April 11, 2008

Begging To Spend More Money {Cultural Notes - Luxury}

 

An article in the New York Times tells us about the Peacock kitchen and touches on topics related to the sensual pleasures of smelling, tasting, and touching, citing Clive Christian en passant and a study showing that spending more - or rather in this case being told you are drinking a more expensive wine while drinking in reality a cheap one - is all that really matters (please apply to perfume),

"Tellingly, the high cost of certain products, as Mr. Pedraza of the Luxury Institute pointed out, might boost sales. Mr. Pedraza cited a recent study by researchers at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and the California Institute of Technology which mapped the brains of volunteers as they drank red wine. Though the wine offered was the same cheap plonk ($5 a bottle), the pleasure receptors of the brains of the study group lit up more when the subjects were told the price was $45. “Knowing you are able to pay for the best is a very special thing, and it gives you real endorphins,” he said."

And Now The Six-Figure Scullery... 

 

April 2, 2008

The Traditional Art of Beauty and Perfume in Ancient Korea {Cultural Notes} {Beauty Notes}


Beauty-Set-Coreana-Museum-Fig1.jpg
 
Fig. 1 - Beauty set: hair pins, combs, tweezer © Coreana Cosmetics Museum
 

 

The Traditional Art of Beauty and Perfume in Ancient Korea by Guest Contributor Pauline

 

In keeping with my enthusiasm for cosmetics that make use of bio or natural ingredients, I thought that it would be interesting to explore the traditional Korean art of beauty and cosmetic culture in ancient times, more particularly as it was experienced from the medieval period until the turn of the 20th century.

If this topic may appear a bit geeky at first blush, I can point out that nowadays mainstream contemporary beauty brands do not hesitate to use ancient medieval recipes, like for example Lush with its “Angels on Bare Skin” facial scrub and Caudalie with its “Eau de Beauté” based on the legendary rejuvenating medieval rosemary lotion called "Eau de la Reine de Hongrie".

I love Asian art, often travel in the region and I was delighted to discover this tradition, which as it turns out emphasized the use of gentle natural ingredients (flowers, fruit kernels, beans) rather than chemical concoctions like the infamous Blanc de Céruse composed of white lead which ailed and disfigured many a beauty junkie in modern Europe. This is not to say that chemicals are not beneficial or that natural ingredients are always the best alternatives!

An exhibition organized by the Coreana Cosmetics Museum entitled Parures, fards et onguents dans la Corée ancienne (Adornments, Make-up, and Oinments in Ancient Korea) was held last year in Paris on this virtually unknown topic in Europe and even the West at large.......

 
Coreana-18thc-Korean-Beauty-Choson.jpg
 Fig. 2 - An 18th century Korean beauty.
Attributed to Kim Hong-Do (A.D. 1745- ?) © Seoul National University Museum.


 

Continue reading "The Traditional Art of Beauty and Perfume in Ancient Korea {Cultural Notes} {Beauty Notes}" »

March 10, 2008

Dolce & Gabbana Win the Macho Prize for Most Sexist Advertising & Le Mouvement du Nid for Least Sexist Ad {Cultural Notes}

Dolce-Gabbana-Ad-Sexist.jpg

When talking about fragrance it is hard to eschew images from advertising campaigns, sometimes pleasant, sometimes less. An association in France called La Meute (The Pack) gives out prizes each year to the most sexist ads and the least sexist ones. Everyone is encouraged to participate and submit their own findings (unfortunately, as only found in a French publication - it would be great if they could broaden their scope). So apparently they  missed the Tom Ford ads and in this case "sexism" would include men (this site does not show the most porno-chic ones in the series).

This year Dolce & Gabbana won the 2008 Macho prize for its continuing depiction of women under a sexist angle over the years. Two other recipients are the Polo Cup Volkswagen for the stereotypical representation of a beautiful air-head and Citroên for the image of a pregnant woman cut in half......

Continue reading "Dolce & Gabbana Win the Macho Prize for Most Sexist Advertising & Le Mouvement du Nid for Least Sexist Ad {Cultural Notes}" »

March 4, 2008

Byzance Magazine: Art of Living Between East and West {Cultural Notes} {Fragrant Reading}

Byzance-Magazine2.jpg
BYZANCE Magazine by Guest Contributor Pauline

Should you want to find some inspiration for adding an Oriental twist to your home, Byzance is the one magazine to read. I had a coup de coeur (fell in love with) as we say in French for this richly illustrated magazine which focuses on the relationships between Orient and Occident in the areas of decoration, interior design and art de vivre or art of fine living. A signature feature of the magazine is that they consecrate an "Inspiration Notebook" to a different color each time.

This bi-monthly French-Lebanese magazine was first launched in 2003 by Désirée Sadek and Jean-Pierre Gueirard. It has now an Arabic edition since 2007. Sadek is the Editor in Chief of the ELLE Oriental which was launched in Arabic in 2006.....

Continue reading "Byzance Magazine: Art of Living Between East and West {Cultural Notes} {Fragrant Reading}" »

March 2, 2008

Dolly Parton Sings "So You Ask Me Not To Wear Cologne" {Cultural Notes}

Dolly Parton just released her latest album entitled Backwoods Barbie. Thanks to a tip from Kit who studies Irish Folklore and while chatting over pop culture and perfume, we learned that Dolly wrote a song called Cologne in this album. She actually herself produced a signature fragrance in the past.

Perfume here is used as a motif to illustrate the vulnerability of illicit love, it is the giveaway clue, and the woman in love is the scent that cannot be taken home. We give you Mrs. Dolly Parton (more lyrics after the jump), 

You ask me not to wear cologne
She’ll know you’ve been with me alone
And you can’t take our secret home
So you ask me not to wear cologne

You can wipe the make up off
The lipstick or a little gloss
But fragrance lingers on and on
So you ask me not to wear cologne

Continue reading "Dolly Parton Sings "So You Ask Me Not To Wear Cologne" {Cultural Notes}" »

February 24, 2008

Mac Fafi Collection: Lips & A Bit of Cheek, The Reviews Part 1 {Beauty Notes & Reviews}

Fafi-Mac.jpg

The new Fafi collection by Mac Cosmetics, which we made an announcement about earlier (see picture of collection), is loaded with popular culture references and as usual is chock-full of colors. The tints in fact are much more vivid than appear on the pictures and then again some of them, like the fluo pink color in the tube Totally It, look all reasonable once applied.

Cultural Notes: Origins of the Fafinettes

The universe of the collection is that of Fafi, a French artist and cartoonist who draws her initial inspiration from intersecting cultural traditions where characters present a mix of  traits usually found separately as characteristic of babies, little kids or gamins in the French tradition, and sexually mature adults. She herself simply likes to stress that she draws her inspiration from her friends and girls she observes on the street. It was her dream to have her drawings on makeup packaging and they look great on the Mac line. One would have just wished that there were more of them on the lipstick cases for example instead of the same character being repeated over and over.

Soonie's-Rose-Margaret-Keane.jpg
 Soonie's Rose by Margaret Keane

One can identify in her universe a trend deriving from the prevalent Kawaisa (cuteness) culture in Japan with its references to the Anime and Manga aesthetics but also closer to home for Fafi, the Poulbot sub-culture in France. Finally coming full circle one discovers the influence of the Big-Eye Movement born in the USA, an expression made popular by Wayne Hemingway in his book Just Above The Mantelpiece: Mass-Market Masterpieces. In it he attributes the birth of this inspiration to Margaret (and Walter as a pseudo) Keane in North Beach San Francisco California at the end of the 1950s. However, it must be stressed that Poulbot already drew gamins with oversized eyes. Keane's "large-eyed waif" paintings were beloved by actress Joan Crawford who collected them and had one made of her for decorating her home. Big eyes are typical of this cultural sensitivity, so much so that in Japan young women try to imitate the enormous eyes of Animes by wearing lenses that dilate the pupils and make the eyes seem more like tea saucers, an ideal of beauty that can be more easily achieved with a white pencil liner (see Fafi: Fascinating: Snake-eyes Matte White Eye Khol cf. press release)....

fafi-Wall-Painting.jpg
Fafi street art

Continue reading "Mac Fafi Collection: Lips & A Bit of Cheek, The Reviews Part 1 {Beauty Notes & Reviews}" »

Latest Comments

Abi on Bijan V.I.P. (2008) {New Fragrance - New Perfume Ad} : AHHH! I just saw this one in Beauty Fashion and nearly lost ...

Octavian Coifan on Romano Ricci Gives Out His Good Addresses {Fragrant Reading} : But did you see his interview on youtube? He was kind of ...

linda kirwan on Balmain Ambre Gris (2008) {Perfume Review} {New Fragrance} : what ia the address to order the Balmain Ambre Gris parfume? Please ...

dia on Elle d'Elissa {New Perfume} {Celebrity Fragrance} : Hi....Could u plzzzzz tell mewhen will I be able to order or ...

Sue on 25th Anniversary of Tova Signature Fragrance {Perfume News} : I remember the first time a caught a whiff of Tova and ...

fionna on Dior Is Targeting iPhone {Fragrance News} : Jesus... i wish i could get the names of those stilettos... i ...

Tavia on Jessica Simpson Fancy (2008) {New Fragrance} {Celebrity Perfume} : Gardenia and jasmine notes sound very good. Seems like a summer perfume...can't ...

Cindy on Guess By Marciano (2008) + 5 Bottles as Giveaways {Perfume Review} : I would love to win this perfume. It smells wonderful!

sylvia on Moschino Cheap & Chic Hippy Fizz (2008) {New Fragrance} : Hi , this is for the answer to elvira, i found it ...

Logan on Musk Hall of Fame: A List of the Best &/or Most Talked About Musk Perfumes {Perfume List} {Perfume Short (Reviews)} : I'm hooked on The Original Musk Oil from Cabot. I've used it ...

ScentScelf on Yves Rocher Tendre Jasmin (2008) {New Fragrance} : I assume that this launch does not involve North America, as we ...

newgabe on Chanel Sycomore in Les Exclusifs Collection (2008) {New Fragrance} : I bought a tiny bottle on Ebay last week and can report ...

henri 123 on Confessions of an Ex-Fragrance Model - Part 3 {Fragrant Reading - Writing} : Thanks for this post, you made me laugh aloud in front of ...

linden on Barbara Bui Le Parfum Relaunch Project {Fragrance News} : When was this Barbara Bui Le Parfum article written? Will they be ...

IrisNobile on Rosa Thea by Borsari 1870 {Perfume Short - Express Perfume Review} : I do own two cute Borsari sets: one is a small metallic ...

All original content and translations herein copyright © 2006. All rights reserved; reproduction requires the author’s prior written consent.
You are however welcome to provide a link back to the posts on this site as long as you explicitly mention their authorship, recognize the original source of the information you give, and acknowledge the site of origin.

Powered by
Movable Type 4.12