When it comes to fragrance I don't ask for much - give me anything with a healthy dose of vanilla in and I'll happily douse myself in it. For that reason autumn/winter is by far my favourite time of year for perfume (though I have come to love spring for fresh, floral scents - Body Shop Moringa and upcoming Honeymania eau de toilette I'm looking at you) when sweet, comforting scents are perfect for enveloping yourself in sugar-y warmth on cold days. I've had all of these perfumes stashed safely away since last year, and have had a few even longer than that - they've lasted me well because I don't wear expensive fragrance every day, but instead save it for the weekend/going out, and for everyday will just use something like a cheapy Body Shop eau de toilette (not to be snubbed, they all smell amazing).
Body Shop Brazil Nut/Shea Body Mists (£7.50) & Eau de Toilettes (£8.50)
For years I stayed faithful to the Boots Natural Collection Vanilla body mist (which truth be told still has a special place in my heart), and also loved the Body Shop's old-range vanilla eau de toilette and body mist (now sadly discontinued). However, since TBS released their comprehensive, affordable fragrance range in an array of delicious flavours earlier this year, I decided to branch out, step away from the vanilla and go for something a bit more subtle and sophisticated in the form of their Brazil Nut and Shea offerings. I picked up all of these during a recent 50% off flash sale with a view to them seeing me through the A/W season - I like to spritz myself all over with the body mist before getting dressed, then apply edt to pulse points to top up the scent. I absolutely love their Shea body range (in particular the body butter and soap) and have heard amazing things about the Brazil Nut products, so without so much as a sniff in store I clicked 'add to basket'. Not altogether a wise move. The Brazil Nut lucked out; a delectable, sweet scent with notes of chocolate and caramel which I know I'll get a lot of use out of; the Shea - not so much. For some reason, when translated into a spray-on fragrance, the gorgeous nutty scent that I normally love transforms into something very masculine - a huge disappointment to me, but a bonus for my boyfriend who I passed these on to (I have to say they smell really nice on him and as they've saved him a bit of money on aftershave, I'll see it as a silver lining). The moral? Try before you buy.
Prada Candy 50ml (£56)
Onto the pricier options - the first of the three pictured being Prada's original Candy fragrance (they've since brought out a lighter version which of course I'm keen to try). Described as an elegant mix of musks, with a heart of sensual balsamic vanilla and benzoin and a base of sweet modern caramel, given the name and my love of sweet things this was always going to be my cup of tea. This truly was love at first sniff, two years ago, in Leicester's Highcross Debenhams. I was with my boyfriend at the time (who had come to visit while I was staying with my parents for the summer) and it was actually him that stopped for a sample as we were leaving the store - we both fell in love with the intoxicating, sweet caramel scent and he promptly announced that, by hook or by crook, he would get it for me (aww). And so it was that on Christmas day I unwrapped my very own bottle of pink Prada goodness - I really do love the packaging of this (it's fun and a bit different while still looking luxurious/expensive) and of course the scent, which to me is very much vanilla/caramel, but manages to be mellow as well as sweet making it very wearable and explains why it is now down to it's last few spritzes! I'd say the only downpoint to this is that (for such an expensive purchase) the scent doesn't last that long on the skin and does need to be reapplied throughout the day.
Nina Ricci Snow Princess 80ml Limited Edition (£52)
I've just spritzed this on for the purposes of writing this blog post and had forgotten how much I love it. I wore the original Nina fragrance (described as an elegant floral-fruity gourmand of candied fruits, praline and vanilla) all through my teens, so when they brought out a limited edition version for Christmas 2011 I had to have it (I remember my poor mum hunting high and low for this before finally finding a few left in John Lewis). The same gorgeous sweet citrus-y scent housed in a snowy-white bottle with gold accents; I can't tell you how chuffed I was to find this under the tree that year. Sparkly and spontaneous like laughter, with fresh citrus notes of lemon and lime, this is a fragrance that works all year round, but I like to save it as a treat for during the winter months as the winter-y bottle looks so pretty adorning my dressing table. As this was limited edition it's no longer available in stores, but as always a little searching on Ebay/Amazon might just unearth some hidden gems.
Dior Hypnotic Poison 30ml (£38.50)
I've saved the best till last here - with the heaviest dose of vanilla, Dior's Hypnotic Poison has got to be my favourite of the three; it's difficult to actually put into words my love for this one. Last holiday season I and my friend were perusing the perfumes in Debenhams (possibly killing time before a film, I can't remember) and it was actually her that picked this one out to try - I'm so glad she did because it's not one that would normally have caught my eye, but this is right up my street. Vanilla and more vanilla blended with intoxicating bitter almond and carvi, opulent Sambac and jasmine, mysterious Jacarandra and sensuous musk making for a fragrance that manages to be sophisticated and grown up as well as super sweet. I eventually bought this while staying with my aunt in London last Christmas with my sister, from the Perfume Shop on Oxford St, a couple of shops down from the massive Selfridges. I love going to London at that time of year even if it's just for window shopping as all the lights and decorations are so beautiful; and this fragrance always brings back memories of that now.
Writing this post has really rekindled my love for these perfumes and I can't wait to start wearing them again now that the temperature has dropped a little (I've worn my winter coat a couple of times already this week). So what's on my lust list for autumn/winter fragrance-wise? I already mentioned Prada Candy's little sister L'eau de Natural which I'm eager to get my mits on, but topping the charts is of course Marc Jacobs' Honey. My obsession with everything and anything honey-related grows daily - I've tested this in store and fallen in love with both the rounded sweet/floral scent and of course the super cute bottle, so this has gone straight to the top of my Christmas list for 2013!
Body Shop Brazil Nut/Shea Body Mists (£7.50) & Eau de Toilettes (£8.50)
For years I stayed faithful to the Boots Natural Collection Vanilla body mist (which truth be told still has a special place in my heart), and also loved the Body Shop's old-range vanilla eau de toilette and body mist (now sadly discontinued). However, since TBS released their comprehensive, affordable fragrance range in an array of delicious flavours earlier this year, I decided to branch out, step away from the vanilla and go for something a bit more subtle and sophisticated in the form of their Brazil Nut and Shea offerings. I picked up all of these during a recent 50% off flash sale with a view to them seeing me through the A/W season - I like to spritz myself all over with the body mist before getting dressed, then apply edt to pulse points to top up the scent. I absolutely love their Shea body range (in particular the body butter and soap) and have heard amazing things about the Brazil Nut products, so without so much as a sniff in store I clicked 'add to basket'. Not altogether a wise move. The Brazil Nut lucked out; a delectable, sweet scent with notes of chocolate and caramel which I know I'll get a lot of use out of; the Shea - not so much. For some reason, when translated into a spray-on fragrance, the gorgeous nutty scent that I normally love transforms into something very masculine - a huge disappointment to me, but a bonus for my boyfriend who I passed these on to (I have to say they smell really nice on him and as they've saved him a bit of money on aftershave, I'll see it as a silver lining). The moral? Try before you buy.
Prada Candy 50ml (£56)
Onto the pricier options - the first of the three pictured being Prada's original Candy fragrance (they've since brought out a lighter version which of course I'm keen to try). Described as an elegant mix of musks, with a heart of sensual balsamic vanilla and benzoin and a base of sweet modern caramel, given the name and my love of sweet things this was always going to be my cup of tea. This truly was love at first sniff, two years ago, in Leicester's Highcross Debenhams. I was with my boyfriend at the time (who had come to visit while I was staying with my parents for the summer) and it was actually him that stopped for a sample as we were leaving the store - we both fell in love with the intoxicating, sweet caramel scent and he promptly announced that, by hook or by crook, he would get it for me (aww). And so it was that on Christmas day I unwrapped my very own bottle of pink Prada goodness - I really do love the packaging of this (it's fun and a bit different while still looking luxurious/expensive) and of course the scent, which to me is very much vanilla/caramel, but manages to be mellow as well as sweet making it very wearable and explains why it is now down to it's last few spritzes! I'd say the only downpoint to this is that (for such an expensive purchase) the scent doesn't last that long on the skin and does need to be reapplied throughout the day.
Nina Ricci Snow Princess 80ml Limited Edition (£52)
I've just spritzed this on for the purposes of writing this blog post and had forgotten how much I love it. I wore the original Nina fragrance (described as an elegant floral-fruity gourmand of candied fruits, praline and vanilla) all through my teens, so when they brought out a limited edition version for Christmas 2011 I had to have it (I remember my poor mum hunting high and low for this before finally finding a few left in John Lewis). The same gorgeous sweet citrus-y scent housed in a snowy-white bottle with gold accents; I can't tell you how chuffed I was to find this under the tree that year. Sparkly and spontaneous like laughter, with fresh citrus notes of lemon and lime, this is a fragrance that works all year round, but I like to save it as a treat for during the winter months as the winter-y bottle looks so pretty adorning my dressing table. As this was limited edition it's no longer available in stores, but as always a little searching on Ebay/Amazon might just unearth some hidden gems.
Dior Hypnotic Poison 30ml (£38.50)
I've saved the best till last here - with the heaviest dose of vanilla, Dior's Hypnotic Poison has got to be my favourite of the three; it's difficult to actually put into words my love for this one. Last holiday season I and my friend were perusing the perfumes in Debenhams (possibly killing time before a film, I can't remember) and it was actually her that picked this one out to try - I'm so glad she did because it's not one that would normally have caught my eye, but this is right up my street. Vanilla and more vanilla blended with intoxicating bitter almond and carvi, opulent Sambac and jasmine, mysterious Jacarandra and sensuous musk making for a fragrance that manages to be sophisticated and grown up as well as super sweet. I eventually bought this while staying with my aunt in London last Christmas with my sister, from the Perfume Shop on Oxford St, a couple of shops down from the massive Selfridges. I love going to London at that time of year even if it's just for window shopping as all the lights and decorations are so beautiful; and this fragrance always brings back memories of that now.
Writing this post has really rekindled my love for these perfumes and I can't wait to start wearing them again now that the temperature has dropped a little (I've worn my winter coat a couple of times already this week). So what's on my lust list for autumn/winter fragrance-wise? I already mentioned Prada Candy's little sister L'eau de Natural which I'm eager to get my mits on, but topping the charts is of course Marc Jacobs' Honey. My obsession with everything and anything honey-related grows daily - I've tested this in store and fallen in love with both the rounded sweet/floral scent and of course the super cute bottle, so this has gone straight to the top of my Christmas list for 2013!
What are your favourite fragrances for autumn/winter?
Or do you have a signature scent that you stick with all year-round?
Chandra
x
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