HO HO HO | Penhaligon's Christmas Gifts

HOW COULD I have forgotten to add these positively gorgeous hat boxes topped with floppy velvet bows to my Christmas Gift Guide. That's being rectified immediately. I remembered them as I was editing a post on the trend for all things Owl-y nowadays (seriously, haven't you noticed them everywhere?).

Gorgeous gift sets for him and her both. Or the house if you're getting it for a couple. I'd keep the entire thing, packaging and gift within, forever. Fragrances, bath and shower gels, votives, hand wash and lotion... all in the quintessential Penhaligon scents, style and bottles.

Image credit

HO HO HO | Sohum Grande Vegetale Soap Cakes

TALK ABOUT a no brainer gift idea. I'd be chuffed if I ripped down my stocking from the mantle Christmas morning to find it stuffed with these beauties from Sohum. They remind me of another favourite brand of mine, Nesti Dante (I even hid a giant bar from my husband in my luggage, bought in Trento, Italy, and carried it all the way to California via various African countries, trans-Atlantic planes, rental cars, campgrounds and more things than I can list here. That's how much I love it).

I think the Sohum Grande Vegetale Soap Cake in Fleur Anise and Caramella would do just fine for the festive season... or Muskette... or Tuberose... Hell, I want them all. 

They're triple milled and thus give a super creamy lather. Plus, some have new Grande Vegetale candles (Pomander, for one) in matching scents. 

A soap + candle duo would be a sudsy, scented hit of a Christmas gift, in my humble opinion, for sisters, friends, girlfriends, mothers-in-law et al.

Check out the rest of the Melbourne-based Sohum range here.

BEAUTY OP-ED | Celebrity fragrance

SOMETHING IS (smells) rotten in the state of scent... and I think it might have a celebrity’s face and name plastered all over it. The offending item? A bottle of celebrity perfume, courtesy of, well, pretty much any actress, singer or athlete in the spotlight right now. Thanks to Coty, Lady Gaga -- the most manufactured singer since the Mickey Mouse Club’s proteges -- is now checking off the celebrity fragrance line item in her Q4 strategy plan.

But does anyone wear this stuff?

Because I can’t imagine any grown woman walking into a shop and buying these scents. No doubt Katy Perry knows where her pulling power lies with her forthcoming Purr positioned properly in the kiddie market. JLo has already fronted more than a dozen signature scents. Mary J. Blige, Eva Longoria, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Kate Moss, Hally Berry, Tilda Swinton, Celion Dion, Puff Daddy, Elizabeth Taylor, Derek Jeter, SJP, Antonio Banderas, Stephanie Ferguson, Cliff Richard, Jennifer Aniston, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, David Beckham, Posh and Becks together, Reese Witherspoon, Daisy Fuentes, Jordan/Katie Price, Coleen Rooney, The Saturdays, Shakira, Bruce Willis, Beyonce, Jessica Simpson, Gwen Stefani, Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue, Paris Hilton… EVERYONE who has ever had even fifteen seconds — never mind fifteen minutes — of fame has shamelessly slapped their name on a bottle of scent.

Forget a sex tape, it’s a signature scent that you need. CONTINUE READING...

Originally written by Jessica Teas for the Smarter Beauty Blog. Image credit: flickr.com/photos/8137371@N05/4967554227/sizes/o/in/photostream/