Brandy — I’ve been meaning to try this one forever, I think I’ve had the sample for about four months. Notes of apple,
peach and herbs, with the claim that horses are enticed by the scent. You know, it’s not terrible, kind of a mess of fruit and something else that isn’t offensive, but isn’t very memorable either. What does this have to do with horsies? The apple maybe? I’m thinking more rocking horse than the palomino that inspired it. I don’t get so much apple, I get that pear-like smell that seems to happen instead of peaches on many scents. I don’t know why exactly that happens with peach perfumes. A mystery! BTW, for those of you that were skeptical of Madonna’s new W photo shoot, you can go view most of the snaps here. Some of the photos are just gorgeous, very beautiful, but some of them are so disturbing. Art or horsie pr0n?
Givenchy Le De — Created in 1957 and I believe discontinued now, with notes of bergamot, mandarin, coriander, jasmine, rose, carnation, lilac, lily of the valley, sandalwood and gaicwood, amber and moss. Goes on soft and a little powdery. I generally don’t like older or vintage perfumes, but a darling friend sent this, and it is just gorgeous. I feel a little like I just stepped into a Rita Hayworth movie — a little dangerous and a lot of estrogen floating about. So very feminine and beautifully blended with enough depth to keep it interesting. Just beautiful.
And now that I’m going down memory lane…
My mother used to make a burnt sugar cake from the recipe in the old green Watkins recipe book, which I still have in my possession even though the pages are falling out and it is messed up with notes from my mom like “Patty, make this tonight.” We had to work for months to talk her into making that sinfully calorious concoction, and she just hated doing it. We always pinned our hopes on Aunt Nelda every year to get it made. Aunt Nelda would breeze in for a vist and just ask once, and my mom would skip into the kitching, bitching the whole time under her breath about that damn cake and make it anyway. Burnt Sugar from CdG does not smell like the burnt sugar I remember. Burning sugar isn’t that sweet. The sweetness is there, but is is overlaid by the acrid smell of browning. I really want to smell that again, and my mom cannot be bribed, sweet-talked or otherwise goaded into making that cake now that Aunt Nelda is dead, and I’m not talented enough at baking to make it, but CdG did not get anywhere near the mark on this one. As a perfume, it’s actually pretty flippin awful. Too sweet, more like cotton candy gone wrong, just horrible, it’s got to get scrubbed.
06130 Yuzu Rouge is FBW and is now added to my list of favorite crisp summer scents, along with 4711, Eva and Osmanthe Yunnan. Notes of yuzu, cassis, grapefruit, verbena, damascena rose, nutmeg, bergamot, cardamom, musk, moss, gray amber. There is nothing in this perfume that you can’t love. The rose that shows up at first is one of those small little blushing roses, with the citrus just wafting about it to give it zest and life.
I also need to find the perfect self-tanner. Ideas? I know I shouldn’t, but I’ve tried almost every self-tanner in existence, and I still just prefer the sun.
Rescue Me — I love this series, and they are re-running seasons 1 and 2 (partway through 2 now) in anticipation of season 3 starting on May 29. I’ve always been a Dennis Leary fan, and this series just makes me laugh and cry and cross my eyes. In what is a wasteland of television, it is a seriously refreshing series. If you aren’t watching it, why aren’t you?
Bleak House miniseries from PBS — oustanding. Loved the book, and this was a great adaptation. I only regretted that the Snagsby character only said once his best line “not to put too fine a point on it.”
Someone I work with’s husband died over the weekend from a very unexpected heart attack, though he had been ill for many years. She is young, about my age, and one of the kindest, sweetest people in the world, and she loved him so. I am so very sad for her. Sometimes that’s why I appreciate perfumes so much, they are like life, they never stay long enough to make us really want it to be over.
Trinity — haha, you should have your own photo shoot for W!
Watkins extracts still rock, they are just the best. I should go look them up and order.
You can get the Bleak House on DVD through Amazon. I totally missed it originally, so it was a great day-long marathon.
Hmrph!! I ALWAYS ride topless in just my black plastic undies and long black gloves. Even my neighbors are used to it by now. BTW, I have a large number of men who always show up for the trail rides. Wonder why??
Madonna aint got nuthin on me! :d
Yowza on that cake recipe! I think it might send me into a diabetic coma – however it does intrigue. My Mom used to sometimes buy the odd thing or two from Watkins. Amazingly they are still going strong – they always have tables set up in shopping malls.
The Givenchy & Yuzu scents sound very nice.
Rescue Me is an awesome series – the characters are so messed up and unlikeable yet you can’t help sympathizing and rooting for them. Glad someone else out there watches it.
Sadly I missed Bleak House, and I hope they repeat it. This is one of the few Dickens novels I haven’t read.
Madonna photos: the photography itself is gorgeous. Madonna and her umpteenth attempt to be “shocking”? Yawn. (:|
Patty,
I got my Comodynes on eBay…where else 🙂
Yes, that can be a problem with vintage fragrances. They could have gone rancid (in which case I would never, ever buy), or the top notes are damaged and, frankly, I don’t like that either.
L’Interdit has been re-formulated, and I actually love it! I have received many compliments on this gem.
Hugs!
Victoria, don’t you just hate that when you love something and then grow weary of it?
i think I must like my art more pedestrian, but even in the most disturbing photos, the photography is really stunning.
March, absorbine? I remenber that, but I think we wound up with mercurachrome more (cheaper, you know) We had Bag Balm all the time becaue we milked cows, and then a few years ago, the beauty folks decided it was really good for hands, which it is. It would heal up a cow teat that was just chapped and raw in the middle of winter, so it should be awesome for whatever ails ya.
R — I do like many of the older things, but buying vintage tends to be a disappointment too often, only because with the age of the perfume, it is missing notes,and I wind up thinking I’m missing something else. If I could smell them in full glory, as they were when they were fresh, I suspect I’d love more of them. The Le De doesn’t feel like it’s missing a thing, it’s just glorious.
I love the Rue Cambon Chanels, which are older, and I tend to wind up liking the older Guerlains. Beyond that, it is hit or miss.
Madonna pictures are beautiful. The disturbing element adds more suspense.
Yuzu Rouge is lovely, although I seem to have grown tired of it lately. Oh well, onto something else…
P, I love the smell of Absorbine Jr., which is weird and green and icky and my mother put on everything when we were little (strains, sprains, bug bites, burns, etc.) It came in that funny bottle with the foam applicator top. I was so delighted when I found it recently I mentioned it to my sister-in-law who teaches dressage. She laughed and said it’s horse liniment!:d
Sybil and R and March, I shall post the recipe in just a jiff, I found the green WAtkins cookbook.
Syble, I don’t remember the other stuff Watkins had, my mom mostly got the spices and extracts and things. I even remember “the Watkins man.” He was so nice and alway shadd little gifts for us kids, we loved having him come by.
I still have flashbacks to Sal Hepatica and Castoria as my parents loved to doctor us like they did the livestock. 🙂
Patty, no I have not looked at the Madonna pix…yet. I have a feeling that it would not be appropriate to view them in the workplace. 😮
I agree with March: Where is that burnt sugar cake recipe? I need it!
I guess we “disagree” on older or vintage fragrances, but I gotta tell you, it seems to be the way to go.;) And I would argue that, though also timeless, some of that Guerlain stuff you ordered (you know the ones I’m talking about!) would fall into that category.
Love the analogy about perfume and life. You are so correct!
Hugs, babe!
I loved that Bleak House miniseries, too! Except I missed the last episode! GRA! I thought the casting was particularly excellent. The guy who played Guppy was outstanding, as were the other actors, but he was especially outstanding. I really wish my PBS station would re-air it, but alas, I think I am stuck waiting to see if my library gets the series in so I can finally watch it again and catch that last hour.
Hi…I’m going to weigh in that Madonna’s horse pix are, in fact, horsie porn. She has that “I’m viewing my fetish object” blank stare. If that were all, I’d make a case that it could be art (if you like that sort of thing!). The topless, cigarette-smoking, horse-reclining, crop-biting stuff move it squarely over the edge into porn. Well photographed porn, but in my opinion still porn. She could have redeemed it with a sense of some sort of humor…Like why wasn’t she seen wearing an arm cast, or avoiding a big pile of horse dookie? She needs to give it a rest before her kids need 24/7 therapy.
For something completely different…Patty, I can’t believe you said Watkins…We were forced to use their “petro-carbo salve” for any burn, bump, or injury when I was growing up. Talk about a blast from the past. I vaguely remember that they sold extracts, etc. but all I can really remember is the distinctive reek and horrid oily feel of the salve. You should scan in the cake recipe! If it’s all that, I’d love to try it. (especially if it’s a difficult, time-consuming pain…I’ll do anything to aviod housework…even look at pix of Madonna abusing horses.)
The cigarette laying on top of the horse, right, Robin? I’m still grossed out. Though the picture of her back muscles has be about as oogied out, in the sames way I get grossed out with body builder’s all pumped up. God gave us skin so we don’t have to look at the musculoskeletal system unless it is an anatomy class.
Patty, I wish they had left out a few of those pictures too. Or, that I had waited to look at them *after* breakfast.
How about if we put you on the side of the colisuem that has the Apres getting pumped in?
So where do I find this Comodynes? Drugstore, or online somewhere? This sounds like perfection. I thoughth the Jergens stuff would be, but I get streaks with that as well, even after buffing away and making sure I am completely dry, just streaks. Bleah.
They are pretty pictures, some of them, truly, but I wish they would have left out a few of them that just made me choke on my coffee.
I will, of course, send you the recipe. Link? This in a 70-year-old Watkins recipe book, there ain’t no stinkin’ link!:)
Patty,
I am afraid I will not be able to pay my respects to you girls. En Passant being pumped up in the air?? *rans away screaming*
PS. I have found The Perfect Self-Tanner. Comodynes. Self-Tanning Towelettes for face and body. Firstly, they are almost scent-less (unusual for the typically stinky self-tanners). Secondly, they do not make the skin oily and glistening. The stuff gets absorbed into the skin almost instanteneously and so no sticky feeling. And I haven’t had any streaky problems either. Highly recommended!
Some of those Madonna pics are just gorgeous. They remind me of that live horse show… Cavalia?
But why, oh why, did you not include a link to the recipe for the Burnt Sugar Cake?!?! My mouth is watering, my curiosity piqued, etc., etc. Can you scan it in? Send me a copy? Please?
I agree that CdG Burnt Sugar just smells nasty, like one of those Simpson Dessert things.