Sarah Jessica Parker Stash

Posted on June 23, 2022 by Henna

TextBohemian vibes and SJP Stash. This discontinued gem is one of those unicorn scents that people talk about in the same breath as Santal 33, and I actually think this is better. Warm woods with a creamy nuttiness but no sweetness. Stash opens with a bit of grapefruit that’s tart and mouth-watering.

Paired with some ginger the effect is zingy and yummy.

This is with a blend of cedarwood, vetiver, patchouli and musk in the background. I get a lot of ginger from this and combines with a bit of black pepper, it really reminds me of ginger tea. As the top notes die off, the woods and musk remain. There is an impressive lasting power – everytime I’ve worn this, I can smell it for hours.

Comparisons to Katy Perry Indi are apt, but that one is cooler and more linear, this is warmer and spicier. It’s perfect for crisp fall or spring days.

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Sisley Soir D’Orient Review

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Henna

TextSisley Soir d’Orient – I wear this when I want to be transported to some place fancy. This is black-tie attire, sparkling crystal, shimmering opulence and luxury in a bottle.

Rich and opulent, Soir d’Orient is a chypre perfume that opens with beautiful aromatic rose and geranium, and has a dark cool patchouli in its base. It’s one that has an intense projection when you first spray it, but becomes a skin scent after a couple of hours. I love the mossiness in its base. This weekend, my sister wore this too, and it’s so interesting smelling this from afar compared to how I smell it on myself. She wore 2 sprays each time, and I could smell it coming out of her room, so the initial projection with this is pretty strong. It definitely fills the room.

That and the fact that it is so opulent makes me think of this as the perfect going out scent. Maybe not for a restaurant, but definitely for a gathering or a party. Not to say that you couldn’t wear it at home, which is what I did last year when we were in the middle of one of our many lockdowns. I initially bought this because I love Sisley Eau du Soir, but I wanted something with rose in it. I was going through a phase where I was enamoured with the chypre fragrances in my collection because of their mossy earthy kind of base. The Turkish rose and spicy saffron are additions that make this an interesting flanker that’s not a flanker. Have you seen the movie Murder on the Nile?

I feel like I’d be wearing this if I was on that boat…

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Chanel No. 5 Eau de Parfum

Posted on June 20, 2022 by Henna

TextWearing a few sprays of Chanel No. 5 today and what can I say other than it reminds me of my mom who loves the body cream of this and always has a jar of it on hand. The EDP and the cream smell pretty similar tbh. Maybe it reminds you of your mom, your grandma, your favourite teacher or the one you didn’t like.  The Eau de Parfum of Chanel no. 5 isn’t the original though.  This came out in the 80’s and the perfumer is Olivier Polge.  It’s an update, but it’s also kind of in the vein of 80’s scents.

The blend of florals in it is pretty and Chanel-like, it reappears again and again in their perfumes. And if you think they smell soapy and overdone, that’s because they’ve been copied so much, and we’ve come to associate them with fancy-times. The drydown is warm, woody, thanks to the blend of sandalwood, vanilla, vetiver and patchouli. I definitely smell more sandalwood and vetiver, but not too much of either.

Interestingly, I find that Chanel No. 5 in the EDP barely lasts on my skin at all. An hour into the wear, I can’t smell it, and I could easily keep reapplying and reapplying. I’ve spritzed this on to my clothes at the airport before a flight and still found that it was all gone by the time I landed.

Do I need to get the parfum? A vintage? At this point, this is basically a body mist, and I might try taking it to the pool with me to try to wear it after a swim session.

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Perfume Layering: Serge Lutens La Fille de Berlin and Prada Candy

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Henna

TextFixed them. This is a layering combo I really like. I kept looking for the supposed amber in La Fille de Berlin, and then decided to add one of my own. The Prada Candy has great lasting power and La Fille De Berlin fades quite a bit faster. It’s like adding a rose heart to the Candy, and I love it. I wouldn’t do it in the summer but it’s working now.

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Empties: Matrix Air Dry Chill Boho, and Annabelle Cosmetics Mascaras

Posted on June 14, 2022 by Henna

TextEmpties on a sunny Sunday. I’ve been out and just got home again. I left my phone at home and yes, I’m doing that again. Matrix Air Dry Chill Boho hair cream. This is a few years old and lived in my swimming bag all through Covid. I finally finished it and I remember why I loved it. It made my hair shiny and smooth, and yes, I air dried. Remember when the whole air dry thing was really a huge trend even though so many people do it all the time?

I prefer to. I think it’s just more gentle on your hair and I’m averse to the perfection hair trend I see on social media. That’s just not real life. I have many thoughts about this, but maybe I’ll save them for another time. I’m also done with these Annabelle mascaras even though I haven’t had them that long. They kind of dried out and didn’t work as well anymore so I guess that’s what happens with drugstore mascara sometimes. Have you tried these?

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Serge Lutens La Fille de Berlin

Posted on June 13, 2022 by Henna

TextYou know me, rose is probably the most represented in my perfume collection. I got this bottle of Serge Lutens La Fille de Berlin recently, after having it on my wishlist, Sephora Loves list, for years. I’ve had a little decant kicking around forever and now I have a bottle and 100ml at that.

This is actually a very straightforward rose in an eau de parfum concentration. It’s slightly herbal, slightly woody, and my nose doesn’t pick up the ambery base this supposedly had, but maybe that’s the newer bottles. My sample from years ago was definitely peppery and jammy, sweet even, but this bottle has none of that.

If you’re a fan of rose scents, you definitely need this. It’s delightfully easy to wear, an instant mood-lifter and one that I prefer to overspray because it doesn’t last forever, and there’s beauty in that. Nothing good ever lasts forever but nothing bad does either.

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Revisiting Prada Candy

Posted on June 10, 2022 by Henna

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I know lots of you have perfumes you gave away, sold, or lost, and then wanted back again, and this is one of mine. At one point I had the whole Prada Candy line and I never wore them because in those days I hated wearing anything even remotely sweet.

I got a sample of Candy and fell in love with it this time around. Now, I know that this one has been reformulated many times, and it seems to get more and more powdery, but my bottle smells pretty close to my sample and they’re years apart.

The main player in this is benzoin which can have warm and sweet qualities, and there’s lots of this in here. Although so many people define this as being caramel-like only, there’s a definite powderiness that reminds me of makeup powder, and a musk that sticks to your skin. I love that I can smell it all day, but it doesn’t have an intense amount of sillage.

In some ways, this reminds me of Chanel Paris-Venise except there’s no citrus notes and or vanilla, and Paris-Venise is pretty light. I think those two would layer so well together.

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L’Artisan Parfumeur Collection

Posted on June 9, 2022 by Henna

TextSome of the best.

Safran Troublant

Coeur de Vetiver Sacré

Dzing!

Ambre Extrème

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Comme de Garcons Incense Jaiselmer

Posted on June 8, 2022 by Henna

Brought out Jaiselmer today.

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It just smells so serious. There’s a super dry, almost boozy, green cardamom right up top, just to remind you that this is the incense one from India. It’s a little spicy thanks to pepper and cinnamon, and a dry cedar throughout. The cedar is… the good stuff. it reminds me of going to a sweat lodge where you’re supposed to sit in dry heat and sip cool water. The last time I went to one, I didn’t really sweat and then left when I couldn’t take the heat anymore. Jaiselmer really evokes that dry cedar wood smell.

I can see why this would be a good scent for spring, especially if you’re experiencing wet weather, because it would contrast beautifully with a damp rainy day. The dry cardamom, cinnamon, and woods just make it great for centring yourself and being introspective.

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Empties: Beauty of Eczema, Bumble and Bumble, Skin Proud, Neutrogena, Maybelline

Posted on June 7, 2022 by Henna

TextGoing swimming in a bit but first empties, including a lipstick and honestly, the only reason it didn’t finish sooner is because I was hoarding it.

It’s the Maybelline Super Stay matte crayon in 15 lead the way. It was the perfect neutral pink, and went on so creamy. I’m a big fan of these Maybelline Super Stay lippies. It comes with a sharpener which I only used once because that’s the best way to waste lipstick.

Skin Proud Velvet Cloud Cleanser. This got used up because it lived in the shower. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Skin Proud is at Walmart and the sizes of the bottles seem smaller than usual.

Bumble and Bumble Tone Enhancing Leave In, I saw that so many people picked this up in the Sephora sale. It’s good but I love the cedar-type smell that it has, and it was conditioning and made my hair so shiny when it dried.

Beauty of Eczema lotion. This is a moisturizing but non-greasy lotion. I’ve had it for a while but it got left in the swimming bag for a while and I finally took it out.

Neutrogena Micellar water. Did the trick. I used it to cleanse every morning.

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