Category Archive: Escentual

New Escentual Post: Gotta Spritz Them All!

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A Wild Comme des Garçons Appeared!

Pack your Pokéballs and prepare for a LOT of walking because Pokémon Go fever is here! That’s right, adults and children all over the world (myself included) can be found traipsing around and through fields to find some adorable but deadly pocket monsters. There will be gym battles and friendly rivalry but from what I’ve seen so far, the game has got people out of the house and talking to each other, which is not a bad thing at all.

For my Escentual column this week I have nerded out and brought two of my obsessions together: perfume and Pokémon. In this piece, I talk about some fragrances that you will need on your journey to become a Pokémon Master – scents that’ll keep you smelling fresh but will also help you out if you’re stuck between a Snorlax and a field of Pidgeys. So, if you’re Pokémon and perfume mad, click here to head over to Escentual to read ‘Gotta Spritz Them All’.

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New Escentual Post: Stella McCartney POP

POP
POP

I’m taking a bit of a blogging break this week to enjoy the gorgeous weather we are having, and perhaps also to play lots of Pokémon Go too… Anyway, less of the Pokémon and on to perfume. This week I have mostly been falling for Stella McCartney’s POP, which is probably the most fun a person can have with their clothes on and in olfactory form. This is watermelon bubblegum and plastic tuberose shrink wrap in neon shades of pink and green. Honestly, it’s enough to make you grin from ear-to-ear like the Cheshire Cat. Click here to head on over to Escentual to read my review in full.

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New Escentual Post: YSL Mon Paris

Mon Paris
Mon Paris

Riding high on the success of Black Opium, their modern interpretation of the iconic Opium, YSL have extended the same treatment to another of their legends – the pastel, yet atomic floral ‘Paris‘. This new flanker is called Mon Paris and to call it a flanker is perhaps misleading. Much like Black Opium this is an entirely new fragrance that takes the spirit of the original and approaches it from a modern point of view. The Paris of 1983 and the Mon Paris 2016 are entirely different animals, with the latter being an on trend fruity floral with sparkling transparency. Click here to check out my full review over at Escentual.

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New Escentual Post: Van Cleef & Arpels Moonlight Patchouli

Sing to the Moon!
Sing to the Moon!

One of the brands Escentual turned me on to was Van Cleef & Arpels and more specifically, their more exclusive line of ‘Collection Extraordinaire’ fragrances. The scents within the collection are often modern takes on classic themes. I wouldn’t say that they are particularly innovative or weird, but many of them are beautiful and Moonlight Patchouli, the latest addition to the series, is no exception. Click here to read my full review of this gorgeous take on perfumery’s timeless lovers, rose and patchouli.

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New Escentual Post: Abercrombie & Fitch First Instinct

First Instinct
First Instinct

You may know Abercrombie & Fitch for the muscled men that dominate their adverts and stores. You may also know them for their ‘Fierce’ fragrance which, for many years, has been pumped into their shops and has since become that familiar smell one encounters when shopping at A&F. This year they’ve opened up their fragrant offerings with a new masculine fragrance, the energetic ‘First Instinct, and I’ve reviewed it in my Escentual column this week. Click here to check it out.

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New Escentual Post: The Wedding Fragrance Edit for Men

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Eau de Groom

Ooh I do love a good wedding. There’s something wonderful about all that pomp and circumstance; the dresses, the hats, THE CAKE, not to mention the flowers, the emotion and the love! Every wedding is a special day, one that is organised with every minute detail considered. One detail that can’t be forgotten is the wedding scent and this is just as important for the groom and his party as it is the bride and hers. Luckily, for Escentual’s #ScentToBe Wedding Week, I’ve put together a handy guide of masculine fragrances that are perfect for the groom, best man and father of the groom. Click here to give it a read!

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New Escentual Post: X is for X Rated

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Rated XXX

We’re heading towards the final handful of instalments in my Escentual A-Z of Fragrance and it’s fair to say we’ve had quite a wild ride. We have admired Amouage, lusted after lavender an ogled olfactory oddities, covering the alphabet all the way up the final three, and easily the most tricky letters; X, Y and Z. For X, my filthy mind only had the option to go for ‘X-Rated’, a piece all about fragrances that are so sexy they are likely to get you all hot under the collar, and possibly in other places too…

So, for X is for X-Rated you can treat yourself to an erotic and whimsical tour of the sexiest scents out there, ranging from delicious treats to be worn after the watershed to florals that flirt and tease, and all the way up to XXX scents that are positively pornographic in their sexiness. Click here, if you dare, to head on over to the Escentual blog to read the piece and find your very own sexual napalm.

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New Escentual Post: ETRO Shantung Perfume Review

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Summer Silk – ETRO Shantung

‘Pretty’ that’s how I’d describe ETRO’s latest fragrance, ‘Shantung’. Like a sleepy summer garden, Shantung is a colourful fragrance that wafts and moves at a leisurely pace. It’s a silk-inspired fragrance that pairs citrus, peony, rose and musk all together to pain a beautiful picture of nature in a vast array of colours. It’s no great shakes in terms of ideas, but it’s executed wonderfully. Click here to read my full review over at Escentual’s Beauty Buzz.

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New Escentual Post: Armani Code Profumo Review

Code Profumo
Code Profumo

I wasn’t prepared to like Armani’s new Profumo version of their flagship masculine, ‘Code’, but perfume often has a way of surprising noses that are stuck in their ways. Profumo won’t set the world on fire for originality but I admire how it presents a smart take on the oriental genre, fusing fougère notes of lavender and star anise with the warmth of vanilla and leather. It’s Code gone ‘full tuxedo’ and the modern men of today could do a lot worse with their fragrance choice! Check out my full review for Escentual by clicking here.

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