Addict >>>>Collector>>>>Dealer

My name is Sasha and I'm addicted to perfume.

Plus a bit of a hoarder, and I tend to stockpile things that might be difficult to get, or are difficult already. I've always liked perfume and have always had several bottles in my possession. Several? Prior to becoming a collector (a nicer term than addict, hoarder or stockpiler)I'd roughly estimate I had maybe 15 bottles on my dresser, a few in the basement (stored away for future use), a couple in the bathroom, plus a bunch that were my mother's.

Fast forward to now: the bulk of them are in my mother's room. The top of the bureau is covered, mostly neatly arranged, of my go-to perfumes and ones I'm in the process of testing. They're in 5 of the dresser drawers, the drawers are tall enough to accommodate bottles without having to lay them sideways. My "permanent collection" is in the bedside table cabinet, that's another post.

I have a theory, if you're addicted to something you have to deal in it in order to keep oneself rolling in it. So I became a dealer, you know, like a drug dealer. But not with drugs, just perfumes. Unlike a drug dealer, I don't cut the product to up the quantity for profit. I certainly wouldn't want it done to me. I'd be bullshit if I was sold a diluted perfume and would fight to get my money back. In the past I bought a couple of fakes, not a fun experience, and it was almost a project to get my money back. It's very disappointing to be eagerly awaiting a perfume, finally get it and you spray nothingness. I wouldn't want to do that to anybody.

How do I deal? I go shopping. I have leads, I have secrets, connections. Flea markets are the worst, lots of fakes and bottles that have been in the sun/heat, my least favorite place, but fleas have other things I want and/or can resell so I go. The last flea market I went to had a table with all perfumes, a beautiful sight at first. Chanel, YSL, Paco Rabanne, Dior, Ralph Lauren, a really fabulous selection. The fabulous selection was a red flag in itself. Chanel is a red flag anyway. It's VERY rare (if not impossible) to find an authentic new-in-box Chanel for sale other than from an authorized dealer. I took a spritz of no.5. It smelled wrong, it smelled very citrusy, almost like Pledge. Didn't last on my skin either, it was gone in less than 20 minutes. Moving right along, I came across another table, had a mix of cosmetics, hair products and some fragrances. I found an old bottle of Folies Bergere, box was slightly beat up, but the juice inside is wonderful! $18 talked down from $25 (ouch! the woman selling it was tough, and since that was all there was for perfume I got it). I'm a bit torn between keeping and selling this one. Very potent stuff, it lasted on the back of my hand though a dish washing and a bit of a scrub with a brillo pad. I can't pinpoint if it's a chypre or oriental, can't find a list of notes for it anywhere, but it's nice, it's got that old school vibe to it.

So I buy with the intent of keeping or reselling for a profit. This isn't my actual lively hood, it's more like a second job, or hobby-but I don't like the term "hobby". If I turn a profit= fine, if I take a beating on a sale=not so good. I don't rely on this to put food on the table, although I often pay some bills through paypal (and do all my Christmas shopping that way, too) but so far so good, I think. Like I told my boss at my real life job, I do this because I enjoy it and I get to wear (or at least sample) whatever I'd like. It's fun and I smell fantastic!