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.