Lexi's Day Off, 6/15

Last Friday, I took a day off to go to a doctor's appointment. I used one of my many vacation days so after my appointment I treated the rest of the day as a vacation. I treated myself to a nice lunch with a mimosa, window shopping and ended with a nice pedicure.

Yes, light shopping was involved. Because of my recent fragrance obsession, I was on a mission to find the Le Labo perfume boutique on Fillmore Street, lower Pacific Heights neighborhood.

For those of you unfamiliar with the line, here's a brief bio about the company (written on the wall):

Here are some interior shots - I do love this boutique. Le Labo boutiques around the world carry a city exclusive fragrance and San Francisco is no exception. I cannot wait to find out what it'll be. The lovely sales associates there informed me that a local SF magazine, 7X7, has reported that the new scent will be Eucalyptus based. The two founders have no comment on that as the city scents are always a surprise - even to the store employees. Also, I'm not sure how I feel about a scent based on eucalyptus. 

Here are the sales associates preparing my personalized label for my purchase:

And what did I buy, you wonder?

Apparently, the discovery set is only sold online but because I'm a fragrance customer that DOES her homework - the manager agreed to sell one to me just because I knew about this set. You get 3 x5ml vials for $58. This is a good deal if you are still getting to know the brand or you just can't commit to a full bottle for $145. 


For a discovery set, the packaging is pretty indestructible:

And inside of this:

My lovely little vials:

Ambrette 9 - Probably the easiest musk you will come across, so non-offensive to the nose. This also comes in a non-alcohol version for mothers to share with their children. I must admit I sprayed a little on my daughter and it smells delightful on her. Notes included in this scent are as follows: ambrette grains, musk, fruity and citrus notes. When I wear this I am instantly comfortable - it's the equivalent to a warm Sunday afternoon sipping my second mug of coffee in my yoga pants, comfy hoodie right before I take my daughter to the playground. This is your super light, "your skin but better" scent. 

Labdanum 18 - This one I dismissed at first - I felt it was just too animalic. But the second and third time I smelled it at the boutique, I started to fall for it. Again, it's another comforting scent but instead of the playground I am snuggling with my husband on the couch right before falling into a rare Sunday afternoon nap as our daughter naps. Notes included are: amber, vanilla, civet, castoreum, patchouli, tonka beans, musk, gurjam balsam - just to name a few. The ingredients sound like this would be a very loud oriental scent but at first spray it's an intimate powdery scent. I am so glad I didn't give up on this scent.

Iris 39 - Possibly my favorite iris scent. This is powdery, sophisticated, musky and faintly smells of wet earth.  Notes included are: iris, lime, patchouli, cardamom, violet, ginger, civet, rose, ginger...just to name a few. The last time I wore this at the office my coworker, sitting a row and a few cubes away, yells out to me that I smell amazing and demanded to know what I was wearing. I run over to her and tell her that it's Iris 39 causing my two other coworkers to run over to me so they can smell my wrists. We giggle like schoolgirls and I know instantly I have a winner on my skin. What keeps this from being overly powdery or soapy are the spice, musk, patchouli and animal notes. This was love at first sniff - I first got this as a sample at Barneys a few months ago and I sprayed it very sparingly. This is another fragrance that even my 3yr old daughter loves to smell on herself. 

This was a great day off and a reminder that I need to treat myself like this more often. Maybe not with fragrance or cosmetic purchase but simple pleasures that appeases the senses - like the mimosa, lunch or relaxing pedicure. I did have another day off - yesterday (Monday) but it was no vacation. My daughter was sick and her temperature has finally normalized, thankfully.

For more info about Le Labo, please click here.

If you are in the San Francisco area and are interesting in checking this boutique out - here's the address:

The sidewalk right at the front door.