SOTD: Parfumerie Generale L'Eau Rare Matale. And Cat Of The Day, of course.

This seems to be the first warm-weather scent to come back into favor when the weather starts to turn. There are weeks and weeks of winter left, but I'm enjoying it all the same.

In considering this not-yet-over blogging/writing dry spell, I realize that while I'm not writing a thing, I am reading--in January, I knocked off eight books and I'm munching my way through three more simultaneously. Maybe that's the answer--maybe my brain only supports incoming or outgoing, and not both at once.

Image: Frances Simpson. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTDays: Andy Tauer Orange Star. Again.

Friday I wore Orange Star again.

Saturday was Scentless Saturday.

I think that my writing brain may be slowly starting to wake up. Or at least entering REM sleep. But it's not doing anything yet.

Also? Kitty.

Image: By Eirik Newth. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTDays: Andy Tauer Orange Star. And the kitties continue.

Brain is a desert of blowing dust.

Orange star yum.

Kitty cute.

That is all.

Image: By Roger Rossing/Renate Rossing. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Guerlain Mitsouko EDT

A busy day, so I didn't have time to pay attention to my latest Mitsouko Test. Himself reacted negatively to it when he walked into the room moments after I'd sprayed; I vaguely enjoyed the gasoline beginning, and then forgot all about it.

And the dry spell continues, so, more kitty!

Image: By Tomitheos. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Parfumerie Generale Iris Taizo

(Sunday? No perfume.)

Today I wore Iris Taizo, and it was lovely, but that seems to be all I have to say.

Maybe this writing dry spell will end tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I fill in with kittens.

Image: By Sals der Erde. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTDays: Slacking off!

I've been Not Posting. I don't know why, but the scent log must be maintained!

• So, today, Scentless Saturday, was perfume-free.
• Yesterday, Friday, I doused myself with Parfumerie Generale l'Eau Rare Matale. This is a major signal that spring is approaching; I think I've barely touched this perfume all winter.
• Thursday... um... I think Thursday was scentless.
• Wednesday I wore Chanel Coco, and made some good progress toward reconciling myself to this scent. 
• Tuesday, I babbled on about the tentative plan to refrain from perfume purchases, and I think I did it while unscented.

And that is all. I'll be back soon for more extensive rambling.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

Link: eyeliner on a cat's new URL

The fine blog eyeliner on a cat has moved! Since she can't redirect from the old URL, I wanted to post to let you know that the blog is now at http://eyelineronacatblog.blogspot.com/.

Image: By Guylaine Brunet.

Rambling: Just Looking

You  may have noticed that my posts lately have been abut buy, buy, buy perfume. Not that I'm actually buying anything these last few weeks, but every post is obsessed with whether it would fit in the collection, whether it's redundant, whether it would be wrong to buy it, blah blah blah.

This is rather like my tendency, when eating something new and delicious and deceptively simple at a restaurant, to say, "We really have to cook more." With the implication that if we did cook more, we'd imitate the dish that we're enjoying and thereby have access to it forever. And my tendency, while admiring a neighbor's (for example) daylilies, to immediately rethink my decision not to grow any daylilies myself.

It should be possible to enjoy a fine thing without immediately focusing on having control and possession of that thing. That focus suddenly looks to me like a hoarder's mindset. And there are hoarder genes in my DNA that I want to squash very, very flat. I've decided that I want to cut this out.

So what does that mean? As I write this post, it means that I'm considering buying no perfume for quite a long time. A long time by my standards, that is. Six months, maybe?

So if I were to do this, what would the rules be? I can think of a few :

• I'm allowed to repurchase what I use up. This will only be meaningful for soap and shampoo and bath potions, though if I unexpectedly use up a bottle or decant of a perfume, yes, I am allowed to replace it. This particular exercise is not about divesting, though it could well be accompanied by other exercises that are.
• I'm allowed to buy 1ml or 2ml samples. If the philosophy is to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of life without taking permanent possession of them, a 1ml perfume sample seems like a fine example of exactly that philosophy.
• No decants. No bottles. No excuses. No "But it's a sale." No "But I heard a rumor that it's being discontinued." No "But I already decided I wanted this before I made the rule." No "But it's vintage and it'll be gone." No "But I want to encourage local perfume sellers." No "But I'll buy it as soon as the rule is over, and it's on sale, so I may as well." No "But it's windfall money." Nope nope nope.

Now, I should make it clear that I'm just thinking about this. I'm writing up the rules and eyeing them, cautiously, from a distance. But I think it's a good plan.

Image: Wikimedia Commons. Click for credits.

SOTDays: Chanel Cuir de Russie and Eau d'Italie Paestum Rose

Yesterday was Cuir de Russie and a new pair of shoes. I enjoyed it, but Himself expressed a protest at the sillage.

Today, it occurred to me that my increasing fondness for incense might justify giving Paestum Rose another chance. I did rather enjoy it, though I'm still not sure if roses and incense belong in the same fragrance.

And that is all.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Bad Tester! No Biscuit!

I've mentioned the perfume shop at the San Francisco airport. Well, I called it a perfume shop; they call themselves a pharmacy, and, sadly, they seem to be shifting their focus a bit more in the pharmacy direction. There was no more Lorenzo Villoresi, less perfume focus at the entrance, and more focus on unexciting, Perfectly Nice brands in the perfumes that were still displayed.

But they still had Ineke, so I tried Field Notes From Paris on one arm, based on vague positive memories. Then I found a cologne that promised saffron and cedar, so of course I had to spray that on the other arm. If I'd noticed the name, I might have veered away, but by the time I saw the phrase, "Liquid Magnetism", I was already wearing it.

Liquid Magnetism was nicely cedarish, and then I lost track of it, because I think that something very, very bad had happened to the Field Notes From Paris tester. After three hours of slowly growing unpleasantness, followed by an attempt to wash it off with bar soap, dish soap, and then cooking oil and dish soap, I was ready to conclude that I just fervently hated the thing. But I sat down to write this post and re-read my comments after the last test. There's no way that the persistent fumes that are still giving me a headache are the perfume that I was discussing in that post.

Next time I'm in, I may point out that storage above hot lights may not be the best thing for a tester. Ineke wasn't toasting above that broiler today, but other bottles were, so that's my best guess for what happened.

Image: By Hemingray. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Serge Lutens Borneo 1834

There are fragrances that I love and am determined to own. There are fragrances that I sniff and have no desire to own, even if I like them. And there are fragrances that I would buy if I had more space. Borneo 1834 is in the third category--I only like it (a lot), but circumstances deny it a space in the (nearly full) breadboxes that house my collection.

The opening is a pleasant combination of foody and medicinal notes, with just a few cobwebs to add texture. Over time the medicine goes away, the food blooms a bit more, and there's something herbal, probably well-behaved patchouli, along with it. But the medicinal edge isn't sufficiently different from Fou d'Absinthe, the foody part isn't different enough from several other gourmands, and the patchouli's just a little too well-behaved. 

None of that would matter if I were in love, but I'm not. And now that I know that it would be better to remain out of love--now that I know that this is functionally redundant with other things--I will make sure that I'm never sufficiently re-exposed to change my mind.

I hope.

Review Roundup: Basenotes and Perfume-Smellin' Things and Perfume-Smellin' Things again and MakeupAlley and Bois de Jasmin and Fragrance Bouquet and Fragrantica and PeredePierre and Savvy Thinker and Badger & Blade and Nathan Branch.

Image: By tom burke. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: biehl parfumkunstwerke hb01

I may have found my orange blossom.

I've compared orange blossom to a continuous soundtrack of Shirley Temple laughing--delightful for about fifteen seconds, and then I want to run away, holding my ears. Or in the case of orange blossom, my nose.

But hb01 may be the exception. It's lower pitched than most orange blossom fragrances, tangy without being shrill, creamy shifting to powdery rather than transparent. There's a vaguely foody element that's probably the fruit and vanilla, but I don't actually perceive any fruit.

The notes list does sound pretty good for my nose:

orange flower, black currant, peach, green leaves, bergamot, rose, jasmine, lily of the valley, iris, tuberose, ylang, vanilla, cedar wood, sandalwood, musk

If a fragrance must have fruit, black currant and peach are some of the best fruits to have. Vanilla and cedar and sandalwood seem good for countering shrill flowers. The bergamot and "green leaves" could add that tangy, green edge. And all those other flowers are presumably crowding around the orange blossom, distracting it out of its annoying ways.

So, it's good. And it's feminine, terribly feminine, in a grown-up way--while it's perfectly respectable and wouldn't seem improper on a teenager, it would nevertheless seem odd, as if that teenager were wearing a Balenciaga suit. It wants me to dress and groom to live up to it, and I suspect that it's less flexible on that issue than sweet tolerant Jasmine White Moss.

The only flaw is the drydown. Not that I don't like the drydown--I love it. It's a beautiful creamy remnant of the vanilla and sandalwood and the mellowest parts of the flowers. But it's just a little too close to the drydown of Serge Lutens Un Lys, already in my collection, so I may conclude that it's redundant.

But it is so very lovely that I may, instead, conclude that I don't care.

I forgot the Review Roundup! PereDePierre and Basenotes and Fragrantica and surely there must be more?

SOTD: None

Again, I went unperfumed. And I went to the dentist.

Whine.

That is all.

Oh, and there's a longer whine on the other blog. Without any scary dentist content. In case you were worried.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

Twitter: European #fumechat! Thursday, 1/13, 8pm GMT

I had to Google to find a converter to tell me what this was in my time--turns out that 8pm GMT is at 12 noon tomorrow. I think. Does this mean I can chat with European perfume freaks at lunchtime? Woohoo!

Image: Fdecomite. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Montale Patchouli Leaves

I love patchouli. Himself hates patchouli. This is occasionally a problem. It's a problem right now, because I really like Montale Patchouli Leaves. It's dark and spicy, rich and strong, but it doesn't get too specific about the patchouli--if I were dishonest, I might be able to persuade Himself that it's a tobacco fragrance. I almost respond to it as a gourmand, but it has enough non-edible notes to keep it from making me feel full, and enough elegance and attitude to keep it from just being a plate of sticky pastries.

But while I like it very much, I think that it has redundancies with too many things. It reminds me of Chergui, and of Fumerie Turque, and Serge Noire. (The last one shouldn't be surprising, but I keep forgetting that Serge Noire has patchouli.) And I already own two of those. So I suspect that I'll finish off the sample and leave it at that.

Review Roundup: Now Smell This and The Scented Salamander and Basenotes and Fragrantica and Badger & Blade and Eiderdown Press and Basenotes and Nathan Branch and WAFT.

Image: By Takkk. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Serge Lutens Serge Noire

So, for lack of smoky meat perfume, I went with meatless smoke. And it was nice, even if it wasn't quite what I'm craving right now. To chase that craving, I'll be sending off for some samples based on folks' kind recommendations in the comments to yesterday's post.

I was reassured to learn that Heeley Cardinal and Serge Noire have quite different roles--a bottle of each in my collection wouldn't be redundant. Serge Noire is much spicier and more challenging, even several hours after application. Cardinal is clean and smooth, with, as I've said, no "side dishes" other than a temporary waft of fruit at the beginning. They'll serve for very different occasions.

If I buy Cardinal, that is. But of course, that would be Wrong.

Review Roundup: Is here.

Image: By Rise0011. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: None. And seasonal shifts. And poultry skin.

I seem to have suddenly--and temporarily, I'm sure--lost interest in perfume. I theorize that this is day length--it's cold, but days are getting longer, so I'm being reprogrammed to want warm-weather perfumes, but I don't want them yet. It's just a theory.

Actually, I am craving scents, but they're not scents that my collection offers me. I want the brown-butter dusty scent of the cepes note in Aftelier Cepes & Tuberose, but without the sweet tuberose. And I want the scent of garlic. And crispy chicken or duck skin. And bacon. I want smoky meat instead of smoky sweetness or just plain smoky smoke.

Salt, smoke, butter, and crisp fat. I don't think that the perfume world has anything for me right now.

But I still want to buy perfume. Badly. I want to select it, and click the Buy button, and wait for the package to come, and have the unwrapping ceremony. But I don't want to wear it.

My brain is confused.

Image: By Evan Swigart. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTDays: Uh...

So what did I wear Thursday and Friday? And Saturday?

I'm pretty sure I wore nothing. I'm not sure why. Especially since Friday there was #fumechat (woohoo!) and surely I'd want to smell like something?

But I didn't smell like anything. But the chat was great--thank you so much, everybody that came! Remember, every Friday at 7pm Pacific, 10pm Eastern, and, yep, a European time is needed, too.

My brain is, at the moment, a ball of fuzz, so that is all. But we went to the movies, so I may be posting about that later.

Image: Jorge Barrios. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Heeley Cardinal

Yum.

Want.

Image: By Harald Falk. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: None

I flew today, so in consideration to the Potentially Allergic, I went scentless.

Now I wanna buy perfume. This is a very dangerous reaction to a single unscented day.

And that is all.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

SOTDays: Perfume logging catch-up

I skipped perfume logging days! Noooo!

So, Friday I was unscented, on the same principle as Scentless Saturday--I spent the day with Himself, and Himself likes a lack of perfume on occasion.

Saturday I wore Un Crime Exotique, because it's a fine holiday perfume that I haven't worn enough. But it wasn't quite right for my end-of-vacation lamenting mood; too happy and sweet.

Sunday, we threw one final holiday party, the second annual Eating Junk And Watching Rubbish event, so of course I wore Sushi Imperiale.

Today, so far, I've worn nothing; I'm still in holiday jet lag, so to speak. I really should go correct that. The perfume, that is, not the jet lag.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

Whine: I'm not ready

I'm not ready. I'm just not ready.

To return to the real world, that is. Work. Phone calls. All those loose ends that were temporarily boxed up at the end of December. And the worries.

It's not that I have more worries than most people. But that's not helping, right now, as my brain is howling, "I don't waaaaaaaaannnnnnaaaaaa!"

My brain wants to stay right here with the computer and the blog and the books and the DVDs and the Christmas music and the chicken wings and this precise spot on the calendar. Passing time? No. Work? No. Responsibility? No. The weekly GTD review? Good heavens, nooooo!

I'm not ready. I need to be ready by Monday.

I'd better stock up on milk.

Edited to add: I wrote some complete nonsense on the other blog, and now I feel better. I lack logic.

Image: By Vask. Wikimedia Commons.