Aveda's Shampure hand and body wash in a limited edition to benefit charity: water. "100% of your purchase price gives clean water to one person", plus "Gently cleanse your skin with this sulfate-free babassu nut-derived cleanser. Calms the senses with an aroma with 25 pure flower and plant essences including certified organic lavender, petitgrain and ylang ylang." 500 ml for $35.
The story is that Aveda's Cherry Almond Softening hair products were discontinued ages ago, then last year they brought them back, then they sold out and Aveda started a waiting list. At the moment, they're back in stock. "Certified organic coconut oil and shea butter deeply condition delivering superior slip and effortless detangling. Formula with naturally-derived cherry blossom extract and sweet almond oil restore softness and shine from roots to ends, leaving your hair feeling touchably soft and full of weightless bounce. Infuses hair with a sweet, juicy floral pure-fume™ aroma containing 38 flower and plant essences inlcuding tonka bean, certified organic orange and ylang ylang."
From Aveda, hair mists in Mihana ("inspired by the forests and gardens of Japan...with jasmine, certified organic mandarin, clove and other pure flower and plant essences"), Marassona ("inspired by Brazil's magical coastline....with certified organic neroli, lemon and ylang ylang and other pure flower and plant essences") and Alanara ("inspired by the ancient Fertile Crescent, where spices and blossoms collide...with sandalwood, certified organic rose, oud, olibanum and other pure flower and plant essences"). $35 each for 75 ml.
Valentine’s Day is February 14th, of course, and you may be thinking of giving a small gift or two to a special someone. I don’t mean only romantic partners, either; I think that certain friends and family members deserve a little extra display of affection once in while, too. Here, then, are ten scented treats for all sorts of Valentines, each priced under $30.
Sweets to the sweet: the ever-popular Philosophy has assembled a limited edition X’s and O’s Trio just for Valentine’s Day…
There is a story in our family about my first grade parent-teacher interview. The excellent, jolly woman who taught my class reported I was doing well, but confessed to my mother that she experienced considerable anxiety when introducing what she called “controversial topics”. Mom, a teacher herself, did not ask which first grade topics these could possibly be, and she did not encourage the woman to elaborate. She was already familiar with what my brothers later named “the squinty face”. She knew well my favorite phrase: “Now, wait a minute…” (No doubt this was preferable to a tic I developed later: “You mean to tell me…?!”) Most importantly, both my parents had learned to avoid being drawn into discussions on, say, the vagaries of English spelling, the habits and duties of Santa Claus, or the basic road safety rules a young lady of six might be expected to follow. For years, I described myself as a contrarian. Now Christopher Hitchens has tried to make it hip to be a young contrarian, and I’ve decided to start taking popular, rather non-committal stances on current issues. It’s hard to get rid of the squinting, though.
Old habits die hard, then, and in the interests of both truth and disagreeing with people, I have found myself defending Perfumes: The Guide on points of accuracy and style in various online forums. Still, this sentence from Luca Turin’s review of Caldey Island Lavender gives me pause: “Lavender is summer wind made smell, and the best lavender compositions are, in my opinion, the ones from which other elements are absent, and only endlessly blue daylight air remains.” Well, despite having never sampled the Caldey Island Lavender, I must disagree. (I have found that to properly enter into the spirit of arguing, you must be prepared to dispense right away with proper research.) Leaving aside the blue air — surely wind can’t be blue? And air is merely stationary wind? — I fail to see how Guerlain Jicky would fit into his best lavenders category. And any best lavenders category that excludes Jicky cuts no mustard with me. Let us discuss a list of other surpassingly wonderful complex lavenders, just to be difficult…