Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains-Blog

From the Pure White Linen collection Estee Lauder introduces Pink Coral. 

Upon first spray, Pink Coral leaves you with a wiff of Jasmine, Camellia Flower, and Honeysuckle.  What else says summer like Honeysuckle?  

April showers bring May flowers. Let the sunshine in and the flowers bloom by entering for a chance to win the Marc Jacobs Daisy Gift Basket.

This charming fragrance set transports you to the playfully innocent world of Daisy. At the heart of Daisy is a lady-like floral with a vintage edge. Sophisticated violet captures the eclectic, feminine Marc Jacobs flavor, and adds a touch of whimsy. Daisy is always elegant, always enchanting, but not too serious—a sparkling bouquet that wraps spirited freshness in comfort and warmth.

The gift basket includes:

• Eau de Toilette Spray 
• Solid Perfume Ring in a gold pouch.
• Velvet Body Butter
• Bubbly Shower
• Purse Spray

ENTRY RULES:

Giveaway expires on midnight EST on April 30, 2009.  You may enter one email address per day.  One winner will be picked randomly by Contest Machine and will be notified by email.  The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the email.  If there is no response, Contest Machine will randomly pick another winner. 

The winner will receive Marc Jacobs Daisy gift basket.  United States and Canadian residents only. Please see our site’s Terms and Conditions of Use for a complete list of our Contest and Giveaway Rules. This promotion is void where prohibited by law. Fulfillment provided by sponsor.

Giveaway ended.  Winner:  Michelle

While it may not feel like spring yet, today is the first day of spring!  To celebrate, DKNY Fragrance is handing out its brand new fragrance DKNY Be Delicious Fresh Blossom and pink roses in front of Bloomingdale’s and DKNY on Madison Avenue in New York City.

Inspired by the apple blossom, DKNY’s fragrant new scent has the sweet smell of apple with a floral twist that will get anyone in the mood for the upcoming change of weather!

Entry Rules

Giveaway expires on midnight EST on March 27, 2009.  You may enter only one email address.  One winner will be picked randomly by Contest Machine and will be notified by email.  The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the email.  If there is no response, Contest Machine will randomly pick another winner. 

The winner will receive DKNY Be Delicious Fresh Blossom Fragrance and DKNY Be Delicious Fresh Blossom Shower Gel ($103).  United States and Canada only. Please see our site’s Terms and Conditions of Use for a complete list of our Contest and Giveaway Rules. This promotion is void where prohibited by law.

Contest closed.  Congrats, Sarah!

Perfume and Fragrance Review: Fresh Scents by Terri - Breathe

As you know, I don't normally review perfumes or fragrances, only the ones that have a crisp, clean scent, and I have found another one -- Fresh scents by Terri - Breathe.

After lunch with two of my gal pals today, I took a detour into a cosmetic boutique. (What can I say? It's an addiction!) It was love at first sniff with Breathe. It's the epitome of that just-out-of-the-shower scent.

Oddly, I wouldn't think my scent personality matched Hollywood mavens like Gwen Stefani, Heather Locklear, Molly Sims, Faith Hill -- and Ashlee Simpson, who took a bottle of Breathe right out of her friend's bag and called it her own, but those ladies are in good company -- with me. lol.

What does Breathe smell like?

Breathe is a fresh, clean, elegant scent. It's an exquisite combination of White Rain and Light Musk. Because it's an oil, the fragrance is consistent and long lasting, with a crisp, clean aroma.

After I doused myself at the boutique with Breathe, I traipsed over to Sephora for a walk-through of the newest and the best.

One of the girls said, "What is that you're wearing? It smells so fresh." This, from a Sephora Girl.

I answered, "Breathe."

She looked at me with an odd expression and asked, "Why are you telling me to breathe? Are you some kind of yogi?"

Laughing I said, "It's one of Fresh Scents by Terri -- Breathe." I opened my tote and showed her my recent purchase.

She took a deep breath and like Ashlee Simpson, she pulled Breathe out of my handbag.

Terri, I think you have another devotee -- Sephora Girl.

In addition to their website, Fresh Scents fragrances may also be purchased at these select retail locations - store locations

Fragrance Review: New! - Aquolina Pink Sugar Hair Perfume

Due to its overwhelming popularity, Pink Sugar Hair Perfume ($15), was sold out at my local Sephora.

With its "flavors of childhood,"Pink Sugar is definitely marketed to 20-somethings and under. When it was first introduced five years ago, it fit my college persona perfectly, so I was excited to try Aquolina's new hair perfume.

Notes:

Bergamot, Sicilian Orange, Raspberry, Fig Leaves, Lily of the Valley, Licorice, Strawberry, Red Fruit, Cotton Candy, Vanilla, Caramel, Musk, Wood, Powder.

Playful. Mischievous. Romantic.

Of course, if you are already a fan of Pink Sugar, the Hair Perfume is just a lighter version. One spray takes you back to cotton candy at the circus and caramel apples on Halloween. The playful blend of vanilla and caramel are uber-sweet -- just what a summer girl needs.

Exclusively online, Sephora is offering the new Getaway Set. It has everything that you'll need for a hot summer day. The set includes four best-selling summer items all housed in an adorable oversized beach bag (Sephora $75).

Reviwed by Jamie

As an aficionado of clean, crisp, light scents, I spend a lot of time sniffing my way through spas, boutiques, and department stores. While on vacation in Boca Grande this week, I fell in love with a light spring and summer scent -- Fresh Eau de Toilette Spray by Zents ($50).

Even as I write this post, the crystal clear bottle of Fresh is snuggled next to my laptop, taking the spot usually reserved for the Haute Dog, Bentley the Beagle. According to this month's Prevention magazine, "We all have a cache of fragrant memories stored in our brains, and just a whiff of a special scent can evoke a happy, magical moment."

No doubt, my brain is part of the magical equation, but the top notes of cucumber and green apple, with linden and heliotrope equal a heavenly fragrance that is soft enough for a baby girl to wear and feminine enough for a woman to wear. As a matter of fact, Fresh was inspired by the birth of Zents Co-Founder, Michelle Nemcek-Lobo's baby girl, Ava Sophia. In celebration of her birth, Fresh was created to elicit happy thoughts of a newborn baby girl.

Although Fresh is pure, innocent, and energizing worn alone, many people layer with two or three other Zents fragrances to create their signature scent. Zents originally created signature scents for celebs before offering their products to the public. Each of the ten modern fragrances -- Mandarin, Earth, Fig, Fresh, Ore, Petal, Pear, Sun, Oolong, and Water -- were created to be layered and wearable by every woman or girl, so Zents created very gentle, not overpowering scents.

While trying to capture the photographic essence of Fresh at the pool yesterday, my newly found octogenarian gang inquired as to why I was swimming with a perfume bottle, flowers, a cucumber, and an apple. After reporting that I was writing about Zents scents, they all wanted a Fresh sniff. All that sniffing and spraying caught the attention of a 30-something crowd, so they, too, sniffed and spritzed. Although the octogenarians were less than enthusiastic about Fresh, the 30-something girls were gaga over the scent.

If you like some of my other clean, soft, and light favorites -- Philosophy's Amazing Grace, CLEAN's Fresh Laundry, Kai, or Jessica McClintock -- you will love-love Zents' Fresh!

What is your favorite spring/summer scent? Drop me a line and let me know.


Beckie
Source: Ezine Article
Image: Beckie

Don't forget to sign up for the free giveaway from Coutorture located on the right-hand side of the page. Since we have not had the opportunity to sniff this scent yet, we will leave you with the beautiful description written by our Coutorture network partner and one of our "Sassy Sites," The Scented Salamander's description of Ralph Wild:

The image of the scent is young, hippyish, and revivalist 1970s. The perfume itself is uncomplicated but not too schematic. It is like a teen, laid-back, and Americanized (linear, fresh, unfussy) version of Miss Dior Chérie.

The perfume is a thick, nectar-like fruity-floral, which balances out well the sweet and tart facets of strawberry avoiding the common pitfall of bland candied notes. Its nectar-like texture evokes the feeling of a potion and the potential transfigurative powers of such scents; it is always interesting to observe how a "thick" jammy scent will evolve on the skin as it cannot remain as concentrated as in the bottle.If you like fresh strawberry jam and always fantasized about being able to replicate its smell on skin, this is as good as it gets. It smells like a jar of Bonne Maman strawberry jam. It is both yummy and sexy..... The perfume obviously draws inspiration from Miss Dior Chérie by Dior, to which it resembles at one point in the development, with its marked evolved syrupy strawberry accord, but the idea here is more immediately carefree and fun.

If Miss Dior Chérie attempted and succeeded in offering a youthful lift to a sophisticated chypre by adding audacious cast-against-type notes of strawberry and popcorn within that structure, Ralph Wild seems to aim more at riding on the wave of a popularized fruit note in feminine fragrances and also by perfecting it. We also saw some pretty strawberry in Pleasures Delight by Estée Lauder last year. In Ralph Wild it is particularly luscious and well-done.The dry-down is less convincing as the scent becomes less natural-smelling, less harmonious and more suggestive of an industrial smell like scented hairspray. Notes are: Wild Strawberries, Watermelon, Cherry Blossom, Pink Peppercorn, Red Rose Petals, Jasmine, Amber, Sandalwood, Musk."

AND drumroll, please. The winners of Charla Krupp's book, How Not To Look Old, are Jackie, Claudia, and Elena. Enjoy!