It's Hump Day, International Lefthanders Day, and Alfred Hitchcock’s birthday. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm off on another short trip up North to visit family, so I'll be offline for much of the day. I am taking my green point for the week in Etat Libre d’Orange You or Someone Like You.
Reminder: 8/15 will be Go Green Friday...wear a green fragrance. (This is a repeat, suggested by Dawn.)
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 Best of Both Worlds:sitting on the fence [cropped] by mario at flickr; some rights reserved.
Hello and HELLO fellow southpaws!!!
Sotd is TF Soleil Blanc. I may be hiding indoors and with SPF 50+ on my face but in my mind I am bronzing.
I am also wafting Lush’s Chief Stoick hair & beard oil. It’s a very, very smokey wood scent with a mild vanilla sweetness. Scent is potent and a little goes a long way (my first application I put on too much and it made my hair look like I hadn’t showered for 5 days. Had to jump back into the shower). I recommend applying a few drops on wet hair before blow dry. Yes, I bought 2 bubs.
Back atcha southpaw!
Lefthanders unite!
Guerlain AA Herba Fresca. I guess a lot of my favorite summer green perfumes have mint in them. Have another minty planned for this week.
I have been looking for my bottle of Herba Fresca, and not finding it. It is one of my favorite green fragrances, and I actually like the mint note.
Oh no! I hope you find it. Herba Fresca is very appropriately named, in my opinion – it smells like a fresh green grass. I only wish it lasted longer.
Same here! My bottle ran off with your bottle!!
House Twins!
🙌
Another house sibling, in Limon Verde, bang on with the theme. I’m at home so I can re-spritz at will. Ooh, and I am going to pop it into the fridge..
Even has “green” in the name!
For points Sous le Vent by Guerlain.
I am savoring my sample of this. Sous le Vent is a green chypre masterpiece IMHO… I will search for a dupe when this runs out.
Tea is Spring Blossom by Simpson & Vail
Ohhhhh, one of my HG scents — you smell heavenly! If you ever do find a dupe, please report back!
I agree! It’s heavenly.
Today I am wearing Posh on the Green by Atkinsons. This has a mint note on my skin, but not a toothpaste mint. Nice.
I like almost any mint in perfume…glad that is a good one.
Taking points in Corsica Furiosa, from a dabber sample. I think it would be better sprayed — not that it’s weak, I just need more than dabs to fully appreciate this one because it’s subtle and interesting.
That’s another perfume I associate with Deva.
Me too. I miss her around here, and hope she’s doing well.
Yum.
I am far from green fragrances. I am trying a layering that I saw on Insta recommended by Kurkdjian. FM Musc Ravageur layered with Shalimar. This combo smells really great! I can smell both scents, one doesn’t overpower the other and it’s very interesting in a good way.
Oh, I need to try that! Two of my favorite scents.
Thank you for the layering tip. Sounds like a beautiful combo!
ok..tell me how you layered!?!
I applied FM Musc Ravageur first and Shalimar on top.
That combo sounds interesting. I was trying to decide if I was going to rehome MR, but the atomizer won’t budge, lol. I can’t recreate your concoction!
These two should go well together!
I’m in Fiele Fragrances Mentha this morning, inspired by Glannys’s love of mint. I don’t have many mint forward fragrances but I enjoy it center stage with Mentha.
Bummer. Bet you still smell great!
Thanks for introducing me to another mint perfume. Never heard about this one!
Wearing SJP Stash, so no points unless you count the vetiver in the drydown.
We had a cold front come through last night that takes some of the heat and humidity away but it’s still going to be hot. Driving through the country yesterday, I saw some colored leaves on a few maple trees and the soybeans getting ready to pod, both harbingers of fall. Bring it!
Just pulled out Stash the other evening to make a decant for someone. A warm, sexy glow of a perfume.
SOTD is Eau des Merveilles.
I would also like to report on a few samples I recently tried. Remember, I am not good at describing scents plus these comments are strictly my opinion.
Isparta 26 Pierre Guillaume Paris-This is a beautiful scent and to me it is a dead ringer to POAL, but for a fraction of the price. It may not be as “loud” or as long lasting as POAL, but there are definitely similarities. If I didn’t already have POAL, I would swap this up in a minute.
Essential Parfums Velvet Iris-Not a sweet iris. It has been compared to Gris Charnel, which I have not tried. JB loves it! It does tend to lean more unisex and masculine. It is not something I need to add to my collection as it didn’t do much for me.
Astier de Villatte Delhi-Spicy incense that smells a lot like Obsession. It is very nice, just not my style.
Isparta is a nice rose scent, but just pricey enough that I don’t want to parta with my money…
I see what you did there 😆
🤣
LOL!
Unless you get desparta for it, should be okay?
😂😂😂
Love your SOTD
I have worn it a lot this summer and it is usually one I wear in the cooler weather. Regardless, I really like it.
It’s a little cooler outside but really humid due to the rain we got and has the potential for thunderstorms. Wearing Number One Intense.
It was crazy humid at home this morning, but flew to Maine where it is lovely 🙂
Hope you get a break in the weather!
I wearing Telegramma today – it came up in the rotation, and adorable hubby really likes this, so I am wafting a rather old fashioned scent today -teak is strong on me so it comes across as woody rather than powdery or peppery… I like it too.
Yesterday, I made a list of all the things I wanted to do -(30!), and this morning I checked off how many I actually accomplished (7). Clearly I need to adjust how long I think things take. One phone call, regarding an undelivered package, that I hoped would be 15 minutes with a competent clerk, ended up being an hour and a half mostly stuck in a customer service loop before I figured out how to get a live person. I finally just asked for sales, and got a live nice man who kindly listened to my problem, and transferred me to someone who was able to help. The sales group are generally much more willing to talk to you than technical support, for some reason. 😉
So, today is a lot of catchup. Freezing soups, changing the bed, that sort of thing, that I fail to be able to perceive as a creative challenge, no matter how many “Keeping an organized and restful home” you tube videos I listen to! LOL.
Hope everyone has a good Wednesday.
And DHL, which is continuing to do international shipping, finally delivered the samples that have been languishing in never-never land! I ordered these samples on the basis of rave reviews by Luca Turin, from a perfumer in Bangkok called Maksim Bortnikov. Apparently there is a little colony of Russians making perfume in Thailand. Cheap ingredients? Avoiding the interest of the KGB? Who knows, but these are, as Turin described, old 70s/80s style rich perfume with a lot if not all natural ingredients but compounded with far more skill that little vials of head shop oils. One is a Chypre, which I will have to live with a bit, but it got me CP point today for green!! One is an Oud and Ambergris affair which pings primal parts of my brain, although I am not sure what it actually smells like at this point. The most familiar of the four is called simply Amber and Balsam, and it smells like it’s name in the prettiest way possible and will be perfect to wear to Christmas parties, hay rides and cross country ski trips. My favorite on first sniff is called Bestia Sacra (Sacred Beast) with a picture of an elk or red deer on the blurb, but it is floral and resiny, with a nod toward frankincense and nag champa and the musks are playing nicely with my nose at this point. It is gorgeous. I think. I couldn’t resist and sprayed all four on various parts of my arms, and these all have some energetic throwing capacity so I smell good and very much. Adorable hubby has not complained. I am very very happy, and will report on each one of them in turn as I wear them by themselves. Enough of hesitant department store stock. Ha! You might find the Luca Turin review on his website if you are interested.the reviews are behind a paywall on substack, if anyone wants to hear more about these, I could copy bits of the reviews ad post them here. If you are entertained Luca Turin’s wit and language, as I am, you might find it worth your while to sign up for $6.00 a month access to that page. You can scan back through past reviews, and if it gets a bit much, you can unsubscribe at any time. no affiliation, just a fan. If this is too much of a plug for someone else’s blog-equivalent, Robin, feel free to edit as you wish!
30 things!! That is a lot of things for one day.
But so glad your package arrived, that sounds like fun, and of course I don’t mind…it is not a competition 🙂
I am wearing L’Artisan Piment Brulant for the CP. The only thing that I can smell is crushed fresh green peppers, nothing else. Nice scent for the 90 degree day we are having today.
Happy Wednesday!🌻
Hi!!!!
Is your nose impacted our the fragrance off?
Just nice seeing you.❤️
Nice to see you too, Annie! There are so many reviews about people having the same experience I do, where they smell only fresh green peppers in Piment Brulant.
Smelling like fresh green peppers is not the worst thing in the world. 😉🐈
Wearing Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds. I tossed Sticky Dates around to see a little sweet mixed in. Then sprayed more Blue Skies. It is perfect.
Hajusuuri, if you catch this, I wrote a response to you, but I don’t know what happened.
Again, guys, I am going through my perfumes, as Lush has me, scouring for all the retro and rare. I’ll keep a bunch of my others, but tons to unload on happy friends here.
And DeniseH, help unload!
I saw it! I may need to do this combo!
Hello!
Welp, I found myself in the Mission District yesterday taking my son to appts in the city. So, of course I had to go to the Ministry of Scent. Almost made it out without an FB purchase. Almost. Wound up buying Da Lat by d’Annam and a travel-sized spray of Summer Street by Brandt. Sigh. I am weak.
PIXEL update💗💗💗💗💗🌺🌺🌺
Some folks have asked about Pixel and so I asked her permission to share the following. Our lovely, funny, wry, perfume-loving, fellow traveler is going through some stuff, not good at all, medical. It totally sucks. She is open to hearing from folks! If you want to reach out to her and do not have her email, you can email me. I will send you Pixel’s email. If you think there is any chance that I won’t recognize your NST handle, please let me know how long you’ve been on NST and some observation you have about our community. oaklandfresca @ gmail dot com 🧡
What is Da Lat like?
Glad for the update on Pixel, but sorry she is going thru such a rough time.
To me, it is a red wine/rose scent, delicate and ethereal. My husband picks up a note he is not fond of, which he says he also finds in Miller Harris’ Scherzo. I loved my Scherzo and I am enjoying Da Lat, so go figure.
Thanks!
Thank you for the update on Pixel. I was actually just thinking of her this morning.
So sorry Pixel is having a rough time, please do tell her we all miss her!
We finally have some sun after days of dull wet weather. It’s stil cold, but it looks so much better! It’s just in time for CP, I’ll wear one of my spring/summer favourites, Chamade.
I love Chamade in spring, and autumn, and winter, just not in summer. I love how it develops over time.
Yay for sun!
Not green in Dune.
Not in the slightest!
Enjoying a real rarity today – a nice summer day! Bright 🌞, nice breeze, temps in the low 80’s and low humidity. One more day, tomorrow, like this then we’re back to the usual summer yuck 🤢 .
A travel showcase this morning and virtual yoga in the early afternoon, now I’m just enjoying being home. SOTD is one of YR’s annual floral-fruity fun scents, Retropical – orange, bergamot and sand – layered over BBW’s Wild Sand body products. I never layer perfumes but I really enjoy layering my SOTD over lotions and potions.
Happy Wednesday 🌴🍹🐠!
Enjoy the perfect summer weather while it lasts!
I saw you guys won last night.
I am trying to not get my hopes up for the post season ( because I don’t want to jinx anything) but secretly I’m excited for Detroit. I remember the 84 World Series and would love to see us win again.
Well, we lost two games 1-0 and won one 9-6, so given how good I think your team is I’m pretty pleased with how my guys did. Keep the faith, don’t give up hope! I know what you mean about the WS; I was fortunate to go to the 2 WS games that were played here in 2005, one of the highlights of my life!
I’ll go green in vintage Norell again this week.
I have to go into the office tomorrow, but I get to have lunch with my colleagues and meet one of the admins who’s visiting from an out-of-town office. It’s nice to put a face to the name you’ve been emailing all this time.
Vintage Norell is soooooooo good, and green💚
SOTD = Chanel No.19 EDT (vintage)
Lovely. Just my observation – it seems that this vintage EDT smells very similar to the modern EDP. I am cool with this!
In other news, I got the email from FedEx that my Rose package is ready to be picked up and so I did. Of course I just realized I never took a picture but I’ll say that they did a nice job with the packaging. When I get around to drinking it, I will report back.
I went to Costco this morning and holy cow, the total was quite a bit more than what I would usually spend even though I had fewer items! I suppose I have to get used to it.
House twins with you today!
Yeah, my Costco trips have gotten rather pricey in the past year or 2. And it’s not like I am filling up a cart either.
Say yes to Chanel (although this sounds better with Hermes)!
🤣🤣🤣
It’s HOT here today, by Colorado standards. 100 degrees F by 2pm. Tomorrow is more of the same. I think I might get a break sometime over the weekend.
SOTD = Chanel Paris-Deauville, courtesy of Kris. This perfume arrived in my life when I was going thru a difficult time. It reminds me that I was not alone, and someone was thinking of me.
That is lovely about Paris-Deauville. I started the day (SO many hours ago) in Cristalle Eau Verte, so was, unknowingly, CP compliant. I think I’ll go spritz some Paris-Deauville now in your honor, and Kris’s.
Aw, thank you!
Your sotd association is very touching Jalapeno.
Nice to have a positive one instead of a negative one, for sure.
Glad you like it. I will wear it on Friday.
It worked beautifully with today’s weather. Thanks again.
I’m glad that instead of having a negative association with a fragrance because it arrived during a difficult time in your life, you’re able to think positively about the strength it gave you. When you needed it. We’ll-done! 🤗
👍👍
I love this one!
Paris-Deauville, No. 5 L’Eau, and No. 19 broke my long standing “No Chanel for me, thanks” stance.
Green lefty here. CP compliant in vintage Metal.
The local church held a critter barn event tonight. I took my daughter and she loved it. They were serving hot dogs but we didn’t eat.
My sotd is Alien eau Sublime. I thought I might thunk it this summer, but now I don’t think so.
What is a critter barn event?
It’s a petting Zoo style event. They bring in small farm animals for kid’s to pet and feed. The helpers talk about the animals. It’s a free event.
My daughter’s favorite was the pig.
I was about to task the same thing that Kris did.
Argh! “To ASK, not task”. Sheesh.
You mean Laila.😀
I’m sorry Laila! Geez. I’m batting 1.000 right now in the wrong direction.
Ha! Glad your daughter had a good time. My coincidence was I had the $1.50 (plus tax) hotdog and soda combo at Costco yesterday 🤣.
I’m in Vitabath Spring Green lotion after showering. For some reason I also think of Wrappings when I use this lotion so maybe I need to add a spray or 2 before bed.
Yes to Wrappings!
That’s an option for me on Friday.
Vitabath is super green!