Badger Balm has extended their Damascus Rose collection with Cleansing Milk and Balancing Mist. Get travel sizes (29.5 ml) of both, along with the Face Oil, for $35 at Badger (or shop around, you can find it cheaper). "Cleanse, tone, and moisturize dry, delicate skin with this Damascus Rose Face Care Starter Set. Travel-friendly, super-giftable, and a great way to try the line!"
Eau d’Italie Rosa Greta, Ex Nihilo Rose Hubris, MCMC Fragrances Maine, Atelier des Ors Rose Omeyyade ~ short fragrance reviews
I think many of us have a box or bowl of perfume samples that we’ve tried once or twice, weren’t quite sure about and plan to try again someday — the “purgatory basket,” as Robin dubbed it years ago. I can never resist trying rose-inspired fragrances, even ones that I have a sneaking suspicion I might not actually like, so I inevitably end up with more than a few semi-forgotten rose samples rattling around my desk.
Here are brief reviews of four scents I recently plucked from sample limbo and gave another wearing…
The daily lemming
From Korean beauty brand Mamonde, Rose Water Gel Cream: "Mamonde Rose Water Gel Cream is a refreshing, watery gel cream infused with 68.7% Damask Rose Water. Envelop skin in refreshing rose-infused hydration. Their water gel-cream contains 68.7% Damask Rose Water to bathe skin in intense, lasting moisture. The roses for our formula are hand-picked at their peak in the morning dew for the most soothing, hydrating benefit. Leaves complexion soft, fresh and dewy." $26 for 80 ml at Ulta.
The daily lemming
From Portland Syrups, Rose Cordial ("Fragrant, whole dried rose blossoms and petals are slow-brewed in stages with dried rose hips, to capture the flower’s essence at several stages of its expression. It is sweet and tart with a subdued but complex floral character, and is extremely versatile. Wonderfully refreshing on it’s [sic] own, or add clear liquors for an especially delightful cocktail.") and Rose City Tonic Syrup ("Portland's own House Spirits approached us to create a tonic that paired with their award-winning Aviation gin. This authentically-brewed whole-ingredient tonic, made with genuine cinchona bark, features a delicate floral layer that supports but does not compete with Aviation's spice roster. Cinchona, the bittering bark from which tonics get their quinine, delivers a complex, gently astringent tonic “bite.” This makes the driest gin and tonic you'll find — simply stir it with a bit of sparkling water prior to building your drink."). $14 each for 473 ml.
Hermes Myrrhe Eglantine ~ fragrance review
Myrrhe Églantine is one of the five new Hermessence fragrances from Hermès. They’re the first additions to the series from house perfumer Christine Nagel, and before you go complaining about the five, don’t forget that the Hermessences debuted under Jean-Claude Ellena — way back in 2004, a kabillion perfumes ago! — with four: Ambre Narguile, Poivre Samarcande, Rose Ikebana, Vetiver Tonka. And, happily for me, I’m only going to worry about three of the new ones, since two are expensive perfume oils I’ll probably never manage to get my hands on. As for Agar Ebène, Cèdre Sambac and Myrrhe Églantine, I bought those unsniffed right away, in the (swap-bait) 15 ml travel sizes. I’m starting with Myrrhe Églantine, largely because I was curious what Nagel would do with it, given that there’s already a rose in the series.
Hermès is a luxury house, and they do luxury press jaunts to match,1 but they’re not known for providing the sort of persnickety details that perfumistas adore, like say, a list of notes…