Fragrance Reviews, Swatches and Pictures on Makeup and Beauty Blog

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Fragrance

Elizabeth Arden Went on a ScentTrek to Find Green Tea Camellia Eau de Toilette

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Like intrepid Indiana Jones types, the perfumers who brought Elizabeth Arden’s new Green Tea Camellia Eau de Toilette ($29 for a 1.7-oz. bottle) into the light went all the way to Sri Lanka to find it.

Their goal was to capture the scent of the camellia sasanqua plant in its natural habitat. Using a doo-dad called ScentTrek, which they attached to the plant, they left with a sample of the plant’s actual scent molecules, which then went toward developing one of the scent’s middle notes.

Neat, yeah?

Typically, perfumers distill the oils from a harvested plant to acquire its scent, but, with ScentTrek, they’re able to grab the true essence of a living plant or flower in its natural habitat no matter where it takes them in the world. The technology not only allows perfumers to keep the ecological balance intact, but it also gives them the opportunity to obtain a more complete scent profile that takes into account the atmosphere surrounding the plant.
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I Raise My Teacup to Elizabeth Arden Green Tea Lavender Eau de Toilette Spray

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Don’t you just love the sound of silence? I caught a few minutes of it this afternoon while staring out the window by my desk. I was watching the branches of a tall oak tree silently sway in a breeze I couldn’t hear at all because the house was all buttoned up with the windows and doors shut. It was both beautiful and awesomely weird, like someone had turned down the volume on a reality show starring me. 🙂

But then El Hub came thundering down the stairs with a load of laundry in his arms, boom-boom-boom! Tabs magically appeared, “Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow!” Then the washing machine, the dishwasher, a gas-powered blower outside? El Hub coughing and tearing open a package of something in the kitchen — for the love of Pete, man, what is that sound?! Add to all of that every other sound that makes up the background music of my busy little life suddenly turned up to 10 at the very same time, and I can’t help but wonder if the silence I’d heard was ever real at all.

Le sigh…

If, by chance, I ever hear that kind of silence again, there’s a high probability you’ll find me somewhere quietly sighing with relief and spraying Elizabeth Arden’s Green Tea Lavender ($29 for a 1.7-oz. bottle) in the air.

I’m surprised El Hub hasn’t asked me to chill out with this stuff because I’ve been spritzing it on myself lately like it’s my side job.
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Doing Laundry Just Got Cooler at This Laundromat: New Tocca Laundry Delicate Fine Fiber Wash

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tocca laundry wash

It seems so obvious now, but I think I just figured out the real reason why Tabs has always preferred to sleep on the floor instead of the bed. The second I put fresh sheets down washed with the new Tocca Laundry Delicate Fine Fiber Wash, he was like, “Wow, this bed is AWESOME!” He couldn’t wait to roll around on the duvet cover and brush his cheeks on the pillows. Apparently, he has a taste for the finer things, and drugstore laundry detergents just won’t do.

I should have known. I love Tocca, too. The brand is known for their Italian-styled perfumes and candles, but maybe that’s about to change. I started collecting their scents about a year ago, and now I’m hopelessly addicted to a few (I’m in love, love, LOVE with Bianca, in particular).

I can say with 100% certainty that I’ve never been this excited to do laundry in my life. 🙂

The new Laundry Washes are based on four fragrances from Tocca’s collection of perfumes — Stella, Cleopatra, Florence and Touch. They’re sold either individually, as 8-oz. bottles for $15 apiece, or together in the $22 Delicato da Viaggio Laundry Travel Set, which includes smaller 2-oz. bottles of all four scents.

tocca laundry 4

The perfume versions of Stella, Cleopatra and Florence have been in my rotation for a while, and compared to those perfumes, I find the Laundry Washes to have crisper scents. Tocca turned down the warm base notes and turned up the fruity florals at the middle and top. To me, the resulting washes seem brighter and more citrusy.

Stella, my favorite of the four, reminds me of blood oranges (strong citrus notes, as well as lily and freesia). I also really like Florence, with its gardenia, violet and Italian bergamot; and Touch, which reminds me of Hawaiian tiare flowers. My least favorite of the bunch, Cleopatra, which Tocca describes as a grapefruit and cucumber scent, smells more like gum balls to me (odd)!

Tocca designed these detergents for delicates, either washed by hand or using the delicate cycle on a washing machine. The directions call for using five cap-fulls per machine load, or the equivalent of about a quarter of each of the smaller 2-oz. bottles (YIKES!). If you plan to hand wash a small number of items in the sink, however, one or two cap-fulls should suffice.

So far, I’ve used these to wash the bedding, a couple of sweaters, my pajamas and some random underthings in the machine. No really serious stains like grass, dirt or oil to test them against, but I did wash a couple of sweaty, funky-smelling sports bras and socks, and the Washes also took care of those.

tocca laundry bag
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What Scent Are You Wearing Today?

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I’m wearing Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh ($70 for 2.5 oz). It’s a fruitier version of the original Marc Jacobs Daisy released for spring with notes of raspberry, grapefruit, pear, violet, rose, apple blossom, musk, cedarwood and plum.

“DAISY EAU SO FRESH is a bright, floral, fruity fragrance. It radiates with a sunny and sparkling energy. A whimsical, yet elegant fragrance with playful notes of crisp raspberry, sensuous wild rose, and deep and warm plum.”

– From the website

I get plenty of mileage out of this scent, even though it’s an eau de toilette. A couple of spritzes last me from dawn till dusk.

How about you? What scent are you wearing today? 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S.
Have a beautiful Earth Day 2011

Two Ways to Win the Entire David Yurman Essence Fragrance Collection (a $255 Value)

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  • WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winners are @LaurenPeabody and Beautylogicblog! Congratulations, girls! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂


From left: David Yurman Delicate Essence, Fresh Essence and Exotic Essence Eau de Toilette

Ready to set aside that raspberry body splash and try something new? How about the elegantly feminine fragrances featured in today’s giveaway?

Sponsored by high-end jewelry line David Yurman (they also have a line of perfume and body products) and appropriately inspired by gemstones, the new spring scents take tourmaline, peridot and citrine to a scent-sory level. Designed to be worn alone or layered, the David Yurman Essence Collection features a trio of fragrances in contemporary, elegant attire.

Learn more about the David Yurman line on the company’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

Delicate, my favorite of the three Essence fragrances (Exotic, Fresh and Delicate), doesn’t just benefit from being pink (PINK!), it reminds me of something Calvin Klein might create — fresh and light, it has a certain sex appeal to it, yet isn’t overtly “in your face.”

Your new spring scent collection is right around the corner…

A Makeup and Beauty Blog Giveaway!

Two (2) lucky ladies (or gents) will each win the following prizes:

David Yurman Delicate Essence
Delicate Essence
Fragrance Family: Modern Floral
Official Description: “Ethereal floral lotus blossom with a hint of sparkling orange radiates light; spicy pink pepper adds a fresh touch. The intriguing interplay of pink peony blossom and wild rose underscores the quiet romance of rose absolute, resulting in the gentle feminine heart of the fragrance. The sumptuous warmth of sheer amber and skin musk blended with blonde woods exudes a soft spoken lucidity that lingers.”
David Yurman Fresh Essence
Fresh Essence
Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral
Official Description: “A fruity blend of apple, cassis and juicy red fruits, enhanced with crisp greens, lends a flirty nonchalance. A rare weave of classic notes — rose, peony, and water lily — adds an explicit modern twist while cashmere woods, and soft musk radiate an implicit vitality that’s both playful and luminous.”
David Yurman Exotic Essence
Exotic Essence
Fragrance Family: Sensual Oriental
Official Description: “Rich notes of creamy, voluptuous vanilla absolute, radiant amber and lucid Australian sandalwood imbues Exotic Essence with passion and mystery; soft musk and peach skin add a sly sensuality. A spicy hint of Casablanca lily melds seamlessly with tender rose petals to form a deeply captivating heart enhanced with patchouli and exotic woods. A slight touch of sparkling mandarin lends a suggestive edge.”

  • There are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win. First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all, like, what’s your favorite piece of jewelry? What scent are you wearing today? What was the first fragrance you ever fell in love with? What are your weekend plans? — you get the idea.
  • Second, you can enter by following me on twitter Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
    • Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win the Entire David Yurman Essence Fragrance Collection (a $255 Value) http://bit.ly/gRiqNZ

  • The deadline to enter is Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 11:59PM (PT).
  • Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
  • A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
  • Contest is open to individuals of the United States (sorry, ladies living overseas; I promise a giveaway that includes you soon) who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
  • Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select two (2) winners at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
  • The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
  • Void where prohibited by law.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

  • WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winners are @LaurenPeabody and Beautylogicblog! Congratulations, girls! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

If You Love MAC Turquatic, You May Want to Sit Down for This…

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First the dodo bird, now this?! Has the world gone mad? Last weekend I was searching for MAC Turquatic ($25) online but couldn’t find it, so I asked one of the gals at my nearby MAC counter for the scoop.

Apparently, the fragrance is being discontinued (ACK!). Um, what’s up with that? And right before summer? I loved Turquatic, and I can’t be the only one. I thought its watery notes made it a wonderfully light, sparkling scent for summer.
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Pacifica French Lilac Body Wash Is Turning Showers Into Gardens

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Last month I put myself on Pacifica lockdown when I couldn’t find my toothbrush on the bathroom counter. Oh, I knew it was there, buried somewhere beneath a precarious pile of Pacifica Body Butters and Washes, but it took way too much time and shuffling around to find. Gah! “Is this what I’ve become?” I asked my reflection in the mirror.

Right then and there, I made myself a deal. No new bottles or tubes until I finished an old one.

Can I get a woot-woot for small beauty victories? 🙂

The embargo was finally lifted last week, so to speak, when I finished a tube of Malibu Lemon Blossom Body Butter, huzzah! It made room for this lovely bottle of Pacific French Lilac Body Wash ($10 for an 8-oz. bottle).

If you’re still awaiting spring in your area, open a bottle of this in your shower and let its soft, understated floral fragrance and lush coat of foamy bubbles wash the last remnants of winter away.
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What Fragrance Are You Wearing?

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It doesn’t have to be a perfume, per se. You could be rockin’ your favorite deodorant (not gonna lie, I do love me some Dove Go Fresh), a body splash or a body butter, even.

Today I’m wearing Gucci Guilty Perfumed Body Lotion ($50). I’ve been majorly stuck on the Eau De Toilette since September, and now I can’t seem to get enough of the lotion, which on me smells like a lighter version of the original scent.

What about you? What fragrance are you wearing today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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