Beauty: 95 posts

It is amazing how little pleasures can color one’s mood: spreading a fragrant chestnut honey on my morning toast, reading a few lines from a favorite book on my morning commute, wearing a soft red scarf knitted by my grandmother. When I get home after a long day at work, what I crave most is some low-key indulgence, preferably something deliciously scented. Among my favorite everyday luxuries are rose scented creams. I find the fragrance of rose to be relaxing and soothing. As I rub the cream into my skin, all the worries of the day vanish and somehow starting it all over again tomorrow does not seem quite so daunting.

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I am fairly conservative in my makeup preferences, having built a small, but complete collection of favorite products. However, as the holiday makeup collections begin to appear in stores, I always get tempted by all of the new iridescent eye shadows, lipsticks in hues ranging from rubies to tourmalines and various sparkling powders. The latter is something I rarely can resist, and when I first heard that Guerlain’s holiday 2011 collection called Belle de Nuit was inspired by the dusky beauty of Vol de Nuit, I was intrigued. Guerlain usually releases beautiful sparkling powders around the holidays, so I hoped that a scented body powder would be available this year. Indeed, Vol de Nuit Perfumed Shimmer Powder for Face & Body is part of the new collection, and it is my latest sparkling acquisition.

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Do you remember “Sex and the City” episode, in which Carrie considers buying a pair of expensive shoes, knowing fully well that she has no money and that her credit card might be completely maxed out? According to the renowned traveler Ibn Battuta, women in the 13th century Arabia were prone to similar actions. Whatever the price of beauty might be, some were willing to pay it!

“The Meccans are very elegant and clean in their dress, and most of them wear white garments, which you always see fresh and snowy. They use a great deal of perfume and kohl… The Meccan women are extraordinarily beautiful and very pious and modest. They too make great use of perfumes to such a degree that they will spend the night hungry in order to buy perfumes with the price of their food… When one of these women goes away the odour of the perfume clings to the place after she has gone” (Gibb 1929, 76.)

Photography of henna by VeraKL

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

The moment I hear of Portofino, it evokes the vision of a picturesque Italian town on the Ligurian sea coast. I can also hear the waves rocking small fishing boats, the nasal sounds of the local dialect, and the general din filling a town square on a warm summer day. If I let my imagination take me further, I can even smell the bitter espresso, the rosemary encrusted focaccia from the local bakery and the dark salty sea breeze. Even though the touristy Portofino of today is miles away from the quaint fishing village it used to be, it never fails to inspire romantic fantasies. For this reason, Tom Ford named its orange blossom cologne Neroli Portofino, while Christian Dior later followed suit with Escale à Portofino.

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I have a photo of me as a 6 year old painting my lips with my mom’s lipstick. Everything about this picture makes me smile –the awkward way in which I am holding the little tube, the serious look on my face, the way I hold back my auburn curls with one hand while I try to paint a perfect cupid’s bow mouth. Yet, it was not just the rich red color that drew me to the lipstick. It was also the scent of rose and violet that I associated with glamour and beauty in my mind: a scent of my mother’s good night kiss as she was preparing to leave for the theater with my father.  The scent of lipstick had such a strong draw for me that it once made me surreptitiously reach for the black tube while my mom was not around and taste the waxy cream. Needless to say, that was not a pleasant introduction to lipstick. Since then, I have been using lipsticks for purposes other than gustatory, and I still have a soft spot for fragrant varieties. Likewise, in fragrances I find myself seeking out the makeup accords that suggest something glamorous and sophisticated, with a delicious touch of retro.

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