Do you have a favourite from Chanel?
Perfumer: Olivier Polge
Launched in 2018.
Official notes: neroli, vanilla, tonka.
Available in 50ml and 125ml. I have the 125ml bottle. I ordered online from Holt Renfrew but if you order from the Chanel website, they’ll gift-wrap it and include samples.
You say basil, I say spaaaa, because that’s what Aesop Tacit smells like.
I have a strange relationship with this perfume, and let me know if you’ve ever experienced this: when I’m already in a good mood, I like it, but if I’m in a bad mood, it just pisses me off even more. It’s like a fly buzzing around my head while I’m trying to focus, and I do not enjoy it at all.
So weird.
This is like warm spiced drink on a cool day, and I think it’ll appeal to a lot of people.
Scents of Wood Oud in Acacia. In a market where everything seems to be done already, this brand ages their alcohol in barrels and then creates the perfume with the result. A resulting woodiness in all aspects of the perfume is part of the brand identity, and Oud in Acacia is interesting because it’s essentially wood in more wood… but without that generic woody dry down we’ve all become familiar with.
This is a slightly sweet perfume, that’s quite ambery, boozy (there’s definitely a rum accord in there), and a bit spicy. The opening has a yummy candied rose that’s positively delectable, but if you’re not really a rose person, don’t worry because this aspect of the perfume is quite fleeting and doesn’t last very long. Despite the rose, I actually think that this perfume is fairly unisex.
The oud is sweet rather than being dirty or medicinal. The drydown is absolutely delectable and where the immortelle shines, with its maple syrup facets, and a touch of vanilla adds to the yumminess of this perfume.
This isn’t something I would normally buy or even try, but it’s so beautiful and I’m enjoying it quite a bit.
I’ve been using a few new things on my face and never really talked about them so here we go.
Dry Skin Love sent me their first product ever: a cleansing oil. Get this: it smells like chocolate orange! Why has a brand not thought of this?! It smells delicious and melts makeup and sunscreen, emulsifies with water to be rinsed off. There’s a bit of a residue after as this is a product for dry skin but I always do a foaming cleanser afterwards anyway. This is a brand out of Alberta, so if you are local, show them some love.
Fresh Beauty Black Tea Kombucha Facial Essence. Love this stuff and this is the second bottle I’m going through. It smells like cucumber and yes, it’s kind of like a toner or another layer of hydration before you apply your real moisturizer. I use it morning and night and I’m actually almost done my bottle.
New Strivectin BHA serum. Hard to know if this is doing anything but I hate that they put “pore minimizing” on the packaging. You cannot shrink your pores! The serum has a light texture and absorbs into my skin quickly.
I’m using the Bondi Sands Pure Self Tanning Sleep Mask (PR) (trust me, everyone needs the golden hue of a gentle self-tanner), and pairing it with my Trinny London Overnight Clarity Retinal/Niacinamide serum. I use the retinol first, wait a bit and then use the self-tanner, and don’t forget to wash your hands afterwards!
I don’t use a self-tanner everyday. This one is very moisturizing, and it’s basically a gradual tan moisturizer.
The Trinny London retinoid is also pretty moisturizing, and I like that it’s paired with a Niacinamide because that’s an ingredient I like in my skincare routine anyway. I normally use a serum, like the Bliss niacinamide serum, but I’ve found that layering too many serums can cause them to pill and clump up, so having this is a bit better for me in my routine.
Tell me your favourite perfumes that hit best in the summer.
Here are mine:
Chantecaille Vetyver
Diptyque Philosykos
4711
Jo Malone Grapefruit
Chronotope Playalinda
I’ve been meaning to write about these for a while, because life is short and you deserve to have hair that smells good. Also, I’ve gotten more compliments on how my hair smells than on my perfume, so I think nicely scented hair products are worth it. I can’t promise the scent will last, but you will have an excellent sensory experience.
Today, I’m just posting about Christophe Robin because I realized that I have quite a few products from this brand and they all smell excellent. Beautiful scents are really part of the French aesthetic and this brand does not skimp on the quality or quantity of their fragrance. They’re actually known for their salt scrubs… yes, it’s a salt scrub for your hair… a tiny bit foams and clarifies and I highly recommend having it on hand for the times that you really want to get everything out of your hair.
They became so popular that the brand came out with a limited edition La Bretagne scent last year, which is more citrusy. I’ve also pictured the Cleansing Volumizing Paste which has salt and clay but gives a similar effect. This one smells like rose water.
If you like the scent of rose water, then you need to try the Volume Conditioner or even the Cleansing balm which came out in a Christmas set last year, but without a doubt, my favourite scent is for the Aloe Melting Mask which smells like the finest fougere fragrance – it’s basically Penhaligon’s Sartorial in a bottle and I can vouch for the scent of the conditoner lasting in your hair for a long time, at least throughout the day. We know that you can’t actually “hydrate hair” but this mask does smooth it out and make it smell amazing.
Have you tried anything from this brand? I think they should make perfume or a hair mist.
Serge Lutens La Fille de Berlin. Year released: 2013Perfumer: Christopher Sheldrake. Rose and more rose. Also some rose. Have you tried this one?
Finally hit pan on the setting powder I’ve been using, and finished a few other things. The setting powder is the Bare Minerals Mineral Veil and it has a bit of a blurring effect on your face, so it’s nice to use even just on top of sunscreen.
The Two Faced primer was ok. Honestly, instead of primer, I use the setting spray as a primer and I find that works much better. Which is why I’ve run out of my Tarte Stay Spray. I’ve had it for a year and I really started using it this past September.
I’m moving to the Charlotte Tilbury setting spray because so many people recommended it. In fact, take a look at the packaging of the Charlotte Tilbury spray: they recommend using it before makeup because it does actually work to help makeup stay on longer. I find it best to blend with a makeup sponge rather than my usual foundation brush.
Vichy 3-in-1 cleanser, I actually loved this. You could kind of use it like a Micellar water by putting it on a cotton pad and wiping your face. Left my skin soft, clean, and matte. I used it in the morning on dry skin as my cleanser.
Fenty Pre-Show Glow. This is a nice glycolic acid number.
Vivier Hexan cleanser. This is a pretty basic cleanser. For the price, I don’t think it’s anything special. I got this in a Christmas present a couple of years ago I think!
MooGoo body lotion. I love this stuff. It made my skin so smooth, and it has a soft soothing milky scent.
I tried this on and although the packaging says “sheer” on it, it just doesn’t look great on my skin, and unless you are very fair and without any freckles, it will look like white makeup on you.
So in the end, I wasn’t too unhappy with how this looked and I will say that if you have sensitive skin, mineral sunscreen can be less irritating. I don’t know when I’d use this because if I ever did, I’d be tempted to use it so sparingly so I don’t look like a ghost. This is best for those who are very fair anyway. Maybe kids.
Time to talk about Chronotope Buen Camino, a perfume I bought last year and have worn a lot! I haven’t really talked about this much because I liked it so much that it became one of those easy reach perfumes for me, and yeah, talking about something that’s just become a part of you and your routine is hard to do, especially when you like it. I discovered this at just the right time: I was really into incense (still am) and I loved it the second I smelled it, which is always a good sign for me. In the year I’ve been wearing it, I’ve found it to be comforting. 
Buen Camino was created and named after a pilgrimage and so it’s no wonder that I would this deeply comforting to wear too. It had all the aspects of a medicinal balm: a burst of lavender, the scent of Polysporin, sweet immortelle, star anise (sweeter and less pungent regular anise), maybe some cinnamon?, and an incense that’s easy-to wear and becomes a part of my skin, slightly sweet and pulls people in. And it’s a crowd pleaser – people inhale and say mmmmm, that smells good.
I’ve always talked about rotating which perfumes I keep out, and having some out for certain seasons, but Buen Camino never gets put away because it’s so easy to wear. I don’t wear this if I’m going out, but I love it for a Monday or for staying in. It’s a crowd pleaser too, and like nothing else that’s out there. My favourite thing about sharing this with people has been watching their eyes widen as they smell it for the first time.
Oh, a note on the bottles – they have changed and now have the name of the perfume on the front of the bottle. This is the old bottle.
