May 12, 2008 4:22 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

That is a cool concept.

But I would rather have six or seven shadows, one blush and two lipsticks. I'm with you on the two-lippy dichotomy...I have not cared to have more than one YLBB shade, and one "more" shade. For me, the "more" shade hardly gets worn (though it remains to be seen whether I'll switch to the "more" shade when the YLBB one runs out, which it will soon).

Malibu does have an amount of brown in it. It might work best if you have a bit of tan. Well, I'm terrible. If I want a "more" shade here, I just put more Malibu on.

The shadows, weirdly, I can't strip down to four. It should be six or seven.

May 12, 2008 5:40 PM,  Dain said...

Mmm, yes, I would rather do it that way myself, but for the moment, that is how NARS does their palettes, so it would make more sense to stick to their plan. Of course, if they were really doing customizable palettes, they'd probably only offer powders, which is easier for them. Or the Fame palette--that might do nicely. : D

May 12, 2008 7:57 PM,  Joy Rothke said...

I convinced myself, after reading scads of reviews, that I had to have All About Eve, even though I rarely use eye shadow. Now, I rarely use All About Eve.

Also own Amour and Mata Hari blushes. Both are so intensely pigmented that I use a tiny bit. They'll last forever.

May 12, 2008 9:17 PM,  Dain said...

AAE is tricky. It only works on the relatively pale, because it sort of mimicks the effect of light on the skin, but that depends a great deal on what your skin tone is in the first place. You might have better luck with Cairo, Cyprus, or Nepal.

May 12, 2008 10:08 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Ah...then I probably can't do AAE either.

I use Island Fever or Ireland almost every day, and sometimes Jezebel. Babylon, not as much. It's still nice-looking, but it's a tiny bit too much, where I'd thought AAE would fill the bill.

I can admit I love the idea of getting a single instead of a duo. :D But I do end up using both shades in my duos.

May 12, 2008 10:18 PM,  Dain said...

Maybe Cairo and Ondine? I see those working on green eyes very well indeed.

I've had similar experiences with Rebecca. Very pretty, but it won't show up on me! It works fine on warm, medium-toned people, so I think it matters a lot what your coloring is like in the first place.

May 12, 2008 10:32 PM,  Dain said...

Now that I think on it... It may be also because I can't really wear warm shades that AEE works for me. It's pretty silvery. And in any case, if you don't wear eyeshadow, you're not gonna wear it regardless.

May 12, 2008 11:53 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Sometimes you need to meet the right shadows. :) I didn't wear eyeshadow every day until fairly recently...until I got the Nars duos, and until I figured they were the best shadows for me.

The orange in Babylon is still quite pretty on me...I dunno, I just have it in mind to get something subtler, some time. Something like a "your eyes but better" shade. It's a matter of going to Sephora and doing some swatching.

May 12, 2008 8:59 PM,  Dain said...

Maybe if you wore a boyish, oversize blazer like this one you'd bring it down a notch. I know this is a rather expensive example, but I imagine you can find one for cheap easily, maybe even in the boys' department of some store.

May 12, 2008 10:15 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

I may have to wear it for work! There's talk we're going to have a small heat wave. The nice factors are the lace and the white color. A good part of dealing with hot weather is psychological, after all, like wearing green, blue or white.

I'll have to look at it more closely to see if it's long enough to get away with wearing knee-high stockings, another hot-weather trick.

May 12, 2008 10:23 PM,  Dain said...

I'm all for it. If it looks good, it looks good. : )

May 11, 2008 2:00 AM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Oud is not exotic though. The cost of it is prohibitive, but it's an old ingredient in perfumery.

The availability factor would bother me more than the price. They don't sell it here?

May 11, 2008 2:03 AM,  Dain said...

Well, exotic doesn't have to be new. And my point is really that I find it to be a marketing gimmick. If you like it, that's very fine, but I find I soon get bored of perfumes that lack structural complexity.

May 11, 2008 2:23 AM,  Dain said...

By which I mean, I'm not knocking it of itself, but when it's used to mask lazy compositions.

May 11, 2008 2:55 AM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

It's definitely a marketing gimmick...but getting mainstream perfume buyers to branch out into niche perfumery in the first place, has to involve marketing gimmicks. A couple of years ago, it wouldn't have crossed my mind not to buy from Givenchy or Chanel or what have you...the mainstream houses. The sole reason I even started sampling niche fragrances is the buzz from the boards.

I figure, five years from now, or less, the whole niche perfumery thing will have played out anyway. Some houses will survive, a lot will fold, once the novelty wears off.

I'm going back over my samples now, one by one. It's a very different experience. When you first try a sample, you're wondering whether it's "full bottle worthy." If you decide it's not, it goes back to the sample pile; if you like it, it goes to the "under consideration" pile, etc.

But now, I'm not looking to buy anything. So I don't care if it's FBW or not. I just use it.

So far, with this method, I've experienced the same perfumes differently. I found Sublime didn't work. It's too young for me. Montale Powder Flowers didn't work. It just smelled...eh...I didn't get the same Chanel No. 5 experience I did before. AG Rose Absolue smells like really good rosewater, at best. SG Fleurs d'Oranger...like wonderful cleaning products.

The Tauer perfume is brilliant. Joy works, oddly.

I do more layering now...just throw together this and that, and see what happens.

May 11, 2008 3:00 AM,  Dain said...

You're definitely right about that. I have definitely reached a point where I have my perfume wardrobe, more or less, and I test for testing's sake, and I do look at it differently.

Sublime is nice, but just a little too sweet for me. I'm trying to get away from that.

IMO, No. 5 and Joy could be sisters.

May 11, 2008 2:02 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

You're right about the hokey-ness....it's annoying after a while. And many of the scents are not well-made. It's very "grab the money and run." In a few years, the serious houses, old or new, will still be there.

Sublime would have worked on me, ten years ago. It has this retro feel...seeing as "retro" has become generic for "old." :D This retro quality would work on someone ten to fifteen years younger than I am now, it would be charming. On me, it feels as if I never changed my perfume in ten years.

May 11, 2008 8:41 PM,  Dain said...

I feel that way about Organza Indecence. I'll keep my bottle, for nostalgia's sake, but I don't think it's likely I'll use it up. It was definitely from a time and a place.

I'm using the word "definitely" overmuch today.

I think Serge Lutens is the only niche that made it into my wardrobe in the form of Tubereuse Criminelle, though I may some day make room for Malle's Le Parfum de Therese. It'll seem dated in time too, I think. The SL syrup, it's like Guerlinade.

May 11, 2008 10:52 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

I have a sort of imaginary wardrobe...I don't want to buy everything I want, all at once. I feel at least some of the stash would end up going bad.

So I have the two Montales, Etro Heliotrope (down to the last 1/4 to 1/3 of the bottle, and keeping well), a few go-rounds of GF Ferre Lei...which is kind of nifty, a rose/LOTV blend similar to Crystal Flowers...and a purse size of AG Passion. The Lei is all but gone, which will leave me with four perfumes.

I suppose the next time I buy perfume, it will be Joy.

May 13, 2008 12:00 AM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

I'm greenish, I suppose. :) I prefer more natural products, because they tend to work better. At one point I noticed, the mainstream products I'd always used had become harsher. I really think there was a change in ingredients at one point.

I use some Dr. Hauschka products, health food store shampoos and conditioners...usually have a few in the shower and switch them around to avoid build-up.

May 10, 2008 3:45 AM,  Dain said...

I'm a spender, not a saver, as you well know, but--I'm all for deliberation before buying, especially for anything $100 and above. Is there any way to try them on before you make a decision?

May 10, 2008 8:56 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

That's just the problem. There are several stores around here that retail them. It's a case of, "I'm afraid to try them because I might like them."

I have yet to try the Nordies route, which would likely be half the price if not less. Cydwoqs do go on sale online, and I've seen some on Ebay, but the sale ones tend to be either odd sizes or styles I don't like.

May 11, 2008 12:27 PM,  Joy Rothke said...

They're interesting...but the soles don't look very sturdy.

May 11, 2008 2:09 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

I'd have to see them in person, no doubt. I'm hoping to do that today, since I have to get shoes one way or the other (my beloved Cole Haan's have "vintaged" to the point of developing a hole in one side). I'm going to try Nordies first, but there is a shop in that mall that carries Cydwoqs.

May 11, 2008 8:10 AM,  Perfumeshrine said...

I tend to agree with you ~it has indeed the vibe of a mood swift and the change of humidity in the air: very good description!

I think you might be glad to know that it can be had through Escentual.co.uk as well ;-)

May 11, 2008 9:26 AM,  Dain said...

That's good to know! I got mine off ebay, which is always very touch and go.

I was very averse to Apres L'Ondee until I realized that on some sticky, humid summer's day, it'd be the most brilliant refresher. And then I understood what it was about. : )

May 8, 2008 3:08 AM,  Perfumeshrine said...

I like your reasoning and it does make sense. There is something to be said for a composition's resonance with people too and some of those are popular for a very good reason, as you succinctly point out.
Lovely piece!