Positivity in a bottle. I know the clove and orange combo reminds people of Christmas, but to me, that orange in Noir Epices is sunny, happy, fresh without being boring. This is like bumping into an old friend whose tinkly laugh brightens your day, who always laughs at everyone’s jokes. I love meeting those people who just make you laugh with their giggles, and I’m someone who loves to laugh along. I’m smiling while I’m writing this, and I’m smiling when I wear Noir Epices.
A bit of redemption for the sample in a dabber bottle: it lets you reapply discreetly because there’s no puff of perfume in the air. It came in handy with this sample of Prada’s Cargo de Nuit, another forgotten perfume from the Olfactories line. It wears so softly that I had to keep adding more as the day went on, or maybe it was the cherry/almond opening that smelled so good that I kept dabbing it on. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
First on the back of the hand, then on the inside of the wrist, finally abandoning caution and putting it behind my ears. The ambrette – skin-like warmth that keeps things clean but inviting. It’s balanced, controlled. Office-safe but still interesting even for the seasoned perfume lover. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This is the only perfume I bought on my trip to Tokyo and Shanghai.
Memories in a bottle.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Gaiac 10 from Le Labo, a Tokyo exclusive that embodies a minimalist aesthetic. A little cool, a hint of warmth, but that could just be your own imagination. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
If you head to Tokyo, you should know that there are 6 Le Labo boutiques (at least at the time of writing this) and none of them were overly busy, so in that sense, should you find yourself over there, know that this will be relatively easy to get. In typical Le Labo fashion, Gaiac 10 doesn’t really smell like Gaiac wood. The bit of smoke presents itself with the opening, and then the perfume is taken over by a papery vanilla incense and skin-like musks. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Yes, it’s a mysterious one from Le Labo, one that keeps me intrigued and wondering who smells so good. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
What’s good? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The perfume drawer got cleaned out today, which is just me moving things from one place to another. The huge white box in the centre is the Drake perfume, Summer Mink so that got moved. Now there’s room for new things. ️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Everything lives in this drawer to take out and use, maybe keep out for a week or so, and then it goes right back into the drawer. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Scent of the day was Parade earlier and now Shalimar L’Essence again. Just a spray of each. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Sometimes, the launch of a new product is the sign of a new trend. In this case, Charlotte Tilbury has launched a matte version of their new setting spray. Both of them help your makeup last longer by forming a seal on top of it so that it doesn’t move, but the original version was always a little glossy in its finish. If you use the right amount, it feels like you have hairspray on your face when this dries – and that’s how you know it’s going to work. ⠀
A makeup artist once told me that the trick to really long-lasting makeup was to put a layer of setting spray on UNDER your foundation and also on top, and I have to say that she was right. It’s not a trick I use all the time, but if I’m doing makeup that needs to look perfect, then that is what I’m doing. The matte version is indeed more blurring but not as mattifying as a powder. If you have very oily skin (which I do), you will be disappointed if you expect it to stop your skin from producing any oil. This is a natural matte. ⠀⠀
Which brings me to the trend in skin – are we done with the glass skin look and going to a more matte option? Honestly, I will never have perfectly matte skin, and if your skin is even a little dry, the original setting spray is for you. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The last picture – still my favourite skincare product from the brand because of how good it smells. Rose and saffron in a skincare product is how I want to start every day. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The hottest days of the summer deserve perfumes you can spray on with abandon. The only thing I regret is not getting a backup bottle of this Bvlgari Petits et Mamans when it was a steal. Smells like powder but subtle, like can I smell it or can I not? A touch of neroli, a touch of vanilla, and then that’s it. It’s clean but now dryer sheet clean.
I love the Bvlgari aesthetic in this line – soft, powdery, you can throw it on with abandon on a hot day or after a shower. It’s so easy to wear.
If it isn’t bad enough that everyone is complaining about the rain we are getting, saying that summer is almost over (when it was still JUNE BTW), and posting amazing vacation pictures, my derm told me to come back in two weeks to get my fall peel regime started, like what? It’s still going to be hot outside, right?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Anyway, now I don’t need to go to the derm (or I’ll put it off a bit) because I’ve got this Kiehl’s duo. The correcting peel serum is super light but has a blend of AHA, PHA and BHA (yes, 3 different kinds of acids). Use it to get rid of all that summer pigmentation and then douse yourself in sunscreen (you’d do that anyway). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The Kiehl’s Beyond Screen sunscreen does have a light serum-like texture. It doesn’t pill, which means you can use tons of it, and it is very moisturizing – it has peptides which help with aging skin, but I like it because it gives you that glow. If you want something matte, this won’t be it, but in the winter, you’re going to be happy that you’ve got something that’s really taking care of your skin… and from what I hear, winter is just around the corner. ⠀⠀
You know a blind buy is successful when the bottle matches your aesthetic. This just slides into my collection.
Almond, powder, lipstick, iris, ultra-femme. Bienaime Vermeil.
Did you know that the dark spots appearing on your skin now are probably sun damage that you got decades ago, even when you were a kid? It’s disheartening to hear, but you can try to minimize the damage you’ve gotten and wear sunscreen to reduce the likelihood of future damage occurring. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Vichy has reformulated their B3 dark spot serum. Last year’s version said 13% of the formula was actives, and this year’s is 15%. Of course, I wouldn’t throw out what I was using just based on the new packaging, and when I switched over to the new version, I didn’t notice a change in how my skin felt. Of course, my skin might not feel the difference between 13% and 15%, but hopefully it looks brighter. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This Vichy serum is among the most pricy at the drugstore, so what are you paying for? The price will be higher when you purchase a product that has a blend of ingredients to target a problem – here, it’s acids, vitamin C, Vitamin B3 (Niacinamide), Melasyl, and HEPES. There’s 1% tranexamic acid in the formula so you can stop using a separate tranexamic product, if you were. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
All of which is to say that they did a study with 65 participants, and found that the B3 serum had results similar to Hydroquinone but without any of the side effects. Participants used it for 20 weeks… which is almost half a year. I like the idea of buying one product and sticking with it for 6 months to see if it’ll work… ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Smelled so many things today and washed the day off with this Lancôme Clarifique cleanser which smells like grass. It has a moisturizing slippery foam which feels luxurious but it makes me wonder if the Lancôme women are enjoying it as much as I am. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I think the entire line must smell like this because the accompanying Clarifique serum (with a blend of different mild acids) smells the same and feels similarly plush. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I like it – now they need to come out with a body mist version and the line will be complete. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
