Happy Almost-Friday and happy World Radio Day! What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm in Hermès Agar Ebène.
Reminder: 2/14 is Valentine's Day. Wear a fragrance that expresses your feelings about the holiday, or that reminds you of someone you love.
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 Cupid [cropped] by Kevin Manning at flickr; some rights reserved.
Today, I am wearing Penhaligon’s Heartless Helen, which, I think, is meant to be an anti-romance perfume. From the brand’s copy: “Who needs romance when one wields power? Tuberose, mandarin, wood: our fearless conquistadora’s scent seduces all in her path.”
This is a lovely tuberose, but I am not getting “powerful” or “femme fatale” from it. It’s a rather light take on tuberose – not as innocent and airy as La Chasse aux Papillons, but still fresh and bright. Fracas and Carnal Flower are the ones to go for if you want something powerful.
I like it a lot, though, and as I wear this sample, I keep wondering whether I need a small decant of it.
That’s a beautiful description, Glannys. Tuberose can go so many ways.
Agree. Tuberose is very versatile.
It sounds very nice to me.
It’s pretty much a nice girl tuberose, in my opinion, although still with some white floral oomph.
This sounds very appealing! Thanks for the nice description, Glannys. I might have to seek this out.
A fresh and flirty tuberose sounds perfect for the cold days of February.
I’m in Eau d’Hadrien-I love crisp citrus in cold air. This scent has been in my life for 30 years or so-still makes me happy.
Some big storm coming-hope we all get through it without smashing any vehicles 🙂
Hope everyone stays safe in the storm.
Carole, I usually avoid citrus cologney things in the winter because they make me colder, perhaps I associate them with cooling me down in L.A.’s summer heat, but you (and Glannys) gave me an idea and I’m wearing SL Fleurs de Citronnier, which has both the deep lemon note that I love (mingled with tuberose, which I never realized was there until I read the notes it’s so well-blended (hat tip on the tubey to Glannys) and the thick rich honeyed warming notes that are so typical of many Serges. Win-win.
Denise, you smell great. Fleurs de Citronnier is an excellent blend of fresh and warm notes, and you described it perfectly.
I sometimes like wearing Cristalle and other citrus scents in winter, but the weather is so cold now that my hand reaches for warmer perfumes.
I love Fleurs de Citronnier and I never thought about it that way but I agree with Glannys that your description gives a good idea of wearing it.
We’ve been getting those same warnings but the storms keep slipping past us – hope yours does too!
She’s not going to enjoy it, but my puppy will need her raincoat for this morning’s walk.
I’ll also be in a raincoat, and Eau Noire from Dior.
That sounds like a beautiful scent, from Persolaise’s description of his top 25 perfumes of the past quarter century.
Glad to hear that SoCal is getting some much needed precip.
Got quite cold again last night. My heated seats are such a luxury to me, I adore them! I’m wearing CSP Vanille Café as I head off to renew my BLS. Happy Almost Friday!!
I think I am the only person that doesn’t like heated seats! But I do have them in my new car and passengers seem to like them.
The winds having been absolutely howling since last evening, with temperatures hovering around 30f, so I’m making myself crazy worrying about our big trees. And power lines. And unhoused people in our area — hopefully they all managed to find shelter somewhere. Anyway, in an attempt at self-soothing, I’m in Carthusia 1681 this morning — I find its blend of sandalwood and black pepper very calming.
Robin, you smell fantastic. If I ever spring for a FB of any of the Hermessences, Agar Ébène will be the one.
The house behind me has a gigantic tree in their backyard so it’s practically in my yard. I worry about it constantly when it’s super windy. Stay safe!
I will never spring for another FB (other than the 15 ml) again, but I think if I did it would be to replace the FB of Osmanthe Yunnan 🙂
Freezing rain and snow are on the way. Fortunately, I don’t have to go anywhere. Unfortunately, my home confinement has led to retail therapy. My new phone arrived last night and I will probably spend most of today trying to set it up the way I want it. I’m wearing Irisss and smelling quite fancy.
There are times in life that truly warrant the use of retail therapy.
And they are many!
Freezing rain? YUCK! Not good.
Hello.
Sotd is Sticky Dates. I am also wafting Candy Rain from my conditioner. If it’s Spring now I’m sure there will be bees, lol.
I got a sample of Posh White Chocolate and Rose body wash when I bought some Goodnight Sweetheart pillow spray in Lush. I am saving it for tomorrow’s CP.
I decided to copy you … in the Sticky Dates body spray!
Looking forward to your thoughts on the Posh White Chocolate and Rose body wash. It’s been tempting me for a while.
But I have SO many showergels that I really can’t rationalize getting more.
I woke up to -16 degrees this morning. Brrrrrrrrrrrr.🥶
I decided I needed something cozy AND romantic today so went with Coco Noir body cream and perfume.
Book of the Day is All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker. It has very high ratings so I am hopeful this is one I will enjoy. Has anyone here read it?
Oh my gosh is that before the windchill?! That’s brutal!
That is before the windchill.
Dang.
Downloaded this one just last night, Kris.
Oh, interesting. Well, let’s see if we like it.
Holy smoke! That is what I would call F/T Cold! 🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶
You smell wonderful Robin!
I am wearing Dior J’Adore and drinking my second cup of Nilgiri Winter Frost tea
Why thank you Barqs! I forget to wear this one.
I thunked the last drops of a decant of 5 O’clock Au Gingembre and felt like it needed more oomph, so I added some Arabie. Smells really good. I just can’t get warm today and it’s certainly nowhere near as cold here as Kris has. Maybe because it’s so windy. Currently huddled around the space heater wearing double layers of fleece and wool socks with Larry the cat on my lap, watching Bette Davis in Jezebel. Glad Larry is in the mood to be snuggly.
ooh, that is a nice combo, ringthing! You smell marvelous.
It’s really is nice. I thought that Arabie would whallop anything it comes in contact with but Gingembre tempers the sweetness in Arabie very nicely.
Oh…Jezebel. Hope you follow it up with All That Heaven Allows, Watch Along the Rhine and..Dark Victory.
Am sure Larry the cat will enjoy a Bette festival today.
All favorites, along with my very favorite Bette movie, Now Voyager.
Dark Victory is one of my favorites! ❤️
Is Larry using you as a giant hot water bottle? Or is he your furry little space heater? 😉😸
Teflon was very snuggly during my cold snap. Now that temps are better, she’s back to hanging out on her kitty heating pad, which is currently covered with a flannel pillowcase.
The weather in the US sounds nasty, I hope everyone stays safe in those awful temperatures.
I’m wearing Tobacco Vanille for Valentine’s Day, it was a surprise birthday present from my beloved a few years ago.
We were a balmy 52F, so it is not everywhere! Hope you were much warmer than that.
On February 13, 1994, my dearest friend died from complications of AIDS at 33.
On February 13, 2019, my dear friend had a much longed for baby who turns five today.
I wonder if one sent the other. I like to think that the universe speaks to us in different ways.
Big big rain, the burn areas are a mess.
I am staying home today to do online training, laundry and maybe watch a Bette Davis movie or two.
Post shower, Jo Malone Red Roses and Oud, from the pretty LE bottle.
Red Roses is perfect for the CP🌹
I recommend Now Voyager.
Second this!
I do most certainly think the Universe speaks to us in different ways. So sorry for your loss that reverberates over 30+ yrs apsara! Big hugs! And what a great age 5 is! A full hand of fingers!
We are getting a delightful pile of fluffy spring snow here in mid-Michigan today.
I am sampling Lilac Exquise from Jacques Fath, and it is quietly lovely. I think it might really bloom come warmer temps!
In travel news, adorable hubby has recovered from his anxiety attack and we are all in on a cut rate Icelandic Air flight to Amsterdam, a couple days at the museums there, then a train ride to the south of France for few days at an out of the way beach recommended by a friend in rustic lodgings, then back to Paris for the nicely organized tour and a modern hotel with “American amenities”, and then the train to Amsterdam and home on this flight which has an hour layover in Iceland-LOL. Hopefully I will get pictures. It will be May, so the horrors of three days socked in, in Iceland, are slim. I am a happy and flexible traveler, and a working credit card can cure many issues, and I have already told AH that anything he complains about will just be the indication for an upgrade on the next trip, so all is good.
Last time I was in Paris it was a backpack and Levi’s sort of trip, and my wardrobe out here in the woods is still pretty much Levi’s. Any suggestions for what to take for clothes?
Great itinerary! I hope you both have a lovely time. As for clothes, I really enjoyed (and still wear them just about everyday) my merino tops. I bought lighter weight ones and then layer for different environments. I like the solid colors as they can go from casual with a pair of joggers and sneakers to a bit more dressy with a skirt or travel pants. They’re also very lightweight in the suitcase/backpack and fold down compactly. I bought two merino hoodies for layering in cooler temps. Merino is pretty much all I wear now other than really hot weather Columbia sun blocker shirts in the summer.
Interesting! What brand of merino knits do you buy?
I’ve got some from woolx, which often has sales, and wool& which never has sales. I like wool& style and fit better, but both are good.
Do you hand wash or what? My favorite merino top really shrank.
I wash on gentle and dry on low with wool balls in the dryer to help clothes dry more quickly. These are a merino mix, which makes them softer and easier to care for. No shrinkage or problems so far. Been wearing them regularly since I bought them in September.
I love your itinerary! If there was one change to make (and you can say it’s an upgrade), it would be lovely to spend 2 full days in Iceland and just take two all-day tours. If you are doing this, I would bring a warmer coat because it snowed in Reykjavik in mid-June.
I second this recommendation (both of them).
I hope to do a whole trip to Iceland one day and see the volcanoes and the sheep and the ponies, but I am trying to not make this more complicated! We have swung from one extreme to the other. It’s all good. 🙂
I’d recommend good walking shoes, but as a seasoned traveler, you probably already have taken that into consideration.
Yes, I have a plan to get a couple different shoes in April and decide which ones to take in May.:-)
Frozen mango and yogurt smoothie
It was YR Folies de Saisons délires d’automne, delicious ginger and balsams, one of my best YR and tonight Outremer Vanille.
Your smoothie of the day reminded me of a favorite grocery store dessert I get every so often: mango ice cream mochi. So tasty, and it’s the prefect 2 or 3 bites. 😋
Oh, do you know I read somewhere that mango ice-cream is very popular in Japan. What is mochi please?
Ginger and balsams sounds so warming and cozy!
It’s a good perfume for February and it may be my best YR(I have quite a few).
Today I am wearing AA Ginger Piccante, perfume I fell in love at first sniff. I remember reading great things about it here on NST, then going to the store to try it. I got home and after half an hour went back to the store to buy it. It was three years ago, I think in February. It’s still one of my favorite cheer-me-up scents 🩷
You smell wonderful!
Thank you 😊
There was quite the commotion about Ginger Piccante here when it came out. Lots of enabler pins got passed out for that!
SOTD = Lush Sticky Dates
… body spray! Scent inspired by happy888cat! Too lazy to take a photo but I posted it of my latest candle purchase.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGBtsFhxc99/?igsh=NzNkZ29mZDdiMTh4
I finally got my health insurance settled … hopefully, no issues since I already paid. My next quest is to figure out my ROTH-IRA conversion stuff. I am doing it from my 401-(k) but need to figure out the best amount and how to get it out of the account. One thing at a time …
In a fit of lack of communication, at my last Home Goods outing, I saw a bag with cats, lots of cats! For $0.99, it was spare change. Anyway, after I bought it, I noticed a fold on the upper left corner. It won’t affect the purpose of the bag but why should I settle? It is a very small petty thing although I don’t want to just settle for the “next best”. So I said let me check out the rest … not 5 seconds passed when I heard a commotion from the cashier who apparently said I am just moving the item. I did not really hear what she said so I went back to the cashier (a mere 2 feet away) and asked her to repeat what she said. I don’t recall but I asked if she wanted me to put it back or … and SHE said SHE was confused? 🤔 🤔🤔. Really? So I just said I heard she just moved the bag, did she want me to put it back or will she put it back? She said she will put it back. We’re done, but it left a poor taste in my mouth!
I have been trying to get my son’s insurance settled since mid December…you will like this story hajusuuri. He had insurance from Independence Blue Cross under my policy, then he turned 26 last year, so could not stay on it past the end of the year. On 1/1 he was to go onto a new policy from his employer, also with Independence Blue Cross, under his own name.
They would not start the new policy without a letter stating he was taken off the old one, even though it is the same company. Took 2 emails, 3 or 4 phone calls, and finally a little bit of crying, plus 5 WEEKS (!!!) to shake a letter out of them, which was then given right back to them. Honestly, couldn’t someone just walk it down the hall??? Ha. As of Wednesday this week he finally officially has insurance.
Thank goodness! Sometimes, I feel that the insurance business needs to have its own equivalent of a DOGE-like review!
I seem to have caught the mood for warm citrus scents from some others here: SotD is YSL Cinema edp. It was fresh and warm for my walk in the gray, 24F morning. Now it’s still 24, but the Sun just peeked out and Cinema is feeling warm and fresh! I wonder what the new version is like – anyone try it?
Not I, but you guys are making me think I need to wear Theorema tomorrow.
I’m in Perris Monte Carlo Rose de Mai because roses = Valentine’s Day and maybe I thought I could convince myself that it’s actually May, though the temps tell me otherwise🌹
Looking forward to my SIL and BIL visiting this weekend, starting tonight and excited to see them and hang out but also anticipating that it will wear me out a bit.
Even though I consider myself an Extrovert, as a full-time therapist, I really use the weeknights and weekends to recharge in silence or with Mr. allo. Fortunately, I feel really comfortable with these two and they are both talkers so I can relax and just listen❤️
You smell great!! Love that one.
I decided to wear Dior Addict.
It’s bright and sunny out with hardly any wind, thankfully. We might get snow for the next few days but I was notified that my flower seeds are on the way!
Seeds = Almost Spring, snow on the ground or no
Seriously! Any time is good for me.
What kinds of seeds did you get?
I got 4 different types of zinnias, 2 climbers (trailing snapdragons) for against the back fence and Agastache (hummingbird mint). I have to keep my hummingbirds happy!
I may have to get 2 obelisks for the snapdragons so they can climb up.
In No. 19, good for this cold, sunny day.
No. 19 is just good!
Perfect choice!
Been celebrating Galentine’s Day with my darling girlfriends despite the rain! Happy Galentine’s Day to all the ladies here and Palentine’s Day to the gentlemen!
Sotd Iris Poudre, which everyone raved about when they hugged me hello! (Thanks to the lovely Kris, who may be freezing -did I see 16 below? Sending warm wishes to you and maybe some cocoa!).
I saw your rain on the news. I wouldn’t be able to drive in that.
It was white knuckle time. At one point even though the wipers were on max, I couldn’t see out.
Yes, it was -16 and colder with the wind chill added.
Glad your friends like the Iris Poudre. It does seem to be a perfume that elicits compliments. It is a beautiful scent.
My sotd is Boucheron Serpent Boheme from a mini dabber.
There’s a note that is bothering me so I dug through the fragrantica comments. I believe it’s the anise.
For dinner tonight I heated up a giant chicken pot pie from Sam’s Club. It was very good. I have been enjoying staying inside all day.
Glad to hear that you’ve been inside & warm all day today! 😊
I bet you won’t like Raki either (to drink, not to wear). It was an unpleasant tasting drink and I don’t know why I forced myself to finish it!
Sun is out again today, after a super cold morning. I think my low temp was minus 8 degrees F? But it warmed up to around 28 this afternoon. And the snow has melted off my car. Didn’t need to keep the faucets dripping anymore, thank goodness.
There’s more nuisance snow in the forecast for me this weekend. 🤬❄️
SOTD = Guerlain Encens Mythique, courtesy of Kris. It plays wonderfully with the far drydown of Flowerbomb that is on my sweatshirt. 😍
February isn’t even trying to get to Spring!
Funny thing is, it’s supposed to get up around 50 tomorrow, potentially. And then back into the chill chest for the weekend.
I think it is a great scent!
Encens Mythique smells quite sophisticated to me!
Winter is definitely not over for you. Glad it warmed up.
You smell good! I just noticed I have practically been saying this all week!
I wore Fate Woman today (wave to Daniel!), really nice spice and headiness for a day of rain. I did have to venture out for a doctor’s appointment and to pick up my son, but I was rewarded with the sight of a huge rainbow.
Fate Woman is beautiful! I thunked a sample of that in record time.
So glad you saw a rainbow. I haven’t seen one in ages. The bottle of Fate is so beautiful.
I couldn’t pinpoint my fragrance mood this morning so I went into a box of perfumes, mostly decants, that’s sitting in a place where I often forget about it. I found my bottle of the musky skin scent that was popular circa 2010 maybe, Leslie Blodgett Bare Skin. Just so easy to wear and a cozy companion for a cold day. Anyone else remember or have a bottle of this one?
I remember it. I loved watching Leslie on QVC . I never got to smell her perfumes but wore her makeup.