Welcome to the clinic...

[cello]

Fred, there are a few other options for purchases rather than retail - bottle splits with other people, decants...those come to mind. These can be ways to cut the cost once you have narrowed it down to a fragrance that you want.

Your sample method sounds perfectly reasonable. There is a beauty in all that variety also. Don't rush into bottle purchases.

[Fred360]

Fred, there are a few other options for purchases rather than retail - bottle splits with other people, decants...those come to mind. These can be ways to cut the cost once you have narrowed it down to a fragrance that you want.

Your sample method sounds perfectly reasonable. There is a beauty in all that variety also. Don't rush into bottle purchases.

Thank you for the message. I am trying to figure out how long I should keep a sample I don't like. Should I give a scent three chances? On the other hand, it's nice when you know right away that something is interesting. . . and I don't mean just in the top notes, but in the entire sitting on the wrist. But you are right, I want to be sure I really like something before I get a whole bottle.

[cello]

Thank you for the message. I am trying to figure out how long I should keep a sample I don't like. Should I give a scent three chances? On the other hand, it's nice when you know right away that something is interesting. . . and I don't mean just in the top notes, but in the entire sitting on the wrist. But you are right, I want to be sure I really like something before I get a whole bottle.

I personally don't have a hard and fast rule for number of samples, but I would imagine that at least a couple or three would be required for the more complex fragrances (like your Jub XXV). I'd hold on to them for a period of time (different weather/temps etc) and try a few times.

[Aiona]

I'm finding it useful to list every perfume I have. The chart I've made connects me with the reality of my purchases -- and the list has other obvious uses, as I enjoy researching each fragrance. I haven't been listing the prices and the dates bought, but I may add that, just to keep me aware of what I'm spending.

I am lucky that I met up with a Basenotes member early, and saw how he organized his collection on paper. It really *has* helped me keep track of what I have, and to whom I've given things. Even if not organized in other areas of my life, he got me on the right track with this area!

I'm not generally an addictive personality (I don't drink or smoke) but I do have a tendency to over-indulge in material posessions. My mother is a hoarder (and her father was too) - so I think I am dealing with a 'hoarding gene' :-(

I am most certain that the hoarding gene runs in my family. And what's odd is that I realized, most of my friends have hoarding tendencies as well. Example, a friend of mine's father has an entire barn full of car and farm machinery parts. Does he farm? No. Does he repair cars? No. He hoards them!!!

And, my godfather, well, he doesn't hoard, per se. But he has all sorts of eclectic hobbies. Raising tilapia, but not eating them. Engraving eggs, raising bees for honey, etc. The thing is, he actually does those things. I procrastinate. For example, saved an old water heater once, hoping to get a welder, so I could make a giant wasp. Never happened, mainly because I didn't have the power in my house for a welder. I blew a fuse once, just running the microwave at the same time as the coffee maker and rice cooker.

I'm not sure what drives me to do these things, but I do know that my dad does it too. He once went out and bought a whole bunch of hunting gear because his boss asked him to go hunting. I think he went hunting one time. And then he had to sell it all because he hated it. He didn't hoard it though.

Quilting. I got it into my head I would try quilting. That totally did not go well.

Knitting. Tried that. Hated it. Now I have balls and balls of yarn. (Anyone want them?)

Perfume. I still love perfume, at least the ones I have kept. I do believe I went a little overboard when I joined Basenotes four years ago. I think it was because, before I knew about this web forum, I could never find anything I liked! And then I met some Basenotes members who have similar tastes as mine. And, I realized, that perfumes *do* exist that I like!

And then came the realization that I don't need to have *EVERY* single perfume I like.

[knit at nite]

Knitting. Tried that. Hated it. Now I have balls and balls of yarn. (Anyone want them?)

Picking jaw up off floor...... Aiona, you HATED knitting????

mnnnnnnn what kind of yarn is it?

[anotherlemontree]

Aiona, you've basically just described my life:

I have a ball of yarn sitting on knitting needles stuffed under my desk which I haven't touched since last autumn. And I LOVED knitting! I've decided again and again that I don't have an adequate understanding of Italian, German, Old Irish, Arabic, Farsi... and spent on average 2hrs every year for the past 8 years trying to teach myself one or all of these languages. I have anywhere between 3 and 10 books on the go at any one time, because I get distracted before finishing one and I start another...

Finally, in fragrance I've found an area where distraction is acceptable - my frags will still be on the shelf in a year's time, and that's okay. I'm convinced also that this is why I'm an actor - I can't stay in one place doing one thing (or even being one person!) for any extended period of time and so it's quite handy that my job forces me to incessantly move from one place, thing or person to another.

Sadly though, I haven't yet reached the enlightened point of discovering that spending time actually smelling my existing frags is preferable to spending time buying further frags...

[Emlynevermore]

I joined a knitting/crocheting club at school to sidle up to someone I had my eye on. Ended up liking knitting more than the girl. I don't do it often, but I have found it helps take the edge off whenever the New York Giants find a new way to lose.

Following this thread helped me sort out my sample disarray. I organized the crap out of them a few weeks ago, cutting index cards and sticking loops of tape on them to turn uncarded samples into carded ones that now stand upright; cataloguing all of them by house and by size; labeling a ton of 5" x 8" freezer bags with permanent marker by house; inserting carded and newly-carded samples alike into their proper bags; and standing the bags upright, in alphabetical order by house, inside of two large shoe-boxes, themselves inside of a larger cardboard box (light and all that).

Now, new samples are immediately entered into my database before being carded, if need be, and shuffled into their proper storage bags. I'll admit it: Sometimes I stand tall over that box and say, "I am the LAW, bitch", before resuming whatever I was doing.

Your unvoiced support has been invaluable. Thank you all.

[anotherlemontree]

Emelynevermore - Nice one!

... there's hope for us yet

[knit at nite]

he he .....GREAT job on the sample organization emlynevermore Congrats!
and thanks for sharing the knitting story

[Aiona]

Picking jaw up off floor...... Aiona, you HATED knitting????

mnnnnnnn what kind of yarn is it?

I admit it, knit_at_nite. I am not a knitter. It's baby blue yarn that was intended for a baby blanket for my son. I ended up crocheting one instead. The reason I can't stand knitting, is because klutzy me, I'll finish like 20 rows and then drop a stitch! And no matter how hard I try, I think I've only succeeded ONCE to pick up the stitch and move on. (That was with a scarf I did for my husband.) But a blanket!! It basically unravels in my hand, and I find myself pulling it all out, and starting from scratch. Doing that about 5 times made me pick up the crochet hook instead.

[Aiona]

that I don't have an adequate understanding of Italian, German, Old Irish, Arabic, Farsi... and spent on average 2hrs every year for the past 8 years trying to teach myself one or all of these languages.

Hey, I think that's admirable, anyway.

Sometimes I stand tall over that box and say, "I am the LAW, bitch", before resuming whatever I was doing.

Heh!

[30 Roses]

knit at nite,

I'm no knitter either! I learned to crochet as a teenager and managed that pretty competently-- though I stopped entirely after making a diagonal stripe baby blanket for the unmarried daughter of a coworker when I was in my early 20s. It took me a month of evenings! The baby was unplanned -- and in those days, it was not so cool to be a single mom-- but all of us who worked with her held a baby shower for the girl. I later learned that was the only shower she got.

I didn't see the "baby" again until he was 15-- and when I realized who he was, I blurted out "I crocheted your baby blanket!"-- and he grinned and said he still had it!

I learned to do very basic knitting when my own daughter was born, but never made more than one blanket for her --which stretched out horribly (stitches were too loose)-- now it's big enough to be a throw, and she sometimes puts in on her bed when she needs just a bit more warmth. I guess people are sentimental about their baby blankets!

Problem was, knitting took away time from reading. My baby was one who didn't nap, so reading time was scarce enough and I begrudged the loss of it. I couldn't watch TV while knitting without messing up the stitches-- so I dropped the whole thing and never looked back.

One more story: I had a friend in her 70s who was just starting to learn to knit. She said (with a perfectly straight face) that it was so she'd have something to do "when she got old." I was in my 20s and that seemed hilarious to me!

Now in my 50s, I say, good for her that she didn't feel old yet, in her 70s!

[Ursula]

I am just wondering how many of the over spenders on perfumes are business people - I mean, with a background of accounting and knowing when the numbers don't check out. Does it not hurt to be "in the red" ?

[calilove]

this is an awsome ideA

[kumquat]

I joined a knitting/crocheting club at school to sidle up to someone I had my eye on. Ended up liking knitting more than the girl. I don't do it often, but I have found it helps take the edge off whenever the New York Giants find a new way to lose.

Following this thread helped me sort out my sample disarray. I organized the crap out of them a few weeks ago, cutting index cards and sticking loops of tape on them to turn uncarded samples into carded ones that now stand upright; cataloguing all of them by house and by size; labeling a ton of 5" x 8" freezer bags with permanent marker by house; inserting carded and newly-carded samples alike into their proper bags; and standing the bags upright, in alphabetical order by house, inside of two large shoe-boxes, themselves inside of a larger cardboard box (light and all that).

Now, new samples are immediately entered into my database before being carded, if need be, and shuffled into their proper storage bags. I'll admit it: Sometimes I stand tall over that box and say, "I am the LAW, bitch", before resuming whatever I was doing.

Your unvoiced support has been invaluable. Thank you all.

I did the same thing using these decorator wooden boxes. There's a 4x6 card in each to keep it standing up.

[senore01]

If persons would simply purchase samples prior to buying bottles, a lot of money would be saved. Too much reliance on YouTube and BaseNotes hype, magazine ads, and TV. Stop it! Sample first. It is considerably cheaper to purchase samples than to purchase a bottle which you will end up storing away because it didn't tickle your fancy.

[Scent-imental]

I have the addictive personality, and don't really want to go into it too much, but it was always going to happen, that i'd become a fragrance-shopaholic. This personality trait has been apparent in my life in various ways, and unfortunately, perfume hoarding is just the latest manifestation. it has been shoes, boots, handbags, make-up, as well as the usual habits, that I don't wish to discuss here. I do have support actually, and my sponsor gives me guidelines, and tries to help me manage my spending. My husband has become worse than myself, and he has spent a lot of money in the last month, buying bottles for me to decant and sell. He has been getting on my nerves with his hanging about for the postman, even coming home from work, to see what the postman brought.
I sometimes find myself bidding on stuff on Ebay, then practically smacking myself in the head after i click the confirm bid button, because i had previously agreed with my sponsor, that there would be no more purchases until an agreed date, and then no more than a hour later, i'm breaking the agreement, because i have to have whatever it is, i am bidding on. I then justify the purchase, by claiming, i bought it to sell. Or decant and sell. I don't even know how I feel. Horrified that i have not only become addicted myself, but now my husband, who is normal in all other ways, seems to be hopping on my bandwagon. It's not funny, and i'm a little concerned about him too. He is worryng that he ought to buy the entire stock of Tea for Two from the shop, that he bought 3 bottles from recently. It's madness.

[30 Roses]

Scent-imental, when an eBay perfume that you know you ought not to buy (because of your agreement with your sponsor, or for any other reason) catches your eye, consider just putting it on your watch list rather than bidding. That gives you time to talk yourself out of it.

If you are making a profit by selling decants, I can understand your husband's wanting to buy the additional bottles. Just remember that the market for the product isn't infinite-- you may run out of buyers, once the current ones are satisfied with what they have bought. That consideration may help you (and him) apply the brakes.

[Scent-imental]

30 Roses you are always so helpful, and full of common scents suggestions. Thank you. But i got a bottle of vintage Blue Grass for a penny the other night. How could anyone say no to that?

[30 Roses]

One cent is a great price-- but was shipping free, too?

[Scent-imental]

One cent is a great price-- but was shipping free, too?

It was a mere 3.28. See? There was no way i could turn that down. I mailed the seller after the auction, and i was like "really? A penny? I feel bad for you, please feel free to relist" but she just wanted rid of it. I was doing her a favor lol

[30 Roses]

Just as it's the occasional win that keeps gambling addiction going, finding that occasional great deal helps to fuel the addiction to buying scents (or anything else) on eBay.

But how good a deal is it, really (for your life, not just for your wallet) if it helps to perpetuate the addictive behavior?

I'm not looking for an answer here, just trying to give you a different perspective in the hope that it will give you some ammunition with which to resist the buying/accumulating.

[dvdlpznyc]

I have something to confess. I shower every eight hours in order to reapply fragrances anew. I'm addicted to explosive openings. I am addicted to fresh dry-downs. I feel horribly wasteful and selfish when a fragrance keeps going, but I just cannot help myself.

[Karenita]

Well, I always say, never feel badly about doing something that brings you joy, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. Unless your water bill is hurting you, I would not be concerned. Cherish the little joys in life!

[cashmerecardi]

I am so impressed with Basenotes for providing this area of the forum. What a fantastic, supportive idea. I have come late to perfumes - and at the moment it is mainly serving the purpose of assuaging my extreme, depression-inducing boredom while on maternity leave. Using my sense of smell has proven to be an excellent way of engaging my brain, but I can still interact with my children at the same time and I am not completely distracted (as I would be by the internet, or reading, or even crafting). However, the 'Clinic' is a welcome check on my sampling (seguing into FB purchasing) habit, and my obsessional researching tendency (I am an obsessional researcher by nature unfortunately).

Well, I always say, never feel badly about doing something that brings you joy, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. Unless your water bill is hurting you, I would not be concerned. Cherish the little joys in life!

Yes, but many people here are not finding it straightforwardly joyful. Yes, there's the excitement of the pursuit and the buzz of acquisition, and the joy of the fragrance itself, but there's also the guilt, the anxiety of amassing 'stuff', the feeling that the obsession controls you, rather than the other way around, not to mention the time spent obsessing when you could be experiencing life in a fuller way - spending time with people, reading books, even enjoying your fragrance, for example! When the joy starts to be diluted by the negative stuff, it becomes a problem even if it's not actually 'hurting' anyone.

Thank you all for honesty sharing your experiences. This is a very welcome reminder of the importance of keeping my new interest at a level that brings enjoyment WITHOUT guilt and anxiety.