Help sought in making a rounded scent collection

auee1977 · Aug 28, 2009

I am very new to this "hobby", but am very much enjoying it. So far I have a collection of fragrances consisting of the following six:

Guerlain Vetiver (pre-owned purchase)

John Varvatos

Carlos Santana for Men

Azzaro Pour Homme

Etro Shal Nuur (pre-owned purchase)

YSL Rive Gauche Pour Homme

I appreciate variety as it allows me to select the fragrance based upon my mood, the weather and the occasion. I would like to add to this variety, For instance, I do not have an incense fragrance, a citrus, etc.

I have participated in the forums (but add my comments only when I have personal knowledge about the topic) and am very impressed with the knowledge and experience demonstrated by my fellow members. I am therefore asking for assistance in filling in those scent families which I do not have represented in my current collection.

I am a value-oriented person. I know that there are "niche" and other fragrances that are expensive. They may be fantastic, such as the Creeds, C&Ss, Penhaligons (sp) and highly praised by many members, but they are not for me. I plan on spending no more that $50.00 per fragrance through the many online discount vendors and members who are selling excess fragrances.

Also I am interested in trying several specific fragrances, but am not sure that one or more will add to the variety of my collection, They are:

Guerlain L'Instant de Guerlain pour Homme

Boucheron L'Instant de Guerlain pour Homme

Caron Number 3 / Le 3me Homme / The Third Man

Hermès Eau d'Hermès

Lalique Eau de Lalique

Gendarme Gendarme

OK, gents, where am I going wrong, what is missing, and what should I be looking for to get a more well rounded collection?

As always, your help and advise is very much appreciated and certainly not taken for granted.

David

The Knize · Aug 28, 2009

I have no idea because I do not know most of the scents you have or the ones you are looking at, and I am not very good at categorizing scents anyway, but I have an idea. I am too lazy to check this out myself so I apologize what you have and are thinking about does not match up with what he has, but Chuck over at badgerdecants sells sample sets of scents intended to give a good overview of scent categories--say lavander (to me you have great lavander in Azzaro) or leather. I think Perfurmed Court may do similar sets of samples.

I am not saying buy them, but rather see what is listed under each category and see where the ones you have and the ones you are interested in fall, and that may help you get an idea as to how to create variety in your collection. You can of course also plow through the basenotes scent descriptions, but for some reason I can never figure out what something is going to smell like from Basenotes's descriptions.

I would think that virtually any Caron would add variety to any collection. There are a ton of citrus type scents out there. When you say "incense" are you thinking sandalwood, or oriental, or something truly unusual and incense-like such as C&S 88 and/or Frankensense and Myrhh? There are lots of orientals and lots of sandalwoods, but I do not know as many incense edts.

And, by the way, you should be forewarned that I really do not know all that much. Scents are hard to get a handle on. Sounds like I feel about the same as you do as to having a variety. Looks like you have nice collection. As far costs, I generally find that even a 1/2 oz sample of a particular fragnance is about all I really need. No matter how expensive the retail is on a full-size bottle, if you can get a fairly priced decant, you are not likely to break the bank.

Storm · Aug 29, 2009

"Collection" implies you want to put together an awesome impression of value and rarity. A Star Wars Collection is one that is worth something and retains value and can impress friends when you show them. Is this what you're asking?

OTOH, if you're looking to experience "one of each" as you dive into this fun, gratifying and (let's face it) expensive hobby, I'd strongly suggest you shop on Amazon for samples and The Perfumed Court for decants. Find a scent you like and inquire what might be similar. WHY do you like that scent? Find others that have the similar notes.

Just getting "one of each" decants of (for example) Creed scents from TPC in the small $3 decants can cost you over $150. And that excludes the many MANY other quality scents out there from places like Penhaligon, Guerlain, C&S, etc.

Research, sample, smell, spend.

Emmett · Aug 29, 2009

cstrother said:
I have no idea because I do not know most of the scents you have or the ones you are looking at, and I am not very good at categorizing scents anyway, but I have an idea. I am too lazy to check this out myself so I apologize what you have and are thinking about does not match up with what he has, but Chuck over at badgerdecants sells sample sets of scents intended to give a good overview of scent categories--say lavander (to me you have great lavander in Azzaro) or leather. I think Perfurmed Court may do similar sets of samples.

I am not saying buy them, but rather see what is listed under each category and see where the ones you have and the ones you are interested in fall, and that may help you get an idea as to how to create variety in your collection. You can of course also plow through the basenotes scent descriptions, but for some reason I can never figure out what something is going to smell like from Basenotes's descriptions.

I would think that virtually any Caron would add variety to any collection. There are a ton of citrus type scents out there. When you say "incense" are you thinking sandalwood, or oriental, or something truly unusual and incense-like such as C&S 88 and/or Frankensense and Myrhh? There are lots of orientals and lots of sandalwoods, but I do not know as many incense edts.

And, by the way, you should be forewarned that I really do not know all that much. Scents are hard to get a handle on. Sounds like I feel about the same as you do as to having a variety. Looks like you have nice collection. As far costs, I generally find that even a 1/2 oz sample of a particular fragnance is about all I really need. No matter how expensive the retail is on a full-size bottle, if you can get a fairly priced decant, you are not likely to break the bank.

I know this keeps getting asked, but what is Chuck's status as of now? I PMed and emailed him a week ago and have yet to get a reply. I don't want to bug the guy if he's not currently open for business.

tsmba · Aug 29, 2009

The stock answer is to pursue scents that you enjoy, Decants are available from many sources. Depending on where you live, you may have local fragrance counters that can be helpful. Personally, I've found The Perfumed Court to be invaluable, especially their search functions that break down products by scent notes.
As you gain knowledge you can tailor your collection to meet your needs. I accumulated far more bottles than I need or want because I wasn't clear about what I wanted. Ideally, a dozen scents is probably as much as I'd like to choose from: a couple for different seasons or moods. I've been trying different scents awhile, but really don't care to be the guy who always is wearing something different.

Scentronic · Aug 29, 2009

Go check out the forums and reviews at Basenotes.net

The Knize · Aug 29, 2009

Emmett said:
I know this keeps getting asked, but what is Chuck's status as of now? I PMed and emailed him a week ago and have yet to get a reply. I don't want to bug the guy if he's not currently open for business.

No idea, frankly. Radio silence as far as I know. He has disappeared from view for shorter periods in the past, and has returned full force. But has not seemed to this time. Sorry if I mislead anyone!

Chuck, if you are out there, phone home. We miss you a bunch!

jakespoppy · Aug 29, 2009

I've tried several times over the last few weeks to pm Rorschuck, and again just before typing this, and each time his "mailbox" for pm's is full and I can't send him a pm.

I'm in the process right now of getting some decants from a fellow on basenotes who tsmba recommended by the computer name of "mudassir". I'm very pleased so far with his very quick responsiveness, his prices seem good, and I like knowing that tsmba has had good transactions with him. I'll post back when I get my decants, but so far this looks like a good source.

Emmett · Aug 29, 2009

Thanks for the lead, Jake.

Scentronic · Aug 29, 2009

I know I'm not the only fragrance collector that sort of backs off during the summer and doesn't go online as much. I haven't been to Basenotes in over a month. I'm sure Rorschuck will be back soon! I know I'm starting to get a craving...

tsmba · Aug 30, 2009

I gave up on him, too. I got interested when he was having the "Creed Blowout" back in June. While I got a couple responses to lead-up questions, when I actually attempted top order, I got no reply. After a couple weeks, I re-sent the order....that also went unanswered. I saw posts people made stating he had health problems, so I figured it best to wait until he reappeared.
I also did his subscription process for newsletters and never had a response.

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Help sought in making a rounded scent collection

auee1977

The Knize

Storm

Emmett

tsmba

Scentronic

The Knize

jakespoppy

Emmett

Scentronic

tsmba

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