Tag Archives: Tested

“Blackberry & Bay”, The New Fragrance of Jo Malone

17:30, finally I arrive

in the gardens of the Museum Van Buuren, in Brussels. I’m terribly late and it rains again! I quickly see some some works of arts and statues scattered here and there in the beautiful gardens. The bucolic setting blends perfectly with the new Jo Malone perfume, Blackberry & Bay. A British elegance and pictures of Jane Austin novel in the lush English countryside, only missing scones!

But the fragrance goes against the clichés: more complex and dense than expected of a cologne composed mostly of red fruits. There are also grapefruit (again, the star ingredient of the moment ), vetiver and cedar wood. Neither female nor male, this fragrance is discreet but recognizable.

During the presentation, I haven’t had this “love at first sight” (I might say “love at the first smell”!) as with Plum Blossom. I really enjoy this amazing light fragrance, I’m addicted! So after few days, I smelled again Blackberry & Bay in a totally different ambiant. This time, I was able to distinguish more subtle notes, like vetiver (the masculine touch) and I started building in my mind, pictures of what the scent expresses to me. And I really wanted to mix it with another cologne, such as Blue & Cocoa Agava.

According to Debbie Wild, the Director of Lifestyle and Perfume Jo Malone, most customers mix different colognes to express their moods and tests. And she recommends playing with scents, to customize your own signature scent. Her advice: put first your favorite perfume, let it dry, then add a second flavor. And of course, ENJOY!

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Shop the creams, soaps and candles of Jo Malone. Click on the pictures below for more details (updated in spring 2015)

A Nail Polish Selection

Spring spring spring, colors!

And this summertime, I want flashy colors on my nails! Picture above : 1. L’Oréal : Lush Tangerine Rich Le Vernis. A greedy name for a bright color. The texture is really liquid, but dense and uniforme applied on nails.

2. Herôme : Rio de Janeiro, a color pretty fluorescent  between coral and orange, great for feet. It’s better to apply many coats, cause this nail polish is vrey very liquid. 

Picture below : 1. Mavala : Khaki Vintage, my darling! Its metal sheen is hyponitic. 3. L’Oréal : Blue Reef Rich Le Vernis. A color for dreaming (sea, sea, sea…), chic, original and show off! To macht with Navigate Her of Essie.

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BEAUTY & FASHION

The Spa Villa Ioma Esthetics in Paris : The Expert Facial Treatment

Look carefully at the picture above : have you noticed it?

Yes on the left side, the strange device shaped like a futuristic helmet in a Stanley Kubrick’s movie. Let me intro Ioma Sphere! First step of my face treatment @ the Spa Villa Ioma Esthetics: the diagnostic realized by the “imaging and skin analysis device” created and patented by the French Ioma laboratories. 

So I put my face into the white box (picture 2). And I close my eyes while the device takes five pictures  of my face in different light. Those pictures will help the practioner to make a serious diagnostic, “according to the seven whose skin imperfections may suffer (I quote) : 1, dry skin and UV damage, 2, fine lines, 3, wrinkles and tightness… and 7, pigment spots. Believe me those pictures are terribly unsexy (picture 3).

My practioner, Laetitia leads me to the treatment room (picture 4), where another devices, the Ioma Beauty Diag will complete the first diagnostic. Before applying the skin care products, Laetitia passes a transducer over my face, to check further what my skin needs (macro picture like echographique image). She will do it again at the end of the treatment to check whether there has been improvement. I am very surprised to hear my skin is really really dry and undermoisturized!

After a deep peeling, I felt sleeping during the relaxing massage. I woke up with a skin perfectly clean and light. Laetitia gives me a paper with the results recorded by the machine, in the form of sketches and diagrams. There is  an improvement in the hydration. And I also receive a prescription of the Ioma products to use daily (paraben-free, fragrance-free, formulated and tested in dermatology). I recommend this high tech face treatment to perfectionists.

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