EXPRESSIONS COLLECTION by REECE WITHERSPOON
From left: Live Without Regrets, Laugh Often and Love To The Fullest
"Celebrating love, laughter and living without
regrets, the Expressions Collection evokes
the moments that make life feel amazing."
Reese Witherspoon
The first two scents, Live Without Regrets (pink) and Laugh Often (yellow) were available from brochure 6 of the 2011 campaign (pages 6-9), while the final scent, Love To The Fullest (green), was available from brochure 7 (pages 160-161).
In the brochure, Live Without Regrets is described as "an expressive blend of bold gardenia and sparkling bergamot".
Reese Witherspoon explains it as so:
"Life is rich with
opportunity, so we
have to be bold.
Live Without Regrets
celebrates the idea
of living every day
to the fullest."
Laugh Often is "a joyful fragrance with bright citrus and playful florals".
Reese says:
I can't imagine a life without
laughter. It lifts our spirits, and sets
us free. Laugh Often was inspired
by that feeling of joyous abandon."
Finally, Love To The Fullest is "a sensual scent mixing velvety florals with rich sandstone".
Reese's final words of wisdom are:
"Love To The Fullest captures the
heart-fluttering feeling of love.
You have to let your guard down
and give into it."
Some very pretty words, along with some cute-looking bottles. So what are they actually like? Well, I tried all of them, and I'll give you my verdict on them all!
Live Without Regrets
On the side of it's baby pink box, Avon describes this product as "modern and optimistic". Optimism from the off! It then continued to describe it as "a bouquet of wet gardenia flower and sparkling bergamot is enhanced with radiant sun-bleached amber". Personally, I didn't even know that amber had a scent, let alone a different one sun-bleached(!) but I suppose it will never surprise me what actually smells these days (Black Diamond scented washing powder? Seriously?!).
Simple and uncluttered, the box does not attempt to pull you towards it so much as it lets the name do the talking for it. As a celebrity fragrance, it seems to dare you not to try it! Anyhow, inside the box, the bottle is a cute ball shape, filled with a translucent pink liquid, with scripted writing around it and a simple silver top. It's quaint, but not over the top. However, I was surprised at how strong the smell of it was! Without even spraying a drop I could already smell the flowers emanating from this little bottle of £12 optimism. And it was pretty. Like real flowers. So, on I sprayed.
At first the scent came over as truly overpowering. I really thought I was going to choke on it, it was so strong! Thankfully, after a few moments, the scent settled onto my skin, and it was lovely. Light and delicate, the flowers combine together so well, and it made me think of running through wide open spaces filled with wildflowers. This is odd for me, as I am not normally a flowery scent kind of girl - as I have touched on before most of them smell truly awful on me! But this is a subtle kind of floral - it's tantalising and sweet, but not overpowering to the nose, and it's a very cute-type fragrance. It does have a sophisticated tang to it in the undertones of the scent, giving a modern yet playful perfume that I would most probably be well suited as a springtime scent. A single spray is enough for long-lasting fragrance, but I do not recommend rubbing your arms together too much as this degrades the smell quicker. A spritz on clothes is usually a good idea to give off a subtle scent without being too overpowering. I would most definitely recommend this perfume and rate it a 5/5.
Laugh Often
The box a rich yellow, Avon describes Laugh Often as "fun and joyful. A spontaneous burst if bright mandarin wrapped in green and white tea leaves and playful pink peony." As a lover of fruity scents, I had high hopes for this perfume, and while I had already been wowed by Live Without Regrets, I was hoping to be well and truly swept off my feet by Laugh Often.
With the same box design (though in a different colour) and bottle style, the only noticeable differences in the appearance of the two perfumes was the text (it obviously said different things) and the colour of the contents. Laugh Often has a clear yellow colour similar to clear apple juice - the kind you give to children who hate having bits in their drinks (of this, I am guilty!). I also noted that when I removed the bottle from the box there was no smell as there was from Live Without Regrets. I thought that perhaps this meant that this would not be as strong, but I was wrong. It would appear that my box of Live Without Regrets may have had a spillage during filling!
Again, the smell settled, but this fragrance was a juicy tropical burst that made me think of exotic foreign holidays, and California, though I have never been! And again it felt light on the skin, but this time it was less of a delicate smell, with strong citrus notes that left all other scents fighting to make their presence felt. I could in no way smell the tea or the peony unless I tried really hard to distinguish them, but even then, their essence was faint. This scent is fun, bright and sunny, a typical Summer smell that wouldn't be out of place on a bikini-clad beach sunbather. However, I found the overwhelming mandarin was a little too much for me to wear in any enclosed space, which was a bit of a disappointment. This happy, feel-good smell is one I would probably use only when going somewhere outdoors, but then again, in the sunshine, this would be a perfect mood-transformer anyway! One spray is more than enough for my skin, though I did find that spraying it onto skin first and then adding clothes while it was still drying helped me to make the smell less potent. I do like it, but I'm not sure I could handle it all the time, so I'm going to have to give this perfume a 4/5.
Love To The Fullest
Okay, now, this one I really wasn't sure about. Why? Because my Mum actually tried it before I did, and it smelt like cucumber on her! Honestly, it made her smell like a salad, so I was a little hesitant to try it myself. However, the cuteness of the pale green box and the translucent green contents won me over to trying it, and I'm really glad I did. It smells completely different on me, which is why I will never judge a perfume based on my Mother again! (Sorry Mum!)
The box describes this perfume as "sensual and sexy. A seductive blend of succulent black cherry and evening primrose coupled with a luxurious creamy sandstone accord". After having wondered for ages what on Earth sandstone actually smelt like, considering it's a type of sedimentary rock, I discovered that Love To The Fullest is by far the most mature smelling of the three fragrances. It to me is like the beautiful mother of two fun-loving daughters; fun and playful, but at the same time, sexy and experienced.
The black cherry scent hit me first, followed by the delicious undertones, and it was a truly sensual scent that completely won me over in seconds. Not as potent as the other two perfumes, Love To The Fullest nonetheless has the delicate balance of scent and lightness perfectly combined, making it a great evening scent; especially an evening with your significant other. If he, or she as the case may be, doesn't go nuts over this smell, I would be very surprised! It's seductive and gentle, but fun and playful all rolled into one - a perfect little black dress accompaniment! It's only flaw is that it doesn't seem to last as long as the other two scents. I have thought that it may be due to the fact that it is a less aggressive assault on the nasal passages - my nose simply got used to it quicker than the other two. I have yet to test this theory in practice though, so I will let you know if my thoughts are correct! This scent definitely does it for me, and receives a 5/5!
Score
Well, I'm at a bad place now, as I have two favourites that I really can't choose between. All three perfumes smell lovely, and have their virtues as different types of scent, but I don't know which of them I would choose as my favourite. Right at this moment in time I am more inclined towards Love To The Fullest, but I always seem to change my mind! My best advice would be for you to try them out and pick one for yourself! After all, you know your scent better than anyone!
As a collection though, definitely a 5/5!
Sidenote: Yes, I am aware that the photos are wonky. I was in a bit of a rush when I took them as I was supposed to be going out! :-)
