Stealing from Portia (I’m a Bad Girl) – and a winner!

Posse… I was going to post about more men’s fragrances – I have the post half-written – but I came down with a raging case of the Can’ts!  What started out as a pretty decent 10 days (or so) quickly devolved into being Pecked to Death by Ducks (h/t Tim Cahill, one of my favorite travel writers) – nothing life-altering, just… duck-pecking.  A lot of duck-pecking.  Cash flow issues that have stalled the bathroom reno, insurance (biz certificates) that need to be in place so I can get paid (my fault – I completely blanked on it), another (way less $$$ but I WANT MY MONEY) invoice that the Ghost in the Machine keeps eating – and the AP gal is nowhere to be found  – all ‘survivable’ but really, really irritating.   Atop all of that I (along with March and probably a lot of you) am dealing with the sudden shift of light (darker days, earlier nights) that come with the Autumn territory -still getting up at 4:45 because me but… I ain’t really liking it much.  You’d think with all the little stressors I wouldn’t be that interested in applying perfume but, funnily enough, it’s the exact opposite!  When I’m in a great mood it’s more of a ‘throw on whatever you feel like wearing’  but when I’m mildly anxious/stressed, choosing perfume becomes quite the process – and it’s been thus this whole past week/10 days.  So I decided to ride on the gorgeous and fabulous Portia’s dress skirts and do a Spritz Week (or so)  Chez Musette

Let’s start with Thursday 12 September:  I had to go to the endodontist for a cracked molar consult.  I try to be respectful in medico situations, especially those where someone with a pick in your mouth is right atop you.  So I just wore the lightest slicker of Magnolia Nobile (AdParma) body creme.  It’s pretty but not overwhelming.  I got one of those ‘oh.  you smell Good’ compliments without anyone stepping back.   Alas, the tooth is cracked right next to the nerve…. I can pull it… or I can root canal it.  Luckily that particular duck is not pecking too hard at the moment so I’ve put it on a nearby back burner.  For now.  But it has to happen.  And it’ll be the RC, since simply capping it won’t do.  And pulling it would mean getting an implant… sigh. Teefs are A Pain.  Sometimes literally.

Friday the 13th I spent the entire day avoiding  everyone I could – I might be just a taaaad superstitious – maybe – but why take chances.  I wore Clinique Happy (another innocuously pretty fragrance that garners the You Smell Good compliment) – I quite like it.  It’s pretty, it doesn’t ask anything of you other than to spritz it on and go about your business.  Win!

The weekend was a blur.  I planted some shrubs, so mostly smelled like dirt and sweat.  Showertime I focused on the shower (lordt – can I take a long hot shower!) .  LUSH’s See and Be Seen gel was the go-to; it’s Rose Jam’s jammier, sluttier sister.  It really doesn’t need a perfume atop it, so I sat in my office (on my towel, don’tchaknow) and slathered on a half jar of Vanicream while I watched back-to-back KL biopics.  I could still smell the SaBS underneath.  Lovely!  Later I took a chance on vintage Ubar – it was the first really Autumnal evening and I wanted something that would make me feel safe and cozy.  Ubar came through.  Of course, Ubar ALWAYS comes through.  The vintage version is one of the most beautiful scents on the planet.  The LUSH shower gel was the perfect underpinning, like a gorgeous deep pink silk camisole on skin that is still sun-kissed.

16thSeptember was a relatively painless visit to my CPA – and that’s something you don’t hear everyday:  CPA + painless. But still.. I wore Hermes Pamplemousse Rose because … again…. respectful of my surroundings.  And PR is a scent you can wear a LOT of without overdoing it.  I don’t know how Ellena does that, making really interesting scents that are, nevertheless, not assertive.  A half bottle of Pamp Rose can’t compete with a single drop of, say, Amouage Lyric.  Or Mitsy.  In any iteration.  But for all that, it is a lovely scent.  And, again… “you smell good’ territory

18September.  Something got into me – I must’ve contracted the Feckit Virus.  I had an appointment with the orthopedist (simply needed a PT script but (insert shrug emoji) ya gotta get an x-ray.    I wore Lyric.  I showered with the soap, applied the cream.. and dabbed on a bit of the extrait.  Because I am a FIEND!  A lovely-smelling fiend…. but a fiend nonetheless.  Nobody complained .  But I felt a little bad about it later (not really) – Lyric is gorgeous.  But so is Godzilla.

21September.  It was our Fall Festival – I walked down (all 100 feet)  to the park awash in Phlur Coconut Skin (from a StC decant) –  my first Phlur was Solar Power (from Surrender to Chance but it’s not on their website right now, doesn’t look like anyway) – this was the beginning of my BeachyVibe phase and I quite liked it.  Coconut Skin is a body mist, so it doesn’t have the heft of a perfume and it also has that vaguely ‘generic/artificial’ smell that I always attribute to body mists.  Not a bad scent and it’s another ‘smell good’  – but I dunno… I really liked Solar Power – Coconut Skin  is … okay.

Monday:  still no joy with the AP lady and having watched a couple of YSL biopics to distract I took a shower and dug out my little vintage mini of Y..  launched in 1964 it is described as a chypre fruity fragrance.  I dunnno…. perhaps this little mini has gone off – but I can tell you that the box smells incredible!  The perfume?  Not so much.  But from the little box I can imagine this was absolutely gorgeous back in its heyday, one of those scents that says everything – and nothing – and leaves you wanting to learn/smell more.

this must’ve been STUNNING!

25September.  Apres-shower (and sitting in my office, slathering on cream) I came upon a sample of Amouage Love Mimosa – I figured ‘why not?’ and spritzed some on.  It went on beautifully… but then devolved into Eau de Frog, Missy March’s all-time favorite note.   Not wanting to have to wash A-GAIN I spritzed a bit of Magnolia Nobile atop it – and … PERFECTION!  MagNobile has a bit too much ’roundness’  for me (sometimes) and the aquatic note in LoveMimosa cut that nicely.  A happy accident!

26September  – I’m writing this post today because LIFE , y’know?  And… I dunno.  Those damb ducks! So…. a package arrived on my doorstep this morning.  ‘What could it be?’ (sez the girl who’s been anxiety-buying a bunch of cheapies) – well.  You can #BlamePortia (bisous) for this one:  Volupte’ from Oscar de la Renta, based on the rave review in this post.  

So.  There’s a sidestory – at under $20 it’s a bargain – but there’s that pesky s/h that … ugh.  I’d thrown in a Tatcha Rice Powder cleanser (LOVE it!) but was still a skoche under the free shipping – and suddenly, in the sidebar, sat a Demeter Coconut  roll on perfume oil – for $7 !!!  WIN!

or… not. 

I busted out the Demeter first because.. well, it was the easier of the two to open, to be honest.  Blithely rolled it on my wrist….

.

I don’t know if it’s the actual scent … or maybe it’s gone off?  But it smells… exactly… like that stale popcorn oil you smell at down at the heels movie theatres – the ones where you sit with your feet off the floor because  not-so-little shadows (possibly with tails – just sayin’) that suspiciously move.  It. Is. BRUTAL!  Washing did not even budge it!  Desperate to get it the hell OFF me, I tore open the box that housed Volupte’ and – vi-ola!  Oscar (oh, Oscar) to the rescue.  This 80s -level powerhouse wiped that rancid oil clean off my skin – possibly wiped it off the Earth!  And Volupte is everything de la Renta: chic, confident, smooth – rather like Sr de la Renta himself (I am the ultimate de la Renta fangirl and consider him one of the most suave men of his generation – handsome, too!  Like I said, fangirl).  I’m awash in it and happy as a lima bean!  That cap, though.  It takes some doin’.  but the scent is worth it!

so!  that’s my Perfume Life for the past few days.  How have you been smelling ? (besides fabulous – Posse ALWAYS smells fabulous!!!)

And WINNER of the Musk Redux giveaway:  kathleen

gmail your evilauntieanita  with your deets and I’ll get the Jovan samples out to you

And…. JOY!JOY! JOY! – the A/P lady came through!!!  Seems the ghost in the machine HATES! that invoice – no matter how many times I send/get a receipt – it just … dies… in the ether.  So she had me email it and is pushing it through.  Phew!  Getting Paid.  I heartily approve!!!  I wore Lyric – a LOT of Lyric – to celebrate.  Maybe a bit too much Lyric… but is that even possible?