It’s Black Friday or Buy Nothing Day — but either way, window shopping never hurts. We’re kicking off our annual string of holiday gift posts with scented bath & body products. More to come over the next few weeks!
From Frédéric Malle, Dries Van Noten Par Frédéric Malle Body Butter: "This unique perfume of natural sandalwood, saffron, vanilla, Peruvian balm, and patchouli heart lends itself well to the form of an extra rich body cream, rich in shea butter and beeswax. This extraordinary comfort and silk like richness encapsulates the vision of Dries Van Noten’s world." At Barneys, $185.
From Robert Piguet, Gardénia de Robert Piguet Silkening Body Lotion: "Treat the skin to the luxuriously fragrant Gardénia de Robert Piguet Silkening Body Lotion. This sumptuous new scent lightly moisturizes with nuances of lily and ylang ylang when it first touches the skin. Its eponymous white flower, Gardénia creates a sensational heart that grows more alluring as Madagascar vanilla ebbs gently through the senses. Finally, black leather, Cashmeran and softly spiced woods create a warm and sensual base." At Neiman Marcus, 200 ml for $50.
From Byredo, hand creams in the brand's Blanche, Bal d'Afrique and La Tulipe fragrances: "BYREDO hand cream is a luxurious 30ml tube that gently soften the hands and divinely scent them. This smart travel-sized tube is easy to carry every day." $35 at Luckyscent.
From Pelle Designs, "soap stones" in a variety of fragrances. At left, Lilac/Sweet Birch Nugget: "The color is a soft and cloudy lavender-blue and its scent is a combination of fragrant berries, woodsy birch, mixed with a touch of ginger." $8. At right, a gift set of 8 bars: "Classic color/scent combinations included are Jade/Eucalyptus, Amber/Cedarwood, Crystal/Unscented, Aquamarine/Camphor, Citrine/Lemon Basil, Onyx/Cassia, and Rose Quartz/Grapefruit." $56. Both at Pelle.
From Ortigia, Gelsomino (jasmine) Body Cream with Olive Oil (above left): "Infused with olive oil, this rich body cream has floral fragrance notes of jasmine grandiflorum. Presented in a clear bottle decorated with Sicilian art work in black, this body cream is a fabulous gift idea for any occasion along with more skincare in the Gelsomino range." 300 ml for $62. Or, Sandalo Bath Oil (above right): "In a clear bottle adorned with Sicilian inspired decoration in black, this oil beautifully moisturises the skin and fills the room with rich notes of sandalwood, cedar, teak & vetiver. Combining natural avocado, olive & castor seed oils, it is a wonderful gift idea for any occasion along with more luxury skincare in the Sandalo range." 200 ml for $49. Both at Amara.
From Molton Brown, "Festive Bauble" Body Wash bulbs you can hang on your tree: "A decadent, invigorating bath and shower gel incased in a festive bauble blended with yuan-zhi and cedarwood oil." Shown is Ylang Ylang, also available in Orange & Bergamot, Black Peppercorn, Frankincense & Allspice, Templetree, Eucalyptus, Pink Pepperpod and Gingerlily. $15 each at Molton Brown.
From Hermès, shower gels from the Jardin fragrance series: Un Jardin en Méditerranée, Un Jardin sur le Nil, Un Jardin Après la Mousson and Un Jardin sur le Toit. 200 ml for $52.
From Guerlain, Terracotta Jambes de Gazelle: "Lightly scented with the fragrance of the tiare flower, this tinted spray mist instantly dresses legs in a deep, natural-looking tan. Drying instantly, Jambes de Gazelle refreshes and revives your legs, providing a sensation of lightness and energy. Banish the pasty winter skin effect and get a jump-start on summer." $62 at Bloomingdales.
From Lather, the "Six Soaps a Sudsing" set: "A limited-edition set of LATHER's most seasonal olive oil soaps packaged in an advent calendar-inspired gift box." With 4 oz soaps in clove, honey almond, orange peel, rose tangerine lavender, vanilla bean and wild mint soap. $38 at b-glowing.
From Balenciaga, body scrub in the Balenciaga Paris fragrance: "Refresh your skin with the delicate and sensual perfumed body scrub from Balenciaga Paris. A fragrance that is mysterious and fragile, yet leaves a lasting trail." $95 at Nordstrom.
From Providence Perfume Co, the "Bucket of Suds" gift set, with a natural silk sea sponge and five 30 ml bath and shower gels in Fern, Gin & Tonic, Chai Cocoa, Sandalwood and Stonefruit & Ylang. $30 at Providence Perfume Co.
Oh drat, I was hoping that would be $52 for a set of four from Hermes! Still, some very nice things here. Would not be unhappy if the Balenciaga body scrub showed up under the tree for me! And the Byredos might even qualify as a cheap thrill! On the other end of the pricing spectrum, I’m just relieved I haven’t gotten around to smelling the Dries Van Noten–sometimes ignorance is bliss (or so says my wallet).
Yes…I’d buy those Hermes shower gels right away at that price! Their things do usually show up at discount, so worth keeping an eye out.
And sorry to say I’d adore that DVN body butter, but in a gajillion years would not spend that much. I do hear the FM body butters are spectacular.
Oh yes good thought about Hermes at the discounters! And it’s true about the FM body butters, that price is basically inconceivable to me. Maybe one of these days I’ll have to make my way to one of their brick-and-mortar stores–that’s pretty much the only way I’m likely to get a chance to try one!
I predict I will never try one. I have tried the (also exorbitantly priced) soaps and while I wouldn’t say they’re worth the price, they are incredible.
The providence perfume shower gel set looks wonderful. I’ve been wanting to try this brand for a while but shipping to Canada is prohibitive.
I thought the byredo hand creams were offered as a set of three for 35 dollars. Great deal! For one? I think I’ll pass. L’occitane hand creams are enough of a splurge for me. I just wish they’d release a more masculine version. I love their Cade after shave balm.
Hey, that would make the Byredos cheaper than L’Occitane…not likely, right?
I’m very tempted by the PPC set, but really was going to try to buy nothing today…
Yeah, not likely. Maybe if I thought of it as a solid perfume?
You can always buy it tomorrow…
🙂
Speaking of Byredo, the UK article about indie perfumers you tweeted about says that Diptyque’s owner, Manzanita capital has bought a majority interest in Byredo.
Seems to be a flurry of conglomeration going on.
Yep…they took a majority stake in early 2013.
Cade is so great. I used to date someone who wore it, and I was always impressed with that choice. Pretty good nose for a “civilian”! 🙂
(Actually come to think of it, I guess I have always had a soft spot for juniper–I had some form of Juniper Breeze from Bath & Body Works many year ago. That might have been my first fragrant product!)
Want Hermes but for a cheaper price.
Yeah. They don’t seem to be doing Black Friday over there at Hermes.
Haha, great minds 🙂
Oh my goodness, I want that body cream! I’ll have to test it first. I have bern dying to try the F.Malle line and DVN and Musc.R are at the top of my list. It will either be the fragrance or the body butter, though! At least until I make my first million 😉
Not sure they make the body butter in every fragrance…but there’s definitely one is Musc R
That do not make it for every cream and that annoys me. Everyone has their favorite something. Why not make the products for all of the line? I am glad Musc and DVN got butters, though.
I would not be surprised if the shelf life for these was shorter than the perfume, so not surprised. There can’t be that many people who will spend this much on a cream anyway!
Fancy, expensive body cream can well be worth it. I had some Chinatown cream and I swear it lasted as long as the perfume.
Agree, and true even when it’s much cheaper than this. I have to be careful how much Bronze Goddess cream I put on…