Ormonde Man

If you are looking for a fragrance that relies solely on the merit of its scent rather than the hint of a rich and beautiful lifestyle so many perfume adverts now entice us with, then London Perfumery Ormande Jayne may be your man.

Named partly after the terrace where Linda Jayne Pilkington set up her own home as a perfume lab, the ingredients used are quality oils and absolutes sourced worldwide, some still not widely used in the Western perfume industry.

The first of the three perfumes for men Linda created was:

Ormonde Man

Top notes: Juniper berry, bergamot, pink pepper, cardamom and coriander seeds

Heart: Oudh and black hemlock

Base: Vetiver, cedar, sandalwood and musk

It’s as though all the top notes are jumping around to grab your attention saying ‘Smell me! Smell me!’ But then they seem to exhaust themselves and settle down and let the smooth sweet heart   blend take over.

It is the infusion of Oudh oil which gives Ormonde Man its distinctive sweet woody aromatic fragrance.  Oudh is usually an acquired taste but like all acquired tastes, once you’ve acquired it you’ll be hooked.  It’s definitely a smooth operator.

Oudh has always been highly valued in the Oriental and Arabic cultures and when Ormonde man was launched in Nov 2004, it was one of the ingredients not widely used in the West.  
But now it’s all the rage!

Gentlemen - A note of warning! Keep your Ormonde Man under lock and key unless you don’t mind sharing. This is a fragrance the ladies like to wear too and being a lady (I do try!) I completely agree. For me the reason I’d wear Ormonde Man is because it doesn’t smell too woody or citric like your average men’s fragrance. This is probably a fragrance for the Metro Man.

Ormonde Man is available in eau de parfum (50ml £70), hydrating bath & shower crème (200ml £28), essential bathing oil (100ml £49), replenishing body lotion (200ml £35) and large multi wick scented candles with silver lid and base. (100hrs burning time £184)

Isfarkand – a name derived from a mixture of the cities of Isfahan in Iran and Samarkand in Uzbekistan. This cologne based fragrance was launched in 2006 and in the same year was voted the best scent by Wallpaper.

Top notes: Lime, mandarin and bergamot

Heart: Pink Pepper

Base: Cedar, vetiver and moss.

This one is a fast worker! The blast of top citrus notes quickly makes way for the highly pink peppery heart notes. The peppery scent lingers alone before blending with the richer damp moss notes, the earthy vetiver and the drier cedar notes.  As it settles it becomes soft and powdery with the peppery notes fading in to the background, whilst the dry cedar wood makes a lasting impression.

This is a fragrance that improves with wear. ‘Wear’ meaning the longer it is on your skin the better it smells, I couldn’t stop sniffing my wrist it was so addictive.

Available in the following: eau de parfum (50ml £70), and shampoo & body wash (temporarily out of stock)

Zizan is the latest of the men’s fragrances, again cologne based fragrance and launched in Nov 2009

Top notes: Sicilian lime, lemon, bergamot, clary, sage, pink pepper and juniper berry.

Heart: Bay, violet and jasmine

Base: Vetiver, cedar, musk and amber

This zingy fragrance is grounded by the earthy aroma of three types of vetiver, hence the fragrance’s name Zizan which was taken from the Latin word zizanoide meaning vetiver.

Zizan was launched as a result of many customers asking for a vetiver based fragrance similar to Eau de Sauvage. Vetiver is a perennial grass native to India but is now also cultivated in Haiti, Reunion and Java. The oil distilled from its roots is used in perfumes. The aroma is deep, sweet, woody and earthy.

This one has stamina! The strong citrus top notes are there for the long haul, lingering with the heart notes before they slowly mellow and allow the sweeter base notes to take centre stage.

This is probably the strongest and longer lasting of all the three fragrances, and also the most masculine scent. Zizan is available in eau de parfum only. (50ml £70)

Since leaving her humble yet beautifully scented home, Linda now owns two London boutiques with striking black lacquered interiors and her perfumes are also available from the opulent Harrods Perfume Hall. However some things haven’t changed - each product is still created by Linda and the bottling and packaging is still by hand but now in her British workshop rather than in her home.

Ormonde Jayne’s flagship boutique is at 12 The Royal Arcade and her new and larger store at 192 Pavillion Rd just off Sloane Square.  For more information check out the website: www.ormondejayne.com

By Karen Grace
Personal Shopper & Image Consultant for Frumpy to Funky http://www.frumpytofunky.com

The Bespoke Item

Have you ever seen something that you thought would be perfect if it were in a different colour or had more/less embellishments? Alas, we usually have to compromise unless we have a Fairy Godmother who can wave her magic wand and make our wish come true.

Good news is some companies are now offering a semi bespoke service and even better news is that this service doesn’t cost the earth.

So who needs a fairy godmother when you have the following brands with their bespoke services?

Belen Echandia is the only luxury Italian-made handbag company to offer an online customisation service on its entire handbag collection. You can choose the leather, colour, lining, hardware and other extras to create your dream bag.

Step 1 – choose a style from the collection

Step 2 – choose features such as straps, tags, tassels/zips

Step 3 – choose the leather and colour

Step 4 – choose the hardware such gold, silver, brass or gunmetal

Step 5 – choose lining colour

Step 6 – choose the extras such as extra internal pockets, BE stamp or hole motif, personalised tags etc.

All their handbags are handcrafted in a family-run Italian atelier that uses the traditional techniques. And most feature extra details like multi-way leather straps, key holders, removable compartments and hidden pockets to help you stay organised.

More details on www.­belenechandia.­com 

Upper Street is a made-to-order luxury shoe label with sizes available ranging from 2 to 10. A feat in itself!

Decide on the shape and style and then explore materials, colours and embellishments. The website allows you to look at your design at all angles just by clicking and dragging over the image.

1.       Shoe style – have 7 styles to choose from. 

2.       Upper Shape – the choice of either the full cut or the D’Orsay cut sides.

3.       Fronts –  choose between leaving the front plain or adding embellishments

4.       Back – whether you want to keep the back plain or have a counter back which is a good choice for contrasting colours or materials

5.       Straps – ankle, Mary Jane, triple, wide straps or no straps

6.       Colours and materials. The shoe model is divided up in to segments and each segment can be a different colour or material by just clicking on it and then choosing. Materials are leather, suede, patent, snakeskin, metallic, animal, satin and bridal satin

7.       Embellishments

         

Warning! You’ll find creating your own pair very addictive. This is shoe heaven without having to walk to those pearly gates.

Start creating on www.upperstreet.com

Designer Belinda Robertson not only creates modern elegant knitwear in 100% pure Scottish cashmere using traditional production methods and skilled artisans, but she also offers a bespoke service on her Black Label collection.

You have a choice of more than one hundred colours ranging from sharp citrus brights to soft natural melanges, and from deep autumnal hues to delicate pastels – so you’re bound to find a shade you love and which will complement your own colouring.  They even have a swatch service (charge £10) where they will send 10 cashmere swatches in the colours you have selected so you can feel and see the actual shades before deciding on your final choice.

The bespoke service doesn’t end there, they will alter the sleeve and body length for a charge of £35 per alteration so you’re guaranteed a perfect fit, a great benefit for the taller or petite woman. Plus there are a variety of styles and necklines to choose from.

Delivery takes approximately 6-8 weeks.

For more information check out www.belindarobertson.com

By Karen Grace
Personal Shopper & Image Consultant for Frumpy to Funky http://www.frumpytofunky.com

Pretty Amazing Lipcolor by bareMinerals

They’re helping you to achieve healthy looking and flawless skin with their bareMinerals SPF15 foundation and their new skincare products. Now they’ve turned their attention on to your lips.

Suffering from dry lips, I feel like Goldilocks when it comes to lipstick, I struggle to find the right one. The long lasting and matt lipsticks are way too dry and lip glosses are far too sticky with not enough colour. The gloss lipsticks are almost just right but the colours don’t seem to last two minutes. So I am always eager to try out new lipsticks.

BareMinerals Pretty Amazing Lipcolor says "it combines the coverage of a lipstick with the high shine of a gloss to deliver full-bodied, velveteen colour with a comfortable longwearing finish."

So what’s the verdict?

First Appearances: From the package, it looks like a lip gloss and you apply like a lip gloss, but I’m happy to say that the consistency is more of a lipstick, creamier and thicker.

Initial Application - I was shocked at the thickness, so I’d recommend that you go easy on the application, blot or smooth over with your fingers afterwards. It felt dry and the more neutral colours such as Free Will seem to accentuate the lines on my lips which was not a look I was hoping for. Luckily I restrained from wiping it off straight away and allowed it to settle for the lasting impression.

Lasting Impression: It only took a few minutes for the initial look to change to a more even and smoother look, and for my lips to feel moisturised.

So only a little hiccup at first before turning in to a Pretty Amazing Lipstick.

And the Colours?

The names of the colours were chosen to help empower women for different situations. For example: if you had a presentation to give and felt a little nervous, then apply some ‘Courage’; or you may want to apply ‘Charisma’ to have them eating out of your hands.  

Just thinking of what you wanted to achieve and then choosing the lipstick by name brought a smile to my face and a positive attitude. Although I did consider cheating at the press day when asked to choose the lipstick by name and match it with how I wanted to feel that day. Even if I needed strength to keep me going through the busy schedule of press events ahead, and although the vibrant bright red colour was gorgeous, it just doesn’t suit my complexion. But when they gave me the whole range of colours to play with and encouraged me to mix the colours, I was feeling Free Will with a touch of Strength was what I needed to get me through the day.

Here’s the full colour range:

AMBITION – fuchsia.  A hot hot pink, Great for those with high contrast colouring or dark cool skins.

BRAVADO – brick rose. A smooth rich rosy brown. Great for those with warm complexions, especially you redheads.

STRENGTH – vibrant red.  The glamorous Hollywood look for those with high contrast colouring or dark cool skins

MOXIE – bright petal pink. This bubblegum pink is light and flirty.  Great for those with bright and cool complexions –pale or dark

COURAGE – warm strawberry.  A warm strawberry with a hint of brown. More veering towards the warmer complexions, pale or dark, but it is a good neutral for the evening for any complexion.

FREE WILL – pink nude - Neutral with a hint of brown so a good neutral for the warmer complexions

CHARISMA – coral pink -Neutral with a hint of pink, so a good neutral for the cooler complexions.

FEARLESS – rosy mauve. A mauve pink, a good neutral for the darker complexions and a great statement lipstick for the paler complexions.

Pretty Amazing will be available in the UK around June and you will be able to buy them singly or in a presentation pack. Just think of the presentation pack as an artist’s palette and start creating your lipstick picture for the day.

By Karen Grace
Personal Shopper & Image Consultant for Frumpy to Funky
http://www.frumpytofunky.com

Matthew Williamson’s First Bridal Collection

The air was charged with excitement as we queued to view the catwalk show of Matthew Williamson’s first bridal wear collection at the White Gallery event in Battersea Park.

Taking inspiration from the iconic styles of his past ready to wear collections, there was not a meringue in sight – here it was more about the flowing carefree luxury bohemian look.

Some of the gowns you could imagine being worn for a sun kissed paradise beach wedding with the ivory feathers or waterfall ruffles embellished on the skirts dancing lightly in the cool sea breeze.

The column shaped skirt of a floor length ivory gown is embellished with hand sewn ostrich feathers and its structured strapless corset top is softened with diaphanous silk tulle across one shoulder and ruched around the waist.

Williamson has also created a shorter cocktail dress in the same style for maybe the bridesmaids or a perhaps a bride preferring a romantic stroll close to the water’s edge.

Another great beach style is the long ivory silk georgette gown with its soft waterfall ruffle skirt and plunging v neckline embellished on one side with a line of ruffles. Despite the plunging neckline, this gown has an ethereal air of innocence until you see the back which has a sexy cut out in the shape of a tear drop. The cut out is framed with hand stitched beading at the base and on one shoulder. This gown will give the guests something to focus on during the ceremony.

For the on trend 70s look, there is the silk chiffon floor length kaftan with plunging neckline, fluted sleeves and embellished with Swarovski crystals and pearls at the waist. This style has a timeless and simple elegance to the front, but I’m not sure I’m liking the back with its tie belt.

For the 60’s feel, Williamson has created the knee length silk chiffon shift dress with tiered edged ¾ length fluted sleeves. The whole garment is embroidered by hand with a floral design either in a delicate blush shade or the same ivory hue.

Rather than going for the ‘princess’ look, Williamson has gone for the Grecian Goddess style. Here a seemingly simple silk parachute draped gown is adorned with a thin Swarovski crystal belt at the front whilst the back reveals a racer style strap of Swarovski crystals and a billowing diaphanous parachute style cape attached to the shoulders and the hem of the gown.  You can believe the goddess who wears this has just floated down from Mount Olympia.

Another goddess style is the softly draped chiffon gown with crossover ruched pleated bodice and two wide Swarovski asymmetric straps to add sparkle.

Empire lines always create a slim column silhouette and Williamson’s designs are no exception. The styles vary from the ornate gold geometric beading on the high necked empire gown with a softly draped skirt to the bandeau style top empire gown with fine spaghetti straps and more subtle embellishments on the bodice and long peacock feathers decorating the skirt. 

My favourite?

Well it has to be the strapless devore gown with its cross over bodice. The hand painted abstract winter wonderland design of the buttermilk silk satin fabric with the crystal and pearl bodice trim bring a rich opulence to the gown. And for the bridesmaids, Williamson creates the Grecian handmaiden look with a softly draped asymmetric cocktail dress in the same fabric and embellished with a jewelled crystal corsage.




By Karen Grace
Personal Shopper & Image Consultant for Frumpy to Funky http://www.frumpytofunky.com

Caudalie

In 1933 Mae West famously said ‘peel me a grape’. In 1995, Mathilde Thomas and husband Bertrand peeled that grape, deseeded it, destalked it, but instead of throwing all this away, with the help of Dr Vercauteren from the University of Pharmacy of Bordeaux, they saw the great anti-oxidant benefits. And so created their own beauty brand called Caudalie with the grape vine as the main ingredient.  They chose the name because Caudalie in the wine industry means ‘a unit of measurement of quality and duration the wines flavour stays on the palette – the finer the wine the more caudalies it will have’.

Named after the finest wines, Caudalie created the ultimate moisturiser – Premier Cru, to treat all signs of ageing such as wrinkles, lack of firmness, dark spots, and dullness. And after the success of their Premier Cru – The Cream, which has become one of the best selling anti-ageing creams in France, they were inspired to turn their dedication to the delicate eye area.

This year sees the launch of Premier Cru – The Eye Cream. Looking luminous in its gold and silver packaging, it does look like the ultimate ‘elixir of youth’ which Caudalie states it is, targeting all visible signs of ageing around the eyes. And if that’s not enough, Caudalie also says this eye cream has an original feature - it can brighten the eye contour sweeping the shadows away and eliminating dark spots.

And how does it do all this? Well it’s in the grapes. Caudalie has 3 patented ingredients all based on the grapes.

1. Grape seed polypehnols - the most powerful anti-oxidants in the vegetable world. They stop free radicals and are 10,000 times more effective than vitamin E.

2. Resveratrol from the grapevine stalks – identified as the most effective active ingredient for prolonging cellular life by Harvard’s department of medicine.

3. Viniferine from grapevine sap - helps diminish and protect against dark spots by regulating melanin formation.

Other grape ingredients are organic grape water and the nourishing grape seed oil.

Mae West might not have known what she was throwing away when she said ‘peel me a grape’, but now our eyes are opened, Premier Cru will let us still have our peeled grape and eat it without losing the benefits of the skin and stalks.

THE CEW (UK) 2011 BEAUTY AWARDS

The Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) hosted their 6^th annual Beauty Awards this year at the Intercontinental London Park Lane.

Provided with champagne and nibbles, the beauty industry guests were able to network for half an hour and see the nominated products before going in to the main room for lunch and the awards.

The theme this year was a tribute to the late iconic actress Elizabeth Taylor.  

The opening of the Awards Ceremony began with Caroline Neville, CEW (UK) president, followed by a presentation of a cheque for £25,000 from CEW (UK) to the Eve Appeal - a gynaecology cancer research fund whose focus is to raise vital funds for research into prevention, detection, treatment and care of ovarian cancer.  More information can be seen on their website  www.eveappeal.org.uk

Once wined and dined, the awards began with Marigay McKee, Beauty & Fashion Director of Harrods, acting as Master of Ceremony.  Behind stood 26 graceful female statuettes designed and donated by Lalique. Joanna Page from the hilarious comedy series ‘Gavin and Stacey’, and now the new face of Superdrug presented two of the awards.

This year there were no brands that ran away with multiple awards, the most was two. Lanolips took ‘Best New Skincare Treatment Product-mass’ for their 101 Ointment , a 100% natural lip balm containing ultra pure medical grade lanolin; Dr Organic took ‘Best New Everyday Facial Skincare Product-mass’ for their Organic Rose Otto Facial Serum and both came joint winners for ‘Best New Brand-mass’

Other brands that came away with two awards were:

Balance me received the ‘Best New Bath and Body Product-prestige’ for their Rose Otto Body Wash and ‘Best New Certified Organic Skincare Product’ for their Super Oil with Juniper and Bergamot.

Liz Earle received the ‘Best New Haircare/Styling Product-prestige’ for their Naturally Active Haircare Botanical Shine Shampoo and ‘Best British brand’ for their Naturally Active Skincare.  All their Naturally Active Skincare products use the best quality natural ingredients.

Chanel took ‘Best New Make-up Product-Eyes or Lips-prestige’ for their Rouge Coco Hydrating Crème Lip Colour and ‘Best New Men’s Fragrance-prestige’ for their Bleu De Chanel EDT

Elizabeth Arden glowed when they were awarded ‘Best New Self Tan or Suncare Product’ for their Eight Hour Cream Sun Defense for Face SPF 50 and ‘Best Iconic Beauty Product’ for their much loved Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant.

Batiste coloured dry shampoo took the Best New Haircare/Styling/Colouring Product – Mass category award last year and this year it was the turn of Batiste Dry Shampoo Fresh – just proving we love our time saving dry shampoos.

All For Eve, the stand-alone beauty and fashion brand set up to raise funds and awareness for The Eve Appeal charity, won ‘Best New Hand and Nail Care Product’ for their Swarovski Crystal Nail File. Here is the chance to not only purchase the best nail file but also help ovarian cancer research

Other awards were as follows:

Filling the air with fragrance was Chloe Love Chloe for Best Women’s Fragrance

Best Classic Beauty Product-Mass category went to Bio-Oil, a specialist skincare product that helps improve the appearance of scars, stretch marks and uneven skin tone.

Fluttering their long eyelashes with excitement were RapidLash who won Best New Make-up Product-Mass for their Eyelash Enhancing Serum.

Well we won’t tell you what Nars was doing when they won the Best New Make-up Product-Prestige for their Cosmetic Orgasm Illuminator

Best New Bath & Body Product –mass went to The Sanctuary Ultra Rich Body Butter 

Smiling whilst keeping the wrinkles at bay were Clarins who won Best New Everyday Facial Skincare Product for their Multi-active Day Early Wrinkle Correction Cream

Eyes wide open were Estee lauder when they won Best New Skincare Treatment Product for their Advanced Night Repair Eye Synchronized Complex

Emma Hardie were gleefully amazed when they won Best New Brand for their Amazing Face.

And for the Best Classics Beauty Product – Eve Lom came clean with their Cleanser

  

Not forgetting the guys:

Nivea for Men Q10 Revitalising Gel took the Best New Men’s Grooming Product- Mass category.

For the Prestige category of Best Men’s Grooming Product, it was Shiseido for Men Skin Empowering Cream.

Best New Men’s Fragrance: Chanel Bleu De Chanel EDT.

After the awards the lucky winner of a £50,000 Global Radio campaign prize draw was Elemental Herbology. Then the grand prize draw in aid of the Eve Appeal began. Prizes included a tote bag handmade in the Bill Amberg Studio; Top to Toe pamper day with Richard Ward; evening of luxury at Harvey Nichols with champagne and a 4 course dinner for two; three Mamo Mia boot camp treatments at Urban Retreat in Harrods plus three Mamo Mia boot camp kits; and two night weekend stay for two at the Intercontinental with breakfast.

A great event and still enough time to rush home and start buying these wonderful products from Superdrug on:  www.superdrug.com  

By Karen Grace
Personal Shopper & Image Consultant for Frumpy to Funky http://www.frumpytofunky.com

CHRISTOPHER WALLER

After studying  Fashion Design at the University of East London and graduating in 2007, British born Simon Christopher Waller started designing at John Richmond. Now he has taken that large scary leap and created his own brand Christopher Waller which was launched in July 2010.

His new brand’s philosophy is:

'To provide effortless sophistication to women on a day-to-day basis blurring the transition from day to night with clean and flattering silhouettes enabling subtle detailing to shine through.'

And this certainly showed through with his AW10 debut collection which was a mix of silks, wools and jerseys in minimalistic chic tailoring injected with an effortless laid back wearablility.

For the SS11 collection, Waller has taken his inspiration from the minimalist artists of the late 50’s and 60’s who rejected outside influences such as politics, religion, symbolism etc  as the only means to create art. They chose to strip their work to the pure basics where colours, lines, shapes and textures were used sparingly and didn't express the moods and feelings of the artist, but relied on the viewer to appreciate the object in its simplicity as just a beautiful piece of art.

Waller has carried this minimalism in to his cut and colour palette, proving you don’t need to rely on frills, bows and bright colour ways to create beautiful statement garments. The fluid fabrics of silk, jersey and finely woven wool he uses ensures the simple tailored cut is not harsh and gives a soft luxurious feel to the whole collection.

However Waller does add a touch of texture with his silk panelling on the jersey and wool pieces.

The main colour palette is black with accents of bold block colouring in muted earth tones of slate, stone, aubergine and dusty pink.

Highlights of the collection include a deconstructed fine wool box blazer in a muted block colour of slate with silk black cuffs, pockets and lapels; and a jersey T-dress with a taped silk seam.

Summary: A chic and minimalistic classic soft tailored look with a laid-back sporty twist

More details and images can be viewed on www.christopherwaller.com

By Karen Grace
Personal Shopper & Image Consultant for Frumpy to Funky 

http://www.frumpytofunky.com