Ooh, Guerlain’s La Petite Robe Noire Couture is a tasty little fragrance for winter, I think. People seemed to be divided on their opinion of the original La Petite Robe Noire by Guerlain, either loving the “black-cherry-with-undertones-of-patisserie” wholeheartedly or hating it with a passion. My Mum thought that it reminded her of black forest gateau; one friend…
l’Occitane have launched their winter fragrance, Arlésienne, and I have to tell you that I know more backstory on this fragrance than on pretty much any other beauty product I’ve ever tried. (Apart from CoLab, of course.) Earlier in the year I visited Arles in the South of France to learn about the mysterious Woman of…
Wah! Sorry to be a total beauty enabler this week, but Narciso Eau de Parfum by Narciso Rodriguez is just an absolute show-stopper. Look at that bottle! So understated and chic with its smooth, square lid and simple bottle design. And how many white perfumes have you seen? It’s like a measure of the most perfectly pure milk,…
Oh ho ho, I am so ready for deep and sexy wintertime perfumes and Yves Saint Laurent’s Black Opium is just about as sexy as they come. I mentioned Chanel’s Coco Noir Parfum last week – it’s a very concentrated, sexed-up version of the popular eau de toilette – but I must say that Black Opium has knocked my socks off. (I’d use ruder…
Earlier in the year I wrote about Chanel’s amazing Les Exclusifs; highly concentrated perfumes in teeny, beautifully-crafted glass flacons with perfectly formed stoppers and chic, minimalist labelling. Just a few drops of these special perfumes and you’re scented for days; Beige stayed on, if I remember rightly, through two baths and quite a few nights! Read more about Les Exclusifs……
Beauty products that remind me of my first few years as a model: Elnett hairspray (I have been fumigated with this stuff to within an inch of my life); Eight Hour Cream from Elizabeth Arden (makeup artists used to use this sticky concoction for everything, including glossing eyelids and adding sheen to arms and legs) and Benefit’s Bathina Body…
I know that I’ve covered summer scents already, but I was sorting through my Cabinet of many Beauty Secrets and putting fragrances into groups (as you do) and this was the collection I nicknamed “hot and heady”. I also have a group called “naughty rose” (I kid you not) and one called “figgy pudding”. I’ll share those with…
Last week I wrote about Aurelia’s amazing Firm and Revitalise dry oil; this week it’s Roger & Gallet’s Huile Gourmande that’s taking centre stage. Or I should say that it’s the scent of it, the Fleur de Figuier that’s taking centre stage; it’s quite a loud and colourful summer smell that lingers on the skin and it has that kind of…
1) Interesting. A fragrance beautifying cream. l’Occitane designed this cream to be used in conjunction with their Collection de Grasse fragrance range (my favourite one is the heady, summery Néroli & Orchidée, see Friday’s post) to intensify the notes and and help them last for longer. Probably not a beauty priority, if we’re honest, but I like the idea! It does…
Oh hello August, you sizzling-hot little git! Where did you spring from? I’m still answering emails with “hope you had a good New Year”! I’m not going on holiday until September (too much to do, too much to do) and so for now, I am making do with scents that remind me of my summer holidays. Orange-blossom,…
Some lovely, summery skincare bits and pieces that I’ve been trying. I’ve probably harped on about the MD Formulations Moisture Defense (right of photo) quite enough by now, but just to recap: weightless skin hydration with a load of antioxidants packed in. Perfect for popping on beneath your sunscreen – it has been formulated for oily skin,…
I don’t usually post about things before they’re released but this perfume has stolen my heart. It’s the Classique Intense from Jean Paul Gaultier and it’s due to be launched next month, just in time for those hot, sultry evenings when you want a fragrance that’s heady and exotic and sexy. I don’t actually like the original Classique (though a…
1) Look at this – a nice little treat if you can find it! With every purchase of Reve Elixir you get a mini perfume and a teeny candle. Very sweet. I think so, anyway – me and my miniatures obsession! I have a feeling it’s in-store only, but they stock Van Cleef & Arpels at John…
Well here’s something rather special from Chanel; tiny, perfectly-formed glass flacons containing Les Exclusifs fragrances in their very purest form. Not only are the bottles themselves absolutely beautiful, with their little glass stoppers tied on with thread and dainty black seals decorating the necks, the concentrated contents of the bottles are the kind of fragrance nectar that make…
1) Happy Easter! I hope that you’re all having a wonderful long weekend? If you are in London and looking for something to occupy an hour or two, then do pop down to the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition at the Barbican. I went last week and it was great – very colourful and bizarre, as is only…
I mentioned Marni Rose in my fragrance video a few weeks ago but at that time couldn’t find an online stockist. You might be pleased to know, if you were interested in giving this perfume a try, that it’s now available at Escentual.com. It’s an odd little number, in many ways; at first sniff it can smell…
Here’s a warm, uplifting little fragrance to see you through to the summer; Connock London’s Kukui. If you haven’t had the pleasure of smelling the Kukui range then you’ve just found another thing to add to your list – it’s a beautifully soft and comforting scent that has a slightly woody, masculine base. My first introduction to the range…
Sorry for that quite horrid bit of alliteration in the post title; I’m writing this at just before one in the morning and, after a certain time, my brain switches into Standby Mode. I start thinking in clichés and overusing semicolons; I have to fight my own fingers in order to produce sentences with less…