The Naked Bee

A gift!  A gift!  I've been given a gift!  A friend was wandering around a shop checking out their inventory when she came across something she thought I'd love.  The next time I saw her she excitedly presented me with it:  The Naked Bee Orange Blossom Honey Moisturizing Hand & Body Lotion.

I looked quizzically at the spartan packaging of the brown pump bottle as she enthusiastically jumped around.  "You have to use it right now and tell me what you think it smells like," she encouraged.  I shrugged my shoulders, took a small amount of the 70% certified organic product, massaged it into my hands, and indulged in its scent.

She insisted on immediately knowing what I thought.  "Smarties!" I replied, suddenly craving the childhood candy.  But she disagreed, pulling out something from her cupboard.  "It is completely PEZ," the mother of two PEZ-loving kids argued, handing me a full dispenser.  As I munched away I agreed with her that it definitely had PEZ aromatics, but I still favored the overall smell to be Smarties-esque.

As the debate continued, I kept reapplying the lotion because those sweet, loud, nostalgic top notes quickly quietened (though did not completely disappear) to reveal a warmth in the heart.  It mellowed the candy top notes and enriched them to reveal a bouquet of citrus, soft floral, and honey.  It's a clean and comforting scent, as well as The Naked Bee's best selling variant!

The debate still continues, PEZ or Smarties, but it doesn't really matter because it's a fabulous fragrance (in a great lotion)!

Have you tried this scent?  Do you love it, do you hate it?  Make sure to leave a comment below!

Flanker Alert! Dior Addict Eau (not so) Sensuelle

I'm just going to jump right in and say it: this fragrance is a complete deviation from Dior Addict.  There are no hints of the luscious vanilla or the heady jasmine that so enraptured me in the original juice.  I'm not sure why Dior (other than for pure marketing reasons) attached this scent to the Addict line.  It truly is its own fragrance.  But, enough of my ranting.  Let's get on to the evaluating...

Dior Addict Eau Sensuelle is an extremely soapy-clean fragrance.  It opens with light rose aromas that subtly warm into fresh, light, and clean lilac notes.  They blend together flawlessly with the clean dry down of white musk which defines this scent and gives it a powdery-soapy-clean depth.  It triggers memory cues of Ivory soap... Did I mention this fragrance was clean?

If you read Scents n Scentsibility's post on Dior Addict Eau Fraiche, you'll know there's some confusion regarding these flankers.  Reviewers on Fragrantica overwhelming think Eau Sensuelle is only Addict to Life rebottled.*  Or if it's not Addict to Life they are comparing it to then they say it's a reincarnation of Forever and Ever Dior, which they prefer.

As for me, I'm wondering if this is Dior's take on Estee Lauder's groundbreaking 1996 pure and soapy-clean Pleasures.  And now that just leaves you - what do you think?

Have you tried this scent?  Do you love it, do you hate it?  Make sure to leave a comment below!

*I've never smelled Addict to Life, but the olfactive triangle tells me it is a Floral-Musky-Spicy scent (much different to what I've just smelled in Eau Sensuelle)

Yankee Candle Fall 2012: Treehouse Memories

I don't know about you, but for me tree houses are a thing of folk lore - I've never had one, nor have I ever seen one!  To me, they are the special places that kids on TV retreat to, and also where they have their secret club meetings.  They are the coolest thing ever and to this day I'm jealous of Bart Simpson for having one!

Unfortunately, what this means is that Bart Simpson is way more qualified than I when it comes to knowing what Treehouse Memories could possibly smell like.  But, of course, I'm going to give it a go despite my deficiencies in this area!

Treehouse Memories from Yankee Candle's Fall 2012 range is warmly masculine.  It has a generic clean-woody-musc-y essence, much like a traditional men's cologne, but it is also intensely smoky, making it a more modern scent.

In use, Treehouse Memories is not very strong, but it does still manage to fill the room with a wonderfully woody-earthy-smoky aroma.

This fragrance is a mature scent and I'd be surprised if it reminded anyone of their own tree house memories.  But hey, what's in a name?

Have you tried this scent?  Do you love it, do you hate it?  Make sure to leave a comment below!

Summer Flanker Alert! Allure Homme Sport Eau Extreme Chanel

Store shelves have been stocked full of summer flankers for months and since it is now officially summer I thought it time we investigate what's out there!

Allure Homme Sport Eau Extreme by Chanel is our first flanker.  It joins the Allure Homme range: the first fragrance of which was launched in 1999.  Despite this scent having a long list of ancestors and being (yet another) flanker, I have to be honest with you.  After I watched the below video I wasn't too upset to be indulging in Eau Extreme!  (yes, the Chanel marketing team has done their job well - I'm sold before I've even tried it!!)

Allure Homme Sport Eau Extreme begins its scent journey with fresh citrus and light mint notes which slowly dance their way to dry dimensions of soft woods and warming tonka bean and musk tones.  Underneath all of this there is a hint of soapiness laying deep in the depths.

Overall it is a pleasant experience even though it's not very 'extreme' (i.e. not venturing from currently popular ingredients)!

Have you tried this scent?  Do you love it, do you hate it? Make sure to leave a comment below!

L'Occitane Limited Edition Almond Smooth Hands

Il y a un parfum de lavande dans l'air ... il fait du soleil ... le ciel est bleu et beau ... où je suis?  Mais je suis en Provence, bien sûr!

Yes, if the French didn't tip you off then the above photo did: this weekend I stopped in my local L'Occitane shop.  It was quite a pleasurable experience - the store assistant was very knowledgeable about the products and L'Occitane's commitment to fair trade and sustainability, and I had the chance to experience their new face and body scrub!  (I was a bit hesitant at first, but when the assistant clarified that I didn't need to try the face scrub on my face, I jumped right in!)

After my sampling of the body scrub, the store assistant offered a lotion from their Almond range for me to try.  Unsurprisingly, of course, it just so happens that said lotion is currently available in the 30ml/1oz size hand cream format.  It is a limited edition and when asked if it would be extended into the full Almond range, the shop assistant said that it wouldn't.  She informed that their hand cream limited editions change frequently so once this variant is gone we'll have to keep our eyes out for the next one!

The store assistant did a good job and in the end I decided to purchase the Limited Edition Amande Mains de Velours [Almond Smooth Hands].  Not only does it 'moisturize and beautify' the skin, but it supposedly leaves it smelling of the delicate notes of almond tree flowers.  Well, let's see.

From the first whiff only strongly powdery notes are discernible; it's very reminiscent of J&J baby powder.  I almost feel like I am changing a diaper it's that intense.

In use the fragrance's violet toned floral notes present themselves and weave together skillfully with the powdery aromas.  It is indeed quite delicate and very clean, but sadly the scent does not have the sweet honey smell of an almond blossom.  Tant pis!

Almond Smooth Hands has a quite decent scent and as long as you don't know what a real almond blossom smells like you'll probably enjoy this product!

So, will you be rushing out to purchase Almond Smooth Hands, or is there another nicely fragranced hand cream you prefer?  Make sure to leave a comment!