HouseOfPhlegethon
Who gets it all when YOU die?
by
, 28th June 2019 at 12:40 AM (2255 Views)
I am 56 years old. I began "collecting" fragrances in the late 1970's. I saved the empty bottles, amassing a huge inventory of beautiful vessels (at one time, over 500 bottles), for display purposes, after the liquid was long gone. I blew money on various new scents in between, all those years of collecting, whenever I had the opportunity to find them, and funds allowed such luxury. This, was long before internet shopping so by 1991 I had so many empty (and newly purchased) bottles I ran out of display space. Then, I fell in love and moved in with, my future (now current) husband. There was No space to accommodate my vast bottle collection where he lived. I began selling the empty bottles (yes, there is a market for those) on eBay and all those old bottles of empty memories (and pre-regulation ingredients), are long gone...
Now, all those old bottles are long gone. Who cares? Well some I did care about and wished I'd saved them for their rarity. They were empty anyway, right? Most of those weren't what would now be labeled "worthwhile" collectibles anyway. I did have some lovely limited edition Caron bottles, some miniatures that now, cost an arm and a leg. Now, I have another, more recent collection of "live" bottles, full, partial, ones that I have taken more seriously, have loved if they were children, these bottles of joy. None are empty. I have decants too, more than I will probably live to use.
My musings are this... Who, gets your collection, if you suddenly die? If you are diagnosed with an illness, do you have a worthy recipient of your fragrant obsessions? I know I don't. I have no living relatives. None, close to me. An uncle. That is it. Cousins? None I have seen in 15 years. My husband will not really know what to do with my collection IF I die before he does.
In reality I know my collection may well end up on Goodwill Auctions or sitting in a local thrift shop. I have tried educating my husband on what I have, or what it May be worth, or how much it has given me joy. In the end, it is all up to him and his lament of my death, and if he even cares where all these fragrant beauties go. A cautionary tale -- Our perfumes ARE worth something to Us -- make sure someone Knows about it...
Perfume, Isn't a coin collection or a sports car, that is easily sold off. I suppose when I am DEAD, I am DEAD. I know I won't care. But, part of me wonders where it will all go - Shalimar, my cheapies, my niche, my fragrant lovelies....
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