When exactly do you "own" a fragrance?

My requirement is anything over 10ml will be included in my "owned" list. It's a big enough sample to wear it many times. I'm an impulse buyer, and this way, I can see over the course of maybe a month or two, how many times I've actually worn it and whether or not, I'm actually justified in buying a full bottle by using the wardrobe feature on BN.

Decanters, testers and samples also included, full bottles of course too, as soon as they are being purchased or received as a present/swap etc.

I think this a little crazy that people would judge what they consider "something added to the collection"...

If you have it to spray, you own it. I don't think other people's opinions matter.

Whether you "own" a 5mL sample decant for testing, or a 30mL split because it's something you don't use frequently, or you have the 125mL bottle because you use it 5 times a week.... you own whatever it is on your terms.

My two cents.

I consider having the bottle as owning

For me, as soon as the bottle is in my possession.

Personally, I only put bottles I own as 'owned'. But that's mainly because I haven't started going in on splits. I think 10ml or more is fine for 'owning' though.

That's well & good, but when do you stop owning it & it begins to own you?

When you begin to buy back-up bottles.

entirely subjective I suppose. I feel I "own" it as long as will "use" it and have enough still left to use. The exact amount is irrelevant to me, as I have some 5-10 ml decants that will probably last me a couple of years at least, yet I have some large bottles that will last me the same amount of time or less. Plus, what if a "bottle" you own is down to 5-10 ml or less...would you suddenly classify that you no longer own it because of the amount?

That becomes a separate question of 'when exactly do you no longer 'own' a fragrance?'

This, but there are no set rules...

I have a 5ml official boxed bottle of Lutens Feminite du Bois (a very generous gift from a fellow Basenoter) which I felt was worthy of adding to my 'owned' list. It's a legitimate (albeit tiny) bottle, not a spray vial, and I don't think they give such things away for free so as far as I'm concerned, I own Feminite du Bois.

You have already answered your question. I agree with your answer.

When I have a bottle of it (30mls and up).

I think you guys with 5ml samples or less saying you 'own' it are reaching.

Not that it matters.


Just sayin'.

there's no magical line between having a sample and having enough ML to consider owning it. there are infinite variations, just like comparing aspergers to autism or overweight to obesity.

And what about potency? 9ML of New Haarlem will probably do a lot more for you than 18ML of Millesime Imperial.

There are plenty of houses who do fully packaged 15 and 20ml bottles, especially in EDP concentration and higher... Banana Republic, Gaultier etc. Would you not even count those? Purely out of interest.

Big decants eg 20mls and above are the same as full bottles to me. I bought some 50ml decants from base notes marketplace recently, and they've gone into my wardrobe collection. I also have the 250 ml flacons for them (thanks Kron!) so you could argue that I have the bottles, albeit the juice is elsewhere!

1-5 mls are samples to me, I don't put samples into my wardrobe. 6-19 mls are a grey area!

I'm pretty silly when it comes to what I consider goes where in my wardrobe on here...but in reality it's all part of the same collection, I don't need to differentiate in real life.

Just for fun though I made some silly but in my head necessary rules:

1. Must be in original bottle
2. Must have more than 30mL of juice in it, unless it's a special case (such as Amouage Attars, Extraits...ect.)

If it's something like a hermes travel spray/Histoires de Parfums travel spray/ect...I still count that as a sample.


Silly I know, but it fits into my fragrance OCD.

Good points.

It's not a big deal to me. Why would it matter greatly?? Like many here have said, there is no magic number of ml or cut-off point where it would be clear that you could say you "own" a perfume. In that case the "collection" tab should be called "full, original bottle"...and then we would still be left with the issue of whether an original bottle with 5 ml juice in it would still fit in this category.

Some of you think that only a purchased, original bottle (presumably full) counts - why? I am curious

I guess we all use the wardrobe function according to our own logic...here's mine:
Collection: I own and use on a regular basis (hence there are full bottles I don't list because I don't use them).
Samples: Samples I have purchased or been given - in other words samples I own. Most of these are 2ml spray samples but in some cases I have up to 12 ml. The reason I list these as samples is because I have acquired them with the express purpose of sampling the perfumes in question. If I were to buy a small decant of a fragrance because I wanted to own it but didn't want a full bottle, I wouldn't see why it shouldn't go into my collection.
Owned: Don't use this but if I would I would list perfumes I used to own but no longer own. Do people use this for fragrances they currently own (confused)??
Tried: Perfumes I have tried on skin with the express purpose of trying them. I have tried many more than listed, but if I haven't given the scent much thought/don't remember it after trying it I won't put it in this category even if I've sniffed it.
Test List: Perfumes I would like to test.
Wish List: Would use this if I knew there were certain perfumes I wanted to buy but had for some reason not yet bought. Don't see myself using this as I would probably just go ahead and buy whatever it was I wanted.
Swap List: Haven't used this as I am unsure as to whether it is ok for me to list things here even if I have not posted 500 posts yet. Would - obviously - list stuff I wanted to swap (those bottles mentioned above).

Anything I shell money over for with the intent of wearing it multiple times... so bottles and decants.

Samples are samples, whether I get them for free or buy them. In this case, I am acquiring something to try before deciding to own a "considerable" amount of it.

Samples are a bit like just having the steering wheel of a Lamborghini

Great analogy. I suppose owning a decant is comparable to renting/leasing.

I interpreted it as being AT the wheel... not as only having the wheel itself, but I see that would be more literal to the statement. Maybe like taking it for a test drive would be more fitting to what I was thinking.

I am so glad that this topic is posted as I have been wondering this myself as a new basenoter posting my wardrobe. Currently, I have only put the fragrances that I own in a FB as my "owned" fragrances because I was not sure. I do think that decants can also be owning a fragrance. I do not know where I would personally put that line though. I have some small decant samples (5ml) that I have had for literally 14 years!

You only truly own a fragrance if you can rock it! Whether you have a small amount or the full bottle is of little consequence. 5 ml of attar can cost a lot more than a full 4 oz designer fragrance.

Don't sweat over the small stuff. Remember, your wardrobe your rules.

Revising my answer: Since, in my opinion, the bottle is an integral part of the experience; I only fully own the fragrances that I have in their original bottles- regardless whether I got them new or used.

Decants are like a lease.

If I have about 15ml to use then I own that fragrance

30ml at the least (bcoz many new niche houses are getting into the 30ml size + my vintage Jicky is in the 30ml as well - I wouldn't dare hurt her by saying 30ml is too less)