Samsara

Duty Free was a washout - only the huge bottle that was way above a frugal bloggers cash strapped means, so I consoled myself by spraying on 3 days worth in duty free to tide me over - think fellow passengers on the flight to Newquay might have been happier had I not, although think the laughing out loud (see this post on Deb's Reading List!) was disconcerting them sufficiently that the over powering clouds of Samsara were but a minor irritant!

I had sprayed some onto one of those little cardboard strips and every chance I got stuck it under someone else's nose to see if they liked it as much as I did, thumbs up every time but it was Mum who summed it up when she said that it had more "layers" than most other perfumes. She hit the nail on the head for me with that, everything else I had smelt previously just seemed very one dimensional whereas Samsara is a more complex offering with very clear layers of scent which is what I have been craving in a perfume. It is described as a woody oriental with a blend of amber, rose, iris, violet, vanilla and sandalwood (thanks Perfume shop), which is a pretty heady combination all told. I am completely loving it and just hope everyone around me agrees as I intend to be exuding great gusts of it at all times from now on. Maybe, just maybe I have finally found my signature scent. (shower gel and body lotion already on the Christmas List. Or by heaven do they do something for the bath? Can hardly imagine anything more decadent than a deep, warm bath full of the intoxicating smell of Samsara and a glass of chilled New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc - oh roll on house move!)

Lust list

Not a list.

Just one thing.

Guerlain Samsara.




Was in Boots this morning and had a squirt as I always feel Guerlain perfumes are the kind of grown up, sophisticated thing I should like and then I don't. Wasn't sure at first but as this has developed over the last hour it is killing me that I don't own it. It is described as warm, woody, sophisticated and sensual - which frankly is me in a bottle don't ya think??! On the upside am flying to Newquay tomorrow which will involve duty free, even if it is only Leeds Bradford and not Manchester, on the downside frugal bloggers don't buy perfume on a whim, from duty free. Do they?

Trafford Centre wish list

Off to the Trafford Centre with Em, she got a years worth of back pay yesterday - pay roll doing her saving for her! - so she is going to spend 10% and save the rest. She has promised me lunch, isn't she a huny!

Here is my wish list:
Barry M crackle polish









MAC Blushcreme in Uncommon (weird beige!)
























La Roche Posay Rosaliac Fortifying anti-redness moisturiser (redness on cheeks is doing my head in so want to have a look at this range if its in Boots)












Black suede boots, have the calves of a full back and usually struggle so fingers crossed!

Oh and one last, rather weird thing! Have got a hankering for Estee Lauder White Linen perfume. For some reason the smell has been haunting me for the last 2 days, yesterday it was driving me mad, kept getting a whiff of it and although it triggered a feeling that the smell created a memory, are you still with me?, I couldn't put my finger on what the smell was or the associated memory. This morning it was happening again and then all of a sudden it came to me, the smell was White Linen. I am a little concerned that yearning for an Estee Lauder perfume is the clearest indication yet that I am officially old?? Anyway am going to have a squirt on Saturday and see what happens. Fran, I apologise in advance and promise not to wear this if I am with you as I know you HATE it!

Actually I'd be interested to hear about your "scent memories". As everyone knows fragrance is very evocative - for Em Thierry Mugler's Alien is instantly the Emerald Hotel, Perth WA as it is what I wore every day we were in Australia, she only has to walk past some one wearing it and she says "Emerald Hotel, Perth" which I think is lovely. Do you have a scent memory? If so what is the perfume or smell, if its not a perfume, that triggers it and where are you the instant you smell it? I think my most powerful is honeysuckle, I am instantly 6 in bed, in the bungalow in St Keverne and its a warm summers evening and still light (being little I was in bed early!), the honeysuckle ran up past my bedroom window and on a warm evening, with the window open my bedroom was full of the smell of it. If you have a scent memory please share as I'd love to hear about it.

Holiday Haul - part 2 Clarins

Duty free 5am, what else are you going to do but shop! Had cleared a purchase of Clarins Multiactive day cream with his nibs; I have tried all sorts and always end up coming back to Clarins for moisturiser, I know its high end but having used a splash of their sensitive skin toner, a squirt of body shop sensitive skin serum and a bit of eye cream I really only need a smidge of this to make my skin feel, and smell, fantastic!


I was having a peruse then as I have used nearly all my Eau Dynamisant, which is my absolute go to fragrance, year after year - its fresh, clean, crisp and makes me feel happy. The Clarins lady who was testament to the power of their products, 5am she's at work and looks fresh as a daisy, pointed out that the Eau Dynamisant was £22 on its own or £23.95 with a body lotion. Bargain, no decision to be made!


And then because I had now spent over £50 I qualified for this

which contained these

Result! I love the Clarins hand cream (although now thanks to Nikki's Nails it has a rival, more of that later!) the moisturising mask is lovely but at £30 for a full sized tube I would be hard pushed to justify a purchase, although when Em's skin dried out really badly on hols and I gave her a mini facial - she is SOOO blessed to have me for her mum! she loved this and did suggest splitting the price of a tube, so maybe. The lip gloss isn't my sort of thing ordinarily but this was lovely on holiday and whilst I probably wont use it much in real life I will hang on to it for a bit longer as it adds a nice non-sticky shine to my usual Dior lip serum stuff.

Ladies - it's time to share!

In response to my News Flash email about the Boots Skin Serum:

(Usual price £4.99 at the moment two for £4 - the best skincare deal ever I suspect!)

I had loads of emails from my girls telling me what they are loving right now; Rebecca (who is a teacher and so will be FREAKED by my use of a semi-colon - teachers get off on that kind of thing!) is loving Benefit eyebrow pencils and blusher and Mary, who isn't a teacher but is old school when it comes to punctuation and correct grammar so will be loving it too, is rocking Barry M Turquoise nail varnish today as it matches her new top perfectly!


Aprpos of almost nothing - my Barry M collection, or at least the part of it I could get my hands on quickly on Friday! The Turquoise is the 4th from the left and the new pale blue made infamous by my hideous hand photos on Friday is the 5th!

So I thought well why don't we all share? If you find something you are loving and want to tell the world send me a quick email and I'll do a weekly, or monthly if you all refuse to talk to me!, round up of what is making us happy. Ok, so that's not really telling the world is it, but there will be about 8 ladies who will be really pleased you did share!

Or you can just leave a comment on this and future Sharing posts.

Posts on this blog are like buses aren't they, none for ages and then Wham! millions. Well, two anyway!
Happy weekend.

Oh and one last photo because sometimes we do get what we wish for:

All that ironing paid off!

Prada Infusion De Tubereus

Read about this online on Saturday and it sounded so lovely decided I had to try it on Sunday. The last time I read about a perfume and knew it would be perfect was Thierry Mugler's Alien - it was and I was obsessed with it for about a year and for me it will always remind me of our trip to Australia as I bought myself the shower gel and a replacement perfume in Dubai airport and every morning our bathroom smelt of Alien. It was the one perfume that I could guarantee that pretty much every time I wore it someone would comment on how lovely it was. I have the original Prada and I love it so I had a feeling that this would be a fave too.

Actually whilst typing this have just realised that the new Prada is similar in packaging in that Alien was in an Amethyst coloured glass bottle supposed to represent a precious stone and the perfume itself was lilac in colour, oh just noticed having uploaded the photo that this one is a lilac coloured perfume too! The packaging of the Infusion De Tubereus is right up my street - purple and Art Deco and utterly beautiful, you'd have to keep the box long after you had used the perfume!



Tell me that isn't beautiful?

As for the fragrance itself. It is divine. It is a floral but not a sweet cloying one, more oriental than sweet, when I was wearing it yesterday I was thinking it was a fat, voluptuous scent, which seemed strangely apt! The proper description, courtesy of boots.com is:

"An unexpected mix of Tuberose from India, Petitgrain Bigarade, Blood Orange from Italy and Dynamone combine to create Infusion de Tubéreuse, a delicate impression of this traditional scent. A playful tuberose mosaic inspired by an archive Prada print has taken over the presentation box, its charming naivety a reminder of the playfulness within. Instead of green, the leaves appear to have been dipped in a degradé mauve ink."

I loved how this smelt on me, the top notes were delicious - I could quite literally taste them in my mouth and then as the perfume dried down the smell was heady but not over bearing, the sort of thing that if someone walked past you wearing it you would follow them with your nose, actually quite a clean "powdery" without being old lady scent. Gad I am terrible at this aren't I - find it in Boots and give it a sniff! This is my latest "small object of desire". Something that I will lust after until I own it - which is very likely to be May 14th! God sometimes you just gotta love birthdays!!