Weekend roundup

 

I don't usually show personal pictures on my blog, but for some reason I felt like doing so today. On the left is my younger daughter Daisy, 20 months old, tucking into plums on the pick-your-own fruit farm back in August, while further on below is my older daughter, Hannah, almost 4, enjoying playing nurse! No, this has nothing to do with perfume, but they are cute, even if I say so myself, as a biased dad. And thinking about it, I can almost smell the juiciness of that plum as Daisy bites into it....

As a general post, I have been smelling a bit of this and a bit of that recently. There aren't many new perfumes out in the lead up to Christmas, at least not in my neck of the woods. In a way I'm almost glad - it's quite nice to go a couple of weeks without a further aimless release, destined to be on the discount shelves within a year, if not sooner. Sorry, I'm feeling slightly cynical this evening.

One perfume I tried recently that took me by surprise is Womanity, by Thierry Mugler. Despite the garishly kitsch bottle and pink colour, the juice is really good. This is a good perfume folks, and surprisingly original. What is it with me and the word surprise? I shouldn't really be surprised. After all, despite what you might think of Mugler and Angel in particular, this house generally does release original perfume, whether you like them or not.

Another perfume I tried and liked a lot is Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Bergamotta di Calabria. Despite the 5 minutes it took to type this name out, I found it to be a lovely rendition of a realistic and alluring Bergamot note. Bergamot is so often overused as a top note in perfume and in my opinion is often parceled up with some real generic dreck, almost to the point when I read bergamot in the list of notes, I gloss over it and move onto something seemingly more exciting. Actually, in this case, the perfume is simple, but very nice smelling, probably better suited to warmer months, but the bergamot carries enough spiciness and interest to hold up in the cooler months too. I've never paid much attention to the Blu Mediterraneo line before. I'm not sure why. I think I will be trying a few more from now on.

I'm sure I have tried a few more perfumes of late, but these two stood out for me. The department stores are awash now with sales people trying to force perfume gift sets mostly on unsuspecting and slightly naive men trying to find something for their other half or mother in the Christmas commercial feeding frenzy. 

I'm trying to avoid the shops as much as possible over the next two weeks - I just hate the overall commerciality of this season and I feel jaded already. My kids are loving it though - not the shops that is - and I'm enjoying opening advent calendars with them, telling them tales of Santa and his elves beavering away in the North Pole, getting all the presents ready, decorating the Christmas Tree and so forth. I know that the concept of Christmas can be a polarising issue for many people, but I personally am enjoying experiencing a lot of it through the excitement of my children. If anything, my wish for this season is not about Christmas itself, but the hope that families will get together, overcome differences and spend quality, precious time together. Life is too short, so let's make the most of it!