Flowers in the Palace

Ah, spring!

After three long months of winter (and nearly two years of psychological winter with covid-19 lockdowns and endless masking protocols), the first signs of real springtime are in the air.

The jacarandas are in full bloom across Mexico, and everywhere you look, people are out and about. Indeed, those weary days of cold are far behind us.

And to celebrate this splendorous belle époque, Palacio de Hierro, Mexico’s premiere luxury department store chain, hosted its much-anticipated and ultra-lavish Spring Gala floral festival inside its Polanco store on Wednesday, March 2. The star-studded event was attended by Mexico’s social crème de la crème, and in keeping with the springtime theme, the entire ground floor of the store was decked out in bright, multihued flowers, exclusively crafted by Carlos Franqui, CEO and founder of Floratorium, the most exclusive floral design house in New York, using a plethora of Mexican-grown perennials and seasonal buds. Flamboyant reds, emerald greens, azure blues and alabaster whites contrasted radiantly with the pastel rose and lilac shades of wild flowers.

Fraqui’s stunning large-scale installations were interwoven with mannequins wearing the latest Dior and Balenciaga fashions — fittingly, the dominant color of the season is green — where the master Floratorium craftsman unleashed his passion with vibrantly colorful floral sets that leaped out unabashed, free from the confines of a vase.

There was even an antique Fisker Karma sportscar filled to the brim with fresh blossoms in pink, lavender, white and sunshine yellow.

To complete the mise en scène, Guadalajara pop singer Chesdana filled the air with her heartfelt notes in an exclusive live performance as waiters donning backpacks bursting with bougainvilleas and other wild flowers offered up flutes of prosecco and cheese and shrimp canapés.

Although the one-night-only Palacio de Hierro gala could not be attended by all the brand’s customers, the store has extended a special springtime sale for all its cardholders, who can, through March 20, exchange their Palacio Points for triple their value.

And as an added bonus, anyone who purchases at least 8,000 pesos in goods and services through that date will receive a personalized bouquet of fresh or dried flowers designed by Floratorium’s Franqui.

Fresh Car Scents

Remember those obnoxious little cardboard strips that people used to hang on their car’s rearview mirror to disguise the scent of dirty tennis shoes in the back seat, or their overflowing car ashtray with stale cigarette butts, or their dog’s couldn’t-hold-it-any-longer mishaps?

The putrid stench was so overpowering that it made you prefer the odor of the musty sneakers and Fido’s accidental leakages. But, thankfully, the days of hanging cardboard car deodorants are long gone, and in their stead are a whole new generation of real air fresheners that actually eliminate foul odors rather than trying to cover them up.

Enter stage right, California Scents Cool Gel, with understated, organic, naturally derived fragrances that subtly encompass your car’s airspace, rather than bombarding it with noxious artificial florals and I-think-I’m-going-to choke pine-y perfumes.

Now available in Mexico, California Scents Cool Gels come in three relaxing aromas — Coronado Cheery, Ice and Newport New Car — each offering a bouquet of freshness that doubles as a dose of aromatherapy to help calm and sooth ruffled nerves in even the worst traffic jams.

Spill-proof and packaged in little, easy-to-open, plastic canisters, Cool Gels have rotating vents so you can control just how much scent you want to release.

It’s almost like having your own personal spa in your automobile.