perfume

The Body Shop: Japanese Cherry Blossom eau de toilette

Hello! How was everyone’s Valentine’s Day? 🙂

I saw one of the nicest forms of advertising that I’d seen in a long time on the streets of my home town yesterday… This was from a gourmet cupcake shop called Butterflies (who do YUMMY cakes in Adelaide if you’ve never tried them):

On the weekend I visited The Body Shop for a browse… I came out with some perfume! 🙂 However, this purchase was justified as I’d run out of my usual perfume and have been unable to find it at local shops (I could try eBay but thought I’d try something new – see my upcoming Empties [February] post if curious!).Here are my thoughts…

Price: $31.95 AUD

Where can I get it? Exclusive to The Body Shop

What first caught my eye about the perfume was the size of the bottle. Compact enough to easily fit in my bag without weighing it down (which is a major issue with my usual perfume).

Most importantly, this smells lovely! It has a sweet and lightly floral scent with musky undertones. In other words = sweet and floral with a lingering light musky smell! 🙂

It lasts a reasonable time but unlike my more expensive Vivienne Westwood perfumes (have only reviewed one so far over here) you will need to spray more on during the day or night. So far I’ve found that at work, if I reapply it at lunch time it lasts through to home time.

Whilst I like this fragrance a lot, I probably won’t purchase it again as I prefer fragrances that last longer, especially during our summer which we are in now (in which temperatures are typically 35 degrees + Celsius or higher).

Beautiful rating: quality 3/5, value 3/5. Smells lovely but not a standout product for me.

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PS. I liked the shopping bags used at my local Body Shop! 🙂 What do you think???

What I’m wearing today… Vivienne Westwood + Nutrimetics

Hi everyone! 🙂

Phew I hope your day has been quieter than mine – unless you like being super busy! I’ve been at an extended family Xmas + Birthday ‘do and am soon due to head off for another get together for my brother’s birthday. Earlier this morning my Dad and I were working on renovation stuff for my kitchen (I’m not sure if I’ve talked about that previously?).

Yesterday I attended a catch up for beauty bloggers based in my hometown of Adelaide. It was a lot of fun despite the horrible rainy weather we’ve been having! 🙂 Welcome to any #ABBM-ers who may drop by as well as all new Twitter followers & Facebook likers! (If you haven’t yet – enter my Xmas giveaway comp! Entries close midnight 4th Jan 2012 +09:30 GMT. Click here!)

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Anywhoo, today I thought I’d post about products that I’m actually wearing/using today! Here they are:

L-R, top to bottom: Vivienne Westwood Let It Rock perfume, Nutrimetics Lash Lightning mascara (it’s black but no shade is specified on the box or tube), and Nutrimetics Lip Lightning lip gloss (Bare Naturel #14767).

Vivienne Westwood Let It Rock

Price range: when I bought it approx. 2 years ago it cost approx. 50 GBP (I get all my Westwood stuff from Hervia’s online shop – they are based in the UK and well worth a visit – excellent customer service and often freebies are included in your parcel! :-))

Where can I get it? For Aussie residents, online, for overseas residents, you may be lucky enough to have a Westwood boutique near you!

The bottle for this perfume is amazing. As you can see in the photo, the lid is Westwood’s signature orb! The scent is nice but NOT for those who like subtle scents. It’s a musky floral fragrance which, whilst designed for women, could be worn by a man (in my opinion!). I love it but tend to only wear it when going out/special occasions, as it is strong. Don’t spray more than once or twice peeps as otherwise you might give your friends a headache! One or two squirts lasts a whole day if you’re not getting too physical, and as you only need a bit, a bottle of this fragrance will last you a long time.

Beautiful rating (I realise perfume is subjective, but!): quality 5/5, value 5/5

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Nutrimetics Lash Lightning mascara *

Price range: $36.00 AUD (but online @ Nutrimetic’s Aussie site you can get it on sale for $24.90)

Where can I get it? Exclusive to Nutrimetics.

I was very excited when I saw this mascara lights up – literally! There is a push button on the lid you can use to switch it on and off, which helps you to apply it if out at night, as there is also a mirror on the side of the tube (smart stuff huh?). The gloss also lights up and I’ll insert a pic of both to show you what they look like here:

This mascara was easy to apply with a big wand which did a whole eye in one sweep. It has lasted all day without any smudging, but I am not sure if it is a waterproof formula or not (I’ll test that tonight when taking it off! ;)). However, lights and mirrors aside, I cannot say that the actual mascara is any better than my staple, Maybelline‘s Great Lash Blackest Black (which is also much cheaper!).

Beautiful rating: quality 4/5, value 4/5 (taking into account the light & mirror!)

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Nutrimetics Lip Lightning lip gloss *

Price range: $29.00 AUD (currently on sale on the Aussie Nutrimetics site for $19.90)

Where can I get it? Exclusive to Nutrimetics

This also has the funky light and mirror! I had a lot of fun showing this one off at the family Xmas do. The gloss has a doe foot applicator and tastes yummy, like berries. This particular shade (Bare Naturel) appears pale pink in the tube but when it’s on it looks pretty much clear, so it’s a nice natural shade perfect for work!

It lasted on my lips reasonably well for a gloss but has a bit of a sticky finish which was not so great (this might just be a personal preference thing but I’m not so big on glosses that have a sticky feel to them!).

Beautiful rating (taking into account the funky light and mirror!): quality 4/5, value 3/5 (I don’t like to spend >$10 AUD on glosses, usually! This is because I use them up quickly, as I don’t wear lipstick often).

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Hope each and every one of you has a great week and that, if you celebrate Xmas, you don’t have much left to prepare (oh the stress!! :-0). I hope to fit in another post this week before the big 25/12.