Christmas Gift Guide : Perfumes!

It's about time things got a little more festive over here and Fashion Mumblr, but for me, I can't really get my head around Christmas until my birthday is over! (OK, it's still officially my birthday if you're reading this on the day it was published, but still!) But I thought a great way to kick things off would be my first (of many) Christmas Gift Guides - Perfume!

Fragrances are such lovely gifts to buy, and to receive and this year there are SO many incredible options that I decided to devote an entire post to them, as well as letting you know who I think they will work best for! So I hope this post gives you a little guidance to kick off your Christmas shopping!

For the Sassy Teen! Ariana Grande Eau de Parfum

I'm not usually a fan of celeb fragrances, let's just get that one out there straight away, and to be honest it's the seriously stylish bottle that made me want to include this in my gift guide! BUT, having said that, the fragrance isn't actually as offensive as I thought it would be from the sweeter-than-sweet pop star, oh no, it's actually..... rather nice! It's fruity and floral, playful and sweet, yes, but with a musky undertone that makes it very wearable.

For the Stylish Lady! Chlo� Eau de Parfum

It's a timeless fragrance, and one which you really can't go wrong with buying for a gift. The classic scent of roses in a floral, feminine scent. The bottle is beautiful too - the iconic fluted glass with delicate bow around the lid, it will look beautiful on any dressing table!

For the Party Girl! Jean Paul Gaultier Eau de Parfum

As soon as I laid eyes on the sparkly bodice edition of the classic Jean Paul Gaultier fragrance, I absolutely knew I had to feature on the gift guide! The fragrance itself is a sexy, floral, oriental fragrance which lingers for hours, with fruity top notes including Raspberry and Bergamot.

For the Always-On-Trend friend! Calvin Klein Euphoria

In it's striking silver bottle, Calvin Klein Euphoria is one of those fragrances that never goes out of style. If you're struggling for a gift idea for the friend who always looks great and absolutely has to be wearing the latest trends, you can't go wrong with Euphoria. I'm yet to meet someone who doesn't love the musky, orchid and black violet tones.

For the Mysterious Lady! Jimmy Choo Illicit

There's something seriously special about the new fragrance from Jimmy Choo. A certain veil of mystique lurks on the skin after spritzing on this modern floriental (I love that word) perfume. It's elegant and edgy at the same time, with notes of Ginger and Bitter Oragne as well as Rose and Sandalwood.

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For The One Who Sets The Trends - Elizabeth Arden Always Red

This fragrance is seriously under rated, and your girlfriends who love to discover new trends is bound to fall in love with this dry, sophisticated floriental fragrance. With ingredients such as Passion Fruit, Jasmine, and Velvet Rose Petals - it's unusual but instantly likeable.

For the Glamorous Gal - Theirry Mugler Angel Passion

Lovers of Thierry Mugler's iconic Angel fragrance will be lusting for this more glamorous and seductive eau de perfum. Notes of  patchouli and red berries give this classic scent a captivating edge - and the red star bottle is simply striking.

For the Haute Couture Honey - Miu Miu Eau de Parfum

The first scent from the Miu Miu fashion house truly encapsulates the spirit of the brand. The combination of lily of the valley and akigalwood is instantly a familiar scent, it's contemporary and natural but the soft blue glass bottle with the translucent red disk gives a pop of Miu Miu's signature quirky ways to the scent.

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For the Teen Beauty Queen - GHOST The Fragrance Gift Set

With the Ghost fragrance and a body lotion too, this gift set makes a lovely treat to unwrap on Christmas day. Scented with fresh flowers followed by notes of Vanilla and warm amber, it's hard not to fall in love with this scent. 

For the Fashionista - Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream Gift Set

A fresh and floral fragrance which is light and easy to wear - with notes of Violet Leaf, Strawberry and Jasmine as well as a warm top note coverage of Musk, Vanilla and White Woods. The bottle itself is a pleasure to see, with delicate daisies decorating the glass - this gift set both looks and smells incredible!

For the Daring Darling - Tom Ford Noir Pour Femme

Utterly extravagant and undeniably sensual, Tom Ford Noir is one of those fragrances which women aspire to wear. A floral oriental which encapsulates the Tom Ford woman in a sleek black and gold bottle, this is one to treat your utterly glamorous and unashamedly daring friend or lover.

For the Luxury Lover - Jo Malone London Pomegranate Noir

This is the scent that I reach for on special occasions, and there's something incredibly luxurious and warming about the scent of fruity pomegranate on the skin. It's fruity and spicy, a very familiar scent which would make the most beautiful gift for anyone who loves a touch of luxury!

For the Fearless Fashionista - YSL Black Opium

An incredibly wearable luxury fragrance, it would be impossible for the recipient not to love you for tucking this EDP into their stocking. With hedonistic notes of black coffee, with sensual Patchouli and white woods - it smells as good as it looks in the glittering bottle whose diamond dust finish replicates the rock edge but modern glamour of the scent within.

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Have I featured your favourite fragrance? Which would you most like to unwrap this Christmas?

xoxo

New In : H&M Beauty

Did you ever see a more beautiful beauty range?! As soon as I laid eyes upon the gorgeous new beauty collection from H&M, all beautifully lined up in the Oxford Circus store, I knew that it just had to be mine. I barely gave a thought to the actual makeup (I know, bad beauty blogger) and instead was just so transfixed with the packaging that before long, my shopping basket was full, and I was racing home eager to photograph possibly the most photogenic beauty range, ever.

Over on my YouTube channel today, I published a haul video going through my very first impressions of each of the gorgeous goodies, but since filming it I've tried all of the products ready to report back my first impressions, so let's kick off with the blushers, as I did in the video.

Colour wise, H&M have an incredible colour selection for their blushers; the Autumnal dusky pinks and mauves are exactly what I'd been looking for, and in this incredible packaging it was hard for me to resist, so yep, I bought two. The hexagons, the gold, there's something very luxe about how these look and I was instantly drawn to the almost purple toned blushers and grabbed a cream and a powder. Of the two, the powder is my favourite, purely as I prefer that texture for my blush in general, but the cream consistency was far better than I expected; not greasy in the slightest, and a lovely colour pay off. A little hard to blend, but the final result was lovely.

I picked up this cream eyeshadow in the shade 'Glam Glow' in the hope that it would be a dupe of my Charlotte Tilbury equivalent, and while it's not quite so luxe, I would say that it's a fabulous hughstreet alternative. The colour when applied is a whimsical pinky champagne, with a subtle shimmer, and decent colour payoff. A fabulous base, but I'm not sure how well this would blend for a smokey eye.

The lipsticks are another beautifully packaged produce, with their eye-catching gold tubes, and clean white lids. I picked up two pinky shades, going for a classic nude and a slightly more autumnal pink. Both have a lovely moisturising feel, similar to the KIKO lipsticks, giving a not quite gloss, but certainly not a matte-drying finish. They leave my lips feeling moisturised, and colour payoff is good, but the lasting power isn't quite as good as I'd hoped for.

The perfect amount of shimmer lies within these gorgeous single eyeshadows, not too sparkly, and not a flat matte-shade, H&M have got the glitter-scale absolutely tipped perfectly on their powder shadows. I went for three neutral colours which all blend very nicely together, but the colour payoff is not as intense as my pricier eyeshadows, you really have to give that brush a good swirl!!

Oh the nail varnishes. In the store the display seemed to go on for miles, it was so hard to choose which to go for (MAJOR first world problem) so I ended up walking home with four autumnal shades. I've been wearing U-Taupe-Ia for the past week now, and have given it one top up after a few chips appeared, but overall considering the price I'm very impressed with both the formula, and the incredible colour range.

9 incredible colours in one palette, I wouldn't be surprised if the Smokey Nudes eyeshadow palette sells out pretty soon, as every one of these shades is just so darn wearable. With stunning packaging and a lovely mirror in the lid (and at just �9.99) I think this is my favourite piece from the collection. Again the colour payoff isn't great, but if you keep on swirling, you'll be rewarded.

Finally the powder. I said in my video that I thought it may be quite drying, as that's the effect that it had when I swatched, however I'm pleased to report that I love the effect it has when applied to my face; not drying at all, just giving a lovely subtle matte finish to my makeup, and keeping my base in place for hours to come.

All in all, a fabulous collection, and no doubt one which will send the blogosphere into a frenzy! The stunning packaging and accessible price points (most items around �5) make this range an absolute winner, and I can't wait to try more!

Don't forget to head over and watch my video for more first impressions and information about the products!

Will you be trying out the H&M beauty range?

xoxo

Chantecaille's Protect The Wolves Collection

A couple of weeks ago, at a stunning launch breakfast in the Haymarket Hotel, Chantecaille announced their new Fall 2015 Colour Collection. Not usually one to get hugely excited about Autumn Winter collections (I'm all about the pastels!) I wasn't expecting to be so overwhelmed by the upcoming collection. Channelling the dramatic earthy tones of the wilderness at night time and inspired by majestic wolves, the collection includes a Protect The Wolves Eye Shade Trio, and a beautiful new Cheek Shade in Ella. 

The breakfast was kicked off with a short film about how, without Wolves, the entire landscape of Yellowstone National Park in North America would dramatically change, as it did when the wolves were hunted a few years ago. The Wolves were portrayed as an essential and elegant part of the eco-system, bringing life to the area, instead of just being predators. The collection will feature a 5% donation of proceeds going to the Northwest Conservation Group to work to protecting the Wolves.

The Eye Shade Trio features the classic incredible quality, smooth and blendable eyeshadow formulas that you'd expect from Chantecaille, in a haunting deep black shade, as well as a warm pewter and deep green to create a hypnotic smokey eye effect. The weightless and subtly shimmering blusher in a delicate rose petal pink shade gives an elegant flush of colour and all of the products feature the stunning Wolf design on the powders.

Have you discovered Chantecaille?

My First Ever Primark Haul! [EVER!]

Just over a week ago, I wrote a post about the Primark Autumn Winter 2015 Press Day, and all the best pieces to look out for in the coming seasons. I mentioned in the post that prior to the press day I'd made my first EVER trip to the store, and I have to say, you guys were very forgiving! As someone who had never visited the store before, I stocked up on essentials as well as some of the fashion pieces, and I've shared them all with you in my newest video! I also did some online shopping on Missguided, so threw those in for good measure too. Enjoy!

Primark Autumn Winter 2015 Wishlist

So guys I have a confession. I've never really shopped in Primark before. *pauses for gasps of shock and horror*. Yes I know, I know, where have I been? The truth is that I'd always been a little phobic of the store, and unconvinced that the fashion inside would be worth the traumatic shopping experience, but recently, having seen some absolutely beautiful pieces on some of my favourite fellow bloggers, I decided to take the plunge. 

So yes, I made my first EVER trip into a Primark store a week or so ago, the experience wasn't traumatic, and came out with armfuls of fabulous pieces - haul video coming very soon! Earlier this week I popped into their Press Day, and let's just say, my wishlist for their Autumn Winter drop is pretty darn big, scroll down to see my favourite pieces!

Homeware. Oh homeware, how I do love you! Primark's collection of candles for Autumn Winter 15 will be as beautiful as you could imagine, there will be bronze, there will be rose gold and there will be lots of them going into my shopping basket because they probably won't be much more than �2 each!

FINALLY Primark is launching beauty! I say finally as though I'm a seasoned Primark shopper, I'm not... but I get it. It's been around for a long while, and their beauty launch is a pretty big deal. I can't wait to try the products - the packaging sure looks beautiful and the shade ranges, especially for the lipsticks, is absolutely gorgeous.

I am going to have to make more storage space for all the bags. ALL the bags. From the suede tassels to the brown saddle bag (which is basically a gigantic version of the Chloe Drew Bag, at literally 1/100th of the cost!) - I need them all.

 I can't decide which pair of shoes I love the most - whether it's the black Pom Pom pumps which I can imagine wearing all autumn long, with a little 60s skirt and boxy coat, or the Khaki lace-ups which will add instant glamour to my boyfriend jeans. I know for sure that I need the tassel boots in both Black AND Tan. A girl can never have too many tassel boots!

And of course the fashion! With the Bohemian trend which we are already starting to see in the Spring collections remaining strong throughout Autumn and Winter, the fashion for Primark's AW15 collection definitely has a 70s vibe, with the dungarees, high waisted flair trousers and stiff mini skirts. I'll be fighting off the crowds to get my hands on the long grey coat with it's flattering waist tie, and these gorgeous burnt red dungarees over the white frilly blouse. I'm pleased to see some more rust coloured pieces coming in too, I'll be styling the high waisted trousers with a silky T shirt to really style up a 70s Glam look!

What are your favourite pieces from the Primark Autumn Winter 2015 collection?