Sometimes our perfume collections include pieces that don’t quite work for us – not anymore, or maybe never did. And yet, for one reason or another, we keep them: for the memory they hold, the person who gave them to us, their beauty as objects, or simply because we feel we should. For this SQ, let’s consider only bottles (so, no samples or decants).
Sunday Question #295:
Do You Own Any Perfumes You Don’t Like but Won’t Let Go Of?
Why do you keep it/them?
My Answer
In general, once a bottle of perfume gets into my collection, I have a really hard time letting it go. I can justify to myself keeping almost any of those that I used to like or got as a present from someone. I can explain not parting with bottles that I bought for the bottle’s sake. I still hope to maybe wear someday perfumes that came as a part of a set with the one that I wanted to own. But there is one perfume I own for no rhyme or reason – Bitter Orange & Chocolate by Jo Malone.
It was a limited edition released in 2013 as part of the Sugar & Spice collection. Bitter Orange & Chocolate was the most popular one; it smelled divine on my co-worker, and one of my friends loved it and even bought a backup bottle. I love chocolate. I like oranges. Angel Taste of Fragrance flanker with a chocolate note was one of my favorites. At that time, I liked most of Jo Malone’s perfumes. And still, this one didn’t work for me. I tested it repeatedly, hoping to change my mind – and I didn’t. It was almost sold out, so I decided to buy a bottle, telling myself that either it would grow on me (I had a sample to keep trying) or I’d be able to sell it later…
All these years later, the bottle is still untouched, and I don’t have a good explanation why.
How about you?
Undina's Looking Glass 