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“I wanted to capture the intimate and personal nature of a man who is sexy, yet strong,” Jennifer Lopez said about Deseo for Men. “Deseo means desire. Desire is a universal word that expresses passion between two people. I wanted to take this meaning and put it behind the idea of one desiring another. The smell is warming and creates a provocative and sensual texture.”

Her Deseo for Men will launch in September 2008. 50 and 100 ml editions of the Eau de Toilette and matching grooming products will be available. The notes include lemon, yuzu, red berries, cedar and tobacco leaves, guaicwood, orris, sandalwood, cedarwood, patchouli, amber and vanilla.

According to WWD, “Cartier and Coty are hoping their two newest scents, both set to launch in September, will be jewels. Roadster, Cartier’s fragrance, is the house’s first men’s scent in a decade; Deseo for Men is Jennifer Lopez’s first men’s fragrance. Industry sources estimate Roadster could generate first-year sales in excess of $20 million, while Deseo for Men could do $13 million globally in its first year.”

Though Jennifer’s men’s fragrance doesn’t come out for a few more months, you can buy the Deseo for women right now at Fragrance Direct. The 100ml bottle (fully packaged) is just £ 36.50. It has a sweet tropical scent feature orange blossoms, geranium and tropical florals. Fragrance Direct also has the 30ml and 50ml bottles available.

If you are heading out on a cruise or other holiday soon, you will want to look bronze and beautiful. If you have yet to build up a tan, you don’t need to bake in the sun or head to the tanning salon, instead you can apply a bronzer or instant tanning product at home.

One of my favorites is M·A·C Cosmetics Skinsheen Leg Spray. This light, mousse-like spray applies evenly over legs for streak-free color that is radiant yet natural. It’s not just for legs. You can use it legs, arms, shoulders, back and decollétage. It comes in three shades - Medium, Medium Dark and Dark.

Skinsheen Leg Spray is priced at £14.50 or US$22.50. This product is available at M·A·C stores or at the M·A·C website.

For the best coverage, you should apply it with a special body buffer available from M·A·C. This dense brush is specially designed for smooth and quick blending. You can also find the body buffer on the website.

The collection is called Vicky Tiel Paris and it is inspired by the time Tiel spent in France. Tiel spent time in Paris when she worked with designer Louis Feraud.

“These were some of the best, most creative and exciting years of my career,” said Tiel. “All three new scents were created to embody that unique and special era.’

The three different scents are called Couture, Sensuel and Destine. Couture is a light floral scent that has a lot of different fragrances at work including Egyptian cassie, violet leaves, vanilla and fresh aldehydic accord. Sensuel is a bit more colorful and sexy. If you are a strong woman, you’ll love this scent that features raspberry violets, leafy green accord, jasmine, marigold and vetiver. Destine has a commanding yet playful scent. Destine has many layers of scents, however the mandarin, musk, water lilies and sandalwood stand out.

If you want to get your hands on any of these three scents, you can make your purchase exclusively at Perfumania. The perfume is packaged in a stylish square bottle and has a suggested retail price of $44.99 for 3.3. fl oz.

Using inspiration from his trips to exotic locations and personal memories, Neil Morris created these eight fragrances:

Coral — Inspired by a sublime three-hour walk along California’s Laguna Beach.
Gotham — Based on a memory of a magical evening stroll through New York City.
Afire - An exotic elixir of passionate love mixing citrus and frankincense.
Clear - A subtle clean scent that sparkles with pink grapefruit and Linden blossom.
Aegean - Evoking the Greek coastline.
Rainflower - A reflection of the London’s Kew Gardens.
Storm - A memory of an approaching summer Cape Cod thunderstorm.
Zephyr - The story of a hot August afternoon with a welcome cool breeze of tangerine.

These “shared” fragrances are not gender-specific. The Signature line is available now at Takashimaya on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Neil Morris Fragrances can be purchased online at neilmorrisfragrances.com or at other exclusive retailers. A two-ounce (60 ml) bottle of Parfum retails for $95.00.

Neil Morris Fragrances is located in Boston. You can set up a consultation to come into the studio and have a custom fragrance created just for you. The consultation takes about an hour or so, where you relax in a living room like atmosphere.

Fragrance parties are also growing in popularity where you and up to four friends can each have your own personal fragrance created. This is a great idea for bridal showers!

Neil Morris Fragrances is located a 221 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 501 in Boston and can be reached at (617) 267-2315.

This fresh and feminine fragrance features strawberry, violet, grapefruit, gardenia, jasmine, musck and vanilla notes. It’s a sweet perfume that isn’t overpowering or too flowery. But the best part of this Marc Jacobs perfume is the cute packaging.

The solid perfume is encased in the white and gold daisy shaped container. The ring comes in a little gold zipped pouch.

The Marc Jacobs Daisy Solid Perfume Ring came out back in November. For only $30, it makes a cute gift for your sister, bridesmaids, or just about anyone.

You can find this solid perfume at Sephora.com, Bloomingdale’s and other major department stores.

Though I don’t like a lot of overpowering scents in body care products, I do love to use lightly scented body scrubs to exfoliate and revive skin.

To keep your skin silky smooth, you should exfoliate your body weekly. Body scrubs made with salt or sugar are my favorites. However exfoliating scrubs can feature a variety of ingredients, including nuts, seeds and other botanicals. These exfoliating products remove dead skin cells, leaving your skin smooth and healthy. After exoliating your skin, be sure to use a good moisturizing lotion. If you don’t keep your skin hydrated, exfoliating scrubs will dry out your skin.

Here are three of my favorite body scrubs:

• L’Occitane ‘Ruban d’Orange’ Marmalade Body Scrub
• Get Fresh SPA Lemongrass Sugar Body Scrub
• Groove Sea Salt Body Scrub

All of these scrubs have nice fresh scents and leave your skin looking and feeling beautiful.

You should exfoliate your face too .. but not with the same rough products geared toward the rest of your body. Instead choose an exfoliating cleanser that was designed especially for the face. Be very carefuly when exfoliating your face, particularly around the eyes and mouth, where the skin is thinner and more sensitive.

Women with oily skin should exfoliate more often than those with dry skin. If you ever find a product dries out or irritates your skin, don’t scrub so hard and cut down on how often you use it. If the problem continues, discontinue using it because you might be allergic to it.

Photo credit: Nordstrom

Many independent, lesser known companies have wonderful choices in spring fragrance.

JoAnne Bassett offers a line of all natural perfumes that do not contain any synthetic oils. She offers several fragrances that are citrusy and floral and perfect for spring.

Chantelle is an all white flower eau de parfum that is perfect for brides. It contains Bulgarian white rose oil, 3 Jasmine absolutes, Tuberose, and Champa, (magnolia family). It is a lovely floral that is very feminine.

Le Voyage eau de toilette is a citrus floral that is very light and uplifting.

Josephine eau de parfum is a green, fresh cut grass fragrance that is the ultimate Spring scent. It is Nature awakening in a bottle. It smells like fresh green leaves with the floral lemon verbena, lavender, rose oils set off with the fresh green citrus scent of Bergamot. The color of the fragrance is green and is a best seller among women and men.

Versailles eau de parfum is a citrus delight that is sparkling and gorgeous. With orange blossoms, tangerine, lime, to lighten up and freshen and frankincense to uplift. Women and men delight over this one.

JoAnne Bassett offers this hot tip when selecting a fragrance:

Pick several scents that are the citrus light florals (like those listed above) and wear them over a more musky, woodsy scent like Napoleon, Collette, Petit Trianon, or Magie d’ Or eau de parfums.

To learn more about JoAnne Bassett and her line of all natural fragrances, please visit her website at JoAnneBassett.com. On the website, you can order from a wide selection of fragrance or even buy a “Make Your Own Natural Perfume Kit.”

By checking around the Internet, you can find companies that are willing to send you their samples for free. Normally smaller fragrance companies or new concepts are willing to send out tester samples to anyone. You can also sometimes find free samples to designer scents too.

The other day I ran into WeirdFragrances.com. This company is giving away sample of the unique unisex colognes. All you have to do in return is fill out a three question quit to tell them exactly what you think about their products. You don’t have to give them a rave review - just your honest opinion.

And when they call themselves “weird,” they aren’t lying. Their website says they offer ten weird fragrances such as “money, boiled crawfish, pumpkin spice …”

Though many women love the scent of money, I’m not sure if I’d want my man smelling like a pot of boiled crawfish!

I understand their fragrances can be used as cologne, as well as room fragrance spray. But I’m not sure if I’d want my home smelling like crawfish either.

If you are interested in weird fragrances, head over to WeirdFragrances.com and fill out the form with your name, email and mailing address. Then choose from the pull down menu and pick your preferred scent.

Here are the choices:

Grease Monkey
The Love of Money
Pumpkin Spice
Cajun Delight (that sounds better than calling it Boiled Crawfish)
Burning Rubber
Fourth of July
Ashtray (UGH!)
Magazine Pages
Fresh Bread
Hot Cookies (Mmmmm…)

I just requested Pumpkin Spice. I’ll let you know how it smells when I get it. (I was so tempted to get the Money scent though.)

Photo source: Flickr

For a limited time only, you can get the Prada Coffret, which includes four different fragrances. This is a gift set that any couple will love as it contains three fragrances for her and one for him.

Included in the set is a 0.2 oz bottle of Intense Eau de Parfume, a 0.2 oz bottle of Prada Eau de Parfum, a 0.2 oz bottle of Tendre Eau de Parfum and a 0.3 oz bottle of Prada Pour Homme Eau de Toilette. All four scents are packaged nicely in a signature gift box.

You can get the limited edition Prada Coffret right now at Sephora for only $50. They also offer free shipping.

This set would make a great gift for someone you love, or a great buy for yourself!

These pages will not only be the main source for consumer voting (public voting opens April 18th, the awards take place on May 20th), but will also house exclusive content. Users can browse celebrity pics and clips, debate the top ten, or just grab the widget to keep informed on the voting process.

The Fragrance Foundation will post video from events leading up to the awards and will be live blogging on the big night. Log on the the Fifi Awards social networking sites to get up-to-date information about everything going on with the Fifi Awards.

• Facebook
• Iqons
• MySpace
• YouTube

The Fragrance Foundation recently announced their top 10 finalists for the Fifi Awards 2008 in different market categories for men and women as a prelude to the official ceremony to take place on April 25th, 2008.

The top 5 finalists will be announced in their turn at the Finalists Breakfast together with editorial prizes that are curiously, mind you, divided by gender for two of them, probably due to a market imperative but not a cultural one. The final award ceremony takes place on May 20th, 2008.

WOMEN’S LUXE: (11 finalists due to a tie)

• Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche - Chanel
• Coach - BeautyBank
• Daisy Marc Jacobs – Coty Prestige
• DKNY Delicious Night Eau de Parfum – Donna Karan Cosmetics
• Dolce & Gabbana the one – P&G Prestige Products, Inc.
• Emporio Armani Diamonds – Giorgio Armani Parfums
• Kelly Calèche - Hermès
• M by Mariah Carey – Elizabeth Arden
• Nina by Nina Ricci – Puig Beauty & Fashion Group
• Ralph Rocks by Ralph Lauren – Ralph Lauren Fragrances
• Usher She – Liz Claiborne Cosmetics

MEN’S LUXE: (12 finalists due to ties)

• Attitude by Giorgio Armani – Giorgio Armani Parfums
• Burberry Summer for Men – P&G Prestige Products, Inc.
• Calvin Klein MAN – Coty Prestige
• Chrome Legend by Azzaro – Clarins Fragrance Group
• Diesel Fuel for Life Men – L’Oréal Designer Fragrances
• Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Pour Homme – P&G Prestige Products, Inc.
• Fleur du Male Jean Paul Gaultier – Beauté Prestige International
• “For Him” Narciso Rodriguez – Beauté Prestige International
• Guess Suede – Parlux Fragrances, Inc.
• Polo Explorer Ralph Lauren – Ralph Lauren Fragrances
• Tommy Bahama Set Sail St. Barts Him – Gemini Cosmetics
• Usher He – Liz Claiborne Cosmetics

WOMEN’S NOUVEAU NICHE: (12 finalists due to ties)

• Agent Provocateur Maitresse – Selective Beauty
• Armani Privé Rose Alexandrie – Giorgio Armani Beauty
• Bond No. 9 New York Andy Warhol Silver Factory (unisex) – Bond No. 9 New York
• Bond No. 9 New York Bryant Park – Bond No. 9 New York
• Bond No. 9 New York Saks Fifth Avenue for Her – Bond No. 9 New York
• Burberry Brit Sheer – P&G Prestige Products, Inc.
• Gucci by Gucci – P&G Prestige Products, Inc.
• Iris Pallida – L’Artisan Parfumeur
• L’Eau de Jatamansi – L’Artisan Parfumeur
• Prada Infusion D’Iris – Puig Beauty & Fashion Group
• Versace – EuroItaly
• Visa de Robert Piguet – Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics, Ltd.

MEN’S NOUVEAU NICHE

• Armani Privé Vetiver Babylone – Giorgio Armani Beauty
• Bond No. 9 New York Andy Warhol Silver Factory (unisex) – Bond No. 9 New York
• Bond No. 9 New York Saks Fifth Avenue for Him – Bond No. 9 New York
• Courvoisier L’Edition Imperiale – Kraft International Marketing, Inc.
• Cravache Robert Piguet – Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics, Ltd.
• Givenchy Classic Fragrances – Parfums Givenchy
• Kiton Black Eau de Toilette Spray – Aramis & Designer Fragrances
• L’Oeuvre Noire by Kilian – By Kilian
• Tom Ford for Men – Tom Ford Beauty
• West Indian Lime – Crabtree & Evelyn

WOMEN’S POPULAR APPEAL (only seven finalists in this category):

• Bijan Nude Women – Five Star Fragrance Company
• Celine Dion Enchanting – Coty Inc.
• Flirtatious - BeautyBank
• Florecita Shelbie Bruce – Revelations Perfume & Cosmetics Inc.
• Intimately Beckham Women – Coty Inc.
• Samba Sexy Woman – Perfumer’s Workshop International, Ltd.
• So Luxurious by Daisy Fuentes - BeautyBank

MEN’S POPULAR APPEAL (only five finalists in this category):

• Bijan Nude Men – Five Star Fragrance Company
• Blue Seduction for Men by Antonio Banderas – Puig Beauty USA
• Intimately Beckham Men – Coty Inc.
• Mustang Cologne Spray – Aramis and Designer Fragrances
• Samba Sexy Man – Perfumer’s Workshop International, Ltd.

WOMEN’S PRIVATE LABEL/DIRECT SELL (only seven finalists in this category):

• Banana Republic Malachite – Inter Parfums USA
• Christian Lacroix Rouge – Avon Products, Inc.
• Gapbody Washed Cotton – Inter Parfums USA
• Gap Individuals – The Original (unisex) – Inter Parfums USA
• Secrets d’Essence Rose Absolute – Yves Rocher
• Signature Collection Velvet Tuberose EDT – Bath and Body Works
• Supermodel by Victoria’s Secret – Victoria’s Secret Beauty

MEN’S PRIVATE LABEL/DIRECT SELL (only five finalists in this category):

• Banana Republic Cordovan – Inter Parfums USA
• C.O. Bigelow Barber Cologne Elixir Blue – Bath & Body Works
• Derek Jeter Driven Black – Avon Products, Inc.
• G7 Gapmen Daily Grooming – Spiked – Inter Parfums USA
• Gap Individuals – The Original (unisex) – Inter Parfums USA

The top five in each of the Fragrance of the Year categories will be honored with the miniature crystal FiFi® Award at the FiFi Finalists Breakfast and placed on the second ballot. The second ballot will determine the winners.