After learning how Brooke approaches perfume, I’m not sure why she doesn't run NASA. She is analytical and organized (excel spreadsheets track perfume notes); passionate (764 bottles and counting); and inquisitive (witness her tray method, explained later). She’s also generous and open, and she was game to be the subject of this month’s perfume cabinet article.
Brooke’s earliest scent memories center on the smell of horses, hay, and alfalfa at her mother’s farm, and on the jasmine, ocean, and night-blooming Hoya bush near her father’s house on the California coast. Perfume didn’t factor much into her scent life until she managed the handbags department at Nordstrom — located conveniently next to fragrances. The unusual shape of a Donna Karan Chaos bottle tempted her to sniff it, and the world of perfume fell open.
For many years, Brooke was a decidedly woods, incense and orientals girl. Soon, she grew to embrace chypres and florientals, and she says she “likes and respects” many florals. Perhaps reflecting this, she adores Guerlain Mitsouko and considers it absolutely indispensable, but she’s never found her groove with Chanel No. 5, despite trying all its formulations. She takes her perfume exploration seriously, first investigating fragrance genres, starting with 90 samples of green scents that she wore, took notes on, and recorded in a spreadsheet. Later, she moved on to a focus on fragrance notes, such as iris.
Of Brooke’s 764 full bottles, she says about 30% are vintage. Most of her collection she stores in two cabinets — one organized by house and one by season — in plastic crates slid into cubby holes (see top two images). Decants, oils, and gift sets are stored separately.
Despite her whopper quantity of bottles, Brooke doesn't feel overwhelmed. She says, “I always know within 20 seconds what outfit I will wear and which perfume I will spritz.” Also, “If you were to ask, I can usually locate most any bottle from memory within a minute. I cannot say that about my handbags or shoes.” That said, in the past year she’s sold or given away more than 100 bottles in an effort to hone her collection to the fragrances she truly loves or that intrigue her too much not to wear at least once every few years.
These days, Brooke buys a bottle or maybe two a month, with a focus on vintage Guerlain, Caron and Patou. However, she says, “…There have been new releases that have dazzled me and crossed over the doorstep, like Papillon's Salome, Bruno Fazzolari's Seyrig and Aftelier's Bergamoss.” She has a rule that she has to finish a decant of a new fragrance before buying it. Also, she doesn’t buy a perfume simply because it’s esteemed. She only buys fragrance that works on her, which is why, for instance, she doesn’t own Frédéric Malle Carnal Flower (or Chanel No. 5).
One way Brooke makes her collection manageable is by preparing monthly trays of perfume (see just above and below). Sometimes she assembles trays of old favorites or all perfumes from one house, and sometimes she chooses themes, such as when she was intrigued by synesthesia and prepared trays of perfumes that felt like particular colors to her. (I love the tray idea and plan on preparing my own weekly “pull” of perfumes to set on my dresser and wear for the week.)
Despite her extensive collection, Brooke still longs for a few bottles. At the top of the list is Hermès Doblis. “The leather and the rose are mixed with just enough musk and oakmoss to keep it refined but captivating,” she says.
#Wow #Awesome I love this! Perfume is such an expensive interest/hobby to keep current with though! 764 bottles must have taken years to collect. HOW FUN! 🙂
It was fun to talk to Brooke and especially to learn about her “tray practice.”
As for expensive, I always figure that driving a 30-year-old car, not having a smartphone or cable, and eating out only once a month or so frees up a little cash for perfume. It’s a trade I’m willing to make! (I’m still a far piece from 764 bottles, though.)
I justify my fragrance budget with no cell phone, no cable and no alcohol. I figure it’s gotta balance out!
That sounds more than fair to me!
A few years ago, I did the math and figured that if I could cut out chocolate expenditures for about 6+ months, then I could get a nice bottle at the end of the year. That’s the year I got my Bois des Iles extrait. Totally worth it. It’s also one of the reasons that I rarely drink or buy bottles of liquor. I’d rather spend that money on a fragrance!
Good thinking! I wonder if I can justify some Cuir de Russie extrait using the same thinking? I’ll work on that.
Kudos to Brooke for her fantastic collection and her ability at organizing it! Beautiful! Wow!
Isn’t it gorgeous? I wish the photos were smell-able.
I have died today and gone to Perfume Heaven. Brooke is the St Peter of Perfumistas.
I am so impressed not only by Brooke’s choices within this incredible collection (Hello Mitzah! and the Holy Grail that is Doblis…) but also by the arrangement on the trays and the symmetry!
Brooke you strike me as someone who has a very HEALTHY dose of OCD (in a very good way)
Angela thank you so much for making Brooke’s experience available to us NST readers. What a pleasure it was to read this today!!!
You’re welcome! It sounds like seeing her collection was as fun for you as it was for me.
WE ARE NOT WORTHY!
My favorite part of Brooke’s gorgeous collection is the bottle of Idole EDT, may its memory be a blessing!
Maybe she can build a little shrine for it once it’s empty!
I saw that at the back too. Gorgeous!
is the Hermes Doblis a vintage?
I think it was discontinued a while ago, and for the brief time it sold, it was wildly expensive.
The last time Doblis was commercialized was when Hermes released 500 numbered crystal bottles of the original formulation in 2005-2006. Neiman Marcus and Hermes stores in the US carried a small number of them.
I was offered one by a NM sales person for $450 and turned it down because I was ignorant of the beauty of Doblis then.
I am still beating myself for having said no and I still have the marks and bruises on my cheeks to prove it!
Oh, but at least you were able to see one in the flesh and smell it!
What a gorgeous collection! I love the monthly trays, which I suppose are a necessity with that many bottles. I admit to showing my husband and mother this post with a (apparently unconvincing) “see? I’m not a loony” on my lips 😉 I certainly don’t mean to imply that Brooke has a screw loose; quite the contrary. I mean, ohmygosh, what an inspiration to us all.
I thought the trays idea was great, too. So often, I end up wearing the same usual suspects that I yank from the front of my perfume bottles. Why not put together a thoughtful collection to wear and swap it out every once in a while?
So agree! Having a collection that vast is useless, if you don’t have a good system in place to enjoy it. Someone like me (with a total lack of organization in my DNA) would just be hoarding it, unable to use and enjoy it to the fullest. Brooke has a system!
And…I love that she gets rid of unwanted perfume instead of hanging on to it. Free it! Send it out into the universe to be enjoyed by someone else, and then replace with something to love! 🙂
Exactly my philosophy! Things should be with people who will get a lot of joy from them.
Wow. Just wow.
She could change her name to Donatella. That’s one heck of a collection.
That’s hilarious! Donatella looks so smug standing in front of her cabinet, too. She’d drop her jaw in pure envy.
I would bet money that Brooke knows more about fragrance than Donatella! 🙂
Money well wagered.
Very impressive. I will spend more time peering at this pics, trying to identify the perfumes. That tray of vintage bottles is awe-inspiring! Thank you so much for sharing! I love this topic!
I’m so glad you enjoy it! They’re fun features to do.
these pics…stupid spellchecker, or stupid fingers, spoiled by having spellchecker backup, not sure which…:-)
I didn’t even see the typo…
Delurking just to say SIMPLY STUNNING!Love the tray arrangements as well!I like Brooke’s method of doing these trays,kinda random but at the same time quite structured!Lovely.
And to think….I was excited to buy a little $5.00 wicker basket last weekend to hold my handful of samples! LOL I’m not worthy to be here!!!! 🙂
Baby steps!
The tray idea was so good, I thought. It would be a fun game to see a tray and then guess what the designing principle behind it was.
So beautiful. I’m in awe.
Many thanks to Brooke for sharing with us!
These shares are just fascinating.
Yes, thanks to Brooke!
Beautiful! Moment of silence for Doblis.
*bows head*
What an amazing collection to explore! I’m a little scared of the Serges falling like dominos though.
It would be kind of fun–and horrifying–to watch, really.
I thought the same thing!
I love these articles! So interesting to get a glimpse of other peoples’ collections.
And I’m joining everyone else who is planning to try the tray method—Brooke may have just started a trend here!
It’s a great idea for digging into your collection, that’s for sure.
Beautiful. And I’m so showing this post to my husband.
I hope it gets you latitude for another bottle or two…
I am so impressed with Brooke’s perfume organization. I wish mine were that orderly. I don’t even know how many bottles I have as the way I have them displayed, they are too difficult to count. I have two trays, one in the middle of my dresser and the other in the middle of my bureau. Then the entire rest of each piece of furniture is just covered with perfume bottles.
She really is astonishingly organized! To be honest, I’m afraid to count up my bottles, let alone inventory them.
I am just in awe at the size of the collection and organizations. I am too feather brained an lazy to be that organized.
I don’t have the “tidy” brain, either–so, I sympathize!
This series is probably my favorite on NST — who doesn’t love peeking at someone else’s treasures?
I’m so glad you enjoy it. I’m nosy enough to love writing them, too.
The trays are such a great idea! I’ve got one that would be perfect and will start using this method immediately. What an awesome collection! I wish Brooke was my neighbor. 😉
Then you could open your windows and let her lovely sillage waft in…
OMG, my jaw hit the floor and I am not Donatella! Brooke is such an inspiration. I daresay my brain is very organized but I lack in the execution department. I am in the process of culling my collection and I’ve only hit the fringes. It is hard to let go although doing it anonymously to anonymous people via donations to charitable organizations make it easier.
I have a hard time letting go, too. Last year I sold a good number of bottles to finance a new one of Cuir de Russie, so that was my inspiration. I love your idea of donating, though.
So fun to read; so fun to see! Thanks Brooke and Angela.
You’re welcome!
I don’t have anything new to add to the comments. Just wanted to say thanks to Brooke and Angela. Thanks for this NST series!
I’m so glad you like it!
Delightful, and truly impressive! Time for me to reorganize…
It definitely is amazing.
Very cool! Brooke is a friend of mine and she is awesome in all ways. My own collection pales by comparison, and I could never be this organized! However, we do have one thing very much in common- we both seek out vintage perfumes from our favorite houses, and I am a Caron and Patou girl from way back.
Those are very nice things to have in common!
I’ve seen Brooke’s collection in person, and it’s jaw-dropping.
While her ability to crunch numbers and organize are formidable, they come second only to her kindness and generosity as a friend. 🙂
What a wonderful testimony!
Stunning collection and so beautifully organised.
Also so enabling – I’m obviously not crazy when I only have a tenth as many bottles 🙂
As I have often thought, what are a few holes in the carpet compared to perfume?
There’s something glamorous about a hole in the carpet, really. It’s a little Grey Gardens.
I only get distracted by perfume priorities if it’s a “life safety” or health issue that gets funds first. Brakes & new tires for the car. Grrr. New furnace. GGRRRrrrrr. New eye glasses. Pox. I was constantly thinking that I could have bought my bottle of Beloved as well as a few other goodies for that money for these necessities.
I know how you feel! Maybe it will help if you remember that your furnace will keep your bottles from freezing…
I like using trays, too. It’s a great way to corral those pesky perfumes! Inspired by Birgit of Olfactoria’s Travels, I have an Hermes tray and a Chanel tray.
Nice! I think I’ll assemble my first tray tonight.
Oh, Wow. WOW. Double Wow. Your collection is just amazing, gorgeous, so well thought out. I am in total awe. The pictures are total eye-candy. Just wow. And I can also find my bottles of perfume more quickly than I can my shoes or clothes or even jewelry. Priorities!
I especially love the tray of Guerlain extraits!
Lovely and impressive! I plan to get more organized in the new year as I have a sneaking suspicion my collection is nearly as large as Brooke’s but I’ve never counted. I am going to do a spreadsheet and challenge myself to wear all of them at least once in 2016. Yes that means 2 a day!
I am fortunate to have one of those 2005 re-issue bottles of Doblis, so that will definitely be in the rotation!
Good for you for getting organized! Perhaps a dab of Doblis will make the chore more fun.
Please consider blogging this perfume adventure! I would love to read about the process and live vicariously through you! Especially when you got to Doblis 🙂 🙂
It does sound like it would be fun to know more about. Would you like to be the subject of a perfume cabinet feature?
Well, it’s not currently organized in quite such an elegant fashion… I would need to do a bit of work to make it as interesting and presentable as Brooke’s, but yes I would be willing to be featured. 🙂
Great! I’ll get in touch with you. Don’t worry about tidiness–I featured my own perfume, and it’s a disaster of shoe boxes.
Absolutely lovely collection!
Agreed!
I think this is only the second Collection story I’ve read here, and again I am dazzled, awed, and nearly hypnotized by the number and even more by the organization. I will read and re-read. I am very grateful to both Angela and Brooke for sharing this.
It really is an amazing collection!