Vanilla

Wishing you a very happy Christmas! Feliz Navidad!

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I wish you all a very happy Christmas. Feliz Navidad!

Last week I went to the Amsterdam Light Festival to see the centre of Amsterdam illuminated with works of art. Here is a short impression. It was raining so it was not a very good evening to make photographs or see the city but here is an impression nonetheless. The lighted tulips were a bit cheesy to my taste (yes, pun intended) but this was probably the whole intention. Enjoy it.

Have a merry, happy, enlightened and well scented Christmas!

For those of you with a perfume collection, do you know what scent you will be wearing for Christmas? I will probably wear Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Winter Delice (delicious vanilla, fir and pine) or Penhaligon’s Cornubia (the scent of rich almonds due to the heliotrope and plush oranges, like wearing a red velvet dress).

My Favorite Holiday Gift: Vanilla Body Oil (easiest DIY ever!)

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DIY vanilla body oil

Take 100 ml pure jojoba oil and add one vanilla pod into the bottle. Leave it several months in a dark cupboard. As there is not enough time for the upcoming holidays you can make one bottle and give it away with the advice to leave it some time to rest like a bottle of wine.

DIY Vanilla Oil

This vanilla infused oil has become one of my favorite body products. The first time I made it with 100 ml of jojoba* oil from De Tuinen (now Holland and Barrett) which was about 4 euro and a cheap and probably not high quality vanilla pod from Lidl for 2 euro. I had to cut the pod in half and put both halves into the bottle with the oil. After 8 to 9 months it smelled amazing and was an excellent oil to layer when using vanilla perfumes. This oil was not 100 percent jojoba oil but had some other stuff added. I just finished this bottle.

Some months ago I made a new batch with better quality pure jojoba oil from Oshadhi (bought online in the U.K. I paid about 24 pounds for 200 ml) and an organic vanilla pod. One important thing about jojoba oil is, it does not go rancid. Another quality is that it is easily absorbed by my dry skin. It is said to work for both dry and oily skins. I am about to start with my new bottle.

When adding a vanilla pod to your oil you really get the natural vanilla scent into the oil which is nice as you get to know the natural fragrance of vanilla as well.

One thing though, this is for true vanilla lovers!

DIY vanilla oil

*Note about jojoba oil: officially jojoba oil is not an oil but liquid wax. Its latin name is Simmondsia sinensis. If left in a very cold place or fridge it will solidify but will become liquid again easily at room temperature of 10 C. It could also be used as a hair conditioner and after epilation. (source: Carrier Oils by Len Price, if you want to read more about carrier oils like jojoba oil, this book is quite a good source)

Guerlain Shalimar Eau de Cologne Budget Beauty Pick Perfume Review

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Shalimar Guerlain Shalimar Eau de Cologne was not a super bargain but it still comes at a fairly decent price given it quality. It has become one of my most cherished bottles this summer due to its smooth vintage vibe and beautiful older designed spray bottle. My Shalimar edc was produced in 2015. But scenting it, one would say it was in the 80 ties. When my favorite Shalimar Parfum de Toilette was produced. My personal fantasy is that at a Guerlain factory they still had some old juice lying around in a wooden barrel, watered it down a bit and sold it as edc.

On my skin Guerlain Shalimar Eau de Cologne is much smokier than the Shalimar I scented last year at the Guerlain counter in a department store. I find the newer Shalimar’s to be too much watered down and tamed. Although it says Eau de Cologne on its label, the fragrance lasts a whole day on my skin.

If you do not know Shalimar, grab your chance and get this edc bottle while you still can to experience this beautiful fragrance in its full glory. You never know how much more it will be altered by its producing company LVMH, given the financial driven and certainly not perfume loving decisions which are being made lately. If you like and love Shalimar buy this version, you will not regret it.

What does it do? It takes away rough and hard edges due to its balsamic properties acting like balsam for your soul. For me personally it works also comforting and sometimes I wear it to sleep.

How does it make you feel? Like a movie star in the nineteen twenties, with natural glamour and being sexy in an elegant way, like wearing a low cut black satin evening dress and feeling very comfortable and relaxed wearing it.

Notes: (source Michael Edwards Perfume Legends) Top: Sparkling Bergamot, Heart: Fleeting Rose and Jasmine, Base: Seductive Opopanax, Vanilla, Iris and Tonka Bean

Launched: 1925 at the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris

Perfumer: Jacques Guerlain

Sillage: Medium

Longevity: Medium

Perfume Family: Oriental

Produced by: LVMH

Origin of bottle: my own together, bought for 47 euro at a Dutch web shop, I own other Shalimar versions and flankers as well

Photograph: my own

Much has been written about Shalimar, I have chosen to keep this review fairly brief. If you would like to read more about Shalimar, read more on this iconic fragrance on: Monsieur Guerlain and Perfume Shrine. Read another review of this marvelous Guerlain Shalimar Eau de Cologne at Australian Perfume Junkies written by Val.

NB: this is a Shalimar Eau de Cologne review with the box on the photograph, not about Shalimar Cologne EDT made by perfumer Thierry Wasser which can be sold at stores at this time.

 

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