Halo Campaign Evolved and Other Things

This post is probably not going to be too much of a perfume post. I kept meaning to write something but time would get away from me.

So Halo Campaign Evolved came out late last month and I have been playing it off and on since I have gotten it. I am one of those that prefers having a physical copy of my games for some reason. I view it as if something were to happen, I would still have a physical copy of the game. I did specifically got the Xbox game since the computer we have has an old video card that would not support Campaign Evolved along with the fact that we really don't play video games on the PC like we used to.

Even though I am currently on the Truth and Reconciliation level, I have played enough to have some opinions on it. The original Halo (both the 1st Xox, then the 360), the controls were intuitive and was kept the same on both formats, not with Campaign Evolved. The controls are not intuitive and it make the game play more difficult. While I do enjoy the Marines in the game, I am not a fan of them just clumping together. What is really starting to bug me is the enemies and game play in general. Really good graphics will only go so far and the graphics are phenomenal but with how the game is played all around, it has become sensory overload. How the enemies behave, how the Marines behave and all of these new weapons, I think it is way too much and way too soon. The anniversary version of Halo didn't have all of this junk. I get it, you want to update the game but all the changes that were made were not necessary. It seemed to be just showing off instead of enhancing the story line. Shit, we didn't get a sword until the 2nd Halo and I just don't see how a sword fits in the first Halo. I just find the whole set up to be confusing. I think it will probably take a go around or two to make a sound judgment.

While we are still on the topic of media, I did watch the very last episode of Granchester. While I did enjoy the final season, I did think about the fact that I don't have much left in the way of shows to watch. Downton Abbey ended years ago, Call the Midwife ended earlier this year and now Granchester. The only show that is still standing is All Creatures Great and Small. I know those are all PBS shows but there isn't a whole lot in the way of TV shows that have caught my interest and held my attention. So I am back to spending way too much time on YouTube.

But on to the perfume. It was last week that I was window shopping at Ulta and noticed something really odd. Ulta is selling some Bath an Body Works offerings.When I saw that, I had to do a double take. The lotions, body washes and perfume mists from Bath and Body Works get this huge Play Dough note and they just don't work for me. I used to wear the living daylights out of the Cucumber Melon, Gardenia LIly and Night Blooming Jasmine when I was in my early 20's and then couldn't afford perfume for the longest while. So in the past 20 or so years, it's to be expected that prices have gone up and there have been reformulation but I remember the days where the bath and body stuff would run you about $6 for each piece but that is not the case anymore.
 

Very Late and a Dollar Short

 

I know, I know that I am really late with the back from vacation post but I haven't been up for the posting. Let's just say that I didn't finish that bottle of no 19 like I was hoping to. I spent a whole lot of time near my sister's pool and it was a little pointless to be wearing perfume with how much time I spent around the pool. So I think that I should have stuck with the Infusion d'iris travel spray in terms of perfume. Hell, I didn't even need to bring mascara or lipstick. I think that it was my mother's vanity that got to me since she wanted me to take some make up. With 90 degree and up heat and a pool, it was mostly dumb idea to have any kind of makeup or perfume but I wasn't about to not pack something in terms of perfume.

Since I have been back, there has been a candle incident. I have been working on using or giving away some of my candles. I am not sure what triggered a family member but anywhere from a third to a half of my candle collection was destroyed. It wasn't the loss of those candles or the mess that was created or the nasty cut on my thumb that bothered me the most. What bothered me the most was that the family member just up and decided to just get mad over something that couldn't be controlled and willfully decided to go after my candles. When things calmed down somewhat, I had said that I didn't care that she had a mental illness and she was angry but to just go and destroy someone's belongings was uncalled for. Someone or the dogs could have been seriously physically hurt. And she did take away a whole lot of enjoyment from something I like. Was I mad about the money that I spent on candles that were broken in a fit of someone else's rage? Yes, I was angry. Angry because I could have enjoyed those candles and some of them were limited editions. So I did hide about 95% of what was left and while I was at it, I hid 90% of my perfume collection and almost all of my Galileo thermometer collection. So if there is another incident, the destruction will be much less severe. At this point, I want to be able to enjoy the things that I have without the threat of them getting broken.

So while I was dealing with the candle mess and hiding things where she can't get to them, I was sorting through my papers and all of that. Shredding things and all of that jazz. In ways, I am a very private person and I am not a fan of being the object of gossip. So the less ammunition I give people I don't become that subject. So privacy is very important and there is no reason why anyone needs to go through any kind of important papers and that is one thing that have always bothered me. I mean, if you don't want me to go through your xtuff, you don't need to go through mine.

Bags are Packed

 

Okay, so my bags are packed and I'm ready to go to California for a week. My carry on is already in the car and I am just about finished with my personal item. And let's be honest, I am not looking forward to getting up at 3:30 tomorrow morning for a 6:50 flight. I probably could have picked a later time but didn't want a 3 or 4 hour layovers and get to California at ten at night.

Do you know how hard it is to try to figure out what to take in general for a trip? I know I am only going foe six days but it's the having to pre plan a week's worth of clothes.

What was the biggest was was what perfumes I was going to take. I did pack that vintage(ish) bottle of no 19 edp. There isn't a whole lot left in that bottle and I am hoping that I can finish the bottle at the end of my trip. I also packed a travel spray of Infusion d'iris. Yes, it's iris and iris and did sneak in a travel spray of BDK Gris Charnel. It is going to be hot when I am in California and didn't want my perfume to be too heavy. At this point, I have to go to bed. I might be able to fit post in but not fully sure.

Rogue Perfumery Jasmin Antique Review

Now is the time that I should get a move on with a perfume review. After last post's freak out with the no 5 extrait price (which is still ridiculous), I needed something to take my mind off of it.

I am in the beginning of this heatwave. We closed up the house and turned on the air conditioning. We live in the 21st century and why suffer with temps in the 90's when one has air conditioning? The only time that I will be out of air conditioning is if I am going to work and coming home from work. 

I am slowly getting things together for my trip to California. I had to message my doctor for a prescription of nicotine patches (yes, I smoke). My sister doesn't allow smoking, even if it is a vape. So it will be the patch and the lozenge garbage. She said that she quit cold turkey and sucked on a lot of sugar free candy. Well, I am not that kind of girl, I haven't had the desire to quit for good. What is probably going to happen is the moment I get home, I will be lighting up a cigarette. So I will pick up my patches on Saturday along with lozenges and start that stuff on Monday. So I am not that serious about quitting right now. The only perfume that I have committed to taking with me is no 19. I am going to take a travel spray of Infusion d'iris or BDK Gris Charnel. With Gris Charnel it's either going to be the edp or the extrait one. I don't want to take any kind of serious heavy hitters or anything that might scare people away. I would love to take Lyric but that would be a little much and I adore Lyric. But I haven't committed to anything definite yet in terms of vacation perfume. But on to Jasmin Antique.

I was flirting with trying out Jasmin Antique ever since I got the Rogue Perfumery sample set. It smelled really poopy and I wasn't so sure. One day I figured I might as well bite the bullet and just give it a go. I do love jasmine dominant perfumes. It seems like many perfumes can't appreciate how indolic jasmine can be. After working my way through Rogue Perfumery, Rogue Perfumery doesn't seem to shy away from white florals but embraces them in all their glory.

Jasmin Antique is a huge slutty jasmine. At first, I couldn't figure out which perfumes that it reminded me of and then it came to me. The first perfume that came to mind was Sarrasins but without the leather. I did pick up some musk in there but it was mostly jasmine. The second perfume that Jasmin Antique reminded me of was A la Nuit but Jasmin Antique leans more towards A la Nuit than Sarrasins.

What did get me was that I didn't get a whole lot of staying power. I had gotten a shade over three hours but I do have to make some allowances. What I have is a little roller ball sample, not a spray and Rogue Perfumery makes everything an edt. If it were a spray sample I probably could get a better reading. But I will admit that I do love Jasmin Antique and will eventually get a bottle but not yet. With the price of Lutens offerings, I find Jasmin Antique more affordable than Sarrasins or A la Nuit.

 

This is Stupid

I was going to do a review of Rouge Perfumery's Jasmin Antique. Well, that is not happening right now and I have a fair bit on what I want to say about it.

When I was reading either today's scent of the day or the 3 day weekend, there was something mentioned about the Chanel Les Exclusifs line extraits and had to go and take a look and there was a vain hope that there might be a more "affordable" option on any kind of no 5 extrait that wasn't the family sized version of no 5. When I saw what looked like the extrait is back in stock, I took a look. That seemed to be a huge mistake. It looks.like they rebranded/redid the whole extrait thing. If you just want the extrait itself, there is only 1 size and that is a 30ml bottle and that will set you back $440. But if you want it to come with a stupid case that has something that will help you open the bottle that is and extra $100. Yes, I had to do a double take at the whole set up was $550.

When I was that, all I could think about how stupid the whole set up was. For $400 I could buy an Amouage at full price or go to a discounter and get 2 Amouage offerings and those would be 100ml not 30ml. I could get a Serge Lutens bell jar for that price and those are 75ml. And all the while, kicking myself on not stocking up on the no 5extrait when I really had the chance 2 or 3 years ago or even when I started collecting perfume and 7.5ml of extrait set me back only $95. But that was a long time ago. It looks like I will be rationing what I have of the opened extrait and keep my sealed vintage sealed until I can nab more extrait.

 

Pre-orders, Samples and Traveling

I did mention a while ago about the new Halo being released this summer. I kept my eyes and ears peeled for some released pictures and what day it would be released.

I found out some time in the past couple weeks that Halo Campaign Evolved was coming out July 27th or the 28th. I am not looking it up for the exact day but was looking at some of the screenshots. When I found out the release date, I had pre-ordered the game. For new video game releases, $50 is not a bad price since most game releases are around $70. I don't often order video games and when I do, they are usually not the latest release. So this was on the more unusual side for me. I know that my dad and I will be playing this quite a bit.

So I have done more perfume shopping in the passed couple weeks. I have given up on finding my travel spray of Hedonist and said screw it and ordered one from the Victoria Minya website. The travel spray arrived yesterday and I was a little less than enthused. I expected it to be shipped in a box and not an envelope. The travel spray was in a silky bag. I just expected a little more protection but the good thing was that my travel spray was undamaged and I love the aesthetic of the Victoria Minya bottles and travel sprays.

What is worrying my is in about two and a half weeks, I will be traveling to California to see my sister. I have the clothes I want to take picked out, my toiletries are already taken care of and I have my medication. The only things I have to do is pack, and pick out which perfume(s) I want to take. I will be flying out early Monday morning and coming home on Saturday. I let my sister know that I have $1,000 in my bank account and a $300 limit credit card, so I can't go hog wild. Even though she said that it was plenty, I am still worried about the financial part of it. I know things are not going to be cheap and if the subject of Disney comes up, I will probably have to give Disney a pass. I am not and never was one of those adult Disney fans.

This is the first time that I have traveled and didn't have a fist full of credit cards and working 40 plus hours a week. Even though I have 2 low credit limit credit cards, 1 of those will be left at home. Having a fist full of credit cards has led me to a whole lot of financial help that I have been trying to dig myself out of.

The perfume choices that I have made thus far for my trip to California is my almost finished bottle of vintage-ish Chanel no 19 edp and a travel spray of BDK Gris Charnel. The no 19 is the only definite one since the bottle is almost empty and I have figured that I might as well do is finish it. But the Gris Charnel could change though and I do want to stick to a travel spray. Since it will be horribly hot in California, I don't want to take the heavy hitters with me.

 

Lush Rose Jam Line Up Review, Kind Of

When I was on vacation, I did devote a day to the Lush Rose Jam line up. It was either late last year or early this year, Ulta had some of those gift set minis of Lush products and I had gotten both the Sleepy and the That's My Jam gift set. I did develop a liking for Sleepy and it has taken me forever to get around to the Rose Jam stuff. A few days ago, I gave the Rose Jam another go.

The first go around, I fell in love with the body wash. The body was is a huge jam like rose with some lemon. The body wash is just like Sleepy and Sleepy Bear. Thick, cleansing and none too drying. So I fell in love with the body wash. When I get matching bath and body stuff, I can still smell the soap when I dry off. With the Rose Jam body wash, there was no lingering scent and I was and am, a little miffed about that. Maybe because I am used to the Chanel and Amouage bath and body stuff and it is probably an unfair comparison of even the soaps lasting well after I got out of the shower.

The body conditioner was what I really struggled. I have never used a body conditioner before and probably didn't use it right or maybe because I take showers and not baths. When I put it on my legs, it seemed to just slide right off, no matter how I moved the shower head. But my second go around was a little different. I moved the shower head to where it wasn't being rinsed off right away and used a little more. The first time, no scent seemed to have been left behind. So the second shower with the body conditioner was way different. My legs and arms felt really greasy when I rinsed off the conditioner and took a little of the body wash to see what I could get off but I was still left with a greasy feeling. I did enjoy the smell of the body conditioner because it was rich, it was heady but it was just a hot mess on me. I think that Lush should have just stuck with having a regular lotion. So the body conditioner is going to be regulated for when I shave my legs.

Then came the travel spray of perfume. For a while, I was thinking of what Rose Jam reminded me of. Then I remembered what it reminded me of. I was reminded of Guerlain Nahema and PHI Une Rose de Kandahar. Now, I love Rose de Kandahar and have a travel spray of it but no full bottle. Andy Taker and Lush are using the same roses from the same region. So I am viewing the Rose Jam perfume as a dupe for Rose de Kandahar.

Would buy any of the Rose Jam stuff again? No, even though I love the body wash. I didn't think that Lush is my thing and I have heard people on the Perfume Posse rave about Lush and I wanted and tried to give Lush a fair shake. So I will probably gift what I have and use up what is already opened and what hasn't been opened, I will just gift.