It's Monday (sorry), International Albinism Awareness Day and World Softball Day. Birthdays: W. B. Yeats, Dorothy L. Sayers. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm tying the aromatic herbs in Eau de Guerlain to the medicinal plants grown by Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway, in the novel Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell.
Reminder: 6/17 will be William Shakespeare Friday...wear a fragrance that matches a favorite line from a sonnet or play, or do something else creative with the theme. Suggested by allo.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2022, where I'll try (but obviously sometimes fail) to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Shottery, England early 1900s by Aussie~mobs at flickr; public domain.
I’m having a hard time figuring out what to wear for the CP. I may choose something from Tom Ford on Friday, because Gwyneth Paltrow was in the movie Shakespeare in Love and Tom Ford dresses her for lots of events. Lol, the perfumista mind can go in many directions!
Today I am wearing the Coromandel version from Oil Perfumery. It smells a bit softer and creamier than the Chanel but has impressive lasting power, especially for an oil.
That would work just fine!
Since Gaynor mentioned it over the weekend, I’m wearing Bengale Rouge. Wishing you all a good week!
You too cazaubon!
Shalimar Body Cream.
You smell fabulous !
Good morning! Ciao a tutti
The NYPL has a very large amount of Shakespeare. I hope they will do something special next year for the 400th anniversary. I was just in the treasures exhibit and they have the first folios.
A public service announcement that BG is having their beauty gift card 6/15. Chanel isn’t including themselves. This is like a “pop up” event. My contact at BG told me that La Mer is going to increase their prices, just an fyi, in the next few months. I have no affiliation, just wanted to let anyone know if they want to buy perfume and save!
Thanks for the PSA!
Forgot to mention my SOTD
Dior pure poison. Maybe Romeo and Juliet .. 😊
Today I’m in Benetton Tribù, which has a baffling and very dated postmodern bottle (it was launched some five years after postmodernism had peaked as a design aesthetic) but what seems to me a timeless and genderless mix of blackberry jam, chamomile, and roses with a fresh-herbal overtone. It’s kind of weird and really great. (And if I’m doing Shakespeare Week, which I probably will, all of those things are mentioned in his plays.)
I got rid of that perfume because I found the bottle so ugly.
I can relate! I’ve refused to buy things because the bottles were so unattractive — the original Romeo Gigli Per Uomo was very nice but the bottle and box were hideous and I couldn’t see myself owning or ever using it. The Tribù bottle is not quite ugly enough for me to shun it, but it really is incomprehensible — it doesn’t seem to fit the contents or the marketing at all.
There is a nice collection of old adverts for Tribu on Parfumo:
https://www.parfumo.net/Perfumes/Benetton/Trib_Eau_de_Toilette
So in those, the bottle looks kind of cool, but since I never saw it in person I will believe you both.
I’m in Herba Fresca, since so many wore it for last week’s CP. So refreshing in this hot weather.
And it would work for my Hamnet idea today too! You smell great.
Monday already? I’m already looking forward to the weekend. lol
I’m in Molecule 01. It’s sunny again and I’m going to take advantage of the “normal” temperatures and go for a walk at lunch. We are supposed to hit 97 tomorrow and may break the record for high temp.🥵
It’s going to remain cool up here. I wouldn’t mind warmer, but it’s been beautiful. Overcast today.
I think 92 will be my high tomorrow but storms are coming through this afternoon and tonight first.
Good morning.
Sotd is Miss Dior Original.
Sunny day, breezy and not too warm. Great weather for a stroll or just to sit outside.
You lucked out, we got hot and humid.
Good Morning. I’m excited about Shakespeare week!
“Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.”
– Sonnet 116
Sotd is “rosy” NV Mohur
Mohur suits Shakespeare. You smell great!
Thank you!
It is a great idea allo, thank you!
PSA: Smell Bent’s final garage sale is on NOW. (boo hoo)
SOTD is Smell Bent Merida — citrus, greens, soft jasmine.
Can you remind me of your Smell Bent favorites? I have several in my cart and am “trying” to cull…
Incensed, Smoked Ambergris, St Tropez Gold… but that’s just me 🙂
Sounds good to me too 🙂
1999 (grapefruit soda) is a fun one
I had 1999 in my cart but by the time I checked out, it was sold out. I should have realized it was a no “holds” barred sale. I’m happy with the others, though.
I never got into Smellbent much, though, I tried. I like Short Fuse..Prairie Nymph and is St Tropez the creamsicle one? If so, that one is also fun to wear.
St. Tropez is the one described as “sunscreen on the beach”. Can’t remember which one was the Creamsicle one.
Was hoping the original, long discontinued Dr Dreidel would pop up in the garage sale but no such luck.
Hello all, smelling lovely in Venenum here! I just came back from a week in Ventura/LA for a conference. The conference was fantastic! My first since grad school (sheesh!)! But also, every time I visit LA, I remember that I hate LA, despite all the great things it holds. Ugh, nothing like LA to make me appreciate the Bay Area (where I live).
Also, I’ve bought almost no perfume since about Feb 2019–just a couple Hiram Green bottles and maybe a dozen 5- to 10-mL decants from splitmeets. But the smell bent final garage sale that pixel mentioned above was just too tempting for me and I snagged a handful of the most intriguing scents, oops. (Although I have yet to receive my order confirmation, despite having placed the order 20 min ago…fingers crossed.) Anyway, they’re perfumath-free, at $35/50mL. Though, yes, those $35 do add up quickly.
Back to my almost-no-buy now.
So glad it was a worthwhile project!
That is how I felt about LA when I lived in San Diego. San Diego has grown so much since that I’m not sure it’s that different from LA, except LA has better food and shopping 🙂
Fwiw I still like San Diego 🙂 though of course I didn’t really know it until a decade ago.
Swiped Bengale Rouge inside my elbow – immediately started craving pain aux raisins. Not such there’s any available in my corner of the SE US, so Bengale Rouge will have to suffice.
I can go eat one for you 🥐
Mmm, pain aux raisins! I plan to eat a lot of those in Montréal on vacation.
In Misia, which I think Shakespeare would have liked, as it has violet, iris and rose.
“Thousand freshwater flowers of several colours
That she appeared, methought, like the fair nymph
That feeds the lake with waters, or as Iris
Newly dropped down from heaven.”
“To throw a perfume on the violet,…
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess”…
“Of all the flowers, methinks a rose is best.”..
Would you agree a rose is the best? Methinks about it some more lol.
Iris is the queen of my heart, both in perfumery and in the garden.
You smell divine!
I have some wonderful memories attached to rose gardens…
Wearing Diptyque Essences Insensées 2015 aka the jasmine one which is a gorgeous, sweet jasmine and orange blossom bomb. 💣
This bottle has the infamous bulb atomizer…the most loathed of all sprayers.😆
I doth not loathe thy most loathed sprayer, except when it doth not spray at all. Lol.
Pray Thee, fetch me another sprayer!
That is a loathed sprayer but a gorgeous scent!
Scent free so far this morning, but I’ve been re-reading a novel set on Corfu that features a Shakespearien actor and the play The Tempest. The play’s characters include one named Iris, who is one of Prospero’s spirits and who “decorates Mother Earth by sprinkling dewdrops” and other pleasant things, so I may just do a week of iris scents.
What is the novel? That sounds vaguely familiar.
I might do something this week with Mrs Dalloway, which has several Shakespeare quotes / allusions.
It’s one of Mary Stewart’s, called This Rough Magic. The title is a quote from The Tempest, one of Prospero’s lines I think.
Thanks!
I may join you in Iris for the rest of the week!
Welcome aboard! 😆
And now ending the day in Autoportrait. I seldom reach for this, but it’s hitting the spot now so I moved the bottle to a more prominent location.
I reached for iris today too and for the same character and play. The Tempest holds fond memories for me.
.‘Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dared, and take
The winds of March with beauty.’
Ostara. Our weather isn’t quite March, but it’s certainly not June either. Mid 60s.
Perfect!
Lovely pairing. I also thought of wearing Ostara to pair with a daffodil quote but I was too lazy to look for my bottle lol. I think I have thought about selling or swapping my bottle a few times but in the end, I hold on to it. I think it’s just too unique to let go I guess.
Same for me, Ostara feels like a scent I want to have around so I can smell it, but I don’t often want to wear it. 🙂
I had a dental appointment this morning so no scent until now, when I sprayed Tihota quite lavishly. The lidocaine always makes me feel cold, so I am in the recliner with a blanket and thinking about what to wear for Friday. I am not intimately acquainted with Shakespeare, other than Julius Caesar. I had to read that in high school.
My dentist offers blankets, too. So nice!
I read Julius Caesar in high school, too. It was hard-going. I liked King Lear better.
My high school Shakespeare was Macbeth.
In No. 19, pretending it’s a normal workday, actually at work, even though it’s actually an all-Zoom extravaganza.
To my fellow fancy-leather perfume wearer last week – I actually was at the Nordstrom shoe section! I was looking at Brikies, for which doubtless would skew more hippie-like in a perfume format…
Nice! I need shoes, and it’s been a long time since I had a long day of shoe shopping. Must change that.
I think that was me in the fancy-leather last week. I’ve usually shied away from leathery scents, but Kelly Caleche may be making me a convert.
Kelly Caleche was the first Hermes perfume that I clicked with. But strangely enough, I don’t have a bottle of it, or any Hermes yet.
Yes to Hermes! 👍😍
Monday!
1) SOTD: Amelie Mae- powdery sweet yet fresh raspberry rose. It’s really needed on this grey and rainy day.
2) It’s been June-aray! This spring has been very wet and soggy after a dryish March. And it has been cool at night, very much so last night when I hauled out the down comforter to put back on the bed!
3) As a result of the sogginess, my seedlings were effectively drown or destroyed by mold. So I have had to do another round of seedlings. On the other hand, my roses look so lush right now!
June gloom here, too! And my neighbor’s roses smell so good on a damp day. 🙂
I love going into my tiny rose and herb garden in the morning, just for a whiff and see them blossom.
Yikes, sorry for the loss of your seedlings. Of course hooray for your roses!
My poor babies!
But I have to say that the roses are truly thriving and I have made two bouquets already!
I am dipping my toes back into perfume this week, starting with a backlog of samples. On my left wrist is Frassai’s Victoria — a creamy and fruity tuberose. I get a hint of frangipani, but that isn’t in the listed notes. On my right is Rogue Perfumery’s Rostracto, which is a potpourri rose with resin, lightened up with fir needles.
~Warning: sad pet news~
Mr. Vee & I had to help our 17 year old cat cross the rainbow bridge a few weeks ago. She was healthy at her last wellness check in February, but she started losing weight quickly in May, and then tests showed multiple aggressive issues; essentially her body was shutting down. I’ve had her since she was 6 weeks old, when we found multiple litters of kittens (19 in all) in my parent’s backyard. She was so young that I had to bottle feed her and she fit in my hand. She was my first indoor cat, Mr. Vee’s first cat, and our first pet as a couple. All of our kids have fur and four legs, so she very much felt like our first born. She was very clingy and liked to cuddle, so we both spent hours every day with her in our lap, carrying her around, or perched on a shoulder. Our other cat doesn’t like to cuddle, so it has felt like both an emotional loss and a physical one, if that makes sense. So it has been a matter of just putting one foot in front of the other for the past few weeks. I’ve been avoiding perfume until my heart heals a bit for fear of creating scent associations that I’d rather not have. Last week I picked up a bottle of Philosophy’s Honey & Cream body spritz on clearance and wore that for a few days, figuring that if it did have sad associations, I could just move on and give the bottle away without regret. I want to get back to my regular perfume wearing this week but we will see how it goes.
Sorry for writing a novella.
I’m so sorry for your loss, Vee. Our pets are such integral members of the family, their loss leaves a hole for a while. Hugs to you and Mr. Vee.
Thanks, foxbins
I’m so sorry for your loss Vee. What a special 17 years. I had a kitty like that with that kind of bond, but not from such a wee age. I got her when she was likely almost a year old. You gave her a great life. What a joy.
Thanks, LizzieB. A year old is definitely still mischievous-kitten-aged.
warm hugs to you, Vee, and to your Mr. I’m so sorry.
When my little calico kitty girl left me she was 19. She was very clingy and cuddly every day, always greeting me when I came home with frantic meows, begging to be picked up. I felt her absence in a very physical way.
Thanks, tiffanie. Yes, I was usually greeted with those same “where-were-you-how-dare-you-leave-me-pick-me-up-immediately” demanding meows. Ours was a chocolate tortie and the “tortitude” reputation is real.
I’m sorry to read about your cat, you’ll have lots of happy memories from those 17 years.
Thank you, Gaynor. I definitely do. I feel especially lucky to have been able to work from home and spend so much time with her during the past 2+ years.
O gosh, Vee. I’m so terribly sorry and my deepest, most heartfelt condolences.
Thank you for honoring your baby’s life and sharing your unique and loving bond. It is an emotional loss. A deep one. No doubt it is difficult on your other little one.
My heart aches for you.
Thanks, AnniePerfumes. I used to wish that our two kitties were more bonded — they more just tolerated one another, so long as they got the same number of treats. The flip side of that is our younger kitty seems to coping well with the loss.
So sorry about your kitty; thanks for sharing her story with us. Virtual hugs and condolences to you.
Thanks skalolazka. And thanks for letting me blather on about her here.
So very for your loss, Vee. You gave her a wonderful life. Sending great big hugs.
Thank you, She-ra. She was as demanding as she was loving, and she learned early on that Mr. Vee was incapable of saying “no” to her, so she pretty much got whatever her heart desired.
I ‘m so sorry for your loss, Vee. Pets are very much a part of our lives and you and your cat had a special bond.
Thank you, hajusuuri. We certainly did!
I’m so sorry about your sweet cat, Vee. They are such big members of the family. I’m sure she had a wonderful life and she knew that you and Mr. Vee loved her dearly. Sending you big hugs.
Thanks, Gail. I appreciate it.
Hugs to you both.
Thank you, Kinuknits.
I am so sorry about your kitty, Vee. Sending comforting hugs to you and Mr. Vee. 🌻
Thank you, PL67.
Oh no. So very sorry about you having to say that final goodbye to your dear, sweet kitty. It hurts like hell. My condolences. 😿😿
Thanks, Jalapeno. I appreciate it.
It’s so hard when our furries have to leave us. Hugs to you, and scritches to your other kitty.
Thanks pixel. My other kitty loves head and cheek scritches; I’ll give her a few extra today.
I’m so sorry for the loss of your kitty. I had a dog that loved to be held all the time and I miss all the cuddles. My current dog is not as cuddly, so I understand the physical loss.
Thank you, cazaubon. I felt like I didn’t articulate the physical loss thing well, so I appreciate that you understand what I meant. It is amazing (tho I guess not surprising) how different pets can have such different personalities.
We, I’m so sorry that your cuddly kitty has passed away. 😢 17 years is a long time! I know what you mean about fragrance and not wanting to get sad memories attached – it’s happened to me before.
I’m glad you’re back to spritzing again!
Thanks, AnnE. Yes, 17 years is a long time. Mr. Vee and I started joking last year that she was old enough to get her license and would definitely drive like Tooonces. 🙂
Toonces! 🤣 My DH references him all the time!
Sending a big hug Vee.
Thanks, allo!
I’m in Nuda Veritas from Atelier des Ors.
Flying to Milan tomorrow for Esxence. I’m excited to be there again after 2 years!
how exciting! I hope there will be reporting on the events. 😀 I live a vicarious European travelling life through you and others in the fragrance world.
Very exciting, I’m looking forward to reading about it!
Looking forward to your reports! Enjoy it!
Safe travels and enjoy your trip! Looking forward to hearing about your adventures there.
Happy travels! Looking forward to reading about your exciting trip!
How exciting, have fun!
Testing Tiffany today from a mini bottle that I won. Rather reminds me of TF White Patchouli.
How’s it wearing on you? I tried that one a while ago and wished I liked it more. 😉
I’m wearing Ummagumma for another non-summery June morning here in the PNW. And going with this Shakespeare line from Romeo and Juliet: ‘Love is a smoke and is made with the fume of sighs.’
drizzly down here in socal, must be gray skies all over the west today!
that’s a beautiful quote 😀
What a great fragrance to match the weather and that beautiful line.
Excellent perfume and quote match!
SotD = Vol de Nuit EdT
VdN smells like a Perfect Perfume to me, everything in correct proportion. Each time I wear it I smile.
Robin, you smell marvelous. I love Guerlain’s colognes, and EdG is a stand out.
Over the sunnyb weekend I put a row of colognes and cologne adjacent scents on my bureau in preparation for the week’s scent adventures. This morning I woke to gray, misty skies with rain dripping off the roof. It’s just a sprinkle, but I’ll take it. The colognes can wait for another day. 🙂
Your post sounds so poetic!
thank you, hajusuuri! 💕
We are old school Guerlain twins 🙂
old school for the win, twin! 👍👍
Hot, humid and busy day.
Wearing Dame Minty Man!
Back to read comments later. Happy Monday! 🌞
You smell great! Minty Man is a mint gourmand to my nose and perfect for summer. I have thought about getting a FB but that contemplation, like so many perfume-related musings, is ongoing… 😉
It is a wonderful scent for summer for sure. It took me a long time to get a full bottle, but at the end I thought that the price was really good for 100ml.
Twins with you being hot, humid, and busy!
Nice to have company! 😀👯♀️
20C partly sunny with a breeze this evening.
L’Occitane Osmanthus, so pleasant, so short-lived, I will finish my bottle this summer, sigh. This evening Angel Muse edt, quite nuclear by comparison.
I wouldn’t call Angel Muse in any version a lightweight. 😉 Medium weight, maybe.
Angel Muse edt was still present on my wrist this morning, so definitely medium to heavyweight, like Mugler in general when I come to think of it.
It’s definitely winter here now, and I’ve started to wear my warmest coats. Shakespeare has so many wonderful lines that I think a connection could be found for anything, but I’m completely lacking any specific inspiration this morning.
Maybe Tobacco Vanille would have helped Richard III with his winter of discontent 🙂
Your warmest coats already! That seems so soon. (or maybe your warmest coats aren’t as arctic as I’m imagining)
In Hermes iris ukiyoé for the spirit Iris in the Tempest. This scent lingers for days on me so I won’t be surprised if it’s also tomorrow’s scent as well.
My joints are acting up so i’m drinking a 50/50 combo of ginger turmeric tea and apple cider from a local farm.
House twins today!
Hi twin 🙂
Un Jardin sur le Toit, chosen before I’d read today’s post, but of course there are gardens in Shakespeare, and there must be pears, too? (Hi, Robin!)
Also have a tiny spritz of Petrichor on one arm, from hajusuuri’s split, so I have soil and roots, as well as pear!
👍 on Petrichor!
🍐🍐🍐
Robin, like you I was thinking of the medicinal plants in Hamnet. I’m only about half way through the book but the writing about plants and herbs are so evocative. The whole book is so pungent and fragrant!
I just happen to be sampling Iris Perle today, and it smells very fragrant and medicinal to me. The mimosa and clary sage are strong, I don’t get much iris for now, but the drydown is still to come.
I’m having a really rough start to the work week, got some jarring news at work today. My job is fine, but it’s very upsetting to me. I may need some guidance from Shakespeare this week with matters political! 🤣
Oh oh, I hope Shakespeare provides you with the guidance you need!
Oh yuck. Work drama! 🤮
So sorry about the jarring news! Not a good way to start the week.
In case anyone needs some inspiration for this week’s CP, you can find a list of plants used in one of the Olmstead Brothers’ Shakespeare Gardens (this one happens to be in my city) here: http://plainfieldgardenclub.org/cgi-bin/p/awtp-pa.cgi?d=plainfield-garden-club&type=1660 (go to the link under “1927 Planting List for the Shakespeare Garden”). I’m sure it is not a complete list of everything mentioned in the plays and sonnets, but it has quite bit.
Thanks for sharing! I may do Iris for the rest of the week! Wahoo!
Enabler pin for you!
Ooh nice. Thanks for sharing this.
SOTD = 4160Tuesdays Hammersmith Tea & Biscuits EDP and Extra Sexiest Scent in the Planet Ever IMHO Parfum
On theme with a play on Shakespeare being British and tea & biscuits seem like they would fit!
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cewwbh2OeiF/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
I have to get my game on for the next few days!
I had a weird dream last night and it was so weird that despite the outside looking like it’s on fire, I was just casually going about my business. I don’t know what this means; if you interpret dreams, only mention if it means something good. Thanks 🙏.
My guess about your strange dream would be that despite significant upheaval going on in your life, you are handling it just fine. Keep in mind that I am not an expert on dreams by any stretch. I *have* done Tarot readings in the past, however.
Thank you. Tarot cards give me the willies. Let’s just say that when my grandfather found out that we somehow we got hold of a deck, oh boy….
I get those same heebie-jeebies from Ouija boards. Had a couple of super creepy things happen with those. Never owned one, never will.
You smell yummy!
Thank you!
Song of the Day: https://youtu.be/FFOzayDpWoI
Oy vey. That Smell Bent Garage Sale has my number today. I’ve had all the backbone of an amoeba resisting it. Got 4 (!!) bottles today. Plus one I ordered last week, as Perfume Discontinuation FOMO set it. Donatella will be happy with me next time she drops by for confessions. My credit card is NOT!
SOTD = Hermes Eau de Neroli Dore EdC. Also making flirtatious eyes with this one. Sheesh, am I fickle or what? 🙄
You smell nice and bright! I resisted the Smell Bent siren call.
Thanks! Eau de Neroli Dore is a great summer floral, for sure. I get the smallest hint of citronella in it, but I rather like that.
I was rather impressed by the sniff I got from my Incensed travel spray. Smoke, incense, and leather, anyone? So I upsized to the 50mL.
Just noticed my typo up there. Should be “set in”, not set it.