Canadian Beauty

Here’s a vanilla perfume for grown-ups. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

You cook with spices now and even put them in dessert.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Your homemade ice cream smells just like this: equal parts camphorous cardamom and vanilla bean. The green of the cardamom skin balances the sweetness of the vanilla and keeps from anything becoming too sweet. A splash of orange juice reminds you of the sun. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

That’s Vanilla Diorama.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Visiting the Osmetheque xhibit is never dull and it was one of my last stops on my last day in Milan. I had to smell vintage Shalimar (very similar to the Parfum, but the latest Jasmine version isn’t bad). They didn’t have vintage Habanita but they did have vintage Chanel Gardenia which was properly green. The Osmothque’s goal is to preserve and educate – they’re moving to a new space in Versailles in September, and I’m putting a visit on my bucket list.

Prada Beauty is here, launching at a department store near you, except oh wait, aren’t department stores on their way out?

Canada’s most historic department store is going under, filing for bankruptcy, while Sak’s, who hasn’t paid vendors for years, made headlines for sending out a letter saying they would be committing to a more firm payment timeline. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

I, for one, haven’t really shopped in a department store in a while although I did use some points to buy some of my favourite perfumes. Really, it’s the Internet that changed things, because if I want something, I’m going to Google it first and then go wherever the price is cheapest, often from the brand’s own website, that said, Prada Beauty is coming to a department store near you, and if you want to hear about the brand in person, that is where you need to go.

It’s always exciting to check out a brand when it first launches because you can see that it sticks so clearly to its own aesthetic, and right now, Prada Beauty is doing that so well. It is refreshingly minimalistic, to the point that the universal lip balm is matte – you can’t even tell it’s there… except for the waxy coating left on your lips. The lipsticks come in a matte and soft-matte formula – symbolically tied to Prada’s Saffiano leather and nylon materials for their bags, and the mascara is a dark matte black that’s meant to give just enough definition. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

But really, I could be talking about French beauty, known for its simplicity, and not about an Italian brand, since the Italians are known for being big and bold and extravagant in their art. This is not that, but Prada has never been that. Prada has always been chic, in that understated 90’s kind of way, and if that’s what you’re looking for, then it’s here, in the same chic mint green packaging that perfume lovers have come to know.