Fragrance Friday: YSL Opium Vapeurs de Parfum

Yves Saint Laurent Opium is one of those fragrances I've never understood.

The original Opium

A cult 1980's classic, it's heavy and sickeningly intoxicating. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in having sprayed it on myself in a perfume hall and spent the next 3 hours feeling queasy and wishing I hadn't. As much as I wanted to like this sophisticated perfume, the scent itself just doesnt't appeal to me in the slightest.

2009 Opium

I didn't even like the more modern take on the fragrance 'Belle de Opium' that came out a few years back. As beautiful as the packaging and ad campaign are, I found it to be rather unremarkable and still slightly sickly.

2010 Belle D'Opium

I was therefore bowled over to find that their new version of the fragrance 'Vapeurs de Parfum' is really rather wonderful. It's light, balmy and totally wearable with top notes of mandarin orange and pink pepper. It still retains a tiny hint of the original spicy amber and incense notes of the original that add sophistication, but it's just so much more likeable.

Opium Vapeurs de Parfum

The wear time is great, I find it lasts a good 5 hours on my skin. The frosted peach bottle is gorgeous and the fragrance itself makes me feel just a little sophisticated. Although I've read some negative reviews of this online from people who are angered at the original being altered to appeal to a larger market, I totally disagree. I love the fact that they've brought a classic scent into modern day, enabling it to appeal to a different generation of women.

YSL Opium Vapeurs de Parfum is available now, from £46.

Liz Earle Creme Blush in Coral

After being rather disappointed with skincare queen, Liz Earle's first foray into the beauty world with her Sheer Skin Tint last year, I had mixed feelings about the release of her full makeup collection. It hit stores a couple of months ago now and I finally got the chance to try a few bits this week. Straight off the bat I have to say I was impressed, and a little in love with the accompanying colour chart.

Liz Earle products sell well online so I love the idea of having a full colour chart, complete with spaces to swatch your current colours for comparison! I'm not entirely sure how accurate the colour swatches are, but either way I though this was a nice idea and I had fun playing around with it.

The products also took me a little by surprise. I've only tried a couple of bits but I was seriously impressed by the creme blush in Coral. It's smooth, creamy and blends easily. It's nicely pigmented and looks great on the lips as well as the cheeks. It's on the pink-ier side of coral, so more flattering than some and easy to wear.

The formulation reminds me, almost exactly, of the Stila Convertible Colours (which I also love). You get 2g of product for £16.50 which I thought was pretty reasonable until I checked the packaging of my Stila product... of which you get 4.5g for £16. So not the greatest value for money product on the market, but the quality is great and I love the super-compact packaging (no wasted plastic here!)

A good first impression from Liz Earle Colour... I'm excited to try out more products from this line, and to see how it expands in the future. The initial selection is designed as a 'capsule collection' with definite room for expansion in the future, so watch this space.

Have any of you tried Liz Earle's new makeup products? Thoughts?!

MAC Fanfare Lipstick

I took six empties 'Back to MAC' today and exchanged them for a shiny new lipstick using their recycling scheme.

The shade I chose was Fanfare. It's a natural pink shade. I've never heard anyone talk about it online before but it caught my eye in the lineup as I was looking for a natural, everyday lip shade. I think it's probably the most perfect 'your lips but better' shade I own, I totally love it.

It's a Cremesheen formula too so it's rich, creamy and nicely pigmented. An all round winner in my books!

What do you think girls? Would you buy this shade? Have you ever 'Back to MAC'-ed for a free lipstick?