While guys tend to correlate major life events with the triumphs of their favorite sports teams, girls are more apt to associate them with feats of beauty and fashion. For some, shoes, lip gloss, and fragrance all take on special significance ("I wore the Manolo slingbacks when we met, Chanel Glossimer Pagoda on our first date, Dior Addict when he first introduced me as his girlfriend...'".) And then there are those who take it to a whole 'nother level, convincing themselves, and all who'll listen, that certain designers' creations hold the keys to their eternal happiness. In my family, that all-powerful designer is Gucci (my mom even named the family dog after the design house), and every romantic family milestone--for everyone but me, it seems--revolves around the brand's scents (my sister, for example, was proposed to while sporting Rush). Much as I've tried to squelch my jealousy over their good fortune and avoid falling prey to superstition, when I heard about the limited-edition release of Envy Me 2 ($62; sephora.com), I hightailed it to Sephora, whipped out my AmEx, and waited for the accord to work its magic.

Like its predecessors, Gucci's newest release is not for wallflowers. But while the original Envy relied on sharp greens to convey a sense of sophistication and Envy Me called on fruity notes to yield a sweeter aroma, Envy Me 2 is soft, gentle, and summer-appropriate. The scent opens to a refreshing blend of orange, violet leaf, and magnolia that gives way to romantic rose and heliotrope, then to a calming base of patchouli, vanilla, and sandalwood (the violet leaf, heliotrope, and vanilla notes sing the loudest, so if you don't like them, opt for one of Envy Me2's sister scents). The resulting accord is lush, feminine, and sexy but restrained enough that it can be worn to the office without worry. Interested to see what the fragrance could do after hours, I spritzed it on before a recent date and crossed my fingers. Although I can't say Envy Me 2 spawned a marriage proposal (much to my mother's disappointment), all was not lost: It did manage to bring out the chivalry in my date--and just about every other male I encountered that evening. --Kai Alexis Smith

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