Average Jane Smells Purty

I seldom wear fragrance, partly because the strong ones can give me a
headache and partly because I figure my soap, hair products, clean
clothes and deodorant probably have enough perfumes in them.

Still, just as I’ll occasionally leave the house dressed like a
grown-up, so will I occasionally take the extra step and apply perfume.

My husband recently ordered some haircare products from Sephora, which came with a number of perfume and cologne samples.  Some of them were women’s, so I’ve been trying them one by one over the past couple of weeks to see how I like them.

The first and best was Essence by Marc Jacobs.  It’s a gardenia scent with some kind of heavier note keeping the sweetness in check.  I would actually buy it, except that it retails for $65 for 1.7 oz.

The second one I tried was Bulgari BLV Notte.  When freshly applied it had a faint "tire rubber" note that I found a little off-putting and overall I thought it seemed a little matronly for my taste.

At the opposite end of the spectrum was the third sample, Britney Spears’ Curious.  I put off trying this one for a long time because the radio commercials made me gag and, really, who wants to smell like Britney?  Judging from the perfume itself, I’d say they’re banking on the pre-teen crowd.  The perfume is very sweet and smells a lot like cotton candy when first applied.  If I were eleven, I’d be all over it (Sweet Honesty, anyone?), but I think today will be the only time I wear it.