Cheap thrills Monday and happy MLK Day

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day to all!
Now, I don’t know about you, but now that we’re in the post-holiday trough, I’m loathe to spend much money, so any cheap thrills right now are welcome. And I happened upon several lately to share with you.

First off, last week as I zipped into the health food store to make a purchase, I spied a rack of bottles near the checkout counter. All-natural perfume oils, according to the sign (although I didn’t catch the brand name). And there in the front row sat a lineup of testers. Well, how could I resist? There were about eight choices, several of which were generic musks and vanillas, so I opted for Chinese Rain on one hand and Sandalwood on the other. The CR turned out to be little more than a glorified lily of the valley – nice enough, but hardly inspired. The Sandalwood, however, wound up being slightly more intriguing. Not really exactly sandalwood smelling, exactly, but it had a warm, softly woody, almost-gourmand aura to it that kept wafting up to my nose. Even my son noticed and asked, “Mom, what smells so good?” It reminded me a little of something else that I’ve smelled somewhere, but for the life of me I couldn’t recall what. Now it’s got me thinking about it a lot, and it’s too late to go back to get it as the store is now closed. Not too bad for a $7 (or was it $9?) bottle of oil, eh?

Here are several more cheap thrills, not quite so inexpensive, but still not too bad.

When my order of the Thymes Frasier Fir goodies came in recently, tucked inside were several sample packets of body lotion. Now I don’t usually think of this company in terms of body products, but more for home scents, candles, diffusers, etc.

I enjoy jasmine, so I tucked straight-away into the Temple Tree packet. This pleasing lotion had a sweetish, bright sparkling ribbon of jasmine which I liked. It would work well with most of my jasmines, but seemed especially suited for Dior’s Grand Bal.

Next up, Kimono Rose, is a soft, innocuous sort of floral scent (I once had it in a rollerball) and the lotion seems like a good, all-purpose one that will perfume you gently for a while and then softly fade out of the picture. Not sure what scents this might work well with as the rose isn’t super-prominent on my skin, but it’s light enough that I doubt it would clash drastically with anything.

The third sample, Lotus Santal, reminded me of Angel right out of the gate. Not quite as overpowering, but the cocoa and the patchouli combo were similar. It’s not a dead ringer for the Thierry Mugler, but if you’re looking for a less expensive body product to wear with Angel, this might be worth a try. Or if you like Angel but it’s just too much, here’s a creamy echo of it.

Each of these is $25 for 9.25 fl. oz. (270 mls.) of body lotion. They also offer hand creams, hand lotions and shower/bath gels for slightly less.

The company sells a collection of cheap thrills via its sampler pack which looks nice and would be a great way to try all the fragrances. And the little packets would make nice tuck-ins into birthday cards and such.

I am not affiliated in any way with the company, just a big fan of their Frasier Fir home products, as I know are many of you. And now I’m just starting to explore and appreciate their other offerings.

So do share with me, what are your favorite not-so-spendy items that you’re enjoying now?