The question is inspired by the recent Portia’s post about perfume wardrobe for the South Korea trip.
Saturday Question #157:
How Many Perfumes Do You Bring to Your Vacations?
Do you have some rule or a tradition related to which perfumes you take with you an a vacation? Does it depend on the length of the trip, destination or a mode of transportation? Do you usually bring more or less than you need?
My Answer
As a rule, I take two perfumes for each day of the trip plus one or two extra if it’s a longer trip. And usually, I manage to wear more than half of them. But once I remember I brought 21 perfumes to my 8-day Hawaiian vacation, which was overkill even with multiple swims and showers daily.
Other than tropical vacations, I do not have any special selection of perfumes I take with me: I try to guess what I’ll enjoy wearing based on the location and expected weather there. It doesn’t always work – hence the multiple options I bring. Since I rarely go anywhere with carry-on luggage only, my choice doesn’t depend on whether it’s a flight or a drive to the destination.
How about you?
Undina's Looking Glass 
Hah! Haven’t been away for years! But when I did, I was never happy with the selection I took, and always wished I had packed different bottles. I think that’s called being perverse.
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Yeah, I thought that with the recent Covid-19 situation and everything else, my readers would have less occasions to check/confirm their hypothesis on perfumes and travelers. But I hoped people would at least still remember :).
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If staycationing in the UK I’ll take things from my collection, usually travel sizes or decants.
If holidaying outside the UK I buy at the airport & wear whatever I buy & nothing else whilst away. This usually means there are good memories attached to the fragrance.
The airport buys also allow me to indulge in a summer flanker or trashy tropical I wouldn’t even test at home! That’s how DKNY Be Delicious Dreamsicle & EA Green Tea Mimosa ended up in my collection long term.
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I read about your airport tradition in your comment… somewhere, and I was curious: did you usually come to the store knowing what you would buy, or was it a spur-of-the-moment-type purchases?
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Usually turned up totally open minded. Smaller UK airports have limited offers. Planning would be pointless.
Planned purchases were made on the way back where I would know what prestige or more unusual scents would be available
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I love this idea!
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Oops just noticed your “….somewhere” comment. Apologies for my repetition
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I used to bring full bottles, never as many as 21 though. I think 4 or 5 was the limit. Nowadays, I only take decants or discovery sets. I think being on vacation allows the freedom to test things we wouldn’t otherwise on any normal run-of-the-mill day at work etc.
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No-no, those weren’t bottles! (See my explanation below). Thought, I rarely bring anything new and untested: I do a lot of testing if there are perfume shops at my destination, but I don’t want to risk wearing something I don’t like when I’m enjoying my vacation.
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Haha. I see now. That makes much more sense.
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OMG 21 bottles !!!!!
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HA! That was my response too
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See my explanation below – though after your “buy a dozen or more full bottles” answer I feel better even if some people thought I was taking that many bottles with me :)
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HA!
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Hey, I didn’t say “bottles”! :) That would have been extreme. I had just one full bottle (my traditional EL Bronze Goddess that comes with me to all my tropical vacations) plus travel bottles and samples that you can see above on the photo from that trip (I couldn’t fit several in the same frame when I was taking it).
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Phew, that’s a relief. Trust me to read it wrong
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Hey Crew,
This seriously depends. Since becoming a sample/decant collector (because they rarely get used to the dregs) I do try to take more of them. It’s a really good way to test and pass things along on travels if they are crap.
Having said that, I often take 5 travels of faves that end up getting most of the wear.
In Korea I emptied 2 x 5ml perfumista gifted vintage decants, more on that soon. It was a really good feeling.
Also, I will often buy a dozen or more full bottles while on holiday, especially if I’m in one of the perfume meccas. So they invariably get some wear too,
Portia xx
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After the last batch of spoiled perfume samples that I discovered, I feel like not even a collector but sample killer! I need to resume passing on those samples that I don’t plan to test or wear.
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Yeah, good plan Undina.
Luckily so far in my New Idea 2023 I’ve only come across a couple that seem to be on the way out. Nothing totally destroyed, but I’m expecting to find at least a few. The problem has been evaporation moreso.
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I’m on a trip right now. Took two 30ml bottles with me this time as I’m in the car. When I fly it’s a bag of 5-6 decants.
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Just 2 – and that’s it?! Is it a short trip?
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Only 5 days.
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Having just returned from an extended vacation, I can confidently say that I took only a couple of travel sprays, mostly because we rarely check luggage and I have to fit anything I bring into my limited “liquids” space, plus leave room for any purchases, lol. On this trip, our son met us in Lisbon with his girlfriend and they both checked bags, so he was kind enough to “mule” one bottle and most of my other liquids for me. I have a scent subscription that sends me a decant every month in a travel spray, so I have plenty of leakproof options.
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You went to an overseas trip with just a carry-on?!! (fainted)
Even not counting perfumes, I’m not sure I could do that for a trip longer than 2-3 days. So, I’m impressed!
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The most I can do with just a carry on is 2 days at most!
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My estimation didn’t include going to somewhere cold/in winter. 2-3 days in a warmer climate. Definitely not more than 2 in winter. But I would rather not in any weather :)
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A rollaboard and a cabin bag.
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For two weeks!
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Just came back from a month in Hawaii with just a carryon and a tote bag and took 2 travel sized perfumes and 5 samples.
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OK… Out of all places I visit, Hawaii would be the only one where I could try to survive on a very tightly packed carry-on suitcase but only if staying at a condo, not a hotel. And still, it would have been hard. My admiration :).
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Just WOW. But at least you stayed somewhere with a washer/dryer, right?
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Yes!
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We often rent an apartment when we travel with our kids, it’s more economical than getting hotel rooms for 4 or 5 and gives everyone more space, plus a kitchen and washer and dryer!
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I’m a carry on only girls too. My life is too short to be waiting around to collect luggage. I want to start my holibobs asap
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Hiya OH,
Is that 10kg (22p) carry on? We do 7kg (15p) for short jaunts but I’ve never tried for longer.
I’m seriously impressed with three weeks on cabin baggage.
Portia x
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Only two weeks!
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I haven’t weighed them, but they get heavy, lol. I just bought some of those vacuum packing bags that let you squash clothes so they take up less room
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WOW! That is dedicated and so clever.
We are restricted to our cabin baggage weight in Australian economy. That wouldn’t be possible.
Portia xx
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I go through my collection of travel sizes and decants, and some samples that I have kept just for this purpose. At least one per day, maybe more if the itinerary suggests. And one or two light perfumes that aren’t likely to project on an airplane. Have never taken bottles, too worried that something would happen to them.
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Your approach seems the closest to mine. My FBs also “stay put”: I was always surprised to see friends or co-workers getting a FB from their purse to refresh perfume when away from home. Even before I could make my own decants, I was also saving (and sometimes refilling) for my vacations samples of perfumes I had full bottles of.
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Depends on whether I’m travelling alone or with someone. When alone, I select almost empty decants that I think I might be able to finish on the trip. When with someone else, I take things they might be interested in trying as well. As for how many, I guess around 15 or 20, depending on the size of the vessels, independent of trip length: I have a little box, and if it’s full, it’s full. Sometimes I may take an extra miniature or two if I think it is absolutely necessary for someone else to know that perfume :-)
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Love your approach! I might try to adopt it if I find a suitable box.
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Zero because last vacation was in 1997
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Oh, I’m sorry. But let’s hope that you’ll catch up once the last of your “mini-s” completes their education.
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Regardless of destination and / or duration, my staples are:
1) Twist up travel spray of Chanel No.5 EDT
2) Decant of Chanel No.19 EDP
3) Twist up travel spray mini of Chanel No.5 L’Eau
(I am sending a pattern here…)
All others are happenstance … like a 30mL bottle of Atelier Cologne Cedrat Enivrant or any others that I had a chance to include.
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… sensing (you will have to excuse me as I just finished a weekly indulgence of one lime margarita …)
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Mmm… Margarita… Can’t drink it when it’s cold, but once it gets warmer… :)
I remembered about No 19, but didn’t know/remember that it was several Chanels. Which is a great choice! It’s hard to go wrong with Chanel.
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Oh I think the Cedrat Envirant is perfect. It’s an extremely versatile fragrance. If I had some and if I were ever to go on a vacation that would be my pick.
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Maybe 4 travel sizes plus a couple of sample sizes.
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Regardless of the length of the trip?
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I never want to weigh down my suitcase with perfume, but I want to ensure that I have a good variety with me. I take lots of samples and smaller sized bottles. Maybe 10 in all? Of course when I’m on vacation I have to buy more :)
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Of course! ;)
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I usually take 1 perfume per day that I am traveling. Usually sample size or travel size since I don’t want to risk a FB breaking in my checked luggage or being confiscated from a carry-on. Generally no rhyme or reason to which sample sizes I take, although I will generally bring ones that I have tested and know I like. I don’t want to be stuck with taking samples I haven’t tried before and end up not liking any of them.
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Completely agree! I get enough disappointments while testing at home, I don’t need a bad choice to spoil my vacation.
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I also bring only decants or minis. When I went to Europe for a couple of weeks last summer, I’d guess I maybe had 15 -20 with me. I also use them for Instagram posts. We are currently in Australia, where we visit during summer since my husband’s retirement. We come to his home in Adelaide for three months, and this time I was having trouble fitting everything in one bag, so I really cut down on my perfumes. No bottles, just a couple of discovery sets and maybe 8 decants. I am feeling the pain! I can’t wait to get back to my collection in a couple of weeks. And this abstinence has had a bad effect on my shopping. I’ve had a couple of large purchases on Fragrancenet which got sent to my daughter until my return. “More perfume?” she asks when the boxes come. I think they may be planning an intervention!
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I don’t remember ever regretting that I brought too many perfumes, but I do remember wishing I had more or different perfumes with me. So, I sympathize and hope you’ll reunite with your collection (and new purchases ;) ) soon.
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Whether it’s clothing or fragrances, I always over-pack, dear Undina. I bring fragrances to wear and to shoot. A vacation of any sort hopefully provides locations to take some interesting pics too.
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I also overpack, though with the known destinations I got better with the proper estimation of what I’ll need clothes-wise.
On a couple of occasions, I brought a travel bottle or two with me somewhere planning to take a photo. But in general, I travel with not that photogenic decants. Though, if I had your eye for composition, I would have done it more often :)
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For my next vacation, I’m determined to be super disciplined about packing. If only to have more space for fragrances to shoot. Ha! Ha! Thank you for that lovely compliment, dear Undina.
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So surprised to read your comments! I usually only bring some samples I know I enjoy. I like to spend a lot of time in nature on my holidays and somehow I don’t feel like wearing fragrance when I’m out and about. I want to be able to smell my surroundings, not my fragrance.
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Yes, I often share that feeling when I’m out in nature. (Many of my holidays are city trips, though, where this simply does not apply.) But recently, I have come to appreciate that it can also be nice to have a perfume that somehow complements the way that my surroundings smell. For example, I wore Burvuvu when walking in a damp deciduous forest on an autumn day, and it was almost like being able to talk about those forest smells with a companion. Or when I cycle around the countryside when the hawthorn starts blooming, a bit of perfume can enhance the way I smell it by adding an extra layer to interact with. But not always, I agree, only sometimes.
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I had to look up Burvuvu after reading your comment. It went straight to my to try list.
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Not a nature-type of vacation person here, though when I go for a hike, I usually don’t wear perfumes since most of my favorites don’t suit that activity.
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I take 2 or 3 travel sprays and/or sample vials and alternate between them, regardless of the length of the trip – although I haven’t taken any trips longer than a week or so in a long time. Always open to buying more perfume on holiday, too!
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I make decants for me to take on trips for those perfumes where I have a FB. Previously, I used to take them with me to the office – in case I need a refresher. But these days, working from home, I can te-apply my perfume whenever I like (if I don’t forget :) ).
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Hmm, probably about 6-8, regardless of the length of trip…well, for one of at least a week, say? If I go to France there are some perfumes already out there and I can never remember which ones, haha, except for Gucci by Gucci, so I will take a few things in that case.
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It would have bothered me if I couldn’t remember which perfumes are where. And I would have ended up having duplicate decants evaporating twice as fast at two locations :)
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Haha, too true! As it happens, I have packed twice the amount I said I would. ;)
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