April 27, 2008 1:17 AM,  Dain said...

I believe Pierre Hardy did a minimalist sandal for a collaboration for the GAP. It was $98, iirc.

April 29, 2008 8:38 AM,  Dain said...

$78, actually. Size 8 left only, unfortunately.

April 27, 2008 12:28 AM,  EZE said...

The best part of the Salux cloths is the packaging. It's just the right mix of cheese and functionality.

April 27, 2008 1:20 AM,  Dain said...

I got a lot of citrus from L'Air du Desert Marocain, a sandy fizz over dry spices and curls of cedar. It was definitely nice, but not my taste. Have you tried layering it over one of your Montales? I liked it over Black Aoud.

April 30, 2008 12:52 AM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

I wasn't overly wowed by the packaging :) There were several Chinese knock-offs on the shelf, but I wanted to try the patented Japanese version. The pic is no exaggeration...the thing is like a small bath towel.

I got this at my local "Japanese dollar shop"...it's sort of a combination of a regular Japanese odds 'n' ends shop...they've got dishes and novelties...and a dollar shop, where they have 99 cent items. They also have a section for Japanese shampoo, facial cleansers and the like. It's pretty neat.

I get next to no citrus out of ...Marocain? On me it's spicy, dry, hot and calming. What's great is that it's not sweet. I'm not into spicy perfumes, but the dryness here works. I'll have to give it a go over a Montale.

April 25, 2008 11:03 AM,  Dain said...

It truly surprises me how few niche perfumes I want to keep for myself.

April 25, 2008 2:00 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Part of it is the cost imo. I rather liked that Tauer L'Air du Desert Marocain, but the thought of paying $90 for a little bottle of something with little staying power...eh...or having to hunt it down and buy it in decant form.

There are quite a few artisan perfumes I'd buy if I could...Jasmin Full, Intense Tiare, the Tauer one, Heure Exquise (maybe), AG Rose Absolue and Eau d'Hadrien, yadda yadda... The mainstream perfumes tend to be more reasonably priced.

April 25, 2008 10:24 PM,  Dain said...

I'm starting to be more open about fragrances with very little staying power. I've always been prejudiced in favor of strong, powerful perfumes. In some cases (Chanel Cristalle and Guerlain Après L'Ondée are good examples) ephemerality is an integral part of the charm—if they were stronger, they'd not be the same experience.

I think the only niche scent I find myself craving is Ormonde Woman, though I'm still in the middle of investigating Frederic Malle and find quite a few outright stupendous. Otherwise, the only sure bets at this point are Caron Parfum Sacré, which I snagged for $13, and Guerlain Mitsouko (still). I guess I'm more about the classics. : )

April 26, 2008 3:36 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Uh-uh...if it doesn't last, I won't buy it. To me it's an insult, especially for expensive perfumes. It's on the manufacturer to find a way of making the scent last. I don't use other cosmetic products that have no staying power, from eyeliner to blush to lipstick, either.

April 24, 2008 4:16 PM,  Dain said...

Cool. I've been curious about this product for a few years now, but I never took the plunge, because it's so expensive. Though I hear it's much more cost-effective when you buy it by the liter. Have you tried the Gentle Shampoo?

April 24, 2008 10:16 PM,  EZE said...

I haven't tried it. I have tried the Seaweed shampoo and it dried my hair out. Creme de Coco (?) shampoo is all right, though.

I don't think the price is too bad. It's not great - $20 for 8 oz. - but it's a concentrated formula. The liters are definitely a better deal. They're just so big that I find them vaguely intimidating. I start panicking: "When will I ever use this much conditioner?" :)

August 30, 2008 6:40 AM,  mack said...

i hear it's cost-effective and good for hair...so i have tried it and now i am using it..its good for hair..

April 12, 2008 4:34 PM,  Dain said...

I've used something like this since childhood; in Korea people will scrub you down with these things at spas. It's a textured viscose cloth, right? You can find mitts for $0.99, and they are durable. It works best if you soak for a bit so all the dead skin gets soft, and then you'll just see it all peel off, it's a real gross-but-satisfying moment, like picking your nose.

April 12, 2008 10:03 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

I'm not sure it's exactly the same thing...it's nylon, and you can't really scrub with it. It's far too rough. I didn't notice peeling, but then I don't soak, so that could be it.

It's sort of like, you just touch your skin with it, you rub very lightly.

I did try it out on my face today...after I wrote the post, I realized it didn't make sense not to try it. It's actually pretty good. Again it's not good for small areas such as around the nose, but for broad areas like the forehead, it's better than my Hauschka Cleansing Cream. (Might be worth a few extra minutes in the shower to reduce the amount of Cleansing Cream I use.)

BTW did you know Google bought Feedburner? It's what LP uses to syndicate the blog, so that could be good.

April 13, 2008 4:48 PM,  Dain said...

Hm, it may be the same thing nevertheless. It's rough, and abrades dead skin pretty thoroughly? It's a little tricky applying evenly, though, and it's easier with a mitt. I try to do it after I soap up while there's conditioner soaking in my hair but before shaving, by that point, your skin has soaked up enough water to come off easily (it "pills" up into these little grey bits, charming, I know).

April 13, 2008 5:41 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Yeah, the principle sounds similar. I tried it again today but didn't get pills yet. lol! I dunno, it just sounds like something fun to watch.

It's incredible for my face, so far. I used about half the amount of Cleansing Cream on my face, after washing it with the cloth. I actually felt the cleansing cream was a bit unnecessary. I suppose it'll take a few days to work into a routine.

April 15, 2008 2:14 PM,  Dain said...

I guess the virtue of the cleansing cream is that it exfoliates without abrading the skin, it simply collects all the loose bits and rinses away. My guess is that it's probably redundant to use both, but the Cleansing Cream is probably better for your skin.

You need to apply horizontal pressure, if that makes any sense.

April 17, 2008 11:03 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Yeah, that would make logical sense, but more for young skin. My skin has changed a lot over the past few years. For young people, I would say the cloth is overkill. The cleansing cream alone should do it, if you even need to exfoliate much.

It's odd, how age changes you gradually. You don't look in the mirror overnight and go, "Wa', what a right old bag." lol But gradually, I've needed to exfoliate much more. Since the change is gradual, sometimes it's hard to realize just how much more.

So far I've been using the cloth first, then a teeny dab of cleansing cream, about half the amount I used before. I feel the cleansing cream functions more as a moisturizing treatment (since the cloth leaves my face squeaky clean, which isn't good for oily skin), and picks up whatever odd dead skin the cloth missed in more complicated areas like around the nose.

April 18, 2008 3:24 PM,  Dain said...

Hm, actually, it's the other way around. Young skin is always the more durable. It's probably more the fact that you're oily that makes your skin fine with it.