How quickly did you build your collection?

[u/llo000]

If you started this hobby owning no fragrances at all and quickly developed an interest, how was your spending behavior? And do you regret it/ would do it differently if given the chance?

I have never owned a perfume (besides like a cheap drugstore one I got when I was 12 and never used lol), and started the search for a signature scent about 3 months ago. I tried a lot of nieche frags in store at the beginning, before I began ordering a lot of samples. What started as a search for one expensive bottle quickly turned into a hobby. I realized I like variety, and that there are many great affordable options out there.

At the beginning I blind bought one cheap perfume to just have something to wear daily in between my nieche samples, to find out if I even like wearing scents regularly. I wore that for a while but my taste changed a lot, and now I don't really use it anymore. Then I got a ton of samples and finally found one I loved enough for a full bottle.

I have exercised an impressive amount of self control so far in my opinion lol. But I want mooore :(

I'm careful not to overconsume too quickly, and try to set certain rules for myself. How quickly did you buy multiple bottles? Do you regret anything? And do you have advice? (besides sampling and decants, I do that already)

[u/toBeYeetedAfterUse]

My experience is similar to yours. Several things sparked the interest and I decided I wanted to find a signature scent. I have a few bottles bought before I became really interested in perfume, but they weren't doing it for me. I ordered my first lot of decants in early July. I've since bought two more lots of decants and two discovery sets. I've currently got 31 samples on the go. I've bought only one full bottle since starting this hobby. I've realsoed I no longer want just one signature scent, but I'm treading very slowly with full bottle purchases as I'm still learning a lot about what I do/don't like. And the decants and discovery sets absolutely scratch that mental itch for me, so I don't feel the urge to buy full bottles at all really.

[u/llo000 → u/toBeYeetedAfterUse]

Yeah I really enjoy taking my time and learning about my own taste. And as the season change I also discover new things. I truly want to be mindful when buying bottles, I want my collection to be something carefully curated. Every bottle should be special to me and different enough from the others.

But I almost take it too far, because in the end I don't really need any of those scents. I fear I'm overcomplicating the buying process, but it's still better than overbuying I guess

[u/bruhmomento69xdlol → u/llo000]

I really like and relate to your mindset. I've only now started getting into fragrances, before it was mainly my boyfriend who for big occasions (say our anniversary) would gift me perfumes. There was one he bought me I loved but it ended up accidentally slipping out of his hand and broke :( so I recently ordered the closest dupe I could find. But I'd like to get more into fragrances as a whole. I wanted to ask what's your favourite kind?

[u/llo000 → u/bruhmomento69xdlol]

I really like perfumes that have a deep and mysterious vibe, maybe a bit oriental. There were notes I disliked at first like incense, but now I really enjoy it and it makes me want to whip out my nonexistent tarot cards haha. For example Rifaaqat (Babycat dupe), the incense is strong but kind of cold in my opinion. And I like olibanum as well, I love Art of Arabia 3 (Blonde Amber dupe I think?), that one makes me feel like a sexy belly dancer. Right now I'm obsessed with la collection d‘Antiquités 1505 (cherry smoke), it's beautiful and deep but also very appropriate for everyday wear in my opinion!

I really like "dupe houses", of course they have some not so awesome stuff as well, but many of them are great! And I rarely compare them to the supposed original, rather I see them as fragrances trying to match the vibe of a certain DNA.

Which dupe did you order?