Posts

Showing posts from February, 2023

Yes I Am by Cacharel

Image
Just look at that bottle of Yes I Am by Cacharel... A classic red lipstick. Wearing red-colored lips dates back to the ancient Sumerians. Then, in Ancient Egypt (Cleopatra, of course), more colors besides red were available ( source ). Cacharel, like the Ancient Egyptians, after the classic red lipstick, came out with lipsticks with different colors, the flankers of Yes I Am. In the original Yes I Am, the star of the show is cardamom. Cardamom appears to have some health benefits and the list is long: it may help lower blood pressure, some compounds in it may stop the growth of tumors and fight cancer (so far only seen in vitro and in mice), it has antioxidants that may slow down and prevent inflammation, it may offer protection against digestive issues and in rats it has been shown to reduce the number and size of stomach ulcers, it may treat bad breath and prevent cavities, etc. Looks like this spice could turn us into immortals.  A classic red lipstick as the bottle, repr...

Illicit by Jimmy Choo

Image
  Today's fragrance is all about the ginger, beautifully blended with the other notes. I've found that the chapter 7 from the book Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects  is called  The Amazing and Mighty Ginger , which sounds like the title of an old-timey comic book about a ginger superhero. But it is really a good source of information, from which I will share the bits I've found more interesting. Ginger, cardamom and turmeric are all members of the same plant family. It is believed that Indians and Chinese have been using ginger as a tonic root to treat many ailments for over 5000 years. Long before history was formally recorded, ginger was used as a flavoring agent. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, if you wanted to buy a pound of ginger it would cost you a sheep. And during medieval times, it was used in sweets. Last but not least, Queen Elizabeth I of England is credited with the invention of the gingerbread man. Ginger has been shown to have ...

Chocolate Greedy by Montale

Image
  In 1735, Linnaeus gave de cacao tree the scientific name Theobroma cacao . Theobroma means "food of the gods". This name comes not only from Linnaeus' love of chocolate but also from his knowledge about the Mayan and Aztec beliefs that cacao was a gift from the gods ( source ). A lot has been said and published about chocolate, so I wanted to bring you something new that you might not heard about before. It is a recent scientific study, from 2021, called " Chocolate Consumption and Sex-Interest ", by Beatrice A. Golomb and Brinton K. Berg from the University of California, San Diego, USA. They found no relationship between chocolate and libido in men. However, they had questions regarding women. Here's a quote from the scientific paper: (...) chocolate consumption might be tied to increased sex-interest - or diminished (or neither). Chocolate might be postulated to spur interest in sex, by simulating love and stimulating the chemicals allied with it - with...