Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne Eau de Parfum Review

Morning everyone and happy Veteran’s Day! I’m hoping that most of you have the day off today and are at home enjoying a restful morning in bed – unfortunately I’m here at work as usual. So yesterday was my anniversary, hence the mini blogging hiatus, but I’m back today with a review of Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne Eau de Parfum which is my new fragrance love (and of course what I spritzed on my wrists last night before heading out to dinner).

Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne Eau de Parfum strikes that perfect balance of fruity and floral, blending notes of blackberry, cranberry, damask rose and sandalwood to create a playfully sexy scent.

The fruity tops notes comprised of cranberry and blackberry tend to dominate upon first spritz, but their tartness is quickly mellowed by the rose floral base. Post dry-down I lose a good bit of the fruitiness and am left with a fresh floral that keeps me sniffing at myself all day.

I actually happened to see the Parisienne commercial featuring Kate Moss being projected onto the side of the New York Public Library right by Bryant Park the other day which I thought was rather cool. The flickering black and white images and the chic ad were very evocative of the fragrance itself, which works wonderfully for both a woman my age (20’s) and a woman my mother’s age (50’s).

Nordstrom currently has this Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne Holiday Gift Set which I’m contemplating getting for myself as I’ve been enjoying this fragrance (and the lovely multi-faceted bottle) so much.

Other fragrances I love: Marc Jacobs Daisy, Burberry Summer, Antonia’s Flower Eau de Toilette, Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb, DKNY Be Delicious Fresh Blossom

This review contains a press sample sent to me by Total Beauty. I didn’t pay this much attention when it was released as I figured it would be heavily floral and therefore not really me (I love fruitier sweet fragrances) but turns out I was very wrong! My mother loves this too and keeps trying to steal it from me =P.

This post contains affiliates link. If you have any questions regarding the foregoing, please feel free to contact me at a.beautyful.sentiment@gmail.com.

ABS’ Five: TokyoMilk Parfums

It seems that lately the blogosphere has been abuzz with chatter about Tokyomilk Parfumarie Curiosite. These lighter-than-air scents lend a wisp of fragrance to wrists and neck napes; their quirky bottles – each topped with a vintage image and typewritten labels – lend charm to your dressing table. Plus they’re available in a range of 18 unique scents that are easy on the wallet at $28 for a one ounce bottle.

So what are my five choices?

• Song in D Minor: white orchid, orange flower, gardenia and amber (I’m a sucker for gardenia)

• Le Petit: lily, peony, vanilla bean and violet petals

• Let Them Eat Cake: sugar cane, coconut milk, vanilla orchid and white musk (just thinking of this one makes me hungry!)

• Kabuki: sugared grapefuit, lychee and sweet jasmine

• I Want Candy: crisp apples, peaches, violets and roses

I’ve heard that these can be found at various Anthropologie stores, so I’ve added them to my mental checklist of things to check out the next time I go shopping since I happen to be a big fan of Anthropologie to begin with. I’m loving the slightly kitschy, vintangey look of these bottles, and of course the price is right.

For those of you shopping online, these are available via Fred Flare, Anthropologie, and Beautyhabit, although only Beautyhabit carries the full range.

Which fragrances are catching your eye?

ABS Wants: Van Cleef & Arpels Feerie Eau de Parfum

Van Cleef & Arpels Feerie Eau de Parfum
($150 for 3.3 oz; $110 for 1.7 oz.)

Exclusive to Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, Van Cleef & Arpel’s Feerie Eau de Parum is a sparkling fragrance consisting of a blend of violets, blackcurrant, Bulgarian Rose, Egyptian Jasmine, and Iris Butter that whirl with whimsy within the spectacular flacon to reveal the timeless spirit of Van Cleef & Arpels.

• Top notes: Violet, Red Berries (Black Currant) Italian Mandarin.
• Middle notes: Bulgarian Rose and Egyptian Jasmine.
• Bottom Notes: Iris Butter and Vetiver.

At the heart of Van Cleef & Arpels fine jewelry, the good fairy symbolizes the poetry of a luxury universe unlike any other. Now, with total enchantment, she enters the world of exceptional fragrance with a new eau de parfum: Féerie. Inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream fine jewelry collection, Féerie captures the essence of the prestigious jewelry house.

Now I haven’t had a chance to sniff this fragrance just yet, but how can you go wrong with violet, red berries, mandarin and bulgarian rose? And I’ve almost (but not quite) convinced myself that the painfully high price is worth paying for the flacon alone.

Bond No. 9’s Newest Astor Place Sneak Preview & Review

Coming in April is Bond No. 9 Astor Place, a fragrance inspired by New York’s most vibrant arts and style intersection. The flacon echoes the angles and cubes of the Rosenthal sculpture, the famous marker of neighborhood,and renders them in an array of rich colors. The golden background pays homage to the Astor fortune and philanthropy.

And the scent? Downtown meets uptown in a seductive and fresh freesia-poppy-violet leaf composition that dries down into smooth notes of teakwood and musk.

I can honestly say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE the smell of Astor Place. I’m not entirely crazy about the gaudy gold flacon, but the top notes of violet leaf and mandarin zest, middle notes of freesia, red poppy buds and iris root, and bottom notes of teakwood, musk and amber combine to form something magical–fresh, springy, feminine, ligh and seductive. It’s a light citrusy floral and the sweetness is nicely balanced by the greeness of the violet leaf. Definitely something that’s going on my spring wish list as this may be my new favorite fragrance.

ABS’s Five: My Fragrance Wishlist

So my usual five has turned into seven, but here are the fragrances currently on my wishlist! Don’t get me wrong I still love my Marc Jacobs Daisy (it’s my go-to fragrance and always brings a smile to my face) and Burberry Summer–I just want these too!

Bond No. 9 The Scent of Peace
($470 for Swarovski version, $40-$195 for regular)

Do you ever grab one of those fragrance strips from the fragrance people at department stores because you just don’t have the energy to say no yet again? Well that’s what happened with A Scent of Peace and I literally had to backtrack to ask her what this wonderful fragrance was, I loved it so much! A melange of grapefruit, black currant, and lily of the valley, The Scent of Peace was a winner in the top 5 finalists for the 2007 Fragrance of the Year FiFi Award for Women’s Nouveau Niche Category.

Better yet, Seeds of Peace, an organization dedicated to empowering young leaders from regios of conflict with teh leadership skills required to advance reconciliation and coexistence, receives a portion of the sales from every bottle sold.

Hanae Mori Paris ‘Butterly’ Eau de Parum
($65-$90)

The notes in this fragrance are Strawberries, Bilberries, Black Currant, Bulgarian Rose, Jasmine, Ylang-Ylang, Sandalwood, Almond, Praline. This has been a long-time favorites of mine but for some reason I’ve just never been able to bring myself to purchase it. And it even comes in deoderant form!

Annick Goutal ‘Petite Cherie’ Eau de Parum
($230 for Limited Edition bottle, regular for $95-$160)

Petite Cherie is a fresh combination of fruity and floral ingredients including peach, musk rose, pear, fresh cut grass and vanilla. To me the peach and pear notes predominate the opening spray, making for a deliciously fresh and fruity fragrance, with the musk appearing only in the drydown. To be honest I didn’t like Petite Cherie much at first, but it slowly grew on me and now I absolutely love it!

Lavanila Vanilla Grapefruit
($56)

Lavanila fragrances have intrigued me thanks to their “good for you ingredients” of 30 essential vitamins and minerals and 19 amino acids, and the fact that Vanilla Grapefruit smells delicious doesn’t hurt either. The warm vanilla scent is just slightly tinged with the fruitiness of grapefruit, meaning you get all of the sweetness without any unpleasant tartness.

Salvatore Ferragamo ‘Incanto Shine’ Eau de Parum
($59-$79)

I know that a lot of people aren’t terribly fond of this fragrance, but I absolutely love it and it’s actually one of my favorites. It contains notes of Pineapple, Passion Fruit, Freesia, Peach, Cedarwood, and Amber–and while all that fruitiness is probably just too much for some, I say bring it on! To me this smells like a gorgeous spring day.

Viktor & Rolf ‘Flowerbomb’ Eau de Parum
($135 for LE bottle)

Top notes: Tea and bergamot. Middle notes: Sambac jasmine, orchid, freesia, rose. Base note: Patchouli. Flowerbomb is a deliciously heady sweet smelling fragrance that’s perfect for winter. This has been on my wishlist for YEARS but again I can never quite bring myself to get it–although I do now have a mini and the hair mist to tide me over thanks to a sweet somebody!

Versace Signature Eau de Parum
($69-$89)

This was another one of those “wow what is that?” department store moments for me. Versace signature is a floral bouquet emphasized by jasmine and azalea and musk, wrapped by kashmir wood and Moroccan cedar wood.
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Bond No. 9 Chinatown and Bleecker Street Holiday Fragrance Reviews

I just recently discovered that for $15 (including shipping) you can order a set of 6 beautifully wrapped Bond No. 9 samples to test out for yourself. Needless to say I’ll be trying pretty much everything.

So while all of the fragrances that were “crystallized” for Bond No. 9’s Holiday release are a part of their permanent collection, I thought I’d review two for you.

Chinatown: Bond No. 9 fittingly decked out my favorite perfume out of the Swarovski All Stars in fuchsia/ruby colored rhinestones. Yep you guessed it–Chinatown! The notes in Chinatown are peach, gardenia, tuberose, and sandalwood and they come together to form a masterpiece of a fragrance. It’s sweet yet spicy, bold yet elegant. The top note of peach blossoms is fleeting, drying down to a vanilla-y incense-y scent. The staying power isn’t amazing, but nevertheless it’s a wonderful fragrance.

Bleecker Street: Bleecker Street, while an interesting fragrance, really isn’t one of my favorites. I think that I’d prefer to smell this on a man–the mingling of violet leaf, cassis, jasmine, cinnamon, and oakmoss create a rather strong fresh green/herbal scent that doesn’t do so well with my body chemistry. The opening note is intensely green and almost tart, but the dry down is warm and musky. I’m off to search for a man to try this out on lol!
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A Sneak Peek at Holiday ’08 at Bond No. 9: Pure Shiny Indulgence

Holiday 2008 at Bond No. 9 goes from understated to shamelessly luxurious. Check out your own little sneak peek at these stunning crystallized flacons! And click HERE for even more crystallized Bond No. 9 fragrances.

Bleecker Street Bejeweled ($395)

Bond No. 9 chose Bleecker Street (a gourmand oriental mingling of patchouli, cassis, caramel, woods, and musk) to receive its annual “Swarovski treatment,” and what a treatment it is! Okay so admittedly the bottle reminds me a bit of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, but only in the best possible way of course!

The limited-edition 100ml lime green-chartreuse-amethyst-gold starburst watercolor flacon is studded back and front with a checkerboard pattern of matching crystals, with an extra large crystal front and center for good measure. The price for all this beauty? $395.

The Swarovski All-Stars ($650)

Bond No. 9 has embellished three of their most coveted scents with Swarovski crystals–5,000 of them per 50ml bottle to be precise! Chelsea Flower (peonies-magnolia-rose) is decked with emerald-colored stons, Eau de New York (citruses-cyclamen-jasmine-vetiver) is studded with diamond-colored aurora borealis stones, and Chinatown (peach-gardenia-tuberose-sandalwood) features ruby-colored stones. I’m thinking somebody needs to these for me as a holiday gift–after all they go so well with my clutch!

Bond No. 9 Crystallized Amphora ($3,500)

And finally we get to the show-stopper of the holiday collection-the item that’s at the top of my “I must have it!!” list! It’s none other than Bond No. 9’s super-sized 42 oz amphora vitrine, breathtakingly covered with 16,500 hand-applied platinum Swarovski stones. And the bottle top? An elliptical mirror with honeycomb base. Your $3,500 gets you this heart-wrenchingly gorgeous amphora filled with your choice of the 32 Bond No. 9 scents. My choice? The Scent of Peace. And all this beauty comes in a white patent leather gift case, also adorned with crystals. If it’s wrong to want to get this then I don’t want to be right!

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An Array of Marc Jacobs Daisy

I’m trying a little something new so please let me know if you can’t see the slideshow!

Marc Jacobs’ Daisy happens to be one of my favorite perfumes, so of course I’m thrilled to see that it now comes in a million and one incarnations. My faves are the solid perfume necklace which would make a darling bag charm, the eau de parum, the purse spray, and of course the shimmer rollerball.

Check out the full details on each of these products after the jump…

Marc Jacobs Daisy ($57 for 1.7 oz)
Enter the world of Daisy: fresh and feminine, with a playful innocence. At the heart of Daisy is a floral with vintage edge: violet. Sophisticated, with a touch of whimsy, violet captures the eclectic, vintage flavor of Marc Jacobs’ feminine, edgy designs. Always elegant, always enchanting – but not too serious – Daisy is a sparkling floral bouquet, spirited and fresh, wrapped in comfort and warmth.

Daisy Solid Perfume Necklace ($35)
Enter the world of Daisy: fresh and feminine, with a playful innocence. At the heart of Daisy is a floral with vintage edge—violet. Sophisticated with a touch of whimsy, violet captures the eclectic, vintage flavor of Marc Jacobs’ feminine, edgy designs. Always elegant, always enchanting—but not too serious—Daisy is a sparkling floral bouquet that is spirited, fresh, and wrapped in comfort and warmth. This Solid Perfume Necklace is classic yet youthful, containing a 0.02 oz solid perfume that you can apply anywhere, any time. Cord is adjustable and measures 36″.

Daisy Purse Spray with Refill ($40)
Enter the world of Daisy: fresh and feminine, with a playful innocence. At the heart of Daisy is a floral with vintage edge: violet. Sophisticated, with a touch of whimsy, violet captures the eclectic, vintage flavor of Marc Jacobs’ feminine, edgy designs. Always elegant, always enchanting – but not too serious – Daisy is a sparkling floral bouquet, spirited and fresh, wrapped in comfort and warmth.

Daisy Eau de Parfum ($72)
Fall in love with Daisy at her most decadent, lasting, and lovely with this concentrated Eau de Parfum version of the much-loved Marc Jacobs scent. Enter the world of Daisy: fresh and feminine with a playful innocence. At the heart of Daisy is a floral with vintage edge: violet. Sophisticated, with a touch of whimsy, violet captures the eclectic, vintage flavor of Marc Jacobs’ feminine, edgy designs. Always elegant, always enchanting – but not too serious – Daisy is a sparkling floral bouquet, spirited and fresh, wrapped in comfort and warmth.

Daisy Shimmer Rollerball ($25)
The limited-edition Daisy Shimmer Rollerball is your new ticket to entering the world of Daisy: fresh and feminine, with a playful innocence, and now infused with a sexy shimmer. At the heart of Daisy is a floral with vintage edge: violet. Sophisticated with a touch of whimsy, violet captures the eclectic, vintage flavor of Marc Jacobs’ feminine, edgy designs. Always elegant, always enchanting– but not too serious– Daisy is a sparkling floral bouquet, spirited and fresh, wrapped in comfort and warmth. Roll on some daisy chain sunshine!

Daisy Solid Perfume Ring ($30)
Enter the world of Daisy: fresh and feminine, with a playful innocence. At the heart of Daisy is a floral with vintage edge: violet. Sophisticated, with a touch of whimsy, violet captures the eclectic, vintage flavor of Marc Jacobs’ feminine, edgy designs. Always elegant, always enchanting – but not too serious – Daisy is a sparkling floral bouquet, spirited and fresh, wrapped in comfort and warmth. This limited edition ring is classic yet youthful, containing a solid perfume that you can apply any where, any time.

Caron Paris: So This is Heaven

Nestled in a cozy corner within Phyto Universe (715 Lexington Avenue), the Caron Paris boutique really is heaven on earth. Adorned with elegant Baccarat crystal perfume fountains, goblets of powder, and fluffy swan down powder puffs, the boutique is just impossibly elegant and beautiful. Everything from the decor to the service was sheer perfection–I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful experience!

Since 1903 Caron’s fragrances and powders have entranced women with their eye for luxury and their attention to detail. These Baccarat crystal perfume fountains (approximately $25,000 each I believe) contain the most precious of Caron extracts, based on their original formula.

Caron powders are purported to be the finest in the world, having been perfected over nearly a century of production. They are composed of of pure minerals (the raw materials for the powders come from Italy) and delicately scented with Bulgarian rose distilled by Caron, meeting the same rigorous standards as the perfumes.

Caron’s powders (which come in 19 shades that range from matte and full coverage to sheer and shimmery) are recommended in France by dermatologists and enriched with vitamins A and E, camellia oil and powdered silk, in addition to natural IR and UV filters. The powder is meant to be pressed firmly into the skin using one of Caron’s heavenly down puffs,and then a dense brush is to be used to dust off any excess.

The light-as-air puffs come in a variety of sizes (large which is shown on top of the powder goblets, medium, and mini shown below) and colors (magenta, peachy pink, green, etc.) and are absolutely divine–but more on these in a future post!

A beautiful Caron loose powder compact which comes with a mini down puff ($45).
When closed it looks like the compact on the far right with the raised dots.

A luxurious variation on the loose powder compact, this time with an exotic covering ($220).

Call the Caron boutique at 212-308-0270 and ask for Diane for all your Caron needs. She is beyond sweet and helpful!

And of course I couldn’t leave the boutique without purchasing a little something (or somethings) for myself, but I’ll leave you to wonder what’s in the bag for now. Expect reviews sometime this week though!

Marc Jacobs Black Cab Daisy Chain

Photo Source

“London gets all the good stuff, dammit! For a new promotion of Marc Jacobs‘s Daisy fragrance, the city’s black cabs will be “adorned in daisies to create a Marc Jacobs Daisy chain.” Tip seats inside the cab will also be decorated in daisies, and passengers of participating cabs will receive Marc Jacobs Daisy lollipops. You have until October 19 to get yours.” Source NYMag

Marc Jacobs’s Daisy fragrance just happens to be my favorite everyday perfume, and so of course I’m ridiculously jealous of all your Londoners who have access to these tricked out Daisy cabs! I want one of those lollipops! =X