There is also a song by Georges Brassens called La Chasse aux Papillons, but I didn't find a good video for it, so here is another french chanson - Ce matin Là by Barbara It also very well reflects the mood of the perfume I am actually reviewing, in case it is not quite clear :-)))
So, the perfume is La Chasse aux Papillons by L`Artisan parfumeur This one - The description on the company site is amazing - "Linden and citrus blossom - the whole summer medley of aromas are at the heart of “Chasing Butterflies”… A scent playing hide-and- seek amongst the orange and lemon trees. A siesta beneath the old lime tree… Butterflies dancing in an airborne fairy ring, fragrances of summer blossoms, of sweet and delicate tuberoses, wafting through their tiny shivering wings… Such are the scents caught with the butterfly net. “Chasing Butterflies”... A fragrance drifting on a summer breeze, sunny heat over southern scents. The fragrance of sun-kissed skin - just simply that. To make summer last a little longer!"
I really couldn't describe this perfume any better. It is one of my favourite L`Artisan parfumeur fragrances, and I'm a L`Artisan parfumeur fan. La Chasse aux Papillons is a truly summer fragrance, but a sophisticated one, not your usual summer citrucy freshwater. It is delicate and complex, and it changes, and it may feel totally different depending on God Knows What - but always light and tender. Like a butterfly quietly sitting on your shoulder, while you are sleeping in a medow.
These are my LUSH temple balms and solid perfumes.
Flying Fox(the orange one) temple balm is probably my favourite of the bunch right now, and I'm actually using it as a solid perfume. It smells of jasmine and honey - similar to the Flying Fox shower gel, that I also unexpectedly started to like. Unexpectedly - because the first time that I smelled it I hated it, it seemed overpowering and gave me nausea and headache... Well, strange things happen, now it's one of my favourite LUSH products.
Dream Time - (the blue one) is another temple balm. To me it smells like Dream Cream (OR Angels on Bare Skin exfoliator). It's nice. In my experience, it doesn't really cure insomnia - I'm not sure if it's suppposed to, but it is relaxing, helps with minor headaches and can be actually used for calmin small skin irritations.
Honey I Washed the Kids and American Cream - (the black things) are the two solid perfumes that I have so far. I like both of them, but honestly both their namesakes (the soap and the hair conditioner) are better. That is, they smell better - for my liking. But I like the idea of solid perfumes, and am going to get more of them. My new love is Karma, so I guess it's going to be the next :-)
The little red tin keeping them company is the Vietnamese balm called "Golden Star" or something. I don't know about Vietnam but in Russia it's like a universal medicine for some people - as it used to be in the USSR, it's a very old product, you see, a product with a history :-))))) In fact it is quite a useful thing, not a cure-all of course, but it's good to have it at hand. Essentially it contains clove, cinnamon and peppermint oils, menthol, camphor and eucalyptus oil - all the basic things. :-)
Well, my addiction to LUSH is getting worse,and I already started taking picures of the stuff I have - which is still not that much - well, at least compared to what I wish I had, what I'm planning to have and what I have no need to have, but know that I will end up having none the less, beacause I'm an AD-DI-CT. :-)
All right, so, what we see here is (l-r): Coconut, Cosmetic Lad, Tea Tree Water, Lemony Flutter, Dream Cream.
Coconutis a powder deodorant - one of the several deodorants that LUSH has. I basically got it because I thought I should try some alternative to the usual antiperspirants with these harmful aluminum salts and stuff. Let's see - as an alternative it really worked - better than I actually expected. Being used to Nivea and Rexona deodorants I somehow thought that if it's natural and supposedly safe - it simply cannot work. Well - it can. It actually prevents all the unpleasant odour and lasts long enough. There are some downsides to it though - the first is that it being a powder it can't but leave some white traces, so I wouldn't use it wearing something black. I also wouldn't use it wearing something white - because since it is not an antiperspirant (which is a good thing healthwise) it doesn't really prevent you from sweating (a good thing healthwise). But all these downsides are ignorable - like I said - as an alternative it's just great. So I would definitely recommend it for a change - to alternate with you regular deo.
What's worse - in my case - is that it turned out that I really don't like the coconut smell. I actually knew that when I was buying Coconut, but for some reason I thought that it's just that chemical coconut smell that you usually get in cheap perfume and bathworks that I hate. Nope. I don't like coconut smell period. Well, too bad, I guess I'll need another deodorand powder, still not sure which, besides I hear that Coconut is actually the most effective.. :-(
Cosmetic Lad - moisturiser. Well, for me it's just ok, I'm still in search of a perfect moisturiser. But CL is not bad, it is supposed to be a moisturiser good enough to convert guys to using moisturisers as such and LUSH in particular :-) It is good enough for girls too and I've heard many girls praying by it. So it might work miracles for some, I guess. Not me. However I really like the smell - it's creamy and sweet, a bit like a chewing-gum, in my opinion, but not too sweet. (It shouldn't scare the guys away, remember? :-))
Tea Tree Watertoner. I really like this toner, it did make my skin visibly better - not that it needed some dramatic improvement - thanks God. I have basically a normal skin sometimes sensitive. This toner promises to cure the irritations and blemishes you have. I personally love it for its pore diminishing quality - after a mask or exfoliation I feel that I need to squeeze those open pores back, and TTW gives me this nice feeling.
Dream Cream - body lotion for troubled skin. I would never dream of spending so much money on a body cream :-))) But this cream is just legendary. Some people say it helped them get rid of some skin problems they've been having for ages. I just had to give it a try. I'm not crazy about the smell, but it's not unpleasant. Sort of chamomile-lavenderish neutral smell, that kind of reminds me hundreds of creams from my childhood, but none in particular. Great moisturiser, a little goes a long way, which kind of balances its price. As for its miraculous qualities - yeah, I've already had a chance to check them. I got a little burn from a cooking oil, and applied some DC right away. Well, I don't know, may be any cream would have done the same, but less than in 10 minutes I completely forgot about the burn! Being a butterfingers that I m, I'm thinking it's gonna be my staple :-)
Aprendimos a quererte desde la histórica altura donde el sol de tu bravura le puso cerco a la muerte Estribillo:
Aquí se queda la clara la entrañable transparencia de tu querida presencia comandante Che Guevara
Tu mano gloriosa y fuerte sobre la historia dispara cuando todo Santa Clara se despierta para verte Estribillo: ... Vienes quemando la brisa con soles de primavera para plantar la bandera con la luz de tu sonrisa Estribillo: ... Tu amor revolucionario Te conduce a nueva empresa Donde espera la firmeza De tu brazo libertario Estribillo: ... Seguiremos adelante Como junto a tí seguimos, Y con Fidel te decimos: ¡hasta siempre comandante! Estribillo: ...
Elis Regina sings Águas de Março by Antonio Carlos Jobim
É pau, é pedra, é o fim do caminho É um resto de toco, é um pouco sozinho É um caco de vidro, é a vida, é o sol É a noite, é a morte, é um laço, é o anzol É peroba do campo, é o nó da madeira Caingá, candeia, é o Matita Pereira
É madeira de vento, tombo da ribanceira É o mistério profundo, é o queira ou não queira É o vento ventando, é o fim da ladeira É a viga, é o vão, festa da cumeeira É a chuva chovendo, é conversa ribeira Das águas de março, é o fim da canseira É o pé, é o chão, é a marcha estradeira Passarinho na mão, pedra de atiradeira
É uma ave no céu, é uma ave no chão É um regato, é uma fonte, é um pedaço de pão É o fundo do poço, é o fim do caminho No rosto o desgosto, é um pouco sozinho
É um estrepe, é um prego, é uma conta, é um conto É uma ponta, é um ponto, é um pingo pingando É um peixe, é um gesto, é uma prata brilhando É a luz da manhã, é o tijolo chegando É a lenha, é o dia, é o fim da picada É a garrafa de cana, o estilhaço na estrada É o projeto da casa, é o corpo na cama É o carro enguiçado, é a lama, é a lama
É um passo, é uma ponte, é um sapo, é uma rã É um resto de mato, na luz da manhã São as águas de março fechando o verão É a promessa de vida no teu coração
É uma cobra, é um pau, é João, é José É um espinho na mão, é um corte no pé É um passo, é uma ponte, é um sapo, é uma rã É um belo horizonte, é uma febre terçã São as águas de março fechando o verão É a promessa de vida no teu coração
English lyrics
A stick, a stone, It's the end of the road, It's the rest of a stump, It's a little alone
It's a sliver of glass, It is life, it's the sun, It is night, it is death, It's a trap, it's a gun
The oak when it blooms, A fox in the brush, A knot in the wood, The song of a thrush
The wood of the wind, A cliff, a fall, A scratch, a lump, It is nothing at all
It's the wind blowing free, It's the end of the slope, It's a beam, it's a void, It's a hunch, it's a hope
And the river bank talks of the waters of March, It's the end of the strain, The joy in your heart
The foot, the ground, The flesh and the bone, The beat of the road, A slingshot's stone
A fish, a flash, A silvery glow, A fight, a bet, The range of a bow
The bed of the well, The end of the line, The dismay in the face, It's a loss, it's a find
A spear, a spike, A point, a nail, A drip, a drop, The end of the tale
A truckload of bricks in the soft morning light, The shot of a gun in the dead of the night
A mile, a must, A thrust, a bump, It's a girl, it's a rhyme, It's a cold, it's the mumps
The plan of the house, The body in bed, And the car that got stuck, It's the mud, it's the mud
Afloat, adrift, A flight, a wing, A hawk, a quail, The promise of spring
And the riverbank talks of the waters of March, It's the promise of life It's the joy in your heart
A stick, a stone, It's the end of the road It's the rest of a stump, It's a little alone
A snake, a stick, It is John, it is Joe, It's a thorn in your hand and a cut in your toe
A point, a grain, A bee, a bite, A blink, a buzzard, A sudden stroke of night
A pin, a needle, A sting, a pain, A snail, a riddle, A wasp, a stain
A pass in the mountains, A horse and a mule, In the distance the shelves rode three shadows of blue
And the riverbank talks of the waters of March, It's the promise of life in your heart, in your heart
A stick, a stone, The end of the road, The rest of a stump, A lonesome road
A sliver of glass, A life, the sun, A knife, a death, The end of the run
And the riverbank talks of the waters of March, It's the end of all strain, It's the joy in your heart.
NB: (wiki again)"Composer-guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves relates that Jobim told him that writing in this kind of stream of consciousness was his version of therapy and saved him thousands in psychoanalysis bills". how cool :-)
Ok, so I have a very special relationships with the shampoos - for some reason, it is extremely hard for me to find a suitable shampoo for my seemingly undemanding hair. I mean - it's straight, normal, I don't dye it, it's not too thick but there's quite enough of it - you might think that it could be happy with just anything. But no, it's not. When it's unhappy with the shampoo I'm treating it to, it gets fluffy - not in a good way, dull, although normally it's super-shiny :-), and my scalp gets itchy. Yuk.
The problem is that the result I get with this or that shampoo is highly unpredictable. It doesn't depend on price. I've had some VERY bad experience with VERY expensive shampoos.
Specifically, the japanese proffessional hair cair brand MoltoBene - well, I personally find $30+ very expensive for a shampoo. That was a total disaster, my hair looked really bad - unwashed and unwanted. I'm ashamed of it now, but I actually used up the whole big jar, because I was genuinely hoping that such a "high-end" shampoo can't but be doing me good. Even if you can't tell it by the way it looks. Not that I'm saying that this is a bad brand. I've read tons of the reviews (why do you thinj I bougth it?) of the happy and satisfied customers. Too bad I can't be one of them.
On the other hand I've had some really good experience with some mass-market shampoos (NOT ALL OF THEM) and even with some - very unknown globally - and very reasonably priced (to say the least) Russian and Belorussian shampoos.
At the moment I have the following shampoos in heavy rotation: 1. Gliss Kur
2. Elseve by L'Oreal
3. Butter milk shampoo by a Belorussian company Exclusive Cosmetic
It costs less than 2 dollars and claims to have multyvitamines and lactoserum extract. Well, I don't know how exactly they manage it but is is a great shampoo for its price. For any price actually - I mean, I have only good tings to say about it, although a friend of mine complained of getting dandruff after using it. Well, nothing of the kind happened to me. And it smells of vanilla :-D
4. Jacque Dessange
And that's it. I don't find it sufficient and would love to add something to this selection, but at this point I am too cautious with the shampoos. Even though I do realise how individual the preferences in shampoos may be - and this post proves it only too well, I'm still open for any recommendations :-)
Oh, you might ask, what all this has to do with happiness :-)))))))) Well, when my hair is happy - I'm happy too. So we're happy together :-)))))
A blog about silly little things, making you happier - in one way or another. As for me - I am, yeah, a silly little thing. From Russia. With love :-)))
