Beauty Closet, Jo Malone White Jasmine & Mint Cologne

It has become fashionable to rave about the packaging for Ladurée, the Parisian sweet shop. It is the most gorgeous, glamorous packaging of all time, and of course the sweets are delicious, but the room, for me, is the point: Past the cases of pastel macaroons and through a big dramatic door is a tearoom hung with enormous handpainted chinoiserie murals, crowded with red banquettes and low-slung campaign chairs. The many-paged menu is printed in the floweriest script imaginable and includes many items involving the word "bombe," none of which disappoint. (Absolutely bring a child; he/she will never forget it.) Best of all is the mint tea: a fistful of fresh mint leaves stuffed into a teapot full of hot water.

Back at home I realized that anyone with the tiniest plot of ground—even a large flowerpot—is capable of having more fresh mint than they know what to do with, as it grows like a weed. Presenting it in a giant teapot during dessert makes me feel like I'm a de Rothschild or a de Ribes.

This perfume—which mixes tea-ish mint with jasmine and a little rose into the freshest, airiest, prettiest scent—arrived a few weeks after my Ladurée experience, cementing and intensifying my warm feelings vis-à-vis the mint plant. It's light enough to spray and spray—you will never overpower anyone—and lasts longer than you expect, floating up and blooming from time to time as you wear it.

I can't wait for Jo Malone to make it into candles, soaps, oils, and room sprays; until then, I will content myself by adding the leaves to flower arrangements, a trick that—like the teapot routine—has a French-hostess frisson I find impossible to resist.