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How do you decant properly?

post #1 of 13
5/18/07 at 3:45am
Thread Starter 
Forgive me if I'm starting a thread that exists somewhere else, but I cannot find one.

I have decanted a few of my perfumes into smaller vials for my own use. The sealed bottles posed a problem, but with the help of a funnel I simply sprayed enough to fill th vial from the bottle. But is this an acceptable way to decant if you are giving the vial to someone else? Is there an etiquette to this, and is there a better technique with sealed bottles?

I have bought some basic supplies for decanting - atomisers, rollons, pipettes, funnels - and I'm really looking forward to it for my own use, but ultimately I'd like to share some as gifts if only I can be sure to do justice to the perfume.

Any advice appreciated.
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post #2 of 13
5/18/07 at 4:01am
That's the way that I do it, just spraying into the atomiser. Otherwise you would have to unseal the bottle and that would be a pain. Your not going to damage the fragrance by spraying rather then pouring.
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post #3 of 13
5/18/07 at 4:16am
Thread Starter 
Good, that makes it so much easier and safer. Not to mention cheap. Thanks for the info.
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post #4 of 13
5/18/07 at 9:06am
Are you sure they are sealed? Some of them are surprisingly not and would be much easier to decant if you used a eye dropper to suck up the stuff from one bottle and squeeze it into another. I don't want you going at your bottles trying to get them open but you would be surprised how many actually do open. Just a thought because spraying over and over can be a real pain.
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post #5 of 13
5/18/07 at 2:20pm
Thread Starter 
You are right. I have decanted some rollons for my own use this evening, and it was a bit tricky. There was spillage and therefore some waste of the precious perfumes, not to mention the mess on the table. I wonder if I need slightly larger funnels, but the angle I had to hold the bottles whilst spraying was not good for total accuracy, and liquid dribbled down the bottles. And now my hands stink of four different fragrances.

I have had another go at opening e.g. Musc Ravageur, but it will not budge. The Madame Rochas is puckered at the seal and those types definitely won't open. The Serge Lutens bottles are perfect for decanting as the come ready made with two interchangable stoppers. Well done Serge!

I have discovered that rollons have to be used with a light hand. One roll from these gives more liquid than the average spray. You can easily overdo it.

I have renewed respect for decanters - you must have the patience of saints.
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post #6 of 13
5/21/07 at 12:01pm
I would love to try decanting, but I don't know where to get the supplies (funnels, pipettes, small bottles etc) in the UK, and I'd be very worried about spillage. I have a bottle of Ysatis that's not a spray bottle and I'd love to be able to decant this into a small atomiser. This would be my first one as I don't have to break into the bottle to do it. I'm worried anyway about that perfume deteriorating, as it's not properly sealed anyway - and I hardly ever wear it because I have to dab it on, and that's a pain.
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post #7 of 13
5/21/07 at 1:11pm
Thread Starter 
I sent to the US for my decanting kit from Accessories for Fragrances, as recommended to someone else by Hurst Duckf....Dick Hurstfling....Dutch Hirschfung.....the saxaphone player on the Men's board (why are there two seperate boards? Just because we live in different worlds is no excuse).

Anyway, they stock everything you need and helpfully sell ready-made bags of the necessaries, or you can mix your own. The other bonus is that they are very nice people to deal with.

The secret of spraying into funnels is a) make sure the funnel is wider than you'd thought necessary, and b) press that nozzle slowly. Don't fizz the perfume by spraying quickly. Patience is required.

Having said that, I've just spilled an unstopped rollon bottle of approx 10ml of Creed's Fleurs de Bulgarie. Oh well. Better luck with yours.

Edit: I like the rollons. I feel I can control the amount and the direction of the perfume much better.
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post #8 of 13
5/22/07 at 12:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sestra View Post


The secret of spraying into funnels is a) make sure the funnel is wider than you'd thought necessary, and b) press that nozzle slowly. Don't fizz the perfume by spraying quickly. Patience is required.

Well said, Sestra!
And to avoid smelling four or five different frags on my hands, I wear those thin disposable rubber gloves when decanting. Helps also with hygiene when doing it for others.
I second - or third - Accessories for Fragrances. Sally is a lovely person to deal with.
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post #9 of 13
5/22/07 at 3:45pm
Whee! Thanks for the info, I've just placed a small order for roll on bottles and a small decant kit. It'll be great to be able to carry small bottles of my fave frags around with me - and take on holiday (I certainly don't want to be lugging full bottles with me, plus the heat might cause damage). Thanks!
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post #10 of 13
5/22/07 at 4:19pm
Just decanted my first bottle so I could bring it to work for a mid-afternoon freshen up All I did was spray from the bottle directly to the atomizer. Not too messy but I did wear latex gloves (work in a hospital so I can get tons of them lol) so I wouldn't smell like a french whore after I got done.
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post #11 of 13
5/23/07 at 2:08am
Thread Starter 
I'll certainly be using latex gloves to do any further decanting.
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post #12 of 13
5/23/07 at 2:15pm
I rarely need to use a funnel to decant. If you take your time it's usually possible to spray directly into the container without spillage. It depends on the spray mechanism too of course, as they vary quite a lot - there are some "blasters" out there which can make life difficult!

I've never even tried to break the seal on the bottle and use a pipette to decant - it won't be easy to make sure you have re-sealed it properly, and you run the risk the fragrance going bad much more quickly than if the bottle were airtight.

Yowza.
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post #13 of 13
5/23/07 at 2:23pm
Thread Starter 
I decanted one of the 'blasters' the other day - L'Heure Bleue. Straight down the funnel in straight lines. It was a breeze. When I spray it on skin from the bottle I get drenched.
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Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Just Starting Out › How do you decant properly?