Mmm, no thanks.

There is a place for luxury and a splurge and there is plain old waste of money.

This is my mini list of non recommendations and options instead.

1)  Diptyque scented ovals

32 pounds for perfumed wax.  Now I know candles are slightly more. But lighting a candle, seeing the flicker of the flame, scenting the air inside the whole room.  All of a sudden, 38 pounds is starting to seem value for money!  I bought this once and I decided I would rather buy a subscription to a magazine I rarely read instead; at least I could share it with someone after I was done with it.  It just hangs there like old fashioned soap used by the military locked up inside your closet with your clothes smelling like expired Glade.  There is no shared experience.  

What I do instead is buy my favorite soap from a perfume line.  I buy Chanel no 5 soap and stick them in my drawers and my closet.  At 17 pounds, it is almost half the price of one scented oval.  You can get two for the price of one.  Chanel, a bargain!  If there is a soap version of your favorite perfume, then you could try this to scent your clothes or room subtly.  If you want to make the scent go further, you could grate the soap with an apple peeler and put in a small, empty lavender pouch and place where desired.




2)  Chanel nail polish that is not a fashion color

I love Chanel.  Looooove it.  All of it. Even the nail polish colors. But if it isn't the latest fashion trendy color or vamp, then there really is no need to spend 18 pounds on a generic pretty pink.  There is no substitute for rouge noir or vamp as it is known in the States.  I have tried to find a substitute but I can tell a wannabe vamp a mile away.  I always enjoy vamp or the latest shade but otherwise I go for Bourjois one swap nail polish or good old fashioned Essie and OPI.

 3 )  Creme de la mer

I have tried.  More than once. I thought it was me and I just wasn't applying it correctly.  I tried the regular cream, the eye cream and then the serum.  Nothing happened, well nothing good anyway.  The stuff smears worse than cold butter on toast.  It squirts out the minerals and leaves a film in uneven patches.  My pores clogged.  I was forced to double cleanse to get rid of that feeling.  I then felt guilty spending all that money when I was doing so much work prepping the cream on the pads of my fingers while "releasing" the goodness before tapping on the face as per the instructions.  I have too many moisturizers to recommend instead and will do so in another posting but for now let's just say I recommend Vaseline or olive oil over this stuff. 

 4 ) Truffle, wait, I am not done. Truffle shampoo.

I understand marketing. We all get it.  Use something luxurious and associate it with a completely unrelated product.  But some people don't even like the smell of truffles.  It's not quite love it or hate it but it isn't even as emotive and opinion dividing as coriander.  The average consumer is not going to have opinions about truffles unless it is chocolate.  Also, truffles ( both kinds ) aren't that great for you. In fact, the fungal kind is known to have almost no nutritional value.  It just tastes good.  Once again, both kinds.  Truffle shampoo is as arbitrary as puttanesca shampoo.  The economic option I suggest is olive oil warmed up slightly and leave in your hair for an hour while catching up on a TV series.  At least you will help a Greek farmer out.