Le Maroc Pour Elle by Andy Tauer and Other Things

I always have the tendency to wimp out on things, like trying to review the things in the not reviewed pile. Or I get sidetracked and I should really start setting aside one day a week to wear something I haven't worn before and review it.

In the past month or two, I have been prowling Amazon, Beauty Encounter and FragranceNet for bargains of either Amouage perfumes or body products. I am still waiting on some kind of deal that's pretty good for Ubar and a couple of Amouage body butters, namely Epic. There were no Epic body butters to be had on Amazon, FragranceNet was too expensive but Beauty Encounter had a fabulous deal. Over half off and I was sold on that, so it will be in the mail and delivered to me. About 3 or 4 weeks ago, found a great deal on the Jubilation 25 body lotion and snagged a bottle. Any perfumista can attest to the fact that any Amouage, even the bath and body stuff is expensive. But if you find a something Amouage for at least half off, snap it up, you might not find it again.

While I was busy ordering tons of stuff off of Andy Tauer's website, I had gotten myself a discovery set of his perfumes. I liked the fact that I was able to pick the samples that I wanted. I've smelled quite a bit of Any Tauer's perfumes but I wanted them due to the fact that there were a couple that I haven't smelled and I wanted some to have in my purse instead of carrying around a full bottle in my purse.

On Christmas day, I had a lot of trouble deciding what I wanted to wear. I knew a Tauer offering was what I wanted but couldn't decide what I wanted and time was running out. So I decided to wear Le Maroc Pour Elle. I sprayed some on quickly put my coat on and was on my way to a family member's house for Christmas dinner. All I could smell through my coat was something thick and syrup like. It is almost like an old school penny candy that I can't place my finger on. After taking off my coat, my aunt had commented that the patchouli was like a head shop patchouli. The patchouli is not the patchouli I am used to smelling. I am used to the patchouli of Coco Mademoiselle and Voleur de Roses. And the more I sniffed, I got the patchouli. Then I got fresh cut greens and some jasmine. I started to get really annoyed with Le Maroc. It was a thick, syrupy kind of patchouli with harsh cut greens and jasmine. Le Maroc and I didn't get along at all throughout my testing. Le Maroc just kept going on and on, like the Energizer bunny.

At the end of my testing, Le Maroc was too loud, too thick, too sweet. It was just too much all the way around on my skin. I had gotten 10 hours of wear and was relieved to wash this one off and switch to Noontide Petals.

The Holiday Challange

Last week, I did make a goal for myself and mostly kept it. If I remember right, I had said that I would wear Chanel no 5 for at least five whole days. I can't remember if I had said it in a comment on Now Smell This or a blog post.

I did say that I was going to stick to wearing solely the EDT version. For the first three days, I had managed to accomplish. Then I got annoyed with no 5 on the third day and when the third day ended, it was time for bed. I still wanted to keep with my theme and grabbed Eau Premiere and wore it to bed. I have forgotten how wonderful Eau Premiere was. Friday, Saturday and today, I had worn Eau Premiere. Tomorrow will be a coin toss between no 5 proper or the Eau Premiere and I haven't decided on which yet. I don't have a current bottle of Eau Premiere, my bottle of Eau Premiere from when Eau Premiere was first released, so I can't comment on reformulations.

The whole reason I decided to stick with one perfume for 7 days is because of my job and trying to finish some bottles. I work in retail and this time of year, it's mass chaos and I don't want to put tons of effort into thinking about what perfume to wear. I have backups of no 5 and there is no need for me to hoard it.

Is no 5 sexy? I don't find it to be, it's got that freshly scrubbed face type of feel to me. Vintage is a little different though due to the nitro musks and those nitro musks lend a hint of sexy. I didn't want to give off that vibe when I was at work. But I really want to start wearing my Tauers, I want my vintage Bal and Shalimar. Christmas day is when I am hoping to bust those out and wear them.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

Holidays and Perfume

To me, there is a definite correlation between Christmas and perfume. I haven't received a bottle of a perfume as a gift in over 10 years. The perfume was called Pure Turquoise and at the time, I didn't like it but had to say that I did. Back then, I wasn't really interested in perfume. I had a few bottles but didn't wear them that much. Things have changed and what I like is expensive and nobody wants to give it to me because I am a little on the picky side too. I don't often get other people perfume for Christmas unless it was specifically asked for. Most people that I know, are not the perfume wearing sort. Perfume is a personal thing and I don't want to go looking like the equivalent of restocking milk in the fridge.

There is something else that I seem to have taken to doing with holidays. During the holiday week, I wear the same perfume continuously. I had worn CdG Kyoto. While I enjoyed it, Kyoto seemed to bore me towards the end and had too much in the bottle to finish it. I think that Christmas and New Years will be a little different. Last night, I had applied no 5 Eau Premiere for my bed time scent. Then the idea struck for this blog post and made up my mind for this week at work. I have spent my 2 waking hours debating which concentration of no 5 I should be wearing. I had to look at the EDT and the EDP and decide. In the end, I chose the EDT. When I saw that my bottle of no 5 EDT was about half full, I figured that I should really try to finish the bottle. I had to ask myself why I was hoarding my current versions of no 5 and I had no answer to why I was. I want to see if I can actually finish another bottle before the year is over.

Les Annees 25 by Andy Tauer Review

It's been a crazy couple weeks, between work, holiday shopping and the puppy needing surgery. Sydney, my 9 month old Lab, somehow got a huge gash in the area on the inside of her back leg and her belly. It was big enough and serious enough to require surgery instead of a couple stitches. It's been tough keeping her quiet and keeping her from licking her wound. But somehow, I actually managed to try something new.

I've admitted so many times in the past that I am a huge fan girl of Andy Tauer's work. Every time that I try a new perfume, I always hope that the clouds will part and the angels will start singing and the biggest house that I hope for is Andy Tauer. Les  Annees 25 is no different. I will admit that I had a tough time with the first 5 or 10 minutes, The first few minutes had a huge rubber or tar note and I can't quite figure out which one it is. I will be frank, I didn't like the tire/people paving a road type of thing at all. That kind of thing just doesn't belong in a perfume. After that tar/rubber thing disappears, some kind of citrus comes along. It's not a fresh cut lemon sort of thing but does come across as more of a lemon Pledge type of thing and I do find that pretty interesting. Citrus is hit or miss with me due to the fact that it is either nauseating or pretty nice. The lemon loses the Pledge thing pretty quick and goes for creamy. The creaminess is really what I call the shaving cream note. Specifically, the type that comes in an aerosol can. Most of the time I can't stand that whole shaving cream thing by Andy Tauer somehow manages to make it smell really good. I think that he pulled all these things together and got them to play nice with his typical Tauer base.

I find Les Annees 25 to be pretty smooth and pretty gentle. The lasting power on my skin is about 7 hours. For this time of year, and my skin being dryer than normal, that's pretty good. To tell the truth, I am kicking myself for not trying Les Annees 25 sooner and snapping up a bottle. I either didn't realized that full bottles are very limited or I simply forgot.

The Strangeness of Luckyscent

I used to be an avid shopper of Luckyscent. Years ago, I was receiving a package every 2 weeks but now, I am lucky if I place an order every 5 months. There is a reason for that. Or a few.

I had realized, at the time, that The Perfumed Court was legit and I was less eager to go to Luckyscent and just buy a full bottle of something that I probably wouldn't like. Then I had realized that FragranceNet and Beauty Encounter sold the Amouages that I had wanted for less. So yes, those sites actually did save me money.

What made me lose some interest in Luckyscent was the lack of coupons. Free shipping when you spend $75 or more is pretty easy to do when you are easily spending over $75 but a coupon for 15% off once or twice a year? The 20% off of Amouage that seems to go on year round? That doesn't make me run over to Luckyscent. Then I had noticed on Luckyscent that there were a few Tauer offerings that were not being sold. I was looking at getting a backup of Une Rose Vermeille and it was not on Luckyscent but was still being sold on Andy Tauer's website. Even with the cost of shipping, the cost was much cheaper. But I still wimped out and decided to get a backup of LADDM instead. Maybe with the new year, I will have that backup bottle. But after poking around Luckyscent, they do have Une Rose Vermeille back in stock and I'm wondering if it's for the holidays but I will still hop over to the Tauer website and order from there.

Dry Skin

Well, on Tuesday, Sydney (the puppy) has gotten spayed and she is now back to being her normal terrorizing self. She is very sweet and affectionate but into everything. Somehow, she had gotten into my Christmas gift bag and killed off a cheapo Sephora lip gloss that I was going to use as a stocking stuffer and almost destroyed an iTunes gift card meant for a friend. Luckily, I managed to save the actual gift card itself with the redemption code. Luckily, she didn't grab a hold of the Amouage Honour bar of soap that I have gotten for my mother, otherwise I would have been screwed because Amouage ain't cheap.

It's now winter here in Cleveland, well not officially according to the calender. That means dry skin city. This time of the year is more than a little rough on my skin. It always is pretty difficult to find a lotion that will help with my dry skin. Many lotions that I have tried have either been too light, too heavy or caused some sort of reaction for my skin. It's not just dry skin, it's dry lips too. I have had cracks in the corners of my lips for the past few years. I attribute some of those cracks to the fact that I have lost teeth and can't eat as well as I could but winters are the worst.

Finding a good moisturizer has always been a problem for me. It's either too thick, too thin or causes irritation. I don't always use the Amouage body stuff that I have. Part of the reason is that Amouage is usually pretty expensive and it's rare that I find anything that is in my price range. Like yesterday, while poking around Amazon before work, I had found Jubilation 25 body milk (lotion) for $58. That was something that I couldn't refuse and naturally I snapped it up. Hey, when am I going to find a deal like that. I am still waiting on a good deal for the Epic body butter or lotion.

The Holiday Season

We are now into the holiday season. Some don't consider the few days before the holiday season as part of the holiday season but I do. The older I have gotten, I haven't been able to enjoy the holidays as much. It doesn't seem to be the same without little kids and the magic that they bring.

The one thing that I really don't like about the holiday season is Christmas shopping. About three quarters I do online but I have to go to an actual store to finish. I am not a fan of crowds, the being pushed around by other customers, the insistent Christmas music and the inevitable question of, "Do you work here?'. How can you not notice that I am not wearing a uniform, not notice that I am wearing a coat and carrying a purse.

I am not asking for any kind of perfume and learned years ago, not to. The last time I was gifted a bottle of perfume was well before I got into perfume. The name was Pure Turquoise  by (I think) Ralph Lauren and I hated it. It smelled like a chemical mess and didn't wear it more than twice. I am waiting until after the holidays for getting another perfume. That is if I don't end up going over to Smell Bent and get Bohemian Rhapsody.

La Maison de la Vanille Vanille givree des Antilles Review

Thus far, it seems like I have wasted more time and money at Ulta and Sephora. Last Saturday, I was starting some Christmas shopping and ended up at Ulta. After poking around the little perfume section that mine has, I smelled Chanel's Gabrielle. I didn't spray any on due to the fact that I was wearing Amouage Epic and forgot to pack some decanting supplies. From what I could tell, it was mediocre at best and something I have smelled a million times before. I think that Chanel can do a better job when creating new perfumes.

But I have to get going on this review that has been floating around my brain and sitting in my drafts section of my blog. I have started to really explore vanilla perfumes and stumbled across the La Maison de la Vanille travel set. For 5 15ml coming in at $50, it was a bargain. For $50, I am not expecting them to be SDV or Havana Vanille but I am expecting something a little better than something cheap smelling. So for the past week, off and on, I have been wearing Vanille givree des Antilles.

At first spray, I get a very mellow, slightly inedible vanilla. Then things get a little funky and I couldn't place what kind of took over. It was a shaving cream note that started to dominate. My nose has always found a shaving cream note to be a funky note that tries to add a creamy type of vibe. But the issue becomes the threat of the shaving cream note completely turns me off. The vanilla was slightly inedible, like I had mentioned before but not far enough over for me to enjoy it. This one lasted about 5 hours on skin before fading out. That's pretty good for an EDT but a full bottle isn't in the cards for me.

What Not to Wear Out of the House

I have some good news, the bottle of Arabie that I thought was lost has been found. Somehow, Arabie ended up is a random toiletries basket. I'm blaming the puppy and her learning how to counter surf and then my mother throwing it in that basket. The vintage bottle of L'Heure Bleue has arrived and I am ecstatic. I haven't spent a whole lot of time with it, except for gazing at the bottle marveling on how small a 1.6 ounce bottle of EDC is.

I have compiled a list of perfumes that I can only wear alone. I think that every perfumista has a handful of perfumes that they only wear when they are alone in the house. Those perfumes can be too skanky or there is something about them that renders them not fit for public.

Amouage Gold for men and women: I honestly don't thing that it's the structure of the perfumes themselves but I think that it's the whopping dose of civet (or is it ambergris?) that makes this too poopy. The men's version has a whole lot less going on and I am more apt to wear the men's version then the women's

Patou Joy: I have yet to try the extrait version of Joy, so I can't comment on it. I have the EDP version and I do love Joy. I love how the jasmine and rose play well together. The rose and jasmine is bright, not at all powdery and don't compete with each other. But Joy has a noticeable cat pee type of note that I think that the jasmine probably creates.

Serge Lutens Muscs Koublai Khan: What seems to be the musks to end all musks. I personally love it but while people like it on me, they just simply don't like the perfume itself. So it's regulated for the alone pile. But it's not the sluttiest perfume I own and that's vintage Bal a Versailles and I wear it out of the house and everyone swoons.

Beauty Sponges

A couple months ago, I had done a Sephora run (or was it Ulta?) and had thrown a beauty sponge in my shopping cart. Once in a while, I do read makeup blogs and kept seeing beauty sponges mentioned in them. So yes, I had to get one and try it out. I had chosen one that was about $5 for a reason. Reason being is that I have never used a beauty sponge before and I wasn't willing to go and spend a million dollars one one if I didn't like it or it turned out to be an epic disaster.

Yesterday, I had actually decided to give it a shot with foundation. I've never really worn a lot of foundation and with some sun damage and being 36, it's time that I should start wearing some. After watching a video, I thought that it was as easy as I had thought. I had a fairly easy time blending foundation and my foundation job looked pretty good. Which did remind me to actually go physically go into Sephora or Ulta and get matched for a foundation. It's been years since I had bought a foundation and I think that the foundation stick isn't good anymore and maybe doesn't really match my skin so much anymore.

**The brand of beauty sponge was Japonesque.

Lost and Found

Decants are funny things. It's funny when they just seem to keep multiplying without even slowing down and sooner or later, they are everywhere. I kind of have a system of keeping track. What I have worn and reviewed, I keep in a medium sized makeup bag. The ones that I have not worn and reviewed are kept in another makeup bag. I am quickly outgrowing those bags and have bought another that I am about to start filling. But I am finding it difficult to actually just get started on that needs to be worn and reviewed bag. My biggest problem in procrastination, as much as I love perfume, I just procrastinate on trying new stuff and review it. I think that I should start a system of once a week of trying one perfume and then review it. Let's see how long that will last.

Last weekend, I spent quite a bit of time cleaning out my closet and bedroom. As it always happens, things get moved around but I always know where things have been placed. The worn and reviewed bag was moved to a second nightstand and for some reason, something was placed on top of it and something was placed in front of it. When I was getting ready to go to work, I could not find the bag. I couldn't find the stupid bag to grab a decant to slip into my work cardigan to spray my wrists before work. I was lucky in the moment because there were some decants that I've already worn and reviewed that were work safe scents. But I did actually manage to find the stupid thing and not look through the garbage after work.

Now it actually feels like fall and I am really pulling out my fall scents. You know what that means? I can haul out my Amouage offerings and really start wearing them. Once in a while, I do like to wear Lyric or Epic in the summer but they work better in colder months.

Montale Full Incense Review

It's been a long weekend for me. Even though I had the weekend off, it was full of things that I wasn't looking forward to doing. Cleaning was something that I was not looking forward to doing. It wasn't a top to bottom clean but dusting, vacuuming and then having to tackle the bedroom. Sorting things, throwing things out and then having to put it back together. It's amazing how much crap that gets accumulated without realizing it. Finally, it's done for the weekend. I might get going on some wall washing and steam cleaning carpets in the bedrooms later in the week or next week.

Yesterday and today, I had spent time with Montale's Full Incense. I do enjoy a good incense dominant perfume. The best time to enjoy them is either in the fall or winter. I mostly enjoy them in the fall. Cleveland has clambakes, bonfires, falling leaves and just a different smell in general and incense just works.

I have never spent a whole lot of time with any offerings from Montale. I think that it's a house that has never really caught my eye and stayed on my radar. But when STC ran a sale recently, I was looking for something that was kind of cheap. I had thought I grabbed another decant of something but Full Incense was the one I grabbed and sprayed. Immediately, I knew exactly what perfume that it smelled like and Full Incense smelled just like Avignon.  Full Incense is an almost ripoff from Avignon, maybe a little smoother and longer lasting. Full Incense it a little more approachable than Avignon but not very different. I swear that it smells just like Avignon, I had sprayed it on mistakenly but nope. I had looked at Luckysent for some peer reviews and I am not alone is most of what was said. For an EDP, Full Incense is a long lasting perfume. I had sprayed some on at 2 this afternoon and I am smelling the extreme dry down at 11pm.

For the price tag of $120 and a longer lasting power, I kind of have to nope out of that one. I just don't see how I can justify a $25 markup when there is CdG's Avignon for $25 cheaper. Yes, I have become pretty cost conscious due to cutting back and just don't see the merit of spending tons of money on one bottle o perfume so much any more. I am thinking that my collection is still pretty large and I must keep up the trying to use up some bottles of perfume before acquiring more of them.

Eau No

Did anyone ever have this computer problem? Every time that I go to certain websites on my PC, it pops up as "connection insecure" and can't get on said website? I am having this issue. Facebook, STC, TPC and a few others but not my blog or Yahoo. I don't know if it the firewall or not but I know that I am not having this issue with my Kindle Fire. So I have no flipping clue on what's up with the computer and I am not motivated right now to deal with it.

On Sunday, I was searching for one of those perfumes that I haven't worn in a while. I do have a few that I don't wear often and some have a reason. Sunday was the day that I decided to wear vintage Mitsouko. I do love Mitsouko but she can be a little hard to wear. When I applied my vintage Mitsouko, it seemed like a mistake and didn't have the time to wash Mitsouko off and apply something different.

Some perfumes can be a mistake in certain circumstances. L'Heure Bleue and L'Heure de Nuit are two of them. Both are powder bombs but L'Heure de Nuit isn't a massive powder bomb as L'Heure de Bleue. Both of them just are not meant for hot and humid weather unless dabbed and a very small amount. I've noticed that no. 22 can be that way as well, especially in the vintage EDT form but the extrait form is wonderful and barely any powder in it. But it's difficult with perfumes loaded with powder or the vintage chypres to wear on a daily basis.

The Makeup Runs

The debate seems to rage on about who is better, Sephora or Ulta? I find that it really depends on what you want and the price point. I find Ulta to be better in terms of product and the rewards are a little bit better. Ulta seems to be better with sales and coupons and there are more stores around. So Ulta gets more of my business than Sephora.

It takes me quite a while for me to accumulate any worthwhile points with Sephora but what I like is the notification of a "birthday gift". I think that is what I like the most about Sephora. Sure, I am given only two options and they are sample sized but they can serve a purpose. But when that birthday e-mail hit my inbox, it was off to the races to fill up on a couple things.

Sometimes those makeup runs can be a fun thing. Well, in a lot of ways, makeup ends up being cheaper for me than perfume. My makeup routine is pretty basic and I love most of Urban Decay's Naked collection and tend to favor the smaller Naked pallets. I'm not big on colorful eye shadow nor am I a fan of shimmery or glitter on my eyes. But I am still pissed about Kat von D's Hellbent (color) being discontinued and I am looking at what is comparable to that shade of red. But it was fun to mostly browse Sephora to see what was available but mostly saw the same old same old and I was reminded why I keep my beauty routine fairly basic. I'd rather spend time picking out what perfume I am wearing for the day instead of spending at least a half an hour on applying purple eye shadow with questionable results.

Pulling Out the Fall Favorites

Technically, the Northern Hemipshere is in fall. The sun sets a little earlier, the temps are falling a little bit and the trees are going to start turning and losing their leaves. That means the perfume rotation. I have spent a little bit of time pulling fall/winter bottles to the forefront and some summer ones to the back. I haven't totally finished yet. I haven't finished due to me being in Cleveland. I can still expect the odd stretch of temps in the 90's or the mid 80's, so I still need some summer scents in the front. What I have pulled out is some of the "classic" Amouage offerings. Lyric, Memoir and Epic have been pulled to the front. Dia and Gold always sit in perfume limbo. They (Gold and Dia) don't really seem to fit in any set seasonal category and Gold, no matter what, is too urinous to be worn anywhere for me. Shalimar has been pulled to the front along with my vanilla perfumes.

What is great about fall, is the lack of reruns on television. I'm thinking that I might have to stick out the last season of the Big Bang Theory. The Big Bang Theory hasn't really been too good the past few seasons for a number of reasons. My biggest peeve is when they started to pair everyone off with only one single guy that can't get a girl, I was turned off by it. My latest thing now is watching Chicago Fire, which I have been binge watching. I couldn't get into it at first but now I am. There are doctor shows, police shows but how many TV shows are about firefighters and paramedics? I'm not talking about the reality ones but fictional ones. The shows that I have to wait until spring of next year is Call the Midwife and Poldark on PBS.

Andy Tauer Hyacinth and a Mechanic Review

A strange thing has happened to me and a vintage bottle of Miss Dior. About 2 years ago, I had bought a 2 ounce screw top bottle of Miss Dior and it came with a screw on spray mechanism. I hadn't put on the spray mechanism on the bottle right away and that is something that I normally do but just didn't. Then about 10 months ago, I had actually did and somewhat forgot about the bottle except of the periodic spray. Fast forward to a week ago, I noticed some serious evaporation. To the point of maybe 10ml left on an 80% full 2 ounce bottle. So I made sure that that bottle was my bed time scent and now I can mostly say that I actually finished my 2nd bottle for the year. It seems that I have more issues losing perfume due to me either being a klutz that just simple evaporation.

In the past 6 months, I've had Andy Tauer's limited edition Hyacinth and a Mechanic sitting in the not reviewed pile and it's time to get going on wearing it. At first, I was very confused. First blast of HaaM is somebody is chewing cinnamon gum and I don't see cinnamon listed as a note anywhere. The cinnamon still is pretty loud for me 20 minutes in but I notice an oily hyacinth and the barest hint of shoe leather. Hyacinth even as a live plant or cut has an oily element to it. The only other perfume that I have smelled that has a fairly realistic hyacinth is Un Coeur en Mai. But the hyacinth is portrayed a little different in HaaM. HaaM is meant to be a story or a situation. The mental image that I get is an oily mechanic is chewing cinnamon gum, while working on cars while the hyacinths outside are blooming.

The price point of a full bottle was pretty decent (but I only have a small decant) and lasting power on skin is pretty good. But I find that HaaM is not something that works for me, not on skin, not on clothing and I am okay with that.

i Profumi di Firenze Vaniglia del Madagascar Review

After shuffling through my unworn bag of perfume, I had realized that some of my decants are evaporating, I realized that I really needed to get the show on the road with wearing and reviewing. Yesterday, I had a huge craving for a vanilla dominant perfume and that landed me in Vaniglia del Madagascar.

I've always had a hard time with vanilla perfumes because I work in a bakery and I have ended up with not exactly liking vanilla dominant perfumes. Most of them came across as smelling like a cupcake or straight up vanilla extract. Then came Havana Vanille and Guerlain's SDV and then I realized that I like my vanilla inedible.

Ever since my perfume journey started, I came to realize that most, if not all perfume houses, mainstream or niche, has a vanilla or tow in their line up. But it was time for me to try Vaniglia del Madagascar. And I can't make up my mind about it. Upon first blast, I smell a cross between SDV and Tom Ford's Vanille Tobacco (or is it Tobacco Vanille, I'm not digging around for my decant to find out). Smoky like SDV and what smells like pipe tobacco and maybe a kind of teeters on the boozy side. But then I figure out what that smokey, boozy smell is and it's chocolate. I haven't had a whole lot of experience with chocolate in perfume that I am aware of, so the chocolate did come as a surprise when I identified it. What I noticed that Vaniglia del Madagascar it that the vanilla is noticeable but kind of stays in the background. If you are going to say that it's a vanilla, the vanilla should have a staring roll not regulated to a supporting roll. What I did like is that it teeters on the edge of either being edible or inedible. The wear time on my skin is about 7 hours and has moderate projection. Would I pay $110 for a 50ml bottle? No, it's more of a $60 dollar kind of perfume. If Andy Tauer can pull of a vanilla and sell it for under $70, i Profumi di Firenze can as well.

Serge Lutens Encens et Lavande Review

Did you have two or three days where everyone and everything is just bugging the shit out of you? I'm going through that right now. My goofy Lab puppy decided that she was going to chew up my slippers today. Sidney was doing so well, not chewing up our belongings and chewing on her toys. I think that since it's cold, wet, rainy and gray, she's mad. Walks have been kind of quick due to the rain and having her just run around in the back yard is pretty much a no go. The front and back yard is nothing but a mud puddle. I was hoping that grocery shopping was going to happen today but it was the home opener for the Cleveland Browns and nobody wanted to do it before or after the game. I hate football and I don't really understand why the home opener for the Browns was so important to the people in my household, sense tells me that what is the point of watching, I know what's going to happen, the Browns pretty much always lose. It's difficult to make anything when half of what you need for anything isn't in the house, so it was beef stroganoff, which I pretty much hate. I might not like grocery shopping but at this point, we need food because I can't live off of huge platters of mac and cheese and Salisbury steak that last for days.

I noticed that I am getting sick of looking a my full bottle collection and it was time to give something else a go. So I pull out Encens et Lavande and spritz. Lavande seems to have been on my radar for a while but I never managed to remember to get a decant when STC or TPC was having a sale but finally managed to remember. I try to keep in mind when testing any Serge Lutens offerings, anything seems to go. But Lavande left me cold and disgruntled. At first, I couldn't smell anything other than a Serge Lutens does ck One. I had said that ck One was an airy, androgynous citrus thing with a whole lot of no development. Lavande isn't much different. Lavender slowly comes on to the scene and the lavender is a pretty cold one and then the incense seems to show up much later. The incense is more like a ghost than an actual note in this one. Lavande is kind of a blatant rip off, a ck One with a cold lavender note and a whisper of incense. There was no real development, if at all. But the biggest thing for me was that it was cold, not ice cold but it was starting to. The lasting power of a spray was around 6 hours and it was 6 hours to long for me. For an Amouage price for a bell jar, I would have expected something better.

Tauerville Incense Flash Review

I know, I know, it takes me forever to try anything new and even longer to review something. I seem to spend more time just blogging about shopping and nothing at all. Since I haven't blogged in about a month, I have to blog about something and I really have to review something. That something has to do with what seems to be my favorite perfumer, Andy Tauer.

I love quite a bit of Andy Tauer's work and what doesn't work for me or I don't really like, I can respect that particular perfume. Tauerville is Mr. Tauer's price friendly line. At $60 for a niche perfume, that's pretty damn cheap but there is nothing cheap smelling when it comes to Tauerville. You do smell quality.

When Luckyscent e-mailed me a rare coupon, I couldn't resist taking a look and using it. Anybody who has been shopping for niche perfumes, knows how expensive niche can be. Since I didn't have tons to spend, I took a look at Incense Flash and a few other of the Tauerville offerings. Since I had already owned Vanilla Flash and didn't much care for Rose Flash, the only viable option was Incense Flash. Anything with heavy patchouli isn't much of a friend to my nose.

Incense Flash is not an Andy Tauer does incense, not really but I knew that it probably wasn't going to be like the CdG incense line. The beginning was almost like Avignon but a little different. If you've ever been in a car dealership or a place that sells car tires, you know the smell of rubber and leather. The leather and rubber were noticeable but didn't overtake the incense. Nothing overtakes the incense. but the incense smooths out the rough edges as time moves on and the Tauer base comes out softly. The Tauer base isn't very strong in Incense Flash but it is there and it takes it's time to arrive. I get about 6 hours of wear time before it disappears. Funny thing is, is that I'm not sure if I like it or love it. I figure that I have to spend more time with this one to get a better feel before I make a decision.

CK One Review

I think that it's time for a blast from the past. When I was in high school, the girls (myself included) mainly wore Happy, Pleasures and Bath and Body Works Cucumber Melon. But then I remembered that CK One was something popular. CK One didn't seem to be hugely popular with the girls in terms of it being worn but seemed to be popular with the guys. Even though it's marketed as unisex. For some reason, I find androgynous a better term and a little classier than unisex.

When I was looking for a list of notes, I found that it was launched in 1994, shortly before I  hit middle school so maybe that's why I didn't smell a whole lot of it. I do remember seeing a ton of Calvin Klein ads for this and a few other offerings that were unleashed at this time. Black and white commercials in the age of color TV is pretty memorable.

CK One starts out with a whole lot of fresh cut lime on me. Which is pretty unusual since I can't find lime listed anywhere on the official list of notes so it's probably the pineapple and bergamot creating that note. After a couple minutes, I get hints of of cedar and maybe a little musk but the biggest thing that I noticed is how green in was and how linear that it is. There is no development One is pretty much the same from when you first apply it to when it peters out into nothing on skin. I don't remember ever owning a bottle but I might have but I think that my sister did have a small bottle of it that I snuck a small squirt. So yes, not a whole lot of change from the beginning to the end. It's pleasant, easy to wear and dirt cheap on FragranceNet and maybe a little pricier on Amazon but the 6.7 ounce is the most bang for your buck no matter what. For an EDT, the lasting power and projection is pretty decent, about five and a half to six hours on skin. I'm not impressed enough to own a bottle, even for old times sake but a decant will do.

Body Stuff and Things

Life with a 4 month old Lab puppy isn't easy. In effect, Sidney is a toddler and toddlers are into everything and chewing everything. We have been putting slippers and shoes up but she has figured out how to get them down to chew on them. Sidney has already gotten one of my slippers today. I've noticed that she is a very sensitive dog, the merest hint of a raised voice, she gets frightened. Other dogs barking, she's running for comfort.

My new Kindle came on Wednesday but haven't set it up. Well, I got my case for it on Saturday and put it together Sunday but haven't set up the Wi-Fi. The person who has the Wi-Fi password keeps forgetting to give it to me so I can finish setting up my new Kindle.

I'm still a fan of the Amouage body products and looking at some of their stuff. I find that the body butters and lotions are very moisturizing. I keep reminding myself that I have the Dia bar soap and hand lotion that I need to start using, since they aren't doing any good sitting on my nightstand, taking up space where space doesn't need to be taken up. I just have Lyric and Memoir in my bathroom and use them on a somewhat consistent basis. The funny thing is that I keep thinking of adding the Epic body wash and body butter or going all Jubilation 25. I will probably be able to decide around my birthday if I don't decide to get

Post Prim Day

Since we are past Prime Day, I am adding up the full extent of the damage fully done. I spent $248.18 in total. Granted, $174 was in gift cards already on my Amazon account, I still spent way more than I had wanted to. I had initially wanted just a Kindle 8, Kindle 10 and cases for them. That didn't happen exactly. I had gotten 2 digital books and dog food for the dogs. I am a little overwhelmed with how much I actually did spend.

When I added up what I spent (including tax), I could have skipped the whole Prime Day thing and went a different route. I could have scoured Amazon and gotten an Amouage and still have spent less money or found one of Andy Tauer's perfumes and spent less. At this point, I am thinking that I might keep Amazon Prime in spite of the price hike but if they hike it up any more, I will probably drop it.

Just Some General Stuff

I don't have much to yap about perfume right now except a random thought. I spent most of the morning in Mitsouko. Mitsouko is something that I don't wear often even though I have 3 bottles of the current version and 6 of the vintage. The random thought that I had in my head was Mitsouko is 99 years old this year and I wonder if and how Guerlain is going to commemorate that fact. It's not every day that a perfume turns 100 years old. Way back when, Mitsouko did have some sort of flanker something with the word lotus in it but it didn't last to long. I hope that if a flanker is done, it won't be wildly expensive and too much of a departure from the original.

I'm not a fan of a lot of shopping, especially grocery and shoe shopping. But I am a little annoyed with my local grocery store. Okay, more than a little annoyed. I am not a coffee drinker at all, I hate coffee and coffee hates me. The tea I drink is the Tazo chai latte concentrate. Ever since the 4th, the regular latte has not been restocked. At first, I was getting the organic, which doesn't taste the same and a little too spicy. Now, it's the "skinny" latte which I don't like period. It's tasteless. It's always been the hope that when I do stop in, they will have it. Every single time, they don't. I don't have the time nor willing to waste money on gas to go out of my way to go to Walmart to get it. So I had to order it last night off of Amazon and it will be shipped to my house. I think that if I don't find it today, I will mention it and state how unhappy I am with the stocking of item.

Today, it's about 6 hours before Amazon Prime Day and I am eagerly awaiting to see what deals are to be had. Primarily on the Kindle Fires but I am really interested in the Fire 10. I love the Fire 10 that I've got but it's dying and I'd rather replace it now, especially if the deal is going to be pretty good. I could go with a different tablet but I want to watch the movies the I have purchased off of Amazon and I just prefer the Kindles.

Jo Malone English Pear and Freesia Review

Over the years, I've heard a lot about Jo Malone and the perfumes. I have always kept meaning to try one of her perfumes since what ever was in the line up didn't really excite me. I had figured that I would try at least one. After thumbing through the unworn pile, I found the only Jo Malone that exists in the pile. It was English Pear and Freesia with only one and a half wearings, so I had to wear it before the decant entirely evaporated. Unfortunately, this review with be short and disjointed due to the fact that I don't have anymore to test on skin or paper, so I'm going off on what I remember.

First blast was the freesia and maybe some hints of pear. I was intrigued with the pear and wished it was a little more dominant because the freesia was a little too aquatic for my liking. After spending a couple more hours wearing English Pear and Freesia, the patchouli and musk came out. The musk was one of those clean musks. I don't have a problem with musk in general, but the musk kind of bugged me with the way it played with the patchouli. I'm not a fan of patchouli, there is something about it that just bugs me. The patchouli stood out and just didn't go with the rest of the composition. But before the musk and patchouli, I kept thinking about what English Pear and Freesia smelled like and what it reminded me of and then I figured out what. Amouage Reflection for women. For a while, I tried to like both but failed. Aquatic, weak and generally annoying to me. So after spending 6 hours wearing on one day of testing and four hours of testing, this isn't for me, even though the lasting power is impressive for an EDC.

Amouage Honour Extrait and Amazon Prime Day

As an Amazon Prime member, there is a thing called Prime Day. It's kind of like the Black Friday of the summer and I had forgotten about it until I had received an e-mail about it. I've always loved the 2 day shipping, the Prime videos and music which has saved me tons. Now since Prime Day begins on July 16th at 3pm, I'm looking at a few things. My Kindle Fire is starting to not hold a charge and randomly shutting off and it's out of warranty. I'm hoping for an extremely good deal on a Kindle Fire and maybe getting one for my dad for his birthday. But we must see.

Since it's been really hot out and my eczema giving me grief, I'm a little limited on what I can wear. I was digging through my dabber decants because most of those are extraits and I had pulled out Honour. I remembered that I liked Honour and it was probably the last Amouage that I had enjoyed. I remembered that it was a watery gardenia thing so the extrait refreshed my memory.

I had mostly remembered the structure of Honour but not really much else. I was hit with a huge watery tuberose. Tuberose and I don't get along, period. I smelled a little bit of jasmine and that was once in a while but the tuberose just hung around and smothered everything except the calone. I have noticed that I'm not much of a fan of calone. Calone seems to make perfumes lousy and weak. I can't really comment on lasting power because of this fucking heat and humidity and there is no projection, probably due to the fact that I had a dabber sample. So a bottle isn't going to be in my collection

Tauerville Rose Flash Review

I've blogged quite a bit about Andy Tauer's work and how much of a fan girl I am. I might not have liked a few of his offerings but I have liked or loved most of what he has made.

Yesterday, I've done something kind of bad. You see, Luckyscent e-mailed me a coupon for 15% off a purchase. Luckyscent doesn't really hand out coupons for most everything in their store. So naturally, I take advantage and buy Incense Flashed, without smelling it first. Yeah, I probably shouldn't have done that but I've had some luck with blind buys with Andy Tauer's work. Then I was reminded that I have Rose Flash and needed to try it.

Rose Flash is definitely a rose dominant perfume. A huge, jammy rose. I can try to compare this to Nahema but I cannot begin to try. After about 10 or 15 minutes in, Rose Flash begins to become a green rose. The green aspect isn't huge but it is noticeable. The green compliments the rose, it's the stem of the rose but without the thorns. A half an hour in, I did notice that I did smell some amber that lends some depth to the composition. What I did notice is that I didn't smell the Tauer base that is always prominent in the Tauer perfumes. I had gotten 7 hours of wear but I don't think that a bottle will be in my collection. Rose Flash just didn't do it for me.

Evaporation

Let's get this straight, I have tons of bottles like any good perfumista. This means back up bottles. I have back ups for discontinued perfumes and a whole lot more back ups in vintage perfumes. The vintages that I do have are mostly in splash or dabber bottles. But I always seem to run into the same problem. The dreaded evaporation.

The older the vintage is, the less likely the dabber seems to hold the perfume. A lot of the vintage bottles I have date from the 1950's to the 1990's. I love my vintage Guerlain's but find that the ones that are earlier than the 1970's don't seem to have plastic over the glass part of the stopper that goes into the bottle. My newer ones do. This means that I have to start wearing some of these and use the bottles up. Truth be told, I don't mind it so much when the vintage splash bottles are screw top and wither EDT or EDC concentration. I mind the most when the vintage extraits are doing this. Vintage extrait is fairly expensive and I have less of vintage extrait. I don't wear my vintage L'Heure Bleue too often but noticed that one of the bottles did have some noticeable evaporation. It isn't a huge amount but it was noticeable and the other one, I'm not totally sure. It looks like I have to get some snack sized Zip lock bags to prevent some of the evaporation and start wearing them more often.

Perfumes That Have Grown on Me

Every time Surrender to Chance or The Perfumed Court has some sort of sale, I am taking a look and most likely buying a decant or two. It just happens, I could ignore it but I don't. There is always something that I read that puts a certain perfume on my radar or back on my radar. I have rediscovered my copy of The Guide by Luca Turin and was looking through it. I came across his review of Ubar and suddenly, I had a craving to try it again.

Even though I hated Ubar but tried to find something good to say about it, I hadn't smelled it in years. But I had to try it again. Why? I knew that when I tried Ubar, I was still pretty new to the scene with niche. Now since I am not so new, I wanted to give Ubar another look. I have lost the whole bug spray thing that I smelled years ago and now I am rocking it. So now I am thinking that a full bottle is on my list.

Do I have a couple others that I that are growing on me? Yep but I am having trouble remembering what they are. And that is what happens with a large collection of perfume, things getting lost in the shuffle.

Tom Ford Private Blend Vanille Fatale

I haven't been much of a fan of Tom Ford's campaign ads for anything. His pornographic images to buy his stuff just turns me off. I don't need naked people shown in a crude manner to try something of his out. I've only really spent time with Tobacco Vanille, so I can't say much about the rest of his perfume line. When I heard that Tom Ford was releasing another vanilla perfume, I had to roll my eyes. Think about it, he already had Tobacco Vanille that seemed to be universally well liked or loved. I've always been pretty iffy on vanilla centric perfumes. Most fall into the too sweet and too edible to be a perfume.

I was bored and decided to test this one out just to see what the difference was between Tobacco Vanille and Vanille Fatale. There is a definite difference. Vanille Fatale starts off with a huge blast of vanilla that smells a little plastic like and something else that I couldn't place. I started to smell a sunscreen note. The sunscreen note has a huge coconut element to it. Yes, coconut and vanilla that's trying to take me to the tropics where the smell of coconuts and vanilla reign supreme. After a while, I do get a little bit of coffee in the background but it gets smothered with vanilla and coconuts.

Vanille Fatale has the lasting power of nuclear waste and has a fairly loud projection. It can be enjoyable for me in the right circumstances but not something I'd wear on a regular basis. I'd rather spend the money on another bottle of Amouage Memior or Lyric for what I would spend of a bottle of Vanille Fatale. It's not really worth $230 in my book.

Summer Perfume

It's that time of year. The time of grilling, mosquitoes and mosquito bites, bees and most of all hot weather. That muggy type of hot, that insufferable type of hot. I got to thinking about perfumes that can work when the heat is insufferable.

A few of my picks are from the Commes des Garcones incense line, specifically Kyoto and Zagorsk. Summer heats doesn't make anything really stick around all that much, maybe 3 or 4 hours at best. Kyoto and Zagorsk are not heavy perfumes and in heat, they are great. Dry but not bone dry, airy but not really. They just seem to work in summer.

Another favorite in summer in Chanel no 19 in EDT form. It's bitey, it's light, slightly bitter but it works in summer. The extrait and EDP don't do the trick in summer, early spring, maybe but not summer. The extrait and EDP just get annoying and seem to be too much in summer. Worth Courtesan is another good one to. It's cheerful, relativity cheap and it's fun. That slightly sweaty pineapple and the barest hint of musk make it a wonderful perfume for the summer.

The last perfume that seems to suit in my collection is En Passant. The lilac, cucumber, wheat and the watery aspect just work in heat, if you use a light hand. Spray with a heavy hand, it might not work.

Amouage Gold for Men

I've been struggling with Amouage's offerings for men. None of what I had tried didn't wow me, let alone impress me. They were light, thin and weak things. I couldn't understand nor see the correlation between the men's version and the women's version of any of them. Then came Gold for men.

I have always found Gold for women a little difficult to wear. Too big, too dense, and way too much civet that got really fecal. As difficult as the women's version is, I do wear it from time to time.

Gold for men starts out as almost a dead ringer for the women's version. I noticed that everything is toned down and drier. The floral aspect is still prominant but doesn't smell overwhelming to my nose. What made me really happy is the civet note wasn't huge and fecal. There was just enough to give it a bit of a growl. Gold Woman has a civet note was huge to the point of crass and was very poopy. I loved how the frankincense was very prominant and didn't allow anything to get out of hand. Gold Man has the lasting power of nuclear waste of my perfume eating skin.

I'm in love with Gold Man because I see how it ties into Gold Woman. Could I see a man wearing this? It would take a very confidant man to wear it but I would gladly take a bottle. So I have to save my pennies and get it for my birthday, or Christmas or when I get my next tax refund.

Spring is here to stay

It looks like spring is here to stay. I have been pretty busy. With the new puppy and many changes at work, I don't have much of a motivation to blog or try anything new. But since the weather is much warmer, almost unseasonably warm, it's difficult with my perfume collection.

A few days ago, while having the new puppy outside to use the bathroom, I end up getting stung on the top of my head by a hornet. I don't know why but I remember wearing vintage Bal that day. That's the little dickens to the left. I have forgotten many things with having a puppy in the house. How often I need to take them out to go to the bathroom, playing, chewing everything, even hands and much more. Right now, she is napping on the couch downstairs, so I have a little bit of time to blog.

But back to the hornet sting and vintage Bal, I had to take a look at my collection. Most of my collection is on the oriental side or kind of on the sweet side. I don't have much in the way of stuff that will keep the bees away or be overwhelming. I have Chanel no 19, Mitsouko on cooler days, Deneuve might be a little sketchy and LADDM. So I have just four perfumes that probably would bet me through spring and summer but I'm not counting on it. I am looking for another spring/summer perfume that won't attract bugs and things that sting but coming up short with what would be good.

Don't Have Much of Anything

I have this huge pile of perfumes to wear and review and I was going to review Andy Tauer's Veviter Dance. But I promptly forgot what it smelled like and I do remember that I did enjoy it. Since I mostly stopped buying perfume except the occasional decant, I haven't really started to start going crazy with the reviewing thing. Let's just say that in many ways, I am a lazy bum in that department. I honestly think that I am trying to use up what I have full bottle wise and the decants that I have already reviewed.

Going through my little news feed of just random news that catches my eye, I was Amazon. There was some stuff about Amazon releasing their numbers of last quarter and how many Prime members that Amazon has. Then I noticed that Amazon is raising the price of 1 year of Prime. I remember when Prime was only $79 then $99. Now the cost is going to be raised to $119. I have always loved Amazon and have been a Prime member for years and now I might have to reassess my Prime membership when it comes up for renewal. I renewed my membership for a year last month, so I have a while to decide. Amazon did send me a blurb about what I saved in shipping, video watching and music listening. Prime paid for itself almost 3 times over. It was enough for me to keep Prime for another year at $99. The excuse is that Prime is expensive to have for Amazon.

On Monday, the breeder had called and said that our puppy will be ready on Sunday. We will be driving around two hours to get the puppy. I had gotten the crate, some toys, some pee pads and I am waiting on the doggie bed to go into the crate. Yes, I have a Bark Box subscription but I don't know how my other dog will react to the puppy playing with the toys that he already has, so the puppy will have a couple toys of her own. All that's left to do besides getting the puppy is getting puppy food and a collar and a leash for her.

New vs. Old

Many classic perfumes have gone through reformulations. The longer a perfume has been in circulation, it's a given. There are many reasons why reformulations happen and it can be very annoying or down right infuriating. I understand why some reformulations happen. Some ingredients are either banned because of allergies, harvesting is cruel or some become endangered. I understand why some things have to be outright banned or severely restricted. But I'm never a fan of having things banned due to allergies. Perfume is not essential to living, it's honestly not. Food is essential to staying alive. But I am strange when it comes to the vintage and current stuff.

Let's take Mitsouko, probably the most talked about reformulation. I like both the current version and I also like the vintage version. Since they have restricted oak moss, Mitsouko hasn't quite been the same. But the reformulation is still beautiful. Even though I don't wear Mitsouko as often as I should, I'm finding myself drawn more and more to the current version of Mitsouko than the vintage version and wearing the current formulation more. I don't know why I am drawn to the current formulation more but I'm thinking that the current version is a little brighter than the vintage version.

Chanel no 22 is another one. At first, I didn't like no 22. I found the EDT version to be too harsh and the vintage version to be smoother. Eventually, I started to enjoy no 22. Now I thing that I wasn't prepared or used to the powder and incense combination. I haven't tried the EDP version of no 22 so I can't comment on the EDP version. The version that I enjoy the most is the extrait version. It's rosier and more subdued. Powder bombs are hard to wear and harder to pull off.

Dealing

I'm still having a very difficult time with losing my dog. There are so many habits that are so ingrained and in a lot of ways, I forget that Charlie is gone. I miss seeing her in her "spot" on the couch, on the bed. I miss her barks when she wants somebody to pay attention to her because she is lonely. There are just so many quirks that I miss and some that used to annoy me. My other dog, Jake is having a difficult time without his four legged buddy, too. Yesterday, a deposit was made for a Lab puppy and now, it's a two week wait before the puppy can leave her mother.

Yes, we could have adopted a Lab but pet adoptions have gotten a lot more complex than what I remember. The rescue people want to take a look at your house, property, other animals if you have them and who knows how many interviews that they want. I get the fact that checking out the house and all and one interview but some things have gotten blown out of proportion. Any more than one interview and a home visit is overmuch. I get why the home visit and interview is important  but in some ways, some rescue groups act like they don't want you to adopt a dog. An animal is adopted because they are very much wanted.

Losing My Dog

It's Friday the 13th and it's a horrible day. Last night was a difficult night. My 13 year old black Lab, Charlie had a rough night. After she ate her supper and received her medication, she suffered a seizure and lost her ability to walk. Over the course of 4 days, her quality of life went down hill. My family and the vet think that she was probably dealing with a form of brain cancer due to symptoms that she was displaying over the past month. A couple hours ago, we had to put Charlie down and I have spent the whole day as a sobbing mess. I know my other dog knows that Charlie is gone and won't come home. Well, she will come home but not in dog form but in ashes. I swore that I wouldn't wear perfume but ended up wearing Lolita Lempicks (the original, not the flankers). I don't know why I did it and I don't know too much right now except that Charlie is gone and I won't see her anymore.

Dior La Collection Couturier Parfumeur Grand Bal Review

I will admit that I have never been the biggest Dior fan girl. Nothing has really moved me in terms of Dior. Diorissimo doesn't it for me, even in vintage form. Current released (Dior) kind of gross me out and annoy me. I will explain with Grand Bal.

I do have a liking for jasmine dominant perfumes with Sarrasins being my favorite. Jasmine can be a little difficult because under the wrong circumstances, jasmine is abhorrent. Overwhelming and cloying. Grand Bal has jasmine in spades, you can't miss it. At first, I thought that I was smelling tuberose, which is my arch nemesis in terms of perfume but it was the jasmine. The jasmine and tuberose thing reminded me of Nuda but even though tuberose isn't listed in the notes that I see, I'm pretty sure it's in there to add some creaminess. What got me was the whole watery thing in Grand Bal and I loathe things watery. I'm thinking that Dior used calone and won't fess up to using it. Yep, Grand Bal is this whole watery jasmine mess that just doesn't work. If it doesn't work in the EDP version of Diorissimo, it won't work in Grand Bal. Grand Bal was just a huge mess on my to where I can only smell a watery jasmine that was done horribly.

The lasting power of Grand Bal is 9 hours on my skin and that's 9 hours to long with some pretty hefty sillage. Good thing that I am not willing to part with $210 for this.

Andy Tauer Lonesome Rider Review

I will admit that I am a huge fan of Andy Tauer and his work. Yep, I'm a fan girl. Even though I might not like some of his work, Andy has consistently released some good, if not great work. And I have enjoyed most of what I have tried.

About a week and a half ago or two weeks ago, I had ordered LADDM from Andy Tauer's website instead of Luckyscent. Ordering from Andy's website works out a little better than Luckyscent in terms of price and I'd rather that money go directly to Mr. Tauer and not Luckyscent, I'm strange that way. I did run into a little issue with the website and never received an e-mail confirmation. I had checked my junk e-mail and trash folder to make sure I hadn't missed it. Nope, it didn't arrive in my inbox. I had contacted Mr. Tauer and had explained my situation and was wondering if everything went through like it should. Mr. Tauer had e-mailed me back and said that he would take it up with his IT people and was sending me something special in the mail for my inconvenience. For me, it wasn't any kind of inconvenience, just a very minor annoyance. When my package of LADDM arrived, it was just the perfume itself but there was another package. Inside, there were 5 samples and a note. It was very sweet of Mr. Tauer to do that. Inside, were a few that I haven't tried yet and Lonesome Rider was one of them. Naturally, I had to try it.

First blast was the grapefruit. Normally, any kind of citrus bugs the shit out of me but the grapefruit is bright and almost effervescent. The leather comes into play about a minute or two later. The leather is not the plush leather of a worn handbag or Chanel's Cuir de Russie. I am strongly reminded of brand new shoe and a shoe store. At 10 minutes in, I'm not so sure if I'm liking this so much. I keep looking for that whopping dose of Tauerade that I'm so familiar with and not finding it, well, not a lot of it. The cistus does poke through along with some floral notes that I can't identify at this point that ties all of this together. The lasting power is about 8 or 9 hours on my skin with some projection and that's normal for Mr. Tauer's work for my skin except for the projection. I usually get a little more projection with the Tauer line. I think that this one just isn't for me and I am okay with that. I will keep sampling Mr. Tauer's work and keep buying it.

Family and Visiting

It's always the same song and dance that seems to happen everywhere. Out of town family members some for a visit. In January/February, I was pretty excited. Earlier this month, I was excited but now, not so much.

I have two Labs and my dogs shed. Tufts of hair everywhere, dirt from their paws are everywhere. My house has never been spotless and pretty cluttered. My house is still sanitary but my sister is the type that will be judging. She knows that the house is cluttered and I have dogs. I figure that I will have some deep cleaning to do before she and my nephews need to be picked up from the airport. Mind you, I'm not going overboard, the bathrooms will get a good cleaning as opposed to a surface clean, make sure that everything is vacuumed and mopped and I have something set up in the guest bed for sleeping. Somehow I must manage this before Tuesday between work and watching Call the Midwife on Sunday. I'm not amused with what needs to be done but I do have a game plan on how to tackle the cleaning.

Along with the cleaning is making sure the house is somewhat stocked with snacks. My nephews are in grade school and probably are growing out of that fruit snack phase and wondering on what to do for snacks. It's just a lot of confusion and I am going to wait and see with this stuff.

Amouage Jubilation XXV Review

I have slowly been wading through Amouage's men's offerings. I think that I just have Gold for men left to try.

At first whiff, I get the incense and a big slug of it. At a closer sniff, I get a little bit of orange that peeks out and a little bit of rose. The rose and orange peek out once in a while but they are not really in the forefront. I do get some patchouli in there that gives it some earthiness. Patchouli and I are definitely not the best of friends but the patchouli isn't annoying and it's smoothed out by the oud. I couldn't place what Jubilation XXV smelled like at first and then I knew. Jubilation XXV is mostly a dead ringer for Comme des Garcons Avignon. I swear, it's almost Avignon but a little more expensive smelling. Probably because Bertrand Duchaufour created Avignon and Jubilation XXV. Jubilation XXV lasts on my skin for about 6 hours and I wasn't thrilled about that. I expected better from Amouage and I'm used to 10 to 12 hours from the women's offerings.

I've been underwhelmed and disappointed by the men's offerings from Amouage. The men's versions are thin and nowhere near as impressive the the women's versions (especially the ones up to Honour). Jubilation XXV doesn't fit the bill and I am not amused.

Vintage Dioressence Review

It's time for a review her folks. I haven't done tons of exploring when it comes down to the house of Dior. For some reason, Dior hasn't gotten a much of my attention or held a lot of my interest to really explore for some reason. But a few days ago, I was really looking for something else to wear. I think that sometimes I get tired of looking at the same old bottles that are on my dresser. I know that there is a huge bag of decants that I haven't worn or reviewed but my eyes always seem to gravitate to my full bottles. So let's get onto Dioressence.

I will admit that the two vintage Diors that I have tried before Dioressence were Miss Dior and Diorling. But I did try the current versions before going the vintage route. I have not tried the current version of Dioressence so I really can't compare the current and the vintage. I also broke one of my rules with this one. I tested this at work. I don't test anything new while I am at work. What if it sucks? I might have access to running water but it's a public bathroom and I don't have a back up perfume with me. So no matter what happened, I had to ride it out because going without perfume isn't exactly an option.

Dioressence takes off with aldehydes and I do love aldehydes. The aldehydes are fairly fizzy and somewhat soapy. The aldehydes do play a very important roll and I will explain why in a moment. About 10 minutes in, I smell lemons. Not freshly cut or squeezed lemons, lemons are overripe to the point of rotting, along with the ambergris that lends the skank. I find the rotting lemons and ambergris to be a little off putting and strange. The aldehydes keep the rotting lemons and the skank from getting out of control and scaring people away. As the wearing goes on, the more I can discern that Dioressence is a chypre and I do love chypres and this chypre is a green one. The lasting power on this vintage EDT is about 7 hours long. On my dry skin, that's impressive. I'm going to keep an eye out for a vintage bottle and will keep a decant on hand because I do like this one a lot. It's not quite love yet but I think it will be soon.

Still Got Nothin'

I still don't want to try anything new and I especially don't want to blog about it now. What I think that I am trying to do is finish a bottle of something or try and use what I've already got. It's not exactly a bad thing to not be trying anything new or buying any more perfume right this second. I am somewhat being forced to enjoy what I already have. I have decided to limit myself to limiting when I can or will buy full bottles of anything. I'm having some pretty decent success with limiting the times of year that I do buy a full bottle. The limits are tax season, my birthday, and the Christmas season. I have the option of buying a perfume or not but in the past couple years, I've only gotten three bottles and I'm happy with that.

My latest obsession is nail polish. Now it seems like I have a million bottles of nail polish running around and some of those are multiple bottles of the same color. I am an OPI devotee and twice a year they release a collection. It's very rare that I love enough of a collection that I actually get the whole collection. But if I find a polish from a collection that I like I always end up getting 3 bottles of said color. OPI probably always takes the top two best sellers and decides which one goes in the permanent collection. I don't slavishly wait for the next seasonal collection to be announce. I make and effort to go and use what I have and then maybe go looking for what the latest collection is. So I do end up missing collections an I am okay with that.

Yapping

I do have a couple perfumes that I could be reviewing but I can't really form an opinion on them quite yet. I think that this whole warm up to spring like weather for a day or two and then back to really cold weather is getting to me. Winter usually gets to me about February. I'm sick of the cold, sick of how ugly it is outside when there is no snow on the ground. I want it to get warm and stay warm. I want to break out the short sleeves and later on, shorts.

Thus far, I haven't filed my taxes yet and I am debating when I should file them. I should file them in the next few days. I probably should have filed them by now but I am a procrastinator and I can't exactly wait a whole lot longer. I am coming up on when my Amazon Prime renews and my sister coming into town. I keep debating but I think that Thursday or Friday will be the day that I file. Knowing me, if I file too early, I have spent the refund before my sister gets here, file it too late, it would be the same situation. But with the Amazon Prime, I have been buying gift cards for Amazon to make sure that the money for the Prime renewal. I usually do Give the Gift of Prime and then I can use the gift cards.

I have shortened my fast list for my tax season full bottle. The ones that I was thinking of were Guerlain Liu, SDV, and Andy Tauer's Au Coeur du Desert. I knew I couldn't get all three and in January, I thought I could possibly get 2 but my sister and nephews are coming in and I don't know what we will be doing but I'd like to make sure that there is something in the account. My choice is Andy Tauer's Au Coeur du Desert. I kept dithering on a few others as well but I asked myself on which one would I actually wear the most and then the decision was made for me.

Guerlain Derby Reissue Review

Since I am so slowly working my way through my bag of those that haven't been worn or reviewed, it was time to get something reviewed. This time my grubby fingers landed on the Derby reissue. I have enjoyed a few of Guerlain's classic offerings and thought this was worth a shot.

This starts of with a peppery citrus note along with carnation. At first, I couldn't figure out where I smelled this before. I swear that I smelled that before. Was that the opening of Christalle? I would have to give Christalle another go to refresh my memory. But then I realize that it smells a whole lot like Givenchy III which I do like wearing from time to time. There is a moss note that comes into play after a while giving Derby a little bit of a Mitsouko feel. The leather that I smell, doesn't exactly suit the whole thing. It smells kind of poopy and just doesn't fit. The lasting power with Derby is a decent 6 hours. Derby keeps fairly close to skin but is not a skin scent. EDT's are usually sit pretty close to me because I have dry skin and I was amazed with the fact that I got 6 hours of wear before this faded into nothing.

Since I don't care for Derby, I won't be getting a bottle of this. Which in some ways, a relief.

Prowling E-Bay

On Thursday night, the microwave at my house finally gave up the ghost. The thing was dying a slow death for a couple months. It wasn't heating up food all the way and every time that you opened the door, the turn table thing would start turning and it would behave as though it was heating something up. It's funny how dependant you become on a microwave, until they die and you must get a new one. When you don't have one that means that you have no real way of quickly thawing something out, no way to heat up any kind of leftovers, no nothing. I don't have any safe plates to put in the oven to heat up leftovers and a frozen dinner takes forever in the oven. But yesterday, there was a new microwave in the house and now everyone is happy over the fact. But nobody wants to hear about a dead microwave.

I try not to make a huge habit of prowling E-bay. Even though great deals can be found on vintage perfume or the discontinued, it can get expensive when it becomes a habit. When I did make it a pretty regular habit, I spent more than I really should have and more bottles than I really need. But I did find a way around being not so regular on E-Bay. I limited myself to about 3 vintage perfumes and E-Bay e-mails me when people put up new bottles. Then I take a look to see how good those deals are. It's still a little tough not to go looking every couple days but it's working out. But sometimes I go looking for other stuff and do score. The Shiseido version of Feminite du Bois is one of those fabled perfumes that doesn't come up too often and when it does, it's uber expensive and this time I did luck out on a spray bottle that's mostly full. I am just hoping that it hasn't gone off since I enjoy the Serge Lutens version and I do have a small decant of the original.

My Collection and TV

It's the first spring like day we have had in Ohio and I'm excited. I can actually for at least one day wear a short sleeved shirt. This is the time of year where I get tired of winter. So very tired of the cold, getting dark so early, not seeing the sun until 8 in the morning. I'm mostly tired of wearing long sleeved shirts and hoodies. The best part for me is not having to choose as wisely in terms of perfume. I have to choose wisely because long sleeves seem to really retain perfume and I don't like perfumes fighting with each other. I don't want Mitsouko arguing with Epic for dominance.

Since we are top of spring it's time to start rearranging my perfume collection. My collection has never really been organized by season. They have more often been arranged by perfume house. Even though they might be somewhat arranged by house, perfumes still get lost in the shuffle. What I am probably going to do is bring the stuff I keep forgetting about up to the front and hopefully, I will start wearing them a whole lot more.

I really haven't been watching a whole lot of TV recently because there isn't a whole lot on that interests me. Since Downton Abbey, I have been watching Call the Midwife in it's place. I've been binge watching the previous seasons to refresh my memory and to really get excited about the new season. The PBS miniseries, Victoria is somewhat holding my interest but not really. The first season annoyed me a whole lot and I don't know why but I have enjoyed the second season. I'm a little bit of a shock with Sunday's episode with Drummond getting shot and Prince Albert being more of an ass than usual. I'm looking for suggestions on what to watch.

Comme des Garcons Series 3 Ouarzazate Review

It's has been a long winter thus far and I am feeling it. I just want to stay in bed and read or watch movies on my Kindle and not go anywhere. But alas, I can't. My elderly Lab isn't doing too good. She has always been a sturdy dog but in the past couple weeks, her age has caught up to her. She isn't too steady on her feet due to an inner ear issue and arthritis is causing some trouble on top of it. My family and I are giving her extra love and attention and her four legged buddy is giving her extra love too and she is milking it for all it's worth. I'm hoping that she will be OK for the next couple months so my sister can see her one more time.

I've fallen into a perfume rut for the millionth time of wearing the same few perfumes. Then I started to crave the Comme des Garcons incense line. I'd remembered that I hadn't tested one and had to go for it. Ouarzazate is the last on my list and  days, it's what I have been wearing on and off for the past few days. I have really enjoyed the series and kind of sad that there aren't more in this series.

Comme des Garcons isn't really known for flashy bottles or ad campaigns but I find the bottles to be utilitarian than anything else. But it's what's inside the bottle that is more interesting. I still have to look at the bottle because first impressions can be everything. But let's get to the perfume.

Ouarzazate starts out sharp and a little lemon like but there is no lemon note listed. I'm not quite sure what note is giving off that vibe. Then I notice the labdanum and vanilla off set that lemony note and soften the dominant note. The incense is huge in Ouarzazate but it seems rough and maybe a little crude. But with the labdanum, it becomes a little softer and more wearable. But with many EDT's I don't get much of a lasting power, only about 2 and a half hours at most. Quarzazate wears close to the skin. I can't see this one being added to my collection anytime soon.

It's Superbowl Sunday

It's Superbowl Sunday and I really don't care. I will be honest and flat out say that I hate football and most sports. So I'm sitting here, switching tabs. From blogging, watching a movie from my Amazon account and doing my nails.

Polishing my nails is something I always kind of enjoyed but hated the whole thing of waiting forever for them to dry. I've always had problems with the quick dry nail polishes and the quick dry drops haven't really worked for me. I could never quite justify those ultraviolet light than nail salons have. But I have found something that works for me. Ulta has a professional nail dry aerosol can and that works really well. Instead of waiting around for a half an hour between coats I am only waiting around for 2 or 3 minutes. That means that I can be done with my nails in under an hour. And I do like that idea because I can actually do my nails on a more regular basis and I hope that I can use up some of the nail polish that I actually have before I go and buy more. Nail polish is much cheaper than perfume but I would rather have the bottle of perfume.

The nail polish that I chose was OPI's Iceland collection. The polish was called Check Out the Old Geysirs. It's a light blue and doesn't do pictures from a smart phone to well. But I am liking it and it's a good thing that I got myself that 2nd bottle. Turn on the Northern Lights and This isn't Greenland are the next on my list for backup bottles. OPI doesn't really keep collections around too long and maybe one or two will make it to the permanent collection. It's probably a numbers game. So it's always a good idea to snap up a couple bottles that you love because in another 6 months, there is no telling if it will still be around for sale.

Eyeshadow and Things

After 3 years of not seeing my nephews and sister, I will be seeing them. My brother in law is in the Marines, so they move around a lot and California is kind of a ways away. Since Easter is on April Fools Day, my nephews are fairly young, I will be able to create Easter baskets. So now is the time where the Toys R Us credit card is quaking in it's boots and money will be saved to make sure that I can go out and do things.

Since I really haven't been buying a whole lot of perfume, I've been into make up, specifically eye shadow. There are many different types of eye shadow, brands and price points. I really don't do the drug store brands anymore and I can afford a little bit better than Clinique more often than not. But I do have my preferred brands that I use. I'm not huge on the Kat von D pallets any more, mainly because I'm not into shimmer and because even though I use a primer, the eye shadow seems to move to the creases of my eyes and migrates to under my eyes. But the colors are pretty good.

The two brands that I use the most are the Urban Decay Naked pallets or the Too Faced pallets. I mainly stick to the neutrals because I want to enhance my eyes not look like I joined the circus. I don't have a huge patience level to use dark colored eye shadow or other colors like blue, green, purple. The neutrals that are around my skin complexion are pretty forgiving to where the other colors are not so forgiving. Mess up just a little, it shows in a big way since I am so fair skinned.