Last night I took out my box of fragrance decants and selected one that I had not worn in some time. Lo and behold, it had "turned" while I wasn't looking, and was no longer the beautiful orange blossom that I knew and loved, but something more like a cross between orange blossom and nail polish remover.
Some amount of spoilage is to be expected when you own a lot of perfume. I have no intention of counting my bottles — really, I'd rather not know — but I probably have some number between 40 and 60. I would guess that I have another 100 or so decants. It does not strike me as a huge collection, but then, I am a perfume addict. A "normal" person would be astounded, and probably disgusted.
Last year, I put my perfume buying under strict limits: no more than 2 bottles per month. That number now seems almost comical to me. In my lifetime, I will never use up the 24 bottles I purchased last year (well, ok, I admit I probably bought a few more than 24), even though I frequently make decants from those bottles to share with others. This year I have been much more selective, and have only added 4 or 5 bottles to my collection. So far.
So, how many of you are ready to 'fess up? How many bottles do you have, and do you worry about potential spoilage?
Note: the image shows three Lalique crystal perfume bottles from William Barthman in New York City.
I think around a 100 bottles. OK I have been pretty lucky and it is years before anything has turned on me. Keep them cool and dark and mine seem pretty happy.
A bottle of Femme parfum
did turn on me,only a little left in the bottle but I was upset after 12 years it turned to a dark brown mess!!!
Hi Robin. I don't think there is an answer. It depends on so many personal factors. I have about 40 bottles and another 30-40 decants and about 150 samples. The thing that gives me anxiety (yes, anxiety) is wondering if one of those sample I haven't tried properly, is really my HG. Or what if in one of my housekeeping frenzies I gave away something that I really could have loved but didn't give it time. Ack, the pressure!!!
As you know, R, I only have four full bottles – and that's already three too many: I get anxious when I'm made aware that I might not be able to use up something (I'm the same with unread books, for instance). My motto, “I will not be survived by my shower gels!” LOL!
I definitely couldn't cope with hundreds of bottles of perfume (I have lots of samples, but they're tiny), but, then, I would never buy them in the first place. 🙂
I'm with Bela, I have four and I'm planning to narrow that down to one once I have finished the other three. I'm a creature of habit!
Wow, it took 12 years to turn! That is very impressive. I have not yet had a full bottle turn, only decants, but I'm sure it is bound to happen eventually, and I'll be very happy if they all make it to the ripe old age of 12!
L, agree, the samples are more nerve-wracking then the bottles, in a way. I can't even say how many untried samples I have at the moment, but it is quite a few, and many of them wait months for their first shot.
J, “I will not be survived by my shower gels” — good one! I'm afraid that I will most certainly be survived by my eyeshadow collection, which is truly ludicrous, especially since I rarely bother to put on makeup. And the unread books…ack!! Don't even start on that. I definitely buy faster than I read.
Coco Chanel would be disgusted with me then, I wear perfume very lightly, and more often at home than out in public!
Ok, now I'm dying of curiosity: what fragrance will be the lone survivor???
I must admit that when I splurge I mostly do it at home – don't want to intrude on other people's space either. Although there are occassions and places where it is appropriate to use in abundance, I think. I've got only a few that have excessive sillage anyway (think Opium). Always douche myself with perfume just before I go to sleep, and when I wake up. Which is delightful!
I agree with Tania: I don't worry about spoilage as much as I do sheer boredom with my fragrance collection. And lord, don't even ask me how many bottles of fragrance I have.
You may recall that I recently went through a why-buy-new-fragrances-when-I-already-have-enough-for-a-lifetime? phase. Famous last words… With the new crop of fragrances and the beautyhabit.com sale, that lasted for less than a month.
One thing I have tried to do is limit the number of decants I have. I prefer getting samples to test a fragrance and then the real mccoy if I like it enough to buy it or seek out a bottle-for-bottle swap. There's something about holding the real bottle in your hands, feeling its heft, twisting or pulling off the cap, and spraying or splashing it all over that is just as important to me as the olfactory experience. :):)
Let's face it: I'm a fragrance hedonist!
Hugs, darling R!
T, it is the samples that cause the spoilage for me, not boredom…I am too busy trying new things to use the fragrances I already own & love. There are too many new perfumes. 100 a year would be plenty, 400+ is more than I can keep up with.
R, we have the opposite strategy: I am trying to rely more on decants (even though they will of course spoil faster) and buy fewer bottles that I'll never use up. But you're quite right that it is more satisfying to hold the actual bottle rather than some anonymous little 1/8 oz Boston round, LOL! Hugs to you, and have a great weekend 🙂
I'm so glad I'm not the only one with gazillions of bottles! Whew! But unfortunately, I have had some of them go bad. And peeeeyew! There have been times when I really crave that one luscious fragrance and have sprayed it on only to discover something is truly wrong…such a heart breaker!
The funny thing is that when I got divorced 4 years ago, my ex wanted to enter my $3,000 worth of perfume (his estimate) into the settlement. I generously offered him half the bottles and that shut him up. Little does he know that my collection is probably worth 3 times his estimate! haha.
I love this site!
Until the next perfect fragrance arrives…..toodles.
Yes, the samples will get you. I am ruthless with my samples. If on seeing a sample I feel no flutter of interest, I throw it away. If I try a sample once and don't like it much, I throw it away. I also only sample new things in the evening, after work, so as not to waste a whole day with a fragrance I might not like. In fact, just typing this reminds me I'm due for a sample clear-out.
I like to wear perfume to bed too, so my pillowcase is sometimes more highly scented than I am, LOL!
Will send you my address 😉
V, 120-150 is where I will end up some day if I don't contain myself! Mine are in a dark cabinet too, but I really wish I had a wine refrigerator. LOL — I guess that is a bit excessive?
I do take Coco Chanel's advice to heart but spray INTO THE AIR and not onto my body. The moment I'm sick of a scent it becomes air freshener. It's used up fairly quickly and I feel no guilt. After the vacuuming? SPRAY! After cleaning the litter box? SPRAY After crabcakes? SPRAY.
DO IT! I could also follow your example and buy small vials and give try-outs to my friends. I think it always helps to buy 1.7 oz bottles, even of favorite scent; 3.4 oz bottles seem HUGE to me these days and are NOT a bargain in the long run unless you can stick to a few bottles of scent. In years I have only had one scent spoil: Creed's Silver Mountain Water. It may be the composition's fault: one horrid chemical/gas/kerosine note came to the fore and took over the perfume. All other scents are in a 65 degree cabinet that is pitch dark always (thus I'm never tempted by the look of a bottle; I'd never see it very long). I did visit a friend a few weeks back and was appalled at her fancy-schmancy vanity set-up in her bedroom. She had a baroque Venetian (mirrored) table and chair (encrusted with mother of pearl and onyx). On top of this vanity were bottles of Chanel perfumes (Coco, No. 5, etc). Each bottle seemed filled with molasses: a dark brown syrupy stew! I said: “What's in your bottles?” She: “Perfume…why?” I said: “Oh, I've never smelled Coco, could you put some on?” Yes, a LIE, but…. The “perfume” was a sweet, “charred”, nondescript mess. Of course the vanity was in bright sunshine and no doubt the mirrors doubled the sun's powers to destroy! HA! K
You know….a cooling perfume cabinet is not a bad idea!! Do you think we could get enough of us to pitch in on the idea and get a prototype made?
I'll bet the target market is larger than we think!!
I am constantly giving away samples, decants and bottles in an attempt to narrow my collection down to my ideal number of 10…although 15 would be great at this point…even 25! But no, its hovering at about 30-50 at the moment, my decants are somewhere near 70, and my samples are in the hundreds. Have NO idea what to do about this! And yet, my wishlist never grows any shorter….
Sample junkie!
When I reached 25 bottles, I vowed to stop. Now I'm over 40 – aaargh! I'm stopping for sure this time. Ha!
So far, no bottles have turned. But my collection is fairly “young.”
As for decants, I have about 20. (Why do you think decants turn faster?) There are over 100 vials lying around. More come in with every swap. They do stress me a bit when I look at them. I feel pressure to test them and then pass them along to someone else. A 'fume head's work is never done!
Have a nice weekend!
Okay one more thing since you all gave me such a great idea with this cooler thing for all of our perfume bottles.
I am a new home builder and am in the midst of building a new spec house. What would you all think of installing a glass door compact refrigerator in the Master Bathroom for perfume storage and display? I found a really nice one for about $175 which isn't too costly ya think?
(okay I know all of us perfume lovers won't think so! Nothing is too good for our stash! tee hee)
Would love to hear what you think!
THANKS and toodles.
Would love
Why do you do this to me, R? 🙂 I am not counting. I think it is an amount similar to yours and I don't think there is any stopping me now. The wishlist is endless and new full bottle lemmings are born almost everyday.
I choose not to think about spoilage. Almost everything is replaceable…There is nothing overly obscure so far in my collection.
That actually isn't too bad a price, although personally, I'd probably end up using the money to buy more perfume 🙂
Now see, I cannot bear to spray perfume into the air, whether to walk through or for air freshener. I don't know why, as I'm wasting just as much by not using it!! All my perfume is in a cabinet in my office, and the decants are in wood boxes, so at least it is safe from light.
A, I could not live with 10….that only leaves room for 5 that aren't Ormonde Jaynes! Not enough variety, LOL!
I assume the decants will spoil faster because they were exposed to so much air in the process of being decanted, and they cannot really be given an airtight seal afterward. The rollerballs are the worst, since they will also pick up skin oils, but any splash bottle is almost as bad unless you wash your hands before every use. Ack…trying not to think about it.
I probably have at least 300 bottles. I don't worry about spoilage. The rare/precious ones are kept in a dark closet, the rest in my reasonably dark bedroom with all the shades pulled. If one goes bad, oh well – but I have had maybe 2-3 bottles go bad in the last 25 years, so I'm not too worried. Bring on the next lemming! Life is too short not to have perfume you love. I don't need to use up the whole bottle in order to feel like I got my money's worth.
Hello R! =)
I don't know how many b/c some is in storage, but it's a very small budding amateur collection compared with most of the ladies on MUA Frag. board!
I started using a Quicken worksheet on July 1st. OH MY! If I ever need something to deter me from spending (or at least give me a guilt trip!), I look up how much the “beauty” category takes up in my monthly pie chart!! Oh-oh! 😉
Next to most of you ladies, I'm just an amateur with my 30 bottle collection. And fairly obsessional : half of them Serge Lutens, the rest Frederic Malle and Caron. Of course, now that I've discovered Ormonde Jayne, I might get obsessional about that line too. I tend to wear one fragrance at a time for a season. Then it becomes too closely associated to that period and it feels strange to wear it again, so I keep it for the record. Switching too often confuses my sense of identity.
Now there's a question: when you wear lots of different fragrances, how do you “recognize” yourself, especially if they're very different ? Do you keep within a theme for a while, a certain family or line ?
I have a few things that would be hard, maybe not impossible, to replace. A couple of LEs, a couple Gobin Daudes that might or might not be discontinued, a bunch of L'Artisan 15 ml bottles that I dread having to replace with full sizes. Will join you in trying not to think about it.
Wow. I am impressed, that is really a lot of perfume, and a good attitude to go with it.
Hi M, good to see you! And tracking what you actually spend is even scarier than counting the bottles 😉
Personally, my sense of identity isn't particularly associated with my perfume at all…or else I just have multiple personalities (?) I almost never wear the same thing 2 days in a row, much less for a whole season.
I can't wear a perfume for more than a couple days, either. The I just want something different. I guess it's because I know I have so many other wonderful scents just waiting. I'm pretty obsessed with it, and almost as bad as spending the money is spending the TIME! I can spend hours on the internet, reading about all of the different scents from different houses, “studying” the notes, etc. I need to swap, but am finding it hard on MUA. Is there a place to swap JUST fragrances?
Hi R! Not telling you how many I have but I totally agree with Tara that life is too short and I am not that worried spoilage. Nah! The good thing with my purchases is that I often give away as soon as I know I do not love a fragrance and that way I make others happy while making sure I have space for more. 😉
One thing though is that I now buy much less than I used to. In the past, I used to buy things I loved after one sniff (and those are the ones I got tired of) – so no more love at first sniff – I try to test a few times now before splurging (with some exceptions) as it is much easier to walk in from time to time – this applies to perfumes available here (and London). 🙂
You can swap at Perfume of Life, but you have to have a certain number of posts on the board first (I think 500?). Basenotes is another option. I think the MUA board is probably more active though.
N, I have done well this year…only 1 unsniffed purchase, and I ended up giving that away so there is my lesson! But you know I envy your shopping opportunities as I am so limited here.
Well, I'm a mere beginner compared to most of you, but my collection is growing despite my best efforts to contain it (“Now, only concentrate on those you love,” “But I wanna smell the NEW one!”), and I've recently started putting my 'fumes away in the dark in their little boxes. This makes me sad, however, because I enjoy looking at the bottles (at least, at the more interesting ones). Perhaps I can rotate those I put out on my dressing table. Or, like some others here, simply say, “Damn the spoilage, full speed ahead!”
Great piece, R!
I have never counted fully. I started one day out of curiosity, but decided against finishing, since I realized that “too many” would suffice for a total. I'm not overly worried about things turning. If they do, they do. But I've got some vintage frags that have more or less retained their character (some of the top notes have disintegrate.) One is almost 60 years old, but the message still comes across, and it's not turned on me thankfully enough!
I don't know what forces of fate I've had on my side but I have never had a scent spoil yet. Now that I've just jinxed myself – I have recently went through a huge liquidation of my collection and made a LOT of people very happy when they each received a bottle or two. I managed to get it down to about 20 and if I really set my mind to the task, I could probably eliminate 5 or 7 more. But unfortunately my alterior motives are “I need to make space for better fragrances.” I just don't find any pleasure in wearing something by Ralph Lauren or even Gucci. So I liquidated in anticipation of more Creeds, Maitres, and a few Miller Harris' I've had my nose on for a while.
Now the samples I'm just starting to accumulate and I blame all of you for that. In one week I went from having about 20 samples to now having about 75. You know it's bad when you go to the King of Prussia Mall prepared not to spend a dime but demand samples instead – and then spend the whole day getting them.
Oh well. A boy's gotta start somewhere.
L, I had mine in the boxes for awhile, but that made me crazy – I want to see my pretty bottles too! A cabinet is a compromise, since at least I can open the doors and see the bottles rather than the boxes. What I'd really like is to get a nice painted cabinet for over my dresser. One of these days!
K, Same here — started counting, decided against it. Better not to know! Wish I had some of my old fragrances back, they'd be vintage by now 🙂
I have gotten better & better at gathering samples without spending anything. It is an art unto itself, made much easier, of course, by Sephora & Nordstrom where they'll make up any sample you like. Be careful, eventually you'll have a zillion little plastic sets of drawers from Target to organize them just like I do!
I started getting decants this year as they pretty much satisfy my desire to have an easy to apply bit of something I'm not sure I want the full bottle of, esp since the price of things I like is escalating! I just reorganized my samples for the second time in a week so they would be more usuable. From a gizmo to ziplocks by family…out of ziplocks into a plastic box labeled by families (but laying sideways as they won't fit upright.) Another box of samples that I need to put into families. Another box to share of ones I have bottles of or know I can't wear. But nothing nichy. I like Tara's comments about not needing to use up a bottle to get her money's worth. I like having it there. I like the variety so as to be able to be different, even several times a day as my moods change. I use a light hand. How do you use the plastic drawers? I've never really had anything spoil on me, even things that are 20 yrs old are still very new in scent. One scent I wasn't sure of when I bought it and I am less sure now. Not sure if I'd say it spoiled or not, but less apt to pass it on because I'm not sure of it. I keep them in a cupboard and we have a/c. They are not in original boxes, tho I have a lot of the boxes. That in itself takes up space!
K, I have two sets of plastic drawers: one for samples I haven't tried yet, one for samples I've tried but want to keep. Both sets are organized alphabetically by name of the perfume house. All my decants are in wood boxes & the larger bottles are in a cupboard. It is a job in itself just keeping all this stuff organized 😉
Do they stand upright in the drawers? or lay flat? Are you talking the plastic boxes that are subdivided, like what they sell for fishing equipment or embroidery floss? I've tried about 6 different ways to sort and I'm still not sure I've hit the answer yet. I sorted first by name of perfume, but the little bins each letter fit in were too small and I didn't have a way to see or label it.
Yes, it is a job in itself, but someone has to do it, LOL!
I exceeded the too-much boundary long ago. I have about 190 full-size bottles right now (down from the 370 I could still have if I hadn't given away the really old and unused ones), and I feel stupid just watching them sit there and degrade because I'm not wearing them. Before egg met sperm, it didn't feel as excessive as it should have because I was applying twice a day and plowing through both favorites and not-so-favorites. Now I can hear crickets chirp when I look at the bottles. I do store them out of direct light, but the bottles aren't in boxes so I have to admit the possibility that they will turn before I can wear them again.
Feh — it's a sunk cost. I have other things to beat myself up about. The only way to redeem myself vis a vis perfume overconsumption is to stop buying new scents I'm not likely to wear, and by and large I've done that. Removing myself from the MUA fragrance board was a bank account saver. I'm just too easily persuaded by all those beautifully written, sincere raves.
No, no dividers, just open drawers, I think made by Sterilite (sp?). They are just in there in a jumble, so I still have to hunt for each one, but any more complicated system goes beyond my limited attention span, LOL!
Yes, V, you did a lovely job of admitting to nothing 😉
K, the MUA board is like a crack den, of course, and not conducive to holding down spending. 190 bottles is still plenty to last you through most of your years of Motherhood, LOL, so you'll be able to concentrate on more important money-drains like diapers & baby clothes & all the other paraphenalia of modern childhood 🙂
I'm a mere amateur with about 20 or so full-sized bottles in my collection, along with a few miniatures that came in gift sets. I only started collecting in earnest a couple of years ago, so its still a hefty amount. I don't have any decants, and samples I either give away or toss if I don't love them.
I have some Annick Goutals, Christian Dior, Jo Malones, L'Occitane and a smattering of other Department Store brands. The ones I wear frequently sit on top of my dresser, while the remaining ones are tucked away in a drawer. My bedroom isn't particularly bright, so I'm not too concerned about spoilage.
I do put some limits on myself though – I never purchase something until I've tested it several times so that I'm certain I love it. I simply can't afford to buy things unsniffed no matter how appealing they sound. I always buy the smallest size available – with so many in my collection already, larger sizes aren't necessary.
I find it tough to stick with the same fragrance every day: I love variety, and am always trying to sniff out something novel. I choose what I want depending on my mood. My old faithful standby is Banana Republic's W for Women. I feel like I can wear this comfortably anywhere anytime.
I'm happy to say that I was able to sample several Hermes fragrances yesterday. I tried Caleche Eau Delicate which was lovely (it also lingered for quite some time – I could still smell a whisper of it on my wrist the next morning). I also LOVED Orange Verte! I found it clean and refreshing, rather than masculine. Not sure which of the two I would purchase first.
Right now I'm not buying anything 'cause I'm dead broke!
I can't tell you ladies how wonderful it is to have found a place where I don't feel like a “freak” for admitting to my perfume addiction!
If I were to be totally honest with how many bottles I have acquired in the past few years, along with the money I've spent, (enough for several trips to Europe! LOL!) a lot of you “hard core” scentaholics would probably agree with my family/friends – that I am in dire need of professional counseling!
Since I buy most of my perfumes online, samples are never included. So if any of you are over-run with them and are looking for a way to weed them out, please let me know. I will be more than happy to pay for shipping. Believe me, they will NOT go to waste, as I have come up with many ingenious uses for them!
You can email me at: whatsit2ya@cox.net
Thanks!
Suzanne
20 bottles is plenty for anybody! I wish I could say I never bought unsniffed, but the best I can say is that I TRY never to buy unsniffed 😉
So glad you liked the Caleche Eau Delicate. I like the Orange Vert too, although I don't own a whole bottle.
S, Most of us probably need a 12 step program for fragrance addiction 😉
I only hope to have such a large collection. I am horrid in that, if I love a certain type of tihng, I need to start a collection. That's not that unusual, except I love lots of different types of things. With most things, I learn how to narrow my collection down several years after starting it, at least. I use to own more shoes, bags, and clothes than I could possibly use, but now I have gotten rid of all the ones I don't ADORE and feel like a Goddess in. My book collection, on the other hand, is the opposite – whether or not I like the book, it must be kept. I think I have the secret ambition to own and entire library's worth of books. :/
So, anyway, I don't know how it will be with perfume. Right now I have 0 full size bottles of perfume, four of those tiny samples, and one sample of Dior Addict that actually came in a mini version of the full-size bottle. I think it's probably an ounce.
We are the same about books, and I have way more books than I do perfume, happily. But my perfume collection is ridiculous all the same 🙂