Re-do The Review; Far Away Shine edp, by Avon

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Light up the world with exotic Ispahan roses to make your inner sparkle your outer shine.

This oriental and gourmand scent is expertly crafted around Ispahan rose, an ancient and exotic Persian bloom used in beauty for over 2,000 years and celebrated by women as a symbol of inner illumination.

I hadn't known that a new Far Away flanker was coming until I saw it being advertised in a catalogue late last summer. The name and bright colour did strike me as odd for the time of the release. I ordered it anyway, as soon as I saw it being advertised in a Avon catalogue since there hadn't been a single Far Away flanker that I've outright disliked, however when I shared my thoughts on it I wasn't blown away by it. This was most likely because it is fragrance geared towards the spring/summer months, but it wasn't released until right before autumn. 

However now that brighter days are now finally here, I think that it's only fair that we revisit Far Away shine...

Klean girl? [reviewing XO Khloé edp, by Khloé Kardashian]

 XO KHLOÉ by KHLOÉ KARDASHIAN is an unforgettable fragrance crafted with love. 

XO Khloé is the first ever signature fragrance by Khloé Kardashian, and it perfectly captures the joyful essence of the reality and social media star and business mogul in all her glory. It Is designed to inspire positivity, confidence, and strength, encouraging a sense of warmth, peace, kindness and beauty.

I saw a post advertising this perfume last Christmas when it was exclusively launched in Harrods [17th December 2024] and the scent notes instantly interested me, but the cost put me off from blindly purchasing a bottle. In the end I decided that it would receive a wider release at some point in all likelihood, so I decided to show some patience by waiting for it to become available somewhere where I could have amble testing before deciding if I actually wanted to buy myself a bottle.

Well, that time is now; you can purchase XO Khloè from Boots, both in-store and online. Plus a 30ml bottle option is available...

Speedy Review: R.E.M. Cherry Eclipse edp, by Ariana Grande

 Irresistible. Addicting. Dreamy.  

R.E.M. Cherry Eclipse is a celebration of the rare and extraordinary, just like an eclipse. Redefine the every day and eclipse the ordinary with Ariana Grande's addicting new fragrance.

I was shocked by how poor the quality of Ariana Grande's last perfume was, so I wasn't interested in or paying attention to any news on whatever fragrance would be next - I just assumed it'd be something else from the Love Notes collection, or another Cloud flanker... 

Bam; one of my favourite perfume releases from her range has gotten a flanker. Boom; the flanker is focusing on one of my favourite fruit notes - cherry. So now I'm paying attention to the brand again. Well played Ariana, well played. 

Vanilla for grown-ups? [reviewing Burberry Goddess Eau de Parfum Intense, by Burberry]...

The power within... 

Burberry Goddess is a story of self-discovery found through confidence, strength and kindness. 

Inspired by the colours at sunset, Burberry Goddess Eau de Parfum Intense is housed in a square bottle filled with a light ambery fragrance. The signature trio of vanillas from Goddess Eau de Parfum is amplified with a fourth vanilla wood (vanilla SFE) that has a smoky character. When combined with luminous lavender essence, it intensifies the scent with a vibrant woody aroma.

As I've mentioned before, I love vanilla fragrances although it is a note that often doesn't work well with my body chemistry, so a richer, more adult darker vanilla is needed. I'd been testing Burberry Goddess on and off for a while and had been really enjoying it as it is rich enough to wear well on me. I'd made my choice - I was planning on buying a bottle once I'd finished off some of my older almost-empty perfumes...

I however became giddy when I suddenly switched and began testing Burberry Goddess Intense instead, because I found that it instantly brought Vanilla Royale to mind - Vanilla Royale is a limited edition fragrance that I adore, however as it is becoming less widely available for purchase now, finding a similar style of fragrance to enjoy is something that I've been searching for. Therefore [as I often do] I became giddy and skipped Burberry Goddess and went straight to buying Burberry Goddess Intense. Was that a mistake, or was my initial impressions on it being similar to Vanilla Royale correct?

Cosmic; round two... [reviewing Cosmic 2.0 edp, by Kylie Jenner]

 

The floral amber scent is officially described as being a “soft, clean” fragrance, that was inspired by the first light breaking through the horizon...

Similar to the original Cosmic, Cosmic 2.0 is housed in a sculptural bottle, designed to look like a piece of art from another world. However this flanker comes in a reflective, mirrored finish, developed to represent self-reflection and personal growth.

I don't follow Kylie Cosmetics or Kylie herself on any social media platforms, so this release [like the original] was a surprise for me that I only heard about the day before the launch. I do really enjoy the original Cosmic much more than I expected that I would [I actually do genuinely plan to buy a refill container for my almost empty bottle in the near-future], so obviously I was immediately interested by the new release and I was ready to pounce on it immediately from the Kylie Cosmetics site.

However my lingering issues from multiple Covid exposures include my sense of smell randomly coming & going, and the initial release of Cosmic 2.0 coincided with a 'off' period for me, so I've instead waited for Cosmic 2.0 to recieve a wider launch. I've been avoiding all reviews for Cosmic 2.0 in the meantime, whilst I was waiting for my nose to play ball, and I was excited to head to Boots as soon as my sense of smell returned. 

Can Cosmic 2.0 stand tall next to the original Cosmic? A bit of a tall order, considering how highly I hold Cosmic...

Getting Lippie; Coffee Shimmer Lasting Finish lipstick, by Rimmel

Coffee Shimmer Lasting Finish lipstick is the first makeup item I have clear memories of picking out & buying for myself, way back in the early 1990s, and I still continue to buy and wear it today.  

I'm honestly quite surprised that I've never shouted this lipstick out before, or have included this in one of my spotlighted looks in this blog, back when I focused more on makeup. 

Beyond time for me to fix that...

You're not like the others: Alien edp [reviewing Alien edp, by Mugler]

Alien spreads an aura, and it claims the right to do that by its very name...

Alien is a magic elixir captured in a bottle of deep and mysterious purple with the shape of a talisman, reminiscent of a philosopher's stone or some warlock object.

The creators of Alien based the composition on three main lines: warm, white amber in the base, woodsy notes in the heart, and sunny Indian jasmine in the top.

I bought Alien Goddess last year and really enjoy it, so I wanted to give the original Alien perfume more attention since I appreciate a jasmine-focused fragrance nowadays. Alien is a fragrance that I've tried many times since it's original release, but my opinion on it always changed - sometimes I'd love it, sometimes it was just okay, sometimes it was a nose-crinkler.

I'd avoided the majority of the post-Christmas sales everywhere, but when I popped into a Boots store in mid January there it was; a Alien perfume giftset, sat on the bottom shelf of the 98% empty perfume giftset display. I had a gift card to spend, the set had a third off, and I'd had the urge to really get reacquainted with Alien for a while, so here we are after wearing it almost daily since I bought it, to get a concrete feel for it...