Sunday, February 21, 2010

TWRT 2.21.10 and Free Giveaway, Ninfeo Mio!!

This Week's Random Thoughts ~
I’ve no idea why this popped into my mind but do you remember the Olivia Newton John song from the 80’s called Physical? Did people actually think she was singing about aerobics? Because “let me hear your body talk” was something else entirely. But her video – she was doing aerobics – and all of us in aerobics class in the 80’s were “getting physical” with our headbands and Flashdance legwarmers (Flashdance, by the way, was the first R rated movie I went to see at the cinema).

I’m a dark chocolate person but when it comes to Luna bars the white chocolate macadamia flavor rules.

Jacques Fath, Fath de Fath (1994 version I believe) is great. It’s a fruity, woody, powdery oriental housed in a dynamite bottle.

American Idol: so now we have the top 24 semifinalists; 12 girls, 12 boys. This means I’ll be watching 5 hours of Idol this week (with Tivo I can chop this down to about 3.5 hrs)

Dinner of week: vegetable lasagna made with layers of ricotta & goat cheese, and *separate* pureed layers of mushrooms, broccoli and roasted red peppers. Topped with cheese, fresh herbs and beurre blanc sauce.

Rant of the week: The email from Serge Lutens was ridiculous. C’mon, according to Lutens marketing folks, L’eau was created as “A Reaction to an Over-Scented World.” I don’t think perfumery is solely an art form, I think it straddles a fine line between an artistic endeavor and a business; a commodity. I’m just annoyed because I don’t think for a moment that L’eau was created as a “reaction to an over-scented world.” Instead it’s “a fragrance to keep the business in the black.” There is nothing wrong with this, I’m just irked by the marketing.

Really nice & cheap candle: Target brand, vanilla rice flower

Why so much hate for Bond and Creed? There are excellent fragrances from these lines. Similar to Brian’s piece on Byredo, these houses seem to be the outcasts of the fragrance-aficionado world. I’m not a hater and I find many fragrances from both Bond and Creed exceptional. Of course I have my ideas on which lines are over-hyped, overpriced and resolutely mediocre, one that springs to mind is Tom Ford Private Blend.

I came home one day this week to find my friend eating chinese food with my wooden knitting needles.

I need to spend more time with Givenchy Ysatis. I remember liking it a long time ago. I purchased a mini recently and it still smells good to me.

I was walking my dogs today and saw a seagull flying above me. A Seagull. I live in New Mexico.

Robin posted this in the comments section on NST and given my adoration for Craig Ferguson I needed to find a reason to post this video here. I think Ferguson’s rant is the precise explanation for the existence of this

Craig Ferguson Rant

***Free Giveaway*** a brand new 1.7 fl oz / 50 ml bottle of Annick Goutal Ninfeo Mio. I will select the winner on Wednesday, 24 February, sometime after 12 noon US Mountain Time. You MUST have left a comment at least once before (and, no, you can’t leave a comment on another post and then this one all within 5 minutes! ;-) And, I apologize to our non-US based readers, but because this is a bottle, the winner can only be from the United States. If you are outside of the US but have a US-based address I can ship to – that is fine by me...

45 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tip on the nice cheap candle. We have 4 cats and I tend to like to light scented candles for company and also so for a bit before I sleep to relax.

    I'd like to enter the drawing. I've never tried this particular Guerlain before.

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  2. You had me laughing with the knitting needle, but that Craig Ferguson monologue was brilliant!

    Yes, yes, yes!!!

    That looks like Guerlain's version of Love's Baby Soft!

    Wish I could enter the draw for that Goutal... love Goutal...

    -Monika

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  3. Oh, the hate-on for Bond and Creed...

    Not sure about Creed (I have one Creed fragrance, bought years ago untested, not wild about it now), but with Bond I think the heavy-handed tactics of the owner have turned some people off... The non-blonde has posted about these in the past, and so with so many other fragrances to try, it has slipped to the bottom of my list.

    Tried a lovely Byredo last week, and am quite enamored. Baudelaire. Oh, major, major desire. Like nothing else I have smelled...

    -monika

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  4. lol - knitting needles and Chinese food.
    I would love to enter for Ninfeo Mio but unfortunately don't have the right address (besides, I was lucky just last week).
    I think Monika is right about the hate for Bond - although I can't help but be seriously in love with Chinatown and New Harleem.

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  5. I would love to try the Ninfeo Mio--it sounds like spring, and I am looking for the right Goutal. I also knit, and can absolutely see someone using the wooden needles as chopsticks (what a great image)!

    bursztyn

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  6. Gah! Pick me! Pick me!

    I went on a sniffing expedition yesterday and was really sad that this wasn't out yet. I'm sure that THIS is going to be my favorite AG frag!

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  7. Would you believe I have never purchased from this house yet? I know..I know..for shame. I've been preoccupied with Guerlain, Chanel and Thierry Muglier. So I would love to enter this drawing.

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  8. I like many Creeds. Tabarome is my favorite. I liked to wear it with Angelique Encens, but they've screwed that up for me.

    I would love to try the Ninfeo Mio, please include me in the draw.

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  9. I adore some of the scents by Bond. And come on, they sell most in small bottles precisely for us perfumistas...at least that's what I choose to believe.
    I couldn't agree more with you about Serge. And if it truly is an oversaturated marketplace, isn't he part of the oversaturation in the first place? I am curious to smell this though, so I don't really care why he's putting it out, but come on, no need to lie to us Serge.
    Would love to be in the draw....I adore Goutal.

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  10. That Craig Ferguson monologue was fabulous! I'd never heard of him before Robin's kind posting.

    Your veggie lasagna sounds great - and I too recently bought a mini of Ysatis on ebay (a blind buy, but hey, $6!) that I like a lot. Also kind of digging this mini of Mahora... it smells mostly like monoi (frangipani macerated in coconut oil), and I like that. Sweet, yeah, but a nice tropical boost in this nasty hangover snow.

    Please enter my in the Ninfeo Mio draw - let's get some more love goin' for the Goutals!

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  11. Hello Brian and Angela-
    I ADORE your blog. It is a must read for me every day. I wrote to you once before to tell you the same thing, but it needs saying again!
    Both of you have a knack for getting to the "essence" of a scent, because you are able to articulate how a scent is somehow more than a collection of notes which yields a certain smell.
    AND both of you are insightful. You understand marketing trends, nuances, and the basic silliness which is sometimes involved with the whole.

    I LOVED the rant by Craig Ferguson. Absolutely Fabulous! (loved that television series, too!)
    The only problem I see with me visiting your blog daily, is that it has been costing me a boatload of money. If you write about it, I must have it. Sad, but true. :)

    Because of your week-long paean to Annick Goutal, I now own a couple more. (yeeesh). So, of course, please enter me in your drawing?

    Thanks, thanks, thanks for your work. I am a devoted fan.

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  12. LOL to the knitting needles as chopsticks. Your TWRT are so much fun - I love reading them with coffee in the morning.

    Do you have a recipe for the lasagna? It sounds great. My go-to lasagna at the moment is: http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/02/lasagna-with-turkey-italian-sausage-and.html. (Not affl.) My only tweak to it is to use whipped cottage cheese for half the ricotta - adds more protein and still tastes wonderful!

    Also, I tried Caron Violette Precieuse at Saks yesterday and quite liked it. I'm assuming its the new reformulation - was your review of the new or original scent?

    Ok, enough questions. ;) I'd love to be entered in the draw as well. Have a good one!

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  13. I'm on the run, but snuck in to read...so will say quickly...

    ZOIKS! The needles...any rice end up purled? ;)

    Not quite time for me to start paying attention to Idol yet. They'll be weeded out just about right when the Olympics are over, I think.

    "Over-scented world?" A ha ha ha...and who helped with that? Eh??

    I don't hate Bond or Creed. Nor has anything of theirs sent me happily over the edge. I attribute that to YMMV, and peacefully coexist. Maybe folks get upset when they are asked to pay through the nose for something that is good, but not great? Especially when there is a certain "in" factor to them?

    Craig. I ♥ him. Will be seeing him live (in person, on a stage) for the second time this spring. I KNOW!! ;)

    Still happy to have won something in the past year, so no need to toss me in the draw. Good luck, y'all!

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  14. Of course I remember "Physical" (Oblivious Nutron Bomb is what we called her in High School......but I still bought everything she put out). When "Physical" first hit the airwaves, a friend of mine swore the words were "Let's get Biblical, Biblical - let me hear your Bible talk..."

    Thanks for turning me on to Craig and please enter me in the drawing.

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  15. Thank you for the Craig Ferguson clip. I've missed out on seeing him--must be because I'm usually asleep by 9:30pm! I agree with you about Ysatis, it's pretty good. Thanks for reminding me the emperor(s) have no clothes! And please enter me in the draw: I cherish my Heure Exquise and would love to own another fb of anything Annick Goutal, but especially this one.

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  16. cheryl guzmanFebruary 21, 2010

    The lovely Annick Goutal, forever may her beautiful, genteel heart rest, is who jump started my Passion ;) for fragrance. Ahhh, the beautiful bottles arraigned just so on their gilded mirror. I have not yet had the pleasure of Ninfeo Mio, so please enter me in your draw.
    The Graig Ferguson rant is hysterical. I deal with "youth" everyday, and, yes, style over substance dominates their world. I must admit, however that Nicole Kidman's faced popped in my head.

    Olivia Newton John, Physical? Yep, I thought it WAS about working out! Lame.

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  17. The lovely Annick Goutal, forever may her beautiful, genteel heart rest, is who jump started my Passion : ) for fragrance. Ahhh, the beautiful bottles arraigned just so on their gilded mirror. I have not yet had the pleasure of Ninfeo Mio, so please enter me in your draw.
    The Graig Ferguson rant is hysterical. I deal with "youth" everyday, and, yes, style over substance dominates their world. I must admit, however that Nicole Kidman's faced popped in my head.

    Olivia Newton John, Physical? Yep, I thought it WAS about working out! Lame.

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  18. Hi, would love to win that scrumptious gift of THE bottle of Nindeo Mio.

    My first Annick Goutal was when I was a young girl in NYC and a fellow was selling mini perfumes across the street from Bergdorf's. My girlfriend bought the Channel 5 and I bought PASSION but no other name on the mini....

    Years later when Liz Taylor was in some hot water for using the word "passion" for her perfume, there was my Passion revealed: Annouk Goutal! So I immediately went to the only place near me selling it: Berdorf's! My search ended where it began.

    Thanks for letting me reminisce and putting me in the draw. :)

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  19. Hi Abigail
    Look forward to hearing about your weeks discoveries.

    Your recent exploration of the Goutal's has been a real eye (or should that be nose and brain) opener!

    Similar story, there is a reason they are so popular....without a celeb. touting them!

    Cheers Emma

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  20. I like seagulls. Glad you saw one recently, and in NM, too! Where we used to live, seagulls from the mid-Atlantic coast would come (south) each winter and hang out in the town's mall parking lot. We'd sometimes bring unsalted crackers to feed them. They were fun to see each winter.

    Please enter me in the drawing for the AG. I like her line and am looking forward to sniffing this latest.

    And now I have an ear worm. "Let's Get Physical." Yikes.

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  21. I'd love to be in the draw, thank you so much!

    I agree with you on Bond. I love my Andy Warhol Silver Factory. It's good stuff!

    fountaingirl (at) gmail (dot) com

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  22. Ooo, now I know what to do with my old knitting needles!
    Please enter me in the draw. Thanks!
    Chris G

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  23. I've become converted to Annick Goutal--partly because of you! So please enter me in the drawing.

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  24. I would love to be entered in the drawing. Thank You. I adore Goutal!!!

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  25. Please add me to the drawing as well!

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  26. I luv d Craig Ferguson rant. I LaffD d whol way Thru it. thx 4 dat.

    & I liked Olivia Newton John BetA n her "Totally Hot" phase. (-<-)

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  27. Thanks for the rant. i love Craig Ferguson.
    Bonds are hit or miss for me. I love Chinatown and Lexington Ave., and to a lesser extent Silver Factory. But most leave me totally cold. Not surprising for such a large line I guess.
    Please enter me in your draw.
    Thanks!

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  28. I'd love to be entered in the draw for Ninfeo Mio ! Acreamy green with fig facets ? Yummmmmm....

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  29. I too would love to enter in the drawing for Ninfeo Mio. I am new to perfume addiction but your lovely series on Annick Goutal has me excited to try all her scents!

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  30. Abigail,

    So how old is this knitting needle stealing friend? I must ask because last week my 5 1/2 year-old did the very same thing to me with a couple of bamboo double-pointed needles. I credit his amazing ability to improvise in all situations, so, while though appalled, was quite amused!

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  31. I would love to be entered in the draw, btw, but I have only posted once before on this forum—anonymously on the Cabotine article (12/24). I'm sure that doesn't count, so I will just have to look forward to the next one I guess!~

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  32. I am dying to try Ninfeo Mio. Please enter me in the drawing.

    Thank you so much!

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  33. Ha! Love the knitting needle incident! Too funny. I had a bottle of Jacques Fath years ago. Remember loving it. Very rich scent. And a seagull in Santa Fe? Hmmm...

    Please include me in the draw. Thanks Abigail!

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  34. I'd love to be entered in the drawing. Thanks

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  35. I can't remember if I've left a comment before.. but if so I'd LOVE the Goutal =P

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  36. I haven't met a Creed of a Bond that made much of an impression.. but they each have so much.... The onoy Byredo I've tried is Chembur... which I didn't like.

    I do like Annick Goutal, though, so sign me up!

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  37. Oh my, I almost missed this post! Even though I am not much of an AG fan and only own Un Matin d'Orage, I would love to try this anyway. :-) Please enter me! Thanks.

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  38. Hi Abigail,
    Please enter me for the Ninfeo Mio contest. I'd looove to try (and own) this one, which doesn't seem to be out there yet.

    Gosh, I love Pulp, which I am sure I commented upon before in connection with Brian's piece! Thanks,
    Laura M

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  39. My wife loves Ysatis, and I can see why: it's pretty and warm and comfortable.

    I have to admit not having tried many Creeds. The size of the line kind of turns me off, and the price point. And of course the bad reviews don't encourage me to investigate. I have a similar feeling about Bond No. 9, though I admit that Broadway Nite, the only one my wife has worn more than once, is pretty good.

    And Ninfeo Mio sounds good! Please enter me.

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  40. Ferguson's rant is very good, but he forgot to point out that while one cannot be young forever, it is far too possible to remain stupid forever. People work hard at making sure that happens...

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  41. I'd love to be entered in the draw. Annick Goutal was my gateway into niche perfumery. I currently have my heart set on an edp bottle of Grand Amour - thanks for your post on this lovely scent, by the way.

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  42. Please enter my name in the draw, i'd love to try this one.
    And talking about Creed, I'm not a fan , I don't have one and I don't plan on buying any.they are boring. Period.
    Thanks

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  43. I have not put knitting needles in my mouth since I was a child-my mom had a fear of me somehow swallowing one. Unbelievably, as I was sucking on one, my brother accidentally hit the end of it with his knee, and drove the needle through the soft pallett at the back of my throat! Who knew?

    Will you please enter me in the draw? I loved your AG series-am wearing Eau de Sud body cream today.

    Thank you!

    Carole MacLeod

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  44. maitreyi1978@yahoo.comFebruary 24, 2010

    I think I've left a comment before. Oh well. Thanks anyway.

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