Living Dangerously

Fall is quickly coming to Ohio and I have already started rotating some of my collection. I am starting to put away the more summery perfumes and getting out some of the fall stuff. When fall starts to arrive, that means county fairs come and that means that I have to start rotating stuff. Not all of my summer stuff has been put away though. We still might get a heat wave or two and I would still need a lighter perfume to wear.

When I went to my county fair yesterday, I wore LADDM. I wasn't about to waste no 5 or anything fancy really. LADDM seems to suit fall pretty good and does suit a county fair. I think that fall suits LADDM the best. LADDM congers up bonfires, clam bakes and just about anything fall.

For the past few days. I've seemed to have been living dangerously. For me at least. A while back, I did some bonehead things and got into some trouble with credit cards. I've gotten it about half way paid off and haven't even tried to apply for anything new. Until about Saturday when I was poking around the Ulta and Sephora websites. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular but did impulsively applied for their credit cards and got approved. Low limits but having the chance of things growing as things improve but it's nice to have some new credit. Sephora has a couple Chanel things and sizes that I can't find at Ulta but the Sephora card probably won't be used all that much but it will be a great tool to have in the future. I did use both cards and took advantage of the discounts. Had my eye of no 5 extrait and the full sized Coco Mademoiselle travel sprays. But I am making a point not to charge very much on both of them and in ways those two new credit cards are serving a purpose. One reason is utilization and the other is that they are places I both shop, even though I mostly shop at Ulta. I am just going to pay them off in a couple months and probably not going to use them for a couple months afterwards. Not like I really needed those two new perfumes and credit cards but it's nice to have a little back up in terms of credit.
 

Chanel no 5 Eau Premiere and Coco Mademoiselle EDT Review

When my parents were in California, I did spend tons of time in no 5 Eau Premiere and starting to look at a back up bottle or get the travel spray. Or I could go for an econosized bottle of Coco Mademoiselle Intense but haven't made up my mind. There is a little more room in my budget than I initially thought for adding something new in terms of perfume. 

I had forgotten to mention that when my parents were gone, I managed to finish almost 10 candles. My initial goal was at least 6 candles but I decided, fuck it, and burned more than 2 at a time. Since I am currently on vacation myself at the moment, I intend to try and finish at least 3 or 4 candles this week. Every candle that I use up is a small victory because that leaves me with more space and right now I need to free up some space. Now if I could finish up some decants and finish off a no 5 extrait bottle, I'd be even happier. The using things up and throwing things away is slow going but progress is being made because I am using up candles and getting rid of more clothes and not adding anymore of those.

My love for Coco Mademoiselle is pretty new. I know I loved it right when it came out but when it came out, every woman seemed to wear copious amounts of it and I could never really afford to keep a bottle in rotation. Then came the lotion on a new cut and I was really turned off to Coco Mademoiselle. Every good perfume nut seems to know that any Chanel fragrance can smell differently in various concentrations and I was kind of curious to see what the EDT version of Coco Mademoiselle was. What I found is that the EDT version was heavier on the citrus but a much less concentrated version of the EDP, I don't recall ever trying the extrait version, so I can't comment in that department. The biggest differences is that the EDT lasts nowhere near what I expect from a Chanel EDT. Chanel EDT's last quite a while on my perfume eating skin but not this one. At best, I get 4 or maybe 5 hours before it fades into nothingness. The lack of projection is something to be noted as well. The EDP has more of a presence than the EDT. I am happy that I didn't get a huge bottle of this due to the fact of lasting power and lack of projection. This would probably be great when it's 90 degrees out but want to wear Coco Mademoiselle.

Some General Stuff

My folks have left for their trip on Saturday and I am starting to really enjoy the peace and quiet. Most of Saturday was spent on doing projects that I planned on doing after the whole airport drop off. Yesterday was a whole lot of nothing with the electricity going out. The vacuuming that I had planned along with a few other things went out the window. When the electricity came back on, it was mid evening and I just wasn't up to the cleaning. Today it was just some of the vacuuming.

Thus far, I finished up 1 partial candle and 3 that are burning now. I hope to have those finished off either tonight or tomorrow before I start 3 more. I just want to create more space and what faster way to do that is to burn candles? With 60ish candles and with not a lot of space, they have to get used. I still have a goal of using 6 candles before my folks come back. Especially before my mother comes back because I want to use 2 Honeycrisp Apple candles. I am trying to use up candles that are not my thing or thing anymore. Fresh Balsam, Rosewater Ivy are 2 that I did enjoy but not so much anymore. The Fresh Cut Lilacs I still enjoy to a certain extent but it's a candle that is just too potent to be burned for very long. I am starting to find that while I like heavy hitters in terms of perfume, heavy hitters in candles, not so much.

Sephora has their point multiplier thing going on right now and if I remember right, it goes until Saturday. I did brake down and used that $10 credit and the point multiplier for a bottle of Coco Mademoiselle EDT. If anyone who is familiar with Chanel knows that parfum, EDP and EDT smell slightly different. But I have noticed with the Chanel twist and spray minis that I have, they seem to have either an evaporation issue of the spray mechanism isn't the best since I noticed that with the Coco Mademoiselle Intense that I have, there is some condensation around the spray part. If CM or no 5 were my signature perfume, this would not be too much of an issue. At this point, I am sure sure that I would be getting any more of the twist and sprays. Travel sprays are an awesome idea but the execution isn't quite there.

I could have ordered that bottle a little later but want to have any kind package delivered before people come back from their travels. I don't need them questioning me about a Sephora package or an Amazon or my Tazo chai tea order. I've made a huge dent in not ordering things. The next time Bath and Body Works will be getting any of my cash is when Candle Day comes and I can stock up a little more with the Winter candle that I enjoy so much. Until that day comes, I hope that I can get through more candles.

Body Products and Vacation

 I have 3 full days of vacation left or 3 and a half, if I want to nit pick. Haven't really done a whole hell of a lot except hang around and do some minor cleaning and organizing. Slowly but surely, I am finishing off that Vanilla Bean Noel candle and hope that it will be finished off by tomorrow. The only sunny and warm day was Sunday and it's been cold, wet and full of rain, so there isn't much of a point of going out and doing a damned thing.

Last night, I had put on some of the Clinique Wrappings body lotion to see if I could warm up to Wrappings a little more. Turned out to be a "meh" type of thing. Sometimes, the body products can be completely different than the perfume or exactly the same. The lotion was more of a milder version of Wrappings. My skin was decently moisturized but my hands, especially my nails, didn't feel all that moisturized. So Wrappings is still a no go for me.

I finally busted out the Chanel Coco Mademoiselle body products today and enjoyed every damn minute of my shower. The lotion is what I expected since I have tried the no 5 body lotion. What I did really enjoy is the body wash and how it lathered up and didn't dry out my skin too much. I do think that the shower gel or body wash is far superior to the bar soap in terms of lather and just getting clean. I do think that the Mademoiselle bath and body products are better than the no 5 bath and body products by the simple fact that there are too many iterations of no 5 to really make the no 5 bath and body products great.

With Mother's Day coming up, my email has been really bombarded with all kinds of emails reminding my of Mother's Day. I have both a Mother's Day gift taken care of and a birthday gift just about taken care of. But Ulta in all of it's infinite wisdom, decided to let me know that they had Estee Lauder Pleasures on sale in all sizes. I was eventually going to get the family sized bottle but the eventually seemed to be today. Since perfume budget for the year has really been blown, I am okay with not getting anything for the rest of the year  in terms of perfume.

Very Impatient for Spring

 It's the end of January and I am very sick of winter. I am getting sick of the cold, the snow, long sleeved shirts and hoodies. Dry skin, the snow storms are getting incredibly old and fast. There is another storm front moving in but it doesn't exactly look like it will be as bad as the previous storm but I can never be sure about how accurate the forecast is going to be. I am mainly hoping that I don't lose electricity. Yeah, I have a ton of candles but don't exactly want to go through them all in one sitting. Speaking of candles and being sick of winter, I want to be able to open my windows and have a candle going for longer than a couple hours.

When I was at work, I smelled Coco Mademoiselle on someone today. Quite frankly, it was a welcome scent since I have been smelling so many perfumes on people that just plain don't smell good. This made me wonder about my relationship with Coco Mademoiselle. When it first came out, I was one of many that owned a bottle and wore the snot out of it like everyone else. Then, I started to hate it and hated Mademoiselle for the longest time. I think it's because everyone else wore it and doused themselves in it. Then things slowly changed. Women didn't seem to wear Mademoiselle too often and if they did, the mass quantities of it wasn't as prevalent as it once was. I am happy about the fact that Mademoiselle isn't as worn so widely as it once was.

Coco Mademoiselle Intense EDP Review

 It's been somewhat of a wild week and I am weary. Weary of this year in general, weary of the holidays and just general drama. Thursday, I took my dog to a specialist vet and there are two benign tumors on his parathyroid that need to be removed. With some sedation, ultrasound, consult with a specialist, it was a $900 vet bill. The surgery is going to cost $4,000 to $4,500 to do. At this point, every spare penny is going to go to this surgery. That means no new bottles of perfume, no more candles, no more of a lot of things. I say Christmas is on the way and I will probably be getting some gift cards but I need to be very careful with money right now.The good news is that all of my Christmas shopping is totally done, stocking stuffers too. Now if my dogs would get their Barkbox before Christmas, I will be pretty happy.

I finally tore open the package to Coco Mademoiselle Intense mini set. Eventually, I will get to Clinique Wrappings but probably not until the new year. There is something about actually tearing open the cellophane to a new perfume that brings me joy. I don't know why but it does. I spent all day yesterday and most of the morning in CM Intense so I can really do a proper review. When I first sprayed, the citrus part seemed a little different, maybe a little sharper but I think that I need another wearing or two. I had never smelled a vanilla note in the original CM but smelled vanilla in CM Intense. It wasn't in your face like Shalimar or Havana Vanille. The vanilla is a little more noticeable but not overwhelming. The vanilla creeps up intermittently throughout the wearing but never takes over. The patchouli seemed like it doesn't come as far forward like it does in the original. I will say one thing is that I expected something a little louder or a little denser but CM Intense wasn't either. I think that this version was not named properly. It wasn't intense but did smell incredibly similar and almost identical to the original. The lasting power on skin is about the same as the original CM.

Chanel has the time and the means to make a really great flanker but they never seem to get it right. They hit the mark with no 5 Eau Premiere, L'Eau was a disgrace to no 5. L'Eau had no resemblance to Eau Premiere let alone no 5. No 19 Poudre had no resemblance to no 19. I haven't had the time nor a way to get my hands on the Chance flankers or the original Chance.

Right now, I am considering this a full bottle worthy type of thing. I really did enjoy CM Intense. Is it original? No, but neither is the original Coco Mademoiselle. The clouds didn't part nor the angels sing but I really enjoyed it to the point of love.

Made It Through Another Candle Day

 

So I made it through another Candle Day at Bath and Body Works. While I wasn't exactly happy with a price hike for it and stores and online selling out of a couple things that I truly wanted, I am happy that I set aside money for this. I did manage to get my Frozen Lake candles and I am going to try out Vanilla Bean Noel. Even though the price hike was 45 cents and not a huge increase, I want the best bang for my buck. When you work in retail, any kind of price hike can make or break a budget so I am not understanding on why people have to accuse me of being cheap. My sister said that not everyone needs a gift and maybe I should consider cutting back. My retort was that I have cut back of gifts and made a budget. Throughout the year, I bought gift cards to set aside for gifts and stuck to the limits on what I had set aside. Her reality is different than mine and my reality is different than the next person's. I am happy that I did stick to my guns and bought the amount of candles within my budget.

This week has been an hard but yet interesting week. At work, a coworker in my department had quit, one coworker called off Wednesday. I covered the Wednesday shift, mainly for a few extra dollars in my paycheck. But when that snowstorm rolled through on Monday night/Tuesday morning, my family and I lost power early Tuesday and had power came back late Wednesday. The really fun part of the power coming back on was finding out that our well pump went bad. So from Tuesday to Thursday, there was no water. Most places that my dad called to fix that pump couldn't come out until late next week but he found a company that could come out on Thursday to fix it. It was glorious to be able to take a full shower and wash my hair instead of a spot wash and not being able to wash my hair.

After cleaning out a sock drawer and finding a $25 Sephora gift card, I managed to score that Coco Mademoiselle Intense mini travel set. I took advantage of the $15 off $75 deal that Sephora has running right now. Why did I go to Sephora instead of Ulta? I prefer Ulta in many ways but it seems like Ulta is getting chintzy with some things like coupons. If you are going to give me a 20% coupon and say I can use it on "prestige" brands, I'd like to be able to use it. I might have saved another dollar or two. But I am okay with that, especially after finding that gift card. Now I cannot wait until my Sephora package arrives.

The Shopping Season

 

We are coming up on the holiday season and already my email is filling up with all of these Black Friday previews and deal type things. I will admit that I am tempted by a few things but my bank account is telling me to take a step back. Most of my Christmas shopping is finished but I do have 3 more people to shop for but I am holding off for a couple weeks on finishing up a couple gifts. I have some shipping deadlines because my nephews live across the country from me, so I need to know that. At this point, I am trying to survive Thanksgiving. Due to Covid, holidays are going to be very different and much quieter. It will be my parents and I along with my aunt and quite possibly my grandmother who is still living. So I have a 20 pound turkey in my fridge thawing out and wondering about what the hell is going to happen with all of this turkey. I think that a large roasting chicken would have been a better fit. Let's hope that I won't be asked to pick up anything between now and Thanksgiving or I will be spitting nails.

What is tempting me the most is Ulta. I am hardly ever in an Ulta brick and mortar store, I do tons of shopping through their website and have accumulated almost $60 in rewards and now I am a Platinum level rewards person. Ulta does carry some Chanel perfumes but I never see them sell Chanel through their website. I have only seen it once before and I am now seeing that again. While Ulta might not have the selection that Sephora has in regarding Chanel offerings, even online, I am tempted to get the mini travel spray of Coco Madamoiselle intense. I know that I shouldn't blind buy but I am incredibly tempted. I shall see if there will be some kind of coupon when Black Friday comes to make the mini travel spray much more possible for me, especially if I want to keep saving up my Ulta points. But we shall see because I am trying to avoid Bath and Body Works as well. I am trying incredibly hard to to purchase anymore candles until Candle Day when the deals will be the best for Bath and Body Works candles.

Coco Mademoiselle and Flankers

 This new blogger still won't let me upload pictures off of my computer and still just don't feel like messing with the settings to slap a picture for this post. The only pictures that will show up are the ones that I've already used on Blogger.

A rough idea about flankers has been floating in my mind for a few days now but couldn't come up with any kind of concrete ways to blog on it. Most of the time, I hate the idea of flankers for perfume. Flankers are probably a form of laziness. The flanker idea basically sounds like that a perfumer wants to create a perfume but doesn't want to be bothered to try to create something new. So they go with what is one of any houses bestsellers and creates a flanker. Hey, why not? Most of the work has been done anyway and just do a little tweaking somewhere and you got a flanker.

For years, I didn't like Coco Mademoiselle. At first, it was that everyone seemed to be wearing it, then it was the patchouli and annoyed the crap out of me. I tried it again earlier this year and I actually really enjoyed it. I have only tried the EDP but would like to get my hands on the parfum to try.

But it seems like yesterday that Chanel released Coco Mademoiselle Intense and now Chanel has released L'Eau Privee eau Pour la Nuit. I haven't even tried the intense version let alone the L'Eau Privee. I don't really get to the mall too often so I haven't been able to try them and Chanel has really cracked down on the decanters. I am still annoyed with Chanel on that one. I want to test a perfume for a couple days or more before springing for a new bottle of anything. Hopefully, I will get to try these out and before, I don't know, Christmas. If I do, maybe I can sweet talk a sales person into giving me a sample or two to test out at home.

Panic

The year 2020 is a difficult year so far with some major financial changes that I hope to resolve in the next couple months. It hasn't been the easiest time for at least 4 months but I am starting to make some big changes and the panic comes and goes.

In years past, I thought of nothing to spend whatever on bottles of Amouage, Chanels, Serge Lutens, vintage perfumes. Those days are loooooong gone. Now it's mainly considered to the occasional decant or two at this point. Last year, I was happy to get that bottle of Ubar and get the Kiehl's Original Musk Blend gut those were rarities and I was a little anxious about spending the money on perfume when I have plenty. I did my taxes and decided to splurge on getting a bottle of Coco Mademoiselle from Sephora. I offset a little bit of the cost because I had gift cards to use. That mini Chanel no 5 travel set was a splurge as well.

I am trying to appreciate what I have and tightening my belt right now. Last year's Ubar was a little bit of a surprise but still worth it due to Fragrancenet having a really good price for a 1.7 ounce bottle. I really don't see Amouage offering 1.7 ounce bottles of Ubar.

Why did I decide on Coco Mademoiselle and not the others that were at the top of my list? I felt like I couldn't quite justify the price of the others at this point in time. I had to set a hard and fast line with myself. Only get the smallest, most affordable bottle that was available and that was the 1.2 ounce of the EDP. I don't know what the intense version smells like, nor the EDT. For those of us who are pretty familiar with Chanel, every concentration smells different. I also did see some people say that the EDT has the tendency to disapear pretty quick, so the EDP it was.

Spring and Sephora

Yes, it's still winter outside and we have a ways to go before spring gets here. But I am ready for spring to get here. I am ready for the temps to warm up and stay warm, I am ready for short sleeved shirts, I am ready to have the ability to go outside to leave the house without a coat and a few other things. After Christmas, I get really tired of winter.

I am currently browsing Sephora and trying to pick out a Chanel. I have enough of no 5 to last for a while and it smells like the EDP has been reformulated. I am not sure if I want to go the original Coco or Coco Mademoiselle and which formulation. I decided to not go down the Andy Tauer route nor spring for the Hedonist travel set. I think that the price tag is part of the reason and I am still not sure about the Hedonist travel set. The original Hedonist, I love, Hedonist Rose is a take it or leave it and I have never tried Hedonist Cassis. Besides, I have two Sephora gift cards to burn and that makes the cost of a Chanel go down a little easier but getting a large bottle is out of the question.

I am currently in the process of doing a load of laundry. I am getting ready to spend the weekend at my aunts place and I do need some clean clothes, especially underwear. What I am really working on is what I am going to take perfume wise. It might be only 3 days but I won't have access to my whole collection. Do I take Shalimar or do I take Ubar? Do I take both? Do I take one and have a decant of no 22 or the full bottle of Hedonist? I am having the hardest time picking out. I have done it once, picked out a perfume and stuck to it for a week.

Sephora

I have said for a while that I do think that Ulta has been a better store than Sephora. There was a time where I never even knew Ulta existed, Then about 4 or 5 years ago, I knew that Ulta existed but thought that it was a beauty place that was for cheap make up. But things did change. Sephora used to carry my Skyn Iceland face wash and moisturizer but quit carrying the line. Then I switched to Amazon for my Skyn Iceland stuff but took a look at Ulta. Ulta did sell Skyn Iceland and Ulta started to knock Sephora off it's pedestal. When I figured out the Ulta Rewards, sales and coupons, Sephora was brought down. I hardly ever shop at Sephora.

Today was the first time in over 6 months that I have gotten anything from Sephora.Why? Sephora had a sale going on and a couple things that I had my eye on that Ulta didn't have. I spent $20 more than I should have but I am okay with that. I couldn't justify buying a bottle of perfume but was tempted to use the sale to snap up a bottle of Coco Mademoiselle but managed to say no and walk away from that. If I spent enough at Sephora and my coupon was a 15% or 20% off, I probably would have.

One of my biggest gripes about Sephora and Ulta is the Chanels. Ulta does not let one buy a bottle of Chanel online but Sephora does.Chanel and I have a little bit of a contentious relationship. I do own and enjoy many Chanel perfumes but never was enthused with sizing or prices. I do wish that the prices of any of the Chanels were a little lower and the sizing was a little better. I would like there to be 30ml sized bottles. But my biggest gripe will always be about the Les Exclusifs line, sizes and prices.

At the end of the day, I am pretty stoked about my Sephora purchases. I got myself two lipstick samplers and a mini of the Kiehl's Ultra face cream. It's late fall and we are going into winter and the Skyn Iceland Cloud cream won't cut it when the dry air really does hit. I am hoping that this stuff will work and if it does, it will be fabulous.

Back and Forth

I am failing miserably at this whole not buying full bottle stuff. I haven't bought anything yet but seriously looking at the Chanel travel sets. I honestly shouldn't even be trying to look but yet committed to what is the best bang for my buck. Thus far, I can't decide if I want to go with Coco Mademoiselle or no 5. I am leaning to Coco Mademoiselle due to the fact that I do not have any of it in my collection and loads of no 5. I am spending way to much time on this trivial thing. But with being on the Chanel website so much, it's made me think about my perfume journey a little bit and how much I have probably spent. At this time, I am more interested in getting travel sets instead of full bottles. But still a little annoyed, it seems in this respect with Chanel, I seem to be getting more packaging instead of perfume for the price I am thinking of paying.

In year past, it didn't seem to matter too much on how much I have spent on any one bottle of perfume. It didn't matter so much if I smelled the perfume before I bought it, $130 for under an ounce of perfume, sold! A 50ml or anything for over $200, why not? But circumstances did change and that meant that dropping any kind of money on perfume had to be thought about and limited to a couple times a year. Then I had to think very carefully. It boiled down to how much I could afford after my bills were paid. It's been tough and I am hoping that by the end of the year, I can nab a bottle of Coromandel.

Chanel Cormandel EDT Review

It's time for me to just review Coromandel due to the fact that I've spent more time than I really needed to with it. I picked Coromandel due to the fact is that I've kind of been wanting to slowly work my way through the Les Exclusifs line by Chanel. My thought about the line is that Chanel is trying to get somewhat of a foothold in the niche department but still be mainstream. And I'm confused by that. Chanel's prices are already in the price range for niche but the Les Exclusifs line has some of the old offerings (Cuir de Russie and no 22 for starters) from way back when. Maybe they are marketing this line for perfume people like be who don't tend to shop mainstream and have smelled much more than the average consumer.

When I had first put on Coromandel, I smelled something akin to Frapin 1270 without the booze. I initially liked that but did need to wear it again because I knew that there was something that I was missing and it had something very familiar about it. On my second and third wearing, I knew what I was missing and what was familiar about it. It smelled an awful lot like Coco Mademoiselle. The patchouli and the fruity parts are tones down in Coromandel but still there. The thread of vanilla that shows itself an hour in tames the fruit and patchouli. I've said before that anything that has patchouli as a dominant player really isn't my friend. There is something about patchouli that I haven't come around to, probably the fact that it always smells kind of dirty to me. Yes, the patchouli is smoothed out and toned down but it's still there and still detectable to me. I will admit that Mademoiselle is a frenemy to me and Coromandel is a little more of a friend but not much. The decant that I have is at least a couple years old and obviously the EDT since the EDP version came out a couple months ago. Lasting power on my skin is about 6 hours and the sillage is about medium. Maybe my luck will change with Coromandel and I do fall in love with it but my track record with CM tells me otherwise.

Chanel Coco Noir EDP Review

Whenever I get a new bottle of perfume that comes with perfume samples, I'm kind of honor bound to try the perfume sample. That's only if it's a perfume I have never smelled before. So when I got a sample of Coco Noir, I had to give it a go.

I had blogged previously about my dislike of flankers and Coco Noir is no different. I used to somewhat like Coco Mademoiselle and wore it often. Coco Mademoiselle was my first Chanel and I think that I did wear it when it first was released or shortly thereafter. This was before I wore perfume on a regular basis and had no knowledge of perfume. Why am I mentioning Coco Mademoiselle? Because Coco Noir is almost exactly like Mademoiselle and I'm not kidding. When I first sprayed Noir, it smelled really familiar and I couldn't figure out why. Then it hit me, Noir is the little sister of Mademoiselle. I find Noir to be a little more toned down than Mademoiselle and maybe a little more fruity.

Even though Coco Mademoiselle and Coco Noir last quite a long time on skin, I'm not sure that I even like these perfumes. Hell, I don't think I ever really cared much for Mademoiselle, I think I was more into the idea of having a Chanel bottle sitting on my dresser and how it actually smelled. I think with both Noir and Mademoiselle, the patchouli it the culprit on why I'm not enamoured with these two and that there is no similarity between them and the original Coco.