photo courtesy of Givenchy Parfums

One could argue that my first foray into designer brand love was done in “blind faith” which would be accurate because it came in the form of my first scent obsession. I was 13 years old then and after 3 months of saving my lunch money I finally got myself a bottle of Givenchy Oblique-Play, other variants of which were Rewind and Fast Forward, but the fresh sweet scent of Play was the one that really appealed to me. Unfortunately, after loyally patronizing the scent for several years it was discontinued and I was left alone and scentless. A similar thing happened to my sister when after finding the perfect (and cheap) Maybelline Great Lash Mascara; it was all of a sudden discontinued.

photo courtesy of fragrantica.com

Almost a decade later they’re baaaaccckkk, promising to be better and (in the Great Lash’ case) BIGGER than ever. Givenchy’s new scent now called “PLAY Intense” was arguably the most beloved of the original Oblique range. Coming out this September and pimped out by no other than Mr. Justin Timberlake, Play Intense, has definitely grown up along with its market namely moi. Still in a playfully shaped bottle (frosted glass shaped like an MP3 player with a rubberized button), the scent maintains its fresh sweet scent with notes of bergamot and mandarin replacing the lemon from the original. Added spice comes from pink pepper and tonka bean and the woodiness has been upped with vetiver, coffee bean wood and amyris wood. All in all PLAY Intense is a deserving contemporary to a much loved scent. We all have to grow up after all.

photo courtesy of walgreens.com

Speaking of growing, the cult fave Maybelline Great Lash Mascara, has amped up its volumizing and lengthening powers with a reworked brushed that has become chubbier than the last time I saw it. Now called the Maybelline Great Lash BIG Mascara, it remains one of the best buildable formula mascaras around and surprisingly enough application with the new fat brush was easy & not awkward at all. Plus at US$7 a pop, who wouldn’t want to fall in love again with this “American Sweetheart” of mascaras?