Tag: Guerlain

Viktor & Rolf, Magic perfume collection

Happy International Fragrance Day!

fivezero6 Comments

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 »

Chloé Nomade: The New Fragrance

Perfume Notes (March 2018)

fivezero5 Comments

It’s Friday the 13th!

My March perfume roundup took a while to compile; as you can see, I was a busy sniffer!

  1. Cacharel Anaïs Anaïs EDT
  2. Cacharel Scarlett
  3. Cacharel Yes I Am
  4. Cartier La Panthère
  5. Chanel Chance Eau Tendre
  6. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Intense
  7. Chanel Cristalle EDP
  8. Chloé Fleur de Parfum Chloé
  9. Chloé Love Story EDP
  10. Chloé Nomade
  11. Clinique Aromatics Elixir
  12. Dior Addict EDP
  13. Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Eau Intense
  14. Elie Saab Le Parfum in White
  15. Elizabeth Arden Untold Eau Fraîche
  16. Giorgio Armani Code Cashmere
  17. Givenchy Dahlia Divin EDP
  18. Givenchy Play for Her EDT
  19. Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pera Granita
  20. Guerlain L’Instant EDP
  21. Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire Eau Fraîche
  22. Jennifer Lopez Blue Glow
  23. Lanvin Eclat d’Arpège
  24. Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh
  25. Marc Jacobs Decadence EDP
  26. Mugler Angel Eau Sucrée (2018)
  27. Mugler Aura
  28. Oscar de la Renta Bella Blanca
  29. Ralph Lauren Romance Rosé
  30. Ralph Lauren Tender Romance
  31. Reem Acra Reem Acra
  32. Stella McCartney L.I.L.Y
  33. Yves Saint Laurent Mon Paris EDP

CACHAREL
Anaïs Anaïs EDT

Cacharel Anaïs Anaïs EDT 100 mL1978 | Roger Pellegrino, Robert Gonnon, Paul Leger, Raymond Chaillan
Top Notes: orange blossom, hyacinth
Heart Notes: rose, lily, jasmine
Base Notes: amber, sandalwood, incense

This one has been around for a long time, and while it’s never been one to which I paid much attention, I recently thought I’d resniff it. It has also recently been relaunched in EDP and EDT; I am pretty sure I tested the old version, since the bottle had the old style cap, which is as wide as the bottle itself.

Anaïs Anaïs is perfectly fine, and very 1980s-smelling. Strong, big florals, lots of powder. I don’t really have a reaction either way—I wouldn’t choose to wear it myself, but it smells fine.

I have seen this (and Cacharel Amor Amor) on the $19.99 rack at Shoppers Drug Mart, but maybe that’s just been to clear out the old bottles over the last year or two.

 

CACHAREL
Scarlett EDT

Cacharel Scarlett EDT 50 mL2009 | Honorine Blanc, Olivier Cresp, Alberto Morillas
Top Notes: citrus, tea, pear
Heart Notes: jasmine, orange blossom, honeysuckle
Base Notes: white musk, honey, sandalwood

Named for the character Scarlet O’Hara from Gone with the Wind, Scarlett is initially fairly pretty and clean-smelling, with bright citrus notes mingled with delicate white florals. It quickly turns into something musky and a little cloying—honey is often tricky for me this way.

I was quite surprised to see a tester for this older perfume at Shoppers Drug Mart recently! The adorable bottle doesn’t have anything written on it, and the box was nowhere to be found, so I had to squint at the tiny sticker on the bottom to figure out which fragrance it was.Read More »

Chanel Gabrielle 2017, Kristen Stewart

Perfume Notes (February 2018)

fivezero7 Comments

Hello everybody! Happy March. I’m back, and I’ve been huffing it up, again!

The full list for February:

    1. Britney Spears Hidden Fantasy
    2. Burberry My Burberry EDP
    3. Chanel Chance Eau Fraîche
    4. Chanel Gabrielle
    5. Guerlain Samsara
    6. Guess Marciano
    7. Jean Paul Gaultier Classique EDP
    8. Mugler Les Exceptions: Oriental Express
    9. Mugler Les Exceptions: Supra Floral
    10. Narciso Rodriguez Narciso Poudrée
    11. Rihanna Rebelle
    12. Van Cleef & Arpels So First
    13. Vera Wang Princess Noir

BRITNEY SPEARS
Hidden Fantasy

Britney Spears Hidden Fantasy EDP 100 mL2008 | Rodrigo Flores-Roux
Top Notes orange, tangerine, grapefruit blossom, verbena
Heart Notes clove, Napolitano cake, lily, jasmine
Base Notes vanilla, jacaranda wood, sandalwood, amber

I already own a few of the Britney Spears Fantasy perfumes, and thought it might be nice to add another when I saw Hidden Fantasy at Rexall for C$19.99. Amazingly, they had a tester out! The first blast is cherry-vanilla root beer, with a bit of fizz. Yummy, right? But the drydown comes quickly, and it becomes a somewhat generic, vanillic powdery floral. The scent doesn’t have much longevity.

I don’t expect that much from an inexpensive celebrity scent, but I found Hidden Fantasy to be more disappointing than the others I have. I won’t be adding it to my set.Read More »

Jean Paul Gaultier Classique Essence de Parfum advertisement

Perfume Notes (January 2018)

fivezero9 Comments

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)

fivezero9 Comments

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.

Read More »

fivezero's beautyBOUTIQUE Haulage (March 2017)

Haulage! beautyBOUTIQUE by Shoppers Drug Mart (March–April 2017)

fivezero3 Comments

I never did get around to posting my beautyBOUTIQUE hauls (gotta love those Shoppers Drug Mart coupons and Optimum Points events!), so I’m combining five of them into one post.

Perhaps these will provide some inspiration for Mother’s Day gifts? Speaking of which, today was a special day for me because I received my first ever Mother’s Day gift from our little peanut!

Behold (the peanut clip art is covering his name):

fivezero's 2017 Mother's Day Gift from peanut

I am totally wearing that necklace on Sunday.

Anyway, here’s my fairly reasonable damage! All prices are in CA$.

Orders 1–2

First up, I received two $10 off coupons for beautyBOUTIQUE.ca when I was buying stuff at Shoppers Drug Mart. Cool. Of course, I had to use them on two orders:

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fivezero's Sephora haulage, VIB Sale (April 2017)

Haulage! Sephora VIB Sale: Unboxing (April 2017)

fivezero8 Comments

My Sephora VIB Sale orders arrived earlier this week, and I’ve only just had a chance to open them up and have a look.

I placed two orders online (for reasons I talked about in my initial post) and here is what I got:

  • Deborah Lippmann Gel Lab Pro in Stargasm
  • DECIEM Niod Sanskrit Saponins
  • Guerlain La Petite Robe Noir Nail Colour in Lilac Belt
  • Make Up For Ever Metal Palette ($16)
  • Stellar Infinite Lipstick in Dark Matter 04
  • tarte Tarteist Pro Custom Magnetic Palette in Wild Animal

Free samples:

  • Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Cream (sample)
  • Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Eye Cream (sample)
  • Fresh Rose Hydrating Eye Gel Cream (sample)
  • Derek Lam 10 Crosby Rain Day (sample)
  • First Aid Beauty Hello FAB Coconut Skin Smoothie Priming Moisturizer (sample)
  • Elizabeth & James Nirvana Bourbon (sample)

I turned the NIOD tube backward in the group shot, haha! Oops.

Here it is facing forward:

DECIEM NIOD Sanskrit Saponins

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