Thursday, August 6, 2009

Daily scents and nonsense


It was a beautiful day. Simply perfect, unlike most of the days we've had this spring and what there's been of summer. The sky was a clear blue. The clouds were small and passed quickly. It wasn't too hot, nor was it too cool (as it could be here in Maine in August), and it was nice and dry. What more could one want? I sat outside and knit.

Dick received his new Mac, was sent the wrong one, had hours of frustration with Apple, which proved to have about the worst customer service I can possibly imagine. My brand loyalty has been waning over the last year or so, and this was the final nail in the coffin for me. I was nearly astonished about their complete lack of caring whether they did right by a customer that I called myself to see if things might go better. They did not. If I went into details right now, my blood pressure might go up, and you don't need the details. All I can say is that in the last six months or so I've been surprised at how poor the service has been with a number of large purchases, and this seems strange, especially given the condition of the economy. I want to tip my hat to Maidenform, once again, for their fine customer service. So, to hell with Apple. . .they could have ruined an otherwise perfect day, but it was much too nice a day to ruin. Dick's still getting a Mac (sometime or other). Me, I would not.

I got a Crazylibellule and the Poppies fragrance from the Les Garconnes line around the same time as Dick got the wrong computer. It's Pour Gabrielle, with notes of jasmine, peony, ozonic flower, cedar, incense, leather, vanilla and elemi. At first whiff, I was surprised at the complexity of this inexpensive (and terribly cute) stick of solid perfume, though my second take reaction to the scent was that it smelled like some bug dope I used as a kid. I applied a bit to my wrists and commenced knitting, ignoring the warning sign that it might give me a head ache. I hate the smell of bug spray. Sure enough, as I warmed up while knitting with wool in the sun (perfect day or no), the smell grew stronger. I could not pick out any notes. My brain had fixated on "bug dope" and I started to feel slightly nauseated. A thorough scrubbing did not get the smell out of my nostrils.

When this happens, the only remedy is applying a beloved scent, but today I did not do that. I wish I could recall exactly what I wound up doing, but I can't seem to. I tried, in vain, to find some Terre D'Hermes that smelled heavenly on a friend who came to visit this past weekend. I know I've tried the Hermes before, but that's yet another thing I can't remember (uh oh). Instead, I stumbled on something else I'd been meaning to try. Whatever it was, it had a strong peppery, bitter lime note and obliterated the memory of the Pour Gabrielle. But that started to bother me, too. I woke up with a headache and I really had no business fooling around with scents that weren't soothing. Anything lavender would have been fine, but no, I was set to discover something new today, and nothing was going to stop me. What I wound up doing was creating a fragrance stew. I covered the forgotten lime scent with some CB I Hate Perfume Fire From Heaven, and when it seemed that that was too weak, I followed that up with some Ginestet Le Boise. At this point, I think I was suffering from a bit of anosmia, for I really could not smell Le Boise, and it's a fairly strong fragrance, with named notes of cedar, sandalwood, spices, and vanilla (though I smell patchouli in there, but no one else has mentioned it). If I can't smell Le Boise, even if there are plenty of stronger fragrances out there, I should just quit and go back to my knitting. So, I did, and about a half an hour later I realized I smelled like a perfume shop. A good one, mind you, but still. . .good thing I didn't have to go to an office party.

It's almost eight hours since I went into this fragrance frenzy and I can still smell all of it on me, except (thankfully) the Pour Gabrielle. Poor Gabrielle, I wish I could have liked her.

Photo note: Knitting on the street in Georgetown, Wales. For more beautiful black and white photographs of the people in Wales, circa 1972, go here.

6 comments:

jmcleod76 said...

Ooh, Le Boise sounds fantastic!

I haven't tried those ones you gave me yet. Haven't been feeling up to it, especially in this weather. I have dozens from Maria I need to try, too.

Julie H. Rose said...

I really love the stuff, which surprises me since I think it smells heavily of patchouli, and if there is truly no patchouli in it, then they've done a damn good job of concocting it, like the vanilla scent of Hanae Mori's Butterfly which has no vanilla in it.

It's QUITE cool out here today. I put on a turtleneck!

Y'know, we're all waiting for you to try a new scent so you can write about it (no pressure, no pressure).

Anonymous said...

Good to know I'm not the only one who suffers from perfume ADD every once in a while:)
What did you think about Fire from Heaven?
N

Julie H. Rose said...

I absolutely loved Fire From Heaven when I was in New York City. I'm a sucker for most anything with strong frankincense notes.

Oddly, here in Maine, I find this scent hard to smell (literally). It seems much weaker. I just sprayed some one, in order to answer your question, for saying "I loved it" wouldn't do. The opening smelled soapy, which I never noticed before. And no, I don't love it now!

So, here in a rural setting, I seem to be anosmic to it. Why? I haven't a clue. I put some CB's Smoky Tobacco on top of it: Mmmmmmmm. That's a VERY nice accord!

Julie H. Rose said...

Oh, and as to Smoky Tobacco: it's a sweet, not-that-smoky fresh tobacco scent, reminding me of putting my nose into my father's pipe tobacco tins when I was a kid. Good fresh pipe tobacco is such a lovely smell. It's just when it's lit up and smoking that it stinks!

Anonymous said...

Fire from Heaven is pretty subtle, so I can see how it could be hard to smell. When I find that I can't smell something, I give it a break and it usually comes back.
I haven't smelled his Tobacco accord, but CBMusk smells almost exclusively of tobacco to me,so I get what you talking about. It is lovely, allbeit too suffocating in this heat.
N