I was feeling inspired so I did a black cherry lip. I used Covergirl Clean Fresh Tinted Lip Balm in Bliss You Berry. It is rather dark and ver tinted. I used the Clean Fresh Yummy Gloss in Acai You Later and I loved this – apparently this is what all the kids are using right now once they run out of Sephora money 🤣. Will you try this? It’s a pretty easy holiday look, especially if you’re the type of person (me) who thinks a new lip colour is “dressing up”.
Trust me, if I was impressed, anyone on your list will be too. This is the perfect gift for anyone – whether they’re into skincare, beauty, or perfume.
This is the cutest makeup bag and came as part of a larger gift set. You get the bag, a setting spray, a Magic Cream, a mascara, and a full-sized Pillow Talk lipstick. They’re still available on the Charlotte Tilbury and Sephora website and in store.
I can’t believe how close to Christmas we are. It just snuck up on me!
The Watier Fondant Lipsticks are my favourite lipsticks right now. Slightly sheer, but immensely wearable, they are easy to throw on and look amazing.
The lipstick swatches are in Kate and Sarah. Kate is my go-to but I’ve been using Sarah a lot too. And they’re Invisalign-friendly for my peeps who are looking for that info. Some-how this creamy and moisturizing formula doesn’t end up all over your teeth so that’s a win.
Gifted.
It’s a perfume for someone living in Paris who grew up around vintage perfumes but trying to break away from my mom’s perfumes, I’m going indie where the ingredients are pricy and the formulas are heftier. It’s like moving out of your parent’s house as a fit of rebellion, but not to worry, you’re going into a pretty loft that your dad bought as an investment years ago. This rose feels like you’ve met it before, but unlike the rose in your memory, the real thing is much more interesting.
The brand is known for its florals and references to Guerlain’s Nahema are apt, the rose here is fresh and potent. There’s also patchouli, and the combination of spices and rose and patchouli might remind you of other rose-patchouli perfumes, but Dusita perfumes have better quality materials – you can smell the difference. Every aspect of the perfume is rich and textured, the rose so potent that it’s like sticking your nose into a bouquet of red roses created just for you.
At this point, it’s hard to be really wowed by a rose perfume, but the mix of florals here smells of high-quality and is in the style of classic French perfumery, so Rosarine is a delight to wear.
Even though it’s just an eau de parfum, this is a potent mix. I could catch whiffs of it on my skin even after I showered so this isn’t a rose that’s going to disappear slowly. In fact, all the Dusita perfumes that I’ve tried have been heady and intense, and I’d love for the brand to have an eau de cologne formula that you can spritz on from head to toe.
Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens today. It makes me think of virile strength, a man breaking his way through a dry jungle, tree branches snapping, dusty earth under his feet, the snapping of dry leaves that crumble in your hands. He escapes the bush only to come upon dry sand, desert.
A woodsy amber harkening back to when perfumes didn’t have to be so sweet. Bay leaf, oregano, sandalwood, and an earthy patchouli. Easy to wear because it doesn’t get cloying or heavy.
I’m making pasta sauce and looking at the snow out of the window. It’s an Ambre Sultan weekend.
Dirty and clean, depending on the day. A welcome return to the collection is a bottle of Kiehl’s Original Musk. We love the shower gel too. Not letting it go again.
All of these perfumes have iris in the name and in the listed notes but they all smell so different.
Shalimar Millisime Iris – caramel iris, for people who don’t like iris but will “try anything once”.
Van Cleef and Arpels Bois d’Iris – woody iris, for people who think perfumes should be banned in the workplace.
Ledda 22 Orris – musky iris, for people who have an Instagram account but never post.
Do you have a favourite? Bois d’Iris is mine right now and scents all my scarves. It’s going to be the scent of this winter even if it’s not always my scent of the day.
Diptyque’s Benjoin Boheme is coming back. I’m still trying it out but I’m finding it to be salty and sweet. There’s a hint of caramel, like that in Prada Candy which also happens to be benzoin dominant. It’s lacking the smoky incense feel of Bois d’Armenie which is my favourite benzoin perfume, and isn’t powdery like that one. The saltiness is thanks to a balsamic ingredient – possibly styrax but if there’s an animalic quality, I’m not getting it. I prefer to think of this as my kettle corn perfume: a little salty and a little sweet, easy to like and almost a little addictive.
When I posted about La Roche-Posay to my stories, I heard from many of you who said that it was the only brand you used on very dry skin over the winter. Lots of people love the body lotion for eczema-prone skin, and the fact that some of these intense moisturizers have no fragrance in them, means that they are more gentle than other options out there. Truly, if you suffer with dry skin or eczema in the winter, then using an intense, heavy, fragrance-free moisturizer is the way to go. Above, the two formulas for their moisturizer. There’s a lotion and a cream, and for me, with my oily skin, the lotion is just right. I’m hanging on to the cream for my cuticles though and a little goes a long way.
There’s also a new anti-redness cream – Rosaliac AR – which has a green tint. The green immediately counter-acts redness in your skin, so if that’s something that you struggle with, try this cream. It’s not opaque, not as much coverage as a concealer, the green does show up. Having used this type of product in the past, I can vouch for its effect on medium/tan skin. If you get redness because of the weather or treatments you get, then this is not a bad product to invest in. I like to keep it in my purse so that I can apply it when I have a bit of unwanted redness, but it works great under makeup too. You might even find that you need less coverage via foundation and concealer if you can apply the cream first. This way, you’re correcting the redness instead of covering it up.
Have you tried any La Roche Posay products? Let me know of your experience.
Whether you’re looking for yourself, or for someone in your family, here are a couple of stellar options for the holiday season.
First, the Neiges gift set. The Neiges fragrance is a mix of white florals and clean white musk, really encapsulating everything that you would want from something meant to represent the idea of clean white snow. There’s a cold aloofness here, and this scent doesn’t have any of the indoles or mustiness that we can sometimes get from white flowers. The Hyacinth and Lily of the Valley keep this firmly in feminine likeable territory – more than anything this scent reminds me of the ’90’s because I know that I had a teacher or family member that smelled like Neiges. This gift set retails for $90 and includes a 50ml perfume bottle, a travel spray, and a shimmery body lotion that only comes out in the winter. The musk is like the white musk from The Body Shop, so if you know someone who likes that scent profile or wore something like it, then this might be right up their alley. Sometimes when you’re gifting perfume, you can gift something that’s similar to what someone already likes but different enough that it will be appreciated. Sometimes a new take on a familiar scent profile is just challenging enough to be enjoyed.
This Watier Bestselling Must-Haves Set is something I’d rather keep for myself. It includes a mini size of the Magnifix setting spray and the 24H Glam Mascara, a full size lipstick and corrector/concealer. The mascara is actually long-wearing but adds volume to your lashes unlike most tubing mascaras. It’s water-resistant and you will need legit makeup remover to take it off, and that’s fine by me. The set retails for $49. It’s a great option for a Secret Santa gift exchange and works for a beginner or the most seasoned makeup wearer.
Available everywhere Watier products are sold, including Shoppers Drug Mart and Sephora stores.
