New Escentual Post: Acqua di Parma Colonia Review and Giveaway

Acqua di Parma Colonia, Colonia Asoluta, Colonia Essenza and Colonia Intensa Reviews

January may not be the month in which one spritzes on a light cologne, but it is a good time to dream of summer, and what better summers to lust after than those spent in the Italian countryside? One brand that perfectly captures the essence and sophistication of Italy is Acqua di Parma and they have four Eau de Colognes in their stable; Colonia, Colonia Assoluta, Colonia Essenza and Colonia Intensa, all of which I’ve reviewed on the Escentual blog for your pleasure today.

What’s more, Escentual are having a little giveaway where you can win a 100ml spray bottle of Colonia (the original), plus a signature bath coffret including Colonia Bath and Shower Gel, Hair Conditioner and Body Lotion (40ml each). All you have to do is head over to the Escentual blog by clicking the image above, letting me know how you take your ‘Colonia’.

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Escentual’s #FragranceAmnesty

How’s this for a good idea? For the second year in a row Escentual is running a #FragranceAmnesty, where you can name and shame those unwanted fragrant gifts or misguided perfume purchases that have been plaguing your wardrobe since Christmas. The amnesty runs from 13 January-31 January 2014 and allows you to donate unwanted perfume to a good cause in exchange for money off something new. I told you it was a pretty nifty idea…

The process is simple. All you need do is tweet a picture of your unwanted perfume to @Escentual, ncluding the hashtag #FragranceAmnesty and detailing the scents (or type of scents) that you usually wear. The Escentual team (including myself) will then recommend a suitable alternative for you and you’ll also get a £3 voucher towards your new scent for good measure!

If you’re feeling super-generous (and I’m hoping that you are), you can send your unwanted fragrance to Escentual at their freepost address. Escentual will then donate your scent to Give and Make Up, a charity working with Women’s Aid and Refuge that provides essential toiletries and make up to women and children that need them. What’s more, once you have donated your scent, your voucher will be increased to £7.

To read the T&Cs and more details about Escentual’s #FragranceAmnesty, including how to donate unwanted perfume to Give and Make Up, head on over to the Escentual Beauty Buzz.

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Perfume Pic of the Week No. 2: The Meditative Rose by Salvador Dalí

Perfume Pic of the Week: The Meditative Rose by Salvador Dalí

In a weird case of serendipity I have been in the mood to do things on a regular basis over the last week; wear rose perfumes and stare at Salvador Dalí’s 1958 work ‘The Meditative Rose. The painting captures the ethereal beauty of the rose, floating high in the sky, casting a tranquil scene that aptly sums up how I feel about rosy fragrances within my collection.

I’ve always seen roses as having a soft and calming presence and much like the two small figures in Dalí’s painting I find myself feeling quite contemplative when wearing any perfume with roses. Over the last week I’ve been relying heavily on Montale’s Black Aoud, a perfume that pairs the sharpness of leather and oud with the most powdery of roses. It’s exotic but comforting and allows one to shroud oneself in a red blanket, which is especially handy in this weather.

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New Escentual Post: Winter Fragrance Guide for Him

Winter Warmers 'Pour Homme' — Winter Warmers ‘Pour Homme’

For my Escentual column this week I was tasked with selecting some of my favourite ‘winter warmers’ for men and with the weather being as turbulent and dreadful as it is, I was definitely up for the challenge! My picks include; a new classic from Amouage, a wild card from Dior and a severely underrated scent from Jean Paul Gaultier – to name just a few.

So boys and girls (because, unsurprisingly, the list is pretty unisex), if you’re in the mood for some olfactory comfort blankets, head on over to Escentual by clicking the image above to read all about my favourite manly fragrances for winter. Don’t forget to tell me what winter warmers you’ll be rocking this season, too!

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Perfume Pic of the Week No. 1: Vintage Shalimar Eau de Toilette

So it’s a brand new year and after a short break its time to get one’s nose firmly back to the grindstone (booo!). This year I am hoping to be more dedicated to regular posts on The Candy Perfume Boy after a slightly turbulent 2013, with reviews and routine instalments in my ‘Scent a Celebrity‘, ‘Guide to‘ and ‘Desert Island Sniffs‘ series. I’ll also be sharing my weekly Escentual column and updates on the hunt for my wedding scent with you – all-in-all, I hope for it to be a very exciting year!

One new addition to The Candy Perfume Boy’s roster in 2014, is the ‘Perfume Pic of the Week’. Starting today and running every Monday, I hope that this visual feature allows us to connect more and discuss all elements of perfume ranging from new and exciting launches to perfume advertising, bottles from my collection and anything else that is smelly and intriguing.

The inaugural Perfume Pic of the Week is an image of some vintage Shalimar Eau de Toilette I picked up in Tesco of all places (other supermarkets are available). My online snooping dates it as being from the late ’90s/early ’00s, but if you have a better estimate then please say. I’ve included the Shalimar here because a vintage purchase is most unusual for me, simply because I avoid the chase for vintage formulations as a general rule of thumb.

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The Candies 2013: The Very Best and Very Worst Perfumes of 2013

The Candies 2013: The Very Best and the Very Worst Perfumes of the Year

Can you believe that 2013 is coming to a close already? I certainly can’t! It only feels like yesterday that I was sat at my laptop, tapping away at the first reviews of the year and looking forward to the exciting new smells that next 365 days would bring. It has, all-in-all, been a very good year, with lots of interesting new perfumes launched, and on a more personal note too, as this year I took on the exciting role of Fragrance Expert for Escentual.com.

The perfumes have come thick and fast over the year, and once again the industry has seen an increase in the overall number of perfumes launched. Over the year we’ve seen our fair share of masterpieces, duds, flankers and celebrity money makers in, and as with any other year it has been a roller coaster ride of an experience sifting through just a tiny portion of what has been released.

In this post – my annual perfume awards (‘The Candies’) – I’m taking a look at my fragrant highlights of the year and those perfumes that have impressed, moved and surprised me. I’m also highlighting the specific scents that have failed to meet the mark this year and are disappointing enough to warrant naming and shaming. So sit back, don your red carpet gown (or suit), pop the champagne and enjoy The Candies 2013.

[Please also head over to my fragrant brothers and sisters who are sharing their very best perfumes of 2013; Persolaise, Olfactoria’s Travels, Eyeliner on a Cat, Fragrant Moments, Perfume Shrine, I Smell Therefore I Am, SmellyBlog and The Fragrant Man.]

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The Final Perfume Review of the Year ft. Tauer Perfumes, Vero Profumo, Puredistance & Hiram Green

The Final Review of 2013: Tauer Phi Une Rose de Kandahar, Vero Profumo Voile d’Extraits, Hiram Green Moon Bloom and Puredistance BLACK

I am plagued by a constant lack of organisation in my life and it’s always at this time of year that I cannot help but feel I am running out of time. In a little over a week, 2013 will be a distant memory on the horizon and everyone and everything will be fully focused on what 2014 will bring.

But it isn’t time to give up on 2013 just yet, after all It has been a busy year for perfume tmwith way over 1,000 new launches to sniff and throughout the year I’ve been seeking out the good, the bad and the downright ugly to help you know what to bother with and what to ignore. On the 27th December I’ll be holding my annual perfume awards (‘The Candies’) but before we start the celebrations I wanted to share with you four reviews of perfumes that (for the most part) deserve not to be ignored this year.

Here you’ll find new scents from the likes of Tauer Perfumes, Vero Profumo and Puredistance – venerable houses that constantly push the boundaries of the perfume industry, as well as Hiram Green, a newcomer. So for the very final review of the year let’s take one last look at some new fragrances that have helped make 2013 one heck of an interesting year for perfumery.

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New Escentual Post: Red, Green and Gold – The Fragrant Colours of Christmas

I’m finishing this week as I started with another Christmas post. For my Escentual column this week I thought about the colours of the festive season (red, green and gold) and perfumes that captured these hues in unique ways that were in keeping with the spirit of the yuletide season. These 6 perfumes represent all that is Christmas from the rouge of winter spices to the golden gleam of bejeweled gifts. Please click on the image above to read.

I’ll be back next week with one or two more reviews and the 2013 edition of ‘The Candies’ – my annual perfume awards.

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Christmas Smells (Really Good)

Christmas is just round the corner. I mean it people, the 25th of December is just up the street, lurking down a dark alley with criminal intent and an evil glint in its eye. By now one should have completed the super-fun/awful task of Christmas shopping (I have and yes I’m smug about it) and will now be putting the final touches to the Christmas plans that one is so looking forward to.

With all of the traditions and festivities it is unsurprising that Christmas is an incredibly fragrant time of year. The abundance of yuletide food, church masses and changes in the season make for an incredible wealth of smells associated solely with the one celebration, and each year one looks forward to reliving those odours that make the season so darn ‘Christmassy’.

As I’m a lover of both scent and Christmas I thought it would be fun to put together some of my favourite yuletide smells alongside perfumes that manage to capture the essence of these odours. Here you’ll find smells of the season and fragrances that are evocative of such wonderful treats as gingerbread and mulled wine. Christmas smells (really good in fact) and on The Candy Perfume Boy this winter, it has never smelled better!

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What’s It All About, Anyway? – Juliette Has a Gun Anyway Perfume Review

I don’t understand Juliette Has a Gun. They started out as a rebellious niche brand boasting a number of intriguing fragrances evoking the spirit of fierce women with daring characters (scents such as Calamity J and Lady Vengeance) – all at designer prices. But with the brand’s most recent launches it seems that Juliette has lost her nerve and decided to throw away the pistol that made her so spunky and dangerous.

This decline in boldness can be seen in the increasing lack of ingenuity in scents such as Mad Madame (a collage of just about every scent in the line) and Not a Perfume (at least they got the name right with this one), both of which felt very safe and not in keeping with the punky spirit of the brand. An over reliance on ambroxan has also ensured that these new offerings are all very similar in both odour and style.

The brand’s latest fragrance ‘Anyway‘ runs very much along the same lines as its recent stable mates and presents an airy, relaxed style of perfume that tries its absolute best not to offend or make an impression. The brand proclaim it to be a “simple and original formula” boasting “only fifteen ingredients” – a fragrance that has been designed to be a signature scent and anything but “anonymous”.

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