Another work trip - 3 days in Paris? Way worse places to be jet lagged in meetings. Wanted to focus on specialness vs volume as I had so little free time. But this city is exceptionally dangerous for scent heads - everywhere I turned was a brick and mortar storefront of brands I typically only see at dept stores in the US. I took a bunch of photos if anyone’s interested but in the meantime here’s what I took home with a few light thoughts.

Guerlain - Rose Chérie. My first Guerlain purchase and it was extremely special. The store associate spent a ton of time with me and made me feel so elegant (I am not an elegant person) and that’s reflected in this scent - luxurious powdery rose that dries down into a deep sweetness after 5 hours -ish. She also gave me a mini travel version and a silk branded eye mask for my 14 hr flight home!

Le Labo -Vanille 44 - I like this scent but I’ll admit that I overspent just for the sake of exclusivity. I was so jet lagged and drenched in sweat from the Paris heatwave trying to explore Rue de Saint Honoré but it was just too much. While it’s a nice woody vanilla, it feels redundant to the other vanilla I have in my collection (Vanilla Haze). Oh well, still special.

Memo Paris - Odéon. Another city exclusive. This one feels a bit more special because I don’t have any patchouli notes in my collection. You can absolutely feel the wood balance out the sweet. Plus the associate gave me a ton of samples including Cap Camarat which is a light floral musk that I really liked but also felt a bit redundant to bottles in my collection. The apple note is really nice and refreshing though, so maybe a purchase after I finish others.

Honestly I’m glad I didn’t have more time or I’d go broke.

Paris speed run haul