The first Vanity Bash is only days away (this Saturday), and I’ve been gearing up for a seriously good time with Louise and 15 of her closest friends. She originally suggested a party of 30 or more, but I put my foot down and said absolutely not, so I’m certain that I’m the root cause of bitter recriminations as some of her social group are wondering why they weren’t included.
It’s my fault. Really. She wanted to include you all, but it’s our first Vanity Bash ever and I felt it best to launch on a more manageable level so that we can work the kinks out for future events.
Mistakes on a small scale can be quickly smoothed over. Large scale mistakes, however, often go down in the history books as disasters that are never to be repeated (i.e. Windows Vista).
We’ll be focusing on color and style trends in the luxury industry, and I felt the best way to illustrate global influences on the luxury trade would be with cosmetics and fragrance. For fragrance, I ordered up the sampler box from British luxury brand Ormonde Jayne, plus a trio of luscious gourmand minis from Dawn Spencer Hurwitz:
Gourmand is hitting the mainstream fragrance houses in a big way, after having solidly established a foothold in niche perfumery over the past several years. But with the emergence of the Middle East and India as serious luxury fragrance markets (China is emerging as a huge cosmetics and skin care market), rich and spicy scents are now a fixture on the broader scene.
The three gourmands of Dawn’s that I’m bringing to the party are:
Nourouz (Tamarind/ Paprika), a warm, sweetish scent that was one of the few I chose to pack in my travel case during our long road trip from Dallas to Seattle. It’s easy, comfortable and comforting — not to mention a bit exotic with its sweet spices, rose and incense; Piment et Chocolat, because I’m loving the smell of dry cocoa right now and this stuff hits the bulls eye in that regard with a dusty black pepper dipped in soulful chocolate layers. Dark cocoa is also coming back as the scent of luxury, appetite and taste, so a good cocoa that doesn’t stray too far into vanilla and sugar easily complements the prevalent use of sumptuous materials, rich pigments and heavy jewelry on today’s runways; and Mahjoun, a fragrance based on a Moroccan edible delicacy. Honey, nutmeg, almond, fig and cherry, suffused with rose and constructed over a base of woods and incense. Any gourmand fan will swoon.
I’m also lugging along the bottle of Ineke Field Notes from Paris that I received only a few days ago. It’s a beautiful bottle, not to mention a wearable mix of vanilla, tea, leather and patchouli. I’ll write more about Field Notes from Paris after I’ve worn it for another week or so, but I do have a photo I can share for now:
Scott Lauzé, a new regular commentor on this site, wrote an excellent review of Field Notes for Perfume Smellin’ Things: “Well constructed, warm, approachable and wearable by men and women alike, especially if you are fond of the leather tobacco accord. I predict it will be added to many lists of Best Fall Fragrances, and the timing of the release could not be better.”
And he quotes from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Who could ask for more?
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
That’s not the line he quotes, but I’ve loved that bit ever since running across it in a Freshman literature class. Which was, like, a hundred years ago.
I’ll have plenty of photos of the all the cosmetics items after the party is through (I’m shooting for a post date of Monday), but we’re including items from Chanel, Edward Bess, Kevyn Aucoin, Michael Marcus, Trish McEvoy, Guerlain, 29 Cosmetics and Bobbi Brown in the form of eye shadow, eye liner, lip liner, lipstick, lip gloss, mascara, face primers, eye primers, lip primers and nail polish.
Color is the focus, especially colors that stray far from the ordinary pink, peach and beige routines. It’s not that pink, peach and beige are bad (au contraire!), but that I want the women to push their own color boundaries and sample from a wider and perhaps even more globally daring array of glittering bronzes, sapphire blues, rich purples, black cherries, forest greens, metallic silvers, deep burgundies and Chinese reds — the kinds of colors that are often admired, but even more often passed over in favor of the more everyday wearable.
I’m hoping that at least a few of them come away from the party with the knowledge that rich jewel tones and glittering metallics can be everyday wear, too. What works in India, China and the Middle East can work in Seattle, too — the city just needs a few early adopters to pave the way.
***Note: “Europe and Asia-Pacific account for over 70% of the worldwide cosmeceutical market. The greatest growth, across all sub segments, is in emerging economies such as those of China, Latin America, Russia and India, which are experiencing new marketing trends and products, an aging population, increasing wealth and consumer power.”
Expect to see developments for both cosmeceuticals and cosmetics to be driven by demand outside of North America. This will influence color trends and palettes for years to come.
