Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Trying on Perfumes

I happened to visit my local Ulta last night, to take a peek at a couple of eyeliners. Since I was there, I took the opportunity that presented itself to check out some perfumes.

My eyes happened to fall on Ferragamo's offerings, which surprised me because I dont' think I've noticed their perfumes before. The bottles were a little girly, in oval shapes. So I almost got turned off, but I wanted to take a whiff and find out what kind of notes these perfumes had.

I was very happy with what I saw--and sniffed! It was the Incanto collection. I tried on the Shine bottle first and really enjoyed the citrusy aroma (pineapple, passion fruit, peach, freesia, cedarwood, amber). The other two bottles were also very pleasant, but this one seemed to hit me in the right spot.

However, at around $43, I didn't feel like purchasing an entire bottle just then. I really like to let perfumes mature on my wrist to get a good feeling of whether I can actually live with it for several hours.

Just as I was turning dismayed at my decision to move on, I realized there were mini bottles of an assortment of perfumes. Luckily, this included a three-bottle collection of the Incanto line, including Shine. I grabbed it up, even though it was $43--the same price of a single bottle. But three is better than one you see...

This morning I wanted to try out the Bliss (yuzu, kumquat, apple, freesia, water lily, rose, musk, sandalwood, cedar) one, and it was lovely. It's been lovely all day.

This line is soft and comfortable. I can still whiff my wrist and smile in satisfaction. Even after a full day at work.

I guess tomorrow will be Bloom, with notes of grapefruit, freesia, tea rose, champaca flowers, musk, and cashmere wood. I can't wait! I'm a huge fan of grapefruit.

I'm really happy that I discovered this line. A surprise discovery. They're very soft and the layers of the perfumes are very harmonious--unlike many others that mostly tend to tend to jar me a little.

The little sample bottles came in a rectangular box, in each their own little branded box within. An Incanto matroyka. The bottles are adorable, rounded with cute stoppers which, however pretty, are a little difficult to pull straight out for clumsy, largish fingers as mine. Still, I've been successfully doing it a couple of times in a row without spilling. That should say something!

Tips for Sniffing Out a New Favorite Perfume:
  • Make sure you don't have the sniffles
  • Don't wear perfumed lotion or perfume on that day -- particularly near your face or on your arms
  • Figure out if you're more of a powder/sweet/citrus/green/ocean type person and locate scents in the categories you prefer
  • first sniff the sprayer to cut out a number of undesirable perfumes quickly
  • once you have a handful of possible perfumes, you can spray on a paper tester, in the air, or on your wrist/arm
  • once you spray on yourself: wave the body part to areate the perfume, sniff the first layer, then wait for it to warm up for several minutes to an hour and keep sniffing to identify each of the layers and how they evolve
  • Take your time and whatever you do, don't make a rushed purchase
  • Next, try miniature/roller versions of the perfume(s) you think you like to test drive it/them--without breaking the bank if it doesn't turn out like you thought it would

Happy perfume discoveries :)

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