Diptyque Rosaviola Candle and Solid Fragrance

Good grief I fell hard for Rosaviola!  I didn't intend to, it's pink, it's girly, and it's very, very, very sweet.  But I have, and what's done is done.  I went to the Diptyque store in St Germain (I think I may have mentioned that I've been in Paris recently?) fully intending to buy something super-exclusive and incredibly French (not to mention achingly chic), and I came back with ... pink.

Balls.

Rosaviola is, essentially, a blend of rose and violet, and it smells like lipstick.  There's not much more to it than that, to be honest, but it's so pretty, and so friendly and good-natured that I couldn't really help myself.  Violet fragrances speak to me these days in a pretty visceral way, that they never used to before my nose got brain damage, and so this is a lovely and easy to wear perfume for me.  The violet also tempers the rose to my nose - roses still occasionally smell dusty or burned - so it's a light and fresh, and yes, girly and friendly smell.

I hate myself.  But it's got lips on, so it's okay.  The lasting time can be measure in literally minutes, but I don't really care.  It's lovely.

I think I need help.  If anyone wants me, I'll be drowing myself in a bucket of Muscs Kubla Khan by Serge Lutens until this phase passes ...

The Fine Print: Purchases

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Guerlain Honey

  
Yeah, I'm not much of a honey fan normally, but I was encourage to taste this during my visit to the Guerlain flagship on the Champs Elysees recently, and  fell in love.  I had no idea Guerlain made honey, and this one is *amazing*.  

I've always thought honey is honey is honey, to be honest (possibly because I usually buy the cheapest honey in the shop, and then just use it in lieu of sugar in hot drinks), but this jar really opened my eyes to how different honey can taste.  Extracted from Guerlain hives in France, the bees feed on the flowers that Guerlain grow for the their fragrances, and the herbs in the area too, and you can really taste in the honey itself, which has a depth and intensity of taste I've not personally encountered before.  I'm going to be breaking into this jar with some friends later this week, and hopefully they'll enjoy it as much as I have been doing.

Guerlain only make a few hundred jars of this a year, and it's only available at the Champs Elysees store, too.  I'll be disappointed when this is gone!  On the brighter side though, at fifteen euros, it was by some margin the cheapest thing in the shop ....

 The Fine Print: Purchase.


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LipsNSpritz of the Week March 06 2016

 This week was an incredibly busy one - I'm an accountant by day, and I'm currently preparing for year end, plus preparing to move house, at the same time, because I am an idiot), so LipsNspritz took an accidental back seat this week.  That said, I did manage to wear some lovely ones:

Monday was a Jo Malone London Vetiver Cologne day.  My (recovering!) parosmia still makes some perfume ingredients tricky for me, anything with a heavy vetiver or patchouli base still smells burned to my nose, and it's troublesome, because the only thing I can smell is whatever causes the reaction in that case, and nothing else in a formulation.  Jo Malone Vetiver is the very opposite of heavy vetiver, however, being a light and fresh, and citrussy take on what can be both smokey and grapefruity.  I enjoyed wearing this a great deal, and it may become my "go to" vetiver, whilst other vetiver-based fragrances remain waiting for my nose to recover more.  I wore it with Sephora Kiss Me balm in Soda Pop.

On Tuesday I wore Estee Lauder Amber Mystique, which is a woody amber, with clouds of oud in the base.  Someone in the office commented that I smelled "very Arabic", which I thought was hilarious, and very true.  I love Amber Mystique, but it appears to be discontinued now, which is a shame. I wore it with Sephora Kiss Me balm in Cherry.

Speaking of cherry, I finally managed to track down a hard-to-find bottle of Mary Greenwell Cherry, and I'm very glad that I had.  The demise of Mary's eponymous (and excellent) perfume range pains me greatly, but I'm happy that I finally have a full set of the fragrances now.  I've featured Plum before - indeed, it was very nearly my wedding fragrance - and Lemon and Fire will obviously feature in the weeks upcoming, but Cherry is quite a literal fragrance in comparison to the sophisticated and rather retro Plum, in that you can definitely pick out the fruit that inspired it.  It rather reminded me of a stick of Juicy Fruit at first, but I soon got over that.  It's sour cherry and blackberry leaves at the top, with licorice and vanilla in the base.  Fun, sunny and cheerful.  Such a shame its gone. Worn with Provocateur Lacquer balm from Revlon, because, what else?

I had a long and tiring day day minuting boards and committees on Thursday (and if you're ever wondering why my instagram isn't full of pictures of beauty launches and cupcakes and home offices with puppies staring soulfully at the viewer, there's the reason right there - no one wants to see pictures of my day, believe me), and in full business-woman mode (did I mention I'm an accountant?)  I wore Estee Lauder Private Collection - the original -  because it's a classic "don't f*ck with me" fragrance, bitter and green and grown up, and I love it very much.  I paired it up with the also classic Tom Ford Pure Pink lipstick (long discontinued, and much mourned), and wore black leather to the office.  Hey, I was around in the eighties, it's totally cool now.

And, what've you been wearing?



The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


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Skincare of the Week 6th March 2016

I didn't really have a theme for skincare this week, except "get back on track", because, after a week away and a weekend in Paris my normal routines have gone a little to pot, I have to admit.  

On Monday I trialled used May Lindstrom's Honey Mud in the shower, as a protective mask against the shower water (I do find that water irritates my skin hugely), and it worked well, I think.  This might be the best way (for me, at least) to use it, because I find it very confusing as a "proper" cleanser.  It smells of chocolate though, and, if you do happen to get any in your mouth, it's possibly the nicest tasting cleanser on the planet.

I have also added in the new Vichy Liftactiv Serum 10 Supreme, which I find myself really liking, so you can expect a fuller review of this coming up - I'm a big fan of the Liftactiv range generally tbh, and, as it's one of the <ahem> more affordable ranges I like, it's high praise!  I'm also trialling the New Omorovicza Omoressence, which is another very likeable product, and again, more about that soon.

The rest of the week was me just re-acquainting myself with my favourites old and new, and re-introducing Alpha H Liquid Laser Cleansing Oil, which I had pipped into my stash basket for some reason.  It's well and truly out and with the everyday essentials now though! 

What's been on your face this week?  I'm so happy to be back into a routine - even though I'm moving house soon, and god knows what's going to happen then ...

 


The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


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Paris Haul ...

Yeah, I don't normally do haul posts, but I did JUST go to Paris this weekend for an event at the Guerlain flagship store on the Champs Elysees with the Perfume Society. Whilst I was there, I picked up a few bits and pieces and I thought I'd show you.  I'll write about a few of these in more detail (including writing about my time smelling the Guerlain archives!) soon, but, in the meantime, here's what I bought during my whistle-stop tour:

First off, French Pharmacy Essentials:

As the likes of Escentual.com and even Boots catch on to the greatness of French pharmacy brands, it's becoming less and less necessary to trip over to Paris to pick up cheap and good skincare.  Especially now Serozinc is here! However, La Roche Posay Respectissime eye makeup remover, which is designed for waterproof makeup, but is gentle enough not to sting even my deeply sensitive eyes, STILL isn't available over here, and it's a shame, because it is, frankly, the best eye makeup remover EVER.  Sort it out, La Roche Posay!  This Demak Up cotton wool is a firm favourite too, having a proper embossed side and a smooth and fluffy side, I love it.  And at around 50p a packet, I may have bought more than a couple ...

I popped into the Diptyque store in St Germain for a sniff and a chat, and ended up coming out with the new Rosaviola candle, the limited edition created with Olympia le Tan, the French fashion designer:

Smelling of roses and violets, and decorated with lips,  I couldn't resist! And it's so pretty with the pink jar, and the embroidered fabric label.  More about my visit to Diptyque soon.

I also, of course, went to Sephora! 

The Sephora Nail Varnish Remover pots are a firm favourite, so I took the opportunity to stock up whilst I was in Paris.  I always get the Glitter pots, as they come with a scrubby sponge that I really like for getting into all the nooks and crannies. I noticed there was a cuticle care version with camelia oil too, so I thought I'd try it, as my cuticles are positively shameful right now.  I'll report back. I'm a bit obsessed with primers at the moment (there's a big post coming up), so I couldn't resist a trial-size version of this Erborian Pink Perfect Cream. And how cute are the Sephora Kiss Me lip balms? This is Candy Apple and Soda Pop.

I also popped into Yves Rocher, because I always like having a nosey at their stuff:

I bought some Serum Vegetal skincare shots, and a Perfect Primer in Rose.  Yes, another primer ... Yves Rocher  are one of the biggest brands in France, and they're really reasonable.  It's been a while since I tried any of their products though, I admit - they're not that easy to get hold of in the UK though, which is a shame.

And finally, of course, Guerlain:

I fully intended to buy some fragrance, but the one I fell in love with in-store was five hundred euros! Luckily, seeing as I'm moving house in a month, I ran out of shopping time in-store, so some rose and violet tea (actually the Paris Caprice tea), a jar of limited edition honey (who knew you could buy Guerlain honey????) plus a couple of bits from the new La Petite Robe Noire collection will just have to do.  This is the lip colour in Berry Beret and nail polish in Black Perfecto, expect more about these soon.

So there you have it.  Just a few things, and, to be honest, I'd have been happy even if I'd only brought the eye makeup remover and cotton wool back!  

The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


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Fornasetti Profumi Incense Box - Flora

Think of incense and you think of smoke, and churches, and heavy cloying fragrances.  I happen to love a little incense, but rarely burn it at home, as it can lead to a bit of a muggy atmosphere.  Flora, the latest incense release from Fornasetti  is about as different from "traditional" incense as can be. 

Smelling delightfully of lily of the valley, tuberose, and jasmine, this really does smell like a country garden!  Surprisingly, it also smells like a country garden whilst it's burning.  Fornasetti have spent two years trying to best get a delicate, airy and light scent into the incense format. and their hard work appears to have paid off in spades.  They're pretty powerful too, one stick perfumes our entire flat for hours, without feeling heavy or oppressive.  

The Fornasetti Flora Incense box comes in three designs (the one shown is Flora di Bacio), and costs £145, but you can buy the incense alone for £45.  

The Fine Print: PR samples.


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Recover Correct and Conceal Red - Fair

Don't hate me, but I don't use concealer very often!  I'm lucky in that I don't have particularly bad dark circles around my eyes, so only need to dig into extra coverage when I've had a very bad night, or if I need to cover redness that my foundation isn't up to the job of erasing.  I have a huge tendency to redness, thanks to my sensitivity issues, and so occasionally I need a little help if I'm not to look like a gigantic pink balloon.  Recover Correct and Conceal Red is the latest product designed to help cover facial redness and it's a good (if expensive) one.  The brainchild of makeup artist Annabel Jardella, who has worked on films such as Sense & Sensibility and Evita (not to mention Gladiator), it's fairly safe to say Annabel knows how skin should look.

What is particularly innovative about this one, at first sight at least, is the delivery system.  A tube with a pump, and a metal disc to help spread the concealer over the skin, it feels cooling and lovely on your skin when you're applying, and, as red skin tends to be hot skin, this is great.  You depress the pump ever so slightly, allowing a dot of concealer to come to the surface and apply to the area you want to conceal.  No need for unhygenic fingers, or a brush! Application is simple and easy, a little bit goes a long, long way:

Seriously, you only need a very little bit.  This would be more than enough to cover any redness around my nose and my cheeks, and would be far too much for under-eye concealing.  But, as this is a redness concealer, and NOT an under-eye concealer, this isn't quite the problem you might think it is.   As it happens, I have used it as an under-eye concealer, and it's worked quite well, but the pigments in the product are designed to fight redness, not darkness (and my darkness is minimal) so please don't purchase Correct and Conceal Red for your undereye area.  Apparently, there is an undereye product on the way, and I'll be very interested to see it once it launches.

Top left|: Fair unblended.  Top Right: Fair, blended.  Bottom: swatches in  Light, Fair, Beige, Medium Tan, Deep tan.

The product blends out easily, and unusually for a product with such a high amount of coverage, it is whisper-light on the skin, and dries to a lovely matte finish on the skin.  You don't need to set it with powder, if you don't want to.  I have done, and it's fine, it won't cake, and it definitely doesn't have a greasy feel that makes you feel like it will slip off if it's not set.  Best of all, the coverage is excellent:

On Tuesday last week I woke up with what looked like the beginnings of a black eye, my cheek was all red, because I'd either walloped (or scratched) myself  a good one in my sleep. This was the real test for Recover Correct and Conceal Red, and it passed with flying colours - can you tell which cheek it was I'd punched myself in?*  Picture is unedited, SOOC, by the way.

I think the colour range is pretty small, they're expanding it with an "extra light" version soon, but the darkest "deep tan" stage really isn't very dark.  Of course, being a redness product means that possibly darker skins don't need so much in the way of redness concealment, but I think this is great for a quick smoothing and evening effect on uneven colouring too.

Recover Correct and Conceal Red retails for £29 for a 5ml bottle, but you use so little at a time that it'll last a long time.  The packaging means you have no way of knowing how much you have left, however, which is a bit of a pain, but it's a hygenic airless pump, which is a good thing.  All in all, I'm happy to have this in my makeup bag, it does precisely what it says on the tin.


The Fine Print: PR sample


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