L’Artisan Parfumeur Coeur de Vetiver Sacre

L’Artisan Parfumer’s Coeur de Vetiver Sacre, and is done by Carine Vinchon who also did their L’Eau de Jatamansi, which was a nice fresh salty blend that I loved but it just didn’t last on my skin.

Coeur de Vetiver Sacre (which means “The Sacred Heart of Vetiver”) is quite different from that scent, and takes the idea of the smell of Vetiver as it’s heart and base, and builds the scent around it.  Thus, the warm woodiness of the vetiver grass is preserved and at the same time heightened by the other notes added to the scent.

The opening of the scent is cool and quite green, and then middles notes of bergamot and black tea come through.  You can see how the vetiver is being enhanced.  The bergamot provides a sparkling freshness while the black tea has a smoky woodiness to it.  There is a pepper and ginger note, and then a drydown of musk, incense, and vanilla – both cool instead of being overly warm.  The scent is bright and fresh yet so woody at the same time.

This is a perfect fall scent.  It has a crispness to it, which autumn does because of the approaching cool weather.  It also has a woody smoky aspect that reminds you of logs burning in the fire, and then a spicy vanilla aspect that reminds one of some kind of baking.

All L’Artisan perfumes are unisex, but of course, you would notice that some lean more feminine than masculine, and vice versa.  Coeur de Vetiver Sacre seems to be a bit more masculine, perhaps because vetiver scents usually are, and the bergamot opening definitely doesn’t help.  However, I’ve always been a fan of their more masculine scents, and I loved this one so much that I don’t want to give it to any of my male friends.  Part of the reason is probably that they won’t appreciate it as much as I do, and if I give it to them, then I wouldn’t get to smell this as much, and lately, I have been spritzing it on everything. This is an EDT, but wears like an Eau de Parfum – the scent is strong and has fantastic lasting power.

 

 

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Biotherm Biosource Cleansing Softening Mousse Review

My favourite cleansers can do more than one thing at once, and help me multitask.

That’s why I like the Biosource Cleansing Softening Mousse for dry skin by Biotherm.  This cleanser has a kaolin base, so that it gently absorbs oil.  The cleanser still foams so it’s adept at removing traces of makeup, but you’re left with matte skin without using a harsh soap on your face.  It’s especially great for using in the morning so that your face doesn’t get as oily during the day thanks to the kaolin that was in the cleanser.

Available for $27 online, a tiny bit goes a long way and if you really want to reap the benefits of the kaolin, leave the cleanser on your skin for a little bit before you start rubbing it away.

 

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Clinique All About Eyes Serum De-Puffing Eye Massage Review

Throughout the year, I am notorious for staying up past my bed time because I’d rather be having fun.  This is worst in the summer because there are way more daylight hours, and as long as the sun is shining I don’t seem to get sleepy at all.

Of course, I still wake up each morning at the ungodly hour of 5:45 which means that there are often nights that I wake up with puffy eyes.  I used to just ignore them and go about my day, but not anymore.

Now I am equipped with Clinique’s All About Eyes Serum eye roller.

It has the All About Eyes formula but in a light-weight serum that’s cooling when applied with its metallic roller.  I’ve read reviews about this that say that it doesn’t work as well as its supposed to, but I’m going to tell you how to get it to work.

When I get up with puffy eyes, I take this, sit on my bed, and start rolling away under my eyes.  The cool ball feels refreshing and I just use it to lightly massage the serum into my skin.  I do this for about 5 minutes and then go about getting ready for my day.  The serum absorbs really easily and you are left with moisturized under eyes.

You really need to take your time with this in order for it to work, and a quick swipe under the eyes just won’t do it.  And to be honest, that’s not the point of this product.  The whole reason that it has a roller ball on it is so that you can massage with it and so that it can provide a cooling effect to your skin.  Without it, you just have a regular serum, don’t you?

Because this is so light-weight you can apply makeup on top of it and it won’t interfere.

$43 at Shoppers Drug Mart.

 

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MAC Cosmetics Athma Palette

I found my Mickey Contractor x MAC Cosmetics palette and so I took better pictures and thought I would post here.

I’m still not that happy with the pictures – the lightest shade is actually more of a pink/beige with silver shimmer, the medium shade is a taupe with gold shimmer, and the dark brown and black are pretty well represented.

Just a reminder that this collection came out in 2011! So I’ve had this for 9 years and loved it.  I used this palette again but I found that it wasn’t giving enough oomph to my look so I’ve put it away again.

This collection also had correctors, and here’s some info on Mickey Contractor’s career.

 

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Book Review: Perfumes The Guide

If you love perfume, you need to have this book.  It’s really that simple!

Perfumes, The Guide is by Luca Turn and Tania Sanchez.  If you remember, Turin was the subject of Chandler Burr’s book Emperor of Scent, and knows his stuff when it comes to smelling.

The book does not describe different perfumes, nor is it an encyclopedia of all the perfumes that are out there.  This is basically just a listing of perfumes, their non-literal description, and a rating on them.  It’s a pretty excellent book if you want something that tells you good perfumes and why they are good.

I especially loved the lists at the back of the book that have the top 10 feminine perfumes, to 10 florals, top 10 masculines, top 10 feminine masculines, etc.  It’s given me a long list of scents to discover and has taught me what to look for in good perfume composition.  Of course, you’re not going to love all the top 10 scents, and I certainly didn’t but it’s a good starting point for finding the scent among all those that are released each year.

You can get it here.

 

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Flower By Kenzo La Cologne

Kenzo, at one point in 2010, reformated their heady amber fragrance, Flower, into an Eau de Cologne format.

The La Cologne has me hooked, however, because I can use it more liberally and frequently and thus get an overall diffusion of scent rather than it being very concentrated in just one place.

The scent is a combo of citrus, rose, and neroli. The base is still a musky one and it’s so powdery that it almost reminds me of soap. The scent is clean throughout and retains true cologne-like qualities: it is super fresh at the beginning, the citrus notes die out within hours, and at the end of the day it is more of a scent memory than anything else.

This is sold in a 90 mL bottle that is wider and larger than the original Flower by Kenzo bottles and available throughout the summer.

$95 online.

 

 

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Glossier You Video Review

You can’t smell anything in person, but this perfume was launched on the Internet and so you could only blind buy it. Incidentally, Glossier is now offering a sample of it with each purchase.

Affiliate link to save 10%: https://re.glossier.com/aedd3afb

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CKkKpTQBPC8/

 

 

 

 

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L’Oreal Wonder Water Dream Lengths

L’Oreal Dream Lengths Wonder Water is here, and credit to the Fat Mascara podcast for reaching out to the brand and asking what the difference is between this Wonder Water and the original.  The answer: the scent.

The price also: this one is $12.99 and the original is $9.96 on Amazon.  I still swear by this stuff and use it once a week.

 

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Rodial Instaglam Contouring Powder

You know, here’s a blast from the past, and I think that it’s worth writing about because Rodial no longer makes this Instaglam Contouring Compact, but I know for a fact, that tons of makeup artists loved it and still use it. It’s the perfect colour for the hollows of your cheekbones because it’s a little bit grey so it looks like an actual shadow!

Now, I know that not everyone is into contouring, especially in these times, but I definitely am, and I love this compact. I’ve used quite a bit of it and you can see there’s a dent in it but I haven’t hit pan.  Somehow, I also managed to get a nail in it.  No worries, there’s lots of product in here for little old me.

The Instaglam Contouring Powder is pigmented yet blendable.  It’s not overly powdery and somehow in all the years of using this, I haven’t managed to pick up too many oils off my face and get them in the powder.  It still has a great texture.

I also loved the packaging.  It was solid and heavy with a big mirror inside.  It’s definitely a luxe product, and the line is still luxury and available at Shoppers Drug Mart so check it out when you can.

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Trend: Brow Pens

I’ve noticed a real trend towards brow pens in the past few months and I kind of love it. They’re easy to use and make natural-looking strokes on your eyebrows. Below, you can see a pen by Annabelle cosmetics, and one by Benefit which actually has 3 nibs instead of just 1.

I like using them both, but I do find that both of them are great for doing one eyebrow, and then they kind of run out of ink.

Benefit is available at Sephora, Shoppers Drug Mart, and TSC.ca. $33.

The Annabelle liner is available at Shoppers Drug Mart or online for $9.95.

 

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