Summertime on the road: Interstate 80, lemons and Kitson 115 S

Love’s Fresh Lemon  

I was on a road trip last week, driving Interstate 80 across the Great American West and somewhere in the panhandle of western Nebraska, we stopped at one of the lovely and conveniently located state-run rest stops to stretch our legs, read the historical marker, grab a drink and shake out the kinks.

I had just come out of the ladies room stall and was standing at the Roman-fountain-like hand washing station, squirting out the liquid soap and playing with the jets of water when I smelled something   intriguingly familiar from long ago: Lemon, but not your average commercial cleaning product lemon/citrus note which has a slightly wrong lemon bent to it.   No, after afew moments it came to me.  It was an old friend from long ago:  Loves Fresh Lemon scent.  Lemon with salt. Not the slick, blah  salt that you find dissolved in soft water and power drinks, either,  it was crunchy, mineral salt on top of a fresh squeezed lemon. What a nice surprise!   And a blast from the past.  1969 to be exact.

This was an interesting find. While I doubt that the Nebraska Department of Roads stocked their ladies room bathrooms with Love’s Fresh Lemon liquid hand soap, I do think  who ever made the decision to purchase their supplies did us all a very nice favor. Apparently you can still find the real thing (I hope it hasn’t been tampered with) from the company Dana who has reintroduced it with a more updated packaging that unfortunately lacks the visual punch of the 1969 products.

Kitson 115 S by Kitson Los Angeles

I discovered this little gem at the Santa Barbara Kitson store and what a marvelous surprise this turned out to be.  It’s a light oriental fragrance that has a touch of patchouli, a bit of sweet berries and what seems to be tea.  However, I found nothing about the composition online and I’m not a chemist, so I have nothing definitive to report about this lovely fragrance.  Except that the patchouli is light it gives it enough warmth but doesn’t bonk you over the head like Angel, nor is it too sweet like Bath and Body’s Dark Kiss.  And somewhere in this mysterious mix is a tea note, which gives it a welcome crispness and lightness, especially in this summer’s heat.

I have to admit that I was skeptical after the first few minute with this one; it has a great opening impression (yawn).  But instead of it turning average or worse, this one stayed true to its opening notes, got a little more depth with time and sailed right on through the afternoon and evening leaving me with that nagging little “It’s the ONE so  you better go back and buy it” voice whispering  in my head.  So back we went before we left town that morning. I’m nearly through my first bottle so I bought another two because, man, it’s going fast. And at $35 for 1.7 oz. of EDP it’s a reasonable price.  The name “115 S” refers to the address 115 South Robertson Boulevard in Los Angeles, where one of their stores is located.

Hint: It’s not carried in all of the Kitsons. When I asked about it at their store near the Santa Monica Place Mall nobody in the store knew what I was talking about and it certainly wasn’t on their shelves.

What unexpected surprises have you found on the road this summer?