Perfume!

Ahhh! I'm sorry about the lack of posting for the past few days - the Pig Flu has hit my house! I (fortunately) haven't gotten a full-blown flu, but my brother was pretty sick. I have been taking Tamiflu, though, and the side effects from that suck pretty bad!

In lieu of outfit posts (since I haven't really put on anything other than yoga pants & tshirts), I decided to write a little bit about perfume today.

I'm a big believer in the "Signature Scent." I love the idea of wearing the same perfume every day, and having friends (and love interests) think of me when they smell that scent. I also generally like to stay away from "mainstream" perfumes or big, new releases - I tend to stick to the classics in my never-ending search for the perfect perfume.

I have an unusually large collection of perfumes, because over the years (since the beginning of college) I've been searching for the PERFECT scent for me. I've gone through a ton - I don't have pictures of my entire collection, though, because most of them are in my apartment and I'm living back with my parents until January. I think, though, I've finally found the perfect scent (more about that at the end)

When you're looking for the right scent, the most important thing (to me, at least) is to think about what your favorite smells are (even if it's something really weird). You don't have to go to the store armed with an actual list, but think about it ahead of time - it'll make it easier for you to narrow down the choices (and believe me, there are a LOT)

The next most important thing is to make sure that you go to the store as you normally are - if you wear a scented lotion every day, make sure you have it on. You want to know that the perfume you pick is going to mix well. I prefer to use unscented products, but I also have sensitive skin...

When you get to the store, you want to make sure you come with two things handy: baby wipes (to wipe off any samples that are definite "No's") and a neutral scent to smell between samples (big stores like Sephora will have little boxes of coffee beans for this purpose)

Once you start spraying samples, I always start by spraying them on the little cardboard pieces that the store provides. This will give you a basic idea of what the scent is like, but by no means buy based on this alone! ALWAYS spray a little bit on a pulse point first. Make sure you walk around with it for an hour or so before making your purchase - the scent will settle and change as it reacts with your skin, and I've had more than my fair share that start smelling pretty strange after I've had them on for awhile.

My favorite scents are clean and natural - I'm not a huge fan of very floral-y scents, because they can be very overwhelming and easy to overload on. I'm always afraid of giving people headaches! I also like fragrances that tend to be unisex or soapy smelling - for a long time I wore Clean's Shower Fresh, which is exactly what it sounds like - a little bit lemony and a little bit like Dove. After awhile though, I decided I wanted something a little more mature and started a new search. When my grandmother was in town, we visited this tiny little shop that sells only imported French goods, and I came across Roger & Gallet, a French brand that I've never heard of before! They sell AMAZING soaps and perfumes, and all the scents are very delicate and natural. I bought a bottle of The Vert (Green Tea) and I get so many compliments on it, plus I know that it's unlikely that anyone around me will have it, since it's only available at one store in Ohio - the next closest retailer is in Ann Arbor.