Sunday, April 27, 2014

Blind Buy Gone Bad



Friday afternoon, my son JD met me for lunch.  Our German waitress, Claudia, scared the hell out of me with her laser stare and thick accent ('do you vant ranch dressing or no ranch?  Jus' tell me vat you vant and I vill brrring it!').  After lapsing into sheer stupidity under the pressure - I could neither decide on my dressing nor settle the check correctly - a perfume reprieve was in order.  JD and I sprayed and sniffed at Sephora and I decided that my trip home would include a discount store browsing session to find a perfume that could soothe my bruised lunch ego. 

Roberto Cavalli eau de parfum had been stalking me for a while, and on Friday, it was eyeballing me again as I checked my iPhone for reviews and pondered whether or not to make the purchase.   Until now, I've tried to avoid it and never even sprayed it on my skin.  However, my imagination insisted that I was cheating myself of something exotic and warm, sexy and creamy.  Plus, the box is pretty and I like the round shape of the bottle, essential criteria for a blind buy.

It's not like I came home and immediately put the perfume on my skin.  No, no, no.  The ritual always begins by carefully opening the plastic cover on the box, just in case it goes back to the store.  I open only the top end, then squish my fingers in to open the box and turn it upside down so the bottle lands gently in my hand.  Then the perfume is sprayed on a paper strip and laid aside to dry.  After about ten minutes, I go back and sniff...then sniff again...then mull things over while re-reading all the reviews on Fragrantica.  Perfume-to-skin contact never happens until this ritual is complete. I waited to apply the perfume until Saturday morning.

For almost an hour, I tried to like it.  I faked liking it.  I pondered every circumstance in which I could imagine ever liking it.  I walked outside so it could develop fully in the fresh air.  I fantasized about writing a post about not liking it at first and then realizing I loved it.  I even had our dog Paige smell it, and she took a sniff but suddenly lost interest and licked her butt instead.

That's when I scrubbed.

To describe Roberto Cavalli eau de parfum in great detail now would just annoy me even more.  Cheap, sweet and cloying pretty much covers it, and its barely touched package is going right back to where it came from.  I feel smarter already - Claudia might even approve.

Image from jeancoutu.com

7 comments:

  1. I don't know who (or what?) Paige is, but she's got the right idea - I hate this fragrance, too. Too fruity, too synthetic. Smells like fruit gum on my skin! It was just added salt to the wound when RC didn't even reply to my requests to sample a new flanker. I love hearing about your ritual, it sounds like it would work a lot better than the savage I turn into when I blind buy. Speaking of which, I am 99% sure that I'm going to blind buy Britney Spears' Circus Fantasy, because I see it every time I avoid it and. I. Just. Want. It! xD Any thoughts on it?

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    1. Hi Gil - good to see you! Paige is our dog...yeah, probably should have clarified that. By the time I do my obsessive research, I rarely get such a terrible blind buy as this one. You must tell me more about the 'savage' you become...I'm intrigued. And I say go ahead with the Britney Spears Circus Fantasy just because you want it. I don't know much about it, but want all the details when you give into your blind buy! Good luck!

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    2. I didn't end up getting the Circus Fantasy I was talking about, but I *did* get Fantasy Twist - two perfumes in one, which is a score in my books ;) I've nominated you for the Liebster Award, feel free to check it out! http://mywritingwoes.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/the-liebster-award/

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  2. Ha ha, I have no self control. My blind buy's at Marshall's or Ross, run to the car and rip open package with shaking hands like a junkie. Laughing as I shred the box to get to the good stuff. Hoping and Praying I have not wasted more good money on crappy sweet smell or worse. But when you hit it is such a rush! :)

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    1. Hi Sylvia - you're right, we're total junkies! And yeah, once in a while, we hit the blind buy jackpot and it's worth all the times we bomb. I'm carrying around two perfume returns in my car and can't wait to trade them for other possible treasures. Good to see you!

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  3. Next time get the Roberto Cavalli Oro . Peppery incense and vanilla with maybe a touch of apple .
    If you haven't seen it yet check out YouTube video " S***Fragrance Heads Say . Definitely worth watching!
    Your hubby will probably think it sounds just like you ( my mom thought it sounded just like stuff I say).

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