Limited Edition Valentine's Day scent from L'Occitane: Cherry Princess

Image courtesy of Idea Go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I'll keep this one short and sweet because there isn't much time left to choose your scent before the love-infested holiday that is Valentine's Day.

For this most-romantic of holidays I've decided to visit L'Occitane, for who wouldn't know better about l'amour than les français with their language of love?  Mais oui!

L'Occitane has created a Limited Edition flanker based off of their popular Cherry Blossom Eau de Toilette scent.  Which, BTW, I smelled while in store and although some people call it delicate and romantic, I call it a pretty mediocre floral that is not very strong and also does not last very long.  I mean, it all but disappeared from my scent strip within five minutes of spraying it!  But I digress...

Cherry Princess Eau de Toilette was a completely different experience.  It was vibrant and fresh with top notes of grapefruit and berry, and soft floral notes of violet and magnolia underneath.  It is a linear fragrance, so does not change as it dries down and unlike its parent Cherry Blossom, its scent stays strong and has a long lifetime on the skin.

The very helpful sales person in the store informed me that Cherry Princess EDT is indeed a limited edition and would be leaving the shelves after Valentine's Day ... so you better hurry out to pick some up, if not only so that you have something to scent-ccessorize with tomorrow for Valentine's Day!!

PS - if you miss out on Cherry Princess EDT you could find a very similar fragrance in Moschino's Hippy Fizz!

Burt's Bees makes güd

A new personal care product has been popping up on shelves in local stores.  Have you spotted it?  It's bright and feel good-y, and it also has a smile built into its name:

Yup, we're checking out the latest product launch from the all-natural brand Burt's Bees.

Burt's Bees has deviated from their traditionally clean, neutral and simplistic package designs and has opted for a cutesy artistic look à la Eric Carle and bright, happy colors like pink and orange.  Continuing along the cutesy theme, they've named the variants Floral Cherrynova, Orange Petalooza  and  Vanilla Flame.  (Are you smiling yet?)

Their goal with all of this is no doubt to extend their brand to a younger consumer, but one that is still concerned about natural ingredients and potentially harmful chemicals (güd advertises on its packaging that it has no parabens, phthalates or petrochemicals).  (You smiling now?)

In a final blast of cutesiness and feel-goodness, güd strives to make you (and those around you) smile with their 'newtastic'* , 'smelltastic' scents.

So, since I've got my hands on this new product, am I smiling?  I was in a fruity mood while at the store so I picked up the previously mentioned Orange Petalooza body wash and the unmentioned Pearanormal Activity, which doesn't appear on the güd website.  Must be an exclusive to Target!

My first impression of Orange Petalooza: Blood Orange Flower is orange popsicle - sweet and tart and oh, so yummy!  In use, the dynamics of the scent change.  It becomes more sophisticated and although it is still sweet in the top notes it is weighed down with white floral notes and a tiny bit of musk right at the bottom as well.  This makes it a much more 'adult' fragrance.  The bottle claims that 'if you don't sing in the shower, you will now', and I'm definitely singing!

Now to what appears to be a Target exclusive: Pearanormal Activity: Pear & Açaí Berry body wash.  In  its neat form this scent is definitely not as strong as the Orange Petalooza.  It has sweet top notes that are barely recognizable as either pear or berry and warm gourmand, slightly vanilla-y undertones.  In use the fragrance continues to lack strength, but has a mild and pleasant sweet-berry-gourmand scent.  The bottle claims that 'it's like an invigorating towel snap. Without the sting.'  I say, what towel snap - I didn't feel a thing! ...and maybe this is why  Pearanormal Activity is missing from the güd website!

In any case, I am giving the thumbs up to Burt's Bees and güd.  I like the packaging, the variant names are fun and even though Pearanormal Activity wasn't that great, Orange Petalooza definitely makes up for it!!

*      *      *

*on a side note, did the marketers on the güd team at Burt's Bees have a loss of creativity? 

Why so repetitive?  How about: 'it's not just new, it's newrrific.  Available in three smelltastic scents.'  or 'it's not just new, it's newtastic.  Available in three smellalicious scents.' OR EVEN BETTER - 'it's not just new, it's newrrific.  Available in three smellalicious scents.'

Leave a comment -what do you think?  Can you suggest something better?

New Spring Candles from Bath & Body Works

We're off to the tropics today people!  I visited my local BBW recently and quickly became trapped inside forever, sniffing away at their hundreds (or what seemed like hundreds!) of re-launched and newly launched candles.  


There's Coco Lobo, Jungle Kiss, White Palm (which I am told is the best seller so far), Mango Beachwood ... and the list goes on and on !  You can check out the full product line here.  There was no way I was going to be able to evaluate all eighteen of the tropics candle line, so I settled on the one that I thought smelled the most interesting, even if it was a relaunch from last year: Tropical Spice.

When I was in the store I couldn't believe the cold throw the candle had!  Was it really a mix of coconut and vanilla and a huge slug of CINNAMON?  I had to get it home to check it out.  Once I did, though, and my nose cleared from smelling the many different variants in the store, I realized I was wrong!

My nose had been polluted by all of the other scents wafting around me!  Home and in a fragrantless environment, the cold throw showed its true colors.  Vanilla and cinnamon.  No coconut whatsoever, that must've been from another candle.  Talk about disappointing!  Five bucks says they've just taken one of their seasonal holiday scents and reconceptualized it (new wax color, new name, new label, old scent).  Oh well and ho-hum, life goes on!

I still pursued the smelling of the candle, even though I was disappointed by the uninteresting cold throw of vanilla, cinnamon and a tiny bit of sweet-bubble gum at the back (which keeps it from smelling Christmas-y).

There isn't too much to report on the hot throw.  It was a vanilla-cinnamon scent that struggled to over power the scent of wax when burned for over an hour.  Common and boring - I was so wrong when I picked it up in the store!  Such is life, I guess, good thing I was less disappointed with the other candle I bought.

Launched at the same time as the tropical line is BBW's more floral themed line of candles.  These variants include Lilac Blossom, Flower Shop, First Bloom, Spring and a few others.  I picked up Green Grass, which is a new launch this season.

The cold throw is a very green fragrance with hints of dry grass under a fresh watery cucumber with aspects of clean white floral.  Very pleasant indeed.  The hot throw is linear and scented the room with clean, bright cucumber and grassy-green scents.  This candle was definitely better formulated than the Tropical Spice, as was proven by its superior hot throw.

Assessment? Green Grass is definitely preferred to Tropical Spice, but if neither take your fancy, don't worry - there is no need to decide between these two!  There are still twenty-three other newly launched/re-launched candles to choose from!  Go get smelling!

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!