There's Bvlgari Black, for example. I like it a lot -- that vanilla-soaked slice of bicycle tire is a delightful kind of weird. And it's surprisingly inexpensive, at least at the discount sites. I've put it in more than one online shopping cart, but every time I find myself imagining that odd little bottle in among my bottles, and every single time I find myself thinking of it as clutter. Is it the bottle? If Bvlgari Black were sold in something tall and thin, would I buy it? Or is it snobbery -- do I refuse to buy it because it's less expensive, and because it's so widely available? I don't get it.
Then there's Dzing!, a classic weird that's not quite weird enough. It's always rumored to be discontinued and it never is. Maybe that's why I never bought it -- maybe I resent feeling pressured. The same for Bois Blond (still around) and Indult Tihota (tragically gone).
I let Velvet Gardenia slip into discontinuation, and I'm not sorry. Usually. Comme des Garcons Garage faded away too, and I am sorry. I loved it; I refrained only because thought it was too weird to wear among human beings. I'm going to try not to make that mistake again. If Aftelier's Cepes & Tuberose goes away, that will be a similar but much larger regret. I think it's time to budget for that terrifyingly expensive quarter-ounce bottle.
Will I be sorry if Luctor et Emergo vanishes? To my surprise, that thought doesn't worry me. Maybe I love the name more than the perfume.
All sorts of things are approaching the end of their "buy it or never" period. Heeley Cardinal. Chene. Parfums de Nicolai Number One. Fumerie Turque. Fille en Aiguilles. Jardin de Kerylos. Kyoto's expired a long time ago. And why haven't I bought Tubereuse Criminelle? I don't see the export yet, but The Perfumed Court has those partial bell jars.
Of all the perfumes I fall in love with -- of all the perfumes you fall in love with -- what finally triggers an actual purchase?
money!
ReplyDeleteHa ha. I like BF's answer!
ReplyDeleteI plan my purchases of full bottles pretty carefully, especially at full price. I always aim to buy the one I think I love the most, which means lots of other "likes" get shelved for a later date. Sometimes I make the right call, and sometimes I end up thinking "You know, I actually loved x more. Why didn't I buy it?" But that's life, I guess.
Hey, Frida! Yo, AnotherPerfumeBlog!
ReplyDeleteWell, there is certainly that :) But my puzzlement is that when I _do_ pull together the price of a bottle, I seem to lose all loyalty to the stuff that I fell in love with a year or three ago. I should have bought Comme des Garcons Tea, for example, instead of the Jo Malone fruity thing I bought recently.
Maybe it's that I've already consoled myself for my non-ownership of the older stuff - I know I can live without it, because I already did. But when I have money in my pocket and I'm in love with something new, I don't yet know how sad I'd be to not-own the something new.
Maybe. Something like that. Or maybe I'm just fickle.
I totally understand, esp when you say "Maybe it's that I've already consoled myself for my non-ownership of the older stuff - I know I can live without it, because I already did." For me, other than the money part, the fume has to totally blow me away and be different from any other love I already have. For instance, Jardin DPoete (sp) - it's happy version of my love L'Ombre dans L'eau but it is different enough that I WANT IT! Also still really want more Desert Morocain (sp) again. I'm not a big fan of Jo Malone, btw, but I feel that same way when I bought Bond's Chelsea Flowers instead of Hermes Jardins
ReplyDeleteI am horribly haphazard and fickle and impulsive when it comes to FB purchases and I am also another person who bought that particular Jo Malone fruity thing and lived to regret it - and luckily pass the bottle along on MUA.
ReplyDeleteI nearly bought Violet Blonde at the airport the other day, but something stayed my hand. In the case of not buying Byredo Tulipe, BK Love and Tears or Amouage Honour Woman last week that was definitely down to money, but sometimes it is fear of falling out of love, also the fact that my TWO perfume fridges are already full enough and any new admissions must be rigorously screened. Don't want to get to the point I was at with just the one fridge where I simply couldn't see anything anymore. The bottles were nice and cold, but an invisible jumble.
I also agree with the "getting over a non-owned bottle", much like a relationship manque. And I do feel disloyal to previous purchases and also regret like hell that I bought L'Ete en Douce instead of just about any other L'Artisan!!
Frida! Yes, I think that's it - the knowledge that I can live without the perfume. I'm finding myself considering a Parfumerie Generale purchase _unsniffed_, despite the dozens of perfumes that I already know I love. I suspect I've already "mourned" most of the perfumes that I fell in love with and didn't buy.
ReplyDeleteVanessa!
ReplyDeleteYes, I have the jumble issue, too. Even with the new breadbox, it's a little bit difficult to find the bottle that I want. But at the same time, I have a terrible craving to buy something! I suspect that the craving's actually coming from the new winter weather and is parallel with winter food cravings. But it's very dangerous. :)
I don't think that I regret the fruity thing so much that I'll be getting rid of it, but if I'd systematically ordered my wish list it probably would have been down around number, oh, thirty-four. Maybe it was end-of-summer wistfulness that led to it.