In Season 7 of Seinfeld, an episode aired and the catch phrase was born , “are you sponge-worthy?’ If you look up that episode on You Tube, it is quite funny and I have used that ‘worthy criteria’ as a screening method for many things, the latest being “New West-Worthy“.
New West for Women is a fragrance that I have worn since 1990. My husband and I were on our honeymoon in the Caribbean and we stopped into one of those duty-free fragrance shops and that scent just hit me……I loved it……..and I have worn it ever since. Over time it has been harder to find and now Amazon is selling it for over $250 a bottle! The going rate was about $50.00. Ouch.
New West has gotten me through tough times and good times and in many stages in my life. That smell has helped define a part of me:
- I wore New West from my honeymoon trip and pretty much every day since.
- I wore New West for every visit to that fertility doctor in Connecticut…and the day I saw that little heartbeat on the screen for the very first time.
- I wore New West when I miscarried and through the awful procedure that followed.
- I sprayed New West on pulse after I changed my voice mail, showered, shaved my legs and continued my breathing on the way to St. Peter’s to deliver Amelia.
- The day after 9/11 I was hugging the UPS man on my front walk. I saw him at least 3 times a week as I worked from home and that was way before PDF’s and e-signatures. We actually stood there and cried and as we stepped apart, he said I smelled good. I will never forget that day (nothing to do with New West).
- I wore New West into the OR when I had the lump removed from my left breast, the hysterectomy when I woke up with hot flashes and the foot surgery when under anesthesia , I referred to my surgeon as a handsome little devil. OMG!
- I had a sales rep who worked for me years ago. He loved my perfume and asked me what it was. I told him. Weeks later he comes to the office hands me the bottle and says, “my wife doesn’t smell like you”. Hmm, awkward. We never discussed it again.
- When Jack was three years old, he was asked to bring a “lovey” to school to help him sleep at nap time. He asked me to spray some of my perfume on a cloth and attach one of my earrings as well. He slept with it each day at nap-time. I still have that piece of cloth.
- At a restaurant on Broadway and 81st, I was having lunch with my husband and the waiter told me I smelled nice. He brought me, and only me, a beautiful large iced Vietnamese coffee….yummy.
- I was upgraded to First Class on US Air one time in Philly. The desk agent said I smelled too good and upgraded me! Score.
- I have to admit, I do love to hear that I smell good. It feels good and just clean!
Now I have only a half bottle of New West left. The manufacturer is Aramis and they no longer make the female version, only New West for Men. As I dress each morning or for an appointment or event, I ask myself, “is this New West-worthy”? I always wear it with my husband, wherever we go. I don’t casually spray it on for the gym, or the supermarket, or a sporting event. It is too fragile and sacred to waste.
I plan on writing a strongly worded letter to the people at Aramis asking for them to reconsider their decision and begin producing New West again. I have too many things to do yet in my life. I have a bucket list that I could not possibly execute without New West. I want to drive a Porsche 911 turbo and get it up to 100 mph; I want to see my children grow, continue their education and become successful. I would like to smell New West on my grandchildren when I lay them down to sleep in their beds. And hopefully decades from now when I am old and ill and I am at the end of this great life, my family will remember how I looked and felt and smelled and they will smile when they pass a random person on the street who smells like I did….for all those years.
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