Bought a teeny sample, but now I want moar!

Le Baiser du Dragon by Cartier is sublime. 

Seriously.  This dragon's kiss is gorgeous and intoxicating.  Ermagahd.  I just know I'm going to run out of this sample well before I can afford a full bottle.    Do you realize I haven't bought any shoes this year?  This perfume lust may be a problem for my shoe habit. 

This one is going on my short list of fragrances I must own. *slobber*  So, like, shortly after I become a nurse, if not beforehand...

AMAZING.

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Oh, there's an essence used in quite a few perfumes called labdanum.  In Crete, the resin from the plant-- also known as rock rose-- is harvested in this fashion.  The resins are collected from the little moppy things.  This is an accord prized since ancient times, when Pharoahs would wear false beards of goat hair imbued with the labdanum essence. Here is a bee collecting what it thinks is best of the rock rose. 

Through the years, I've tried to have a healthy stand of rock rose, and it's never done well for me.  In truth, that was always in the climate zone of the Dallas area or north of Dallas.  Now I'm in a completely different, drought-stricken zone and I've got a stand of this stuff that just won't quit.  Matter of fact, I almost never water it, and it rewards me by thriving.  Fancy that!

This year promises to be a nonstop extravaganza of the bold pink blossoms.  Here's to a survivor that dares to be pretty and to defy the odds in extremes of heat and drought.  Beautiful!