Perfume Sample Saturday - Miss Dior Eau De Parfum

Miss Dior Eau De Parfum 

Created for an "elegant and spirited young woman in love".

Romantic by nature, Miss Dior inspires an intense and playful love, for which she is also searching. She personifies the spontaneous joie de vivre of today's young women, representing a particular type of freedom and seduction. The fragrance is characterised by an instant and captivating charm.

Miss Dior is a chypre that develops step by step. It glides from the sharp charm of a fresh, fruity, citrus prelude into blossoming floral notes, then on to the noble elegance of patchouli, before finally concluding with musk, the last trace of memory

With veritable riches concealed in her heart, Miss Dior develops in the most intense and astonishing way."

Miss Dior Eau de Parfum is a fruity floral chypre. A modern take on the Dior spirit with a dash of impertinence.

Top Note - Italian Mandarin Essence
Heart Note - Egyptian Jasmine Absolute
Base Note - Indonesian Patchouli Essence

My thoughts 

Such a sweet bow bottle design containing a gorgeously refined and elegant scent. Feminine and chic. I love that the scent develops from the fresh burst of citrus to the sweeter, floral notes. This fragrance is pretty, delicate and infinitely wearable.

I remember the original Miss Dior scent finding it rather heavy and unappealing, so when I received this mini sample I have to admit to not even opening the box until now... Somehow the memo telling me that the fragrance had been updated failed to reach me. This is actually however a replacement for Miss Dior Cherie which I found too fruity, too sweet and girlie but the balance in this scent is just right.

I am looking forward now to trying Miss Dior Le Parfum which is described as being more intense, still with Mandarin but with more floral notes of Rose and the addition of Vanilla. Sounds interesting.

Dior Miss Dior Eau De Parfum retails for £46 for 30ml

That Loving Feeling - Melt Into Each Other's Arms With These Beauty Treats

February's iN Magazine is out now, as it is the LOVE ISSUE the theme for my beauty page this month is 'That Loving Feeling' - This Valentine's Day don't say a word, speak through the language of touch.

Read iN Mag here and as always I appreciate your thoughts :-)

Bettina x

Lush Golden Wonder Bath Ballistic

This morning I opened the Lush Merry Christmas Gift Box, a beautiful golden box full of bathing and skincare treats and brought out the Golden Wonder Bath Ballistic to use in my relaxing bath. I loved the pretty gift box with bow design, so cute!

Golden Wonder doesn't have glitter on the outside, the Sunnyside Bubble Bar was doing a good job transferring its glitter! Shake Golden Wonder and you get a rattling noise, I 'wonder' what is inside....

I popped it into my bath and let it melt, watching it dissolve whilst releasing a gold liquid, turning to blue/green with a mini explosion of stars.

Once the foam has gone and the stars disappear what you are left with is a gorgeous rich green/blue coloured bath. The shade is reminiscent of those tempting holiday catalogues. featuring amazing pools, enticing you to book. Oh how I wish I was transported to somewhere hot and sunny right now.

The scent of Golden Wonder mirrors this hot, sunny feeling that it exudes. A delicious mediterranean inspired concoction of champagne-like perfume made from sweet orange oil, cognac oil and lime oil.

Golden Wonder Bath Ballistic is a Lush classic, I hope it is around next Christmas (£3.25)

New CID Cosmetics - The Bodyguard Collection Limited Edition Box Set

New CID Cosmetics are the official make-up sponsors of the musical The Bodyguard and to celebrate the collaboration have created a gorgeous limited edition 5 piece Bodyguard Collection box set.

Packaged in black and gold it contains 3 limited edition Long Wear Cream Eye Shadows each with names in reference to the show!

Spotlight - An iridescent highlighter shade with a pinky pearl aspect
Diva - A deep and rich metallic Aubergine shade
Melody - A smokey grey with a silver shimmer

The cream eye shadows are a dream to work with, mousse like in texture, smooth and blendable.

Swatches of Spotlight, Diva and Melody Cream Eye Shadows

with flash

2 i-gloss Light-up Lip Glosses

Obsession - Pale fuchsia with shimmer
Romance - Pearlescent cool gloss

I am already a huge fan of the i-glosses and these ones do not disappoint either. Smart black and gold packaging, mirror on the side and the (really) bright light in the lid. What is not to love. 

Swatches of Obsession and Romance Lip glosses.

With flash

I recently posted a FOTD wearing some of the products from The Bodyguard Collection 

* It was a real pleasure to attend a showing of The Bodyguard Musical. I am a massive fan of musicals, Whitney Houston and the West End so I must admit I was in my element... If you love Whitney's music (I had forgotten just how many amazing songs she had made), love romance and a bit of suspense and of course loved the original film then this show is a must go see!

It took all my muster to not sing along every time a song started up..but I needn't have worried as there was the perfect opportunity to join in with the brilliant cast at the end. Just fabulous.

The Bodyguard limited edition box set costs £35 (worth £74) and is available online from www.newcidcosmetics.com , www.qvc.co.uk, Champneys nationwide and the Adelphi Theatre.

*PR Samples

GUESS Eyewear Spring / Summer 2013 Collection

GUESS has long been one of my favourite fashion brands. Claudia Schiffer brought the brand to my attention way back in the early 90's when she starred in those stunning black and white ad campaigns making me a loyal customer ever since. I love the stores, the clothing (which is a perfect mix of cool and glitz) and their advertising campaigns with no trip to America complete without a spending spree in one of their shops.

What really gets me excited however are their fabulous accessories - the watches, the bags, purses, belts and of course sunglasses. Over the years I have had them all...

The Eyewear for this Spring/Summer is no exception. Below I have selected my favourites from the collection but I do suggest a visit to the stores as there is so much more to choose from for both men and women and in a wide selection of styles to suit all face shapes.

£70 - Available in Shiny Gold Metal with Tortoise Tips/Brown Gradient Lens or  Shiny Gunmetal Metal with Black Tips/Grey Lens (pictured)

£65 Butterfly Shape Frames. 

Available in

Black/Grey Gradient Lens 
Pearl/Brown to Rose Gradient Lens (pictured)
Purple/Purple Gradient Lens 
Tortoise/Brown Gradient Lens

£90 - Available in Black/Grey Gradient Lens or Tortoise/Brown Gradient Lens (pictured)

£95 - Petite Rectangular Frame - Available in Black/Grey Gradient Lens (pictured), Tortoise/Brown Gradient Lens and Blush/Brown Gradient Lens (which are just gorgeous, I NEED these!)

Available from GUESS stores in the UK

Kiss It Better With Clinique and Great Ormond Street Hospital 2013

Limited Edition 'Kisses from Clinique' set RRP £24.00

For the sixth year running Clinique are partnering with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity for the KISS IT BETTER appeal - raising money to fund research into the causes and treatment of childhood cancer.

The gorgeous set of 6 mini glosses is the ‘Kisses from Clinique’ limited edition set featuring the best selling shades of Clinique’s iconic Superbalm Moisturizing Gloss. Shades -

Currant
Raspberry
Lilac
Grapefruit
Apricot
Rootbeer 

All the shades from this six-pack of Superbalms deliver an ultra flattering sheen of colour whilst nourishing the lips with its moisturising and antioxidant-loaded formula.

Sold exclusively online at Clinique.co.uk and in House of Fraser stores nationwide during the month of February with 50% of the RRP going to the appeal.

For further information on the KISS IT BETTER appeal and ways to donate visit www.gosh.org/kissitbetter

I Love Makeup - Marks and Spencer Limited Collection

Break out the hearts this Valentine's Day with this cute makeup collection from Marks and Spencer's Limited Collection. I was sent a few items from the range and as I am an old romantic at heart, was instantly smitten at the heart design packaging and most impressed with the heart shaped lipstick!

Limited Collection Heart Shadow Palette £8.50 

6 shadows, a double sided applicator and a mirror encased in a hearts printed box. I must admit to taking a look at this and dismissing it as not colours I would really wear..until I swatched it. The shadow palette has some really nice pastel shades and with the addition of the gorgeous shimmer and blending quality is really rather pretty.

The mint, silver, pale pink and the deeper purple are stand out shades.

Swatches 

Limited Collection Heart Blusher £6

Now this blusher is my favourite product. It is quite subtle but can be layered for stronger, buildable colour and contains fine shimmer that provides a really healthy glow to cheeks. Love it, but then I am quite a magpie when it comes to blushers and with each mosaic imprinted with a tiny heart, what more could you want.

Limited Collection Heart Lipstick in Rose £5

A lipstick bullet shaped as a heart, too pretty and wonderful to whip out on date night :-) I was a little concerned as to how this would apply but as it happens I needn't have worried. It creates the perfect line (as you can see from the swatch) On the lips it applies evenly, with a creamy texture the finish is slightly glossy, as it is highly pigmented one application is all you need. The perfect hot pink shade to make a real impact with the one you love on Valentine's evening.

Swatches of the Blusher and Lipstick with flash and without

The Marks and Spencer I Love Makeup Limited Collection is in stores now.