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The struggle between collecting and wearing a signature scent!

post #1 of 11
11/24/07 at 8:58pm
Thread Starter 
Hey, folks! I trust everyone had a splendid Turkey Day, full of tryptophan, beer, football, and mashed 'taters.

As the holidays near, I find myself reaching for Burberry London day after day. As a college student in Boston, I often find myself enjoying the atmosphere of a pretentious coffee shop quite regularly (). Nothing else flirts with the aromas of spices, teas, and deep, chocolately drinks the way London does. It's fantastic. Even without the frequent trips to these places, I personally find that London reflects the ideas and memories I cherish about the holidays better than any other fragrance I own (and that is, sadly, not many. At all).

The second I find myself thinking about experimenting with other scents and possibly buying a few more additions to my tiny collection, I feel as though I'm "betraying" the reason I got into the hobby in the first place: I wanted to find a scent that complimented my personality and was instantly recognizable as being "my" scent (this isn't terribly hard given the small amount of my peers that buy distinguished fragrances).

My question is this: If you ran into a similar problem, how did you justify contributing to a growing collection knowing that, each time you did, your chances would drop of wearing a scent that would resonate specifically with others?
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post #2 of 11
11/24/07 at 9:14pm
Personalities are multi-facetted beasts, never simple, never one-dimensional. The thing is to find more fragrances that have that feeling of complementing you, but a different aspect of yourself. If there is one there will be more than one, and as you explore you are also at the same time realising that there are these different aspects to you that perhaps you were not at first aware of.

The exploration of scent is also partly an exploration of your own character. That is why it is an interesting and useful thing to concern yourself with.
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post #3 of 11
11/24/07 at 9:17pm
Good question. I recently made a post about a rather similar quandary, and as much as I can pretend, I really haven't reached a perfect conclusion. Basically, I bought Sequoia to be my signature scent, but I still want to wear Egoiste and Bois Farine among others so it's really not a 100% signature scent.
I would say go with your heart. Right now, if each day you want to wear London, then do so and enjoy it! Don't force yourself to wear/experiment with/buy other fragrances if you'd rather be wearing London. If, however, down the road a bit, you feel like getting back in the game and messing around with other scents, do so. Not having a 100% signature scent wont ruin your life, if anything it will just bring excitement to it.
As far as trying to maintain the signature scentyness of Sequoia for me, though, I'm trying to wear it on the majority of occasions when I hang out with the people I usually kick it with. When I hang out with a random crowd, or if I'm just hanging out by myself, or for odd occasions, that's when I try to do most of my experimenting.
Just enjoy yourself, go with the flow, and don't fret about it too much (though it doesn't exactly sound like you're pulling out your hair or anything so I think you'll be ok). I hope you find your way!
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post #4 of 11
11/25/07 at 7:53am
Do you buy another pair of pants, several sweaters, shirts or shoes even though you have one that you particularly like?

There are so many different occasions in life, you can't wear one thing all the time. Also, having more than one of anything make them last longer. You don't get tired of the same scent or shoes as fast, and each bottle or pair lasts at least twice longer.

Anyway, I don't buy scents that I like less. I buy scents that I like and that are different.
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post #5 of 11
11/25/07 at 8:42am
For me, the signature comes and goes. I go on jags of wearing a particular fragrance, but not getting sick of it. Right now, it's Guerlain's Habit Rouge which I have worn about half the time the last three weeks. But that will change. I did the same with Acqua di Parma in the summer. I don't consider my signature for wearing every day. No can do. Some days I want SMW, or Guerlain Vetiver, or Armani Code, or whatever. My mood tells me what I will be wearing that day.
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post #6 of 11
11/25/07 at 4:58pm
I feel you.

I recently realized that each scent I acquire for its beauty in some way seems to highlight even more the beauty of the scents I have already come to love, and so on and so forth and so on and on and on.... (how's my grammar, Mr. Good Life?)

The many facets that Eluard referred to...each seems to heighten and reflect the brilliance of the others. Take one away and the others are somehow forlorn.
I have a list now of 25 scents that I consider indispensable to my fragrance wardrobe. The original heading of this list was My Top Five Favorite Fragrances.
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post #7 of 11
11/26/07 at 11:05am
I used to be all about a signature sent. Then I realized, it wasn't practical. I have London and enjoy it much for colder weather, but wouldn't imagine wearing it in the summer! From that stand point alone, you need a minimum of two scents. Warm weather, and cold weather.
I ventured into collecting (small 15 bottle collection, but growing!) due to my opinion that not all fragrances match up for all moods/events. I'll wear different fragrances due to weather, season, mood, type of event, people I'll be around, day time, night time ect...
that's my reason for having a few to choose from... plus there just SO MANY cool fragrances out there, I think its more fun to have choices over the possible benefit of being recognized as having a signature sent.
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post #8 of 11
11/26/07 at 11:36am
You can have multiple signature scents, too. 4 is a good number. Anything over that and it won't be as recognizable. Anyone who spends a lot of time around you will recognize you from those few scents.
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post #9 of 11
11/26/07 at 2:44pm
I wore almost nothing but Burberry's for Men (the original) for most of the Eighties.
I'm personally kind of "over" signature frags as a result -- furthermore, I like my variety way too much, anyway.
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post #10 of 11
11/26/07 at 4:00pm
I think of it this way: my signature is constant change.

But there's nothing wrong with having a single signature scent, or a small rotation, if that's what works for you.
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post #11 of 11
11/26/07 at 4:36pm
I like the idea of having a signature fragrance -- I read recently (I'm not sure where) about an author (maybe Kate Atkinson) who only wore one fragrance her entire adult life. She imagined that her daughter would smell the fragrance after her death and imagine her mom fully formed. That's a nice sentiment.

We know that scent has the ability to carry us back to our past sometimes. And it's nice thinking my son might have a similar experience one day after I'm gone.

Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to happen for him. I take too much pleasure in wearing lots of different stuff. I return again and again to the favorites -- Mazzolari, Domenico Caraceni, Guerlain Vetiver -- but I often wear seven different juices over the course of a week. As a consequence, my son may not be able to link a particular scent to me, but he'll have a hell of a fragrance collection after I go.
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