Happy Almost-Friday, even if it is still February! There are 40 days of (astronomical) winter left. Birthdays: Jules Verne, Kate Chopin, Neal Cassady, James Dean (and happy 19th to Now Smell This). What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm taking points and keeping warm in Donna Karan Black Cashmere.
Reminder: 2/9 is Lunar New Year's Eve...wear an auspicious fragrance to ring in the Year of the (Wood) Dragon, or burn or wear incense to honor your ancestors.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2024, where I'll try (but usually fail) to have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is Gyeryongsan gate detail [cropped] by theaucitron at flickr; some rights reserved.
Wow, happy 19 NST!🎉 and now I’ve got an earworm….Hey nineteen🎵
I’m in the work friendly Able Nurture for my Friday. It was 40 degrees when I got up and I could hear the birds chirping. Spring is on the way!🤩
Not the worst thing to have as an earworm, I think! Thanks.
Happy Birthday NST! Thank you Robin providing this amazing and kind space where we as a community can share our love of perfume and moments of our lives with so many fabulous people. I wish many many more years of NST to come!
My sotd is Shalimar MI.
You smell great! MI didn’t get a lot of love last year when it came out, but I think it will stand the test of time.
Scent twins. We both seem to like this one.
Thanks 🙂
Happy Birthday, NST! I love reading NsT, Robin. Today I am in Cap Neroli. I wanted something energizing to remind me of spring/summer. It’s a little sharp. It’s hard to find the right balance in citrus scents. I’m looking forward to receiving the new EL sampler set.
I’m so glad, and boy am I ready for spring.
Happy nineteenth!
Today I’m in Bulgari Black, another in an embarrassingly long list of scents I bought the instant I smelled them because I just knew. It’s such a fascinating composition — smoky black tea like a rubber tire, a black leather jacket, and warm vanilla, like a race car driver who’s a part-time baker.
Would you please write a book or books about the depressed office worker and his cat (a la Moby Dick) and the race car driver/part-time baker? They’d fly off the shelves😊
I remember hearing that Angelina Jolie liked Bulgari Black, which would make a lot of sense if it’s true.
You smell fantastic.
Happy Anniversary, NST! And THANK YOU, Robin, for keeping this warming and welcoming place running for 19 years! 🎂🍷💕
Wearing Comme des Garcons Ouarzazate.
Happy Thursday!
It’s all worth it, and you smell great.
I *really* wish that CdG would have a travel size coffret of the Incense series!
I am sure a travel size coffret will be a success! Many perfumistas love the incense series.
I would buy that in a second.
pl67, you have hereby picked my SOTD for tomorrow. ❤️
You will smell amazing! I love Ouarzazate!
Happy birthday NST! So glad we all have this sweet-scented slice of Nirvana to escape to from, let’s face it, a nutty, nutty world. Here’s to nineteen more! (insert Steely Dan tune here). 😀
NUTTY is right! This is a happy little corner.
I am so thankful for this community and your efforts to keep it going through thick and thin. Thank you Robin! I’m wearing Smoke Show, from a new decant. Quite leathery at the moment.
Thanks PriscillaE.
Happy Anniversary! Thank you for creating NST and hanging in there for nineteen years. I’m so grateful for you and this wonderful community and all the joy that it has brought me. Today’s scent is Hiram Green’s Philtre. Hurray, I love it!
Please tell us more about Philtre!
Okay! I find Philtre to be very bright and exuberant with carnation taking center stage. It’s beautifully blended and the typical clove note I anticipated does make an appearance but doesn’t dominate but gently flits in and out. While I can’t detect rose, jasmine or vanilla as individual notes here, I think they probably contribute to a slight creaminess that develops. That quality tempers this from remaining as overtly spicy throughout and adds complexity and nuance. Longevity is good on me, and the drydown remains true to the fragrance.
Thank you for this thoughtful review. Looking forward to trying it.
You’re welcome! I look forward to hearing your impressions!
Philtre sounds so fabulous. I can’t wait to try it.
It is! Let us know your thoughts when you try it!
Please do tell more! I have a sample of Philtre on the way.
I just did as a reply to cazaubon! Let us know your thoughts when you try it!
Hurray!
Ohh that’s so exciting. I can’t wait to smell this.
Please share your thoughts once you’ve tried it!
Good to see you posting Holly!
Aw, thank you! I hope you’re enjoying your new home and will find your footing as you continue to settle in!
Happy Anniversary, NST! I was trying to remember where I was and what I was doing 19 years ago and it almost seems another lifetime, working hard in California. I am so happy I found you all 11 years ago.
I am twins with Holly this morning in Philtre. I am testing it side by side with DSH Oeillets Rouges. I like Philtre and if I didn’t already have Oeillets Rouges I’d be buying a bottle, but they are so similar I don’t need both. Philtre is a little stronger but both are lovely carnations.
This Little Lemming loves carnations – and the work “Philtre.”
I love Oeillets Rouge! I should do a side-by-side with Philtre too. DSH does carnation so well – I also own her Fleuriste but I already know it’s far less zingy and more creamy than Philtre.
Another lifetime for me too!
Ahh, thanks for the confusion, I might have the DSH as a sample around here somewhere.
LOL autocorrect! I meant thanks for the COMPARISON
Not the slightest bit confused 😂
Happy 19th Anniversary, NST!💐 Joining others in thanking you, Robin for this labor of love and a gift that keeps on giving through this wonderful community.
I am starting the day in Diptyque Essences Insensées Rose de Mai since I missed Rose Day yesterday🌹I love this rose and wish that it hadn’t been a limited edition.
Later I will douse myself in Armani Bois d’Encens for the cp.
Those Essences Insensees had such pretty bottles, too.
Yes! I love the black bottle and poofy sprayer😊
Thanks allo, and you smell great!
Happy 19th anniversary and thank you so much for all you do Robin! I’m in Heeley Cardinal for the CP.
Smelling wonderful today!
Thanks. That’s a nice one.
Totally out of CP touch wearing the warm, comforting, and always cozy CSP Vanille Apricot.
For those looking to go Full Dragon, here’s a pair of shoes for you. I have this style in a different print and they are super comfortable. Also have a very high instep and it’s almost impossible for me to find a comfy pair of slip ons, but these are fabulous. They have so many cute prints (CATS!) I’m pretty sure I’ll eventually get another pair. 🐲
https://www.uinfootwear.com/en-br/products/w1010320?_pos=1&_sid=3fd921143&_ss=r
And a very happy NINETEENTH Birthday! To all the folks who make it great, I thank you. And Robin, you especially need some kind of award for your creation and continued love and care of this little spot in the ether! 🎂
Yes, thank you Robin! 🍫
Cake and chocolate, perfect!
Oh my! What a shoe lemming you have created.
Super cute shoes!
Cute shoes that fit a high instep and are reasonably priced? Wow!
Wearing GreenWitch again and it definitely has some woods in it.
That name alone is promising, I’ll have to look this up!
Happy Anniversary NST! I have been reading here for a while but newly created an account. Today I am wearing Brin de Reglisse, not very related.
You smell great. Welcome!
Welcome!
Welcome! You smell lovely!
Welcome!
Greetings!
Welcome!
Welcome! 🤗
Welcome percuilteal! Love BdR.
Thank you all! 🙂
Happy Anniversary to NST! Gosh, we’re old 😉
In cozy Paloma Picasso, and windows open for this 40 degree day!
Old?! We’re not even legal to drink yet! 🤣
It is a long time to keep a blog for sure! Young people now don’t even know what blogs are!
Hello everyone!
Happy birthday NST! I just checked and have been here since 2007, though I don’t think I was commenting right away. I googled “Eclat d’Arpege” and find the NST article for the 2007 Summer Edition which I went out and bought. I wish I still had it! My tastes have changed a lot; I think I was sampling Iris Silver Mist a few months later.
I’m in Epice Marine because it is so beautiful and relatively mindless. Also I’m getting close to the end of my bottle and want to use it before it turns.
Have a great day everyone!
Ha, that’s pretty much the same trajectory I followed after finding MakeupAlley.
Happy Anniversary! I recall how excited I was to find this place. Very grateful for your longevity!
I have finally admitted to myself that many of the perfumes I have been wearng regularly are irritating my sinuses, and allergies, and i am going throught the sad and painful process of wearing a good dose of each one per day, and sidelining those that result in immediate sneezing, or sneezing, itchy eyes and asthma after 20 minutes, or very itchy eyes, postnasal drip and coughing after a few hours. Yesterday it was La Liturgie des Heures! Today, Paradoxe, which I just got a travel bottle of because it did not trigger any sneezing at Ulta the other day…I am going to have a bunch of things to swap or rehome over the next little while. Feel free to ask about things. Right now, I have not reacted to Irisss, an orange blossom cologne, vintage Dune, or a DSH chypre which I have in a roll-on, so not so much aersol, but that leaves a lot of perfumes that I need to not expose myself to, any more. Sigh, things change….
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that!
Oh gosh that’s a shame.
Ulta has a good return policy.
Dang. That is such a bummer!
Oh, perfume tragedy! So sorry, sending 🍀🍀🍀
Oh no! Have you always had this problem or is it newish?
My sister has developed a kind of post-covid allergy & asthma, that’s why I was wondering.
I have always had a lot of allergies. They swing in intensity. Usually quiet down in the winter time, but not this year. I went to the dentist because a tooth was bothering me and she told me my chronic sinus inflamation was partly to blame and I shoud take some antihistamines. Ha! So I decided I better reduce my exposure to irritants. After a thourough dusting, I was a little better until I sprayed myself generouly with Shalimar, and Bang! So now I am doing irritant reduction….
Ah, makes sense.
My sister has found really good air cleaners helpful too.
Good luck!
I had one at work that was very helpful. We heat with wood, so Ii am not sure how well one would work here.
Happy 19th to NST. Thank you for keeping this up through thick and thin, Robin!
SOTD = Sonoma Scent Studio Forest Walk
Why don’t I wear this beauty more often? I have a huge BUB!
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3GCVcUxzNz/?igsh=MW9nNTc5a3VybXNnNA==
While I’m not making a dent in removing unwanted paid subscriptions, I have been interested in NOT receiving any more spam emails. I have been trashing them on and off and it became tedious so I haven’t done it in a while. The New York Times has a Wirecutter article on services that purport to help you with these; however they do not work and you do expose your data to prying eyes. Using the Unsubscribe link doesn’t work either. There’s a technique that’s suggested for Gmail which is to add a “+” to the end of your email address with an inbox category (which you can create) to slot in emails to that category. I haven’t tried it yet but will do so in the near future. I will add a comment to link to it, but the usual caveats apply.
Here’s the link:
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-email-unsubscribe-service/
Thanks for that Gmail tip!
I can attest to the “+” gmail trick working, though I’m never smart enough to use it for the junk mail use case.
You smell fantastic! I don’t even know where mine is!
Happy Birthday to NST and all my thanks to Robin for keeping us together in good and bad times. Always fragrant times.
The picture today is a stunner.
The sun is out in Los Angeles. YAY but chillier than usual for us.
Robin, I don’t have Black Cashmere, but I am going to join you by purchasing a bottle on eBay.
In the meantime, SOTD post shower will be Armani Bois d’encense.
Ebay is your friend! 😀
Hi Twin!
Good luck on eBay!
Happy Birthday; thanks for leading the band, Robin – NST is such a fun place to stop by!! Still testing White Linen Legacy today. I like it. But…well, I’m still testing it.
Sounds like you don’t hate it. 🤣🤣🤣
Ha! 😀
Thanks MossyBerry!
Happy Anniversary NST! Currently in Lyric today and sometime today I will get bread, bananas and half and half. I was thinking of Epic tomorrow since the whole basis of Epic was Turdot but I don’t want Epic to be ruined by work. The closest thing will be Kyoto.
Happy 19th anniversary! A huge thank you Robin for creating such a fabulous place, and to everyone who makes NST a community.
I’ve finally got with the CP and I’m wearing Kyoto.
Thank you both!
I’m in Anima Dulcis today.
Delish!
I wish I had worn No 19 for this wonderful 19th anniversary! Alas I am at work with a limited choice in my baggy of samples, so I will choose Coromandel.
Thank you Robin and all of you for this wonderful little spot on the internet. It’s truly priceless!
Thank you! If I’d remembered we could have done a number 19 project 🙂
Happy birthday NST! This is a true haven. Thank you Robin.
I missed rose day yesterday, so I decided to try my sample of Maison Crivelli’s Rose Saltifolia. It smelled fabulous in the vial. It smelled absolutely vile on my skin. I don’t know what happened, but I couldn’t scrub it off fast enough. I bet it would smell amazing on someone else.
After that disaster I spritzed Wood Sage and Sea Salt. I wanted something completely reliable.
Today I saw the first bumblebee of spring!
Oh my, so sorry for the scrubber!
💐So grateful Robin for this welcoming place.
Today I was comparing JP Ma Liberté edt and edp. The EDT is definitely more lavender forward hence I prefer it. Tonight for the CP it’s Merchant of Venice Mystic Incense, churchy and quite sweet.
I love the Merchant of Venice bottles. I’m guessing that they have a scent I’d love too, but I ‘ve yet to add one to my collection. The MoVMI bottle is quite lovely!
Yes, this bluish green bottle with those red stripes, the scent is plush, it’s sweet but not sickly but it’s definitely for lovers of incense. I haven’t kept up with their releases.
So I had to look up what those Merchant of Venice bottles looked like after this thread. Wow! Some of them are drop dead gorgeous!
Yes they attach great importance to the glass Venice is famous for, me not so much but the scent is good.
Thanks Aurora!
Happy 19th to NST!
I am in Roisin Dubh today, since I missed on in wearing it yesterday for rose day.
Thanks skalolazka!
SOTD is Shalimar MI.
Thanks Robin and Happy Anniversary to you. I think almost every perfume I wear I learned about from this site. My tastes have really changed over the years. It has been so much fun to meet so many people. I love it 💕
My tastes definitely changed!
Happy 19th anniversary NST! And thank you so much Robin for making this possible. Eight of those years that I’ve been reading this site and learning about the beautiful, sensitive and intelligent community that appreciate scent as one of the good things in life 🙂
Today I’m in a LHeure Bleue and Cuir Beluga combo, which I do now and then to remind myself of the glorious Iris Ganache (for which I only managed to get a small decant before it was priced over gold nuggets).
Thanks Cicely!
Afraid to look at the price of IG…
Happy 19th to NST! I am so fortunate to have found this place. A friend of mine at the time said I should get out more and meet people. I said who am I going to meet that likes to stay at home and smell perfume?! Lol.
I started off the day wearing Infusion d’Amande and topped it off with No.19 edp.
You found your tribe here!
When I first started lurking I kept thinking who are these people and where are they getting such fancy perfumes?!
I thought the same thing! Hey, thanks for clueing me in on the Dame sale. I picked up a bottle of BFMV and a couple of the Chocolate samples. A jewel for your enabler crown is headed your way! 👑
Oh good!
We are fortunate to have you!
❤️
Happy birthday, NST! And thank you, Robin, for all your hard work.
Today I’m sampling B683 from Marc-Antoine Barrois, a house I didn’t know until Luckyscent included a random sample. It’s very nicely put together and sticking around for a good while, but I think it’d probably smell better on Mr. Ockeghem than on me.
Would you be able to test that sample of Mr. Ockeghem? Or is he scent-averse?
He’s open to it, though not totally into fragrance. Though giving him a sample of Morning Chess helped, just because of the chess angle. 🙂
Thanks ockeghem!
Happy Birthday NST! Even those of us who can’t seem to stay regular appreciate this community and the work it takes to keep it going. Today I’m wearing Mugler Innocent, I have a smallish bottle that is heading for my “out” bin – I don’t dislike it but I just don’t seem to ever want to wear it. I am finally bringing myself to reduce my collection to perfumes I actually want to wear on the regular vs keeping because I think the bottle is cute…
I’m trying to narrow down to what I want to wear, but I am too fickle.
I was just thinking recently of how rarely I wear Mugler Cologne anymore, but I do still love it and can’t give it up!
Happy 19th Anniversary, NST! ✨🎉🎊🥂
I’ve been under a Winter Storm Watch since 2:30 this afternoon. One forecast I saw for snow totals had my area getting 9 inches! That seemed excessive/optimistic. We shall see how much I end up with after the snow stops Sunday morning.
I went to the grocery store just in case.
Oh! And before I forget, I got my EL Legacy samples today. Did not try any of them, since I was trying to get things done before the weather changed. The packaging is very elegant, and initial sniffs were promising.
SOTD = back to commando today, but wearing Boyfriend Body Creme on my shins. I now have 1/4 of it left.
It’s always smart to pick up supplies. Hopefully it’s not too bad. I’m interested in what everyone will be saying about that discovery set.
Latest forecast I saw said 4 – 8 inches.
Tomorrow I make sure to get Teflon kitty’s fancy new raw food from the pet store. She will finish the last of it later on tonight.
Gosh, hope you get only the 4! I am done with snow for the year.
Happy 19th birthday, NST! Many thanks, Robin, for continuing to provide this wonderful opportunity to explore fragrances and meet such warm, supportive people. I would never have known how much I love iris if not for NST. SOTD is Light Blue, cheerful and uplifting.
Yay for iris!
Hey, happy 19th birthday, NST! Robin, thank you for working so hard on keeping this site going for us.
I’m in the J.Crew/Arquiste No. 31, from a decant that I’m fairly sure I swapped for. If not for NST, I would never have know about swaps, decants or this perfume. ❤️
🙂
Sampled a few of the new EL Legacy today and yesterday, but don’t have much to say, yet. I did order some samples of the older versions. It’s an interesting exercise, though I don’t think any of them will be for me.
I also ordered samples of a couple of the newer Malle’s that I haven’t sniffed yet.
Today I’ve been throughly enjoying Zoologist Chipmunk, which didn’t knock my socks off when I first got the sample back in 2021. But now in just a few days I’m close to thunking it.
Happy 19! Many thanks to Robin for fostering such a kind online community. It’s truly a rare thing, and no small effort.
Happy 19th Birthday + 1 day to NST & Robin as I’m late as usual. Such a lovely group of of good-smelling folk here gathered around Robin’s electronic hearth. & Robin thank you for all the work that must be done behind the scenes as well as in front of our screens to keep it going. I’m wearing a bit of Madness by Chopard, from a mini I bought in Tokyo last year at a consignment place that was luckily around the corner from our AirBnB. Purchased thanks to some of you here raving about it.
Chiming in to say a big thank you to you, Robin, for the years of hard work making us happy and educated. You are greatly appreciated. This blog is full of warm, caring people.