Our March was good though a bit dry. Luckily it started raining right before the end of the month and we’re still looking at a couple of showers before the end of the raining season.
I read it just as I was thinking about my perfume usage and what to do for this month’s statistics post. I almost never wear the same perfume not only two days in a row but even more than once during the month. So to track my habits and to see if I favor the same perfumes year over year I decided to look at a three months period – January-March 2012 vs. the same period of 2013.
In more than 40% of cases I wore the same perfumes in the first quarter of both years. But my wearing pattern changed: this year I used perfumes from more brands so I was less loyal to any of them.
Quick stats:
Numbers for Jan-Mar 2012 / Jan-Mar 2013.
* Different perfumes worn1: 58/61 from 26/34 brands on 87/84 occasions;
* Perfumes that I wore both years: 25 from 18 brands on 38/33 occasions;
* Out of 36 perfumes I wore in 2013 only, 10 I owned (bottles or decants) in 2012 and 26 joined my collection after March 2012;
* Perfume house I wore most often: Chanel/Guerlain – just to think that I bought my first Guerlain perfume inFebruary 2012!
Do you usually wear the same perfume for several days or do you change it every day?
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.
Image: my own
Undina's Looking Glass 
I used to change it up a lot, testing my way through hundreds of perfumes in 2012, the first quarter of 2013 has seen me being very loyal to just a few perfumes and wearing them for days on end, almost all of them being from one single house (Hermès). :)
As always, your statistics are highly enjoyable, dear Undina, thank you!
LikeLike
Thank you, Birgit. I was actually thinking of you when I was writing that post. Because of your going through a bottle of L’Ambre de Merveilles in a month (?) I started paying more attention to perfumes I love: it probably makes more sense to use those that one loves at the moment even if others that are on the “Like” list are waiting.
LikeLike
Interesting to see the greater distribution of ‘blue’ brands so far this year. I normally wear something different every day, but in this chilly prolonged winter we are having I have found myself quite often wearing a cosy favourite two days in a row, but more seems decadent somehow, given the plethora of stuff that needs an outing!
LikeLike
I keep going through my perfumes thinking: do I still want to own this one? And the answer is always Yes even if I haven’t worn it in several months.
LikeLike
Your statistics are entertaining as always. I admire you for being able to keep track of a perfume you wear every day and for doing such comparisons!
Answering the question.
I usually don’t wear the same perfume more than two days in a row but that happens rarely, I usually wear different perfume every day though I can wear different from the same house few days in a row. I guess one day I’ll have so many Pradas that some weeks will be “Prada weeks”
LikeLike
Thank you, Lucas!
A couple of years ago I was doing Weeklong Test Drives with brands for which I had enough samples to go through in this manner. And recently I was just thinking that now I could do it not only with perfumes I test but for some brands I have enough perfumes to actually wear for a week. I’m still considering that “Prada week” idea :)
LikeLike
We could do a “Prada week” together, I’ve got more than 7 already, most in samples instead of bottles. I just got a decant of Infusion d’Iris Absolue and I think I might need a bottle for myself.
Also just tried Candy L’Eau, gonna review it tomorrow :)
LikeLike
I didn’t mean Prada as a brand (I have just one FB and two samples for it) but as an idea of wearing any one brand for a week.
LikeLike
I see, I misunderstood
LikeLike
… and I had no idea they’ve released Candy L’Eau :)
LikeLike
yup,. they did
LikeLike
Ooooh, I like the idea of a Prada week!
LikeLike
:D
LikeLike
Hey Undina,
There is no pattern to my wearing. One week I’ll wear 20 fragrances and another only 5. There seems to be little structure here at all.
I love that you do these, every time it makes me think. Thanks.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Thank you, Portia!
Sometimes while reading your: “I wore this perfume for three days…” I can’t help wondering where you find time to wear all those perfumes. But then I remind myself that 1) your posts are written in advance and 2) you have guest bloggers so not all of the perfumes reviewed on your blog went through your system :)
LikeLike
That’s true Undina, also, I wear 3 fragrances a day most days. Day scent, Work scent, Sleep scent: so there’s a fair bit of frag wearing going on as well.
Great to see you here,
Portia xx
LikeLike
I like to wear my fragrances seasonally…right now I am in a spring mode so I am fluctuating amongst four or five with Cocoa sandalwood as a constant at night.
LikeLike
Since we have almost no seasons here my “seasonal” distribution of perfumes is rather arbitrary: with the same temperature outside I might decide that it’s already time (“season”) for Ambre Sultan or not.
But sometimes I just feel that a perfume is apprpriate (or not). For example, yesterday I thought that today I would wear Nature by Yves Rocher. But in the morning it was raining and gloomy so I decided to go with SL’s Jeux de Peau instead.
LikeLike
Love the stats! I wear a different perfume every day, but I am pretty loyal to two houses: Chanel and Hermes. Wearing Eau de Merveilles today :)
LikeLike
Thank you, Farouche.
I’m with you on Chanel – for any time of the year. And Hermess will go into havier rotation as it gets warmer.
LikeLike
I tend to change a lot, usually both brands and styles of scents as I get very quickly bored. This winter I’ve been cold most of the time and then I’ve mostly worn gourmands as they seem to be easiest on my nose. When I’m well I might wear gourmands 1/30, now it’s more 4/5 :)
LikeLike
Since gourmands (and vanillas) aren’t my favorite perfumes, I also tend to use them when I’m not feeling well: just in case that I’ll end up hating them ;)
LikeLike
I’m impulsive when it comes to choose a perfume to wear. I doubt you have enough space here to put my graph (maybe in dots;-)) It would be like a chicken yard ;-).
LikeLike
I limited my graph to the most popular brands leaving aside those that got only one wear in each period or less. So if you feel like it, bring on yours! :)
LikeLike
I’ll wear the same one for about a month, and then switch. Sometimes I’ll go back to it. Right now I’m alternating The Different Company’s Osmanthus and Parfumerie Generale’s Felanilla.
Thanks for asking! I love these charts.
LikeLike
How interesting… In many-many years, long before I got into the Perfumeland, I don’t remember wearing just one or two perfumes during a month: I always had at least 5-7 favorites.
LikeLike
Fascinating as always. Sometimes I wear the same thing for a week, but it is kind of rare. I think that I tend to be a petty promiscuous scent wearer in general! The ones that did get a lot of wear time? Eau des merveilles. And Iris Ganache. Which I would probably wear every single day always if it wasn’t discontinued.
LikeLike
Thank you, Daisy!
I liked Iris Ganache when I tried it and I even bought a small decant of it but I didn’t love it enough to go for a bottle – even though I knew it was getting discontinued. As to Eau des Merveilles (and its flankers), I keep reading how much people like them but so far I wasn’t too impressed… I plan to try more! (though with No 5 and Shalimar my insistence wasn’t rewarded yet ;) )
LikeLike
No. 5 is a tough one for a lot of people to love, I think. It really doesn’t work for me at all, but maybe I don’t have the personality to pull it off. As for Shalimar, which I love, I find that I actually reach for Musc Ravageur way more, which is basically just Shalimar in the drydown.
LikeLike
Love the stats, Undina! My perfume wearing habits have no discernable pattern as I could be “stuck” on a perfume for several days and then I will have a string of days when it’s a different perfume everyday. Hmmm, so come to think of it, this is a pattern in and of itself!
My stuck on a perfume perfumes in the winter included: SSS To Dream, Hermes Kelly Caleche, Hermes L’Ambre des Merveilles, Ramon Monegal Impossible Iris, Amouage Jubilation XXV and Le Labo Iris 39 and FM Iris Poudre. Last year, it was Prada Candy at least 3x a week, if not more.
LikeLike
Thank you, hajusuuri!
I noticed that Impossible Iris has that effect on me: after I wear it I feel like wearing it again.
LikeLike
I see your Amouage and Tom Ford are neck to neck same as last year.
I like a good month with a scent. This did surprise you recently I know. Or was it shock, LOL’s.
LikeLike
I would have been shocked if it wasn’t for recent Birgit’s love affair with one of her perfumes. So I kind of had a vaccination shot :)
Both Amouage and Tom Ford are “my” brands (there is a post coming on the topic soon) so no wonder I wear them a lot.
LikeLike
Dear Undina
I adore this chart!!
Good to know that someone else is as particular about their record keeping as the Dandy!
It seems that the same happy fate awaits you as so many of us… the inexorable draw to Guerlain…
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
LikeLike
Dear Dandy,
Thank you for your kind words.
Guerlain did win me over with at least several perfumes over the recent year though, everything else being equal, I still consider myself more of a Chanel woman than Guerlein. But the night is young…
LikeLike
I seem to be confused these days. One day I love a fragrance, the next day I find the same perfume abhorrent. I think I need some more Guerlain myself though :)
LikeLike
More Guerlein is good! (btw, I made a sample for you that I promissed, I’ll contact you on the weekend) Just don’t go for the full bottle until you figure out you actually like it! :)
LikeLike
It always feels like a party of close friends in your comment section with you walking gracefully through chatting with everyone :)
I wear something different everyday generally – the exceptions being when I have a new bottle (I may give it a few days wear in honour) or when I get a batch of samples and am testing (I’ll either change throughout the day or wear one on each wrist).
LikeLike
Thank you, Lorraine. That’s actually how I wanted this blog to be: familiar “faces”, leisured conversation and friendly atmosphere.
I almost never test one perfume at a time. If I’m in testing mode, I’d usually do two in parallel – the same way as you, one on each wrist. When I’m talking about wearing, I apply a perfume the “regular” way: at least 3-4 sprayes in different spots.
LikeLike
Hi Undina. If I have a sample or decant of a perfume that I really like and want to write about, I do like to wear that perfume for several days in a row. And then I will have one day where I don’t wear anything (for a breather), and two days where I wear whatever I want. That’s during my day-time hours; I will sometimes wear a different perfume to sleep in in the evenings (though not every night). It’s difficult to estimate, but I would guess I wear about six different fragrances throughout the course of the week.
Do you ever go scentless? I get the impression that you don’t (and there’s nothing wrong with that – I was just wondering). :)
LikeLike
In the last 2.5 years that I keep records I don’t have information for 12 days (and I think a couple of them I’ve just missed the entry). So you’re right, I almost never go scentless. But sometimes (when I work from home) I might not wear a perfume but instead test two or three of them.
LikeLike
I have no real pattern that I can see, other than that I often grab what is easily accessible, rather than going into the “archives” to find something. But I tend to clear off my vanity and swap out my samples for testing at the end of each week (usually with a resolution to make it through one or two that I had ignored in the previous week). When it comes to full bottles, it is more random and driven by mood.
LikeLike
I have a “plan to test these” box. But then I choose something else to test. So putting a perfume in there almost guarantee not testing it for a while.
LikeLike
Yes I’ll fall into a pattern of wearing the same thing for days on end. Certain perfume companies do this to me, lately Hermes (Elixir des Merveilles), and Guerlain, but worst of all are old Cotys. These are dangerously addictive, you may never stop wearing L’Aimant or L’Origan, and don’t even start with Chypre!
LikeLike
I can definitely see what youmean with Chypre! I got a tiny sample from a friend and was very impressed. So I shouldn’t probably even go there.
LikeLike