Happy Almost-Friday and happy World Philosophy Day! It's also World Hello Day and World Television Day. Birthdays: Voltaire, René Magritte, Coleman Hawkins, Elizabeth George Speare, Marilyn French. What fragrance are you wearing?
Nepal exports honey and I'm fairly sure my sister brought me some when she lived there. Either way, I'm in Serge Lutens Féminité du Bois.
Reminder: on 11/22, we're off to Nepal! Wear a perfume that is named for a place in Nepal, or that reminds you of a (real or imaginary) trip to Nepal, or that features a local ingredient, or ?
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 Pokhara at sunset [cropped] by Grace at flickr; some rights reserved. [Note: Pokhara is on the banks of Lake Phewa and is considered the tourism capital of Nepal.]
More cardamom with Autumn Vibes by Maison Martin Margiela, from a recently purchased decant.
House twins!
I didn’t plan on CP compliance with Maison Martin Margiela By the Fireplace but Fragrantica lists clove as a top note, so there we are. It’s cold and snowing today and BtF smells just right.
Perfect then!
It’s about 8 degrees here, and damp. I’m in Hermes Mandarine Ambre. I know it’s a cologne but has staying power of a decent perfume.
Robin, I love your SOTD 🙂
I admit that I admire it more than I love it. I do know I’m supposed to love it 🙂
I feel like I’m cheating but I’m going to be a Robin copycat for the second day in a row by wearing the lovely Féminité du Bois.
Today is “Prep” day and I’m really looking forward to a chocolate malt AND a peanut butter shake following tomorrow’s (routine) procedure😬
Good luck!
Thank you Calypso! I hope your recovery is going well too🌸
Good luck Allo!
Thank you Kris!
Ew, “Prep Day”! Good luck with it all!
Ew is right! Thank you!
Good luck getting through the night! 🫢 Just think – you won’t have to go through it again for another 10 years!
Thank you! I’m counting on it!
That calls for both food items…hope you get them right away after.
I’m wafting Ambra Aurea and it’s so good that I don’t even care if I get points. 😆
Isn’t it wonderful?! You smell AH-mazing!
Thank you! It was your adoration of it that caused me to seek it out. 🥰
Twinning with you today, SheriG and yes, Deva was my enabler, also!
Happy to be of assistance! 😉
Wearing Ambre Fetiche for the second consecutive day. It’s a good thing I love it because I have a totally accidental BUB of it (not purchased, sent in error, offer to return was declined) so I can wear it liberally for probably the rest of my life! Our dog spent the day at the vet for teeth cleaning and both He-On-Whose-Behalf-I-Scare-Bears and I were pathetically anxious all day. The dog is just fine, of course, but I was happy to have Ambre Fetiche as a distraction. It’s interesting that some reviews say it is very sweet and others say it has not a trace of sweetness; I find the minimal sweetness I detect is comparable to that of sweetgrass or rosemary, so an herbal sort of sweetness rather than floral or syrupy. But I’m not particularly good at picking out the various notes in a fragrance and tend to just enjoy compositions as a whole.
scaresbears, I love AF and how lucky you have a BUB! I can’t really pick out individual notes, either. I remember how rich that series of scents was when they came out. I really love the Myrre and Musc fragrances, too.
I missed out on Myrrhe Ardente but love all the others!
Ambre Fetiche is gorgeous! I’m glad I have a bottle of it. Not quite cold enough here to wear it, though.
It was snowy/rainy and in the mid 30’s here so I declared it cold enough, finally.
Got up to around 50 here. So I get to wait a little longer. 😉
Burberry Brit EDT
Gosh, it’s a classic now, right?
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/gallery/2014/feb/27/honey-hunters-nepal-in-pictures?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Robin, I remember a terrific documentary about the Nepalese honey gatherers , climbing up cliffs on rope ladders and will see if I can find it. It must be more than 20 years old.
Back in the 70s/ 80s my dad went on a couple of mountaineering expeditions to the Himalayas and he used to bring back interesting things . I remember the scent of a bell, worn by yaks. The rope on which the bell was attached was dyed, woven yak hair and had a smell of fried butter and animal ( think cow). I was experimenting yesterday and got a similar scent by layering Lush Let the Good Times Roll with smell bent smoked ambergris .
Um, is that something one wants to smell like?
If it’s good enough for a yak, it’s good enough for me!
HA, I had something like that…bells on long woven straps. Had them for years, hanging over the corner of a china cabinet in my dining room. My sister gave them to me, now I can’t remember if they came from Nepal or somewhere in the middle east. For some reason I thought they were camel bells but maybe they were yak bells. They did not smell though!
Eventually they got some pest on the straps, carpet beetles or something? And I got rid of them. My house is still full of stuff from her years overseas. Sad to say she would bring back something cool and amazing and a few years later I would find the exact same thing at Pier One (some other oldsters from the US will remember that store, I suppose the modern equivalent is World Market).
First day of snow, and the UPS began malfunctioning again. 😠
As for the CP, my focus today is on the theme of rituals, celebrations, and festivals of Nepal. During the Dashain festival, elders place red Tika dots on the foreheads of others. Women wear red clothing during the Teej festival. Additionally, the Kumari, a living goddess in Nepali tradition, is always adorned in red and gold.
That’s why I chose Aramis Calligraphy Rose + Majda Bekkali Mon Nom est Rouge. Together, they capture the richness and vibrancy of red and gold while evoking a sense of opulence. Aramis is in red and gold bottle, while Majda Bekkali has “red” in its name.
Moreover, this pairing includes notes that are closely tied to Nepal: incense, cumin, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, myrrh, olibanum (frankincense), cedar and sandalwood.
Kumari – https://davidgriffiths.ca/living-goddesses-kathmandu-2019/
Teej Festival – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqKXMoQbOpU
Pretty sure you’ve got a CP Home Run there! 🙌
Thank you, Deva!
I know, I was just thinking she deserves some kind of special award for creativity!
I agree!
Absolutely!
😳🥰
I am pretty sure Glannys wins the CP already and it is only Thursday.
I’ve loved reading all you’ve found that could be useful for the CP, thank you for putting in the work!
Sorry to hear you are having power troubles again (I finally looked up what a UPS actually was), I hope they are not too frequent.
You certainly have a lot of different pairings this week Glannys. You have put plenty of work into this.
Argh, sorry to hear that your UPS is on the fritz again!
🤩 Kudos, Glannys, well played! Both of the Calligraphy scents were done very well.
Wearing Saffron Troublant today. The sun is playing hide and seek but it’s still a gorgeous day.
A bunch of “young men” (boys really) came in last night and occupied a site just a bit away from where I’m parked. Quite a noisy arrival, and to keep to that theme, started their boombox that’s the size of giant cooler this morning at 9am. Rap with all kinds of vulgarity (not judging as I have used those words myself but generally do not broadcast them in public. Maybe I AM judging 🤔). Apparently, the folks with kids next to them said something because the music underwent a quick mute and has not been heard since. Color me HAPPY! 😁
I really hate it when I am in a quiet outdoor “ wild” place ( park, beach, mountains) where I can listen to nature’s sounds ( birds, wind etc.) and someone comes along and plays music. Feels violent, like nature vandalism.
Where are you at right now?
I’m in Arizona, holding pattern “Engaged” 😆
You’re missing out on all the “fun” weather down there.
Wearing Ensens Mythique for another day at the office, possibly in sync with the CP.
Points for incense!
I’m wearing Voyages Imaginaires La Couleur de la Nuit from a sample. This is lovely, notes of Balsam Fir, Lavender, Patchouli, Vanilla, and Rose geranium. Lavender never seems to work on me so I have tended to avoid it, but it’s very nice in this fragrance.
I can’t believe we are a month away from Christmas, I have done no shopping for presents at all and I have to mail them, too.
That sounds like a really interesting combination, and I want to try to find some of it to try.
Sadly, I no longer have many people to buy anything for and am finding myself wanting to ignore Christmas altogether this year.
I hope you can connect with friends this year and create a new Christmas ritual or maybe indulge your cats with special treats and a day of Korean movies. If you fancy a cold summer Christmas (6C today) you can visit me!
I hear you on wanting to ignore Christmas this year.
Me, too. I’m ignoring Thanksgiving this year. Except for the giving thanks part. It will only be me and Mr. E, and I’m going to make my favorite dishes, courtesy of Madhur Jaffrey.
Not sure what I will be doing for Thanksgiving. Definitely not making the traditional spread just for myself, though.
Oh that will be a lovely dinner! I used to cook from her books all the time, back when I used to cook 🙂
I’m not a fan of lavender either but everything else sounds fabulous! As for Christmas, you could just not buy anything and instead give a monetary gift to you favorite charity or animal shelter (they always need food, meds, blankets, bowls, toys, etc) in the name of the people you usually buy for. Let them know you donated in their name and if they’re unhappy about that, I’d say it’s time to cut the cord on them. Period! But that’s me, and will transparently admit I have zero tolerance for any kind of human BS.
They will be token gifts, the people I buy for can afford to buy anything they want on their own. It’s just that my Japan trip + horrible jet lag cut into my shopping time and now I am whining about it here 🙂
Ah, the token gifts! 😂 Hope your sleep normalizes soon.
Your fragrance sounds so nice! Im in the same boat as you regarding
Christmas shopping. Actually, it reliably happens every year. I’m in denial.
Inadvertently CP compliant in Theorema on this slightly snowy day. Yes, it is all that. And it has a cardamom note.
(Many thanks to a most benevolent NST fragrance fairy—you know who you are—for granting my wish.)
Love, love, love Theorema. Might wear it tomorrow!
I endorse that plan.
You smell wonderfully elegant and cozy😊
Yes, I do indeed!
A couple of weeks ago I bought Penhaligon‘s “Scent library”, a discovery set that contains 10 of their perfumes, and I’ve been having a lot of fun sampling them. I liked “The Favourite” and “The Coveted Duchess Rose” very much.
Today I am sampling “The Tragedy of Lord George”. It’s marketed as masculine scent but I find it wearable and pleasant, the notes of rum, tonka bean and vetiver nicely blended. It goes well with the chilly weather we are having.
So far I am pleasantly surprised by Penhaligon’s fragrances 🙂
Some “masculine” scents do not read like that to me, either.
It’s Friday here, thank goodness! It’s been a busy week at work.
I’m continuing the incense theme with Armani Privé Encens Satin, it has spices too, so I’m well on theme 🙂 .
Nearly the weekend!
I’m wearing Mitsouko (extrait de parfum, because I’m worth it).
I will wear a tea scent tomorrow as that was what I first thought of when I read the CP for this week. I’ve drunk some great teas from Nepal and I’m still discovering new ones.
Re: tea. When I was a kid I went on a cruise with my mom, who was a travel agent at the time. The guy who waited on us in the dining room was from China. My mom was a tea lover and they struck up a limited conversation (he spoke little English) about teas and the next day when we went down to breakfast, he gave my mom and entire baggie with tea. I think it was oolong, but I could be wrong. Anyway, it was these huge (to me who had only seen leaves that has been processed to the very small bits and pieces) leaves all curled and kind of moist- almost like pipe tobacco! I’ve never forgotten his kindness and generosity. My mom very much enjoyed that tea. 😊
What a very thoughtful gift, such a great memory to have. Did you inherit your love of travel from your mum?
Hard to say. Both patents loved to travel, in different ways. My mom was all about traveling “luxuriously” while my dad was more of a Swiss Army Knife kind of traveler a lá MacGyver.
SOTD is Coco Noir for the clove.
I was eyeing my bottle and ended up with my newest of the new!
Definitely getting to be the right kind of weather to wear heavy hitting spices like clove!
Yes, as I type this it is 26 degrees here. Brrrrrrrr.
Oooooooh, that’s nippy! 🥶
I’m back from my medical appointment and now getting ready for work. Today is the first snow here. It isn’t sticking to the roads, which is my favorite kind of snow. My blind buy order arrived un-stolen so it is my sotd. I am wearing Chloe Nomade Nuit D’Egypte. I don’t see jasmin as a listed note, but it is mostly what I smell right now. It is a more sweet than I expected. I think it smells very nice.
“Un-stolen!” 😆
Ha! Love it!
Huzzah that *this* package arrived intact!
I think when I looked up the notes for Chloe Nomade Nuit d’Egypte, I did see jasmine. So your nose is correct.
Oh good. I love it when my nose is correct!
Wearing No.22 EDT, just because I needed a little shot of joy.
You smell AMAZING!
I’m with you, Daniel and have been wearing No. 22 lately for that very reason. I love the way Persolaise describes No. 22 –
A friend recently asked me to recommend some “powdery” perfumes (by which people often mean aldehydic) so of course my thoughts immediately turned to one of the unsung gems in Chanel’s collection: No. 22. You could see it as a version of No. 5 that’s either stranger (the weird, plastic-firecracker fizz of those overdosed aldehydes), more androgynous (the mercurial interplay between the woods and the florals) or more ecclesiastical (that heaven-seeking incense note). But I’d say it deserves to be viewed on its own terms, as a statement on bottling the power of light. Like the collective power of thousands of stars illuminating a cloudless night sky, it makes you look up, higher and higher, into the endless expanse of the great beyond. And only the greatest perfumes can do that.
It was Persolaise who truly brought it to my attention! He writes beautifully about perfume.
I love him❤️
SOTD = Lorenzo Pazzaglia Van Py Rhum
Seriously good! Take all the vanilla in the world and mix them altogether. OMG! 😱 🤎
https://www.instagram.com/p/DCpootcR6ab/?igsh=MXVpamxreGxneHRldA==
The faux LVMH store is right across the street from the “older” LVMH boutique. The cafe is Le Cafe Louis Vuitton (you can add the accents). I tried to make reservations but I do need to wait until some time in 2025. Reservations open 28 days ahead and it looks like all seats are taken as soon as it opens up. At some point, I would like to experience it and I will just … wait 🤷🏻♀️.
I hope you don’t have to wait too long.
Sounds like She-ra needs to try your SOTD!
Back in Au Dela Narcisse again today, since it smelled so good yesterday.
No facial from Teflon kitty this morning, though. Just her usual hijinks letting me know at the crack of dawn that it was time for treats.
It’s never to early for treats! Lol.
She loves getting them at the crack of dawn.
My opinion is, Cat, if the sun isn’t up, I shouldn’t be either.
Twins with Deva today in Safran Troublant. Something cozy was called for. I haven’t been very creative with the CP, so I thought I might have a chance with that, but alas, saffron is not on the spice list
I have to go spray on some more now. I’m crabby after having to drive though pitch-black, pouring rain through rush hour to pick up the dog. Woof. 😆 The decaf and Grasshopper cookies after dinner are helping, too.
I can’t hardly stand driving in the dark anymore. I only do it if I absolutely have to.
Me too, but I hate driving in general (I always have.) My vision isn’t the greatest, even with regular check-ups and updated prescriptions. I want a chauffeur! 😁
Pouring rain is not something I like driving in.