Product Shout Out

BOND No 9 HOLIDAY LUXURY LINE

Bond No 9 has come out with three ultra-luxurious bottles of their NYC signature scents in time for the holidays. Fa La La La La La La La La!

Bleecker Street Bejeweled
The choice this holiday for our annual “Swarovski treatment” is Bleecker Street (a gourmand oriental mingling of patchouli, cassis, caramel, woods, and musk). The limited-edition 100ml lime green-chartreuse-amethyst-gold starburst watercolor flacon is studded, back and front, with a checkerboard pattern of matching crystals—and for good measure, an extra-large crystal front and center. $395.


The Swarovski All-Stars
But why stop at one new Swarovski-enhanced flacon? We’ve gone overboard and embellished three more of our most coveted scents with the tiniest and most reflective of all the Swarovski stones—five thousand of them per 50ml bottle. The pearlized milk glass Eau de New York bottle (citruses-cyclamen-jasmine-vetiver) is studded with diamond-colored aurora borealis stones. Chelsea Flowers (peonies-magnolia-rose) is decked with emerald-colored stones. Chinatown (peach-gardenia-tuberose-sandalwood) features ruby-colored stones. $650.


The Crystallized Amphora
We’ve saved the show-stopper for last: Our outsized 42 oz amphora vitrine, breathtakingly covered with 16,500 hand-applied platinum Swarovski stones. Not to forget the bottle top—an elliptical mirror with honeycomb base. And while we were at it, we added the Bond No. 9 signature and a handy golden spigot. Contents? Your choice among our 32 scents. This bedazzlement comes in a white patent leather gift case, also adorned with crystals. $3,500.

Product Review

ANDY WARHOL'S SHOES SMELL SOOOOO GOOD

If Andy Warhol were alive today, he would have turned 80 years old on August 6. In honor of the pop artist's 80th, the NYC-inspired fragrance line Bond No. 9 (named after its NYC address) introduces its latest Warhol-influenced scent called Andy Warhol Lexington Avenue.


This is the third in the Warhol series (the previous two are called Andy Warhol Silver Factory and Andy Warhol Union Square), which was created from a collaboration with The Warhol Foundation. The latest scent uses Warhol's time living on Lexington Avenue, illustrating shoes. For this reason, the bottle (how cute is it?) is decorated with the artists' whimsical shoe drawings.


Warhol was a fan of perfume, having said: "Another way to take up more space is with perfume. I really love wearing perfume." The company describes the perfume as: "a floral woody chypre (chypre meaning fresh citrus topnotes and a lingering forest-like base) with highly coveted contemporary gourmand notes -- a brew of peony, orris, patchouli, sandalwood, cardamom, fennel, almonds, cumin, and even creme brulee."

I received an advance sample of the perfume, which will be available next month. I definitely smell the creme brulee and the woody base. It smells like a coffee shop in a coniferous forest on a crisp autumn day. Absolutely gorgeous. I cannot stop smelling my wrist where I dabbed the yummy elixir. I almost want to lick it!

The holiday season this year will see limited-edition flacons featuring four Robert Lee Morris sterling silver Warhol shoe pendants. I'm starting my Christmas list early this year.
Dear Santa. . .

Best-Of Beauty

CEW NAMES BEST BEAUTY PRODUCTS

An beauty insider industry group called Cosmetic Executive Women has come up with their beauty product best-of list. Chicago's Sun Journal has published their list, which looks like this:

Body treatment: Olay Thermal Pedicure (drugstore) and Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins The Way of the Bath Matcha Tea Body Scrub (prestige)


Hair: Garnier Fructis Style Sleek & Shine Anti-Humidity Hairspray (drugstore) and Frederic Fekkai Coiff Controle Ironless Straightening Balm (prestige)

Mascara: CoverGirl LashBlast Mascara (drugstore) and Dior's DiorShow Blackout (prestige)


Fragrance: Marc Jacobs Fragrances' Daisy (women) and Bond No. 9 New York Andy Warhol Silver Factory (men)

Product Shout-Out

SKIN SO SOFT

I love Skin So Soft. Love it. Love it. Love it. The smell takes me back to childhood when my mom was an Avon lady and we had the stuff all over the house. I also love it because it repels mosquitoes without the Deet. But most of all it just feels good. I love the spray body oil and the body oil gel. I also just bought the body wash and have yet to try it. Avon has a bunch of other fragrances in their Skin So Soft line now, but I'm a sucker for the original.

On a side note, I recently saw an Avon catalog for the first time in years and found that they still make Sweet Honesty perfume. If that doesn't bring me back, I don't know what will.

Product Shout-Out

SCRUB A DUB DUB
KEEP BOOTHS IN THE TUB

I love Booths products, particularly their scrubs. I've been using their Ginger Sugar Scrub for a while now and I always return to it when I run out. It's cheap (nothing is over $16.99) but very effective, and the company has been around for over 30 years. The scrub is fantastic for sloughing dead skin off elbows and knees, especially before self-tanning.

I recently bought their new Peppermint Foot Scrub. It's like pudding for your feet. At first, I thought it felt a little weird, but when I used it again today, it gave me a fresh tingle between my toes as if my feet were chewing peppermint gum. They also make a load of other fun products including their new Limoncello Body Cream and Tahitian Monoi Dry Oil.

You can find Booths products at a lot of place including Drugstore. com (where the Peppermint Foot Scrub is now on sale for $4.09) and Ulta.com.

Cheap Stuff

SALE ALERT

Bath and Body Works is having their big, semi-annual sale. Normally, I couldn't care less but I'm so in love with their aromatherapy line, that the news caught my attention. Among other things, the aromatherapy line is buy 2 get 2 free. I want one of EVERYTHING in Orange Ginger.

Product Review

FIBER-WHATEVER!

Fiberwig, the Japanese wonder mascara that I posted about a while back, has been tested out by yours truly. While in Peru, it was the only mascara I brought, so it received a thorough trial. All I can say is huh? I paid $22 for this? Fiberwig is touted as "paint-on false eyelashes" and given awards for its secret lash powers, but it made my lashes look really thin and sparse and not any longer than usual.

Once I got back home and went back to my old standby, Maybelline Great Lash, it looked like I was wearing false eyelashes in comparison. I've tried so many mascaras and can never find anything better than Great Lash. I'll never give up my pink and green!