Parfums DelRae Coup de Foudre: My New Favorite Oddity

I always find something I simply have to have when I visit Berkeley's Tail Of The Yak--the tiny shop is crammed with vintage postcards, Moroccan tea glasses, lengths of silk ribbon, and heaps of other unnecessary-yet-wildly-compelling oddities--but this scent by Parfums DelRae is perhaps my favorite ever.

It's a light but intoxicating citrusy blend of lemon and grapefruit, spiked with jasmine, vetiver, and rose; I spritzed it all over myself, then left the store blissfully (if somewhat deliriously) smelling my wrists.

(Coup de foudre literally means "bolt of lightning", but the French use it to mean "love at first sight," which perfectly sums up my feeling about this scent.)

At left: Parfums DelRae Coup de Foudre perfume, $150, parfumsdelrae.com