Last Day Sarah Horowitz Perfume Experiment

Hello again dear readers! I hope everybody had a fantastic weekend! I've decided that I want to include the last three Sarah Horowitz fragrances in one single post, wrapping up our fragrance experiment this afternoon (I've got a great surprise for our next test brand!) I've had such a great time experimenting with these scents, testing how they've made me feel, how their notes affected my mood and my day in general. It's so refreshing to come across a quality fragrance line with scents that are original and authentic smelling. They're for women who don't feel that connection with the naked supermodel spokeswoman who is the norm for perfume these days. They're for the woman who wants to layer her perfume without having to be a scientist, just because she wants to smell unique and memorable. So down to business....

Today I am sniffing out the Sarah Horowitz Perfumers Palette fragrances. The fun thing about this part of the line is that it creates the opportunity for you to make your dream concoction! The three sections of this collection are pretty basic: "Top Notes," "Middle Notes," and "Base Notes." You are free to choose any combination of you choice to create a one of a kind scent that only you know about. I will be testing three "Base Notes," which is truly the foundation of any scent. Here is how Sarah Horowitz explains a base note; "It is where the riches, deepest ingredients are found, anchoring the rest of your scent to your skin. Consisting mostly of Woods, Resins, and Roots, these scents will ground your fragrance and create warmth and depth for your perfume."

The base notes by Sarah consist of: Amber, Clean Musk, Sandalwood, Soft Musk, and Vanilla. Today I will be testing Soft Musk, Clean Musk, and Vanilla.

I was fascinated with the idea of Clean Musk, because it truly a contrasting base in my opinion. To me, a musk is a warm, sweet, smoky scent, the exact opposite of something fresh. After trying Clean Musk, I can attest that it is exactly that: a clean version of musk. Picture fresh out of the dryer sheets with an undertone of musk rolled into the center. It's something that can be worn alone, but I would most likely pair it with Fig Middle Note to play off of the earthy, fresh contrast of the musk.

Next I tried Soft Musk, which is a very soft, very subtle fragrance. It smells clean and feminine, something I would wear during the day. By itself, it's very subtle, almost too subtle for my taste...which makes it the ideal Base Note. Base Notes are meant to be built upon, and with Soft Musk, I would layer a crisp Honeysuckle Middle Note, or a Lychee Top Note to add an exotic, fruity feeling. I like that Soft Musk is so compatiable with other scents, it could easily be a fresh floral, a warm sensual vanilla, or something a little more exotic.

The last Base Note that I tested was Vanilla. I love everything vanilla, if it's done right. Too many times, vanilla is turned into an artifical birthday-cake scent, making its wearer and friends dizzy and sick. A great vanilla shouldn't be sickly sweet, it should have a sensual base that is creamy and inviting. Sarah's Vanilla Base Note is the ideal vanilla to me. It is sweet without being suagr cookie sweet, it is sensual without being too warm, and it has a hint on coconut on my skin, which leaves me craving the beach. I will have a really hard time layering anything else on top of this base, because it is so perfect on its own, although I know that Gardenia Middle Note make a perfect pairing. If you were feeling more up for an energizing fragrance, I would mix Vanilla Base with Blood Orange Top Note. It would be the best of both words; zingy citrus and mellow vanilla all rolled into one. Overall, these base notes are a great start for anyone who has an interest in creating his or her own fragrance collection.

I have had a fantastic time experiementing with these fragrances this week! I have learned a lot of notes, and even moe about what scents I like and could grow to like. Just remember that the most important thing about a fragrance is how it is affected by your body chemistry. Things that smell fantastic on a cardboard scent strip or even a friend will most likely smell completely different on you...and that's ok. Just go with your instinct and wear something that fits your personality as much as it does your lifestyle.

Thank you to Sarah Horowitz and staff for supplying us with testers of your scents!

Day Four Sarah Horowitz Perfume Experiment

Is anyone else counting the days until Halloween? Even though I don't plan on dressing up or even trick o' treating, I am waiting waiting waiting! Why? Well two reasons, the first is that I love the Witches New Year! It's so eerie and festive and silly, and such a staple of my year that it's sometimes hard for me to believe that there are families who don't even celebrate it. The second reason is because Halloween candy goes on MAJOR sale the day after Halloween! Everything from candy corn, tootsie pops, dots, sour patch kids, and not just little bags either...but like the 5 pound bags! Now don't think i'm a closet candy eater or anything...I love to have fresh candy around The Beauty Loft. Candy is friendly, colorful, and tastes and smells delicious...and speaking of smelling delilcous...I come to you with today's newest fragrance in the fragrance experiment: Sarah Horowitz Perfect Nectar from the "Perfect Collection."

It's not a coincidence that somebody who loves candy as much as I do also loves very sweet scents. I almost always gravitate towards scents with top notes of cotton candy, burnt sugar, vanilla, jasmine, and light, sweet florals. The interesting thing about my tastes, however, is that I have never especially like fruity scents. I do like fruit, I like to eat it and cook with it, but I don't like to smell of it (there is only one exception, and that is Fresh Fig Apricot fragrance, but it smells more sweet than fruity in my opinion.) So I had to have an open mind today when I tested the Perfect Nectar, a scent more fruit and exotic than the islands themselves.

When I first applied the fragrance, I smelled the ripe, fruity notes right away. I smelled peach and orange, and maybe a little bit or raspberry (however, I later learned that the notes are in fact blood orange, papaya, mango, and ylang ylang.)

The dry down of Perfect Nectar is more of a light floral, a scent that I would associate with a garden wedding in the summertime, or a weekend wine tasting trip. For a fruity fragrance, it manages to steer clear of artifical "pie and cobbler" notes and it is very grown up. I would expect to smell this on anybody from 20 to 55 years old, it's youthful but still tastefully done. And my dog loves it...he's been licking my arm any chance he gets! That's a good sign...right?

Day Three Sarah Horowitz Perfume Experiement

So as my readers and followers already know, this week I am reviewing 7 Sarah Horowitz Perfumes. For the last two days, I have reviewed fragrances from her "What Comes From Within" Fragrance collection. The scents are light, feminine, and meant to create sense of well being without being too perfume-y. Today is Day Three.

This morning I had a fantastic yoga class. The classes are held outside at the crack of dawn which is the perfect time for relaxation. No phones, no traffic, no outside stresses. This morning was the absolute perfect weather for it, too; not too humid and not biting cold like last week. So even though I was up very early with not much sleep, I still felt at ease from my class when I came into The Beauty Loft this morning. I was looking for a scent that would compliment my tranquil mood. After a quick sniff of today's options from my fragrance lineup, I chose to go with "Peace" from the "What Comes From Within Collection."

When I first put on Peace, I thought that it was the most cologne-y out of the ones that I have tried so far. It wasn't as light and airy as Light or Perfect Veil, which was a surprise to me. I sensed some bergamot, which is a crisp floral, and a little bit of sandalwood (not my favorite note in the world, but definitely something different...that is why we experiment after all!)

My favorite part of Peace without a doubt is the dry down. It dried down to a sensual, relaxing musky vanilla, which exactly captured the mood that I was going for. The scent lingered on my skin for the entire day, creating a little coccoon of scent that only I could smell. I didn't feel a yoga-esque sense of tranquility from this fragrance, but it was a nice reminder to stay calm and balanced on even the most stressful day. More to come tomorrow dear readers....

Day Two Sarah Horowitz Perfume Experiment

Today is day two of the perfume experiment. I have had quite a long day already (let's just say that it is 2pm and I am on my second cup of joe.) I have successfully stopped drinking coffee for about 3 months, but as of late, I can't go without it (I hate that fuzzy haze I've been sitting in all week.) So today I really needed a perfume that would fit my mood. I'm feeling very relaxed and calm (probably because I'm so tired!) and I'm just not a fan of "energizing" fragrances.

Yesterday I had much success with the Light Scent, and today I am ready to try something new. After reading a lot of press about Sarah Horowitz's Perfect Veil fragrance, I decided that it was appropriate to try on a day like today. According to Rachel Zoe's "The Zoe Report," she is a major fan of The Perfect Veil...and well...that creates a buzz worth looking into.

When i first dabbed on the scent, I was turned off by its inital notes. On me, it smelled very distinctive, in other words, a bit old lady like. But after a couple minutes of sitting on my skin, it turned musky. Unlike most musks, it's not heavy at all, but very light and subtle. It smells warm and a little bit powdery, something I would wear to a classy dinner party or some evening event on a cold fall night. I don't sense any floral notes in it, but I do smell a little bit of vanilla which is nice and comforting.

The general idea of Perfect Veil is to "capture the sensual scent of clean, naked skin."

I like that unlike most "naked" scents, this one doesn't smell like soap, towels, or a sauna. It's a very gentle fragrance that is soft and bit mischevious...because anyone who takes the time to smell this lovely probably has a bombshell side too. Probably the exact opposite of yesterday's fragrance, Perfect Veil is a scent that the longer I wear it, the more I like it...the drydown really agrees with my body chemistry. If Perfect Veil were an article of clothing, it would be a soft white cashmere sweater with a slightly playful neckline. I'm liking it....

Day One: Sarah Horowitz Perfume Experiment

Today is the first day of our perfume experiment! Today I knew that I would be trying a new fragrance, so I made an effort not to confuse my nose with any other smells. I used an unscented body wash in the shower, and a very mildly scented body lotion. The first perfume that I will be reviewing is part of Sarah Horowitz's "What Comes From Within" collection. There are five scents in this inspired collection, each one paying tribute to feelings and inner beauty. The scent that I am wearing today is Light, a scent that is described as "sheer, luminous, sparkling, and ethereal."

This is a fragrance that I could absolutely see myself wearing. I love its sheer floral smell that isn't too overpowering with one distinct heavy note, but lots of light flowers reminiscent of summer. This is a scent that I would wear if I were feeling down or stressed because it really does envoke visions of picking honeysuckle and lilacs (this fragrance does not contain lilacs actually, but freesia instead.) Light also has notes of Jasmine, which I love because it is so feminine and sweet. The dry down of Light is a lot less floral and much more musky and clean. I can smell almost a very, very sweet ocean breeze (which after reading the description of the scent I find out is white cedar.) If you aren't a fan of overpowering florals, but want to wear something light, feminine, natural, and mood lifting, I would turn to Light. I am very very very picky about fragrances, and I could definitely see myself wearing this when I am in the right mood (wanting something peaceful and elegant.)

The Fragrance Experiment

I hope everybody had a great weekend! The weather here in North Florida dropped significantly this week, and it brought this magical fall feeling with it! I was so inspired that I have already baked out pumpkin muffins and a pumpkin chocolate chip loaf cake. And for you apple lovers/bakers out these, Honeycrisp apples are now in season so snap them up while you can! I sense an apple pie crisp in my near future...

So with this sense of change in the air of "in with the new and out with the old," I thought that we would have a fun experiment. This morning I received a gracious package from Sarah Horowitz Parfums; I had contacted them several weeks ago because I am planning on carrying the line at The Beauty Loft at some point. I love how the line is truly no-frills, but all quality scent. I really believe that companies are way too preoccupied with adorning the fancy bottle these days, conveniently forgetting about the most important aspect; the scent quality. Not everybody loves the same perfume or scent for that matter, but a trained nose should recognize a quality scent; a complex scent that also manages to be simple and long lasting. It should change over time on your skin, staying with you through your day, and it should mesh with your personality and who you aspire to be. The fun part about perfume and scent is that you can use your imagination to "create" a personality or feeling. In the makeup world, your facial features will never change, you can apply pots and pots of color, but you can never re-invent yourself completely. The most important balance with picking and wearing a fragrance is that it should be 90% you and 10% fantasy. So to the point already!

For the next 7 days, I will wear a new Sarah Horowitz Perfume. I will record how it makes me feel, what notes I sense in it, and its staying power overall. Welcome aboard our first blog experiment! Let the games begin tomorrow...

Loving Lola

Because I am always on the hunt for the perfect perfume, I spritz any chance I can get. On my last trip to the mall (my least favorite place to buy perfume...but one where I can test) I had the opportunity to spray this on myself. I thought that I only sprayed myself (the usual spots; wrists, forearms, and neck) and wasn't highly impressed. I knew that the new Marc Jacobs Lola perfume had won Allure's Best Women's Perfume Award, so my standards were set pretty high. I was a little bit disappointed because it smelled very similar to another floral based fragrance (which I will not name) that I had tested out earlier. I enjoyed the scent, but it didn't make me stop dead in my tracks. Well, until yesterday, I had forgotten about my scent test drive altogether. That is, until I opened my closet and reached for a white sweater to throw on over my outfit. All of a sudden, I smelled vanilla, sweet floral, and something vaguely musky...needless to say it was a nice surprise and one that perked up the rest of my day. The annoying part is that it literally tooke me the entire day to figure out what the smell was from (it's not that I'm forgetful, it's just that with my job, I can spray lots of scents on in a single day.) After finally pinning it down to the Marc Jacobs Lola Perfume, I find it so interesting that I love the way it smells on my clothing. On my body, it was just another sweet floral that is a bit too strong for a humid Florida afternoon, but on my sweater, it's a delicious musky vanilla with a hint of peony and rose. It's a funny thing how body chemisty works...maybe I'll give it a second chance...

Display Shelf

Wouldn't this be fantastic for displaying perfume bottles on? I would do a mix of real perfume bottles that you use and some vintage ones...