Benefit Products No Longer Available in South Africa

August will be a v depressing month. Not only am I being dragged to kicking and screaming to go live in Gauteng (OK OK I'm lying, I'm leaving by choice), but Benefit cosmetics will also no longer be available locally in Woolies stores.

I'll miss my favourites:

Benefit Girl Meets Pearl Highlighter
Review of this product over here. 

Benefit High Beam Highlighter.
Review of a good dupe over here

Benefit Finding Mr Bright Highlighting Kit -
this was my initial introduction to Benefit products,
and it got me hooked faster than you can say crack addict

I'm also already kicking myself for not trying more of their products like I intended to. Now I'm torn between running into the biggest Woolies I can find while uttering primal screams and buying everything I've always wanted to try, or just making my peace and pretending I never knew about it. If I were to choose option A, these would be on my list:

Brow-zings kit in dark

Dandelion Highlighting Powder

Hervana Multi Blush

So long Benefit. It's been real.

C xx

A website like http://escort-london.com will provide you with the highest quality in the industry.

Review: Hilfiger Woman Peach Blossom

After the successful Launch of Hilfiger Woman two years ago, Hilfiger Woman Peach Blossom is the first flanker to see the light. It's as All-American-Preppy as Tommy Hilfiger can be, and if you're a fan of fresh, fruity, florals you're sure to like this one. The concept: a lush and chic floriental to represent the ultimate expression of romance, combined with an element of playful intrigue. It's sparkling and charming, innocent with a provocative wink.

Oh So Preppy - Hilfiger Peach Blossom

Notes-wise, Peach Blossom opens with Bergamot, White Peach and Cassis. The heart is made up of Purple Iris, Mimosa and Vanilla, and the Dry down creates warmth with Musk, Tonka Bean and Smoked Coconut.

I love the Peach, Bergamot and slight floral notes I can identify - it's light, feminine and fresh - I'm just not crazy about the Coconut dry down - it's not an OTT suntan lotion coconut at all, but Coconut seems to be one of those scents that people either love or hate, and I've never loved it. In my opinion, it comes within a hair width of cheapening the whole fragrance. It's luckily not prominent enough to put me off the scent, and I'm using this one on sunny days - it would be a perfect spring fragrance, and I'm looking forward to using it more often then.

Hilfiger Peach Blossom is available from Edgars and Red Square stores at R390 for 30ml and R585 for 50ml EDP.

C xx

Get the Look - Eva Longoria

Ever wondered how to go about recreating the most glamorous of the Desperate Housewives' look? See how I would do it on Beauty South Africa over here.

Not-so-desperate Housewife Eva Longoria

C xx

Want to spend some time with Connie Ferguson on 'The Wild' set?

Connie is the brand ambassador for the Garnier Even range, and if you share your best even skin tone secret with her, she'll share a few of her tricks with you. The winner will get to spend a day on set with Connie, where I'm sure there will be plenty of time to milk her for secrets.

Even Complexion Secrets, who me?
Connie Ferguson for Garnier

I don't have the ultimate secret to even skin, but the best one I have to contribute would most certainly be applying sunscreen come rain or shine. Not only do I apply sunscreen, I go to ridiculous extremes to avoid direct sunlight on my face and arms, because I spontaneously burst into sunspots whenever I spend just a few minutes in the sun(think: a drive with the window down, a walk down the road, accidentally sitting in the sun when we're having lunch outdoors, etc).

Competition closes 31 August. For details, visit this website.

C xx

Review: Perfume Calligraphy by Aramis

Perfumy Calligraphy is the latest fragrance offering from the house of Aramis. It has some very interesting elements to it - it's unisex, for one. The packaging is very rather simple and masculine - very Eastern-sheikh-like (it reminded me of the most interesting job interview I had ever been to - the position was advertised as 'Sales Rep - Pharmacy product line', but what it actually was, was 'Sit on tiny Palestinian man's lap, and occasionally market Sexual Enhancement supplements with unpronounceable names to dodge pharmacists, who would probably also prefer you do so while sitting on their laps').

I've had this scent for a good month now, and my feelings about it has changed so often that you might have mistaken me for a chameleon on a Smartie box. I like it, I don't like it. It smells masculine, it smells feminine. To give you an idea - at a braai, I assaulted two female and 4 male friends with a couple of spritzes each. The girls both said it smelt like an older man fragrance, and the boys all said it smelt like older woman. They were all around thirty-ish, which makes them not the target market - but I found it interesting that nobody could pinpoint the scent (I didn't tell them it was unisex).

Perfume Calligraphy by Aramis

This is the typical dark oriental scent my mom would kill for, and I'm holding it hostage so that she has no choice but to come visit me in December. If not on a 40+ woman that likes a strong oriental scent, I imagine this fragrance combined with a grey-haired man in a brown leather jacket, that rides a BMW cruiser bike when he's not the CEO of his successful import business. Or something.

The Name:
Much like Perfumery, the art of Calligraphy dates back thousands of years, and is known as the most highly regarded element of Islamic art. Perfume Calligraphy reflects the pairing of two ancient crafts, where Arabic script and modern fragrance come together.


The Fragrance:
The unisex scent opens with notes of Cardamom, Lemon and Cinnamon, has a heart of Myrrh, Golden Saffron flowers and Rose Absolute, with base notes of Patchouli, heated Ambers and Musk.


Perfume Calligraphy by Aramis will be available at Edgars stores from 23 July, RRP R1150 for 100ml EDP.


C xx


PS - Captain Courage, my feline friend, LOVES this one. She rubs up against the bottle, licks it off pulse points, and tries to nap close to it whenever possible. Maybe they omitted the inclusion of Catnip extract 'cos it didn't sound as fancy as Myrrh?