The Vine: February 1, 2013
I’m hoping you can help me track down a book I loved as a kid so I can give it to my nieces. It was a collection of fairy tales (predominantly European), set up so that you were to read a section on a particular date. Stories included Baba Yaga, the twelve dancing princesses, the Silkie, and a rather dark version of Hansel and Gretel.
As I recall, it was a large (larger than a sheet of paper) glossy hardbound book, mostly white with a large illustration on the front, and probably published between 1980 and 1990. The title may have been something along the lines of “A Child’s Bedtime Stories,” but I truly can’t remember for certain. I have tried everything, and can’t seem to come up with the correct book. Help me, TN, you’re my last and best hope!
A
*****
I am looking for a perfume that will make me smell like a mermaid.
I’m a big fan of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab and I’ve tried a lot of their oceany scents (Sea of Glass, R’Lyeh, The Deep Ones, etc.) but have never quite found the mix of salt air, ocean spray, minerals, seaweed and musk that I’m looking for. Sadly, I found out about their scent Thalassa, the Galapagos Mermaid after they’d stopped offering it — snif! I’ve considered checking eBay and the BPAL trading forums to get a bottle, but one thing about BPAL is that their scents don’t tend to last on me as long as I’d like, so I think I’d prefer an alternative that would have better staying power (say, eight to ten hours with normal application). It may be useful to note that I adore Method soaps in the Sea Minerals scent and the Yankee Candle Beach Walk scent, so a perfume that hits a combination of those notes would be quite welcome.
A hopeful tail swish and many thanks in advance!
C
Dear C,
Maybe a mix of Demeter’s Ocean, Thunderstorm, and Vetiver? You may sacrifice some staying power — in my experience, Demeter scents aren’t very strong.
Another option is Pacifica; their solid scents last through, say, 10 hours of Nebraska interstate, and you could mix the Waikike Pikake with some Tibetan Mountain Temple and see what you get.
Readers?
Tags: Ask The Readers health and beauty popcult
I love Lili Bermuda’s South Water for a fresh marine-y touch, but it may not be enough if you’re really going full mermaid.
Bobbi Brown has a fragrance called Beach: http://www.bobbibrowncosmetics.com/products/spp/index.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CAT6304&PRODUCT_ID=PROD20499
Perfect Scents (http://www.perfectscentskc.com/Categories/20/Perfume-Oils.aspx) has an Ocean Breeze scent that would likely work, and they do custom tweaking as necessary. If you emailed, they’ll know what to do in all probability. They sell perfume oils, so they last forever, and they can custom-scent all of their shower products and lotions, etc, too. Can’t recommend them highly enough.
A, is it this?
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Goodnight-Stories-Vratislav-Stovicek/dp/0671059637
I’m reading it to my son this year at bedtime.
Damn, I can finally answer one of these, and JenAK beat me to it! I have my copy from 1981, when my grandparents gave it to me (I would have been 2). It’s beaten up, but I can’t wait to read to my kids from the same book. ^.^
A here – and JenAK, that’s IT! I knew that someone out there in Vine-Land would be able to nail it in minutes after my hours of fruitless searching. Thank you SO much!
C – I have the perfect fragrance for you. It’s Acqua di Sale by Profumum. It really does smell like the ocean.
Have you tried Oceanus by the Body Shop? They don’t make it anymore, but you can find it on eBay and Amazon. I wore it all the time until I met my husband, and he didn’t like it very much. Oh well.
C,
I’m a longtime BPAL fan and I’ve had some issues with its staying power before. One thing I’ve discovered that works very well is creating your own perfume spray with perfumer’s alcohol. The place I got mine from doesn’t seem to be in operation anymore, but some quick googling found some on this etsy page: http://tinyurl.com/asc6wro
I’ve also heard of people using everclear, grain alcohol, or even regular vodka (the higher the proof, the better). You can buy amber bottles with atomizers and decanting supplies here: http://tinyurl.com/anlquo5
It takes a bit more work, but it really seems to extend the wear of the perfume oil. I wish the site I bought my alcohol from was still up, because they had a great chart for figuring out what ratio of alcohol:perfume oil to use, but looking around it seems like 2:1 is a good way to go for a mixture that will keep the strength of the scent while extending the wear.
You might find something else you like just as much or better without all the work, but for me this is a way to get the best of both worlds!
(I also took a look at the forum and on eBay and there don’t seem to be any bottles for sale right now, but the collection that Thalassa is part of will be back at some point, so unless there have been component issues, it’ll probably be available some time in the future straight from the Lab site.)
Try Inis.
http://www.amazon.com/Inis-Energy-Sea-Cologne-3-3/dp/B000OTZLFG/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1359992126&sr=8-6&keywords=inis+or
Try “At the Beach 1966” or any other ocean-like scents from CB I Hate Perfume. They are AMAZING. (The one I suggested also has notes of sunscreen, which is fairly awesome.)
A-
My parents had a set of fairy tale books (mostly European) that they read to me when I was young. The binding has changed but this is the “English Fairy Tales” book from the set:
http://www.amazon.com/English-Everymans-Library-Childrens-Classics/dp/0679428097/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360110988&sr=1-4&keywords=english+fairy+tales