Roses have been my absolute favorite flower in the world for almost as long as the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast has been my favorite fairy tale. Convenient, that that particular story features the rose rather prominently within its plot, no? I have an immense love for many, many kinds of flowers, of course...one of the perks of working at a florist shop is being surrounded by them every day. But in the end of it all, my favorite will always be the rose.
I'm picky on a few points about what kind of rose or what shade of rose, occasionally. While they're still gorgeous paragons of beauty in God's creation, the classic red roses...you know the ones that I'm referring to, the long-stemmed true red roses that show up a lot in Valentine's Day bouquets...aren't so much my favorite. I love the enormous delicate peach-pink blossoms of the Titanic variety, and the velvety, inky Black Magic variety as well. Two of the roses featured in my and Mr. Darcy's February wedding were the Escimo and Vendela varieties, which you can see in the bouquets that are second and third from the right in the picture above, carried by my best friends. White roses are my absolute favorite, hands-down, and don't let anyone ever try to convince you otherwise. ;) There's just something so pristine, so elegant, and untouchably beautiful about a white rose...wouldn't you agree?
Anyway, all that to introduce the topic of this post. Yes, roses! On this cold, wet, and windy November afternoon--at least, that's what's going on for us in this area of the East Coast--I would like to introduce to you some of my favorite items that feature roses. You may have met some of them before, but let's commence without further ado!
Item #1: Boots No. 7 Original Beauty Formula Rose Vanishing Day Cream.
I purchased this the other day from Target. It cost under $13, it smells like roses, and it's a nice thick cream that sinks into my dry, sensitive skin and doesn't irritate it or leave a sticky residue. Perfect for winter--or any other time of the year when your skin needs an extra boost of hydration.
Item #2: Stella McCartney's Stella eau de parfum.
This is a lovely fragrance that is delicate, feminine, sophisticated, and far, far, far away from being overwhelmingly floral. The scent calls to mind a bouquet of roses--it smells nice, without being a flowery sucker-punch. Though I suppose that a flowery sucker-punch probably wouldn't hurt too terribly much. ;P
Item #3: from L'Occitane en Provence, the Roses 4 Reines Hydrating Face Mist.
This is a nice product to keep in your purse. It is $8 of softly-scented hydration to set and refresh your makeup during the day, and it's also great to just spritz on your skin right after washing your face, for an extra boost of moisture before you put on your actual moisturizer.
Item #4: Smith's Rosebud Salve.
The products from this brand are, like the products from Boots No. 7, some items that have been beloved beauty and skincare favorites of many people for a long time. The first item of the line that I tried was the subtly-tinted Minted Rose version, which I bought in a tin from Sephora. Little did I know--until a college classmate noticed that I was using it one day during class--Smith's Rosebud Salve is a popular all-purpose balm that has been used for years for everything from chapped lips to minor burns and such. She told me that it reminded her of when she was growing up and her grandmother always kept it around.
Now that I've used both the Minter Rose and the classic Rosebud version, I know why it has so many fans! It makes lips soft and keeps dryness at bay, and in a pinch you can use a little of it on the backs of your hands when your skin gets dry. (My ah-ha! moment was when I burned the tip of my finger on the coffee pot base...ouch...and I dabbed a little of the salve on the injured site. Within minutes, the pain was gone, and hours later I couldn't tell that I'd been in a nasty bit of pain earlier!) Oh, and did I mention that you can get the stuff for $6 at Sephora? Some people might call that pricey lip balm, but let me tell you--one tin of this salve lasts for-e-ver.
And last but not least, Item #5: burlap rosette wreaths.
All right, so, in my last post I introduced you to the burlap wreath that I made recently. At the time, I tried using an old pool noodle for the base of the wreath...it worked well until I actually tried putting said wreath up on the apartment door, and then it got a little droopy, which was a rather sad sight. However, in this moment of defeat also comes discovery. Not only does the wreath feature roses--very simply made from scraps of burlap and hot glue--it also provides me with a topic for my next post. I have a new base for the wreath, bought from the thrift store, and this afternoon I will be working to disassemble and then reassemble the wreath into a new, sturdier version of its original self. Fabric rosettes are ridiculously easy to make, if you don't mind working with hot glue.
Now, here we are at the end of another post, and yes...I realize that I promised to post a recipe, when last I wrote. The inspiration to write about my favorite flower made it necessary to put that off for another time--but! The holidays are rapidly approaching, and today I told my mom that I was going to tackle making something pumpkin-y for Thanksgiving Day dessert. No one in my family really likes pumpkin pie, but I like pumpkin pie and I think it would be a culinary tragedy to exclude it completely from the day's menu. So, when I come up with something blog-worthy, I will certainly share it here. For now, I'm off to work on my wreath and take some pictures of the process for ya'll.
À bientôt!
Cait
PS All images contained in this post, with the exception of the photo of my wreath, are images that I pulled from various sources on the web, and therefore they do not belong to me, nor do I claim that they are my work or my property. C'est tout.
No comments:
Post a Comment