Francesca bought so much stuff during her three weeks in the U.S. that she actually used a luggage cart at the airport to haul it all from baggage claim. Francesca prides herself on traveling light, so this was notable my friends, notable indeed. Upon arriving home at 5 am, she nearly pounced on a construction worker who happened to be walking by and offered him all the local currency in her wallet (which, in truth, was the equivalent of only $12, because she’d converted everything to US monies and then spent most of the rest on the taxi home from the airport) to bring her suitcases up to her second-floor walk-up. Thank God for big, tall, brawny passing-by men who wish to make $12 in 2 minutes.
Anyhow, as we all know, the funnest part of shopping is when we get to show off our purchases to our girlfriends. So, in the next few days, I hope you will humor the Francesca as she discusses her new acquisitions with you!
Let us start with the perfume. As I’ve mentioned previously, during the winter Francesca wears the incredibly sensual and warm Euphoria by Calvin Klein (currently on sale at Perfumania.com for unbeatable prices). For a few years now, her summer perfume was HAPPY
(natch), but she was never 100%, um, happy with it. It was close, but not exactly what spoke to her.
So during her travels, she tried different scents. The idea was to find something feminine and floral for the summer, but not cloyingly sweet. She feared she was seeking the impossible: a scent that is both floral and crisp.
After testing about 20 different scents over 3 weeks and coming this close to buying White Linen by Estee Lauder, Francesca tried Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana and was sold. It is sexy but also somehow familiar and comforting to Francesca, and there are few scents that can be sensual and homey simultaneously. Of course, different aromas will do this for different people, which is why testing your scent — walking around with it on you for a few hours to see how it smells on you and how it makes you feel — is so important.
The fact that it is named for Francesca’s favorite color is a plus (but no, the names and packaging had nothing to do with it, unless extremely subconsciously in which case Francesca has been successfully taken by the marketing people. But anyway, White Linen and Light Blue both smell divine, and now Francesca does, too).
D&G Light Blue is divine. It replaced Stila Jade Blossom as my go-to scent a while back, and I never get sick of it!
Comment by Laura — September 8, 2009 @ 5:22 pm
I love Light Blue. Sadly, it just doesn’t seem to be compatable with my body chemistry and disappears on me almost immediately.
Comment by Amy K. — September 8, 2009 @ 6:12 pm
I liked the smell of Light Blue in the bottle, but when I put it on me it turned so horrible that I didn’t wash it off for ages, because I had to keep sniffing it in disbelief that something supposedly sold as perfume could smell that bad on me.
Comment by A Random Claire — September 8, 2009 @ 8:28 pm
helas, for myself, white linen is the smell of sweaty nightclubs where beefy women are wont to elbow me for looking at their man wrong.
lately i have been wearing tocca florence, but i would love to discover a perfume with the heavy scent of magnolias.
Comment by ? — September 8, 2009 @ 8:54 pm
The original version of White Linen is a great fragrance for early fall when a warmer, earthier scent may still be overpowering. I can barely wear fragrance when it’s over 90 degrees and the humidity is insane.
I’ll have to check out Light Blue some time.
Comment by dcsurfergirl — September 8, 2009 @ 10:24 pm
Ah, Light Blue. My favorite! I’ve been wearing it for years. It is indeed both floral and crisp. Excellent choice :-)
Comment by Sarah Fowler — September 8, 2009 @ 11:19 pm