How expensive a hobby is this? (Addressed to enthusiasts)

Fragrances can last decades if stored properly, so I wouldn't be too concerned about that. As for how big of a collection to build or how much to spend, that's something only you can decide as you go. If you're just looking for a handful of your favorites, then I'd recommend making sure they are definitely your absolute favorites and would spend accordingly (there's always deals to be found on anything). If it's also about "collecting", then I'd see it as any other type of collection. Any hobby or collection can get expensive..it's all about how into it you are and how far you take it. It wouldn't say fragrance collecting is any more expensive than the majority of others.

Personally, I focus much more on adding fragrances that I absolutely love and know I'll wear at least semi-often. If I find there are some that no longer fit that, I'll look to trade them off or sell them. I love testing/sampling new fragrances more than I do actually collecting bottles, so I'll spend more time on that part of it and only purchase full bottles of my absolute favorites. In the long run, I likely see myself narrowing down to maybe a dozen or so, but I don't really have a set number or limit I have to abide by. If I like it and will wear it, I'll eventually find a way to get it and keep it.

Welcome & best of luck man!

Okay, I'd like to preface the rest of this post by saying that I am relatively new to the hobby as well, so take my advice as only the advice of someone new.

I'd say my collection is definitely small at six fragrances and a bunch of samples. However, for me, it's all about the quality of the fragrances, rather than the quantity. If I may echo the wise noirdrakkar, I'd rather buy one $100 fragrance than 3 $30 fragrances.

If you are looking to have 4-5 frags from a $200 budget, you'd be stretching your options, but it's not undoable. However, I'd suggest you get one cologne via a split that's super flexible (I'm thinking along the lines of GIT, Aventus), then spend the rest of your $130 on a few designer frags or one (or two if you do it via splits) niche fragrance that you really like.

When you first start out a collection, it's all about versatility. I wish I knew that when I started (my first two bottles were Code and 1 million). Now though, I have some really nice fragrances that I love, and I am slowly growing my wardrobe over time.

As for cost, I'd say it's a pretty expensive hobby, but it's not unreasonable. I like to relate it to guys/girls who spend hundreds of dollars on shoes, clothing, hats, etc that they wear a few times and never touch again. At least with expensive fragrances, they can be used for years...and they hold their value pretty well. I budget myself to around $40 a month to put forth into my fragrance hobby, so I'm aiming to buy a new frag every 3 months (or, if you will, 4 times a year). That's not counting gifts though.

Either way, enjoy the hobby and the community, and WELCOME! I'm sure you'll get a lot of better responses from the bigger contributors, like (my personal favorites) cacio, 30 roses, hednic, etc.

As with all hobbies and collections, the sky's the limit with what one can spend and how much one can accumulate. Some brands cost $500+, and then there's the whole world of vintage stuff on ebay. But then many of us here on BN already have enough perfume to last several lifetimes, and we keep buying.

As mentioned in another thread, my suggestion is not to jump into buying right away. As with all hobbies, you first need to learn a little. You may like something, but then realize there are much better things for the same price. A little patience helps. After that, 4 or 5 bottle seems more than enough. If you use the usual rule of 1ml = 10 sprays, and a typical wearing of 4 sprays, a 100ml bottle should last 250 days - so 4 bottles will get you though all your years in college. And on a college budget it makes no sense to go into expensive territory or niche. There are many wonderful frags in mainstream perfumery at reasonable prices.

Meanwhile, you can keep smelling and learning, and accumulating samples, so that when you start earning money, you can decide for yourself what you want to do, whether to jump into more expensive territory and expanding your collection.

As others have said, you shouldn't worry about conservation, as long as you keep your frags away from sunlight. Ideally you should keep frags in their boxes, or in a drawer and not expose them to light or big sources of heat. Sunlight, however, can ruin them in a matter of weeks, so no frag on a windowsill.

cacio

Your idea of four or five, solid fragrances is OK. Take your time to select varied scents.

And, you can make do with your $200 reserve.

Your fragrances will last for decades if cared for properly. Keep them out of direct sunlight, and, if possible, extreme temperatures.

Very true.

Even though it feels like burning money, I'd suggest buying and using up a modest (5-10ml) decant of every fragrance before you buy the bottle, especially for bottles at the $100 or more range. Yes, four or five decants will generally cost the price of one bottle, but it's my feeling that early in the hobby, your taste can change rapidly. Over half of my early bottle purchases were mistakes - there aren't many that I flat-out dislike, but I have many bottles that I'd happily replace with something different.

This!
Also, trying actually finishing the sample. If I can't finish a sample in a decent amount of time, I can't justify purchasing an entire bottle.

Good advice here so far, and I'd only add this: don't let the price be the deciding factor. Yes, it's important to have a ceiling if you're not fabulously wealthy, but don't assume that a $200 perfume is necessarily better than a $50 bottle. What's inside the bottle, and whether or not you like the way it smells, is the most important thing.

It's only as expensive as you want it to be, you can have a decent collection of frags that don't cost the earth.

Most of the good scents don't simply go off in a few years, if stored properly, besides, a decent variety, expansion, range of storage and/or presentation facilities etc. of a steady fragrance collection should, even though indeed there is hardly any upper limit of the costs, as with any hobby, not surpass a few hundreds or thousands Euros/dollars/pounds etc. a year and still be OK.

Definitely you can put together a solid collection with only 4-5 scents. I started out that way, and as my disposable income and inquisitiveness as to what else was out there grew, so did my collection.

I will agree with advice previous responders have already given that higher dollar figures for scents do not necessarily indicate better quality or smell. Just go out and sample a ton of things and invest in the scents you like the best from the heap (whether they be $20 "cheapies" or $200 niche "splurges"). I also advise seeking out samples of the "vintage" discontinued scents and "vintage" versions of current scents. Many of these can be had for quite reasonable money and smell just as good or better than the stuff more recently released. The key thing above all else is to enjoy the journey.

You're really going to have to get most of those answers yourself. Some say they can get by with a dozen bottles or even less,while others have a warehouse full of frags (ask hednic how many bottles he has, for example). I have around 200 I'd guess, if not more but I try to get rid of ones I don't think I'll wear again, and I also sell samples so it's not terribly expensive (plus I'm a "bargain hunter"). I am especially interested in frags that are decades old so your concerns about how long new frags will last provided me with a little laugh there (especially considering how synthetic today's frags are). They will be plenty fresh when you are dust is my guess, if they are not used of course. My major concern is evaporation, even from sealed bottles, which I've seen a few times.

This is very good advice IMO.

This articulates any hobby on earth. L
It's as sprawling as you want it to be. Some people enjoy a smaller but quality airdrome while others enjoy an orgy of scents.

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In my opinion, you can assemble a solid wardrobe but it'll require no less than 10 to 15 bottles. But itd be a solid wardrobe.