Parabens, Fragrance, Colorants, Talc: Debunking Bobby Parrish’s TikTok misinformation

22 February 202317 February 2023

Bobby Parrish, a home cook and food influencer who goes by the name FlavCity, has made a number of viral TikTok videos recently about dangerous personal care ingredients. As you might expect, there’s quite a lot of misinformation in them. I debunked a couple of them in a recent YouTube video, along with some other TikTok videos – you can …

Should you avoid aluminium in deodorants? The science

5 April 202329 December 2020

I’ve recently been approached by several natural deodorant companies to talk about the health risks of aluminium-containing antiperspirants. As much as I’d like that sweet sweet cheque… I can’t. Because the science just isn’t there. So instead, I’m going to debunk the aluminium scaremongering. (Note to deodorant companies: There are valid reasons to switch to natural deodorants. Aluminium ingredients can …

How Do Bath Bombs Work? The Science

5 April 202331 August 2019

Bath bombs are awesome balls of fizzy goodness, with some interesting science behind them! They were invented in 1989 by Mo Constantine, one of Lush’s founders. Bath bombs contain the chemical sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking soda, as their key ingredient. This is the text version – scroll down for the video! Some of you might remember that baking …

Fragrance Notes: Cedar

19 April 2018

Cedar is my favourite fragrance note at the moment. It’s a scent that’s really common as a base in perfumes, with some interesting properties:

Cedar oils in perfumery come from the wood and leaves of cedar trees, but also related juniper and cypress species.
Depending on the source of the oil, cedar oil can contain different scent compounds. Common chemicals in cedarwood oil include cedrol, ∀-cedrene, himachalene, d-alpha-atlantone and thujopsene.

Cedrol has been found to have a relaxant effect… and it also attracts pregnant mosquitoes.
Cedar can neutralise the scent of poop (from the chemical skatole). This odor-neutralising pairing is called a Zwaardemaker pair, named after the Dutch scientist who came up with the concept.

Cedar fragrance reviews

I’ve been working my way through Commodity’s sample sets, and encountered Book. It’s part of their Black collection, which is tailored more towards men. Book has eucalyptus and bergamot framing the cedar, and it smells a lot like a wooden bookshelf. The problem I’ve found with the entire Commodity range is that while the scents are unusual and interesting, they don’t tend to last very long on your skin. Book has decent lasting power – around 8 hours on me.

Perfume Reviews: Zadig & Voltaire, Trussardi, Elizabeth Arden and Ne’emah

6 September 2016

Perfume Reviews: Elizabeth Arden, Zadig & Voltaire, Ne'emah and Trussardi

I used to be a “signature fragrance” sort of person (a.k.a. too lazy to think so I’ll just wear the same perfume every day), but lately I’ve been switching up the fragrance I wear every day, and I can’t quite seem to settle on one. Recently, I’ve tried Zadig & Voltaire This is Her!, Donna Trussardi, Elizabeth Arden Always Red and Ne’emah Laya. Here’s what I thought:

Zadig & Voltaire This Is Her!

Zadig & Voltaire This Is Her! lives in a translucent white rectangular bottle with a “cracked” side that’s meant to fit nicely with the black bottle for the matching male fragrance, This Is Him! This Is Her! is described as woody, floral and gourmand – I’d say it’s mostly woody and gourmand, with a creamy and sweet scent that has a bit of flowery jasmine added in to stop it from smelling too much like dessert.

The most striking notes are sandalwood and vanilla. You can also pick up some of the pink pepper and chestnut around the edges, and a hint of jasmine too. It reminds me of a smoother version of L’Artisan Parfumeur Bois Farine. The scent is quite long-lasting, but it doesn’t project too much. It’s more of a soft, comforting, close-to-the-skin scent. I really didn’t expect to find this sort of scent in a mainstream store, but lo and behold, it’s in Priceline! I’ll be wearing this a lot.

Donna Trussardi

Donna Trussardi comes in an elegant white and gold bottle that looks a bit like a fancy liquor flask.

In short, Donna is jasmine on full blast. It isn’t too cloying or headache inducing though, thankfully, since the jasmine leans more towards a jasmine tea scent, and there’s some citrus in there to keep it light. The base is oriental (white patchouli, cedar, sandalwood and vanilla), but it doesn’t come through very strongly. This is a very straightforward, clean, friendly floral that smells like summer breezes, and is difficult to dislike unless you hate jasmine. I can see myself still wearing this in 10 years – it’s refined and elegant, without being dowdy.

Lush Vanillary and All Good Things Perfume Review

30 May 2016

I recently acquired two more Gorilla Fragrances to add to my Lush perfume collection: Vanillary (liquid spray) and All Good Things (solid balm). I received them at at the latest Bloggers United event hosted at Lush’s QVB store.

Vanillary

Vanillary has become my new everyday fragrance. As you can tell from the name, this is a hardcore vanilla fragrance! It’s not sweet, simple and lightweight like you might expect, but a spicy, buttery, full-bodied vanilla that’s gorgeously warm and sunny on the skin. There’s also a healthy blast of jasmine, especially at the beginning (it’s supposed to be less pronounced in the solid perfume) and tonka bean, which adds a creamy, brown-around-the-edges, caramelised toffee character in the middle and base. After a few hours it’s a lot less floral and mostly creamy, comforting and oh-so-sniffable – my sister says it “smells like cookies”. It’s reminiscent of the tonka drydown of the limited edition Twilight perfume. The sillage is great – one spray is enough, unless you want to offend everyone around you, and the creamy base lingers on your clothes for days. If you like creamy scents, this will probably be up your alley!

New finds: The Body Shop, Urban Rituelle, DB Twist ‘n’ Go Polish Remover

13 March 201624 October 2015

I’ve been trying out a whole bunch of things lately – here are the ones that’ve made it to the top of my “yes!” pile. Urban Rituelle have released the new Dreamweaver range, which includes 2 summery fragrance blends – Island Blossom, a mix of jasmine, frangipani and berries, and Coconut & Lotus, which is a sugary blend of coconut, …

Essence Australia: Good Girl Bad Girl & Unforgettable Kiss Collections

5 October 201519 February 2015

More Essence Trend collections are coming! Here’s what’s launching in Australia in the next couple of months…

Good Girl Bad Girl (available March-April 2015 in Priceline)

Quattro Eyeshadow (bright, dark) ($5.75), Blush ($5.10), Lipstick (dark purple, fuchsia) ($4.70), Effect Top Coats (rose gold, silver) ($4.10), Like a Good Girl Fragrance ($6.95), Like a Bad Girl Fragrance ($6.95), Lipgloss ($4.10), Multi Style Eyeliner Pen ($6.15)

Not pictured: Nail Polish (6 shades) ($4.10)

This collection is half good girl themed (pastel shades) and half bad girl themed (brights and darks), which means there’s something for everyone. The eyeshadow palettes are really lovely – the shadows are prone to a bit of fallout, and the textures aren’t that exciting except for the rose gold which is gorgeous. One quad has pink, peach, rose gold and light purple while the other has fuchsia, rose gold, black and dark purple. I’m a bit partial to the darker quad, and while pigmentation isn’t amazing, the sheerness makes them quite wearable.

The blush is quite similar to the Silky Touch Blush in peach in their standard range. The lipsticks are quite nice – there’s a fuchsia (Caught in the Middle) and a deep plummy purple (It Wasn’t Me!). It Wasn’t Me! is my must-have pick of the collection – it’s a really unusual, gorgeously rich shade, though it wears off quickly with food.

The eyeliner is a three-pronged eyeliner, which is meant for helping you dot eyeliner between your lashes, giving them a fuller look. While I love that Essence have caught onto this trend early, the ink of this eyeliner is not that waterproof and a little sheer.