There’s so many new perfume lines that come out that one can never keep track anymore. Derek Lam’s 10 Crosby Street line spurt, for me, out of nowhere. I had never heard of it and then suddenly it was everywhere, at Nordstrom, even at Sephora. I take one look, and think to myself, well they have some cajunes to release ten fragrances all at once. Looking at bottles and the corresponding notes make me dizzy – can you imagine how a normal shopper can look at it and not feel overwhelmed? I remember a Nordstrom SA asking me which ones I wanted samples of, and I just randomly chose some, based on the names.

Right now I am sampling Rainy Day (the green juiced one) and again I spritzed judging on the name – it’s a nice lazy afternoon and I wanted something soothing, so I said, why not sample the one based on rain? Yes, this scent is really reminiscent of something green and aquatic – it only apparently has two notes – vetiver and neroli. The vetiver is of the smoothest and strained variety, and the neroli as well. The effect smells pure and watery, and yes it is very soothing. I like it, to be honest, although it did remind me of something – of something from Bath and Body Works. Derek Lam’s has better quality ingredients, but I did a simple Google of this, and guess what – a lot of people are saying it is very similar to BBW’s Dancing Waters, and guess what again? I have Dancing Waters on my shower gel roatation right now, so no wonder I liked this a lot. Just think – a 50 ml bottle of Derek lam costs $85, while the BBW version is less than ten. I think I will be satisfied with my cheap thrills there.