Scent Of The Month / Stash Highlight: Yves Saint Laurent Paris Eau de Printemps

This is a slightly different Scent Of The Month post as I'm going to show you more than one perfume. Yves Saint Laurent Paris was my first proper grown-up perfume, I always wanted one and my then boyfriend got it for me for Christmas when I was 18. So for over half of my life now I have loved and regularly used it. Every year YSL also release a limited edition springtime, lighter version of Paris. The original scent isn't exactly heavy, but the springtime one is even more suitable for warmer months.

As I am utterly rubbish at describing scents, I've copied the description of the original Paris EDP/EDT from the YSL website: "At the heart of this tribute to the city of love, the delicate rose reveals a profound and enchanting personality. Fresh and subtle, the top notes of Violet, Bergamot and Orange blossom flirt with tenderness and happiness. The intense floral middle note reveals all the splendour of Rosa Centifolia and Iris, warmed by woody and sensual base notes of Sandalwood, Amber and Vanilla."

As you can see, I have 7 different bottles of Paris Eau de Printemps, including the newest 30-year-anniversary one (second from top left corner of the picture above) called Premieres Roses (the name has been used in several years, but the bottles/boxes all have different designs, although I can't be certain whether the fragrances are the same as well).

They are actually really affordable at £30 and you get a massive 125 ml for your money, which means that it's not possible to use up during one season. That is why I still have so many unused ones, but I can't not buy them because they are just so lovely.

Do you have an all time favourite fragrance? Please share in the comments!

See another picture after the jump!

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!

Scent Of The Month: Lush Tuca Tuca

I was going to make this into a monthly series, but failed, however, here's another fragrance from my rather extensive perfume collection. The one I want to show you today is Lush Tuca Tuca perfume (part of their Gorilla perfumes range).

I love violet scents and one of my favourite fragrances are the ones with violets (Guerlain Insolence, Yardley's April Violet), so of course I had to pick up this Lush fragrance too. This is a bit heavier and stronger than the straight forward violet fragrances, it is a very sensual fragrance. I'm rubbish at discribing it, but this is what Lush say about it:

"The fragrance of a bright pop song. Tuca Tuca is whimsical; it teases with a fantasy violet accord and works its way into your subconscious. The perfume perfectly conveys the playful and seductive nature of the pop-song and the dance it's based on. Only the Italians could have come up with such a mischievous dance and pull it off with style and sex appeal. This vivacious, sensual, sweet and flirty fragrance of violet and vanilla is sure to turn heads whenever you wear it.

Main notes : cassie, vanilla, sandalwood, vetivert, violet leaf, ylang ylang

Feels like : a mischievous wink"

Apparently there's some song and dance that goes with this, I remember being given a card with the details of how you can download it, but to be honest, I don't really give a shit. I don't like Lush's silly, pretentious marketing tactics, to me it's a fragrance and that's that. I don't give a crap about the rest.

Anyway, this is a lovely fragrance. The only thing I don't like about it is that the actual perfume is pink and it stains my clothes. I don't think this is at all necessary and this puts me off of repurchasing it.

You get 30 ml for £24 and I believe it is now only available exclusively from the Lush website (I bought mine in store).

Scent Of The Month: Guerlain Shalimar Eau de Toilette

I don't normally review fragrances on here mostly because I'm really rubbish at describing scents. I can say things like "it's really nice" and "it's a sweet and/or floral scent", but other than that, I'm no use. But because I really like perfumes, own around 40 different ones and use perfumes every day, I thought I'd start a little series and see how it goes.

So this month's fragrance is one of my favourite fragrances Shalimar by Guerlain. It's a strong, sweet scent and I think it's a great choice for this time of year. It's not in your face, but is quite strong and long lasting. Because I'm rubbish at describing scents, I've decided to copy Guerlain's official description of the scent:

"Soft oriental Voluptuous, sensual, spellbinding Tonic top notes of fresh flowers and bergamot are calmly intrepid. Like the savvy disorder of rumpled silk sheets, powdery notes of iris, jasmine and rose suggest or promise sensual embraces. The creamy softness of addictive vanilla, the penetrating charm of iris, the balmy roundness of opoponax and the gourmand warmth of Tonka bean orchestrate an intimate symphony of scent for languorous interludes."

I couldn't find the Eau de Toilette on the Debenhams website, but the Eau de Parfum costs £42 for 30 ml and £79 for 90 ml.

Let me know how you like the idea of this post (possible series) in the comments!

See another picture after the jump! 

L'Occitane Pivoine Delicate Eau De Toilette

First of all, I'd like to point out that I'm rubbish at describing scents, and that is why I don't normally do fragrance reviews. But since I was sent the new Pivoine Delicate Eau de Toilette from L'Occitane's new spring collection of the same name, I thought I'd give it a go.

I can describe the packaging, it's very pretty, pink and feminine. All the products I was sent from this collection have the lovely peony flower detail on the outer packaging. On the inside, a fairly simple glass bottle with pretty pink fragrance inside it. Now for the fragrance. I think it's best if I copy what it says on the (tin) box:

And that's pretty much spot on. A delicate flowery fragrance that after a while smells a little soapy on me. It's quite nice, not offensive, and despite being quite delicate, lingers on for most of the day. I'd say it would make a lovely spring daytime fragrance if you like roses and peonies. For me it's just a little too powdery, but fragrance is so personal, that is why I don't really like reviewing it.

You get 75 ml for £35 which isn't too bad, it's the same as L'Occitane's Pivoine Flora EDT. It should be available soon on the L'Occitane website and in stores. 

See another photo after the jump!

Last Month I...

Following on last month's post idea here are the things I did / liked / loved / hated / finished / threw away / etc. in the month of March beauty wise. So here you go:

Last month I...

• finished 6 beauty products including a fragrance (The Body Shop Cherry Blossom perfume) which is especially great because I have put myself on a fragrance no-buy until I finish at least 5 fragrances since I have about 50 bottles on my cupboard and I need to get through them eventually. I didn't actually like the Body Shop Cherry Blossom perfume anymore, which is a shame especially as this was my second bottle because I initially loved it and I bought a back-up, but never mind, finally it is gone!
• having finished one I didn't like so much I gave some love to my all time favourite perfume, Paris by Yves Saint Laurent, in particular one of the limited edition springtime variations: Jardins Romantiques. I have loved Paris for so long now and I used to buy the limited edition springtime fragrances in the past, but they seemed to have stopped releasing them which is a shame. The bottle's massive though (125 ml), so it should last me through a couple of springs though. And just how pretty is it?

To find out what else I did last month, carry on reading after the jump!

Finished! The October Edition

Firstly, sorry about neglecting the blog these last few days. I've been very busy with shopping (the new Mac collections are out as well as Dior, Chanel and those gorgeous Models Own Beetlejuice nail polishes) and also updating my blog sale (nearly done). Plus little everyday things like children and cleaning and washing and cooking... You know.

Anyway, another month has gone past, so here's another post about all the products I've finished last month. Only five though, sadly, however there are quite a few other ones just hanging by their teeth. Just like this first product was, I thought I'd never finish it.

It's Biore Pore Unclogging Scrub. Couldn't wait to finish it off. Firstly, it's not a scrub. It's a creamy cleanser with some very soft bits in it. It does not scrub, nor it does exfoliate. It is not a deep cleansing scrub like it claims. It did nothing for me, my pores are still there, clogged and as big as ever. Waste of money. (Can you tell I didn't like this?)

Find out what other products I finished after the jump!

Finished! The January edition

You might recall that I started this series last month when I managed to finish several beauty products (which doesn't happen very often, I'm telling you!) and to my surprise I'm back with another post of yet more finished products. I don't want to include basics like shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in this as I always go through those, will just stick to skincare, make up and fragrances.

First up are my beauty basics:

Mac Brow Set in Show Off is the only thing I use on my brows as I don't like brow pencils (too harsh) or powders (too obvious). This is a brown shade that just gives a bit more definition to my brows and holds them in place. I came across this product when Blonde, Brunette, Redhead collection came out in 2009 and I have loved it ever since! I actually think this was my original one, so it lasted me over a year, although I did move it to my downstairs cloakroom a while ago as it was running low (that's where I keep my emergency make up items for day when I have no time to apply my make up in my bedroom), so I guess I hadn't been using it so regularly lately ( have a new one in my bedroom). It never dried up though, just ran out. I love this stuff and have already repurchased it and will continue to do so. £11.50 from maccosmetics.co.uk.

Continue reading to see what other products I've finished last month!