Dolce and Gabbana L’Impératrice 3 Review

L’Impératrice means The Empress in French, which reminds one of a dark, woody, oriental fragrance fit for a queen. D&G L’Impératrice is the total opposite of this. Playful, clean, fruity but not too sweet, it's the perfect scent to welcome summers.

source

 I love watermelon and must applause the watermelon note used in this. Mostly watermelon in scents tend to smell excessively sweet and artificial, but here the juiciness and watery freshness of a perfectly ripe,watermelon is captured perfectly.

source

 L’Impératrice 3 is a  fruity, linear scent on me, with a hint of tart Rhubarb. None of the floral notes make an appearance which is a tad bit disappointing, as I would have loved to experience the blooming of jasmine to give the scent some depth. I'm not complaining though. I'm enjoying this delicious mix of watermelon/kiwi/rhubarb cocktail with a bit of creamy musk in the drydown.

The lasting power is less than average, it is a eau de toilette after all, but I find the heavy, chunky glass bottle hard to carry around in a bag for reapplication. And yes!reapply you must, many, many times throughout the day. That said, D&G L'Imperatrice is indeed a summer fragrance that's easy to wear and inoffensive to most people's noses. 

Category: fruity/floral/aquatic

Top Notes: Pink Pepper, Kiwi , Rhubarb

Middle Notes: Jasmine, Cyclamen, Watermelon

Base Notes: Musk, Sandalwood, Lemon Tree

Good for: Spring/summer. Day/casual.

Dolce and Gabanna L’Impératrice 3 is part of their Anthology line, and is available in 300ml EDT for $55 to $80.

source

So if summertime to you means lazing outdoors with a good book,the sound of water sprinklers, the scent of cut grass, the clinking of ice in a lemonade pitcher, and cold juicy watermelon wedges, then give this fragrance a try.

source

source

source

TAG: 7 Deadly Sins Of Beauty

Hey everyone .The 7 deadly sins tag has been doing the rounds in both blogging and YouTube communities for a while now. So when the lovely pooja from Beauty Brains and Brawns tagged me to do this post I jumped right in. I have enjoyed reading/watching all your answers. Here's my take on it. Enjoy!

1. GREED- What are your cheapest and most expensive beauty products?

Nivea eye shadow duo
Got this online for 99 cents. Didn't even know Nivea had a makeup line.

Urban Decay Naked Palette

Most expensive would be a perfume. But when talking beauty products, it's the naked palette

2. WRATH- Which beauty product you have love/hate relationship with? Name it.

Nars Laguna
Love it as a bronzer, hate it as a contour powder, which is why I originally got it for. Hello orange undertones.

3. GLUTTONY- What is your most delicious beauty product?

Lush Soft Couer Massage Bar
This is actually an edible product. Honey, toffee scent, filled with real dark chocolate. Yum! Not that I eat it or anything :)

4. SLOTH- What beauty products do you neglect because of laziness?

Urban Decay De slick.
Only because I keep it in the bottom drawer, and sometimes when in a hurry, it's just too much of an effort to stoop all the way down to get it :P Time to change it's place.

5 PRIDE- What beauty product gives you more confidence?

Tangle Teezer
For me, a bad hair day is a sure confidence snatcher. Sometimes good things really do come in small packages. I haven't had a bad hair day since I  bought this seemingly ordinary looking plastic bristle brush. So worth the hype.

6 LUST- What traits do you find attractive in the opposite sex?

Since it's lust, I'll concentrate on purely physical traits i.e. a nice smile, and bedroom eyes ;)

Google image

7 ENVY- What item would you most like to receive as a gift?

source
Too Faced Sweet Dreams Palette
This was a limited edition and almost impossible to find now.

source

In the end, I have to pass on the tag to seven beautybloggers. I tag thee:
EianesXOXO
Glamarama
Segments Of Life
Pyari Beauty
Vivacious Flair
Bower of Bliss
Beauty Traveller

Spring Scents

Now that the winter’s gone, the earth hath lost

Her snow-white robes; and now no more the frost
Candies the grass, or casts an icy cream
Upon the silver lake or crystal stream:
But the warm sun thaws the benumbed earth,
And makes it tender; gives a sacred birth
To the dead swallow; wakes in hollow tree
The drowsy cuckoo and the humble-bee.
Now do a choir of chirping minstrels bring,
In triumph to the world, the youthful spring:
The valleys, hills, and woods in rich array
Welcome the coming of the long’d-for May.
Now all things smile: only my love doth lower,
Nor hath the scalding noon-day sun the power
To melt that marble ice, which still doth hold
Her heart congeal’d, and makes her pity cold.
The ox, which lately did for shelter fly
Into the stall, doth now securely lie
In open fields; and love no more is made
By the fire-side, but in the cooler shade
Amyntas now doth with his Chloris sleep
Under a sycamore, and all things keep
Time with the season: only she doth carry
June in her eyes, in her heart January _ Thomas Carew

JO MALONE WILD BLUEBELL

I admit, the imagery of the advert lured me in. It's like falling down the rabbit hole, onto Alice's wonderland. A somewhat old fashioned,clean and delicate fragrance.

Vibrant sapphire blooms in a shaded woodland. The delicate sweetness of dewy bluebells suffused with lily of the valley and eglantine, and a luscious twist of persimmon. A mesmerising fragrance. (source)
Top notes: bluebell and cloves 
Heart: lily of the valley, jasmine, rose hip 
Base: white amber and musk


HANAE MORRI BUTTERFLY

This is very pretty, and a must have for all gourmand lovers. The playfulness of fluttering butterflies captured in a bottle.

The fragrance is a rare blend of berries and flowers, with a distinctive tone of strawberries and almond, giving an impression of vanilla. The bottle's top is distinctly made from glass, a first for any fragrance. The top represents the beauty and delicate shape of a butterfly with folded wings. (source)

Notes:
Strawberries, Bilberries, Black Currant, Bulgarian Rose, Jasmine, Ylang-Ylang, Sandalwood, Almond, Praline.


LANCOME MIRACLE

Launched in 2000, miracle has always amazed me on how just one note can play a key role in changing the entire composition. In this case, it's ginger. Clean and zingy, it works beautifully to lend a certain freshness and modernity to the perfume, saving it from becoming too sweet or spicy.Beautiful.

Miracle is modern, oriental fragrance with fruity opening (litchi); slightly spiced flowery heart (magnolia, jasmine, ginger and pepper); and powdery base of musk and amber. (source)
Notes:
Litchi, Freesia, Magnolia, Ginger, Mandarin orange, Pink pepper, Jasmine, Amber and Musk

GUERLAIN AQUA ALLEGORIA FLOWER NYMPHEA

 All honey lovers rejoice. This perfume has a sunny, happy feel to it. The magic of just three notes, has developed it into a scent, that captures how a nymph from a fairy tale would smell like.

Lose yourself in the story of enchanting orange blossom, with hints of honey in its folds, mingling with delicate petals of the Syringa. This fruity floral tells a wonderful allegory of a springtime garden diffusing the gracious scents of nature, light and absolutely addictive. (source)
Notes:
Orange Blossom, Syringa, Honey.

L`EAU DE CHLOE BY CHLOE

Crisp, fresh outdoors interpreted into a perfume. Clean and uncomplicated. A sure crowd pleaser for the warmer months. 

 L 'eau de chloe features sparkling citrus accords reminiscent of refreshing lemonade, accords of rose petals and natural distilled rose water that give a dewy character to the fragrance, and warm and elegant veil provided by patchouli. It's an utterly innate sense of chic with the fresh feeling of springtime pastels, light dresses, and rose petals. (source)

Notes:

Grapefruit, Peach, Violet, Rose Petals, Natural Water of Rose, Cedarwood, Patchouli, Amber.

OMNIA CORAL

A pretty fruity/floral. Very similar to Marc Jacob's Eau so Fresh. Coral is all the rage in makeup and clothing this season, so why not a perfume? A pleasant enough scent. But, why Bvlgari discontinued the original Omnia is beyond me.

A radiant, floral-fruity eau de toilette, this utterly joyful fragrance bursts with tasty colors, juicy undertones, and an abundance of flowers. The fragrance opens with a fresh sensation of sparkling bergamot and fruity goji berries. An unexpected blend of flowers comes forward in the heart notes. The brightly colored orange hibiscus, a flower of great originality and tropical warmth, is set against the water lily, a flower with luminous and transparent floral accents that carry gentle watery undertones. As the fragrance dries down, juicy pomegranate allies with the depth of cedar wood and musks. These notes create a smooth, enveloping trail that adds a light, sensual nuance to a joyful and colorful scent.. (source)

Notes:
Bergamot, Goji Berries, Hibiscus Flower, Water Lily, Pomegranate, Cedar Wood. 

DKNY Sweet Delicious Creamy Meringue

 Dessert lovers, If you fancy the aroma of lemon meringue pie, get this. Enough said. 

DKNY sweet delicious is inspired by cupcakes, and comes in 3 scents: creamy meringue, pink macaroon and tart key lime. Limited edition and not released  in USA.

A zesty citrus blend of lemon cream, bergamot and scrumptious 'crepe Suzette' mingled with a delicate pinch of yellow freesia and a burst of passion flower. (source)

Notes:

Bergamot, Amalfi lemon, custard, sweetnotes, Freesia, Frangipani, Passionflower, Musk, Cedar and Amber.

Launching this April...

THE BODY SHOP Summer fragrance collection

The new fragrances are summer versions of The Body Shop's popular fragrance collections. Dreams Unlimited Sun Fresh is a sparkling floral with hints of mandarin, ocean andwatermelon. White Musk Sun Glow is a fresh take on the original White Musk fragrances with notes of lemon, peony and musk. Love Etc...Sun Kiss is a fruity floral withsandalwood, amber and jasmine.Each fragrance is available in a limited edition Eau De Toilette and a limited edition Body Puree. (source)

MARC JACOBS DOT

 The composition has been announced as floral-fruity, surrounded with exotic notes of coconut and wrapped in soft vanilla embrace. (source)

“I glanced out the window at the signs of spring. The sky was almost blue, the trees were almost budding, the sun was almost bright.” 
― Millard Kaufman, Bowl of Cherries

ALL IMAGES BY GOOGLE

L'Occitane Cherry Blossom Perfume Review

Growing up in beautiful Quetta valley, I remember cherry blossoms meant another new school year, and an end to long icy winters. There was nothing  more pleasurable than sitting under an umbrella of fluffy, pale pink cherry blossoms, and reading your favorite book. Boughs heavy, laden with fragrant blossoms, pink petals covering the ground like snowflakes, Wafts of scented air all around you, and wishing if only cherry blossom season could last forever. It was like being in Dr. Seuss world, pink trees and all.

I wasn't too excited when I first saw this perfume. I'm sure you'll agree with me here that cherry blossom fragrance has been done to death. Pick up any brand and you will find some kind of product featuring this scent. Be it candles, body mists, lotions, shampoos or soaps. I have been lucky enough to grow up with the scents of apple, almond and cherry blossoms around me, and know their distinctive fragrance quite well. Sadly, most of these cherry blossom scented products do NOT smell like real cherry blossom at all.
It's not an easy scent to capture, it's quite abstract, and no, it does not smell of sugary sweet cherries that most brands have us believe with their never ending lines of generic smelling products.
Cherry blossoms have a green smell, with a touch of soft fresh floral which is hard to describe. I think L' Occitane did a very good job at capturing that scent.

A fresh and floral fragrance that celebrates the beauty of the cherry blossoms during the first days of spring. 

 Cherry Blossom (Fleurs de Cerisier) eau de toilet was launched in spring of 2007.Cherry blossom is an evitable part of the spring South France landscape, so this perfume represents the scent of an early spring. Cherry note is accompanied by freesia, black currant, lily-of-the-valley, rose tree, amber and musk. It is available as 100 ml EDT, 10 gr solid perfume and additional body care line, as well as scented candles. (source)

In Provence, cherry tree blossoms create a magical landscape of light pink flowers. L'OCCITANE's best selling fresh and floral fragrance range celebrates the poetic beauty of Cherry Blossom and its delicate flowers during the first days of spring. 

L' Occitane's cherry blossom starts off green and airy, reminiscent of a mild, fresh spring day. After a while, delicate soft florals make an appearance, freesia being most prominent. Thankfully, none of the fruity notes appeared on my skin, which I think would have made the scent too sweet.

 It's a beautiful skinscent that stays green and clean with the lightest touch of musk. Delicate and easy to wear throughout the hottest of weathers. The lasting power of the solid perfume is amazing. The best cherry blossom in my opinion.

CATEGORY: FLORAL

TOP NOTES: Cherry, Freesia, Lily-of-the-valley, Black Currant, Brazilian Rosewood

BASE NOTES: Amber, Musk, Cherry blossom 

GOOD FOR: Spring/Summer. Day/Casual.

Available at L'Occitane's website for $12 for the solid perfume

All Images by Google