I’m not a big fan of fruity-floral fragrances, having pretty much overdosed on them as a youngster. But occasionally the thing that just fits my mood is something CHEERFUL and quite often cheerful means FRUITY! Celebrity scents are rather famous for being fruity-florals, and Britney’s perfumers pretty much stick to this mold. After having such luck with Hidden Fantasy, I decided I needed to give Circus Fantasy a try.

Circus Fantasy has notes of raspberry, apricot blossom, blue peony, waterlily, red orchid, sweet vanilla wood, creamy musks, and violet candy. Mostly, I get the raspberry, then the watery florals, and it dries down to a vanilla-musky fragrance on me. It’s good!

Circus Fantasy is what it is: a fun fruity-floral that will definitely remind you of summer days, happy times, and sunshine. It’s easy to wear, being light and fresh. The more I wear it, the more it grows on me. Unlike so many fruity-floral scents, this one doesn’t descend into candy-land. It’s never too sweet, and the peony and waterlily add a touch of sophistication that I like. It has pretty good lasting power, but doesn’t have as much oomph as something with stronger base notes. This one is all about that initial burst of fruits and watery florals.

If you want somethat to remind you of summer on a cool rainy day, or something that won’t overwhelm on a hot summery day, try Circus Fantasy. It’s perfect for both kinds of weather. Two thumbs up.

Any video beauty mavens out there? Here’s a fun contest!

L’Oreal is hosting a contest for one lucky winner: Enter to win a trip for two to New York City, a Project Runway shopping spree, a tour of the Marie Claire office, and a meet & greet with a Project Runway designer! To enter, upload a video sharing your beauty tips for looking runway-chic.

Check it out at their website here!

Kenzo will launch new Perfumed Beneficial Waters later this month, and they are FAB! These are moisturizing mists that contain plant extracts, and a delightful scent corresponding to Kenzo’s body care lines – Sensual Rice MMM, Relaxing Lotus SHH, Energizing Bamboo Splash, and Blissful Ginger Fizz. I’ve been using MMM and I love it!

Sensual Rice MMM contains rice extract and the super-yummy scent of rice steam. It really does have a close resemblance to the wonderful smell my rice cooker makes when I’m doing up jasmine rice! I just love the scent! Every time I wear it, my sister asks “What smells so good? Is that you?” which cracks me up.

The fragrance strength seems really close to an eau de toilette to me, but isn’t quite as long lasting. (Although I’ve tried plenty of EDTs that didn’t wear as long as this!) I am thinking it would layer beautifully with other fragrances, something I intend to experiment with very soon. The plant extracts also mean that this should be good for my skin, a total bonus!

The Waters will be available on Kenzo’s website, and will retail for $45 for 3 oz. It might seem a little pricey at first, but given the staying power of Sensual Rice MMM anyway, I think it’s a pretty good deal. Also, the glass bottle is really pretty and elegant! These are definitely SPLURGE WORTHY!!

Who doesn’t love a good deal? If you shop for Dermalogica or Jane Iredale, check out Skincarelogic.com. Every week they have a Happy Hour Special, a special deal like free shipping, a store-wide discount code, a totally cool free gift with purchase, etc.

In addition, Claire’s Beauty readers can get 15% off, in addition to whatever happy hour special is running by entering CLAIRE15 during checkout.

Skincarelogic.com also has some great educational skincare articles, and if you happen to be in Texas, you can check out their spa in person! Have fun!!

Lush, Lush, you’ve been VERY bad lately! Very bad! Their newest lotion is AMAZING and I just had to have a jar. But it’s criminally expensive!

Lush’s newest cream is Creme Anglaise, a rich, thick, amazingly delightful smelling product that I fell in love with the minute I spread some on my skin. The nice shop guy was stocking the display and hadn’t had a chance to put the price sign up yet… it’s a good thing, because if he had, I might have thought twice about impulsively grabbing a jar!

Creme Anglaise contains almond oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, a saffron infusion and myrrh and vanilla. The scent… is fantastic!! If they bottled it and sold it as perfume, I’d probably buy a bottle. It’s a bit anise-y and vanilla-y and spicy… so good! It’s rich but not greasy and sinks right into my skin.

But the price…! It’s $44.95 A JAR! Egads! I have never paid that much for an 8 oz. container of body lotion before. I’ve paid that much for face care, true… so I guess really I just need to get over it. But I was still pretty shocked when I got my total at the register, but decided to just hand over my credit card anyway. The cream is amazing, I’ll savor it every time I slather it on and smell amazing for hours (the scent sticks around). It gets two thumbs up for fabulousness but only one thumb for price. It’s definitely splurge-worthy in my opinion though.

I love finding a new awesome lip balm, especially if the formula is extra-super-duper awesome. Crazy Rumors is an independent company producing a fabulous balm in many fun, delicious flavors. High Five!

The formula includes such skin-loving ingredients as shea butter, olive oil, and jojoba oil, and uses vegetable waxes to harden the formula. I particularly like the vegetable waxes, as I feel they give formulas a silkier feel than beeswax, which can be a bit draggy on the lips. The lasting power is quite good – about two hours before I felt like I wanted to reapply. The balm doesn’t get too soft if I keep it in my pocket, a huge bonus factor in my book.

The different flavors are a lot of fun. They are organized into themes, like Perk (coffee-related), Brew (tea-related), and A La Mode (ice-cream related). So far my favorite is Amaretto (from the Perk line) but the Raspberry Sherbet comes close.

I found these at my local New Seasons Market stores, but you can also order from their website. Crazy Rumours gets two thumbs up!