Fragrant Rewards

Sometime in the last two years, G and I thought it would be a good idea to get a Saks Fifth Avenue Mastercard. We reasoned how nice it would be to have our spending dollars transformed into nifty gift cards from uber luxurious Saks. Since we were so new to Houston and had no idea that we couldn't actually afford anything at Saks, we fell for it. (We were at the outlet when we signed up for it.)

This past weekend we used our once per year gift card reward. We had already been online to anticipate what we might be able to afford. The normal go-to things for him like cuff links, french cuff shirts or cool socks were accompanied by inflated prices, designer brands and snooty salespeople. We've browsed the goods before and let's just say that if we think Banana Republic tends to be a little pricey, all we can do is gasp and bug out our eyes at these price tags. For me, the go-to department is always cosmetics and perfume so it wasn't sad for me at all that this is the arena where we could spend our reward.

The cosmetics department is always crawling with rich ladies holding their LV bags, the makeup artists checking out to see if you are worthy of a makeover offer and perfume wielding over-made-up women smiling at you until you refuse their scent. I read once that designers keep creating new perfumes because it is the only way that most people can afford a designer label. If you can't have a Chanel bag, at least you can wear Chanel perfume. It's affordable luxury for the common man/woman. I feel a little bit insulted by this marketing scheme, but it doesn't mean that I haven't totally fallen for it. I adore perfume!! And if I connect with the marketing of a brand, I really want to like their perfume even if I don't. And a pretty bottle is so hard to resist.

However, I have gotten quite persnickety about my perfume choices in the last few years. I really can't stand something that has any sort of artificial, chemical smell to it. Some give me an instant headache as if it shoots straight into my brain. I really have abandoned all of the mainstream brands and prefer to wander about smelling L'Artisan Perfumeur, Miller Harris or Jo Malone. I once was enamored with Bond No. 9 and G bought me a bottle of Chinatown, but I really think this perfume is overpriced and overrated. When we were in Paris I found Caron's Fleur de Rocaille, which is beautiful. I also couldn't resist visiting Fragonard's store there and choosing Eau de Melodie which since has smashed on the tile floor, but we still smell the floral fragrance when we use the dustpan that cleaned it up.

Choosing a new perfume is a sacred selection process to me. I have sprayed and sprayed so many and have a mental wish list going in my head at all times. Now that I had a free perfume pass at Saks, I knew I had to choose something off this mental wish list. I had been dreaming about the Jo Malone line for a long time and I saw this lovely gift set at Saks. The reason I had never bought Jo Malone before is because they always try to sell you on layering the fragrances. Already it's hard for me to splurge on one bottle, but now I feel I'm neglecting the potential if I don't buy a couple. No, that wasn't going to work for me. Too complicated. But when I saw this Jo Malone gift set I knew it was my chance to really test out her fragrances and do it right with all the layering fun.





I have not been disappointed. It is so much fun trying a new combination every day and each night. I always put perfume on before I go to bed so I can have sweet dreams. My favorites are the Orange Blossom mixed with Blue Agava and Cacao. Every time I spray it, G says mmmm that smells good. This is exactly the reaction I want! A perfume compliment is my favorite kind!