How it all began...

I'm the kind of girl who isn't afraid to wear bright yellow pointy-toe pumps with a pink dress. Or lime green eye shadow.  Or earrings half the size of my head.  I'll try most things in fashion at least once.

Yet, at 24, I am still wearing the same fragrance I first splashed on in the tenth grade.  When I was 15. I have been dousing myself in Victoria Secret Vanilla Lace for the better part of a decade, and while it's a very nice scent - not too overpowering, subtle, kind of smells like cake - I think it's time for a change.

So today I headed to one of my favorite stores, the one that makes me feel the most like a kid in a candy store, Sephora.  Trying to tackle their wall of perfume in one day is like diving head-first into a vat of ammonia.  After smelling about twenty fragrances, no amount of palate-cleansing coffee beans could save me.  I was dizzy and pretty confident that I had burned out some portion of my nasal cavity.  

Feeling defeated and somewhat nauseated, I spotted the Sephora Scent Sample Bestsellers for Her.  It's a box that contains ten samples of Sephora's best-selling fragrances, as well as a voucher redeemable for the full-size bottle of whatever sample fragrance you like best.  Jackpot!  Now I could smell some of these perfumes in the comfort of my own home, hopefully minus the nausea. 

Thus begins my experiment.  I will start with a disclaimer that I am not a perfume/cologne/fragrance expert.  I'm a beginner in the fragrance world at best.  People who are really into fragrances are kind of like wine experts, smelling all kinds of things that I couldn't even tell were in there.  I will do my best to analyze the scents, but I can do so only to the best of my ability, which is completely based on personal opinion and my uncultured sense of smell.

The Perfume Experiment:

I will wear each fragrance for two days and I will rate each on four different points.

1. Scent (Musky, floral, fruity, etc.)

2. Wearability (Is it too overpowering?) 

3. Longevity  (Will it wear off quickly or last all day without reapplying?)

4. Reactions (From co-workers, husband, family)

I will wear the fragrances in the order that they are listed in the "scent book" packaged with the samples, which is alphabetical order.  The fragrances will be worn as follows:

1. Aquolina Pink Sugar

2. Bvlgari Omnia Crystalline

3. Euphoria Calvin Klein

4. Givenchy Very Irresistible

5. Gwen Stefani L.A.M.B.

6. Lavanila Vanilla Grapefruit

7. Marc Jacobs Daisy

8. Philosophy Amazing Grace

9. Stella McCartney Stella

10. Vera Wang Princess

Let the experiment begin!