Elizabeth Arden

I'm a jasmine sambac (Arabian jasmine - also known as pikake and sampaguita) enthusiast. I grow my own for tea and homemade bath treats. I also seek it out in perfumes, and 95% of those perfumes are a grand slam with me. Favorites include BPAL Manila, Alien, and Armani Code PF. This becomes significant later on; bear with me.

Private Show is a milky, creamy, not-overly-sweet gourmand fragrance. Imagine 2/3 cream and 1/3 condensed milk, without the can, and with a brushstroke of white chocolate. The way the light but heady white florals intermingle with the milkiness at the top is delightful; the long lasting drydown (about 10 hours on me) is just that fresh creamy goodness. Private Show stays close to the skin, so I can really douse myself in it (and I do); it lingers forever if I spray a scarf. An excellent gourmand for people who have trouble with gourmands.

After blowing through my first bottle of EDT in about two months (unheard of), I went online to order more...and discovered that jasmine sambac is one of the notes. That explains why it smells like it's made just for me. It's hard to find really nice fragrances like this at such a low price point (~$20/1 oz.), so I'll be double stocking.

I really loved this product. It’s expensive but it has good staying power and it is easy to apply. I found building up the level of colour I desired simple and uncomplicated. Good for: -Girls who want a cream blush. -Girls who dislike reapplying make-up (the ‘no-fuss’ types, like me). -Girls who are not exactly gifted when it comes to applying make-up and struggle to build up the correct amount of colour. Reconsider if: -You prefer powder blush. -You are on a budget. -You’d prefer to spend less money, even if it means you need to apply your makeup more often.

My all time fave perfume. Forever love this scent, very light. Relaxing😉

To me, Red Door is a rich, deep, wonderful olfactory experience. It's what perfume expert Luca Turin calls a "handsome bludgeoner" from the '80s, and it MUST be applied with extreme restraint (1-2 sprays only, please!). The best way to describe this is "YSL Paris had a baby with Vanderbilt and Opium." It's rosy, violetty, spicy, woodsy, powdery, and clean. Unfortunately, it's often overapplied by its users and becomes a nauseating hot mess! For the love of God do not use the body lotion AND the powder AND then spray yourself from crown to coochie in this!!!

I just LOOOOVEEEE this thing when applied delicately! It's gorgeously retro. Totally fits my style of nipped-waist dresses, pearls, and matte red lips.

PSA: Elizabeth Arden reformulated this about 5-10 years ago and put it in a new red-tinted glass bottle shaped like a door. This reformulation is horrible, an absolute chemical-toilet bomb! Instead, go on eBay and get the bottle pictured at the top of this page. It's cheap and you'll be so glad you did :)

Wanting a long-lasting, non-dewy formula foundation for the humid summer, I purchased EA Intervene in 'Soft Toffee' at a steep discount after watching a YouTube-r who demo'd it 'Soft Cocoa'. She appears to have a red undertone and 'Soft Cocoa' seemed to match, but it appeared a bit grey on her when photographed with a flash. I figured since I am about a shade lighter than she is, have a yellow/olive undertone, and it only has an SPF of 15, I could get away with the Soft Toffee. Wow, was I wrong --- It is perfect if you want a milk chocolate + Oompa Loompa look! EA's color charts are waaay off. Oh, the perils of buying foundation online, sight unseen and w/o pretesting... The color was just so wrong, I had to use my Temptu Pro color adjuster kit to correct both the undertone and shade (they worked), but find that the formula settles into lines I did not even know I had, and I have very few. It just looks dry and unflattering on my skin. You also need to work fast to spread it because it drys quickly. I used a damp beauty blender and that made the color and texture a little better, but not good enough. You need a really good moisturizer under this foundation. I am glad I spent minimal bucks on this 'experiment' as it will soon be discarded. I will save the pump from the bottle because it is a good one.

Color References:
Lately, I do not often wear foundation and my last splurge was a Prescriptives Custom Blend that matched my undertone and skin color perfectly. The problem with the Prescriptives CB is it is a bit too dewy. For light wear, I still use Stila Perfect and Correct in 'Warm', but it doesn't do much to cover flaws, and Becca Multi-tasking Perfecting Powder in 'Warm Honey' (a perfect match). I was matched to Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in 'Macao', but have not yet purchased it.

Wear:
Maybe EA Intervene in Soft Toffee could work for you if you have oily skin, but be prepared as you may need to 'fix' the color. It seems as if it would wear well and it does not transfer, but for me, the dryness on my combo skin and poor color match are not worth the hassle of color adjusting every time. Who has an orange skin tone?

Not sure how this color was approved by sales and marketing?!? Why can't these companies produce foundations that work with actual skin tones? This is especially a problem for women of color and for anyone who deviates from the standard color chart/scale companies use, as many of us still need to mix colors or simply give up on finding a near-perfect match. Why is it so difficult to find a foundation that has a finish between dewy and matte in a medium brown with a yellow/olive undertone?