Holiday Gifting: $1 Million Perfume and Other Outrageously Expensive Beauty Finds

The chicks at TotalBeauty.com

Some days when I get writer's block and can do little more than will the words to magically appear on my blank word document, I allow my mind to drift and almost always end up pondering the same scenario -- what would I do if I won the lottery?

I would visit the 7 wonders of the world and maybe even make one of them my own. I'd pay a PR team to wrangle me a date with Ryan Gosling. And, I'd go shopping.

Yep, if I won the LOTTO, I would get a cherry red Aston Martin DBS Volante and drive it with the top down and imagine that I was racing to rescue James Bond. Or I'd snatch up a little island off the coast of Belize and spend a year working on nothing but getting a gorgeous tan. Then I'd jet out to Rodeo Drive and drop big bucks on every -- and any -- thing that tickled my fancy.

You know what I wouldn't do? Blow it on a million dollar bottle of perfume.

Related: Luxe Beauty Breakthroughs 2011 Edition

And, as incredible as it sounds, there is such a thing. DKNY teamed up with jewelry designer Martin Katz to bling-out DKNY's top-selling fragrance, Gold Delicious -- to the tune of a cool million.

The bottle is carved from 14-karat yellow and white gold, is encrusted with 183 yellow sapphires, 2,700 white diamonds, and a 2.43-karat yellow canary diamond . Yes, they put a 2.43-karat yellow canary diamond ON A PERFUME BOTTLE.

And what does this million-dollar perfume smell like?

Oh, like the original $75 DKNY Golden Delicious fragrance with notes of orange, rose, lily, and apples. In other words, nice, but not quite worth the price tag. (Looking for a great fragrance? See our editors' favorites. )

So, yes, my pretend jackpot-winning self would pass on the pricey perfume as well as a few other too-rich-for-my-real-life-blood beauty buys. Like these:


Crème de la Mer The Essence, $2,100
 Crème de la Mer, the go-to company for obscenely overpriced skin care products, takes the prize for the world's most expensive face lotion. For a mere $2,100 you get to bring home a three-week supply of fermented algae moisturizer that promises to reduce lines and minimize pores. What a deal.
For 7 cheap swaps for luxe skin care products, click here.




Ex Voto Paris Ultimate Ginger XL Round Metal Grey Candle, $595

There's nothing better than lighting a few candles to create some ambience. And Barneys New York is offering up this ginger-scented French candle that may very well smell heavenly, but at $595 would you ever even light the wick?








Tweezerman Luxe Edition Crystal Slant Tweezer & Stand, $200

Love your tweezers, but hate how plain they are? Now you can get these Swarovski-encrusted pluckers from Tweezerman that come with a matching crystal-studded stand.









Bedazzled Vaseline Limited Edition, $100

To celebrate its 140 th year, Vaseline enlisted the help of "Project Runway" alum, Chris March who designed this limited edition Swarovski crystal-covered jar. What's inside? Plain old, run of the mill petroleum jelly.






More from TotalBeauty.com:
13 Affordable Beauty Product Breakthroughs
8 High-End Hair Products Worth Every Penny
Cheap Swaps for High-End Makeup