One perfume that satisfies, but...'fear of missing out'?

I was wondering if anybody recognizes this: I am actually fully satisfied with my Givenchy III (2007) since I own this. But I keep on searching for more, other perfumes. I guess it is that 'fear of missing out'. On the one hand, I find this annoying because I spend money on scents I could spend on this particular perfume that I know I love. On the other hand, I also like the excitement of trying new scents.

How do you reflect on your shopping behaviour when it concerns scents? (not meant to give any judgement one way or the other, just curious ).

I can relate to that. Smell is a very complex sense and experience. It can become an addiction, not only in the consumeristic sense. It isn't simply shopping addiction. It engages almost all parts of our brain and it activates all shorts of different chemicals. The experience can give a high similar to drugs. We are drug addicts more so than shopping addicts. If you are they type to get hooked on smells you want to experience more, different, more complex scents. I have no advice on how to keep this at check other than self awareness and self regulation. I constantly reflect on my shopping behavior when it comes to perfumes. I know something is wrong when the feeling of excitement of trying a new scent  is accompanied with guilt and the "promise" to myself that this will be the last bottle for a few months. If the experience of shopping for a perfume is not 100% guilt free I don't indulge. It took a bit of practice but I've managed to keep my collection small, sweet and spicy.

Thanks a lot for your reply @ThetaRole and welcome to Parfumo  

You are absolutely right about self awareness and self regulation and and I'm getting there too...slowly but surely....Good suggestion not to buy a perfume when feelings of guilt are involved, those feelings often indicate disappointment beforehand.

Lately I'm trying to sample before buying and only that already saved me from spending money and disappointment and, at the same time, it gives the pleasure of exploring scents. 

And it also is nice when perfumes stay something special instead of something we buy like groceries .

Ohh this thread is so self-confronting 😁

To be honest I don’t have a lot of expensive fragrances but I can relate so much! I have a bucketload of decants and miniatures at the moment though and even then I can’t seem to enjoy one to the fullest because I know there are others and I want to smell them all!

I can’t even buy decants guilt-free anymore so I’m really happy with threads like this. Otherwise I’d be broke already.

Decants are still life savers though.. I only buy an expensive full bottle when I ran out of a decant and I’m really sad about it and I miss the smell a lot for a longer period. Sometimes I run out, I do miss it a bit but after a week or two I pretty much forget about it.

Hi @Ceesie,

Thanks for your open and honest reply! Same here, although I don't have that many decants yet, most of the perfumes I don't wear often, are blind buys (so that's even worse!) because I started sampling just a little while ago and it is indeed life-saving. So I don't do blind buys anymore.

Another thing about trying too many scents in a short period of time, is that it seems to ruin my sense of smell;  at least, I do have the feeling it does. I experience some scents completely different after not having smelled too many other scents with different scent profiles. It's like trying perfumes in a perfumery where too many scents linger I guess and so not a good idea .

If you have a collection of 10+ bottles, the best way to fight the addiction is to buy discovery sets instead of blind buying full bottles to save money each month while still getting to try new scents.

Depends on the website, but selected decants tend to be incredibly expensive. So unless you curate a list that will satisfy your needs for at least one month, I would try to avoid impulsively handpicking your decants as well.
  

Thanks for the tip @Wusubi ! You are so right, impulsive buying can also concern decants.

The only thing with discovery sets is that they often are from one particular brand (at least as far as I know, but maybe I'm wrong?) and I would like to explore different brands. In perfumeries I often can ask for a free sample (one at the time or more when I purchase a facecream or something) but these often concern the more modern designer scents I often dislike. There are a few websites (that also have physical stores) that sell samples of niche perfumes, my next sample(s) will be from these websites or shops.

My second 'rule' for not spending too much on perfumes is that I really must be head over heels in love with the scent when buying it . 

I understand, but isn't it exciting to get to truly know a brand? They usually create the discovery sets with great care and refund your money if you end up purchasing a 50/100ml bottle.

You're either exploring a family of fragrances or you get a broader look through their catalogue with a wider variety of scents. I have bookmarked so many brands that I want to try out.

I see what you mean, but I'm not sure...For instance: I love the houses of Givenchy and Guerlain for their more classic perfumes, but I hate their newest releases. Same goes for Dior. I also don't like certain scent profiles like 'gourmand' or tea-  and vanilla forward perfumes. So I'd look for favourite scent profiles rather than for brands .

In that case it makes sense to go for a more personal approach. I don't mind being disappointed by some scents, that's part of the game. I usually try to find small brands that look intriguing. My next discovery sets will be from Andy Tauer, Francesca Bianchi and Lorenzo Pazzaglia.

I agree with Mr @Wusubi here. There are some great discovery sets that let you in on some perfumes that you would otherwise maybe completely ignore. It doesn’t cost the world either.

Hi @Ceesie, (I first put the # in front of your name instead of @, but you are not a perfume )

I don't know anymore...I'm in a complete identity crisis where it concerns perfumes  

Today I bought Chanel Coco Noir, I though I had thoroughly tested it and for quite some time too, but now that I have it, suddenly the scent is annoying me (luckily I asked for a another tester along with my purchase, so the bottle is stil unopened in the sealed box, so I can return it - asif I knew this would happen). 

Really don't know what I like anymore except for the perfumes that are on my 'I love'- shelve. 

Maybe I should take a brake from perfumes for a while and just be content with what I like and maybe these scents are just enough, at least for now. 

Could also be because it is winter...I just love the more bright and summery scents more than those warmer scents for winter...(probably because I hate winter ). So maybe just wait for spring .