Posted by Kevin
on
8 June 2011
My father loved clothes and dressing up, but he was also fond of walking around in his underwear or gardening clothes (“rags” my grandmother called them). He had a temper but was patient with animals, especially cats. His cats (at one point we had ten!) took turns sitting in his lap in the garden, and they all, man and cats, bird-watched together. The trait I appreciated most in my father was his curiosity. When I gave him gifts, he’d approach them with interest, as if they needed exploration, analysis. He wasted no opportunity to learn something. Once, for a present mind you, I gave him a boring book on the history of the U.S. Supreme Court; he read it from cover to cover. He loved antique folk sculptures of animals, so I bought him a homey little tome called “Carving Duck Decoys.” Father started carving ducks and several of them are staring at me as I write this. When it came to toiletries, my father used Ivory soap and old-fashioned drugstore shave cream until, thanks to yours truly, he became appreciative of, then addicted to, expensive shave lathers from England and all sorts of interesting soaps and potions. I can’t remember an “unsuccessful” gift to my father. I hope your father is as easy to buy for as mine was!
For fathers big and small, young and old, fancy and rustic; for regal and distinguished Fathers, fauxhemian pères, outdoorsy-sporty dads, and jazzy Daddy-Os, I present some gift ideas for Father’s Day…
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One of the consolations of summertime, for those of us who don’t enjoy heat and humidity and the constant sight of other people’s unkempt feet in flip-flops, is the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables. Even I, a dedicated starch-lover, experience a craving for something a little more colorful at this time of year. I’m grateful for the network of farmers’ markets that has expanded to urban areas, and for the tiny city-yardspace behind our new home, where my husband and I are making our first attempts at growing a few potted edibles.
Oyin Handmade’s Juices & Berries is a spray-on, leave-in conditioner for hair, and it smells like the kind of fruit salad that you can only make at the height of the summer season. It’s scented with a mix of natural and synthetic fragrance oils, and it turns out to have a much more appetizing and realistic aroma than many berry-fragranced toiletries on the market…
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Posted by Robin
on
7 January 2010
HAIR scent may be the new fragrance frontier. In recent months, several new products with exotic fragrances are challenging popular hair-care scents like coconut, citrus and rosemary.
— From Scent Trails Start at the Top, a short article on hair fragrance at the New York Times. Many thanks to Mary for the link!
Posted by Robin
on
22 November 2009
From Fresh, a limited edition soap trio in Frankincense (“an earthy scent, full of woodsy notes and a hint of exotic incense”), Myrrh (“an uplifting, fruity scent with wild berry notes inspired by the forest”) and Gold (“a warm, soft fragrance that evokes the shimmer of precious metal in sunlight”). Three 250g bars, $45…
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Posted by Robin
on
9 September 2009
Roger & Gallet has launched L’Homme Sport (shown above left), a flanker to 1979′s Roger & Gallet L’Homme. The new version is said to be faithful to the spirit of the original, but purer and fresher.
L’Homme Sport features notes of grapefruit, tea, pink pepper…
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