#Review: Cartier Baiser Vole

Sephora passed a sample of this along as well. Baiser Vole Eau de Parfum by Cartier. 

As I say in my tag line, I'll  try anything once, twice if I like it. Let's do this. 

This was quite different than the Tory Burch I review earlier today. This is magic. Right as it sprayed onto my skin, it was like walking into a whimsical cloud of powder- but not in a bad way. It went from a clean yet powdery scent to almost like almond puff pastries (but not too nutty), a hint of grass, floral (but not in the traditional sense), white tea notes, and pure ecstasy. I feel like I'm sitting in a garden at a garden party in a beautiful cocktail dress enjoying a tea and the sifts around me. This honestly gave me sensory overload. I'm intoxicated with and impressed by this. I actually want to go buy it on my lunch break. 

Verdict: Completely worth trying even if you're a musk or floral queen. I think there are notes that can appeal to everyone in this fragrance. If you don't buy this, it's at least worth trying it and seeing what you think.  

#Review: The First Fragrance by Tory Burch

Well they threw this in my bag at Sephora so why not review it? It is The First Fragrance by Tory Burch. 

I've never bought anything from Tory Burch, but I've been interested in getting into her products. I love that they're now branching out into fragrance because I feel as if you can never have too much fragrance. 

It dried pretty quickly when spraying it on my wrist and bravo, I hate an eau de perfume or toilette that drips and takes forever. The first note was pretty clean (think that of The Armani Code) and once it dried, the floral notes opened up. It's not all sweet and candy like Flowerbomb, there are more demure floral notes. I understand that some of this may be the reaction to my body chemistry as well. After like ten minutes though, it was difficult to smell it on the spot where I previously sprayed it. 

Verdict: It's a bit too floral for my taste but would be a wonderful daytime fragrance. Also, the smell fades so if you're partial to smelling like this all day, get an oscillator and stick this in your makeup bag. 

Review: Sephora Favorites Beauty to Go Prelude to a Kiss Fragrance Sampler

Sephora's 2012 fragrance sampler comes with five scents- one of which is bound to be your favorite. My issue with purchasing this is that I went into it biased- as my favorite is among those listed below. My hopes were to find a scent that could swing a close second to Viktor & Rolf's Flowerbomb. 

Five fragrances came with this:

Romance by Ralph Lauren. This scent is actually something that I've sampled at the spa I work at. This is also just classic & clean smelling- almost unisex. 

Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf. My all time favorite. The sweet floral notes & I think there's some cassava or something... It's to die for. If you hate candy sweet smelling fragrances, Flowerbomb is not for you. 

Collette by Tocca. I actually loved this the first time I smelled it. But as it worked with my body chemistry the several times I wore it, I scrubbed it off with soap & water because I couldn't take it anymore.  The smell was overwhelming. It's floral. 

L'Eau de Chloé by Chloé. Literally smells like a fresh mowed lawn. The grassy scent was a little overwhelming for me & I feel like it doesn't get any more organic than grass. 

Guilty by Gucci. A bit more traditional, sort of musky. 

Update: I finally decided on Guilty by Gucci.It grew on me. I wasn't crazy about it at first but after I went through the scents again as I do every so often, I fell for it.

The deliberation process went as follows:

I wasn't getting V&R Flowerbomb because I already have a full size. 

The L'Eau de Chloé was not for me- too grassy. 

Tocca's Collette became too overwhelming as the day went on and I think my body chemistry went insane.

Romance by Ralph Lauren was alright but not super unique- plus it was $20 USD I could afford to get it on my own.

Which left me with Guilty by Gucci.

#Rave: Ulta Holiday Value Sets

Ulta either read my blog or my mind. With this one. They rose to the occasion to offer something similar to Sephora's multi-brand holiday samplers. The email I got yesterday advertises three of them, one for eyes, one for fragrance, one similar to the Glitz & Glamour set (Sephora). All sets around $25 USD to $30 USD. 

The Perfect Wink 

($30 USD)

The Perfect Wink Includes:

Benefit Bad Gal Mascara

LORAC Front of the Line Pro Eyeliner (in Black)

Pur Minerals Big Blink

CK One Show True Black Mascara

Napoleon Perdis Long Black Mascara (in Double Black)

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Eyeliner (in LSD)

Get Ready for the Party

($30 USD)

Get Ready For the Party Color Collection Includes:

Butter Londonnail Laquer (in Rosie Lee)

LORAC Behind the Scenes Eye Primer

Put Minerals Mineral Glow Bronzer

Laura Geller City Lights Lipgloss

Napoleon Perdis Loose Eye Dust (in Pink Champagne)

Tarte Lights, Camera, Action Lashes Mascara

The Finishing Touch

($25 USD)

The Finishing Touch Fragrance Sample Collection Includes: (Fragrance Samples)

Calvin Klein Downtown

Giorgio Armani Acqua do Giola

Lancôme La Via Est Belle

Coach Love

Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy

Ralph Lauren Romance

Holiday Value Sets: Sampler Packages by Sephora

Ok, I gave this a separate post because this is (by far) what I've been waiting for all season. The opportunity that we all get  once a year to purchase samplers that may hook us to a cosmetics line for life. Sephora usually releases these toward the end of October and I am all for it. Usually sampler lines include : lip, lash, fragrance & 'all-stars' (best sellers). I truly believe that this is the way to get the best bang for your buck. (Ulta is really missing the boat on this one. They need to start doing this if they want to compete with this comestic giant.) 

Not only do you get to compare & contrast brands, you have an ample supply that lasts for most of the year. Without further adieu, here is what they released for this year's holiday season. 

Lips

Lash

Fragrance (for her)

All-Stars

Glitz & Glam

Fragrance: Honey by Marc Jacobs

I have never been a fragrance girl. I'm usually the one in the group that freaks about eyeshadow and lipcolor on someone before I'd stop the same person after getting a whiff of their scent and demanding to know where to find it. 

The first experience where I actually felt like a fragrance girl? Checking out at Sephora getting my nail polish strips (LINK) and randomly sniffing the sample bottles that are left to lure poor unsuspecting shopaholics such as myself. My eyes widened after a simple whiff and double after the second. It was Sephora's new exclusive fragrance from Marc Jacobs appropriately entirely 'Honey'. Turning to my coworker, I told her, "The day this comes out on rollerball, I'm getting it- no questions asked." 

About two weeks after, my heart stopped while browsing the trial section near Sephora's checkout. Laying halfway through the trial display was the polka dotted rollerball I'd been waiting for! I didn't hesitate to toss that into my basket along with my clearance loot. (LINK)

Review: Victor & Rolf's Flowerbomb

A good friend of mine, one who vicariously enabled my spending habit in between classes in college, introduced me to this scent. She showed it to me one day when we were walking through Saks on the hunt for Christian Loubuitons.
When my boyfriend got deployed, I wanted my letters to be connected to a scent that I would wear the next time hesaw me. Scent recognition. This scent is so distinct. It has sweet notes with light hints of a floral nature.
On one of our other shopping trips we came across a travel sized FlowerBomb set. At the time it was an affordable $25. Anyone could afford that to sample it. God bless Sephora.

Ridiculous Deal: Victoria's Secret Semi Annual spoils Part One.

I swung by the Victoria's SemiAnnual to see if I could find anything worth merit since their store card was burning a hole in my wallet. Needless to say in two trips to VS my card was maxed out. This is the equivalent to having a crackhead going down to the trap. I need professional help. Having said that, here are the spoils of trip one.
I have spa days from time to time so the 3 for 11$ bubble bath was worth it. I'll have enough to last until the next VSSemi in January. Vanilla Lace (2), Strawberries & champagne (1) were surprisingly on sale... Two of my favorites. At $3 each I couldn't leave them there. They looked lonely.
Eau de toilette in Costco size from Victoria's costs an arm & leg or your first born child. I walked away with a giant Love Rocks eau for a grand total of $10.  It usually retails $45. Score.
Holiday sets usually go on sale during this time as well. Though I couldn't get a jumbo sized bottle of Bombshell (my favorite eau from their collection) I did find a stocking stuffer size, perfect for my purse, and the box set also came with a lotion that TSA would have no problem with.
I also purchased four swimsuits separates that I will do a separate post on. But, i'll have you know the retail value is worth more than what I paid for all this.

That about wraps up trip one to my downward spiral of debt.

Ridiculous Deal: Victoria's Secret Semi Annual spoils Part Two.

*pictured: Noir Love Me body splash, Vixen body splash, makeup brushes, VS Beauty lipstick in Wine.
Visit two was pleasant due to the fact that VSSemi is 10$ cheaper for Gemini & Capricorns. I fall under the former. I reevaluated what I really needed at that point... being a colored lipstick & makeup brushes.

I found some brushes that i'll probably end up leaving in my suitcase. The quality is nothing to rave about... My EcoTools brushes do a much better job & are environmentally friendly- and they were cheaper! The quality on these brushes make this a sad case of retail regret.

I've mentioned in prior searches for lipstick & lip color that I literally go to the end of the spectrum to choose a color, and this case was no exception. I saw what looked like a deep dark purple color that comes across as a vibrant fuschia on me. Sold. I bought it. Everyone always compliments it when worn.

The body splashes are both discontinued the the world of VS. Vixen (the pink one) is fruity. Noir: LoveMe (the clear one w the black top) is clean scent.