Fifteen years. It sounds significant. Undina’s Looking Glass has been quietly alive for a decade and a half. Over that time, I’ve shared thoughts on hundreds of perfumes, collected stories, and occasionally lost myself in pages and pages of notes that never quite became posts.
Anniversaries have a way of making time feel tangible, which led me to a small thought experiment that had been on my mind lately.
Many of my long-time readers come from the same generation as I do. So, chances are, my reference to a 40-year-old movie will not be entirely unfamiliar.
I was thinking about the Back to the Future trilogy. While the films are largely about trying to repair the past after it has been unintentionally altered by time travel, the second movie introduces a particularly tempting side effect: knowledge brought from the future, precise enough to be useful and dangerous enough to change everything. That’s where my thought experiment comes in. What if I could do something similar, but on a much smaller and harmless scale – and only perfume-related, so no early tsunami warnings or other world-saving abilities involved?
The car from the movie (I took that photo at Universal Studios park, CA in 2000)
I could have followed the movie logic and traveled 30 years back, since I’ve loved perfumes for as long as I can remember. But that would have placed me well before I went down the proverbial rabbit hole, and I’m not sure that my almost-signature-scent self would have been receptive to any perfume-related advice, let alone able to act on it.
Fifteen years, on the other hand, seems like the perfect destination. I was enthusiastic, curious, and actively absorbing “perfume wisdom.” Advice given then wouldn’t have needed translation or years of patience before I could act on it.
The first thing I would tell myself is simple: some preferences never change, and tuberose will never become “my” note. This would have saved me countless hours of testing perfumes I would inevitably dislike.
Next, I’d give some guidance on how to approach samples: There will be more perfumes I dislike than like. I shouldn’t spend money trying to test a brand’s complete range unless I can do it for free. And I must not hoard samples of perfumes I dislike just to maintain a full set. I will never change from “dislike” to “love,” and they will quietly evaporate – or worse, I’ll retest them later and waste time rediscovering that I didn’t like them.
I’d also advise myself on “special occasion” perfumes. Many of the perfumes I’ll love will be naturally bold, loud statement pieces – that can’t be changed, and shouldn’t be. But there are only so many occasions to wear them, so if I really want to enjoy them, I should designate more occasions as “special.” Weekends or work-from-home days should be perfect for this.
Finally, as an “almanac moment,” I would tell myself to buy Tom Ford Violet Blond as soon as it appeared at any discount, not to wait for the best price, and Jo Malone Lotus Blossom & Water Lily, a limited edition that would never be reissued. And also… I would have probably whispered to myself to invest in liquid gold, vanilla, and sell those positions in 2018 once the price hit $442,000 per ton… No, I shouldn’t! Even in my small, harmless experiment, changing too much (and for profit!) feels like sneezing on a butterfly wing, and who knows what ripple that might set off. What if my meddling had gotten Duchaufour fired from L’Artisan Parfumeur, and suddenly Nuit de Tubereuse never existed? Oh, wait… maybe it wouldn’t have been that bad… But no. Best not.
* * *
Since my blogoversary fell on Saturday, I decided to combine it with my regular Saturday Question. Above was “My Answer.” Now it’s your turn.
If you had the same magical channel to your past self, what year would you choose, and what advice would you give?
Just remember: that one-way membrane can pass only perfume-related information.
Undina's Looking Glass 
Very wise words.
I would whizz back to 1970 and buy Caron’s Infini in bulk, then find some way of storing it safely to enjoy forever. It was beautiful! Even though it contained tuberose which, like you, I always say I don’t like! Of course the current perfume they call Infini is not in any way connected to the original.
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I’ve never smelled that perfume, which makes me a little sad when I hear that someone thinks of any perfume that highly. If you ever go back, get one bottle for me, please :)
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Of course!
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Congratulations on 15 years!
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Thank you, Tara. It’s good to see you here.
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WOW Undina! 15 years! ULG started the same year I found Jin! Celebrations all round. Thank you for letting me be a part of the magic.
15 years! I’d tell myself to buy a complete set and backups of the Vero fragrances, hoard Parfums DelRae Amoureuse, all three Les Nez Turtle Vetiver and Jar Bolt of Lightning and Golconda.
Portia xx
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I am not sure the last two years would have happened if it weren’t for you. So, thank you!
Congratulations on your 15 years! It’s a lot more important milestone than a blogoversary.
I didn’t realize Jar perfumes weren’t available any longer. On the other hand, I’m not surprised – I don’t think their business model when it comes to perfumes was sustainable.
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Yeah, maybe Jar was a little too elite and hard to get to.
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Some great advice, Undina. And congratulations on your 15 years! I’d tell myself in the early years of my perfume odyssey not to blind buy so much. Although it might have been somewhat exhilarating, ultimately you lose more times than you win. You’re right about not trying whole sample sets from brands unless we can try them all for free. There’s no chance we will like them all. There’s bound to be a couple of Back to the Future 3 samples among the good Back to the Future 1 and 2 stuff.
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:)
I counted at some point, but I don’t remember the exact number. I think, in all years, I made just 2 blind buys (full bottles). Neither was a mistake. So, my issues are usually in the opposite direction: I like something but wait too long to buy it – and then it’s gone.
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congrats on 15 years!! I would love to go back to the year of my wedding (1997, 29 years!) and find a beautiful perfume to wear on that day. I didn’t really “do” perfume much back then, but I would love to have that olfactory memory.
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I really like your idea! If you ever do go back, tell yourself to get a couple of backup bottles of that perfume. Why a couple? To always have one bottle saved for the time when the next purchase proves to be of a reformulated version.
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15 years! Congratulations on your blogaversary! Well done!
What would I whisper to my younger self? I would choose the 80’s & the advice would be to back up & save the classics that were still excellent. So Jicky, Shalimar, Mitsouko, No 5, No 19, Cristalle, Rive Gauche, Ma Griffe, Vent Vert, Aromatic Elixir, Habanita. Azuree, Aramis, Cabochard, Diorella & bottles & bottles of pre 1989 Femme.
I would also advise her to buy & stocks of Eau d’Hadrien Byzance, Grain de Sable, Ysatis, Poison, Opium, Anais Anais, Chanel Coco, Paris, Eau de Soir, Eau de Campagne, Lauren, Magie Noire, Silences, Panthere, La Nuit, Ivoire, Parure, Nahema, Wrappings, Choc de Cardin, Charles of the Ritz & Rafinee.
With a stash of all the above & back ups I may never have needed other perfumery again
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I’m borrowing your entire first paragraph of advice, lol!
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I haven’t tried probably half of perfumes you mentioned, and for the second half, I am probably familiar with 90s versions of those that survived. But I would love to try them all in their original version.
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I would take that advice on board. So many great mainstream gems.
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Probably cos I’m approaching OAP status rapidly. Those 70’s & 80’s fragrances took time to develop, had a wider natural palette to play with & “me too” fashion in fragrance was less of a driver. Animal musks were banned in 1979, nitro musks in the 80’s & EU banned them in the 90’s. Both quite rightly.
I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have experienced older versions of classic perfumes. What “designer” houses put out then was astonishing. Sometimes I miss the really deep, sexy perfumery. No5 of the 70’s had all the aldehydic sparkle of today but underneath she was pure filth!
Even my beloved astringent chypres had rough & ready leathers & oakmoss hanging around for hours
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Congratulations on 15 years, and thanks for keeping the Saturday Question going! As for advice to my younger perfumista self, I’m stealing Alityke’s first paragraph for starters. I’d add special advice to stock up on muguet-centered fragrances like Diorissimo before their key ingredients got banned.
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Thank you, OH!
I wouldn’t mind getting older Diors, all of them.
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15 years IS significant! Congratulations!
Like Daniel, I would tell myself not to “blind buy” and also not to buy things after one sniff at a store. (Although some of those have worked out!) If I could have led my past self into the perfumista sphere earlier, when it was in its best days, then so much the better, though perhaps not for my wallet!
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I would wish you to get into perfumes many-many years earlier! You would have had a blast in the blogosphere! And we all would have loved reading your quirky takes on our mutual hobby.
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I’m right behind you, Undina. Congratulations!
I would snatch some of the perfumes I purchases right out of my hands and put them back on the shelf. It would be wonderful to rectify some of those regrettable choices. I have a laundry list of perfumes that I should have, could have, and would have, but unfortunately, that’s how things turn out. Personal growth is truly the best part of the perfume experience.
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Thank you, Flaconneur! It will be interesting to think about what NOT to buy (bottles, I covered samples in the post). With how hard it is for me to part with any perfume that I got in my collection, I am not sure I would easily imagine not buying them :) But I can try.
I am surprised our paths didn’t cross earlier if your blog was around for that long. 12-15 years ago, I was actively looking for perfume blogs. But somehow I never came across yours until much later.
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PER FUMUS celebrated 14 years this past November. I’m delighted to have finally connected.
I’m currently wearing a different perfume every day to truly evaluate my feelings for each one. I’ve already sold two perfumes that didn’t make the cut. It’s truely time to downsize my collection.
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My number one would be Beware the Mania. Invest in a maximum of twenty solid tried and tested classics. Only one wildcard per year. As many others have said, no discovery sets, no random unsniffed purchases just because the price was right. Don’t hoard and keep things for ‘good wear’.
Congratulations on 15 years of sharing your hobby and time input with us.
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Thank you, cassieflower.
Only 20? I understand that this is a very reasonable collection, but I’m not sure I could do that. Maybe if i could get 20 more as travel bottles.
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Congratulations on your 15th anniversary! Impressive for sure. I would tell my newbie perfumista self to sample first before buying. I would also advise trusting my nose and my instincts and I would tell newbie me not to worry if I hate a fragrance that others think is wonderful. I would advise remembering that everyone’s tastes differ and perfumes react differently on different peoples’ skin.
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Solid recommendation all around. I could have saved a lot of time (if not money) had I stopped trying again and again perfumes I disliked the first time :)
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Firstly, congrats on this achievement, dear Undina! What a thoughtful piece, especially the part about special occasions.
I’d go back to 1984 (coincidentally, I’d be 15 years old then). I’d tell myself to stock up on Chanel Coco and that my love for this fragrance had great significance.
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Thank you, R!
I would love to smell the original Coco since I like even a much later version that I have (~ 2010).
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Congratulations on your 15 year anniversary! What a great theme for this post, and I loved the image of “sneezing on a butterfly wing”. ;) I would go back to 2009 and score a bottle of Guerlain Plus Que Jamais before it got the chop…
PS Sorry for my belated comment.
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Thank you, Vanessa! As always, it’s a treat to see you here – it doesn’t matter when :)
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