Wednesday, August 09, 2006

I just spent $20...

... on a 16-ounce lavender-scented exfoliating scrub from Bath & Body Works. I tried it at my sister's house, loved it, and had to have it. I don't know what's gotten into me: I also almost spent $60 on a bottle of perfume this weekend. I am normally very basic when it comes to bath products-- cheapo shampoo, cheapo liquid soap, cheapo moisturizer, moderately-priced hair stuff... I am not a "product whore," as one of my friends described herself. Her shower is full of a gazillion different bottles of high-end potions, probably over $200 worth right there. And as for the perfume, I have bought a bottle of perfume-- or technically eau de toilette or whatever-- exactly once before in my life. This was when I was in college and I don't know what I was thinking. I probably only used the perfume once or twice. But it wasn't a total waste of money-- the perfume came with a free gift: 2 lovely wine glasses which I have used VERY frequently ever since! But otherwise, I usually don't like strong scents, so I can't even walk into most bath & body stores and I avoid perfume, which is probably a good thing, since it has one of the highest cost-to-volume ratios of any product you can buy!
Do you spend a lot of money just to smell nice? Do you think expensive hair and bath products and perfumes are worth it?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't spend a lot of money to smell nice (most of my beauty products are pretty basic, too), but every now and then I like to splurge on something. I don't think they're worth it at all... but that doesn't mean it's not a nice indulgence sometimes.

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm a guy, so NO, I don't think they are worth it. That being said, I have smelled some very nice hair a couple times in my life. (Okay, well it was before I was married and was dating)

Now, my wife and I just use the basics and we are both happy with them. My 3 year old daughter just loves different hair products that smell good in the bath. :)

Anonymous said...

It's so funny that you posted this. I had to read your post to my husband because I have been talking almost incessantly about wanting to buy some Hermes soap. I had a small bar left over that we got from a hotel we stayed at years ago, but it's gone now.

I found some on eBay, but I just can't make myself pay almost $20 a bar for soap. But boy, I would really love to have some of that soap! I'm hoping that I'll get some for Christmas, but I doubt it. Oh well.

Kimberly said...

Heheh. Funny you should ask. Had you asked a month ago, I would have said that I was as low maintenance as you are. Then I discovered Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab last month and it's been all downhill since. Now I can't get enough of smelling pretty.

But I still use Suave shampoo.

Single Ma said...

Blogger wants to keep eating my comment!!!!!!!!

Yep, it's worth it! I loves me some smell good. I gotta switch it up every now and then so I keep a healthy stash of BBW to maintain the rotation. I put it on in layers (shower gel, lotion, body spray) since they're such soft scents. Cucumber melon and Freesia are my favorites in the summer, but I wear perfume in the winter.

I love a good smelling man too! One that you can smell before you even see him is hella sexxy. ;-)

KMK said...

I am weaning myself off the products- I've found shampoo and conditioner, lotion, and soap easy to cut back on. I still tend to pay the big bucks for good facial lotion and cleanser. And when I am in need of retail therapy (although I'm cutting that back too), it's almost always a product of some sort.

Anonymous said...

Most perfumes smell bad on me (body chemistry or something), so I dab nice smelling lotions on myself. Once I'm out of the lotions, I am going to buy some essential oil (lavender) and dab that on me.

optioned unarmed said...

One excellent, not too difficult option is to make your own products. Aside from a much better price, one huge advantage is that you can avoid the toxic crap they put in so many of those products. Home-made products also make great gifts.

Anonymous said...

I have a tendency to spend a ton of $ on yummy-smelling lotions, but I recently re-discovered Jergen's Original Cherry Almond Lotion. That stuff smells great and costs about 1/5 of the BBW stuff. For body wash I use el-cheapo Skin Milk or one of the scented Target brand products. But I do spend $ on good perfume. One bottle lasts a couple of years, and for me, it's worth it.

optioned unarmed said...

Hey Anon 8/09/2006 9:37 PM:

Be really careful about using undiluted essential oils on your body. Some can cause highly toxic reactions. (for example, bergamot-orange can cause severe chemical sunburns with only small levels of sun exposure.)

(lavender tends to be considered quite safe in general though, and rather than causing burns it is known as a treatment for burns. still, you would probably want to dilute your lavender essential oil in either a high-quality vegetable oil if used as an oil, or in spring water if used in a spritzer.)

Homemade products really are a great way to go. There are some great books out there on aromatherapy, etc.

Anonymous said...

I am a product w5H*re. I use Aveda, NV Perricone, Shu Umera, Lancome, Chanel (love their nail polish), and NARS. But for facial cleansing I use Burt's Bees orange cleanser, love that stuff!!

HeJustLaughs said...

Smelling nice in college is easy. Just don't reak of beer like everyone else.

Anonymous said...

I am not big on spending big on smell. HOWEVER, I do think that there is something to be said for good quality shampoo/conditioner (bought from your stylist). It tends to be concentrated and while it costs more, it seems to treat my hair much better and lasts MUCH longer. In fact, I usually get bored with the scent long before the bottle is gone!