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.