Fashion Meets Fragrance – Catwalk Collection Discovery Box from The Perfume Society

Beauty boxes – they’re all over the place, aren’t they? That hasn’t made me try any before so what made me want to take a look at this one? First, there was the fashion connection – the box contains designer scents and cool cult brands. It was London Fashion Week this week too so I felt like I had a bit of a connection. Then there was the sheer number of items it contains – 10! (plus information cards and blotters) and finally the cost – £17.50 including free delivery!

Here’s what I found in the tightly packed box:

• 1 x nail polish 8ml
• 1 shine and fragrance spray 50ml
• 1 x trial size mascara 30g
• 1 x trial size EDP 6ml
• 1 x EDT sample
• 5 x EDP samples
• Information cards for each product with beautiful photos and information about the brands with detailed notes about the fragrances.
• A booklet of blotter strips to test the fragrances and note the names.

All this is contained in a sturdy little box that you can keep using to keep your testers in.

So when I took everything out of the box (it really felt as though I was emptying Mary Poppins handbag the treats just kept on coming!). Now let me show you the individual items in a bit more detail.

This gel effect nail polish is from Nails Inc and is in the deep blue shade Old Burlington Street. I have several of these polishes in different shades already and they’re really hard to beat for quality and depth of colour.

Although this is a hair product if fits in perfectly with the perfume theme as it’s the Percy & Reed Eau My Goodness Shine & Fragrance Spray. It does smell delightful with a mix of rhubarb, geranium, lily of the valley tulip and bluebell softened with amber and it delivers on its promise of shine too. I do have this among my hair products already, although I must say that I tend to use unscented hair products and let my scent do the talking.

This is the mascara that’s been the talk topping everyone’s favourites lists for months. I can’t believe that it’s taken me so long to get around to owning it. It’s Benefit’s They’re Real mascara. It promises to lengthen, curl, volumise, lift and separate and it has a unique brush. I’ll be giving it a try and letting you know what I think in a separate post.

This mini version of Valentino’s Valentino Donna is just delightful to look at! It’s gloriously girly and I love the scent.

They say:

Fragrance family: chypre

Top notes: bergamot essence

Heart notes: rose essence, iris pallida absolute

Base notes: vanilla, leather, patchouli essence

This is a scent that you’ve been hearing a lot about it’s YSL’s Black Opium Eau De Parfum. I’d say it’s a heady, intoxicating scent for the evening.

They say:

Fragrance Family: oriental floral gourmand

Top notes: black coffee, pink pepper

Heart notes: jasmine, orange blossom

Base notes: cedarwood, patchouli, vanilla

Now this Cosmopolitan Eau De Parfum is hard to get my head around. I get that Cosmopolitan magazine has strong fashion links so that’s why it’s in this box but I don’t get the link between a scent and a magazine. Still, the bottle design is stunning (the sample container is a little more utilitarian though) and the scent is delightfully fruity.

They say:

Fragrance family: Gourmand

Top notes: pineapple, bergamot, cardamom, mandarin

Heart notes: saffron, heliotrope, jasmine, pimento berries, carrot seed.

Base notes: tonka, patchouli, musk, sandalwood, caramel.

This scent is definitely new to me. It’s Remarkable People from Etat Libre de Orange.  This scent is a little out of the ordinary, both in its branding and its unique scent which is a spicy blend.

They say:

Fragrance family:  Oriental spicy

Top notes: cardamom, champagne, grapefruit

Heart notes: black pepper, curry tree, jasmine

Base notes: lorenox, sandalwood, labdanum

Love the minimal style of Narciso Rodriguez Narciso EDT. It’s a warm woody fragrance that I think really works for autumn.

They say:

Fragrance family: woody

Top notes: Bulgarian rose, peony

Heart notes: musk

Base notes: vetiver, white and dark cedarwood

I first came across this Jimmy Choo Illicit EDP at a blogger event in the summer and I found it warm and enticing on a hot summer’s evening.

They say:

Fragrance family: floriental

Top notes: ginger, bitter orange

Heart notes: rose, sambac jasmine

Base notes: honey-amber accord, sandalwood

Agonist Dark Saphir is a Scandinavian, contemporary tribute to sapphire. What? Yes, I know, it’s all a bit odd but we like the Swedish style don’t we? (how many millions of pieces of IKEA furniture have we bloggers bought?). This isn’t the kind of scent I expected – it’s all middle eastern spice and not Swedish freshness, but it’s a glorious heady, sensual mix that will warm any winter evening.

They say:

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Top notes: violet leaves, black pepper, cumin, coriander, ginger, bergamot, peach, raspberry

Heart notes: rose, iris, jasmine, geranium, carrot, carnation, orchid, heliotrope, cinnamon

Base notes: oudh, patchouili, guaiac wood, vanilla, tonka, copaiba, olibanum

If you’ve stayed with me this far and haven’t been distracted by the links I’ve included for the individual full-sized products then here are the details of where to get your box.

And if you’re a perfume fan then the Perfume Society is about much more than subscription boxes. There’s a website featuring everything you ever wanted to know about fragrance, a community that you can join to enjoy events, ‘discovery boxes’, an online perfume magazine, and more.

I’ve had such a lovely time today trying all these new fragrances, just can’t decide which one to wear next!

Hazel

This product was gifted to me for review but the opinions are my own, this post contains affiliate links.