Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Wood by Dsquared
Chiarina 9/21/2008 5:55:00 PM
One of the first original fragrance entries for fall to stand out in a crowd of boring me-too clones. Wood starts out piquant and spicy but not like the usual baking or carnation spice, but more like fragrant, peppery greenwood shavings. This mellows to a feather light, 'fuzzy' wood, like a whiff from a favorite sweater drawer that's always had floral-violet sachets tucked away inside.The wood notes never overstated, masculine or even easily identified as any particular 'precious wood', but a subtle blend and thus deliciously mysterious. The dryout nestles down to a intimate woody spice skin-scent that lingers for about two hours (on my scent-devouring skin) before gradually fading away. The only caveat I can see, however, that the spicy aspect of this blend COULD come up as 'bug spray' on certain skin chems, so I'd be sure to sample this fragrance one or more times before investing. The packaging design is simply elegant, IMO. Even the juice is tinted pale woody pink to harmonize with the ensemble, including the small slab of mahoghany topping the bottle, coppery metallic cap and bottle script.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Concealers -BeneFit Cosmetics - Lemon Aid
Chiarina 8/25/2008 1:21:00 PM
This is my HG of concealers. Even though a bit stiff to work with, a little goes a long way, making it economical to use. The rather alarming yellow color makes it the perfect rosacea camo. I warm it in the pot with the tip of my little finger, dot it lightly on eyelids, along the 'bag zone', and even on my dreaded rosacea Bozo Nose. I then pat gently to blend evenly, maybe even a light fluff of B's "Bluff Dust" or other translucent powder with a kabuki style brush to set it and voila! No more blotchy complexion, and reddened eyes that look like I'd been watching five-hankie weepers on the late-late-late show the night before with a blender full of margaritas for company. My sensitive skin tolerates it very well and, as long as I am patient enough to warm to skin temperature first, it goes on smoothly without pulling. I don't think it would have nearly the same covering power if it were any softer.
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Attar Bazaar Tunisian Amber
Chiarina 5/20/2006 4:29:00 PM
I've worn this for year and is one of my favorite Ambers, in spite of it's 'Headshop' packaging. The oil is fairly heavy-bodied, sticky, the fragrance VERY lasting on my skin, making it a real bargain, since so little is needed to smell wonderfully exotic all day long. The blend is heavy on the labdanum/rockrose, with subtle elements of vetiver, sandalwood and sweet vanilla. I prefer the Nemat to L'Occitane's Amber, since Nemat's vanilla note is more vanillin than the coumarin/tonka bean I detect in the L'Occitane. 'Powder'lovers, however, may prefer this.
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Fragrances -Caron - Or et Noir
Chiarina 2/18/2006 5:28:00 AM
One of the classiest rose perfumes ever! Imagine the goddess Venus bathing in her black marble temple, climbing into a gilt tub filled with warm Turkish rosewater. The surface is strewn with leaves of the Scented Geranium, Carnation petals and Lilac blossoms. She bathes, arises, dries herself, takes up a swans-down puff and dusts herself all over with Cupid's own precious baby powder! The fragrance left on the Goddess of Love and Beauty's skin is what Or et Noir smells like to me. Roses, roses, roses, then geranium and other brilliant pink florals, THEN that rich, LUSCIOUS powder note that Caron is so justly famous for. Decent lasting power for a floral, on my skin. Extremely pretty, comforting, refined, rather than 'sexy'. This is the perfume that turned me on to the House of Caron.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lip Treatments -Burt's Bees - Beeswax Lip Balm
Chiarina 2/18/2006 4:26:00 AM
Fabulous stuff! I LOVE the honey-peppermint flavor and that beeswax blend does a great job at keeping my winter lizard-lips at bay!Petroleum based balms just made the chapping worse the more I used them, but when I switched to beeswax, things improved very quickly, the cracks healed up within a day and my lips rapidly got very soft and smooth. I carry a tube in my purse at all times now.
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Fragrances -Penhaligon's - Elizabethan Rose
Chiarina 2/17/2006 9:56:00 PM
Lovely fresh TEA rose smell, very girlie, linear, rather fleeting on my skin, but quite realistic, much like the actual pink McCartney roses in my garden! I also like Jo Malone's Red Roses and Creed Fleur de The' Rose Bulgarie as smelling very much like dewy, fresh roses. Sweet, slightly wine-like when wet, clear, lightly fruity without being 'jammy'. There is none of that dried petal or potpourri smell that you get from some other products in the drydown. It's fragrance is much less *In Your Face* than Crabtree & Eveyn's "Eveyn" IMO, tho THAT is a very good repro of the actual David Austen rose of the same name(I've grown them). What I like best about Penhaligon's Rose is that it smells less like chemicals and more like a living flower, albeit an idealized one. Packaging is very pretty and looks like something a Gibson Girl would have on her dressing table. I also have the Eliz. Rose bath gel, which is quite nice and runs true to scent.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Caron - Parfum Sacre
Chiarina 2/17/2006 9:13:00 PM
If the House of Caron were to ever start a religion, they would have the BEST incense fuming on their burners!
This *stuff* sends me to highest heaven, and not just on clouds of frankincense and myrrh, which P.S. has in abundance, but it is exquistely blended, too!
I only regret that the 'home office' has declined to continue producing this in the Parfum Extrait - Waaaahhhhhhh!
But the Eau de Parfum does lasts a GOOD long time on my skin and dries down warm, sensuous and welcoming...plus my B5 (big, blond, barbarian, biker boyfriend)LOVES it! = Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Fragrances -Estee Lauder - White Linen This is one of those scents that was simply gorgeous on my sister-in-law, airy, crisp and classy, but unfortunately it was NOT on me. Given my particular skin chemistry, it smelled exactly like athlete's foot powder. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Chiarina 5/17/2005 2:19:00 AM