What I'm Wearing

In a season that seems committed to making us re-live the worst fashion moments of the 80s, It is very refreshing to have somewhere to buy real clothes. The kind that will not be relegated to the back of the closet before shamefully donated to the nearest Goodwill, and that will not make looking at pictures from this year with a "What the hell was I thinking?" cringe.

I've always like Adrienne Vittadini, but this fall/winter it's been my salvation. About 50% of my new clothes were purchased there. They have a big sale at the moment, so it's a good time to check them up, both online and in store. For the online shoppers, they mostly run true to size, but the XS is just a bit roomy (I just bought their black wrap dress, and I don't have to use the zipper to get it on and and off, but since the fabric is fluid and drapes nicely, it doesn't really matter).

Berries, Butter and a Giveaway

The good news is that Maryam's hand made shea monoi whipped body butter is an exceptional treat. And that's an understatement. It is far superior to other, way more expensive products. I can't believe that I'm writing this, but my beloved Korres body butter doesn't measure up and neither do Bliss or Fresh products. The texture is phenomenal. It sinks right into the skin, nourishing and softening it. My super dry winter skin has never felt so soft.

The all-natural ingredients include: shea butter, monoi de tahiti oil (that's the stuff in Nars' Monoi body oil), cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, goat milk, vitamin E and silk fibers. No wonder that the results are so good.

The bad news is that the tub I have is in the pomegranate and wildberries scent. I'm not a fan of red fruit scents, and this one is very berry, and the scent is so strong that it refused to leave my skin the next day and clung to my jeans. A berry lover would rejoice with something like this. I don't. I'll have to get myself a tub of one of the more delicate fragrances. And probably also the unscented one. And I'd go straight for the large size (16 oz), because it's that good. But I can't deal with this fruitiness.

However, my loss is your gain. I'll do a giveaway. Leave a comment if you're berry-friendly and want to be part of the drawing. Next week one of you will get this 8 oz tub of body butter.

Things you do for your beauty blog

I received a sample of a new and interesting product: A hair fragrance made by Pure & Petal, a Canadian company. As curious as I was about it, I couldn't use it right away. The reason? My very thick hair retains smell for a very long time, and since I use a leave-in-conditioner and quite a bit of anti-frizz goop, my hair seems to always smell of TreSemme or some version of that.

Which meant that I had to be brave and not wash it for a few days, until it finally smelled like hair and I could test the fragrance. It ended up being four days before my poor hair could be trusted as a test subject. I can't say that I was all that happy to carry around nearly 3' of unwashed hair (yes, it really is that long). I wore it up in a bun, but still.

The fragrance I tried was Linden Blossom. It combines floral and grapefruit notes, but the dominant part is linden, which I love, with just a bit of fruit. There's something watery in this scent, which I'm not too keen of, but I could only smell it on my skin. What I sprayed on my hair remain pleasantly floral.

All of P&P's fragrances are alcohol-free and do not irritate the skin or scalp (unlike not washing one's hair that made me itch like crazy, and required drastic action, like using my husband's Head & Shoulders to feel clean again). The scent stays on the hair for several hours and is very pleasant. It didn't seem to affect the look of my hair the way regular products do, so it can't replace your regular shine products. But, it's a very nice pick-me-up addition, especially if you skipped shampoo and need some extra help.