Summer Perfume

It's that time of year. The time of grilling, mosquitoes and mosquito bites, bees and most of all hot weather. That muggy type of hot, that insufferable type of hot. I got to thinking about perfumes that can work when the heat is insufferable.

A few of my picks are from the Commes des Garcones incense line, specifically Kyoto and Zagorsk. Summer heats doesn't make anything really stick around all that much, maybe 3 or 4 hours at best. Kyoto and Zagorsk are not heavy perfumes and in heat, they are great. Dry but not bone dry, airy but not really. They just seem to work in summer.

Another favorite in summer in Chanel no 19 in EDT form. It's bitey, it's light, slightly bitter but it works in summer. The extrait and EDP don't do the trick in summer, early spring, maybe but not summer. The extrait and EDP just get annoying and seem to be too much in summer. Worth Courtesan is another good one to. It's cheerful, relativity cheap and it's fun. That slightly sweaty pineapple and the barest hint of musk make it a wonderful perfume for the summer.

The last perfume that seems to suit in my collection is En Passant. The lilac, cucumber, wheat and the watery aspect just work in heat, if you use a light hand. Spray with a heavy hand, it might not work.

Amouage Gold for Men

I've been struggling with Amouage's offerings for men. None of what I had tried didn't wow me, let alone impress me. They were light, thin and weak things. I couldn't understand nor see the correlation between the men's version and the women's version of any of them. Then came Gold for men.

I have always found Gold for women a little difficult to wear. Too big, too dense, and way too much civet that got really fecal. As difficult as the women's version is, I do wear it from time to time.

Gold for men starts out as almost a dead ringer for the women's version. I noticed that everything is toned down and drier. The floral aspect is still prominant but doesn't smell overwhelming to my nose. What made me really happy is the civet note wasn't huge and fecal. There was just enough to give it a bit of a growl. Gold Woman has a civet note was huge to the point of crass and was very poopy. I loved how the frankincense was very prominant and didn't allow anything to get out of hand. Gold Man has the lasting power of nuclear waste of my perfume eating skin.

I'm in love with Gold Man because I see how it ties into Gold Woman. Could I see a man wearing this? It would take a very confidant man to wear it but I would gladly take a bottle. So I have to save my pennies and get it for my birthday, or Christmas or when I get my next tax refund.

Spring is here to stay

It looks like spring is here to stay. I have been pretty busy. With the new puppy and many changes at work, I don't have much of a motivation to blog or try anything new. But since the weather is much warmer, almost unseasonably warm, it's difficult with my perfume collection.

A few days ago, while having the new puppy outside to use the bathroom, I end up getting stung on the top of my head by a hornet. I don't know why but I remember wearing vintage Bal that day. That's the little dickens to the left. I have forgotten many things with having a puppy in the house. How often I need to take them out to go to the bathroom, playing, chewing everything, even hands and much more. Right now, she is napping on the couch downstairs, so I have a little bit of time to blog.

But back to the hornet sting and vintage Bal, I had to take a look at my collection. Most of my collection is on the oriental side or kind of on the sweet side. I don't have much in the way of stuff that will keep the bees away or be overwhelming. I have Chanel no 19, Mitsouko on cooler days, Deneuve might be a little sketchy and LADDM. So I have just four perfumes that probably would bet me through spring and summer but I'm not counting on it. I am looking for another spring/summer perfume that won't attract bugs and things that sting but coming up short with what would be good.

Don't Have Much of Anything

I have this huge pile of perfumes to wear and review and I was going to review Andy Tauer's Veviter Dance. But I promptly forgot what it smelled like and I do remember that I did enjoy it. Since I mostly stopped buying perfume except the occasional decant, I haven't really started to start going crazy with the reviewing thing. Let's just say that in many ways, I am a lazy bum in that department. I honestly think that I am trying to use up what I have full bottle wise and the decants that I have already reviewed.

Going through my little news feed of just random news that catches my eye, I was Amazon. There was some stuff about Amazon releasing their numbers of last quarter and how many Prime members that Amazon has. Then I noticed that Amazon is raising the price of 1 year of Prime. I remember when Prime was only $79 then $99. Now the cost is going to be raised to $119. I have always loved Amazon and have been a Prime member for years and now I might have to reassess my Prime membership when it comes up for renewal. I renewed my membership for a year last month, so I have a while to decide. Amazon did send me a blurb about what I saved in shipping, video watching and music listening. Prime paid for itself almost 3 times over. It was enough for me to keep Prime for another year at $99. The excuse is that Prime is expensive to have for Amazon.

On Monday, the breeder had called and said that our puppy will be ready on Sunday. We will be driving around two hours to get the puppy. I had gotten the crate, some toys, some pee pads and I am waiting on the doggie bed to go into the crate. Yes, I have a Bark Box subscription but I don't know how my other dog will react to the puppy playing with the toys that he already has, so the puppy will have a couple toys of her own. All that's left to do besides getting the puppy is getting puppy food and a collar and a leash for her.

New vs. Old

Many classic perfumes have gone through reformulations. The longer a perfume has been in circulation, it's a given. There are many reasons why reformulations happen and it can be very annoying or down right infuriating. I understand why some reformulations happen. Some ingredients are either banned because of allergies, harvesting is cruel or some become endangered. I understand why some things have to be outright banned or severely restricted. But I'm never a fan of having things banned due to allergies. Perfume is not essential to living, it's honestly not. Food is essential to staying alive. But I am strange when it comes to the vintage and current stuff.

Let's take Mitsouko, probably the most talked about reformulation. I like both the current version and I also like the vintage version. Since they have restricted oak moss, Mitsouko hasn't quite been the same. But the reformulation is still beautiful. Even though I don't wear Mitsouko as often as I should, I'm finding myself drawn more and more to the current version of Mitsouko than the vintage version and wearing the current formulation more. I don't know why I am drawn to the current formulation more but I'm thinking that the current version is a little brighter than the vintage version.

Chanel no 22 is another one. At first, I didn't like no 22. I found the EDT version to be too harsh and the vintage version to be smoother. Eventually, I started to enjoy no 22. Now I thing that I wasn't prepared or used to the powder and incense combination. I haven't tried the EDP version of no 22 so I can't comment on the EDP version. The version that I enjoy the most is the extrait version. It's rosier and more subdued. Powder bombs are hard to wear and harder to pull off.

Dealing

I'm still having a very difficult time with losing my dog. There are so many habits that are so ingrained and in a lot of ways, I forget that Charlie is gone. I miss seeing her in her "spot" on the couch, on the bed. I miss her barks when she wants somebody to pay attention to her because she is lonely. There are just so many quirks that I miss and some that used to annoy me. My other dog, Jake is having a difficult time without his four legged buddy, too. Yesterday, a deposit was made for a Lab puppy and now, it's a two week wait before the puppy can leave her mother.

Yes, we could have adopted a Lab but pet adoptions have gotten a lot more complex than what I remember. The rescue people want to take a look at your house, property, other animals if you have them and who knows how many interviews that they want. I get the fact that checking out the house and all and one interview but some things have gotten blown out of proportion. Any more than one interview and a home visit is overmuch. I get why the home visit and interview is important  but in some ways, some rescue groups act like they don't want you to adopt a dog. An animal is adopted because they are very much wanted.

Losing My Dog

It's Friday the 13th and it's a horrible day. Last night was a difficult night. My 13 year old black Lab, Charlie had a rough night. After she ate her supper and received her medication, she suffered a seizure and lost her ability to walk. Over the course of 4 days, her quality of life went down hill. My family and the vet think that she was probably dealing with a form of brain cancer due to symptoms that she was displaying over the past month. A couple hours ago, we had to put Charlie down and I have spent the whole day as a sobbing mess. I know my other dog knows that Charlie is gone and won't come home. Well, she will come home but not in dog form but in ashes. I swore that I wouldn't wear perfume but ended up wearing Lolita Lempicks (the original, not the flankers). I don't know why I did it and I don't know too much right now except that Charlie is gone and I won't see her anymore.