June 13, 2021 by Undina

Second Sunday Samples: Creed Aventus for Her and Floralie

Not much changed since I told a story of my first Creed perfume – Jasmin Impératrice Eugénie: I haven’t tried any new perfumes from the brand and haven’t got into my collection any more of those few that I’ve tried before. Mostly, for the same reasons that I’d explained in the above-linked post.

What is even stranger, I don’t think I’ve ever tried probably the most famous of their masculine perfumes – Aventus. Mostly, because I felt some type of a resentment towards the crowd of the fans of this perfume.

I wouldn’t have probably tried any of the two perfumes I’m covering in today’s post, but they were a part of the epic GWP, about which I wrote recently. So, here we are. For the explanation about the ratings, see Sea Star Ratings.

Aventus for Her was created in 2016 by Olivier Creed. Official notes (from the brand’s site): apple, pink pepper, patchouli, bergamot, rose, sandalwood, styrax, musk, peach, black currant, amber and Ylang Ylang.

Despite its “for her” designation, in my opinion, it is as feminine as a boyfriend shirt on a woman (but less sexy). It develops better on a warmed skin (on sunny afternoon), and that’s when I can clearly smell the promised apple and black currant – both of the “perfume-y” artificial type, not too realistic (reminds me of Parfums de Marley’s creations). On a “cold skin” (in the morning), I can mostly smell patchouli and some spices. It smells like a modern perfume: more artificial than natural, spicy and sweet. I can’t say that it smells cheap, but it doesn’t strike me as extremely luxurious either.

Floralie was created in 2018, also by Olivier Creed. Notes (from the brand’s site): marigold, Bulgarian rose, tuberose, lilac, lily of the valley, amber, cedarwood, amber and musk rose.

Unlike Aventus for Her, Floralie smells better when it’s cooler: it opens with a pleasant floral bouquet. And then it goes into bitterly green territory (and when it’s hot, it jumps directly to that phase without any discernible flowers). I do not like Floralie and would not wear it, but at the same time I think that it is a better perfume than Aventus for Her.

Image: my own

June 12, 2021 by Undina

Saturday Question: Would You Wear Perfume That Your Loved One(s) Dislike?

It comes up in perfume discussions from time to time that we wear perfumes, first of all, for ourselves and not to be liked by others. And we get annoyed by co-workers or strangers who are perfume haters. But what if those are people whom we love?

Saturday Question #68:

Would You Wear Perfume That Your Loved One(s) Dislike?

We are not talking about cases when someone dislikes perfumes in general (though, it would be interesting how people handle that type of the situation), but rather when someone close to you dislikes particular perfume that you love. Would you still wear it? If yes, then where/how? Somewhere away from the person who doesn’t like it? Or maybe in tiny doses hoping they’ll get used to it? Or will you give up that perfume altogether?

My Answer

I’ve been lucky so far: my vSO doesn’t object to any of my perfumes (not the least because his allergies prevent him from smelling them half of the time). On rare occasions when he comments that he doesn’t like the scent, it’s one of the samples that I’ve been testing and not liking either.

But had it not be the case… I would have probably given up perfumes that I just like: with the number of perfumes in my collection I can probably be fine without any particular one that is not a great love. But if it were one of my most favorite perfumes, I would have tried it several times under different circumstances to make sure that it wasn’t just a fluke. But if no, I would still hold onto my favorite but probably figure out when to wear it so that it wouldn’t bother my vSO.

Under normal circumstances (meaning, not in a hospital, on a plane or any other similar situations), I don’t think I’m prepared to forfeit my perfume wearing for anybody else. But I do choose [not] to wear particular perfumes for when meeting with some of my friends or colleagues when I know that they like or dislike some of my perfumes or perfume styles.

Would You Wear Perfume That Your Loved One(s) Dislike?

June 8, 2021 by Undina

The Color of Spring

This year the company where I work decided to change the way we’re naming our regular releases from the previously numeric values (e.g., 2.718 or 3.14) to season names. It was March, and in most parts of the US it was still cold. So, a co-worker from Texas (where it was much warmer than elsewhere) who was responsible for collecting slides from everybody and putting together a presentation of the first “named” release – Spring 2021 – for other departments was quite enthusiastic, and his cover slide was slightly playful:

The presentation for the US-based teams went well. But then the APAC team insisted on having a separate session for them claiming that a recording wasn’t enough. It was very inconvenient for most presenters who live in the US, so the manager “volunteered” for that presentation a co-worker from Europe – as a more time-zone-wise-appropriate choice, especially since he was responsible for the feature that was expected to have the most questions. So, he listened to the recorded presentation we all did together, got the slides and confidently opened the presentation: Spring is here!

“Well… We all are in Australia…” interjected someone from the group.

* * *

Had you asked me (or the co-worker who did the presentation) what season it was in Australia, we would have told you “autumn” – everyone knows that, right? But we know that Spring is warm, and Spring is green, having lived our whole lives in the northern hemisphere, instinctively, without pausing we think that March is Spring.

But I wouldn’t start theorizing about being self-centered or any type of bias. I think it is deeper. I remember how a couple of years ago, as Christmas was approaching, I thought that I felt sorry for Australians whose Christmas comes at the pick of summer: since traditionally this holiday is associated with winter and cold and snow – aren’t they missing on the true Christmas spirit?… And then I stopped myself: what am I talking about? How about us, in California? It is never cold here, it never snows – and still, it doesn’t prevent people here including me and my friends (who are not even Christian) from celebrating or feeling festive.

Same as we don’t have winter, we don’t really have Spring: weather doesn’t change much in March or April compared to, let’s say, a warm day in January or February. And still, every March my perfume wardrobe changes: I don’t want to wear my favorite ambers – instead, I crave green perfumes.

If you check Fragrantica, you’ll see how many different perfumes are classified as “green.” This Spring I went through my collection and chose seven to wear as my Green Week project.

* * *

I do not wear Penhaligon’s Lily of the Valley too often, but every Spring it comes out for at least a day or two because it’s a perfect Spring perfume and a good representation of the flower.

One would argue that Chanel No 19 is seasonless. I wear it year-round, especially the EdP and extrait, but the EdT for me is a Spring perfume.

I’ve owned DSH Perfumes Vert Pour Madame for years but somehow I never wrote about it other than a couple of mentions. It is an amazing perfume! I rarely fall for indie perfumes. But Vert Pour Madame won me over many years ago, and every time I wear it, I think that Dawn got it just perfectly. I think of it as classic Miss Dior but greener.

Yves Rocher Nature has been with me for several decades. I told its story many years ago, and I still wear it every Spring.

Puredistance Antonia is a green-eyed beauty that I loved from the first time I tried it 10 years ago. I enjoy its sharp greenness and perfectly blended floral bouquet. When I finish the current bottle that I won many years ago in the brand’s competition, I will buy the newer packaging – a wonderful green bottle.

I’m not sure if Hiram Green’s Arbolé Arbolé is considered green perfume, but in my mind it is. Arbole Arbole one of just three all-natural perfumes in my collection, which says a lot. It is so unusual. It is herbal, somewhat medicinal, slightly sweet. I wouldn’t be able to wear it too often, but I’m glad I have it in my life, and I enjoy wearing it in Spring.

I bought a small decant of Amouage Myths Woman in a Facebook split because it wasn’t much more expensive compared to a sample. It was absolutely not what I expected, and the first time I tried it I even disliked it. But as I tested it more in a while, not remembering either my expectations or the previous reservations, I liked it more and more each time. Myths is quite cheerful, which isn’t a characteristic I would think of first when considering Amouage perfumes. It is green and floral and aromatic. Though I wouldn’t say that they smell similarly, I think that Myths has some “weirdness” to it that reminds me of Arbole Arbole. Warmer months (but not hot!) suit much better for wearing Myths – at least for me. I think I’m now at the point where I’m considering a FB purchase (deeply discounted, of course).

For more green perfumes, see Narth’s guest post from last May.

Images: my own

June 5, 2021 by Undina

Saturday Question: Do You Use Cashback Sites?

It is not a strictly related to perfumes question since most of niche perfume sites do not participate in that type of promotions, but some do. And it is useful in general: money saved elsewhere can be used to buy perfumes, right?

Saturday Question #67:

Do You Use Cashback Sites?

Do you use them ever? How often? Which sites? Do you have any strategies? Do you use browser plug-ins? Did you get any money back?

If you do use those sites, share your personal links for those sites that give bonuses for/to friends who sign up.

My Answer

When I do not forget, I try to use cashback sites. I have several that I’ve been using for years, I know that they track purchases from the supported stores accurately for the most part, so I usually check them for stores where I plan to place an order, choose the one that offers a better % cashback and click to the store from that cashback site.

Since I do not use just one cashback site, and I prefer not to give any site more information than is absolutely necessary, I do not commit to any one of them – that’s why I do not install browser plugins that offer to track my movements “not to miss any cashback.” I’m fine remembering it on my own (or not remembering, as it happens sometimes – but I’m fine with it).

While I used just two sites, I was usually checking them directly to see if they supported the store I needed. But since recently I subscribed to a couple more, whenever I’m checking who gives the best cashback, I do not go directly to all the sites but instead I use one of the cashback monitoring sites. I used to like one specific site, but it doesn’t track most of the newer sites, one of which I recently joined, so I’m checking out a couple of new sites to see whose technical abilities to keep the list up to date is better. Over years I got back about a thousand dollars – not too impressive since it was distributed over many years, but it is more than I would have without using those sites.

Two tried and true sites that worked fine for me for years are MrRebates and Rakuten (previously eBates).

At the moment, Rakuten seems to have the best referral program: if you use my link (or any of your friends’ link) to sign up for the account before the end of June 2021, shop at one of the supported sites after clicking to it through your Rakuten account and spend at least $30 in the 90 days from signing up, both you and a person who referred you will get $30 cashback. US and Canada only.

MrRebates referral program seems to be broken, but the cashback they offer works fine, so you should sign up if you find that they have the best rate for the store you need.

Recently I subscribed to the TopCashback. I haven’t got anything from them yet (it’s pending), but sometimes the rate they offer is much better than from the other sites, so I decided to try. I do not see any promotions now for signing up, but here’s my link – just in case you decide to join.

What you need to know if you haven’t used these sites before:

1. You need to go through the cashback site to the site where you shop in order to get cashback.

2. Using coupons not provided on the cashback site for the selected store might disqualify you from getting cashback (but, in my opinion, working coupons that give you an immediate discount are worth risking the cashback).

3. The rate different sites give for different stores changes, so if you use more than one rebate site, make sure to check which one gives a better rate and click through from there.

4. If you do a partial return for the multi-item order, it might cancel the complete cashback transaction.

5. It takes a couple of months for a cashback to “clear,” and most of the sites I saw required you to earn some minimum before you could get money from the account.

6. Don’t spend more than you planned to hoping for the cashback, and be prepared not to get it (though, in the recent years these sites got better with tracking, and you can provide them the order # if you clicked through, completed the purchase but didn’t get it to register on your account).

Do You Use Cashback Sites?

May 30, 2021 by Undina

Sunday Self-care, Episode 3: Don’t Sweat It

Many years ago, when a multi-level marketing stormed the country where I lived, it could have done much more damage if it weren’t for the fact that many people who would have been gullible just didn’t have enough money to participate in the game.

Most people in my circle proved to be immune to the promises of health/beauty benefits and easy earnings, not in the last place because many of us were bad at selling things. But our close friend’s mother had succumbed to the temptation and, as it often happens with new converts, not only she fully embraced ideas and products offered by the brand but she also energetically started recruiting into the enlightened lifestyle all her friends and relatives, including her son and his wife (who were our friends).

Our friends weren’t really persuaded and took most of the things ironically. I remember how our friend was telling us that after using some either face products or supplements (it was a long time ago, so details are fuzzy), his mom got a skin rash that she was explaining “The body puts up a fight.” My vSO and I still jokingly use this phrase from time to time.

I don’t remember how it happened, but I ended up buying one product from our friend’s mom – a deodorant. And I liked it. So, I bought another one. And another.

* * *

The first year after I moved to the US, to my surprise I discovered that the brand I thought was some shady pyramid scheme was a legitimate brand with a long history, and it was sold in the regular stores. The brand was JĀSÖN.

So, for years I kept buying the same two deodorants by Jason that I liked “in my previous life” – Aloe Vera and Tea Tree. Both my vSO and I went through dozens of those before I realized I didn’t like them any longer. Thinking about it, I suspect that they were just reformulated at some point, without informing consumers, of course. Probably it became even “cleaner” and healthier than it used to be. But it didn’t work for me anymore.

For several years after that I switched to the deodorant that my vSO was using (I’ve chosen it for him): Terre d’Hermes. We both still like it, but it is very expensive, it contains several ingredients that are currently are considered… well, let’s say, they are controversial, and though I do not really subscribe under all the current trends, it is hard to ignore that completely. So, at some point, I decided that I wanted to find an alternative daily deodorant.

What am I looking in a deodorant? I don’t know. I do not use antiperspirants. Not because I think those are unsafe or anything to this effect – I just do not like how it feels. I do not want perfume scent in my deodorant, but I do want a pleasant scent for the scent itself, as I apply but not as much for masking any odors. It needs to work to some extent, though I do not expect miracles. And whatever it does or does not, it should feel nice on my skin.

The first one I went for was from the same brand that started this story – Jason. But I decided to try their newer item – Men’s Forest Fresh. I’m sure that the “men’s” part is a pure marketing shtick, and not just because of the “anybody can wear anything,” but because the most “feminine” aspect of their other deodorants is the packaging, otherwise they are absolutely gender neutral.

Company’s claim: Men’s Forest Fresh contains Zinc Ricinoleate, Corn Starch, Baking Soda, Grapefruit Seed Extract, Cedarwood Pine and Eucalyptus Oils. No Animal Byproducts, No Artificial Colors, No GMO, No Parabens, No Petrolatum, No Phthalates, No Sulfates, Cruelty Free.

It glides on very nicely and smells good. I think it works to some degree, but it sits on my skin slightly sticky contributing to the feeling of being sweaty even if I do not sweat. I will finish it, but most likely I won’t repurchase it.

The next one that I decided to try was Death By Lavender – Organic Deodorant from North Coast Organics.

Ingredients, according to the brand, (Vegan): 100% organic coconut oil, 100% organic carnauba wax, 100% organic arrowroot powder, 95% organic shea butter, aluminum-free, natural baking soda, & Organic Essential Oils (Lavender, Lemon, Cypress, Rosemary). It is certified organic, certified vegan, certified cruelty-free, certified non-gmo, gluten-free, aluminum-free, soy-free, and handmade.

It was just awful. The scent was fine, but it was so dry and gritty that it felt like I was rubbing a pumice stone over my armpits. My only hope is that the item I bought at the store spent too long on the shelf and that usually it is much better. But I will never know because I won’t be spending $15 more to confirm this hypothesis. Into the bin it went right after I took the picture.

What I liked about (Malin+Goetz) eucalyptus deodorant was that I could get a small version of it. Of course, it is more expensive per gram than the full version and much more than many other full-size deodorants. But I hate wasting products, so after the fiasco with the previous deodorant, I was glad to get a mini.

According to the brand, it is vegan and cruelty-free. Includes eucalyptus extract and citronellyl.

eucalyptus deodorant is smooth in application and has a light, slightly medicinal scent – I wouldn’t have minded a stronger eucalyptus aroma. It absorbs well without an unpleasant residue. Once I finish the mini I have, I might come back to this deodorant if I don’t find anything better. It is good but not ideal.

The most recent deodorant I tried is Sweet Pitti Deodorant Cream from Drunk Elephant. I had high hopes for this one: this brand has a good reputation, and I liked a couple of other products they make.

Brand says that Sweet Pitti contains Mandelic Acid, Arrowroot Powder, Shea Butter, Marula Oil, Mongongo Oil, Baobab Seed Oil. It has a pH of 4.0 and is free of baking soda and aluminum-derived ingredients, sulfates, silicones, essential oils, fragrance, dyes, and drying alcohols. Cruelty-free.

I’m not sure if Sweet Pitti works because I really dislike the scent. I’m not sure I care about how efficiently it combats my natural odor since what it replaces it with doesn’t smell much (any?) better. In addition to that, the way it dispenses: you have to turn the pushing mechanism extremely carefully to get just a tad of the content to appear from those four holes – otherwise, you’ll either waste the product or will be covered in it. I will probably finish the one that I have (I’ll use it for when I’m exercising), but under no circumstances will I repurchase it.

My search continues. Luckily, working from home, I have a luxury of using a wrong deodorant, washing it off and trying another one. But I would love to find one or two deodorants to use for several years until I find something better. And I still plan to replenish my and my vSO’s favorite Terre d’Hersmes.

Do you have any deodorants you would recommend?

Images: my own

May 29, 2021 by Undina

Saturday Question: What Three Perfumes Will You Repurchase?

It’s a long weekend in the U.S. (Memorial Day). But since the restrictions have been just recently relaxed, I expect a lot of people attempting to get out to somewhere. So, other than short trips out to meet with friends or get a walk somewhere else than around where we live, for the most part of it I plan to stay close to home and do some damage shopping online. Probably not for perfume, but shopping is on my mind – hence the question.

Saturday Question #66:

What Three Perfumes Will You Repurchase?

We are not talking about the situation where you lost your whole collection and need to restart it. These are not necessarily the top three perfumes that you will always have in your collection. Selecting three, you do not limit yourself or preventing any further purchases, so you do not have to be creative with your math. Just think about your current collection and name any three perfumes that you currently own as a bottle (FB or travel bottle but not decant or mini) and think you will repurchase when/if you finish the current one.

Just to introduce some limitations: do not include those perfumes for which you already have back-up bottles.

My Answer

Today’s topic wasn’t the one I initially planned to do this week. But as I was dressing up to go to the friends’ place for dinner (what a luxury to be able to make plans on a short notice, not thinking about who was in contact with whom in the last two weeks!), without thinking for too long, I picked up perfume to wear – Lieber Gustav by Krigler. I looked at my 50 ml bottle that was just about half-full and immediately thought that despite the steep price I knew already that I would buy the next bottle once the remaining half was gone. I love-love-love Lieber Gustav, probably not less than I did six years ago when I told the story about it in the post In the Search for the Perfect Lavender).

From there I started thinking about other perfumes that I’m not hoarding (yet?) but would definitely buy as soon as I finish the bottle I have (or even before that).

Chanel No 19 EdT was the first perfume from Chanel that I fell in love with. It is not my most favorite perfume, and I’m not prepared to build up a stash (maybe because it doesn’t feel rare or inaccessible), but I know that I always want to have it in my collection, so I will repurchase it whenever I finish the bottle I have (though, for this one I might try looking for a vintage one if I don’t like the current version at the moment).

And the third one is Tea for Two by L’Artisan Parfumeur (my story here: Tu-ti-tu-rum-tu-tu or Musical Perfume). I find it somewhat demanding, so I don’t wear it too often. But every time I do, I think how interesting and special Tea for Two is. I would be very sad if I couldn’t have it in my life. But a back-up bottle doesn’t make sense with how infrequent I wear it.

Rusty and L'Artisan Parfumeur Tea for Two

What Three Perfumes Will You Repurchase?

May 27, 2021 by Undina

Chanel Paris – Edimbourg

Last weekend, as I stopped by the perfume counter at my local Nordstrom to quickly pick up a birthday gift for my friend (a nice Diptyque candle, if you’re curious), I experienced a light shock: I discovered a new addition to Les Eaux de Chanel collection.

Of course, it wasn’t the fact of its release itself that surprised me (after all, it’s the fifth installment in the series in less than that many years). What startled me and even made a little sad was that I was completely unaware of this release happening. Yes, I’ve been busy with work and spent even less than usual time on NST or other perfume-related platforms. But still… It shows how fragmented this world has become since the number of blogs and both people writing and reading them declined. Can you imagine missing a new release from Chanel (or, let’s say, Serge Lutens) five-six years ago?

I asked the friendly SA O., from whom I usually buy those rare perfume-related items that I buy at Nordstrom, if she could give me a vial so that I could make myself a sample (since they are not allowed to do it any more), and she conspiratorially told me that she had a real sample for me; but that, probably, it would be more to my vSO’s liking (who patiently waited not too far away for me to finish purchasing the gift and talking to O.) than to my. Than she stopped herself (probably remembering all the trainings they are getting these days) and said (without much conviction though): “Or you might like it…” That was how I got to try Paris – Edimbourg sample.

She was right on both accounts. I kind of like it. And it is quite masculine.

I have to correct myself. Paris – Edimbourg is not masculine-masculine cologne that would be classified as such unequivocally. But compared even just to perfumes in that collection, not even talking about other Chanel perfumes, Paris – Edimbourg is the most masculine one. Had you smelled it blindly, you would have thought Atelier Cologne before thinking Chanel.

Notes (according to Fragrantica): juniper berries, cypress, lavender, cedar, vetiver, vanilla and musk.

Perfumer: Olivier Polge

I can clearly smell juniper. Lavender in Paris – Edimbourg isn’t as prominent as it is in several other Chanel perfumes. And vetiver is much tamer than it usually is in masculine perfumes. It is fresh, uplifting, slightly woody (very slightly) and quite naturally smelling, which these days pleasantly surprises me since more and more perfume brands seem to have discovered financial joys of creating escentric-molecules-style perfumes. In addition to that, it is reasonably priced compared to many other modern offerings.

All in all, I’m not disappointed. I like Paris – Edimbourg, and I could wear something like that in summer, but I prefer other, more feminine numbers from that collection. So, I’ll pass the sample to my vSO, but I do recommend checking it out the next time you find yourself close to Chanel counter.

Image: my own

May 22, 2021 by Undina

Saturday Question: What Are Your Top 5 Floral Perfumes?

I suspect that being “into perfume” it is almost impossible to avoid having some perfumes from this family, even if you are a self-proclaimed “not a floral perfumes fan.”

Saturday Question #65:

What Are Your Top 5 Floral Perfumes?

OK, if you are really not a fan, maybe not 5 – but how about three? Those do not have to be just plain “Floral” – but maybe “Oriental-Floral” or “Floral-Fruity” or “Floral-Woody Musk.”

And if you are a fan of florals, please do not feel like you have to name real top 5 – those can be top 5 today, this season or all times, whatever comes to mind.

My Answer

I am a floral perfumes fan. So, probably if I had to choose perfumes just from 1 family and stay with them forever, florals would be my choice. But when I started thinking about the list, it proved to be harder than I thought. Not because I have a huge list of those (though, it contributed to the situation), but because, as it happens with any list, I started overthinking: Is it a good representative of the family? Would I want to wear it often? Should I choose it, or are there better candidates? Etc., etc.

But since I had to choose something, here we go (in no particular order; I won’t link to my previous posts, but I wrote about all of these, and you can find links in My Perfume Portrait):

Keiko Mecheri Johana

Ormonde Jayne Tiare

Jo Malone French Lime Blossom

Guerlain Cruel Gardénia

Ineke Hothouse Flower

Linden and Perfumes: Jo Malone French Lime Blossom and April Aromatics Unter den Linden

What Are Your Top 5 Floral Perfumes?

May 16, 2021 by Undina

Sunday Self-care, Episode 2: Fun Out Of The Sun

This post is dedicated to the skin cancer awareness month. It is not sponsored in any form: all products mentioned have been bought by me.

* * *

Sun never liked me.

I grew up when a tan was considered a healthy indication of nice summer vacation. And each September when in the school gym changing room my classmates proudly demonstrated to each other the degree to which they managed to darken their skin over the school break, I’d never had anything to produce: my skin above and below the sports short’s demarcation line stayed unchanged despite all my attempts to slowly build up anything reminding a tan. I remember relatives joking that money was wasted on taking me on a seaside vacation.

The dislike was mutual. From an early age, I learned to stay out of the sun or cover myself if I had to be outside because the only result I could achieve was to burn my skin, after which, ironically, it would go back to being completely fair skipping the step of getting at least a little darker as it happened to many of my friends.

From the American coevals, I know that at the same time sunscreens existed but weren’t that popular in the US. Where I was growing up suffering from the sun, sunscreens just didn’t exist as a product. Luckily for me, at a latitude where I lived, one could burn only during 2-3 months per year and only if staying outside for hours, not covered. Or if to go to the above-mentioned seaside, which most people couldn’t afford to do even every year.

Once I moved to California, I quickly discovered two things: 1) my sun tolerance here has shrunk to mere 15-20 minutes outside, after which I would burn, and 2) despite sounding too good to be true, there were magical potions that would prevent that. And that was when sunscreens came into my life permanently.

In more than the last 2 decades, I can recall just a handful of times when I would get a sunburn. In most cases just because I missed a spot or something else happened completely unexpectedly.

Over years I went from one sunscreen to another. I would find one that worked for me and would keep using it until it would get discontinued. I never paid much attention to ingredients – if it worked for me, it worked. But I don’t like the feeling of extra products on my skin, plus from time to time (not always!) some of the products cause or worsen my mild eczema. And I have acne-prone skin. So usually as soon as I get home, I wash sunscreen remains off.

You might imagine how glad I was to remove that part of my daily routine once I started working from home! I would still use my current favorite Paula’s Choice RESIST Youth-Extending Daily Hydrating Fluid SPF 50 when going outside during the day, but I didn’t bother with anything else for my day-to-day home office life (unless I had a video meeting, then I might use a tinted moisturizer or a light foundation with some sunscreen properties, but most of my meetings are voice-only).

And then a couple of months ago for the first time, I heard that we were supposed to apply sunscreen even when staying inside. My first reaction was that it was complete nonsense. I went online to find some reputable source to debacle that claptrap… only to find a dozen in support of it. I’m sure that I was one of the last to learn about it (as I mentioned before, my first year of Covid-19 hadn’t provided me any free/extra time to kill, so I wasn’t reading much on self-care, etc.), but just in case some of my readers were in the same boat, here is just a couple of sentences for an explanation – and then you’ll run your own search to confirm to yourself that I was not dreaming all that up.

While it’s true that you can’t get a sunburn through the window glass since it blocks UVB rays responsible for that, UVA light that causes premature skin aging by breaking down collagen and elastic tissue and contributes to the formation of skin cancers still goes through regular house or car window glass. You might not be sitting in front of the unprotected window, but those light rays reflect from light surfaces and still might be harmful.

I might have been still skeptical arguing (with myself) how much of the sunlight actually gets into my house, but some other realization hit me: while I was examining my face on the subject of pillow-produced creases (or lack thereof), which I covered in Episode 1 of this series, I noticed also that my skin tone got very uneven, and I could see a lot more dark spots than I remembered before.

Of course, this is anecdotal evidence, and it could be just a coincidence… But somehow I doubt it: until I started working from home, I wore a tinted moisturizer with SPF every single day – just to cover my walk from the car to the office and then 2-3 walking breaks during the day. And I used to work in a virtually windowless office.

It looks like I’m going back to wearing sunscreen. Every. Single. Day. Inside or outside.

Another personal discovery was the amount of sunscreen required for the proper protection. Again, I might be the last one to learn that, but on the off chance that at least one of the readers hasn’t got that memo yet: if you plan to spend enough time outside, to cover your face and neck only and get to the declared protection strength, you’ll need about ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml) of sunscreen cream or lotion.

And for those who prefer not to carry around a measuring device, you can figure out once for each cream/bottle how many fingers’ length it takes to place the necessary amount of product (dependent on your fingers’ size and tube opening), and then just stick to it.

* * *

I don’t remember exactly when but by my estimate it was about 15 years ago that I learned about Sephora’s yearly collection of products intended for skin protection from UVA/UVB rays. It was before the most current beauty subscription boxes. Back then it was called Fun in the Sun. Its cost was $25, and it included both full- and travel-size products from different brands. The kit was extremely popular, and it was usually sold out within hours after “dropping.” (Am I the only one who dislikes this new term?) Getting that kit required an approach similar to buying tickets for popular concerts. I tried to buy it once or twice but didn’t succeed. And then I found sunscreens I liked and wasn’t too interesting in trying anything else.

This year I thought it would be a good idea to see what was out there in the sunscreen arena, and with the current situation with testing anything in stores getting Sephora’s kit made total sense.

Since I wasn’t following Sephora too closely, I don’t know when the name changed, but now it’s called Sun Safety Kit (and I see that name back to 2015 at least). It costs $39 ($25 of which are donated to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center). And since the price of one of the full-size products offered in the kit that I wanted to try anyway (Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare All-Physical Dark Spot Sun Defense Broad Spectrum SPF 50) is more than the price for the whole kit, it was a no-brainer.

I’ve started testing products from the kit, and I hope that by the time I finish them, I’ll find new favorites to add to my sunscreen wardrobe. I’ll share an update once I’m ready.

I also hope that I was the last one who came upon all this information, and as you were reading this post, you kept saying “Dah!”. But if no, please take this seriously. You do not have to believe me – do your research, find sources you trust, gather the information that is relevant to your lifestyle and place of residence – just do not dismiss it because you think that it doesn’t concern you. Skin cancer is one of the most preventable cancers. And, as we age, we all want to look younger, right? Of course, sunscreen on its own will not turn the clock back and undo the damage done, but while preventing further damage, it helps your skin to renew on its own and gives other actives that you use to improve your skin a better chance to work.

In conclusion, I want to share with you two useful considerations that you won’t read in every article on this topic:

Choose a sunscreen that you like how it feels applied, how it smells and how it looks on your face (with or without makeup, dependent on your preference) – otherwise, you will not want to wear it every day.
Disregard the general recommendation to re-apply sunscreen every 2 hours: sunscreens deteriorate not from the time on the skin but from exposure to the sun. So, if you spend most of your day inside with a very limited natural light, your morning application might take you through the whole day.

Stay safe on and off the sun this summer!

Images: my own

May 15, 2021 by Undina

Saturday Question: Are You Tempted by GWPs?

You can make this question as much or as little about perfumes as you wish.

Saturday Question #64:

Are You Tempted by GWPs?

I’m not sure if it is a common practice for the B&M stores or sites that you shop from regularly, but in the U.S., beauty departments, brands and stores periodically have “events” during which they offer “gift with purchase” (GWP). If where you live it also takes place, do you time your purchases to such events? Are you buying anything you didn’t plan to because you want to get a GWP? Maybe not the complete purchase but something as an “add-in” to reach the required minimum?

A bonus question: have you ever found anything (perfume or a skincare item) that you wouldn’t have tried otherwise but now like and use?

My Answer

Twenty something years ago, fresh in the US, when I saw a printed ad for Estee Lauder‘s GWP at Macy’s, I couldn’t believe that it could be true: in my native country each of the pieces offered free with any $25 purchase would have cost probably half of that amount. A co-worker, to whom I showed the ad, confirmed that it wasn’t a trick and even offered to give me a ride to the store after work. That day I bought my first bottle of Tuscany Per Donna (I tried it before and liked). And I was perplexed by the fact that they were giving for free all those wonderful travel size goodies. I don’t remember what was in that GWP, but for many years after that I was using cosmetics and skincare from Estee Lauder trying to time my purchases to their GWP events. I stopped doing that when most of the items in those gifts became make-up items – and I didn’t have much use to them.

I’ve never bought anything more expensive than $5-$6 that I didn’t plan to buy if I needed something extra to get to a free shipping or GWP that I really wanted to get, but I don’t remember ever buying anything just to get a GWP (though, on a couple of occasions I’ve been tempted to persuade myself that I needed something right away – usually I was able to resist).

With perfumes, I usually try to wait for a percent off since those perfumes that I like usually do not come with anything that interests me.

Recently, as I started using more make-up and skincare, and especially since it is more difficult to test new products these days, I started following more closely different sales and GWPs events… When I was placing an order at Bloomingdale’s about 10 days ago, I knew that I was getting a lot of “goodies” – that’s why I decided to make that purchase in the first place. But when I started getting all the packages with what I ordered plus all the gifts, it was something unreal. I felt like…

Have you ever had a dream in which you would come across something wonderful, something that felt like a treasure – rare perfumes or coins or sweets or something else that in your dream seemed magical? And when you would wake up and realize it was just a dream, you’d feel disappointed. It felt like that dream but without the waking-up part. In all years I’ve been playing this game, I’ve never managed to get anything like that. That was a very unusual combination of a gift with any purchase, then Mother’s Day GWP, plus 2 cumulative gifts from Bloomingdales, plus GWP from SpaceNK. Now I have a lot of testing to do.

I got all these promotions after reading a newsletter from the GWP Addict blog. They mostly cover sites that specialize in skincare, but sometimes those overlap with online stores that carry perfumes as well. And, from what I can see, even though US-oriented, it covers some international sites as well.

Undina's Looking Glass

Perfumed Reflections of Life

Author: Undina

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Saturday Question: Would You Wear Perfume That Your Loved One(s) Dislike?

Would You Wear Perfume That Your Loved One(s) Dislike?

Would You Wear Perfume That Your Loved One(s) Dislike?

The Color of Spring