Treatments (Eye) -Dermalogica - Total Eye Care
Sashayy 7/7/2005 2:15:00 PM
I use this as a daytime eyecream, because at night I simply use my regular nighttime Paula's Choice moisturizer. I admit that I like the colour of this because it gives me a slight glow and I really like that I'm using an SPF that my finicky skin and sensitive eyes can tolerate. I only use it on the eye contour area and I use a teeny amount for both eyes - I wonder if the ladies here complaining about it pilling or causing problems with makeup are perhaps using too much? I do have dry skin so this sinks in fast. Not an HG, but a decent cream that I feel comfortable using.
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Fragrances -Hermes - Un Jardin sur le Nil
Sashayy 7/5/2005 11:59:00 PM
I bought a decant of this from eBay to try it out and have moved the little bottle to the front rotation for summer. On me, it smells clean, fresh, softly green, warm yet crisp, like a perfect summer's night at the lake after a day of frolicking on the beach and walking in the pine trees. It seems ageless and works as well with shorts and a tee as it does with a dress. Fast becoming a staple in my fragrance wardrobe - will have to spring for a larger bottle when my decant runs out!
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Moisturizers -Paula's Choice - Skin Recovery Replenishing Moisturizer
Sashayy 7/5/2005 11:55:00 PM
I tried PC's skincare on a whim and am now hooked on a whole bunch of her stuff. I have super-sensitive skin and I have been getting good results for the last three months using this at night.
I use this one at night only over the 8% AHA and my skin looks younger, brighter, glowier, smoother. The price is perfectly reasonable and the packaging is basic, though for this cream, it should be a pump or something as it is quite thick. Be careful not to use too much or the excess won't sink in and will pill off on your skin.
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Treatments -Paula's Choice - Skin Perfecting 8% AHA Gel Exfoliant
Sashayy 7/5/2005 11:48:00 PM
I'll add my voice to the chorus of positives on this product. I tried it on a whim when PC was having a no-shipping-cost to Canada deal and I'm glad I did.
I smooth this on at night after washing with Dermalogica's Ultrabland cleanser and then I top it with PC's Skin Recovery Moisturizer and go to bed. After a week of using it, my skin looked smoother and brighter and glowier than it had in months, looking better even than it used to with Clinique's TTC, my former HG. It also reduces freckles and discolorations, a plus for super-pale, sensitive and freckled me.
Do make sure to use a good strong sunscreen during the day though, as all AHA products will make your skin more sun-sensitive.
And the price? Can't be beat - just as inexpensive as drugstore. Yes the packaging is basic, but I don't care about packaging much anyway, as long as it is functional.
This has now replaced TTC in my skincare drawer and it is a staple at night for me. Pretty much an HG now.
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Lip Gloss -Bloom - Lip gloss in Pout
Sashayy 5/10/2005 9:23:00 PM
Bloom is the best gloss on the market as far as consistency, texture and taste/smell go. It is super-smooth, not at all tacky, glides on like a dream and stays soft and feels moisturizing. Most of the colours are a bit sheer and Pout is no exception but it is the perfect neutral rosey shade that pretty much anyone can wear.
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Moisturizers -Clinique - Superdefense SPF 25 Age Defense Moisturizer
Sashayy 3/23/2005 2:44:00 PM
So far a cautious thumbs up for this product on my super sensitive, finicky, dry skin. I'm using the normal to oily formulation because I've had reactions in the past to the Clinique products that are ostensibly for dry skin. The finish this leaves is glowy but not dewy. The face feel is satiny smooth and soft. I haven't tested the sunscreen ability yet but am pleased it is there. The anti-oxidants are apparently strong and adequate. I may have a replacement for my current favourite LUSH Cosmetic Lad, because of those anti-oxidants and that suncreen ability. No reactions yet after three days of use. Will update this in a few weeks.
UPDATED April 22, 2005 - Okay, I can officially declare this an HG product - I am sooo thrilled! Who knew that on my super-dry finicky skin a normal-to-oily formulation would work best? My skin loves it, I feel better knowing I'm wearing SPF25 every day and my skin always feels soft, supple and smooth. Yippee!!
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Fragrances -Parfums M.Micallef - Printemps (Spring)
Sashayy 3/14/2005 9:45:00 AM
A pretty berry-rose scent, Printemps is the type of scent you can see yourself wearing at a sunny May morning wedding reception, wearing a pretty dress, sipping champagne and raspberry juice cocktails and making polite small talk with Aunt Edna and Uncle Bernie.
Luckyscent.com says the notes are "raspberry, blackberry, bergamot, rose, pear, elemi, sandalwood, gaiac wood, cedar, vanilla, white musk". I describe it as soft, feminine, discreet. On me, it smells pink, light, feminine and slightly effervescent, but not at all assertive or dynamic. It is nice enough but not terribly unique. I've smelled many things like it at my local Bay store. It actually seems to be related to Lancome's Miracle or ... yes! to Givenchy's far superior Hot Couture, but this one would be the baby sister to Hot Couture's full-blown woman, in that Printemps has none of the zing, zest or darkness of Hot Couture.
I can't see myself shelling out the full price for a bottle of this. Too bad because the MicalleF bottles are gorgeous works of glass art!
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Blush -Shu Uemura - Glow On M Peach 44
Sashayy 3/12/2005 8:46:00 AM
M Peach 44 is pretty much the perfect happy flush of colour for my extremely pale neutral-to-warm complexion. I have red hair and very thin skin so my skin tends to redden easily when I blush etc. so I don't like anthing too rosy. A few sweeps of this and my cheekbones show up through my pudge, my face glows and I look naturally happy. Love it! a must own for any redhead! Near HG for me. I think I have found my perfect peach blush and I can die happy now ;-)
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Fragrances -Keiko Mecheri - Gourmandises
Sashayy 3/3/2005 12:43:00 AM
This starts out strongly with roses and almonds and a doughy note that luckily bears no resemblance to anything salty or playdoughy. This is where I see the strongest resemblance to her Loukhoum scent. After five minutes, a sugary sweetness emerges on me and slides over top of the roses. This is the moment the rose jam concept emerges for me. After a half hour, the scent alters again slightly and suddenly I detect a tea dainty type delicacy of Arrowroot cookies spread with rosehip jam. This pretty treat is punctuated on top with a few slivers of almond resting on a walnut piece and the whole is dusted with icing sugar. After 3 hours, the arrowroot, sugar and nuts disappears and I'm left with a darker deeper scent. It is a richer, softer cousin of Ombre Rose, ever so slightly powdery, with no truly discernible notes other than the merest suggestion of soft and delicate pink rose petals.
I purchased a spray decant of this based solely on KM's reputation and the fact that her scents just simply seems to work on my chemistry. By the looks of the other reviews here, people were seeing the name of this and expecting a thoroughly decadent Body Bakery foody kind of scent, whereas Gourmandises, in my French culture, implies women who appreciate the finer things in life. Thus, not necessarily food, though I do find Gourmandises foody and that side of it takes time to appear, being at the heart of the scent the way it is. When it does appear, it is more delicate and suggestive of food than smack-you-in-the-face foody a la Eadward Indulge or any of the DSH-style perfume oils available on the market today.
Key words to describe this scent on me then are delicate, sweet, soft, whispering ladylike murmurs of pink and white roses and laced lightly with powder. While it is a complete departure from my usual heavy ambers, rich oriental spices, thick red roses and strong bourbon vanillas, I like it a lot. Full bottle worthy? Maybe. I will need to wear Gourmandises a few more times to be sure. Guess it's a good thing I didn't eschew it based on the reviews here.
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Eadward Indulge
Sashayy 2/25/2005 10:48:00 AM
This is the fragrance that has proven to me once and for all that other than vanilla, I don't like wearing the scent of baked goods unless they're actually edible concoctions full of calories.
This is one of those foodie scents that I just can't get into. Citrus? Bring it on. Tea? Oh yeah. Sugar? Probably. But macaroon? No no no.
Like Maximina said, it starts with a thick and buttery note underlying chocolate, coconut and some sort of nut that seems a bit like almonds and walnuts combined. After a half hour, the cocoa and coconut scent intensify and the whole ends up smelling like macaroons. It is as if I bought one of those cheap 99 cent boxes of macaroons from Zellers/Walmart and rubbed them on my skin. Blech! not what I was going for at all. Alors, awai donc, swap time.
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Fragrances -Serge Lutens - Miel de Bois
Sashayy 2/24/2005 12:29:00 PM
Have you ever been with a beekeeper when he cracks open a hive in the fall and starts harvesting the honeycomb? The somewhat cold and bracing autumn wind comes along and carries to you the acrid airy smell of the smoke he has used to drum the bees out of the hive. As he starts to pull out the honeycomb, you get a rich deep scent of raw, unrefined honey, overlaid with the smell of the wood from the hive, the pungent smell of the grass between your feet and another faint elusive note akin to the soft warm smell of the sun on heated flesh.
That is the smell of Miel de Bois on me. It opens with a strong, slightly sharp, almost mentholated note with that dark sweet smell of raw honey lurking underneath and a slight earthy pungent quality that might be a moss of some type. After a half hour or so, the honey sweetens slightly and marries that sharp menthol note, toning it down and reinforcing the impression of the raw honeycomb smell. The scent stays fairly linear and consistent after that.
There is none of the syrupy sweet unctuousness you'd have expected from a honey fragrance, none of the softness, smoothness either. While there's no powder in this, there is that slight acrid note, that whiff of something that isn't quite mint or air or smoke or moss, but somehow a suggestion of all four mixed together layered over the honey.
It is a rather unique scent and I can see some people falling in love with the subtle sillage skin-scent aspect of this. I don't much like it on me - I much prefer the softer, smoother honeyed figs of Balenciaga's Cristobal. I'm sure MdB will be popular though - it has that uniqueness to it,. I gave it two lippies - one for the uniqueness, another for the scent memory of my uncle tending to his beehives.
While it's not released in the US yet, you can buy it immediately at ThePerfumeShoppe.com's website, where I got mine.
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Fragrances -Creed - Vanisia
Sashayy 2/20/2005 10:15:00 PM
This has got to be one of the most awful scents I've had the misfortune of trying. On me, it seriously smells like sweaty stinky horse sweat mixed with human sweat mixed with the scent of what I can only describe as unwashed female private parts. I haven't run to the sink and exfoliating scrub this fast, ever. God forbid this one should linger. Ugh.
This was the first Creed I've ever sampled and I were to judge the entire House based on this one, it would be my last. However, I know that there are much better offerings for me out there from Creed.
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Fragrances -Serge Lutens - Chene
Sashayy 2/20/2005 2:58:00 PM
I got a sample of this as part of an eBay sampler pack of SL non-export scents. I had low expectations regarding myself and it, given that I'm not a fan of strongly woody scents – my chemistry does such odd things to them.
Upon opening this one and sniffing it, though, I got excited. I smelled more than just woods in there. Honey, spices, a bit of some type of mulled wine or brandy....hmmm maybe it could work on me? cousin to Frapin 1270 maybe?
Sadly, no. While it started out quite promising on my skin, well-balanced and blended, it morphed oddly over the five hours I wore it before I gave up and washed it off. Within five minutes of applying it, the spices disappeared quickly in the top notes and a strong sweet smell of honey emerged. The fruit or mulled liquor I'd smelled in the bottle never did materialize and after a few hours, a distinct woody smell of cedar emerged, which I found odd considering that cedars don't normally grow that close to oaks and it is for the mighty oak that M. Lutens has named this scent. After 4 hours, the honey had married the cedar and the overall sillage was nauseatingly close to that of a bunch of pencil shavings and gerbil bedding mixed with a vat of honey. Blech! Washed it off quickly and chalked it up to another SL that doesn't work on me. I’m now starting to seriously worry about the Miel de Bois I’ve ordered unsniffed – please do not let it be like this one.
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Fragrances -Serge Lutens - Rose de Nuit
Sashayy 2/20/2005 12:37:00 PM
My skin loves roses. Anytime rose is in the notes of a scent, my chemistry grabs onto it and moves it to the front of the class. I guess it is predictable then that the roses in this eventually overwhelm all the other notes on my skin. On me, this starts out with rich mature red roses and earth and moss and woods but then quickly mutates into musty blood red roses as they smell cut in a crystal vase of water. It is a a dusty rose scent that mutates over the 4-6 hours this lasts on me into a fussy powdery rose slightly undercut by the smell of flower death. The smell of cheap rose potpourri, or, as another reviewer put it below, as the scent of "aging roses" and I agree.
There is that slightly rank smell of the water in the vase and the slightly coppery scent that lead crystal can give off when it has been wet for a few days. Overall, it is the smell of a bouquet of roses that have overbloomed and are now dying. The edges of the petals have started to curl up and dry out and wither. The rose scent is getting pungent with a whiff of the woody earth escaping from the stems as they, too, succumb to the inevitable death.
I find this to be in the same family as l'Artisan's Voleur des Rose, old fashioned, dare I say matronly even. I like my roses the way Keiko Mecheri does them in her knockout gorgeous Damascena or the way Les Rosines do roses - alive, blooming, joyous, sun-dappled and dew-kissed. I'm not a quiet-voice, chintz-and-lace -decorated parlor and tea woman so I won't purchase a full bottle of this. I'll stay outside with the living flowers, thank you.
This is an expensive Euro only SL that you can only get from La Palais, so it's good that I'm not too besotted with it. It isn't like I'm desparate for a rose scent -- I already have 3 HG roses scents from KM, Les Rosines and Stella so I'm actually glad I don't need/like/want this one too. More money for something else. Chergui or Chêne anyone?
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Fragrances -Etro - Messe De Minuit
Sashayy 2/18/2005 11:47:00 PM
This is an interesting scent that definitely suggest a certain gothic dusty-book, dark and gloomy presence, as befits the name which translates to "Midnight Mass".
Having attended a few sombre midnight masses in my day, I would say that this smells like that minus all those people. If you were to stay in the church past the witching hour and wait until the incense has burned away, the people have all gone home, the candles have been extinguished and the priest has gone to sleep, this is the smell you would end up with.
This is a unisex scent IMO in a way that all the CKs in the world will never quite grasp. It is not evocative of either gender, but rather encompasses all the incense, gloaming, blackness and loneliness that is part of that time of the night. While it is definitely an interesting scent that has a certain appeal, its appeal is not for someone like me. I'm too much of the establishment in a way these days to be able to carry this off with the detached, goth insouciance it would require. I am glad I have sampled it though.
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