You know how the second you find something (a fragrance, jean style, Filofax insert, etc.) you love and can’t live without, the irony Gods jump into action and suddenly it disappears from the universe?
Please tell me I’m not alone on this.
It’s happened to me plenty of times, but one of the absolute worst was when I wandered into a Bath and Body Works a few years ago to grab a refill of my all time favorite body spray: Mango Mandarin. After scouring the shelves and not catching a glimpse of my beloved scent, I asked a sales girl if they had moved it. “Oh,” she said. “You must not have been here in a while- that scent was discontinued.” Excuse me? Discontinued? I stood there completely baffled as aforementioned sales girl spritzed me with a bunch of orange/tangerine/mango sprays in an attempt to find something else I liked. None of them came close to the amazingness that is Mango Mandarin. Not to sweet or flowery, it was simply perfect.
Since that depressing day, I’ve settled for any number of different scents, never finding anything that came even close. Then, a few weeks ago, I stopped into a BBW just to see what new scents they had. As I was checking out Maui-something, a sales girl came up and asked how I liked it. “It’s ok,” I admitted. “But nothing comes close to my favorite discontinued scent.”
“Which one was that?” she replied, genuinely curious. When I told her, her face lit up with excitement. “Our semi-annual sale is coming up, and I think I saw Mango Mandarin listed as one of the scents they are bringing back, hold on, let me go check!” she rambled as she ran off to some off-limits back room. She appeared a few seconds later, flier in hand.
It was true. My favorite scent would return! My new hero (aka the sales girl) recommended I arrive early on June 13, the first day of the sale, to make sure I was able to snag a few bottles before they sold out. And of course, June 13 just had to be a Wednesday. And since I’m now a boring Monday – Friday 9-5-er, I couldn’t make it in until at least 6:30 p.m. Boo.
So of course I called my nearest BBW first thing this morning. I explained my dilemma- I really wanted to get a few bottles of the Mango Mandarin fragrance mist, but wouldn’t be able to make it in until later… could they possibly set a few aside for me? She unfortunately had to turn me down- their store had only received the lotion and shower gel, none of the mists.
Shit.
Not yet willing to admit defeat, I called the next closest BBW. What can I say, I’m desperate, even if it means fighting traffic and idiots at the mall. I repeated my dilemma, crossing every cross-able part of my body that they would have some in stock. And then I got the blow: the manufacturers had only re-released some of the product line in Mango Mandarin, and the fragrance mist would not be one of them.
Double shit.
Still not willing to admit defeat, I checked out the BBW website to see if maybe there was a stray bottle or two that managed to avoid extinction. And halle-friggen-lujah, my determination paid off! Even though they aren’t in the stores, I was able to add a bottle (okay, four bottles) to my online shopping cart. Hey, who knows when this stuff will come back again- I’m not risking it this time around. Plus, at $4 a bottle, I couldn’t feel too guilty. But I did start feeling a bit guilty a few minutes later, when I headed to the online check out with almost $30 of products in my cart (a Mango Mandarin shampoo and conditioner somehow snuck in there). In my never ending quest to get everything I want and be cheap while doing it, I Googled “bath and body works online coupons.” Thank God for Google. Seriously. A few seconds later, I was back at my shopping cart, armed with a 20% off my total purchase discount code. Four bottles of my all time favorite fragrance, a shampoo + conditioner, tax, shipping and handling for just over $25? Now that I can handle! What I might not be able to handle is my impatience in waiting for it to be shipped so I can begin incessantly tracking it… wish me luck!
Readers, what have you found that you dread having to live without? Or, have you had an experience like mine, where some higher-up decides they no longer need to carry your favorite item? Dish in the comments about what it was, and if you were able to find it again!
This is kinda weird, but they took my favorite burrito off the Taco Bell menu…and since Joey really likes Taco Bell, I always ordered it when we went. The stupid thing is that they still have all the ingredients (there are like 5 ingredients at taco bell, right?) but usually they won't make it. Luckily, the one in Macomb will still make it but I'm waiting for the day when it no longer exists. The only vegetarian burrito they left on the menu is not good.
Also, my mom really like these ricola lemon breath mints that she used to get at Trader Joe's and then they stopped carrying them and she couldn't find them anywhere else so she figured they stopped making them. But then she found some in a store when we were in Hawaii so she went on Amazon and found them and bought an entire case like you would find at a store…weird. 🙂
Glad you found some Mango Mandarin!
I worked in a BBW for about 3 months or so back in 2001 (it was my last retail job ever – blech!). The store is located in an outlet center so people would come in all the time looking for scents that had been discontinued. We didn't have any of them, but it's a good idea – I think people would be all over that. But on the other hand, if they continued to make the "discontinued" items, there'd be no need for an outlet. Hmmm.
I don't often have this problem with personal products, but it happens to me all the time at the grocery store – once I find a brand or item I love, they either stop making it or the story stops carrying it.
Oh man! My Taco Bell order is all pretty boring- I'll be in trouble if they ever get rid of the bean burrito or beef tacos! But I was pretty disappointed when Panera got rid of my favorite salad (thankfully they've since brought it back)!
And I could totally see your mom ordering a whole case- I can't say I blame her!
Haha, that is so true! But it still totally stinks when a favorite scent disappears (no pun intended…)