I tried a £9 body mist that I like more than Sol de Janeiro's £38 classic
I'm a fragrance expert with more scents in my collection than I can count, from eau de parfums and colognes to mists and hair perfumes. I've tried Sol de Janeiro's cult classic scents, and got through my bottles faster than I'm proud to admit, but I will admit that £24 for a 90ml bottle is quite expensive.
I'm always on the lookout for mists that can hold up to them without hurting the purse strings quite so much so when I saw Give Me Cosmetics' Body Sprays Bundle for £36 I was optimistic. It's got four 200ml bottles inside for less than it costs to buy a single 240ml bottle of Sol de Janeiro mist.
Three of the scents are inspired by Sol de Janeiro but my surprise favourite is actually inspired by a Victoria's Secret scent that only appears to be available in the US. Botanical Breeze is a blend of sweet green apple, orange and lemon with a base of green tea and coconut. I got constant compliments when I first put it on and my sisters all begged to borrow it. I can see myself reaching for it even more than my Sol de Janeiro mists.
The spray I was most curious about Caramel Vacay which claims to draw inspiration from Cheirosa 62. I definitely see the inspiration but there's enough of a difference that I wouldn't say they're exactly the same. Caramel Vacay has a sweetness to it but it's more floral to me which could be seen as a good thing.
I very much get the jasmine and vanilla, even the caramel but I didn't detect any of the pistachio and almond that people go wild for. Personally I lean less floral with my fragrances of choice but I think it's definitely a nice and summery option.
Orchid Dreams is inspired by Cheirosa 59 which has vanilla orchid, caramel and I would say it's very true to that. It's a spray I'd lean more towards during evenings abroad than sunny days but this one smells the most like the original in my opinion.
Sunset Serenity takes inspiration from Cheirosa 87 or Rio Radiance and is a lovely beachy scent. It's got mango, grapefruit, neroli and caramel and I'd say is one of the nicest available in this set. Although it's clear from my preferences that I've been drawn into Give Me Cosmetics' takes on fruity scents. From my collection of Sol de Janeiro I do most often reach for Cheirosa 62 so I would say I'm normally much more drawn to caramel and vanilla scents.
They are body mists so I found myself wanting to top up fairly often but for £9 a bottle that's not something I begrudge. I think the set is fairly good value.
I can see myself reaching for Botanical Breeze a lot as the weather warms up and I think these would also make lovely gifts. I have three sisters and I can very much see them insisting that they have to borrow them forever.
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Daily Record
3 days ago
- Daily Record
Queen's 'great, great, granddaughter' seeks DNA test and approval from Charles
Much has been made of Queen Victoria's relationship with her ghillie John Brown - now a woman who believes she is their descendant wants to prove the affair was real. A woman who reckons she might be the illegitimate great, great granddaughter of Queen Victoria says her ultimate aim is to get acknowledgement from King Charles. Angela Webb-Milinkovich, from Minnesota, believes she and her sister have ancestry that traces back to Victoria's lengthy, passionate affair with her devoted servant John Brown. Fresh research by historian Dr Fern Riddell indicates that whilst officially Angela's great grandmother Mary Ann was the sole child of John's brother Hugh and his wife Jessie, there's proof suggesting the infant might actually have been born from his secret romance with the monarch, during which they were clandestinely wed. Angela, 47, is now preparing to undergo a DNA test as the definitive evidence of her Royal bloodline. She insists she has no desire to profit from the tale, solely wanting to ensure her family's position in history receives the acknowledgement it merits, reports the Mirror. "My main goal is to have the story acknowledged - I want their relationship to be recognised and for the royal family to stop saying it didn't happen," she explains. "If I'm going to reach for the top, it would have to be from King Charles," she adds, when asked who she'd most like to hear from. "I mean, it's a great story and it has his family involved, too. So he would be interested in it." Or Prince William perhaps? "That'd be great. That's acceptable," she laughs. Angela was raised believing her family descended from royalty through baby Mary Ann. She can't recall exactly when she learned this, only that there was a tale about "a big boat trip... and a baby given to the family." Dr Riddell reached out to Angela during her four-year investigation for her new book Victoria's Secret, revealing she'd found that childless couple Jessie and Hugh had sailed to New Zealand in 1865, recording Mary Ann's birth there shortly afterwards - which could account for the maritime journey. Speaking on Channel 4's accompanying documentary, Dr Riddell suggested that the widowed Victoria could have easily hidden a pregnancy during the 1860s, then had the infant - her tenth child - secretly transported to the opposite side of the globe to prevent scandal. Records show that in 1874, Victoria funded the family's return voyage to Scotland, even providing them with a substantial residence on the Balmoral estate. Following John's death, she also relocated Hugh's family to Windsor to be closer to her. Angela managed to grant Dr Riddell access to a wealth of new evidence from the Brown family archive, which contained items and documents that have been in their possession for decades. Some of this came from a safety deposit box that Angela and her sister, who wishes to remain anonymous, opened about five years ago following their father's death. "We didn't know what we had, just that they were items from John Brown and Queen Victoria," she now admits. "It was always something in the back of our minds - we should probably get these looked at." Despite longstanding family suspicions that they were related to Queen Victoria, Angela was still taken aback when Dr Fern reached out. "I believed my family was being truthful with it, but we could never prove it. Once she sent that message, I thought 'What the heck? Is there actually validity to this?'" Angela, who is employed as a mental health care worker, expressed her desire for the love affair, which was concealed both during and after Victoria's lifetime, to be recognised as the truth. "It's something that I'm very proud of," she declared. "I want the vindication essentially for John Brown and just for my lineage, because they were not able to talk about it. It was something that just became that secret that we couldn't really share, but we knew." If Dr Riddell's account is accurate, and there's substantial evidence backing it up, Victoria and John shared a passionate romance spanning nearly two decades, right up until his passing in 1883. Beyond exchanging mutual declarations of love on his deathbed - "I told him no one loved him more than I did and he answered 'nor you - than me'" - she had also created a cast of his hand, precisely as she'd done for Albert. When her own end came in 1901, she requested to be interred with a lock of hair and photograph of the man who'd stood beside her for twenty years following Albert's demise in 1861. Letters that survived show her addressing him as "my beloved" and "darling one". Yet, at the behest of her eldest son Bertie - poised to become Edward VII - the Palace began systematically wiping John from history. Victoria's diaries were transcribed and altered, with the originals being destroyed. Bertie, who had frequently feuded with Brown, also commanded that the statues and private monuments Victoria had erected in his honour be demolished. Angela's grandfather passed away when she was in primary school, but she recalls him being distressed about the Browns' erasure from history. "My understanding from my Mum was that he was just really upset and bitter about it," she shared. "He didn't like to talk about it. Now, having both my parents and my aunt gone, we don't have those resources any more. So the bulk of the story I have been learning from Fern, which is amazing, and I'm so grateful." Angela remains hopeful that the Royals will eventually have to acknowledge the legitimacy of the claims made about her ancestors, as highlighted in a Channel 4 documentary aired on Thursday. "My gut says it's going to have to get acknowledged at some point," she suggests. "Scandals are always very exciting so I'm sure there'll be a lot of questions for them to answer. If they don't say anything, that's their choice. But I'd like them to acknowledge the truth of this love, to recognise that it wasn't cool to cover up and destroy evidence of the relationship they shared. Let's be real, Bertie was a bit of a d**k to the Browns. "That story deserves to be known, to have its own breath out there in the world. You don't get that kind of romance every day. It's what you'd hope for anybody, that you would find another chance at love. So I don't see why we should look down on that. It's like an opportunity presented itself and they embraced it, and I think that is beautiful." Angela is hopeful of undergoing a DNA test to confirm her lineage, but has been cautioned that it might take a while due to the necessity for impeccable source material for testing across four generations. "I'll let the scientists do the science," she says with a smile. "I'm a supporting character in this journey, and so I will follow wherever the story leads me. I'm totally open to it. So far it's been so exciting, so cool. I'm just really stoked." The tattooed American, sporting a nose-ring, firmly denies that she's merely attempting to profit from the Royal family's wealth. "Money is the furthest thing from my goal in telling this family story. It has always been to get Queen Victoria and John Brown's story the truth it deserves." She can't fathom any other reason why her family would possess valuable keepsakes from Victoria and John, including a brooch and a lock of hair. "Their relationship was authentic and genuine. They obviously had feelings for each other. It went well beyond a queen and man servant situation." There was a fair amount of speculation at the time about the duo, portrayed by Dame Judi Dench and Billy Connolly in the 1997 film Mrs Brown. In 1865, after Victoria requested John's transfer to the Royal Household at Windsor, two of her daughters, Helena and Louise, openly referred to him as 'Mamma's lover'. And the following year a Swiss newspaper published a story claiming Victoria, then aged 46, had privately married John and become pregnant. Angela would be delighted regardless of whether Mary Ann proves to be John or Hugh's daughter. "Either John Brown is my great, great uncle or he is my great, great grandpa. My family still played a key role in history with their friendship and closeness to Queen Victoria. I'm proud of their steadfastness in keeping the legacy of John Brown alive and their word to holding the secret close. It's still a beautiful romance that deserves its moment of recognition in history." With her Scottish heritage through her mother's lineage, Angela adores visiting the UK at every opportunity and confesses she occasionally feels more British than American. "I've always felt a little disconnected in the sense that I feel more at home over there. Scotland is my happy place. I would move there if I could, for sure."
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Queen Victoria's 'great, great, granddaughter' seeks DNA test and approval from King Charles
American claiming to be the result of a long love affair between the monarch and her Scottish ghillie hopes that science will prove the findings put forward by social historian Dr Fern Riddell A woman who believes she could be the illegitimate great, great grand-daughter of Queen Victoria says her ultimate goal is to gain recognition from King Charles. Angela Webb - Milinkovich, from Minnesota, thinks she and her sister have lineage which stems from Victoria's long, romantic relationship with her loyal manservant John Brown. New research from historian Dr Fern Riddell suggests that while on paper Angela's great grandmother Mary Ann was the only child of John's brother Hugh, and his wife Jessie, there is evidence suggesting the baby could actually have been the result of his love affair with the monarch, during which they were secretly married. Angela, 47, is now planning to have a DNA test as the ultimate proof of her royal heritage. She says she has no interest in making money out of the story, only in ensuring that her family's place in history gets the recognition it deserves. 'My main goal is to have the story acknowledged - I want their relationship to be recognised and for the royal family to stop saying it didn't happen," she explains. "If I'm going to reach for the top, it would have to be from King Charles,' she adds, when asked who she'd most like to hear from. 'I mean, it's a great story and it has his family involved, too. So he would be interested in it.' Or Prince William perhaps? 'That'd be great. That's acceptable,'she laughs. Angela grew up believing her family was descended from the royal line stemming from baby Mary Ann. She doesn't remember precisely when she was told this, just that they were aware of a story involving 'a big boat trip… and a baby given to the family.' Dr Riddell contacted Angela during her four years of research for new book Victoria's Secret and told her she'd discovered that childless Jessie and Hugh had emigrated to New Zealand in 1865, registering Mary Ann's birth there soon after - which might explain the boat trip. Speaking on Channel 4 in the accompanying documentary, Dr Riddell argued that widowed Victoria could easily have concealed a pregnancy in the 1860s, and then had the baby - her tenth child - spirited away to the other side of the world to avoid a scandal. It is recorded that, in 1874, Victoria paid for the trio to be brought back home to Scotland, even giving them a large house to live in on the Balmoral estate. After John's death, she also moved Hugh's family to be near her at Windsor. Angela was able to provide Dr Riddell with access to a treasure trove of new evidence from the Brown family archive, containing items and documents that have been in their possession for decades. Some of it comes from a safety deposit box opened around five years ago by Angela and her sister, who wishes to remain anonymous, following the death of their father. 'We didn't know what we had, just that they were items from John Brown and Queen Victoria,' she says now. 'It was always something in the back of our heads - we should probably get these looked at.' Despite long-held family suspicious that they were related to Queen Victoria, Angela was still shocked when Dr Fern got in contact. 'I believed my family was being truthful with it, but we could never prove it. Once she sent that message, I thought 'What the heck? Is there actually validity to this?' Angela, who works as a mental health care worker, said her goal is for the love affair, which was covered-up both during and after Victoria's lifetime, to be acknowledged as the truth. 'It's something that I'm very proud of,' she said. 'I want the vindication essentially for John Brown and just for my lineage, because they were not able to talk about it. It was something that just became that secret that we couldn't really share, but we knew.' If Dr Riddell's version of events is to be believed, and there is plenty of evidence to support it, Victoria and John enjoyed a romantic relationship lasting the best part of 20 years, until his death in 1883. As well as making reciprocated declarations of love to him on his deathbed - 'I told him no one loved him more than I did and he answered 'nor you - than me'' - she also had made a cast of his hand, just as she'd done with Albert. When her own death came in 1901, she asked to be buried with a lock of hair and photograph of the man who'd been by her side for two decades since Albert's death in 1861. Surviving letters see her calling him 'my beloved' and 'darling one'. However, on the others of her eldest son Bertie - about to be crowned Edward VII - the Palace set about erasing John from the record. Victoria's journals were copied and edited, and the originals destroyed. Bertie, who had often clashed with Brown, also ordered the statues and private memorials that Victoria had created for him to be removed. Angela's grandfather died when she was in fifth grade but she remembers him being upset about the way in which the Browns were airbrushed out of existence. 'My understanding from my Mum was that he was just really upset and bitter about it,' she explained. 'He didn't like to talk about it. Now, having both my parents and my aunt gone, we don't have those resources any more. So the bulk of the story I have been learning from Fern, which is amazing, and I'm so grateful.' Angela is optimistic about the royals eventually having to accept the validity of the claims being made about her ancestors, also shown in a Channel 4 documentary on Thursday. 'My gut says it's going to have to get acknowledged at some point,' she reasons. 'Scandals are always very exciting so I'm sure there'll be a lot of questions for them to answer. If they don't say anything, that's their choice. But I'd like them to acknowledge the truth of this love, to recognise that it wasn't cool to cover up and destroy evidence of the relationship they shared. Let's be real, Bertie was a bit of a d**k to the Browns. "That story deserves to be known, to have its own breath out there in the world. You don't get that kind of romance every day. It's what you'd hope for anybody, that you would find another chance at love. So I don't see why we should look down on that. It's like an opportunity presented itself and they embraced it, and I think that is beautiful.' Angela says she's hoping to have a DNA test to prove her ancestry, but has been warned it may take some time because of the need for perfect source material for testing across the four-generation gap. 'I'll let the scientists do the science,' she says cheerfully. 'I'm a supporting character in this journey, and so I will follow wherever the story leads me. I'm totally open to it. So far it's been so exciting, so cool. I'm just really stoked.' The tattooed American, who wears a nose-ring, insists that she's not simply trying to cash in on the royals' wealth. 'Money is the furthest thing from my goal in telling this family story. It has always been to get Queen Victoria and John Brown's story the truth it deserves.' She says she cannot think of any other reason why her family would be in possession of precious heirlooms from Victoria and John, including a brooch and lock of hair. 'Their relationship was authentic and genuine. They obviously had feelings for each other. It went well beyond a queen and man servant situation.' There was plenty of gossip at the time about the pair, played by Dame Judi Dench and Billy Connolly in the 1997 movie Mrs Brown. In 1865, after Victoria requested John's transfer to the Royal Household at Windsor, two of her daughters, Helena and Louise, openly referred to him as 'Mamma's lover'. And the following year a Swiss newspaper published a story claiming Victoria, then aged 46, had privately married John and become pregnant. Angela would be happy whether Mary Ann turns out to be John or Hugh's daughter. 'Either John Brown is my great, great uncle or he is my great, great grandpa. My family still played a key role in history with their friendship and closeness to Queen Victoria. I'm proud of their steadfastness in keeping the legacy of John Brown alive and their word to holding the secret close. It's still a beautiful romance that deserves its moment of recognition in history.' With her Scottish roots from her mother's side, Angela loves spending time in the UK whenever she can and admits she sometimes feels more British than American. 'I've always felt a little disconnected in the sense that I feel more at home over there. Scotland is my happy place. I would move there if I could, for sure.'
Metro
5 days ago
- Metro
Boots' latest Beauty Box is here — how you can get £280 of goodies for £55
Metro journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission – learn more From Harry's Speedo and cowboy hat get-up, to Meghan's shock reappearance, it's safe to say that this series of Love Island has come with its fair share of captivating moments. But alongside all the drama, we've also been seriously invested in the iconic beauty and hair looks that the islanders have been serving up in the villa. And — as always — we've got Boots to thank. As the show's official beauty sponsor since 2021, the Boots x Love Island collaboration is one of the show's most successful and long-standing partnerships. And they've recoupled once again this summer — stocking the villa up with cult-favourite beauty, skincare, haircare, fragrance, and grooming goodies from a catalogue of over 130 brands. Been trying to figure out exactly which products the girls are using in the dressing room each day? Great news — the Boots x Summer Love Island Beauty Box has officially launched, and it's bursting with all the islander's hair and beauty favourites. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. Inside this edit, you'll find 17 products — 13 of which are full-size — from top trending brands like Sol de Janeiro, MILK Makeup, Kayali, and more. Expect haircare heroes, hydrating skincare essentials, and body scrubs and oils that'll leave your skin glistening with a gorgeous summer glow. Best of all it's worth over £280 — but costs £55. Buy Now for £55 Despite only just launching, the edit has already wracked up a fair few positive reviews. And the star of the show is clearly the Kayali Vanilla 28 Eau de Parfum. 'It smells so good that I might have to buy a full size one,' writes one customer. When it comes to skincare, the newly released No7 Good Intent Dew Bank Water Cream delivers a serious hit of hydration, and leaves you with a glossy and dewy visage. Meanwhile, the Skin+Me Light Moisturiser Oily to Combination Skin is ideal for acne-prone complexions. Makeup highlights include the iconic Huda Beauty Easy Bake Setting Spray, and the NYX Fat Oil Lip Drip — which provides 12-hour hydration, and also has a really smooth and non-sticky texture. After all, every bombshell needs a seriously plump pout! Follow Metro across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Share your views in the comments below MORE: TikTok fave beauty brand finally hits UK stores — and everything is under £15 MORE: I'm a beauty writer and this is how you get £145 worth of K-Beauty for just £45 MORE: Bella Hadid reveals 'secret' beauty travel hack – it's none other than this £9.50 skin cream Your free newsletter guide to the best London has on offer, from drinks deals to restaurant reviews.
