2019 is over, and not a moment too soon. Donatella Versace, Our Lady of Perfumed Plenty,1 wants to help you start the new year with a clean slate and a clean conscience. Do confess what you bought in the 4th quarter (October, November and December) of 2019, you'll feel better.
My purchases...
I had big plans, but only managed to buy one fragrance, a travel spray of Aedes de Venustas Oeillet Bengale for $40. Added to the $145 I'd already spent, that brings my total for the year to $185.
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.
Ik thought I had been pretty bad last quarter and fully expected to slow down this past quarter, but that didn’t happen. In stead I got 7 full bottles and two lots of samples.
I got 4 Courrèges; Empreinte, Courrèges in Blue, L’Eau de Courrèges and Blanc de Courrèges. They were very, very, very cheap. And I like them all.
Then I got Amouage Dia Woman and thought that would be it for 2019.
Alas I made a stop on my way back from Lille at Place Vendôme in Wevelgem and got Vol de Nuit extrait and to top it all off, I happened upon a bottle of Mon Exclusif de Guerlain in eBay.
I haven’t bought this much perfume in a long time!
Vol de Nuit extrait is d-i-v-i-n-e. I am certain Donatella approves!
Bois d’Iris, Van Cleef & Arpels, 75ml
Memoire d’un Odeur, Gucci, 60ml + 7ml
Visa, Robert Piguet, 100ml
Noix de Tubereuse, Miller Harris, 100ml
Stash, Sarah Jessica Parker, 50ml
Poirier d’un Soir, Miller Harris, 100ml
Just over a third of my purchases this year were from my buy list – the best I’ve managed for quite a long time!
Nice job on the Bois d’Iris – it seems to be discontinued and it’s so lovely.
?What??!!
Sorry, I don’t really know for sure, but it’s no longer on the VC&A website.
And just under half retail price as well…
Discontinued? Noooooo!
Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have posted that without validation – but it’s no longer on the VC&A website.
“Just over a third of my purchases this year were from my buy list”… ah, yes, a phenomenon I know well. I’ve done better at sampling-first, but, um, “better” is a relative thing.
I don’t have a “buy list” per se, but I definitely need to work on sampling first, and thinking about it. I have very few regrets this quarter, though.
Yikes. I missed the last damage poll, so this covers two quarters. However, I only bought one bottle during the third quarter of this year.
Third quarter:
Molinard – Jasmine
Fourth quarter:
Full bottles:
Bottega Veneta
Provision Scents – Las Flores
January Scent Project – Smolderose, Eiderantler, Vaporocindro, Serin
L’Artisan Parfumeur – Safran Troublant
Roller balls/ travel sprays:
Child
Arielle Shoshana Sunday
By Rosie Jane – Lake
Skylar – By Firelight, Silver Noir
DedCool – Scent 2, Taunt
Waft – three scents (I asked for a perfume based around incense, pine and lavender. I was sent three lovely jasmine scents. Oh well!)
Retail therapy. My world smells amazing, even if it is chaotic.
Please tell me about Lake! I’ve been curious.
And I love this sentence: “My world smells amazing, even if it is chaotic.” The world IS chaotic and often difficult and sad and sometimes joyful. At the very least, we can celebrate life with fragrance.
I have a By Rosie Jane sample set I can send you, if you want. Ping me at emc dawt 7 1 1 7 in the land of geee-mayle.
I really like Lake. I ordered a travel spray during the Sephora sale because I love Lake Tahoe, but the bergamot/ pine/ sandalwood makes it a really nice scent.
It falls in the same family for me as Wood Sage and Sea Salt – I smell darn good but didn’t have to try hard to get there.
That is a good sentiment, about celebrating life with fragrance.
This is embarrassing. I forgot two bottles. (Although I only had to pay for one thanks to ELDO’s Black Friday deal.)
Remarkable People (paid for this one)
Fils de Dieu du Riz et Des Agrumes (free 30 ml bottle)
Only forgetting 2 should not be embarrassing!
Nice, I missed that BF deal but I recently sampled Fils de dieu and found it gorgeous, so nice catch
“My world smells amazing, even if it is chaotic.” Love this.
Well I did buy some beauties.
* Chanel Coco edp, vintage,50 ml
* Linda Landenberg Lavender and wool, 50 ml
* Gucci Bloom Ambrosia di Fiore 100 ml (I got a really good price and bought it blind because I wear the original. But I can’t really notice any difference)
* By Rosie Jane Lake. A very nice eco scent. Quite alike Freeway from 4160 Tuesdays minus the weed note.
* Golden pear body spray from Lush. Glorious pear for 5 minutes, after that a soft spicy vanilla.
* Loewe Woman 001. A very interesting fragrance! A soft sandalwood/spicy floral/demure vanilla/pale floral. A shapeshifter.
* Narciso Rodriguez Pure musc. Blind buy and still in transit.
Also. I did a bit of hoarding because of the new regulations. Don’t really know if they affect my precious Angel but I will not take any chances. So I got
Angel edp, vintage bottle with Swarovski crystals.
A*men in the rubber bottle.
Angel Eau de star 50 ml.
And have put them in storage. Bottles laying down in a cool dark place (just like king Tut)
Yes! I’m totally absorbed by the History of Egypt podcast. It affects my references ?
You must put them in a sarcophagus ?
Zing!
Yes! That is my goal ? for now they have to make do with their own beautiful boxes and a really good drawer in a nice cupboard in a cool storage in my house. But maybe next year…
Lake twins! I bought it too.
Isn’t it nice? Like eating a high quality creamsicle on a warm summer night – next to a lake deep in the woods.
What new regulations?
IFRA has a bunch of new perfume regulations coming down the pike either this year or in 2021.
I believe someone said that in 2020 they were cutting down more on the amount of jasmine that could be in a perfume. I don’t remember who said it. But jasmine! I’m still not clear on why, some years ago, they cut down on the amount of citrus that could be in a perfume or cologne. Why citrus? And why jasmine?
Citrus is a known skin irritant. ??
Okay. Thanks for providing the reason on the citrus, Jalapeno.
Jasmine, ylang ylang and opoponax in particular are being further restricted.
I don’t know if I could identify the scent of opoponax by itself, but those restrictions are a bummer. Thank you for the information, though.
“Bottles laying down in a cool dark place (just like king Tut)”
Love.
Haven’t spent a penny on a full bottle of perfume. I did spend money on decants. Still debating on that Chanel travel set. After work, I will know what my work schedule and then I can do my monthly budget and then decide if it’s truly feasible for that travel set. Might not be Coromandel but it’s something.
Hope the budget works out!
Looks like I might be able to afford some Chanel soaps but I will have to take a closer look.
I bought 4 FBs:
1. Agent Provocateur EDP 100ml ~$40 – with a body cream
2. Bas de Soie BUB ~$68
3. Theo Fennell Scent ~$42
4. Guerlain Champs Elysees EDT 30ml ~$15
Total for the quarter: $165
Total for the year $968 – 17 full bottles
I gave away 6 bottles to family and friends, so + 11 bottles for the year, and well under my budget of $100 per month.
This is profligate for the old me, the post rabbit-hole me is kinda proud of myself!
My only resolution for 2020 is NO MORE blind buys. We’ll see how that goes…
I also have a budget of 100€ per month, its a reasonable amount. Other people spend this on coffee….
I agree. All those fancy lattes… And buying perfume scratches many itches. I think we all have a tendency to buy SOMETHING when we’re down or bored. But I think we all basically have a certain amount set aside subconsciously to play with (whatever the amount) and I, for one, just channel it away from, say shoes, towards perfume.
Wow, good price on the Theo Fennell!
Nice finds on numbers 1-3! (I’m not as familiar with #4 but $15 has to be a good price, right?) especially nice price for my beloved Theo Fennell Scent!
I like the idea of budgeting to average around $100 a month. That seems like it could really help me to be more reasonable. And no more blind buys would be good, too, though I’d tried samples of all the full bottles, and the majority of the travel sprays, that I got.
NST Fourth quarter 2019 confession to Donatella
Splitmeet of October 2019 – All I had written down was that I participated in several of Katsura’s splits. I got decants of L’Artisan, Hermes and Guerlain fragrances from that. Thank you, Katsura!
I fell off the no-buy wagon at the end of October 2019. I’d lasted for a month. I ordered travel sprays of Osmanthus and Bois d’Iris directly from The Different Company. Then a couple of weeks later, I got a bottle of Osmanthus from LuckyScent. Yes, I had samples and decants of those. I guess I wanted to “officially” get them (?). I think I’m done with that lemming now. In late November (Black Friday), I got a bottle of Diptyque Eau Rose from LuckyScent.
I usually don’t count anything I get from Surrender to Chance, but I will count the full bottle of Pacifica Persian Rose I got near the end of November.
LUSH in November: Mid-November – solid perfume of Vanilliary, late November – Rose Jam and I’m Home solid perfumes, and Dad’s Garden Lemon Tree body spray.
Perfume Discounters and Colognes of Lancaster County, PA: a travel spray of Atelier Cologne Vetiver Fatal.
FragranceNet: I really appreciated their travel sprays of various perfumes and colognes. I really don’t know why I was stress-shopping on November 10th, specifically. But I got Annick Goutal Eau d’Hadrien EdT and Hermes Eau d’Orange Vert cologne travel sprays from there. I also got a mini of CK One to try, and a regular bottle of Comptoir Sud Pacifique Amour de Cacao.
Sephora: Here I was bad from November into December. November 10th again – what was my problem that day? – I ordered from Sephora online. I got a travel spray of AERIN Ikat Jasmine, which I liked. I’d sniffed it on paper some months ago at the King of Prussia mall, and remembered liking it. I’d liked the fragrance of the Fresh Sugar Lemon body lotion in the Sephora store near me, but the perfume turned out to be more of a blind buy than I’d anticipated. Unfortunately, it smelled like a lemon cleaning product to me. That was also a travel spray. Much more of a success was a bottle of Fresh Hesperides Grapefruit that I got in the store at the beginning of December.
Definitely some themes here: Citrus and some other fruit scents; rose and other floral scents, including lavender, iris, jasmine and osmanthus; vanilla and chocolate scents; and various notes of what I classify as “baking spices.”
Over the past year or two, some of the other fruit scents I explored were peach, pear, apple, cherry, apricot, fig, blackberry, and lychee. Other floral scents I tried included lily, carnation, violet, honeysuckle, and lily-of-the-valley, to name just a few. I tried various tea fragrances, and several sorts of incense fragrances. I’d already known I liked patchouli. I tried perfumes with other sorts of leafy notes, and fragrances with plant root notes, and assorted sorts of wood fragrances. I tried a variety of fragrances with notes from many other kinds of spices and/or herbs.
Very analytical, and probably very useful for your 2020 purchases going forward…
I think of “being analytical” as involving lots of math, and I didn’t do that sort of breakdown here. As far as knowing what kinds of fragrances I like and having many dozens of samples to guide me, I have a pretty good idea.
I shouldn’t necessarily be buying perfume in 2020, but it’s totally unrealistic to think that I won’t. (lol) I’ll be looking for splits or sales on certain of the prettier Comme des Garcons and Serge Lutens fragrances. And looking for when the smaller bottle of Atelier Cologne Mandarine Glaciale comes back into stock. That sold out right away at the Sephora website.
Jo Malone fragrances come in small bottles in the first place, but I can’t see spending that much money on a small bottle of perfume. If anyone is thinking about doing a split of a bottle of Jo Malone Red Roses, I’d be interested.
“Analytical” doesn’t necessarily have to involve math. It can also be observing patterns and drawing conclusions from what you have seen. And you’re pretty good at that.
Thanks. I get intimidated when I run into people who are like, “Yay, math!” because I struggled with algebra and geometry (never did pass geometry…) and the math parts of chemistry. But I enjoy those aspects of science that I can relate to nature or think of as being in an art or craft category.
I feel like something has to be tangible in one way or another for me to understand it.
But I can see patterns from my experiences, yes.
Have a good weekend!
Am with Amyitis about no more blind buys – I saw a (fortunately travel-sized) bottle of Cuir Cuba and I loathed it when I tried it. Fortunately it was taken off my hands…
For Real purchases:
Yves Rocher – Rose Oud (bub)
ELO- Bendelirious (bub)
Van Cleef & Arpels – Orchidée Vanille – half a second, that was blind, and it worked out well!
Puredistance Antonia
Lucky you to be able to off load it! I’m stuck with the perfumes that I truly don’t like, as I feel too badly to gift it to someone I know. And I’m too lazy to try to sell it.
Im think it’s okay to give a perfume to a friend if you think they might like it and you wouldn’t mind smelling it on them. If not, though, maybe a dress-for-success charity or shelter for women?
I leave unloved cheapies in the ladies room at work. They usually disappear within a few days.
A bit of a heavy quarter for me–
Yohji Yamamoto homme cologne, half of a twisty vintage bottle $54
I Love YY $245
Fauni $185
Civet Chypre $55
Mercy Lewis $45
DSH Poppy $56
Vine Street $110
Well, as long as you liked what you got…
And you and Pixel helped make a number of us (or at least me!) feel better about what we got!
I managed to stay well under my budget and got lucky on ebay… So i bought vintage bottles of
Miss Dior
Gucci No3
Cinnabar
I bought a used bottle of Courreges Empreinte for cheap,
A mini of Les Annees BIS, which underwhelmed me and Ariana Grande Cloud for a sharing, i kept 15ml.
I bought three decants with 10ml
Memoir Woman
Fougere Bengale
Moulin Rouge
All in, i only spent 140€, i did some swaps,but luckily they dont count
I like Fougere Bengale in winter. I think it has a really good tobacco shop note. Cozy.
Nary a bottle, but I did get a trio of small decants of DS&Durga scents from ebay. They are interesting but too literal for me. And they all kind of smell the same. Lemming slayed!
Oh, and only spent $17 on them.
I did spend $27 at the post office to GIVE AWAY decants at the last freebiemeet… LOL does that count?!
$17 is not at all bad to discover you didn’t need more!
And no, Donatella is not interested in anybody’s shipping expenses, luckily.
I appreciated the decants in the swap we did, and the samples, too.
It might be cheaper, and it would definitely be far faster, for me to drive to certain sections of NJ or to somewhere near NYC to deliver samples to the perfumistas in those areas who want to try them.
DS&Durga are pleasant enough, but not sure why they end up in those “curated” clothing stores. BTW, as someone who benefitted from three freebiemeet packages many thanks to all who make that trip to the post office…
They managed to develop a hipster following, especially with the American heritage/folk theme they started going for. That’s kind of a trend right now- more than 1 axe-throwing bar has opened in my neighborhood, lol! Who knew!?
Lol at axe throwing bar! I don’t go to bars anymore, but the craft brewery bars are where the cool people hang out here.
I’m sure they also have craft beer and they’re all wearing DS&Durga Mississippi Medicine, lol.
I’ve only walked by one and watched through the window. It does look a little cathartic…
They have one in Ft Lauderdale. My cousin, who tries to be a sophisticated hipster doofus told me about it . I asked what, you pay to hang around hillbillies throwing hatchets, and overpriced at that? She answered that only hip educated people go there, so no hillbillys. Well says moi, you dumb because those hillbillies got good aim. Hipsters aren’t good at handling blades and doing manual labor. Frankly, it sounds stupid to me. You go to a bar to relax, not to have some doofus tag you in the clavicle with a bladed tool. Don’t get me started on those “street” tacos they like which are the size of a child’s hand.
There are quite a few axe-throwing establishments in NJ that I know about. It’s become really popular in the last 3 years or so.
Wow! Maybe we have them here, and I just don’t know it.
Gosh, axe-throwing sounds like more of a rural pastime. idk. Fortunately, it’s not my job to figure out what’s trendy, especially what’s trendy at bars. (lol) Combining that with drinking doesn’t sound terribly safe…but it’s not like I’ll be going to bars that feature axe-throwing.
Wow, I need to get out more. As far as I know, there aren’t any axe throwing bars in my area. They must pay high insurance premiums. Seems fairly foolish but then, most trends feel silly to me. A sure sign of my age. ?
Okay…am I the only one whose immediate thought was this classic Johnny Carson bit with Ed Ames??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L5QC9ZJkM8
I sprayed a sample of Cowboy Grass in my husband and it hung around for days. Drove him nuts.
Aside from the few floral ones, I agree. They all do smell kind of the same.
I feel like I went a little bananas the past few months after having been in perfume remission for quite some time but tallying it up it’s really not SO bad:
Full bottles:
Just the one, Nude by Bill Blass
Minis and Decants:
SP Parfums Civette Intense, Dust & Powder, and Nowhere Fast, 3 x 7.5 ml
Jean Patou 1000, 10ml
Bowmakers, 6ml decant
Hong Kong Oolong from NEZ, 15ml
Vintage Miss Dior, 15ml
DSH Scent Trunk, 5ml
sixteen92 bruise violet and laudanum, 2 x 7.5ml
Eeesh, maybe I did go a little overboard with the minis, that’s almost 90ml of perfume, but in my defense that + 1fb of Kiste is it for the whole year
Minis don’t count, I am sure! Plus, if they are in mini bottles I am sure cuteness is a mitigating factor.
Dearest Donatella, Fairy Godmother of Perfume, hear my confession and smile upon me.
Sonoma Scent Studio returned, so, well. All mini’s, and I know you don’t notice these tiny offerings, but, well. Champagne de Bois, Wood Violet, Equestrian, Bee’s Bliss, Rose Volupte, Nostalgie.
More mini’s: House of Matriarch The Maj; Tauer Les Annees 25 Bis; Floraiku One Umbrella For Two and My Love Has The Color Of The Night (award for longest perfume name this quarter!); Le Labo Baie 19; Atelier Cologne Love Osmanthus.
Now for the FBs that might catch your attention. They were on sale! (oops, that made Donatella mad), but here’s the list:
1. A Lab On Fire Almost Transparent Blue
2. Ormonde Jayne Osmanthus Elixir
3. Dasein Winter Green
4. Essential Parfums Mon Vetiver
5. Fort & Manle Meraki
6. ELdO Vraie Blonde
7. ELdO Anthiheros
8. ELdO Noel au Balcon
9. ELdO Dangerous Complicity (ELdO’s BOGO sale got me, in case you couldn’t guess)
10. Frapin Paradis Perdue
11. Memo Moroccan Leather
12. By Kilian Dark Lord
13. “Faberge” (Vermont Country Store) Woodhue
14. Murray & Lanman Florida Water
Hmm. Well, I had a birthday this quarter, so cross one off for birthday-gift-to-self. Cross another off for Xmas-gift-to-self. Woodhue was really bought for nostalgic purposes, so I won’t count that. And should Florida Water count? OK, so it’s a big bottle (221 ml it says (love the precision)) but then again, it cost almost nothing ($11), surely that is beneath Donatella’s notice. And I sold, swapped, or gave away 8 bottles this quarter. So, let’s see (chews on pencil)… + 14 – 4 – 8 … I bought 2 bottles this quarter. I hear your sigh of disappointment, dear Donatella, but I do hope I’ve earned a weak flicker of a smile from you, and I suspect I will make you happier in the future.
Pixel I’ve been waiting for this all day!
Donatella’s frowning. You were her one disciple of largesse here and now you’ve gone all “on sale” and “mini’s” and looking at prices. I can sense her disappointment. (Just kidding, of course)
I know (hanging my head), but (shhh don’t tell her) I always scrounge for deals, that’s half the fun
Good job on the 2 bottles!
At what volume do you consider something a mini?
Less than 30 ml is a mini in my universe.
LOL! We love you, Pixel!
Yes, you were not profligate enough for Donatella, yet I’m sure she smiles on your excellent choices – the ELDOs (Antiheros! Noel au Balcon!, etc!) and the OJ Osmanthus Elixir (I LOVE my sample), in particular.
Are you interested in making a split from your OJ?
That’s a possibility
If you’re wearing the Florida Water, yes, I’d count it. I found a little bottle of it at a store in a farmer’s market near Delaware that had pharmacy-type items. I was just curious what it smelled like because I’d recently read some fiction in which it was used to exorcise ghosts. (lol) Once I smelled it, I decided that I couldn’t carry off wearing it. It would take a person with a stronger presence and personality than me.
I’m sampling Moroccan Leather today, it’s nice!
I have been reading the damage poll this morning just to get to your post
– Vintage Fragonard Reve Indien EDT 100ml (half full) £10.50
– Vintage Houbigant Essence Rare EDT 50ml £10.56 I was curious as I acquired in last quarter and absolutely love the new Essence Rare, the vintage one is very close to Rive Gauche, lovely, but I prefer the new one, now how often can one say that
– Vintage Rive Gauche EDP 100ml £36 my favorite buy of the quarter
– Vintage Weil Zibeline Parfum de Toilette 200ml £35 a glorious animalic which I got to know as an EDT in the 90’s, my second favorite buy of the quarter
– Terry de Gunzburg Flagrant Delice 100ml (3/4 full) £30 I think I have enough fig fragrances for now, it is a nice one with almonds instead of the usual coconut
– Oscar de la Renta Midnight Amber 100ml £12 a blind buy, it turns out to be a soft (I like oud only when it is soft) rose oud much better than Rose d’Arabie which I purchased ust after which I could have done without
– Armani Prive Rose d’Arabie 90/100ml £30 not a success, as I find the above OdlR is much better
– Chanel No 5 EDC 115/125ml £18 BUB
– Molton Brown Honeysuckle and White Tea 50ml £12 BUB, because I wear this one a lot in summer
– Pacoma Swann 100ml £9.90 quite obscure scent, I had used a mini and loved it, I’d never seen it listed before, so at that price, I jumped on it, an old school aldehyde my 3rd favorite buy of the quarter
– Nobile 1942 Ambra £75ml £29.99 it’s good and I didn’t have anything from that house but not as good as my still favorite Stendhal Ambre Sublime
– Lentheric Sukina Essence de Parfum 15ml £3.20 blind buy,
haven’t tried it yet, I’m usually lucky with the Lentheric I buy
– Guerlain Meteorites 1st version 30ml £28 BUB
– Vintage Ungaro Diva 100ml EDP £16 I had waited forever for a good deal and sadly, I just found out Ungaro died over the holidays my 4th favorite buy of the quarter
– Jean Patou Vacances 100ml £37.70 BUB
Conclusion: Still getting BUBs, I want to get none next quarter and try to resist great deals when I don’t need more perfumes
You got some great things. I love Patou’s Vacances, but I payed a good deal more for my bottle than you did, so good for you!
So glad we share a love for Vacances, I too spent more on my first bottle (I think it was £90) so I tried to justify getting a BUB because of that great price, but did I need it…?
I’ve just read the comments and want to congratulate you on getting VdN extrait, I only know EdT and expect the extrait must be glorious. In the end we shouldn’t beat ourselves up if our purchases brought us pleasure.
You’re a very discerning buyer!
Thank you Amyitis, still disappointed about having purchased Rose d’Arabie though.
Me too, I sold mine.
We agree on this, Cazaubon, it’s overhyped.
You do have some great ones! My sister had Rive Gauche in the blue spray; I remember stealing sprays from it.
Oh Gail, yes, I love that canister, I can really recommend vintage Rive Gauche, it has kept its shape really well maybe thanks to the canister (no light) and the vintage EDP really is glorious, the vintage EDT which I have is very nice too, and they are both affordable so don’t hesitate to get it for the sake of nostalgia.
I know I said this before, but my Gosh, you know how to get some great prices for excellent perfumes!
Thank you Lillyjo! With one exception they all gave pleasure and we need this at this time of year. My brother left for France with your package and promised to send it early so that Ma Griffe package with some little surprises will reach you soon, fingers crossed. It was great fun to prepare it.
Ungaro’s Diva is gorgeous! It has aged well I think.
Yes, gorgeous indeed Jalapeno. Yes, it smells intact.
Wow, I’m a bargain hunter myself, and I’m super impressed with all your deals! I think 2020 should be the year I try Rive Gauche.
Yes, do try it, it’s the icy aldehyde opening is unique and the drydown is a perfect woody rose. Calandre by the same perfumer has similarities.
I counted my split of hajusuuri’s Winter Palace as “one,” and that is my only purchase this quarter. However, the comment above about Bois d’Iris being discontinued suggests that I will be looking for a backup bottle of that. Yikes!
It’s so much fun to read about everyone else’s purchases and approaches to managing their habit.
Do note that she isn’t sure it was discontinued!
I remember discussion a couple of years ago or so about The Different Company’s Bois d’Iris being discontinued, but it’s still available from their (TDC’s) website, kind of in their version of Crabtree & Evelyn’s “Archive” collection, I think…I didn’t phrase that well, but I thought of it because it’s the same name.
Nary a one, my only full bottle this year was for my birthday in May, Haubigants Fleur d’Oranger.
On the whole this year I have been really enjoying shopping my own collection,
Now that I’m lucky enough to be studying, any extra pennies go on my inexhaustible reading list. I did buy a decant of Le Labo’s Iris 39, a couple months ago, which I loved, but on the whole the perfume sampling sites in the UK have a very poor selection.
Bloom perfumery in Covent Garden sells samples for £2, which is very good, but it would be so nice to be able to get a few more mls! Anyone know of good perfume sites here I might not have come across? I’d be most appreciative!
How do you like Fleur d’Oranger?
It’s lovely! Very pretty and perfect for spring and summer, it’s my favourite orange blossom along with Sevill a l’aube, a very different perfume from this one.
It can also be found very cheaply at the discounters, not sure about in the U.S tho.
Only one bottle to confess this quarter. When I saw that Kanuka had included Vincent Micotti from Ys Uzac in the acknowledgements in her book, I thought I should support his support, so I ordered a bottle of Immortal Beloved. I’d tried and liked it years ago, but it never made it on to my buy list.
I’ve also have a bottle of Participe Passé on the way, but I’ll count that next quarter when I actually have it
I have bought lots of samples over the last few months, and have several contenders for FBs, so I might not be so restrained the next few months…
What a sweet reason to buy Immortal Beloved !
I’m too lazy to list my purchases as I spread out my confessions throughout the year. I pretty much celebrate my birthday all year and since gifts don’t count, I essentially bought nothing ?.
Having said this, I have no guilt buying and I don’t feel like I’m being bad by buying – if buying will cause me stress (for any reason), I won’t do it. I try to split when it makes sense (win-win as my bottle gets more use and others can try without having to buy a FB) and when I give freebies, they are usually things I currently love or had previously loved or samples (mostly unused).
For as generous as you are, you could probably write off your whole collection!
No writing off as I don’t like to start off with a new collection ?
Oh no! I mean as a charitable deduction because we all benifit so much from it?
Ha! There’s a lower cap to deductions and I am not happy!
Celebrating a birthday all year long is truly High Stylin’ It!
Just like I celebrate half-Christmas, etc….
I like your style.
Love your rationale
You are my hero!
Donatella, I went a bit crazy this quarter; haven’t been this bad in a long time! Gotta rein this in and be on a “no-buy”. Here’s my confession.
eBay purchases. Not sure if these count because they aren’t necessarily full bottles. All are vintage finds!
1. Oscar de la Renta – $11.00. Probably less than 1 oz. remains of 3.3 oz.
2. Nina Ricci Farouche – $20.00. 1 oz spray.
3. Halston – $10.00. 30 ml spray.
4. Gee You Smell Terrific – $25.00. 1.9 oz. Strictly for the fun factor; seems to be a one-of. I searched the internet but could not find another. It is made by Jergens, and is a bottled version of Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific shampoo.
Shopping on holidays included
5. Hermes Hiris – $99.00. 3.3 oz vintage in the matte blue bottle.
6. Lancome O de Lancome – $70.00. Giant 4 oz. bottle, great for summer heat. More of an impulse buy as I loved it years back.
7. Kiehl’s musk -$40.00. 1 oz at duty-free.
8. Clinique Wrappings – bub with lotion $50.00.
9. Reglisse Noire – 8 ml travel spray $20.00. Somehow I ended up with 2 sprays when I opened up the parcel but I only ordered 1.
You know it was fate that you had to get Hiris!
?
Halston! I’ve rediscovered it this year, it’s so great!
It really is! I remember being so struck by it when I first tried it so many years ago.
It really is
That Halston bottle is one of the best bottle designs ever, IMO.
Isn’t it a great one? I was waiting for my hubby to comment about it!
Great prices!
I think Halston was my first chypre. Well, the bottle belonged to my mother but I would borrow it frequently. ?
I thought I was going to have zero this quarter, but December got in the way. I bought 2 bottles.
1. Tom Ford Violet Blonde
2. Laura Mercier Ambre Vanille
I’ve wanted Violet Blonde for a long time and the price was perfume math free. I scored the Ambre Vanille at tj maxx for 13 dollars. I have been on the fence about repurchasing the regular Vanille, so this seemed like it was meant to be, as they are very similar.
What is it about December? I seemed to have the same problem!
One for you and one for me! I usually buy perfume as a gift for a friend of mine. She does the same when buying for me.
December seems to have tripped up quite a few people. Must be all those short, dark days…
Really Impressive IMHO.
Congratulations on both purchases, Violet Blonde is an austere violet for me, so elegant and Laura Mercier fragrance for that great price, her collection is so good.
Nice!! I’ve been vaguely considering Violet Blonde for a long time. December sales are hard to ignore
I bought nothing and feel ok about it.
I’m still digging my way through samples and bottles I forgot I have! Tocade and PW Tea Rose I’m looking at you, you little darlings.
I feel an obsession with rose coming on, I just adore it at the moment. Rose scents bloom beautifully in the cooler weather, lovely and never cloying.
Looking forward to reading everyone’s confessions. Sharing is caring, LOL.
?❣
I’m sure I can come up with some rose samples to share.
You can benefit from my own long-time rose obsession. (lol)
You can get in touch with me at neyronrose at gmail dot com.
Have a good weekend!
This past quarter I only bought two bottles…Telegrapha from Imaginary Authors and Pavillon d’ Or from Dusita in Paris.
Oh I really want Pavillon d’Or!
What are your thoughts on Telegrapha? It sounds interesting.
Most of my scented purchases this quarter were candles which would add up to a bottle of something or other. I can’t believe I bought no samples! ?
Otherwise, I bought 2 decants: Guerlain Lavande Velours 10ml from the split meet
Chanel Paris-Riviera 10ml off the bay
Is not buying any samples a good thing, or a bad thing?
Neither, just surprised I haven’t at all. I usually buy *some* samples every quarter. I don’t sample nearly as much as I used to.
And I should add it wasn’t a conscious, deliberate thing.
My candle purchases this quarter definitely add up to the price of a bottle of perfume!
But, at least I’m draining my candles!
? LOL. I’m about to thunk a candle that I bought for the container! I’ll probably finish it today.
Ha, good point!
One bottle of fragrance, Jo Malone x Huntsman Assam & Grapefruit and a candle, Diptyque Baies.
I love that candle!
It’s so likable! The new Paris en Fleur is quite nice too, v tempted.
Not a horrible quarter and I’m on a yearlong no buy now, so…
Guerlain L’Homme Ideal Cologne (Marshall’s $20!)
DSH Piment et Chocolat mini
DSH August Picnic 1976 mini oil roller
Chris Rusak Io
L’Occitaine Eau des Baux
Split of Memo Winter Palace
Great choices!
I will try my best not to enable but knowing you, you will keep your resolution!
The final quarter of 2019 was much more restrained than the third one. However, I am still a little annoyed at myself, since I was hoping for a “zero bottle” quarter. Ah well, I can start again now with a “No Buy”.
Clinique Aromatics Elixir travel spray – 10mL
Soivohle Montgomery Road EdT – 4mL
Soivohle Vintage Chypre Perfume Oil – 4mL
Those last two snuck in after Christmas, and I got them in yesterday’s mail. Not sure what the rule is for buying in one quarter, but getting the goods in the next. ? The Vintage Chypre is gorgeous, as is the Montgomery Road.
Total = $78.31. Not gonna add up the yearly total… I suspect I would freak out seeing that number. Time to put the brakes on! ?
They’re all under 31 mLs so they are perfumath free (PMF) according to my new definition:
PMF = < USD 100 or < 31 mLs
I wonder if you posted that knowing my preferred bottle size is between 10 – 30mL…
Would I do that? ?. Actually, I made one tiny adjustment to what pixel said was a mini (she said anything below 30 and I wanted to be sure my definition includes 30mLs as a mini and therefore, doesn’t count).
That’s hilarious.
I wasn’t counting anything that was between 1 to 5 ml, but a 30 ml mini is definitely a generous definition! I counted the 30 ml bottles I got. Yes, I’m being a killjoy here. But I don’t feel like I really *need* more than 30 ml of a perfume, and wish more came in that size.
Luca Turin said in the previous decade that $1.20 per 1 ml was relatively reasonable, and over that was expensive (paraphrasing). But some fragrances cost several times that now, and don’t necessarily have super-expensive ingredients.
Oh Thank God! I feel so much better. I am afraid to venture down to the bottom of this pole & recite my purchases. ?
LOL!!!
Nice calculation
tempts me to pick up a few travel sprays…
The rules don’t matter so long as you don’t double count!
Forgive me, Donatella, for my purchases were humble and pale in comparison to your example of excess. I bought as many bottles as gifts as I did for myself (and didn’t pay full price for a single one??).
For gifts:
• Chloé EDP 20ml
• Azzaro Pour Homme 50ml
• [REDACTED] 100ml (Shhh, it’s still secret because it’s my mom’s Valentine’s Day present.?)
For me:
• Piguet Baghari 50ml
• Paco Rabbane Calandre 100ml
• Guerlain AA Flora Rosa 125ml
I saw a super cute 30mL retail travel spray of Flora Rosa at Duty Free (Mexico) same shape as its larger sibling.
Oh gosh, a baby-bee bottle!? ?That’s like those 35ml Chanel bottles! They’re kryptonite, I tell you—too cute to resist!
Ooh Baghari is so good! I got a bottle from a generous NSTer from a freebie meet last year I think, and I just love it.
Excellent score! I had a small decant and loved it but was sort of hesitant about buying a FB like, “Do I really *need* it?” Yes. Yes I do! It really is lovely.
Only one but it was Cartier L’Heure Perdue, XI. Perfect for the holidays and probably any other time one wishes to smell simply wonderful.
Plus, such a pretty bottle!
My hubby adores that one. I should join you. Congratulations! It is a pretty bottle, like the watch itself.
For the first time in ages I have absolutely no idea. I haven’t been keeping track as carefully as I am budgeting for other things and so perfume just slides in there every now and again. I definitely bought some 15ml and 30ml bottles from Jorum and was given Senyoko Migration des Arbres for Christmas. Oh and travel sprays of Iunx Talc and Eau Sento, the latter of which I particularly love. Love Kills and Kintsugi were probably this quarter too. Bengale Rouge might have been last . . . And there are quite a few things on my wish list at the moment.
Great choices! I’ve been wondering about Talc. How is that one?
Happy New Year all! This quarter I have acquired two full bottles (SJP Stash and Alaïa), three travel sprays (Jo Malone Oud and Bergamot, Floral Street Electric Rhubarb and Bastide Neroli Lumiere), and a handful of vintage minis (Cartier Panthere, Miss Dior, Hermes Caleche, and Van Cleef and Arpels First). The minis were mostly for the bottles but the juice inside some of them seems to be OK which is a nice bonus.
How is that JM travel spray? I’ve heard mixed reviews on how well they work.
No issues so far, though it’s not the most generous sprayer
Only bottle in Q4 for me (well, one full bottle and two samples) was from a custom perfume making workshop in Singapore on Sentosa Island by Jetaime Group.
The perfume is ALL orchid oils from extractions done of different orchid varieties. I didn’t know this going in – just knew SOME oils would be orchid based – so it was like Inception when I found out at the end.
The two samples were my testers in development, and the final is a full size bottle and based around Nun’s hood orchid which had an amazing spicy scent like nothing I’d experienced before.
Highly recommend this workshop if anyone will go through Singapore!
Wow, that sounds like such a neat experience, plus you have a souvenir you made yourself! It sounds like you considered it well worth it.
That sounds amazing!
This sounds awesome. I may have to go to SG for work sometime soon, and this would be great fun to do!
Vetiver Tonka
Shalimar PI
Youth Dew (for a gift for my MIL)
I do love reading about all the gorgeous things that NSTers have acquired…
I’m kind of astonished at myself: apparently (if my records are straight) I didn’t purchase ANY samples in 2019 — amazing, given my, erm, problem with them in the past. Special thanks to lovely NSTers who gave/swapped samples with me during the year!!
And (again if my records are accurate) I purchased only 2 full bottles in 2019: 30 ml of ELDO Like This, and 50 ml of OJ Woman. (Naturally, I don’t have to count the 10 ml of Arielle Shoshana Sunday or the 5 ml of Tiger’s Nest.) Hmmm, maybe there’s something I missed?
Anyway, I’m afraid my pent-up desire to sample/purchase may bust out in 2020…
Nicely done! ?
I bought and split a bottle of Hermes L’Ambre des Merveilles. I also bought a mini of Prada Amber pour Homme. So I’m counting that as one total.
I have a few ideas on other things I’d like to buy, but we’ll see what happens. I have a fragrance budget and I stick to it pretty well because I also want money for other things like travel.
2 bottles for the year, both in last quarter. I bought Heeley Note de Yuzu after comparing it to other yuzu scents and declaring it the winner. I also bought Heretic Parfum Scandalwood. Both are unlike other scents I own.
I have so many perfumes now, I cannot wear them all so something really needs to grab me to be purchase-worthy. I am trying to limit myself to 3 or fewer per year. I still buy samples, just for fun.
Fun is important!
I agree with Petunia, fun is important!
Zip, zilch, nada. I’ve spent the last quarter squeezing pennies till they scream for mercy and that trend will continue into the new year for the foreseeable future. I need to have two very expensive surgeries this year, and some extensive dental work; my husband needs cataract surgery and we both need new glasses. Thanks to the swap and freebie meets and the generosity of NST, I have a ton of wonderful new scents to play with and I appreciate that so much!
Good luck with the surgeries and all. Dental work and glasses can really get expensive! We’ll be thinking of you and your husband.
My mother’s cataract surgeries went well. I was her chauffeur for about six weeks after the second surgery, until her vision had settled enough that she could get new glasses. She still had astigmatism, since that had nothing to do with cataracts. That was a few years ago, and within the last couple of years, Mom has given up night driving, but is still comfortable driving during the day.
Six weeks!! Oh dear, my husband is having cataract surgery Jan. 9th, I didn’t realize I’d be driving him around for nearly two months!
Mom had had glasses in the first place for near-sightedness and the astigmatism. She was able to manage driving when she’d had the cataract surgery on one eye done, but not after the cataract removal on the second eye. She couldn’t make out highway signs, let alone smaller road signs. Mom had a few weeks between the surgeries. I don’t know what the results as far as driving would be for someone who hadn’t needed glasses beforehand for the reasons that Mom needed them.
Good for you for exercising self control, and sorry about those surgeries
best of luck to you both.
I was actually more restrained this quarter than I expected. Most of my purchases were made in October with a couple late December buys. I think I didn’t make any Black Friday perfume purchases even. I’m also quite pleased that I bought only one bottle that was more than 15ml.
Serge Lutens La Myrrhe 15 ml decant
Guerlain Vol de Nuit parfum 8ml decant
Guerlain Lavande Velours 10ml decant
Hermes Eau de Pamplemousse Rose 10ml decant
Sonoma Scent Studio Equestrian 15ml
SSS Jour Ensoleille 15ml
SSS Bee’s Bliss 5ml
SSS Yin and Ylang 5ml
DSH for Scent Trunk December 2019 5ml travel spray
Lush Flying Fox 6.7oz(!!!) body spray
Oops forgot a 5ml decant of Papillon Bengale Rouge. Also bought in the last days of December.
Way to go, we share some of the same ones this quarter! Is Flying Fox back? That’s great news.
A really good job!
Yes, I’m very excited for the body spray to arrive. Now if only they’d bring back the shower gel. I’m hoarding one bottle of it.
I’m also considering splitting off some of the body spray because I’ll never use 6oz of it.
La Myrrhe! ?
Your list is beautiful and looks similar to the list I’d have if I were allowed to buy more perfumes
Aww well thanks. I’d be glad to send you some Flying Fox body spray sometime because I’ll never use it all!
That is so sweet of you
but I will pass. I’ve decided I’m not so big on jasmine perfumes. It took a long time to come to that realization because I adore the scent of real jasmine. If it were my list, I’d replace Flying Fox with Rose Jam!
I was supposed to be on a no-buy but fell off the wagon in October and I’m too ashamed to confess. Suffice to say it was excessive, with all that pent-up desire. I will do much better next quarter.
I hear that! Good luck with first quarter 2020!
I hope you enjoy your excesses!
No buys don’t work for me. It just makes my lemmings irresistible. Enjoy your new bottles! ?
Your post makes me happy!?
Aww. I hope you enjoy those scents anyway!
Ok here goes:
VC&A Moonlight Patchouli
VC&A California Reverie (end of year sale)
PdE Equitris (the last of the 100ml bottles at the original price = almost PMF and I love this scent.
(I was on an Iris craze)
Arielle Shoshana’s Sunday. I just love this one also.
Clinique’s Aromatics 10ml mini
Papillon’s Bengale Rouge (an instant buy)
Peter
Centauri Perfumes Gaea
And
Eris Perfumes Night Flower.
3 of the above would not count according to Hajusuuri’s 31ml rule.
That’s funny, that you’re now going by Hajusuuri’s rule.
If only spending less than $100 on something counted as “free” in general. lol. Sadly, not in my world. Oh, well. I think I like the world that has Hajusuuri’s rules better.
Ooh… how do you like Gaea? I’m waiting for more samples to show up at LS. I think most will be attracted to Dendera but the notes in Gaea caught my attention.
I just wore it today for the first time. It is really nice, rather unique IMHO and a powerhouse (in the opening at least). It is one I would wear often and I think would fit anywhere any season. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Oh sure! I’ll be watching for samples to show up again at LS.
Dendera sounds very appealing, I wonder though if I have too many perfumes in that category. I will definitely order a sample when they are back in stock. I am very curious to hear more reactions, the on-line ones from men mostly didn’t really help me decipher it very much. (lots of ‘oohs’ ‘ahh’s’ and ‘yeah’s ?.
Smurphy Girly did a review of Dendera on You Tube. https://youtu.be/zeAv0fUui8o
Her review seemed tentative which made me think that she didn’t love it. That said, we all have different tastes and I’ve noticed that she seems to prefer sweet scents.
Petunia, Gents Scents just uploaded a pretty comprehensive review of Gaea.
ThAnks lillyjo! I’ll check it out tonight.
Those VC&A are two of my favs! Enjoy. ?
I felt like a big spender with my 3 to 4 ish bottles last Q. (Two of those were presents for my husband, so in the end they dont count)
…but when I see the amounts some of you mention, i feel not worthy of Donatella’s attention at all… ?
But Ive spent a not to be further mentioned amount of money on clothing and shoes, so there is that.
?
btw those presents were Ombré leather and Bois d’encens…and of course I wear them as well ? (i love my husband for having good taste in fragrance, he explicitly asked for Bois d’encens…who am I to refuse? Haha)
And I found Infusion d’iris, but it does not count (it was heavily discounted and was not according to plan).
So my only real purchases were The Black Knight by Francesca Bianchi and New York Intense by Nicolai.
I see you share the true perfumista logic. Bois d’Encens is heaven.
My purchases were fairly on par with my normal buying habits. I bought two FBs-
Ganymede by MA Barrois, LOVE. and do not regret.
Beige EDT by Chanel. I’m still not 100% sure that I needed it but the EDP doesn’t do it for me and my decant was almost gone due to evaporation.
I also bought a 10 ml decant in the NST split of HG Voyage and a travel spray of ADV Oeillet Bengale.
You know, I tried Ganymede today and, fortunately, I do not love it. But I can see why others might.
That’s okay. More for me. I received two compliments the first time I wore it. Generally, folks in my area aren’t big on perfume so it was huge to me.
At first I was a bit disappointed as you were so enthusiastic about it, but at the end of the day, I need more lemmings like a need more holes in my head so I’m good. I think it’s got to do with some of the woody facets. I think I’m hyperosmic to some of those and this one very nearly made me sneeze.
Two bottles:
Ormonde Jayne Osmanthus Elixir and Chanel No. 5 body oil (does that even count since it’s under $100???)- at a total sum under $300 thanks to a coupon code on the elixir. And have made quite a dent in both of these lovelies! Happy New Year! Goal in 2020: continue to use up all the wonderful perfume I already own- as my daughter is getting married in October and I have a (very simple and small but still $$$$$) wedding to pay for! Cheers!
So happy to find other fans of OJ Osmanthus! It’s so great. I have to say that I did not find the Elixir terribly different from the original, but love both. How about you?
I also have a bottle of the original, and it is very similar. I find the elixir is smoother and the original a bit more perfume-y in comparison (but still lovely!)
I’m nowhere in the Donatella league…a pathetic peasant by comparison.
10 ml decant of Bengale Rouge, 15 ml bottle of Jour Ensoleille, 5 ml travel spray of Winter Woods.
So, in perfume math, I spent nothing…. hoping to continue this austerity in 2020. But, then I read what others bought and wore and my inner lemming starts whispering in my ear….
Sometimes it’s really hard to put a gag on that inner lemming, isn’t it?
Just decants of Tom Ford Cafe Rose and Byredo Pulp, but I love reading these confessions/conquests!
I was also the recipient of two perfumes this quarter: Jasmin 17 for my birthday (from my sisters) and Lady Vengeance for Christmas. The LV was a gift from my husband, who picked it out himself. Few JHAG scents work for me, but this one does!
Perfume gifts are so special!
Yes! I think of the giver every time I wear them.
Those decants are both excellent choices.
Just one bottle last quarter, 30ml of Alvarez Gomez “Agua de Colonia Concentrada” which was cheap as chips. I spent way more (maybe €120 in the quarter) on a bunch of decants, so I can have a wider range of perfumes in my “home from home” in Düsseldorf. ?
I forgot all about the damage poll yesterday because for the first time in six years I have nothing to confess. However, I did spend about $800 this year at the Basenotes Chicago meetup, and got a number of new (to me) bottles at the Portland Sniffa swap so it’s not like I deprived myself of anything. I bought some Zoologist samples in December and may get a travel size Moth in 2020, but I bought 0 bottles and 0 decants this quarter.
Nada this quarter.
Simplifying my life and I’ve got so much already and frankly, don’t come across anything new that really gets me excited.
Santa brought me the super duper bottle of Rose Jam which I’ll enjoy all year long.
Sorry not sorry Donatella
In the 4th quarter, I only purchased from Solstice Scents which I discovered in Aug and have become quite the fangirl.
Adding up all my purchases this year, I appear to have come in slightly under budget if $100 per month was my intended budget.
That budget may seem low or high, sound or crazy to some but perfume is my biggest love and drug of choice in this chaotic world as Sistine noted above. 
I’m with you She-ra. It’s my drug of choice too. I love perfume so much.
Perfume beats chocolate, craft beer, and cheese for me. But I enjoy those other items quite a bit, too. ?
Jalapeno, we have so much craft beer here, it’s crazy. I think it’s part of our tourism now.
Way back in my college days, my organic chemistry professor was also a home brewer. A rather good one at that. ?
And yes, at the time, I was of legal drinking age.
I love all three of those too. ❤️?
It finally happened. A quarter when I did not buy anything (apart from samples – six I think). Not because I was not interesting in anything, but due to health problems and financial contstraints.
Wishing you a very healthy year, Glannys!
Thank you, lillyjo. And a very good year to you too!
Wishing you a healthy new year as well!
Thank you! Happy New Year, Patunia.
I hope you have a Happy and Healthy 2020 Glannys!
Thank you, Jalapeno. All the best in 2020 to you!
Nary a one, unless the Hermes Twilly Eau Poivree 30 ml was this last quarter. Last year most of my money was spent on furniture and the like since I moved to a new appartment. But I have big plans!
I was feeling so proud of my one bottle purchase this quarter. Then I went back through my eBay purchase history ?? Some how I managed to forget 3 bottles from October. Yikes ?
All at a decent discount:
LM Ambre Passion
PdM Sedbury
Oribe rollerball
Angel Taste of Fragrance- blind buy that was too much for me. Promptly passed on to dh.
Nice find on the Angel Taste of Fragrance, even if it didn’t agree with you!
2 bottles in 2019, both in Q4.
FM POAL
FM Carnal Flower
I have decanted a considerable amount from both, so there wasn’t a very high money impact in the end.
Days late posting this, but I’m still posting so I can search for it later for record keeping! LOL
1. Calvin Klein Downtown
2. Laura Mercier Magic d’Heure
3. Nahema (travel spray)
4. Britney Spears Circus Fantasy
5. L’Instant d’Guerlain
6. Cacharel Lou Lou
7. Kenzo Jungle Elephant (travel spray)
8. Paris Hilton Passport Tokyo
9. YSL Opium (travel spray)
10. Britney Spears Midnight Fantasy
11. Elie Saab Girl of Now
12. Beyonce Heat Rush
13. Bath and Body Works fragrance mists: I will NEVER admit to how many I bought on sale in December. I should admit it because it would clear my conscience, but I’m not ready to come clean!