Dolling myself up to look some kind-a gorgeous, I headed to the Merrion Hotel yesterday morning to take a light breakfast with twins Jean and Jane Ford, above, founders of one of Beaut.ie's absolute tip-of-the-top favourite beauty brands, Benefit. Here to present to the Irish press and media their latest launch - the intriguingly-named Crescent Row - as you can imagine, the RSVP list was huge and the room was packed full of lipsticked ladies with pens poised.
While it's not on counter till August, I'll tell you a little about Crescent Row now. It's a landmark fragrance launch for the brand, and it was inspired by a trip Jean's daughters (the new Benefit sister act to watch out for) took to Bath a couple of years ago. Wowed by the city's signature curved Georgian crescent, they got their thinking caps on, and came up with a trio of fragrances based on the homes and personalities of three imaginary, but believable, protagonists: Laugh With me Lee Lee, My Place or Yours Gina and Something About Sofia.
Behind the doors of each cleverly-designed box you'll find the trappings of their lives - Lee Lee is a girly romantic, with a decorating bent that's gallic and shabby-chic. Her scent is a woody floral with citrusy top notes. Sofia is an extrovert (yes, yes, I immediately identified with her) with eclectic tastes and a strong personality. She's an oriental floral that's heady, but not overpowering. Lastly we have Gina, and she's the seductress of the bunch: her decor is boudoir-tastic and she smells of sin - oh, and pink pepper, bergamot and tangerine. Woody Oriental fans will plump for her, and in fact, the sisters are sitting in a life-size replica of her home in the photo above.
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Like everything Benefit do, this range is imbued with personality, fun and fancy. The outer packaging is impressive on its own, but the bottles are the real star of the show. Inspired by Jean and Jane's great aunt's delicate Victorian hip flask, each is shaped like a mini golden cocktail shaker, with the middle decorated in a pattern tailored for each of the gals. So Lee Lee gets a blue, whimsical decal, Sofia is pink and feisty and Gina is dark and sultry.
All three not only look great together, but they've also been designed to be layered or worn separately. What would I pick? In spirit, I'm a Sofia for sure, but in fragrance terms, I'm a Lee Lee every time.
While we'll have to wait until August to check out the fragrances in person (but we will bring you pix when we have them), I want to know which one of the gals do you identify with from the descriptions above? Which do you think you'll buy?
Watch out for part two of my Benefit experience, when I'll be dishing the results of what these two ladies thought of all your fantasy product suggestions!
