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Saturday Question: Do You Want More Perfumes?

I’m not sure if this question sounds strange in a perfume blog but I’ll risk my perfumista card.

Saturday Question on Undina's Looking Glass

Saturday Question #111:

Do You Want More Perfumes?

I know that not all but many of my readers have been at this for years if not decades. We all accumulated more perfumes than we’ll be able to use up in our lifetime. And still we keep searching for the next Holy Grail perfume. Or do we?

Do you want more perfumes? Are you still buying or planning to buy any full bottles? Do you hope to find new perfume love without which you won’t feel your collection is complete? Or do you feel like you’ve smelled it all, and “there is no new thing under the sun”?

My Answer

I still love perfumes. But in the last couple of months I was so overwhelmed with life that even choosing perfume to wear on a daily basis became a chore. I want to wear my perfumes, but I just don’t have any energy left to choose the one that fits my day, my mood and weather. Too many choices. And it’s not even the case of “nothing to wear” but rather an internal indecisiveness: I’m sure that I have a perfect choice in my collection – I just don’t have time to figure out what it is. So, I end up either not choosing anything or making a choice that seems subpar. With all that, I feel that I don’t need any more choices.

But at the same time, I can’t stop getting new samples to test more and more perfumes. My success rate from testing perfumes is still very low, but I’m not sure if I get upset or feel glad that I don’t love the next one I sample. Because if I were to love it, I’d want to get it… and it would have become one more option to consider in the morning. So, why do I buy samples? I think it feels safer to test perfumes than wear them: since I know that I won’t like most of those that I try, I won’t be as disappointed as I would because of the “wrong choice” I made in my collection. And also because secretly I hope to find the next “it” – perfume that I would just need to have.

How about you?

Do You Want More Perfumes?

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58 thoughts on “Saturday Question: Do You Want More Perfumes?”

  1. No I really don’t. Although that doesn’t always stop me from buying more. Lately I too have become overwhelmed with choice so I have been reaching for just one bottle over and over. My birthday is at the end of the month and a good friend sent me a bottle of Melograno as a gift. So I have been wearing that one since it arrived two weeks ago.

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  2. I am not on any kind of quest to find “the one” – having found any number of beautiful perfumes that are doubtless just as much “the one” as any man you meet is ever likely to be! ;) I would like more of Immortal Beloved by House of Cherry Bomb, but decants would do me of most things. I am certainly not on the lookout for samples or in a testing phase still, but if something lands on my desk or a friend draws my attention to it (as yo have done many times down the years!) I will certainly sit up and take notice, and may be charmed by it.

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    • Of course, now I want that coloring book! Perfume is also kind of interesting, though natural perfumes and I are not friends…Did I smell it before? I can’t remember!

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  3. I relate to your answer, Undina! I am another one who often feels stymied by my many choices, but I will do a daily random grab. A few years ago, I got over the idea of “needing” back up bottles but otherwise I am still on the hunt. I find samples and decants are as hard to get through as whole bottles in the way they multiply. Since I am a person with a preference for (moderately to heavily) spraying any perfume, a tiny dabber sample often makes me feel I cannot really understand it.

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      • Hmm, worries about waste do lurk in my mind (sometimes that’s why I buy bottles at thrift shops…). But I worry more thinking of the story of the dog in the manger! I will now pay more attention when trying samples from tiny dabbers chez Mossy.

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  4. This is a hard one to be sure about! In the past I’ve gone through phases of being in a frenzy to go through samples, ignoring my bottles. These days I’ve been rotating through a few bottles and ignoring several samples that I haven’t tried yet even once. So I suppose at the moment I don’t want more perfumes, but, like you, am always open to discovering another new perfume love.

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  5. I find my taste and perfume wearing habits change with time. During this covid time, I gained a whole new appreciation for quiet and easy to wear perfumes. I know some people who had to modify their perfume choice because of office mates, reveled in being able to wear whatever they wanted at home. Like you, Undina, I can’t seem to quit ordering samples and trying new things. But a perfume has to fit a couple of criteria for me to buy today, either be a bargain, or totally wow me which doesn’t happen as much these days.

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  6. I have more than enough perfumes to last a lifetime. Like you, Undina, I still receive freely and purchase samples to experience what is new and possibly interesting.

    Over the years, I’ve maintained a spreadsheet of my perfumes. The information I collect pertains to the perfumer, size, year of release and the most important, whether it’s a yes, like or meh for me. You know that your impression or tastes can change over time. The “meh” perfumes I try to find a way to sell. As you know, that isn’t always easy, especially when your perfume community already has many perfumes of their own. I also keep a spreadsheet of samples, just in case someone asks if I might have a particular sample, I can easily reference my list.

    Do I want more perfumes? No I don’t. Does that stop me from sampling and possbile buying another perfume? No it doesn’t.

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    • I have a database where I try to record everything including daily use/testing. It got harder to do that as well! I do not get to the computer where I have the database every day, so I try to remember between the visits what I wore or tested – and it adds to the anxiety because of something I have to do :)

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      • I found the spreadsheet useful, especially because my collection is large enough that I don’t get to wear some perfumes regularly. What you like initially, may not be the same experience later. I found the spreadsheet helps me “let go” of perfumes that just really just good first impressions and not lasting loves.

        I too keep track of perfumes I wore. I use to record my “scent of the day” on my blog, but I realized that no one cared expect me. 😉

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  7. I’m pretty overwhelmed (not just by perfume, but by all of my possessions) at the moment as well. I keep a wishlist in my journal and there really isn’t anything on it. I will always stop by the perfume counter to sniff something new, but I’m not really interested in buying anything these days; we’re starting the process of getting rid of things as our son goes off to college. Downsizing isn’t imminent but I have a long way to go before we could even consider selling our house so I’m starting now. Adding to my collection is at the bottom of my priority list, I can’t even wear what I have (even with my 365 perfumes for 2021, I didn’t wear everything last year.)

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    • I totally relate to your feelings of being overwhelmed by possessions! My husband and I are engaged in what the Swedes call “death cleaning” LOL. This is what older people in Sweden do to make sure their children are not burdened with disposing of a lifetime’s worth of ‘stuff’ when they die. I’ve sold so much crystal and china over the last 2 years and many clothing items have been sold, consigned or donated. And I’m still not done with the clothing downsizing. As a lawyer I had to have so many different types of clothes, ‘go to court’ power suits, chic outfits for the board of governors’ meetings I attended for 10 years, and then comfortable yet presentable business casual outfits for the office. Too much!
      Now that I’m retired I find that I have too many casual clothes and too many tee shirts for sure. I’m now thinking about downsizing my perfumes. Hmmmm

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    • I’m sure that I don’t want to “downsize” my perfume wardrobe. But probably I could use some clean-up in other areas… It’s hard for me to part with things I used to love, even if I cannot use it any longer (e.g., clothes that are too small for me now). But I should probably start there :)

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  8. I think my collection is complete for now. I have so many beautiful things to choose from. I don’t want to waste what I have. And I feel overwhelmed by world events. So much so that I’m trying to participate a bit more. So instead of feeling wretched cause people are suffering I try and volunteer. Do something to help. So I cannot affect world peace but I can be nice to my neighbours or volunteer for a community cause. And sometimes, instead of buying myself something, I decide to buy and donate something. Like tooth brushes to local food bank. Something small to help. So I don’t get too self absorbed. But I still love the fragrance community and talking and listening to others talk about their perfume loves. Excellent question- thank you for making me think ❤️

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    • I love that!
      I feel very similar, in that I love my collection, and still love the fragrance community talk, but I really don’t need more perfume right now. The idea of donating instead, or paying back in other ways, is lovely.

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    • My collection is great, and I’m sure it could benefit from trimming down. But I know that I won’t be able to do it. So, minus decants I’ll keep sharing with friends, all these bottles will stay in my collection until one of us departs.

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  9. Wanting and buying more perfumes (travel size if possible) often comes after a period of losing interest. That is always related to stress, worries and grief of one kind or another.
    When I love perfume again I know I am bouncing back. I would wish to find a way to curate my collection without going through the hassle of selling no longer loved perfumes. I am just too busy to for that. So I regularly give perfumes away but I wouldn’t mind at times making some money now and then…
    I found a perfume recently, Fleur de Lalita, that I just wear and wear. The only perfume I ever had the same ‘going steady for a long time’ with was Heure Exquise. I love that this still can happen after all those perfumista years! Thank you for the question, and sending support in this awful time.
    Do you happen to know what happened with Victoria? Was Bois de Jasmin hacked? It is such a loss of beauty and I feel concerned for her.

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    • Bois de Jasmin just posted a short message on Instagram yesterday saying she is fine but has closed down all her other accounts and sites because of hackers. At the last Zoom class she gave she told all of us that she didn’t want to blog any longer and is moving on to another stage in her life. She’s written a book about her family in Ukraine that is being published soon by a British publisher so be on the lookout for that. She said she wants to be more engaged with the Ukranian and other communities IRL now.

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      • Thank you for sharing this – I think Ms. Victoria was very generous with her knowledge and talents, and I am so happy she has new opportunities, especially to be a voice for Ukraine.

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      • Thank you for letting me/us know. I left a message for her. Victoria’s blog was such an advocate for beauty, and the legitimate need for it in this world. I will miss it dearly. She introduced me to many beautifful things and writings, and ofcourse perfumes. I loved her stories about her family, great- and grandmother, and Poltava and other Ukrainian beauty. I will look out for her book.

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      • FYI, VIctoria has posted a couple of photos on Instagram under @bois_de_jasmin, so she has recovered the Instagram account. I learned so many things from her and found some amazing books to read also. My favorite of the authors Victoria recommended is an Albanian author,Ismail Kadare, who was nominated for the Nobel prize in literature in 2020 or 2021. He didn’t win, but he should have, IMHO. His writing is just brilliant and that’s from reading a translation. I’m sure it’s even more amazing in the original Albanian. His books are not long, but they are so insightful. I definitely recommend The Three Arched Bridge by Mr. Kadare.

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    • Thank you, Hamamelis.
      I rarely have a desire to wear the same perfume even two days in a row. But some perfumes that feel “more right” sometimes would re-appear in my perfume diary several times during the same month.

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  10. My perfume habits are as naughty as ever. I do realize I have several lifetime’s worth of perfume for several people. I also need to find a way to safely dispose of perfume that I don’t want anymore although I have a very hard time giving up bottles.

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  11. I have so many beautiful perfumes in my collection I certainly don’t need any more, but I can’t seem to resist sampling new fragrances. As you said, Undina, mostly the sampling just reinforces my convictions that my current collection is pretty wonderful and I’m not missing anything. Yet I can’t seem to stop sampling….. Especially when it comes to new perfumes from perfumers I love, like Jean-Claude Ellena and Nathalie Lorson, or perfume brands I love, like Dusita, Isabey and Parfums de Nicolai.

    I have bought 2 new perfumes recently, Nektar by Laboratorio Olfattivo and Issara by Dusita. Now I need to find 4 perfumes that I’m not really loving anymore and sell them or consign them. My local consignment shop loves my perfumes and my samples so I have an easy way to send them on to happy homes. I try to move out 2 bottles for every new bottle I buy. It’s actually not as difficult as it sounds. That way things don’t get out of control.

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    • I need to take a hard look at my collection and think if I can let any perfume go. I don’t think so. I wonder, will I keep buying new perfumes if I had to part with 2 for every one bought? It’s an interesting mental exercise :)

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  12. Hi Undina,
    Yeah, I’m still buying. No, I haven’t needed more for years.
    As an aside. Last night TinaG and Tiana came for dinner. We went through all my open bottles of Serge Lutens. Some of them I’d not sniffed in years. It was a little revelation how much diversity is in them and how many other things I have that are similar or based on.
    I think I could wear Lutens solely if I had to.
    Next time they come we are going to go through the DIOR perfumes. It was such a good way to revisit.
    Portia xx

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  13. I certainly don’t need or truly want more perfumes, but I am still tempted to buy, mostly out of habit. There’s always the possibility something magical will come along too.

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  14. The desire to acquire more is cyclical for me as well. I swear I won’t purchase one more fragrance, then the urge hits and I’m off with another sample order. I do only purchase what I truly love though, so my collection is likely smaller than most who have been at it as long as I have, ~185 bottles. My youngest (tween) daughter is a beginning perfumista and lately has been wearing my Tauerville, Zoologist, and Ellis Brooklyn perfumes, which makes me very happy in that she is appreciative of quality scents and also that my collection is getting use, rather than just going off and collecting dust. Recently I updated my tracking spreadsheet and separated fragrances by season, then packed up all but the Spring selections. It is so nice to have everything that I will be wearing easily accessible, and I dutifully wear whatever fragrance is next on the list–no more wasting time trying to match the daily frag to my clothes, mood, weather, etc., and no more forgotten bottles.

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    • While my collection is not as large as yours I am in a similar situation in that my three young adult children and my elderly parents “borrow” my bottles (often never to be returned) so I too feel appreciative that the collection is getting used up….also, I make LOADS of decants/travel sprays for my friends and my mother’s friends so I feel confident that my collection will NOT (hopefully) outlive me if I make it to old age :) I have a new ritual in that when a friend sends me some unloved bottles I make a donation to Animal Care Sanctuary (Pickles former home for the first seven years of her life before my daughter adopted her) in honor of that person. It’s a win win…

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  15. Of course! I have more than 5,000 bottles but there is so much to be sniffed. Though I must say that what is being made today is derivative and conceptual for the most part. I am finding fewer that I fall in love with. But it’s fun.

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    • Wow… I don’t think I’ve tried that many perfumes in my lifetime :)
      Compared to your dilemma of choosing what to wear (how do you do that?!), mine is non-existing! :)

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      • No dilemma. I go with how I feel that day. What calls to me. The problem is finding them. After 2,000 they are in heaps and boxes. I can’t find what I want to wear.

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