Dualité

Chandler Burr, where art thou when I need thee?

As you may know, although I am not a big fan of beauty in products in general, I did have my curiosity piqued when I was asked to stop by L’Artisan Parfumeur at the Ogilvy this week. Most notably this wasn’t just any perfume company asking me to give their atelier a whiff, this was a specialized company who focused on creating perfumes hors commun (out of the ordinary).

Though I knew nothing about perfumes, I was curious. I was given a slight glimpse of the complicated process in Dana Thomas’ “Deluxe”, but I was eager to learn more about this niche industry.

L’Atelier Parfumeur Since 1976

Over the last 30 years, the French company has created over 40 different perfumes, 31 of which I received a sample of (that’s a lot of perfume to inhale!). It’s to be noted that this company have signed a deal with two venerable luxury brands – Bottega Veneta and Burberry. They’ve developed 4 unique “home styled” scents for each company according to the seasons, more on that to follow.

I met with Ciara Tang, a representative of L’Artisan at the Olgivy, Canada’s sole boutique. She graciously gave me a tour of roughly 15 different scents and explained to me the vast world of perfumes. In half an hour, I was immersed, curious and surprised at the range of fragrances presented to me.

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Here’s a gem that I found out from online friends who have linked to this very interesting site. As you know, I’m not a huge fan of beauty products in general except for eye makeup, and don’t see much of a point in using 6-7 different facial products a day to keep my skin beautiful.

This site only reconfirms my idea that using too many beauty products is bad for your skin and health in general. As far as associating them with cancer though is another story. Skin Deep is an online safety guide on beauty products, assessing over 32,000 products on their cancerous capabilities. From skincare to fragrance, each product is labeled on a scale from 1-10, 10 being the most hazardous, as to how high it contributes to cancer. It also gives a very detailed page of each product on other hazards and a list of ingredients. The site conveniently categorizes by brand or product with a searchable engine.

Although it’s a little obvious that too much use of any product is bad for you, there are some people out there who believe what they use is little to moderate, when in fact it’s way too much.

For fun, I’ve listed the products I use on a regular basis and note the rating of each one.

Pond’s Dry Skin Cream – Hazard rating: 5

Pond’s Cold Cream (makeup remover) – Hazard rating: 4

St-Ives Cucumber Melon moisturizer – Hazard rating: 6 (that’s getting a little high…)

Aveda’s Pure Volume Shampoo – No data

Aveda’s Pure Volume Conditioner - No data

MAC Eye Liner Technakohl – No data, but looks to fall between 3-5

Ok, so I guess they can’t have all of the products on there, but it looks like most of the products I use have moderate ratings, and considering I use minute amount of these (an 8oz jar of Pond’s will last me a year), I think I’m in the safe zone. But the site does make you think twice about what you’re really buying.

Image credit: MOULU Philippe / SUNSET

Since I gave my blog a little dry spell on Montreal Fashion, I’ll catch up in today’s post

Although I’m not a big fan of beauty products, and I’m sure you’ve already read it from the newspapers, but Sephora just opened two stores in Fairview Pointe-Claire Mall and Promenade St-Bruno. Why the mega french beauty store hasn’t opened one in downtown Montreal always boils down to the same problem: lack of space. Downtown isn’t very big, competition is fierce, and rent for space is high. I personally think that if the city wants to attract more commercial vendors, they will need to rethink their urban planning a little (like maybe work on making more commercial skyscrapers instead of just limiting the merchandise with tiny buildings).

Over at the Rockland Centre, La Senza is being relaunched with a “new store concept” a couple of weeks ago. The newly refurbished store is now 5000 sq. ft of bras and panties. If you’re not already aware, La Senza also sells Victoria’s Secret beauty line – my spidey senses tell me that lingerie mogul Victoria’s Secret made a pact with La Senza instead of outright overtaking it.

If you head on out to the Eaton Center, you might have noticed a spankin’ brand new store called “Little Burgundy” carrying over 80 brands of shoes and bags with a dash of cupcakes. According to Creativity Montreal, there’ll be a second store opening on Ste-Catherine this summer, is it open yet I haven’t checked, but you can scoot your bunbuns over to the Eaton Center to get a taste.

Lastly, I attended what was called a Crave Party thrown by several indie brands in Montreal at the Just for Laughs Museum. A laid back party of cupcakes, foods, drinks, raffles and goodie bags, I invited my friend along since some of the Aqua Di Lara swimsuits were on sale. Sadly, I didn’t purchase a swimsuit, they’re just really way too fancy despite having subtle colors, but is there such a thing as too sexy while being covered up? How does that work? And I’m not talking about ultimate boobie and butt exposure here, I’m talking about one piece suits tastefully covering all the necessities plentifully, yet a peep of a stomach skin here make a huge difference.

I’m not a fan of small dogs, but damn does that look cute.

I came across one booth full of dog apparels from a store called Poochey Couture. And it has the latest fashion trends for dogs, from “sushi poochie” squeaky toys to Juicy Couture for dogs (I kid you not). You may think it tacky to dress your dog, but from the album pictures of some model dogs, honestly some of those argyle sweaters look really cute! As a pet lover, you might want to check this place out, it’s amazing what people will buy for their pets. Eventhough I don’t own a pet…my boyfriend does, and it was really tempting to buy a cute raincoat for a yorkshire terrier…really tempting.

Each year, we’re bombarded by a slew of advertising from cosmetic companies promoting, amist a huge fanfare, that their spanking new beauty product is what every woman needs.

Clothes can always be recycled and reused, and if properly taken care of, can last a life time. Beauty products however have an expiry date, nobody wants to use vintage mascara or skin cream that dates back to the 1950′s.

But how many of these new products that roll out every year are really better than the previous? And more importantly, is price an indicator on quality? It depends how much you care about your skin. But according to this Australian article on expensive vs cheap beauty products, you’re more likely only to experience about a 10% difference between Mega Brand and Cheap Brand.

Here’s another food for thought:

According to the Daily Telegraph, researchers report that women who regularly wear makeup absorb an astonishing 5lbs of makeup through their skin every year! 5 POUNDS. That’s almost like absorbing a newborn baby into your body or that Thanskgiving ham, take your pick. So if you ever wonder why celebrities look like crap sans makeup, it’s because their skin are constantly absorbing the chemicals, tiring it out and not getting enough rest. No amount of spa treatments or expensive beauty products or surgeries will help fix their deformed visage. At least that’s my two cents.

You also have to realize that fashion magazines promoting the latest shades and products are only doing so because they’re paid by the cosmetics company to write about it more so than genuine discoveries. Think about the fiasco that surrounded Penelope Cruz for using false lashes for her L’Oreal endorsement.

As for yours truly, I’m actually kind of glad that I’m not much of a beauty product nut and limit myself to the very bare essentials and will show you how to keep your wallet from having diarrhea.

Skin

Makeup Remover

Chapstick

I use M.A.C. as per a gift from my mum, but any kind of chapstick or lip balm works. $2.

Makeup Brand

M.A.C. for quality and vibrant colors. I’ve tried cheaper Polish equivalent Inglot, but resulted with irritated eyes from the loose powder of the shades. All I use is eye makeup, no concealers, lipsticks, eyebrow pencils or powders. Min. $17 a product.

And that’s about it. I stay out of the sun and I get a lot of sleep. My asian genes might pertain to my youthful looking self, but I believe that minimal makeup, rest, low stress environment (or mentality) has enabled me to keep nice skin. There are no spa treatments, or special diet (although eating healthy is a benefit no matter what) that I follow to keep nice skin. So no amount of advertising is going to convince me that my skin could use a fixer upper. It’s a different case for everybody, but in the long run, makeup only entices your skin to age and will encourage you to use more of it thus going into a vicious cycle.