Are you a Full Bottle Queen or a Sample/Decant Princess?

Call me a Full Bottle ... Queen. Decants just don't appeal to me. I've got plenty of samples, but for me those are just for the utility of deciding whether or not to get a bottle.

I try to keep my whole collection limited to around two dozen bottles that I truly love -- even that is really more than I'm likely to "use up," but it gives me a diverse collection that I enjoy without breaking the bank.

Full bottles for me. If I have only a decant, I never seem to wear the scent in fear of running out.

Stupid, I know, but there you go.

Full bottle queen.

I've got mostly full bottles...But lately I've been sampling like mad Such a great way to discover new scents,without getting totally bankrupt:P(all though I really should spend less money on that ...)

Full bottle Queen - and hoarder. But I'm about to enter the world of decants (my first one will be posted to me on Monday), so this may change...

Clemmie

Full bottle queen here

As a hobby, I also do stain glass work so I have a love for beautiful glass. Part of the appeal for me is holding the nice beautiful bottle in hand as I spray
it and also to display the bottles. Decants and plastic atomizers do not exactly do it for me.

Having said that, reality does set it sometimes and if I'm in a testing and sampling frame of mind, I'm ok with decants (easier on the wallet). Also, I need to keep my bottle collection to about 50 or 60 to keep it manageable. This should give me enough choice of fragrances for all seasons and all purposes. Right now, I will not add to my bottle collection unless I really love the fragrance.

I've been doing primarilly decants, but am now shifting over to bottles, especially of the ones that I've discovered through decants. However, if you look at my swap list you'll see that had I bought all those decants i'm trying to get rid of as bottles, i'd be a poor man. And some of them were truly awful! AND...some were purchased after getting a sample vial, which just goes to show that sometimes one really needs a bit more than 1 ml to figure out a scent.

Actually I'm both! I order lots of decants and samples, and then buy full bottles of the ones I really love. I really like owning the full bottles, but always try them out first now. I usually pass on my samples and decants to friends, once a decision is made on which ones I'm going to purchase.

I was a Full Bottle Queen, and then forced myself to be more of a Decant Princess. In the meantime, I got an ounce of Nahema parfum, and seem to be mainly interested in oils-- kai, Jalaine, Aroma M, Sage, etc. I also have gotten a significant collection of absolutes and essential oils, and some fragrance oils as well, like cucumber. Jasmine, rose, elemi, galbanum, rosewood, patchouli, melissa, lemongrass, sweet fennel, vanilla, ect. I suppose I plan to make my own blends in jojoba oil.
I don't think of myself as an Empress, however, more of the court Fool. It's fun for me, but much more of a time killer than even Bubble Trouble.

Full bottle queen - I'm much too obsessional to manage without *owning* the perfumes I love. I have Tigrushka's problem with decants; a terror that I'll run out and an unwillingness to use them for that reason. (I get like this towards the end of whole bottles too.)

Totally a decant princess!!!!

I'll buy a bottle but never use more than a tenth of it and I just feel so wasteful that way so I go to sephora and they make me a sample of what ever fragrance I have a craving for.

I LOVE the decant. I think it's a great idea. The good places that sell them use glass so what's not to like? I could never afford all the non-export Serge Lutens I like and I'm starting to concentrate on pure parfum when possible. (The truest form and most sillage,etc.) I have to save up for that. I can't get bored with smaller amounts of really quality stuff and I am acquiring so much there is absolutly no danger of running out. My biggest problem now is deciding which to wear all day since I've discovered so mny new great ones thanks to all your feedback. THANK-YOU!!!

This is SO great! You odda be in show bidness!!

I'm a Queen-cess. Or a Preen. I do both - depending on the weather. So new to this whole "more than just a half dozen bottles of all time classics" that I'm buying and swapping indiscriminately to the consternation of my financial adviser!! Just when I think I've found the rose and invested in it, along comes another suggestion and pouff! the game's afoot again. For "rose" substitute any other note and you get the picture.

So good to see a knowledgeable long-timer like Tigs hasn't got it down pat either!! :bounce: (Toddles off to bed singing "That's Strife"!!!)

(Another poem by Quarry)--

Rapture--Not

an angry rap poem
(pull pants down around your hips and shout out loud with punctuated rhythm)

It began with Frenchie Missy Coco
Not my thing, but has good throw though
Bought some J.Lo for torso photo
Sprayed me down from head to toe-toe

Got some Rabanne, just to be like Paco
Stunk like some old gym-class sock-o
Tried some knock-offs, they're too faux-faux
Drydown dragged on, played in slow-mo

Shopped out West, where the best were so-so
Drove my nose down the Drive Rodeo
Did a smell-see of new East burroughs
Scents of Chelsea, Nuits de Noho

Thought Italian the way to go-go
To give a rise to olfactory mojo
Got some l'eau de Laurie Tonatto
á lÃ* Perfume Shoppe (not in Toronto)

Heliotrope stunk like little tots' Play-doh
Demeter funk like hothouse tomato
Not that hungry, dined with Bobo
Vintage frags extinct like doh-doh

Holy grail not all that hallowed
Addiction leaves my pocket shallow
Guess I'll hang with Ernie Gallo
Guess I'll hang with Ernie Gallo ... [repeat & fade]
__________________


I hope you don't mind my bringing this out, Q, I think anyone who hasn't read it would enjoy it!

Hello, lovlies --

I haven't read the whole thread back-to-front, but I am a COMBINATION Queen... I have a huge, ongoing number of sample vials, which I am constantly working through, that I try to rapidly translate (via the magic of Basenotes) to "tried that" or "wish list." From there, I need to decide if the ones on my "wishlist" are scents I MUST OWN IMMEDIATELY, in which case I check the discount perfumers, or more often (given my champagne taste and beer pocketbook), the holy grail of decants (Tauer's L'Air du Desert Morocain, C&S Frankincense & Myrrh and Ormande Jayne's delightful Orris Noir are among my examples of same), until I can afford the occasional full bottle of niche frag. (I tend to buy for my birthday in August, or at the new year...) Meanwhile, I'm also saving up the little vials and seeing how long I can stretch 'em.

So, that's me!

I love the concept of buying decants, but....I am an all or none kind of gal and I really love a nice big fresh bottle!

I am trying to strike a happy medium, but frankly the last few months are total lunacy in both the acquisition of full bottles and decants and samples. I'm not looking forward to spending most of a day updating my wardrobe.
With a broader range of trials, I am getting more discriminating and mostly view samples and decants as a way to be sure before I commit to an expensive full bottle. Mind you, when the bottles aren't pricey, I'll gamble on notes alone.

OMG, that rap is awesome. Could we get Weird Al Yankovic to do it, with a video? SO funny.
Think I'll go invent a rap about waiting for the plumber.

All those who want a frag comp by Quarry raise your hands!!! :wave:

For my next creative endeavor I want to pitch a new TV series to some network execs (theme song "That's Strife"). The series will be based on the life of a different BNer from around the globe every episode. And each episode would have a theme scent, so the audience could sniff along. The show would start with someone posting on a BN thread, with a voice-over reading the text (a la "The Wonder Years," "Doogie Houser," "Sex and the City").

I think you're all stars, and I enjoy all the personality each of you brings to what is basically a very private experience--simply wearing a fragrance.

[Yeah, vezerne, Weird Al rocks!]

I don't buy decants at all. I know, theoretically, that many decant sellers are reliable, but the whole idea of getting scents in generic bottles does not appeal to me. (There may be one upcoming exception to this trend, but then we're talking 2oz decants that are beautifully packed)

I have some manufacturer samples, but try to use them up quickly

er both.... but mainly full bottles. Love the packaging etc - what a sad person I am.

I buy decants when I want to try a fragrance. Now I have Sweet Oriental Dream, En Passant, Poivre, and the new Chanel exclusives in decants. The rest of my collection are full bottles.

I am a full bottle baroness, not a queen, as I am always trying to get as small bottles as possible. Most of my frags are 1 oz, 30 mL bottles.

I think decants are great for a newbie like me. And it's the only possibility I have to try new scents, niche is non-existant in my city.
Sure it is nice to have some full bottles; and to have some beautiful bottles to look at. I have bought some unsniffed at a low price online; some disappointed me smellwise, but they came in great bottles at least.

I have learned my lesson; will not buy full bottles unsniffed anymore. Suddenly I have over 20 full bottles; and half of them I barely like. Some of them will end up as airfresheners I guess. No..I think I will continue to buy decants of basenoters instead.

I also try to get as small bottles as possible Margareta; price-wise it is not such a good idea; but it would stress me to have many liters with perfume.

I find, that unless it is very concentrated, a 2.5 ml sample or decant is just right for getting a good clear impression and making a decision on a scent. I probably should follow up with small bottles, but in most cases the price per ml is so much higher in a small bottle, that I go for a bigger one. I am very fond of several of the decanters hereabouts; they have certainly spared me some big mistakes and fired me off in unexpected directions.

I got a decant of A*Men, great car freshener
and the decants that i actually like I keep them in my man-bag for on the road reapplication!

Lord, I haven't purchased a sample size in EONS. That was when I was with my ex though and he was a fragrance whore. This was long before Basenotes had come to town. I am definitely a full bottle girl so I make sure I absolutely love the fragrance before I buy it since I know I'm going to have it for awhile.

Well, I have been a full-bottle-at-once Queen but I have learned my lesson. Sadly, a mere 1/32 oz. sample is hardly enough for me to judge fully if I love a scent or not, so decants are a great way to really test-drive a fragrance. If it is LOVE, then I am still going for the full bottle!

I would say I'm both. I have a ton of samples lying around that I've picked up in order to determine if I like the scents enough to buy a full bottle. Sadly I suffer a bit from "fragrance ADD" and don't finish 90% of the bottles I buy. For this reason, picking up decants would absolutely be the more practical way to go. But I want the packaging of the real thing. What I would really love would be if more companies offered smaller sizes (1 oz, minis, etc). I can only dream.

I love bottles! So I have waaaayyy too many. Lately, I've been collecting more mini's, which satisfy the urge to have the bottle itself, as well as have the scent in a smaller size so I can see if I like it first.

Full bottle, mostly 3.4 oz EDP. I also love a collection of essential oils.

I think I'm the same...although I can't afford to buy samples, so I collect them from department stores I go through and try a sample a day (unless I am really in the mood for something I already own, or I need a scent that I know goes well on me, so it won't offend the people around me), and after I've tried one, I go through and rate it on my Basenotes wardrobe. Eventually, probably when the sample vial is finished, I move the scent either to my "tried" list or my "wishlist".

But I do own full bottles of a number of fragrances, and hopefully my collection of bottles will increase

I'm a Full Bottle King!

While I'm learning about fragrances, I'm a sample princess. Once I've finished sowing my fragrance oats, I predict full bottle queendom. Paying over $200 CAD for Bond No. 9 Gramercy Park was the beginning of my sample craze . . . . When I thought, "Pleasant fragrance, but I might have paid $10 for this on Ebay," instead I spent twenty times as much!

I have gone from Full bottle Queen to Sample/Decant and Mini Princess. I was a full bottle buyer - but I just got too disinterested in the frags. I was going for the 'economical' 100ml which was $20.00 more than the 50ml etc and in the end I was giving them to my sisters or taking them to work for the communal toilet. My 75ml VCA First ended up there and my 50ml EDT Mitsouko.

I am now proudly a sample and decant Princess. But I am a bit like the others - I go through them too quick - and I won't admit to how many samples have accidently been spilled so half of the precious liquid is in the crook of my elbow or running like a river into my bra! But I LOVE minis! I get the lovely bottle, the new frag and they look SO CUTE!

I am so glad I bought my Caron's as a sample. They are definitely not a blind buy! Problem is - no one knows what frag I am talking about when I rave about Carons, Serge Lutens or Creed. Alas - the ever encompassing drugstore frags have taken over - and all the Sales Assist are like Zombies - 'Have you tried .....' insert J Lo, Britney, Paris and whoever else!

I'm both... I have full bottles of those I really like and on the step below that waits a bunch of decants to be promoted to the full bottle status. It's like the Idols. You suck, baby, go try impress my friend; you are good, but not good enough, so thank you for the pleasure of 5 ml and bye bye; and you won the battle for my heart, welcome in the high society
And then there are the minis, of course... but that's more a collecting interest. Like getting all the Aqua Allegorias and all Riccis etc.

*Sigh*
I had to set myself a limit on bottles--no more room in the drawer, too much money spent, not using them fast enough.
(I can see how "The Colonel" reached the 500-bottle mark.)
I'm stuck with what I've got until I use some up--and I'm trying, but I always buy the big bottles because the cost per oz./ml is higher on the small bottles!
So, my sample collection is growing...
I must complete more reviews...

We will be the wealthier for that. Such eloquent descriptions!

I'm an avid fan of both bottles and samples. I insist on picking up samples in stores. I have a policy of 'no sample, no sale'. I am happy to spend money on bottles if I can afford it. However, I don't like to waste my hard-earned wages, so I don't make blind purchases (there are some historical exceptions).

I order samples online on a regular basis. Miller Harris is a particularly good one to order- they send you approx 19 vials in one box set, with the name printed on the vial so you needn't worry if it detaches from the card. My sample vials outnumber the full bottles now, but if I fall in love I must have the bottle immediately, and other times I grow to love a perfume gradually and will buy a bottle after some time.

The decants offered online are intriguing but I've never sent for any. I'm not sure how the system works on Basenotes so I ought to spend time reseraching the relevant threads. I have some bottles I'd be happy to decant for others if I thought I could do it properly. I decant some for my own use, carrying small vials and atomisers around in my bag or to keep at the office, but I'd be wary of doing this to post to anyone else in case my standards fell short. Some bottles are impossible to get at with their puckered metal fixtures (sorry, don't know the jargon for that) but others, such as Serge Lutens, are made for decanting.

At my local SL stockists the assistants are very generous with samples - they can't bear to see them languish in the drawers. I wish this were the case with all stores. Sometimes I feel as if I'm holding them at gunpoint to hand over the jewels. They are obviously not perfume lovers.

I am a full bottle girl...but if I am even remotely ambivalent about a fragrance, I WILL NOT BUY. If it's a fragrance I'm 'in like' with, like Fracas or some of the Bonds, I'll do decant or sample. My Fracas is actually a largish sample that's lasted me two years (but then, I only wear it a few times a year).