Saw the ophthalmologist today and have surgery booked for early June. It’s wild to me that they cannot truly identify whether it’s cancerous until after post-op testing. But better safe than sorry, I cannot imagine life without him.
Progressive spots on eye worse in the last year and a half. Just took him in and they said it’s basically impossible to know whether it’s cancerous and whether it will metastasize. Doctor was not happy that the top of his pupil is now rounded instead of pointed, but still was split between monitoring vs removal. With how it’s accelerated recently, my gut is saying removal… Would appreciate hearing how this went from those who have been through something similar. My poor sweet boy ):
I was inspired by a recent post from u/RowanHalifax where they found a photo organizer box works well for drams and other smaller bottles. I searched for something smaller that would suit my ever growing sample collection and came across this $10 mini bead organizer. Super happy nearly everything fits and will keep my samples upright to reduce leaks. Also love the underside view (second photo)!
Hope everyone is having a good weekend! I am trying to narrow down my next round of samples from Alkemia - from my first, I plan to upsize Ghostfire, Supernatural, Come to Me, and Magpie’s Rhyme. Also considering Electric Fur and Sea Girl.
I love skin scents, sweet notes, unique florals, balanced green notes, and some atmospherics. Death notes are violet, fir, licorice, strong incense, and anything masculine.
Would love opinions on the following:
- Aelfcyne (white amber, meadowsweet, wood hyacinth, Lonicera, woodbine, sweetfern, Cashmeran wood and delicate green tea). Sounds like well-loved green scent though I am unfamiliar with a lot of these notes. White amber is my jam though so I’m intrigued!
- Affair de Coeur (sugared white musk, creamy Madagascar vanilla, tonka, white amber, and pale sugar cane). Not *huge* on gourmands, and Ghostfire was already plenty sweet so I’m wondering where this is on the spectrum.
- Ambre Aquae (Rare blue amber infused with flowering lotus, water lily, heliotrope, cyclamen, awapuhi, aloe, vanilla grass, rain musk, and soft heartwoods). I couldn’t find any reviews for this one - I love a pretty aquatic and am super curious about the blue amber note but am worried this will turn into a masculine aftershave scent.
- Ambre Gris (sunlight, sand, air, sea salt, water, and ocean minerals). I’m obsessed with Sorce - Love and the Sea and have been trying other ambergris notes. I’m worried this one might not have the sweetness I usually look for though.
- Arabesque (Arabian sandalwood, Mysore sandalwood, precious Egyptian kyphi, sweet orris root, benzoin resin, cassia, and blessed spikenard). Drawn in by the positive reviews - wondering if this might scratch my itch for something darker, deeper, possibly a little spicy or resinous. I’m unfamiliar with kyphi but read that it can be incense-y which I can only tolerate in small doses.
- Au Lait (Creamy warm milk cuddled up with tonka and wild honey, gently touched by caramelized brown sugar). I’ve been less interested in lactonics since my spring/summer deep dive, but appreciate how everyone seems to say it doesn’t go sour. I do like lactonics but - is this more of a standalone or layering fragrance?
- The Beautiful and the Damned (honey caramel, dark cacao, French lavender, red currants, Madagascar vanilla, champagne aldehydes, sultry golden amber, cubeba pepper, blonde tobacco, dried rose leaves, opoponax, black copal, guaiacwood, copaiba balsam, animalics, pheromones). I see this one talked about quite a bit. Again, the curiosity for darker scents to mix things up. Concerned about the lavender, which I’m picky about, and with how animalic or masculine this might be.
- Ecstasies of Light (white amber infused with pear blossoms, white figs, gorse flowers, winter honeysuckle, and osmanthus). Sign me up based on the first two notes alone. Wondering how forward those are, or if the fig and osmanthus take over.
-First Dandelion (sunny dandelion flowers, green dandelion leaves, and warm dirt). Love a grass and dirt scent. I’m wary of the dandelion being possibly bitter?
- Kitten and the Falling Leaves (crisp dry leaves and warm musky kitten fur). I’m wondering how close the fur note is to electric fur. Another one I’m wondering if is more a standalone or layering note - would love these notes with roasted chestnut, smoke, and tonka.
- Moon Lust (creamy white ambers, blonde woods, and luminescent skin notes). Surprisingly divisive in the reviews, with some saying it’s too indolic. However, it sounds right up my alley - how does it compare to Ghostfire?
- Paradise (young coconut and Madagascar vanilla with hints of Monoi Tiare). Hoping for a super creamy scent here.
- Smoke & Mirrors (burning wood, Madagascar Vanilla, and Tonka). Love Hexennacht’s All Soul’s Night and looking for something even more smoke-forward without entering the bbq territory.
- Tu es Magique (blonde woods, milky amber, shea butter, tonka, caramel tree, Tasmanian pepperberry, high altitude lavender, verbena, artemisia wormwood, nutmeg, and gingerflower). Sounds outside of my comfort zone but very well reviewed. Sounds like a creamy, earthy blend. How strong is that lavender?
- Virtue of Desire (caramel amber musk, dark patchouli, apricot-rosewater white chocolate truffles, peach brandy, plumeria, coconut sage, Tiare, raspberry cream, and neroli orange flowers). Excited about the amber musk and florals. A little worried about the white chocolate, brandy, and apricot/peach - these notes sound like they may pull cloying on me like a lot of red-orange fruits do.
- Wings of Light (sun-ripened fig uplifted by ethereal plumes of creamy oleander, neroli orange blossom, freesia, carnations, white marigolds, and cerejeira). Is this more fig or floral forward? What color scent is this?