Midweek Spark: Wine Day, Ash, and a Zing of Lush 25:43

If Wednesday had a flavor, today it tastes like tannins and clean slate. It’s National Drink Wine Day, it’s Ash Wednesday, and in some countries the first day of Ramadan. The birthday roll call is a mood board in itself: John Travolta with that lacquered charisma, Yoko Ono with razor-clean minimalism, Paco Rabanne gleaming in futurism, Toni Morrison humming with soul, Louis Comfort Tiffany filtering light into color.

I needed brightness, not bravado. So I sprayed Lush 25:43 across my scarf and collarbones while my espresso cooled. This one was famously composed on the clock, and it still smells like a brilliant impulse captured in glass. Think lemon and lime hitting warm skin, a sweet slip of vanilla and tonka smoothing the edges, and a quick flash of herbal-citric sparkle that keeps it lifted. It starts like a citrus spritz over crushed ice, then settles into a soft halo that hugs closer than you expect. On wool, it’s sunshine through a stained-glass panel - I swear Louis Comfort Tiffany would get the reference.

There’s something very Yoko Ono about its restraint. Negative space does heavy lifting here. The drydown whispers independence more than it performs it, which I appreciate when the day carries both celebration and reflection. Ash Wednesday asks for humility. Ramadan asks for thoughtfulness. Lush 25:43 answers with clean lines, polite sillage, and enough optimism to keep the shoulders back.

And because it’s Wine Day, let’s admit the citrus-vanilla tandem has a sommelier streak. It skews more limoncello than Bordeaux, but the vibe is the same - cheerful, bright, a clink without the hangover. If you crave volume, the house of Paco Rabanne has the chrome for that kind of night. Today I’m leaning quiet power.

A quick calendar note: Lunar New Year tributes are coming on 2/20, and I’m already eyeing lucky-citrus energy to match the red envelopes on my desk. For now, Lush 25:43 is my little light in the midweek tunnel. It crackles, then cozies. It gets me to the next stop.