Did you ever watch that show “Hoarders”? Not sure if it’s on anymore, but I confess that the few times I saw it, it made me more than a little uncomfortable. I could see myself going down that slippery slope to hoarding without too much trouble (with stuff that I love, that is — not trash, broken items, 
etc.).
I tend to hang onto way too many items: clothes that I loved that don’t (and probably never will) fit, old jewelry that I just can’t give up, and especially items such as gift wrap bows, tissue paper, bubble wrap (you can’t have too much of that, can you?). But, after a certain amount, it makes my poor DH absolutely nuts. Also padded envelopes and mailing boxes, especially the smallish ones that are just right for sending perfume samples. And let’s not even talk about the samples themselves.
I’m trying to be better as I’m getting older, as I’m finding my life to be much easier without a lot of junk cluttering it up. It’s funny, somehow, isn’t it? We spend more than the first half of our lives acquiring things, through college and / or jobs, relationships and families, and then the later years trying to simplify and get rid of a lot of it. I have to admit there are some days when I really wish I’d been born a minimalist.
Anyhow, as this relates to our perfumed world: Are you, or have you ever been, guilty of hoarding your fragrance or body products? I’ve done a bit of that myself, ostensibly saving them for “something special.” And then the special occasions come and go and I either forget about the items or can’t find them in the mad rush to get ready for said occasion. Until, ultimately, they up and go bad, and then it’s too late …
I’m ashamed to tell you guys this, and it makes me want to cry a little, but years ago I had to pitch close to half-full containers of various original Chanel Coco body products because they’d gotten pushed back, out of sight and forgotten about for way too long. Another casualty from back then: A jar of Issey Miyake body cream, although some might say that’s not quite such a big loss, but I did enjoy it at the time. And there are probably several other things that I can’t recall now — or have blocked from my memory.
We’ve all heard stories about someone’s aunt or grandmother who passed away, and relatives cleaning out her house find a drawer (or maybe more) full of unopened boxes of vintage Shalimar or some other scent that she was hoarding away. I really don’t want that to be me.
Of course, it’s understandable to stock up on your “precious,” especially if it’s a hard-to-find vintage, or (shudder) has been discontinued. It’s one thing to actually wear it often, or do you hang onto it just to have it? I’ve done that a bit with some of my vintage Cartiers, and I need to make myself use them before it’s too late.
Any experiences, stories or tips to share? If you have those tendencies, how do you curb them?
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I know exactly what you mean. I’ve only been interested in perfume for about 6mos., but already the collection of samples, whether obtained online or wheedled from SAs, is getting significant. And, once I’ve established that a scent is not something I love, I’m having trouble just throwing it out. Please note – that’s only for those not worth sending along – I promise you nothing not readily available for free from Sephora will go to waste. I’m looking forward to the day when I can play fairy godmother.
The time is coming when I’m going to have to review what I have and make some hard decisions. piffle.
Hi, thanks for stopping by. This is a great hobby, isn’t it? Although I still think those samples multiply in the middle of the night when no one’s looking! 🙂 I’ve been using a box to hold things that I don’t want to keep; one perfumista’s “yuck” is another’s “yum” . And it can also help you play fairy godmother, as you mentioned.
Don’t ever think that a sample isn’t worth sending to someone else. I’ve loved things other people hated and I just packed up a sample for someone that is a total scrubber on me but makes someone else swoon.
Amen, Poodle! Sharing is one of my favorite parts about this hobby and all you Posse peeps are so unbelievably generous!
All right! I promise no throwing out samples. But, I start my Yuck! Box tomorrow and will ship the samples on to the next person at the slightest provocation. I’ll see you all at the next Fairy Godmother post, if not sooner,
That sounds like a good plan! See you at the next FG 🙂
I understand perfectly. I’m always afraid to throw out a decant of anything, even though it is something that I don’t like. Someone else might want it or it might grow on me. My latest thing is getting back up bottles of some of my perfume loves. Even though I have thrown out many things these past few days, I get panicky if I gotta consider throwing out decants, except when they are empty from use or plain old evaporation.
Amen to that! If you hang onto it, hopefully eventually someone you know will want it, or someone through Posse Swapmania or the Perfume Fairy Godmother. Alas, it’s always seemed to me that when I throw something away (not just perfumes, but any item), I’ll end up wanting or needing it a day or two later, even if I haven’t seen it for ages. Oh well …
This sounds so familiar, samples tucked in the Don’t like but Someone Might box. Backup bottles of favourites, well they were on special!
The only other thing I seem to accumulate are empty boxes. There is almost a sense of anticipation about little containers and you just never know when you need to pack a decorative little something.
Yes, I enable myself!
Yay, Jackie! Another box hoarder 😉 Some of them are just so cute, aren’t they? Plus, with some fragile items, you really need to double-box them to keep them safe in the mail, so those smaller ones come in handy.
Hiya, Ann! I’m slightly embarrassed to say that watching Hoarders does the opposite for me – it makes me feel like I’ve got it together. With that said, I do confess to holding onto (well, okay, it’s clinging) lots of samples, minis, decants and full bottles that I know I’m never going to use. We should have a Posse jumble giveaway – all the scent you can fit into a small Priority Mail box, for the price of postage! At least then, we’d get to set the hoarding clock back to zero when the jumble lot arrived.
The good stuff that I like, I try to keep in rotation – but let’s face it, I’d have to spritz 102 times a day to get through it within the next decade.:-)
Howdy, dear Lisa! Glad to hear you’re at least mostly organized and non-hoardy (that sounded odd, didn’t it?). That jumble giveaway sounds good, but for someone like me, it might backfire a little, ha!
My grandmother was a hoarder. Not as bad as that TV show, but. Bad.
And I notice that me and my mom have a bit of a hoarding tendency too…the thing is, I know that when I use my vintage Opium, it’s gone. But if I never use it, what’s the point in having it? So I really try to dare myself to use all the wonderful stuff I have and just enjoy it!
Hi, lady! Your comment was spot-on for me in more ways than one. I’m not the neatest, most organized person and I fear that seeing that will rub off on my son and send him off in that direction. As for the perfume, you really summed it up perfectly: “If you never use it, what’s the point in having it?” Can I print that out in 72 point type and plaster it across my perfume cabinet? Thanks!
I go through cycles where I unload bunches of stuff but somehow things…reaccumulate. I just made that up but you get me. I wear my perfume though, even the best stuff, until it gets to the last few drops and then I can’t bring myself to finish it completely because then I won’t have it anymore and might not get it again, although there’s certainly plenty of other choices. It’s hard to cull through my main collections, jewelry and scarves. Even if I don’t wear things I like looking at them, and when I say that I hear my grandma’s voice saying that she’ll give me that brooch soon but she’s not done looking at it yet.
Hi, Ms. A! You are so right, it’s that “Oh, no, what if I can never get this again?” that gets me pretty often, too. Love your anecdote about your grandmother. I also like looking at things, even if I can’t use them.And often, certain things have sentimental value and hold a special memory and you just can’t part with it. I have a Versace dress that I got in Milan back in the early ’80s while dating an architect on a traveling fellowship. It’s a size 10 and I know I’ll never fit into it again, but it’s just so beautiful that I couldn’t bear to get rid of it. Maybe I should have it framed, like people do with Hermes scarves, eh?
Definitely can see hoarder tendancies in myself, fortunately they are tempered by my hate/allergies for dust and bad smells, love of beautiful things and a dh who is the total opposite and throws things out behind my back.
I have about 6-8 FB’s in my linen closet that never sold on Facebook Fragrance Friends and I have a drawer for samples that are absolute “no”‘s for me I need to send off to a perfumista friend. I enjoy the Fairy Godmother thing because 80% of the time I get a sample–especially the non-spray vial samples–it is either a “no” or I like it so much I’ll get a larger decant or FB. So I like it that someone else gets a little joy out of what I already have! I confess sometimes on a cleaning binge I have been known to throw away FB’s (I am tempted to toss the new Femme and Madame Rochas–they’re irritating me and some Santa Maria Novellas that give such allergy attacks I don’t even want to touch them again. However, I have others like six bottles of Shalimar I never wear but treasure nonetheless and refuse to purge (c’mon, they’re Shalimar, for goodness’ sake! 🙂 )
Hey, sweet Sherri! You are definitely on a good track there, but don’t throw those super-irritating scents away. Maybe you could put on rubber gloves, pack them away, and wait for the next Fairy Godmother event or Posse Swapmania and I’m sure there’ll be someone who’ll take them off your hands. And you’re so right, spreading the joy is so much fun. Thanks for all you do … I’m off to work now, but will be back later this afternoon.
I’m in the process of organizing my samples and decants into lab freezer boxes like these:
http://www.transglobalsci.com/shc-2.html. The 5 1/4 x 2 boxes with the proper insert hold 144 1 ml samples, 5 1/4 x 3 boxes hold larger samples and spray samples with 81 or 100 count inserts, and 5 ml SKS decants fit perfectly with a 64 count insert. I tend to wear a different scent or two every day, and even ones I love I may only wear a few times a year. If my daughter or a friend likes something I’m not wild about, they can have, but I would rather have a well-organized fragrance reference library then ever throw anything away.
Wow, Michelle — I am in awe of your organizational skills! I agree, a good reference library is wonderful to have.
Oh yeah… My parents are terrible housekeepers/mild hoarders, so I’ve generally had a knee-jerk reaction the other way. I do like to watch Hoarders once a month and then cast a critical eye around the house and get rid of stuff! I tend to save my makeup more than perfume. I have a semi-fancy foundation, and I’ve just this week been trying to use it regularly instead of saving it (for what? Meeting the queen?) until it goes off. It’s those darn Gift With Purchases that get me… and why I have 3 Estee Lauder Sugar Honey lipsticks, when it doesn’t look good on me at all. UGH!
Elena, you had me snorting with “for what? Meeting the queen?” So true! Good for you for going in the other direction from your parents. And yes, those GWPs are devilish. I don’t shop much anymore at all, but when I used to be a makeup junkie, I’d end up with too much stuff to ever use. So I’d take most of the GWP items and give them to the local women’s shelter. Figured they could put that stuff to good use. Or the items would make nice stocking stuffers or little gift bags …
Yep. My mom isn’t a hoarder, quite, but she has a lot of crap and it put me off having too much around the house. I purge pretty regularly, so I’m more in danger of wanting something and finding it is gone than the other way around.
That (wanting an item and finding it gone) happens to all of us sometime, but good for you for staying on top of things and not letting “stuff” get out of control.
You are touching a thorny subject, at least for me. I periodically give away stuff that doesn’t fit/work/please me anymore, but in some ways my perfume habit has made me a hoarder. Oh, I’m aware I might not be considered as such by the seasoned perfumista: I use all of my fragrances, without considering their relative cost and availability, and I have just these backups (and great excuses for backing these perfumes up):
* 3 bottles of Attrape coeur joined my huge lab decant when I learnt about it being discontinued;
* 5 Shalimars, 2 ode à la vanille du Madagascar thingies included.
However when I look at my collection of roughly 30 bottles I feel bad. It seems too much.
I use tham all, but as I’m am an “undersprayer” I buy new bottles faster that my spraying rate…
When I see proud bloggers posting pictures of their collections, I don’t think WOW; at best I think” what a waste!” before I catch myself and realise I’m looking into a magnifying mirror, and that I could end up just like them, with 50+ bottles of barely used perfume…
This makes me feel very uncomfortable, until another side of me starts planning the next purchase: what do I need first, Iris poudre or Encens flamboyant?
I wonder if I’m the only one feeling guilty for “hoarding” perfume? For buying so many bottles that it would take 2 years of generous use to empty? And yet being so happy for any new acquisition, that always seems so necessary?
I enjoy having options in the morning/evening, when I choose my SOTD/E (actually I NEED options, and lots of them), but when is it time to stop? How do you deal with this issue? Is this any issue at all?
Hi, Zazie. Don’t feel too badly; you’re not alone. It really feels like a see-saw to me: I feel a bit down and guilty for getting/having so much, then turn right around and get excited when a new batch of samples or decants is on its way. And I’m an under-sprayer, too, so I’m slow to use up anything. I’ve read about perfumistas who’ve gone cold turkey and put a moratorium on their buying until they use up at least some of what they have, but not sure I could do that. Maybe just being aware and working on it is half the battle?
Zazie – the best way to deal with this is to take a look at ‘why’ you’re buying – if you love it (and plan to wear it), buy it. None of us expect to finish many (if any) of our bottles. It just isn’t possible. But I think it it becomes a problem for many (certainly this gal) when it becomes about amassing rather than really enjoying. And I think that’s the whole issue with hoarders – and it’s what’s scary – when it becomes about the mass of stuff. The day my collection becomes about that is the day I pack it up and put it on the Bay. xoxo
For me, buying perfume isn’t just about having things to wear. I get immense pleasure from trying perfumes, seeking out new ones to buy, getting deals on bottles that I’ve had my eye on for a long time, adding something to my collection that I can, yes, wear, but also have on hand for reference, and share with others. I feel guilty on occasion about the sheer amount of juice in my closet, but I think it’s pretty harmless in the long run. My dad, for example, tends to spend a lot of money on hobbies — camera equipment, fly fishing equipment, etc. It adds up, but it makes him happy and he isn’t going to live forever (nor are we). Why not spend our expendable income on things that make us happy? I feel better about the money I’ve spent on perfume that I can still smell versus all the bottles of wine that I’ve drunk and will never get back again.
You make some excellent points there, Elisa! Especially the one about the wine 🙂 And you’re right about it being pretty harmless in the whole scheme of things. If it makes us that happy … well, maybe we should just sit back and enjoy it completely. Thanks!
I’ve decided to concentrate on the positive side of my perfume obsession, er, hobby. I may have hundreds of little perfume-filled vials, but they are neatly organized, labeled, and tracked on a master Excel sheet. (I did use the word obsessive, didn’t I?)
And, except for my namesake fragrance, of which I have multiple bottles, I have so far managed to avoid buying backup bottles.
So why does my husband shudder every time he sees a “perfume pak” whisk through the mail slot?
Hi, Farouche! It’s great that you’re so organized — that in itself helps keeps things under control, I think. I don’t think spouses quite “get” our obsession 🙂
Your post made me poke around in the back of my cabinet, and I realized that there was a half-jar of Flowerbomb body cream back there. As I learned more about perfume I tended to disdain it, but when I tried the cream again I was reminded that it is genuinely pretty and that my husband loves it. Waste averted.
Yay! I’m so happy that you found it and can use and enjoy it! Sprayed, that scent is a bit too much for me, but I bet it is quite nice in the body cream. Plus, you get moisturizing benefits, and when you’re all through with it, you’ll have a pretty jar to use. I’m not so crazy about the David Yurman fragrance itself, but I’d love to have its empty body cream jar, ha!
Hello dear Ann! I have been on a general purge mission lately (except for my perfumes) in attempt to declutter my life and it feels really good. My mom is a borderline hoarder and I fear the slippery slope so I am trying to get into some good habits. Also, we are trying to teach our daughters the value of money so also trying to limit what we buy and to use what we have. I do love being perfume Fairy Godmother so always hang on to samples/decants that don’t work for me. After all my trash is someone else’s treasure!
Hi, sweet M! I’m right there with you — I fear the slippery slope, too! But I’m glad that you’re doing something to avoid it. You make a good point about the money; that’s such a valuable lesson for kids. Between the Fairy Godmother event and a Posse Swapmania, I think we can all declutter a bit more and feel good about doing it.
This is a timely piece!
We’re enduring spring cleaning here, and my extended family runs along the spectrum. I’m definitely hoarder-ish (creative-collector type, I do throw away trash and recycle magazines once I’ve read them, but if it’s pretty or I might use it to make something…) which isn’t helped by chronic illness. Sometimes cleaning or even making decisions is too hard, and I have a large box of things that will never fit again which I have been meaning to consign for 3 years…Have another box of fragrant stuff I’ve been meaning to ebay…for 5 years (have added to it, and also taken away).
Now that everyone around me is getting their own momentum it seems easier to get mine.
Haven’t been a fairy godmother yet but am looking fwd to it–I think I’d have an easier time gifting than trashing even 1/4-full samples that don’t work for me. Think it’s a lovely idea and thanks to the posse for sharing it!
That said, I can justify keeping reference samples/small decants more than FBs I don’t enjoy enough. I used to want a variety, especially as I was learning more about perfume, and a great deal or promising unsniffed classic was too good to pass up. If I have a lot I will spray with abandon but will nurse a teeny sample because I don’t want to not have it in my scent-palette.
But now I think of how my grandmother didn’t wear Joy parfum because she was ‘saving it’ even when she knew she was dying and have come to think of perfume as more of an experience, with my time and enjoyment worth the most. I enjoy trying new scents–but if I kinda like X but really love Y then I should wear Y, even if I own a lot of X, because I have only so many days and I should spend them extremely happy with the SOTD, not kinda ‘meh’–X should go make someone else happy.
Thanks for the link to the boxes! might try this…
Mim, I agree with so much of what you’ve said — particularly touching was your sharing about your grandmother and her Joy. You are right: We need to use and enjoy what we love the most (and I’m going to try really hard to do that myself). The FG and Swapmania events are good, as we’ve mentioned, and you can also enclose some unloved samples in those packages. Your recipient might just find something new to love.
Oh Ann Im with you on the body product thing. Ive been like it for years and keep telling myself Ill use up what ive got before getting any more.. Sometimes I get to the point where Im at a manageable level, but I still have that ‘saving it for a special occasion/its too nice to use’ thing and even though i know this will result in the shower gel/body lotion going off (or me changing my tastes before I finish it, I finbd I have to work hard at changing this way of thinking :o(
To reinforce this, only last week a friend got ready at my place before we went out, and on exiting the bathroom said “so where are the other 14 women you share your bathroom with?!” hilarious only because its tragically apparent I have a problem… :o/
Oh, Lynley, what a great story! That could be any one of us; it is good to be able to laugh about it though. I’m trying to make myself use what few body products I have now. My mantra: Use it up and enjoy it, because you’re worth it!! And we all are, and we deserve to smell great every day, not just on special occasions, right?
One of my resolutions was to try and use up things I have and not buy anything unless absolutely necessary. It’s hard. I like to stock up and love a good sale. I’ve been giving away samples I don’t like or need and making samples/decants of things to share with people. I also plan on getting rid of a few bottles that just don’t work for me anymore but someone else may love. We’ll see how it goes.
Poodle, I know it’s hard but you’re doing a great thing. And it’s a good feeling to know how happy that unloved bottle/decant/sample might make someone else. That, more than anything, helps me break free, at least somewhat, from the “must keep this” mentality.
I’ve never had enough money to hoard luxury items like perfume or body products. I’m the kind of person who gets things home and immediately rips the tags off and starts wearing them or using them. I’ve recently been de-cluttering my entire home, following the suggestions of organization guru Peter Walsh. He has youtube videos on how to do a 31 day challenge that is very achievable. My only bugaboos are sentimental items like greeting cards and children’s artwork. 🙂 Since I’ve been doing the perfume hobby for less than 5 years, it’s still at a pretty manageable level. And it’s the only collection that I have.
I love it, Dina! Just get that item unwrapped and dive right in, use it up and enjoy every bit of it. Now that’s the way to do it! I don’t have the money now to hoard as much either, mostly samples, decants and the like.
BTW, I have trouble with sentimental items like cards and my son’s stuff, too. What does the organization guru suggest?
I’ll definitely be checking out his plan on youtube — thanks for sharing!
Ann, you know how crazy I get when I watch a Hoarders episode. Usually I throw out paper and packing materials (El O usually has a pile of stuff ready for me to whisk out)…and the vacuuming. I vacuum, even if I just vacuumed a couple of hours ago! I can usually manage the perfume armoire okay, as long as it’s organized which, right now, it’s not. As far as anything in my armoire – anything: I use it with pleasure and abandon! It’s the only way, imo!
xoxoxoA
Hear, hear, darling A! You’ve got it exactly right: “I use it with pleasure and abandon!” I think (hope) this post has been a good reminder for many of us Posse peeps (especially me), and we’ll do just that.
Have what you love and love what you have, right?
I don’t hoard my perfume, though I’d say half my 100+ bottles I bought just for the bottle, so the juice is wasted. ( Y’all know who to hit up if you’re wanting some Vera Wang Princess, Juicy, stuff like that!)
But LAWD, I am such a Bag Lady! I love those cute gift bags, especially, but when CA lost its mind and decided to ban plastic grocery bags, I started hoarding those, too. (I mean, I use them for lots of things, but I saved them all instead of just one or two per trip)
And since I have been slowly moving from CA to Arkansas the last 4 years, I have come to dearly love me a good box and you do NOT want to come between me and some bubble wrap or ghost poop!
I have gotten much better about sentimental things, which I definitely hoarded once upon a time, but I’ve gotten much better about that! Or else I have turned into a right cold-hearted bitch in my cronehood and no longer feel sentimental about much.
Now, my husband would tell you I hoard papercrafting supplies, but you can just ignore him.
Howdy, Tammy! You are so funny! So you’re a bag lady just like me, ha … I bet you have quite the collection of bottles over there. But even if I love a bottle, I somehow can’t quite bring myself to buy it unless I really like the juice inside. But that’s OK, I wish I could, but finances do not permit. Anyhoo, my DH and yours could have quite a discussion over our box/bag hoarding tendencies, couldn’t they?
Does your Yuck box get MR.Yuck face stickers?
Oh, man, THAT’S what it’s missing! Gotta get me some …
I don’t hoard. Not me. Things hoard themselves… they slip in unnoticed and pretend they’ve always been here…..
But where perfumes are concerned, I have the ideal solution: every two years or so I host a Perfume Bash. I take care of food and beverage (gives me an excuse to cook and bake) and place a big basket in the middle of the room. Everybody can deposit their unwanted make-up, perfume, small accessories etc. in there – and take out whatever intrigues them. The leftovers we give away – to people with little girls in need of “play-time make-up”, to people who sell stuff at flea-markets, etc. etc. It’s always lots of fun!
Wow, Dinazad, what a great idea — I love it! And it’s a win-win situation for everyone. Thanks!
I look around some days and think where in the heck does this stuff come from?! I swear paper breeds over night here. The extra perfume (mainly 1ml) finds a loving home with my teen nieces and their mom so that’s never a problem. Every year at Christmas after the gifts are finished, I hand over a bag I’ve collected all year and they’re thrilled to have something new to wear. They love being the only ones wearing the new Dior or knowing about Liz Zorn. So cute.
Love dinazad’s idea of a party!
That’s great, Tiara! I do something similar and find that my extended family enjoys trying some new things that they can’t get at the mall (i.e. Macy’s, Dillard’s, etc.). And I’m right there with you — I think papers, samples, etc., multiply overnight, ha!
I’ve managed to keep the perfume collection under control using this rule: It can’t expand beyond the top dresser drawer where it is stored. I have mostly full bottles, with some decants and mini bottles. The collection has pretty much reached the limits of the drawer, so no more bottles till some are used up. Sample vials are stored in a shoebox, but that is frequently emptied when I pass the unloved ones along to family members, or when I add them as “extras” in a swap. So far, it’s working for me!
That’s a good idea — having a physical limitation beyond which the collection cannot go. I need to try this. Thanks!
I am absolutely guilty of hanging on to **more than one**, I’ll say, barely-any-left samples that I’m saving for “something special” because I can’t just use them already and move on. They are things that are too expensive for me to afford right now, but that I want to acquire eventually…so they just sit there…waiting. Example: Guerlain Myrrhe et Delires. Can’t.Just.Use.It.
Hi, Shaney. I know what you mean. But do try to use your Guerlain once in a while to remind yourself how wonderful it is. And you don’t want to get it out one day to find it’s all turned and/or evaporated. That happened to me once with something, and I was sick.
Wow, strike a nerve much?
I’m constantly trying to balance between having everything I want, and not making myself crazy with too much crap. I use fleurdelys’ system of physically capping space for many things, with the difference of changing the system when it’s needed. :-/ I’m offloading some bottles I don’t use enough but can’t bring myself to throw away to less accessible storage, with the thought that in another year, if I haven’t bothered to dig any of that out and wear it, it’s got to be reasonable to give it away/sell it/recycle it somehow. Or even (shudder) toss it. (I find it tough to get rid of bottles once I’ve decided they need to go. Obviously I’m not getting rid of vintage Diors or anything, and stuff I don’t want to wear turns out to be stuff no one really seems to want to wear!)
I just posted about my new sample filing system, which makes me really happy. I find the important thing is to paw through it all periodically, and rotate lesser worn things out and in.
I too have been guilty of hoarding body products and had to throw them away, which made me feel sufficiently sad that now I’m mostly not doing it any more (I still have two more tubes of MAC Naked Honey shower gel, though, and I ain’t getting rid of them!!! Also one more Kings & Queens Caspar Myrrh shower gel.) On the plus side, I am FORCING myself to use my Amouage Memoir body cream this winter. OH IT’S TOUGH GOING! FORCING MYSELF, I TELL YOU! (If I had to throw any of that away I really would cry.)
Good for you — enjoy the every bit of it! Especially that Memoir — I only have a little sample of it, but man, it’s da bomb!
My mom is a low level hoarder (mostly paper items and sentimental stuff – she had a dad who gave away some very special family items, so think she just went in the other direction) and I am trying not to get that way. I also hold on to sentimental stuff (high school notes! yes, I’ve got them!), clothes that will almost definitely never fit again (but think I will probably finally getting rid of those soon – I’m pregnant, so the chances of ever fitting in to them again is really going down!) and toiletries (mostly hair stuff). I know I’ll be forced to get rid of a lot os stuff soon as we live in a tiny house and with twins on the way, we’ll need all the space we can get.
We used to live in a house with an open closet with built-in shelves in the bathroom and all my friends used to give me such a hard time about how much crap I had and called me the “toiletry queen.” I do tend to buy lots and lots of backup hair stuff since I have very particular hair and just about every product I’ve ever used has been discontinued. I don’t feel too bad about my perfume collection as it isn’t too huge, but it is still way more than I will ever use. I am an undersprayer by nature, and also my husband gets migraines and scent is often a trigger. So I generally just wear perfume to work. Which is fine, but I’ll probably never get to use up all those samples I have – who wants to test something before going to work if it might suck! Oh well.
First off, congratulations!! So very happy for you! When are you due?
With two on the way, that’s a pretty good motivation to pare down.
I had a similar experience as your mom with my mother a long time ago and sometimes I think that does color how I view “things,” plus being raised by grandparents who lived through the Great Depression.
BTW, I can agree 100 percent with you on the hair thing — when you’ve found something that works for you, you never want to be without it. And it’s so frustrating when they discontinue it and you have to start looking all over again. Grrrr …
Thanks Ann! I’m due in August, so still lots of time to get things organized.