Test Drive

ANNICK GOUTAL PETITE CHÉRIE EAU DE PARFUM ROLL-ON

I'm not a perfume person. But not only have I started wearing it regularly, I'm actually touching it up throughout the day. What happened, you ask? French perfumer Annick Goutal's new roll-on scent happened. The fuss-free roller ball distributes the perfect dose, no matter how haphazardly I apply it while I'm rushing out the door. And the scent is like spring packaged in a travel-size glass vial. It's delicious -- or in my friend's words, after I shoved my wrist under his nose: "It smells so cleeeeaaan."

I concur. With notes of peach, vanilla and grass, the scent goes on crisp and light. But once the bouquet settles in, it takes a surprise turn to soft and buttery. It's like switching from pinot gris to chardonnay during an afternoon at a French bistro. And I'll take both, please.

-- Rachel Machacek

$39 at http://www.aedes.com.

TRUE BLUE SPA RICE PUDDING BODY POLISH

Judging by the boatload of exfoliating products on the market, simple showering is out. Power washing is in. You can rub every inch of skin with a coarse salt scrub or sweep your bare bod with a horse-bristle brush. Fun, right? Well, not exactly: The notion of scrubbing, scouring and blasting away skin cells is enough to make me quake in my peep-toes -- and reach for something a little more comforting. Like True Blue Spa's Rice to the Rescue body scrub.

First off, this stuff smells so much like rice pudding I'm tempted to dig in with a spoon. It's not your run-of-the-mill grainy, scratchy concoction, either. Rubbing it on feels like smearing pudding on your skin. That may sound a little toddler-esque, but trust me: It's divine. The texture is soft and soothing, and it rinses clean, with rice oil leaving behind smooth skin and an ever-so-light trace of moisture.

Most exfoliators are no fun. But this one offers a creamy, dreamy formula that puts all those "no pain, no gain" shower routines to shame.

-- Holly E. Thomas

$17.50 at Bath & Body Works stores and http://www.bathandbodyworks.com.