ARS AROMATICA

Culture Notes: In Which Things Are Eaten That Are Not Normally Eaten

2013-03-11T06:00:00.000-04:00

That part at the end, when the chip breaks and the guy just scoops the whole thing up with his fingers... that kills me. You may have noticed that we at Ars Aromatica are not ones to scoff at obsessive attention to detail. Both perfection and truth to life require it. But perfection I am skeptical of, because it implies a frozen state with room for neither entropy nor growth. What is more

Perfume Notes: Chanel Bois Des Îles

2013-02-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

Hans Holbein the Younger, The Ambassadors (1533). I am very fond of a little maxim, from pioneer computer scientist Jon Postel, known as the Robustness Principle: "Be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others." Though Postel's Law still operates within its original context of programming, it's also become a colloquialism for model behavior on the internet. Not

Beauty Notes: Pinch Your Cheeks

2013-02-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

For unmakeup, lipcolors, skincare routine, please read the previous installments of my stash breakdown. My freeform Anothersoul. Planning to switch to the stronger magnet of Z Palette. This is still a work in progress. I started expanding my blush collection very late, after a longstanding exclusivity to bright but muted pinks. The only criterion I've established thus far, informed by a lazy

The Makeup Artist: François Nars

2013-02-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

We all know the feeling. You're browsing through the counters, swatching idly, when, all of sudden, something very pretty, very shiny beckons. And there you are, yet another eyeshadow richer. "Daïn's got a new toy!" my family likes to say. My first such magpie moment: Rated R. Versatile, Rated R is not. Without work, the bright colors overpower me, and after twelve years, the textures have

Desert Island: My Ideal Bookshelf (Li Wen)

2013-02-02T19:34:00.005-05:00

The earliest books I read in English were Mr. Men and Little Miss.* It was December 1992, and I had just moved from Shanghai to Sydney to live with my father. My command of English was basic; I had not yet started primary school. Every trip to the supermarket, I would pick up a couple of these plainly illustrated children's books at check-out (a dollar each), then cajole dad to read them aloud

Culture Notes: Sourcream Chocolate Chip & Walnut Coffeecake

2013-01-31T08:31:00.000-05:00

Closely adapted from Smitten Kitchen. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so I don't frequently bake. (I could eat french fries without end, however.) A cake needs to be particularly delicious to boast any kind of eternal return, as all recipes featured here are. There's something magical about those intensely sweet bites of chocolate chips and cinnamon sugar sandwiched between layers of tender

Beauty Notes: Wind Chill

2013-01-25T18:00:00.000-05:00

Though, more accurately, 'tis indoor heating at fault. Hadalabo // LRP Toleriane Fluide // Avène Eluage, as eye cream // Trilogy Ultra Hydrating Cream Very little has changed since I wrote up Desert Island: Skincare three years ago. Mainly, because of the obvious fact that experimenting with new products provokes sensitive skin—why I did not adopt this attitude earlier can only be attributed

Beauty Notes: Squeaky Clean

2013-01-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

The next time you find yourself at an HMart (or some comparable Asian market), check out the Korean-made toothbrushes. I'm quite serious; they are magic. The bristles are finer and softer than any toothbrushes I've found here, so they clean very efficiently between teeth, without tearing apart sensitive gums. I've actually seen a reduction in plaque. Mine are from O-Zone, about $7 for a pack of

Perfume Notes: Frédéric Malle Une Fleur de Cassie

2013-01-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

Salvador Dalí, The Temptation of St. Anthony (1946) How do you approach an enigma? This is the quandary that confronts you with perfume: it cannot be quantified. Even with a glossary of aromaterials and cultural references at your disposal, even after its position in olfactory history has been defined, even if we all shared a common interpretation, the translation from the sense of smell to the

Culture Notes: Computer Love

2013-01-08T04:03:00.003-05:00

Light: Installations by Bruce Munro at Longwood Gardens Their name in German, Kraftwerk, means "power plant", and they are considered one of the most influential groups in modern music. For the last four decades, they have been makers of Alltagsmusik ("everyday music"), dedicated to expressing the "quotidian landscape of a Mass Culture age" (Frieze Magazine). The style which they pioneered --

Beauty Notes: Lipstick Page

2012-12-31T06:00:00.000-05:00

L to R: Nocturnal // Chelsea Rose // Fuschia // Strumpet // L'Heure Bleue // #48 RD178M // Rouge Passion // Poppy // Chamade // Smile Next up in my stash overview (unmakeup covered here), my lipstick collection. I buy only one shade from each brand—I'm peculiarly fussy about redundant packaging—so that it's easy to pick out the right color. (That I have two from Guerlain's Rouge Automatique

Beauty Notes: Shutter Speed

2012-12-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

"What camera do you use?" This may be, to my mind, the oddest request I get; my photographs are merely passable. The short answer: Samsung VLUU PL50, a fairly standard point-and-shoot that's outdated by some years. Extreme asymmetry and my winter palette: rosy lips and cheeks, metallic eyeliner. Though there's a noticeable improvement in quality if you invest in a DSLR, for me a good

Fashion Notes: Native Textiles

2012-12-21T10:09:00.001-05:00

As the birthplace of the China's modern textiles industry, the originating port of Chinese silks to the outside world, Shanghai has the reputation of being the country's fashion capital (barring Hong Kong, whose return from British rule belongs to recent memory). So it is ironic that for decades in the latter half of the 20th century, Shanghai was reduced to low-cost processing for international

Beauty Notes: Back To Basics

2012-12-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

These are the products that go into my 'zero face', the unmakeup. Chanel Poudre Universelle // Dermablend Cover Creme // Make Up For Ever Lift Concealer // Laura Mercier Brow Definer // Majolica Majorca mascara // Stila brow pen // RMS Smile // Becca Wild Orchid At minimum, I dab Make Up For Ever Lift Concealer around my eyes. Functionally, it's not very different from Touche Eclat, the

Culture Notes: Ginger-Soy Salmon

2012-12-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

This is adapted from the traditional Korean marinade of soy sauce and sugar; I've added ginger and lime to add extra brightness to the fish. It's dead simple, barely a recipe at all.Makes enough for two servings.fillets of salmon, 1-1 ½ lbs1 tbsp olive oil1 tbsp sugar2 tbsp thinly sliced ginger2 tbsp rice wine, use sake or mirin2 tbsp soy saucethe juice of 1 limeBe generous with the ginger, the

Beauty Notes: Hi-Contrast

2012-12-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

Laura Mercier Deep Night // Fyrinnae Shenanigans // Sleek Pink Parfait // Hourglass Nocturnal You can't get much simpler than my eye shape. There's nothing to enhance, nothing to correct. For years, I've relied on a drearily narrow range of techniques—a rounded wash or or a smudge of eyeliner—with most of the variation deriving from a colorful palette, rather than placement. That's why I'm

Perfume Notes: JAR Diamond Water

2012-11-30T18:00:00.000-05:00

Francisco Pradilla Ortiz, Juana La Loca (1877) When first you approach fine fragrance in earnest, it may come as a surprise that the experience, the act of sniffing itself, does not measure up to descriptions. Mitsouko doesn't smell like peach, nor Bandit of leather whips—the association is looser, more conceptual. As it turns out, literalism isn't all that worth pursuing in a fragrance; it is

Beauty Notes: High Rotation

2012-11-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

These are some of my favorite nailpolishes, at the moment. From left to right, China Glaze Unpredictable, Lippmann Ray of Light, Chanel Ballerina with Butter London Tart With a Heart, China Glaze Sea Spray, Zoya Toni, and Chanel Dragon. I haven't swatched all of them, what with the incidental sunshine of November, but you can find far better on dedicated nail blogs, anyhow. China Glaze Sea

Happy Thanksgiving!

2012-11-22T19:29:00.001-05:00

Beauty Notes: Raw Materials

2012-11-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'm not much of a DIYer, but I keep these ingredients around for various contingencies. They are useful for tweaking textures. Since I have sensitive skin, for me there is often a binary of irritants versus safe ingredients, but I generally don't have to worry about occlusivity. Figuring out ingredients is a wholly individual process, and those of you with more resilient skin should be able to

Culture Notes: Façades

2012-11-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

Better than "Bad Romance", lust as the ultimate illusion.

Beauty Notes: Second Thoughts

2012-11-05T06:00:00.001-05:00

Estée Lauder Arctic Sky // Chanel Lavande (disc) // Suqqu 08 Mizuaoi I keep a tight watch on my stash. So, when I caved into one or two of Estée Lauder's Cyber Metallics, Arctic Sky posed a problem: it hits the same sweet spot as Suqqu Mizuaoi. One of them has to go. My idea of a dupe is more metaphysical ('sweet spot') than concrete, so these are not dupes in the true sense of the word. There's

Fashion Notes: Bag End

2012-10-30T06:00:00.001-04:00

I've been carrying this vintage Bally saddlebag for the last three or four years. It coordinates with all my clothes, both casual and formal, and best of all, it works perfectly with my black-and-white check trenchcoat. When the cold weather comes, it's like a ready-made outfit.

Culture Notes: Lentil & White Bean Soup

2012-10-25T06:00:00.001-04:00

This is the soupiest of soups. Your chowders, your consommés, even the most velvety of tomato soups have nothing on the humble lentil. It's a long list of ingredients, but cheerfully cheap, and it makes the most of what's already in your pantry, a throw-everything-in-the-pot kind of soup. It doesn't require neatness, fresh herbs and homemade stock are not necessary, though the more solicitude

Perfume Notes: L'Artisan Parfumeur Vanilia

2012-10-21T06:00:00.000-04:00

Robert Gligorov, Dollar Note (2006-2007). Some time in the late 70s, when Jean Laporte held the final formula of Vanilia in his hands, did he know what a monster he would unleash on the world? Best known for L'Artisan Parfumeur, Laporte (along with Diptyque's Yves Couslant) established niche perfumery's tropes: the impressions taken from reality, terse compositions that illustrate a single