There is an often-told anecdote about Youth Dew. In the 1960s, Estée Lauder visited the Galeries Lafayette in Paris with a proposal for opening a counter there; however, the department store’s buyers were not interested in carrying her products. On her way out, the story goes, Estée not-so-accidentally spilled some Youth Dew bath oil on the store’s carpet. So many customers noticed the resulting aroma and demanded to purchase the oil that the store relented and placed an order for the entire Lauder line. As Angela has pointed out in her review of Youth Dew, its sillage is just as potent now as it was decades ago. I own and love the Eau de Parfum, but when I prefer to keep Youth Dew’s rich, retro spiciness all to myself, I wear the Body Creme instead.

Youth Dew Perfumed Body Creme is the heaviest lotion I’ve ever owned, literally: its jar of ribbed, frosted glass is weighty enough to cause severe pain if dropped on an unsuspecting foot (although, I suppose, a true Youth Dew wearer would be sure-handed enough never to drop it). Its lid is gleaming gold, as shiny as the interlacing initials of the Estée Lauder logo embossed on the pale turquoise and white box…

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