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being pretty
Feb. 16th, 2013 11:58 amI'm still working on shedding some of my preconceived notions about what's pretty. My immediate ingrained answer is "Not me." Downwood's been trying to get me to not go down that path and I know that I need to set a better example for Emi than that. She needs to believe that she's pretty and if she sees me continually being negative about my appearance, sooner or later, she'll think the same way about herself. I don't want that for her.
So I'm trying to focus more on being healthy - not going overboard with dieting, but trying to be a little more active. I'm also trying to do things that make me happy - keeping my hair nice and my nails painted or otherwise nice.
Emi likes having her nails done, too, but she hates having anything in her hair. Go figure.
One thing that I decided to do in the search for healthy pretty is placing an order with ZOMG Smells. I love perfume. I love the language of describing perfume. This is fun. :) I feel a little like I'm cheating on BPAL, but these folks have a Girl Genius line and I couldn't resist. :) The package arrived yesterday. Life is good.
http://www.zomgsmellsshop.com/
Review Roundup #1
Brownian Motion
With apologies to Douglas Adams, Brownian motion isn't just for tea! We prefer a coffee-based approach to the random movement of atoms suspended in a liquid, and we've gone and made it a mocha just for kicks. If you squint hard enough, maybe you can see them zooming around in there.
This is a keeper. It started out pure chocolate and has settled down into something with a hearty dose of coffee. Not a lot of throw, but that's okay. I like it!
Candy Mechanic
One of our very own customers utterly charmed us into designing this by mentioning that her father repaired machinery at a candy factory and thus came home smelling like candy and machine oil. We found this to be a delightful concept and created Candy Mechanic as an olfactory ode to the brave, kind, mechanically-minded souls who keep our society supplied with confections by keeping our candy machines running! The Candy Mechanic is a noble figure: always ready with a chocolate wrench or a vanilla bolt, ever-smiling and gently administering caramel oil to the fragrant gears of our candy behemoth as needed.
Dark chocolate, extra-buttery vanilla, the sticky-sweetness of soft candy and a whiff of machine oil.
Also a keeper. I don't get any of the vanilla, candy, or oil. Just chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. This is awesome and wonderful.
Camping in a Vanilla Forest
Holly says this scent is like going camping in a vanilla forest, and so we went with that. Imagine, if you will: your campfire sends up thick vanilla smoke as night falls upon your little party deep in the woods. The fire heats a chunk of old tree sap-- young amber in the making-- until it adds its golden essence to the sweet aroma. The night air from the ancient vanilla forest smells of rich earth and herbal secrets under fragrant fallen logs. In the morning, you will hunt black vanilla truffles.
Young amber, smoky vanilla, earthy patchouli and a hint of vetiver-green shadows in the underbrush.
Guh. Not a keeper. On me, it smells like icky pine and the throw is impressive. It made me a little queasy and I washed it off promptly. On Downwood, the pine notes settled down and let the vanilla come out. But...something about the oils and his body chemistry didn't play nice. He let it sit for a minute and then, "AAAHHHH!! I taste pine! Why does my mouth feel like I've been chewing on pine needles?!?!"
I laughed. Lots.
After a while, the pine taste faded from his mouth and the perfume settled down into something special on him. The side effect, though, means that this probably is going to have to find a new home.
Captain of Industry
Ah, the heady scent of monopolistic lucre! This scent is all about what it feels like to take a private elevator up an Art Deco skyscraper. It is the scent of standing in the wood-paneled office on the top floor of that skyscraper, gazing out through floor-to-ceiling windows upon the churning factories of your capitalist domain. It is the scent of wearing a suit jacket and tie, but NO PANTS.
Because you can.
Mahogany backing a glass of really super-expensive scotch, with a curl of the best lemon peel. How best? This lemon had its own summer home and a personal assistant. That's how best it is.
I admit it, I bought this one for Downwood, mostly because of the description. I haven't dared try it on my skin yet. On him, it wasn't spectacular. It started okay, if incredibly lemony, but turned to soap. Just...soap. Ick. He washed it off. It needs to find a new home.
So I'm trying to focus more on being healthy - not going overboard with dieting, but trying to be a little more active. I'm also trying to do things that make me happy - keeping my hair nice and my nails painted or otherwise nice.
Emi likes having her nails done, too, but she hates having anything in her hair. Go figure.
One thing that I decided to do in the search for healthy pretty is placing an order with ZOMG Smells. I love perfume. I love the language of describing perfume. This is fun. :) I feel a little like I'm cheating on BPAL, but these folks have a Girl Genius line and I couldn't resist. :) The package arrived yesterday. Life is good.
http://www.zomgsmellsshop.com/
Review Roundup #1
Brownian Motion
With apologies to Douglas Adams, Brownian motion isn't just for tea! We prefer a coffee-based approach to the random movement of atoms suspended in a liquid, and we've gone and made it a mocha just for kicks. If you squint hard enough, maybe you can see them zooming around in there.
This is a keeper. It started out pure chocolate and has settled down into something with a hearty dose of coffee. Not a lot of throw, but that's okay. I like it!
Candy Mechanic
One of our very own customers utterly charmed us into designing this by mentioning that her father repaired machinery at a candy factory and thus came home smelling like candy and machine oil. We found this to be a delightful concept and created Candy Mechanic as an olfactory ode to the brave, kind, mechanically-minded souls who keep our society supplied with confections by keeping our candy machines running! The Candy Mechanic is a noble figure: always ready with a chocolate wrench or a vanilla bolt, ever-smiling and gently administering caramel oil to the fragrant gears of our candy behemoth as needed.
Dark chocolate, extra-buttery vanilla, the sticky-sweetness of soft candy and a whiff of machine oil.
Also a keeper. I don't get any of the vanilla, candy, or oil. Just chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. This is awesome and wonderful.
Camping in a Vanilla Forest
Holly says this scent is like going camping in a vanilla forest, and so we went with that. Imagine, if you will: your campfire sends up thick vanilla smoke as night falls upon your little party deep in the woods. The fire heats a chunk of old tree sap-- young amber in the making-- until it adds its golden essence to the sweet aroma. The night air from the ancient vanilla forest smells of rich earth and herbal secrets under fragrant fallen logs. In the morning, you will hunt black vanilla truffles.
Young amber, smoky vanilla, earthy patchouli and a hint of vetiver-green shadows in the underbrush.
Guh. Not a keeper. On me, it smells like icky pine and the throw is impressive. It made me a little queasy and I washed it off promptly. On Downwood, the pine notes settled down and let the vanilla come out. But...something about the oils and his body chemistry didn't play nice. He let it sit for a minute and then, "AAAHHHH!! I taste pine! Why does my mouth feel like I've been chewing on pine needles?!?!"
I laughed. Lots.
After a while, the pine taste faded from his mouth and the perfume settled down into something special on him. The side effect, though, means that this probably is going to have to find a new home.
Captain of Industry
Ah, the heady scent of monopolistic lucre! This scent is all about what it feels like to take a private elevator up an Art Deco skyscraper. It is the scent of standing in the wood-paneled office on the top floor of that skyscraper, gazing out through floor-to-ceiling windows upon the churning factories of your capitalist domain. It is the scent of wearing a suit jacket and tie, but NO PANTS.
Because you can.
Mahogany backing a glass of really super-expensive scotch, with a curl of the best lemon peel. How best? This lemon had its own summer home and a personal assistant. That's how best it is.
I admit it, I bought this one for Downwood, mostly because of the description. I haven't dared try it on my skin yet. On him, it wasn't spectacular. It started okay, if incredibly lemony, but turned to soap. Just...soap. Ick. He washed it off. It needs to find a new home.
