5 Fall Fragrances You Need to Test

I can get lost in fragrance!  However when it comes to choosing just the right one for my mood or occasion, I'm super picky.  Recently, (see post here) I mentioned how important it was to update your fragrance with the seasons.  Well, if you still haven't found your beloved fall scent yet, here are some affordable, new options.

Fresh Life Eau de Parfum, $73 is a light, refreshing scent that captures the crisp fall air filled with sunshine.  With top notes of  grass, bergamot, grapefruit, orange and cucumber; middle notes of lilac, magnolia and water notes and base notes of moss, cypress and amber, the scent is very green.

Express Glam, $44.90, is an oriental fragrance, created for late nights out in the city.  It's laced with top notes of black currant and mandarin vodka, centered by a heart of  jasmine and rounded out with musk, praline and white woods.  Express beauty is worth checking out!

Victoria's Secret Night, $52, is inspired by the life of supermodels after dark.  A sensual oriental floral made up of notes like midnight violet, black diamond (which comes from the pure crystal carbon form known as Carbonado) and black amber.   

Vince Camuto Fiori, $78 is a light floral.  Starting off with notes of pink grapefruit and white nectarine, the heart is made up of iris flowers and fresh freesia, while rounding out with base notes of a blend of creamy sandalwood and blue cedar.  It's a great pick-me-up that may be better suited for summer, but will get you through cold, dreary days.

Nomad Two Worlds Wild Fire, $35 is a warm, sensual fragrance combining the rich dry scent of Australian sandalwood with amber and floral notes of ylang ylang, jasmine petals, cedarwood and musk.

Fall Revamp: Fragrance, the Finishing Touch

Fall is all about transitions.  From updating your makeup bag to include more matte finishes and Bordeaux lip stains to enriching your hair color, and pulling out your over-the-knee boots, it’s a woman's responsibility to be in tune and, of course, on trend.  As you're fine-tuning your new regimen, don't forget about your fragrance. During the colder months, new fragrance launches include more grounded, heavier scents filled with woodsy notes as opposed to light, citrusy ones, but in the end, it's all a matter of personal preference.  I can't count how many different fragrances I have for each season (a little obsessed), but what I wear on any given day really comes down to my mood and where I'm going.

There's a new fragrance collection I'm really impressed by, because it's created by master perfumers, yet still affordable – Essence of Beauty Fine Fragrance Collection. Offering four different scents, each line consists of these four products: Fine Fragrance Body Mist, Bath & Shower Gel, Body Lotion and Body & Hand Cream.

Here are collection descriptions:

• Secret Woods: Evoking the alluring mystery of a hidden forest, mesmerizing pomegranate, soft jasmine petals, and warm vanilla musk entice and intrigue you.
• Forever Paris: Like a new romance blossoming in the world’s most famous city of love, decadent Parisian roses, just-blushing tulips and notes of strawberry sweep you off your feet.
• Wind Kissed: Spring flowers dance delicately in the breeze as cotton flower, mimosa and white amber combine in calming harmony.
• In The Tropics: Like the tropical spirit found at the heart of the islands, pink grapefruit and juicy pomelo mingle with wild agave, cyclamen flowers, and sandalwood cream to invigorate and intrigue.

My favorite right now is the Secret Woods collection.  I've been freezing lately and have been layering it on like I've been layering on sweaters.  PS: By layering your scent (ie: using the shower gel, then body lotion and finishing with a spritz of the mist) you're giving it staying power.  Plus, the vanilla musk finish is a cozy touch.

You can find the Essence of Beauty Fine Fragrance Collection at all CVS/pharmacy and online.  Also, you may want to check out their Facebook page for upcoming giveaways and promos.

*This is a sponsored post, but all of my thoughts and actions are true.

First Look at Pure DKNY A Drop of Rose

When my doorman hands me all of my packages at the end of the day and one of them happens to be from DKNY, I can't contain my excitement and peek inside before even getting upstairs into my apartment.  This time, it was a bottle of Pure DKNY A Drop of Rose.  I found out it was coming out about two months ago during a meeting with the brand and have been eagerly awaiting it's arrival since the origional Pure DKNY is one of my daily go-tos.  With it, came the note above, pretty spesh! I'm very picky about fragrances I actually wear.  Similar to Pure DKNY a Drop of Vanilla, this is a light daytime fragrance.  It's delicate and romantic, not your grandmother's rose.  The roses are harvested each summer in the Anatolian flower fields of the Isparta valley of Turkey.  The process is strict as the flowers are handpicked right before dawn and about 2,500 tons of petals are brought by truck to a distillery.  The fragrance ends up being the purest form of rose. DKNY is known for helping to improve the lives of women through creating and selling their Pure fragrances and this one is no different.  They have a partnership with CARE, which helps  lift women out of global poverty.