It's Hump Day and National Cookie Day. Birthdays: Rainer Maria Rilke, Jeff Bridges, Jay-Z. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm wearing Jour d'Hermès over my standard DIY lotion with ylang and sweet orange. It's quite pretty.
Reminder: 12/6 will be Plus One Friday...wear your favorite layering combination, or try a brand new one. (We've done variations on this project before.)
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 Spruce 2 [cropped] by Tero Karppinen at flickr; some rights reserved.
Is it Wednesday already? Time flies.
My layering for today is “St. Nick’s Gold” (name explained below):
SL Des Clous Pour Une Pelure + Fendi Theorema + SL Ambre Sultan.
Des Clous Pour Une Pelure: Sharp, zesty, spicy citrus (orange, cloves, and nutmeg). This scent is inspired by “the medieval tradition of clove-studded pomanders.” I wanted to recreate my own pomander but transform it into a deeper fragrance with the addition of resins and herbs.
Fendi Theorema: Creamy orange, cinnamon, and amber. It needs no introduction here.
Ambre Sultan: Another well-known scent, built around amber, resins, herbs, and spices. I still have the old formulation.
The result is a warm and happy scent: bright, creamy citrus with the warmth of spices and resins.
If you’d like to try this combination but don’t have all three scents, here are some possible substitutions:
– Clémentine California (for a brighter, lighter feel)
– Néroli Outrenoir (for a darker, smokier, moodier effect)
In general, look for perfumes with prominent sweet citrus, spices, amber, or other resins and balsams.
As for the name, it is inspired by the legend explaining the origin of Christmas oranges:
“According to the story, St. Nicholas learned of a poor man who wasn’t able to find suitors for his three daughters because he didn’t have money for a dowry. St. Nicholas traveled to the house, and tossed three sacks of gold down the chimney for each of the dowries. The gold happened to land in each of the girls’ stockings, which were hanging by the fire to dry. The oranges we receive today are a symbol of the gold that was left in the stockings.”
Admiring all your layering recipes this week! You definitely win the Top Chef prize! 👩🍳
Thank you, Deva!
You are so clever Glannys!
😊
Your posts are as ever a great treat! Thank you Glannys.
Lucky you, having some of the old formulation of Ambre Sultan.
National Cookie Day!?! How sublime. And how fortunate that the first thing I ate when I woke up was a gingersnap cookie from the batch I made last night. A whole big tub full.
Today’s scent is a hefty dose of Perfumer H Dust. I haven’t had it long, and each time I wear it, I get weak in the knees. It’s so gorgeous, but with this ever so jolting bit of edge, like there’s something “wrong” in it—but it’s not. Something to keep it from being only beautiful or only cocooning. It came to me last night—it’s like the missing link fragrance between Guerlain L’Heure Bleu and Après L’Ondée, two fragrances I have always wanted to love but couldn’t because of some note that turned plastic doll head on me. This is that Goldilocks frag for which I’ve been looking for decades.
Homemade ginger snaps! The perfect breakfast.
Dust sounds lovely.
I love stories of Goldilocks perfumes!
Wow, how exciting to have found that “missing link” at last! The gingersnap cookies sound pretty great, too.
Weak in the knees.
I cannot think of a better comment.
Love gingersnaps! Please pass them over to me.
Clapping! I love all the joy for gingersnaps. If we could have a party, I’d bring enough batches for you all to take home. (Ahem. Already eaten five today. Lordy.)
Homemade gingersnaps? YUM!
Updated info including notes for Armani Privé Haute Couture en Jeu
https://freebox.it.com/2024/11/27/armani-prive-haute-couture-en-jeu-new-perfume/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I’m apparently doing a spice week. Today’s choice was Tabu. Maybe it’s also a cheap thrills week.
Cheap spice week, great idea.
Wore Montalé Oud Tobacco to bed last from the sample stash. What you’d expect of a Montalé but not quite as loud as usual. But then, I only did a single spritz. Woke up with a zinger of a headache so will hold off on any additional scent for a while.
It got up to 84F here yesterday. Not my idea Holiday Season Weather but it is what it is…🔥
As usual you have MY ideal holiday weather, ha! Hope that headache goes away.
That’s so warm!
Ugh. Hope your headache wasn’t an all day one. 🤕
Another day of Reve en Cuirs. It seems to be more faint than I remember, so am trying increasing spritzes. I’m up to six, which is still faint, but I am going out in public today so won’t push it…
Hope six carried you through the day AnnieA!
There are three layering combos (so far) that I’m fond of, but only one that I invented myself (the other two are stolen from Robin). This morning I’m in mine, consisting of Cuir Mauresque with a tiny hint of Rose Anonyme over the top. Delicious.
That sounds insanely good!
You must smell divine! I don’t have Rose Anonyme but I’m going to look for another rose to layer with Cuir Mauresque. I love CM but it’s pretty intense on its own and rose could be just the thing to soften it a bit🌹
Rose Anonyme actually has an edge to it that may not be what you’re looking for anyway. But a different, softer rose might be very nice indeed. Experiment! 😁
And I probably stole them from someone else 🙂
I love layering, I do it all the time.
For this week, I will wear some of my favourite combos.
Today I am in SDV layered with Mitsouko. The result is sooo good!
I am a half twin with you today in Mitsouko.
Hello.
Sotd is Lush 29 High Street. Can’t layer this one because it already smells like a Lush shop and then some. I love it though and it sure is strong.
Ha, I can believe it of Lush 29 High Street!
OJ Royal Elixir -was wondering about what to layer this one with to make it more feminine? Advice is welcomed
I splurged was a pair of cowboy boots for myself. I have to stop.
Reading Gwynne’s Empire of the Summer Moon
I’m chuckling at the idea of cowboy boots in NYC, but hey, whatever floats your boat! I bet you would love going to one of the really big cowboy fashion stores here in Houston. They have some of the most extravagant ones you can imagine, snakeskin, ostrich leather, etc. Super over the top and super price tags to accompany them! And they have hats too. I did actually buy a real Texas cowboy hat one time. There’s quite an art to shaping it just so and also there are about another million options for bands to put around it. Luckily I have never been one to fall for any so-called “Western” fashions or otherwise a lot of extra money would have been spent there.
https://www.vogue.com/article/western-fashion-trends-2022
Even in NYC, I get the most compliments on my cowboy boots.
Do I dare ask the name of this store? Do they have a website?
I think the one I went to way back when is no longer around, but this is a famous one: https://www.cavenders.com.
My credit card is hiding
I am a transplanted New Englander in Texas. I am partial to my Frye boots but I have to say cowboy boot rock and there are few occasions in which they are NOT appropriate.
For online, you can try Tecovas.
Which occasions are cowboys boots not ok? 😆
Another day another winter storm warning…
I went and picked up a few things at the store. When I got home my cookies weren’t in the bag. I called the service desk and they told me that yes I did leave the cookies there but then the lady behind me insisted they were her cookies. Lol. They are going to give me a different package.
Today I am layering Angel’s Share with bbw Sunrise Woods body lotion. This matches so well with woody or tobacco perfumes.
I debated getting a refill of Angles Share. My bottle is finished.
So she stole them? Glad you are going to get another package. Your layering sounds pretty and comforting.
Yep. She stole them!
Lillyjo Jr 👇🏼
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCxpwAex1jJ/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
I thought my old home movie’s were lost forever! Lol.
Someone tried to steal your cookies! Off with her head!
It cracks me up that the service desk remember the lady insisting the cookies were hers…. makes me think she must’ve made a bit of scene!
That’s what I was thinking!
Sheesh! What a freaking PAIN!
Good morning! Inspired by yesterday’s Bois des Iles, today I’m wearing another Chanel, 1932.
You smell lovely!
Not much of a layering person anymore.
Unless it’s a lotion or body cream with its’ partnered with the fragrance.
SOTD will be le lion. It’s December. It’s time.
I must find and eat a black and white cookie.
I would like a bottle of Le Lion one day. It’s lovely.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/26/oscar-wilde-de-profundis-greatest-love-letter?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
The house where I’m staying ( now with working fridge and hot water) has a wall of books, mostly old hardbacks with dreary covers and I found a copy of De Profundis which I’ve started to read. It was written while Oscar Wilde was in jail. He wasn’t allowed to write plays or novels but he could write letters, hence the book is one long letter (50 000 words) that he was able to work on day after day. The link is an interesting Colm Toibin article about it. It’s very hot here and I have a view of stark, wild-thyme covered hills one side, and a wide blue river and willows in the other. Wearing MH Wander.
Thank you for the link Kanuka, it sounds like you are enjoying your surroundings.
Yay for a working fridge and hot water! And that house did look so cool.
Hope you are inspired by the surroundings.
It’s a Jubilation 25 extrait type of day today. Gearing up for some serious winter weather and on my way to Costco.
I’ve never smelled that particular extrait, is it very different from the eau de parfum?
It’s a little deeper and richer. If you have the edp, you can forgo trying the extrait but the extrait is lovely.
Good luck with your impending weather and the Costco run!
In Mitsouko today. No snowstorm here, but the winds are so high that it about blew me and my mail away.
It sounds like perfect weather for Mitsouko.
I like Mitsouko, but I feel like I have to be in a certain mood for it.
Hold on!
I did! It is settling down tonight.
Oy vey! I heard that some parts of the States were getting 50mph winds today. Sounds like you were part of that group.
Yep!
I just saw the part of the lakeshore here had 78mpr wind!
Did you have any power outages?
No.
Apple and yogurt smoothie
I’m a wimp when it comes to layering but I have one combo that I’m saving for Friday, and I have only two scented body lotions, so not much choice. I picked Yardley Jade today which did its Cristalle impersonation very well and tonight it’s YR Folies de Saisons, l’humeur nomade en automne, I often neglect it in favor of the other Folies de Saisons, Délires d’automne which I adore but l’humeur nomade is very pretty, I get a violet vanilla mostly and it’s by Annick Menardo who is no slouch at making interesting scents, so I’m glad I chose it.
Violet vanilla sounds really nice.
It’s really pretty, it was stupid of me to neglect. It makes me wistful that we are on different continents, if I were in the US I would send you a sample.
Good time of year for apples in the supermarkets here. Not so much at Costco, though.
Here too, the apples are from Kent, the next county, so really local which makes me feel good.
I haven’t tried the YR Folie Saison l’Humeur Nomade one but I love Yves Rocher’s Folie de Saison Delire d’Automne & it’s definitely a cheap spicy thrill. (Also, could those names be any more difficult, esp. now that they’re all d/c and one has to track them down online). The USA was never very good at stocking YR anyway.
Like Gaynor, I’m not keen on layering.
It’s cold in L.A. so I’m using up my bottle of Creative Scentualization/Sarah Horowitz Perfect Veil EdT a very pretty white musky skin scent kissed with vanilla. She also had 5 ml perfume oil vials that are great. She’s a local L.A. indie perfumer. I think chocolatemarzipan is a fan too.
Glad you are a fan too, I know, could the name be anymore complicated.
My theme is fruity chypres, that great voluptuous scent, that floated around me, one grey Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday morning….
On topic: L’ Âme perdue, Le Galion, layered with the remains of yesterday’s Jubilation 25.
Perfect!
I never think to layer, but I’ll have to give it a try this week.
My only layering story:
Years ago, back in 1986, Cher appeared on David Letterman. (I was watching the episode that night – she was always a terrific guest.) He remarked on how wonderful she smelled, and asked what it was she was wearing. She said it was a combination of a cheap perfume, and a very expensive one.
I forgot about the interview for decades, but last year, with a little sleuthing, I discovered Cher’s personal fragrance combo. The cheap perfume was “Ritz” from Charles On The Ritz (1972.) The expensive one was “Vanilia” from L’Artisan Parfumeur (1978.) Off to eBay I went, and found some of each.
I don’t know what ratio Cher used – I used equal parts. And it was fabulous. I could see why Letterman was so smitten.
Looking up now
Thank you for sharing this. I love Cher. I have Vanilia and curious to try it with Ritz.
Hmmmmmmmm. That layering combination sounds like the basis for Cher’s eponymous fragrance. Never tried it (or even saw it), but I have read a few descriptions about it.
Interesting, Daniel. & vintage Ritz is no longer cheap and only available online.
I am a big fan of Cher’s first fragrance, Uninhibited. It’s from 1985 or 1987 and it’s a huge musky animalic spicy bomb that smells like it has real nitromusks or animalics in it. It’s like Rochas Femme & Tabu and early musks and vanilla, had a baby. A big hair big personality thing.
I’m surprised she didn’t say she was wearing that.
Anyway, nice to know she’s a perfumista too. I haven’t tried her later perfumes but that one was a real winner and not just some celebrity money grab. I always keep some on hand.
I’ve got some of her “Uninhibited,” but haven’t tried it yet! On my must-wear-soon list.
And, yeah, the small amount of vintage Ritz I found certainly wasn’t cheap.
Great story! And interesting that Vanilia was expensive then…
Lipstick Rose for me today from another evaporating decant. Why is it some decants evaporate and others don’t, especially those of the same type of bottle? I wish I could find a foolproof method to avoid it or stop it once it starts. Anyway, last time I wore LR it really irritated my sinuses so I set it aside for a while. When I wore Venice Rococo a couple days ago, I was reminded of LR a bit so wanted to give it another go. No sinus irritation today, and I’m loving it.
You smell fantastic.
Started the day in the rather lovely remnants of a couple dabs of vintage Balenciaga Le Dix parfum from a bottle I stumbled upon in an antique store and bought purely because the bottle was pretty and old. The juice turned out to be surprisingly well- preserved and I enjoy an occasional wearing though the scent, while lovely, isn’t quite “me”. I’ve never dabbled in layering fragrances before, but post shower, emboldened by the CP (and inspired by the great combos others are making) I’m wearing Yves Rocher Voile d’Ambre with a good top layer of Encens Flamboyant. And I like it!
Le Dix is not me either but for sure if I saw a lovely old vintage bottle I would buy it!
Congrats on your first layer going well. I have created many a scrubber in my time 🙂
I’m wearing Perfums de Marly Delina, as I seem to be longing for rose scents lately. I now wonder what people think would be good to layer with a predominantly rose note perfume? Oud is a common suggestion. I’d like a more unusual idea. Something spicy?
For rose scents, sometimes I like to layer them with citrus if I want to lighten them up. But for Delina, if I remember correctly, it’s not heavy, so maybe some incense to give it some depth?
Incense is a great idea! Thanks.
I tend to go to citrus too.
How about cinnamon, thyme, rosemary or patchouli?
I will probably try patchouli, thank you–I don’t have any scents that are particularly heavy on the other three notes, though I do like all of them.
Lots of good suggestions already. Other possibilities: 1) woods, especially sandalwood, 2) other florals like jasmine or violet; 3) perfumes with strong berry notes.
Lolita Lempicka for me again. I am a broken record with this one lately. And, went a leeetle over the top with it – specifically, I bought a 2016 bottle from Ebay, then a current bottle from JomaShop, and then a Midnight Edition bottle from Macys. So I now have my lifetime’s worth of Lolita Lempicka. Haven’t opened the Midnight Edition, that will happen on Christmas. But have my 2016 bottle at my desk and it gets applied several times a day (when i don’t have an exercise class planned – it’s a bit rich in the class environment and I don’t want o make myself or anyone else queasy as we work out lol).
You smell wonderful! I have and love a couple different Lolita Lempickas and the bottles are so much fun too.
One does feel like a fairy wearing it!
I love the original Lolita Lempicka and the bottle is so cute.
Not layering but I’m sampling two Jacques Fath scents that therabbitsflower sent me awhile ago: Le Loden and Tempete d’Automne. When googling for notes, I was quite surprised to see that Macy’s sells Jacques Fath, who knew?!
Robin, I forgot to say, I love today’s photo. Just so calming.
Sorting thru Xmas lights and getting ready to take more of them over to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. They do accept working ones. I am looking for options to take the string that doesn’t work anymore (recycling). I’d rather not put something like that in the landfill if I don’t have to.
SOTD = back in Feu Secret again today. My sample from Fzotic has maybe one more application in it, and then it will be thunked.
Are you buying a FB?
Purchased a travel spray during the Fzotic Black Friday sale. Pretty sure they got slammed! I haven’t even received shipping info yet.
Did you get new lights or just have too many?
I have way too many lights now. Time to thin the herd!
Vintage Ivoire parfum today “layered” with scruffy jeans & tie-dye patterned Docs combat boots.
I contain multitudes.
Pretty dang cool spiderplant.
🙂
Vintage Ivoire in any form goes great with denim.
It goes with *everything.*