What’s in My Travel Bag

I love those “What’s in My Bag” videos on YouTube, and posts that people share on their blogs…I’ve always had it on my list of post ideas, but I just haven’t gotten around to it.

But since I’m slowly starting to unpack, I figured now would be a good time to share.

Body/Beauty: Vaseline, nail polish, lip gloss

Misc: Hair band and clip, pain killers, gum, wet ones, jewelry, and Band-Aids

Money Stuff: Wallet, checkbook, coins and keys

For Writing: Agenda, notebook, 2 pens, and a mechanical pencil

Tech Toys: iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, charger, mouse, Bose headphones, flash drive, and netbook.

I tend to keep the things that I reach for most in a bag that I’d keep at my feet, or in the seat with me.

I do travel with snacks, but those I keep in the little one’s backpack.

That’s all folks! Talk to you in the next one!

3 L'IMPERATRICE by D&G

3 L'Imperatrice, or the Empress, is one of 6 unisex fragrances from Dolce & Gabbanna’s Anthology line. I remember back when these came out, there were 2 that I really liked, but for some reason, I never actually bought one. Well not until my recent trip to LA, but now that I have it, I don’t think I want to be without it…and of course, I want to try out the others.

According to Sephora,

3 L'Imperatrice is a confident, charismatic, boundary-shattering blend with a top of rhubarb, kiwi accord, and red currant; a heart of pink cyclamen, watermelon, and jasmine; and a base of musk, sandalwood, and grapefruit wood. The impression channels a successful, compelling character that is neither male, nor female, nor unisex, moving with dynamism to the free, edgy style that marks the D&G fashion empire.

The first time I smelled this, I thought of Marc Jacobs Cranberry. The Sephora I bought mine from actually had a tester on display, so I compared them just to be sure, and they are VERY similar.

Once I spritzed Cranberry, the citrus and rhubarb notes were the most apparent. It includes notes of pink grapefruit, cranberry pulp, bergamot, tangerine, ginger flower, honeysuckle, red currant, vetiver, icy musk, and woods.

Cranberry was released with the 2011 Cocktail Collection along with 2 other fragrances (Ginger and Curacao). I passed on all 3 but almost bought Cranberry. I’m glad I didn’t though because I do prefer the scent of 3 L'Imperatrice, and they’re far too similar for me to justify having both.

3 L'Imperatrice to me is a bit like a sweet tart, and has been my go to fragrance lately. I think it would appeal mostly to women and younger girls who like sweet, but not Pink Sugar sweet.

Have you smelled it? I really want to know.

Talk to you in the next one!

Dior WaterLily 504 and Forget-me-not 694

Other than the nail polishes, there wasn’t anything that interested me in Dior’s Spring 2012 Garden Party collection…I’m not a fan of pastel makeup on my skin tone…so needless to say, that’s all I bought. Both colors are limited edition.

I was especially interested because they’re supposed to be rose scented. I wasn’t quite sure what that would mean, but it sounded odd enough to break my no buy and bring them home with me to find out.

Waterlily 504 is a gorgeous light green shimmer. I don’t have anything like it. The closest thing I could find was Milf by Illamasqua.

But they aren’t similar at all. At least from the colors shown here. Milf is lighter, more yellow, and a cream.

Forget-Me-Not 694 is a medium toned, greyed purple cream. I’ve seen a few people describe this as lilac, but when I think of lilac,

(source)

I think of the flower, and the color that comes to mind for me is a lot more blue toned. Anyway, it is a very pretty color, and again, I don’t have anything identical.

Left to Right:

Top: Poco a Poco – RBL, Forget-Me-Not – Dior, Purple Haze – RBL

Bottom: Drama – D&G, Domestic Goddess – Sephora by OPI, Velocity – Illamsqua

The closest color I have is Domestic Goddess, but they aren’t similar. Domestic Goddess is a lot brighter.

I haven’t tried them out on the nail, so a review and my thoughts on the scent are still to come. So far, I have had very good luck with Dior polishes. They last forever. Only issue I have is with occasional staining. And for anyone who’s curious, I’m wearing Addison by Zoya on my nails. That’s what it looks like after 7 days of wear, without any base or top coat…yup.

Talk to you in the next one!