 |
| Credit: Sebastian Voortman |
Hey, folks! I hope everyone is doing well. I am doing quite well. I am still waiting for spring to hit in full force to wear some more freshies, but other than that life is going well. I do turn 36 on Sunday, so I guess that is news that you might not know.
I have been thinking a lot about my fragrance collection lately and wanted to share some of my thoughts. I did watch a video from Justin Copeland that did make me think of this more, although it's been on my mind for a while. I guess you will see it in a bit.
This article will be sort of raw and it might be a bit disorganized because I am just writing as my mind thinks and I am not following a prepared prompt or anything. Without further ado, let's get into it!
How the Times Change
When I first started reviewing, I just wanted fragrances to make content with. There was no reason to buy or get some of the fragrances I did. I just did it to reach a number count to try to get some sort of credibility with reviewing. My approach was totally wrong and wasteful.
I thought that having hundreds of bottles would give me some sort of credibility like Ashton or Steven have, but I never will that and I am okay with that. I always had credibility. Maybe it's not nearly as much as those two, but people do know me and enjoy my style.
I just look at these dozens of bottles of cheapies that I never wear and I wonder what the point was. I blind-bought them because the notes looked good or some Youtuber did a rack haul and said it was good. It's my fault for falling for it.
This article isn't to demean any of those YouTubers but to look at my own personal choices with fragrances and how I went down the wrong road. Maybe it can help someone who is in a similar situation.
Cheapies are Cheap for a Reason
You watch a video or read about a rack store haul and you think "bro, that looks like a good fragrance. Imma go blind buy that". Then you get it in and it's boring and generic and wonder why people said it was good.
The cold reality is that most cheapies are cheap because they are bad fragrances. I am not a niche snob by any means. Some cheapies are very good. In fact, my next article will probably be on cheapies that are actually decent.
The majority of cheap fragrances just plain suck. I searched for years for those hidden gem cheapies that had different notes and might be something new. I wasted a lot of money and now I have a bunch of bottles collecting dust.
I haven't smelled an Armaf I like yet. It is okay if you like the brand. I don't judge you for it, but in my eyes, they are all cheap and synthetic and smell nothing like the fragrances that inspired them. At some point, we have to admit to ourselves that the same ingredients aren't in that $20 bottle as the $200 one. I personally don't care as much about performance. I want to experience and love my fragrances. I could care less if no one comments on them. I do get compliments sometimes and I appreciate them, but that is probably the thing I look at the least when buying a fragrance.
The most common thing I see is "I can't afford originals". Yes, you can. Well, if you live in a developed country. I won't act like I know what it's like to live in a poorer country because I don't know the circumstances there. However, if you live in a first-world country, then there is no excuse.
I see people with 40 cheapies saying they cannot afford niche. That is at least $800 sitting there. You could buy at least 4-6 niche/high-end designers with that. I understand that if you are new and trying to fill out your fragrance wardrobe for different situations why you would have some cheapies, but once you hit 20, I think it's time to stop and save up for some good stuff. I am not telling you how to spend your money, but I am giving you advice to not do what I did.
It's Just a Number
As I said before, I chased the numbers. I thought having more would give me more credit. I think having more would make me happy. It doesn't. If anything, it depresses me more to know I could have some niche fragrances that I have wanted for a while instead of those cheapies that get no use. I also can't sell them very well because the shipping costs as much as the fragrance. I would have to bundle them to even make it remotely worth it.
I would rather have 30 fragrances that bring a smile to my face than 400 ones that are just grab-and-go fragrances. It makes no sense why some of us collect until our souls are crushed and we get burnt out. Again, this is coming from a place of experience. There will be nothing new and exciting if everything you purchase is made with the same lackluster ingredients to maintain a cheap price.
The Influence
I am not trying to knock YouTubers. I have suggested things in the past that I would no longer recommend too. I am just as guilty. That new fragrance might spark joy for a bit, but unless it's a love, then that feeling will fade with time. If everything fades, then maybe you need to fill your life with something other than fragrances. Maybe we need to look at what thing we are trying to compensate for and why we are relying on fragrances to fill that hole.
We can watch these hauls and get excited based on what reviewers say, but in the end, it can be a fruitless pursuit. Being in the game myself, it's all about clicks. It's not about encouraging you to be responsible with purchases. I always encourage sampling first, but I see that it's not enough now. We need to encourage people to not be addicted to fragrances and to tell them it's okay to skip on mediocre offerings. We need to be sterner in our reviews. We need to stop pushing junk to people and encourage them to create a collection that speaks of their style and not our own. We need to start caring about our readers and viewers and stop caring about cutting that check.
Just to be clear, I have never been paid for a review. I decline to work with companies that do not encourage honesty and that is why I only have one affiliate. Honestly is the best policy, as they say. It's the tougher road, but at the end of the day, it's much more rewarding and helps me sleep more easily at night...At least when my cat doesn't dart around like a streaker at a soccer game at 3 in the morning.
Appreciation
Most of us have at least 50 fragrances. How many of us can tell you how each one makes us feel? If we can't, then those fragrances need to go or we need to learn to get to know them better and not just move on to the next purchase.
We are often chasing that euphoric feeling of a new purchase. I get it. It's exciting to blind buy sometimes. It's just not practical. I am not saying to not blind buy. I am just saying that maybe there is a better way that will help us appreciate what we have.
Some of us can't even tell you the actual performance of a fragrance because we never gave it enough time before we move on to a different spray. It just means we do not know the fragrance well. I wore John Varvatos Artisan Pure and thought it only lasted 5 hours until I really gave it good wearings and discovered it still on my skin the next morning. Warm skin reignites a lot of notes. Give it some time. Learn to love them.
My Resolve
My resolve for this year is to not focus on quantity and focus more on quality. I don't want to fill my shelves with cheapies. I want to fill my collection with stuff that I love and want to wear and in turn, I will share it with you folks. I want this to be John's collection and not someone else's.
I want to bring the best reviews to all of you and if I am buying mediocre stuff, then you will get mediocre reviews and you deserve better. I also need to hold myself to a higher standard with my reviews.
I have thought about giving up so many times since people don't like to read blogs, but every few days people tell me how they like my content, so I keep pushing on. So, I am going to save up and get fragrances that really move me and review those. I want my passion to be sparked once again and I want that to ignite your passion as well. I don't want you to just smell a fragrance, I want you to connect with it and feel it.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this article. I don't often do things like this before, but I just wanted to share. Be sure to let me know what you think. Again, I will state that I am not telling anyone who to spend their money. I am only giving you my raw perspective on it. What you do with what I said is up to you. You don't have to do as I suggested if you are truly happy with your collection.
I hope everyone has a lovely evening. Remember to say a kind word to someone today. You never know who it might help. That is something cheap that will never get old. Be great and keep smelling great. I appreciate all of the support. Much love. Be safe until next time.
Buy fragrances with an Italian soul. Mozzafiato is your one-stop shop for all of your Italian beauty needs. Mozzafiato (affiliate link)
About my Patreon- I decided to start a Patreon to give people an inside look at my life and my actual thoughts on some things. There are going to be some very raw and unfiltered posts on there about the fragrance community and reviewing, as well as some exclusive fragrance articles. I have been doing this for 3 years now and never made any money off of it.
I am still not asking for money. This is just a way for you to support me more if you'd like and I will give you some exclusive stuff for doing so. The top tier includes you being able to choose an article topic(within reason) for me and have the article dedicated to you on this blog. I wanted to make this cheaper, but it's just not efficient for me to charge less. It takes me 5-6 hours to make an article. Sometimes more if a lot of research is required.
I am working on trying to start a podcast for interviews with perfumers and business owns, along with weekly discussions on fragrances.
The 12/25 tier now includes a free Musings of a Fraghead mug with my winter logo on it. You need to sub for 3 months before it ships. (This is Patreon's rule and not my own)
Anyways, I hope you enjoy it if you choose to subscribe. The base price is 4 bucks and gets you access to all of the articles, which I plan on doing two per week. I already have my first post up and it's free to everyone, future posts will need a sub though.
Patreon Link
Want to see what is going on in my group and vote on my upcoming articles? We also discuss fragrances and fragrant topics in a drama-free environment. You won't see any troll Aventus and CDNIM posts in my group! Join my Facebook group!
No comments:
Post a Comment