Displaying items by tag: Geranium

Scottish seaweed specialist, ishga, has introduced a luxurious, new 'Shampoo & Body Bar' combining their unique seaweed extract with soothing aloe vera and natural spring water. Natural and vegetable-based, the Shampoo & Body Bar is formulated free from sodium lauryl sulfate but still maintains an excellent lather and features a high glycerine content providing a comforting, moisturising effect and a pleasant skin feel. Key active ingredients include fucus serratus seaweed, extract which contains natural antioxidants known as polyphenols which helps with hair conditioning, dry scalp and damaged skin, lemongrass, lavender, rose geranium and juniper berry.
 
Left - Ishga - Shampoo & Body Bar - £11
 
www.ishga.com

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This is Dr Steventon’s third product and the No.’1’, her first cleanser, in her ‘Signature Routine’. The other products are ‘4’ and ‘9’.

A new cleansing hybrid formula designed for deep cleansing without dehydration, it promotes softness and suppleness and soothes the skin. A unique combination of modified plant oils (coconut, evening primrose), gentle surfactants, hydrating glycerin and calming aloe vera leaf extract.

Left - Dr Katerina Steventon - ‘1’ Calming Cleanser 50ml - £35

TheChicGeek says, “The first time you use this, do it in front of a mirror because it is so gentle you’d be hard pushed to believe anything was actually being applied without the geranium fragrance. The formula turns white on contact with water, and it is super soft, almost as soft as water.

Use the spatula, provided, to apply a pea sized of the light green gel which turns to a milky cleanser. This offers a refreshing cleanse without stripping the skin of all of its oils and is a pleasure to use. It feels gentle while giving you the after feeling of being super clean. I’m a big fan of geranium so I couldn’t think of a better fragrance.

Dr Steventon, as a facialist, is a big advocate of massaging the face and taking time, if only seconds, to give you and your face some TLC."

Recommended Directions - AM/PM. Wash your face with lukewarm water. Massage a small amount  of Calming Cleanser ‘1' lightly into your skin in a circular motion. Rinse off gently. Avoid direct contact with eyes.

Read TheChicGeek reviews of the other products in her range - Anti-Ageing Serum ‘4' & Radiance Eye & Lip Serum ‘9’.

www.katerinasteventon.com

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Disclosure - Samples were gifted by Dr Katerina Steventon for review

Let’s face it - pun intended - nobody wants to wear a face mask, but, we now have to when we are in enclosed spaces. So, how can do something simple to make it a more pleasurable experience? How about rolling on some of your favourite essential oils every time you wear or wash it? 

Small enough to pop into your pocket, simply roll on your chosen oil and inhale the aroma. You'll love it. Here are TheChicGeek's five to try:

Right - I’m seeing these everywhere: adidas' face masks are proving popular. Adidas - FACE COVERS M/L 3-PACK - £14.95

The Classic

Grown on London’s southern green belt, nothing is as relaxing and intoxicating as classic lavender. Support local business while chilling you the fuck out.

Right - Mayfield Lavender - Pure Organic Lavender Soothing Pulse Point -£5 

The Give Me Strength

Anatomé specialises in essential oils, and their black pepper and may chang 'Energy + Strength' is said to energise and support the nerves and mind to motivate and boost low energy levels.  We could all do with some of that while running around Tesco.

Right - Anatomé - Energy + Strength - Essential Oil Travel Size 10ml - £22

The Ready To Roll

The invigorating blend of rosemary, lavender, geranium and grapefruit will revitalise your spirits and energise your body and mind.

Right - Neal’s Yard Remedies - Remedies to Roll Energy - £8

The Ginger Ninja

Aesop’s ‘Ginger Flight Therapy’ is tailored for turbulent flights, but works just as well for those of us not going anywhere anytime soon. Contains essential oils, including ginger root, lavender and geranium to reduce stress and also calms upset stomachs.

Right - Aesop - Ginger Flight Therapy - £23 from MR PORTER

The De-Stresser 

Lift your spirits with a bright fusion of zesty orange, floral rose. geranium and warming nutmeg essential oils. Made in England.

Right - Tisserand Total De-Stress Aromatherapy Roller Ball - £6.50

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Inspired by the southern coastline of New South Wales, Goldfield & Banks’ Pacific Rock Moss is a fresh, sea spray scent on a base of cedarwood. The perfurmer is Francois Merle-Baudoin, who has used moss, Italian lemon, sage, geranium and Virginia cedar to express the home Australian coast of the brand.

TheChicGeek says, “Marine fragrances are hard to instil much depth into. The fresh, aqua top is always synthetic and, often, smells as such. The most interesting bit of this is the dry-down. It’s a light, soft and warm wood which fades into the background turning from aquatic blue to a soft sunset terracotta.” 

Goldfield & Banks - Pacific Rock Moss - 100ml - £135

TheChicGeek says, “Tommy Hilfiger has really carved out that niche of affordable designer. Once they realised that they weren’t a true ‘designer’ brand and just stuck to making distinctive and fun clothes, they seem to have flown.

This is the latest incarnation of the classic Tommy fragrance which was released in the 1990s. Now is a woody and spicy fragrance with bergamot and mandarin notes and geranium, ginger, cardamom and warm wood.

This is fresh and easy, and at, £35, it’s also cheap. It’s sort of fragrance as an everyday body product and that's how you should use it. What I would say is, if you don’t go to the upper price level for fragrance, I would ignore the mid range - anything £50-£70 - and come down to something like this. It’s basically the same thing, and, here, you’re not paying over the odds for the same thing.”

Left - Tommy Now - 100ml - £35

“The classically fresh DNA of Fougère is reinvented, converging impeccable decorum with the modus operandi of an agent provocateur.” says Tom Ford, rather cryptically.

Left - Tom Ford - Fougère d’Argent - 50ml - £162

A bold burst of top notes features refreshing mandarin and bergamot blend with shimmering ginger. The masculine heart combines French lavenders of two kinds, one softly aromatic and one with a woody dimension. Amplified by geranium’s green and minty facets. The drydown reveals the provocateur teasing behind the fresh, razor sharp sophistication—the warm wood of akigalawood and coumarin extracted from tonka bean.

TheChicGeek says, “One of the lynchpins of men’s fragrance, ‘fougère’ is the lavender family of fragrances and has been the basis for many masculine scents and one we've, unfortunately, taken for granted. When it's good, it's really good, but, at times can smell very generic, especially in the mass fragrance market.

Here it gets Tom Ford’s silver hand over it - hence the name ‘Silver Fern’. 

This is a very solid woody fougère. It feels very constant, rooted to the heart and is much less fragrant, flowery and more woody - a signature of Mr Ford’s.

I’m not getting much of the top, while there is a note of spice, it’s dominated by warm woods. Tonka bean usually adds a metallic touch - that could be the d’argent bit of the labelling - but again, it’s distant.

This isn’t the greatest fougère, that’s reserved for the original, Houbigant’s 'Fougère Royale', created in 1882, but it’s Tom Ford’s woody version.”

The latest edition to the Blu Mediterraneo series is centred around the extremely rare chinotto fruit. Called Chinotto di Liguria - Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy. Its capital is Genoa - it is a small orange-type fruit which had been used by the Italians to make fizzy drinks, but had somewhat disappeared.

The top notes of the fragrance are enhanced by the bittersweet notes of the chinotto fruit and the sparkling crispness of mandarin. At its heart, jasmine and geranium bloom with the dynamic and refreshing notes of cardamom and rosemary. It is rounded off with the peace and tranquillity accorded by the base notes of musk and patchouli. A fragrance reminiscent of an early morning stroll along the rocky coastlines of western Liguria. 

TheChicGeek says, “Nothing makes you want to book a Summer holiday like the launch of a new Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo scent. The blast of sunshine and the hypnotic blue of the bottle makes you want to rush down to Lunn Poly and take a one way flight to Southern Europe. ANYWHERE.

Left & Right - Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo - Chinotto di Liguria 75ml - £66

This tiny orange had somewhat - or should that be kumquat?! - fallen out of use in Italy. It has a thick skin and the fragrance is extracted by fermenting the entire fruits.

This isn’t your standard sparkling citrus fragrance. It’s more interesting than that. It has a warm spiciness - cardamom - which seems to keep the fragrance in the background, but it has a heat and intensity that keeps it resonating. It's like the heat from coastal rocks after a long day in the sun.

This is the kind of fragrance that would keep people guessing regarding the ingredients and is a welcome addition to the citrus category.”

JOOP! WOW! awakens all the senses with captivating top notes of bergamot, cardamom and violet-leaf. A blend of rich absolutes: irresistibly sensual fir balsam, darkly masculine tonka bean and dangerously warm vanilla surabsolute. The foundation is the supremely woody base, noble combination of distinctive woods, vetiver and cashmeran, a memorable signature, full of masculinity, intensity and texture.

TheChicGeek says, “Joop fragrances became synonymous with toilet attendants in dodgy night spots and as such the brand was tinged with the dreaded ‘naff’ label. It’s never really resonated as a fashion brand here, unlike in Europe, and as such doesn’t have much identity.

Pronounced Joop with a J here, or with a Y on the continent, it wasn’t cool enough for people to look pretentious by saying it properly. 

Left - JOOP! WOW - 60ml EDT - £39

Time for a clean slate then. Coty, the brand license owner for fragrance, has made an effort with this one. The scent is good. It’s warm, woody and amber-like without being sticky which often happens at this price point. 

There’s masculine favourites of vetiver and tonka bean in there and a few gourmand ingredients such as vanilla and green notes such as geranium.

I just think there’s a disconnect between the name, the fragrance and the imagery and bottle. The image is of a mature (gentle)man, the fragrance is quite grown-up and the bottle looks likes a miniature of whisky, while the name ‘WOW!’ seems more immature, fun and for the younger, social media generation. 

I actually like the name WOW! it’s quite pop, but it seems more suited to maybe a Marc Jacobs fragrance then something with the serious and old-fashioned hashtag #thescentthatmakestheman

The simple bottle design doesn’t have any shelf appeal and isn’t gimmicky enough. I think they want the One Million crowd with this one.

The fragrance isn’t wow, but then what is? But, it’s good.”