Thursday, May 16, 2013

How To Shop For Vintage Perfume? Ask The Non-Blonde


Sooner or later in your perfume journey the allure of masterpieces of the past will become too tempting to ignore. Or maybe you have a vague memory of something a beloved relative used to wear and you're yearning to find it again. No matter the reason, you are going to start looking for vintage perfumes, and if you're new to this particular obsession it can be confusing, overwhelming, heartbreaking or disappointing (and sometimes all of these at the same time). Here are a few points to consider if you're about to take a dive into the rabbit hole of vintage perfume.

1. Online shopping should be your very last resort. Eight, ten and even five years ago eBay was a great place to buy vintage perfume for pennies. So few people were interested in old juice and sellers offered these bottles as an afterthought. Nowadays it's a lucrative enough field to have professional crooks who buy empty bottles and fill them with who knows what. There are fake labels, watered down juice stretching that Chanel No. 5 drop into two bottles, and plain old thieves. On top of that there's also the issue that always existed: old juice may have turned on its own because of inadequate storage. You need to be aware that there's a risk there even if the seller is honest and reliable-- some things are out of his or her hands, and refund and return policies have become more complicated. If you've never smelled a certain perfume you'll have a hard time knowing if that's the real stuff in the bottle and proving that you even deserve a refund. So beware and rethink before you sink a crazy amount of money (that would have bought you a couple of new Amouage bottles at Luckyscent) into what may or may not be Chanel 46 (most likely it's not).

2. The safest and most satisfying way to get vintage stuff is in your immediate circle. Ask friends and relatives if they may have unwanted old bottles in the back of their closets. Some of the best stories I've heard about perfume treasures involved the linen closets of spinster aunts and grumpy old neighbors clearing out their attics. In the same way, yard sales and estate sales are also a great place to find stuff. People with no interest in perfume are prone to offer an unopened Guerlain gift set from the 60s next to their VSH tapes of Friends and for a similar price.

3. Thrift stores and Goodwill may hold some fine gems. Real antique stores are more tricky since many dealers prefer to only handle empty bottles (I don't even want to think about the priceless juice that went down the drain the process), and some of them have already caught up to the growing interest and raised their prices accordingly.

4. Don't disregard the cheapies. Of course, we all want to find that bottle of original Djedi. But with the dwindling supplies and growing demand for big names it's harder to find the grand perfumes from their heyday at even semi-reasonable prices. However, less known brands and even downright cheap ones from the 1950s, 1960s and even 70s are still worth a sniff and some of them are going to knock your socks off. Same goes for Avon. Most of the miniature bottles are beyond tacky, but the actual fragrances, especially those from the 70s were made with better raw materials than a lot of today's mainstream dreck. Have a sniff at Timeless or Charisma and you'll see what I mean.

Are you a vintage shopper? Please share your tips, ideas and experience, bad or good.

Photo: Life.com.

Those Were The Days- Fashion, Models, Makeup Part II


This is the second part of our little trip back in time to the land of pink frosty lipsticks and other pleasures thanks to the amazing collection on Top Models Of The World.

Perhaps one of the best 1980s fashion looks:


And the worst:

Color!

Linda was the face of Yardley in the mid-90s. Is anyone familiar with Baroque perfume?


I loved Princess Stephanie:




Ads for musk perfumes were always hilarious:


I can't even:


Anjelica Huston:


Oh, Gia:



And finally, this one is for Lawrence in Ohio:

Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons Tailor-Made Bronzing Powder- Brunettes




Nobody does bronzers like Guerlain. Every year they dazzle us with limited edition items from their Terracotta line in gorgeous designs inside and out. But today I'm going back to the "regular" Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons Tailor-Made Bronzing Powder because it's a repurchase-- I was 3/4 of the way through an older version of the 4 Seasons bronzer and even hit pan when I dropped the compact and what was left shattered to pieces (to the delight of the cats). I cleaned up and got rid of the mess, so I'm not sure which one I had before, but I replaced it with this Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons Tailor-Made Bronzing Powder in Brunettes. I could have just as easily gone with Blondes. Maybe I really should have done it, because as I know very well from my experience with Terracotta Light Sheer (the mosaic one that also has shimmer), Blonde is actually easier for me to wear.

In any case, Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons Tailor-Made Bronzing Powder in Brunettes is a beautiful product. The texture is matte but it imparts a certain understated glow to the skin. The four parts of the bronzer are different variations of natural bronze and the compact is large and wide enough so you can maneuver your brush between the four quarters and pick as much or as little as you want from each. The base undertones of this Guerlain bronzers are very warm and summery. I don't recommend using it as a contour, despite the perfect finish because it's just too sunny, at least on my neutral green not-quite-NC30-35 skin.

The pigment level in this Guerlain bronzer is beyond intense. I swatched gradually and you can see that the dark part is really dark. I used a regular blush brush for swatching, but obviously that's too dense for what most of us need. I recommend a very fluffy long haired brush that can  create a sheer veil of color for the perfect sun-kissed look. The new limited edition Dior Summer Blush Brush is one, fan brushes will also perform well here (Laura Mercier, Louise Young or Hakuhodo), as will Yachiyo brushes (only touch the tip to the product-- that's more than enough) and Hakuhodo G5537 and G5538.

Bottom Line: a staple.

Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons Tailor-Made Bronzing Powder- Brunettes ($75) is available from the counters and at Sephora.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Packing Perfume For a Mini Vacation


I remember my mother packing for a trip abroad years ago. She had an elegant refillable purse atomizer that she bought for the occasion at a nice cosmetics store. She decanted Chloe by Karl Lagerfeld, her one and only signature perfume, from the big bottle into the travel sprayer and that was it. She was all set. The other day I had a small moment of panic. The husband and I were unpacking our stuff in the little room at the B&B where we were staying for a three day getaway. For a brief moment I wasn't sure I actually packed the handful of perfume decant I selected to bring on the trip. The idea of not having the scents I wanted, and worse: not having perfume at all (!) was intolerable. Within a second I found my decants in the zippered compartment of my bag, not to mention that the husband was happy to share the samples he had packed (Tam Dao, Tom Ford Grey Vetiver, Frederic Malle Bois d'Orage, L'Artisan Mechant Loup), so I wasn't in real danger, but not having some Shalimar with me felt wrong.

Packing perfume for a trip, long or brief, requires thinking about what I'd like to wear in the near future. Sometimes I take a couple of samples I'm testing, but for the most part I want to have fragrances I'm already certain will make happy and comfortable. I always have something that feels like it's part of me (hence Shalimar), a few things I'm loving at that particular point in time, something for an evening out, another that will suit the weather, a comfort scent for night (not sleeping in my own bed surrounded by cats requires help), a sunny perfume that feels good outdoors... the list goes on. Here's what I packed this time:

Mona di Orio- Eau Absolue. The husband actually wore it for dinner. A perfect balance between day and night, rain and shine, femme and homme.
M. Micallef Rose Extreme- Brightens the day and stays on.
Vintage Shalimar (EDT)- Because it feels like home.
La Via del Profumo- Tawaf. A sultry jasmine and then some.
Dior- New Look 1947. Because right now I'm utterly in love with this sophisticated floral and want to wear it all the time.
Sonoma Scent Studio- Champagne de Bois. Woody and outdoorsy, yet cozy.

I could have easily packed a couple more, just to be on the safe side, but I tried to be reasonable. How about you? Do you have a fragrance you must have on hand while away? Were you ever stuck anywhere scentless?

Photo of Marlene Dietrich via Straight, Stirred Up, With A Twist.

Those Were The Days- Fashion, Models, Makeup Part I


Last weekend I spent more time than I'm willing to admit browsing the archives of Top Models Of The World. The site has photos from fashion shows, scans of fashion and beauty editorials from old magazines and vintage ads featuring famous and less famous models. Usually I look for older stuff, but I was sucked in by items from the 1908s and 90s, pictures I've seen on the pages of the actual magazines during the times they were the only connection lifeline to the fashion world. I picked some of these gems to share with you.

Ines de la Fressange in Chanel was elegance personified:


Even in this kind of an outfit:


The same goes for Iman in Dior:


Even Guerlain and Famke Janssen didn't escape the 80s:


Madame Sarkozy:




Nobody escaped the mullet:


Janice Dickinson in saner days; Cosmo in less smutty days:


Aziza taught us how do apply blush:


Pretty much my fashion ideal circa 1982:


Serge Lutens took his creative vision from Dior to Shiseido:



 The gentleman in the next two photos is Uncle Karl:



Jerry Hall and Joan Severance in French Vogue:



Kimora, before Baby Phat and reality TV:


Cindy was already regretting the pleated pants:


No idea what's going on there, but bunny!!!


Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow!

La Prairie Agate Cellular Treatment Eye Shadow







La Prairie Cellular Treatment Eye Colour shadows are a splurgy treat. All La Prairie products are, as a matter of fact, and they're hard to resist because the textures really are that awesome. Agate, a neutral wet sand color, is a perfect base color for many makeup looks. On my eyelids (that are naturally darker than my arms) it's a barely-there color that's perfect either for an almost bare look or as a companion for La Prairie Eye Colour in Hematite, one of my favorite blue eye shadows in the known universe.

The texture is gossamer silk and it blends effortlessly. The finish has a light low-key glow that reflects the light ever so slightly. La Prairie Agate is beautiful, understated, wearable, and versatile. The packaging is elegant--  just look at the outside of the compact. It would have been better, though, if the eye shadow came with a usuable brush instead of the silly sponge applicators.  It can also be a slippery slope, as all their products happen to be (see also the lipsticks in Quiet Berry and Midnight Plum, or the Cellular Glow cream blush).

Bottom Line: don't say I didn't worn you.

La Prairie Agate Cellular Treatment Eye Shadow ($45) is available from top department stores.
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