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Wednesday 21 July 2010

Reading between the lines with perfumes and Loulou La Bicyclette

As can be seen from the title, any attempt at well-thought out, themed posts has now been abandoned! Welcome to the world of Blighty's head, a place so muddled, it makes the inside of our garden shed look like a showhome!

Now the dust has settled a bit, I have had the chance to look through some of the piles of exercise books the boys brought home at the end of term. I suppose I should welcome the chance to wonder at my boys' academic endeavours. But, unfit mother that I am, my instinctive reaction is always "Jeez, all that paper, quick, where's the recycling bin?"

However, I did enjoy some bits of the work mountain.

First, Boy 1 shows great promise for a career in diplomacy, and has inherited his mother's tendency to Do a Joke to Death:

Above, he invents a mythical creature called the Deatheater. It only eats teachers.


Got that? It only kills teachers and headmasters


Just in case we missed it - only dangerous to teachers


Let's be clear - teacher is food.

Next, Boy 2 demonstrates great cunning in the way he fills up the page by clever use of repetition, I foresee a career as a tabloid journalist or possibly a politician.


This is from Boy 2's account of a trip to see old WW2 planes at RAF base. Remember, whenever you mention an old war plane called a Vulcan, you put big big big big in front of it. Nifty or what?

Boy 2 has already got the hang of thrift, as practised by Blighty (no matter how many times Mr B explains to me that the best way to save money is Not to Spend It, I remain unable to ignore the siren call of the Bogof):


This is part of an account of what Boy 2 did in his hols:" we went to the shopping centre to buy some football there was a really good deal buy two get one free so we did it." Ha, my work bringing up that child is done!

Now I must broach a painful subject. Do you recall that ill-advised interview poor Princess Diana gave about her divorce - along the lines of there were three people in the marriage, it was a bit crowded? Well, there are three of us in my marriage. Here is my rival, Loulou. She is French. She was already living with Mr B when I met him. In his flat. In his bedroom. The trollop!




She has gel implants, she is seriously enhanced. And very trendy tribal tattoos.
And she has been using my nail polish, the cheek!

She has been with Mr B longer than me, he met her in Belgium and they used to go around hand in hand(lebar). She is sleek and fast. She has moved with Mr B from place to place, she is better travelled than I am.
Actually though, I have come to feel sorry for Loulou. Since those heady early days, Mr B has neglected her. She spends all her time in the garage, never feeling the wind in her tires. He has not taken her out for years. She feels flat. Every now and then I go and chat with her. We have come to a truce, for Mr B does not take me out much either these days, but thankfully he does not leave me in the garage. Normally.
Poor Loulou. I am considering signing her up with this exclusive dating agency called Ebay, to see if I can find her a new man who will take her out and about.
How do I get from bikes to perfumes?I know. Loulou is French. Lots of perfume is French, there, easy! I have been longing to post on perfumes for ages - a while ago Mrs Trefusis did a great post on perfume http://mrstrefusis.blogspot.com/. Also Life happens between Books is a serious perfume addict, she has introduced me to Perfume Court, where you can buy samples of all sorts of perfumes of all types - classic, boutique. I am seriously tempted! http://lucyfishwife.blogspot.com/
Here is my current lot.

Above , L'Artisan Parfumeur Mure et Musc, and Tea for Two. Tea for Two is warm and spicy, for winter I think. Mure et Musc is quite subtle and soft, Mr B bought it for me from their shop on Marylebone High Street. The sales guy apparently took quite a shine to Mr B and gave him a complimentary hand massage. Mr B did look a bit flustered when he got home. I imagine the guy is called Serge, like the guy from Beverly Hills Cop who asks Eddie Murphy if he wants a cappucino, with a twist of lemon..

Below, on the left is Jo Malone Dark Amber and Ginger Lily. To me it smells of coconut and I think it's delicious, but the scent lingers and maybe it's a bit cloying. Should a scent linger like that?

In the middle is Darphin Cedre Precieux, woody, mellow.



What scents do you all like? Please tell, I love reading about what perfumes people wear!



Below, Acqua di Parma. Note to self - pay attention at all times, this is Room Spray!
Additional Elf and Safety Warning: do not think you can take small boys into perfume department of large store without fitting them, you and everyone else with protective goggles, I tried and within 3 mins Boy 1 had sprayed himself in the eye with Chanel no 5. Which is a good choice if you have to do that kind of thing.


Finally two "vintage" dresses - one on left from TopShop in Oxford Circus vintage bit, one on right was my mothers, I had it let out, she was slimmer than me! Question: if I wear these, will I look like an aging Sandra Dee in Grease, and if so, does that mean I have to end up wearing spray on satin trousers? Yikes. I'll leave spray on stuff to the perfume department.


22 comments:

  1. Perhaps the Deatheather uses Chanel 5 as his secret weapon?

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  2. Hi LPC - where are you? Is it late there or v early? i'm off to bed now! Bx

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  3. Nice joke LPC! I think your son could be a Hollywood scriptwriter with an imagination like that!

    Personally I tend to go for rose based perfumes: YSL Parisienne, Jo Malone Red Roses and Frederick Malle Une Rose. I also like light florals like Gucci Flora and Annick Goutal Petite Cherie. I need to try more Jo Malone options though...

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  4. Would it be safe to say Boy 1 is not enamoured with his teacher? So funny.
    Poor LouLou, she could come visit my garage, there are, at last count, 8 LouLous in residence. My men are enthusiasts, I'm sure we could squeeze her in, she'd be right at home and always inflated.
    Chanel no.19 and Estee Lauder Pleasures Exotic. Try as I might I can't deviate but could be tempted by a Jo Malone.
    The dresses are lovely Blighty and very becoming.
    xx

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  5. Deatheater...did he get top marks for it?
    Teachers might be afraid not to give a stellar grade.

    Love Lou Lou and the polish matches! How clever.

    I need some help in the perfume department right now..I'll pop back and read what other bloggers wear...I am using up the last bit of an Aveda "purefume"...

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  6. Oh my, I don't know which part to laugh at first. I love the nail polish on LouLou though. Perfect match. Question, how did boy 1 make out on the deatheater paper, can the food be biased in marking said project?
    Unfortunately, along with birth of children, my expensive perfumery went out the window never to return. Crabtree and Evelyn Summer Hill is the most I go for now.
    I love your dresses too.

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  7. Hello Blighty,
    Fabulous post, as usual.

    Scents I love:
    - Kelly Caleche by Hermes
    - 154 by Jo Malone, we only seem to have the colognes here
    - Chloe

    And I love my Jo Malone Nappa Leather room spray. Except when I get trigger happy and pretend to be a Jo Malone sales assistant and spritz it all around the loungeroom.

    SSG xxx

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  8. hi blighty,

    this is all so funny to me. i love it. i love your boys.

    i have strong opinions about perfumes so i'll try and keep my mouth shut. i'm in good practice with that right now.

    ~janet

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  9. Your children's Talent Knows No End!!!

    Fascinating that Loulou is the same colour as your revlon polish.

    I like Chanel no 5, Coco, Chance, Arpege (Old school from the 20s) Opium (Hello 1970s) Youth Dew (is it 1950?) and Annick Goutal's Passion. None of these scents are fashionable but I don't care. Sometimess I pretend it's 1985 and liberally spray self with Paris.

    I am waiting for Mr FF to get back from the airport to take me out for a steak dinner and wondering if I could be bothered getting changed into a different outfit.

    I have 3 birthday parties to attend tomorrow night. None of them My Own.

    Did you mulch your hosta like I told you to?

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  10. Miss Kitty - love the sound of your perfumes, I am v tempted by Parisienne, will it make me look like Kate Moss??
    Anne Marie - love No 19! Loulou is on her way to your house!
    Hostess - strangely not good report for English!
    Deb - definitely think the Food was glad to see the back of Boy 1 at end of term
    SSG - i must try the Nappa room spray, always need something to cover up smell of chicken dippers and fish and chips
    Gardener - hope you are enjoying your retreat
    FF - i don't know Goutal's Passion, I will try at next trip to Selfridges, I often think the testing is more fun than the actual acquisition.. 3 parties in one night - you are a Social Goddess! once Boy 2 had 2 parties in one day, does that count?
    Don't rush me on the mosta hulching, things move slowly here in the Old World..xx

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  11. Hi Blighty - gosh you make me laugh! I have two boys, 14 and 16 now, so it all rings so true! Perfume - at the moment I don't wear it all the time, but for summer I have Lancome's O de Lancome and for winter Coco. A few years ago I visited the Jo Malone store in Harvey Nicks in Manchester whilst visiting a friend. I liked the French Lime Blossom on the paper strip, so my friend bought it for me for my birthday. When I got home (Canada at the time) I found that it gives me an awful headache!! What to do? Say nothing - until she gave me the body lotion for Christmas! I felt so bad. Lesson - always try on the wrist first!!

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  12. Hello Patricia, what rotten luck with the Jo Malone! Smell is so powerful. That is why I am so cautious about buying new scent!

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  13. hi blighty,

    i DO NOT LOOK LIKE selma blair. you really should google her and see for yourself (i did)!

    i'm flattered though.

    ~janet

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  14. Blighty, is there any way to post picture-comments? I inherited exaxtly the same blue white polka dot fabric - it is a wrap-skirt. I was undecided if I should give it away since the fabric gets a bit rough over the time (polyester-whatever).
    But: (no comes the edgy part of this comment): i inherited it from my GRANDmother. :-o
    So I rather feel like the mother if Sandra in Grease. I wore ths skirt when I introduced Mr Paula to my best friend, 10 years ago. I had balls! Wearing my grandma's old skirt.

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  15. PS: are your boys in "real school" during summer or is it something you made up, as a "game"? Hey, cool, school at home, how cool is that! ;-)
    I bet you could sell anything to them. hehe

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  16. dear God blighty, it's me again.

    the jo malone thing just has had me thinking and now i'm gonna tell you what i know about perfume.

    what you spoke of-that lingering a little too long...it's from what perfumers put into perfume called fixatives and extenders. you know when you pull a blouse out of the closet and it still smells like the perfume you wore with it? and when you get into an empty elevator and you can smell the perfume of the last occupant? most perfumes contain these and they are awful. aveda uses no fixatives or extenders, you have to put more on throughout the day but it is such a cleaner, fresher scent. the bad news is i've heard they are disontinuing their line. it makes me so sad. go to an aveda store soon and have someone make you your own personal blend scent while they are still making them. they are very inexpensive also. there i feel better now.

    ~janet

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  17. Oh the 'Deatheater'. Oh that is hilarious! I am sure the teacher would have gotten a good laugh out of it. What a champion! Perfumes - every single one of mine has the words 'Estee Lauder' on it/them. An EL tragic. Knowing, Beautiful, YouthDew... I'm a sucker for the 80's.. still trapped there. 80's music too. A-M xx

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  18. Dear Paula, not real school, I just want to try to do a bit with them to keep things going over long hols, but this morning we had lots of flouncing and shouting and Boy now cooling off in his bedroom; like the sound of your grandma's skirt, obviously a big hit with Mr Paula. I like the two dresses as they are actually a nice heavy cotton, but still have not worn them!
    Dear Janet, how fascinating about the extenders, I suppose they are cheaper than the actual perfume essences; I used to love Aveda and used to buy their shampoo in those huge bottes, and in Harvey Nicks in London the Aveda bit had a lovely aquarium, no idea if they still have it; must go check out fish and the perfumes.
    Dear A-M, Boy 1's teacher is a very quiet man who always runs away when he sees mothers coming, or maybe just me?? I must check out Estee's perfumes I ony know Beautiful. 80s music is tops, I just can't cope with Rap (spelt with a capital C)

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  19. I like the polka dot dress - it will be a winner. Boy 1 and 2 show much promise thanks to your tutoring. I think Loulou needs to become an installation, if she goes can you trust that she won't go and get a makeover and come back all flirty.

    The Warehouse dress is a winner would go well with all the nail varnish options.

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  20. Hi Blighty, thanks for your sweet comment on mine. Haven't blogged for while due to a sporadic internet connection and a broken mobile so no pics either. Am sorting both out between other 'stuff' happening and being away a lot. But have been visiting yours and other favourite blogs when I can. You really cheer me up! This post brings back memories of my children's schooldays, but especially of when I stayed late at work to meet a deadline and forgot to go to a parent's evening. I still have my little daughter's proud letter to me that she left with her work, and the teacher's consoling message on the back. It pulls at my heartstrings just to think about it.
    My favourite perfume is Hermes 24 Faubourg, but for summer I alternate between the blissful and refreshing Dior Eau de Pondicherry and Clarins Eau Dynamisante.

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