Posted by Jessica
on
18 December 2011
Considering the wave of celebrity perfumes that has submerged us over the past decade, it’s interesting that so few famous names have appeared on the labels of fragranced body products. The only examples that come to my mind are Jo Wood Organics, a high-priced niche line created by the ex-wife of a Rolling Stone, and Lisa Hoffman Beauty, a body/fragrance spa brand founded by Dustin Hoffman’s wife, but neither of these women is exactly a household name.
Now, however, we have Nuance, a full collection of cosmetics, skincare, haircare, and body products launched by actress Salma Hayek. Hayek herself is probably no stranger to fancy fragrances and indulgent self-care products, since she’s married to François-Henri Pinault, the CEO of a multinational luxury goods business. Yet her new Nuance brand is sold at CVS drugstores; as Hayek says in one of her promotional videos for the line, “I wanted to make sure that every woman could afford it.” (She also mentions the inspiration of her grandmother, who concocted homemade beauty products in her kitchen, and the long history of natural ingredients in traditional Mexican remedies.)
I picked up two Nuance body products at CVS on a whim…
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Posted by Robin
on
25 November 2011
It’s Black Friday or Buy Nothing Day — take your pick. Whether you’re shopping or not, it never hurts to look, right? We’re kicking off this year’s string of holiday gift posts with a bunch o’ scented bath & body products. Lots more to come!
To start things off, we’ve got the eminently covetable (and reportedly as good as it looks) Vol de Nuit Powder Spray from Guerlain: “Inspired by the legendary Vol de Nuit fragrance, this silky, ethereal loose powder creates a light-reflecting veil with a subtle iridescent finish. The powder is perfumed with the mythical Vol de Nuit fragrance. Apply on the face, body and hair for an allover glow!” $87 for 17.5 g at Nordstrom…
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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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Posted by Robin
on
21 July 2011
Nail care company Strangebeautiful has launched Perfume Polish, a new scented top coat. The fragrance is Violet Leather by indie perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz…
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