A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

The lucky winner of the delightful Esme Perfume Pendant is….

*insert dramatic X-Factor style pause here*

Ann Grey

Congratulations Ann, please get in touch with your postal details so I can get this little beaut whisked off to you ASAP.

I’ve got another giveaway coming up next Monday so stay tuned!

With celebrity fragrances reaching saturation point a couple of years ago, it’s not really surprising that 2010 saw a decline in both sales and new releases.  With anything so inextricably tied to fleeting popularity and snapshots of pop culture, it’s inevitable that these releases would be churned out rinse, wash, repeat style until we all got sick of smelling like a mixture of fruit, white flowers and vanilla.

Except, there’s always room for a latecomer to the party right?  Especially when it comes from a brand as big as Brand Kardashian.  The self-titled fragrance was actually released in the U.S. last year but saw it’s UK launch on Wednesday when hoardes of fans descended on Debenhams, Oxford Street for the chance to purchase a bottle and if lucky, catch a glance of Kim herself.

Floral top notes of mandarin, honeysuckle and orange blossom reflect Kim’s captivating nature; while at the heart, pink jasmine, tuberose, sensual spices and lush gardenia evoke her femininity. The last impression of tonka bean, jacaranda wood, vanilla orchid, sexy musk and creamy sandalwood add warmth to represent Kim’s softer side.

I haven’t had an opportunity to sniff it yet, so will try and spritz while in London today.  I’m expecting it to be all about the tuberose and anticipating bold things!

It’s worth pointing out that the Kim Kardashian 100ml Eau de Parfum is currently available at CheapSmells.com for £27.85, a sizeable saving when compared to the Debenhams online price of £40.00

Still sitting down there in my wishlist purely because I’m a lazy oaf who hasn’t updated yet, sits the fragrance Agent Provocateur.

CheapSmells.com are currently doing a ridiculously good deal on the Agent Provocateur family, so I thought that now would be the most useful time to update and review the fragrance that I finally got around to buying last month).

Agent Provocateur EDP starts with an intense blast of spice, reminiscent of a (very) steamy evening in Marrakech before quickly softening as the fragrance blends with the warmth of my skin.  The floral begins to peek through as the heart notes surface to smother the spiciness in a shroud of powdery rose and white flowers.

Despite the scent’s obvious femininity made apparent in the floral aspect of the perfume, there’s a musky sourness that remains intact from that initial spritz to eventual fade.  It’s animalic, sexual and bold.  Don’t expect a juicy, sweet fragrance to make you feel light and girly.  Agent Provocateur is a seriously sexy number that will wear you if you lack the confidence to wear it back!

Agent Provocateur is available for upto 70% off the RRP at CheapSmells.com until the 5th June.

Do you like your fragrances to be provocative and bold or a little more demure?

When a product gets over 200 5* reviews on Amazon, I can’t help but take notice.  Which is how I ended up buying one of these Travalo perfume atomisers last Christmas to put in a care parcel for my sister in Oz.  I haven’t actually *sent* this parcel yet, infact… I’m looking at it with overwhelming guilt as I type this. Note to self: send the damn parcel already, it has creme eggs and a packet of twiglets with her name on ’em!

I’m tangenting…

Anyway, I was contacted by Travalo’s PR last month who wondered if I’d heard of the atomiser… “Yes!” says I, irrelevantly explaining what a completely awful sister I was.  Once I’d stopped rambling, they deduced that I hadn’t actually tried it for myself and kindly offered to send me one.

Behold.  The Travalo.  (and a nearly empty bottle of Hypnotic Poison).

The premise is simple.  We don’t want to carry big bottles of breakable perfumes around with us in our handbags and we *definitely* don’t want to pack them in our suitcases to take on hols but we still want to smell incredible right?

Old fashioned perfume atomisers involved fiddly things like funnels and swearing under your breath as you poured half your bottle of EDT over yourself, the kitchen counter and the cat before managing to eke maybe half a drop into the atomiser vessel.

Travalo uses a pump action to draw the juice from the original bottle into the atomiser chamber without a single drop going to waste.  Or that’s how it works in theory at least… look…

You just pop the nozzle off your favourite perfume and press the base of the Travalo onto the exposed, erm, errr, stump?  I’m sure that’s not the technical word.

It totally reminds me of watching my mum refill her BIC lighters in the 80s.  But again, with less swearing.

There’s something incredibly satisfying about pumping the Travalo up and down on the stump of the perfume bottle.  And it doesn’t even remotely make me think of sex either.

You get about 50 spritzes from a full Travalo which should be plenty for a week in the Sun.  I like that the atomiser has a decent nozzle too… it doesn’t dribble fragrance pathetically or force me to make do with my most hated of dispensers… the roller ball.

It’s a bit “form follows function” in its design and styling but it serves its purpose well without any major faults.  I’ve lumped it about with me in my handbag, given it to L to play with in the back of the car and even let Mr. L have a go at filling it after his curiosity got the better of him.  It has suffered a fair few scratches where the Travalo has bumped up against my car keys so I’d like to see the product come with one of those little drawstring pouches to keep it better protected.

When all is said and done though, it’s solidly achieved what it promises without fuss or palava, providing an affordable solution to a common fragrance dilemma!

Travalo Rapid Pump Fill Perfume Atomiser Bottle is available to buy online from CheapSmells and Amazon, priced from £7.10 with free delivery.

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Now, for the giveaway… I have one of these Travalo Atomisers (in PINK!) to give away to a lovely Facebook follower!  If you don’t already following Lipglossiping.com on the book of faces, why not? Oh, you hate facebook?  In that case drop me an email and I’ll enter you anyway.

If you ARE on Facebook, it’d be much easier to go here and click LIKE.  Or alternatively click the ‘like’ button over there on the right somewhere —>

T&C
1. Entry open to worldwide participants by liking the Lipglossiping.com Facebook page.
2. Alternative entry available for Facebook haters by email.
3. One winner will be picked at random from all participants.
4. Lipglossiping.com is the sole promoter of this giveaway.
5. Competition closes on Friday 13th May 2011 at 23.59.
6. Winner will be notified through Facebook or email within 5 days of the close of the competition.
7. No email addresses will be stored once the competition has closed and will only be used to contact the winner.

Smoky, boozy, warm and decadent.  Richly opulent with a vanilla that transcends all.  The vanilla is a true, gourmand vanille as opposed to anything too playful or overly sweet.  It harmonises and mellows the tobacco beautifully.

Tobacco Vanille* is a fragrance that oozes warmth, breathe it in deeply and you’ll feel the scent warm your belly like the sun.  This makes it quite a difficult fragrance for some to wear during Summer months where the headiness may become overwhelming… but for me, it’s the perfect accompaniment to sultry, Summer evenings.

At £118 for 50ml, a Tom Ford Private Blend fragrance isn’t a purchase to be entered into lightly but these exquisitely blended perfumes stand alone with personalities that cut through the myriad of other frags on the market.  Complex and deep, I’ve sniffed the 12 scents in the Private Blend collection and appreciate the quality of each one.  This doesn’t mean I love all of them but it stands out to me that I only dislike certain blends because the personality of the scent disagrees with my tastes and not because it lacks anything in terms of quality.

The line of Private Blends are described as unisex and this is definitely true for Tobacco Vanille that wears just as smoothly on my skin as it does on my husband’s thanks to the craftsmanship displayed in creating the perfect balance.  The spicy tobacco adds a bitterness to the creamy vanilla whilst the vanilla and honeyed tones smooth the rough edges from the tobacco leaf.  The feminine/masculine tones simply dance a tango in the bottle.

My one wish would be for a couple more hours wear from Tobacco Vanille which lasts around 6 hours on my skin whilst my husband manages to achieve around 16 hours from a coupe of sprays!

If you like sweet, rich scents but feel that the majority of mass scents on the market smell a little too young or fruity… you must visit your local Tom Ford counter to experience Tobacco Vanille on your own skin, then make your partner fall in love with it too, there’s nothing like going Dutch 😉

Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille is available from Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Harrods and priced from £118

* press sample

A survey by The Perfume Shop has revealed that four out of ten men buy gifts for their wives or partners at Christmas – just so they can use it themselves.  Gits.

But on the plus side, 15 per cent of these men have ended up having a row with their disappointed spouse, with one in ten even getting dumped because of it!  Dumped.  Not that we’re shallow or anything… but seriously, don’t screw it up.

By my calculations Mr. L, you have 10 days left to buy me something nice.  Not Call of Duty: Black Ops nice… proper nice.  Jewellery is a good option as long as it’s not from that dodgy looking stall on the market.  Or Argos.

Don’t bother attempting to buy me clothes… and if you buy me lingerie?  I’ll buy you a new pillow for the sofa.

Makeup?  Yeah… I could live with that but don’t buy me green eyeshadow or coral lipstick.  Or bronzer fit for David Dickinson.  I don’t mean to pile the pressure on… I know it’s not easy for you but living off Heinz Baked Beans for the next 6 months won’t be easy either.

Here’s my thoughts on some of the last-minute fragrance buys available to your lovely selves, including my thoughts of some fragrance samples that I’ve received recently.  Here’s hoping for a sweet-smelling, easy-living Christmas.

1. Noir EDT – The White Company (£35)

Is there a woman in existence that doesn’t swoon over The White Company’s brochure?  It’s the epitome of the “my house would look like that if I didn’t have a real life to live” dream.  Noir is a fresh, fruity fragrance with a heavy dose of amber and a hit of orange that keeps it light.  Not the longest-lasting scent around, I find that I need to reapply after a couple of hours.  On the plus side – if she likes it, next year you can buy her the matching candle, bath soak, body creme and scent diffuser.  I’ve just sorted out your present-buying woes for the next 5 years!

2. Nina L’Elixir – Nina Ricci (fr. £29.50)

I’m a huge fan of the original Nina fragrance and this reincarnation has taken everything I love about the original and celebrated it.  It’s sugary and girly and packs one hell of a fruity punch.  Berries… big juicy cherries and blackcurrants.  I can’t go past a bottle without spritzing it and I’ve not long finished my original Nina…. oh Mr. L, won’t you make a girl’s Christmas? [probably not – Mr. L]

3. L’Eau D’Issey Noir Absolu- Issey Miyake (£59)

If your better half is an original L’Eau d’Issey lover… Noir Absolu should be an obvious choice.  L’Eau D’Issey Noir Absolu is a limited edition offering that takes the original’s floral empire and builds on it with notes that are less clean and more suited to the current time of year.  The ubiquitous amber is there, as is a dash of vanilla to warm it up.  I have to say though, that bottle… it’s stunning in black no?  My favourite of all Issey incarnations I’ve smelt so far and considering how many there have been… that’s saying something!

4. Jean Paul Gaultier Classique EDT – Jean Paul Gaultier (£66.50)

Another limited edition bottle masterpiece.  Don’t worry, the missus won’t think you’ve bought her this solely for the err… feminine bottle shape [tsk].  The beautiful charm that hangs around the bottle neck can be re-used as a handbag charm, whilst the classic fragrance itself has stood the test of time over the past 17 years.  Powdery, floral, soft and ultimately ridiculously feminine… there’s a reason why JPG can get away with retaining the same juice despite all the collectible flacon designs he releases.  It works for many, many women.

5. Naughty Alice – Vivienne Westwood (fr. £34.50)

Another lust-have for me is Naughty Alice by Vivienne Westwood… I think it may be slowly becoming apparent that I have a ‘thing’ for beautifully packaged perfumes.  There’s something to be said for a glamourous-looking dressing table!  Naughty Alice is actually Sweet Alice… it’s another flirty, light and rather girly scent that would have to work hard to offend.  I also think it would make a perfect Spring fragrance… and that lovely whimsical bottle and charm?  *sigh*

6. Elemis Eau de Parfum – Exotic (£35)

Out of all the perfumes included, Exotic is my tip for title of ‘most sensuous’ and with that comes the sub-title ‘most mature’.  I am an unashamed lover of flirty, girly scents but a lady always needs a heavier, headier fragrance in her arsenal aswell.  If Exotic is indeed exotic, then I’d say it comes from Marrakech thanks to the incense and warmth that lingers once the spice notes subside.  Infact, I wish they lingered a touch longer – for an EDP it’s a little short-lived.  But beautiful while it lasts!

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So, there we have it… my rambly thoughts on potential purchases for the lovely ladies in your lives.

If you’re still in doubt… raid her dressing table for a selection of the perfumes that she currently wears and take them to someone who can advise you further.  It’ll save you hassle in the long run… The Perfume Shop’s survey also revealed that one in five women said they were so annoyed with their partner’s choice of present, they made their bloke buy them another gift to make up for it!

You have been warned.  Don’t screw it up. [that goes for you too Mr. L].

The three lucky winners of my Sugababes perfume giveaway are….

Georgie Foster

Monika Wykurz

Asmaa Mangera

Well done ladies!

Expect an email from me shortly to request your postal details!

Thanks for taking part everyone, if you weren’t lucky enough to win this time round – head over to the Sugababes Fragrances Facebook Page where they’re giving away 30 bottles!

If at first you don’t succeed and all that!

My Sugababes Perfume giveaway closes tonight at midnight… if you want the chance to bag yourself a new fragrance in time for the party season, you ain’t got long left!

ENTER HERE

I don’t get excited by shoes (yeah, I know – freakozoid)… so this is probably the closest I’m gonna come to getting excited by a Jimmy Choo debut.

Jimmy Choo by Jimmy Choo is set to enter the perfume market next January as the brand’s first foray into the beauty world.

I’m bowled over by the beautiful bottle which co-founder Tamara Mellon stated has been inspired by Murano glass (there’s worse things to be inspired by right?)  It’s elegant, shapely and there’s not a stiletto-shaped flacon in sight.  Amen.

But enough of how it looks… how’s it gonna smell?!

The fragrance is being described as a a fruity chypre with notes of exotic tiger orchid, sweet toffee and Indonesian patchouli.  That sounds right up my street… feminine but with a little more sophistication than your average floral.  Sweet toffee?  One for the gourmand-fragrance lovers?… i.e. me, as long as it’s not too sweet.

Regardless, I’m sure that Jimmy Choo by Jimmy Choo is destined to be a Valentine’s Day sellout.

Jimmy Choo Eau de parfum is set to retail at £39 (40 ml), £49 (60 ml), and £68 (100 ml).  Available from Harrods, Selfridges and selected Jimmy Choo boutiques.

Givaudan, the worlds most respected fragrance manufacturer has released an iPhone App unimaginatively titled: iPerfumer.  It’s for the iPhone?  Better stick a small “i” in at the beginning of the name then *yawn*.

Having said that, I had barely finished scrolling to the bottom of the press release before I’d scooped up my iPhone and zoned in on the App Store.  Combine my iPhone geekery with an undying fascination for the perfume world and it was downloaded and installed faster than a fat kid at a cake buffet.

Now, despite my fascination in perfumes and scents… I’m a total n00b.  I’m clueless, which is great… ‘cos I’m guessing this App is aimed at people like me who struggle to navigate the complicated world of perfumes.

The App itself is pretty basic, you fire it up… enter some personal details and preferences (I had to look up some of the fragrance types – chypre? fougere? wassat!) and finally start ‘rating’ fragrances that you’ve tried, with 5 stars being top marks.

The first thing I noticed was that once I’d entered my personal preferences, there doesn’t seem to be a way to ‘go back’ and edit them.  I’m stuck with having given ‘Oriental’ 3 stars, when I should have given it more.  Make sense?  The only way I can see to fix this is to delete my profile and start from scratch.  Frankly, I can’t be arsed.

It also appears to have a limited database of perfumes… I’m hoping that as time passes, the clever people at Givaudan will update the App to include more and more fragrances.  I couldn’t rate anything by Annick Goutal… still, it let me score SJP Covet (go figure!)  – and no, I’m not telling you what score I gave Covet, you’ll ban me from ever owning another perfume!

Once you’ve rated as many perfumes as you can remember owning or sniffing… click the “Recommend” button at the bottom and the App takes just seconds to whizz up a list of recommendations based on your previous input and ratings.  Clever no?

I’d have loved to have been able to browse through the perfumes in the App’s database… it seems that you can only really access a fragrance’s details if you know the name to search for it directly or get recommended it by the App.  Seeing as I like ‘floral’ perfumes, it would have been nice to have been able to browse through a category devoted to these scents.  It’s all about making the database accessible in as many ways as possible to the user.

I’ll be honest… I don’t know enough about fragrances to tell you whether the recommendations are much cop.  I had a nice selection of floral/oriental fragrances in my list (the image above is a generic screenshot) including Armani Sensi, Ralph Lauren Notorious, Trish McEvoy Gardenia Musk and Serge Lutens Daim Blond.  But having never smelt any of those, I’ll have to follow my nose to my local counters to see what I think.

Overall, iPerfumer is a nifty little App that occupied a good half hour of my time yesterday.  I had fun rating and reading little snippets of info about fragrances I’d never heard of before.  Ultimately, it needs a bit of work and a lot of updating.  But the potential is certainly there, and if anyone can do it… it’s Givaudan.

I’ll be back to let you know what I think of it’s recommendations… if I like the suggestions, then this App will be coming with me on many a Beauty Hall tour!

Thumbs up!  Oh, and did I mention it’s free?  Double thumbs up! (I look like an idiot!)

That’s it… that’s all that I have left of my current favourite fragrance after decanting myself a small amount and giving the rest to a friend.

Jo Malone White Jasmine and Mint reminds me of Summer.  It makes me think of cottage gardens and fresh linen catching the breeze on the washing line.

But Mr L doesn’t like it and in all fairness, he has to smell me 24/7 and it’s a scent that truly bothers him.

When I was 17, I bought myself a bottle of Dior’s Hypnotic Poison.  It had just been released and I sampled it in the Duty Free Store on the RoRo ferry to France.  I fell in love with it’s sweet and gentle scent.  Vanilla, almond and sugar… it’s everything a teenage girl would love.  I spent all of my holiday allowance on that one bottle before I’d even got halfway across the English Channel.

Back then, it was new and remained relatively undiscovered for a while.  It was the first perfume I’d ever worn that lasted for hours on my skin, I couldn’t leave the house without being complimented on how lovely I smelt.

I’m now 12 years older.  The oriental and intoxicating scent I used to cherish and adore reminds me a little bit of play-doh.  It’s cloying and childish and admitting this upsets me.

Shall I tell you why?

I met my husband wearing Hypnotic Poison.  I married my husband wearing Hypnotic Poison (along with the matching body lotion) and I gave birth to our child wearing Hypnotic Poison.  Everything about our life has been set against a backdrop of Bitter Almond, Caraway, Vanilla and Caramel.  It’s one of the most comforting scents we know.

The end of a love affair… it’s not tempestuous or exciting.  Like many endings, it’s just sad.

I know I’ll never be without a bottle stashed somewhere in the back of my wardrobe… but I need to find something new, something that will carry me through my 30s and beyond.  What if I fall in love with something else that Mr. L hates?  What if he can’t let go of my signature scent in the way I’m dying to and no other scent compares?

As much as I assert that it’s MY scent, on MY body… it’s not.  It’s ours… and I’m not sure I’d be ready for him to fall out of love with his signature fragrance either.

Perhaps I’m being melodramatic… I usually am.  But of the traditional 5 senses, the sense of smell is a hugely important and often subconscious one.

Do you have a signature scent?  How would you go about finding a new one?