Maybe it’s my interest in perfume, or maybe it’s plain old nosiness, but in movies and interior design magazine spreads, I look first for the perfume. I love to see how other people live with their bottles of fragrance. For that reason, I thought it would be fun to write an occasional series of posts showing real life perfume collections. I’ll kick it off with mine.
The cabinet: I store my perfume in a simple wooden cabinet against an interior wall in my home office. I’d bought a massive old French armoire for my perfume collection, but I couldn’t fit it through the office door, so I ended up swapping the armoire with the cabinet that once held my stereo. Consequently, my perfume cabinet doesn’t have a back, since I took it out years ago to make room for the stereo’s cords. To minimize the chance that I’ll knock perfume bottles out the back, I put the bottles in shoeboxes.
Organization: My samples are in lidded plastic shoeboxes at the cabinet's bottom and roughly alphabetized, but that’s it for organization. I shove decants into a 1950s ceramic catch-all that came with the lamp on my desk. I also have bowls of samples on my dresser, desk, and on top of the perfume cabinet. As for the bottles, they’re stored higgledy-piggledy. (Not long ago I stumbled over a decant of Chanel Bois des Iles I’d forgotten I had, and it was like Christmas.) I have dreams of sorting them by season or fragrance family someday. On my dresser I keep a few bottles, including Parfums DelRae Mythique, Amouage Beloved in its box, and decants of vintage Lanvin Arpège, Miss Dior, Vol de Nuit Eau de Toilette, and Diorling for easy access. I also have some Santa Maria Novella Acqua di Colonia on the dresser for spraying my mattress between sheet changes. A bottle of Jean Naté is in the refrigerator door next to the maple syrup.
The perfume: My prize bottles are vintage Diorling, Dioressence, Millot Crêpe de Chine extrait, vintage Guerlain Shalimar extrait, Caron Alpona, Vero Profumo Onda extrait, Xerjoff Irisss, a few Amouages, and my 16-ounce jug of vintage Miss Dior. I have no idea how many bottles of perfume I have, and that's on purpose. I’m afraid to count. (I did prune a good 20 bottles from my collection last fall, though.)
Is this sort of feature interesting to you? Whose perfume collection would you really love to see?
LOVE LOVE LOVE this post! Fascinating!
I’m glad you like it! Looking at the photos reminds me what I slob I am. Maybe they’ll inspire me to actually get organized.
Oh, child…. if THAT is slobbery, I do not even want toknow what category I fall under.
Perhaps one not yet known to mankind.
Thank goodness the photo didn’t show the massive dust bunnies populating under the cabinet.
You have room for dust bunnies under your cabinet!?!?
That’s where I hide my back up bottles! That is prime (perfume) real estate.
I do, in fact, also have an extra shoebox down there with a few bottles in it…
I’m with you, Jolie…..
my “system” – if that’s what one would call it – is pure madness! LOL!
🙂
Yes! More!
Great! I’ll try to dig up some willing participants!
Interesting post…I always enjoy eyeing the collections of others…..I would be interested in seeing Robin’s collection.
Hmm. Are you listening, Robin?
Ha, no…
Love love LOOOOOVE this post!And the subject matter!I love peeking into other perfumistas’ collections!!Love your bottle of Ubar!I recently saw a pic of a part of Kilian Hennessy’s personal collection!It was fascinating!I would love to see if Serge Lutens has a collection,or only vats of Cuir Mauresque at home?Lol!And of course I would love to see all my favorite bloggers’ collections as well!(Robin/the NST crew/Victoria at BdJ,Olfactoria,Candy Perfume Boy,Persolaise(this should be an interesting one!)….so many blogs I adore!!).I have seen most of my besties’ collections,Merlin’s collection is pretty cool!MORE OF THIS!!
I’m so glad you like the post! It sounds like you’re just as curious a person as I am about other people’s perfume. I’ll see what I can do about rustling up some collections to photograph.
Awesome!It can only be fun!More more MORE!;-))
I’ll do my best!
What a fun post!
So glad you liked it!
Angela – this is so interesting. Ditto on everything that people are saying above. I am lucky for the most part that I have this massive dresser that I keep the bulk of my frags in, but I realized about 2 years ago, that the drawers were getting heavy and dragging on their runners, so I had to spread things out. I have my frags in two different dressers, and back up bottles in a storage box in a closet. I hate having to accommodate really tall bottles! It’s like the “oversize shelving” section of the library. I have to keep them all by themselves. For the most part I have all my houses together. I have a cupboard that would be totally awesome for storing all my frags together, but it’s way too big to fit in my bedroom, unless I got rid of all our books and other furniture!!!
It sounds like you would be a good subject for this series!
agree… I for one would like a peek at AnnS’s collection!
It sounds more likely than a peek at Robin’s collection!
If I can get a pix loaded, then I’ll do it!
YES YES YES!
That’s fabulous! Let’s get in touch. We can talk through a few questions, kind of like I have this post set up, and take it from there!
OK – FUN!!
Hurray Ann!
Oversize shelving! That just makes me ridiculously happy.
Glad I can oblige!!
Shoeboxes? Angela, dahling, I thought you would have at least kept samples in oversized martini glasses placed about the home for guests. But an elegant collection, nonetheless.
My housekeeping skills are a little “bohemian” for that. But I do keep my earrings in a cocktail glass! The rim is perfect for dangling earrings, and the bowl holds the earrings with posts.
I like that – bohemian. My current status is bohemian w/ toys (everywhere).
I’ve been using “bohemian” for a while now. It sounds so much nicer than “messy”! I have a friend who similarly describes her cooking as “rustic.”
My husband and I say that our house reflects our interests and our priorities. That explains everything 🙂
Thank you – from now on that’s going to be my mission statement, too.
Well put!
Lol! Love it!
I’d answer your questions, but I’m still gobsmacked by the 16 oz (SIXTEEN OUNCES!) of vintage Miss Dior.
Isn’t that amazing? My heart swells with joy just to look at it.
I, too, gulped at that vintage Miss Dior and didn’t need to see anything else. My heart swells with envy and lust just to look at it!
If the house caught fire, I’d grab the pets, my laptop, and that bottle of Miss Dior. No kidding.
I am far more interested in the collections of mere mortals than celebrities and other wealthy folks. Not sure why.
I’d love to see each and everyone of the NST readers’ collections, as well as all the contributors, and the other perfume bloggers, too.
I agree! I would love to see pictures of everyone’s collections!
Someone will have to start a tumblr of them!
I’m glad that the collections of regular folk interest you, because that’s likely all I’ll be able to scare up!
That would be a lot of fun!
And Angela, I would love to spend an hour or two sifting through your collection in person!
I wish I could have a giant party and invite everyone!
Now that’s one party I would hop on the next plane to be a part of!
Great! I’ll do it right after the Queen gives me permission to talk to Kate Middleton about her perfume collection.
Lol! 🙂
Let me know if you need a house sitter, Angela 😉
I guess I’m nosey, too, because I enjoy looking at pictures of other people’s collections. I get a vicarious thrill out of it, too.
It’s just so interesting! I swear I spent five minutes the other day trying to figure which Diptyque it was in a photo of someone’s bathroom in a magazine.
Angela,
I absolutely loved this feature! It has me thinking now that I really need to get some sort of system going for my fragrances. Is it bad to say that I want to start shopping for some sort of “perfume cabinet” and ask someone to get it for me for Christmas? Thanks for allowing us to see your system for fragrances and showing us all the exquisite fragrances you have. I love what you did with the Jean Nate.
I would love to see Robin’s and the rest of the crew of NST’s fragrance collection.
I also would love to see the fragrance collections of certain perfumers like Aerin Lauder, Jo Malone, Tom Ford, and Christine Nagel. I would want to see if they only wear their line or creations or do they have others that they love.
I would love to see Kate Middleton’s, The Duchess of Cambridge, collection.
Hey, if I ever get to see Kate Middleton’s collection, you can bet that you’ll read about it! (Can you imagine?)
Great! I have always had a fascination with the Royal Family. I was a huge fan of Princess Diana. Everything about her was so classy. What a collection she probably had as well!!!!!
I do know for a fact that Kate Middleton is a huge Jo Malone fan as well. She had JM candles everywhere for her wedding. And, if memory serves me correctly, she gave some away to her guests!
I read somewhere that Lady Di like Diorissimo, which seems just perfect for her.
Am I totally wrong? I heard that the Duchess of Cambridge only likes Colonia and wore Illluminum for her wedding. Please tell me I am totally misinformed! She has so much taste and class I’d love to know she’s a secret fragrance hound!
Perhaps if she lets me near her perfume at all, I could leave a few carefully selected samples for her consideration…
I went to a JM breakfast at Neiman’s a few months ago and when we got to talking about the candles, it was discussed that she used Orange Blossom, Grapefruit, and the Lime Basil and Mandarin to scent the inside of the Abbey ( stated that these 3 fragrances are her favorite ). I was like a moth to a flame when this wedding happened! LOL!
Nice insight!
This is fun! I’m trying to figure out which ones I can tell by sight. I spy Halston…
I would love to have seen Josephine Baker’s or Romy Schneiders collection (Rest In Peace loves!) but for people still with us I would go with Jane Fonda’s or all the supermodels from the 90’s since I wonder if they got free bottles of all the perfume ads they did!
*Maria Callas for another historical diva who probably had an amazing collection!
She is such a fascinating person. It seems like she’d be a natural for Fracas!
Oh, Jane Fonda is a good one! Mostly because I have no idea what I’d find there.
Great article, and the voyeur in me is always curious about other people’s fragrance collections.
I use those stamped serving trays with ‘gallery’ edges to store most of my full bottles, although I also have to use not one but two built-in medicine cabinets to store some of the more precious ones or the ones that I don’t reach for as often.
Samples are in a small stamped tray and a ceramic dish behind my desk, and for shame, they are exposed to light.
Most of my bottles are downstairs and get very little light exposure, and while I like the thought of storing them in a refrigerator, I would never co-mingle food and perfume as the perfume may ruin the taste of anything stored with it.
Looking forward to pictures of collections somewhere if it ever gets to that point! 🙂
Oh, it sounds like your collection would be gorgeous, with all those trays. You’ve inspired me to look for trays with galley edges, too, to replace my sad shoeboxes.
I have both round and oval versions, most of them can be found at antique shops quite easily and are relatively inexpensive.
I have an oval one on my buffet to hold liquor bottles, so I know just the type of tray you’re talking about. I was lucky enough to find mine at Goodwill. Thank you for the suggestion!
Oooh, I use mirrored vanity trays for my bottles! There is something intrinsically elegant about a tray, I think.
Well, mine are probably tacky… gold metal and some are “jewelled” but I think they look nice!
I love that sort of thing! I keep a tiny stash of advil in my purse in an old pill box with a rhinestone poodle on it. Same idea.
Exactly, and I am one that likes all the little details to be fun, even fetching up an Advil, right?
A little frisson of beauty and charm whenever possible, why not?
Exactly!
A rhinestone poodle, you say? You have fabulous taste in accessories.
It is my goal to rival Zsa Zsa Gabor.
I LOVE this! More, please!
I’m currently highly disorganized and personally not comfortable with being that way. I simply don’t like having extra stuff around me that I don’t use. I can never ignore it, and as juicejones has said, it adds up to “tangible chatter.” My Sample Sea is actually more like a gyre, replete with plastic bags and boxes, sets and full bottles, much of it tossed into a closet (well, actually 3 closets. Hefty bags are involved.) I have finally realized that seriously exploring the world of retail anything is tantamount to walking through the Metropolitan Museum and saying “I want that.” The goal of reaching the point where it’s enough is always the same distance ahead. You proceed five feet, and your goal remains at five feet ahead of you. In the world of fragrance, there’s so much out there that beckons, but I’m just getting a grasp on what I want to pursue, what I want to hold on to, and what I want to let go of.
I just went to CVS and while checking out, I sniffed and said to the friendly and beleaguered SA I frequently encounter “Something smells wonderful! Are you wearing perfume?” She said yes, and when questioned said “it’s something Chanel, there’s a circle on the box.” I told her I love perfume, and we had a chat about how expensive it can be. So yippee!, I can now winnow some things out and I’m really looking forward to bringing her some stuff that doesn’t get appreciated here at home, and there are a few Chanels for her. My hope is that eventually I’ll have a collection of things that I absolutely adore without reservation.
I love your comparison of a collecting journey as always being “five feet ahead.” And I also love your dedication to trimming your collection to something meaningful and manageable for you–a very worthy goal, and one I aspire to as well.
Absolutely a gorgeous little fun read…love the pictures and I like that u found a bottle of Bois des Iles…one of my all time fave perfumes 🙂
I would love to se Robin and Jessica’s perfume cabinets 😀 I know Robin said no, but if we are more to beg her, maybe she will do it? 😀
She doesn’t strike me as very susceptible to begging, but you never know! I’ll ask Jessica what she thinks of a little photo shoot and Q&A.
Then I won’t beg 😉
Hopefully Jessica is up for a fun little photo shoot and Q&A 😀
We’ll soon know!
I’ll need to do a little tidying first, but I’m game. 😉
Excellent! I’d love to see it! You should write the post yourself.
I love this project! My perfume is in a small white cabinet beside my bed. Which might house about one shelf of Angela’s, I think. It’s full enough that I need to sell or get rid of some bottles. I won’t let myself buy a bigger cabinet to keep myself in line.
My samples are in a large box printed with a Van Gogh painting on my nightstand. They have no organizational scheme.
I want to see Catherine Denevue’s perfume collection.
You’re smart to find a way to limit yourself! I love the idea of seeing Catherine Deneuve’s collection. I know she loves fragrance. I bet her perfume could tell stories.
I used a dresser drawer then got boxes that close from Ross and keep in closet. It stays very cool in there during winter but gets warm in the summer, more warm than I’d want it to be. I recently put a vintage in the fridge…..but now I am thinking to use the bottom drawer to store all of them, idk. It’s supposed to be for veggies or whatever..but who needs those? LOL Some people use wine fridges or mini fridges which I have also thought about getting, idk.
I’ve thought of the wine fridge option, too, but my tiny house won’t hold much more. But I can tell you with 100% certainty that if you did fill the produce drawer with perfume, you wouldn’t be the first!
I did used to use the crisper drawer, then I got fancy and bought myself a mini fridge. Love it! My creams and delicate perfumes are safe.
And you don’t have to worry about them! So nice.
Thank you for sharing! I’m always interested in what people actually buy and actually wear. And I’m jealous of your Irisss.
I nominate Courtney Love and austenfan 🙂
Oh, nice choices! I don’t have any “ins” with Courtney, but maybe austenfan could be persuaded…?
I hope so (Persuasion and all would fit)… and that austenfan would include pics of her soaps, and teas! But one can ask too much I guess 😉
Why not ask? Maybe she’ll show her Sense and Sensibility and say yes!
Looking at all those bottles just makes me want to start sniffing! If I had any perfumista friends I’d definitely embarrass myself poking around in their collection. My own collection is a sad assortment of rollerballs, mini bottles, and an embarrassing amount of samples stuffed in a drawer. Sometimes I dream about getting a beautiful old armoire to display everything in, but, honestly, I’d rather spend the money on more perfume!
You make such a good point about trading money spent on storage for money on actual perfume!
Fascinating! Your post, Angela, gave me permission to add to my collection and to acquire another piece of furniture. I would be equally fascinated to read about others’ collections. Thank you!
If you require any further permission, such as, say, permission to eat a lot of macaroni and cheese or adopt a shelter pet, you just let me know!
I think it would be fun to see people’s collections. I got my collection semi-organized when I was cleaning out my bedroom closet a little while back. I have an IKEA bookcase (one with deep square shelves) that I keep in the closet for the collection. This way the only real light exposure they get is the closet light, and the shelves are opposite my clothes, so when I’m deciding what to wear in the morning, I can just turn around and decide on perfume too.
That’s such a great idea. I wish I could empty this kind of small closet in the hall to use to store my frags. It would be perfect. If only I didn’t need a pantry!
I know. If only I didn’t need sheets and towels.
Oh, nice! I love the idea of coordinating fragrance with outfits. I know everyone doesn’t agree, but to me, certain perfumes really do demand particular dresses.
Absolutely! 🙂
And certain dresses demand certain perfumes!
Lol I realize I probably made myself sound way more coordinated than I actually am. I do sometimes match my perfume to my clothes, but I can’t say that they always have much to do with each other, despite the proximity.
But at least you think of it!
Angela, thank you so much for a window into your personal perfumery! I’m fascinated by what other people have actually invested in, and by seeing which bottles have been most ‘loved’! I also get this rush of pleasure from recognizing a bottle – especially if it’s one I have too 😀 It’s like SNAP! And, even just recognizing a bottle I’v seen in a shop, and which houses a scent I am acquainted with, feels good.
If any of the NST writers are uncomfortable with sharing pics of their entire collections, but are happy to just show interesting portions, that would be just as fascinating 🙂
I have ALL my shoes scattered around my room as I put cooler boxes at the bottom of my wardrobe (where the shoes went) and am storing my fumes in those.
Hey, priorities! After all, those shoes aren’t going to be damaged by light or heat.
Ha ha, exactly! Although I might get damaged by falling over them 🙂
But you’ll sure smell great as they haul you off in the ambulance!
I am now humming an entirely out of tune rendition of ‘always look on the bright side of…’!
I deliberately keep my collectoin in a state of mild disorganisation. I have to be so organised for work. My perfume collection is where I thumb my nose at categories and classifications and whatever.
But I’ve been thinking that one day I’ll haul off the shelf all my Georges Simenon novels and put the titles into a spreadsheet. I need to know what I already have, especially because a lot of them get published in omnibus editions, and I’m starting to get duplications. I don’t mind being nerdy in this direction. Perfume – no. 🙂
I love it! Perfume is where you let yourself loose. (I adore Simenon. The old paperbacks are getting hard to find, too.)
The old green Penguins, yes. Maybe they are not so common in the US anyway? In Australia they still around but are getting slowly rarer. My first Simenons were a bunch of green Penguin Maigrets bought at a charity sale for a dollar each. They had such a peculiar smell, bookish, but mustier, weirder. I loved it! So appropriate for Simenon novels because his novels are full of scents: wet streets, damp wool overcoats, pipe smoke (urk!), beer, cheap perfume, Mme Maigret’s cooking …
I love this comment! I smelled my way right through it.
Hey, Angela, come on over to my house–I’m in Portland!
Are you willing to do a little show-and-tell with your perfume collection? If so, let’s talk!
I have no perfume secrets–email me @ foxbins at a oh ell dawt com. Marjorie Rose, you come too!
Great! You’ll be hearing from me.
Can I come over, too? 😉 When you snoop in person, you get a chance at a sniff along the way. . . 😀
Do you know foxbins, by chance?
No–she and I have discussed making a pilgrimage to Our Lady some time, but haven’t had a chance to meet face to face, yet. (Not that it prevents me from trying to insinuate myself. 😉 )
I love seeing other people’s collections. Mine is not that organized. I keep saying I’m going to create a system but it never happens. Other than a rough sorting of my samples by vintage, mainstream, and niche, there’s no rhyme or reason. My full bottles are mostly on a small bookcase. Some are in decorative boxes but if I can’t see them I don’t use them.
I’m going to look forward to peeking at how other folks keep their perfumes.
I really would like to get better organized, too. Maybe these posts will inspire me to do more than just talk about it!
Angie, any chance you’re in contact with Daisy? I’ve wondered what she’s been up to (and how mighty her collection)?
I’ve seen a few photos of her collection, and it’s magnificent and beautifully arranged. I bet I could get in touch with her and see if she’s open to an interview!
Well, YOURS is the collection I’ve wanted to see most! Now, a picture of that 16-oz jug (really?!) of Miss Dior would be warmly received.
My collection is probably a bit of a disappointment! Maybe I should change my gravatar to my whoppin’ bottle o’ Miss Dior.
Not at all disappointing – it merits peaceful contemplation.
I am a super nosy person and love seeing into the lives of other people. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! It sounds like we’re kindred spirits.
Wonderful post! I love this computerized perfume voyeureism and would love to see more. My collection is woefully small in comparison and consists mostly of samples. Please keep this feature going so I can show my husband and say, “see, I don’t have that much perfume!” Also, he has offered to build me a perfume storage cabinet and I need ideas. I think he just wants the linen cupboard back but it does get a bit hot in there so I’ll take him up on the offer.
Ha ha, I didn’t even think about this type of post as a way to enable, but there it is!
I also loved this post! Perfume bottles are so beautiful so it’s nice to see someone’s display. I also have an itsy bitsy FB collection and only keep 1 or 2 out. The small stuff that I wear are in a decorative wooden box from Egypt and the rest are in a dresser drawer which when I open it, my husband says it smells like the ground floor of Macy’s. Perfume stew.
That sounds lovely! And I know the “perfume stew” aroma all too well!
All this makes me feel sooooo good! I keep thinking that I own too many fragrances (foolish me!) or that I am not organized enough!
I love the ideas of getting some insight into other people’s collections. That’s one of the things that I enjoy about Fragrantica: you can see what other people own.
I have a fairly large collection of fragrances and that is always a shock when people see it, but it must be said that I have been collecting for 30 years.(almost: my very first bottle was bought in October 1985)
There’s definitely a comfort to knowing you’re not alone! (And I love your statement about 30 years–that really puts it into perspective.)
I know, right? That only comes to an average of 10 FB per year…
Practically miserly!
Since I just lost a bottle of Crepe de Chine on ebay, I didnt read much past the extrait you have! My perfume is on a dressing table (bottles sometimes slide onto the carpet) inside my top dresser drawer and on a shelf in a dark bedroom. A few in the fridge, but we have a.c. so nothing gets very hot.
Crepe de Chine seems to show up fairly often. I’m crossing my fingers that you find a beautiful bottle of it soon!
How about making a video and posting in youtube, I have been watching some videos in youtube where people show their collection and they are fun to watch. I haven’t done one yet but maybe soon.
Uh oh! There just went my evening to watching youtube!
What about Donatella’s? While I do have several brands just for the beauty of the bottle, I do try to keep my collection down to three lines.
Technically, how could we send the pictures of our collections for posting here?
I have an IKEA Billy in the living room, plus 4 small vitrines for miniatures. In my bedroom, I have 2 large vitrines for minis. The closets have boxes and boxes of a) full bottles and b) empty bottles, and a shoebox of my carded vials collection. The bathroom houses the “live” collection that I use daily. And then there’s the empty body products, and makeup compacts, and perfume ephemera, and…oh, god!
I’d love to see Donatella’s? Can you imagine?
It sounds like you have an enviable collection! I think the key to doing this sort of post will be to make sure there are good, clear, crisp, bright photos. Then I can interview whomever’s collection it is by phone and write it up and post one a month or so.
Just wanted to add to all of this that I am as interested in seeing small collections as mega-sized ones. Some people have reduced large collections to a few loved bottles, others only want a small collection, and others are in the process of building. Those few adored bottles are as fascinating to me as the veritable perfume-store-in-a-wardrobe! Is that odd?
No! It’s not odd at all. Each bottle in a small collection would be carefully chosen and well loved and well worth knowing about, I think.
Yes, I would be very interested in seeing small, highly curated collections. Some people don’t want to narrow down, but how and why some people do narrow down would be of interest to me.
As well as things like pints of Miss Dior! I would like to see that bottle sitting next to some of other familiar ones for a sense of scale, you know.
I agree–the how and why are fascinating.
I should have taken a photo of my Miss Dior with a quarter next to it!
This is great! I actually Google image search “perfume collection” on occasion to drool. My collection is not that large yet! 🙂
I haven’t even thought of that!
I haven’t posted in a while but had to log on and applaud this post and beg you to turn it into a series. I would love to see reader posts as well as contributors. And for celebs, I think it would be killer to see Jean claude Ellena’s collection and some of the other industry folks– perfumers, branding people, writers, etc. I especially like the part where you say which are your most loved.
Thank you for weighing in! Your ideas are terrific and noted.