Happy Best Buy Friday! Our community project today: tell us about your most amazing fragrance discount or other rare find. Hat tip to Oakland Fresca for the topic suggestion!
What did you pick?
As always, do chime in with your scent of the day even if you’re not participating in the community project.
My pick is Fendi Theorema, which I'm now wearing for the 6th day in a row — so you knew I'd have to shoehorn it into this topic somehow, right? I bought my first bottle in early 2005, right around the same time I started this blog, in one of those mall kiosks. I can't remember what I paid for it except that it was not much. It was admittedly neither a rare find nor an amazing discount, but when I consider how much joy I've gotten out of it (and how beautifully it has kept all these years) I think it still qualifies as a best buy.
More recently, a very kind reader sent me a pristine bottle in box, and even though it is probably just as old, it smells even better.
Reminder: next Friday, 9 October, wear a fragrance from perfumer Dominique Ropion, if you have one.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2015, where I'll try to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image shows Fendi's Anna Selleria bucket bag, $2950.
So I wasn’t sure what I was going to wear for todays project. Should it be Nuit de Tubereuse (gift set, TK Maxx, double discounted to £11), Deliria (TK Maxx again, £29.99), Magnetism for men (local supermarket, £9.99), Bulgari Black tester (evilbay, £12) or any number of others – then I remembered something squirrelled away at the back of the fume-drobe…
It was a few years ago and my partner and I had just walked into Atkinsons – an independent department store in the centre of Sheffield (think Grace Brothers, but without the grace!). Now, the very small fragrance department is located near the main entrance into the store, so I clocked the unmistakeable grey box almost as soon as we walked in. I stopped. For a moment I didn’t move (moving would alert others to the gem in front of me, wouldn’t it?), then I gathered myself together and nonchalantly ambled over to the counter (in reality, I probably ran like a loon). I feigned indifference, picked up the box and saw the price sticker. My jaw dropped, I looked at Russ (eye roll, sigh), back at the box, back at Russ. “I’ll take this” I said to (screamed at?) the sales assistant. I offered her the box, she reached for it, I kept hold of it (she was going to give me it back right? she couldn’t change her mind about selling it could she?), she started to look concerned, I let go, she smiled, she reached for a bag, she put it in the bag, she rang it through the till, I handed her the money, she asked for the money (in about 1.3 seconds of letting go of the box, I’d got the cash in my hand), she handed me the receipt, (give me the bag, GIVE ME THE BAG), she gave me the bag. MINE! “Thanks” I said grinning like the cheshire cat. “You’re mental” said Russ shaking his head as we walked away.
So my SOTD is DK Men Unleaded, bought for the princely sum of £10.
How do so many L’Artisans end up in Canada?? American TJ Maxxes are seriously slacking.
Seriously. I weep!
I’m actually in the UK, and they’ve currently got Jatamansi (50ml), Piment Brulant (100ml), Safran Troublant (100ml) and L’Eau de L’Artisan (100ml) on their website, and in the store nearest me they’ve got 50ml bottles of Nuit de Tubereuse if anyones interested…
OMG! Ours are useless.
(weeps quietly)
Ha! How can you say ours are useless??! There’s every version of fragrance by Beyonce, JLo and Jessica Simpson at my local TJ Maxx, not to mention Justin Beiber and Shakira! Yeah, I never have much luck at TJs . . .
Where about’s are u Bob?
Sheffield, my nearest TK’s is the one at crystal peaks retail park.
There was a big run of APs in the Winners (Canadian version of TK Maxx) a year or so back, with bottles going for ca. $40-$50. I stocked up on the shower gel, which seems to no longer be part of the regular line.
Will check out that TK maxx when visiting friends in sheffield next month, thanks!
Bargain of a lifetime. That stuff was fantastic.
Wow. You’re a way better shopper than I am.
Or it could be I’m just a tightwad!
That story was hilarious! What a bargain!
I had that experience once with a mint condition Missoni scarf I bought in a second hand store… it is really gorgeous, and I got it for a song. I kept waiting for the lights to start flashing and alarms to ring as the cashier nonchalantly rang up my purchase. “Pretty scarf,” she said when she handed it back to me with my change.
” ‘I’ll take this’ I said to (screamed at?) the sales assistant.” I am DYING laughing. Thanks so much for sharing this story, spectacular. (And I didn’t even know this fragrance until now–looks like it comes in an amazing bottle too!)
It looks like a shiny futurist sculpture.
What a great retelling of this story! So funny!
I love the “eye roll, sigh” by Russ
So frustrating that the USA discount stores carry nothing close to some of the great finds those outside the USA find.
I was just in Marshalls this week and there was actually a few more scents than normal, and some good ones, but never any brands like L’Artisan.
HAHA BobH! I love the way you unfolded your story, not revealing the perfume till the very end. “You’re mental”. Hahaha, hilarious!
There are always treasures lurking in the most unexpected places!
Your telling of that story is priceless. very funny.
Best find: a perfect bottle of No. 5 eau de cologne for $5 at a Baltimore antique shop. I wear it when I need fragrant armor.
Ari, I had a dream last night that you were friends with my mom. weird, I know. (Also, awesome find. I need to haunt more antique shops.)
LET ME BRAID YOUR HAIR, ELISA’S MOM
Oh Ari, that made me laugh so hard, I’m just about in tears here
Argh. I never find anything in antique shops except empty bottles. I need to shop with you (or Angie, she’s the vintage queen).
Twice I’ve had this super awesome dream that I’m in some sort of junk shop or antique shop and there is a giant dusty fancy neglected armoire in the back…. and it is chock full of all these amazing vintage fragrances. No one knows they are there but me and I have to figure out how I’m going to get them….It’s exhilarating and stressful all at the same time.
Angie seems to live this dream. She finds such incredible stuff at Goodwill.
You’re so lucky to be able to buy perfume in estate sales and antique stores. I might be completely missing something, but I’ve never seen partly-used or old bottles of perfume for sale in A-NZ. Perhaps there’s an infuriating health-and-safety regulation thing in place; perhaps I’m looking in all the wrong places; most likely, it’s just one of those inexplicable Not-The-Done-Thing taboos. Now that I know about buying older perfumes, I have this little fantasy that on my next trip to the States, I’ll be wandering aimlessly around somewhere and will go to a Salvation Army store (substitute local equivalent) and there find a Precious–the identity changes with my various hankerings. That would be very exciting!
You need to move south….I got a boxed, unopened Schiaperrelli Shocking ( and what a beautiful 1950s bottle) for 20 cents! Also …don’t know why ….but Bulgari is often second hand and tons of Avon perfume. In my experience people don’t pick up second hand cosmetics….so I often get beautiful triple milled soaps. But the shocking was just that…price wise. I wore it the other day
Noooo….! Really? How WONDERFUL! I’m so happy for you; so much wanting to do the same.
But where? In the Sally Army shops? Any second hand shop? I must immediately go forth and search!
I live in the uk, waterdragon, absolutely no second hand perfume anywhere, and i pretty much live in junk shops and charity shops, boot fairs etc.
We share the same fantasy! i’ve never been to any parts of theU.S unfortunately, but if/when i do, vintage perfume is my top priority!… maybe somebody could write us a perfume guide, where to go etc..
Or–here’s a thought– we could take an extended trip ourselves and produce a “Canny Perfumista Guide to the USA”, earning ourselves endless gratitude from those who tumble into the rabbit hole behind us!
Sounds great. Re. Second hand shops…sallies, Vincent de Paul, hospice op shops, Red Cross….but it’s all down to luck and having to kiss ( or smell) a lot of frogs before you find the prince. Also…knowing we both like fountain pens….a great source for old waterman and Parker pens.
Pens….perfume…a Saturday morning pastime is born! I don’t mind kissing frogs all that much. I shall report back!
Though I’ve found quite a few not-so-rare vintage perfumes going through the antique stores (still kicking myself over the 19.95 full Jicky Edt 93ml!) I think my best buy was a tester of Paprika Brasil on eBay for less than half of retail. I’m powering through my bottle even though I know I won’t replace it when I’m finished. Still it smells heavenly.
Full 93 ml Jicky — are you saying you didn’t buy it??
I was two days until my paycheck, so I his it and hopes for the best. Alas, out was gone!
Oh, so sorry.
When I was in NO a year ago, I sopped in many of the antique shops on Royal Street and nary a one had perfumes. Hmmmph!
A few years ago I found in Winners (the Canadian version of TJ Maxx) a couple of scents by Italian niche line Odori, and got their fantastic Tabacco for $12. Regular price, I discovered a bit later: $225. It is wonderful stuff (and by all accounts the best of their line), golden and masculine.
Wow, what a steal! I loved their Iris.
That’s amazing.
I’m wearing Chinatown, a very nearly full 100 ml of which I got off a friend for a quite reasonable price, rather than my money going directly to evil Bond No. 9. I’ve wanted it for years, and the waiting paid off in 2014. But your comment reminded me of what I should have worn today, my beloved Donna Karan Gold EdP, from a big bottle from a gift set of which I bought (with lotion, etc.) at Winners for $25. Not as much of a ridiculous discount as yours, but it certainly made me happy.
I would buy a bottle of Chinatown tomorrow if they “changed hands.”
My bottle of Chinatown was free! I won tickets to a concert and sold them, and then scurried over Fragrancenet.
I could have gone for Theorema as well (got a bottle in a swap, so it was technically free?), but instead I’m wearing the original Fendi EDT — which I got with a lot of 4 or 5 other bottles for about $30 total in a moving sale. It’s delicious.
I can already tell that reading the prices on today’s poll is going to make me sick with jealousy!
Oh my gosh. (Too bad I’m in a hurricane this weekend, guess I will have to wait ’til next to start spending my every free moment at moving sales!)
Love the blue handbag in the pic!
In solidarity, I’m marinating in Fendi Theorema today. Gotta say I smell amazing
For my best buy (and I don’t have too many, I never find good deals), I purchased a bottle of Profumi del Forte Roma Imperiale from Takashimaya in NYC when they were closing. I think I got it for 50-70% off. If I had only known how much I would love this stuff and it would end up in my top 5 faves of all time I would have purchased 3 bottles!!! Because now my discounted bottle is long gone and I’m onto my 2nd or 3rd bottle (for full retail price).
I like that bag too, and I don’t like many of the Fendi bags.
Oh, and when Tak closed I bought my two Gobin Daude scents, both 50% off. So I probably should have worn one of those! That was such a great store.
Gobin Daude for 50% off. I just fainted from jealousy!!!
At the time, I thought GD was so overpriced, even at 50% off I thought they were awfully expensive. I had no idea what was going to happen to niche prices in the near future…
I went to college and law school on the east coast and NYC’s Takashimaya was always a favorite destination when I was in the City (momentary bi-coastal vertigo… City. City. City=NYC… City=SF…brain pfffft). No matter what, I would always buy something just to see it wrapped and packaged…such a beautiful store! Sniff.
I loved that Takashimaya store and was given a bottle of their fragrance as a gift, so free for me!
I still have a lot of their wrappings and reuse them for gifts.
I really miss that store! Such unique items and especially loved their floral/garden area in the front of the store.
I know, it was a lovely spot on 5th.
New London pharmacy had a bottle of stella or 50% off. Also TJ Maxx had a bvlgari cristallyne perfume for 20 bucks.
I am in Noir by TF- the woman version – I forgot about this project today.
Oh, that bag! I’m not a designer-bag person, but that bag is a thing of beauty. It also probably costs more than I have spent on every purse I have ever bought in my life.
I did pick up a $19.99 bottle of Jil Sander No. 4 at the duty-free this summer, but otherwise I am not great at bargain-hunting.
LOL — wouldn’t have thought of it, but yeah, pretty sure I have not yet spent that much, total, on handbags.
For some reason though it’s extra comical to me that the bag is about $3000, and the Karlito pom pom thingie I posted the other day is about $1500. So you’d be spending half the price again to “decorate” your bag.
Robin you just inspired me to buy a mini of the Theorema edp from ebay. $13.99 so not a great buy but ok. I’m about to go put on some Krazy Krizia which I got for $7.00 from an online discount shop. It is a splash bottle, but it was new and 1.7 oz. so a good deal.
I hope you are going to like it!!
So that’s where it went! I was planning to buy it tomorrow when my eBucks get activated
I’d love to hear what you think!
Several years ago I got an estate lot off ebay– $48 for about 30 bottles, some empty and some with contents. Am currently wearing Shiseido Inoui from that lot, but I might switch to something else later
Nice one, Rena!
Your talking not even $2 per bottle – wow! Crazy!
Wonderful buy!
Van Cleef & Arpels Bois d’Iris (75ml) and Hermès L’Ambre des Merveilles (50ml) at about 50% off retail from evilbay. Admittedly not the best bargains but still very attractive prices!
I forgot about Tubéreuse Criminelle which I found on Amazon at 50% off retail and right before it went back to the exclusives line.
I got one there too! Amazing deal, wasn’t it?
It was! I ordered it the second I found it on the day Barneys pulled all their stock!
That’s 50% less than I paid for Bd’I so it sounds like a bargain to me – well done!
I was very happy with that purchase, Bd’I is sublime!
Good morning to all. That bag is a gorgeous colour, Robin, just my affair. If only the price were as well!
My Best Buy Ever is a bottle of DK Gold, which I bought for US$4.89 in a shop in a town in California–maddeningly, I can’t think of its name: Corduroy? Gilham? The man would remember, but he is wisely asleep. Anyway, there I was, and there it was, with a price of $10 which I was perfectly happy to pay, when the charming lady said that if I bought something else, she would make a reduction. I did, and she did, and that’s what the price ended up as, and here we all are in A-NZ. I love Gold, though I’m not wearing it at the moment because it always seems to me as though it needs light and laughter: it doesn’t feel like a 3 a.m. scent. Right now, I’m wrapped in the memory of yesterday’s Lyric, and very nice it is.
Possibly Gilroy? Home of the giant garlic festival.
That does sound right, though I don’t recall a garlic festival, and surely I would have noticed. We were there in September — we always seem to go to the States in September, for some reason–so perhaps they don’t celebrate garlic then. I know there were very many bargains to be had at this place, and between us, we had quite a few! It was good fun at the end of a great trip.
Yeah, the garlic festival happens in late July.
$5 for DK Gold! Nice.
I’m in Serge Lutens Cuir Mauresque, and my story is this: I discovered that I adore this scent and that it had only been part of the export line for a brief period at almost the exact same moment After hunting all over the internet, and finding nothing (and beginning to panic), I ran across a full bottle on Amazon, for a price that seemed far too low. I’d heard rumors about resellers on the Big A selling counterfeit perfumes, but into my shopping bag it went anyway, and it turned out to be perfect. I think I scored the very last export bottle in the entire U.S. Okay, that’s probably not true … but it feels true.
Glad it turned out! And if it feels true, it’s better than true
Best buy was a couple years ago when I got a gift set of Shalimar PI at TJMaxx for under $60. Not that cheapest but it was exactly what I wanted at a discount.
The TJ Maxx stores around me seriously need to up their game! I’ve not found anything that I’d want to buy at one.
The best deal fragrance I got was my Journey Woman I bought on sale, but it was still a bit pricey.
I remembered the challenge, but decided not to participate. It’s cold, rainy, and dark outside today and I needed something to suit my mood: tired and lazy. The last time I wore today’s SOTD I raved about it so much someone here said a lemming was born – and that’s very true. It had been a while and just after I applied it I thought – but is it? Now that it’s had time to warm up (and me) yes, I still love this stuff and will be huffing my wrists all day. I only have a manu sample and may price out decants. I can’t afford a FB… yet. I’m wearing Xerjoff Esquel.
The TJ Maxx nearest to me is normally so picked over that I don’t even bother getting excited to pop in when I happen to drive by. They only seem to have Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton frags, lol!!!
My only successful antique store buy was a 5-dollar empty bottle of Shalimar, the round one. It was a Christmas present for a Shalimar-loving friend and she was over the moon.
I like having the old empties b/c I can put them on top of my dresser.
I’m wearing Rochas Femme (modern), which I got for $9. In the spirit of bargains, I’m also eyeing the final-sale priced J.Crew/Arquiste scents even though I already have three to four (!!!) scents in my likely-purchasing queue. The quarterly confessions have done a good job of spacing out my purchases, but I feel like I might cave this quarter.
Ooooh – thanks for alerting me to the final sale situation!
Also – you smell great!
Would this be a first purchase of the JCrew/Arquistes or a backup? I’m dithering about the backup question…
Both . A backup of one scent, a first purchase of the other.
Oh hmmmmm… well if you like both, I’d think it makes sense at least to get the one you don’t have yet. (I only liked one, and while there is a part of my brain perfume-crazy enough to wonder if I should get it anyway, in case I “grow into it”–so far I’m succeeding in resisting that impulse!) As for the backup… well as I say I’m dithering! It will be years before I finish my first rollerball, which argues against a backup, I think, given the zillion and one perfumes I will try between now and when I would even break into the second rollerball.
But.
Not wearing either of my steals (off to yoga), but 2 vintage buys stand out: Diva in a huge 3.4 oz bottle for $20 or less, plus estate sale find of Joy edt (another huge bottle) for less than $25, IIRC.
Oh, vintage Diva! My god, that stuff is good. One of the great unsung chypres of the eighties. I’ve never been brave enough to wear it in public (and I used to wear Paloma Picasso Mon Parfum, so I am not afraid of a floral chypre, but Diva is too much for me) but I bought a clearance gift set ages ago, 50 mL edp plus minis of the edp and lotion, just to have it.
Love Diva!
it’s pretty hilarious/ironic that my enormous bottles are of frags I’m afraid to wear outside of the house!
Gosh I would like to come across some vintage Joy!!
I’ll swap you some vintage Eau de Joy if you are interested… unused, brown travel bottle… I have two of them!
Ooh you are so sweet to think of me, wonder what I might have that’s nice enough to swap for such a treat! Let’s email and see if I can find something suitable — I’m at catherineh789 on the mails via the googles
I’m wearing one of my most recent best purchases. EDC of Shalimar from ca. 1983, $5 for 50ML, UNOPENED splash bottle.
At first, I thought this might be my gateway to true love of Guerlain. But now, just a couple of hours after application, I can’t smell anything. Did I not use enough? Am I anosmic to this? Did its lasting power fade over time? Clearly more testing is required.
For science
My most memorable find was an unopened bottle of Shalimar perfume in the Avion purple presentation box and baccarat bottle (circa 1960’s to early 70’s) that I found in an antique mall in Maine for $8. Because of evaporation through the seal, there were only about 8ml of perfume left but it was unspoiled and gorgeous. The stuff is so potent that’s a lifetime worth! Ironically, I can only wear Shalimar in tiny doses once in a great while. SOTD is L’air de Rien.
Oh my gosh, and those are such beautiful objects too.
Yes indeed. The bottle was so wonderful that I did a bunch of research on Baccarat bottles to find out more about it. Since I knew what the bottles and boxes looked like, the next time we were in Maine, I found a green velvet covered and gold stamped presentation box with an enormous crystal Baccarat quadrilobe bottle in it. Probably the largest bottle that Baccarat made aside from the giant display bottles. The label was perfect (Jicky parfum), the stopper was in perfect condition and it still had it’s export label on the bottom from the 1940’s. Best of all you could still smell the vintage Jicky perfume when you opened the stopper. I kept the bottle for awhile and then sold it on eBay for about three times what I paid. I’m sure it was worth much more because the buyer jumped on it right away. Together with another eBay perfume sale, I used the money to buy a bottle of PHI.
Wow! That sounds gorgeous. Thank goodness Guerlains mainly don’t suit me, scent-wise, because I could fall down quite a rabbit hole with those old bottles…
Wow – that Shalimar score is awesome. Those vintage crystal bottles are gorgeous!!!
I love reading everyone’s bargains… weirdly satisfying even if the deals are vicarious!
1980s Balenciaga coffret of Le Dix, Michelle, and Quadrille, plus a very heavy key chain in the shape of one of the bottles, all in the original gift box, from an “antique” shop for $30. Sadly, I finished the last of these a while ago.
Vintage Chanel No. 19 Parfum, 15 ml, refill spray bottle, just short of full, $35 on eBay
Good Girl Gone Bad, brand new in sealed box with white clutch purse (the one with the gold snake), at an “estate sale” of a store that had gone out of business. A local auction house was liquidating the inventory. $50
I think those are my best. I’ve gotten a few deals on perfumes at TJMaxx (most recently Burberry Brit Rhythm and Guerlain’s AA Flora Nymphea… but I am still making up my mind about those two).
Wearing? I think I’ll go with the No. 19!
Wow those vintage bottles… jealous!!
I covet that snake clutch! Good for you, Oakland Fresca!
I am wearing vintage No 5 EdT, from the splash bottle, it used to belong to my mother and must be 25 or 30 years old and it is in pristine condition. The most beautiful fragrance I own.
I can only imagine how beautiful that vintage No 5 is!!!
My most amazing fragrance discount was Cuir de Lancôme for $5 on Amazon.com. I think I may have mentioned it in a comment some years ago. I’m not sure how the price was that low, other than I may have had points on my Amazon credit card….. nevertheless. I know it’s not all that expensive anyway, but still, $5.
Wow! That’s an amazing find!
Holy crap, and I thought I was doing good when I got mine for .. whatever I paid for it… $30 or something, also on Amazon.
Ditto wow!
At Goodwill, I got an unused Atelier Orange Sanguine gift set with 30ml cologne, personalized leather case (alas, not my initials), and 265ml shower gel and 265ml body lotion for $53.00. I think it retails for around $150. Also, I think I got my Shalimar Ode a la Vanille…Mexique at fragrancenet for about $40 after all my discounts were applied. Considering it’s the only Shalimar I can wear, a terrific deal. I’m not wearing either one today, I wanted Sarrasins.
I got my 30ml JM Blackberry & Bay (likewise in a box inscribed to someone else!) at Goodwill! They were so sweet, too–it was priced at $8, but they insisted on giving me the student discount!
What a great story. Imagine being offered student discount at Chanel or Fendi….that would be hilarious
I know, right?? The incongruity was bananas, I felt so weird accepting the reduction. But it did make me really love Goodwill, that at least at this branch, every single time you check out, they quiz you to make sure you’re not missing any more discounts you might be eligible for! It’s really, really kind way to treat shoppers with limited means. Meant a lot to me, I know where I am going with my next bag of things to donate!
Wow! Atelier at Goodwill. That’s really surprising.
I saw a Frederic Malle there not too long ago, too!
Good heavens, which Malle?? Did you grab it??
It was Vetiver Extraordinaire. I don’t care for vetiver, and it only occurred to me afterward that I could have bought it and resold it. I went back but it was gone.
Oh, yes I can imagine myself doing just the same (esp with vetiver). Well hopefully it was snagged instead by someone who loves it!
I had a few options I could have gone with today, but I went with my vintage L’Heure Bleue parfum. It’s 1/4 oz. in the umbrella-style bottle in its box. It was still sealed too, which didn’t last long after I got my hands on it. I gave $50 for it, which seems like a steal to me.
I think the seal on my bottle isn’t good, though, because I hardly wear this one, and I was a bit shocked at how much it had evaporated when I opened it this morning. It was a full bottle when I got it, and now it’s down to half. I know I lost a little bit to leakage, and I had worn a little, but I know it should still be at least 3/4 full. I’ll probably need to add a bit of everclear to keep reconstitute it and think of something to seal the cap better.
Oh dear, I wonder if there is something you can wrap over the top? Wouldn’t be so pretty, though.
I’m sure that’s what I’ll have to do. Won’t be pretty, but it’s in a box so I won’t see it unless I take it out. And if it helps keep it from evaporating away, it will be worth it.
I suggest using parafilm. I wrap all my extraits and bell jars with this.
Best deal ever: L’Artisan Parfumeur! (Yes I am in Canada!!)
3-4 years ago, on one of my after dinner walks, I entered Winners on Bloor St. (Toronto) and they had 100ml of L’artisan Parfumeur for $29.99 each.
Traversée du Bosphore, Havanna Vanille, Méchant Loup, Thé pour un été, Tea for two, L’eau de l’Artisan, Fleur de Liane, Batucada, Coeur de Vetiver Sacré, Poivre Piquant, Fou d’Absinthe, and Bois Farine (this one sadly only in 50ml)
I got one of each!! I figured that for that price, I couldn’t go wrong.
And just last week, I managed to get a 100ml bottle of Tom Ford Black Violet! (as I already mentioned in a previous comment- but I’m still excited about it!))
Wow that has got to be the mother load of all deals! 12 bottles for the price of two! That was very smart of you to just get em all at that price.
We were in Toronto for a few days week before last and had about an hour to kill before heading back to Boston, so we walked up to Bloor to see if I could find a fine “Canadian made” sweater at the Bay. My brain still thinks it’s 1990 in Toronto apparently. I’m so disappointed that we didn’t go into Winners instead because the Bay has been bought by Lord and Taylor so I could get most of the stuff they had here in Boston. Even the dollar value didn’t make any difference after the hefty sales tax!
Mother load indeed!! LOL
And for future reference, The Bay on Bloor St. is the worse of the whole city. The “Good” Bay is the one on Queen St.
That really is amazing.
I’m so glad you got all of them. I’m such a dummy, even in face of such good prices I’d still be like, “Ok, just pick two” even though I’d also think it was reasonable to buy two at full price! Logic sometimes eludes me…
That is seriously impressive.
I would have done the same! Score!
Today is my birthday, and though I could have worn my best buy (L’arte di Gucci from Ebay), I was in the mood for Natori and doused myself in that instead.
I have been so busy lately that my comments have not been as regular as I would like, but on a day full of gratitude, I had to be sure to stop by and tell you all what a lovely part of my life you have become, even if it is almost exclusively online. This community reminds me to enjoy life on occasions when I might forget, and to pay forward the generosity I receive here. So thanks to all of you for that.
Have a good day dears!
Happy Birthday!
Thanks Pixel!
Happy birthday!
Thanks MikasMinion! And oooh – new icon! Who is that kitten?
That is Amelia Pond. I decided to cycle through the many photos of our current kittens and this is my favorite photo of her so far. She is just the sweetest and most mellow kitten I’ve ever met, even if she’s one sock short of a full load (I, frankly, think she’s a heavily disguised genius but my husband disagrees).
HA! I may borrow the phrase “heavily disguised genius” at some point in the future, giving you credit of course.
What a sweet kitty girl.
Awww!
Happy birthday. Hope it’s wonderful
Thanks Rena! I’m still so bummed that I didn’t get to hang out with you guys when you were in town last. Let’s please try again next time!
Yes. Me too sorry to miss you Rena.
Happiest of birthday’s to you, ihadanidea!
Thanks Floragal!
Wishing you a great day and an even better year. Happy birthday!
Thanks Missionista!
Have an amazing birthday!
I will try!
Oh, so sweet! Hope you have a birthday to match
Thanks so much C.H.!
Happy Birthday, Lovable Libra!
Thanks Nice Nebbe! (A better alliterative adjective is escaping me at the moment – my apologies.)
Lol, I’ll take it. Although Naughty would work too!
Happy birthday!
Thanks Sweetgrass!
Your picture makes me want to dye a red streak in my hair…way too fun.
dooo iiiiittt!
When I took that pic I actually had the red/pink streak and a blue one right next to it, but you can’t really see the blue one. I have since gotten tired of the blue one and dyed over it. Still got the pink one though.
Happy birthday! Of course you should wear whatever you feel like on your special day. I don’t have Natori perfume, but I’m wearing one of my favourite Natori bras in your honor.
Ooooh – those bras are pretty. Thanks Wendy!
Happy Birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day.
Thanks Jenkr! It has actually been pretty wonderful and your wishes make it more so.
Happy Birthday, Dear, and many more.
Thanks Siciliana!
Happy birthday! You are sweet and you smell good too! We enjoy your comments as well!!!
Thanks so much my rose buddy! You’re a doll.
Have a great happy long trip around the Sun, sweetie.
Thank you Solanace! You help make the trip more enjoyable.
Hope it is a wonderful birthday!
Thank YOU Robin! You’re the perfumed best.
ihadanidea, I truly thought I had wished you happy birthday earlier, but I am obviously befuddled by sleeplessness. So, late but sincere, may you have a life full of wonderful days and an especially splendid day today.
Dear, dear Waterdragon – thank you! My day was indeed splendid and you have helped make the day after so too. Thank you for the good wishes.
Happy Birthday!
Thanks Lillyjo!
Happy Birthday! I hope your day has been a very good one with a wonderful year to follow!
Thanks so much Laila! It was a good day, for which I am grateful.
Happy birthday dear girl! I was hoping you’d be in Natori. It’s your precioussssssss….
Haha – yes it is. One among several I would say, but it is happy-making stuff.
Thanks Lizzie! Hope I get to see you in person again soon!
Happy Birthday!!! See you at Sniffapalooza?
I am so excited for it!
Thanks Hajusuuri!
I envy the deals! But, it is nice to know that deals are to be had!
I’ve gotten a couple things at TJ MAXX (OdlR Live in Love; Burberry Brit Rhythm) for $10.00, but neither of those are my favorites. My Grocery Store often has Shalimar EDT for $44.00, and a few times a year has some bottles of Dune for $56.00. But, these stories inspire me to try to hit some estate sales. Maybe there are hidden unopened bottles of original Diorissimo or Fath’s Iris Gris hiding in someones closet…. Today, I am in Chanel No5 extrait, with my pretty new dusty rose cashmere sweater! I feel very luxe at work…:-)
Sounds beautiful!
I got a vintage mini Miss Dior in the houndstooth bottle for about 2 euros a couple of years ago. The label was pretty much completely gone, which is why it was so cheap, but the juice is unmistakably Miss Dior. Using it sparingly, I still have more than a half left!
Oh I would REALLY like to smell the original of this. I like the current pretty well, actually, but/and can only imagine how much better its earlier incarnation was…
I’ve gotten some good deals, though no smokin’ hot ones:
– DK Woman, 50ml, $35 at TJMaxx (my only bargain store success)
– DK Gold, 30ml, $14, from overstock
– A nearly full bottle of Box of Eels parfum from evilbay, $140.
– Teo Cabanel Early Roses, unopened, 100ml, $45, evilbay.
– Teo Cabanel Meloe, 100ml, $67 from Teo Cabanel when they were switching their bottle design.
But I consider Natori to be my best bargain in terms of the delight it brings me vs the cost — 50ml tester for $14.
It’s a sampling day, so SOTD is a coupla different things :^)
Those are some major bargains!
My best perfume buy is easily the $8 partial bottle (I think it had about 1 of 4 oz remaining) of Diorissimo EDT–I almost passed on it, because at the time I didn’t think I was much for vintage… obviously the Diorissimo has since converted me
This may actually be my best buy in anything, ever. Its main competition is a black tuxedo dress from Nicole Miller I bought in the Macy’s in Herald Square in college. It was on the sale rack, so I expected it to be somewhat discounted…but not for it to ring up as $5! I was so shocked I tried to get the sales person to double-check the price, fearing she might get in trouble for basically giving away the dress–she gave me an are-you-a-moron look and literally told me to take it and run.
And that still isn’t the best part–the best part is that the very next weekend, NYT Sunday Style ran a Bill Cunningham photo…of a woman wearing my $5 dress at the Metropolitan Opera! It’s REALLY hard to compete with $8 vintage Diorissimo, but a $5 Bill Cunningham-approved dress might be the thing that does it
Your horoscope must have been fabulous that month.
I think so
And it happened at a great age, too–can’t remember now if I was 20 or not even, but it was thrilling to feel so suddenly and unexpectedly Part of The World, in a way that I definitely could not have been without a really big dose of lucky stars 
(Falls into a dead faint)
Pretty much my exact response!! (The sales woman really did have to shoo me out, I was so frozen in shock.)
Those are both fabulous deals. I love the tuxedo dress story–thank god for Bill Cunningham.
In a rush between meetings – not time to explain. SOTD is Bois des Iles edt based on inspirations from yesterday. Best bargain ever, recently, was the bag full of bottles I got from my older friend who moved: Sabi, vintage No 19, Kelly Caleche…..Cheers!
Bag full of bottles? That sounds interesting. When you have some time I’d like to know the full story.
It’s an older woman who served on my Library board. Her MIL was very good at sending her expensive gifts – handbags, jewelry, frags…. and she doesn’t wear frags b/c of allergies. She found out that I’m a fragrance nut and then the last time I saw her before she moved to Florida, she just handed me this bag full of all these fragrances. Most were unopened. I was overwhelmed.
So amazing!
Wow! What dreams are made of. How lovely!
Last summer i found the 5 oz bottle of No. 5 Eau Pemiere on ebay, and i think paid about $60? Not bad
Aaand, that’s also my sotd…
5!!! oz? Wow.
And i am twisted enough to sometimes think i need a backup.
Twisted.
Good deal!!
Quick best-buying note for all of us frequently sad US TJMaxx/Marshall’s shoppers–this week at Marshall’s I saw an actually pretty lovely collection that included Marni Rose, Elie Saab, Elie Saab L’Eau Couture, Baiser Vole EDT, Adam Levine for Her, Versace The Dreamer, Marc Jacobs Bang, and a whole bunch of different $10 Bliss body butters. A person could smell pretty great for a pretty long time with that array!
Hmmm, I like the Elie Saab not quite enough for full price but enough to wear the heck out of a bargain bottle. Might be worth taking a look. Thanks for the heads-up (though my area has the worst discount stores I’ve ever encountered).
Great PSA!
SOTD = Bvlgari Black
40 mLs (i think or whatever the smaller hockey puck holds) for $26. I have since bought a larger sized back-up. I never want to be without it.
It really is a great deal. When you consider the perfume landscape, it’s amazing that something like Black is widely available. Way to go Bulgari (…now give us back Omnia!)
Perfume you inherit from your grandmother counts doesn’t it? When my dear French grandma passed away I received all her dresser items: dusting powder with swan down puff, her fancy lipstick case and all her perfume. She was a snob, she only wore PERFUME. The 2 treasures I still wear are both Guerlain; Cuir de Russie which is perfect on me and very much reminds me of her. And a bottle of Coque’d’or in the famous bow bottle! She came to the US from France as a young newly married woman and brought perfume with her. She had priorities even then
Sounds like it counts to me!
Even better with the memories. That gold deco bow bottle is fabulous!
A bargain plus a memory is worth a bargain several times squared!
Shiseido FdB and Diorissimo for 8$ each (same thrift store, same day).
But some other vintage/thrifted finds have turned into my best swaps….The Chanel that didn’t suit me, the Donna Karan swan bottle, the giant bottle of Fendi still in the box…all got swapped to more suitable homes, and I got to try scents I’d otherwise not afford.
Hey Chanel!!!
So jealous!!
I used to spend hours trawling through vintage perfume on ebay, looking for interesting things that no one seemed to be paying attention to. My oldest perfume may be 1929 Mon Seul Ami d’Isabey, in the cylindrical, art deco presentation, like this:
http://g.hprints.net/md/64/64838-isabey-1929-mon-seul-ami-photo-scaioni-hprints-com.jpg
It’s around 90% full, and seems to be in good condition. I paid $36, including shipping (five years ago).
The real trick was figuring out how to open it, with that teeny, slippery cylindrical stopper. Finally, I looped strip of heavy shoe leather around the stopper to gain purchase and protect the glass, then twisted it with pliers.
It’s a deep, soft perfume rich with real sandalwood, etc.
Wow, that sounds so interesting! I love sandalwood.
(Re the stopper, I meant spherical.)
Beautiful bottle! I once bought a mini of Penhaligon’s…. it wasn’t new, but it was full… and twisted the stopper cap right off the stopper. It was hardly as precious as yours, but I was still so annoyed at my clumsiness. I will follow your example in the future!!!
I’ve broken a couple of other stoppers that had very thin necks, including a Chanel No. 5. I broke the Chanel bottle to get the perfume, but the other, rarer one is waiting until I think of a better way, such as finding someone with a drill that works on glass. I’m wondering what kind of craftsperson might have such a thing.
I think the best advice is using the freezer and also, if it’s an older bottle, put droplets of alcohol around the intersection between the stopper and the neck for a few hours to dissolve gummy gunk that might be holding it.
I’m spitballing here, but: find a jeweller or some other craftsperson with a Dremel, for which you can get tiny 1/16″ drill bits that will cut through glass. Have them bore a hole near the top of the bottle, seal that (with tape), and then bore another hole at the bottom. Seal that too. Take it home. Dribble the contents into another bottle. Ought to work.
Oakland, I am having that same issue now. I just got a mini of Penhaligon’s Artemisia a few weeks ago, and the stopper broke off. Half of it is still in the bottle. How did you get the stopper out? I’d like to be able to use this, and don’t really want to smash the glass…
Between preferring rural living, chemical sensitivies and being generally particular, I’m probably the world’s worst bargain shopper. So I’d have to say my best value comes from “peripherals and alternatives”: powders for summer humidity, lotions & creams in winter, and essential oils year round.
In preparation for winter I’m wearing sandalwood & rose EOs.
Years ago I found a bottle of Patou 1000 perfume in an antique shop for about $10. Being pre-perfumistahood, I gave it away while moving from NY to CA. Seemed so strong. As a perfumista I had to haunt evilbay for a (well, several) replacement(s). Live and learn.
1000 “seemed so strong…” I chuckle and am sad for you at the same time….
Femme de Rochas. This is sold for close to nothing at every discounter, and I find it beatifully retro chic in its dark yet soft fruitness, a perfume I love and which I would surely covet if it came in a Bell Jar. Those who knew the old Femme might feel underwhelmed, but this is one case when the new iteration feels perfect to me, who never knew the former – something I cannot say, for instance, of Vent Vert, which smells chemical and piercing, even if I never met the galbanum rich old version to compare.
This one is SUCH a good deal. I think I got mine for $20 with shipping and it’s now a favorite.
Oh, and as someone who knows old Femme – they’re very similar. New Femme is plummier and has that big poof of cumin, and I’d say it’s less smooth overall, but they’re still sisters if not twins.
Thank you for the info. Really enjoying it today. Have a great weekend.
I have a bottle of new Femme, and while I like the old one, I actually kind of liked the newer one better because I kind of like the cumin in it (though I’ve found that the EDT that I bought seems more cumin-y than the decant that I had previously, which I think was EDP). I got mine on Fragrancenet for like $25 or so.
Thank you for sharing. Except for Pamplelune, which smells disgusting on me, I’d say I really enjoy cumin. Arabie, for instance, is awesome!
My best find came courtesy of a fellow NSTer. Several years back she posted that Sephora at JcPenney was discontinuing Fracas. I ran out the door within the hour. Extraits were $20 each, as were 3.4 oz. bottles, and the body lotions and cremes were $8 each. -All approximately 1/6 of the price at the time. I can’t remember how many of each I bought anymore, but I depleted the stock at two stores. I was unemployed at the time and thought I could resell on ebay to make some cash. But it turns out the Fracas has been my MILs signature scent for more than 40 years, (I was new to perfume at the time and had no idea) so instead I’ve given it out as gifts. (Including one to myself, of course.)
OMG.
Nice!
I’m here only to read, as I’m completely hopeless when it comes to bargains. I think I have always paid full price for everything. But I enjoy the stories very much, despite the envy (although Lucy’s 20$ for Fracas extrait almost killed me).
I mostly buy at full price too, Anniky. My operating principle is,”If love exists, then buy and enjoy”, but I must confess to a certain hunter-gatherer instinct to. I fancy scoring a second-hand prize for ten cents just once, for the experience and the sense of triumph.
Me three so to feel like I’m gettting a deal, I wait for a deal ($ or % discount event, a goodie bag, ebates cashback).
My best find ever was a bottle of Lyric Woman eau d e Parfum which I found on ebay for about half the price. SOTD is Guerlain’s Samsara…a cozy perfume on a miserable rainy day.
Wildly late to the party, but: $10 vintage Mitsouko cologne and extrait set at the flea market. $10.
I also found a couple L’Atrtisans at Winners: that vetiver one (I don’t like it much) and Mimosa pour Moi (I like it a lot). But that’s not as exciting as the Mitsouko.
I would pretty much pass out if I saw that Mitsouko set for that price. I mean, I would pass out AFTER I had bought it. From hyperventilation.
I have a number of Best Buys but the one I chose today suits a sunny and cool fall day just perfectly: YR Nature Millenaire; nose Olivier Cresp. Long d/c, the mini’s on evilbay go for more than I paid fur a full 2.0 oz. bottle – less than $20 – and then I got a free full-size backup bottle with another order. From YR: ‘Nature Millenaire is a woody spicy scent, with Scents of Earth, Bergamot Orange, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon bark, cedarwood, incense, myrrh, benzoin.’. It is primal, sensual, earthy, woody, rooty, and exotic and is my very favorite YR fragrance and definitely my autumn favorite. Tauer’s LdDM reminds me of this, but NM came first and I don’t need more than a sample of the Tauer as long as I have this one. I would be lost w/o it.
Not sure what my best bargain has been but here is a recent. I was visiting another city and a perfumista there was selling off a few bottles she no longer loved. One was a bell jar of Boxeuses with 20ml left. However, when I dabbed a little on I found it a bit wan (as I had found my wax sample). A friend from my city, however, asked me to get Box for him so I ponied it back.
When I returned, however, he had lost interest in it, and it was clear he would only be fetching it and paying for it as a matter of obligation. Since I love the bell jars I decided to keep it instead, decant a little for reference and give the rest away. Then I could keep the beautiful bottle. Finally I opened it up (it had been well-sealed for the trip). And as I was in a bit of a hurry I was not as careful as usual and when I pulled out the stopper quite a bit splashed on my arms.
So – it seems that more generously applied Boxeuses is the most beeeeoooootiful plum perfume with a lovely leather undertone. New Love. And I’m not giving away even a ml
I love your story. And Boxeuses.
What Annikky said!
Thank you both – me three!
I am really missing SOTD posts these days in my fragrance-free and internet-limited job, but I’m determined to continue participating in Fridays even if it’s after I get home! So I just put on some of the Mitsouko I got last weekend at a killer estate sale – $8 for nearly 100ml of EDT. I also got L’Heure Bleue ($16) and Ysatis and Cinema…. I am still kind of kicking myself for not taking the Nahema ($25) but a budget is a budget. (No idea how they were pricing the Guerlains! The bottles were pretty similar.)
What a haul! I dream of finding these perfumes….
Congrats on your haul! The only thing I ever find are a few Avon bottles that don’t interest me (I would actually buy Sweet Honesty but never have found it).
I felt the same way up until a month or two ago! They are out there, you will find them.
I think my recent purchase of AG Songes EDT and EDP for about 100.00 was really good. I was also pleased that they were older stock, pre-IFRA is almost always preferable to post.
SotD is Hiris, another scent that makes me think “orange” in the month of October. It reminds me of time spent trimming orange and tangerine branches from trees in the garden of my childhood home. Woody citrus plus florals is a delight. Happy Friday!
Forgot to mention my favorite best buy in fragrance is Atelier Cologne’s sample set.
Oh nice, yes that’s a good pick! Surprised more sample sets haven’t been mentioned. Lots of good deals out there in this regard.
Yes! As I said, I’m hopeless with bargains, but I love a sample set – from my first one, Ormonde Jayne, to the latest (Neela Vermeire and Arquiste). My favourite is actually Malle’s coffret: it’s not cheap, of course, but if you can afford it, it’s great value. But it seamed a bit obnoxious to mention it among all the 8-dollar deals…