New Benefit Fragrances

Benefit has launched a new fragrance collection called Crescent Row. It consists of 3 fragrances with attractive presentation and catchy names: Laugh with me Lee Lee, Something about Sofia & My Place or yours Gina (Hear that, Gina?)

Laugh with me Lee Lee is described as a light blend of citrus, jasmine & lily blossoms. (This sounds gooooood. Doesn't it?
Well. it turns out this is my favorite. I am surprised, because I would never consider myself as a "laugh with me" person. At all. Actually I am quite a bit of a grump. But enough about me. This is a light, young, almost oceanic but not so impersonal fragrance.
I like it.

Something about Sofia is a"dream of oriental blossoms, mango & vanilla. hmmmmm, not so Gouda. This is trying too hard. It's like an Avon classic fell into a sifter of body powder.

My Place or yours Gina is "an alluring affair of pink pepper, wild raspberry and patchuli" This is interesting. Upon reading the notes I thought: this sounds identical to the Givenchy's Hot Couture. Well, it kind of is very similar. But not as heady. This is very sweet, but not fruity. Complex and almost syrupy; without being overwhelming.

1 oz. sells for $36 and right now Benefit has a GWP




Get a FREE california kissin' with any $35 purchase

More new fragrances from Victoria's Secret

I promised I would review the rest of the new boudoir inspired Victoria's Secret fragrances: Parfums Intimes

They retail for $55 for 1.7 oz EDP and $28 for a mist (8.4 oz.)


They also offer a coffret sampler with .25 oz of each $42.


The packaging for this lineup is more sophisticated than other VS fragrances. I guess what they lacked in sophistication in naming the fragrances, they made up in presentation. (which is totally acceptable in my book)


Now on for the review (I will obviously skip Lace because I dedicated an entire post to this beauty earlier)
The collection includes Cashmere Vanilla Jasmine, Satin Rose de Mai, Lace Orange Flower and Silk Mandarin Santal.
Cashmere Vanilla Jasmine: I love vanilla and I love jasmine. Now why DON"T I love this? Because the vanilla note reminds me of slightly expired cooking vanilla extract. It's nice for a fraction of a second and then the slight pestilence of cookie dough a few weeks past expiry will hit you.
Next,
Satin Rose de Mai: This is pleasant. A modern twist on rose. Notes are pink rose, honeysuckle and mandarin flower.
Sadly, it just seems like an imitation of Valentino's Rock n Rose. (which is a great scent) This is just not original enough. The dry down is identical to Rock N Rose Body lotion (lotions usually capture the original fragrances mid and base notes, so that makes sense)
Silk Mandarin Santal: This isn't bad. If you like Chanel Chance or Dior's Addict you are going to like this. Mandarin, mimosa, Sandalwood, musk and white woods. If I remember correctly Addict also pairs a citrus with a woodsy dry down. This is not for a wall flower. It's a powerful and heady fragrance. Definitely for nights or cooler weather.

I NEED Perfume ~ Part Deux

On a recent trip to Victoria's Secret, I decided to check out their fragrance selection. Normally I am quite snobbish about my fragrance. I turn my nose at VS fragrances. ("for amateurs" I think to myself in a forced French Accent)

But this time I was pleasantly surprised.

Ok That's an understatement: I was swooned by what I had just sniffed. The fragrance: Lace Orange Flower Eau de Parfum.

Apparently VS has come up with a collection named after the textiles they use in lingerie: Cashmere, Satin, Lace, and Silk.

As I read the display and reached for the first bottle, I rolled my eyes (again, in a French accent. Yes, even the rolling of my eyes has a French accent when I am being snobby) "How tacky" I told myslef. Uff!

Anyway, reviews for the others will follow.

Now let me tell you about Lace Orange Flower: This beauty opens with THE most perfect Orange Flower note I remember smelling.

Take that! Prada StinkyFleur d' Orange!!! <-*gasp* Who said that?

Anyway, if you are not familiar with Orange Flower notes, these do not resemble the fruit at all. Orange flowers are heady, sirupy flowers that are quite divine in in real life. But must be quite difficult to immortalize in fragrance because most perfumers fail at it.

Well, Lace Orange Flower Eau de Parfum captures the flower notes at their best.

This scent is sweet and sophisticated, with just a slight touch of melancholy. The drydown is equally divine, like a Pablo Neruda poem in a bottle.

Image by jijis via Flickr

The advertising claims this perfume pairs Orange flowers with Chinese Osmanthus. I'll be honest when I tell you I haven't the faintest clue what Chinese Osmanthus smells like on it's own. All I can tell you is this combination is heavenly.

At $55 a bottle, this VS fragrance is not exactly cheap.

And because I have vowed to shun impulse buys from my vocabulary, I didn't buy it.

I did however, saturate my dress and a blotter card ~ as I promised the bottle I would be back for it soon. Very soon.

I won't forget you, my love.

I NEED Perfume

I need a new perfume. I am not saying a would like a new scent, I truly need one.
I have been obsessed with fragrance from a very early age.
I remember as child trying to make my own perfume by macerating flowers and leaves I gathered. And later begging my parents to buy me "real" perfume making supplies at the pharmacy.
When they finally conceded to my demands, my world expanded exponentially. My life has never been the same: I constructed roughly blended fragrances with notes of sandalwood, patchouli and jasmine.
I made different blends and bottled them in old splash perfume bottles my grandmother had given me which I had rinsed thoroughly in perfumer's alcohol.
I then attempted to start a mini empire, as I tried to sell my creations to anyone I knew.
As I small child, it was difficult for me to find customer's with, well, money amongst kids my age. So I resorted to pushing my products to all relatives, family friend's and my father's business associates. I even demanded money from my mother!
My childhood was extremely happy. Full of vivid memories that I wouldn't change for the world. Some of my most vivid memories of childhood are olfactory, though.
I remember so clearly the smell of my "creations", the scent of sweet oranges in my father's naranjal, the smell of Neroli, and one of the scents I miss the most: the smell of fresh vegetables....

***sigh****

For some reason, produce just doesn't carry a sweet fragrance here in the States. I'm not sure why that is. I think it might be because everything is picked rather "green" and not ripe in order to be transported and shelved for a while at the grocery store.
The ripening process often occurs inside a cardboard box, or crate, or warehouse, rather than on the vine.
Anyway, I digress.
Fragrance has always been extremely important to me. Growing up, not a single day would go by that my mother wouldn't dab on a drop or two of perfume. She always had "signature scents". Something that I could smell on anyone, anywhere, even decades later and I would immediately associated with my mother's glamour.
Throughout the years I remember her wearing Molinard de Molinard, K de Krizia, Lancome's Magie Noire and Ombre Rose.
My first "real" perfumes were much less sophisticated (then again I'm talking elementary school here): L' Jardin, Tatiana, Anais Anais and Enjoli.
hmmm, such memories. I have always equated perfume with allure and sophistication. To this day I still dab on a little perfume before going to bed. And have done so everyday since I got my first bottle. I do it for me. For sweet dreams. For old times sake.
I love, no I need perfume...

Want to smell like a wet Band Aid? Try This!

L’Artisan is a French perfumery known for the complex, artisan crafted fragrances. They are definitely not your mainstream "white floral-and-musk" blender that was made to appeal to the masses.

Fragrance elitist treasure L'Artisan finds and even I find myself delighted in their fragrance descriptions and promises of sweet smelling dreams. Come Dzing! by L’Artisan. This, ehem, unusual scent was inspired by the magical of circus life. Something bigger than life. With notes of tonka beans, balsam, saffron and ginger it promises a walk into the surreal.

I was excited to get my hands on this delight and was put off by it on cold sniff. I applied it my wrists (never rubbing them together as that breaks down the melody of the fragrance notes)

As I drew my wrist closer to my nose I was shocked to smell something repellent and yet very familiar. Was it tire rubber? No. Not like Bvlgari Black at all.

It had a clinical uneasiness that turned my stomach. And then it hit me. "This smells just like a wet Band Aid!!!!!" ~ I don't know how the perfumers managed to find a blend that so closely resembles the chemical, sticky, gluey mess of a healing paper cut.

But Alas! it was done, bottled and sells for $135 for 100 mL

Violet Sweets...

Violets are....blue? Not really. more purple than anything else. But they are sweet and intoxicating. They evoke great nostalgia because my grandmother used to grow them
. So I have grown partial to all things violet: the color, the velvety texture of the leaves and flowers, even the scent. Honestly, I don't actually remember the plants yielding sweet smelling blooms, but I love-love all things violet.

Image by - luz - via Flickr

Many years ago I discovered Choward's Violet candies (left) and became obsessed. These old fashioned sweets tasted like confectioner's sugar and perfume. Odd huh? Specially since in my prior post I knock food smelling body products (But I guess the other way around is OK :)

These candies are very hard to come by. I found them twoo days ago when I visited the Plymouth Plantation gift shop. I was immediately transported to another era. The sweet taste of yesteryear. Reminiscent of Guerlain's meteorite powder and the "good ol' years"

OK. This is a Beauty Blog not a food blog, here's my Violet Beauty related find: Borsari's Violetta di Parma. This rare find smells like old fashioned glamour glazed in candied violets. It's like a spritz of summery heaven. This perfumes smells like Choward's Violet candies taste. Weird. But in-such-a-GOOD way!!! This scent is retro chic. Yet it retains a sweetness that most other classic fragrances lack.
It's candied hapiness in a spray. It's violet, sugary and feminine. It's available at LuckyScent.com for $65 (or, if you are very lucky you can find it a discount sites for half the price ;)

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A mi me fascinan las violetas. Me recuerdan a mi niñes, ya que mi abuela tenía matas de violetas en la casa. La verdad es que no me acuerdo de la fragrancia de las flores. Pero hasta hoy en día, cuanta cosa vea yo en violeta me fascina: el color, la textura, fragrancia y hasta el sabor.
Hace unos dias cuando fui a Plymouth Plantation encontre unos dulces con sabor a violetas que tenía tiempo de no encontrar: Choward's Violet candies . Estos dulcecitos de antaño saben a azucar en polvo y perfume. Como los polvos Meteriotos de Guerlain. Suene bastante raro, no?
Sobretodo porque en el "post" anterior me quejaba de que no me gustan los productos para el cuerpo que huelen a comida, ni postres. Pero al parecer, si me gustan los dulces que saben a perfumes.
Desafortunadamente no los venden en muchas tiendas, pero son una delicia.
Y ustedes se preguntaran porque yo ando hablando de dulces, ya que este en un blog de belleza.
Bueno, les cuento que encontre un perfume que huele casi identico a estos dulces. Se llama Violetta di Parma de Borsari.
Este perfume es una delicia. Huele a violetas, azucar y veranos en el campo. Es una dulce felicidad embotellada. Lo puedes conseguir en LuckyScent.com por $65 o si tienes suerte se encuentra de vez en cuando en perfumerias en sitios de descuentos.

Fragrance Spotlight :Keiko Mecheri Loukhoum

I love all things Almond: bitter almond notes, Almond oil, almond pastries, candied almonds. I also love rose water. I use it as a face toner and as a cooking ingredient in my Lebanese cooking attempts. Keiko Mecheri Loukhoum was supposed to bring the best of two worlds in Loukhoum: Turkish Deight: a confection made from starch, sugar, almonds and yes, rose water.

I imagined being transported to a fair away, exotic land; or two an alternate reality like on the Chronicles of Narnia upon sniffing this beauty.

I got this is the mail and quickly doused myself only to be attacked by...powder? Johnson's baby powder! What is this? No Turkish Delight. No almond. Nothing far away or exotic. I got an amplified version of baby products!
Don't get me wrong. I love Johson's baby powder and lotion. I buy them all the time!
And if you ever wish makers would bottle Johnson's scent in perfume form, this is it.

Image via Wikipedia

But at $90 for 50 mL I wanted to swoon.
Instead I was left crying like a baby.

This is what "Clean & Fresh" smells like:

The first time I smelled Acqua di Parma Colonia I was tranformed to a simpler time when the bed was adorned with newly pressed linens and blossoms from the gardens adorned my bedroom window. This fragrance is crisp, and white; simple yet elegant.
It is classic and timeless. It could be worn at a beach holiday or a formal soiree. It discreetly speaks of confidence and allure.
I love this fragrance. It is probably at tad less sweet than most would prefer. But that's what sets it apart from the rest. It has an attitude, and it's very unapologetic about it.

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La primera vez que oli Acqua di Parma Colonia, la fragrancia me transformo a una epoca en la que la que acaban de panchar los sobrecamas y las flores fragrantes adornaban la ventana de micuarto. Este perfume es limpio, simple y elegante.
Es clasico y etereo. Se pude usar ya sea en unas vacaciones en la playa o en una romantica fiesta para dos.
Me fascina este perfume. Aunque creo que a la mayoria le gustan los perfumes mas dulces. A mi parece definitivamente increible.

Lilly Squeeze

Lilly Pulitzer's Squeeze is a sweet and bright fragrance that's aptly named for it's tropical fruit notes. It's an amped fruit cocktail with notes that evoke childhood memories of drinking freshly made passion fruit juice before breakfast. I also detect mangoes and pineapple with some Summery bouquet in the background.

The bottle is quite adorable: like Tommy Bahama's feminine counterpart.

This is definetly sunny and cheerful. However, one would be more prone to find a fragrance like this gracing the counters of Victoria's Secret Beauty, rather than the Palm Beach Social Lite associated with the designer.

I give this 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

La Fragrancia Squeeze de Lilly Pulitzer es dulce come el jugo de maracuya que yo tomaba antes del desayuno cuando chica. Tambien parece tener notas de mango y pina; con un ramillo de flores tropicales como notas de fondo.

La botella es graciosa: como la version femenina y urbana de Tommy Bahama.

Este perfume definitivamente levanta los animos. Pero uno se lo imaginaria en los estantes de la tienda Victoria's Secret, antes de asociar dicha fragrancia con las damas de sociedad de Palm Beach (como la disenadora del producto)

L'Occitane Bergamot Tea

Bergamot Tea is the latest fragrance from L'Occitane. This is a delicious, refreshing blend of Early gray tea, paired with the citric freshness of Bergamot, grapefruit and mandarin.
A perfect combination of aromas for the hottest days of Summer!

3.4 EDT retails for $46 available online at L'Occitane.com



Bergamot Tea es la última fragrancia de L'Occitanne. Es una deliciosa mezcla de Té "Earl Gray" con bergamota, toronja y mandarina.
¡La combinación de aromas perfectas para los dias mas caliented de este verano!

La botella de 100 mL questa $46 y esta disponible en L'Occitane.com

A Rose by Any Other Name...

I was looking for a twist on a rose based fragrance and this was suggested to me. Un Zest de Rose by Rosine has a hint of lemon dancing in rose petal tea. The official description mentions green tea. But this reminds me of a lavender-rose Rooibos tea I used to get a local tea shoppe after yoga class.
It's nice: vibrant and youthful. Unfortunately it's one of those scents that remind me so closely of food items I consume regularly, that I could never have them as a fragrance sitting closely to my skin for hours.
It's either "Un Zest" or my calming, soothing rose tea after yoga- I have chose the latter.

Yo estaba buscando una fragancia de rosa “distinta” y este me sugirieron esta. Un Zest de Rose de Rosine es una mezcla de Te, Rosa y Limón. La descripción oficial de la fragancia menciona el té verde. Pero a mí me huele casi idéntico a un te Rooibos de lavanda y rosa que yo tomo de vez después de clase de yoga. Es una fragancia agradable: vibrante y energética. Lamentablemente es uno de los aromas que me recuerdan tanto a bebidas, que yo jamás podría usarla como una fragancia.

Así que, si es entre el perfume "Un Zest" o mi calmante, delicioso te: escojo el té.

Summer Fragrance: Lily Pulitzer

I'll admit it: I'm not a huge Lily fan. (that equates to sheer blasphemy in my neck of the woods, but what-ev )

I got some samples of Lily fragrance recently and was prepared to be unimpressed. But I was wrong.

"Beachy" is my favorite of the trio.

It is very close to Bobbi Brown's "Beach" but it's more wearable. This one doesn't suffocate like Bobbi's.

This definetly tries to emmulate the scent of sun tan lotion mixed with salty air with a melange of amber and vanilla in the dry-down, but it doesn't "suffocate" like Bobbi's Summer version.

Ironically, I like to wear this not on the bright, sunny beach days--this is much to heavy. But on gloomy, overcast days: to remind me of the warmth of the season.

Lilly Pulitzer's "Beachy" is available at Sephora

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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La verdad es que a mi no me enloquecen los productos "Lily Pulitzer" Y por aqui, eso no se admite. Pero bueno...

Me dieron unas muestras de sus perfumes y ya estaba preparada a detestarlos. Pero estaba equivocada.

"Beachy" es el que mas me gusta.

Es bastante parecido al perfume "Beach" de Bobbi Brown, pero no es ostigante como el de Bobbi.

Definitivamente trata de parecerse al olor de bonzeador de coco y sal de mar. Tiene una mezcla de amber y vainilla.

Me gusta este perfume en dias triztes y nublados, pero me parece demasiado fuerte para dias soleados o la playa.

Disponible en Sephora