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.