Choosing a scent in Summer can prove more of a challenge than the cooler months, what with hot temperatures and sun products combining to make it all the more difficult for your perfume to stand out. I've selected fragrances from Stella McCartney, National Trust, Anna Sui, Benefit, Jo Malone, The Body Shop, Ted Baker, Davidoff and Guerlain that will compete for a place in your cosmetics cupboard. Take a look at them all here, and tell me what you'll be spritzing!
Source: Thinkstock
We all have a sense of smell, and we all use it constantly, whether we realize it or not. Scents and smell are two of the most important yet often overlooked elements of everyday experience. Want to learn a few truly amazing facts about the things your nose knows? Then just keep reading.
Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee has inspired many perfumers to create scents in honour of this milestone. Floral notes feature heavily in the celebratory fragrances, with that most royal of flowers, rose a popular choice. Click through to shop Jubilee perfumes from Yardley, Floris, Bond No. 9 and Penhaligon's, plus a crystal decanter, and tell me which takes your fancy!
Fragrance is highly personal, and generally, as long as it smells good to you, there's no real "right" or "wrong." However, if you want to get the full experience of your favorite perfume and have it wear as beautifully as possible, there actually is an optimal way to put it on. To find out how, see our tips below.
UK advertising censors weren't pleased with the way Dakota Fanning, 17, was shot for her new Oh, Lola! print campaign, and have duly banned the ad from appearing in magazines nationwide. "We considered the ad could be seen to sexualize a child," the Advertising Standards Authority said in its ruling, according to WWD. "We therefore concluded that the ad was irresponsible and was likely to cause serious offense."
The photo in question is above, and there is something a little Lolita-esque about it (Lolita in the pop cultural sense, not in the actual Vladimir Nabokov novel sense). However, and as unfortunate as it may be, "sexy" teenage girls are far from a new thing in advertising. But what do you think, though? Was it an overreaction to ban this ad, or should we be working to decrease the sexualization of young women however we can?
Diane von Furstenberg has always seemed like the kind of woman who'd love orchids or lilies, but as she reveals here, her favorite flower is actually frangipani (aka plumeria), and its light, clean scent is the centerpiece of her new scent, Diane. This video is a cool view if you've ever been curious about how designers come up with a new scent. And as an added bonus, you get to see Diane go out in the woods (wearing jeans, no less!) to talk about the other main flower in her scent, violet.
It's always been clear that Diane is passionate about fashion, but judging from this video, she's also a secret fragrance fanatic. It's fascinating to see someone who's such a fashion institution speak so enthusiastically about a subject as relatively quotidian as violets in moss and plumeria trees. Who knew DvF had a soft spot for quirky flowers?
Source: How Diane von Furstenberg Created Her New Fragrance
We'll have to wait until 2013 for the big Tory Burch fragrance reveal, but there's something else to look forward to: Burch and executives at Estée Lauder are in talks to develop a color cosmetics collection. Additionally, the beauty partnership will be connected to the Tory Burch Foundation, a nonprofit that helps provide financial tools to self-employed women. And with designers such as Tom Ford and now Burch branching out into the cosmetics business, let's hope more designers will head a similar direction.
Nicole Richie just inked a fragrance deal with New York company TPR (they're the people behind Oscar Blandi and Freeze 24/7 products), according to WWD. She's in good company, of course, given how many of her friends and acquaintances already have scents of their own; Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian are just a couple of the names that spring to mind.
In fact, Nicole's already inspired a beauty product albeit not a fragrance. Longtime friend Charlotte Ronson recently debuted an eye shadow quad designed for Nicole. Given the excitement surrounding that shadow, it's not surprising that Ms. Richie decided to give beauty products a go herself. The scent, which is supposed to be "cool and classy with an edge" is slated to be in (department) stores by September 2012.
Source: Next Fall You'll Be Able to Smell Like Nicole Richie
Ever wondered why other people are so bad at picking out perfume for you, or how you just instinctively know when a scent is "right"? New research from Charles University in Prague suggests that we pick scents to amplify our body odor, not cover it up. And since every person's BO is unique (like a grimy, noisome snowflake), other people tend to do a bad job of picking scents for us, while we almost immediately know which ones will work.
Why on earth are we doing this in the first place, though? To find the right mate, of course. Our sweat broadcasts a bunch of signals about everything from our health to what kind of immune protections we have. People with different-but-not-too-different immune complexes produce the healthiest babies, so we're always trying to sniff out that special someone who has everything we need: good health, a great smile, and that bubonic plague immunity gene we're missing.
Source: Fact: You Wear Perfume to Make Your BO Even Stronger
Ah, the vicissitudes of perfume jargon. There's a surfeit of terms out there, but little explanation of what the heck any of it means. In a given department store, you'll find parfum, extrait de parfum, liqueur de parfum, eau de parfum, cologne, eau de toilette, body splash, aftershave, and the list goes on. And while they might all just seem like variations on the same thing, in reality, they each have a precise, established meaning and optimal use. Fortunately, learning the terminology is easy and painless. Never be confused in the fragrance department again when you keep reading.
