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Shawn@shawnmyers

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Full bottles or decants

  • #discussion

One question I often ask myself is whats enough? I have more fragrances than I'll ever be able to finish in my life time. So why do I purchase full 100ml bottles and not consider more decants or 50ml bottles? I mean if I can purchase a 15-30 ml decant of a fragrance that will probably last at least 3 years why don't I? Why do I want to see that bottle on a shelf. Does anyone else do this and how did you break that cycle. I have definitely learned not to blind buy to me when you cross a certain price point there is no such thing as a safe blind buy.

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Comments14

  1. YadaYadaYada89@yadayadayada89

    I mostly have 100ml and bigger bottles

  2. OliveEyes@oliveeyes94

    · Edited

    Something needs to be extraordinarily in line with my tastes and fairly versatile for me to consider a full bottle nowadays. I feel my collection is not even that large, but presuming 1ml = 10 sprays, and averaging around 5 sprays a day, I have enough to last over a decade. Decants scratch the itch of wanting to experience new scents without the need to own 100s of bottles.

  3. Dulce de limón (Andy)@dulce_de_limon

    · Edited

    Exactly what you said! There's not such thing as a safe blind buy, wearing it is the best way to actually get to know a fragrance and deciding whether buying or not. My take on this is, buy a full bottle if you are absolutely certain you are going to love it and use it for years to come. A fb is a compromise to take. If I can figure out my life and myself without that scent is a nah, I'd rather get a sample or a decant. Be aware of your habits and how a perfume actually adds something to your already grown collection or not

  4. Haystack@haystack

    It's volume to price ratio for me. Decants just don't give me the value, probably the wrong logic I know but in for a penny in for a pound.

  5. Frank Intense@frankintense

    I think the art and aesthetic of full bottles adds a dose of visual depth and enjoyment, especially when side by side with other bottles. A cityscape, or mountain range, or stock market chart emerges in the shadows.

    1. Shawn@shawnmyers

      I really do like the visual of all of my bottles on a shelf. I keep decant separate

  6. Curlyhen@curlyhen

    I don’t have my bottles on display, I store them away so at least that decreases the visual drive. But it probably just depends on what makes you happy in your approach to collecting. I’ve definitely changed in the last few years as a way of managing this and preventing my collection from getting too big. I rarely buy full bottles now. FB purchases are usually the replacements of my rude or dies. I’ve learnt that I don’t need something that I love. It has to be an absolute love at first whiff, eyes roll to the back of my head love. Travels or decants are enough for me now.

    1. Shawn@shawnmyers

      I had my bottles put up for awhile and honestly not being able to see them drove me crazy. Sometime I treat it like shopping somewhere I'll stand in front of it and "sample" what I already have. That actually has stopped the buy impulse I had in the bringing. I bought a couple fragrances last week but that was the first purchase of 2026 and it was for someone else

    2. Curlyhen@curlyhen

      Replying to @shawnmyers

      I love this. I little home shopping experience 🙌🏼

  7. roofshadow

    I have to really love something to buy a full bottle of it. If it’s a strong like but I won’t wear it often, then I’ll travel size/large decant it. I like looking at the full bottles too but there’s a certain satisfaction in just having a curated collection.

    1. Shawn@shawnmyers

      Im trying to get there. I actually am perfectly happy with decants of many fragrances but if the fragrance comes from a house that I really enjoy and collect, I really like seeing the full bottle on the shelf

    2. roofshadow

      Replying to @shawnmyers

      I totally get you, I’m like this with other things I collect. It’s so good and terrible at the same time lol.

  8. victoria

    These days I mostly just buy decants because I found a Facebook group where people price their decants very fairly (similar price per mL compared to a full bottle). I’m an under-sprayer so I know I’ll never finish so many full bottles. I store my collection out of sight in a closet. It would take a veryyy cool-looking bottle for me to pick a full bottle over a decant, and of course I’d have to love the scent

  9. MariSmells@mehsmells

    I sampled a lot over the last few months and I'm happy with the full bottles I do have and enjoying the many samples and decants I have so I can learn more about how the notes interact with each other. And yes it's hard to do blind buys, especially after a certain price point. 😵‍💫

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