The Winner of the TDC garden coffret trio of samples is M.T. N. Just hit the Contact Us button over there on the left, and send me your address, and I’ll zip these off to you!
Brittney, BFF Paris — underwear, or the lack thereof, that’s about all the trash we need to insert into this Friday. Brit, cooters are never to be seen in public.
There are some perfumes that bother me. Not because they smell bad, but because I shouldn’t like them, but I wind up reaching for them. Flowerbomb Extreme is at the top of that list. They appear to be only putting it out every Christmas, and I missed it last year. I liked Flowebomb a little, but just didn’t wear it, it was too over the top and suffocating, it had sillage for miles. My niece adored it, and I wound up giving her a ton of what I had, just to get it out of the house, and the boys love it on her, tell her she smells like cotton candy… which is a great thing for her. But Flowerbomb Extreme… same smell basically, but it’s better behaved. Did I mention I really don’t like vanilla-ish sweet scents to wear? I like them in the bottle a lot, but they just get jacked up on me horribly. Flowerbomb Extreme is still sweet, but it’s like M&Ms, I can’t stop wearing it, and I hate myself every time I pass over all my beloved favorites and spritz on that cotton candy confection, even if she’s got her best hat and gloves on.
Frederic Malle Une Fleur de Cassie. What in tarnation is that top note? It is just wretched and horrific, and I just want to smash my arm with a hammer to make it go away, but I hold my nose and wait, and in about 20-30 minutes, I have the most gorgeous scent circling me. How can something that starts off so revolting get so good? But it gets worse, I had to get that ridiculously priced body butter in the same scent, but Luis at Barney’s tells me it’s a skin treatment and it doesn’t smell as bad in the open in the lotion — wrong! Guess that means I better shave my legs. No way am I putting on that expensive of a cream over the Winter Growth — it might make it grow faster. Yes, not shaving my legs at all very often in winter bothers me, too, but not enough to change the frequency of pulling out the Mach 3. And the conclusion on the body butter is… wow, these really are good. I’m pretty much hating how good. Colorado has the dryest weather, and slathering yourself with lotion and lip balm is essential to not walking around like a chapped body all winter. But here you have to reslather about three times a day, at least on the hands and arms. This butter holds up a lot better than anything else I’ve used in years. Put some on my hands about five hours ago, and my hands are still soft and moisturized — that never happens after November 1.
But is the Beurre worth over $100 for a tub? Well, it goes a long way, a couple of dabs did the trick for legs, arms, everything. Ah, hell no, it’s not, no body lotion is; however, if you’ve been a good girl this year and you need a little something to reward yourself for your sterling character, get yourself some, you know you want it.
Andy Tauer’s new lavender mod. What March said, this is seriously gorgeous (reminding self I better get my Orris bought before it is gone forever — okay, done!) If you love Serge’s Encens et Lavande, you will completely adore this. This wound up on my Things That Bother Me list only because my sample isn’t big enough to last me until there are vats of this available.
What fragrances bother you? For any reason.
Tarleisio, welcome the world of niche perfumes. It is a horribly expensive hobby, but it could be worse! ISM is just one of my scents that I have to have always, it is just perfection
I’m new to the world of Really Awesome Perfumes – and perfume blogs, and have to tell you girls that this is one of my favorite blogs. Now that I’ve graduated beyond the realm of run-of-the-mill department store stuff, what really bugs me is all those show-stopping scents awaiting either a)discovery, or b) the anticipated arrival of plastic-to-burn, aimed like a guided missile straight for a lot of non-export (I live in Europe, are you jealous yet?;) ) Serge Lutens. I just received the little book of perfumes, and I want a vat of Iris Silver Mist, and I want it…yesterday, if possible. And Mandarine Mandarin, and…The Unicorn Spell, and CB I Hate Perfume’s Violet Empire, and…oh, it makes for a long, LONG list…
The scents that bother me are the ones with sillage enough to land 747s…Angel comes to mind, as do…Poison (at least I think it’s lethal) and oh, all those similar, bland and boring fruity-florals that are far too common these days. There was one Claude Montana scent my nother used to wear, which was so potent and so heavy it made my eyes water and my ears pop…so I complained, and before long, she went back to her own beloved First. (She’s buried with a bottle of it, literally!)
YSL’s Kouros…don’t get me started on that one. I once had a male colleague who bought it in every permutation known to retail, and wore it all…simultaneously. One serious crime against humanity! There really should be laws…
Meanwhile, thanks to my American mother-in-law, I’m getting a bottle of hubby’s hands-down all-time winter favorite, the very under-rated Magie Noire from Lancome. Never known a guy who didn’t flip for this one, and I can’t wait to knock ’em dead..at least until ISM arrives from Paris…
Meanwhile, I’m ashamed to admit, Red Delicious will have to do, alas. At least my two-year-old son loves it…
I am very curious about Andy’s lavender. Hmmm. What fragrances bother me? Tubereuse 40 because once my trial vial is gone I won’t be able to justify $360 smackers to buy a bottle.:(( As for slathering, I repeat: COMPLEX 15 is the cure all.
Big Big and I mean BIG florals that stay on forever and drown you with monster sillage bothers me… like spraying Love in White on your polyester ski jacket (never again) or over-applying Fracas by Piguet on your wrist. A teensy weensy drop smeared on the back of your wrist with a spatula is enough heady tuberose thank you very much :-w
Living in the land of the Santa Ana winds (I love them, but it is a bit like living in a dryer vent sometimes) I can understand the urge for body butter. I go through a tub of pure shea butter and at least three shea butter lip balms a year, and the price of keeping this pelt from drying out gets bigger every year.
Tubereuse Criminelle bothers me. I crave it’s bizarre camphored opening and some evenings almost convince myself that I could wear it out of the house. Then I awaken to that admittedly lovely tuberose and realise that I am just not man enough to try. :((
Pam — I do feel for Brit. I’ve been divorced and crazy, but I didn’t have to do it in public. She really needs to take the kids and a few friends and head for the South of France or Italy for a month and just swing from the rafters (with underwear on, of course) and get it out of her system.
L — Heathen! Though I am going to say something nice about it next week. You’ll see.
Angela, I say got for it. March would be a good one to ask, her mother wore My Sin too, and she sent me some of it, and I think it is well worth you getting ahold of, especially vintage stuff. It’s interesting, and I liked it.
Let’s see, a good one is some stuff I got from Autumn at La Creme, it’s Yu-Be, but I call that my industrial strength stuff because it smells a little — well, I just sniffed it again, it’s a lotlike Vick’s VapoRub. Honest, the FM beurres are that emollient and last that long, I’m totally not kidding. If other places could make this stuff for less, they could sell vats of it to Coloradans.
R — did you take pictures!?!?!? I saw Iris’ pictures on MUA, and they both look awesome, as does Anthony, who I’ve talked to on the phone before.
Brit — man, my momma never had to tell me to keep my vajay-jay covered, but I suppose that’s now something we have to tell daughters? ::::shudder:::
Teri — absolutely! When I was living in Kansas, I could never justify this kind of money on creams, but now it’s an expense of living in the high desert. 🙂
We’ll have to visit about Colorado. It’s a shame the perfume shopping here is so pedestrian. If I had oodles of money, I’d so open up a perfume shop.
Will someone please buy Brit some drawers? Can you imagine being an adult and running across an old photo of your mama who is so. . . SOMETHING (fill in the blank) that she’s shining her possible for all to see? I can’t. . . .
Second to those above who have mentioned so many great fragrances that are now d/c. Something else that bothers me is when a vintage fragrance is re-released, only it’s been greatly altered. Some alterations are great (Arpege), while others either aren’t good or are a different fragrance altogether.
Ambre Narguilé, of course…
Right now I’m really bothered by Lanvin My Sin. I’m aching to get a bottle on ebay, but my mother used to wear it, and I can’t 100% remember what it smells like now, so I face the double threat of paying good money for a bottle of something I don’t like that makes me smell of my mother. But on the other hand, I really really want a bottle!
The Malle butter sounds like heaven on earth. What other body lotions work for you? I need a good one.
Well, speaking of Une Fleur de Cassie, I met Msr. Malle yesterday at our local Barneys, neener, neener, neener!! :d And, he is delightful. UFdeC was on my list, but I caved and bought a bottle of Lipstick Rose for my MIL and Musc Ravageur for moi. C’est Magnifique! UFdeC is next. But yeah: What is that opening note? It smells very, shall we say, girly-like, lol!
And, speaking of girly-like, I totally agree with you, and so does every other woman in America, young and old—having your ying-yang hanging out for all the world to see is downright trashy.
Hugs!
Tigs — I feel your pain. My nemesis isn’t Angel, it’s Giorgio Red, and I feel every bit as guilty when I drag it out and wear it now and again.
And Patty, I didn’t know you, too, were a Colorado girl. I know exactly what you mean about the slather factor times 3. I can still remember our realtor telling us to stock up on body lotion and lip balm when we moved here from Chicago. She was absolutely right — I go through a ton of it. On the upside, the dry climate legitimizes my frequent overindulgence in chichi foofoo body creams. 😉
Tigs, ew, Angel. You know, I should go back and try that again. I hated it long ago, but maybe I’ve changed my mind?
Sorry, I won’t tell you again how magical those butters are, and they are totally NOT worth $100 plus, no matter how great they are and emollient and smelly, and should I get the CArnal Flower one n ow?
L — what you getting from Hermes?
Gaia, agree on the NYC store for the SL nonexports. I mean, even if they would open for one hour a month so we can buy, I’d be happy!
Marina, isn’t it annoying? I need to hide it from myself, it’s like those marshmallow cookies with the chocolate on the outside — horrible things, but curiously addicting.
Angel is my Flowerbomb: I feel ridiculous wearing it because *everyone* else is, but then I feel snobbish and put it on anyway very occasionally and enjoy it but feel bad enjoying it and feel bad flagging low-flying airplanes with the sillage. *sigh* It is one of the perfumes that started my obsession with perfumes, so, like a first love, I cannot be rational about it.
Please, everyone, stop reminding me about those body butters.
Dark Rose doesn’t bother me – I found it take it or leave it when I sniffed it, and it reminded me of lots of other things.
What’s getting under my skin is the fact that a SA from Hermes can’t even post out the right items to me… Nothing like that to irritate you when you get home to your parcel after a godawful day at work.
Lea St. Barth extreme- I’m not supposed to love something so sweet and simple (though most vanillas are magical on my skin), yet somehow this silly scent in its ugly bottle is one of my favorites
Gris Clair- I adore it, but it behaves better for my husband. On me- it just sits there on my skin, staying aloof. On him it blooms.
The entire non-export SL line. Why can’t they open a Manhattan store? Why oh why oh why?
Most L’Artisans- good perfume needs to stay on my skin for more than an hour and not be shy about it.
I have the exact same reaction to Flowerbomb Extreme. Regular F-bomb leaves me cold, but this one…like you, I shouldn’t like it, but I do, and I can’t stop wearing it. 😕
E — bothersome indeed. I often wish Caron would judiciously cull some of the EDTs and make EDPs instead, just amped up a little more, but still not so expensive as the extraits. I think they would wind up with a lot more urn business from people who really liked the EDPs and wanted the extraits.
C&S Dark Rose is the bane of my existence.
Judith, Dark Rose more than bothers me. All I hear is about that scent, and I have never even sniffed it, and it is obviously languishing in the South of France on holiday for the last couple of years.
I’m mostly troubled by perfumes I don’t have easy access to. This would include most vintage or d/ced scents and ones on hiatus (the heavenly Dark Rose Judith mentioned). I’m also somewhat troubled by perfumes that have edts that smell completely different to my nose from the extrait formulations. This meant that for many years I totally ignored most Carons and many Guerlains because I *hated* their edts. The edts were sharp and thin on my skin. The extraits are pure heaven. All that wasted time! :((
Czech and Speake Dark Rose bothers me, because they say it’s on “hiatus,” and, although they keep promising to bring it back–they don’t!
C’mon guys–perfumes don’t need vacations!!
I absolutely adore Encens et Lavande; it’s one of my favorites! I MUST try the AT lavender!! I hope he comes out with the real fume soon!