Best of Body-Care & Fragrance 2012!

I decided to break up my 'Best of Beauty 2012' into a three-part series, as it would have been unbelievably long  if I would have put them all together.  So, I'm starting out the series with my Best of Body-Care & Fragrance from last year!

This year, I discovered the Laura Mercier skincare and I fell in love with it, despite the steep price.  When I was in London in September, I stumbled upon the Laura Mercier skincare section in Space NK and spent a good 10 minutes smelling every product and then another 10 minutes trying to decide which Body Butter I wanted to get.  Every scent smells amazing, but I ended up going for the Laura Mercier Almond Coconut Milk Body Butter (£26/$35).  I use it after I shower and it is really moisturizing and the scent lingers, as well.  It's really great for the wintertime, as the scent is heavy and it also mixes well with most winter scents (it smells particularly nice with Burberry Brit EDP, as they smell quite similar!).  I love this scent so much that I ended up dreaming about it the night after I got it, so I went back to Space NK the next day and bought the matching hand cream, the Laura Mercier Almond Coconut Milk Hand Crème (£13/$15).  It's just as moisturizing and great smelling as the Body Butter and all of my friends always ask to borrow it because it smells so nice!

As for perfume, I couldn't choose just one, so I chose my favorite Spring/Summer scent and my favorite Fall/Winter one.  In the Spring/Summer, I always wear Dolce & Gabanna Rose The One (2.5 fl. oz. for $98).  It is my favorite scent of all time, it's rose scented without being too strong or too mature.  It was actually the first designer perfume I ever bought (about 3 or 4 years ago) and I've repurchased this a couple of times since, because I can't live without it! My favorite Fall/Winter perfume of 2012 has to be Dolce & Gabanna Pour Femme (25ml for €60), which was re-released this past year and I don't think I can live without it.  It's fruity, but deep at the same time.  I will definitely be repurchasing that once I run out (even though it's ridiculously expensive)!

I also had to include my favorite candles of the year.  I am slightly candle-obsessed and could spend all of my money on candles without a second glance.  I think they make me feel at home when I'm somewhere, especially when they fill up the entire room with their scent.  While I was in London in September, I picked up multiple NEOM Candles (Real Luxury, Sumptuous, and Complete Bliss) (£15 each for the travel sizes) and I fell in love with the quality of the candles.  They fill up the room even when they're not lit!  My favorite out of the three, though, has to be Sumptuous, which smells really floraly (Rose and Neroli), but has some depth to it, as well.  Even though they don't sell NEOM Candles in the US or in Germany, I will find a way to repurchase this once I run out (maybe another little trip to England?).  My other favorite candle of the year was Bath & Body Works Mahogany Teakwood ($20).  I got a little one of this in August, right before I moved to Germany and I fell in love with the way it smells.  I used it up really quickly, but hopefully it'll be re-released next Fall!  It smells like an Abercrombie & Fitch store, but not overpowering (like the actual store does), it's fantastic!

I hope you enjoyed the first part of this series :) You can check out my most recent post here!