Scent-ual memories

In response to the Duchesse's lovely post about how perfumes have changed, I thought I'd share some of my smelly thoughts.

I still mourn the loss of Parfum d'ete by Kenzo. I wore it daily for about a year until the I used up my bottle. The original version was light enough for daytime, but complex and lush. It smelt to me like a bunch of very fresh flowers from an expensive florist that had just been misted with water.It lasted all day and worked layered on a bit more heavily for evening.

The new version just isn't as interesting - lighter, more synthetic-smelling, not up to par.

I still have my bottle of Estee Lauder's Youth Dew from 10+ years ago as it's such a strong evening scent that I don't wear it much. I love it though - it makes me feel confident and strong and sexy. It's a smokey, musky sort of smell that reminds me of an outfit like a feminine cut tuxedo with nothing underneath.

I've never liked the name, but I'm glad I've still got the perfume to enjoy on special occasions.

Since Parfum d'ete I've never really found one good daytime scent. I've experimented with various light florals i.e. White Gardinia from the Body Shop is nice for summer and the Rose 4 Reines Eau de Toilette from L'Occitane is nice, but a bit sweet at times. I love the packaging of the Penhaligons samplers I got for my birthday, but the actual scents are mostly a bit sweet and powdery for me.

I inherited Coco Madmoiselle by Chanel from my mum. It's not one I would have thought of for myself, but it does kind of work for daytime and it certainly works for evening. It's fairly strong and a bit 'chemical' in some ways, but I like the complexity of the scent and the way it changes. I particularly like how it smells after a few hour's wear, sort of warm and slightly musky or spicy.

I find the packaging a bit bland for the price, but I guess that 'simple, sleek' thing is Chanel's brand. Basically, I'm a bit up in the air about this one.




 

Mum did get it right with a favourite perfume that I wouldn't have chosen for myself - Classique by Jean Paul Gaultier. I prefer the perfume, rather than the eau de toilette as I think the perfume as got more warm, slightly musky, vanilla-y notes, especially when it's been worn for a few hours.  

I was given a travel sized set of four different Gaultier perfumes and I've recently used up both the perfume and EDT of Classique so I think I need a full sized one. Luckily it's common enough to be widely available and often on special. I hope it's being made to the same recipe as a few years ago or else I'm going to be disappointed.

What about you - any suggestions? What are your favourites?

TKMaxx - my happy place

How much do I love TKMaxx? Well, let's just say that I can spend a good three hours browsing around our reasonably small store in Bristol. I also love saving money (of course!) and finding good new designers. I tend not to look at the clothes as I find the quantity and randomness a bit overwhelming but I love the handbags and scarves and beauty products.

Like these, but dark purple...

I popped in last week for a quick look around and lucked out with some lovely purple leather gloves. The exact same brand and style was 16 pounds in Debenhems - 12 pounds in TKMaxx. Thanks guys!

And I'm currently wearing a lovely scarf by Cynthia Rowley. I'd never heard of her, but I got an excellent greenish peacock feather printed summer scarf a few months ago and now I've got this little beauty for my collection too.

It's reversible - one side black with cobalt blue polka dots, the other side black with a multi-coloured paisley pattern on velvet. It's got lots of useful colours in the paisley to go with a range of outfits. It seems like they'd Cynthia Rowley scarves would pretty expensive as her clothes aren't cheap, but I can't find any of her scarves anywhere on the internet. I guess they must be old stock. Suits me if I get them cheap!

I've also been introduced to Jane Shilton by TKMaxx. Again, I'd never heard of her as a designer, but I got a cute little boxy cream and chestnut brown leather bag by her for summer. Just recently for my birthday I got the little number in the picture to the left. It's nicer than it looks in this photo - leather with a textured fabric bit on the front. It's about 30cm long, so big enough for the essentials but small enough to be light to carry. I do like a cross-body strap to keep my hands free as I'm walking. And yes, purple is one of my favourite colours.

A couple of months ago (having run out of my usual duty free Clinique), I treated myself to some Elizabeth Arden skincare. I'd never used her stuff, but now I'm a fan.

I got the Visible Difference Optimizing Serum Set. The exfoliating cleanser, serum and moisturiser work together beautifully to make a visible difference (the product does what it says on the tin!). My skin looks plumper with fine dry wrinkles smoothed out (temporarily, or course but the SPF 15 helps with reducing sun damage as well). They're only 30ml but as I say, I've been using them about every second day for a couple months and I haven't run out yet. For only 20 pounds instead of around 40-60 pounds elsewhere, I'm pretty pleased.

So yay for TKMaxx! Have you found any nice bargains recently?

Lovely birthday presents!

Well, I've been rather serious here at Birdy Begins of late so it's time for some frivolity! It was my birthday this week and I got some lovely bits I want to share with you. (And by 'share' I mean show you so that you're jealous, not actually give you some of them!)

First up, smellies! I just love little sets of make up and fragrance so when I spotted this set in Penhaligon's, I sent my lovely husband back to the shop with clear instructions. Penhaligon's shops are dizzying wonderlands of scent and prettiness but he managed to get in and out unscathed. And they did beautiful gift-wrapping!

In this little box, I got good sized miniatures of Lily of the Valley, Ellenisia, Malabah and Artemisia (slightly different from the picture). Some of the scents are a bit too sweet and powdery for me, but I adore the dinkiness of the little box of beautifully presented bottles. The Lily of the Valley is eau de toilette, the others are eau de parfum but there doesn't seem to be much difference in how long they last. They need reapplying after four or five hours, but the little bottles can easily be slipped in a handbag. It's nice to have a range of scents to chose from each morning.

Another lovely birthday treat is from Woolovers. I've been searching for reasonably priced wool cardigans in England for some time. I do find it really quite odd that England gets quite cold, but most of the reasonably priced knitwear is acrylic. In New Zealand I was used to fine knit merino wool being everywhere in winter. In England the done thing seems to be paying huge sums for cashmere. Well, I have a solution!

I got this little beauty in the mail this morning and I love it already (in fact I'm wearing it now). It's soft and snug fitting (but doesn't gape), lightweight but warm. I foresee a few more of these little beauties in other colours coming my way but I must resist the urge to buy more than I need!

I also handily got a pair of rose quartz and garnet earrings in the same mail this morning from someone else. They go beautifully with the cardigan. Thanks, present-givers!





One last birthday treat out of the many that I was spoiled with... I spotted this one online last time I was planning a trip to London. The Tower of London didn't have a particularly fabulous little shop, but the online shop on the Historic Royal Palaces website yielded this slightly macabre beauty.

In case you can't see it has a broken heart to signify divorce, a cute little axe to signify beheading, a tombstone for death and a crown for the one poor woman who survived being married to Henry VIII. In case you're interested, the details are:

Broken heart – Catherine of Aragon (divorced)
Axe – Anne Boleyn (beheaded)
Gravestone – Jane Seymour (died)
Broken heart – Anne of Cleves (divorced)
Axe – Catherine Howard (beheaded)
Crown – Catherine Parr (survived)

The bracelet is gold plated with tiny diamantes on the base of the crown. I love the surprise of how pretty it looks contrasted with the rather miserable charms. It tickles my fancy (and looks nice with my gold coloured watch).

I also got a stack of lovely CDs to while away my long commute, but music reviews are boring in my humble opinion so I'll refrain. Anyway, these are some of the things that have been perking up my busy, rainy week.