Empties.
Empties: Keratinworks, Korres, Sukin Beauty, NYX, Benefit
Posted in More Than Beauty
Tagged Benefit, empties, Keratinworks, Korres, NYX, Sukin
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Tom Ford Ebene Fume Review EDP
I’ve worn this a few times, enough to know that I don’t want it. @tomford Ebene Fume, really smells a lot like Palo Santo, so much so that they’re nearly identical when you smell them side by side, and that’s good, because that’s the scent that the perfume is trying to evoke! That being said, the base of this is a synthetic sandalwood that you’ve probably smelled in everything else, and anyone could smell it from a mile away.
My own personal experience is that palo santo always reminds me of cloves, and when I was growing up, sometimes Indian food would have whole cloves in it that I would unwittingly bite, and the taste of whole cloves is so bitter and disgusting that I never want to be near it. Not everyone has that scent association but I do… so this is a nope from me.
So I won’t spring for this, but it’s woody and warm and actually seems perfect in lots of ways. They did take that synthetic sandalwood and dress it up… the smokiness in the opening is powerful and enjoyable, and it actually lasts a while before the scent settles down.
Posted in Perfumes
Tagged Fragrances, Palo Santo, Perfume, Review, Sandalwood, tom ford, Woody Perfumes
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Bliss Skincare Bright Idea Serum
This Bliss Skincare Bright Idea serum is my favourite from the brand. It’s got ethyl-ascorbic acid which is usually more stable, and a gel formula in a pump bottle. The pump lets in less air than a bottle that you’re constantly opening. For a drugstore serum, this one is great and even has peptides which help improve your skin condition too. I have to say – there have been so few misses from the Bliss products I’ve tried this year.
Bliss Skincare is now available at Shoppers Drug Mart. $33.
Estee Lauder Luxury Scent Collection
I checked out some of the new Estee Lauder Luxury Scent collection yesterday – I was somewhat surprised to see them in a Hudson’s Bay and with no salesperson in sight, but there they were. The packaging is gorgeous. Heavy ribbed glass, magnetic gold lids. They’d look good on display. I also like that they’re organized by scent styles – woody, earthy, amber, chypre, etc. It gave me an idea what to reach for. I didn’t try them all and sprayed on scent strips first.
The one that was my favourite was the one I wore on skin: Desert Eden, a woody floral. Listed notes are: Sandalwood, Rose, and Olibanum. This smells exactly like Rooh Afza. It’s a somewhat fruity sweet rose tempered with smooth sandalwood. The sweetness isn’t cloying but it’s sugary. Plain. Seems linear and retains some sweetness throughout its wear. Refreshing, slightly watery without being aquatic. These perfumes are EDP formulas and I found 2 sprays on my wrist to be very long-lasting. If you’re a fan of L’Artisan Parfumeur Safran Troublant, you’ll like Desert Eden. I only wore it once, but I’d like to wear it again.
Have you tried any of these, what did you think?
Chanel Venise Perfume Review
I’m a little enamored with Chanel perfume these days. It took me forever to appreciate No. 5, and now I’m all the way down the rabbit hole.
So I dug out my sample of Chanel Venise that a perfume friend sent me a while ago. I did 1 conservative spray on my sleeve (thinking that I could change my shirt if I didn’t like it) and then went back to spray on my skin, and found myself putting my wrist to nose throughout the day.
The next day, I went for a cloud of it so that I could enjoy it the whole day, and now my little sample is almost empty.
This has the longest citrus opening of any fragrance I’ve tried and I think it’s worth buying just for that. But though it’s a fresh soapy number, it settles down to being ambery in the dry down and I find that to be so appealing. It’s basically a skin scent on me. I can’t smell it throughout the day, even if I’m wearing it in my hair, and as much as I don’t want a Chanel skin scent, I kind of love it and do want it? I’ll have to see if I miss it when I finish my sample… but Venise is lovely.
Posted in Perfumes
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XO Treatment Room Pink Perfecting Oil
I found some light and some hot pink so things are looking brighter. Every week that goes by, I think “well made it another 7 days without getting it”, anyone else feel the same way?
I love the colour of the bottle colour of XO Treatment Room’s Pink Perfecting Oil which was a limited-edition release, but it’s the nicest blend of peptides and oil, so not only does it moisturize, but it also seals everything in… and smells like a Strawberry Milkshake.
How Do You Wear Your Fragrance Video
How Do You Wear Your Fragrance?I thought this was common knowledge, but maybe it was common only to me, and I’ve had quite a few discussions with various people about it. Tell me in the comments – what do you wear, where do you wear it, and how many sprays?
Fable and Mane Hair Mask Review
Not worth the hype.
Uniquely creamy texture of this Fable and Mane hair mask. This is a sample and I’ve used it a couple of times. The jar had about 5 uses in it and my hair is pretty long.
Honestly, I’ve seen this brand plastered all over social media but this mask is pretty ordinary. I mean, every brand has some hits and some filler products and maybe this just isn’t one of the hits. 🤷🏽♀️ Maybe that’s why it’s a freebie?
Posted in Deep Conditioner
Tagged Fable and mane, Free Sample, Hair Mask, Sephora, Sephora Canada
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Kilian Incense Oud Perfume Review
Incense Oud by Kilian is a scent that I keep coming back to as I seem to be craving an incense background to my winter activities.
I’m not sure whether to be sad that it’s discontinued and almost-impossible to find on the Internet, or be happy that my wallet is safe for now. Actually, having an Arabian Nights collection doesn’t seem like a concept that would age well, but the perfume world can seem a little insular at the best of times, so maybe it doesn’t matter.
This is such an incense-intense fragrance, and I hardly smell any oud in it, but as always, Kilian delivers elegant smooth scents with intense projection and wearability. They’re interesting but wearable. What I do get with this is so much incense, but without any smoke, but also an earthy rose which is a note I can enough of.
Incense seems to remind people of church, but I can’t say that I can place this scent there. Instead, I’m finding this incense to be grounding in a time where it seems like there is a lot going on. Despite having a plethora of rose scents, I don’t have one with incense in it, and so this seems to fill a void in my perfume wardrobe. I’ve only got these few ml to satisfy my rose-incense needs, and maybe by the time I finish them, I’ll have found something else.
People who have smelled this on me have called it very a very “Henna” fragrance… make of that what you will…
Kenzo Jungle Review
Spicy Kenzo Jungle. It’s that spicy Christmas candle at the back of your cabinet, it’s the potted fake pines at Homesense, it’s the office of your coworker with the jangly Rudolph earrings.
This is one I’ve been saving for cooler weather, but I still don’t think it’s cool enough outside. It’s a pungent cardamom/cinnamon juice that’s definitely not chai, because it’s missing any lactonic smoothness to mellow out that spice. It’s also missing black tea, which happens to be a key component of chai. You’d think it would be pumpkin spice, but there’s very little sweetness and it’s so outdoorsy.
I don’t know whether I love this but it gets lots of traction on Instagram. People really adore it and I hear that it works well on warm skin or in warm weather. I don’t know. Sometimes I love it and sometimes I can live without it.
Have you smelled this? What do you think of it?