I won't deny that my motivation for buying most of these products was based initially on cute packaging alone...

Scents can, of course, be extremely personal, but I do enjoy giving my friends light fragrances that can easily be layered with their own favourites- I find that I usually go for citrus scents, or the occasional floral if I know that's what they like. Here are two from Illume's Go Be Lovely collection that I picked up:

Coconut Milk Mango & Thai Lily @ $14 each

As I may have mentioned a few times on this blog, I am a huge sucker for rose scents, and this perfume is definitely one of my new favourites. To be honest, I bought this one for myself, but I did purchase their carnation scent for my friend, and that one smells lovely as well. I really can't rave about this enough- it's a spray instead of a rollerball (bonus points!!), and the scent genuinely lasts on my skin for more than half the day, which is more than can be said for many of my more expensive perfumes (sigh, D&G, I love you, but I'm looking at ya!) The box tells me the top notes in this are bergamot, grapefruit & rose petal...middle notes are linden flower & geranium, and the base notes are vanilla & black orchid. For me, the initial spray definitely leaves you with just the smell of roses, but after settling, I definitely notice the grapefruit & vanilla, which really prevents it from becoming a 'grandma' floral fragrance. At $18, I think it's well worth the price! (Their larger 3.4 fl oz bottle is worth looking into as well- it's absolutely gorgeous.)

While we're on the topic of Royal Apothic's products....

1. Illume's Boulangerie Jar in Angel Food ($16)
2. Illume's Spring's Eden Candle Tin in Coconut Milk Mango ($18)
3. Illume's Tin Type Candle in Toasted Hazelnut ($18)
4. Royal Apothic's Conservatory Collection Candle in Noble Carnation ($26)

This is already way too long, so I don't want to blab on about it, but Anthro also sell super unique tableware- I swear before I entered this store, I never bought plates or mugs as I don't entertain and saw no need for them, but now my cabinet is full of painted plates and bowls that I use for food photography. (in fact, my mom's been asking where all these new plates are coming from and why we suddenly have so many...) *watches my money fly out of my wallet*

I mean, just look at this adorable sugar bowl/creamer set. I can't handle it!!!!

I can't find this on the Canadian website, but they're $14 each!

Lastly, let's talk about books/paper goods! I got this calendar on sale for $9.95 for my friend who's fond of discovering new drinks.