I said the other day that I'd have a hard time calling one of Elizabeth Taylor's fragrances hilariously vile, but Kimora Lee Simmons doesn't rate the same kid glove treatment — she's just one more celebrity of whose existence I'd be blissfully unaware if she hadn't jumped into the fragrance business. I was, I must say, mightily impressed with her legs in that ad, but a quick image search in Google justifies The A.V. Club's claim that Ms. Simmons may have used up what remained of the world's photoshop resources to make those legs. They are darned nice legs, but they're clearly not her legs.
Dare Me, which launched earlier this spring under her Baby Phat line, is Simmons' fifth fragrance, and she's joined a number of her colleagues in the celebrity fragrance world in going downmarket: Dare Me is in mass market stores instead of Macy's and the like, and can be had for a song (relatively speaking, of course). The (presumably) diminished resources have not dimmed her style, though: Dare Me's opening is almost (but not quite) as over-the-top fruity and sweet as its predecessor, Baby Phat Fabulosity. It's fruity, but it's hard to say what fruits are meant to be represented — it smells resolutely "standard-issue pink celebrity fruity floral". It's enlivened by a bit of creamy coconut, but the rest of the notes (magnolia, honeysuckle, white milkwood, creme de musk and sandalwood) are pretty much the usual blur. The dry down is considerably lighter and cleaner than Fabulosity's, and Dare Me fizzles out faster.
Dare Me is neither interesting nor gorgeous, and it doesn't smell like it costs any more than it does. Still, it's fine: if you're in need of a casual, summery fruity floral with some coconut and a celebrity name, Dare Me won't kill you. Personally, if I was after a casual, summery fruity floral with some coconut and a celebrity name, I'd go for J Lo's Miami Glow, which can be had for a few dollars less if you shop around.
Baby Phat Dare Me is $17 for 15 ml or $28 for 30 ml Eau de Toilette. There is also a $12.99 travel size.
Holy crap, I don’t think those are *anyone’s* real legs! I don’t even think I’ve seen a giraffe with legs that disproportionately long.
I’d have thought so, too, if I hadn’t heard of a model named Nadja Auermann, who has the most insanely long legs you could possibly imagine. In school, her nickname was “Der Storch”, “The Stork”.
Nadja Auermann is one gorgeous freak of nature, Der Storch or not!
I remember seeing a program once, probably back in the 90s, where they showed an ELLE magazine editor taking a picture of a perfectly gorgeous blonde model in a catsuit, lying on her side and using photoshop to stretch her legs to a ridiculous length. Ok, it did make her look more “cat-like” but I thought it also made her look more ridiculous too.
Also, saw this when I was googling about and thought I’d share this with you. I don’t know if it’s because I’m photoshop-exhausted but I love these photos!
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/yay-french-elles-amazing-no-makeup-issue-and-why-american-mags-need-to-step-it-up-446538/
Monica Bellucci looks stunning there. Sophie, as well. Wish they had added Eva Green to their selection of au naturale European ladies. This is the aesthetic I adore.
I remember the days when Nadja Auermann was in a lot of magazines. She truly is a natural gift with tremendous legs and an amazing face too! I saw women like that once when I was in NYC and occasionally I’ll see a young gazelle like teen wandering around. When you see a woman or young girl with a body like that, you realize how much it is a type of fortunate natural anomaly – a gift of nature. One can only marvel, which is I suppose the point of that particular look in fashion. I am 6’1″ since I was 15 years old, and I never even in my wildest dreams had a body like that with legs like that, even in my young athletic days. It discredits the models who do have naturally attenuated bodies when so many “normal” women’s images are manipulated to ridiculous proportions. And then it discredits beauties of all sizes and shapes as well. You think of beautiful, shorter, curvier women like Marylin Monroe, Sophia Loren, Salma Hayek, etc. and marvel at their beauty too. It is a shame to try and photoshop everyone to the same body and face. It’s like trying to make every flower the same size, shape, and color, when all it accomplishes really is charmless boredom.
In this months Allure, of all places, the editor made the statement “homogeneity is the enemy of beauty.” I thought that was really a perfect thing to say. Now if they’d just live up to those words as a magazine.
Those no-makeup, no touch-up things always make me feel worse about myself.
They still look great!! I don’t even look like a person without makeup. My face might as well be a pancake with hair.
All joking aside (the kinds of “laugh while I cry” jokes, I guess), it really is a great idea to do things like this. I think the recent Elle in the US did an au naturale Jessica Simpson. This is really out of character for makeup-loving me to say, but I actually thought she looked better.
Kitty – they always say no makeup, but I think they do still prep their faces with a little tinted moisturizer, base, concealer, etc. No one is that even, ever, unless they are about 5 years old or a miracle of nature. I read once a number of years ago, that when they say no makeup, they are talking about all the extras – blush, eye color, lip color, mascaras, etc. Altough I do concede that all those women look amazing in those photos with more natural makeup anyway and without airbrushing. There was a no fix up ad that Jamie Lee Curtis did a few years ago when you could really tell that she was completely au naturelle – nothing on her face, no hair styling, nothing. And she still looked great – she looked normal.
Miss Kitty, I’m sure that’s not true! Yes, it was Marie Claire, and J. Simp looked WORLDS better. I’ve never understood… she’s clearly such a pretty girl, but whoever her makeup artist is just PILES the makeup on.
It’s interesting to see these covers – thanks, lamaroc!
I love the title nine catalogues, which show real, active people wearing the clothes. Even though I was never as thin or fit as they are, it’s great to see people who are out having fun in their real bodies.
Thanks for the link! It led to another great link to The New Yorker and the article Pixel Perfect about Pascal Dangin’s photo-retouching genius. Really interesting:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/12/080512fa_fact_collins?currentPage=all
They aren’t mine, that’s for sure.
If you photoshopped the average person’s legs to be shorter, they’d be mine.
LOL!! Same here!!!
I hear ya! my legs are so short; they barely reach the ground…
I’m a 4’10 hourglass type too!
What with Snooki’s popularity on Jersey Shore, I’m hoping our body type is about to come into vogue.
Ooooooooooooohhhhhhh too funny……..I am laughing out loud making the dogs think something is wrong with me…
I’d be happy to trade 2″ of leg for 2″ of torso…
Done deal. It’s only about a half inch from my armpit to my bellybutton, I swear, but I’ve got legs that drape on the ground — and huge feet to match.
My dream is to be reincarnated as Audrey Hepburn. Oh, that lean, long torso! To be able to wear a shirt actually tucked-in and still have a waist!
Or wait a second, boojum. Do you mean we have the same problem? Daisy, can you spare enough extra torso for two of us? You can have all the leg you want from this stork-like pair.
Ha! sorry , I’m a just a little short hour glass type and the only extra torso I have is more of the “around” variety….however, I’d be more than happy to give up a couple inches of that!!!
my mom is tall and leggy, my daughter is tall and leggy….apparently legs skip a generation in my family!
those ARE a real person’s legs
http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/46186000.html
Excellent!
So ridiculous. “Fashion photography” seems more like being Dr. Frankenstein’s assistant these days.
“Used up what remained of the world’s photoshop resources.” Oh, that’s good! Thanks for the link to the AV Club piece.
She literally looks nothing at all like that. They’ve taken an approximation of her face, narrowed it down some, slapped it onto the body of a tall thin eighteen-year-old model, and then tinkered with that to make it look even taller and thinner.
As for the scent, I don’t even have to smell it to know that it must be junk. Someone will buy it, though.
Also, the bottle is a rip-off of Versace Bright Crystal, but, just like Simmons in the photo, taller and thinner, with a smaller head.
Here’s the thing: it isn’t noticeably more junk than other celebrity fragrances that cost much more. So in that sense, you could argue that it’s a bargain.
She really was beautiful when she was a younger model, but she truly is nowhere near that size anymore. Shame on KLS for doing her part to create an unattainable standard for women’s bodies.
I’m glad it won’t kill me, though I’ll have to take your word for it as I’m too afraid to try this. Everything about this has scared me off. The photo of Mz. Simmons scared me. The name intimidated me. And based on your review, this is the type of scent that would send me running and screaming – “No, not another ‘fruity floral’!! Say it aint so!” LOL
You nailed it there, RusticDove. Everything about this line is “scary”. lol I’ve run across some of the Baby Phat clothes when I’ve been shopping at TJ Maxx and even crammed in with all the other clothes, they’re so loud they almost jump out and grab you…and make you run away screaming. So, yeah, I know the fragrance isn’t going to be any more welcoming for me.
LaMaroc – YES. The Baby Phat clothes are tacky!
Oh, doubt it would really send you running screaming…it’s pretty tame!
OK then. On your word I will believe it’s not “hilariously vile” (the phrase that has been in my head for days now thanks to you! Haha!) I’ll still be steering way clear of this, though.
It is Tania Sanchez’s phrase though. I guess I’ve stolen it. Sorry Tania! But it works so well…
oh, but I think “hilariously vile” is an inspired phrase and Tania would want us to use it…..imagine if Thomas Edison harnessed electricity but only made light bulbs for himself….
At my age (I like the French “une femme du certain age”), I am not buying anything labeled “Baby Phat.” Ever. No matter what it smelled like. I react the same way to the Juicy Couture fragrances: my assumption is that any company that thinks the word “juicy” should be splotched across someone’s backside has little to offer me in terms of my taste in perfume… (meow. meow.)
No meow needed, I think it’s a legitimate point.
It is definitely geared young, but then, so is most everything else!
I think they are geared not only towards the young’ns, but to women who are considerably less graceful in accepting their age than yourself… Kimora is an example that comes to mind!
This ad was actually featured on Photoshop disasters recently:
http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2010/04/baby-phat-kimora-different-person.html
The side-by-side pics, real Kimora vs Baby Giraffe, are – i don’t know. Hilarious, or saddening, take your pick.
Yeah, that’s a perfect side by side comparison. Also makes it pretty obvious that the legs in the Fabulosity ad *also* weren’t her legs.
I thought it was Ru Paul…X
If only!
Just because I have nothing meaningful to contribute, I thought I’d mention that I’m wearing Chêne today after the mention in last week’s Daim Blond review. Ahhh. I love that this lasts all day.
I’m with you Joe, nothing to say about Baby Phat as I’ve never heard of her. SOTD is Bill Blass Nude and I am also just starting to try some samples I received from Sonoma Scent Studio- lovely stuff!
You smell mahvelous Joe.
Isn’t that great stuff? I need to experiment more with layering Chene.
Well, “standard issue pink” is a good warning sign!
My aunt used to have some 1980’s american Elle magazines and I came across them again some 3 or 4 yeard ago… looking closely at the photoshoots you could tell that there was SOME airbrushing going on… but people looked stunningly REAL, like you could see pores and even some (I was looking reeeally close and into some close-up shots) facial hair and pimples!
Nowadays everything is retouched. One of my more flamboyat gay friends has deveoped a habit… whenever he sees something like Kimora’s unreal legs, he says out loud…”BLUR MORE!”
I ralized that many of you may have never used photoshop.. Blur more is the name of a filter used for blurring and the one most used to easily hide imperfections.. it is the equivalent of the old school “soft lens”
“despeckle” is a good one, too – lol
And now everything retouched is publicized on the many blogs that follow such things, Photoshop Horrors being just one. Which makes me wonder what the point is…everybody knows that is not Kimora Lee Simmons.
The most truly, genuinely, rock-bottom depressing aspect of this ad is that even the poor decapitated model’s body they’re using has been retouched. Even utter perfection isn’t good enough.
In an effort to claw something, ANYTHING positive from this, I will say that it’s good to see a perfume business fronted by a woman of mixed heritage. There’s such a grim lack of diversity in the scent world (as in the beauty business as a whole), so I’m glad that there are at least two or three perfume houses that speak to women who do not look like Kate Moss or Nicole Kidman. It’s discouragingly easy to overlook the fact that the vast, uncountable representations of attractiveness we receive rarely highlight anyone with skin darker than, say, Warm Ivory. So for that fact alone, I wish Kimora Lee Simmons and her body double well.
But my god, it’s a seriously compromised message they’re sending. I wish they’d thought twice about it.
I thought it was especially odd since Ms. Simmons exercises a LOT of control over her Baby Phat empire, and her TV show – I wonder how that image ever got approved? It’s depressing to think that it could have been her idea! When you what she really looks like, she is gorgeous, much more so than that pathetic ‘shopped freak show!
A very compromised message, insofar as the fragrance is supposed to be about empowered women. I can’t remember the exact quote from WWD, but that was the gist…
Can I be honest and say that I wouldn’t even want to look like the photoshopped picture? She looks ridiculous. I’ve smelled her other fragrances and haven’t even been slightly inclined to purchase one. As said by a few above, the fragrances match the clothes. I love Kimora Lee and am quite disappointed that she allowed that ad to be released. However, I’ll still walk by and take a spritz just to see what it smells like.
She’s a beautiful woman already, so it is too bad.
Hey ……anyone out there today? Robin is sick –hope she feels better soon.
Perhaps we need to meet up on our own and do a “Grab Bag Friday” review……?
Awww – poor Robin. Sending healing vibes her way. Sending them to Boo too! Too late for me to do a ‘grab bag’ – but my choice for today is a goody. VC&A BdI. Luscious.
mmm…..you smell Boisd’licious! My favorite Iris in the whole universe!
Have you tried Odori Iris yet? That’s my second favorite (at least this week) Boo recently sent me her unloved decant —Boo: you are a perfume GODDESS!—and I’m adoring it. Rustic- I can slip a sample vial into your bubble mailer next week if you’d like.
Ooh – that sounds lovely Daisy! I would love to try it! That reminds me – I must get some $ to you. I may just do PayPal after all. [Hectic week, then broke a tooth and had a dental ordeal on top of things.
]
I love that one too. I need a full bottle of that my decant is running low.
OWWWWWW! your poor tooth! Yikes! I’m so sorry. (my teeth are aching a little bit in sympathy) .
brb —- ok, Odori Iris is in your packet already. It’s not quite as buttery smooth as the VC&A and if you have a bottle of one then you may not need a bottle of the other…does that make sense? (unless you are obsessed, like me, and have to have ALL the good iris scents….) so this might just make it harder for you to decide which you need an FB of!
You’re awesome Daisy! 3 Cheers for Daisy! All together now everybody…
oh puh’shaww, tweren’t nuthin.
Anita– which one has captured your FB Lemming? Odori or VC&A?
I am running out of my decant of VC&A Bois’d Iris.:(
Oiy!! that’s one I would HATE to run out of. Have you checked ebay? I saw it there once….don’t recall what it went for. The other option is to see if you can schmooze Bergdorf Goodman into letting you use the friends and family $25 off coupon on a bottle. You want to talk to Jason —here’s the number: 800- 558- 1855 he can help you even though he’s the “Guerlain” guy….but hurry, I don’t know when the coupon ends. But Saks is having 10% off….do they carry VC&A?
Thanks Daisy!
That VC&A is one amazing iris. Wish I had a gallon.
P.S. Daisy, is there ANYTHING you don’t know???????????????
I wish I knew how to lose 10 lbs…… and photoshop doesn’t count unless I make a huge photoshopped picture to hang from my head to my toes….
I’m here…oddly enough, bc I’m sick too. I thought I was just having sinus issues from the over A/Ced office, but it’s developed into a miserable cold instead. Can’t breathe, let alone smell, though, so no grab bag for me!
awww, that’s yucky. I don’t even know what to recommend other than sudafed for the congestion—-I HATE not being able to breathe—I forget to open my mouth to breathe until I realize I’m totally out of air…..then gasp! ….on the other hand, the prospect of walking around with my mouth hanging open, giving the appearance of being slack-jawed doesn’t appeal much either. I don’t suppose the family will let you just sleep all weekend to get better?
I hope Robin feels better too. My husband and my toddler both had that horrible head cold last week and were so sick! It’s a miracle I didn’t get it either. That cold going around is terrible!
I did a grab bag today – I revisited a sample from Smokeytoes – of Henry Jaques Alix. It smells to me very much like a toned down, polite, and rosey Poison. I really enjoyed it!
And I did a post lunch experiment – a bit of RL Safari with a bit of L’AP Timbuktu. Total Yum!
I hope everyone feels better soon!!
I like Poison (in moderation) but can’t wear it cuz the CEO hates it….a lighter, rosier (you know I’m such a sucker for those roses) version might be doable…..
I need to find out more about this Henry Jacques – Smokey told me there is a boutique in SF that carries his line. There is very little about the line on the internet. Definitely interesting!!!
I hope Robin feels better soon too. …Daisy what kind of perfume are you wearing today?
Hi A! I am having a Bel Respiro day! It’s darn chilly but the sun is out! the grass is green! trees are budding! Unfortunately I have sooo much work to do that I only get to appreciate spring from a window. sigh….but the crisp, slightly vegetal greenness of Bel Respiro is perking me right up. I just gifted myself with a couple extra spritzes which I am enjoying almost as much as I’ll enjoy the light floral softness that creeps in after 20 minutes or so…mmmm good stuff.
what is your SOTD? anyone feel free to jump in.
Hi all! I was transferring my Bond No 9 New Haarlem to a different bottle and got it all over myself, so inadvertently made it a NH day, lol. I have never smelled Bel Respiro but you make it sound fabulous, Daisy! And feel better soon, Robin!
I’m wearing Chanel no. 5. I just ordered a decant of Bel Respiro based on the way you make it sound…it’ was cloudy and no.5 is so comfortable for me..Wow! Chanel no. 5 is so gorgeous I could not remember the last time I wore it.
I wore No 5 yesterday! I enjoy it more and more as time passes – I fell for it last year and that was that! Bel Respiro is particularly beautiful during the opening.
Well I own all the Chanel no.5s in every concentration…the only one I wear most of the time is in the newest one Chanel No. 5 Eau Premiere.. which I also love, but today I fell for the Chanel no. 5 EDP.
You are so lucky to be able to wear all versions. I only like the Eau Premier and the parfum. Although I do wear the body cream. But the parfum is my favorite. I spend time on ebay bidding on the relatively inexpensive used/vintage, etc. parfums. It is a lot of fun to smell how they are all the same and different over time! I always see vintage edt’s that are such a bargain too!
I would’nt have them it is was’nt for my little six yr. old boy. He gets dad to gift me all the Chanel no. 5 I’m glad he did because I fell for all of them, Oh the body cream… I wear that just about evey day!
Those vintage perfumes are the best… I won a full bottle and one half full of Magie Noir from 1986, is that vintage?
These days anything older than 10 years can be vintage, lol, especially if it is discontinued! But yes, I would say that Magie Noir from then 1986 is vintage – 24 years old! I have a bottle of the original formula myself. It is wonderful stuff!
Hey all! My SOTD is YSL Parisienne since I wanted something easy… I’ll be riding the bus to NYC this evening. Yesterday I wore the gorgeous Le Parfum de Therese, which is absolutely perfect for those rainy spring days. Something about the smell of rain and LPdT is really complementary. Robin, I hope you feel better soon!
Anyone gifting perfume for Mother’s Day? I’m trying to think of something for my mom, who wore Opium, Poison and now wears Chergui. Or for my stepmom who wears Coco, Prada Prada, and Light Blue.
Hi EvilE—the first thing that popped into my head (and I’m not very good at this game so take it with a shaker of salt) was Ormonde Jayne Tolu for your mom….but since that comes from the UK , it might be close timewise. Then while I was still thinking about fragrances for your mom, I realized that I was thinking of some REALLY spendy stuff , which in turn made me realize that maybe you should clarify with some price parameters here…before we empty your bank account for you….
Ha! Good point. Well, I think for now I will go the sample route, to see what she falls in love with. So as long as Perfumed Court or Luckyscent offers samples…
My husband has no idea that my mother’s day gift is a decant of Rose Barbare!!! He has such good taste and always gets me what I want, lol!
Your Mom and Stepmom have good taste – If money is no object, I’d rec (for SM) Chanel Coromandel, Somona Scent Studio Tabac Aurea, and Donna Karan Signature. For Mom I’d rec Lancome Sikkim, one of the Opium flankers if you can find it (Fleur de Shanghai is nice), and Tom Ford Black Orchid or BO Viole de Fleur.
You are a lucky Mom.
I give my mom perfume every Mother’s Day – it’s a tradition. She’s not a computer person, so I’m giving her first niche fragrance this year – DSH Minuit. I’m also giving her a ton of samples [I send her stuff in the mail regularly, so she gets those coveted padded packages and loves them like we do!]
How nice! I sent my mom a load of samples with her last birthday gift and she really loved it. I’ve convinced her that she needs a perfume for every season and occassion, I need an accomplice!
Oh yes, a partner in crime comes in real handy!
Evil E — you know Rustic is a Genius (and so are you!) — if you look up the notes for fragrances that mom and stepmom already like—then you can select samples with similar notes , sending each a packet with several possibilities—yes, who doesn’t love finding bubble mailers in the mailbox!!!?? I squeal when I see one every time—even when I’m expecting to find an envelope I STILL squeal when I see it!
My mom loves getting samples – I always ply her with extras I get. I just gave her a vintage Diorissimo sample, which will last her forever as she only wears fragrance once in a while.
I thought of the new Liz, Violet eyes for my mom but I think it smells like Lancome Hypnose without the chocolate note.
so is that what you’re getting for her, or have you selected something else now?
No, I do not think she’ll like it…not trying to be snobby but you never know.. I need to order some samples from the Ormonde Jayne line (taking a friends advice)
Last year I gifted her the big bottle of Lyics, and she loved it so much she had tears in her eyes.
oooh–OJ is one of my favorite houses. If she liked Lyric I bet she’d like either Woman or Tolu.
Well I must say there is something I LOVE about the NAME ‘Baby Phat’…but these ads are certainly ‘hilariously vile’, there is clearly a whole new style paradigm emerging in ‘extreme photoshop’ that we will all look back on with fond memories and maybe study assiduously in the art schools of the future….
LOL…good point.
Hey guys!
Someone at Jezebel solved the mystery (at least in part).
This looks like a Scooby Doo episode!
http://jezebel.com/5523204/photoshop-solved-kimoras-ad-cribbed-from-vogue-cover
By the way, the best comment from that post is…
“So it’s not a Kimora, it’s a Chimera.” LOL!!!
LOL…that is a good one!