"It Smells Like A Candy Store In Here"

That was what my colleague said when she walked into my office while I was testing a big, juicy envelope full of decants from the Violette Market State Fair collection, my first time checking out this annual release from an indie perfume oil maker I've come to like a lot. Seems like every perfume oil company has a blend called "Midway" that tries to capture the smell of an old-school fair, with the funnel cakes and the dirt and the grass and the melting cherry ice pops and the candy apples. Lori from Violette Market goes the whole hog and puts out a full line of over 60 scents, covering everything from the Cold Confections Cart to Sugared Incense Cotton Candy (one of 8 cotton candy scents), multiple flavors of Taffy Pull, Penny Candy scents, local honey scents, even an Old Wooden Coaster and Fun House. As if that weren't enough, she has two categories of custom scent options -- Cold Confections Cart Scoops and Sundaes or Tiki Hut Mixed Drinks and Tropical Delights. It's enough to make your head spin.

I couldn't try them all, more's the pity, so I picked my top 16 and got some decants from a very giving Livejournal member who cheerfully puts large decant circles together. Naturally, when the package arrived I had a massive headcold and couldn't smell a thing. So it's taking me a while to work through the bundle, but I've gotten to the bulk of them now. Sadly, it hasn't worked out all that well for me.

After Dark (A sinister yet playful combination of pink spun sugar, bubble gum melted into gritty asphalt, sweet fruity musk, smokey vanilla, and a lingering menace of dark resins.) This was the one I wanted to try most of all. I think the fabulous Hottie McNaughty nailed this one when she said (of the 2010 version) "Say you have a very proper pink and girly perfume; well After Dark is like her hot, slutty older sister."

In vial--Smells like a sweet, fruity, slightly smoky light musk. There is a slight burnt sugar tinge, which I guess in the spun sugar.

Wet--Blast of fruity, juicy bubble gum and cotton candy. The bubble gum smells like a real true wad of it.

Drydown--Getting the asphalt now, which is a smell I love. It's sharpish, but still familiar. I can really grasp that image of the wad of bubble gum melting into the asphalt.

Dry--Definitely a naughty girl kind of scent. The dark resins and asphalt blend with the pink sugar and bubble gum to give a darkly shaded but still sweet, very sexy smell. Definitely NSFW. Sadly, it stays sharp on me, to a point it is too cologney for my taste.

Coconut Rum Cotton Candy (Clouds of ivory cotton candy infused with dark rum, sugared coconut, black musk, warm spices, and coconut cream.) I'm on a big coconut kick lately, so I definitely wanted to try this one.

In vial--Coconut candy.

Wet--Strong blast of coconut cream and that slightly caramelized sugar of cotton candy.

Dry--This stays all about the coconut and the cotton candy. I don't pick up much in the way of rum, black musk, or spices. It's a pity, because I think it could use a little more of that depth to keep it from smelling more like a coconut-scented air freshener from the car wash. That makes it sound like I hate it -- I don't -- but it's not the deep, spiced coconut I was looking for.

Taffy Pull (An array of colorful taffy swirling through the taffy pull in the sweet flavors of: Bourbon vanilla, vanilla cream, pink sugar cane, lemon blossom, orange cream, raspberry truffle, blueberry, and caramel.) I wasn't craving to try this one, but it's such a perennial favorite and constitutes the base for six other taffy scents that I wanted to try it just to get a sense of it.

In vial--Sweet and slightly sour, kind of like old-fashioned library paste.

Wet--Still getting that library paste smell, it's not as sugary sweet as I expected.

Dry--Smells uncannily like vanilla taffy, with a slightly plastic or gluey edge. I don't pick up any specific fruity notes, just the overall sense of vanilla taffy. Not for me.

Pineapple Taffy Pull (An array of colorful taffy swirling through the taffy pull in the sweet flavor of: sugared pineapple with hints of Bourbon vanilla, vanilla cream, pink sugar cane, lemon blossom, orange cream, raspberry truffle, blueberry, and caramel.)

In vial--Pineapple candy.

Wet--Sugared dried pineapple (oh I love that stuff!) layered over vanilla taffy.

Dry--The pineapple all but disappears, leaving me with the same vanilla taffy scent from regular Taffy Pull, with the same plastic or paste note. Pass.

Sugared Incense Cotton Candy (Clouds of pale blue cotton candy infused with incense smoke, white sugar cane, floral musk, and vanilla cream.) This is one I really wanted to try, because I'm liking incense scents more and more, especially since I took a chance on two bottles of the BPAL special event Great Vampire Bat, which is "incense-touched orchid." This oil is a very pretty pale pink, which is unusual in my experience with perfume oils, which tend to range from clear to dark amber, with a lot of yellows in between.

In vial--Sweet, headshoppy incense.

Wet--Something very fruity, maybe strawberry, with the incense. Smells sort of like certain cabs in New York City where the driver uses incense.

Dry--Ugh, do not like. Smells like cheap, sweet incense, like stuff that was constantly burning in college dorm rooms and summer stock. I like incense, but the expensive kind.

Midway (A sweet, nostalgia-inducing array of sugared elephant ears, funnel cake, pink cotton candy, candied apples, black cherry tartlets, the heat of August, and laughter carried into the night sky.) This is the first of the many Midway scents out there I've sampled. I didn't have very high hopes, but wanted to try it because it's such a centerpiece of the whole concept.

In vial--Cherry medicine.

Wet--Strong cherry medicinal scent, like Robitussen, with a cakey scent coming up shortly afterwards.

Dry--I get a mixture of artificial cherry and a lot of doughy cake scent with a hint of plastic. There isn't anything very specific about it, and I don't pick up any apple. Not for me.

A few hours later--This has morphed and now I'm picking up a little more candy apple with dough in the background. It's better, but still not something I want to wear.

Clementine Petit Cakes (Sweet and nostalgic confections of clementine frosting covering petit vanilla cakes sprinkled with a delicate dusting of citrus powdered sugar.) I've been wanting a very orangy scent lately, and nothing I have is really cutting it, so thought this might be nice.

In vial--Cakey, citrusy.

Wet--I can almost taste this, I really do smell clementine-flavored frosting over a vanilla cake.

Dry--This is probably the most realistic frosted cake scent I've ever tried. It's delicious, and is making me hungry for orange-vanilla cupcakes (not good, as I've been low-carbing it). Not sure how much I'd wear something like this, but I'm impressed.

Sugared Lavender & Black Amber. (Sweet and nostalgic confections of black amber and lavender covered in a delicate dusting of powdered sugar.) I am a fiend for a good lavender, and have been using BPAL's TKO to help me sleep, which is a lavender-vanilla with, I think, a good bit of sweet dragon's blood resin. It's expensive, and at the rate I go through it, I keep thinking it would be nice to find an alternative.

In vial--Nice herby lavender.

Wet--Heavy on the lavender, with sweetness.

Dry--This morphs in a direction I don't care for. I don't make out the amber, per se, but it does something to the lavender that makes it too sweet and it loses the herbal freshness. Not what I was looking for.

Caramel Sugar Kettle Corn. (Sweet popped corn covered in a thick layer of dark caramel with subtle hints of vanilla, pecan clusters, white sugar cane, and machinery smoke.) I was attracted to the idea of sweet and smoky.

Wet--Salty sweet caramel corn, with a heavy dose of smoke. Actually, it smells like I rubbed my arm with a slice of bacon. Believe it or not, this isn't appealing to me.

Dry--It's a close approximation of kettle corn, buttery, slightly salty, and caramelized, with a touch of smoke, not that heavy initial smoke scent, but it's not a good one for me. I really have trouble with any dairy notes.

Milk Maid. (Creamy milk, pale strawberry musk, gardenia cream, light amber specks, home-grown yellow roses, sweet grass, and golden farm hay.) Went back and forth on this one. I love grass, hay, and natural roses, have more trouble with milk, cream, and strawberry. The concept sounds very appealing, though.

Wet--The initial blast contains a note that smells very off to me, probably the strawberry musk, which has the potential to be both sharp and plastic/artificial on me.

Dry--This morphs nicely. Lots of strawberry musk and roses, plus the gardenia. I don't really pick up the grass and hay, other than to detect a sort of natural outdoorsy sweetness. Too bad the creamy note makes it a bit too rich for me. It's a nice strawberry-rose, very summery and candy-like.

Fried Funnel Cakes. (Vanilla funnel cakes fried until golden brown, covered in coconut powdered sugar and light amber glaze.)

Wet--This does smell like sweet fried dough.

Dry--I can make out the coconut powdered sugar, and the overall impression is in the ballpark of the inspiration, but it hits my nose primarily as an artificially flavored caramel.

Kiss Me, You Fool

Let me start by saying that I've been mildly annoyed by dumb product names for as long as I've been wearing makeup, starting with Maybelline Kissing Potion back in the 70s. As if the sugary, strawberry scent wasn't embarrassing enough. I've weathered having to confess that my golden, peachy glow comes from a product called "NARS Orgasm." Seemingly half of Urban Decay's product names are things I don't really care to discuss in the office. Oh, the humanity.

My latest product enthusiasm also comes with a name I try to avoid saying out loud, but the product is so good that I find I have to with frequency. It's the new balm stain from Revlon, delightfully (and somewhat awkwardly) named Just Bitten Kissable (about $10). The color names follow the theme, with unhelpful non-descriptors such as Romantic.

But. They're great! They truly are both a balm (moisturizing, comfortable, sheer) and a stain (pigmented, exceptionally long-lasting). They come in a chunky plastic twist-up tube (apparently a dupe for Clinique Chubby Sticks, which I've never used) and go on with a minty scent but no flavor. The real treat is in the performance, which is exceptionally comfortable to wear, and extremely long-lasting. How long? Well, I applied right after breakfast, and after eating lunch (not particularly gracefully, I might add, with lots of lip-wiping) I still had a very respectable wash of color and moist feeling. I touched up, but could have easily gone about my day without doing so.

I have two colors so far, Romantic (L) and Rendezvous (R). Romantic is a perfect sheer red (I was a little nervous because it looks a touch blue-red based on the plastic tube) that I like even better than my NARS Flamenco, which I find doesn't wear very well. Rendezvous is that very-on-trend shade of tangerine that's hot this summer. I find it a little bright, but when I'm looking for something in that family it's lots of fun to wear.

Add here the usual complaints about drugstores lacking testers and product packaging that makes you guess at what's inside, but really, these are worth taking a chance on.

Today's look:

Face--CoverGirl NatureLuxe Silk Foundation in #310 Flax, MUFE HD Concealer

Eyes--MAC Paint Pot in Painterly, peachy shimmer eyeshadow from Inglot, MUFE Aqua Liner in Black, NYX Les Amoureux mascara

Cheeks--MAC Mineralize Blush in Dainty

Lips--Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Romantic

Scent of the Day--BPAL Celeste

Taupe Tattoo

Yes, that little-known play by Tennessee Williams, The Taupe Tattoo, was the inspiration for one of my new favorite eye looks.

This was my first look using the amazing Maybelline Eye Studio Color Tattoo Cream Gel Shadow in Tough as Taupe, one of the best products coming out of the drugstore these days. I simply applied it all over the lid (I found that a brush did a more precise job than my fingers, though I do love to use my fingers to apply creams) and the topped that with a layer of Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense Eyeshadow in Pulp Fiction. I have previously found Pulp Fiction a little harder to work with than my other eyeshadows from that line, due to a little more sparkle and fallout, but this gave it a lot of depth and controlled the sparkle very well.

Do check out this Color Tattoo stuff. It's a little expensive for the drugstore (in the $10 range) but it's super pigmented and while it may not live up to the 24 hour claim it makes, it definitely gives superlative wear.

In the Pink

So I am really awful at taking pictures of myself. You can't see my eyes at all. Frankly, I don't know how beauty bloggers do it. I guess I should find out.

Today's look is centered around the bright pink in the Yagolicious Smooches Lipstick Palette I reviewed here. The more I use it, the more I like it. I'm not wild about having to carry around the whole palette and a brush to apply it (the little doe foot applicators it came with are good, but they get gunked up fast), but it wears so well, without bleeding or feathering, that I'm willing to put up with a little inconvenience. This is the first time I've worn this color, and it's really a lot of fun.

I've also tried out a new foundation, CoverGirl NatureLuxe Silk Foundation, in #310 Flax. This stuff is getting plenty of love on the blogs, and for good reason. At about $12, it's much cheaper than the MAC and Armani foundations I usually use, but I find the performance is much higher than the price would suggest. It's not too thin or too thick, not drying or greasy. While color matching at the drugstore is always a challenge, I managed to find my way to a reasonable color selection (while it's gross to find a drugstore cosmetic that has been sampled, if they're not sealed, well, what do you expect?). It's a little cooler/pinker than my usual MAC N20 or Armani #5, but it blended in perfectly and leaves a beautiful dewy but not shiny finish. It has a pleasant light floral scent, which reminds me a lot of a Lancome lightweight foundation I used to use, so if you don't like scented skin products, I'd steer clear.

So the face today is:

Skin--CoverGirl NatureLuxe Silk Foundation in #310 Flax, MUFE HD Concealer (with MUFE primer and translucent powder to set).

Eyes--MAC Paint Pot in Painterly as a base, with Urban Decay Naked in the crease and Sin in the inner lid. Inglot Matte Collection AMC Eyeliner Gel in #77. NYX Les Amoureux mascara.

Blush--NYX Powder Blush in Red.

Lips--Hot Pink lipstick from Yagolicious Smooches Lipstick Palette.

Perfume--The deliciously fresh Boober from the new BPAL Fraggle Rock collection (A fretfully clean scent: freshly-washed laundry, linden blossom, soap suds, and a sprinkle of vanilla.)

Lavender Blues

I have always been extremely fond of lavender, and have enjoyed it in various bath products for most of my life, even before I was officially old enough to wear perfume. As a junior Francophile as a kid, I associated it with France and loved it even more. The summer my family spent a month in the south of France is completely lavender-scented in my memory. I also associate it with Yardley's English Lavender Soap, which my mother bought me.

However, I hadn't been that wild about it as a note in perfumes until I came across BPAL's TKO, which is a sleep blend. It doesn't have listed notes, but it's clearly got a heavy vanilla base and there is sweetness that I suspect comes from dragon's blood resin, which is a scent I generally don't like in any other blend. TKO goes on sharply lavender with a strong sweetness that leads many people to describe it as lavender-marshmallow, but which smells to me more like lavender-flavored frosting. I have trained myself to feel intensely sleepy within minutes of applying it, and tend to sleep like a log thereafter. I use it every night even though my husband isn't wild about it. By morning, it has faded to delicious rich vanilla, especially where it clings to silk or cotton, so I apply it not just to my skin but to the inside of my nightgown too.

I have been growing lavender in my garden for years, but only this year did it really finally take hold and start producing much volume of flowers. Today I thought it would be fun to make one of those lavender wands they sell at craft fairs, so I found this excellent blog post on how to do it.

Despite the crystal-clear instructions and beautiful pictures, my attempt was an unmitigated disaster. Maybe my ribbon was too wide, maybe my lavender stalks were too bunchy, or maybe I'm just completely inept, but the results (left) were piss-poor. It does smell good, though, and I have a little dish of all the blossoms and leaves that fell off that I'll use as a little fresh potpourri, perish the thought.

I do think I'll try again with a different plant that might be more svelte and some narrower ribbon, but I don't hold out a lot of hope.

Oh, and in honor of unofficial Lavender Day, today I am wearing emerald green cropped jeans and a violet tank top. I look like a lavender stalk!

Great Eyeliner Disasters

I am completely inept when it comes to applying liquid eyeliner, which is why I have fallen in love with Make Up For Ever's Aqua Liner. It has a tiny pointy sponge applicator instead of a brush and I find I can control it well, plus the formula is highly pigmented and waterproof. But I discovered an important aspect of the product this morning--the liner in the tube is so fluid that when I accidentally tipped the tube while applying it, it dripped all over the floor. I had imagined more of a cream consistency in there, but it really is liquid. I am traveling on business, so it was a hotel bathroom floor I sullied with my klutziness. So a word to the wise--don't tip your MUFE Aqua Liner upside down. On the plus side, this means I will run out of liner a litter sooner, which means a trip to Sephora sooner. Which means another Aqua Liner in another color (gold? silver?) may jump into my basket.

Off to date night!

I snapped this while riding in the car on the way to meet friends for tapas on Friday night. I wanted something sexy and dramatic, but that I could have some hope of keeping on my lips throughout dinner. I realized this was the perfect time to test the Yagolicious Smooches Lipstick Palette.

I'd learned about this product at the Pink Sith blog, which offered a very positive review and some superb swatches, which I suggest you check out. I'm happy to say that my experience with this product is positive too.

As you can see, the product presents a smartly edited collection of reds -- true red, blue-red, orange-red, hot pink, and a true red gloss. The texture of the lipsticks is quite firm, but very smooth. It took several passes of my lipstick brush to paint in my lips, which struck me as just right. What I didn't want was a very soft product that glopped on my brush because while that might be easier to spread around, it's also a sure bet that it will seep into fine lines. Happily here you get the best of both worlds -- a precise application but the product feels smooth and moisturizing on the lips, not drying like many matte lipsticks can feel.

For this look, I applied my Revlon Colorstay Lip Liner in Natural, then used the first color in the palette (pictured at top). And that was it! No layering, no additional gloss. At dinner, I noticed very little transfer to my wineglass, and by the end of dinner I could use a little bit of touch-up to make it look freshly applied, but that wasn't even necessary.

The rest of the products used allowed me to keep it simple -- with a touch of foundation and concealer I used Armani Eyes to Kill eyeshadow in Rock Sand all over the lid, MUFE Aqualiner in Black, NYX Les Amoureux mascara, and NYX blush in Pinched. Simple, classic.

Perfume of the Night: BPAL Black Lace (A delicate sugar-spun vanilla cream cotton, stained by tobacco and incense smoke, Indian musk, and drops of cognac)