Queen of Cashmere Daybook

photo Leonardo Martins

Two key products of my winter remedy are a body cream and companion spray oil that are created at a charmingly romantic, 250 year old villa in Italy.  The line is so obscure that I couldn’t find images online so I called the Italian offices.

via Ben on Flickr

Allora, the exclusive US distribution rights are  held by a company big enough to be a household name.   Yes, you would definitely know the corporation.  

My US contact was a woman named Mia C.  Our conversation went like this: 

• Mia C.: “No, we don’t have images.  I can send you some product and you can take your own pictures.”
• Me:  “Great!  That’s  so nice. After I take the pictures, I will use the products for a giveaway on my blog.”
• Mia C.: “No, you can’t do that.”

I’m a little slow on the uptake.  Mind you, I wasn’t soliciting a freebie, what I was really in search of were images and I crawled the internet and called from Italy to Arizona to find some.  I wanted to tell the world (my little slice of the blog world, at least) about their products.   And the bounty of a freebie?  That was going to be passed on to my followers.   It took me a minute but this BIG national company wanted me to return the two bottles of moisturizer after I photographed them, gave them free buzz and told my readership where to buy.       

Does this strike you as mean and stingy?  Yeah, me  too.  Cut the music and bring up the lights — ZERO blog love for them.

And then I got to thinking…

Let’s be honest.  I use different products in the winter but I don’t use them to get me through the winter.  Instead, my M.O. is to run away in search of a life changing experience.  Every year, it happens.  The itch.  The urge.  Like clockwork, it starts around Christmas and reaches a crescendo every February.   Sometimes, like last weekend, the cure is short and sweet.  Sometimes, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime, other-side-of-the-world adventure.  

So, tomorrow,  the first in a three part series: Coping with Winter Caron-style.