Sample Saturday: Thomas Kosmala and Charlotte Tilbury

First a followup to my most recent Sample Saturday post: I still like the Acqua di Parma Magnolia fragrance, but I have so many florals in my perfume hoard collection that I will not be asking the Easter Bunny to put a bottle in my basket.

The Aesop Geranium Leaf body wash has been demoted to lingerie detergent. I'm sure it means well, but it's just not exciting enough to get naked with.

And the next time I buy hair products--which might be in, say, two minutes (checks watch) I am definitely going to pop for a tube of R+Co’s Park Avenue Blowout Balm. Because that stuff is GOOD.

Now for this week’s samples:

Thomas Kosmala  Numero 4 Après l’Amour

This is a unisex fragrance that skews more masculine simply because of the heavy load of warm, animalic ambroxan. Ambroxan was developed in the 1950s as a chemical substitute for ambergris. (I know this not because I am any kind of perfume expert, but because I lurk on perfume boards absorbing their arcane knowledge and over-the-top descriptive language. It's like going to a wine-tasting and eavesdropping on the experts.)

At any rate, believe me when I tell you that animalic notes like civet, musk, and Ambroxan can be quite overpowering, although in discrete doses, they give a skin-like characteristic to a fragrance. If you've ever worn Kiehl's or Bonne Bell's musk, you'll know what I mean.

Mind you, the notes on the Thomas Kosmala website don't mention Ambroxan:

But I think they're just being tricky.

A tiny bit of Apres l'Amour has a wonderful cuddliness that makes me think of snuggling next to the embers of a wood fire. But I could see how it would be easy to overdo it.

And anyway, when I want to wear a unisex fragrance—which isn’t all that often—I prefer something more citrus-y with maybe just a wisp of musk. 

But when it comes to fragrance, my preferences are more girly, anyway. My "aesthetic," as the kids say, is more Dark Academia, as in

Not me

but I prefer to pair androgynous clothes a floral fragrance and a full face of Spackle.

Charlotte Tilbury “ Walk of No Shame” lipstick

OK, I had to try this one, because it was such an adorable mini lipstick. It brought back memories of my friends' moms' Avon lipstick samples.

I should mention that I was definitely biased against this lipstick, because Charlotte Tilbury and her gang of Disco glamazons took over my YouTube feed a while ago and will not shut up about her latest blusher or highlighter or whatever it is. 

Also, her packaging is this gold-colored tat that is trying to look like metal but is actually plastic. Don't let the beautiful photography fool you.

In case you can't tell, I'm not really a fan.

The lipstick was good, though. I tend to break out into a cold sweat when a lipstick touts itself as "matte," because I have distressing memories of spending a week babying my lips with ridiculously expensive lip balm to make up for the damage done them by a ridiculously expensive transfer-proof lipstick. But this formula isn't as drying as I had feared. 

However, it isn't transfer proof at all. It will come off on anything to hand: coffee cups, tissues, men--whatever.

It lasts a good while, but wears off unevenly, and reapplying requires attention and a mirror. 

The "Walk of No Shame" shade is a bit too brownish on me--definitely not the "berry rose" it is called on the website—but maybe it will be a fun 1990s throwback. 

Remember Elisha Dushku as Faith in Season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

Again, not me