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Browsing by tag: cheap thrills

Back on my soapbox: new soaps for Summer 2010 ~ scented body products

Posted by Jessica on 13 June 2010 25 Comments

bubbles

Last weekend I raved about Anjolie Ayurveda soap, and now I’m back with a few more recommendations.

I’ve long been a fan of John Masters Organics haircare, so I was happy to notice that the company has introduced a small group of all-natural soaps. From one olfactory angle, John Masters Organics Birch & Cedarwood Cleansing & Shaving Bar reminds me of homemade birch beer; from another, it evokes fresh wood shavings in a carpenter’s shop. That might sound like a strange combination, but it works. And this soap really is gentle enough to use for shaving…

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Anjolie Ayurveda Soaps ~ scented body products

Posted by Jessica on 30 May 2010 19 Comments

Anjolie soapsVishnu

Anjolie Ayurveda’s fragranced soaps are some of the prettiest-looking body products I’ve seen in a while. They’re circular and generously sized, and they’re wrapped in vibrantly colored handmade papers that are neatly pleated and sealed in the back. Anjolie’s lotus motif is a reference to the company’s practice of ayurveda (through formulations of beneficial herbs and natural oils) and to its manufacturing location (India, in the foothills of the Himalayas). Anjolie also hits the right notes by mentioning its commitment to fair trade practices, sustainable farming, collaboration with women-owned enterprises, and the use of facilities that provide education for their workers’ children.

However, all this visual appeal and these statements of ethics wouldn’t motivate me to review Anjolie Ayurveda unless the soaps themselves were enjoyable and effective products, which they definitely are. Anjolie’s basic soap recipe includes glycerin, olive oil, and aloe vera, plus other cold-pressed oils; it is available in ten different scents composed from natural essences. I started with Indian Lotus…

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Nest Blue Garden Candle ~ home fragrance review

Posted by Jessica on 22 May 2010 15 Comments

HydrangeaHydrangea

“There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whispering and the champagne and the stars.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby”

That’s one of my favorite passages in American literature, and it ran through my mind when I was lighting my new Blue Garden candle. I’ve been familiar with the Nest candle line for a while, and I’ve had a favorable impression of the candles’ fragrances and packaging, but somehow I didn’t purchase one until I noticed Blue Garden. The name must have held a subconscious appeal for me. I’ve also been feeling the need for a new home fragrance, since I usually like to make a seasonal switch from spicy or gourmand blends to lighter, botanical notes at this time of year.

Nest describes Blue Garden’s fragrance as “blue hydrangea, hyacinth, and forget-me-nots…blended with fresh green notes and a dew drop accord to create the aroma of a lush floral garden.” That’s an accurate summary. I actually don’t know how forget-me-nots smell, but Blue Garden does capture the idea of hyacinth and hydrangea in bloom. It’s a clean scent, as florals go, but not soapy, and its dewy-green aspect makes it feel versatile…

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Bath & Body Works Deep Aqua ~ scented body products

Posted by Jessica on 16 May 2010 33 Comments

Underwater flowers

Deep Aqua is Bath & Body Works‘ latest addition to its Signature Collection. It’s an aquatic floral scent, described as “the pure and refreshing fragrance of ocean drenched flowers inspired by a beautiful world underwater.” Its composition includes top notes of crisp melon, daffodil, violet leaves, and water blossoms; mid notes of spring daisy, cyclamen, dewy gardenia, and white hydrangeas; and base notes of musk captives and white woods.

Looking at that list of floral notes, you may not imagine anything oceanic at all, and you may wonder which seashore we’re talking about. Violets at the beach? That being said, the fragrance itself is appropriately watery and breezy, with light hints of white flower petals. It also seems to “bloom” differently in each of the products I’ve sampled. The Skin Smoothing Shower Gelée, a limited-edition formula for summer, is a gently exfoliating, sudsy gel. (And doesn’t the word “gelée” deserve to be brought back into wider circulation?). It smells as fresh and blue as it looks, but it also releases a more complex, musky note or two when it foams and mixes with the water and steam of a warm shower.

The Body Lotion was my least favorite of the three variations I tried…

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Love, Me… In The Garden solid perfume palette ~ fragrance review

Posted by Jessica on 8 May 2010 36 Comments

Love, Me... In The Garden solid perfume palette

Lately there’s been a wave of magazine and newspaper features discussing the rise of the solid perfume “trend.” Of course, solid perfumes have been around since ancient Egypt, and they were revived in the twentieth century through the efforts of Molinard, Estee Lauder, and Avon (to name just a few examples), but it does seem that more and more companies are offering solid fragrances right now. I’ll admit that I haven’t tried very many solids, other than a cherished Youth Dew “cameo” compact and some wonderful Crazylibellule and the Poppies Crazysticks. I’m generally more of a “spritzer.” However, the new perfume palettes from Love, Me Scents caught my eye. They’re packaged in sturdy little cardboard “books,” similar to the makeup palettes sold by companies like Too Faced and The Balm, and the one called In the Garden has a Klimt-inspired cover design, embossed with gold ink. I can’t recall any other company releasing a solid perfume palette, except Sonia Kashuk for Target, and I’ve never been able to find those in person.

Each Love, Me palette includes three scents, a card with suggestions for layering the fragrances, and some mood-setting text…

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