These short lived materials can often disappear over time and so a huge section of the perfume is then noticeably absent. This contributes to the scent feeling richer and heavier, because the piercing hesperidic shot that originally appeared first is missing, and it’s also one of the reasons why it can take on a smoky quality, because of the ingredient degrading. If you think about Shalimar by Guerlain then you will understand the problem.
— Stephan Matthews looks at vintage vs. new Shalimar, and says much of the common thinking about vintage perfume is wrong. Read more at Perfume's Passage of Time, found via Monsieur Guerlain.
All these articles about the lifespan of a perfume are starting to make me freak out about my (large) collection which will already outlast me…and there are still others that I want to add.
It’s not so much that the fragrances alter somewhat over time, it’s more that it makes me sad that I have this big collection that I can’t appreciate fully at its best. Coupled with how it is more than I can ever wear which brings up thoughts of my avarice and mortality and then things feel uncomfortable and weird. Maybe I was better off with just a signature fragrance or two?
I feel just as you do! I wonder if I might actually be happier with only a couple of scents at a time…
I think I am really much happier buying less. At the time I was buying lots, I thought I was enjoying it, but now I think buying more than you need or can even use is a kind of stress.
I’ve had a lot of stress lately about how large my collection has become. I am still having a hard time not buying though because I think I have a bit of a shopping/acquiring addiction.
This week I’m wearing from neglected bottles to remind myself of all the good stuff I already have, so these comments are timely.
I made some simple rules for myself about buying, and that really helped. Don’t tell yourself you can’t buy — that is its own stress! — just make more hoops you have to jump through!
One simple impediment: start a wishlist. Date things as you add them. Look at it and rearrange it frequently so the things you want most are at the top, but don’t buy anything until it’s been on the list at least 6 months.
Then, set a bottle limit per month. So if you can only buy 1 bottle per month, and it can only be something that has been on your list 6 months, it will make you think much harder.
This really helps you think harder about which things you want most! Some things you really want will stay at the top of the list, but others are likely to move their way down -> those are things you can probably live without.
What I found was that using a list made it easier to buy nothing at all. It all became theoretical, and also, I found I enjoyed the process of smelling new things (from samples) just as much even when I never bought them.
Thanks, Robin! That’s great advice, and I do think setting boundaries and rules is key.
Buying is a lot of stress.NOT buying even more so.That stupid fear of missing out on something wonderful.My big big BIG problem is I hate going to shops-any shops(niche/department/whatever)to test perfumes.And when you do go on a mission…NO TESTER to be found.Perfume collectimg in South Africa is hard WITHOUT actually buying unsniffed,most of the times.International restrictions makes swaps and even getting samples from the US/Europe very very hard.Maybe I should be happy with what I have.There is after all,a HELL of a lot to enjoy in my collection already.
I think in some weird way the huge explosion of niche brands helped me ease the stress. I used to want to try everything that mattered, then that became impossible, so I accepted that and moved on. Now I try what I can and don’t worry so much about the rest.
I wish I had stopped at about 20? And then just done samples. It is an interesting hobby even without the acquisition aspect.
Yes. Agree with this and your comment above that buying/having too much is also a kind of stress for some of us. I am going to be doing some hard thinking about my collection this week. This is partially brought on by my upcoming birthday on Friday. Turning 60. And trying to do it gracefully, but feeling freaked out about that, too.
Stay graceful! 60 is nothing these days.
No need to be graceful. Be happy!
I went to a college reunion recently (OK, it was a few years ago…that‘s recently these days;)), and was just about to feel overweight and underachieving when a wise friend pointed out we were all the ones who had made it: we were the ones who were still alive.
Perhaps Guerlain will make Thierry Wasser and Frédéric Sacone’s historic recreation of Shalimar more widely available so that we can see for ourselves? ????
I think they can’t — I think there are ingredients they can’t use commercially, for sourcing and/or regulatory reasons.
I realize they would not be able to sell them commercially. And, obviously, given what the best sellers are these days, most people would prefer the reformulated versions anyway.
Now, however, I think you can only sniff these historic recreations by pre-arrangement at the flagship store in Paris. Why not also New York City, at least?
Ah, and I have no idea where / how you can try them.
1) Yup. As a biochemist my nose can catch when and what mixtures are ‘off’ due to degradation of oils, various aldehydes and associated diols and phenols. Yeah, it’s vintage- but Grammy did not smell like that when she wore it!
2) And this why I am okay with purchasing samples and just having a few bottles at home. Samples and decants are great fun and a great way to explore and change things up, and then have those awesome bottles at home let people know “Oh yes, Ede is here!”
Interesting article,and puts things into perspective!I’m OCD about storage,but I’ve been feeling terribly overwhelmed by my own collection recently.The big reality sunk in when I moved from a rather big space to a much smaller apartment in the city.Most of my perfumes are unreachable due to the way I store them(always in boxes,out of sunlight,in fridges…),which somehow makes it a less joyful hobby.I stopped buying entirely and love to still go sniffing new and interesting perfumes.Buying is still VERY tempting,and I always felt if I wasn’t buying,was I then still interested?And a “collector”?I realised yes I still am both of those things.Getting to use the precious Guerlains/expensive Malle and Kilian is still an issue for me.I’ll get there eventually.I HAVE TO.
Footnote:I do think that an aged perfume taking on a new nuance isn’t necessarily a bad thing,especially when it does give something like Shalimar a richer dimension.Maybe even the creators of all our beloved vintages created them with that EXACT question in the back of their minds.Who knows!a Lot of respect for Stephan Matthews.Quiet guy but has a lot of knowledge about my favorite hobby.
I think he has some fair points about the pyramid tending to lose its point, and the aging of ingredients over time. Also, credit is due to Guerlain for their good faith effort to keep the classic Guerlains as close to the originals as possible in the face of unending hurdles. Some brands aren’t even trying.
Nonetheless, it doesn’t seem possible that the current versions could smell “as the perfumer intended,” either. The perfumer had real sandalwood, deer or nitro musks, etc., to work with. Not to mention that bergamot is now restricted, too; it seems unlikely that the current formulation of Shalimar is still 30 percent bergamot. It would be more accurate to say that we can never smell the original perfume again.
In addition to the ingredients, the olfactory context and sensitivity of our noses has changed. The original perfumer (prior to the 1950s) worked at a time when there was pervasive air pollution — London, for example, was nicknamed “The Big Smoke” — and, until this century, tobacco smoke was pervasive. Conversely, we are immersed in synthetic musks from detergents, drier sheets, air fresheners, etc.
Moreover, perfume is also an emotional art, and each generation has very different scent associations. On top of that, our individual noses can be anosmic to some scents and hyperosmic to others. Even if Bertrand Duchaufour and I smell the same scent strip of his latest scent, the balance of the composition may be off for me compared with how it smells to him.
I think this is basically true of any art, for example, Homer’s Odyssey will never resonate with me as it did with his original audience, and I’ll never see the Mona Lisa the way Da Vinci did. Nonetheless, I appreciate the chance to see the actual painting, however dimmed by time, not just an online photograph, a poster reproduction, or another artist’s rendering.
Lovely expression of your thoughts, thanks!
Yes, beautifully and thoughtfully expressed! I enjoyed this.
This! ????????????
I’ve been having similar thoughts lately about olfactory context, particularly as it relates to cigarette smoke and 70s/80s heavy hitters. Even if one did not smoke, the olfactory effect of secondhand smoke was everywhere, in restaurants, shopping malls, concert venues, bars, house parties. That is not the case now, and I wonder if that’s one reason things smell a bit different now, generally speaking, and I wonder if the more smoke-free environment we enjoy now is a contributor to current preferences for lighter scents.
I’m going to take a contrarian view of buying. Yes, if you feel stressed by your acquisitions, by all means stop. Or at least actively cull the parts of your collection you don’t use. And of course, everyone should stay within their means, yadda yadda, all the usual advice.
But if you enjoy it, and you can afford it, then buy it. For the simple reason that if those of us who enjoy niche perfume or perfumes styles that aren’t currently “in” don’t buy it, it won’t exist at all. The mall juice will keep getting produced no matter what we do, but the small and independent perfumers need financial support from those who appreciate their work.
I know I joke about my ‘Patroness of the Arts’ purchases in the quarterly damage poll, but there’s a truth to it. After all, we wouldn’t have the benefit of seeing a Da Vinci painting were it not for his patrons back in the day; artists need supporters.
Will some (maybe plenty) of my perfume expire before I can use it? Probably. C’est la vie. I’ll enjoy them while they last
Thanks, Pixel. Well said as always and I appreciate the other side.
I enjoy having bottles (vs decants) and won’t stop collecting entirely even if I have more juice than I need. I just want to edit so that my collection pleases me and so that all the bottles can belong somewhere that they are wanted (and I want to make sure that I am buying because I love it and not just to acquire). You’re right – we don’t need to feel bad about an interesting hobby with lots of cool artistry and history that we enjoy.
(Nods head) Oh absolutely, the size and composition of your collection has to suit *you*, of course. I find I am constantly culling (and yet could do more of that!) And I am working hard on making myself buy the smallest size bottle, even if the price-per-ml sometimes makes me grit my teeth
Also I try to keep in mind some wise advice that foxbins gave me a while back: You don’t have to own everything you like.
Very wise words from foxbins!
This! ????????????