Drybar Liquid Glass Instant Glossing Rinse vs. L’Oreal Paris Wonder Water


It’s no Wonder Water. I bought this Drybar Liquid Glass Instant Glossing Rinse so that I could see if it smelled better than Wonder Water and worked the same. The formulas seem similar: both of them coat your hair with a polymer to make it shiny and smooth.

Guess what? Drybar Liquid Glass smells amazing. Like a vanilla-patchouli-cedar, but very light on the vanilla. Just a bit of sweetness from it and it’s so much of an improvement from the Wonder Water, which probably doesn’t bother me as much as it bothers some of you, but it doesn’t really smell great.

The Liquid Glass is $44 for 236mL, Wonder Water is usually around $10 for 200mL so year, the Wonder Water is way cheaper, but it’s good to know what the other options are if you’re sick of how it smells. It might be my bias, but I STILL think that the Wonder Water works the best when it comes to smoothing your hair and making it look flawless. Blowouts seem to be smoother and last longer, and in terms of consistency, the Drybar product is a little thicker.

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Molinard Habanita

Habanita is originally from the 1920’s and is kind of a smoky powdery vetiver vanilla. I had been spraying from a decant before I got this bottle, and I think my decant smells a bit different, stronger, and that’s ok. The original Habanita vibe is still there and that’s what I wanted, and I really do love the frieze on the bottle so I wanted to have that too. The bottles were designed by Rene Lalique, and frieze was popular at that time because Europeans were having a fascination with ancient Greece and Rome. Lalique gave the people what they wanted and friezes show up in his other work too, including other perfume bottles he designed. If you’re interested in knowing more, check out Perfume, Cologne, and Scent Bottles by Jaqueline North

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L’Artisan Parfumeur L’Eau D’Ambre Extreme

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Weekend plans include:

– drinking cardamom tea

– eating snickerdoodles

– roasted nuts

– lots of chocolate

– cozy fires

– flannel blankets

– books.

L’Eau d’Ambre Extrème. Jean-Claude Ellena and Jean Laporte.

1978.

You know what’s really weird? There’s no real brand history on the L’Artisan Parfumeur website. No mention of these old bottles or the bottles that came before or even before that. Nothing about the first few perfumes and what they were. It’s like all that never even existed and these old bottles are just floating around.

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Areej le Dore The History of Attar Collection

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I’ve smelled attars before, but not like these. On family trips to India, my mom would always buy attars, so oil-based perfumes made in traditional ways. She loves florals and stuck to soliflores – rose and jasmine being her favourites.

The History of Attar collection from @areejledore are perfumes based on traditional attars. I haven’t had the chance to wear them on skin, but they are different than what I was expecting, and from what I’ve experienced in the past.

The perfumes are: Le Mitti, Beauty and the Beast, Gul Hina, Ambre de Coco, Malik al Motia, Al Majmua, Mysore Incenza.

Having a basic knowledge of some of the languages spoken in India meant that this wasn’t a blind smelling, and I’ve read lots about these already. I think what’s interesting about these is that they’re all very strong, and they don’t smell like any perfume that I’m used too – except for Al Majmua which has a traditional chypre structure so it reminds me of a bombastic 80’s perfume.

Have you smelled these, or do you have a favourite? Tell me which one I should start with.

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Serge Lutens Datura Noir


Revenge season calls for Datura Noir. Datura, a poisonous flower with no scent, but maybe this is what it would smell like. Bitter almonds, clean tuberose, a hint of coconut, a touch of vanilla, like delivering bad news with a smile, setting boundaries without being mean. Clean and cold without too much emotion, this is one I can wear anytime, maybe it’s always revenge season.

My Lutens fixation continues…

This is a definite must-smell for anyone into white florals and if you want a tuberose that doesn’t smell animalic. It’s clean, lotiony, beachy, but without being sweet. Long-lasting and pretty but not boring and not average.

 

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Pink and Red Packaging

A study in pink and red.

These are some things that I actually really love right now.

I said I would update you on the Topicals Faded serum, so let’s start there. It’s as good as everyone says it is. I’ve only been using it for 2 weeks but I can see how over time, it’s going to fade acne scarring or any mild hyperpigmentation that might be there. It’s not a cure for melasma (is there even a cure?) but if you’re aiming for management, then I would say try it. I like that the blend of ingredients is optimized for pigmentation issues. It smells terrible – but I think the smell only makes it more legit. I used to use an Obagi hyperpigmentation cream that smelled bad too, so I’m here for it.

Fenty Skin Butta Drop in the LE Rose-Gold edition. Smells like vanilla, and yes, actually does melt in your hands into a beautiful oil and is a fantastic moisturizer. There’s a tiny bit of shimmer. It’s not over the top, so if you’re wearing black, your clothes won’t be all dirty, but it will make your skin look so glowy. I want this for the summer.

Tower 28 mascara. Such a highly-rated mascara and always sold out, so when I saw it at Sephora, I grabbed it. Great for separating lashes, not too smudge, but still a bit smudgy.

Trinny London Peptide moisturizer. Obsessed with this one – it’s so beautifully hydrating and perfect for dry skin. If you have any kind of peeling because of retinoids or even the weather, try this, I think you’ll love it.

Neutrogena Stubborn Blackheads serum – it’s a BHA (which I know you all know because of Paula’s Choice) but in a serum. It’s light, but it doesn’t get a ton of use from me.

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Empties: Boscia, Cerave, Fenty Skin, Lancome, Biotherm

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Finished this Boscia Cica Repair body cream – I’ve been taking it to the pool and it was great because it was light enough to use on my face too. I would use this again, it smells light and fresh, like a spa and it was so easy to use.

 

Cerave Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser. I liked this as much as the regular Cerave, which is a non-foaming cream. This made for an excellent hand wash because it wasn’t as drying as what I would normally use. I’d totally get this again.

Mini Monsieur Big mascara from Lancome. This was a freebie with my Sephora order. Yes, I’d use it again. But you know me… always on to the next thing when it comes to mascara.

Biotherm Body Butter. I adore this – 20% Shea Butter?! Yes! The best stuff for the winter and basically melted into oil when I wanted to use it.

Fenty Skin Niacinamide Serum. This is a 5% niacinamide, which is an ingredient that is great for pigmentation, and at 5% this is such a gentle product that it was easy to layer with pretty much anything. Honestly, though, it seems that everything has niacinamide in it these days and at 5% this wasn’t making a major difference to my skin, so I don’t know if I’d want to use it again. I do love that all the Fenty skincare has something active in it and is easy to use with makeup. The formulas are very nice.

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Glossier You Perfume Review

Casual, inoffensive, work hard, plays harder.

Glossier You.

What’s the tag line? It’s You but better? Or is it just you? You? Perfume that smells like You. Today it smells like ME.

This is clean, soapy perfume. A bit of neroli, a bit of iris, but mostly a clean warm shower finish. It’s very subtle, easy to wear, and a very affordable scent if you don’t mind buying it online. Ambrette in its finest form. Do you have this? Have you tried it?

Now a Glossier classic. Perfumer: Frank Voelkl.

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Serge Lutens Perfume Collection

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My Lutens via outfits.

Datura Noir – white linen, beachy vibes.

La Fille de Berlin – all black, no frills.

Santal Majuscule – soft slippers, paisley silks.

Tubereuse Criminelle – sharp shoulders, pointy toes.

What would you wear?

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Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia Perfume Review


Gorgeous Gardenia builds on the Gucci Flora white floral with the addition of sweet juicy pear as a top note, and gardenia added to the jasmine. It really is on the sweet side and I think you have to enjoy pear to enjoy this perfume.

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