From Thierry Mugler, Angel Collector Superstar Eau de Parfum (above left): "A 38mm Swarovski crystal is delicately poised, dangling at the center of the bottle as a reflection of prestige and beauty. More than 250 gleaming Swarovski crystals surround the jewel. This limited edition apparition of opulent luxury is exceedingly rare, with less than 100 pieces existing in the universe." $3000. The cheaper alternative: Angel Refillable Purse Spray, "...dressed in sparkling blue Swarovski crystals. The elegant silver spray stays protected in its sky-blue coffret with a smooth black velvet interior. A glamorous pouch of blue and black velvet is included to keep your precious star safe on all your celestial adventures." $100. Both are available at Saks.
From Amouage, candles in Silk Road ("rich and spicy with notes of precious cedar wood, patchouli, amber and musk") or Autumn Leaves ("orange peel, cinnamon and cloves react beautifully with edelweiss in the heart and the deep, delicious base notes of leather, patchouli, sandalwood, honey and vanilla"). $85 each at Parfums Raffy.
From Laduree, Almond Body Cream (shown above left) in a green and white pot, £45 at Browns in the UK. From Nesti Dante, the Dei Colli Fiorentini Soap Set (shown above right), with soaps in Iris, Poppy, Broom, Lavender, Cypress Tree and Sweet Violet. $40 at Bella Figura.
From Lucy B, organic Lemonade lip balm, with a "gentle Bamboo lip exfoliator to keep your lips in perfect condition". $18 at Ron Robinson.
You can find more gift ideas by scrolling through the posts in the Collector Bottles tag.
$3000? Seriously? The bottle really isn’t *that* nice.
And don’t forget, that LE bottle *still* contains Angel. Gah.
Yeah, that, too – blech. It probably isn’t really blech – I just have horrid associations with it. Being trapped in an elevator with someone who has doused themselves in Angel is not fun.
It’s pretty darned spendy.
It’s pretty darn ugly!
whoa
3k
i think i’ll get a designer bag or several designer shoes instead…
I could buy a whole wardrobe for that. (but I’m cheap)
I think I’d rather take the husband to Italy instead.
Amen – there are quite a few things that I can imagine spending $3000 on that don’t involve a limited edition bottle.
Yeah, I was thinking vacation too.
Yup, you could go to France and tour a few perfumers’ shops for that.
Swarovski certainly has successfully scaled the heights of branding and name-recognition, haven’t they? I mean, the glass gems themselves can be had incredibly cheaply (see pricing at Fire Mountain Gems), but if you put five bucks’ worth of them on a glass bottle, it becomes a luxury item.
Yes, Swarovski has actually done an amazing job of re-branding.
http://www.presidiopenthouse.com/hellotaitai/crystal.html
http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2004/0315/074.html
Many thanks for the references; both articles were very interesting.
My Mother in law makes swarovski jewelry as a side job and she buys at Fire Mtn Gems among other places. The prices are crazy cheap.
Yes…I was a beader for years so thought of them as cheap. Very funny to see how they jack up the price of a perfume bottle!
I want that Autumn Leaves candle…but don’t want to spend $85 on it. Ouch. And I’ll be the dissenter to say that for a change (for someone who typically hates bling), I think that bottle is really beautiful.
Same here…actually, I want both those candles.
I want it too, but not at $85 … I’d rather eat at Babbo.
Hubby and spent much less than $3000 but more than $85 on a weekend away in NYC last winter including a delicious night to remember at Babbo. I still dream about the Papparadelle with Hedgehog Mushrooms *sigh*…
It’s our FAVE place to eat – we sit at the bar when we don’t have a reservation and eat all the yummy breadsticks covered in crisped parmesan… we stay across the street when we sleep over
The spendy bottle–pretty but ridiculous. Who in their right mind would waste money like that? Sheesh, if you DO have that much to throw away—donate it to Heifer and do some good in the world. Again: sheeeesh!
The candles….oooooh yeah,gimme those….like when they’re on clearance somewhere for $25….it’s just scented wax for goodness sake.
Guess, I’m just a scrooge today.
Since when did the bottles become so important? Ive only ever really cared about the worth of the juice. Companies that try to use the bottle to inflate the cost for the consumer are scumbags.
That seems a bit harsh…but at any rate, most companies “use the bottle to inflate the cost” to one degree or another.
I’ve heard different numbers tossed around, but everyone agrees the largest percentage of the cost in mainstream perfume is packaging, not the actual juice. Followed by (or equal to) promoting.
I’m a sucker for a pretty bottle. I even keep empties if they appeal to me.
Yep.
These days, I would imagine the cost of the juice is the least expensive thing in building a scent from juice to advertising…
lol – I don’t think that I’d call them scumbags – they’re certainly opportunistic, but nobody actually has to *buy* the things.
If we can’t call them scumbags can we at least call them manipulative?? (I’ll sneakily turn that into ‘manipulative bastards’ later on my own…)
I agree that it’s ridiculous to jack up the price to $3K just for some cheesy rhinestones on the bottle, but on the other hand, I took a look — OK, I fondled it for a good 10 minutes — at the Kenzo UFO bottle a few days ago, and it’s an absolute pleasure to hold and behold. So, I think it hinges on whether the packaging is actually WORTH the extra cash.
To me that’s different somehow. Yes, you’re paying for the bottle, but you’re paying for a Ron Arad design instead of rhinestone bling. And glad to hear it’s cool in person, I still haven’t seen it!
I prefer the Angel refillable bottle to the mega expensive bottle! I do love the look of those LE ‘aged angel’ parfum bottles though
You mean the Liqueur ones?
that’s right – I wish they’d do a version for the normal EDP.
That would be nice, although I didn’t think they were outrageously expensive as it is…and I’m hoping they’re going to show up at the discounters.
Oooh… I hope so – I love the Alien Liqueur, but I’m not buying a backup at full price.
3000.00 dollars? I am applying the look-but-don’t touch theory here. Not crazy about Angel anyhow. However, I do like Nesti Dante’s soaps, esp. poppy .
Plus the soaps are cheaper.
I suppose it looks nice when the bottle is full, but I don’t think it would look as nice half-full or empty, and certainly not 3000$ nice.
I suppose if you spent that much, you could afford to keep it full at all times.
Yikes! I could take my butt to Hobby Lobby and hussy up my own bottle for half the price! (Plus, I think I could do a better job *guffaw* *snicker*). As far as the juice, I haven’t smelled Angel yet, but from what I’m reading it’s an olfactory nightmare (for some).
Oh yeah, speaking of expensive candles…
I get catalogs from BarbieCollector.com (please, don’t ask), and they advertised a candle by some guy named, I think, John Adler (have no idea who this guy is), and that candle went for $85 dollars! Yeeeooouuucccchhh!
I don’t know who John Adler is either, but Amouage makes wonderful perfumes…I’d love to have one of those candles!