I stopped in to The Body Shop today and found some cool new stuff! New makeup and a new White Musk perfume make for a fun combination.

I really like the texture and colors of the new Colourglide Lip Colors, a new lipstick formula with 37 shades. The display in the front of the store had a selection of colors, which I didn’t realize wasn’t ALL the shades offered (Bad Sales Associate! Didn’t point me to the section with all the shades) so I purchased 06 Clover Pink when I think Velvet Wine or Midnight Berry were more what I was really looking for. Oh well, Clover Pink is a perfectly nice shade of neutral pink, and did I mention I like the texture and pigmentation? It is also moisturizing and I got the promised four hour wear out of it, despite talking and occasionally sipping water.

I didn’t really have time to investigate, but there are two new blush trios, as well as eyeshadow trios and eyeliner pencils. The blushes and eyeshadows are a baked formula and look really pretty on the skin.

I did investigate the new White Musk Midnight Iris, and I’m favorably pleased. It’s pleasantly mature and sophisticated, with notes of bergamot, waterlily, muguet, clary sage, orris, musk, sandalwood, and tonka bean. The bergamot is a little attack-happy in the early stages, but it settles down quite nicely into a warm, musky, rooty scent with really good staying power. I didn’t purchase a bottle today, but likely will soon.

Coming up: new home fragrances!

While cruising through New Seasons the other day, I happened upon a new product from EO, makers of fine bath & body care with pure essential oils. It’s a Chocolate Mint Shower Gel and it is awesome!

Instead of synthetic fragrance, it is scented with real chocolate extract, peppermint essential oil, and vanilla extract as well. The shower gel contains such lovelies as vitamin a, white tea extract, and an antioxidant complex. It has a lovely rich lather but isn’t drying at all, and did we mention the scent? It’s like a peppermint patty for your shower.

It’s not super-budget, at around $15 for a 16 oz. bottle, but one or two pumps will do for a nice foamy experience. There is also a liquid hand soap in the same scent, if that’s more your thing.

It’s been a while since I visited J. Lynne Cosmetics’ website, and now my wishlist has just expanded. Check out the beautimous Japanese Garden collection, part of the Satin Pearls Mineral eyeshadows.

The colors are all so pretty, I can’t even pick favorites! I think when I have a little extra cash to blow, I’ll just order the sample set, it’s only $15 and the samples come in jars (I prefer jars to baggies).

Kinoko, Kudzu, Sakura, and Wakakusa look especially fab, but really, I just want to try them all.

I really, really love Kenzo. I can usually count on a new Kenzo perfume to be interesting and beautiful, and the newest creation, Unidentified Fragrance Object, is no exception.

The perfume bottle was commissioned by industrial designer Ron Arad, and will be featured in a retrospective exhibition for the designer at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The bottle is made out of Zamac, a metal alloy and features a completely internalized spray mechanism.

The scent was inspired by the scent of marble on a woman’s skin. The perfumer, Aurelien Guichard, drew on an olfactive memoery of his mother, a sculptor, who worked with marble. I realize that the notion of marble having a smell is a little odd, but I do get a definite mineral smell from the perfume. It’s the same scent that I liked so much in Dzongkha, which smells like hot rocks and incense to me.  (If it wasn’t $135 a bottle, I’d own it by now…) The notes include this “marble accord” along with orange blossom, Bulgarian rose, frankincense and vanilla. It’s quite spicy, but also has that marble scent, which gives it a smoothness to balance the spiciness. It’s very beautiful!!

The perfume has a VERY limited distribution – only 1000 bottles will be produced. It’s $188 a bottle, and available at Bergdorf Goodman and kenzousa.com. If there are any bottles left later this fall, it’ll go on my Christmas wish list…

Prior to receiving a product in Beautyfix 3, I wasn’t familiar with pur~lisse at all. The pur~lip comfort came in the Beautyfix kit, and now I’m hooked!

Pur~lisse was started by Jennifer Yen, an actress turned entrepreneur, when she was seeking out skincare products to take care of her skin. Troubled by the heavy makeup and hot bright lights from Hollywood, her skin was irritated and lacking radiance. Jennifer created pur~lisse to combine time-tested Chinese beauty rituals from her family heritage with modern French skin science. The line doesn’t contain parabens, petrochemicals, synthetic color/fragrance or animal by-products.

pur~lip comfort daily lip nourisher is like a lip balm with super added value. It contains such lovely ingredients like mango butter, rice bran oil, jojoba oil, shea butter, and vitamin e, as well as soy proteins, white tea extract, and peptides. These all combine to produce a formula that has this amazing texture and feel on the lips. It soothes, softens, and prevents chapped lips, but also has anti-aging benefits as well. I love the smooth feel, and it’s great under lipstick. I’ve been trying to use it at least twice a day, and my (often) chapped lips are totally banished!

For $22 it’s pricey, but I have been using it more like a treatment rather than an “apply every hour” type thing, so I think it’s worth it. Actually, with this, I don’t need to apply lip balm every hour!

Two thumbs up! I’d like to investigate more pur~lisse products.

Aromaleigh is doing a FAB promotion right now, as announced on Miss K’s blog:

Send an old eyeshadow and get 5 FREE eyeshadow samples of your choice!

Yes, that is correct! If you send Aromaleigh an old eyeshadow that you don’t like or want, they will send you five eyeshadow samples of your choice! You REALLY want to get in on this, I know you have old eyeshadow in your stash you don’t use/want anymore.

You can read the whole details on the blog by clicking here. Have Fun!!! Yay Aromaleigh!

I have finally had a chance to give M by Mariah Carey a sniff on skin, and I’m happy (and a bit surprised!) to say that I really like it.

The only reason I say surprised, is that I am occasionally disappointed by celebrity fragrances. But really, given my track record, I should probably give that up! (Having admitted to liking and often wearing fragrances from Britney, P. Diddy, and SJP…) While it’s true that my taste does range outside the usual mainstream scents, I am willing to admit to liking many celebrity fragrances because they are often simply very wearable. Occasionally, I don’t want to be challenged by my perfume, I just want something I can slip into – the olfactory equivalent of comfort food. I suspect M by Mariah Carey is going to fall firmly into that category.

The notes are marshmallow, sea breeze accord, Tahitian tiare, gardenia, sheer amber, patchouli and Moroccan incense. There isn’t a lot of patchouli to my nose, and the incense is light, but the marshmallow, tiare, and amber are front and center. If you want a perfume that reminds you of dessert without being too over-the-top sweet, look no further!

The scent of vanilla really cheers me up when I’m feeling blue, especially if work has been stressful or life is just getting a bit overwhelming. This is really just a vanilla scent spiked with some creamy floral notes to keep it from drifting TOO far into the bakery. It’s soft like my favorite alpaca blanket, and just as warm. It’s a scent to wrap yourself in when life becomes too stressful and you just want to chill out. Mmmmm. It has great lasting power on skin! It’s not too heavy for summer, the warmth isn’t overwhelming but just friendly and comforting.

Isn’t the bottle cute? I really like the butterfly resting on the cap, and the whole thing is nice in a very sweet and girly kind of way. So, Mariah, I approve! Two thumbs up for M by Mariah Carey!

EcoTools, just about my favorite brand of makeup brushes EVER, has introduced eco-friendly body care! They are offering a full line of products, including lotion, body wash, body spray, and hand & foot care. If you don’t want to dive in with full-size products, they also have travel sets!

So far, I’ve tried the Body Lotion and the Body Spray. The lotion is called Sustainable Softness, and contains shea butter, cocoa butter, mango butter, and other good-for-your-skin oils. It smells like mangos, and feels delightful on my skin. It’s very moisturizing, and EcoTools says it’s 98% natural. I love the texture and the scent!

The body spray is called Blooming Planet, is also 98% natural, and has a fresh floral scent. It has a pleasant, citrusy-floral scent that is really nice to spritz on hot day or after exercising.

I just love EcoTools for their quality products and commitment to the planet (they belong to 1% For The Planet!). The new body products can be found at Walgreens and select Target stores!