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Browsing by author: Anjali

Tocca Crema Da Sogno Stella (Blood Orange Rich Body Cream) ~ scented body products

Posted by Anjali on 3 June 2007 6 Comments

Tocca Stella Body Cream

With the long, hot days of summer just around the corner, it is the perfect time to pull out Tocca’s stunning blood orange scent, Stella. Blood orange is not as closely related to the fragrance of regular oranges as it sounds like it might be — instead of being tart or cutting, it is much more mellow and rounded, with a lush, honeyed depth to it.

Stella captures the fragrance of blood oranges wonderfully, with a lovely subtle hint of springy green leaves in the background to round out the fragrance. Tocca offers the scent in a wide variety of products, from candles ($16 for a 2.85 oz. pillar and $36 for 10.6 oz), soap ($12 for 6 oz), shower gel ($19 for 8 oz), lightweight body lotion ($28 for 8 oz), rich body cream ($45 for 6 oz) and Eau de Parfum ($68 for 50 ml). The Eau de Parfum puzzlingly (and disappointingly) misses the mark on scent, but the rest of the line, fortunately, executes it beautifully…

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Bath & Body Works Aromatherapy Black Currant Vanilla line ~ scented body products

Posted by Anjali on 20 May 2007 5 Comments

Bath & Body Works Black Currant Vanilla Pillow MistBlack currant is one of my favorite notes: I adore the way it shyly peers behind a sheer veil of powder in Guerlain’s Chamade, how its sweetness tempers the sultry boldness of The Different Company’s Jasmin de Nuit and the luxurious pairing it makes with cocoa in Annick Goutal’s Eau de Charlotte. So when a friend mentioned Bath & Body Works’ Black Currant Vanilla scent, a recent addition to the store’s Aromatherapy line, I dropped everything to run to the mall to try it.

The scent is lovely, and far more complex than its title implies — though the fragrance is centered around a mixture of sweet black currant and powdery-sweet vanilla absolute…

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Creative Nail Design Solar Speed Spray ~ scented body products

Posted by Anjali on 6 May 2007 5 Comments

Creative Nail Design Solar Speed SprayI used to pay almost no attention to my nails. I’d occasionally trim and file them, but going beyond that to apply nail polish seemed like way too much hassle. It’s not that I didn’t love adding a little color to my tips, I just hated the application process: the chemical smell of the polish, the even worse smell of polish remover (and its incredibly irritating habit of drying out my skin) and the enormous amount of patience it seemed to take for everything to fully dry.

The wait, in fact, was probably the most aggravating part, and no matter how long I gave my nails to dry or what topcoat I used, I always seemed to smudge my manicure irreparably by doing something innocuous like opening the door, changing the channel, or even just going to bed…

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Diana B. Black Fig Sugar Scrub ~ scented body products

Posted by Anjali on 21 April 2007 4 Comments

Diana B Sugar Scrub in Black Fig

Last year, former actress and model Diana Barton introduced Diana B., a line of body lotions, bath gels, candles and scrubs that claimed to revolutionize skincare. The rather high price point ($28 – $45) initially made me dismiss the line as yet another instance of overhyped, celebrity-endorsed nonsense, but a rave from a friend convinced me to pick up the scrub and give it a try; I was soon kicking myself for not having given the products a chance before.

The scrub is remarkable, really unlike any I have used before…

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Guerlain Insolence Sparkling Shower Gel ~ scented body products

Posted by Anjali on 6 April 2007 4 Comments

Guerlain Insolence Sparkling Shower GelGuerlain introduced Insolence last year to mainly mixed reviews among the fragrance community, gaining flak for being too sweet and simple and not particularly Guerlain-ish. I have to agree with Victoria of Bois de Jasmin that if one waits for it to emerge, underneath this sugary violet exterior lies a rich Guerlain heart of iris, woods and smoky vanilla.

However, while this may be true of the perfume, the same complexity is sadly not present in Guerlain’s matching shower gel; its fragrance captures only the Eau de Toilette’s sweet innocent phase…

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