Tag: Ariana Grande

Viktor & Rolf, Magic perfume collection

Happy International Fragrance Day!

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It’s been a long time since I last posted, but I didn’t want to pass on International Fragrance Day, because fragrance is what I have been utterly infatuated with over the last year!

Our family only just returned from a mini-vacation in Montréal (well, a holiday with a two year-old and a four year-old is not really a holiday, is it?!) and of course I did pick up a new perfume. Gotta love the $19.99 perfume shelves at Shoppers Drug Marts—Pharmaprix in Québec—and Rexalls!

Today, I’m going to do a very quick ‘n’ dirty roundup of my 10 new favorite perfumes, and 10 favorite new blind buys that I’m most excited to try out.

My 10 New Favorite Fragrances

fivezero's top 10 favorite recently-acquired fragrances, March 2019

1
Ariana Grande — Cloud
whipped cream, praline, coconut, lavender, pear, musk

2
Avon — Velvet
rose, fig, patchouli

3
Burberry — Weekend for Women
peach, purple flowers, mandarin, musk

4
Kenneth Cole — Kenneth Cole for Her
lily-of-the-valley, ambrette, carrot seed, peony, musk

5
LUSH — Rose Jam Body Spray
rose, lemon, geraniumRead More »

Roberto Cavalli Paradiso eau de parfum

Happy National Fragrance Day! (2018)

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Today is National Fragrance Day! I don’t know which nation this is from (probably not Canada), but I’ll celebrate it, anyway!

In honor of the day, I will round up all my Canadian drugstore perfume deals. For those who do not know, many locations of Shoppers Drug Mart and Rexall drugstores have clearance perfume shelves, where they rotate perfumes priced at CA$19.99. Occasionally, Shoppers even has weekend deals for $17.77!

These perfumes are often the cheaper drugstore lines (drugstore staples and celeb scents), but occasionally one will also find discontinued smaller sizes of designer fragrances that usually go for a lot more! It’s well worth it to swing by the clearance shelf once a week.

Here are the ones I’ve picked up over the years:

Isabella Rossellini Manifesto EDT (50 mL)
ISABELLA ROSSELLINI
Manifesto EDT (50 mL)

basil, pepper, bergamot, lily, orange blossom, musk

This is a super old one in my collection! To be honest, I haven’t used it in forever; hope it hasn’t turned. But it is quite a lovely herbal green scent.

Oscar de la Renta So de la Renta EDP (30 mL)
OSCAR DE LA RENTA
So de la Renta EDP (30 mL)

kiwi, mango, watermelon, white florals, lotus, peony, musk

This remains one of my very favorite florals. It’s light and bright, youthful yet completely classy, and supremely easy to wear. My bottle is very old, so I don’t know if the certainly reformulated version out today compares. But I do love the original.

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Jean Paul Gaultier Classique Essence de Parfum advertisement

Perfume Notes (January 2018)

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Hello all!

I know I have been AWOL for a while, now—among other things, I have been hard at work on the nail polish database—a brand spanking new version is coming, with the ability to track your own collection. (‘Cause I personally really, really need to do that!)

For now, I can only offer up this rather long list of perfume notes that I have compiled over the month of January. As you can see, I’ve been doing a lot of huffing. This comes just in time for Valentine’s Day, which is tomorrow, in case you need some gift ideas for a lovely lady in your life!

Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! 💝

The full list for January:

  1. adidas Born Original for Her
  2. Ariana Grande Ari
  3. Bvlgari Splendida Iris d’Or
  4. Calvin Klein Obsessed for Women
  5. Calvin Klein Reveal
  6. Chanel Allure (EDT)
  7. Chanel Allure (EDP)
  8. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle (EDP)
  9. Dior Miss Dior Absolutely Blooming
  10. Dior Hypnotic Poison
  11. Dior Pure Poison
  12. Escada Sorbetto Rosso
  13. Estée Lauder Modern Muse Le Rouge
  14. Etat Libre d’Orange Jasmin et Cigarette
  15. Etat Libre d’Orange Putain de Palaces
  16. Giorgio Armani Sí
  17. Givenchy Ange ou Démon
  18. Guerlain Mon Guerlain
  19. Jason Wu Jason Wu
  20. Jean Paul Gaultier Classique Essence de Parfum
  21. Lacoste Eau de Lacoste
  22. Lancôme La Nuit Trésor EDP
  23. Prada La Femme Intense
  24. Paco Rabanne Lady Million
  25. Paco Rabanne Olympéa
  26. Rihanna Rogue
  27. Salvatore Ferragamo Signorina Misteriosa
  28. Sofía Vergara Love (Fragrance Mist)
  29. Sofía Vergara Sofía (Fragrance Mist)
  30. Mugler Angel (EDP)
  31. Mugler Womanity
  32. Vera Wang Princess of Hearts
  33. Vera Wang Princess Noir
  34. Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium
  35. Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium Floral Shock
  36. Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium Nuit Blanche

I also got minor sniffs of these on cards, so I won’t talk about them today. Several are scents I had tried once and forgotten—I’ll have to revisit some of them on skin!

  1. Chanel Beige
  2. Chanel Chance
  3. Chanel Cristalle (EDT?)
  4. Chanel Gabrielle
  5. Dior J’Adore Eau Lumière (EDT)
  6. Mugler Aura

[Quick edit note: I had to fix quite a lot of things in this post; WordPress appeared to have not saved some of the bits I wrote, so certain entries were just incorrect. I think I’ve fixed everything, now! (Feb 13, 2018 at 11:55 PM)]

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Diesel Loverdose Tattoo EDP 50 mL

Haulage! Diesel — Loverdose Tattoo, & Perfume Notes (December 2017)

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After the disappointment that was Oscar de la Renta Blue Orchid, I felt like I wanted a pick-me-up, and I usually like my birthday/Christmas money to go to perfume.

I was craving a rice pudding scent, and the fragrant folks over at the Fragrantica boards reminded me that Diesel Loverdose Tattoo EDP was a perfect choice for that scent. I had actually tested—and loved!—Loverdose Tattoo when it first came out, and somehow I had forgotten all about it. I think I may have been waiting in vain for it to show up on Shoppers Drug Mart’s clearance shelves. But after snagging both Loverdose and Loverdose Red Kiss 30 mL bottles for $19.99 a pop, I guess my luck has run out.

I had one of those big bonus Optimum Points offers (18,500 points for a $100 spend) loaded onto my Shoppers Optimum card, so I picked up Loverdose Tattoo EDP in the 50 mL bottle and added some grocery items (COFFEE) and small holiday gifts (CANDY) to reach $100. Not a bad deal at all, though I’m sad to report that the cosmetician didn’t give me any free beauty samples! It’s so random. Once I spent less than $5 on nail polish, and a different cosmetician gave me a nice skincare sample. This time I got a $67 perfume and nada. Should I be pushy and ask next time?

If I’d ordered via beautyBOUTIQUE online, I’d have gotten a free deluxe sample Stila All Day Liquid Lipstick and three additional free samples, plus had the opportunity to use Ebates. I’m not sure the Bonus Optimum points would have counted, though—it might have just been an in-store offer.

By the way, if you’re wondering, my favorite online grey market perfume reseller, FragranceX, also had Loverdose Tattoo. The 75 mL was the only size available, and it was priced the same as the 50 mL I got. I’m not fussed about the extra 25 mL, since it takes me forever to use up perfume. 50 mL is plenty for me. The only real advantages would have been no tax and the 10% discount I get with my loyalty points, though I would have had to add another small item to my order to get free shipping. I think the Optimum Points work out better, and, I get instant gratification buying it from the drugstore down the street.

Anyway, here’s the rundown on my latest perfume acquisition, and notes on several other perfumes I’ve tried in-store over the last week.

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