It’s the new year, Christmas is not far behind us and maybe you found some new perfumes under the tree. In any case, January is the month to take stock of what is good, what is bad, what to keep and what we want to change in our lives.
I have big plans for a major de-cluttering operation starting this week. I have to get rid of stuff, a lot of stuff. Minimal living has a great appeal to me, and while I never will be a true minimalist, I want to put the focus firmly on quality over quantity this year. In every respect of life, including perfume (minimalism is still used very loosely in the perfume context, don’t worry, I’ll never whittle it down to two bottles. 😉 )
How about your perfume habit?
Do you have New Year’s resolutions concerning your perfume closet?
Do you need to weed out your collection?
Do you want to purchase less (or more)?
What is on your wishlist for 2013?
My Answer:
I want to streamline my collection a bit more, but most of all, I want to buy almost nothing for as long as I can. My perfume wearing habits have changed profoundly in the past months, and I want to use this phase to really use my collection. I envision this as the year of serial monogamy. I’ll keep you updated as to how it goes…
On my wishlist this year?
All good things come in threes: Vero Kern’s Mito, Roja Dove’s Unspoken and Puredistance Opardu. I’m saving up for them.
Can’t wait to hear about your good intentions!
Olfactoria's Travels 
Oh My GOD! I just looked at my cupboard and thought , What Am I Going To Do With ALL THIS PERFUME!! If I lived to be 25,000 years old and spritzed 3 different frags a day, even if I stopped now I would die with perfume left over.
On the holiday I will do a major rethink. Right now it is too big a deal.
Portia xxx
I know the feeling, Portia! It is hard to get your head around the sheer amount. I’m sure you’ll find a way to deal with your collection that you feel comfortable with in the long run.
My resolution for this year is to reduce. Reduce the amount of clutter in my house, reduce my perfume collection, reduce my spending and my use, reduce waste and reduce my waist. So I too will be trying to reduce the number of bottles in my collection while adding in the few I still desire. On my wish list for this year, Vero Kern’s Mito, Amouage Lyric, Chanel 28 La Pausa, Olfactive Studio Chambre Noir and maybe Lumiere Blanch if I can figure out a way to make it last longer than 15 minutes on my skin. Hermes L’Ambre de Merveilles was also on that list, but the little orange box tied with brown ribbon appeared under the tree Christmas morning, so that’s taken care of. I am looking forward to my year of “less is more”.
Yay, congratulations on getting L’Ambre des Merveilles! Orange packages are the best! 😉
I am totally on your wavelength, “Reduce!” is the motto!
Quite! I have GOT to put aside the ones I just have to have (if not actually sell them or gift them) so I can get to the ones that are really special and wear them more often.
Happy New Year! Get rid of clutter and clean up. One big one is I want to reduce my samples and unloved bottles. Will also stick to a bottle or three only for the whole year. 😉 Thankfully I am enjoying what I have for the moment and hope it continues. Bottle on the wish list are the new Hermes perfume and I can’t think of anything else. Will spend less this year and be happy with what I have.
January seems to do this to people… 😉
Let’s help each other with our less is more aspirations this year! xo
A fun question.
You may think I’m being cheeky, but I’m being deadly serious when I say that my perfume resolution is this: spray with even wilder abandon! No more hoarding 😉
Right! As hard as that is with some (discontinued) perfumes, it is the only way to go. Perfume needs to be enjoyed and experienced, not stashed away. (Not that that is easy…)
Oh I am definitely stealing this one! Good plan.
I like this one!!!! It is important to use what you have and enjoy it fully!!!
I agree wholeheartedly, enjoyand spray with reckless abandon! LOL My goal this year is to only purchase 2-5 new bottles of cologne. I dont know how successful I will be in that endeavor but I will try. Sometimes I can’t help myself from going online or running into my nearest fragrance boutique or department store and indulging.
Happy New Year 🙂 I like to think of myself as a collector rather than a hoarder (such a harsh sounding word! 😉 ), and I have a few collections, perfume however being the largest and my favourite by far. Yes, I have too many. More than I can wear. But I also know that each time I decide to cull, I end up regretting what I gave away. (I blame the IFRA for that! Lol) So I’m yet to decide what to do with my rarely-worns, past loves, and blind-buy ‘meh’s… (swaps are a grand idea, but Australia has such strict postage regulations (read: thou shalt NOT post alcohol!!!!) that I just read along enviously instead..)
So. Resolutions are to: a) sample thoroughly before fb purchase. b) ensure it is love not just a passing fancy, and c) put $$ toward holiday so I Can’t spend it on perfume.
It would be so much easier to just use everything freely, if it was certain you’d get it again unchanged!
Swaps are out for me too, since shipping is so very expensive here, it just is not worth it… 😦
Great resolutions, Lynley!
Since I fell down the rabbit hole I have been in a mad rush to sniff EVERYTHING and I am delighted to find this impulse has finally slowed down. So my perfume resolution is to continue to slow down and to spend more time wearing the perfumes I actually love rather than trying out everything under the sun. My wish list currently holds: LAP Safran Troublant, Amouage Interlude Man and Roja Dove’s Danger – but there’s no need to hurry…
No need to hurry – exactly, it is such a relief to slow down and just enjoy.
This is such a timely question, B! I think so many of us are thinking about our collections the same way at the moment. I looked at mine just this morning and resolved to sell more and buy less. I know it’s highly unlikely, but I hope to only buy New Look 1947 this year, once the summer rolls around. I love your three choices. You will never regret buying perfumes of such top quality. I think that could be another good resolution – quality over quantity.
I’m happy that you fell for New Look in a big way.
I hope the Year Of Less works out well for you too!
Happy New Year! 😀
Ah, I think a lot of people have similar thoughts at the beginning of each new year! I’m also looking forward to taking stock of my collection and letting go of some less-than-loves. I’d also like to be a little more organized and budgeted in my sampling rather than impulse-buying into the latest split on FFF (which is awesome and I’ve found so much lovely stuff that way, but a there have also been a fair number of meh or somewhat redundant in my collection ‘fumes) so that I can give attention so some of my favorite houses I’ve been meaning to try (SSS is top of the list!) and also invest in bottles or larger decants of the ‘fumes I adore and have been hoarding. Also, NO MORE UNSNIFFED BOTTLES D: D: D: (^^;;)
My tastes have changed so much in the last year and it has been a super crazy year – plus I’ll actually be starting a new job soon, so I’m planning to start of with some safe serial perfume monogamy as well until I feel out the environment (which is actually the engineering dept of a large biotech and sadly mostly smells of LB media and bacteria :/). However, I think all of that will have to wait until March ish LOL, as I have the oral defense for my master’s degree in about a day and a half and then will be spending a month in Taiwan with my dear grandpa (already dying trying to figure out which perfumes to bring so as to be happy but not scare the hell out of him or my mother ^^;;;;;).
Have a great time in Taiwan and all the best for your oral defense! I’m sure you’ll be excellent!
Good luck with your new year’s resolutions too!
Reduce clutter by spraying more. I love all my samples but I think I’m going to make an attempt to use up more of them. I’ll keep a list of likes and dislikes and have fewer little vials taking up space. Same with the bottles. I want to use more of what I have by either using them myself or making samples/ decants for others. I also want to use up a lot of the lotions and other beauty products I seem to love to buy. I’m on a strict spending freeze with that stuff. My problem is I’ve never met a sale I didn’t like. I’m also aiming for quality over quantity, and if it’s not quality it has to be love.
Your last sentence is lovely! Thanks for sharing your resolutions, poodle!
My resolutions are:
1. to try less perfumes;
2. to appreciate and to buy more brazilian perfumes;
3. to appreciate and to buy more good and cheap perfumes;
4. to use much all the perfumes that I have.
Eu, 2013 e os perfumes.
Consume less seems to be a very big issue on many prople’s minds these days. I think it is a very good direction to go in.
No specified resolutions for perfume.
I just want to continue on being money-conscious perfumista and buy only these perfume that I truly love, nothing else.
Not a perfume resolution – would like to lose some weight.
That is a very good way to proceed, Lucas!
That is a wonderful resolution Lucas. Being healthly and smelling great in the new year are always great!
Thanks!
Expand, expand, expand! That’s my motto for 2013 (but hopefully it shall only apply to my perfume collection, which thus far is pitifully small). Still, since I am not independently wealthy, I will try to stick to a one bottle per month rule. It’s just that the list is already rather long, and goodness knows what other temptations you will throw our way during the year…
These are my must-have’s so far: Mona di Orio Vanille and Oud (how my wallet wishes I hadn’t fallen head over heels for this one); Seville a l’Aube; Vero Kern Mito and Kiki; 31 rue Cambon; Aftelier Tango and Muse; OJ Woman; Wazamba… But then there’s Carillon pour un Ange, Puredistance Antonia, NVC Mohur… not to mention a recent influx of samples (including all Hermessence and Parfum d’Empire) I haven’t even tried yet. And I’m dying to sample to new range from Ormonde Jayne… Basically, I think I’m in trouble. Deep trouble.
Apart from that though, I don’t have any particular resolutions for the coming year. Well, apart from finishing my novel and finding a publisher…
Ah, what a great motto! I loved that phase so much! 🙂
Your wishlist is wonderful, Asa!
Yes, I’m in the “reduce” camp – I already have a huge load of stuff ready to drop off for charity! As for perfume, I still feel a panicky urge to collect my fbs of whatever I have sampled and become obsessed with! This includes L’Ambre de Merv, FK Lumiere Noir Pour Femme, OJ Woman, ELDO Jasmin et Cigarette, and SSS Nostalgie, just to name a few. I am trying to focus on larger decants, rather than aiming for a fb, but there is such a special thrill spraying from the actual bottle.
I discovered that decants definitely don’t work for me, at least not in the long term. The bottle is essential, so much part of the appeal (very un-Chandler Burr-ish 😉 )
There is good company in the reduce-camp today! 🙂
I do understand having full bottles, I love having them on my dresser, some are even works of art, so beautifully designed. Decants are wonderful as they help spend the cost of an otherwise uber expensive perfume amongst many persons; however there is nothing in the world that compares to having the full bottle and spritzing yourself! A pure delight!
I absolutely agree!
Fortunately I don’t have to rid myself of anything. I tend to err on the minimal side (except for shoes), but not sparse by any means. I also appreciate quality, and tend to wait until I have the dollars, to get exactly what I am wanting. That does not mean mistakes don’t happen, but I am pretty judicious!!!!
I definitely have areas that need attention, and I would love to shift my tendency to procrastinate on doing the things that need to be done, but hold no interest to me. My procrastination on such things, ends up being very stressful!!!! That is never a good thing!!!
I am good with my small collection at the moment, but I know I will be adding a couple of perfumes to it. I am waiting for my Ormonde Jayne Tolu (from my sweet sister!!!!) and I want Tom Ford Santal Blush. I sprayed it on at my friends NYE party, when she and I were smelling from her collection!!!!!! (I kind of want Amber Absolute too, but there are other less expensive ambers, that will suffice)
HAPPY NEW YEAR
HAPPY PURGING 🙂
You are my role model then, I want to be judicious and err on the minimal side. 🙂
Happy New Year, Arline!
First, let me say- If you are feeling you have too many perfumes cluttering things up, send them my way. 🙂 It is hard to imagine having too many.
My goal for the new year is to be better at saving so I can buy En Passant and possibly L’eau hiver. Last year I made the resolution to wear perfume each day, even if I am just cleaning house. It is nice to have a bit of something beautiful around you.
I also have made reading olfactoria’s travels one of my 3 blogs to check each morning when I am avoiding work emails.
Best wishes for the new year.
Okay, shellyw! 🙂
I so agree wth you when you say it is lovely to have something beautiful around you every day, no matter what, perfume is so perfect for that.
Thank you for adding OT to your favorites, I’m honored.
New Years resolutions as regards perfume: be less indecisive! My wishlist changes every ten minutes, I vacillate and spend money on endless samples/bargain ebay bottles instead of going with my gut and purchasing FBs of what I love.
So, the wishlist *will* get tackled and sample purchases will wait until I’ve properly tried current holdings.
Wishlist: PG Indochine; Chanel Sycomore & No 18; ByKilian Rose Oud; and a few others…
Ah, the ever-changing wishlist. I’m familiar with the phenomenon. 😉
I hope you are successful with your reaolutions!
Dear Birgit, I would only like to keep and buy fragrances that are truly special to me. Sometimes I tend to forget about the little gems I have, such as vintage Shalimar or Chamade extraits.
I have written a shopping list, which I intend to cut in half and stick to it during the year. It includes Mohur, Ta’if pure parfum -I’ve been wearing the EdP for years-, Jubilation 25, Le Parfum de Therese and either Rubj or Kiki or Mito.
I hope you started a wonderful year.
xoxoxo
Caro
That’s right, so much gets overlooked in favor of new things, I hope you can enjoy those more often this year, Caro!
xoxo
You are lucky enough to have Some vintage Shalimar. Oh wow you are one lucky girl! Im so envious. LOL
I always complain about the unavailability of so many niche brands here, but I have managed to successfully raid a few old perfumeries and find discontinued and vintage stuff.
Resolution is to be happy with what I have and utilize every bottle before making any more purchases…however I am allowing myself full bottles of the three SSS naturals as I have waited way too long for them to arrive!
I hope you love them a lot after the long wait, brie!
Birgit, I have similar plans, but am easily swayed when wonderful scents show up via e-mail. Today, for instance, there is an ad for the solid version in a beautiful little crystal container of Jean Patou’s 1000. I had one of those that I bought in Bloomingdales years ago, and I had thought that it was out of production since I hadn’t seen it since. I am also in thrall to Mona De Orio, so my budget is going to be strained. It just can’t be helped. To help with simplifying the collection, I’m giving away fragrances that I’m sure that I won’t be wearing again. Mona has changed my perspective. My little nieces are going to enjoy learning about scent from their fragrant Auntie.
It all too easy being swayed, don’t I know it!
Your nieces are lucky indeed, I would have loved such an aunt as you!
My first resolution for this year is to finish a sample that I love first before buying the full bottle. I have a rather extensive collection so samples last for several months, so there is no need to buy a FB so soon. Second, buy the smallest FB available. I am always inclined to buy a bigger bottle because these are way more economical per ml. But I will have to face the fact that I will probably not even finish the smallest bottle, not in this lifetime anyway 😉
I used to go for big bottles too in the beginning, well, no more, although sometimes the savings are huge (for example Puredistance 17,5ml extrait is 9,40€ per ml, the 100ml extrait bottle is only 4,90€ per ml!!!) That still makes me think…
Yes its hard not to swing for the big bottle when its only $40-50 USD more than the small one (50ml). Amouage for instance sells their 50ml bottle of Lyric Man for $247 USD but the 100ml goes for $299 USD. C’mon, Pass on the big bottle? No way! LOL
🙂
I agree with this line of reasoning too, especially with decants vs fb, when there are so many online sites with such good prices. My only worry now that I have amassed so many over the last couple of years is that they will turn. Ive only had a couple of the last 15 or so years that have turned, but I read comments in other blogs about this being an issue… Maybe it’s worthy of a post in itself- which perfumes have a tendency to do so, and after how long? 😦
That is a constant worry for me too.
It is a good topic for a Monday Question, maybe we get a lot of info whichh bottles turned and after how long from many people.
Thanks for the suggestion!
I don’t think I do have any resolutions this year, other than to try to make some inroads into my “to test” box, which I haven’t been visiting lately. I am “off” perfume at the moment as I am still not very well, but I haven’t got any issues with self-restraint when it comes to purchasing – I only bought two bottles all year, and one of those was a back up, so may not even count!
Two bottles – you have been very good indeed! I hope you are soon back to top form, dear V! Hugs!
I got a FB overdose this last December (Nawab of Oudh & Qi, Oud Ispahan, Bel Respiro, and the lovely Ouris) – that’s 430ml of parfum. And that’s insane. And so I have full understanding for everybody who plans to “de-clutter” their parfum-household. I’ll be definitely under a self-imposed parfum prohibition for a while (possibly even a year…)
That was a lot at once, but we all understand! You are not alone! 🙂
One of my resolutions was already accomplished which was to organize my perfume samples. I think I have come up with a system that will allow me to keep everything organized going forward.
My goal is actually to buy more this year – more BOTTLES and fewer SAMPLES. Also fewer bottles that I buy because they are cheap and in front of me, and more that my heart truly, truly desires. So it might end up being more bottles, but more of the things I really love and am passionate about.
That is what counts. The bottles you desire and truly love are the ones staying with you. It’s the bargains that end up for swap or for sale on ebay.
I’m always in the less-is-more camp, so my collection rarely goes above 50 or 60 bottles. But reading your post today, I’m thinking maybe even that much is too much. I love decluttering, so perhaps this year I’ll find a home for some of the bottles I don’t wear much and whittle my collection down to 40 or so. My true resolution though is to organize my samples, which will really take some work. It’s when items are really tiny like that, that my organization and decluttering skills go out the window. I think, oh I’ll just tuck these little samples into a tea cup for now … and because my eye doesn’t bump into them again and get offended by their clutter, they stay in the teacup … and in drawers all around the house. Really bad!
Those small vials are insidious, they are everywhere, and they multiply if left unchecked. 😉
Good luck bringing them to reason!
I still need to explore more, although I think from now on I will buy only perfumes that I truly and deeply love, as by buying blindly I ended up with some things that I only like. And I can’t seem to be able to shift them to more loving homes.So no more blind buys for full bottles.I want to test more so I can discover some new gems. I have a trip planned to Paris so I hope I’ll do a lot of sniffing but not impulse buying. I’ve discovered that I need to spend some time with a fragrance before I decide that it’s worth investing in, so I think this year I’ll buy more samples rather than rush towards the next full bottle purchase.But I still have a rather expensive wishlist: Ruby EDP, Carillon pour un ange, Hermessence travel set. I’m also craving Frederic Malle women coffret and a discovery set for MDCI Parfums.
Those are some great scents on your wishlist, Ana! Impulse buying is a pain (but also so much fun!!!) 🙂
I forgot to tell you my wish. I want to get the Eau Des Merveilles pure parfum, Lyric Man by Amouage and Ambre Aurea by Profumdum. These are some high quality and very expensive perfumes and more than likely I will probably only get only one this year if I’m lucky either as a birthday present or Christmas gift.
Beautiful perfumes, dkchocoman! I hope you get them all!
One can only hope/wish for such luxurious perfumes.
I am new to this exciting world, and my resolution is to try as many new perfumes as possible. Happy new year everybody.
Happy New Year to you too!
You’ll have a great year ahead! Enjoy the ride!
Since I began this perfume thing, I have been focused on quality over quantity. It is also how I live my life overall. My disposable income has changed over the last couple years (not for the better) and I only purchase FB which I love. I do admit to sampling quite a bit. I think the biggest thing for me is the discovery aspect. Experincing new fragrances all the time. With that in mind, I think my dollars this year will actually go towards discovery sets by OJ, Mona, MDCI, FM coffret. On my FB wishlist is Rubj extrait and possibly MKK.
The discovery aspect is so much fun, and it can be done for not too much money. Your wishlist looks very good, Melis!
I resolve to be more focused on my purchases as not to be too impulsive…but that’s a hard road for me to go down…especially with the plethora of online shopping opportunities 🙂
The temptation is everywhere!!! I know!
I went a little bottles-bonkers (that’s the technical term, right?) in the final throes of 2012! In 2013, my goal is to get through all these unsniffed samples and decants, and get through a couple of samples of something before committing to a full bottle.
My other goal? Figure out some kind of shelving unit for my collection!
Ye, that is the term. 😉
Good luck with your resolutions, Daisy!
My perfume aims – to try and identify different ingredients a little more when I smell perfume, also to seek out some vintage beauties. On the contemporary perfume front, there are a few perfumes on my wish list that I’m saving up for – Guerlain Habit Rouge, Goutal’s Nuit Etoilee, Miller Harris Figue Amere and L’Air du Rien, and Tom Ford Grey Vetiver. Yep, I’m going to be broke! happy new year!
Ah, the road to vintage – a very dangerous territory, heartbreak lurks around every corner.
Happy new year, ninakane1!
My perfume resolution is to….. hummm buy more perfume and smell more perfume and write more about perfume.
Very good resolutions, lanier! I’ll be reading!
I couldn’t agree more about minimalism! 🙂
I’ve been trying to implement less is more idea in my life recently and I’m sort of de-cluttering everything I can (clothes, cosmetics, perfumes, space…).
As for my perfume resolutions, I only have one spilling over from last year. Get to know and enjoy the perfumes I already have – there so many unloved, forgotten decants in my cupboard (won’t even mention the un-smelled samples…).
So, I hope to get that in a bit of order.
Let the great de-cluttering begin! 😀
I didn’t have any NY perfume resolutions… until a couple of hours ago. Commenting on another blog (on an unrelated topic) I realized that I tend to buy perfumes that I consider “special” and “for special occasion” and then I keep them for those occasions… How many bottles do I need?! So either I need to start buying more of “everyday perfumes” (whatever it meansinmy head) or I should wear my “special occasions” perfumes more often. (As an option, I can stop buying perfumes at all – but who am I kidding? 😉 )
So now this is my NY resolution for 2013.
Excellent resolution. Wear what you have, every day can be special, even if it is made so “only” by the perfume you are wearing.
Undina, I realised the same thing some years ago, that I had quite a bit of jewellery and clothes that I saved for special occasions and thus never wore. Actually it was my father who persuaded me to start wearing my jewellery every day instead, since he wanted the things he had bought to be in frequent use!
I apply the same principles to perfume 🙂
Yeah, my attitude came from clothes as well: I have (had?) a tendency to buy things that couldn’t be worn to the office or in day-to-day life unproportionally to those that could. I’m trying to change it now. Probably I’ll do it with perfumes as well.
Some decluttering would be nice, but not too likely I think-I’m simply too lazy(or tired…) to take the time to sell bottles on ebay, swap and the like. I’ll have to stick to planning my FB purchases carefully 🙂
On my whichlist at present is Memoir and Mohur and then there are some things I’m hoping to try like the Arquiste line.
Being tired oftens wins with me too. And with your job, I totally understand.