Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady Shower Cream and Body Oil

Confession time: I only own one bottle of Frederic Malle fragrance, and I've never reviewed it.  As perfume writers go, I'm a terribly untimely one, I know.  I shall review my (tiny) bottle of Bigarade Concentree one day, but in the mean time I'm having far too much fun reviewing the more peripheral products of the range, some of which are so lovely, they have made me gasp. Like these, the Shower Cream and Hair and Body Oil from the Portrait of a Lady line.

Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle's Portrait of a Lady is not a fragrance I've overlooked in the past so much, as simply thought wasn't for me.  Too sophisticated, too dark, too ... well, ladylike.  Lipstick Rose, the bright and bubblegum-pink confection of rose and violet (smelling of nothing so much as a waxy lipstick from the fifties, or your grandmother's bowl of dusting powder on her dressing table) has always been, for me, the defining rose fragrance of the Frederic Malle range, and I've been caught huffing it in a slightly demented fashion by more than one Frederic Malle stockist in several countries.  Why I've just never bought a bottle is beyond me, but I think I just love winding shop assistants up.  

 
ANYWAY, someone mentioned that there was a hair and body oil in the Portrait of a Lady range, and I thought that was a marvellous idea. PoaL is an oddity in that is a huge, dark and deep fragrance - a red and black rendering of rose, writ large in smoke and fire - but one that also remains remarkably close to the body, lacking the wide sillage you'd expect from the ingredients list.  I thought an oil would be an excellent way to experience the fragrance again.  I was surprised by the starkness of the bottle when it arrived, but as the Frederic Malle line is all about the contents, not the packaging of the fragrances, then I guess I shouldn't really have been.  

The oil itself  is light in texture yet deeply, headily, fragranced, delivering a story of darkest burgundy rose, set amongst a bouquet that also includes cinnamon, frankincense and deep resonant - yet surprisingly clean - patchouli.  It's a scent that's at once velvety, smokey and (I find) somewhat leathery, a supple Spanish glove-leather, which is unlined, so you can experience both the sensual suede and smooth leather against your skin.  It's beautiful.  And yet, not as ladylike as I remember, I find myself wondering what it would smell like on my husband.  I'll probably never know, as one look at the name, and he'll run a mile, which will be a shame for the both of us.

I applied some Portrait of a Lady Body and Hair Oil to my hands in lieu of handcream (it absorbs beautifully used so) in the office the other day, and the fragrance was commented on by everyone who came by my desk afterwards. It's not too fruity, not too floral, not too much anything, just Oriental-fragranced beauty from start to finish. It absorbs quickly, and leaves skin feeling deeply hydrated and beautifully moisturised, and of course, gorgeously scented.  I had been planning to use it as a layering product, expecting it not to be that scented on on its own merits, but it's so satisfying to wear alone, I don't think I'll be bothering with using fragrance over it now.  You can also apply it to the hair, I haven't tried that yet having just had a keratin treatment, and I'm awaiting washing that out, currently, but I can't deny that the idea of hair that smells of PoaL makes me swoon slightly.  It's great on dry shins too, but the price point means I won't be using it for that too often ...

However, if you do want to layer your fragranced products, then there is also the hydrating Shower Cream, which is identically scented to the oil, and produces a rich and creamy lather in the shower without stripping the skin.  It's heady stuff though (as is the oil), and you need very little to scent your skin gently for the whole day.

Perfect for Christmas presents,  the Shower Cream retails at £40 for 200ml, and the (organic!) body and hair oil retails at £130.  A big investment, possibly, but what price beauty?  They're available from Selfridges, Les Senteurs, and Liberty.



The Fine Print: PR samples


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The best bath oil in the world? Olverum Bath Oil

One of the best things about being a beauty blogger is the fact that all kinds of things arrive in an unexpected fashion,  and occasionally those things turn out to be products you never realised you couldn't live without, and Olverum Bath Oil is one of those things. 

Random fact, I don't think I've actually taken a bath since Kneipp discontinued my favourite Juniper-scented bath salts, and Shu Uemura discontinued Hinoki bath oil,  and then I ran out of my beloved Elemis Aching Muscle Super Soak (which was certain used to be called something else, but on a quick google search, it seems I'm merely  misremembering), because yes, I am that fussy about my bathing products.  I'll happily shower in any old (cheap) crap, but baths are for lingering, for loitering, for indulging in*, and, it turns out, I do want a strong herbal element to my bath.  I have no idea why, except maybe it's linked to the fact that I grew up in the heyday of the "badedas bath", and ALL baths in the seventies smelled of pine as a result.

Olverum Bath Oil smells not only of pine (from Siberian Fir Needle oil), but also of eucalyptus, lavendin, lemon, rosemary, verbena, lavender, lime, juniper and geranium, and combined in a ground nut and sunflower oil base, those scents are amazing.  It's like being surrounded by the alpine forest of your dreams.  I spent some time near Lake Bled in Slovenia last year, and this bath oil smells how those forests looked.  It's beautiful.  Deep and distinctive, resinous from the woods, yet also sharp and bright from the citrus, and yes, it is ever-so-slightly medicinal. It simply smells like it would do you a world of good even before you pour it into a hot bath.  And actually, bearing in mind it contains eucalyptus, it'll probably help soothe a head cold too.

At around £25 for a 125ml bottle, there's no denying Olverum Bath Oil is an indulgent treat, but as it is highly concentrated, you need only 5ml to scent your bath, and your bottle should last 25 baths as a result.  £1 for a bath in the middle of a Alpine forest is a bargain, no? 

You can find Olverum Bath Oil at Liberty, House of Fraser and Roullier White. 

The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


* And, of course, reading in**
** and only occasionally, you know, washing in.

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Ren Moroccan Rose Otto Ultra-Moisture Body Oil

Now, having said in a previous review about my liking but not loving Ren, there are some Ren products that I do, actually adore, and the Rose Otto range in fact, encompasses all of them. 

In fact, I like the Rose Otto range so much that I actually asked for the bath oil for Christmas, and, husbands being husbands (or more specifically, my husband being  …  my husband) I actually ended up with a bottle of this instead.  And now I have two.  Not bad for someone who never uses body products!  However, taking this into account, these two bottles are probably a life-time supply.

The “Ultra Moisture” body oil (actually, does one have “moisture” in an oil product?  Surely, as they say, moisture is the essence of wetness, and oil is greasy rather than damp, isn’t it?) is a really genuinely lovely product .It doesn’t enhance my bathtime in the same way the, you know, bath oil would had I gotten a bottle. Oh well. Ren Rose Otto Ultra Moisture Body Oil smells delicious. It smells divine. It smells of both the idea of rich red rose petals and a hint of the woody stems beneath.  It smells rich, and it smells expensive.

Now look, the Morrocan Otto scent is a signature of the Ren line, and I beg you, Unilever (who recently bought Ren), to no matter how much you are tempted, not to screw with the formulas of the Rose Otto line at all – I know several hundred people who will stop buying Ren altogether if you do, and they’re already hacked off at you for buying the brand in the first place.  Anyway, I’m digressing, but I need to tell you that the Rose Otto Line contains products that people care about, and if go on to pump them full of mineral oil to save themselves a couple of pence a bottle they will notice, and they won‘t forgive.  Just so they know.  Oh, and I’ll be one of them. I may even egg them on.

Anyway, back to the review.  I was delighted on trying the oil again recently to discover that roses had “come back” to my nose, as they’ve smelled like burned paper for the last year and a half. Discovering they smell almost normal (in spite of my parosmia) has been great.  The Ultra Moisture Oil is a thick, unctuous oil, that nonetheless seems to sink in quite easily, and it definitely does seem to do good things for drier skins.  My hands are, I’ve noticed, becoming slightly crepey and my forearms have definitely been drier recently, but this oil definitely feels more nourishing than the spray moisturisers I’d been using recently to combat those conditions. Sprays only seem to moisturise the very top layers of the skin, I've found.  A little of this, however, goes a long way, too.

I do also like the redesigned labels for the Rose Otto line, I always think Ren packaging doesn’t quite go far enough in underscoring the price tags of the products – the designs usually just look cheap, or too simplistic compared to what’s inside the packaging, but the design on the Rose Otto line show that you don’t actually need to change much to make something look more expensive, or more thought out, or simply just to draw the eyes in to something.  They’re still “clean”, but look infinity more luxe than the other products Ren puts out.  Ren straddles a line, and it’s a difficult line, being cheaper than its prestige  cousins on the shelf (which is a good thing, good skincare should be available at all price points), but also by looking cheaper than the other lines, even the ones at a similar price point (which I think it does), it won’t appeal to those who like prestige and also like a bargain (like moi).  Something is only a bargain if you feel like it’s worth more than you paid for it, cheap-looking packaging just looks cheap.

So yeah, body oil.  Two bottles and I'm set for life.  How about you?


The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases 


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Omorovicza Miracle Facial Oil

Oh, I do love an oil in the winter, and I've been adoring this one, recently. a blend of sweet almond, apricot, borage, cotton and evening primrose oils, the Omorovicza Miracle Facial Oil also contains an ingredient called: bakuchiol which also, alongside having anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, has been shown to have a retinol-like effect on the skin, only without the side effects.  Allegedly.  And only if you use it twice a day, every day (the study I'm citing wasn't funded by Omorovicza, btw) though.

I wear an facial oil almost every day in winter, but occasionally despair of how thick and heavy some of them are.  Having an oily-combination (occasionally dehydrated) complexion means heavy and thick oils really don't suit that well, but Omorovicza Miracle Facial Oil is a wonderfully "dry" oil, and it is exceptionally light too. It absorbs into the skin very quickly indeed, there's enough time to have a swift massage when applying, but it absorbs fast and leaves no greasy residue.  I use it in place of a night cream, as a serum in the mornings, as a moisturiser, and (my favourite), I use it as the carrier for my much loved Cover FX Custom Cover Drops.  I find three drops of Custom Cover to four or even five drops of the Miracle Facial Oil gives great coverage, and really beautiful glow.  I'm wearing the combination in the following picture:

You can also use it on your hair, your cuticles, any dry patches, etc. It's on the pricey side though, so I keep it for my face!  It smells (gently) of mimosa, but the smell disappears very quickly.  It feels very nourishing on the skin, whether you've used it during your skincare or your makeup routine, and it's very protecting in cold weather. I've found it's a great addition to a not-quite-moisturising enough face cream, in this weather. But, because it's so light, you can use it year round, it's a great multi-tasker.  Whilst I haven't seen any retinol-like effects, I don't use it twice a day every day, so I haven't been expecting to.  I do love it though, and I love the hefty glass jar with a dropper, which makes application easy, and adds just a touch of luxury to the bathroom shelf.

Omorovicza Miracle Facial Oil costs £75 and is available from Liberty, or from Omorovicza's website.

 The Fine Print: PR Sample


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Votary Cleansing Oil

I love discovering new brands, and browsing around Liberty a good few weeks ago, I was intrigued by Votary Cleansing Oil.  From the colour of the bottle - a pleasing bright green, that stands out so beautifully from the white and pastels of many other skincare brands - the gorgeous rose-gold label, Votary looks different to many other skincare brands, and it has a slightly different ethos too.

Designed by makeup artist Arabella Preston, the Votary website has this to say about cleansing (and I quote it here in full because I couldn't agree with it any more if I'd actually written it myself):

‘You’ve been told that clean skin should feel stretched and tight. That’s simply not true. Massage this natural oil into your skin, and follow it with a hot flannel for a fantastic way to cleanse your face and remove make-up. It leaves your skin feeling clean, soft and plumped."

Skin should not feel taut, or squeaky after cleansing.  Ever.  It's a hard habit to break though, and initial trials of oil-based cleansing are often abandoned by people who claim that their skin feels "coated" or "unclean" afterwards, when in fact they're actually so used to having their skin stripped and dehydrated by (usually) foaming cleansers, that they no longer know what healthy and hydrated skin really feels like!  I spent years thinking my skin was both dry and acne-prone when in fact what was happening was that I was stripping my skin so much that it was flaking off because the foaming cleansers I favoured were just removing the oils my skin needed, and spots were just being caused by the inflammation caused by the harsh chemicals.

Discovering oil cleansers - my first was Origins Liquid Crystal, long discontinued now, but held in high esteem here, even now - was the saviour of my skin.  So I am delighted to have Votary in my rotation now.  It's a slightly viscous oil that spreads easily over the skin, and is particularly suited to massage. It smells delightful (lovely when you have a hot flannel over your face, and are inhaling the steam before you start to remove it), and has an exceptionally short ingredient list; Sunflower, Apricot, Jojoba, Grape Seed, Rose Geranium, and Chamomile oil, essentially.

It does remove makeup, but I like it as a second cleanse for it's nourishing and massage-worthy qualities.  One thing you do need to know about the formula is that it absolutely, postively, totally does not emulsify, and so can only really be properly removed with a cloth.  Luckily, Votary Cleansing Oil provides a generously sized and luxurious cloth in the box. It costs £45, which I'm aware is a high price, but with such a clean ingredient list, it's not really a surprise that it's on the expensive side.  The bottle is a generous one, and you don't need much to cleanse your whole face and neck - I've been using mine 5-6 times a week (mostly as a night cleanse, which is why you don't see it so much on my weekly skincare posts - I'm too lazy to document my skincare twice a day) and I've probably used about an eighth of the bottle so far, if that, so it lasts and lasts.  I think I've probably got at least another 5 months or so usage in there, anyway.

An investment purchase then.  But if you don't invest in your skin, no one else will.  You can find Votary in Liberty Beauty Hall, or at their online shop.  If you care about your skin, Votary will care for your skin.

The Fine Print: Personal purchase.

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Pixi Skintreats Rose Oil Blend

 

There has been a lot of Pixi Skintreats love in the Lippie household recently, and the Rose Oil Blend is currently my favourite facial oil.  Based on a sweet almond oil base, with jojoba, dog-rosehip, geranium and damascene rose oils, it's a very light texture, so sinks into the skin easily, and doesn't make my combination-oily skin greasy.  It smells only gently of roses, and isn't perfumed artificially, it's great.

I find it really soothing, I've used it on skin that's been irritated by other products and it's helped a lot.  I find it really lovely to use it mixed in with a little foundation to give a glow to the skin.  I've also used it with ColorFX Custom Color Drops foundation (look out for a review of that soon), and it was very good, my favourite way to use it.  I also use it as a serum underneath my moisturiser

If you love oils as much as I do, you'll like this one a lot.   Best of all, Pixi Beauty are launching into Marks & Spencer, and their mid-price ranged skincare products are a real (cheapish) treat.  Pixi Skintreats Rose Oil Blend will cost you £26, and the rest of the range is priced similarly.  Look out for more Pixi Skintreats reviews soon.

The Fine Print: Gift.


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Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil

Has the hype died down yet?  Is it safe to emerge?  I'd been waiting for Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil to launch ever since I heard a little snippet on the grapevine about it last January.    It took AGES to get onto market, then by the time I got my bottle, the entire world and his wife had theirs, and they had blogged about it, so I hid my review away until such time as it would be less buried in the avalanche of coverage.

I've been a massive fan of the Sunday Riley oils (and range in general) for a long time now,  and I'm well aware of how long they last (a year's worth of usage in each bottle, easily) so, whilst throwing down that initial £85 was hard - and it was - I knew it was an investment I wouldn't easily regret.  Luna Sleeping Night Oil is a retinol product, and my skin being of a sensitive disposition, retinols have been something I've routinely avoided over the years as every excursion into them has led to redness, flakiness and peeling.  Sexy.

Retinols are derivatives of Vitamin A, which encourage exfoliation and can lead to the reduction of fine lines, pores and wrinkles, which has to be a good thing.  It encourages cell-turnover, which is why it can occasionally lead to irritation on more sensitive skins.

In Luna, the active retinol is buffered by soothing blue tansy oil (though I notice that there is artificial colouring in the formula of the oil, so the deep cerulean blue of the product isn't entirely down to flower essences), alongside other neutral carrier oils, so even my prone to redness skin can handle it.  Blue Tansy is also a major ingredient in s favourite balm of mine, May Lindstrom's The Blue Cocoon Beauty Balm Concentrate, and it's a great ingredient for stressed-out skin.

To use, you apply three-to-four drops of oil to your face (a drop or two extra will cover your neck and décolletage, too) after cleansing at night, then follow it up with the moisturiser of your choice (I double this up with the Blue Cocoon every time) and wake up to smoother, younger, plumper, fresher-looking skin.  Seeing my skin in the bathroom mirror after a night using Luna is always a treat (shame it's still the same face, but you can't have everything), things look fresher.  More even, less red.  I haven't noticed any particular difference to my wrinkles - I'm, ironically, not very wrinkly considering my status as an OLD LADY of blogging, but there you go - but my skin does, very much, look better after using it.

I've started off using Luna Sleeping Night Oil twice a week, and I'll probably end up using it every other night at some point - I have a feeling using it more often will lead to irritation.  So far, three months or so in, I've yet to see any dryness, redness or peeling as a result of use, and I'm very happy about that.

So, was it worth the hype?  In my eyes, yes. Is it worth the £85 price per bottle?  It's undoubtedly expensive, but for visible results whenever you use it, it's hard to beat.


The Fine Print: Purchase


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Josie Maran Bright and Beautiful Collection

You know those nights when you're accidentally awake at 4am and find yourself mindlessly perusing QVC?  Well that happened last week, and two days later, I found the Josie Maran Bright and Beautiful TSV (today's special value) on my doorstep.  I've been pretty impressed actually, and thought you might like to see it too.  Click to read more:

Sunday Riley Artemis Hydroactive Cellular Face Oil

At this time of year, I always think a decent facial oil is an essential rather than an optional ingredient in your skincare regime, they add an extra level of protection to your skin in the wind and the rain and the cold, and they are a godsend on chapped and sore skin.  I have a few that I rotate (Clarins is an exceptional source of affordable facial oils on the high street, btw), but recently I have fallen, hard, for this little bottle of oily goodness.

A clarifying oil, with claims to be balancing (it also claims to be lemon-scented, but more about that later), it contains black cumin seed oil, pomegranate seed oil, lemon ironbark and lemon myrtle oils alongside milk thistle seed oil.  It's quite a thick and sticky oil, which you'll only need two or three drops of for your whole face and neck, and it is a bright and cheerful sunshine yellow both in the bottle and out.  The major claims for the product include soothing redness and irritation, it's an anti-inflammatory, and it is also said to neutralise the bacteria that causes spots!

Since I've added this to my regime, in place of other, thinner and lighter oils, I genuinely have noticed that my continual redness, which is the bane of my life, has been both less frequent to arrive and shorter-lived when it does actually appear.  In fact, there have been a couple of days when I've felt able to go without foundation, something previously unthinkable in the winter months!  It sinks in easily, even though it's rather sticky, and this is a blessing given the major "problem" with the product, which is:

The smell.

Actually, the smell is a major factor when it comes to any Sunday Riley oil, and it is both a blessing and a curse ... Sunday Riley Artemis oil smells like a broccoli graveyard farted on your face. (as does Juno, btw)  It doesn't last long at all, it's gone almost as soon as you apply, but even with my currently lessened sense of smell, it gives me pause before applying it.  Now, that out of the way, I actually quite like the fact that Sunday Riley doesn't bother adding a whole bunch of unnecessary essential oils to a product like this just to disguise the fact that the actual active ingredients don't smell the nicest.  It's refreshing that all the ingredients in the formula are there because they have a job to do on your skin, rather than on your nose.

The smell has an added benefit too, because you'll use less of it than you normally would an oil product, and when you consider that the bottle costs £98, this isn't such a bad thing!  I've used mine daily for three months, and I've barely made a dent on the 30ml bottle, I estimate I'll get at least a year's use out of it.  I'm lucky, mine was a gift, but I would definitely re-purchase this once it's run out.  I used to use Juno, and I loved it, but Artemis, for my money, and my sensitive, reddened slightly combination skin is even better.

You can buy Sunday Riley Artemis Hydroactive Cellular Face Oil from Cult Beauty

What's the worst-smelling beauty product you've ever used?

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Aveda Shampure Body Lotion, Body Wash and Compostition Oil

By Luke

There aren’t many of us that haven’t been seduced by at least one of Aveda's products. With their natural ingredients, and superb scents in just about everything they do, there was a collective sigh of relief when Aveda first arrived on the scene in the UK, as they proved that harsh chemicals and synthetics in hair products were unnecessary for healthy hair.

It took me a long while to jump on board with Aveda, but when I coloured my hair bright red recently I got involved with the excellent Madder Root shampoo and conditioner. Anyone who has had a similar colour knows that red hair dyes are notorious for fading fast, not to mention they're prone to looking a little lacklustre after few washes, so anything that helps stop those has to be a plus. And the Madder Root range from Aveda really does help and, as a bonus, it smells amazing.

However, Shampure is perhaps the most famous, and most-loved, shampoo range from Aveda. With its extremely distinctive scent that is now synonymous with the brand, it is incredibly popular. This year saw the 25^th anniversary of Shampure, and they've celebrated with the introduction of body products and oils all featuring the distinctive and much-beloved Shampure fragrance. Well, I say "fragrance", but it is actually the result of blending over 25 pure flower and plant extracts, including ylang ylang, lavender, and petit grain, all of which are said to bring on a sense of well being and calm. This is just as well really, as this is the signature scent of all Aveda salons around the world!

The Shampure hand & body wash is sulphate free and has the benefit of added organic Babassu nut oil which can apparently create a naturally cooling sensation on the skin which can help with relaxation and insomnia, I love this. The body lotion is hydrating and easy to apply, and is perfect for keeping that gorgeous Shampure scent with you throughout the day.

Even more recently they have added the Shampure fragrance to the ranks of their superb multi use composition oils. These are credited as being beneficial for body, bath, nails and scalp, and the universal oil can be used for just about everything except cooking (like you'd cook with a scented oil!) and obviously, it smells incredible! It's lighter - and more runny - than the other composition oils in Aveda's range, but it's fabulous for treating dry ends on longer hair, and makes a great addition to a hot bath that will both scent your skin and home beautifully. Use it on your scaly bits too, so if you've ever wanted beautifully scented elbows, now's your chance ... Now, Aveda, sort out a Shampure candle, will you?

Aveda Shampure bath and body, and composition oil available now. Prices range from £17 to £23.

The Fine Print: PR Samples.

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Nuxe Prodigieux le Parfum and Parfum Divin de Caudalie

 By Get Lippie

Those two great French skincare competitors, Nuxe and Caudalie, have both brought out perfume versions of their cult body oil products this summer, and I managed to get my hands on both so I could compare and contrast each of them.

Nuxe is probably the cult body oil product in the UK, and this summer, the iconic rectangular bottle has been re-issued with a cute limited edition design,  which I surprisingly rather like.  The perfume bottle is a flat oblong with a bronzed ombre effect over.  It looks rather staid in comparison to the limited edition bottle though, I think!  

The scent is warm, redolent of jasmine and sunshine, with a small hit of coconut. It actually has a rather sunscreen-y scent, instantly transporting you to a beach and the tropical cocktail of your choice.  On first spraying, it is intensely heady and rather strong-seeming, but this headiness wears off rather quickly, just leaving a floral-musk skin scent behind, which is rather nuzzly and lovely.  It's very discreet in wear, you're not going to offend any perfume-phobics in the office in this one.  

In comparison with the scent of the oil itself, it holds up very well indeed - on first sniff, they're practically identical - the oil has a more rounded profile, and because of the oil base it's less sharp-seeming than the parfum, which feels a little thinner than the original formulation.  That said the two are to all intents completely indistinguishable from each other.  Lasting power for the fragrance, even though it's a parfum formulation, is around 4-6 hours, but as it wears very close to the skin, sometimes you'll have to hunt for the scent whilst you're wearing it.  Nuxe Prodigieux le Parfum costs £43 for 50mls.

Packaging is, for me, a very important part of any product, and hands down the Caudalie bottles win this particular context.  Not only is the circular shape of the oil bottle easier to handle (I struggle with the flat rectangle of the Nuxe, owing to having very small hands, and the bottle is too wide for me to grip properly in use), but the metallic ombre effect on the Parfum Divin bottle is quite, quite lovely.  I also like the wooden lids, which add just a little extra touch of luxury and texture to the overall presentation.

Divine oil is just a couple of years old, but has spawned a couple of offshoot products already - a body scrub, and Divine Legs, which is a lightly tinted body moisturiser - and the perfume is a natural extension.  A lighter, fresher, fragrance than the Nuxe Prodigieux. In comparison, Parfum Divin has an almost cucumber-y ozonic scent, atop a base of blonde woods, cedar and white flowers.  I can catch a hint of jasmine here, but it's far less punchy than in the Nuxe. It dries down to a more woody skin-scent than the Nuxe, but they are both somewhat on the discreet side, and dry down to a gentle inoffensiveness.

Whilst less initially heady than the Nuxe fragrance, it's actually a slightly more sophisticated scent overall, being more redolent of a spa than a sunscreen,  but it does still manage to smell almost exactly like the original product, in the same way.  Again, the fragrance is a little sharper, and a little fresher than the oil, but this is down to the formulation, as an oil fragrance will always seem a little "fatter" to the nose, than an alcohol-based spray. The lasting power for both fragrances is about the same. Parfum Divin de Caudalie will be available for £39 for 50ml when it launches shortly.  There's a candle version of the fragrance too, which really, really, really needs to join my candle collection, tbh.

So, do you need both fragrances?  Probably not, to be honest.  Both the fragrances are wonderful companions to their respective oils, being respectful recreations of the originals, and they're both wonderful for layering over the oils for a little extra oomph (the oils will anchor the fragrances to your skin, making them last longer), but which one you prefer will depend on which oil you have a preference for.  I can't actually pick a winner - the Nuxe is a cult product for a reason, it smells great, and is instantly evocative, but, the Caudalie is sophisticated, and (for me) a better bottle.  Which one do you prefer?

The Fine Print: PR Samples.  But I'm ordering a candle, oh yes.  No, I am NOT obsessed.
 
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