Monday, December 5, 2011

Perfume: The Under Twenty Project

I was bad. I bought stuff. I blame Black Friday and Cyber Monday and my current state of "meh."

As previously mentioned, I ordered a bottle of Aftelier Cepes & Tuberose. It came, and I still love it. And I love the bottle. And everybody who was there when I rudely opened the bottle at lunch in the restaurant claimed to like the scent as well, though they might have just been humoring a fanatic. ("Giles, don't make cave slayer unhappy.")

Last night I went online shopping, and I kept finding perfumes with positive reviews available at less than twenty dollars. When I reconsidered my cart, I realized that there were fewer than I thought, because two of the candidates were sample size, and that doesn't count, based on the rules that I made up. The rules are that the product must:
  • Be a fragrance, rather than, say, a lotion or soap or spray deodorant or hair spray. (I swear, I saw at least one perfumed hair spray.) But any strength is OK.
  • Contain at least half an ounce.
  • Be available from a retailer, rather than an individual.
  • Be an original manufacturer's bottle, not a decant.
  • Cost less than twenty dollars. Achieving this price with a non-product-specific discount doesn't count.
I might make a series out of this. I'm not requiring myself to actually burn the price of the bottle; if it's available as a sample as well as an under-twenty bottle I'm allowed to buy just the sample, I decree. But I confess that bottles of Balenciaga Rumba and Madame Rochas are on their way. Unsniffed. 

I was bad.

4 comments:

  1. A worthy project.

    I predict that you will hate Rumba. Just because.

    Decent stuff under $20: Liz Taylor White Diamonds, Jovan Musk for Women, Grey Flannel, Rykiel Woman not for men. Yves Rocher Iris Noir purse spray (half oz).

    Parfum1 has a tester of Mauboussin for $21.75... pretty darn close if you ask me. They've also got a tester of Bal a Versailles edt for $11. Jacomo Silences pdt, .8oz, $14.50.

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  2. Buying perfume is a fun way to be bad. I will be lurking here to suss out under $20 stuff, as I don't have many to suggest. Grey Flannel was my only suggestion. Oh wait! At The Body Shop, the Moroccan Rose is not bad, and I'm pretty sure it's under $20.

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  3. Mals! Rumba came, and it turns out that I like it quite a bit. I sprayed it on before a busy afternoon, so I didn't pay much attention, but it has a nice boozy fruit vibe, without being as aggressive as Lutens boozy fruit.

    I sort of wish that I'd made it the Under Twenty-Five Project; that widens the options a lot. But I'll stick with the goal price at least for now. Thanks for the suggestions - I'd never considered, for example, White Diamonds before, and now I see the positive reviews and I'm ready to send off.

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  4. Hey, APB! The last time I tried Grey Flannel, I went too cheap with cheap, and got a splash mini. This time I'll spring for something big enough to spray. Moroccan Rose sounds very nice, too. More badness!

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