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.
 

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.

That Was Strange

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

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

 

Getting Older

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

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

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

That Was Fast

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

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

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

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

Spring Time and Sephora

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

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

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

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

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.