TROPICAL MOON-SOLSTICE SCENTS

PERFUME: Tropical Moon

COMPANY: Solstice Scents

AVAILABILITY: Summer limited edition

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: Coconut, Tuberose, Tahitian Gardenia, Lime Essential Oil & Pink Lotus Attar

BEFORE I SMELL: I love tropical scents, I even like to smell suntan oils and lotions. Coconut, gardenia, tuberose are notes I love. Not sure about the Pink Lotus Attar. Sometimes lotus smell like bubblegum to my skin…

Angela has described this as a cousin to her scent Nightgown which is one of my favorites.

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: Lime essential oil and creaminess

WET ON SKIN:  The lime fades away almost immediately. The Pink Lotus it does smell like bubblegum on my skin…

DRY DOWN: Tiare and creamy coconut. This is actually perfect for a day in a beach but I have to wait several months for that!

FINAL THOUGHTS: I really like it. It also reminds me a shower gel that I had bought from Yves Rocher. It was a simple Tiare-coconut shower gel and shampoo.

Scent of the day-26-

Guys, I don’t only love perfumes but everything scented. Soaps, body butters, body oils, hair conditioners, body mists, scrubs. I love scrubs!

Today, I used a body oil from  Cocoa Pink.

The scent? Marshmallow Pumpkin

Generally, I love marshmallow scents. Even straight up marshmallow

I love this scent. It is sweet and snuggly. This can make you smell eatable for a long time. I usually use it before I go to bed. It calms me.

It isn’t as complex as other perfume oils but simplicity isn’t always a bad thing…

I don’t know if I will ever purchase this in a perfume form as the body oil does the trick but I am definitely buying a second bottle because I am almost out!

The price for this is incredible 5.5usd for 2oz!

It takes its time to be fully absorbed by the skin but who cares? I am going nowhere today. The buses are still on strike and I am feeling a little bit isolated in my small town. 

Pic and Pumpkin Marhmallow recipy here!

Scent of the day-25-

COMPANY: Posh Brats

AVAILABILITY: Available through her site

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: Deep, dark, wicked blend of dragons blood, real myrrh resin, black cherry and blood red currant with a stab of clove. Makes you want to do bad things.

BEFORE I SMELL: I have this for so many years… I didn’t remember how this smell like. I thought to give it a try. I see cherry in the notes and I don’t like that.

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: Not the bad cherry from the sample. Dragons Blood, clove and red currant!

WET ON SKIN: For a moment I got something like a cleaning product. I think it’s the myrrh which doesn’t play nice with me sometimes…

DRY DOWN: This has also a bubbly quality. Like a spiced sanguine soda!

FINAL THOUGHTS:  The clove goes very nice with the red currant but I have another blend with that notes which I like best.

IF YOU LIKE THIS YOU WILL LIKE:   Eat me\Drink me by Posh Brats

Calligraphy Practice- Bpal

PERFUME: Calligraphy Practice

COMPANY: BPAL

AVAILABILITY: Limited Edition 2012 (Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements V (1/19/12 - 4/30/12)

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: White sandalwood, beeswax, clary sage, olibanum, opoponax, violet leaf, and oudh.

BEFORE I SMELL: This perfume didn’t really grab me from the notes listed.  I love beeswax and oudh thought.

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: Clary Sage is the strongest note.

WET ON SKIN: Clary sage but now it’s more perfumy.  The resins and the sandalwood give this a deep and clean vibe at the same time.

DRY DOWN: Unfortunately, the resins are now taking over. I really liked the top notes…

The beeswax it’s not a strong, it is used for it’s sweetness I suppose.

FINAL THOUGHTS: It’s nice but not that unique as other bpal scents

AMULET-POSSETS

PERFUME: Amulet

COMPANY: Possets

AVAILABILITY: Halloween: The Book of the Dead (Limited Edition)

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: A first cousin to the now discontinued Perpetual Motion Machine, I saught to retain the metallic part of the blend while bringing something new to the basic idea and making me think of a brass amulet worn round the neck to ward off evil spirits with the magical scent of a very woody vanilla in the background. Resinous, vanilla.

BEFORE I SMELL:  I love the idea of having a perfume as an amulet. Something that it wears close to the skin and it protects you whenever you need it!

Metallic and woody vanilla notes are favorites of mine, so I got this bottle unsniffed!

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: Bourbon vanilla and leather!

WET ON SKIN:  Maybe what I conceive as a leather note is actually the metallic element of the scent. I can’t identify which woods are used. Maybe sandalwood.

DRY DOWN: What a beautiful, deep and grown up vanilla is this I can’t even express with words!

FINAL THOUGHTS: You have to like vanilla and Leather\metallic scents to really appreciate it.  It is very long lasting and it has good silage.

I definitely feel protected when I am wearing it!

IF YOU LIKE THIS YOU WILL LIKE:   Solstice Scents Oil-Black Leather/Red Lace

Sweet Lavinia’s Risalamande-BPAL

PERFUME: Sweet Lavinia’s Risalamande

COMPANY: BPAL

AVAILABILITY: Limited, the Miskatonic Valley Yuletide Faire 2012

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION:  Clots of rice pudding (harvested from the fair trade rice farms of Bokrug Lake!) and organic whipped goat cream topped with a sebaceous glob of black cherry sauce.

BEFORE I SMELL: I like rice scents, I found them comforting. I don’t like cherry thought…

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: Fresh cream and toasted aromatic basmati rice! The black cherry sauce doesn’t overpower at all the other notes.

WET ON SKIN: Rice pudding! It doesn’t evolve much I have to say. No cherry!

DRY DOWN: Rice pudding but not overly sweet. Definitely wearable.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Want!!!

I took the pic from here where you can also find the recipy for the Risalamande!

My sweetest Lesbia-BPAL

harpers.org

Finally the BPAL lupercalia update it’s live.Check it out here!  I have been stalking the site all week now! I love reading updates from my favorite companies. Usually, I read the notes one time and then I write down the most interesting scents so, I can make notes and decide which one I want to try. Then I order samples from live journal. There are a lot of people who make decants for huge updates. This sport it can be expensive and addictive as full decant may cost 4 to 5.5 USD. Some people do half decants too or even set of sniffies which are 1\4 full.

This update is full of roses, honey, amber and jasmine!

What is more there are perfumes inspired by Catullus! I love Catullus is one of my favorites poets. I am so excited!

This is why I decided to re-try one of Catullus inspired scents from last year!

PERFUME : My sweetest Lesbia

COMPANY: BPAL

AVAILABILITY: Limited, Lupercalia 2012: Love Poems

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: Osmanthus, hay absolute, ambergris accord, catnip, and Egyptian musk

BEFORE I SMELL: Like I said I love Catullus, the notes don’t matter lol.

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: Osmanthus and catnip. It reminds me a men’s perfume.

WET ON SKIN:  I also get a citrus note but not fruity. Maybe it’s the hay absolute in combination with the catnip. The ambergris give a salty note to the scent.

DRY DOWN: Feels expensive. Definitely a unique scent. As it dries down the Agyptian musk becomes apparent.  Unisex and Long lasting.

FINAL THOUGHTS: It’s nice but not exactly what I reach for every day use.

Scent of the day-20- And a bath oil!

http://comenovember.wordpress.com

COMPANY: BPTP

AVAILABILITY: Limited. Part of The Eros Inquisition: Lupercalia 2012

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: French vanilla, pink candies, strawberry sugar, and orange blossom

BEFORE I SMELL: L’engoument means passion in French. From the notes I don’t get that. Vanilla, strawberries and candies make me think more of an innocent and platonic love.

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: Candied strawberries, not the artificial medicinal kind and a yellow note. It is the orange blossom!

WET ON SKIN: The orange blossom make this interesting keeps it for being very sweet.

DRY DOWN: Yummy vanilla sugar. Just like the syrup which is left in a bowl of sugar covered strawberries!

FINAL THOUGHTS: I like this and I have almost finished my decant but I don’t think that I will need more.

IF YOU LIKE THIS YOU WILL LIKE:  Pink cake- Possets

I layred this with the matching bath oil from BPTP and I really enjoyed it. I woke up this morning still smelling delicious!

BODY OIL SCENT NOTES: Pink strawberries, sugar cane, and candy floss

I love these body oils! the formula is light without being a dry-oil. You feel moisturised and soft! I used them after my bath when I am still a little bit wet.

On my skin I get the sugar note the most.

When I wear these two together I feel like I am dreaming in a heart of a candyfloss!

Scent of the Day, Day 19

I was in the Mall today, for not a specific reason really, just I had some time on my hands and I thought to go there and sniff a perfume!  When I saw that they had the   Jardin Noir collection from Tom Ford I got excited. Especially when a perfume from this collection is called Ombre de Hyacinth.

I love hyacinths but it’s not a scent note that you see a lot. It’s difficult to be mixed with other notes and the flower itself doesn’t produce essential oil.

Top notes: galbanum, violet leaf, magnolia petals and olibanum

middle notes: hyacinth, pink pepper and jasmine

base notes: galbanum, benzoin and musk.

When I first sprayed on it was very “green” and I got mostly violet leaf.

Then it transports to a green powdery scent. Where are you hyacinth? It has just a tiny bit of the hyacinth and you can smell it or should I say  imagine it if you really concentrate in that note.

To me, it smells like any other green floral scent, very old fashion and a bit soapy.  The base notes stayed hours on my skin (musk and galbanum) .

This perfume costs 180E which is 240USD. I wondered immediately how many indie perfume oils I could buy( Almost 15, maybe more)!

 Next time I will try Café rose.

Αγιόκλημα και ένα σαπούνι!

Λατρεύω τα λουλούδια! Ίσως από εκεί ξεκίνησε και η αγάπη μου για τα αρώματα. Ούτε που θυμάμαι πόσες φορές έχω κρατήσει ένα άνθος για ώρες κοντά στη μύτη μου. Πόσες φορές έχω περάσει από συγκεκριμένα σημεία της πόλης για να μπορέσω να αισθανθώ την λεπτή ανάσα του λουλουδιού….

Το Αγιόκλημα είναι από τα αγαπημένα μου άνθη. Ετυμολογικά προέρχεται από τη λέξη αιγόκλημα για να δηλώσει ότι οι αίγες τρέφονταν από αυτό! Η ίδια ετυμολογία συναντάται και στη γαλλική λέξη chevrefeuille όπου chevre σημαίνει αίγα και  feuille φύλλα! Στα αγγλικά αναφέρεται ως Honeysuckle επειδή ο χυμός του είναι γλυκός! Όντως η γιαγιά μου, μου είχε διηγηθεί πως όταν ήταν παιδί συνήθιζε να τα τρώει τα καημένα τα λουλουδάκια! Τώρα πια αναφέρεται παντού ως Αγιόκλημα δηλαδή Άγιο λουλούδι!

Η καλύτερη ώρα για να απολαύσει κανείς το άρωμα του είναι το βραδάκι.  Αυτό το αναρριχητικό φυτικό έχει αρωματίσει τι; καλοκαιρινές εξόδους μας και τις πιο γλυκές αναμνήσεις μας!

Το φυσικό αιθέριο έλαιο ή απόλυτο του αγιοκλήματος είναι αρκετά δύσκολο να παραχθεί και γι’ αυτό  συνήθως στα αρώματα που κυκλοφορούν στο εμπόριο οι αρωματοποιοί χρησιμοποιούν τεχνητές νότες για να αποδώσουν όσο καλύτερα μπορούν το ντελικάτο του άρωμα.

Γνωστά αρώματα που χρησιμοποιούν Αγιόκλημα¨

D&G SICILY

Le Chevrefeuille Annick Goutal

Honeysuckle & Jasmine Jo Malone

Haute Claire by Aftelier

Έχω ( Ευτυχώς! Γιατί έμαθα ότι το απέσυραν από τη κυκλοφορία) το Sicily.

Θα ήθελα πάρα πολύ να δοκιμάσω το Haute Clairie. Αν έχετε κάποιο αγαπημένο σας άρωμα με νότες Αγιοκλήματος θα χαρώ πάρα πολύ να το μάθω!

Και ένα σαπούνι!

Έτσι αποφάσισα να φτιάξω ένα σαπούνι που να μυρίζει σαν φρέσκο Αγιόκλημα για να μπορώ να το απολαμβάνω κάθε στιγμή στο μπάνιο!

Ως συστατικά χρησιμοποίησα: Ελαιόλαδο, λάδι καρύδας, Φοινικέλαιο, φοινικοπυρηνέλαιο, βούτυρο καριτέ  και καστορέλαιο!

Το χρωμάτισα με άσπρο και κίτρινο άργιλο για να θυμίζει το άνθος του λουλουδιού!

Honeysuckle scents and a soap!

I adore flowers! Maybe, my obsession with perfumes has started from there. I don’t even remember how many times I hold a flower so close to my nose for hours or How many times I walked through a specific alley so I can feel that transparent breath of the flower…

Honeysuckle is one of my favorite’s blooms. The English word implies the sweet, honey like scent and taste of the flower. This is true! My grand mother used to eat these flowers as a child. The Greek word is Agioklima which means Holly flower but the origin of the word is from the word Aigioklima which means the shrub that is eaten ny the Goats! The same meaning of the word can be found in French language “chevrefeuille”  which also means the leaves that are eaten by the goats! We are talking about Goats gourmet here!

The best time to enjoy Honeysuckle’s scent is the evening. This climbing vine has scented a lot of our summer nights out and ours best memories!

The natural essential oil or absolute is not easy to find and if you do is very expensive. That’s why, Perfumers usually use lab made accords or fragrances. In that way they recreate almost exactly it’s delicate scent.

Well known perfumes that have Honeysuckle as a note:

D&G SICILY

Le Chevrefeuille Annick Goutal

Honeysuckle & Jasmine Jo Malone

Haute Claire by Aftelier

Please comment with your favorites!!!

From these above I have only Sicily but I really want to try Haute Claire by Aftelier

And A soap!

Because of my love for Honeysuckle I  decided to make a Honeysuckle Soap! This is an ozonic kind of a Honeysuckle that I used. It has a honey note too!

As my oils I used: Olive oil, Coconut oil, Palm oil, Palm Kernel oil, Shea butter and Castor oil

To color my soap I used White and Yellow clays to represent the flower of the plant.

Black Sphinx- MMS

PERFUME: Black Sphinx

COMPANY: Make Me Smooth

AVAILABILITY: Available all year round in various products!

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: Japanese Magnolia and Lotus slither with precision over Jasmine and Black Amber. Florals gone to the dark side.. Deliciously dark and mysterious

I got this scent from MMS 4 years ago in a body cream and I loved it. I couldn’t use it by fear that I will finish my small tub and I will be without it! I couldn’t order more that time because the company closed and then opened again in Australia.

Last year , Nancy( the owner) re-opened her business back in Canada. I asked her if she will remake that scent again and after a while she did!

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE:  White florals. I smell fresh magnolias and lotus the most.

WET ON SKIN: Jasmine! I love jasmine! It doesn’t mask the other notes thought.

DRY DOWN:  Heady white flowers and powdery amber. Amazing.

I wear this scent when I want to feel elegant and chic. I am getting lots of compliments when I am wearing it so, I could say that it’s a crowd pleaser.

Pomegranate cleansing scrub and Mask by Korres

I love travel sets! I think is a great way to try new products without spending tone of money. So, when I saw this Korres set on sale I bought it. I have it for a while now. Actually I bought two of the Pomegranate ones and one of the wild rose range…..  Come on it was 50% off !

Today I used the Pomegranate cleansing scrub and Pomegranate cleansing mask and I thought to make a mini review.

I have combination skin and whatever I do I continue to see a pimple or two especially before that time of the month…

Pomegranate cleansing scrub

From the korres website:

KEY FEATURES & BENEFITS
Effectively refines the pores, reduces black spots and removes excess sebum, leaving skin radiant.

KEY INGREDIENTS
Pomegranate extract, rich in tannins, reduces pore size and rejuvenates the skin. Olive and Calendula active extracts protect the skin due to their antioxidant properties.

Indeed this scrub has a creamy texture as opposite, I suppose, to a gel type of scrubs.

The scrubbing granules are medium. A tad bigger than the sand. You can feel that the exfoliating grains are from olives and  you can smell it too!

I have sensitive skin and this doesn’t feel harsh at all but not like the very gentle ones that the granules are  inexistent.

I massage in my wet face for a couple of minutes and then when the cream it’s all absorbed by my skin I wash it off. I continue with….

POMEGRANATE CLEANSING MASK

 From the korres website:

KEY FEATURES & BENEFITS
Formulated with white argil, a natural clay with significant sebum-absorbing capacity that removes impurities and deeply cleanses the skin, leaving a fresh and radiant complexion.

KEY INGREDIENTS
Pomegranate extract, rich in tannins, reduces pore size and rejuvenates the skin. Zinc regulates sebum secretion and provides antibacterial protection, balancing oily skin functions.

Again this is a creamy mask.  It has a strong scent. Like pomegranate and Olives. It goes very well to the skin . I leave it until it dries down completely and then I remove it with a cotton pad. This is for oily to combination skin, that’s why it leaves my skin a little bit dry after use. I have to put a moisturiser immediately!

BOTTOM LINE

I really like these products! When used together, I feel my face much cleaner and radiant. My pores are getting tighter and firmer too. The result doesn’t stay forever thought, two or three days the maximum.

If you have a favourite face scrub or mask please comment!

Scent of the day, Day 17!

PERFUME: Waterfall

COMPANY: Possets

AVAILABILITY: Summer 2011: Yoga (Limited Edition)

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: Imagine a divine, cold, blue, driving waterfall. This fragrance captures the feel of the pose waterfall as you bend at the waist and let your arms cradle each other in the crook of your arm and you rock to and fro. Again a relaxing pose which restores you as you perform it. Indigo musk and aquatic musk mingle with an ozone note. This one is very dry, non floral or foody and exceptionally serene.

BEFORE I SMELL: I don’t have a success with aquatic scents. When I was a teenager I loved them maybe that’s why I keep sampling that kind of scents.

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: Ozone

WET ON SKIN: Ozone and a sweet note as well

DRY DOWN: I don’t know why I am still getting that sweet note…

FINAL THOUGHTS:  I don’t like this.  It’s like a sweet hand soap. Like the ones which are made for little girls. Maybe, I will use  my sample as a home scent in my burner...

Scent of the day, Day 16

PERFUME: Zephyr

COMPANY: Bpal

AVAILABILITY: General Catalog- Bewitching Brews

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: Zephyr -- A gentle white scent, breezes laced with the scent of springtime blooms and citrus. Lemon, lemon verbena, neroli, white musk, white florals, white sandalwood, China musk, bergamot and a drop of vanilla.

BEFORE I SMELL: Zephyr, in mythology, is the Greek god of west wind!  It’s a light spring breeze, so the scent may be soft and gentle too!

White scents are my thing. I love Neroli. Even the essential oil alone it’s perfect to my nose!

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: Gentle lemon notes. Lemon verbena, bergamot and soft neroli in a white musk heaven!

WET ON SKIN: Bergamot and Neroli!

DRY DOWN: I think the white flowers give a powdery quality to the blend. This and the white sandalwood. In the dry down it’s almost all musk with a hint of neroli or bergamot to my skin.

  

FINAL THOUGHTS:  It isn’t very long lasting and stays close to the skin but it’s lovely! Ethereal and innocent. I would love to have a scent like the in a body oil to slather after my bath!

My first empties post!

I’ ve seen a lot of bloggers and youtubers making post like this and I’ve always enjoy watching them. So, I thought to make one too! In December I didn’t finish so many products but here are the ones I did!

1)      Avon, complete balance oil-free foaming cleanser

I really like this product and it’s the second bottle I finish. It’s not a miracle product but it does the job!

It’s a foaming cleanser so it’s super easy to use and removes all the dirt from my face.

To be franc, I am using all the other products for this range. The day cream and the night cream. If you have a combination skin type I definitely recommend these products. They are cheap and they work. At least for me!

2)      Apivita, Shampoo for oily hair with propolis and rosemary.

I love Apivita. It’s one of my favorite companies! Sometimes, when I run out from my indie shampoo and conditioners I buy from them. It’s nice to have a local brand you trust. Isn’t it?

This one is made with 97% natural ingredients. It’s not harsh with the hair at all. I have oily roots sometime and this totally helps! I don’t have a major problem thought so I can’t comment of how it perform in very oily hair. I have bought it many times, I can’t even remember…

I really like the scent too. It’s a bergamot and rosemary scent. It doesn’t stay on my hair but I use scented conditioners.

If you haven’t tried Apivita shampoos you are missing big time!

3)      Lathers and Lights, Pumpkin harvest sugar scrub

I bought the pumpkin set this Halloween and this was included. Sea butter, pumpkinseed oil and extract, sunflower oil and cocoa butter are some of the ingredients she used. This is a moisturizing scrub and feels very good to the skin.

The notes of the scent were: Pumpkin, earth ,mist. I don’t get  earthy notes just pumpkin.

I really liked the scrub formula but I like other scents of hers best.

4)      Shine+ in Black Vanilla

This was a very generous sample from my Halloween order. I really liked the product and the scent! I love her black scents in general. I think that her black is a mixture of ambers. I got a lot of compliments when I wore this conditioner too!

5)      Lathers and Lights, Pumpkin Noel Body Cream

Another item from my Halloween sample set!  This has aloe vera, pumpkin seed  oil and kokum butter among other ingredients. I really like the texture of this! It moisturized my body very well! I used it after the pumpkin scrub. Then I used my marshmallow Pumpkin body oil from Coacoa Pink and then this. The scent it;s light but after all these products I smelled edible! Of course I have a pumpkin perfume to go with all these! Pumpkin Peeps from Possets!