Will our obession of buying perfumes will come to an end? I've come across several pol'ers who are saying that they need to stop buying so many perfumes and say, "this is it! No more!" I am one of them as well, but with any addiction, can we really stop? Is there a 12 step program to this?

Lydia

Actually there is a Six Step method that MAY work:

Quit POL
Don't go to the mall
Don't read magazines
Don't read newspapers
Don't shop online
Don't sniff other people as they go by.

There, that should at least help. Otherwise, it's useless!

I am one of them too. For me, I have so many bottles of fragrance that it is now rare for me to stumble across something new that is so wonderful that I cannot live without it. I have at least 2-3 scents from nearly every fragrance category. Lately, I've been trying to thin out my collection. I just have too much! Of course, there's the guilt I feel for having spend waaaay to much for that bottle of SL Encens et Lavande that I just succumbed to. I have sworn off making any other fragrance purchases in 2006. We'll see how it goes, but I really do mean it this time!

I am trying to stop buying fragrances. I now swap and get or buy samples. Plus I write down fragrances on a wish list and revisit it after a month or two befor buying and have found I weally don't want those fragrances after all.

Well..................................
I've been here a long time. At first....it was a whole new world to me. I was always running to Marshalls, TJ Maxx.....swapping samples....
(This is of course after wearing a signature fragrance for years) OPIUM.
It was wonderful and EXPENSIVE!
I will forever adore and be interested in perfume and new releases. Now though...I can much quicker weed out the ones I really like. I can now say....I like this but don't need to own it. I may want to purchase a decant.
Mostly now though.....(since I own SO many) don't feel the need to purchase many more. I want to enjoy my favorites and once in awhile venture out and try some others.
I'm not spending like I used to.
I still languish in my perfume and the joy of it. LOVE to talk about perfume here but the need to buy buy buy is over.

I think you can still indulge in your perfume love without spending so much money.
The enjoyment of perfume doesn't HAVE to go hand in hand with actually buying the perfume. Sniffing, talking about, enjoying the ones you already own...I learned to curb my perfume spending by taking pleasure in the other aspects. Also, it's important to be picky! I try not to buy something unless I can't picture life without it..don't buy unsniffed..and don't buy just cos there's a "two for one" sale on perfumes that are "nice".

I still purchase those fragrances I judge to be bottleworthy and will pick up great buys at TJMAXX, sometimes unsniffed. I recently got Bluegrass, which has so far been a disappointment to me, (but I tried it just as I was getting a virus so I will give it another chance) and Histore d'AMOUR, which I wore for the first time today and find enchanting.

When will it end? For me, probably never...but I always pay my credit cards off each month. If it should happen that I can't that will spell the END for me.

I just want you all to know that I'm here for those of you who feel weighed down by all those dust-gathering bottles of, oh, Feminite du Bois, Un Bois Vanille, Mr. Hulot's Holiday, L'Air du Desert Morocain--that sort of thing. I only want you to be happy. That's what we're here for. :-D

POL has curbed my need to buy buy buy. I can now enjoy some perfumes vicariously through others and their experiences wearing them. I do buy perfume when I feel like it but I set limits. Shop only in b&m stores for what I can smell, try and readily get. I have an advantage, having been in the hobby for many years--there's a lot of classics I've already smelled or worn in the past. I tend to avoid brands that discontinue scents frequently like Body Shop or L'Occitane for perfume, although I do buy their candles or other products sometimes.

I spend most of my perfume money in replenishment because if I like a perfume I tend to wear it all the time, over a period of time. That's okay, as long as I use it. The danger area for me would be the niche brands. So far I haven't gotten into them except to sniff. If Lorenzo villoresi comes to any stores in town here, I might be tempted. I've been able to resist Creed, Etro, Serge Lutens, Diptyque, Santa Maria Novella, Fresh, Keihl's and most L'Artisans. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I don't like the management of the L'Artisan boutique here so that stopped my buying in its tracks after La Chasse aux Papillons, which I like. If the management ever changes, watch out!

I would say POL has actually helped me control my habit better.

When I read some recent "Want to Swap" lists I felt a lot better. Some POLers make me look like a piker. For the most part, my purchases have been smaller decants and fairly inexpensive things.

But the decants and "inexpensive" bottles add up.

I guess the the best way for me to be more restrained is to focus more on the samples I have. But then I hear the raves about something new to me and I'm off to the races.

I wish Ebay sellers (are you listening?) would offer more 1/6 or 1/8 size samples of classics that aren't so hard to get but that we may want to try for a decent interval before committing to a bottle. I wish it were practical to do this with popular fragrances like Opium, the Chanels, Patous, the Guerlains, etc. - the perfumes we hear about over and over on POL as either ranking among the all time favorites or being very influential in the develpment of perfumes. Also, even the "affordable" fragrances in EDT or EDP become cost prohibitive when you buy them in pure parfum form. So many experienced perfumistas stress how wonderful the pure parfum is, but few of us can spring for a bottle. I have to be 200% sure I'm going to love something before I spend that kind of money. Also, a small vial just won't give me enough time to "know" the fragrance.

There is a One Step Program:

Just Stop

I know I whine about it, but I don't wanna "just stop". POL will help me "control my habit better" (HAHA).