Based on the recurring statements from most of my readers, our days of actively acquiring perfumes are in the past. I rarely hear about new perfume loves from you these days. At the same time, the second often mentioned sentiment is that our collections, as they currently exist, will outlive us. This tells me that the number of perfumes you own is significant, especially compared with “civilians” (© Tara). So…
Saturday Question #303:
When Did You Accumulate Most of Your Collection?
Unless you have detailed records you can check, I’m asking about your impression. Can you pinpoint years (or maybe decades) during which you acquired the majority of perfumes you currently own? Or were you just a steady collector who kept adding approximately the same number of new bottles year after year?
My Answer
Even though I have a database where I record all types of information about my perfumes, it took me several years to start recording when and how perfumes were added to my collection. But while my numbers are not exact, they paint a clear enough picture: about 60% of all of my full bottles, travel bottles and ~10ml decants were added between 2010 and 2012. The years 2013 to 2021 were quite steady, at 3% to 6% per year. And after that, between my “no-buy” and my diminished interest in new perfumes, I added just a handful of bottles, mostly travel-sized ones. I haven’t bought a single bottle so far this year.
How about you?
Undina's Looking Glass 
Such an interesting question. You made me think, and I have had a revelation – my perfume obsession isn’t purely about smelling and owning beautiful fragrances, it is a psychological state, which of course it is, but I took it too far. My perfume buying spree took place between 2008 and 2018, and was extreme. And I now realise it is exactly during this time that my life was uncertain, we lived in a rented house and had several bereavements. Perfume was a distraction, a solace and a joy. Not coincidentally, this was also when I discovered perfume blogs and my growing passion seemed normalised! I don’t regret any of it – perfume has been important to me since childhood, and always will be, and I have a hoard that will outlive me. I still get a yearning for buying a bottle, but not often, and new releases hardly ever tempt me. I must try to finish the bottles I have now!
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