Romy Raves

Can you smell it? Spring is in the air and with that comes a lightening of mood, colors, brightness, warmer weather and all the amazing fresh, floral, crisp smells that emulate the season. So with the changing of seasons, comes my desire to change up my fragrances, amuse my sense of smell and bring in some fun, bright refreshing scents the feel like spring. Following are six fragrances that I am really enjoying right now and I thing they really capture the best of spring.

Task Essential O2 Wellness Water ($79)

Confession: I got this fragrance for my hubby, but I loved it so much that I ended up keeping it for myself! This is a fresh, bright, clean fragrance with a little bit of sultry warmth on the dry down. It’s a very modern fragrance and I just love how the bright red bottle stands out on my bathroom counter. It has crisp refreshing top notes of lemon, icy mint, apple, and ozonic accord; heart notes of  lavender, basil, genievre, white tea, and sapin; and anchoring base notes of amber white, sandalwood, and musk. I like using this scent in the morning to really kick off my day and help me get in touch with my masculine energy!

Sarah Horowitz Parfums Perfect Coconut Milk ($40)

Sarah Horowitz is a Master Parfumer and I always fall in love with her beautiful, artisanal, multi-dimensional fragrances, and her newest creation Coconut Milk is no exception. This gorgeous perfume oil makes me think of being on a tropical island in a flowy dress sipping a colorful drink with a sexy man by my side. And all things coconut are really hot and on trend right now and coconut water is the new healthy beverage of choice being touted as nature’s gatorade, and it is no surprise that Sarah has tapped into that. Perfect Coconut Milk has top notes of coconut accented by almond, a sheer floral middle note of orange blossom and gardenia, and a luscious base note accord of tonka bean, vanilla and Egyptian musk. Yummy, complex, sensual and divine! I will have this luscious oil in my bag all season.

Cali Blue Eau De Parfum Spray ($32)

Cali Blue is a bright, fresh, oceanic fragrance that captures the look and feel of a fresh California ocean breeze. It is a crisp, clean blend of florals and citrus with an ambery vanilla base. I think the blue color is a nice unexpected twist for a fragrance and I will definitely spritz this before spending a day at the beach, it seems ideal for that. And the best part about this fragrance is that AromaEarth will donate 10% of the profits from the sale of every bottle of Cali Blue to sponsor the creation of fresh water wells in impoverished villages throughout Asia and Africa. How fab is that?! You can smell good and feel good too!

Earthly Body Naked In The Woods Glow Oil  ($15.99)

I recently discovered the beautifully made good for you products from Earthly Body at an industry beauty show and fell in love with them. I was instantly attracted to the fresh and clean white tea and ginger scent called Naked in the Woods. And I am totally into dry oils right now because they moisture your skin without being greasy and they last. The Naked in the Woods Glow Oil is fab because it contains hemp seed, coconut, soy, apricot, avocado, jojoba and vitamin E oils that pamper and nourish your skin. This smells like a fresh spring shower and leaves your skin with a hint of sheen, love it!

Avon Forever Eau de Parfum Spray ($30)

This is definitely a night time fragrance and would be perfect for a sexy spring date night. It’s a passionate blend of bright effervescent pink pepper, orange blossom and the sensual warmth of musk. I love the sculpted glass bottle and my man has actually commented on how much he likes it, which is always a winner in my book!

Intelligent Nutrients Destress Express ($40)

This isn’t your typical fragrance but more of a mood shifter, and if you are anything like me, it is nice to have a secret weapon like this in your beauty arsenal to help you deal with stress and the hectic pace of life. This is a unique therapeutic blend of certified organic essential oils to soothe, purify and refresh. It contains peppermint, spearmint, ravintsara, cardamom, cinnamon, chamomile, lime, and vanilla and red raspberry fragrance oils to help stimulate, strengthen, relieve tension, uplift, calm, and provide antiseptic, antibacterial, and antiviral properties. Doesn’t it sound like the perfect anecdote for stress? Fresh, yummy and peaceful.

Welcome to Spring!

I have been a very busy girl lately, testing and trying out a slew of fabulous new beauty products, tough job right? But someone has got to vet the best and most inspired new products coming down the beauty pike and I am always the first one to jump to the front of the line. So with that being said, below I’d like to share with you, nine products that I am currently loving right now and just can’t get enough of! Some of these products are inpsired by the winter holiday season, some combat dryness, and one even has an ingredient that mimics snake venom, but they are all hand tested by me. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts! 

Lather Sweet Lips Limited Edition Lip Balms This is a fabulous trio of lip loving limited edition lip balms in totally addictive seasonal holiday flavors like peppermint creme, candied orange (my fav), and lemon bar. These botanical balms are naturally flavored with essential oils, contain SPF 15 and pure beeswax which forms a nice barrier against the winter elements. I love how emollient, hydrating and yummy these balms are and because this trio is under $20, I think it would make a nice holiday gift for your girlfriends.

Immunocologie Treatment Creme VenoMAX

This is a totally indulgent, luxurious face treatment cream that contains VenoMAX, a proprietary complex that mimics snake venom activity. Specifically, VenoMAX mimics part of a polypeptide found in the venom of the Temple Viper by instantly smoothing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and protecting against inflammation. This potent cream also has an immediate brightening effect, it evens skin tone and helps erase the appearance of past sun damage. I love how hydrating and yummy this cream feels when I put it on my face and I immediately notice how it tightens and firms my skin, very cool! 

Fekkai Ageless All-Day Hair PlumpThis is an ultra-luxurious, daytime leave-in treatment that plumps, replenishes and retexturizes your cuticle to reveal thick, silky smooth hair. It provides intense, continuous moisture throughout the day by filling and plumping up damaged and roughed up cuticles, which results in stronger, younger and healthier looking hair.  This FABULOUS product has totally changed my hair! I can’t get over how bouncy and rejuvenated my hair looks after using this treatment, I LOVE it!

Braun Satin Hair Active Ion Brush

This is an amazing state of the art hair brush designed with active ionic technology that helps eliminate static, smoothes your hair and boosts shine with the touch of a button.  Once you turn this brush on, the active ion light shines and the ion jet releases a rich stream of ions which instantly changes the texture and look of your hair. I kid you not, this brush is an absolute miracle! It totally eliminates static and frizz, and I especially love using it the morning after a great blowout or after a night out on the town because it refreshes my hair and gets rid of the smoke or any other buildup in my hair.

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Ahhhh. . . Spring has arrived and with it comes warmer temperatures, flowers blooming, fruit ripening and everything fresh and alive. I love this transitional time of year because it totally puts me in the mood for change.  Case in point: time to switch things up and try some new fresh, crisp, citrus and fruity fragrances that fit the season. Below are a few of my latest discoveries that just might freshen your mood and spirits just in time for Spring.

Jo Malone Sweet Lemon Cologne & Fresh Mint Leaf Cologne I am totally loving the Limited Edition Tea Fragrance Blend Collection by Jo Malone. This totally inspired new collection is based upon the time honored British tradition of afternoon tea, a ritual I admittedly am rather fond of (what’s not to love about scones and clotted cream?) The collection consists of five distinctive scents utilizing notes and flavors that you would expect to find accompanying afternoon tea like Earl Grey, mint, cream and lemon. The concept utilizes tea as a metaphor for layering fragrances like adding a little Sweet Cream to your Earl Grey to make it richer or adding a little Sweet Lemon to your Fresh Mint Leaf Cologne to brighten it up, fun isn’t it?

I had the chance to try out Sweet Lemon & Fresh Mint Leaf and I am really enjoying this refreshing fragrance combo for Spring. I would describe the duo as fresh, clean and mood elevating. Sweet Lemon is a vibrant, zesty cologne that mirrors the custom of adding a slice of freshly-cut lemon or a sprinkle of sugar to a cup of tea to brighten it up. Sweet Lemon has hints of pineapple, peach and fresh green cypress. Fresh Mint Leaf  is a blend of mint, basil and mate which gives it a green, leafy quality, it also has notes of violet, water jasmine, and musk which adds a wonderful complexity to the cologne.

Fresh Brown Sugar Eau de Parfum is an effervescent citrus scent inspired by the original, all-natural Brown Sugar Body Polish. It has sparkling citrus top notes of Sicilian lemon, tangerine, and açaí; heart notes of sugared magnolia, honeysuckle, and peach nectar; and base notes of caramel, warm amber, and cypress. It has all the qualities I enjoy about the other Fresh Sugar fragrances, but the Brown Sugar Parfumis a bit richer and more complex than its other Sugar sisters. I totally love the refreshing citrus top notes and picture wearing this on a balmy summer’s night with a flowy sundress.

 Annick Goutal Ninfeo Mio I am thrilled to have been reunited with Annick Goutal Paris, the maker of an all time favorite fresh herbal citrus fragrance of mine Eau d’Hadrien. My latest discovery by this classic French Parfumer is called Ninfeo Mio, a unique blend of all the notes I tend to love in a fragrance: citrus, green, and woody. Ninfeo Mio is a wonderful combination of Italian lemon, citron and bitter orange along with fig leaf and lemon tree wood. I really like the fresh, herbal, citrus and somewhat spicy top notes anchored by the woody, sultry aromatic dry down. This is a very modern  fragrance that I think would be a perfect way to start the day!