Would you buy a fragrance if you only marginally like it?

I did that only once. Terre d'Hermes is hyped on this site by many so I went to Nordstrom's to try it. I liked it but all I got was an orangey smell and little else so I wasn't impressed. I was desperate to get a new fragrance at that time so I went ahead and ordered my bottle directly from Amazon.com. The stuff that I got from Amazon was so much better than the tester that I tried at Nordstrom's that I couldn't believe it. My bottle seemed vibrant and rounder than the crappy tester that's exposed to heat and light at Nordstrom's. There are many more elements that I smelled from my bottle than just the orange smell from the tester of the department store. Funny thing is that I went to two Nordstrom's to try Terre d'Hermes and both of them are past their prime because of the constant exposure to heat and light. I took a chance that time and it paid off but I probably won't do it again with other fragrances unless there's a chance that it can grow on me. I mean, how many times have people tried a fragrance that they thought they liked only to end up disliking it soon after? The same goes for not liking a fragrance much but there's a chance that it can grow on you.

I will respond with an ABSOLUTELY NOT! Life is too short too waste good money on a fragrance which is merely not bad. There are many extremely fine fragrances that you should direct you fragrances dollars to instead. That way, over time, and with the help of some of the more experienced Basenotes mentors, you will construct a true bottle worthy wardrobe. Believe me, this is the way to go!

TJ

Well, I've bought many "cheapos," many blind, so for me the question would be "would you have rather not bought the ones you didn't like a lot?" First of all, if it has layering potential, I'd rather keep it, because I might eventually like it and I can use it for layering if I don't. Plus in any case, I still might be able to swap it, so for me, keeping it around has minimal downside. The only exception is a frag that has a note (or notes) that I just can't deal with. An example is Bijan Style for men. I think it's very well done, an incredible bargain, but way too "perfumey" for me, possibly due to a lavender/geranium/sandalwood combination.

No way.

Well, I believe the answer would depend on the number of scents one own. I'd say atleast 80% of the scents I own fall into the mildly like bucket. Do I like them enough to keep them? Yes. Would I lose sleep when they are close to finishing, or gone otherwise? No.

i buy blind all the time based on reviews, this forum ,ect. i look at it this way...if i order samples on ebay say like 6 creed samples. they will be like $4 each $24 ....then they will charge at least $5 for shipping. now i spent $30...i could have a whole bottle of erolfa on ebay for $72. now if i just put aside $5 a day for a week i have another $40 plus that 30 i would spent on samples and now i have a whole $200 bottle....what would i rather have 6 tiny little samples i dont like or love and wish i had more of..or a whole bottle i love..or hate.my conclusion..i have bottles i dont like lol


oh wait i have like 200 samples too...there goes that theory

Those that I marginally like in the shop I will buy if they become cheap enough. Sometimes they smell a whole lot better when liberally applied in the actual wearing, than they did in the shop wrist test.
(e.g. Oxygene, GFF, Reaction, Creed Original Vetiver, Voleur de Roses)

Sometimes they don't though (eg. Thermal Reaction) - then I give them to my nephews.

Unfortunately, you often won't know until you buy and wear.
Renato

Short answer: Samples!

Long answer:

I wouldn't buy a full bottle at anywhere near full price, of something that I know that I only sort of like.

But I might still find myself commenting on something like this, based on:

- A mistake - I thought I really liked it, but I turned out to be wrong.

- A good-sized sample. A 2ml or more spray sample is, to me, enough to say something about the fragrance.

- A mini. A mini can cost only a bit more than a sample, so if I think that the odds of liking the fragrance are high, I may buy the mini.

- A decant. Same logic as the mini; if I think I'm likely to like the fragrance, I may start with a decant instead of going through a sample and then a decant.

- A blind buy. I realize that it seems inconsistent to say that I'll only buy it if I really like it, and then say that I'll buy it as a blind buy. But I see them as different - a blind buy is a bet that I _will_ really like it. I haven't actually blind-bought yet, but I've been on the verge many times.

- If my SO ever wore fragrance, i could also see myself commenting on those.

- If I participated in swaps, that'd be another way to get my hands on enough to form an opinion about.

Crayfish

Life is too short to buy things that you don't really like just because they're on sale. It's a sure way to create clutter.
Buy less, and buy what really resonates with you. That said, you will buy things you end up not liking, sell them, trade them or just give them away. If you have a well rounded fragrance wardrobe, it will include some mainstream things, some high end things and a couple of extravagances. I would love to get my 'drobe down to 5 - 10 fragrances and a drawer full of samples and decants.

Yes...

I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I'm a "winter scent" guy. All the fragrances I like work much better in cooler weather. Therefore, most of the stuff I have for the summer fall into the "like it, but don't love it" category... Usually I'll end up polishing off a few bottles of the shorter lasting citrus types in the summer, then pick out some other stuff....

Yes - sometimes. I'm very much into scent comparison, so I will buy certain scents (bottles or large samples) simply as reference points - particularly if they are popular, classic, or unusual. But I may not wear them much. For instance, classic fougeres - I must own certain examples of these, even if I rarely wear them. Doesn't matter - I sniff them all the time. I'm that way with books, too. It does create clutter, as Ruggles says, but it's the librarian side of my family.

no. i only buy stuff i feel passionate for.....there are too many of those as it is, wouldn't wanna waste any time, days, resources on scents which occupy the middle of the road.

I have been know to buy scents I marginally like, or worst, scents I do not even know I will like. Eventually, I will give it away or sell it.

I feel like some responses are a bit extreme. It is not like you will have wasted your whole life for buying a $20 fragrance at TJMaxxx every now and then. It is just a bottle. Most of us have done it at least once.

Then again, your expirience may be different.

I would if I could get it for cheap. If there was a scent I kinda like for sale cheap on the forums here, I'd think long and hard about getting it (something like Fuel for Life, or The One)

A simple NO. That's why I've tried roughly 600 scents and own <50 bottles.

No. But if I give something a neutral it's one that I'll probably retest later on, so if I end up liking it in the future, then yes.

No. I only buy bottles, no decants, and i get samples only infrequently. In view of all the good choices out there in the fragosphere buying marginally-liked scents is a waste of money, IMO.

If I marginally like something, I buy a decant of it, not a bottle.

At full price -- no.

At a discounted price on the sales board or a partially used bottle that I think I could sell off if I really want to get rid of it, then sure -- why not.

-I did it before, but not enymore.. Nowdays i only buy fragrances that gives me a "WOW" experience, and immediately catch my attention.. Scents that are uniqe, different,original and not "mass-market"..

I wouldn't. Before I purchase I ask myself this question:

"Would I ENJOY wearing this 10 times a year (or more)?"

If the answer is YES, it is a potential BUY.

If the answer is NO, then I ask another question.

Would I REALLY ENJOY wearing this at least 3 times a year? Then it is mini-worthy or decant worthy. A recent example is Lagerfeld Classic. I tested it, like it much, BUT really can't imagine wearing it more than 3 times a year. So I will look for a mini or a 1 oz size.

I've certainly bought frags that interested me more than they wowed me. In fact my relationships with a couple whole families of frags--leathers come to mind immediately, but also vetivers, and to a lesser extent florals--started with a sort of fascinated recoiling. My first whiff of Knize Ten sent me clicking to the reviews pages and to helg's series on leathers to see if there had been some terrible mistake. Could this petroleum smell be the source of all the ruckus? And then a day later I crept back to the bottle to sniff it again, and again, and so forth.
But I suppose this speaks to a particular sort of interest in perfume that has--sometimes, anyway--as much to do with feeding and training the mind as it does with gratifying the senses. I love learning to enjoy new smells in much the way I enjoy learning to love a new band or composer or learning a new word. It connects parts of your brain and parts of your experience that previously had no truck with each other.
I would imagine, anyway, that lots of people who wouldn't care to follow me throught that thicket usually wear many scents only one day at a stretch. That is, on the first day it offers them some sort of pleasure that has to do with novelty or with a particular mood or circumstance. And that says a lot about the pleasures of fragrance, I think. It's not narrowly about liking, it's about learning, balancing, nourishing. And then of course also, when you get lucky, about pure wordless pleasure. But that's sort of rare and unplannable and you need things to keep your head in the rest of the game.