Which is better: variety or rotation?

[ToadKings]

Browsing past topics on basenotes has gotten me curious about the use of fragrance. Collecting and using colognes can be done through variety or rotation. Do you think it is better to have a wide variety of colognes to choose from so you end up never having the same? Or should you try to create a distinct personality and perception through your colognes using a core group of 2-3 scents and rotating around those scents to mirror what those scents are offering. Ideally, I feel like rotation is the key to a maintainable fragrance hobby, as well giving a chance for people to remember you by the certain smells you always wear. On the other hand, variety is the spice of life. The more scents we are exposed to widens our taste and give us an appreciation for the different types of smells that one could wear. So which one do you think is better? Do you think it is possible to find a steady balance between variety and rotation?

[pluran]

Variety! Frame of reference. The more the better!

[RCavs]

Do you think it is possible to find a steady balance between variety and rotation?

Well, It's possible, but I wouldn't be a good example: I have 50 bottles and 45 on rotation...

[hirch_duckfinder]

I think about this too. I wore a signature scent (R de capucci) for many years with only occaisional variation. Back then, people knew how I smelled. Then I got a little bored and bought something else to intersperse with it. Then I got bored with that......etc.....

Now I have too many and no-one knows how I smell (other than good, hopefully?) I wonder what the implication is? Smell is so important, does it mean I am sending confused (confusing?) messages out socially?

Interesting, but I don't take it too seriously.

[LiveJazz]

I feel the same way, KingMist. I normally wear one of the same ohhh maybe 10 fragrances on a daily basis. They are the ones that people can remember.

In the evenings when i'm reading/studying, I'll wear something from my vast arsenal of samples. If a sample makes a good enough impression on me, it might make it into the everyday rotation, but the number of actual bottles (and large decants) in my collection usually stays pretty constant (maybe 20 at any given time). Around the time I find a new love, i'll get sick of an older bottle and swap it out. I actually manage to spend very little money for the amount of variety I manage. That way I get the best of both worlds, and I don't have a gazillion bottles around that i'll probably never use up.

[aubrgene]

I like variety in my fragrance collection. It's a progression. I started off limited to fresh/citrusy scents and moved further into more woody/oriental fragrances. Recently, I've been interested in aouds and attars-- as I've had the pleasure to be introduced to it on a recent trip to Paris. Take your time in experimenting. Scents that you may not like today could possibly be favorites a year from now. Enjoy!

[radix023]

I'd say I do the variety thing. I generally classify my wardrobe into three categories:
1) general - most everything is in here, this is what I have to pick from on any given workday

2) romantic - just for special occasions - I've probably got about 5-6 in here. Things like Halston Z-14, CK Obsession, Royal Oudh, Gucci Envy...

3) sillage monsters - might not be right for work. Royal Oudh is in this category as well, another would be Hanae Mori HM.

I generally guilt myself into rotating through all sorts of things so I don't feel like I've wasted money.

I do generally keep mental notes on what I have worn with certain women and what they liked/noticed. The ones that accept my hobby, we generally will have a samplefest where I also run some of my wardrobe by and I get a very good sense of what they like. When a lady tells you what she likes, she's giving you the keys.. I have to admit, I'll be breaking this strategem on Thursday. The particular lady in question responded very well to Z-14 (okay, she'd had two martinis as well...) but I'll be wearing L'Homme Sage in the confident belief that anyone with an inkling of sense will love the stuff (if not allergic of course, but I haven't heard of anyone having a bad reaction to L'Homme Sage yet)

I guess that's a bit more than my two cents. Call it a nickel.

[tvlampboy]

Used to be a signature scent guy, but am only that way on certain occasions now. (For example, black tie requires Antaeus or Leonard for Yours Truly. Being around my baby sister requires schlepping out the Lagerfeld Classic. Being with my boyfriend on a Saturday night in the autumn or fall requires Bulgari Black. Going shopping on Saturday morning in the summer requires Neroli Sauvage. And so forth.)

I have about forty or fifty bottles in my collection, though, and am generally pretty capricious in the way I select them. Whether I use them singly or layered, I just pick one out each morning per my mood, outfit etc.

[moondeva]

I come from a long line of 'signature scent' lovers but my passion for perfume has led me a long way from the fold.

I have an extensive collection of perfumes with 70+ Holy Grail / Signature scents (perfumes I choose not to be without) and have discovered an interesting phenomenon...

Even though I have very many perfumes for different moods and situations my friends and partner say that all my favourites have a 'me' feel to them.

So though my perfume may change each day (sometimes twice a day) those that are regulars have a particular edge that others recognise as distinctly 'moondeva'.

It does help that I have a love of distinct, classic (chypre, oriental) woody perfumes with depth and sillage - unlike many perfumes preferred today.

But I feel it goes beyond that. I have HG perfumes that run the gamut through all the perfume types from light floral LV Vicolo Fiori, right through clean woody Arran Aromatics After the Rain, to leather / tobacco chypre Gres Cabochard to my new love, gourmand oriental SL Arabie!

Some of this 'familiarity' may be created by the type of 'notes' I tend to favour in my blends: oakmoss, labdanum / cistus / rock rose, lemon, sandalwood, leather, cedarwood, tobacco, incense, geranium, cinnamon, mandarin, nutmeg, civet, grapefruit, ambergris, lily, ylang-ylang, rum, plum, animalic musk, cherry, boozy rose, heady jasmine, bergamot, anise, galbanum, mimosa...

As you can see this is a diverse list and would mean nothing if it were not for that indescribable 'moondeva-ade' that makes others immediately recognise a perfume as something that is 'me'or not.

So I suppose I am an advocate for the middle way variety but with a limited palate.

Like the fashion world each season I have a major preference / theme (this autumn seems to be Exotic Depth) with a few major scent themes / notes (rich boozy fruits - cassis, fig, pomegranate, plum and incense / spice - pepper, licorice / anise, frankincense, cardamom, myrrh).

So my core rotation this autumn / winter will feature:

Trussardi Python
JPG Classique EDP
SL Arabie
Caron Bellodgia
Bobo Dinner
CDG Wood Coffee
TBS Woody Sandalwood
Etailer China Musk
Guerlain AA Winter Delice
Lancome Poeme
Cacharel LouLou
CDG Original EDC
Caron Poivre / Coup de Fouet
L'Artisan Tea 4 Two
JM Pomegranate Noir
Guerlain Jicky PdT
Donna Karan New York
Boots Natural Collect Black Cherry Musk
Etro Etra
Etailer Dragons Blood

This contains some old, long established regulars but also has quite a few new recruits as well. So my desires for variety and consistency are both equally satisfied.

[The_Giraffe]

I do both. I have a rotation of scents that I wear for different parts and activities of my life. For instance, I have a formal rotation, a wear to class rotation, a club rotation, a romantic rotation, etc. I eventually want to have 12 or so scents that I'm in love with that I can rotate. I have more than 12 scents but I am only in love with 7 or 8 scents right now so I need to find a few more that wow me. I still enjoy wearing some of the scents I'm not in love with though because I still like them very much. Even if I do have my base of 12 or so scents that I'm in love with, I will still research and sample cuz that's a lot of the fun afterall.

[ToadKings]

The Giraffe, I am curious. What scents do you wear to class?