It's true - the eyes have it. I had no idea the Voldemort nose made such a splash in 1951 or so.
It's a different world today - in Kardashian-land, this dear lady may have just about the right amount of foundation on, but she's barely started on her eyes.
When I was a wee tot, eye makeup was something not worn by Our Kind of People. A lady wore a heavy dusting of powder in a hue of only vague relation to her actual skin tone, set off by lipstick in the kind of bright red made famous by Olga over at Sydney's. For a special night a light, carefully blended dab of that same lipstick brightened the cheeks. Those few accoutrements were supplemented only by scent. That meant a discreet crown-shaped bottle of Prince Matchabelli for Aunt Edna; a cobalt flask of Evening in Paris for one Grandmother Muscato (the more economical of the two) and the infinitely cosmopolitan Shalimar for the other; and, for Mother Muscato, a neat, wasp-waisted bottle of Estée Lauder's Youth Dew.
I've - to date - eschewed the Revlon Fire and Ice, but I do find myself sticking year after year with the same cologne. They're worn far more lightly here back home than out there in the Sandlands and other exotic spots we've lived in, but I still like a touch now and then of Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet.
Do you have a signature scent (or, for that matter, a fave-rave lippie)?
Back in the day I was a (heaven forfend) Drakkar Noir fellow, and the a (gasp) Cool Water guy. Nowadays I stick to eau de Dove Soap.
ReplyDeleteDrakkar Noir! How chic we felt; in Philadelphia, the only place to buy it was the men's fragrance counter at Wanamaker's, and on a Saturday morning - not too early, of course - it was practically a preview of everyone you'd see later that night at Equus or Key West...
DeleteDrakkar Noir always reminded me of fly spray. Mind you, my scent of choice back in the 80s was the ubiquitous homosexual standard-issue Kouros, so I can't really talk... Nowadays, if I wear any cologne at all, it's Issy Miyake L'Eau d'Issy. Jx
DeleteI adore Penhaligon's...Artemisia is my favorite, but I really want to try Juniper Sling and Extract of Limes. Can you recommend any of their other gentlemen's scents from them?
ReplyDeleteI only really know Blenheim Bouquet - I got into while working for a Grand Old Man of the Theatah whose every possession was infused it. I take a lighter hand with the stuff (it can be really overpowering), but it still to me always smells especially sophisticated...
DeleteYou must tell us more about the Grand Old Man of the Theatah! I agree with you - a judicious dab here and there or it is too much. They do sell a "scent library". It has both gent's and ladies generous samples...I got one several years ago and I think I'll do it again. I'll let you know how it goes...
DeleteI love Penhaligon's 'Raquets'.
DeleteIf worn at all, it's (now as well as then) Van Cleef & Arpels for me.
ReplyDeleteAm I imagining things, or is that Agnes Moorhead?
ReplyDeleteEau Sauvage or (god help me), Aramis in my perfumed youth. Now I just smell of Marlboro & olive oil soap...