Method to my madness

On an online forum that I belong to someone asked me about my perfume shopping habiits. Do I buy a perfume by how the bottle looks? Color of the perfume in the bottle? And the questions go on.

I mainly have niche scents so I can't exactly go to the nearest mall and smell them. I tripped over the websiteluckyscent.com a year ago and it is where I get a lot of my niche scents. What is great about lucky scent is that they have samples. Granted these samples are $3(USD) and up but they are little vials of perfume and you can try them before commiting to a full bottle. I don't want to commit $100 or more on a full bottle of perfume that I am going to hate and that will sit on my dresser for 10years or more.

I am not interested what color the perfume is in the bottle. The odds I run is that the bottle itself may be tinted or I am not able to see what color the perfume is. I simply don't care about that. Like my Amouage Epic perfume, the glass bottle is green so I have no clue on what the color of the juice is. I am interested in how it smells on me.

Does the bottle interest me? It may be eyecatching and make me look at it but it does play a role. I have some perfumes that are in interesting looking bottles (Kenzo Flower). But an interesting bottle does not make for a good or great smelling perfume. Some of my favorite perfumes are in some pretty plain looking bottles. Plain bottles are not a bad thing but it is a great thing when you are packing to go on a trip. I make sure that some of my perfumes can easily be packed into my carry on bag.

The size of the bottle matters. Does it come in different sizes? If they do, what are those sizes? Some perfumes come in only one size. One size fits all does not always suit for everybody. For those loyal to one or two perfumes and never travel, it's perfectly fine. For someone like me who does travel from time to time, it does matter. With travel restrictions when you fly, the limit it 3 ounces and more often than not a large bottle of perfume is 3.4 ounces. Not everybody (including me) was born with the gift of knowing how to decant perfumes.

I look to find out what the notes of the perfume I'm thinking of buying. I can't stand the note anise of my skin. I don't like smelling like a bag of black licorise with a flower or two mixed in. Everybody has thier own preferences. Some people love vanilla in thier perfume and can't get enough but others can't stand it. I am not a fan of vanilla and really don'tlike it when it is front and center or noticeable.

The biggest factor for me more often enough is the price tag. I ask myself did I like or love the sample enough to warrant a full bottle? Is the price a little too steep for my bank account to handle? Sometimes I really love the perfume but cannot justify paying $300 and up for a perfume (I'm looking at you Agonist). I do have limitations, sometimes it can depend on the time of year and what is going on at work.

My final factor right now is how strong is the perfume? Will it make an entrance before I do? I am a light sprayer but some perfumes are super strong so a very light hand is needed. Or am I going to end up applying this through out the day? A weak perfume is hardly worth any kind of money. I view it as a waste of money. I want my perfumes to last all day.