I finally bought it...

Apparently around Christmas, Paco Rabanne put out a gift set of Olympea with a large spray perfume, a small mini splash, and a body lotion. In Marshall's, somehow the large spray went missing or got broken, so they marked down the rest of the set to clearance in January at $40. I thought that was nuts--forty bucks for a mini and a small body lotion?! Craziness. It never sold. About two weeks ago, they marked it down to $12. I looked at this set EVERY TIME I went in to check out new perfume deals! $12 still felt a bit high for me for what it was, so I went home and researched it a little.

This perfume gets very good reviews from users, and it's also really expensive! I thought I might like the perfume, given the notes, so I went there yesterday to see about making a purchase. I talked to the sales associate to see if they would come down further on the price because it's been there at least since January! But she said they could not do that, so I passed and went on about my day.

In the afternoon, I decided to go back and buy it for the $12 price. When I got in store, I had it in my hands at the checkout, but I chickened out again. "I don't really *need* it," I reasoned. "What if I don't like it?" I told myself. "I have other perfumes that I'll probably like better than this one, and then it's money wasted," I argued. So I put the set back on the shelf and left again.

Later at home, I told my husband all about this little conundrum, and he said, "If it's really such an expensive perfume and marked down to JUST TWELVE DOLLARS, you're crazy for not snapping it up!!!"

Duly noted. So, I went a third trip to Marshall's to make the purchase.

I'm so glad I did! My daughter and I slathered the lotion on as soon as we got to the car, and it is delicious! I don't consider this a true gourmand, but it has a yummy vanilla note. I admit that I was concerned about the "salty" note this allegedly has, and that's why I didn't buy it for so long. The saltiness is more pronounced while far away from the nose. I think it's there just to kind of keep this fragrance from being to "friendly." It's not crazy and weird, but it does have some bite, I think due to the salty note. It has a fruity hit at the beginning, but then that dies down. It's mostly a beautiful powdery-woodsy vanilla on me. Very elegant; it could become a classic. It reminds me a lot of Ivanka Trump's perfume, but that one is a bit fruitier.

I love this Olympea! I'm so glad I bought it...it is going straight to my top shelf! Twelve dollars turned out to be money well-spent.