The other day I was dum-de-dumming around the mall, doing my mildly psychotic Sephora ritual where I absent-mindedly cover my face and arms with little scribbles of make-up and squirts of perfume. (The scene in David Lynch’s freaky Wild at Heart where Diane Ladd colors in her entire face with red lipstick comes to mind.)
By the time I was a patchwork quilt of pretty smells, there was really no distinguishing what I had carelessly spritzed into various nooks and crannies. Except...drifting over the sweet sludge was one accord entirely unexpected in Sephora: incense.
Incense? I love incense! And there seems to be some unspoken taboo against it in mainstream perfume. But this was definitely incense -- a mild, bittersweet Nag Champa, to be exact. I was forced to retrace my nose’s steps, past the eye-watering harshness of Caroline Herrera 212, the disconcertingly manly Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, the delightfully loopy Jean Paul Gaultier Ma Dame - until I found the source. It turned out that my incense was Lolita Lempicka Fleur de Corail. Perfumer Maurice Roucel has successfully smuggled my smoky delight into the mall. What a fine fellow he is!
Fleur de Corail is available at Amazon.com and Perfume.com, starting at $41 for 50ml
I just discovered your blog and reviews over the last week and I must say you are very talented and have a great sense of humor. And of course, Rodrigo is simply adorable. (I myself had a Lhasa Apso named Cookie for 16 years who I adored!) Your write-ups are terrific - great writing and attention to detail. This review in particular made me LOL because it sounded just like me as I have a similar Sephora ritual. I have sometimes pondered going into my local Sephora with a wide-brimmed hat and dark sunglasses so I'm not recognized as I work across a local mall I frequent almost on a daily basis during my lunch hour. They must think I'm nuts, but I digress. I just purchased LL Fleur de Corail. The small bottle was on sale at Perfumania at 50% off! I couldn't resist plus I have all the other Lolita's. I must say it took me a while to get used to the softer scent as compared to her other perfumes, but I have grown to love it. It's a warm, sweet floral if that makes any sense. The vanilla and amber are delicious. Definitely a yummy yet sexy fragrance. Keep up the great work.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your lovely comments, allofthis, and welcome aboard! And I completely relate to your considering a disguise for your regular trips to Sephora, because I think I've outstayed my welcomes at several Sephoras, Barney's and a Nordstrom. And possibly Bloomies, too. I just go into a kind of dream state as I absorb all the perfumes, with sidebars in the cosmetics aisles. And then before I know it, 2 1/2 hours have gone by. I knew it was bad in Nordstorm the other day when an SA left for her lunch, came back and said, "Oh, you're still here?" Or another time when I asked an SA about the long-awaited (by 13- year-olds) Pink Sugar extrait, and she said, "You always ask me that question." For some reason, I truly feel like I'm invisible, and am always surprised when SAs recognized me. Surprised, then embarrassed. I knew I needed to take a break from Barney's when an SA said, "You always have the cutest dresses!"
ReplyDeleteI just discovered this blog after stumbling upon my bottle of Fleur de Corail and fell in love. And not just because of the Sparks song ;)
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