Back in my college days I worked at Nautica's corporate offices. (Working in fashion? Best. Job. Ever. For a college student, at least. My classmates trotted around in pajama pants and flip flops while I shuttled between campus and office with my little Prada messenger bag and dark shades. It was fab.)

Anyhow, this was right around the time the company was incubating a new, eponymous line from designer John Varvatos. I shared an elevator ride with him once, and the overall impression was that of a more subdued, less weird version of Tom Ford.

OK, I'll get to the actual beauty content now. Promise.

I had been waiting for Varvatos to do a women's fragrance for quite a while now, as the men's fragrance he launched a couple of years ago rated quite highly on my list. And now it's here! I haven't sniffed it yet, but I find myself totally enamored with the packaging. It's so sleek and elegant, and I love the rose gold bottle tops (similar to the lovely packaging of Josie Maran's cosmetic line, no?).

The fragrance is a floral chypre, with notes of aromatic grappa, Georgian apricot, Damascus plum, golden mandarin, rubrum lily, Indian mango blossom, Egyptian jasmine, Turkish rose, oakmoss, patchouli, tonka beans and wild honey.

This sounds very promising, and I'm especially interested in the Cleansing Oil with Grains. You know how much I love an oil-based body cleanser, and the option to turn it into a scrub? Fab.

I don't often get overly excited about new fragrance releases these days (only because it seems like every other new scent is a generic fruity floral), but I can't wait to sniff this one. Will be visiting Saks or Nordies shortly, and will report back!