February was a short month. I don’t mean just a number of days: it ran away from me before I noticed. Probably because there were many pleasant occasions – my birthday, Valentine’s Day and just in general good days. As a result I tested less perfumes but I did not feel pressured to meet any milestones so I went with a flow.
The weather was… great if you ask me – warm and sunny; poor if you talk to my vSO – too warm and not enough rain. We do need more rain but I still enjoyed our local take on Spring (yes, it usually starts in February: fresh green grass, blooming trees and fledging birds).
After discussing the importance of a nice bottle in the matter of getting the most from perfumes I decided to see if the numbers from my February usage support that theory. I took into the account only perfumes that I chose to wear1 and not just tested2.
It looks like I equally enjoy perfumes I apply from real bottles (50% of all perfumes I wore in February) and from all other possible vessels. But I still like owning beautiful bottles.
Quick February stats:
Numbers in parenthesis are comparison to the previous month’s numbers.
* Different perfumes worn: 23 (0) from 18 (-2) brands on 26 (-4) occasions;
* Different perfumes tested: 28 (-15) from 14 (-15) brands on 31 (-14) occasions;
* Perfumes I tried for the first time: 12 (-9);
* Perfume house I wore most often: None (There were no defined favorites);
* Perfume house I tested the most: Guerlain;
* Most popular notes (only from perfumes I chose to wear): top – (not counting bergamot) galbanum and rose; middle – (not counting rose and jasmine) ylag-ylang and iris root; base – sandalwood, vanilla and sandalwood;
From what type of bottle did you apply the most recent perfume you were wearing (not just testing) and do you think you’d have liked that particular perfume more/less had it been in a different container?
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 
Full bottle, I like heft. Autoportrait knocked them all out for me in February and looking that way for March too.
LikeLike
Are you saying you were using just one perfume for the whole month?!
LikeLike
Fidelity and Faithfulness.
LikeLike
Wow! :)
LikeLike
The past month I mostly wore my full bottle of Chanel Bois des Iles – and I enjoyed it immensely.
LikeLike
In February I wore Bois des Iles from your decant – “and I enjoyed it immensely.” ;) Unfortunately, it means that I’ll have to replenish it at some point and it’ll have to be a full bottle.
LikeLike
The bottle I most sprayed last month without taking notes is either Sun by Jil sander or Guerlain Vetiver.
Neither have particularly lavish bottles.
I also used up a 10ml Mohur by Neela Vermeire on my travels.
Portia xx
LikeLike
You smelled great, Portia :)
LikeLike
Yaay, new statistics! And I miss your laughs, lemmings, loves posts. They were always so funny and were giving me a good mood for a whole week!
LikeLike
Thank you, Lucas!
I plan to do them again – as soon as I catch up with the reading. In the recent month I was constantly behind at least 2-3 days (it was a good month, as I’ve mentioned above :) )
LikeLike
Can’t wait to see and read new laughs, lemmings and loves.
Good to hear you had a good month. Did you start trying some of the samples you got from me?
LikeLike
I did. Just a couple so far (as I said, less testing recently). No new “wants” so far – which is probably a good thing :)
LikeLike
Nice. I agree, that’s a good think. Same reaction on my side of the swap so far.
LikeLike
The last perfume I wore was Hermes L’Ambre de Merveilles from a 5-ml decant. I have a feeling that if I kept statistics, my chart would look similar to yours — about 50% of the time spraying something I love from full bottle, and the rest of the time from decants. Sometimes I’ll even make myself a decant from something I own a full bottle of, because the decant fits into my hand better.
LikeLike
I have decants for most FB perfumes: to take it with me if I feel like re-applying during the day (not too many perfumes last through 10+ hours I spent away from home, especially in the office-friendly application mode – 2 sprays). But at home I use a full bottle for the orginal application (unless it’s a pour/dab bottle which I do not want to use often).
LikeLike
Have been applying from a full bottle lately (fluctuating between four different fragrances). I think I enjoy the feel of a full bottle in my hands-perhaps I do choose these based on the bottle!
LikeLike
Which perfumes are in your current rotation?
LikeLike
SSS Cocoa Sandalwood (I need the comfort at night :)!) and since I am DESPERATE for spring to arrive (tomorrow we are expecting more sleet/snow-yuck!) have been grabbing Pacifica’s French Lilac and Meditteranean Fig as well as Maroma for Men Lavender Cedar. I also carry a purse spray of both Jour Ensolielle and Lieu de Reves in my purse for sniffing purposes. And I have been stealing sprays from my daughter’s bottles of Chinatown,Soleil Liquide,Midnight Fleur and Field Notes from Paris (good heavens…I just realized that I am wearing more that just four!-LOL!
LikeLike
:) Sorry, I hope I didn’t disturb your comfort by making you to count your bottles.
LikeLike
I’m going to have to try keeping track like you. I feel like I’ve worn a different perfume a day without much overlap, and equally split between decants, samples an full bottles. Who knows if that’s really the case though!
LikeLike
Just do not make a job out of it! If it amuses you to know what/when/how often/etc. – do it. Otherwise just enjoy your perfumes! :)
LikeLike
I reckon I use my bottles about 90% of the time.
I really enjoyed the decant of Champaca you sent me, but spraying it from the bottle for the first time this morning was a real treat.
LikeLike
So, you are a hardcore bottles user! :)
LikeLike
I use my bottles most of the time too! But there are periods when I will dip into my samples and decants more. I think it depends how busy I am. If I am not busy and have more time to decide, I go for decants. If I am swamped with work, I go for a bottle — probably because I have a lot less bottles and it makes decision-making easier.
LikeLike
I need to re-arrange how I store my bottles so they are more accessible. Because for me it’s the other way around: if I have time, I’ll go for a bottle. But if I have to run I just don’t have time to go fish out the box, open it, use the perfume and return it to the original state and place.
LikeLike
I think what I need is a wine fridge. You know your habit is bad when you start thinking about temperature control!
LikeLike
I thought about it. I was even offered a shelf in our home wine storage cabinet. But after a lot of thinking I decided against it: small fridge in the bedroom will be creating noise as it turns on/off andabig cabinet is in the kitchen so I don’t want to go there every time I’m tryingto choose what to wear.
LikeLike
So true! I don’t have the space for a wine fridge, unfortunately. I would store them in my fridge but my butter would absorb the ambient odors like a sponge. Can you imagine? Shalimar-scented butter?!
LikeLike
(this is an answer to your last comment – not enough levels :) ) Another problem with a regular refridgerator is moisture: you wouldn’t be able to store your boxes in there without loosing them to moisture corruption in a while. Wine fridge provides moisture control as well – that’s why it’s more suitable for perfumes.
LikeLike
That is very true too. The lack of moisture control in the fridge is also why I have never attempted curing my own sausages.
Can you imagine parking Guerlains next to curing sausages? Or gravlax? Makes me shudder!
LikeLike
I usually use full bottles most of the time. Most recently worn – Chanel No. 19 Poudre. Although, I do have a few samples that I have that I’ve worn a few times recently to try to decide if I want to add them to a list of “must buy full bottle”. I have one Balenciaga sample that I am seriously considering buying – it’s one of those ones where I sort of like it initially and then really like it after it’s been on for a while.
LikeLike
That was how that “samples” position got into my wearing statistics. Normally I wear perfumes from my full bottles or decants. But if I’m trying to decide whether I like a perfume I tested enough to put it on my “to buy” list then I’ll wear it from a sample.
LikeLike
I don’t even remember when was the last time I wore something from one of my bottles! Isn’t that terrible?! It’s one reason why — these days, at least — I rarely feel a compulsive urge to buy full bottles. When would I get the chance to wear them when I test out so many samples a week??? That said, I did succumb to buying full bottles of both Mitzah and Chergui this week alone, so things might change. Well, for one day of the week at the very least. LOL. :D
LikeLike
I had that sampling fever for a while but then I realized that out of every ten perfumes I test I like maybe one or two. So it seemed foolish to keep spending my days smelling/wearing something I end up not liking while those perfumes I like and own already are just gathering dust and for what? Because even if I find the next perfume grail while testing, it will join the rest of my abandoned loves. After that I made a NY resolution to wear one of my favorites at least twice a week. And then, as my collection grew, I started wearing those on most days reserving for testing days I work from home and some nights.
LikeLike
Well, we’re in a bit of a different position as I sample things to write reviews for them, whether I like them or not. :)
LikeLike
Well… It’s not like that is your job or anybody really depends on either you post a new review every day or not, right? But do it the way it works for you :)
LikeLike
My last wearing scent was from a full bottle. I don’t think I would have felt differently about it were it in another form. Maybe if I only had a sample size of it, I’d be going crazy trying to get my hands on a full bottle. You did make me realize I have a lot of full bottles of perfumes that I get tired of and then leave around and never finish off.
LikeLike
Kay, thank you!!! :) I’m not sure if you realize that but you’re the only person who actually replied to the question I asked! You made my day!
With the number of bottles I have nowfinishing any of them is almost out of question. And then I tend to save the last 5-10% in any size of a bottle (even in1 ml vials if I do not go for a bigger size).
LikeLike
I have the habit of saving the last little bit of a bottle or sample vial too! I have so many of those lying around. I reason it by telling myself what if I HAD to wear that fragrance some day? Better to keep a little around for emergencies lol!
LikeLike
We’re hopeless :)
LikeLike
My most recent perfume wearings had been from my FB of JM Blackberry & Bay, travel spray of FM Iris Poudre (now I think I should have bought the FB instead of the travel spray set) and samples — SSS To Dream, Neela Vermeire Trayee and Mohur and Arquiste Anima Dulcis (I found my sample!).
It did not make a difference that the source was from a FB or from samples.
Next week, I think I will be back to spritzing mostly from my FBs…methinks it will be an iris(h) week :-)
LikeLike
I need to wear more Blackberry & Bay! I think it’s a good time for it now – thank you for reminding me.
I thought more on a subject and I realized that Ido not enjoy less wearing a perfume I like. But I definitely enjoy owning a beautiful bottle of a perfume I like.
LikeLike
“But I definitely enjoy owning a beautiful bottle of a perfume I like.”
EXACTLY! You captured what I was trying to say above.
LikeLike