I am suddenly craving the scent of pomegranites well more like the interpretation of the scent of pomegranites considering to my nose pomegranites have never eally had much of a scent, so I am taking out my Euphoria lotion this morning. Which reminds me that pomegranites are another one of those incredible fall fruits; I admit I have always been fascinated by the story of Persephone.
Ever since I read Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future and his chapter on design, I have been having the joy of appreciating the world in a new fun way. While grocery shopping this last week I had the task of buying myself a new shampoo and conditioner. The duo I bought was Dove's Intense Damage Therapy Shampoo and Conditioner, part of this buying process came from my respect of Dove over the last few years deciding to go with an advertising campaign that celebrated the diversity of beauty in women (young, old, freckles, light, dark, thin, shapely) and also that they totally have won in the design catagory. I was immidiately drawn to the beautiful dark blue bottles with their organic shape. They won out even further with the fact the conditioner's opening was designed to rest at the bottom of the bottle (because who hasn't found themselves trying to get the last bit of conditioner in the most ridiculous ways), adding to the design is that on both bottles under the Dove heading is an extra subtle indentation to help squeeze out the shampoo and conditioner. Looking at the bottles I was reminded of another organically shaped product:
Today I am going to do my first all day wearing of Estee Lauder's Private Collection Amber Ylang Ylang. So far in my wearings it has revealed itself to be a soft amber, very cashmere like, with use of the ever prevelant bergamot note that became popular with Dolce and Gabbana's Light Blue giving it a sparkle perfect for sunny autumn days. The ylang ylang note is beautifully rendered and wears gently on the skin the amber is akin to Ambre del Nepal's amber softly spiced with a good dose of vanilla. This I can see selling very well, very tasteful but at the same time very comforting. 
Suddenly having a need for the strangely dry animalic incense of Bal a Versailles. This starts out as a beautiful dry floral incense and eventually winds down on me to a creamy milky strangly furry leather scent. I am always reminded of cats when I wear it; especially of one sleeping next to a fire in a darkened room, the tips of the its fur glowing from the firelight. It is most definately sensual but never overt.
So it has been awhile since I did a theme with my images but I have chosen one, for the rest of October the images chosen will have the theme of October. I really haven't shown my favorite month much love or appreciation; it is going by too fast and it must be savored. For this unseasonably warm October day I am going with Chanel N.22; this was a springtime favorite but did not weather well in Summer it seems to be a scent for those seasons that are caught between weather extremes. This idea makes sense between with the constrast of beautiful pillowy sparklingy white flowers and dry vanillic incense.
And too really make you feel better:
Chasing Pavements by Adele (talk about a gorgeous voice):
image provided by artnet.com
Image: Mimosas, October 2, 2006 by Donald Sultan
Biblioburro image provided by http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/20/america/20burro.php (also get the full incredible story here)
Chimpanzee and tiger cub image provided by http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2008/10/chimp-adopts-ti.html (also get full sweet story there)
video uploaded by UrbanUnsigned
Right now is that time of the year when I want to surround myself with the scent of spices and the taste of spices and the delightful rich liquor flavor of maple syrup. The last two days I have been experimenting with making my own chai masala, so far my favorite part is the use of fresh ginger. I admit fresh ginger has become an addiction for me in my cooking lately, I love the spicy crunch it offers to dishes, I love the versatility of it, melding perfectly with sweet, sour, savory, sour, and salty. My experimenting in chai masala has left me realizing that I need clove and loose leaf assam tea for the base. That I prefer my chai without fennel seed and that it must have cardamom, peppercorns, cinnamon, and of course ginger! Another interesting realization maple syrup is wonderful possibility to use as a sweetner for tea adding the wonderful resinous sweetness that can only be had from maple syrup. So the question is what are your favorite spices?
Well it finally happened I got tagged, by the wonderful Helg at http://perfumeshrine.blogspot.com/(ack blogger is acting weird and won't allow me to link this in a prettier way). So let us begin, first the rules and regulations :-):
This morning I had the urge for the scent of lavender and oranges, I'm not quite sure why I am so fond of this mixture of scents, but I suppose I like that it is calming and awakening at the same time. My answer to the problem; a mixture of home fragrance oils. I really enjoy the creativity you are allowed with home fragrance oils. They allow you to play perfumerer of your home in a non-expensive way. I admit I get the most fun out of my discontinued Les Couvents des Minimes Orange & Cinnamon home fragrance oil (truth be told though it doesn't really have any cinnamon), the orange used is mild and warm unlike the potent Satsuma sold by The Body Shop. The blends well with other scents and offers a wonderful orange zingingness to other scents most often I blend it woud Henri Bendel's Holiday (also discontinued; rats!) or Lavender oil, I admit right I am on the hunt for a good vanilla home fragrance oil.
I just can't get over the beauty of this scent, I love the beautiful herbal green liquor of angelica juxtaposed against a cedary incense and then cocooned in a gorgous soft blend of heliotrope and vanilla. I imagine the perfumer and Marlene Dietrich were going for the idea of being cocooned by wings. It is beautifully comforting but at the same time serenely cool. You just want to surround yourself in it. It is a perfect hazey scent.
The vanilla craving continues, today I am going with pure parfum variation of L de Lolita Lempicka. I'm going to be honest most of the time I prefer the edp variation of this; the notes are more pronounced and sparkling. But today I suddenly want the earthier parfum, it seems right on this glorious fall day, a mellower fragrance for Sunday, which is what I always try to go for. Hope everyone has a lovely Sunday.
I feel like October has continued the mountain of problems from August and September which were mainly car issues, until the last week of September which involved a filling falling out an a wisdom tooth that needs to be removed, and then this last Thursday which involved my computer hitting its death bed (I knew it was coming but still it was sudden and now I am typing on a brand new computer), and best of all to top that Thursday off my satellite dish decided that it would no longer receive a signal (worst part all I had wanted to do Thursday was watch the vice-presidential debates). So here I am spending my Saturday waiting for the technician to come fix my dish. I will say one good thing happened on Thursday my package that both me and my swapper were getting worried about possibly being lost in the mail because it took half a month to arrive, arrived. It contained a much sought after vanilla fragrance (that for many is Holy Grail vanilla): L'Occitane's Vanille Extrait de Parfum.
Somedays you need that glamourous scent that has a million layers, my answer to that is what I think was one of the great surprises in the perfume world: Fifi Chachnil. When I put it on two images always pop into my head 1) The heavily kohled eyes of female stars in the 1960's and 2) one of my favorite color combos pale pink with black. What amazes me about Fifi is that it is so feminine and flirty but does not the usual cupcake fruity floral note to get the effect, instead it is smokey, powdery, ambered, with hints of greenery, rose, and citrus. It is highly addictive scent.
Along with candles, I also enjoy fragrancing my home with home fragrance oils, this is often a life saver in the hot conditions of California, where even a fairly large fragranced candle can be source of overheating in the summer. But the advantage of home fragrance oils is they also immediately fragrance a room. Yesterday, I walked into Bath and Body Works, while I wanted a nice little fragrance treat, I did not want to spend much money. I admit I was eyeing the Black Amethyst candle, but it wasn't such a bargain at full price, but then I noticed they were having a sale on their home fragrance oils, at $3 each this was the perfect option for me. So I took a bottle of the Black Amethyst and bought a package of tealight candles. I got open and immediately took out my oil burner and was surprised at how well the scent held up in this form.
So Ambre Russe won out as the most worn in September, I consider it a response to me really being sick of summer, and suddenly having my love for amber come back. I just can't get over this decadently gorgeous amber.
