Escentual

New Escentual Post: Acqua di Parma Peonia Nobile

Acqua di Parma Peonia Nobile
Acqua di Parma Peonia Nobile

You may remember that one of my favourite fragrances from 2014 (a little while ago, I know) was Acqua di Parma’s Rosa Nobile. In fact, in The Candies that year, Rosa Nobile was one of my honourable mentions for Best Mainstream Feminine and it also found its way into my Guide to Rose as the ‘Straight-Up Rose’. Why? Well it presents a glassy pink rose in its most pure and perfect form, not to mention that fact that it simply smells so darn pretty I want to marry it.

This year, Acqua di Parma are continuing their Nobile Collection with the launch of Peonia Nobile – yet another ode to one beautiful flower. Without giving too much away, this noble peony is just as gorgeous as its rosy sister and it serves as further proof that Acqua di Parma really do know how to take the simplest of things and present them with a beautiful flourish. Click here to head on over to Escentual to read my full review of Peonia Nobile.

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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: 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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New Escentual Post: Etat Libre d’Orange’s New Manifesto

Etat Libre d'Orange's Colourful New Manifesto
Etat Libre d’Orange’s Colourful New Manifesto

If you’ve been following the quirky, rebellious and often x-rated world of Etat Libre d’Orange closely, you may have noticed that change has been afoot. The bottles have got bigger and more luxurious, and the five latest fragrances have all been coloured in brightly shaded bottles – a stark contrast to the uniformed appearance of the brand’s back catalogue. These aren’t the only changes though and in just a few short years we’ve seen Etat Libre d’Orange release flankers, nice fragrance, remixes and mash ups. It seems that they are now shocking us with how on-trend they are. Click here to check out my thoughts on five of their recent launches!

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