Over the past year or two I’ve gotten far more interested in perfumes than I was at any other point in my life. I genuinely believe that this has a bit to do with aging. I remember my mother mentioning that her ability to smell seemed to be diminishing somewhat as she got older. I was a young adult at the time, so likely she was about the age I am now. In my own younger years smells could be extremely overwhelming and perfumes in particular were overwhelming and often overstimulating. It is not fun to put on a perfume and then be completely unable to concentrate on anything at all other than the way I smell. And that was often the case for me.

However, with age, I am finding that many of the perfumes I wouldn’t have even bothered to try in the past actually smell quite pleasant to me now. So over the past year or so I’ve taken the opportunity to explore that further. I’ve enjoyed trying various samples, purchasing some perfumes, and trying to hone in on the scents that I tend to love and those that tend to give me a headache or be distracting.

Since I am over a year into this process now, I have purchased a number of perfumes that I do like and am less likely to be adding little sample curations to my collection. As such, I’d like to start getting a better handle on my collection of samples and my perfume collection in general.

So, I am beginning a little project use it up for myself.

These are the items I am starting with.

Top row are the two oldest perfumes in my collection. The Ariana Grande Moonlight perfume is super close to being used up. It’s also circa 2018 now and really has little to no staying power left. I tend to wear this on days off when I just want a simple perfume, not too strong, with a scent I find enjoyable. The other is Thierry Mugler Alien. This is a far stronger perfume and a little goes a long way. I purchased this probably in 2019 and I’d like to get it finished as well. While I do enjoy the white floral combined with woodsy notes, I don’t think I would purchase a full size bottle of this. I tend to like to purchase travel sizes when I can as I do find myself “over” perfumes after a time of wearing them consistently. I like variety! So, I am looking to use up the two oldest perfumes in my collection.

I am also looking to use up sample sizes of anything I have a travel or full size of as well as a few sample sizes I am almost out of.

The first is Tom Ford Black Orchid. I received this sample, sprayed it on me, and almost immediately went back to purchase a larger bottle using a coupon I had. For me, it is just so very good. It hits on a lot of the scent profiles I enjoy-woody, white florals, vanilla, spicy, and adds one of my absolute favorites, patchouli. So, I’d like to use up the sample and be left only with my larger size bottle.

I have two Ellis Brooklyn perfumes, two samples of Bee which I also have a travel size of, and a sample of Apres which I have a travel size of. I like them both very much though there are days where Bee feels a bit too sweet and I get overwhelmed by it. But there are other days, particularly cold days, where I really love it.

And then I have 3 samples from Maison Margiela Replica line. I have samples of By the Fireplace, Whispers in the Library, and Autumn Vibes. There are only a couple uses in each of them. The only one I have a full size of is By the Fireplace. However, that’s one of my all time favorite perfumes at this point. Absolutely no reason to keep a sample size around. I would like to add Whispers in the Library to my collection but it’s harder to get my hands on, I’d need to order directly from their website. It’s on a short list of perfumes I absolutely would want to add to my collection. And then there’s Autumn Vibes. This is one where it seems like I should really like it, but I just…don’t? I mean, it’s ok but it is just not a favorite despite having so much going on I should like. I think I’d like it better with a tiny bit of sweetness added to it.

For this little use it up project of mine, I plan to do a mid-December update with monthly mid-month updates, potentially rolling in other fragrance items until I am at a point I am comfortable with my collection again. (Which sort of just means having used up the bulk of the sample perfumes.) I don’t feel an overwhelming need to go fast on this project, rather I’d like to rotate through my collection while concentrating mainly on the focus items that are in the project. I think my big approach for this upcoming month will be to finish off the replica fragrances since they are almost gone anyhow, and then rotate through the remainder. I’ll be keeping the Moonlight perfume for weekend days and days off, but I do have an entire week off this month so I’ll probably hit that perfume hard during that week in particular. It is so close to being done that I think perhaps I could also finish that one by the next update.