Fiore d'Ambra

I LOVE this stuff, but it is so insanely expensive that it is yet another bottle I'll probably never ever have. Even if I had the money to spare, I'm not sure I would spend it on this, but I do love it enough that I would be appropriately gushing if I received it as a gift. Like most people who come across Profumum's line, I  have a problem with the price for an amber when there are so many good ones out there at more reasonable prices. Not even just good ones, but truly great ones like Serge Lutens' Ambre Sultan or L'Artisan's Ambre, or even better, Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier's version is classic and beautiful on anyone with the chops to still wear anything that doesn't stink of generic hand sanitizer (a la Chanel Chance eau Fraiche...sorry to you lovers of the brand, but I think thats all it is...a brand.). I am a lover of all things amber, and this is no exception. I had a 10ml decant of this and the quality is there, but the longevity really sucks, which surprises me for an amber, but there is something about it that keeps drawing me back. It's very sweet and sort of a spicy gourmand that reminds me of hot buttered spiced rum...I believe this is what perfumistas refer to as "boozy" but I hate that word and loathe even typing it. I can't imagine a man wearing this despite its unisex intent. Though who knows? Mr.K wears Shalimar Ode a la Vanille as a signature scent and never comes off as anything other than masculine, so anything is possible when it comes to scent (I love a man that bucks convention). For me this is another comfort scent that I like to put on my hands before bed, or when I am feeling sick. Maybe this is a bit of synesthesia on my part, but to me it smells the way a warm blanket feels when you're cold, or the feeling of burying my face in the crook of a strong shoulder. This is why I love perfume or anything that has a distinctive scent...its not as much the smell as it is the way that smelling certain things makes me FEEL.

All the Things I Pine For...

This is a public blog, but something I expect no one to read other than myself and maybe a few people that read my Better Living Through Adversity blog and are just curious about what other things fill my time besides body modification via corset training. This is here to remind me of all the things I pine for, so when birthdays, Christmas, etc. come around I am not at a loss to remember what it is that I want and why. It is also so that I have a dated document to show the infamous Mr. K that I didn't just make something up on the spot about how long I've been trying to acquire said item...this recently happened when I came across an incredibly good deal on a bottle of Caron's Farnesiana Eau de Parfum. I had been wanting a bottle of Farnesiana for nearly 7 years, but it is so hard to come by (It is only sold in Caron boutiques, so basically Paris and NYC) that I probably never mentioned it before. The bottles that have come up on eBay have been so expensive, vintage ones ranging from $600 to nearly $1500 per bottle, that I have always considered owning a bottle to be far from a reality I will ever experience. I have seen some very good deals for just under $200 recently, but early this week there were 5 bottles online for $44 each. I almost had a coronary on the spot when I saw them. Of course when I freaked out and tried to convince Mr. K of what an unbelievable opportunity this was, he just sort of rolled is eyes...like this is just another ploy for perfume and next week she will be saying that another brand is the long lost bottle she's been pining for all these years. So, this blog will be my document of all the things...I know, its crazy that one would need an entire blog to list the things they are dying to find, buy, steal, whatever...but I'm a woman who embraces femininity and all its trappings, and the list of those trappings is always growing. I know I will never get most of these things, but one can dream, right?

So here we are with the first of many bottles of perfume I will add to this list:

The beautiful, understated comfort scent by Parfums Caron. Farnesiana. The most beautiful rendering of mimosa I have ever had the pleasure of smelling. I had a small decant that someone gave to me in a perfume swap and I use it mostly to help me sleep; when I am having bouts of insomnia or trouble sleeping while breaking in a new corset it is truly comforting if I just put a small dab on my hands and then fold them under my cheek to sleep.