BBW gets dressed up in Pink Chiffon

I took a trip today to Bath & Body Works to 'escape to the tropics' with their new tropical candles.  Don't worry, I did do this (I spent all too long in there, actually, trying to pick the most unique scents of the bunch to review here), but towards the end I have to admit that I got a little distracted.

See, when I got to the register they had the latest launch in their Signature Collection available in a 2oz size for $1.  How could I resist?  (You're right - I couldn't!)

So, while my new candles burn in their evaluation rooms, I have taken the liberty of checking out BBW's latest body lotion scent:

It is described as 'a light-as-air-pairing of soft pink petals and vanilla chiffon icing'.  So, we should expect a gourmand floral.  Is that what we get?

Well, first whiff out of the bottle we definitely can smell the light-as-air part - there is not very much fragrance there at all, which is very uncharacteristic for BBW!  Usually they are so strong that they knock me out with their overwhelming and sweeter-than-life scents!  Don't get me wrong, it is still sweet, but I somehow don't mind it as much because it isn't too busy offending my nose.

In use, it smells of a sweet, sugary cherry candy (so no, it isn't a gourmand floral), but it is still light with some hints of vanilla and musk minutely warming it up.  Saying that, this fragrance remains very light - so light in fact that I'm almost having to shove my hands up my nose to get the full dynamics of this new scent.

But that isn't a bad thing, I've decided.  I quite like that I haven't filled the room with an obnoxiously sweet scent while moisturizing my hands.  I bet the people around me appreciate it, too!

Thumbs up on this one, BBW!

Starting 2012 off fragrant with Michael Kors, Vera Wang & Escada

Needing some fragrance I took myself over to Ulta to see what was shaking in the way of new launches.  Woohoo, I hit the jackpot!  Which means I've got three newly launched fine fragrances reviewed for you here.

Let's begin with Island Michael Kors Very Bali (because it's winter and we'd all rather be on vacation somewhere like Bali.  Admit it.)  The packaging is enticing with a purple toned sunset, calm water, flowers and a palm tree.  The fragrance is as agreeable as the packaging, and just as conventional.  The top notes are sweet and floral with a tiny bit of citrus, which lifts the fragrance and keeps it quite light.  The muskiness of the dry down warms the fragrance, but not too much.  The musk mixes delicately with the bright florals to make a very nice, if not very unique, spring/summer fragrance.

Now, Valentine's Day is less than a month away so, while it's not really a new launch, it is only fair that we turn our attention to a romantic 2011 launch from Vera Wang: Lovestruck.  This fragrance fell down at the first hurdle; I wasn't able to pull out any discernible top notes after first spraying the fragrance!  I stared at my scent strip questioningly, and re-smelled it numerous times, but it was as if I hadn't sprayed anything on it!  So, needless to say, the top notes are very light.  But, the fragrance did pick itself up and the dry down notes are discernible.  There is an underlying musk to the fragrance which mixes with vanilla bean and a bit of fruity-floral sweetness.  It is a pleasant enough fragrance, but nothing to write home about.

Finally we have some Escada limited editions.  There are three: Island Kiss, Rockin' Rio and Sexy Graffiti.  Regrettably, I was only able to sample Island Kiss and Sexy Graffiti.  Sorry Rockin' Rio, maybe next time!

Island Kiss took me by surprise because it only had a little of the signature sweetness that characterizes Escada fragrances.  The rest of the top notes were extraordinarily clean with a nice soap-y, light citral scent.  It's dry down was just as light and clean as the top notes, but the sweet Escada character was more evident once dry.  I am very impressed by this fragrance - thumbs up, Escada!

Lastly I evaluated Sexy Graffiti and it was everything I expected from an Escada fragrance. It was loud, overly sweet:  almost the personification of pink (in the form of scent, of course!).  The top notes were a mixture of sweet berries and citrus, while the dry down was heavily citrus-y, which was made slightly dynamic by a hint of musk.  Although, saying that, the dry down was sorely unimpressive as the fragrance had mostly disappeared.  This is not surprising since citrus burns off quickly, which is why it is used so frequently as a top note.  In the end, Sexy Graffiti is everything one would expect from an Escada fragrance.


Thus concludes my first successful trip to Ulta of the year and hopefully there will be many more to come.  Bring on the 2012 launches, I say!

Starting off 2012 not too impressed: Pacifica Body Butters

I searched high and low for an exciting and thought-provoking interesting new launch to begin 2012 with, but unfortunately there isn't too much out there in the way of new products yet.  So, today we will evaluate a product that caught my eye in Sephora, and one that my wallet appreciated, too, after the expensive holiday season.

Check out this packaging and the variant names:

Pacifica Tahitian Gardenia Body Butter ... Pacifica Indian Coconut Nectar.  

They seem to instantly transport you out of the dreary winter weather and off to far-off golden sunset lands.  Or they did me at least.  (Sigh).  So, I thought to myself, if the packaging is making me dream of far away places, I wonder how well the scent will transport me there?  When I got home after my purchase I set myself up and began smelling.

I decided to be swept away to India first with Indian Coconut Nectar Body Butter and unfortunately I really regret it.  Talk about a disappointment!  The first whiff out of my evaluation beaker brought me a mix of a lot of shea butter, a tiny bit of coconut and a good amount of base.  And it got worse in use.  It smells of base and cheap shea butter - it's a deep, nutty-plastic-y smell.  It caused me to comment, "God, that smells horrible."  I would suggest that they go back and reformulate.

So, it was with much trepidation that I tested the Tahitian Gardenia Body Butter.  This was a much more pleasant experience, the scent being a soft white floral.  The in-use experience continued to be inoffensive, although the soft floral scent does seem to slightly struggle to cover the unpleasant notes of the base.  But unlike the Coconut, a passer-by would not notice the base scent, nor would you unless you're holding your hands under your nose as I am currently doing.

You know, for the first time I am really disappointed in the products that I have picked up to review here, but maybe that is because I had such high hopes for them.  I loved the packaging, I loved the price point ($5 each for 2.5fl oz/73ml) and the woman at the register did nothing but big up these products.  After checking out the Pacifica website I was even falling in love with the brand itself.

But all that is gone now!  What a depressing disappointment the Indian Coconut Nectar turned out to be (I'm throwing it in the trash, FYI) ... but at least the Tahitian Gardenia Body Butter was decent enough and will probably get thrown in my hand bag for future use, instead of the trash can for never use.

Spring in Winter: Febreze Petal & Pure

In case you're tired of your Christmas fragrances or if the winter weather already has you dreaming of spring, never fear!  While I was cruising around the store and taking my usual foray into the air freshener aisle I came across what I believe to be the first (of 2012) spring air freshener candle on my local Target's shelf.

It was standing out proud with its light yellow pigment bright against the deep colors of red, green, purple and blue of the Christmas/holiday variants.  How could I not pick up that little ray of sunshine, Febreze's Petal & Pure?

I smelled it briefly as I held it and was immediately intrigued - it was a sweet banana scent with a light white floral hue coming through behind it.  Even though I didn't know if it was a new launch or not, the idea of a banana scented candle piqued my interest and I had to get it home to evaluate it.

After I did a bit of research, it turns out that Febreze Petal & Pure is indeed not a new launch.  It was first seen on the shelves in February 2011, but I figure that since it was launched this year it is still relevant and new ... and interesting.

When I took the candle out of its packaging the cold throw was still of a good, strong strength smelling of banana, sweetness and light white floral.  Needless to say I had high hopes for the hot throw.

Unfortunately, when tested in my evaluation room, the candle seemed to lose its scent.  All that appeared to be emitted was a non-fragranced wax-base scent.  When I put the candle out and allowed it to cool, once again the pleasantly fragrant fruity-banana-floral scent returned.  How disappointing that it didn't appear to have a good hot throw!

Would I recommend the Febreze Petal & Pure candle?  My answer is yes, but with a caveat.  You see, I inadvertently tested the candle once more!  I was in my kitchen and having no other fragrance handy I decided to light this candle.  After awhile the room (which is open plan, I might add) was filled with a light sweet-floral scent with only minute hints of the unfragranced wax base underneath (which is the only scent I smelled in my small, windowless evaluation room).

Thus, the caveat:  if you have a small room all you'll be smelling is candle wax and no sweet-fruit-floral fragrance!

Mint-aholics Unite for BBW's Limited Edition Twisted Peppermint!

Talk about your limited editions!  Bath and Body Works has relaunched their Holiday Traditions variant Twisted Peppermint, but for one week only!  It was a full 24hrs after this news that I made it to my local BBW and already they had sold out of the shower gel.  Unbelievable!

There it is.  Look at it standing there in all of its innocent minty glory.  As soon as I got my hands on the body lotion I eagerly opened the top and took a gentle whiff ... and the experience was Wow.  I'm not sure if it was 'only on the shelves for one week' wow, but definitely a capital letter Wow.

Its Fresh.  Its Tasty.  Its York Peppermint Pattie.  Yum.  The fragrance hits you with this wonderfully strong and refreshing peppermint while it has this gentle undertone of chocolate (and it isn't a cheap cocoa hit, but notes of dark chocolate).  For my first sniff out-of-the-bottle-in-the-store, I am very impressed with this fragrance.

At home and on the arms, I can confirm that BBW definitely got its inspiration for Twisted Peppermint from York's "Get the sensation!" tagline.  The scent is still wonderfully fresh and vibrantly peppermint with a subtle chocolate tone underneath, but on the skin the lotion has a cooling effect and it is almost a bit tingly in its refreshment.  It is definitely a sensation that adds a dynamic dimension to the fragrance and the body lotion as a whole.

So, while I'm not sure I want to walk around smelling like a York Peppermint Pattie, if you can get your hands on it, I really do recommend this body lotion - if not just to be able to say that you did!

*As a side note, they had a BOGOF deal going on so I also picked up the Twisted Peppermint Fragrance Mist.  It smells of fresh paint and is a huge disappointment - don't waste your time or money (even if it's free!) on this one.

Method Limited Editions

To tell you the truth, I am not the biggest Method user out there.  Actually, I don't think that I have ever used Method before, which is why I thought it was high time to do so.

Supposedly, 'sometimes change is nice', which is why Method launched a limited edition range in September.  The new variants include: 

Juicy Pear, Clementine, Waterfall and Lemon Mint  

Although I was tempted by the Juicy Pear, the variant I got my hands on is the Lemon Mint.  Lemon mixed with mint?  Now, that sounds interesting.

Sadly, it wasn't.  Neat, the fragrance is very functional, smelling first of sweet lemon drops and then alcohol.  There is no scent of mint, which is a disappointment.  Maybe in dilute?

Nope, not there either.  In use, it is a very earthy, agrestic lemon scent with spikes of menthol (which, although obtained from mint oil, it is a very different scent from mint!).  In addition, the earthy-agrestic notes nearly overwhelm the lemon making it quite a dirty scent.

I'm not overly enthralled with the fragrance of this hand soap, but maybe I should have known that this 'naturally derived formula' was going to smell well, natural!

Launched with style: the new Diane fragrance from Diane Von Furstenberg

Back in October I received all kinds of alerts about a new fragrance launching from designer Diane von Furstenberg: Diane.  Unlike other perfumes with their fascinating (and sometimes confusing) TV commercials, von Furstenberg opted for a modern way to advertise: the flash mob.

Throughout the course of October there were flash mobs in New York, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon, Warsaw and Milan.  All these flash mobs did their work - they got me excited about the fragrance and eager to learn what it was all about.

So, off to Sephora I went (the sole distributor of the fragrance) and here is what I discovered.  Diane is a very womanly fragrance, opening with distinct top notes of patchouli that are combined with layers of caramel and musk and then mixed with light florals, which bring height to the fragrance.  The fragrance is linear as it dries down, retaining the same scent throughout.  

This fragrance is reminiscent of the powerhouse fragrances from the 1980s.  Which isn't necessarily bad ... if you like that kind of thing.