My Trip to the Mall and Sampling Fragrances at Sephora

It was an unusual day for me to say the least; I was rushed to get to the dentist early this morning and left my phone at home. Did you know that if you ask a security guard at a mall if the place has an ancient thing called a pay phone, they'll look at you like you're from another planet? I figured that I must look crazy for asking since the news had reported that there are no more pay phones anywhere in the city, but since I'd seen a few in the boroughs and apparently, there is at least one still on the Upper West Side, I figured I had nothing to lose. I was wrong. Did you also know that if you roam around a mall looking for a taxi stand located inside the parking lot at said mall, security guards will treat you like you're looking for trouble by letting them know you got lost when you ended up exiting the lot next to a highway*? Honey, I was dressed to go to the dentist. It was a DAY. (*Edit: Fred says the desolate area is cordoned off for a subway.)

Anyway, since I was at a mall which I hadn't been to in some time, I went to a Sephora there and tested new fragrances. I was short on time, so I couldn't ask for samples, but I tried on a couple of the ones that drew my attention: Jo Malone Beach Blossom was first. It smelled beachy in a coconut suntan oil type of way with a smattering of nondescript florals and a warm, sunkissed woodsy base. It reminded me of Jil Sander Sun in a way, but being a sheer cologne, it was fresher, more modern. It had sillage but didn't seem cloying in the cab on my way home. Yes, I eventually found the taxi stand behind, not in front of, the store where they told me to find it -- there was no storefront and the entrance was at street level but only facing the rear parking lot. The layout was confusing; the least they could have said was to walk across the parking lot to find it from the part of the mall where I was.

Sorry to digress; I had just enough time to try a new line of scents by OUAI called OUAI-cation. I didn't know these light mists were for hair as well as body. I only sprayed them on the back of my hands, one scent on each: Among the 4 scents on display, I chose Santorini and St. Barts. Ibiza was nice but a bit on the heavily woodsy side, and Melrose Place was pretty much Victoria's Secret Strawberries and Champagne but with more rose, like a tea rose. St. Barts started out a light tropical scent but dried down a sharp, peony-like floral on me. Santorini was my favorite, a coconutty fruity floral. I will probably buy it at some point, although I doubt I'd visit the Sephora at that same mall ever again.

Incidentally, Santorini reminded me most of my own perfume oil creation, Crystal Rhapsody, a fragrance inspired by Aruba which I will offer again soon. I'm going to be changing the bottle design which I think will bring the price point down. I thought the holographic design with prints of my illustration was really cute, especially under the light when it shimmered in rainbow hues with different designs like dots and snowflakes but it was a bit too labor intensive and cost prohibitive to continue producing by hand. When our band Fred and Sally starts playing gigs, I will have free giveaways of samples of it, so please stay tuned to this blog for when that'll start. As for online purchase, we should have our merch store up and running again around the same time. Stay tuned and everybody but especially ladies stay safe when you go sample fragrances at a mall!

Related post: Do Most New Yorkers Know About LinkNYC Free Emergency Phone Calls?