I have a bit of a splurge purchase to share with all of you. I picked up this set a few months back (at the same time as my Bite Beauty Luminous Crème Lipstick Duos, actually) as a belated Christmas present to myself. I don't know about you, but to me there's something especially exciting about discovering a new favorite fragrance. They aren't something that I purchase very often, with the coveted space on my dresser reserved only for a few signature scents that I'm head over heels in love with. And while the bottles that are currently occupying that space are still wonderful, I was itching to add something new to the mix.
Enter the Sephora Favorites Rollerball Collection.
One the things I think Sephora does best is create these favorites sets. They're always an incredible value, and contain a varied enough selection of products that most people will fall in love with something (if not everything). The fragrance sets in particular I think are genius. You usually get some variety of mini fragrances that you can sample, and a voucher that redeems for a full-sized bottle of your favorite scent. For the past year or two I haven't been too enthused about the selections that have been included in these popular sets.
And then I laid my eyes on this beauty, and I knew it had to be mine. It includes 5 rollerball versions of popular fragrances, as well as a bonus hand cream, and the fragrance voucher. For $85 you get a really gorgeous bag that contains:
- 0.40 oz Rollerball in Kate Walsh's Boyfriend, $20 value (redeems for 1.6 oz Eau de Parfum Spray, $65 value)
- 0.34 oz Rollerball in Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gioia, $21 value (redeems for 1.7 oz Eau de Parfum Spray, $68 value)
- 0.34 oz Rollerball in Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy, $22 value (redeems for 1.7 oz Eau de Parfum Spray, $72 value)
- 0.34 oz Rollerball in Lancôme Trésor, $25 value (redeems for 1.7 oz Eau de Parfum Spray, $75 value)
- 0.33 oz Rollerball in Tocca Colette, $20 value (redeems for 1.7 oz Eau de Parfum Spray, $68 value)
- 1 oz TokyoMilk Dark Tainted Love No. 62 Handcrème, $9 value
Just the value of the rollerballs and lotion alone is $117, and let's be serious, that bag is flippin' cute as heck, so that's got to be worth something too. And then on top of that, you also get the full-sized perfume of your choice, with a value as high as $75! While $85 might seem like a lot of cash to drop, you really are getting your money's worth.
For me, I think the rollerball format was what really sold me on this one. While the little fragrance dabber minis are adorable, I don't think they are as practical to use. A rollerball is perfect for on-the-go use, so I knew that I could rotate these through my purse and actually give each one a proper go. Speaking of which, now that I've had plenty of time to play with these, I thought I'd share my thoughts on each of the fragrances that were included.
Viva La Juicy is the only of these five fragrances that I actually already own and love. To me it's the perfect summertime scent - sweet and fruity with a hint of sexy. I figured, worst came to worst, if I didn't fall in love with any of the other fragrances, I could always redeem my voucher for another bottle of this tried and true favorite.
Trésor is a beautifully elegant fragrance. It's feminine and soft, but has a bit of a sultry edge that says "wear me out on a dinner date that also entails sporting a LBD". While I'm not the best at explaining fragrances, I would say that this one is a bit complex. Not quite floral. Not quite fruity. Not quite gourmand. It's maybe a little bit of all of those things, and then some.
Upon doing some research, I've learned that Boyfriend has actually been discontinued. I wasn't planning on redeeming my voucher for this particular scent anyway, so I'm not too broken hearted. And while I actually quite liked it, I could see how it might not have mass appeal. It's a warm amber fragrance with woodsy and caramel notes. Kate Walsh actually was actually inspired by her ex boyfriend's cologne, wanting to create a fragrance that captured both traditionally masculine and feminine elements. I think this scent does that well, but is also consequently a bit heavy and more mature. If anyone remembers a Liz Claiborne fragrance, Spark, this reminds me A LOT of it.
In all honesty, I think the main reason I bought this whole set was for the Tocca perfume. From the amazing range of scents, to the gorgeous packaging, to the high quality ingredients, Tocca is the kind of brand I can totally get behind. Colette is a spicy and sweet sort of fragrance that screams "woman"- sophisticated, alluring, and a little bit coy. It has some similar notes to Boyfriend, but is perhaps a little bit better balanced. I think this is the front runner for my full-sized redeem (and it doesn't hurt that the bottle is oh-so-pretty).
Confession, I totally feel guilty that I don't really love Acqua di Gioia. It's such a raved about fragrance that I really, really wanted to be a fan, but it's just not quite my thing. Looking at the description, it seems quite lovely, with notes of lemon and peony, jasmine and pink pepper. Alas, the very fresh, clean and acquatic (if you will) overall finish of this perfume didn't seem to mix well with my body chemistry. I ended up passing this one on to my mom, hoping that perhaps she would have better luck with it!
And of course, this TokyoMilk Dark Tainted Love Hand Cream was such a lovely little addition to the set. The scent is predominantly vanilla made a bit more interesting with subtle notes of orchid, white tea, and citrus.
As you may have already realized, I still haven't redeemed my voucher yet. What can I say, decisiveness isn't my strong suit. Either way, I'm totally happy that I splurged and picked up this set for myself. I really like most of the fragrances, so regardless of which I choose to get the full-sized version of, I think I'm still going to enjoy using all of the rollerballs in the collection.
Also, with Mother's Day swiftly approaching, this would be a wonderful gift to give (or ask for, moms that are reading), especially if you know or suspect there's a mom in your life who might enjoy one of these scents. There's a really nice variety of fragrances - from fun and flirty, to clean and fresh, soft and romantic, to warm and woodsy, or sultry and alluring.
Sidenote, speaking of Mother's Day, I definitely have a few related posts planned, so be on the look out for those in the coming weeks!
In the meantime, I hope your week is off to a good start. After today we're more than half way to the weekend. Wooo (this is my attempt at motivation)! Until next time, lovelies.
<3 Lauren
