And the winner is…

Look, I did a thorough job smelling all those samples, but at a certain point, not one of them even came close to La Fille De Berlin, so there was hardly a point in further analyzing the competition through day-long wear tests.

An overall summary of the remaining contenders:

Rose Noir by Byredo

First spritz: serious contender. Rosy musky fruity fancy stuff. But the drydown was boring and pretty much lost everything but the musk, and it was gone within 4 hours.

Kazehikaru by Di Ser

I love all the notes in this: Yuzu, neroli, lavender, shiso, Japanese rose, vetiver. And for the first few minutes, you could smell them all. And after that, it was a big old blanket of vetiver with not so much as a hint of any of the other notes.

Kai Rose by Kai

I tried this because of the similarities drawn between the original Kai and my current warm-weather scent, Child perfume from BeautyHabit. I thought the addition of rose might take it into cooler weather for me. But somehow it just smells… basic. It smells like every magazine insert perfume sample. No depth, just cutesy, flowery fluff.

Komorebi by Pierre Guillaume Paris

All wood, minimal black currant, and somehow turned into mildew on my skin.

Iris Perle by Les Indemodables

It starts out strong and complex, but it’s missing that “kick” that I want. Elegant, understated, and not unexpected in the least.

Aqua Celestial by Maison Francis Kurkdjian

This smells like the feeling of getting sunscreen in your eyes.

La Religieuse by Serge Lutens

Well this is gorgeous, and I want someone to wear it, but the drydown just isn’t me. It’s very mature.

La Vierge de Fer by Serge Lutens

A lovely, fruity spring and summer scent. I may revisit when it gets warmer, but it doesn’t feel right for what I’m looking for right now.

L’Orpheline by Serge Lutens

This feels more like a home fragrance to me than something I want to wear. It has a sort of abstract quality that feels like it belongs in a space, not on the skin. It’s beautiful, but it’s not perfume to me.

Black Jade by Lubin

Ok this I do really like a lot, it’s lovely. But it feels a little too sweet and creamy for me. It makes a lot of sense for Marie Antoinette though.

Advertisements

Some new things at Sephora

Lots of sneaky little updates and new brands over at Sephora right now, juuust after the sale. Timing coincides with right around when people might be making returns from their sale hauls. I wonder if they’re counting on some of us being tempted to do an exchange rather than a return…

Psychological manipulation aside, here’s some stuff that caught my eye.

Benefit Repackaged Benetint and Released Lovetint

I guess this was due for a revamp, but I might have gone in a different direction on the packaging. The addition of little doily-like bumps doesn’t address the original packaging’s issues, namely the difficulty of traveling with the product. And of course, maybe adding more plastic is not the best move. In one new image, there is a doe-foot applicator, but in the main image it still shows a brush so who knows what’s going on there. I’m curious to see how they’ve updated the formula, but I doubt I’ll be purchasing.

Lovetint appears to be a higher-pigment version of Benetint, but it doesn’t look at all different from the various drugstore versions of the product. Meh.

Tower 28 Added to Brand Roster

This is something I’m more excited about. Credo Beauty also stocks Tower 28 products and that Jelly Lip Gloss, ooh she sings to me! The BeachPlease Tinted Lip & Cheek Balm is also quite appealing. I do love a good lip/cheek color, and the colors look wearable and punchy.

Innisfree Joins The Gang Too

I’m most interested in the lip balm because I am truly a sucker for anything with a tea scent or flavor, but the main draw for most is probably their skincare. It’ll be interesting to see how this brand does at Sephora—being an international brand, they may not be fully stocked at every Sephora store, but I would expect to see them in the checkout line very soon.

A Smorgasbord of Samples: Part 1

I ordered many (many) samples from LuckyScent, and they arrived yesterday.

One is a sample of La Fille de Berlin, which I wore throughout the evening yesterday and found to be absolutely lovely in its drydown. Classic without being stuffy. Glamorous, calm, subdued. A solid contender for an everyday scent. (But obviously I’m still testing out the rest.)

I’ll be writing down my thoughts on the rest of them as I try them out.

First up: Pulp by Byredo.

One Fragrantica reviewer said that this reminded them of Anthropologie. In fact, that’s the closest thing I can compare it to: it smells like the overpowering whack of scented candles when you step foot in an Anthropologie store. It absolutely smacks you upside the head with juicy, overripe fruit, in an almost-but-not-quite elegant way. There is a trace of that unsophisticated chemical smell that’s characteristic of Yankee Candle. I have trouble picturing the person who buys a Byredo perfume and chooses this particular one. As they say, it’s a no from me, dawg.

Second up: Enchanted Forest by The Vagabond Prince.

The bottle matches the scent beautifully here. A sour, balsamic blackcurrant, with plenty of green and a touch of spice. On very first sniff it really tells a story. Finding berries in the woods, pine needles underfoot on a foggy morning, a fire somewhere nearby. As it dries down it gets much sweeter, cloying even, but keeps the pine very much going. It may be a little bit too sweet for me to wear, but I’d definitely love for my house to smell like this all winter.

Third up: 1996 by Byredo.

The product of a collaboration with the photographers Inez and Vinoodh, and loosely based on their photograph “Kirsten 1996”. Amber galore, opulent, indulgent, thick, velvety, but soft. It reminds me a lot of the oud fragrances from L’Artisan Parfumeur, and of Iris from Le Labo. I would classify this one as a special occasion perfume—it just feels like evening wear. You’d dab it on right before you put on your most glamorous earrings. And your opera coat, if you have one.

Back with more perfume-related word salad tomorrow!

Favorite Beauty Shops & Sites

With all the Sephora discount/sale goings-on recently, as well as the various reports of Ulta’s dubious “security” practices (covered extensively by Estee Laundry on Instagram), now seems as good a time as any to have a look at some other, more ethical product sources.

Here are a few of my favorite shops for beauty-related products:

BeautyHabit

A seemingly-endless selection of unique, hard-to-find, niche, and international products. Each order arrives with samples and a tiny hand-written note. They carry some of the best fragrance brands around, as well as elusive nail polish brand Kure Bazaar, makeup from legendary French brand T. LeClerc, beautiful aromatherapy-based English line Neom Organics, and tons of other lovely, giftable, thoughtful items.

Credo Beauty

Although I’m not a huge fan of their advertising (that special type of Goop-inspired fear-mongering, where people who do not know what a paraben is or does speak earnestly about the presence of “toxins”), Credo does have an impressive selection of effective, ethical beauty brands. Glamorous and vaguely witchy makeup from Rituel de Fille, an excellent selection of Ilia, Kosas, and Vapour, and some excellent powder formulas by Lily Lolo. They also have their own rewards program, similar to Sephora’s.

Jin Soon

All they sell is Jin Soon nail polishes, but when the polish is this good… you do what you must. They routinely offer 15% off discounts–if you like her formula (which, how could you not?), it’s worth signing up for emails. Gorgeous, hard-to-duplicate colors, a quick-drying and easy-application formula, and a woman-owned business. What more could one need?

Sephora Sale Verdicts

KEPT: Peter Thomas Roth Skin To Die For Redness Reducing Treatment Primer

Pleasant to use, does the job of subtly color correcting for redness, and hasn’t broken me out yet. Doesn’t make a huge difference in the longevity of my makeup, though.

KEPT: Sephora Collection Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipstick

More Russian Red than Ruby Woo, but still a very solid blue-based matte red. Much more comfortable than the Stila version, worlds ahead of the ABH ones. Cheaper than some drugstore options. An excellent red to have on hand.

RETURNED: Aether Beauty Rose Quartz Palette

By all accounts a beautiful palette, but because I apparently can’t read, I didn’t expect it to be quite so pink. All the shades were gorgeous, but four of them were just pink enough to read as “conjunctivitis but make it fashion (but still conjunctivitis)” on me.

RETURNED: Hourglass Scattered Light Glitter in Reflect and Ray

When I swatched these in-store, they seemed very much like the Chanel Illusion D’Ombre shadows from a while ago, specifically, New Moon and Mirage. The glitter was the color of the shadow, and part of the shadow itself, rather than sitting on top of it. Unfortunately, when I received them I found that the slightest bit of sheering out or blending leads to a giant fall out of silver glitter.

ON MY RADAR FOR NEXT TIME:

All things Maison Louis Marie

The candles look lovely, although I’ve heard they’re not super strongly scented—that doesn’t bother me. I’d rather not be overwhelmed by the scent.

Jo Malone Poppy & Barley Cologne

I love my barley tea, so I am deeply intrigued by this idea. I haven’t loved most of the releases of the past few years but this sounds like it could be a little different.

Pat McGrath Eye Ecstasy Eye Shadow Palette Mini

I’m awfully curious about the Sublime shades. I have a feeling we’ll see lots of reviews on Sephora about how “unexpectedly” tiny the shadows are (from people who didn’t read the weight description) but I also expect that the shadows will be nothing less than excellent quality. I do wish she did more neutrals, but I get that that’s not the brand’s thing right now.

Tom Ford Gloss Luxe Lip Gloss

Do I even wear lip gloss? No. But have you seen the packaging? I doubt I’ll ever purchase it but woof, it’s nice to look at.

Kilian Le Rouge Parfum Scented Lipstick

They know me too well. Put a matte red lipstick in a black and gold embossed case and it’s over. I’m toast.

The Mike C of Beauty & Dogs?

During my “quick trip” to Barneys yesterday “just to get a perfume sample,” I spent some time at the Chantecaille counter playing with their new eyeshadows.

Each eyeshadow color has a corresponding endangered animal on the package, and a portion of the collection’s proceeds go towards various related non-profits.

For the Pangolin eyeshadow, the company is working with the Tikki Haywood Foundation, which supports conservation efforts across Africa with a focus on endangered species like the Pangolin.

From The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Website (lol)

Incidentally, the eyeshadow is stunning. A purple-taupe like Laura Mercier’s Amethyst or By Terry’s Misty Rock, but shot through with pink shimmer. Minimal fallout, easy to blend, not gritty.

I also ended up with the lipstick in Timboti (a portion of the proceeds go towards Elephant sanctuaries). It’s a very pretty, neutral nude, and shinier than I usually go, but the texture was what got me. It is, as they say, like buttah.

So I wanted to share a swatch of my two new items, but couldn’t find good light in my apartment, so I took a photo outside while walking Gimli. And the thought occurred to me: maybe there is some room in the beauty world for this schtick.

Yelp Icon of our era, Mike C, found a cult following and endless free meals by sharing food photos featuring background cameos by his adorable kids (often snoozing in a stroller). I don’t know how many people compulsively research swatches of products prior to purchasing, but in case there is anyone out there, here’s a swatch featuring a French Bulldog sniffing some flowers. We gladly accept both free cosmetics and free meals alike.

That’s all for now. Bye!

An impeccably timed foray

Having just read two beautiful posts by two beautiful blogs about what could be referred to as The Death of The Medium Itself, I’ve decided to go ahead and make my fourth (fifth?) attempt at starting a beauty blog. So here we are, let’s get on with it.

I go into the office once a week. Barneys is around the corner. It is a minefield of temptation and I feel a little bit like I’m in the Ladies’ Paradise from the Emile Zola story.

Today, I went in to ask for a sample of the perfume Portrait of a Lady from Frédéric Malle. On first spritz, it was perfect—just enough oud and warmth underneath the powdery rose, but still fresh and crisp. Five more minutes on my skin turned it into a musty old Turkish rug warehouse full of incense and ashtrays.

Then I tried another rose one, from Serge Lutens, La Fille de Berlin. It’s been on my list for some time, but I hadn’t tried it on my skin before. It agreed with me far better than PoaL. It’s a powdery rose and it feels like it belongs on the vanity table of a Gibson Girl, in an atomizer on a silver tray next to her hand mirror and cold cream jar and powder container with feather powder puff. In short, she stays on the list, and it’s a Christmas Miracle I didn’t bring her home immediately.

She’s a Beaut.

I also tried the Water Lip Stain, and was so amazed after just trying it on that I picked it up on the spot.

We can all agree, this was a poor financial decision.

In my defense (ish), it is the very epitome of its category. I have been after a rosy lip stain ever since seeing Anne Hathaway in Ella Enchanted, which when you consider that the film was released in 2004, almost helps to justify the price(???).

She was underrated in this one.

The closest I’ve gotten is Benefit’s Benetint. My main complaint with Benetint has always been that it is such a thin, watery texture that it runs on my skin and lips faster than it can set. It never ends up staining my whole lip because it can’t stay where it needs to in order for that to happen. The Serge Lutens is what I wish Benetint could be. It stains evenly, uniformly, looks natural, and wears long. It makes lips look like Anne Hathaway’s in Ella Enchanted. It is not worth the price because nothing that costs as much to produce as this must cost to produce should ever be marked up so astronomically AND YET.

I’ll leave it at that for now. Bye!