SMELL GOODS

I’ve inherited my love for what my younger sisters call “smell goods”(fragrances) from my grandma. With every visit to her home as a child, I always found her bathroom to have the most lavish displays of fragrances and scented body products that would make any perfume addict swoon. The bathroom quickly became my test lab for the latest “smell goods”. Throughout high school, I jumped the fragrance bandwagon with Victoria Secret and Bath and Body Works sets as my secret weapons. I absolutely lived for my signature scents Secret’s ‘Pure Seduction’ and BBW’s ‘Warm Vanilla’ .

MY FRAGRANCE HACK

As I get older though, I’m proud to say that my tastes have grown more sophisticated. I’ve come to enjoy more luxurious scents that are unmatched by my older flames. The true culprits of this new obsession are the fragrance sales people at the mall. They seduce you with lingering scents until you find your feet moving toward their limited square space of “smell good” heaven. But let’s be real, I’m on a Millennial bootstrapping budget. So, how in the world can I afford to adopt the latest designer fragrances? Two words folks: Travel. Size.

Yes, I admit this could be considered a cheapskate move. But HEY, I’ve gotta eat, and it’s not like I’m getting gifted fragrances 24/7. I can’t afford to spend $100+ on every fragrance I love. Earlier this year, I took the wrong turn unto a department store fragrance aisle when I stumbled across my current faves: Versace Eros pour femme, Versace Yellow Diamond, and Tory Burch’s namesake fragrance. You know, listening to Bruno Mars 24K Magic’s “Versace on the Floor” a gazillion times last year and this year didn’t help at all. I knew these scents had to come home with me somehow. And of course, hauling lots of samples or paying full prices were not reasonable options this particular day. So, I snooped around this department until a particular section caught my eye. I noticed the travel fragrance section contained those scents at a fraction of the cost of a full bottles (about $24-30). While those prices were still pretty steep for the sizes I was getting, I was sold because I was totally enamored by these scents. And I went home smelling like a million bucks that day.

While this is one way to purchase your fragrances, now days, there are entire subscription services that allow you regular access to travel size fragrances. Over the last several months, I’ve seen the heavy influencer ads circling the Internet, trying to build awareness about these new services. I personally haven’t tried these, but it would be an option to consider if you’re a fragrance junkie.

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What scents would you recommend I try next? If you have any tips or tricks at buying fragrances on a budget, let me know in the comments below.