Gearing Up for a Vacation

When I clock out at 6 on Friday, I will be on vacation. I will have 9 days to rest, relax, catch up on a couple TV shows and do a couple other things. I won't have a ton of cash to do much of anything. It always seems like a week or two before vacation, I seem to have a bigger bill that pops up. But that stuff happens. I always hope that I try out my unworn and actually review them but that never seems to happen. I think that I should make a concerted effort to review at least 3.

I have 2 birthdays coming up, my father's and a friend on my vacation. Gifts are already bought and I hope they both like them. My dad is getting a couple nice shirts and some lawn lights. My friend is getting a Bath and Body Works wall plug and some refills that should take him until January. My friend can't have candles but likes the smell of them, so this is the next best thing.

Even though I started a 3 wick candle yesterday, I hope to finish 2 more candles. Lets face it, after counting 33 candles and running out of shelf space, I really need to start using up some candles. Part of me wants to throw caution to the wind and burn an Heirloom Apple candle even though one person in my household hates the smell but part of me doesn't. I don't really want to deal with an argument. Let's hope I can figure something out and get the candle I have going finished by Saturday.

Demeter Elvira's Vamp

I couldn't decide on which perfume to wear for my bedtime scent and that is when I knew that it was time to try something new. I have a fairly large decant of Demeter Elvira's Vamp.

In a way, I was hoping for something in terms of skank but there was nothing that I smelled that suggested anything skanky. All I got was something that smelled like a tuberose that was loaded with table sugar and the barest hints of vanilla. When I looked at the notes listed, there is nothing that lists tuberose and I don't have any kind of experience with smelling belladonna and that is what I could be smelling. When I think of the word vamp, I think more of the lines of a sensual person not some cheesy Halloween type of deal. The lasting power is about 5 hours. Even though the decant was cheap enough, I did not need to get a huge decant and into the ignored pile it will languish.

I don't like to do really short reviews but I really didn't like Vamp and it's borderline hate for me. I might have tried one other Demeter and wasn't wild about it either.

More Candle Chatter

It seems like every time that I finish off two candles, I always seem to add two more to my collection. When I did a count last night, the grand total was 36 candles. Now is the time to really start powering through some of these candles. I want to try and go through 1 or 2 candles a week just to whittle it down to a more manageable amount. What is that manageble number? I have no idea yet, I just want less stuff lying around and more space.

All of my candles come from Bath and Body Works. I think the throw from these candles are pretty good but they come out strong with being burned. The longest that I can burn a candle is about 3 hours before I have to put it out. Even though most of my collection is the 3 wick candles, I am attacking the single wick ones. Partially, because they are smaller and I can get rid of them faster but the spot where they are is where I can really use the space first for other things.

Since I have burned through about single wick candles, I don't think I am the fan I used to be of the BBW candles as I once was. I noticed that there was a bigger uneven burn issue and I have had an issue with tunneling when I was burning the candle. So it probably was a good idea that I made the decision to get the show on the road and start with the single wick candles. But I have to really think about when I am going to burn the Honeycrisp and Heirloom Apple candles though. There is a person that I live with that hates the smell of those candles and I can't burn those at this point. I love straight up apple smelling candles but when someone hates them, I have to be cautious on when I can burn them.

Mona di Orio Les Nombres d'Or Rose

I am not sure what is going on with Blogger at this point. Can't upload pictures, their version of spell check has been taken away. Well, it's some kind of server rejected thing. It's a little irritating.

Today is going to be a little bit of a busy day today. I am taking a short break from cleaning up the house to blog for a little bit. It's more of putting things back in place and finishing some vaccuming. My dad is coming home from visiting my sister in California, so I want things to look nice. Not only that, I am spending the weekend at an aunt's house so the packing has to be finished up. My biggest issue is that I have to pick out a decant and/or a full bottle for the weekend. I think that a decant in my purse and a full bottle for my carry on will be sufficient. I haven't made any decisions yet on what I am taking with me.

Last night, I originally planned on wearing Worth Courtesan but remembered that there are a couple of decants that I haven't worn, let alone reviewed that only have one wearing left. Mona di Orio's Les Nombres d'Or Rose was one of them and since I took advantage of that 60% sale from STC, I would just wear Rose and review it.

Mona di Orio's Rose seems to have a huge resemblance to Nahema. A big, jammy rose and I am getting sick of comparing rose dominant perfumes to either Nahema or Rose de Nuit. My nose is detecting something maybe a little boozy. It's pleasant enough but not really me. Projection is moderate and lasting power is average on my skin. When I get the musk and leather offerings from Mona di Orio, I will see if this is a house that is for me.

Amouage

I haven't blogged about Amouage in quite a while. A few days ago, I tested Jubilation 25 in extrait form and started thinking. I find in many ways that Jubilation 25 is difficult to wear. I think because of the overripe fruit and the fact that I am not a fan of Rochas Femme makes Jubilation 25 a hard one to wear. But my sample of the extrait is a dabber vial and I started to enjoy Jubilation 25. Funny thing is that a full bottle of the extrait is a spray bottle. The EDP of Amouge offerings is potent enough with spray bottles but I think that a spray bottle of the extrait would kill me and everyone around me.

I will admit that I really haven't paid attention to Amouage after Beloved. I might not like a few of the older ones (Gold, Reflection) but Amouage lost me after Beloved. After Beloved, there was a shift in what they created, to appeal to different markets and my nose didn't much care for it. I wanted my dark, smokey and heavy on the incense back. But after a while, I did lose interest and pretty much forgot about Amouage.

My perfume full bottle buying has been down for years. With the pandemic and the stimulus, I did acquire more bottles than I normally have but not what it was before finances couldn't support 15 or 20 new bottles every year. I have noticed in the past year and a half, I don't really have the desire to buy as many decants. Finances have to stabilize a little more and besides, I have so many to get through before I can really get more. I am hoping that this year that I will be able to add Coromandel to my stable.

Tired of the Heat

I am going to start by saying that this craziness has to stop. These assholes have got to stop throwing toddler worthy temper tantrums over having to wear a mask inside a store. These businesses have the right to make you wear a mask if you are going to shop there. It's private property, not public. You have the right to shop elsewhere if you don't want to wear a mask. People need to quit coughing on food in grocery stores, it's gross and it's not cute. People need to quit coughing on other people (willfully) and those who are immunocompromised seem to be getting the brunt of this nonsense. Just quit it.

At this point, a heatwave has hit northeastern Ohio and I am really feeling it. Temps in the 90's and had to turn on the air conditioning. My perfume habits have changed, not only because of the weather but because it seems like perfume is the new smoking. I can't wear perfume at work anymore and it has made me lose some interest in perfume. With my work schedule being changed because of Covid-19, I don't really get to wear a whole lot of perfume and enjoy it. The interest is still there but society in general has taken a lot of the enjoyment out of it.

Since it has been either really warm or really hot, I have had a fixation on wearing CdG Kyoto. It's cool, dry and not aggravating. Kyoto isn't really loud either, so it's a great perfume for heat. I rediscovered Worth Courtesan. I remember when I was new to the whole perfume scene and I was obsessed with it but couldn't find it in the US. I managed to snag a bottle off E-bay and one off of Amazon a few years ago. Funny thing is that you can't find it anymore, Courtesan might be discontinued, I'm not sure though. Courtesan is a great summer perfume, not to heavy or dense. Just a flirty, fruity perfume. Yesterday night, I pulled out Feminite du Bois and had forgotten how lovely it was. FdB was either my first or second full bottle from Serge Lutens. FdB might not be the greatest for extreme summer heat, but it is lovely.