Posted by Robin
on
9 December 2011
Our series of holiday gift posts continues today with some gift ideas for the men, although bear in mind that all of the holiday gift posts have at least one or two masculine and/or unisex items, and for that matter, there are plenty of items below that women might want.
If you missed them, here are links to part 1 (scented body products), part 2 (travel sizes & coffrets), part 3 (more travel sizes & coffrets) and part 4 (home fragrance). Coming up next: solid perfumes.
From Odin, candles in their four unisex fragrances (Sunda, Owari, Century or Petrana). $65 each at Barneys…
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Posted by Jessica
on
2 October 2011
As someone who adopted a Goth style in her late teens and early twenties, and who is still obsessed with early American gravestones, I couldn’t help being intrigued by Skin & Bones. It’s an all-purpose, oil-based moisturizer made entirely from natural ingredients, and it caught my eye because it’s packaged in a dark glass bottle with calligraphic lettering on the label (shown below); the company’s logo (shown above) is a winged skull of the sort you’d see carved into a very old tombstone.
Skin & Bones’ ingredients are jojoba oil and essential oils of ylang-ylang, frankincense, myrrh, grapefruit, jasmine, lemon, rosewood, cedarwood, and sandalwood. As the Skin & Bones website explains, the essential oils were chosen for their aromatherapeutic properties as well as their benefits to skin. The one that dominates the overall fragrance of Skin & Bones is ylang-ylang. I enjoyed Erin’s recent post about ylang-ylang fragrances, and I recommend it as a primer on this note’s background and characteristics. I’m another person who fell in love with ylang-ylang during my early niche-fragrance sampling days, and I’m still happy to encounter it. Skin & Bones’ ylang-ylang has a brightness that is enhanced by the accompanying lemon notes, and a sensuality that is reinforced by the rosewood and sandalwood. It’s a linear, versatile blend. Incidentally, the dark purple “Violet-Glass” bottle is functional as well as cool-looking…
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As I write this post, the temperature in New York City is 102 degrees. In weather like this, we’ll all be bathing more often than usual, so we might as well make the best of it and try out some new body products, right? I’ve been taking advantage of these two-shower days to test a few things from Poetry, a small company that encourages the “Intimate Ritual” of bathing.
Poetry’s bath-and-body line is available in two fragrance blends; I’ve been using samples of products scented with Verse 1, “a versatile citrus fragrance with notes of sandalwood and jasmine.” (The other fragrance is Verse 2, “a potent scent of mint and balsam needle with a hint of grapefruit.”) Verse 1 is strongly citrus, with intense, sunny notes of bergamot and lemon and a smooth woodsy base that suggests cedar as well as sandalwood. I don’t really notice the jasmine, but that’s fine, because the citrus-wood pairing has a cleansing, almost purifying effect on my mind as well as my body. It makes me feel more alert, and purged of all heat-related discomfort, at least for a little while…
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I was introduced to the Duchess Marden line a few years ago, when I received a facial treatment at a spa that used natural and organic products; since then, I’ve occasionally purchased Duchess Marden Pure Rose Water and Crème Cleanser to use at home. I like these products because they’re plant-based, they don’t contain any parabens, petrochemicals, or chemical preservatives, and — not the least of my reasons — they smell like roses.
With its recently launched Body Serum, Duchess Marden has moved beyond the face and neck to address the rest of our skin. I know that serums have become very popular in the skincare market over the past few seasons; now, apparently, the term is being applied to body products as well. (A quick internet search brings up “body serums” at various price points, from La Mer to Boots.) Duchess Marden’s all-over serum is packaged in a stunning gold-on-black bottle that a beauty editor would no doubt describe as “luxe.” It’s intended for use on damp skin after a bath or shower, in place of lotion or body cream, and it could also be incorporated into a massage.
Looking at the list of ingredients, I’m not entirely sure what differentiates a body serum from a body oil…
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Posted by Jessica
on
27 February 2011
Mayron’s Goods’ line of body products caught my eye immediately with its packaging: the bold lettering, bright red borders, and 1950s-style illustration of a delivery man and his van are upbeat and distinctive. Although most of Mayron’s Goods’ nature-based lotions and potions were created with babies in mind, these labels are refreshingly free of ducks, peapods, or naked infants clad in flower petals; moreover, the products themselves are suitable for anyone who needs gentle, lightly scented skincare or just prefers to use products without ingredients such as synthetic fragrance, parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate, or DEA (diethanolamine).
In the final weeks of this long winter, I’m finding Mayron’s Goods’ Tangerine Massage & Body Oil especially soothing and effective on my dry, rough arms and legs. It includes an assortment of botanical oils for moisture and it sinks quickly into the skin; even more importantly, it has a tangerine-mandarin fragrance that feels like orange juice for the soul. Chapstuff for Cheeks and Lips, my other favorite from the line, is a balm blended from cocoa butter, beeswax, soybean oil, and other natural ingredients. It smells like oranges and milk chocolate…
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