Nouveau Cheap One Year Blog-a-versary Giveaway!

[PLEASE NOTE: THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ENTER. THANKS!]

Alright, my lovely readers! In celebration of my one year blog-a-versary on March 1st, I wanted this giveaway to be my present to you, as a way of saying thanks for your loyalty and support, and for making Nouveau Cheap a tiny part of your day for the past year. So there's no better way that I can thank you than by presenting you with prizes that I personally would be THRILLED to receive myself. And since, as many of you know, I am first and foremost a fragrance junkie (yes, even above makeup!) I just had to ask Auric Blends for a favor and they graciously said yes!

Auric Blends is a company that's very near and dear to my heart. I discovered their amazing perfumes tucked inside a local natural foods store up in the San Francisco Bay Area when I was in college in the early '90s, and my love for their fragrances still burns just as strong, almost 20 years later. So many of their fragrances smell like they should cost $100 or more (in fact, they smell better than some fragrances that did cost me $100) so it constantly amazes me that most Auric Blends fragrances retail for just $7 each.

Auric Blends generously agreed to allow me to select my very favorite fragrances for this giveaway. So please note: each fragrance in this giveaway was hand-picked by me, especially for you, my amazing readers.

THREE lucky winners will each receive all six of the following roll-on perfume oils (each bottle is 1/3 oz and will last you a very long time), compliments of Auric Blends (note: all of the following descriptions were written by me and taken from my original review, which you can read here):

Egyptian Goddess. Arguably their most popular fragrance, the ladies on the MakeupAlley.com fragrance board have much love for this fragrance and I completely understand why. If you've tried other Egyptian-type musks in the past, let me assure you that this is the best of the genre. It's a white musk that is blended so expertly, I defy you to try and pick out the other notes. They all blend together so beautifully that what you're left with is a soft, clean scent that brings to mind warm, fluffy sweaters and clean skin. That's about the best description I can give you. For you non-perfume-wearers out there, I say give this fragrance a shot because it goes against any preconceived notion of what perfume smells like. Also, it's great to use to layer with other scents.

Love. One of Auric Blends' newest scents and an instant classic. I wore this the other day and a lady stopped me in a parking lot to tell me that I smelled "amazing". Love is Egyptian Goddess blended with some extra musk and woods notes. Now you might think that would equate to a stronger, more heavy fragrance but you'd be wrong. Love is light, ultra-clean, super soft and it encompasses you like a snuggly blanket. To my nose, this smells a lot like Narcisso Rodriguez for Her, which will set you back $160 a bottle.

Honey Almond. Do you use the iconic Jergens Original Cherry Almond Lotion just because you love the smell? And have you ever thought to yourself, "I wish they made this scent in perfume form."? Well, my lovelies, wish no more because Auric Blends Honey Almond smells exactly like the classic Jergens lotion to me! Seriously, it's got that real almond note blended with a bit of cherry and a bit of honey. It's such a soft and comforting scent and it instantly brings me back to Jergens and being a kid again. Love it.

Vanilla Musk. OK. I'm going to speak to the hardcore fragrance junkies out there for a minute so bear with me. Fragrance junkies: If you love/own Etro Heliotrope (which retails for $90 a bottle) you must give Vanilla Musk a try. I personally am a huge fan of that candy-like, powdery vanilla quality of heliotrope, and this scent's got tons of it. I am in heaven here. So if you like your vanillas candy-sweet and powdery like me, you simply can't go wrong with this one.

Divine Opium. Are you a lover of the spicy-sweet scent of fresh carnations? Is the carnation note in YSL Opium the thing you love the most about that fragrance? Well instead of shelling out 100 bucks for something like Comme des Garcons Carnation why not try Auric Blends Divine Opium which, to my nose, smells like a bouquet of fresh carnations mixed with a sweet warmth that isn't too heavy on the patchouli but warm and sensual enough to keep things interesting.

Water Goddess. My new favorite scent. I cannot stop sniffing this one. According to the Auric Blends website this fragrance is composed of: A magnolia floral bouquet with touches of rose and violet, supported by a background of exotic woods and mosses. To my nose, I get the most lovely, invigorating combination of water, lemon, and fresh mint. Now I know those notes are not listed, but to me this fragrance smells as if you took some sparkling ice water and mixed it with fresh lemon wedges and tons of fresh mint leaves. It's a cooling, refreshing and uplifting scent that I just cannot get enough of at the moment. If you're a clean, citrus, aquatic or minty scent lover, you've got to give this one a shot.

The retail value of each prize package is approximately $42.

PLEASE READ ALL OF THE FOLLOWING RULES BEFORE ENTERING:

1) Because this is a giveaway for my blog-a-versary and a way of saying thank you to my loyal readers, I am offering this contest to NOUVEAU CHEAP FOLLOWERS ONLY. If you are a not a follower of this blog via Google Friend Connect, you are not eligible. If you would like to start following this blog, and enter this giveaway, see my right-hand sidebar titled "My Beautiful Followers" to follow, or register and create an account at Blogger.com to start following (it's easy, free and takes just a few seconds). Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to be a blogger to register at Blogger.com and it's actually an easy way to keep all of the wonderful blogspot blogs you read all in one neat and tidy place. So don't forget to follow all of your favorite blogs once you register!

2) If you are a follower of Nouveau Cheap and want to enter this giveaway, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post and answer this question: Why do you enjoy reading Nouveau Cheap?

3) You MUST leave me your email address in your comment. I repeat: leave your email address in your comment or you will be disqualified.

4) This contest is open to residents of the US, ages 18 and over. Void where prohibited.

5) This giveaway begins today, February 20th, and will end Monday, March 1st, 2010 (the official day of my 1 year blog-a-versary!) at 11:59PM Pacific. I will select three winners via random.org's random number generator and notify the winners on Tuesday, March 2nd. The winners will then have 24 hours to respond. If a winner does not reply within 24 hours, that winner will forfeit the prizes and an alternate winner will be selected via random.org. If you are going to be unable to access your email on Tuesday March 2nd, 2010, please do not enter this giveaway.

I am sincerely grateful for having such amazingly diverse, intelligent and thoughtful readers, and I hope that you will accept this giveaway as my way of saying thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for making the past year truly amazing for me. Best of luck to all of you!

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.