In the United States, tomorrow is tax day. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling the pinch in my wallet. Making things worse, fragrance prices seem to be skyrocketing. Yet, I love perfume. How can we enjoy perfume and still pay the bills?
You already know the basic tips about buying decants, not buying unsniffed, and checking the discount sites. Now I offer you another tip: Don’t buy perfume. At all.
Crazy, isn’t it? And almost insultingly obvious. But I’m serious. Until your financial coffers are replenished, don’t buy any more perfume. Instead, make the most of the perfume you already have. Here are some ideas:
Shake it up. I’m guilty of slotting perfume into certain categories. For instance, I think of Guerlain Shalimar as a perfume for night and cold weather. I save Cartier Baiser Volé Eau de Toilette for summer mornings. I hoard my vintage Christian Dior Diorling and rarely wear it at all.
What if I shook things up and put on Shalimar first thing on a spring morning, and saved the Baiser Volé for night? I definitely need to dig into the Diorling. If it goes bad, that’s more of a burn to my budget than enjoying it until the bottle is empty.
Blend. For me, this is dangerous territory. In my mind, a perfumer created a fragrance and doesn’t expect someone will monkey around with spraying another scent on top. I’ve heard some people have success with it, though, and if you’re looking to make more of your current perfume collection, it may be worth a try.
I am willing to put different fragrances on each arm and enjoy the alchemy when they mingle in the air. Not long ago, by accident I had L’Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu on one arm and L’Artisan Parfumeur Ananas Fizz on the other, and, surprisingly, it wasn’t bad. I learned more about each fragrance that way and enjoyed their common bond of vetiver.
Swap. You may have participated on swaps here or in the old days on Makeup Alley, and they’re a lot of fun. For the cost of postage, you can make someone else happy, plus get a scent you’ve wanted. Nine out of ten times I’ve swapped, I’ve been really pleased.
More and more in-person swaps are happening, too. Fumerie, a perfume boutique a short bike ride from my house, hosts occasional swaps. Plus, the internet has made it easier for perfume enthusiasts to find each other and swap everything from samples to bottles as they chat in a cafe.
Sort through your perfume collection and set aside everything that rates less than an "eight" on your personal one-to-ten scale of perfume love. Vow to swap them to someone for whom these fragrances are solid "ten"s.
Wear it a new way. When a bottle has an atomizer, I generally spray my forearms and maybe behind my knees, since I always wear skirts and dresses. (It depends on whether or not I’m wearing leggings under the dress.) If the perfume’s a dabber, I dab my wrists and behind my ears, and sometimes down my cleavage.
It might wake up my appreciation for a perfume to mix it up and smell the scent wafting from my hairline or from a scarf or cardigan. I might dab a lightbulb or tuck a scented handkerchief in my purse. Has anyone tried a spritz of, say, Hermès Eau de Gentiane Blanche in their car's air return?
Use up those samples. Do you have a stockpile of samples “for research”? Maybe it’s time to drain them. Go wild and dump or spray the whole vial on your skin. Really appreciate the fragrance’s full scope. You might find a scent you love enough to save up for.
Do you have any tips for making the most of perfume when you’re on a budget? I'm listening.
Note: top image is Personal Income Taxes Ver3 [cropped] by ccPixs; some rights reserved.
I love the fact that you wear only skirts and dresses! You’re a real lady, Angela, and my favourite writer on here.
You’re so kind! I simply find skirts and dresses more comfortable than pants. I hope I never wear jeans again. Ugh.
I am a total skirt and dresses wearer! It’s almost all I wear to at the office! Everyone at works just thinks I’m super feminine (I am in some ways but not in others) but in reality I think they’re more comfortable! 😀
I agree! I’m not super girly, either, but dresses are so comfortable that I’m surprised more people don’t default to them. In cooler weather, I simply pop leggings underneath.
That was the first thing I focused on in this post! I’ve considered this–I love the way I feel in skirts–but then it seems impractical. Of course, girls weren’t allowed to wear pants to school until my sophomore year in high school, and somehow we managed, rain/snow notwithstanding.
It’s so much easier to make the switch than you’d think! For me, skirts are so much more practical than pants. I love loose, jumper-style dresses I can pull over T shirts or thin sweaters if I want.
I’m a total jeans girl, but I’ve discovered the combo of bodysuit, fleece tights, sweater/knit dress, long cardigan/sweatercoat, and boots is about as warm as it gets for winter wear. If you can find nice fleece tights, they’re as warm as pants.
Fleece tights sound wonderful! I’ll have to look for them.
This post truly resonates with me as I have been doing all of your aforementioned tips out of financial necessity! I have been on a no buy for quite some time now. The last full bottle I bought was this month two years ago. I have been working my way through samples, decants and bottles. I love “dumping” a whole sample vial all over in one fell swoop! The fragrance is so different when worn that way! I use up what I like and love now…no more rationing …living in the moment…..and I don’t feel deprived at all and I am getting that much closer to where I need to be financially. Angela, thank you so much for this inspiring post!!!!
*You’re* the one who’s inspiring me! I love your attitude about your budget and how you make the most of the situation.
‘Don’t buy perfume’ is, as the guys from Metallica sing, “sad but true” 😀 and it’s solid advice. I feel that sometimes I buy perfume just because I’m bored and haven’t smelled anything interesting in a while and haven’t really bothered to rotate and really enjoy the stuff I already have in my collection. I, too, can corroborate that swapping is a wonderful way to get what you want and discover new things., I love it. And so are freebie meets (although, personally, I’ve only been on the giving end).
Plus, this “shop your own collection” principle can be equally applied to clothes. People tend to hoard stuff without realising how much stuff they already have.
Happy tax day 😀
I definitely have perfume I forget about until I’m on the search for a particular bottle–then stumble over three things I’d rather wear.
I really need to stop buying for a while! I will need to never go on ebay, and I suspect I’ll have more success if I ease off on reading perfume blogs and Basenotes too (though I don’t know if I can…)
Oh, but it would be so sad if you weren’t here!
Such great ideas here. I have so many scents and fail to really appreciate them, I think. One of my favorite non-traditional ways to enjoy perfume is to spray it on a bookmark and sniff as I read. Bonus points if I can somehow make the scent relate to scent to what I’m reading. Right now, reading Sombra del Viento (Shadow of the Wind) to brush up on my Spanish. Haven’t figured out if I have a bottle that goes with it. Probably would have to be something smoky, since fire figures prominently in the plot.
Your idea is rather brilliant. I am re-reading Dune by Frank Herbert, – and i think I have a couple of samples that would be perfect to spray on a bookmark!
I’d love to know what scents you marry with it.
Like, uh, Dune!
LOL! There’s an idea! But the opening is a bit too ozonic, too damp.
Tauer’s L’Air du Desert Marocain, perhaps?
Good point!
Lisa D – That sounds very Dune-like!
Lisa, L’Air du Desert Morocaine was my first thought for Dune as well!
Lisa, L’Air du Desert Morocaine was my first thought for Dune as well!
Oh, maybe a spritz of Arbolé Arbolé? I love your idea.
One of my all time favorite books. I’ve read it several times although not in a while. IMHO, I think Guerlain Bois d’Armenie would be perfect – both smoky and paper!
You’re making me sure that we need to do a book-perfume poll!
Yay!
Poll Idea: What fragrance enhances or corresponds with what you’re reading?
Ooh, great idea. I’d love to know how people would pair different scents and books.
Terrific idea, Celestia!
Good topic choice!
Highly recommend finishing off some of those samples as well as anything that seems to be evaporating! Lately I’ve started a program to finish off decants that have just a bit left (some have evaporated a lot) as well as samples. I give them a good wear, which is interesting (sometimes I’m surprised). Then I throw away the bottle/vial (that feels really good). And what I do if I use of something I might not remember later on is I make notes about it, about whether I ever would really want a bottle or not, and some notes about what it smells like. That’s really enough information–I don’t need to keep hanging on to tiny bits of liquid just for future reference.
So that’s definitely a good way to save money, have perfume adventures/education, and get your decant/sample collection better organized.
I call it “Finish It Friday” and try to finish at least one if not by Friday of every week.
I need a Finish it Friday, too, only for household chore. Vacuuming, for instance.
Too funny!
I agree that as much as I love having a lot of perfume, I feel a perverse satisfaction in finishing off a decant or bottle and tossing it! Go figure.
It makes you feel less guilty about having so much already? Allows you to daydream about getting new things?
All that! And lets me consolidate my collection so that I can sort of hold them all mentally.
This. I’m one of those hyper-organized types and once I go over capacity, samples become burdensome and overwhelming. I also get a lot of satisfaction (liberation) from throwing things out, and empty samples are no exception.
Now that I am a homeowner, I do need to be careful with money. A great way to budget has been to ask for samples or buy samples, and just USE THEM. For example, I was going to buy Eau de Soir this weekend, then I realized that I have about 3 sample vials left! With way I spray (in tiny amounts) these samples can last, and I can put off buying EdS until later on in the year!
Also: Use UP your scented soaps and shower gels, and use up the scented lotions! I have TF Noir Pour Femme in both the perfume and body emulsion- they came as a set. I have found that the emulsion is enough for cold daytime wear- stretching out the use of the perfume!
Such a good point: scented body products count as scent, too! Sometimes it’s nice to have that faint but diffuse fragrance all over.
I really do need to rotate my fragrances and re-visit my samples to mix things up. But if I really need to have something now, I look to see if a rollerball is available as they are cheaper than a bottle.
The small rollerballs are genius. I wish more places did that.
I’ve been making a point of using up my beauty emollients, including samples, before I splash out and buy a ton more. Then there’s the lipsticks, eyeshadows, and blushes. Trying to use them up before life ends, since being in the “biz” for decades has me well-stocked. As for perfume, I do wear it everyday with few exceptions (*gasp* forgot). I steeled myself early on in my career and promised not to get into miniatures, so how many do I have? Lots and lots but, for the most part, they were donated to me. I will never be able to use up the perfumes that I have. I’ve always been mindful to only buy the brands that I collect for the bottles and seldom buy for the scent I like, although I do use some of the juices in the pretty bottles.
Since I left my office job, I haven’t been wearing as much makeup. I may never need to buy an eyeshadow again! I tend to use up lipstick pretty quickly, though.
You do learn to value what you have, don’t you?
On my walks I always pick up cockatoo tail feathers if I see them – the big white ones. I bring them home, and recently I’ve been spraying them with perfume and laying the feather across the top of the lampshade in my bedroom. The light globes we have these days give off hardly any heat, but it’s enough to warm the feather and scent the room.
I’m still experimenting with this. I do tend to dash back into the bedroom just to CHECK that the feather is not too warm (it’s always fine). So far I’ve only been spraying with Samsara. Stronger perfumes are probably the best. This is a good way to use them up.
By the way, the most delightful thing is to find the small yellow feathers from a cockatoo’s crest. I don’t spray these, but I keep a little collection of them. You don’t find them often.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulphur-crested_cockatoo
That sounds so exotic! Around here, I’m pretty much limited to crow feathers and whatever I’d feel like digging out of my neighbor’s chicken coop. Not very romantic.
Also, the little yellow crest feathers are beautiful.
This is a great article and I appreciate all your tips!
I need to find some in person swaps in the city.
I don’t mind layering, Shalimar and Cristalle au Vert is one of my favorite combinations, sounds odd but works well on my skin.
I think sometimes I get so overwhelmed and I hate clutter I just give a lot away, but then it comes full circle and I buy more
Sometimes I feel frustrated, too, by the mounds of samples and decants, but, as you point out, I’d no doubt start to restock if I got rid of them (except by wearing them, of course.)
Spending less on perfume is not what the perfume industry wants to hear. But I am inspired to!
Me, too! “Less and better” is a good motto.
I think the weekly polls are a good place to start, since they provide interesting themes for sniffing. You, Kevin, Robin, and Jessica often ask thought-provoking questions at the end of your reviews, and commenters pose questions and ideas. Like other commenters, I sometimes choose my own theme, e.g., focus on a particular perfumer, note, or family of perfume for a few days.
My favorite quest is to identify the right time for each perfume, that is, the season, weather, occasion, mood, outfit, etc., for which it works best. This may take time and luck, as the ideal weather and season are not always what I predicted.
Sometimes I just look through my collection and sniff the stoppers or sprayers, rather than actually putting them on. Sort of like leafing through coffee table art books rather than hanging a work of art on the wall and being stuck with it. If I’ve worn a perfume before, I don’t really need to wear it to enjoy it.
Sometimes I go without perfume for a while, or try to wear the same one for several days in a row, to see how that affects my appreciation. Anyone remember the Perfume Posse’s seven-day scent challenge?
I like to test samples while I’m reading or working at the computer, just a spritz on the wrist of back of my hand, and take notice periodically.
Sleeping with perfume is another way to get more out of some of them – the relaxing rather than exciting or too interesting scents. So what if I fall asleep quickly, I don’t consider that a waste; rather, I think a good perfume may improve dreams.
I also like to read up on perfumes that I’m wearing: look up the summaries on Fragrantica or basenotes, do Google searches to find blog reviews, check The Guide to revisit what or LT or TS thought. I may also decide to use Google or the NST reference sections to read up on key ingredients or the perfumer. If I have time to write this up in an NST comment, so much the better! 🙂
I love the idea of getting to know more about a fragrance as a way of seeing it in a different way. It’s so easy to get rote about your perfume. Why not read someone else’s thoughts and see if you experience it a different way?
I love the idea of perfumes helping to improve one’s dreams. What a lovely idea!
I feel like I did a post about bedtime scents at one point….but if I did, it was long enough ago that I don’t remember what I might have recommended.
Oh, that would be worth repeating!
I’m making a note….
This reminds me of a recommendation from Victoria at BdJ to test a perfume in as many different scenarios as possible before investing in a bottle (or something along those lines…) Remembering to do this helps me slow down the “omgilovethisneedmoreNOW” urge. More than once, it’s quieted the voice enough, and provoked repeated wearings such that I eventually conclude that a 3 ml decant is, in fact, more than enough. ????
So true. Sometimes a sample that seems so great for an afternoon shopping is vomit-worthy during dinner.
I’ve recently come up with a new way to make use of those samples that smell great from the vial, but not on my skin. Instead, I mix a few drops of perfume with a bit of water in the basin of an oil burner like this one:
http://p.globalsources.com/IMAGES/PDT/BIG/411/B1060974411.jpg
Gets the most bang for my sample buck and makes my apartment smell great at the same time!
That’s a great idea, thanks!
Nice! Sometimes I’ll dump the end of a sample vial into my bath. It’s not quite the same as infusing the house with scent, though.
I have a huge collection of perfumes…some are decades old but still wearable. If one is not up to par, I use it as a home fragrance. In the past, I have gone for long periods without buying anything mostly because I couldn’t. Then I have had an occasional perfume bender buying more than I should. I had one of those periods not long ago and now I am in a “buy no perfume” period–not even samples because if I like something a lot I would be tempted to buy it. I could never live long enough to use up the ones I already have (and there are more than anyone should need to have). I had already started the “shopping in my own perfume store” lately and it’s rather fun. I have enough perfume between samples and full bottles to wear a different one in the morning and evening without completely depleting my arsenal even if I never buy another bottle. Of course, now and then, we all need a little boost and something new, but in the meantime I am shopping in my own collection.
Have fun shopping your own collection! Maybe I should arrange mine in retail-like rows and pretend I’m buying them again. (Hmm, I wonder which ones I wouldn’t buy this round?)
I am doing the same with my hundreds of bottles. I could definitely finish my life without finishing my perfumes, no need to ever buy more!
Sigh. I only wish it were about “need.” But I do love the “shop your collection” idea!
I find shopping one’s own collection often works well with both perfume and makeup. I’ll often pull out a lipstick I’d forgotten I had but still love, or become re-enchanted by a neglected scent.
What it doesn’t work well for: clothes and shoes(!) My usual response with those is, “what was I thinking?!?” ???? lol
That’s hilarious! Yet true with me, too! I did once find a jacket I’d bought long before and forgotten about, and I loved it, but I remember that case because it was so danged rare.
The few times I have given in to a purchase this year were for scented products, not perfume per se. R&G Carnation Soap. Had to do it.
Today I found out someone was able to score the Chanel No 5 Body Oil for me. My happy dance with one bum knee looked suspiciously like clogging I’m afraid.
I knew I would cherish both and the little hoarder in me was satisfied too.
I can’t keep up with all the new. Like the legions on TV, I no longer care to remember their names, but like actors, how do these scents build a career?
I bring in samples and discuss scent with some of the young girls at work. They are interested, but no where near the rabbit hole.
Guess I come here to be with my tribe. Reading about and discussing scent is always satisfying, and the price is right.
I’ve used the No. 5 bath oil, and it is D I V I N E. Well worth clogging for!
You bring up a good point, too: talking about perfume with other perfume people like us is absolutely free.
Don’t buy indeed. The past few years I’ve used a portion of our refund to pay for a special bottle for myself because I’m the one doing our taxes. I refuse to pay anyone else or pay the demon turbo tax. Anyway… this year no new bottles for me. And honestly I’ve not been able to sniff anything new or anything in my orbit that I can afford anyway. The prices have become ridiculous and I already own so many fantastic fragrances that scare the pants off the new stuff. Why bother! This year extra tax refund money is for boring stuff. We have a litany of house repairs and the new baddie: orthodonture for my 9 year old. Fragrance schmagrance. I have more bottles than I can hope to wear before I pass on to the great garden in the sky anyway – even stuff that is already rare or very special or out of print. I need to give those bottles some love. I actually want to downsize and am waiting for the right moment. I’ve been gently culling my collection and putting aside the bottles I want to off-load for the past few months. I have scores of untested samples too. I’ve also become more enchanted with using essential oils to blend my own mixes. Definitely using what you already have or making deals with other people is the way to go. I missed the swapmeet this spring, but I am certainly ready for the fall!
I have to wonder if there will come a point where perfume prices will slash the ranks of perfumistas. Sure, there will always be rich people, and there will always be perfume lovers. But how large is that intersection, anyway? Will certain houses start to play to money and leave art behind–because they don’t have to? Thank goodness for decants.
I think it already has started to slash into perfumistahood – not the status or knowlege of fragrances, but the buying of fragrances to support quality niche or classic houses and curate a really satisfying collection. I think the push back also comes from a natural sense of curation that comes with serious perfume sniffing. The nose will wait until something really fantastic comes along and not just buy because it’s there. I think the glut is pandering to the inexperienced fragrance buyer/lover, regardless of the price point. It may as well be called “Sucker!” There are only a few houses I would give nose time to anyway these days – houses that aren’t creating for a chem manufacturer or accounts manager. I want to know there was care and craftsmanship put into it, and that is not really true anymore for most of the new mass-niche offerings and “houses”. There is no point if it’s not making my toes curl up AND I’m not supporting a fragrance artist!
I know just what you mean! I suppose certain people will always fall for the “status” of some chic new brand and pay through the nose for it, but I’d much rather spend my dollars on the work of someone who treats fragrance as art.
Hi Angela!
I’m pretty much a rank amateur here on the fragrance playground. Can you suggest some houses/individuals who you think are creating fragrances from the heart, and for love of the craft?
I hope I’m not putting you on the spot, and I know the topic is rather subjective; just whatever comes to mind!
Gosh, everyone has their favorites, and you’ll eventually find yours, too. Just to randomly pull out a few that are consistently interesting: Naomi Goodsir, Ann Gerard (nothing has come out there for a while, but I loved them all), Masque Milano, Andy Tauer, Vero Profumo.
Thank you very much! This gives me something to explore with confidence. 🙂
Or maybe you’ll find out I’m your evil scent twin!
Great article! I especially resonated with the “Shake it up” comment. I’ve gotten more and more specific about when and how to wear my scents, and just recently I asked myself why am I limiting myself. So I’m definitely going to start switching scents around.
I’m helped a great deal in the not buying with two things: 1) I’m more of a minimalist so I don’t naturally lean toward collecting or hoarding, and 2) I’m a chemical-phobe and most of the stuff being produced now are chemical cocktails. This is exacerbated by being an aromatherapist and knowing what the real thing smells like.
Some really good suggestions here. Thanks NSTers! 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed the article! “Shake it up” isn’t a bad motto about life in general, really.
True dat! Especially as one gets older (who me?!?) and more set in one’s ways! 😉
One of my favorite ways to use up samples is in a bath. As others have commented for skin, just dump the whole thing in. It’s a nice way to scent the bathroom and it lingers nicely but not too strong. I don’t do this to true perfume loves, just that endless box of samples.
Add some regular oil and a sample vial to your tub and it’s like you have expensive bath products! 🙂
I do this, too! It also works with epsom salts.
ooh, good idea!
When I first became interested, I tended to want full bottles and was a bit silly in picking things at TJ Maxx, not realizing how long it would take me to go through a bottle. I acquired samples but tended to hoard them rather than use them.
Now, I take advantage more of decants, splits, etc. The only true full bottles I’ve gotten recently were using gift certificates.
I’m shopping in my sample collection now. And really trying to avoid actual spending.
We have scented soaps to last the rest of the year at least. I really need to ensure I don’t buy more of those or of shower gels/body washes.
It’s amazing how long a scented soap can last! Maybe it’s because I usually bathe rather than shower, but I’m ashamed to say that my marvelous Parfum d’Hermes soap actually has split.
Shower gels are a weakness of mine, too. I went to count them just now, and I have twelve. Twelve??!? I thought I only had about half that many.
I’ve been keeping no more than two in my shower at a time, so I can burn through them.
Angela, thanks for this article. I need to bookmark it, and read it every so often to keep myself at least somewhat on track! 🙂
You must smell good! At least it’s a good incentive for long, luxurious showers.
Ha! Yes, indeed it is.
Thanks for this post, Angela!
Participating in the Friday community projects and usually stretching it for as many days as I can has helped me shop my own collection. After all, I don’t think I’ve ever bought anything just to participate. In fact, this year, I did not buy any FBs for the first 40+ days! While I don’t think I’ll ever stop buying, I’ve come to appreciate my collection more.
I have also hosted many splits. It is hard work but so rewarding because it allows me to get what I want and help out other perfumistas who otherwise would have to spend more at the decant sites or do without.
Finally, my only “budget” for perfume is a rule that I will donate to charity an equal or greater amount I spend on perfume so the more I spend, the more I give – it’s a win-win-win situation!
You’re a complete angel two ways: First, you donate as much as you buy. That’s fantastic! Next, you host splits. I am always amazed and gratified by the work people do to host splits–and not for a profit, either. Good work!
I make my own body scrubs – brown sugar, olive oil, and generous sprays of whatever perfume is below my personal “8” that day or a sample I want to use up. Nuxe Oil Prodiguese perfume works particularly well, since it was based on a body oil.
I have a body of Nuxe that I like for its moisturizing ability, but that I don’t always feel like smelling like. I’m going to add a handful of sugar and try it tonight!
At the end of last year, our financial situation took a major turn and I realized I had to make some serious changes to my spending habits. I will cop to being a serious consumer so I wanted to look at how much I was spending in 3 categories: clothes & shoes; makeup & skincare; perfume.
Since I buy almost everything in those categories online it was easy to track my total expenditures for 2016. When I tallied up my perfume spending, I was shocked. Shocked. Let’s just say my husband and I could have taken a nice vacation overseas on my perfume dollars – and I know my spending the year previous was much the same. I am a natural bargain hunter, so for me, the issue is quantity – not buying lots of expensive bottles. Well, that and impulse control – if a perfume I liked could be had at discounters or ebay for under, say, $40, I didn’t see any reason not to buy.
My tips here are not so much about how to enjoy what you already have (and those of us who are regular readers almost all have more than we can realistically use) but rather how to stop buying in the first place (which is how we all ended up in the same boat 😉 )
1 – Where does my money go? I already do our budgeting in an excel spreadsheet, so I’ve added a tab where I list every single purchase in those 3 categories, which for me comprise my non-essential expenditures.
It’s set up to automatically sum my spending per month, by category, and per quarter, so I can see where I am at a quick glance. I’m trying to be a more conscious consumer, and it has worked – particularly with perfume. Q1 2017 perfume spending was $169.51. 2016 was easily 10x that.
2 – Samples and Decants. They really add up. I’ve also discovered that having too many makes me uncomfortable. And that I like about 10% of what I buy, and love even fewer than that.
I only buy them when TPC or STC runs a promo with a % off. And when they do, I load up my cart in the morning with what I want, then let it sit. If by the evening I’m still thinking about what’s sitting in my cart, I *might* go back and buy it. But usually I’ve completely forgotten what’s there by the end of the day. So I pass.
3 – Full bottles. If I really really really really want a full bottle of something, I’ll search it out and find one at the best possible price. Then I still don’t buy it. I’ll put it off for as long as I can (i.e., a week, then weeks, then months.) If I still want it at the end of the waiting period I might buy it. But usually I’ve moved on to something else.
4 – Free money. I participate in a few cashback programs – ebates, topcashback, bing rewards, etc. At the end of last year I started stockpiling them in my paypal account. By the time the next splitmeet rolled around I had enough money to participate in a few splits, host one, and buy a few used bottles/minis on ebay.
5 – Shiny new things. I think most budding perfumistas go through a phase where they need to SMELL ALL THE THINGS. Fortunately for me, this has passed. Now I only want to smell some of the things. Sometimes it’s not necessarily a specific thing, but that I just want to smell a new thing. This community is great for that. I accumulate enough decants and samples from NSTers from swap/split/freebiemeets to tide me over until the next “meet.”
I’ve also cultivated relationships here where I do swaps with other posters on a pretty regular basis. My approach to this really is entirely altruistic: I have tons of perfume and am happy to part with most of it. I love sharing what I love with others who love the same thing! So when someone has a particular longing, or has run out of a favorite perfume, or wants to try something new, and I can provide it, I offer it up. Being a generous bunch who feel the same way I do, I don’t think I’ve ever not been offered something in return.
Finally, I embrace the collection I have. I recently unloaded some bottles I didn’t love, and samples I didn’t want to bother with, which makes my daily and nightly selection much less emotionally loaded. The thousands I’ve invested has bought me a really nice collection. No guilt! Just appreciation.
Sorry so long, but I’m sure my journey will ring a bell with a few people here and offer some help. Thanks for the timely article!
Thank you for such a thoughtful post! There’s so much here that I relate to and that I’m sure other readers relate to. I’m so impressed that you set up a spreadsheet–and that the spreadsheet is working! Good job. There’s something wonderful about having less but having the right things.
totally agree – use up the samples before they disappear into thin air! I usually save them for the “right” time, and then when I’m digging through my unorganized samples, what I want to try is all gone, just a little stain on the glass vial that has no life : ( as for pants vs. skirts/dresses – I rebelled against them as I did against pink when younger, (and when Chicago winters made wearing skirts or dresses simply silly – you still needed to wear pants under them just to walk to school) i’m overcoming my aversion to pink, and still sorta overcoming my aversion to skirts – when it’s really hot and you just don’t want to wear anything at all I will put on a skirt in deference to the neighbors
Isn’t it great to know your style and preferences can change over time? (And you’re a good neighbor to wear the skirt!)