Yes to Cucumbers Soothing Hypoallergenic Face Towelettes. SOOTHING MY ASS. These burned my skin for about an HOUR after I used them. I’m only including them for historical accuracy.

Nintendo 3DS with Pokemon Black 2. My graduation present to myself! Not going to front like I didn’t catch a Pokemon or two during some of the longer speeches.

Neela Vermeire Trayee. My back-up perfume, and a gift from the truly thoughtful Neela Vermeire.

Neutrogena Dry Touch Ultra Sheer SPF 55. I AM GOING TO STAVE OFF AGING FOREVER UNTIL THEY INVENT CRYOGENIC FREEZING THIS IS DEFINITELY A FOOLPROOF PLAN

Guerlain L’Heure Bleue pure parfum. My graduation perfume. The very first perfume Drew ever complimented me on. I promised him that I would wear it so that he could be there in a small way.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion Tube- Original. I have been waiting FOREVER for someone to figure out that the world needed a travel size version of UDPP.

UO Basics Collection Nail Polish in Sunshine. 99 CENTS AT URBAN OUTFITTERS. I repeat: 99 CENTS AT URBAN OUTFITTERS.

Nails Inc. Special Effects Sweets Way. I’ve been holding off on the “sprinkles” nail trend- it’s not terribly sophisticated, right?- but I think it’s okay for toenails not to be terribly sophisticated.

M.A.C. Blacktrack Fluidline. It was a joyous day when I first discovered that you could get a great gel eyeliner for $16 instead of Bobbi Brown’s $23.

Dior 1 Couleur Ultra Smooth High Impact Eyeshadow in Beige Print. Recently discontinued, for some hideous reason. The prettiest golden taupe in my makeup bag.

Rosebud Perfume Co Rosebud Salve in a Tube. I really prefer the texture of the original Rosebud Salve, but I also really prefer not having to stick my fingers into petroleum every thirty minutes.

M.A.C. Lustreglass Flashmode. I was originally planning to wear M.A.C Viva Glam I, but wimped out at the last minute and chose something more sheer.

What perfumes, cosmetics, and other exciting items are lurking at the bottom of your purse this weekend? Please share with us in the comments!

This is some eleventh-hour shit, y’all! I ordered a sample of Guerlain L’Heure Bleue pure parfum for my 8 AM graduation ceremony tomorrow, and it was delivered on time, but to the wrong apartment building. I might still be able to sort it out in time, but I clearly also need a back-up.

So, my first thought was Neela Vermeire Trayee. When I posted that my brother was sick a few months ago, Neela sent me a little bottle of Trayee to comfort me. It was one of the most generous gifts I have ever received, and I consider that little bottle the jewel of my collection. My only concern is that Trayee could be a bit too much on a humid, 82 degree Baltimore day.

I desperately need your help! What perfume should I wear for my graduation tomorrow? What perfume did you wear for your own graduation(s)?

So Sephora is carrying the Anna Sui line again! And this time, the perfume bottles aren’t shaped like creepy doll heads! This could be a positive or a negative, depending on your feelings about creepy doll heads. I am anti-creepy doll head, personally. They are terrifying.

I find Anna Sui’s goth cat lady aesthetic delightful; unfortunately, her new perfumes are much less interesting.

Flight of Fancy is a discernibly lychee fragrance. It is sheer and very smooth, with none of the sharpness too often found in less successful fruity scents. There is really very little in the way of a dry down. Flight of Fancy is a perfectly nice fruity fragrance, although it does strike me as more than a little Bath & Body Works. The packaging looks cheap (the font is freaking Papyrus), but Anna Sui does offer an $18 rollerball, which is always welcome. I don’t predict much success for Flight of Fancy, but I will say that it is a pleasant and reasonably-priced fragrance. Warning: two different reviewers mention on the Sephora website that their sample of Flight of Fancy was very different from the full bottle. I am also testing from a sample.

Y’ALL. After two exams and fifty pages of essays, I am somehow finished with my very last set of college finals EVER EVER EVER. I so don’t have a full post in me today, but I just had to check in and see how everyone’s doing! What are the haps? What’s the best new (or new to you!) perfume you’ve tried recently? Any fun recent purchases? What perfumes are you looking forward to trying? As for me, I’ve been buying more nail polish than perfume recently, including the very festive Nails Inc. Sweets Away. Tom Ford Sahara Noir is my biggest must-try ever since Bois de Jasmin described it as ”incense and amber to the power of ten”.

I don’t even know myself anymore. I bought five things in the Sephora VIB sale last week, and not one of them was perfume. I could redeem myself with one of the killer perfume sales going on right now, but I currently have no money because I am the world’s best daughter and spent all of it on my mom’s birthday present. (Who could say no to that face??)

Well, I might as well share the online perfume deals I’ve noticed lately with y’all so that I can get my vicarious perfume shop on!

Parfum1 is currently having a 20% off sale! If you’ve ever purchased from them before, you should have gotten a coupon email, but if not, I’m happy to send my code to the first person who asks for it. The sale ends on the 28th.

FragranceNet is doing 15% off until the 26th. The code is on the site’s front page.

Sephora is offering a perfume mini with every fragrance purchase over $25! I might actually participate in this one, because it’s just too tempting. I’m thinking the $25 Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine rollerball and then choose the 7 ml Narcisco Rodriguez EDT mini. The code is “TOPSCENTS”.

So will you be getting anything good? Or have you had any exciting recent perfume shopping exploits? Tell us in the comments!

P.S. Please note that the above links are not affiliate links. I don’t exactly know what affiliate links are, but they’re just regular old links.

P.S.S. The lipstick in the picture of my VIB sale haul is Clinique Black Honey. I usually avoid “cult” makeup products (like the hilariously unflattering NARS Orgasm blush), but I really like this berry color. I think I’m going to return the Fresh Rosé lip balm- it’s so much less moisturizing than the original!

I have two reviews for Frederic Malle Dries van Noten. The first review is the matter-of-fact one. Frederic Malle has stated that he wanted this perfume to capture Flemish desserts, and perfumer Bruno Jovanovic’s interpretation is remarkably literal. Think Jeux de Peau, Serge Lutens’s danish with apricot jam. Dries van Noten is a more polished pastry, a crepe drizzled with lemon juice and sugar. I like Dries van Noten best at the beginning, when the bite of saffron and the lemon note temper those very sweet waffles. The sandalwood dry down is pretty, but no matter how many times Frederic Malle says “Mysore sandalwood”, I find it a little scratchy and thin.

Dries van Noten is $180 for 50 ml. There are very few perfumes that are actually worth $180 for 50 ml, and I personally do not feel that Dries van Noten is one of them. If it had more saffron and creamier sandalwood, I might consider $150. But it’s probably worth noting that I can’t think of any particularly similar fragrances that would be cheaper substitutes.

Now the second review.

I wore Dries van Noten when Drew was visiting from London this past week. It was the right perfume for the polka-dotted dress I wore to impress him on his first day back. It was the right perfume for our sunny walks with the cat stroller under the magnolia and dogwood trees. And it was the right perfume for my inevitable endless crying on his last day, when everything was a last; the last time he would hold the cat that he helped me choose, the last time we would go to a favorite restaurant together, the last time I could reach for his hand and feel him squeeze back.

Frederic Malle writes that Dries van Noten is supposed to convey “the sober warmth” of Belgium, and I really and truly sense that. For such a sweet perfume, Dries van Noten is not particularly light-hearted. Seriousness is a rare quality in modern perfumes, which are more likely to be marketed as “playful” or “flirty!” Drew’s visit was wonderful, but it was also incredibly sad, and Dries van Noten felt somehow respectful of both of those aspects of our time together.

I’m still not paying $180 for it.

My beloved readers,

I am graduating on May 23! Maybe!

Passing all of my classes this semester is going to take everything I have, so I will not be able to post until May 17th, the date of my last final. If you do not already follow me on Twitter, please do; I will continue to be active over there.

As always, it is an honor and a pleasure to have you as readers. I will really miss you while I am away.

 Buxom Stay-There Eye Shadows

These cream eye shadows are named after dog breeds, and if you think for one minute that I am above this sort of gimmick, you’ve been huffing too much Fracas. I already own Pug (my very favorite kind of dog, and the most unique color, in my opinion), and am saving up for Mutt.

Gorilla Perfumes Voice of Reason

I’ve been looking for the perfect coffee fragrance for years and years now. Comptoir Sud Pacifique Vanille Mokha was too sweet; Bond No. 9 New Haarlem wasn’t sweet enough. Jo Malone Black Vetyver Cafe is very close, but it sadly disappears from my skin within 20 minutes. Voice of Reason, which claims to smell like “espresso, French cigarettes, and whiskey”, sounds like a worthy contender.

Ted Baker London Print Fit & Flare Dress

I’m not usually a big fan of Peter Pan collars, but I can’t even explain to you how cute this dress looks in person. As an aside, this model’s legs are taller than my entire body.

Lubin Idole EDT

Last week I had dinner with the very funny and hugely knowledgeable Judith of The Unseen Censer, who spontaneously decided to buy a bottle of Idole after smelling it on me. It’s that good, y’all. This is the warm, spicy, saffron-y scent of my dreams. The EDP is richer and woodier, but it somehow feels less “me”.

We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy

I am deeply invested in the idea that women can be funny, because otherwise I’m just plain obnoxious.

Lancôme is calling La Vie Est Belle “the first ever iris gourmand.” (Nobody tell Guerlain Iris Ganache. Or Parfumerie Generale Iris Taizo.) Questionable claims aside, an iris gourmand sounds great! Too bad La Vie Est Belle isn’t one.

I don’t know what I was expecting from a brand crazy enough to discontinue Cuir de Lancôme, but this is a positively typical fruitchouli. That is to say, indistinguishable fruits (the notes say blackcurrant- I hate blackcurrant), a chocolate note straight out of Thierry Mugler Angel, and a sanitized patchouli drydown. When compared to the current fruitchouli standard, Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb, La Vie Est Belle is less sparkling and somewhat deeper. I happen to prefer Flowerbomb.

One thing that I will say for La Vie Est Belle is that the materials don’t feel cheap. The fragrance never becomes thin or weak. Still, I wish that La Vie Est Belle was the potentially interesting iris gourmand we were promised instead of this utterly unnecessarily fruitchouli.

My workhorses aren’t necessarily my favorite or most valuable perfumes; they’re the ones that I actually wear. These are my most-worn perfumes, the bottles I reach for again and again.

Hilary Duff With Love. DON’T YOU JUDGE ME. Everyone compliments this perfume. It’s sweet and juicy without being obnoxious.

Jo Malone Black Vetyver Cafe. This is the most severe perfume in my collection, so I like to wear it with black outfits. And I wear a lot of black.

L’Artisan Parfumeur Poivre Piquant. This is my go-to perfume when I need something that’s sweet but still sophisticated, thanks to the unusual pepper note. This is the only decant I’ve ever actually finished!

A Lab on Fire What We Do In Paris Is Secret. My bedtime perfume! Nothing says “turn off your brain” like a cloud of honey and heliotrope.

What are your workhorse perfumes?