Cleaning and Rearranging Stuff

For the past few weeks, it's been an effort to clean and rearrange shit in my house. For every project that I complete, I realize how much shit I actually own.

Today was the day that I "had" to turn my attention to my dresser. The project of the day was placing my old dresser somewhere else and replacing it with another, bigger dresser. Other people in my household wanted to do that. And that meant that I had to pack up my entire perfume collection. When I was packing up my perfume, I didn't count how many bottles that I had but became more aware of the sheer number of back up bottles that I did have. When I was packing up, I was more concerned about the dabber bottles that were opened and making sure that they were didn't get tipped over in the box.

The dresser that I moved into my room is taller, has more drawers to it. In went a million shirts, shorts and jeans. Putting all of my full bottles on top of the dresser isn't practical because of the height but I was able to place all my candles and some of my Galileo thermometers on top of the dresser. This means that I have three boxes full of perfume bottles split up into two places and no clear solution to get them back into one spot yet. As this was going on, this was the perfect time to get rid of more clothes that I didn't need or was worn out.

But some interesting things did happen while this was going down. I did manage to finish a full bottle of vintage BaV. Yes, I actually finished a bottle of perfume and I was so excited to do that. But with the dresser switch, a bottle of vintage(ish) of Chanel no 19(EDP, 1.2 ounce) was found and I forgot that I had more no 19. For the better part of an hour, I was wondering when I had bought the bottle and how in the hell did it get behind the dresser. I think that it might have either gotten knocked behind the dresser or  just randomly fell back there. I thought I was actually starting to make headway into finishing bottles of perfume but it looks like I didn't make progress at all.

A few hours later, I did a rough count of all my full bottles. I counted 95ish but I am sure that number is wrong and much higher. I didn't count my minis because I don't view them as full bottles but did count all of my back up bottles. Ninety-Five full bottles is a little embarrassing but kind of funny and I didn't think that I was up to about that number. I knew my collection was big but not that big.

Faberge Tigress Musk Cologne Review

I've been sitting at my computer for the past few days trying to get my act together to write this post. I keep staring at the screen, trying to start and just not finding the right words. Then I end up on Facebook, playing Farmville 2 for hours on end.

At this point in the game, I am a little fearful of trying new perfumes. Especially vintage. It's always the same old song and dance right now. What if I love it and I find out that it's way out of budget? That bottle of Ubar was one out of the two full bottles that I can get this year. It's been a pretty rocky couple years and the good thing is that it is making me use what I already have.

But I have come to realize that I few decants that I haven't worn, let alone reviewed yet are evaporating I now is the time where I need to get a move on. I noticed that my Faberge Tigress Musk cologne was really starting to evaporate. So it came time to sample.

All I can say is wow, the clouds parted and the angels started singing for me. What I can best come up with is a sluttier, louder version of Rose de Nuit. Rose de Nuit is pretty slutty but Tigress Musk takes that to a whole new level. MKK and vintage BaV can't even touch it on the skank-meter, it's that skanky. I love skanky perfumes and Tigress Musk is no different. I do find some nods to Nahema but I don't see a whole lot of similarities but I think that Rose de Nuit got together with Nahema and this was the result. But after a while, I kept asking myself where the hell have I smelled this before? Then I think that my aunt might have worn this one before it was discontinued. I can't be sure. Tigress Musk is no skin scent, but it's not bombastic either, nor is it crass or rough around the edges. It's sleek like a cat and almost has a velvet feel if it were cloth. Lasting power for me is about 5 hours and that's pretty good for a cologne. I might have to keep a look out on E-bay to see if one pops up for a song. Yes, it is worth a try.

Spray Bottle Evaporation

Things are just goofy right now. I have been working on straightening up some finances. When I took a look at things, I realized that there were a few subscriptions that I really needed to be cancelled. The Harry and David Passport thing, the Sephora 2 day shipping and a few other things had to get cancelled. A couple of those things were charged monthly and a couple things were charged yearly. The things that I had to get rid of, I wasn't using them enough to warrant the money spent on them. The only subscriptions that I did keep was Amazon Prime and my BarkBox. My rough estimate is that I have save about $175 per year but I have to begin the second phase of reworking finances. Work has been really slow and slow means less money coming in and there are things that have to go.

In my streamlining flurry, my attention did turn to my perfume. Buying full bottles have pretty much came to a stop and decants have come to an almost complete standstill. Which is a good thing for me, it is allowing me to take a look at what I have and see what I can start using up before I can even begin to add anything more. This led to rearranging some of my bottles.

After doing a little bit of rearranging of perfume bottles, I got a bit of a surprise. A bottle of Amouage Epic for women and L'Air du Desert Marocain are both showing signs of evaporation. Yes, two of my spray bottles are showing signs of evaporation. The LADDM bottle always seemed a little bit sketchy but Epic was a bigger shock. Just under Epic's cap, there is some perfume and a couple signs that this might have been going on for maybe a month of two. I am thinking that maybe one of my dogs was doing a counter surfing thing and knocked the bottles of LADDM and Epic of the dresser and the spray mechanism got goofed up somehow and now there is evaporation. I've never had an issue with evaporation issues with my spray bottles and I do have issues with spray decant and dabber bottles evaporating. I guess I need to wear the snot out of LADDM and Epic and be grateful that I do have backup bottles.

Andy Tauer Vetiver Dance Review

We are inching towards spring and I am still annoyed with Amazon. I had cancelled my Prime membership so I could use my Amazon gift cards for Give the Gift of Prime for myself. I purchase Give the Gift of Prime and go to redeem but it was a no go. They are telling me that I am a Prime member already. So that means that I am going to have to wait until tomorrow to redeem. If I can't redeem tomorrow, I will not be happy. I should be able to redeem the gift of Prime on the day that I choose, not the day after my membership officially ends, which is tomorrow.

Since we are inching towards spring, like I did say, I wanted to give Vetiver Dance by Andy Tauer another go. I did try it a while back but didn't review it. I was looking at my unreviewed pile, wanting something new and Vetiver Dance spoke to me.

At first, I got a lot of green and something grass like. I haven't had a ton of experience with smelling vetiver as a dominant note but the green and grass like is probably vetiver. After a couple minutes, I gent hints of citrus peel and when I look at the listed notes, I see grapefruit peel. I kind of smell the grapefruit part but can't really. I do get lily of the valley that hums quietly in the background and it adds a really nice touch. Vetiver Dance isn't really masculine nor is it feminine but has an androgynous feel to it.

I do find that Vetiver Dance to be a really good early spring perfume. Lasting power one me is about 5 and a half hours. I do have a strong liking for this Tauer and it's borderline full bottle worthy for me.

Spring is Coming

Okay, the little "pupsqueak", Sydney is a year old and she is still as crazy as ever. I thought that BarkBox would really be a big help. Even though the BarkBox subscription we have goes back before Sydney, it's still strange to have two dogs with two different needs. Jake likes plush, squeaky toys to whip around or just carry around. Sydney on the other hand, needs Nylabone type toys. Kong toys won't work with Sydney, she chews right through them. So I can't quite find the right combination of Barkbox that fits the both of them. The Deystroyer's toys or regular toys are a fit for Jake but not Sydney. The Super Chewers don't fit Jake and half the time, are too big for Sydney. So the search continues for something that suits. I like the fact that BarkBox makes every effort to help, it's just having two dogs with two different toy requirements that's the problem.

So spring is supposed to be on it's way. I'm waiting for warm weather, wearing short sleeves again, not needing to wear a coat every time I am outside. I am waiting most of all to break out all of my spring/summer scents. I don't have loads of spring/summer scents but I still can't wait to break them out. No 19, no matter what the concentration, En Passant, Courtesan, Deneuve, and Un Coeur en Mai. Thus far, I can't place Noontide Petals except in the late winter, very early spring where it is still cold.

Here is Jake:

Here is Sydney: Sydney on her 1st birthday, look at how big she has grown from puppy hood.

Sydney, when we first brought her home.----->

Guerlain Cuir Beluga EDP Review

Off and on I have thought about getting a decant of Cuir Beluga for years. But never quite did until recently because it always seemed that other things were catching my fancy. I got my little decant a few days ago and decided to test drive it yesterday.

At first, I got this strange powdery smell that I couldn't place. Well, I just couldn't place the whole damn perfume, I knew I smelled it before from Guerlain but couldn't figure it out. Eventually, I did figure some of it out. To me, this was basically Tonka Imperiale. I did enjoy Tonka Imperiale but do not like Cuir Beluga. From start to finish, I did get a Play-Doh/chemical/plastic smell with a sweetness overload. I did smell a whole lot of tonka and a hint of vanilla but not enough to even begin to redeem itself. Lasting power is around 7 or 8 hours on my skin but that was 7 or 8 hours too long. I view this as money saved.

Retail Confuses Me

Okay, I am not too confused but more of flabbergasted. I'm a huge Amazon fan and have been for a number of years. I wasn't too thrilled with the price hike of Prime. I'm old enough to remember when Prime was only$79 per year. Then came the hikes of $99 and then $119. With every price hike, I have to reassess the the reasons that I have Prime. In a few days, Amazon will let me know how much Prime has saved me and that is going to be the deciding factor if I keep it or not. Hopefully, in the next few days, I will have a better idea on how much I had saved and if it's worth keeping Prime.

I am not a Whole Foods shopper, I have never set foot in one. I don't make a whole lot of cash and know that I can't afford Whole Foods and similar stores. So I am stuck with Aldi, Wal-Mart and my local grocery chain. Many grocery store chains do carry gift cards to many different places. When I look at the gift card sections, I always look for certain gift cards. The gift cards I mostly go for are Ulta, Sephora and Amazon. Gift cards can be great things for me, if I have a few extra dollars, I pick up a gift card. Gift cards in a way force me to set aside money for gifts.

But since Amazon has bought Whole Foods, my local grocery chain is about to discontinue selling Amazon gift cards. I expected this to happen much sooner but I was still surprised at the the little tag. I had initially thought that it was some kind of promo at first but in a couple days, Amazon gift cards will be no more at my local grocery chain. I had asked about it but corporate gave me a standard reply. I think that my local grocery chain didn't want any more cash going to Amazon. I bought a few gift cards and will be relying on Amazon for gift cards. I think I am a little disgruntled with changes and price hikes.

La Maison de la Vanille Vanille sauvage de Madagascar Review

I spent part of yesterday cleaning up and organizing and found my sampler/travel set of La Maison de la Vanille. I had figured that I really didn't need the box and went to take the decants out and noticed something that really ticked me off. One of the decants was two thirds gone. All of the others seem to be okay, evaporation wise. I don't think that the planning for this travel set was thought out and executed all that well. So guess which one is getting reviewed? Vanille sauvage de Madagascar.

At first, I get a whopping dose of something like alcohol and I wasn't amused by this. Then the vanilla shows up. The vanilla is a creamy type of vanilla in the way of more like a buttercream icing. I've said time and time again, I like my vanilla inedible and this one is in the edible camp. I don't get much development except maybe some incense and the tiniest hint of musk. Towards the end, I get something that smells like chocolate. Chocolate is meant for eating and shouldn't be used in perfume. Lasting power for and EDT is pretty decent. A full bottle is $60 and that is a really good price but I'm saving myself the $60 and not getting a full bottle of this.

Yes, I am pretty crabby. From the two I have tried and reviewed thus far, I don't consider La Maison de la Vanille to be a niche perfume line. It's not about price but this smells more of what I would see in either Target's or maybe even Kohl's. But to sell at Luckyscent, next to Amouage and Andy Tauer offerings?