Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Mandarin peels and apple candy, anyone? If you like soft, sweet scents as much as I do, swing by Macy’s when you get a chance to sniff Nina Ricci’s latest limited edition elixir, Le Paradis de Nina ($55, 1.7 fl oz).
Delicate, with a scent that unfolds like origami, this fruity floral eau de toilette feels a little less citrusy than the original Nina by Nina Ricci fragrance, exhibiting notes of gardenia, sandalwood and vanilla.
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Well, look at you, Miss Thang. Whether you’re working a smoky eye or rocking a red lip, your fine self is looking flawless (thanks to Karen’s incredible makeup tips). All that remains is a few spritzes of a fabulous perfume. Now, this perfume must do more than simply smell good. A great perfume should be the finishing touch to your look, creating an aura that matches your makeup. It should add to your sex appeal when you’re looking slinkier than Halle Berry, or create a sense of romance when you’re having an ultra-feminine, Keira-Knightley-in-her-latest-period-piece moment. Here are a few suggestions for perfumes that lend themselves to a particular makeup style; please feel free to mix and match.
Your kohl-rimmed eyes already whisper, “Come hither”. Now take your game to the next level with a sexy scent that says, “Hey, Angelina Jolie, this isn’t amateur hour.”
Photo by Weglet
Red lips and a flick of liquid liner recall the glamorous stars of 1940’s Old Hollywood. Classic perfumes of the same era will complement your vintage vibe.
Not bigger as in bolder scents, but bigger as in fragrance packaging. In 1981’s The Incredible Shrinking Woman, a mix of perfumes and other household products causes an ordinary suburban housewife to shrink down to just a few inches in size (whee!). Today, it’s the other way around, with perfume bottles shrinking on fragrance counters worldwide.
Increasingly for fragrances, it’s a small world, with smaller and smaller options like rollerballs, fragrance sticks and mini-bottles (1 oz. or less) for sale. The economy has something to do with it — smaller bottles generally cost less than bigger ones do and contain less product — but shrinking bottles don’t necessarily mean better values, at least not in terms of price per ounce.
A small (CUTE!) 1 oz. bottle of Gwen’s Harajuku Lovers fragrance, for instance, costs $45 at Sephora, but if you don’t go through fragrances very quickly, that may not be a bad deal. Of course, if the same scent came in a bottle the size of a Coke can (12 oz.), we’d be talking about a whopping $540 instead.
Are shrinking fragrance bottles a win-win for consumers and beauty companies alike?
“Smaller sizes are a great way for consumers to get a taste of what’s new or to remember a loved, favorite scent,” explains Karen Grant, Vice President and Global Industry Analyst at The NPD Group. “This could be not only a thoughtful option, but a budget-friendly one for gift giving.”
Loading ...Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
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Jouer Body Butter ($32) and Bath & Body Oil ($28) are like a leisurely stroll through a garden bursting with fragrant summer blooms.
The light infusion of gardenia, jasmine and honeysuckle flowers won’t abandon you midway through your day. Like good friends, both products are there when and where you need them, moisturizing your driest bits with a blend of sweet almond, apricot kernal and jojoba oils that leave skin soft, but not greasy.
I like to mix a few drops of the oil with the cream for what amounts to pure hydration heaven.
As for the packaging, this elegant duo (I love glass bottles with a little heft to ’em) could look classy on almost any dresser.
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True story: Every once in a while my mom calls to complain about my dad bogarting her perfumes. Seriously, pops, I love you, but wearing the scent of a woman? — not so hawt.
With Father’s Day right around the corner, I’ve been sniffing around for a new scent for dear old dad, and my nose has really been liking Gucci by Gucci Sport Pour Homme ($57 for a 1.6 oz bottle).
Inspired by the free spirit and power of the ocean, it’s the latest addition to Gucci’s family of fragrances for men, with notes of grapefruit, cardamom, fig nectar, and rich, woody patchouli. I think dad would like the scent, but I know he’d like the bottle, which feels hefty and solid in my hands.
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Have you heard? Next month we’re getting three new neighbors on Benefit’s Crescent Row. Yup, you remember their cousins, right? — those spunky gals from last year?
Like those first three fragrances, the new ones were also named after different imaginary girls, complete with colorful backstory poems replete with style and charm.
There’s Garden of Good and Eva, Lookin’ to Rock Rita and Hooked on Carmella, each of them eau de toilettes ($36 apiece).
They flutter onto Benefit counters, stores and Sephora next month. Here are some details from Benefit…
Eva’s a crisp and citrusy floral with a full-time free spirit, and she’s the kind of friend you can never refuse, even when she’s asking you to ditch work for a day at the beach!
Official fragrance notes: Eva opens with notes of pear, watermelon, ozone accords (an accord is when three or four notes blend together to create a new scent) and muguet (Lily of the Valley), sauntering from there into a heart of rosebud, jasmine petals, green violet leaves and freesia. Finally, she mellows into a mix of sandalwood, musk and cedarwood.
Come away with Eva
Breeze down a lush lane
She’s the fresh rush of splendor
You can’t quite explain
So vividly vibrant
With a carefree deameanor
She whirls off to a place
Where grasses are greener
Sounds like Eva might make a perfect companion for a summer road trip down the coast.
Exhilarating Rita, all green and fruity, hums along in high heels and high fashion. You can bet she’ll be ready for adventure at the drop of a hat!
Official fragrance notes: Opening with a blend of lemon, coconut and freesia, Rita boogies into a heart of juicy fig, hyacinth and violet before clearing the dance floor for bottom notes of sandalwood, Brazilian rosewood and vanilla, YUM!
Rita’s ready to rock
And dressed to thrill
With a flavor for risks
Brilliant dreams to fulfill
Juiced up on extras
And dazzling fashions
A modern-day paradise
Of shake-it-up passions
Doesn’t Rita sound like the one to go clubbing with? I just hope she doesn’t ditch me for a cute boy!
She’s the girl at dinner who captures every single heart!
Official fragrance notes: Carmella starts her seduction with yummy lemon, grapefruit and rhubarb before melting into cyclamen (a flower), peony and tiare flower. She ends the evening (with company, of course) by drying down into a warm finish of vanilla, sandalwood and amber.
When it comes to Carmella
Don’t ask and don’t tell
A light touch has admirers
Under her spell
Her sweet sensuality
No one would guess
So exquisite, enticing…
An intimate caress
Carmella could make date nights more special than the rest!
So tell me — which of the new Crescent Row Second Story girls do you resemble most? I think I might be an Eva. 🙂
WARNING: Crazy cat lady moment. I’ve started doing some gardening out front, and what do you suppose I planted? Rows of beautiful flowers? Vegetables galore?
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Happy Wednesday, my friend. I hope you’re having a great week so far and feeling downright fabulous. 🙂
There’s a cosmopolitan-fueled buzz in the air! The new Sex and the City sequel dances into theaters tomorrow (TOMORROW!), and I’m beyond stoked.
As if the movie opening isn’t cool enough, but today’s giveaway makes it that much cooler. It features some kick-arse prizes, including the new Sarah Jessica Parker scent, SJP NYC.
Conceived with a street-strutting Carrie Bradshaw in mind, it’s a flirtatious fruity floral with notes of wild strawberry, mandarin orange, gardenia, honeysuckle, mimosa, rum (yay!), sandalwood and creamy musk.
(Winners randomly selected)
Two (2) three-piece sets of SJP NYC products featuring a full-sized SJP NYC perfume, lotion and a solid perfume bracelet. Prize valued at $85 (two separate winners).
To enter the SJP NYC giveaway, answer the following question in the comments:
“Why do you love Sex and the City?”
My answer: Besides the awesome fashion and shoes, I’ve always admired how much the characters love each other. Their friendship is one that I think a lot of women long for, including me. Many of my best friends live thousands of miles away…
Please, one entry per person.
Leave a valid email address in the comment form so I can reach you if you’ve won.
The SJP NYC folks asked that this giveaway extend to US and Canada residents only; to my international homegirls, I promise to make sure the next giveaway includes you.
I’ll choose the winners at random from the entries received by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, May 28, 2010.
Good luck, and have a wonderful Wednesday! 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I’m going with Balenciaga Paris today, a light floral with notes of violet and pepper (not like bell peppers or jalapeños, LOL!). It smells very feminine and sophisticated to me without crossing over into stuffy-ville…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen