Fragrance

I still got mad love for ya, Byredo Gypsy Water, but you’ve been temporarily usurped by REPLICA Beach Walk.

At least for summer.

If a walk along the beach could fit in a jar, the jar would smell like Maison Marin Margiela’s REPLICA Beach Walk.

OK, yeah…that didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but you know what I mean. 🙂 It’s light, beachy and breezy, like Bobbi Brown’s Beach but slightly sweeter (and without the sunscreen notes, which I don’t really mind because it reminds me of the beach).

And don’t you just love the old-timey apothecary bottle with the textured label (it’s 100% cotton)?

Officially, REPLICA Beach Walk has notes of bergamot, pink pepper, lemon, ylang-ylang, coconut milk, heliotrope, musk, cedar and benzoin (which is compared to light camphor). It’s described as pure, deep and blissful.

Unofficially, it smells like your favorite cozy boyfriend sweater (the one missing a button), sand between your toes, stolen kisses under the boardwalk, salt water in your hair and teenage dreams of endless summer days and nights. 🙂

I usually do one spritz on my wrist and one on my neck first thing in the morning, and the scent lingers until the evening.
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I like sniffing out scents that you can’t find on every beauty shelf and every fragrance counter, and this one, Maria Christofilis Fleur 09 Eau de Parfum Spray, definitely catches my nose’s attention. It’s an unabashedly bold and upfront white floral and citrus blend very much like a Tom Ford perfume, and it doesn’t back down from start to finish.

The official fragrance notes sound a little like a travel brochure: Sicilian yellow mandarin essence, Calabrese bergamot essence, bitter orange tree leaf water absolute, Moroccan orange flower extract, Tunisian orange blossom absolute, Indian tuberose absolute Orpu, Mexican Vanilla bean absolute and benzoin tears extract from Laos…

Benzoin tears?

Yeah, I also stopped in my tracks when I read that one.

What are benzoin tears? Apparently, they are secreted from ducts formed on deciduous and evergreen shrubs after they receive a severe wound.

Fascinating.
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Exciting times, ladies! 🙂

Known for breaking hearts around the world, breaking up New York City brawls, inspiring memes and elevating shirtless-ness to an art form (a fact I’ve appreciated many, many times), actor Ryan Gosling has now set his sights (and sense of smell) on the fragrance world with a new perfume called Hey Girl, coming to department stores this spring.

Makeup and Beauty Blog caught up with Ryan at San Francisco’s Fairmont hotel this weekend to dish about his latest endeavor, his rippled abs and his weakness for chocolate doughnuts.

A transcript of my 5-minute interview follows, but here’s what you need to take away from this:

1. Ryan Gosling is just as nice (and gorgeous) in person as he seems in movies and interviews
2. He may show you his abs if you ask him to, but it could require some shameless begging

KAREN: So, Ryan, I hear you’re taking a break from acting.

RYAN: Yes.

KAREN: What are Ryan Gosling’s next plans? — not that you ever refer to yourself in the third person or anything… You know what I mean.

RYAN: [laughs] Well, Ryan Gosling does have a few things up his sleeve.

KAREN: I know! Like saving more pedestrians from traffic accidents?

RYAN: Has everyone seen that video??

KAREN: [laughs] Just about.

RYAN: I don’t know, it’s like the cameras appear out of nowhere. I buy Gatorade and it’s on Yahoo! the next day.

KAREN: Dude, like it or not, you’re an Internet sensation.

RYAN: I figure I’ll just roll with it, you know?

KAREN: Or turn it into a beauty empire. That’s an interesting twist for you — the world of celeb perfumes?

RYAN: Yeah, well, I’ve always liked scents, you know, and I’m just in tune with that kind of thing, like I have these vivid memories of different perfumes and fragrances from different times in my life. And I’ve always liked that moment when you walk by a woman on the street and you catch a whiff of her fragrance. That’s why I knew I wanted to create something that my mom and sister would love.

KAREN: Aw, that’s so sweet! Did your mom and sister help you with Hey Girl?

RYAN: They did. I’d overnight them samples of the different versions along the way, and they’d text or call me with feedback, like what they thought worked and didn’t work. My mom would call me in the middle of the night and say, “Too spicy. Needs more rose.”

KAREN: [laughs] That’s helpful alright. My mom would just say, “This stinks.”
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