Wearing Perfume (and on the cheap!)

I've always been disappointed that perfume never seemed to "work" for me. No matter how nice the smell, about 20 minutes after I put it on I began to smell like a combination of rubbing alcohol and the makeup aisle at CVS. Gross. But I liked the idea of having a signature scent and I decided that there had to be a solution!

I realized that if I spray the fragrance in my hair after I'm done blowdrying but before I do the final styling, it holds the scent and doesn't revert to the gag-inducing alcohol stench upon contact with my skin. Success! And now I have a signature scent (thanks to sweet N), which is Daisy by Marc Jacobs - classy and fresh.

With my new fragrance-freedom, I've discovered that the better department stores (Nordstrom, Macy's, Bloomingdale's) will happily give you sample sizes of all sorts of perfumes, even if you haven't made a purchase. A great way to find a perfume you like - or just to try out some new ones. I've been enjoying Lily Pulitzer's summery scents (Beachy, Sqeeze and Wink).