Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The Scent Quest


My love for perfume sample bottles is as old as my Sephora membership card. Imagine, being able to try on somebody else's personality for a day, for free? I have accumulated many vials I will not open again (such as any of the Gwen Stefani products as they all smell like baby powder), but there are a few I splash on every once in a while: DKNY's Be Delicious, & Clinique's Happy.

I also discovered some of my favorite scents which I went on to purchase this way, which I suppose is the point. I fell in love with Burberry's the Beat the moment I put it on, & am almost out of it now. I really liked Aqualina's Pink Sugar from the sample bottle- I felt like a magical pink bubble princess every time I splashed it on. Unfortunately it never smells as good from the larger bottle as it did from the sample, but if I splash a little on after a bubble bath it smells terrific.

Sadly, the time has come when I am beginning to both a) run out of the Beat, & b) not be able to smell it when I put it on. The quest began in earnest for a new scent, & while I flirted with the idea of buying Be Delicious, I gave it to my sister as a birthday present last year, & don't want to smell the same as her [because everybody would totally notice. Totally.].

Fortunately! I finally managed to get around to ordering a different something that I had been meaning to get from Sephora, & with it came my FREE SAMPLES. I got Tocca's Brigitte, & Versace, which doesn't seem to have a name other than that & was thrown in the trash in a fit of why-won't-you-fucking-open fury.

HOWEVER, I think Tocca may be my new favorite brand. I love their concept: Old-world Paris? Film stars? Fellini's lover? Yes please! Brigitte is totally sexy to me (important! I'm the one wearing it), & not overpowering to others (perhaps even more important). It reminds me of the dust burning on the dressing room lights the first time they are turned on for the season & fresh greasepaint. It's a little bit of sawdust, and a whole lot of the glamour of theatre, darling.

I'm going to keep wearing the sample for a little while before I throw down for a whole bottle, but I think I've already convinced myself I love it.

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