Archive for the 'Fragrance' Category

I wasn’t the only person kickin’ it in the BEAST yesterday. Sarah Jessica Parker arrived at the Macy’s Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton early yesterday to promote her new fragrance, sign autographs and to cause a general frenzy amongst the East Bay natives, which included women of all ages, a sprinkling of dudes and a lady with a white parrot on her shoulder.

SJP was very nice and cordial in person and looked great in her Peter Soronen dress, Fred Leighton necklace and sequined Miu Miu heels (*so fab*). We talked briefly before she left to sign autographs for fans in the store.

Read the rest of this entry »

I have openly confessed to having questionable taste when it comes to fragrances (hello, Britney), but I can’t help it — I like what I like. These are just a few of my favorite scents.

• Chanel Coco Mademoiselle
  “Even though Coco Mademoiselle is in the oriental fragrance family, it doesn’t smell stuffy or old-lady at all. It’s youthful and sophisticated. You won’t smell like an old lady who lunches and totes small terrier dogs in Burberry outfits. You will smell like a confident young woman strutting down the street in a classic black suit.”
• Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia
  “To closely match the scents of flowers in nature, Lauder used a fragrance technology they refer to as ‘Nature Intact,’ and with it the perfumers really hit this one on the nose (pardon the pun). Wearing the scent makes me feel like I’m wearing a tuberose lei.”
• Elizabeth Arden Mediterranean Breeze
  “Something about the fragrance reminds me of fresh, clean water (similar to Aqua di Gio Women and Cool Water Woman), like I’m sipping lemonade on the verandah of a fabulous Spanish villa overlooking the sea.”
• Lancome Miracle Forever
  “I sometimes find food-based perfumes overly sweet, especially when fruit scents are involved, but Miracle Forever mingles the fruit and cream well; one scent never dominates the others. You get just a touch of black currant, not a whole basket up in your grill. The result is warm and chic.”
• Britney Spears Midnight Fantasy
  “It’s a fun, flirty, youthful smell. I’d wear it on date night or the weekends but not to work because it can be a lil’ bit too Wet Seal/Forever 21/Limited Too if administered in too heavy a dose.”
• CAN CAN by Paris Hilton
  “… she [Paris] went home to do a little good ole’ fashioned market research. ‘I’ll have them smell,’ said Paris of her friends and family, ‘and see what they like best.’ With their input, she chose the fragrance she thought would appeal to the widest audience. The result was CAN CAN, a fruity floral with notes of clementine flower, cassis, nectarine, musk and amber.”
• Covet by Sarah Jessica Parker
  “… when I got this wee bottle of Sarah Jessica Parker’s Covet I was more than prepared to haterade all over it, but a mix of curiosity and masochism drove me to place a few drops on my wrist. I waited and waited and waited for the eau de self-centered celebrity to kick in … but then was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked how it smelled. In fact, it actually smells pretty good — like lemons, your boyfriend’s sweater and baby powder brewed together in a cauldron for a really long time.”

Since we’re on the subject of fragrances, do you have a fragrance crush? If so, what do you like about it?

Happy hump day, friends! Let’s make it a good one.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Shu Uemura’s Pricey Rose Fragrance Smells Pretty But Fades Fast

Each June, Shu Uemura releases a limited edition collection of various beauty products to commemorate the opening of their first beauty boutique in June of 1983. This year’s collection, called Hana-Bi, includes, among other things, three pricey eau de toilette fragrances. How pricey?

Are you sitting down?

Each of the scents will set you back a whopping $85 for a 1.6-oz. bottle. The company sent me one of the three, Fleur de Rose, to review for the blog. I was really looking forward to trying it out, knowing full well that it had better be good for $85.

Eau de toilettes are usually less concentrated and less expensive than regular perfumes (sometimes referred to as eau de parfums). I could see myself shelling out $85 for a truly breathtaking eau de parfum, but paying almost $100 for an eau de toilette is a lot to ask of anyone.

I’ve been wearing Fleur de Rose off and on now for a few days. It’s a very light, simple, rosy scent that reminds me of crushed rose petals and wild licorice on a crisp spring morning.

I like Fleur de Rose, but I don’t love it. The fragrance simply is what it is and doesn’t evolve or change over time. And it fades quickly, too. When I dab it on my wrists in the morning, the scent is gone by lunchtime.

Shu Uemura Fleur de Rose Eau de Toilette

Price: $85 for a 1.6-oz. bottle
Use: A light, rosy fragrance
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: C

I have a special place in my heart for Shu Uemura products, especially their eyeshadows, but Fleur de Rose is simply too expensive. I haven’t tried the other two scents in the collection — Fleur de Terre, a fresh woody floral; and Fleur de Source, a spicy floral — but they’d really have to smell amazing and last far longer than Fleur de Rose does to justify the price.
Read the rest of this entry »

I’m taking advantage of the air conditioning at the mall right now and stumbled upon a semi-annual sale at Victoria’s Secret. Lots of VS beauty products are marked down in-store from 50-75% (also good online, but only on bras and panties). I’m not sure how long the sale lasts, but check out these really cute Island Infusion body mists, a mere $3.50 each after the sale discount, wowza! They come in four scents: Moorea Passion Fruit, Tahitian Vanilla Flower, Bali Orchid and Capri Peach Blossom. I think I’m going to get Bali Orchid, a light, white floral that smells like soap and clean skin. Read the rest of this entry »

When we arrived in Hawaii the other day, my sweet mum-in-law greeted us at the airport with tuberose leis. Tuberose are small, fragrant, tube-shaped flowers with a light rosy fragrance I strongly associate with Hawaii.

But you don’t have to visit the islands to experience the fragrant tuberose. Just head to your nearby Nordstrom Estee Lauder counter and ask to test the Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia Eau de Parfum ($65-120), a white floral combining the scents of tuberose and gardenia.

There are subtle transitions between the top, middle and base notes.

Aerin Lauder, granddaughter of Estee Lauder, originally developed the fragrance for herself and for friends.

Fragrance notes

Top notes: tuberose
Middle notes: gardenia
Base notes: carnation

Estee Lauder used the following elements to create the fragrance: neroli (a plant oil similar to bergamot), lilac, rosewood, tuberose, gardenia, jasmine, white lilies, orange flowers, carnation, vanilla, bourbon

To closely match the scents of flowers in nature, Lauder used a fragrance technology they refer to as “Nature Intact,” and with it the perfumers really hit this one on the nose (pardon the pun). Wearing the scent makes me feel like I’m wearing a tuberose lei.

I’ve been “visiting” this scent at the Nordie’s Estee Lauder counter near my house in Marin, practically dousing myself in it for the last month, but I’d been on the fence about purchasing it because of the price. The lesser expensive eau de parfum version (1 oz bottle) will set you back $65; a 2.5 oz bottle runs $120. A 1 oz bottle of the more concentrated perfume version, which I haven’t smelled, comes in a beautiful jeweled-top bottle and costs $300. Yes, you read that correctly: $300.

Since tomorrow is my birthday, and to commemorate this trip, I think I’m going to take the plunge and treat myself to the $65 eau de parfum. Hopefully, back at home in Marin, when I wear it I’ll think of Hawaii!

Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia Eau de Parfum Spray

Price: $65, 1 oz bottle; $120, 2.5 oz bottle
Use: A light, white floral fragrance reminiscent of Hawaii
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

Try Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia at Nordstrom Estee Lauder counters or look for it online.

Yesterday, I spent the day in sunny Waikiki after watching the Kamehameha Day Floral Parade, the second oldest parade in America, and the only one to celebrate a king. I didn’t expect the parade to be as interactive as it was. Members of the audience would run out to meet, shake hands with and to hug and take photos with the parade participants as the floats passed by. I was told by people in the audience that Hawaii has a lot of parades. I guess there’s always something here to celebrate.

After the parade we headed to the Elks Club at the foot of Diamond Head mountain to hang out by the pool and to watch contestants come in from a kayak regatta. We finished the day with a trip to the Honolulu Aquarium. I wasn’t able to go surfing because the waves were just too big for me (eight footers!) and, hello! — I am way too wimpy to handle those bad boys.

Read the rest of this entry »

Between the blog, freelancing and my day job at the literary agency, I’ve been pretty busy lately. It’s nothing like how busy those of you with young children or full-time class schedules are, but it’s still been enough to stress me out. To say I’ve been on edge for the past few months is probably the understatement of the year, so when I heard about two new Wellness by Clean perfumes ($76 each), both created to help women relax and to feel rejuvenated, I had to try ‘em out. They’re expensive, but so is therapy.

Clean claims that spritzing either eau de parfum, Harmony or Purity, on your pressure points induces a sense of tranquility, like a spray-on spa treatment.

Harmony:
Top notes — Italian lemon, eucalyptus, tea and dewberry
Middle notes — rose, jasmine, orange blossom
Base notes – cedar wood and musk

Purity:
Top notes — bergamot, mandarin, tea and dewberry
Middle notes — rose, jasmine, muguet (Lily of the Valley), germanium
Base notes — cedar wood, sandalwood, leather and musk

I am impatient with fragrances. If the top notes — that is, the initial burst of fragrance — don’t hook me, I usually look elsewhere, but that’s not how it played out with either of these perfumes. Both scents had powerful top notes that almost overwhelmed my sensitive nose, but the subsequent middle and base notes more than made up for the initial shock.

Initially, Harmony smelled like a huge basket of lemon rind strapped to my face, and Purity smelled like crushed mint leaves in my nostrils, but as soon as the dominant top notes mellowed out and transitioned into the milder middle and base notes, I began to feel some of the rejuvenating effect.

Harmony turned into a soft, powdery jasmine and rose floral fragrance; Purity morphed into a warmer floral with rose notes blending with musk and sandalwood.

I feel that Purity is the more invigorating, rejuvenating fragrance of the two, while Harmony is the more soothing scent.
Read the rest of this entry »

If I could, I’d change the name of Bobbi Brown’s newest summer fragrance. It left the factory known as Almost Bare ($60), but Almost Boy may have been a more accurate moniker.

When I spritzed it on my wrist, I smelled bar soap, tree bark, crushed leaves and citrus rind; the very first thing the scent made me think of was how the Brawny paper towel man must smell after a shower.

Some of my favorite recent products by Bobbi Brown…

• Long-Wear Cream Shadows create an easy, subtle eye look.
• Lip Crayons are pretty and practical.
• Beach Shower Gel smells like vacation in a tube.

Bobbi Brown calls Almost Bare a fresh floral and lists violet, muguet (Lily of the Valley) and jasmine as some of the individual notes within the fragrance, but I couldn’t detect them at all. The product’s more masculine notes — Italian bergamot (a citrus fruit), cedar and amber (a warm, kitchen-ey smell) — dominate the feminine notes, so, basically, it makes me smell like a dude. Sure, I smell like a clean, freshly washed dude (probably a very hot dude), but I still smell like a dude.

Bobbi Brown has marketed Almost Bare as a fragrance for women, but even the name seems a little masculine to me. The marketing folks probably meant to imply a subtle, undressed sexiness, but, honestly, when I hear Almost Bare I can’t help but picture bears. Yes, it’s weird, I know, but I can’t help it.

Nor is it a very complex fragrance. It remains much the same throughout the day, unlike fragrances that transition through a range of different notes over time.

Bobbi Brown Almost Bare Eau de Parfum

Use: A slightly masculine summer fragrance
Price: $60 for 1.5 oz. bottle
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: C+

I may not have been Bobbi Brown’s target customer with Almost Bare. I gravitate toward girly-girl scents with lots of layers. Give me J’adore or Coco Mademoiselle, and I’m in heaven. Even though I typically prefer much more complex and feminine fragrances than Almost Bare, I do have to hand it to Bobbi for creating a perfume that perfectly reflects the company’s makeup aesthetic. For me, the Bobbi Brown makeup line evokes a minimalist, not overly-feminine design. Almost Bare’s simple, clean, unisex fragrance reflects their makeup philosophy to a tee.
Read the rest of this entry »