Post Christmas and Estee Lauder

Christmas day has come and gone and now we are heading into the new year. For Christmas day, I just decided to wear Lyric. There were a number of ways that I could have gone with perfume. I could have gone with my backup choice of Feminite du Bois or I could have gone on to wear Shalimar as well but Lyric seemed to appeal to me more.

The last perfume that I was gifted was way before I was really into perfume was Ralph Lauren Pure Turquoise. I still have the perfume and I do remember not really liking it all that much and it was my sister who gave me that and she said it smelled good. So I am going to have to dig that one out and give it another go. I think that I was wearing a different Ralph Lauren perfume called Gorgeous or something like that. But this Christmas, I was gifted a Estee Lauder Pleasures gift set. One of my friends had sent me the tracking link and I did see that it was the hand lotion and a 1 ounce bottle of Pleasures. I do still love Pleasures after all these years and have been wearing it off and on since it was released. But my sister sent me a tracking link to what she got me for Christmas. It was a set of Estee Lauder Pleasures. It was the hand cream and a 1 ounce bottle of the perfume. Now I just wait until it arrives tomorrow. Then I have to wait until I get off work tomorrow to open the package.

The one thing that is kind of funny with bottles of Pleasures. Around two or three years ago, a 5 ounce bottle of Pleasures was available for sale and apparently it was so popular that it would sell out as soon as it hit the Estee Lauder website but I haven't seen it since. I am thinking that while it might have been incredibly popular, it either might have been too costly to make or people not spending the money like they used to to warrant consistent production. Now if they made the intense version in a smaller size and a smidgen more affordable, I would get a bottle.

While Bath and Body Works is having their semi annual sale, I am not biting. One, I want to work on paying off the Christmas present shopping, two, I am just not all that interested. I have enough candles and I am not interested in buying more of the same old thing. There are so many Winter, Frozen Lake and Pink Lavender and Espresso candles can own. I should have gotten more plain old Lavender candles when Bath and Body Works was having their Candle Day sale. I noticed that after Candle Day, I just wasn't so interested in Bath and Body Works. I made one purchase after Candle Day, it was too redeem my reward. So my breaking up with Bath and Body Works is going a little easier than I thought. Let's see if I can keep that momentum going.
 

Pre Christmas Stuff

It's coming down to the wire in terms of Christmas. I am sure that there is tons of panic going on in terms of shopping for presents right now. At this point, I am just waiting for my last one to show up and let's hope that it comes by Christmas Eve. If it doesn't, it's not going to be the end of the world. Sometimes what does annoy me is when a company says that when a certain day is the last day for getting a package by Christmas. I get that it is Christmas and lots of people ship lots of gifts from the week of Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. I am just hoping that the last gift that I had ordered will arrive tomorrow.

I did do some impulsive things with the back pay and bonus. I still paid that monster cellphone bill but I wanted to make a nice Christmas for my dogs at least in terms of gifts. I did go crazy with the treats and dog toys. I view it as since they didn't get a Barkbox this month, I did want to make up for it. The frivolous thing that I did for myself and I know that I really shouldn't have was ordering a bottle of Comptoir Sud Pacifique Vanille Banane, My perfume logic was that it 30ml for $50 and for perfume, that's pretty much free. It's not costing me a whole lot of money and what is the harm? 

But at the end of the day, money was spent a little too quickly. I made a resolution to buy only 1 candle from the Bath and Body Works semi annual sale and not buy anymore. There will always be other sales that I can go to and I can bank some rewards points from online surveys. But it is going to be a while before I do some fun things. I have more pressing matters at hand, like fixing up my teeth and getting more of my financial mess figured out. Nope, haven't filed for bankruptcy yet. There is something about pulling the trigger on that that's scary. Even though I don't own anything like a car or house, I am not a fan of what would be the invasive nature of the whole thing that freaks me out.

So the deal Christmas Eve is to work until 5, go home and finish wrapping my gifts. The dogs' presents are the only ones that I haven't wrapped yet and I am not quite ready to tackle that small mountain. For Christmas Day, my folks and I are going to my aunt and uncle's house to celebrate Christmas. I don't know if it is going to be a ham or a standing rib roast for Christmas dinner. All I know is that I am responsible for dinner rolls and wine. I already ordered the rolls and I have to pick out which wine that is needed. The wine selection is going to have to wait until I get off work.

I am trying to plan my Christmas Day perfume. Currently my choices are Theorema (tramatically discontinued), Lyric (absolutely adore) or vintage Shalimar (don't wear enough). I already wear a little too much Chanel no 5 and will probably be wearing it to work tomorrow when I brave my 12 to 5 shift at a grocery store. So wearing any version of no 5 on Christmas Day is a no go. I haven't made a decision on which one to wear yet.

 

Little Bit of a Relief

I got a little bit of financial relief today. The short term disability that I wasn't so sure that I would get has come through. I got two weeks worth of that money. It still might be less than what I am used to but I have some kind of breathing room. Not a whole lot of breathing room but I feel a little bit better than I have been in the past few days. So that means that I can plan things a little bit better.

Thanksgiving was pretty quiet at my house. I somehow found a fresh turkey that was under 10 pounds. Turns out that the smaller the turkey, the bonier it is. For once, I got to watch the dog show on Thanksgiving day and a decent chunk of the parade before I got bored with that. I really enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to go anywhere and making Thanksgiving dinner wasn't the big pain in the ass that it usually is.

It's going to be a long 5 more days before I return to work. After being off a little over 3 weeks, I get to go back on Friday. I honestly can't afford to sit at home anymore and I am getting a little on the bored side of things. I didn't get to finish any candles nor did I get to polish my nails like I thought that I would be able to. The only thing that I did binge watch was the Hobbit trilogy, I couldn't even focus on reading a book.

Since we are in the holiday shopping season, I honestly will not be partaking in the whole Black Friday to Cyber Monday nonsense. One, I am not flush with money and two, most of my Christmas shopping is done already. All I have to do is shop for my 2 eldest nephews but I am probably going to get them an Xbox gift card and call it a day or maybe an inexpensive video game. Video games are expensive and I don't ever recall video games being this expensive. But the sale that I am most waiting for is the Bath and Body Works Candle Day sale that's happening the weekend of December 6th. I will have a little more money for that but I still want to take it easy with that sale. I still have tons of candles already. I know that I shouldn't get more and probably should give this Candle Day a pass. If the price is more than $10.50, I will. The gift card that I have is $30 but I might embellish that with an extra $10 but everything boils down to price and how bad do I really want this.

I will admit to the fact that I used some of my Ulta rewards points to make a fairly large purchase. I did create a stockpile of stocking stuffers and one or two emergency gifts if I need them. But the big ticket item was the Estee Lauder Pleasures gift set that Ulta had on sale. How was I going to refuse a 1.7 ounce and a 3.4 ounce giftset for $80? I couldn't refuse that type of deal and it came with all of these gift with purchase type of thing. I am thinking of using another chunk of my rewards to load up on MAC lipsticks since they are on sale. But I really should hold off on that for at least a couple weeks.
 

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.
 

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.

Come and Gone

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone and I was hoping that I would be done with Christmas shopping. I'm waiting to hear back from my sister on if she wanted a Christmas gift and I might have to shop for another relative but that is going to have to wait right now.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday has left me underwhelmed and wondering why I got myself all excited. I didn't save a ton on Cyber Monday with Amazon and Ulta sales were not that great. I will admit to picking up Romance Parfum and hoping over to Luckyscent to nab a Etat Libre d'Orange sample set. The price points were right up my alley and Ulta was offering a nice coupon and some bonus points. I can't see myself anymore perfume for quite a while though. Working in retail means that after the new year, I will most likely be working less and will have less income to truly indulge in any kind of frivolous spending. I'm okay with spending less but really have to spend tons less. One of my dogs will be going to the vet sometime in January and money needs to be set aside for the vet.

I am still spending tons of time in Chanel no 5, trying to finish up a bottle of edt and edp and it's been a journey. I want to finish them but it's always Lyric and Happy that keep sidetracking me and especially on days off. But last night, I really wanted Coromandel. After wanting Coromandel for so long, it kind of was pushed back and not worn so much but last night was not one of those nights. I am going to try and see if I can really get the show on the road with wearing what I have and finishing the bottle but I keep saying that but I always seem to accumulate even more perfume.
 

Can't Come up with a title

 

I am still debating on if I should  pull the trigger on my Ulta shopping cart. When I read my email this morning, I find a $10 off $40 and even "prestige" brands were included. I tried to apply the coupon and apparently Chanel was excluded. I sent a tweet to Ulta saying what good is this coupon if I can't use it. Well, there are plenty of things but I could use it on but can't use it on something that I really want isn't the greatest PR move. I am just not moved by what I am seeing online with Black Friday deals so far. Even what Bath and Body Works isn't moving me deal wise. For some reason, I'm okay with not buying anything today or tomorrow. I really need to get one more gift and then I am done with Christmas shopping. I am finding it harder and harder to shop for people and it's gotten pretty difficult to find any great deals that I am looking for, especially for the things that I want to get somebody. I would think that with this pandemic going on, deals would be better and there would be more of them. I am just going to see what the next couple weeks look like and go from there.

At this point, I am just anxious for some reason. It's the holiday season right now and I am waiting on a few important things that should have been mailed weeks ago but haven't even arrived. Thus far, I have faxed a couple things to a couple places but I am going to hope that some things start to work out. I am going to take things one step at a time. I am not sure on who is dropping the ball but it's being dropped. How do I know what is needed and who needs to get it if I don't get the information?

The Shopping Season

 

We are coming up on the holiday season and already my email is filling up with all of these Black Friday previews and deal type things. I will admit that I am tempted by a few things but my bank account is telling me to take a step back. Most of my Christmas shopping is finished but I do have 3 more people to shop for but I am holding off for a couple weeks on finishing up a couple gifts. I have some shipping deadlines because my nephews live across the country from me, so I need to know that. At this point, I am trying to survive Thanksgiving. Due to Covid, holidays are going to be very different and much quieter. It will be my parents and I along with my aunt and quite possibly my grandmother who is still living. So I have a 20 pound turkey in my fridge thawing out and wondering about what the hell is going to happen with all of this turkey. I think that a large roasting chicken would have been a better fit. Let's hope that I won't be asked to pick up anything between now and Thanksgiving or I will be spitting nails.

What is tempting me the most is Ulta. I am hardly ever in an Ulta brick and mortar store, I do tons of shopping through their website and have accumulated almost $60 in rewards and now I am a Platinum level rewards person. Ulta does carry some Chanel perfumes but I never see them sell Chanel through their website. I have only seen it once before and I am now seeing that again. While Ulta might not have the selection that Sephora has in regarding Chanel offerings, even online, I am tempted to get the mini travel spray of Coco Madamoiselle intense. I know that I shouldn't blind buy but I am incredibly tempted. I shall see if there will be some kind of coupon when Black Friday comes to make the mini travel spray much more possible for me, especially if I want to keep saving up my Ulta points. But we shall see because I am trying to avoid Bath and Body Works as well. I am trying incredibly hard to to purchase anymore candles until Candle Day when the deals will be the best for Bath and Body Works candles.

Too Many Things to Worry About

 

We are pretty close to September being over and Christmas is a little over 3 months away. The reason why I am mentioning Christmas is that I was at Costco, what, almost 2 weeks ago and saw that Costco had some of their Christmas stuff out.

I normally start Christmas shopping in, I don't know, late October but I started a little earlier this year. Ever since the pandemic started, I have been trying to spend less and it's been pretty difficult to do. With a Jake going to the vet in a couple weeks, I really have to scale back. Plus Jake needs a prescription filled around that time, scaling back is even more important. Every thing that I spend has to be really thought about, So no frivolous spending at all, groceries have to be bare bones. I'm not so worried about the cost of a vet visit but the cost of his medication, even with GoodRX. If that means I have to miss out on a STC or TPC sale, so be it.

When you work retail, you don't make a whole lot of money. So every penny has to be carefully budgeted and I mostly gave up on the 2nd stimulus package. Yes, another $1,200 in my bank account would help me immensely but I'm not holding my breath. I have $30 for Candle Day and some sitting on my Amazon account but I am trying to pretty much prepay as much as I can, when I can. I am trying to bank as many Ulta and Sephora rewards as I can. I'm banking those just in case as well as any credit card rewards to make sure that I can get everyone something.

But I have gotten some gifts already but I never want to wait until I am under the gun so that is why I am trying to kind of prepay in the form of gift cards. The only rewards that I have seriously made progress on was Ulta but I am still only half way to what I was last year with the points but I can't do a spending spree at this point, have to wait until the serious deals start coming out and I hear from a couple people on Christmas gifts.

Surviving the Candle Sale

Almost two weeks ago, Bath and Body Works had a big candle sale. For $9.95 for a 3 wick candle, that was a 60% discount (I did the math) and it was a pretty good deal. I had initially planned on doing the candle sale online or worst case scenario, go to the Bath and Body Works that's 20 minutes away from my house. That didn't work out. A guy friend wanted to go to the mall to pick out a gift for his dad at the mall, so off to the mall 45 minutes away.

When we got to the mall, it wasn't so much a sea of people but a sea of Bath and Body Works bags when we just entered the mall. But as I got closer to Bath and Body Works, the sea of those bags was even more concentrated. People with carrying 3 or 4 large bags of candles. I knew there was some sort of limit on how many candles you could get in one trip but I think that people were making multiple trips to the store to get around the limit. It was difficult enough alone getting into the store but even harder to move around when you are inside. The employees looked like they had a rock solid plan but were having issues trying to keep everything stocked. The biggest gripe was other customers. Most had to stand in one spot and smell every candle. Didn't matter if it was all the same scent, every candle had to be smelled. Are you looking for the strongest smelling one of the Evergreen candle? They are all equally strong smelling, just put one in your cart. Can't decide on which vanilla to get? Just pick one, this isn't neurosurgery or ending hunger in the US and move along. My biggest thing was I knew how many candles I was getting and the scents I wanted but I don't know why so many people didn't respond to an excuse me. A louder excuse me didn't seem to working but when a few other customers realized I was trying to either get through to get something they looked surprised and asked if I was standing there for very long. My response was it took you both 10 minutes and 4 loud excuse mes before you bothered to notice? This is why I like to avoid malls during Christmas and large crowds period. It's hard enough in normal circumstances for people to actually respond to an excuse me but sheesh.

I did like how the employees had a plan at the cash registers and the line to check out. They kept the line moving and kept the customers in line from acting foolish. There were a couple people that thried to get out of line to get a few more things and still had their place in line but there we so many employees that there dealing with the line before anyone even got to the register, it was impossible to do. Next candle day sale, I am doing it online.

That Time of Year

Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone. I've never been the biggest fan of Thanksgiving. I think it's my distaste for football, eating so early and turkey. Yes, I am not a fan of turkey and I think it's one of those take it or leave it foods.

What annoyed me the most is an overflowing e-mail about the deals. The e-mail bombing started on Wednesday and didn't let up until this morning. I looked at a couple of them and didn't find the deals to be appealing. Bath and Body Works is the only one that is still bombing my e-mail account. The Bath and Body Works deals have been pretty good but I haven't bitten yet. I am waiting for their big candle sale on Saturday. A 3 wick candle for $8? Count me in and those normally cost $24.50 full price. Most of the time, Bath and Body Works has some kind of deals on their candles but more than half off is pretty good. I love a good deal but I am not in the market for a whole lot at the moment and I gotta be pretty selective at this point due to my cash flow being a little wonky. But can't be too selective with some relatives living out of state and have to keep shipping cutoff times in mind.

There aren't too many perfume blogs that I really read anymore. I used to read quite a few blogs but things changed. Some stopped blogging for various reasons, some don't post as often, or just don't fit into my reading habits anymore. The Non-Blonde Blog was one of the blogs that I would read but in the past couple years, it just fell through my reading cracks. A few weeks ago, I went to see what was posted and I didn't see too many posts. What shocked me is when someone on Now Smell This had said that there was a post that the author of The Non-Blonde, Gaia, had unexpectedly passed away. Then the Perfumed Posse reported another death in the perfume community. I've never followed video blogs but it's still sad to see this stuff happen.

E-Bay and Thanksgiving

We are two days away from Thanksgiving. My family and I are hosting and know that 3 people are probably going to be spending the night. For the past couple days, I have been doing a lot of picking up, organizing and some dusting. I am still going to do more in between shifts at work. I am dreading work though, knowing it will be a mad house.

But with Thanksgiving comes Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I still can't believe that some companies think that Black Friday starts on Thanksgiving evening. That just rankles me to no end. In my opinion, retail workers are not important or essential on a holiday. Forgot that extra dozen of eggs or not quite enough rolls isn't important. If your not a nurse, doctor, firefighter or police officer, retail employees are not a vital. I am wondering what deals that there are going to be. I'm not so interested in buying something, most of my Christmas shopping is done. I think that I am really just interested in what Bath and Body Works is going to have for sales. For the family that lives close by to me, I am pretty much done except for a few odds and ends. I haven't committed to anything yet.

It's been a fun few days with E-bay. My mother asked me to use my E-bay account to order her two collector's music boxes. She wanted a specific two Christmas music boxes and I managed to find them for a reasonable price. We get one still in the box with everything in it and the seller made sure that it was well packed. This one works perfectly. The second one came and the story isn't the same. When the box came, it looked like the box itself was falling apart and taped up by a two year old. The packaging looked old and battered and that was our first indication that something might be wrong. My mother opens the package and finds no adapters and a couple other things missing. But when she was making sure that the music box played music, it was off, the bells didn't work right and just seemed like it just wasn't working right. I contacted the seller and started a return. My mother had said that the music box doesn't work right and what exactly was wrong. And she did say a shame on you type of deal. Whoever the seller was got all snotty and attacked my mom a little bit and said that it "worked". So I am waiting on a return label and hope we get it soon to ship it back to the seller. If I don't find a return label, I am going to have to contact E-bay.

Holidays Starting Early

It wasn't even Halloween when retailers started putting out Christmas decorations. It seems like the Christmas season is starting earlier and earlier and we probably start seeing that stuff right after Easter.

What is bugging me the most is that I am seeing so many more promos, sales and many other things in my e-mail. I love a good deal as anyone else but I know that most of them are not very good deals. Even with the promos and sales, they are still out of my price range or the quality isn't there. I will admit to the fact that I have started my Christmas shopping early and started in the beginning of October.

I work in retail myself and I don't make huge amounts of money. I have bills like everyone else. A little bit here, a little bit there and that is if I have the breathing room. My gifts are nothing extravagant but I make sure they are nice gifts and something that someone might not buy for themselves. I also keep it to something that they can use. I have gotten plenty of gifts that I can't use or won't use. Nothing says you don't give much of a shit if you can't pay attention to what I like, dislike or where I shop the most. What's the point of getting me a Kohl's or a Bed, Bath and Beyond gift card that I will never use? I will say that I love getting gift cards as a gift and a couple of my friends prefer them as a gift. But I pay attention to what they like and where they shop the most.

The Holiday Season

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

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

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

It's Holiday Season and Guerlain Samsara EDP review

It's now the holiday season and I am dreading the next 5 weeks. Nothing but holiday parties, gift shopping and all of that. It seems like everyone is in a rush and in a bad mood, driving themselves crazy.

I think that people are driving themselves crazy with the whole having a perfect Christmas thing. Nothing is perfect and that perfect stuff is in your head. Some of it has got to be insecurity and people just want to impress their family and friends. It's Christmas, enjoy it, the world is not going to end because it wasn't perfect. Since Black Friday has since passed and we are on Cyber Monday. Did I go shopping? You betcha, and spent more than I really should have. My version of shopping is going online and getting it because I loath crowds. My e-mail is getting bombed with deals but the discretionary spending money is gone for a couple weeks and all I have to do is hop to the Toys R Us website for my nephews and I can call it a day.

Today was the day that I went into the unworn bag and pulled something out to wear. The reason was that the unworn and not reviewed bag was overflowing and now I have more on the way in terms of things to review. It turned out to be Samsara in EDP form. I was hoping it wouldn't be one of those typical '80's perfumes. In a way, it was the normal run of the mill '80's scents but quieter. I smell a whopping dose of creamy jasmine that stays front and center throughout my journey. Eventually, I get some fresh green note that follows the jasmine. I think that it's to tone down the jasmine note but Samsara evolves a little more. I get hints of tonka bean with an undercurrent of vanilla. This is the most modern version of Samsara and it does seem to be a little rough around the edges which bothers me a little bit due to the fact that I like my perfumes well blended and smooth. Lasting power for me was about 6 hours. Don't think that I would get a bottle though, my 8ml decant will suit me just fine.

Christmas Shopping Adventure

There are some people that do Christmas shopping year round, those that do it all 2 or 3 days after Thanksgiving and those that wait until the last minute. Today is what I would consider starting to wait until the last minute. But I seem to fall into the whole different category. I kind of start early in November getting little random gifts, in case I need an emergency gift. But most of my Christmas shopping is done probably no later than the 23rd. But now I can say that my Christmas shopping is all done. I ordered my last gift from Amazon today.

But on the 19th, I had to stop up at the mall. My mother has always been that type that can be difficult to shop for type. So ordering online for her isn't the greatest idea. I was thinking about getting her a Penhaligon's sampler set but I had some second thoughts about that. She's not much a perfume person and something kind of niche might not be her thing. But there were a few things that she was complaining about. It was the lack of an eye lash curler and not having any decent bras. So going up to the mall was my only real choice. Amazon Prime only goes so far and I doubted that all of the other places that I shop wouldn't get a gift to her on time. She sends me up to the mall's JC Penny's to return her jeans. I go to one checkout spot to do the return and then when I step up to the register, they tell me that I had to go to another checkout spot. Needless to say, that was aggravating. But the return itself was a real pain. Obviously, a bunch of seasonal workers were there and it was an online order. So the return had to be done twice and the girl needed a whole lot of help to get through this. That's what you get when you hire a bunch of seasonal workers.

But what is great about my local JC Penny's is that there is a little Sephora in that store and I had a $50 JC Penny's that I could use. I ended the JC Penny's thing with finding an eye lash curler and two roller balls. That is one of the things that I like about Sephora. One of the roller balls are going to my grandmother and the other is probably going to me. What I don't like is that the Sephoras in JC Penny's are so tiny and with a Christmas crowd, make things harder to get to and just go to the cash register to pay. After a while, I ended up telling people to just move, saying excuse me 3 times didn't exactly work so being rude had to.

Things got much better when I go to Victoria's Secret. I was able to find what I wanted and for some reason, this time, I didn't have to negotiate a slow moving line. The line seemed to move quickly and it wasn't stroller quagmire like JC Penny's was.

Gone on Long Enough

I've been sick for 7 days now without being able to smell much at all. That means no enjoyment of the perfumes that I love and the potential to find a new love out of my huge pile of untested perfumes. For the past couple of days, I have been draining and do have some ability to smell, but not enough to try anything new. Being sick, I have to avoid anything that is "perfumey". Mitsouko isn't happening, any Amouage perfumes, and many others like it bring on a long coughing fit. Le Labo Labdanum 18 and Chanel no. 22 are the only ones working right now. Even though I really can't smell them that well.

Since it is the holiday season, my email in box is overflowing with deals. Some of them are not even deals at all. Free shipping? Most have just lowered the threshold that is required to get free shipping. Ten or twenty percent off my order? That doesn't exactly thrill me. Buy one, get one is where my interest is increased. About half the time, the percentage off just means that I pay next to nothing for shipping. Thus far, in my Christmas shopping, I've bought all I've needed for my two nephews, got two small gifts for my parents. All I have left to get is the rest of my parents' gifts, get something for my grandmothers and I'm done.

But I am kind of cursed with the family that is hard to shop for. It's either I can't afford it, almost impossible to find or they have everything. I'm one of those people who are not willing to spend money on cousins and many aunts and uncles. No matter what I say to them, I'm not about to spend $150 a piece.