Burberry Brit Red Perfume Review

Burberry is renowned for doing very casual and wearable everyday scents. Nothing fancy about them at all. Most of their perfumes has this classic trademark Burberry plaid design on their packaging that just screams British charm.

Burberry Brit Red came out as a special edition in 2004 in a vibrant red plaid packaging which instantly puts you in the mood for the Holidays and celebration.

BURBERRY: Brit red by burberry is a special edition fragrance with that fun, exciting playful british attitude. The vivacious red bottle is a perfect blend of oriental fruits with sensual florals. The feminine scent possesses a blend of mandarin, red rose, gingerbread, patchouli, jasmine,sandalwood, vanilla beans.

 It is marketed as an oriental floral. Some of the notes include red roses, spices, Jasmine, rhubarb , gingerbread and vanilla. the nose behind this sensual fragrance is Nathalie Gracia-Cetto who also created the famous Burberry Brit.

First of all I must say that Brit Red is not at all similar to the original Brit, but does share it's trait of juicy tart opening which  then settles into a warm vanilla scent. The opening of brit Red is juicy Rhubarb and ginger, which makes it somewhat sharp but by no means unpleasant. The sharp opening settles very quickly and makes way for the warm gingerbread  and cuddly vanilla mixed in with benzoin. I didn't detect any Jasmine or thankfully too strong a patchouli on my skin. Just roses, gingerbread and lots of Rhubarb.The spices reminds one of the spicy scents lingering in the kitchen during Christmas when you bake tons of gingerbread or ginger cookies and throw in a rhubarb pie.

It's a cheerful winter fragrance for anyone who loves spicy Christmas puddings, ginger bread and rhubarb. The addition of roses and sandalwood makes it interesting and not your average foody vanilla scent. It remains linear on my skin after the sharp juicy notes fade and I really enjoy that. The drydown is soft and cuddly with hints of vanilla and sandalwood. The silage is not overpowering and the lasting strength is excellent.

My 3.4FLoz bottle costs about $68 from Fragrance X.com

Perfume Category: Oriental Floral

Top Notes: Jasmine, Mandarin Orange, Rhubarb

Middle Notes: Ginger, Rose, Patchouli 

Base Notes: Benzoin and vanilla

Great for : Day or nights in winters especially around Christmas :)

Images: weheartit and bloggers own

L'Occitane Miel Citron Pailletee Shimmering EDT review

It would be an understatement to say that I love honey scents. Now that I think about it, most of my shower gels lip balms and and shampoos contain either pure honey or honey mixed in with some other scent like milk or vanilla etc. I find the scent very soothing and nostalgic. Full of childhood memories when honey was given with warm milk at night accompanied by a bed time story, as a treat straight out of the jar oozing strands of golden goodness, or mixed into a hot drink with lemon to ward off  winter colds.So it's no surprise that I'm forever searching for perfumes with a strong honey note, but unfortunately it is also a very tricky note and with the wrong composition can get sickeningly sweet and synthetic with disastrous results.

 I know from experience that L'Occitane en Provence makes some of the best honey scented products. Their Miel creme was the best smelling honey nectar scent EVER!! You can imagine how crushed I was when I read that the whole ''honey'' line had been discontinued. PETA was down their throats because L'Occitane claim to be an "all natural" product store and were wondering why they weren't concerned about the declining Bee population!!! Fine fine! Long live Provençal honey bees :) But that also meant that I had very little chance to find this lovely honey scent called Eau de Miel.I mean, how can you not like a perfume that comes in an ice cream container?! It was alcohol free and I had previously used the cream version of it and was so looking forward to owning it's perfume.

The next best thing was their famous Miel and Citron (honey and lemon)

This was a citrus gourmand with notes of cinnamon, vanilla and patchouli. This too was discontinued. Oh PETA how I loathe thee.
Luckily I came across another discontinued beauty from them called Miel and Citron Pailletee shimmering on ebay and managed to get my mitts on this one.

I cannot capture the beauty of this bottle in pictures. This is happiness in a bottle. It has such an airy, sunny outdoorsy quality to it. Reminds me of sunny days and honey hives. Bees buzzing through blossoms gathering their sweet nectar. Miel Citron Pailletee has notes of Lemon, cut grass, Freesia,honey, orange blossom, Apricot and Vanilla.

 I know honey and lemon makes one think of cold remedy teas but this is gorgeous.The lemon is very fresh in the opening and cuts through the honey beautifully.Honey and apricot notes takes over right away.The honey is very clean, light and natural. More of the white honey variety than the rich golden one.White chewy honey fresh from the hive with wax still sticking to it. Freesia doesn't make an appearance on my skin at all. Just lemon and honey and maybe a wee bit of vanilla mixed in with some natural green notes. It's not a complicated fragrance with mish mash of too many notes trying to take up the stage. It lasts a long time for an EDT and the drydown is honey ambrosia with a slight waxy feel to it. Simply gorgeous.

 It comes in a beautiful honeycomb textured bottle with very fine shimmering mica pieces. Not at all glittery and doesn't leave your skin with that disco ball effect. I wish there was such a thing as scratch and sniff computer screens so I could share this with you. Can't stop smelling myself :)


Have you tried perfumes from L'Occitane en Provence? Do you think they should relaunch their honey line?

L'Occitane en Provence

Image source: Bloggers own and google images.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words. Featured Artist: FIFI Flowers

One lazy afternoon while browsing around Etsy stores, I came across a very talented artist and fell in love with her colorful happy artwork immediately. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the name Fifi Flowers, but for me she is a new discovery.Fifi Flowers owns the Etsy store FifiFlowers and describes her artwork as a delicious blend of color, whimsy, fun and a bit of “Parisian flair.” You can also check out her beautiful creations on her website HERE

Plaza Red Balcony Breakfast

Bicycle with Ornaments

Eiffel View Montmartre

Cheers to the Holidays

Christmas stockings

Venice Gondolas 

Venice Bridge Private Entrance

Georgetown Afternoon

Rainy Engagement

Provence Bicycle

Resort Entrance

Her paintings are so colorful and happy that it's hard not to smile...

Painted Watering cans

Paris is definitely her favorite subject ...

Fifi Paints Paris

Le Champ De Mars cafe

Celebration Balcony in Paris

Red Umbrella along the Seine

Blue Art studio

Pink Balloons 

Red Parisian Christmas Bicycle

French Courtyard Table

Painting along the Seine 

Pink sparkly shoes In Paris

Paris Morning window

Daydream4

Laduree

Macarons in the Window

Parisian dance Studio

Sacre Couer Neighborhood 

Chanel

La Mercerie

Pink ShowGirl

Patisserie

Paris rooftop scenes 

And has an obvious Love for French Cafes...

Apts in Paris

Cafe creme Dreaming

Morretes2

Bleu Creperie

Ooh Lala New Cafe

Cafe Menu

Eiffel reflection Wine Cafe

la Rotonde

Morning News Avec Croissant et Cafe Creme

Daydream 16

Reading the Newspaper in a Paris cafe

Red Curtain Cafe

Cafe De France

Blue Chez Marie

Has a thing for Picnics...

Beautiful table Scapes...

Beverley tea

Strawberries and Champagne Romance

Lily dining

Valentine's tea Party

Breakfast On The Terrace

Mimosa Balcony Paris

Sal's Bistro Breakfast Room

Which ones do you like...?

Pink Trees along the Seine 

Vespa in the City
A little something for Audrey Hepburn's 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' Fans...

Holly Golightly and Cat move to Paris

Holly Door

Holly Golightly Sleeping with Cat

Holly Golightly Breakfast1

All Framed Up...

I love this one....

Holly Golightly Breakfast2

Holly Golightly Moonriver Guitar

A bit more of Paris...

Moulin Rouge in Montmartre

Three Femmes Reading In paris

Autumn Wine

Reading


Carousals just make me happy :)*Please insert carnival music here*

 Whimsical Interiors...

Window seat pillow in Paris

Libraries

Chocolatier Bar

Resort Time4

Fifi Vanity

Lime Door

Paris Apartment

Dream Bed

Garden Chair

Pink Mirror

Red Chandelier Pink Chaise

Striped Draperie Paris balcony

Luxury In Bed

The Beach Series....

East coast Beach1

East Coast Beach2

Sand Bar

Poolside Sunbathing

Resort time2

Beach Chairs6

The Breeze inn cottage

Im hooked on these fantastic book marks at her Etsy store..
These are $10 each and make great gifts

Front and Back

Front and Back

Front and Back

She also sells miniature paintings..

Frameable note-cards, calenders and also works on commission. Just give her a picture of just about anything and Fifi will turn it into a beautiful painting. She also ships internationally at very reasonable rates.

Fifi Plants a Paris Garden

Fifi's Confession

Fifi believes life should be full of WHIMSY and FUN... beautiful things that surround her daily life are what inspire her to paint!

Fifi has a bachelor's degree in Art and a minor in Art History from California Polytechnic University and attended UCLA Film School for Production Design.