The Relaxation Station

Relaxing - that thing I used to do properly before I became a blogger and had a million tabs opened permanently on my laptop. I was craving a boiling hot bath the other night and so I shuffled into the bathroom with a big stash of PR gifted luxuries to indulge in.

I've had this Jeanne en Provence Feu de Bois (By the Fireplace) candle* for quite a while, often having a sniff of the jar without actually making the commitment of burning it. I take it as a major sign of hoarding that I actually feel my tummy clench at the thought of a nice candle being used up...I have to admit that Dusk had a latte candle once that I loved so much that I quit burning it half way through and was content with using it as decoration so I could sniff it all the time. Am I weird, or has anyone else done this before? Anyway - this candle was lovely, very luxe and made me feel classy in the tub which is always a good thing.

The A'Kin Orange Blossom Body Wash* isn't the sweet orange that some products can be, and I think many people would prefer this bitter orange scent (if bitter is what you could call it - you know me with scents...) I thought this body wash would go well with the heavily scented Lush Golden Wonder Bath Ballistic*, which is something I have always wanted to try out for myself! Little soap stars shoot out of this once you drop it into your bath and it leaves everything a beautiful shimmery blue (but don't worry, it didn't stain the tub!)

I devoured the last of my Malteaster bunnies while reading Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman, which I've now finished and quite enjoyed! I found the message a little hard to decipher and went looking for some in depth reviews to gauge the public opinion, but the fact that I looked forward to reading it on my lunch breaks meant it was a good 'un. You can suss out my reading style on my Goodreads profile if you like!

 

What are you reading right now?

Are you a fan of baths, or do you think they are too much hassle?

Are there any permanent Lush bath products I need to suss out?

 

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

 

 

*Provided for consideration. Honesty,always.

A Fragrance Wardrobe

I have a plethora of scents in my possession, but I’ve taken to keeping a select handful on my desk to help me use them up faster. I swap some of these out and I do still use scents from the rest of my ridiculous collection, but these are the ones that have taken their place on the desk shelf lately!

 

 

I spoke at length about my issues with Lancome Tresor in Love, and I’m hoping to use a lot of this bottle before our next anniversary rolls around, to increase my chances of getting a new bottle of juice. This is a fruity rose scent, with notes of nectarine, bergamot, peach and Turkish rose, and I tend to wear it at night when we go out for coffee.

A recent launch from one of my favourite brands, Illamasqua Freak* is definitely a unique part of my scent collecton and unlike anything else I own.  It smells spicy and rich to me, and I tend to wear it when it is cold out and I feel quite tough and brave. I had to look up the notes for this, and they include opium flower, poison hemlock and frankincense. I have personally smelt this on quite a few people and it is definitely one you have to try on in store to judge, as it changes drastically depending on your skin.

Balenciaga Paris*, a powdery floral scent with notes of violet, cedar and carnation, is one of the most luxurious scents in my stash. I find this stays quite close to my skin when I wear it, and I use it sparingly as it is a travel sized sample gifted to me from the Balenciaga PR. I adore the bottle and have been hoping to add a full size Balenciaga to my collection once I use up a few more bottles, and this is a contender for that top spot.

Tucked away in the back in that image is a gorgeous Jo Malone bag filled with a teensy bottle of Orange Blossom* and a body cream in another scent, that I have been squirrelling away since before I began beauty blogging a few years ago. I received this in a Primped goody bag, the very first bag of that kind that I had ever received. I absolutely adore both the aesthetic and the scents from Jo Malone, and know that when I begin full time work my Jo Malone collection will grow from this small bottle up.

So Hooked on Carmella from Benefit is one of the stronger scents in my collection, and was purchased from a blog sale a while back.  Classified as an oriental floral, this contains notes of grapefruit, lemon, rhubarb, peony, sandalwood, amber and vanilla. Most of these notes are my very favourites, and though I can’t wear this scent around my sensitive-nosed Mumma Bovary, I do pop it on quite often on days when I know I won’t see her.

Last but not at all least is my all-time favourite fragrance, and the one I hope to wear for the rest of my days here on earth. Guerlain’s Champs Elysees is a fruity-floral that contains notes of mimosa, rose almond and forest fruits, but most of all it smells like me!  I feel strong, powerful and intelligent when I wear this, like I am the woman I want to be.

 

Isn’t it amazing how fragrances can make you feel certain things?

Classique // a fragrance by Jean Paul Gaultier

Jean Paul Gaultier released his first fragrance in 1993, originally self titled but later renamed Classique.

Since I am far from a perfume expert, I headed online to to look up the notes for Classique. They include orange blossom (love!), rose (could detect that), musk (yep), mandarin, aniseed, ylang ylang, ginger, vanilla, wood, orchid, bergamot, iris and carnation.

I stumbled upon a great review of this fragrance on 'Now Smell This', and found this quote from Gaultier himself:

One part dusty loose powder, like my grandmother wore — I think it was old Coty; one part that smell you get when you are sitting in the front row of the theater — for me, I think of going to The Chatelet when I was 12, and the curtain goes up, and the hot lights are on the costumes, wigs and sets, and you breathe it all in. And, just to be modern, one part nail polish remover!

But listen, this is not a joke. I set out to create something you really want to wear. Smells are important because they remind you of certain people. If you smell this and you think of me, I want it to be good! And there are flowers, vanilla, a lot of things.” (via Women’s Wear Daily, 3/12/93)

On me, it smells powdery and sweet, with a floral edge that makes it wearable. My sister isn't a fan of 'nanna' fragrances like lavender, rose or anything powdery, but when she smelt it on me she really liked it. We both agreed that though it was definitely musky and powdery, there was something else that made it stand apart from a 'nanna' fragrance. I attribute that to the floral notes within the scent, and also to the inclusion of mandarin and vanilla within the concoction. Having said all of this, let it be known that I am partial to wearing 'nanna' fragrances, so it would be wise to sniff this and see how you feel about it on the skin as well.

I love the lace adorned frosted sample vial of this fragrance, and I love the quirky female torso design of the bottle that appeals to the classic and quirky sides of this fragrance.

 

Are you a fan of 'nanna' or powdery fragrances?

What notes are your favourites in perfumes?

*Pretty sure I obtained this in a beauty sample box. Honesty, always.