It's Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and my area has pretty much gotten out of a snow storm. So things were pretty nuts at the grocery store for a few days. Yesterday, on my way to work, the roads were pretty horrible. Nothing but ice with a thin layer of snow on top and today wasn't a whole lot better. While the roads were bad, the grocery store was pretty busy.

So I am home, gifts are wrapped and I am just soaking the last few dishes before I can really put my feet up. After having lost electricity for a little over 24 hours, I do want to finish up the remaining dishes and have an easier time tonight and tomorrow morning. I am going to a relative's house for Christmas dinner, so all I have to do is make some mashed potatoes but I am not game for that right now.

I am pondering many things about perfume. What perfume should I wear tomorrow? Normally I do ponder this a few days before the holiday but I have someone that is in the hospital and with the storm and the other work related chaos, Christmas Day perfume wearing wasn't on my radar. Should I go with Theorema, like I did with Thanksgiving? Or should I go with  maybe Feminite du Bois? I have no idea on what I am really going to do. I'll figure it out tomorrow, I'm just going to chill right now and maybe read a book.
 

Boy Smells Hinoki Fantome Review

My final vacation of 2022 is over and now it's back to reality. I only managed to use 2 candles that week and only review one perfume. The only good thing that came out of that week was the fact that I managed to finish my Christmas shopping but now I'm waiting for the last few things to arrive. I'm hoping that I won't have one of those people that I either forgot about or popped up.

With what the weather people are talking about, I am expecting some wonky weather in the next week or two. So yes, I am happy that I've stocked up on candles. I have 2 more candles from Candle Day on the way. I was a little bummed when one of my candles came with the glass cracked. Since Bath and Body Works didn't have that particular candle in stock in their warehouse, I was issued a refund. I was kind of hoping that I would have the option of either a refund or if there was another candle that I would like. I don't have too many opportunities to go to an actual Bath and Body Works store and making a trip that I didn't need to make wasn't really an option. 

I actually managed to test something new last night and that something new was Boy Smells Hinoki Fantome. It was cheap enough when I nabbed a travel spray from Sephora's fall sale. The notes looked like something that would be a CdG Kyoto dupe. All I got was a poor imitation of Chanel's Sycomore or a half assed  CdG Kyoto. Let's just say that I was not amused. It was like Hinoki Fantome was either trying to be a dupe of both or just a dupe of one. Hinoki Fantome just seems like something that has been badly made. I will admit that you don't smell a perfume that is heavy on vetiver or woody notes. You don't smell too many incense dominant perfumes and this is no reason to just screw around and hope people like this one. This is a nope for me.

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 EDP Review

Off and on for a while, I've wanted  to get my hands on Baccarat Rouge 540. It was never a pressing thing for me to go and nab a sample. When I saw that Luckyscent had a Maison Francis Kurkdjian sample set that included Baccarat Rouge 540 in edp and extrait form, I jumped at the chance. I love sample sets. Sample sets allow me to try an entire line or most of a line. I always hope that there is at least one or two that I really like or love.

Baccarat Rouge 540 seems to have been a cult classic ever since it's been released in 2014. Everyone seems to have either raved about it or is raving about it, so my hopes were kind of high for this one.

I'm not so sure what exactly what I was expecting but I was hoping that one of two things were going to happen. Either the clouds were going to part and the angels were starting to sing or I would just fall in love. Well, it wasn't either one of those. I got something that smelled like perfumed dust that was maybe trying to go the Feminite du Bois route. I couldn't really pick out any one note but I was reminded of Feminite du Bois. But I did notice that this did smell like a more expensive smelling perfumed dust. For something that has more of an Amouage price tag, I did expect something that would be a little bit more impressive. Let's hope when I work my way through the sample set, I will find something that I enjoy but 540 in the edp form isn't for me.
 

Candle Day 2022 and Vacation

I did make it through the Bath and Body Works 2022 Candle Day sale. I think that this candle sale was probably set up much better. The price of the candles ($9.95) was awesome, I didn't have to wait in the online queue for too long and I managed to get most of what I wanted. Even though I had some Lavender and Linen in my shopping bag, they were sold out before I could get my hands on some. I was bummed about that but I am going to try some Leather and Brandy instead. I didn't load up on too many Winter candles because I have enough of those and I do need some lighter smelling candles that are geared for the winter weather. Now I am hoping that I will be able to snag some Lavender and Linen in the semi annual sale. Now I just have to wait until that pesky package ships.

For quite a while, I was worried about what price the candles were going to be for Candle Day. Last year, they were around $11 per candle and maybe a little less the year before that. Price always dictates how much of anything that I am going to buy. But for $9.95 per candle, I was able to get 12 candles. Could I have gone for the full 18? Yep, but I couldn't justify ordering that in a single sitting. I probably shouldn't have gotten 12 but after yesterday's 14 hour power outage, I think it was probably a good idea.

Today is the first day of my final vacation for the year of 2022. I have no plans for the week even though I have a little bit of cash until payday but I might see what kind of museums are around or any kind of low cost events that are going on. I am happy just to have a week that I don't have to be anywhere or events that I have to go to. I can just go at my own pace this week. Let's hope that I can motivate myself to do some actual perfume reviewing.
 

Thanksgiving is Now Over

Thanksgiving is now over and now we have entered the Christmas season. That means from now until a couple days before Christmas, my inbox will be filled with sales ads.

This year, the deals seemed to be decent but nothing was really exciting me. I did nab a couple foaming hand wash things from Bath and Body Works for 20% off but didn't bite on the buy 3 get 3 free because I am really waiting for Candle Day. I did find the Clinique Happy body wash for a song. There was a time where I could easily get a body wash that matched but I don't see that anymore. In the mid to late 90's, I could get a gift set that was a bottle of perfume and the matching lotion and the soap. When I find those types of gift sets, it's usually a full bottle, lotion and travel spray. The last gift set that I got that I had a body wash was CK Obsession and that was in the later 90's. I kind of wonder when that switch over came about. It doesn't look like too many perfume companies offer body washes anymore. Even Amouage doesn't even have a whole lot in their bath and body line up. I keep looking for the Lyric, Epic and Honour stuff and I am having a hell of a time trying to find that stuff. That means that Amouage might be redoing their whole line up. I hope that Amouage isn't discontinuing anything as well, especially Lyric. Lyric is pretty much my go to Amouage.

Thanksgiving Perfumes

Next week is Thanksgiving if one lives in the United States. It's the time leading up to holidays that I loathe because I work in a grocery store. Everyone is making orders for all kinds of things for Thanksgiving dinner.

On the upside, I am not hosting Thanksgiving dinner. Some relatives invited my family and we just have to produce some mashed potatoes and some cookies. But that leaves me in a little bit of a difficult spot. I don't know what kind of perfume to wear. Anything heavy hitting is a no go and I don't want to wear anything "strange". My short list is Kyoto, Theorema, no 5 or no 22. In some ways, I am leaning towards either no 5 or no 22 in extrait form. I'm thinking that it's going to have to be the quieter, the better. I am wondering if I should wear one of my Amouage extraits. The Amouage extraits are in dabber vials so there will be no spraying involved.

I am wondering about what kind of deals will be happening on Cyber Monday and Black Friday even though most of my Christmas shopping is done. I am mainly looking at things from Ulta and will have to sit on my hands with Bath and Body Works until Candle Day. I have time to order for my nephews and sister and do have to start looking for one last gift for my dad and a gift for my grandmother. It's just a hard thing to just wait and wonder if you did get a good bargain or will the price drop even lower.
 

Tauer Golestan and Sephora

 It's been a long time since I've blogged about anything relating to Andy Tauer. Last week, I had received an email saying that Andy Tauer has released a new perfume. I will admit that I did get pretty excited. So excited that I ordered a mini on Thursday. When I get my mini, I will probably give it a shot right when I get it.

I'm still trying to make an effort of slowing down the whole perfume buying thing. I am making nowhere near the purchases in terms of perfume like I used to. Shit, I haven't even tried Sundowner yet and I do have a dabber from Luckyscent. I'm still trying to lay off the candles too and might have to skip Candle Day in December with how things are looking. Inflation and not working as much have really taken a toll on the finances.

Since the Sephora sale is going to be winding down soon, I pretty much stuck to what I had already picked out. I think that my haul was pretty decent for with what I had to work with. Some Drunk Elepant soap and lotion, a Boy Smells Hinoki Fantome and some kind of face wash. I wasn't so enthused with the sale this time around. Thus far, I am not so interested in procuring anything more from Sephora for the rest of the year. Anything regarding make up will most likely be done at Ulta but I think even then, I won't be getting much. There is only so much make up and perfume you can buy before it kind of sucks. Ulta and Sephora mainly carry the latest and greatest perfumes and I have enough of Coco Mademoiselle and no 5 to last me quite a while.

That Was Strange

Chanel has gotten a little strange. For the past year, I have gotten a couple magazines from Chanel.When I came home from work yesterday, there was a little package from Chanel. It was strange since I haven't ordered anything from the Chanel website in over a year. I will admit that I was a little curious to what they sent me. Could it be perfume samples? I was sent some samples. Those samples were the 1957 perfume, a trial sized mascara and moisturizer. Honestly, I would have preferred carded samples of perfume but I'm not really going to complain about some samples though. I wonder if I was sent those samples to entice me to buy stuff from Chanel. Maybe in a couple months I will scrap together some cash for another bottle of the no 5 parfum and a bigger bottle of it. Or just say screw it and get a bottle of Amouage or Gris Charnel instead.

Right now, I am coming up on the Sephora holiday sale. The sale is already on for Rouge members but I am a VIB member and I have to wait until the 1st before I can take advantage of the sale. My cart is filled with some Drunk Elephant stuff, a nail polish and a travel spray. The travel spray and the nail polish might be replaced with something else but haven't decided quite yet. I am trying not to get too hog wild with this sale. I'm still more of an Ulta fan than a Sephora fan but I try and take advantage of sales when I am able too. But when November 1st comes, I will place the order and just be done with it.

 

Getting Older

I made it through this year's 2nd Prime Day event without spending a dime. Ever since the pandemic, Prime Day deals haven't been that great, so it's money saved. Even though Sephora is having their fall sale coming up, I am not so interested. The only sale that excites me at this point is Candle Day at Bath and Body Works but I do wonder what the price will be when that happens in December. I am hoping that it will be a good deal. I am also waiting for some stars to align to nab a bottle of Gris Charnel but haven't really decided to get a bottle of the extrait or the EDP.

I just recently had my 40th birthday. The whole number thing isn't bothering me but needing all those different types of tests do. I had to get my first mammogram today. The test itself wasn't too bad but now I am dealing with some soreness. I'm thinking that some ibuprofen and a good night's sleep will do me good. I do have to get a colonoscopy but I am going to hold off on that right now. I am not exactly game for what comes before the test itself.

My biggest gripes about getting older is the state of my skin. I've noticed that the lotions and creams don't seem to be working as well as they have in the past. During the summer, I used the Skyn Iceland cloud cream and the face wash and in the winter, I used the Clinique Moisture Surge. But those don't seem to be cutting it anymore, no moisturizer is anymore and my skin is starting to look like garbage. My skin has always been dry but this nonsense is ridiculous. And don't get me started on the GI stuff, I'm not a fan of the whole heartburn thing. Things that have never bothered me before are starting to bother me. What is it about turning 40 that makes your body turn against you?

You Know Those Promises

You know that you make certain promises with every intention of keeping but end up breaking those promises? I do that on a regular basis when it comes to candles.

Bath and Body Works seems to always have some kind of candle deal going on year round. I keep making vows that I won't bring home any candles but something always makes me acquire more. I've used up quite a few candles and have bought fewer candles this year. This year, I managed to use up quite a few Honeycrisp Apple ones and not add more Honeycrisp Apple to my collection.

At this point, Bath and Body Works is starting to roll out their winter stuff, I saw my favorite called Winter has been released. With a $30 gift card and a sale, I had to get 2 Winter. I'm waiting to see if they are going to release the Evergreen candle. Fresh Balsam can be nice and all but it's too potent.

In the past couple years, I have noticed something with the Bath and Body Works candles. When they would release seasonal offerings, they would have them in both 3 wick and single wick form and I really haven't seen that too often and I am seeing more and more seasonal offerings being listed as online exclusives. I do find that to be a little odd for some reason. When I do get a chance to go into a Bath and Body Works store, the staff will usually tell me what are the most popular seasonal candles are. At my local one they said that they have a hard time keeping the Honeycrisp Apple and Apple Weather on the shelves in the fall. Apple Weather is an online exclusive and Winter is too.

What I've also noticed is the packaging has changed from being just plain frosted glass to having some minimal decorations to having some serious decorations. For many years, I have enjoyed the plain frosted glass and the occasional minimal decorations on the glass but I do dislike all the flashy decorations on the candles. I've seen too many pictures on Twitter about the glass breaking because of the plastic decorations on the outside. I'm a huge fan of having minimal looking decorations and less chance of having a lit candle burning down my house.

I just wish that I could conjure up the ability to not bring home anymore candles.
 

Fall and Eau de Hongrie Review

Fall is definitely here in Ohio. Pumpkin spice is here (I despise anything pumpkin spice), the days are shorter, temps are lower and the grilling season is just about done. We might get one last blast of summer in October but I am not holding my breath for it.

Now since fall has pretty much arrived, that means with the cooler temperatures, the windows are now closed. That means that I am not burning candles two at a time. I now can only burn one at a time. I've thinned out quite a bit of my candle collection and when Candle Day arrives, a good chunk of my collection will be used up. Lets hope that I won't be entirely out of candles when that happens.

For the longest time, I held off on buying Ginestet Botryis and when I got around to wanting to buy a bottle, I found out that Botryis was discontinued years ago and I was bummed out. The closest thing that I had to Botryis was Viktoria Minya's Hedonist. Now that's changed to Eau de Hongrie.

I had gotten the Viktoria Minya sample set from Luckyscent earlier this year. I mainly wanted it because I couldn't find Eau de Hongrie on STC or TPC. And for the life of me, I can't quite remember what Hedonist Rose smells like either. So now I'm getting around to the Viktoria Minya sample set and I am test driving Eau de Hongrie.

Hongrie is more of a boozy type of honey but the booze isn't harsh, nor is it overpowering but definitely there. The honey is a dominant note too but not the sickly sweet type of honey. Sickly sweet perfume can be pretty gross and Hongrie gets close to the edge without going over to the edge. I do get flowers in the background but booze and honey are the main attractions to the whole thing. Hongrie is the one that smells the closest to Hedonist in terms of smell. Hedonist is Hongrie's big sister.

If you are mourning the loss of Botryis or like me, didn't get a bottle of it when you got the chance, Eau de Hongrie is more than acceptable replacement. I get a staying power of 6 or 7 hours and Hongrie is one of those that doesn't beat you over the head with anything. Hongrie is a smooth perfume. No harsh notes or angles.

I do believe that I would get a bottle, eventually. I am thinking that any kind of full bottle buying is going to have to wait until next year at least. But I wouldn't mind a bottle if it fell into my lap.
 

 

Best Laid Plans

Initially for my vacation, some rough plans were made for the art museum and going to the Mansfield State Reformatory museum but those plans haven't materialized.

For some reason, a bathroom pipe had burst and we have been dealing with that since Wednesday. It's been nothing but really loud dehumidifiers going round the clock since Wednesday. The kitchen isn't really usable and we are down a bathroom. We are hoping to have those things out of the house tomorrow. It's not just the kitchen that we can't use, it most of the house because of the noise. Some people have been checking every morning since Thursday to see if the dehumidifiers can be taken out and it's been a not quite there yet. Today was the day that the air conditioner was turned on to see if we can take even more humidity and have those dehumidifiers gone by tomorrow.

There is nothing like having to go through everything in your bathroom to see what could really be saved. I did lose some nail polish and a few eye shadow pallets. I'm not really upset about this because I do have enough eye shadow and nail polish with or without what I lost. This gave me the opportunity to really clean out and throw away stuff that was either too old to be used or something that I was never really going to be used. Now I am just looking at a bunch of stuff from my bathroom that's now in my bedroom. So if the dehumidifiers go tomorrow, I can  move some of that back into the bathroom. I'm just tired of not having this be in their place, not being able to watch a lot of things on television due to the noise.

On the candle front, I have finished 5 candles, had 2 that wouldn't stay lit and I have a 3 wick Apple Weather going right now. I've picked out 2 Midnight Snow candles picked out for the next ones to be used. I am still working on creating even more space and still seeing what kind of cash I can save for Candle Day.

Part of me still wants that full bottle of Gris Charnel for my birthday but even with Afterpay, it's not in the cards for me. The pandemic and inflation have made it impossible to justify a new bottle of perfume. Groceries and paying bills are a little more important and I do think that some of those travel sprays were a little excessive. Do I regret the travel spray purchases? A little bit and I am looking to make a job change so I can have some breathing room in the budget and eventually get that bottle of Gris Charnel. The saving grace to me right now that Christmas shopping is 95% done and I won't need to go out and get a whole lot when the time comes for Christmas shopping.

The good thing is that there might be an Ulta trip in store for me tomorrow. I have a birthday coupon and a gift card to use and I would rather just go to my local Ulta and actually pick it out. That gives me the chance to browse and not have to wait around for anything to get to my doorstep.

Queen Elizabeth II and Vacation

Thursday morning was the beginning of a post about a cosmetics cull and lipstick but as the day wore on, it wasn't going to happen. With Queen Elizabeth II passing away on Thursday, that post seemed to be a little too frivolous.

But couldn't help but think about all of the people on Twitter who decided to be idiots and be political about the queen dying. Folks, Queen Elizabeth was a figurehead, not a politician. The woman had no political power and no bearing on what laws were passed, if you are going to criticize the things that happened during her reign, look at the various governments she had. If you otherwise don't do that, you are just a fucking asshole. I shouldn't really be surprised at how many assholes there are in the world.

Right now, I am on my 3rd week of vacation this year. I have some rough plans but nothing set in stone. I don't have tons of cash but I do want to do some things. One of them is the art museum and the other is the Mansfield Reformatory but other than that, it's up in the air. I am happy to have the ability to wear any perfume that I want to wear without any kind of restrictions. On days that I have to work, I do have to be mindful about what I pick out in terms of perfume. I don't want something too heavy because I work in a bakery and it gets pretty hot there. Nor do I want to wear my favorites in case I have a hard day at work and why ruin that favorite with a bad association.

 Currently, I have 3 candles going right now and I am hoping that those will be finished by Tuesday. The other 3 that I have picked out, I hope to have finished by Saturday. If I finish more, that would be awesome. I am trying to scrap together some money to set aside for the Bath and Body Works Candle Day sale. Whatever I can save up is going to be great and whatever candles that I can use up before than would be awesome. It's funny that I am trying to finish up some candles only to get more. But with winter being on it's way and all, I still want to make sure that I do have a decent amount of candles. The Honeycrisp Apple and Apple Weather ones that I do have, my mother doesn't like and she says that they stink, so I must be a little more careful with those. I might have a decent supply of the Winter candles but I want to get more of those and maybe add some Evergreen candles.We shall see how that goes before Candle Day. And no, I don't plan on setting foot in a Bath and Body Works store on that day.

Talking About Lyric

It's been a while since I've talked about Amouage Lyric. I remember many years ago when I first smelled Lyric from a sample from Luckysent. I think that I might have bought either Epic or Dia but I am leaning more towards Epic. Then I fell head over heels for Lyric. Even in more financially secure times, it took me at least a couple years and burning through countless decants before I ordered a full bottle of Lyric. Then a a couple years later, a travel set arrived at my doorstep. My back up bottle of Lyric was bought a couple years ago with some extra cash.

Ever since the pandemic, I've been hunting for Lyric body products from discounters and having no such luck. Even the official Amouage website doesn't even have the Lyric bath and body stuff. At discounters, I could find all kinds of Amouage Lyric but not so much anymore.

A few days ago, Luckyscent sent me an email saying that they had some specials going on. Out of boredom, I decided to take a peek and my jaw dropped a little bit. Lyric is on sale on Luckyscent. It seems like if Luckyscent has some specials going on, it's either they want to get rid of some old stock or there are some perfumes about to be discontinued. I'm hoping that Lyric doesn't get discontinued because even with Afterpay, another bottle of Lyric isn't in the cards for me. Last year, the pandemic didn't hit me as hard as this year. I think with rampant inflation and the Ukraine invasion, things are not looking up for me in the world of money. But I always hope that things will turn around for me soon.
 

 

Gucci Guilty for Her Review

A while ago, I had purchased a rollerball of Gucci Guilty. I make every effort on not making blind buys even though it can work out. Rarely does it ever work out. This time, that blind buy didn't work out.

I thought that Guilty might be interesting and I was attracted to the lilac note. I smelled no lilac from start to finish. Truth be told, I couldn't pick out one single note except for some patchouli and something amber. Patchouli can be a little iffy on my and amber is a no go most of the time for me. It was a messy floral oriental on my skin. After reading some reviews, I fail to see anything sexy or sensual about this one. Guilty just smells like so many mainstream women's perfumes. If Guilty is sexy to you, I would really like to introduce you to Shalimar (current formulation and maybe vintage) and I would like to introduce you to vintage Bal a Versailles. Sexy is not and should not be a squeaky clean smell. It's a human smell not a soap and water smell.

Yes, I don't like this perfume and happy that it was only a rollerball and not a full bottle of perfume. I do think that I associate sexy and sensual with MKK and vintage Bal a Versailles along with Shalimar. Maybe I've been spoiled with niche perfumery. Niche perfume doesn't seem to follow the trends like mainstream does. For so long, I've been pretty bored with mainstream and getting a little bored with niche as well.
 

Coco Coromandel Parfum Review

 I thought that I would actually get around to reviewing the parfum version of Coromandel while I was on vacation at the beginning of the month. But I've been dealing with and still somewhat dealing with financials. The pandemic has done a serious number on some finances and it's tough dealing with some of the fall out. Yes, I would love to go out and get that bottle of Gris Charnel but I can't justify any frivolous spending for a long time. There will be too many things going on that need my time and cash.

While I was on that vacation of mine, it was in the mid 80's and pretty humid. So I only managed to use up 3 candles. If it wasn't so humid, I might have been able to use at least a couple more. But who really wants to hear about some candles? I also managed to catch up on some reading that I had been meaning to do.

Last year, I seemed to be adding perfume to my collection at a rapid rate and both the Coromandel EDP and parfum made it into my collection. But it wasn't until recently that I have gotten around to giving the parfum a whirl. There are a few reasons on why I don't really go for parfum versions of anything. The freaking cost for the amount of perfume, evaporation of dabbers are my two biggest ones.  

I've noticed that the parfum is a definite amber perfume with some citrus in the beginning. When I spray my decant of the EDT, I don't really notice the amber and the EDP, the amber is more pronounced. What really remains from start to finish on me is the patchouli. Patchouli and amber are two notes that can be a little iffy on me. Amber and I don't normally mix too well. Patchouli, it can depend on what it's with. The parfum is much deeper and richer that anything that I've smelled in the EDT and EDP. Lasting power is about 11 hours on my skin and that did surprise me though. Most Chanel parfums don't last quite as long, mostly 6 or 7 hours on my skin. After my 15ml bottle is all used up, I don't think that I will run out and replace it. It's great but the amber is a little too loud for me. I'll stick to the EDP.

Perfume Bottles

In my massive collection, I don't have too many dabber bottles. Most of the ones that I do have are either vintage BaV, minis or pure parfum bottles.

There is a pretty good reason on why I don't have too many of them. I've spilled a few of them. With the ones that I have spilled, I managed to save a fair bit of perfume but I don't really want to take too many chances at this point. 

Since last year, I've had Coromandel and no 5 in pure parfum form sitting on my dresser, untouched. Well, this past week, I decided to rectify that. I really wanted to try Coromandel in pure parfum form. Anyone who is familiar with Chanel, knows that every concentration smells a little different. But I had forgotten how much of a pain in the ass opening an extrait bottle of Chanel can be. Trying to get the string undone and then trying to get the stopper out without shattering or spilling the bottle. I had gotten Coromandel directly from Chanel and no 5 from Sephora.

I had an easier time opening no 5 than I did with Coromandel. What I am thinking is that since no 5 is a huge seller, there might not be such a huge need to really seal the bottle. Coromandel was damn near impossible, probably since Coromandel isn't as widely known to the general public. So who knows how long my bottle of Coromandel was sitting around before it got to me. I was incredibly paranoid of spilling my bottle of Coromandel; knowing that if I broke/spilled the bottle, I wouldn't be getting another bottle anytime soon.
 

Combining Decants

My decant collection seems to have stopped multiplying for the most part. Which is a good thing because I was running out of containers to put them in. For many years, I was buying decants like it was going out of style. Now since that funds are not what they used to be, the decants have stopped reproducing. Getting travel sprays have been on the up but I am not buying nowhere near as much perfume as I used to. There are perfumes that I would love to buy but my bank account says no and I do have enough perfume and I do need to give it a rest.

 A few days ago, I started to go through all of my decants. I don't completely know how I managed to get multiple decants of some of my perfumes but I did. Some multiples I do know why. The problem with the decants that I have is evaporation. While I was looking at all of the decants, I was looking on which ones that I could combine. Three decants of Diorella, combined, 2 decants of Tigress Musk, combined them too and so on. I didn't go mixing all whilly nilly here but it was enjoyable to go and get rid of some of those decants and create some space. It was just extra space that I am not going to be filling up anytime soon but it just felt good to create some space. While I was going through that stuff, I managed to finish off a decant of Amouage Memoir.

There is more good news, I have made some progress with my candles as well. I have used up a few candles and have sorted through my candles. The ones that I don't want have been weeded out and I am debating on either donating them or giving some for gifts. I haven't quite figured it out yet. As we are halfway through summer, Bath and Body Works is starting to roll out their fall stuff. Thus far, the only thing that is interesting to me is the Apple Weather candle since they haven't released their Honeycrisp Apple candle. I have enough of the Apple Weather and Honeycrisp Apple but I always want more of them. But if I purchase more candles, I will just undo whatever progress I have made.

BDK Gris Charnel EDP Review

 Buying perfume blind is usually a bad idea. What if the perfume suck? Most places that sell perfume won't accept opened perfume bottles, even if you have an allergic reaction. Then you are stuck with something that you think sucks and out of money. Buying a travel spray blind is still a bad idea, maybe not a huge bad idea but can still be a bad idea. But sometimes it really can work out. For me, a travel spray of Gris Charnel EDP did work out.

A few months ago, I had gotten an email from Luckyscent about travel sprays and I went to take a look. I don't often visit Luckyscent but once in a while it's worth taking a look and occasionally buying something. And I did get that Frapin 1270 travel spray and also the Gris Charnel EDP travel spray. I've heard people talking about Gris Charnel and never quite got around to seeking it out. Then when my package arrived, my travel spray languished a little while longer until Sunday.

Very rarely do the clouds part and the angels started singing in terms of perfume for me. The last one that I can recall was either Lyric woman of the much lamented Deneuve. Gris Charnel is one of those perfumes that the clouds did part and the angels started singing. 

At first, I thought it was coconut but I realized that was the fig. If you know anything about dried fruit like cherries, raisins, it had almost a mouth feel of the fleshy part of the dried fruit and not the skin. The last time I had any kind of mouth feel with a perfume was Andy Tauer's tragically discontinued URV. The fig remained prominent throughout the wearing and did mellow out some. I got some whiffs of cardamon and more whiffs of tonka. I do have a love hate with tonka. Tonka has the tendency to overwhelm whatever else is in the perfume. Tonka is a difficult note for me, it's a vanilla but not a vanilla. But the sandalwood and tonka lend a creaminess and a sweetness to Gris Charnel that doesn't go overboard. The lasting power on my skin is about 6 to 7 hours and I do wished that it lasted a little longer on skin.

Gris Charnel is definitely on my to buy list and it's been a long time since I've had a perfume that goes on that list. Especially after the first wearing. When I order a bottle for my birthday, I am going to have to order a sample of the extrait version to do a side to side comparison.

The Current State of Affairs

On Friday, the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. These conservative judges said that Roe v Wade was unconstitutional and the decision should be left up to each individual state. The problem with the decision going back to the individual states is that half of the United States will have either outright banned abortion or put severe restrictions in place. 

I'm not understanding how the Supreme Court can rule that Roe v Wade is unconstitutional but hold the case of Buck v Bell constitutional. Buck v Bell was a court case giving license to forcibly sterilize the disabled and people of color. Yes, if a judge decides that I am "feeble-minded" I can be sterilized without my consent. This is what disabled women, like me, fear. That kind of loss of autonomy. The autonomy to have an abortion if I needed/wanted one and the ability to have children if I chose to have them. 

This whole thing makes me wonder what next will be considered to be unconstitutional. My right to vote? My right to have a bank account or credit card in my name. It wasn't until the late 70's or early 80's that a woman could open a bank account, credit card or get a bank loan without a male relative's signature. It wasn't until 1993 that marital rape was a crime in all of the 50 states. 

Pleasures Body Lotion and Amouage Honour Bath and Body Stuff

 While I was on vacation a couple weeks ago, I kept meaning to post something but never seemed to come up with anything. If I did think of something, I forgot, then time really got away from me and now we are at the end of the month. And I don't really talk too much about perfumed bath stuff. I managed in the past couple weeks to start using Estee Lauder Pleasures body lotion and Amouage Honour soap and body butter.

I don't really get into bath soaps and lotions too much any more. In high school and when I went to college, I loved body washes and lotions. When I fell in love with something at Bath and Body Works, I had to have the matching body wash, lotion and mist. Back in the late 90's and early 00's, Bath and Body Works was cheap and cheap was my budget. 

Since my perfume collection has grown, my bath collection didn't. Most of my perfumes don't have bath and body lines, so regular soap and unscented lotion will have to do. Chanel, Clinique, Estee Lauder and Amouage are the only ones that have a full bath and body line. Truth be told, that suits me just fine. I don't really need tons of bath stuff since I am trying to use things up and get rid of things.

When I was testing the Pleasures body lotion, I wasn't expecting to be impressed with it. Until I was impressed with the body lotion. I was expecting it to be either not moisturizing enough or too heavy. I was also expecting it to be either overwhelming with perfume or bear no resemblance to Pleasures. It was the right amount of perfume and moisturizing enough without being too heavy. I have dry skin with really scaly elbows and my elbows need all the help they can get. When you spend almost sixty dollars on a lotion, my expectations are a little higher than what I would spend at a grocery store for some lotion.

It took me forever to finally open and use the Amouage Honour woman bath stuff but I finally did. I can never make up my mind on if I like or love Honour woman. Honour woman can be equal points of love and annoyance for me. Honour woman was the last Amouage that I really paid attention to. I didn't pay too much attention to Beloved. I think that was when Amouage was really starting to release tons of things at once and it got to be too much for me.

Amouage packaging has always been on the decadent side but Amouage is a house that knows that if someone is going to spend the money, the details of everything matter. When I opened the bar soap, it was the engravings on the soap that really wowed me, just that little detail amazed me. Yes, the little decorations will wash away but it is still awesome. The bar soap didn't really lather up too well but I have the same issue with my Epic bar soap. The body butter was mostly decadent but in terms of moisturizing properties, it wasn't moisturizing enough for me. It definitely smelled like Honour but I found the smell to be a little too dense.

What I have noticed is that it is harder and harder to find Amouage bath and body stuff. I am having a harder and harder time trying to find Epic, Lyric and Memoir in bath and body stuff. I think even Amouage might be having problems too getting  supplies in to make these things. I am running pretty low on Lyric and Memoir bath and body things. I'm hoping that I can start replenishing my stock soon enough.

Vacation Time

It's vacation time for me right now. It's a week of pretty much lounging around and not doing a ton of stuff this week. Mostly playing Xbox, maybe going to see the new Downton Abbey movie and might go to the old Mansfield Reformatory.

For a while I had this seasonal allergy that turned into a cold and now turned into post nasal drip. With that going on, I hadn't wanted to really wear perfume. Well, I really couldn't with my asthma kicking my ass. The only perfume that I could really tolerate was no 5 edt and at points, that was a bit of struggle. If I tried to wear perfume, any perfume, there was a very real chance of an asthma attack.

I haven't been been burning my candles and I was hoping for a while that I could start up again. There is someone in my household that started to develop hives and candle burning pretty much went out the window. Said person is still getting hives and I am thinking that my candles are not the problem. The reason why I really wanted to burn some candles is just to create more space in my room at this point.

There isn't a whole lot going on in the perfume front for me. There isn't a whole lot of room in the budget for perfume at this point and I've kind of went nuts in terms of perfume this quarter. The only thing perfume wise that I've gotten was decants of Epic 56 and Honour 43. I might regret that purchase in a way. My love for Epic Woman is well known and I do have a liking for Honour Woman. But we will see how that goes.  In ways, I kind of hope that I don't fall in love with either of them due to the cost of a full bottle isn't what I want to spend and no decant places really carry decants. I was lucky enough to nab decants of them at TPC but I haven't seen any decants in other places. Spending $500 on a bottle of perfume is a little rich for my blood. I mainly stick to the discounters for Amouge perfumes. If Amouage had Lyric as an exceptional extrait, I probably would be really screwed since I adore Lyric.

Let's Talk Afterpay

 Here is something a little different. It seems like layaway has grown up or at least changed a little bit. Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay is the new credit/layaway type of deal. The retail scene has changed over the past 30 years. Online shopping, recessions, credit card meltdowns and now the pandemic has changed things.

For a while, I kept seeing Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay being offered when I've been doing some online shopping. I've always been a little curious on how those things worked and what they were. After checking them out, I liked the concept of them. I'm working of paying off credit card debt and trying not to use credit cards so much. It's not an easy thing to do. But I was ready to give Afterpay a shot.

Outside of an initial down payment of whatever I am buying, I have 3 more payments to make every 2 weeks before whatever I bought is paid off. The first place that I tried out Afterpay was Ulta. They were running some sort of sale type of things and I decided to bite the bullet and just try it out. I figured that if I didn't like Afterpay, it wasn't a huge deal, the balance wasn't huge and it would be paid off fairly quick. Yeah, I had bought another bottle of Chanel no 5 and something else that I really needed. After I made my initial payment, what I ordered was shipped to me. Layaway used to be that you had to pay the entire balance off before you could get your items. Afterpay doesn't work like that, after the initial payment is made, said item is shipped. I did like that aspect and I also like the e-mail and text reminders of when the next payment is due.

Besides Ulta, FragranceNet and Luckyscent both offer Afterpay and I think that I really shouldn't have looked to see who else might offer Afterpay. I think that it would make things a little easier to spend way too much money but I am working on using Afterpay sparingly. I will admit when Christmas rolls around, having something like Afterpay as another form of payment might come in handy. Especially since Afterpay doesn't charge interest and only an $8 late fee if you forget, even with reminders. I haven't forgotten payments but I was curious in the off chance that I forgot or a big bill just popped up. Even though my limit is up to $600, I do have the chance to have that limit increased but in my case, that might not be the wisest thing to do but if I ignore that and not use Afterpay too much, I think that it won't be a huge problem.

The Same Stuff Over and Over Again

My mother cut her California trip short and is now home. So much for some of the projects that I had planned to do. Three of the candles that I had started, refused to stay lit and in the trash they went. I have already finished 2 candles yesterday and will finish 2 more today. I have no freaking idea on what candle I am going to start now but that's okay at this point.

I was none too happy when I found out that a trip was cut short. I had made a decision to redeem most of my Ulta rewards points and get a bottle of no e Eau Premiere and another bottle of no 5 edt. I figured that it would arrive before my parents came home and they wouldn't see any kind of packages and gripe about it, even though I redeemed my Ulta points for them.

But I noticed something. There are some perfumes that I buy over and over again. No 5 in many of it's concentrations, Mitsouko, vintage BaV, Amouage Lyric and Epic seem to be the ones that I have the most of. I will admit that after no 5, I haven't gotten the other ones listed in quite a while. But with vintage Mitsouko and BaV, I haven't been prowling E-Bay for them. Amouage is getting harder to find a discounters and my beloved Deneuve has gotten so stupidly expensive, especially for minis. So no 5 it is.

I do wish the no 19 was a little more widely available and if Ulta carried it, I'm sure I would have stocked up even more. But Ulta and even Sephora mostly focus on best sellers but that seems to be most department stores that focus on things they know that they can sell pretty easily and even with my healthy supply of no 19, I don't reach for it often enough. I really ought to start wearing some other stuff that I have.
 

Rien by Etat Libre d'0range

So my parents are leaving for their vacation tomorrow and they booked a really early flight out. After reminding my mother for the better part of 3 or 4 days, to start getting ready packing wise, she is now panicking. You've known about this trip for at least 2 weeks and now it's come down to the wire. All in all, I can't wait for them to leave. Most of the groceries that I need have been bought and I just need to get milk and some dog food. I am looking forward to having an empty house and then I can burn all the candles that I want and which ones that I want with nobody complaining. But let's get to doing a review since I haven't done one in quite a while.

A couple days ago, I decided to take Rien by Etate Libre d'Orange for a spin. Let's just say that this is not my thing. There is something about it that just doesn't agree with me. Some have pegged this as a chypre, some as an amber perfume. I do have a great liking to the point of love with chypres and a dislike for amber perfumes. My nose says that this is more of an amber. I get the rose, I smell the incense, tons of patchouli and an overload of amber. But one of the things that I am picking up on is some kind of coconut vibe and I have no idea where that is coming from. All that I can say is that it just doesn't work for me because it smells like an amber mess on my skin. I will admit that I just don't like this one and I am hoping that I can like one perfume from the Etat Libre d'Orange line and I'm hoping that I will like Jasmin Et Cigarette.
 

Travels

My littlest nephew has a birthday on May 1st and my parents are traveling to California to go celebrate. In spite of a larger tax refund, there were bills that I wanted to pay off and that cash is gone. I'm trying to be more of an adult and hold off on fun stuff and trying to get myself into some better financial shape. Yes, I want to travel but there are other things that take precedence.

Since my folks will be out of town, I am starting to get some of my shit together. I am making a rough draft of any kind of groceries that I might need. But I won't know more until closer to when my folks leave on what I need. I do have some plans to do some projects but nothing major or terribly important. It's mainly things that I want to get done without someone breathing down my neck.

Yes, I do plan to use up some of my candle collection and I am trying to figure out which ones I want to use. I plan on shooting for 8 or 9 candles to be used up. I am trying to make some kind of progress on culling my collection just because I want some kind of space. I am trying to keep with a resolution of using stuff up or just getting rid of it. 

It will be great to have some alone time. Time to burn whichever candles that I want, wear the perfumes I want and not have anyone complain about them. Now I just need to get through the next two weeks.
 

That Was Fast

 The Sephora sale has come and gone for me. First day of the sale, I did nab that bottle of Coco Mademoiselle Intense and the Dolce Gabbanna Light Blue Intense. Yesterday was just the original Chanel Chance.

I've never been a big fan of Light Blue or Dolce Gabbana. There is something about that whole line up that just annoys me. I don't know why I get so damned annoyed with Light Blue. You know what, I do know why I don't like Light Blue or anything done by Dolce Gabbana. Everyone seems to wear Light Blue or something else from Dolce Gabbana. The only reason I had gotten a bottle of the Light Blue Intense is because my mother adores the Dolce Gabbana crap and her birthday is in May, so why not just get a bottle and call it a day. I will probably pick up a couple things to add to her gift.

This seemed to be the first sale I participated in where almost everything was sold out and I was happy to nab what I wanted. In years past, by the time that the sale happened for me, just about everything was sold out or going really fast. I have to remember that we are coming out of a pandemic and people don't have the means to really participate in the sale or they lost their VIB or Rouge status. Don't get me wrong, a 10% off your order at Sephora is still pretty good but not as good as 15% or 20% off. But I do have to remember that people might not quite have the means like they used to. There doesn't seem to be any kind of line that released something that everybody was itching to get their hands on. Just like a few years ago, Urban Decay had released their Game of Thrones stuff and everything was sold out at Sephora. Managed to get one of the Game of Thrones lipsticks at Ulta. I wasn't looking to get a ton of it, just a lipstick.

So all that saving and all those gift cards went pretty quick. But there wasn't a whole lot that I truly wanted though. So it's going to be a long while before I can get anymore perfume that isn't a gift. I'm kind of relieved that it's over for me with this sale but it might be different when their fall sale comes around. I shall see what the finances look like for that sale.

Spring Time and Sephora

The Sephora spring sale has started for Rouge members but I do have to wait until Tuesday before I can start shopping the sale. I am excited about it but my excitement of the whole thing isn't what I thought it would be.

I think that it might be due to how many other Sephora sales that I have participated in. In year past, when the Rouge members and VIB members got just about everything that I was looking at getting. This is the first year that I am a VIB member and this is the year that I don't want a whole lot from the sale. How many are going to really buy an economy sized bottle of Coco Mademoiselle? Very few but I'm one of those idiots that will. 

There are a couple other things that I want but have to split what I want into 2 separate orders. I have always hated the fact that Sephora never combines gift cards. I have 4 gift cards and yet I can only use 2 per online order. Ulta will combine gift cards when asked and so will Bath and Body Works. I just never understood Sephora's rationale with that. When I asked about it, I was given the standard answer of they don't combine gift cards for online orders. I can do an order over the phone or I could make a purchase in store. Calling to place an order over the phone is a huge chore when you get disconnected a million times and I am at least an hour away from the closest Sephora. When one thing that you really want is only sold online and a phone order is a no go due to issues on Sephora's end, splitting what you want into 2 orders is what you have to do. But I am still excited that I can get the perfume I want for me and nab my mother's birthday gift.

I think that spring might actually be here and will decide to stick around. There is always that chance of a freak snow storm but I doubt that one will happen at this point. But I can start pulling out my short sleeved shirts and start wearing them. The weather is not warm enough to even start thinking of pulling out shorts.

Being an Adult Sucks

I have spent most of my adult life as an irresponsible adult. Spending cash that I didn't have and have tried over the past couple years to become more responsible but time and time again, I failed. But it seems to be the year that I am cracking down on some things.

This is the year when I get serious about getting rid (paying off) these credit cards and buying a whole lot less shit. With that tax refund, I've taken care of 3 credit cards with small balances and half of another. This is the year when my Sephora credit card is going to stay at zero, along with Old Navy, Ulta and Victoria's Secret. I am not so interested in keeping the tiers that I have with those companies and I'm not so interested in points/cashback any more. I just want things paid off.

This is the year that I want to get going on getting a savings account and start saving some money. Cutting back on gifts will help with that along with cutting back on makeup, perfume and candles. I say that when I am going to be dropping some cash at Sephora when the spring sale hits. I've already budgeted the money in December so I think that I am okay right now. But I do worry about going over my budget and I seriously don't want to do that.

Later on in the year, I will be turning 40 and it's an over due thing to get my shit together. Get it together for a better credit score, less driving myself crazy trying to put out small fires month to month and just to have a better budget. Maybe next year, I can actually take a vacation and actually go somewhere instead  of sitting at home wondering on what I can do that it cheap or free.
 

Etat Libre d'Orange Fat Electrician Review

That tax refund came through and I have done most of what I said I would do with it. It is a relief to have a few things taken care of so I set myself a little bit ahead.

After getting that Etat Libre d'Orange set from Luckyscent, I had just let all those samples sit around and do nothing. On days that I am at work, I wear the inoffensive things and when I am off work, I want the loud things or comforting things. Or the things that I just don't get to wear that often. But I just decided to get going, even if I started with just one of them. And I started out with Fat Electrician.

Vetiver is not something that I seek out in the world of perfume. It's just not on my radar. Fat Electrician starts out green and grassy and remains green and grassy for the duration of the wearing. Then I get something else after 15 minutes and it's something akin to a coconut smell. Maybe it's the vanilla with a little bit of a rubbery type of smell. With those two other things, I am not wholly sold on the perfume. What keeps me from being sold it that lasting power on my skin is about 3 hours.

With Fat Electrician, I am reminded of Chanel's Sycomore. I think that Sycomore is a better vetiver and Sycomore is a smoky vetiver in all of it's glory. If you want vetiver, go with Chanel.

Is it Spring Yet?

Sunny has taken to letting me sleep a little later. Sleeping in with a puppy is great but it doesn't change the fact that having a puppy that's only 3 months old is still exhausting. Too many late nights with super early mornings.

I think that spring is slowly coming but I really want spring to arrive right now. Cleveland is starting to get some warmer temperatures but it's either full of rain or windy but it's starting to warm up.  

With spring coming and all, that means that I can start pulling out my spring summer offerings. I don't have tons of them but I do have some. But naturally, Sunny's crate in my bedroom is blocking the area to were I keep most of my perfumes. I can move it but I am not so interested in rearranging stuff to even attempt to get them. So right now, I have to make due with just having Courtesan, no 19 and some Deneuve. I am okay with having just three out right now. I want to start really using that leaky bottle of Courtesan and I am still not happy with Worth for discontinuing Courtesan. I used to be able to get Courtesan for a reasonable price but I can rarely find it now. Deneuve is long discontinued and has gotten horribly expensive, even for minis and I'm probably not going to be wearing that tons but when you have a nice stock of it already, so I don't want to go hoarding it either.

Still waiting for my tax refund to arrive in my bank account so I can get ahead of some things. That is what I am really waiting for. Yeah, I am looking forward to the Sephora sale but I want to go and get ahead of some stuff. When I always file my taxes and get a refund, I get impatient with the IRS. The refund is money I actually earned and I am not too thrilled with the whole interest free loan thing. The IRS is pretty quick to demand payment if you owe but takes forever if you are owed some money. Now let's see what happens Monday to see if I can get a date on when I can get ahead of some stuff.

Sephora Spring Sale

Fat Tuesday has come and gone and now we are in the season of Lent. I've never practiced any kind of religion but know about some of this stuff due to working in a bakery. Every holiday has it's own special dessert of some kind of bread. But I am happy that Fat Tuesday is over and I do not have to look at a paczki for another year.

The great thing that came out of Fat Tuesday was a Sephora announcement. I am a VIB member, the spring sale starts on April 5th for me. Honestly, I can't wait for that sale to arrive. I have decided on that massive bottle of CM Intense and I am probably not going to get that bottle no no 5. I am still on the fence about a backup bottle of Shalimar though. But when that windfall comes, I will probably get a backup bottle. I don't want to go hog wild at this sale since I want to get ahead of somethings and I have that vet appointment with Sunny coming up. But we shall see how this goes.

Taxes and Stuff

Last weekend I meant to file my taxes but got sidetracked with other things. But I did manage to file them yesterday. I am hoping that I will get my refund relatively quickly. My plan is to pay off my Sephora and Ulta credit card bill and pay off the rest of another credit card. I just want to get ahead of some things.

The flies in my ointment is that since I have a new puppy, she needs more puppy shots and my dog food bills have gone up due to it. The other fly is the Sephora sale that is coming up sometime in April. I might have gift cards but I don't want to go hog wild.

The great debate is either get that massive bottle of Coco Mademoiselle Intense or another bottle of no 5 parfum. I am leaning towards the CM bottle because I already have tons of no 5 and I don't need more of no 5. I don't need anymore perfume but it's hard to pass up a sale. Rarely there is a sale when Chanel is included. Ulta does have perfume sales but never seems to include Chanel. So let's hope that Sephora hasn't changed the whole sale policy when it comes to Chanel. 

It's been a long assed time since I have bought any kind of perfume that was larger the 100ml. A couple times, I could have but didn't. Something else always seemed to demand my attention and funds. I needed shoes or I have something else that was somewhat expensive that needed to be replaced or fixed. At this point, I am hoping that things financially will be okay and no major disaster will happen that requires funds.

Sunny, the puppy, I think has gotten used to us and bonded with us. Because now she is a little terror. She wakes me up between 4 and 4:30 every morning wanting to go to the bathroom and eat. After those things are finished, she will not settle down. She wants to cuddle for a few minutes and then she wants to play. But there comes a certain point, shortly before 7 that she seems to get a little bored with me playing with her. She wants my other dog and father to come down so she can play with them. When that happens, she can make all the noise she wants. I would rather her not wake the household at 5 in the morning with her barking. At this point, I can't wait until she gets a little older and she will sleep a little longer and I won't be so sleep deprived.

 

Meet Sunny

Yesterday was a month since Jake has died. Parts of me are still looking for Jake. There are moments where I think that he is still alive and I start looking for him and remember that he has died. It's still tough not having Jake around. I wonder often enough if things will get any easier. I still have to say good night to Jake every night and wish that he was still here.

On Tuesday, it was supposed to be just looking at a Lab puppy but I wasn't aware of the fact that it wasn't just looking but taking one home. Yes, I have a new puppy and her name is Sunny. I know Sunny isn't a replacement for Jake but it does in some ways feel like a replacement. I am exhausted at this point. 

Tuesday night through Thursday night were pretty rough. Sunny has a crate in my bedroom and is in it at night. She is too little and I can be a sound sleeper so having her sleep on my bed just isn't possible right now. It was an hour of her whimpering and a little bit of howling before she slept and then up at 4:30 for a potty break and to eat. I get it because she is an itty bitty puppy and she is in a brand new place with all new people and a new dog buddy. Last night was a little easier since it was a couple minutes of whimpering but she settled down and fell asleep. Lack of sleep wasn't made any easier with my work schedule since I do work in the afternoons. I was lucky this morning when she wanted to eat and a potty break at a little after 5. When that was over, she seemed to be a little more ready to head back up stairs and take a nap. After getting up at 4:30 in the morning for the past 3 days and Sunny not wanting to go back to sleep, it was a blessing to have the ability to doze for at least an hour and a half afterwards. I was lucky last night because I was off work today and tomorrow. Maybe the next two days will be a little easier still. I think when she gets to be 5 months old, she will be a little more trust worthy and will be able to sleep on my bed. I do have technology in my room and I can't really trust her at night not to go chewing on wires when I am sleeping and she is supposed to be sleeping.

When I was setting up the dog crate when Sunny came home, I was having a talk with Jake. I was letting  him know that I miss him horribly, I cry at least once a week due to missing him and Sunny wasn't replacing him. How can she replace Jake? Jake was my buddy and I had a strong bond with Jake. I don't recall having such a strong bond with any other of the dogs that I have had.
 

Estee Lauder and Dogs

On Wednesday, we put in an application for a lab puppy to adopt. Found out on Saturday that we didn't get the puppy. The reason is that we didn't have a fenced in yard. We live in a rural area and there are tons of places where have a visible fenced yard. In a rural area, visible fenced yards are not the most feasible thing and invisible fenced yards are more of an option. Every rescue that we have tried thus far want fenced yards (no visible). What is also driving me batty as well is the amount of cash rescues want. Around $500 for a puppy, $400 for an adult and $200 for a senior. I don't ever recall rescue places wanting major money to adopt a dog and a massive application process. If people are willing to shell out at least $200 or more to adopt a dog, why such an application process? So my family and I are going to go the breeder route again. We would have loved to adopt a dog but all the hoops that need to be jumped through isn't for us.

I tried really hard to refrain from buying new bottles of perfume and did fail at it. I was poking around the internet to see if Estee Lauder had some bath stuff that went along with Pleasures. The only thing that I could find was a body lotion. I sprung for the body lotion and a 1.7 ounce bottle of Pleasures along with it. The Estee Lauder website gave me 15% for creating an account and I was sold. I'm not the type that really wants to pay full price if I don't need to. I might have gotten another 5 ounce bottle but apparently that size sells out quickly. 

I have always adored Pleasures for women. Pleasures for women was probably my first big perfume love. Yes, I wore Clinique Happy and Cucumber Melon but I loved Pleasures more. Back in the later  90's, when Pleasures came out, I was in high school and working a part time minimum wage job. I couldn't afford Pleasures on a regular basis. When I could afford a bottle, I went with the largest sized bottle that I could get and didn't wear it a lot. Most of the time, I wore either Bath and Body Works Cucumber Melon and Happy. Clinique Happy wasn't purchased as often as Cucumber Melon because a $5 an hour job didn't get you very far so I have to be cautious with my bottles of Pleasures and to a lesser degree of Happy.
 

Perfume Minis

 I am having a real hankering of going back to basics. Recently, I have been wearing tons of Estee Lauder Pleasures and Clinique Happy. Now I am starting to get a hankering for the original Vera Wang for her perfume. It's cheap enough on BeautyEncounter and Fragrancenet and I am flirting on if I should get a bottle but at this point, I am going to have to wait and see if I can finish a bottle or two of perfume before I go adding more shit. I am trying not to add anything more and it's not an easy thing to do. But I do wish that Sheer Veil wasn't discontinued and not a million Princess flankers.

Going back to basics in perfume isn't too bad. Maybe I don't want anything too demanding in terms of perfume. The pandemic has left me exhausted and with the stress related to grief, demanding perfumes are not what I want. I want perfumes that are a little more comforting and right now some of them are blasts from the pasts.

This is something that I really don't see very often anymore. There was a point in time where I would get myself perfume gift sets. I am talking probably late 90's early 2000's. I might not have had tons of cash then but when I would buy perfume, I would save every spare penny I could and get the gift set. I wanted the most bang for my buck. In those gift sets was a bottle of perfume and either the body lotion or soap but there would always be a little perfume mini in there. I always did enjoy the perfume minis. They were fun, cute and easily displayed. Problem with those is that most of the time is that they were dabbers and not sprays. So I couldn't really put them in my purse or book bag. At that time, travel sprays were not much of a thing. I would like to see minis make a comeback and preferably in spray form. Those 4ml spray minis were great because a regular travel sprayer can be a little too big and bulky. Sometimes just too much in general. Let's hope that the perfume gods will listen and bring back more perfume minis.

Made it Through

I made it through another snow storm and didn't lose electricity. I am happy about that. Yesterday was not the greatest day. The roads were a mess and I still had to go to work. Many places in my area were closed for the day but not where I worked. Funny thing is that I received a phone call from my manager stating that there were a bunch of call offs for my department and there wasn't enough work for me to do in my department. I had the choice of either taking the day off or going into work and working in another department. It's been many years since I had to work in a different department and I was not willing to deal with another departments drama so I took the day off. In all the years that I have worked for my current company, I don't ever recall getting a phone call like that. So this was just a random day off and I shall take it. I used the day to get on top of a couple things and try and set myself ahead of a couple things. My bank account can take the hit. I didn't realize that I had leftover vacation from last year until I looked at my last paycheck and might have a residual amount left.

Valentine's day is just around the corner and I am really started to be bombarded with emails about when the last day of shipping is or extra points per dollar in rewards. I am not looking for anymore perfume at the moment. Well, I'm always looking for new perfume but I am trying not to buy anymore perfume except for when Sephora has their spring sale in April. I am trying not to add much of anything to my collection but trying to use things up. It's the whole idea of companies trying to make you think that you have to buys gifts or just buy stuff for whatever holiday that has gotten pretty annoying. I am just trying not to buy as much in general this year and it's difficult to change the bad habit of buying things because it was a good deal. Or because I was bored, anxious or just had a little extra money. I am just trying to get myself in a little better financial state.

Slowly but surely, I am whittling down my candle collection. Even though it's slow going, every candle that I finish, it's a little more space that I have. I'm not adding candles or perfume at the moment, I just want less clutter at this point. By using things up or just throwing out what I don't use creates space.

With all of the cold weather and the back to back winter storms and the cold, I want spring to arrive. I really want to bust out the Estee Lauder Pleasures and Clinique Happy. I have worn both recently but they don't quite fit with winter. I had forgotten how much I love both of them. Pleasures is more of a spring perfume and Happy is more of a summer type of perfume. Truth be told, I was over the moon when Ulta had a special going for Estee Lauder products and I nabbed that 5 ounce bottle. I haven't seen the 5 ounce bottle on Ulta since early last year. It's still available on the Estee Lauder website but sells out often. I do wish that the body lotion was available at Ulta or just more available in general. I have been craving the EDP version of no 19 as well but to a lesser extent. I want sunny, warm days again. The days when I I can go outside without a coat on, wear short sleeves, the days were I can start breaking out the spring/summer candles. I have a couple candles that I am sick of looking at and I just want to use them to just get rid of them. There is no reason on why I need 10 lilac candles, no reason why I need that rosewater ivy or strawberry pound cake. I only have 1 of those two and why not just use them when spring comes and just be done with it.