Monday 9 March 2015

The Holy Grail: How I Found My Signature Scent



Hands down, I am the fussiest person I know when it comes to perfume shopping (for those who wish to challenge me, you know where to find me!)

Before it was discontinued....*wails*....Armani White For Her was my signature scent (c. 2007 to 2009. Just checked online and it's currently selling on Amazon for £399?!)

Then late in 2009, whilst on holiday in New York and snooping around my friend's place in Brooklyn, I stumbled across Jo Malone's White Jasmine & Mint. It was love at first sniff (sorry) and I've been mesmerised ever since.

Five years on the thought of finding a new scent, one that could potentially replace White Jasmine & Mint (gasp) appeared an insurmountable task. That was, until I was introduced to Molecule.


Don't be fooled by the rather minimalist, masculine packaging

Game Changer
I'd read about Escentric Molecules in magazines and overheard people whisper in hushed tones about its ability to react to your own pheromones (Woah). 

Then back in November of last year, whilst at a makeover event for a law firm I was working alongside friend and fellow makeup artist Kelly. She smelt so ridiculously divine I literally had to stop her in her tracks. "What perfume are you wearing?!" 

Later on that evening, over a celebratory cocktail (we'd been doing makeovers for four hours) she pulled out a travel atomiser and she sprayed Escentric 03 on me. Sweet LORD.


A case of The Emperor's New Clothes or the synthetic
equivalent of an aphrodisiac?

The Rise of the Synthetic Fragrance
If you've never heard of the brand, Escentric Molecules is the wonder child of Berlin-based perfumer Geza Schoen. The established perfumer wanted to challenge the way fragrances are produced and sold by producing what we would consider a typical fragrance - a combination of several notes - but also the purist version of that fragrance; a perfume based on a single note.

His original scent, '01', was released as two perfumes: Escentric 01, a combination of the key scent 'Iso E Super' (65%) together with knee-knockingly sexy notes of pink pepper and green lime, and Molecule 01, a scent entirely based on 'Iso E Super'. It is the latter which caused the biggest stir, a perfume, which upon first sniff, appears to not smell of anything until the wearer reports having people literally stop them in the street to ask what the heavenly scent is that's enveloping them.

Escentric Molecules have since gone on to develop fragrances 02 and 03, both in combined (more obviously scented) and purist forms.




No Going Back
The one I personally fell for is Escentric 02, which uses an "unparalleled concentration of ambrosian [identical to the traditional and highly revered substance, ambergris, which has been used in perfumery for thousands of years and which is produced by sperm whales??]...in combination with vetiver and muscone [a synthetic but totally gorgeous musk].

In the brand's own words Escentric 02 is 'a clear, clean scent, [which] dries down to something warm, sexy and elusive." (That's me! Haha).

Perfume Shopping Tips
If you're not careful perfume shopping can give one quite a headache. I'd recommend these handy tips for a stress-free perfume quest:
  • Pick somewhere you trust. Both Liberty and Fenwick have fantastic (and relatively unintimidating) fragrance rooms.
  • Only ever smell up to five perfumes at a time and preferably sniff some coffee beans in-between (kitted out department stores should have pots of these)
  • Once you like the smell of something sprayed onto a card spritz once onto your skin (doesn't really matter where although I like the inside of my elbow)
  • Ask for a sample (not always available but occasionally they'll have some in stock depending on when the fragrance was launched)
  • Continue to smell the fragrance over the course of several hours. The big test is whether or not you love the fragrance as much as you did first time you smelt it, several hours later. Another good test is your partner's reaction to the scent (i.e. are they turning their nose up or dry-humping your leg?) :)

Escentric Molecules: Where To Try or Buy
Escentric Molecules is available at Liberty, Harvey Nichols and online at cultbeauty.co.uk

Prepare to fall in love!

30ml with travel case: £39 (refill: £27)
100ml: from £66

Credits: images cultbeauty.co.uk and my own

Monday 2 March 2015

Oscars 2015 Makeup: Subtlety Rules The Show Plus The One Thing That Was Missing




I know it's been a week since the Oscars but two things in particular caught my eye and I've been dying to share...

Firstly, did anyone else feel that the makeup at the Oscars this year was a bit, how do I say, underwhelming? I'm always itching to see what the makeup artist elite have chosen to bring to our most beloved red carpet, but this year felt, I don't know, a bit 'meh'. Did you agree?

On many of the female actors skin was kept low key with lips 'barely there', slight definition around the eyes (mostly brown hues) and the lightest wash of blush.

What happened to the drama? The glamour?!

Could it be possible we are experiencing a backlash, an antidote to the bold looks of recent years?

Secondly, one thing was blatantly missing from the large majority of makeup looks... Where was all the contouring?


Anna Kendrick eschewed bronzer in favour of a wash of peach blush

A Sculpting Backlash?
Even if your makeup bag rarely boasts anything more than a concealer and a six month old mascara it's likely you've heard of a technique called contouring. A trend arguably made famous by the Kardashian sisters, contouring has been one of the biggest buzz words of the past two years with the majority of cosmetics brands choosing to invest in innovative contouring products (just launched: Clinique's new contouring sticks).

But contouring this year at the Oscars was astoundingly absent.

Yes, there were a couple of exceptions...J-Lo and Jennifer Aniston both opted for their staple 'bronzed goddess' look (no surprises there) and bronzers were definitely, if more subtly, deployed with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Gwyneth (I desperately wanted to get out my blending brush with Rita Ora!). But for the majority of stars skin was left refreshingly nude and in some cases topped with just the slightest hint of blush.




Is Less Really More?
Take Meryl for example. And please don't get me wrong, the woman is a genius and I simply adore her... but I felt her skin this year could have done with a bit of warmth. A little bronzer around the hairline perhaps. I'm not talking colour here because I think the level of blush is bang on, but working more with a matte bronzer, 2-3 shades warmer than Meryl's natural skin tone.

Another thing I would have changed about Meryl's makeup would have been to have added a touch of highlighter, something unbelievably sheer such as Glamcor's Glamour Glow, just to the cheekbones and temples (notice her skin is completely matte in the photo which makes it look a bit flat). This is especially important on more mature skin which loses its natural sheen over time.

The New Nude
Seems I'm not the only one banging on about the rise of the new nude makeup look for 2015. Vogue recently tweeted a link to this article featuring countless examples of understated, natural looks from the A/W15 shows.

I should stress, it's not that I'm against an au naturelle makeup look, I frickin' love it! It's just that I occasionally pine for something a little more spectacular. And if you can't dazzle at The Oscars then when can you?

All images: Getty (unless otherwise stated)