Space Cat Returns + Gum Review

Hello new and more original name. 'Space Cat Meets Mars' is a book I really liked when I was a kid. It's part of a book series about a cat named Flyball who travels the solar system with his human companion and has loads of adventures. If I was a DJ, my DJ name would be Space Cat. Except maybe not, since that name is already taken by an Israeli trance musician. Ummm, no.

The other day I was at a Japanese market in the East Village when I spied this:


Fuwarinka Gum! I read about it a couple of years ago and have been dying to try it since. It supposedly contains weird chemicals that make your skin exude pleasant odors after you chew it. Naturally perfumed skin?? . . . basically I had to get it. They had the rose and the citrus flavor but I've found I'm generally not a fan of flowery flavored concoctions (violet pastilles. . .blech). It comes in little squares with cute pink stars on the outside of the foil wrapping. Unfortunately it loses the flavor after two minutes and is kind of gross after that. I chewed three or four pieces yesterday and I don't think it works. I definitely didn't smell anything different. Citrus apparently makes your skin smell like vanilla, but my skin just smelled like skin.

The gum is supposed to work because it contains geraniol and linalool, two ingredients found naturally in aromatic flowers. So I guess the assumption behind this gum is that if you ingest enough of these chemicals that your body cannot break down they will come out of your pores. This is what happens when you eat too much garlic, btw. I personally think it's pseudo-science marketing B.S. though.

The concept is pretty cool, but I think overall it doesn't work and is pretty silly. After all, people with good hygiene tend to smell nice anyway. Additionally, almost all modern toiletries like soap and shampoo are scented, and so are a lot of laundry detergents so people end up smelling like something no matter what. For practicalities sake, it would be a lot cheaper and infinitely more effective to just use perfume or scented body lotion if I really wanted to smell like vanilla.

Fuwarinka Gum = novelty purchase, no scent change, also fails at being good gum.

Oh, and for a nuanced and beautiful vanilla scent try Comptior Sud Pacifique Vanille Abricot or Amour De Cacao. Two of my favorite perfumes ever. I also have Vanille Cannelle but it treads a fine line between lovely and a holiday scented candle. Which is cool if you love vanilla/cinnamon scented candles. The dry-down is much more subtle than the initial scent.

---

The other night I went to a fancy dinner at my university. Afterward I ran into some friends and followed them to a Ra Ra Riot concert on the spur of the moment. It was pretty fun, although I'm not a big fan of the band.





My floor's not that dirty, I swear! It's just I live in an old converted warehouse and the floor is painted but with permanent stains worn into the paint. I guess that does sound kind of gross but w/e. It's um, bohemian. Anyway I love my apartment. More on that later.

Dress: Iro, second-hand
Belt: Betsey Johnson. The elastic is fraying (poorly made) but it's so cute I would get another one in a minute.
Tights: Chinese Laundry - they are ribbed but you can't tell in the picture.
Shoes: Max Studio