HERETIC PERFUME

I often find myself pining for Byredo, the aching cool Stockholm perfume line with haunting titles and expertly complicated scents – or Diptyque, who always nails it with a scent that’s simultaneously familiar and unexpected. I want fragrances that unfold like a great story. From time to time, I’ll finding lovely fragrances that are ‘clean’, but ultimately, the romance fizzles when the oils go rancid or the perfume goes off after a few months of being opened.

Enter Heretic, from the charmingly esoteric Douglas Little, who drops the mic in satisfying every perfume longing I’ve had yet. It’s taken years to find a fragrance house as relentlessly clean and steadfast in its mission of safe, non-toxic fragrance, but also hold its own in an oversaturated mainstream fragrance market. Employing old world perfume crafting methods, these fragrances somehow unfold like a conventional formula. 

Dirty Jasmine (my favorite). My goto perfume in my twenties was D&G Feminine from Dolce & Gabbana. It was powdery, gorgeous, and like other conventional fragrances, unclear about what was exactly in it (fragrances are considered proprietary intellectual property so manufactures can legally stay mum about the ingredients by simply listing the scents in their product as ‘fragrance’.) This is a solid dupe, it’s unabashedly sexy but at the same time, smells like an old lady’s handbag.

Dirty Grass (hello fans of the iconic 90’s GAP grass EDT) is laced with CBD and is aggressively plant-y.

Dirty Neroli quite literally smells like the mediterranean orange blossom trees from my childhood.

Dirty Vanilla is an excellent stand alone, but pairs wonderfully with just about every other perfume I own (Heretic and otherwise).

Florgasm is a round, transparent and aquatic floral, I’ve gone through my first bottle quickly and midway through my second. If you love florals, but want something that’s unexpected and iconic, this is the one to reach for.

Slightly Bitter is sugary citrus with a sharp bite at the end that mellows out after an hour of wear.

Dirty Mango and Dirty Lemon are both sweet and gourmand, but at the same time very adult.

Pistil Whip is an edgy tuberose.

Dirty Fig is a deeper, intriguing scent that I love wearing in cooler weather.

Unsure where to start? They thankfully offer sample sizes to test drive in the comfort of your own home. Consider signing up for their newsletters, they have monthly limited edition drops and specials well worth checking out.

3 Fantastic Brow Defining Products

A brilliant makeup artist at Barney’s New York gave me invaluable advice: instead of going hard on the eye makeup, try focusing on blush and brows that properly frame the eye.

“Like glasses” she said as she dabbed a shimmering pink powder on my cheekbones and artfully cajoled the topmost arch of my brow into a well defined angle with a taupe-y bow pencil.

At the time, as a devotee of the 50’s liquid black eyeliner and chromatic eyeshadow look, I was incredulous. But the effect was both subtle and powerful. I looked less tired, and somehow more “me.” Or at least the me I aspire to look like.

18 years on, I still lean on that wisdom. You could cover the entire length of your brown, but start with just the top angle of the arch–lightly tracing it–and go from there. Pencil, brow mascara, potted creams, there’s a plethora of formulations to accomplish this. Here’s what I’ve found and liked:

• Plume Nourish & Define Brow Pomade [Shown above] - available in really believable shades, and builds up nicely. The angled brush is pretty fantastic, and the creamy formula is a cinch to apply. Definitely my favorite of the pot formulas I’ve tried. The caveat here is that it doesn’t set, so don’t go rubbing your eyebrows and take caution if you’re prone to oiliness or live in hot and humid environment.

• Kimiko Brow Pencil - I love that it’s retractable; meaning one less pencil to sharpen. The colors are perfectly calibrated to various realistic hues (think dirty dish water, you want it to have some gray to it). The pencils are exceptionally fine, and dry enough to stick throughout an August day. Just draw little lines, mimicking the direction of your brow hairs. Voila, fuller brows.

• Saie Brow Butter - the most natural out of the three, and arguably the most easy to apply. I’ve tried just about every clean brow mascara launched to date, and this is by far my favorite. Each stroke of this tiny want coaxes out the prettiest Olsen-twin-esque brows, and the fluffy definition lasts all day. What I love most about it is how soft the formula is, it doesn’t dry to a stiff, almost hairsprayed lacquer like so many other formulas. This somehow stays pliable, but with nary a smudge. My only grumble is that I went though my tube in a few short weeks. It’s pretty damn good.