It's Tuesday and Three Kings Day. What fragrance are you wearing?
I'm drinking a cup of Upton Christmas tea and trying to pick out the apricot in Tauer Perfumes Phi — Une Rose de Kandahar.
Reminder: 1/9 is National Apricot Day...wear a fragrance with an apricot note, if you have one.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2026, where I'll try (but usually fail) to have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: the Café Life porcelain teapot in Apricot from Maxwell & Williams ("Inspired by the modern aesthetics and timeless appeal of Scandinavian design, it features a semi-matte finish and a gently rounded profile") is on markdown, $17.97 at Harris Scarfe in Australia.
It’s a beautiful really cold day here, and I’m in Eau d’Hadrien EDT. I love how it sparkles in cold weather. Also wearing my favourite deep blue sweater. Had a trip to hand surgeon for a cortisone shot in my hand yesterday-everyone was so nice, and it didn’t hurt. Hopefully it will cure the trigger finger.
Have a good day!
Carole, you smell gorgeous! Enjoy wearing it with your favorite deep blue sweater!
I hope the cortisone works well . Keep warm up there !
I had that, in October 24 I think? Good luck!
I’m saving my apricot perfume Journey Woman for Friday 🍑✨.
Moving a bit slowly today—the long drive back from Canada over the weekend left me with some back pain after I took on a big stretch of the drive.
I’m sipping Simpson & Vail St. Nick holiday tea with a splash of milk, thumbing through the Journal, and listening to the BBC. 📖☕️ I’ll be back at the library volunteering later today after a long break. I’m wearing a cute Ralph Lauren outfit and finishing the look with Safari perfume from one of those adorable mini splash bottles.
Book Venting: A hockey romance show went viral, and now the books (by a Canadian author) are impossible to find. I tried to buy them in Canada…I thought it was just patriotic Canada energy—but nope, NYC is wiped out too. Sold out everywhere: Amazon, Barnes & Noble… even the library has a 437-person waitlist. One site claimed they had copies (lies). I just want to read the first two books. That’s it. 🏒📚😩
what’s the book or author? There are some independants here-I can check for you, if you’d like 🙂
Heated Rivalry, by any chance? The show got big in the States, too, I hear, so that’s probably why NYC is wiped out.
Exactly! Absolutely! I detest it when things go viral, and I just want to read the books before watching the shows.
If it’s Heated Rivalry, there are some available on the evilbay. Not affiliated.
Also 17 copies on Abebooks (I buy from them sometimes, nice to avoid contributing to Lauren Sanchez’s next plastic surgery.)
I love Abe books! Thank you. I use them and BetterWorld to order. I will check it out now..
LOL Lauren Sanchez!
LTSG, how wonderful to pair your SOTD w your OOTD! As for Heated Rivalry, sold out same around SoCal. I would like to encourage you to watch the relatively short series during the winter and before the Winter Olympics, even if you can’t get your hands on (yes, that’s a deliberate metaphor) the books.
I will!
Perfect match LTSM, and hope the back settles down.
Do you ever read ebooks? Is that an option? These days I only buy hard copy books if I think I will want to keep them ( e.g hardback art books, books in translation, hard to find books, classics). I do most casual reading on my iPad ( and the library of course, or secondhand books).
I am more of a hard book reader. When I finish with them I put everything in a rolling suitcase and make a trip to donate to a used book store that benefits libraries. https://www.ourtownny.com/news/the-book-cellar-at-webster-library-is-an-underground-hit-GB5344787
https://www.thomassabo.com/EU/en_IE/pd/necklace/KE2342-414-39-VG.html
I saw this the other day and thought of you.
Wow..this is really beautiful!
I wish I had some advice for a sore back besides Advil.
Ordered some samples and am currently in the dregs of Beltane from Maison des Animaux which is going on the endless full bottle list. Discovered a new ( I think a few months old) niche perfume shop in Denver–Ode to Perfume, so my husband and I went on Sunday. From that trip I will be adding Tokyo Nights and Varanasi to the wishlist. I love my clinical classes but I’m looking forward to graduating and being able to wear more perfume! Of course, Varanasi, being heavily animalic with strong projection and longevity will probably never be appropriate for a massage or acupuncture job
Happy New Year TGR! I’m still wearing the enormous stash of samples you generously gave me last spring. Thank you again.
Ooooooooooh. Quite interested in a perfume with the name of Beltane! Time to research.
Hello.
Sotd is YSL Libre Vanille Couture. The vanilla only really shows itself at the dry down. If you don’t like Libre then I think you won’t like this but the bottle is indeed very pretty.
I tried the 3 new Dior Addict perfumes. I am sorry to report they are all very meh. The purple one (Purple Glow) is the slightly better one but it smells like cheap candies coated in non-food grade plastic wrappers.
LOL that’s quite a nasty sounding scent there, especially if it’s the best of the three!
Looked up that scent, and you’re quite right that it’s a very pretty bottle indeed H888C. Do you like the vanilla at the end? I’m a fan of this line, but haven’t been wearing it much because of so many other enticing scents how in my modest collection. You’ve inspired me to rediscover!
I like the vanilla. It gives the scent a rounder, fluffier edge, very nice paired with a wooly sweater!
That’s a shame about the Dior scents.
Hello NST 🌹
I’m wearing L’Orpheline today from a decant because my bottle is at last out for delivery. Aren’t those just the three best words?
It’s been above freezing for 24 hours and everything is dripping. I wish it would hurry up and melt, the walk between my house and my mailbox is separated by my backyard, which is solid wet ice, too treacherous.
Enjoy your day, everyone.
If your new bottle is coming to your mailbox, do be careful getting to it! I can’t see any other reason to even try to get the mail under those conditions. Yikes.
RT, do be careful !!! Treacherous terrain trumps out for delivery, as enticing as OFD sounds.
Hope that you and your new bottle of L’Orpheline are safely inside now.
Apricot! I have contenders, at least in the sample stash. Will have to think which I go with after my shower, but probably Barbacaja.
I like that teapot; too bad I don’t live in Australia! That said, I have no room for new teapots, or really, anything, right now. 🙂
I only had one I think, so I am saving that for Friday
I like that teapot too, even though it is not my favorite color.
I’m enjoying the apricot-ness of Osmanthe Yunnan this morning. Also thinking about perfume creators and finding it interesting how some are incredibly prolific and yet none of their work has ever attracted me, whereas others whose portfolio is much smaller are well represented on my shelf. Must be a challenging profession.
SG, I’m impressed that your perfumista knowledge extends to knowing the perfumers behind your scents. Which creators are most represented do you think?
In my own collection? It would be Jean-Claude Ellena (the early Hermessences, Jour d’Hermes, several others from Hermes). I can’t really take credit for knowing all that much about which nose created which fragrance though — aside from Jean-Claude and the Hermessences, I have to go look them up … except for Daniela Andrier, who I always remember created Gucci EDP and Prada L’Eau Ambrée. I use fragrantica for looking up things like noses, release year, correct spelling … 🙂
I know you are asking Sheri, but I am going to throw in some other frequently named perfumers on this site. These are just a few that are represented quite a bit:
1. Thierry Wasser
2. Alberto Morillas
3. Christine Nagel
4. Dominique Ropion
5. Quentin Bisch
6. Bertrand Duchaufour
7, Thierry Mugler
I will be in OY this week for sure!
Me three!
I am wearing Maison Rebatchi Joyeux Osmanthe for the CP.
It is a lovely fresh fruity floral centered around osmanthus. It starts with apricots and nectarines, which give way to blooming fruit trees, and ends in a fruity, creamy musk. The Maison Rebatchi website describes it as “opulent,” and I disagree, since in my opinion “opulent” perfumes are rich, strong, and maybe even extravagant. This one is airy, sits on the skin like a transparent fragrant veil, and has a restrained quality. There is no juiciness of ripe fruits or carnal sensuality of tuberose.
It makes me think of arriving at a hotel on the outskirts of the city in spring – the scent of blooming trees is in the air, and as you enter the hotel, you are greeted by a receptionist. She is young, has glowing skin, smooth, neatly styled hair, and wears a crisp white shirt. She gives you a welcoming smile.
It’s a lovely perfume that can be office-friendly (if someone notices, you can fib and say it’s your shampoo or body lotion). A white floral for those who think Fracas or Carnal Flower are too much.
A double-post and I didn’t even get it nested properly. At least I didn’t break my record above of posting 5x for carole. I’m learning to use split screen work on my new laptop, and the touchpad is more sensitive than a troll looking for something to outrage them. Please see below Glannys for my comment.
LesLiesse, I saw your comment to me before Robin deleted it. (about the excursion). Weirdly, even email notifications of it disappeared (Robin, you did not just delete a duplicate but also a reply to me, I am afraid). Anyway, I remember what you wrote – thanks!
I am so sorry!! I do screw up!
Agree that someone didn’t study their vocabulary words before writing the ad copy for that perfume.
That said, it sounds lovely.
“Opulent” is one of those overused marketing buzzwords in perfume. Along with “addictive”.
C’mon folks, get a thesaurus!
Rant over.
Robin, help! My split screen experiment has resulted in a lot of multiple posts for me. Thank you for your help.
Sotd FM Iris Poudre. I need something beautiful, soothing, and uplifting, like the blue peeking out from our gray skies after last night’s rain.
Tea otd Harneys Provence, a white team w apricot, lemon & lavender.
You smell lovely!
🤗
Tea cousin: Harneys Mango tea. It tastes nothing like mango but is a nice fruit tea nevertheless.
Oo I like this. Tea cousins! 🤗
I wore that yesterday. You smell lovely.
Never worry about duplicates, I get to them eventually. That also means no need to even mention them because once I delete nobody will understand what you are talking about 🙂
I love your SOTD! I love it so much I bought a bottle for a friend-she wears it so beautifully. Anyone around you today is lucky – IP is so elegant 🙂
I am joining LesLiesse in Iris Poudre today. I do have a couple of fragrances lined up for the cp later this week.
Mr. SP ♥ is taking me on a surprise date this afternoon. No idea of venue, but it’ll be casual wear. In other news, I finished my 108 sun salutations today – I broke them into three groups, so three days of 36 sun salutations. It was very doable that way. And now, off to the store.
SP, scent twins! Enjoy your surprise date! 3 Days x 36 Sun salutations = *impressed!*
LesLiesse, if you’d like my Horizon sample, pls reach out to me – denise a t denise hamilton dawt com (no spaces, just run it together).
Looking forward to hearing a recap of your “mystery date” tomorrow!
Maybe one day I will see if I can even do 36 sun salutations…is this will full chaturanga? I’m trying to think of how. many we might do in an average hatha or vinyasa class, I never count but pretty sure it is nowhere near 36.
It’s been fun to search for apricot in my collection and I’m starting with a fragrance that I got for next to nothing at a garage sale and rarely wear, Nudus by Parallax Olfactory. It’s an odd one and the Fragrantica description sums it up:
The scent of vinyl skin.
Notes: Cayenne, Rainbow Resin, Pink Salt, Neon Apricot.
Rainbow Resin? as opposed to plain vanilla resin? Neon Apricot? please tell us more! I can’t even imagine.
D.S. Durga has a fragrance called Steamed Rainbow that I haven’t tried but would like to. Perhaps rainbows as a perfume descriptor are having a moment.
Very good insight DH. By the way my local library carries all your books, I think 9. But they’re all checked out so I’m on the hold list when they’re returned. I want to read them all but Kris has me fascinated with The Jasmine Trade.
I have no idea but it smells pretty good😊
I want to go to your garage sales, allo. Great find.
I want to go too! Allô you could arrange a tour.
They don’t happen nearly as often now because the perfume shop closed☹️. But every once in awhile, more testers surface🥰
Vinyl skin??
Right? Maybe it’s addictive, or opulent in a way that we mere mortals just can’t comprehend.
♥️ this response mere mortal I !
My mind went to full out slasher movie with the phrase. Still kinda squicked out by it.
It’s apricot season here ( and all stone fruit) and I’ve been enjoying the ripe fruit in my bowl. I love the jammy sweetness of a good apricot, one that is dripping with juice. It’s a peaceful time of year , here, as many people are on summer holiday and town is quiet. There a few cars or industrial noises when I walk the dog ( a bit like COVID a shut-down) so all the birds seem louder and clearer than usual, and so capture the attention more easily. In the cemetery yesterday I heard a lot of gulls and looked up to see a large flock of them circling and diving on a large hawk as it was gliding in the thermals. It was almost like watching a swarm of bees, quite something. Wearing Daim Blond for apricots.
Forgot to say that I saw that teapot when I was shopping yesterday ( but a white/ stone grey version) . I think that’s a teapot first for me….but Maxwell Williams is probably the most popular brand here for crockery etc.
How funny!! It’s reasonably priced too.
I will be in Daim Blond this week…glad someone who is actually in apricot season beat me to it 🙂
Thanks for the Trollope suggestion, again. I’ve almost finished The Way We Live Now.
Oh good. I have not read it in ages and I should. I do re-read the two long series (Pallisers & Barsetshire) every so often but I don’t tend to pick up the standalones that much even though I still have them.
Kanuka, it all sounds so lovely, from the walk with the dog to the juicy ‘cots to the Daim Blond. I always feel sorry for the poor hawks. They get harried a lot in our area by flocks of crows who dive bomb them. Several will harry the crow for awhile, then retreat, and new fresh ones will take over. It’s a numbers game for the poor hawk and finally it flies away exhausted.
It was pretty impressive but the hawk just seemed to ignore them as much as possible and glided upwards in a slow circle, it was almost stately. I wondered if it was more for show ( the seagulls) than territorial although later, when I went to the supermarket, I got divebombed three times by an aggressive gull that roosts on the supermarket roof and is extremely territorial against all shoppers. I was wearing a sun hat which it brushed as it flew by.
I got my Teint de Neige, which would have been perfect for *last* week’s CP, so I’m pondering wearing that although it’s not applicable for this week. But I’ve been thinking a lot about apricots (my fave fruit) and their perfumed scent as scads of them sit ripening on my dining room table in high summer (I buy cases) before I eat them, jam then, and bake them into pies and crisps. It always makes me think of The Song of Solomon, or Ancient Persia, the delicate but rapturous aroma of them.
My most obvious go to would be Daim Blond if I had any, since that has an apricot note. But I don’t. And so:
As others have mentioned, osmanthus can smell like apricots, so anything with osmanthus in it might work.
I’ve always felt that the original J’Adore by Christian Dior has a lovely apricot/peachy smell down to the fuzzy skins. Calice Becker has a way with fruity florals (I guess vintage J’Adore might be considered a chypre today).
I suspect Demeter may have one and if not they should get on it ASAP. Outremer, another inexpensive brand with great value IMHO, has a Peach fragrance (Peche).
MDCI Peche Cardinal comes close.
Bond No. 9 Chinatown has an almost bitter herbal apothecary stone fruit quality to it that reminds me of burned apricots a bit. It probably has osmanthus and certainly tuberose.
Tresor is said to have a peachy apricot note but its aromachemicals have always overpowered a true fruit note to my nose.
Jo Malone has the Nectarine fragrance, a close relation to ‘cots.
Phlur has an apricot fragrance but I’ve not tried it.
Guerlain Nahema has peach and other fruits that go well with roses.
I think there are more perfumes out there with peach notes than apricots. I’m also surprised that National Apricot Day is in January, which is only high summer in the Antipodes. Maybe that is ‘hemispheric’ of me to say that but most of the world’s cots are produced in the Northern Hemisphere, Turkey being one of the biggest exporters as well as one that has undercut prices for California apricots and led to the uprooting of many orchards here in recent decades, sadly, since farmers here cannot compete.
I’m looking forward to seeing what people come up with as I just love stone fruit and apricots especially.
For me it will probably be either Teint de Neige or J’Adore, I have several vintage bottles I’ve collected over the years, each of which smells a bit different and has deepened in color other the years.
I was thinking about Tresor, I use to have a small sample. But I don’t have it anymore. Hermès Un Jardin Sur Le Toit too, but I used up my sample.
Oh, thanks for mentioning Tresor! I have a mini of it around somewhere…
It is weird that it’s in January, but there are SO SO many national days, it’s possible that’s the only time they could fit it in! I guess you could celebrate dried apricots…
For CP points I am wearing Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan, which smells like apricots and smoky black tea to me.
I would like to drink that tea…
I’m getting ready head to the office and feel as if I’m now fully back to work after two weeks off. I started back on Monday, but we had to work from home for the first two days because the building was being cleaned.
I’ll have to investigate what I might have with an apricot note, meanwhile I’m wearing a summer favourite, PdN’s Le Temps d’une Fête.
Hope today went well at the office Gaynor!
Going back to office smelling like a boss!
I am not on board the CP project yet as I’ll have to look up what I might have. My SOTD is my xmas stocking stuffer gift to myself, Prada Paradoxe Virtual Flower. We’re having unseasonably warm weather here now (again). The cats all love to sit out on the porch in the late afternoons. It’s relaxing to see them all snoozing in their chosen spots.
In a few minutes I am off to run some errands and go to the hospital for some bloodwork they require pre-operation. I got most of my tests done before Christmas but this one has to be done closer to the surgery date. I don’t mind the extra needle stick that much but late afternoon traffic around the Medical Center here is a nightmare. I have to keep quoting my favorite Stoic writers to myself as a sit and seethe in the traffic jams.
I hope you make your appointment without too much stress, and the bloodwork goes quickly.
I thought of you, Calypso when I saw that Indigo Smoke has an apricot note.
I get so happy when Teflon kitty finds a sunny spot here, and takes advantage of it.
You smell beautiful Kris!Very glad you decided to gift yourself as you do so much for so many calypso!
My comment to Kris Carrie’s over to yours calypso, sorry!
Not doing the apricot this week as that not a scent I wear. Instead, today I am in Hermes Eau Des Merveilles.
Smelling great!
Thank you!
Wearing Clinique Happy for a wet, Grey day at work today.
Hope the Happy helped!
I checked, and it looks like I have one sample that has an apricot note. I will save it for Friday.
I took my dog for his annual check up and he has an ear infection. He is also overweight.
I’m wearing Mugler Cuir Impertinent. It’s perfect for this gloomy, rainy weather.
Love the name of your SOTD!
I have more apricot fragrances than I originally thought, although I do have to find them. I could have sworn that I have Amouage Journey Woman but it turned out to be Dia Woman.
Oh no. Ear infections in pets suck!! Sending get well wishes for your doggo.
I only have one scent as well as it’s a sample too. So sorry about your pup not being well.
Wearing Ormonde Jayne Tanger.
A day of cleaning and laundry. I am back to work tomorrow after one week staycation, resting and relaxing.
Happy Tuesday! 🌻
Happy Tuesday to you too, pfl67!
Thank you, Hajusuuri!
Glad you had some R&R over the holidays! Bet Kito was happy to see more of you as well. 😸
He was very happy! So sad I have to leave him alone again.
I have several fragrances with an apricot note but am saving that for Friday.
Mild temps today but cloudy and damp from this morning’s fog and drizzle. I’m wrapped in the warm gingerbread and pine comfort of Guerlain AA Winter Delice and happy to be home putting away the rest of the Christmas presents and more holiday decorations.
Looking forward to the season premiere tonight of one of my favorite PBS programs, Finding Your Roots. As a history lover and one who’s tracing her own ancestry, the stories of whomever they’re tracing are absolutely fascinating. Then I plan on finishing another book for my library’s Winter Reading Club along with 😻😽😸.
A blessed Epiphany to all!👑👑👑
https://youtu.be/rYQkJ_NNIck?si=Vl7NHkTxNNQAxfR0
Oh, Winter Delice might be the ultimate winter perfume. You smell delicious.
Happy Twelfth Night to you, Laila!
I like that show too!
A Blessed Epiphany to you too! That’s a very good recipe video and what an excellent accent he has flawlessly switched between Spanish and English.
SOTD = Tauer PHI Une Rose de Kandahar
Robin says there’s apricot and I am following the leader! The past few days I wore Immortelle de Corse, Baque and Sandalwood & Spiced Apricot.
Resolutions? None, as I always broke them again and again within a month of making them.
In other news, there’s a Wall Street Journal article on financial blind spots that burden grieving spouses. The TL;DR summary:
1. Surprise debt
2. Locked out of accounts
3. Invisible credit records
4. New budgets
5. Higher tax brackets
You can read all about it here (may not be free):
https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/five-financial-blind-spots-that-burden-grieving-spouses-57e52a85?st=QrG3YC&reflink=article_copyURL_share
I can definitely smell apricot in the sample I got of PHI Une Rose de Kandahar last year. But the first sample I had of it was all tobacco all the time on me.
I drove past some highway signs for the Colorado School of Mines this afternoon. Thought of you.
I got a sample of the Phi Une Rose several years ago when everyone was talking about it and I, too, only got tobacco. Tried it one more time much later from the same sample and still only got tobacco. Didn’t like it at all. It’s interesting that your second sample had a different effect.
Today I wore Atelier Cologne Oolang Infini to run some errands, it was perfect for the snowy, chilly day we had. Tonight, a spritz of Cheirosa 62, which I got for Christmas from my sister. This one will be great for summer vacation.
Interesting. I find a scent like Cheirosa 62 to be a great one for winter. Perfect for days with not enough daylight in them.
Posting quite a bit later than my usual today/tonight!
I had a bunch of errands this afternoon, one of which was getting an emissions test for my car. First time I have done it in Colorado, although it was a yearly thing for me in NJ when I had a car there. Had a relatively short wait, and my little rustbucket passed! Whoo hoo! Now I can deal with my car registration…
SOTD = back in Black Perfecto again today.
Have you tried the Black Perfecto Florale? I liked that one, but have never purchased it.
No, I haven’t. The Black Perfecto I have was part of a mini Sample Stash I purchased from Surrender to Chance. Decided to try some things I don’t see in the stores around here.
sotd = POTL
From an old decant that still smells great, with thanks to a wonderful NSTer who hosted a split years ago. It had parafilm over the top, so no evaporation. Time to use it up. ☺️
You smell fabulous!
ITA w allo. You smell fabulous TF!
Yay for Parafilm! It’s a very handy tool to have.