Native x Girl Scouts Collection

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It’s peak gourmand: @native , the company best-known for natural deodorants, has paired up with the Girl Scouts and created a collection of products that smell like their iconic cookies. My favourites, chocolate mints, are represented, but so are the Trefoils, the coconut caramels, lemon, and peanut-butter.

Yes, all of these are available in a variety of products, but the coconut caramel must be the most popular because it’s available in every format: shampoo, conditioner, deodorants, and body wash. Canadians will see that there are flavours that we can’t get here – that’s because this collection is only available at Target stores, or online from the Native website (which only delivers to the USA). The scents are true-to-name. They are sweet-smelling but wearable, if that’s how you want to smell.

Again, I prefer the chocolate-mint scent, and I like it in anything that washes off because I’d like not to be with the scent the whole day, but if you like to layer your scents, then the body sprays will be more to your liking. They’re available now (and some of these have been out for a while), and aren’t going away right away, so add them to your Target shopping list, so you can check them out the next time.

Do I like the Native deodorant? Does it work? It does, but I will confess that I’m not very sweaty or stinky and I find that greasy hair smells the strongest and worst than anything, and at that point you need to shower.

The lemon cookie scent of this deodorant is delicious but not overly sweet, and I think it really works.

I do like the shampoo and conditioner because the shampoo is sulfate-free and the conditioner is pretty basic. The pump bottles are perfect and will last forever, and like I said, in the shower I’m open to more kinds of scents because you’re washing them away anyway.

Gifted.

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Chanel Boy Perfume Review


Esxence was the perfect reset. It made me leave my house and be immersed in the perfume world that I love for a few days. Since I’ve been back, I’ve barely worn any perfume to start my day because I’ve wanted to keep my nose clear to smell all my samples. But today is Sunday and the sunshine is asking for me to take out something for warmer weather. Boy is my summer Les Exclusifs, an easy-to-wear blend of lavender, powder, and musks, class in a bottle, easy-to-love like all the Chanel.

This makes me think of wet skin even though my brain knows it’s lavender and then a simple vanilla amber accord that I can smell in Coromandel and maybe in other Chanel perfumes too.  There’s a thread, or even more than one that holds all of the Les Exclusifs together and it’s possible to smell it if you’ve worn these perfumes a lot.

Regardless of what the ingredients or the actual notes are, when I wear Boy, my gut, or maybe my heart, sees wet velvety skin, soft and warm.

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Diptyque Eau Duelle edp – Vanilla

Cultural appropriation or cultural appreciation?

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Official descriptions for Diptyque’s Eau Duelle range from “an ode to travel” to “ inspired by a journey along the Spice Route and the ports of legendary cities: Babylon, Goa, Venice and Carthage.” The picture on the back reminds me of the Taj Mahal but maybe it’s just Mughal architecture, and many examples of it are found in North India rather than the South which is where Goa is.

I already know there will be people who say it’s appreciation, and I get that, it’s one of the reasons I like this bottle, but the mishmash of places and stories without being true to history is pointless in a world where the Internet exists and you can look things up in an instant. Eau Duelle is a vanilla scent, slightly spicy and green, woodier than other vanilla, but it’s still vanilla. It’s not a scent I’d associate with the “spice route”. The number of brands that still use “oriental” as a descriptor is many, and truly, it’s a lot of older gentlemen who probably know better but are used to describing warm and spicy scents that way. I can overlook that because truly there is no motivation to change.

All of this reminds me of a conversation I had with my aunt and uncle who work to get women on corporate boards across America, and who told me that the real way to get people and corporations to make a change is to legislate it, so maybe in the perfume world, maybe a body, like I don’t know, perfume expo organizers, need to insist that brands stop using that in their copy when they bring material to display at the show. The industry seems reluctant to change and has a fragile ego that can’t take criticism, so things will take time to change, but change is not impossible.

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Celine Perfumes

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Celine perfume two ways: one for winter and one for summer, one for night time, one for the day. One to bring in the good times and the other to wash them all away.Cologne Celeste takes cues from the green neroli-centred scents of the past but updates them with clean musk, adding a certain amount of longevity which may have been lacking in the former. It’s fresh, it’s cleaner, it’s still got some powder, but not as much as some of the others in the line. It’s what I’ll wear when the weather warms up. It’s a good counterpart to Nightclubbing which smells more like clubs from back in the day, cigarette ashes, powder in the bathroom, a good dose of vanilla as everyone reapplies their perfume. It’s warmth is best in the winter.

Do you have a favourite from the line? I know Black Tie gets a lot of love because it’s a good vanilla but it didn’t wow me when I tried it last year. Maybe I need to revisit it.

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What I Bought in Milan

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Perfume I bought in Italy. If you’ve been around for a while, you’ll see that these are all old favourites. I sold my partial bottle of Coromandel a couple of days before I left and then got a new one. I got a 4ml bottle of Le Lion with my purchase and I’ll enjoy that for a while. Meharees by L’Erbolario has a scent profile similar to Musc Ravageur, but slightly sweeter and more feminine. Easy to wear. Again, I’d bought a bottle but gave away my partial knowing I’d be able to get a new one. I also grabbed a couple of the body washes. They don’t smell that strong in the shower but an hour after getting out of the shower I can still get whiffs of Meharees even though I’m not wearing any perfume.

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Melograno by Santa Maria Novella is still my favourite from the brand and I was able to get a sample of L’Iris so I can enjoy it slowly. I had a longer list of things I wanted from SMN but they hadn’t updated the bottles on all of them and I didn’t want the old-style bottles. Melograno is like clean white powdery hotel soap. It’s fresh and easy to wear. I love it in the summer.

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If you’re keeping track, (and I really wasn’t) I’m still under the $800 worth of goods you’re allowed to bring into Canada.

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Where to Stay if You Go To Esxence

My @esxenceofficial recap continues. I stayed at the Melia Milano, which is the closest 5-star hotel to the venue. It happens to be reasonably priced for a 5-star hotel and is within walking distance from the metro and bus stop. There’s even a direct bus to and from the Malpensa airport that comes right to the square close to the hotel.

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The room was neat, the lobby was sparkling, the lounge was comfortable, and the food was delicious. Because it’s so close to the convention, there were a lot of brands and attendees that were also staying there. Because there were spacious places to sit and socialize, it was a good place to meet for a drink or a bite to eat.

There’s not much happening in that part of town, so I think the hotel bar and restaurant receiving a lot of traffic. Many people said that staying near the Duomo was a better place to stay so that you’re near the attractions, but I’ll say that if you’re attending Esxence, this is the most convenient place to stay. It’s easier to pop back and drop your stuff off, and then head out to wherever you want to go. There was even a day that I came back for lunch and to rest, and then ended up back at the convention again. Would I give my stay a 10/10? No… the service was European (not fast) and the food menu was small, but I’d give my experience a solid 8 out of 10, and I’d stay there again next year.

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Esxence Recap – Too Much Waste

I didn’t have time to visit their booth, but Kajal Perfumes had the best bag at Esxence.

It’s a plastic transparent number, neon orange and perfect for everyday use because it fits a laptop but also I always know where my keys are when I use it. I’m sure it cost them a lot but everyone had one so it was great visibility for them.

The second picture is one of two trash bins that I filled with branded bags while I was packing up to go home. I took all the samples out and tossed the bags. I would have liked to take some of them home but there was no room, and I already have a section of a closet devoted to these types of bags and I’m always trying to get rid of them. Honestly, if a brand is reading this and wants some notes for next year – I’d say give out less, aside from samples. Less reading materials, less stuff to throw away. If you want to gift, make it meaningful after the show, remembering that there are so many people coming from out of town and not everyone will be able to take things home.

There were also many brands giving out and asking for business cards. I don’t think I’ve given out a card since 2015, and the irony is that I took them out of my purses before the trip. Have a list that interested people can put their email addresses down on (maybe a guest book?) and then follow up later. The sheer number of content creators, fragheads, and press from around the world is going to be hard to keep up with, but you’re looking for people who can tell your story and hopefully, you find them.

Oh, and in case you were wondering I did take this bag to work this morning and I’m going to keep using it.

As a side note, I’ve noticed that the perfume community has an overly fragile ego and can’t take any kind of criticism or negative feedback.  The Esxence people have been reposting mentions that they’ve gotten, mine included, but this was one they didn’t care to share. They never said they wanted to focus on sustainability and I didn’t come across any brand that was claiming that, which is good.  The most sustainable option is to stay at home and use nothing, but we all travelled far away to meet each other and I would say that it was worth it.  But there were scent strips and pamphlets littering the ground after the event too, and that’s not a great look.

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Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur

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I had a moment of regret after buying this bottle of Musc Ravageur – wasn’t spring on its way? How much would I be able to wear this vanilla perfume? But it looks like it came at the perfect time.Apparently, Musc Ravageur was in part inspired by Shalimar and the similarities are apparent. Tolu balsam, vanilla, a certain leather-note that seems to present itself at times. But Musc Ravageur also features a ton of musk and a cinnamon-spiciness that adds bite. There’s also a sweet citrus that almost reminds me of Christmas-time pomanders. The musks keep this from being heavy and actually, I’m going to test it out in warmer weather too. Right now, I have enough to last me many winters, no matter how long they are.

 

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What I Packed for Milan for Esxence 2024

It’s kind of like the first few things you grab to pack must be the ones you can’t live without, right? So here’s some skincare that I packed for my trip.

Vichy has a new sunscreen out and the texture is truly like a serum. It’s just moisturizing enough and has a glowy finish. I like that it’s super light and has a serum-like consistency but I do wish these facial sunscreens came in larger bottles.  Makeup layered well with it and I used it daily.  My bottle isn’t finished yet, and I’m still using it now that I’m back.

I grabbed my Tatcha vitamin C serum. This is what I use first thing in the morning after cleansing. It’s light but if you put on too much, you’ll find it pulls so one pump is plenty.

Trinny London sent me this BFF de-stress tinted moisturizer. It’s the perfect match for my skin and forgiving. They say to apply it before sunscreen like a moisturizer but if I do that, I find myself tempted to skip the sunscreen altogether so apply like normal makeup. Yes, that means that I’m using it more like a foundation and less like a moisturizer but I like the level of coverage.  I didn’t find it lasted the whole day, but it lasted through dinner and that’s just what I needed.

Also! I used the Trinny London Hyaluronic Acid and Peptides on this trip. I used it more for some hydration at night time, this is a very light serum. Honestly, I probably didn’t need to bring it but here we are. It was probably one of the last things I grabbed, I could have done without it, but I did use it while I was there.

Avene milk cleanser is my makeup remover. This cleanser is a bit greasy but that makes it perfect for taking off makeup.  I used it at night before cleansing more thoroughly with the hotel hand wash, and then again in the morning on a cotton pad.

Finally, Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Cream. Never leave home without it. It’s a more rich moisturizer that layers with everything.  Super dry skins will find that they need something more, but my combination skin likes it just fine.

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CT Lipsticks

I’m back with some more Charlotte Tilbury Lipsticks.

I have the two deeper colours of the pink lipsticks inspired by Hollywood. The shades are 90’s Pink, and Rose to Fame. I really like Rose to Fame. I find that these deeper shades look more like the campaign advertising than the lighter shades did. The finishes are creamy but the lipstick is very long-wearing which I appreciate.

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