Memories

Today, I tried Lancome's Poeme (my apologies to this French company, I haven't figured out quite how to get accents in Blogger). It was a trip down memory lane. I bought this fragrance in 1999. It's quite light, a well rounded floral which marked my transition from scabby Development Studies graduate, to local government employee. In that period, the millenium was a reality, a relationship ended and a not-a-very-bright relationship began. When I smelt it on my wrists, it felt like a touch of innocence had been returned to me. Since that time I've grown up quite a bit from the mistakes I've made. And after all of that, I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up.

The foul weather was less successful at keeping people away, than it had in the beginning of this week. I was able to work on my link-selling skills and to try doing make-ups on colleagues and friends who popped in. What has taken me by surprise is the support I've been getting from the women on the counters, they've been giving me tips and hints and encouragement when I've been obviously disappointed with my figures.

Last year, you will remember I waxed lyrical about a Boots nail polish. Last summer, I went a bit mad and bought loads of colours from Boots and Rimmel and my nails really suffered. They literally began to flake off. I also was disappointed with the way the nail polish lasted. It scratched and lost it's gloss really quickly. Last week, I gave in and bought some expensive polish - it's £9.99 a bottle! Talk about having to steady your nerves. However, it has proven to me that you get what you pay for. It's called O.P.I and it is stunning. My nails are glossy, chip free and look great. How happy am I? By the way, this isn't vanity on my part, it's necessity. I've got to be manicured for work. Basically, I've got to be top totty every day. What fun!

After lunch I came downstairs, sprayed myself liberally with Poeme and stood opposite to my counter, checking out my stock levels. This amazingly tall woman walked past me, stopped, looked at me quizzically.

"I've just smelt something marvellous as I walked past." She says. "It's somewhere around here." She gestures around my area.

"That'll be me," I laughed.

All Change!

My nesting continues much to the consternation and surprise of the men in my life, to the point whereby Oblivion has gone unplayed. But my bedroom has been dug out, the floor is no longer a rumour, I've even created some space for my Viking to store stuff - should he so wish it. The front room still has more shite than I'm happy with, but until the Viking heads up into the loft to put away several crates, not much I can do about it. He promises that he will do that over the next few days, and I'll see if bribery and corruption can speed things along. At least the front room is now dust and cobweb free.

My intentions were to have a lazy day today, for once, my laziness didn't get the better of me and while I didn't exactly move very fast, I did manage to get quite a lot done. I look about my handiwork now, and I could really get used to this target-achieving-feeling. I can't believe that I've actually managed to do what I intended without major stresses on my part. I basically have just pottered around, doing little bits here and there and somehow they've managed to add up to something good.

It's a bit sad, that I'm a grown woman who is patting herself on the back for doing a bit of housework. But there you go. I doubt it will last, so it's good while it lasts.

Oh, and I have other news!

A couple of job opportunities came up at work. Both were in cosmetic houses. Yes, I know I'm being a bit vague, but I'd rather keep the new job I've got. I'll give you a bit of a hint: as from next Monday, I'll be a beauty consultant for the Cosmetic House for whom Kate Winslet and Clive Owen have done a bit of work for. It's very up-market and the products are fabulous. Before I went into the interview, I wasn't bothered, I had another interview lined up for the weekend, with more days and therefore more money. But during the interview I really liked what I heard and I was very pleased to be offered the job. I'm really looking forward to the change of pace.

It does mean that my days in perfumery are numbered - 3 to be exact, but as my Viking laughingly pointed out - I've got 13 bottles of perfume sitting on my dressing table - time for something new!

Reasons to Write Shopping Lists

I know it might be slightly boring, but it would really help me, if you would do two things: 1)write down the name of the fragrance your doting other half would like for Christmas and 2) bring it with you. Doing so will avoid the following conversations:

* "It's an odd shapped bottle with bobbles on it." Customer then looks accusingly at me when I bring our collection of odd shapped bottles with bobbles on it and it's not any of them.

* "It's called Ant something." Them.

"Do you remember who made the fragrance?" Me.

"No." Them

"Do you know what it smells like?" Me.

"Nice." Them.

*sigh* Me.

A bit later on, I remember Anteus by Chanel (there is a Chanel concession, but I don't work on it) and they were happy.

Training Day

Yesterday, I extracted myself out of bed at stupid o'clock to head down to London for a perfumery training day. All in all, it was a lot of fun. There's something magical being up before the sun has properly risen, when it's a winters day, the mist lying in the frosty fields and over mirrored ponds. I took my camera with me and got a couple of quite arty shots from the train. Boy quite liked them when I showed them to him last night. As the training started at 10am, I managed to miss the bulk of the commuter crush going down, for which I am grateful. I don't like crowds at the best of times and the thought of fighting up in the tube at that time, did not fill me with a great deal of warmth and joy.

I arrived in Liverpool Street on time and rushed to get to the tube. I'd worked out my route the night before on the internet, so I knew which line I wanted and the train. I had a quick check on the map, scurried off to the platform and pushed my way onto the train. Unfortunately, their idea of westbound and my idea of westbound were two different things: at the next stop, I realised I was going the wrong way. Out I got, practically ran up the steps to the other platform and waited for the train going the other way. Fortunately, it wasn't long and I got to the hotel on time for a cup of coffee and biscuits before we got stuck in.

I've been to quite a few training sessions, I've even delivered a few. So when I say yesterday was fun, informative and the trainers great, I do believe I know what I'm saying. The trainers led us through some of the different fragrances on offer and taught us about their development, history and occasional anecdotes about the designers. It was my first proper perfumery training and I found that I wasn't as ignorant as I first thought. The information I've been reading has actually lodged itself into my brain, I'm no longer bullshitting my customers blindly. I can now bullshit with style and expertise. During the course of the day we had opportunities to win goodies, try the various fragrances and body products as well as taking away a goody bag filled with training notes, posters and, well.....goodies.

The journey home was fun. I spent some time people watching and doing some journal writing. I was able to take some time to think about what it was that so moved me about fragrance that cosmetics and fashion has not been able to do. I realised that perfume is good for your well-being. It's not about anti-aging, making you appear years younger, tightening the saggy bits. Fragrance doesn't rely on your dress sense, or sense of style. Anyone can wear a fragrance, regardless of their looks, social status, gender, sexual orientation. I'm not so naive that I don't recognise there is a link between these things. I know people buy a fragrance hoping to buy into the designer experience, and a fragrance is often designed with this in mind. However, I do believe it is possible to step out of fragrance in this fashion sense. I know this is stepping out of the mainstream idea of perfume and where it sits in fashion, but I am coming at it from a different perspective. I am not trendy, young or even vaguely fashionable. My dress sense is dictated by comfort and what goes with jeans and comfortable shoes. I do not possess a genuine designer anything.

I suppose I'm thinking about fragrance in a more of an inclusive way, it embraces rather than excludes. A fragrance won't care how a woman looks, how old she is, how much money she has. It will smell fabulous on her, or it won't. Therefore, by wearing a fragrance, a woman or man, is making a statement about their personality, their self-esteem, their sensuality. It is possible to be completely skint and to still wear a scent, if only a dab of sandalwood essential oil on your pulse points. I have customers who are highly allergic to some of the ingredients in fragrance and it's a real tragedy for them, they feel as if they are missing out on an experience. In these cases, I always point them towards perfumers who pay attention to quality ingredients and to essential oils.

Fragrance is a sensual experience, best worn on your skin. It's something first and foremost for you to enjoy. A fragrance will react to your stress levels, for women - where you are in your monthly cycle and in your life-cycle, a fragrance will react to your diet. So whatever a fragrance smells like in the bottle, on a piece of card, it only really comes to life on the warmth of your skin. Despite the trend for celebrity fragrance, a person has to genuinely like a perfume to wear it. While there are trends in fragrance, it's not possible to fake liking a fragrance. I dare anyone to wear a fragrance they loathe and to try repeat the experience. You might make a mistake, but you won't want to do it again. There's nothing worse than putting on something which is your olfactory equivalent of Cat's Piss.

A year ago, if you would have told me I would become so passionate about fragrance, I would have laughed at you. Amazing isn't it, what life brings your way? Even if I stop working in perfume, I think I've now got a life-long obsession. No one ever need worry about what to get me for Christmas and birthday now.

Figue Amere

Today was an improvement on yesterday, so it's safe for you to continue reading this. I had a long pamper session last night and an early night and it certainly was a good cure for my miseries. Work continues to be dogged by staff shortages caused by sickness, as the bug I got last week, continues its rounds. I was once again in the SkinSpa area, next to lovely smelly things. Before you nag, yes, I was good and did manage not to buy anything today.

Besides, I didn't need to do any retail therapy, I had my fabulous bottle of Geranium Bourbon waiting for me. I had to have another pamper session when I got home tonight, just so I could put it on. But I was a bit daring today. I tried Miller Harris' Figue Amere. If I remember correctly, Lyn Harris was walking down an exotic beach and she passed someone eating figs, so she recreated the moment in Figue Amere. It isn't a sweet fig fragrance like Hermes Un Jardin en Mediterranee, it's more salty with a dark chocoloate drydown, which just made me feel edible all day.

I found an amazing French blogger, who is a perfume historian, the link is to the left under Nose that Knows, and he discusses formulae, ingredients and the development of the hard core of the perfume world. He talks with passion and enthusiasm about these old perfumes, which is great to read, I've learnt quite a lot visiting his blog. But one of the things that struck me about the perfume world of the hard core of Chanel, Dior, Estee Lauder, Lanvin, Guerlin etc, is that the fragrances are designed to order. So one perfumer wanted to design fragrances to match a woman's moods. Mme Chanel, didn't really create No 5, she had perfumers and apparently there is some controversy as to how she got the formula. NB. Don't quote me on the history, I'm still learning and my details may be dodgy.

Whereas the female perfumers, within small perfume houses create fragrances from moments or for loved ones. Annick Goutal, whose fragrances are also exclusive to our department store, created Grand Amour, after her second husband bought home a huge bouquet to celebrate an anniversary. How amazing is that? Lyn Harris' fragrances all come with a story: a walk in a spring-time wood, a walk on a beach. They just seem more personal somehow.

Of course there are male perfumers who create fragrances from moments as well. Creed launched their Virgin Island Water after a sailing trip round the Virgin Islands and that really does smell like a tropical holiday. Creed are a small family business who have been creating fragrances for Kings, Princes of the Realm, movie stars for hundreds of years. They are rather special.

Perhaps that's the difference. Rather than the celebrity of the moment wanting to convince their army of teeny-bopper fans to part with more cash, or a large fashion house thinking 'hmmm...what will we do for Spring 2009?'. These perfumers create from their moments of pleasure, their passions. It shows. Yummy.

There is a God, and She is Good...

*Big Girlie Scream*

Right. Now I've got that out of the way, I'll behave with the decency and decorum you've all come to expect.

*Big Girlie Scream*

How chuffed was I when I went into work today and The Buyer gave us a copy of an e-mail saying the Miller Harris lady said those who had her training yesterday could have a fragrance of choice? Until I realised I would have to chose.

Eeek! Too much choice. Yesterday, I wore Geranium Bourbon and loved it to bits, it's floral without being sweet; sophisticated and not a scent to be worn lightly. I won't link the individual fragrances as I normally do, I've added a new section in my link lists and if you feel moved, you can visit the website. Today, I wore their Tangerine Vert. Fresh, vibrant and sweetly citrus. The only problem is that it's very moreish; I'm sure people thought I was mad, I couldn't stop sniffing my wrists. As I type this I'm sniffing them still.

Before I go any further, many thanks to Samantha for introducing me to a poverty-inducing, fabulous range of fragrances. Even more thanks for my amazing treat and for coming by and commenting. Please feel free to pop by and have a coffee any time.

This is also Alix's day. Her two years of hard work doing the MA in Digital Art (the one I'm about to start) has paid off and she has got a Distinction. We are so incredibly proud of her. So Big Up Alix! It's been an amazing summer for her marriage, now distinction and then off to London (boo hiss for the last one) to seek her fortune.

Dear Sir...

I'd like to begin by voicing my appreciation of your support during my lean years. Lacking a trampoline, I practice my bouncing on my overdraft, it's useful exercise and ultimately gives the girls in your letter sweatshop something to do. After all, printing off standard snotty letters to me, must be the highlight of their day. Many thanks for the credit card, for every time I pay it off and it spends a month lonely and pining in my drawer, it comes out and plays with me at least 20 times. Thanks to it's company, I can pay my fees for another 2 years of study. Although my credit limit is indeed scary and more than the cost of a brand new car, I treat it with the same respect as an over-ripe banana.

Today, at work I received training for Miller Harris fragrances. Please sir, I know you are a busy man, but bear with me, the point is this: I would like to beg, borrow or steal a small fortune so that I can purchase for my ownsome these amazing perfumes. Lyn Harris, their creator is the only female classicly trained 'nose' in Britain. She spent 5 years training in Grasse, France, the capital of perfume. Now based in London she creates her fragrances out of moments of pleasure and bottles them for her delighted customers. These are not chavvy perfumes, nor are they mass market dross. They are expensive because they use the best natural and ethically sourced ingredients possible. She lingers months and years over her works of art. And they are works of art; to be appreciated and adored.

I would like to support this family run, small business fight off the mass market, huge corporations that claim to offer quality and offer pong instead.

Waiting in anticipation for your positive response,

Roses

Keeping Myself in the Manner to Which...

Did I tell you I was very naughty while I was in duty-free? Oh yes, I am a bad, bad girl. For I bought a bottle of Hermes Un Jardin en Mediteranee. Forgive me, oh bank manager, I know not what overcame me. Why I needed this bottle of fragrance to keep the other 8 bottles company, I'll never know. But damn, it smells good!

Monday was my first day back at work. I probably had about 3 hours of sleep and was feeling like a dog's dinner. But one of the things I'm learning about sleep deprivation is the more disturbed nights you have, the more you get used to functioning without. So I put on my slap and managed to get in 5 mins late, but all was well. I'd been away for two weeks and the first part of the morning was spent trying out the new fragrances which have snuck in while I wasn't looking. The new Prada fragrance Infusion d'Iris had pride of place, as did the new line to us: Miller Harris. Oh my goodness, so many new scents to try, so little time.

Infusion d'Iris is a bit of an 'old' scent, but I lurve it. I wore it all day and was really pleased with it. It's got strong hints of Iris which contributes to the 'old' flavour, I suppose I should be really saying 'classic' instead of 'old'. I think it's divine.

I also had the pleasure of sniffing Gwen Stefani's offering L.A.M.B. We are currently offering it with a free gift, a gold plastic, square cut bracelet, for size zero models. Ummm...I'm searching for the right words to describe this celebrity fragrance...bear with me. I was reading in a weekend magazine that celebrity fragrance tends to be simple scents, with one or two main ingredients, and are produced within very tight time frames. These tend to appeal to the younger end of the market. The more classic fragrances are blended with expensive ingredients, multiple scents and take several years to develop. Ultimately, the attention to detail shows. In 5 years time, who will be parting with good cash for Shh...? Anyway, I digress. L.A.M.B...it's a foul, chavvy perfume. I've tried, but I really can't come up with a better way to describe it. Gwen Stefani is a beautiful striking woman, but she chose her marketing of this product on a really off day. Keep making music and stay out of perfuming. Please.

And by the way, as Norwich's independent department store, we have certain standards to maintain, and no, we aren't ever, in any lifetime, going to be stocking Jordan's fragrance. I fear I'm turning into snobby, orange, department store woman.

Ah yes and I have news. Alix and her husband are off to the Big Smoke to pursue groovy careers in film and art and generally to be fabulous luvvies. Great for them, but I'm going to miss them. Humpf. However, this means that there is a staff vacancy. The Buying Manager came over to me second thing Monday to not only offer me Alix's hours, but another day as well! I'm so chuffed. It means regular employment and although I'll lose my flexible working, that's 3 days a week as a fully paid up, member of staff. I'll be taking on Alix's house as well as taking on another house of fragrances. So more lots more responsibility, but more perks too. And funnily enough, no mention has been made about my nose stud.

Why I don't need any more Perfume...

It's getting a bit silly. I've got on my dressing table -

Allure by Chanel
Addict 2 by Dior
Rush 2 by Gucci
Classique by Jean Paul Gaultier
Stella by Stella McCarteny
Rocks by Ralph Lauren
for her by Narcisso Rodriguez

so, it's not like I lack choice for scent. In fact, given that the shelf life of a perfume is generally 2 years unopened and 6 months once opened, there really isn't any way I can use up all I've got.

So tell me, why is it I'm beginning to look compare prices of fragrances to see whether it'll be cheaper for me to get some fragrance in duty free, rather than through work. Hermes have a new(ish) fragrance called Un Jardin en Mediterranee, catchy name don't you think? It's described as a walk through a dappled mediteranian garden, suitable for men and women. I think it's a fresh scent with a touch of sharpness which makes it really yummy.

It's a toss up between that and Calvin Klien's CKIN2U which is a lovely fresh fragrance, I did a review on it here. It's not hideously expensive and it lasts well. I've preferred it to many of this season's summer fragrances, which I've found a bit limp and disappointing.

Well, I might not need any more perfume, but I sure as hell want it.

Calvin Klein ~ CKIN2U

This is my favourite of the new fragraces released over the spring. The blurb goes a bit like this: 'CK IN2U, a fragrance duo inspired by the connected generation "expressing its freedom thanks to new technologies"'. It goes on to describe the fragrance as: 'notes of pink grapefruit, bergamot, currant leaves, sugared orchid accord, white cactus, neon amber, vanilla souffle and red cedar'. It is partially laziness which has led to me cutting and pasting, but also I am falling in love with their PR's bullshitese. Especially since the people who have ended up buying this from me today all tended to be in their 30s and 40s - not the intended young, hip'n'groovy demographic.

Two of my colleagues were in London being trained up yesterday. I now know that when applying perfume, doing the wrist rub and spraying on your neck is a complete no-no. Rubbing the fragrance breaks down the constituents, disrupts the way it's supposed to smell and causes the fragrance to fade too quickly. Instead, one should spray your wrists separately, spray the perfume into the scallops between your shoulders and neck. Don't spray it onto your neck because the skin is very delicate there and the alcohol in the perfume can lead to wrinkles, sagging and general unpleasantness long term. If you find a fragrance you like, but when you put it on your skin, people are asking where you've hidden the dead cat, spray on the outer layer of your clothes. Also, don't put behind your ears, because ears get oily and it'll distort the fragrance. Apparently, a fragrance can be affected by your diet, hormonal changes and stress levels.

Today has been a touch stressful. The League of Shoplifters decided to come a-calling and tried to walk off with our profits. Fortunately, my colleagues are less trusting and more on the ball than I, and they got security to catch their dishonest asses. One lad was very apologetic and gave a practised puppy dog look and kept apologising, which worked until he was searched. He'd stopped off at a few other retail outlets before ours. Pops always said to me that when considering theft as a viable option, you need to consider the consequences of getting caught. Is it worth the hassle of being nicked, the fines/court appearance and doing time? Had the lad used this equation, nicking £40 worth of fragrance is going to turn into at least £80 worth of hassle. Also, if he was going to sell it black market-like, if he saw a tenner for his trouble he would have been lucky.

The only crime I thought 'yeah, I'd have risked it' was a city heist where a woman and her partner embezzled £21 million in the late 80s. Well, they say everyone has their price, now you know you'll never be able to trust me with more than £20 million.

Hermes ~ Eau de Merveilles

Today's Perfume of the Day is ambergris based and is unusual in that it contains no floral notes at all. It comes in a sparkley bottle - what's not to like? I think my time in the perfume department is beginning to play havoc with my sense of smell. I can't smell the fragrances as well as I used to. Yesterday I ended up spraying myself with 3 different perfumes and I couldn't tell if they had lasted. The fact that people were giving me a wide berth suggests otherwise...or it could be my singing...I can't tell at the moment. Anyway, given that I thought I'd make sure and just apply one fragrance. And the Hermes was today's choice. I quite liked it, it seemed to smell pretty much the same throughout the day which is unusual. Perfumes tend to change as they warm up on the skin, and the longer they remain on the skin.

Today, I have been frustrated with my young, awfully sweet but dim work colleagues. She's really lovely, but bless her, she never worked in a pub. My dad H had a pub in North Norfolk, and when I was 18 I started working for him. After 2 years of working together we stopped talking to each other for 6 months and it was another 4 years before I would work with him again. Ours was a tempestuous relationship to say the least. Earlier this year when I was back in Trinidad I made certain I sat down and said what a difference his training made to my working practice. I can talk to customers, I can go into a strange and stressful situation and make myself useful with minimum supervision. And that was all down to him. He was so chuffed that we had that conversation.

The problem is, I think that everyone should attempt to be punctual, they should clean things that need dusting and re-arrange shelves when necessary, customers should be approached. Or at the very least, appear up for it. My colleague had no get up and go. She was willing, bless her and would happily do a task if asked. But I did get a bit frustrated with her staring into space, and her friend whose half hour break turned into 50 mins.

Writing this has been good for me. It reminded me that my working practice was learned. I'm only the 'as and when' person, so it doesn't matter what I think, it's not my place to train her up, or to even worry about her. I'm working a four day stretch and OMG my feet hurt. They want me to dress up tomorrow and there is no way I can. I can just about get away with my flat shoes at the moment; the thought of putting on heels, to stand up 7.5 hours...nope, it just ain't gonna happen.

Vera Wang ~ Truly Pink

I was told at work that Vera Wang - she who makes expensive designer wedding dresses - has produced Truly Pink for bridesmaids. It certainly is a 'pink' fragrance, quite floral. I quite liked it and wore it happily all day until I got home. When I sniffed my wrist, it smelt of chemicals. Not pleasant. So that's not going on my skin again. I'm not suggesting it's a fault with the perfume, far from it, it just could be the way it reacts with me. When I first sprayed it on, it smelt quite nice.

I've had a slow, but productive couple of days. Done a bit of editing on my poems. Harrassed G and her family to look through my submissions. Now about to look at their comments and see how I can integrate it into my work. I've also had another very positive Creative Practice tutorial. My tutor also said he would back me up as far as my getting the space to show off my work to it's potential. The images need to be BIG. The Creative Practice Tutor will call a meeting of the 3rd years, towards the end of this week to discuss how we allocate the space. So we shall see. I am anticipating a fight, perhaps I'm being unneccessarily pessimistic. I hope so.

And Finally the Winner is.....

Narcisso Rodriguez. I could bathe myself in it, it is so gorgeous. Clean and fresh fragrance, with good lasting power. It's classy and understated. Should anyone have an urge to buy me the EdP, it'll only set you back £46.00 for 50ml! Failing that the Prada tendre, comes in a close second at £40.00 for 50 ml. There is a tie for third place between JPG Classique and Boss Femme, I can't remember the prices, so never you mind.

I've really enjoyed working at the department store, and apparently they've liked having me because they've asked me to come back to do some data entry work for them in the New Year. So it's all good.

My favourite customer comments have been:

1. You will take the price tag off before you wrap that, won't you? No, showing how cheap you are, is all part of the service.
2. I can't remember what the fragrance is called, it came in a twisted, mid-green bottle with a red crown. Really?
3. I'm in a real hurry, will you be done wrapping my gift in 2 minutes? If you are in that much of a hurry, wrap it your bloody self.
4. This is the first gift I've bought. (This is at 17.55, shop closes at 18.00 on the 23rd of December). It must be so difficult to plan ahead for Christmas, after all, it only happens for one day, on the same day, once a year.

It's not because I'm just being stroppy (okay, I do admit I have no patience with people), but getting stressed with me, when I am genuinely trying to help, isn't going to improve matters; or my mood.

I've really enjoyed this first serious foray into the retail world. The department store has been a hub of social gathering, I saw more people who disappeared off my social radar in the last 9 days, than I have in the last 4 years. Including my recent 'date'. Which was quite amusing.

He is a friend of a friend, who had the mistaken view we might get on well together. To be fair, we did get on well with each other. But, one of our last communications went along the lines of:

him: I fancy you a little bit.
me: oh
him: I have some things I need to sort out with my (psycho) ex-girlfriend
me: okay

I was more miffed that he told me he only fancied me a little bit, than I was about him going back to his ex. What was funny about today was he came scuttling in, Xmas panic etched on his face along with horror that I went up to him. I was polite and helpful. He wanted a Chanel perfume, for a 'friend' of the family that he didn't like very much, but his mother told him to get it. This from a 44 year old man.

So, is it just me, or do you think that he was buying for his woman? See, because Chanel does not do cheap, relatively inexpensive or even moderately priced. And I don't see why some one would spend £50+ on a perfume for someone who wasn't well liked, mother's orders or not. I think I would have had more respect for him if he would have said "I'm buying a gift for someone" or "I'm buying a gift for my woman." Life is way to short for games like that.

Hottie arrives tomorrow. Hopefully, by the time she rocks up, I will have bought the duck, some munchies, booze and done some laundry. Hears hoping. Have a good Christmas and New Years if I don't see you before.

Prada ~ tendre EdP

This is a light, sophisticated perfume that I would personally love to bathe in. As I'm just starting out in the perfumery business I lack the proper vocabulary to describe it. I just love it, love it, love it. I give it 9.5. This is so going on my wish list.

Fragrance has 3 categories. Eau de Toilette, which is the weakest and cheapest form of the perfume; it does not tend to last as well and you can be liberal with application (depending on the scent). Eau de parfum is more concentrated and therefore you need less of it. It should, in theory last longer. Parfum is the most concentrated and most expensive scent. Apply sparingly.

My mum always used to say, a man should only be able to smell the perfume when he stands close enough to kiss you on the cheek. There are a lot of women and men upon whose forehead I would like to stamp that on. It really is not meant to be anaesthetic. Mind you, having said that, there are a lot of people who ought to get acquainted with the simple concepts of soap, water and anti-perspirant.

Today, despite my aching feet and streaming cold (thanks so much Boy), I made my way into town to have lunch with flirty Gertie and her fab mates. Nope. She still hasn't stop smiling. When they all left I had another cup of coffee and planned my attack. I went into work, squirted myself liberally with Prada and bought my cards. I then pushed my way into the throng, called into 4 shops got my pressies and wrapping paper. I have one more present to get and then I'm done. I am really pleased with myself, had it not been for my cold, I would be even happier. This evening will be spent wrapping pressies and writing cards, were it not for the cold remedy I will soon be taking, I would indulge in a bit of naughtiness to see me through. Ah well.

As I was juggling 4 carrier bags, three rolls of paper, three bags of bows and ribbons and gift tags in WHSmith, I spot my ex and his grown daughter out of the corner of my eye. Now in case I haven't mentioned him before....we were on/off for 4 years and when we finally split in February it got quite unpleasant. He queued behind me and initiated conversation. I was shaken, but not stirred. We exchanged small talk and I was sweetness itself. On the way home, I realised I was quite pleased to see him. He became a man again inside my head, rather than my arch-nemisis with hooves and a tail. It allowed me some perspective about the whole situation and reinforced the pleasure I have in my life and current situation. I can finally wish him well and let him go.

Jean-Paul Gaultier ~ Classique EdP

Lovely fragrance. Good staying power. Slightly powdery and feminine which I really, really love. Yummy. I'm giving it a 9.5. Another good day at work. I glammed up again. I could start getting used to this apart from my feet, which are killing me.

I rushed home, got changed and headed out to Gertie, for it is her birthday. We drank wine, ate munchies while we waited for her friends to come up from London. They are absolutely lovely. She has such good taste in friends. We all headed out to the Waterfront for the 80s night, which was just excellent. As a venue, it's just great. You can wear jeans and trainers, it's not a meat market, there's a good selection of music. I'm not sure why I left it 5 years to back there. Gertie got her birthday present courtesy of a couple of mates who fixed her up. I believe she's got a date Tuesday. Go Gertie. I danced like it was 1999. Smiled at a couple of guys who blanked me, smiled at a couple of guys whose girlfriends blanked me, smilled at a couple of guys whose boyfriends blanked me. At that point I thought 'perhaps there's a wider cosmic message going on here'. Then bumped into this quite nice guy who danced well, if a touch enthusiastically. Our conversation went as follows:

Him: so are you single?
Me: yes
Him: why?
Me: I'm awkward
Him: really, how awkward?
Me: very
Him: so, what do you do when you're not being awkward?
Me: I'm a student
Him: so, what are you studying?
Me: Creative Writing
Him: why are you going to university to study that? why don't you just write?

We didn't talk much after that, and he siddled off with his friends to dance enthusiastically elsewhere.

Message received loud and clear. Thanks for that great Cosmic Energy. These things are obviously not mine to have. Whilst I might feel wistful about the idea of having a relationship, my dissertation is far more important to me. My feet might need amputating at the moment and my tininitus might be playing Big Ben, but I had an excellent single time with some fabulous women. I am going to bed a happy woman.

Boss - Femme

That was today's perfume, or rather, Eau de Toilette. As I will be trying various perfumes on each day I work in Perfumery, I thought I would share the glorious details with you. It's a very light fragrance, which you would expect with an EDT, but it's staying power really did disappoint. I had to squirt it about a lot to get the desired effect. I love the little round bottle, it's very sweet, the perfume itself is pink. It is a touch florally, without being sickly. I think I'll give it a rating of 7.

My feet are aching, but not as badly as Monday. It took me awhile to settle in to the swing of things today; I was all fingers and thumbs. My gift wrapping is still painfully slow and I do keep cutting the paper too small and I have to start all over again, which is a complete bummer if there's a rush on and the customer is standing practically on top of the wrapping table, sighing and tutting. My sinsuses are playing up and I'm hoping that it's just the effect of too much perfume being inhaled rather than me coming down with Boy's cold. I'm out clubbing tomorrow with Gertie for her birthday, and I need to be on tip top form.

Somehow, I've got to get my shopping done Saturday. I'm working Sunday and all of next week and there will be no other opportunity. *sigh* You'd think the fact that Christmas is an annual event, and enough hints are laid out at the end of August that I really should not be getting into this muddle every bloody year.