I never liked perfumes (save a late 90s infatuation with The Gap's "Heaven") because they always seemed to magnify on my skin and give me a headache. I also don't like the smell of flowers, so avoided anything that smelled like lilac, lavender, lily - and even those flowers that began with other letters. I had a brief stint with Chanel, bought by a boyfriend, and made some impulse fragrance purchases at the department store counter, trying to be grown up, but still couldn't find anything that worked for me.
I could not commit to a "signature scent" - despite what every woman's magazine drums into you about it - out of fear of being the woman with whom people hated to be in the elevator. But - I found the solution at a Renegade Craft Fair booth a couple of years ago.
I found Sweet Tea Apothecary, and JT's knack for combining historical and literary references into perfect, non-elevator clearing scents that are subtle enough you will forget you are wearing them, but so interesting people will ask you about it.
Rollerball perfumes are the way to go for me - that way I control the amount I wear, and they are portable if I wanted to travel or reapply, so I am only stocking those. If you fall in love with a fragrance, I can get it in a larger size for you!
Some of my favorites include:
Pemberley - scents from the gardens of the estate that inspired Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy
Dead Writers - unisex fragrance that anyone could wear in a musty library drinking tea and reading the classics
VII and Boylen - based on the signature scents of King Henry and doomed Queen Anne
Pamplemousee - because it is my favorite French word ("grapefruit")
There are even more to try in the shop, with explanations of origins and fragrance notes. I know it seems silly to buy perfume over the internet, when you can't smell it in person, but I have tried all of these and they are awesome (and have an interesting story if you are giving them as a gift - so your book loving friend will think it is cool even if they didn't love the smell.)
Check out all the Sweet Tea Apothecary fragrances in the shop!
