A. Personally, I basically keep all my perfumes in a cabinet, whether or not I still use them often. Even if I no longer wear one as much as when I first bought it, I sometimes discover something new when I use it again, so I rarely throw perfumes away, let alone sell them. The storage conditions inside a cabinet are relatively good, and I can still use perfumes I bought as a student ten years ago. That said, when I move house, I do throw away perfumes I know I will never use again, except for rare ones, such as discontinued perfumes.
As for enjoying them for longer, I almost never buy on impulse. I make an exception for perfumes released decades ago that I consider historically valuable, but I do not immediately buy perfumes created within the last few years. This is because I often place particular importance on a perfume’s uniqueness, the value its scent brings to the perfume industry, and how it differs from perfumes that came before it. I also have one definitive scent that is like my signature, so even when I encounter a fragrance I like, I try it on my skin about three times and only buy it if I still cannot get it out of my mind after several months. Thousands of perfumes are released every year, and especially with recent perfumes, there are similar scents from other brands even if I do not buy straight away. I therefore ask myself repeatedly before deciding to purchase. I believe that buying this way helps the enjoyment last.
This is my personal view. If I were to suggest a few ways to use perfumes, here are some possibilities.
① Before getting into the bath, run the shower first, then spray the perfume a few times so that it mingles with the steam → The steam fills the bathroom with fragrance! ♪
② Apply it to a bookmark to enjoy while reading → A lovely little waft of scent when you open your book. The drawback is that you cannot use many sprays.
③ Ask relatives, family, or friends and give it to someone who would like it → I would prefer to avoid selling on Mercari or similar platforms as much as possible. Even if the perfume you resell is genuine, I think the chain of reselling could encourage counterfeiters and resellers of limited-edition products. If you can instead make someone close to you smile for free, that is hundreds of times better.
④ I have not tried this yet, but I think it would be nice to hold a gathering someday where we bring our perfumes to try, and then exchange the unused perfumes that we each like.
