1950s Elizabeth Arden gift set: a beautiful present

I went to Bristol today – more on that in another post – but I wanted to share the gift my friend Rachel had brought along for me. She'd seen me tweet about finding a bottle of Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass Flower Mist, so when she found this late 50s/early 60s Elizabeth Arden gift set in as perfect condition as you could ever hope to find one, she bought it for me.

If the picture of the contents of the box looks a little fuzzy, that's not bad photography, that's because the box still contains its original layer of plastic holding in the bath cubes, perfume and hand lotion. The cubes are wrapped in paper and foil and the bottles are glass, and the whole lot sits inside a goldtone metal basket. The lady who owned this must have loved it very much to want to keep it and not use it.

Usually I am of the opinion that vintage is there to be used. However in this case, I don't think I will use it. I have a vintage bottle of the same scent, so don't need to use this one, and it's in such beautiful condition I think I'll keep it as it is.