Today I wended my way into the local Bath and Body Works to see what I could see and if anything struck my fancy among the new offerings. I tend to prefer their older scents and have not had much luck with the new pretties, but today I found two that were very enjoyable and more in keeping with their "classics".
Being fond of green scents, I was first I was drawn to Rainkissed Leaves. Just as the name suggests this one is leaves. The site says "watercress" supply the leaves in question but the effect is more outdoorsy than salady. I would hazard a guess that there are more leaves involved or maybe a generic "green note" and the site claims muguet (lily of the valley) and woods, but these are rather unobtrusive. A naturalist wonder, you'll smell like you spent the day pruning in the conservatory.
Next on the list is Butterfly Flower. The notes from the site are tea, tangerine, cyclamen, banana leaf , orchid, syringa , mimosa, coconut milk, and musk so I guess "fruity floral" springs to mind, but I did not really notice the tangerine or for that matter the coconut in Butterfly Flower. I did get a rush from this one. I am not able to discern which note was so startling to me but it reminded me of a flower I smelled long ago but hadn't smelled lately and I am assuming it is the cyclamen. My grandmother grew them and I remember them being lush and lovely but not sunny. I remember her removing caterpillars from the plants and I guess these did turn into butterflies! Butterfly food. Anyway a charming and old-fashioned pretty girl floral scent!
As always, both come in a full range of bath and body products. The Butterfly Flower is longer lasting than the Rainkissed Leaves and both can be had at a great sale price.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Weird and guilty pleasures
I love soda.
Whether you call it pop, soda, or choose to go back in time and use the archaic expression "phosphate" I will join you in one and pronounce them all bubbly and delicious! In fact, some of my oldest and favorite memories take place at a parlor that was called "Loud and Jackson's" that catered to not only ice cream enthusiasts but also carbonated beverage lovers like me. There you could order up the phosphate of your dreams: vanilla, cherry, lemon, lime, orange, pineapple, strawberry, grape, chocolate or any combination! You could even mix and match them with ice creams if you liked that sort of thing. Paradise.
Today our options are limited and quite frankly that annoys the heck out of me and I sit here sipping my Diet Sunkist longing for something else.
True, if you live in Michigan you can get Faygo in those wonderful strawberry, grape or key lime flavors, but I am stuck here in New Jersey where I can't even find a decent bottle of ginger ale, ok! There is no Vernor's in New Jersey and you can only get Faygo in orange or orange if you can find it at all and orange was never their strong suit. So there! Nehi is but a distant memory, too.
So I have to slake my thirst with colas, with diet-rite's smeasley collection of less bubbly flavors that do not tickle my nose, and hope for New Jerseyans to develop a broader definition of soda.
Sigh.
Suggestions welcome.
Whether you call it pop, soda, or choose to go back in time and use the archaic expression "phosphate" I will join you in one and pronounce them all bubbly and delicious! In fact, some of my oldest and favorite memories take place at a parlor that was called "Loud and Jackson's" that catered to not only ice cream enthusiasts but also carbonated beverage lovers like me. There you could order up the phosphate of your dreams: vanilla, cherry, lemon, lime, orange, pineapple, strawberry, grape, chocolate or any combination! You could even mix and match them with ice creams if you liked that sort of thing. Paradise.
Today our options are limited and quite frankly that annoys the heck out of me and I sit here sipping my Diet Sunkist longing for something else.
True, if you live in Michigan you can get Faygo in those wonderful strawberry, grape or key lime flavors, but I am stuck here in New Jersey where I can't even find a decent bottle of ginger ale, ok! There is no Vernor's in New Jersey and you can only get Faygo in orange or orange if you can find it at all and orange was never their strong suit. So there! Nehi is but a distant memory, too.
So I have to slake my thirst with colas, with diet-rite's smeasley collection of less bubbly flavors that do not tickle my nose, and hope for New Jerseyans to develop a broader definition of soda.
Sigh.
Suggestions welcome.
Cheap thrills of the smelly type
Few scents are more cost effective than B&BW's very delicious White Tea and Ginger or their Brown Sugar and Fig.
Both capitalize of the prominence of tea and fig notes in perfumery today and manage to smell rich and beautiful despite their cheapo cost. Brown Sugar and Fig captures the fig note wonderfully and adds brown sugar for a fun gourmand flair. White Tea and Ginger gives you the brewed tea chic of a Bvlgari or a L'Occitane for a small fraction of the big league price tag francais!
And if that was not enough, B&BW fragrances come in matching lotions, creams and shower gels, so what's not to love?
The lasting power of these body sprays is not too shabby either but at B&BW prices you can spritz all day and not break the bank or you can layer these sprays with the cream and lotions for smooth feeling and luscious smelling skin!
I love these fragrances!
Go on, perfume fans, give it a try. Outside of a few rarified circles nobody knows the difference anyway.
Both capitalize of the prominence of tea and fig notes in perfumery today and manage to smell rich and beautiful despite their cheapo cost. Brown Sugar and Fig captures the fig note wonderfully and adds brown sugar for a fun gourmand flair. White Tea and Ginger gives you the brewed tea chic of a Bvlgari or a L'Occitane for a small fraction of the big league price tag francais!
And if that was not enough, B&BW fragrances come in matching lotions, creams and shower gels, so what's not to love?
The lasting power of these body sprays is not too shabby either but at B&BW prices you can spritz all day and not break the bank or you can layer these sprays with the cream and lotions for smooth feeling and luscious smelling skin!
I love these fragrances!
Go on, perfume fans, give it a try. Outside of a few rarified circles nobody knows the difference anyway.
Perfume again..
My scent of the day is Lanvin's gorgeous gorgeous My Sin.
I need to use this more and savor the beauty of my collection.
I need to find joy wherever I can.
I need to use this more and savor the beauty of my collection.
I need to find joy wherever I can.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Media and political incest
Let us not to the marriage of true minds admit...disclosure. Sorry Shakespeare but impediments have vanished for a while now so disclusure of who's married to whom, who worked for whom and who's begat by whom seems a bigger issue today.
According to the online edition of Commenary, "You know those fawning little bios which the MSM runs? Well sometimes you learn the strangest things: “[UN Ambassador Susan] Rice is married to Canadian journalist Ian Cameron, executive producer of ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” Wait. The EP of a top Sunday show is married to a top Obama official? Shouldn’t this be disclosed on air, at least when they are discussing foreign policy?"
This made me laugh out loud as for years these sort of conflicts have run rampant among "unbiased" journalists with nary a discouraging word or a disclosure, a public disclosure.
Did you know that NBC's Andrea Mitchell is married to former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan?
Did you know that Chris Matthews was a top aide to Former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill?
Did you know that George Stephanopolis was a high ranking member of the Clinton administration?
Did you know that David Gregory (Tim Russert's replacement) is married to former Fannie Mae executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, Beth Wilkinson?
Did you know that Bill Moyer's was Lyndon Johnson's Press Secretary?
Did you know that Mika Brzezinski is the daughter of Carter's National Security advisor? And wife of James Hoffer of WABC?
Does the marriage of politics and "unbiased" media bother you at all? How do you speak "truth to power" when you depend on it for your next job or when you are married to it?
PRAVDA
According to the online edition of Commenary, "You know those fawning little bios which the MSM runs? Well sometimes you learn the strangest things: “[UN Ambassador Susan] Rice is married to Canadian journalist Ian Cameron, executive producer of ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” Wait. The EP of a top Sunday show is married to a top Obama official? Shouldn’t this be disclosed on air, at least when they are discussing foreign policy?"
This made me laugh out loud as for years these sort of conflicts have run rampant among "unbiased" journalists with nary a discouraging word or a disclosure, a public disclosure.
Did you know that NBC's Andrea Mitchell is married to former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan?
Did you know that Chris Matthews was a top aide to Former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill?
Did you know that George Stephanopolis was a high ranking member of the Clinton administration?
Did you know that David Gregory (Tim Russert's replacement) is married to former Fannie Mae executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, Beth Wilkinson?
Did you know that Bill Moyer's was Lyndon Johnson's Press Secretary?
Did you know that Mika Brzezinski is the daughter of Carter's National Security advisor? And wife of James Hoffer of WABC?
Does the marriage of politics and "unbiased" media bother you at all? How do you speak "truth to power" when you depend on it for your next job or when you are married to it?
PRAVDA
Are you happy with Obama? Words speak louder than actions today.
I feel cheated. I believed that he would be a centrist and a fiscally responsible president, cutting wasteful spending and standing up for rsponsible citizens. He called for "responsibility" but has signed irresponsible spending bills full of abject nonsense and rewards society's most irresponsible citizens while handing their bills to those who work hard. He wants to protect our retirement savings while tanking the stock market where these savings are invested. He appointed tax cheats and lobbyists while decrying both.
By all means, Mr. President, help cut medical costs and help reduce government spending. Do what you said you'd do, be the man you promised to be.
Or barring that, just stop making promises. Please.
Yes, some Americans are desperate. But we are most deperate for truth. You give us Pravda.
Weep
By all means, Mr. President, help cut medical costs and help reduce government spending. Do what you said you'd do, be the man you promised to be.
Or barring that, just stop making promises. Please.
Yes, some Americans are desperate. But we are most deperate for truth. You give us Pravda.
Weep
Words speak louder than actions!! Pakistan hates terrorism, you know.
Is Zadari's recent proclamation about love of democracy and lack of support for terror true or is it like Obama's love for the free market and his promise NOT to raise taxes?
Zadari says education for girls is "mandatory" but allows Talibansters to close these schools. Sharia is cool too, and we know how Sharia treats women.
I use the Obama comparison because he supports an end to earmarks while allowing thousands of them to go unprotested. In fact, earmarks will just go under a new name "stimulus" allowing him to deny their existence in his spending bills. The media will cow tow. Obama sounded so good, so convincing, so baritony.
Yes today words speak louder than actions, you will be judged by your pretty phrases, your soaring rhetoric and your mastery of the teleprompter. To hell with what you actually DO.
I suspect Hugo Chavez, who just nationalized an American food processing plant, will soon pronounce his love for free enterprise and the media will gush.
Obama's manipulation of the media will be copied and refined.
Happy days are here again! (but not really).
PRAVDA
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB123612594791323985-lMyQjAxMDI5MzA2NDEwMjQ1Wj.html
Zadari says education for girls is "mandatory" but allows Talibansters to close these schools. Sharia is cool too, and we know how Sharia treats women.
I use the Obama comparison because he supports an end to earmarks while allowing thousands of them to go unprotested. In fact, earmarks will just go under a new name "stimulus" allowing him to deny their existence in his spending bills. The media will cow tow. Obama sounded so good, so convincing, so baritony.
Yes today words speak louder than actions, you will be judged by your pretty phrases, your soaring rhetoric and your mastery of the teleprompter. To hell with what you actually DO.
I suspect Hugo Chavez, who just nationalized an American food processing plant, will soon pronounce his love for free enterprise and the media will gush.
Obama's manipulation of the media will be copied and refined.
Happy days are here again! (but not really).
PRAVDA
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB123612594791323985-lMyQjAxMDI5MzA2NDEwMjQ1Wj.html
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The unbearable lite-ness of perfume snobbery.
I have followed perfume blogs and message boards for a while now and have been entranced by the bigger, better and more expensive "niche" industry. I have also noted how few women seem to be aware of these options and how fewer still plunk down their dollars for a $120 rose scent when a $50 one is still rosy.
When women have commented positively on my fragrance it is usually an affordable model as the pricey niche scents smell somewhat off putting and foreign to their noses. If I get a negative remark it is always a nouveau niche fragrance and it is usually deemed "weird". The one exception is Ava-Luxe. People LOVE Ava-Luxe.
Read the blogs though and you will soon start to believe that you are on the scrabby end of life if you do not know and wear Frederic Malle or Serge Lutens, or that you are rather inculte if you cannot wax philosophical about whichever new craze Aedes is pushing on Christopher Street.
This all leads me to wonder if these bloggers and posters have unlimited resources or if they do own these pricey couture scents at all! Anybody can write a fragrance review and claim they were magically "transported" to a French garden or a sultan's harem or an asian spice market. You don't really even have to own the scent! You don't even need to have smelled it!
When women have commented positively on my fragrance it is usually an affordable model as the pricey niche scents smell somewhat off putting and foreign to their noses. If I get a negative remark it is always a nouveau niche fragrance and it is usually deemed "weird". The one exception is Ava-Luxe. People LOVE Ava-Luxe.
Read the blogs though and you will soon start to believe that you are on the scrabby end of life if you do not know and wear Frederic Malle or Serge Lutens, or that you are rather inculte if you cannot wax philosophical about whichever new craze Aedes is pushing on Christopher Street.
This all leads me to wonder if these bloggers and posters have unlimited resources or if they do own these pricey couture scents at all! Anybody can write a fragrance review and claim they were magically "transported" to a French garden or a sultan's harem or an asian spice market. You don't really even have to own the scent! You don't even need to have smelled it!
Bonne Bell model circa 1970s...Honestly
Does anyone remember the Bonne Bell ads of the 70s with the young girl who turned out to be the daughter of the company's owner? There was something about those ads with Julie Bell that seemed so "honest", just like the skin that Ten-0-Six promised us.
First the Bells were pretty in your face with the nepotism, they took no pains to hide the fact. Pretty admirable really as they could have engaged in a subterfuge and a pseudonym. Good on Jess Bell.
Second, she was less modelly and more "like us" which pleased us teen consumers of that decade. She was not painfully thin or preposterously flawlessly beautiful and she always looked a bit tentative in the photos which just added to the charm. She was a reachable goal physically if not economically (my dad was never going to own a cosmetics firm). On the other hand of economics there was never any conscious glam, Julie never wore diamonds or Dior. In the "Let it be Honest" ad the beaded bracelet was plastic and easily attainable.
I googled around a bit for her and came up with no photos despite the fact that her son, Hunter Lydon, is a serious photographer. Grandma "Julie Sr" is there as is daughter Juliana who looks like a 21st century version of her mother. No mommy.
I was also sad to read that her life was touched by the tragedy of the loss of a child.
Hope you are well, Julie Bell, Jr. I couldn't look like Cheryl Tiegs but I could look like you and I will always be grateful for your ads. They made normal adolescence way more tolerable! All the best!
First the Bells were pretty in your face with the nepotism, they took no pains to hide the fact. Pretty admirable really as they could have engaged in a subterfuge and a pseudonym. Good on Jess Bell.
Second, she was less modelly and more "like us" which pleased us teen consumers of that decade. She was not painfully thin or preposterously flawlessly beautiful and she always looked a bit tentative in the photos which just added to the charm. She was a reachable goal physically if not economically (my dad was never going to own a cosmetics firm). On the other hand of economics there was never any conscious glam, Julie never wore diamonds or Dior. In the "Let it be Honest" ad the beaded bracelet was plastic and easily attainable.
I googled around a bit for her and came up with no photos despite the fact that her son, Hunter Lydon, is a serious photographer. Grandma "Julie Sr" is there as is daughter Juliana who looks like a 21st century version of her mother. No mommy.
I was also sad to read that her life was touched by the tragedy of the loss of a child.
Hope you are well, Julie Bell, Jr. I couldn't look like Cheryl Tiegs but I could look like you and I will always be grateful for your ads. They made normal adolescence way more tolerable! All the best!
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