Author Archives: marc

Thrifty Scent. I know what you’re all thinking: has she really gone to the effort of compiling a whole feature based around an incredibly bad pun? The answer to that question is yes. Yes I have. And it’s not even my own bad pun, I nicked it from Mr AMR. If you’re at a loss to know what the pun is even about, then let me please direct you to the Wikipedia page of everyone’s favourite (a while ago) rapper, Fifty Cent.

(I told you it was an incredibly bad pun. Fifty Cent the man has nothing to do with scent at all – though how amazing would it be if he did actually bring out an aftershave and call it either Fifty Scent or Thrifty Scent?Hold on: he does have a scent! It’s called, disappointingly, Power. What an anticlimax. His most recent customer doesn’t seem too thrilled with it, either: “At first the fragrance is a strong manly one, but after 5mins of putting it on it dissapears [sic] into nothing!The title is the total opposite,should be called WEAK!Only paid £12 for it but its not worth that. 50CENT? MORE LIKE 50PENCE!!” Oh dear.)

Anyway, seeing as though I’m making the effort to craft a readable post out of nothing, using this meagre pun as my starting point, I’ll get serious: thrifty scents. Is it really possible to find great perfumes at low prices? Let’s take a look…

The Celebrity Smells

Lots of the celebrity fragrance offerings seem to be a bit sweet or sickly for me but I found a few gems that would sit happily alongside my more expensive bottles. Firstly – and this has been the case for a few years, now – I am very partial to a bit of J-Lo. More specifically, Love & Glamour, which is on Amazon here for £7.99. It’s peachy and summery – nothing risqué, but pleasing all the same. It’s not pictured here because I’ve lost it, but at that price I won’t be tearing my hair out with worry…

Kim Kardashian’s True Reflection nearly passed me by because I’m not really too much of a Kardashian fan. I don’t have an actual dislike for any of them, it’s more a of a strong disinterest. Anyway, I’m glad I gave this a chance because it’s really rather dark and sexy. Fruity start, heady middle and a woody, almost-masculine base. True Reflection is £25.50 here. 

Lovely, by Sarah Jessica Parker. If you like soft, wearable and feminine scents then you’ll get on well with this one – it’s warm and comfortable, like a cashmere scarf. I don’t know whether I could get into hot water for saying this, but it smells very similar to Narciso Rodriguez For Her. Really – very similar. Not identical, of course, but similar enough that I’m sure someone in the Lovely board room must have had it in mind when they were throwing ideas around… Find it online here, £11.35 for 30ml.

The Age-Old Classic

There are scents that have been around since the beginning of time (almost) and cost less per ml (nearly) than some sparkling mineral waters. 4711 is one such fragrance – the original cologne, made in Cologne. Oft copied, or at least used as inspiration, it has neroli, bergamot, lemon, lavender and rosemary notes and the smell is fresh, herby and zingy all at the same time. It’s incredibly popular the world over and its affordability means that you can sprinkle 4711 on your linen, freshen the air in your hotel room with 4711 and use 4711 to scent the air before you as you walk around the city, like some kind of visiting dignitary. Find it online here – you can get a 100ml “splash” bottle for £14.45.

The Price War

If you’re ever about to buy a fragrance online it’s always worth doing a quick Google to see who’s stocking it at the best price. Take the fabulous La Petite Robe Noir by Guerlain; for 50ml it’s £68 at House of Fraser, £56 at FeelUnique, £41.95 at Amazon. Thirty seconds of computer time well spent.

All Beauty are a good place to check and they stock one of my first ever beauty indulgences – Agent Provocateur Eau de Parfum. A huge 200ml bottle, which looks great in the boudoir, costs £31.95 instead of £99. Find it All Beauty here.

The Unexpected Contender

I love finding a perfume that stands up to its bigger, more expensive competition, despite being from an unexpected source. Roger & Gallet’s Fleur de Figuier is part of a line of body products, which would usually make me take a fragrance less seriously, but it’s just absolutely gorgeous, so brilliantly put-together. (See full review here.)

Roger & Gallet’s Bois d’Orange is also amazing – heady and vibrant and fruity with a sensual, mysterious sort of undertone. Both scents offer excellent value for money, if you’re after a properly crafted perfume but don’t have oodles of cash to spare. Fleur de Figuier comes as a little 30ml bottle of Eau Fraiche, a snip at £11.33 here, Bois d’Orange, with its sunny-exotic demeanour is £21 for 100ml here.

There you have it – an entire post borne from a bad pun. Do please leave your own Thrifty Scent suggestions and recommendations in the comments below, as well as bad puns if you can conjure any up…

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I’ve been searching high and low for a new office chair. Depending on when this post goes up, you will or won’t know that I had a complete change of heart with my office decor and decided to go very light and airy rather than dark and Tom Ford-y. My whole house is dark and Tom Ford-y, with its rich woods and grey slate and green-gold carpets, so I thought that the office space, which is at the end of the garden, should be feminine and bright. It’s still rather retro in feel, but with pale wood and white detailing – not a spec of rosewood in sight!

So chairs. I’m saying goodbye to my beloved Herman Miller Sayl Chair and its exemplary back-supporting properties (Mr AMR is adopting it for his office, lucky him!) and going pale and interesting – whites, greys, perhaps some chrome. Chairs that you’d see in those lovely bright Instagram pictures – you know, the ones where they have a cactus and then three white books leaning up against some sort of fancy lamp.

I’ll warn you in advance; I’m a bit of a furniture freak so most of my chair picks will be on the pricier side. I appreciate a classic design that will last for decades and I find that in the long run the top quality pieces are actually better value for money – our De Sede sofa was made in the late sixties and, though a little “vintaged” in places, is still an incredibly good-looking piece.

The chairs, then…

Kartell Ero/S

A Philippe Starck design, I love the feminine egg-shaped seat and the contrast with the hard chrome legs. This is actually very similar to the chair that I ended up buying, which you’ll have to read until the end of the post to find out about! The Ero/S is £287 at Amara and comes in quite a few different colours as well as the classic, easy-on-the-eye white.

Eames DAW Armchair

Very close indeed to the chair that I ended up buying – the Eames DAW is just a timeless piece of furniture that looks good in any interior. I have seen these in contemporary houses, old Victorian terraces and battered-up studios and they never fail to look stylish. There are many, many copies of this chair at every price-point, starting from around twenty-five quid but I have NO idea what sort of quality they’d be! The official design, reproduced by Vitra, is £412 at Heals here.

Genoa Office Chair

Much plainer than the Eames but this will appeal to those who like to keep things simple. I like the grey upholstery and the chrome legs look very smart. This one is £199 at John Lewis.

Panton S Chair

Oh, the Panton S Chair! Another iconic design and – like the Eames –  I have loved this for years. It’s not right for my office, but I’m wondering whether I can convince Mr AMR that a couple of them would look very sculptural and beautiful under our roof overhang that runs around the outside of the kitchen. Bit expensive for garden chairs, at £207 each (!) but they would definitely make an impact. How would they fare, do you think, being made from plastic? You can find more details here.

IKEA Fjallberget

I had to check IKEA as they often do really great and inexpensive chairs – but this one isn’t at all cheap! Lovely grey upholstery (I seem to have a thing for grey) and a wooden back that looks at once modern and sort of retro. The chrome base is simple and non-officey. £150 here.

Jerry Dining Chair

Something about this makes me think of an Eames chair, but an Eames chair looked at through one of those circus mirrors so that everything’s a bit chubbier. Or an Eames chair drawn by a seven year old. The proportions are somehow inviting and comfortable, but it’s a lot less refined. A snip, though, at £80 and there are various colours to choose from if you’re not into white. Find it here.

The Winner

In case you’re intrigued to know what I actually ended up with: a chair that I would have thought was beyond my wildest dreams! The Eames DAR – which is like the DAW, pretty much, but with entirely upholstered rather than just the seat pad and the eiffel legs rather than wooden. These chairs are usually about £700 each, but I found an excellent second-hand chap who had one – with grey hopsack upholstery – for £275. All genuine, stamped, etc – it was from an office clearance (a very posh office) and in great condition. I’m over the moon with it. Now and then, good genuine ones do pop up on eBay but you have to watch like a hawk – there are hundreds and hundreds of copies.

My winner, had I not found the Eames DAR? Probably the Eames DAW, if money was no object. Not very inventive of me, but what can I say? I like a design classic!

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