Last week I went on about
my really great bargains from the JCP shoe department sales. This
week I want you to see the pièce
de résistance
of my efforts: pointy-toe magenta pumps on FINAL
clearance for $7.00. I admit that I might not have considered these
at full price, but I'm glad I was able to give them a good home. I
wore them with the outfit below to Sunday dinner with the
huz, and a very nice stranger stopped to tell me my outfit looked "fabulous". So worth it.
More peplum love and
another pencil skirt from JCP:
(I have got to get some tanning stuff on my legs!)
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If You
Hate Perfume or Are Allergic to It,
Stop Reading Here ...
Like so many things in
life that you don't miss till they're gone, I don't think about
perfume except when I run out of it. And because I don't think about
it often, beyond the occasional cautious sniff at an imbued magazine
ad, I don't really know much about what's available or how to shop
for it. All last year, I slowly spritzed away my little store of
scent that I like, and now it's gone.
I'm not easily intimidated
by shopping and am usually the woman with the plan. But the vast
array of choices available at the average perfume counter just
freezes me into immobility. Too many brands and way too little
information. It's a given that the brands I like are unavailable,
because I usually need a bargain and much of what I like is old news
and out of production when I discover it at TJ Maxx. Or ... I've
found a bit of overstock there to love, and when I want it again, it's out of my budget at full price.
I have my opinions,
though, uninformed as they are. I'm pretty sure I don't want to
smell like Britney, JLo, Paris Hilton, Lady
Gaga or even Elizabeth Taylor. Additionally, I'm long over smelling
like fruit salad or green salad veggies, cotton candy or bacon. Designers
are okay, though, even though I know that it's just the same
celebrity fascination as with Britny fans. Not that I want to smell
like Marc Jacobs or Michael Kors, but at least I can imagine that
there may be a little more sophisticated inspiration from their
designers than I can expect from the tastes of Paris Hilton.
And I'm ready to try
something new (at least new for me), but how to go about it without
sniffing every bottle? Internet shopping is great for finding good deals on familiar brands, but it's much more
difficult to find new scents you know you'll like. So, after about five minutes snooping
around via Google, I found what turned out to be a seriously
interesting, inexpensive and easy solution to my problem.
There's this great site
called Fragrantica . The name correctly implies encyclopedic information about
fragrances. There, you can plug in your favorite perfume or scent and
you will learn everything you want to know about it. I read about my
three favorite fragrances (plus a couple that I like but can't
afford) and found out that I am all about these kinds of scents in
various combinations; white florals generally (freesia, magnolia,
gardenia, peony, Chinese osmanthus and tuberose specifically,) as
well as ginger, bergamot cedar, orris root and Tahitian vetiver.
Once you know the specifics of what your nose loves, then it's a
quick plug in to get matches and lots of other options are available. I checked
that information against the brands currently available at my local
TJ Maxx, and, bingo! Two new fragrances that I love at the price I
could afford. No stress, no returns, and no disappointment.
I also learned much more
about the geeky-nerdy side of my favorites. Fragrantia details the history of design and process of
manufacture for each fragrance, as well as a ton of subjective stuff. I learned about
sillage (the degree to which
a fragrance trails behind, or is left in the air around the wearer
... subjective, but the cognoscenti claim to be able to measure it in
inches and feet!) and longevity (how
long a spritz is discernible) and about top, middle and base notes.
But
what I found most interesting is that there is massive ageism among perfume enthusiasts. Each page invites commentary and critique, and
boy-howdy, do these women (and more than a few men) have comments! I
found that a lot of the perfumes I really like have been around for
decades and that I like "old lady" scents. I also found
that a lot of old ladies like me resent that classification and
there's a lot of heated discussion about the subject. Fun, really!
What I
loved best, though, about this whole experience is that on the way
home from the Big City, I was crowing over my success to my husband
Dan, making him sniff my wrist yet again. After declaring that he,
too, liked my new perfumes, he proudly said " You're pretty
resourceful, ya know?"
Yeah.
I know.
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I'm linking up with Sassy Blue Patti and all the
Glamazons at Visible Monday.
Come see what the buzz is all about!
