Rubber and rain

Ok, I have to confess. The last weekend I bought 2 Fossil watches (sale! it was on sale!) and a bottle of Bulgari Black.

Never mind the watches first. I would like to gloat a bit over the Bulgari, because I'm 99.9% sure that you can't find it in any of the departmental stores or the Bulgari boutiques (yes, in my quest for elusive perfumes I've stepped into super atas boutiques). Where I got my bottle I shall refrain from disclosing. Suffice to say that the sales assistant had to dig deep within the cavernous depths of the cupboard and emerged with the bottle in unadorned cardboard packaging. Yes, it's THAT difficult to find in SG. (and if it was a breeze for any of you to find it, pls don't tell me.)

I bought Bulgari Black unsniffed. The main reason I did that was because I'd scoured the polished surfaces of departmental stores for hours to satisfy my curiosity about Bulgari Black, and now that I'd finally found it, I couldn't test it (shop policy). Come on, is it not obvious already? Could I have spent hours looking for the perfume only to find it and not be able to sniff it? Could I have done anything other than buy the damn bottle? (Are you following this?)

So purchase completed, I brought my bottle home and tried it. One sniff and I hated myself. There was a weird smell, and then there was vanilla. Vanilla. *pukes*

I tried it again a few days later, and fell head over heels in love with it. It smells of rubber and vanilla. But not just rubber and vanilla. It smells like Orchard Road during a storm. Does this make sense? It smells unmistakably of Christmas shopping, the cosmetics department and plastic bags, as well as of rain and umbrellas and traffic jams (I think that's the smoke & rubber part). Does anyone get me here?

Bulgari Black smells of metropolitan angst.

(Look, I'm very proud of above phrase. The words just popped up in my mind. So pls, all you smartasses, keep derisive comments to yourself.)

I've come to the conclusion that I can only wear Bulgari Black when I'm in town and it's rainy. It somehow feels weird to wear it while I'm at home. Conclusion: it's perfect for this season.