Ooh, sparkly at Christmas! Any excuse to shimmer, as far as I’m concerned, and this time of year is just one big enablement. But how best to clean the slate so you can you can start fresh on the morrow? Continue reading
Sweet Sixteen: Jo Malone Body Créme
Everything about Jo Malone feels rich: the beautiful cream-and-black branding, the boxes, the ribbons, and most particularly, the heavy glass tub that contains the luxurious body créme.
There is absolutely nothing like the Jo Malone Body Créme. I don’t like all the scents — and frankly, I wouldn’t blame you feeling completely suspicious of me if I did — but the ones that I do, I adore. Unconditionally. Without reservation.
Lime Basil & Mandarin. Pomegranate Noir. Amber & Lavender! Oh, I forgot about that last one. I went to swap the places of LM&B and PN, but I can’t. I don’t think I can. Can I? No, not possible. Even though I layer PN with pleasure, and everyone knows what it is, and I don’t mind everyone recognizing it, because it is so delightfully sensuous, and something of a signature scent for me … I still can’t put it first, because it wasn’t my first.
Lime Basil & Mandarin. I had no idea that this Sweet Sixteen was going to be so nostalgic, but I have just gone off into a mental video memory of the first time I got a whiff of the stuff. I had been hanging with some pals, enjoying the bubbling hot tub at the SPORTSCO Leisure Centre in Ringsend {why do I remember it as the ESB gym?} and then after repairing to the changing room, one of the women passed around the body crème. Its heavy glass jar immediately communicated its splendour, and an obsession was born.
I had to have it. I had to have it for myself. I didn’t care that I was suddenly smelling that scent everywhere I turned; rather, it became the clarion call of a little club of ladies who knew what was what when it came to self care, and about splurging a mad amount of money of a thing that didn’t last for an appreciable amount of time.
Ah, now! That last bit is not so true. Because it so well-crafted, you need less than you think to enfold yourself in the fragrant goodness that is a Jo Malone body crème. So all of us who were amongst the vanguard were less annoyed at smelling ourselves coming and going {oh, dear, that sounds nasty} and more keen to appreciate the savvy of our fellow Malonistas.
It’s like being a member of a club whose only agenda is to smell gorgeous. I consider myself to be a lifetime member, with honours.
€63/£48/$75
Haiku Review: Head & Shoulders Itchy Scalp Care
Oh, where to begin!
Let’s start with today’s shampoo —
Chosen with intent.
I think I used the H&S brand once in my life, before now. I had a touch of dandruff during adolescence, quelle horreur, and reached for the brand that said it was going to make it stop. It did, and I never thought of using it again.
Now, if I had to use a shamp/cond duo to deal with such an issue, I would most assuredly reach for the Head & Shoulders. I am also fairly certain that one’s choices have increased exponentially in the intervening years. I counted eleven different versions on the brand’s interactive web site.
I was given a sample of the Itchy Scalp Care flavour, and eh, I wasn’t really that pushed to give it a go. But give it one I did, because as I said earlier, this is my job.
Well. I assume my scalp is healthy because it doesn’t flake, and not to say that I am now given to bouts of scalp fear, but I will say that this pair, with its infusion of eucalyptus, is an enjoyably invigorating cleansing experience. It’s the shampoo that really comes across with the tingle, and if my scalp wasn’t squeaky clean before, it sure was now.
Ah: chosen with intent. The thing is, this gives me excellent second day hair, and as I am getting highlights today, I didn’t want to wash the barnet, but neither did I want to have dull hair. H&S and sorts this out completely, and I will walk into the salon with my head, complete with its itch-less scalp, held high.
€/£/$ prices vary, so I’m afraid you’ll have to google it yourself.
Coming Soon!
Ooh, I need to wait for more info, but I can’t wait to write all about the kickin’ hair and make up session I had at the Wella Professional Studio today!
I’m waiting for more info, because I can’t remember the details, only the resounding gasp I sounded when I saw my superbly lined eyes:
And the lashes! Wait’ll I tell you all about the lashes!
And the highlights!
And everything!
I am still finding my feet, trying to enjoy the experience of getting all done up, and actually paying attention to the details.
Also, FAIL on the ‘before’ pictures. Oh, well. It’s learning curve…
Haiku Review: To Clarify
Yup: thirteen shampoos.
How many heads do I have?
Oh, right, only one.
The thing is, what kind of hair day do you want it to be?
Do you want it to be a shiny, salon kind of day?
Or do you know that you need to have good second day hair?
Or you are going out that night, and not only desire shiny salon hair, but with a difference?
What if you are just washing your hair because it needs it, and it really doesn’t matter what how it comes out?
^I don’t even know what that means, that one directly above. Just throwing the possibility out there.
I suppose the easiest answer to the question, ‘Sue, why in the world do you have thirteen shampoos and accompanying conditioners on the go?’
Well, it’s my job. I’m doing this for you.
I don’t even know where to start.
Manky Nails: Hmmm
Having all this nail care stuff right at my, ha ha, fingertips on my desk is working out really well.
I’ve got Nail Envy on my right hand, and on my left, just for the craic, I applied essie fill the gap!, a ridge-filling base coat. Looking at the nails on my left hand right now, I see that they look pretty good.
Really good, actually: somewhat shiny, and smooth. I expect I need one of those white blocky things that manicurists use — I’ll have to look into that.
I’ve only had it on for day, but yeah, they look the way that I perceive nice, normal nails to look.
I’m going to give it some time — when I’m off horseriding for the holidays [sob!] and give some varnish a go.
€13.99/£10.95 /$10.00
I don’t have time to take a snap of the product itself, but you may find many pictures here
Haiku Review: The Archives
Sharing ’round the wealth
Or shameless trolling for hits?
Re-blogging yourself.
Ah, well, so what? Here is a lnk to capsule reviews of a variety of body creams, butters and lotions. I believe that the HHHH’s are meant to be the stars I had given them in the newspaper.
Anyway! Off to review the back catalogue. Who knows what treasures it contains?!?
Sweet Sixteen: Lush’s Karma Line
When I first received Lush’s Karma perfume, several years ago, it came in a kind of… well there’s no way to say it nicely. The bottle was ugly. It was squat, the label was unappealing, and its presentation was very, very ‘meh’. I gave it a cursory spritz, somewhere around my breastbone, and promptly fell in love. Continue reading
OMGifting: It is Almost Christmas
… or whatever holiday you celebrate, it doesn’t matter — where did the time go?!? Sheesh! I’ve got some suggestions if you’ve got a bunch of Secret Santa/Kris Kindle/or this other thing I came across on the intertubes the other day: a Yankee Swap. As Wiki says in the link, it’s a North American thing, but not in my region, thanks very much. It may or may not involve stealing! Wha’?!
Well, that took my mind off the fact that not only is it no time at’all ’til gift-exchanging time, I am also probably way late with a feature like this. On the other hand, that is so exquisitely apt that I am impressed with its conceptual correctness.
Okay! Never mind! Last minute gifts that are amazing and don’t look last minute! Continue reading
Haiku Review: Madame Glamour
Oh, Madame Glamour!
As cheap as chips, and fragrant —
You fade all too soon.
Lidl, who do so much for us already — the ‘American Style’ peanut butter is a guilty pleasure, and they do a delicious bottle of prosecco for, like, no price at’all — have given us a bargain fragrance that does not smell cheap.
Smelling cheap… well, it’s best to be avoided, isn’t it? Oh, God, the scents I used to wear in my misguided youth! I like to think that Coco by Chanel came along just at the right time to save me from all those drugstore brands {chemist! the power of nostalgia! I forget my new words!} that came on strong and faded away in the blink of an eye, or rather, the twitch of a nostril.
Lidl’s brand is called Suddenly: Madame Glamour. I take the colon to be implicit, because otherwise this has two names. Anyway, UK-based Lidl enthusiasts have been merrily spritzing away with this, to the tune of £2.90-ish, since May, and the perfume arrived on Irish stores just in time for Christmas. It’s been making a splash, both over there, and here:
Two independent consumer panel blind tests carried out in the UK by the Perfumer’s Guild on the Lidl Suddenly Madame Glamour perfume against the hugely popular designer branded perfume revealed incredible results – 50 women in the first test voted overwhelmingly for the Lidl Suddenly perfume with 89% saying they would prefer to wear it over the designer brand.
And, 90% of the 100 women who blind tested the perfumes in the second round said they also preferred the Lidl perfume. A blind test was also carried out on Newstalk’s Tom Dunne Show on Friday 2nd of December with the Lidl fragrance beating Chanel again live on air.
I love the design of the bottle: it’s delicate and feminine, and perfectly handbag-sized. The thing is, you will have to have it to hand, because otherwise, you’ll find that in a short time, you will be fragrance-free. Which is not the point of wearing fragrance.
Okay, seriously, at €3.49, you can buy enough of these to rig up some sort of perpetual spritzing machine, but is even that low a price a waste of dosh? I wouldn’t go that far, because the scent, which apparently contain ‘citrus and floral notes, incorporating bergamot and jasmine’* is really refreshing, and… optimistic. Yeah, it is really quite youthful, yet confident, and I love that about Madame Glamour. I suppose if there was a body cream of the same scent, that layering might help with the staying power… just an idea…
*I would like to learn more about how fragrance works. Is there a course I can take???
Bright & Beautyfull! 