We need to talk about We Need To Talk About Kevin

As much as I love reading, it does not occur very often that I feel compelled to write a review about a book. I can think of maybe four or five books that thrilled me so much that I wanted to discuss them again and again. Now I can add "We Need To Talk About Kevin" to that list. 

The author, Lionel Shriver, says she likes creating characters that are "hard to love". And this is true for every person named in "We Need To Talk About Kevin. The main plot: teenager Kevin murdered seven students at his high school. In letters to her husband Franklin, Kevin's mom Eva reflects on Kevin's childhood and her role as a mother. 

source: amazon.com

The book brings up so many questions about parental and social failure, mental illnesses, who to blame for what, who is deserving of what punishment, and it describes the helplessness of everyone. It's a sad and pessimistic view of life, but never have I seen it being portrayed in a more fascinating way.

You don't want to sympathize with Eva, because she is - as she admits herself - not a good mother and maybe also not a very good wife. And yet it's hard to not recognize yourself in some of the things she says or does or thinks. Her honesty is shocking but admirable.

You cannot help but be repulsed by many of the things Kevin does as a young child and of course the horrible actions he takes as a teenager.

And Franklin? He is a bit of  a douchebag. You can give him credit for trying to be a good dad, but it's hard to ignore that in the end he's just a vacuous, shallow, stereotypical suburb American (a Republican, even!) who is in denial about everything that is wrong in his family.

Shriver's language is so precise and the whole story is so well-conceived, it makes this novel all the more terrifying, disturbing and mind-blowing. 

I have nothing but love for this book. I would never have picked it up myself if it had not been recommended to me. I hope this post inspires a few people to read this ingenious book because it's more than worth it.

YSL La Laque Couture "Spicy Collection"

Normally I am extremely faithful to Chanel when it comes to nail polishes. But since it looks like they are not releasing anything all that interesting in the near future (unless you are into the boring red/pink/coral kind of color palette) I didn't feel guilty checking out what other designers are releasing this Spring. Dior has a few pretty products in their 'Trianon' and 'Transatlantique' collections, but none of them were must-haves for me. 

Now, the real standout this season is YSL's La Laque Couture "Spicy Collection", a range of nail polishes inspired by, yeah, spices. The collection includes seven different nail polishes, but not all of them seem to be available everywhere. 

I was lucky to get my hands on "Safran Sultan" (#42) and "Ambre Gingembre" (#44). I passed on "Feuille D'Or" (#47) for multiple reasons (gives me carnival vibes, looks like it could get messy, would clash with my silver jewelry, etc.). 

source: yslbeautyus.com

"Safran Sultan" is exactly what it promises to be, a lush saffron color. It's unique and interesting and I love how it matches the eye color of my BSH cat (important detail, yup). "Ambre Gingembre" is a nice amber shade that resembles the "ginger" used as descriptive term for red hair. It's the first non-trashy orange-y nail polish shade ever, seriously. It's warm and deep but not garish. Super beautiful.

What's awesome about both nail polishes is that they are super easy to apply (love the wide brush!), one coat is enough and will look fantastic for over a week. 

Favorite beauty release of the year so far!

Slumberhouse's Zahd. Or: what you don't want people around you to smell like.

The photo above may be misleading, but this post is not about dessert. If it was about dessert I would have much nicer things to say than what is about to follow. Because I love dessert. I especially love chocolate. I also love all kinds of berries. Yum. But as any sensible person probably knows, eating way too much of it can make you feel pretty damn miserable. Therefore my discovery from last weekend shouldn't actually surprise me all that much: desserts should not be worn as perfume. Because, do you really want someone close to you to smell of cranberries and cherries and chocolate all day? 

Slumberhouse is a small niche perfume house with an awesome website and some very interesting fragrances on sale (and also not on sale -- because limited/exclusive/indiehypedandsoldout/etc.). I enjoy Vikt, Sova and Jeke and consider those three of the most unique, fun and intriguing fragrances my man wears. I was therefore excited when he received a sample of Zahd, the latest Slumberhouse scent, which is already sold out everywhere. But my excitement didn't last long, and could probably have been prevented entirely by a prior check of what notes are in it: Cranberry, Champaca flower, Benzoin, Plum, Pink lotus, Fir, Cocoa, Tolu, Gromwell, Wine ether, Mysore sandalwood, Cherry, Incense, Oak. Gross? You bet. If the woody, floral, Benzoin stuff was a little more prominent, maybe this wouldn't be all that disgusting. But the cranberries, the cherry and the cocoa are so overpowering, I couldn't help but be reminded of those horrible Punica drinks that are popular in Germany, and cherry wine, and cheap cranberry chocolate bars. As the perfume develops, the incense becomes a little more noticeable. But instead of evening out some of the fragrance's unpleasant sweetness, it just makes it smell like a chocolate bar that was lying around in an esoteric shop for a little too long. 

As much as I generally respect passionate independent artists who create daring, different products that will not appeal to everyone but thrill an enthusiastic small cult following, I have little admiration for this particular fragrance. It is not for me. And hopefully people around me share my sentiments about this. Smelling this on my man all morning and evening was somewhat traumatic. So it is comforting to know that it is not widely available and I probably do not have to worry about anyone else around me giving this a try. I advise you not to do it.

Juniper Ridge Cabin Spray: 'Cascade Glacier'

source: juniperridge.com 

Everyone who shares a small-ish apartment with several cats will agree that room sprays are brutally essential to your life. Both of our cats are extremely proud of the strong odor their visits to the litter box produces and like to demonstrate it as soon as we enter the room. They have every reason to boast, it's rather impressive. Needless to say, it was not hard to justify getting each cat their own fancy Le Labo room spray (Cedre 11 for the lady, Santal 26 for the gentleman). But once our cats had their luxurious home fragrances, it seemed unfair we would continue using just a cheap, terribly chemical-smelling spray for our bathroom. Luckily, on a very recent trip to Urban Outfitters, we spotted Juniper Ridge's Cabin Sprays. 

The great thing about Juniper Ridge's products is that they are 100% real, plant-based fragrances. As fans of weird, 'non-pretty' fragrances we were delighted with how all of their sprays smelled. We decided to get Cascade Glacier. Its scent profile reads, "Evergreen forest, snowmelt, bright citrus, Christmas, the Timberline Trail on Oregon’s Mt. Hood, where Fir and Pine give way to ice-age glaciers". Like all the cabin sprays it was "distilled from plants, conifers, bark, moss, mushrooms, and other things found hiking in the Oregon backcountry". I have never been hiking in the Oregon backcountry, but the aroma seems familiar from the wet mossy grounds and resin-coated fir trees in the wintery forests in Switzerland, where I grew up. It's striking how all the natural ingredients stick out in this spray. So if you like any of the "things" used for its distillation, you are almost certainly going to love these home fragrances.