The Scents of Perfume

The Scents of Perfume

In the cut-throat world of perfume design and manufacturing, perfume is a complex chemical mixture of essential oils, aroma compounds, fixatives, solvents, beautiful bottles and celebrity-endorsed marketing. For those who wear perfume however, the final product is much more than the scents; the sum of its parts. For many, perfume is a much-loved element of personal preparation, as essential as dressing or brushing one’s teeth.

A quick tour of the cosmetics and personal care section of any department store reveals the wide array of perfume available on the market, with many more available exclusively through high-end perfume boutiques or import shops. There are so many choices, in fact, that knowing what to buy can be confusing.

Depending on their chemical composition and ratio of fragrance oil to solvent, scents generally fall into one of the following categories:

1. Perfume extracts (20%-40% aromatic compounds), eau de perfume (10%-30% aromatic compounds), eau de toilette (5%-20 % aromatic compounds) or eau de cologne (2%-3% aromatic compounds). The more aromatic compound that is used the longer the scent will last. Perfume is made up of dozens of ingredients, so it can be difficult to describe the overall effect as just one scent. However, it is possible to identify different contributing scents, similar to how one who knows wine can taste the varying flavors of its composition.

2. Perfume fragrances are generally categorized by olfactive families such as floral (self explanatory), Chypre (used to describe scents such as apricot), Fougère (woody or herbaceous scents), leather (honey, tobacco, or wood tar scents so named because they are reminiscent of leather), woody (such as sandalwood-, cedar- or patchouli-dominated scents), ambers (vanilla or animal scents), and citrus (refreshing scents).

'Notes' are another way to describe or categorize perfume and how it smells as it evaporates off the skin over a period of hours.

• Top notes: this is what one first notices after applying perfume. Top notes are generally pleasing and strong, but evaporate quickly.
• Middle notes: also called the 'heart notes' a perfume’s middle notes are considered the main body of a perfume, and tend to be less strong than top notes. Middle notes are noticeable anywhere from a few minutes up to more than an hour after perfume application.
• Base notes: the lasting impressions from a perfume application, base notes give a fragrance its depth thanks to the holding power of the fixatives used in the perfume formulation.
  

The creation of the art of making perfume is attributed to the Egyptians, but perfume has been embraced by the rest of the world with uses as wide ranging as religious duty in some Islamic culture, camouflage for poor hygiene in early Europe, and even as a slow-absorbing poison!

Today, however, perfume is used by both men and women for personal enjoyment and appeal. Many consider a particular scent as part of their identity, and thanks to this loyalty, many popular perfume fragrances, such as No 5 by Chanel, have been around for nearly a century. As lovely as perfume can be, many people are allergic to it, so always be sure your scent of choice is not offensive to anyone before you wear it in a crowded area.

[ ... ]

How to apply Eyeshadow perfectly

How to apply Eyeshadow perfectly

Your make up is as important to your finished look as the clothing you wear, in fact, it can actually be more important. We've all spotted women who didn't have a clue how to apply their eyeshadow. But we've also saw women who know how to apply it properly and they look put together and beautiful. Don't you want to be one of those women? Of course - and we are going to give you some top tips so you can do just that.

Great news - putting your eyeshadow on correctly really isn't difficult at all. It really is just a matter of finding the right technique and look for you and your personal style. Don't worry if it takes a few tries to get it right. Check out these tips:

1. Always apply a base coat on your eyes just as you do to the rest of your face. Loose power works or you can apply your foundation to the eye area. It gives a nice even palette to work with.

2. Blend, blend, and then blend some more. I can't stress this enough. Try an experiment. Blend one eye and then just use a brush and apply the other eye. You'll instantly know what I'm talking about and you'll never forget to blend again.

3. If you want dramatic eyes, take your eyeshadow brush, dip it into water, and then into the shadow, then apply. It will give you a much deeper, dramatic color.

4. If you have blue eyes, wear purple, violet, taupe, gray, deep blue, and black. Funky colors include fuchsia, turquoise, and silver.

5. If you have green eyes, wear purple, plum, forest green, brown, and khaki. Funky colors include light green, gold, and bright purple.

6. If you have brown eyes, wear champagne, copper, brown, apricot, khaki, and beige. Funky colors include royal blue, tangerine, hand hot pink.

7. Apply a lighter shadow in the inner corner of the eye to reflect and make your eyes look younger. Everyone can wear navy, powder blue, and charcoal. Fun colors include silver.

8. If you want your eyes to appear larger, use a light color on the inner corner, and a darker shade in the middle of the eye area.

9. Practice until you get the application of your eye shadow down to a science. When you get good, your make up will look more natural and more polished.

10. Apply your dark shadow only to the eyelids from the lash line to the crease in the eyelid. Apply your medium shadow from just below the eyelid crease to the brow bone.

11. Highlight along the brow bone. Doing it this way will make your features stand out naturally and beautifully.

So there you have it. With these top tips you now know how to apply your eyeshadow so you will look your best. Remember that while you're practicing all these steps, that you should take notice of what works best for you. Practice by yourself, or practice with a friend if you find it easier to ask someone else's opinion. If you make your face more youthful looking with wrinkle creams that gives results, then any make up that you have will be so much more effective.

[ ... ]

Tips for the great Make up

Tips for the great Make up

1. Avoid wearing too much
Make up is meant to enhance features not bring negative attention to you. That's what wearing too much makeup will do; it will bring you unwanted attention. Don't wear too much of anything such as:

• Eyeliner: dark, thick eyeliner will make you look overdone and will ruin the rest of your makeup.
• Mascara: too much mascara looks fake and will flake. It looks especially bad if worn with thick eyeliner or dark blue eye eye shadow.
• Foundation: Make sure your foundation is the same color as your skin. Foundation is meant to protect and give the face a smooth look. The magic word is blend.
• Powder:The same holds true for powder - not too much. Also, be sure to blend your makeup so there are no obvious lines
  

2. Lips
Apply lip liner to completely cover the lips, add color and your lipstick will stay on much longer. Make sure your lip liner doesn't show. Also, your lip color should match your skin tone; wear cool colors if you have cool coloring and warm colors if you have warm coloring. If you want to make your lips look smaller, keep your liner on the inside of your lips. However, if you decide to make your lips look larger, going outside the natural outline of you lips is a mistake. This can look quite messy and unnatural.

3. Appropriate make up
Wear makeup that is appropriate for the occasion. If you are going to the beach you shouldn't wear the same or as much makeup as you would if you were going dancing. Also, when you are in daylight your makeup should be a lighter than when you are out for the evening.

4. Too little or no make up
Some women don't wear make up because they are not sure how to use it and are afraid of being overdone. If you are unsure, start will light colours in your shade. Start slowly and add one product at a time. Maybe start with foundation, add mascara, blush or lipstick. If you are not used to wearing makeup, using a lot a first may be a little too much for you, so start slowly. The bottom line is a little is better than none. If you are still unsure seek professional advice.

5. Overall look
When your makeup is completed it should look natural. That means avoiding colours that clash. If you have dark skin and hair you will look better in darker shades; light colours will make you look washed out. If your hair and skin tone are light, light colours will look better on you. Dark makeup will make you look older and harsh. If you have oily skin, first use oil control moisturizer and foundation. Then be sure to wear loose powder, keeping pressed powder with you for touch ups.

6. Hair color
Your hair color should also be in harmony with your skin. If you have dark hair and you want to add color, keep it close to the same shade. If you have light hair, use light colors. As you age your skin will lighten, so should your hair color. One last thing about hair color - if you do color you hair be sure you keep it up, don't let your roots show.

Keep make up looking fresh all day by doing regular touch ups. Don't let your make up fade or crease.

[ ... ]