Top 10 Fragrances - My All Time Favourites!

21st March is National Fragrance Day so I thought I'd post 10 of my favourite fragrances!

I love Jimmy Choo's Flash. It is such a unique fragrance. It doesn't have the best staying power but it is still one of my favourites.

Jimmy Choo Viva La Juicy La Fleur is another favourite of mine. It is sweet and fruity. I love the chunky bottle as well.

Nina Ricci's Ricci Ricci is a lovely, deep fragrance. One of the key notes is rhubarb which you don't find in many fragrances. The bottle is also beautiful. It has a lovely shape and has a plastic ribbon wrapped around the neck.

Lolita Lempicka Eau de Minuit is an amazing fragrance. It is released every year with a different bottle design. It is a more intense version of the original Lolita Lempicka eau de parfum. It is sweet and powdery. The notes include liquorice flower and iris.

Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche is a gorgeous fragrance. It has a citrusy element but it is not a run of the mill citrusy fragrance. It is composed exceptionally well. I love it and it has great staying power too.

I love Cacharel Noa. I have bought this fragrance over and over again. It is a lovely soft, feminine fragrance made interesting by the incense note. There is also supposed to be a coffee note in this fragrance but I can't really tell.

Marc Jacob Lola is a lovely, floral fragrance. It is quite rosy, but it really stands out from the crowd. It seems to have a lot of depth to it.

Taylor of London's fragrance Panache is one of my favourites. It has floral and aldehydic notes. It is the most inexpensive fragrance of this bunch at £14.99 for 100ml. It is a great fragrance though.

Chloe eau de parfum is one I notice other people wearing all of the time. It is quite a soapy scent and has excellent staying power and good projection.

Vera Wang's Lovestruck is a deep, floral fragrance with musk in the base. 

National Fragrance Day!

Today is National Fragrance Day according to The Fragrance Foundation!

I am going to list 10 fragrances that I think make great gifts.

1) Jimmy Choo Flash - This is probably my favourite fragrance. I have bought it for so many of my friends and family. It is very distinctive.

2) Lolita Lempicka Eau de Minuit - I bought this for my mother a few years ago. I love the liquorice flower in this. It is similar to the original Lolita Lempicka eau de parfum only more intense and it is released every year in a different bottle.

3) Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy La Fleur - This is a lovely, sweet scent and the bottle is young and fun.

4) Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche is one of my favourite fragrances. I think Chanel's Chance range is very different to their other fragrances. This one is gorgeous and it lasts well on my skin.

5) Nina Ricci Ricci Ricci - I received this fragrance as a gift and have since bought it as a gift for other people as well. It is my favourite Nina Ricci fragrance.

6) Marc Jacobs Daisy - Most fragrances in this line by Marc Jacobs would make great gifts. Daisy has a lovely, fresh floral scent with a distinctive 'Marc Jacobs scent' which runs right through the Marc Jacobs fragrance range. 

7) Vera Wang Preppy Princess - I love all of the Princess fragrances. I recently found Preppy Princess is available on allbeauty.com and I have my eye on it as a gift for my sister. I wasn't a huge fan of the bottle design when I first got it, but the fragrance is lovely. 

8) Vivienne Westwood Boudoir - This fragrance is floral and to be honest I'm not sure if it will be to everyone's taste so perhaps it wouldn't make the best gift, but I love it and it lasts so long on my skin.

9) Chloe Chloe - I was given Chloe by Chloe as a gift and it is one that I have bought for other people as well. It is another fragrance with great lasting power.

10) Ghost Anticipation - This was the first Ghost fragrance that I bought for myself and I have since bought it for both of my sisters. It has a light floral scent. It is very similar to Victoria Beckham's Instinct. 

My Post Christmas Purchases!

I have to say I haven't been very impressed with the sales, but that doesn't mean that I haven't spent an absolute fortune since Christmas.

On boxing day I ordered Lolita Lempicka Sweet eau de parfum. I hadn't been able to find a tester so it was a blind buy. It arrived this morning and I'm very pleased with it. It opens with a cherry scent and it also has sweet floral notes. It is quite a subtle fragrance.

I also got the Real Techniques mini brush set with 3 small brushes in it. The brushes are even smaller than I expected, all less the 4 inches long. 

I also ordered this Yankee tart burner which I think is gorgeous. It hasn't arrived yet though. 

I also bought myself these gorgeous 9ct gold triangular diamond stud earrings. I absolutely love them. The pictures don't do them justice.

 

I also got this check patterned scarf. I love the colours. I can't wait for it to arrive.

October Favourites 2015!

October is possibly my favourite month of the year. I love autumn!
Here are some of the things I've been loving this month.

Chloe by Chloe is one of my favourite fragrances and I have worn it a lot this month. I wear perfume every day, but people don't often comment on it. I have had two compliments this week about my perfume when I was wearing this. I think it is stronger and longer lasting than most of my other fragrances without being overpowering.

Clinique Comforting Cream Cleanser is my favourite cleanser at the moment. It easily removes all of my make-up and leaves no sticky or greasy residue on my skin.

MUA or MakeUp Academy's Undress Me Too eyeshadow palette has had a lot of use this month. I have been loving the gold shades. The pigmentation is great and the palette only costs £4.00.

I love Clarins Double Serum. It gives my skin a boost and makes it appear more radiant. I have been using this a lot this month. It is expensive, but I think it is worth it.

Lolita Lempicka's Minuit Sonne is another fragrance I have been using quite a lot this month. I love the intense liquorice flower note in it. This is easily one of my top ten perfumes.

I have been loving my elf professional eyeshadow brush this month. It has been my go to brush for applying eye shadow. It is good quality and only costs £2.00.

I have finally started burning my Yankee Christmas Cookie candle this month and I love it. It is a sickly, bakery-sweet scent, but nothing I can't deal with. I have to say although I love Christmas Cookie, I love the Snowflake Cookie Yankee candle more, which I had last winter. It was a light pink colour and it was also a sickly, bakery-sweet scent. I haven't seen that one in the shops this year, but it is available on yankeecandle.co.uk.

Autumn Perfumes!

Since the bank holiday on 31st August it has felt like autumn. We have had rain, central heating and most exciting of all candles!

Although it's not officially autumn until 23rd September 2015 I have decided to start autumn early and I have picked out a few (15 to be precise) of my favourite fragrances for the cooler months.

Diesel's Loverdose is a lovely deep, liquorice based scent. I suppose it is a little bit harsh so it won't be for everyone, but I love it.

Dior Addict is a dark, spicy fragrance with florals and a creaminess that balances the fragrance out perfectly.

Lolita Lempicka's Elle L'aime (not to be confused with L L'aime which was released in a similar bottle!) is a very unique scent. It is not as heavy as my other autumn fragrance picks. It opens quite citrusy and then the base is thick and creamy. It always reminds me of caramel although that is not one of the fragrance notes.

Vivienne Westwoof Let It Rock is another dark, spicy, cosy scent, but it is a little bit harsh so it is not one that everyone is going to like.

Roberto Cavalli Serpentine is a fragrance I got for Christmas a few years ago. It reminds me of autumn/winter. It is described as a floral-oriental. I love this one.

Tom Ford Velvet Orchid was my Christmas present from my partner last year. I think it is really well composed. It is quite masculine and spicy, but it is not too harsh and not as overpowering as some of Tom Ford's other fragrances.

Ghost Deep Night is a lovely, creamy, musky scent. I was obsessed with this fragrance about a year ago. It is lovely.

Roberto Cavalli by Roberto Cavalli was released in 2012, much later than Serpentine, which came out in 2005! This is a deep amber scent with some softer floral notes. It is mature and sensual; one of my favourites for autumn.

Guerlain Mitsouko is a classic. It opens very citrusy and develops into a deep woody scent with a hint of spice; very warming.

Illamasqua Freak is an absolutely amazing scent. It is so unique. It is a unisex fragrance and I often find unisex fragrances a bit too masculine, but this is perfect. It has a masculine edge, but it is a thrilling composition of the most exotic and poisonous flowers. I urge you to give this a go.

Yves Saint Laurent Opium is  a smoky, spicy fragrance. Its notes include incense, cedar and amber.

Jimmy Choo Stars was another gift from my significant other. He bought it for me in September last year so it was a favourite of mine during the months that followed. It is similar to the original Jimmy Choo fragrance with a stronger toffee note. It is sweet, but also quite heavy. It has been re-released this year in a bottle with different colouring.

Chanel Coco is another fantastic composition. It is warming and spicy with notes of cloves, amber and sandalwood.

Lolita Lempicka Minuit Sonne was released last year. Every year Lolita Lempicka comes out with a different bottle and a slightly different name for this 'midnight' fragrance and I have a few of them becasue this is one of my favourite scents! It is like the original Lolita Lempicka fragrance, but more intense. It has notes of liquorice flower and iris. It is sweet and powdery. The fragrance is always released in autumn, but I wear this one all year round.

Diesel Fuel For Life Unlimited was one of the few times my partner picked out my Christmas present and surprised me. I didn't like it at first. I remember wearing it on one occasion and I kept noticing it on myself and thinking, 'urgh'! It wasn't until a few years later when I really started getting into fragrance that my tastes changed and I would say developed and now I love it and find it completely inoffensive. It has citrusy notes in it along with liquorice, star anise and white flowers.


I'd recommend trying before you buy as most of these scents you will either love or hate. My favourites are Lolita Lempicka Minuit Sonne and Illamasqua Freak. Some of the heavier, spicy scents can be a bit too much sometimes and I have to be in the mood to wear them, but you can wear any fragrance any time of year. I often wear lighter, fruity-floral scents in the autumn and winter as well as these fragrances and I will occasionally choose a heavier scent in the summer, but I love autumn and these fragrances get me excited for it!

New 2015 perfumes!

There are so many fragrances coming out this year that I want to try.

Nina Ricci L'Extase is a rose based fragrance, which is out now, but I haven't had the chance to try it out yet.

Marc Jacobs Daisy Sorbet is also out already and is another one I haven't had the chance to try yet. It sounds like a delightful fruity-floral scent. It has passion fruit in the top notes and I love passion fruit so I look forward to trying this.

DKNY Delicious Delights Dreamsicle has notes including mandarin, peach and apricot so I don't think I'm going to be able to resist it.

DKNY Delicious Delights Cool Swirl has an interesting combination of notes including black cranberry, creamy pistachio sorbet, heliotrope and patchouli. I think this will be very different from the other fragrances in the Be Delicious range.

DKNY Delicious Delights Fruity Rooty sounds more of a fruity-floral scent with notes of blackberry, blueberry, mandarin, rose, violet, candied apple sorbet, lily and vanilla. I like the bottles for these Delicious Delights fragrances as well. They are lovely pastel colours.

Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh Sorbet is in stores already, but I have yet to try it. I expect it to be a lovely, springtime fruity-floral.

Jimmy Choo Exotic is released in 2015 in a blue bottle. It was previously released in 2013 in a pink bottle and 2014 in an orange bottle. The new Exotic has exactly the same composition as the previous two releases, which is cheating a bit, but it is a great scent and I like the new blue bottle design.

Jimmy Choo Blossom was released in January 2015. It has a tropical, fruity scent and reminds me of something that Escada might release. It is nothing like Flash, which was the first fragrance to be released in this bottle shape.

Nina Ricci Les Delices de Nina has notes of mandarin, lemon, strawberry, caramel, raspberry, praline and white musk. I think this is going to be a bakery-sweet scent like the last release from this line, La Tentation de Nina, which was lovely. I'm looking forward to trying this one out.

Lanvin Marry Me! Confettis is the latest fragrance from the Marry Me! line. It is described as being lighter and brighter than its predecessors. I wasn't keen on the original Marry Me! fragrance, but have enjoyed some of the releases since. Marry Me! a la folie is my favourite.

Escada Turquoise Summer is another typical Escada summer release. It is very fruity and tropical.

Annick Goutal L'Ile Au The sounds like an interesting fragrance with notes of mandarin pulp, mandarin blossom, osmanthus, green tea and white musk. I'm looking forward to trying this fragrance. It is unisex and I have a feeling it is going to be a case of you either love it or hate it.

Diesel Loverdose Red Kiss is described as a floriental, gourmand fragrance and it has notes of orange blossom, hazelnut and amber. I have heard it is as strong as the original Loverdose is.

Marc Jacobs Violet has a lovely bottle design and has notes of bergamot, white lily, violet, patchouli and vanilla.

Lolita Lempicka  L'Eau En Blanc Edition Perles is due for release in April 2015. It has notes of violet leaf, iris, raspberry, white violets, heliotrope and musk. I liked the original L'Eau En Blanc fragrance, but it wasn't my favourite release from Lolita Lempicka. I look forward to trying this one though.

My 2014 perfumes!

I have built up quite a collection of new fragrances in 2014.

I have bought 19 new releases from this year.

Marc Jacobs released more limited edition Daisy fragrances, Daisy Delight and Daisy Eau So Fresh Delight, both of which I love.

Daisy Dream came afterwards with a unique bottle design.

Jimmy Choo have had some fantastic releases in 2014. Exotic was re-released in an orange bottle for 2014.

Flash London Club was a fragrance I was really excited about. It has a similar scent to the original Flash, which is my favourite.

Stars is a limited edition release from Jimmy Choo. It was probably the last thing my fiancé ever bought me before becoming my husband and it was a great gift. It has a scent along the same lines as the original Jimmy Choo fragrance and the longevity is just as impressive.

Cacharel Noa L'Eau was a limited edition release for the summer. The original Noa fragrance is one of my favourites and this version is a light, fresh and slightly aquatic interpretation.

DKNY's MYNY was released in the summer and it is something really different from DKNY. I have lots of fragrances from the Be Delicious range, but this is a lovely, sophisticated, floral scent. I haven't heard much hype about it, but it really is a lovely scent.

DKNY did release a few new fragrances from the Be Delicious range, which I bought into.
There was Golden Delicious Sparkling Apple, Be Delicious Sparkling Apple and Be Delicious Fresh Blossom Sparkling Apple. In the UK these fragrances are only available from The Fragrance Shop.
They are all lovely and fresh, but they do smell similar to previous releases from the Be Delicious range.

Vera Wang Forever Vera is very difficult to get hold of. It was supposed to be exclusive to Kohl's in the USA. It is a really nice, well balanced fragrance. It is quite a mature scent.

Vera Wang's Princess Power is the latest release from the Princess collection. Like last year's release, Pink Princess, Princess Power is only available in 30ml or 50ml bottles, which annoyed me. It is a lovely, crowd pleasing, fruity-floral fragrance.

Vera Wang Be Jeweled Rouge is another 2014 release. It is really sweet and fruity. I love it.

Lolita Lempicka Minuit Sonne is an amazing fragrance. The deep liquorice flower note seems more prominent than in the original Lolita Lempicka fragrance. I love the fragrance, but the bottle has glitter on it, which comes off onto your hands, which is a bit annoying.

Tom Ford Velvet Orchid is a strong, warming fragrance. I love this fragrance. It is unique, mature and lasts well.

Nina Ricci's La Tentation de Nina is another beautiful scent. It is bakery-sweet and really different to other Nina releases. I think this was a great offering and I look forward to trying next year's Nina Ricci fragrance, Les Délices de Nina.

Juicy Couture's Juicy Couture Malibu was released for the summer alongside Couture La La Malibu, which I have not picked up yet. Juicy Couture Malibu is a lovely summer scent. It is similar to the original, Juicy Couture fragrance, but is a bit less harsh. It has a very light, fresh feel to it. I really like this fragrance, but I have to admit it isn't the longest lasting fragrance.

Chanel No 5 Eau Premiere isn't technically a new fragrance for 2014. It was originally released in 2007, but in 2014 it was released in the classic, rectangular Chanel bottle. It is a lovely scent. It is similar to the original No 5, but this one seems lighter and has a more sparkling opening.

2014 has seen the release of many other lovely fragrances that I have not managed to add to my collection yet and I hope 2015 will bring lots of new and exciting fragrances that will no doubt mean my collection will grow and my shelf space will shrink!

October Shopping

I have eventually ordered and received the Lolita Lempicka fragrance I have been lusting after, Minuit Sonne and it's gorgeous.
It has a lovely, sweet, powdery scent. The fragrance notes are liquorice, jasmine, iris, myrrh, vanilla and benzoin.
The scent is along the same lines as Lolita Lempicka's Le Premier Parfum, but the liquorice note is heavier and more intense in Minuit Sonne.

The bottle looks the part, but it is very glittery and all of the glitter comes off and goes everywhere. I find myself holding this bottle awkwardly to avoid getting glitter on my fingertips. This is rather inconvenient as you can imagine.

I have also been purchasing a few new make-up items.
I got Urban Decay's Naked Basics palette, which I absolutely love already. I love matte eyeshadows and all but one of the eyeshadows in this palette is matte. The pigmentation is brilliant and it's impressive how many looks you can create with 6 eyeshadows.
It is also a great size and fits in my make-up bag no problem.

I ordered the palette from urbandecay.co.uk along with their All Nighter Long Lasting Make Up Setting Spray, which has beaten other make-up setting sprays on the market hands down in comparison reviews.

Another make-up item that I decided to purchase was Clinique's Long Last lipstick in the shade Sugared Maple, which is a dusky pink colour.

I have always been impressed with Clinique lipsticks in the past, finding them really comfortable to wear; not drying at all.

I have gone a bit lip crayon crazy lately and bought Model's Own, NYC and Revlon lip crayons all from Superdrug and I also bought two Rimmel mascaras that I have been wanting to try for a while.
I have started using their Scandal'Eyes Waterproof Mascara (the orange one) and so far I have been really impressed. It really separates your lashes.

Boots had another points event yesterday so I couldn't keep myself away. My husband chose an electric shaver, which I bought him for Christmas and I bought Clarins Double Serum for myself.
It has won all sorts of beauty awards.

It claims to be, "the only anti-aging treatment with 20 plant extracts to stimulate all of the skin's vital functions and prolong its useful appearance."


Moving on to candles I have found some amazing scented candles in small jars that look very similar to Yankee Candles' jars. They are by a company called Wickford & Co.
I only bought them in two different scents, Pumpkin Pie and Toasted Mallows, but there is another called Cinnamon Spice.
There are more in the range, but the others aren't as seasonal.
I have already burned through my first Pumpkin Pie jar, but I have another to burn.

These candles are only 49p from Home Bargains, which I think is incredible because the scents are amazing and they really fill the room when the candle is burning. I do think there is a difference in quality between these and Yankee branded candles and I think Yankee candles have a longer burn time, but at 49p you more than get your money's worth from these fabulous scents and they'd make a nice little stocking filler.

Huge Make-up Haul, Lolita Lempicka Perfumes And Christmas Shopping!!

** CHRISTMAS PRESENT SPOILERS - PLEASE DON'T READ IF YOU ARE MY SISTER! **

After my last post where I mentioned a few make-up products that I wanted, I decided to have a look online and treat myself.

As usual I went a bit overboard and bought all of this!:

and that lot led to free gifts:

I ordered half from Boots and half from Superdrug and they both arrived in the post today.

I ordered the Zoella Let's Glow fragranced candle which I mentioned in my previous post and I also decided to get the Zoella Blissful Mistful fragranced body mist.
The candle was smaller than I expected, but it looks very cute. I started burning it straight away when it arrived today and it has a lovely scent.

I also ordered some Sleek products. I have never used their products before, but their packaging is gorgeous. I absolutely love it and the blushes are so small and cute. I bought two; one in shade Flamingo shown on the top row and another in Pixie Pink.
The lipstick from Sleek (shown top right) is a bit smaller than your average lipstick and it also comes in lovely matte black packaging. I ordered a bright red shade called Vixen.

I also got Rimmel's Apocalips lip gloss as I've read some really good reviews about it. I usually prefer to wear lipstick so hopefully this will make a nice change.

I am really pleased with Barry M's brow kit. I've never seen tweezers so cute. I haven't tried this out yet though.

I bought Rimmel's Brow This Way brow styling gel, which I have tried out and so far so good.

I haven't bought new Barry M Dazzle Dust pots for ages so I bought two in shades Bronze and Aphrodite.

I got a really pretty blush from MUA in shade Marshmallow. I have used their blush in the past before they changed their packaging and I'm liking the new packaging and looking forward to trying this one out.

I also ordered an MUA Power Pout lip crayon. It is in a shade called Broken Hearted.

I bought a bright red Smash Box Be Legendary lipstick in shade Legendary and it looks really nice. I love the packaging for this lipstick. It is square shaped and matte black.

In the silver packaging we have the Barry M lip stain paint. I bought mine in a shade called Eternal Coral number 428. It is difficult choosing a shade from a website and I'm not sure if I'm going to suit this one.

I also ordered a lip crayon from the Boots brand 17 or Seventeen as they're now calling themselves. I got it in a shade called Back To The Fuchsia and it is very bright. I have been wearing this one this evening. It has a bit of shimmer in it, which I'm not really keen on. I only bought it because I am getting an addiction to lip crayons and this one was only £2.00!

On the subject of lip crayons I also bought two Bourjois Color Boost Glossy Finish Lipsticks in crayon form. I bought them in shades 05 Red Island and 06 Plum Russian.
I put the plum one on earlier and I love it. It looks lovely on and has a slight gloss to it, but it isn't sticky. I have a feeling these will be taking over in my make-up bag very quickly.

Finally I ordered a Chanel Rouge Coco Hydrating Crème Lip Colour lipstick in shade 19 Gabrielle. It is a shade of red so I'm looking forward to trying this one out as well.

I have never tried either of the free mascaras before so I look forward to trying them out. The Barry M Show Girl mascara tube feels quite heavy.
The other mascara is Rimmel's Lash Accelerator Endless mascara, which I tried out earlier on my bottom lashes only as I already had mascara on my top lashes. So far so good, but it is difficult to say without giving it a proper go.


Moving on from make-up I ordered the beloved shoes from New Look.

I said in my previous post that you'll either love them or hate them.. My sister said, "They are literally the ugliest shoes I've ever seen. I can't see an occasion that you'd be able to wear them in public where people can see you." Haha! That made me laugh! I don't mind that she hates them. I think they'll look great with a pair of black tights and a nice autumnal dress.
I ordered them from New Look's website 30 seconds after my last post and I used the click and collect service. When I got them home I couldn't stop looking at them.
I'm a size 5 in flats (4 in heels if you're thinking of buying me shoes) and these do look rather long and thin I have to admit, so if you're a larger size they're going to get more and more ugly the larger your feet are. I still love them though! I'm really excited to wear them!

I also went to Debenhams last week and tried on the coat I had my eye on.

I love the colour and I love the style, but it is too long for me. It comes past my knees and I felt as though it made me look fat so I had to leave it and the search continues for a beautiful coat for the winter. 

I mentioned my excitement at the new Lolita Lempicka release, Minuit Sonne in my previous post and I did attempt to buy it from Debenhams' website the other day, but it wouldn't allow me to pay with the £50 giftcard I have and I googled it and it has been a problem with their website for years and they haven't fixed it so that upset me. I have been to two huge Debenhams branches near me in the past week and neither of them had this fragrance and I can't find it anywhere else. It means I will probably have to order it online with cash and keep my voucher for something else that I can buy in store, which seems ridiculous.

To cheer myself up after such a tragic ordeal I bought a long term item on my Amazon wishlist: Lolita Lempicka Midnight Couture Black

I absolutely adore the other midnight fragrances from Lolita Lempicka so I really hope this one is as good. I'm so excited about it coming. I'm very wary about buying fragrances from Amazon as they're often sold by independent sellers who have feedback that suggest they're selling fakes and believe me there are more fakes out there than you think.
This fragrance is dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
I am so excited to receive this. I'm having visions of an email coming through saying it is unavailable as it feels too good to be true. I probably should have ordered this a long time ago.

I do find the midnight fragrances a bit confusing as the box just says, 'Eau de Minuit - Midnight Fragrance' on most of them and there are 11 different midnight fragrances in the famous apple shaped bottles, which is a bit crazy, but they smell so good. 

I like the idea of the black leaves on the top of the bottle.


My favourite Lolita Lempicka fragrance is Minuit Passion. It is sweet, but very powdery at the same time and it definitely has a midnight feel to it. Although it is sweet it is sexy, sultry and mysterious too. You really have to try it for yourself.
Something I don't like about Midnight Passion is the bottle.

It looks nice enough in this picture, but that's not what it really looks like. The bottle and the red metal detailing look much darker in real life. The photo below was with the taken with the flash on and the bottle still looks rather dull and lifeless; very different to the photo above, but the fragrance is amazing and that is what matters.
I actually wrote out my top 10 fragrances and this was one of them and I have over around 200 fragrances now (too many I know, forgive me - I'm a shopaholic)!

Finally I know it might seem a bit early, but I have been desperate to get the majority of my Christmas shopping done as I'm going to the German Christmas Markets in December and don't want to be watching the pennies while I'm away, worrying about Christmas shopping that I haven't done.
I started a while ago and yesterday I went to Lush to get my sister some goodies as she adores their range. I know some people might not think it's ok to buy bath bombs etc. over two months in advance of giving them to someone as a gift, but I think it is so hopefully she will too.

I looked on their website before I went to the shop because I wanted to have a good idea of what I wanted.

I got:

Candy Mountain bubble bar £2.95

Christmas Eve bubble bar £2.95

Dashing Santa bath bomb £2.95

The Christmas Penguin bubble bar £3.25

Northern Lights bath bomb £3.50

 Snow Fairy shower gel 100g £3.75/ 250g £7.50/ 500g £11.95

The bag of goodies smelled amazing! I'm so pleased with what I got. I hadn't planned to buy the Christmas Eve bubble bar and was instead going to get a bath bomb, but I couldn't find the one I had in mind and I was also disappointed that I couldn't find Sparkler bath bomb (£3.50).

I would love to try this one and the Northern Lights one. I love the shape, but I'd be gutted if my sister's broke before I give it to her. I've already packed all of the bath stuff up in a bubble wrap lined box and gift wrapped it.

I'm so excited to give them to her. She never reads my blog, but typically I bet she randomly logs on tomorrow and ruins her surprise!

The 2013 perfumes in my collection!

There have been so many fantastic fragrances released in 2013.
Here are 13 that I have added to my collection.

I bought the 3 DKNY Be Delicious Art editions. I love the design on the bottles.

Escada Cherry In The Air also comes in a cute bottle with a cute bow around the neck. It also has a lovely design on the box. It is a lovely summer fragrance.

Jimmy Choo Flash is my favourite perfume. I love the bottle and the scent is so unique. I love it. I can't wait for the new version, which is due for release on 3rd February 2014.

Jimmy Choo Exotic is a delicious scent that I wanted for months before I finally got my hands on it.

Miss Dior released their scent as an eau de toilette early this year. I got this for Christmas from my other half this year.

Cacharel Amor Amor is a lovely limited edition of the original Amor Amor.

L'eau Jolie is a lovely fresh, clean scent that smells very similar to DKNY Fresh Blossom Art, but it comes in an even nicer apple-shaped bottle.

I was mega excited to see the release of Vera Wang's latest addition to the Princess range and this is a lovely sparkling scent, well represented by its bottle.

Marc Jacobs Sunshine Editions were supposedly released in 2012, but they certainly didn't turn up in my local Boots until February 2013:

Marc Jacobs Daisy Sunshine is an amazing scent. I absolutely adore it. I hate the fact that this was a limited edition.

Oh Lola Sunsheer is delicious. I find it so difficult to say which of this Marc Jacobs range is my favourite as they are all amazing.

Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh Sunshine was the first scent that I purchased from this range and I ended up going back to Boots the same day to buy Daisy Sunshine. These three are joint second favourites after Jimmy Choo Flash!


2013 also saw the release of Chanel Chance, Chanel Chance Eau Tendre and Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche in large 150ml bottles. They were previously only available in smaller bottles; 100ml and 50ml.
I bought Chanel Chance and Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche in 150ml bottles, but I already had a nearly full 100ml bottle of Chanel Chance Eau Tendre and I didn't have another £80.00 to spare.

Naughty December spending - all for me!

I can't stop shopping this week. Every day there is an inbox full of emails from dozens of retailers desperate to persuade you to part with your cash in their shops or on their websites!

I put a large order in for some fragrances yesterday at www.allbeauty.com. Their stock changes slightly every day. I have noticed because I go on the website every day! I'm addicted!
I noticed that they have restocked some of the older fragrances, which have become quite difficult to find elsewhere so I ordered Truly Pink (100ml for £32.95 RRP £52.00), Sheer Veil (100ml for £36.95 RRP £59.00) and Anniversary (100ml for £36.50 RRP £75.00).

I love the shape of the bottles and I love Vera Wang's fragrances as you may have guessed by my blog name.

The original Vera Wang by Vera Wang is gorgeous.

Lolita Lempicka's Eau Jolie is currently on special offer on allbeauty.com. The 50ml bottle is £21.95 (RRP £40.00) and it is the only apple shaped Lolita Lempicka bottle on their site that I don't have.
I love the bottles. They are gorgeous.
I do prefer the scent of Lolita Lempicka's midnight fragrances, but this one is still lovely.
Also this may sound a bit sad, but I haven't seen any of these Lolita Lempicka apple shaped bottles in the 50ml size. I have a 30ml bottle and an 80ml and a few 100ml bottles, but I haven't seen the size of the 50ml bottles so I am looking forward to 'trying this out for size'!
They are also selling the 30ml bottle on allbeauty.com for £18.95 so the 50ml bottle is a really good deal.

I love the original Gucci Flora, but I don't yet own a bottle.
Recently the Flora by Gucci Garden Collection has overtaken the original Gucci Flora on my want list. The two that stand out to me are the Gorgeous Gardenia and the Glorious Mandarin so I started my collection off with the Gorgeous Gardenia, which was just £37.85 for 50ml (RRP £49.00).
Also in the collection there is Genourous Violet, Glamourous Magnolia and Gracious Tuberose.

I prefer the smaller 50ml bottles as I think they're really cute. I love the shape of them and the black bow around the neck of the bottle is a nice touch as well.

Another purchase I made was John Galliano by John Galliano. I recently watched a youtube video where someone was showing their perfume collection and said that this scent was one that had to be tried and I was intrigued.
The eau de parfum was recommended, but allbeauty.com only had the eau de toilette so I thought it couldn't be too dissimilar.
You can buy the eau de parfum at www.fragrancedirect.com for £36.50 for a 40ml bottle (RRP £43.00), but my 40ml eau de toilette from allbeauty.com was only £14.50 (RRP £36.00), which I thought was very reasonable especially since it was a blind buy.
Larger bottles of this fragrance are quite hard to come by.
I do prefer the colour of the bottle for the eau de parfum.

I also ordered Nina Ricci's Nina Elixir, which cost £31.75 for 80ml (RRP £55.15 apparently). I mentioned in a previous post that I suddenly decided that I want every Nina Ricci fragrance ever released and I do love this one and it is very reasonably priced.

Later on last night I started looking at the other Nina Ricci fragrances in the lovely apple shaped bottle and I managed to track down Pretty Nina, which is quite difficult to find now.
I bought it for £45.00 for 50ml from www.freemans.com, which is the website for the British catalogue clothing retailer so I expect it to be the real deal.
The bottle is really pretty, but I do think these 50ml apple shaped bottles look rather small. I'd love to see one of the 30ml bottles. They must be tiny!
On the subject of size I love the fragrance poster campaign with this oversized bottle in it. I would love to own a giant bottle of perfume!

... Anyway back to my allbeauty.com order.. After my purchase last night, this morning I logged in to one of my old email accounts, which I used to use to order from allbeauty.com (when it was cheapsmells.com) and what do I find in my email inbox? An email from allbeauty.com, which they sent me yesterday morning saying, 'We miss you' and when I opened it up:

I was rather irritated by this. Us loyal customers receiving no such email, when I could have saved £20.00 with two separate orders and these codes to hand as I'd spent £85.00 twice over.
I thought about cancelling my order and reordering, but there is no cancellation button like there is on some websites and it would mean emailing customer services and the codes expire today so it seemed like a lot of hassle.

I didn't want to miss out though, so you won't believe what I did.. I put in another order!

I ordered the other Gucci fragrance that I wanted; Flora Glorious Mandarin is currently on offer for £44.95 (RRP £53.00).

Nina Ricci's Ricci Ricci Reflets Mysterieux is another that I can't wait to receive. I love the original Ricci Ricci so will be pleased to welcome this to my collection. It cost £39.62 (RRP £55.00).

With less than £1.00 needed to make up the £85.00 and with a rapidly decreasing bank balance my third purchase was just £3.49 (so I got my £10 discount).

It is strange because I was just looking at really old fragrances this morning on www.fragrantica.com, the online perfume encyclopedia and this one came up: 4711 Original

The fragrance was originally launched in 1792 and it is unisex.
My £3.49 gets me a 25ml 'watch bottle' of the eau de cologne.