Nina Ricci- L'Elixir

So, somewhere between moving back from Spain and now, I managed to lose my beloved Vera Wang Princess Night perfume.I have to admit I'm not a bit perfume person, I tend to stick to one at a time which is why I was gutted when my Vera Wang was no where to be found. Therefore, when I had a fair bit of time to kill in Budapest airport on my way back from Interrailing, I started eyeing up the perfumes. I knew the Nina Ricci perfumes were more up my street than the more traditional perfumes like Chanel and Dior and got sniffing. Nina Ricci L'Elixir is what I settled on.

Much like Vera Wang, it's quite a fruity and sweet fragrance that thankfully isn't too sickly or overpowering. Its top notes are lime and lemon making it a bit more citrus-y than Vera Wang but the familiar sweetness comes from the base notes of apple, jasmine and red berries. The scent settles nicely into your skin and that's when the sweetness come out.

Of course, it is housed in the iconic Nina Ricci apple glass bottle with a darker red at the top than the original Nina perfume, which make it very pretty to look at as it sits on my dressing table.

I snapped it up in the duty free and made use of some left over Euros I had so I'm not sure what price that equates to but it normally retails for around the £40 for  50ml bottle.

Do you have this perfume or something similar?

Send recommendations my way!

xx

Top 12 of 2012

So I thought today of all days would be the perfect time to share with you my Top 12 of 2012. It's a complete mix of things- beauty, clothes, music etc etc but these are really things that I could not have lived without throughout 2012.

In no particular order

L'Oreal Mythic Oil

I've had this for quite a while now actually but it's still something I couldn't live without. I use it religiously every time I wash my hair and it's great for curly hair like mine. It also helps keep it healthy and happy and I'm proud to say my hair is in great condition.

Real Techniques Eye Brushes

A fairly recent purchase and something I never quite got round to photographing for my blog. I love these brushes and they're great quality. Now I've started branching out a bit in regards to eye make up, I feel I can properly follow all those lovely tutorials you see on Youtube

MAC Fanfare Lipstick

I bought this a while ago and haven't stopped wearing  it since. It goes great with my skin tone and isn't too much of a bright pink so it can be worn day or night. A very flattering and versatile lipstick.

ASOS Leather Jacket

This jacket has done me proud. I basically live in it. 

It's warm, well made and a bargain at £100 for real leather

MAC Ricepaper Eyeshadow

My first MAC eyeshadow and the one that set me off on a quest to complete a 15x palette... I'm 2/3 of the way there now. A gorgeous pale gold that works great as a base and lightens up the eye area. 

Great if you're a glasses wearer like me

Body Shop Seaweed Range

Throughout this year, I've been working my way through quite a few new skin care brands and while usually initially impressed with them, so many of them ended up drying out my skin. Enter The Body Shop. A great range and perfect for combination/oily skin. This range has not dried me out, is gentle on the skin and gets stubborn eye makeup off

Converse

Again, quite a recent purchase but again something that I have lived in. Apart from when it's really raining, cuz they're not so great for that... Very comfortable and makes an outfit look instantly a combination of casual and cool

Urban Outfitters Graphic Tee's

I've always loved UO t-shirts. They're great for when I need to chuck something on for uni with a pair of jeans but at their full price, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. But when they're in the sale and/or there are student discounts going around, I jump at the chance.

Ben Howard

2012 was the year I discovered and fell in love with Ben Howard and his music. I first came across him when he did an eerily good rendition of Call Me Maybe. Since then, I've hunted down as much of his music as I can but my favourite would still have to be Keep Your Head Up

Vera Wang Princess Night Perfume

My boyfriend bought me this perfume after months of hinting on his way back from a holiday in the summer. It's a very sweet fragrance- perhaps not to everyone's liking- but I love it and recommend everyone to go give it a whiff if they have the chance

Swimming

Bit off an odd one but 2012 was the year I started to swim. I've never been a particularly good swimmer having nearly drowned when I was very young. I started going with my sister in the summer and have kept it up since. It's great exercise, has really helped my asthma and my confidence in the water. I've also taught myself how to do the strokes properly and I plan to keep improving

Origins Night-a-Mins

Jusssst sneaking in to 2012, is this moisturiser. I know I've only had it a week but it's left such an impression on me, I had to include it. It's helped reduce the appearance of blemishes as they fade and has left my skin feeling much healthier and softer in the mornings

And those are my top 12 of 2012!

Let me know if you have anything similar on your blogs- I love seeing what products people have really enjoyed this year. 2012 has been a great year for my blogs- it's grown so much (thank you Twitter...) and I'd like to take the chance to say hello to all my new followers this year and thank you for joining my blog!

I hope you all have a great NYE and I'll see you all in 2013

Onwards and upwards!

xx

Vera Wang Princess Night Perfume

Absolute B-E-A-UTY. I have been obsessed with this perfume for absolutely ages and my boyfriend bought it for me from the duty free when he went on holiday and it stopped me going on about it :P
It's a really sweet and fruity fragrance and stays on the skin for ages. I hate those perfumes you just can't smell after 2 hours wearing it. I also love all the packaging- it's essentially the same bottle as the Princess scent but covered in black glitter and I love the little crown as a lid.
The only thing I could suggest is that you MUST smell it if you see it the shops because unfortunately I can't spray it through the computer screen.

The small bottle retails at around £33 from places such as Debenhams, The Perfume Shop and Boots.

xx