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.