Chedwick Wears Gucci

Ched amused himself for quite awhile with an empty atomizer and funnel set from Sephora and enjoyed sniffing some Prada II. A mild mannered very elegant scent. Perfect for summer.


The bottle which is entirely made of glass (even the huge cap) would make a good paperweight when empty.

Very soft, yet lasting, I guess I'd call this one refined . True it's a fruity floral, and most of the floral notes are subdued. Still it has excellent sillage and a nice drydown. head notes include bitter orange, mandarin, violet, blackcurrant bud. Heart notes; jasmine, blackberry, heliotrope, iris. Soul notes: exotic woods, amber, musk


The atomizers are great for travel. The proliferation of small cream perfumes, roll on tube perfumes, solid stick perfumes and perfume compacts are due to the airline's restrictions. If you prefer your own liquid perfume, atomizers the way to go.

Random Notes

I was given a generous sample of Versace by Versace (2007)
and have been wearing it the last few days. The idea that there is a note called "Living Dew Drop" in it just makes me smile ~ although I don't think I could pick it out in a crowd of notes. It also has notes of Azalea, Wisteria, Lotus,Orchid, Jasmine, Amber, Musk, Woods, and Vetiver. I think I'll wear it again tomorrow.

"I like perfume and flowers."
~Donatella Versace



"I hate flowers - I paint them because they're cheaper than models and they don't move." ~ Georgia O'Keeffe







I'm going away for a few days, but blogger has this option of posting scheduled posts, so I may post a couple of perfume reviews to be published while I'm gone.


Here is what I found blooming in The Catskill Mountains last weekend: assorted apple blossoms,two headed daffodils, wild strawberry, grape hyacinths, dandelions. The lilacs are going to bloom soon. The blueberries have their little white bell blossoms and the plum and pear trees are gorgeous too. It's a pretty high elevation by Catskill standards, so spring comes a bit later, which is very pleasant.

Top photo: Maple pods still connected in Catskills
Next photos: Tiny Turkish tulip, Chedwick, Fleurs du Catskills

We're Bored / Quiz Relief

We're bored. We've napped and we've eaten salmon, we've watched the birds... please make us un-bored ~ let us smell some stuff.


I'm thinking that Mercurie nearly aced the quiz as he said distinctive which is close to most recognized. Close enough.

The answer to yesterday's Quiz de Chedwick was this: in several blind smell tests (one was done at Yale University) Coffee was overwhelmingly the most recognized smell among large groups of Americans that were tested. Peanut butter, Ivory Soap, cigarette butts, and the other items shown were also among the most recognizable-- test subjects recognized these scents while failing to recognize most unprocessed scents found in nature, like lavender for example. These studies will have to be updated as new generations may not have the ability to recognize scents that were common for baby boomers.

In a blind floral study, participants who claimed to be very familiar with garden flowers, and several women who named fresh lavender as their favorite smell were not able to recognize a stalk of fresh lavender, even when several slightly different types of freshly picked lavender were presented to them. Most of the women said it smelled terrible, others said it was slightly unpleasant. So much for fresh lavender being their favorite. More likely they were thinking of lilacs or a muted lavender moisturizer. Overwhelming praise for lavender until the real thing was presented to them.


Most lavender perfumes are muted by the many other notes that go into a perfume.
Penhaligon's Lavandula is the truest lavender I know in a perfume or bath oil (besides the actual essential oil or absolute.)


Another question for you~ how many different notes does the average perfume have?

Yet another question ~ who has a good recipe for lavender roast chicken, lavender lemonade, or a lavender dessert item?

Quiz de Chedwick

Trivia Question: What do these items have in common?





Photo by Ched:
(coffee, Vick's Vaporub, dry cat food, cigarette butts, Ivory Soap, cinnamon, chocolate, peanut butter, and crayons)

Evocation of a Nap

Taking the day off to just to recall past naps and catch up on reading other blogs.

Code Orange

Queen of the Mayhem has started to wear Code. (I've been meaning to review it for some time now.)

Armani Code for Her (2006) Main Perfumer: *Carlos Benaim, with Dominique Ropion & Olivier Polge.

Head Notes: A blend of sweet and bitter Oranges with Sambac Jasmine.
Heart Notes: Neroli Absolute (Orange Blossom) with Fresh Ginger.
Soul notes: Amber, Honey, Vanilla, Rare Woods.

Has enough mystery & charm to catch and keep your attention ~ with all of the perfumes out there, that isn't easy to do.
woodsy & sweet, very wearable, with a smooth drydown.





*Carlos Benaim is most famous for creating the original Polo by Ralph Lauren back in 1978, an outdoorsy yet preppy scent, which is still very popular thirty years later. He has won many awards for his work in perfumery.

Mother's Day

This bottle belongs to Kimy's mom, who just decided to save this particular bottle, rather than open it. She's an elegant woman who has had a number of favorite perfumes, and this is one of them.

The House of Caron introduced Bellodgia in 1927. The perfumer, Ernest Daltroff was inspired to create this perfume after a trip to Italy. He was vacationing in Bellagio on Lake Como and visited the gardens of Villa Serbellnio. A creamy soli ~ floral, sophisticated and romantic, Bellodgia is almost seductive, but takes a slight detour to lighthearted. Daltroff called it his "Carnation in the morning sunshine." The bottle was designed by Félice Wanpouille Bergaud.

Daltroff's love of perfume began when he was a small boy watching his mother at her dressing table. As she prepared to go out for the evening, she turned to her young son and playfully dabbed a bit of perfume behind his ear. It was a moment in time he would never forget, and these moments were like small poems to him. Each scent he created was based on a happy moment in his life.

Head notes: Carnation
Heart notes: Bulgarian Rose, Carnation, Jasmine
Soul notes: Vanilla, Sandalwood

Carnations were always considered the symbol of mother's day. Wearing a white carnation was a tribute to a deceased mother, while pink carnations honored all moms. The first Mother's Day was celebrated in 1907, where the tables were decorated with vases filled with carnations. The flowers get their name from the word coronation. (Certainly many mothers are deserving of a crown.)
In 1914 Woodrow Wilson made Mother's Day an official holiday, and later a postage stamp depicting Whistler's mother with a vase of carnations was issued.



This quote below reminded me of my own mother, who was beyond generous. (She was outspoken, street smart and tough, with a wicked sense of humor, but never had any trouble with neighbors, co-workers, strangers or in-laws. I noticed that everyone seemed to like her a lot. She was open minded and elegant, I never saw her act condescendingly towards anyone or boast about anything. She forgot her troubles by nurturing others trusting that things would work out okay in the end.)

"A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie."
~Tenneva Jordan

(My mother liked pie a lot and was a gifted pie maker, but her specialty was éclairs .)

Perfume photo by Kimy

The Blue Crayon

How did that get there??
I really like crayons. They're fun to roll across the floor. You can spin them too.



And they smell good. They all smell good, but I think the blue ones smell the best.