Deals on Pricey Perfumes, Robes
During the holidays, the perfume counters at major department stores offer a plethora of gifts with purchases. This year, the pickings are a touch slim, but there are a few good deals.
Germaine Monteil has a gift package of four large-size skin-care products as a gift with any Germaine Monteil purchase. Spend $45 at the Fred Hayman counter and walk away with a lovely tote bag--a $25 value. For the men, Boss Sport fragrance will present you with a racy metal toy car with any purchase, and Paul Sebastian is offering four nice 24% lead crystal mugs with a $24 purchase.
For discounted fragrances, however, move on. In Tarzana, Lora has a good selection of popular scents priced 10% to 50% less than retail. Chanel comes in at the 10% figure. Van Cleef & Arpel’s First, in a two-ounce spray, offers a healthy savings, from $38 down to $29.95. Giorgio’s usual $47.50 cologne is $39.95. There’s a good selection of the popular miniatures, and a gift box of seven miniature perfumes with Ysatis, Ann Klein, Jean Patou, Ombre Rose, Diva, Krizia and Capucci is a nice $21.
Lora, 18737 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, (818) 705-4030. Hours 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays. Visa/MasterCard. A stop at Parfumerie Parisienne, tucked away in Canoga Park, can save on fragrances. The old standard Joy, a one-ounce eau de toilette splash, retails for $44; the price here is $34. Oscar de la Renta’s popular scent in the three-ounce spray cologne is $36 instead of $45. A good discount on Cartier: The 1.6-ounce spray that retails for $60 comes in at $44.
Parfumerie Parisienne, 7212 Jordan Ave., Canoga Park, (818) 348-4780. Hours 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily till Monday. Visa/MasterCard/American Express. Another good source for perfumes at a discount is Mayumi, long a popular stop for the Westside crowd looking for deals on their favorite fragrances. Most of the big names are on the shelves at discounts that run from OK to terrific. Gucci’s eau de parfum two-ounce spray is $15 (retail $30). Pison’s 1.7-ounce cologne spray that retails for $30 is $22 here. Onbre Rose in the three-ounce spray runs $24, instead of $36, and you can save $8 on Aramis in the four-ounce cologne, at $20 instead of $28.
Mayumi, 1213 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 936-8809. Hours 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.
For the last-minute Louies of either sex, the Robe Factory has some of the best deals in town on terry, terry-velour or cotton robes for men and women. This is the factory for a well-known and very high-end label that you see in pricey boutiques.
Full-length men’s hooded robes in a 12-ounce terry-velour (the very best quality) retail for $195, but can be purchased at the factory for $80. Ladies’ floor-length shawl robes with piping are $75 to $85 instead of $185 retail. A lighter-weight warp-knit terry velour, also floor-length, sells in the stores for $165 to $185, but at the factory, it is a dazzling $25 to $60. Short beach jackets with hoods are $25. Pure cotton print robes, terry-lined, usually sell for $85 to $95; the Robe Factory’s price is $25 to $35.
The unisex calf-length travel kimonos are lovely, in Malaysian batik prints, beautifully made with French seams and lined pockets for $35 to $45. This is bargain shopping at its best.
The Robe Factory, 6040 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park, (213) 258-8490. Hours 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. Cash or check only.
