Scent Of The Month: Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom Eau de Toilette

I picked up this perfume almost 2 years ago in Florida when I visited Bath & Body Works. I can't believe it's taken me this long to use, but I'm very happy I've finally opened it. To me spring means cherry blossoms and I absolutely love cherry blossom scents.

As I'm absolutely rubbish at describing scents, I've copied this from the interweb:

"Transport yourself to the floral gardens of Japan with the Japanese Cherry Blossom. This amazing women's eau de toilette contains top notes of Asian pear, Fuji Apple, and Ume Plum. The heart notes of Japanese Cherry Blossom, Butterfly Lily, Kyoto Rose, Mimosa Petals, and Hedione of this Bath & Body Works perfume leave you refreshed and enlivened. This women's eau de toilette finishes with base notes of Vanilla Rice, Imperial Amber, Silk Musk, Cinnamon Incense, Himalayan Cedar Wood, and Creamy Sandalwood. This sensuous Bath & Body Works perfume has a high concentration of fragrance oils and comes in a pretty bottle accentuated by a flowery design. Spray Japanese Cherry Blossom onto your pulse points and feel the fragrance spread throughout the room."

Now to be honest with you I have no idea what most of the flowers and fruits mentioned are or what they smell like, but I can tell you that this is a lovely fruity floral fragrance. It lasts very well on me. I also bought the body lotion/shimmer gel and shimmery body spray, so I can layer them and make the scent even longer lasting.

I remember there was a 3 for 2 offer at the time and this EDT cost $29.50 for 75 ml. It's still available from Bath & Body Works, but it seems to be in a different bottle.

See one more picture after the jump!

Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Talc Free Mineral Blush in Rosy Glow Review and Swatches

I showed you the Physicians Formula eyeshadow palette yesterday, and now here's the blush I also picked up in TK Maxx. This is part of the Mineral Wear line and it's a talc free blush. The shade is Rosy Glow which is a rosy pink colour.

I have to say, up until now I'd been pretty ignorant when it came to talc free make up and I actually had to look up what was so good about talc free. Apparently it's less drying for your skin which is better for those with dry skin I guess. I don't have dry skin on my face, not even in winter (my body does get quite dry, but not my face), so I'm personally not that fussed, but if it's better, I won't argue.

To me the blush seemed very powdery, I don't know if it's because it's talc free or there's some other reason. It didn't look powdery on the face, but it did in the pan. The marbleised design features two shades that mixed together give a nice rosy pink colour, pretty well pigmented, yet natural looking. There's a very slight sheen to it, but no glitter or shimmer. It blended out nicely and wore pretty well too.

The compact itself is a bit odd, it's quite bulky because it has a compartment at the bottom with mirror and brush. The compact is stuck inside the box which I have come across before with other Physicians Formula products and the box doesn't close again once you open it, so all in all, not the best packaging.

I paid £4.99 for it in TK Maxx and you get 5.5 g product. On the Physicians Formula website this retails for $11.95 and comes in 5 shades. In the UK your best bet for finding Physicians Formula products are TK Maxx and eBay.

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with this blush after the jump!

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Bronzed Green Eyes Review and Swatches

I was really interested in trying out this brand before I went to America last year and I did buy a few of their face powders and blushes, but never got any eyeshadows. I bought this palette in TK Maxx a couple of weeks ago together with a blush that I will review shortly. Although this palette is for green eyes, I decided to get it because it has a nice mix of colour and also because I don't believe in only wearing certain colours depending on your eye colour.

You get 9 eyeshadows (or rather 6 eyeshadows and 3 liner according to Physicians Formula) and they range from very subtle neutrals to darker, smokier colours. The colour theme is definitely neutral, but there are some nice pops of colour including a copper and a khaki shade. The eyeshadows are grouped into 3 groups of 3, the 3 on the right giving you the most subtle look and the 3 on the left the most dramatic look. You can also use them wet for an even more intense look.

The eyeshadows are nicely pigmented and smooth, all of them metallic, but there's no glitter. I didn't have any problems with fallout or creasing when wearing them over a primer. I used the 4 shades on the right to create the look you can see at the bottom of this post (not just 3 because I'm a rebel). I didn't use the liner shade as a liner, but as crease colour instead. Of course it's up to you what combinations you do with these, but the main thing is that you have a good choice with 9 shades.

The palette contains 7.5 g product and I paid £4.99 for it in TK Maxx. On the Physicians Formula website these retail for $10.95 and come in 4 variations. In the UK your best bet is TK Maxx or eBay.

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with this after the jump!

My amazing US haul

Hello! I'm back! In case you didn't guess from my post a week or so ago, I was in Orlando with my family. We did loads of fun stuff, Disney's Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon Water Park, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Sea World, Aquatica... and some shopping! There are some amazing outlets in Orlando as well as the massive Florida mall, so I ended up buying a LOT of stuff. I was also interested in checking out some drugstore brands we don't get in the UK like Physicians Formula, and finally managed to buy myself the lovely Revlon lipgloss I'd been eyeing up for weeks - for much less as well! I know I went a bit crazy. I haven't actually added up how much I've spent, but you can tell it was a lot.

My entire beauty haul

However, I did find some amazing buys, including 3 Mac Volcanic Ash Exfoliators (there were actually a lot more in one of the CCOs, but I couldn't really pick up more), the Tom Ford Black Orchid set, and there was an excellent freebie offer at Lancome with 6 free samples and a gorgeous make up bag, so I couldn't resist.

Details will follow shortly. For now, here are some more pictures of my haul. Let me know if there are any particular brands or products you'd like me to show you in details.