Because he — ‘he’ — is not a real person. Continue reading
FRAGRANCE
This Just In: Womanity Eau Pour Elles by Theirry Mugler
Feelings: mixed.
This is where I out myself as a ho for packaging. Oh, holy night, I love a good package. In every way, yes, but when it comes to beauty products or those tin boxes that they make so attractive in the South of France, or an infused olive oil in a gorgeous bottle… you got me. Here’s my hard-earned cash.
I received Womanity Eau Pour Elles by Theirry Mugler today, and it was a feast of packaging, a delirium of unwrapping:
Since I am an rabid recycler, I did feel a bit of a twinge — did there really have to be so many layers? Especially the outside sleeve, which seems to have been devised merely to carry the QR code.
I scanned it, which isn’t something I do as a rule, and entered a competition to win a dream day with friends. I like this idea! You know, hanging out and being all in your womanity with your pals? The day I entered for is all about spa treatments — quelle surprise — and a nice meal.
Hey! I got distracted from the excess cardboard! Very clever, designer and marketing people!
So, okay, too much branding, clearly: they are trying to get the imagery with the funky gals and a more discreet, elegant vibe going on at the same time.
And then you see the inside, and the designer in me goes squeeeeeee because someone figured that out, and I am impressed. All those folds! The type everywhere! Love.
And then a teensy bit of an 80s bondage-y vibe with that cap, uh, whatever that means. LOL.
After all of that, I am not sure that the scent is my gig. After all of that! It describes itself as a ‘fruity, savoury, sweet Eau de Toilette’, but all my nose is picking up is the fruit, and … oh, I don’t know. I don’t think it suits me.
You also receive a ‘unique code’ with which to register on the Mugler site, but I find that I am not as excited by an excess of Flash as I am by an embarrassment of cardboard. The registering, it takes forever, and what am I really going to get out of it besides more rando emails? Yeah, I bailed after I selected where I lived and typed in my code. But: the Holy See is listed as a place to live. Can you imaaaaagine, like, the college of cardinals all signing up for their Theirry Mugler updates???
So: a bit heavy on the branding and the fruit. You can make up your own mind as of June 1, when this goes on counter.
Womanity Eau Pour Elles by Thierry Mugler is €50/50mls.
Snap! Judgement: Roger & Gallet Huile Embellissante in Fleur d’Osmanthus
This is a new launch from the fragrant French firm, who are celebrating 150 years in the smelling-good biz.
Snap! The colour of the bottle is a dead giveaway. This is gonna smell orange-y.
Snap! The bottle gives good squirt, which can be an issue. It doesn’t spray all over the place {sorry, my mind just wandered there for a sec…} but you do need to cup the palm or else you won’t get the full benefit of the pump. Insert filthy giggle here.
Snap! Yup, orange-y, and kind of light-yet-smokey? Your nose may tell you something different. Let’s just say floral, which again, no surprise, it says fleur right there in the title!
Snap! It applies beautifully. I do love a dry body oil, they feel so luxurious and sexy. The skin on my right forearm felt very soft for quite a long time.
Snap! Then, I cheated and used it after my shower, and this mitigates the snappiness of the judgement, but the oil applies really well to the dry bod, and I’m going to use it on the damp bod next time. The scent is not my style, so it’s gives my a bit of a headache — I prefer darker, woodsier fragrance — but the resulting soft skin is worth it.
It also says you can use it on your hair. Hmmm…
Roger & Gallet Huile Embellissante in Fleur d’Osmanthus, 100mls €26.50
Snap Judgements*: Springing into Summer
Or ‘summer’ as we generally call it in these parts. No! Let’s be more positive than that! We are springing into SUMMER here in Ireland, yeah!!! Let’s fake it ’til we make it!
Ahem. Snap Judgements is the way that you, the reader, can experience what it’s like to be a beauty journo when the stuff starts piling up on the desk. I’m going to give my instantaneous responses to a variety of products, and over time we’ll see if I was too hasty or dead on target.
Let’s begin… Continue reading
Free Thing! via Exclusive Magazine: NEOM Pillow Mist
Yay, free thing!
NEOM Luxury Organics, on the back of the Dublin edition of Exclusive Magazine, are offering a free NEOM Organic Pillow Mist (worth €12) if you say the following magic words: Exclusive Neom Mist. Uh, you have to be buying something else at the time, you can’t just rock up to the counter, let’s be clear about that.
I don’t know if you have the same taper-and-tealight obsession that I do, but these ones are good for you and your home: made from vegetable wax and essential oils, they release only healthy scents that freshen your living space and your head space. Candles in general burn off the toxins that are made in the making of them {yuck}, and they also release soot, which is not nice.
These look nice:
The one on the left is a travel candle (€16.25), and the three-wick job is the Home candle (€50.80). To put that last into perspective, because, whoa, 50 squid: the candle weighs 1kg. ! Me, I would very much like to fire up this bad boy, the Sensuous Home Candle, with its infusion of my personal faves, ylang ylang, frankincense, and patchouli.
Brenda McCormick, editor of Exclusive, says, “I am a bit obsessed with NEOM candles, and since discovering them no other candle will do me at all. They smell so natural as they burn, and I love the fact they’re designed to work as aromatherapy treatments, too.” She also suggests checking out the body oils. I quite fancy the one called Refresh, infused with the essence of Sicilian Lemons & Fresh Basil. I’d quite fancy a holiday as well, apparently.
I’d say the pillow mist runs along the same essential oil lines, meaning: it is soothing and natural, and also, bound to help you if you have trouble falling asleep. In general, I’m finding that room fragrance is really quite refreshing, without being gross like those sprays you get at the supermarket.
Don’t forget the magic words! Exclusive Neom Mist; this offer is only available in Brown Thomas, Dublin.
Go here for a look at the entire issue!
Speaking of God
No, really.
I’ve got all manner of things ranged across my desktop — the actual wooden surface of my desk, not the screen of my laptop — and one of the lot is Breath of God by Gorilla Perfume, which has been named one of the top 100 fragrances of all time.
No insult to the Deity, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
It’s strong {not surprising, lol}, but when I first used it, I sprayed it alllll over myself, and had a headache by the end of the day. Right this second, I have sprayed the tiniest amount, half a pump {yes, it’s possible} on the pulse points at my wrist.
Simon Constantine, perfumer at Gorilla, devised this scent upon returning from a trip to Tibet. The main notes of the fragrance are neroli, lemon, melon, jasmine, rose, vetivert, sandalwood, cederwood, amber, and musk. {I am still on the lookout for those perfume lessons.} Anyway, to me, without having any fancy knowledge about this sort of thing, there seems to be a terrific elemental balance to this fragrance, and perfect balance of masculine and feminine. In fact, I would very much like to squirt a dude with this, I bet he would smell yum-my.
I am finding that the eeensy amount I’ve sprayed is just enough. Every time I scooch up my glasses or play with my ponytail — lost in thought — I get a whiff off my wrists and it’s lovely: fresh; a bit sharp; invigorating, but not in a pushy way. Or, as the crowd who wrote The Little Book of Perfumes: The 100 Classics put it:
Surreal combinations – lemon ham, grape leather, bubblegum tobacco, loquat vetiver – rise from its depths each time it comes to attention, hour after hour.
Whoa. Lemon ham? I wish I even knew how to smell like that. Wow.
This is very intense, and even now, some time post-spritz, this is making its presence felt in a different way, as mentioned above; rather than fading, it feels like it’s getting stronger. Which is weird. So, if you are looking for a scent that lasts for, well, an eternity, I can recommend this one without reservation.
€39/£32/$42.95 for 30g
Little Book of Perfumes: The 100 Classics (2011) by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez can be purchased at all usual online outlets. I’ve just wishlisted one myself…
What Have We Here, Jo Malone?
Having only just rapturised about the Jo Malone Red Rose Home Candles, I have been presented with this:
Hmm, interesting! The elegant box, a signature of the brand, has had its colours swapped: black box instead of cream, with cream accents and cream-coloured ribbon… Is this a new thing?
Yup, sure is. The Jo Malone Home Collection launches in April of this year, and I should probably be waiting to write about it, but I simply can’t contain myself.
I love home stuff, and when I’m in the US, I could watch HGTV for hours and hours and hours {and do.} I already love JM candles, as I’ve said, so the addition of anything to this line is going to make me want to curl up on the sofa and breath in the scent-y goodness.
Okay, I’m looking at the list of new elements in the range, and may wait to revisit closer to the time, but look at these!
These are the Limited Edition Scent Surround™ Sachets (€25/£20), three to a gorgeously designed box, and are infused with the world famous Lime Basil & Mandarin scent. I used to do a line in lavender sachets, which was a bit matronly, but I don’t know, I read it in a book or something, and there weren’t any real alternatives. Now, though! I can lash one of these in the knickers drawer and just exult in my LB&M scented pants.
The Scent Surround™ line also includes Limited Edition Drawer Liners, Room Sprays, and the thing I am most dying to test, the Diffuser. It’s one of those things, with the sticks? Only in LB&M, Red Roses and Pomegranate Noir.
Since I’m moving house, I’ll be saving all this up for when I get settled in. I think they will go some way to helping me nest in even faster than usual.
♥Day: A Rose By Any Other Name…
… is a bit of a cliché, but clichés are clichés for a reason. Not only because they are fail-safe, go-to solutions! Okay, maybe only because of that.
In the course of surfing about, I’ve discovered that the auld dozen long-stemmed red rose gambit has been getting trashed from here to New Zealand. Me, I like all sorts of flowers, and can see the point of the giver maybe getting a little more creative. And rosy scents, well.. they can have a bit of an old biddie vibe.
As you can imagine, the 14th of February releases an avalanche of rose-related objects, and I’ve culled a bunch {LOL} that I think can cover the rosy bases without 
making it tragically unoriginal.
This is great — it’s a lip balm by ANDREA GARLAND. The Valentine’s Day Silkie Brooch with Rose Essential Oil (£26; purchase on http://www.andreagarland.co.uk) keeps your lip care handy, pinned right there to your jacket or your jumper, and it is infused with our friend the rose, as well as benzion, grapefruit and lavender. Refills are a fiver, which is a snip. If you’ve suddenly decided you’re going to start kitting yourself out exclusively in vintage clothing, this is the perfect accessory to such a look.
Rose Otto is is an essential oil, and it is highly prized because it takes about 60,000 roses to produce one ounce of oil. Seriously! And, like, one drop of the stuff is equal to two and half dozen. Sheesh! I found that the REN Morrocan 
Rose Otto Ultra-Moisture Body Oil (€40/£34/$65) was really effective on damp, just-out-of-the-shower skin. By contrast, the offering from AROMATHERAPY ASSOCIATES Renew Rose Massage Body Oil (€43.50/£36/$61) is aces on a dry bod. I’ve experienced many of the oils in AA line, and they are excellent.
Top off your rosy outlook with PERCY & REED Splendidly Silky Shampoo and Conditioner (€17.60/20.10/£14/16). I promise I won’t link to that post again {hint: search for My Name is Susan… on this site, if you don’t know what I’m talking about} but to recap: I am addicted to haircare products and naturally would not pass up the chance to try a new one. This has rose in it, along with apple, citrus, amber, ivy… the list actually does go on. I found the shampoo to be a bit drying, and so needed extra conditioner to mitigate that, but the result is indeed splendidly silky, and shiny. And manageable, which I never really thought of what that meant — given my devotion to this line of stuff, that seems ridic. I felt this made the mane manageable because I haven’t bothered flat ironing it, and it looks pretty boss. Plus! Second day hair was remarkably fresh and fabulous.
Last but not least, let’s shed some sweet-smelling light on the subject of roses with a Red Roses Home Candle from JO MALONE (€50/£38/$65). The scent is comprised of not one but seven different long-stemmed beauties, along with some other scents (violet leaves, spearmint, lemon) thrown in. With a burn time of 45 hours, wowee, you can get a lot of mileage out this one: Jo Malone candles fill the home with fragrance, and the gorgeous smell lingers long after you’ve put out the flame. And here’s hoping your partner d’amour does the same…
Looking for a good deal? cloud10beauty.com are offering a free REN Body Wash or Body Cream when you buy any 2 REN products. so load up on the Rose Otto!
♥Day: If I Was Your Pal, I Would Be Quite Happy to Receive This Gift Set
Okay, so The Handmade Soap Co.‘s Valentine’s Offering is labelled ‘A Box of Sensual Delights’, so you could argue that this is skewed to a partner-type creature, but I like the idea that my friends think:
A} That I would have use for a box of sensual delights
B} That, you know, they think I’m pretty or whatever.
Don’t we want our friends to think and want the best for us? This gift is a total vote of confidence! And it’ll get you sorted entirely as it contains Body Butter, Body Oil {for massaging or putting in the bath — or for putting in the bath and then also using for a massage}, Grapefruit scented soap and a candle, which is made of Soya and all-natural.
Bonus! The company is guaranteed Irish. Apparently, the hand cream is a cult object, but I haven’t come across any so far…
€29.99
See www.thehandmadesoapcompany.iefor more info, and to enjoy their fab site.
Bois, Oh Bois…
Do I love this kind of thing or what! The levels that the following products appeal upon are many, and alliterative! and summed up in the following: France, Fragrance, Flask.
When I lived in Paris*, I was mightily taken with Roger & Gallet. As a former graphic designer, I am a sucker for a lovely package {TWSS}, and everything about the historic brand speaks to elegance and style. My favourite thing was the soaps that come in the little plastic holder? Perfect for travel! And useful when the soap is done, for containing, uh, paperclips and elastics — elegantly.
Nothing like an elegantly contained paperclip.
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the brand, three limited edition fragrance flasks have been created, the design of which was inspired by Napolean Bonaparte’s bespoke {ohh, another excellent word!} Eau de Cologne bottle. You can’t tell from the photo, but the back of the container is flat, which had been designed like that so that NP could slide the bottle into his boot. His horseriding boots, I am sure!
The celebratory line of fragrances has been named Voyage of the Senses, and No. 1 in the line-up, Eau de Cologne Jean Maire Farina, is the eau that was favoured by the man himself. I absolutely love that this is available to us today. Oh, and just to keep things interesting, this has another name, Italian Freshness, which appears on the bottle. Pictured in close up is Eau Fraîche Parfumée Bois d’Orange, or, The Magic of Alhambra, and the third and last, No. 3, is the Eau Fraîche Parfumée Fleur D’Osmanthus, aka A Ceremony of Happiness. Whew! I’m too worn out now to list all the ingredients, but there are plenty in each, all blended in that mysteriously alchemical way that parfumiers have of creating a cohesive whole out of disparate parts.
Each of the three comprise a category into which one can fit oneself. They’re all sort of outdoorsy and natural, but No. 1 seems to be lush and exotic, No. 2 obviously citrus-y, and the last… well, it’s green, so it’s perfect for those who like pastoral scents. Seriously, I’ve just spritzed myself with No. 3, and I’ve come over all meadow-y and sunlit. And No. 2 smells orange, but not so orange-y that you’ll feel like a walking fruit bowl. I like it, and I didn’t think I would.
In the memoirs of Mme de Rémusat {circa 1802-1808, love it!} she notes that the Emperor used up to sixty flasks a month. Yeah, well, I can see why: if you’re going for all-day staying power, these are not the fragrances for you. But being able to slip this into your boot means that you can top up as necessary.
Now, I’m not so big on history, and sadly, anything I know about the Napoleanic wars, I’ve learned from romance novels set in the Regency era, the reading of which is the guiltiest pleasure ever. So, clearly not an expert or anything, but nevertheless I had this thing where I was like, ooh, you know, Frenchman lays waste to Europe in the nineteenth century — but let’s just frame this as a testament to the man’s good taste in Eau de cologne, and as celebration of the staying power of a diverse brand.
Me, I’m pleased by the fresh fragrances, the Frenchness, and the flaskiness. And I don’t know why I like the word ‘flask’ so much, I just do.
€41/£34
*For a very short time, many years ago…
Bright & Beautyfull! 