Pets-related stories
I didn’t even realize how much easier it would be just to use numbers instead of going through the post and creating a list of names. Thank you everybody for the participation!
The winner of the draw poodle. Please contact me over e-mail.
And for everybody else a glimpse into how Rusty spends his day while I work hard choosing winners:
When I published the first episode of this series in December I thought I’d be done with all parts within a month. But then something kept coming up. So for those who recently started reading this blog, here are the links to the first two episodes of Orange Cats in My Life – Part I: Found and Lost and Part II: A Grin without a Cat
I do not like going to movie theaters. I have multiple reasons for that but three main ones are: the length of modern films (who can sit straight through three hours of anything??!), not numbered seats (which for me adds anxiety and at least 30 minutes to an already insane time at cinema) and popcorn smell (I hate it).
For most new releases I wait for a DVD to watch in the comfort of my home with food (and smells!) of my choice. But some movies are just made to be watched in theaters. Titanic, for instance. Ok, I’m joking – I haven’t seen this one in a theater or otherwise. But once a year I find a movie that I want to experience on a big screen.
For three years Lord of the Rings films were my once-per-year cinema fix. But after the last chapter was over it was hard to find a suitable candidate. After some considerations the choice was made: Shrek 2. I wasn’t a huge fan of the first movie and the only reason for seeing the sequel that I can remember was that there were going to be two of my favorite singers – Tom Waits and Nick Cave.
The first time Puss in Boots put on his doe-eyed expression the theater went “Awwww…” and I could swear I heard not only women’s and children’s voices there. That was the moment when I fell in love with that adorable deceitfully innocent gaze.
I became obsessed – not even with the character himself but with that particular video frame. Once I found it (it took some time for people to steal it in a good quality and share with the World), this cuteness overload epitome literally stayed in my day-to-day life for years: I used this picture as a wallpaper on two (consecutive) laptops and two (once again, consecutive) smartphones.
A couple of years ago while moving to the next computer I decided that it was time to let him go. But every time I come across this transfixing gaze somewhere on Internet my heart sinks a little in that culturally acquired* “Awww… “
*I do not recall a similar exclamation or sentiment itself in my native language/culture.
I thought of bribing Rusty to help me with the draw but realized that choosing 10 winners out of 31 entries would take him forever so I decided that random.org wouldn’t be as cute but quick and accurate.
The winners of the draw are (please check the screen names in comments since there were some similar names with different initials): hajusuuri, Christina Segal, civet, Juli B., Dubaiscents, taffyj, Natalie, Lisa B., leathermountain and susan.
You have until Sunday, July 28th, to send your US shipping address to Mr. Dame: jd at jeffreydame . com (you know what to do to get a proper address from this, right? If no, contact me)
And this is what Rusty was doing instead of choosing winners:
This is the Honor System Virus.
Please send this to everyone in your e-mail address book, and then format your hard drive.
Thank You!
Parody of virus hoaxes, late 90s
A couple of months ago Puredistance held a drawing for samples of M and Opardu on the Kafkaesque blog. One of the conditions was that each randomly selected winner would “take a nice (creative) photo of his/her satin pouch and spray vials, and post that photo on either your Facebook status or on Twitter.” And since that was a future action request Kafka wrote:
Obviously, there is no way to check if you have or have not, so we’re going by the Honour System here. :) But it’s a tiny request from a wonderful perfume house that not a lot of people know about, so I think it would be nice to get the word out, don’t you?
I was one of the winners. Since I read that post, every time I think about the “honour system” I can’t help but smile remembering that old joke about the virus.
I couldn’t figure out any really creative way for taking those pictures so, as often, I just moved my photo shoot to the area where Rusty would have no problems inserting himself into the said pictures. I will post some of them on Facebook and Twitter, as was requested, but for my readers I present all of them here.
I tested M on my vSO. I like it on him; he likes it but says that it’s a little spicier than he’d like – not refusing to wear it though so it’s still a candidate for getting into my collection one day. If you’ve tried Puredistance M you know what I’m talking about. If not, I recommend reading reviews by Kafka (Kafkaesque), Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels), Suzanne (Eiderdown Press) and Steve (The Scented Hound) – and then testing it.
Opardu is very pleasant and I would not mind wearing it but I’m not in love with the scent so probably the sample (or a small decant in a swap) will be the extent of my involvement with it. Other bloggers were much more enchanted by Opardu so if you haven’t tried it yet read reviews by Kafka (Kafkaesque), Suzanne (Eiderdown Press) and Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels) – and then hunt down a sample: you might just love it.
I would love to hear your thoughts about Puredistance M, Opardu, Rusty or creative pictures but, just in case you’re in the mood for a non-perfume-related questions, I have one for you:
What was the most memorable computer virus you’ve ever encountered or heard of?
Images: my own
When I planned a three-day … well, I won’t even call it a trip – stopover in Paris I knew it would be not enough even to scratch the surface of everything that this city has to offer to a tourist, a perfumista or a foodie (who I am not but just saying). But when French air traffic controllers’ strike gave me a chance to meet Birgit and Sandra in Vienna at the same time it ensured I would have to revise whatever modest plans I might have had initially for Paris.
The lady who rented us the apartment was a little strange: she refused to talk to me on the phone claiming that “I do not see the need to call me. You have all the necessary information, and I am an honest and respectable 61-year French.” Persuasive, right? But I went ahead and signed the contract.
I’m not sure how we would have got into the apartment if it weren’t for Vanessa of Bonkers about Perfume who came to Paris on a train earlier (the last-minute change of plans because of the above-mentioned strike) and offered to meet us at the apartment. She was entertaining the landlady and not letting her leave for some important errand while our taxi driver first maneuvered through the Friday traffic and then tried to figure out how to get to the required point on the one-way street (I refused to do it on feet with suitcases!).
After we got in and the landlady left Vanessa and I discussed for a while if the woman could be 60+. We both agreed that even for a Parisian who doesn’t age the same as us, mere mortals, the woman to whom we just paid money for the stay looked suspiciously young… My vSO and I agreed that we weren’t sure what would upset us more – having paid to an impostor or acknowledging that the woman we saw was actually 61.
***
They say: Be careful what you wish for. I’d add: be careful what you do not wish for.
While we were planning our itinerary for the rest of the day, I mentioned that I didn’t really need to go to either Guerlain or Serge Lutens stores since I were up to date with the most current offerings and didn’t plan of buying anything there. But since I was in Paris it was just plainly wrong not to take a look at those legendary places…
You can read more about the events that followed that day in Vanessa’s post (the link above) but from me here are two pictures of the famous stores taken from the outside.
Vanessa was such a great company that I didn’t want to let her go. But after the last excuse – helping us to book a taxi drive to the airport for the departure day – we had to say good-byes hoping to meet again one day.
The second (and the only full) day in Paris we spent alternating walking the streets and eating/drinking. In about eleven hours we covered a lot including an incredibly pleasant meeting with Neela Vermeire of Neela Vermeire Creations and the second in two days trip to Jovoy to finish the methodical sniffing Vanessa and I had to halt the day before because of the store closing and to purchase my vacation perfume.
Neela proved to be to the every last bit as nice as all interviews with and stories about her portrait her. I was glad she found time to meet with me despite her busy schedule. Now I look forward to testing the newest perfumes from the line – Mohur Esprit de Parfum and Ashoka – samples of which Neela was kind to bring for me.
It seems that my vSO enjoyed all the perfume-related interruptions during this trip. Or at least he was a good sport – and I’m grateful to him for that.
Oh, and if you were wondering what perfume I bought to remind me about this – my first – trip to Paris, I’ll tell you without asking you to guess: Bombay Bling! by Neela Vermeire Creations. As I said in my story about three perfumes from the line, “It is a full-bottle worth perfume for me.”
Images: my own
Elise (The French Exit) started it. Then Joan (Scentsate) posted her list and Sigrun (Riktig Parfym) joined the group. I thought it was a fun idea – even though not related to perfumes, so here’s my list of meals (or sometimes just food items) that I remembered throughout my life (in approximately chronological order).
1. Mashed potato after three days of fasting due to stomach problems. I was 5, I think. It was made with water in which potato boiled instead of milk or cream but it was the tastiest smashed potato I’ve ever eaten.
2. Apples at my grandparents’ garden. I don’t know the variety; I’ve never tasted it anywhere else. But those apples were unbelievably good: juicy, crunchy, with just the right balance of sweetness and tartness. And it’s not just the way I recall: many Grandma’s friends and neighbors had acknowledged at the time how exceptional those apples were.
3. Food in my kindergarten was awful. Knowing realities of the time, I think it was due to complete lack of interest in the results of their work and stealing on the part of the kitchen stuff. And we were forced to eat it. I hated every meal. One day my mom’s friend took me to see a dentist. As a reward for my sufferings she gave me several sugar cubes to take with me to the kindergarten. A cream of wheat that afternoon improved significantly (later I tried: it didn’t work with soups).
4. Traditional Thanksgiving Cranberry mold salad at my friends’ K & D place. It’s a dish made to accompany turkey instead of a regular cranberry sauce: cranberries ground with a manual grinder, sugar, chopped apples, walnuts and celery, gelatin melted in orange juice – everything mixed together and refrigerated overnight in a form. I liked it the first time I tried it and more than 10 years later still love it. As well as the traditional Thanksgiving dinner at my friends’ house.
5. Dinner at Sansei Restaurant & Sushi Bar, Maui. The chef does his take on Japanese cuisine: soy sauce is something you do not get there since each roll comes with its own sauce. My absolute favorite is Sansei’s Mango Crab Salad Roll (see below) and Panko Crusted Ahi Sashimi Sushi Roll. If you ever on Maui, visit one of their several locations (check the website I linked to) – it’s worth it!
6. Bar Crudo restaurant in San Francisco: each bite is just perfect. Love the food but on the last couple of visits was underwhelmed by the service. Still will give them another chance the next time I’m in vicinity. If you decide to try it, make sure you have a reservation and enough time.
7. My general rule is to avoid buffets: I do not eat enough to justify the price for good ones and it makes no sense to eat in bad ones. But there is an exception to this rule: buffet at Bellagio, Las Vegas. It’s not a fine dining experience and it’s not cheap but every time I’m in Vegas I try to eat there because I like both the quality of food and the variety.
8. One time vacationing on Maui with another couple for several days we discussed why we couldn’t see the moon – even though the sky was clear. It was a mystery, neither of us could think of an explanation. One evening my vSO and I decided to go for a dinner – just two of us – to a restaurant that we liked many years earlier during our first visit to Maui. That restaurant was long gone but since it was a beautiful and romantic spot we found a new restaurant there – Merryman’s. The food was even better than we remembered; the atmosphere was very romantic and, what was the most amazing: we found the moon! It turned out that it could be seen once it gets dark (see the picture) and then within an hour it goes down and hides behind the horizon.
9. Mac and cheese made by my friend and co-worker M. for an office potluck. I’m not sure if I’d ever tried this dish before – it wasn’t something I grew up with and it didn’t seem appealing to me as an adult. But since I like most things prepared by M. I decided to try it and loved it. It’s still the only M&C I eat whenever she agrees to make it. So it’s probably good that office’s potluck happens just once a year.
10. Rugelach from one of the bakeries close to my office. I’m addicted to it but do not get to eat them often since even though it’s usually gone really fast the bakery doesn’t make them too often. I have a network of spies who alert me when the new batch is spotted.
11. Beef Wellington cooked by my friend K. for the 1012 New Year celebration. It looked and tasted divine.
What was the latest great meal you can remember?
Images: Mango Crab Roll – from Sensei website; everything else – my own.
It has been a long time since I published the first episode in which I shared my impressions of Pur Desir de Lilas by Yves Rocher, Lilac by ElizabethW, French Lilac by Pacifica, Lilacs & Heliotrope by Soivohle, Highland Lilac of Rochester, After My Own Heart by Ineke and En Passant by Frederic Malle. Since then I bought French Lilac by Pacifica – as I planned, still haven’t got Highland Lilac and tried more lilac perfumes.
Purple Lilac by DSH Perfumes and White Lilac by DSH Perfumes. They both smell quite realistically: I could clearly picture each of the flowers; purple lilac – slightly wilted, with some green; white – brighter and fresher. I like White Lilac more but both do not seem like a finished perfume.
Lilac by Demeter (2009). It’s perfect for the price I paid (~$5 for 30 ml). I don’t think it’s a perfume for adults but it makes a nice room spray: it smells good but doesn’t stay long enough to become overwhelming.
Purple Lilac (Lilas Mauve) by Yves Rocher (Annick Menardo, 2012). Last year I jumped through some hoops to get it from the U.K. since it wasn’t available yet from the U.S. website. It smells of lilacs if you smell it alone but in comparison to other lilac scents it seems too artificial. I was so disappointed that I haven’t even compared it to the other Yves Rocher’s lilac I own – Pur Desir de Lilas.
After all the testing I realized that even though I still miss lilacs and still enjoy the smell of flowers (and my ideal lilacs bouquet has only lilacs in it) I do not want to wear it as a soliflore. I like the note in perfumes but I want it to be well-mixed with other flowers. I think at least partially it’s because now I know that there is no natural lilac, this note is either created artificially or recreated using other floral notes so a single-dimensional scent seems too simple. If I ever want just it Pacific’s perfume is more than enough (I urge you to try a roll-on if you haven’t tried it yet).
I was really looking forward to trying Opardu by Puredistance (Annie Buzantian, 2012): if anybody, this brand could pull off this note in a beautiful composition… I can’t say I disliked Opardu: it was very pleasant and it did start with a burst of beautiful lilacs but it didn’t wow me. After the first disappointment wore off I tested Opardu again, this time with a better response – that’s how it usually happens to me. Now I plan to try it sprayed since I suspect it might wear differently this way.
Rue des Lilas by Phaedon (Pierre Guillaume, 2011) just happened upon me. I heard something about it and spontaneously decided to buy a small decant from a split. I was pleasantly surprised by the perfume: it’s an interesting composition of wood and my two favorite nonexistent (for the perfumery purposes) flowers – lilac and lily-of-the-valley. Unlike Demeter’s or Yves Rocher’s lilac perfumes Rue des Lilas is a lilac perfume for grown-ups. My problem with this perfume is that I dislike the bottle: it reminds me of functional products. So if I decide to get more after I use up my decant I might go for the next decant.
White Lilac & Rhubarb by Jo Malone (Christine Nagel, 2012) was a strong like from the first sniff. Since it was a limited edition I had to decide quickly… I enjoy wearing it in hot weather. It’s more than just a lilac perfume: rhubarb and heliotrope add complexity and sweetness to the bouquet. I know that there is supposed to be rose in it but I can’t smell it at all (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing since Jo Malone’s Red Roses turns awfully soapy on my skin). With White Lilac & Rhubarb I had one of those moments when you keep turning your head trying to figure out from where that great scent comes only to realize that it’s coming from you. I like this perfume but still can’t imagine that anbody in her right mind would pay the price currently asked for it! And it’s not even a question of how good the perfume is: it was out there for such a short period of time that I don’t know how anybody could have developed such a deep connection to it to spend $300-$500 on a 100 ml bottle.
Do you have a favorite lilac perfume?
Images: my own
Soon after Bvlgari Black had been released I picked up a bottle from a perfume counter thinking: “It looks like a hockey puck!” I sprayed a paper strip, sniffed: “It smells like it too!” And that was it. I haven’t approached Black for the next ten years.
Growing up I lived in a large multi-unit building in the downtown of a big city. After school children would play in the yard formed by the building. I wasn’t a tomboy or too sporty but there were almost no girls of my age in our building at the time so I didn’t have much choice but to play with boys. They weren’t super thrilled by my company (we’re talking about the age between eight and twelve) but when they needed an extra body for a two-team game mine would do (and on rare occasions I wasn’t even the last one chosen!).
Once in winter, I think I was ten, I was a goalie for an improvised hockey team that was one player short. I didn’t have a goaltender mask (none of us did, we were very poorly equipped in general) but I still was happy to be invited… You can guess where I’m heading with the story, right?
I was lucky: I ended up with a black eye that went through the usual rainbow of colors before getting better and a scar on my eyebrow that I carry through my life. No wonder I wasn’t too enthusiastic about something reminding me of a puck and smelling like burning rubber.
When I started my journey in the Perfumeland I read many praises for Bvlgari Black. I got curious and even managed to find it once at a store but I was wearing another perfume so it was a paper strip again. And again I smelled some rubber and smoke but that time I liked what I smelled.
It’s not an expensive perfume so I’m not sure why I didn’t go for a bottle immediately. Probably because it seemed easily obtainable once I make a decision to buy so I didn’t want to do it without testing on skin. Too bad I couldn’t find it in stores any longer.
Finally a couple of weeks ago I got a small decant of Black from Judith (the unseen censer). I sprayed it on, smelled and… It was the fastest start from the first application to the Place Order button: the burning tires smell was still in the air.
Up-close it still looks like a hockey puck but it doesn’t bother me any longer: over the years I mastered the art of covering the scar.
Images: my own.
Being parfumistas we accept that most perfumes are unisex and even those that lean towards masculine or feminine designation might be worn by any gender. The same way there are no strict rules as to which genre of perfumes should be worn in which environment or on which occasion (breathing conditions permitting).
It might be a nice contrast to put on, let’s say, a vintage Vol de Nuit extrait while wearing jeans and sneakers and running mundane errands or to use some faint and subtle skin scent with a statement evening gown. But we often think of perfumes in terms of the occasion, something like: office-friendly, night out, beach walk or my best friend’s wedding. I thought about that while trying to classify my recent favorite – Johana by Keiko Mecheri.
It’s not an elegant and graceful Dior New Look 1947 ready for an evening in symphony (even though Luckyscent describes Johana as “elegant perfume” – I disagree).
But, on the other hand, neither it is a carefree and relaxed Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess on a tropical vacation.
Following the idea above, to describe how I see it, I pared Johana with shoes. This perfume is more than just comfortable casual loafers but rather fun and playful (well, as far as “playful” goes for my clothes) Mary Jane shoes. Johana is a dramatic but at the same time airy perfume. It doesn’t make a shocking statement but keeps grabbing my attention as I wear it.
When I was planning my visit to MinNY last Fall I had no intention to test Keiko Mecheri line. Did I have any particular reason? Not really, it’s not one of the lines I’m boycotting. Other than MinNY having plethora of other brands to which I normally have no access, there is that strange feeling that there are too many perfumes in the line – and until then I haven’t tried a single one.
How did it happen that after I’ve tested a dozen of Xerjoff‘s, all available Mona di Orio‘s, as many as I could Miller Harris‘ and many other perfumes I ended up leaving with Amour de Palazzo on the wrist and a single sample of Johana in my bag? It must have been fate!
In several month I went through a couple of samples, liked the perfume more and more, went to MinNY site hoping to buy it, panicked since not only they didn’t have it in stock any longer but I also couldn’t find it on the brand’s website – I thought it was some kind of an unannounced limited editions or promptly discontinued perfume. So when I saw a partial bottle of Johana sold in one of the FB perfume-related groups I immediately grabbed it. It’s available again from MinNY and Luckyscent (it’s still not mentioned on the official website!) but I’m glad I got it.
Johana by Keiko Mecheri – created in 2012, notes include Japanese chrysanthemum, galbanum, rose, wisteria, iris, cocoa, patchouly, incense, vanilla and sandalwood. I love most of these notes in perfumes. In Johana I cannot smell any of these! But I really enjoy this perfume even without being able to deconstruct it. Or maybe because of it?
If you want a real review, I liked very much Brian’s take on it (be patient, it takes a while for this site to load – I don’t know what widgets they use there but each time it’s a pain…)
Images: my own
Favorite flowers
Playing with numbers for the Entertaining Statistics post about favorite flowers of Birgit’s (Olfactoria’s Travels) readers reminded me that I planned to write this post for a long time. It was half a year ago. And I haven’t got to it since then. Last week when hajusuuri shared a cute idea of this week being an iris(h) week I decided it was my cue.
I like iris as a flower; it was my favorite flower before I knew it was used in perfumery (which wasn’t obvious since irises do not have a pronounced scent). A scarf with irises (at least that was the idea, don’t judge my tracing/drawing abilities too harshly) was my first (of three) silk painting exercises.
Compliments
That day I was wearing my favorite iris necklace and Iris Silver Mist. At an antique shop, as I was paying for two vintage perfume minis, an owner – a woman in her sixties, I guess, – first complimented me on the necklace and asked if it was antique. I told her that it was contemporary and “made by the same designer who made those spoons” (and I pointed to one of the glass displays where a variety of Franz Collection’s porcelain spoons were presented). And she actually remembered the name without looking it up. Then, while wrapping my purchase, she also said something like: “Oh, something smells really good!” She thought it was one of the perfumes I was buying. But actually it was my Iris Silver Mist by Serge Lutens.
Later the same day at Ann Taylor store a sales associate girl in her early twenties complimented me again on the necklace and my outfit. I told her that a piece of it was from the brand and she recognized a blouse. But she really liked my necklace: she told me again how pretty it was and even pointed it out to the girl who worked at the next register. “It looks almost as if it’s made of porcelain!” – she exclaimed. To which I responded: “It’s because it is.” Then she asked me if it was still available and gave me a piece of paper to write down the designer. As I was scribing the name she kept praising the necklace: “It’s sooo beautiful! I’ll try to find it… for my mom – she’ll love it!”
I stepped out from the store and, laughing, told my vSO who waited for me outside about the “compliment” I got. Theoretically, I could be her mother and I can just hope that it’s her mother (who must be at least slightly older than I am) looks younger and not the other way around. But I was glad she didn’t inquire about my perfume: judging by the antique lady’s compliment it could be right up the alley of this girl’s Grandma’s tastes.
Iris perfumes
I found not one but many perfect iris perfumes. Most of them are well-known, well-reviewed and well-loved so I’ll skip the usual part of giving all the details and just name those iris perfumes I enjoy the most.
Infusion d’Iris EdP by Prada (have you read my story Alien wears Prada Infusion d’Iris?), №19 EDT and parfum by Chanel, Iris 39 by Le Labo, Iris Poudre by Frederic Malle (it was featured in two of my Déjà vu episodes; if you’re curious take a look here), Hiris by Hermes (I want to thank again Portia of AustralianPerfumeJunkies for the mini bottle of this beautiful perfume), Orris Noir by Ormonde Jayne, Iris Silver Mist by Serge Lutens (even if you do not want to read at least take a look at the picture from Natalie’s post; that image stayed with me since I saw it and with which I always associate Iris Silver Mist now), La Femme Bleue by Armani Prive and my most recent perfume crush – Impossible Iris by Ramon Monegal (I think Rusty likes it: it was the only bottle in the group he sniffed for a while).
The following perfumes I’ve tried but didn’t fall in love with: Iris Ukiyoé by Hermes, Iris & White Musk by Jo Malone, Iris & Lady Moore by Jo Malone, Iris Pallida 2007 by L’Artisan Parfumeur, Iris Ganache by Guerlain, Bois d’Iris by The Different Company, Iris Nobile by Acqua Di Parma, №19 Poudre by Chanel, 28 La Pausa by Chanel, Irisss by Xerjoff and Iris Noir by Yves Rocher. Most of them were nice and I wouldn’t mind wearing most of them (but Iris Ukiyoé – it smells unpleasant on myskin) if I happen to own them but I do not plan to pursue any bottles from the list.
If you like iris in perfumes what are your three top choices? (You won’t have to give up the rest, I promise!)
Images: my own
Undina's Looking Glass 