Reflections on my Collection

This past year was challenging in many ways, but in my experience, perfume always brings joy and hardly ever disappoints. One of the best things about 2025 was having exciting conversations on collecting perfume with lovely members of the fragrance community. My collaboration with Genevieve, the host of Sunday Shelfie—an Instagram series that highlights the collections of fragrance enthusiasts—allowed me talk about my own collection and share a few photos. And thanks to Brooke, the owner of Sainte Cellier—an online store offering an exceptional selection of indie and artisan houses—I could provide a few pointers for starting a fragrance collection. These interactions were fun and inspiring but also motivated me to finally write about my collection and its multi-layered nature.

I started collecting perfume at age 11 after my parents bought me a set of five miniatures in Paris. Over the years, they both kept feeding this lifetime fascination with scent: my mom with the perfumes she beautifully wore (Paris by YSL and Trussardi for Women, just to name a couple) and my dad with the miniatures he brought back from his trips. Other family members and friends chipped in, helping to create the adorable collection I still cherish today.

In my teens, I moved to attend college and again, several times, to complete my graduate studies, so my collecting had to be put on pause. My family kept my miniatures safe, and I finally reunited with them in my thirties once my life settled a little more.

I still have all my miniature fragrances, and I still curate this collection by adding pieces to it occasionally. Miniatures are a fantastic way to start a collection. You may be able to find both vintage and modern pieces in online stores and physical storefronts—historic, family-owned boutiques and old pharmacies are wonderful places to look for all sorts of forgotten fragrant gems, and not only for miniatures. Vintage miniatures are also perfect to keep as reference pieces; you can go back and sniff them if you’re trying to compare them with newer versions of a perfume or evaluate how modern interpretations of certain notes or accords have evolved. Miniatures are typically affordable, visually appealing, and easy to display, taking up minimal space in cabinets, trays, or shelves.

The rest of my collection lives and breathes, with most fragrances getting sniffed, sprayed, tested, and studied for review or other projects every day. It’s no secret that I’m a collector at heart, and I love the thrill of discovering and keeping rare pieces or scents I simply enjoy. The discovery of niche perfumery in 2013 kindled my collecting spirit even more, driving me to expand my collection to full-size bottles.

You could say that I collect in layers, meaning that many of my fragrances naturally fall into different categories that my mind quietly sorts and arranges.

Vintage perfumes are special. They are an anchor to memories and past eras, but also a way to honor the perfumers and other creative people in the industry who have shaped the world of fragrance, leaving an invaluable legacy and influencing perfumery as we know it today. Some of my most prized pieces are a large splash bottle of Jolie Madame, created by the legendary Germaine Cellier for Balmain, parfum versions of Coco and No. 19 by Chanel, and Miss Dior, a green chypre with animalic accents that is nothing like the modern popular version of the fragrance.

Fragrances from indie and artisan houses blend wearability with artful takes on notes, accords, and themes. They include retro-inspired florals, innovative interpretations of synthetic animalic accords, culture-celebrating creations, and brands often driven by distinctive concepts and aesthetics. These are the fragrances I probably wear the most. Discovering them has helped me transform from trying to find “signature scents” to wearing fragrance depending on mood, weather, occasion, or just because I feel like it. Some of my favorite houses include Antonio Alessandria, reminiscing about a Sicilian childhood; Anjali Perfumes, celebrating the culture and natural heritage of India; Eris Parfums, an ode to subversion and unconventional beauty; Francesca Bianchi, the distillation of boldness and unrestrained emotions; House of Puente, a nod to sumptuous perfumes of the past; Marlou, an elevated celebration of human scents; and Wit & West, a collection of opulent fragrances inspired by nature and travel destinations.

Unexpected (and sometimes underrated) gems add to the breadth of my collection and satisfy my inclination for rare, retired, or limited-edition fragrances—encompassing anything from indie limited releases to hard-to-find “cheapies” to celebrity fragrances worth having. A few notable examples include Cuir Soyeux by Francesca Bianchi, vaulted creations by Auphorie (Malaysian artisan brand), the first edition of Patchouli by Reminiscence, Truth or Dare by Madonna, Stash by Sarah Jessica Parker, and Anglomania by Vivienne Westwood.

Cult classics are a particularly exciting fragrance subset for me. They include fragrances that are sought after, and sometimes even revered, by smaller (and slightly obsessed) groups of perfume enthusiasts. I’m especially proud of my first-edition fragrances by the late indie perfumer Mona di Orio (though I regret not getting Nuit Noire), several original releases by Serge Lutens (I’m still looking for a bottle of Muscs Koublai Khan), and my bottles of John Galliano by John Galliano and Boudoir by Vivienne Westwood. And there’s the long-gone Attar by Isabell (the discontinued brand of floral designer Robert Isabell), a sinister and animalic rose fragrance I found for a really good price. I’m still on the hunt for Kingdom by Alexander McQueen!

The categories I just described offer a broad framework for my collection, but part of the joy of this hobby is how different scents can be arranged and rearranged to flexibly fit into various other groups.

I love how suggestive and atmospheric perfume can be, so when I travel, I try to find fragrances, perfume oils, and scented soaps that will always remind me of a particular place. I especially love searching for scents that include notes and ingredients typical of a certain geographic area. And because of my writing, over the past two years I’ve been cataloguing, reflecting on, and organizing my collection according to raw materials, ingredients, and distinctive accords (for example “lipstick”, “old books”, or “hot iron”).

My collection inspired the launch of this blog, a 5-year-old space where I’ve been sharing my thoughts on fragrances, with a special focus on indie, artisan, and vintage. My writing and curiosity for the fragrant world has also allowed me to connect with perfumers and other creative people in the industry, several of whom I’ve interviewed over the years (read my articles with the interviews here). This sparks a happy cycle: the more fragrances I collect, the more people I meet, the more I’m inspired to discover, sample, and collect.

I’d love to hear about your fragrance collections!