The Art of Male Makeup by David Horne and Mark Bowles

By Luke

“The only way I'd be caught without makeup is if my radio fell in the bathtub while I was taking a bath and electrocuted me and I was in between makeup at home. I hope my husband would slap a little lipstick on me before he took me to the morgue.” - Dolly Parton. 

Make up is a funny thing isn’t it? The quote above is the way a lot of women feel about makeup, or more pertinently, how they feel about themselves without it.

I don’t know when it was exactly that women or society more likely hijacked makeup as being an almost exclusively female activity, but until fairly recently, certainly in my short lifetime *ahem* men with makeup on has always been viewed as a bit of a freakshow. This is with the exception of drag per se, that has little ambiguity about what is going on.

More often than I care to mention, when I explain to someone what I do for a living, it is quite often, and rather ignorantly, met with questions about whether I wear makeup, or even if I ‘do drag’ myself. The assumption being I suppose that if I am a dab hand at a bit of lipstick, and a brush, and I love a bit of glitter, that I must covet the most feminine of all things that is makeup, and want to decorate my face with it, ironically in a female parody sort of way.

But makeup and men do have a very long lineage. There have always been men, who still wishing to look like men, have worn makeup. I am not talking about those possibly too vain men that pop on a (very lightly) tinted moisturiser, or slick a little Touch Eclat under their eyes after a heavy night, and god forbid it should look like you are ACTUALLY wearing makeup for fear of ridicule.

Men who wear makeup, but to all the world don’t fit into this little box of drag, or camp, or androgyny, or feminine or all the other rather emasculating vocabulary you can throw at them because they are wearing something other than sweat on their faces.

Makeup, for me is a gender neutral product. Out of the pot onto a face, be it male or female, it’s the same.  In this respect, there is a subculture of men that do wear makeup because quite simply it pleases them to do so.  But, when looking at male makeup, there are few reference points.  Until now. This week, I was invited to the launch of a new book The Art of Male Makeup. Its creators are the two prolific and frankly fabulous David Horne and Mark Bowles.Both makeup artists, and both incredibly clever.

The book was born from this lack of reference to makeup from a male perspective, or worn by men that wasn’t as I said earlier draggy, or trans, or feminine. Far from detracting anything from these particular styles, the book seeks to demonstrate that male make up is an art form all on its own.

An important and rather insightful analysis took place as to what exactly *is* feminine about makeup? A very particular eye was cast over the various techniques that we are all so familiar with and examined to see what exactly feminised them.

An example of this would be eyeliner (guyliner *shudders* I loathe that term). A straight, unbroken line is feminine; a flick for example is also feminising the eye. Matte, for example, is deemed more masculine than a shimmer, or a shine. Glamour is not the goal here. Any ‘traditional’ cosmetic tricks are pulled right back so as not to overdo, and become about the makeup, and not the face.

And fundamentally, what is masculine makeup? It’s not about decoration, so much as it is enhancement. It’s less about correction, and more about character. The Art of Male Makeup presents 28 characters to us, that are all familiar male types, and shows us with these rules how makeup emphasises the masculine traits of the face and body. There is not one that isn’t intriguing, and doesn’t drag you into the story of that particular character, and some will even surprise you. It is beautifully photographed by the extremely charming Daniel Ellyot Moore. 

  

Flicking through, not one of these men has been feminised by the makeup, or the hair. And each time I go looking at a different page, I notice something new in the picture. They are all very beautiful indeed.  A true collaboration of creative talent, there were a number of artists who worked on this book including the amazing Julia Townend (on body makeup this time), and Spob O’Brien on hair duty. 

So what does it mean?

Well for me it’s a welcome relief on many levels. Not only is it a perfect reference for the way maleness is perceived by Mark and David, but it also signifies a new perspective in the world of makeup, and artistry as a whole. We are seeing a lot of the same type of thing all the time. Another smoky eye, another cut crease, another contoured face that we’re all supposed to mimic and get excited about, when actually, these are not new concepts but just lazy populist re hashes of the same thing over and over.  The Art of Male Makeup articulates a whole new world of possibilities for you to look at, and equally for me as an artist.

 A stunning book, and an incredible body of work. I leave you with some beautiful illustrations of the looks by Achraf Amiri.  If you are at all serious about makeup, you need to own this. 

 

The Art of Male Makeup is available by emailing hausofhorne@yahoo.com and is £25.

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Big Hair Round-Up: Eco Tools Hairbrushes, Josh Wood for M&S and Her Volumising Powder

By Laurin

We have a saying in my homeland: “The higher the hair, the closer to Jesus.” From her hair alone, I think that we can deduce that my grandmother and her poodle were both very close to Jesus in 1979. My relationship with the Holy Spirit is on decidedly shakier ground, so I have to rely on modern artifice to give me the volume I crave. Here are a few products I’ve rated recently:

Eco Tools Hairbrushes

Eco Tools, who already have a high quality range of affordable make-up brushes, are launching their first collection of hairbrushes next month. They're made using repurposed aluminium and renewable bamboo, which is great if you care about your carbon footprint, but you should still check them out if you don't. The range contains five different types of brush, so there is something to suit everyone. I'm loving the Quick Volume Styler for adding volume to my shoulder-length fine hair in the mornings, and the Sleek + Shine Finisher is great for blow-drying a fringe, as the tightly packed bristles hold the hair firm beneath a hot air blast. The cream and blonde wood finish means they’re stylish enough to display on your dressing table, and they're well-priced at £10.99 each. Advantage cards at the ready.

Eco Tools Hairbrushes are £10.99 each and available in Boots from April 2014

Josh Wood for M&S

In case you haven’t noticed, M&S have been seriously pulling their socks up when it comes to beauty. What was once merely a reliable place to buy rose-scented foam bath for your nan is now a spot to pick up everything from hard-working French pharmacy brands to cutting-edge Icelandic skincare to damned fine collaborations with British beauty experts. The latest collection to hit the shelves is colourist Josh Wood’s range of shampoos and conditioners for coloured hair. There are three pairs: one for dry hair, one for frizzy hair and one for fine hair. I’ve been testing the range for fine hair and while I can confirm that it has indeed added volume and stopped my ash blonde hair from turning brassy, what I really want to tell you about is the smell. This is without a doubt the best-smelling shampoo and conditioner I’ve ever used, knocking Herbal Essences off its sixteen year run in the top spot. Instead of the generic fruit cocktail I’ve come to expect from most shampoos, we have instead a warm, spicy ginger. It smells like pressing your face into the bare neck of someone you love deeply. Sexy. As. Hell. 

Josh Wood Full-Bodied Shampoo and Conditioner are £9.50 for 250ml and are available at Marks & 

Spencer

 And, speaking of things I love deeply, I’ve developed a serious crush on the volumising powder from the pseudo-Italian haircare brand Her, fronted by that well-known haircare guru John Barrowman*. This one isn’t for everyone. If your hair is already thick, curly or prone to frizz, you should probably give it a miss. But if your hair is fine and flat, try using it to live out your Amy Winehouse backcombing fantasies (we all have those, right?). It instantly makes your roots into a slightly tacky web that you can then scrunch and comb into skyscraper hair that won’t come down until you wash it out. I realise that won’t appeal to everyone, but I reckon I could trap both flies AND men in my hair when I use it. My only complaint is that you have to shake rather than spray it on, so make sure you have good aim. Use it sparingly: a little goes a very, very long way. 

In the picture above, on the left, you can see my hair blow-dried without any product at all (and my make-up free face, while we’re at it). On the right, I’ve added three shakes of the powder around the roots at the top of my head and backcombed ever so slightly. I’m not sure the picture does it full justice, but this is a lot more volume for a very little effort.

Her Volumising Powder is £14 for 7g and is available at www.thisisher.co.uk

Finally, on a completely different note, it’s officially spring! Any day now I’m expecting to catch sight of my first rage-inducing article on how NOT to induce mass cardiac arrest on the beach this summer with my hairy, wobbly flesh. For no reason whatsoever, I’ve spent the last fortnight slapping Nivea Firming Good-bye Cellulite Serum on my cottage-cheese thighs so that you don’t have to waste your money on it when June rolls around. It promises to work WITH my skin “to improve its firmness and reduce the appearance of cellulite in 10 days.” Did it? What do you think? It mostly made the skin on my bum squeak when I touched it and caused my thighs to stick together like slices of sweaty cheese. This is the part where I’m supposed to tell you that cellulite creams don’t work, and I’ve decided to just drink more water and sod what everyone thinks of my “bikini body”. Except that I have no immediate plans for beach-based frolicking, so what I’ve actually decided to do is eat more toast and sod what everyone thinks of me spending my summer holidays in my darkened bedroom, watching Gossip Girl on Netflix while I sit on my well-cushioned bum. Problem solved.

Nivea Firming Good-bye Cellulite Serum is £5.59 for 75ml and is available at Boots. Toast is free and available in your kitchen.

**Yes, THAT John Barrowman. I'm not even slightly joking. Get Lippie had breakfast with him and everything. There are photos, which I'm legally bound** not to share here.
**She'll kill me, and besides, we've run out of brain bleach.  
This post: Big Hair Round-Up: Eco Tools Hairbrushes, Josh Wood for M&S and Her Volumising Powder 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

Sampar 3 Day Weekend

With the imminent good weather and sunshine - it is coming, it HAS to be! - and me being an OCD freak about not letting ANY sun on my skin WHATSOEVER (I can’t afford the wrinkles), practically everything I put on my face has SPF.

Sampar, if you haven’t heard of them (and I certainly hadn’t until recently) are a French skincare company. They're available in the mid range end of the French department stores, and they cater for pretty much everything with their range, which is so typically French, it’s not even funny. Bust crème anyone?

Sampar’s 3 Day Weekend is the best selling product in their range in this country. The 3 Day Week End Creme is designed to provide the skin with the utmost protection from ‘urban’ and UV damage by acting as a sort of shield for the skin cells, to protect them at that level. It also works with your natural melanin production to boost that, and thus protect from the harmful (ageing) rays of the sun. Or UVA to you and me. 

So this product was a challenge for me, but I have heard the ‘science’ before from another French skincare range which is INCREDIBLE so this product definitely appealed. Despite using a high SPF normally, my face is the normally first part of my body to tan. Years and years of avoiding sunbathing have rendered my trunk pasty white, and no amount of lounging in the sun will alter that sadly. But hey, from time to time I receive that oh so British compliment of ‘oh, you’ve caught the sun a little on your face ‘ so the promise of ‘increased melanin production after just one week of use’ and ‘a natural hint of a tan’ was a bit of a draw for me. Especially as we hadn’t really had that much sunshine.

Well three weeks odd into using this, I have yet to notice this melanin production increase.

My face is still the same colour it ever was. A light shade of blue. The panic of having to leave the house without a conventional SPF on frankly sends me into a bit of spin, and is beginning to make me question the efficacy of this particular product.

Whilst brands like Instituit Esthederm (similar principle, albeit slightly pricier) which I have used previously, and therefore I know they work, this one has left me a little cold. I am also slightly concerned at the sheer quantity needed to cover, as they recommend, the face, and neck, and top part of chest, as t is only a 50ml pot.

On the plus side, it smells rather nice, doesn’t leave my skin feeling it needs more moisturiser (I have extremely dry skin) and is a light texture. Sadly, I don’t think I shall ever truly know if I am receiving the maximum benefits of this cream, particularly in regards to sun protection, but it has made me curious as to the rest of the range. 

Sampar 3 Day Weekend, available at Marks & Spencer Beauty. £34

 

http://www.marksandspencer.com/sampar-3-day-weekend-50ml/p/p22253483

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The Reluctant Lippie - Part One: Nudes

 By Laurin

Despite being born during the Carter Administration, I've never really considered myself a grown-up. Grown-ups don't buy their jewellery from H&M. They make well thought-out grocery lists on Saturday morning, and they have buildings insurance. They don't anguish over maudlin 90’s music about what they want to BE when they grow up, because that's what they already are.

I, on the other hand, have tried my hand at four different careers in the last ten years. Last week, I cried at work twice and played hopscotch on the carpet tiles too many times to count. I have no mortgage, no kids, no pets and no husband. And up until last year, I mostly made do with a slick of Benetint lip balm hastily applied as I rushed out of the house 15 minutes later than I'd planned. Did I mention that I'm 35?

One of my colleagues is a proper grown-up. She wears well-chosen pieces from Cos and Whistles and she compliments them with chunky, interesting accessories that she's often made herself. She wears lipstick. Real lipstick. I watch her reapply it before meetings and after lunch with the help of a MAC compact. I began to be taken with this small, public-yet-private ritual and the idea of a tangible and instant confidence boost. So I made a resolution that despite my serious lack of credentials in the Adult department, lipstick is something I can manage.

This series is my attempt to find my place in the world of lipstick that seems to come so easily to some of you, but has baffled me for the better part of 20 years. Please note that although the events that take place here are absolutely true, I have altered the order somewhat so that they follow some kind of logical progression. Just because I live my life on a wing and a prayer doesn’t mean you have to as well.

L-R: Laura Mercier Baby Lips, Revlon Just Bitten in Honey, Rimmel Apocalips in Celestial, Tom Ford Lip Colour in Pink Dusk

 Chapter 1: Nudes
 

L-R: Laura Mercier Baby Lips, Revlon Just Bitten in Honey, Rimmel Apocalips in Celestial, Tom Ford Lip Colour in Pink Dusk

The Lipsticks

Baby Lips

Laura Mercier Baby Lips Sheer Lip Colour, £17.50 at John Lewis

After making the decision to pull my socks up, I solicited the advice of my own hive-mind in the form of the Sali Hughes Beauty forum. Several of the women there recommended Laura Mercier’s Baby Lips and I dutifully purchased it during a lunch break. This turns out to be what is essentially a very grown-up lip gloss, albeit with more pigment and less gloopy shine. But it’s an excellent first foray into the world of real lip colour: the texture is soft, glossy and easy to apply without a lip brush, and the packaging dutifully obliges you in pretending that it’s a proper lipstick. It’s just a shade darker than my actual lips, so it’s great for giving my make-up a polished finished if I’m wearing heavy eye make-up. You’ll have to reapply it every couple of hours, but that’s a doddle.

Honey

 Revlon Just Bitten Kissable in Honey, £7.99 at Boots

 

The Boots website describes this Clinique Chubby Stick dupe as “a pampering balm fused with a lightweight lipstain”. Honestly, the word “pampering” is one of my least favourite in the English language (on the Galdis-Taylor Sick In My Mouth scale I just made up, it sits somewhere between “making love” and “gourmet” as a word I’d like to ban from use forever more) and I briefly consider stabbing myself in the eye with it instead of putting it on my mouth. The packaging also makes me a little sad. What’s the point of deciding to be a grown-up then raiding a toddler’s art supply box? On the other hand, if you can’t see the point of spending £20 on a level-up lipgloss, it’s a decent alternative to Baby Lips. It’s a touch sheerer and starts to fade the minute you even think about having a cup of tea, but so it goes. The pointy crayon tip makes it a cinch to apply, even without a mirror. As a bonus, Revlon have also infused the formula with a touch of mint flavour, so it quite literally feels like a breath of fresh air, especially if you’ve been snacking on chorizo at 2pm. Still, my feelings for this product have never risen above lukewarm, and it’s mostly been relegated to my over-the-door organiser with the rest of my rarely used cosmetics.

Celestial

 Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Celestial, £6.49 at Superdrug

To infinity and beyond, this time with a quick stop at Superdrug to stock up on intergalactic cosmetic essentials. Apocalips is the halfway house between the easy application of gloss and the heavily pigmented coverage of real lipstick. Everyone I know went mad for these when they launched last year, and why not? They’re cheap and cheerful and a perfect treat to cheer you up on a drab Wednesday afternoon. I’m not in love, though. Although the coverage is great and the wand makes precision application pretty easy, the fluidity of the formula means it strays more than I’d like. And I cannot deny that when I see my ultra-shiny nude lips in the mirror, I immediately think of Katie Price and feel an urge to drape myself over the nearest Ferrari. Blotting solves the glamour model issue somewhat. The nicest thing about this is that it fades quite evenly, so avoiding the mid-morning “ring around the mouth” look. I think that this formula might be better suited to bolder colours, and my tube of Celestial mostly sits with my Just Bitten in the “Eh” pile.

Pink Dusk

Tom Ford Lip Colour in Pink Dusk, £36 at Selfridges

Oh, Tom Ford. We don’t always get along. I like your fragrances, but I think they’re derivative and over-priced. Your habit of appearing in your own marketing looking stern and disapproving has more than once made me back away from your counter, lest you spit on my mid-priced shoes. And I’m pretty sure Thom Yorke was referring to your army of swooning superfans when he sang, “When I am king, you will be first against the wall.” Or if he wasn’t, he should have been. But I’ll hold up my hands and say that you do make a bloody good lipstick.  But, at last, a proper lipstick. Aside from the eye-watering price tag, I love this. It’s non-drying, goes on like a dream, gives great coverage and smells like the inside of your grandmother’s handbag. It’s satisfyingly grown-up and I’d be pleased to apply this at my desk between meetings.

The Verdict:

 Laura Mercier Baby Lips wins by a hair. It’s a brilliant product to bridge the gap between gloss and a full-coverage lipstick, and it won’t break the bank.

The Fine Print: I bought these products with my own money, aside from the Tom Ford, which was nicked from Lippie Mansions.

This post: The Reluctant Lippie - Part One 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

Spring Fling - The Finale!

By Luke

And finally for the Spring inspired compilation (which has nearly broken me by the way) the monochrome. Cool whites, and slick blacks. When choice is just too much of a burden, there is always staple black and whites to fall back on. 

Lacoste L.12.12 Blanc

As part of a series of L.12.12 from Lacoste, inspired by the iconic polo shirts, this fragrance is a summery one, and surprised me. Already a big fan of the Bleu in the series, the others left me a little cold. This one is one of the good ones though. When it first goes on, it smelled to me like anything else. Generic, male fragrance, zesty, a little like Hugo Boss (which incidentally is one of many fragrance faves, but for all the wrong reasons!).

The top note is grapefruit, and is actually quite aggressive. But don’t let this put you off.

The initial shock of that dies down to a rather pleasant floral edged with a bit of citrus. And there it stops. Wafts of something spicy whisper through it, but not enough to make it a woody scent at all. The floral and the zingy citrus remain.

Not sophisticated particularly, but equally not at all unpleasant.

I like its simplicity. And it’s easy to wear and boy does it last. Sort of smells quite young (or a lot younger than me at any rate) and dare I say it, sporty? In the heat of summer, I can imagine this would be a bit of a dressy scent for a night out. Perhaps somewhere where a Lacoste shirt, and loafers may be the dress code.

Available nationwide, £47 for 100ml.

Rituals Cherry Blossom & Rice Milk Body Cream.

Rituals are always a bit of a mixed bag for me. Some bits of it are INCREDIBLE and there are others that just miss the mark in my opinion. Well, this is one of the ones that gets it right. A gorgeous rich, and creamy whipped body cream with a very, very feminine sweet summer like scent of Cherry Blossom. Doesn’t go on sticky, absorbs easily, and leaves a very lovely scent on the skin for a long while after it has been applied. Almost smells like a bag of sweets. Fabulous. And a great price for a such a high standard!

Available at www.rituals.com and is £17 for 200ml.

Cheeky Tar Very Much Chat Me Up Nail Paint

On with the monochrome theme, and on (your nails) with the black.

As part of the Sugar & Spice Collection, Tar Very Much is a multi dimensional shimmering black, with some tiny flecks of sparkle. Dressy, and rather smart. And a steal at £7!

Available at www.urcheeky.com and The Cheeky Parlour on Redchurch Street.

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Muji Aroma Diffuser

 By Get Lippie

I genuinely don't know what happens to me when I get into a branch of Muji. I'll get an inkling earlier in the day, a little voice in the back of my head saying something like "You need to tidy up, freak", and I know that at some point later on in the day I'm going to end up wandering around Muji, slackjawed and glassy-eyed, wondering just what the hell all ... this ... is actually for.  Then I'll casually hand over approximately the GDP of a small African nation for a couple of what are essentially a couple of cardboard boxes made of polythene, and some gel pens, and leave the store.  And furthermore, I'll be happy.  Not just any old kind of happy, either.  ORGANISED happy.  Verging on ecstatic, even. This happiness tends to last till I get the boxes home and filled with crap, then the cycle begins again ...

Anyway, I used to think that Muji were pumping out crack into the atmosphere in their stores to create this happy and contented state of mind, and I wasn't actually that far wrong as it happens.  Last time I was in Muji, I was a bit discontented, and, after buying my bodyweight in polythene boxes as per usual,  I finally broke down and bought one of those "smelly fog machines" they always have on the go at the front of the store.  It was £45, but I'd seen a couple of people talking about putting their favourite perfumes in them to scent their homes, and from that point on, I'd wanted one.  No, actually, needed one.  So I bought one.

And I love it.  It's actually called an Ultrasonic Aroma Diffuser, and I have literally no idea how it works.  The top is removable, you fill it with water and a couple of drops of essential oil, you pop the lid back on and off it goes.  There's also a light with two settings on it, and a timer.  The diffuser gently bubbles away, and produces a light (dry) scented mist, which smells of whatever you've put in the machine. Simple, and, in its way, rather amazing.  It scents my entire living room, which is quite a big one, with 9ft ceilings, but there's a bigger unit too which can probably scent an entire home for £65, but the smaller unit works well in our flat.

You can buy a selection of essential oils from Muji to go into the diffuser (you literally only need about 3-4 drops of oil per 100ml of water) and these are okay, we liked the relaxing fragrance, but we weren't so fond of the uplifiting blend for some reason, then I put a bit of L'Artisan Perfumer Safran Troublant in the machine, and we've been ignoring the aromatherapy blends ever since.  It's glorious to be able to scent your home with fine fragrance, without needing candles or wasting a lot of perfume just spraying it around.  You'll get a subtle, but distinctive fragrance in your home, and it will last for hours and hours - the diffuser works for up to three hours at a time.  The more fragrance you put in, the stronger the effect will be.  I generally use around five sprays of fragrance per "diffusion".  Today we're diffusing Acqua di Parma Colonia Assoluta, and it is absolutely gorgeous!  I've also liked Joan Collins I Am Woman in there too, but more about that another time ....

The instructions state not to use anything other than essential oils as "chemicals" in synthetic fragrances will break the machine.  Somehow though, I doubt the machine can actually tell what is a synthetic and what is a natural fragrance - it is ALL chemicals at the end of the day ... 

So, an impulse buy, but one I've enjoyed hugely.  And if you think £45 is expensive for what is, essentially, a glorified air freshener then let me tell you about the £80 one I have from Fornasseti ...

You can find the Muji Aroma Diffuser here:
 
 The Fine Print: I bought this.  I was in a bad mood with MrLippie though, and I used his money, so it's all good.

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Aveda Pure-formance Aroma Spray For Men

 By Luke

 

I am a bit of a massive fragrance freak, which until recently I referred to as a fumehead until someone mistook that for meaning crack smoker. 

The blogosphere is full of them to varying degrees of expertise. You have your serious perfume heads, with their in depth and rather lofty descriptions, right down to the ‘I liked this, it’s nice’ clan. All valid, all justified, and all perfectly acceptable appreciators of perfume. Me, I think I am sandwiched in between these two camps. Not particularly ‘educated’ in scent, but know enough about the industry and fragrances to speak with some conviction.

I love fragrance, I really do, in the same way I love chocolate bars. I cannot bear to think of me without any, or to be honest with just one to choose from.

As such, I smell a lot. Like chocolate, it’s all open to interpretation, and personal taste. I would never say this is disgusting, or don’t wear this. One man’s treasure and all that. However, I did come across this scent which to say the least, challenged me. 

I have a real issue with the gender binary. And not just where fragrance is concerned. Men’s fragrances, traditionally, are quite often characterised by that ‘woody’ smell that is supposed to make us all feel a little bit manly having been out chopping wood, and wrestling bears on a forest floor or whatever it is the gender binary would have us be doing. Compared to women who, traditionally, are outside picking flowers, and rolling around in candy floss (it has A LOT to answer for). I find it all a bit limiting, certainly from a more mainstream perspective. Fragrance should be transcendent of this, but hey.

For a brand that is predominantly about hair with a dash of lifestyle thrown in, it was quite brave really to release a fragrance.  Anyway, in 2008 they did. Aveda’s chief perfumer Ko-ichi Shiozawa created the Pure Formance Aroma Spray to be reminiscent of ‘Northern air, and deep rich forests’. Back to that gender binary.So what is it like? 

Well, when I first sprayed it I really baulked at the smell that lingered in the air and was NOT keen to put this on my skin AT ALL! It reminded me of bleach weirdly enough. In the interests of my own curiosity, (and this feature), I did wear it.

Peculiar, interesting, odd, different, are all words that if there was a sum of them all would be able to describe how this is to me. But none of this is bad. I didn’t dislike it because it smelled so familiar.

Spearmint is one of the pure oils used here, and that comes through very strongly. And remains. It also has perceptible vetiver and lavender (barely perceptible) and citrus.

First spray is a little minty, then after a while it dries down to the distinct smell of nature. A warm pine forest, heavily fragranced with mint. Did I mention the mint? There’s mint here. The final dry down leaves a very ‘green’ smell. That’ll be the forest, or at least the vetiver. This is what remains. A green woody smell of nature.

 Challenged as I was by this, I haven’t been able to stop wearing it. Curiosity alone has me doing this. Not one element of this is remotely like a ‘traditional’ men’s fragrance, or even a fragrance at all.

Does it make me feel more manly? No!

But isn’t that great?

And now, for some chocolate...

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