As you know, I have been on a honey, honey and more honey kick the last few months. On weekdays I wear neutral vanillas to work, but the scents I have been craving are mostly honey. Fortunately (for you, so you can hear about something other than honey), two fragrance lines, both from paraben-free companies, have managed to make me crave new scents.
The first one is Carol Daughter’s Almond Cookie fragrance line. As I mentioned last weekend, I tried it out at Sephora, and took some samples home. By Thursday I was in love and went back and picked up the fragrance, the shower gel and the body oil. In addition to almond and vanilla, the Almond Cookie drydown on me has a slightly powdery comforting note to it. I am almost in shock that I love this fragrance so much as it has several notes I never like on their own. I usually find almond too bitter, while sandalwood tends to smell off on me, and powdery notes usually make me sneeze. Yet, somehow, I love them all in this scent.
I have to admit I have been eyeing Carol’s Daughter products for a while, especially since the founder used to be an indie etailer in Brooklyn. Despite now having several standalone stores and a strong presence at Sephora, I love the fact Carol’s Daughter still uses the high-quality, good-for-you ingredients in products, like at my other favorite indie etailers. All Carol’s Daughter products are paraben-free, and the shower gel is SLS free. Like my beloved cold process soaps, Carol’s Daughter shower gels are made with saponified oils.
The only products I found slightly disappointing was the shea butter souffle. While it smelled lovely, the souffle has a high enough water concentration to feel a little too light in texture on me. That said, as you have probably guessed by now, I like my moisturizers very heavy. I went for the oil because the packaging was so pretty (check out the bottle) but will eventually check out the body butter.
The second scent that has caught my eye (or nose as the case may be) is KZM Facial Care Boutique’s House Blend fragrance line, which is a 100% natural blend of lemon and vanilla essential oil. It is a warm yet lemony scent, and I have thoroughly enjoyed wearing it. There are three products in the line: fragrance, hand cream and cuticle oil. The fragrance is in roll-on form only, and does not have any of those chemical undertones some vanilla fragrances have. The hand cream is shea butter-based. As you may remember, shea butter is my favorite base ingredient in hand creams, and I was sad to discontinue use of L’Occitane’s hand cream (even though I made myself, seeing as it has parabens). Therefore, I was very excited to try KZM’s hand cream. It is thick yet sinks in and, in texture, reminds me of one of my favorites: Burt’s Bees Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Cream.
The hand cream works great on its own, but I recommend pairing it with the Lemon Vanilla Cuticle oil. Light yet very moisturizing, this oil also comes in a roll on and is easy to apply directly to the cuticles. If you would like to kick up the citrus fragrance after you put on the hand cream, you could always substitute Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme instead of the KZM Lemon Vanilla Cuticle Oil.
I keep the House Blend KZM products in my desk drawer at work. The Lemon Vanilla scent is a perfect pick-me-up for the middle of the afternoon, and the hand cream sinks in quickly enough that I can use it anytime of day.
So, there you have it, my latest fragrance addictions have no honey notes. Maybe I am breaking my honey obsession cycle?
General Disclosures & Disclaimers
