Wake up and smell the coffee

I have a serious weakness for Starbucks eggnog lattes. I have completely bought into the marketing and now associate the arrival of the red cups with the start of the Christmas season.

You can understand then that I was fairly horrified that Starbucks have stolen a little bit of my Christmas and discontinued the eggnog latte this year (in the UK in any case).

I know I'm not the only person who feels this sense of despair and muting of the Christmas bells, in fact there is a Facebook group called bring back the eggnog latte. While I hope they will conquer the giant and bring back the eggnog I'm fairly certain that this year I will not be able to enjoy my seasonal favourite.

So in the meantime I will be getting my coffee hit elsewhere (aside from red cup time I'm more of a chai tea gal than a coffee addict).

I have a secret passion for Cacharel's Noa perfume which has a prominent coffee note.



This is not every one's cup of tea (or coffee), Susan Irvine describes it as being for 'nuns and virgins' in herThe Perfume Guide book. But Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez are keener in Perfumes the Guide calling it a 'low budget wonder' that has the 'feel of a perfect everyday fragrance'.

I actually wore this a lot on a holiday to Cornwall, which should smell of crashing waves, driftwood, moss and rain on sand. So the soft whisper of cashmere and coffee that I get from Noa was perhaps a strange choice- but I like to mix it up and this fragrance is a whisper rather than a shout which appealed to my idea of soaking up the natural Cornish smells while having scent on- and retaining some slight smell of the city I love.

This scent now has lovely memories of a great holiday in a county I love. So at a time when the city is very busy and everything is very hectic Noa calms me and takes me back to the grey deserted beaches in Cornwall- and gives me a little coffee hit too.

Noa picture courtesy of www.iloveperfumes.com