Diptyque Philosykos Eau De Toilette | Review

Dipytque Philosykos 50ml £50

"In the heat of a Greek Summer, 'to get to the sea,' recalls Yves, 'you had to walk through a natural orchard of wild fig trees.' Returning from Paris, Desmond brought back a few leaves of these trees in a little box. Years later, the leaves had lost none of their fragrance. Philosykos, which in greek means 'freind of the fig tree,' is an ode to the entire tree: the green, pungent freshness of the leaves, the wood warmed in the sun, the milky flavour of the fruit." - Diptyque

Well now, i don't think i could have summed it up better myself! I finally gave into my wish list craving and bought the Philosykos perfume. After being religiously only given perfume on  my birthdays and at christmas time,  i'd never really felt the need to buy my own or delve into other brands of perfume to find a scent that really suited me. I've always been quite particular about scent, not liking smells that are too sickly sweet and fake smelling and preferring something more woody and spicy or something light and florally. Which is why i was presently suprised when i fell in love with a perfume thats described as being fruity! Philosykos is unlike anything i've ever smelled and is so distinctive that you know it couldn't possibly be another fragrance you could buy in boots and i can completely understand why this is Diptyques best selling scent. I smelt it on a whim in SpaceNk after reading a post on fig scented perfumes and body products on Lily's blog What I Heart Today. I sprayed it on my wrist and the whole way home i could not stop sniffing it and i knew it had to make its way into my limited perfume collection. This is my second fragrance from Diptyque (my first is "Do Son") and i absolutely love how original they are and how you can personalise fragrances by mixing and matching to blend scents. To be brutally honest i don't think i'd buy perfume from anyone else anymore, i think they are that good. I've recently been subconsciously buying fig scented products i love the scent that much! & Other Stories have a  range of body products that very similar scent to Philosykos which i recently stocked up on when i went down to London for my final second year lecture!

Have you tried any fragrances from Diptyque? Which is your favourite?

Clarins Palette Eclat Poudre Teint & Blush | Review

 Clarins Palette Eclat Poudre Teint & Blush £30

Clarins recently unveiled their Spring 2013 Collection which included this beaaaautiful limited edition powder/blush/highlighter hybrid. The powder itself is embossed with an iris design and its still intact after much use! The compact is the signature reflective gold Clarins design with a large mirror inside which i think is lovely just lovely and looks so sophisticated (wouldn't have a problem whipping this out on a train!). To be honest this is a multi use powder but i have only really used it as a blush as i think the colour is so pretty! If you focus on the left hand side or the coloured areas of the powder and swirl your brush around you get a lovely natural looking peachy pink colour for a subtle flush on the cheeks. I was very lucky and got mine on ebay for a mere £13 and if you have a look there might still be some available. If that fails the palette is still available but won't be for much longer so get your paws on it while you still can!

Wish List | Diptyque, Nars, Stila, Origins and Aesop.

1. Origins Ginger Essence Sensuous Skin Scent £38 2. Diptyque Figuier Scented Candle £20 3. Stila Convertible Colour in Gerbera £16 4. Nars Cream Blush in Penny Lane £21.50  5. Philosykos Eau De Toilette £70 6. Aesop Parsley Seed Mask £27

These little trips into SpaceNk and Boots after work at the gallery are getting a little too frequent and subsequently my purse is a little  a lot, lighter. These trips have rapidly been building up my most wanted list of beauty bits and it seems i'm developing an Origins Ginger, cream blush and Diptyque obsession, oops.

1.First up is the Sensuous Skin scent by Origins in their delicious Ginger fragrance which i've haven't shut up about since i first got their Whipped Body cream in the same scent! I've since added the body wash to my collection to help enhance that summery fragrance, but alas, the perfume is still calling my name! The fragrance is made up of spicy ginger, bergamot, lemon and lime and is so different to anything i've ever smelt before. Yum.

2 & 5. Up next is one of the famous Diptyque duos, the mini candle in the Figuier fragrance and their best selling fragrance Philosykos. On one of my afore mentioned SpaceNk trips i happened upon the Diptyque section and immediately picked out the Philosykos fragrance upon the recommendation of this post by Lily Pebbles. The scent is fresh with fig and is almost woody and fruity at the same time? Diptyque describe as smelling like  a "greek summer, walking through an orchard of wild fig trees", i have to say i think that's pretty spot on! I like this smell so much and kept sniffing my wrist for the rest of the afternoon. I rarely fall in love with scents but this + the similarly scented candle might have to be added to my collection asap.

3. I finally got around to getting one of the well know Stila Convertible Colour's in Gladiola the other day as the shades i wanted (gerbera or lilium) were out of stock. I absolutely love the shade and how they look so glowy and natural on me and am desperate to pick op some more shades as i can tell i will certainly getting a lot of wear out of these this summer!

4. Another cream blush i've had my eye on in the Nars Cream Blush in Penny Lane which is a perfect everyday shade. If only my SpaceNk had more than two shades in stock! Sob.

6. This mask is one i've been meaning to add to my collection for a while now. I completely adore Aesop's packaging and this would look so nice on my dresser, plus i've heard it's contents are pretty magical too!

What are the products you've been lusting after recently?

Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Mask | Review

 Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Mask £21.99

I had been dying to get my hands on this mask ever since Kate from Gh0st Parties mentioned it in a post of hers raving about what it had done for her skin. After living in Australia for a few years manuka honey is something i'm quite familiar as it's native to Australia's neighbour New Zealand. Manuka honey is famous for its healing, antiviral and anti bacterial properties making it a wonderful beneficial treat for your skin.  Antipodes have used a traditional Maori remedy which draws moisture to your skin, whilst the pohutukawa bloom contains natures finest antioxidants to cleanse and draw out impurities. The mask is contains fragrances of vanilla pod and mandarin which i think smells divine and i think the  subtly sweet honey scent also comes though and smells so natural. I usually use of this on thoroughly cleansed skin or after using a mask to draw everything out so my pores are unclogged so this mask will work its magic properly! This mask has left my skin feeling so plump and smoothed and my skin felt so nourished afterwards. This is one of my favourite masks and i've had it quite a while now and will definitely continue to repurchase once its finished!

Topshop Highlighter "Crescent Moon" | Review

Topshop Highlighter in "Crescent Moon" £10

After a long day at uni last year i decided to head on over to Oxford Street on my way home to perk myself up a tad! As we all probably know, the Oxford Street Topshop is a wondrous beacon of lovelyless which makes all that battling through the tube tunnels at rush hour on the tube very worth it! I of course, ended up in the make-up section which i have to say was something i have never been in that much of a hurry to explore (oh how that has changed). The only thing that seemed to grab my eye was this gorgeous highlighter with its equally lovely name "Crescent Moon". This shade is definitely more wearable for a variety of skin tones as opposed to Topshop's other shade "Sunbeam" which is suited to girls with a darker skin tone! I think this colour also blends into your skin naturally as it's a more subtle colour. I use this with my real techniques contour brush swept across my cheek bones, down my nose, cupids bow and chin. I think this gives a subtle glowy look and isn't too sparkly or shimmery, something which i'm not too keen on!

Have you tried any highlighters from Topshop?