I have a confession to make...despite being the go-to person at work and amongst friends for purchasing just about anything in this fine city, I have an area of purchasing that has been sorely neglected: fragrance.
I've been wearing Chanel's Coco perfume since high school. My then boyfriend bought me a bottle for Christmas or my birthday, which I traded off for Calvin Klein's Eternity,for a year or so, but the Coco eventually won out, and became my signature fragrance.
But about a year or so ago, I realized I was no longer in love with my Coco. Its scent no longer made me smile. But laziness and fear of running the gauntlet of the fragrance tester sprayers caused me to do nothing about it, other than wistfully wish a new fragrance would plop itself into my lap. But no such luck.
But last Friday, while running errands at the San Francisco Shopping Centre, I stopped in at Nordstrom to have a pass through by the shoes and accessories. As I was headed to the elevators, I passed by an intimate little salon off to the side of the cosmetics, and distinctly away from its hustle and bustle. A multitude of shelves held perfume tester bottles and paper strips.A friendly saleswoman watched from the back of the room but let my fellow shoppers and myself slowly peruse the shelves, spraying and smelling and daydreaming.
The scent that caught my attention was the newish Miss Dior Cherie. Like Coco, it'smoreofa"nightime scent" but I don't personally differentiate. People who know more than me about these things say its primary notes include strawberry leaf, patchouli, violet, mandarin, musk, and jasmine. I'm surprised because patchouli is not something I usually like. But it's subtle enough that I don't really notice it. It's just a happy, light fragrance.
There weren't any samples of the fragrance, so the Nordstrom saleswoman MADE one for me. That level of service, combined with the great atmosphere for browsing the fragrances is why I'll be headed back there to buy my own bottle later this week.
