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The freebiemeet, episode 11

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viola

The freebiemeet is open! PLEASE read the instructions, even if you’ve read them before! Really, pretty please, with sugar on top! There’s not even that many of them, and you will save us all so much time and confusion. This is not that hard. Plus, it’s free stuff! It’s all good, but it’s even better if you read the instructions. If you have any questions, please post them here.

For people who would like to chat in addition to, or instead of, giving and getting free stuff, there will be a poll along shortly…

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Liushen Florida Water ~ fragrance review

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I’ve been called a perfume snob. Sometimes that epithet is hurled my way as a knee-jerk reaction to a negative review of a mainstream / department store scent…or to a positive review of an expensive perfume that’s hard to find. Can’t win for losing! I am not a perfume snob; I always give inexpensive colognes a try (and occasionally buy). Though I visit supermarkets about as much as Bill Gates and Oprah (that’s what husbands are for, right?), last weekend I went to Seattle’s Eastside to the Asian Food Center to buy (strangely realistic) faux ham and bacon. See, I’m not a food snob either; these (more-expensive-than-the-real-thing!) products from Taiwan allow this Virginia boy to eat “ham” without guilt…or gagging. While in the market, I dropped into the toiletries aisle to see what was new from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, mainland China and Japan. I found something new: Liushen Florida Water from Shanghai.

Liushen Florida Water is NOT related to Murry & Lanman Florida Water…

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Parfum d’Empire Le Cri de la Lumiere ~ fragrance review

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Sometimes it’s interesting to put aside the scent of a fragrance for a minute and focus on its texture. Is it murky and thick like a dark paisley wool throw? Or maybe it’s as diffuse as silk chiffon? The feel of a fragrance can be tight and dry or roomy and almost humid. It can be too dark to parse or nearly seem to shimmer.

As its name advertises, Parfum d’Empire Le Cri de la Lumière throws light like a moonstone. At the same time, it’s as cool and as finely grained as luxury face powder. Something so delicate should crush and fade easily, but Le Cri de la Lumière is a solid number, leading me to yet another comparison: a crystal take on Brancusi’s bird resting on an end table by the window…

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Frederic Malle Music For A While ~ fragrance review & quick pineapple poll

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Allure irrésistible. At a party on Paris’ rive gauche (where the ‘intellectuals’ with black AMEX cards study…party and shop) a woman’s fur coat (SO 80s, SO démodé) is lifted from her bare shoulders, exposing her neck to the candlelight (what about her face?…tiny candle?) Aware of many eyes upon her (“What a NECK!”), she pauses, smiling to herself, before emerging like a conqueror from the shadows. (Doesn’t take much! Sounds like Kim Kardashian, doesn’t it?)

Delete the bold type and this is how Frédéric Malle PR describes Music For A While,* the brand’s latest perfume. I grunt and roll my eyes as I read the fuddy-duddy copy, but as often happens with this brand (its backstories annoy l’enfer out of me), the fragrance makes me smile and present my (non-black) American Express card at Barneys New York…

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