𝚜𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚝: vanity

what's on display on my vanity? peer in & take a look :' )

~~ UNDER CONSTRUCTION ~~

❤︎ 1920s karoff floral quintuplets perfume set ❤︎

these are so incredibly rare to find as an entire set, i've been keeping my eyes on them for years. one shop on etsy & another user on ebay used to have it on sale, but it has sold since then. there are five tubes in total, each showcasing a different scent & adorably presented as a little flapper girl with a hand-painted wooden screw top & different colored bows affixed to the bottle. it has never been sold with the original perfume inside the bottles, so it's incredibly rare---even impossible to know what the fragrance could have smelled like. all we know is what the original packaging advertises: miss gardenia, rose, orchid, sweet pea. & chypre--all sound so lovely don't they? i currently have 2 bottles of this set, which i've purchased randomly at two separate antique shops years apart about 12+ years ago. since then, i've kept them dear in my vintage perfume bottle collection. you can still find individual bottles if you're lucky !

for me, i gravitate towards vintages &/or antique bottles of perfume. i'm more interested in fragrances from the past, since i find them aromatically more interesting, beautifully & creatively presented, & were sourced with better components, than the grotesque synthetic slop from modern perfumes (generally speaking, i'm aware that not all are awful ..). i also prefer aldehydes & heavy musk / chypre the powdery severeness that people negatively associate with "old lady smell," which is so misguided & annoying. i think most modern noses are so detached from what fragrance should be like & what they were actually intended for (something that has been true for centuries, until maybe the past 30 years). i loathe that anything too "strong" is off-putting to the oh-so-delicate & nit-picky modern nose. fragrance should make its presence known & felt (that's the whole point, isn't it?) & should last all day. even if i find a fragrance unpleasant on someone, at least there was a reaction & it made me feel something. applying perfume is a lovely way to unwind & initiate some sort of beauty routine & self-care. it's one of my favorite ways to pamper myself as i get ready in the morning & before heading to bed. below is a brief list of my perfume collection, it's still a work in progress. i still have more to add, so this page is ~under construction~ at the present moment ..

❤︎ 1967 avon keynote perfume

(finally acquired !!) ‪‪❤︎ ‬1990s formulation of shalimar by guerlain (originally from 1925)

❤︎ 1990 trésor lancôme mini (originally from 1952)‪‪❤︎ multiple tubes of a few drams of pure musk perfume oil ❤︎1970s formulation of maja by myrurgia (originally from 1921) ❤︎ 1960s rare fleurs de rocaille by caron extrait (originally from 1931) ❤︎ 1962 & original rare bal a versailles by jean desprez ❤︎ original 1980s night magic by avon ❤︎ 1984 original paloma picasso ❤︎

❤︎ vanilla fields by coty (originally from 1993--very nostalgic for me since my mother wore this, jovan white musk, & white linen by estée lauder when i was child) ❤︎ original 1985 aures by avon ❤︎ rare johann strauss by violon parfums vienne (year unknown & discontinued) ❤︎ fleuresse mini by arabella stuart (year unknown) ❤︎ rare 1998 angel's love by angelitos (discontinued) ❤︎ miss dior mini by christian dior (originally from 1947) ❤︎ vintage (but unknown year of formulation) heaven sent by helena rubinstein (originally from 1941) ❤︎ 1981 ombre rose l'original mini by jean charles brosseau ❤︎

below are some products that i love & have been using for years that never cease to disappoint no matter what new product comes in between. one of the most important things to accept is that makeup should be used to enhance--not to change. it's best to study your face & discern what is most flattering on your face. i have unfortunately gone through many embarrassing phases of makeup application throughout the years & have come to realize that not everything can work on me. one thing that has always stayed consistent throughout the decades is that: a fresh & even complexion, defined eyes, & flush to the cheeks & lips is key to a good makeup day for me. i've done the "cat eye" flick ever since i was about 13 or 14--much to my parent's disapproval. i still remember having to bring extra makeup wipes in my bag before being dropped off from the school bus & furiously wiping it off before entering the house. at some point my parents gave in to my makeup transgressions by the time i was in high school. it all started ever since i saw an image of anna karina on imdb sometime in 2005, it forever changed me, long before i even watched a godard film (that part came only a few years later). since then, the eyeliner flick became the perpetual staple that i can't shake off! i'll gladly be doing it until i die.

kose visée avant lipstick, burt's bees lip balm in "red dahlia," & kose visée avant multistick in "005 coquettish" (as a cream blush)

mac lip liner in "whirl"

(i love to emulate the popular lip shapes from the 1920s & 30s. i absolutely love the perfected heart shaped cupid's bow accentuated "bee stung" shape that was worn by the likes of clara bow or anita page. it's super cute & impish)

littlebits tinted rose lip balm & pink cherry blossom rouge

ulta beauty felt tip eyeliner & ulta beauty color correcting concealer in "pink"

(the amount of eyeliner that i have gone through my life is seriously unholy. i've tried just about every single brand, both drugstore & luxury throughout the years & have finally settled on ulta beauty's felt eyeliner)

ulta beauty new heights mascara & too faced better than sex mascara

littlebits "facial powder of the fairies" 1893 translucent powder, charlotte tilbury beauty wand highlighter in "spotlight," & stila heaven's hue highlighter in "opulence" (i use this as an eyeshadow)

(when i'm low on "powder of the fairies," i go back & forth to covergirl's "simply ageless" pressed powder