Coco Mademoiselle Crush Absolu

Chanel is coming out with a new flanker and I am not so sure what to think about it. As a general rule, I am not a huge fan of flankers. Once in a while, the flankers can be just as good, if not better than the original. Let's take Shalimar, for example. Back when I was new to being a perfume nerd, Guerlain did back to back Shalimar flankers. The two Ode a la Vanille and Parfum Initial. I did sample both the Ode a la Vanilles but was only able to procure the Mexican and not Madagascar one, even though I preferred the Madagascar. Now both the Ode a la Vanille versions have long been discontinued and kicking myself for not trying a little harder to find a bottle of the Madagascar one. I was a little late to the Initial and by that time that was discontinued but I think they did bring that back with another name. Eventually, I will get a bottle of the Initial but that isn't high on the list of priorities since I don't have fuck you money to spend.

Another person that has jumped on the bandwagon, at least a little bit is Andy Tauer. He's just recently came out with L'Air du Desert Morccain Noir. And I was a little surprised but a little excited to try it. I have a sample and still haven't managed to really give it a go and this is a flanker of a flanker. And I honestly should get moving on that. But that is not what I am talking about right now. I am talking about Chanel coming out with another flanker.

This flanker's name is Coco Mademoiselle Crush Absolu. Chanel has made flankers for no 5 and for no 19 and I ended up liking only Eau Premiere. Now they are really starting to do all kinds of flankers for Coco Mademoiselle. I did rea!My like the intense version and nabbed a bottle when Sephora was having a sale. I haven't even tested the lighter version of Mademoiselle. When you don't drive and live in a rural area, sniffing new releases isn't a thing. So far, Sephora just has it on their website but not up for sale just yet. From what I am seeing thus far on Fragrantica, I keep seeing people saying that it reminds them of Prada Paradox but there seem to be a lot of mixed reviews.

What makes me hesitant about even trying to find a sample and giving it a go, is that I am still salty about Chanel making the extrait version of no 5 way out of my price range. There was a time where I was thinking of getting the extrait of Coco Mademoiselle but didn't get the chance to nab a bottle before they took the smaller bottles of extrait off the market. I should have stocked up when I had the chance.

That is Strange

 

Well, party time with finances has come to an end for the next month. I have done some damage to my bank account with Afterpay and now, I have to seriously take some stock. Afterpay reintroduced the nothing down and I stupidly started to take advantage of it. Right now, things have started to come in and have to really budget for the next two, maybe three weeks. I would rather not use up the last of my savings to pay Afterpay. I haven't added anything new to Klarna, Zip or Affirm and that is probably a good thing. I don't have any payments on Klarna that are coming up until September and my Affirm payments are technically not this paycheck but the next but I don't want to pay both Affirm and Afterpay in the same week, it is just not going to work. I know that I can manage the next two or three weeks to begin to really get myself back on track with my finances. But it is still hard to make changes, especially when the executive dysfunction decides it is going to be a bigger brat and when the depression starts to creep in, it can be a recipe for disaster. The one thing that is making me somewhat happy is that Ulta has a huge multiplier promo going. Ten points for every dollar spent. I had a $30 gift card and I managed to only go over by 15 cents. That is a little bit of progress. I have gotten a brush and sponge cleaner (my brushes and makeup sponges are pretty dirty), a face wash and some cotton rounds. I couldn't justify another lipstick, and eye shadow. Perfume was really out of the question and I am banking the $182 in rewards. I want to get up to $250 in rewards and have a blowout perfume run at the end of the year.

 What is funny in terms of perfume is that my mother has started to have a liking for the long discontinued Deneuve. I wore it a few days ago without any regard for anyone else. I haven't worn Deneuve in a long time. On my work days, I am working on using up my bottle of Cheirosa 62 and travel sprays of Infusion d'iris and BDK Gris Charnel. I am getting a little bit fixated of the vintage version of Bal a Versailles and I haven't worn that in forever. It's just so many that I haven't worm in forever and trying to start wearing again. But back to Deneuve. Deneuve has made my mother nauseous and I couldn't wear it. When I pulled it out and started to wear it again, my mother has really started to like Deneuve and I find it funny. My mother has never much cared for Deneuve but now she does. But for the longest time, she has worn Light Blue and a few other Dolce and Gabanna offerings and still wears a lot of it. But right now, she has branched out into wearing Flowerbomb. She enjoyed it so much, she went to Fragancenet for a bottle. But my mother still hates Coromandel, Mitsouko and a couple others. She says that they make her queasy, too strong, and dated. I am thinking that Light Blue is becoming dated and too many people are wearing it. I will have to say that both Mitsouko and Coromandel require a light hand though.

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.