fragrances - Inspired Living SA

Celebrate Mothers Day and Win Anais Anais by Cacharel

It is Mother’s Day on Sunday – the perfect time to spoil that amazing person or people in your life, whether it be your actual mother or someone who is a “mother” figure to you! I lost my own mom when I was only seventeen but luckily there are so many things that remind me of her and I treasure this everyday! Anais Anais fragrance by Cacharel is one of those things!

Cacharel recently gave Anais Anais a bit of a makeover! In celebration of this and of Mother’s Day, I would like to giveaway a bottle of Anais Anais, to one lucky reader! Because of all the public holidays I have decided to run the competition until the 13th May, which gives everyone ample time to enter! So moms enter yourself or nominate your mom to win. Use the Rafflecopter entry form below for easy entry.{Please ensure you read the *Terms & Conditions below carefully}

To enter you need to:

Tell me about your mom and what makes her so special or what you love most about being a mom?
Like Inspired Living on Facebook
Tweet ~ Celebrate Mother’s Day and Win Anais Anais by Cacharel on @Inspired_lifeSA

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Terms & Conditions:

Entries are open from 6th May 2014 until midnight on the 13th May 2014, winners will be announced on the 14th May 2014.
Enter using the Rafflecopter form, as per the instructions above.
To ensure that your entry in processed correctly (please use a valid email address). Your details will only be used to validate your entry and inform you, if you are selected as a winner.
Prizes may not be exchanged for cash.
This competition is open to South African residents only.
By “Liking” you enter and agree that this promotion is in no way associated with, administered by, or endorsed by Facebook; and acknowledge a complete release of Facebook by your participation.

[accordion title=”Winner: Yolande Murphy”][/accordion]

Disclosure Ranking: 2

Beauty, Beauty Products

My Favourite Fragrances for 2013

Wow what a busy end to the year! Here we are slowly easing into 2014 ~ a New Year brings with it many new and wonderful possibilities! It also gives us a chance to reflect on the year gone by and the things that worked for us and the things that did not.

I thought I would reflect on some of the things that I loved in 2013 and share them with you, starting off with my favourite fragrances for 2013:

Modern Muse

Modern Muse by Esteé Lauder, is a “Chic New Vision of Femininity”. It embraces the “duality” of the modern woman, who are both strong and confident, as well as soft and feminine. The definition of a “muse” is – “a woman, or a force personified as a woman, who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist”. Modern Muse captures the essence of the modern woman – your style, your confidence and your creative spirit. It is an alluring contrast of sparkling florals and sleek, sensual woods.

My favourite accord of the fragrance is the “sleek wood” scent, with wonderful vanilla, which is one of my personal favourites when it comes to fragrance. I am not a lover of overly floral scents but Modern Muse is so beautifully balanced and I find the floral accord is subtle and pretty rather being over powering!

Elie Saab Le Parfum

Elie Saab Le Parfum had been on my wish-list for a while, when my hubby came to and surprised me with a bottle! I have to admit this is definitely my favourite-favourite for 2013! The bottle is jewel like and the rosey liquid inside is simply heavenly. The woody top notes, give way to zesty orange blossom and base notes reveal a deeply addictive cedar-honey rose accord. In simple terms it is both sensual and feminine and when I wear it my hubby cannot get enough of the smell 🙂

Catch Me by Cacharel

Catch Me by Cacharel, is a typically summery fragrance! It reminds me of holiday time, which is probably also because I bought on my way home, from my trip to Thailand. This is a wonderfully feminine perfume, which although floral, it has notes of citrus and almond, making it refreshingly youthful. It is such a pretty fragrance and one of my favourite bottles!

So those are my favourite fragrances for 2013 – what were yours, please share below!

Beauty, Beauty Products

Modern Muse by Estee Lauder

As I may have mentioned before one of my favourite types of events to attend, are beauty events, especially if it is for a brand I am not familiar with! I find this is a great way to find out more about products, which I may not necessarily have tried before. One such event I attended recently was hosted by Estee Lauder, at the elegant Mount Nelson Hotel.

Before we got into the nitty-gritty of the Estee Lauder makeup products, we were introduced to Lauders recently launched fragrance Modern Muse, which has fast become my favourite scent for 2013!

The beautiful Lulu Ndevu, from Estee Lauder first explained the philosophy behind their new fragrance. Personally I love the strap line of Modern Muse – “Be an Inspiration” – which ties in so amazingly with my own philosophy, as a modern woman!

LUSH Gorilla Perfume

In the quiet seaside town of Poole, England, father and son team Mark and Simon Constantine work as a dynamic, creative force, inventing all new perfumes that defy scent expectations. Inspired by art, music, memories, people and stories, each perfume tells a tale and evokes emotion. Gorilla Perfume is an antidote to boring, mass-market scents, and a movement to get people excited about good quality fragrance. ~ LUSH

Recently I was treated to a exotic sensory evening hosted by LUSH SA to launch their new range of LUSH Gorilla Perfumes. I thought I would share a few of the photographs I took during our dramatic olfactory experience .

Hellstone ~ Heavy joboba and beeswax, anointing the skin with a sensual, warm undertone.

Sun – Vibrant, zesty orange, tangy tangerine and mimosa fizz recline atop sultry sandalwood for a true taste of the Sun. (This was my favourite!)

Sikkim Girls ~ The frangipani, jasmine, vanilla and tuberose conjure up exotic climes and heady possibilities.

Euphoria ~ Essential oils including clary sage, grapefruit, lime and neroli to make a scent that is light, clarifying and expanding.

Flowers Barrow ~ Ripe, bursting blackcurrant and sweet geranium are the tang of sea air and the wild plants that entwine against ancient stone in a leafy embrace.

A big thank you to Katie and the LUSH V&A crew for a wonderfully fun evening! If you would like to find out more about the Gorilla Perfumes I encourage you to pop in to the V&A Waterfront store and experience them for yourself!

If you would like to be kept up-to-date with all the Lush happenings you can follow them on FaceBook & Twitter.

Be Inspired, Beauty, Beauty Box, Beauty Products, Product Reviews, Reviews and Features

My November 2012 rubybox

Where indeed has the year gone? I cannot believe that we are a less than a month away from Christmas but here we are! It has been a great year of trying out new and different beauty brands, some of which I would never have encountered had it not been for rubybox.

My November 2012 rubybox did contain three full size products but I must admit I missed having a skin care element in the box this month but without further a do here is my review:

Armani Code, both the woman’s and men’s fragrance has been a firm favourite of both mine and my hubby for a while now!

Armani Code Pour Femme ~ is fresh and sexy, my definition of the sporty girls fragrance, it combines zesty citrus, with ginger and exotic jasmine and orange blossom. With my favourite vanilla notes to round it all off beautifully!

Armani Code ~ This is one of my favourite mens fragrances! It is mysterious with a hint of the orient and a sexy balance of citrus and soft woody notes. Makes my man smell yummy! 🙂

Also in the November rubybox were three full size products from Essence Cosmetics, which I have not used much before.

Essence Lipgloss ~ I am a lipgloss lover and although this promises to be an ultra-glossy gloss I was not overly impressed, it did the job but I prefer a slighty thicker gloss. It is not too sticky which is always good but if I am completely honest I would not buy it again, I feel that there are far better options available. ( the only sway towards it would be the extremely reasonable price tag of R19.95)

Essence Colour & Go in Nude It ~ I have been looking for a nude nail polish for a little while now but not been too successful, many of them dry with a grey tinge. This one was definitely more successful colour-wise but it does take at least two coats to see the true colour. Again price-wise it beats all the competition, at R19.95 it is a steal!

Essence Eyeliner in Think Khaki ~ I have not worn coloured eyeliner in years but I was really impressed with how this looked on my eye. I usually wear a nude eye, with either brown or black eyeliner during the day, so this is quite a nice change. Again the price is really low at R14.95.