I started reading Evelyn Waugh’s fiction when I was in high school and Brideshead Revisited had just been re-aired, in all its glory, on public television. One of Waugh’s funniest novels (which is saying something) is The Loved One, a black comedy written after Waugh had traveled to Los Angeles. Short and sharp, it skewers the funeral industry, life in Hollywood, romantic courtship and, in passing, beauty products.
Continue reading “My Back Pages: Perfume in The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh”
Being a teenager wasn’t quite what I expected. This disappointment might have resulted from my earlier reading of Beverly Cleary’s four high-school novels—Fifteen, Jean and Johnny, Sister of the Bride, and The Luckiest Girl—and the obvious gap between their 1950s world and my own. Where were the dates at soda fountains, the school dances that required semi-formal gowns and corsages, the baby-sitting jobs?
Continue reading “My Back Pages: Perfume in Beverly Cleary’s “Fifteen””
My husband, who is just as much of a “Downton Abbey” obsessive as I am, just pointed out an interview with Joanne Froggatt, better known as housemaid and ladies’ maid Anna, in today’s New York Times.
In this interview, Anna—all right, Joanne—discusses her on-screen and off-screen beauty routines and names her favorite fragrance. Read here to find out more!
[Edited to add this possible perfume-spoiler: I sort of wish Ms. Froggatt’s fragrance pick didn’t happen to come from Downton Abbey/Masterpiece‘s corporate sponsor, but that’s the way of the world, I suppose.]
Looking back, I still don’t completely understand my teenage obsession with The Official Preppy Handbook. I purchased a copy of this novelty bestseller (published in 1980) from a remainder bin in some bookstore, and I read and re-read sections of it until many bits were committed to memory.
I was (and am) not a “prep,” either in background or in personal style, but I was fascinated by this volume. And, looking back, I’m noticing a perfume reference that probably stayed lodged in my subconscious with all the other commentaries on colleges, clothing, and country clubs.
Continue reading “My Back Pages: Perfume in The Preppy Handbook”
When I first looked at the cover Allure’s November 2012 issue, I laughed at the apparent contradiction between two headlines. The first reads, “Haven’t Slept In Forever? Cures For Dark Circles, Page 186.” Immediately below this, a second headline promises, “Makeup Artist All-Stars Reveal Their Best Tricks (#1: Get Naughty Black Eyes).”
So, which is it? Dark/black circles/eyes or not? Yes or no?
On second thought, I was bothered by that second line.
Continue reading “Things That Make You Go “Hmmm”: Allure Magazine, November 2012″
TINSEL CREATION 