Finishing Touches: #LipsNspritz of the Week, June 12 2016

Summer's coming!  Summer's coming!  Well, hopefully it is, anyway!  My tastes have certainly turned to the more summery this week, anyway.  I started with Caron's My Lang (which gave me and my husband a Woody Guthrie ear worm for several days), which is a sophisticated and creamy sun-lotion kind of a scent, which I really liked from first sniff. More about this soon.  I'm also LOVING the new Burts Bees lip crayons, this one in Napa Valley is a beautiful deep blood-red with great lasting power.

On Tuesday I wore Guerlain Terracotta, only to have it pour down raining all day.  Irony.  Again, another sun-lotion kind of fragrance, this one heavier on the jasmine, with an oilier kind of side to it, it's beyond gorgeous.  I wore it with one of Guerlain's new La Petite Robe Noir lipsticks, which smell of cherry blossom and black tea.  Nice shade, but scented lips are a little distracting, I think.   

On  Wednesday I wore what might be two of my favourite launches of the year so far, Diptyque Eau de Sens and Chanel Rouge Coco Stylo in Roman.  Eau de Sens is a gorgeous, waxy and fleshy orange blossom that has been rounded out with juniper and patchouli, it's fun and beautiful, and a delight to wear, I can't resist it, and it's a fragrance I crave almost daily.  Which is tough when you're trying to wear a different perfume every day!  The Rouge Coco stylos are gorgeous, and the first Chanel purchase I've gone out of my way to pick up in what must be a couple of years now.  They're shiny and cushiony, and beautifully pigmented.  I'm going to need backups of both of these.

Thursday I wore Hermes Pamplemousse Rose, which is a refreshing and light, almost sugary take on pink grapefruit, lacking the sulphurous air that can make things like Guerlain's Pamplemousse in the Aqua Allegorica a little difficult to wear. I paired it up with the almost neon-pink of Revlon's Barcelona Nights, which is a long time favourite. 

And on Friday (my birthday!) I wore the amazing Rose Gold from Ormonde Jayne, which is the companion piece to Black Gold which, in a tiny twist of fate, was released on my birthday two years ago.  I'm going to need a couple more wears to allow my nose to pick it apart, but so far it appears a worthy follow-up. I'll do a joint review of both of these fragrances soon, Black Gold is probably one of the most commented on fragrances in my collection, and I love it an unhealthy amount.  Just so you know.  I wore Rose Gold with my Louboutin lipstick in Survivita.  Love the colour, like the formula, completely underwhelmed with the hype, the price and the packaging.

And finally, in super-exciting news, later this month Frederic Malle launch body products (shower gel and body lotion) in the Cologne Indelible fragrance.  Cologne Indelible is a juicy and fresh cut-orange fragrance, replete with orange blossom, and cut through with a bright lemon and green herb facet which I adore an unhealthy amount.  The best thing about Cologne Indelible though is that is is a juicy citrus that lasts and lasts, which is hugely unusual for a citrus scent.  I've used these every day this week for layering purposes, as they're really zesty and refreshing.  I must pick myself up a full bottle of Cologne Indelible though, one day ...

And what have you been wearing? 


 The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


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LipsNspritz of the Week 31 January 2016

 So, I take all my LipsNspritz pictures in one batch on a Saturday afternoon, then wear them throughout the week, taking different pictures of stuff on a daily basis is far too much like hard work for me!  I assure you I do wear them though.  LipsNspritz is my attempt both to wear my entire perfume and lipstick collection, and to help my nose "relearn" perfume whilst I continue my recovery from parosmia.  I'm no longer completely anosmic, merely hyposmic (I estimate that I have around 60% of my sense of smell back now) and I'm leaving my parosmia behind.  It still bothers me, but to a much lesser extent than it used to.  That said, I still struggle with recognising smells out of context, and I still struggle with some smells, though I have recently discovered that coffee no longer smells of sewage (it doesn't - yet - smell of coffee, however), and that has been a huge breakthrough.  

Anyway, on with what I was wearing this week.  The week began with Molton Brown Black Pepper, which is a divinely spicy, prickly, peppery hoot of an aftershave.  Or rather, it was before they reformulated it and called it Black Peppercorn.  It's still good, but a shadow of it's funny, unexpectedly sexy former self.  I wore it with Lipstick Queen Red Sinner, which as fine a red lipstick as a red lipstick can be.

I also tried a re-wearing of Escentric Molecules 01,  There's been a lot written about this one over the years (and if I read one more piece mentioning pheromones, or how it "melds with your personal chemistry to create a bespoke scent for the wearer" piece - ALL perfumes do that - I shall grind my teeth into powdery bloody stumps), and I shall not go on too much, but the "trick" of 01 is that it contains only one scented ingredient; a molecule named Iso E Super.  Iso E Super is a light and airy, slightly sweet and woody scent, and it can be difficult to smell in isolation.  On skin, it smells like clean skin, with a slightly cedary spect, and smells good, without really smelling like a traditional "perfume", much in the way ambergris-based fragrances smell to my nose.  As it happens, I couldn't really smell it whilst wearing it, but others could, and they liked it, without being able to say either why, or what it smelled like.  But this matches with my experience of wearing it before anosmia too, so that's that then.  I wore it with Lipstick Queen Butterfly Ball Lipstick in Smitten, something else which doesn't draw attention to itself, but makes you more polished just the same.

Right now as I write this, I'm wearing Demeter Wet Garden, and Lipstick Queen Deep Red Sinner lipstick (alongside my favourite polka dot pyjamas.  What?).  I smell like lilacs in April, and I'm - apparently - channeling  Norma Desmond.  In pyjamas.  Oh yes, it's glamorous alright in beauty blogging.  Aren't you glad I don't vlog?

I love the sour-rhubarb and white flowers of Jour d'Hermes.  The sour fruit of the opening is such a surprise compared to grownup and ladylike white flowers of the middle notes, and I like the opening very much.  Sadly, for my nose, the white flowers are a little too ... ladylike and so it's not a fragrance I reach for very often as a result.  The lipstick was Jean Queen by Lipstick Queen, which is something else I find confusing.  The concept of matching ones lipstick to ones jeans is a bit ... superfluous (and my jeans are black, anyway), but it's a pretty pink-mauve, which doesn't scream "I AM WEARING JEANS!", so it will do.

I also wore Diptyque's Phylosykos this week.   I love this fragrance so very, very much.  It smells of a fig tree in its entirety, from the leaves, to the bark, to the milky fruit, with just a slight hint of coconut oil in the base.  It's rather wonderful and it reminds me, every time I wear it, of my days off in Cyprus (I used to be a holiday rep over there) where I used to slather myself in Hawaiian Tropic (factor 2!)  and drink cocktails under the fig trees on the beach.  Not only is it the best fig fragrance on the planet, it's also an instant holiday in a bottle.  Get some.  I wore this with Lipstick Queen Sinner in Wine.  I also like wine. Wine is good.

And finally, Shay and Blue Atropa Belladonna starting with a savoury blackcurrant accord, Atropa Belladonna slides into a waxy and fat jasmine and sandalwood, which is interesting, before ending in a sticky vanilla kiss.  I like this very much (not quite as much as I like their surprising and lovely Salted Caramel, however), and it was a fitting fragrance to spend a Saturday (also in pyjamas) afternoon wearing.  I paired it with Revlon Red Velvet Lip Butter, which should never have been discontinued.

What have you been wearing?

The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


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LipsNspritz of the week 10 January 2016

I fell in love this week, and I never expected to! It started on Monday with a brief squirt of Estee Lauder Youth Dew, and it continued later in the week and it ended up with my buying a bottle (or two!) of the matching bath oil, which is divine, by the way, and every home should have a (tiny) bottle. Youth Dew opens surprisingly bright with bergamot, and is fresher than I remember it, then once the top notes wear off, it is deep and rich with almost-medicinal balsams and resins.   It's not a fragrance for you if you prefer "clean" scents, but it's a grown-up, sophisticated and no-nonsense kind of a fragrance. I love it very much.  

On Tuesday (top row, middle), I wore Carven Le Parfum, which, after the confident brass balls of Youth Dew, seems a tiny, ladylike whisper of white flowers and office-appropriateness.  It's incredbly light and sheer and pretty, and as I generally prefer a bit of attitude with my fragrance, it's not something I'll wear too often in all honesty.  But if you like clean and pretty and light, it's very lovable indeed.

Wednesday (top right) saw me in Estee Lauder Sensuous Nude,  which is another light and office appropriate fragrance, and one which I don't wear too often as a result.  It's a little more interesting (to me) than the Carven, because this really does smell like warm, clean, freshly showered skin, and I like it, but it doesn't feel very "me".

Thursday saw me right back in my comfort zone, with Voyage d'Hermes by Hermes, in the parfum concentration.  A spiced (cardamom and juniper) rose over a bed of amber, this is surprisingly sexy for a diaphanous Jean Claude Ellena concoction, and is one of my all-time favourite fragrances of all time. It's one both myself and my husband wear (when I'm not hiding it from him that is), and we both  love.  Completely backup-worthy, this one.

Friday, I wore a vintage bottle of Nu by Yves Saint Laurent.  The first fragrance released by Tom Ford for YSL, Nu is a symphony of black pepper and incense, and was a) the first time I'd ever heard of Tom Ford, and b) realised that perfume didn't have to smell of just fruit and flowers.  Nu is spicy, peppery, and at the time that I bought it (around 2001) didn't smell like anything else on the market.  It was truly and original, and the fact that around approximately 60% of all new "niche" perfumes try to rip it off just goes to show how influential it was.  Another one of my favourites.

On Saturday I actually left the house and went for dinner with my husband (I never leave the house on Saturdays if I can possibly help it!) and to celebrate, I went with Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds.  Because: Elizabeth Taylor, White Diamonds. All powder and aldehydes, White Diamond is a true 80's classic, as long as you don't mind smelling like an exploded makeup bag.  Which, of course, I don't.

Lipsticks this week included (Mon-Sat) Max Factor lipgloss in Polished Fuchsia,  Guerlain Kiss Kiss in Very Cherry, Estee Lauder Pure Colour Envy in Rebellious Rose, Dior Addict Extreme in Paparazzi, Nars Satin Lip Pencil in Grand Palais, and (not pictured, but please see Monday's post this week), Max Factor Marilyn Monroe Collection No1 Red Ruby.  Pictured bottom left is actually Bare Minerals Moxie lip colour in Live Large, which is excellent.

So, what've you been wearing? 


The Fine Print: PR Sample


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LipsNspritz of the ... er ... Fortnight.

I hate being ill, and I really hate being ill to the extent that it interferes with my posting schedule.  Nonetheless, here's a double-dose (whether you wanted it or not, frankly) of my weekly diary of lipstick and perfume-wearing.  The above pic is from the week ending 22/11/15.

Monday was Etat Libre d'Orange Like This, alongside Chantecaille Lip Chic in Wild Rose.  Like This is probably my favourite "gourmand" fragrance, being a blend of pumpkin, mandarin, ginger and immortelle.  It should smell like a pumpkin pie - which it does, to an extent - but it also smells warm, sophisticated and slightly tweedy from the prickle of ginger.  Perfect for autumn, and just plain delicious at any time.  

Tuesday was continuing the gourmand theme with Laura Mercier Ambre Vanille, alongside Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Rose.  Both are easy and simple to wear, without being too challenging.  Ambre Vanille is sweet and warm, and Rose is a beautiful neutral, which will work on many colourings.

Wednesday brought Hermes Eau d'Orange Vert which is one of my favourite citrus fragrances of all time - I go a little insane for mint in fragrances, and this combination of bitter orange, sweet orange, and just a hint of peppermint oil makes me a little weak at the knees.  I only wish it lasted longer.  I wore it with the rosy mauve of Shiseido Lacquer Rouge in RD529, which is quite an opaque liquid lipstick.

Thursday I wanted to wear a classic, so I did.  Guerlain L'Heure Bleue, a beautiful dance of orange blossom and iris, coupled with vanilla and a little spicy carnation, I adore this fragrance.  It feels blue all the way through, so I wore a blue-toned lipstick too, which was Illamasqua Magnetism.  I got several compliments on the fragrance, as I always do when I wear it, and resolved to wear it more often.  Which I will when this project is over.

I fully intended to wear Tuberose Criminelle by Serge Lutens on Friday, but I was too ill to cope with the rubbery camphoraceousness (TOTALLY a word - if possibly not the spelling).  I spent the day feeling sorry for myself in pyjamas instead.

Saturday I was attempting to  make myself feel better, so a hot shower and a thorough dowsing in DKNY Drop of Rose, which I love for its soft and rosy approximation of baby powder, and a slight resemblance to Ombre Rose by Jean Jacques Brosseau.  It is pure comfort in a bottle, and I love it.  I paired it with Becca lipgloss in Palm Breeze, a bubblegum pink that wasn't too challenging.

 Part two tomorrow ...

 //
The Fine Print: PR Samples, purchases, random stuff from the back of the perfume cabinet ...



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LipsNspritz 31.10.15

  
It was definitely a week of two halves, lipstick-wise at least! Bright reds, by Guerlain (Rouge Parade), Burberry (Military Red) and Art Deco (Dita Von Teese collection) were the order of the day, particularly on Wednesday, when I felt a real need for power dressing, which called for a hugely long-lasting red (as the Art Deco is), and when paired with Donna Karan Signature fragrance recalled boardroom meetings in the late 80s.  Minus the power-suits, of course ...  Oh, and you can do a lot worse than a bottle of Kim Kardashian to brighten up a doleful Monday morning, btw ...

I mellowed out enough to allow Autumn a look-in on Thursday and Friday, pairing berry-colours from Lipstick Queen (Bete Noire, sheer) and Makeup Forever (Artist Plexi-Gloss 406) with Jo Malone Blackberry and Bay (possibly the most autumnal fragrance I own), and Hermes Eau des Merveilles, which being neither fruity, nor flowery, nor spicy, nor fruity is as difficult to describe as it is easy to love (it's probably best described as a salty orange, without the orange.  Yes, yes, I know).  Then on Saturday I was seduced all over again by Burberry sending me their Christmas collection, which includes a new Military Red in beautiful gold packaging, and a sparkling bottle of My Burberry to boot.  So I wore those, because, why not?


The Fine Print: Mixture of PR samples and personal purchases.


This post: LipsNspritz 31.10.15 originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

Evans & #Bootgate continued ...

I promise, no more boot-based posts or tweets after this. I'm fed up of me. However I got the following email just now:

Hi Louise,

I am sorry to hear that you wish to decline the offer of £25.00 and are not happy with our goodwill gesture. Unfortunately we feel that this offer is appropriate to the nature of your complaint and are unable to increase this offer any further.

We are still looking into any information from the couriers and will update you once we have received a response from them in regards to the parcel being returned to us.

Kind Regards,
Evans Customer Services

To which I have responded:

Actually, the reason I keep declining your goodwill gestures is not because of the amount, but because of their content. I've made it perfectly clear on several occasions that I no longer wish to be a customer of yours because of the way I've been treated in the preceding four days.

Any "goodwill gesture" from any company where the offended party is then tied into further transactions with the organisation that has caused offence are something everyone should routinely reject.

It's not a goodwill gesture for you to ask me for more money (the offer of a 10% discount on a "next purchase"). It is not a goodwill gesture for a company to offer something that is, essentially, worthless (a £10 gift card) without me spending money of my own. A goodwill gesture is something that doesn't rely on me having to become a customer again, as it is the very act of being one of your customers that has caused the problem on this occasion. I'm not complaining about a faulty product, or a bit of upset caused by a thoughtless comment from a staff member, this little problem has cost me in the region of £350 when you add in lost work, the cost of other items I have had to buy to make up for your lack of delivery on this occasion, not to mention the hours (and I mean that literally) I've had to put into these emails, and my blogpost to get your company to take my situation seriously.

So, as a compromise, I suggest this: If you want to make a "goodwill gesture", then actually *make* a gesture. One that will engender actual, real, genuine and sincere goodwill. Send some flowers, make a donation to charity (I'll choose it if you like), apologise publicly, or something - anything! - but, whatever you or your boss decides to do, just do something that isn't merely a "Here's a voucher, now go buy something else from us and get out of our hair"-shaped "gesture", please.

 

I'll edit this post later if they respond.  Many thanks to everyone for the tweets, DMs, Facebook messages and emails I've had regarding this morning's blog post, I've really appreciated the support today! I don't normally worry about pressing publish, but today I did. I'm glad I didn't have to...

Edited to add:

They changed their offer from a £25 "gift" card to a £25 cheque.  I have accepted this, and will donate it to charity.

The boots are still, at the time of writing, "with the courier for delivery".

I will never shop at Evans Online again.

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My Tiny Hermes Collection

My Hermes fragrance collection is small, and almost perfectly formed, at least, for my purposes, anyway.   I didn't realise I really liked the scents of Hermes so much until recently.  I've long been a fan of Eau d'Orange Vert, which is a minty-orange cologne, meant more for men, but I find it to be a very refreshing scent on hot summer days.  Sadly, it doesn't last nearly long enough.

Eau de Pamplemousse Rose is an effervescent sparkling pink grapefruit scent which is the latest addition to my Hermes collection, it's light, refreshing, fruity and simply marvellous for repeated sprays on hot days.  It's not a complicated scent, but it's not sickeningly sweet and it's very enjoyable to wear.  I'm loving it.

I bought Un Jardin Sur Le Nil after reading The Perfect Scent by Chandler Burr, which takes the story of Jean Claude Ellena's creation of this scent, and makes you long to smell it for yourself.  It's a fabulous and fascinating book, which if you get a chance to read, and you're at all interested in fragrance, you should grab it with both hands.  Fair warning, you will end up buying Un Jardin Sur Le Nil and a bottle of Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker as a result of reading the book though.  That said, I find I have less of a connection with this mango-drenched scent than I do with the others.  It's very nice, but ... I don't love it.

Finally we have Voyage d'Hermes in perfume format.  This is an icy-cool fragrance, which has had me and MrLippie fighting over who gets to wear it on particular days. It has rose and amber, underneath a citrus-spicy (cardomom and juniper, mainly) opening, which is hard to resist.  It's hard to say why we like this so much - once it dries down a bit, it smells rather like an expensive barber shop, warm and a little soapy, but luxurious with it - but this one is very definitely back-up worthy.  It's rather sexy, too, in an understated kind of way.

I now want Eau des Merveilles to round out my little collection - I tried some on my skin the other day, and the salty dry-down is simply gorgeous.

All these Hermes fragrances are a little more "diaphanous" than my usual fragrance choices - I usually prefer darker, more heady fragrances, but I'm definitely coming to appreciate the "less is more" approach of Jean Claude Ellena these days.

The Fine Print: Mixture of PR Samples and purchases.
 
This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Project Perfume - Book Review

(Click picture for source)

 Alongside "Perfumes the A-Z Guide" by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, I've also read "The Perfect Scent" by Chandler Burr, and it's completely, totally and utterly fascinating.


Burr is the "scent critic" for The New York Times Magazine, and in this book he highlights the journeys of two perfumes on their way to market, One a high-end Perfume House; Hermes, making their way with Un Jardin Sur le Nil, and at the other end of the perfume spectrum, there is Coty, trying to get a celebrity perfume to market, and that is Sarah Jessica Parker's "Lovely".


At times unintentionally hilarious, as when a trip along the Nile becomes a bit of a disaster when the team from Hermes, who have just drafted in Jean-Claude Ellena as their in-house "nose",  discover that the gardens along the Nile don't really smell of anything, but at all times fascinating, it's an instructive and sometimes quite emotive book about how the high end and the mass-market go about things in their respective industries.


The Hermes story is very much about how much a company can have invested in one person's vision of how a scent should be, and how that will affect a company as whole, whereas the Coty story of Lovely is a little of the opposite, about how "smoothing the edges off" one person's vision can satisfy the company's marketing needs.  At least, that's how I read it.


All through the book you're treated to visions from both Jean-Claude Ellena and Sarah Jessica Parker (who played a surprisingly large role in the creation of her first perfume), of how they wanted the perfumes to smell, and what their inspirations were, and how they went from iteration to iteration of each scent until they were ready (sometimes only just!) to go to market.  I found this very interesting, so much so that I went out and bought a sample of each of the scents in the book, so I could smell the finished product for myself.


First things first, I'm not a massive fan of either Jean-Claude Ellena or of celebrity scents in general, Ellena's scents I find are simply too ethereal, too light, and too ... thin for me.  I can appreciate the master skill that he puts into making his perfumes, but, for me, they disappear too quickly, and usually I'm left resentful that after ten minutes or so I can no longer smell them at all.  With that in mind, to me, Un Jardin Sur Le Nil is pleasant, fruity, and, unsurprisingly insubstantial.  It is something that I will probably get more wear out of during hot weather, where I will appreciate something lighter and fruitier during the summer.  I'll be revisiting this one at a later date, I'm sure.


The real revelation for me is  Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker, which I was surprised to find actually lives up to the name.  I am, I admit, a bit of a snob, there are no two ways about it, and I have, for years totally ignored - rightly or wrongly - celebrity perfumes.  I have no real desire to smell like the latest trend, and as the latest trends in perfume all appear to veer towards fruity toilet cleaners (particularly at the cheaper end of the z-list celeb scale)  then, I don't think I've missed all that much.  But this is a little gem, a non-fruity, rather sophisticated little musky floral that I don't mind admitting that I've been carrying around in my handbag for a week or two now.  It's a simple, easy wear, that doesn't need much thought, but it is, as the name suggests it will be, rather pretty, and sometimes, when you've been wrangling with other perfumes which can, and indeed do smell like cat-poo doused in honey (and that's a GOOD THING btw, but more about that later), Lovely is a nice little no-brainer that won't make you smell like Kerry Katona.


So, The Perfect Scent is a "right riveting read" as my mum would say, and a salutory lesson that price isn't - always - everything when it comes to scent.  Highly recommended.


The  Fine Print: Everything mentioned in this post was bought with my own cash, even the cat-poo-doused-in-honey scent, which I'll tell you more about later.


This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Summer perfumes: Hermes Eau d'Orange Verte vs Guerlain Herba Fresca

I mentioned in a recent perfume review that I go a little bit crazy for minty perfumes and colognes and the two I'm talking about this week are two of my all-time favourite summer scents.

First off, Hermes Eau d'Orange Verte, which is a unisex cologne.  I find this is quite citrussy on it's opening (that'll be the orange in the name, I expect, I'm clever that way), and it smells a little like you've gone a bit mad with your other halfs' aftershave for a few minutes - not that I mind that too much - in the mid point it smells a little like Imperial Leather, sort of soapy, clean and warm, a little musky but not too much, and then once it's dried down completely, you get a mossy sort of minty smell which I find totally intoxicating.  Sadly this one doesn't last all that long, the top notes last minutes at most and the middle disappears irritatingly fast, and you'll find that you will have to go hunting on your skin for the dry-down (it sticks very close to your skin), but it's worth it.  Also, I find that the irritating lightness is also part of it's charm, as it means you can reapply quite regularly, without worrying that the people around you are going to need a gas mask.

But, my all-time favourite summer-minty fragrance of all-time is Guerlain's Herba Fresca, which is part of their "Aqua Allegoria" range of scents inspired by nature.

It's decidedly green, and smells of fresh cut grass, hay and MINT on first spray, it's cooling and delicious, and very, very, very light.  I spray it everywhere (and I mean everywhere, arms, legs, chest, back) and then spend the day sniffing delightedly at myself.  It's clean and fresh and very different to anything else I own, which is probably why I like it so much.  Occasionally, if I want it to last longer, I will layer it over Korres Spearmint Shower Gel and Body Lotion, which are an excellent companion to this scent.  This is also the only perfume I own that MrLippie comments on spontaneously, saying how wonderful it smells.  Of course, he thinks it smells of orange, but hey, that's men for you, right?

What are your favourite summer fragrances, and what do you think of mint as a perfume ingredient?