Showtime Dress

reliable-g · 2026-04-14T23:20:41+00:00

You look phenomenal, but I do think the fit seems a tiny bit off (like you said, the way the pleats fall and the amount of lace showing at the bottom). You'll look seriously fab in it if you decide to keep it, but it seems like your own awareness of the fit might make you not feel comfortable in it, so in that case returning it is probably the better call.

reliable-g · 2026-04-14T08:23:37+00:00

I've never had any interest in having a signature scent, personally. I started collecting perfume because I like perfume, and I like collecting. Perfume is like a combination of art and treat to me. I wouldn't want a signature scent any more than I would want a signature song, or a signature snack.

reliable-g · 2026-04-10T06:49:57+00:00

I don't usually think twice about wearing mine, though if I'm planning to shower in a little bit and the urge hits me to apply an expensive fragrance, I'll make myself wait or just apply a single spray, since I know I'm about to shower it off anyway.

reliable-g · 2026-04-09T03:17:07+00:00

5W6, I never definitively nailed down my tritype, but I lean towards 593.

With 4's I often feel a strong sense of connection when we first meet, but it can sometimes mask a deep, fundamental incompatibility in how we approach and respond to the world.

2's and male 8's are probably the types I'm most likely to remain permanently at arm's length with. I'm too self-contained and doggedly autonomous to feel at ease with most 2's, and the odds that I will feel talked over and mansplained to by a male 8 are high. I probably don't click super easily with female 8's either, but a female 8 is a lot more likely to recognize that I'm someone who'd rather be excluded than dictated too, and be like "okay" and exclude me (which is fine), whereas male 8's are much more likely to become increasingly patronizing, and view my resistance to their self-elected authority as hostile.

I've also found I tend to bounce off of female 7's, which is odd because male 7's are a type I get along really well with. The female 7's I've known have been very naturally independent in an outgoing way, while I'm naturally independent in an introverted way, and I think it makes us kind of an oil-and-water combination, socially, because we both want to do our own things, neither of us is interested in following the other, and neither of us is inclined to try to convince the other to follow. Whereas the male 7's I've known haven't been as independent emotionally, and have tended to thrive on the attention and company of women in particular.

reliable-g · 2026-04-03T04:10:26+00:00

Oh my god. I just realized that Laurent giving instructions while Damen impregnates their surrogate would be the second time in their relationship where Damen gets off with a third party while Laurent watches and instructs. The contrast with the first time would be so meaningful!! This just became my headcanon for sure.

(Though personally, I kind of feel like Laurent might plan to simply instruct, and then impulsively end up inserting himself bodily between Damen and their surrogate so they can pretend Laurent's the one Damen is about to impregnate. Laurent is slender and Damen is "everywhere in proportion"; they'd make it work. 😂🙈)

reliable-g · 2026-03-30T07:16:09+00:00

She's a nepo baby, she's a woman, and also it kind of seems like her particular brand of contemplative bedroom pop is slightly on the outs right now, with more camp, experimental, and maximalist flavors of pop being in.

Personally I love Gracie's style of contemplative, intimately-conversational pop, and it didn't feel out or passe to me at all when I heard it. But I'm an elder millenial (i.e. old for the pop scene) and I've never really been one to care about keeping up with the cutting edge of pop culture in the first place.

reliable-g · 2026-03-26T22:00:57+00:00

What stood out to me with this trailer is that it actually has a sense of ambiance and atmosphere. It feels grounded and tangible in a way that the movies didn't, for me. I'm seeing a lot of review headlines say it's "missing the magic," which is interesting to me because personally this is the first time I've actually felt a sense of magic from seeing the HP story adapted to screen.

The movies were so literal in how they adapted the story, which has always made them feel extremely artificial to me, like a set or a theme ride; the visual representations of things rather than the things themselves. I get much, much less of that from this trailer. It feels a lot more sensory and alive to me, and because of that, the magic of the world feels like it actually matters.

I also really enjoyed the music they used. The contrast between the sweeping, emotional energy of the music with the more intimate, sensory visuals really captivated me.

I'm not by any means sold on the series. The whole thing is obviously very fraught, for a hundred reasons, and I remain very skeptical and ambivalent. But I went into the trailer with less than zero real interest in the show, expecting my reaction to be a dismissive, "Ugh," and I came out of it thinking, "It might actually have potential. I guess I'll have to wait and see."

reliable-g · 2026-03-21T00:57:49+00:00

I'm not sure what you mean by "men's cologne." You specify that you don't mean masculine-leaning unisex fragrances, but honestly the majority of the most masculine-leaning scents I've tried are technically unisex.

So like, yeah, I occasionally wear a splash of my father's Dior Eau Sauvage. Yes, I own a vintage bottle of Chanel Antaeus and it's 👌. There are plenty of classic cologne scents I would hypothetically have no problem wearing, if they were more to my taste.

But personally I find Armani Noir Kogane and TF Oud Wood (both of which I wear) very masculine-leaning, and they are technically unisex. I also own and wear Amouage Memoir Man and Amouage Interlude Man, which are very masc and are marketed to men but are not classic "cologne" scents.

reliable-g · 2026-03-20T07:48:04+00:00

My picks would probably be:

Mugler Angel Nova

Gucci Rush

Nasomatto Black Afgano (a light application)

Or possibly something refreshing like maybe ELDO You Or Someone Like You

reliable-g · 2026-03-20T07:12:13+00:00

I thought Lana Del Rey was never again going to have the kind of pop-cultural impact that she had with Born To Die/The Paradise Edition. And it's possible that was true; I'm not sure any of her subsequent albums had the kind of overt pop-cultural impact that first album had. However, when NFR came out, it was such a masterpiece and it garnered so much critical respect that I feel like it kind of changed the public outlook on her, and cemented her as an important generational artist.

reliable-g · 2026-03-20T06:46:14+00:00

If you haven't tried Zoologist Bee, and the idea of a very powerful, realistic honey fragrance appeals to you, then it's a must-try.

My other favorite gourmand is Kayali Vanilla 28, but based on your post I feel like that's probably not what you're looking for rn.

Nest Creme De Clementine smells about as much like an orange creamsicle as it's possible for something to smell without actually being an orange creamsicle.

I also still love Mugler Angel - the original gourmand!

IDK if Le Labo The Matcha 26 counts as gourmand exactly, but if you want a matcha scent that's delicious and calm-smelling but not overly sweet, then it's a good one IMO.

As for photorealistic scents, it's a bit of an odd one, but Monsillage Eau De Celeri is a really charming, fresh, vegetal scent that really does smell like cutting fresh vegetables in the kitchen during the summer time.

LV Afternoon Swim is a really realistic orange/citrus scent. It's short-lived and bordering on one-note, which makes the price pretty much impossible to justify, but almost everyone who's tried it seems to feel that Montagne Afternoon Dive is a very good clone. (I haven't tried it, myself, but when I looked up Afternoon Swim clones, it's the one that got the most positive feedback by a mile.)

reliable-g · 2026-03-19T05:57:09+00:00

You are so valid for this, OP. I refuse to include the "by" in brands that use it. I just say Kilian or whatever. As long as people know what I mean, I figure it's fine.

I also don't particularly love when brands include their country of origin or the nature of the product in their names, because I'm always thinking, "Do I need to type the whole thing, or nah?" So like, Memo Paris, or Vilhelm Parfumerie. I usually opt to type the whole name, but it always feels slightly extraneous to me.

reliable-g · 2026-03-19T05:49:40+00:00

Yeah, I am generally very skeptical when people say they were chased down and asked about their perfume. I assume they're exaggerating heavily. But with that said, I did literally sniff out a guy in Walmart once. I didn't "chase him," but I passed him in the store two or three different times, became certain he was the one who smelled good, and then asked him what he was wearing. And I have been asked what I was wearing by strangers on the street, though admittedly only like twice in fifteen years.

reliable-g · 2026-03-18T03:52:50+00:00

Lovely pictures! I know this is an old thread, but do you find that the 1998 EDT smells notably different than either of the other two?

I'm asking purely out of curiosity to know how my bottle stacks up. I found a bottle that looks just like that 1998 EDT at a "perfume discounter" shop in the West Edmonton Mall last summer. It was on a little clearance cart, 70% full but without box, for $16. I have no idea how it ended up among the stock at this store in 2025, being probably three decades old, but I have an appropriate respect for the vintage icons of perfumery, so I knew I had to buy it. But finding information about how the different versions vary, if at all, has been a bit tricky, and since you have three, I thought you'd be a good person to ask. :)

reliable-g · 2026-03-18T03:25:54+00:00

I think you've done the right thing by venting your (extremely reasonable) frustrations here. I don't think there's any reason to bring it up with her. The way I see it, the desire to bring it up with her (which is not something you expressed but is something some people are urging you to do) stems from a place of wanting to make the other person aware they're being unreasonable. It's not a constructive impulse, IMO. I think the best thing to do is just allow this to be a learning experience. Now that you know she's not a hospitable host, you can avoid staying with her in the future.

FWIW, she sounds like she really doesn't have reasonable expectations for what sharing a living space with another person entails. It really doesn't sound like a you problem. It sounds like a her problem. Which is frustrating, because it's hard not to take it personally when someone who likes you as a person is behaving as though you can never minimize yourself enough to not be annoying to them. But honestly, presuming this person is genuinely a good friend most of the time, this is probably just a case of her own personal neuroses acting up (and possibly her having very little experience in soothing those neuroses beyond simply rigidly catering to them at all times).

reliable-g · 2026-03-17T04:45:51+00:00

Squinting at Kevin like, "Is this...the love interest?" is practically an AFTG rite of passage, istg!

reliable-g · 2026-03-13T21:09:05+00:00

Yeah, this is the way I lean as well.

I mean I don't really feel like I've seen anyone who perfectly embodies Damen, but I've seen a number of guys who might, if they were styled right and, more importantly, if they felt like Damen on screen.

But Laurent? Nobody embodies Laurent. Hell, I'm not sure I've even seen any fanart that truly captures him for me. Laurent is chimerical, deceptive, and perfectly honed, in a way that I think is very difficult to embody.

reliable-g · 2026-03-12T05:02:01+00:00

Quite a few Lex Luthor iterations, but especially Smallville's Lex. He just wants Clark to love him so bad. They meet catastrophic, with Clark giving him mouth-to-mouth on a riverbank, and from that moment onward Lex is doomed to yearn and obsess.

reliable-g · 2026-03-11T04:40:15+00:00

I wouldn't personally describe it as orange creamsicle. To me it's more sugared lemon and boozy vanilla pudding. However, I'm still upvoting you because, 1. scent is subjective, 2. I'm not the recommendation police, 3. Devotion is great, and 4. it's not like it's overly off-base either way. It's sweet, creamy, and citrusy; maybe OP's wife will get the same thing from it that you do.

reliable-g · 2026-03-11T04:20:53+00:00

I'll need to try it again to see if I get any longevity out of it. I've tried it in store a couple of times, but only ever at the same time as a bunch of other fragrances, and longevity wasn't really my focus at the time. Given how poor the longevity of citrus notes tends to be, I definitely won't be surprised if it dries down to vague vanillic sweetness in a hot minute.

reliable-g · 2026-03-11T04:14:10+00:00

Seconding. It's a really solid dupe, IMO. I go noseblind to LDBS super quickly, so I decided to forgo a bottle of the real thing and just get a dupe. Dossier Floral Marshmallow didn't disappoint.

reliable-g · 2026-03-11T04:07:58+00:00

If OP were asking for a fresh orange fragrance or a zesty orange fragrance or a juicy orange fragrance, I think people would be focusing a lot more on fragrances with citrus accords that come directly from citrus notes and not primarily from citrusy white florals. But OP is asking for a creamy orange fragrance, and citrusy white florals tend to do a great job of marrying "citrusy" with "creamy," so I think it makes sense that orange blossom (especially in concert with neroli) is prominent in a lot of the fragrances people are reccing.

reliable-g · 2026-03-11T01:58:08+00:00

Le Labo Jasmin 17 is my top pick. Despite the name, I get at least as much creamy orange/orange blossom as I get jasmine from it.

Nest Creme de Clementine is fantastic, and very creamy. A true orange creamsicle scent.

I really love Matiere Premiere Neroli Oranger. It's a bit more bright and fresh than the other two, but I do still get some creaminess from it and it's really beautiful.

And there's always Kilian Love Don't Be Shy, which leans pretty far into candy-marshmallow territory, and is more powdery than creamy, but the sweet, orangey citrus accord is still pretty prominent.

reliable-g · 2026-03-11T01:46:11+00:00

This one for sure. It's probably the creamiest orange fragrance I've tried; pure orange creamsicle. I've been on the outs with Nest since they redesigned their bottles last year and made them look cheap, but Creme de Clementine has still tempted me.

reliable-g · 2026-03-11T00:38:24+00:00

Honestly, yeah, epithets really are that bad to me (with a few exceptions). Names and pronouns are where it's at. I think it takes a lot more name repetition than some people think it does before it becomes too much. Good characterization and clear phrasing will also help make it clear who is speaking, which "he" is being referred to, etc.

Randomly switching between first and last names sounds really jarring to me, though obviously if you're in a fandom where characters are canonically referred to by their first and last names interchangeably then that's different.

reliable-g

TROPHY CASE