The Old Lady Perfume Manifesto

Woman w/Veil on 5th Ave. Diane Arbus 1968

{Side note: OMG let me finally post something here! Been very busy working and with life in general, I attempt posting but only save them to drafts....maybe if I begin posting again I'll get back into the groove}

Old Lady Perfume and Old Ladies I Have Known

What is old lady perfume?

Ah, the dreaded old lady perfume phenomenon. Where to begin?

Before becoming a fume freak, if you had asked me about old lady perfume, I'd say something that smelled old fashioned and/or something that my mother or grandmother had worn or would have worn.

Does this Chantilly look old lady to you?

Ask me now and I couldn't name an old lady perfume. I don't really know any old ladies. Old ladies today aren't the same as old ladies of yesterday. You don't see many donning blue hair anymore, lol. When I was a child our neighbor, Gladys, had blue hair, I even told her so. There was a woman who worked at the library who was a friend of my paternal grandmother, Liz Mann, my father acted like she was the town spinster. He would say, "Liz never married...." perhaps she was attractive when she was younger. When I was 10 or 11 I was an avid reader & lover of books, my father introduced me to her and I remember visiting her at her home (an apartment as neat as a pin with doilies on the tables and furniture) for afternoon tea which involved real china and all. She'd hook me up with books at the library and send me gifts in the mail for Christmas and my birthday. But I don't recall Liz wearing perfume.

The only grandmother I knew was my maternal grandmother, "Auntie Nana" as I called her, I must have mixed her up with one of my aunts and the name stuck. BTW my aunt, my mother's only sister, was allergic to perfumes and didn't wear or own any. I can't really remember any actual perfumes associate with my Auntie Nana, I remember the names but I can't conjure up the scent in my mind. Avon Cotillion, Topaze* Houbgaint's Chantilly, Helena Rubenstien's Heaven Scent, which she gave me a bottle, along with the usual avon age approiate perfumes: Sweet Honesty, Delicate Daisies and such.  My Auntie Nana was very fond of perfume, she had a couple of cabinets full of perfumes, soaps, powders and such. The cabinets in her bathroom and the scent of that room will be in another post. I do remember her always keeping a handkerchief on her person, lightly sprayed with perfume which she tucked in her bra.

My paternal grandmother passed before I was born. All I know about her are a few things my mother told me: she loved perfumes and cosmetics, face cream, face cream, face cream. She was an attractive woman, she was voted most beautiful in her high school class-"It was a very small class." my mother would say if my father brought that up during a fight. Small class or not, I've seen her photos and she was beautiful. She would also use a whole box of Bell's Seasoning on the Thanksgiving turkey, which I'm reminded of every time I see a box. My mother was the opposite, very light handed with the spices. I wonder how that Belled up turkey would have tasted? Back on topic, you know what kills me? During WWII my father was in France. Guess what he brought home? Perfume. Probably for my grandmother, her sister, my mother (they weren't married or engaged at the time but they had dated and wrote back and forth) and whoever else. Where are the leftovers now? I have poked around in his duffel bag, foot locker and haven't found any.


As for today the only ladies I know who come close to being "old lady" are more of eccentric older women. Broadway Betty, her real name is Barbara. She wears a blond bouffant wig with her dark hair showing through in the back, it looks similar to a birds nest on the back of her neck. She must get a new wig every so often, they start off looking good (as good as a bouffant wig could look) then after a month or so the birds begin their work. She also wears heavy, bright blue eyeshadow and tight pants. She must have been a go-go dancer back in the day. I don't see her much anymore, she got kicked out of my work (she was a customer) for alleged solicitation. Occasionally I see her waltzing up and down Broadway. In fact, earlier today I saw her strolling along, birds' next popping out of the back and all.
 
At work I do encounter many older women, co-workers and customers. A week ago I worked a party which was comprised of a couple of retirement and nursing home groups. Did not really get any whiffs of perfume off any of them. I have worked similar parties before and recall smelling mainly on the shrill side scents, wild guess would be possibly Liz Taylor or Estee Lauder (no offense to fans of those frags). As for co-workers, I am the 4th youngest female there so there's plenty of older women, although not many carry sillage. My BBF rocks Angel on a daily basis and she's close to 60-she doesn't divulge her age much, nor does she divulge the name of her perfume, only to me and that was because she thought her most recent bottle smelled different. Once I became accustomed to it-it was obvious, no use in trying to keep that a secret. Another woman, age 73, wears Paul Sebastian's Design, it smells fantastic on her, I would have guessed it was a chypre. Several slather themselves with the Bath and Body Works lotions, anti-bacterial types and regular hand lotions. Meh. Another wears Cartier's Baiser Voile, smells great on her, horrible on me. One loves Shalimar cologne-the round bottle with the pointy top. Unfortunately I rarely smell it off her.

Sights, Sounds, Smells and Tastes Summer 2012

 It's been a rather uneventful summer, which is better than one filled with drama. Lots of work, yikes, I don't think I've worked so much before. One week I did 10 shifts, equal to 60 hours-give or take a few. That was in the beginning of this month and I'm still recovering. This week I called out on Tuesday & Wednesday, Thursday is my day off so II feel like I'm on another vacation. Yes, we took a vacation....

It was a stay-cation and it was fantatisic. Went places nearly everyday-we had to run/put some miles as in highway mileage on the car due to a recently dead and disconnected battery and a failed sticker test thing. Took some day trips, ran the motor, got the sticker on the last day of the vacation. I told hubby the next time I wanted to go to NYC or someplace way out I will disconnect the battery again. I also learned a bit about cars, uh, I dunno the catalyst convertor, O2 sensors, evap systems, what throttle is (thank you young man covered in tattoos in Auto Zone) and all that crap. We got a bluetooth dongle for the car, hooked it up and with an app on  the cellphone we could check any error codes (none), see the status of the current drive cycle, which emissions things had turned on-we needed those for the sticker. All that and I don't drive. Impressive, no? Boring, yes.







 Our day trips included what I thought would be a walk in the woods turned into a hike. An over a mile (or more=I can't tell from the vague map) hike over rocks and hills and more rocks. In the heat. Plus mosquitoes, loads of them + other various flying bugs. We met some people at the beginning who sprayed us with bug spray (bless them!) which helped but we still got bitten. My Chanel no.18 didn't stand a chance under all that deet or whatever they sprayed us with. A thunderstorm loomed overhead but didn't amount to anything. The coyote we saw on our way out was more threatening. That was no loose dog, luckily he looked at us (we were only about 100 feet away) and walked back into the woods. In spite of all that, I would go back if given the chance, I enjoyed it that much. Of course I'd bring along a shitload of bugspray, extra water, a walking stick-I used Hubby's umbrella to get myself out of there-the paths were so rocky. We've done walks/hikes before but never on such a rough terrain.

Lobster roll, fries, Pepsi. (Not shown-corn on the cob)

 Vacation also means lots of eating, and restaurant food rather than healthy home cooking. Oh boy, its been a bad summer as far as food & dieting is concerned. Normally I drop some weight during the summer, this year i gained. Haven't stepped on the scale but I can tell, I can tell, oh shit I can tell by my clothes. Most of the time i can hardly wait to come home and get into my fat pants (pajamas) and get outta of my bra and into a tank or wife-beater. Let everything lose and relax. Ugh, it sucks.I feel like shit, really. Have to lay off the chocolate, the little tiramisu cakes we got on sale (3 packages of them) and the fast food/restaurant food. It's been too hot to cook. Lately I've been getting these Samosas @$1.25 each. Hits the spot when you've been running around all day and haven't eaten. I only eat one but I'm sure they're fattening.

My Samosa comes in a brown paper bag, unlike the presentation above.

Another of my downfalls. Yummy & taste sightly boozy.

 We got some work done around the house, laid patio stones in the front-which came out great. hopefully they'll last over the winter without much shifting.Hung some new curtains  and I'm currently making a set for the kitchen. Still painting the kitchen floor, feels like it's become my life's work. well, it isn't easy painting a heavily traveled floor and waiting for paint to dry in the humidity.

Tiny rose from my yard. My mother planted these shortly after they bought the house. Every year like clockwork these bloom in July, usually on or around the 4th and only last a week or so, not very long. This year they bloomed in July and a couple bloomed in August. Late bloomers, I guess.






As for sounds-haven't been listening to anything special off the top of my head. So I'll conclude with a favorite summer song of mine.









Part 2 of Summer 2012, The Smells coming soon. At the moment I'm working with a new, abiet extremely shittty keyboard and can't bear to type any longer. A new one will be at staples tomorrow : )

At The Moment

In heavy rotation: Fiona Apple




Summer=Trashy Novels

Me thinks vanilla is better than no ice cream at all.

Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed. 
 by E.L James
About a month ago I had one of those perfect days: no work, no bothers,  Hubby at work, plus the housework/laundry and such was finished the day before. I got up early, fed the dogs, put them outside, brought them back in, grabbed the morning's mail-which included a couple of packages of perfume!  Spent the rest of the day sitting around reading Fifty and eating chocolate, drinking iced coffee, having a smoke and test spritzes from the perfume, while wearing the fat pants (it was that time of the month). Pure bliss.

The Fifty trilogy aren't the most challenging of reads, but they're entertaining, And dirty. They're page-turners. After a while I found myself turning the pages to hurry over the sex parts to get back to the story. A couple of romps in the playroom was enough for me, S&M isn't a turn on, and I have read erotica before. It's reads like a soap opera, this happening and some twists. Personally I would have run after seeing the S&M equipment, or finding about his ex-girlfriends. I say that easily but when you're in love it's difficult to think straight. Right now I'm in the middle of the 3rd book, finishing it has been stalled because I was reading it on my phone via Kindle and last Friday my Kindle app dissapeared, along with a couple of other apps I had stored on my SD card. Hmmm. Might have something to do with the new virus or my SD card failed. Will get right on it.

Colored French Tips
I saw these on a few co-workers, some in fire-engine red and darker colors. Didn't care for them at first but when I saw neon pink tips I had to try it. I like the colored tips only if my nails are fairly short and there's not a lot of tip with color. Long nails with colored tips make me think of "Project Nails" because it seems all the project bunnies around here wear French maincures with ultra long nails and that kind of gave the French manicure an aura of tackiness.

I do my nails about once a week, and if I avoid the dishes and most work it will last (or at least will remain halfway decent) for the week.
 First week I did a deep bright pink with a iridescent base-leaving my nail beds unpainted doesn't look good-I need something to hide the vertical ridges, ugh, as if I don't have enough issues with my appearance.

Second week I did clear beds with metallic silver tips. I've done this before, it looks rather dressy. But I found that the silver started looking kind of dirty after a few days so.....

This week: neon pink tips. I feel like painting a black line at the bottom of the pink but am afraid I'll ruin them. Free-hand painting tips isn't as easy as it looks.

Perfume of the Moment:

Almost forgot, this is a perfume blog. Well, since the summer has been off to an unusual start-lots of rain & storms, too many cooler than normal days with a few hot & humid days it's been difficult to chose, especially a summery perfume. All spring I was waiting for the rain to end so I could wear Apres L' Ondee and that didn't really come about. It's still raining. So I've been spending my time in iris perfumes, lots of  Tom Ford Violet Blonde, Shalimar Parfum Inital, Chanel no.19 Poudre, and Eau de Shalimar. Not in that order and not in that rank. Shalimar Initial and no. 19 wear the best on me, I dunno but Violet Blonde turns very, very powder-y in the mid to late notes, a bit too powdery. I do love Violet Blonde, it starts off fantastic-it just doesn't end well. I have a few samples, no full bottle for me.

Quick Sniffs of late:

Angel Eau de Toilette. Ugh, no thank you. Something smells "off" in this, very sharp and chemical, very unlike the original. About 10 years ago I hoarded loads of samples of the EDP, I keep finding them all over the house and it's smooth &  rich,  like a fine chocolate. The EDT smelled like a chemical blast. (BTW I tested this earlier tonight, I am due for my period so my sense of smell may be off)

Giorgio Armani- Armani Code: loved this at almost first sniff so I went from sample to reasonably priced full bottle. It seems fabulous in small doses, no heavy handed application or it becomes "too much". I have not test drove this outside the house yet. Will get right on it.

The French Connection

Doesn't have anything to do w/the post, I just like iconic images

There is a customer at work I'm friendly with-an older gentleman who is almost always outside during my breaks. Couple of weeks ago we got to talking, his son was going to France for a business trip, he was bringing him back 5 cartons of cigarettes because they're much cheaper and a light bulb went off in my head:

Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire
Hello! $80 USD for a 1.7 oz. and $3. for the car ride to get to the perfume store. I tried to give Joe more money as a tip for arranging this for me but he wouldn't accept it. His son will be going to France again, he travels all over. I'm making a mental list for the next trip!~

As for the juice....this is different, compared to other Guerlains. I have not really sniffed the original LPRN, only once in the store and it screamed berries to me so I promptly put it back on the shelf. Now there are no more of the original available to compare it to. I own LPRN2 and it's a different animal compared to 2012. LPRN2 is a marshmallow-y oriental, gourmand comfort scent. Nice in small doses during chilly days.

LPRN 2012 is, well, it's as if Miss Dior Chere (from 2005) and Coco Mademoiselle merged their eggs together and maybe Givenchy PI or Rochas Man (or some yummy man's fragrance, maybe a paternity test is in order here) provided the sperm, this would be the result. Yes, there are berries and cherries (on the sour side, too) but the large dose of modern musk, with bergamot, a bit of patchouli and a hint of iris here and there,  plus a spot of tea, all of that drying down onto and into vanilla turns this into a masterpiece.. What is the "modern musk"  note that I'm smelling here? I can't decipher the ingredient list. Gosh, I wish I could note pick better.

Did I say masterpiece? Yup. A modern masterpiece, as in mastering the current trend of fruity-florals and making it into an actual perfume. LPRN 2012 is a perfume, not sugar water, it's got a sophisticated edge. Don't ask me what notes give it the edge, I can't tell between the sour berries, musk, iris and all, somehow they blend into a perfume, they work. I never thought I'd actually like something with sour cherry notes but I like this.

 LPRN 2012 doesn't share many notes with Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle just patchouli, rose, tonka, vanilla and bergamot. She shares even less notes with Miss Dior Cherie, only cherry, patchouli and rose. But while wearing LPRN 12 I couldn't help thinking of Coco M and MDC, they all kind of remind me of each other.

 This isn't a "comfort" scent, I don't get the classification as an Oriental Vanilla, the vanilla doesn't stand out enough to me. LPRN 12 is something you might actually wear for a dressy occasion. It's got that perfumeness that makes you stand up straighter, makes you feel a few pounds lighter and like you're all decked out. I don't like to make age suggestions about perfumes, but LPRN 12 is a bit on the youthful side. But I'd say a trendy woman of any age can pull this off, no problem. (am I putting my foot in mouth here?)

Would I buy this at $135 USD*? Well, uh, I'd have to say no. Not at this time. Since I already have Chanel Coco Mad and Miss Dior I don't need another similar scent. I did procure this with the intention of selling it, but after a day of smelling it on myself I had to keep it. Plus it has a back story: my friend's son got it in France by my request,  and now every time I see Joe he sniffs around to see if I'm wearing it. I was wearing it the next time I saw him, he could smell it and said it smelled beautiful.  Then he thought I should ask my female co-workers what they thought of it. Um, no thank you. But for $80 it's a keeper : )

 By the way, it's amazing how your feelings about a scent will change when you're forced to wear it, no scrubbing. I got this while I was at work and sneaked a spritz as soon as I could, which was around 3pm. First impression was too much berries, too sour, too ugh. I didn't feel like scrubbing and the only other perfumes in my possession were samples of Madonna and La Prairie Platinum and I wasn't in the mood for either so I just dealt with it. By the end of the day (8pm) LPRN 12 had taken such a turn I found it quite likeable and enjoyable. Loveable. There aren't many Guerlains that I don't like, only Champs Elyesses and Secret Intention come to mind.

I have no idea when this will be available in the US. I asked the Guerlain woman at Saks and she didn't think it was going to be released here. Is that possible? It is kind of odd that it was launched in March and it still isn't here yet.

Limonene, Courmarin, ethyl hexyl methoxycinnamate, Geraniol, Citronellol, Linalool Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Butylene Glyco butylene glycol dicaprylate dicaprate gerinalol Geraniol Citral

*My guesstimate at what the price will be when this arrives in the US. My LPRN 2 was $135 in 2011. Wild guess....

Coming Soon

As per usual I don't have much time to write. Just wanted to jot down a few notes while it's fresh on my mind, otherwise things get in the way and push the prior thoughts out. I'll come back & edit this with more later on.

Lanvin Rumeur. The original. In extrait concentration. Just a little,  little-little (as my doctor said in talking about portion sizes with me & Hubby) and all I have is a little, a 1/4 oz bottle with enough juice inside to give the bottom of the bottle a liquid coating-only a tiny amount of swishing & sloshing of liquid going on in there.

Took a dab from the stopper to my left hand at noon yesterday. Took a few whiffs and, figuring the scent would fade since I only used a touch, I went on and applied SOTD: Guerlain's Apres L' Ondee. I thought the rain was over. I was wrong, it was intermittent sun and rain all day.

First thoughts: plum,  sweetened plums. Candied, but not uber sweet like many modern fragrances. Old school sweet.

Second thoughts: spice. I'm taking secret sniffs when I have a chance and it's spicy. Cinnamon or cloves maybe.

3pm. I'm out & about shopping, doing errands and getting whiffs of both Apres L' Ondee and the Rumeur. For such a small amount the Runeur is nearly as strong as Guerlain. Then again I think that Apres L'Ondee has a fairly weak silliage unless sprayed liberally and all over.

Sometime during the afternoon Rumeur turns smokey. Insence. Pipe smoke. Pipe tobacco. Or rich cigarette tobacco, something exotic like a Zware or Halfzware Shag.


6pm I'm home and enjoying the smokey pipe and leather, plus occasional spice and plums.







Perfumes that came to mind while smelling & wearing Rumeur: Rochas Femme (the spices) Robert Piguet's Bandit (the leather) Balmain's Miss Balmain and slightly Jolie Madam (leather again and again) and for some reason I haven't figured out yet: Tabu.



It is now 4am and if I press my nose to that spot on my hand I can still smell it. Amazing.

Because into each life some Pink Sugar must fall....

http://serenitynme.deviantart.com/art/Skulls-and-Roses-62236358

Weekend wearing.

Paco Rabanne Black XS L'Exces for Her.


Before I move on to my next big thing, because there is always another perfume waiting in the wings. My "To Do" boxes are quite full.

This perfume is fun and this perfume works backwards. It starts off smelling sweet and fruity, puzzling because there aren't any fruit notes listed. Something mixing is making a fruit accord? I dunno. It starts off sweetly,  almost a scrubber because it smelled a little too Bath and Body Works to me, like a fruit scented body lotion, blackberry or strawberry,  maybe snozberry. Since I can't pinpoint the non-existent berry I'm smelling it must be  the elusive snozberry.

 

http://suicideblonde.tumblr.com/

Top notes-
neroli  pepper

 middle notes-
jasmine, rose, night blooming cereus

base notes-
vanille and cashmere wood.

 Could be the vanilla, neroli or jasmine smelling sweet, ahhh, who knows?

So it begins sweet, much later it turns deep, the rose arrives and melds into wood. This is a perfume! Finally, it smells like a perfume. A real perfume. It's not the richest, deepest perfume but more of a perfume than any Pink Sugar, Fantasy or any of the modern floral fruity juices. At this point it smells sultry, rich and much more sophisticated than when it started off. At the same time the "fruit" accord turns slightly sour but it smells good. I never thought I'd ever think of a sour smell as pleasant, it's not my usual thing, but it works here.

I wore this to work tonight. The favorite of the week usually gets a public test run on Saturday nights when I'm working. My co-worker, a fruit and berry lovin' gal-I know this because she had brought some berry scented hand lotion  in a while back (wasn't too bad) plus fruit scented air fresheners & candles. And spritz of Vanilla Brown Sugar after she comes in from having a smoke. (I'd rather smell the smoke). She "goes for" fruit & sweet  type scents. She loved this, wanted to know what it was.

"Paco Rabanne."
 "Paco Rabanne? That's mens' cologne, isn't it?"
She's thinking of the classic in the green bottle.
"No, it's womens'.  Black XS L'Exces. It's new."
I am probably pronouncing it wrong, but it doesn't matter. Good luck finding a bottle! I don't think it's been released in the US yet. All I have are 2 tester sprays. Plus I am the "go to person" when any friends want perfume.

Also, a male co-worker started singing "Strawberry Fields" when I went into his section. This guy usually sings while working, but I think it's not much of a coincidence that I'm wearing a perfume I think smells like berries and he starts singing that song. His singing is usually triggered by something, say someone looking for light he'll break out into "Light My Fire", someone looking for directions might bring on "Do You Know The Way to San Jose" and so on. Yes, most of the people I work with are older than me, it's cool. I was the baby of the place for years. Anyway,  it's not me, there IS something berry-ish in this. Not a bad thing, I do like this.

An easy and enjoyable wear, different from my usual routine. Plus it was going strong from 5pm to midnight,  and still lingering on my clothes.

Will I be searching all over for a full size bottle? Well, there aren't any on Ebay US, only samples, and I don't buy internationally unless it's an out of this world deal of the rarest of the rare,  so that's out for now.  My sample sprays will carry me over until the next big thing. There are some new Guerlains at Saks calling me right now: Mon Precieux Nectar, Myrrhe & Delires (which I got sprayed with my last time in, very nice!) and the new Bond no.9 I Love Earth Day or whatever it's called sounds promising. I'll be in during the week for a whiff.....

Madonna in White

Photo by Martin Schreiber, 1979

Madonna Truth or Dare. This is a difficult post, I spent too long just poking around for the images to post, trying to decide which to use, mulling over all the various "looks". I couldn't find my copy of Sex,  I think I sold it on ebay a couple of years ago. Madonna has gone through so many re-inventions over the years, too many to count. Interesting. Obviously she's got style,  or would that be from her stylist? Everyone has a stylist today, don't they? I don't follow fashion and celebrities enough to know. For her to make a perfume should be a snap, right?

Not so according to www.wwd.com

"“The time was right,” she said of partnering with Coty Prestige. “I’ve been working off and on on various fragrances over the years, and [have been] approached by a lot of companies and have tried to create fragrances. They were always abandoned projects. I’ve always loved perfume; it’s always been a big part of my life. But every time I tried to create the scent I was looking for, it never reached the stage where I thought it was good enough or I was told that the ingredients would be impossible to re-create in a mass way. Then I’d say, ‘let’s try and do a synthetic version,’ and it never smelled as good as I wanted it to. And if I’m not going to wear it, I’m not going to sell it. So, I finally was able to create, with my partners [MG Icon and Coty], a fragrance that I could stand behind. We tested a lot of things over the past few years, and [Lourdes “Lola” Leon, her 15-year-old daughter] has told me what she likes. She is a very opinionated young lady, and she likes this perfume.”
She had her late mother, also named Madonna, in mind when creating the scent, too. Her mother, she recalled, wore Fracas. “I wanted to create a fragrance that would remind me of her.”

Reading Chandler Burr's The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris & New York, was eye opening to me, I hadn't really thought much of the process of making perfume, the behind the scenes stuff. I kind of imagined an artisan in a studio or lab mixing various concoctions of steeped herbs and flowers, bubbling pots of scented potions. Or flowers soaked in vodka and similar ancient recipes for making perfumes and toilette waters. The flowers soaked in booze never worked out, me & my friends tried it way back when. Anyhoo, my ideas of perfume making were off, to say the least. Well, who would've thunk it?

Sarah Jessica Parker pulled a decorative egg and grosgrain ribbon out of her purse to demonstrate the inspiration for her scent for the peeps at Coty during their perfume meetings, something along those lines. Plus her layering of Bonne Bell Skin Musk, Comme des Garcons and Egyptian Musk. At least she had a hand in the pot, the perfume pot, some of the other celebrity perfumes, well, I don't know.

Back to Madonna....

According to The Celebrity Fragrance Guide, Madonna wears:

Madonna by Steven Meisel, 1992

IF(orders it in bulk), Fracas, Hypnotic Poison, Folavril,Youth Dew, Fleurissimo, Perfect Veil, Dirt by Demeter, Eau D'Hadrien, Mat, Folavril, Nanadaberry Pink, Child, Grand Amour, Nocturnes, Narcisse Noir, Nahema, JP Gaultier, Lorenzo Villoresi(Sting & Trudy commisioned LV to create a custom musky oriental scent as a birthday gift), Pois De Senteur, Habit Rouge, Tuberose Indiana, Pink Lotus, Kisu, Escentric Molecules Molecule 01
Mae West ~ Femme by Rochas, Shocking by Schiaparelli

Not too shabby of a list, no? Lots of white and orientals, an impressive list, don't know how accurate the list is.

Truth or Dare. I like it,  I really do. It's creamy, loaded with tuberose, gardenia, vanilla, amber and musk. I think of it as a white perfume, there doesn't seem to be any color involved, if that makes sense. IMO, in the color scheme of things Fracas has a stripe of green to it, Versace Blonde has buttery notes and animalistic notes-splotches of yellow and beige, and Bond no.9 Saks for Her has a smokey accord, so it's got a grey-ish hue to it. Serge Lutens Tubéreuse Criminelle, it like an abstract painting, it's got splotches of everything: gasoline, vicks vapor rub, wintergreen gum, Scope mouthwash, ugh, don't get me started, it was a big disappointment for me. And I tried so hard, enduring that horrid opening, waiting for something beautiful and got nada. Back on topic,Truth or Dare is big white floral, devoid of other colors. One that doesn't scream, it's quiet. Not that screaming is a bad thing....I am a fan of the big white florals. Truth or Dare is the modern white floral, light enough for work, light enough for warm weather, applied heavily it could be date or "romantic wear" worthy.

It's easy to wear, just spritz and enjoy, no thinking or advanced dissecting required. After a few hours on my skin, I get a hint of chocolate, but no chocolate note listed. Maybe the amber and vanilla is making chocolate to me? It's a comfort scent, it's comfortable. Borderline gourmand with my chocolate note. Am I going to rush over to that horrible Macy's to buy a bottle? Nah, I have enough samples to last me, and other white florals already in my stable of perfumes. If I was given this as a gift that would be fine, although it's not birthday worthy ; )

Shalimar Parfum Initial

Sally Mann Immediate Family, 1992

Sometimes you take a test, a sniff from the bottle and things click. You're sniffing and/or huffing at your wrist until the scent is gone, then making plans to get a bottle. Funny, my first sniff of Initial was in Macys' last summer/fall.  An SA asked me if I had tried it and handed me a card. I smelled the card, looked at her, then at the card again and said, "Did you spray the card?" I couldn't smell a thing. She smelled the card and she said yes, she had sprayed it. Okay. I happened to be dripping in Mitsouko that day, a living lesson in extrait, a little goes a long way. Nobody said anything, but I realized that I had put on too much because noticed that I was kind of smelling Mitsouko constantly, like the scent has cinged the inside of my nose. But, several hours later I could smell Initial on the card and it was alright, nothing earth shattering.

The perfect birthday gift for next month.

A couple of weeks ago I was in that awful Macy's again and took a hit from the bottle-only because there wasn't anything else of interest to smell.  I was checking the Coco Madmesiole EDT, I had sprayed myself with it. When I smelled the sprayer of Initial, WHAM! It hit me. Like a ton of bricks. OMG, it smelled like a Guerlain: it smelled kind of poopy,* musky, rich and vanillia-sh. Since this was Macy's it was probably the only Guerlain in the joint.  I was sorry I had sprayed the Coco Mad on myself, I would rather sprayed Initial. Once home I was checking the retail prices, searching ebay for a bottle, a sample, anything. I found a 15ml spray for $20, like above, one of those gift with purchase items. Buy it now. I have been wearing it for several days straight, have not gotten bored, tired or sick of it. Not that a week or so is a lot, but it's like I can't get enough if it, I'm sniffing myself, spraying it in the morning, before I go out and a spritz before bed.

Initial is a strange perfume. I don't think of it as a Shailmar flanker, I didn't even approach it that way, Shalimar was the last thing on my mind when I fell for this potion. Yes, it is a nod to Shalimar, but only in it's vanilla aspect. That's the only connection I draw between the two, the vanilla. My bottle of Shalimar is ancient, an almost black extrait that smells like nail polish remover in the opening-so it's difficult to compare the two.

My thoughts a couple of weeks later: more wearings and I see more connections between Initial and her grandmother,  Shalimar: the citrus-y opening, the powdery dry down,  leather? Nah, maybe Initial wears a patch of suede, although it's not in the notes, something is velvet-y in there. Tonight I smelled the caramel notes, they smell almost chocolaty. Nearly every wearing I notice something new. I'm wondering if it has Iso E Super? I swear I smell it in the dry down, a hint of it at least.

Speaking of new, Initial wears like a new, modern fragrance with classical roots. It smells modern in a good way, modern as in rich, well made, not modern like a screechy, synthetic, fruit celebrity-drugstore scent. There's something about a new perfume-one that you just luv-something special, makes me feel all fancy smanchy & dolled up when wearing it.

ninapeople.com/natalia-vodianova-en-tenue-d-eve-pour-guerlain-a51189.html

Photo by Paolo Roversi

http://nymag.com

Now about the advertising, every time I see the  black & white ads with Natalia Vodianova I am reminded of Sally Mann's photography, the portraits of her daughter (the older one), the dreamy look in her eyes, her age of being child, but beginning to look like a woman.  I also think of early photography,  where slow film required long shutter times, and in portraits if the subject blinked or moved their eyes during the sitting,  their eyes would appear in the final print as either blurred or practically all white, a blank, zombie like look. Natalie Vodianova is stunning, why, why, why give her such an empty look?  It must be working because it gets a reaction out of the viewer. I suppose there are worse looks they could portrayed in the advertisements, let's see, something aimed at younger girls/women....name any celebutant or reality star and there you go. I'll take the haunted doll look any day over that.

The Shalimar Flankers, they're nothing to sneeze at! Well, I've only smelled Eau Legree and Initial, but they're both fantastic scents in their own right. In my mind I tend to separate them from Shalimar, and think of them as stand alone perfumes-that smell very much like Shalimar. As long as Guerlain doesn't discontinue or reformulate the hell out the regular Shalimar, then alls right with the world. On the flipside, it isn't all that creative for Guerlain to be churning out flanker after flanker, not very original. Why not make a different perfume instead of an offshoot of one already in production? Shalimar Initial and Eau Legree are full bottle worthy to me, but now there's another Initial on the way, which I'll have to test once I see it in the store, and what will come after that? Shalimar Initial Noir?
Although I do like some flankers, come to think of it, the only flankers I own are the two Shalimar ones mentioned here, and an Eau de Shalimar is on it's way to me, probably in today's mail. We'll see....


Ohhhh, I'm thinking about the birthday already, over a month away. I don't know how long my little 15 ml will last, or if I'll still be yearning for Initial by the time my birthday rolls around. I may ask for a Chanel, Eau Premiere maybe, I don't know how Hubby would feel marching into the Chanel Boutique, but I think he can get Eau Premiere at that Macy's, Shalimar Initial, too. By that time I may be chasing after something else....


*About the poop note, in some perfumes I smell a poop immediately, right out of the bottle. Notably in Chamade, Vol De Nuit,  Lui, Ivorie De Balmain, and worst of all in Joy. I used to think it was Civet, but it must be the indolic-ness of jasmine? I will be doing a post on this eventually.

Recent Perfume Adventures

Quickly, because it's my night, no obligations, nothing to do and I'm going to bed early. I need sleep, a quality sleep session. Editing to add: it's now Tuesday, 2am and I am again trying to get into bed early, but here I am writing & reading online, with emails to write, a sink full of dirty dishes. Procrastination.

Madonna Truth or Dare. Am wearing it now. Wore it yesterday.  Regardless of the scent in the bottle, like any celebrity offering, this is a perfume comes with a bit of baggage: Madonna. I have mixed opinions of Madonna. Once I straighten my thoughts out on her (don't hold yer breath!) and wear the scent again I'll report back.

Because I'm too lazy to snap a pic of my bag! favim.com/image/341605/

Chanel: Eau Premiere, Beige, Coco Mademoiselle. I have been on a Chanel kick lately. I have been to the Chanel Boutique. Me? Yes. If the doorman hadn't opened the door as I slowly walked by, still contemplating whether to go in or not, I may not have gone in at all. It's not as intimidating as I thought it would be. Of course the SA who waited on me was friendly and accommodating, but I am there to spend money and her job is to get me to spend it. So $90. later I emerge from the boutique with a bright, gleaming white (and black) shopping bag with the word "Chanel" emblazoned on it, with a camellia flower and a bow with more Chanel printed on it tied to it's handles,  loosely filled inside with a bottle of Coco Mademoiselle and a few samples of the Les Exclisifs line. I had intentions of buying a bottle of Eau Premiere or Coco Mad EDT, but they didn't  the smaller bottles of Eau Premiere, and  had only refill bottles of Coco Mad EDT, no containers to go with the refills.  I bought Coco Mad EDP (you only live once, plus I was iffy on the silliage of the EDT*), sniffed several of the Les Exclusifs,  tucked test strips of Sycomore and no.19 Poudre in my pockets and left with an admiration of Chanel Beige and 31 Rue Cambon, both of which I have to wear a few more times before deciding on which or what to do about them. Those were my samples, Beige, 31 Rue and Jersey. Still pondering them all.

In other news:

Shalimar Parfum Initial. This was not love at first sniff. It was love at second sniff. Review and thoughts in a future post.

Bvlgari Eau De Parfum II. Meh. The notes sounded good, it started off good but shortly faded and dried down into a nothingness. A powdery nothingness. Nada.

Carolina Herrera 212 Sexy. Same as above. Meh. My sample of this has been floating around for about a year or more, I finally give it a whirl and it's blah. The top notes were strong and promising, a short time later it had dried down to a faint hint of powder or something not exciting.

Both  BLV II and 212 are "Meh", as in, I wouldn't run out and buy myself a bottle, but the smell isn't horrible or sickening. You know, mezza mezza. Oh well.....





* Two weeks ago I sprayed myself with Coco Mad EDT during a run-through of Macy's. The little girl SA at the Chanel counter told me they didn't have the EDT in the store. She must not venture out of her Chanel section because I found the EDT not very far away,  displayed prominently on the fragrance counter in the fragrance section, along with the rest of the fragrances. The Chanel counter does have it's own fragrance area. Oh well. Anyhoo, the EDT didn't last long or have much silliage, I'll just apply the EDP with a light hand or else I will overpower myself and that's not good. Small doses of Coco Mad are lovely, big sprays all over are headache inducing.

Checking in

A couple of winter perfumes 2011 & 12

It's funny how one little thing can turn your world upside-down. Having MIL here for a grand total of 17 days has changed my perspective on things, and not really for the better, well, perhaps a positive thing or so. Since her arrival I have not been able to think straight nor have had much peace around here. It led me to take an inventory of my life-what do I want out of it, what are the plans for the future, and I have questioned if I've learned anything from my past.

It has also got me thinking in depth (if that's at all possible because my mind has turned to a nervous mush since 2/29) about selfishness. What reasonable expectations can you have of those around you? When does, uh, I dunno, respect for one's self or self concern cross the line into selfishness? When does selfishness turn into a narcissistic personality disorder? Or histrionic personality disorder? How about having a false sense of entitlement. I'm dealing with some heady shit here. I thought she was a simple,  easy going woman....you learn a lot when you live with someone.

I feel like I'm taking Psych 101 again, but this time it's in real time, with real examples being played out instead of reading it from a textbook.

 BTW her health is fine, physical that is.

Ewwww, this post is getting ugly. Am going to end it here. Or try to....

Scent. Memory. Time

I've always loved how the scent of something can transport you back in time. For me, it does this more than seeing a photograph, or just looking at something (say, an object) or hearing a song from the past. Scent brings you there, right back there, even if it's only for a few seconds or a minute, it's like experiencing that block of time once again.

The feeling is more intense with scents I haven't smelled in a while. I keep a bottle of Jovan Musk Oil around, and once in a while take a whiff of it when I'm in the vault, and it's summer/fall 1984 and I'm 16, wearing my turquoise colored leopard print top, running around with my friends, playing in a band (or so we thought, lol). But the feeling isn't as strong as it was when I smelled the bottle after it had been tucked in the cellar for several years. That time it was like, Bamb!  I AM 16 again. Billy Idol & U2 playing on the radio, Aerosmith on the turntable, me turning the ringer down on that ugly green push button phone in our kitchen so my father wouldn't wake up from my friends late night calls. Ok, enough.

The bottle w/ the square cap.

Now a whiff of Spiritual Sky's Dark Musk, which I haven't smelled in, oh, say 20 years or so would bring me back to my late teens. Was it Dark Musk, Egyptian Musk or plain ol' Musk from Spiritual Sky? I can't remember but any one would do, I think. I had & wore all of them, plus their Frangipani, which I didn't wear much, thought it was too sweet. Unfortunately I know I'll never get to smell again the Sandalwood or Patchouli oils I wore for a couple of years in my early twenties. And Mango, although I can still recall the mango's sweetness, the depth and dirt of the patchouli, and the smooth & slightly sweet wood in the sandal. Sometimes I'd mix them. The patchouli smelled like actual dirt. I had dried patchouli and it smelled just like it. Mixing the patchouli and the sandal and/or mango would even it out, take the edge off the dirt. My scarves reeked of them. They were odd-ball brands I'll never see again. I bought oils at witch stores, botanicas,  street vendors. Why, oh why did I throw them out? I think there was only drops left and I was cleaning house, but that was probably real sandalwood! Might have been....

Where was I going with this? Scent, Memory and Time. There are a couple of scents and times I do not want to experience again. One is Vanille Banane from Comptoir Sud Pacifique. Nothing wrong with the scent, but it's what I was wearing on and around the time my mother died. She was in the ICU and you really can't wear perfume there, but I figured the Vanille Banane was light enough and I was loving that scent at the time. Not long after I switched to Bath & Body Works, it was an EDT with coconut, beachy and green notes, gosh, I can't remember the name. Not Il de Tahiti. Anyhoo, I couldn't stomach going back to Vanille Banane, brought me right back to that horrible time. Same with Chance by Chanel. Got that for Christmas from Hubby-but I think it was Coco Mad that I wanted, maybe it's just as well I got Chance, so I can still enjoy Coco Mad. I had a miscarriage in January, then another in April.  Don't want to return there.

 All that being said, currently, due to the state of affairs around here, I am not really wearing any perfumes. Gasp! MIL is living with us. It was suppose to be only a couple of days, it's now 14 days and counting. She is difficult & selfish and trying to cause problems between me and Hubby.  I don't want to "ruin" any perfumes by wearing them now & associating them with this, um, time. I'll spray a spritz to try something new I just got (and it's none of her business if I get packages in the mail) and wear some during the day while she's at her apartment and I'm alone and can enjoy it. Right now I'm enjoying some leftover Prada Candy from my shirt-yes it's been washed, the Candy lingers.

Speaking of laundry, I am not ironing Hubby's work clothes tonight to prove I'm a good wife. It's not working and his clothes are permanent press anyway. That's the crap I'm dealing with now. It's silent crap, she doesn't say it to me, Hubby relays it back to me. I might call a locksmith by the end of the week.



Photo of Spiritual Sky Oil from Black Cat Closet.com
The photo is of Shalimar (wonder how that smells?) and it's got the square cap. My bottles of Spiritual Sky oils had the square cap. I remember them vividly because sometimes they'd stick and that square cap was a bitch to get off! I'd have my boyfriend open it for me ;)

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium

Checking in here. My mother in law is staying with us (fresh out of the hospital/nursing home). As soon as she's all settled in with her meds,  new doctor, visiting nurses, home health aides and a life line call thingy, she will be back at her own apartment. Should be sometime this week.

The meds-I don't know if she'll grasp that. I loaded up the days of the week pill container, lets see, 12 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon plus prilosec, vitamins and other OTC medications. Loaded it all up Thursday night. She spent all Saturday (day & night) & Sunday afternoon at her apartment, had a couple of daughters & their kids staying with her. She returns here Sunday, I look at the pill box and Sunday is still loaded with pills! "Did you take your pills today?" "Oh, si." The better question would have been "Do you know what day it is?" Now, since I loaded this on Thursday night, did I leave Thursday empty since it had passed already, or did I load it all figuring I wouldn't have to worry about it for a whole week? And what did she take today?

Mystery Bottle Monday has been changed to Mystery Meds Sunday

Thursday is empty, perhaps she took those. But what about Thursday night? What did she take as tonight's pills if those are still there?

She didn't take any of mine, I hid them away in my bedroom.

Maybe I should run pieces of electrical tape over the days that are not "today" so she'll have no choice other than taking the correct one. I can see her now,  holding the pill thing taped up and giving Hubby that look that she has when I've done something like I'm cuckoo, which she kind of thinks I am, I think.

  I am ready to tear my hair out over this. I know from taking care of my mother that this job isn't easy and I wasn't suppose to be in charge of MIL's care in the first place, she has other children, 17 in fact, somebody else better get their ass over here.

What does this have to do with perfume?  Well, tonight Hubby suggested I show her some of my "good stuff" so I let her try a spritz of Mitsouko, which she guessed was a man's fragrance.(She likes the fruit cocktail, young type perfumes. The new Nina by Nina Ricci is her favorite.) End of show & tell, lol. If she likes something she will ask me to get her one, a show & tell might give her the idea that these were things she'd be bringing home with her, we have a language barrier issue. Not a good idea to be doing.



Edited: I deleted the negativeness, this isn't the place for it. Again, things should be back to normal in a few days.

Ohhhh, and to deal with the stress I practiced a little retail therapy. Yes, right after my post about money, I grabbed a credit card and snuck over to Saks and Barneys, walking distance from MIL's apartment. I got Musc Ravaguer the 3-10ml vials for $100 & paid in cash. At Saks, I couldn't make up my mind (and was feeling guilty over the Malle) so, feeling like I go in there a lot and haven't bought anything in a long time, I bought Prada Candy, 1.7 oz for $80 on my Saks card. Will pay it off before the month is over. Wore the Candy to work Saturday and felt fabulous.

Tonight, not feeling so fabulous. Ate some delish chocolate ice cream after the pill incident.

Things will be back to normal in a few days....or I'm getting something at Neiman Marcus.

Money

The video of Money by Pink Floyd has been removed by You Tube. : (

Yesterday was the 2nd (or possibly 3rd) time I've attempted to buy either Jeux De Peau or Musc Ravageur, didn't even make it to Barney's this trip. Hung around downtown, met up with an old friend I didn't know I had, lol.

Its the money. Currently not a lot of disposable cash around here. Me, being laid off since November-it's only til spring, I do work an odd day here & there -so I'm not too bad off. But combined with a new development for the past month: Hubby has had to support the mother-in-law financially (and mentally, and every other way that you can possibly support a person)* so the spending money has gotten a lil scarce.

Things are tough when you're about to leave the house, thinking you have at least a $5 and some singles only to find it's just $4 and a shitload of quarters. (Somebody's gotta go back and get a shit-load of dimes!-Blazing Saddles) Enough money or not, I went out  (armed with my debit card) because it isn't easy hanging around the house all the time, even for me.

My husband knows what a Serge Lutens bottle looks like and how much it costs, he also knows the smell (and price) of Musc Ravageur, there's no sneaking either of them past him. Well, I suppose I could, but I'd rather be honest about things. Most things. Big things.

A bottle of Caron's Narcisse Noir fit into my purse discreetly. $45. And some mini perfumes. Less than the price of Musc or Jeux.

I should have started a "no perfume purchases" thing for lent. Notice how I didn't call it, "no new perfume" as if that makes any sense grammatically. Too late now. New or old, I have to cut back. That being said, a bottle of Fleur de Feu or something rare, a once-in-a-lifetime find will turn up somewhere.

I'm going to work with what I have, take inventory, weed out some stuff, test, get to know and evaluate all my samples, decants and whatever else, instead of rushing after my newest lust. Work on that "to do" box of decants/samples. (like I need to find a new love in there!)

Stop shopping. I just groaned at the thought.

No big purchases right now. Just can't do it. The month is almost over, maybe in a couple of weeks I'll be picking up that Serge or Malle bottle.

I should go back to work. Save some bucks. Get back into the swing of things. Or paint the house. Something. Actually I have today (Saturday) all to myself, I might do some painting.

*Yes my MIL has become one of THOSE MILs. Oh, I'm ready to tear my hair out over her.

♥♥ ♥♥

♥♥♥♥
Happy Valentine's Day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't have much to say about today, not a big deal, no plans. Maybe I'll put on my red fake fur coat and go out? Hang around or something.... ♥♥ ♥♥

Notes from out in the Wild

Whoo-hoo I went out! It was the coldest day of the week, I was short on cash, short on time and I felt crappy. As in crappy on the outside: my hair needed a washing and I feel fat, too much sitting/hanging in the house, the winter isn't good for me. But my jeans still fit : ) Crappy or not I had to get out for an afternoon, so I did.

I had my sights set on either Jeux De Peau or Musc Ravageur, both of which I have tested at length (in the form of a couple of sample vials and a  8ml decant).  No money. I brought my Saks card (just in case, in case of what? Me falling for another Guerlain?)

Photo: Tom Kelley / Getty Images

Some quick thoughts & impressions:

on the back of my right hand is: Serge Lutens Fleurs D'Oranger. Um, it's ok. Didn't knock me off my feet. Nice and indeed similar to Eau De Naphie which I have a bottle of stashed away.

on the back of my left hand is: SL's Cuir Mauresque. I am sorry I wasted my hand on this. First impression: bleech. Not good. Sounded good on paper (the notes, that is) not good to my nose.

On a slim strips of test paper are:

Sa Majesté La Rose: I have never smelled a perfume that smelled more identical to a rose as this. It's all rose, as if you've stuck your nose right into one, inhaling the soul of a rose. Yes it's green in the beginning, but that's just you as you're approaching the garden, once you're at the rosebush, it's all rose. It smells alive. Like there are freshly cut roses in a vase nearby, but even that doesn't fully describe the "alive" part. It's hard to explain. I don't think this is something I'd wear, I don't know-I like to think of myself as adventurous, if given a sample/decant I'd give it a whirl. I have been thinking of roses lately,  Rose is my middle name-and my family would address me using both my first & middle names to distinguish me from the other N's in the family.  I have a rose tattoo, I feel I'm entitled to have a rose perfume, too. But this doesn't seem as the rose scent for me. I am not writing it off completely, though.

Feminite du Bois: Classical, smokey, woods, I don't get peach or florals in this, it's striking me as inscense-y.  Did I spray one thing & write down another? My next trip will tell.


Now....what the hell is on my left wrist? Wowee, 7 hours later and after washing some dishes I'm smelling something outstanding on my wrist. Not Palmolive. I have good reason to believe it's Tubereuse Criminelle, I am almost positive it's what I sprayed on my left wrist because right after I sprayed the SA* appeared again and I asked for a test strip because I was running out of skin.  This is warm, spicy, slightly creamy,  like something I've smelled before. My vintage Dioressence comes to mind, but this is sweeter and not as perfume-y, not in an old school sense of perfume, if that makes any sense.

Tubereuse Criminelle :
The fragrance features jasmine, orange blossom, hyacinth, tuberose, nutmeg, clove, styrax, musk and vanilla.

Dioressence:
Top notes are aldehydes, orange, fruity notes, patchouli, green notes and bergamot; middle notes are carnation, tuberose, cinnamon, violet, orris root, jasmine, ylang-ylang, rose and geranium; base notes are musk, patchouli, benzoin, vanilla, oakmoss, vetiver and styrax.

Well, they share some notes....will have to get to the bottom of this. It's got to be Tubereuse Criminelle, I just bought a decant (hasn't arrived) and I recall picking up the bottle and thinking I'd be getting a preview.

Edited: My Tuberose Criminelle decant arrived today. That just couldn't be what was that on my left wrist. It smells NOTHING like Dioressence. If I experienced that horrid opening in the store I would have ran for my life : 0 Medicinal, menthol, Ben-Gay, Vicks Vapor Rub, gasoline, rubber (?).
The medicine cabinet notes dried down within 1/2 an hour, but what remained was faint. By that time I was out the door running and running. As in running to the bank, to the vet for the baby's prescription diet food (yes, the baby is a dog, don't think I've mentioned her before here), to the drugstore for the human prescriptions and so on. Not a lotta time for wrist sniffing. Will have to test drive this one when I'll be home all day.

I'm beginning to wonder if one of the Kilian strips rubbed on my wrist when I was searching for something in my purse? It did slightly resemble Love. But it had s spicy vibe. *Sighs* I may never know. And by the time I get back to the store I will have forgotten what it smelled like.

Moving right along....

More paper strips:

By Kilian: Beyond Love. It's beyond yum. Coconut makes me weak at the knees. It's Beyond Reach right now, lololol. Saks does have a set of travel vials equal to 1oz for $70, not too bad.


Love by Kilian. There's enough "Love" at the Kilian display to cause confusion. Prelude to Love, Love and Tears, Beyond Love, Love, Don't Be Shy, Love and Rockets, Make Love Not War. Ok, the last two I added for fun. I sprayed plain old "Love" on my paper strip, took a few sniffs and stuck it in my purse.**

Love is ok, pleasant, but a tad too sweet. Not full bottle worthy. If I need a sweet fix (marshmallow) I can go to La Petite Robe Noire 2. Have to add the 2 in there, did not like the LPRN 1.

One paper strip sprayed with Love, Chloe. The notes sounded promising, but in store and on paper it smelled like a chemical, shrill mess.  Threw the paper away somewhere in my travels.

Alright, next trip with money the Jeax De Peau will be mine. Samples have run out. The last of the samples I let Hubby try, figuring since it's unisex and if he liked it, that would justify buying a bottle. He said the sprayer vial was empty.

*My usual, very helpful SA was not around today. If one of the other SAs had given me the spiel of  "If you apply for a Barney's Card you'll get 10% (or whatever it is) off your purchase today" I would have done so, since I am broke. Ah, it's just as well I didn't. I don't need to be spending money that I don't have. Been there, done that. Learned the lesson. I will go again, next time with some spending money.

**Test Strips: I have a system: spray the paper strips, stick in separate areas for future reference-one in each pocket, one in each compartment of my purse, one in my bra, and so on. Prior to spraying, write name on strip!

Mystery Bottle Monday Week 1

Although Monday is over in my time zone, it's not over until I go to bed. Mystery Bottle Monday will be a regular feature since I have a few mystery bottles in my collection. Usually the mystery resolves itself at some point in my research (aka shopping via online & ebay) but I thought it would be fun to post them here until the mysteries are solved.

From out of a group of vintage mini perfumes, here are two unlabeled bottles. The black capped one has Carven on the bottom. Funny, when I was taking the items out of the box and saw this one I thought to myself, Oh, this is the Carven. Then I didn't see any label & couldn't find my lupe to read the bottom of the bottle. Double checked it's description and no mention of Carven. Weird.


Carrying on, this Carven perfume was all by itself  in a small zip lock bag and when I opened that baggie a little burst of something like Fracas escaped. A creamy, deep, heady scent. Gardenia? Tuberose? I'm not sure which gives Fracas (or Carnal Flower) that oomph but this was very much like it. Made me want to douse myself in some. The scent was so strong I didn't have to open the bottle. Until I found my lupe I was beginning to wonder if this was a mini of Fracas. I tried to imagine how a Robert Piguet label would work on this bottle, with it's square flat surface label space on the front, instead of a lengthwise strip of a label. Maybe, depending on it's size a mini version might be labeled different than the rest of the line. Well, one magnified look at the bottom and it's Carven. Can't be Ma Griffe, unless every bottle of EDC and PDT of it I've come across was "off". Robe d'Un Soir is supposedly a chypre, so is Vert et Blanc, I believe. My first guess was Vert et Blanc, since this smelled fairly green and white, more white than green though.


To add to the confusion, this other bottle, this red capped one, which was in it's own baggie, has a similar scent. No label, nothing on the bottom of the bottle. Only tiny, raised dots in the glass near the sides of the bottle, which remind me of a cluster or grapes. Took a dab of what little is in there and that, too smelled Fracas-like.

Now a couple of days later I'm sitting here and dabbing myself with what little is left. As you can see, I can't do any extensive testing with either of these. The juice in both is like syrup, I have to turn the bottle upside down and wait for it to slowly make it's way to the opening. Tonight I noticed a slight camphor note in there, similar to Carnal Flower-from the Carven scent. The red cap scent smelled more floral, flowery than creamy and not as Fracas like as I thought it did the other day. The Carven has more "green" compared to this one. Then again, one dab of scent on each wrist and my nose going at both it's all blending together. And it's getting late. Think I'll spritz a bit of Fracas on and turn in for the night.

Snow or Lack thereof (Miss Dior Cherie)

I'm not complaining. Not in the least. I hate snow. The only time I want to see snow is on or around Christmas Eve and not much is required for that event, a light dusting will do. I tend to slip and fall in snow, ice, slush and all that, I avoid going out in it. This year has been great! Except for one weekend that I was at work, a co-worker had to help me get to the car because of the ice. Otherwise it's been a fabulous winter. *fingers crossed*

Today it was around 40 degrees. In the cold winter I go for orientals, some of my go-to's are: Shalimar, Habanita, Tom Ford's Black Orchid, Baghari, Diesel's Plus Plus Feminine (the milk bottle one) Kenzo's Jungle Elephant, I even dabble in Angel,  plus Jesus De Pozo's In Black, Burberry Woman, and Guerlain's My Insolence-although the latter three are considered  floral fruity perfumes, they work well in winter for me. It's been so un-winter like this year I haven't used any of them so far.

And now for something completely different: Miss Dior Cherie. Being the sultry 40 degrees or so it was, it felt more appropriate. Yes I finally got my hands on the coveted 2005 version in the form of  several carded manufacturer's samples. They have the photo of Riley Keough,  Elvis' granddaughter on the card so it's the right one. (Why is it that whenever I get samples or just a small amount of a perfume to try I wind up loving it and wanting a full bottle?This won't be easy.)

Anyhoo, nearly 10 hours later I'm still smelling strawberries. And a bit of everything else, notably saltiness. At first spritz this is tingly, tantalizing and aggressive. All that fruit and salt grabs your attention and demands more, more wrist sniffing. The saltiness (presumably the popcorn note) smells like the beach minus the pina coladas, at least the coconut ingredient, the pineapples are included. The salt with musk and patchouli later on mixed smells like skin bathed in ocean water, which I love the smell of. I don't really smell caramel, more of a salty caramel. I guess you could say I like the smell of salt. The opening of fruits is borderline sour, but the salt or something or other eases the blow, and must stop the headache because I felt one coming on shortly after spraying this-but it subsided before it amounted to anything. Whew!

The drydown is like the rest of this, but a lighter version of the strawberry mixed with patchouli and musk, more musk. I can't get over that I'm still smelling strawberries so late in the game. When will it wear off? Not that I'm in a hurry, just wondering ; )

Now I know what everyone is squawking about. They have good reason to, this stuff is different, dare I say masterpiece? So it's fruity, a chypre fruity but it's got an edge. Not your typical pink candy fruit crap juice. Not the usual fragrance I'd go for, but it's so different when I full bottle comes my way I'm going for it.

Hats off to the nose behind this, Christine Nagel. She's also the nose behind my above mentioned In Black. Why the hell was Miss Dior Cherie reformulated two years later? Or whenever, there's enough versions plus flankers that you have to keep notes to keep track. All I know is that it's the bottle with silver writing on it, not the one with the paper label. Not the taller bottle, that's the EDT. I won't be getting this in a store since the new juice is now named Miss Dior, the 1947 version is Miss Dior Originale or Miss Dior Classic. I'll be too busy trying out the new Diorling anyway, if my Saks will ever get it in the store.

Cherie has left the building. Fast forward to 6 months or a year from now, can you imagine the confusion this will cause on ebay and other places with all the name changing and juice reformulating?

"Dear Ebay Seller,

What perfume is this auction for?  Is it Miss Dior, Miss Dior Cherie or Miss Dior Classic? Is it the 2005, 2007, 2008 or 2011 formulation? Or some other year? Is it EDP or EDT? If you don't know, can you tell me what color is the bow? How tall is the bottle?...."

It will be a mess. I'd better grab me some now!