TokyoMilk Dark Tainted Love No. 62 Perfume

TokyoMilk is a niche fragrance line, with fun, offbeat and affordable scents that come in adorable little packages.  ToykoMilk Dark is their new line of 'provocative perfumes' with fabulously morbid, almost Victorian packaging.  Reading the scent descriptions and seeing the packaging, I assumed that each 1.6 ounce perfume bottle would retail for about $80.  They actually cost $36.  So I ordered one just based off the website description!  (Not something I usually do at all)


I ordered the Tainted Love perfume; that's the box and the bottle below.  The box is black with white type, and an embossed pattern on two sides.  The bottle is a matte black cut glass with a shiny gunmetal cap.  On one side of the bottle is the creator's name, Margot Elena, on the next is the brand name, perfume name, the number of the perfume, and the notes in the perfume (in this case, dark vanilla bean, orchid, white tea, and sandalwood), on the next side is the embellished perfume number, and on the front side is the symbol attached to the perfume (in this case, a skeleton key), the brand name, and the perfume name.

So, here's my breakdown of the Tainted Love perfume:


Packaging: The packaging is obviously gorgeous.  It looks so expensive!  And it's a gorgeous addition to a vanity.  I like the balance of Victorian imagery and minimalist restraint.  In all honesty, I think the packaging clinched the purchase for me.


The scent: the listed notes are dark vanilla bean, white tea, orchid, and sandalwood.  When I sniff it, the first thing that hits me is the vanilla.  I think that's the most prominent note here.  Then I get sandalwood and white tea, which keeps that vanilla from getting too sweet and too wet.  The orchid keeps from going in a slightly masculine direction by adding just a whiff of florals.  The overall impression I get is vanilla and incense, slightly dry and smokey but still feminine.  It's an unusual scent, to be sure, but I really love it.  It's sweet and feminine, but it definitely has a strong edge to it.  In a way, it's almost slightly morbid, with a hint of danger underlying that vanilla.


Lasting power: I'm not trusting my nose with this.  To me, it doesn't seem to have a ton of sillage or lasting power.  I can't smell it really unless I try to, and while I can still smell it faintly at the end of the day, it's definitely not strong.  However, I was wearing it out the other day, and a friend of mine, from a few feet away, smelled it and commented on it (after I'd been wearing it for a few hours).  So I think it's decent in that regard?  It's certainly not overwhelming.  I'd say it's a subtle, close to your skin kind of perfume.


Awkward Chic rating: A.  I love the packaging, the price, and the scent.  The lasting power brings it down from an A+ to an A.  I want to try more of them!  I'm particularly eying Everything & Nothing, which has notes of rose, mandarin, tangerine, white jasmine, peony, muguet, amber, and white musk (Sephora describes it as refined, hopeful, and poetic), and also Excess, which has notes of patchouli, amber resin, blood orange, and oak bark (Sephora describes it as majestic, posh, and bold).  Don't those sound pretty?!

Hair Dye and Sephora Hauls

I am a little blogging failure.  I've been so busy traveling and working and studying for midterms and dealing with my terrible internet that I haven't been able to blog.


But, on a plus note, that Chanel manicure I did in the last post lasted NINE DAYS.  It probably could have gone longer, but I had to go on a weekend trip and didn't want to risk beat-up nails.  So Chanel polish = totally worth the investment.


In other not that exciting news, I'm getting my hair dyed on Thursday!  Now, I know what you're thinking.  Megan, didn't you just do a drastic hair color job?  Yes, yes I did.  But the problem is that I have so much hair and the red I have underneath all the brown dye isn't taking color evenly.  So basically I have neutral brown hair on top and then a ton of medium-light reddish-blonde-brown hair underneath.  Literally.  Someone asked me if I got highlights.  No, I just fail at dyeing my hair.


Normally I'd just suck it up and dye my hair again, but at the salon right by my dorm they have a deal for wash+blow dry+color (with L'Oreal Inoa!!!) for 25 euros.  Um, what.  That's just under $40.  For professional hair color AND styling.  So that's happening.  What I want is a medium-dark warm brown, something like these two pictures below (Paz Vega and Leighton Meester): a little lighter and warmer than the dark brown I have on top right now, but much darker than my roots.  So hopefully that goes well and I'll have pictures!

So, sad news: Sephora does not ship internationally (except to Canada).  BOO.  This is especially sad because they just had their Friends & Family sale, where you get a 20% off discount code.  Sales on makeup are like sales on Christian Louboutins and double rainbows.  They never happen.  So I bit the bullet and made a little order, which should be waiting for me at home.  In California.  Until the end of December.  Sob.  Here's what I got:

Nails Inc. Magnetic Polish in Houses of Parliament, $16 at sephora.com, Sephora Brand BCA Pink Eyelash Curler, $16 at sephora.com: I finally cracked and got the magnetic nail polish.  I got the purple one, and I am so pumped!  I dismissed magnetic nail polish as a fad for years, but the Nails Inc. version has such a strong pattern from the magnet that I couldn't ignore it.  It almost looks like Minx.  The purple is a gorgeous, velvety color, and you get a ripple effect with the purple and a lighter, more silvery purple.  Gah so excited.  You put the magnet over the polish right after you paint your nail and the magnet pulls out particles in the polish to create the pattern.  Sometimes I love science.  I also picked up an eyelash curler.  I know, I don't have one.  I've never really seen the need, because my lashes have a bit of a natural curl, but I've been told time and time again by my makeup-loving friends to buy one, so I caved.  I'm thinking it will make my lashes pop more and look even longer.  Plus, it's pink and $1 goes towards breast cancer research!

Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in 15 Taupe, $22 at sephora.com, Boyfriend 1.7 oz Perfume, $65 at sephora.com: I spent a really long time deciding what to buy on the Sephora site.  I ended up going back to my fail-safe--eyeshadow.  I saw this taupe cream shadow in an AllThatGlitters21 video, and it is so pretty--a shimmery taupe brown.  I usually go for powder or loose shadows, but cream shadows have such a pretty sheen and are so easy to use.  I'm thinking I can do a simple, but polished daytime eye with just this across the lid and a bit of an inner corner highlight with some gel-liner smudged into the lashes.  Easy-peasy.  I got a ton of samples with my order, but the one I'm most looking forward to trying (in like 100 years) is this Boyfriend perfume by Kate Walsh.  The notes are dark plum, myrrh, night blooming jasmine, benzoin tears, skin musk, golden amber, and vanilla woods.  I love oriental, woody scents with twists of vanilla and amber--heady and musky, but not too sweet or too girly.  I think the idea here is that it's the smell of your boyfriend's perfume mixing with yours, which I love.  The bottle, not so much, but still.

Images via: agirlnamedbong.wordpress.com, trendencias.com, sephora.com.

It Makes Sense in My Head

Do you ever have the perfect idea of how you want something to look/be in your head and then get terribly disappointed when you can't find it in real life.  It happens to me ALL THE TIME.  Case in point: sundresses and perfume.

If I could wear one article of clothing (given that the weather doesn't change) for the rest of my life, it would be a sundress.  It's light and layerable, easy to take from day to night, and fun and flattering on most body types.  Now in my mind the perfect sundress is something along these lines.  It has the shape of this dress from Topshop but with more of a sweetheart neckline.  The skirt is an a-line, the length is between midthigh and just above the knee, and it's a thick cotton-blend, matte fabric.  The print is white with florals, but not a cute little ditsy floral, a big, vibrant, almost savage hothouse floral, and the straps are a medium tank width.  But can I find this magical dress?  NO.  I saw something like it on Anna Friel in Pushing Daisies but I think it was vintage :(  This Topshop dress is a decent option, and it's not that expensive (but I have no idea how Euros convert to dollars so perhaps it is).

As far as perfume goes, I'm one of those people that really wants a signature perfume.  So far my signature one is Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel.  I tend to like heavy orientals with a hint of sweetness and some florals/fruits.  Ideally I want to smell like chai spices--spicy with a dry heat and then honey and vanilla snaking around in the background and adding a mysterious sweet twist to it all.  Look at chai spices.  Aren't they pretty?  I love that smell, all the cinnamon and cardamom and nutmeg, because it's so sassy and spicy, but it's also very comforting and cozy.  Coco Mademoiselle has some of the spiciness and the coziness, but all the florals and fruits take it into slightly too girly, generic territory for me to 100% love it.  I pulled up Black Phoenix Alchemy lab for a friend this week, and now of course I've realized that they have all the perfumes I want and I will be forced to buy them.  Gah.  BPAL is a sort of underground California-based perfume oil company.  They sell hand-blended perfume oils (aka little tiny vials of extremely concentrated perfume) at decent prices and the scents and descriptions are literally OUT OF THIS WORLD.

The three I'm thinking of ordering are Bengal, O, and Katharina.  They're all $17.50 for 5ml (which sounds like a little but it will last FOREVER) or $4 for a little 1ml sample. Bengal is a "sultry and unruly blend that emulates the ambient scent of the markets in ancient Bengal: skin musk with honey, peppers, clove, cinnamon bark and ginger."  Doesn't that sound delicious?  I think I want to order a big one of this.  It just screams mysterious and elusive and exotic and basically awesomeness incarnate.  O is "The scent of sexual obsession, slavery to sensual pleasure, and the undercurrent of innocence defiled utterly. Amber and honey with a touch of vanilla."  I don't really think that needs to be explained.  I've heard some mixed reviews of it so I think I'll start with the sample size and see how it goes from there.  Last but not least, Katharina (named after the character from Taming of the Shrew!  Aka my fave Shakespeare character) is "a strong, willful blend with a soft, utterly lovely soul: white musk with a trickle of bright, sharp apricot and orange blossom."  I love the idea of smelling like apricots--they're so crisp and tangy, and the orange blossom would add some delicate sweetness while the musk grounded it all.

What do you all think?  Would you order from BPAL?  Even if you aren't convinced, go wander around their website.  It's wonderfully morbid and offbeat (in a fun way) and they have more than 500 perfumes in the most interesting categories/series.  My favorites are Wanderlust, a series of global cities--past and present--and what they would smell like conceptually (so London is a twisted, dark tea rose, etc), and Sin & Salvation, which is 7 deadly sins themed. 

Images via topshop.com, chai-wallah.com, theteaspot.com.

Friday Faves

Oof, it's been a long week.  Time to look at some pretty things, no?

Rebecca  Taylor Tiered Matte-Silk Maxi Dress, $345 at net-a-porter.com, YSL Belle D'Opium, $89 for 3 oz. at sephora.com: This first one is wishful thinking, seeing as it was about 20 degrees yesterday.  Cry.  Maxi skirts are going to/have been big for a while, and while that skirt does absolutely nothing for my body type.  Maxi dresses, however, manage to be a bit more flattering with the cinched in waists and fitted tops.  I love the vibrant purple hue of this one, and the matte finish of the silk gives it such an interestingly luxurious and exotic vibe.  I want this perfume, if only for the bottle and the fact that the UK outlawed the commercials with a girl randomly dancing around because they simulated opium use.  Really UK?  Having finally watched Skins, I can say that their standards are wack, because that show is CRAZY.  Anyways, this perfume has notes of peach, white pepper, casablanca lily, jasmine, incense, resins, and sandalwood.  I really wanted to like the original Opium, but it was a big too strong and old-fashioned for me.  This, on the other hand, sounds absolutely lovely, just the right mixture of sexy and fresh.

Acne Breeze Top, $300 at shopbop.com, Club Monaco Olivia Skirt, $149 at shopbop.com: First off, this is definitely a dress and not a top.  But second off, I love dresses like this.  It's all cute and cozy from the front and then BAM, turn around and it's crazy sexy and offbeat.  I've never shopped at Club Monaco, but how adorable is that skirt?  It's a beige chiffon with sewn-on rhinestones, the perfect combination of modern, feminine, elegant, and whimsical.  I'd do this with a sheerish white tee and a ton of jewelry.

Have a happy weekend y'all!


Images via net-a-porter.com, sephora.com, shopbop.com.

Womanity

So when I replaced my old, dried up gel liner from Sephora a few days ago, I ended up with some fun free samples.  One of which was the Thierry Mugler Womanity EDP, which I've been dying to try for a while now.


Thierry Mugler Womanity EDP, $78 for 1.7 oz at sephora.com: It's definitely not a cheap fragrance, and I have mixed feelings about the bottle.  I like it, but I don't think it's very chic or elegant.  There's some mumbo jumbo about 'secret symbols' carved into the cap and all that, but the one bit I do like about the cap is the twist-on cap.  It feels a little more glamorous than the standard atomizer.  The other thing that bothers me is the name.  Womanity?  Really?  Ugh.

So the notes in this are fig, caviar, citrus, and woods.  When I first heard that I was like hm.  I'm a vegetarian.  Caviar is one of the last things I want to smell like.  But the caviar here doesn't say "baby fish fetuses."  It adds a salty, musky base to the fragrance that twists around the dry woods beautifully, in a way reminiscent of drift wood on the beach.  The citrus adds a bright note, but the fig...the fig is the real star.  It adds a sweet, feminine, unctuous twist that keeps this from being any generic girly fragrance and takes it to an interesting, offbeat and sophisticated place.  I really love this.  I loved it so much that I thought it must be weird (I always like weird perfumes), and so I made basically everyone I talked to today smell it, and the general consensus is that it's FAB.  It's feminine but not boring, has great sillage and lasting power (I put a TINY dab on over 12 hours ago and I can still smell it clearly) but isn't overpowering, and it's sexy.  Very, very sexy in a non-slutty, non-tacky kind of way.  I really want this.  Which is a problem, since it ain't cheap.


Awkward Chic rating: A-.  I'd give the perfume itself an A+, but the name, price, and bottle take it down a bit.


Image via sephora.com.

Review: Victoria's Secret Dream Angels Heavenly Mist

I got this on Black Friday for free, and since I've worn it a handful of times since then I thought I'd better get around to reviewing it.  Now, I wouldn't normally buy perfume at Victoria's Secret.  Their perfumes scare me.  They remind me of the mall.  But I got this for free, so I thought I'd try it. 

The notes are vanilla oriental, quince, cardamom, white peony, freesia, white musk, sandalwood, vanilla, and it's $22 for 8.4 oz at victoriassecret.com.  What struck me first was the bottle.  It doesn't seem as tacky or out there as the usual Victoria's Secret perfumes--in fact, it's rather conservative.  As for the scent, it took me forever to figure out what this reminded me of.  It's Ralph Lauren Romance's cousin!

It's a bit muskier and more floral than Romance, but they are very similar: close to the skin, cozy, cashmere sweater-esque scents that have good lasting power and manage to combine musk, fruits, florals, and vanilla.  All in all it's a very feminine, delicate scent that's sweet but not cloying.  Kind of like your natural smell, but better.  For an EDT, the lasting power is very good, and for the price this is a total steal.

Awkward Chic rating: A-.  It's not the most original scent, but it's subtle and easy to wear, plus a great bargain.

Image from victoriassecret.com.

The Perfume Equation

I'd like to introduce something I like to call the perfume equation. It goes something like this.

Cute dress + skanktastic perfume = skanky outfit

Cute dress + tasteful perfume = chic outfit.

I see in on campus every weekend, and I'm looking at you, freshmen.  Let me explain. I think that sometimes people underestimate the effect of perfume. Even though you can't see it, perfume plays a huge role in how your outfit is perceived. Let's take a cute dress that could go in either the chic direction or the skanky direction, such as this Elizabeth and James dress:

Now let's say the girl wearing this dress decides to wear, say, Fairy Dust by Paris Hilton.

Even though the dress is only mildy lingerie-inspired, an overly sweet, tacky scent like this pushes that girl's outfit into the cheap, skanktastic category.

Whereas, a perfume like Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle has a completely different effect.

With a slightly more sophisticated, less overwhelmingly sweet perfume, this dress gives off a totally different vibe. Instead of screaming slutty and "I'm trying way too hard," it says "yes, I am sexy, but I'm also elegant, complicated, and maybe a little bit mysterious." I know. It's a tough choice.

Image Sources:
Dress: net-a-porter.com.
Fairy Dust: beautyme.com.
Coco Mademoiselle: Tendance High-Tech

Spotted: Leighton Meester in Vera Wang

Sorry for failing yesterday.  I spent the majority of the day huddled on the futon re-reading social psychology notes and stressing about midterms.  Fun times!  To make up for said failure, here's a fab picture of Leighton Meester on the set of the ad for a new Vera Wang fragrance, and presumably wearing Vera Wang.

There's just so much pretty here--the juxtaposition of the fishtail ballgown and the fire escape, the undone hair against the drama of the dress, and that gorgeous berry-burgundy color.  Drool.  I die.  This paparazzi shot could be the actual ad, it's so well-composed.

Image from jezebel.com.

Autumn Beauty Wants

I was going to do some Paris Fashion Week round-ups, but Style.com is throwing a fit right now, so that didn't work out (general thoughts: McQueen = love).  So instead I thought I'd do a little round-up of fall beauty products that I'm craving.


By Lauren Luke My Vintage Glams Palette, $32.50 at sephora.com, Narcisco Rodriguez for Her Musc, $92 at sephora.com: So I wear warm shimmery eye shadows basically all the time, but they're particularly appropriate for fall, no?  I've watched Lauren Luke's videos a lot, and I love that she has a makeup line now.  This palette is so handy; two shades of shadow primer, three shadows, a cream liner, and a blush.  You can do almost your entire face from this one palette, and in pretty warm pinks and purples.  I basically wear the same scents all year round, but if I had the extra cash, I'd totally buy this Narcisco Rodriguez perfume just for fall.  It's like the perfume equivalent of a cashmere sweater, soft and warm and close to the skin.

Philosophy Cinnamon Hot Dots Showergel, $16 at sephora.com, Philosophy Red Apple Shower Gel, $16 at sephora.com: When I think fall beauty, I definitely think of scents first, especially apples and cinnamon and pumpkins.  Mmmm, yummy.  Philosophy is so great for off-beat, scented body products.  I really want to grab the Pumpkin Spice Muffin one when it comes out again, but in the meantime there's Cinnamon Dots and Red Apple.  Cinnamon is so Christmassy, and Red Apple reminds me of apple cider, which is basically AMAZINGNESS. 

Bath and Body Works Twilight Woods Body Lotion, $10.50 at bathandbodyworks.com, Bath and Body Works Leaves Candle, $19.50 at bathandbodyworks.com: If you like to go the woodsier route, Bath and Body Works has a lot of great options.  I like Twilight Woods (aside from it having the unfortunate Twilight in the name and reminding me of pale sparklely people), because it has a subtle, musky scent that's girly but not too cloying.  I so wish I could have candles in my dorm room.  I'm a scented room freak.  Who wouldn't want their room to smell like golden nectar, juicy mandarin, red apple, cinnamon sticks, mulled cider, and red berries?  Plus, it's giant 3-wick candle, so it'll last forever.

Zoya Valerie swatch, OPI Let Me Entertain You swatch: I just bought both of these, and I'm SO EXCITED.  Valerie is a medium, vibrant purple with gold and pink shimmer, which totally solves the problem of a vampy purple coming across as too dark!  Now it just comes across as gorgeously purple and sparkly!  GAAHHHH love.  Let Me Entertain You is from OPI's collaboration with the Burlesque movie (Cher, Christina Aguliera, etc), and it's a deep magenta with glass flake shimmer.  I just can't deal with the level of shimmer going on here.  It's astronomical levels of shimmer.  As soon as I get these Valerie is going on my nails and LMEY on my toes.

Fresh Sugar Plum Tinted Lip Treatment, $22.50 at sephora.com: I'm not a bold lip color person at all, but even I think of berry lips when I think fall.  Lipstick is pushing it a little far for me (I know, I know), but I love tinted lip balms like this Fresh one.  I've wanted one of the Fresh lip treatments FOREVA, and this one has this gorgeous wine hue that's just sheer enough to be a little vampy.  Plus it has SPF 14, so you're doing yourself good by wearing it!

Images from sephora.com, sephora.com, sephora.com, sephora.com, bathandbodyworks.com, bathandbodyworks.com, vampyvarnish.com, nails.kre.se, sephora.com.

Confession: I Like Men's Cologne. Also Polo.

It's been documented that I like guy's cologne.  Sometimes I feel like perfume can just get too sweet and too strong, and I want something clean and crisp and fresh, and a lot of times that ends up being cologne.  I've never actually had them go 'manly' on me, they tend to react differently with your skin chemistry, so even though it's meant for a guy, it'll still smell a little girly. 

The king of all colognes is Ralph Lauren.  They make Double Black, which was officially my favorite cologne of all time, but they just released a set of Big Pony colognes.  Um first: I LOVE PONIES.  I have a pony.  And Ralph Lauren is using actual polo players for models and promoting polo as a sport, which involves PONIES, so overall it's pony love.  And second, they actually sound like they smell sort of awesome.  I haven't actually tried them yet, but it's first thing on my errand list, believe me.  Anyways, there are four colognes in this little collection, each one with a different attitude.

But first, here's the current Ralph Lauren Polo model.  Who actually plays polo.  His name is Nacho.  Um, Nacho is hawt.  That is all.

 Big Pony #1, $50 at sephora.com, Big Pony #2, $50 at sephora.com: So #1 is the 'athletic' one, and it has lime, grapefruit and mandarin.  I think this one might be my favorite.  It sounds brisk and tropical, the perfect combination of sweet and crisp, and so perfect for those hot days when you want something fruity, but not too sweet.  #2 is the 'seductive' one, with dark chocolate and musk.  I can totally see myself wearing this on a rainy day.  It's like the perfume equivalent of a big, cozy cashmere sweater, sweet, sexy, and natural.  Omigosh, and with a cup of black tea and a good book too--I die.

Big Pony #3, $50 at sephora.com, Big Pony #4, $50 at sephora.com: #3 is 'adventurous' with  mint and ginger.  This is probably my least favorite, just because I really don't like the idea of smelling like mint, and the idea of combining mint and ginger.  It just seems a little odd to me, but I'm sure it would smell great on someone.   This last one is #4, or the 'stylish' one, with orange and kyarawood.  I like how one of them is 'stylish.'  It seems hilariously out of place/probably code for metro.  I have no clue in the slightest what kyarawood is or what it smells like, but I'm thinking oranges and wood sounds yummy.  Did I mention how much I like these bottles?  It might be the rugby-esque numbers and the ponies, but they're really calling to me.

Ralph Lauren Big Pony Collection Coffret, $45 at sephora.com: And just in case you're as indecisive as I am, you can get this adorable set of mini bottles of all four colognes.  You don't save a ton of money product wise, as each of these is .5 ounces and the full bottle is 2.5 ounces, so you're getting 2 ounces of product for five dollars less than the full sized 2.5 ounce bottle.  Yay math.  But how cute would that row of bottles look on your dresser?  SO CUTE.

Images from:
nationalpost.com, sephora.com, sephora.com, sephora.com, sephora.com, sephora.com.

Today's Beauty Cravings

It's FRIDAY!  And you know that what means?  Random pretty things to get y'all into the weekend!  Woohoo!


Fresh EDPs: Eat, $32 at fresh.com, Love, $32 at fresh.com, Pray, $32 at fresh.com: This collection of scents from Fresh is inspired by the book/movie starring Julia Roberts, Eat, Pray, Love.  I haven't read said book, but it looks cute and I like the concept.  Eat is inspired by Italy, Love is inspired by Bali, and Pray is inspired by India.  Eat has notes of lemon, basil, bergamot, plum, red currant, rose, caramel, vanilla, and meringue.  Love has notes of bergamot, red currant, mango blossom, Tiare, lisylang, dewy jasmine, sandalwood, vetiver, and velvet amber.  Pray has notes of elemi, pink pepper, incense, juniper berry, peony, rose, patchouli, amber, and musk.  So basically Eat is foody, Love is tropical, and Pray is musky/incensey.  I really like the sound of Pray!  I mean, peony, amber, musk, and roses?  Hello, there beautiful.

Aquolina Getaway Set, $58 at sephora.com: First off, how cute is this bag?  I love getting free tote bags with beauty purchases.  It's totally the best part.  I've never been a huge fan of Aquolina's Pink Sugar as a perfume all in itself, but in a lotion or some other, less strong form, it's very pleasant.  This set has Shower Gel, Body Mousse, Shower Mousse (what is that??), Hair Perfume Spray (sounds awesome), Deodorant Spray, and Body Spritzer.  This is the perfect gift for any beauty addict who likes all their scents to be coordinated or if you just feel like spoiling yourself. 

Image Sources:
fresh.com, sephora.com.

Oh eBay, How I Love Thee

Don't get me wrong, eBay and I have had our rough patches--the fake Marc Jacobs bags, the inability to undo accidental bids, etc--but our relationship is stronger than ever.  I actually work at an eBay store, so I'm paid to have a good relationship with eBay.  Maybe I'm a little biased.


ANYWAYS, I bought some perfume.  It's D&G's L'Imperatrice EDT, and you can get 3.3 oz for $65 at sephora.com, or half that on eBay ($35 with shipping!  Woohoo!).  Now, as always with eBay, you have to be careful that you don't get ripped off.  Make sure that the seller you buy from has at least 100 reviews, and that they accept returns.  When you get the perfume, if it smells a lot like rubbing alcohol even AFTER you apply it, there's a problem.  If it seems like it's too good to be true, it probably is.  What you want to look for are Tester bottles.  When stores like Sephora get perfume shipments, they'll get tester bottles, which come in less fancy packaging (since no one sees that anyways) and have tester stamped across the bottle.  These bottles haven't been opened, they're the extra testers, which come unwrapped and sometimes without a box.  Hence the cheapness.


See how it says Tester on the box?  And under the black cap on the bottle it says Tester as well.  Doesn't bother me! 

Packaging: I really like the packaging of this series of EDTs.  These are high quality bottles, nice thick glass, and clean, simple lines.  It does have D&G plastered across the bottom, but that's not that bad/logo-whorish.  It looks pretty on a vanity, very elegant and even a little retro.  I like.


The EDT itself:  First off, it is an EDT, so the I had low expectations for the lasting power.  It was a bit better than I expected; for the first hour it has great sillage and really gets into the air around you, and then it settles down and stays strong until abotu the three hour mark, where it begins to slowly fade.  At the end of the day you'll still be able to smell it on you, but it's much more subdued.  I actually have a sensitive stomach, so the fact that this doesn't reach up and slap you across the face is nice.


The notes are rhubarb (LOVE), kiwi accord, red currant, pink cyclamen, watermelon, jasmine, musk, sandalwood, and grapefruit wood.  The thing that confuses me is that the one note I get a lot of is peach, and it's not on the list.  At first, it's very lush and sunny, maybe a bit tropical, but nicely rounded out by the tart rhubarb and all those musks and woods.  It's a very grown-up fruity floral, there's nothing childish or twee about it.  What I really love is that the name fits it so perfectly.  When I think of an Empress, I think of someone that comes across as warm and caring and in the moment, but underneath is very cool and calculating, the perfect mixture of open and reserved.  It really reminds me of Audrey Hepburn's character in Breakfast at Tiffanys.  She seems like this fabulous, It Girl/party girl, looking living in the moment, and then you realize that her life is a carefully constructed masquerade she's built up around herself, playing everyone around her like puppets on strings.

 It's the same way with L'Imperatrice.  It's all sunshine and fields of flowers, but there's a little hint of something twisted, musky, almost tart underneath it that takes it from generic department store fragrance to something unusual.  If you can't tell, I really like it, but it's probably not for everyone.  It's part of a series of 5 by D&G, that's uni-sex, but really three for for women and two for men.  If white florals are more your thing, try La Lune, and if you like foody scents, I'd recommend La Roue de La Fortune, which is really amber and cookies.  As for the guy's scents, I like L'Amoureux, which has bergamot and pink pepper, and other lovely spices.


Image Sources:
Audrey Hepburn: kaitlinpaigeallen.wordpress.com.

End of Week Randomness

It's the end of the week.  My brain is ALLL over the place.  So this post is a little random.  But I think if you read this blog, you like random, so...


Philosophy Pineapple Coconut Shampoo/Shower Gel/Bubble Bath, $16 for 16 oz. at sephora.com, Burberry Sport EDT, $78 for 2.5 oz at sephora.com: They made the pineapple coconut shower gel in the big girl size.  This is a problem.  Now I need it instead of want it.  I was thinking about getting a LUSH shower gel, but they are SO expensive, and this is about the same price per ounce as an Olay shower gel, which is a good deal.  Has anyone tried this Burberry Sport EDT?  It sounds great in theory, with notes of mandarin, sea salt, vetiver, freesia, honeysuckle, and solar sand.  Doesn't it sound so beachy and tropical, but yet restrained?  I need to try this.  The bottle is a little too unisex for me, but if it smells as good as it sounds, I can deal.

Glitzy Glam Hot Pink and White Tumbler, $15 at glitzy-glam.com, One 'n Only Argan Oil Treatment, $8.99 for 3.4 oz at sallybeauty.com: So Glitzy Glam is run by the Fowler girls, who are YouTube beauty gurus.  It is mildly cheesy, but I kind of really want this tumbler.  It reminds me of the Starbucks cold drink tumblers that sell out immediately in store, but cuter!  You can get the polka dots in different colors and get your initial on the front.  It screws shut and has a hard straw, so this baby isn't spilling even if you drop it.  Which is a serious plus for me.  Don't be surprised if this makes a blog appearance.  As for the argan oil, I'm almost out of my current hair serum, so I've been looking in Morrocanoil.  I found out that it's basically just plain argan oil, which you can get on the serious cheaps.  This argan oil serum has great reviews, and I can pick it up at the local Sally Beauty that I just found out about! 

Alexis Bledel: How lovely is this makeup look on Alexis Bledel (miss Gilmore Girls so much).  It looks like she has a few coats of mascara, a dark purple liner in the waterline, a wash of medium purple across the lid, and a sparkly lavender around the eye.  To recreate this, I'd try MUFE Aqua Eyes Liner in 6L, a dark purple, with MAC's Shale across the lid, and then Urban Decay's shadow in 54 around the eyes.

Princess Victoria of Sweden: This is completely random, but it was on The Cut today, and it caught my attention.  Not only is this girl the Princess of Sweden, she gets to wear gowns like this to dinner parties (that have their own red carpets!) and have her fiance fan out her train for her.  Can I has that life?  K thanks.

Theory Taliana Dress, $445 at shopbop.com, BE & D Big Spring Tote, $1,285 at shopbop.com: I usually hate bubble hems.  I will do a complete 180 on how I feel about something if it has a bubble hem.  They remind me of diapers.  But this dress...the bubble hem is so subtle that I almost don't mind it, and the combination of the bright pink hue and classic shape and pleating...it's just perfect for anything summer.  I love this bag.  I don't understand the ring on each side, but the combination of the covered studs on the body of the bag and the chain handle with the neutral overall hue is genius.  It's rocker-chic, but versatile and easy to get a ton of wear out of.

MAC Venomous Villians, releases in September: So the details of the MAC Venomous Villians collection today.  OMG.  I'm absolutely loving it.  You guys can see the full details here, but I'm most excited about: all the Cruella de Vil eyeshadows, especially the copper, the Evil Queen Vainglorious eyeshadow (bronze burgundy? shut up!) and Bite of an Apple blush, and the Maleficent nail polishes.  The Dr. Facilier section seems like a bit of a cop-out, no?  It's mostly repromotes.  I feel like they could have done more with the packaging, maybe something a little more grown-up and elegant, but it's still adorable and I want it and will trek all the way out to the MAC store in Boston to get it.

Image Sources:
Philosophy shower gel: sephora.com, Burberry sport EDT: sephora.com, Glitzy Glam tumbler: glitzy-glam.com, One 'n Only argan oil: sallybeauty.com, Alexis Bledel: glamour.com, Princess Victoria: nymag.com, Theory dress: shopbop.com, BE & D bag: shopbop.com, MAC Venomous Villians: musingsofamuse.com.