Anecdotally (Wikipedia on perfume histories is an interesting rabbit hole) it’s the result of an entire bottle of the latest synthetic vanillin being experimentally poured into a bottle of Guerlain’s Jicky, and was launched as Guerlain’s showpiece for the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernesin Paris in 1925, an art exhibit designed to show the pre-eminence of French taste and style that was the highlight of the early Art Deco period. I have yet to have an opportunity to smell the original formulation and can’t speak to whatever butchery the reformulation represents, but to me the current interpretation has a lot to appreciate. I think anyone who gets sufficiently curious about perfume will want to experience the old classics sooner or later, certain of them anyway, whether a true vintage sample or the nearest one can get. Smelling iconic perfumes is such a good exercise. This is a complicated fragrance with a lot of powerful ingredients, and not only a lot on paper – a lot in the nose as well. This fragrance has been reformulated at least once but the essential notes remain the same bergamot, jasmine, rose, iris, opoponax, vanilla. Shalimar is an established classic, designed in 1921 by Jacques Guerlain and still on the shelves. I have a resolution in place to be better about this, to say to hell with it all! Right after this one egregious blemish heals. Too conservative? Too preoccupied with controlling the situation, surely. I level a disapproving glare at my life, which is so unfriendly to the wearing of lipstick, and at myself, she who is evidently not courageous enough to say to hell with it all and slap it on anyway. I am sort of bitter about the confluence of inconveniences that make it logical not to wear it. So, this is why I am not really wearing lipstick (or anything of much interest). The small things add up, though, which I am forgetting. I am working on a bigger change, and think I am putting my energy into that instead of the small things. So what is it? A low hum of unhappiness, I theorize, which requires a dramatic change in circumstances in the face of which small joys seem especially small. And it’s not that I wouldn’t appreciate it myself, I know I would. It’s not that no one would notice or appreciate an effort, people always do. It is perhaps the result of not seeing many people, at the moment, of seeing always the same people over and over, and not very many of those…or of being in the wrong kind of mood, wherein I am not motivated to make much of an effort with my appearance, but I am not inspired. My work is not life-and-death stuff but still there is a lot to do, and it matters to someone. I am genuinely, during the daytime, that kind of busy that means I do not look at my phone, barely have a chance to look in a mirror, hardly sit down to eat…I need to be better about taking time for myself to do things like put on lipstick (or just, you know, sit, eat, moisturize? Champion exfoliators sometimes need a midday moisture fix, you know?), but it can be hard to make those things a priority when there are serious work-things to be done, often time-sensitive ones, at all times. I am kind of always about to eat, somehow! Which is fine, but you need to plan and reapply, which takes time and attention. This plan is dumb, however, as my skin is not at all on board, and there is no end to this waiting. The problem is I don’t really like foundation, it only looks good from a distance and often breaks me out, so I avoid it day to day…which means I have a conflict, and the compromise is to wait to wear lipstick until my skin improves. Lipstick, especially red or berry toned lipstick, draws attention to redness on your face, magnifying the awfulness of any unfortunate friends who may have popped up. I suppose anything I say will sound like just so many excuses, I haven’t been committed, but here are the discouraging scenarios:
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