Posted by Jessica
on
18 September 2010
If you read a few women’s fashion/beauty magazines per month, you’re probably familiar with the kind of feature in which a high-end item is paired with a more attainable, bargain-price item — “Splurge/Steal,” “Lust/Must,” and so on. Sometimes I consider using this device to recommend pairs of body products, except I don’t usually come across direct comparisons. These two body scrubs, however, do fall into a similar category. Both have citrus-floral scents and both are packaged in tubes (my strong preference for scrubs), but they’re sold in different markets at very different price levels.
Kings & Queens is a more widely-distributed spin-off line for Korres, the Greek skincare and makeup company. The Kings & Queens body products claim to be enhanced “with royal herbs,” and like the rest of the line, the Sultan of Granada Lemon Flower Body Scrub is “enriched with royal mix [sic] of pomegranate, blue lotus and malachite natural extracts.” These extracts happen to fall towards the end of the ingredients list, after the water and sodium laureth sulfate and plastic exfoliant beads, but that’s not really unusual for a product in this price range. Because the exfoliating particles are suspended in what amounts to a lightweight shower gel…
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Posted by Jessica
on
12 September 2010
A number of years ago, when I still shopped for most of my toiletries at drugstores, I received a gift of some fancy lavender-fragranced body cream in a prettily decorated tube. It was one of the first upscale bath-and-body items that I had ever tried, and it was made by Thymes — or rather, The Thymes, as the company was then called. I thoroughly enjoyed it, because it felt and smelled so different from my usual products, and since that time I’ve had a fond feeling for Thymes (even though the Filigree collection, my eventual favorite, was discontinued last year).
The Ambersweet Orange collection is a fairly recent addition to the Thymes range of body products and fragrance, and its Body Lotion sounded like an appropriate pick for early autumn. According to Thymes, in this lotion “the healing properties of creamy yogurt and the warm blush of honey combine to richly moisturize your skin while the harmonizing aromas of delicate orange blossom, creamy almond milk, tonka bean and vanilla swirl gently in the zest of nutmeg, sandalwood and cardamom for a natural goodness that radiates well-being.” Ambersweet Orange Body Lotion gives off a gently sweet almond scent when it’s first applied…
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Posted by Kevin
on
22 July 2010
Citrus-floral fragrances are made for hot weather; the best of them smell light and airy, brisk and cooling (all the sensations I want from a scent on a sultry day). I like summer fragrances to smell “clean” but also possess a hint of sexiness — a “bare” quality. The fat and heavy pomelo (Citrus maxima), which you may have encountered in Southeast Asian cooking (think: mild, sweet grapefruit), is an excellent inspiration for such a summer perfume.
Pomelo Blossom is part of D.S. & Durga’s spring-summer 2010 (limited edition) fragrance collection for Anthropologie, and it contains notes of pomelo blossom, grapefruit peel and white musk. Pomelo Blossom goes on sharp and juicy (smelling like fresh oranges, a mix of cool peel and juice). In mid-development, floral notes become apparent; these floral notes remind me of slightly indolic jasmine and pungent, “wild” orange blossom.
My favorite part of Pomelo Blossom is the oily grapefruit rind note…
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Posted by Robin
on
6 July 2010
As I’ve said here many times before, I’m a summer person. I do not like cold, and as long as the weather is warm enough to wear shorts, I have no real complaints. Still, even I am willing to admit that the heat is a bit oppressive here at the moment: the temperature is expected to hit 99° F today, and it probably already has. I had been planning to review the new Fancy Nights by Jessica Simpson, but I can promise you that Fancy Nights is not something you will want to be wearing when it is 99° F.
So: Heeley Oranges And Lemons Say The Bells of St. Clement’s. It is named for the nursery rhyme, and it’s just the sort of thing you can wear when it’s too hot to wear most anything else…
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“He had a good feeling about it. That’s the thing about luck, you feel it or you don’t. This moment, he felt it. He found the morning’s rain had left everything looking greener and a bit sharper, like he was seeing it all for the first time, and he headed off with a spring in his step.”
So reads the promotional text for Trèfle Pur Cologne Absolue, one of the five fragrances recently launched by Atelier Cologne. Trèfle Pur was created by perfumer Jérome Epinette (who also developed Bois Blonds and Oolang Infini for Atelier). Its name translates as “pure clover,” and this fragrance does include a heart note of clover absolute. It starts with a very crisp note of basil, and something tart that reminds me of lime, possibly the effect of the bitter orange mixing with the basil leaves. Things get even leafier in the fragrance’s middle phase, where the namesake clover is paired with violet leaf (not violet flowers, mind you: this definitely isn’t a floral fragrance). There’s also a light layer of patchouli; it’s a dry and root-y patchouli, almost vetiver-like, rather than a damp and earthy patchouli. It’s the part of the fragrance that feels the most typically masculine, but it’s not strong enough to dominate the overall composition…
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