Drink Yourself to Sleep

Last week, my very first Birchbox arrived on my desk at work. I was excited to see the contents inside and couldn't wait to test them all out. Among the various over sized samples of shampoo, nail polish remover pads and skin serum was a purple bottle that simply read "reBloom Beauty Sleep Drink". I was instantly intrigued, if not a little skeptical. A drink that helps put you to sleep? What ingredients could it possibly contain? The bottle sat on my dresser for a couple of days...unsure if it would ever be drained of its liquid. Then, on Monday night I found myself tossing and turning, toiling about the week ahead. I got up and looked over the composition: 5 calories (excellent), 200% of your RDA Vitamin E, 500% of RDA vitamin B-12, 2% magnesium, a "humble sleep formula" made up of various natural extracts, L-Theanine and melatonin all diluted in a solution of filtered water, malic acid, lavender extract, natural flavours and some salt. It sounded pretty harmless--although I'd never taken melatonin before. So, down the hatchet it went. I read my book for about 20 minutes and really did start to feel drowsy ( I should point out that the directions did say it could take 30-60 minutes to take effect). I drifted off to sleep land and awoke to my alarm the next morning feeling-honestly-better rested. Not sure if this was a placebo effect, clouded by the excitement of getting a good nights sleep or the reBloom at work. Either way, I'd definitely give it another try. I think you guys should test it our for yourselves and let me know!

Perfumery 101

Tonight I embarked on what I hope will be the beginning of a great adventure in the world of fragrance. I have been flirting with the idea of working in this field--I've taken two casual perfume workshops to date. Tonight I took it to the next level, committing (both mentally and financially) to a five-part series titled "An Intensive Study of Raw Materials of Perfumery". Led by Grasse Institute of Perfumery educated Anne McClain (also founder of MCMC Fragances), we set up shop in a beautiful and quaint studio in Ft. Greene, Brooklyn. On the agenda this evening was a basic overview of the composition of a perfume (which, I discovered, includes the top notes--the smell you detect at the first spray of a fragrance, which usually 'burns off' within the hour; the heart or mid notes--the scent that starts to peak through the top note, and lingers for a couple of hours; and the base note--the longest lingering scent you are left with hours into wearing a fragrance).

The second part of the workshop involved familiarizing our olfactory senses with citrus and spicy scents. I found myself particularly drawn to the cool, refreshing aroma of bergamot--most commonly used in Earl Grey tea as well as cardamom--often found in Masala Chai. Curiously, these two scents are both key ingredients to teas that could be considered the national beverage for countries they come from (Earl Grey from England and Masala Chai from India). I'm not sure if it's the cold weather or fond memories of travels to these two countries shaping my desires, but one thing is for sure, I can't get enough of these smooth, unexpectedly delightful scents!

Another interesting citrus we explored was dihydromercenaol. This synthetically derived composition is the powerhouse ingredient used to give those middle-school era men's colognes (Cool Water, Aqua Di Gio) their aquatic, soapy punch. Emily-- you'd definitely appreciate this one...Miyake Pour Homme smelling strip carried in wallet from 1995-97. At first I was surprised it was classified as a citrus, given its powdery, almost floral notes. But, after letting it develop, and smelling it alongside grapefruit oil, I am coming around to its home in the citrus family.

Next week we explore Fruity, Floral and Green. Stay tuned for the update!

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Fall's Color Harvest

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It's a thrilling thing to see your name grace the pages of one of fashion's most influential publications. And, to be the one giving advice...well, it can set any fashion junkie on a high for days. I'm still feeling the high created by THIS article quoting yours truly featured in WWD, even after almost two months.

For those that haven't seen it, READ about Autumn's latest trend (as indicated by the Color Association of the United States) --the "Color Harvest". From red cabbage purple to carrot orange, the season is set to be rich in naturally inspired hues!

Excited!!!

  [caption id="attachment_28" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Isn' t this a cute charmschool picture?"][/caption]

I found this picture while doing a broad search on "charmschool".   Apparently Ricki Lake did a trashy TV show a couple of years ago called Charm School - of which bad photos inundated my search.  It's not till I added the word "vintage" that I came up with this gem! 

Hello charm school!