i’ve never been a fan of marc jacobs’ ads, i certainly wasn’t of dakota’s first appearance promoting this designer in 2006 (because the images kind of disturbed me in several unmentionable ways).

for the oh, lola! campaign, i’m not as creeped out anymore, eventhough it is quite subliminally provocative, because 1) dakota is already of major age, and 2) she is wearing my favorite piece from marc’s 2011 resort collection.

as for the product it promotes, we’re only down to judging the bottle since the juice won’t make its grand entrance on counters until july this year. but the bottle alone makes me want to have it, isn’t that just very immature of me? i happen to have the original lola and while i do love the smell, i don’t love it enough to make me choose it over flora by gucci when both of them as gifts were presented to me to choose from (right now, i have a strong hankering for flora by gucci, this would most likely be my next fragrance purchase. or love, chloe? too many to choose from. but that’s besides the point). in short, i picked lola for the plain and simple reason that it would look fabulous on my dresser.

oh, lola! takes after the original. it’s the same shape and the same vinyl flower on the cap, only this time the designer used pink in varying degrees. i love that the vinyl flower is transparent; after all, i do have this certain something for transparent plastic stuff used in unexpected ways…

for ideas on how it smells like, check out the ed’s notes in fragrantica, where several users have voted on it despite not having even smelled it. i guess they were assessing based on the bottle and the blurb alone. like, oh what the heck.

photos from fragrantica and huffington post.

i love smelling and remembering. memories jolted by olfactory stimuli seem sharper and more vivid to me than those involving sights or sounds. this, after all, has grounds in science.

therefore, it goes without saying that i am crazy about fragrances. and that a number of them are very close to me since they are invariably linked to certain memories. the most notable of these commercially available memory triggers is lacoste pour femme.

although my first bottles of perfume were clinique happy and estee lauder pleasures, pasalubong from balikbayan relatives, lacoste pour femme happens to be the first i bought with my own money, so that idea alone gives me a sense of independence and, well, the feeling of possessing so-called disposable income back when i was single and gullible. plus the laughable circumstances surrounding how i got my first two bottles of it are so attached to messy experiences and relationships, it reminds me of how long i have come and the trials i had to surmount to get to this point. it also brings me back to those days when good friends gather in dimly lit cafe corners, melting into couches, profoundly wasting time. melodramatic? that’s what scents do to me.

of course, it also helps that the scent is simply fabulous. the first time i took a whiff of it, the very word that came to my mind was fascinating. i find this smell hard to classify… even the story behind it in its campaign is completely different from the feelings it evokes in me. they say “A free spirit, the Lacoste woman aspires to be swept away, and acts on impulse. Authentic, open-minded, captivating, a bit wild, she’ll try anything once, and she knows how to take advantage of the surprises life can offer!”

to me it’s a very comfortable scent, so comfortable there were nights i wore it to bed. at the same time, i find it spontaneous, but not wild nor impulsive as they market it to be. it’s soft, warm and elegant, something you would love to wrap yourself in, like cashmere. it’s got that simple and natural sophistication to it, something lady-like but not sweet and cloying. it gives you that creamy kind of feeling you get when you dip your fingers in bath foam because it’s so clean and tender. despite that, it’s not a very serious scent, though it’s more “fun-loving” than “party animal”.

top notes: jamaican pepper, purple freesia

heart notes: white heliotrope, iranian jasmine, hibiscus blossom, bulagarian rose, ambrette seed

base notes: himalayan cedar wood, “velvety skin”, sandalwood, incense

its first tv ad strikes me more…

…than the last.

it’s hard to find similar scents to this one (some salespersons say it’s powdery, some floral-woodsy… but really it’s nothing like other perfumes that belong to those categories), and i suppose that’s one of the reasons i am irresistibly drawn to it.

anyway, we moved to fiji in 2009 and one of the biggest advantages here is that all perfumes, my fetish du jour, are priced more reasonably than anywhere else. the unfortunate thing is lacoste fragrances are not available here. when i asked my husband to scour brisbane and the sunshine coast in australia the last time he was there, he sadly informed me that he couldn’t manage to find lacoste fragrances there either. i asked another person in new zealand who had no luck there too. does that mean lacoste fragrances are rare in this part of the world?

so i finally bought one from ebay and had it handcarried from the philippines by someone coming back to fiji. i was as thrilled as a little birthday girl tearing off the bubble wrap and opening the carton. when i lifted the bottle from its box, i heaved an involuntary sigh and pressed it to my cheek. it was like meeting an old friend.

scents are such amazing things. some can get you refreshed and make you relax. some can energize and even seduce. so what are so many women still doing waiting for special occasions to wear fragrance? any day is a perfect day to smell good!

but how to shop for scents? if you are one of the many customers who can’t seem to decide on any particular fragrance until the assistant is fossilized, here are a few guidelines i learned on how to enhance your skills in choosing perfume:

1. determine your signature scent

choose according to your personality: are you active and athletic? are you sweet and sassy? are you feminine and romantic? are you alluring and sultry? are you daring and adventurous? choose according to occasion: is it for daily wear? for weekend getaways? for formal date nights?

fragrances are divided into four groups: fresh (clean with citrus and green characteristics), floral (very feminine featuring, as the name suggests, flowers like jasmine, iris, etc.), oriental (exotic like spice and amber) and woody (warm featuring aromatic scents like cinnamon and patchouli and, of course, woodsy smells like cedar and pine).

so if you are the romantic type, most likely you’d be drawn to floral. if you are seductive, try oriental. if you like comfortable smells, then perhaps woody. if you are laid-back, go for fresh.

2. take your time testing

one thing i notice about shoppers is they feel so harried and intimidated when a gang of salespersons flock around them armed with testers that they just sniff quickly from bottles, turn then go. so here’s one of my most important tips: don’t be intimidated. countless times have i told them that i would like to shop in peace and this has worked without a hitch so far. you see, to appreciate scents, you need to test them, not just take a whiff from the bottle, so do linger around the counter as long as you can.

what i usually do is test as much as my nose and the coffee beans can handle on testing strips. then i narrow them down to three or four scents to apply on my skin (aside from the wrists, you can also use the insides of your elbows so the fragrances don’t mix). and i don’t buy on the spot. i go around the department store or even go home without locking down on a choice. this way, i can find out which one smells best after a few hours on my skin and even sniff out which one lasts the longest. once i have decided on one, i go back for the bottle. because i take time, fragrances have never caused me buyer’s remorse, ever.

3. select your formula and quantity

you also have to consider the intensity and the duration with which you mean to wear your perfume. are you the type who spritzes frequently throughout the day? do you need one that will last the entire evening for a party? here are the concentrations from highest to lowest: parfum, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, eau de cologne. there’s also solid perfume, one that is solidified in beeswax.

then determine how often you intend to wear it as this will help you decide how big a bottle you ought to get. fragrance, once opened, will normally last up to 18 months stored in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.

4. don’t be afraid to experiment

try to look beyond the endorsements and that cute little bottle (honestly though, i am a sucker for attractive packaging). don’t limit yourself to mainstream brands. there are a lot of fantastic niche brands you would miss if you don’t dare yourself to step out of your comfort zone.

as for me, here are my favorite scents (and their ads that i love!):

chloe eau de parfum

marc jacobs daisy

marc jacobs lola

lacoste pour femme

lacoste inspiration

estee lauder pleasures

images from chandlerburr, impactlab, sophie’s realm, perfume 100.

the first thing we did when i got here? eat crispy pata and tokwa’t baboy, naturally!

and before the stores closed for the holidays this week, i was able to accompany my cousin to makati and squeeze in some minor shopping.

i wrote this entry some months ago with the full intention of purchasing the bcbgirls wedge. i’m so glad my husband and i were too busy with relocation duties at that time and i wasn’t able to buy the shoes… because i was able to buy them now at 50% off! man, i thought these things would have flown off the shelves… apparently, my taste isn’t very widely-accepted…

the same thing happened with the jeans i pined for a longer time ago (story here).

when i wrote about wanting mj lola here, someone eventually gave me a bottle as a gift.

i said here just a few weeks ago that i want chloe edp and there it was, on sale in duty free. and to think this one just recently won fragrance of the year. i assumed this one would go on sale next year yet, but hey now.

maybe my blog possess “the secret” everyone’s been talking about. or is it just me because i’m so positive these days? so i will write

i want a canon s90 digital camera and let the universe give it to me with a significant discount or just give it to me, full stop. i call on the universe.

wait, i call on my husband, that is… i’m off the payroll during my philippine shopping expedition.

canon power shot photo from wired.

i have always loved marc jacobs’ daisy. i have very predictable taste in fragrance and daisy is something my friends have figured i would love from the start.

launched in 2007, daisy was the subject of a widespread marketing campaign that drew a wave of mj fans and fragrance junkies to the counters to see what all the fuss was about. the first line of business, as it happened, was to see if the bottle was indeed as pretty in reality as it was on the ads. given how ads typically exaggerate the qualities of a product, the bottle is, surprisingly, just as pretty when you see it with your own eyes. what i do find strange is that it is called “daisy” when daisies don’t smell anything like it. daisies smell like nothing at all, as a matter of fact, fragrance-free like plastic. i guess it’s the thought of daisies they want to evoke. buttery blooms that dot rolling meadows on a bright, sunny day. and that’s just the feeling you get when you wear it.

though i am way past the target market of late teens-early twenties, the bracket doesn’t stop me from appreciating its youthfulness. it’s sweet but not cloying, it has a translucent nature to it that does not overpower your senses. it is fresh and quite bubbly, comfortable enough for all day, everyday wear. it has nothing to thrill anyone about, nothing specifically different, to the point of perhaps being unoriginal, but i guess that’s also why i am drawn to it. i have never been extremely daring with my fragrance choices, sticking mostly to smells that wouldn’t put anyone off even if i know it is unlikely that someone will single me out with a compliment. daisy, to me, simply has stability to it. it’s something that won’t let me down. as it turns out though, people still do tell me i smell nice despite its lack of uniqueness. it is just too pleasant to ignore. i’d say it has the same merits as dolce & gabbana light blue. that is, you’d probably smell similar to many other women but it doesn’t bother you because it’s just too nice. it’s like the perfume equivalent of a very refreshing soda drink: very effervescent and attractive, but not alluringly sexy and serious like champagne. it’s good as a first designer fragrance for young girls as well as a reliable staple for an old-timer like me. i could imagine giving the fragrance to my daughter when she comes of age and i could imagine myself using it during retirement. that’s how universally appealing it is.

i got a bottle of it as a christmas present last month. eau de toilette comes in 50ml and 100ml. there was also a limited edition edp, a variant i would have preferred since edt doesn’t last too long, but we missed the very last stock here by a day or two. i like the edt bottle better though, it’s a throwback into the 70′s flower power which i like. i don’t find black and gold fitting for its sunny vibe. not even the exclusive silver one.

at any rate, daisy edt did rake in most of the fragrance awards in 2008. i guess even the award-giving bodies were smitten by the bottle.

from sephora: Enter the world of Daisy: fresh and feminine with a playful innocence. At the heart of Daisy is a floral with vintage edge: violet. Sophisticated, with a touch of whimsy, violet captures the eclectic, vintage flavor of Marc Jacobs’ feminine, edgy designs.

then came lola…

right, i am a sap for delectable ads. that’s why i trooped to the department store as soon as i saw lola in the papers last year.

why, of course the bottle looks bizarrely over-the-top, that’s the whole point! what is marc jacobs if not a fire-starter? like daisy, lola in person does justice to its photos, from the voluminous vinyl petals to the gold rope detail. the moment i saw it, i wanted to get it for the very superficial reason that it would look fantastic on our antique dresser. since the whole idea isn’t the visual appeal, i tried to maintain a more or less unaffected perspective when i zoned in to smell the perfume.

marketed as daisy’s “slightly vampy older sister”, one doesn’t have to be a fragrance connoisseur to tell that it is indeed what it positions itself to be. i should say that since i am more into the fresh, clean scents, i was a little whacked taking a sniff off the bat. but the initial power doesn’t drench you as it mellows into its sweetness. it is darker and headier than daisy, its musk and vanilla notes more pronounced. the depth makes it perfect for more formal occasions, though i wouldn’t discount it from everyday wear — if you are in a more temperate climate or if you work daily in a centralized environment. where i live, tropical fiji, i couldn’t think of any daytime outdoor occasion i am to attend for which this may be appropriate. maybe the melbourne cup or a garden wedding in a renaissance mansion, but i am only wishing these would happen to me. on the other hand, i would love to wear such a scent to the resorts or the port when we go there for cocktails or dinner. it is sensually whimsical, as exquisite as the drinks they serve with a lot of pomp (like the bottle!). it is definitely a very contemporary fragrance for evening and i could foresee this sell almost as much as its little sister, daisy.

from sephora: The long-lasting, day-and-night scent opens with pink peppercorn, pear, and ruby red grapefruit. Blooming midnotes of rose, fuschia peony, and geranium make a feminine statement. Layers of vanilla, warm tonka bean, and creamy musk create a sensous drydown.

she was once a designer for a collection of handbags (together with the cousin) which was once featured in the lifestyle section of the inquirer. she also makes her own jewelry, all of which look as if a professional created them. and she cooks too. i often wonder how she squeezes in all these activities during those hours she’s away from the hospital. which is even hardly ever, in the first place.

now, this is a fetish. 61 bottles and counting. and to think she has given away quite a few already.

so there is no question as to who i rely on when i need fragrance advice. here is her email regarding perfume recommendations. i hope you find it useful too:

hey tessa! syempre, hindi pwede ang simple text para ibigay ko sayo yung list ng recommended scents ko for you. kasi may explanations pa!  hehehe…
here goes:

from my personal collection:

philosophy baby grace

Philosophy Baby Grace (this i love); but do also try Amazing Grace — I’ve been wanting to get this forever but syempre when I see another perfume that I like, naoovertake sya. Also try Falling in Love — it’s sweetish, medyo berry-ish, baka di mo gusto but well, who knows.

Burberry Brit Sheer: this one comes in the pink bottle with the Burberry plaid printed on it. What first attracted me to it was the bottle. Ang cute eh. Anyway, I like this scent, one of my fail-safe scents – yun tipong “I-don’t-know-what-scent-to-wear-today” days, this is what I wear.

Burberry London: this is more floral-y than fresh, but I like that it’s very long lasting and doesn’t turn sour on me. A few sprays lang in the morning and I rarely have to re-apply during the day.

clean line of fragrances

Clean (for women) and Clean Fresh Laundry: I discovered this scent when I was in the US around 4 years ago. Saw the ad in a magazine and rubbed the sample on my wrist. It did smell very soapy pero I was intrigued! Never got the chance to try it there but was pleasantly surprised to find it available in Rustan’s some time later. The line has a basic clean, soapy note, from which the other variants take off from. I like both (the original Clean for Women and Clean Fresh Laundry). The other variants Clean Provence has a touch of lavender (hence the name) and Clean Sweet Layer is candy-ish sweet but still has that “Clean” base. Anyway, they also have stuff for guys which smell good as well.

Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue: this is a bit citrusy, but not overtly so, though. Hints lang. It is mixed with green notes and some musk in its base. I love this. It’s actually perfect for Manila weather because it doesn’t turn masangsang even if it’s really hot. It is popular, though- a lot of ladies like this so you’ll probably end up smelling like the next girl, but who cares? Hehehe. This really smells lovely.
> If you do end up liking this, a less expensive alternative is Moschino I Love Love: it smells like a D&G Light Blue dupe; Also similar-smelling is Body Shop’s Apple Blossom pero i think this is a limited edition scent eh, pero it smells so much like Light Blue.

l'eau par kenzo pour femme

L’eau Par Kenzo: I think I used up 2 bottles of this in college! It’s fresh, with just a hint of sweetness — there is also that green note to it, which i think is mint…or something…basta I loved this in college. Kaya I was so happy my mom got this for me recently when she went on one of her trips abroad.

Victoria’s Secret Dream Angels “Heavenly”: This one naman is fresh, powdery. A lot of people compliment me when I wear this. I saw a bottle of this on Samantha Jones’ dresser in one Sex and the City episode. Trivia lang. Haha.

bulgar omnia amethyste

Bvlgari Omnia Amethyste; Bvlgari Pour Femme; Bvlgari The Vert; Bvlgari au The Blanc:
** Actually Omnia Amethyst lang yung meron ako; the others my mom has/or had; I love all of these especially yung Pour Femme and Eau Fraiche; Basta siguro spend more time at the Bvlgari counter and try them ksi generally Bvlgari has some really great perfumes.
** they also have Petit et Mamans for babies (hint hint for baby girl haha sosyal na bata)

L’Occitane The Vert (Green Tea): I think I finished a bottle of this back in Med School. As with the name of course, green tea talaga sya. It’s one of the better green tea scents along with Elizabeth Arden Green Tea and Bvlgari. The scent doesn’t change even if it’s mainit, I think it even smells better as the day progresses.
** Speaking of L’Occitane, they have a new scent called Cherry Blossom (ops, wait before you say “I don’t like fruit scents”) which is not really a cloying, sickeningly sweet cherry scent. It’s a really pretty fragrance–very girly girl. I actually do not have this yet but I am raring to get one. It has two variants, one is Summer, and the other is Spring (I forgot which one I like, pero it’s the lighter one of the two).

For some lower end ones….

Bath and Body Works Sheer Freesia
Bath and Body Works Freshwater Cucumber
Bath and Body Works Sea Island Cotton
Nina Fragrances (theninaaffair.multiply.com) – My Secret Potion (this smells like Escada Sexy Graffitti); I finished a whole bottle of this since I loved this one, mura pa. P480 i think. They sell this also at True Love in Galleria.

Feeling ko madami pa ko gusto i-add pero baka maloka ka na. Ito na muna. Btw, remember my free perfume from Guerlain, yung My Insolence? I sprayed some on my wrist and it smells sooooooooo good. Baka type mo din, FYI.

This is Nine, the scent junkie, signing off. Mwah!

then a few minutes later, she appends the email with:

Symepre may P.S. pa!

jennifer lopez still

J.Lo Still and J.Lo Glow: I owned and finished a bottle of Glow and gave my mom Still as a bday present before. I love them both but I think Still smells better. Don’t be turned off that these are “celebrity scents” pero these two are just too good to pass up.

Nine C. C., MD

of these recommendations, i am most intrigued by the clean line of fragrances and l’eau par kenzo. if anyone else has tried these, please drop us a line and tell us all about it.