Hooray! We are now officially “un-slabbed” and “de-podded” and all our furniture is now back in our freshly painted, nice, clean house (at least until the toys, books, etc., start “multiplying” in the den — ha!). And our very large yard ornament has been hauled away, so we have our driveway back, too. Double hooray!
After a chaotic and very stressful day or two last week while everything was being moved back in, this weekend I decided to treat myself to wearing the most expensive comforting scent I own, cost be darned. So what did I pull out? It was too chilly and fall-like for Le Labo’s Tubereuse 40, so I snagged my small decant of their Vanille 44 and spritzed with abandon. Its lush vanilla and incense soothed my stressed body and mind, and its rich aura made me feel pampered and self-satisfied as I kicked back in my cozy recliner with my favorite cup of tea (naturally) and simply enjoyed doing nothing for an hour or two.
What’s your favorite “I deserve a treat” scent? What do you wear to reward yourself for a job well done?
When I need an indulgent perfume, I usually go for something I can’t possibly wear to work – Rochas Absolu or one of my vintage bombshells like Fracas or My Sin. For a gourmand, nothing beats DSH Mahjoun – I got some of the oil version in the last Swapmania and that stuff is pure gold. Ambre Narguile is also great for feeling luxurious. My thinking is, if it’s too strong and rich for the office, it must be something I really love so go for it!
For an occasional treat, I might put on one of my super-special vintages – Jolie Madame or Ma Griffe parfum, or another prized rarity, vintage Le Galion Tubereuse extrait. That one does NOT get trotted out just for a trip to Costco.
Flora, I like your thinking! Pull out the big guns when you’re at home and can enjoy them to the fullest. Funny you should mention the Ma Griffe, my mother used to wear it, so I need to try and sniff some somewhere.
If I’d ever sprung for a bottle, I’d say Indult Tihota. But I didn’t. And I regret it. Sniff.
So true! I feel your pain as I wish I had, too! It’s probably one of the best vanillas out there. I’m hoarding my small decant and using it sparingly.
Thanks so much, Julie. Sorry you’re having a stressful time, but hope that things soon will look up. You’ve got some great comfort scents there to help get you through it (all of which I love as well). Will have to keep an eye out for “Parks and Recreation” now. Hang in there!
Congrats on getting situated – moving and renovations are so stressful. You do deserve a treat! (Does anyone else watch Parks and Recreation? If not, you should, it is my favorite show, along with Modern Family. Anyway, there was a recent hilarious episode all about “treating yourself” so that is all I can think of.)
I’ve been going through a stressful / emotional time lately and really needed a treat this dreary, rainy Monday morning, so I went for some SL Chene. Not sure why it is so comforting to me, but I do love it. Other would be SDV, Organza Indecence or Vanille Noire du Mexique.
I am not thinking so much of rewards these days as I am being soothed. My comfort scents of the moment are SL Bois de Violette and DK Chaos. Something about that waxy, velvety quality each has makes me feel calm and even a tad snuggly. They have become my current security blankets.
But if I deserve a reward, it would be a dab of one of my super-rare ‘fumes: Doblis parfum, Iris Gris or my tiny sample of Coty Oeillet.
BTW — I have a milestone birthday on the 30th, so if anyone is feeling generous, a bottle of that Oeillet would be dandy!
Mariekel, good point — the right scent does make such a wonderful security blanket. Happy early birthday to you, and here’s hoping you get some more of your rare lovelies!
Amouage Lyric for Women, at birthday, Christmas, New Years and for having made it through another day (sometimes). The more good stuff I smell, the more I appreciate this one.
Hi, lady, hope you’re doing well and enjoying our lovely fall weather. Got to get me some of that Lyric as it sounds like it could be one of the few roses that I could get into.
Hey A — Forget to mention, btw, glad you got your house back together! I am loving this weather, loving it! I would just go nuts in LA when we had one of those late-October Santa Anas in place of….this.
Send me your postal and I’ll send you a bit of Lyric.
Scent is my treat every day. It’s like candy, crack and caffeine all rolled into an exquisite moment that repeats itself throughout the day.
I don’t really save perfumes for special occasions (although I did hoard some drops of Bois de Paradis for a while, but thanks to Sharon C., I no longer have to do that). I usually fall into the “wear it if you’ve got it” category.
This morning, I’ve dabbed generously from my sample vial of Serge Noire (and a big smackin’ kiss to whichever of you fabulous people sent me this in the summer Swapmania frenzy), and am basking in a cloud of the most incredible incense. Gosh. I love perfume.
Lisa, I love your description! Perfume really is all that (and legal, too). Glad you’re enjoying your Serge Noire today.
Excellent news on the de-podding! For comfort, I plump for Chaos and vtg Emeraude as well as DK Wenge essence. For ‘hallelujah, I’ve done it/it’s finally over’ a drop of my practically totally empty vintage Shalimar extrait and Killian’s A Taste of Heaven. Also Chamade in spring!
Hey, sweet M! I’m right there with you on the Wenge and Chaos — going right now to dig those up and get them out into the rotation!
I deserve a Treat! You betcha!
Depending on what kind of treat I need:
*Etat Libre d’Orange Divin Enfant, Keiko Mecheri Loukhoum, Gabrielle Strehle Strenesse -(sweet, cuddly, powdery comfort)
*Donna Karan Chaos, Sonoma Scent Studio Incense Pure, Parfumerie Generale Cadjmere (soft, back-to-nature woody comfort)
*Teo Cabanel Alahine, Fendi Asja, Guerlain Attrape Coeur, Anné Pliska Anné Pliska (ambery luxury)
My goodness, Gwenyth, you have a whole library of “treat” scents! I love many of them as well, esp. Chaos and Cadjmere. Thanks for sharing …
Hooray! So glad you aren’t a pod person anymore. So nice to have your things in place, and everything freshly painted.
As for a scent as a treat? Amouage Homage attar–so opulent. For a snuggly comfort scent? I chose FM’s L’eau Hiver to hang with my mom in the hospitaltoday. I’d read recently on the blogs that it had a baby powder note, the immortelle, and it does! I’d always focused on a bread/ almond note in it. Either way, very soft and comforting. My other go to for comfort is Espirit du Tigre–camphor and mint to get up and keep going when I’m tired, but cuddly comforting spices at the base. Relax, and be well.
Thanks, and thanks for sharing all your great scents. Hope your mom is doing OK.
Congratulations! I can imagine you’re relieved to have your ‘life’ back! I get really stressed when my home is all messed up and do whatever I can to keep as much order as possible!
I no longer save scents for special occasions – too old and too many ‘fumes. So I spray with abandon all the time. But if I had to choose…..:-? prolly my vintage Mitsouko. Contemp would be Jubilation 25 or the vaunted Epic.
xo >-)
Thanks, M! Guess I should spray with abandon as we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, right? Just can’t quite seem to bring myself to do it yet, but one of these days.
Well, as long as you’re enjoying the scents it doesn’t matter :x. I tend to just let ‘er rip to offset whatever weird hoarding tendencies I might have.
xo >-)
Yay for the house being back together! To a limited extent, I understand too. I spent the weekend stripping wallpaper, priming, and painting my 20 by 15 foot bedroom. SO glad to be done!
The time of year does affect what I reach for in a comfort scent. The Rocky Mountains in the fall…well, what can I say. We may get up to 80 today, and we’re expecting 6-8 inches of snow on Wednesday. Overall, OJ’s Woman, NdP’s Sacrebleu (GREAT sweater scent!), and Joy for year-round happiness. I think there’s also one called “Gold” that is a superb sweater scent. Now I need to go look it up on Lucky Scent. Got a sample and LOVE it, but use it more sparingly than Silas Marner going Christmas shopping.
KirstenMarie – thought you might like to know that here in the UK the BBC just finished yesterday its two-part serialisation for the radio of Silas Marner! It’s one of my favourite books (partly I suspect, because as a teenager I identified with someone as short-sighted as me). It reminded me of a good tv adaptation broadcast in 1985 with Ben Kingsley, and I was googling the dvd this very morning, and was interested to see that there was a US region disc. How’s that for a coincidence!
Bless your heart! Congrats on your project. No wonder the contractor told me wallpaper had fallen from favor — too much work to get it up and then down. I saw our painter and his wife struggle with it in our half bath and the kitchen and breakfast area and I felt so badly for them. I love the cool patterns you used to find in it, but think paint’s the way to go from now on. And I give a hearty second on the Sacrebleu (great stuff — and also love her Odalisque). Do tell when you figure out what the Gold scent is.
Amouage Gold, perhaps?
Was there a Donna Karan Gold as well?
yes, a lovely scent, that. Both of them are gorgeous!
xo >-)
Yep! Both true. I looked in my stash this morning and smacked my forehead. How could I forget Montale’s Pure Gold? I wore it today in celebration of a potential snow day tomorrow. :)
Congratulations! We recently had some work done and I enjoyed that freshly painted, everything-in-placeness right after it was done, before the magazines, etc. started to encroach again…
Vanille 44 is one of my favorites. For me it’s as much about the incense as the vanilla. Another cold-weather comfort scent is Bois d’Armenie (wearing it today, in fact).
Thanks, Janice. You’re right — we’ll see how long it lasts (but DH gets that look in his eye and says “It better last!”). Glad to see another Vanille 44 fan. Need to revisit the Bois d’Armenie as soon as I can get back to civilization.
Oooh, and how can I forget the lovely Chaos I got from you in the last Posse swap (thanks again)! Now that’s some seriously comforting juice as well …
Yay for Chaos! I lurve that stuff.
If I think I need pampering I reach for Spiriteuse Double Vanilla, I guess for the fact that it lasts longest on me and it’s a vanilla that doesn’t nauseate me. I also reach for Jicky.
Yum, Marsha! That SDV is darn-near drinkable, isn’t it? Lucky you on the Jicky. I have tried it time and again and it (and Mitsouko) just do not seem to like me.
Hi, Mals. Thanks. Another vote for Chamade, I see. I like La Myrrhe, but don’t think I’ve ever tried Lyric Woman, although I suspect I might, as I’ve been coming around to dark, somewhat spicy rose scents after a lifetime of avoiding anything rose like the plague.
Glad you’re out of the pod and off the slab!
My favorite “treat myself” fragrances are Lyric Woman, La Myrrhe, and Chamade parfum.
So happy to hear that things are getting back to “normal” (whatever that may be) at your house, Ann. For a comfort scent with a cup of tea I might go for Arpege. Very calming. But as a reward for a job well-done, I would go for Chamade.
Hi, Pam, thanks! Love your classic choice of scents there. BTW, I know you will appreciate this: We had two pianos to move in and out of the pod (one my husband had, and one we inherited from my mom-in-law). When we told them, the movers just looked at each other as if to say, “you’ve got to be kidding.” But to their credit, they buckled down and got them in and out. Now whether they’re still in tune (the pianos, not the movers) remains to be seen.
So glad to hear that you can finally put your heels up and rest in your living room again, Ann. L’Artisan Tea for Two is a great comfort scent for me this time of year (and I like that it’s got just enough smoke and complexity to make it interesting,not just fluffy and comforting). I also love Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque for the same reason.
Suzanne, thanks for stopping by. I, too, love the FT (thanks to you!) but I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’ve never tried the Tea for Two. They’ll probably take away my official tea lovers’ card for that!
I’ll include some Tea for Two in your next package. :)
Wow, Jillie! Wearing a scent and burning the matching candle — now THAT is luxurious! I didn’t even realize they made candles. So glad you’ve found such a great comforting duo.
OJ’s Ta’if – such a comforting smell with its deep, unsour rose and gentle spices. I love lighting my Ta’if candle at the same time, and the double dose makes me feel much calmer. I never wear it in the summer, and it is now almost in danger of becoming my Christmas Day scent. So glad that you can now relax.
Yay, congrats on being back in the house. Let’s see if I can get Dancing Dude to work:
:d/
He waves his leeetle arms…. this time of year my “reward” frag would probably be Organza Indecence. It just makes me happy.
Hey, sweetie, thanks so much. You’ve inspired me to get my bottle of OI out of the drawer and into the current rotation. It’s supposed to be 70 something here today and tomorrow, but late in the week when it drops back to the 60s, it’ll be fabulous.
What a great feeling of accomplishment! So glad for you that everything is back in order now. Ahhhh. :-)
For me, when I feel the need to nurture my soul, so to speak, I reach for cozy scents. I’m not a huge vanilla fan, but I make an exception for Kenzo Amour. It has just the right combination of vanilla, rice steam, spices and comforting sweetness to it. I wore it Saturday evening and Sunday morning. It’s definitely a cold weather scent for me.
Hi, Dina, thanks. I used to love that rice steam note in the Amour; will definitely have to wear it again. I think sometimes we get deluged over time with new scents and have to make an effort to enjoy our old favorites.
Kilian’s Cruel Intentions. I love the scent journey it takes me on from smokey and spicy to rich and sweet. I like how it’s sweetness isn’t the sort of sweet that makes my stomach churn.
Congrats on having everything done and put back together. Glad you’re taking time to be kind to yourself and indulge a little.
Thanks, Joanna. I need to revisit Cruel Intentions — I remember trying it a while back and liking it, but need a refresher. I’m all for non-stomach-churning scents. :)
LOL My description lacks finesse and doesn’t do Cruel Intentions justice. There seem to be a lot of sweet fragrances out now and I have an unfavorable reaction towards many of them.
This is part of my review of Cruel Intentions that I made on LuckySent:
“This opened smokey on me and then meandered through bits of spice and dried down into a warm, sweet oud.”