Hanae Mori No. 1 ---- A Review

And so my perfume addiction pushes on full force. The new Hanae Mori perfume is my latest addition to my collection. It was, to be quite honest, an impulse buy even though I feel that perfumes are one of those things that make for terrible impulse purchases. A perfume needs to be worn around for a bit before so it can fully develop and you can go through it's wonderful....or terrible stages.

At any rate, onto the good stuff. The perfume bottle shape is the same as the original Hanae Mori perfumes, but the juice is a delicious lilac-y purple and No. 1 is inked into the back of the bottle in a traditional Japanese calligraphy sort of way. The perfume only comes in a 3.4 fl. oz bottle and retails for $95.00. Also some of the proceeds go to a clean air and wind something or the other. Good causes = 2 thumbs up :D The sales associate at Nordstrom told me that No.2 will be blue with aquatic/marine notes. Fortunately that is not my kinda thing so YAY!

So part of me is kicking myself for impulse purchasing this perfume as it does smell veeeeeeeeeeeeeery similar to Givenchy Hot Couture. Though I did a spritz of each on opposite wrists and they don't really smell exactly the same. (The notes are indeed similar though as noted below.)

NOTE COMPARISON:

Hanae Mori No.1 - bergamot, black currant, grapefruit, mulberry leaf, blackberry, jasmine, raspberry, white musk, sandalwood, amber and vanilla.

Hot Couture -

• top note: Bermagot, Orange, Raspberry

• middle note: Magnolia, Black Pepper, Vetiver
  

• base note: Sandal, Amber, Musk

They have a similar rich juicy sweet raspberry theme in the opening. However I find the opening sweetness of Hot Couture to evolve into a sharper spicy bite whereas Hanae Mori maintains the original burst of sweetness and creaminess. Hanae Mori No.1 also opens with a similar ripe raspberry sweet scent and has a interesting citrusy zing to it. Then it mellows down into a sweet vanilla cream on me with a lingering berry sweetness. Strangely, I find this very fleeting on me, which bothers me particularly since the price is rather steep. I honestly expected it to last longer than 10 min.... Ok fine, I exaggerate...a little. Also, the sillage isn't very robust and it sticks close to the skin (on me at least). I suppose it's not bad for the summer since I really don't want something overly sweet for the heat of summer. I did notice however while I was working out, that it intensified the smell which was a pleasant surprise.

Closing Thoughts: Overall I do like this perfume as a nice, lighter alternative to Givenchy Hot Couture, but I honestly don't know if I would have bought it had it not been an silly impulse purchase.

Drugstore Perfume - Coty Jovan Musk for Women

As I've mentioned before I'm a huge lover of musks in perfume. I originally thought Musk = dirty armpit or something but I found that musks are actually quite light, clean and fresh in scent, though there are the more animalic musks out there (I haven't tried any though so I don't know). Also musks smell different on everyone and some people cannot smell musk or certain musks. I guess the musk molecules are quite large thus heavy, hence the fact that the sillage is not that strong.

For the longest time I was tempted to try the Jovan Musk that you can find at your corner drugstore for fairly cheap. I finally caved and got mine this past weekend at Jewel-Osco in a 2 fl. 0z size "gift package" for $15.00. I think you might be able to find them on discount perfume sites and ebay for cheaper, but I wanted instant gratification so......


Packaging: The bottle is simple with no particular bells and whistles. It definitely seems cheap, but it's what's on the inside that counts so no big deal. The lid is particularly flimsy which annoys me, but fortunately it seems to snap into place well.

The Juice: Upon initial spritz, it's all alcohol very much like a cheap hair spray, a la aqua net or something. The alcohol/hairspray scent is it's one biggest down fall. I'm am a little annoyed that it smells like this, because if I wanted to smell like this I may as well have picked up a bottle of cheap hair spray for a few bucks. At any rate, once the alcohol/hairspray scent fades, it settles into a lovely clean skin scent with a hint of powder...which makes it well worth the wait. When I say a hint I mean a hint. I personally despise powdery perfume as they are usually headache inducing for me, particularly when mixed with florals.

Not to mention for being such a cheap perfume, the staying power is surprisingly strong! It lasts a good half day if not more on me. Staying power is a huge make or break with me. I hate those perfumes that disappear within an hour, but then again, I guess the fun is in the application. :D

Overall Rating: Overall I give this a 5/5. I think it's worth the $15.00 price tag for a 2 fl. oz bottle, particularly since it had fantastic staying power. It lasts a good half day if not more for me. Even so I will give it a little refresher spritz every so often. It's a lovely everyday, subtle scent. Very work safe in my opinion. A very nice relaxed perfume. I will definitely be re-purchasing when I run out.

Serge Lutens

Uh-oh. I seem to have found a very expensive new lemming. I was a little concerned when I had ordered samples of Serge Lutens perfumes from The Perfumed Court, but now I'm in trouble. The samples (Chergui, Bois et musc, and Fleurs d'Orangeur) arrived yesterday and from the two I've given an honest try, I'm in love. So I pre-face this with the fact that I am a perfume newbie and I suck at explaining perfumes but I will do my best. I also wanted to note that I was quite impressed with the size of the TPC vials. I was expecting a small tiny cheapo vial..the type you get at perfume counters..but these are bigger than expected (or maybe it's an optical illusion?) and very nice looking..like mini mini mini beer bottle looking things.

I tried Bois et Musc first. Opening notes are quite nice and un-offensive. Slightly powdery, floral..slightly sweet, soft and very feminine about this perfume. I think I also detect something slightly woodsy in the mix as well. There's something in there that I don't particularly LOVE but don't really hate either, I think it's the powder, but like I said, it's a very un-offensive smell to my nose. I'm not particularly fond of powdery scents, but holy moley the dry down on this is AMAZING!!! Very "your skin" smelling. I can't describe how the dry down smells, but it's very soft and comforting. LOVES! Unfortunately this is one of the non-export perfumes, which means it's only available in Paris in the bell jar as shown in above picture. Fortunately, there are ways around it, but you will be paying a bit more..or less depending on how you look at it. Shipping and handling vs going to Paris yourself.


Next I gave Chergui a go. It is described as having notes of: honey, musk, incense, tobacco leaf, hay sugar, amber, iris, rose and sandalwood. Initially I wasn't liking this one at first blush, very spicy, smokey and woodsy. I do smell green-ness..kinda like a tea leaves kinda smell. Initially there's this very masculine scent about this perfume, but it's tempered by something that makes it quite feminine. I can't seem to put my finger on what note does that though...perhaps the sweetness of honey? There's also something a little powdery to this as well. To my untrained nose, I don't really smell floral in this at all. Once again, the dry down to this is amazing! Very creamy, comforting, sweet and warm. Thankfully this is part of the export line and is thus easier to aquire.

Ok. So the whole export and non-export thing is very confusing and I think it gets even more confusing because within the export lines there's something to do with the lable colors. I am not even going to attempt to explain all this because I am not quite sure myself. If you really care to know, http://sergelutens.blogspot.com/ has a comprehensive list of all all things Serge Lutens. (I'm not affiliated, yadda yadda yadda).

My Perfume Collection

This is my modest perfume collection in it's sad disorganized closet shelf.

My absolute favorite perfume is Philosophy Amazing Grace, I always come back to this perfume. I have a big bottle, a little purse spray, and a roll on version of this. Can you tell I love this??

My next go to is Burberry Summer. It's a nice clean fresh scent. I usually end up rotating this with the Philosophy one.

Also hiding somewhere in the picture is: Guerlain love is all, Victor & Rolf Flowerbomb deluxe mini, Vera Wang Vera Wang and Fresh Pink Jasmine.

Then there's my latest addition, Etoile de Rem by Reminiscent Paris.
I got this scent un-sniffed off Beautyhabit, my latest favorite haunt. (I am in no way affiliated, I bought everything shown here with my own money...etc.) Initially I didn't like it at all. Something about it was strange. It was definitely way out of my comfort zone. However, as the day wore on, the more and more I grew to love it! Then the next day I gave myself a spritz in the morning and I really loved it! It definitely is a keeper and I am glad I gave it a few more tries before tossing in the towel.

It is described as a solar floral fragrance with notes of citrus, bergamot, marine accord, jasmine, ylang ylang, orange blossom, coconut, vanilla, coumarin and musk. To be honest I don't smell the coconut that much. It's really hard for me to describe perfumes, but I'll try my best. I definitely smell the marine notes and soft florals. It dries down to this lovely warm creamy soft scent. It definitely reminds me of the beach and summer. I can't wait till summer so I can wear this to the beach!

Move over makeup! There's a new love in my life

Quick someone take my temperature!! I think I'm ill!! I have no desire for new makeup these days!! Instead it was replaced with a desire for....PERFUME!!! Uh-oh. Even worse!!!

So a few weeks ago a friend introduced me to The Coconut Hut. (I am in no way affiliated with this website. Everything I will review was bought with my own money.) Their website, http://www.coconuthutbeauty.com, is nicely organized and easy to navigate. Not to mention..HOLY COW do they have a WIDE selection of scents. I didn't even know where to start on their gigantic, gargantuan, extensive list!! The scents can be organized by catagory or alphabetically which is

Their perfumes are right up my ally, as it is chock full of sweet, tropical, yummie delish scents. I am totally in love with foody scents, but at the same time, I am not sure how I feel about smelling like dessert. Anyhow with that said I ordered samples of: Serendipitous type, Vanilla coco type, and LUSH Almond snow cake type. All three are knock offs of other perfumes. In my opinion they all smell true to their originals, with the exception of Serendipitous type as I have never smelled the original.


The cost for 3 of the 5/8 dram mini glass bottles with foil lined capped closure in your choice of the Tiki Roll On Perfume or Beach Baby Perfume is $8.95 + $5.55 s/h = Total cost $14.50. So with that said, I think it's a little price-y for sample vials. Also I kinda wish they let you know when your stuff ships so you can expect it, but that's just splitting hairs. I guess it's always nice to get a surprise package in the mail. The quality of product that you are recieving justifies the cost in my opinion. The vials are really nice with a nice screw top and not one of those dinky ones you get if you get a sample from a counter. Also the most important part..the quality of the perfume is top notch in my opinion. They have good staying power and strength, I am definitely impressed. I am particularly liking the tiki roll on oil perfume over the beach baby perfume, I feel the roll on oil is much more concentrated and lasts longer than the perfume spray. So onto my thoughts on the perfumes I got.

Serendipitous type: It's supposed to be a chocolate-y orange waffle scent. Normally I am scared of chocolate scents as they tend to smell very chemical-y and fake to me. I can't quite make up my mind on this one. Initially it does smell a bit fake and plastic-y to me, but once it dries down it smells pretty good, a mix of sweet creaminess and chocolate. I love using this together with the Vanilla coco type..yummm!

Vanilla coco type: This is a knock off of the CPS Vanilla coco. I was amazed at how dead on it is! Its a lovely scent, and as the name suggests it smells of vanilla and coco. It's very sweet, creamy and soft. The vanilla is a little cloying to me, but for some reason when it's mixed with the Serendipitous type, it smells really good.
LUSH Almond Snow Cake type: I love LUSH products! They all smell so good! This definitely smells like the actual LUSH product. Soo good. It's actually a really complicated smell to describe, or maybe it's because I suck at describing perfumes. Anyhow, it's kinda very creamy almond-y vanilla smell with this sharpness to it.

I will definitely be purchasing from this e-tailer in the future. As I mentioned earlier, the only tiny gripe is that it's a little price-y and the shipping and handling cost kinda makes me wince, but the quality is amazing, so I guess it's worth it. Can't wait to try more!!

Love and Toast

My beautyhabit order arrived today with my lovely goodies! (I am in no way affiliated with beautyhabit or love & toast. I bought this with my own money.)

I love beautyhabit because they carry some cool stuff from the lesser known brands. I am for some bizarre reason in love with obscure brands. After going on "hiatus" from browsing beautyhabit I totally forgot about it until recently. This brand love and toast is the cutest thing ever!

First the lip balms in Chai vanilla and Gin & Tonic:

* They are moisturizing but they sink in super quick so they don't really last long on my lips. However, they do leave my lips feeling moist and "supple" but not sticky. The not sticky part is a HUGE plus for me because of my two huskies tend to shed everywhere and I end up with their fur on my lips when I wear gloss.

* They smell delish! The gin and tonic smells like limes and I do smell a hint of pine needles or something woodsy like that. Kinda smells like a cleaning product almost..but not.

The chai vanilla smells like nothing I've ever smelled before. It smells nice though. A creamy yet slightly sweet scent.

* They are made from natural and organic products (Ingredients: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Beeswax, Organic Jojoba Oil, Shea Butter, cocoa butter, delicious love& toast flavor, organic hemp seed oil aloe vera oil, Vitamin E & stevia.)

* It goes to a good cause---> " A portion of every Love + Toast sale goes directly to Regional Affiliates of Girls Inc., inspiring young girls to be Smart, strong and bold."

And look at how adorably cute the packaging is!!!! You open the flap and.....
And then open the one flap and then you see.....
Then on the inside each balm comes with a cute little paper with facts about a famous and interesting women. Very inspirational and motivational for girls and women.

The perfume: Honey Coconut

I am not sure what the fl. oz of this is, but holy cow is it small! I wasn't paying attention when I ordered this as far as the size. I just looked at the price. It is $9.00 for a 0.17 fl oz. bottle. Basically no bigger than a deluxe size perfume. I was absolutely shocked to see how big it was when I opened my package. But great things come in little packages. This perfume packs quite a punch! I dabbed a little on my wrists and neck when I got my package at 11 this morning. It is now 6pm and I still can smell the perfume on my wrists. It's a little faint now, but I can still smell it.

* Notes: Sweet Honey, Sugared Vanilla, Violet Sandalwood

* What I smell: I really suck at describing perfume smells so bear with me. It reminds me of summer. It definitely doesn't smell anything like coconut. It's smells something sweet and creamy but without being sickeningly sweet. It also smells floral to me as well. Up close the smell is a little to much for me, but from a far...it is heavenly and totally transports me to somewhere warm with a nice pina colada in hand. I definitely will be trying out more of these perfumes from love & toast!