Happy Almost-Friday and happy National Apricot Day! Birthdays: Carrie Chapman Catt, Simone de Beauvoir, Joan Baez. What fragrance are you wearing?
I am running shockingly late for an appointment this morning and will have to think of a fragrance when I get back.
Reminder: on 1/10, we're off to Denmark! Wear a perfume that is named for a place in Denmark, or that reminds you of a (real or imaginary) trip to Denmark, 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 2025, where I'll try (but usually fail) to have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is Hirtshals coast [cropped] by magnetismus at flickr; some rights reserved.
Danish author Hans Christian Andersen
His tales like The Nightingale and The Garden of Paradise are rich with Eastern themes, inspired by faraway lands.
I am pairing this with Shalimar, both have a shared European fascination with the East.
Tea is my lousy take on my FIL chai
Cher’s biography, still trucking along. I am a romantasy reader as well, so I need to finish before Onyx Storm arrives.
Well, of course you smell wonderful.
You smell beautiful! I haven’t heard from you so wondering if you couldn’t figure out my email. You can always give me yours if you are having trouble.
Hiya ! I appreciate the offer but I will pass on this. I have so many samples and don’t want to be tempted lol
Great idea for the CP!
Hello.
Sotd is No.5 shimmer oil and edp. No one is going to see my sparkly skin underneath all the layers I have on but being shimmery makes me happy nonetheless! My face is also kinda sparkly from Guerlain’s holiday meteorites.
Giving Edward Cullen a run for his money.
I bet your skin looks lovely.
I am going to celebrate hygge the next couple of days. Sotd is Les Nereides Imperial Opoponax from the cherub bottle, this definitely makes me feel cozy and warm.
The sun is shining! I found a fun leopard print faux fur jacket at a thrift recently and I can wear it today, since for once it’s not snowing.
IIRC, Aurora mentions your SOTD every so often.
Your faux fur jacket sounds awesome!
Yes, you’re absolutely right, it’s a Shalimar-type perfume.
Beautiful photo of wide open spaces! Wish I was there right now. It snowed here last night. No a lot, but enough to make me not want to get out on the roads. I do have an appointment for fingerprinting later today so I’m hoping everything will be clear by then. Although, now that I think about it, it might be worth getting an Uber instead…
As for perfume, I haven’t spritzed yet but I’m leaning towards BdI edt today. It’s been a while and it’s just one of the most perfect perfumes I own. Not one single con to it, unless you consider price. But mine is several years old now, so it was less expensive back then. Stay safe out there in the winter wonderland, peeps! ❄️
That is one of the most perfect scents. A lot of those exclusives are beautiful.
Sending you clear skies and (slightly) warmer temps!
BdI used to be a bit of a bargain…even in the extrait.
https://www.carlthdreyer.dk/en/carlthdreyer/films/features/passion-joan-arc
One of the most stunning films of all time is ( Danish director) Carl Theodore Dreyer’s 1928 silent movie The Passion of Joan of Arc. If you haven’t seen it I really recommend it. The visuals ( close ups on Joan, the sets, camera angles etc.) are beautiful and disturbing, and the script is taken from a transcript of the trial so is powerful and horrifying. I think you would need a starkly beautiful scent to go with it, something with inner strength but not weighty. I’m going with SL Grus Clair.
I hope everyone in LA is safe; thinking of you today.
OH YES I AGREE 100%!
In fact I’ve written an article in which I discuss it. Would love to send it to you to see what you think. (I agree though, it’s tough to imagine a scent for it!). Antonin Artaud is also featured in the film and he was extremely beautiful in it.
My e-mail is cfreeland quadruple nines in the yahooooos world.
Brilliant, thanks. I will email later today…have a hair appt. atm
Antonin Artaud = the original hot priest! ( monk, but, whatever)
Would you consider sharing your article with another person who loves film? Sorry to but in-I’m always interested in people’s opinions about film!
Yes sure. Just email me
Kanuka I’m 2 Sotd for you. Abel’s Laundry Day (which I adore – « the energy and optimism of the first day of spring « ) and Black Anise to compare drydowns. They smell distinctly different on drydown to my neophyte nose sense (is there a good terminology primer for how to discuss scent somewhere?). The Black Anise smells more smoky than tobacco like, but that could be because I’m in West LA and the fires’ scent is everywhere. Vetiver in Laundry Day is much more soothing to me.
Ah, Carrie Chapman Catt — that name I can never remember when it comes up in my weekend crossword puzzles. 🙄 My SOTM is the lovely Ambra Aurea, which fits the hygge idea that ringthing floated above. I’m saving my only perfume tie-in to Denmark for tomorrow. Imaginary Authors to the rescue once again, as the imaginary story in the imaginary book behind Every Storm A Serenade is set in Denmark.
Excellent, I completely forgot that was set in Denmark!
Denmark. The Little Mermaid Statue. The sea. Dune. I’ve been on a Dune kick lately. Nothing else smells as good to me. I’ve been alternating Dune and Irissss. Happy 2025, in spite of all the troubles. We all must do the best we can!
It’s been too long since I’ve worn Dune, must remedy that soon. Thanks for the reminder.
For the dessert in Babette’s Feast (“Savarin au Rhum avec des Figues et Fruit Glacée” per Wikipedia) I’m in Diptyque Philosykos.
Oh wow, lots of great ideas could come from that movie! Hopefully no turtle scents though!
Hasn’t Zoologist done turtle yet? 😂
Lol! 🐢
Didn’t Robin mention a Turtle Vetiver ages ago?
Those were fantastic! But long gone…
I really need some hygge today and something to help me focus on work, so I’m in Indochine. It’s worthy of all the mentions this past week or two!
Indochine is a good one, isn’t it!
It’s a great one! I haven’t tried anything else from that house. Do you know any other good ones from there?
I got the Guillaume discovery set from Luckyscent and honestly, Indochine was my favorite by far. To me, it’s the only full bottle worthy one. I quite liked Tonka Bodykon and Coze too, but the others were not that memorable and there were even a few scrubbers. 😬 I wish I had taken notes, I only wrote down the ones I washed off; I might have to retry all the samples again.
Thanks for sharing. I haven’t seen any that I necessarily wanted, I was just curious since Indochine is so good.
We all could use some hygge this time of year, I think.
Seriously.
Thanks for all your good wishes to me and to other nsters here in Los Angeles.
The air is terrible but I am safe and lucky to have power for another day. Have spent the morning texting with friends to see how everyone is doing.
Going to clean out the kitchen and pantry today while staying inside.
Getting some information on where to volunteer. Best Friends is coordinating animal rescue – so I will see what I can do.
I think I will join Deva in box of eels for its’ perfection.
Stay safe. I confess to worrying almost more about the animals than the people, especially wild animals. I’m still scarred by seeing Bambi as a kid.
Lot of folks scarred by Bambi, Calypso.
Isn’t there a saying that societies are judged by how they treat their most vulnerable?
Hope your area stays safe! I was just reading about all the animals found injured/burned, etc. Just horrible! Volunteering to help animals is most selfless thing there is. Honored to be twinning with such an amazing person, apsara! ☮️
The pictures are just horrifying. I’m glad you’re safe, but my heart aches for everyone down there — including the animals.
The pictures out of Cali are apocalyptic. Hope you have some KN-95 masks handy; they do help a little with wildfire smoke.
So glad you have power. The air must be really awful.
Wearing Epic body butter layered with Epic 56 today. Epic is wonderful.
That sounds like luxury, the two together 🙂
I’m in an old favourite-Prada l’eau Ambree. I think I have the right name-it’s in the black bottle. Like the Ferre line, I find the names a bit confusing. But it’s pretty and I bought it as a self gift for my 40th birthday.
You smell lovely, the top note is among the prettiest citrus I know.
Love that one.
I’m thinking of everyone in LA and I hope NST people are all OK.
We’ve woken up to a sunny morning, it’s not warm, but it looks good, which might be the best we can hope for in our ongoing non-summer. At least I’m smelling good in Papillon Perfumes’ Bengale Rouge.
Sunny is good but warm would be better!
“Happy” New Year everyone!
This year is off to a bang,as per usual it seems!
Stay safe LA!
We’re having the opposite weather at the moment,as this has been the most wet summer with constant daily rain for almost 2 weeks now.I miss the african sun!
SOTD!Prada Infusion d’Iris.Just perfect.So behind on NST news etc,I’ll try my best to visit more often soon!
Happy Thursday!
XO’s🌹❣️
Happy New Year JB.
Glad to see you!
Have you been reading lately?
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! 😊
Good to hear from you, JB!
Happy New Year J B!
It’s been a long busy day, but perfumes helped me go through it.
I wore FM Heaven Can Wait for my morning meetings, Dior Escale à Portofino for a company dinner, and since it evaporated completely I am now going to bed in Diptyque 34 Boulevard Saint Germain…
Sorry, my comment wasn’t supposed to go here 🙂
i am thinking of the Baltic sea, where amber is often to be found at the shoreline. so i wore Ambre Russe today, a bit too festive for a day at work, but why not? it definitively lifted my mood.
If your perfume made you happy today, then you made the right choice.
I’m wearing Frapin 1270 this morning. Notes of vine flowers, candied orange, hazelnuts, cocoa, coffee, leather, woods, white honey, vanilla, grape, plum, spices. One of those must be related to Denmark somehow…
That sounds wonderful! I haven’t seen recommendations for it, I will seek it out!
That is something I should pull out and start wearing. I am curious about the extreme version.
I’m wearing Maison Violet Cycle 001 which counts as a “doubler” because I’m wearing a different fragrance from my collection each day. And even though “cycle” in this particular French perfume name doesn’t have anything to do with biking, I’m making it work for a country where people bike a lot.
Does your SOTD have violet flowers or violet leaf in it?
Fragrantica lists a violet “accord” but violet/leaf are not listed in the notes.
I read Denmark is known for its leather products so I guess Leather Jardin is a good choice for today.
Excellent choice!
I wear it a lot, but I like it,
You may have given me some ideas for tomorrow. Thanks Kris!
You are more than welcome.
Today I am wearing Chanel Jersey EDP and drinking a second cup of Cardamom Ginger tea.
Jersey is wonderful.
Clementine and yogurt smoothie
The snow didn’t materialize and it was sunny and 4C today.
I have received my order of a five ml bpal oil, and it smells good enough to eat. Finished the sample of Amo Ferragamo and when it faded I added Ysatis which I discussed recently with Lillyjo. It’s a powerhouse so best saved for winter and has a notable civet note, my bottle is vintage so for all I know it may be from the animal which makes me slightly uncomfortable even though my boycott is for modern perfumes mainly, I’ll never try Francesca Bianchi perfumes because she only changed to animal synthetics a couple of years ago and that makes me question her whole ethics somehow. To continue with bpal I applied a little bit of Mictecacihuatl, glad I don’t have to pronounce it, I acquired it six or seven years ago, it’s an Halloweenie 2013, mainly copal and rose with South American spices – whatever they are – and it’s a lovely, flowery incense.
PS my new bpal is Box of bonbons 2014 and is chocolatey.
I’m glad you didn’t get any snow.
I heard that Amo smells like an orange Creamsicle. Is that true to your nose?
Thank you Lillyjo, it was great to be out and about, although of course winter is not over yet. No, Amo didn’t smell of creamsicle to me and I identified a rather sharp cedar even before reading the notes on the card, it’s fine but if you have some Profumi Di FIrenze or Atelier Cologne both houses have better perfumes in that genre.
I also had no-show snow this morning. Weather here has shifted to an unsettled pattern for a while.
We’re twins but you are more likely to get snow in general.
Put on some of the Bulgari blue tea this morning as part of my winnowing project for this year. I have maybe 15 ml to go of this gentle, re-spritzable scent. There’s a backup bottle so there won’t be the pain of parting when it’s done.
Blue Tea is very calming imo.
SOTD = 4160 Tuesdays So Long, See You Later EDP
Wowee! Citrus! Honey! 🍯! Perfecto!
I can’t seem to copy the link. You can always search for it by searching for hajusuuri. At some point, I will need to figure out what’s what!
More travel tips from The New York Times – what to do if you need health care while traveling. My membership to Medjet Travel expired late last year. I may buy another 5 years’ worth as I get closer to when I am traveling.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/09/travel/international-travel-health-care-insurance.html?unlocked_article_code=1.n04.L_Oe.kJV0daQO9Oj3&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb
Trying Arquiste Almond Suede today and notes are below. Getting lots of honey and leather so far.
My heart goes out to all those affected by the L.A. fires…such devastation. 😔
Top Notes: Pink peppercorn, Italian bergamot oil, honeycomb absolute, bitter almond oil
Heart notes: Cistus concrete from Spain ORPUR, North African neroli oil ORPUR, saffron accord, orange flower accord
Base Notes: Candied sugar, vanilla absolute, pine tar from France ORPUR, suede accord
The pictures out of California have been horrifying.
Going through my Aedes samples this week and today’s SOTD is Iris Nazarena. I’ll claim a CP point today since we said irises count. 😀
I really like this one and I’m happy to report that my sample of the current version smells the same as my sample from when it was in the older bottles. Waxy iris, clove, and soft, supple leather. Like a stylish aunt to Bottega Veneta EDP.
Tea today is F&M Afternoon Blend because I didn’t get around to brewing a pot until lunchtime and wanted something lighter.
I usually un-decorate the house after Little Christmas, but I’m keeping out the pomander candle that I had been using since there is only about 15% left and I can probably thunk it in the next few days. The spice note in that compliments the Iris Nazarena nicely.
Smelling good my friend! And yes, Iris counts.
Thanks for the report on the new version of Iris Nazarena. It’s very good news that it smells the same as the previous, such a good scent!
I always thought that the Bottega Veneta EdP was pretty darn stylish! Since I have the big bottle, I’m set for life on that.
Haven’t heard that one brought up lately. That’s a good one.
I’m in Eau de Commando today, as we had an early dentist appointment and then I just never got around to putting anything on. I’m thinking maybe I get out BdI later, inspired by others earlier today.
Still working through all the catch-up stuff we need to do after moving back, like the dentist, orthodontist, doctor, etc. Today we had a major success: We finally got all three cell phone numbers ported back. It only took 10 days, 2 stores, and countless hours on the phone with customer service. I guess it’s my own fault for not wanting to pay $30/month/line to put them on hold with our provider, so I ported them out to an online service that would forward calls and texts and only cost $3/month. It mostly worked, until we got home and tried to bring our numbers back. Well, at least that’s over.
January’s gonna be a long month, with Ockeghem Teen home doing online school until second semester starts and Mr. Ockeghem going back over to Germany for a week to give a talk.
I’m in Wrappings. It’s from an older bottle, probably a gwp item from Clinique cosmetics. This definitely smells much deeper than my more recent bottle.
Yes to Wrappings! And I have noticed that it seems to age very well in the bottle.
Song of the Day: https://youtu.be/eaawZPp4hNo
I’ve had this going thru my head for most of the afternoon now. Time to share the earworm!
Hoping the NST Angelenos continue to stay safe.
Still pondering on what to do for the CP tomorrow…
SOTD = Rihanna Rogue EdP, from the cutest mini bottle. I was hoping that it had apricot in it. No such luck, although plum is close enough. Right?
Close enough for me! Lol.
Well, all righty then!
Today I am sampling Blooming Fire by Orebella. I can’t believe how much I like this. The notes say jasmin but I smell tuberose. It’s a tropical white floral. I do not care for the bottle style but I wouldn’t mind a travel spray.
I am so sick of winter that I am craving spring and summer perfumes already.
Ya know, BWF perfumes smell GREAT 🐯 in the Winter. Why not wear them now?
I love BWFs in the winter. I always thought they had to be worn in the summer, but some of them are much better in the cooler months. However, that’s just my opinion.