Maybe I shouldn't, maybe it makes me smell like a teenage girl/pastry/both, but every morning after I get out of the shower, I slather myself with coconut body lotion. Whenever I wear it, I find myself smelling my arms all day—weird, but true.

It's kind of embarrassing to procure—I'm a 29 year-old dude, after all—but the cashiers at C.O. Bigelow, which makes my current favorite version, don't seem to think it's strange (they're on 6th avenue in Greenwich Village, a few doors down from a place called “ Fantasy Party,” so they probably see much more insane shit). Anyway, coconut lotion: I think there's an undeniable sensory connection between coconuts (and lotions, generally) and vacation and being tan. Beyond that, the sweet, toasted scent of [artificial] coconut, not to mention skin that smells sweet and toasted, just makes me feel good. While C.O. Bigelow's version is a bit thicker than the bottle(s) of Skin Trip I used in high school, it absorbs within a minute (this is very important in a body cream; nothing's worse than lotion sitting atop your skin), and the scent is subtle—like a joint at a Justin Bieber concert, it's there if you're really looking for it. More than anything, you smell clean, fresh, like a sorority girl in Cabo on the first day of spring break. Ahh.

—Nick Axelrod