Review: Victoria by Victoria's Secret

Despite not being much of a perfume person until I turned 20, I now have quite the little gathering of scents I really love that *I* think smell good on me. I'm not snobby about what types of perfume I use-- celebrity perfumes, knock offs, whatever. As long as it smells good/good on me & lasts I'll buy it.

Which brings me to this little gem. I don't know why I'd never tried any Victoria's Secret brand perfumes but I have a sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with not shopping there haha. Nothing there really fits me that well so why would I?

Anyways, I was hanging out with my friend Erika (she used to work at Victoria's Secret) and she let me try a sample size of 'Victoria' because she was planning on buying a full size soon. I fell in love. The bottle was what got me at first (how cute is it???) but the scent is what made me want it even more. The Victoria's Secret website describes it as "a sparkling blend of red berries, Victoria rose and crème brûlée."



It smells amazing! You can definitely smell the rose & brightness of the berries while the crème brûlée makes it a little creamier smelling with a hint of caramelized sugar.

I love it. I think I'm going to get a lot of use out of it all year long but especially in the spring and summer. Definitely give it a sniff next time you go into Victoria's Secret. Victoria retails for $52 - $68 USD. I know they also make a body mist version that's a bit less potent and less expensive ($25 USD) if you're wanting something a little wallet-friendlier.

Let me know if you like it!


-Becca

October 2013 Favorites

BEAUTY

revlon colorstay matte balm stain in 'sultry' // sinfulcolors nail polish in 'whipped' // tocca 'stella' // jouer matte moisture tint

REVLON COLORSTAY MATTE BALM STAIN IN 'SULTRY'
I've already reviewed this so I won't go into super detail, suffice it to say I really love the formula and color of this balm stain. I bought it mid October and it stayed on my lips through the rest of the month. I bought another color from the matte range earlier this week & I'm tempted to go back and get another. I just really love the pigmentation & feel of these. I wish they provided more moisture & didn't leave my lips feeling so dry after a few hours but I don't mind re-applying & using lip balm between applications. Overall very pleased.
review here


SINFUL COLORS NAIL POLISH IN 'WHIPPED'
This is a leather-looking matte nail polish from Sinful Colors new Leather Luxe line. There were lots of different colors-- black, white, red, burgundy, brown, navy & maybe a teal? I bought black for myself and one for my leather lovin' bestie, Taylor. Sinful Colors, despite being incredibly affordable ($1.99 at Walgreens) are quality nail polishes. I wore this for around four days (no top coat) without so much as a chip. I was pretty impressed


TOCCA 'STELLA'
Ahh! I've been waiting since February to start wearing this again. I love love love the way it smells. The Sephora website lists the notes as: bitter orange, blood orange, watery accord, white freesia, wild diamond orchids, spicy lily, sheer musk & sandalwood. It primarily smells like blood orange but isn't terribly sweet smelling. I don't know, I'm terrible at describing scents. I just find that it smells amazing when I catch a whiff of it on my scarf or cardigan. It smells clean and fresh and I just really like it. You can find it at Sephora & Anthropologie-- I definitely suggest going in and sniffing a sample of it. TOCCA 'Cleopatra' is also amazing.


JOUER MATTE MOISTURE TINT IN 'PORCELAIN'
I reviewed this earlier this week ...or was it last week? I don't know, you can find a link to my review down below. I won't go on and on but overall the Matte Moisture Tint is definitely a great tinted moisturizer/base and is perfect for people with normal-oily skin & lasts all day and blends amazingly. Despite having a measly color range, I'm assuming each color is supposed to work with a range of skintones? I have no idea. I'm very pale and have cool undertones & a LOT of redness and 'Porcelain' works PERFECT for me.
review here


MISC.

vintage green glass cameo necklace // f21 studded bat headband (sold out) // lexi holiday candle tin in 'frosted maple'

VINTAGE GREEN GLASS CAMEO NECKLACE


Ryan's mom bought me this beautiful necklace from a vendor at Czhilispiel last year. Ryan's family competes annually in the Chili competition & there's always a small fair & a section of booths with arts and crafts type vendors. I picked out the green cameo charm & the woman who owned the booth constructed a necklace from other bits and bobs she had on hand in her little jewelry tackle box. I used to have her card but I've lost it. The cameo is actually one of many from a vintage bracelet I've seen on ebay. I love this necklace & always get so many compliments on it when I'm out. It's one of those pieces I know someday I'll pass onto a child or grandchild because it was a sweet gift from Ryan's mother & feels like a timeless piece of jewelry.


F21 STUDDED BAT HEADBAND
I bought this at F21 last month when they first released their cats & bats line. I wanted the kitty cat beanie but I wanted the bat ears headband WAY more. I sort of wish I'd bought the cat beanie too though, it would have been easier to wear throughout the winter. I wore the headband on Halloween as part of my bat costume & I think it's basically the coolest headband ever. I wish I could wear it regularly but I don't like weird stares and the bat ears are quite tall and would be really hard to miss. I accidentally bumped them off of my head all night trying to get into cars or fix my hair. They look so awesome though! I love the metal spikes & the faux leather look. I wore it with a wet-look fit and flare skirt and my peter pan collar top with a black cardigan I pinned to make it look like I had bat wings. Terrible explanation but it looked pretty cute if I do say so myself. I couldn't find this still for sale on F21's website but I'm sure if you looked around your local F21 you might find a pair.


LEXI HOLIDAY CANDLE TIN IN 'FROSTED MAPLE'
THIS CANDLE. I've already burned the wicks down but there's still so much candle left-- which is my only real complaint. I hate when wicks aren't evenly distributed and fail to melt the entire candle. Ugh! But apart from that, this candle smells AMAZING! I am not one for buying a candle that costs over $10. I'm a bit of a penny pincher when it comes to how much I'll pay for things. Even the citizens in my Animal Crossing town call me a "bell-pincher". News of my bell pinching ways even made it all the way to Taylor's town...little gossipy turds! So when I smelled this upon entering the WillowBend Anthropologie a month or so ago I knew I couldn't leave without owning whatever was making the entire store smell so CRAZY GOOD. It was $18 and while I think that's a stupid amount of money to spend on a candle...I did it anyways. Because it smelled so freaking GOOD. Now, if you aren't crazy about sweet smells, this may not be for you. However, I hate vanilla scents because they're too sweet and I think this is amazeballs so I would definitely recommend smelling it before writing it off. I lit it in our dining room and it managed to make the entire apartment smell like fresh made waffles and maple syrup for the rest of the day. I'm trying to figure out how to melt the rest of the wax or put new wicks in. I'll figure it out but for now I just leave it open on a table for a bit and even just the smell of the soy candle UNLIT makes the apartment smell amazing. Plus the tin is too cute!




Well, that's it for my monthly favorites. Sorry it came a bit later than normal. Did you do anything fun for Halloween? What did you dress up as? I'd love to know! Tell me below in the comments!


-Becca

Spring/Summer Scents

I was never very interested in perfume growing up. Granted, I was a tomboy pretty far into high school. Once I got to college I started wearing makeup on a regular basis, but it wasn't until about three/four years ago that I really started enjoying it. Recently I've started trying new things and being a little less picky about scent, especially since often you can't tell what it smells like until you smell it on yourself.

That being said, I have specific & favorite scents I use mostly in the winter and ones I use exclusively in the warmer months of the year.

These are my favorite spring/summer perfumes!

left to right: Daisy by Marc Jacobs solid perfume ring (violet leaf, wild strawberry, grapefruit, jasmine, gardenia, violet, white woods, vanilla and musk) // "I Want Candy" by tokyomilk (apples, peaches, violets, roses) // Be Delicious by DKNY (apple, rose, cucumber, orchid, white lily, sandalwood and amber) // and "Stella" by TOCCA (musk, white freesia, blood orange and spicy lily)

-Becca