This Little Light of Mine — Brighten up with Glowing by JLo
Despite the fact that I’m still trying to determine whether I’ll ever get to watch the unaired episodes of the Jennifer Lopez– and Marc Anthony-produced show “Q’Viva The Chosen,” my love for J.Lo remains intact. Sure, I was irked that she hired a body double to pose in a car during the driving-through-the-Bronx scenes of her Fiat commercial (the audacity!), but I can’t stay mad at her for long. At the end of the day, she’s the most accomplished female Puerto Rican performer in history. Think about it: the Puerto Rican community has birthed such amazing female talent as Rita Moreno, Rosie Perez, Chita Rivera, Ana Ortiz, Roselyn Sanchez, Olga Tañon, Lauren Velez, Iris Chacón, Miriam Colón, and Rosario Dawson, but none of these women have reached J.Lo’s stature in terms of fame, wealth, and sheer recognizability. Heck, J.Lo outranked Oprah for the No. 1 spot in this year’s Forbes Celebrity 100 List, making her one of the most powerful, influential, financially buoyant public figures in contemporary pop culture. If the girl is glowing, chances are it has more to do with her sense of accomplishment than with her rigorous skin care routine and dewy makeup finishes.
For her latest fragrance launch, J.Lo is sharing some of her light with us — literally. The new Glowing by JLo ($65 for 2.5 oz. bottle at Kohl’s department stores and Kohls.com) EDP comes in a clear, cylindrical bottle with vertical grooves creating a quilt-like appearance, a silver band along the top rim, and an oversize clear cap with faceted sides and a flattened top surface. The shape and grooves along the bottle’s circumference mimic the etchings found on fine Baccarat crystal tumblers, the visual touchstone Lopez relied on when envisioning the packaging. But form aside, what makes the bottles special is that, when you press the atomizer to spritz the scent, the bottle illuminates from within and transforms into this radiant, slightly eerie, almost celestial vessel of light. In 15 seconds, the light automatically shuts off and the bottle returns to its original form, so that the ephemeral quality of the experience makes it feel more precious. Because the bottle is clear and round, the bluish white light that emanates from it appears otherworldly, like the beams of light depicted in science fiction tales or the tunnels of light discusses in spiritual fare.
Launched to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Jennifer Lopez’s Glow perfume, the Glowing EDP constitutes J.Lo’s most sophisticated and grown-up fragrance composition to date. Whereas previous perfumes relied mainly on fruity and floral blends, Glowing has more of a woody, warm, musky quality to it thanks to top notes of bergamot, mandarin, and cypress; middle notes of orange flower, muguet des bois, and cassia flower; and base notes of sandalwood, amber, vanilla, patchouli, vetiver, and cashmere musk.
Though the fragrance does incorporate citrus notes (bergamot and mandarin), they’re barely detectable. In fact, even the first impression of the fragrance is woody and spicy. Similarly, the floral middle notes endow the scent with a powdery and demure quality, subduing the more robust and carnal musk and wood notes, but these floral notes never take center stage. In fact, the most potent note is amber, followed closely by the sandalwood and musk notes. Together, these notes give the fragrance a seductive warmth, making the Glowing name feel all the more fitting. When you wear the scent, then, you can almost picture being in front of a fire place inside a log cabin, your skin cloaked by a soft cotton or cashmere blanket.
A self-assured, sensual, ardent scent, Glowing by J.Lo will make you feel like an exotic woman of mystery.
