Holiday Scents

Thanksgiving is over and the Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanzaa/Yule season is nigh. If the weather would ever get cold around here in Maryland (it's been in the 60s for the last month or so), I'd be breaking out my cold weather scents and spraying them with abandon. What I'm really looking forward to is wearing the perfumes that remind me of Christmas....

Fendi Theorema
Notes: nutmeg, pepper, orange, rosewood, rose, ylang-ylang, carnation, cinnamon, labdanum, patchouli, sandalwood, benzoin Siam

I fell in love with Theorema at first sniff. It was August 1998, in Seattle, and a friend and I were exploring the fragrances at Nordstrom. Theorema was brand new, and I was enchanted by its warm spiciness, reminding me of gingerbread with a hint of orange.

I still have a few ml left in my original bottle. Even twelve years later, the scent is still gorgeous and Christmassy. I also have a back-up bottle that I was lucky to grab from a perfume discounter as soon as I heard it was discontinued. Why do all of my favorites come to an early end? Of course, Fendi is weird. They recently discontinued ALL of their fragrances (at least in the US) and brought out the very generic-smelling Palazzo. Methinks they have their heads up their butts.


Etat Libre d'Orange Noel au Balcon
Notes: tangerine, vanilla, honey, orange blossom, apricot, red pepper, patchouli, musk, cistus, cinnamon, nigella, amber

The title of this one makes it pretty obviously Christmassy. Like Theorema, it's a warm scent with citrus, but this one is more honeyed than spicy, with a light amber-y vanilla background. I think it's really quite delicious, and Christmassy without being too spicy.

Annick Goutal Encens Flamboyant
Notes: three types of frankincense, black and pink pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, fir balsam, mastic

This is a much more "church-y" fragrance than the two above. It reminds me of Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, in a church full of fresh fir trees that lend their scent to the air and mingle with the smoky fragrance emanating from the priest's censer. The Frankincense aroma isn't exactly the way I remember Catholic church incense, but it's close enough to create the illusion.


So what are your favorite scents to wear around the Winter holidays?

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The Angel Giving Tree Online Program

The Salvation Army and jcpenney have teamed up again this year for The Angel Giving Tree Online Program, which allows customers to adopt a needy child or senior and then shop for gifts for their angel this holiday season. Every user can adopt their angel based on location, sex and age, and then choose items off the child/senior’s list to give them for the holidays. In collaboration with UPS, Angel Giving Tree gifts purchased through jcp.com can be shipped free of charge to a local Salvation Army collection center.

A new addition this year is the option for users to adopt angels in groups. So if you and a group of friends or perhaps your co-workers all want to join in to adopt a group of angels, you can! To learn more about the program and to adopt an angel yourself head here: http://jcp.com/angel

To kick things off, Thanksgiving will be National Adopt an Angel Day. For each online Angel adopted on Thanksgiving Day through jcp.com, jcpenney will donate $50. Additionally, a $25 donation will be made for each Foursquare check-in on Black Friday. The store that has the most check-ins on Black Friday will earn a special party on Dec. 17th. So encourage your friends to visit their local jcpenney on Black Friday to contribute to The Salvation Army AND work together to get a party for your local jcpenney!

Posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com
Because of recent content theft, I am forced to add this new statement to the end of my posts: If you're reading this post anywhere besides the Opalescent blog, OpalescentMinx.com (also http://minxbeads.blogspot.com) then this content has been stolen. Please do not support this thief!

Merry Christmas to Me!

I've been a very good girl this year, making very few fragrance purchases (three full bottles in April, at Sniffapalooza, and only samples the rest of the year), so I decided to treat myself for Christmas with a couple decants I've been craving.

While I usually buy decants from folks at Scentsplits, I found even more goodies at Crystal Flacon. My gift to myself was five 10ml decants from three different Crystal Flacon sellers (Mudassir, Archmemory, and Strifeknot): Chanel Coromandel, Annick Goutal Musc Nomade, Chanel 28 La Pausa, Etat Libre d'Orange Like This Tilda Swinton, and Odori Iris.

So did you buy yourself anything for the holidays? Do tell!

Angel Giving Tree by JCPenney

The Salvation Army and JCPenney have teamed up again this year for The Angel Giving Tree Online Program. The program allows customers to adopt an "angel" (a needy child or senior) and then shop for gifts for their angel this holiday season - a great effort to create positive change and give back this holiday season.

Every user can adopt their angel based on location, sex, and age and then choose items off the child/senior’s list to give them for the holidays. In collaboration with UPS, Angel Giving Tree gifts purchased through jcp.com can be shipped free of charge to a local Salvation Army collection center.

To learn more about the program and to adopt an angel yourself head here: http://jcp.com/angel

The program is really perfect for those who want to participate but don’t have the free time to head out to the store – you can just register online and purchase everything from your home! Friday, December 10th marks the deadline for supporting children and seniors in need through The JCPenney Angel Giving Tree program.

Marry Christmas!

May all of you have a safe and happy holiday. :)

Boucheron Christmas Follies

The Boucheron Web site offers holiday e-greetings with cute cards to send to all you friends. For every 10 cards sent, Boucheron will donate 1€ to SOS Village d'Enfants, an organization that provides a family-style environment to children who have lost their parents or can no longer live with them.

So go send some holiday cheer and help kids in the process.

Christmas List - Continued

Michael Kors Python ID Chain bag, $2,995.00

Prada Medium Nappa Stripe bag, $2,195.00

Valentino purse $1,895.00

All I Want for Christmas

It's officially the first day of the Christmas Shopping Season (although I usually start in March) so I wanted to share with you some of the things on my Gimme List this year.  Here's a good start.

Ebel Mini Beluga in 18K yellow gold with 28 diamonds on the case and 12 diamond markers on the face, only $10,692.49 at Amazon.com!

Pomellato Pom Pom rings of gold with precious gems, starting at $38,300. I like the green one best, but any will do.

18K white gold snowflake pendant by Tous, a reasonable $906.

A Very Boucheron Christmas

Boucheron is celebrating its 150th year by giving away fabulous Boucheron jewelry, watches, and fragrance. All you need to do is pick an item you want and place it under their virtual Christmas Tree.

The party starts today, Monday, November 24th and concludes December 19th, after which time Boucheron will choose, by random drawing, the lucky winner of one of sixteen Boucheron star products.

Wanna see some of the gifts you can choose from? Well looky below. I'm rather fond of the little porcupine dude with ruby eyes. Diamond rings and necklaces too. Heck, I want it all!

So what are you waiting for? Go to Boucheron and put your heart's desire under their tree. Who knows - it may someday be yours!

The Man Knows How To Throw a Party

Marc Jacobs had the best costume at his Arabian-themed Christmas party: