Fragrance

Having recently moved, I always find that home fragrance is an easy way to make an apartment feel a little bit more like mine, even though there are boxes that need to be unpacked. When I opened the diffuser by Casa di Francesca, I immediately felt a sense of luxury and comfort.

From their collection of scents, I tried Pure Pear.  The scent captures the scent of lush white pear blossoms and the ripening fruit; in my apartment, it lends a sweet but also crisp and clean scent. The overall feeling is very sweet and rustic, and it makes me feel instantly relaxed…like taking a deep breath and going “ahhh.” What could make you feel more at home than that?

Valentine’s Day is a great holiday…if you have a significant other.  But if you don’t, all the advertising and hype can sometimes make you feel like you’re missing out on something.  Not fun.  Not fun at all.  Which is why I subscribe to the theory that if you’re single on February 14th, the best way to deal is to go out with your other single friends for drinks and dancing.  But if you can’t manage that, you have to at least treat yourself to something special or luxurious to make the day fun for you too.  Expensive chocolates or that pair of shoes you’ve had your eye on for awhile are always good, but here’s a few other options that are guaranteed to make you smile. (more…)

I’ve been dying to buy a new Marc Jacobs tote for spring, but sadly, my bag budget is definitely not going to allow that to happen.  Luckily, I was able to console myself with a much more affordable Marc Jacobs product, his new fragrance, Lola.

Normally I’m not one for the floral scents, but Lola is really interesting and different.  It opens with notes of pink peppercorn, pear, and ruby red grapefruit, so it’s almost fruity when I first spritz it on.  The midnotes include geranium and rose, but it’s the notes that linger during the drydown that make the difference for me.  They include layers of vanilla, warm tonka bean, and creamy musk and the combination is irresistible.  It’s warm and modern, the kind of scent that’s perfect for the daytime, but can also transition into the evening.  (One of my main problems with florals is that a lot of them remind me of something my grandmother would wear, but I’m definitely not thinking of support hose when I’m wearing Lola!)  The bottle is gorgeous too – it’s a sheer purple with a multi-layered cap that’s made to look like a bursting floral bouquet with blue, purple and red petals.  It looks so pretty sitting on top of my dresser and it’s a nice change from my normal routine of clean, fresh scents.  If you’re looking for a sexy, romantic scent to spice up your fragrance wardrobe, give this one a try!

Available at Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Dillard’s and Sephora.

Seasonal scented body sprays, creams, and washes seem to be one of those hit-or-miss beauty products. While some can smell of sweet sugar cookies, heavenly gingerbread, or fresh-out-of-the-oven pumpkin pie, the fragrances themselves can prove dismal compared to their delicious descriptions. If you are a fan of sweet seasonal scents at bargain prices that actually do live up to their description, check out Victoria’s Secret’s latest line of limited edition Secret Garden scents: Gilded Ginger Creme, Merry Vanilla Twirl, and Sparkling Sugared Pear.

At their special price of 3/$24, 5/$30, or 8/$35, you can stock up without any buyers remorse! I’ve always loved sweet scents for daytime casual wear, so my favorite of the three turned out to be Merry Vanilla Twirl, the sweetest of the bunch. The crème brulée sweetness is nicely balanced by vanilla and fruity (starfruit, technically) undertones, so even though it sweet and delicious smelling, I don’t smell like a tub of frosting! If you’re a fan of seasonal scents and like refreshing citrus scents, you’ll love Sparkling Sugared Pear, a nice seasonal alternative. The Gilded Ginger is intensified with a musky smell and is definitely the most “grown up” smelling, but fun and flirty at the same time.

For some of the yummiest scents of the year at a reasonable price, strap on your angel wings and fly over to Victoria’s Secret!

I’m such a big fan of CLEAN fragrances.  They’re sort of my go to scents.  I’ve written about them on TDO a bunch of times and every time they release a new one, I get super excited.  (It’s kind of sad, actually.  I might need to get out more). 

As much as I love them though, I hate to travel with them.  Mostly just because I’m always worried that someone’s going to toss my suitcase onto the plane and break the bottle, making me lose not only my perfume, but also ruining whatever else in my luggage it spills on.  So I was very happy to spot the CLEAN Coffret Set on my last visit to Sephora.  The set includes four 1 ounce Eau de Parfum sprays in Original, Warm Cotton, Shower Fresh, and Simply Soap, so you get a wide variety of the CLEAN scents.  (I love Shower Fresh, but I still hold a special place in my heart for the Original scent since it’s what led me to fall in love with the CLEAN brand).  Best of all, the entire set is only $65 (it’s a $152 value).  At that price, it’s a total bargain.  Those of you who haven’t tried any CLEAN fragrances yet can get a great sampling and those of us who have (a.k.a. me), can take the smaller sizes with us when we travel.  It’s scent perfection!

As you can imagine, we come across many fragrances over the year and therefore, are quite picky.  Especially for me, I’m not easily swayed from my favorites. It really takes something special for me to start using something new on a regular basis. Well…it recently happened when I received a bottle of Tocca’s Salina Aqua Profumata.

Profumata means perfumed water in Italian – so don’t expect it to be a full on perfume. Instead, spray it like a body mist! Though there are three fragrances in this collection, Salina is the floral scent inspired by Southern Italy.  Expect a floral mix of jasmine and iris on top of fruitier notes like raspberry, orange and peach. There’s an undercurrent of musk and clove as well. The combination of these notes creates a sweet scent that is a bit powdery in the finish, but still fresh.

The Profumatas are perfect for anyone who likes their scents to be subtle and linger softly during the day.  Plus, the price tag can’t be beat…only $38 for a bottle!

Available at Sephora.com.

So I come home from a long (but fun) day of work and events, slightly buzzed, pick up a package of holiday samples from the doorman and take a peek.  I see a small box of Godiva in the bag and figured- what the hell, I’ll have one taste. I open the box, mindlessly put my hand in, and..nail scratches wax.  What just happened?

As it turns out (and I didn’t know this) apparently Godiva makes candles! I must just always be so distracted by all the edible goodies when I visit the stores that I never even noticed the non-edible products. I’m a huge fan of the Raspberry Ganache scent, inspired by Godiva’s Raspberry Ganache Twirl: tart raspberry, chocolate, warm vanilla and brown sugar top notes.  Divine! I spent the entire evening sniffing the candle which which oddly satisfied my chocolate cravings..without the calories. (more…)

As the beauty director of MORE Magazine, Genevieve Monsma dispenses monthly beauty advice to more than 1.3 million women. She has been covering the skin, hair, and makeup market for over a decade and has written about beauty for women of all ages. In addition to her tenure at MORE, she has been the beauty director at Shape Magazine, the deputy beauty director at Marie Claire, the beauty director at CosmoGirl, and the associate beauty editor at Redbook. Naturally, we jumped at the chance to interview this beauty veteran and find out what tops her must-have list!

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As we head into the cooler weather in Los Angeles (finally!), I decided it was time to switch up my fragrance choices a little.  I sampled a bunch of different choices and there were two that really stood out to me. (more…)