One of my favorite beauty blogs, Temptalia, used to have this feature that I really liked: Monday Motivation. I wanted to do my own version, but as you may have noticed, I was so in need of Monday Motivation this week that I didn’t get around to posting this until Tuesday! So this Monday Tuesday, I’m sharing the products (perfume-wise and otherwise!) that are keeping me motivated this week. What’s getting you through the week? Please tell us in the comments!
Idole de Lubin EDT. If I wasn’t such a perfume floozy, this would be my signature scent. Now, do I need a backup? LuckyScent told me on Twitter that Idole EDT “is no more”, and a bottle is only $100 (with free shipping!) on Beauty Habit. Normally I can’t imagine needing a backup of a 75 ml perfume, but the lasting power is excruciatingly poor.
Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelée in Getaway Red. The opportunity to wear a blush that smells like coconuts is a surprisingly effective motivational tool for getting out of bed in the morning.
Ineke Floral Curiosities Angel’s Trumpet. I’ve liked this lush, aquatic floral since the first time I tried it at Anthropologie. When the price recently dropped to $14, my resistance finally dropped along with it. Really great on those gross, sticky hot days.
Trader Joe’s Jasmine Green Tea. I hate jasmine in perfumes, but adore it in tea. What does that even mean? And isn’t the packaging hella Gatsby?
SCENTS OF SELF 
I need to be motivated this week. My last exam in this sememster is on Thursday – I need to be focused. Eau d’Italie Acqua Decima has just arrived, it will motivate me, I hope!
Good luck on your exam, Lucas!! I haven’t tried any of the Eau d’Italie line, but Acqua Decima sounds very citrusy and therefore energizing.
And it smells exactly like you said!
My motivation for this week was almost killed entirely by the fact that I pulled my shoulder during aerial silks last night on my final climb of the evening. And really, I’d like to say it’s not the years, it’s the mileage, but it’s definitely the years. So getting past that sudden unforeseen annoyance, let’s focus on the good.
Several months ago I bought some hair extensions to assist in the miserable process of growing out what was once my Edie Sedgwick blonde and flirty hair that over the course of the past eleven months was reduced to this jet black, uneven bob that I can’t do anything with. It’s finally long enough to pull back, so I found a quick fix of clipping in three extension wefts and managing to do a really cute vintage-y up-do. Having a cute hair style has done wonders with my motivation these past several days. The best part is it actually takes less time to do my hair in the morning than it usually does.
Bold lipstick. I love bold lipstick colours. Fuchsia, tangerine, bright red. The bolder and brighter, the better. The key to wearing bold lip colour is to make sure it’s matte and not a gloss, which can quickly turn into a messy disaster.
New music. Late to the game, but I ordered Of Monsters & Men’s album and it’s kind of been playing in a loop on my iPod since yesterday. I had ignored this album for a long while because their first single gradually began to grate on my nerves after being overplayed. Also, there’s this new trend of bands all trying to be quirky and indie and heartfelt and generally it just doesn’t work for me. Lumineers, I’m looking at you.
My other movitation falls into the things I reblog on Tumblr, which we’ll just not talk about my guilty pleasures right now.
I had no idea what aerial silks were, so I just googled it and oh my goodness you are SO COOL. But I’m so sorry that you hurt your shoulder! I say it’s the mileage, not the age- I met a lot of college-age rock climbers last semester and they constantly have shoulder injuries!
PREACH about the benefits of a cute hairstyle- my disastrous fall haircut made me genuinely unhappy. How did you find extensions that were a good color match for your hair? Do you have to dye them? The crisis point has passed for me, hair-wise, but I’d like to know for the next time I decide to destroy my hair.
The extensions are EuroNext which you can buy at Sally’s. My sister who’s a stylist recommended them to me. The jet black colour matches my hair exact so I didn’t have to bother with colouring them, but I have heard people recommend getting the lightest blonde and dyeing them to match your hair. I’ll probably continue to use them for added length/volume when going out even once my hair’s grown out.
If you don’t mind me asking, assuming your purchase was recent, WHERE did you find Angel’s Trumpet? I’ve been searching ever since I failed to buy the last bottle at Anthropologie. One of those times that I sprayed in the store, didn’t get wowed, then on the drive home I kept getting a whiff of WOW. The store is 1.5 hours away, so by the time I got back there a month later, it was, of course, gone. Wahhh.
I do not mind at all, Joanne! I found mine in the sale section at my local Anthropologie. Angel’s Trumpet seems to be sold out on the Anthro website, unfortunately. I really wonder why they discontinued this line- it’s nicer than virtually anything else they have other than Tocca. If I happen to see a bottle left the next time I go to Anthro, I will absolutely get it for you!
HOLD UP!!! Angel’s Trumpet is still available on the Ineke website!
I STILL can’t find it on there. They have the travel size of Sweet William available, but the site won’t let a person order Angel’s Trumpet. I e-mailed asking if they could locate a travel size for me somewhere in their stores. Nothing desperate about that, huh. There is something about not being to find what I want that just makes me all the more determined. Thank you for your kind offer to look at your store next time you get there, but I would never take you up on that. You have enough on your plate. Fingers crossed that Anthro will come through for me!
I bought my fave of the line, Sweet William, when they put the big bottles on sale, but then they seemed to clearance the minis, and I missed that in stores completely. Bummer because I am now wishing I got a few others from the collection… especially the minis.
I had a cup of Jasmine Green Tea yesterday. And that Ineke perfume is one I’m really wanting to smell soon.
It’s definitely worth trying, James! I’ve never smelled a real Angel’s Trumpet before, so I can’t say how accurate it is, but it smells just great.
Jim- your little fairie has sent you some more of the trader joe jasmine green tea as well as a sample of Angel’s Trumpet :D!! enjoy!
I just opened the package. Thank you 🙂
Coffee is my Monday motivator.
I am wearing this great perfume today – 1000 Flowers Reglisse Noir. It’s a cozy black licorice scent. I don’t even like licorice normally and I am loving this. But I fear it’s inhibiting my productivity. I really think I get more done when I’m wearing a bracing/fresh scent. Jasmine especially seems to be a motivator for me.
Ooooh I love Reglisse Noir! A person who swapped with me threw in a sample, and it was my favorite in the bunch, more than the thing I was actually swapping for, even. And I’ve never been a fan of black licorice either.
I didn’t know Idole EDT is going away! That makes me sad. I really like it, and $100 with free shipping isn’t a bad deal. Is the EDP still going to be around?
I know!! It must not have sold well, even though it was so lovely. The EDP is still available at all the usual suspects.
Personally I would say that if you love it that much, a backup bottle is a good idea (I convince myself I can always sell it), but you need to be able to afford it before you can buy it. If you can afford it – sure!
I’m annoyed for my perfume budget’s bottom line that I bought two backup bottles this past month (Le petit rien and Bell’Antonio) but I’m not sad I have them. They’re two favorites.
I hadn’t heard of Bell’Antonio before and just read the reviews- it sounds just fantastic. Tobacco and coffee? I would need a backup too!
Oh c’mon. I could have sworn I sent you some.
I agree: if you love it and if you can store it well, buy a back-up! So glad to see you got your Idole!
Me too, Daisy! I was so surprised to finally find it on Beauty Habit- I really thought that it would be lost to me forever!
Backups of loveys are NECESSARY. NECESSARRYYYYYYY. — Said the girl with three bottles of Cuir de Lancome (Who decided it would be good to discontinue that? Stupidheads) and two of L’Arte di Gucci and two of Le Temps d’une Fete.
I got somebody to mule me a bottle of Sweet William, because it is like a version of Femme I can wear. WOnderful. And I want that cheek thingy – I like sheer cheek color. I like coconut. 🙂
What’s getting me through the week THIS week is the fact that one kid is going to the summer PE camp (tomorrow Gaze goes to the low ropes course at the nearby Boy Scout camp, the day after they hit the high ropes course), one kid has no school and is sooooo relaaaaaxed that we might have to prop her up, and one kid has been given five projects for the summer and is working on them. And pictures of Tom Hardy. Preferably shirtless. And my temporary tattoo pen. And Mary Greenwell Plum. And Lipstick Queen Medieval.
It would be nicer if The CEO were not home working on the farm for the summer, because he is already grouchy. Grr.
You were smart to get lots of Cuir de Lancome! It used to be so cheap on Parfum1, but I haven’t seen it anywhere for less than $75 recently! I’m very grateful for my one ($25!) bottle.
Medieval is the best. The. best. I need to try her Saint lipsticks, too. Where did you get yours, Mals? Is there an Anthropologie in your area?
It is so very nice to hear that Bookworm finally has a chance to relax 😀
Benadryl, Claritin and other antihistamines are trying to get me through the week 😦 (I hate unexplained allergies away from home!)
Oh nooooo, poor Undina!! I’ve been Claritin-ing it up too recently- I’ve been particularly allergic to the cat lately, which is hard to reconcile with my desire to cuddle her at every opportunity.
I have boxes and boxes of Trader Joes Jasmine Green and have gifted away to several close friends….and Angel’s trumpet by Ineke is the quintessential spring scent…it came as a promotion when I recently bought a bottle of Derring Do :D!!!