ISSEY MIYAKE: A Scent by Issey Miyake Eau de Toilette spray

Escentual.com gave me the opportunity to test a really lovely perfume by Issey Miyake: A Scent by Issey Miyake.

About the perfume which can be purchased here:
"The new fragrance from Issey Miyake is A Scent by Issey Miyake, which was inspired by nature.

A Scent Eau de Parfum is a floral, feminine and warm fragrance. A bouquet of flowers made of hyacinth, jasmine and rose's petals fused with the warmth of woody notes.
A Scent Eau de Toilette is a green and feminine fragrance. A fresh signature scent, drawing inspiration from nature's essentials: leaves, flowers, wood." 

I really love the heavy clean and simple bottle of the perfume. And the scent is really great, a fresh green but also floral and feminine fragrance I really enjoy to wear!

You might remember that I am extremely sensitive to perfumes as I will get a headache in no time if a fragrance is too heavy, powdery or sweet but A Scent by Issey Miyake smells downright awesome! Staying power is good, too, I can smell this Eau de Toilette several hours after spraying it on!
I will enjoy wearing this a lot and I am very sure I will finish the bottle in no time as I am wearing this daily now!

I also would like to point out that the prices on Escentual.com are really good (and yes, I received the perfume for free but no, I am not being paid to say this!). I checked the local department store where the 100ml bottle costs €89.90 whereas the price on Escentual.com is GBP33.50 so that´s less than half of the retail price here!

Xmas 2010: Majolica Majorca Majoromantica (perfume)

This year´s Xmas collection from Majolica Majorca is downright disappointing. A perfume, a red mascara and a pink nail polish...that´s all! No cool palettes, no shimmer powder...nothing.
I neither need red mascara nor pink nail polish but I definitely wanted to try out the new perfume called Majoromantica.

The Majoromantica perfume comes in a slim tall bottle made of a pretty bright red glass.

The applicator is a long slim black stick which is very convenient for dabbing the perfume behind your ears etc.

The perfume is in an oily solution and to my greatest suprise extremely long-lasting and quite strong so a little goes a very long way. I dabbed a little on this morning at around 8 AM and now, 10 hours later, I still can smell it.

I am not good in describing scents so all I can say it´s a spicy smell, a little powdery but not to a cloying extent. It´s definitely neither really floral nor very fruity but it has a slightly fresh note.

My dear reader Aki translated the composition for me here (thank you!):
Top Notes: Juicy and Fruity (Juneberry, strawberry, raspberry, pomegranate, apple, fig, mangosteen, bergamot, lemon, mandarin)
Middle notes: Floral Sweet (Rose, sweet pea, jasmine, muguet, gardenia)
Base notes: Sweet and Mysterious (Vanilla, maple, brown sugar, sandal wood, amber, musk)

I actually love the perfume, it smells really great and is perfect for the season now. I don´t think this is a very unique scent but it´s nonetheless really yummy and doesn´t cause any headache (as I am really sensitive to scents!) =P


Retails for 1680 Yen for 20ml. I got mine from Ichibankao but I think other online shops will carry this soon, too (I see e.g. Mihokoshop is listing this now, too). 

Rating 5/5

Sana Hime-Ichigo (fragrance spray)

I found this fragrance spray from Sana called Hime-Ichigo (Princess Strawberry?) on eBay a few months ago and have almost finished my bottle by now.


Hime-Ichigo comes in a cute pink glass bottle with flowers and strawberries printed all over.
Honestly when I ordered it I thought it´d probably not smell nice, much too sweet and childish but when I received it and sniffed it I was really impressed with how lovely it smelt.
Hime-Ichigo smells fruity but not really like strawberry blended with a soft floral note with an overall rather fresh tinge. It´s refreshing and soft and not tacky or overly sweet at all. More like a fruity light cologne.


Honestly the staying power isn´t great as the scent fades rather quickly but this is just a cologne spray so one shouldn´t expect a very long-lasting perfume here.

Overall a cute fragrance spray at an affordable price (700 Yen for 50ml). I think I paid somewhere around US$10-12 plus shipping from eBay.

Demeter Fragrance Library: Hello Kitty cologne spray

I reviewed the Little Twin Stars and My Melody cologne sprays from Demeter recently. I really love those 2 so I ordered the Hello Kitty-themed one, too.


Hello Kitty is a lovely apple scent. Not the kind of sweet kitty apple but rather a stronger one with more dimension.
Overall this is probably my favorite scent of the 3 so I am really happy I ordered it.
Lasting power is ok...since it´s a cologne it needs reapplication throughout the day.


I got mine from Sasa for around US$23 for 30ml. This shop seems to stock quite a variety of the Fragrance Library from Demeter.

Demeter Fragrance Library: Little Twin Stars & My Melody cologne sprays

I am sure many of us girls have good childhood memories with Sanrio´s characters Little Twin Stars and My Melody. I used to collect their stuff like all sorts of stationery, soaps, handkerchieves etc.


When I found the Little Twin Stars and My Melody cologne sprays made by Demeter on Sasa I couldn´t resist picking them up.


Both come in quite plain bottles with a cute label showing either Kiki & Lala ( Little Twin Stars) or My Melody (that cute little rabbit).

Little Twin Stars is a fresh zesty citrus blend which is truly perfect for summer.


My Melody is a warm chocolatey almond scent which is really yummy and perfect for the cooler months in fall and winter.


Since these are cologne sprays their lasting power isn´t the greatest which is a pity however I still enjoy the scents very much.

They cost around US$23 on Sasa for 30ml which is just about US$3 more than retail in the US.

All in all those are nice little scents and so cute to display on your vanity. There is also a Hello Kitty scent which I ordered but haven´t gotten yet (I suspect I might get it by Wednesday).

Etude House MiniMe Ms. Cutie & Ms. Lonely (fragrance sprays)

Etude House released a fragrance spray collection of 5 different scents back in November or December and I ordered 2 of the ones that seemed to be most appealing.. one in a citrus fruits scent and the other one supposed to smell like chocolate.


For 13000 Won you get a 100ml bottle with a cute head-shaped cap. The cap is rather heavy and doesn´t close too well so whenever I grab a bottle it has the tendency to slide off.
All 5 different scents come in different scents as they have different themes, too.
I got Ms. Cutie and Ms. Lonely, one looking more like a school-girl and the other like an office lady.


I have to admit that I was also lured by the cute freebies Etude House offered. At the time I ordered these scents you got a free mug with each bottle and since I reached a certain amount I also got a free journal, cotton pads and a cute cooking glove. When you order before Xmas time the freebies are usually good!
Ms. Cutie is the yellow one. It smells like a cheap mix of lemon detergent and some cloying flower note. I really dislike this one!
Ms. Lonely in my opinion is even worse, one of the yuckiest scents I have ever smelled. It´s a chocolate-and-burned-plastic blend which does not smell lovely at all. Just terrifying, seriously! No wonder this Miss is lonely, with this smell it will be hard to find someone voluntarily sniffing her!


All in all really crappy cheap scents of which I should have steered clear. At least I use the mugs (for my Macha Latte) and cooking glove regularly!

Summer 2009: Majolica Majorca Innocent Pleasure

After posting a teaser of the new Majolica Majorca collection I got a lot of response. Seems all you ladies are eagerly awaiting my review/thoughts/swatches!


So despite not having actually worn all palettes yet I decided to review the collection to help you decide if it's worth picking up some goodies or not. I will update with new EOTD pics daily (or every other day, depending if I wear makeup daily..I sometimes take a day off).

I'll start with the Majoerotica glitter perfume and then proceed with the Jeweling Eyes palettes.

-Majoerotica Glitter Perfume:


The Majoerotica perfume comes in a small plastic jar with a tree printed on (with a snake swaddled around it). This fits with the Adam & Eve theme, as well as the strong apple scent of this.


Now describing a perfume is always hard especially for a non-perfume wearer like me. I only rarely wear it as I am so sensitive to smells that I will end up with painful headaches if I sniff the wrong stuff. So in general the only fragrances I can wear are light, fresh, crisp smells (with citrus notes etc.).


To me this smells like apple gummy bears. It's a sweet scent that's neither sexy (why is it called Majoerotica??) nor very elegant. It's a cheap scent that young teenage girls can pull off but not me (at age 28!)

5g cost 945 Yen (about US$10)

-Jeweling Line (nail art polish) GR444:


This is a nail polish with a fine brush used for nail art (stripes etc...for other things the brush isn't really fine enough). I hoped this would be an opaque bright apple green but it's a super sheer glitter polish. I don't like it. Period!
Costs 380 Yen for the small 3ml bottle.

-Jeweling Eyes:
I think this is the review you're waiting on. The Majoerotica and nail colors are after all not as interesting as the whopping 8 new eyeshadow palettes!

I collected nearly all MM palettes (but removed several from my stash as the colors just didn't work for me at all).

The first eyeshadow palettes were the Majewel palettes in Spring 2006, followed with the original Majolooks in Summer (and Illuminators for Xmas).

In Spring 2007 MM released their Majolook Line Impact series (the least impressive line) with 2 new colors released for Xmas 2007.

2008 saw the pretty new Majolook Trick on Eyes, with 2 new colors released for Fall 2008 (so far my favorite MM palette range).
For Xmas they came up with 2 new Majolook Illuminator palettes and now we see a brand new range called Jeweling Eyes.


The Jeweling Eyes come in the cutest compacts. They are a bit more princessy and elaborate than the previous compacts.
Each palette comes with 4 powder shadows like the Trick On Eyes while the older Majolooks contained a crappy white cream base and the Line Impact palettes had a really bad cream liner).

The texture is quite silky and fine. The biggest shadow (top left corner) has a little glitter and is sheerer than the other colors. The pigment in general is about sheer-medium, the liner shades have the highest amount of color density (about medium and buildable).

The shadow finish depends on the colors. The darkest shades are generally matte-slightly shimmery while the 2 colors are pearl-metallic and the lightest shade is sheer with fine glitters.

I honestly expected a bit more breath-taking shimmer and pigment from the quads. They're supposed to give jewel-like shimmer to your lids but all in all the result is more muted and subtle due to the sheerness and rather pearly than shimmery finish.
Please note: The colors look more shimmery in the swatches on my arm than in real life. That's due to the flash I used.

I really like the palettes though! They're sheer but offer a refined and pretty look and the shadows blend very well!
I can build color without wiping off what I already applied (as the texture is not overly powdery) so it's nice to be able to control the color depth.

I picked up all 8 colors as they all looked very pretty and wearable and I am a die-hard fan of Majolica Majorca ever since I started with Japanese brands over 4 years ago.
I don't often pick up the complete line of an eyeshadow series as there are always colors among them that I won't use but I couldn't help but picking up all Jeweling Eyes!

Now on to the colors:

RD784:


Even though this looked quite warm at first this turned out to be one of the most attractive Jeweling Eyes palettes. This is a very feminine quad for a subtly defined eye look.


The colors are a pale ivory (with fine glitters), pale flesh color (pearl), rosey apricot (iridescent pearl) and deep warm brown (matte with some scattered shimmer bits).


PK383:


This is the brightest palette (and possible my least fave).


The colors are pale pink (with fine glitters), warm orangey pink (pearl), strawberry pink (pearl) and deep reddish brown (pearl).


PK785:


The softer pink palette is really pretty and feminine. It's not loud and very wearable.


The colors are off-white (with fine glitters), pale pink (pearl), medium muted pink (pearl) and dark cool brown (matte with some scattered shimmer bits).


VI782:


This is another fave palette of mine. It's a pretty purple quad that's very flattering.


The colors are off-white (with fine glitters), pale lavender (satin), deeper lilac (pearl) and deep grayed purple (matte with some scattered shimmer bits).


GD886:


I think I normally wouldn't choose a palette like this (warm bronze gold!) but I still purchased it and it's pretty and neutral enough to wear it without a problem!


This is a more pigmented palette. The colors are:
Ivory (with fine glitters), light yellow (pearl), bronze gold (metallic) and deep neutral brown (pearl).


GR780:


This is my 3rd fave palette. I just love those fresh grayish greens. I can't wear warm golden or grassy greens so this muted sage-green quad is a welcome addition to my eyeshadow selection =)


The colors are: White (with fine glitters), pale mint green (satin), light sage green (pearl) and deep sage green (satin).

PS If you like those greens but want more pigment, a vibrant and shimmery finish then I highly recommend Kate's Deep Trap Eyes GN-1.


BL381:


This is another interesting palette. One of the colors is quite bright whereas the rest is more muted.


The colors are:
Silver white (with fine glitters), pale baby blue (satin), bright violet blue (satin), deep grayed navy blue (matte with some scattered shimmer bits).


SV887:

This is the most metallic palette in the lot. Silver/pink combos always work for me so this palette is definitely a pretty staple. It's not unique but it's cute and the colors are flattering.


The colors are: White (pearl with fine glitters), baby pink (pearl), light silver (metallic) and deep silver gray (metallic).


All in all I admittedly am very pleased with the new palettes and would approve them for purchase. You have 8 colors to choose from so I am sure everyone will find a palette suitable for her.

The palettes retail for 1575 Yen in Japan.
I purchased everything from Ichibankao.