Today, November 4th, is National Candy Day so it’s Time to Celebrate!

Today, November 4th, is National Candy Day so it’s Time to Celebrate! I mean, you have seen the name of this blog right? Candy Coated Closets was born because of my desire to write and love of photography. I knew I needed a creative outlet that could house all of that and still let me reach a fanbase that had a similiar passion so I knew I wanted my name to really capture what I was about - a fun and happy environment - like my beauty room (which was then solely my shoe room). Imagine, walking into a room packed with shoes, makeup, jewelry, skincare - I mean...it was heaven. Everytime I looked around, I felt like a kid in the candy store (mind you I am in love with candy too). So hence, the Candy portion of the name was born.

So I figured today was the perfect day to celebrate that and National Candy Day. I could go on and on about my favorite types of candy and what might be worth checking out but seeing as Halloween was just last week and we all have buckets of left over candy, I found another way for us to celebrate...with an amazing candy themed giveaway!

For starters, let's talk about the newest Candy fragrance. Prada Candy Kiss is a flanker to the playful gourmand collection from it’s earlier years: the original Prada Candy from 2011, Prada Candy L’Eau from 2013 and Prada Candy Florale from 2014. Last year, you may remember the adorable Candy Kiss mini collection that was launched (mini bottles of the three original fragrances in 20ml).

Now the new flanker, Prada Candy Kiss which was developed by Daniela Andrier, channels the addictive nature of the Candy composition and enhances its characteristic scent of musk. It’s described to have been designed to re-activate emotions and impressions. Largely, this idea has evolved from the sensual veil of musk evoked in delicate white cotton all in a sensual cloud. There are also notes of vanilla and orange blossom which enrich and brighten the fragrance as it opens. 

Overall, this isn't one of those overly sweetend fragrances that can have a tendency to overwhelm most people. It is more of a soft and sensual sweet that tends to pull more musky and vanilla on me as it dries down.

Now as for this Christian Dior 5 Couleurs Couture Colours & Effects Eyeshadow Palette in No. 676 Candy Choc shade. "True to the bold colour creation from the House of Dior, each harmony explores a unique world of colour. Based on a central shade, the signature of the palette, 4 accessory shades are used to create a multi-faceted look. Like a couture wardrobe for the eyes, 5 Couleurs gives free rein to your creativity to achieve custom makeup results. Dior has also created two ready-to-wear looks for the eyes—natural and sophisticated—based on the central shade." - Christian Dior website

I would have saved this bright palette for a Spring giveaway but its perfect for today.

Blog giveaway (One winner) To enter this giveaway, simply follow/subscribe to this blog and leave a comment on this post telling me some of your favorite types of candy. Scroll down to find my subscription box or look to the to right of your screen to follow/subscribe. *Please note – Don’t worry if you don’t see your comment right away. I have to approve most of them :-)*

Contest ends Saturday, November 5^th, 2016 at 5:59pm EST. I will choose one subscriber at random from those who commented on this post. Remember that you have to be subscribed/following this blog! The Instagram winner will be chosen separately.

No giveaway/spam accounts. Open internationally; 18+ to enter. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. Good luck to all!

Instagram entry (One winner) To enter this giveaway on Instagram, please head to over to this photo and follow the rules listed to enter.

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Miu Miu Eau de Parfum Fragrance Review and Giveaway

I said it once before and I'll say it once again - I am a fragrance bottle junkie! Packaging can really sell a fragrance to me especially since most of my purchases are blind buys (meaning I don't have a chance to smell them before placing an order online for them). And this is exactly what happened when I first saw the ads for the Miu Miu Eau de Parfum by Miu Miu.

The bottle just speaks fashion and couture to me so I really didn't care what it smelled like. Luckily, the Prada team did very when composing this. Perfumer Daniela Roche Andrier developed the composition of Miu Miu. As Andrier explains it, its notes include lily of the valley flowers supported with floral notes of rose, jasmine, and green notes, as well as a special ingredient created by Givaudan, akigalawood, which is a powerful peppery note that develops the scent of patchouli and woody aromas of oud.

Now I normally don't favor oud fragrances that are heavily dependent upon the note or a heavier pepper note (TF's Black Orchid and I do not mix at all). You guys know, I love my sweet, fruity and floral scents. So I definitely took a chance blindly ordering Miu Miu - all for the love of fashion and fragrance.

The Packaging Miu Miu’s signature red and quilted baby blue in etched all throughout the box and bottle.

The Bottom Line I do enjoy it more after it settles and dries down - after about 30 minutes or so. It's a bit more sophisticated than what I normally wear which is actually good to get me out of my comfort zone. The floral notes balance out the pepper, oud and patchouli so they aren't too overpowering on my skin. It does have a soft touch of a deep elegance to it which works perfectly for me for the fall and winter.

Availability Miu Miu Eau de Parfum is available in a 0.33 oz, 1.0 oz, 1.7 oz, and 3.4 oz bottle starting at $68.

But by now you guys should know that my favorites become your favorites so I’m going to be hooking one of you up with your own bottle of  with a giveaway!

Blog giveaway (One winner) To enter this giveaway, simply follow/subscribe to this blog and leave a comment on this post telling me what you're looking forward to this holiday season. Scroll down to find my subscription box or look to the to right of your screen to follow/subscribe. *Please note – Don’t worry if you don’t see your comment right away. I have to approve most of them :-)*

Contest ends Sunday, October 30^th, 2016 at 11:59pm EST. I will choose one subscriber at random from those who commented on this post within 48 hours of the contest end date. The Instagram winner will be chosen separately.

No giveaway/spam accounts. Open internationally; 18+ to enter. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. Good luck to all!

Instagram entry (One winner) To enter this giveaway on Instagram, please head to over to this photo and follow the rules listed to enter.

Good luck everyone!

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The Fragrance Foundation Consumer Choice Awards 2016 - It’s Time to Vote!

If you would have told me when I first started blogging that I was going to become the fragrance aficionado that I am today, I probably would have laughed at you. But here we are...some hundred bottles into my collection later... :-D As you have joined me on this journey, we have explored some of the most designer and niche fragrances and now is the time where we as the consumers get a chance to shine the light on some of our favorite scents. That means that it's finally time to vote in the The Fragrance Foundation Consumer Choice Awards for 2016!

Beginning on Monday, March 28, 2016, you will have the power to vote in the following categories: Men’s, Women’s Popular and Women’s Prestige fragrances that launched in 2015. The nominees are: 

Men's - Dior Sauvage; Prada Luna Rosa Sport; Ralph Lauren Polo Red Intense. Women’s Popular - ARI by Ariana Grande; Victoria’s Secret Forever Sexy EDP. Women’s Prestige - Jimmy Choo Illicit; Marc Jacobs Decadence; Versace Eros Pour Femme; Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium.

So there are only two ways that this could get any better. For one, all voters will be entered to win select fragrances from each category in a random-selection sweepstakes (32 of you will win)! Secondly...well you know we have to dive into all nine of those fragrances before the voting period ends right? That's right! So from now until May 27, 2016, we are going to be diving into all of them as a group and as an individual fragrance to find out the story behind the scent. So why not get to know them a little bit more intimately before voting?

What can I say about Black Opium from Yves Saint Laurent that I haven't already? This fragrance literally took over my life from October 2015 to the start of the New Year. Seriously, I think I gave everyone this fragrance for the holidays. And everyone thanked me because of its addictive notes of rich coffee accord, orange blossom and sensual vanilla.A little bit of elegance, a hint of class and a blast of decadence. Marc Jacobs Decadence is a woody eau de parfum with hints of bulgarian rose, jasmine, liquid amber, papyrus woods, iris flowers and vetiver. The glamour of combining all of these notes together in such a stunning bottle design is what really made this fragrance my winter scent. ARI by Ariana Grande is one of the newest fragrances to my collection and I can tell you that I was first drawn in by the bottle. This is a sweet and soft scent that I'm looking forward to wearing more this spring as the notes remind me of a fruity and floral explosion. They include: crispy pear, pink grapefruit, juicy raspberry, soft muguet, rose buds, vanilla orchid, blonde woods, creamy musk and marshmallow - yum!

I'll be honest and tell you that I never smelled Jimmy Choo Illicit until the announcement of these awards. I cannot believe that I let such a good fragrance pass me by for so long too. Illicit is an alluring fragrance with noes of ginger, feminine sambac rose, turkish rose, bitter orange, honey-amber and sandalwood. I absolutely adore how rich the scent is and how it settles into my skin.

Versace Eros Pour Femme is a powerful floral fragrance with hints of citrus that has notes of Sicilian lemon, Calabrian bergamot, pomegranate accords, lemon, sambac jasmine absolute, jasmine infusion, peony, sandalwood, ambrox, musk and various cedars.Created with golden thread of Amber, Forever Sexy by Victoria's Secret is as beautiful as the lingerie. It has warm juicy notes of belladonna orange, creamy gardenia petals and warm golden amber.Prada Luna Rosa Sport is a flanker to already popular Prada Luna collection. Just an FYI - in the fragrance community, we normally refer to a newly created fragrance that shares similar attributes of an already existing fragrance as a flanker. These similar attributes may include the bottle design, the packaging, the name or even similar notes that were taken from the pre-existing fragrance.

Prada Luna Rosa Sport has citrusy notes with a tart blend of ginger and leads into the sweetness of juniper berries. The heart notes are enriched with lavender while the base notes of tonka beans and vanilla warm up and smooth out the fragrance.

Ralph Lauren Polo Red Intense is a fresh and spicy woody fragrance for men with notes of blood grapefruit, cranberry, lemon, saffron, ginger, coffee, sage, lavender, amber, red cedar and leather. This is definitely more of a concentrated and masculine scent than its predecessor Polo Red.

Dior Sauvage was created for a daring man who loves the outdoors. It was created with carefully selected natural and fresh ingredients of Calabria bergamot, ambroxan, precious ambergris and cedar.

Don't forget to click here to cast your vote and remember to come back every week to talk about one of the featured nine fragrances!

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Prada Candy Kiss - A New Fragrance by Prada

-Press Release-

It truly is the season of love and now is the perfect time to announce the new Prada Candy Kiss fragrance!

Scheduled to launch by the end of this month (February 2016), Prada Candy Kiss is a flanker to the earlier Prada Candy collection. Just an FYI - in the fragrance community, we normally refer to a newly created fragrance that shares similar attributes of an already existing fragrance as a flanker. These similar attributes may include the bottle design, the packaging, the name or even similar notes that were taken from the pre-existing fragrance.

So Prada Candy Kiss is a flanker to the playful gourmand collection from it's earlier years: the original Prada Candy from 2011, Prada Candy L'Eau from 2013 and Prada Candy Florale from 2014. Last year, you may remember the adorable Candy Kiss mini collection that was launched (mini bottles of the three original fragrances in 20ml).

Now the new flanker, Prada Candy Kiss which was developed by Daniela Andrier, channels the addictive nature of the Candy composition and enhances its characteristic scent of musk. It's described to have been designed to re-activate emotions and impressions. Largely, this idea has evolved from the sensual veil of musk evoked in delicate white cotton all in a sensual cloud. There are also notes of vanilla and orange blossom which will enrich and brighten the fragrance as it opens. It will be available as an Eau de Parfum in 30, 50 and 80 ml.

I will keep you updated on my social pages as to the launch day and of course I'll be reviewing it for you!

Do you think you'll be adding the new Prada Candy Kiss to your collection?