A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Do you have a lucky number? I’m sure almost everyone does… mine is number 7, which I’m led to believe, is one of the most popular lucky numbers in the world. Not that I really use it for anything, my lottery ticket (when I remember to buy it) is of the “lucky dip” variety and I’m no gambler, but still… it’s the LAW to have a lucky number regardless of whether it has any real significance right?

Significance isn’t a problem for Liz Earle’s latest fragrance. Liz Earle Botanical Essence No.15 hasn’t staked its name on the whim of somebody’s superstition. The number 15 actually refers to the number of precious botanicals that have gone into creating this olfactory delight.  And delight it does.

I wan’t a fan of Liz Earle’s other fragrant creation, Botanical Essence No.1 – infact, it really disappointed me.  I found it sharp and reminiscent of an old-fashioned chypre that had seen better days.  When I think of Liz Earle products, I think of fragrances that soothe the spirits and calm the mind… and the perfume bods at Liz Earle have thankfully got it very, very, right this time around.

Isn’t the packaging lovely?  I know it’s not the be all and end all, of course it isn’t… but when it comes to perfume, it’s definitely appealing when something looks good sat on your dressing table no?

The cardboard housing tells the story of the fragrance and the process in creating it, going to great lengths to detail each of the 15 botanical ingredients, it’s an interesting touch and great for novice perfume-lovers who are interested in finding out more about the ingredients and notes that make up a complete scent.

Liz Earle Botanical Essence No15 is equally as heady as Liz Earle’s first fragrance creation but in a much softer way.  It’s a completely different genre to be fair, and gone is the sharpness that pricked at my senses to be replaced by a warmer vanilla base, studded with spices and a veil of rich Damask rose.

The beauty of this scent lies in how the variety of notes toy so playfully with one another in a non-linear way.  The cinnamon doesn’t actually deliver the scent of cinnamon into the equation, it just infuses warmth.  The caramel doesn’t bring sweetness, only creamy qualities that tone down the zing of the bergamot.

It just feels (and smells) like a clever, clever creation and the more time I take to analyse it on my wrists, the more I appreciate the work that’s gone into it.

Liz Earle Botanical Essence No15 has that feminine, sensual vibe mastered and yet I can appreciate the more masculine qualities within it aswell.  The spices are rich and deep, the sandalwood is clean and calming, and the vetiver is mysteriously earthy.

No15, it’s not the most obvious lucky number in the world, but I think it’ll do wonders for Liz Earle’s sales this Christmas.

Liz Earle Botanical Essence No15 is priced at £45 for 50ml and available to buy at your local Liz Earle counter or online at lizearle.com and QVC

* press sample

When I was growing up, I’m pretty sure that smelling like a stripper wasn’t one of my greatest desires in life. Having said that, there are strippers… and then there are strippers.  And if you are going to smell like a stripper*, well… there’s only one you want to smell like isn’t there?  Dita von Teese – not content with a cosmetic line – has also been making waves in the fragrance world since the launch of her debut scent: Dita Von Teese Eau de Parfum back in May.

Visually, it’s perfect isn’t it?  It’s got the Hollywood glamour thing going on, with a little (ok, a lot) of noir thrown in… accents of quirk and more than just a passing nod to vintage styling makes for a bottle that gels beautifully with Dita’s image in the media.  And the tassle?  Ohhhhhh… the tassle!

Having said that, I’m not a fan of atomisers… they’re cute n’ all but they’re just not very practical are they?  Add in the fact that they contribute to quicker evaporation of the contents inside and they’re a bit of a nuisance.  Just make sure that you don’t throw away the regular “cap” that comes with the perfume for easy transporting and you should be alright.  Still… nuisance.

As for the perfume itself, well… it’s everything I imagined a DvT perfume to smell like.  It’s a well-rounded, smoky floral with a nose-nuzzling quality that emerges beautifully once the scent has had time to warm up on the skin.  The fragrance carries itself with poise and elegance, feeling well-suited to an evening of seduction, perhaps a little too dark to wear to the in-laws.  Although having said that, the combination is gentle… never brash nor loud and although it lingers, it remains close to the skin.

Top: peonies, bergamot, and bourbon pepper

Heart: Bulgarian rose, tiaré, and jasmine

Base: patchouli, musk, Gaiac wood, and sandalwood

Dita von Teese eau de parfum is avaialble nationwide at Boots, priced from £18 – easily the best “celeb” scent you’ll smell this year.

* sorry, burlesque artist

** press sample

Acqua Di Parma’s Iris Nobile was my first encounter with a high-end perfume and also, my first experience of the brand.  It was love at first sniff after a kindly lady working on the counters at House of Fraser saw me looking with an air of confuzzlement at the range before offering me a tester strip and a spritz.  She explained that it was her favourite from the line, that she hadn’t been working there very long and was still familiarising herself with the range.  That chink of vulnerability was all I needed to feel less of a fragrance-idiot and gave me enough confidence to ask her if she’d mind sharing what she knew, knowing that I was less likely to be overwhelmed with a barrage of information that my under-developed beauty brain would be unable to cope with.

I actually ended up walking away with a bottle of Colonia, because it was summertime and I knew that Mr. L would enjoy wearing it aswell.  Iris Nobile, henceforth became known (to me) as the one that got away.

Roll on a couple of summers and I discover that Acqua di Parma have released a flanker for the original Iris Nobile, Iris Nobile Sublime – well, as if the first one wasn’t sublime enough…

Iris Nobile Sublime takes up where the original left off, oozing refinement and class from the moment you lift the bottle from the packaging.  Despite the promise of mandarin and Italian bergamot, to me, it opens with a resolute hit of warm florals actually quite unlike the fresh, almost icy openings I remember from Prada’s Infusion d’Iris and Narciso Rodriguez’s Essence in Color – two iris scents that I appreciate but cannot quite fall in love with.  Iris Nobile Sublime is simply more inviting, more enticing and more sensual from the off.

Iris Nobile Sublime is an unashamedly feminine affair, brimming with smarts and confidence but elegantly keeping it on the down-low because, after all, no-one likes a show off.  She asserts no blousiness or arrogance, just a seemingly everlasting sense of suave, balance and harmony.  Iris Nobile Sublime is not a rollercoaster of a scent, you’ll know whether you’ll love it or leave it from your first impression, and be sure to trust in those impressions because this is a sure cert for many who have outgrown their love affairs with the candy popsicle scents of youth and are looking for a true signature scent.

As to the question that I asked myself when I first heard about the launch… “How does this differ from the original Iris Nobile?”  I still haven’t been able to answer it to my satisfaction… I also haven’t been able to get to a counter to remind myself of the original but if my instincts and memory serve me correctly, I’m feeling more femininity and powder from this one, a little less woods and musk and perhaps a little more respectful deference to the pretty purple floral itself.  My favourite fragrance release of the year so far.

Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile Sublime EdP is available to buy now on counter and online at John Lewis, priced at £82 for 75ml – it’s also currently available online at Escentual.com, priced at a slightly less painful £73.80 for 75ml.

* press sample

Superdry aren’t a brand I know an awful lot about, they first came to my attention courtesy of David Beckham sporting a certain leather jacket that seemed to cement their status as a super-brand (no pun intended). I paid them no more mind (though continued to think a little about Mr. Beckham) until last year, when they released a range of nail polishes before once again, slipping from my radar.  It was only at the beginning of this football season that I was reminded of the brand when it seemed like 80% of the home crowd at St. Marys were sporting Superdry t-shirts of varying shades.  Girls wouldn’t stand for that, we’d look at each other (all 30,000 of us) and be like… “err, awkward”.

But I digress…

The Superdry brand have released a range of female fragrances under the NEON umbrella: Neon Purple, Neon Pink, Neon Orange and Neon Blue.  The Neon Pink is touted to combine amber, jasmine, vanilla, sandalwood and rose.  I definitely get rose and a hit of sandalwood (which gives a bit of a masculine/clean blast) but not much else.  It remains fairly sharp throughout the dry-down with just the very edges softened by a hint of vanilla the more it warms against my skin – I would like to have gotten more amber from this, considering it is, after all, described as an oriental amber.

And now for the packaging, which… in my opinion, is where the brand has concentrated the majority of its efforts.

For girls everywhere who want their perfume to be mistaken for an oversized, camp, Zippo lighter.  This one’s got your name all over it.

Overall, I didn’t really enjoy the scent which feels jumbled and doesn’t do my skin chemistry any favours – the best way I can describe this one is as slightly confused and somewhat jarring.  However, it definitely works well within the brand’s styling and will no doubt appeal to many Superdry customers out there – let’s face it, you can’t deny that it won’t catch your attention on the shelf!

Superdry’s Neon Pink Fragrance is priced at £35 for 40ml, available instore and online at Boots.com

* press sample

You know those girls on Crescent Row… Bella, Gina, Carmella et al.  They’re sugared up crack addicts, high on vanilla, caramel and everything that would make a dentist cry.  It’s not that they’re unsavoury (geddit?!), it’s just that they’re not for me.  But there’s a new girl on the block and she’s not like all the others.  She gave up on the gourmand and went for the full-on floral route instead.

And like many of the Crescent Row girls, she is a bit full-on… she’s blousey and big, unapologetically so.  There’s a lot of jasmine in there, enough to subdue the vanilla that those other girls must have spiked her with but I’m loving the hit of Tiare flower that those of you familiar with monoi oils (*cough* Elemis *cough*) will recognise.  I don’t usually cross reference brands like this but if you take everything you love from the scent of that, put it in a medium longevity, prettily packaged perfume and add a kick of dirty rose… you’ve got Benefit’s latest EdT, See & Be Seen Sasha.

And this, my lovely friends, can only be a good thing.

Benefit’s See & Be Seen Sasha EdT is available on counter and online now at www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk, priced at £29.50 for 30ml.

* press sample

“How much actual wtf-ery can you design into one bottle of fragrance?” thought the bods at Balenciaga one day over a plate of ham and pickle sandwiches.  Wait, wrong country…  chorizo an patatas bravas (not in a sandwich obvs).

That boardroom statement is the only logical explanation I can come up with for the awesomeness that is the packaging for the new Balenciaga fragrance which is patiently awaiting its nationwide release next week.

It’s like the Mad Hatter joined forces with Captain Beefheart, dropping an acid-infused sugar cube in a secret garden before letting rip on the design front.  I love it.  I love how it looks so spiky and unfriendly (not unlike the celebrity fronting the campaign then) and the ensemble left me properly breathless in anticipation and hope that the juice inside would live up to the initial impression.

And it is indeed, somewhat spiky at first sniff.  There’s a sharpness that cuts through the ether and prickles at your nose (not the classic piquante tickle) before mellowing as the “experimental” (no less) rose takes form and softens the edges, bringing to the forefront the flora that the name Florabotanica promises t0 deliver.

The notes declare: mint, carnation, hybrid rose, caladium leaves, amber and vetiver – I don’t detect much straight-up mint, nor amber but they play their roles in helping to chameleonize some of the more traditional florals into something that definitely feels far too modern to simply describe as floral.

Perhaps one of my favourite aspects of Florabotanica is simply in its resilience.  Here is a mainstream fragrance, aimed at a younger market that smells different. It’s void of pinkness and it wears on my skin like a captivating veil with just the perfect amount of sillage to draw attention without commanding it.  It’s perhaps a little Summery for an Autumn release but there’s probably just enough mossiness and strength to ground the fragrance in a cooler climate.

Adore.

Balenciaga Florabotanica (from £40 for 30ml EdP) is available exclusively at Harvey Nichols until the 19th September.  A nationwide launch follows this date. 

* press sample

Picking the right scent to match your mood is something many of us do every day – just like choosing the perfect coat to wrap up your outfit. There are timeless classics like Chanel No 5, the perfume equivalent to slipping on a crisp white shirt. Fun and flirty scents like Marc Jacobs Oh Lola! that are most definitely daywear only and darker, sultry little numbers, like Stella by Stella McCartney that work best for evenings out. So what’s new in fragrance?

Top perfumers Bell Flavors & Fragrances announced their scent predictions for 2012 late last year and it was all about the exotic and indulgent. After extensive research both consumer and industry-side, Bell found that ginger orchid, orange flower, tart guava, gold amber, green pear, spicy bergamot, root beer, pink pepper, tomato leaf and leather are all going to be hot perfumes for men and women this year.

In fact Bell calls its 2012 fragrance top ten ‘the Wild Luxury Consumer’ list, as it believes this shift towards expensive, haute couture perfumes is all part of a wider consumer trend of people seeking out luxury items in order to forget about the financial crisis.

Pink Pepper – the new ‘it’ scent

If you only choose one perfume, make it something that contains pink pepper. A key feature of Bell’s list, it’s a fragrance so hot right now that it is also Scentsy’s number one trend prediction for 2012.

Distilled from the rose-coloured berries of the Peruvian pepper tree, it has a spicy, refreshing scent. Luckily, you won’t have to look too hard to find it. Roberto Cavalli’s new women’s scent has pink pepper as a top note, whereas Gucci Guilty Pour Homme gives a more masculine slant to the bold fragrance.

Fragrance trends for men

If you’re in the market for a brand new cologne, you won’t go wrong with Tom Ford Noir, out this October. With top notes of bergamot, pink pepper and violet it’s exotic but still very masculine.

Yves Saint Laurent La Nuit De L’Homme Frozen Cologne hit the fragrance counters this March, and is the icy cold successor to La Nuit De L’Homme. It mixes sweet citrus notes of mandarin and lemon with tart spices like bergamot and black pepper. Intense and sensual, it’s one for the evening.

Fragrance trends for women

Blow the budget with Tom Ford’s Jardin Noir, a quartet of perfumes inspired by flowers in a midnight garden. Or try Lancome’s long-awaited La Vie Est Belle – with 63 ingredients and three years in the making, it uses exotics such as jasmine and orange blossom flowers to give it a sweet edge.

But any serious fragrance connoisseurs simply must add the latest Chanel perfume, Coco Noir, to their collection. Out this autumn, it combines fresh top notes of grapefuit with spicy pink peppercorn to create a blend fit to adorn the most fashionable wrists in town.

Browse best-selling fragrances, as well as top brand skincare, at www.johnlewis.com.

* this is a guest-blogged sponsored post on behalf of John Lewis for which I have received payment.

When was the last time you discovered a really good celebrity perfume?  I can tell you mine… it was such a relief to discover that it wasn’t completely shit and I will totally hold my hands up to totally buying it because of the celebrity it was associated with.  The fragrance was Covet, by SJP and I hugely appreciated the vintage, vegetal, and quite sharp opening that grabbed me, shook me violently and screamed “LOOK, I’M NOT YOUR USUAL CELEBRITY PERFUME!”

It’s true, I find Covet to be the least celebrity, celebrity perfume I’ve ever smelled and perhaps that’s why I hold it in such high regard.  It’s a love it or hate it scent and if I’m honest, the majority of people I’ve introduced to it, hate it.  But, it’s not the usual celebrity mainstay of vanilla, fruit, caramel, and air.  And that’s got to stand for something, reflecting the quirkiness that SJP posesses herself – you smell it, and you can see that there was some real thought put into its creation.

This is what I find so irritating about celebrity perfumes.  I’m not opposed to the idea of them, but I am opposed to the laziness and disregard for the people who might actually want to purchase them.  It’s a privilege to find yourself in a position where you can put your name to something that will represent you on the shelves of every high street in the land, why waste the opportunity? *cough* Lady Gaga *cough*.

Imagine if these celebrity fragrances really did reflect the (stereotyped – of course!) celebrity behind it?  How amazing would that actually be?  A Bear Grylls Cologne? (woody, animalic?), Stephen Fry (cherry tobacco (though I believe he gave up smoking a few years ago), whisky, books!), Julie Andrews (spoonful of sugar?), Meryl Streep (oooh that would be tricky!).

Who would you like to see represented in a fragrance?  And whose wouldn’t you buy?!  Do you have a favourite Celebrity fragrance?

Most of you will be familiar with the premium beauty range from makeup artist Terry de Gunzburg, the SpaceNK staple has had the blogging world in fits of rapture in recent years over beautiful, pink-tinted pots of Baume de Rose and the radiance-boosting Eclat de Teint.

Now, what will the fragrance world make of the brand’s foray into the world of perfume?

Launching on the 16th September are five new fragrances that, sticking to time-honoured tradition have been formulated in Grasse, a place synonymous as the spiritual home of French haute-parfumerie.  The By Terry creator asserts that neither time nor money have been spared in the creation of these scents, which ultimately exist to “reflect the designer’s passion”.

Of her new collection, Terry says:

It has taken me ten years to achieve this collection of ‘personified’ scents. I had to progress slowly in order to learn and understand about essences that felt right, which was a humbling yet enriching experience. I had to ignore the dos and don’ts imposed by trends or by a commercial brief. Free from any restrictions, I have followed my instinct to create pure, original and extravagantly high-quality fragrances.

The new collection comprises the following five fragrances (I’ve included the descriptions from the press release):

PARTIS PRIS

Parti Pris delivers its ‘Haute Féminité’ in seconds. Instantly recognisable, the tuberose is exquisite and compelling, revealing its power of seduction in a precious floral bouquet. The sweet, absolute orange blossom melts into the richness of the absolute Turkish rose together with a hint of an exceptional ylang ylang, created exclusively by the Maison Robertet. At the base, a surprising vintage accord through smoked vetiver and sandalwood together with Vanilla and Tolu balm. Incense, Turkish tobacco absolute, rockrose and labdanum echo ancient perfume accords.

The resulting scent is the aura of chicness swathed in silk.

RÊVE OPULENT

Restrained when it comes to extractions and other distillations, the gardenia gives little away.

A tenacious floral ensemble, with Egyptian jasmin and Indian Sambac jasmin together with essence of rose and its absolute, a touch of orange blossom, a trail of ylang ylang and a hint of Sri Lanka cinnamon become a dream of gardenia.

LUMIÈRE D’ÉPICES

Vibrant and sparkling, the fragrance opens a refreshing symphony of citrus notes. The bitterness of grapefruit, the blood orange zest and bergamot: awakening the heart, fresh as jasmine water, it is contagiously chic. With facets of roses and orange blossoms, it seems oxygenated, like fresh air. Indian sambac jasmine, with honeyed tones gives warmth together with orange blossom absolute, spices and dry woods. Muscat, clove and cedarwood bring this contemporary composition to life.

A distinctively elegant fragrance with a luminously vibrant bouquet

OMBRE MERCURE

Noble, powdery, feminine and rare, the scent unveils all the facets of a delicious woody iris. Formulated with the purest iris ‘butter’, this olfactive treat flirts furtively with a few petals of rose, ylang ylang and jasmine. This subtle blending gives it softness with the darkness of the patchouli forming the spine of this fragrant composition.

Intense, powerful and purring on the skin just like a feline, it reveals camphor-like vapours and a carnal instinct recalling mythical blends of the perfume world.

Vanilla, with a base of spicy benzoin, the iris in fusion with the patchouli reveals more femininity. This blend with accents of violet, reminiscent of loose powder, red lipstick and of the classic chypre blends, is especially designed for the passionate characters.

FLAGRANT DÉLICE

Thrillingly tempting, Flagrant Délice is infused with almond milk and sun-ripened fig. An alluring combination of modern materials with natural ingredients create a rich blend.

Instantly, the bitter almond essence gives a carnal hint with notes of bergamot and mandarin giving balance. In the heart, Mediterranean fig, with vegetal and milky accents enriched with red currants melting in tonka beans and white musk creates an enveloping magnetism.

Priced from £68, the Terry de Gunzburg Haute Parfumerie collection is available exclusively from Harrods from the 16th September 2012

Don’t hit me.  I’m not about to start my Christmas gift lists… but if you are the kind of sick puppy who’s so damn organised that they’ve already budgeted, drawn up initial Christmas lists, and scoured the loft for last year’s leftover Christmas cards, you might quite like this potential gift idea.

From September 16th, Harrods are holding an exclusive event in partnership with Guerlain, featuring renowned calligrapher Paul Antonio.  The above image shows the original Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire bottle, alongside a trio of alternative “little black dresses” which will be featured on limited-edition bottles of the brand’s freshly re-worked fragrance, known as “Ma (my) Petite Robe Noire”.

Simply choose which of the three dresses matches your (or your lucky gift recipient’s) taste in evening wear and have the limited-edition bottle personalised with their name or initials.  The perfect fusion for a fragrance-loving fashionista!

The complementary calligraphy sessions will be available only on the following dates:

Friday 21st September: 16.00 – 20.00
Saturday 22nd September: 14.30 – 18.30
Sunday 23rd September: 14.30 – 18.30
Friday 28th September: 16.00 – 20.00
Saturday 29th September: 14.30 – 18.30

If you’d like to read my review of Guerlain’s La Petite Robe Noire, please click through to this page to hear my thoughts on the fragrance.

As we say goodbye to Summer and hello to the first breaths of September, it’s also time to welcome a new cologne from Jo Malone. 

Blackberry & Bay is boldly described by the British brand as “the scent of innocence” and when aided by campaign images showing this kind of cuteness, it’s easy to see why.

Blackberry & Bay is as full-bodied as you might expect, but perhaps not quite in the way you’d imagine.

A wholly ripe affair with an uplifting, generous dose of blackberry and grapefruit from the first sniff.  However, don’t be fooled into expecting something sweet or creamy, Blackberry & Bay is juicy-yet-tart, comforting-yet-sharp.  It’s blackberries in the rain with your ponytail lashing at your nose and cheeks.

The bay leaf provides the ‘edge’ and indeed, the leaf needed to bring the fragrance down to earth and evoke the practicalities of blackberry picking in our, end-of-Summer climate.

If you’re looking for something to wear that spans the two extremes of our seasonal weather, you could do far worse than check this one out.

Blackberry & Bay has both aroma and soul.  It also surprised me by lasting longer on my skin than their recent Cologne Intense Velvet Rose & Oud release.

Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay launches today both instore and online at jomalone.co.uk, priced from £38

* press sample

Afternoon, remember me?  No, I don’t either…

I scrimped enough of Mr. L’s 3G (Ovivo has been a God send) to write a post, got all excited at the prospect, had a rummage through my tried and tested box and just simply couldn’t find the words.  I’ve got blog block.  This is not a good thing.  In three years of blogging, I’ve only gotten it once before and that was when L was a tiny baby and I hadn’t long been beauty blogging – sheer tiredness got me that time.  I think that sheer disorganisation is the culprit today.

I’m finding it quite difficult to adjust to my new surroundings and I’m blaming the Cancerian homebody in me.  You see, I’ve never moved house before (not since I’ve been old enough to know anything about it) and this is one of the most unsettling experiences I’ve ever had.  I like to have my “things” around me and my life is still split 50/50 between two homes.  Whine… whine… grumble etc. etc.  I should put a sock in it, I’ve been a bit of a whinger on Twitter and keep reminding myself that people move house every-freaking-day, so why am I acting like such a drama llama about it?  Well, the truth is… I’m kinda not.  Not in real life anyway, but once a blogger always a blogger and as soon as I get online, I just want to spill all my complaints onto my keyboard and out into the ether.  Sorry about that.

Moving on…

I moved some of my beauty stuff over yesterday and the first to come with me was my our beloved fragrance collection.

We weren’t sure how to store them.  Previously, all our bottles have been kept on the top shelf of a wardrobe which has satisfied the need to keep them away from light and heat but it’s always made me sad that I can’t SEE them.  We’ve bought a couple of chunky shelving units which will keep them out of any direct sunlight (away from the window) and this will have to do for now.  I don’t actually have the same kind of (reachable) wardrobe space any more.  I’d love to hear how you store your fragrances?

I’ve organised the storage into seasonal themes.  Bottom shelf is Spring/Summer, Middle shelf is Autumn, and top shelf is Winter.  I’ll rotate the positioning to ensure that the current season is within the easiest reach.  Of course, rules are made to be broken and I delved into the Winter shelf yesterday for a little hit of amber in the guise of Costume National’s Scent Intense!

A closer look…

What is your favourite fragrance at the moment and do you wear scent daily?