Who is allowed to smell bad?

2 May

If you look at what’s trending among perfume connoisseurs, it would seem that people no longer want to smell good. What people are seeking instead is the strange, the avant-garde, or to be a little bit stinky. Perfume enthusiasts are favouring the strange over the fresh, with brands like Marlou coming into their own with animalic scents meant to recall bodily odours and sensual encounters like the somewhat infamous Ambilux. There’s been a move towards metallic fragrance notes from niche to mainstream brands, with some consumers craving a cyborgian scent-cloud. Niche perfume house Toskovat rocketed to fame with their unsettling scents and seemingly wild fragrance notes (credit cards and priests’ clothes, anyone?). They are best known for their scent Inexcusable Evil,...

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8 Dec

So you want to smell like an ancient god?

by Beauty Tips

Beauty, Featured

So you want to smell like an ancient god?

THE TREND: Beauty infused with the essence of antiquity. There are no epigenetic or longevity buzzwords here, this trend is all about looking back in time. Think: papyrus, epic poetry and ritualistic, oil-slicked bathing. WHO’S DOING IT? Established brands are releasing products which nod to classics, but new brands are weaving ancient civilisations into their DNA. HOW CAN I GET IT? Indulge in some bacchanalian ribaldry at your nearest amphitheatre, or douse yourself in cyclamen, jasmine and eucalyptus oils at the thermal bathhouse. Boyfriends, they say, are always thinking about the Roman Empire. But thanks to a cohort of beauty brands drawing inspiration from the classical world, ancient civilisations and mythology, now everyone else is too. Or, at least, you might smell like...

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3 Dec

Why we only need to smell like our natural

by Beauty Tips

Beauty, Featured

Why we only need to smell like our natural

In Tom Robbins’s 1976 novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, the smooth-riding cowgirl Bonanza Jellybean is explaining to a bunch of ladies visiting the ranch that they shouldn’t be ashamed of their natural essence and that it, in actual fact, works of their favour. “Here’s somewhat self-celebration I bet you ladies never considered,” Bonanza tells them, “What you do is reach down together with your fingers and get them wet together with your juices. You then rub it in behind your ears. It’s an exquisite perfume,” she says. “Very subtle and really mischievous. Men are attracted, I guarantee you.” It’s an unusual trick, and one I imagine not many readers will go for, but there has recently been quite a lot of...

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26 May

The Smell Test: Diptyque Florabellio

by Beautifaire101

Beauty, Featured

While one judge looked as if it would appreciate the complex nature of the scent and one other enjoyed “the fun ride,” others on the panel couldn’t address what they saw as a jarring combination. “Clever, complex, compact, oddly inscrutable fresh-metallic-milky accord. Very nice work.”Rating: 7 “The fragrance is a chameleon on me — each time I wear it I smell something completely different. An elusive and puzzling fragrance that leaves me unsatisfied.”Rating: 3 “Fizzy lemonade-like opening, vivid accord with a curious crunchy green note, soft finish. The ending might have been more exciting, but high marks for the fun ride.”Rating: 7 “It is a very unusual and quite strange perfume. I get some notes that smell as if the perfume has turned bad.”Rating:...

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