How many bottles in your collection are blind buys?

A grand total of z-e-r-o.
I'm definitely not rolling in cash, so all my buys are premeditated, researched and sampled to death. That's not to say I have spent less - but I don't feel like I can chance it. Maybe I'm just not that adventurous.

One large decant is a blind buy; one bottle is a blind trade ( Mukhallat Al Emirates and Nag Champa respectively ). I actually enjoy the blind buy a lot, but I'll be trading away the blind trade.

2 for me: EL's Emerald Dream and Christiane Lacroix's Tumulte. They're sitting on a shelf unused, waiting to be swapped away....any takers??

Have done it several times .. but not anymore (almost not) It's quite fun

Way to many to count. I'm having a little Marshalls problem. They wont let you smell before you buy and you cant return if opened. But I get this big rush getting the bottle, running to the car and opening right there and sniffing, I am ashamed to say " like a junkie getting their fix". But, ITS SO MUCH FUN!!!

Veeeeeeeeeeeeery few. I went through about a one-month period of buying good deals at TJ Maxx and Marshalls, figuring that if they were 10-15 USD per bottle it was a better deal than buying a teeny 1 ml decant and paying postage.

Well, that's the end of that! I have 5 bottles (just counted them) I will never wear.

One blind buy was nice: B√lgari The Rouge.


The rest? I shoudl have just tried the decants or waited for a windfall sample.

2 of 15, or 13%

Only one, \tLime, Mandarin and Vetiver by Tesco, which I bought for £3 after reading about it on here. I figured, at that price, even if I have to chuck it in the bin... but, to my delight, it has been a perfectly peppy little thing; I usually wear it when I go out to the gym or hospital or somewhere where I don't want to do the perfume thing so much.

I've got one potential blind buy on my wishlist, Fragonard by Fragonard - only there to remind me to visit the factory one day (Either that or I'll just order some online and deal with the consequences! ).

Nine: The three new Armani Prives (Ambre, Jasmine, and Cuir), Black Cashmere and Feminite du Bois (but based on other reviews, I knew they were a solid buy), Gucci Envy and J'Adore (due solely to the high praises of Luca Turin and Chandler Burr, but they are quite right), Revlon Flair (had garnered much discussion at its release, sadly I don't think I like fruity chypres, even if well-done and inexpensive), and YSL Nu (also bought based on reviews and because the price was great, but I don't love it as much as I'd hoped, and the sprayer/bottle drives me nuts). Subtracting DH's nine scents from my wardrobe, that's nine blind buys out of 23. Wow, 39%! :bounce:

Actually, I just remembered that I tested Flair and wore it around the drugstore for 20 minutes or so before deciding to take it home with me. While my eyes might not have been completely open, it wasn't really a blind buy, so eight out of 23, or 35%.

And I just remembered a small bottle of Revlon Fire and Ice that I bought on clearance at the drugstore because it was getting a lot of wear and praise in the SotD threads a year or so ago. I'm not a fan. So, nine out of 24, or 37.5%.

2 or 3 I guess. Just reading some of the notes off Luckyscent and reviews is enough for me sometimes to get a blind buy ! I normally don't regret it - learning curve !

I stopped counting at 15! And that's full bottles ... I have probably twice that much in blindly purchased decants that were anywhere from $10-20. No real disasters, a few that I while I like I probably wouldn't have purchased if I had sniffed first, and a few real loves.

I don't buy blind too much anymore. Ha! I just purchased two in the last few months and am really really tempted to buy Cuir Amethyste.

I live in a small town in japan. Almost all my purchases are blind. (I can only buy after trying if I visit a larger city or at duty free when I travel) This has obvious risks but I find it rather enjoyable. I study the posted reviews and there are several basenoters that share a similar taste with me so I pay close attention to their reviews of particular frags. I check out the pyramid for notes I enjoy as well.

Then it is off to the internet to check out online stores and auctions. I do all this with japanese sites--have never ordered from abroad but plan to try FragX next month. Prices in Japan vary--sometimes a great deal, sometimes about the same as if I had ordered from abroad + shipping.

So far I have enjoyed almost all of my purchases. Some I wont buy again but still enjoyed them. The only duds were Versarce "Time for Energy" and Animale for men. Both are hideous. I only bought them because they were very cheap and I misread the Animale review. (There are two Animale for men and Animale Animale for men--WTF???? Marketing guys to lazy to come up with a different name?)

kanpai!
mashu

I've bought several minis and travel-sized bottles without sampling first. I tend to read a lot about them first, and like inselaffe, I do find some joy in taking a chance. A calculated chance yes, but one that adds spice to life!

I've bought a very few full bottles without sampling first:

CIELO, by Napa Valley, because of the wine country association
FLORA BELLA, by Lalique, because it's by Duchaufour and the price was right
KOHDO WOOD DAY and NIGHT, by Jo Malone, because they sounded wonderful and were "limited editions" at the time

I'm happy with all these purchases.

Oh, one. But this is because I have a friend to whom I give all of my blind-buy disasters. Waiting to be sent out is Orlane BE 21, which is some combination of hairspray and pistachio flower. Recently sent out were Strenesse and Mauboussin, and the friend quickly listed them on eBay at bargain prices with free shipping, and there were no takers.

Did NOT blind buy Cellophane. This was a rare smart decision. I dislike it intensely; it reminds me of J'Adore. I have decided I do not like osmanthus, and this Cellophane has in abundance. I SCRUBBED IT OFF. This act of desecration is a first for a Lutens; not even Arabie suffered this fate. The opening was more of that dreadful hairspray I complained about in the Orlane scent (and also in Gucci Rush) and it took quite a while to settle. Once it did, the osmanthus came forward. Some osmanthus smells lemony to me, but this one smelled of orange. I'll note that osmanthus, in a trait shared with angelica, has an odd jellied quality. Cellophane was not an exception to this idea. This is what turns me off to the note.

I wish Cellophane smelled like a bouquet that might actuallly be wrapped in cellophane and not what strikes me as an attempt to corner a weary commercial market.

Very few blind buys. The ones I can remember are Nu (YSL), Par Amour (Clarins), Tocade (Rochas), Parfum Sacre (Caron), Terracota (Guerlain). I liked them all except for Parfum Sacre. I just gave it away a few weeks ago.

I have more problems with impulse purchases at the store. I smell, I like, I purchase, and sometime there are a few regrets...

Does it count if I tried a different concentration than the one I bought? If so, I bought vintage No.19 EDP blind after trying the vintage parfum and modern EDT.

I got some vintage bottles that were in a 4-bottle set. I only really wanted one of the four, and I was bidding on the auction based on high praise on BN. It turns out all of them are fabulous, especially the one I was after in the first place.

Other than that, I have two bottles of newer fragrance I bought blind. Bulgari Eau Parfumee au The Rouge--I still really like it alot, too, sometimes better than ones I tested far more. The other is Institut Tres Bien Cologne d'Italienne--I love the genre, and all the colognes from this line were highly rated by Turin and in the BN directory. I don't regret this one either.

Most of my very old vintage scents were blind buys. But since I know and adore the compositions of all older fragrances, I have never been disappointed. Some of my blind buys; Fete-Molyneux, Vivre-Molyneux, Detchema-Revillon, Galimar-Galimard, Nuit de Longchamps (vintige)-Lubin, La Nuit de Paco Rabanne and quite a few more. I am truly never dissatisfied, they all have that glorious "something" that weaves its magic spell around me. If it was created in the 80's or before I am sure I will enjoy it, if not love it. If it was created mid-90's up to this point, I would not blind-buy it for pocket change. I think I have only 3 scents that are "true" originals, not re-orchestrations or re-releases, from the 90's to this point in time.

About twenty and some of my biggest faves are blind buys, the shining star being Yohji (now discontinued), which I ended up buying seven bottles (one 30 ml, five 50 ml and one 100 ml) more!

Many. The diappointments have been few and even with those I have got to know them and loved them better. My grandest successes have been my Ava-Luxe collection blind buys as they allowed me to sample a few I would not have considered by just perusing the notes.

None of my vintage collection are truly blind as I only bought those I remembered very fondly.

7, I think.

6 15 ml parfums from Galimard: Printemps Japonais, Gelsomino, Lapis Lazuli, Galimar, Canaïca and Yavana.

Arpège EDP and Madame Rochas EDP.

All are bought in my first perfume year 2007. Printemps Japonais, Galimar, Yavana and Madame Rochas I like very much and none of the rest has turned out very bad, but I don't buy blind now.

But there are also fragrances that I have tested and bought, like Nina Ricci Love in Paris and D&G Sicily that I don't particurlarly like right now.

I still blind buy more than I should. But those daring blind buys are often not clueless buys. I read and re-read reviews at Basenotes and elsewhere and only after getting some affirmation from some trusted reviewers do I part with my money.

None anymore.

I had one great success with Ambre Narguile, but eventually outgrew the fragrance. In the beginning (four-five years ago), I bought a number of bottles before I knew about sample swapping at makeupalley.

I, too, have to watch my pennies, so I interrogate myself: Do you like this? Do you really, really like this? I just hate that feeling of regret for having wasted money.

Full bottles:

Hiris
Rocabar
Heritage
Habit Rouge
Etro Patchouly

Love them all.

I've bought many d*****s and minis blind. Winners include Villoresi Musk, Silver Factory, Mauboussin, and Cristobal.

The only disappointing blind buy I can think of is Chinatown, just wouldn't work on me. Other than that, I've had good luck with blind buys.

Yep, I'm a classic 'gotta try everything' newbie who has spent a fortune online before finally learning that it really is wiser to wait and try something to see if you like it.

And also, we're very lucky here on Basenotes because people share and swap samples so freely. There's a great 'pay it forward' vibe with the passing on of samples between friends here. (And it's often how new friendships are forged - I can't tell you how often I've said 'I'd love to try that' on the SOTD thread and found a message waiting later that day from a kind person offering to send me a vial. Folks here are kindness itself.)

I have a pretty big list of things for sale on the marketplace here purely because when I was starting out I bought things like Cabochard (phew, yuk!) on special offer from discounters. Thankfully a few have gone to loving homes through Basenotes and now I confine my blind buys to decants and samples (well, you have to try things somehow!)(and those purchases are not made through Basenotes). Though I do still occasionally buy things blindish, they're generally well-considered because I have explored the reviews and the pyramid of notes, and nowadays I have pretty good success rates. I think it really is the thrill of the hunt that drives us to do these silly things, isn't it? And with the current economic climate, I'd rather save my dosh for things I really lust after and crave. (SL Louve, you can see me looking goo-goo eyes at you, I know it!)

And if anyone's interested in offloading YSL Nu, let me know.

:bounce::bounce::bounce:Yay!!!!! Another person in the world uses scents from my favorite house. These scents are so glorious and sooooo reasonably priced. Galimar is my favorite; that started out as a blind buy years ago, I just loved the name.

Go Galimar.

Folks, if you feel like blind buying, this house will never let you down.

I guess I should confess that I really only answered the question at hand--how many are in my wardrobe right now. I made mistakes in the past too, and most of the ones that did not work were sold or given away. Some were thrown in the waste basket before I knew about swapping/selling used bottles.

I don't count blind buys of minis, small decants or samples because that is really the best introduction to a fragrance. All are great for evaluating larger purchases.

I should probably stop doing this,but I kind of like the excitement of not knowing:P....All my Ava Luxes has been blindebuys(Madame X, Love's true bluish light,Rasa and Firewood).Luckily I've liked all of them.Hopefully I will enjoy Midnight Violet once it arrives too! Last but not least...I also got Nahema as a blindebuy. I love Nahema!! The only scent I kind of got blinde and ,didn't partcularly enjoy , was Provocative woman.My mom asked me which scents from a taxfree order - list I wanted...and I chose that one.I ended up giving it away,but it was tolerable for a while. All my decants has been blindebuys too...with various results.

Another Base Noter who loves scents from Galimard! That's rather rare.

But I bought their sample pack and the only scent I liked there that I didn't own (I own seven scents from Galimard) was Pele Mele. Now I don't know if there is a great difference between their eau de parfums and their parfums. I bought a sixpack 15 ml parfums blind and all of them i like and a couple of them I love.

I also got 30 ml of their new frag Shantoung as a gift when I bought some soaps from them. That one I didn't particurlarly like, it's a white floral that turned out to be rather ruff on me. But perhaps I should give it more chances.

Yes their prices are good, but they have rised the shipping rate, it was higher than the Nicolaï shipping rate last time I made a purchase.

Adding up my blind buys (not counting samples) there were 13 past and present bottles. Several others I bought before testing all the way to dry-down.

I consider all a failure except for 3-- AA Flora Nerolia , AG Rose Absolue and YSL Paris Jardins Romantiques --but none of these qualify as favorites.

Most of the blind buys were either from eBay (bargains-- or discontinued fragrances which I could not locate elsewhere) or Marshall's-- where there was no open bottle to sniff.

All told, the unsuccessful blind buys over the years total about $170. I suppose it could have been worse, but I could have used that money on perfumes I love instead! So I'm a lot more cautious about blind buys now. I won't say "never" but they have to be cheap! No more $50 mistakes.

Sampling is a wonderful option! Without samples, I wouldn't have discovered the L'Artisan fragrances my husband and I love. Even though I don't end up buying most of the fragrances sampled, I don't consider it money wasted as it is part of my ongoing fragrance education. Besides-- I enjoy wearing the samples most of the time. Only a few have been so unpleasant that I couldn't wear them even once. And then one can pass them on.

I've had about 15 blind buys (full bottles and d's). Basically, there are three categories of blind buys that Ive experienced.

1. The “Bad Blind Buy’. For me, these are the full bottles that I bought impulsively, without any research behind them, and because they were right in front of me in a discount store. They were fun, inexpensive buys, but ultimately disappointing.

2. The “Great Blind Buy”. These were not completely blind buys, because although unsniffed, I’d researched the scents, read reviews from BNers, loved the notes, and knew the houses they came from. Some of these great buys include Hiris, Caleche, Les Nuits D'Hadrien, No 19, 31 rue Cambon. It was love at first whiff.

3. The third category is what I find to be the most interesting part of this fragrant ride I'm on... experiencing the “Best Blind Buy” that starts off seemingly as a total mistake, and ends up as complete success (albeit, many, many months later). These scents are ones I researched first, bought with high hopes, started out as a disappointment (if not detested) when they arrived, and then over time, one glorious day they surprised me. This happened with Kelly Caleche, which has turned into a Holy Grail scent for me. For the longest time, I found nothing special about it, but after about a year of intermittent whiffs and wears, it suddenly, one day hit me like a ton of bricks. I got the deepness of the leather and the rich summer evening flowers, and I was blown away.

Just this week, I had the ultimate best blind buy experience (total disgust turned to lust), with Rochas Femme (EDT, new formulation). This diligently researched blind buy of a year ago, was an instant dislike at first wear. O.K., I hated it. I couldn’t understand how this stench could be anything but dry, sharp and sour smelling to anyone. Sensuous? Really? I braved on, trying it out every once in a while, with no success at “getting it”. I reasoned that it was a perfume from another time, with the notes playing out in a foreign, “of the past” score that my receptors just couldn’t recognize as beautiful because of the way I’ve been trained to recognize notes through smelling the scents of today. I’d sadly decided that I just wasn’t able to “read” this one with my modern sniffer. Then a few nights ago, I remembered a post from another Basenoter, in which she advised that a strong, classic perfume could be enjoyed, if applied in small doses. Made sense. I was likely overwhelmed, and needed to hear the notes, attenuated, instead of head on. I tried this technique, and after a few wears of dabs, not sprays, the “Aha!” moment came. What a beautiful Chypre!!! It’s as if I’d been sniffing a completely different perfume before – had heard a tinny quartet. Now I was hearing a full orchestra playing a heartbreakingly beautiful symphony. Lesson learned

Even with higher shipping, their value more than makes up for it. Hopefully these scents will remain somewhat the same after the 2010 deadline.

Stock up I say, stock up!!!

All of the samples I have purchased have been blind buys. I used to do some blind buying of full bottles, especially when I ran across something interesting at TJ Maxx, but no longer. I also bought Laura Ashley Dilys as a blind buy a few years ago, off of ebay. A stupid and expensive mistake. I will still blind buy my samples, but hopefully keep avoiding blind buys of full bottles.

Quite a few, but I've been pretty happy with my purchases: Jolie Madame, Cuir de Lancome, even Cabochard.

I do take care to ensure that blind buys are going cheap, though. Both the Jolie Madame and Cabochard were less than £15 for 100ml.

I have lost track however, I have had very few real disappointments.

P.S. I don't count minis or samples. They make good blind buys.
I wont buy any more blind buy FBs unless they are dirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt cheap--as in under 10 USD.

Four, which were mostly cheap impulse buys in T K Maxx: Valentino V Absolu, i Coloniali bodycare water with Yuzu, and YSL NU (edt). I also bought CK Truth online based on a LT review I retrospectively actually agree with - that was the best blind buy by a mile! Of the other three mentioned above, I only really like NU, and could live without that really. I also blind swapped for Marc Jacobs Blush, which was certainly better than what I gave away, I'll say that.

But I am trying to curb this trait in future... Ratio is four out of 35 FBs? (I daren't count!) so c11% perhaps.

There have been some great blind buys, some o.k. ones, very few out and out bad ones. I do have to have more than one reason to order in that manner, though - for instance, it can't just be cheap or just be a great bottle design. There has to be a combination of factors leaning to the good - but I do cave in pretty easily!

Memorable in the last 12 months:

Guerlain / Voile d'Ete
Loved the bottle. Good price. Comments and reviews described a scent that I could at least appreciate and live with. I think I'll be wearing this one a lot.

Mauboussin / Histoire d'Eau
Striking bottle, nice price. Knew it was a strong, love it or leave it scent, but took the gamble and glad I did.

Patricia de Nicolai / Le Temps de Une Fete
Paid full price, blind. But it was a type of fragrance (green floral) that I make use of regularly, and love as a class. Also, I already owned half a dozen of de Nicolai's creations and admire her work greatly. This bottle is a "like" turning into "love" already.

Skin / Trussardi
This turned out to be too apple-ly for me. Loved the bottle, though. Gave it away to a good home. Plus it was cheepcheep.