Escape to a Secret Wonderland with Bath & Body Works

I have to say that we have a pretty great selection of beauty stores in the UK, and the bigger Boots and Superdrugs have a fab range of products. But there are still a few US stores that I really wish were available in the UK - Sephora is one of them and while I've been visiting my family the past few days I've had the chance to spend some quality time in Sephora - oooooh bliss! The other store that I would love, love, LOVE to see opening here is Bath & Body Works (B&BW). They have the most amazing fresh, lovely smelling body care products and candles, and it would be so great to have the products available right here.

Another thing that I really like about B&BW is that similarly to Lush they really follow the seasons and holidays and always have lots of wonderful new collections for different times of the year. There are actually quite a few of the B&BW products that are staple items for me e.g. the anti-bacterial pocket gels, hand washes and body mists to layer with other fragrances and today I'll look at one of the latest collections that I've tried - the Secret Wonderland products.

Secret Wonderland is a happy and curious mix of berries and florals and when you first spray it on you'll notice lots of lovely ripe berries like ripe succulent strawberries, sweet raspberries and piquant slightly sour goji berries. The initial smoothie like juicy sweetness then gives way to airy light florals like gardenia and jasmine but the notes that seem to stay with you the longest is a creamy, whipped vanilla combined with simple amber and a tiny bit of soft feminine musk. It's a very fanciful, fairy tale fragrance that I think works really well at this time of year since the warm and slightly spicy amber and vanilla really stand out in the cooler weather, without the scent being being too sickly sweet or too fruity.

I really like to layer a scent, using bodycare products in the same scent and I also find that it's the best way to make a fragrance last throughout the day. The Secret Wonderland Shower gel has a lovely formula that is gentle on the skin and adds lots of moisture since it contains shea butter, aloe and vitamin E as well and while the scent isn't strong it does leave a subtle air of it on your skin, that is further enhanced by using the Body Lotion. Just like the shower gel the body lotion is also packed with moisture and nourishing ingredients like shea butter, jojoba oil and vitamin E. Unlike many purse friendly body lotions, the consistency is quite creamy and it absorbs well into the skin, leaving it feeling quite moisturized and I really enjoy how the most prominent scent for me at this stage is the soft musk, taking away any edge from the berries. Last but not least I'll spray generously with the Secret Wonderland Body Mist. This is only a refreshing body mist, so it's not surprising that it won't last you all day, however out of the B&BW scents I've tried this actually lingers a lot longer up til a few hrs, when you layer it with the other products - probably because of the vanilla and amber. I usually use Secret Wonderland when I'm combining with Paco Pabanne's Lady Million which works really well since it picks up on the raspberry notes in the EdT.

Since we don't have a B&BW store in the UK and it's not even possible to order online, those of us who are fans will have to try and source these wonderful products in other places like eBay, Amazon or Bath and Body Shop that has a small selection of B&BW products. 

Bath & Body Works PLEASE open a store in the UK!