Valentine's Day Beauty Wishlist

You all know how much I love holidays... So whenever I see something holiday-themed, I immediately want it. I've been putting together my Valentine's Day beauty wishlist over the past couple weeks and I thought I'd share my favorites with you. Since I started putting together this list, I've actually bought some of the things, so you can expect full reviews soon!


Urban Decay's flavored body powders. I actually have all of these scents in the old-style packaging, but the new style packaging is even better! I am a total sucker for packaging, I know. I'd get them again just to have the gorgeous boxes. I really do like these, they're sweet scented (Cocoa is amazing, I wish it had a matching perfume) and they also taste sweet. The have a little bit of a tinted shimmer. I used to wear them on my chest/collarbone/décolletage when I was wearing lower-cut shirts. Oddly enough, whenever I wore these, this guy I worked with always told me how pretty I looked.




Physician's Formula Happy Booster blush, bronzer and powder. I don't think I've lusted after any beauty product quite like I did with these. The minute I saw them I just couldn't stop thinking about them. I did end up finding these last week and I love them so much. I'll do a review on them shortly, but let me mention that these currently have $3 off coupons attached to them, so if you're thinking about getting one, make sure to get one with a coupon on it!



Stila Make Me Blush. I feel the same way about this that I do about the Physician's Formula Happy Booster powders. I know that logically, it's just a blush. But when I see it I go crazy. It makes me giddy to look at. Of course, I caved and ordered the set that comes with the Hugs and Kisses lip glazes. It's actually a pretty inexpensive indulgence- the set is only $20.


Philosophy Sweet on You set. One of my readers told me about this! It's supposed to smell like those candy hearts that I love. I have the sweetest readers :) Anyway, I'm a huge Philosophy fan so this is extremely appealing to me. I really really want this!


Bath and Body Works Valentine's Day PocketBacs! They're 5 for $5 right now. These are so cute. I'm a bit of a germophobe so I always have hand sanitizer in my purse, but I wish I had these instead of my plain unscented Purell! Here's what the scents are:

• I Love You (aww ♥) in Sweet Pea
  
• I Love Shoes (lets get ‘em!) in Stylish Strawberry
  
• I Love Cake (maybe just a mini cupcake so that I can fit into my LBD tonight) in Buttercream
• I Love Boys (#bieberfever) in Berry Crush
• I Love Bling (who doesn’t) in Rock Candy

Buttercream and rock candy scented hand sanitizer! Must have these!


YBF Pucker Up lipstick set. They're in heart-shaped tubes! I remember that Models Prefer used to have a set just like this, and I remember always wanting it. I'd probably only be able to pull off that pink color in the middle, but like I said, I'm a complete sucker for packaging.


Kiss Catwalk Nail Decals. Actually, this isn't so much a wishlist item as a recommendation. I just got these and they're perfect for Valentine's Day. Just wanted to make sure I mentioned it!


Sephora Collection Flower Kabuki brush set. Gah. I can't handle how cute these are. I'm not sure how well they would even work for applying powder, but I need them. Anyone have these? Are they good? I love looking at them.


Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb gift set from Nordstrom.com. It comes in a heart-shaped box, just like a Valentine's Day box of chocolates! I'd rather have perfume than chocolate. Well, maybe. Perfume lasts longer. Can I get perfume and chocolate? I've been meaning to get a full sized bottle of Flowerbomb...




Kat Von D Adora fragrance and Painted Love Lipstick in Adora. Adora doesn't even sound like a fragrance I'd like based on the list of notes (Lychee, Boysenberry, Thyme, Cassis, Hyacinth, Jasmine, Mango Flesh, Patchouli, Sheer Musk, Amber Wood.) but I love love love the bottle. It looks so heavy. And the lipstick? I don't think I really wear red well, but the color of it is so bright and sparkly and look at that romantic looking tube! The red flowers on the black satin background! The little clear base that shows the color!


I'm having cute makeup overload.

Vera Wang Glam Princess

I feel like reviewing random beauty products from my stash. I'll start out with this one since it's going back to the store this week!


I really like the original Vera Wang Princess. The name cracks me up, I always read it as "Vera, Wang Princess." I know the bottle is super girly-girly and so is the name, but it smells really good on me. So, thinking because I liked the original so much I'd like the others, I purchased Rock Princess and Glam Princess. Neither are anything like the original, but right now I'm going to focus on Glam Princess.

Just from reading the notes I knew I had to have this. The list of notes? Guava, Pear, Honey, Vanilla Orchid, Marshmallow Accord, Cedarwood. I'm not much of a fan of fruity scents, but the vanilla orchid, marshmallow and cedarwood are right up my alley. I love gourmand and woodsy scents, so a scent combining vanilla and cedar seemed perfect for me.

When it arrived I could smell a perfume smell coming from the box before I even opened it. I'm wondering if the set I ordered was a return because it seemed used. The bottle wasn't full to the top like I'm used to and the lotion didn't have a safety seal and has some lotion around the inner cap as if it had been squeezed. Hm.

The bottle is cute in a ridiculously tacky way:

It's a clear glass heart with gold metallic spray in a gradient effect and it's printed with pink scribbly stars. The top is a gold toned with no true cap- instead it has a removable crown and rhinestone-studded ring that can both be worn as jewelry if desired.

Despite the fact that it looks like it was designed by a lovesick 13-year-old, it's still cute... Probably because it does look like it was designed by a lovesick 13-year-old. Girly, cheesy, tacky but still a little bit glam.

I've worn the scent a few times now and had the same experience each time.

The minute I apply it I get a sweet fruity-floral scent- I don't smell pear but perhaps I do smell guava. It's not a rich, true guava scent, it's more of a thig, high-pitched imitation of guava. The scent is light, slightly crisp but not in a fresh-crisp way, more of an apple-fruity crisp way. It's not a strong scent at all, it is very weak and I can't smell it unless I have my wrist to my nose.

The best way I can describe this scent is generic. It doesn't really smell of anything specific. What it really smells like to me is that generic perfume smell you would encounter while walking through the perfume section at a department store while all the sample ladies are trying to spray you. It smells indistinguishable from the sea of mass-produced fruity-floral celebrity fragrances that I'm constantly bombarded with in the perfume department.

And, actually, it reminds me of a very, very watered down version of Britney Spears Fantasy, which I actually liked (shut up!). I am a sucker for 'cupcake accord'.

After wearing the scent for about an hour, it completely disappears. For a minute or two, with my wrist directly to my nose and if I sniff really hard, I can sorta smell something like marshmallow, but only fleetingly. It doesn't evolve much except for the sharp fruitiness of it that dies down eventually. And then, suddenly, poof! Gone. No scent.

I never smelled any vanilla orchid, no cedarwood, no marshmallow. Well, maybe a little marshmallow, but just barely. I can tell that there's something vanilla-esque somewhere in there but it's weak and thin and barely detectable.

What I had expected was a woody vanilla and cedar with some fruity top notes but all I got was a nondescript, weak, disappearing generic hairspray scent.

That's really the only word that comes to mind when trying to describe this. Generic, generic, generic. Not at all glam. Vera, I am disappoint.

So, I'm going to do something I rarely do. I'm going to return this. It is weak and fades away completely within an hour, it doesn't even smell like a real fragrance and on top of that, I think my set was already used when I received it. Someone else must have had the same experience.

The details of the set (from Sephora.com):

Glam Princess Gift Set ($90 Value)

This fun, flirtatious addition to the Princess line is for the boldly brilliant girl who is ready to celebrate and rule the world in the most glamorous way. She introduces herself with guava and juicy pear, reveals her beautiful heart with liquid honey and vanilla orchid, and offers sweet depth with marshmallow accord and cedarwood.

This set contains:
- 1.7 oz Eau de Toilette Spray
- 5.0 oz Satiny Body Lotion
- Gold Pouch (6 x 4.5")

Notes:
Guava, Pear, Honey, Vanilla Orchid, Marshmallow Accord, Cedarwood.
Style:
Feminine. Vibrant. Charming.

I may as well describe the body lotion while I'm in a reviewing mood.

It's a thin, light textured lotion that absorbs very quickly and leaves behind a trace of fine gold shimmer. It is scented with the Glam Princess fragrance and oddly enough, seems stronger than the perfume itself! It does not seem the least bit hydrating or moisturizing, but it does leave my skin smooth. I think it may be more for cosmetic purposes than actual moisturization. Layering the perfume with the lotion marginally increases wear time, but it still disappears after an hour or two.

Lesson learned. Just because I liked the first in a series doesn't mean I'll like the sequels.