Collecting vintage perfume - an interview with Barbara Herman

Collecting vintage perfume - an interview with Barbara Herman
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collection of vintage perfume Barbara Herman, a resident of New Orleans for several years been collecting vintage perfumes, and currently is the owner of hundreds of flavors and old posters.

How did you start collecting vintage perfume?

I read the book of Luke Turin and Tania Sanchez "Perfumes: A Guide ', and found a very intriguing descriptions vintage, discontinued perfumes. Since this all started. Vintage spirits are qualitatively different from today's. Of course, not all of them better, but many of them are stunning.

What do you think of vintage perfume?

Any more than twenty years.

Where should I look for vintage perfume?

It would be great if I had more time to visit the property sales and antique shops. But most of the vintage today, I buy on eBay - if you can afford a bottle. If not, make purchases on sites that sell small bottles. I also change the spirits with friends. Actually, the real fans of the perfume, as a rule, very generous people who really want to share their joy of a fragrance with others.

Have you ever found anything particularly exciting or valuable?

collection of vintage perfume Honestly, every time I find the next vintage perfume, I'm excited, because they are for me very valuable. It's like meeting a new person, reading a new book, tasting new dishes. This is exciting. More, more, more - so it is best to express my attitude to the perfume, not only vintage. But some findings stand out from the total number. For example, to find the unpacked Le Numéro Cinq by Molyneux worth two dollars was incredible luck. I found it in a store that sold vintage paper products and cardboard, and there were also boxes of perfume, one of which turned out to be full. It was also great to buy for three dollars at the flea market Blue Carnation by Roger & Gallet - spirits who actually hard to find.

At the beginning of my activity the collecting aroma Baghari by Robert Piguet almost brought me crazy. It was the first vintage perfume that I smelled and they impressed me incredibly erotic and warmth, which I never met in modern perfumery. I literally wanted to eat his own wrist, which caused these spirits. Sniffed Baghari (and, later, vintage perfume from Chanel, sent by one of our readers), I realized that the natural ingredients of animal origin are very different from synthetic - they make amazing erotic scents. They create a mystical, eerie, even slightly uneasy feeling that I like. I am glad that today do not kill animals and cause them pain for the sake of perfumery ingredients, but it is impossible not to recognize that because of this modern flavors have become less intense and impressive. The synthesized analogs of natural ingredients that do not give the effect.

There are some golden rules of collecting vintage perfume?

Start small - with mini-bottles of vintage classic flavors or from old spirits that you remember from childhood and would like to again inhale their scent. If you are willing to invest in a standard large bottle, engage in self-education. Internet can help you. Look for old posters to know, they looked like a perfume bottle that you want to purchase. Design of bottles may vary, so please read all the "incarnation" of the date of release to the moment when the spirits were removed from production. In general, study all the information you will find in order not to make mistakes.

For example, although usually on eBay are quite responsible sellers, it is extremely frustrating to see that someone is selling an updated Vent Vert by Pierre Balmain as a vintage. A quick look at vintage bottles makes it clear that they did not have frosted plastic cover, and the name has not been written in italics, as is done at the reformulated version. Vintage Vent Vert and reformulated - are two completely different flavor. The first - a sonorous symphony of bitter, spicy greens and radiant rose, sounding in the heart notes, and the second - an ill-conceived and unconvincing melody, besides, included almost half the volume.

collection of vintage perfume Sometimes the color of spirits also helps to determine their age. For example, a vintage Chanel No. 19 is not green, as it is now. Sometimes the color can be determined and the degree of preservation of the spirits. For example, if the liquid in the bottle is dark brown, it should be gold, perfumes, obviously deteriorated.

If you are going to buy an expensive vintage perfume on eBay, make sure it smells as it should smell (may be asked to send a small sample - in the case of expensive purchases is more than acceptable). In addition, look for sellers with good reputation, providing an option to receive your purchase. If the aroma acquired perfume is clearly different from the original, return them. However, you can not return the spirits who just spoiled - after all, this is vintage. So before you buy ask the seller, whether well preserved fragrance. His dishonest answer may be a reason for a refund.

How much are you willing to pay for vintage perfume? Tell us about the price range.

If the perfume rare and in high demand, the price of eBay can reach the point of absurdity. For example, now there are 56 g Bandit sold for $ 900. Only one percent of potential buyers willing to pay the price. The rest of the purchase samplers and various mini-version, which occasionally appear on some sites. Usually for vintage perfume on eBay have to give from 20 to 100 dollars. It happens that auctions held at an inconvenient time, or you find yourself the only buyer, and quite valuable fragrance can be purchased at a very low price. And sometimes on sale in the open air or flea markets might buy vintage Mitsouko for $ 10.

The longer I collect vintage perfume, the better I understand that, after your collection is more classical, famous flavors, begins the real opening - you pay attention to a little-known, strange, unusual flavors that are relatively cheap. For example, determine which category of spirits you like the most and start collecting perfume, which belongs to the selected type. I thus found a fantastic leather scents of the 1930s, which almost no one knows, and they cost $ 15 or less.