How to be that person who always smells good... and one-of-a-kind

I recently showed you how to be a tailor, and now it's time to learn how to be a chemist. Well, I'm using these professional terms pretty loosely. Not sure if cutting up some shirts can be seen as tailoring, and my aversion to chemistry makes me far from qualified to say I have any actual talent when it comes to chemicals.

But perfume? That I know - mixing and matching scents, in particular. I've never really been a fan of the lotions that are made to accompany perfumes in matching sets, mostly because nice perfumes are so expensive anyway, why dish out a few more bucks for a matching moisturizer that smells exactly the same? 

I'm more of a Bath and Body Works kind of gal. Between frequent deals like "Buy 3, get 2 free" and the vast array of scent options, B&BW is like a party for the nose. A good Bath and Body lotion is pretty much a permanent fixture in my backpack or purse. I slather that stuff on day and night. 

Buuuut, I also love perfume. The Bath and Body sprays are great, but sometimes I like to splurge on some nice eau de parfum from my favorite designers and celebs. Hence, my journey to reconcile my love of Bath and Body lotions with other brands of perfume. Fortunately, in my quest to wear both yet still smell good, I've come across some delicious scent combinations that smell not only acceptable together, but awesome.

This is the girly combo of my dreams. Bath and Body's Pink Chiffon body lotion and Juicy Couture's Viva La Juicy perfume are a symphony of luxe femininity and all things pink. There's the ribbon image on the lotion and the oh-so-adorable bow on the perfume (total twinsies, am I right?), but the similarities go beyond their aesthetics. The scents are strikingly similar when it comes to ingredients, both containing notes of jasmine and vanilla, making them a fragrance mashup fit for a princess. 

What can I say? I'm a sucker for celebrity perfumes. The good news is that some of them smell really good, like One Direction's Our Moment, a scent that's both floral and musky. Not to mention the top of the bottle is shaped like a crown and it's decorated with pink tulle, so how could you not be charmed by the cuteness of it? Fortunately, it pairs really well with Bath and Body's Mad About You body lotion. (I've found that Our Moment goes well with several different lotions, but this is one of my favorites.) Mad About You is undeniably fruity, with strawberries as a top note, but also floral (peonies, anyone?), anchoring it to Our Moment in another delicious combination. 

Bear with me, as this is probably the most unlikely of the pairings included here. At first, I was skeptical about wearing Bath and Body's Love & Sunshine with Fendi's Fan di Fendi perfume. Reasonably so, since the happy-looking former lists "sun-kissed daisies," "sweet lemon," and "sunshine musk" as ingredients, while the heavy gold perfume boasts leather, roses, and patchouli as notes. How could these two competing scents ever work together, when one makes me feel like frolicking in a meadow on a sunny day and the other one makes me want to dress in all black while driving a sports car through a bustling city? It seemed like the only thing these two had in common was the touches of gold on their bottles. Turns out, they actually smell good together. The upbeat fruitiness of Love & Sunshine is a perfect counter to the heavy luxury of Fan di Fendi, and the light florals of both tie them together.

Bonus tip on how to be that person that everyone always thinks smells sooo good: Slather your favorite scented lotion on your body, particularly your legs and arms. (Smooth, nicely moisturized skin is just a cherry on top of the yummy-smelling icing.) Then spray a complementary perfume on the wrists, on the neck, in the crooks of the elbows, behind the knees, and lightly in hair. This regimen covers all the bases, and pretty much guarantees that you'll smell amazing all day.