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Thankful for this hobby!

post #1 of 20
8/5/10 at 12:37pm
Thread Starter 
Scents are just a fun hobby to be involved in, and I can't imagine life without them. It really just dawned on me recently how long I have been an enthusiast. I started at 15 and now I'm almost 43.

I don't have many hobbies. I like to lift weights, run a little, I sing in church, and I like to shop and dress well. But I recently lost a hobby when my back condition worsened (two ruptured discs) and I have just about quit playing golf. When I do play golf, I am out of commission for weeks. No fun and not worth it.

So cologne collecting/swapping fills a void. It never really ends as the variety of scents just keeps growing with new ones to discover. Holiday gifts are made easy for me as well! I just give my family a list to shop from!

On vacations it's so much fun to scour stores for deals and new releases. And the swapping opportunities add to the fun and create new friendships. Just a neat hobby and one I hope I can enjoy for many years to come, health and finances permitting.

Life would be a little less full without a SOTD to revel in! Every now and then I go all "burning man" and purge my collection and sell off a bunch, but I can't imagine quitting completely.

This is just an appreciation of a fun and harmless pastime.
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post #2 of 20
8/5/10 at 12:42pm
Amen! I can totally relate.
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post #3 of 20
8/5/10 at 12:51pm
Chuck, you need to get your back seen about buddy. You are way too young to let that hamper your activities that you enjoy. It will be a short term investment for long term health. You know that of course though.

I also enjoy this hobby a great deal and enjoy visiting the site and sharing stories and information with others. I find my taste is woody spicy scents and I mostly stay in that realm these days, but the journey to get where I am was fun and enlightening. There is always something new to learn everyday in this hobby and new friends to be made.
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post #4 of 20
8/5/10 at 1:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChuckW View Post

Scents are just a fun hobby to be involved in, and I can't imagine life without them. It really just dawned on me recently how long I have been an enthusiast. I started at 15 and now I'm almost 43.

I don't have many hobbies. I like to lift weights, run a little, I sing in church, and I like to shop and dress well. But I recently lost a hobby when my back condition worsened (two ruptured discs) and I have just about quit playing golf. When I do play golf, I am out of commission for weeks. No fun and not worth it.

So cologne collecting/swapping fills a void. It never really ends as the variety of scents just keeps growing with new ones to discover. Holiday gifts are made easy for me as well! I just give my family a list to shop from!

On vacations it's so much fun to scour stores for deals and new releases. And the swapping opportunities add to the fun and create new friendships. Just a neat hobby and one I hope I can enjoy for many years to come, health and finances permitting.

Life would be a little less full without a SOTD to revel in! Every now and then I go all "burning man" and purge my collection and sell off a bunch, but I can't imagine quitting completely.

This is just an appreciation of a fun and harmless pastime.

I too started collecting at age 15 and today, yes today, I hit 60. I enjoyed reading about the manner in which you enjoy your hobby, because I do the exact same things. That's right, people are afraid to advise me of their travel plans as they must leave with a cologne list especially written for them by me. Just yesterday my accountant flew to Paris with my cologne list tucked in his passport envelope. He has been doing this for me for over twenty years as he travels far more often than I do. Likewise, when I am on vacation, I do seek out colognes from every spot imaginable to get something not yet available in the States, and will often leave our travel companions doing something far more entertaining, like lying by a pool or the like, while I am strolling looking for the latest unknown cologne to hit our shores. And so too for birthdays, as my wife simply asked me two days ago for a choice, she went to Bloomingdale's and returned with Bang. Not bad, huh. I think we have some paralells in our lives as I too run and lift weights, but I don't play golf often, only because I'm horrible!

Smell and be well.
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post #5 of 20
8/5/10 at 2:48pm
I agree.....we must be distant Cousins or something like that.....I Love Fragrance.....I Love to go on Fragrance Vacations.....I Love to shop for Fragrance.....Niche, Mainstream, Private Brands, TJ Maxx, Marshalls and on and on and on!!! Fragrance is one of my top hobbies.....music is another hobby.....I have so many fragrance vacation memories..... that it would take a long time to tell about all of them.....I'm happy to hear that You enjoy fragrance so much.....I hope that Your back gets better so You can Golf.....As for me I'd rather go fishing!!!
Gary
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post #6 of 20
8/5/10 at 3:12pm
Virtues of Fine Fragrance

1. Fragrance brings communication and the transcendent.
2. It purifies mind.
3. It brings awareness to it.
4. It is a companion to solitude.
5. In the midst of activity, it brings a moment of peace.
6. When there is plenty, one never tires of it.
7. When there is little, still one is satisfied.
8. Used every day, it does no harm.
9. Enjoying it adds no calories.

This was adapted by me from The Ten Virtues of Incense. Author unknown.
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post #7 of 20
8/5/10 at 3:40pm
I have been wearing fragrances since I was 14 year's old, and now I am 61 year's old. Each, and every time I wear a fragrance I am still totally amazed that I can spray a liquid on my skin, and it smells one way when sprayed, and in x amount of time the scent changes from what I originally smelled into something entirely different. Then in a period of time that smell once again changes to another scent entirely. A simple explanation I know, but then again I am a simple person, and I guess that's not necessarily a bad thing. Chuck, have your back tended to, It's not going to get better on It's own. Life is too short not to be enjoyed to the max. God bless, and keep smellin good.
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post #8 of 20
8/5/10 at 3:47pm
I am thankful for this hobby as well...i swim, collect watches and old perfumes and bottles and am still interested in the new smelly things that come up everyday, just to see the new history in the making and sometimes, just sometimes, it all makes sense.
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post #9 of 20
8/5/10 at 5:19pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, guys. I forgot about watches, as I have a few less these days since I sold off a few to pay off a couple of nagging debts. I still have a nice Tag and a Breitling, so weep not for me!

My back is well enough to walk around normally and I can do almost all weight lifting moves except for deadlifts and heavy squats. The twisting in the golf swing is what gets me. I have seen a chiropractor several times, and I want to avoid surgery.
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post #10 of 20
8/6/10 at 12:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by need5398 View Post

....people are afraid to advise me of their travel plans as they must leave with a cologne list especially written for them by me......Likewise, when I am on vacation, I do seek out colognes from every spot imaginable to get something not yet available in....

This is me to the tee!

I believe appreciation of fragrance is an integral part of our being.

All the very best of health, ChuckW.
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post #11 of 20
8/6/10 at 12:35am
This is very nice, Sensual!
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post #12 of 20
8/6/10 at 4:46am
need5398, happy birthday, first of all (albeit late)

I started wearing at 13, started collecting at 15 and here I am, 19 y/o, with a somewhat 40ish wardrobe and 200 samples, evergrowing.
Most importantly for me is the fact that my enthusiasm has never faded (yet), something that hasn't happened with any other hobby (followed by fishing and soccer,however both of which I drift in and out).
It really has become more of a lifestyle for me, the sense of smelling coming more and more into focus and delievering enormous pleasure and joy. I spent way too much time on the internet these day, most of it on here. Its such an invaluable place with invaluable people.
As with most other hobbies i guess the existance of the net has offered a perfect opportunity to fall for perfumery very quickly because I dont know how long it would have taken me to even hear the term "niche" i e otherwise. It also enabled me to purchase very rare frags from my desktop at home at reasonable prices.

I also can relate to the health thing as I will have to undergo hip surgery in not even 2 weeks distance and right now I'm picking out 3 or 4 special treats (FBs) which will defenitely provide distraction and happiness during the ugly recovery.
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post #13 of 20
8/6/10 at 5:03am
Best luck with your surgery, timaru.
Amen to everything said here. I'm grateful for perfume, for this place to talk and learn about them, for how much more alert I am to smell in the natural world and in food and drink because of this training, and for the warmth and intelligence of this community.
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post #14 of 20
8/6/10 at 5:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by timaru View Post

I also can relate to the health thing as I will have to undergo hip surgery in not even 2 weeks distance and right now I'm picking out 3 or 4 special treats (FBs) which will defenitely provide distraction and happiness during the ugly recovery.

That is really bad! I think treating yourself nicely with FBs is a very good idea and well deserved. All the best!
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post #15 of 20
8/6/10 at 12:55pm
You guys slay me! I agree 110% with everything that has been shared here. I would also add that this hobby has given me joy like none I've ever experienced. And now that I think I've begun to get a hold of my spending habits (knock on wood), I can enjoy it without the guilt I occasionally feel from having spent more than I should. I just told a good friend of mine that if my apartment burned to the ground, the only thing I'd think to cry over is my cologne collection. May none of us ever know such fate! Sniff on BN Family!!! And great post Chuck.
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post #16 of 20
8/6/10 at 4:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChuckW View Post

Scents are just a fun hobby to be involved in, and I can't imagine life without them.

So true!
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post #17 of 20
8/6/10 at 4:12pm
Sorry. double post.
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post #18 of 20
8/6/10 at 4:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sensual View Post

Virtues of Fine Fragrance

1. Fragrance brings communication and the transcendent.
2. It purifies mind.
3. It brings awareness to it.
4. It is a companion to solitude.
5. In the midst of activity, it brings a moment of peace.
6. When there is plenty, one never tires of it.
7. When there is little, still one is satisfied.
8. Used every day, it does no harm.
9. Enjoying it adds no calories.

This was adapted by me from The Ten Virtues of Incense. Author unknown.

This is just beautiful.
Especially no. 9,8,5 and 2.
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post #19 of 20
8/6/10 at 8:41pm
I like this hobby as well ...so many new fragrances, so many new extracts and molecules being discovered and so many houses to constantly discover. Deconstructing the fragrances is like re-engineering to me.

If this were 1905, we wouldn't be as involved in this hobby thats for sure...so who says 'ah the good ol' days' were better ?
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post #20 of 20
8/6/10 at 9:05pm
To me its the same as trying new food, a fun experience of the senses. While food is olfactory and taste, fragrance is olfactory /memory, so in a sense by wearing fragrances, youre creating a database to recall experiences. Its really a nifty function of the body
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