...forgotten treasures that sparked ideas about insect repellent, ancient bad sun behaviour, and the role of fragrance in skincare. Plus my latest rant about beauty, sustainability and PR...
Oh, this reminded me about my love of Avon SSS and how I got sucked into the repellent myth . I even settled with the original scent, not the one I actually wanted because ONLY THE ORIGINAL has the repellent properties. Sigh. Still, will repurchase for a fuss-free body oil. Another great post, as usual, thank you Claire!
I too was sucked in by the Avon SSS myth. I got huge weeping mosquito bites for it. Then again, I still get them with proper insect repellent because a) it’s impossible to cover all my skin properly and b) I have what I have Google self-diagnosed as skeeter syndrome, and every insect bite goes WILD and is really itchy and painful for me.
I also used to keep a nearly empty bottle of Hawaiian tropic in my dressing table drawer as a teenager. It was left over from my first girls holiday to Magaluf when I was 17 and I used to give it a sniff and be transported back there 😂
And last but not least, I am very much of the killjoy fragrance free facial skincare crew. I am eczema prone so avoid most fragrance and colour in skincare where possible but there are also a few I can tolerate either through trial and error, or only when my skin is in a good phase.
Oooh Skeeter Syndrome - I didn’t realise it was a thing - that’s kind of what I meant when I said maybe everyone gets bitten and it only bothers me. And yay for Hawaiian Tropic-fuelled nostalgic rushes. Although boo for having to go fragrance-free (although I feel there are far more options today for FF skincare than there used to be, no?)
Definitely much better options these days on the fragrance free situation - some brands offer both with and without fragrance for products (Tropic and Skin Rocks come to mind). I found a fragrance and colour free shampoo and conditioner from Philip Kingsley recently, which is great when my skin is particularly bad and shampoo running down my neck in the shower can set off eczema.
I was going to include a link to skeeter syndrome but substack doesn’t like it. Suffice to say it is defo a thing and there are images online of the inflammation it causes, so you’ll know if it’s what you get with a 5 second look at the (grim!) pictures.
I’ve still got my original Bobbi Brown build-an-eye-palette plus eye brushes that I bought when they opened in Selfridges and I was so excited to see SAs that weren’t orange. 1996 maybe? I don’t use them but I can’t bear to chuck them. Also perfume I bought in Paris in 1993.
The worst examples of PR packaging are the ones that contain lights or screens. It’s madness. I saw an American influencer opening one with a screen the other day - that’s going straight in the bin.
Yes! That build an eye palette concept was brilliant - I may still have an early noughties one of them hanging around. And which perfume? I had my late grandma’s Escale a Portofino for ages but it very much lost its sparkle.
And yes, PR went through a spate of sending out mini video screens and light-up shit. By all means send me an iPad mini but otherwise it’s landfill. Just awful.
At one point it was so bad here that when I worked at Racked (RIP) we collected our PR mailings for a few months and did a big story on it, complete with photos of huge mounds of stuff. I got blacklisted from several PR agencies after that
It’s Guerlain’s Jardins de Bagatelle - bought because the name was meaningful not because I love it! 😂 Probably my oldest perfume but I’ve got a few… I’ve seen a light up and a mini screen on PR unboxing a recently, one from a brand that purports to be super environmentally conscious.
Oh, this reminded me about my love of Avon SSS and how I got sucked into the repellent myth . I even settled with the original scent, not the one I actually wanted because ONLY THE ORIGINAL has the repellent properties. Sigh. Still, will repurchase for a fuss-free body oil. Another great post, as usual, thank you Claire!
Always such a good read. Glad my video rant made the cut too!
I too was sucked in by the Avon SSS myth. I got huge weeping mosquito bites for it. Then again, I still get them with proper insect repellent because a) it’s impossible to cover all my skin properly and b) I have what I have Google self-diagnosed as skeeter syndrome, and every insect bite goes WILD and is really itchy and painful for me.
I also used to keep a nearly empty bottle of Hawaiian tropic in my dressing table drawer as a teenager. It was left over from my first girls holiday to Magaluf when I was 17 and I used to give it a sniff and be transported back there 😂
And last but not least, I am very much of the killjoy fragrance free facial skincare crew. I am eczema prone so avoid most fragrance and colour in skincare where possible but there are also a few I can tolerate either through trial and error, or only when my skin is in a good phase.
Oooh Skeeter Syndrome - I didn’t realise it was a thing - that’s kind of what I meant when I said maybe everyone gets bitten and it only bothers me. And yay for Hawaiian Tropic-fuelled nostalgic rushes. Although boo for having to go fragrance-free (although I feel there are far more options today for FF skincare than there used to be, no?)
Definitely much better options these days on the fragrance free situation - some brands offer both with and without fragrance for products (Tropic and Skin Rocks come to mind). I found a fragrance and colour free shampoo and conditioner from Philip Kingsley recently, which is great when my skin is particularly bad and shampoo running down my neck in the shower can set off eczema.
I was going to include a link to skeeter syndrome but substack doesn’t like it. Suffice to say it is defo a thing and there are images online of the inflammation it causes, so you’ll know if it’s what you get with a 5 second look at the (grim!) pictures.
I’ve still got my original Bobbi Brown build-an-eye-palette plus eye brushes that I bought when they opened in Selfridges and I was so excited to see SAs that weren’t orange. 1996 maybe? I don’t use them but I can’t bear to chuck them. Also perfume I bought in Paris in 1993.
The worst examples of PR packaging are the ones that contain lights or screens. It’s madness. I saw an American influencer opening one with a screen the other day - that’s going straight in the bin.
Yes! That build an eye palette concept was brilliant - I may still have an early noughties one of them hanging around. And which perfume? I had my late grandma’s Escale a Portofino for ages but it very much lost its sparkle.
And yes, PR went through a spate of sending out mini video screens and light-up shit. By all means send me an iPad mini but otherwise it’s landfill. Just awful.
At one point I had something like 4-5 iPads of all sizes, pre-loaded with press materials, which were easy to delete and regift. Those were the days.
Either I was never that important or that level of profligacy never reached the UK - either way dammit!
At one point it was so bad here that when I worked at Racked (RIP) we collected our PR mailings for a few months and did a big story on it, complete with photos of huge mounds of stuff. I got blacklisted from several PR agencies after that
Cheryl!!!!! 😂
Is BOLD still around? Pretty sure they still hate me
Things were bonkers here for a bit RE: editor gifting 😵💫
It’s Guerlain’s Jardins de Bagatelle - bought because the name was meaningful not because I love it! 😂 Probably my oldest perfume but I’ve got a few… I’ve seen a light up and a mini screen on PR unboxing a recently, one from a brand that purports to be super environmentally conscious.