HUGO Boss Man and Woman Fragrance

HUGO Boss Man and Woman Fragrance

29 Apr 2015

My perfume of choice is typically a warm, musky vanilla scent. HUGO Woman is quite the opposite, and is described as “a fruity, floral fragrance with an unconventional, boyish twist, combining an unexpected contrast of tones and sensations, fusing traditionally feminine and unexpected masculine notes to redefine the convention of female fragrances.” However, the warm base notes of this fragrance really compliment the floral, fruity top notes, making a very unique scent. It is this combination that I am really enjoying, especially for Spring when warmer scents can be a bit heavy.

As explained in my last post, the notes of a fragrance make its scent. The top notes in HUGO Woman are Boysenberry, Italian Mandarin and Grass – hence the fruity floral scent. This is what gives it its initial fresh scent. The middle notes are Jasmine, Black Tea, Plum and Iris and the base notes are Amber, Sandalwood and Cedar. The packaging is very sleek; I particularly like the red band around the outside and it is nice and slim for when travelling. It has good wear time, lasting the majority of the day, and is my perfume of choice right now.

It's male counterpart, HUGO Man, has been out for a while now and is a great pairing to HUGO Woman. It is a very fresh, clean scent that combines fruits, herbs and aromatic pine, which smells just delightful. It's top notes include Green Apple, Grapefruit and Bergamot, its middle notes are Jasmine, Geranium, Lavender and Patchouli and its base notes are Musk, Fir Balsam and Sandal. This creates a very aromatic scent on application that settles down to a nice musky forest like scent.

Again, the packaging is very sleek, and the lid adds some character. You only need a few spritzes as it is quite strong, but it also has long lasting power. I actually bought this for my dad last year as I liked it so much, and it is an aftershave that would suit all ages.

Hugo Woman EDP* 30ml £34.50 and HUGO Man EDT 40ml* £31.50 are both available at The Fragrance Shop.

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Fragrance Notes Explained

Fragrance Notes Explained

26 Apr 2015

A perfume can be broken down into three fragrance notes; top middle and base. These notes take you on a journey of smells, creating the overall perfume experience, but individually they may smell very different. 

The top notes are what you smell when you first spray a perfume. They are the lightest notes, and they are also the first to fade away because they evaporate quickly. These notes can last up to 15 minutes and are very important as they are what lure you in and are what you base your first impression on. Common top notes are lemon, bergamot, berries and lavender. 

The middle notes are what you smell once the top notes begin to fade away (after around 30 minutes) and are seen as the ‘heart’ of the fragrance. They can last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour and help to disguise the unpleasant initial scent of base notes. Common middle notes are ylang ylang, nutmeg and rose.

The base notes are the final notes that you will smell, and they determine how long the perfume will last as these evaporate the slowest. Together with the middle notes, these make up the core of the perfume and are most noticeable after the perfume has been on your skin for a while. Common base notes are sandalwood, vanilla and cedarwood.

What is your favourite kind of perfume?

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Berlin Day 4

Berlin Day 4

24 Apr 2015

Day 4 was our last day in Berlin and we were very sad to be leaving. There was still so much that we wanted to see and do, but unfortunately not enough time! We couldn't go to Berlin and not visit Checkpoint Charlie or see the Berlin Wall, so thats where we decided to spend our last day.  Checkpoint Charlie is the well known crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin, unfortunately places like Macdonalds have popped up making it feel slightly less authentic which is a bit of a shame.

Next to Checkpoint Charlie there is an area with some history of the war and an old section of the Berlin Wall. We then made our way to the Topography of Terror which is a museum all about the Nazi Third Reich. It is located in the same place as the former Gestapo HQ building and is full of pictures, stories and videos that make this a very interesting visit. Beware, you will need a good couple of hours if you want to make the most of this museum.

We hadn't spend much time on Museum Island (yes they do have an entire island dedicated to museums) so we decided to spend our last few hours there. Unfortunately we had not factored enough time to actually enter any of the museums but we did have a quick visit to the Cathedral, which is absolutely stunning.

It was then time to head to the airport and make our way back to the UK. Overall we had a great time in Berlin and would love to go back. It only takes around 1hr 30min to get there from London, therefore a great place to visit, even if it's just for the weekend.

Have you ever been to Berlin? If so, what did you think?

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Berlin Day 3

Berlin Day 3

22 Apr 2015

Day 3 was our last full day in Berlin, and since we had a rather intense day yesterday we decided to have a more relaxing day. We made our way over to West Berlin to visit the zoo, which had many animals that we hadn't seen before! We then did a bit of shopping, hitting the famous Kaufhaus des Westerns along with a few other beauty stores that I managed to slip into ;) For lunch we visited a quaint little restaurant called 1900 Cafe Bistro, which was a lovely stop. 

We then got the S’bahn all the way over to Treptower park, which is home to a huge Soviet War Memorial. We took lots of photos here as it was a very interesting memorial, and the sun was beginning to set making for some very nice photos! On our way back to the hotel we walked past Museum Island and managed to get some pretty photos of the Cathedral.

That night we had some cocktails at the hotel bar, went for dinner at a nearby German restaurant and made our way to a secret bar that we had heard about through Tripadvisor. From the outside you wouldn’t know that Cantina in der Bar Tausend existed, there is no sign above the door, it just looks like an old iron door with a small window. We took our chances, knocked on the door and were greeted by a man in a suit. He did not say much, we asked if we could come in for a drink and he asked if we had been before. He then invited us in, showed us to the cloakroom and mentioned no photos are allowed. We walked into the bar, which is nestled under the bridge of the train sation, and ordered our drinks. At first it was a little intimidating, but after a while we loved the vibe! We ended up staying quite late and stumbled back to our hotel, which luckily was only a stones throw away. Definitely check it out if you are in Berlin (it is shut on a Sunday, which confused us at first when trying to find the secret door!).

Find out about our last day in Berlin in my next post.

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Berlin Day 2

Berlin Day 2

20 Apr 2015

Day 2 we were up bright and early to visit the Reichstag; the seat of the German Parliament. This was recommended by everyone we spoke to and I can see why. The building is beautiful and the dome itself is very unusual. Unforuntately we went up on a bit of a gloomy day, but you do get some nice views of Berlin. Make sure you prebook before you travel otherwise you will not be allowed in. We then went for some breakfast at the Flamingo Fresh Food Bar where you can pick up some delicious snacks and sandwiches. The owner was also super friendly and chatty which is always a nice touch.

Having looked at places to visit on Tripadvisor, we came across the Designpanopitkum. Although we had read the reviews, we didn't really know what to expect. As soon as we entered, Vlad - the owner of the museum had us laughing non stop. He sure is a character. Essentially, Vlad collects various objects that have a real life use, and places them randomly throughout the museum in a different form. It may sound odd, and yes I admit it is a little unsual, however it is there to encourage imagination and to get you thinking about the way you look at things. If you are after something that is a little different this is the place to go.

We then caught the U-bahn north to take a tour around the Gesundbrunnen Bunker; a real life bunker that was used in World War 2. You enter via the subway station, taking you deep underground. The tour guide really gives you a sense of what it would have been like during an air raid. Many of the rooms are in their original form, including a room with glow in the dark paint that still works to this day! Unfortunately you couldn't take any photos, but it was really a good experience. We then grabbed some lunch at a place called ATAME, and had some amazing tapas.

Having refuelled, we made our way to visit two of the smaller museums, the Silent Heroes Memorial Center and Otto Weidt's Workshop for the Blind. Tucked away down a side street, these are worth a quick stop to look around, we did them both in just over an hour. We then stopped and had some drinks in a cool little bar, which reminded me of Shoreditch, and slowly made our way back to the hotel.

That evening we decided on an Italian called Muret La Barba, where we spent most of our night drinking lots of wine and eating pasta. See what we got up to on day 3 in my next post :)

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Berlin Day 1

Berlin Day 1

18 Apr 2015

For Christmas I surprised my boyfriend with a trip to Berlin at the end of February. On the first day we arrived around 1pm and made our way to the hotel. We stayed at the Melia Berlin, located in East Berlin, which I would highly recommend. It was in a great location, close to both the train and tube station and many tourist attractions. We decided to take our first day relatively easy so we set out to find some lunch. We made our way down to the Brandenburg Gate; one of Germanys best known landmarks.

We then had a wander around Tiergarten; a huge 210 hectare park. As it is so big, we only managed to see a small section of the park before we decided to head towards the Holocaust Memorial. On our way we came across a Soviet War Memorial.

From the outside the Holocaust Memorial looks like a large number of blocks, but once inside you realise just how big some of them are. We also visited the exhibitio, which is underneath the memorial, and hired audio guides. It is a very moving exhibition that documents the war, with stories of families caught up in the Holocaust.

We still hadn't had found somewhere to have lunch, so we stopped off at a very typical German pub and shared a currywurst and chips. I do love a curry, but unfortunately I wasn't so keen on the sausage! Later that evening we went to Hans im Glück, the German version of GBK, and had a pretty chilled out evening.

See what we got up to on day 2 in my next post :)

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