It contains incense absolute which creates the vibrance; wood and spice notes for sexuality; and a heart of wild orchid and sparkling bergamot top notes that add emotion and freshness. It has also included extracts of Black Orchids in its bathline.

Its creator is none other than Tom Ford, YSL’s creative director whose interpretation of nu (which means naked) is embodied in its strikingly unconventional bottle, packaging and, of course, its smell. “I asked myself, who is this YSL woman? What is her smell like? What is her life like? “She’s a star - enigmatic, seductress, subtle, graceful and sensual. She is intelligent, complex, charismatic, powerful yet mysterious. She has nothing to prove, and she chooses not to reveal all her secrets at once.”Nu defines a new Saint Laurent woman: mysterious, complex and always in control. From the scent itself to the strikingly unconventional bottle, Nu is steeped in designer Tom Ford’s modern vision.

The fragrance reveals its contrasting facets gradually. Incense absolute makes for a vibrant, intriguingly androgynous base; wood and spice notes create layers of intensity and sexuality; a heart of wild orchid and sparkling bergamot top notes add emotion and freshness. It is luxury and femininity with no concessions.

From French couturier Yves Saint Laurent comes Nu, a feminine Oriental fragrance. Brisk citrusy bergamot flavors a wild orchid bouquet. The peppered sandalwood base is enriched with five types of exotic incense. Nu, French for “nude,” is subtle allure, like a silky caress of bare skin. Presented in shades of midnight blue and gun metal-grey, the enigmatic Nu is a modern interpretation of quiet sensuality.

© Perfume Profile by Jan Moran, Fabulous Fragrances II

PALOMA PICASSO by Paloma Picasso - Eau De Parfum Spray 3

ASuperShop Home, $109.15

Introduced in 1984 by acclaimed designer Paloma Picasso as her signature fragrance, Paloma Picasso is a dramatic and sophisticated chypre fragrance that has been described as a “a throwback to the elegant ’60s”. With its brisk citrus top notes and rich jeweled heart, Paloma Picasso redefines French elegance and introduces it to a new generation of sophisticates.

Would you expect any less than fragrance artistic genius from the daughter of Pablo Picasso and granddaughter of Emile Gilot, one of the premier perfumers of Grasse.

From internationally acclaimed designer Paloma Picasso comes a signature fragrance as worldly, dramatic, and elegant as its creator.

Paloma Picasso was born into a world of creativity, the daughter of artist Pablo Picasso and Francoise Gilot. She was christened Paloma, meaning “dove” in Spanish, after her father’s dove, which was the symbol of the 1949 Peace Congress.

The lush chypre scent begins with brisk citrus top notes, dissolving into rich jeweled notes of jasmine and Bulgarian rose, poised against layers of spices and woods, warm ambers, earthy oakmoss, and exotic sandalwood. Presented in Picasso’s signature Florentine red, contrasted by matte black.

© Perfume Profile by Jan Moran, Fabulous Fragrances II

SALVADOR DALI by Salvador Dali Parfum De Toilette Spray 3

Salvador Dali, Health and Beauty,

Launched by the design house of Salvador Dalí in 1983, it is classified as a refined, subtle, oriental fragrance. This feminine scent possesses a blend of rich oriental floral.

As the story goes, while Dalí was working on one of his paintings, Apparition du Visage l’ Aphrodite de Cnide, he was approached by representatives from the newly formed French fragrance firm (Compaignie Française de Commerce Internationale), about whether he would be interested in working with them on a new fragrance concept. Dalí was enthusiastic, and used the canvas of his incomplete painting to sketch his ideas for flacon design - sketches that were retained in the final painting and reproduced on the box.

Dalí is a rich floral scent with a definite appeal. Bright aldehydic notes sparkle and spill from the exotic floral bouquet, while soft amber notes create a warm and sumptuous drydown.

The famous Dalíesque flacon, with its portrayal of the mouth and nose of the Aphrodite in Dalí’s painting (which in turn was modeled after the famous statue Praxiteles), has proven itself irresistible to collectors. Dalí counts among its famous patrons, Princess Caroline of Monaco.

Artist Salvador Dali lends his name to a fragrance as surreal as his paintings. Bright aldehydic notes spill forth from the rich floral bouquet, while soft Oriental background notes add ambery verve. Splash it on for a busy day at the office or a slow stroll through your favorite museum.

The floral aldehyde scent is poured into a flacon that mimics a partial visage. The humorous bottle is crafted in the shape of voluptuous lips, over which rests a nose-shaped stopper.

© Perfume Profile by Jan Moran, Fabulous Fragrances II

Sun Moon Stars by Karl Lagerfeld for Women 3

Karl Lagerfeld, Misc.,

By designer Karl Lagerfeld, Sun Moon Stars is a modern floral fragrance with a touch of romance. This full-bodied floral has notes of night blooming, jasmine, musk orange blossom, heliotrope, narcisse, sandalwood, and amber. It’s soft, sexy undertones manifest pleasures to the senses Introduced in 1994 Sun, Moon, Stars from parfums Karl Lagerfeld, is an enchanting fruity floriental fragrance with a romantic personality. Created by IFF perfumer Sophia Grosjman, this heavenly floral draws you in with its inviting notes of heliotrope and night blooming jasmine, deepened by the warmth of ambers and woods. Fresh enough for day, sophisticated enough for evening, Sun, Moon, Stars will sweep you away anytime you care to experience it.

Recognizing a universal theme, Karl Lagerfeld brings us Sun Moon Stars–what more could we want? A lush, evocative fruity Oriental composition, the scent begins with sweet pear, evolving into a delectable accord of florals, rich vanilla, and woods. The result is heavenly–a gustative celebration. Tenacious, warm, and expansive: A galaxy of possibilities emerges.

Sun Moon Stars is captured in a rounded flacon of the deepest celestial blue–a boule bleu–upon which are carved in relief the sun, the moon, and the stars.

© Perfume Profile by Jan Moran, Fabulous Fragrances II

Tresor by Lancome for Women

Lancome, Misc.,

Trésor, by Lancôme, is a fresh, spirited fragrance laden with fruits, florals, and long-lasting Oriental base notes. Created by renowned perfumer Sophia Grosjman, Trésor has a rounded, as opposed to pyramidal, fragrance structure, allowing the top, middle, and base notes to all blend together. Named for the French word for treasure, Trésor is the perfect fragrance for those precious moments felt by a woman in love. Lancôme is a fragrance for treasured moments. Launched in 1989, this fragrance is considered a classic.

From the French word for “treasure,” Lancôme’s Trésor is laden with fruits, florals, and long-lasting Oriental base notes. Trésor is a saucy daytime fragrance, yet versatile enough to dress up for evening. Fresh, spirited, and innocent, we love it in warm weather, especially après spa.

The clear glass bottle is shaped like an inverted pyramid to represent the glowing radiance of a woman in full bloom. Reflective of its fresh peach and apricot essences, the fragrance is presented in peach and salmon floral packaging. It is, indeed, a treasure.

© Perfume Profile by Jan Moran, Fabulous Fragrances II

This is the kind of stupidity that only I am capable of. This morning, I had to be in my a class at 8:30 am. The reason why I signed up for a class with this title during our current economic environment is another example of my stupidity but it pales in comparison with what I’m going to describe next.

Anyway, I am not a morning person to begin with and I was having trouble sleeping last night. I ended up getting about 5 hours of sleep, which these days isn’t much (meaning that I’m getting old). As usual, I was running late this morning so I just rushed out of my house. I get to the class barely on time, sit down, introduce myself, etc. Then I realize I didn’t take my medicine. And I have to take this medicine early in the morning or it keeps me awake at night.

Suddenly I remember that I have my film canister with my miscellaneous drugs in my laptop bag. I reach down and start hunting for it in my messy bag. It took me a couple of minutes to find it and when I look up, I notice the cute instructor is looking at me and wondering what I’m doing. I try to discretely take the right pill from the film canister but it’s in the bottom and my hand is too big to fit in the canister. I pour all my pills on my hand, notice that there are two of them (they are white so they were easy to spot among the other colorful drugs), throw one in my mouth and swallow. As it’s going down my throat, I realize it feels too small. Oh no! I remember that the last time I used the film canister was when I went to Brazil and threw in a couple of sleeping pills for the plane trip. I have just taken a Nytol! Shit, shit, shit!

Needless to say, I was barely able to stay awake and my eyelids felt as heavy as lead all morning long.

I think one of the biggest disadvantages of being single is that you don’t have a guy around to fix things and set things up. Everything else doesn’t really require a serious boyfriend. But when you need to get complicated stuff hooked up, you can’t really call your one-night stand and ask him to come over and set up your new DVD player so it works with your Tivo, your digital cable, and your VCR. And I’m just using one-night stands as an example. It’s not like I actually condone that practice. And I say complicated stuff because I think that for the most part I can do things on my own. I mean, I can set up my Mac pretty well. I can do some basic fixing of stuff around the house. But anything beyond that and I become pretty useless. So when I switched to a laptop at work and had to buy a DSL router for home so I could hookup my win2k laptop and my G4 to my DSL, I knew that I was in trouble (especially since the router manufacturer doesn’t support Macs and didn’t include any instructions on how to set them up).

That’s why it pays off to have a friend like angryheidi. It’s not because she comes over and does those things for me. I mean, she probably could if she wanted to; after all, she is a smart girl (and angry too so I kinda had to say that). But the real reason why she’s such a great friend to have is that she did a really good job in picking her boyfriend. He’s not only totally knowledgeable about all things electronic, he’s also the calmest person ever and he is blessed with the pokerest of poker faces so that he never laughs when I ask him a silly question.

For that, all I have to say is: "Thank you Heidi!" And most of all: "Thank you Chad!"

You seem to be trying to sweep aside the situations and maybe the people that you feel are standing in your way. You are impulsive and apt to follow these impulses seeking to be involved in special or exciting happenings. In this way you hope to deaden the intensity of your conflicts, but your impulsive behaviour is leading you to take some unnecessary risks … back down a little and remember “more haste - less speed”.

You are very talented, imaginative and sensitive; but you are holding back as you do not really like going it “on your own”… In preference you would like to team up with someone, someone with similar attributes as your own … to explore .. to seek out and go perhaps “where no other man has trod before” … It is the unusual that attracts you and which will give you a sense of excitement and adventure. It is amazing that you, yourself, believe that old “adage” that you are a misunderstood person … and you feel that because of this you are being left out in the cold. It is because of this lack of believed understanding that makes you feel the need to conform to society in general … but this situation leaves you “cold” knowing that you are not appreciated for your true self. Any relationship that you are developing at this time does not seem to involve any true emotional commitment …. you seem to be just playing along.

Presently, you are experiencing stress because of restriction on your independence. You need and seek respect from other people and it is essential that they appreciate you for yourself and not for what they would like you to be. You have your own beliefs and convictions and you would like to be respected for them. You are anxious to avail yourself of every opportunity that may come your way but nevertheless, come what may, you have the need to control your own destiny without imposed limitations or restrictions. You don’t like authority and you rebel against all forms of limitation. You are your own person and you intend to stay that way .. and to get on in the world simply by your hard work and determination.

Try it

I’m so swamped I don’t even have time to eat, much less blog.

And worst of all, I pulled a muscle on my back from using the scanner.

Yep. Hard to believe, isn’t it?

I guess after you get to a certain age, it’s pretty dangerous to hold an object on top of the scanner glass plate and maneuver the mouse at the same time (that is, at least when the distance between the scanner and the mouse is greater than the distance between your left hand and your right hand when your arms are stretched). And to do it for about 20 minutes straight is probably an even dumber idea.

I am 47% evil.

I could go either way. I have sinned quite a bit but I still have a bit of room for error. My life is a tug of war between good and evil.

Are you evil?