I’ve never been a huge perfume wearer, but I have always been an admirer of elegant perfume bottles. It was on my list of “grown-up must-haves” as a little girl to obtain a bottle of perfume with an atomizer, and sure enough, I got one. Nevermind that I’m not crazy about the perfume inside, the BOTTLE is pretty. When I was 18, I somehow came upon a handful of perfume samples- I think my mom and I had been at the mall testing out different scents and they gave us a few tiny bottles to take home and try later. Most of the bottles in that bag were completely forgettable, but I fell in love at once with the tiny sample of Chanel Chance. Mind you, on a college freshman’s pocket money, there was no way I was going to be able to afford a full bottle for myself, so I saved that little sample for super special occasions. There was something so pure about it- everything that the Chanel line represents, the simplicity of their perfume bottle designs, and the scent of the perfume itself- I was hooked.

It occurred to me last weekend while Matt and I were at the mall that I’ve never purchased a bottle of perfume for myself, and since I had some extra spending money, I decided it was about time I own that bottle of Chanel I’d been coveting for the past seven years. Poor Matt- it took me half an hour of smelling practically every perfume Chanel’s ever made (and having Matt smell them as well) to decide, but in the end I finally settled on the one I’d wanted in the first place! The pink version of Chanel Chance is just a little bit more floral-y than the white/yellowish version than I originally thought I’d wanted, but I like it better!

This may seem petty to some, but when I was choosing I refused to smell/consider any perfume that was housed in a bottle I didn’t like. That meant nothing from the Thierry Mugler line, nothing from the Dolce section, and DEFINITELY not Nicki Minaj’s perfume. Seriously- get a load of this bottle design. I wanted whichever perfume I chose to be something that I could see myself loving for a long time, and part of that involves looking at it every day! That’s not crazy, right? My Granny has worn the same perfume (Shalimar) for as long as I can remember, and part of me wants that same kind of elegant consistency throughout my life. If I have grandchildren one day and I’m still wearing Chanel perfume, I’ll consider that a success.

What’s your favorite perfume or cologne? Was I missing out by passing by the other perfume counters?