During my chaotic LA years a cherished guilty pleasure, similar to my newly beloved Palm Beach afternoon strolls through the Vias off Worth, was dropping by Fred Segal on Melrose to browse the day away investigating the potpourri of curated coolness assembled hodgepodge under one roof.  For those who have never been, Fred Segal is the go to bazaar for all things Hollywood hipster and heiress approved including clothing, one of a kind jewelry, outstanding beauty and gifts, along with a bustling coffee bar, great lunch spot, and non-stop star sightings galore. Shopping at Fred Segal is more like visiting some kind of retro European marketplace rather than a mere Los Angeles luxury retail shop. I forgot about it briefly until two weeks ago when old New York and new Palm Beach clients began calling with their massive gift lists and endless special requests. In LA, by the time the gift shopping season is in full swing, I had logged enough hours for months just browsing around the store, notebook and latte in hand, that I not only knew every item in stock along with who designed it and their back story, but I usually knew what was still in boxes in the back and often on its way to the store or backordered, so all I needed was the basic recipient info and budget parameters, then I could knock out half a job in an hour over the phone with my own insanely detailed personally curated list of things I love. It was the place I relied on, and a system I depended on during the major gifting season for the last 12 years, and now I was lost without a hub. So when I unexpectedly got a courtesy call from My favorite Fred Segal Manager letting me know that THE BLEND at Fred Segal had released a special limited edition Holiday Gift Set for home use, my eyebrow arched, my mouth dropped open, and just like that-problem solved!

Since opening three decades ago, the famous, fabulous, and infamous have visited THE BLEND at Fred Segal Bodega, a slightly hidden funky custom personal fragrance blending bar tucked in the back of the store, so exclusive that you have to know about it to even know it’s there. Actually it’s so elite that THE BLEND claims they keep their client’s unique “recipes” under lock and key with a code that only the client and their custom Mix Master will ever know. Let’s be honest, having your own eponymous fragrance, your name emblazoned on the perfectly self designed bottle filled with aromatic notes defining your essence through a scent you created for you by you, has become a coveted privilege tantamount to Queen Elizabeth bestowing Knighthood upon you. Think Elizabeth Taylor, Coco Chanel, Grace Kelly, Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker; they all have made massive fortunes, exploded their fame into the stratosphere, and went from la-di-dah famous to powerhouse loyalty based major beauty brand names. Not surprisingly, every single one of them have been quoted saying that the process of personally creating, from being in the lab at blendings to board meetings on marketing and ad strategies, that their experience as their own mix master was one of the most exciting, rewarding highlights of their already ridiculous careers. Light bulb moment right there! I put two and two together, where, besides Hollywood are there more women that are positive there should be a mass market fragrance named for them on the luxury market for all their club friends and red carpet gala cohorts to covet than the Princesses of Palm Beach. I can confirm the island is one place where everyone has everything, and nothing really impresses too much, but I can assure you they do not have THE BLEND Box, and promise any recipient, without exception, will cherish and love love love this gift forever.

Here’s the low down, THE BLEND by Fred Segal, for the first time since its inception, has created a gift size version of THE BLEND Bar for countless hours of home experimentation. The brilliant kit comes with 10 purse friendly rollerballs imbued with potent pure base notes that can either be worn as a single scent, or blended in various combinations with any of the ten distinct aromas to create literally thousands of unique variations that suit you and your senses. During my initial personal test run, I spent six hours playing with the kit like I was 8 years old again in my basement with my Barbie Perfumery Perfume Maker or my cherished Easy Bake Oven. But be forwarned, rumor has it that one well known reality star received THE BLEND kit a couple of months ago, and after a weekend isolated in her Hidden Hills manse, jumped a red eye to Manhattan, cabbed it to the Estee Lauder New York Headquarters, and demanded a meeting with Mr. Lauder, as she had created her very own self-named fragrance that was going to absolutely be the next billion dollar sales leader in the Perfume Industry, and He must see her right away! So as this may be just a cool gift to You or I, it can become addictive, people may become obsessed with creating perfection, and some already unstable artistic types may end up flying to Europe for an apprenticeship at Annick Goutal. Whatever the case may be, You’ll look genius, and when it comes to giving gifts that’s always the goal.

The kit comes with a chic carrying case, a cute display stand, and a recipe book with step by step directions to help you create your perfect signature scent. THE BLEND Mix Masters stress that the guide is just a starting point, because after you learn the techniques, 90% of the fun is experimenting with the layering of oils and swishing or swirling of scents to create the perfect aromatic blend tailored to your own sense of smell, taste, feel, and unique sensory perception. For me, my favorite scent is Caprice, which is imbued with “clean, earthy notes blended with grapefruit to present a zesty-yet-sophisticated take on the classic citrus scent.” According to the directions, after a few simple set up steps, the base is blended with one swirl of Green Oil #2, two swirls of Musk Oil #6, and another ten swirls of Citrus Oil #10. A die-hard Hermes Un Jardin sur le Nil Fanatic for my entire adult life, I believe, but I promise not to go to Hermes in Paris and end up in the mental institution ranting about it, but I do believe that I have created a scent that, for me, removed anything I did not love about my beloved, and suddenly I prefer the slightly lighter scent I personally designed. I adore looking at the lovely green Hermes Bottle, but the scent I layer on before I leave the house these days is now called Eau De Beyond Style Palm Beach and it’s perfection!

Visit THE BLEND at http://www.THEBLENDfragrance.com or http://www.facebook.com/theblendfragrance to order or call 561-961-7600 in time to impress the best for the holiday!

Kit Contains
Ten individual rollerballs of pure perfume oils; a custom display stand; a travel case; and our guide to creating signature scents.
The oils include: No. 01 / Floral; No. 02 / Green; No. 03 / Epicure;
No. 04 / Spice; No. 05 / Floral; No. 06 / Musk; No. 07 / Spice;
No. 08 / Floral; No. 09 / Ocean; No. 10 / Citrus
Each rollerball contains 0.17 FL. OZ. of pure perfume oil.
To order visit www.theblendfragrance.com or http://www.fredsegal.com