After spending the early part of my adolescence doused in Tribe and Sunflowers perfume, I tried hard to distance myself from the drugstore’s perfume offerings as I got older. And for the most part, I’ve succeeded. My two go-to perfumes are understated, sophisticated (I…hope?) and a far cry from my old fragrances, one of which actually came in (OHGOD) aerosol “body spray” form. (Why, self, why?)
Then came last week. I was wandering the aisles of my local pharmacy waiting for a prescription, and found myself in front of a Britney Spears perfume display. Having nothing better to do, and sort of curious, I decided to give them all a sniff.
And promptly fell madly in love with one of them. No, seriously.
May I introduce…Fantasy, by Britney Spears!
I’ve been wearing it for a week, and have already been complimented on it thrice (love that word), and asked what it is. The only trouble, of course, is admitting that I am, in fact, wearing Britney Spears perfume. But I will be shame-filled no longer! I smell fantastic, and — despite the fact that the bottle looks like something my princess-obsessed two-year-old would’ve designed — I am in love with this fragrance.
Obviously, everyone likes different types of perfumes, so I can’t say that everyone must run out tomorrow and buy this specific one. However, the overall experience of finding and loving a drugstore perfume as an adult has certainly been eye-opening, and I can honestly say I won’t be discounting (pun intended!) the drugstore perfume selections going forward.
Do you have any favorite cheap scents?
This reminds me of my favorite fragrance on my boyfriends in high school – Drakkar Noir. Oh, it takes me back. Do they still have it? Maybe I should smell it now and see what I think – I could get some for my hubby. If it has the same effect on me, he might wear it often, at least at home;)
I used to wear the EPIC drugstore perfume Exclamation! throughout junior high. I’m pretty sure it smelled like paint stripper. Or just a regular stripper.
I am fascinated by this Britney Spears stuff, though. Totally going to have to check it out.
AND! I LOVED the 1990s Gap Scents! Heaven and Grass were my absolute faves, and I about shit my pants when I found them both at the outlets! Before I knew about the outlets having them, I bought 2 bottles of Grass off of eBay. Such is my love.
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OMG! I WEAR FANTASY BY BRITNEY SPEARS! And every time someone asks me what I’m wearing… I’m all like, embarrassed at first… but! It IS SO YUMMY!
This reminds me of Bonne Belle lip balm and stuff… smelling like candy. Heh.
Isn’t it amazing how your favorites bring back such strong memories? Love it.
OMG! I’m cracking up. I love that you wear it, too! SOLIDARITY.
Ooh, Amreen, I just read the scent notes on the Jacob website, and I’m intrigued. Green apple, pink pepper, amber, musk…this is RIGHT up my alley.
I have J. Simp shoes, too! And I have the same reaction when people ask me about them, too. I need to hold my head up proudly, and OWN my trashy ’90s starlet gear!
Sara, Amanda, Darcey and Nothing But Bonfires – OMG! I used to *love* OM, too! Sadly, my mom told me it was too sexy for me when it came out. (In…1996? 1997? I was in high school, I remember that much.) Seriously. This was an actual, cringe-inducing conversation that we had. We compromised on Gap Heaven. Heh.
I used to LOVE a (now discontinued) Bath & Body Works peach body cream, so I can imagine (and relate to) your love for the Fruits and Passion peach perfume!
I use to love Sand and Sable, $9.99 at your nearest Walgreens. It smelled like suntan lotion and sand, reminded me of my days as a kid running around on the beach. Ahhhh the memories 🙂
Amanda, Om by Gap is my favorite perfume ever. I wore it throughout most of the late 90s until they stopped making it and I was so sad; one whiff of it and I’m 16 again. BUT GUESS WHAT: a few years ago I found a huge display of it at a Gap Outlet. And now whenever I’m in a Gap Outlet, they always have it! So I keep buying it! I kind of don’t want to know how old it is, but I figure it if still smells the same, it’s probably okay. So get thee to a Gap Outlet and relive your teenagerhood!
Amanda – I was an Om fan as well! I found that many of the Gap outlet locations carry the small travel sized versions of Om still…. worth checking out! 🙂
I have worn that perfume for a couple of years now. Seriously.
I bought it when it came out at Sephora (it was trying to be classy for a little while) and the salesgirl smartly sprayed me without showing me the bottle or telling me what it was. I fell in love and then turned 40 shades of red when she told me it was Britney’s new perfume.
Like you, I always get compliments on it, but people never believe me when I say what it is. Such is the plight of a Britney wearer.
My favourite scent of all time was a lancome body spray called “Oui”. I would layer the shower gel, body cream and spray; the scent would last all day and i would get compliments up the ying yang. then they had to go and ruin everything by discontinuing the spray and re-issuing some weirdo new oui that had green tea. i hated it.
so, i was scent-less for years until last november when i walked by the clothing store, Jacob. A heavenly scent descended upon me, which i soon found out was their signature fragrance. It was $30 so I bought two. I’ve now gone through 5 bottles in one year!
Oh, how I remember Sunflowers…
hahah
I totally know what you mean, though, because I felt the exact same way when I told people that my absolute favorite pair of shoes were Jessica Simpson. HEH.
Oh Amanda…I LOVED OM!!! I totally forgot about it but it was so good!
I’ve worn Clinique Happy for years….and I still get complimented on it…not cheap but not insane either.
I have always loved Om by Gap. They don’t make it anymore but it was cheap and came in an orange frosted glass bottle and I LOVED it. It had sandalwood and was musky. Not my usual favourites, but one sniff of it and I’m 16 again, falling in love for the first time.
Have you ever heard of Tocca fragrances? A friend of mine introduced me to them and while they’re not totally cheap (about $80/bottle) they are divine and I get compliments whenever I wear them.
I can’t believe that I’m admitting this but I love my $14 Georgia Peach fragrance from Fruits and Passion. I just ran out and don’t have the patience for the crowds at the mall. Thanks for the great tip. I didn’t think to visit my local drug store. I will give Britney’s new perfume a sniff. I may end up loving it too!