One of the questions I'm often asked is "What's the best brand?". Everyone wants to find that one cosmetic company you can always trust and buy blindly. However, as appealing as this idea might be, it's not that simple. From the sad but true fact that something that works for one person (be it a color or a skin care product) might be terribly wrong for another, to the even sadder one that every company that I can think of, including my most favorites, has some flops in its line.

I'm not entirely sure in which of the above categories to place L'Occiane's Honey Face Cream. I love their bath and body products. I use several of their body washes and lotions and consider their Ultra Rich Shea Butter Cream as my holy grail and the standard measure for any good body product. But my little skin care detour with a sample of this honey cream was pretty awful.

I should have guessed it's not for me when upon application the cream just floated there on my skin, not absorbing or moisturizing. The morning after breakouts were my punishment for this one night stand. I will not be messing up with my current routine any time soon.

Hypnotic

I just might be willing to forgive Proenza Schouler and Lancome for that horrendous Proenza Pink lipstick. The reason? This dress. It's a collaboration between the designers and Lancome, to make a dress inspired by Hypnose fragrance. The stunning dress will be auctioned off on eBay starting April 1st. All proceeds will go to Save the Children. When you go to the website you'll find a link to a little video clip featuring both the dress and the gorgeous Daria Werbowy.

Feline (Memory Lane IV, Panthere de Cartier)

The winter of 1995/96 wasn't the best one ever. I was fresh out of business school, living in a city by the sea that turned out to be a gray, dreary place, plagued with unemployment and air pollution. I was working for a very small employment agency (so small that I was the only employee), had my second-to-worst boss and was realizing that the real world wasn't all that.

There were a few bright spots, though. The Blond and I were living together and talking engagement, we adopted our first cat and just around the corner from my miserable office was a little store that sold several of my favorite beauty brands.

One evening, after another frustrating day of trying to place unqualified workers at jobs only a little less horrible than mine, I paid a visit to the store. I needed a new Lancome Artliner, and was contemplating going wild and buying a red lipstick. I found one that I liked (I can no longer remember which one or what shade), and the sales assistant rewarded me with a purse spray of a new-to-me Cartier fragrance, Panthere.

I still have this vial, which is ensconced in the grip of a blue plastic panther. I don't remember much from the first time I tried it on, other than that it was love at first sniff. So much love that within a few days (and a paycheck) I was back at that store buying a full bottle.

Today I know to classify it as a floriental, to identify the citrus in the opening, the white florals in the heart notes (it has one of the most delicate tuberose and jasmine blends I have ever come across) and enjoy the elegant woodsy spicy dry-down (sandalwood, tonka bean and labandum). Back then I could only say that it felt elegant and sexy, much darker and edgier than my everyday Eternity, but still bright enough to make me feel happy.

It still does. I'm definitely not the queen of white flowers, but this scent is a far cry from the heady Fracas and its ilk. It doesn't hit you on the head. Instead, it glides on velvety paws in a warm, enveloping way. The flowers are soft, and even the opening isn't sharp at all, being more about the blossom than the pulpy fruit. A cat would not recoil from this.

Back then, it was one of my more sophisticated scents. My taste has shifted since then, and I might not be as in awe of Panthere as I used to be, but I still wear it when I want to smell pretty and soft, with a hint of mystery.

Panthere used to be easier to find. Sephora carried the fragrance and several of the bath and body products in this line, most of them are now discontinued. My first bottle was refillable parfum de toilette, with a red plastic cap. Those are also gone now, replaced by the prettier edp bottle with the perching panther on top. You can find it occasionally at one of the online discounters, but it's easier to get at the department stores. There's also a parfum version that might be my next purchase. I'm very curious to see how they differ and get more staying power.