Happy Hallowe'en!

La Rose du Petit Prince

I have a recurrent fantasy of having a little girl, a small daughter to whom I could have passed on all my bad habits. Like hatred of house-keeping and an abiding love for bad Lifetime movies.

But I could have also passed on all the good things I know about, too ... especially regarding fragrance.

Which is why, when I recently came in possession of an adorable little vinyl purse, accessorized with wild pink fuzziness and filled with pink things, including the La Rose du Petit Prince fragrance, I cast about looking for a small girl who might enjoy it (my coworker's little cousin will be the proud recipient of this treasure).

This fragrance line, an offshoot of the classic Antoine de Saint-Exupéry books about The Little Prince, and honoring the special rose (Wikipedia says -- and thus it must be true -- that the "temperamental rose" of his story was based on the writer's wife, Consuelo) that he carefully tended in his own strange way, is targeted to little girls ages 5 to 12 (the small cousin is 7, perfect!).

I admit that, before surrendering it, I did give the La Rose du Petit Prince scent a sniff. It's a sweet (but not too sweet) citrusy rose with notes of Clementine, orange, bitter orange, and grapefruit peel.

Ok, so I had a weak moment of thinking I'd keep it. But then I looked at the litttle purse with its pink nailpolish and lipgloss, pink bath bubbles and pink bracelets, slapped myself and wrapped it up to take to work next week.

I have SOME principles.

If you have a little girl you'll be shopping for this Chanukah and Christmas, the La Rose du Petit Prince line is available at http://www.beautyhabit.com/.

Nigella and I

Love Potion, Sleeping Draught or Cup of Hemlock?

Depends on who you're talking to.

Oh, and today's fragrance? 10 Corso Como ... the perfect cedar-y scent. (Um, I mean Malay oud-wood oil.)

Wonder what hemlock smells like.

I Miss My Friends

Sleeping ain't living. And it seems that what I'm doing now, for the most part, is working and sleeping. And I miss all of you.

Also, I think I'm turning into a pretty grumpy person. Got any advice for ways one can work AND have a life?

Or is that just a dream?

In My Dreams

(Beardsley drawing of Venus)

(Look at those disagreeable guardian figures. At risk of offending kate123, I think they look a bit like librarians.)

So what does Venus smell like? In my mind, like Ormonde Jayne Tolu.

Ode To Vanilla

I'm not one for foody fragrances, but I don't have it in me to totally sneer at the warmth and comfort of a good vanilla fragrance.

My favorite? Probably Serge Lutens' Un Bois Vanille, with its licorice undertone. I also like Parfums de Nicolai Vanille Tonka.

And the almondy-vanilla weirdness of Dior Hypnotic Poison. The edging-into-chypre Anne Pliska (which always reminds me of Tournesol's catchy "Anne Pliska/Anne Pliska/Hare Krishna/Hare Rama" ... heh).

The richly scented in-a-class-of-its-own Sage Pearl.

A few more: Carrement Belle Vanilla, any of the La Maison de la Vanilles, Molinard Les Senteurs Vanille.

And the Classic Queen, Shalimar ... although, on me, the vanilla is faint when it shows up at all.

I know there's more. This is a great excuse to dig through my samples to find more. Or tell me about your favorite.

I Have Actually Heard These Words

(New Yorker cartoon in which husband suggests to carping wife that she save it for the blog.)

For My Father

(the Air Force, the last branch of the armed services to receive a memorial, unveiled their new one -- featuring spires in the shape of the "bomb burst" maneuver of the USAF Thunderbirds -- this week)

Lt. Col. R.M. McGuire (USAF)
1919-1988

A Scent of Single-Entendre

Lulu Beauty has taken my favorite floral combination, jasmine and rose, and woven it into a strangely seductive, surprisingly comforting skin scent in Marlena.

In most jasmine and rose combinations, the florals knock you to the floor with intent: I Am Sexy, Dammit. Pay Attention to Me.

Dietrich wouldn't have gone that route. Her seduction had to do with implication, with suggestion.

In Marlena, the base notes (musk, French vanilla, patchouli) come early and stay late, softening the fragrance into a more subtle come-hitherness. It's also an oil, keeping the fragrance closer to you. It's a whispered offer, rather than a shout.

It's not a scent you have to get used to. It's immediately attractive. And accessible. To be honest, it's nice not to have to work so hard with a perfume.

Sometimes it's good to be easy. As long as no one knows it.

Marlena. Now starring at the Lulu Beauty site: http://www.lulubeauty.com/

Different. Not Bad, Just Different.

Fox Among The Hounds.

Rose-Scented Retro Luxury

Continuing their theme of beauty in the manner of elegantly 'back in the day' luxe, Bésame introduces a richly rose-scented moisturizer.

Rose-lover that I am, I think this stuff is wonderful. And, although it brings to mind a WWII era beauty sitting at her dressing table, it also offers modern benefit of antioxidants and vitamins-for-the-complexion.

It's designed to accompany their foundation, or pressed powder ... but I most often wear it without makeup, to appreciate the scent.

Beautiful product. Available at http://www.besamecosmetics.com

They Dance, Too ... But Croc-less

Now I have my Crocs.

This is an ode to them: I love them.

They are more comfortable than barefoot. I wish I could sleep in them.

They make me want to dance! And I am already dreaming of my next pair: purple, I think.

*I have received no compensation for this endorsement. Although if Crocs would like to send me a big check, I would love their product even more*

Beauty In A Sad Autumn

“They know their children are going to heaven. They know their children are innocent ... and they know that they will join them in death,” said Gertrude Huntington, a Michigan researcher and expert on children in Amish society.

“The hurt is very great,” Huntington said. “But they don’t balance the hurt with hate.”


photo by clearing

Explain the Unexplainable to Me

What particular evil enters a person's soul to enable him to go into a school, assault and kill children?

In each of these cases, the individual ends up killing himself, or commits suicide-by-SWAT team.

If that was to be his ultimate act of anger, why couldn't he have just have ended his own life initially, and not damaged the children?

He obliterated himself after committing his act of revenge. To what end? Was there enough satisfaction in those last few hours of life to justify the eternal damnation he surely earned?

Those Who Forget the Past ...

V for Vendetta is set in Britain in the not-too-distant future ...

On the eve of revolution, a masked man who had known -- and overcome -- subjugation, teaches one woman to overcome fear and free herself in the process.

On an entirely different note: Rabbit, Rabbit!