How important is packaging to you when it comes to perfumes? I've seen really expensive ones that come in simple bottles - I guess in those cases, the scent is queen. But I do like having beautiful mini-sculptures to have as a keepsake. Someday, when I have my dream dresser, I'm going to keep my favorite bottles there just to look at.  ^_^

Anyhoo, I recently received the new Anna Sui La Vie De Boheme Eau de Toilette to review. The box and bottle alone immediately made my day (it doesn't take a lot, really!) because they look so striking. I don't have anything like it!

This scent is inspired by the modern bohemian woman. She lives an unconventional lifestyle. She's an adventurer who loves to travel, an artist with a romantic streak. She prefers to be herself and to express herself, sometimes against what is considered acceptable in today's society. The ruffled, printed skirt and floppy hats are just optional!

The theme today is...taking a break from makeup! I've been blogging about color cosmetics too much lately so for now let's chill out from that. I wanna share my current favorite perfume, one of the best sellers from the brand: the Philosophy Amazing Grace Spray Fragrance EDT (P2,495). 

Whenever I mention this to friends and acquaintances they always go, "Oh, I love that!" It's easy to smell why. Amazing Grace is a feminine, clean scent that can make anyone wearing it feel beautiful and pure. It has a welcoming bergamot note to greet the senses; irresistibly soft, clean muguet blossoms; and lasting musk as base.

Can you feel it, the turning of the season? Mornings are brighter and crisper, with a sharp tinge of cold in the air. The evening falls earlier too - the moon rises just before the sun sets. This is my favorite part of the year. I'm looking forward to the celebrations and the start of 2014. Yes, this early!

Anyway, I thought I'd open the week with a scent I've been enjoying tremendously: the Elizabeth Arden Green Tea Honeysuckle (P2,250/ 50 ml and 2,950/ 100 ml at Rustan's). This is the latest scent in EA's cult favorite Green Tea franchise! It's all about the exuberance of the honeysuckle scent, combined with green notes and a sweet musk as base.

The top notes include sheer bergamot, sparkling lemon, green tea vapors, tangerine, and bosysenberry blossom. That bright green whiff will instantly make you feel energized! That brightness will soften into a sweet floral mix with honeysuckle accord, jasmine, ylang ylang, green tea leaves, and Tunisian neroli.

My world is full of glamorous, beautiful people. It's ridiculously easy to envy them and even try to compete with them, but I know that the road to misery is down that way. I am not them nor will I ever be exactly like them. Do I regret that? Honestly, no. In my 25 years so far I've learned that I should appreciate what I have instead of wishing I have something else. :) My life is good and there is much to be thankful for. Why should I beat myself up over a good thing?

Try it, you'll be happier in the end.

So that's my thought bubble for the day. ^_^ Moving on to the review! Today I have the Eau De Lacoste Pour Femme on the hot seat. It's a crisp, fresh fragrance with a bouquet of flowers underneath the initial green zing. It makes me think of a garden picnic, with a cotton table cloth, vases of fresh blooms, and a light herby menu!

A soft sensual feminine fragrance, evoking the fresh feeling of white pure cotton on skin. EAU DE LACOSTE is built on a classical fragrance structure, where the fragrance evolves smoothly from top to base notes over time, but superimposing modern ingredients on traditional ingredients, to generate a much lighter fragrance profile.

The Burberry girl is chic yet classic. She doesn't succumb to trends, instead preferring to invest in basic pieces that she can mix with each other. She's quiet but she's also headstrong. She might not be the life of the party, but she's the girl that people listen to in the boardroom.  

Would you describe yourself this way? I think that people choose their perfume brands according to the affinity they feel for them. I mean, all perfumes are designed to smell good, but which one will you actually wear? Mood and preference play huge roles in the process of choosing, of course, but the brand is still something that sticks in our mind.

Burberry's latest perfume offering, the Burberry Body Tender Eau de Toilette, is a sparkling citrus and floral scent. I feel that it captures the essence of the Burberry girl, since it's quite sophisticated without being flaunty about it. 

The hotter it gets, the lighter your perfume should be. Your normal musky and woodsy fragrances will just smell off in the middle of the day - when the heat is the most intense - so it's best to spray on something fresh and light-hearted! Something floral, fruity, with a generous sprinkle of aqua. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? ;)

The Clinique Happy In Bloom for 2013 is a great summer pal. It's designed for spring in the US but even if we don't have that season, it works just as well for our summer. The cult favorite Clinique Happy now comes in this limited edition version, with new packaging to celebrate the special release.

It smells wonderful. It's not overly girly due to the touch of aqua, but it is feminine enough with top notes of yellow plum, a cocktail of frozen fruit, and watery green notes.

The rose has symbolized many things through the centuries - eternal love, secrecy, unity, and even the turmoil of revolution. For you, a rose might have a more personal meaning. It may not even be something that you consciously choose; but when you enjoy a rose, you will forever be reminded of that soft first kiss or a memorable evening that could have happened years ago but is still fresh on your mind today.

That is the beauty of flowers. That's why we try to preserve them no matter how fleeting their lifespans are.

That said, DKNY has finally bottled their own version of this romantic flower's scent. Called pureDKNY Drop of Rose, they have created something akin to a garden full of blooming roses, with verdant green notes growing in the background as the fragrance deepens. If you love the pureDKNY line or just a fan of roses, this is something you must sniff stat! 

So! I have an exciting bit of news. DKNY has chosen Project Vanity to host a massive contest for their newest fragrance. We are giving away P30,000 worth of prizes to the lucky person who can make a creative, romantic video that shows the pureDKNY Rose's elegance and timelessness.

Here are the mechanics!

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Sweet yet well-rounded - that's the Éclat d’Arpège Gourmandise Lanvin (P2,998/ 50ml). It's invigorating upon first spray with Sicillian lemon and lavender smoothly scenting the skin, but then it develops into a sweet glow of green tea and peach blossom. It comes down to a musky cedarwood and amber base which I find stays with me all day.

The packaging is quite playful and girly, something that Lanvin (as a fashion house) is best best known for. Strings of illustrated candy surround a hazy lavender globe.

The more I like a scent the more sparingly I use it. Is that weird? Like good memories and golden moments, I just want to preserve it for as long as I can. I even have a flacon of perfume just barely half used after three years!

A strong candidate for my all-time favorites list is the Elizabeth Arden Green Tea Cherry Blossom EDT. I swear, it was love at first spray! The aromatic scent of green tea is perfectly melded with the sweet, dainty scent of the cherry blossom. It makes me feel happy, awake, and so feminine, like a lady who walks primly to high tea with her friends. 

The launch of this fragrance was memorable and intimate since Elizabeth Arden just invited a few beauty bloggers to a spa date (NEO Day Spa in The Fort - one of my fave escapes!). They also introduced the Aurora Collection, which is comprised of rosy, illuminating hues perfect for spring/summer.

What do you know, I have a video blog of the whole thing (shot by Marge Manabat). ;) Watch!

When I started Ask Liz! I just wanted a centralized, public place to store all my answers to your questions. Now, 275 questions later, I find that it has evolved into a sort of micro-community for beauty enthusiasts. I love that you guys are interacting with each other and answering other questions that I can't help with. How awesome is that? Cheers to everyone who posts! :D

Here are my answers to some recent questions.

There are days, like today, when I am at a complete loss about what to write here. I have maybe 20 products ready to be reviewed but I just can't think of anything to say about them. All I really want to do today is glue my ass on the sofa and play Final Fantasy 8 until I fall asleep and wake up tomorrow, all bright and shiny and refreshed. But that's not going to happen, eh?

What is going to happen is a day full of calls and more writing and maybe a P6,500 hair cut (if I still have enough daylight). And, of course, a review on a fab fragrance called the pureDKNY!

Look good. Feel good. Do good. This pure new scent adds a drop of vanilla to a world that needs a moment of calm. More than a fragrance, it embraces a way of being that takes time out for the simple things, the things closest to the heart: love, joy, comfort, relationships, and community.

How do you like your scents? I love perfumes that are feminine but not overly twee, girly but grown up and sophisticated. That means sweet floral or fruity notes toned down by a touch of wood or musk. If we have the same taste, then you'll love the recently launched Ralph Lauren Big Pony Fragrance for Women!

There are four variants: Big Pony RL Blue (fresh, invigorating mix of sparkling grapefruit and cool blue lotus), RL Pink (cranberry and tonka mousse to create a sensual, fruity scent), Yellow (infused with the natural radiance of pear notes and mimosa for a dazzling floral scent), and Purple, which is the one I have.

The access to clean and safe drinking water is a basic human right. While it's true that 70% of our planet's surface is covered water, only 3% is fresh, potable water. Most of it is inaccessible to those who need it badly. Many of them live in landlocked Africa, which is why several organizations are at work there to improve the people's access to drinking water.

Early this year, Giorgio Armani launched a campaign called the Acqua For Life Challenge to help the people of Ghana and Bolivia have a sustainable supply of water. This is in partnership with Green Cross International. More than providing communities with safe water, the Acqua For Life Challenge also helps improve education since the children no longer have to travel long distances just to fetch water.

It has been said that giving a person fish is not as good as teaching him how to fish. Likewise, Giorgio Armani is not just donating water, but developing sustainable sources of drinking water through rainwater harvesting systems, wells, and boreholes.

Last year's AFLC collected over 43.3 million liters of drinking water, and this year, it hopes to get more!

Last year, Avon launched Outspoken, a perfume in collaboration with pop star Fergie. It was designed to be daring and sexy and I think it delivered! This year, Avon followed up the success of the scent with a new version called Outspoken Intense (P999).

Outspoken Intense comes in a silver glass bottle with a cap similar to a crystal decanter's. It's a simple design that won't immediately say "expensive", but once you touch it and hold it in your hand you'll feel that the bottle is actually heavy. It's glass even though it looks like plastic.

As for the scent, I love it! The old version is floral and feminine, but it is underscored by a muskiness that lends it a masculine touch.

You must have a signature scent the same way you have a signature piece of jewelry or lipstick. It just completes your whole look by taking it up to another sensory level! It's true that people may not remember what you wore but they WILL remember how you smelled like, which is why perfumes are a must in every woman's closet. 

Now, I've tried quite a number of scents for this blog - from cheap to high-end, from light to heavy - but there is only one scent that I keep going back to: the DKNY Be Delicious. It's a radiant, fun and feminine scent while still managing to be very sensible...just like me, in my mind. When I want something sweeter, I always go for the DKNY Delicious Candy Apples in Sweet Caramel. 

So now you know my history with DKNY, you'll understand why I'm totally gaga for their latest fragrance, the DKNY Golden Delicious (P3,100/50ml and P4,200/100ml).

Scent. I would describe Golden Delicious as a beautiful, warm scent that blossoms as it dries down and melts on your skin. Like all Be Delicious scents, its very feminine without being smothery and overly cloying; sensual without being oversexed and obvious.

Once the novelty of the gel formula and wand applicator wore off, I started to look at the new Majolica Majorca Majoromantica scent in Fruity Forest (P995) with a more critical eye. Does it have good staying power? Is it all cute and no substance?

What it is: Fruity Forest is a strong scent with juicy fruits as top notes, floral as the mid notes, and sugary sweetness as its base notes. It assaults the senses as soon as you pull the wand out, but it mellows down quickly as it spreads on your skin and dissipates in the air. Fruity Forest is part of Majo's latest collection called Fake Sleeping.

Lasting power: The wand is designed to apply the gel cologne on your pulse points (on the wrists, behind the ear, base of the throat, back of the knees). Doing so allows the scent to heat up and stay longer. However, I find that the fragrance is completely gone from my skin in three hours - not surprising, because this is not even an EDT, it's a cologne.

I did discover something else though.

I have already talked about my current favorite day scent, the Guerlain Herba Fresca. Today I'll talk about my default scent for the evening which is Guerlain Shalimar (P3,998). It's one of the most iconic fragrances in the world and toted as the first oriental scent ever created. It's got a lot of impressive history in a bottle!

Guerlain Shalimar was first created in 1925 by Jacques Guerlain. It's inspired by the passionate love story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, two familiar figures behind one of the eight wonders of the world: the Taj Mahal in India. The word "shalimar" is actually Sanskrit which translates to "temple of love".