Fancy by Jessica Simpson perfume review

Fancy by Jessica Simpson. Launched in 2008, this oriental/vanilla fragrance is a sexy, luscious gourmand that is as alluring as it is feminine. Perfumer alexis dadier whips up a delectable scent, with top notes of pear, apricot and red berries; middle notes of gardenia, jasmine, almond and caramel; with sensuous base notes of sandalwood, vanilla and amber. 

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To be honest, when I first tested this perfume a few years back, I wasn't too excited. Sniffed it at a store, rolled my eyes, and thought to myself, another toothache in a bottle. Didn't even spray it on my skin. It took a second sniffing for me to change my mind. A few months after, I was at a friends's place and we decided to go out for dinner. I borrowed her scarf as it had gotten quite chilly. The entire night I couldn't help nuzzling my nose in that scarf. It just smelled heavenly. I was so surprised when my friend told me it was fancy. It wasn't a bit like how I remembered it. Another reason to always test perfume on the skin so it can bloom.

The very next day, I got me a full sized bottle. It's just gorgeous for cold winter days. Fancy opens fruity with strong hints of berries and apricot. I must admit, I don't particularly enjoy the opening hence the hate at first sniff at the store earlier. The fruits are too syrupy sweet for my liking. But be patient. Give it time and the scent develops into a warm sensual blend of toasted almonds and creamy buttery caramel with hints of soft vanilla. The Jasmine and Gardenia never appear on my skin. I wish they did.

 The bottle just reminds me of a wedding cake waiting to be cut. It's foody, sweet and fun. Not to be taken seriously. I find it a tad heavy to wear in summers, but it's deliciously thick and warm  for colder months. The price is just right. I just wish it had a better name."Fancy" just doesn't sound right. The dry-down is quite similar to Burberry Brit.

Category: Oriental/ Vanilla/Gourmand

Top Notes: Pear, Apricot, Red berries

Middle Notes: Gardenia, Jasmine, Caramel, toasted almonds

Base Notes: Amber, sandalwood and Vanilla.

Good For: Daytime/casual/ Fall/Winter

Available at most departmental stores for: $26-$28 for 3.4

Flankers L to R: Fancy Love, Fancy, Fancy Nights, I Fancy You. Google image

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Wonderstruck by Taylor Swift

Recently I had the opportunity to test a sample of Tayler Swift's first perfume and wanted to share my thoughts on it. First of all I LOVE the bottle :)It's a purple bottle that Taylor is supposed to have handpicked herself, and is adorned with gold charms and Swift's signature.
Sephora describes it as: 
Taylor's inspirational life experiences inspired this fragrance. Just like her creative approach to songwriting, every element is authentic, embracing all that is special about Taylor.
Wonderstuck is an awe-inspiring feeling. It could be a connection with someone or a rush you get when you experience something magical. Wonderstruck is also a lyric in the song "Enchanted" on Taylor's album Speak Now.
All images by google:

It looks like the market for this perfume is going to be huge. In less than 24 hours, more than 50,000 people “Liked” the ad on Swift’s Facebook page.

The Wonderstruck name comes from Swift’s song ‘Enchanted.

 The fragrance is described as, “The flawless beauty of freesia, apple blossom and raspberry spark a swirl of vibrancy and feminine allure … In the heart, a sweet surprise of blissful vanilla is embellished by airy, sun drenched honeysuckle and white hibiscus … Notes of golden amber and sandalwood are woven with a kiss of lush peach.”

The tag line of the perfume is, "The beginning of something magical''.

source:popcrush.com

Perfume Category: Fruity Floral

Top Notes: Freesia, Tea, Raspberry, Dewberry, Apple Blossom

Middle Notes: Vanilla, Honeysuckle, Hibiscus 

Base Notes: Musk, Sandalwood, Amber and Peach

First of all I must say I absolutely love the bottle and the charms on it especially the birdcage one. Why do I always associate the color purple with magic and mystery? I would say the scent is pretty nice but nothing new. It's like a mix of Brittany Spears Midnight Fantasy and some other fruity Floral that I can't really  recall at the moment, mixed in with some peach notes. It is not overly sugary maybe because of the unsweetened tea note. It's a romantic gourmand with a nice sweet warmth too it. The raspberry and peach is what I can smell the most on my skin. I wasn't expecting something mind blowing from a celebrity scent so I'm not too disappointed. It's not a complex scent which makes it perfect for the targeted audience ( Mostly Taylor's fans) Buy it if you like sweet gourmand fruity florals. I will purchase it for the bottle alone :) 

It is available for $18 for the rollerball and $59 for the full sized bottle from Sephora 

Lovely Sarah Jessica Parker Perfume Review

Hello ladyyyyz. Hope everyone's enjoying a wonderful lazy Sunday. It has been drizzling here from time to time but this year we haven't experienced a proper monsoon in Islamabad as yet. Thats when it rains non-stop for days and the weather cools down significantly . It was extremely humid and hot a few days back and one could hardly breathe. The lake/dam outside my window has become more like an ugly swampland and cows graze there now lol. Last year the entire 9km lake filled up in one night due to flooding and the spill ways had to be opened. It was pretty scary.

Cows grazing

Sorry about the ramble. But I'm one of those people who lets the weather get the best of them. I will be reviewing a different sort of celebrity perfume today different in a sense that it`s not your average sweet sickly fume that celebrities usually churn out.It`s called lovely by sex and the city acclaimed actress Sarah Jessica Parker. I like the fact that Sarah claims to be involved in every step for making of this scent. From Inspiration, to notes, to packaging. Mostly celebrities just sign contracts with perfume houses to associate their names with fragrances as a self-promotion campaign for huge sums of money.

Lovely is the first fragrance by Sarah Jessica Parker (in partnership with Coty Inc.). Obsessed with style and fashion, Sarah always wanted to create a signature scent that would be very sexy and yet undeniably classy. She did not want her fragrance to be overpowering, but instantly recognizable, like infamous aromatic concoction she made for herself from 3 separate fragrances before she co-createdLovely.

Lovely is a soft, powdery, discrete and very intimate fragrance, announced as 'silky white amber'. It possesses an elegance characteristic of classic fragrances. And yet the fragrance is quite modern and very charming.

It opens with soft citruses (nectarine and bergamot) and woody (rosewood) notes, with a touch of lavender, which is very discrete and not at all sharp. The fragrance develops further with notes of apple martini, white daffodil and orchid. The base unites white amber, cedar, woody notes and white musk.

According to Sarah's words, the perfume is appropriate for all generations: 'from 17 to 107'. The fragrance was created by Laurent Le Guernec and Clement Gavarry in 2005 with Sarah herself being the creative director, actively participating in the process from its start to finish. (source fragrantica.com)

My small 1.7 FL OZ bottle

MY REVIEW: I absolutely adore "Lovely" by Sarah Jessica Parker. I immediately did a double take/sniff after smelling this for the first time. Ahhh! the swaying lavender fields of Provence.

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It`s a soft spicy lavender woody musk. I don`t experience all the notes on my skin. The prominent note is no doubt lavender. It`s perfect for warmer months when  fragrances that are too sweet gets cloying very quickly. It feels clean and fresh but not citrussy.It`s hard to tell from the bottle,but I find it`s a tad masculine too. If you look at the notes you will find most of them are used in men`s perfumes except for maybe the orchid. It can be unisex even though I cant imagine a guy buying something called lovely which is pink and comes in a bottle with a lavender ribbon around it :) The bottle is beautiful. Elegant and vintage in style. Interestingly, the drydown of lovely is exactly like  Narcisso Rodriguez For Her ( the pink bottle). So, if u like `for her' but find it too expensive this is very very similar. I`m surprised how perfumes tend to change the way they smell with the seasons. I find lovely does not work at all for the winters. It turns sharp and plastikcy  if there is such a word . Overall a great debut from SJP and can be enjoyed by all ages. It comes in a 50 ml bottle for $48, or 100 ml for $62.

Perfume Category: Floral Woody Musk.

TOP NOTES: Lavender, Bergamot, Mandarin

MIDDLE NOTES: Apple Martini, Rosewood, Paperwhites, Orchid

BASE NOTES: Patchouli, Musk, Cedar, Amber and Woods.

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 Off Topic: A collaborative effort titled, Outside My Window, is doing the rounds in quite a few blogs which I found interesting. Collection of pictures from all over the world of what people look at each day outside their window.

Glimpses from apartments in Paris, flats in Hong Kong, and backyards in North Carolina are shared with people in far away lands and aim to provide a peek of an everyday view. It doesn't have to be picturesqe or scenic that`s what makes it interesting. It can be anything even a plain brick wall is cute and funny. So I`m tagging all my followers (of course only if you are comfortable with the idea) to do a picture post titled Outside my window or whatever you want to name it.

Thanks to everyone who took the time out to view my post. Have a great Sunday.

Britney Spears Fantasy Perfume Review

Gaudy bottle check, teeny bopper  celebrity endorsement check, Way outta my comfort zone check. Did it stop me   from buying a bottle, emm...no.

This bottle is probably the ugliest  least favorite in my collection. Barbie pink with green swarovski crystals and a cheap looking plastic cap. Fantasy is the second release from Britney Spears under Elizabeth Arden. This is a very sweet gourmand. In perfume world, a gourmand scent is when the perfumer has used edible notes in making of  the perfume.

With time, I have come to really appreciate Fantasy. Despite the name and the gaudy bottle, Elizabeth Arden has done a very good job with it. I find my self reaching out for this a lot in spring and winters. It starts off fruity and then becomes creamier and creamier with time. The juicy kiwi note is the strongest on my skin and stays for a long time. The longevity of this perfume is amazing. I smell white chocolate and raspberries in the heart

 and the dry down is soft vanilla/cupcake accord and orris root. I failed to smell any jasmine or other flowers. Apply with a very light hand as its quite strong and can get too sweet if applied too much. It`s a must for gourmand lovers.
It literally grew on me. From ridiculing to loving, I have learned my lesson.

  This perfume`s claim to fame was the use of cupcake accord :) I think that`s cute.

Perfume Notes:- 

Top Notes: Kiwi, Red Litchi

Middle Notes: White chocolate, Jasmine and Orchid             
Base Notes: Musk, Cupcake Accord, Orris root, Woodsy Notes.    

GOOD FOR: Colder months, And people with a sweet tooth :)

After the success of fantasy she came up with these flankers below.

(From Left to right) Fantasy, Hidden Fantasy, Midnight Fantasy and Circus Fantasy
Image courtesy of google

GOURMAND SCENTS:   The trend of Gourmand scents was started by Thierry Muglar when he came up with  the infamous perfume ANGEL  in 1994. Thierry Mugler asked the perfumers to create a perfume that possesses the smell of a tender childhood memory at the fair, with notes of cotton candy, caramel, vanilla and chocolate.
The main notes of the fragrance are:
Bergamot, Jasmin, red currant, dewberry, honey, patchouli, vanilla, coumarine, chocolate and caramel.
For the sugary note of the cotton candy they used Maltol what makes an interesting combination with Helional an ozonic note resembling the electric ozonic smell around the bumping cars on the fair. For the jasmin note they used Hedione that has an aroma of jasmin and magnolia.
                   Another note used in some gourmand fragrances is almond milk and vanilla.Other notes used in gourmands are Coffee, Tea or Green tea, Cumcumber, Coconut etc  but also notes of whiskey or cognac. And of course the spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander etc. ( source erfumemaking.blogspot.com/2006/07/gourmand-fragrances.html )

J LO Sunkissed And Miami Glow Perfume Review

So today I`m reviewing two of my favorite glows from Jennifer Lopez`s line of glow perfumes i.e. miami glow, and sunkissed glow. She came out with the original JLO GLOW perfume a few years back and then followed with these two flankers. There is also  L.A glow, My glow, Glow after dark and the latest is Blue glow.(wew!)

L. Miami Glow, R. Sunkissed Glow

                                   

All the glow bottles are curved and comes with some kind of charm on them. These are both summery beachy scents perfect for taking along with you on a holiday.

Miami Glow

                                              

Jennifer Lopez said at the launch of this perfume that beside her home town, New York, Miami is her favorite city in the world. This is a really cute bottle and was a gift. The charm is a colorful thread bracelet with adorable gold flip flops. Very cute.At spraying you get a strong scent of coconut and passion fruit with hints of refreshing grapefruit. The coconut in this is subtle, but stays true till the end.It has an exotic feel to it. Very tropical and might I say it again, beachy.Somehow it evokes the image of lying on the beach on a hammock with an icy cold pina colada and waves lapping gently. Its coconuty and yummy for summertime.Sadly this has been discontinued, but you can still find it on ebay at ridiculous prices. Mine was a gift. 

Top notes: passion-fruit, coconut, grapefruit

Middle Notes: Cyclamen, heliotrope, orange blossom

Base notes: Amber, musk, vanilla

SUNKISSED GLOW

                                           

                                           
Sunkissed glow comes in a falcon with beautiful colors mimicking sunset on the beach. This too is a summery tropical scent and very similar to Miami glow. Except this one is fruitier with a pineapple note instead of coconut and the drydown is very nice. Sandalwood and sand accord. Imagine how they must have captured the scent of hot sand on the beach. Perfumers are very creative people. Its like pineapple, golden dunes of hot sand and a fruity cocktail with a colorful paper umbrella in it. Wrapped around the neck of the bottle is a pretty shell pendant. This too was a gift I think this may retail for Rs.3 to 4 thousand.

Good For: Summers. You will like these if you like sweet fruity tropical scents like summer escada limited editions.


Category: Fruity Floral

Perfume Notes:

Top Notes: Lily, passionflower, pineapple

Middle Notes: orange blossom, grapefruit

Base Notes: Hot sand accord, sandalwood, amber and musk.

image source google