People who don't like perfume

It's that time of year where I seriously start browsing perfume websites. I off and on browse Luckyscent and the like but usually, I seriously start browsing those sites. Christmas is over and I have other financial obligations that don't involve perfume. 

Yes, I did use some of my Ulta rewards points for a bottle of no 5 edt and Estee Lauder Pleasures. That's what can happen when one does bank rewards. I still have a decent amount of points left but I want to save those.

Inevitably, I run into people who sneer at my hobby or anyone in general that likes and wears perfume. Most of them say that soap, water and deodorant are sufficient. Those are the type that don't realize that soaps, deodorant and lotions have some kind of scent to them even if they say fragrance free.I understand that perfume isn't a substitute for not bathing. And there isn't an excuse for not bathing and think that perfume will cover that up. For those who sneer, I will keep wearing and buying perfume even though I do shower and wear clean clothes every day. So please stop thinking that people wear perfume are just covering up their funk after not bathing for a week. I know what people smell like when they haven't bathed in a week. I wear perfume because I enjoy it and let me enjoy it in peace.
 

Perfume Going Back in Time

Sometimes I get those thoughts of what would I do differently if I went back in time. This is one of those times, especially with money and perfume.

If I could go back in time, about 13 years, there are things that I would do differently. The first thing that I would do is not go applying and getting approved for a million credit cards. That led me to getting quite a few bottles that I didn't like or outright hate. Hey, you have $300 on a credit card to use, let's buy a perfume! was kind of the rationale for me. But that hasn't worked well. If I could go back in time, I would have limited myself to 2 credit cards.

By only having 2 credit cards, I would have been forced into being more sniper like with the perfume buying and not wasting so much on things that I hated. There still would have been perfumes that I loved. The ones that I would have bought sooner or later would have been Lyric, Epic, Chanel no 5 in various forms and boatloads of vintage Bal a Versailles. Maybe a smidgen of Deneuve, Pleasures and Mitsouko thrown in. I think that my perfume collection would be much smaller than it is today. 

I do think with less temptation, my candle collection would be much smaller than it is today. I have over 40 candles and people in my household that think my perfume collection is bad enough and really hate the candles. The people in my household think that the candles are either too strong or just don't smell good. Maybe when the weather warms up as stays warm, I can have the windows open and burn my candles. Since it is cold and the windows are closed, I have a hard time with being able to get away with having a lit candle. When I do get to have a candle lit, everyone has to be out of the house and be out of the house for a few hours. Since most family members are out of the house, I have a candle going. Let's hope that I can continue to have this candle going for a while.
 

Found the Bottle

 Remember last week, I was shuffling around some perfume bottles and doing some dusting? Well, I shuffled around some more stuff and was actually able to find my bottle of Nasomatto Nuda and that was after I had to throw out a few dabber minis and a couple bottles that evaporated.

The couple bottles/minis that evaporated were no big loss to me, they were cheap as cheap could get. I didn't get them for free but insanely dirt cheap. Sometimes I do have to wonder about bottle designs. My bottle of the original Lolita Lempicka has evaporated to where only 1/4 of the perfume remains. The ones that were empty and thrown out due to evaporation were kind of strangely shaped as well. So I am thinking that the designers are not thinking things through with the bottles and spray mechanisms. For crying out loud, I don't want to pitch perfume bottles due to the perfume evaporating, I want the perfume to actually be used up and then throw the bottle away. This is probably the biggest issue when there is a large collection.

But while I was shuffling some stuff around, I had found my bottle of Jubilation 25 and naturally had to pull that one out and wear it. I think that I am head over heels in love with Jubilation 25. But with the current issues with Amouage, I hope that I am not so head over heels in love, I can let it go when I finish the bottle and that is if I actually finish the bottle first.

Dusting and Reshuffling

After my doctor's appointment yesterday, I got kind of bored and wasn't able to focus on too much. The news at my doctor's appointment was good and that I can learn how to drive.

Having epilepsy isn't always that fun. I have spent one too many years trying all different medications until we found one that worked and the right dosage. Since I have been under control for a while, I can now learn how to drive and to me that means freedom. The state of Ohio has certain requirements when it comes to epilepsy and driving. I must be seizure free for at least 6 months and must get a doctor's release. The doctor's release means that I can be counted on complying with my treatment plan. So I won't be so dependent on someone else taking me places and I won't be wasting money on shipping fees for things that I need and don't have a ride for the store.

But after yesterday's doctor's appointment, I was a little bored and couldn't focus on too much. There was nothing on TV that was catching my interest and wasn't game for a movie.I took a look at my room and was bothered by the dust on my dressers. I have to idea how my house gets so dusty but it does. My bedroom was the only thing that really needed to be dusted. All that dust was a little grosser than I thought. The smallest swipe was a bunch of dust that I couldn't see and it seemed thicker that I thought. But by moving stuff around and cleaning it up, that meant that I could reorganize things to where it made the most sense. That meant that I had a little more room and it allowed me to really plan the order that I wanted to burn my candles. 

When you have around 50 plus candles, space becomes limited. My 3 wick candles have taken up the most space and I need to lay off the 3 wicks and probably need to focus more on the single wick candles. That means it will be easier on my wallet if I mostly go the single wick route instead of the 3 wick route. This won't mean that I won't be buying 3 wicks, I will be buying less of them. I am curbing that candle and perfume buying in general. With prices going up on everything and I mean, everything. Yes, I still want that bottle of Gris Charnel but I can't go and get it since I am getting that Afterpay balance down.
 

It's the New Year

It's the new year and haven't been motivated to do any kind of blogging. Dealing with a relative with dementia and working on top of a job doesn't leave a lot of time to just sit down to enjoy anything.

Last week, I spent some time rearranging the perfume on my dresser. Putting away the ones that I don't really wear at this point and pulling out ones that I haven't worn in quite a while. I had put away most of my spring/summer stuff and pulled out more of the fall/winter stuff.

I didn't spend tons of time doing the whole going through my whole collection because it was 11 at night and I didn't want to pull everything out of my closet. What I really wanted to find was my bottle of Ubar and one of my bottles of Nasomatto Nuda. I know they are there but cleaning out my closet isn't high on the priority list and not at 11 at night.

What really got my heart going is pulling out some vintage Mitsouko and Shalimar. I haven't worn tons of either in forever and I really have to rectify that. I also managed to find Gap Dream. Now way back, some time in the 90's, Gap had released their line up of perfume. I can't remember the full line up but I remember Dream being one and Grass was the other popular one. After going on the Gap website, I can't find either one and I am not often in Gap and wouldn't be able to tell you if they are sold in stores. So I am going to behave as if they have been discontinued for years. I am not going to go back to scouring E-bay at this point, looking for a bottle and spending ridiculous amounts of cash for a partial bottle. I have already done that crap and not so willing to be sucked down that rabbit hole again. But talk about blast from the past with Gap Dream.

I am working on being more frugal and with grocery prices being the way they are, E-bay isn't a great option. Any kind of window browsing isn't a good idea. I spent a little too much money with the Bath and Body Works semi annual sale and I do really have to hold off on the frivolous spending. It's hard but when times are tough, cuts got to be made somewhere. Now I am trying to hang on to the whole thing of the Sephora spring sale and the only thing I want is the Narscio Rodriguez for her perfume and that's all I want right now.