Posted by Robin
on
18 December 2011
The 8th and last of our 2011 series of holiday gift posts. Today’s focus: budget gifts and stocking stuffers, listed in order of price (low to high).
If you missed them, here are links to part 1 (scented body products), part 2 (travel sizes & coffrets), part 3 (more travel sizes & coffrets), part 4 (home fragrance), part 5 (men’s fragrance), part 6 (solid perfumes) and part 7 (luxury).
If you know of a fabulous (scented) gift item that we missed, do post it in the comments!
From Bath & Body Works, the Signature Cello: “Your favorite pampering pair is wrapped in gingham and ready to give. Set includes Shower Gel and Body Lotion, 3 oz. each.” In Paris Amour, Twilight Woods, Sweet Pea, Moonlight Path and Japanese Cherry Blossom. $5 a pop…
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Posted by Robin
on
11 December 2011
Our series of holiday gift posts continues today with a selection of solid perfumes and perfumed jewelry. If you missed them, here are links to part 1 (scented body products), part 2 (travel sizes & coffrets), part 3 (more travel sizes & coffrets), part 4 (home fragrance) and part 5 (men’s fragrance). Coming up next: the luxury list.
From Providence Perfume Co, solid perfume balms: “Our vintage inspired solid perfume balms are blended in a base of pure shea butter, beeswax and oils. The soft buttery consistency is similar to the vintage solid perfumes popular in the 1950′s and 1960′s without the added petroleum and chemicals of the era. Solid perfumes are generously sized at 1/2 ounce and housed in thick retro glass tubs with distinctive silver caps evoking images of dressing table glamour. Solids are lavishly perfumed with natural ingredients and blended in artisan perfume fashion.” In Chiffonade, Jazmina, Lilium, Moonflower, $36-39 at Providence Perfume Co…
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Posted by Jessica
on
20 November 2011
A few years ago, I managed to sample some of the beauty and fragrance products sold only in England by B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful, a sister company of Lush. (You always want what you can’t have.) Then B Never closed its doors in late 2009, and I was sad that I’d never be able to sample its wares again. Recently, thank goodness, several former B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful fragrances were re-released under the auspices of Lush’s Gorilla Perfumes. I enjoyed revisiting B Scent last year, and now I’m happy that even more scents from the original line have reappeared and are available to international online shoppers. Cocktail is one fragrance that I enjoyed in those B Never days and then missed when my sample was finished. Coming back to it, I’m finding it unchanged and just as oddly appealing as it was to me when I first wore it.
Cocktail is billed as an homage to classic French perfumery…
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Posted by Robin
on
16 November 2011
Indie natural line Aftelier has launched two new fragrances, Secret Garden and Oud Luban…
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Posted by Jessica
on
11 November 2011
One of L’Occitane‘s limited edition products for the holidays is Délice des Fleurs, a scent inspired by the traditional Provençal confectionary of candied flowers; it is “a gourmand floral fragrance with a powdery vanilla base and aromas of May Rose and Violet leaf absolutes.” I do love candied violets, and anything edible made from rose petals, so I immediately put Délice des Fleurs on my must-try list.
Délice des Fleurs does indeed smell as though it were “inspired by delicate roses and violets draped in sugar.” It leads with its violet note, which is sweet but not chalky; the violet is followed by a sugared rose heart, then vanilla (with a heliotrope-like creaminess) and soft white musk. The violet-rose-vanilla combination is smoothly blended. Despite its concept and its notes, Délice des Fleurs is surprisingly gentle, and can even be applied somewhat generously. On me, it avoids turning cloyingly sweet, and it doesn’t send off overwhelming waves of sillage…
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