Although I wear sunblock on my face all year ’round, I’m especially conscious of the need for protection on sunny summer days. I recently tried out a new product, Bare Minerals’ Advanced Protection SPF 20 Moisturizer for Combination Skin, which boasts a “proprietary ActiveSoil Complex” as well as hydration and a mineral-based sun shield.
I’ve been re-reading Edith Wharton’s Summer over the past few days, and I can’t stop thinking about it. Wharton’s writing in Summer is clear and elegant, as always, but the subject matter is surprisingly frank and dark for 1917. The story takes place in a desolate small town in rural Massachusetts, where a young woman’s romance with a more worldly man plays out (to a heart-rending conclusion) against the background of a summertime Berkshires landscape.
My latest post on Now Smell This is a review of Illuminum Tomato Leaf Eau de Parfum. You can read it here.
I love candles and I love historic architecture, so I can’t help admiring these candles. They’re designed by artist Niho Kozuru, who specializes in sculpture (in a range of materials) inspired by architectural details. Kozuru is based in Boston, so she’s surrounded by wonderful eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American architecture. By isolating small decorative elements like finials and balusters, she draws out the sculptural qualities of details we might not even normally notice on a building.
Even though the ayurvedic spa Pratima is located in New York, I didn’t know about it until three years ago, when I came across some Pratima Skincare products in a salon-boutique in Philadelphia. Ever since I first brought home a few of those products, I’ve made many visits to Pratima Spa to restock my supply of Neem Rose Face Sunscreen.
Continue reading “Product Review: Pratima Neem Rose Face Sunscreen SPF 30”
TINSEL CREATION 