There is something so vaguely disquieting about having your fridge on the fritz. It started seeming “not quite right” late last week, until it toppled over into the “definitely warming up” category. Calling trusty Sears for repairs, scheduled for Saturday morning, I felt fairly confident that they’d be out – based on my experience in the past – and that they’d either have it fixed or give me the bad news to go buy a new one.
At the end of my appointment window of 8-noon, they call, their guy is, um, sick and has to go home. In other words, he’s hit the end of his shift, and they got nobody to come visit me. With my fridge warming faster than the Poles, I decide not to guy buy a new fridge, which nobody can deliver until Wednesday, right then, but reset my appointment with the new untrusty Sears for Monday morning between 8a-noon.
It’s 3p on Monday, no Sears, though I did get a call at noon to let me know he’s running behind and to make sure I was going to blow my whole day and sit around here and wait for him. They do realize I have no food, right? Because I threw it all out on Saturday and Sunday, though the freezer does seem to be holding at some fridge-like temperature, but it’s not very big.
I fully expect another call at 5p to tell me he’s “sick” again and can they put me on for tomorrow morning. When even Sears can’t get service right, I give up.
Amouage almost always gets it right. The new Memoir from Amouage for men was created by Karine Vinchon Spehner. I believe she’s the adorable perfumer we met at Robertet that also did the L’Artisan vetiver.
Notes on the men’s: Top Notes: Absinth, Wormwood, Basil, Mint; Heart Notes: Rose, Frankincense, Lavender Absolute; Base Notes: Sandalwood, Vetiver, Guaiac wood, Amber, Vanilla, Musk, Oakmoss, Leather, Tobacco. This is green smokin’ woods. There’s more of a green wood feel on the open, with the herbaceous notes wafting around making it more green and herby. The green lasts a good time, but it loses that more herbal smell early on as it blends into the woods and seems to surface as oakmoss. Rich smoke, leather, green woods, what’s not to love here?
This is such a guy’s scent, but I think women can definitely wear it. I love putting the men’s and women’s scents side by side, they just seem to fit together somehow.
Memoir for women has that rich fall-like feel of the men’s. Notes of absynth, cardamom, mandarin orange, pink pepper, wormwood, clove, incense, pepper, jasmine, rose, white flowers, musk, french labdanum, oak moss, styrax, leather. Where the men’s veers green, the women’s heads into spice/pepper with more emphasis on jasmine and incense, lighter on the leather, keeping the smoke, but not in the same way. Lord, I love this thing, but I don’t think I could wear it after like March, it’s just too made for cold weather. They are both a warm fire that just wrap you up in comfort, but with two different woods they are burning.
$265 for 100 mls, available at Parfums Raffy, Luckyscent, Aedes and Bergdorf and probably a few other retailers as well.
Yeah, let’s do a drawing for a couple of sets of samples of both. What do we want to talk about today? For me, the dwindling life cycle of appliances. I remember back with fridges lasted for two decades. Now I can get maybe 5-7 years out of them, and they just croak. I don’t really care that much when it comes to cell phones because the technology changes so much, I WANT a new one every couple of years. But fridges? Seriously, just no. It’s a thing I need to keep my food cold, it’s just functional and should be ancient by the time I have it hauled out of my house.
But you don’t have to talk about my malfunctioning fridge, you can talk about comfort scents of the Amouages, which are your favorites, or what scent do you like to snuggle up with on a cold winter night?
Come to think of it, I’m also getting Vetiver from this one also.
DAMM!!!! Memoir for men!!! I thought I could dodge this bullet, but, this one went straight through the heart, I feel that it’s the winter version of Sycomore, a much more assertive, and darker version, playing with frankincense instead of vetiver. still, that cool green top note, elevates these scents, AWESUM!!! BEST BUY IN A LONG TIME.
Is it still to late to be entered for the draw? If not.. please enter me! And all I can think of to talk about is the weather here (it’s finally in the upper 60s to 70s), but honestly, I’m dreading having to pull out my sweaters, and talking about the weather makes me think of that.
Theorema yesterday, Black Cashmere the day before, Angel today. When we get cool weather in Texas, I jump on it. Please enter me in the Amouage drawing. Thanks!!!
Yum, Theorema! Thanks, Rednails, for reminding me of that great — think I’ll go dig it out right now! (And the Black Cashmere, too!)
Count me in for the drawing. On wintry days, like many, I go for spices: Theorema, Black Cashmere, Cinnabar.
I’d like to throw my hat in the ring for those Amouage samples, please. And MICROWAVES! When the repairman told me that they aren’t made to last more than 10 years I was like,:o? 10 years is too long to expect your MICROWAVE to last? I have shoes that have held up longer and seen much more action in the process. Phooey!
I too love the new memoirs and I agree they would be even more lovely in the cold.
Vacuume cleaners are my nemesis. 4 years max.
Please enter me in the draw. Thanks!
Smitten with Amouage Jubilation 25 and have saved up gift cards to buy it! I am eager to try the Memoirs! Re: Appliances – I think the hot summer caused the electric company to do far more brown-outs than they alluded to. This definitely stressed the compressors beyond the beyond. Lost a TV and an old refrigerator most likely due to the brown outs. Oh, is Mercury in retrograde? Another likely reason! Please enter me in the draw. All best!
Companies no longer produce the quality of products that are designed to last forever. If they did that, then there would be no jobs for the repairmen or sales for the store sales person. I have the worst luck with vaccuum cleaners. Please enter me in the draw.
All our appliances are working at the moment–I’m writing this quietly because I don’t want them to hear that, and decide to break down!!
I would love to try the scents-I love that you feel that they ‘fit together’. Thanks for entering me in the draw…
I’m afraid to love Amouage as they may send me to the poorhouse, but I got some Gold and xxv samps from NY and they are oh, so lovely. Can I be in the draw too, please?
Snuggling w/Ava Luxe Cafe Noir, which i’m downright crazy obsessive about right now. I got a great home fragrance from Esteban, Teck and Tonka, which i wouldn’t have tried but the store owner swore it wasn’t a Vanilla Death Cloud– and indeed it’s not! Woody cinnamon and nutmeg balance out the sweet. It’s really nice, and not that $$$ ($28 for 100 ml).
I’ve been digging into my Sycomore split, and saving my pennies for one of those Coromandel honkerettes.
I don’t have any appliance issues today. Everything is working, the food is cool. (Not to rub it in0.
I have Amouage Jubilation XXV and love it. Too potent for wearing too often to the office. Oddly, Lonestar Memories has been a go-to recently as our weather in Chicago gets cooler. Can’t wait to try the new Memoirs (both of them).
Sears? Cable? All service calls: We’ll be there between 8 and 10. Phone call at 11:30 to tell me they’re running late but will be here ASAP. Call at 1:30, just finished lunch and will be on their way. Show at 2:30 and sit parked in the driveway for 45 minutes. Finally come in the door at 3:30 and say it’s not fixable/ it’s fixable but can’t be done today/ it will cost you a gazillion dollars to repair. “That’s it for today but you owe them $85.00 for the service call. Thank you for choosing brand X. Can I use your restroom, too?” Grrr. Please enter me in your drawing.
Appliances… we used to live without them without a problem, but now that we have them they’ve become essential. We had a range break down recently and the repair would have cost almost the same as buying a new one. Frustrating! Buying a new one is good, but being forced to buy a new one is not.
Amouage has always been a frustration for me: so beautiful and so expensive! Jubilation XXV and Homage have been on my “buy some day” list forever. And no smallish bottles either. The memoirs do sound good, though.
I love Jubilation 25, though I didn’t want to, considering the price.Isn’t usually the ugly appliances that you want to die that just keep going and going? I would love to be entered in the draw, if it’s not too late. Thanks!
Jubilation 25 is divine. Lyric is beautiful. Please enter my name in your generous drawing! Dwindling life expectancy of basic appliances…not impressed..and when they go…the entire household spins into dysfunctionality
Maybe I mean Jubilation xxv. The women’s one!
I’d be screaming mad if I had to throw all my food out, though come to think of it, the only things in my fridge right now are eggs, cheese, some condiments and a little booze. Which would survive in an ice chest.
Another Amouage virgin. Would love to try them. My favorite winter scent I think is SSS Winter Woods, but I’m saving that for literal winter.
Within the past couple of years, I’ve had to replace every small appliance in the house. I’ve been fairly lucky with refrigerators (two in the 30 years I’ve owned them) and washing machines/dryers (my first washing machine worked 20 years for my aunt, then another 15 for me; my second was bought new in 1993 and has been repaired once, by a friend). I thought my first microwave would never die, and I came close to taking it out and shooting it through the heart.
I wish my fridge would die! I hate it, the layout is terrible, but it won’t die. I’m praying for a lightning strike this winter to kill it.
Please do enter me in the drawing, I love Amouage! I have Dia, Gold, Jubilation 25 and XXV, and would love to smell Memoir.
I could go on ad nauseum about clothes washers that need repeated repairs (high end Maytag front loaders too! faulty circuit boards! design flaws! mold! class action lawsuits! ) and the many microwaves and dishwashers and dryer repairs we’ve funded, and our very nice independent repair guy who will give out reliable advice on the next model to buy (and I too read Consumer Reports like it’s a bible). He felt bad about having to charge us a $75 service charge last month for taking a penny out of the discharge tube, that was blocking the drain. Sigh.
BUT…. I’ll just say Amouage Jubilation XXV. My DH gets many many compliments on it. I love it. It’s a classic. We have backups.
But I do want to try these Memoirs, so thanks for the review, Patty, and throw my hat in the ring for the samples ;)
Ugh, waiting around for flaky appliance service repair. Sorry to hear about the annoyance.
The weather here is just starting to turn, so I’m eager to snuggle up with my cold-weather scents. I’m wearing Feminite du Bois today.
Please enter me in the draw, thank you!
I guess I’m late to the party here, but I wanted to add my name to the draw. I’ve had good luck with appliances for the most part, but when i buy them, i make a point NOT to get the so-called state-of-the-art models. I stick with the lower end of the line, using the theory that fewer moving parts equals fewer things that can break. It’s only a theory though. I think they just make things so they break sooner on purpose.
I don’t have a fall scent just yet. I’m working my way thru a lot of samples. But when i went to Portland last month, I visited the Perfume House and bought YSL Yvresse and Perfume Sacre Intense. It was FUN!
By the way, my gravitar looks like a stink bug.
Hi Claudia, don’t feel bad — my gravitar looks like something from a Preparation H commercial!! BTW, so envious of you visiting the Perfume House. How is it set up and what kind of stuff does it offer — some vintage and some new stuff or what? I would love to get your take on it.
I have a half-sister up in Eugene that I’ve been meaning to go visit and it would be nice to explore perfumes in Portland. Thanks!
P.S. I’m with you on getting the closer- to- basic models of things — when all those fancy bells and whistles go out they might just take down the whole appliance with them …
Hi Ann. I loved the Perfume House, but I was SO excited by the time I actually got there, I could barely speak. Seriously, I was stuck dumb by the beauty of all those bottles of perfume! I didn’t know where to look first. Luckily, my brothers were with me and they distracted the saleslady (I think her name was Pam) until I was able to get a grip. They have an amazing amount of stuff there, both new and vintage. I got to try some of the Amouages and Pam had all sorts of stories about what it is like to work there. Having said that, though, they actually didn’t have the first 3 things on my list of “wants” 1)any Ormonde Jayne (ok, I knew that was a long shot) 2)L’Artisan Papyrus de Ciane or 3) Etro Messe de Minuit. They had a lot of L’Artisan stuff, but not that one, and they were out of the Etro. But it didn’t take me long to find other stuff I wanted and I left very happy. I highly recommend a visit. It’s located on a busy commercial street, but the side-streets are residential, and we didn’t have any trouble finding parking.
I couldn’t find any other perfume stores in Portland. We went to a mall that was supposed to have one, but couldn’t find it once we got there. We went to See’s Candy instead….
Thanks, Claudia!! I, too, would have been somewhat awestruck, faced with a store full of such fragrant wonders. Sounds like you did OK, though.
And I love, love, love See’s! Can’t get it much here down South but I always got a boatload when I traveled to San Francisco. That reminds me, in mid-October, See’s lifts its warm-weather shipping charges so it’s not quite as expensive to have it shipped. Their butterscotch squares are awesomely, melt-in-your-mouth good, if you like that sort of thing.
Butterscotch squares are my favorites. My husband and I (this is embarrassing)order a 3 pound box of See’s for Christmas every year. We eat 2 pieces a night until it’s gone.
I also love the chocolate covered peanut brittle bars.
Where in the South are you? We live in Northern VA. The Farm Fresh grocery store in Williamsburg carries the 1 lb boxes of See’s. When we go there to visit we pick up a box. But I love to order from the catalog and mix & match my favorites.
Ah, Claudia, a woman after my own heart (and sweet tooth!). I live
outside Atlanta, and at the holidays, See’s will set up a temporary kiosk at a couple of the malls, so at least we can get our fix there. But, like you, nothing beats ordering a custom box. One year I ordered like 90% butterscotch squares with a couple of other things thrown in for good measure. Heavenly! Think that’s what I’ll do this year, once the warm-weather shipping charges go away.
BTW, I envy you living in Virginia. We actually went to Williamsburg for our honeymoon and it was delightful in mid-October. Plus, I have family near Richmond, Lynchburg and Roanoke and I don’t get up there to see them as often as I would like. Wishing you guys a very colorful fall!
Drawing? Yes please!
Unfortunately there are very few Amouages that don’t make me insane with want. I love them all. Epic, Gold, even Ciel which I never hear anyone talk about, Dia… And I just tried the new Opus I and drat, IT’S really good, now I’m looking for folks to do a split with!
We just bought a freezer so I reassure myself that if the fridge ever dies completely (the thing is either insane or evil) I can always rotate through ice frozen in soda or milk bottles and keep the stupid thing cold that way. But I hate being hostage to the stupid thing. Even more so, hate being hostage to Sears.
Ooo, yes, please enter me in the drawing!
I cannot say that I associate Amouage with comfort scents. Then again, the scents that suggest coziness to me are usually scents I veer away from — heavy on the nursery food factor (vanilla, amber, rice, yuck). Now if someone could encapsulate the smell of the rehearsal hall from my grandparents’ summer camp in rural PA — think dust, aging cedar, felt wool,wood polish — THAT would be the comfort scent of all eternity for me!
As for available fragrances, I do find Fath de Fath, Coze and Asja on the snuggly side…
I’m sorry about the fridge! I feel like I’m getting way older than I should be when I complain of the useful life of things, but c’mon. Between the appliances and then things like couches (I don’t want to have to spend 5K on a couch for it to last more than five to seven years!)…there is much to complain of.
Hope everything works out for you!
(And if you wanted to enter me in the drawing, I wouldn’t mind that either.)
Doll those Amouages sound like Heaven. Please enter me in the draw. Sorry about your fridge. I get what your saying. I inheirited my childhood home a couple years ago when my dad passed away, and almost all the home appliances are originals from the 60s and 70’s. I even have an olive green stove:)
Oh my! Smoky woods, jasmine and cardamom sound like something I’d love. The price-not so much but I’m sure it’s worth every penny. Please enter me in the draw. My most comforting perfumes for colder days are currently Bois d’Armenie, Vanille 44 and Korres Pepper Jasmine Gaiac Wood Passion Fruit.
We embarked on a major remodel this summer including a new kitchen with new appliances. Our 1 month old KitchenAid dishwasher stopped working. The panel lights were flashing but the buttons wouldn’t work. Luckily it was under warranty and KitchenAid helped us find a local service company. Didn’t cost anything unless you count the hassle and the nights of washing by hand until the part arrived.
For all of the perfumes I have tried, haven’t tried a one in that line. Perhaps that will be my winter sampling. Although, a few weeks ago I discovered Liz Zorn is in my neck of the woods and plan to head to her studio explore there as well.
Forgot to say keep me out of the drawing. I already have samples of both and like the woman’s version. Happy that the smoke takes a big back seat!
Jeez, I look like a nut case here….my Luckyscent ample pack came right after I wrote this and wanted to come back immediately and add that comment. But didn’t remember until this now….I need a vacation!
Hi, Patty. I’ve not yet delved into the world of Amouage, besides Jubilation XXV, which I hear is a good place to start, but I’d love to be entered into the drawing to perhaps try the guys Memoir. It sounds fantastic: smoky, green, woody? excellent. I’m thinking Profumum Fumidus but I know I’m probably way off. :)
Oh, I’m really loving Tobacco Vanille these days for the snuggly moments. :)
I would love to enter the drawing! I have had great luck w/appliances. Same stereo since college and never replaced a stove, microwave, or fridge. Fingers crossed (and ready to dab, I hope!)
Ugh, don’t get me going on the whole “planned obsolescence” thing. In terms of fridges, I was told by a salesman that they don’t last as long as they used to because of energy efficiency requirements: parts have to be a lot lighter and flimsier to take less energy to run. Except I can’t help wondering if fridges that take less juice to run but head to the landfill every five years are any better for the environment that the older, heavier fridges that lasted for thirty years but drank up more electricity.
And I’m not totally sure I totally buy the energy efficiency argument either, because I see the same phenomenon in pianos and sewing machines (I’m a piano teacher and a quilter).
You want an indestructible piano with a lovely warm sound? Find a piano tuner who’s got an 80yo piano in his shop he’s working on and snatch it up, because you’d have to pay $35,000 for something handmade from Germany to get that kind of quality in a new piano.
And there’s a reason why so many quilters lust after the ancient Singer Featherweights – they’re beautiful, light to carry and still sewing a beautiful straight stitch after all this time.
Yeah, I could rant about this topic for awhile. So on to a more pleasant topic, could I be entered in the drawing as well? :)
Oh my goodness, these sound AMAZING. I’ve never smelled Amouage, but they sound heavenly.
Please enter me for the drawing as well, thanks!
I haven’t smelled any Amouage (yet); my current cold-weather scent is Bois des Iles. Please enter me in the drawing!
I’d better cross my fingers and not count on my household’s appliances lasting well (though they’ve all been fine for a decade and more).
A week ago we had temps over 100F; today 67F and 20% chance of rain. Yay! I’m sick of summer! SOTD is Guerlain Plus que Jamais, suavely soothing along with the grey skies. Why yes, I’d love to win those Amouage samples. Still have yet to try any Amouage, probably for fear of falling for something that’s seriously too expensive. But at least the sample would be free!
Our fridge is OK, but our heater is not–the last round of punishing rains here in DC flooded our basement and fried the circuitboard on the heater, so I am sans heat whilst the temp hovers in the 50’s. We have no fireplaces or other heaters, so it sucks.
As does my wait for these two ‘lil lovelies–oh Amouage, why must you continue to torment me with beautiful perfumes, each one more suited to me than the last? Go ahead and enter me in the draw, I can’t wait to drop another coupla hundred dollars. At least perfume is more fun than new heater parts. :-<
Sorry about your fridge, appliance breakdowns are a nightmare. Please enter me in the drawing for the Amouages, they sound wonderful. I have resisted trying that brand strictly because of the cost factor.
Ah, yes, appliance issues. Been there so many times. Just bought (another) new microwave. Crossing fingers that it will last a few years! I remember my mom expecting appliances to last at least 25-30 years…
Yes, please enter me in the draw!
Ack! Sears used to be so good with repairs, but they outsource to another company now who come to your home and diagnose the problem, but they can’t fix it because they no longer carry parts. They order the part to be delivered to your house so that they can come back “later”. I also had to pay for the part and the future labor before they would schedule a date to come back. Hate it.
It is finally getting a little cooler here in NC, and I am bringing out the Dzing, Tabac Aurea, Cimabue, Coromandel, and Eau Lente for now. I’d love to be entered into the drawing please.
Thanks!
I’m not in the draw, alas, but I do want to chime in and say my ‘cold winter night’ snuggler is either vintage Mitsouko or vintage Emeraude/L’Origan (either/or – not both b-( at the same time!)
xo >-)
and O, Yes, pls enter me into the draw! xx
I like a spicy comfort scent for the cold weather, and maybe a cuddly musk. Right now I’m wearing Like This and it hits the mark for both.
My grandmother’s fridge lasted 50 years and was still working when we moved her to a home. They don’t make things to last anymore.
Amouage is possibly my most admired house. UBAR is superb and I’ll never tire, HOMAGE alters my molecular structure every time I near, bought ~two of then so I might never ever run dry. I also have both Jubilations and Epic Woman, so am expecting great things of Memoir, even if Ciel and Reflection have left me utterly cold.
As for fridges, I’m old enough to recall the ~icebox! Poor quality abounds these days! So sorry you got caught in that, exquisite Patty!
Planned obsolescence is a harbinger of the fall of our civilization. The other thing I resent, which seems to go along with it, is Feature Creep. It’s impossible to get a base model of anything anymore, everything has bells & whistles. And then you get used to your bells & whistles & can’t live without them and when you buy the next version of the thing, the bells & whistles have now become your baseline. You know — once you had a car with electric windows, would you ever have bought another car with roll-down ones? Like that.
Please enter me in the draw. because I need to fall in love with more perfumes I cannot afford. ::sigh::
Feature Creep… what a perfect way to put it. The last cell phone I got had so many useless features that I found myself accidentally activating that it drove me nuts. Sure, features are great, but why not offer a base model for people who just want to… you know, make phone calls? ;)
I’m always the lucky one who ends up with my family’s old appliances when they’ve upgraded…so, they never last all that long on my leg of their journey! I would love to have a beautiful new refrigerator just once but on the other hand free is cool too. Speaking of which, I’d love to be entered..they both sound amazing :)
Hi Patty!
I was having this conversation with my mum the other day,she has had the same washing machine for twenty years (we were seven living there)and my the life expectancy of my appliances is from two to three years maximum,that is so insane….
Amouages I love are Dia and Lyric Men but don’t use them for their coziness..Please enter me in the drawer I’d love to smell those beauties.L.
P.S.I hope that your fridge ‘s been fixed by now..
Fridges fallinto the category of things we don’t really appreciate until they don’t work. I’ve had better luck with mine than you have, but it seems my mom needs a new one every 5-6 years (probably because she buys them “refurbished”!) I second the Consumer Reports recommendation, incidently – those have never steered me wrong! I wish you cold food and warm comfort scents from now on!
aaack, appliances! I own a duplex with window a/c units and it feels like I’ve installed a zillion of them, approximately.
Amouage is a much more fun topic, though. My Amouage comfort scent is definitely Tribute Attar, unlikely though that seems, with all its skanky frankincense powerhouse glory! I would love to try these Amouages, too. Please sign me up for the draw!
I think Sears outsourced their repair people a few years ago. They wear Sears shirts and drive Sears trucks, but they don’t work for them. I had a Bad Experience with them over a washer delivery once, and was complaining, and that’s when I found out. Hope I don’t sound preachy when I say get an online subscription to Consumer Reports, and buy as per those recommendations. We’ve had good luck with that so far. I use it for everything, for appliances to computer stuff. Our GE appliances, which came with the house, are all toast now or about to be.
Does CR review perfumes? Maybe they should!
I will always be in love with Lyric for Women.
I have never, in my entire life, been without a subscription to Consumer Reports magazine. I love it and shop by it. And, may I also recommend their newer, more femininely formattted magazine “Shop Smart.” They take the same ratings and punch it up with nicer graphics, copy, etc. so it looks and reads more like a “Real Simple” magazine. Just like the original, there are no ads. I like it and may buy gift subscriptions for a bunch of girlfriends this year for X-mas.
Yes, every time I’ve bought any appliance I’ve managed to read what CR says about it first.
Apparently even CR says that most microwaves last 5-7 years now… the one I bought in 1991 for my first apartment died in 2008: 17 years of good service from ol’ Mike. They sure don’t make ’em like they used to.
Still love Amouage Homage best and most, but Jubilation is not far behind.