Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 Body Cream

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 I've chosen a very odd time to become a perfume obsessive, but I suppose it was going to happen sooner or later. With the continual presence of Covid and therefore constant, looming threat to my sense of smell, my subconscious could be to blame for my sudden change intense interest in fragrance. Well, my subconscious and the Escentual #EscentualScents blind trial boxes I've been enjoying every month. It's only really since I started participating in the trials that I've paid attention to fragrance notes and genres and I've become a frequent visitor to the Fragrantica website. I've literally spent hours in bed reading through reviews and becoming increasingly fascinated with other people's perfume collections (my own isn't even worth a mention - just a quarter of a bottle of Dolce and Gabbana Dolce sits on my chest of drawers at the moment).

It was Escentual Scents that introduced me to Ariana Grande Cloud which in turn introduced me to Baccarat Rouge 540, which I ordered a small sample of, fell in love with, recoiled at the price of, then received the body cream version of for Christmas.

My precious bottle of scented lotion arrived via Net a Porter so it was beautifully presented in a chic black box with ribbon and tissue, making it extra special when opening on Christmas morning.

The squared bottle has a twist function on the cap, just a small turn to the right creates an opening at the top, then you turn the bottle upside down and squeeze to dispense. Sort of like a very expensive condiment I suppose!

I've always found the lotion or hand cream version of perfumes to be just as good, if not better at lasting on the skin and the Baccarat Rouge 540 lotion performs as expected.

It's a lightweight cream which I've applied quite sparingly to my arms and collarbone and found that it absorbs so quickly that if it weren't for the scent it would almost feel like I never put it on at all. It doesn't feel greasy on the skin at all.

The body cream has a moisturising Shea butter base and smells just like the perfume; bittersweet saffron and woody cedar combined with musky Ambroxan and fresh and floral Hedione compound (a sort of jasmine and lemon-smelling synthetic note). I think it's such a weird scent but at the same time it's utterly beautiful. Weird doesn't necessarily mean bad anyway, does it?

Fragrances smell different on different people in general, but the special thing about Baccarat Rouge 540 is that the large quantities of Hedione and Ambroxan really amplify that effect. It is a scent that comes into its own on the skin and is basically unique for everyone. Some people smell something quite medicinal and clinical, others get a straight-up dose of burnt sugar, some smell barely anything at all. On me I pick up something semi-sweet and musky with more than a touch of what I'd describe as a jasmine bush after quite a lot of rain.

The only slight difference (to my nose) is that the perfume I sampled had a bit more of that sort of ozonic Ambroxan vibe than what I can detect in the body cream. Perhaps if I apply the lotion a little more generously I'd get more of an Ambroxan hit?

Either way, I'm loving the body cream incarnation of Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540.

As mentioned, mine was from Net a Porter (sold out at time of writing) but you can find it at John Lewis, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Harrods and of course Maison Francis Kurkdjian for £70 for 250ml.

We Need to Talk About Ariana Grande Cloud

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 Call me a snob, but when I read the words 'celebrity fragrance' a few other words come to mind and they're not nice ones! I've just long associated celeb perfumes with a certain tackiness that's never really appealed at any age (besides maybe the Gwen Stefani Harajuku Lovers line if only for the kitsch doll bottles). That's why I was so completely taken by surprise when I fell totally in love with one of the Escentual Perfume Blind Trial samples in the September box (more about that here) and it turned out to be Cloud by Ariana Grande.

I mean, you just need to look at the bottle of this particular celebrity scent to assume that it's aimed at a particular demographic (not mine), with its cloud-shaped lid and puffy white plastic cloud stand. Sure, it's cute but at a glance it would more likely appeal to my 19 year old self than it does to me now. In fact, if it wasn't for the blind trial there's a very good chance I would have never, ever spritzed this fragrance onto a cardboard tester let alone want to completely douse my skin and clothes in it. 

We know that scent is such a personal, subjective area, so I find it a bit tricky to review and you may well absolutely hate it, but I am a big, big fan of Ariana Grande Cloud. Here's why. 

With top notes of Lavender, Pear and Bergamot, a Coconut, Praline, Whipped Cream and Vanilla Orchid heart and Musk and Woody base, Cloud is girly-sweet with a classically masculine edge all at once. When I first tried Cloud as part of the Escentual Scents Perfume Blind Trial, I described it in the Facebook group as ‘a bit ozone-y’, (Ambrox perhaps?) which gives the fragrance a sort of airy, cloud-like quality.

It’s a scent that gives me something different every time. Sometimes I smell burnt toffee, like stovetop caramel that's been taken that little bit too far, other times it could almost be a sweetened version of Glossier You. I sprayed some the other day when my mum was visiting and she asked if I was wearing one of my partner's colognes. I'm sniffing my wrist right now as I type this and it's all cotton candy and bonfires. All the different notes seem to come together just so beautifully to create something sweet and a bit cheeky but also warm, comforting and sort of grown up. I feel like this scent has something for everyone and would suit anyone from adolescence and well beyond. 

I can detect the typically ‘masculine’ Lavender and Bergamot notes, with a hint of juicy Pear and a big old dose of sweet Praline, Cream and Vanilla (if you don’t like gourmand fragrances I doubt you will like this). Of course there’s the lovely Musk and Wood that comes through at the end, but I just can’t smell the coconut in this. Maybe one day it will suddenly make itself known for me but so far I just can’t pick it up. I have read that many people can’t detect coconut so if you don’t like coconut scents I would still give this a go.

Speaking of coconuts, I feel like Cloud is one of those transeasonal scents that would be just as beautiful when worn on a tropical beach somewhere in the height of Summer as it would when curled up in front of the fire with a cup of cocoa.

To me, Cloud is just so unexpectedly delightful and having sampled Maison Francis Kurkdjian's cult fragrance Baccarat Rouge 540, I can understand why it's widely thought of as an affordable dupe. While BR 540 is a little more multi-layered and sophisticated, with a stronger emphasis on wood and musk, Cloud comes pretty close overall. Cloud is certainly a beautiful scent in its own right though! 

It’s a great example of why the Escentual Scents Perfume Blind Trial is such an excellent idea – as mentioned earlier I would never have given this fragrance a go had I known what it was, if that makes sense!

In terms of longevity, it is quite fleeting on me, leaving behind a sort of woody, warm, slightly sweet dry down that I can’t stop sniffing. It’s a pretty affordable fragrance anyway but you can often find it on sale at Escentual or as part of a promo at Boots.

Cloud by Ariana Grande is available in 30ml, 50ml and 100ml with prices starting at around £25.

Florena Fermented Skincare

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 If you're into skincare like me, chances are you will have heard of fermented skincare. Fermented ingredients are essentially supercharged versions of the originals- the fermentation process concentrates the beneficial parts of the ingredients, making them more quickly and easily absorbed.
Florena is a French Pharmacy brand and was actually the first in Europe to bring the concept to market. They've created some gorgeous products, some of which I've been fortunate to try out and share right here.

Florena 24H Hydrating Day Cream (50ml £19.99)

Designed for all skin types, this antioxidant-rich cream moisturises for 24 hours and is made from 99.47% natural origin ingredients including fermented Avocado,
Coconut and Olive oils. The fermentation process means the oils have 50 times more Omega 6 and Omega 9 fatty acids than their non-fermented counterparts, making the cream incredibly high in antioxidants while keeping the skin nicely hydrated. 

It's satisfyingly thick yet still 'light' enough for day time use/ under makeup and I found it very comfortable to wear. No pilling, very light, sweet fragrance.
The brand has purposely made the jar to be lightweight (with an aesthetically pleasing wood lid) to reduce plastic usage. The jar is completely recyclable and is made from over 97% recycled plastic.

The Illuminating Facial Oil (30ml £24.99) contains fermented Pink Helichrysum and Safflower Oil which work to restore radiance as well as Almond, Coconut and Avocado oils to nourish and moisturise. Rich in antioxidants, the facial oil can be used alone or mixed in with other skincare bits - you can even add it to your foundation for extra glow.

It's lightweight and non-greasy with a delicate, barely-there floral scent and Pink Helichrysum petals suspended in the oil. The bottle is both recyclable and crafted from 98% recycled glass.

The Cleansing Bar (90g £8.99) with fermented jasmine and fermented angelica oil is designed to cleanse gently and effectively, without the need for packaging.
With naturally fermented jasmine flower and angelica oil, the bar has a softening effect and leaves my skin feeling cleansed but not that squeaky kind of clean often associated with 'soap' bars. This cleansing bar has a PH balance of 5.5, to match the natural PH of the skin, making it ideal for drier or more sensitive complexions.

With a sweet and subtle scent, this bar creates a creamy, rich lather and is actually really pleasant to use. I love the sustainable aspect of it too. Probably my favourite product from the lot.

The 24H Hydrating Face Mask (sachet, £4.99) is designed to give skin an intense hit of hydration and moisture, for up to 24 hours. This thick, creamy mask features fermented Camellia Sinensis, which is rich in antioxidants and fermented Olive Oil, high in Omega 6 and 9 fatty acids.
Suitable for every skin type but ideal for dry to very dry skin, the cream mask is applied in a thick layer after cleansing and left to work for 5 minutes before being removed with a damp cloth. You can also add a few drops of the Illuminating Facial Oil for extra oomph.

Along with the rest of the range, the mask is COSMOS Natural certified by the soil association.

This selection of products was a lovely introduction to the Florena brand and I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for any new releases. Florena is available at Escentual where it is currently 1/3 off as part of the French Pharmacy promo.

End #SunPoverty with Escentual

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Escentual.com is on a mission to provide free sun lotion to 30,000 Welsh children this year as part of the newly launched #SunPoverty campaign. As well as donating free sun lotion, Escentual are also appealing to the government to get rid of VAT on children's sunscreens because sun protection for kids is not 'discretionary' - it's necessary to help prevent skin cancer!

Organised by the CEO of Escentual.com, Rakesh Aggarwal, the SunPoverty campaign will provide Escentual's brand new SPF50+ for Kids to any primary school child eligible for free school meals.

I think this is such a brilliant initiative from Escentual and sends a very important message - while the UK might not be particularly known for intense UV and blistering sun, we have had some exceptionally harsh summer days and there's no excuse for children to be suffering sunburn and damage.

According to statistics, malignant melanoma is now the fastest growing type of cancer in the UK, with numbers nearly tripling in the past 30 years. In 2018 there were 17,852 new cases and 2,764 deaths, and yet 86% of these cases could have been prevented through the use of high protection sun lotions.

High levels of sun exposure in childhood is the most significant risk factor for developing Melanoma and if a child or young adult experiences blistering sunburn it doubles the chance of developing skin cancer in later life.

Sources: Melanoma UK

Melanoma UK

Royal Marsden

Escentual CEO and Founder Rakesh Aggarwal says- 

"Due to Covid safety issues this year we will be distributing the sun-creams through food banks across Wales instead of direct to schools. If the scheme is a success we hope to be able to extend the campaign to all primary school children in the UK by 2022.” 

Escentual.com is based in Cardiff, hence Wales is a starting point for the campaign. How extraordinary will it be if the initiative extends to UK-wide by next year?!

The Escentual Sunscreen for Kids SPF50+ (pictured) has been launched in line with the campaign and is available to purchase from today. Available in a 45ml bottle, with a handy clasp to attach to school bags, baby bags and handbags, the high protection lotion offers 4 hours of water resistance and comes with a bespoke application guide and sun safety leaflets - there's a space on the bottle to write the child's name too, which is a nice touch.

In terms of the formula, it's light, smells great (that classic suncream scent) and is very, very easy to rub in as it absorbs very easily - really important when we're talking about applying this to little ones. The cream leaves a dry-touch finish with absolutely zero greasy feel. It's actually one of the most pleasant-to-apply sun lotions I've used in a while to be honest.

 On top of the 30,000 bottles of lotion being given away, Escentual.com will donate another to the SunPoverty campaign for each bottle purchased.

 The same applies to any Clarins, Eucerin or Bioderma sun lotions purchased on the site - you can find the products included in the donation campaign here. Escentual.com estimate that on this basis they expect to donate as many as 50,000 bottles by the end of summer this year. Pretty amazing!

You can buy your own bottle of the Escentual Sunscreen for Kids SPF50+ here at Escentual for £6.95. If you don't have kids or you've already got them covered, this is a good option for the face as it's designed with sensitive skin in mind. The plastic part of the bottle is recyclable and the metal clip can be removed and used for something else.

If you can, please take the time to read more about this brilliant campaign at Escentual.com.

Escentual Perfume Blind Trial Discovery Box Set

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In case you didn't know, Escentual is a pretty amazing online beauty shopping destination. They offer    an exceptional (and ever growing) selection of French Pharmacy, mid-range and high end skincare, makeup and fragrance and I've found myself browsing for hours sometimes. If I'm looking for gifts or some Mustela products for my son, Escentual is usually my first port of call- their prices are pretty much unbeatable anyway and they often have amazing sales such as 25% off French Pharmacy brands and site wide discounts popping up frequently.

Today's post is all about something that Escentual launched at the start of the year; the Escentual Perfume Blind Trial. It's a really cool concept that I'm sure brightened a lot of days during recent lockdowns!
Part of the #EscentualScents program and in collaboration with Thomas Dunckley aka The Candy Perfume Boy, the blind trial involves a discovery set of sample sized mystery perfume vials, an exclusive Facebook group and a whole lot of chat about fragrance!
New discovery sets are released every month, available for £19.95 which is credited back to you via Escentual's Pretty Pennies rewards program. Each set is themed, often according to a particular fragrance family, and includes 8 vials of fragrance and a QR code that you can scan that takes you to the exclusive Perfume Blind Trial Facebook group. 

The 2ml vials are marked A to H and contain a mixture of mystery unisex fragrances as well as scents aimed at men and women. The identities of vials A-D are revealed the week after you receive your box via a Facebook Live with Thomas, with E-H unveiled the following fortnight. Escentual will let you know the date and times of the reveals so you won't miss out - make sure you scan the code and sign up to the Facebook group asap too!

The idea behind the blind trial is to get you thinking about scent without the distraction of knowing all the details and hopefully discovering a new favourite that you otherwise might have overlooked. I have the May edition, which is themed as 'Woody' and I'm really enjoying giving them all a try (always on the supplied sampling cards first, just in case my sensitive pregnancy nose has a meltdown).  I'm actually quite intrigued about what the secret scents could be as the majority smell quite traditionally masculine to me! I'll definitely be tuning into the Facebook Live on Thursday night for the big reveal of the first four.
This month's box is now sold out but you can get your hands on June's box here. Boxes will be available for presale to ensure they're sent out in good time for testing and reveals. Don't forget, you get the £19.95 back in the form of loyalty points too.

Avene Soothing Hydrating Serum Review

The Avene Soothing Hydrating Serum* is my first foray into Avene as a brand and going on first impressions alone, I think it's probably a good introduction to the cult French Pharmacy skincare brand.

Developed for sensitive skin, this serum contains a high concentration of Avene Thermal Spring Water (which is available to buy as a spray) and therefore is extremely soothing and anti-irritating.
The serum features a patented liposome delivery system that basically means that the concentrated thermal spring water is released slowly to keep skin hydrated for longer. Not bad.
The Soothing Hydrating Serum also contains Glycerin which is known for its intense moisturising and comforting properties.

In terms of texture, the serum is quite thick and gel like and sinks into the skin pretty quickly, leaving things feeling soft and even a bit velvety which is always nice! As expected, the fragrance of this is barely there but ever so slightly baby-powder-esque which only adds to the soothing, comforting factor of the serum.

As I only received this a few days ago, I can't comment on effects of long term use but I can certainly say that first impressions count and this product has impressed me. As a side note, the Soothing Hydrating Serum provides a good base for foundation as I discovered last night having used it under my Nars Sheer Glow.

You can find Avene Soothing Hydrating Serum online at Escentual where it is currently on sale for £12.75 instead of £17.00 so it's a great time to try it out for yourself!
If you're a French Pharmacy lover like me, definitely pay a visit to Escentual as for the month of March they are offering up to 1/3 off French Pharmacy brands.

• Vichy, La Roche-Posay and Nuxe are 33% off RRP
• Avene, Klorane, Rene Furterer and Pierre Fabre are 25% off RRP
• Caudalie are 20% off RRP
• A-Derma are 10% off RRP