Recap

Many blogs are doing recaps on what has been released, what are the best releases of the year, etc. I have only smelled one 2012 release (Amouage Interlude for women). This past year has been marked with trying to get back up bottles of Chanel no. 5 and no. 19 in edp form. What did not help is that this summer was marked with extreme heat and the only thing I could tolerate was Chanel no. 19. So I wasn't as motivated to try anything "new". For me, new doesn't always mean that it wasn't released in the past two years, it can be called new to me.

Amazon and Amouage

I hope that everyone that reads my blog, has had a nice holiday. It's always around either my birthday or around Christmas that I seriously look at a full bottle of Amouage. But it's always the same song and dance, I have narrowed it down to two of the Amouages but can only get 1. It's the debate between Gold and Lyric. What is bringing it on is that there is a $100 credit sitting in my Amazon account and the seller Lady Ruth seems to be running a discount on a lot of the Amouages. I'm seeing anywhere between $30 to $50 cheaper.

Remembering When

For some reason, while I'm debating wearing Tommy Girl, a random thought passed through my mind. It was the whole "remember when spending $40 or $50 on a perfume was considered extravagant?". I remember the days when spending any more than $40 or $50 on a perfume was what I considered extravagant and a little stupid. I probably thought that way due to the fact that I wasn't really interested in perfume, didn't have a lot of money to spend on it, and too busy with school to really learn and smell new things.

Fast forward a few years, after I dropped out of college, I was slightly obsessed with reading about the Romanovs and was reading every book I could get my hands on. After receiving a gift of Coco Mademoiselle, I signed up for Chanel newsletters. One of those newsletters announced to me that there was a perfume that was inspired by Russian nobles fleeing the Russian Revolution. Cuir de Russie was the one that had me fall down the rabbit hole. Today, after many decants and full bottles later, $50 or $60 for a full bottle of perfume sounds like a bargain. It sounds like a bargain to me because I have spent $100 or more on most of my (full bottle) collection and a small handful was over $200.

I kind of miss those days when spending any more than $60 was a little.

Mitsouko Vintage EDT Review

For the past week (off and on), I've been wearing the vintage version of Mitsouko in EDT form. Many bloggers talk about the vintage versions of many classics being much better than the current formulations of classics. This probably is true to a degree but I'm new to testing vintage versions of anything. Deneuve is a long discontinued perfume, so there is no modern formulation that I can compare it to.

I've had somewhat of a difficult time with the vintage version of Mitsouko. Even though (by reading blogs) that vintage versions of anything can smell like nail polish remover in the beginning, I didn't exactly get that. Upon first application, I had thought it was the 'unscented' lotion that was the problem. It was not my lotion that was the issue, it was the vintage version's age that was talking. As time slowly dragged on, I started to get the Mitsouko that I was familiar with. But I did have to refresh my memory of the current version EDT form of Mitsouko to understand the vintage version a little better. There is a little more depth in the vintage EDT of Mitsouko than in the current version in the EDT. The vintage EDT of Mitsouko does last a somewhat longer in the vintage version than the current version. At the end of the wearing, I do prefer the current EDP version than any other version at this point.

Discovering Old Favorites and Chanel Bel Respiro Review

Over the past summer and most of the fall, I have neglected some old favorites. Summer was very, very hot and humid and the only perfume that I loved that seemed to work was Chanel no. 19. When I heard that there was a good chance that Chanel no. 5 would be reformulated and the EDP was a limited edition, I became hyper focused on that. Then, I fell in love with Mitsouko after two years (?) of trying to understand her.

In that time, I neglected Cuir de Russie. I had forgotten how plush and how good Cuir de Russie was. Holy cow, does Deneuve in parfum form smell wonderful. I am thinking of wearing Sycomore due to the fact that I have not worn it in over a year and can't remember what that smells like.

I've been lolly gagging on writing a perfume review especially one that I've worn off and on for the past couple months. I got a 5ml decant of this late spring or early summer and worn it a few times without reviewing. I think that it took me so long to review is because I didn't know what to make of it. At first, I got pencil shavings that takes me back to grade school pencil sharpeners. The type of pencil sharpener that was mounted to a table and had to be hand cranked. I don't know if they still have those type of pencil sharpeners or any type of pencil sharpeners. After a couple minutes, the herbs come out to play but still the pencil shavings are dominant. After 15 minutes, Bel Respiro becomes a generic masculine. There are many masculines out there and many of them are inexpensive. It's sad to say that after an interesting start, it falls into the category of generic masculine. What I did notice, is for an EDT, the staying power is really poor. This is sad because more often than not, Chanel EDT's last on my skin.

I'm Sitting Here

I'm sitting at a computer and rolling my eyes. When a dog starts nosing around and decides to pounce on something they shouldn't, it usually ends badly. One of my dogs managed to eat a whole bag of jelly beans and knocks over half of my collection of perfume. By the saving grace of the perfume gods, I was lucky and none of the bottles broke. Let's just leave it at the fact that she is not feeling so hot afterward. So far, I think that I got off light because the last time that happened was about 3 months ago and she ate a 3 pound bag of M&M's.

Every day, what can be the best part of my day can be the most the most difficult. Picking out which perfume can be tough. A part of me wonders why I cannot be faithful to 3 or 4 perfumes at the most. Perfume can be fun though because there is quite a bit out there. Every perfumer has a different interpretation of certain notes. But some days, it can be the fist bottle or decant that I grab or it take me a couple hours to even attempt to decide. What can make things difficult is picking something that is office friendly. I just can't waltz in to work wearing MKK because it is over the top skank or Sarrasins because it has the whole hooker vibe to it. So much of what I wear to work is main stream and classic scents.

Insanity

Ever since I became an aunt three years ago, I started to dread this time of year. Reason being is that both of my nephews were born in November and before I know it, it's Christmas and I must get even more gifts. I used to be able to get away with getting only one gift for each nephew and now it has to be two. This year, I have been somewhat forced to drag out my Christmas shopping. Instead of just going to the mall two or three days ahead of Christmas, I did part of it after Thanksgiving, and I will be able to finish it up in a couple of weeks.

Instead of getting a butt load of decants this month, it turned to be getting massive amounts of Christmas presents and chocolate. I never really know if I have forgotten anyone or I have that one impossible person to shop for. What can be great about the mass amounts of Harry and David chocolate covered Bing cherries that I ordered, is that half the time, I don't even gift those.

Now, that my sinus infection is mostly gone and now I can finally breathe. With now having the ability to breathe, I can begin to wear my beloved Amouages and many other of my perfumes. It really does suck when one has some kind of head cold or sinus infection.

Gone on Long Enough

I've been sick for 7 days now without being able to smell much at all. That means no enjoyment of the perfumes that I love and the potential to find a new love out of my huge pile of untested perfumes. For the past couple of days, I have been draining and do have some ability to smell, but not enough to try anything new. Being sick, I have to avoid anything that is "perfumey". Mitsouko isn't happening, any Amouage perfumes, and many others like it bring on a long coughing fit. Le Labo Labdanum 18 and Chanel no. 22 are the only ones working right now. Even though I really can't smell them that well.

Since it is the holiday season, my email in box is overflowing with deals. Some of them are not even deals at all. Free shipping? Most have just lowered the threshold that is required to get free shipping. Ten or twenty percent off my order? That doesn't exactly thrill me. Buy one, get one is where my interest is increased. About half the time, the percentage off just means that I pay next to nothing for shipping. Thus far, in my Christmas shopping, I've bought all I've needed for my two nephews, got two small gifts for my parents. All I have left to get is the rest of my parents' gifts, get something for my grandmothers and I'm done.

But I am kind of cursed with the family that is hard to shop for. It's either I can't afford it, almost impossible to find or they have everything. I'm one of those people who are not willing to spend money on cousins and many aunts and uncles. No matter what I say to them, I'm not about to spend $150 a piece.

Sick and Bookish

Being a perfume fanatic and having a head cold do not mix well. Not being able to smell or taste much of anything since Wednesday is a real drag, so my Guerlain Jicky EDT was done with lots of nose blowing and memory. I was hoping to test one perfume and review that along with Jicky.

Every time that I do get sick, I get pretty bookish. Before I fell down the rabbit hole of perfume, I was an avid book collector. I wasn't collecting these really rare or very old books, but every time I was at Borders, I was easily spending $125 on new books. Now since Borders has closed, I don't have bookstore near me. And I find that sad that there are not that many bookstores around to just hang around in. I've managed to order 4 new books for a really decent price.

What is pretty sad is that there are very few brick and mortor bookstores. Barnes and Noble is probably the only national chain left. I've never been much of a Barnes and Noble fan. Prices at Barnes and Noble have always seemed to be on the steep side. It's paper and glue and they mark the price up $3 or $4 more than the listing price. With Borders, you didn't have the sky high pricing of Barnes and Noble. With Barnes and Noble, I've never had seen the selection like I would at Borders. Yes, 9 times out of 10, Borders not only had better pricing but a better selection of books.

Guerlain Jicky EDT Review

I believe that I am starting to really 'get' a few of the Guerlain classics. It's finally love with Mitsouko, Shalimar is one of my comfort scents and now Jicky is my most recent. When I had first tried Jicky (EDP form), I got the impression of floor wax but the more I wore Jicky, my opinion did change. I think after trying different perfumes and understanding perfume notes changed my opinion.

Since I am somewhat of a glutton for punishment, I ordered a large decant of Jicky in EDT form (it was cheap!) and wanted to see what the difference was between the EDP version and the EDT version. The EDT version's citrus is much brighter and kind of sharp. The citrus does hang on to the front and center for quite a while. Then the lavender comes into play but it seems to be a little fainter than in the EDP. What I do love about Jicky is the dry down. The civet comes out and plays with the lavender. The civet renders the lavender as not your regular aromatherapy type of lavender. After getting no staying power the the EDT version of Mitsouko, Jicky lasted 3 hours on my skin. I wouldn't get a bottle of Jicky in EDT form due to the lasting power but I might have to because it is almost impossible to find Jicky in EDP form without paying an arm and a leg.

This is Hilarious!

I've been a little panicky with Chanel no. 5. Ever since I read on 1000 Fragrances and Perfume Shrine (both perfume blogs) that there is might be an end to Chanel no. 5 as we know it or Chanel no. 5 might be discontinued. Even though I have a 1.7 oz EDP, the Sensual Elixer, and Eau Premier, I ordered a back up bottle just in case. I hope that this whole allergen and needing to protect a small percentage of the population blows over. I think it's the whole minority is overruling the majority. What is hilarious is that I spent $75 on a 1.2 ounce bottle on Chanel no.5 and I was not amused. It was the whole, "Seventy-four dollars on a small bottle of perfume? That's crazy!" mentality that I had adopted since I have started ordering decants. I've gotten used to spending $50 for around 5 or 6 decants. It's been that long since I had bought a full bottle of perfume.

There Are Days

I've never quite understood the appeal of Apple computers nor the iPhone but I will admit to loving iPods. Thus far, I've had 2 iPod Classics, what is probably the first generation Shuffle, the current version of the Shuffle and now an iPod Nano. As of now, I am arguing with my computer, iTunes, and trying to get this Nano to work. This is the first time that I have ever had an issue with setting up an iPod. My computer was finding the new iPod but iTunes was not. Then it hit me, instead of installing and then reinstalling iTunes, why not see if there are up dates. Sure enough there were and I downloaded the upgrades and I was able to sync everything up. After figuring all that stuff out, I was too tired to take a real good look at how the Nano itself worked. Hey, after working 8 hours and then spending 2 hours trying to figure out how to deal with iTunes, I just wasn't exactly willing to stay up until 3 in the morning to test drive this thing.

Now I have had this iPod up and running for a few days now and have been listening to it. I am having a difficult time trying to get this thing synced to my computer. I am not understanding why after all of the aggravation of setting this thing up, my computer will not recognize the Nano. My computer is telling me that the USB is malfunctioning. After spending $150 and after working on iTunes for two hours, I'm more than a little irate that this is going on.

Creed Green Irish Tweed/Estee Lauder Pleasures for Men

Even though I wasn't exactly impressed or thrilled with Creed's Fleurs de Bulgarie, I thought that I would give Creed another shot by sampling Green Irish Tweed. Even though Green Irish Tweed is marketed towards men, and I have somewhat of an unholy fear of citrus, this is actually not half bad.

I kind of did forget that in men's cologne's that citrus can be very pleasant. The citrus kind of reminds me of Estee Lauder's Pleasures for men. For a while, I did think it was actually Pleasures for men. Looking at when Green Irish Tweed and Pleasures for men came out, Green Irish Tweed has been floating around for a lot longer. One could say that Pleasures for men could be a blatant rip off. Both are very similar and smell like 100 other colognes out there. Needless to say, while pleasant, full bottles at their price points are not worth it.

Rochas Femme EDT Review

Any regular readers that I do have, kind of know that I go through phases of reviewing a lot of perfumes then it's just general blogging. I find that I have to be in a certain mood to try new things at least a couple of times either two days in a row or 2 or 3 months apart. Rochas Femme was something that I had to try 3 or 4 times before I could even begin to review.

Rochas Femme has been around for a while and is considered a classic. It comes from the 1940's where women were women. At the time, I was looking for a classic perfume but was considered 'animalic' and stumbled across a list from Surrender to Chance. Femme is not one of those skanky perfumes that is just about sex. It beats around the bush a little bit. I got the flowers and I got the spice, then well into they dry down, I had gotten the skank. The skank was nice enough but I wished that it had come out a lot sooner and maybe a little louder. For an EDT, this is pretty long lasting on my skin; I could still smell it on skin 9 hours later. Truth be told, this is one of those classics that really doesn't suit me, so a small decant for reference purposes is good enough for me.

Chanel No. 5 EDP Limited Edition? What?

What has been floating around on the blogs, Perfume Shrine and 1000 Fragrances is that there are going to be even more restrictions and it seems like one of the targets is Chanel no. 5. I prefer Chanel no. 5 in EDP form more than the other formulations. After looking at my Chanel no. 5 bottle and realizing that I am down to my last 1/8 of my 1.7 oz bottle, I looked at ordering myself another bottle and was surprised. The EDP version is now listed as "Limited Edition". I don't know when that happened but I was wondering if they were going to up and just continue the EDP version of no. 5. I may have Eau Premiere and the Sensual Elixer but they are just not the same. Now Chanel is all over the place with pricing. I don't remember no. 5 costing $98 for 1.7 oz nor the extract costing $200. I am just shaking my head over a mainstream perfume that is relatively easy to obtain costing so much. I'm thinking that another bottle is in order but we shall see.

Amouage Interlude Woman Review

Today, even though my scent of the day is Rochas Femme, today's review is Amouage Interlude for women. When I did find out that Amouage was releasing a new perfume, I was excited and ambivalent because it seemed like only last year that Amouage released Honour and had just recently had a limited release of Beloved. As soon as Surrender to Chance had Interlude, I ordered a 2ml spray decant of it.

Even though the bottle is gorgeous (sapphire blue), I'm lukewarm on this. I'm lukewarm because this smells a lot like something from the Serge Lutens line and not too many of Serge Lutens work for me. Heavy on fruit and incense. But Interlude is a little different, though. This is a very dry perfume, I mean really dry. The fruit reminds me of Harry and David's dried fruits (which are good) but the incense reminds me of Jubilation 25 (which I don't really care for). Interlude also reminds me of Bal A Versailles in vintage form with a metallic dry down. The fruit and incense oscillate between being fruity for about 45 minutes and then it is incense for about an hour but when note is dominant, the other is somewhat in the background. Lasting power and sillage is what I have come to expect from Amouage but this offering is not for me.

Donna Karan Jasmine Review

During this summer's jasmine kick, I had tried out Donna Karan's Jasmine. I had worn it once or twice during the summer and wore it yesterday to refresh my memory. It was just as I remembered, faint with no lasting power. It does smell like jasmine but even on first spray, I can barely detect in on skin. Then I sprayed on my clothes, and was a little less faint on clothing but still faded into nothing after an hour. But during that hour, I noticed that it did have a rubbing alcohol vibe to it. There were no indoles that I could detect and I do like my skanky jasmines. The good part was that I got a 2ml decant next to nothing. I don't regret trying it, but just not happy that it lasted 15 minutes on skin and about an hour on clothing hence why my review is short and maybe a little clipped.

Galileo Thermometers, 'cause I Want to Blog but Have Nothing

It's been a long day today. I've been on vacation all of this week and was lucky that someone was sick. That leaves me to come in and work. Every time I am on vacation by Thursday or Friday, I start to get a little bored. Today, was the day that only Mitsouko that would suit my kinks, so no perfume review right now.

Besides having a "strange obsession with perfume", my other kind of strange hobby is collecting Galileo thermometers. Ever since I have become a perfume fanatic, my Galileo thermometer collecting has been put on the back burner. But since signing up for Amazon Prime, it got my collection going again somewhat. Most think one is interesting but having multiple ones is a little freakish. If there are those who collect Star Wars figurines or KISS memorabilia, why shouldn't I have an unusual collection? I have noticed that where the thermometer was made can make a world of difference. Ones made in China, no matter what the size they are huge. The width in general is much larger and the base of the thermometer is thick and looks bulky. Thermometers that are made in Germany, have more of a hand blown look to them and tend to be smaller width wise and smaller, rounded bases. Both look that same, but the German ones seem to be made a little better with much more accuracy with temperature.

But not too many places seem to carry smaller Galileo thermometers. About three quarters of my collection ranges from 17 inches to 24 inches. When I started out, it was the bigger the better or if there was one with just red or green balls, it caught my eye and would get them. For a little bit, I saw a few that were only black and have two. But thermometers with one one color is a little harder to find. I do want the smaller thermometers and the color of the balls are really not as important as it was.

A trend that I have noticed is that companies now think it is great to have them in these wooden contraptions and it looks ridiculous. This adds more fuss than need be and I cannot fathom why people would spend $10 more just for cheap wood framing the thermometer.

Guerlain L'Heure Bleue EDP Review

My opinion of Guerlain at first was a perfume house that I didn't get along with. For the longest while, the only perfume from Guerlain that I really enjoyed was Shalimar. Then this past fall, I have finally understood Mitsouko and why she is a classic and I can finally enjoy Mitsouko. So now, I think that I am starting to warm up to Guerlain.

L'Heure Bleue is one of those classics that I kept meaning to try but kept on forgetting because other perfumes were catching my fancy. I think that what kept throwing me off was the anise note. After having to get up pretty early this morning, L'Heure Bleue was the first decant that I reached for is my semi awake state. First blast was what smelled like cloves. If you have ever been around someone who smoked clove cigarettes, or maybe tried them yourself, you have an idea of what they smell like. But I was actually smelling the anise. The anise doesn't come across like somebody bottled black liquorice but it has almost a medicinal element to it. Even after 12 hours, all I am smelling is the anise. Do I like it? Kind of but I'm probably going to need to test it out a few more times for the next few months or so before I can make a final judgement call on it.

Serge Lutens Rose de Nuit

This is just ridiculous that I have a bag filled with 40 decants that I have not reviewed yet. So, it's time for me to review stuff this week. That's if the power holds up through Hurricane Sandy. Since Sunday was pretty much the day I decided to do the Fragrance Frankenstein Challenge from Perfume Posse. Let's just say it was a cross of hilarious and a little horrifying. It was Serge Lutens Arabie, CK Obsession, with a healthy dose of Sarrasins.

I had gotten a sampler set of Serge Lutens non-exports a couple months ago and dug it out for a test run. I'm always a little bit hesitant of trying any of Serge Lutens scents. They are either exports, too much spice cabinet, or it gets a little too soapy or powdery. Rose de Nuit is somewhat of an odd perfume for me. It's odd because I get many other perfumes that are close to Rose de Nuit but not quite. The rose is a dominant note but it's not the musky, powdery rose of Fleurs de Bulgarie (Creed) it is more like the sharp, clear rose of Chanel no.19. About 5 minutes after the rose dies down a little bit, I get the familiar chypre category (little bit like Diorling and Deneuve) then come a fruit note. Normally, I abhor a strong or noticeable fruit note because I don't enjoy smelling like a overripe fruit salad or rotted fruit. This time, I'm not sure if I like it or not but it does take away from Rose de Nuit. In the dry down, is what I did not enjoy. The dry down smelled like a very old rose soap along with fruit. Would I go to Paris or find a connection to get this? Only if the soap and fruit wasn't a part of Rose de Nuit.

Bath Stuff, Amazon, Shipping

Ever since I became a perfume freak, I was a bath stuff person. I was the type that easily spent $75 or more every two weeks at Bath and Body Works. I adored getting the body wash, matching lotion and the body sprays with the periodic candle. At first, I was in high school and that was what most girls were wearing at the time. Then, I was in college with not a lot of money to spare, so I mainly went without scented bath products. After college, I had some spending money but kind of fell away from Bath and Body Works and was more interested in perfume gift sets. The Vera Wang gift sets, in the beginning where what I was wearing, I don't know, 3 or 4 years ago. After a while, I became really bored with Vera Wang's Sheer Veil and her signature scent. Then it was Chanel's Cuir de Russie and it was all over. I went into wearing one or two perfumes for months on end with the periodic break on wearing something else to wearing a different perfume every day.

On Wednesday, I was inadvertently reminded of my nephew's birthday that is coming up real soon. I had forgotten about it and had to ask my sister what he had or didn't have or really wanted. She sent me a link for what he wanted real bad. She said that she could find it in any brick and mortar store and since I seem to be the queen of online shopping and online bargains in her eyes, she was sure that I would be able to track it down. And not pay a huge fortune on it. My first stop is always Amazon and I managed to find the Avengers action figure that he wanted and the price was pretty good. What made it even better for me was a month long free trial of Amazon Prime. For those who don't know, Amazon Prime for $80 a year, one can get free two day shipping. I was going to make sure my 2 year old nephew (going to be three) will have it and he will love me forever. And I can exploit this (free shipping) for my Galileo thermometer collection. Hey, I don't have a 9 inch thermometer in my collection yet, just 17 to 24 inches.

After throwing out tons of ratty shirts and bras, I had to do a little clothes shopping. First of all, I love Gap's essential shirts and more often than not, they have some kind of sale going on. I am not going to pass up 25% or 30% off when I just threw out 20 really ratty shirts. Naturally, I didn't order 20 shirts in one sitting, I ordered 5 and manage to score free shipping be cause I spent $50. What I like about Gap and their shipping, they are not so outrageous with the standard shipping. Victoria's Secret is a whole different matter though. I paid almost $11 shipping on 1 bra. That is just not cool to be all over the place with shipping. They never used to be so horrific with shipping. Looks like a brick and mortar store from now on for me.

Patou Joy EDP Review

Finally, I've been motivated to test out a new perfume. It was somewhat of a choice on to which to test out. Either Patou Joy or Donna Karan's Jasmine and Joy won out. The last two perfumes that were instant love was Deneuve and Amouage Lyric and Joy comes close. Joy is a classic perfume that was created during the Great Depression and was marketed as the most expensive perfume.

When I first apply Joy, I get a huge blast of bright rose, similar to Chanel no. 19 EDP, then it's a mildly skanky jasmine. During the wearing, the rose and jasmine alternate is being dominant notes and I do like that. I like rose and love a skanky jasmine but what trips me up in any perfume is tuberose. The tuberose periodically peeks out under the jasmine or the rose. The tuberose is not overly creamy and is not overwhelming to me. It's just a little hint once in a while. Lasting power and sillage is about average for Joy.

Would I get a bottle? It's debatable but large decant worthy.

Guerlain Mitsouko EDP Retried

It's kind of funny on how for certain perfumes that I have dismissed as nothing special or really didn't "get it". Especially when it comes to classics. In the past couple months, I think that I finally understand Mitsouko. I now adore Mitsouko in EDP form. At first, I was put off with the peach note. In the beginning, I thought that the peach was a little too in your face. After giving it a few more tries, the peach is front and center until about half way through the entire wearing. Mitsouko is a perfect fall scent in my eyes. It has cooled down, the leaves are changing, there is that certain fall smell that compliments Mitsouko especially when there is a bond fire going. In the dry down, the rose and jasmine become more apparent and I really love the dry down. I have a small decant of the vintage EDT but have not gotten around to trying it, so this is of the most current formulation. But now, I cannot really think of wearing any other scent right now.

Apple Shuffle 2G, Fourth Generation

I'm a little bit weary of blogging about perfume and it's time to take a short break from it. A few posts back, I posted about traveling with perfume but was thinking about a new iPod. It was not really to replace my iPod Classic but to buy a little more time before I have to replace the battery on my Classic. I've had my iPod Classic for about 3 years now and finally the battery is dying. And during my little weekend trip, I was not about to keep charging the thing after 15 or 20 minutes of use. And I didn't feel comfortable carrying around a $250 iPod with me in the city. So the iPod Shuffle was the way to go for me. And the price on Amazon was right.

After being used to 160 gigs of space, it was difficult on trying to fit what I wanted on the Shuffle with only 2 gigs of space. After filling my Shuffle almost to the max, I have a little over 200 songs on it. What's great is that I can keep changing the songs. One feature that I have discovered is the voice over. Voice Over is a little button that one presses to hear the song title and the artist. For some reason, I am tickled over it.

When Apple started making iPods, your choice of colors were either black or silver. Now, there are many colors to chose from. I liked the look of the green Shuffle and it was a bright color and something I could easily find in my purse. Having all kinds of different colors to chose from is a nice feature but not a very important one to me. The earphones that come with the Shuffle are utter crap in my point of view but finding a better set of earphones, cheaply, are easy to find. For the price that one pays for what one is getting, this is a good deal.

Amouage Gold EDP Review

Quite a while back, I had drained a small spray decant of Amouage Gold Cristal (EDT) for women and then preceded to drain a small sample of Amouage Gold in EDP form.After a while, I did forget about Amouage Gold and then couldn't remember why it was on my full bottle buy list. Then I managed to find a 3ml manufacturer's sample on Surrender to Chance (those Amouage carded sample goes really fast). Then my memory was refreshed on why it is on my full bottle list.

Amouage Gold for women is almost identical to Dia for women but I can tell the difference between the two. Gold does not have the astringent like blast of aldehydes that Dia has. I find that Gold does have a little more heft than Dia but ultimately, Gold is the same scent as Dia. The dry down is like a very expensive jasmine/rose soap. Like all of Amouage perfumes, Gold lasts forever on skin.

What I don't get is that Gold is described as being for evening wear and Dia is for daytime wear. I find that I can wear Gold during daylight hours. Even though Gold is on my buy list, it has moved down a bit because I already own Dia but still want a full bottle.

Changing of the Seasons

Fall is probably my favorite seasons. It's cooling off, people are starting to use their fireplaces, leaves are turning, and anything pumpkin or apple is big. Apple cider, pumpkin pie, apple crisp. But fall can be a little odd. Because unlike winter, where it stays cold, I get two days straight of it being 85 degrees out then it's 55 degrees for two or three days and everything else in between.

This is also the time of year that it is harder for me to decide on what perfume to wear. Especially on days I have to work. One of my little rules is that I don't wear anything in my not worn and reviewed pile. I don't always know if something is a scrubber or smells like I have just been bedded by some random guy and didn't bother to take a shower before work. Today of all days, I cannot decide if I should wear the current formulation of Mitsouko in EDP form or Amouage Dia. At first, Mitsouko wasn't a great love but she creeps up on you. Dia is one of those perfumes that are very 'perfumey' but I love, no, adore the really expensive rose/jasmine soap dry down. But I am leaning more to Mitsouko because I am in more of the 'I am not interested in what you think, I need a decision out of you now. Not in 5 minutes.' type of mode.

Dior Diorissimo EDT Review

I've probably have got to be the oddest perfume nut. I have this huge, and I do mean huge pile of decants of various sizes that I haven't tried and reviewed and yet I keep getting more. How can I refuse 15%-20% off decants sales of Surrender to Chance's daily specials? After spending a small fortune on a carpet steam cleaner and spending a lot less than I thought in Cincinnati, I was able to get more than one small decant but Diorissimo was a decant that has been sitting in my enormous pile of decants that I have finally gotten around to trying and reviewing.

Diorissimo normally sold in EDT form but now I am seeing it in EDP form. Since both Surrender to Chance and The Perfumed Court only carry it in EDT form (I can't say if they won't ever have) that is what was available to me within my price range when I ordered a larger decant. The decant I have is not the current 2012 formulation but probably the one before that. I wouldn't call it vintage because my definition of vintage is before 1990.

For a while, Diorissimo smelled very familiar but I could not place it. It seemed like I had smelled this before and then I realized that it smelled a lot like the Easter lily that my parents always seem to get a couple days before Easter. My mother hates Easter lilies because it makes her sneeze and she is just not wild over the scent. Diorissimo does have a slight soapy feel but it adds to the overall feeling of the EDT without taking anything away. Diorissimo does have a slight green note that is kind of nice but I am not wild about for some reason. I really do like the EDT version but it doesn't last very long on skin. It lasts a little longer on skin and clothes than Diorling did. I might have to splurge, unsniffed, on a full bottle of Diorissimo EDP to get any king of lasting power.

Serge Lutens De Profundis Review

I have been wearing Serge Lutens' De Profundis off and on ever since I had gotten a decant a while back. I was attracted to De Profundis because it was based on an Oscar Wilde letter and the color of the perfume itself. De Profundis doesn't have the intense purple of Sarrasins, but I don't see very many perfumes that are colored purple. Take that back, I don't see it outside of what Bath and Body Works sells.

Serge Lutens creations can be difficult for me. Maybe it is his use of spices in his perfumes that make it difficult for me. De Profundis is more of what I am used to smelling even though it is slightly odd. De Profundis reminds me strongly of fall. Just when the leaves are changing, some people are really getting into having bond fires, there is more of a need for long sleeved shirts and long pants. De Profundis is a muted floral/green scent. I find it to be more green stems than flowers though. On skin, I get about 4 or 5 hours of wear then it's gone. While it's likable at the end of the wearing, I'm not in love with it.

A Little Bummed

Okay folks, I have gotten back from my weekend trip and I am tired and slightly cranky. Out of boredom, I looked at the Barney's website and the Serge Lutens cloche perfumes have come in. I have been drooling over Sarrasins for a while now and have been wanting a bottle for a while now. Rumor had it that the price was probably going to be steep but I was still amazed at the price. Sarrasins' current price at Barney's is $300 and still cannot seem to buy a bottle online. In Europe (after doing a conversion), the going price there is about $130-$140. Some will say it's cheaper than a plane ticket to Paris. But going to Paris would be a great trip and worth the price of a plane ticket. My way of thinking is that I do not find that for 75ml of Sarrasins is really not worth the $300 price tag. Serge Lutens creations, while good and original, are not worth that kind of price, unlike an Amouage perfume. I can justify the price tag with an Amouage. The reason is that I smell quality ingredients, one small spray lasts all day and there is loads of richness and depth with an Amouage perfume. But $300 is a little outrageous for Sarrasins.

Packing for Trips

I'm not a person who travels very often. My last, albeit big, trip was three years ago to Hawaii. At that point in my perfume journey, I had full bottles and most were 3.4 ounces or larger. Naturally, you can't pack any perfume bottles (full) that are more than 3 ounces. So I was stuck at that time to my Victoria's Secret Heavenly.

Now, I am driving down to Cincinnati for a festival on Friday and must think about packing. I have a basic idea of what I am wearing clothes wise, but I am really looking at what perfumes I want to bring along. Since I do not have to worry about the size of perfume bottles, I can relax a little bit. Even though I am having a craving for wearing nothing but Mitsouko and have worn it for 3 days straight, I may not even want to take it along. I maybe just sick of wearing it by Friday. Maybe it is because I am very accustomed to having my perfume collection on hand but I don't really want to pack just one or two bottles or decants of perfume. It's always the same question of what if I want to wear something different and I didn't pack it type deal. So part of today is doing some laundry and most of the day tomorrow will be spent packing clothes and agonizing on what perfume(s) I will be wearing for the weekend. If I can squeeze in a review tomorrow, I'll be doing pretty good.

Beating My Head Against A Wall

It never seems to fail is when I have something planned, something else happens. One of my dogs had decided to eat almost an entire bag of M&M's (huge bag). Vomit and a couple other things everywhere and it did not help that our steam cleaner was broken beyond repair. After dealing with cleaning the mess, my mother thought it would be a great idea to go onto Amazon to get a new steam cleaner. I pointed out that after dealing with the dog, that we could have rented a steam cleaner and the entire day would not have been wasted on trying to hand scrub the carpet. Nope, it was off to Amazon to buy a steam cleaner and of course she picks out one of the most expensive ones. Since it was my Amazon account she was using, all of my gift cards were used and all of my American Express points were used but I still spent over $200 on this. Now, my budget for the most part is blown and I am not able to consider any decants for the rest of this month and the beginning of this month. Take that back, after this weekend, I might be able to get one decant but not my normal fist full. I know I have a massive pile of decants to try out but there is so much out there that I want to try. I am not planning to get anything extra at this festival. I'm just going to be paying for my food and that is it.

iPods and Montale Jasmin Full Review

For maybe the past 6 or 7 years, the only Apple product I have had is an iPod. It all started when the first iPod Shuffle came out. I had quickly outgrew the Shuffle because at that time there was only 1 gig of space. Then I went to the iPod classic when I could only get one with 80 gigs of space. When I got the 160 gig Classic, my dad inherited my old 80 gig Classic because it was a lot better than using it as a paperweight and he could use it for those long plane rides. Now after constant use, my current iPod needs a new battery. After poking around the Apple website, it would run me about $60 and I am not sure how much labor would cost. It always seems like one has to pay an arm and a leg for labor on top of the cost of whatever you are replacing. Since next weekend, I will be traveling and have a busy week before then, I do not have time to go out of my way to an Apple store or ship it in through the mail, I ordered the latest iPod Shuffle. It maybe only 2 gigs but I'm not really sure how much I am going to be listening to music or watching any kind of video, so it suits my needs for a weekend trip.

I'm still kind of on a jasmine kick and have branched out. By branching out, I mean that I am trying other jasmine dominant perfumes and not quite as hyper focused on Sarrasins or A La Nuit.That has led me to trying Jasmin Full by Montale. Jasmin Full is very different from Sarrasins and A La Nuit. Jasmin Full is a bright jasmine. A La Nuit, Sarrasins, and Bath and Body Works' Midnight Blooming Jasmine were heavy and dense. Besides getting a whopping dose of jasmine, there is a huge orange blossom note. Both jasmine and orange blossom are heavy on indoles, I do not get the fecal element like I do with Sarrasins. Lasting power is about average for an EDP on my skin. For the life of me cannot decide if I like this or not. So getting a bottle or keeping a decant around it up in the air.

Unmotivated

For the past couple months, something happened between perfume and I. I am not talking about the two month heat wave, Chanel no. 19 EDP or nothing lasting on skin because I pretty much beat that to death. I'm talking about not wanting to really try anything new or get anything new. Probably due to the issue of I had bought so many decants these past few months and may have tried only 4 or 5 of them or I'm just a little burnt out right now. The last scent that really knocked me off my socks was Deneuve in extract form. I love Deneuve and wish someone would bring it back but if someone did, it probably would be a shadow of it's former self. At this point, I am wondering if the uncertainty from my job is creating this not being motivated. Naturally, it doesn't help either that a friend of mine has become critical of my perfume choices. I mean super critical for some reason. Just like I was wearing Mitsouko and tells me that I smell like I have not showered in a few days. I've known him for years and until a couple of weeks ago, there were no comments. I retaliated by letting him know if he wanted to criticize my perfume, I could harp on his lotto tickets. Shut him up real quick and this is the same friend who uses me as a sounding board and a nose for his mom's Christmas gift.

I am a little bummed out that after accidentally knocking over my makeup bag of decants onto my bed, I lost a 2ml of Sarrasins. Let's just say that Sarrasins doesn't mix too well with wearing Mitsouko and luckily I have some back up decants (I adore the skankiness of Sarrasins). Even washing my hands doesn't completely make it disappear. Let's just say it has stained one of the sheets of my bed but now my sheets smell really nice.

The End of Summer

In the US, Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer for many. Kids heading back to school after a long weekend. In rural parts of the nation, many kids belong to 4H and during Labor Day weekend, spend the entire weekend at the county fairs. During the whole weekend, it wasn't very hot but very humid. Each day was a different scent. Friday was the current formulation of Chanel no.22, Saturday was the vintage version of no. 22, Sunday was Mitsouko and today was testing out Diorella.

This summer was marked by the hottest summer that I have ever experienced. I was slathering on heavy duty lotions and yet, no perfume would stick around very long. Late spring was when I became so enamored with Chanel no. 19 in EDP form, that I was constantly on the look out to buy a back up bottle of it. No. 19 in EDP form was one of the only perfumes that was sticking around on my skin and didn't grate on my last nerve. For a while, it was in stock but I didn't have any fun money left to get it, when it was out of stock, I had fun money. Sarrasins and A La Nuit were two scents that I was wearing quite often in the heat and I've never wanted to wear jasmine dominant perfume in summer. Now that summer is mostly over and now that temperatures are creeping down, I'm ready to start wearing my heavy orientals again.

Dior Diorling EDT Review

Earlier this summer, I had ordered a Dior sampler pack but never quite got around to testing any of them out. I've always been a little hesitant to try new (to me) perfumes during a heat wave but since the two/three month heat wave is over, I'm willing to try more perfumes.

I've been slowly working my way through testing as many classic perfumes as I can and came to Diorling. I have read that Diorling could be a difficult perfume for some. When I had first sprayed on Diorling, I had a huge blast of pepper that strongly reminded me of green peppers. After the 15 minutes of the green pepper note, Diorling changed. Diorling changed into a classic chypre scent. It had reminded me of Mitsouko without the whopping peach note. The flowers are not overpowering but they whisper and add a lot more to Diorling instead of taking away. What irks me is that the lasting power is very poor even with a thick moisturizer. I probably would get Diorling to last longer if sprayed on clothing. Would I get a bottle? Only if it lasted longer or it was being sold in EDP form. I would keep a decant of this though.

La Labo Labdanum 18 Review

For the past week or so, it has finally cooled off enough for me to start breaking out the oriental perfumes. This summer has been torture on me where there were only a few perfumes that I could stand wearing. For the past couple days, I have been wearing Le Labo Labdanum 18. I'm note sure why I had taken so long with testing this out before the perpetual, massive heatwave.

After poking around the internet, a few bloggers have made the comparison to Shalimar. I must agree with them especially in the beginning stages. In the beginning, Labdanum 18 is straight up Shalimar without the citrus top note. After a few minutes, a get a distinct cola note, which did take me by surprise. The cola note is not bad but I can't see it adding anything to the whole composition of Labdanum 18. The dry down was interesting though due to the fact that I did get reminded of MKK, slightly animalic. Lasting power and sillage are about average for this. I find Labdanum 18 to be nice but not quite bottle worthy, just decant worthy. If one owns a bottle of Shalimar and MKK, you won't be missing that much by not trying out Labdanum 18.

Adventure at the Mall and Serge Lutens Chene Review

I do not often go to the mall for a couple of reasons. I've never been one that has been a great fan of large crowds. Children running around everywhere and their minders are oblivious to what is going around them. Yesterday, my mother was helping a friend plan for a trip and spent almost 3 hours trying on clothes. I have never been one to enjoy shopping for clothes. When I went to Hawaii 3 years ago for 10 days, I didn't spend that much time for getting new clothes. I was in and out of Macy's in under an hour and only really needed a pair of tennis shoes and a couple shirts. But I was fortunate enough to be able to wander around the mall after I had lunch. Panera was an adventure. It seems like the adults at Penera are not so easy to contend with. They do not have the sense to realize that even though it is still summer, others have a hot tray of soup in their hands. And yet they charge right in front of me as I am turning around and about to find myself a seat. I was very interested looking at the Chanel counter to see if any one of the 3 department stores had Coco Noir. But no, they had the regular Coco, Coco Mademoiselle, no. 5 in all it's variations, and the Chance flankers. Then I remember that I am at the closest mall to wear I live and it isn't the upscale one where there would be potential of having a new Chanel at the counters. Now, since I bored you with my lame mall rant, I think that a review is in order.

I've really been unmotivated in reviewing perfume for some reason but hearing about the bell jars coming to the US kick started me a little. And what is leading me to reviewing Chene is one of my dogs nosing around my kitchen counter and my decant of Chene breaks. In the book, The Guide, Chene is described as something that smells of pencil shavings. This is the second time that I am going to have to agree with the authors of The Guide. The pencil shaving note is dominates the whole wearing but I have noticed that there is a burning rubber note that comes into play. Even though I have trace amounts on my hands, I am just not enjoying Chene at all. Even after 8 hours of wear, the whole get up seems a little crude.

Serge Lutens Cuir Mauresque Review

After Perfume Shrine had reported that Barney's New York was going to be getting the Serge Lutens non-export line, I was excited. Excited because I didn't have to save up lots of pennies to go to Paris to get a bell jar of Sarrasins. But I had a few questions. On the comments section, one of the commenter had said those of us who really wanted a bottle would be looking at shelling out $290 USD for 2.5 ounces of perfume. I was able to find out that a 2.5 ounce bell jar would equate to about $140-$150 in American money. I have dropped $260 on a bottle of Amouage. Amouage uses the best ingredients available with the budget they got. After smelling some of Serge Lutens' creations, they don't exactly have the budget that Amouage has. That's okay if he doesn't but if the $290 is true, I would be put off on getting a full bottle of Sarrasins. Now, on to the review.

I absolutely adore Chanel's Cuir de Russie and was curious on what Serge Lutens's Cuir Mauresque would be like. I have tried a few of Serge Lutens' creation and I either find them strange, to be a spice cabinet or simple. When I first sprayed Cuir Mauresque, I thought that I had sprayed on Arabie. But I do not have a decant of Arabie but a full bottle of it. It was a monster blast of spices that did calm down somewhat after 45 minutes. Then I got the old but well taken care of leather purse filled with expensive lipsticks on top of the spices. Then Cuir Mauresque morphed again. It morphed into an odd cross of Arabie and Feminite due Bois with leather. I'm lukewarm of Cuir Mauresque because it's a great idea but the whole spice cabinet is slightly headache inducing in August. This lasts for a good 8-10 hours on me. I do not think that I will be getting a bottle of this though.

Not Buying The Hype

Am I the only one who hasn't bought into the hype about Apple products? Every time I turn around, everyone is talking about the newest iPhone, iPad, Macbook or whatever is being released from Apple. My one friend has just gotten in the past two months, an iPhone and now his mother has gotten one. After playing with his phone, I am not impressed. The said friend was moaning about how he should have waited to upgrade his phone because he wants the iPhone 5. A family member has an iPad and loves it. I'm not a huge tech head and have set foot in an Apple store to see what the fuss was about. The only fuss I have ever made about Apple is with an iPod, the only Apple product that I own. And my iPod is 3 years old and now is in need of a new battery.

Chanel's Flanker Game

A few weeks ago, I had received an email from Chanel stating that they were releasing a new perfume. A part of me groaned and a part of me was curious about it. Come to find out that Chanel is releasing Coco Noir. For some reason, I was hoping that Chanel was revamping the original Coco. The original Coco does have a somewhat dated feel to me. But digging around the Internet a few have gotten a hold of a sample, the reviews seem to be mixed on it. I'm still wary of this flanker, even though the bottle looks cool.

I have noticed that Chanel has been playing around with their scents. First it was the ionic no. 5 with Eau Premire. Then it was no. 19 with no. 19 Poudre. Now it is Coco with Coco Noir. I kind of hoped that Chanel would have stopped after no. 5.That was in vain.

I was finally able to grab a back up bottle of no.19 EDP when it was in stock at the Chanel website late last week, so grab a bottle before it goes out of stock again.

Penhaligon Amaranthine Review

I've had this 1.5ml decant sitting in my 'waiting to be reviewed' pile for who knows how long. I don't know what prevented me from trying this out. What got me to test this one was that I had lost most of the decant through evaporation and was left with just a little bit for one or two wearings.

After wearing it yesterday, I can say that I honestly dislike it. Because I get milk and iris. Iris is not listed on the official notes but I think that it is the tea note that is giving me the iris impression. Amaranthine becomes tiresome after a while because I don't a whole lot of development. The milk whatever is giving me the iris note starts to give out a bad raunchy vibe. The raunchy vibe reminds me of someone I knew who bragged about how much sex that they had over the past few days and didn't feel like bothering to shower before leaving the house. I think that I'm just going to toss whatever is left of the decant away.

Isabey Gardenia EDP Review

Thus far, I am still looking for a gardenia perfume that is not loaded down with tuberose. Bath and Body Works' Gardenia Lily is about the only one so far that I don't detect a huge tuberose note. After looking around the Internet, I kept hearing about Isabey's Gardenia. It was off to Surrender to Chance to order a decant.

On first spray, I was clubbed over the head with a coconut note. The coconut vibe was alright when it calmed down a little bit but then the tuberose came out. The tuberose is very dense, creamy and somewhat in your face. That has always seemed to be my issue with tuberose, it's just too much. After a couple hours, I do get the impression of gardenia, but the gardenia doesn't smell that great. Isabey Gardenia seems to drift into the pleasant perfume territory. The pleasant but generic category which is nice but that is only good when one is just kicking around the house and relaxing. Staying power and sillage are about average. I just can't see myself spending $165 for 50ml of this at the end of the day.

Chanel no. 5 EDT Review

I have been meaning to try Chanel no. 5 in EDT form and have finally gotten around to trying it. After the first spray, I can tell that it is indeed no. 5. Even in the first stage, I noticed that the EDT for is lighter, much lighter. But about 15 or 20 minutes in, there is a distinct scented toilet paper note to it. The toilet paper note lasts through the rest of the wearing. The EDT version has a half way decent staying power of 5 hours on my skin. But as much as I love Chanel no. 5, this concentration of no. 5 is not a love for me all due to the scented toilet paper note that bothers me.

In Stock Out of Stock

In the past, I've blogged about Chanel's no. 19 in EDP form being out of stock. Then a couple weeks ago, it was in stock. When it was in stock, my discretionary spending money was all used up. What I am having trouble understanding is that American consumers do not have any consistent access, even online, to purchase no. 19 in EDP form. I am one such person that does have the driest skin on the planet and EDT's are the quickest to disappear on my skin. I have two thirds of a bottle left of Chanel no. 19 in EDP form and a full bottle of extract but I adore it in EDP form. Do I honestly need a backup bottle of no. 19? The logical part of me says no but the perfume nut in me says, if you truly love it, yes. When Chanel sent out the first e-mail a year or two ago about having no. 19 in EDP form, it seemed to be constantly in stock until a month or two ago where it seemed to be having it sporadically in stock. I didn't stock up a year or two ago because at that stage, I couldn't justify owning two full bottles of the same perfume. So yeah, I'm kicking myself.

How in the World

With this perpetual heatwave has brought out a monster craving for jasmine dominant perfumes and let to something strange. By digging through my huge, and I mean huge, pile of decants, I've managed to accumulate 3 decants of A La Nuit, 4 decants of Sarrasins, 2 for Deneuve and Courtesan and a few others. I'm not exactly happy that Serge Lutens hasn't made Sarrasins available to the folks who live here in the US but I'm not Serge Lutens and unfortunately, don't get to make that choice of which is an export and which is not. So, I make due with decants of Sarrasins because I don't have means to go to Paris. But I'm still a little embarrassed to have that many decants of the same 5 or 6 perfumes.
My skin is insanely dry year round but I am having perfumes vanish on me without warning. Even though I am chugging lots of water and using a fair amount of lotion, perfume is still not sticking around on my skin. I'm not happy because I have a slew of perfumes that I really want to try and review but I want to know about the staying power of any scent before I can review.

Frapin 1697 Absolu Review

I keep meaning to review Frapin's 1697 but I always get sidetracked with something else. When I first heard about this being released last year, I was kind of excited. I was going through an odd phase of just randomly buying full bottles of Frapin perfumes. Espirit de Fleurs and Passion Boisee left me underwhelmed and one of them left me a little nauseated. I'm guessing that I was so enamored with Frapin's 1270 that I thought that the others would be in the same vein. Passion Boisee and Espirit de Fleurs were nowhere near the same vein as 1270. Then, I got my hands on a decant of 1697 when first released. I was reading a lot of perfume blogs to see what other's were saying about it and the results were mixed.

On first contact with skin, there is a massive blast of booze along with what I can maybe identify as pineapple. I've never had a huge liking of fruity perfumes but Frapin did a fine job with fruit in 1270 but in 1697, I think it (the fruit aspect) was overdone along with the boozy aspect. I've noticed after three hours of wearing, the fruit and booze mellows out but still packs a huge punch. After 12 hours, 1697 is still going strong with no signs of slowing down. To tell the truth, I find this to be a much harsher and louder version of 1270. Would I buy? No, not when there is the mellower and much better 1270.

**Please note that 1697 is no longer sold in absolu form. The current version is an EDP.

Guerlain Mitsouko EDT Review

I do not know what possessed me to try out Guerlain's Mitsouko in EDT form but did. I'm kind of glad that I did though. I wore the EDT version of Mitsouko on Saturday. At first spray, I can immediately identify it as Mitsouko. From the get go, there are differences between the EDP and the EDT. I still get a blast of bitter peach in the beginning but the peach in EDT is toned down and not as bitter. I did enjoy that greatly. About a half an hour in, I smell the oak moss, rose, and jasmine. These were toned down a little bit but not much. What disappointed me was the lasting power of the EDT. I have said time and time again, that I have a hard time with EDT's because of the lasting power on skin. After the EDT disappears in an hour and a half, I sprayed on clothing and had it last two hours on my skin. I liked the idea of Mitsouko being toned down a little in the EDT version because the EDP can be too much. The lack of staying power has turned me off the EDT version. I just wish that EDT's last a little longer on my skin.

Dior Granville Review

I've been meaning to try and review this and don't know what was stopping me from doing this. I think that I got sidetracked with other perfumes. I haven't had any kind of experience wearing Dior perfumes nor any that are pine dominant. At the time, I was going through a phase were I was getting perfumes that are not available in the United States or the ones that you would have to travel half way across the US to get it. By reading the description on The Perfumed Court, I was intrigued and bought a 2.5ml decant of this. By reading review, I was even more intrigued. Pine needles, thyme, and rosemary is what comes to mind for masculine perfumes and not something you would think would be in something that is marketed to women. Upon first application, all I get is something akin to rubber and pine needles. I find it to be interesting even though I don't exactly like how huge the rubber note is. The rubber note fades somewhat but stays all throughout the wearing. After the larger than life rubber note calms down, the pine needles get a chance to shine. After a while, the rosemary and thyme come out to support the pine but they don't take over. The base notes of woods, and I'm guessing it is either velvetier or sandalwood that are the base that really come out but don't overtake the pine. No matter where I look, I cannot find out if this is an EDT or an EDP. If this is an EDP, the staying power is weak. If it is an EDT, the staying power is decent on my skin because I get about 5 or 6 hours of wear time on my skin. I do find this to be likable but I don't want this bad enough to drag myself halfway across the nation or the world to procure a bottle of this. One reason is the size of the bottles they are kind of like the Chanel Les Exlusifs line before they gave the option of either a 2.5 oz or 6.8 oz bottle. Another reason is that Granville gives off the vibe of Chanel's Sycomore which I already have the 6.8 monster bottle.

I must have Chanel on the brain

It seems like for the past week, I have thought and worn nothing but Chanel perfumes. I think what triggered it was finding out that no. 19 in EDP form is out of stock on the Chanel website (if you live in the US, it is on back order). Come to find out that no.19 is being sold in parfum form and from what I hear, it is faboo. Even though it's only a quarter of an ounce and $105 USD, I'm going to look forward to having this land on my doorstep every 90 days. I failed to stock up on no.19 in EDP form, I'll load up on the parfum. At this point, I can't justify getting more no. 5. I already own a full bottle of no, 5 in EDP form, Sensual Elixir, and Eau Premiere.

On top of escaping the Chanel website with just the no.19 parfum, my mother informs me that she wants a Kindle for her birthday. Let's just say that I am not thrilled with that idea. I can't help but groan at the fact that it will be another gizmo that will be beyond her that I will end up messing with because she can't be bothered to learn how to work the thing or won't use it. For Christmas a couple of years ago, she wanted an iPod like the world was going to end. I buy her one and it just sits and she never uses it, let alone taken it out of the box. My dad jumped on the idea of getting her a Kindle so it looks like I have to get over to Amazon to get one and get two day shipping so it comes in time for her birthday. We shall see how this goes.

Guerlain Nahema EDP Review

I've been off and on dabbling in Guerlain perfumes. I've smelled and worn Mitsouko, didn't care for it overly, loved Shalimar, and Spiriteueuse Double Vanille was somewhat of a disaster. Now I must admit to defeat with Guerlain's Nahema EDP. I was starting to go through a little hyacinth kick and wanted to see if I could find a second Guerlain that I could love. I ordered a 2.5ml decant of this and when I got it, I immediately sprayed it on. The first wearing of it, I smelled nothing but jam. In the 4 wearings afterwards, I still got jam but the rose came out to play. The rose was a little strange that I couldn't place and then it hit me. The rose smelled like a rose bouquet and the roses were bruised, giving off a jam like vibe. I smell just bruised roses and jam and nothing else. It's one of those perfumes that doesn't seem to have any kind of anchor on my skin. Staying power is halfway decent but it gets annoying after a while. The reason that I am admitting defeat with Guerlain is that it is a perfume house that doesn't mesh well with me even though Shalimar does. Maybe I just don't really get Guerlain but I don't really find Guerlain to be agreeable to me.

Chanel no. 19 EDP Backorder

When I got an e-mail from Chanel stating that no. 19 in EDP form was available online for a limited time, I impulsively bought it. In 2010, I was still buying full bottles of perfume that I had never smelled before. I was still wary of getting decants. With Chanel no. 19, it was love at first sniff. I fell in love with the galbanum and rose combination. On Friday, I was looking to buy another bottle of no. 19 and found it on back order. I thought that it might of been a fancy way of saying that it wasn't to be carried on the Chanel website for US customers anymore. I end up contacting Chanel and asking if they were discontinuing no. 19 in EDP form here in the US. I did get an e-mail back saying that they were trying to get more back in stock. In the e-mail and looking at the website, it stated that if I ordered today, I would have to wait at least two weeks before it ships. I'm kicking myself a little bit for not getting another bottle when it was in stock. Do I need another 3.4 oz of no. 19 in EDP form? No, I don't need two bottles but I love it. I love it because the EDT fades on my skin after 3 or 4 hours and I have to spray on my shirt to get it to stay longer and I get a better version of rose and galbanum. As soon as no. 19 is back in stock, I'm ordering another bottle.

Decants

When I found out that the ladies at the Perfumed Court were parting ways, I was left wondering about trying new perfumes. I'm past that stage where I would read the notes online and if it sounds good, I would buy it. That led to a few $150 or more purchases that were not that good. I'll admit that about a year after I fell down the rabbit hole, I had heard about The Perfumed Court, I was a little wary. It took me a year or two before I mustered the courage to put in an order. One was a small decant of something I had already had a sample of (Amouage Lyric) and Sarrasins. Then I knew that The Perfumed Court was the real deal. But The Perfumed Court was usually on the pricey side in my opinion. Usually it was the cost of shipping that was sometimes more than the decant itself. Since the breakup, the price of shipping has gone down from $5.95 to $2.95. I'm guessing that there is only one person who is doing the shipping on The Perfumed Court, there is no need to have the shipping that high. After placing a few orders with Surrender to Chance and poking around there in general, Surrender to Chance does not offer the 1.5ml spray. I had ordered a few sampler sets and they did come in 1.5ml non-spray vials. I did not realize that until the galbanum sampler set arrived and I did look at the orders that I placed. Dabber samples are not really my style because I don't think that I can judge any perfume fairly. But it does give me somewhat of an idea of what something smells like. Sometimes, especially when I'm not paying attention, dabber vial will compel me to get a spray decant. But at the rate I've been going, I've been buying less and been trying to be content with what I already have.
Surrender to Chance and The Perfumed Court are similar in price. Sometimes, Surrender to Chance is cheaper in decants and other times, The Perfumed Court is cheaper. But I think at this point, I have not been in any kind of mood to really go and buy decants or full bottles. Even though I have been buying sampler decants this past week, it's only been 3 or 4 small decants. And I'm the one who was used to spending $200 or more worth of decants per month and normally they were large decants. It doesn't mean that I've lost interest in perfume, a larger cell phone bill, a Rammstein concert, Mother's Day, and my mother's birthday coming up made me realize that I don't really need to be getting as much.

Rammstein concert

This is not gonna be much of a perfume post because I haven't worn anything new to review. On the 6th of this month, I went to see Rammstein in concert in Detroit. They did have one here in Cleveland but tickets were not available. I think that the whole issue was radio station, even though they are not supposed to, bought up blocks of tickets. As soon as I saw that Rammstein was touring North America for the first time in about 10 years, I did buy tickets. It was a three and a half hour drive to and from Detroit. The long trip both ways was worth it. I've been dragged to two Transiberian Orchestra concerts, kicking and screaming. Even though both bands have tons of pyrotechnics, Rammstein's show is much better. When I saw TransSiberian Orchestra, I have already heard two weeks of nonstop Christmas music, I didn't want to hear anymore. During the trip up, I was debating on which perfume to wear. I ended up bringing six decants with me to try and decide. I ended up choosing Cuir de Russie and have broken my record. Instead of wearing a single perfume for two days straight, I've worn it for four days straight. But today is different, because I want to wear something different.

Bath and Body Works Gardenia Lily Review

I don't really have a lot of scents that are cheap but Bath and Body Works' Gardenia Lily is one of them. Before I fell down the rabbit hole and branched out, this was and still is, one of my ultimate great loves when it comes to great loves in perfume. When I was in high school (about 10 years ago), Bath and Body Works was very popular with girls and probably the most popular scent was Cucumber Melon. I loved it as well, but when I smelled Gardenia Lily, it was all over for me. Most of us at the time had part time jobs and 10 years ago minimum wage was a little over $5. We did have spending power but didn't have a lot of it. And Bath and Body Works has always been fairly cheap. When I was about to run out of the bath gel and lotion, I was in despair because it had been discontinued. I darted off to Amazon to see if I could find it and at a reasonable price. I was able to find it at a reasonable price and purchased 2 bath gels, 2 lotions and 1 body mist. Now fast forward three years and the prices for even the bath gel, it's $20 , lotion is almost $50 and the mist is almost $50. I just find that too much for products that were never that expensive in the first place.

Now on to the review. This is the first gardenia dominant scent that I fell in love with. First blast is gardenia, gardenia, and nothing but gardenia. After about 15 minutes, the gardenia settles down a little bit and the freesia comes out to play. No matter what freesia perfume I've tried, freesia always gives off a watery vibe. In this case I love the watery vibe because most gardenia dominant perfumes I have tried, I get a massive blast of creamy tuberose. I'm not a big fan of tuberose with a gardenia dominant perfume because tuberose does have the tendency to weigh things down too much and overtakes everything else. The lily does come out after 45 minutes to add and extra lightness without having the whole thing float away into nothingness. For Bath and Body Works, I find that even the staying power of the body mist alone has excellent staying power and manages to cling to skin for 10 hours. If prices were not so outrageous for what this stuff is, I would buy more. But I am going to have to use this stuff once in a great while and voice my displeasure at Bath and Body Works.

Shiseido Murasaki EDP Review

Since I've been somewhat of a hyacinth kick with perfume, I've been getting decants of perfumes with hyacinth. That's when I stumbled upon Shiseido's Murasaki. I've wearing it off and on for the past two weeks. At first, I thought that I had gotten Chanel's no. 19 in EDP form by mistake. I looked at my bottle of Chanel no. 19 and my Murasaki decant and I did put on Murasaki.I find that Murasaki and no. 19 are very similar perfumes. The initial blast of galbanum and flowers comes out really strong. After a couple minutes, I do smell the hyacinth and some gardenia. After an hour or two, Murasaki really starts to fade on skin. Even when I sprayed Murasaki on clothing, after three or four hours, Murasaki peters out into nothingness. On skin or on clothing, Murasaki is a very faint, green perfume. I find it to be something likeable but I do like perfumes with a little more heft in them. Even though Amazon is selling 2.5 oz bottles of this for $50, I cannot justify spending the money to get a full bottle of something that fades in 1 or 2 hours.

More Online Shopping and General Perfume Stuff

I'm still a fan of online shopping even though I haven't had the greatest experience from Amazon. I've blogged about my love for the Tazo chai tea, and ordered some before Easter. When I had noticed that I had not received my package, I checked the wonerful link to check and found out that the package was damaged and could not be delivered. It took days to figure out what exactly happened and what was going to be done. It took me almost a week trying to find out what was going on and get a refund.

As fun as online shopping itself can be, it's the adventure. Even though I know what I bought, I love the waiting for the mail man or the UPS guy to deliver the stuff I ordered. Just this past Monday, I had bought Andy Tauer's L'Air du Desert Marocain, unsniffed from Luckyscent. I know that I had said in my last post, that I did not think that I would have a perfume budget, but after looking at some things, it turns out that I did have room for perfume.

The real reason I haven't really been reviewing perfume lately is because I haven't been able to quite describe four perfumes and cannot decide if I hate the, love them, or like them. I seem to be going through an odd phase where I seem to dislike a lot of perfumes and some of them are old standbys. I'm wondering if it is the days where it is in the '70's (degrees) and then the next day, it's in the '40's. But it can also be difficult when there is one dog in my house that seems to love licking perfume off my arms.

Easter Crabbiness

It looks like that I am probably not going to have a perfume budget this month. Last September, my family and I had gotten a Lab mix from a rescue. From what is known, he was found in South Carolina wandering the streets. We did get Jake from a foster home using Pilots and Paws. As time went on, a few things developed. There have been times at night, that he has had seizures and then the diagnosis of epilepsy. From what my mother and I think, he did have a family that may have loved him at one point but probably when he started having seizures, they just dumped him. And that has probably led to a separation anxiety where he does tear up the house. It's mainly been paper, phone books, and a few times, the garbage. My mother is pushing for a crate. I'm just wondering if we should really get a crate especially since there are two other dogs in the house. I don't know why I'm so crabby about this. When I do think about it, after poking around for a few moments, dog crates for a dog his size is not cheap and I do have a Rammstein concert that I will be going to in early May.

Bal a Versailles Vintage Parfum Review

For the past couple months, I've been enthralled with BaV in EDP form and have been raving about it pretty much nonstop. I was itching to get my hands on a decant of the parfum version of this. The parfum version is a completely different animal compared to the EDP version. I'm aware that the same perfume in different concentrations can be different animals. This is no different. I haven't found a way to write this perfume without making the comparison. BaV in EDP there is an emphasis on the floral notes but in the parfum for, there is no emphasis on the floral note. In the parfum form, all the emphasis is on the patchouli with the periodic whiffs of some floral notes. I am never sure on what to make of patchouli but I do find it to be pleasant. After two days of wear, I'm not smelling anything in BaV (in parfum form) that is going to endear me to it like the EDP version did. The EDP version, there is a huge floral note from the get go and lasts for 10 hours.

Carven Ma Griffe EDP Review

I first came across Ma Griffe when I was reading the book White Oleander and had been meaning to try it ever since. I don't know what kept me from getting my hands on a decant but I wore it for the first time yesterday. I find Ma Griffe to be similar to Amouage's Dia for her but a very pale version of Dia. They aldehydes in Ma Griffe are on the astringent side like Dia but that is were the similarity pretty much ends. Ma Griffe is a perfume that was created shortly after WWII, so it's an old school perfume. I find that old school perfumes do have a perfumey smell unlike today's perfumes that don't smell perfumey. I was disappointed with Ma Griffe because after the tops notes wear off, and they were off quickly, I barely couldn't smell it on my skin. Then, I sprayed on clothes and could barely smell it for 3 hours. Normally, EDP's last on my skin for at least 6 hours. I doubt that I will get another decant let alone a bottle. I did want to love Ma Griffe but the lack of staying power really dissapointed me.

Lanvin Arpege Vintage EDP Review

I don't know what possesed me to seek out and try Arpege. Maybe it's my wanting to work my way through the classics or the quest for trying vintage versions of classics. The price for a larger decant at The Perfumed Court was reasonable. I like to get larger decants of vintage for some reason. For the past three days, I've been wearing Arpege to form an opinion. At first, it smelled like a strange cross of Chanel no. 5 and Amouage Ubar. I just find that combination of a bombastic floral and an adlehydes don't seems to work to well on my skin. After about 45 minutes, I get smacked in the face with this huge Johnson's baby powder note. Lasting power is about 9 hours. I don't find it to be a scrubber, but I just don't like the baby powder bit.

I'm Not Getting This

No, it's not about shopping or getting things but I'm having perfume issues. This week, it's been in the mid to upper 70's and for two days it was in the 80's and I am having issues with my perfume lasting. Just like today, I am wearing Bal a Versailles in vintage EDP form and I've had to apply it twice because it just disappeared. Even my beloved no. 5 and my Amouages are disappearing just a mere 4 or 5 hours afterwards. It's bad enough that I have dry skin but even with lotion my perfumes are not lasting. It's kind of made it difficult for me to attempt to try the decants that I have not worn yet and review them because I can't get a full reading on lasting power on them. It's driving me insane because I want to review something but I'm out of ideas on how to make my perfume last this time of year.

Cartier de Lune EDT Review

It's a wonderful thing for me that many perfume houses are going for spray samples that I can take home with me and try at a later date. A small dabber vial doesn't do anything for me when I'm trying a new perfume, it doesn't give me that great of an impression of any perfume in any concentration. But I cannot remember how I had gotten a sample of Cartier de Lune EDT but I've had this sitting on my jewlery stand for a few months and somehow one of my dogs thought that it would be a great idea to go sniffing around my dresser and thought that this sample was maybe something to play with. At first, I thought I smelled anise but by looking up the notes, there is no anise. Then I realized that I actually was smelling juniper. The juniper does fade a little bit for the rose and pepper. Lasting power of this EDT is about the average 3 and a half hours on my skin and Lune wears very close. After Lune peters out, I'm not impressed with this EDT. It kind of reminds me a little bit of another boring floral (Vera Wang's Sheer Veil). I doubt that I would even get a decant let alone a full bottle of this.

L'Artisian Dzongkha Eau de Toilette Review

I haven't had a whole lot of experience with the L'Artisian line and what I have tried, with the exception of Havana Vanille, has left me wanting more. Dzongkha is no exception to leaving me underwhelmed and not happy. At first, I got a blast of dill and celery. Dill and celery may be fine in soup or corned beef but not in perfume. After the initial blast of celery and dill, the iris came out to play with the incense. I've tried Prada's Infusion d'Iris and Chanel's no. 19 Poudre and didn't really like the iris dominant note. With trying Dzongkha, I realized that I do not like iris that plays a staring note. The iris and incense are very dry smelling with no development. The lasting power of Dzongkha is about 4-5 hours on me but projects at least two feet away from my skin. I think that this is the first perfume that I actually dislike bordering on hate.

Chai Tea

I've never been a coffee drinker but a tea drinker. Part of the reason why I don't drink coffee is because I've never much cared for the taste and I seem to get the worst case of sour stomach known to mankind. I've tried a lot of teas and I've enjoyed Tazo's chai tea concentrate the best. I've normally been able to get this at the grocery store at work but I have found out that they have stopped carrying it. They have other brands of chai concentrate but they are terrible. Most of the other concentrates taste like milk with a butt load of honey dumped in. Chai tea is sweet but that honey water vibe makes it way too cavity inducing. The Tazo concentrate is sweet but not sickeningly so. I enjoy the taste of having spiced black tea. I've complained to the manager at my local grocery store because there are things that I normally buy there but have discontinued and replaced with their own brand. With gas prices going up, I can't afford to go out of my way to get. This is when online shopping and being what must be the Amazon.com fanatic comes in handy. I was surprised though. Even though I know that Amazon is becoming more of a third party seller, the shipping costs of some things actually cost more than the actual item itself. Amazon is selling a pack of three chai tea concentrate for a shade over $17.

I know that I haven't been reviewing perfumes and I do have quite a few that need to be reviewed. It just seems that I find myself reaching more and more for the stuff that I've already reviewed or I seem to be spending my perfume budget on decants that I already have.

Chanel Coco EDP review

There are a few things that pop into my head when I think of Chanel perfumes. Those things are aldehydes, jasmine and ylang-ylang. Oriental doesn't really come into the picture when I think of Chanel perfumes. Then came Chanel Coco and I am not talking about Coco Mademoiselle. I'm talking about the Coco that came out in 1984. Chanel no. 5, no. 19 and a few other Chanel perfumes do have a certain way of smelling. They don't smell like they were made in the '80's nor do they smell like they were made in the late '90's but Coco smells like she was created in the 1980's. The '80's was a decade were bigger was better. Calvin Klein's Obsession came out in the '80's as did Poison. Sure, Coco is plush and not the type that will melt every hair in your nose. But dated is dated. Coco has the staying power and sillage that I'm used to with Chanel but Coco needs some tweeking. What I mean by that is, get Coco out of the '80's and really make her timeless. I don't hate or really dislike Coco, I cannot get over how Coco can smell like something in the '80's.

Do I really?

In the past week, I've ordered 3 large decants of perfumes that I already have. My mother was talking to me and watching do it. Her question was, "Don't you already have those?", My response was, "Yes.". Then she proceeded to ask me why I was ordering them again. My response was two of them were vintage and one of them wasn't available in the U.S. I have blogged before about E-bay scares the living daylights out of me so it's The Perfumed Court for me. The Perfumed COurt has introduced me to perfumes that I have not heard of or even thought of trying. Some were winners, some were not, some grew on me. Worth Courtesan is one perfume that I had dismissed as something nice but nothing special. I have mostly had a disdain for fruity perfumes but Courtesan isn't that fruity when I smelled a little closer. I now know why vintage perfumes of classics are more often than not better than the most current version.

Bal a Versailles Vintage EDP Review

It's very rare that I am enthralled enough by a perfume. Enthralled enough to buy another vintage decant and go to Amazon to get a full bottle. On some perfume blogs, BaV has been called skanky or animalistic but I beg to differ. I would call BaV a sensual oriental. Maybe my definition of skanky is a little bit different. L'Air de Rein is one of those skanky perfumes, it's like a pair of unwashed panties that someone wore for 3 days. L'Air de Rein is unwearable to me. Muscs Koublai Khan smells like freshly washed female stuff but forgot to do a load of laundry. BaV is by no means demure, it's smells like someone has been around the block a time or two. When wearing BaV, I can imagine myself at Versailles in the mid 1700's and probably mistress to a very powerful noble or the king himself. BaV is not for the faint of heart or for the folks who like those quiet, clean inoffensive perfumes or for those who like the fruity floral crap.

In the beginning, I get a huge blast of orange blossom that transforms into orange blossom and amber. I find this to be breathtaking because I am very fond of oriental perfumes and BaV is not a crude oriental. And there are a lot of crudely made orientals entering the market now.

Guerlain Spiriteueuse Double Vanille Review

I have got to stop reading perfume blogs and reviews. It's led to buying and trying way too many perfumes. This is coming after I had counted 25 full bottles of perfumes and 47 decants of perfume of various sizes. But there are some perfumes that I had initially written off as nothing special, I have fallen in love with (Worth Courtesan, Amouage Reflection) and there are some that I had initially loved and now I don't really care for (Amouage Ubar). Tastes do evolve.

Guerlain's Spiriteueuse Double Vanille is one perfume that has gotten many rave reviews on perfume blogs and seems to have a cult following. I was kind of intrigued with this one. After this had arrived in the mail, something did hit me. I have had some difficulty with vanilla dominant perfumes in the past. Most that I have tried turn into those sickly sweet things that make me smell like a cupcake. Or they get this bubblegum type thing (Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille) going on in the dry down.

I have tried this over the past couple days and I am not really that wild over it. SDV is too busy trying to be too many things. But I mainly get the vanilla extract that I use for baking vibe. After about 2 hours SDV peters into a bubblegum vanilla that sticks around for the remainder of the wearing. I was a little dissapointed with the longetivity of this EDP. It only lasts on my skin for about 7 hours at best. Shalimar and Mitsouko, both in EDP form last for a good 12 hours on my skin. It's nice enough but I won't be buying a full bottle.

Deneuve Parfum Review

I have not explored the chypre family like some. Of course, Coty's Chypre and Guerlain's Mitsouko are considered the golden standard of what chypres are. But I can see how Deneuve fits into the classic chypre form. For the past six months or more, I was flirting with the idea of getting a decant of Deneuve. What did hold me up was the price of even the EDT version. When I found the that the Perfumed Court had an 8ml decant of this in parfum form for a reasonable price, I was in.

It's rare for me to be blown away by any perfume, but I am blown away by Deneuve. It has that classic chypre feel and smell, but doesn't have the dreaded dated smell to it. In the beginning, I notice a nice blast of aldehydes that drifts off into the rose and hyacinth note. I'm talking probably the most realistic hyacinth flower note that I've smelled. The rose and hyacinth stick around for quite a long time and I think that is part of the reason why I am blown away. Lasting power is about 12 hours and sticks somewhat close to the skin. If Deneuve were not discontinued, I would buy a bottle in a heartbeat. But I am contemplating getting another large decant of this.

Montale Greyland Review

Thus far, there do not seem to be many reviews on Montale's Greyland EDP. I've been having a difficult time trying to decipher this perfume then attempting to write a somewhat decent review of this perfume. Then it hit me, Greyland is similar to Chanel's Sycomore. Greyland is a woody scent with a little bit of skank to it. But Greyland falls into the masculine camp of perfume, where Sycomore is a little more feminine. Instead of smelling of vetiver and cypress, Greyland smells like a cedar chest that someone tossed a sweaty T-shirt in there and left it in there for a couple weeks. Greyland is a very dry perfume because there is no sweetness to it. I've noticed that I'm not fond of dry perfumes so I didn't enjoy Greyland. My pocket book is sighing with relief because I will not be getting a bottle.

Looking around E-bay

The past couple days, I have been poking around E-bay looking at vintage or new perfumes. I nearly spit out my drink when I saw some of the prices. I expected prices on a lot of vintage perfumes to be up there, especially if it was a vintage is dated in the 1960's. But the prices on some of the current reformulations were outragous. I stumbled across a brand spanking new unopened box of Chanel's Cuir de Russie parfum (not vintage) for $290. For a 6.8 oz EDT bottle of Cuir de Russie, it was almost $300. I understand Chanel perfumes are not exactly cheap but compared to some niche perfumes that I've spent money on, prices on Chanel perfumes are actually quite reasonable in stores and through the Chanel website. I am really thinking that sellers on E-bay are going to the mall, buying 4 or 5 bottles of perfume. Then sell them on E-bay for $20 more and making the buyee pay for shipping on top of it. Most commercial sites offer free shipping when you spend a certian amount.This is one of the reasons that I have never bought anything through E-bay.

When I do see something from E-bay, that is vintage, it is usually out of my price range to begin with or the payment options are not my preferred method of payment. I don't have a PayPal account and I am not willing to set one up.

Ginestet Botrytis EDT Review

Early in my perfumes days, I had received a sample of Ginestet Botryis when I had ordered Tocca's Guiletta. Before I knew it, I had used up my sample and paid a visit to the Perfumed Court for a decant. For the longest time, I kept forgetting to retry this perfume. Then I took a look at the bag of decants that I haven't even worn let alone reviewed. At first, I couldn't remember why I had bought a decant of Botrytis. Then it hit me, at the time I was going through a two week phase of trying out and wearing boozy perfumes.

Upon first application, Botrytis is a huge blast of booziness laced with a huge dose of honey. The huge blast of booziness reminded me of Frapin's 1270 and the honey reminded me of another one of Frapin's creations, 1697. After the initial blast, the booziness settles into the background but the strong note of honey remains. Some candied fruits do come out to play but I find them to be subdued by the honey. After about three hours wear, there is almost an overwhelming sweetness to this EDT that does become a little irritating to me. On a good day, Botrytis lasts about 5 hours on my skin but doesn't wear close to the skin.

At the end of the day, I cannot see myself shelling out $110 for 100ml. I do find that to be a bargain for a niche perfume but I've become more cautious when it comes to buying full bottles of perfume and I usually want less than 100ml.

Chanel no. 5 Sensual Elixir Review

Whoever reads my blog is probably going to ask, isn't one Chanel no. 5 review enough? My answer is no. I want to try all of the formulations of Chanel no. 5 (parfum, EDP, EDT, etc.). So far, I have tried and reviewed the parfum, EDP, eau Premiere, but have not gotten to sample the EDT yet.

I had received the Sensual Elixir as an early Christmas present and wore it for the first time today. I have never dealt with a perfume that comes in gel form like the Elixir. Sensual Elixir is not something to be sprayed on but dabbed on. After application, I don't get the normal blast of aldehydes. The aldehydes are very faint in this version of no. 5, but I get a huge blast of the heart notes of iris, jasmine and ylang-ylang. I noticed within the heart notes that there is a powderiness in this version that I have not noticed in other versions to have. The odd thing is I view this after a day's wear, that this version is probably a version for those who don't really get no. 5. But I also find that this is very similar to the EDP version of no. 5. I think that Sensual Elixir is probably meant for those who might not want to spend the money on a huge bottle of EDT or shell out the money for the EDP or parfum version. As much as I love and adore no. 5, I probably won't be getting another bottle of this.

Lubin Idole Extreme Review

When I heard that Lubin had created an EDP version of Idole, I had to try it. Luckyscent was offering samples of it, but I wasn't interested in a dabber. I get a better feel for a perfume when I spray it on my skin. Dabbing perfume doesn't help me at all. After the Perfumed Court had spray decants of this, I ordered a decant. After two days of wearing Idole Extreme and one day of Idole EDP, there are a few differences. The Extreme version is a lot more peppery than the EDT version. That gives the Extreme more of an oriental feel to it. Idole Extreme has a little more depth than the EDT version along with being a little louder. After wearing both, I don't find them to be that different. I do find Idole Extreme to still be on the weak side with very little depth. I think that my nose has gotten accustomed to wearing Amouage's Epic for women though.

Molinard Habanita EDT Review

Habanita, according to Now Smell This, is a perfume that started out as a packet that flappers used to scent cigarettes. But Habanita has morphed from scenting cigarettes in the 1920's to a perfume. The Perfumed Court had and still has a large decant special on Habanita and that is how I have come to acquire a large decant. I find Habanita to be a cross of many classifications of perfume. I can see where it can come across as an oriental or as a gourmand. But I mainly associate Habanita with being a oriental. I find Habanita to be smokey and similar to two other perfumes that I have in my collection. Habinita shares many traits with Serge Lutens' Chergui and L'Artisian Havana Vanille. I get a huge dose of tobacco and vanilla plays a supporting roll. What makes Habanita different is the powder note. For an EDT, Habanita does have pretty good lasting power on my dry skin. It's nice but I don't find myself reaching for Habanita very often let alone get a full bottle.

Amouage Honour for Women Review

I received my sample of Honour for women when I had ordered Amouage Memoir for women from the Lady Ruth website. In many ways, this reminds me of Amouage's Reflection for women but slightly different. Instead of a watery freesia, I get a watery gardenia. But the gardenia is anchored by the tuberose and jasmine that I smell 15 minutes after application. As much as I like it, it's a big white floral. It's the type of big that I have come to expect of Amouage. Three years ago, I was a huge lover of white florals, but my tastes have changed to accommodate leathers and aldehydes. I love how Honour lasts at least 12 hours on my skin. At the end of the day, I can't see myself buying another big, white floral.

Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie Review

Fleurs de Bulgarie is my first foray into Creed. I do have a liking to rose dominant perfumes. I have been wearing this off and on for about two months for a few reasons. On the first wearing, I wasn't wowed or moved by this perfume. Fleurs de Bularie kind of smelled like something Victoria's Secret might throw on the market if they wanted to be viewed as higher end with their perfumes. I did notice that there was a metallic element to this whole thing that picked up on with the first wearing and thought that it was probably too close to that time of the month. Nope, no matter what time, the metallic note is there. After about a half an hour, the rose is anchored to my skin with musk, turning the rose into a powdery or dusty rose. At the end of the day, I just don't understand this perfume, I really don't enjoy this perfume like I thought I would. Will I be buying it? No.

Faberge Babe Perfume Review

In October, I had a little bit of a hankering for vintage perfumes. Looking around the Perfumed Court and E-bay, price became a factor. But I did decide that I better get a larger decant of it. I wish I hadn't though. It's fruit, fruit and more fruit. The fruit aspect has this rotting/overripe smell to it that drives me up the wall. I find it to be a typical '80's perfume as well, loud and in your face. Babe, according to my nose, smells cheap and way too young for my 29 years in spite of being released in 1977. I am not amused with this dated, overripe perfume.

Amouage Lyric for Men Review

I've been wearing a 1.5ml decant of Amouage's Lyric for men off and on for a few months now. I still don't know what to make of it still. I adore Lyric for women and decided to try Lyric for men. Lyric for men started out with a blast of what I thought smelled like celery seed but turned out to be lime. Then out came the rose along with the orange blossom and incense. The reason I don't know what to make of it is that it smells more on the feminine side of unisex. This offering of Lyric is not what I am used to smelling in a men's cologne. I did wear this in 90 degree heat and I didn't get the wonderful bloom like I did with Lyric for women. It's sweet but not sickeningly so. Staying power is what I have come to expect out of Amouage. My pocketbook is sighing with relief because this is perfume is not working for me at all.

The Two Months of "No Buy"

For the past two months, I inadvertently decided to not buy any decants. It hit me around mid-November that Christmas was a month away and I would not have a lot of my own money left over if there was for decants let alone full bottles. So, I neglected getting decants and full bottles of perfume in favor of gifts for my family. When Christmas Day rolled around, it was a pretty good day for me perfume wise. A flanker of Chanel no. 5 Sensual Elixir (haven't tried it out yet) was gifted to me along with some Christmas money that did turn into a bottle of no. 5 Eau Premiere. But I still didn't and have not bought any other decant or perfume.

I'm still obsessed with perfume but I am not finding anything that is really catching my fancy where I must get my hands on a sample or decant. The new Lubin Idole is catching my fancy somewhat because it is in EDP form. But have not decided if I really should get a decant. But in the past couple of months, I kind of did slow down with my perfume buying due to the fact that I a paying more for my cell phone bill. Instead of having a dumb phone, I now have an Android phone and with any smartphone/Android comes a data package. The higher cell phone bill has eaten into my perfume budget. At first I lamented, but now I have learned to embrace a higher cell bill eating up my perfume budget by $30. It has made me realize that I need to use up some smaller decants before I go buying more.