little white truths

At the moment my beauty wishlist is populated by fragrances - I'm just not up for more skincare or makeup at the moment because I have enough. 

So what I thought I would do is give you my fragrance wishlist, although I'll warn you that it's almost all Chanel - purely because that brand works for me and also because I haven't smelled anything else that grabs me lately, not for want of trying.

Let's have a look!

* Image courtesy of fragrantica.com

Prada Infusion D'Iris

This is the only item on my list that isn't from Chanel. I've wanted it for years but have never bitten the bullet because it's more of a unisex fragrance that I wouldn't necessarily wear every day. I love it, but it's an office fragrance - and since I don't go into an office much these days, I'm not sure how often I would wear it. Unfortunately I've also just seen that it's been discontinued, and I don't know whether the replacement (the 2015 formulation) will appeal to me in the same way.

It's a woody balasamic fragrance that opens with notes of mandarin, galbanum, orange and orange blossom. The heart is composed of iris, cedar and vetiver, and the base contains incense and benzoin. It's quite masculine but I think anyone can wear it.

Fingers crossed that I can still find an original formulation - or at least let's hope that the new formulation works as well for me.

* Image courtesy of fragrantica.com

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Intense

I tried both the original and this version over the weekend, and while the original wore off my skin rather quickly, this one was in for the long haul so I've asked my husband to buy it for me duty free (he's currently away on business).

This smells very much like the 2012 version of Christian Dior's Miss Dior, before they changed the fragrance without telling us (I don't like the new version of that perfume at all). While I did enjoy the 2012 Dior, it was a little too sweet and heady for me - but Coco Mademoiselle Intense gives me the same smell in a more balanced, wearable kind of way. I can't wait to own it.

The notes include patchouli, tonka bean, vanilla, orange, rose, jasmine and fruits. It's a rich smell but it's not too heavy and a little goes a long way. Definitely worth testing.

* Image courtesy of fragrantica.com

Chanel Gabrielle

I own Gabrielle Essence and love it, although it doesn't last very long so I want to get my hands on the original because it apparently lasts longer and they smell similar enough. I asked my parents to buy Gabrielle Essence duty free earlier this year (it had better reviews than the original), and I was rather nervous because I hadn't yet smelled it. But it's Chanel, and of course I love the fragrance. It's addictive.

So I went into Myer over the weekend and sprayed the original Gabrielle onto a card, and of the eight cards I sprayed with different fragrances, it's the only one that's still going strong three days later. Yes I'll need to test it on myself first, but it smells so much like Gabrielle Essence that I suspect it will work for me, despite the lukewarm reviews.

The top notes include mandarin, grapefruit and black currant; the heart comprises tuberose, ylang-ylang, jasmine and orange blossom; and the base contains sandalwood and musk. It's more floral than the other fragrances I own (I'm not normally one for florals), but there's something about it that speaks to me. It's on the list!

* Image courtesy of fragrantica.com

Chanel Coco Noir

That's right, more Chanel. Oops! It just so happens to be a brand that creates fragrances I love, although not every perfume I own is from Chanel. I first smelled Coco Noir on a friend, and I liked the scent so much that I asked her what it was. Since then I've wanted to try it on myself, and while I still need to do that, I sprayed it on a card over the weekend and really loved it.

It's more of a grown-up fragrance that's balsamic and spicy, but it's not overdone and it's a well-rounded, balanced kind of scent. The notes include grapefruit, bergamot, rose, narcissus, rose geranium leaf and jasmine, with a base of tonka bean, sandalwood, vanilla, patchouli and white musk frankincense.

It's a surprisingly wearable fragrance, given that it has deeper notes and is in the balsamic/spicy family, and while it's not top of my list for fragrances I want to own, it's definitely up there and I'm looking forward to giving it a few test runs on my skin.

* Image courtesy of fragrantica.com

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle

Yes that's right, I want the original Coco Mademoiselle too - although I want to test it again to see if it lasts better this time. Certainly when I sprayed this on one wrist and the Intense version on the other over the weekend, the strength of this one paled in comparison so I'll need to test it again before purchase and perhaps do two sprays this time.

This is apparently a very popular fragrance, which I didn't realise because I've had my head in the sand when it comes to fragrance for ages - too busy raising children. I've also heard that the older bottles were much stronger, and that Chanel reformulated this and it's now quite weak. Hmph. Annoying. Might explain why it didn't smell that strong on me.

The top notes are orange, mandarin, orange blossom and bergamot; the middle notes are mimosa, jasmine, turkish rose and ylang-ylang; and the base notes are tonka bean, patchouli, opoponax, vanilla, vetiver and white musk. It does smell similar to the Intense version, but they're different and I wouldn't run from owning both of them.

In sum

That's all from me. I'm excited about growing my fragrance wardrobe again - I haven't been into perfumes as much while I've had young children, but the tides are turning now and I want them back in my life - and I do have a bit of scope to buy more.

While previously I've owned as many as nine fragrances at once (too many for me), I currently own four and that's a good number for me. However two of those four are on the way out (I have less than half a 50ml bottle left), so there's room for me to buy replacements over the next six months. Looking forward.

Hope all's well with you, and speak soon x

My husband left on the red-eye for New Zealand yesterday morning, leaving me with two pre-schoolers to look after on my own. Although he's been away many times before, I don't think I've posted on this before so I thought I would jump online and say a few words about flying solo. How I get through it and the like. Some may relate to the challenge.

Mex usually goes to NZ on business twice a year (for four or five days at a time), and he takes another three long-weekends each year to visit his sister in Sydney or go camping with a friend. I'm happy for him to take these trips because the break does him good, and he can't change the work trips anyway so I may as well embrace them.

I'm lucky this time that my parents are here and not away, because the last two times they were overseas themselves when he left, which certainly made things harder. It's nicer to have back-up. Even when you don't need to use it too much, it's still nice to have.

What I always do on the day or two before Mex leaves is make sure that the cooking is done for the next week, so I don't have to cook if I don't need to. So I currently have a bunch of stuff ready to go in the fridge and freezer, and that wipes out something I normally do during the week so I don't have to think.

I also make sure that I'm ahead with the washing. While I'll still need to do washing while he's away because that pile is endless, I prefer to make sure that any full loads are done before he goes. That way I've saved myself another thing that I don't have to do if I don't have the time, and I find that makes a difference too.

Oh. Did I mention the dog? When my parents are here, I send the dog to stay with them while Mex is away, because walking the dog is one thing too many. If my parents can't help, we ask a friend or neighbour to walk the dog a couple of times while he's gone. It makes things a lot easier if you don't need to worry about that.

Another thing I usually do is bend the house rules and customs a bit, so the kids know that when Daddy's away, it won't be a sad time but rather a fun one. I've found this means that they're more likely to be well-behaved for me, because I'll reward the good behaviour.

As an example, while the kids normally eat cereal or bread for breakfast, when Mex is away I give them one of my muesli bars instead. The bars are healthy but they're more expensive than cereal so it's not something I would do all the time, but the kids have been pretty excited to have one of these for breakfast, which puts them in a good mood.

And because I knew that they'd had veggies and protein for lunch, I was lax with their dinner last night. I was buggered because I hadn't slept well the night before, and when I came across some frozen chips in the freezer that needed to be used, I thought bugger it and that's what they had. They were excited about this too: we've never had chips at home before and we eat them so rarely, so this felt like a big thing.

Last night I also had some kickback when I announced it was time for a bath. 'If you get in the bath and don't complain, I'll give you some chocolate.' That worked. A piece of chocolate is a fair trade for getting them washed without complaints, and it made my life easier. The only times they've had chocolate in the bath is when Mex is away, meaning this also feels like a big thing so it kept them in a good mood during feral hour. Winning.

The biggest challenge with Mex being away for the past few years has been when to have my shower, and how to have a moderately peaceful one. In the past I've had to put my daughter to bed first, then have my son in his cot in the adjoining room so I can keep an eye on him.

Thankfully the kids are a bit older now, and my daughter has enough sense to call out if I'm needed. So what I do these days is put the TV on for a bit and ask them to look after each other while I'm gone. It's only happened once that my daughter has called me down, and that was because my son was standing on the couch - so it wasn't a huge deal anyway, but she did the right thing.

While of course I would much rather have my showers without listening out for children, you have to take the small mercies and the fact that I can have a shower without watching a child is a big one for me.

The issue with Mex being away this time, is that I have a lot of work on and that hasn't happened until now. Yes I've worked when he's been away before, but I haven't consistently had this much to do for a while. This can make things harder because I need to spend the kinder and childcare hours doing that, and not keeping on top of things at home. I've already warned him that he may come back to mess this time and he gets it - you can't do everything - but it always helps to give your partner a heads up that they may be returning to chaos.

Anyhoo. I think that's enough for now. Do let me know in the comments if you've had to fly solo with kids before and how it's gone for you, what you've done to get through it.

Hope all's well with you, and speak soon x

 * All images courtesy of unsplash.com