How many fragrances should a man have in their collection to NOT get sick of any of them?

Ive always had a personal rule that I only buy 1 bottle at a time - for couple reasons, but the big one is to keep the costs down, it can get quite expensive as we all know. And because I get sick of them over time, I buy the smallest bottles for the most part UNLESS I get a smoking deal where the larger one is $15 or less more.

I have a tendency to get sick of my scents when im about 2/3 done the bottle. Right now I have 3 in my collection (D&G Light blue, versace blue jeans, Rochas Man). Ive always only had about 3 in my collection and used them in rotation for the most part. Sometimes ill do one for a week if im really in the mood for it, then so on. For instance the D&G ive had for over a year now and am SOOO SICK OF IT!!! I no longer like it, i hate it now, i find it irritating and almost wanna throw it out. And trust me, theres no worse feeling than wearing a cologne that youre so sick of because you get no enjoyment out of it. If anything you just feel like youre doing it just for the sake of using it up and moving on with it.

What do I need to do to not get sick of my fragrances before finishing them? I find im just wasting money cause 90% of the time my bottles (once they hit 1/3 left), they just sit there for months and months collecting dust or I give them to friends just cause i desperately just wanna get rid of it. Generally speaking how many fragrances should a man have in his collection to not get sick of them?

I want to expand my collection but I dont want to get out of hand (as it does get expensive).

I could easily do with about 5 bottles, as long as I have one for each major type of occasion. I think it's only normal to get sick of your favorites over time. It's also good to have a non-perfumey pallet cleanser, like Angeliques sous la pluie.

Of course, the more the merrier, to a certain extent. I think more than 15 is a little overboard in terms of practicality. Under 15, you can rotate quite a bit and still get to know and appreciate your fragrances. Not to say I wouldn't love a collection of 100+. I'm truly envious of some of the wardrobes on here.

I don't know the answer to this question, but I currently have 18 scents and could easily sell 6-8 because I've gotten bored with them...

I have too many in my collection to ever get tired of any of them, even if I lived five long lifetimes!

Ok thanks for the feedback mate. I have a fairly large wardrobe and thinking maybe a mans cologne collection should be just as big or at least close. Just like clothes, if we wear the same clothes everyday or every second or third day we would get sick of them awfully fast right? Do you see cologne having any resemblance?

Cause even though I have 3 it generally doesn't take long to get sick of one because you smell it every 2nd day.

I might go pick up a couple more bottles tommorow if its going to prevent me from getting sick of my newest gem - Rochas for man.

Well it's tough question. Everyone's tolerance for boredom is different. Everyone's idea of how many different scents is enough is very different. If you're looking to be cautious with purchases, maybe 5 or so is all you need.

With a large collection, I do always go for the smallest bottle i can get. I won't go through anything fast enough to merit the "savings per ml" I get buying the bigger bottle.

The only rules that count here are ADGfan's rules.

Where is the 100 to 200 choice? LOL.

The more the marrier!
I have 60+, and I'm not
sick of one single one!

I have over 20 and i am doing ok lol

Over 9000!!!

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Originally Posted by Handsome Toad

Over 9000!!!

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be careful the hoarders show might be on to you lol

im trying to sell some of my fragrances..
i'll only keep my "5 star" fragrances.. and i dont want more than 10 in my collection..
btw.. im talking about bottles..
samples? OVER 1,000,000 lol

Including decants, I'd happily own a hundred. I thrive on diversity in my collection, and generally go towards buying bottles of the cheap stuff and decants of the more expensive, depending on the degree of love and how often I think I'll wear it.

I usually only get bigger size bottles because you get more mL per dollar. but I do have a few smaller sized ones. I have over 20 right now, but I am always trying to get rid of some to get others. This is mainly because I do LOTS of blind buys. I just have to sell them on eBay, and get ones I like more. I eventually will have a perfect collection that I can rotate out.

I think 10 REALLY good fragrances is probably the best. At least 2 perfect fragrances per season, IMO.

I would say 11-15 is a great number, just to make sure you don't get sick of any single one

It's more a question of finding what you ultimately like. It really took me years to find what I like, have it in my collection and use it regularly. (except Dirty English)

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Originally Posted by The_Cologneist

It's more a question of finding what you ultimately like. It really took me years to find what I like, have it in my collection and use it regularly. (except Dirty English)

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Exactly. I would prefer less scents that I really love and make some of them my signatures (for work, evening, winter) rather than huge diversity. Its nice to have many options but IMO fragrance is part of "personality" and people will remember and associate you better when you use just few. But its hard to find holy grail :)

And back to original question. More than being bored with my fragrances I am annoyed with some notes in them or just find out that they doesnt fit me and my lifestyle well.

I've narrowed down to all the scents I'd like to own above others to about 20.

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Originally Posted by Bigsly

Where is the 100 to 200 choice? LOL.

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+1!

"A lot" is my option. No more precise than that. When any of my friends asks "just how many different fragrances do you have?" I reply "A lot" and I don't get more precise than that no matter how many follow up questions they ask. The truth is they'll drop their jaws if I say 20, if I say 45, if I say 60, so it doesn't matter. I end with "what I'd like is that when you tell further friends that I've got a lot of fragrances, tell them that you asked just how many, but that I would reply with nothing but 'a lot.'" That way they never stop being mystified at the number.

So I say to readers here, I have a lot.

Why the limited choices? It seems the answer has been determined ahead of the poll, with little leeway for variance.

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Originally Posted by perfaddict

Why the limited choices? It seems the answer has been determined ahead of the poll, with little leeway for variance.

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Agreed. Since many of the posters on this forum are fragrance aficionados, many of us are likely to have large collections, which would suggest its own answer. I don't get tired of any of my current collection - simply because I have sufficient to choose from to match whatever mood or clothing or time of day or season on a given day.

I was happy with just one for years. Then I added another, but not because I was sick with the first. Now I have many more, and I like them all. If I disposed of some, it was not because I was getting tired of wearing them, but because my long time exposure to beautiful perfumes has changed my standards.

Single digit numbers all registered the same on my first glance.

an option for 15-25 and 25 or more would be more typical for the board to skirt boredom.

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Originally Posted by DULLAH

Single digit numbers all registered the same on my first glance.

an option for 15-25 and 25 or more would be more typical for the board to skirt boredom.

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Very true.

Funnily enough, my girlfriend, who has been going out with me for a year and a half, announced at the weekend that when she moves house, she wants to have a cupboard just for fragrances.

This is the same woman who told me at Christmas that "she has enough perfume". Hmm, seems that view has changed and she's come over from the dark side and now enjoys having a wide choice of fragrances.

Oh God... what have I started, lol...

I have over 45. I gifted some already to my co-workers and family. You just can't keep track of them.

It's nice having a lot, but I think it'd be better to get a smaller amount of a quality selection. This exhaustive search is hard, but I think it will pay off in the end.

As many as he wants, as long as he does not get bored...

547

No limitations whatsoever.

As many as he wants surely is the right answer ....

I think the idea itself of a "collection" implies lack of limitation, because the goal here is not "not to get sick" of them, but the pleasure of searching and discovering new fragrances and notes, and of course the joy of wearing the scents that most please us.
Think in terms of stamp collection: ask a stamp collector how many is too much stamps, and what's the obvious answer? The point here is that no one wears stamps...

im gonna go pick up another bottle today.

I think the reason i get sick of them so fast is cause i wear the same thing everyday for the most part. I shouldnt be getting sick of cologne 2-3months after buying it!

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Originally Posted by Bigsly

Where is the 100 to 200 choice? LOL.

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+2!

As many as you need to reach the point where you forget which ones you have.

That way when you go over your collection you are surprised to find you owned x and then you wear it again for some time :)

I was happy with three for years. Three gives you some variety and you can cover most situations with three totally different fragrances each that you really like. But years later . . . now I have over a hundred but this is totally unnecessary and is definitely a collection bordering on OCD. But for starting out . . . three should do it. If you are already so far into the monster and are pondering fragrances on this website, you are probably lost to the God of Scent by now - so forget about it.

I now have upwards of 100 fragrances and I do not plan to limit my fragrance accesory experience. Fragrance is a reasonalbly affordable fashion obsession in which you can have the best and still remain solvent.

im gonna go buy 2 more at lunch today :)

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Originally Posted by ADGfan

im gonna go buy 2 more at lunch today :)

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LOL!!! case closed!!!! :grin:

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Originally Posted by GodISmellGood

LOL!!! case closed!!!! :grin:

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well im retiring my D&G light blue so i need something to replace it. :smiley:

Right now im using Versace blue jeans (sick of and only got it in Dec 09 and will be uising very occasionally)
Rochas Man - got it 2 days ago, love it but the downdry and longevity sucks on my skin!!!

I was hoping rochas man would be my new scent but considering it lasts 2hrs on my skin i dont see it happening which is a shame.

So ill pick up a couple more scents and perhaps combo the rochas man with it.

I know one of the bottles im going to get is ADG - its been on my mind for the past month haha. wearing it alone is a no no cause its too common but i figure if you combo it with something else then you can at least disguise it.

And how large is your wardrobe right now???

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Originally Posted by GodISmellGood

And how large is your wardrobe right now???

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I used to have so many clothes that I would only wear a pair or pants or shirt once every 6 months but i trimmed it down big time in the past couple years. Now I do everything on rotation, I wear the same shirt every 2 weeks if not bit longer.

What about 15 +, but if i had to do over i would keep it around 30.

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Originally Posted by ADGfan

I used to have so many clothes that I would only wear a pair or pants or shirt once every 6 months but i trimmed it down big time in the past couple years. Now I do everything on rotation, I wear the same shirt every 2 weeks if not bit longer.

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LMAO! He meant your fragrance wardrobe!

Oh!!! Haha my bad. Well right now I have 4 colognes. I picked up 100ml of Aqua Di Gio after work today and just got Rochas Man on Monday.

So right now my wardobe is

Rochas Man
Aqua Di Gio
Versace blue jeans
D&G light blue (but I'm so sick of this stuff and no longer like it, I'm gonna retire it).

For the next while ill probably go back and fourth between ADG and Rochas.

I don't think that there is amagic number. If you want to keep the number of bottles under control, start sampling. Yes, it can also be expensive but if you procure samples and/or decants intelligently you can build up a nice library of fragrances that give you enough variety so that it takes longer to get sick of the limited number of bottles you own.

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Originally Posted by petruccijc

547

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Actually, my calculations show it's 549.

42, obviously. ;)

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Originally Posted by ADGfan

I used to have so many clothes that I would only wear a pair or pants or shirt once every 6 months but i trimmed it down big time in the past couple years. Now I do everything on rotation, I wear the same shirt every 2 weeks if not bit longer.

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I'm sorry, but that was hilarious!!! That's an instant Basenotes classic!!! :grin::grin::grin:

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Originally Posted by ADGfan

Oh!!! Haha my bad. Well right now I have 4 colognes. I picked up 100ml of Aqua Di Gio after work today and just got Rochas Man on Monday.

So right now my wardobe is

Rochas Man
Aqua Di Gio
Versace blue jeans
D&G light blue (but I'm so sick of this stuff and no longer like it, I'm gonna retire it).

For the next while ill probably go back and fourth between ADG and Rochas.

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I myself had only a couple of frags before discovering the easiness of online blind buying and joining Basenotes. But once you get the scent fever, it can easily get out of control. Right now my wardrobe (I can't help it! :grin:) has 53 fragrances, and is still growing. I want some more! But why fight against it if it gives us such pleasure?

11-15 seems to be a good range for me. I can do 10 but would rather nudge it up a bit just to cover all occasions. However, when I have over 15 bottles, I feel restless. I prefer minimal amounts of "stuff" and find myself itching to unload a few when the total gets over that number.

Regards,
T

i regret buying Rochas man, i wish i could refund it. :(

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Originally Posted by ADGfan

i regret buying Rochas man, i wish i could refund it. :(

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Resell it on eBay. I do it all the time. Its a good way to get rid of a fragrance that doesn't suit you and get money for a replacement.

It doesn't matter how many you have, you will find that you sometimes get tired of some, and others that appeal more over time.

o___O

If I could do it all over again, I would limit my wardrobe to 10 or less. I did a lot of impulse buying when I first started out only to realize that I could live with having only the ones I truly love.

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Originally Posted by StylinLA

Well it's tough question. Everyone's tolerance for boredom is different. Everyone's idea of how many different scents is enough is very different. If you're looking to be cautious with purchases, maybe 5 or so is all you need.

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/Agree. I used to wear the same one every day before Basenotes. Now I've added two more and might even make it to 5.

It's like asking how many songs you need to listen to.

Get a few more bottles for different occasions. Blue Jeans and DG Light Blue are pretty similar so you're only left with the one Rochas. I've never sampled Rochas but from reading the description it looks like a decent break from the light citrus scents. Try a bottle of something formal and spicy. Maybe another bottle of an oriental. At least 8 bottles of different styles. That way you're always able to rotate. And heck, don't even wear any sometimes.

Putting on my psychiatrist hat it just sounds like you haven't found your scent yet. Like a nice leather jacket. Something that always looks good, works great for any occasion, and is distinctly yours. Off to get samples...

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Originally Posted by petruccijc

547

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Originally Posted by veuve amiot

Actually, my calculations show it's 549.

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Agreed.

Any thing over that is excessive.

:D

.. as much as one pleases.. 0.5 - 4673 will be fine