BCBGirls Nature by Max Azria

Every time another store from my youth begins to shutter locations I commemorate them by lighting a Macintosh Yankee Tea candle and placing it aside an iconic item from the brand. With Aeropostale it was a zip up hoodie, with Weathervane a graphic tee, with Wet Seal a sparkly tank, and now with BCBG it is a fragrance from their seminal BCBGirls lineup. If you were ever on a journey to recreate a Marissa Cooper look at a mid range price tag, BCBG was THE department store stop. They were the number one dress purveyor (besides Jessica McClintock) for prom, spring fling, winter balls, and every awkward basement party you learned to grind at. In 2001 the brand infiltrated all teen mags with sample strips of each of their four fragrances from the BCBGirls line; Metro, Sexy, Star, and Nature pictured here.

On Friday night you’re pulsing with inexplicable energy from your second can of Surge. While flipping through the pages of J-14 you notice a sample for Nature from BCBGirls and take a sniff after doing a rail of Pixy Stix. A feeling of being understood comes over you. This is the bouquet of boho you’ve been waiting for and you already know what cropped pirate pants to pair with it.

Notes include bergamot, tangerine, freesia, heliotrope, lily, rose; sandalwood, amber and musk. In real life you will smell like a Scunci freshly scraped off a shampooed head.