Fabfrocks reviews: Christian Lacroix absynthe

When I got home last night I was pleasantly suprised to find a parcel on my doorstep containing a bottle of the new Christian Lacroix perfume, Absynthe. This is the third perfume collaboration Lacroix has done with Avon, but the first I have tried. I opened it and was immediately impressed by the pretty bottle and the rich metallic absinthe-green colour of the packaging.
The official line on the product is that the scent is a mysterious green-oriental, inspired by "the green faerie of absynthe", with notes of absynthe, anise, saffron, floral touches of freesia and narcissus, on a bed of smoked woods, ebony, musk, myrrh and a smidgen of amber. However I had important things to do last night (like shout at the TV during question time) so I didn't open and smell until this morning.

My nose was particularly sensitive this morning as I had a bit of a hang over (more on that later) and I could definitely smell the absinthe in the perfume. I don't think this is a bad thing by the way, just unusual. I like unusual perfume! When I said this to the boyfriend however, he wrinkled his nose and asked why anyone would deliberately use perfume that made them stink like a hobo booze hound. I'm sharing this because it made me laugh!

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Once left on the skin to air the overriding smell of the scent is very feminine and floral. More so than you initially expect it to be, as the original scent was quite musky. 4 hours later I can still faintly smell the perfume (this is better longevity than a lot of the higher end products on the market although not as long as I would like!) and I am enjoying it's gentle fragrance.

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Admiring the flamboyance of Christian Lacroix fashions, I was hoping the perfume would be a little more edgy, and unusual. The name and absynthe content hinted at a stronger deeper fragrance than the perfume delivers, but that said, the scent that remains is nice and very wearable. I also enjoyed putting on the perfume because the bottle was very heavy, making it feel like I was wearing a perfume more expensive that its £20. Oh, and a quick glance at the website shows that if you buy it from Avon at the minute you receive a free bonus gift bag containing a selection of beauty products. I can't vouch for these though, as my bottle didn't come with the free gift!

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Overall not a bad perfume at all. I'm even considering giving my sister a bottle for Christmas (yes, I mentioned the dreaded C word. So much more on that to come!)

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Love, Tor xx

Should we all be spending more?

Friends, today I have an important message: Go out and spend, because the fashion editor is suffering!

This is the start of a press email I received last night: "Due to the financial downturn and the low number of designers and sponsors that have registered, it is with regret that the management of London Designers Fashion Show have decided to postpone the event scheduled for 22-23 August 2009 to February 2010, at The Royal Horticultural Hall, exact date and venue to be confirmed. "

I was supposed to be going to that! You're slowing spending means that lowly bloggers such as myself are missing out on catwalk shows and canapes! Damn your eyes!

It was inevitable I suppose. But it's still sad. For me, the moment I realised that the fashion industry was suffering as hard as any other was when I read that Christian Lacroix had gone under; the first time I went to Paris I saw a Christian Lacroix wedding dress and I promised myself I would have one when I got married. Lacroix had never been a viable business (I read somewhere that even in the good times they never turned a profit) but it's still frightening that a house hold name can tumble so dramatically; it's like the fashion equivilent of the crash of Woolworths.

Shopping in Edgeware yesterday I also noticed a big gaping hole where the bay trading used to be. It made me shudder. Our once glorious highstreets are starting to resemble ghost towns, and i'm frightened that if we let them sit in ruination for too long, they'll never be restored. I'm as bored as everyone else of talking about the recession, the credit crunch, the current financial climate, the economic downturn, the doom and gloom. But this stuff matters, even if it only penetrates your consciousness enough for you to notice that your favourite shop doesn't exist any more.

Pop up shops are being touted as a temporary solution: I went into a lovely pop up store in Brent Cross on Saturday. It launches new and under exposed brands to the UK, which I think is a great idea, and one that will be of particularly good news to young and up and coming designers.
But that's all they are- a very short term solution. If there isn't enough expendable money in circulation to keep our current stores afloat then I struggle to see how opening more stores is the answer to the problem.

I dont have any answers; I don't think anyone has answers that can solve all the problems.

Kate of Makedostyle wrote a fantastic article on Friday about disposable fashion and the importance of buying investment pieces. This made amazing sense. But I have the inkling that to drag our country back out of the mess we dumped it in, curbing our spending and changing our habits isn't the answer; the answer could well be to take advantage of the wonderful unprecidented sales that are all over the highstreet in a desperate bid to counteract the affect of slowed spending, and spend all your disposable income on a pretty dress or two, at a bargain price that you know you wouldn't have got last summer. Yes, as usual my answer to any problem is to shop; not on your credit cards, not at the expense of paying your bills. But just that bit of money you have left at the end of the week: buy something fabulous, take advantage of the weather and thow a party or a barbeque in your garden.

That way you get to have a good time looking amazing, and hopefully my calendar doesn't get any emptier as more events are cancelled! Damn all your eyes again!!

Love, Tor xx