Showing posts with label perfume. Show all posts
Showing posts with label perfume. Show all posts

Vintage Beauty: Elsa Schiaparelli's Perfumes

Saturday, April 8, 2023


Significantly intertwined with fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli's imagery are the watercolor paintings Marcel Vertès created for her beauty campaigns. Schiaparelli's fragrances Shocking, Sleeping, and Le Roy Soleil were brought to life through Vertès' bold brush strokes, pulsating candied colors, and a glittering cast of characters including harlequins and gamines.

Old Hollywood's Beauty Tips: the 40s

Sunday, December 5, 2021


Welcome to the 1940s installment of my Old Hollywood Beauty Tips series! Find out which famous perfume both Rita Hayworth and Merle Oberon loved, how Lena Horne was the original glamour girl to start a cosmetics line, and more!

Old Hollywood's Beauty Tips: the 50s

Friday, November 20, 2020


Glossy red lips, Max Factor "Pan-Cake" foundation, powder puffs, glistening gold compacts and jeweled lipstick bullets... Old Hollywood practically glittered with glamour. And the starlets that lit up the silver screen became beauty experts in their own right, learning first-hand from film industry professionals - from makeup and hair artists to lighting technicians.

I want to share beauty tips, tricks, and stories from some of the most iconic Old Hollywood leading ladies in the technicolor and sun-soaked 1950s!

Six Women and Their Signature Scents

Friday, January 31, 2020

After working on the My Favorite Perfumes post, I found the experience of researching and painting perfumes just wet my appetite for more! Aching to learn about and try more beloved perfumes, I decided to ask some of my friends what perfume they consider their signature scent, and what makes it so meaningful to them.

I had such a great time compiling this list and interviewing such incredible people, and this just reaffirms my love for perfume. It's such a meaningful and intensely personal experience! From a fashion designer, to a screenwriter, to a ballerina - here are 5 signature scents as unique and multi-layered as the people that wear them.

My Favorite Perfumes

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

With a simple spritz of the juice, perfume unlocks powerful memories, enhances atmosphere, clings to experiences, and unfurls different scent narratives. It’s one of my favorite parts of "getting ready" - the mist a finishing touch after picking out your outfit and makeup, helping to establish what kind of person you feel like or want to channel.

As somebody very driven by the idea of capturing a moment, learning that wearing a specific perfume can, in effect, bottle up meaningful moments, sensations - every time you smell it, was a revelation.

I am in no way an expert when it comes to the more technical side of fragrances, but I have such a great admiration and love of perfumes, and wanted to share some of my favorites! While writing this post, I did quite a bit of research on fragrances and the ones I like, and discovered I’m usually drawn towards fruity, warm, and sweet scents.

This experience has made me want to learn even more, so if you have any book or scent recommendations please let me know! I also took another shot at learning how to use watercolors, so I could attempt to accurately portray the translucent perfume bottles. While the paintings definitely aren’t perfect, I really like how they turned out!

Last Minute Luxury Gift Guide

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

One of my very favorite kinds of gifts to give and receive are those ones that make you feel like a million bucks but you can't quite justify using except for special occasions. My loved ones are especially guilty of doing this - so naturally those things are my very favorite thing to get them! Here is a guide to some of my very favorite "pamper yourself" gifts that you can pick up last minute for your friends, family - or yourself ;)

Sugarpill Nail Polish
I truly can't stop singing the praises for Sugarpill Cosmetics - created by one of the sweetest, most infectious ladies I've ever had the pleasure of chatting with, Amy Doan - Sugarpill more then lives up to their adorable packaging and charismatic founder. I adore their 5-free, cruelty free and vegan formula for nail polishes - and when I bought some for my friend Lauren, they loved them too!

Sheet/Face Mask
One of my most favorite wind down activities, by yourself or with friends, will always be throwing on a face mask! Whether it be a moisturizing cream mask or sheet mask, I feel like you can't go wrong giving or receiving a calming, nourishing mask!

The Sheet Mask: TONYMOLY I'm Real Rose Hydrating Mask Sheet
The Deep Cleaning Mask: Pixi Glow Mud Mask
The Moisturizing Mask: Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask

Bath Bombs/Bar
After admiring Lush products from afar for years, I finally was able to try them for myself! There is nothing like relaxing in a pink or blue hued warm bath to soothe your muscles and mind!

Perfume
Ever since I was little, I've felt like putting on perfume was such a luxurious final touch to getting ready. I love wearing perfumes and being flooded with memories of the past adventures I've had while wearing that perfume - and I feel like it would be such a meaningful and thoughtful gift to give! I am currently working on a in-depth post about my favorite perfumes and why, but here's some of my favorites!

My Top Picks:
Prada Candy
Marc Jacobs Daisy
YSL Parisienne

Image of me taken behind the scenes for a Darling Distraction photoshoot.

MAC Shadescents Review and Giveaway

Friday, December 23, 2016

MAC Cosmetics has outdone themselves. I was gifted their new line of Shadescents * to review, and I am gobsmacked. With Shadescents, they've created a perfume inspired by six of their most iconic lipsticks and the people that wear them! With it, they managed to create a wide range of scents that evoke different moods, temperaments, and vibes - all based on a lipstick. Incredible, and one of the most exciting makeup launches I've seen recently.

In this post, I break down the lipstick shades and their matching perfume and outline the scents. I definitely recommend these lipsticks as well as their perfume if you can't tell, I'm absolutely in love!

Have I piqued your interest? I'm holding a giveaway where you can win your favorite scent on my Instagram! See the giveaway post for full details. Good luck!


Ruby Woo
One of my all time favorite lipsticks, a cool toned, classic matte red, now has a matching perfume. With notes of wood, floral, and red leather, this perfume smells wholly unique without being overpowering.


Candy Yum Yum
Described as sweet, fruity, and floral, this perfume was my favorite out of the bunch! I also love it's namesake, a neon, Barbie matte pink lipstick.

Crème D'Nude
For the "ultimate laid back goddess," this perfume's top notes are amber and musk, and was formulated to smell it's best on the skin. The matching lipstick is a peachy, sheer beige lipstick in a cremesheen finish.

My Heroine / Heroine
Another perfume with wood top notes, this one paired with a heavier dose of leather. The matching lipstick, Heroine, a matte purple - is another of my all time favorite shades from MAC.


Velvet Teddy
Velvet Teddy smells like wild honey, the word I instantly thought of to describe the smell was "warmth." The matching lipstick is a new favorite, a matte warm, deep beige.


Lady Danger
Finally, MAC's second most popular red (losing only to Ruby Woo, of course!), Lady Danger gets the special treatment in their perfume - with notes of wood and floral. The lipstick is a matte fiery red with hints of orange.


L-R Lipstick swatches of: Heroine, Ruby Woo, Lady Danger, Candy Yum Yum, Velvet Teddy, Crème D'Nude

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