Fragrance Archives - With love from Lou

Fragrance Friday – Michael Bublé By Invitation Rose Gold EDP

20/03/2026 by Louise 52 Comments

Wow, it’s been a while since I last wrote a Fragrance Friday post! Have you guys missed them? Today I wanted to talk about a new perfume that I’ve been loving lately. And as I’m not usually a fan of hyped-up ‘celebrity scents’ it may come as a surprise to you to find that it’s actually the latest offering from the wonderful Michael Bublé (or Boobs, as he’s affectionately known in our house). Yes, today I’m going to be sharing my thoughts on ‘By Invitation Rose Gold’.

By Invitation Rose Gold is Mr Bublé’s second fragrance release. And although I haven’t tried the first one myself, I’ve read on several other beauty blogs that this is very similar to it, but with a little something extra. And that sounds good to me. So, are you guys sitting comfortably? Then let’s jump into my review!

As always, I’ll start by talking about the packaging. And boy, does the packaging look good! I have the 100ml version of the perfume, and it’s really big and quite weighty! The bottle is really elegant, with a piece cut out between the part that houses the perfume and the base. And as you would expect, it’s a gorgeous rose gold colour. Around the edge, there’s a textured section that looks a bit like a watch strap, and I love this as it’s really different to all of the other perfumes in my collection. It’s just stunning!

The outer box is just as pretty as the bottle, with the words ‘By Invitation Rose Gold’ written in elegant fonts in the centre of a rose gold coloured circle. The edges of the box are also textured to look like the edge of the perfume bottle, and the initials MB sit prettily on the top. It feels like a lot of time and effort was put into designing the packaging, and it’s really paid off.

By Invitation Rose Gold smells absolutely divine, and it’s fast become my go-to spring scent. It has a beautiful floral scent to it, with top notes of magnolia, red fruits and granit pear, heart notes of rose, peony and black plum, and base notes of praline, vanilla and a hint of spice. It’s very feminine, and whenever I wear this I always get lots of lovely compliments. What more could a girl want?

By Invitation Rose Gold is available to purchase in two different sizes: a 30ml size which is perfect for on-the-go and a 100ml size for the dressing table. These cost £29 and £55 respectively, and if you’re a fan of floral fragrances (or the lovely Michael Bublé) I highly recommend giving it a try as they’re absolutely beautiful, and the scent lingers on the skin all day, so there’s no need to keep topping it up. I can’t sing its praises highly enough, and I can definitely see myself repurchasing it when my bottle finally runs out!

After trying By Invitation Rose Gold by Michael Bublé, I’m desperate to get my hands on the original By Invitation scent so I can see how the two compare. I have high hopes for it after smelling this one though, as it really is one of the nicest celebrity fragrances I’ve ever tried.

Michael Bublé By Invitation Rose Gold EDP – from £29 for 30ml ||link||

Have you guys ever tried Michael Bublé By Invitation Rose Gold before?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on it if you have. Twitter | Facebook | Bloglovin | Instagram | Pinterest

PR Sample

Post originally published on 25th May, 2018

Yankee Candle Halloween Box Set Review and Giveaway

08/10/2018 by Louise 28 Comments

Well, guys, Halloween is just around the corner. And, as usual, I’m super excited! The shelves of my favourite stores are already chock-full of seasonal goodies. And I may have already done a spot of Halloween themed shopping ready for the big day. Eek!

One thing I always look forward to around this time of year is all the autumn candles that come out. And recently I was lucky enough to be sent a brand new Yankee Candle Halloween Box Set to try out. How cool is that?!

The set includes two limited edition sample-sized votive candles in the scents ‘Witches Brew’ and ‘Forbidden Apple’. And a small but suitably spooky looking ceramic votive holder in the shape of a pumpkin head. The set comes packaged in a black box with metallic orange cobwebs and spiders printed on the outside of it. And, of course, it also includes the Yankee branding. I think it looks fab!

Each sample sized-votive is said to burn for around 15 hours, and I love how cute and dinky they are. I decided to burn ‘Witches Brew’ first, as I’ve bought this in a medium-sized jar in the past and absolutely loved the scent. It has top notes of wood, clove and cinnamon. Middle notes of jasmine, cedar and balsam. And base notes of patchouli and vanilla.

Once lit, I noticed you have to set the sampler down close to where you’re sitting to be able to smell it. I have to admit, I found this slightly disappointing as I’m used to buying the jars which always fill the room with fragrance. Nevertheless, it smelt lovely, and just as I remembered it. I reckon it will remain a firm favourite for many years to come.

Next, I lit ‘Forbidden Apple’, and I was really excited to try this as it’s not a scent I’d come across before. It has top notes of bergamot, rich pear nectar, candied quince and raw sugar. Middle notes of red apple, MacIntosh, black oak and midnight freesia. And base notes of dark patchouli, tonka bean, vanilla noir and cedarwood.

I’ve found that ‘Forbidden Apple’ gives off a much stronger scent than ‘Witches Brew’ does, which I’m really pleased about. It means I can put it up on a high shelf away from the little ones, but still enjoy the smell myself. The sampler fills the whole room with the scent of juicy apples, and I find you can smell it long after the candle has been extinguished. I’m always happy when candle scents linger as I think it offers good value for money.

Overall, I really like this gift set and I would most definitely repurchase it. I love how the Pumpkin Head Votive Holder lights up when it has one of the samplers inside. It even looks a little spooky when you have it lit in a dark room! The only downside I’ve found with the set as a whole is that the bottoms of the samplers aren’t very flat, so they tend to lean to one side when they’re sitting inside the holder. The wax then drips inside, making a bit of a mess. I think it would be better suited to housing tea lights rather than votives. It’s not a massive issue though.

If you like the look of this particular Yankee Candle Set, then it’s worth noting that there’s a competition running over at Wow Free Stuff right now where you can win one for yourself! To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is give their official Facebook page a ‘like’ and fill in your name and e-mail address on the entry form. Simple!

The competition is open to residents of the UK age 18 and over and closes on October 24th. Please note that by entering you’re agreeing to sign up to the Wow Free Stuff Newsletter. The prize is for one Yankee Candle Halloween Box Set, which includes one ceramic votive holder in the shape of a pumpkin head and two rare samplers: Witches Brew and Forbidden Apple.

Yankee Candle Halloween Pumpkin Head Votive Holder Box Set – £11.99 ||link||

Have you ever tried any of the Halloween scents from Yankee Candle before?
Let me know in the comments below.
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Rediscovering Kiss Air Candles

25/06/2018 by Louise 24 Comments

It’s no secret that I love burning candles when I’m at home. But I’ve recently found myself getting bored of burning the same few brands over and over again. So, I decided it was time to try something new. And it was then that I spotted that independent candle brand, Kiss Air, had changed the look and feel of their candles since the last time I’d bought from them.

Eager to see just how much had changed in the 3 or 4 years since I last burnt a Kiss Air Candle, I hurried over to the website and placed an order for several different products so I could try them out and share my thoughts with you guys here on my blog. So, if you’re a fan of burning candles too, I suggest dropping everything, putting your feet up, and having a read of today’s post. Are you sitting comfortably? Then let’s go!

The first candle I picked up was the Earl Grey Tea candle from Kiss Air’s Everyday range. I chose this particular one because I am a big tea drinker, and Earl Grey just happens to be my brew of choice! The website describes the candle as having a blend of smooth black tea infused with zesty bergamot, making it smell exactly like Britain’s favourite hot drink. But, in all honesty, I have to say I wasn’t really expecting it to smell very tea-like. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised, and I can tell you that it smells just like a delicious cuppa! Delicious.

The candles in the Everyday range come in a cute little jar, which I really like. I remember when I first bought from Kiss Air the candles came in tins and I often found they smelt a little ‘tinny’ when lit. The tins also seemed to prevent the candles from filling the room with scent, whereas you can smell the scent from the jars shortly after lighting. I think this small change has made a really big difference to the overall quality of the candles.

In terms of burn time, these particular candles should last for around 35 hours if you look after them properly. I’ve found they burn nice and evenly, thanks to their natural soy wax and cotton wicks. I think this is absolutely brilliant, especially as the candles are reasonably priced at just £9.00 per jar!

There are loads of amazing scents available in Kiss Air’s Everyday range, and I’m hoping to try out a few others over the coming months. I currently have my eye on their Toasted Marshmallow, Sun Kissed Raspberry, Fig & Plum and Vitamin Sea scents. They all sound just incredible.

Next up, I picked out this stunning Alphabet Unicorn candle from Kiss Air’s Alphabet range. As soon as I saw this on their website I just knew I had to treat myself to it. The Alphabet Unicorn Candle is super cute and available in two different scents – vanilla and peony. I love that you can personalise it by adding your initial and choosing the colour of the image and wording on the front of the jar.

When placing my order, I decided to go for the peony and blush suede scent for my candle. And I’m so glad I did as it’s absolutely divine. I also had the letter L (for Lou, obvs), added to the front of the candle in a pink colour, and I think the finished result looks fab. I honestly couldn’t be happier with it. I’ve had it in the background of a lot of my recent Instagram pics, and there’s always someone asking about it because of how unique it is.

I think the Alphabet Unicorn candle would make an amazing gift for a loved one. And I’m going to be purchasing one in a lilac colour for my niece, Bethany, who is graduating from University next month. I’ve made her up a little bit of a hamper and I think she’ll appreciate having something like this in there with her other goodies. Especially as she’s vegan, and Kiss Air Candles are vegan and vegetarian-friendly.

Just like the Earl Grey Tea candle, the Alphabet Unicorn one comes in a jar, albeit a slightly different one. And it fills the room with fragrance pretty much as soon as you light it. If looked after properly, the candle should last for around 30 hours. And again, I’ve found that it burns nice and evenly, with no tunnelling. I just love it!

And last, but certainly not least, I decided to try out Kiss Air’s Cocktail Candle Gift Set, which contains 3 super cute cocktail-scented votive’s in one box. And the best part? Kiss Air doesn’t choose which flavours are in there … you do! There are currently 11 different scents to choose from, and I decided to go for Pina Colada, Gin and Tonic, and Strawberry Daiquiri. Yum!

In my opinion, the votive’s smell exactly like a cocktail of the same type would. And I love how cute and dainty they are. I’ve noticed that they don’t give off quite as much scent as the larger candles do, so I tend to either light these all together, or I have one of them lit at the side of me so I get the scent at the side of me. Does that make sense? I hope so.

Each of the votives in the gift set has a burn time of 15 hours, which I think is really good. And I like that the scents you can choose from are also available in the larger, everyday candle range, as it gives you a cost-effective way to try out a few different scents before committing to buying a full-sized jar. At just £15 I think it offers real value for money.

The Cocktail Candle Gift Set would make a brilliant gift for friends and family. And I’m already considering picking up another set for myself as there are a couple of other scents from the range that I’d love to try. (Cosmopolitan and Espresso Martini, I’m looking at you!) Oh, and can we just take a second to admire the gift box, guys? It’s absolutely gorgeous.

Overall, I’m super impressed with all the candles I picked up from Kiss Air recently. I feel like they’ve really upped their game since the last time I bought from them. I like that they’ve swapped their tins for jars, as not only do they look better, but they smell better too, as they no longer have the ‘tinny’ smell to them. I like that they’ve kept the branding similar to how it used to be, though, with their cute signature black bow featuring on the front of most of their products.

As I mentioned before, the candles burn beautifully. And I’ve not experienced any tunnelling with any of the candles I’ve been burning. This is a major selling point for me as I hate when candles tunnel and the majority of wax doesn’t end up melting. It’s so annoying! I like to get my money’s worth out of the candles I’m burning, and I certainly feel like this is the case with these ones. And another thing I love about Kiss Air’s Candle range is that they’re super affordable compared to similar products on the market.

I think it’s safe to say I’ll be repurchasing from Kiss Air Candles in the near future, and I’m hoping to try out some of their other products, such as their reed diffusers and wax melts. They look awesome! And if you guys would like to find out more about the brand and their beautiful products then make sure you head over to their website by clicking here.

Have you guys ever tried any Kiss Air Candles before?
If so, let me know what your favourite scent is in the comments below.
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Fragrance Friday – Body Fantasies Perfume Body Spray’s

11/03/2016 by Louise 7 Comments

If there’s one thing I never leave the house without doing, I would have to say it’s spritzing on a little bit of something that smells delicious. My perfume/body spray collection is absolutely massive, but I can’t seem to stop picking up nice new bottles of fragrance whenever I see them. So you can imagine my delight when I found out that Body Fantasies (who are America’s number one perfume body spray brand) were launching here in the UK!

The initial launch saw 4 of the best selling Body Fantasies scents hit the shelves of Superdrug last month, with more scents to follow in the near future. I was lucky enough to be sent a couple of them to try out so I could share my thoughts on with you guys, and after giving them a thorough testing, it’s finally time for me to do just that …

The two scents I was sent to try were Twilight Mist, which is the body spray in the purple bottle, and Pink Vanilla Kiss Fantasy, which is pink. And although I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, I was convinced that they were going to be nice just from looking at them. This could be because they reminded me a lot of the gorgeous body mists you can pick up in Victoria’s Secret, but at a much more affordable price.

The bottles themselves are really slim and lightweight, which in my opinion makes them perfect for just throwing in to your bag when you’re off to work or school. The packaging is right up my street too, with vibrant, jewel-toned bottles which suggest that they’re fun fragrances to have in your collection!

Body Fantasies scents have been developed by leading-fragrance perfumers, and they contain a higher concentration of designer quality fragrance oils intended not only to make them smell absolutely divine without being overpowering, but longer lasting on the skin as well.

When I first read the press release I thought this was quite a bold statement to make, as I’ve tried absolutely loads of ridiculously expensive body sprays over the years, and not one of them had a scent that lasted as well as a perfume. Yet Body Fantasies (with just a £3.99 price tag) manages to keep its promise and leaves me smelling lovely all day long, without having to keep topping up. How awesome is that?!

What’s more, Body Fantasies body spray’s also have non-aerosol pumps, meaning they’re a lot friendlier to the environment than a lot of similar products we have on the market here in the UK. And to be honest I actually prefer pumps like this as I have a lot more control over just how much product I’m dispensing than I do with aerosols.

I also noticed that there’s a sticker on each of the bottles that says they contain over 500 sprays, which is just fantastic. I’ve used both body spray’s a lot over the last couple of months, and there doesn’t seem to be much product disappeared from either of them. As someone who spritzes a good 3-4 pumps of product on every morning this really pleases me as it means I’ll be getting a lot more bang for my buck.

BODY FANTASIES – TWILIGHT MIST

Of the two fragrances I was sent to try, I was most excited about Twilight Mist, which is described as having mesmerizing notes of pure mandarin, magnolia, and sandalwood, blended together to create a hypnotic, dreamy scent. It sounded divine!

The packaging of this particular body spray is absolutely gorgeous. I don’t know if you can really tell by looking at the picture above, but the bottle has a picture of a lake lit up at twilight, and I think the romantic in me was drawn to it more than the other one due to that alone. And the scent itself is really lovely too. It reminds me of a perfume that my mum sometimes wears – really grown up and sophisticated – and perfect for spritzing on before a big night out!

BODY FANTASIES – PINK VANILLA KISS FANTASY

And then we have Pink Vanilla Kiss Fantasy, which is said to have delectable juicy peach and berries opening the fragrance, while soft florals round out the middle. The base, comprising of woods and musk, is beautifully crafted to create a feminine, fruity fragrance.

For some reason I wasn’t expecting to like this fragrance as much as the other one. I’m not sure whether or not it’s because the bottle looks like it’s aimed more at teenagers with it’s brightly coloured lip print running down the centre, or something else, but it definitely didn’t appeal to me quite as much. However, I actually prefer it! The scent is really lovely, and reminds me of a vanilla scented mist I use from The Body Shop. But at a much cheaper price of course. It’s actually been my go-to every day scent for the past couple of months. So it just goes to show that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. I absolutely love it.
Also available to buy from the Body Fantasies range are Japanese Cherry Blossom, a long-lasting blend of warm oriental notes transformed into an incredibly feminine aroma of fresh cherry blossom, succulent rose, and seductove amber. I think I’d really like this as I use a lot of cherry blossom scented shower products.

And Pink Grapefruit Fantasy, which is a fruity blend of refreshing, pink grapefruit and jewelled pomegranate that moves through to heart notes of soft florals, before revealing a warm base of white musk and vanilla. I definitely plan on picking them up next time I pass a Superdrug store as they sound every bit as lovely as the two I’ve already tried. I’m also looking forward to seeing which fragrances they release over here next.

Body Fantasies Perfume Body Sprays – £3.99 for 94ml ||link||

Have you guys ever tried any of the fragrances from Body Fantasies before?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on them!
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*Products kindly sent for review consideration