You're beautiful.
Ylang ylang is the sweet smelling oil obtained from the yellow flowers of the Asian cananga tree. Pronounced "EE-lang EE-lang," this distinctively repetitive name comes from Tagalog, most likely from "ilang," meaning wilderness, or "ilang-ilan," meaning rare. With notes of custard, rubber, neroli, and jasmine, the spicy, ethereal scent is often found in floral and oriental fragrance Read more
Can you guess which child star has grown up to have a charming approach to bathing? She loves adding essential oils such as ylang-ylang to her bath water, which she sits in "until I'm pruney and the water's cold." Read more
While we're all waiting for Alice Temperley's collection for Target to hit stores, we can steal a few beauty tips from the London-based designer's recent interview. Alice is one of those women who always looks radiant and pretty-without-trying-too-hard, and it's no surprise to discover that her beauty routine is pretty low-key and natural: Her best secret for having smooth skin? Sweeping the Read more
When a product makes you feel good not only because of the skin-enhancing benefits it provides, you know you've hit the so-called beauty jackpot. Such is the case with celebrity makeup artist Lina Hanson's new Global Face Serum ($85). The feel-good part? Several of the ingredients used in the oil blend are harvested by women all over the world to help support their economies. Free of parabens, Read more
If you're a Taurus, you can be described as patient, decisive, and reliable. And while you're likely a lover of luxury, your practicality ensures you won't take your need for quality goods to levels of excess. When times are tough, you may be considered temperamental and resentful, but your warm-hearted nature makes up for it in the long run. Famous Taureans include: Janet Jackson, Rosario Read more
Chanel No. 5 is the definitive "classic" perfume, but even No. 5 devotees need a little variety now and again. If you've fallen in love with this iconic scent but want to branch out a bit, the following five perfumes are worth your time. Each has some of No. 5's best qualities, plus a little twist of its own. See which might be a good fit for you and why after the jump. Read more
Another day, another marijuana-themed perfume. The latest in technically legal fragrances is Rich Hippie Marijuana ($35), which purports to be "sweet, seductive and addictive floral with crushed Madagascan ylang ylang petals, Italian petitgrain and rose geranium petals." Sounds more floral than vegetal, but it's in good company. Fresh also has a pot-leaf scent, Cannabis Santal ($75), which bills Read more
There's a new perfume out called Halloween Fever, but don't start with the images of candy corn and wax lips dancing in your head. This stuff looks like it's more about disco balls and sexy face than dressing up as Zombie Marie Curie. Halloween Perfumes, which makes a whole line of holiday-inspired scents, says the juice is a fruity floriental with notes of vanilla bourbon, tonka bean, orange, Read more
If Revlon's fruit-perfumed nail polishes and Mattese's cocktail-inspired scented lacquers don't agree with your nose, there's a luxe new competitor in the scented polish field. Nail lacquer impresario Jane Schub hired Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, the perfumer responsible for DSH perfumes, to help her create Richly Perverse Perfume Polish ($28) for her line StrangeBeautiful. The polish has a violet Read more
When it comes to fragrance, seasonality is an important factor, but one that people tend to forget about. A perfume that smells soft and subtle under your sweaters can be unrelenting once the mercury rises. So how do you pick a warm-weather scent that will still smell right once you walk out of the department store's air conditioning? To find out, just keep reading. Read more
