April wasn’t my best month: I managed to hurt first my back (many things contributed to that) and then my neck (that happened in a heartbeat – who would have thought that a simple morning stretch in bed might be that traumatic!).
I discovered that while effecting my perfume wearing1 routine these types of health problems did not impede much my perfume testing2: I could still entertain myself by sniffing perfumes even while it was difficult to move.
Since I wear most perfumes just once per month – not intentionally, it just happens this way – I realized that as soon as for whatever reason I repeat the same perfume two-three times the favorite notes calculation gets skewed towards notes from that perfume. I’m not sure if it makes that part of my findings less accurate (or more?) but this month I decided to skip that point.
At the same time I got curious how often with that pattern of a single wear I reach for those perfumes that I chose this month.
So I didn’t neglect most of my favorites: I wore 18 of them (75%) within the last six months. It was interesting to find out that I wore Diorissimo 364 days ago – for May Day 2012. It wasn’t a full year because I knew I would be working from home on that day so this year I wore Diorissimo on the last day in April. Two perfumes that I didn’t wear for the longest time were Dior Diorella and Giorgio Armani Eclat de Jasmin. The completely unexpected was the fact that I wore them 499 and 498 days correspondently before I wore them again this April.
Quick April stats:
* Different perfumes worn: 24 from 16 brands on 26 occasions;
* Different perfumes tested: 40 from 21 brands on 44 occasions;
* Perfumes I tried for the first time: 18 (I liked 5; disliked 5; and felt indifferent about 8);
* Perfume house I wore most often: Guerlain (yep!);
* Perfume house I tested the most: Jo Malone (I was testing Sugar & Spice collection before it’s gone to decide if I wanted to buy any of those. PUBLIC WARNING: Bitter Orange & Chocolate is almost sold out; jomalone.com is the only online retailer that still has it);
Do you think in your collection there are perfumes that you still like but for which you haven’t reached in a long while?
1 When I wear a perfume I apply it to at least three-four points and usually I plan to spend at least 4-8 hours with the same scent so I’m prepared to re-apply if the original application wears off.
2 For the testing I apply a perfume to one area on my arms easily available for the repetitive sniffing. But, most likely, I’m the only one who can smell it. I can test two, sometimes even more perfumes at the same time.
Image: my own
Undina's Looking Glass 
Happy weekend Undina! And yaay for entertaining statistics post.
Answering your question: Few days ago I realized that I haven’t worn Annick Goutal’s Nuit Etoilee in like… 2-3 months. I tried to figure it out why did that happen. I don’t have as many full bottles and yes, I often wear perfume from my samples but this long? I never neglected a perfume for so long.
So I pulled it out of my perfume box, sprayed once on my forearm and gave it a sniff. My reaction? I wasn’t so euphoric about it than I was a year ago when I bought it, or half a year ago when I still wore it once in a few weeks. What happened? Has my taste changed so much during the last couple of months? I don’t know. I even had a glimpse thought about selling it but I decided to keep it for now. Will see what happens.
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Lucas-
I have made the mistake of gifting away full bottles of some perfumes (including vintage) that those around me abhorred…only to my regret. So DO NOT sell that bottle of Nuit just yet…I would recommend that you revisit it…another time..another place…and you might just fall in love with it again…
(just my humble opinion :D!!)
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That’s what I was planning to do.
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Maybe it was a wrong weather? Or time of day? Or just a different mood? I noticed that sometimes I enjoy the same perfumes more or less on different days. Wait sometime and try again.
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Will do it that way
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I agree with Undina and Brie! Hold on to it and wait for the weather to change. You may regret giving it away, but you won’t regret holding onto it. I can understand the impulse though. Springtime always makes me want to clean out everything.
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Thanks! Will keep it for a while longer. If it doesn’t speak to me later I will have to think about selling it.
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Nifty new twist to the statistics! How amazing to have records going back 498 days or whatever! Makes me think of a house on the estate where I used to live that was up for sale for 536 days. Possibly more now. But I was also impressed that the estate agent had that statistic.
Glad you are feeling better – neck and back pain is a double blow. :-(
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PS There are definitely perfumes in my collection which I like but haven’t worn for ages. I have been more in testing mood lately which may have something to do with it.
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I have records going almost twice as long ;) It’s never too late to start collecting data: you’ll get enough data points to make your own conclusions in no time, no matter when you start.
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Oh! I am sorry to hear that April was not a good month health wise…but I hope you are feeling better now!
As you already know with the climactic changes in the Northeast I am a seasonal perfume wearer (with the exception of Jour which is year round) so I will put certain perfumes aside and take out others depending on the season…but I don’t believe that there is anything in my collection that I have not worn in over a year….and I am also busy sampling new unknowns and revisiting some vintage lovelies these days!
as always,,,I love these statistics of yours! Makes me contemplate my own perfume wearing trends!
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Even though our seasonal fluctuations aren’t that drastic I also move from heavier perfumes to those that I consider summer scents. But with the number of bottles and decants I have – even though I almost never wear samples – each perfume gets a limited access to my body :)
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Hi Undina! The trend in my perfume wearing habits has been skewed toward testing, so many of my faves have been sidelined. Like you, I pulled out my muget scents in April which I haven’t worn since probably this time last year (its muget nouveau season after all!) Thanks for the Bitter Orange and Chocolate warning. Do I need to try this? Do you love it?
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When I just got into the rabbit hole I was spending a lot of time testing while my favorite perfumes were gathering dust on the shelf. Then I made a NY resolution to wear my favorite perfumes at least twice a week. And I followed it for more than a year. And then I moved to wearing mostly perfumes from full bottles or decants I own and do testing in evenings. So now I wear alot of my favorites.
Bitter Orange and Chocolate… It’s a hard question. It doesn’t work on my skin – though I like how it smells on my friend. But I think you’ll regret not buying it more than buying it.
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I have favorites I don’t wear often but I think that might be because I don’t want to use them up too quickly.
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I have a couple of those as well. But it’s a conscious choice. I was asking more about those that just don’t find their way into the rotation even though we still think we like them.
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I love your stats, Undina! I hope that your back and neck woes disappear!
There is a great feature at Parfumo which allows one quickly to identify the most and least recently and frequently worn perfumes in one’s collection–provided that one has been meticulous about documenting each perfume which one dons–which I try to do. This makes at least answering your question easy.
Of course, the stats are not like yours, but they provide a quick answer to to the question: yes, there are perfumes in my collection which I have not worn even once since I joined Parfumo more than a year ago! This is because I am constantly testing and reviewing new perfumes. But it’s nice to access the report now and then as a reminder of what I should think about wearing again. I almost always wear time-tested favorites after a nighttime bath, since I don’t like gambling right before bed. ;-)
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I plan to add a feature to my database, something like “suggest a perfumefor me” where it will take into the consideration the time from the last use, maybe season and something else – I just need to figure out what :)
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Undina, I’m curious: do you have a little note pad that you keep by your collection (or carry with you) to note these choices – or do you simply make it a point to hop to your computer and enter these into your Excel spreadsheet each night? However you manage it, I’m impressed.
To answer your question, yes, there are perfumes I still like but haven’t reached for in quite a while. I haven’t worn Habanita in ages, though I still am happy to have a bottle. I tend to wear Serge Lutens Un Lys only in spring and Frederic Malle Bigarade Concentree only in winter, as they are the rare perfumes with which I have a seasonal relationship. Even though they’re not worn with frequency, I’d hate to part with them – particularly the Bigarade Concentree, which feels so personal to me (tied very strongly to memory of a smell from my growing up years).
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My insanity goes much deeper than a note pad or even an Excel spreadsheet: I’ve created a database. I add to it all perfumes and samples I own with notes and other relevant data. When I test or wear aperfume I add a record with date, type of use, my reaction, etc. This way in the end of each month I can run all types of calculations – as long as I can think of what aspect might be interesting. Entering each record takes just a couple of minutes since most of the fields are choices from a drop-down (I start typing and it autocompletes).
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That is not only fascinating but awe-inspiring, Undina!! I’m so utterly paralyzed and terrified by numbers that the enormity of what you do — creating a whole database!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *gasp* —- is almost too much for my mind to comprehend. How very, very cool. I love the detail-oriented nature of it all.
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Thank you, Kafka! I’ll admit that I kind of enjoy doing all that :)
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I continue to be amazed at your meticulous note taking, Undina! I know you are doing it so you can entertain us, your devoted readers :-)
Regarding perfumes in my collection I still like but have not reached for in a while — Prada Candy EDP! I swapped away my a little over 1/3 full 80 mL FB. At one point in 2011 into 2012, I wore it EVERYDAY for weeks on end. I have a back-up bottle still in its shrinkwrap and I know I will break it open later this year when the weather turns colder. In the meantime, I am not denying myself any Prada Candy love because I just got my Prada Candy L’Eau EDT FB!
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As I explained in my answer to Suzanne, adding information about each instance of perfume wearing/testing takes just a couple of minutes. Initial entering of all the information about each perfume takes some time – that’s why sometimes I do not start testing a perfume for a while (I have a rule that it has to be added to the database before I can test it).
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Yes there have to be some in my wardrobe that I haven’t worn in a while but that I love. Let me go look….
(two hours later) Yes I found one!
Loved your post!
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A man of a few words :) Will you share the name of your finding?
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Why yes! Cabochard by Gris. Love that sharp leather slap in the face.
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Oh, there are definitely perfumes in my collection I love but don’t wear. Usually because in the mess that is my perfume collection, they get lost and I forget they are there (or can’t find them). :)
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I can imaging (maybe :) ) misplacing a decant but a ful bottle?! Wow… :)
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I hope your back and neck are healing well, Undina!
It’s very silly but I often don’t wear my favorite perfumes as much as I would like to simply because I’m afraid I’ll use them up and not be able to get more. It doesn’t help that several of my favorites are vintage. I have to actively convince myself that there’s no point in having the perfumes if I never wear them. Sometimes I wish the glass wasn’t clear so I couldn’t see the bottle emptying…. perhaps I need perfume abandonment therapy?
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Cacomixtle, thank you, I’m feeling much better now.
I have two or three of those perfumes that I started using only after I got some back-ups. But, in general, I agree that just owning a perfume without using it defeats the purpose: as well we could finish it up and keep bottles themselves.
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Ooh, these are interesting statistics this time! I’m sorry to hear about your neck and back though. :(
So what did you decide about the Jo Malones? I smelled in store but wasn’t so interested to consider them.
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I’m much better now so I’ll hope May will be a better month.
I bought two perfumes from that collection: Elderflower & Gooseberry (I partially split it, so I have only 15 ml of it left – just enough to wear, I liked it) and Dark Orange & Chocolate (I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to wear it but I decided to get it now and think later).
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I always love your stats posts, Undina! Am so sorry to hear about the persistent neck and back pain though. How are you doing? Any improvement?
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Thank you, Daisy! I’m finally almost healed (knock on wood). It’s not fun at all! I couldn’t even imagine how many simple things I wasn’t able to do any more (including decanting). But hopefully I’m good now and I have a trip to a PO planned for tomorrow to prove that ;) (sorry it took that long!)
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Absolutely no worries!
The most important thing is that you are feeling better. Neck and back pain is the worst. You never realize how important it is to be able to just turn your head to the side unless you can’t anymore!
Yes, knock on wood and again, no worries!
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I’m sorry to hear about your health and I hope you’re starting to feel better now!!! I’ve noticed lately that the more perfumes I try and wear, the more seasonal-minded I’m becoming (i.e. preferring florals and citrus in spring/summer, woods and orientals in winter, and that can be further divided into micro seasons and notes applicable for certain occasions). Therefore, the scents I use regularly, a typical pattern is that I’ll wear them maybe 5 times during the 2-3 months while they’re in season and than not again until next year.
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Even with our non-seasonal weather I also noticed the tendency of wearing perfumes according to my internal “season-appropriateness” classification. Now I need to figure out how to formally describe it – and I’ll be ready to make the next step: create an “advisor” that will be suggesting me perfumes to wear based on the time of the year and time since the last wear.
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I think a perfume advisor is a great idea! Especially as you have a big data set to start with, this should be doable. And if you ever decide to do this in a big way, i.e. create a perfume community site with diary functions and an advisor integrated into that, I hereby volunteer as a beta tester :)
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