Eye brighteners: in search of the right one

 Tending to one's under eyes, especially when dealing with both some puffiness, some loss of volume and subtle shadows (but not dark circles per se), is a complicated affair. Luckily no wrinkles yet. I want something light, thinly creamy, non detectable in the natural light of day that would rather brighten than create an opaque layer of concealing. These latter types of products tend to sit like wet cement on the pavement and I don't want that effect on my skin anywhere, not just under the eyes. On the other hand highlighters are by nature meant to draw attention to the places they're put on, right? 

In the past I had great results with the light "pen" highlighters by Guerlain called Precious Light Rejuvenating Illuminator (mimicking YSL Touche Eclat in concept). 

But not having purchased either in years, I wonder if they keep the same consistency of quality and effectiveness now that time has elapsed. The click-pen mechanism is supremely practical, negating the need for separate brushes and it keeps the formula moist and protected at all times: only the product needed comes into contact with air as you pump as you go along your merry way. They do come in pricey for the quantity though.

If you have experience with either lately, let me know in the comments. 

I have also heard good things about Catrice Eye Brightener Instant Awake directly from makeup artists. The Instant Awake name is calling like a siren, who doesn't want something like that? I wonder whether it would mean that it's more for dark circles though than overall rejuvenation of the under eye area. 

This is a creamy product in a pot, so it should probably require a special brush to apply, kept for this purpose especially. Which brings me to another question: would a concealer brush be too dense for it? would it need a fluffier eyeshadow blender brush? Or a sponge applicator to thin it out? Your input is very much appreciated here too. 

My latest purchase was MAC Prep & Prime Highlighter pen in shade Bright Forecast. I got it because it promised (in a very promising video) to brighten, colour correct and generally give a rested appearence. It was a whooping 29 euro plus shipping in the local market and I can't say I'm 29 euros satisfied with what it delivers. It's nice enough to use, a creamy consistency etc, but it does set a bit thick and the peach hue does not do anything in terms of colour correcting. It's just like a warmer version of my own skin. So you have a ballpark on how I'm going about it. 

Tempalia suggests the following alternatives in pen highlighters for under eyes and strategic places on the face (quoting her verbatim below with brands available in my EU market), so let me know if you have experienced any of them: 

• Dior (Sun Beam may be comparable to Bright Forecast; Roseglow to Radiant Rose)
• Givenchy (Moon Light seems most comparable to Radiant Rose)
• Guerlain (nothing seems comparable in color–these are skintone shades)
• Sephora (#01 seems like Radiant Rose, #02 seems like Light Boost; #06 seems like Bright Forecast)
• YSL (Light Peach seems comparable to Bright Forecast, Luminous Ivory to Light Boost, and Luminous Radiance to Radiant Rose)

And what about the famed Nars Creamy Concealer? Have you tried it for this job? Satisfied? No? I'm all ears.

Diptyque Lunamaris: fragrance review

 Lunamaris by Diptyque, part of the new collection Les Essences, inspired by rare natural materials, managed to capture my attention and eventually my preference within the new line-up. It's a sleeper, that I suspect will please a lot of people if only given a chance to try it out. It grows on you. This fragrance genre has an affinity for prompting introspection and daydreaming, akin to listening to Eric Satie and his collective opus of Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes. Music that eases the mind and set forth a spiritual mood, with restrained sentimentality and low vibration sounds that stir the senses in a non flamboyant way. It's excellent for doing mental work, as its lack of words helps with concentration and -much like baroque music, though in a different way- it aids the mind to put a flow into thoughts. 

                    photo via pinterest

 The intention was transliterating the effect of mother of pearl or nacré into a scent. Perfumer Fabrice Pelegrin worked on the dual nature of mother-of-pearl, iridescent and whiteish, with a combination of resins. Cistus labdanum and frankincense-myrrh are played into the effects of the structure. It gives a fresh, cool ambience backed by subtle warmth which blooms on the skin when the fragrance is finally settling. To transliterate this beauty and dream-like quality into a fragrance it needed materials and chords that echo this subtlety and low-key dazzling of the senses. Perfume lovers can think of some: irises, metallic effects, shimmery incense effects, mineral chords, rose oxides... No innovation then in the composite parts of Lunamaris the fragrance, but excellent execution, something I'm giving more and more attention to. An incense with spicy notes and a fresh feeling, it easily comes through victorious. The poetic name, which unites the notions of the moon (luna) and the sea (maris) creates a tension that almost pre-empts the image of a dark nightime seascape where the silvery path of moonbeams sheds its magic upon the waters. It's dreamy in itself. 

                              photo via pinterest

 The myrrh and labdanum components give Lunamaris a vibrant feel, bittersweet and mysterious and almost abstract. I also detect a certain rosiness, the kind that is vegetal, pure, botanical and not liquer-ish or femininely floral. This is attributed to pink peppercorns, or in French baies roses. Of course Diptyque has cemented a cult favouring of their legendary Baies candle, so it fits effortlessly into their fine fragrances too. Contrary to what most people associate with pepper or peppercorns, baies have a rosy texture, adding flavour and aroma but no real heat to the palate when tasted. Therefore the subtle spiciness and the becoming, rosy aroma contributes to fragrances in a way that cannot be tagged retro under any guise, fully justifying why perfumers have used pink pepper with abandon in the last couple of decades in contemporary compositions. This was exploited in Toy Boy by Moschino too, recently, in order to give a non feminine feel to a fragrance geared towards men. 

 Overall the scent of Lunamaris is dry, completely unisex, devoid of any retro or stereotypically feminine or masculine traits and produces that zen quality we associate with an experience at a temple or a high-end spa retreat. It is clean and definitely minimalist luxury. There is also a musk inside which I suspect is Cashmeran, adhering to the skin in a very nice way, and yet projecting fine to others coming into the radius of its appealing aura. The lasting power is also very good, tenacious over the course of a working day.

Available as Eau de Parfum. 

Diorling: the houndstooth eau de toilette bottle

Vintage edition has houndstooth bottle with the classic bow in the Dior logo. The atomiser is old style with flowing sprayer and bakelite cap. 

Perfume photography by Elena Vosnaki

Lanvin Oxygene: fragrance review

 Everything old is new again and now that things aqueous and lightly transparent, with a mist of cool fresh air like Drop d'Issey, are making ripples, it's time for a comeback for those musky, airy, cool and dewy fragrances that defined an era. The presentation for Oxygène by Lanvin followed the trend for diaphanous or light blue (Light Blue anyone?) bottles that dominated the 1990s and up to the millennium. Then pink erupted and has never left us since. Indeed nowadays blueish bottles are almost solely geared to men.

The olfactory reception I get in Oxygène is quite something, as it recalls and depicts vividly one of my favorite flowers, the wisteria, or glycine in French. It's an early spring flower and, therefore, associated with cool air, dewiness, and a certain hesitant expectation. The heat and the sun have not come in to orgiastically lavish upon it. Its peppery spiciness, inherent also in mauve lilacs, is due to eugenol. I begrudge L'Artisan Parfumeur for discontinuing their lovely scented candle Sous la Glycine - Under the Wisteria - which remade the effect to perfection. (If the good people at the head office are reading, please bring it back!)

Delicately floral, with a subtle spicy note of clove, the central chord in the Lanvin Oxygène' fragrance recreates the beautiful, utterly gorgeous scent of the mauve, hanging grappes of wisteria, perched like bunches of decadent grapes over terraces, latticework and verandas in early spring. A fusion of spicy goodness reveals itself from the core: a middle road between peppery twinkle, a clove note, and carnations, with a side of a somewhat oily green nuance reminiscent of hyacinth and lilacs.

pic borrowed via pinterest

I do not get real milky notes, not the potable kind nor the milky body lotion type, which is prized among millennial women. It could only be said that there is a faint whiff of creaminess in the musk, but it is the overwhelming impression of white musk - redolent of white flowers and lilies - specifically that does it, not the milk or sandalwood, really. A very subtle hint of vanilla fuses with the headiness of the base. Any sweetness is due to the musks. On the other hand, Oxygène's freshness of citric notes and ozone in the initial spray is very perceptible and, to me, delectable; they recall that long-lost zingggg that scents of designer brands used to do so well back then.

Lanvin's scent Oxygène can be bought at discounters and online at relatively low prices nowadays.

Related reading: The History of the Lanvin House

Diptyque Vinaigre de Toilette: how it came to be

 During the great plague in Toulouse between 1628-1631 (claiming 500,000 victims), four thieves were looting the houses of the dead, completely unharmed by the pestilence. When found out, they were arrested and incarcerated. About to be burned at the stake, the thieves inadvertently intrigued the judges thanks to their resilience to the Bubonic plague. 

In an effort to find out how that was possible, they offered the more lenient death by hanging, in exchange for their secret: the scented recipe of the elixir which they rubbed their entire body for protection before entering the houses. From this story, the name Le Vinaigre des 4 Voleurs ("'Four Thieves Vinegar" and also Acetum Quator Furum) was coined.

The same incident also happened in Marseilles in 1720, whereupon the thieves voluntarily shared the recipe with the afflicted city people, thus saving their own lives as well. From that incident Le Vinaigre des 4 Voleurs also gained the names of Marseilles Vinegar or Marseilles Remedy.

In fact, before the sanitation of European cities in the 18th century, delineated in great detail and analytical depth in Alain Corbain's seminal work Le miasme et la Jonquille, the use of aromatics and fragrances was based predominantly on their prophylactic role; hence the name Prophylactic Water.

During plagues perfumer-doctors visited houses with aromatics molded into a gigantic bird’s beak to protect themselves. As those “witch doctors,” with their duck-like noses, were often no more efficient for the pestilence than the placebo effect, the term “quack” became a synonym for charlatan!

Nevertheless the inclusion of camphor, spice and garlic in those elusive protective elixirs does have a footing in science. Put a clove of garlic or a clove (clou de girofle) on a petri dish and watch it under the microscope to see how bacteria and microbes cannot enter its inner sanctum, keeping their distance. The reasoning probably has to do as much with their flea repellent action as with the direct influence on the microorganisms. Fleas and the mice they infected, as well as dogs, had been a supreme carrier of the grave disease that spread through Europe like wild fire.

French aromatherapy doctor Jean Valnet (1920-1995) gave the story credence. In his book, The Practice of Aromatherapy, he quotes the archives of the Parliament of Toulouse, going on to claim the original recipe was revealed by the four corpse robbers who were caught red-handed in the area around Toulouse in 1628-1631.

The rise of the apothecary as the purveyor of scented products only made access more widely available and falls in step with the advent of sanitation and greater attention to hygiene which was the development of the 18th century.

The recipe for the milder skin elixir comprised apple cider vinegar, thanks to its closeness to the natural Ph of the skin contrary to the more acidic wine vinegar. The acid would have cosmetic uses, since the harsh alkali-rich soaps would disrobe the natural acidic mantle of the skin, whereas the finishing with vinegar (alcoholic or not, as the formula stipulated) would help rebalance the skin.

Rosemary in particular seems to have been a particularly beloved ingredient in the preparation of scented products at the time, not least forgetting the mention in Shakespeare's Hamlet "There's Rosemary, that's for Remembraunce [sic]." After all, the great playwright was not unfamiliar with the great plague, having siblings lost to the disease and his theater shut down due to the London outbreaks between 1593 and 1608. Rosemary was after all the "magic" ingredient in another miraculous fragrant preparation: the Eau de Reine d'Hongrie!

Nowadays the scented "vinegar" is still sold in traditional apothecaries and notably by Diptyque as Vinaigre de Toilette as well a by Oriza Legrand (tagged underneath Oriza Aciduline). Its benefits start from the removal of lice and nits, extend to hair and mucous membranes sanitation, headaches (applied on the temples), and even for respiratory problems.