This is my first winter in the southeast and goodness gracious it’s a mild one. Not a flake of snow, hardly any rain, and most days are in the 60s. I noticed a magnolia tree in my neighbor’s yard starting to bloom a few days ago. I know the weather isn’t usually so warm but after the record breaking hot & humid summer we deserve a nice winter.
Even though true winter temperatures elude me, I have pulled out all my usual faves the past few months anyway (hey, it’s in the 50s & 60s which sometimes feels sort of chilly lately!). My winter scents are all about spices, woods, patchouli, amber and near-gourmands. A big favorite the past month has been Kenzo Jungle L’Elephant, which I only recently fell in love with after years of not getting it. I certainly get Jungle L’Elephant now and now that we're BFFs I'll never be without it. After a post from The Non Blonde about a wonderful tea company called Harney & Sons, I have been pairing Kenzo Jungle L’Elephant with a seriously good tea, Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice. This tea is life-changing. I've actually mailed tea bags to various friends and family so they could experience the deliciousness of Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice.
I’m in a book club now so we vote each month on what we’ll read. This month its Stephen King’s 11/22/63 and I’m still slogging through this hefty volume. It’s OK. The best book I’ve read in the past few months was The Sister’s Brothers by Patrick deWitt. I have a Kindle now so it seems I can’t get through books fast enough. There are so many I want to read and I can acquire them so quickly. I do sometimes miss the feel and experience of real books, though. So I pepper my book buying between purchasing real books and Kindle books.
The after-Christmas sale at Bath & Body Works saw me buying a year’s supply of my favorite wallflowers in Sensual Amber. This scent is really nice for the bedroom. It smells like amber should; not foodie but almost an ambergris-amber. I’m also still enjoying B&BWs Fresh Balsam candles (I should be still be enjoying them since I bought 12). Fresh Balsam is an invigorating scent with excellent throw. It does smell like Christmas but it also simply smells of a pine forest which works for me all through the winter months.
Previously a fan of Chobani and Siggi’s greek yogurt I’ve now converted to Trader Joe’s Vanilla Bean Nonfat Greek yogurt. There are actual flecks of vanilla bean in this stuff. It’s delicious.
Other fragrances I’ve been enjoying the past month or so are two entries from Parfums Divine: L’Inspiratrice and L’ame Soeur. L’ame Soeur has recently been reformulated. This latest, updated version of L’ame Soeur is less aldehydic than the original. At first I wasn’t sure I liked it as much but now I’m gaga for it. It’s rosier, brighter and more floral. It’s still aldehydic and very close to the original but you can sniff the differences side-by-side.
I’ve also been enjoy the original FlowerbyKenzo. I think folks about 10 years younger than me have always known about Kenzo Flower. Somehow I wasn’t aware of it when it launched, or I vaguely remember trying it and not smelling much. Lately I find it to be an easy-going powdery violet floral. I’m surprised it doesn’t come up more often when people are looking for a nice violet entry. It’s definitely not all about violet, but the overall feel is parma violets to me.
For fans of SNL-type comedy you must watch Portlandia.
Unlike last year, I haven’t enjoyed most of the films nominated for an Oscar. I saw The Descendants last week and thought it was good; some great characters but nothing amazing. The IMDb summary could be: rich white folks living in paradise still have some issues.
I’m going through a sun-dried tomato phase. I buy the little dried bags at Trader Joe’s (no oil, just a bag of loose sun-dried tomatoes) and add them to everything. You’d be surprised how sweet tomatoes can be.
Two fragrances I know I like but haven’t fallen head over heels for yet: Mary Greenwell’s Plum and Tommi Sooni Tarantella. Both are wonderfully classic and well-crafted offerings in a sea of mediocrity and while I like wearing them I’m just not getting verklempt about them (yet). I would still highly recommend both to those who enjoy floral diet-chypres (Plum) and spicy, green chypres (Tarantella).
Other favorite fragrances I've been wearing (and I feel like a broken record with these!) are Teo Cabanel Alahine, Canturi eau de parfum, Love, Chloe Eau Intense, Jo Malone Vanille & Anise and M. Micallef Gaiac.
Special Thanks to Elena of PerfumeShrine for organizing this joint project!
Other participating blogs are as follows:
So, what's new with you dear reader? What are you enjoying in perfume and many other arenas this winter? Do tell..... :)
