Oh Dear...Broken Decant

I have had a lot of great experiences with The Perfumed Court and always seem to overspend my perfume allowance there. But I must say that I am a little bummed out though. I came home from work today and opened my package from The Perfumed Court. What got my attention was the fact that my package was very fragrant. I've gotten some decants that gave off a slight amount of fragrance. I pulled out the order slip and became very suspicious. The vial was broken and the attar had leaked all over the inside of the package. Every package that I have received from them has always been very carefully packaged and this was no different. Right now, I am giving the USPS the side eye. I have sent the Perfumed Court an e-mail to let them know that my vial has arrived broken. I hope that I won't have to send back the vial. I'm going to see what happens now.

Gap

I do enjoy online shopping very much for various reasons. But I've noticed some things with the Gap store online. Most of the time, I only get one or two shirts (favorite crewneck tees) at a time and it's usually when I get an e-mail of at least 25% or more. One thing that bothers me slightly is the $7.00 shipping unless you are buying $50 or more. Gas prices have gone up and that may account for some of it but Gap uses USPS to ship orders. Yes, Gap uses snail mail to ship stuff. I usually get the favorite tees to wear under my work shirt and when my shift is done, I take my work shirt off.

The second thing that bothers me is the selection of colors of said tees at Gap.com. There are only so many tees that I can own that are black, gray, white, and navy blue. Let's just say it can get old after a while. I'm one to sometimes want to wear a green, orange, yellow or purple shirt. Let's face it, there are those of us who live at least 25 minutes or more from the nearest Gap store or outlet store where can get tees in those colors.

The quality of Gap shirts no matter which one it is has gone down. The material of the shirts has gotten thinner and I want my shirts to last. The past couple times I have gotten shirts from Gap were thin and maybe lasted a cycle or two in the washer before they started to show wear and tear. It's those very little holes in the shirt from only one washing that bother me. I did not buy a shirt to be regulated to the whole just hanging around the house so I'm not so interested what I wear. I must clarify that sometimes some shirts are so thin that the color of my bra are showing and this is especially true of the lighter colored shirts. I'm not one that is fond of wearing camis or tank tops under tee shirts.

Chanel Gardenia EDT review

Chanel's Gardenia EDT was one of the first perfumes that I had bought in the beginning stage of my perfume stage. This was the stage where I was buying perfumes left and right unsniffed solely based on reviews or just sounded interesting. Now, almost three years later and much wiser, I am much more cautious with my full bottle purchases and I have not sprung for a full bottle in 4 months. Enough about that and now onto the review.

Gardenia is part of Chanel's Les Exclusifs line and initially came in a huge 6.8 ounce bottle. I have that huge bottle and had gotten it before Chanel gave a choice of either a 6.8 ounce or 2.5 ounce bottle. Gardenia does smell like many other gardenia dominate perfumes out there. It is nicely done and very much in the Chanel way. I do find that Gardenia smells a little on the thin side and is weak on the depth side. In that respect, during those few weeks not too long ago, that it was 90 degrees out, I was slightly spraying with abandon. This version (EDT) is not overpowering and doesn't last on my skin. Gardenia only lasts about 3 or 4 hours on my skin before disappearing. It is nice for a decant to have for reference but I can't really seem myself buying another full bottle. I am debating if I should get a decant of the pure parfum version to compare the two or not.

Idole by Lubin

It's been a long time since I reviewed a perfume. I'm going through a phase of trying to use up some of my older decants and getting rid of some of my samples. Since I have been on a leather kick that started with Chanel's Cuir de Russie but my tobacco/boozy kick is something new. Dabbing Idole from my sample does nothing for me. I do not get an opinion from dabbing because I really can't smell it. When my decant came in the mail, I immediately sprayed it on and let it develop. I find Idole to be Chanel's Cuir de Russie's 2nd once removed. They are similar but Idole doesn't seem to have the depth that Cuir de Russie has nor is it as complex. I am comparing Cuir de Russie in EDT form due to Idole being an EDT. Idole does have a noticeable boozy note but not quite as boozy as Frapin 1270. But one thing that I did notice as that there isn't much of a tobacco note that I could readily smell. What was noticeable for me was that Idole does have a staying power of 6-7 hours on my EDT eating skin. Idole does seem to stay somewhat close to the skin but I wouldn't go calling it a skin scent. Idole is very decant worthy but I don't find it full bottle worthy no matter how cool the bottle looks (bottle is cool looking).

Andy Tauer Incense Rose Review

I am very slowly working my way of trying all of Andy Tauer's perfumes. Ever since I have gotten on to a little bit of a rose kick and a huge incense kick, I've been interested in trying this. Incense Rose is dry perfume. The rose note is more of a sweet rose in the beginning but becomes a very dry rose when the incense starts to kick in after a half an hour. The incense is extremely dry, prominent and takes center stage as the rose fades into the background. The rose does become somewhat of a background figure and barely stays on the radar. All in all it is a nice perfume. It is decant worthy but not bottle worthy for me.