Ah, April! The daffodils bloom, and Donatella, Our Lady of Perfumed Plenty,1 pauses during her busy day to wonder, idly, just how many bottles you might have acquired in the 1st quarter (January, February and March) of 2017. Do tell.
My purchases...
I spent a total of $34. I got a 10 ml travel spray of Narciso by Narciso Rodriguez Eau de Parfum plus a 10 ml travel spray of Dries Van Noten par Frédéric Malle. I am quite pleased with both.
As always, report your purchases in the comments if you dare! And as always, we don't include samples or gifts, and you can count miniatures, decants and bottle-splits howsoever you like (I usually count them as half bottles). Samples don't generally count at all, even though some of us spend considerable sums obtaining them.
1. Why does Donatella host (against her will, mind you) the damage polls? There is no real reason other than the picture of her perfume collection, which shows that she indulges regularly at the perfume counter. The image, by the way, is originally from Allure magazine and appears here courtesy of Blogdorf Goodman.
I made it right through to the 27th of March and then I blew it. I blew it BIG TIME! So I am now the proud owner of a decanter bottle of Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille, a fragrance which I have wanted for the last five or six years. I also got a bottle of Givenchy Pi because I’m running a little low and it was on offer, but that doesn’t count as it’s obviously an extension of the bottle I already have ;). Anyway, yesterday, I made a start on the next quarter 🙂
A decanter and all! Good for you, and hey, you can’t run out of Pi.
Nice work on the decant!
$370
The Fedex guy just delivered my Superstitious Dominique Ropion/Alber Elbaz.
The bottle smells good, haven’t sprayed yet.
And it is signed in silver Sharpie by Frederic Malle.
Not really a fan of that but……..
😀
Triple strength coffee.
Carpe Diem. Peace.
Forgot I purchased French Kiss Guerlain from the splitmeet.
Can’t remember the price…….so it doesn’t count!
Right?
Right! !
😉
Oops.
I may have purchased POAL this year………I’m out! !
One hundred Hail Marys and Stations of the Cross, STAT young man! !!!
🙂
Decants never count. They might evaporate, right? So how can you count air? 😉
Not remembering the price is the best justification ever!
oh wow, you sprung for the 100 ml bottle!
Reason:
I hemmed and hawed about purchasing both Carnal Flower and POAL until everyone in the universe had sampled them, and loved both.
So I decided to be in the vanguard with Superstitious.
It is VERY indolic so far and I am enjoying it muchly (sic). LOL
😀
You just confirmed what i always suspected…I live in an alternative universe! AArrrggghhhh…Lost in Space
Oh extremely curious about Superstition! Enjoy!
4 bottles (1 new, 3 partial): Cartier L’Heure XII (new); Nina Ricci Signoricci, Signoricci 2, Givenchy III (partials).
There are numbers in the names of 3 out of the 4 acquisitions, does this mean anything? 😉
I’m sure you can do something perfumista-math-wise to make your purchases free. Wait, someone who is better than perfumista math will come along and figure it out.
XII – (2^III) – 4 = 0.
Excellent, thank you.
FANTASTIC perfume math skills!
Just one bottle this quarter, a 50 ml Bond New Haarlem. So where did all my money go??
I don’t know! But Donatella might.
I spent less than $80. Woohoo! But, then, there were samples. Good thing we don’t count them!
Here’s what I bought:
100 ml of LAP Bois Farine from a discounter. I love this so much.
10 ml of Prada Infusion Almandine in the Splitmeet
Nice. Jealous of your Bois Farine.
I bought zero in 2016, so ended up buying lots of bottles this first quarter….
Lush Vanillary (I finished a travel spray last year so bought a FB);
Probably my whole year’s Sephora purchases at once, during triple points — Tocca Margaux, TokyoMilk Novacaine, and Bulgari The Bleu in the travel spray;
And finally, I found a few more from the “wait til you can find a good price” list than I had expected, but, well, no-buy backlash + bargains = Kenzo Amour, Cacharel Premier Delice, Givenchy Organza Indecence, and DK Gold in the EDP.
I also sold four at a consignment store and set a bunch aside for trade/giveaway opportunities, so I’m feeling very pleased with where my collection is right now.
Oops I forgot about travel sprays of Narciso by NR and Histoires de Parfums Ambre 114, hahaha. I think I bought a third of my current perfume collection in the last three months; this is madness; I’m never no-buying again.
I will learn from your experience lol
Yeah, the no-buy thing doesn’t work for me either, it just creates pent-up demand and then wild spending. So I am allotting myself 6 bottles this year.
Same here!
This is a tough quarter to reckon. I bought a bottle of Grand Soir for the splitmeet, split 50ml, and swapped the remaining 20 for something I like much more, so I think everything zeroes out. I bought two bottles from Essenza-Nobile, but neither has shipped since I placed my order March 4 and I am afraid they may cancel the whole thing, so another zero. I do have a bottle of Assam of India in my hands, so I am figuring I spent $80 for the quarter and got one bottle.
I am also long-term-waiting for an EN order. Not too happy about that. Wondering if it will ever ship…
My order has been sitting in Germany – customs – since 3/17. EN told me transit times are 3 weeks so if it has not moved by the end of this week they will open investigation.
Additionally it looks like DHL requires fragrances to be shipped as hazardous materials – hence the increase in price and potentially increase in transit times
Apparently you also have to pay import duty of about 31 per package
Thanks for all that info, guess I won’t bother ordering from them again.
Ruh-roh. I forgot (or repressed) the bottle of Mohur Extrait that I also split. I guess I spent more than $80 this quarter :-).
Bless me Donatella, for I have sinned. Somehow I strayed from your path of egregious consumption this quarter! I had no intention of losing my way, but somehow… well, we all make mistakes. I will try to be a better disciple in the future.
So what happened? Well, in January I bought one thing. One! And a mini at that! (Which we all know does not count.) Satellite Padparadscha Noir. That’s it.
In February, things improved a bit. I bought two bottles for the splitmeet – Oriza L Legrand Reve d’Ossian, and Frederic Malle Dries Van Noten — we’ll count those as half a bottle each. I also bought an emergency backup bottle of Byredo Pulp when I heard it had been discontinued. It hadn’t. Oops. So now I have enough Pulp to survive the zombie apocalypse, and that’s no bad thing. Besides, BUBs don’t count. I also bought Hermes Eau de Rhubarbe Ecarlate. Donatella, I must whisper my shame… I exercised *restraint* in this purchase. I waited a whole year to buy this one, until it hit the discounters. I also bought a couple of minis (which don’t count): Vilhelm Parfumerie Purple Fig and Dirty Velvet.
In March, I returned to my philanthropic endeavours as Patroness of the Arts, buying three mini’s direct from April Aromatics: Calling All Angles, Purple Reign, and Liquid Dreams. I also bought a FB of Querelle direct from Parfumerie Generale. And I bought two FB’s direct from A Wing And A Prayer: Sky Dancer and Chang’e. My non-philanthropic (meaning Ebay) purchases consisted of a FB of Etro Shantung, and mini’s of Annick Goutal Le Chevrefeuille and La Curie Larrea.
So to recap the bottles that count:
1. Oriza L Legrand Reve d’Ossian (1/2 bottle) + FM Dries Van Noten (1/2 bottle)
2. Hermes Eau de Rhubarbe Ecarlate
3. Etro Shantung
Also, I sold, swapped, or gave away 11 FBs and 12 mini’s, plus a couple of samplers. Even without any kind of squinting at all, I got rid of more than I acquired this quarter. That’s definitely a first for me. I’m guessing this trend may reverse itself rather quickly; considering what I’m pondering at the moment, I may find my way back to the true path in short order…
LOL at “enough Pulp to survive the zombie apocalypse.”
Yes. And I would think it would come in handy for that.
Whoops. Stupid typo. That’s ‘Calling all Angels’ not ‘Calling All Angles’. “Here, 90 degrees! Here, 45 degrees! C’mon, acute angles, come to mama!”
I liked Angles, better.
Made me smile. 😀
Enjoy, pixel! !!!
Ditto????
And your philanthropy is truly admirable. Maybe you can get a tax right off?
Hurry up, Don’t be so obtuse!!
🙂
Back up bottles don’t count! Perfumista logic 😉
The world needs perfume philanthropists!
$132 for the quarter, two bottles:
– 75ml MFK Lumiere Noire pour femme, a favorite, purchased at 25% off
– approx. 10ml vintage Shalimar parfum in the glorious classic bottle
(Also bought a 7.5ml Shalimar PdT mini, as a gift for a friend. Which doesn’t count, but I’m going for full disclosure here.)
We almost have the same numbers – mine is $123 so in perfumista math I think we cancel each other out! 😉
Oh! I bought 3 this time!
MFK Grand Soir,
Hiram Green Arbole Arbole,
VC&A Moonlight Patchouli.
I seek redemption
All beauties!
Agreed
3 bottles this time.
Eau de Protection by Etat Libre d’Orange
By Kilian Love and Tears Refill at a 60% discount rate no less
By Kilian Sweet Redemption Refill with a small discount from a previous sample order.
Sweet Redemption is quickly becoming my favourite Kilian. It’s just a gorgeous, moody orange blossom.
And I won’t mention all the scented candles that I bought, favourite being PdN’s Geranium candle, just lovely and bracing in a delicate way.
I’m beyond forgiveness 😉
Where did you find By Killian on discount?
Skins in the Netherlands
Do they substract VAT?
I wouldn’t know. Sorry.
Was that in their last big sale 3 weeks ago? That’s where i got my bottle of Heeley’s Ophelia, with a huge discount (So it hardly counts for Donatella 😉
There were a lot of other interesting things, MFK, Diptyque…their site kept crashing the whole time, or was unavailable 🙁
Yep! I got my BK for 40€’s which is peanuts.
Sweet Redemption is just lovely. Enjoy!
I totally adore it.
Only bought one bottle so far. The discontinued L’Heure de Nuit. Haven’t bought a lot of decants, so I have been fairly good.
Donatella is happy you got it while you still could 🙂
I was so happy to find a bottle even though I had to buy it full price.
1-3. Incense royale, Nankun, Vetiver blanc (Sultan Pasha Attars)
4. Ophelia (Heeley)
5. Narcissus Soliflore (Dame Perfumery)
6. Hermès travel mini collection (4 minis, so I count the whole set as one, okay? Jardin sur le nil, Eau de M, Jour and Voyage)
That Narcissus is really good. Smells considerably more expensive than it is, too.
It was my 1st blind buy ever. And a succesful one! 🙂
Dame perfumery is not available here in the low lands (as far as I know) so I took the plunge and ordered it on their website. It was not that expensive, small bottle, and hey, no shipping costs!
Goodness!
1) Re-upped on a mini bottle of Aromatics Elixir & Aromatics Elixir Body Wash. Intoxicating.
2) Anatomy of a Fragrance Fig from Anthropologie- dead ringer for Philosykos, but with more skin musk and fresher. On sale, to boot!
3) I include bath products: Yoga Bath Bomb from Lush and Kneipp herbal oils, perfect for soaking in the bath after hard workouts.
4) I have a bunch of samples to work through- so many that I almost think of some the fragrances as ‘signatures’! Oh, but when they run out….
Ha! If I listed bath and shower products (I have more than I should 🙂 )…
And I am sure your bathroom smells amazing every time you use that Aromatic Elixir Body Wash.
Oh, my gosh- It’s incredible! The bath, bedroom and even the hall smells amazing! My housemate totally knows when I have been showering with it!
$0
Still on a no buy. In reviewing my credit card bills the last full bottle I purchased for myself was April 2015 for my birthday. Last April I purchased a full bottle of Assam of India with a birthday gift certificate. All other full bottle purchases were gifts so I am not counting those.
I am estimating I have drained maybe 200 mls of samples, decants, full bottles and essential oils this quarter. I guess I have done reversed damage for this poll.
Good for you!
The game plan is to do the same for next quarter 🙂
Reverse damage, nice!
I have to say that it has been quite liberating and enjoyable NOT hoarding everything I love and just wearing stuff with reckless abandonment…but I must also confess that two very kind NSTers have sent me samples/decants so that I don’t feel completely out of the loop and for that I am incredibly grateful (looking at you , H and h!!!)
You’re my hero. I doubt my no-buy will make it even one quarter . . .
If you ever want me to talk you out of anything, just let me know 🙂
Impressive!
Let’s hope I can keep this up 🙂
Good for u!
I just counted 29 full bottles. Twenty nine.
At least ten of them are slated to be sold/returned/traded, but still. That’s way, way too many.
In December I didn’t own a single perfume and now I own twenty nine full bottles, ??? decants and minis, and at least a hundred samples. I went a little mad, but we’ve all been there, right? Right?
Hahaha. Right…you are not alone 😉
Welcome to the club, you are officially a perfumista now 🙂
You were just doing your necessary research and building your arsenal. Totally justifiable.
You are following in many perfumista’s footsteps! I think I bought about 75% of what I currently own the first two years. I tapered off after year three.
Yes, this is exactly what happened with me as well.
Oh yes. When you get worried, make a few rules.
Well, at least I know I’m in good company!
29?
*swoons*
I’m dying to see the list of what you got and what you’re keeping!
I think… Donatella help me, 5?
All on steep discount:
Jacomo Art #2
(Back-up) Natori EdP
SL Fille en Aiguilles
YSL Cinema
DK Gold EdP.
We don’t count antique store finds, right???
Of course not. If they were pre-owned, they have already been declared by someone else, right?
There we go! Perfect!!
LOL the logic is correct!
I want to comfess now to the MFK Absolu Pour le Soir now too. I’m getting it now since they just sold control to LVMH. Wish I could afford 2.
That’s just called “going antiquing”.
Basically!
I have a new rule that I may spend the eqivalent of a hundred dollars each month on perfume. That would probably sound mad to non perfume people but I can afford it and it’s so exciting to think of what I can fit into next month’s limit.
I try to stick with my old to buy-list which is now almost completed. So January that was three large drecants, two of them POAL and one Infusion absolute, plus a small Osmanthe Yunnan which I’ve wanted for nine years. February was a partial A la nuit, that was also a lemming since my first parfumista year. March was four decants of things I read about as “veil of scents” (Cartier BV and la panthere, balenciaga Paris and Idylle) and one of Misia, and I’m very pleased with all of them. And then I found a partial bottle of Philosykos edp online. I have a mini of the edt but it has no staying power at all on me so I couldn’t resist this purchase that should arrive later in the week.
And I’ve stayed within my budget! It just feels strange that after a year of this system I’m now almost “done” with buying my favourites. There’s always more to discover of course but I rarely get the same wow experience with new scents as I had the first years when everything was a first. So I should probably rush slowly now with the last fragrances on my once long list.
It would be interesting to compare, I think, how serious oenophiles budget for their wine purchases. I mean, if you google “how to budget for wine” you get tons of articles on how to choose inexpensive wines, but nothing on how to plan the spending.
$100 a month sounds reasonable.
My rule on perfume spending is that my charitable giving has to exceed my perfume bucks, and of course we have to cover the bills first. I don’t feel guilty about it anymore. (I do feel guilty about buying stuff I don’t wear now, but that’s a different issue and has to do mostly with my family history of packratism.)
Hm. I know I’ve spent more on wine than perfume so far this year.
Exactly right, mals! I was just explaining to friends that perfume is easily the least expensive of the fine arts. I see amateur paintings priced at $200-500 these days, and people spend millions for works by known artists. A concert or dance performance at the Kennedy Center is $25-$300.
I agree. My husband was planning to go to a rock concert and said the tickets were $150 a piece. My jaw dropped. I don’t feel so bad about buying a bottle of perfume which will give me many, many more hours of enjoyment than a concert. I also have no interest in fine dining or wine, so think of all that extra money I can allott to perfume! 🙂
Love Idylle! That’s in my next discounters basket.
It’s all a bit hazy, but:
Gently used bottles of Traversee du Bosphore, La Haie Fleurie
Various splits: Mohur, No. 22, Beige, Sous le Vent
Demeter Thunderstorm and Honey (my old bottles had turned)
Small bottles of Thé Bleu and Jacinthe de Saphir
Possibly others… The months all blend together at this point!
Isabella, that’s my story, too, and I’m sticking with it! 🙂
Those gently used L’Artisans were great finds!
I love a “gently used” find.
Ah La haie fleurie, one of my favourite Artisans!
After about 8 years working part time I decided it was in my family’s best interest to go back to full time (both kids now very independent, one in college and the other soon to follow). I work in a demanding field (don’t we all) and have a long commute so this was a painful decision. Anyway the point of this story is that as soon as I got my first paycheck I rewarded myself by buying several expensive perfumes (some had been on my list for years), namely Vero Profumo Rubj edp and Mito vde, MFK Absolue pour le soir, and Tauer at coeur du desert. I won’t provide the total cost but you can imagine. Anyway, if anyone could understand it would be you fellow perfumistas. And I have to say I have enjoyed them very much!
It sounds like you definitely deserve to reward yourself! Good for you!
Good for you!
Good to get what you know you really love. And you defininitely deserve rewards!
I hope you find the professional challenge rewarding.
You absolutely deserve to indulge your right brain with those well considered additions to your collection.
All gorgeous choices, wear them with joy!
Lovely choices, it’s so good to reward yourself for you’re hard work!
FBs:
La Chasse aux Papillons 50 ml (old design bottle)
Chanel No. 5 EDT purse spray (3*20 ml)
Minis and decants:
Hermessence Brin de Reglisse 15 ml (travel mini)
Fendi Theorema 10 ml (decant)
Naomi Goodsir Cuir Velurs 6 ml (decant)
Both FBs were good deals – the shops gave me discounts for my birthday, so I could not say no. 😉 Brin de Reglisse, if I remember correctly, also was bought from a discounter when they were running a promo.
What a lovely mix!
485 clams
300 on bell jar of SL fumiere turque
185 on Chanel box of eels
Worth every clam
Those are some happy clams!
I thought Clams was the new nickname of some perfume and I missed the memo-and it costs $485. Took me a sec????
Too funny Elisa!
Eau de clam
I only bought decants and travel sizes, but I managed to overspend my first quarter budget by about 14%. Darn TPC and STC for their sales.
Those sales sucker me in almost every time.
They really do! I’m trying very hard to resist the STC anniversary sale that’s ending tonight… let’s see if I can hold onto my wallet until midnight! ????????????????
I failed, or rather I “surrendered”… I placed my anniversary order: $136.13
Oh, now I feel my resolve slipping.
I think it was during this quarter that I bought the following:
On sale:
April Aromatics Nectar of Love
Escentric Molecule 03
Astier de Villatte Commune de Paris
Full price:
Cognoscenti Tomato Leather
Le Labo Thé Noir (travel set)
I would be afraid to add up how much I’ve spent on samples and decants. I’m going through a phase of being more inclined toward testing new things than wearing old favorites.
I have not tested any of the scents you purchased, nozknoz, but I am sure you smell wonderful!
Enjoy! 🙂
Thanks, Bear, you, too!
Tell me more about LL The Noir, pleeese. I have been wavering.
It starts out weird and WONDERFUL but settles over time into an amorphous base. If you like their base, you’re fine, but you really have to test Le Labos over time to be sure.
No FB’s for me, but I managed to stockpile quite a few splits, samples, and decants. Where I really went wild was in skin care, thanks in part to a discussion here on NST. A rabbit hole opened up and jumped right in.
I must of missed that discussion on skincare! Curious?!
Bought a bunch of stuff, mainly from Paula’s Choice and The Ordinary, but some other odds and ends as well. Many late nights on the skin care geekery blogs, K-beauty research, etc.
So far I’m not in love with the stuff I bought from The Ordinary, but at least it was cheap. I like most of the stuff I’ve bought from PC. I’ve added AHA and BHA to my routine. I have determined that toner is a good idea after all, though I am still searching for the right one. I am fascinated but overwhelmed by K-beauty.
I’m not in love with the ordinary products I have either, I don’t find them very moisturising at all. Maybe they are better for oily/combination skin, mine is normal/dry.
I love the stuff I got from the Ordinary, and my skin is dry and sensitive. Mind you I use it to layer and not on it’s own. I found V’s guide on BdJ very useful.
There was a discussion on Bois de Jasmin not too long ago.
For the first time, I can say that I haven’t bought anything in a quarter – not even a tiny decant from STC or TPC (although I squeaked in a last purchase for the previous quarter on New Year’s Eve, so it’s not a long time since I indulged my shopping habit).
However, that’s because I have a long list of things to buy in Paris, where I’ll be in a couple of weeks – yay! So my next quarter will be a bit different…
Lucky you!!
Can’t wait to read about your ‘souvenirs’ from Paris!
Enjoy your fabulous trip to Paris! Binge buying on holiday is the best.
I did well this quarter. Two 10 ml travel sprays from a skincare brand Rituals (which I haven’t heard of before and still know almost nothing about) – Voyage en Inde and Nuit a Marrakech. 9.50 euros each and bought on a business trip to Germany, so count as travel expences. There were 7 or 8 fragrances in the line, can’t remember now how much the FBs were, but quite affordable and all seemed to be very good quality for the price.
I love Rituals..I use their body foam washes daily
I love the orange bottle (orange or mandarin with ceder…)! But they are all lovely and worth a try.
Rituals is founded by a Dutch entrepreneur. https://www.apetogentleman.com/2012/06/06/the-man-behind-the-brand-raymond-cloosterman-founder-of-rituals-cosmetics/
Looks like they are expanding internationally.
They are well known here (Netherlands) for their bath and body products, I like their shower foams. Its an affordable brand, so very populair as a gift shop.
They also sell tea, home fragrances, make up, towels and even clothing (very comfortable yoga like outfits, for relaxation and home use).
Thank you for the info! Looks like an interesting brand, I wish I had more time to explore.
I’ve been quite impressed with the fragrances, very well-made and smell way more expensive than they are (the bottles look expensive, too).
No FB but a purchased from the splitmeet Sous le Vent
And no 22 from the split
Not a one. While it has taken some restraint since relocating to France, I told myself, “Use up what you have first.” Based on what I have in storage, I’ll probably never buy again. Or….
We will have to canonize you if you can live in France and not buy any more perfume! 😉
I second that!
Third!
Seriously.
Definitely!
I did well this quarter, I only bought one bottle with my birthday gift money so that doesn’t count I guess.
Chanel Boy edp
I hope I can continue with my no buy.
Good luck!
After several quarters of reporting zero purchases, I made two in 1st qtr. 2017, both from ebay for a total of $123:
100 mls. (about 80 remaining) of L’AP Voleur de Roses – $35
50 mls. (new) of L’AP Vanille Absolument – $88
After a year of testing vanillas trying to decide if I wanted to simply buy another bottle of SDV or buy something else instead, in a moment of insanity I BLIND BOUGHT the VA! Donatella and the perfume gods must have been smiling on me because I love it! 😀
Oh how lovely! And glad you got it while it was still around. Still astonished that one got axed.
I’m glad VA worked for you! It’s such a good one.
Not a Penny!!!!! I am trying to work my way through what is an awesome collection of wonderful scents that I love. Will do some swapping, but no buying this year. Hopefully……
Congrats, you made it through 1 quarter!
All FB’s…
1 Grand Soir, 1 vintage pristine Shali, 1 Iunx Blanche (the truncheon-sized one), 1 Idylle Extrait, 1 Villoresi Ylang, 1 Habit Rouge Extrait, 1 TDC Un Nuit Magnitique, 1 Miu Miu L’Eau, 1 Guerlain Orchidée Impérialé, 1 Juniper Ridge Winter Redwood
Well hell. So much for my winter buying freeze.???? In my defense, pathetic as it is, 4 of those were on my unicorn list for 2 years or more….
Habit Rouge Extrait, huh.
Did not know such a thing existed.
Enjoy!
Habit Rouge extrait! Jealous….
Guerlain Orchidée Impérialé..you must have great skin!
I thought I’d bought nothing this quarter but then remembered the split meet, oh ya. Just 5 ml wach of Rahele and Eau de Protection. I might otherwise have jumped blind into the pricey Rahele but found I like rather than love it, so money saved. Arbole Arbole here I come, darling!
🙂
Hmm, also doing the ‘calming down after a year of madness’ thing. It helpd that there has been no money coming in since the end of January and the next invoice will be paid in April. (All to plan, but sobering nevertheless).
So, just 2 for 17Q1:
1. Jesus del Pozo “Arabian Nights”, a belated Christmas present and therefore doesn’t count;
2. Profumi di Pantellaria “Maestrale”.
I don’t think I’ve bought much of anything this quarter. I got a rollerball of Natori Josie, which I got on a whim at TJ Maxx and then immediately thought I may have made a mistake. I could’ve sworn one of Fragrantica’s descriptors was “green”, so I was surprised it was also very sweet. It kind of grew on me, and it came with a little clutch thing so if I find a use for that, it won’t be all for nought.
I bought stash oil elixir in the last days of the quarter, as I was in America (and waiting outside an Ulta for my sister, so…) plus 2 decants from the splitmeet and a bottle of Aqua de Colonia assoluta from a thrift store ($7), so more than my usual, but not so much as to be worrisome.
I bought nothing. I have so many samples I’ve never even tried, in addition to all that bottles I own, that I can’t justify it any more. A few times I was about to order some samples from Luckyscent and then I reminded myself to at least use up the samples I’ve got first. (But I’m going to be going to some heavy-duty flea markets in various parts of Europe next month, and vintage bottles purchased on vacation are almost the only thing I ever buy any more.)
Heavy duty flea markets — can’t wait to see what you report next time!
Spent more than I wanted to this quarter, but I do feel like I’m getting more selective (that’s a feeling of course..)
Kilian Intoxicated 5ml decant
Arquiste Anima Dulcis 5ml decant
Myrrh & Tonka 5ml decant
Rahele 5ml decant
Creed Sublime Vanilla 10ml decant
Guerlain Neroli Outrenoir 10ml decant
Hermes Eau des Merveilles 15ml bottle
Chanel Jersey Extrait 15ml bottle
I also feel like I’ve become a bit more selective. A bunch of my early full bottles were not loves to begin with and I didn’t think about things in terms of whether I’d actually want to wear them.
Small bottle of Angel Muse at quite the nice discount and Ofresia from the Diptyque sale. Other than that, a few decants and small travel sprays. And a bottle of California Reverie, which was from a gift card so doesn’t count….
I plan to go back to no buy policy for the time being and explore my various samples and decants.
A small bottle of Angel Muse will be in my house someday.
Will read everyone’s comments after awhile when I have time.
I was running low on Guerlain Angelique Noire, which I don’t want to live without. Looks like NM is phasing out their exclusive Guerlains and I got worried and bought a back-up bottle from Nordstrom. Also, 10 ml of N’Oubliez Pas from TPC in their 25% off flash sale. I can’t afford to go to Paris, let alone 450 euros, so this will have to be the next best thing. On the fence about also taking advantage of the STC anniversary sale. My budget is already blown.
I can’t live without AN either..so beautiful
I didn’t realize Neiman’s was phasing out the this line
How is the new atomizer spray on AN?
I haven’t tried it yet. I will keep the regular sprayer from my old bottle and hope it fits the new one if I don’t like the bulb atomizer. The new box is really pretty, though.
Ah, I was under the impression that the atomizer is not removable. Keep me posted
Oh, and 3 decants from the splitmeet,
10 ml JM Myrrh and Tonka,
5 ml Dries Van Noten
10 ml Cartier L’Envol
I though I’d only bought two…until Robin reminded me of Narciso Rodriguez. Oopsie. I bought a bunch of those sets that were half off at Macy’s to hand out to my nieces at Christmas. Do they count if you’re going to give them away? Although, let’s be honest, I’ll probably keep one for myself.
1 Mitsouko EDP
1 Jo Malone Leather & Artemisia
5 Narciso Rodriguez coffrets
Gifts don’t count!
Excellent! I didn’t do so bad then.
Happy to say I took up the slack on all the NSTers who didn’t buy anything…because I bought:
Interlude
Bella Freud 1970
Angel Muse
Woodcut, Bay Rum
JM Myrrh and Tonka, Leather and Artemisia
Mon Guerlain
Not bad for someone who usually gets paid in book tokens and bottles of wine
Nice selection! I need to wear Interlude again very soon before it gets too hot. It is fabulously weird.
Technically, I only bought one fb this quarter, but I also bought enough decants & minis that I had to mark myself down for 2-4. The damage:
Gucci Envy 15ml mini (swapped this away)
Aesop Mystra 10ml mini
8x2ml Atelier sample set
small decants of Messe de Minuit, Galop d’Hermes, Mugler Cologne, EldO Marquis de Sade, CdG Rhubarb, JM Basil & Neroli, Dior Eau Sauvage, and PdE Equistrius
100ml + 7.5ml mini of Mugler Cologne
(whispers: also my husband bought me the Frederic Malle 15th anniversary coffret set for Valentine’s Day)
PLUS swap meet goodies.
No buy is my new motto . . .
Ooh, what a great Valentine’s gift! Your husband knows what’s up.
Oh!!!
I want a husband like THAT!
LOL
Enjoy! 🙂
Oh my! Eight?! I didn’t even realise!
LAP Dzongkha
CdG Avignon
YSL Opium vintage
LAP Traversée du Bosphore
Guy Laroche Fidji extrait
Nicolaï New York Intense
and two exclusive 20ml version of Guerlain Vétiver and Voyou.
However, I did manage to refrain from buying any perfume in March.
Haha you are funny
Jealous of your vintage Opium
Fidji extrait? wow!
This quarter I attempted to exert self-control and logic in all purchases *snicker*:
Violet Blonde – must purchase before completely unavailable, HA
Mahora – see above *snicker*
Parfum Sacre – see above, ok, loving this justification!
RendezVous – massive bottle to split, but no takers. LOL more for me. Donatella understands.
Eau Des Missions – half price (may have bought 2….????)
Eau de Gaga – practically free by any reasonable perfume math
Not counting decants. My family of full bottles consider them “illegitimate”…. Who am I to argue with them?
Lol! At the illegitimate decants!
The Eau de Missions (which smells like SDV to my non professional nose) is practically free at full price so you did good on that one.
and love those illegitimate decants 🙂
Only 2 travel sprays for this quarter, back in February: Atelier Cologne’s set of Orange Sanguine and Vanille Insensee. It’s perfumath free at only $35.
I think in perfumath they paid you.
I was very bad…I bought more perfumes this quarter than I ever have.
The perfumes:
Civet, Humingbird and Nightingale from Zooligist
Ombre Mercure from Terry de Gunzburg
Stephane Humbert Lucas Khol de Bahrein, Rose de Petra and
2022 Generation Woman
Dusita Melodie de l’Amour
I won’t be buying anything for a long time.
I love Zoologist Civet! And I’m aching to sample Dusita Melodie de L’Amour!
Those would be the 3 SHLs I would own! I do have RdP.
They are beautiful fragrances.
Oy vey- after almost a year of buying no more than 1 bottle (if that) of perfume each quarter, I finally & completely fell off the wagon & relapsed in glorious splendor…
1) a beautifully preserved, sealed 14 ml bottle of vintage Chanel No 19 parfum
2) and from same awesome seller a sealed 60 ml vintage Chanel Cristalle EdT
3) also from same awesome seller vintage sealed Jacomo Silences (this seller was an amazing discovery for me)
4) FM Fleur de Cassie
5) FM Carnal Flower (replacement)
6) Regimes des Fleurs Bel Epoq
7) TDC Aurore Nomade
8) Miller Harris L’Air de Rien
9) Bvlgari Black (hey, I had to, it’s been d/c’d!)
10) a bottle of the current formulation of Balmain Vent Vert (it was cheap & I was curious to smell it in its current form…)
… And a few decants from both TPC & STC
……. And a box of those FM rubber block room scents in Jurassic Flower (not a perfume per say I know but it was $125 so I think that counts, no? My wallet is certainly counting it… I either need to get my butt back to perfumes anonymous or else just perfume party loud & proud…
Oops- I almost forgot- 11) a half full bottle of Shiseido Inoui
whoa, where did you find that?
You prolly won’t believe me but I got it on eBay… for $20 (!!!). My other obsession is Lego. I know, I know- perfumes & Lego seem to match up like oil & water. What can I say, I’m either well diversified or else just plain strange. But in this case my two odd hobbies led to a windfall because the seller was a guy who specializes in selling Lego sets & parts but who also so happened to have been helping mommy offload some miscellaneous items & make a few dollars for herself. The guy strikes a tough bargain on Lego but doesn’t know a thing about perfumes… yay for me! ????????????
Oh wow, love Shiseido Inoui – what a treasure you got! An old favorite of mine. I’ll have to do a better job of watching Ebay.
Discontinued bottles actually don’t count when purchased before supplies are limited, because the amount you spend now is only half (or less!) of what it will be eventually. So, basically a freebie.
You know, using long term math.
😉
You’re good at math! At least your math makes me feel good! ????
It also makes me feel better about incorrectly clicking on the “5-9 bottles” option for the poll instead of the “10-15” option. Your math puts me firmly at 8 bottles! ????
Love it! 😀
#2 Wow!!! There is nothing like vintage Cristalle….I find it so much richer and more complex than current formulation.
OK. Only nine this quarter, but boyoboy. I’ve gotta stop.
Hiram Green Dilletante, 10 ml.
Richard James Saville Row, 100 ml.
Comme des Garçons Series 2: Red Harissa, 100 ml.
L’Artisan Parfumeur Mon Numéro 3, 100 ml.
SAUF Contre Bombarde 32, 50 ml.
By Kilian Sweet Redemption, 50 ml.
Serge Lutens Muscs Koublaï Khän, 75 ml.
Serge Lutens L’Incendiaire, 50 ml.
Serge Lutens Veilleur de Nuit, 50 ml.
L’Incendiaire and Sweet Redemption were fairly discounted, but still.
Whoops! That’s Dilettante.
Wow- that was quite a quarter for you! I feel better now, lol! ????
Great haul, high five man!
LOL
I was hoping you’d come along and make me look like a puritan!
Enjoy!
Pooh oooh, from where did you purchase the l’Incendiaire?
Parfum1 has it listed at $540… plus they have 20-25% off sales sometimes on top of that. Currently there’s a 20% off sale.
I did less damage before I decided to try a no-buy so no more no-buy for me!
1) Oil roller balls of DS &Durga Spirit Lamp and Debaser (plus an Oriza LG jasmine soap)-with 15% off at Twisted Lily.
2) CdG Ouarzazate because I *needed* a CdG incense and FINALLY figured out which was my favorite. I had to act before I fell back in to indecision (Jaisalmer was the contender).
3) 10ml no 22 decant from split
4)2 small decants: ISM and Sarrasins from this week’s STC sale.
5) Mostly full bottle of no 5 edt from eBay
6)1/2 full bottle no 5 vintage edt from eBay.
7) a bottle of Voluspa Jasmine and Amaranth(sp?) room and body spray since I have the candle and really like it. I do plan to wear it this week some time.
Yay, so happy to see somebody buying Ouarzazate — I live in fear they will discontinue it.
Is it that unpopular?! It’s so good! I always thought Zagorsk was the poor, neglected one. Well, I hope my purchase tipped the balance in its favor.
Well I have no idea, really. I just hear Avignon and Kyoto mentioned the most. I’ve only seen Ouarzazate mentioned a handful of times. But maybe Zagorsk is low on the totem pole too!
Gently used 1.5 oz bottle of SJP Lovely for $12
Purse spray of Avon Little Lace Dress $10 (random blind buy, not going to get much wear, will probably donate)
Mini Versace Yellow Diamond for $8.5
Minu Bvlgari Pour Femme, $7.50
Decant of Chanel no. 22 from splitmeet $20
So, 3-ish bottles using the mini = half bottle policy, total cost $58.
*pats self on back* *thinks time for treat since been so good lately* *delivers self short lecture on positive benefits of maintaining current purchasing habits* *nods along with lecture while dreaming of certain wish list items*
Self regulation is hard on us Libras 🙂
Ooo- Chanel No 22! I would have joined that splitmeet!
Your internal dialogue cracked me up! 😀
😀
I really don’t know what happens each quarter for me. I always start out so well with good intentions, but then, what can I say?
Well, here goes:
Full Bottles
– Narcisco Rodriguez For Her (3 travel size 10 ml bottles)
– Violet Disguise by Imaginary Authors 50 ml
– Basil & Neroli by Jo Malone 100ml
– Insolence by Guerlain 1.7 oz
– Lovely by SJP 3.4 oz
– Judith Leiber Night 2.5 oz
– Deseo by JLo 1.7 oz
Decants
– Jade Leaf Rare Tea by JM 5ml
– Silver Needle Rare Tea by JM 8ml
– Insolence by Guerlain 1ml
– Chloe 15ml
– Mitsouko by Guerlain 1ml
– White Patchouli by Tom Ford 2ml
– Amour Nocturne by L’Artisan 8ml
In my defense, I only paid full price on 1 bottle. All the rest were highly discounted. And, I am learning on buying decants instead of full bottles. So, even though I still need to cut down, I am getting better. Some progress is better than no progress at all! 🙂
Progress is by definition improvement, so go ahead and feel good! ????
Some beautiful items are in your confession! 🙂
Using perfume math, it’s not so bad. I bought Galop d’Hermes for the split meet, and then got a set of minis (including vintage Fendi and Lagerfeld KL), and new Fendi, vintage Opium, CK One, Poeme and a whole lot of Ralph Lauren Romance from Goodwill. I gave away a bunch of it, so really, in actual dollars not so bad!
My Dearest Donatella,
As you know, I made a public vow, here on NST, to go on a “No Buy/Low Buy with Very Limited Exceptions” for 2017. I already have more perfume than I will ever need in this lifetime.
In January, I bought no full bottles. Great start!
In February, I bought one bottle. Very good.
In March, I LOST CONTROL. I WENT BERSERK! I started a YouTube channel, and in the name of “investing in my channel”, I bought a “few things”…… 🙂
My confession is detailed below…
1. January Scentbird: Escada Magnetism $15
2. Feb Scentbird: Arquiste Architect’s Club $15
3. March Scentbird: Commodity Platinum Bergamot $15
4. Tocca “Spice” Rollerball Set $15
5. Etat Libre d’Orange Fils de Dieu $90. I REGRET NOTHING! THIS IS GLORIOUS!!
6. Calvin Klein Beauty $10
7. See By Chloe Eau Fraische $32
8. Tea Rose $5.00
9. Philosophy Fresh Cream $9.00
10. Jo Malone English Pear and Freesia $65
11. Replica Jazz Club Rollerball $28
12. Angel Muse $70 MY BIRTHDAY GIFT TO MYSELF! THIS ONE DOESN’T COUNT! 🙂
13. Moschino Fresh Couture $30
14. DKNY Creamy Meringue $38
15. Clean Skin/Clean White Woods Rollerball $15
16. Phlur Samples (3 pk) $15
17. Mon Guerlain Rollerball $19
18. African Aromatics 3 pk $25
19. Victoria’s Secret Intense $7.50
20. Victoria’s Secret Very Sexy Now $7.50
21. Demeter 1/2 oz (5 pk) $60
22. Scent Trunk Personalized Perfume $12
I’m not adding up the total. I don’t want to know. All I know is that I’m in a phase where I am fascinated, obsessed, and wildly entertained by scent. I LOVE this hobby and my collection. Obviously, I can’t afford to go on like this every quarter. I definitely have lots of new things to keep me busy for quite a while……
And…..DANG IT…..there’s MORE.
Click here for an embarrassing confession about my out-of-control shower gel problem…..Not that Donatella cares about THAT!!!! 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNAKShMIfTg
Hahaha! I’m with you! I try to select a group of shower gels, 6-9 at a time, and get thru those before I move on to something new. I feel an absurd sense of accomplishment when I finish a bottle 🙂
Same here!
If it was for your channel, you can always say that you did it for science and community. 😉 And most of the scents you purchased are quite affordable.
I am not familiar with nearly all of your shower gels, but I really like Lord of Misrule.
Only one for me this quarter, and it was a back-up bottle so it doesn’t count, right? 😉 I also bought a bottle of scented body oil, but we all know bath & body products definitely do not count.
I have some damage planned this quarter though with the upcoming Tauer event, Surrender to Denver, plus new FM and Vero Profumo releases, not to mention the JM Myrrh & Tonka LE bottle coming up, so this virtuous path will not continue.
In my defense, for the first time in nearly 20 years, I have finished four – count them – 4 bottles! Woot.
What did you finish? That old bottle of Charlie from high school? Tell all!
I actually finished 3 bottles of Chanel extrait: Cuir de Russie, Bois des Iles and Gardenia, plus a L’Occitane bottle of Mûre (blackberry) that was ancient. Feeling quite chuffed. 🙂
Following in the Jesus-sandaled footsteps of ChocoMarzipan8, I didn’t buy anything last quarter and gave away bottles of vintage 80’s Grey Flannel, Cuir Ottoman and JM Red Roses.
I did a pretty good edit of my collection so right now I’m staring down at a box of surviving bottles and a box of giveaway items under my desk. The “keep” box has 17 bottles in it and the “to go” box has 13 bottles in it.
You can always swap them out during the swap meet
You did good , Sajini! I am far less saintly than you imagine….my no buy is out of complete necessity for financial reasons and not by choice….believe me, if I won lotto tomorrow I would have plenty to confess to Donatella 🙂
I bought two bottles this quarter. Alien eau Sublime, which I purchased with mostly points, so….free. Bvlgari Au the Blue, purchased on clearance, again free. Oops forgot about the Narciso travel set, separating that into gifts so doesn’t count.
Nice free haul 🙂
I feel like January shouldn’t count as that includes things I bought with gift cards and holiday checks (I still get a couple of those amazingly!) February and March I bought a number of smaller things – 30 mls here and 15 there. Plus 50ml each of Opus III and Epic, but from discounters! So that’s practically free, right? But full bottles full price no excuses of Kimonanthe and Hendley’s Rosenthal and Sauf Voix Humaine and Rahele. I’ll get this under control some day.
As far as I am concerned Holiday gift cards and checks don’t count.
Thank you! A need all the passes I can get!
I purchased 4 bottles this quarter but there ended up being a return then a backup bottle so technically it should be 2. Plus then there was a bottle of fragrance body oil (for moisturizing throughout the day) rather than perfume (for my surgery recovery) since I couldn’t traipse upstairs very easily, so I should be down to 1. Perfume-math is great and makes it so easy to reconcile the spreadsheet..
1. Arlesienne body oil $36.00
2. Bronze Goddess EDP – ended up returning it, so doesn’t count.
3. Bronze Goddess Eau Fraiche (2017) version $92.00
4. Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist $150.00
Whoops, forgot one. An eBay purchase of Shalimar Extrait for $140.00. I’m not entirely sure how old it is but it is fantastic!
Forgive me, Donatella, for my level of spending fell short of a level worthy of your praise. And every single thing was discounted. Samples aside, I purchased what adds up to ~2.5 bottles.
1) Dame Bergamot, Jasmine & Labdanum 5ml
2) Dame Mate, Heliotrope & Patchouli 5ml
3) Jean-Charles Brousseau Ombré Rose 5ml
4) Divine L’Inspiratrice 5ml
5) L’Artisan Dzing! 15ml split
6) J’ai Osé 15ml mini
7) Serge Lutens La Fille de Berlin full bottle
Given the cost of the Dames they are practically free…and you picked two of my favorites!
and Ombre Rose…wow, that’s a beauty and I haven’t seen it mentioned that often.
The damage poll is always fascinating and a bit of a hoot. We are an interesting group.
I feel somewhat “done” or “well done” or perhaps “over done” as to the accumulation of fragrance. It’s taken about three years. I am content, and it’s a good feeling. Thank you, NST, my life is infinitely sweeter because of you.
I’m delighted that a bottle of Assam of India arrived at my door yesterday. It was purchased in March so I’ll confess it now. I had a gift certificate to cover half the bottle plus a big handful of samples. Here’s a shout out – woot! woot! – for the wonderful people of Fumerie Parfumerie.
Also big hugs to chocolatemarzipan8 and many others at NST who have professed their love for Assam of India. I recently learned that collecting perfume and collecting tea are practically the same hobby, lol, and Assam of India is proof indeed. Plus elephants. Can’t beat that.
I’m not going to confess further, but I will admit that I’ve taken advantage of perfumath often this quarter. Fragrance discounters are my best/worst frenemies. Several new bottles will go out as future freebies/swaps. But only after I gather my courage twofold: first to decide which bottles will go, and second to entrust packages to the USPS again. A while back I mailed a swap package that took a month to arrive. Scary!
Oh I am so glad that you like Assam of India! I bought that last year with a gift certificate that my best friend of 49 years gave me for my birthday “to buy something frivolous”…..it was a blind buy but I wanted that elephant bottle and the notes sounded good. I wore it the entire summer on a daily basis. Now a younger family member has confiscated my bottle 🙂 I hope you get lots of enjoyable wearings out of that one!!! And Sephora now carries the entire line so you can get some free samples of the others as well (like Scorza di Sicilia!)
I was just going to vote in the poll up top, but after I did I realized I’d forgotten that I did in fact buy a bottle, despite a no-buy while I saved up for new glasses. (So far, middle age is turning out to be a lot like adolescence: deteriorating eyesight, hair in new places, and a heightened, if frustrated, libido.)
So: Bijan, 1oz, $7. I used a TJ Maxx gift card from Christmas, so it really shouldn’t count, but I promised my sister I would buy clothes with it, so it does. Honestly, though, money well spent.
I also could not resist a BOGO deal on a pair of already well-priced sample sets, despite really not needing any more samples. Luckily, they don’t count, or I would have to point the finger at Koenigsberg for talking up Aloha Tiare.
Swaps don’t count, either, so the Bijan was my only lapse. My no-buy will continue until next month, when I, my sister, my mother, and both of my nephews all have our birthdays in a less-than-two-week period, and then, when all the presents are bought, I am spending every spare cent on perfume until at least July.
Not bad for me this quarter. I only got a 10ml travel size spray of Hiram Green Arbole, Arbole and a 30 ml bottle of Annick Goutal Heure Exquise EdP. Forgive me Donatella.
Oh! I forgot the 10 ml decant of Theorema and the 20 ml decant of Dzing that I got in the splitmeet. Guess I am in trouble now….
So far this year I purchased far less than the last year, when I was in full-on discovery/purchase mode and spent an inordinate amount of money.
I did participate in a few splits and a whole lotta swapping, purchased decants and samples, and the Chanel Les Exclusifs EdP mini coffret- which I won’t count since it’s just a bunch of minis?! Soooo my only sins were a 2/3 full bottle of PG Bois Blond and almost full bottle of PdE Cuir Ottoman on ebay. Not horrible at all 😀
p.s. I have purchased Jo Malone Blue Hyacinth on April 1st, so this will be added to the 2nd quarter’s tally.
For the first time ever-not a single bottle!????
$126 – Practically “free” for a 3.4 oz. bottle of Amouage Ubar. 🙂
I bought three travel sprays and one split (10 ml of Hermes Galop) as well as two full bottles: Givenchy Vetyver and Guerlain Cuir Beluga.
Oops a bit late!
But my confessions aren’t nearly as scandalous these days so no matter…
Only 3. If the Aussie dollar was where it was 5yrs ago it’d probably still be 13 but alas..
So:
SJP Stash coffret
Bvlgari Man in Black coffret
L’occitane Jasmine Neroli Immortelle
(All post xmas hugely discounted)
EL Private Collection (free with giftcards)
Probably no one still reading, but adding mine. I *think* all I bought was two splits from our splitmeet – love both and love ‘meeting’ friends through swapmeets/splitmeets/freebiemeets, etc.:
1) a travel-size bottle of Aqua Universalis Forte is mine (love that form of mini)
2) and a decant of Angelique Noire will soon be mine.
I’m not particularly proud of not buying too much, because it just happened that way – next quarter I could be declaring a long list. We’ll see!