Laura Mercier Flawless Skin Kit

Alongside a bunch of lovely and wearable makeup kits this Christmas, Laura Mercier are also releasing this beautiful skincare kit, based on their Infusion de Rose line.  It's not a line I've tried properly (yet) outside of having one of the products used on me a couple of times in makeovers this year, but this is a great value kit if you're a lover of either roses or Laura Mercier skincare, or both.

Inside are a full-size Infusion de Rose Nourishing Oil (normally £43.50), which I've tried once or twice, a 30ml jar of Infusion de Rose Nourishing Creme (normally £55 for 50ml) and a sneak peek at a brand new product, a full-size Infusion de Rose Nourishing Lip Balm (which I guess will retail at around £18 when released).

The oil is quite thick and beautifully (but gently) scented with rose,  but it blends easily into skin.  It's plant-oil based, and free from artificial fragrance and mineral oils.  Whenever I've used it previously, I've loved it.  You'll be seeing it a fair bit in my skincare of the week posts from now on, I think.  I've not tried the Creme version, but I've read good things - Laura Mercier skincare generally isn't bad at all.  I've tried the lip balm a few times now and like it very much - the tube has an innovative rubber tip, which makes applying to the lips very easy, but the balm tends to harden in cold weather, so you may want to warm it between your hands before applying.

At £75 for all three, this is a good interesting way to try the range before plunging into full-sizes. 


The Fine Print: PR Sample 


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Maison Francis Kurkdjian Globe Trotter

I never leave the house without a perfume (occasionally without things like my wedding ring, my oyster card, and house keys though), and nine times out of ten, the perfume I carry with me throughout the day is in one of these glorious atomisers from Francis Kurkdjian.  I apply whatever fragrance I'm wearing for the day in the morning before I leave the house, and if I think I need a top up before I head somewhere else in the evening, I spritz myself with whatever I have in one of these.

Heavyweight and beautifully crafted, these feel wonderful in the hand.  The tops are magnetised so they won't fall off in your bag - the magnets are incredibly strong, and you can have literally minutes of fun putting them on the wrong way round only to watch them spin and settle themselves correctly with a satisfying "clunk" when they land.

The atomisers take 11ml bottles of a wide range of Maison Frances Kurkdjian fragrances (which come in sets of 3 bottles and are available from £60 - bottles are usable without the atomiser too, which is really handy) mine are both currently filled with Aqua Universalis Forte, which is possibly the cleanest - and I really do mean that in a good way - fragrance ever.  The refills are sold separately from the atomisers, but there are a wide range of fragrances to pick from.

My personal favourite is the zinc finish, as I love the textured effect, but the gold is really pretty too. The Zinc finish costs £85, and the gold finish is £95, and both are available from Selfridges.

They come complete with leather covers - matched to the colour of the EU passports! - to protect the atomisers in your bag.  The zinc atomiser in the pictures here is a couple of years old now - and has been carried around with me almost every day in that time - and is still as good as new.  A pricey investment, perhaps, but a thing of beauty is a joy forever. 

The Fine Print: PR Samples


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Laura Mercier Glam to Go Kit

I do love this time of year for makeup kits!   Laura Mercier is one of my favourite makeup brands (my all-time favourite eyeshadow of all time is Laura Mercier Twilight Grey) and they have some cracking kits this Christmas, and this is my favourite one.  Look at that gorgeous packaging!

Opening it up, there's more of that gorgeous burnished packaging, and a sparkly lipgloss (Lip Glace in Sparkling Daiquiri), and when you flip up the flap, these are revealed:

A blush (Rich Nectar - gently peachy), a mid-tone bronzer, and four neutral eyeshadows, which  are: Espresso Bean (dark brown), Ro-Cocoa (taupe), Vie en Rose (grey-taupe) and Coquette (soft off-white).  All the shades except Espresso Bean are lightly shimmering.  I love that they are all neutrals, it makes the palette beautifully versatile, and very useful.  I'd have liked a pinker lipgloss, personally, but that's just me.  At £35 this contains practically everything you need for a full makeup (barring foundation and mascara) and this price, for Laura Mercier, is quite a bargain.

A great accessory for any handbag, this one.

The Fine Print: PR Sample


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Clinique Days of the Week Lipstick Set

To say I have no need for a Day of the Week lipstick set would be a mild understatement - I probably have enough lipsticks here for a Days of the Year lipstick set, if not eighteen months - but nonetheless when this turned up last week I laughed.  It's great.

Containing seven not-quite-full-size, but also not-quite-miniature lipsticks, one (you might have guessed) for each day of the week, this is both witty and fun.

The shades are (l-r):
Sweet Sunday - A soft taupe-pink mid-nude.
Monday Mojo - a cool fuchsia with blue micro-shimmer
Take On Tuesday - A pink-nude
Welcome Wednesday - warm caramel
Throwback Thursday - Baby Pink
Finally Friday - A deep, slightly warm pink
Sassy Saturday - deep warm red.

It's a cute and clever gift idea, the lipsticks will cover most colourings and most occasions.  They're all in the Soft Shine formulation, which is a mid-coverage but non-drying formula.  Whilst not totally sheer, they're shiny and easy to wear:

And they're only £35 for seven lipsticks.  What finer present for a lipstick lover (even a lipstick lover with more lipsticks than she knows what to do with) than that?

The Fine Print: PR Sample


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LipsNspritz of the week 08.11.15

 I ended up having a week of musk, it wasn't planned, but after wearing The Body Shop White Musk layered up with Serge Lutens Clair de Musc (a combination I'd planned to wear for my wedding, till I realised I needed something with a little more oomph!), I realised that I wanted to wear more of it. I wore these with ByTerry lipstick in Cherry Cherry, which is a great matte fuchsia.

My hyposmia/parosmia means that I still can't smell much when it comes to musk, but I do love musky fragrances a great deal, particularly "clean ones" like the ones here.  Tuesday saw me in Maison Francis Kurkdijan's Aqua Universalis Forte (possibly the cleanest perfume on the planet ever) alongside Guerlain's Christmas Rouge G offering, which is a nice, easy to wear rose shade.  Wednesday brought along an old-school musk in Musk by Alyssa Ashley, alongside Me Me Me Lip Sheen in Wild Plum.

 Thursday saw me in Kiehl's Original Musk Oil (layered over the matching body lotion, which is a little more flowery-smelling than the spray), and Chanel Dragon Lip Lacquer. Both classics, so a combination made in heaven.  Friday brought Jovan Musk which is probably the ur-musk of many people's childhoods.  I wish I had the oil version of this one!  I wore it with Zelens Lip Enhancer, which is a product that always makes me laugh.  A healing and nutritious balm with colour-changing properties, it always ends up a bright bubblegum pink on me, and reminds me of the lipsticks that were just the same in the early 80's.  Nothing changes.

Saturday saw the arrival, finally, of a full-size bottle of Seville a l'Aube by L'Artisan Perfumer, a fragrance I've loved since its initial release, but had finished my sample of.  It was another perfume I nearly wore for my wedding, but the groom-to-be found the mixture of wax, orange blossom, incense and amber had a little too much "oomph" for his taste (he's a buffoon, but I married him regardless) and so it remains my own perfume pleasure.  I wore it with EOS lip balm in Soft Lemon because it was the weekend, and I can't be bothered wearing makeup at the weekends ...

What've you been wearing?

The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


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Skincare of the Week 8th November 2015

A bit of a mixed bag this week, skincare wise.  Looking at the pictures all in one place kind of makes it clear that I have certain patterns in product usage - Pixi Glow Tonic, for example, I tend to use for two days then swap to Clarins Gentle Exfoliating Toner.  The one product I've used consistently this week has been Medik8 Red Alert Serum, which I'm liking more and more the more often I use it.  I find it gentle and soothing, and my redness, particularly in the mornings is much reduced.  Doesn't make any difference to my redness when I drink booze though ... oops.  I really like the Skinceuticals moisturiser too.  It's quite a lightweight texture, but it is still plenty hydrating on my combination-oily skin, without leaving a greasy residue.  I'll write more in detail about both these products soon, and there's a full review of the gorgeous Votary Cleansing Oil upcoming too.

I've picked up some more of the Pixi Skintreats range this week, as I've been incredibly impressed with what I've tried from the range so far and I was intrigued to try more - you can see the Milky Hydrating Mist and Glowtion Day Dew in Thursday's picture, but I also have the Glow Pads and a couple of other bits as well. And I'm trialling some new things from Dermalogica and Murad over the next two weeks, it's all go on the skincare front, but I'm looking forward to trying them out!  Have a few more Christmas-themed posts coming up this week first though ...

 The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


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Urban Decay Vice Palette 4 - first look!

  
Okay, it's not a Christmas collection, but I think any makeup addict would be delighted with this in 
their Christmas stocking this year!  The Vice palettes from Urban Decay have long been a cult with beauty bloggers, and I suspect this will be no exception, either.  Inspired by the colours of an oil slick, it's so pretty!

Gloriously detailed on the outside, with iridescent overlays, and coming in a foiled pouch, Vice 4 is beautifully packed up.

Inside though, is what really matters, and inside doesn't disappoint:

A pretty mixture of neutrals and brights (but mostly brights, admitedly) this a gorgeous palette for all ages, especially if you love playing with your makeup.  I can think of one little girl who's going to love this one this year! (it's okay, I don't think she's reading this ...)

Urban Decay Vice 4 palette is instore now, and costs £43 for 20 eyeshadows and one double ended brush.  Will you be splashing out on colour this Christmas?

The Fine Print: PR Sample


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Burberry Christmas 2015 - Military Red Lips and Nails

Nothing says Christmas like red and gold, and Burberry have gone out of their way this year to package up some of their cult products (and add a couple of new ones) in a festive manner.  This might be my favourite collection of theirs in quite some time.

Packaged in shiny golden livery, in a festive change from the traditional pewter, the mini-collection consists of Burberry Kisses glosses and lipsticks in either Festive Gold or Military Red,  Nail polishes in the same, an eye cream-shadow in Festive Gold, alongside a shimmering fragrance powder, and a fluid base in Nude 01.  I have the Military Red selections to show you with the fragranced powder today.

Military Red is a perfect bright scarlet, bringing to mind holly berries, and, of course the colour of Christmas itself!  I haven't tried the nail varnish yet, but it'll be the next thing on my nails for sure, it's such a beautiful colour (I've long been a fan of Military Red - I reviewed it first on here back in 2012!).  The golden fragranced powder has only a slight hint of the My Burberry that it is fragranced with, but it's a subtle golden glow for the decolletage and shoulder blades.  If you find a fluffy enough brush, you could possibly decorate your hair with it too.  

In-store (at Harrods) and online now, the pieces in this collection start at £15 for the nail varnish and rise to £45 for the fragranced powder.  See anything you like? 

The Fine Print: PR Sample


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Burberry Christmas 2015 - My Burberry

For Christmas 2015 Burberry have re-released a bunch of their cult favourite products in a seasonally appropriate golden livery.  Today I'll take a look at the fragranced products, and tomorrow I'll show you the (beyond beautiful) Christmas makeup.

In beautifully textured golden boxes, My Burberry, a blend of sweet pea, geranium and rose over a base of patchouli, has been released in both a golden "snowflake" version of the Eau de Parfum and a lightly glittering solid version, perfect for your handbag.

Topped with a magnificent faux-bakelite knob, the EdP has been tied with a pale golden bow, and the fragrance is filled with tiny golden sparkles.  For the solid version, the brand's signature pewter lid has been switched to gold too.

But let's take a closer look at those sparkles:

Burberry.com will be engraving up to three initials onto My Burberry bottles in the run up to Christmas, and a personalised anything makes a great present!  And this is a gorgeous bottle to engrave, as well.

My Burberry EdP will cost £90 for 90mls, and £55 for 50mls.  The solid fragrance version is £30,  and you can buy it online and from Harrods now.

The Fine Print: PR Samples
 
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Guerlain Meteorites Flocons Enchantes Christmas 2015

The first sight of Guerlain's Christmas collection every year is the real sign that the festive season is on the way, and frankly, this year's Meteorites have excelled themselves.  They're beautiful, and so is the packaging.

Moving away from the traditional fluted tin, Guerlain are presenting this year's Meteorites in a beautiful snowglobe complete with golden accents. The last time they moved away from the tin was a cardboard box, so I'm glad they went all-out to create a beautiful package this time. Inside the globe they're also doing a couple of things they've never ever done before, and they've done them beautifully, but to see more, you'll need to click through below:

Sleek Christmas Collection 2015

I'm a sucker for a Christmas collection, I am and this is a very pretty one from Sleek this year!  Glittering finishes and beautiful metallics abound including the gorgeous i-lust palette above.

Named after famous designers, Margiela and Louis are cream shades and the rest are sparkling powders.  The pigmentation is deep and lush, as you would expect from Sleek, and this is a nice, neutral selection of quite sparkly colours.  Did I mention they're quite sparkly?

To see the lipglosses, and the unusual highlighter collection please click the link to get to the rest of the post:

LipsNspritz 31.10.15

  
It was definitely a week of two halves, lipstick-wise at least! Bright reds, by Guerlain (Rouge Parade), Burberry (Military Red) and Art Deco (Dita Von Teese collection) were the order of the day, particularly on Wednesday, when I felt a real need for power dressing, which called for a hugely long-lasting red (as the Art Deco is), and when paired with Donna Karan Signature fragrance recalled boardroom meetings in the late 80s.  Minus the power-suits, of course ...  Oh, and you can do a lot worse than a bottle of Kim Kardashian to brighten up a doleful Monday morning, btw ...

I mellowed out enough to allow Autumn a look-in on Thursday and Friday, pairing berry-colours from Lipstick Queen (Bete Noire, sheer) and Makeup Forever (Artist Plexi-Gloss 406) with Jo Malone Blackberry and Bay (possibly the most autumnal fragrance I own), and Hermes Eau des Merveilles, which being neither fruity, nor flowery, nor spicy, nor fruity is as difficult to describe as it is easy to love (it's probably best described as a salty orange, without the orange.  Yes, yes, I know).  Then on Saturday I was seduced all over again by Burberry sending me their Christmas collection, which includes a new Military Red in beautiful gold packaging, and a sparkling bottle of My Burberry to boot.  So I wore those, because, why not?


The Fine Print: Mixture of PR samples and personal purchases.


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Skincare of the week: 31/10/2015

A (slightly) different format for Skincare of the Week this week ... Also, I've decided to introduce a little Product of the Week award too! 

This week was busy and stressful, and coupled with a bout of insomnia, it wasn't really fun.  I did have a good facial this week at the Askinology Facial Bar in Leadenhall Market, which is where I discovered Medik8 Red Alert Skin Serum. You can see it in every picture from Wednesday onwards. 

As many readers of this blog know; I'm prone to redness, and sensitivity is one of the banes of my existence.  I was a bit worried after my facial that a rather, ah ... enthusiastic scrubbing with a physical exfoliant (something I would never, ever do at home) was going to leave me red and sore for the rest of the week, but a few drops of the Medik8 before going to bed, and a few drops in my facial routine the following morning seemed to sort it right out.  I've stuck to blander cleansers since though, just in case a flare-up was imminent, but a pinkness crisis seems to have been averted, so far. Just in case though, I've been at pains to avoid essential oils for a few days too - as, with a very few exceptions, they all irritate when my skin is inflamed.  This is a shame, as I am loving the Votary range of oils at the moment and, especially, the cleanser, but they are essential oil-heavy, and delicious with it, but are something I need to wander away from when I think my skin is a bit irritable.

But, the real miracle product in my routine this week has been Pestle & Mortar Pure Hyaluronic Serum, and as such, it's my inaugural "Product of the Week"!  I picked this up on a whim when I was in Liberty recently - my Hydraluron stocks are running low - and I kind of fell in love with it.  A slight bout of insomnia this week (funny thing, I've been interviewing auditors all week, you'd think that would be a cure, not a cause, but I digress) means that I've been aware I've been looking tired - so very tired - when I wake up in the mornings and a quick swipe with two or three drops of this has had my skin plumped up and happy-looking even on the shortest of sleep-cycles.  With one of the shortest ingredients lists I've ever seen* in a skincare product, Pure Hyaluronic Serum is vegan and free of things like phtalates, parabens and silicone.  It costs £33 and is currently exclusive to Liberty in the UK.  If you're a bit tired, snap some up. I'll write about it in a bit more detail soon, but it's great stuff.

*Ingredients list in full: Aqua, *Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice,  *Sodium Hyaluronate,  *Cucumis sativus fruit extract,  Butylene Glycol, *Tocopheryl  Acetate,  *Glycerin,  *Xanthan Gum,  Phenoxyethanol,  *Caprylyl Glycol (all ingredients marked with a * are plant-derived)

The Fine Print: Mixture of PR samples and personal purchases.


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Maison Francis Kurkdjian - Mon Beau Sapin Candle

Yes, yes, I'm having a bit of a candle moment this week.  But, you know, 'tis the season and all that.  This Christmas Francis Kurkdjian is treating us to a golden tribute to the balsam fir:

Housed in a blingy golden container, etched with representations of fir trees Mon Beau Sapin is a smokey-pine-patchouli blend that definitely feels both foresty and wintry.  It's really lovely, I'm burning it now as I write this and it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas ....

Available from November, MFK's Mon Beau Sapin will cost £xx 

The Fine Print: PR Sample


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Perfume, A Century of Scents by Lizzie Ostrom

Lizzie Ostrom might be better known in perfume circles as the brains behind the glorious "Odette Toilette" website, which runs inventive and exciting perfume-themed events and excursions thoughout the year.  I've written about several of them here, having visited both the Osmotheque in Paris with Odette and been to the re-run of that event when the Osmotheque visited London earlier this year. That visit to Paris was an important turning point in my life coping with being smell-disabled, but I've been going to Odette events for years, even before I realised just what a big deal fragrance was going to be in my life.  Lizzie is a lovely, and well-respected member of the UK perfume scene and seeing her name in print is a thrill.

I've known this book was on the way for ages, easily over a year, and I've had it on pre-order at Amazon since last April,  so to say I've been dying to read it would be a mild understatement.  Perfume books can easily slip into the either incomprehensibly pretentious or overly-florid (I've read some shockers over the years, believe you me) and Lizzie sidesteps these issues with the judicious application of a delightfully playful sense of humour and by allowing a real sense of love for fragrance - and by firmly acknowledging the occasional absurdity of the business itself - to rise from the pages.

The story of 100 fragrances, organised into ten each per decade of the previous century, Lizzie selects perfumes that best exemplify each era (whether good, bad or indifferent - they just need to be important, not necessarily good), and tells the story of each in just a couple of pages.  Putting each into the context of the time it was released, and discussing the impact of ingredients as well as the pop culture of the time makes this read slightly unlike any other history of fragrance that you may have read before.  By not just focusing on the classics (you're likely to find the "great smell of Brut" discussed alongside the merits of Shalimar in here) Lizzie has found new tales to tell, and it's all the more fascinating to read as a result.

Beautifully bound, and prettily illustrated A Century of Scents is that rare beast, a coffee-table book that is wonderfully absorbing.  For anyone with even the slightest interest in fragrance, this is a perfect Christmas present. At only £16.99, it's a bargain, too.

Look out next week when I'll be giving away a copy of the book to one of my readers. 





The Fine Print: Purchase


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Clinique Aromatics in White Candle

I hoard my Clinique Aromatics Candles.  They don't come out every year, and I always like to have one around, because Clinique Aromatics Elixir is one of my favourite perfumes ever.  EVER.  I have a couple of the originals around at the moment, and I'm saving them for when winter really, really sets in.  

You can imagine how happy I was when I found out that this year they were launching candles in the flanker fragrances Aromatics in White, and Aromatics in Black.  I have the white version here,  and it's a lovely version of the original "White" fragrance, softer than Elixir, and brighter with rose and violet to the fore, it's a genuinely lovely candle.  They're launched exclusively in Harrods at the beginning of November, and I'm tempted to pick up a "Black" one whilst I'm there too, even though I didn't get along with the fragrance as well as the white because of my parosmia.  I think I'd be able to habdle it better in a candle, and hey!  I'm a completist ...

Perfect Christmas gift for the Aromatics Elixir fanatic in your life, these ... 

 The Fine Print: PR Sample


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Pixi Skintreats Nourishing Cleansing Balm

I'm slowly working my way through reviewing (almost) the entire Pixi beauty skincare range, and this week it's the turn of Pixi Skintreats Nourishing Cleansing Balm.  A gently rose-scented balm, this is great for makeup removal, and leaves skin soft and cleansed after use.

A mix of almond oil, coco butter and shea butter fortified with vitamin E, this is a very soft balm, which is slightly grainy from the shea butter. It melts really easily on the skin, and provides more than enough slip for a good massage.  It's rather bland, and slightly "thinner"-seeming than more essential-oil heavy balms, and as such, I prefer this for a first cleanse rather than a second. You won't necessarily need a second cleanse with it, but sometimes I do like to follow it up with something richer.  It dissolves makeup quite easily, even the heaviest of full-coverage foundations, and copes well with  eye makeup too - I still prefer to use a separate eyemakeup remover, personally, but my approach to mascara and eyeliner is possibly a little more ...ah ... theatrical than a lot of people's.

Full list of ingredients:

Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Cetearyl Isononanoate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glyceryl Behenate, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Glyceryl Stearate, Glyceryl Cocoate, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Lecithin, Tocopherol, Cetyl Alcohol, Benzyl Alcohol, Fragrance.

This is a big 90ml tub for £18, and as such, I don't mind throwing a huge glob of this onto my face to remove my makeup.  I'm really impressed with the Pixi Skintreats range so far, they're reasonably priced, don't make any outlandish and unverifiable claims for changing your life, and do what thy tell you they're going to do very well indeed.  They're hard to beat.

The Fine Print: PR Sample


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Cire Trudon Gaspard Candle

The coming of winter, and the turning back of the clocks is my favourite time of the year because to me that means blankets on the sofa, better programmes on the telly, and candles.  Mainly candles, admittedly.  The arrival of the Cire Trudon Christmas collections always makes me smile, and when I initially thought the new candle was called "Gaspode", I was delighted*.  It's actually called "Gaspard", and, it turns out, I'm just an idiot.

Cire Trudon insist this is a "black" candle, I think it's actually a rather splendid and unusal (for a candle) battle-ship grey.  It fits perfectly with my rather monotone coffee table decorations, anyway. I love the gold interiors that Cire Trudon always outfit their christmas collections with, it looks so beautiful and welcoming when the candle is burning.

Scentwise, Gaspard is a warm and slightly orangey, bouyed by a base of sandalwood and incense.  It also has some vanilla in there, so it is a creamy-orange, rather than a traditional Christmas-sy orange-spice confection.  

Cire Trudon candles are always clean-burning and last a good 30-40 hours.  You can now find them in John Lewis, where the Christmas candles will cost £70 each. 

What's your favourite part of winter? 


 The Fine Print: PR Sample 

*If you don't know who "Gaspode" is, then we can never be friends


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#LipsNspritz 25.10.15

 

I love instagram at the moment, and one of my favourite things I do on there is cataloguing my daily perfume and lipstick choices via the hashtag #LipsNspritz. Lipstick and perfume are really the final finishing touches to any outfit, and, whilst no one needs to know how boring my eyemakeup and dress-choices are every day (cardigans ROOL!), perfume and lipstick do add life and colour to this accountants day, every day.

Occasionally you need a Tom Ford day, and I'm entranced by the Sahara Noir bottle.  It's just so blingy and OTT.  But the fragrance inside is a good one, reminding me heavily of Serge Luten's Ambre Sultan, but drier and with a touch less spice.  I paired it with Tom Ford Cherry Lush, which is a wonderful cheerful cherry red. Far more after the jump...

 

 Cartier La Panthere is another stunning bottle, carved from the inside into an intaglio of a panther head, and the contents are sophisticated and really interesting.  Both waxy and leathery, and heavily floral with hints of gardenia once it dries down, it starts with muted fruit.  It's softer than this makes it sound, and I really like it.  I paired it with No7 lipstick in Soft Ruby, another of my pinky-red favourites.  This perfume really calls for a punchy shade of lip!

 Jo Malone London Wood Sage and Sea Salt.  I don't really know what to say about this one, as it was at the launch of this fragrance where I discovered that I had lost my sense of smell completely.  Being able to smell it now is a mixed blessing. It's a sea-salty-herbal fresh fragrance, with a hint of something else beneath that my damaged nose now can't put a name to.  I'm annoyed that I missed such an interesting fragrance from Jo Malone London!  I paired it with Tom Ford Scarlet Rouge, a bright and very, very warm red.

At a launch for a book written by a friend of mine (more about this later this week), I wore a fragrance I'd had a (tiny) hand in creating myself: Paradox by 4160 Tuesdays.  It's bright with violets and lemons, dark and earthy with orris and grounded by woods and musk.  I truly love it, and can't believe that something so lovely and unexpected came out of such a dark and horrible time of my life.  It's the only fragrance I'll be repeating whilst #LipsNspritz is ongoing, because sometimes, familiarity is what you need.  I paired it with the violet-plum of Becca Matte lipstick in Antoinette, because I'm good like that.

And finally this week, Lily and Spice by Penhaligons.  I'm so annoyed that they discontinued this, I can't even begin to tell you, as it's a stone-cold classic fragrance. An almost photo-realistic lily fragrance over a bed of warm and creamy spice (saffron and clove, apparently), it's a beautiful and glorious perfume for a chilly autumn day.  Such a shame it's impossible to get hold of now.  I was wearing a dress on Friday, and fancied a more ladylike lipstick than usual then, so went with Clarins Joli Rouge in Pink Berry, a creamy pink that doesn't scream LIPSTICK when you're wearing it.

What have you been wearing this week? 

The Fine Print: PR Samples and purchases


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