Monday, October 13, 2008

Fusion Funk

While idly paging through a magazine at the salon the other week I came upon an ad for FusionBeauty, a line of beauty and skincare products that purports to be the non-injection version of Botox.

Stamped with the trusty, venerable Good Housekeeping magazine seal of approval (as opposed to, say, Interview magazine), these products seemed trustworthy and sans danger.

So, in a moment of fun, I ordered a vial of LiftFusion to see what wonders its contents might work on the creases in my brow that have been gently etched there from years of thinking, thinking, thinking about ideas.

LiftFusion arrived on Saturday; I put a dab on my lower brow. I soon felt gentle tingles on my forehead (so far so good) and soon after that felt like the inside corners of my eyes were stinging. Whether the stinging was imaginary or not (and my imagination is vivid indeed), I quickly washed off the product and reprimanded myself for trying to interfere with nature. LiftFusion was not meant to be.

Later that afternoon I was contentedly thinking about color—pink with red, turquoise with green, and was struck by the memory of a label I’d long forgotten: Monsoon.

Do you remember in the early nineties when all the “It” girls were wearing London’s Monsoon? If I recall correctly, the clothing was super-exclusive (when I was in London the shop was by appointment only), super-expensive, had a tremendous rock-star vibe a la Talitha Getty, and was desirable because of the wild, bohemian mixes of color and shape (ethnic fusion).

I had a quick search on the internet and was shocked to see that Monsoon, once the arbiter of all things cool, had become, well, pedestrian. There was a catalogue, as well as an online shop. I cheered when I saw a link to “Monsoon Fusion,” hoping to find some of that glorious color and decadent vibe of the last decade, but all I saw was rather mumsy-hippie wear. What happened?!
So “fusion” didn’t fuse this weekend.

At least I have my memories of Wagamama; perhaps culinary fusion is here to stay?

10 comments:

Songy said...

Both Monsoon and Wagamama are nothing special at the moment from my experience anyway and I missed out on their initial exclusivity and charm when they first came out. Funnily enough I first saw Monsoon in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and they were just colourful and fun against Prada and YSL. You do get a mixture of everything in the Middle East after all.

Songy said...

oh forgot to mention also, sorry to hear that the product didn't work for you.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a slightly scary experience with the LiftFusion. Glad you aborted the experiment before things got out of hand.

Couture Carrie said...

Sorry that Lift Fusion was not the miracle serum it purported to be . . .

Love that photo!

xoxox,
CC

La Belette Rouge said...

I have never bought Lift Fusion. I do wish that your results had been all you dreamed. Hope is rarely found in a bottle.;-)

LenoreNeverM♡re said...

please no to mumsy-wear...love you mom! Keep us posted w the result on Lift Fusion...who doesn't need an added lift here & there... my superdooper lifting bra isn't enough somehow.

Lovely week to you dear!

Elizabeth said...

I'm sorry to hear of your difficulty with your new product. This happens to me often, so I restrict myself to certain brands. Stingy eyes are no fun at all.

Last time I was in London ('05), Monsoon was quite pedestrian. It goes to show it's all perspective: I couldn't believe what I was reading when you said it was exclusive in the past! Wow.

Imelda Matt - The Despotic Queen of Shoes said...

I was thinking that a bejeweled eye patch was going to work it's way into the story...I remember there being such a fuss in Australian over Monsoon...I never understood why!

Disneyrollergirl.net said...

Oh dear, your recollection of Monsoon doesn't quite fit with mine! Late-80s/early-90s Monsoon was very much about Sloane Ranger ball dresses - think puffy burgundy taffeta off-the-shoulder frocks. Then it went through a mumsy stage - lots of devore velvet and palazzo pants I recall. Most recently (the 2000s), it has been trading on its boho heritage - maxi dresses, kaftan shapes and embellished bags (didn't Matthew Williamson work for them before he got famous?). Now it's just... blah.

Miss Cavendish said...

Rollergirl, I was hoping that someone from London would comment! I recall that Vogue USA touted Monsoon as the current "it" clothing in what must have been the early to mid nineties; fascinating to learn how it was perceived in the UK! Of course I defer to you, as you were there!