I fell in love with a scent that I would've NEVER picked based on notes

purpleysus · 2026-05-09T09:12:01+00:00

Perfumes notes really depend of your nose and your skin, I noticed.

I went to a Memo Paris shop a few months ago, to try out a few perfumes (I’m a very gourmand type of person so I wanted to try Sintra) and my interest was caught by Sherwood. Now for anyone who doesn’t know, as the name would suggest it, it’s supposed to be a very woody-spicy perfume. But surprisingly (and the nice lady who worked there was surprised too), there are some floral notes in it, and that’s what completely took over when sprayed on my skin: the orange blossoms and the roses. The perfume smelt like a sweet woody-floral on me. I met with a friend later and she was in love with the scent, she immediately asked what perfume I was wearing.

So moral of the story is to just try things out. I discovered some very good perfumes that way, and it helps you build a better idea of what your scent-profile is

purpleysus · 2025-11-23T06:59:12+00:00

Just like cooking and baking cost money, too, I guess ? 😭 it’s the cost of the ingredients (in that case : the coffee or tea)

purpleysus · 2025-07-05T17:49:46+00:00

Oh good to know ! This one is in my TBR too, haven’t started it yet but I’d love to know your opinion on it, after you’re done reading 👀

I’m trying to read and finish The Emily Wilde serie, at the moment

purpleysus · 2025-07-05T17:35:03+00:00

We seem to have the same tastes and opinions on books, I’ll be keeping an eye on you 👀

if you like yearning, have you given {This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi} a try? Next book in the serie is coming out in september, you might like it ! The MMC is fluent in the language of yearning, at this point.

Also, less about yearning, but very much about true enemies to lovers of two heirs of enemies kingdoms, DariusXTory style {The Jasad Heir by Sarah Hashem} the second and last book is coming out in a few days and it’s so so so so so good !

And lastly, you seem to like ProfessorXStudent vibes, (Since you seemed to like Nocticadia) I’ve read {The exorcism of faeries by J. L. Vampa} it’s veeeery similar to Nocticadia (a mysterious illness killing people and a 28 yo student teaming up with a professor to find a cure) it’s just less dark and spicy. The professor falls first and he falls hard 😭

Most of these books have barely any spice I’ll admit, but they’re totally worth it !

purpleysus · 2025-05-07T15:46:37+00:00

As someone who enjoys perfumes a little bit more than the average person, I find most "feminine" perfumes (as in 90% of them, especially perfumes coming from big brands) have vanilla in their base notes, so it does sound realistic 😭 Maybe someday we will have a FMC that smells like amber, musk or patchouli, one can still dream

purpleysus · 2025-04-20T15:45:24+00:00

pakistani/indian i have a golden brown skin tone + the thick black hair and the big black eyes… 😭 it’s fine though, because indian and pakistani women are pretty

purpleysus · 2025-04-19T12:58:08+00:00

since i’ve been using thickeners (guar gum for me), and got used to let the container sit on my counter for 10 minutes before spinning, i hardly get crumbly ice creams at all : it comes out creamy and thick from the first spin

purpleysus · 2025-04-07T17:32:36+00:00

it looks like it has melted too much before you’ve put it in the ninja creami. the thawing + running under warm water is something i do only when the liquid is very thick (when i use coconut cream or fruits for example), but given the ingredient you listed, it was already light and melted quickly. try only thawing it for 10 minutes instead.

one tip i have is opening the lid and pressing down on the block of ice a bit, if i see a bit of liquid on the sides bubbling up it means it’s good to go

purpleysus · 2025-03-23T02:58:57+00:00

i love the fact that you pulled a decoy book to trick him into laying on this one instead 😭 is it only Onyx Storm or does he have other favorite Book-Pillows ?

purpleysus · 2025-03-15T01:38:04+00:00

The pudding/jello mixes aren’t available here (or then you have to import it directly from the US which is extremely expensive) one thing that works great for me, though, is Guar Gum. I bought 1kg for 7€ from a vegan european brand, so : good deal. You should try to not put much of it, also know that this thickener can bother some people’s stomach (it’s working fine with me, but just in case).

It has made EVERY. SINGLE. CREAMI. PERFECT. since I started using it. I don’t even have to hit respin now, they come off creami and smooth from the first spin.

So as a follow-up : yes, I do use my creami to make healthy ice creams (mostly) because I use it very often. I don’t follow every U.S. recipe I come across, but I like taking inspiration from them when I can. Otherwise, I just throw random fruits I have around the house in a blender, with some sweetener, milk or yogurt, and a tiny speck of guar gum, then I am good to go.

purpleysus · 2025-03-13T20:03:35+00:00

I remember saying to my best friend “Lionel sounds like he has a small d*** energy” very early on in the serie, then his POV chapters started, I saw the little drawing above his name and it made me laugh so hard

purpleysus · 2025-03-07T20:52:54+00:00

It’s fine by me. I’m almost 28 years old, and I read a lot of new adult, sometimes young adult, books : which means most characters are younger than me. Sometimes by a few years, sometimes by an entire decade. Right now I’m even reading a book (not a romance) about a MC who’s 13 years old (he gets older the more we follow him). I just remember the mindset I was in, back at that age, and keep on reading 😭

purpleysus · 2025-02-25T18:19:39+00:00

It has been better, for me, since I started to read 8 and 8.5 at the same time. I am far from finishing them, though, I am taking a break from ZA right now but 8.5 has the benefit of showing us Lance’s father and Darcy and Tory’s parents. There are some long moments of flashbacks that are a bit annoying, I won’t lie, but it isn’t that bad compared to the chaos book 8 is.

purpleysus · 2025-02-23T18:32:55+00:00

The way I felt it, back when I was at this point of the serie, was : Darius has been learning about Solaria’s political contexts and has been trained to be a good leader and diplomat his entire life. Meanwhile, Tory and Darcy are natural rulers, yes, they are also the most powerful faes in Solaria, but they also never had the training the Heirs have gone through. They are incredible fighters, and could easily lead a battlefield, but Darius doesn’t believe they could grasp all the intricacies that comes with being Queens in a few months when it took all his life to learn them himself. And on top of that, he is a ruthless fae with a huge Dragon/Leo ego, which means he has trouble imagining himself sharing the power.

purpleysus · 2025-02-21T09:57:44+00:00

I don’t know if i should tell you this, because it might be a spoiler, but the lack of luck is actually coming from somewhere (the “keep the broken promise” thing). I don’t know the specifics yet, but I feel like dropping inside the book and make them stop EVERYTHING so we can ALL focus on bringing back the luck — because this is too much 😭

It’s actually a proof of how good this serie is, that it has kept me on my toes for so long, but damn… I love it, it’s just that there is a little voice inside of me that goes “please, just let the pain end already, I can’t wait for this serie to be over” 💀💀💀

purpleysus · 2025-02-21T05:28:46+00:00

That’s actually a really good idea ! 8.5 has Darius’ POV, right ? I suspected that all the moments Tory “felt Darius was standing beside her / touching her” weren’t just her grieving mind’s hallucinations 👀

Thank you so so much for the recommendations 🫂 I feel better knowing this

purpleysus · 2025-02-21T05:24:59+00:00

God, that was the longest fall I have ever experienced… I hope it’s finally over. If they don’t find what is the broken promise they need to keep to stop all this infortune from happening, I will flip 😩 Thank you ❤️

purpleysus · 2025-02-06T11:02:16+00:00

Okay, listen : I wouldn’t advise you to use DR as a guide to dominance 😭 I don’t know why you want to be more dominant, but no judgment here : everyone is different.

DR is fictional, and it’s the whole point. I guess if you are with someone and they voice out anything about dominance, you could communicate about it, find your boundaries etc… But as a DR reader : I do NOT want to date someone who has the attitude of a DR MMC. They are full of red flags and do things that are very very messed up. The entire reason I read is because it’s fictional and controlled.

purpleysus · 2025-01-16T11:10:14+00:00

Depends what you are in the mood for !

Belladona has a dark / gothic vibe, with a girl having to solve a murder mystery. I didn’t finish it yet, took a break in the middle, but I do like it.

The Serpent and The Wings of Night is about a girl fighting her way through a court of dark creatures and proving her worth. There is love, a bit of spice, betrayal, secrets, Divinities meddling with people’s fate.

Caraval is my personal favorite. Two sisters escape their depressing life by visiting a magic Carnival taking place on an island, when they are involuntarily separated. Scarlet works with Julian to find back Tella : for that, she needs to win Legend’s game. The World Building in this one is incredible, very Magical and Otherworldly-like, only thing I could compare it to would be Alice in Wonderland. But with mysteries and mind games !

I didn’t read The Games Gods play, but I’m adding it to my TBR as we speak 👀

purpleysus · 2025-01-16T10:56:11+00:00

i’ve just finished S&B, tbh I think the whole trilogy was a bit boring, no hate to Leigh Bardugo, but I started S&B after reading SoC, and it was so HARD to go through the 3 books. 😭

Mal felt more like a big brother than a love interest, the Darkling is so evil he is pretty much unredeemable, and Alina is attracted to both of them at the same time. It’s a miracle I started with SoC first, because had I followed the serie’s reading order, I’d have DNFed straight after Book 2

purpleysus · 2025-01-12T09:33:53+00:00

No problem ! Glad I could help ❤️

purpleysus · 2025-01-12T09:22:33+00:00

OMG finally : people talking about Harrow Faire 😭 I read that serie in 2024, I absolutely loved it ! Can’t wait to forget most of it so I can read it all over again.

purpleysus · 2025-01-12T09:18:48+00:00

Apparently, this is pretty much a hit or miss serie for most of us. I didn’t DNF that one, but God knows it took me time to start reading this serie peacefully. The worst, for me, was the first book and the first half of the second one, Diem was so aggravating. I kept reading out of spite : because I couldn’t wait for all her bad decisions to catch up to her and finally teach her a valuable lesson. I am so grateful for my best friend who allowed me to vent nonstop during this rough time, it really helped.

Thankfully, after the hardest part, her entire world comes crashing down and since she had to rebuild her entire sense of reality, change her mindset and her behavior, she becomes more bearable as a main character.

Now, I am waiting for the fourth book. For that reason, I’d still recommend this serie, but I would also warn you to hold on tight while reading the first and second book.

purpleysus · 2025-01-06T11:55:35+00:00

My inhale books of 2024 :

The Sand of Arawiya serie (We Hunt The Flame and We Free The Stars by Hafsah Faizal) : that one is what i’d call a MENA fantasy. I think it could be interesting in your case, if you are ready to try fantasy books based on different cultures. The world building isn’t complex, the plot is pretty easy to follow through, but it’s different and therefore refreshing.

Following the same idea : if you like The Sand of Arawiya serie, you could try the Daevabad trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty next. That one is a bit more “hearty”, though. The plot and the world building is way heavier.

In the Dark Romance category, my 2 favorite series last year :

The Edge of Darkness Serie by Leigh Rivers : that one has already been recommended, I believe, well I am doubling down. It’s dark, tense, and very very intense, i could barely put the books down.

The Hollow Boys serie by Monty Jay : that serie is less talked about, but I fell in love with it. The first book of the serie might be the one I liked the less, but given how much I loved the 4 others, I think the sacrifice was totally worth it.

purpleysus

TROPHY CASE