All my hearts desires in one bottle...

For the past few months, my mom and I have been the recipients of countless mini-miracles.We've had countless people help us with little/big things that have made our life easier (i.e. fixing our furnace so we don't freeze this winter, inviting our family over for dinner, etc). I've been the recipient of free tickets to things I wanted to see (James Taylor, In the Heights, and Surfer Blood). And my mom got in a car accident, which believe it or not, was actually a good thing. Our car was going to need a lot of work soon. But now, instead of spending a good couple thousand dollars to fix our old car, she received a check from the car insurance company for more than what our car was worth. See? A little blessing. There's a gospel analogy in there somewhere, right? "Get in a car accident, get something better-er". You'll be hearing it in General Conference soon, I'm sure.

This has happened to many times to count, where the universe just DELIVERS what we NEED. 

And it's happened AGAIN!

So I like looking at beauty here, here, and here. It's become sort of an addiction. 

Anyway. Everyone on those sites just love Lush, and I sort of do too now that they have a store in Salt Lake. It's expensive though, so I don't own anything from them. But I love reading reviews of their products and making wishlists for when I become a millionaire. People on those sites have been talking about this perfume that came out a year or so ago that sounds just heavenly...

It's called Rose Jam: 

"We've taken a real Turkish rose oil and rose absolute, added a hint of zingy lemon and a dash of geranium oil, which brings its own sweet, floral and slightly sharp note to the mix. The resulting fragrance is rich and fruity - a modern, youthful perfume that's nothing like the old-fashioned rose scents found on granny's dressing table."

I NEED IT.

Alas, it was very limited edition. They use the scent in a body conditioner and shower gel, and people had been begging for a perfume version for a while. So they released it online, and it sold out in just a couple days. And that was before I even knew it existed. :( One of my aunts makes her own rose jam, and it's the most heavenly thing you'll ever eat. It's like eating sweet perfume and it's the prettiest color and I love it. I would love to be able to wear something that smells like it. 

Just this week I started scouring message boards to see if there was any chance that they would release the perfume again...nothing. BUT THEN, on Tuesday morning, I visit Now Smell This, and they had this to report:

On Friday, Lush will launch a set of 5 limited edition perfumes based on fragrances from their popular bath, body & hair products, and including several that have been launched before in this form. This year's set: Rose Jam, Snow Fairy, Snowcake, Ponche, and one that will be announced on Friday — it's a surprise. 

Rose Jam ~ "the decadent scent of Turkish rose and uplifting citrus." 

Snow Fairy ~ "a sweet and cheery combination of cotton candy and vanilla." 

Snowcake ~ "the comforting scent of almond icing and marzipan." 

Ponche ~ "inspired by traditional Mexican punch, this smells of fresh berries and fruits plus warming spices." 

Lush Rose Jam, Snow Fairy, Snowcake, Ponche and ? will be available in 30 ml, in the bottle style shown above. They will be sold while supplies last; the sale starts at 5 pm EST/2 pm PST on Lush USA.

It's meant to be!
And I really want Snowcake!
And Ponche!

I WANT IT ALL!

Except for Snow Fairy, blech.

But I have no idea how many dollars each of them will cost, so I'm trying to temper myself. I've blind bought (when you buy without testing them out) a bunch of perfumes from Demeter (every so often they have them for 50% off, so it's not too unreasonable an impulse purchase), and been disappointed most of the time. Except for Cannabis Flower. That is a good scent to add to sweet perfumes so they don't smell so cloying. But I only bought it because Cannabis Rose is expensive, and hard to find. Do you see a trend? Rose and Marijuana, my favorite smells. That's about as edgy as a Mormon girl can get. So anyway, I'm crossing my fingers that Rose Jam doesn't sell out. And that it's not too expensive. They're selling it tomorrow and I'm SO EXCITED.

Is it silly that I get so worked up over scented water? It's the little things you guys.

"Lonely I see, lonely I need"

You guys, I found the best thing.

IT IS A COMBINATION OF ALL MY LOVES IN THE WORLD!

Look at it!

It's a PERFUME...
inspired by a SONG....
by my boyfriends JACK WHITE
and DANGER MOUSE

A dream come trueeeeeeee.

Too bad it's $350 for 50 ml.

Maybe someone can send me a baby sample? I also want to try their perfume Likewise. It sounds nice.

Check out a review of the perfume here.

Strange Invisible Perfumes, I like you.

Scent-scapes

Look at what Olfactive Studio is doing:

They've created a series of scents based on photographs. The New York Times did a little piece on it. I'd love to try them out! Looks really interesting.

Also, all those Bond no. 9 scents I've tried are a little boring :/ The only one that really stuck with me was Chinatown, but I don't know if it fits me. Plus they're super expensive. Plus I hate the shape of the bottle (sorrynotsorry). I think I'm only going to try weird perfumes from now on. I stopped by Lush over the weekend and tried a couple scents

Vanillary on my left wrist, Breath of God on my right. I liked both of them, but I just think Breath was little too masculine.Need to buy Vanillary. I REALLY liked it. 

"Perfume is Spirit"

Perfume keeps getting cooler and cooler.

First this video with Julian Casablancas.

(Yes, I know I've posted it before, but I'm looking for excuses to post it all the time)

Also, the New York Times just did a book review on Denyse Beaulieu's book, "The Perfume Lover". I can't wait to read. Sounds like she's lived quite the life. A quote from her:

“You have this work of art sitting on your skin for hours,” she said of the substance that fascinates her. “You are walking in a bubble of beauty: a mini atmosphere, an invisible country in which you’re the capital.”

“Perfume is spirit,” Ms. Beaulieu said. “When you distill flowers, you literally distill their soul. Perfume is the only form of adornment that doesn’t need a mirror.”

And then a teaser by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola for the new flanker to Prada's Candy:

I don't even care how the perfume smells. I want those bottles.

The original. So hot.

And the new flanker L'eau. So so hot.

They'll be releasing the "film" sometime next week. Can't wait to see it. 

And look at this cool thing this European former basketball player is doing. You can read about his perfume line here. Tight.

I've been super weird about perfume lately. Wearing a bunch of stuff I used to really dislike. For example yesterday, I could not get enough of Clean's Shower Fresh perfume. 

I kept putting it on all day. So strange. It made me want to try all of Clean's other perfumes. We'll see. 

please make me a classy old lady

I'm becoming re-obsessedwith perfume. I just love it. 

It feels like I've been sick for half of forever, which means all of my senses have been on hiatus. I'm finally starting to feel better, and have made all sorts of resolutions to NEVER GET SICK AGAIN and to ONLY EAT ORGANIC FOODS and to WASH MY HANDS 500 TIMES A DAY. Being sick is the worst. Especially when you can't smell or taste or breathe... 

But now I'm finally getting better! 

Last week I stopped by Nordstrom and and the perfume consultant was so cool and friendly and loaded us up with samples. I couldn't wait to be able to smell again and try them out. Talking with the consultant helped me pinpoint what I really like, and she led me to some cool perfumes by Bond No. 9 and Dyptyque. 

And look what I found! These guys did a performance piece by creating an "Everything" perfume. Supercool.

I want to own all the smells in the world!

Anyway.

Most days, I want to smell like a classy lady. And when I say "lady," I mean Dowager Countess.

Honestly. A lot of the scents I've been drawn to lately have been sort of old-fashioned, a little powdery. Here are a few of them. Try them out and let me know what you think:

I got this as a deluxe sample from Sephora, and I am very pleased! I didn't like the initial notes, but they dry down was just lovely and delicious and warm. It's hard to get scents to smell "warm" on my skin, they always seem to go a little "sour" or something. This made me feel grown up, and it might be too mature smelling for me, but I like it. I also really want to try the rose one, but I'm already betting I may not like it. I prefer my rose scents to be fresh, paired with something green and earthy. Sometimes modern. I used to wear Stella after all. L'Essence sounds nice too... I just want all of them!

I got this in rollerball form, purely by chance, and I really like it. It's actually not old-ladyish at all. It's more fruity, also has amber. More mainstream? I don't know. Isn't its name so silly? And the bottle super silly? But I would LOVE how it would look on my makeup table. It's so great.

I love this bottlllllllleeeeee. I just wish I loved the perfume more. Every time I looked through Vogue, I was always drawn to the Bottega adverts. So classy, but still interesting. Some of those pages I'd kept for years. So I'm more drawn to the image and idea of this perfume than the actual juice. Unlike Balenciaga, I actually prefer the first notes to the lingering scent. The dry-down is just inoffensive. Plain and pleasant. Nice, but sort of BORING. I'm wearing it now, and it's fine enough, but not enough to invest in. hmmmmmm

I'm just going to switch between these three for the next few days, and see how I feel. Isn't perfume just so fun?

I have a problem.

I've been especially perfume obsessed lately.
I want them. I want them now.
I think it is because in winter, we are robbed of many sensual delights. As in things that ignite our olfactory senses.

Ok, maybe that's not completely true.

We have the fall leaf smell (though it was quickly stolen from us by the early snows).
We have the cosy pumpkin/vanilla/cinnamon smells that are oh so lovely (but the incarnation of them in candle/home spray form makes me feel nauseous).
There are winter smells that I love, I guess.

Real pine with Real lemon:

Fake pine with Fake citrus in this candle from Nordstrom:

"Annick Goutal's Noël candle, scented with
enchanting bitter orange, mandarin and
Siberian pine, with an unforgettable scent of resin,"
Doesn't that sound perfect?

Pomander Balls

Paperwhites:

It seems like most people hate the smell of paperwhites.
I LOVE it.

But in reality. Most of the "winter smells" are non existant. They are months with an absence of smell. Just cold, cold, cold. When spring and summer come, we remember what smells were. We have our windows open to smell flowers, trees, grass. The rain smell. The sun-warmed smell. I don't feel the need to wear perfume as much

Winter calls for it though. It makes you feel cosy. It brightens the dreariness.

I NEED IT.

I've been trying to plan out my budget for such an extravagance, but I think I will have to wait till Christmas.

Chanel Cristalle, Eau Verte:

"This concentrated Eau de Toilette reveals a sheer and spirited heart. Magnolia notes are rendered transparent with fresh citrus and Neroli accents, for a new expression of a timeless floral bouquet."

This is one of the first perfumes I sniffed when I got home from my mission. We were in San Diego with my mom's friend from college. My mom loved it. It reminds me of her. And also of my childhood perfume, Celeste. 

Chloé Eau de Parfum, Intense: The garden of Chloé fragrances,the rose reveals itself 
in different variations, in full bouquets and under unexplored facets, 
more modern than ever. New Chloé Eau de Parfum Intense is the enchanting and
sensual rose of the original eau de parfum. It embellishes the Chloé woman with 
a refined, feminine fragrance and intriguing allure. Notes: pink peony, rose, lychée, 
lily of the valley, magnolia, velvet rose, cedar wood. amber, honey.

Another one of those rose-y, old-lady smells that I like. I don't know what it is about them. Kind of powdery. People meet me and probably wonder why I smell like their grandmother. Whatever.

Juicy Couture: Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there were two nice girls named Pam and Gela who discovered the Juicy Couture world of fashion and fun, fun, fun. They took a deep breath and realized this is how The Juicy Girls smell the world!
Pam and Gela wanted every girl to have her own Juicy Couture, so they made a fabulous line of fragrance essentials adorned as only Juicy Couture can - some with charms and trinkets, and all in the most beautiful bottles and jars you've ever seen! Notes of: mandarin, hyacinth, marigold, apple, passionfruit, watermelon, lily, rose, tuberose, patchouli, woods, vanilla, crème brulée.

You may notice that the perfume bottle in the advertisement is ginormous. I chose it on purpose; I need that bottle of perfume to be that big. Isn't the story of Pam and Gela ridiculous? Just so you know, this perfume is not in anyway "juicy". It doesn't smell overly fruity or bubble-gummy or cotton-candy-y as you would expect, though other testers say it does. They are nothing like the velour track suits that say "Juicy" on the bum bum. One me, this actually smells like... you guessed it, an old lady perfume. Love it.

Burberry Body: Wrapped around a woman, the iconic Burberry trench coat evokes sensuality, femininity, and luxury. In this fragrance, an eclectic composition of fruity-chypre notes envelopes the body, creating a suggestion of effortless seduction. The fragrance opens with a fresh, green touch of absinthe and bright hints of peach and freesia. Elegance emerges in the heart, where cool notes of natural rose absolute and iris are set against the subtlety and warmth of sandalwood. In the base, woody cashmeran and creamy vanilla join the sensuality of amber and musk.
Notes: Freesia, Green Absinthe, Peach, Rose, Iris, Sandalwood, Cashmeran, Musk, Amber, Vanilla. 

One of the newer ones from Burberry. I tried it on Saturday, and I think it's great. I like most of Burberry's perfume line. And I like the color palette of their makeup line. And I like the styling in their adverts. Especially Emma Watson 'cause I want to BE her. I want to bring Burberry back.

So there you have it. What I've been dreaming of.... aaaahhhh. OK. If I get a set job lined up for after I graduate, then I can buy myself a bottle as a treat. Right? That's reasonable. Sure. Very responsible of me actually.

I get by with a little help from my nonhuman friends.

That book I talked about a bit ago, "Pandora's Hope," got me thinking about nonhumans, formerly known as objects.

Definition of nonhumans: "This concept has meaning only in the difference between the pair 'human-nonhuman' and the subject'object dichotomy. Associations of humans and nonhumans refer to a different political regime from the war forced upon us by the distinction between subject and object. a nonhuman is thus the peacetime version of the object: what the object would look like if it were not engaged in the war to shortcut due to political process. The pair human-nonhuman is not a way to 'overcome' the subject-object distinction but a way to bypass it entirely."

From what I understand up to this point, Latour attempts bridge the divide that has artificially created, separating "us" and "them". So everyone is everything and we are all part of each other. This is a bit easier for Mormons to understand.

Moses 6:63 "And behold, all things have their alikeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me."

In class, we talked about how "all things" means ALL things. So that pen you are holding to take notes in class, the bagel with pear jam you had for breakfast, slush on the side of the road? Yep. They are testimonies of divinity. Latour may not have had such spiritual inclinations as he wrote, but I think he would give an appreciative nod to Mormon conception of human-nonhuman.

Anyway, I am human; and I love nonhumans; specifically these things here.

1. My car

 OK. Putting up a picture of a car makes me feel like a bad word. Like I am a 19 year old boy or something. This isn't my actual car, but it looks a lot like this. Mine has tinted windows. It makes me feel fancy. My car's name is Leon because: 1) the first CD I listened to whilst driving was a "Kings of Leon" 2) the Real Salt Lake Mascot is named "Leo" C) I have an appreciation for Leonardo DiCaprio D) Leon means '"lion" in Spanish. I guess none of those reasons are really connected, but they are good enough for me. I have been a walker and bus-taker for years. I regularly made the two-hour trip to Salt Lake hopping on and off buses and trax.
It was ok.
I try to decrease my carbon footprint, but when I got a job in the mountains, I needed transport to and from school, so there you go. One day, I will not have to drive so much, but until then, I have Leon.


2. Perfume

I like perfume so much, I haven't worn any of my own for the past few months. I always want to be ready so that if I walk into a store, I won't have a confusion of scents and I can experience them the way they are supposed to be experienced. I got a huge perfume coffee table book for Christmas, and then this book for my birthday:

When I live in Virginia this summer I will venture to New York if only to go to this store, and revisit this place. I love perfumes because they are the most frivolous and nonsensical things to buy. That is what make them lovely. 

I also love...
3. Shower curtains

They provide privacy in the bathroom, but can also be used to spruce up a bedroom cheaply. I have some hanging on my walls.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Thank you my nonhuman friends. You help move myself, enrich my life, and make things beautiful. Asceticism is all the rage, but I will always cherish "objects" and the relationships I have with them. They almost want me study Archeology...almost. Oh, nonhuman friends...where would I be without you?

Things that enchant

I appreciate what the act of translation has done for my thought process. In Spanish, you don't say that you "love" something (the actual verb "to love" is left for only the closest of relationships). Instead you say that something enchants you. Example: "Me encanta tu manera de ser" literally translates to "Your way of being enchants me," but is understood as "I love the way you are". Beautiful, right? So here is a lengthy compilation of things that enchant me:



Remember this day? It was last Sunday I believe; close to sunset. Light like this doesn't happen often. This is the definition of enchanting. When I think of the phrase "witching hour," I think of this sky.







It was under this sky that we drove my dad to the airport. On the way back, the sky darkened as we listened to Willy Mason. His song "Simple Town" perfectly encapsulated the moody heavens, I think. Check him out on his myspace.

Another thing that enchants me is PERFUME.



This one is particularly delicious. I love it I love it I love it. I think it might even be THE ONE. You know, the perfume you wear everyday. The perfume that people identify you by. MY SIGNATURE SCENT. Well, at least for the summer. ha! You can try it out at the Apothica in Gateway. I stop by every time I'm there to steal a squirt! One day, it will be mine.

I also love everything perfume related. This article in the New York Times. Although my idea of perfume making has been tainted since I read the novel Perfume. Ew.

I would love to be a perfumer though. Especially since our garden is in full bloom now! I have to share what I have found in it with you.



These smell so lovely. I think my Tia Hortensia uses this kind when she makes her rose jam. mmmmmm.





My friend Tiana would call these colors yummy. I would agree with her.





I didn't know that we had peonies in our garden! What a pleasant surprise.



These roses smell like grapefruit. Really, they do!



Baby strawberry! Sorry little guy; one day, I will eat you.



Another thing I love. The farmers market. I found my Aunt Tami there on Saturday. She is "My Dough Girl" cookies. Try "Lily" if you get the chance. She is the lemon one. I also found Bramble there. Check'em out.

That's enough for now.

Toodles.