Do you prefer having a favorite scent in its original vessel?
Do you make do with a decant or do you simply not care where your perfume is housed?
Do you collect samples or do you consider only really owning a fragrance if you have the full bottle?
Is a decant the best solution for you, economically and otherwise?
My Answer:
For me happiness lies in a full bottle.
If you have read last Thursday’s post you know I am in for a hard time. No full bottles for the rest of the year. (I repeat, this excludes gifts, so no false restraint! :))
I guess I am a collector of beautiful bottles as much as beautiful scents. I love the complete experience of olfactory, optical and haptic sensations when handling a perfume.
I love the aesthetic of some bottles, I love the heft, I love to arrange them and make a visible tableau of great smells for me as well as others. The look of a perfume is closely tied to its smell for me. The memory of a smell lies also in its visual representation, I have a harder time (or I am just unwilling maybe) to distinguish the 26th identical sample vial. The look of a bottle anchors my olfactory experience and memory.
Again, this is going to be a hard year, but I am determined to stick it out. I gladly accept condolences and commiseration in the comments though.
Olfactoria's Travels 
I’m with you! Full bottles are most esteemed. Partial bottles are ok too, since most of mine are vintage but please, in the correct bottle. Next comes the juices stored in unmarked or second home perfume bottles. After that are the decants and samples, which belong at the bottom of the pile, and often end up evaporating before I lay hands or eyes on them again..
Amelia, hi, so nice of you to comment!
I am glad to not be alone with my love for original bottles. There is more to perfume than meets the nose! 🙂
There is only one full bottle I want – Profumum Ninfea. Others I would love to own in other time and space (i.e. if I was well off). This is the only scent I dream of.
I have to check this out immediately, if it i the only bottle you want, it has to be pretty special! 🙂
A nice looking bottle – the feel of glass in your hand – the look of it on your dresser. All pale in comparison to the only bit that truly matters – the scent. And for anyone who doesn’t wear the same perfume on a daily basis, a full bottle will probably outlive the collector. Bottle splits are the way to go – 30ml of something you really want – it’s the perfect amount. By 30ml, aren’t you done with the scent anyway? On to the next nose tickler, then the next, then the next… 🙂
Hi Marco, welcome to the blog!
Everything you say is true, of course. But have you never done something against your better knowledge or judgement?
Collecting bottles is just such a thing for me. 😉
The real loved ones have to stand tall with full bottle in my treasure box.
The minor loved ones are in 5 ml decant.
And then there is the sample collection (some 350 pcs), which I even managed to archive during New Years break (alphabetical data file…).
I’m getting organized (means getting old… 😦 )
Lol, if getting organized means getting old, I am still young, yay!
But seriously, I envy your data file, I should really take the time and make the effort to organize my samples by something more sophisticated than size and current preference. 😉
Another interesting question. I do often wonder if I should investigate bottle splits or stick to decants as I have so much perfume but for me it’s also about building a “Collection”. It can’t all be about practicality. Some people collect things that are perfectly useless but at least we get pleasure from using ours every day. (How am I doing with the justification?) Owning the full bottles is a major – the biggest? – part of it for me. I know those full bottles are true love and I’ll want to wear them for a very long time to come.
It will be a tough year B but think how much you’ll get to enjoy the lovely collection you have built up so far. They’ll be buying trips in April and November to look forward to and plan for as well. You can do it!
You are doing excellently with the justification, Tara! Couldn’t have justified it better myself. 😉
Thank you so much for your encouraging words, you are the best! Big Hug! 🙂
No, I don’t. Usually my interest for the perfume gone long before bottle become even half-full. I prefer 15 ml size.
I wish every brand would make 15ml sizes in original bottles. That would be perfection!
I prefer full size bottles, but they needn’t be any bigger than 15 or 30 ml. I’m really annoyed that many fragrances these days only come in 5o ml or 100 ml bottles. I don’t want 100 ml of anything! What I want is variety.
I’d love decants as well, but I’m not sure how to lay my hands on any.
Samples are a bit sad in the sense that if I rarely wear them for fear that I’ll end up loving them too much and will feel the urge to buy the full size – I have a lot of perfume as it is. IRL this has, admittedly, only proven a problem once in the case of Amaranthine which I have as a sample and will probably end up getting at some point. Other than that samples don’t get much use with me.
In the unjustified actions departement my specialty is buying perfumes unsniffed online. The selection of perfumes in stores in Denmark is limited and if I want something a bit out of the mainstream range, online is often the only option and I have on several occassion bought fragrances based on reviews only – e.g. Femme, Tocade, Angel Rose, Bulgari Black and I’m waiting for Matthew Williamson Incense to arrive. I think this mode d’emploi feeds my feeling of being just a little bit adventurous an devil may care. A little bit.
Marie, I totally agree with you – I don’t need 100ml of anything either.
Small bottles would be great!
So you are an unsniffed purchase specialist. I know how that feels 😉
Are you successful most of the time or do you have many bottles you end up not liking?
I’ve actually been quite fortunate so far – none that I will never wear, a couple that has taken some getting used to or some time to get my head/nose around. I’m wearing one of the latter today, Angel la Rose. Bought it completely on a whim second hand from a Danish web site, someone else’s reject. At first I thought it was the most vulgar, silly thing I’d ever smelled – not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, though – but I was hard put to think of an occasion where I’d wear it. But the whole idea of buying unniffed is to broaden my horizon, so I’ve been wearing it from time to time at home, and today there seems to be a breakthrough – I still think it’s silly and somewhat frivolous, but I get it much better. I think it’s the patchouli that made it difficult for me – in this fragrance it smells somewhat boudoir-ish – one that needs a window opened, if you know what I mean – particularly because the frangrance is quite sweet, overall. I do sweet with pleasure, but with patchouli….To cut a long story short: I see a future for Angel la Rose and me 🙂
Others have been less risky purchases, e.g. Bulgari Black which I was pretty sure I’d like.
Sometimes I think I must be really bored to go about my frangrance shopping this way 😉
I wonder what “unniffed” means – to niff – is that even a word? 😉
In the interest of honesty I should add that Tocade was a bit of a disappointment – not because I don’t like the fragrance, I definitely do, but it seems to collapse a bit fast into a somewhat trivial drydown. At least on my skin. When I smell it on my clothes the next day, it’s actually quite true to first sniff, so maybe it’s just me.
I never tried Tocade yet. So many perfumes, so little time…
That is a pretty good result for unsniffed buys. Good for you! 🙂
What’s some of your noteworthy experiences in the unsniffed purchases department?
I purchased a 100ml bottle of Ambre Fetiche unsniffed, because I thought it would be a certain success – I hate it. There are several more bottles from a dark time, when the hoarding impulse was stronger than reason. 😉
You always ask such fascinating questions! Great post. I’m really enjoying reading everyone’s responses.
Anything I have a full bottle of I purchased for two reasons: It was doubtful I would ever find it again in this province, and it was discounted.
I am celebrating a personal anniversary on May 1st, and decided my reward for success would be a full bottle of whatever I choose. As I inch closer to that date, I’m starting to think small decants of a few fragrances might be a better idea. I’m very moody, so having a variety of fragrances works best for me!
I understand your reasons for collecting bottles. They truly do look beautiful especially when all grouped together like in your blog banner. To me, a bottle of perfume symbolizes luxury and special ocassions, like Christmas. My mother always received perfume at Christmas so the association is always in my floating in my mind.
I understand your “moodiness” that demands variety so well, I am the same. Variatio delectat, after all. 😉
I like your idea of a full bottle having a special significance, something to look forward to and covet for a long time. That is what my moratorium is about, learning to wait for something special again.
I don’t have many, and I would like to have more. I’m still exploring and trying to figure out what I really like, and what I don’t like. Some things, I just want to sniff on my skin…to see what they are like. But, I don’t to NEED to have full bottles of ALL of them…None of the full bottles I’ve bought so far have been for me to keep. They have been for me to use to help in collecting more… 🙂 I’ve traded some of them and have decanted from them. This may change after I spend a little more time here in the world of perfume. I have to admit that I already love spraying from a full bottle. I’m beginning to believe that many are best when sprayed on; that it somehow improves the experience of the scent.
Upon re-reading my post, I can see the beginnings of a rationalization….. 😉
To love perfume includes rationalizing, apparently. 🙂
Spraying versus dabbing is indeed an issue. I always prefer spraying for samples too, it is such a different experience for some perfumes, you could miss their potential when just dabbing.
It is great fun building a collection, enjoy that phase, Alice! 🙂
There aren’t many full-bottles in my collection (maybe 25 or 30?), but as far as I’m concerned, that’s too many! They live in a dark cabinet where no one can see them, so presentation isn’t really an issue. The only time I want a full bottle of anything is so that I can spray it with abandon without thought for how much I have left.
The 10mL bottle split (sometimes 5mL) is my poison of choice—10mL is pretty much a lifetime supply of anything for me, and if I go through 10mL in a reasonable amount of time, then I’ll think about 50mL, and so on.
I think that if I had Donatella’s dedicated room for storing and displaying perfume (and her income) my attitude would be totally different, but for now? Plain bottles are just fine with me!
🙂
Mine live in a dark closet too, but I rotate them out. There is a display of five or so bottles on my vanity that changes almost daily. Yes, I am a little crazy in all probability, but I really enjoy my little tableau of bottles du jour. 😉
And like you say, Dee, the feeling of spraying with abandon is unbeatable.
Although you are certainly right that 10ml are quite sufficient in reality, but it is not in my mind, I don’t feel free to just use it, I start rationing as soon as it is not a full bottle. Maybe more than a little crazy…
I am there too, (I hope it’s OK to chime in on an online conversation? if not, please excuse me, ladies!). My bottles live in a dark drawer, and they see a daylight when I get them out and spray with abandon.
Everything that Dee said is true for me, including amount of bottles 🙂
Of course that is fine, Warum! Please chime in whenever you feel like it, the more the merrier! 🙂
I would have a bottle of every scent I like, if they all came in 15ml format. Ok, even 30ml, like Jo Malones
Me, too. That would be an ideal world! We will have that when we live in our doorman building overlooking the park! 🙂
I want the “real” bottle, but I don’t care if it’s small, or only partly full. If I weren’t PostalPhobic, the sensible thing would be for me to host bottle splits. As it is, I try to inflict perfume on locals who don’t so much want it.
Another real bottle lover, good to hear! 🙂
Your locals can be glad to get perfume “inflicted” on them, I have no doubt your choices are great.
I did not have time at first to post an answer to this question, but now with some time on my hands I am back with my current vessel statement 🙂
I do have and purchase full bottles, and I love them so. At the same time, I am a sample chaser, interested in a thrill of trying a new fragrance. Summer 2010 through current time I’ve been trying many scents I have never tried before, some classic and some contemporary. I discovered several fast loves, and quickly realized that I will not be able to keep up with sampling at the same rate AND purchasing full bottles. If I do, either the bottles or samples will feel neglected. So, when I discovered a sample I liked, I put it into a separate box and treated it as a wardrobe item. Then when it’s getting low and I am still reaching out for it, I consider a larger decant and try to obtain it through swap. I’ve been obscenely lucky lately, having acquired decants of La Chasse aux Papillons, Crystal Flowers, and Ninfeo Mio to wear in Spring. I plan to treat them as my full bottles and wear them out. Then if the love is still there, I will get a full bottle. I do love the look and feel of many full bottles, and perhaps Montale’s and L’Artisan’s bottles did not impress me enough to covet them as bottles. So makes my process sample-decant-bottle easier to follow in this case.
After all, I constantly use the word ‘wardrobe’ for my perfumes, not a ‘collection’ or a ‘library’. I hope to have what I wear and wear what I have. And I try to swap or give away what I don’t wear or won’t wear.
Your system sounds very feasible and practical. I like the term wardrobe, since it reflects the fact that we actually use our objects of desire.
I want to get more into swapping this year, that seems a very good solution for both unwanted bottles and underfunded cravings. 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to come back and share your stance on the “bottle issue”.
My pleasure!
For me, it was a question which I was happy to muse upon.
I have to warn you, though: I tried swapping to reduce number of samples, well, that did not work. I thought I would try to swap more for less, but ended up with more samples!
but when it’s lucky, it’s heaven!
Samples seem to have a way of multiplying on their own.
But I won’t complain about that! 🙂
I make do with decants because I don’t need and can’t afford a full bottle of everything I want to wear … but oh yes I definitely prefer full bottles! Decants all look the same and get lost among each other, I forget which ones I have. It’s so much easier to scan over my FB’s to decide what I want to sniff or wear. And I don’t have to worry about running out. Alas, decants have their place .. and are so handy for travel.
I agree, for travel decants are perfect. For everything else a full bottle is. If only money was no object…;)