that sometimes I think about the projects as “my dissertation,” and then I think, “there must be some mistake . . .”
Just think of it as the longest paper you’ve written yet!
Someone told me that the dissertation is just your last student paper (or, in my case, my last three). Which is kind of helpful. I know I just have to do it. But, ugh.
It’s odd you should say that–just Friday, I said to a new student to think of each chapter as a fat essay, and in no time at all, she would reach the 100, 000 word limit and be complaining that it just isn’t enough! I have to say that she didn’t look convinced!
Waterdragon, I actually don’t have a hard time believing that! And neither will she, soon enough. But my anxiety is less about the word counts than it is about significance, if you know what I mean. (I have a very supportive adviser and committee, so my anxiety is purely self-generated.)
I’ve got a title, a rough table of contents, and chapter headings, so you’re well ahead of me!
On another note, you make Rose Volupté sound gorgeous. Scarlet velvet and a plunging neckline. Mmmm, must try it. Maybe a present to myself the next time I’m planning to sing onstage.
Yes, it would be lovely for that! Especially if you have a line of admirers waiting to drink champagne out of your shoes afterwards. But even if you don’t have the actual admirers (I’m sure you will!) the perfume is pretty good company.
The rest of your dissertation will come! As will mine. That’s what we’ll keep telling ourselves.
I cannot say anyone has ever waited to drink champagne out of my shoes after anything! Oh well, a girl can dream. (Is this a reference to something I don’t know about? A common saying I’m apparently oblivious to?)
Well, now that I think about it, I guess it mostly was a rumor about ballet dancers, not singers. But the story goes that it’s something a dancer’s admirers would do after performances – sip champagne from her slippers.
Seville a L’aube!
Perfect for this overcast morning. Going to show my mother and cousin around Portland this weekend.
Also, going to Hawaii on the 30th!!! It’ll be my first time there. Any recommendations?
It kind of depends on which island you’re visiting, but for nearly all of them my favorite recommendation is to take a helicopter tour. I’ve seen the Big Island and Maui that way – Maui was windier and therefore a bit scarier, but still amazing. You get to fly over some areas that are otherwise unreachable.
I’ll be touring Oahu.
Helicopter ride would be great, especially at sunrise/sunset. Thanks for the idea!
Enjoy! I’m completely envious, of course. 🙂
If your trip includes Maui, watching the sunset at Haleakala National Park is amazing (and much less crowded than at sunrise, at least in my experience), and the views of the sky after dark are equally as wonderful. I went on a whale watching tour that was fantastic, but if I’m remembering correctly, their migration season ends in the late spring.
If you’re going to Oahu, the North Shore is beautiful, and so much less congested with people. The waves are amazing on the beach. I must admit, the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor is very moving, and worth the crowds and the wait to experience. If you want to snorkel, I’d avoid Diamond Head, or as we came to call it, Kick-in-the-Head, due to the presence of way too many humans piled on top of each other in one small location :-/
I haven’t been to Kauai, but desperately want to go for the hiking and wildlife.
Do report back on your trip!
Enjoy! Love Hawaii…all the islands are beautiful, including Oahu. For touristy, the Pearl Harbor/Arizona memorial is very good. As is a visit to Punchbowl. If you like driving, you can drive around the island or up the Pali Highway to the lookout. It’s gorgeous. We love the North Shore around Haleiwa. Easy drive, nice snorkeling at Shark Cove. In Honolulu, go the Mai Tai bar at the Royal Hawaiian on Waikiki…the history of that hotel and the Moana are interesting. And Duke’s has good food. Don’t be shy about buying and wearing a lei. Hawaiian Bath and Body (near Haleiwa) has nicely scented soaps and other items.
Oh snorkeling is the best!!! If you scuba dive, do try to do that. The water off of HI doesn’t get colder as you go down; it’s pleasingly warm everywhere. That makes it perfect for a thin wetsuit dive, and there are interesting things to see all the way down. I actually enjoyed going up Diamond Head, unlike LisaInDenver. I went bright and early to avoid the heat, and may thus have also avoided the other people. You can also get some gorgeous, relatively cheap pearls in the big craft market or in Chinatown, if you like pearls!
Last night I cracked open for the first time, a tiny apothecary bottle of Kiehl’s Rain Oil that I found on the sale table at Diamonds in 1973. It surfaces occasionally and always decide to just leave it be. I was going to put it on ebay, but if it had turned, it would be a disappointment to someone who thought they had found a treasure. It was still it’s original emerald green and I am happy to say it is just as Iovely as l recall. Green, wet, lily of the valley, carnation, herbaceous, clean with a touch of hippy skank. What a treat!
That sounds lovely. I’m so glad it worked out!
I doused myself in Osmanthe Yunan this morning, nothing too heavy remains since I’ll be driving around with a pal most of the day…
It’s so late, but I hope someone is still around who can answer my question: one or two months ago I got 4 pretty sample bottles of Hermes fragrances: one is blue, one is red, another is pale yellow, etc. The red and blue ones are both labeled Hermes Cologne, and that’s all I can see on them. My sight is not the best; there may be something I’m missing. Any help? Thank you.
I think they’d be:
Red – Rhubarbe Ecarlate
Yellow – Neroli dore
Blue – Eau de narcisse bleu
Hope that helps!
Morning, all. It’s a slow-moving and sleepy Waterdragon talking to you this morning–I can’t seem to get out of my own way at the moment. Dunno why: winter maybe, or simply a strong reluctance to deal with all the STUFF that has accumulated on my “To Do” list. Lectures start again tomorrow: uggghhh! I’m cheering myself along with Fate (for women) and it is like a gleam of golden light in a dark place. Literally, almost: the sun isn’t up yet, and it’s dark outside and rather cold!
Hey, may I ask a favour of NS-Tites in Houston and Bodton? My sister is going to visit her son and grandchildren in October, and she wants to buy some perfume while she’s in the States. Her part of South Australia doesn’t give her many perfume browsing opportunities! Anyway, she says she finds the style of perfume selling quite overwhelming in many US stores, and she ends up either rushing away without anything, getting a perfume she’s had before, or buying something she wasn’t certain of. I was wondering if you could recommend stores that might have a sympathetic approach to thoughtful browsing? I’ll pass the info on: I’m also going to draw up a list of perfumes she might like, based on what she has worn in the past, because it might help to have a bit of structure in her search. I’d – we’d– be very grateful for any suggestions.
I don’t live in Houston, but I have heard really great things from friends about the service and selection at Kuhl-Linscomb in Houston. From what I understand, it’s kind of like a Space NK store, although it’s not a chain; they refer to themselves as a ‘design and lifestyle store.” Here’s a link to the lines they carry (strangely noted as “Home Fragrances,” but these include both body and room fragrances)
http://www.kuhl-linscomb.com/products.htm
Thank you so much! I’ll pass that on. My nephew is culturally pretty much an American now and seems very familiar with everything in Houston, so he’ll have no problems taking his mother shopping there. I’m deliberately listing perfumes that my sister should have no trouble finding, too, but her brief, which consisted of “something powdery”, is terribly broad!
I live in Houston and in fact I was just visiting at Kuhl-Linscomb today! It’s a wonderful place to browse for fragrances without being pestered. They have many lines including Diptyque, SL, Atelier, Agonist, and lots more. Tell your nephew it is just near to the Whole Foods on Kirby. Just a few blocks further up Kirby is another “lifestyle” store, Sloan-Hall, with a few perfume lines, notably a lot of Caron, also very low-key and fun to shop at. It’s on the west side of Wertheimer in the small plaza there.
I’ve already rung my sister — she’s skipping later today, so she’s setting up the shopping trips with her son ahead of time. She asked me to pass on her thanks to both of you for your help. I’ll add a couple of L’Artisan perfumes to the list, and study up on Carthusia and Santa Maria Novella, since the shop carries those lines.
You’ve been a great help! Thank you!
And I SWEAR I typed “Skyping” !!!!!! But she may be also skipping, I suppose–her dogs give her quite a work out when she walks them…
I wish that I knew of a really customer friendly spot in Boston that also had a wide variety of things, but alas I don’t. They are very very nice at the Barney’s in Copley, and she can try a range of things there from Serge Lutens and Frederic Malle and a smaller selection of other brands. The Saks in the same mall complex has a ton of product but very little in the way of costumer service. That might be ok if she wants to wander through and try things out. They have the Chanel exclusives, By Killian, and loads of other things. The Nordstrom’s SA’s are extremely pushy in my experience. Finally, I am embarrassed to say I haven’t been to Colonial Drugs. Others might have more info on that. Me, I mostly order on line for indie stuff, and pine for New York.
Thank you, Amy. I think she’d be fine to wander if she has a list to focus her wandering, if you see what I mean, so I’ll recommend that she tries her luck at Barney’s. I’ll suggest that she keeps away from Nordstrom, because overly-assertive sales people seem to be the main problem.
If she wants a Boston sniffing companion, let me know– my screen name is my yahoo address. Also, maybe she could do a Monday Mail (or you could do it for her) if she functions better with a list of things to try
Hello everyone, really happy today because I have Saturday and Sunday both off from work, and it’s been over a year since that’s happened. Wearing Une Rose for the second day in a row, and looking forward to going out tonight for hand-pulled noodles, soup dumplings, and cocktails.
Congrats on the full weekend (and Une Rose). Your dinner plans sound delightful. Please enjoy!
Mmmmm, dumplings. Now I’m hungry. Have fun!
I love Une Rose so much. You smell amazing.
Giving Iris Poudre a test run today, and it is absolutely lovely. Irisy goodness!
Agreed! 🙂
Wonderful!
It was my second day very lightly layering FM Portrait of a Lady with Ramon Monegal Dubai Next to Me. There was a very slight breeze outside, and I could just catch the scent each time. Mmmmmm. I smelled great!
Reaching for my heavy hitters in this muggy weather. Tomorrow, I’ll probably wear Montale Roses Musk.
I’m happy your health has improved, Jonette.
Welcome back!
Thank you, Bear, and to the others who welcomed me back. I’ll always have issues due to a chronic auto-immune illness, but the intestinal problems are very much over!
It’s a little FM streak here. You smell amazing.
Ombre Indigo for me on a mercifully less hot and muggy day.
Nice. I wouldn’t think of it for the heat but might pull it out and try!
SodD = Muguet Porcelaine. It is so lovely it made me catch my breath. Robin’s photo for today is perfect for the green and white cloud of scent I’m smelling right now.
I sampled MP a few weeks ago, loved it, saved the sample, waited to try it again today to see if I might have a different response. Nope. This one’s love. Hermes for the win.
The Candy Perfume Boy loves Muguet Porcelaine:
https://thecandyperfumeboy.com/2016/07/04/super-scent-my-top-five-hermes-fragrance/
I love four of his top five and have added Terre d’Hermès to my Must Sniff List.
Spent this morning doing “the 10 second tidy” all around the house. It’s amazing how all those 10 seconds add up. Anyone else remember watching The Big Comfy Couch?
I hope each of you can take time this weekend to restore and refresh in a whatever way fills you up with comfort.
I’m also a fan of CPB, and absolutely agree Terre d’Hermes is a must sniff for all fragrance enthusiasts. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on MP, and the well wishes.
Yes to Hermes!
CPB takes such joy in sharing fragrance experiences, he makes my heart happy. 😀
I haven’t tried MP but I’m dying to. My local Hermes recently relocated and I haven’t felt like getting there yet.
There have been a few mentions of amber perfumes recently and I don’t think I have ever explored this note…and winter might be the right time to do so. I’m probably not going to find earth shattering ambers in my local shops but hopefully one or two….most likely one, or none.
Hoping to find Hermes L’Ambre des Merveilles if I’m lucky…seems pretty unlikely though.
And the Prada ambers, maybe?
Possibly, maybe…probably not. But will look. Thanks!
All the Hermes Merveilles seem to be widely available in the U.S. – mostly Nordstrom and Sephora.
There’s also some nice amber in the Pacifica fragrances, which my New Seasons and a few other whole foods store carry.
Good luck!
I love LAdM. It has an interesting salty bitter orange more that I crave. Much better in winter though, and this coming from the guy who wears Shalimar all summer.
SL Ambre Sultan! Hermès Ambre Narguilé!
Happy weekend everyone! A tiny dab of Coromandel this morning. It’s a like, rather than a love, which saves me some cash.
I’m covered in Gardenia Rattan body cream and mosquito bites, a very postmodern combination.
Have been reading the letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh – enjoyable, but slow going thanks to the footnotes and a huge cast of ‘characters’. The weather is cool, but at least that’s conducive to reading.
Annikky, thanks for making me burst out laughing! “body cream and mosquito bites, a very postmodern combination”
Too funny! Hope the mosquito bites don’t cause too much distress.
Lovely cool weather here today, the fog didn’t retreat from the canyons below us until noon. Ahhhh!
I’m having a klutz day, so far today I have broken a wine glass and a glass jar of preserves. Wonder what’s next?
Testing my samples that I got from Posh Peasant in their going out of business sale. Sorry to see a sample source disappearing, but then, I have more than a few samples waiting to be tried, I think I am set for a while here…
Ooops! Sorry to hear about your klutz day. Hoping nothing else breaks. I have clumsy days when I can’t seem to hold on to anything and there is broken glass everywhere. When that happens I take it as a hint that I need to stop picking things up, but only after I pick up my feet and put them next to me on the couch. 😀
Enjoyed the meet up at CB I Hate Perfume. In the Summer Kitchen on one arm and In the Library on the other. No purchases. But enjoyed being with the other ladies!
One of those rare good transit karma days. Very little wait and managed to only get drenched over a half block walk from the bus.
I recently bought a bottle of Terry de Ginzburg Hombre Mercure and can’t get enough of it. Wow. Even though our heat and humidity here in Houston are terrible (99 yesterday and today) I still love wearing it–just can’t spray on too much. If you don’t overdo, it settles into a very appealing nice light vanilla scent that is just elegant and comforting at the same time.
Retrieved my collection from a kind caretaker today, and can’t seem to make a choice of what to wear. Well, there’s still time left in the day…. Have a pleasant, restful weekend all.
I had a lovely time yesterday at CB I Hate Perfume with some fellow NSTers. Nice to go somewhere I’ve never been, and to smell an entire line I’ve never sampled before. Fun scents and a few I really liked. No purchases this time, however.
Today I’m wafting Dita Von Teese while running errands on this beautiful sunny day.
Glad it was fun! Sorry I had to miss it..
I’ve tried a few of that brand at a shop on Elizabeth street, can’t remember the name. They carried a a number of this brand.
Weekend of green as I go through and discard a lot of excess stuff. I am no minimalist, but I still need a good clean out every few years. Yesterday Mito. Today Tokyo Bloom. Last night, Thorn and Bloom’s Bird of Paradise for something different.
More perfume fun to round off the weekend.
Yesterday afternoon I dropped into Le Studio des Parfums on Rue Bourg Tibourg. They do a ‘make your own perfume’ thing, which I don’t think I’m ready for yet, so I contented myself with a bottle of “Offrez-lui” by Galimard. With its lavender and bergamot it felt very cooling.
Around the corner on the Rue Roi de Sicile there’s a perfume shop ‘Sens Unique’ with a great range of niche marques. I tried a bunch of stuff and ended up getting a FB of N-Cigale’s “Pin Mystic”. I can’t remember where I read about this one, which is meant to evoke an old stone church in a pine grove (with notes of cold stone, incense and pine) but it worked nicely on me – although the bottle is very silly. Also got samples of Nasomatto “Black Afgano” (nice herbal-incense), Beaufort “Lignum Vitae” (surprising ginger gourmand), Paul Emilien “Une Belle Journée” (gorgeous sweet/cool violet floral), and on the SA’s suggestion a trio of Phaedons she thought would have better lasting power than those I’ve tried to date (Oriental Mint, Tabac Rouge and Oliban Grisens – not tried any of ’em yet).
On to today, which I spent in the Galimard “Offrez-lui”. After a long sunny day (which has turned me bright red because, of course, my sunscreen is in the other country) I have switched into Eris “Night Flower” which was a birthday present and is very suitable for a sultry evening. I picked up a FB of Annick Goutal “Ninfeo Mio” on the way home, so I am kind of perfumed out as far as purchases go – we’ll see how long that lasts.
You’re breaking my heart! So many perfumes….sigh. Man, I hope you are never posted to Dunedin for a contract…though we do have a full range of Armani Si.
A posting far from temptation’s way might be A Very Good Idea.
I can only ‘justify’ my extravagance because I was going to do something special for my 50th and in the end I really didn’t feel like it, so I have (in my mind) an unspent budget. :^)
Sounds like a nice weekend. And since I missed saying so yesterday, Happy Belated Birthday!
I got a MF sample of MMM Jazz Club with my last Sephora order. It’s not my thing (money saved!). But what’s interesting to me right now is that the thing I really don’t like about it is also something I don’t like about AC Figuier Ardent. Still have to figure out what the overlap is.
Morning, all. So. Lectures start today. This was going to be the organised, easy, stress-less — hah!– semester. Yesterday, however, the lecturer who was to give the opening lecture in a paper rang to say he was double-booked. He’s convening a doctoral viva, and can’t teach. Grump! So today, I’m scrambling to write a lecture on a topic I kind of know but have not read in deeply. Damn and double damn! But no, no stress, no stress, THERE WILL BE NO STRESS. I will wear a calming colour, I will not wear my red boots, I will breathe deeply and enjoy Baiser Vole all day long. And if I run into this unreliable bloke, I will not mutilate him, not even in the slightest….
You will nail it, I’m sure. And he will pass you in the hallway as you are surrounded by HIS students, signing autographs.
Enjoy your Baiser Vole. And you can mutilate that other prof. a tiny bit. (Like the scene in Night at the Museum where Larry tells Attila the Hun he can rough up Cecil a little.) ????
This morning I put on some EL’s Gardenia & Tuberose and then just sprayed on HdP 1969. It’s a steamer out there. Hope it cools down a little by early evening as I’d like to get a jog in today.
Scent of the weekend has been Calyx. What can I say? When something is right, it’s really right. Why mess with it?
You’re so right! That scent is actually uplifting, somehow…and whacky.
Totally agree with you on uplifting. And absolutely gross heat and humidity do not faze it in the least.
I am wearing Ombre Bleue which I found at a yard sale this weekend, it smells tropical and summery, I really love it.
A cry from the amber perfume wilderness ….went to town with my list and managed to located only one (ONE!!!) amber scent…even though I had gone to the trouble of making it basic (Prada, Hermes, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Estee Lauder…) So tested Mbre de Merveilles and like it….but they only had 100ml bottles. So i decided to recreate it at home by combining Terre de Hermes with Prada Candy and it has worked a treat ( not layered, but kind of spiralled together on my skin. Blind ordered L’artisan Ambre Extreme as it is quite cheap and also JC Ellena. But had fun testing all the Body Shop potions mentioned over the past month, and bought Weleda Sea Buckthorn wash and lotion…so happy. Terre de Hermes…so gooooood. Snow on the hills! Happy week everyone.
It can be a perfume wilderness here, too. It’s frustrating. But at least it’s useful for working your way through what’s available and easily determining what you *don’t* like. At least that’s what I keep doing. ????
And the anticipation builds up nicely, too.
At least the air smells good where we are!
I’m currently scented with a honey and coconut body butter, which smells nice and beachy. I’ll spritz on some perfume later once the scent dies away.
I had a surprise wildlife encounter yesterday. I came home from lunch and was approaching the walled-in front patio, when a bobcat jumped up from inside onto the wall only a few feet away from me! It sprang off sort of toward me and went bounding past, across the street. I’ve had one streak away from behind a nearby parked car and even had one just saunter right past me before, but having one spring in my general direction was a new experience!
Wow! That’s really exciting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bobcat in person. But we have some Mississippi kites in our neighborhood right now, and sometimes they swoop around very dramatically, very close to the ground.
Bobcats are so cool. They’re generally not a threat (unlike mountain lions, say), so it’s a treat to see them. We don’t have kites per se, but we do have various hawks. They really are impressive to watch!
COOL!!!!
Lucky you, having seen bobcats! Although having it move in your general direction does sound disconcerting. Best animal sighting I could do recently was a beautiful mourning cloak butterfly.
Whoops, this was supposed to be under Creosote’s post!
Yeah, it was a surprise! A bit of concern did kick in a few seconds after the initial shock, as in: “Thank God that was a bobcat. What if it had been a mountain lion?!?” (Unlikely but not entirely impossible.) A good reminder to stay aware of your wildlife surroundings!
I do so love butterflies! Not only are they pretty, but I’m grateful they’re one of the few creatures of the insect world I actually like. ????
Today I’m wearing a few dabs of a Sweet Morphine sample.