Perfect Gifts For Everyone On Your List From Believe

Chanukah is almost over and Christmas is coming right up! If you've seen the full-to-bursting parking lots at the Mall or waited way too long to speak to Customer Service when your internet shopping went awry, you know that time is flying. 

If you can't face another crowd, are out of ideas, and wish you could wave a magic wand and have all your shopping behind you, we at Believe (doing double duty as fairy godmothers) can grant that wish. (Consider it our little gift to you.) 

Here are our picks for Perfect Gifts For Everyone On Your List: 

Your Mom: You know it is time for a makeover for Mom. She's looking a little tired and her old hair color just doesn't suit her anymore. But should you tell her? No! Better yet, buy a Believe Gift Card and send her in for a consultation and makeover with our master colorist and stylist, Lisa. She will talk things over with her, make suggestions and your Mom will leave the chair looking (and feeling) like a new woman. (If you give her the gift of a new Sedu 3600i Blowdryer (on sale now for only $140) she can keep her new style up more easily at home, too.

Teenager Girl: With teenage girls, it is often all about the hair. Buy her a Flatiron for $144 (a 20% discount) and we'll throw in a Flatiron Comb for half-price. (We will also teach her how to use it properly, so she won't fry her hair.) Help her say goodbye to the curls she has hated since she was in third grade and hello to sleek, shiny hair.

Teenage Boy: Long hair is making a comeback, but that in-between stage (when it's growing out) is a mess. Buy him a Cut and Style to keep it in shape (and sexy) while it is getting longer. Do you really think Justin Beiber got that famous from his singing talent? Nah...it was his hair!

Grandmother: Is she sick of those stray grays or fading hair color? Send her in for a custom color by Chromastics. Permanent and Demi-Permanent colors are based on pure tones.  Countless colors can be achieved and due to a soy and hydrolyzed wheat protein base, the product actually helps repair her hair, no matter how long (or how badly) she's been coloring it.

Husband:  Let's face it...sometimes life is a pain in the neck. Your husband works hard, putting up with subways, traffic and the jerks at his office just to help earn the daily bread, Say thanks in a way that matters. Buy a Neck Ease Wrap (20% off) and let the soothing aromas of lavender and herbs, combined with the warm softness of the wrap itself, help unkink those sore muscles and welcome him home in a way he'll remember.

Mother-In-Law: Tell her (with a straight face) that a woman as beautiful as she is deserves to be decorated. Then stop by Believe to check out our selection of jewelry--now all on sale. Buy one and get another 20% off, (Maybe the second one should go in your stocking for being such a dutiful daughter-in-law?) Can't bring yourself to say it? Then gift her with one of the unique fragrances from our CB I Hate Perfume collection (at least you'll like the way she smells.)

Co-Workers: They are always tough to shop for, we know. How to get them something nice, but not too personal and, if your office engages in blind gift exchanges, what's a good one-size- fits-all gift to get? We recommend body butters like Aestalance--great for everybody's static-y hair (or bald scalp) and other dry bits.

Stocking Stuffers: The ZUM family of products make great stocking stuffers--give ZUM Organic Goat Milk Soap (in your choice of fabulous fragrances) now on sale. Buy two get another soap 50% off and Zum Chapsticks (Buy two, get another 50% off). All Zum products are welcome treats during these cold, drying months.

YOU: Let's not forget the most important person here. Instead of all those broken resolutions, make a real change to usher in 2013. Consult with Lisa, Believe's owner, for the perfect new style and color and really do it up for that New Year's party. YOU are a star and we'll make you look and feel like one by working a little magic at Believe. Hurry in! Our December sale ends the 23rd and our holiday appointments are filling up fast! Here's to shining brightly in the new year.

Believe Loves CB's I Hate Perfume

Christopher Brosius is an odd fellow. We admit it. But he is a talented odd fellow. It seems Christopher was born with a natural nose--a rare gift that allows the owner to have a heightened sense of smell that is exactly on target...like a singer with a perfect pitch. He has elevated perfume to an art form. You might say that Believe Beauty Lounge is one of his art galleries, where we showcase his works of art--CB Perfumes.

Christopher considered becoming a scientist when he was a child. We are glad he didn't because we would have missed his innovative scents that have won awards, been featured in museums and are worn by some of the planets most interesting people (which makes his perfumes perfect for Believe customers.)

A natural nose comes in handy if one is a gourmand food taster, a world-class vintner or a legendary perfumer. Christopher Brosius is the latter. His company is named CB I Hate Perfume.

In 1992, Christopher moved back to his parent’s farm in Pennsylvania and, while there, read a life-changing book, “ A Natural History Of The Senses.” The chapter on scent so captivated him; he began making some scents using essential oils. He soon branched out into trying to replicate scents in nature that inspired him…like the smell of freshly turned earth in his garden. He made a perfume that replicated that scent. It was a smash success when it was introduced at a New York department store.

Soon he was creating scents from many things in nature and his next choice, Snow, was also wildly popular.

In 2003, 70 of Christopher’s scents were included in the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum’s Triennial exhibition. It was the first time that a major art museum recognized that scent was designed.  

Christopher relocated his studio to Williamsburg in Brooklyn, opened the CB I Hate Perfume Gallery, and began trying to capture every possible pleasant scent. 

True, some are scents that have never been seen as perfume scents (like the award-winning Snow) but each helps the wearer discover their own unique expression of self.

Asked to sum up his work in only three words, Christopher said,
"Scent is life.” He continues, “ The sense of smell is our first link to the world around us. It reminds us of what (and who) we love. Smell is perhaps the most complex sense we possess and none of the other senses can touch us so profoundly. Not even music can stir the mind & heart so powerfully.”

With his perfumes, Christopher hopes to help each of us achieve the essence of our individuality. “Scent is always individual,” he says. “Your sense of smell is one of the most unique things about you – more individual than your fingerprints, the shape of your ear, the pattern of your retina. Your sense of smell is one of the most important factors that define you as YOU. The way you respond to any scent is unlike anyone else’s – no one remembers what you do, no one feels what you feel. There is a reason you remember certain scents so fondly. Scent is the record of your own special life – it’s your experience."

No animal-derived ingredients are used in Christopher’s perfume, nor is alcohol used, as he believes it evaporates too quickly. Some of Christopher’s perfumes, using lighter ingredients like citrus and jasmine, do wear off sooner than ones with stronger ingredients like sandalwood or leather, but his perfumes are so concentrated, only a little is needed. (Also because natural ingredients are used, if properly stores, the perfumes don’t lose or change their smells even years later.)

CB I Hate Perfume scents can also be used by either men or women and Christopher encourages layering of scents to create the perfect scent for you.

Christopher sums his work as a perfumer up this way:
“Perfume is an art that shows us who we can be if we dare – an invisible portrait of who we are.”

We are proud to support Christopher in his mission to help each of us recognize how we are totally unique and are delighted to carry CB I Hate Perfume scents at Believe Beauty Lounge. Come and discover your scent at Believe