Tom Ford Private Blend- Velvet Gardenia

Smelling Tom Ford's Velvet Gardenia, one understands how some of the Private Blend scents started as ideas and experiments for the creation of Black Orchid. I adore Black Orchid. It's lush, thick, and has layers upon layers of gourmand and earth notes wrapped around the floral heart. The EDT version, Voile de Fleur, is more about the gardenia, only in a cleaner, simplified way. Velvet Gardenia, on the other hand, is something else.

If you're familiar with JAR's Jardenia, you've met the other side of this lovely flower. The cheesy over-ripeness, the hint of decay, dirt and unwashed bodies. It's somewhat melancholy and reminds one of the inevitable death. Velvet Gardenia doesn't go quite that far and doesn't really play with mortality thoughts, but there is more than a hint of the flower just past its prime, together with some of the earth caught in the plant's root.

Velvet Gardenia isn't the easiest scent to wear and would probably put off someone expecting a pretty, floral-tropical perfume. It doesn't always behave on my skin, and warm weather brings out a harsh metallic note that bothers me. On good days, though, it dries down into a gorgeous sweetness that makes me want to dive into my own pores and remained cocooned in it forever. Serious gardenia fiends would be smart to check it out, especially if Jardenia isn't in your budget. If you like it, you'd better stock up, as Velvet Gardenia is one of the Private Blend fragrances that is being phased out.

Tom Ford Private Blend scents ($180, 1.7 oz) are available from top department stores and Tom Ford boutiques worldwide.

Image: Gardenia In The Dark by Georgia.Peaches on Flickr.

Plastic Surgery- When Is It Worth The Risk?

Solange Magnano, a model and former Miss Argentina died on Sunday after undergoing an elective plastic surgery. On her butt.

The CNN article didn't give too many details, but I'm assuming that a butt surgery means getting implants. Regular readers know I'm generally in favor of any procedure that makes one happier and more confident, so if one finds that her bum is the one thing standing between her and happiness, I would never judge. As a teenager I seriously thought my nose was the reason I didn't have a boyfriend, and vowed that once I hit 18 (my parents wouldn't allow me to get a nose job at 16) I was going under the knife. By the end of 1988 I was already dating and the schnoz was forgotten.

Hollywood women often start getting anti-aging work done in their 30s, which used to shock me, but we have gotten used to seeing a botoxed face on 33 year olds. Apparently, an immovable forehead is the new black. A while ago there was a segment on awfulplasticsurgery.com showing the high likelihood that the most stunning face in showbiz, Angelina Jolie's, might not have come so directly from John Voight's genetic material. How would have we reacted had something went awry there?

37 year old Solange Magnano lost her life during the quest for the perfect behind, a surgery I personally wouldn't have ever considered. But what kind of surgery is worth the risk? Perkier boobs? An eye lift?

What do you think?

Photo: CNN

Paul & Joe Eye Color Palette III Mesmerize (Holiday 2009)

I had no intention to buy either of the two Paul & Joe Holiday 2009 Eye Color Palettes. Don't get me wrong: Both are very pretty, but I knew I probably already own enough similar eye shadows to the ones in Spellbound (warm colors), and Mesmerize, while more intriguing, has that lavender shade, which I was certain I couldn't wear. But things changed when I visited the Paul & Joe counter at Bergdorf Goodman. While I wasn't too taken with the entire Holiday 2009 collection (the purple vanity box belongs in a child's room, not in mine), Caroline, the lovely SA, has done my makeup and showed me that not only can I wear a lavender eye shadow, the entire Mesmerize Palette needed to come home with me.

As you can see in the closeups, while the colors are a bit on the cool side, they can actually work as neutrals and accents. Even when all three are used together, the way Caroline applied them on me, the look is more subtle than I expected, when carefully blended. She used the middle one as the base color and incorporated just enough of the other two into it to create depth where needed. The lavender worked nicely and added a lighter touch when needed. To make it pop even more for evening, Caroline used a Paul & Joe eye gloss in Moonlight (03), which was another surprise love for me.

Bottom line: A lovely departure from my comfort zone.

Paul & Joe - Limited Edition - Eye Color Palette III ($40) is available from Bergdorf Goodman or online at BeautyHabit.com.

For a lot more about Paul & Joe beauty, including photos and swatches of the lighter colors they offer, please check Lina's Beauty Look Book blog, as she's the expert on this line.

All photos by me.