New Year's Resolutions

 It's New Year's Eve today and I got to thinking about some resolutions. I didn't decide to do the same old lose weight or quit smoking. I always fail at those, probably because I am not ready to do those things yet.

My first resolution is to limit myself to only buy 2 full bottles of perfume. The restriction is no back up bottles, it has to be something new. The two perfumes that I did pick out is the Gris Charnel extrait and the Viktoria Miny Eau de Hongrie bottles. The other part of that resolution is to use up what I can with full bottles and decants of what I have.

My second resolution is to seriously start using up the candles that I already have and make an effort to not buy more. Or at least buy as little as possible with the candles. I keep making that resolution and keep failing at it. I can never seem to keep that one. As soon as I start to make some serious progress, Bath and Body Works seems to either release old favorites or have a really good deal. And I can never refuse a good single wick candle sale. For right now, I am only allowing myself 2 candles every 6 months.

I guess the main part  of this whole post is just to make an effort to spend less money. I am thinking the whole idea of saving some cash is to maybe do a short trip somewhere. With one of my vacations, I would like to do a 3 day trip to Gettysburg and maybe around October, I can do a ghost hunt at the Mansfield Reformatory. I don't think that I will have to try all that hard to convince a friend of mine to go. It just comes down to if the cost would be reasonable for him. Well, tax season is right around the corner so it might be a whole lot doable then.

Does anyone else have some resolutions?

Christmas is Over

Christmas is finally over but the holiday season isn't quite New Year's. Since I work in retail, I can't exactly relax yet. I just have to make it one more week before everything calms down.

Christmas Eve and Christmas day had some drama in it. The skilled nursing place that my grandmother is at, isn't really doing what they really need to be doing. She has dementia and a busted leg that can't put any kind of weight on her leg. God above, I know it's the holidays, could someone really try to keep a better eye on her? To keep reminding her to call for help if she needs it and making sure that she isn't getting up on her own. Bringing a dish to Christmas dinner is always filled with drama. I wanted to just make the mashed potatoes with caramelized onions the night before but that led to when I make mashed potatoes, it's too lumpy. At the end of the day, Christmas was nice enough. But I am tired between work, wrapping presents, having to travel places.

I didn't get any perfume presents per se but got money towards it. Got a $15 Sephora gift card and had a $10 reward and turned that into the By Killian sample set. I have an Ulta gift card and there is a Clinique Happy sale, so I will nab that when I get a chance some time soon.This is pretty much been the closest that I have come to being gifted an actual bottle of perfume in years.

I have said that Clinique Happy doesn't have the longest shelf life when it comes to perfume. I have vintage bottles of Mitsouko that smell fabulous but for some reason Clinique Happy has a shelf life of about 5 years if you don't wear it to often. If Happy is your signature, you don't need to worry so much about shelf life.

It seems like the Bath and Body Works semi annual sale is pretty lackluster this year. I do remember last year's semi annual sale having more of a selection online. I narrowly missed out on nabbing more of the Sweet Whiskey candles but did manage to nab more Leather and Brandy single wicks. I was hoping for a little more selection for this sale. The good news is that the Pink Lavender  and Espresso candles are back in stock and what makes it really awesome is that they are in single wick form. But more candle buying has to wait until I use some more candles up and the next really good candle sale comes along.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Losing Shit and Christmas

 I knew that I shouldn't have worn that pendant to work instead of my normal one. Yesterday was my first day back at work today and some how, I lost the pendant but the chain didn't come loose or break. It was that little loop thing that the chain goes through. When I noticed that it was missing, I initially didn't panic. It wouldn't have been the first time that a pendant had fallen in my bra and this one had before. I work in a grocery store and this thing could be anywhere in the store. I couldn't exactly go back tracking looking for this thing. I hadn't worn the thing in forever and thought it would be fine. I got it at Colonial Williamsburg a few years ago. I will replace it in the spring next year. I am just kicking myself right now. I have lost earrings but never a pendant. Fun stuff is pretty much going to have to wait until after the new year, preferably after taxes are filed.

I pretty much accomplished nothing during my vacation. I finished my Christmas shopping that week and went to the art museum. The only things that I have to do is wrap my gifts and wait to see what I need to bring for Christmas dinner. I am hoping that nobody calls last minute and asks me to bring rolls. Last time that it happened, there was only one package to be found and that was a huge argument and I think that my family probably wised up to actually ordering things ahead of time or letting me know days ahead of time. With any luck, I am hoping for gift cards this Christmas season. I have some rollerballs that I have my eye on.

If Someone Handed You

All day, the fantasy of someone handing me their credit card and telling me to go on a shopping spree has been floating around my head. I have no clue on why that has been floating around but the fantasy is there.

If someone handed me their credit card for my birthday or Christmas and said to buy whatever I wanted but the catch would have to be is that I only have a half an hour to do it, Would I be able to it? I do believe that I would be able to it. Like quite a few perfume collector's, I have a list of what I would like full bottles of. The debate is the ones that I want the most. In this fantasy it's go big or go home.

I would probably kick it off with Epic 56 and the Epic woman extraits along with some Jubilation 25 and Lyric extraits. Since the Gris Charnel extrait is next year's full bottle purchase, I am leaving that one out. I would most likely get a bottle of Diaghilev and snap up one of those massive bottles of Chanel no 5 extrait bottles. Or maybe even a bottle of the Coco Mademoiselle extraits.Since I don't know anyone who would even do something like that, it's going to have to stay as it is. Nothing but a pipe dream but sometimes a pipe dream can be fun or pretty interesting.

My vacation is slowly coming to a close and outside of the art museum and celebrating my grandmother's 93rd birthday, I have pretty much done nothing. All the gifts that needed to be bought and shipped have been taken care of. I will probably be finishing up some odds and ends on Thursday or if I am off Sunday. I am hoping to finish things up fairly soon. I would just have to get something for my dogs and then call it a day.
 

Art Museum

I did actually manage to go up to the art museum today. There were a few exhibits that I actually got to see today. 

For some reason, I never could quite manage to see every exhibit. The main part of the art museum is free but if there is a special exhibit, you have to pay. I wasn't so interested in the current special exhibit, probably because I am not into the whole Impressionist art thing. I mostly wanted to see the Chinese collection and the Faberge collection. I can't believe out of all the times that I have been to the art museum, I walked past the Faberge collection. I think that it's in a little corner that's kind of out of the way. The notable Faberge egg that we have is the Imperial Red Cross egg. It might not be the most extravagant or flashy egg that was created but it's still impressive. The amount of skill that was needed to make it makes it impressive. Every time I go to the museum, the egg is never open to reveal the inside paintings. Right across the Faberge collection, was the armor. The armor always fascinated me when I was younger for some odd reason but I didn't spend so much time with the armor. U think that I was a little too hot and remembered that I had a pretty long trek to the car.

For the longest time, I had a hard time with which perfume to wear. I really wanted to wear Coromandel extrait but also wanted to wear Gris Charnel. I did have to think long and hard about that one. My mother loathes Coromandel and my dad isn't a huge fan of it. That left Gris Charnel for the art museum. Coromandel is pretty strong even in the tiniest dose. Since I am not going anywhere tomorrow and family will be at a party tomorrow, I will wear Coromandel. I will be home alone and I can enjoy every bit of it.

 

The Final Vacation

I am on my fourth and final vacation of 2023. I don't have any big plans for it. I might go to the art museum on Tuesday or maybe the zoo tomorrow. I haven't really decided yet. I just have some limited means until payday. Which is fine by me. This time of year, there really isn't a whole lot going on. The important thing is that I did get my vacation.

Every year, my place of employment has me pick out which weeks I would like to take for my vacations. That means that I am competing with many others for the same weeks. The official story for my last week is somehow, my last week wasn't entered into the scheduling system. I am not sure on how it got missed or what the real deal was but I am happy that I caught it before there was a big problem.

All I really did today was vacuum the house, laundry and put the house in order. When you have animals, the vacuuming never seems to end. There is always some kind of dust bunny that keeps showing up. I don't have any home projects that need to be done. I don't have any plans to go Christmas shopping any time this week. I would rather not fight the crowds and end up spending more cash than I need to. I just have to get two more gifts and then I am done.

What is getting me excited is getting to wear what perfumes I want to wear. I might even get moving on trying something new. What I really want to do is to really start using my candle collection. I am currently finishing of that Bath and Body Works Luminous candle and will be finishing it tonight. I don't find the scent to be luminous, more of a generic fruity like scent. I am thinking of either Winter or Tree Farm for my next candle. I don't really have a goal for how many candles to use this week. My goal for the rest of the year is make a concerted effort to not add more candles, especially since I just purchased candles during Candle Day.
 

Perfume Spillage and Shalimar

Once in a great while, I do have some very unfortunate perfume accidents. There were instances of spilling some of my perfumes. Cuir de Russie, vintage Bal a Versailles and a bottle of vintage Mitsouko fell victim to being spilled. I did manage to save most of the actual perfume but what was spilled was soaked up by my carpet. Eventually, by weekly vacuuming and the periodic steam clean, you can't smell that now. But there was an unfortunate accident of a broken decant. I was in my bathroom about to take a shower and my decant of Rose de Nuit got knocked over and shattered all over. There was no saving anything. Even with mopping the floor, my bathroom smells like a slutty rose. It was my only decant of Rose de Nuit and decants of it are a little pricey and a bell jar is out of my reach. I am hoping that a tax refund will get me a bottle. But that's a ways away and if something else doesn't grab my attention.

There seems to have been quite a few Shalimar flanker releases. It seems like it has been so rapid fire that I can't keep up with it. I try to kind of ignore the Shalimar flankers for a reason. When I first discovered Shalimar, the Ode a la Vanille flankers were limited editions and production on those had stopped. I spent way too much time trying to procure a bottle or two. The only Ode a la Vanille that I could find were the Mexique ones and if I did find the Madagascar, it was way out of my price range. I will be honest, I think that the Madagascar was the better of the two. The Madagascar seemed to be in more of the spirit of Shalimar.

I do have a decent amount of Shalimar. The edp version, vintage edt, vintage parfum and the Odes. With a bottle of my dresser, I have no idea on why I don't reach for Shalimar that often. It's gentle, plush but not too plush leather, the civet of ambergris lends a sensual element. But let's not forget the vanilla. It's not an edible smelling vanilla, nor does it smell like something a tween/teen or early twenty something would wear. I think that I am going to have to make a habit of wearing Shalimar more often, even though my mother says that Shalimar is dated. And this is a woman who's go to perfume is Light Blue or anything Dolche Gabbanna. So I will keep wearing Shalimar anyway.
 

Candle Day 2023 Recap

You know how in my last post that I would only get 4 candles at most? That didn't happen, I bought 6. I didn't stick with my tried and true candle scents. Well, the only one I stuck with was Vanilla Bean Noel. The rest was Paris Cafe, Pure Wonder, Champagne Toast and Sweet Whiskey. If I don't like any of the new candles, then it is no huge loss.

I didn't go to the brick and mortar Bath and Body Works. I wasn't willing to deal with other people at 6 in the morning on Friday or even today. I kept to the commitment of doing my candle shopping online. 

When I woke up at about 7 on Friday morning, I hopped online to order my candles. I knew that I was probably going to have to wait in a virtual line. The question with that how long was I going to have to wait. I only had to wait about 5 minutes. I was fully expecting to wait at least a half an hour to an hour. I was tempted to get more after I bought those 6. I really had to stop myself by the fact that I still have Christmas gifts that I still have to get and I still have a ton of candles already.

I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that the limit that anyone could get in a single transaction. The limit this year was 24. I remember the 2020 candle sale and what a fiasco that was. Where everything was sold out online and when I went to a brick and mortar store, all the holiday candles were gone. So many people, myself included, were livid. I don't know what it was with all the scalpers that year. The scalpers seemed to buy up most of the supply and then turn around and sell them for 3 times the original price. I know that 2020 made people a little crazy but that was just a crappy thing to do. It was the same thing with the Xbox x/s console. And the scalpers wonder why they get the hate they get. But the 2020 Candle Day was badly planned and executed. I think 2021 to this year, Bath and Body Works did plan and execute Candle Day in a better fashion.
 

So It Begins

The Bath and Body Works Candle Day email hit my inbox not too long ago. If you are a rewards member, you can start shopping the sale in person or online beginning tomorrow at 6 am. Yes, it starts for me at 6 am because I am one of those idiot rewards member. But I am not going to a brick and mortar store, I am doing this online.

This week's bills have been paid and I just bought this week's groceries. With those things out of the way, I created this week's budget for candles and whatever might come up during the week. After my gift card, I made a rule is that I can only spend no more than $15.

My budget is a little lower than last year's budget. Inflation has eaten away at any kind of discretionary spending, my hours at work have been reduced. But I work in retail and even with the holidays coming, any extra hours are really not going to come mt way. The only way I might get a little bit more is if someone stops me and asks to place an order, the I might get something extra. My candle collection is pretty large, so I can't exactly justify more than getting 4 more candles.

With a price tag of $9.95, two candles are going to be ones that I love and the other two will be ones that I have never tried before. The two that are my tried and true is Winter and Vanilla Bean Noel and the two are Sweet Whiskey and Pure Wonder. Bath and Body Works does release some candles just in time for Candle Day but I am not interested in the ones that they are releasing. I do have a couple back up ideas for other scents, just in case the ones that I want are sold out. But I shall see how this one goes.

What is a little different from last year, is that this year, the sale begins at 6 am and not online at 8 pm. In one way, this might work out a little better. I work 2nd shift and I don't exactly the time when I get off work to wait in a virtual line. I can wake up a little earlier than normal and order my candles.

Sigh...Cyber Monday

 It's Cyber Monday and it's almost over. Nothing really excited me on Black Friday. The only "deal" that I took advantage of was The Perfumed Court sale but it was a small percentage off and I did get 2 dabbers. I don't know if Covid pretty much killed Black Friday or what but it seems like this year's Black Friday was really lackluster. I didn't go out shopping on Black Friday, I went to work instead.

I pretty much swore to myself that I would wait until Bath and Body Works' Candle Day sale. That plan failed and I used one of my gift cards that was earmarked for Candle Day. I used that to get two single wick candles for gifts. That will probably mean only 2 candles for Candle Day and I am okay with that. With the amount of candles that I already have, I really don't need any more candles, let alone get another 2.

The only other Cyber Monday ad that I was pretty excited about was that Luckyscent email. But it's the same old song and dance with my bank account. Afterpay is still on time out until after the new year. Luckyscent doesn't seem to send out too many emails about sales. When I do see a sale email, it's either for perfumes that I am none to interested in getting or the finances are not working out at the moment. Most of my funds are earmarked for the upcoming holidays or for the boring things like, I don't know, bills. Perfumes isn't the cheapest hobby.

That Time of Year...Again

Here in the US, we are coming up on Thanksgiving. And with Thanksgiving comes Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the general holiday shopping season. I would say that about 95% of my holiday shopping is done. So I have very little to do for holiday shopping. I mainly have to finish up 1 friend, my father and start with my nephews. I have some ideas but need to hold off for the next week and then start taking care of those things.

I am not so interested in Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals. What I am truly waiting for is the Bath and Body Works Candle Day sale. I don't think that I will get more than 2 or 3. My candle collection is sitting at almost 70 and I don't need more but I do like to stock up on seasonal favorites. If I am game, I might check out the Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals from Bath and Body Works. Whatever shopping I might do, I am going to be doing it from the comfort of my couch. What I am going to be doing is when I get paid next is get a Bath and Body Works gift card to really make sure that I have some cash set aside for Candle Day. I am hoping that when Candle Day happens, I do not go hog wild with candles. Last year, I pretty much did because the price was right. Last year, those candles were only $10 a piece and there is no word on what the price will be. Usually, customers will not know the price until the day before or the day of the sale.

Ever since I did finish that bottle of Chanel no 5, I have pretty much taken a break from wearing no 5. I'm not fully sure on why I've taken a break from it. I do have a bottle of the edp and a bottle of the pure parfum out, I just don't want to wear it so much. I've worn the Eau Premiere version once or twice and wearing Eau Premiere today. 

I do have a perfume wish list going on. What I keep hoping for the a bottle of the Gris Charnel extrait and a bottle of either the extrait bottle of Lyric or Epic. With having over 100 bottles of perfume, people have said that I have enough perfume and there is no way that they will pay that much for a bottle of perfume. With the 3 that I have listed, by doing the math, the price per ml is much cheaper than a bottle of any of the Chanel extraits. I know that eventually, I will get that bottle of Gris Charnel extrait. I just have to get through the holidays with my bank account being alright.
 

More Amouage Exceptional Extraits

 Yesterday, I received an email from Amouage with news of some Exceptional Extraits being released. In some ways, I was hoping that it wasn't Memoir or Lyric. Reason being is that I love Memoir and Lyric is probably my favorite from Amouage. The Exceptional Extraits are things that I really can't afford but this line up is Amouage on steroids. By looking at the pictures of the email, I didn't really think that they would were not releasing Lyric or Memoir yet. The bottle colors didn't match the pictures. If an unexpected $500 to $600 were to drop into my lap, I would still get Epic 53. I was thinking that it was going to be either the women's version of either Jubilation or maybe Dia.

I was partially right and it was the women's version of Dia, called Dia 40. The men's offering was Jubilation 40. In some ways, I was hoping that it would be the women's Jubilation. It took me a long time to understand Jubilation 25 and even longer to fall in love with Jubilation.

I don't think that Amouage has really run out of ideas but I do think that the people at Amouage are trying to garner some more interest. Most of the common folk, like me, are probably not what Amouage has in mind. Us common people, who do not have tons of discretionary spending, might get one bottle a decade. Every business wants to make money but most people are not into perfume and to spend $300 and up on a bottle of perfume doesn't cross the mind of most people. Amouage can set the prices to whatever they want, as their right.

But I still want to get a sample of Dia 40 to try out. Just like I want to get that sample set of the Exceptional Extraits. Maybe next year, after I recovered from Christmas.

Green Perfumes for Fall and Winter

I do not have a whole lot in terms of what is called "green" in perfume. Green can be floral or could be like cut grass or leaves or a few other things in terms of perfume. But there isn't much of a presence of green in perfume.

The greens that I do have fall into two camps. It's either geared for spring and summer or geared more for fall and winter. The long lamented Deneuve in either edt or extrait form is more of the spring/summer type of thing. Chanel no 19 is in the same category. Spring is where the days are getting longer and warmer and full of promise. The days of wearing short sleeves and shorts are either in full swing or just beginning.

Givenchy III and the queen, Mitsouko fall into the fall/winter camp. Where daylight is in short supply and it's either pretty cool out or outright cold. The large decant if the Givenchy III just doesn't give the whole spring/summer vibe when I wear it. Givenchy III gives off more of the late fall/early winter type of vibe. Where most of the leaves have fallen from the trees, it's mostly rainy outside and I would rather just stay indoors. I still wouldn't associate Givenchy III with any kind of fall activity or food. I can associate many of Andy Tauer offerings with state fairs or clam bakes.

Now we get to the queen, Mitsouko. When I do wear Mitsouko, I usually wear the vintage edt or the current edp. I cannot get the current edt to last anymore than an hour or two on skin or clothes, so the current edp it is. I am not spending major amounts of money on something that lasts only an hour or two on skin. The reason that  I have so much of the vintage stuff is the oakmoss. The vintage edt has some staying power that rivals the current edp. I remember someone saying that Mitsouko is like a Tiffany lamp. The light of a Tiffany lamp is muted and gives a soft glow and Mitsouko does the same thing in terms of perfume. 

The reason that I'm really not going to mention Diaghilev is that I only have two dabber samples. The other reason is that the sheer price point for a 100ml is either a full months rent or mortgage payment for a lot of people. Unless you are swimming in fun money, I don't think anyone would really have a bottle. Even with Afterpay, a payment would be most of one of my paychecks.
 

I Finally Managed

When I posted about how committed I was to finishing that bottle of Chanel no 5 edt, I wasn't so sure if I was going to be able to do it. My perfume collection is so large and I don't often wear the same perfume more that two days in a row. But I knew that I was going to struggle with this, no matter how committed I was to finishing a bottle.

It was a little bit of a struggle yesterday and this morning. Yes, I was struggling over the 3 sprays left of one freaking bottle. I kept telling myself that there was just a smidge left and I could get through this. I am not really looking to procure anymore full bottles of perfume right now. I don't really have the means and I just don't have the drive right now to get more.

What I am trying to do is stock up on basic stuff right now. Body wash, toilet paper and other basic things. I really need to get that stuff all taken care of. With winter coming, I would rather start stockpiling the basic stuff. I don't want to get caught in a snow storm trying to get milk or toilet paper because I didn't bother to go shopping to get said items that I've needed to get for the past week. The Farmer's Almanac is predicting a colder, snowy winter in my neck of the woods and if I have already stockpiled on some basics, I don't have to go out.

I've gotten back into the habit of having lit candles and trying to use some of them up. I will admit to the fact that Bath and Body Works did have some really good candle deals recently. And I have noticed that they have really started to release their winter/Christmas stuff. The candles that I really want to stock up on are the Winter, Tree Farm and Frozen Lake candles. What's great right now is that Bath and Body Works doesn't seem to be ignoring their single wick candle line up. In years past, they seemed to just focus on the 3 wick candles and pretty much ignore the single wicks. I am planning on partaking in the single wick candle sale that they have going on right now. I don't plan on getting a whole lot and I am probably only get 2 or 3 candles for Candle Day. Let's hope by Candle Day that I have made a sizeable dent in my collection.
 

It Shouldn't Be This Hard

 For a long time, I have said that I was actually going to finish that bottle of Chanel no 5 edt. I keep saying it and it never seems to happen. I have no real idea on why I         can't just finish the damn bottle and be done with it. There is only two more wearings in the bottle so I think that by Wednesday, I should have the bottle finished.

Let's think about it, I have more Chanel no 5 in various concentrations than I know what to do with. So there is no freaking reason on why I should be hoarding this stuff. Especially since no 5 hasn't been discontinued and I don't think that no 5 will be discontinued in the near future. I don't think that it has been reformulated but reformulation is always a threat when it comes to perfume, especially the longer that a perfume has been in the market. Chanel no 5 in various concentrations is pretty easy to find.

Granted Chanel no 5 might not be the cheapest perfume out there and I have spent far more on other bottles of perfume. But for probably most people, the price of a Chanel perfume is the most they can spend on any kind of perfume. I do wish the the extrait version of Chanel no 5 was a little more affordable but I know Chanel can set their prices on whatever they sell. The extrait is the one that I have the least amount of and that is the only formulation that I kind of do hoard due to the expense. Eventually, I will get another bottle of extrait. At this point, I think that might be when Sephora has their spring sale sometime in March or April. And that is when I take Afterpay out of time out.

For me, Afterpay was an awesome idea when my limit was at $600. Since I am at a current limit of $1,400 it's not so awesome for me. It's too easy for me to get into the habit of just buying things since I make payments every 2 weeks. It's just all of those little purchases that seem to get to me. With those little purchases, I can find myself making 6 or 7 payments in the same week when I really don't pay attention. So my account is frozen until my payment plan is complete. I still do think that the BNPL concept is pretty cool and possibly a better option than credit cards. I think that a bottle of Gris Charnel extrait and no 5 extrait are still in that cards but I am going to have to wait until I get Afterpay all squared away and move out of the holiday season.

More Seasonal Changes

October is here and we are pretty much half way through fall in many ways. It just feels like we are half way through fall when retailers start to bring out their winter stuff.

Bath and Body Works is starting to roll out their winter candles and body stuff. And you know what that means? That means that Candle Day will be here before I know it. I did break down and bought a Winter candle, which is my favorite of the winter line up. I keep hoping that they don't forget their single wick candles and I keep reminding them about them. I want Evergreen and Winter in single wick form. I just find that the single wicks are more of my vibe than the 3 wicks. The only time that the 3 wicks are great is when there is a snow storm and the electricity goes out. Then the 3 wicks give out more light and some heat. I might have a wood burning stove but all that heat doesn't always get to my room. So I need all the help I can get when that happens. At this point, I hope that we don't get too many winter storms and we don't lose electricity for days on end when that happens.

Another way I know that winter is fast approaching is when Sephora announces their fall sale days. I got the email this morning for dates and I have to wait until the 27th of this month or something like that. It looks like I am either going to get a couple lipsticks or a travel spray of Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille. It's amazing on how the change from last year to this year when Sephora has had their spring and fall sales. I went crazy last year and had to give this year's spring sale a pass due to financial constraints. I might not get to buy a lot of what I want and I probably won't be able to save my VIB status at Sephora but I am okay with that. I can always build that back up next year, so it's not a huge deal for me, it's the Ulta diamond status that I more of what I want to hang onto. I only really shop at Sephora when Ulta doesn't carry a certain product or brand that Sephora does.

But with both Candle Day and the Sephora fall sale, everything is dictated on how my bills fall. I don't need any more frivolous stuff but I want more frivolous stuff. I might even decide on giving Candle Day a pass, depending on how much the candles are and what happens with the single wick line up.
 

Fall Has Arrived

According to the calendar,summer is over and now it is fall in the Northern Hemisphere. That means that I have to start rotating out some of my summer stuff and adding some of my fall stuff. With cooler temps, the days getting shorter and leaves changing colors, summer friendly perfumes don't cut it. But it's not cold enough to pull out my winter perfumes. 

I want things that are a little more substantial but not too substantial. I am looking for some kind of transition between seasons. I don't have a whole lot in terms of transitional perfumes and I am not seeking more of them. My collection is large enough as it is. Well, I'm not really seeking out a whole lot in terms of perfume right now. I'm still trying to see if I can actually finish a full bottle or two before year's end.

I find that a good many Tauer offerings are great for fall. Au Couer du Desert and L'Air du Desert do come to mind for fall, along with Lonestar Memories. I find that Shalimar and Memoir are great for the fall as well. The original Chanel Coco is probably going to be pulled out of storage a little later. I find the original Coco more of a later fall, early winter type of perfume.

I've just pulled out my massive bottle of Cuir de Russie. After years of not really wearing too much of it, it's time that I started wearing it a little more. When I first fell down the rabbit hole, Chanel's Cuir de Russie was my first purchase. At that time, there wasn't a huge Les Exclusifs line and the bottles only came in a 200ml bottle. When the Les Exclusifs line was only in EDT form and it was $200 for 200ml. Looking at the whole line again, I am amazed about how expensive perfume has gotten in the past 10-15 years. I'm just amazed about how many big perfume names now have an exclusive line and some of the prices of those things. But while I am at it, I should think about pulling out that bottle of Sycomore and start wearing that as well.
 

Vacation and Candles

My cold has cleared up but I am still dealing with all of the nasal swelling and post nasal drip. I found myself in the ER last night after having a hard time with my asthma. It took a grand total of 4 and a half hours and a set of x-rays to determine that I don't have pneumonia or bronchitis and my cold has cleared up. It's just some swelling that hasn't resolved and now I am on steroids to make that swelling go down.

Even though I have been sick, I still have been wearing perfume. I might be only wearing perfume to bed and bed only, I am still wearing it. It's whatever is on the light side and whatever can be dabbed on. So with the steroids, I think that I can probably start wearing some stronger things but I don't exactly want to really push it though.

But I am still washing my hands a million times a day and quickly depleting that foaming hand wash stash. I guess all of the Bath and Body Works hand soap deal did pay off and now we have a little more room. So one collection is vanishing but the other collection isn't. And that is my candle collection.

Every vacation I set some kind of goal to use some candles and I don't always get to meet that goal. Since I have been sick, I haven't even touched my candle collection. I am thinking that Thursday I might be able to get going again on using my candles. There is a Lavender Cedarwood candle that I would like to finish off. The only good thing is that even though I am not using up my candles, I am not adding more to my collection right now. Let's hope that I won't be adding anymore candles to my collection until Black Thursday or when Candle Day comes around again.
 

Perfume and Being Sick

 Somehow, I got some kind of summer crud that is going around work. I've had this garbage since Friday and I sick and tired of not being able to sleep due to all of the coughing. It's got to be all of the post nasal drip. No matter how many nedulizer treatments, blowing my nose or coughing up crap I do, I still end up coughing the night away. It's the wheeze when I am not coughing that really annoys me. I also am doing the cough suppressant stuff and sleeping with two pillows to no avail.

Even though I am getting my sense of smell back, I still don't really want to wear perfume. Most of the time, the only perfume that I want to wear and can wear is Chanel no 5 edt but I don't even want to wear that. My asthma doesn't seem to want to behave to well so I shouldn't even attempt any kind of perfume. I have already taken a couple days off from work that I probably shouldn't have but I don't really want to end up in the ER due to my stupid asthma.

With my birthday coming up in a few days, I'm really holding off on another full bottle of perfume. I put a freeze on Afterpay and is going to remain that way until it's paid off. I am probably get a few decants from STC or TPC. I haven't made decisions yet, I'm just trying to kick this whole cold bushiness.

Dior Diorling Vintage Extrait Review

Dior is a perfume house that I haven't spent a whole lot of time exploring. There are so many houses and perfumes out there and I can't get to them all, so there are going to be tons that fall through the cracks.

For a long time, I was focused on the original Miss Dior. The other Dior offerings didn't do it for me. Then came vintage Diorling. I don't know how I came about my first sample of vintage Diorling but I fell in love with Diorling. At that point, I was really falling in love with the classic chypre category.

The vintage Diorling extrait has a huge cut green pepper note that I have never noticed before when I tried the most current formulation or the vintage EDT. I have noticed that the leather was more of a butch leather and not the plush leather that I am used to smelling in Cuir de Russie. As much as I do love Diorling, she can be the type to wear me.

At the end of the day, Diorling is a difficult perfume to wear and not something that I wear often. I am still kicking myself by not getting a bottle of the current stuff when I had the chance since it's not available in the US anymore. I figure that if Dior can release all of these Miss Dior and J'Adore flankers, they can keep Diorling in production. It seems they have kept all of the Dior classics except Diorling.
 

Still Going Through Old Favorites

I am still finding some old favorite perfumes. So far, I have been wearing the crap out of Lyric and no 5. I am so close to being able to finish a bottle of no 5 in EDT form and I am fairly excited about that. It's been so many years since I have been able to finish a full bottle of anything. The last time I was able to finish a bottle of anything was either Estee Lauder Pleasures or Clinique Happy and that was probably in my very early 20's. I have boatloads of Chanel no 5 and don't really need to add any more to my collection.

Back when I first fell down the rabbit hole, I discovered Mitsouko. I had spent a lot of time and money procuring the current formulation and all kinds of vintage and amassed a fairly big collection of Mitsouko. When I first applied Mitsouko, I immediately loved it and understood her. I still have that teardrop bottle with the dolphin label that I can't get open for the life of me. So now I think that I am going to be wearing Mitsouko tons more.

For some reason, I have gotten more compliments on Mitsouko than any other perfume in my collection. Maybe because Mitsouko is so unusual in terms of a perfume. Most perfumes now seem to be either the fruity floral, aquatic or the your skin but better thing. I figure since Mitsouko has been around since 1919, there must be something about her that keeps her in production. I hope that she stays in production for many more years to come.
 

The Dry Down Now Sucks

Did you ever have one of those perfumes that you have always loved but now there is something about it that bothers you? For me, Chanel no 19 is that one.

I discovered Chanel no 19 early in the days of when I went down the rabbit hole. It never mattered the concentration, I had to have every concentration and I do have every concentration. But my favorite concentration has always been the EDP. For many years, I have worn it with abandon and haven't worn it a whole lot in the past year for some reason.

In the EDP, I have always loved the sharp, very green rose with the iris back up. The EDT was a very leathery iris and the parfum was a powdery, carroty iris. But something seemed to change for me. There is something that happens right around the dry down is where something seems to go wrong. I can be rocking the top and middle notes but when I seem to go from the middle notes to the base notes, the musk and green part just seems to smell bad to me. I am not sure on what is happening. It could be the fact that I haven't been wearing a whole lot in the past year. So maybe what is in the spray mechanism is a little on the stale side.

I'm also thinking that maybe I have too much perfume and just can't get to a whole lot in my collection. What probably needs to happen is that I only have 2 or 3 perfumes out at a time and I start to use those and then move onto the next 2 or 3 perfumes. I am also thinking of maybe selling off some of what I have to make my collection a little more manageable.
 

Amouage Honour 43 Review

Right now, I am fairly keyed up and not looking forward to the next couple days. On Thursday, I get to have a colonoscopy, so I get to go through the prep tomorrow. I didn't get a whole lot in the way of directions diet. Most of the instructions that I got were no iron pills, aspirin or any other blood thinners for the week and a clear liquid diet at least 24 hours before. Then they tell me yesterday of a low residue diet that I need to be eating. Well, thanks for the info a few days too late. Talk about 3 or 4 days too late to really start with. I am not rescheduling this thing and the medical field is going to get what they get Thursday afternoon. There is just so much conflicting information about what and what not to do for the prep and when to start. When this is whole thing is over, I will be much happier to put this behind me.

After my colonoscopy and the rest of the work week, I will be on vacation. I have my yearly physical that I have to deal with that week but that is the only thing I have to absolutely do and the rest of the week is up for grabs. I will have a little bit of cash to do some stuff but not as much as I would have liked. I am hoping to use up 3 candles and read 4 or 5 books before the week is over. I am just hoping that the week isn't eaten up by my grandmother in memory care. I just want to be able to relax.

A while back, I blogged about Amouage releasing their exceptional extraits. I was happy enough to nab a smidgen of Epic 53 and Honour 43. I was wowed by Epic 53 and still have to content myself with the EDP version. Epic 53 is a deeper, richer version of the original Epic. Now, I just went on to Honour 43.

I do have some liking for the original Honour woman but not exactly impressed. I think that the aquatic note gets me every time. I like how Epic was based with Turnadot and Honour with Madame Butterfly. Honour 43 is a more intense version of the original Honour. Can I say that it is a richer version? Not really. The tuberose/gardenia thing is amped up along with the aquatic note. I was kind of wowed by Honour when it came out. At that point, outside of Reflection, Amouage didn't have anything in the way of light or aquatic. After a few wearings, I wasn't too inclined to get a bottle of the original Honour and after a couple wearings of Honour 43, I am still not inclined to get a full bottle of this either. And my bank account is breathing a sigh of relief.
 

Viktoria Minya Hedonist Absolute Review

Back in 2013, I was still in the habit of buying full bottles of perfume without testing them out first. At that point of time, the packaging still had some sway over me. Around tax time that year, Andy Tauer came out with Noontide Petals and Viktoria Minya released her debut perfume Hedonist.

You have no idea on how hard I fell for the pictures of Hedonist online and fell even harder when Hedonist arrived on my doorstep. It was a good thing that the original Hedonist matched my expectations. I loved the peach, the rum and the osmanthus. 

In 2019, Hedonist Absolute was released and I knew it was going to be a long wait before I could get my hands on this. I was looking for a more intense version of Hedonist and I'm not sure what really happened. The absolute is a stripped down version of the original with too much birch. A touch of birch could have added something interesting but the birch just doesn't fit. The birch, I think, is trying to make Hedonist a little more masculine but it doesn't seem to play well with the other notes. 

I find that Hedonist Absolute just doesn't play well on my skin and I am blaming the birch for it. The original was toothsome and more of my vibe. I do love a boozy perfume when it is done well and I do like woody notes when those are done well too; but the both of those elements combined are not the greatest idea. I have no idea why this isn't working for me right now.

But I do have to swing back to the packaging though. I love the black bottle with the gold embellishments. What I am not really loving is how I cannot see the juice inside. I have Memoir for women and that bottle is black but I can still see how much juice that I have left. With the Absolute, I don't have the ability. I would have loved to see some of those crystals in the bottle just like in the original Hedonist. The crystals in the bottle really fit the whole Hedonist vibe. I think it's not so much Hedonist Absolute but it's a me problem.
 

Well, That Was Interesting

Let's just say it has been an interesting few days. When Prime Day came around, I only had a $10 gift card on my account and used that to get 2 fairly cheap books. I was hoping that I would be able to find either a movie that was on sale or a couple books that I had been eying on sale but they were not. The movies that were on sale were something that I already have or just not interesting. So I had to content myself with two books. I'm not mad but I find that Amazon Prime Day not as exciting as it used to be. I am not seeing the sales that I have seen in years past but maybe it's because my financial circumstances are diminished but slowly stabilizing. The pesky cellphone bill, dog food and a couple other things pretty much eat up my paycheck and I have to make sure that the obligations are taken care of first.

Somehow, I had the pleasure of losing my internet service. The bill was paid and nobody could tell use what the hell was going on. We had a ticket and someone was supposed to show up on Friday but never showed. Then we had to wait until Monday afternoon to have someone come and replace our router and mess around with something else. Friday and Saturday were the days were I could take advantage of my work's WiFi system but the rest of the time, I was pretty much burning through my cellphone data. That does remind me to look into upgrading my cellphone service but pennies have to be saved up for that one.

It is amazing how dependent one becomes on the internet. I remember the days of dial up and you really couldn't use the internet for much or long without tying up a phone line. With DSL, it's a whole different matter. I couldn't play my Xbox, wasn't able to stream Netflix, I was limited to the books and movies that I downloaded to my kindle but there wasn't that much to really keep me occupied. There is only so much cleaning that one can do as well to kill time. Now I am playing catch up on a few things.
 

Roja Dove Diaghilev Extrait de Parfum Review

There are very few perfumes that I want to try but in ways I am scared to try them. It could be for a variety of factors, cost, vintage, how hard is it to find and a couple others. Amouage exceptional extraits are one of them due to cost even though I tried the Epic one. But then came Roja Dove Diaghilev extrait de parfum.

For the longest time I wanted to try Diaghilev but was hesitant. Mainly due to the $1050 price tag. I can't afford to love any perfume with that kind of price tag. But I have a dabber sample and decided to test it out. I figured what is the worst that can really happen?

Let's just say that this is Diaghilev is divine. To my nose, it's a cross between vintage Mitsouko and vintage Givenchy III. Some have said that it reminds them a little bit like Amouage 25 but I am not getting that vibe. I absolutely love vintage Mitsouko in all of it's oakmoss goodness but have just a little bit of Givenchy III. Diaghilev has the lasting power of nuclear waste and some pretty good sillage for my having just a dabber sample. So if you have enough Givenchy III and or vintage Mitsouko, you can get away with not having Diaghilev.

In all honesty, while I love it, there is no way I can swing over a thousand dollars for 100ml. Not even with Afterpay and I am okay with that at the end of the day. I have enough vintage Mitsouko and enough of Givenchy III to where it's not in anyway saddening that Diaghilev is out of my reach. Sometimes I think that the prices of some of the niche offerings is outrageous. I might buy some niche but sometimes that I think even mainstream prices have gotten to be a little much. I know we are coming out of a pandemic but sheesh. I don't care if it is extrait de parfum but over $1,000 for 100ml isn't something that is really worth it to me.
 

 

Amouage Gold Extrait Review

Back when I started my perfume journey, I had an unhealthy obsession with Amouage Gold. It was a dabber sample after dabber sample for quite a while. Then when I sprung for a full bottle of the EDP, I quickly figured out that Gold really wasn't for me. There is something about the musk that really went wrong. It smelled like I stepped in dog poop. Years later, I tried Gold for men and it was a little more of my vibe but not really. Vintage Gold for women smelled pretty good but not really.

For some reason, I have a decant of Gold extrait and decided to give it a shot. I figure that if I don't care for the extrait, Gold for women and I just aren't meant to be. And we are not meant to be. While the extrait is well made and incredibly well blended, it's just too much in all respects. The musk part is amped up and this smells like an upscale vintage no 5. The musk in Gold is overwhelming and gives a a bigger stepped in dog poop vibe. I am sure that this does work for some people but this isn't my thing. I think that I will stick to either Dia or no 5 proper for my aldehydes fix.

 I am happy that I honestly gave Gold a true shot to see if she was my vibe and after about 10 plus years of perfume blogging and trying Gold off and on through out it. Gold just seems to go off the rails on my skin. My bank account is incredibly happy that this perfume just really isn't for me. I am also happy that there are other Amouage offerings that I have and totally work for me.
 

Tauer Golestan Extrait de Parfum Review

I am currently in the middle of some kind of eczema flare right now. Currently, I'm an itchy mess. My mother asked if it was all the perfume I wear and I had to say no. Perfume is one of the things that doesn't trigger my eczema no matter what I seem to wear. I'm thinking that it's all of these weather fluctuations that are triggering it. I think that I really should think about making that doctor's appointment and see if I can get in early before I go to work. The joys of working in the afternoons is having a hard time trying to get a doctor's appointment early enough so I am not late for work.

When Andy Tauer released Golestan last year, I quickly snapped up a mini from his website. It seems like TPC and STC seem to not be stocking as many perfumes as they used to but then again, I am ordering less from them to begin with. But I haven't been wearing any Tauer offerings a whole lot for some reason and I have quite a bit of Tauer offerings.

Yesterday, I quit dragging my feet and decided to wear Golestan. I didn't give a shit if it was humid out, I wanted to try Golestan. When I first dabbed it on, I immediatly identified the Tauer base. Then the tuberose came in to full effect about 5 minutes after I first put it on. For a while, I couldn't figure out why Golestan seemed to familiar. I knew that Andy Tauer did something like this not too long ago. I was mulling over that all day yesterday and then this morning, I finally figured it out. This is almost like Tuberose Sotto la Luna. Some people have compared it to Gardenia Sotto la Luna. But it has the Sotto la Luna Tuberose vibe. And you can't get the tuberose one anywhere and I am guessing that it has been discontinued. I do get some jasmine is Golestan but it's mostly tuberose and the Tauer base to my nose.

I can't exactly tell you about the lasting power since what I have is a dabber but it is an extrait de parfum and you can smell it. I would like a full bottle of this and maybe I will get it for my birthday or I will get that bottle of Lonestar Memories first. But my birthday is months away and I have time to make that decision.
 

What's in the Bag?

It's nothing unusual for me to carry perfume in my purse. My purse might be on the smaller side because I am not a fan of a huge purse. There is something about large purses that don't do it for me and I see so many women, especially young women who don't have children that have these massive purses. What the hell are they carrying in those things to begin with? Their whole entire life?

There is a reason that I carry a smaller purse. There is less potential for things to get lost or forgotten about at the bottom. Less stuff that might get broken or leak. A smaller size means that I have to be a little more sniper like when it comes to putting things in there. Of course, I carry my wallet, cellphone and my iPod (Yes, I still use an iPod), mascara, lipstick and lotion. But I always have a mini or a travel spray in there.

It's more than if I forget to put on perfume before I leave the house or to reapply after what I am wearing fades. If there is something that happens to the house, where everything is a total loss, I won't exactly be starting over from square one in terms of perfume. I can tolerate losing many things but there is something about the thought of losing of selling my collection that scares me for some reason. I can't explain that feeling but losing my dogs and perfume seems to conjure up that feeling.

Currently, I have a mini of Les Annees 25 BIS, travel spray of Lyric and a travel spray of no 5 Eau Premiere in my bag right now. Those 2 might be an odd mix but there is a little bit of a selection going on in there. While wearing Les Annees, I have forgotten how good it is and don't regret getting a bottle but regret no getting the original one when I had the chance.
 

Well, That's Not Happening

Previously, I had blogged about getting that back up bottle of Memoir from Fragrancenet. I don't know what exactly happened but that bottle never arrived. What I am thinking that either the bottle broke, lost or either stolen in transit. I am leaning more to stolen. I have had packages stolen in transit before. Fragrancenet had said that they could either give me a refund or reship the package. At this point, I didn't even want that bottle of Memoir, so I asked for a refund. There are so many new shipping companies and some that I never even heard of. I've never heard of Better Trucks for a shipping company, so right now, they are not in my good graces in terms of shipping.

In the Cleveland area, we finally got some rain with more expected over the next few days. So many yards went brown and all the flowers were just not happening. Now with some rain, I think everything will start perking up.

For the longest time, I've hated tuberose as a dominant note in perfume. I thought that it was always too much. Now it's becoming one of may favorite notes. Narcotic V has helped me change my view on tuberose. But I think that I tried Fracas in my early perfume days and thought that it was just too much of everything but always had a love for jasmine perfumes. I am not sure what happened with my nose and tuberose but my nose has probably developed more to where I can enjoy it. Go figure.
 

Another Old Favorite...Memoir

 I do keep spending time rummaging around that huge tub of perfume that I do have and I pulled out a really old favorite, Amouage Memoir for women.

Back when I was pretty new to the world of perfume, I longed for bottles of Lyric and Memoir and eventually got bottles of them. For some reason, I haven't worn much of Memoir and I don't have a great reason to hoard Memoir. With the direction that Amouage seems to be going in terms of not being able to find a whole lot in the way of bath and body stuff and I can't seem to find Ubar anywhere, I have been slowly getting back ups of the Amouage offerings that I love. I don't know exactly why I stopped wearing Memoir but I did. I was probably busy trying other things.

Even the pickings on discounters are getting a little slim.I still am trying to curb the frivolous buying and I am making every effort to not go buying everything in sight. In years past, I could go to discounters to get my bottles of Amouage but I'm not seeing the selection and I am blaming Covid for it. While I did snap up a back up bottle of Memoir, I got another back up of Lyric to cover my behind. I will get that back up of Epic eventually but I am not going to get that bottle right now. I have other things that I need to be worrying about.

Bath and Body Works has started their semi annual sale a few days ago. While I did imbibe, I didn't see tons of offerings that really wowed me. It wasn't the price points, it was the scents that were offered that I wasn't too wild about. I just grabbed what I could use for birthdays and Christmas gifts and now I am just waiting for it to arrive on my door step. I would have loved it if Night Blooming Jasmine and Gardenia Lily was brought back along with Milk and Honey. Bath and Body Works said that they had no plans to bring those back but they might at a later date. With that answer, I doubt that those will be brought back.

End of Vacation

Today is my last day of my vacation and it will be back to reality. I am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. Monday is a day I normally have off but it's a holiday and I need to go in. It was a week that I didn't do a whole lot.

On Monday, my parents and I went to a winery for my mom's birthday and it was nice. I have noticed in Northeast Ohio that wineries and breweries have become a big thing. So I think that my parents have been thinking about hitting those a little more since they are both retired and quite a bit of the COVID restrictions have lifted.

Thursday was the day that we went to the natural history in Cleveland not realizing that it was undergoing renovations. All they had going on was the outdoor wildlife exhibit and a small 3D movie thing. We saw the Lucy reconstruction and a full triceratops skeleton. Yes, we did see the movie and went outside to see the animals but all in all, that trip was a bust. I have been trying to find free or low cost things to do since I was low on funds. Yesterday, my dad and I went to see a Civil War reenactment and it was alright but there are probably better ones that are coming up this summer.

I am finishing up two candles and will be starting 2 more on Tuesday. So this week I was only able to get through 4 candles. Weather wise we had sunshine but a couple of those days were pretty chilly and I was a little paranoid about having candles burning with how my mother is always complaining about it. I am trying to whittle down my collection a little bit more before I start adding to it again.

There is some good news on the financial front. That Afterpay balance was paid off and the account had the freeze removed. But what do I do? I made the plunge and bought that bottle of Gris Charnel. Sure there are things that I want but I don't want to find myself in the same situation that I just got out of. At this point, I am sitting on my hands and not going over to Luckysent or Bath and Body Works to load up on things that I don't need. I probably shouldn't have gotten that bottle of Gris Charnel but it's something that I have been wanting for a while and the extrait was a little to rich for my blood even though it is a 100ml bottle. Now if I could get a show on the road to finishing up decants a bottles of perfume.
 

Vacation and Gris Charnel Extrait Review

Today is my 1st official day of vacation. I do have a couple things planned but one of them has to wait later in the week. I tried really hard to have some kind of funds to do more but with the last of the large Afterpay payments, I was left with precious little until payday. I am just happy that I am almost there with having Afterpay just about paid off.

I am hoping that I am going to have used at least 4 or more candles used up. The weather will be warm and I can have the windows open and that means that I can have more than one candle going. I have 2 candles going at the moment and I am hoping that by Tuesday, they will be finished. At this point, I think that one of them will be finished off by tomorrow.

Back when I had a perfume spree, I did receive a dabber sample of the Gris Charnel extrait. Naturally, I had to try it but in some ways, I didn't. I have the original Gris Charnel on my to buy list and my rational was that if I love the original so much, what will the extrait going to do to me? With dabbers, you don't always get the best reading of a perfume. I would have rather had a spray vial but Luckyscent isn't one to give out spray vials very often. But I am not exactly one that orders from Luckyscent too often.

I was at a wedding yesterday and had to give this a go. I didn't want to go with anything too loud and the dabber of Gris Charnel extrait fit the bill. When I am going to be in tight quarters or a subdued affair, a dabber vial can be a great thing. You know when you spray or dab that kind of perfume that really works on you? I got that with the extrait version of Gris Charnel. The clouds parted and the angels started to sing. I find the extrait to be deeper and richer than the original EDP version. Since this was from a dabber, I can't discern lasting power or how big of a fragrance cloud it creates but I loved it for the whole 5 hours that it lasted on my skin.

As much and I love the extrait in all of it's fig glory, I am having a little trouble stomaching the whole $280 price tag. I think that I will have to content myself with the Gris Charnel EDP travel spray right now.
 

Chanel 1957 EDP Review

A few months ago I had blogged about that random Chanel sample box. When I had gotten it, I was a little taken aback because I hadn't ordered anything recently from them. In that package was a carded sample of 1957. Today I finally got around to trying out 1957.

When I first applied 1957, I got a shit load of musk and iris.For a few minutes, I couldn't recall which Chanel that this reminded me of and then it hit me. I was reminded of no 19 Poudre which I dislike. But I was committed to giving 1957 a shot. Even when I first applied it, it struck me as something very Chanel. There is a certain way that Chanel uses iris and some musks that lets me know that it is a Chanel offering. For a while, I was liking 1957 and then, I wasn't so enthused due to my dislike of no 19 Poudre. I have always had a difficult relationship with citrus as well and there is tons of citrus in 1957. The citrus is strongest in the beginning but calms down a little bit but still plays a big part of 1957.

I don't expect to like everything that I try from Chanel but after the initial half hour, this wasn't my thing. Not every Chanel offering is going to be like no 5 or even Coromandel to my nose but after the first half an hour, I just really disliked the whole thing for some reason. At this point, it's money saved towards that bottle of Gris Charnel.
 

Seeking the Familiar

Since I am still working with that strict budget, I have been seeking out some of the old, familiar perfumes. Perfumes that I had bought early in my perfume journey and wore the shit out of. So since I have been cleaning some things out, I've been finding a couple things.

Chanel no 5, no matter what the concentration is one of those old favorites and a soothing one at that. I have the EDT, EDP and parfum all on my vanity. And that reminded me to pull out my bottle of no 22 EDT. I haven't gotten around to trying out the EDP due to lack of funds and I don't need to be on E-Bay looking for decants. I don't need to get burned because people like to sell Chanel dupes.

I found a large decant of the current batch of Diorling, right before it was discontinued and a vintage bottle of it. I am still kicking myself for not getting a bottle or two when I had the chance. Even though the people at Dior told me that they have no intention of bringing back Diorling, one can hope and keep pestering them about it. If they can keep cranking out these J'adore flankers, they can bring Diorling back for a limited time for me to nab a couple of bottles.

An old favorite that is comforting is Mitsouko. It doesn't matter if it is vintage or current to me, I adore Mitsouko. I don't pull it out often enough and wear it and I did pull out a bottle of a newer version of the EDP and a vintage EDT. The EDP that I did pull out was from probably 10 plus years ago, so no honest to goodness oakmoss in that one. I have tons of the vintage EDT and I am still trying to get a stopper to come lose from my huge bottle of Mitsouko.

Lyric is another perpetual favorite for me. I love wearing Lyric in all of it's spicy, rosy goodness year round but I love it especially in the heat of summer. It took me a long time to actually get 1 bottle of Lyric but I am glad I did get that bottle and got the travel spray and a back up bottle. I have no clue with what is happening with Amouage. I can't find the Lyric or Epic bath product and there isn't any Ubar to be had anywhere. Let's hope it's a supply chain issue with the ingredients.
 

Something About This Month

There has been something about this month. I haven't been able to sit down and blog about anything. I have a few perfumes that I would like to review but I just can't focus long enough to get it done.

Since I am on a fairly strict budget, there really isn't a whole lot of extra cash laying around. I've had to take some extreme measures on budgeting. I've had to take a real close look at my grocery bill. I've had to cut out a lot of things to make a grocery budget last longer. Gone are most of the snacks. I only get snacks once a month and when they are gone, they are gone. If there is a buy one get one deal, I will take a closer look at it. Especially if it is something from the meat department, then I can freeze that into smaller portions so I cant take out what I need, when I need it.

But since there is no financial wiggle room, I am not able to get my normal face cream and face wash. Skyn Iceland is my go to when we are talking about face care stuff. And since I am out of the face wash and face cream, I have been relying on the gift with purchase Tula probiotic stuff. I am not impressed with the Tula face wash and cream. I find the face wash too drying and the face cream not hydrating enough. I have really dry skin and it's hard to find stuff hydrating enough without being too much. What pisses me off the most is the smell of both of them. They both have this fake rose smell that lingers. Don't get me wrong kids, I like the smell of rose but I am very picky on the smell of body stuff. I do have loads of Chanel and Amouage body products and I knew what they smelled like. That's why I got them but I don't want too many smells when it comes to my day to day soaps and lotions. I switch my perfumes quite often and I don't need some lingering smells from my soap and lotion.

The upside is that I still managed to hold fast and not buy anything from the Sephora spring sale. I wasn't mad about it when I first decided to give it a miss and still not mad about it. I know that there will be the fall sale and other deals coming but buying anything from Sephora or even Ulta isn't in the cards for me. Redeeming my free product from Bath and Body Works is going to have to wait as well. I still have tons of candles that I am trying to use and I have a couple of months before I use the reward.
 

It's Finally Warm Out

Well, it's Easter and I am happy to have the day off. Having an actual holiday off in retail is worth it's weight in gold. Especially after the shit show that I have dealt with the past 2 days at work. It was the whole thing of constant interruptions, too much to do and not enough time to do what I really need to be doing. Now I just need to get myself moving on Easter dinner but that really doesn't need to be started right now.

It's finally warm out and you know what that means? I can have my windows open and start to get going on having some candles lit. Currently, I have a Pink Lavender and Espresso candle going. Since it is going to be warm the whole week, I am hoping that I can finish off that Pink Lavender and Espresso candle and start a couple other ones.

Every time I seem to make progress with my candles, there is a really good sale from Bath and Body Works and I seem to pick up more candles. So it's to the point of where I don't have anymore space for candles and now have to start using them. My hope is to get my candle collection to well under 40. And this is part of the reason on why I haven't bought too many decants in a few years.

Let's think about it, when TPC and STC would have sales, I would load up on decants and it's the same way with candles. I just can't resist a good sale. But I have to start resisting sales with the cost of food going up. Even the price of dog food has gone up. So everything has become a big price comparison. With a nephew turning 2 in May, I'm looking at some gifts to get him. I've made the plan to only get him one gift and it's a good thing that he is going to be 2 and toys are fairly cheap. He's not going to be able to tell if I spent $15 or $25. As long as he has a gift that isn't clothes, I think he will be happy.

Even though Sephora is going to have their spring sale coming up, I am probably going to have to give this a miss too and I am not even mad. Even though Afterpay is awesome, I put a freeze on my account since I was starting to really abuse it. Afterpay is good in it's place but when you start to view it almost like a credit card, it's time to take a break from it. Besides, there isn't a whole lot that I really want from Sephora at this point.