Review: Josie Maran Whipped Body Butter

This is a series in which, in an attempt to work my way through my sample overload, I spend the weekend trying out samples, then inflict capsule reviews upon the internet.

Hello, internet! How are you? I had a lovely Thanksgiving, and I hope you did, too, and took advantage of whatever bargains tempted you, whether you shopped online, in chain stores or in ye olde quainte locale boutique.

Illustration courtesy of QVC, where I would totally buy it, except they won't let me log on.

Winter is coming

The pie inventory chez Buxom has shrunk (unlike the Buxoms) and the heat is on. We're heading into the time of year where, if I don't take precautions, I'll start to itch. And if I don't take steps to correct the itching, my shins will develop red patches that won't clear up until spring.

I know, not a pretty picture. So I take steps. I slather on a good amount of rich lotion or cream every time I bathe. (It also helps to turn down the heat, but my focus today is on solutions that you can buy at Sephora.)

What to do?

I rummaged through my samples to see whether I had anything new and exciting in the way of body cream to try out. I was delighted to discover a .34 oz. packet of Josie Maran Whipped Body Butter (henceforth referred to as JMWBB, because God, what a mouthful.) JMWBB is a cult classic--I hear about it all the time on YouTube, MakeupAlley, Allure, and Sephora.

But is it any good? Josie Maran's facial cleansing oil is by far the worst I've ever used. Could the body butter possibly be as good as people claim?

The trial

One thing that's nice about product samples is that they can be viewed as a Serving Suggestion. I mean, I assume that .34 oz of JMWBB would cover all but the most morbidly obese of us with no leftovers and no parts of my buxom self left unmoisturized. Accordingly, I rubbed on the entire packet.

The texture of JMWBB is absolutely perfect, neither so thin as to seem ineffectual, nor so thick so as to be difficult to spread. It smoothed easily over my very-slightly-damp self, unlike, say, Nivea's original creme, which has a tendency to stick to one spot when I try to apply it while I'm even a bit damp.

The body butter left me comfortably moisturized but not greasy, and I stayed that way for the rest of the day. I also liked the scent, which lingers (although this could be a problem for the perfumistas out there.) But it seemed fine for use on days when I'm not wearing perfume,

Even though an 8 oz. jar (or, if the Serving Suggestion could be trusted, a 24 day supply) would cost me $35, I decided to pop for a full jar of the stuff. A lot of reviews say you only need to use a little bit, but I used the entire packet, and it soaked right in. When it comes to dry skin, I am a professional. I'm hard core. I tend to use a couple of heaping tablespoons of whatever it is I'm rubbing on myself. If you are similarly parched, you might want to take those "you only need a little bit" reviews with a massive grain of salt. Do I need to remind you that Winter is Coming?

The problem

So, I had justified the purchase, but this is where I ran into problems. I was damned if I could tell which scent I had used. It smelled sort of like peaches, but it turns out that there are about eight different fragrances available. Had I used Vanilla/apricot? Vanilla/peach? Sweet Citrus? WHAT?

It turns out my aging eyes were incapable of perceiving the teeny tiny letters at the top of the sample packet, viz:

I'm sure you can see why.

However, if you take the back of the packet into really bright light and peer at it (or if you take a picture of it and then blow it up to 200 percent) you can very faintly see that

See?

It's Vanilla/Apricot.

But guess what? It's sold out at Sephora.

It's even sold out on the Josie Maran website.

It is, however, in stock at my local real-life, brick-and-mortar Sephora.

OMG I might actually have to GO TO A STORE.

"Horrors!" she exclaimed, as she collapsed amongst the cushions.

No thanks, I'm just looking

I haven't even finished telling you about the unbelievably dull stuff I bought at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, yet here I am, browsing through their cosmetics and skincare section. Why? Because Lisa of GWP Addict informed me that Nordstrom was offering a new deluxe sample bag.

I know what you're thinking. "Again with the samples????? Didn't you just unload these

Clockwise from top right: two plastic drawers + one large tray of samples, with a couple of sheet masks

on the girls last May?"

Yes. Yes, I did. But I just wanted to see whether I could even be tempted. Because when I got out of the shower yesterday, I was struck by the sheer mass of beauty products on my bathroom vanity. In my attempts to really educate myself about Korean beauty products, I've done serious damage at Sephora. And Nordstrom. And Masksheets.com. And joined a K-beauty subscription service. I also picked up a few products in Prague and Vienna.

I'm in replacement-only, one-in/one-out mode, and my purchases, if any, will be limited to nail polish remover, cotton pads, and shampoo.

That's enough about you, Poppy. What's up at Nordstrom?

Not much. The free deluxe sample bags are full of Clinique anti-acne products and perfume vials--exactly the sort of thing I don't need.

Meh.

Even I can't get worked about a gift bag like this. But let's pretend I were. What exciting new products could I find?

Let's search for Nordstrom's newest products and see what's up ... OK, the most recent Tom Ford fragrance? Sorry, Tom, I'm not sophisticated enough for you.

Erno Laszlo skincare sets? Good lord, how retro. I think his black soap was a thing in the 1970s. Does anyone still USE this stuff?

And then there's this

Foreo Luna mini 2 compact cleansing device. In (and I'm not making this up) Pink Pearl.

which looks the kind of sex toy I'm far too prudish to know how to use.

And just look at this facial scrub/mask stuff.

Twenty bucks says it's hand-crafted in Brooklyn, or some such shit. 

I'm betting Aster & Bay's No. 1 grains are made of artisanal pickles and mustache wax.

Onward! Lancôme's latest mascara

looks like you use it to clean toilets.

Their new eyeliner

makes me think of

Finally, there are patchology's lip patches

Which ... OK, I'll use an occasional sheet mask. But honestly, drink enough water, watch out for super-matte lipsticks, and use balm. Do we really need a separate product to stick on our lips?

I mean, you start here

and before you know it, you've become more high-maintenance than a Palm Springs putting green.

So thanks for the offer of the gift bag, Nordstrom ... but I'll pass.

Review: MDSolarSciences Mineral Crème Broad Spectrum SPF 50 UVA-UVB Sunscreen

This is a series in which, in an attempt to work my way through my sample overload, I spend the weekend trying out samples, then inflict capsule reviews upon the internet. 

Available at Beauty.com, DermStore, MDSolarSciences, Nordstrom, Sephora,

Product Claims

According to the MDSolarSciences website:

This lightweight and silky-smooth crème blends seamlessly to help blur fine lines and wrinkles, making it a must-have for any daily beauty or grooming routine. Our exclusive “barely there” formula leaves a matte finish that is perfect to wear both under and over makeup. Naturally derived and safer Eco-cert zinc oxide helps reduce the risk of photo aging and skin cancer. Non-irritating and oil-free, this water-resistant sunscreen won’t clog pores, is gentle enough for even the most sensitive skin types and suitable for kids 6 months and older.

The Ingredients

Again, from the website:

The Good

This is a high-SPF sunscreen that feels weightless on my dry skin and looks and acts like a makeup primer. (It feels very similar to Boots Prevent and Correct, a best-selling silicone-based serum that a lot of people like to wear as primer.)

The sun protection seems great, although I haven't tested it with a full day of outdoor wear. It doesn't claim to be waterproof, so I wouldn't wear if I were going to be swimming.

The cream has a very slight tint and gives the skin a whitish cast, but this isn't a problem for me, as I am fair-skinned and wear it under makeup.

There is a very slight sweet masking fragrance, but no sunscreen reek.

Mild-to-moderate activity doesn't appear to affect it, at least, from the getting-in-to-my-eyes school of sunscreen torment, which is no doubt caused by the chemicals in chemical sunscreens. Since this is a physical sunscreen, it's very bland, and good for sensitive skin (or eyes, as in my case.) Also, I've walked and run with it on and it stayed put well without holding in sweat and making me feel suffocated, which is what happens to me when I wear waterproof sunscreen.

The product is paraben-free.

The Bad

First, there is the whitening effect, which could be a problem for people with skin darker than mine.

The high level of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide might product flashback in photographs, although I haven't actually tested this.

Verdict

Although I wouldn't swear by it for truly active/watersports days, if you are pale, or have dry skin, are comfortable with silicone-based skin creams, and are looking for something that plays well with makeup, I recommend it highly.

Bonus! a second opinion from my friend Wendy

Last May, when blackbird, Susie Sunshine, and Wendy visited me in Chicago, I gave out a few samples, and Wendy was gracious enough to email me her thoughts on some of the products she tried. She also gave me permission to quote her on my blog. This is what she said:

This is on my shopping list!!  I love the level of protection and I love how it goes on and feels when it dries.  It feels almost like make up primer when dry and says that it goes matte.  I agree.  There is a sheer white cast to it, but on my fair skin that's no big deal - I also follow it with powder foundation which is part of why I love how it feels like primer.  It's comfortable to wear and what I feel is enough to truly protect my skin.  No scent. I've been wearing it every day since I opened it and sadly have run out.  Like I said - I'm buying more tomorrow.  

How much? And where can I buy it?

The retail price is $30.00 for 1.7 oz. It's available at Sephora, Nordstrom, Beauty.com, and Amazon.

 

Would I buy it?

I already did! I followed a link from Brutally Honest Beauty and snagged a 1.7 oz. tube from DermStore using a coupon code that got me 30 percent off.

Because it's pricey and available at lots of different stores, I'd shop around to get a better deal--at the very least, free shipping.

Review: Cane&Austin Miracle Pad+ exfoliating pads

It's been a while since I've done a Sample Saturday report, mostly because I kept discovering products I liked and wanted to keep using.

Case in point: Radical Skincare Age-Defying Exfoliating Pads, reviewed here. (If you're new to these parts or don't understand why I'm obsessed with exfoliating my skin, you can read this post from 2013. Nothing has changed; I'm still engaged in an ongoing battle with my skin's unfortunate tendency to pile up in various crusty and unappealing ways.) I tried the sample, liked it, and popped for the full-sized jar of 60 pads, which I'm still using.

But here's my latest, greatest (spoiler!) find!

While we were traveling around Lake Michigan, I knew I was going to be spending the bare minimum of time primping. Not only because the dress code was Early Summer Lumberjack.

But because when you're sharing a bathroom with three other people, it behooves you to get in and out quickly.

Also I was packing light. So I brought a three-packet sample of Cane&Austin Miracle Pad+ 30% pads. Which I used up in a week, using them on alternate nights.

The Claims

The package say this product

delivers the results of a 30% Glycolic clinical treatment to restore luminosity and vitality to skin

and will

even skin tone, reduce fine lines, wrinkles, enlarged pores & the appearance of age spots

This is the most potent exfoliating pad Cane&Austin sells. On their site, they show you the following:

The Dermstore site says that the Cane&Austin 20% pads are

Since I pretty much have all of the above except for oily skin and acne, the stronger product seemed ideally suited for me.

The directions said to swipe the pad over a clean face morning and night, avoiding the eye area. I only used the product at night, because I only had three pads, and anyway, overkill.

The Ingredients

Here's a screenshot of the ingredients from the website:

I think it's important to point out that these pads promise the equivalent of a 30 percent glycolic peel; they don't actually claim to contain a 30 percent glycolic acid solution. As you can see from the above, there are other acids in this product: lactic, phytic, and tartaric acid, as well as willow bark extract and salicylic acid phospholipids. In this respect, this product resembles Radical Skincare in being a virtual cornucopia of active ingredients.

The Results

I've mentioned that I'd been bothered by milia, and although I'd gotten rid of most of them, a couple of outliers still remained, including a closed comedone (GROSS) on the side of my nose.

A couple of days I brushed my finger over the area of my nose where this tiny, stubborn bump had been located, and it was gone. Just ... vanished. There was no sign left of it, but no signs of any trauma, either. No red mark, no hole, nothing. I was delighted, yet somehow disappointed that I hadn't noticed the moment when it fell off.

That's gross, right? Still, it would have been kind of gratifying.

The Verdict

Naturally, I'm thrilled, and I want more.

Where can I get this stuff?

Cane&Austin Miracle Pad+ can be found at the Cane&Austin website and Sephora. Unfortunately, the product is not stocked in every store that sells Cane&Austin products. A lot of stores only carry the lower percentage glycolic products, so be sure to check the numbers.

How much does it cost?

It's expensive. You get 60 pads for $88.  There are many, many options for glycolic acid pads, though. Click here for the result of an Amazon search.

One word, though. If you have Roseacea or simply know that you have sensitive skin, proceed with caution. That holds if you simply haven't been beating up your face on a regular basis, as I have. For some reason, getting my brows waxed or my hair blown out reddens my skin like crazy, whereas I pile all kinds of products onto my face with no ill effects whatsoever.

Oh, and one more thing (she said, challenging Columbo.) When you are using products like this, which are pH sensitive, be sure to use them on a clean DRY face. Water will buffer the acid and the pads won't be as effective. 

In which Ulta enables my Korean skincare addiction hobby

Thanks to Nouveau Cheap, today I discovered that Ulta's website is offering all kinds of GWPs and deluxe samples and whatnot. As I mentioned earlier, their 21 Days of Beauty Event hadn't set off my MUST BUY MUST BUY mental car alarm noise. The one product I wanted, Cargo's OneBase concealer/foundation, wasn't on sale, and I planned to wait, in a mature and well-reasoned fashion, for a better opportunity to purchase it. My exact words were:

Sooner or later, one of those retailers will make me an offer I can't refuse ... something along the lines of a discounted price, with free shipping, free samples, and maybe a footrub. Oh, and eBates.

Until then, I will bide my time. Do you hear me, ULTA? Hmmm?

Well, Ulta has done it. With a $50 order, I could get free shipping and an embarrassingly huge number of samples.

The qualifying purchases

So what did I buy to make the $50 minimum? The Cargo OneBase plus some K-Beauty goodies.

Here's the sneaky thing about Ulta. They stock stuff you'd never expect. I mean, not only are they a source of Cargo cosmetics, if only online, they also stock Tony Moly and Hada Labo Tokyo and who knows what else, because I hit my $50 minimum and stopped looking.

I picked out a Hada Labo's Hydrating Facial Cleanser for $11.99

and then made up the difference with the four Tony Moly sheet masks that sounded the most beneficial for old ladies: Brightening Pearl

Hydrating Hyaluronic

and Red Wine

 Although, for me, red wine is less about Pore Care than a good time antioxidants.

And now for the GWPs

I include these less-than-glamorous screenshots because Ulta's website has a different approach to their freebies. They don't show up magically in your shopping cart, and you don't type in a coupon code. Instead, you have to find the items and add them to your shopping bag. A price will be attached to them until you make the minimum purchase, at which point, the price gets replaced with the word FREE. Whew!

There's a sample bag :

An Ahava deluxe sample set

and a Redken gift

And yes, you can stack these offers.

Really, Poppy? More samples???

Those Redken products are apparently designed to help me achieve texture-y beachy waves or something like that. Unfortunately, my hair starts off crunchy and wavy, and I spend a lot of time, energy, and money softening, straightening, and smoothing it out. So what am I going to do with these Redken products?

I thought about doing the world's lamest Beauty Blogger giveaway with the beachy waves products, but then inspiration struck. Next month, Jen Lancaster will be at a resort on Turks and Caicos with a bunch of incredibly lucky women, but blackbird, Susie Sunshine, and Martha McGyver and I will be getting together in Chicago. What better way of offloading samples than to lure my blogging buddies into my den of beauty inequity and keep them there until they relent and stuff dozens of samples into their suitcases?

And of course, you know I'll be blogging the whole thing.

Review: AmorePacific Moisture Bound Sleeping Recovery Masque

This is a series in which, in an attempt to work my way through my sample overload, I spend the weekend trying out samples, then inflict capsule reviews upon the internet.

AmorePacific Moisture Bound Sleeping Recovery Masque $60/3.38 oz.

Skincare samples are like drugs

It's been a long time since my last Sample Saturday review, and for that, I apologize. Naturally, the biggest reason is my indolence, and by that I mean TOTAL LAZINESS, but there's another reason, and here I put the blame squarely on the manufacturers. 

It's the samples themselves. Have you ever noticed how unhelpful samples are? I mean, some of the stuff I get is worth a lot of money ... if any cosmetic product can actually be said to be worth what the manufacturers charge for it. 

I mean, say you're the OohLaLa Skincare Company, and you want people to buy your new serum, which you're pricing at $1,000 an ounce. So you decide to package wee little samples of these magical skin-perfecting unicorn tears in adorable little bottles to be given to spoiled housewives at a Neiman Marcus beauty event. The bottles hold .1 ounce, which isn't very much, but if the serum were cocaine, it would have a street value of $100. 

Wouldn't it make sense to enclose a leaflet or some instructions or something? 

But they don't. 

Which is how I managed to glue my face to my pillow. Twice.

... or maybe Apple products

 

Way back in the olden days of butterfly clips and extreme low-rise jeans, I had a first-generation iPod, complete with an audible click wheel and a generous 5 gigs of storage. It was lovely and clean and was packaged in a white cardboard cube that evoked reverence for the sleekness of its design ... except there were no instructions, and I couldn't figure out how to turn the fucking thing off. So I'd let the battery run down. "That," I'd think to myself "takes care of that."

In my defense, this was before you could google all your stupid questions and get non-judgmental help from total strangers on the internet.

Back to the product in question

I've mentioned before that I'm tiptoeing into the world of Korean skincare, and may I just say that there's a pretty steep learning curve? Because there is.

One of the biggest differences between Korean and western skincare is the relative emphasis on hydration. It's not that we want to dessicate our skin here in the west; it's just that in Korea, every step of your multi-step skincare regimen is designed to force more moisture into your skin. The ideal look in Korea is dewy to a degree that Westerners might find a little odd. 

You're supposed to double-cleanse your face, using first an oil, and second a gentle product that won't strip your skin. They you layer on essences, serums, and ampoules. Then you add a sleeping mask. Here's what this AmorePacific sleeping mask contains in the way of ingredients.

As you can see, there are extracts, skin-loving ingredients, and scary sounding stuff--the usual K-beauty cornucopia. But definitely moisturizing, right?

And so, in order to sample my AmorePacific Sleeping Recovery Masque, I double cleansed, used an essence (Estee Lauder Micro Essence)  then a serum (Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair)  then this sleeping mask. Then I added a bit of eye cream and went to bed. 

I tend to lie on my side with half of my face in the pillow. If I get a little restless, I switch it up. So I turn from one side to the other a few times every night. Which would be fine, except my pillow kept sticking to my face.

I decided maybe I was overdoing it. The second time I tried this stuff, I decided to just cleanse, use the same essence, skip the serum, use the sleeping mask, and apply the eye cream. Surely that wouldn't create a sticky tsunami of products. And yet it did. For a second night, my pillowcase stuck to my face.

I can't complain about the way my skin felt in the morning. Especially when I showered, because my skin felt great when the water hit the remnants of the mask and rinsed them off.

But really, some instructions would have been helpful. How many products is it safe to layer under this stuff? Can I put it on and go straight to bed, or should I wait a bit and let it get absorbed first? I have questions! And my tiny sample tube (.33 ounces worth, with a street value of $6.00) isn't answering them.

Review: That thud was me fainting because I actually liked a Sephora birthday gift

I KNOW. I didn't see it coming, either.

The item in question is Makeup Forever's Rouge Artist Natural lipstick in No. 9, Copper Pink, which is a sheer my-lips-but-better shade of slightly warm pink.

Makeup Forever is a subsidiary of luxury retailers LVMH and is available exclusively at Sephora, also an LVMH subsidiary. Can you feel the marketing tonight? Wheels within wheels, people!

More marketing: this particular sample was part of Sephora's 2014 birthday gift, meaning it's a deluxe sized sample, and I got it for free. Um ... a while ago. But it's not quite as lame as it sounds, because my birthday is in December. No mockery, please; I've only been holding onto this lipstick sample for 15 months.

And how is the lipstick, Poppy?

In texture it's very like a lip butter, like Chanel's Rouge Coco Shine or Revlon's Lip Butters. Unlike the Revlon, it doesn't migrate outside of my lipline, and unlike the Chanel shades I own, I can actually see this lipstick on my lips.

It's semi-shiny, which admittedly is not the current mode. In my estimation, however, a sheer, slightly shiny formula like this is fantastic when you want to slap on some color and get on with your day. Lasting power is decent: a couple of quick swipes of this and I'm good for a few hours, as long as I don't spend them drinking coffee. With a shade like this, you don't have to worry about it wearing off too quickly or unevenly. And the shade is so forgiving that I'd feel comfortable reapplying without a mirror.

Mmmm, Guerlain-y

The one problem people appear to have with this lipstick is the fragrance. It's quite pronounced. It doesn't bother me, though, because like Guerlain's Rouge G lipstick, it smells like violets. After years of wearing Guerlain's Les Meteorites powder, I have a Pavlovian response to the scent of violets. It makes me drool. (And chase cats.)

In fact, I could take the Makeup Forever Rouge Artist Natural line as a knock-off of Guerlain's Rouge G, because aside from its lack of Guerlain's incredible fancy-pants Place Vendome packaging, this Make Up For Ever lipstick is pretty close in consistency, level of pigmentation, and fragrance. Also, both lipstick formulas are extremely moisturizing—"HOORAY," shouts she of the chronic dry lips.

Guerlain's Rouge G sells for $54 whereas Makeup Forever's Rouge Artist Natural lipsticks sell for $20, so this lipstick could be considered a mid-range doppelganger.

If you're wondering to yourself "Since when is a $20 lipstick mid-range?" I feel forced to riposte "Since Physician's Formula started selling their foundation for $18.99 at CVS."

A public service announcement for people who might actually want to accumulate some samples

Two blogs I follow, Nouveau Cheap and Brutally Honest Beauty, have been posting about Ulta's 21 Days of Beauty, and I have been gamely reading and commenting by banging my forehead on my keyboard because I'm sitting on my hands because I'M NOT GOING TO BUY ANYTHING.

But the rest of the internet might not have accumulated a rolling plastic cart full of samples, so I thought I'd point out that Ulta is offering a gift bag with a $60 online purchase.  If you have an upcoming fragrance purchase in mind, or if you, like me, have a tendency to pop for expensive salon shampoo and conditioners, it would be fairly easy to hit the minimum. And that's not even factoring in the special deals Ulta is offering during their 21 Days of Beauty event.

Nouveau Cheap outlines the whole event here. And here is the gift bag Ulta is offering.

These are the contents, courtesy of the Ulta site:

I don't tend to shop at Ulta all that often, but I am given to understand that these events can get a wee bit crowded, and things tend to sell out in the stores. So if you're interested in pursuing Ulta's 21 Days of Beauty deals (click here for a full calendar of daily special offers) and want to start stocking your very own rolling cart of samples, check it out by shopping online. And if you do, remember to go through eBates, which is currently offering a 3 percent rebate. Spend $60 and that will be two dollars back in your pocket! I know, you're fainting, right?

Shhh, don't let tell anyone, but my favorite offer is the Stila Eyes are the Window eye shadow palettes, which usually sell for $49 and will be on sale for $29 on March 22nd.

Review: Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide foundation

This is a series in which, in an attempt to work my way through my sample overload, I spend the weekend trying out samples, then inflict capsule reviews upon the internet.

Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Flawless Foundation, $48

I received this sample fairly recently (i.e., within the past two years) and yes, I checked. This stuff is still in production. It may not be Mercier's latest and greatest, but 'tis enough; 'twill serve.

I got this in Vanillé, and was ready to fall in love with it when I saw the shade. I'm not a Pale Porcelain Princess like the ones you run into on Makeup Alley and Reddit, always whining that I can't find foundation pale enough for my magnolia petal complexion, but I am fairly ghostly, and most sample shades tend to be too dark.

This foundation has a bi-phase formula; you have to shake it up a lot before you apply it to make sure it blends. Once mixed, it's thin to the point of being watery. It reminded me of other foundations I've tried, like MAC's Face and Body and Armani's Luminous Silk.

I find the Mercier sets quickly, so I do my face in three sections. I find it a bit tricky to blend. It tends to gather in the pores on the sides of my nose, and it takes careful blending to get coverage with no cakiness. I like it best applied with fingers over moisturizer and primer (Guerlain's Les Meteorites.) The primer helps by adding a bit of moisture and some much-needed glow.  

Once applied, this foundation has a semi-matte finish that lasts a full day on my dry skin. It doesn't break down, and I don't feel any need to blot or touch up with powder. It looks good, if a little, I don't know--embalmed? I'd call it a medium coverage foundation, so the embalmed look doesn't come from excessive coverage. Instead, it's the formula's oil-free nature. I prefer a dewier finish. Then again, I'm pretty sure Laura Mercier didn't have the likes of me in mind when she came up with this formula. I'm pretty sure it wasn't designed to be used during the winter by a dry-skinned, post-menopausal woman in the Frozen North.

If you have oilier skin, I think you might like this foundation a lot. It comes in 24 shades, some of which are quite dark, as well as a variety of undertones. Meaning that it might work for women of color. (I know! I find it hard to believe, too. It's almost as if it's the twenty-first century!)

To my mind, this product only has three drawbacks. First of all, it costs $48. Second, I've heard complaints about the packaging. Apparently, the product has a habit of gushing out of the tube. This wasn't a problem with my sample size, so I haven't experienced it myself, but it's worth mentioning. Lastly, this formula doesn't contain sunscreen. For me, that's a bug, because if I'm wearing it during the day, I have to apply a heavy moisturizer, then sunscreen, than primer to keep the foundation out of my pores, and after a while I have so many layers on my face, I feel like a turtle sundae.

On the other hand, if you're sensitive to sunscreen or want to avoid flashback in photographs, and either have oily skin or don't mind layering a lot of moisturizer under your foundation, this product could be your holy grail! If so, I'm glad to know that I haven't spent several days applying this stuff and peering dubiously at myself in vain.

Review: Robert Piguet's Mademoiselle Piguet

Retails for $92.99 at FragranceNet

We've finally arrived at the time of year when I reach for the strongest florals in my perfume collection. At this point, I can't take one more cold, gray day, and I self-medicate by punching myself in the face with the sort of floral perfumes I find completely overpowering in June, July, and August.

The usual February suspects include Kilian's Surrender, Lucien Lelong's Indiscret, and Lauder's Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia. All of them are very powerful fragrances stuffed with white flowers like gardenia, jasmine, and tuberose.

And then there's Fracas

I've been intrigued by Robert Piguet's Fracas for ages. Like Jungle Gardenia, it's a legendary fragrance that, instantly recognizable, billows invisibly when a woman wearing it passes by, and fills empty elevators to overflowing. In short, a fragrance with Presence.

On Frantica, the notes for Fracas are described as

Tuberose, exuberant and seductive, nicely blends with pure, clear and intensive notes of jasmine, white narcissus, gardenia, lily of the valley and white iris, with a hint of orange blossom and violet embraced by sandalwood, vetiver and sensual musk in the base.

This sounds like something I'd love, even down to the sandalwood. So I was excited to receive a GWP of a trio of Piguet fragrances: classic Fracas, Gardenia, and Mademoiselle Piguet. They sounded pretty damned floral to me—just what the doctor ordered, because a storm had just dumped a few inches of snow on top of the snowdrops that had just started emerging in the sunny part of my garden.

I decided to start with a Piguet fragrance that had no history or connotations for me—sort of sneaking up on Fracas on little cat feet. So after my shower yesterday, I applied five or six spritzes of Mademoiselle Piguet.

I'm going to veer away from the fragrance sample for a while--don't worry; I'll get back.

My husband is a fan of jasmine tea. Although I like the fragrance of jasmine, I think jasmine tea smells—and therefore tastes—like soap. Every time I lift a cup of jasmine tea to my lips, I get a whiff of the scent and think "Yep, there's that soap smell again."

I had a similar reaction to Mademoiselle Piguet. 

My thoughts on orange blossom

If I were a real perfumista, I'd recognize neroli or orange blossom a mile away. And it would Mean Something. But I grew up in the frozen north, getting my fresh flower fix by dipping my face into lilac blossoms and roses, rather then orange blossom. As a result, when confronted with lots of neroli/orange blossom, which is pretty much all Mademoiselle Piguet is, my nose doesn't come up with anything but an overpowering sweetness.

That is not to say that orange blossom doesn't come heavily laden with connotations. An orange blossom wreath became a traditional bridal accessory after Queen Victoria wore one, but of course, she had the orangerie at Kensington Palace at her disposal.

You will no doubt be fascinated to learn that there was a huge fad for wax orange blossom headpieces for brides in the 19th and 20th century.

Apparently a LOT of us were getting married in the Frozen North, with its traditional dearth of orange trees. We had to wear falsies.

Of course, well-to-do people like actor John Barrymore and his bride Delores Costello probably had access to real, rather than wax flowers.

But what I'm really trying to say is that for me, orange blossom is more of a legendary scent. An olfactory Harvey-the-six-foot invisible rabbit, if you will.

Why I've been dithering about wax flowers

I'm not well-versed enough in perfume terminology to wax authoritative about this fragrance, (see what I did there?) but Mademoiselle Piguet is coming across as a soliflore to me. It's as powerful and linear as Giorgio, except it's a soliflore instead of a ... whatever the hell Giorgio actually was.

According to Ca Fleure Bon, the notes in Mademoiselle Piguet look like this:

That's an extremely pared-down pyramid. Most fragrances have many more notes. But it bears out my experience with Mademoiselle Piguet. I'm used to perfumes that have opening notes, middle notes, and dry-down notes. It may not be cutting edge perfume-manufacturing, but that's what I'm used to. And so, for me, it feels odd to apply a perfume and have it smell the same for hours and hours. Odd, and weirdly inorganic. Static.

Mademoiselle Piguet doesn't develop. It starts off as a croissant spread with honey and orange marmalade, and it stays that way. For hours. And hours. And while this isn't a bad thing per se—for some people, like Gale Hayden when she developed Giorgio, it's a selling point—it's not for me.

As far as I'm concerned, air fresheners, soap, fabric softener sheets, and scented candles should have one scent that stays consistent, world without end, amen. They're background scents. Elevator music for your nose.

Perfume is supposed to be like a living thing. It's supposed to smell different on different people, and smell different depending on how long ago you applied it, and even smell different because it has started to break down in the bottle.

Perfume is not supposed to be an olfactory Energizer Bunny.

And yet, it's the next day, and I can still smell Mademoiselle Piguet.

Yep, there's that orange blossom smell again.

A beauty blogger's work is never done, or, Adventures in Curating

So today I had to find some more sulfate-free shampoo to test. Because yesterday's test was less than successful. Remember how I said it hadn't gotten quite clean? Well, today after my workout, my hair was

So I got to work. First I pulled all the shampoo packets out of my Musée du Produits du Hair.

Then I pulled out the ones that had sulfates. Then I took out the ones that had no ingredients listed, or listed the ingredients in Korean. These will come in handy when I'm looking for something to do on one of those long winter evenings, and researching unusual hair grooming products and figuring out how to type Korean characters into Google Translate sounds enticing.

That left me with a grand total of Two Curated Shampoos.

I chose the one on the left, No. 4 Clarifying Shampoo.

I washed my hair with it, and then followed with my usual conditioner and blowdrying routine, which involved a lot of standing, some hair clips, half a dozen round brushes, and some velcro rollers. My hair doesn't look or feel fabulous, but Buffy has stopped retching.

I'd tell you more about the shampoo, but I have people coming to dinner tomorrow. I needed to put the blowdryer down and get ready. I needed to polish silver.

And take apart the chandelier and wash it.

Think I'm kidding? I take a picture so I can put everything back ...

... after I wash the crystals.

People, it's all in the table setting. I can't cook. Well, I can. A little. But I'm experimenting on my guests. All the books tell you not to, but honestly, if I didn't invite people over, I'd never try anything new. I need the stimulus.

My plan is to charm them with all that chinoiserie. That way they won't notice that I messed up the main course. I mean, I'm not going to dazzle them with my hair, that's for sure. (I'm making tenderloin of beef. First time, people. Pray for me. )

Review: R+Co Gemstone Color Shampoo and Conditioner (Spoiler--I HATED IT.)

R+Co Gemstone Color Shampoo, available at C. Bigelow

I'm doing yeoman's work with my shampoo and conditioner samples, but I'm sorry to have to report that yet another expensive sulfate-free shampoo has done a worse job than the Aveeno stuff I picked up at the drugstore. How did I hate it? Let me count the ways:

How much does this shit cost?

A 8.5 oz./241 ml/ bottle costs $24.00.

Where can I purchase this overpriced crap?

C. Bigelow, Space NK, and the R+Co. website. Warning: If you chose to use the website, good luck. It is the single most baffling, hard-to-navigate website I've used since Alltop was putting everything at the bottom of the screen.

Ingredients

As I've said before, I have dyed, keratin-treated hair. I have to use sulfate-free shampoos if these expensive salon services are going to last. I picked the R+Co. Gemstone Color samples because I read through the first 20 or so ingredients and didn't find any sulfates. (I found a buttload of unfamiliar chemicals, but no sulfates.)

Then I watched the video on the C. Bigelow website. Some hairy fellow with an accent I can't quite identify stressed the importance of the pea extract in the formula.



Let's have another look at the ingredients, shall we?

 

I ask you. It shows up after a bunch of silicone, vegetable oils, and panthenol. Could pea extract possibly be all that important? 

Yet more stupidity

The directions say: "Apply Gemstone Color Shampoo to the middle of your hair and work through from the roots to the ends." Excuse me, what does that mean? I'm supposed to put a blob of shampoo on the middle of my hair, then work it up to the scalp, then work it down to the ends?

Do I really want to work against the direction of the cuticle of my hair? That is rhetorical questioning at its finest, internet; I do not. You always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS want to move the brush, blow dryer, or your hands in the direction your hair grows to keep the cuticle smoothed down. That's where your hair's shine comes from.

Also, my packet contained a mere 7 ml//.23 oz. of product, which was not enough to perform Cirque de Soleil up-and-down feats on the shafts of my hair. Assuming that I wanted to.

Other problems

There was no foam. Like, at all. I anticipated this, because it isn't the first time I've sampled sulfate-free shampoos. I carefully massaged the contents all over my head twice, but I never worked up anything you'd actually call lather. This might be because I didn't have enough product to work with.  If you watch the video, they use practically an entire palm full of shampoo on the model.

Can I be any more scathing?

Why yes, I can. I had to do an inordinate amount of research to figure out when this company was founded (2014) who the hair-washing hobbit was (Howard McLaren, formerly of Bumble & bumble) and why I should care. Oh wait--I'm still waiting for that last bit.

The founders of R+Co.: Thom Priano, Garren, and the Hobbit formerly known as Bilbo Baggins; photo from W magazine

Frankly, I get annoyed when a company half-asses their marketing to this extent. If you're handing out sample packets, you want me to try your product. Would it really be so terrible if you actually conveyed some information about your company? Or admitted that you want my money? Or tried to convince me that your product is actually superior to your competitors'?

Note to Hobbit: if the pea extract is this shampoo's raison d'être ... well, that's just sad.

Results

 

My hair ended up soft, but then, it started out that way. It doesn't feel 100 percent clean. Also, even though I'm looking longingly at the descriptions of C. Bigelow's Mentha Hair Invigorating Shampoo as well as their claim that my hair "will love the invigorating formula" of their Lavender and Peppermint shampoo, I'm annoyed, because I'm going to have to go through my whole blow-dry routine again tomorrow.

TLDR

I hated this shampoo and the horse it rode in on. 

p.s. The conditioner wasn't as creamy as I'd like, but it was OK.

Confession Time, Part Un: I've accumulated more samples

I'm innocent! Really! It was a different Poppy who ordered all this crappe from Neiman Marcus.

OK, I'm not fooling anyone, so I might as well get it off my chest. Occasionally, Mr. Buxom and I give each other, in lieu of a gift, PTB, or "permission to buy." Sometimes, when the item in question is a suit for him, or a ridiculously expensive article of makeup for me, it seems more sensible for us to take care of the transaction ourselves, rather than making the other person beard the lionesses in the first floor of Neiman Marcus.

So for Valentine's Day, Mr. Buxom gave me permission to buy the enchanting monkey compact from Estee Lauder.

Now I know it's completely ridiculous, but you need to hold it in your hand to appreciate how weighty and good quality this is.

And look how tiny it is. It's a BABY. Who could resist such cuteness?

I realize we're talking about base metal and crystals, but this is the Jay Strongwater of compacts. Honestly.

And so of course, I bought the compact while Neiman Marcus was having a beauty event.

And while Estee Lauder was having a GWP.

And while there was a coupon code for some perfume samples from Robert Piguet.

In my defense, I also used eBates.

I may be a hopeless spendthrift, but at least I am a power shopper.