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This Halloween has really crept up on me between my job being stressful, the renovation, training a smushed faced puppy, and every other little thing that kept coming up. It’s one of my favorites. I was unable to even decorate the new home because the exterior is still a bit “under construction”. It looks spooky as is.

I love Halloween but it is the one day that with my cosmetics I tone it down. I wear very dark lips or dark eyes. I can’t do it on Halloween because I realize just how costumey it can be.

I hope everyone has a very glamorous Halloween, playing it up or playing it down! Have a great one! And don’t you just love this 1920’s flapper goth look by Make Up For Ever. I’ve been swooning over it for sometime. I’ll save for it a non-holiday day.

This pic of Arleen makes me want to dye my hair bright red again! I love everything about this look. It’s classic and who doesn’t want to be a ravishing redhead?

FACE: Arleen’s complexion is flawless. Isn’t it amazing what some airbrushing can do? To get an airbrushed look, apply concealer where needed. Almay Line Smoothing Concealer is nice for the under eye area.  Apply a matte foundation such as MAC Studio Stick Foundation in your shade. I love the ease of a foundation stick. Apply a small amount of loose powder to set foundation. I love the packaging and price of Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder. Cheeks are lightly dusted with a pretty pink powder blush. Try something like Rimmel Mono Powder Blush in Pink Rose and apply with a large and fluffy blush brush.

EYES: Brows are perfect. Use a brow kit like Urban Decay Brow Box in your shade. First fill in brows with a powder and then brush them into place with a brow wax. Eye shadow is nude but warm. I love the colors in Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadow in Beige Massai. Take the lightest almost ivory shade and apply all over, from lash line to brow bone. Apply the lightest beige brown from lash line to crease. Take the warm bronze and brush into the crease. Apply a bit of this warm bronze on the bottom lash line but only halfway. Take the deepest center chocolate brown shade. Use it as a liner on the top lashline and bottom lashline, applying with a stiff thin, flat brush. Apply false lashes or apply a few coats of your favorite mascara. One of my favorites is Chanel Multi-Dimensionnel Mascara in Extreme Black.

LIPS: You need more than bright red hair for this look. You need bright red-orange lips. Make sure lips are in healthy condition and slightly moist from a lip balm. Apply a lip liner if you are wanting a “clean” line. Try L’Oreal Colour Riche Anti-Feathering Lip Liner in Timeless Coral around the lip line.  Apply Guerlain KissKiss Lipstick in Red Strass, this is one of my favorite lipsticks . To add shine, apply a sheer red shimmery lip gloss like The Body Shop Hi-Shine Lip Treatment in Red Gleam. Apply it with a lip brush. How ravishing?

This Almond Apple Sweet Peel is a must have exfoliant for sensitive skin. I can use a scrub and be the color of a beet for hours. This is why I would only add a scrub to my nightly routine. I had to sleep off the inflammation. This product was recommended to me by a sweetie at a L’Occitane in downtown Seattle. I’m happy she talked me in to trying this.

After being showed this product, I had to smell it. I love the aroma. It smells like all the other products in the Almond Apple line. It smells like sweet almond and faintly of tart apples. The aroma is not overwhelming. It’s pretty faint and soft smelling. It smells innocent and “cute”. I want them to make this in to a fragrance spray so I can use it as a linen spray or at least to spray Frink the frugglet with (um, he’s a dog). The scrub is in a thick gel like base. It has a few almond shell scrubbers. They aren’t jagged, they feel very “round”. The scrubbers aren’t too small and they are aren’t too large. There aren’t thousands of them. You just get a few during a use. A few, but enough to exfoliate. This is why my skin can take it. It also doesn’t leave me dried out. Good, no pain or tightness. This is a must have for dry or sensitive skin. It’s a scrub for those not trying to scrub away their acne (bad idea anyways) or for those not trying to sand down to their skeleton. Since I have normal skin that has a tendency to get dull, I use this twice a week. It is gentle enough to that and my skin actually looks better afterwards. I do not look like I have a rug burn all over my face. I think I could use this in the morning and actually leave the house, looking refreshed and glowing. ( I haven’t tried this). I also like this stuff because it is gentle enough to use on my neck. I would also guess that this scrub could be used daily by those with normal skin that do not wear too much makeup as a face wash.

It’s a bit pricey at $34 for 3.5 ounces. I justify the purchase because I like the fragrance, I like the way it makes my skin look and feel, and it isn’t something I use every day. I can get many uses out of a jar and I think I have to consider the cost per use. So far I would say that I have used it about 48 uses and I have about a half a jar left. Let me say that I can get about 96 uses out of a jar, making this 35¢ a use. That’s worth it to me. It is available at L’Occitane, beautyhabit.com, and beauty.com.

So far I have not met a Diptyque fragrance that I dislike. They are one of my favorite fragrance houses. The fragrances are simple and beautiful and so easy to wear. L’Eau de Tarocco is a beautiful fruity/citrusy but spicy fragrance. It can be worn all year round but I find it to be the perfect winter/cool weather citrus scent.

L’Eau de Tarocco is spicy but nothing like a pomander. It doesn’t smell like Christmas. It’s spicy but not heavy on cloves, nutmeg, etc. It is mainly lush citrus and a hint of spice such as ginger and cinnamon. Citrus scents are perfect for summer because they are light and refreshing but I do think of them for winter since this when they are in season. Having citrus in the dead of winter is such a treat. It opens up as a citrus juice explosion. It has all of the juiciness of sweet tarocco orange (sweeter than a regular ole blood orange), oranges, and a drop of tangy grapefruit. It’s the actual juice of an orange, not sweetened like orange juice.. This is an EDT so this explosion is just an explosion. It fades fairly quickly. I am then left with a bit of “tang” from the memory of citrus juices, a tad bit of spice like ginger and cinnamon. The spice isn’t overwhelming or Noel-ish. It adds some warmth and highlights the certain something of the florals present. This cinnamon/ginger plays so nicely against the orange blossom and softness of other dewy petals. The dry down is light and warm. You can smell the amazing cedar that is used in Diptyque fragrances. The white musk grounds the woods, keeping it “skin like” in quality. It is pretty, clean, and fresh at the dry down. This is a light wearing fragrance, refreshing and energizing. L’Eau de Tarocco contains notes of sweet Italian tarocco orange (yum), Florida orange, grapefruit, saffron, ginger extract, cinnamon, curcuma extract, Bulgarian rose, orange blossom, cedar wood, Somali frankincense, and white musk.

I would say that you would like this or if you like this you should try Parfums des Beaux Arts The Color Orange, Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange, Jo Malone Blue Agava & Cocoa, Fresh Bergamot Citrus, and/or Guerlian Exclusive Cologne de 68. I would also say that you would like this if  you like light, citrus scents or want something that is “friendly”, not heavy or over the top.  The cologne retails for $98 for the 100ml or $135 for the 200 ml and it is available at beautyhabit.com or barneys.com.

I am aware that I am a super, mega nerd for posting this one (as if all the Martin Denny Exotica babes or 60’s Star Trek babes wasn’t enough to admit into the super, mega nerd club). But, I just love the simplicity of this “regal” look. How badly I wish I was a natural redhead!

FACE: The face is flawless. Apply concealer where needed. Fresh Umbrian Clay Absolute Concealer is nice for blemishes. Apply an “all purpose” foundation like L’Oreal True Match Liquid Makeup. Dust with a powder to absorb oil and to make foundation stay on longer. I love T. LeClerc Loose Powder. The painting gives a blush free look. I could not go blushless. Every time I do people always ask me if I am feeling well (how rude). I would use a sheer and natural but not show stealing blush, something like Lipstick Queen Oxymoron Lip Gloss in Free Ride, a sheer peach. Yep, it says lip gloss but it can be worn on cheeks as well.

EYES: The bummer about being a natural redhead would include barely there brows. I like this look in a theatrical way. My brows are dark and I always have to use a tinted brow gel when I dye my hair red. For this look I would recommend a clear brow gel like Palladio Herbal Brow Gel. Eye makeup is very simple. I would take the platinum shade from NARS Duo Cream Eyeshadow in Thebes and apply to the entire eye lid. I would take the warmer shade and apply it from lash line to crease. I wouldn’t do mascara for this look. I sometimes think we over use mascara. Sometimes not having mascara creates an impact. I know that this is asking too much. If you feel like you look like a mutant without mascara, apply a black/brown or brown mascara to bottom and top lashes.

LIPS: Lips are “rusty”. Line lips with a “nude” lipliner like Smashbox The Nude Lip Liner. I would say for this look you’d want Fair. I love the pretty shade of Lipstick Queen Saint Lipstick in Rust Saint. It isn’t bright but it isn’t too brown.

It’s a simple look, very regal. It would look great on fair redheads or blondes.

Caramel isn’t my everyday go to kind of fragrance note. It’s very sweet and creamy. That being said that is the reason I will go to it. Sometimes I just want something rich, sweet, and creamy. I love it when it has a burnt quality like dulce de leche. Here’s a caramel fragrance guide that I’ve thrown together, covering all price points. It’s for the gooey caramel lover and the occasionally burnt sugary caramel flirt.

Budget Caramel Scents (Under $50): French West Indies Caramel EDT is a “pure” caramel scent, sweet and lush. The 4 oz. bottle retails for $42. Demeter Cologne PMU has Caramel, a rich, gooey caramel and Dulce de Leche, a gourmand caramel. This is one that I really like for my “fix”. The 1 oz. sprays go for $20. (Neither of these are very long-lasting). Carol’s Daughter Pearls EDT is a foody blend of juicy citrus-floral with a vanilla and caramel base. The 2.5 oz spray retails for $45. Laura Mercier Creme Brulee EDT is what the name implies. It’s rich and foody. The 1.7 oz bottle retails for $50. mark Jewel EDT is a blend of fruits and florals with a caramel dry-down. This gourmand in a 1.5 oz. spray retails for $20.

More Expensive Caramel Scents: This is not to my liking but it does contain a pretty heavy dose of caramel along with other sweets and a few florals: Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy EDP. The 3.4 oz spray goes for $85 and it is a longer wearing fragrance. Dior Miss Dior Chérie EDP is a sweet gourmand that even I can like. It is more “caramelized” with strawberries, greens, and patchouli. The 3.4 bottle goes for $92. Estee Lauder Pleasures Delight EDP is a dessert with your florals kind of fragrance. It has caramel along with marshmallow and flirty florals like freesia and peony. The 3.4 oz goes for $72. Acqua di Parma Arancia de Capri EDT is a sensual citrus fragrance with a lush caramel base that isn’t overwhelming. The 2 oz. goes for $68. Comptoir Sud Pacifique Caramel Sunset EDT is a coconut and caramel blend. It’s a tropical caramel. The 1.7 oz retails for $53.

5 Other Great Caramel Items: Philosophy Creme Brulee 3-in-1 gel is rich and foody. It retails for $16 and the dessert like aroma will not linger after the shower. Slatkin & Co. Home Fragrance Oil Vanilla Caramel lingers in the home for sometime. A bottle retails for $7.50. Lush Vanilla Fountain Bath Bomb is a luxurious bath item. It is like a creme brulee for the bath. It goes for about $6. Diana B. Foaming Facial Sugar Scrub is almost creme brulee-ish in fragrance.  A tube retails for $50.

So far, I am really loving Les Garçonnes fragrance collection. Pompon Gardenia is an amazing heady white floral blend with sweet lime. This is one of my favorite white florals ever. I love a super feminine white floral and this is a winner with its blend of gardenia, lilies, and lime.

I assume that the inspiration for Pompon Gardenia was François Pompon, a 20’s era sculptor and Rodin’s assistant. I’ve always remembered him for his sleek chouettes. But, it could just be pompon as a fashion accessory. I don’t know for sure and I really don’t care. I love the sleek and portable, ecological cardboard packaging. It’s a lovely poppy print with rich green and mauve. I peeled a bunch of ’36 era wallpaper in my rehab home that reminded me of this print and color scheme.

At first Pompon Gardenia is a lush, humid white gardenia. There is a faint aroma of watermelon and gardenia. This doesn’t smell like a Jolly Rancher watermelon hard candy or too fruity. It just adds a humid quality to the gardenia, something that is more a sweet aquatic quality than just “aquatic”. It’s more “watermelon rind”, a bit green and fresh, bitter and sweet,  and what is keeping it from being like a candy-esque body spray. The sweet lime is an amazing touch to this blend. I love limes for their tart fruitiness and slight sweetness. We always have them around the kitchen. I love the smell that they leave on my hands. It is very beautiful and I always thought it would be perfect with a heady floral. Pompon Gardenia has a very pleasant slightly bitter but mostly sweet type of lime. I’m talking you smell the entire little sweet lime, including zest and juicy pulp. It’s beautiful. All of these fruits mix with dainty white lily of the valley (very understated in comparison) and big, white gardenias. Gardenia works very well with these fruits because gardenia has a slightly fruity aroma anyways. Eventually, the fragrance becomes a strong gardenia fragrance with a sweet lime twist, the watermelon rind fades, so do the other dainty white flowers. After a bit of wear, you pick up on the faintest and mildest tobacco ever. In fact the 1st few weeks that I wore this, I could barely pick up on it. It has been many, many years since I smelled the warmness and hay like quality of dried, light tobacco. I ended up wearing this one day in the summer and my husband drug me to a cigar shop. There I smelled the lovely jars of various flavored and unflavored tobacco. I smelled some that the owner referred to as “mild” and “blonde”. I could then smell this ever so slightly in this solid fragrance blend. It is faint and definitely overshadowed by the white florals. It does add some much needed warmth to the blend. Don’t let the tobacco fool you. This is not a smoky blend, “dry”,  nor is it even close to being masculine. This is a pretty girl wearing an old-fashioned gardenia perfume oil and red lipstick in a quaint tobacco shop. That’s it.

This fragrance isn’t what I expected it to be. When I read the notes when it was launched, I was thinking of something much more dry, smokier with a  less fruity gardenia, and maybe the kind of sweet lime wedge that has been swimming in honey colored whiskey. I was thinking something to wear in cooler weather. I was thinking of a sexy but desperate 20’s lady at a smoky bar with messy, uneven pin-curls. This is much more feminine, alive, pretty, and almost coy. It’s much more 40’s cheesecake pin-up. It is glowing with a bright red lipstick smile exposing more than pearly whites. It’s perfect like a Vargas created girl. Like I said, it wasn’t what I expected but it is something that I really like. I am happy that I bought it. It’s fairly simple aquatic gardenia with lime with a very slight tobacco dry warmth.

It retails for about $16 and is available at b-glowing.com and beautyhabit.com. It’s a great price, cute vintage packaging, and wears for a few hours without any touch-ups. I’m touching up my red lipstick more frequently than this stuff.

The Mainstream Monday: Sniffing A Popular Fragrance

Victoria’s Secret Dream Angels Desire is a generic floral, not much of a surprise. This was the 2007 FiFi Award Winner of Fragrance of the Year. I would say that the FiFi Awards don’t really give out awards to interesting blends. Dream Angels Desire isn’t offensive or gross. It is just so dull and boring. It seriously just smells like “modern” perfume. Something that you would wear just to smell “good”, you really aren’t interested in your options.

At first spritz, Dream Angels Desire is a humid freesia and ivy leaf bomb. I do love freesia but I find that the freesia that Victoria’s Secrets uses in most of their juice is pretty lame. I can definitely pick up on the ivy leaf. To my surprise ivy actually smells good: green and floral. I have learned this since my back yard has been completely taken over by the lush green pest. Actually, ivy smells much like freesia in real life. And in this blend the “ivy” is the only thing making this seem like real freesia. The other top note listed by the company is “white star magnolia”. This ivy and humidity only lasts for about 5-10 minutes. It then becomes a more fruity floral. I can smell “fruit” but I can’t identify it. I mainly just smell lots and lots of peony. The other middle notes listed include frangipani and yellow plum. I guess that clarifies the “fruit” aroma. The dry down is very generic and soft. It smells of modern woods and musk. Victoria’s Secret calls this “angelique wood, crystal musk, and angora accord”.

Overall this fragrance is very feminine and girly. It’s playful with all of the freesia, ivy, and peony. The dry down is the most generic thing ever. It isn’t offensive, I just don’t find it worth wearing with so many other beautiful fruity-florals out there. I would say that you may want to give this a try if you like fruity-florals like Usher UR EDP, Salvatore Ferragamo Incanto Shine, Benefit B Spot EDT, Vera Wang Truly Pink EDP, Versace Bright Crystal EDP, MAC Pinkaura, Britney Spears Curious, Carolina Herrera 212, and/or Elizabeth Arden Mediterranean (it really, really reminds me of this one during its dry down).

It comes in three sizes ranging from 1 oz to 4.2 oz with prices ranging from $39 to $59.

Dream Angels Desire Perfume for Women Eau De Parfum Spray 4.2 Oz by Victoria’s Secret
From: BigDiscountFragrances.com

Weekly Cheap Secret:

I love these little old school highly fragranced body lotions. I hope Avon realizes that this “retro” packaging is what sells these Perfumed Skin Softeners. Well, at least it does for me. I like to have them out, there isn’t a logo, a label. They are just in a “sphere”. They really look nice in a boudoir. They retail for about $5 and are frequently on sale for about 99¢ on Avon’s website.

Candid is a nice fragrance for those that like a classic late 70’s floral oriental type fragrance. I love a late 70’s oriental. It’s a dated blend of heady jasmine, red roses, woodsy but feminine sandalwood with vetiver. It manages to smell “fresh” and clean, I guess because of the vetiver. The scent isn’t very complex. It’s all blended together to make a feminine, fresh oriental scent. I find that it does mix well with pure fragrance oils of any of the scents mentioned above. I love to wear it with either jasmine or rose to bring out the feminine quality. I can make it more masculine and zesty fresh with a spritz of L’Aromarine Vetyver or Guerlain Vetiver. Since the product is heavily scented, I can still smell it wearing very closely to my skin after all day wear.

The lotion is thick but not buttery. I still find that at night I need to apply a heavier cream to keep from being ashy in the winter. I just use this skin softener for the nostaligic novelty. And it does wear nicely with fragrance oils and some of my more “classic” fragrances.

Sometimes I get hung up on finding a product. I’m still searching for the perfect deep, matte purple full-coverage lipstick and a perfect yellow shimmer eyeshadow that doesn’t come across as gold. The other day it was silver eyeliner. Luckily, there are many options out there. I love silver eyeliner when it is used to “open” up the eyes (pencil formulas). I also love it as the “first” layer with a thinner stripe of black liquid liner applied below it. I love silver with deep, dramatic lips. Here is what I came across as I went “shopping”.

Cheaper (under $10): Avon’s mark Metalliner Hook Up Eye Glam in Quick Silver is a liquid silver eyeliner. It’s cheap and is nice if you only occasionally want a silver eyeliner like for a night out. I found that it only wore for about a work day (8 hours) and then flaked really, really bad. It retails for $5.50. NYX has a Liquid Liner in Silver that goes for $5. There is also a NYX Longwearing Eye Pencil in Silver that goes for $2. It’s a very nice pencil for the price. Sephora brand has a Nano Eyeliner in Precious Silver for $5 (not pictured). It’s a smaller pencil but not a bad formula. And Sephora Brand has a liquid, foiled silver liner, Long Lasting Metallic Eyeliner in Silver. It goes for $10 and has that classic liquid liner felt tip. Another cheaper liquid liner option is Boots Stay Perfect Eye Liner in Star for about $9 (not pictured). L’Oreal Hip Color Chrome Eyeliner in Silver Lighting is a nice Urban Decay substitute. It goes for $10. Manic Panic Metallic Eyeliner in Silver Stardust is a silver pencil liner for under $9.

More Expensive: Diane Brill Eye Jewelry Liquid Eyeliner Lace Diamonds is a shimmery, long wearing formula with a fine brush. It retails for $24. Shu Uemura has 2 great silver eyeliners in different formulas. There is the Painting Liner in Silver. This is a long wearing waterproof formula. What I like about it is that you get to use your favorite liner brush and you can use this as a shadow if you apply it with a shadow brush or fingertips. It goes for $24. If you prefer a super smooth pencil there is Drawing Pencil in ME Silver 06 that retails for $19. There is Prescriptives Moonbeam Reflective Eyeliner in Beaming Silver for $17.50 (not pictured). I love Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil formula and there just so happens to be a silver called Dime for $17 (not pictured). Another one in the same price point and similiar long-wearing formula is Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes in Silver for $17 (not pictured). If you are looking for a more “natural” eye liner in a silver try Korres Soft Eyeliner Pencil in Silver. It’s nice for sensitive eyes and goes for $16 (not pictured). If you are looking for a silver glitter in a silver base try NARS Glitter Pencil Eyeliner in Roxbury. It retails for $24 (not pictured). And if you want the same thing but in a liquid base try Kat Von D Autograph Eyeliner in Love Metal for $16 (not pictured). If you want a silver cream liner in a spooky packaging try Manic Panic Spider Liner in Stardust. It retails for under $17 (not pictured).