Although, I probably shouldn't call them unexpected. It's just the fact that they haven't occurred before that makes them unexpected but then again, every idea anyone has could be called that. :)
Basically, I realized I hoard my samples and decants.
They are rather small to begin with (compared to bottles) and are either 5 or 10 ml of perfumes I like, and would like to know better (so I can review them).
But that same size makes them rather fleeting, when compared to bottles, so I'm scared of using them, in order not to use them up before I get the chance to write about them.
I realize it's rather stupid, because if I wore them, I'd have a better chance of actually talking about them than now, when I'm hesitating of wearing them in order not to use all of what I have.
That is also why this winter I've been rotating 5 bottles I have in order not to spend any of the decants I have. Which I guess contributes to the winter blues I'm experiencing, but hopefully, now I'm aware of my perfume hoarding tendencies, I'll be able to combat them with spraying decants with abandon. :)
After all, they are a legion. :)
Does this happen to anyone else?
I absolutely have a tendency to hoard decants! I hate finishing things -- even samples, I always want to save just a little drop, unless I know it will be easy to come by more. But I'm running out of storage room for decants and samples so I'm trying to get over this.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to this with certain of my smaller decants, definitely - say the ones with 3-5ml in them. I don't use a lot of them because I am afraid of them running out. However, why I also ignore the bigger ones ranging from 8ml - 30ml I can't explain, as I am not realistically going to run out of them any time soon. I routinely take out my boxes of bigger decants, pulling out half a dozen or ten of them at a time to remind myself of what I have, before sticking them straight back in the box again.
ReplyDeleteYou may have put your finger on something quite odd there...
I only seem to hoard the last wearing or two - before that, I'll happily use a decant/sample if it's handy.
ReplyDeleteBut the "if it's handy" is the difficulty. All of my samples are currently in two nice little cardboard storage boxes, so I have to get a box down and dig through a drift of little plastic envelopes to find one. It occurs to me that I should take out a random five or ten and put them in a shot glass among the full-size bottles. Maybe I'd use them then.
That is why I don't particularly like decants, I don't use them for fear of not having enough... I can totally relate. :)
ReplyDeleteElisa, exactly!
ReplyDeleteI hate not having a little left for future comparing purposes and like you, I'm running out of space (since a lot of goes to my books). :)
He, he, Vanessa, I tend to ignore my larger decants too. I'm guessing it's the same reason, they are just not as big as a bottle.
ReplyDeleteI'm planning on taking out several decants at a time, and placing them in front of everything so I'd wear them and get to know them better (they are all decants of stuff I like so why not?).
ChickenFreak, my decants are relatively handy, in a large open box where I can take them out. But the problem is it's a large box and I need to pull each one out in order to see what's in it and then I usually can't find the one I'm looking for. :)
ReplyDeleteSo, that's why I'll rotate 5-10 in front of everything.
Olfactoria, I find decants both more economical and practical as I would never ever use up bottles of every perfume I like if I owned them. But now it seems I like them enough not to want to use up my decants. :)
ReplyDeleteI'll work on my hoarding tendencies...
For those in the US, Container Store (maybe there's a European equivalent?) sells a lipstick holder, a clear lucite step-down with around 20 compartments. It's perfect for the 5 ml decants. They also sell one with bigger compartments which is perfect for the larger ones. It's pictured in the blog entry I wrote Feb. 7. I find that I'm using my decants more this way than I did when they were in a box.
ReplyDeleteOlfacta, I just went to check the pic on your blog and that would certainly make it easier to see what decant contains what (and be handy).
ReplyDeleteThank you for the suggestion! :)
I just have to find now the place that sells these - we don't have an exact container store but I'm guessing it could be found someplace else.
Maitre et Gantier. Ja patim za Pafum d'Habit.
ReplyDeletekoji je tvoj najdrazi?
Juraj
It's interesting! I need to investigate more - since I have the field in the database where I track the type of the container (FB, travel bottle, large decant, etc.). Probably I can do it for my monthly Stats post - thank you for the idea! :)
ReplyDeleteJuraj, nisam to probala, ali M et G su linija koja mi se čini izrazito zanimljivom.
ReplyDeleteZa kojim patim? Teško pitanje. :)
Vjerojatno za vintage verzijama Vent Vert, Chanel 19 i Shalimara.
Undina, I would love to see you track this. :) I wonder what we'll be able to glean from your statistics.
ReplyDeleteInteresting question! For me, I think I'm more likely to hoard smaller amounts of perfumes I really like, rather than it specifically being related to samples or decants. The number of perfumes I feel I am hoarding is pretty small in general. So why do I have so many, I wonder? :)
ReplyDeleteHe, he Natalie, I wonder too. :)
ReplyDeleteI must say, I did what I said I would and yesterday took in front decants I am now going to wear and test.
Now, to see how successful I'll be with that...
i do this too! sounds like we are all alike here!
ReplyDeleteHe, he Christi, it does sound like once you fall down the perfume rabbit hole, perfume hoarding becomes standard practice. ;)
ReplyDeleteI can't help it - there is so much to smell and love...