Roberto Cavalli Exotica

As many of you may know I am a dedicated follower of fashion and have a soft spot especially for Italian designers, so when Roberto Cavalli launched the Roberto Cavalli EdP (£29.99) in 2012 I was ALL over it. I quickly became a fan of the warm, feminine, oriental scent and since then I have also kept a close eye on every new version of  it. The latest summer edition dates to back to 2014, and it's Roberto Cavalli's Exotica EdT (£39.99) in a deliciously pink bottle with a little detail of Cavalli's trademark animal print, that hides a wonderful tropical scent concoction.

I must admit that I find it a challenge to characterize this scent; it's not simply fruity or sweet or woody, it's all those things at the same time - talk about being multi faceted. The first spritz makes you think of golden, juicy exotic fruits, but it's far from a light and fleeting scent, instead the fruitiness is quite concentrated. The fragrance develops quickly and it soon reveals it's flowery sweet side with intense notes of frangipani flowers that vaguely remind me of roses. Despite the very pronounced floral notes, there is nothing sugary or sickly about the scent, probably because of the dry harmonious notes of sandal in the background which adds balance and makes Exotica a velvety smooth and seductive EdT.

Despite being a tropical summer scent, I personally prefer to wear it when the temperatures have dropped since in my opinion Exotica is warm enough in itself and during a hot sunny summer day for me it gets a little bit on the heavy side. Saying that though I'm still intrigued by the depth and complexity of it, and just like Roberto Cavalli's fabulous fashion creations this EdP definitely stands out. Although Exotica is a limited edition, it's still readily available in many stores, and on Fragrance Direct you can find both the original and its pink summer sister.  

July favourites

Since I had to cut down on my blogging in June and earlier this month I haven't actually done a monthly favourites for a little while although except for the EdT I have a feeling that they would have been pretty much the same in June too. My routines have changed quite a lot over the past few months, partly because of the weather and partly because I'm on the road a lot more than I used to. Because of the sunny weather and since I love to be outdoors as much as possible to catch some rays, my main concern has been to make sure that I've been wearing some great sun lotion, and the product I've used the most is the lovely Hawaiian Tropic Sensitive Face Sun Lotion SPF30 (£12.60). It has just the right consistency for the face; light, silky and sheer without clogging up the pores and since it's for sensitive skin it's also free of oils and fragrance that could potentially cause irritation in the sun. The lotion absorbs quickly into the skin making it feel not only protected from those pesky UVA and UVB, but also moisturised and smooth. The only thing is that I don't think it's water resistant, at least it doesn't feel that way so I would definitely recommend that you re-apply several times a day, especially if you've gone for a cooling dip in the pool.

After a post sun shower to freshen up I've loved to use the Avon Shea Butter and Chocolate Truffle Body Soufflé, First of all it smells absolutely divine of chocolate mousse and even if like me you're not a chocolate lover you might find that you have to really stop yourself from testing it to check if it's as yummy as it smells.... hrmm - did I reveal too much there...? Anyway, this body product has a wonderful whipped, light and creamy texture that feels amazing on the skin, and it absorbs quickly without leaving any sensation of tackiness. What I like most about the soufflé, except for the chocolate scent is that it makes the skin ever so slightly radiant with a rose gold shine, which makes it perfect for summer use to emphasise tanned skin. As far as I know it's not available in the current Avon campaigns, but you can easily find it on eBay (£6.75), and I'll definitely stock up on it when I've finished up this one.

So the skin's looking radiant and bronzed, and since I've been on the go so much these past few months I haven't bothered with foundation or tinted moisturiser - all I've done is sweep my very used MUA Bronzer (£1) in shade 1 over my face for a natural, healthy looking glow. I know I've raved about this ridiculously affordable bronzer before - I need to start testing another brands... but for me it's just brilliant. The product is light and finely milled so it's easy to work with and to build up a stronger bronzed tone if you wish, the shade is sunny and natural without too much orange and it lasts fairly well throughout the day. I would say that you probably do need to buff up the colour after about 5 hrs, but then again considering the price, it's not the end of the world. If you haven't tried any MUA products before, this is the one to get and don't be surprised if you find yourself repurchasing it over and over again - I have, about 4 times...

Sticking with the quick and easy makeup theme, let's have a look at the the products that I have worn every single day without fail in July. I've been on a bad mascara streak, having tested several budget friendly products and not  been impressed with a single one of them, but finally there was a glimmer in the mascara dark with the  Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara (£9.99). It has just the right texture that I like and that usually doesn't come until the mascara is near it's end, i.e. it's liquid enough but a tiny bit sticky, which makes it easy to build up volume and length if you apply several coats. As with every other mascara these days it comes with a special "unique brush with spherical (and straight) bristles to wrap every lash in a 360° motion", I guess that means that the brush is supposed to make sure that you get colour on all sides of your lashes. Even though I'm not too sure about that statement, I do know that the brush is quite wide, firm and great to work with to shape the lashes for a wonderful volumised effect with luscious separated lashes. This was a complete impulse purchase, but I'm so glad that I decided to take a chance on it since it's the best mascara I've tried since I fell in love with L'Oréal's False Lash Flutter Mascara (the butterfly one). Thank you Bourjois for restoring my faith in affordable mascaras!

 

My preferred daily lippy has been Revlon's ColorBurst Matte Balm (£7.99) in Unapologetic which I recently did a review on that you can read here, so I won't go into more details about it except to say that the colour is the most perfect vibrant coral pink, perfect for a one-product look lounging by the pool. As you probably know I tend to wear different perfumes every single day to suit my mood, outfit etc so although I haven't exactly worn this gem every day, it's still a definite favourite this month. Ever since I first stumbled across Thierry Mugler's Alien EdT, I have looked forward to every new edition, and I have never been disappointed, they have all been outstanding! This season's newcomer - Alien Eau Extraordinaire EdT (£68) is no exception. As usual the bottle is very interesting with its beautifully cut angles and pale gold details for a glamorous outer space look and feel. It's a fresh, sparkling, sunny and harmonious fragrance mixing sweet Tunisian neroli, citrusy bergamot, elegant white tiare flower and warm amber. It's a very confident, poised and delightful scent and I always feel happy and pampered wearing it, and for warm sunny days - what could be more fitting than a warm sunny scent? That's the end to almost two month's of favourites... as much as I love them now I have a feeling that they won't be the same in August, but as I always say - it's a girl's prerogative to change her mind!

Fan di Fendi? Oh yes, I'm definitely a fan!

Before we look at this gem of a scent, Fan di Fendi Eau Fraiche that I've been wearing religiously for the past week, which is a bit of a record for me I thought I would talk a little bit about today since it's one of the most important and popular holidays of the year in Sweden, it is - Midsummer's Eve! Originally it's a pagan fertility celebration of the summer solstice, but today we celebrate it more because it's the official start to summer and we have the the shortest nights of the year, where in some parts of the country you can still see the sun at midnight - an incredibly beautiful sight. At Midsummer the whole country stops, cities and towns are empty as a lot of people go to the countryside or the coast to join in the celebrations, which might seem a little bit "exotic" if you haven't seen them before - just ask Him Indoors about his first encounter with Midsummer, but to sum it up it's all about lots of food, dancing and drinking. When I was a child we would always start the day with picking wild flowers to make a wreath for my hair, and also because according to tradition girls who haven't yet found their other half, should put seven different wild flowers under their pillow, and they'll dream of their future husband - sweet isn't it, and I seem to remember ruining many pillow cases that way... There's also always the equivalent of a May pole with flowers and leaves, that we dance around and you'll see people dressed up in traditional clothing from the different Swedish counties, and this is when the infamous "frog dance" takes place. Having worked up an appetite, there's usually a feast of traditional Midsummer food; pickled herring in lots of different sauces, sour cream, chives, new potatoes, dill and strawberries. Midsummer's Eve is usually a great relaxing day with your friends and family and if I've made you curious about this well loved Swedish tradition or the "frog dance", you should have a look at this short and hilarious You Tube video.

 

 Traditional Midsummer's Eve celebrations

Midnight Sun 

A fragrance which for me perfectly captures Midsummer is the beautiful Fan Di Fendi Eau Fraiche EdT (£32.75). Before I got the Eau Fraiche I had tried many of Fendi's previous scents, but none of them were right for me, and with their spicy, balsamic wooden notes I found them quite heavy and to be honest - a bit old fashioned. But when I first tested Fan di Fendi Eau Fraiche I was totally surprised at how different it was from the others and I was immediately completely hooked. The scent comes in a stylish and minimalist chic bottle with the classic Fendi logo at the front in a light green color, hinting to its fresh and harmonious character. It's a gorgeously well balanced blend of feminine sensual white flowers including jasmine, zesty fresh citrus and bergamot, green tea, soft orange blossom, and a warm but not overwhelming hint of cardamom.  

Fan di Fendi Eau Fraiche is a gorgeously well balanced blend of feminine sensual white flowers including jasmine, zesty fresh citrus and bergamot, green tea, soft orange blossom, and a warm but not overwhelming hint of cardamom. It's a very unexpected, contemporary scent and on a hot summer day, its airy greenness is a perfect cooling and comforting scent that is also very refined and graceful. I absolutely adore this scent and am so glad that I decided to test it, despite my previous experience of Fendi fragrances and now I definitely call myself a Fan! It's not always easy to get hold of Fendi scents and I actually bought mine at duty free early this year, but you can find Fendi in Harrods and online at Allbeauty.com where they also offer free UK delivery. Although I only have a small May pole for the table and we won't actually be doing any silly dancing, I've got the food and drink all planned and smelling sweetly I'm off to start celebrating Midsummer. Have a Glad midsommar - Happy Midsummer everyone! Xx

All good things come to those who duty free

As you may know I have been away from the UK for a while to visit my family, and when I came back not only was Him Indoors away on his travels and  I got back to an empty house - but my cat completely ignored me for about 24 hrs.... I was not feeling the love.. Well good thing I had a gianormous duty free haul to be happy about instead. It's absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for me to have this heaven called duty free and not buy a single thing, but even I will admit that I went completely over board this time around. I tell myself that I do these things to relax before flying or so that you won't have to splurge... and if I chant those excuses aloud enough times, it makes it real. Anyway, let's just look at what I got over the last few days and I'll split the products into three groups; perfumes, skincare and makeup, but please note that this is just a teaser and that I will post detailed reviews of the products as I work my way through them.

Let's start with the perfumes, and the first one is so brand new that it's not even available in the shops quite yet, although it's supposed to be as of March - and it's the stunning Exotica from Roberto Cavalli. It's a lovely tropical and fruity scent and slightly floral scent and I have a feeling this will be one of my favorites this season. Next perfume is fairly new, it's the Elie Saab L'Eau Couture EdT (£31) which is a light and fresh, sophisticated spring like scent - and what a beautiful classic bottle! Last in the perfume bunch is Fan di Fendi Eau Fraiche (£33) which is a beautiful green, spicy and fresh scent - very comforting and harmonious.

First in the skincare group is a great little kit that would make a fab present for someone, myself e.g... the Ole Henriksen The Whole Truth Kit (£45) contains three full sized anti ageing products - serum, moisturiser and an eye cream, to revitalise and brighten the skin, and I'm very excited to testing this out. I also got a new night cream that I had had my eye on for a long time, Origins High Potency Night-a-Mins (£34) which is supposed to add radiance to the skin and make it look wonderful and refreshed in the morning. I have high hopes for this and fingers crossed it lives up to my expectations.

On to the really fun bits - makeup! My favorite designers are Dolce & Gabbana - I love the passion, opulence, sensual playfulness and very distinct point of view of their designs and I have finally taken the plunge into their makeup range, which proved to be a slippery slope for me into complete decadence starting with the Dolce & Gabbana Smooth Eye Colour Quad (£39.50) in Stromboli which has a beautiful bronzed, warm and earthy range of shades - stunning! That lead to a Dolce & Gabbana Classic Cream Lipstick (£24) in Cosmopolitan, which is a gorgeous creamy coral shade, a bit similar to MAC Vegas Volt which is another favorite of mine and I think it'll go beautifully with the warm quad. As a bonus I threw in Dolce & Gabbana's The Intense Nail Lacquer (£18.50) in Ibisco, which is a fresh and lovely warm pink and I'm really curious to see what the formula is like. i haven't even tried a single product yet and already I suspect that this is just the beginning of a new brand addiction. Last of the makeup is YSL Volume Effet Faux Cils Luxurious Mascara (£23) in Brown for beautiful long lashes. Even though I adore the Baby Doll formula I wanted to try something different and having heard wonderful things about Volume Effet, I decided to take a bit of a risk and buy it, and if it's even half as good as the Baby Doll mascara, I'm on to a winner.

Let me know in the comments section which product you would like me to review first, and your wish is my command! Before you feel too sorry for me coming back to an empty house I guess I also have to mention that Him Indoors did eventually show up with a lovely bouquet of flowers, and the cat did come around and showered me with love - so I guess all good things to those who wait... or duty free...

March empties

Can you believe it's time for empties again? What ever happens to the days I wonder, and I'm convinced that the bad economy and inflation these past few years even has impacted time - an hour is somehow shorter than it used to be. Again I have tried my hardest this month to finish up as many products as possible and in the end I'm quite pleased with the results - 8 products that can go in the bin, which equals the right to buy 8 new products, that's the rule isn't it?

Let's start with some skin care products. Ever since I finished my beloved Gatineau Floracil (£29.50), a strong contender for the world champion title of eye makeup removers, I've been using the L'Oréal Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution (£4.99), the well known dupe for the original micellar solution - Bioderma. It's a great, effective and gentle all-in-one product, removing both face and eye makeup without stinging your eyes, and it also acts as a toner. The only thing I seriously dislike about it is the packaging, or more specifically the fact that there is no effective dispenser at the top of the bottle - just a big hole. This means that if you drop the bottle, or you're not careful with closing the top, the solution goes everywhere. That should be easy enough to fix and hopefully L'Oréal will do something about it eventually. Even though I prefer to use micellar solutions from other brands as part of my morning routine, I still like to use the L'Oréal 3 in 1 solution as an eye makeup remover, and at such an affordable price it's super value for money.

On to the St. Grape Aqua Bliss Natural Face and Body Scrub (£12) which is an amazing luxurious bath scrub containing natural mineral sea salt, essential oils and vitamin e. The formula is light, fluffy and creamy and the salt grains are so fine that they start to melt immediately when you scoop it out of the jar. The scrub is so delicate and gentle on the skin, leaving it smooth and supple with a gorgeous and quite strong scent of delicate jasmine. You can use this both on your body and face, but since I'm cautious of using strongly perfumed products on my face I stick to using it as a body scrub. It's a fantastic indulgent product, perfect for a pampering evening and I will get another one as soon as I've finished some of my other body scrubs.

We've come to the section of hair products for this month starting with the Avon Naturals Apricot and Shea Leave-in Treatment (£2.50). It's a lovely light cream, almost of the same consistency as a conditioner, that you apply to towel dried hair and it makes your hair very silky and so much easier to detangle. But the best thing about it is the incredible scent of sun-kissed juicy apricots and luxurious shea butter that stays on your hair and if you apply it in the evening, you'll still smell it in the morning when you wake up. This is one of the few Avon hair products that really works on my hair, and the smell of  a creamy fresh apricot smoothie is just irresistible.

Of course we have a dry shampoo as well - the TRESemme Instant Refresh Radiance Dry Shampoo Translucent Formula (£5.25). It's a slightly revamped version of the original TRESemme dry shampoo that doesn't leave that white powdery residue on your hair that some dry shampoos can do which is great, and it has that lovely recognizable fresh TRESemme scent that lingers on your hair. It's a decent dry shampoo however personally I don't find it quite as effective at oil control as some of the others I've used from Batiste or Dove, and I can't say that I've noticed that it adds any radiance as it promises either. Since it is a bit more expensive than other brands, but it doesn't have the same effect on my hair I won't be repurchasing this.

If you've followed my posts on Operation Rapunzel, you'll know that I have been using the Lee Stafford Hair Growth Treatment (£7.99) faithfully since October last year to help my hair to grow. The treatment is a protein enriched masque that you use after shampoo but before conditioner, and it helps to nourish the scalp and follicles for healthy hair. It's a gorgeous creamy formula with a delicious nutty scent that reminds me of the Macadamia range, and it makes the hair feel extremely soft and nourished. After more than 3 months of use, my hair had grown almost 6 cms, and although it might not be down only to this lovely treatment, it's certainly helped to keep my hair sleek and glossy. I can't recommend this wonderful masque enough, and in fact I would say - buy two at the same time to make sure you don't run out.

When I first got the L'Oréal False Lash Flutter Mascara (£10.99) I had some mixed feelings about it, that you may remember from a separate review I did in November (see here). Although the formula starts off quite thin, it does add a wonderful length, and as the formula thickens it also adds quite a lot of volume to the lashes. Another plus point is the fabulous fanned butterfly wing effect on the lashes that the very scary looking brush creates and the mascara also wears great throughout the day. What I found most difficult to get used to is the brush - it's big, sturdy, heavy in the hand and the shape makes it difficult to reach the inner lashes and to get a nice even coverage of the lower lashes, at least until you get used to is and you find a way to use it that works for you. Despite my initial struggles with the brush I absolutely love the dramatic lash effect this mascara creates, and truth be told I have already bought another one, and can't wait to start using it again.

This month I've finished another fragrance, Flora by Gucci - Glamorous Magnolia EdT (£48.50) one of the amazing scents from Gucci's Floral Garden range. I'm a massive fan of the original Flora scent, but the Floral Garden range is far from your garden variety of perfumes and Glamorous Magnolia is a fabulous, fresh, soft and sensual modern scent. It blends delicate white flowers with lots of character like magnolia and freesia with warm peony, invigorating citrus fruits and warm, earthy musk and wood. It's such a cool, crisp and glamorous scent and it's perfect for warm, sweltering summer days. Glamorous Magnolia - you will be sorely missed... at least until I get bottle of you, and this time I'm going large!

Last but not least is a candle that I bought just before Christmas, and I know what you're thinking - what, that's months ago? But the reason for not showing it sooner is that it burns up to 170 hrs, so it's lasted me aaaages. I had never tried this brand before but the Village Candle in Mulled Cider (£17.25) smelt so delicious of warm, sweet fruity and slightly spicy cider that I just had to have it. It came with two wicks and burnt really well from side to side, deep into the glass jar, with next to nothing left of it. The Village Candles look and smell so similar to the Yankee Candles that you can easily mistake them for each other, although the Village Candles might be slightly lower priced. With 170 hrs burn time, these candles are excellent value for money and I would definitely try this brand again. If you have tried both Yankee and Village Candles I'd love to hear if you think there's a difference between them and which you prefer?