I have issues with perfume, as you’ve probably seen and/or read before. My collection seems to keep growing, but I’m going to place some of the blame on my mother, who has been a fragrance hoarder my whole life. (I keep nagging her to wear Chanel No. 5 every day, but she’s always like, “Nooo, I’m SAVING it!” And I’m always like, “For what? Wear it! You can buy more!”) I have a bunch of more expensive fragrances (Cartier Baiser Vole, Atelier Colognes Bois Blonds and Vanille Insensee, Fracas, Angel, etc.) but there’s a big place in my heart for the kind I can snap up for about $20. (Or less!) 

Parfums de Coeur Skin Musk. I just blogged about this in my “beachy beauty” feature, but I truly do enjoy it. On its own, it stays close to the skin and doesn’t take up too much space, but when you mix it, it adds another layer of depth to simple fragrances. I mix it with Bobbi Brown Beach most often but it plays well with a lot of my fragrance family. $13 at Walmart/assorted drugstores. Spray it everywhere! It’s so cheap! (I don’t apologize for my Walmart shopping, either - they seem to have the best supply of cheap, fun beauty products from all over that I can’t find at Target/CVS.)

Stetson. OH BOY, I am all about Stetson. On a man, it makes me slightly weak in the knees and only a few things (Garth Brooks’ “Shameless” and Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” do it to it) do that. On me, it’s old-fashioned and elegant. Tania Sanchez, who is one-half of the team behind the greatest perfume book in the history of ever, Perfumes A-Z, loves Stetson too. She compares it to the classic feminines, like Chanel No. 5 and Estee Lauder Youth Dew. It’s $9 … for real. And how cute is that little bottle?

Kiehl’s Musk. Sexy on me, sexy on men, veers clean, veers dirty. The thing I love about Kiehl’s Musk is that it’s a different fragrance every time I wear it, depending on my body chemistry du jour. It’s about $35, but I see it every once in awhile at Marshall’s (treasure trove for fragrance!) for less.

Sand and Sable.  Now would you believe I paid $3 for this? I had a little accident at Walgreen’s last December when I was supposed to be buying Christmas cards and not three classic fragrances for $3 apiece. But they were THREE BUCKS. (I also got Lady Stetson, another winner, and Emeraude, which I kind of hate but like the idea of.) Sand and Sable packs a HUGE punch - at first whiff you’re like “Oh, Fracas, is that you?” And it totally could be, but when it dries down it smells like a fun beach flower girl. Sand and Sable is a LOUD beach flower girl; she hangs around pretty strong for a good few hours. Don’t spray too much!