Scent is intensely personal. It has been said that there is no sense more strongly tied to memory than scent. Whether it's your mother's signature perfume, or your father's favorite aftershave, fragrances can be as personal and memorable as a warm embrace or a special milestone in your life. For instance, when you smell a fragrance that reminds you of someone you love, you instantly recall fond memories of that person, or when you smell certain flowers that grew in your grandmother's garden, it brings back intense memories of a certain time and place. Scent has a truly magical way of creating and solidifying memories in our minds. Does your signature fragrance create memorable experiences and the perfect first impressions?

The fragrances we choose to envelop ourselves in say a lot about us. Whether you're a romantic at heart who prefers warm and floral scents, or a bubbly and lively personality who loves fresh, effervescent fragrances, one's fragrance choices are intimately tied to the wearer's moods and personality.



Fragrance is also a great way to incorporate your favorite designers into your everyday ensemble. Whether you live for the fashion-forward designs of Costume National, the sublimely graceful style of Vera Wang, the timeless glamour of Carolina Herrera, or the classic and contemporary Prada, your signature scent speaks volumes about your overall sense of style. Another great thing about fragrance is, even if today's economy doesn't allow you to afford the luxuries of a head-to-toe couture wardrobe, you can still indulge in your favorite designer's signature scents.

What better way to create a lasting impression than to have someone say, "You smell great! What fragrance are you wearing?", and with a knowing grin, you can casually say, "It's Prada."

Come mid-November/early December, depending on where you live in the U.S., you may look at your CVS in a whole new way. The friendly neighborhood drugstore chain is stepping into the beauty big leagues, with the roll out of its new upscale beauty store-within-store concept called Beauty 360. The first such store-within-store will debut in Washington D.C.’s Dupont Circle with a second opening later this year in Mission Viejo, California.

The store chain is banking on consumers in this economic uncertainty who are tightening their purse strings, to continue to treat themselves to smaller, less impacting luxuries like lipsticks, eye and face creams. “It may not be a vacation, or it might not be the new dress, but you know what, the $15 lipstick might not have the same pinch to her that the rest of those higher priced ones do,” said Mike Bloom, senior vice president of merchandising at CVS in his November 3 interview with WWD.

Make no mistake though, in the new concept, you will not find the Revlon’s, L’Oreals or the Cover Girl cosmetics, but rather higher price point beauty lines like Borba, Laura Geller and Canyon Ranch products, with price ranges of $15 to $170. Although the concept could make for stand alone stores, currently the company only has plans to expand into existing stores where there is enough room to have the true store-within-store concept, namely about 1,000 of their West Coast locations. I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine walking into CVS or their 360 and spending upwards of $50 for a beauty product, that seems reserved for the high-end department stores where the overall concept is luxury, not just one part of it. But perhaps, that is just me.