Hey, everybody!  Happy fifth of July!   There have been a lot of festivities this weekend, mostly outdoors.  I found myself wearing less perfume than usual on those occasions.  Those big, sweet tuberose and jasmine scents seem to make me bee-licious, although personally I don’t think they attract insects in general.  In fact, I’m never the primary target for mosquitoes if there’s someone around (like the Cheese) who’s more appetizing.

We had a few cooler days, then warmer ones.  I’m giving my majmua a run for it.  I’ve decided that the melted beeswax adds something to the scent I really like, so I got Masha to send me the recipe and I’m going to try making my own solid.  I want to do a separate post on those attars and hear people’s reports — should I do that or Manoumalia on Weds., I wonder?  Probably Manoumalia, I don’t want to rush the attars.

I’ve been on here working on some site cleanup.  You likely wouldn’t notice it unless you went into the archives, we’ve been deleting random characters that got inserted into some posts, along with tidying up the homepage (deleting broken links etc.)

I have no idea who’s around today, which is a big travel holiday for some of us in the U.S. and not for others.   Let’s have a Random Monday open thread — I’ll drop by, anything you want to talk about is fine.  I personally have been experimenting in our extreme heat (upper 90s for days on end, fairly unusual here) with the Really Heady Stuff.   Montale Jasmin Full I love so much in this weather — a truly ripe jasmine that I don’t wear in small enclosed spaces shared by non-perfume-lovers.    Carnal Flower and VC&A Gardenia — big, big hits in this heat.  I also love my sweaty scents like Amaranthigh and Worth Courtesan in the heat.   Bal a Versailles is wonderful on a super-hot day.  The only huge fail I’ve had in the heat was Teo Cabanel Alahine, a big scent on my skin that was an almost instant scrubber.  I’m thinking the ambery aspect of it?  Really, it made me gag.  Weird, because I know one of you commented on how much you loved it on sultry days.  So if you’re reading this and you live in a hot climate and you think we’re out of our minds: give it a whirl, you might be surprised.  After all, when are you supposed to smell jasmine?  On some sultry night in a tropical clime, yes?  Yes.  Has anyone worn … hmm, how about Angel?   Angel would kill me dead under regular circumstances, it seems like even a worse idea now.  OTOH I’m toying with trying out either my vintage Dior Poison tomorrow (it’s supposed to be 99) or Gucci Rush, what do you think?

So: floor’s open.   Any perfume-y stuff on your mind?  Any great new purchases or wants?  Anyone want to place any solid bets on whether I loved or hated Manoumalia?

image: photo I took last summer of the bees on the echinacea.  I found it in my photo archives and it made me smile, so I’m using it again.  Yes, if you are curious: Hecate is still petting bees, and she almost never gets stung now.

March

1) We had a small fail yesterday, a mixup about whose turn it was to post.  No worries, everyone’s fine.  We’ll be back Monday.

2) A question for contact lens wearers. I wore contacts during the Jurassic era, when pterodactyls flew overhead and — if your lens popped out at the Skynyrd concert — you got down on the beer-soaked stadium floor and crawled around looking for it.   Times have changed, I hear.  I’m getting Diva her long-desired contacts this summer.   She’s fairly nearsighted with mild astigmatism.  I’m sure there are dozens of great choices, but does anyone have a particular brand/regimen (daily?  weekly?) or other insights regarding disposables that they’d like to share?

3) My ongoing clothing re-assessment/thoughts.  As I’ve said before, and as perfumista visitors to my Sacred Walk-In Closet may have noticed, I’m a pattern whore.  I have a magpie’s eye for color as well.  Part of it, I’m sure, is my inherent, lifelong tendency to look at clothes as “costume,” with plenty of vintage pieces.  Part of it is my skin — jewel tones look good on me.  And part of it might be that because I’m small, I feel comfortable with (or even strengthened by) eye-catching fabric patterns, assuming they’re scaled correctly, neither girlishly dainty nor too large.

For some reason, though, I’ve really been drawn to simple, more muted colors recently.  Lots of solid browns, grays, blues and the occasional tan that doesn’t make me look washed out.   Those are all harder colors for me to hit right, but there’s something about, say, a gunmetal-gray cotton shirt these days that I love, paired with jeans, a single piece of jewelry, and a cognac-colored purse or wedges.    It doesn’t make sense at all.  This is usually when I’m breaking out my tropical-print linen trousers and my tangerine sweaters.  But I’m enjoying the ride.  Are any of you in the middle of reassessments or unexpected shifts in your usual style?

March

It’s Memorial Day weekend here and between today’s event at Art With Flowers (familiar and new faces there from the blog, so much fun!) and also Diva’s 16^th birthday today, and her party, and All That Entailed, including brunch for her and her friends and a shopping trip… I’m a bit tired.  But I smell amazing, if I do say so myself.  (Keiko Mecheri Paname on left arm, L’Artisan Nuit de Tubereuse on right arm, vintage Diorissimo EDT on back of right hand.)

This weekend my nephew, whom we all love very much, came home to us Saturday from his tour of duty in Afghanistan, and we are grateful to have him back, in a way I can’t put into words on here right now.  I’m grateful for all my family, from Hecate and Buckethead on up to my dad, who’ll be turning 88 in a couple of weeks.

When I was growing up, on Memorial Day we’d drive around the cemetery next door (as I’ve mentioned, it’s a literal stone’s throw from dad’s house) and put flowers on the graves of my mother’s family.  I never knew any of her people, but it always felt special and even a bit magical – our childhood wonderland/playground infused with a sense of mystery and responsibility.  In my memories, the sky was unfailingly blue.  My sister and I toted the water buckets from the pumps to fill up the flower vases.   My mom is right there in a shady part of the cemetery under a big old oak tree, next to her folks.   Some years the flowers were bought, and other years they’ve been cut from the huge wild rose bush that still grows next to the gravel driveway, with its prickly stems and fragrant open-faced white blooms that tend to open just in time for this weekend.  I have a cutting from that bush, which is growing like mad in my own back yard.

For me, cemeteries are for the living.  I’m glad I have a place to go and say hi, to sit on the grass and think, to pay my respects to ancestors I never met.   I also try, every day, to remember look up from the daily distractions and think of that cloudless sky, and to open my arms and my heart, even if it’s only a little (and sometimes that’s all I can manage) to those around me who are still here to be loved.   Right this second it’s those twins, who are giggling in their room way past their bedtime and arguing over which night light to use.  Everyone’s a little caked up (sugar!) and sunburned (pool!)   On another night I’d be cross and fuss at them.  But I’m going to go give them another hush, and then step outside and say hi to the fireflies.  It’s sultry out there, my favorite kind of summer evening.

PS  — I went into American Apparel at the mall for the first time in my life, with the teenagers, and up on the checkout counters they have some very cool nail polish colors — the bottles look sort of like the StrangeBeautiful ones.   They are all matte (I think), I didn’t have time to fully investigate.   I have no idea how they wear, but they’re 3 for $15.

March

When I did the nude makeup post, Carter made a suggestion for a particular look (I think it was a combo of an eyeshadow, eyeliner and lipstick?) that sounded lovely.  I said I’d like to do a post where people could submit their favorite makeup looks, and … here it is.  You’re invited to submit in comments one of your favorite “looks” – whether it’s built around a particular feature, like a smoky eye, or highlights a much-beloved product is up to you.

For the purposes of commenting, we’ll assume the basic prep (e.g., sunscreen, foundation) has been done, unless you want to pimp a particular foundation or tinted moisturizer – in which case, go right ahead!  This is the time of year when lots of folks — including our male readers — are looking for sunscreen suggestions.

Also please add information about your skin tone/eye coloring etc., if you think it would be relevant to readers.

Have fun!  I won’t be replying to comments, but I’ll be reading them, looking for ideas …

* * *

Okay, here’s mine:  March’s Five-Minute, Ten-Hour face, built around my new toy – the nude lip.   I’m pale with hazel eyes.

On eyelids: Bobbi Brown cream shadow in Slate (a matte greige), applied with a brush.  It hides my pinkish lids and makes my eyes stand out, but it’s still neutral and subtle.

Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in Black Plum (my BB gels do not budge) and/or, if I’m feeling the heightened drama, more penciling at the lashline with MAC Powerpoint pencil in Permaplum.

Mascara: Blinc (a tubular mascara that does not flake or irritate my eyes)

Cheeks:  MAC Strada, the perfect neutral cheek powder, with a very light touch of pink on the apples, not too far forward (NARS Penny Lane cream or Sephora Rose Rebelle 1 matte powder.)

Nude lip:  NARS Chelsea Girls (lip lacquer) – OR — Shu Uemura lipstick in 318M (“matte neutral pink, warm undertone”) which is as nude and matte as I can go while avoiding the brown-lips-of-death look (note the WARM undertone.  No beige here!)  If the Shu’s too extreme you can gloss it.  They have some great nudie colors and I think the clear tube is fun, link to their lipstick here.

A pinky-sized dab of MAC Shroom, a very pale moonlight shimmer, on the inner eyes next to the tear ducts, and above my lips on my cupid’s bow.

March

Happy Mother’s Day, those of you who partake.  Those of you with mothers.  Those of you who are mothers — in all senses of the word… I’m enjoying the freakishly cold weather here in D.C. again, playing with the sprogs, and going to Diva’s belly dancing concert later.

Anyone get or give any good loot for Mother’s Day?   Hecate gave me a couple of cards she made herself, bless her.  She’s got her own terrarium of roly-polys she’s collected.  I hope she remembers to leave the lid on.  Anyhow, I think I might buy meself a wee bottle o’perrrrfume online.  I deserve it, yes?   Today’s scent was Eau des Merveilles, I haven’t worn it in forever and forgot how much I like it.

I got a call from the Big Cheese this morning — he’s in a place called Dali (?) which is in China, he’s hanging out with a couple from Amsterdam and having fun.  He’s been gone since April, coming home the end of this month, I think.  He’s talking about some train they can take to Tibet that goes through a pass so high each seat has its own oxygen mask.  Here’s a photo (up top) he took on his nine-hour bike ride in Yangshou.

Also, regular Posse commenter and D.C. friend Sariah took off on a year-long adventure around the world, here’s a link to her travel blog.  I love to travel, albeit less exotically, and I’m married to Mr. Travel himself.  I’m looking forward to following Sariah’s adventures and I thought you might be interested as well.

So, that’s it.  I’m offline today, living life rather than blogging about it.  Cheers.  See you tomorrow.

March