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Browsing by author: Jessica

A summer of violets

Posted by Jessica on 14 July 2016 30 Comments

Violet beauty products, 1

After writing last week’s review of Fabergé Straw Hat, I took a look around and realized that my violet obsession isn’t restricted to perfumes. I’m applying and ingesting and inhaling other violet-perfumed products on a regular basis, too. Here’s a quick round-up of some favorites.

Lush Daddy-O shampoo (top center image) is anything but a “shrinking violet” —its floral aroma is rich and vibrant, with added notes of ylang ylang and violet leaf to add complexity. The scent will linger in your hair all day…

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Faberge Straw Hat ~ vintage fragrance review

Posted by Jessica on 7 July 2016 8 Comments

Fabergé Straw Hat, vintage advert 1

I seem to be in the mood for vintage fragrances this summer, whether they date to the 1980s or much earlier. This week, I spent some time with Fabergé Straw Hat, a scent that was originally released in 1938 and discontinued in 1976, after being offered every spring and summer as a limited edition. I only became acquainted with Fabergé’s other fragrances a few years ago. Aphrodisia is still my favorite, but Straw Hat feels is more seasonally appropriate this week!

Fabergé (the cosmetics brand, that is — not the jewelers to the Russian imperial family!) was founded in 1937 by the Russian-born businessman and philanthropist Samuel Rubin, who sold the company to a competitor in 1963. Fabergé continued to release new perfumes and toiletries, was subject to further mergers over the years, and had most of its products discontinued under Unilever’s ownership in the 1990s. I remember the magazine ads for Babe (1977) from my youth, and the Brut men’s collection is still available…

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Les Parfums de Rosine Muguet de Rosine ~ fragrance review

Posted by Jessica on 1 July 2016 9 Comments

Les Parfums de Rosine Muguet de Rosine

Last year Les Parfums de Rosine launched the limited edition fragrance Muguet de Rosine. Apparently it’s very different from the earlier (now discontinued) Muguet de Rosine; this version is a composition of bergamot, pear, lily of the valley, rose, jasmine and white musk, developed for Les Parfums de Rosine by perfumer Nicolas Bonneville (who also created La Cologne de Rosine, which I enjoyed trying last year).

Although Les Parfums de Rosine is one of my favorite niche perfume houses, I have mixed feelings about lily of the valley scents. I prefer seeing and smelling actual lily of the valley flowers to wearing lily of the valley perfumes…

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Cacharel LouLou ~ fragrance review

Posted by Jessica on 24 June 2016 41 Comments

Cacharel LouLou vintage advert

I must be feeling nostalgic lately. This week I found myself digging into my “perfume cabinet” and pulling out a bottle of Cacharel LouLou that I bought nearly a decade ago. Cacharel launched LouLou in 1987, positioning it as a more seductive older “sister” to the highly successful Anaïs Anaïs (1978). I was always intrigued by LouLou, and now I’m wondering why I’ve never worn it on a more regular basis…

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Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey ~ fragrance review

Posted by Jessica on 17 June 2016 26 Comments

Issey Miyake L'Eau d'Issey

Last week I reviewed Room 1015’s Power Ballad, a fragrance inspired by memories of teenage love and rock clubs in the 1990s. I didn’t think it succeeded as an evocation of that decade, and many of you agreed with me. Ironically, although you (we) might have been listening to grunge or wearing Doc Martens and oversized flannel shirts in those days, there’s a good chance you were wearing a clean- and fresh-smelling fragrance. It might have been a body spray picked up at Bath & Body Works, or it might have been a splurge from a department store. (I personally went through several bottles of Kenzo Parfum d’Été.) It might have been Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey.

In 1992, Issey Miyake was already known for his sculptural-minimal designs, which reinterpreted traditional Japanese techniques of fabric-wrapping and origami in state-of-the-art synthetics and other unexpected materials…

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