Eva, because of you I have in my collection Perry Ellis 360 Coral. I could wear that eryday but I have a humble rotation I enjoy. Even as I use restraint you have opened my eyes to even greater luxury. Thankful for your content. 💚
Sample Sample Sample!!! Had to learn that the hard way! LOL fragrance influencers had me buying all kinds of stuff off discount sites!! My sister and best friends ended up with several full bottles!! I had to stop watching Jeremy, he had me buying stuff I wouldn’t normally buy! Not everything is for everybody! Love your collection!! ❤️
This video is God-sent. I need to get off the fragrance search and buying and focus on other things. After not buying any fragrances for 3 years, I decided to expand my 6 bottle collection. I lost it and bought several bottles at a time 🤦🏾♀️Blind-buying a few cheapies I ended up not liking (with terrible performance to boot) taught me I would have been better off spending that money on just one bottle of something truly stunning with amazing performance. Also I really need to be true to myself - a 100+ bottle collection is not who I am AT ALL. I had the right idea all along with my original 6 bottles - only buying scents I absolutely adore, with the performance my lifestyle demands. Quality over quantity. Thank you 💕
Everything you were saying makes perfect sense. My husband just asked me the other day why would I spend over $100 on a fragrance, I feel that quality is important so if I feel it's worth it I'll purchase it. Plus I don't look out for me that often so why not treat myself every now and then 🤷
Yes 🙌🏽 quality over quantity.” I want a well blended quality fragrance not a bunch just cause they’re cheaper. But I’m like that when it comes to quality with everything in life-from friends, to shoes to clothing etc.
So many people need to watch this. I too hardly ever pay retail. My husband can't believe it lol. You, karina waldron, and Soki London are my go to. You especially because I love that honey tobacco smokiness lol. But you are right i use you as a point of reference and we won't always like the same thing every single time.. You told no lies in this video!!!
Sage advice! Quality over quantity, changing tastes over time, and letting the hype train pass are all key points! It's crazzzzzzy how much we can spend on cheapies in the beginning when all that money could've went towards 4 or 5 superb niche or indie scents with re-sale value to boot. Sample sample sample!
Just Add Light, that was a life changing lesson for me, lol. I may score a cheapie every once in awhile, if it's a good one. I save up for the good ones.🥰
If you don’t like it you can return it to the store. You don’t have to lose your money...but I only buy fragrances from high end stores because I don’t want old, water-downed, or cheap knockoffs. I want to KNOW that my fragrances are authentic.
You’re 100% correct about those fragrance groups. It’s super easy to get caught up that way. But on the flip side, it’s super satisfying to grab something you’ve been eyeing for a while for a fraction of retail lol. Right place at the right time refreshing the groups tab.
I agree with you about being able to afford expensive fragrances but I also think some of my designer fragrances are better than some of my niche fragrances. Not all Niche fragrances are worth the money.
Wish I’d watched this before I started my collection. I have spent so much on many fragrances I just like when I could have saved and bought fewer quality ones I really love but find expensive. Great video. Thanks.
@@latonuga.lonbergermua6254 You have never heard of perfume samples? So most fragrance website sell samples of fragrances, so that you can test it out to see if you will actually like the fragrance before buying a full bottle.
@@ToniaAlex13 I’ve heard of perfume samples you get free from counters, but never purchasing samples let me clarify. However, I’m assuming scent bird and things like that can be considered sample purchases
Sis!!!!!!! This is the video I needed. My collection is growing so fast but I'm definitely getting caught up and have way too many fragrances without doing my own due diligence first. Also, I have so many that I blind bought and don't like! The waste of money has been ridiculous 🤦🏽♀️ My next plan is certainly to resell some of of the higher end ones I don't want, and gift some of the others. I'm trying to trim down and only buy fragrances I truly LOVE from this point on. This video highlighted so many good points, and it's exactly what a lot of us who started collecting during Covid needed to hear! Also, you KNOW you came on here slaying with this bomb hair color and chic watch 😍😍😍
Juliette Has A Gun (Oud) is everything. That fragrance lasts all day long. The only fragrances I love are mainly woody, spice, warm, and musk. Give me any old school Estee Lauder like Youth Dew or CoCo Mademoiselle, and Im good. Wait, I love Rapture from Victoria Secrets. Great video, Diva!!!!
Thank you for doing this video , I followed these same guidelines when I start growing my collection. I made a list of some popular ones ordered samples , and only ordered 2. Samples save you money ❤️
Thank you. I laughed so much because I learned some of these lessons the hard way. I wil say I only bought the Arabian Oud Rosewood because they don't do samples.
Hey Queen! You out here reading some of us 😂. I've been there and done it all. Luckily, I'm on the other side now and try to be mindful before purchasing and am in the space now where I'm wanting quality over quantity. I've got plenty of bottles that I bought from hyped up videos that I hate when I was in that quantity over quality phase 🤦🏾♀️.
@@evamonroe You know the saying, “Wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident”And then, have the EMT ask, “How are you feeling? You sure smell really good. May I ask, what are you wearing?” 😂😂😂
Sheesh I just started in November and Ive done all of these already, buying cheap “good” fragrances just to build a foundation. I went from 4 bottles to 40 in 2 months but I decided i wanted to go the niche route because i didnt feel right following the crowd, especially being in Facebook groups, I want to do my own thing and create my own experience. This video is 🔥 tho, us newbies needed this.
Ohhh Ms. Eva I’ve been watching you since you were at 8000 something subs and I instantly fell in love with your style. With that said, I have spent so so much money chasing the best scent!🤦🏾♀️ This is a great video for sure! I learned about decants and sampling from you. Now I have so many 8mls it’s crazy plus FBO offerings as well. I have a lot of quality impressions of the most expensive houses from Genre Parfums too! You have such a beautiful collection! Thanks for opening up this wonderful world of fragrance from a sophomore newbie!❤️ ps. Still love the thrill of blind buying though!
I agree that it takes years to get a great fragrance collection. I have been collecting fragrances for over 20 years. I am probably at my highest volume right now it personally think 200 bottles is the best max for great layering options as well. I have too much right now so I feel overwhelmed and keep going back to my faithful ride or die's lately. So I am definitely going to downsize over the next few years for sure. Yes, samples and decants are a must before investing in pricey full size bottles. I will blind buy anything with saffron notes though. LOL! Great video topic and advice.
I love watching your reviews it gives so much information and confidence. I’m cheap as well and very skeptical when trying something just because cheap looks good.
OMG I absolutely love you!!! 😂😂😂 All of this is so true and we should definitely use discretion. I have an expensive niche nose and need to hear this. I’m a true blind buyer but watch tons of reviews. I’ve only returned 4 out of 40 lol. Bond Scent of Peace was an EPIC FAIL that everyone loved and I couldn’t tolerate it 😆, gave it to my daughter. Thanks for the pep talk ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Going to do my first RU-vid vid soon on a Tiziana T haul.
Same my blind buying has been a 98% success rate and that's mainly because I watch those who have very similar taste as me. If your blind buy success rate is below 50%, something ain't right and you better go back to the drawing board.
Thank you so much for putting out such wonderful content especially for newbies. I needed to hear this info about 8 months ago when I started. I learned my lesson pretty quickly after my 4th blind buy fail. They were all cheap blind buys yet I was still scarred. 😂 I started purchasing from subscription sites like royalty scents because I noticed that I was paying the same amount for a 2ml carded sample (w/tax + shipping) as I would for an 8ml decant. I need to take your advice and join a group. My tendency to like/want not so popular fragrances makes it harder to find samples and discounted/used bottles. I want a bottle of discounted Puredistance White and to sample Sensai The Silk. I’m not having luck with doing either of that.
Thank you for this video. I have been going crazy trying to justify buying several fragrances, knowing that I'm saving for something way more important. Grateful for your words of wisdom.
I love this video because your absolutely right, I’m in some fragrance groups and I’m watching how people buy up everything and with in months their selling it and it’s something that I want them I’ll buy it! I like watching you and others but I’m getting samples or decants to try before I buy.,, so Great Video Eva!!!!
Amen! I am a collector but more than that I am a fragrance lover. I have to say that I don’t buy a lot of Designer fragrances. I do have some but mostly I own niche.. not because they’re more expensive, but I find them to be unique. In terms of affordable, that is certainly objective. The first fragrance over $200 was Killian. And that hurt my heart. But since then, I’ve gotten more comfortable. But you’re right, I started small and grew a quality collection.Your pocketbook and your frag game will thank you for it.
@@evamonroe When I first learned of House of Sillage, I said there is no way in hell that I would pay that much but over time I’ve purchased many from HOS.. and I only purchase them when they are 1/2 price. That $360 is steep, but $180 is more palatable. I also have to say, you are my fragrance twin. So when you mention something I’m interested in, I bookmark it put it on a wish list and when the coints are saved, I purchase. Another thing, I am the blind buy queen. I’ve only been wrong one or two times. So I trust my instincts. And it’s because I understand notes. That took years!!
I’m a fragrance noob (a pandemic hobby) and I’ve been feeling insane buying all of these samples, but at *least* I haven’t jumped into the shallow end head first buying whole dang bottles. This idea just made me refrain from further losing my mind doing just that. 😂
Hey Eva, I love this video! You and I have the same taste in fragrances, clothes and watches! Quality is a must for me... In every area of my life. Thank you for sharing as always 💝
Lol I agree with you don’t buy everything. I always enjoyed sweet smells. You’ve turned me on to other things... but yes I’m not buying them all. Also I didn’t know there were fragrance groups lol. I don’t think you should go out and buy anything just because someone has it. Enjoy what you like and move on!
Your videos are always so full of information and I appreciate them......for the most part I sample before I buy, but I am guilty of blind buying once in a while 😬. Your taste in fragrances is very similar to mine and I am very glad I found you ❤️❤️
Great video - you are definitely my fragrance twin. I have worn the same perfume (Burberry) for the last 20 years because everything i tried (expensive never smelled good on me) until I started watching you. I've gotten samples of some of your fav fragrances and have loved them all!!! JHAG - Not a Perfume, Mula Mula, Molecule 01, Amazing Grace and I just purchased a sample of Kilian Back to Black - cant wait to get it.
🤣🤣🤣 that rabbit hole is a beast... I've been there before and this was before youtube. I would go shopping for fragrance and they would carry the boxes to my car! Smh... I was a decade younger and a few were purchased because of the name (I give them away) !! I have not done that again. LOL Great video, wisdom! Be blessed!
Hey Queen you are absolutely right, you know when I got my first cage now 2 and half cage later lol, yes I paid retail, yes I purchased bottles/decants from folks, yes you must pace your yourself, I have to say I do enjoy the fragrances world, can it be costly YES!...great advise!!!!!
That's why I have promised myself: no blind-buys. No 30 ml bottles (If I'm buying something - 70/100/125/250 ml) which means I have to absolutely fall in love with it! Everything else - travel-sizes/sampling and if it's not a love - buh-bye. I now have 90+ bottles in my collection. My goal is to have 50 or under and all of them should be LOVEs. You're so right with everything you've said 💯🙌
I’m an avid believer of buying or simply collecting samples before I jump off the deep end and purchase my fragrances. Now, I’ve blind bought just A Few that turned out horrible. I learned my lesson quick.🤪🙂 Loved this video Eva.
Wow... I really needed this video because I Lost my mind buying so much perfume in the last 7 months and ordered from MFK website last night. I'm going to do better this year 🙏
I am adopting that mentally now, quality over quantity, and sampling too. I love all my bottles, but now si am after those special perfums. What a great video
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you... For talking sense and giving me a good shake. Bcs, a lot of these perfume reviewers I am seeing and listening to is making me spend my money. I think I have more than enough fragrances for spring/summer and fall/winter that can use in rotation day to day... This is God bring me to your RU-vid video and making me listen... Again I want to say thank you for talking to me...
Agreed. I prefer to splurge on the nicer ones rather than just own a bunch. I do have a lot, and plan to take out the ones ai least wear. Space is an issue. I have only bought 2-3 retail. I search prices first. Fragrancenet is great for many fragrances.
Love me some decants and samples.. I have a fragrance twin but I will test a fragrance first lol Yes the watch collection is where it's at. I love watches
Hi Eva, I enjoyed watching. My twin and I love Lolita Lempicka, Malissa said I have one open bottle, and one unopened bottle. I said can you give me one, or sell me one. She said go toNordstrom Rack, and buy you a bottle. I said ok, I went to about three stores unscessfully. I told my daughter Alexa Ray, about Malisse. Alexa said mom that perfume, makeup, lotion, etc. at Nordstrom Rack has expired. Shortly after the talk with Malisse, I was on FB, a perfume ad for Macy’s came up and Lolita was on that ad. I told Alexa, see how God works, Malissa didn’t want to sell, or give me a bottle. Now I know that Macy’s sell it.
QUEEN 👑 this is some wise advice you're giving out today .l love it.lm learning how to choose what I really love vs what i can do without ,don't need or want & save! save! save! Tfs 🙏🏼 SELF-CONTROL especially a time like now😉
Hey gorgeous queen! Hair looks stunning today and loving it. 😍 Absolutely agree fragrances are subjective and they are very personal for each person. It’s not a one size fits all. Yes, these fragrance groups are great and I learn more about notes from other people, tips on how to keep our fragrances and maintain fragrance shelf life and so on. Well stated Eva!
I really needed to hear this!! I’ve also never seen another video based around the subject so it’s really needed, thank you! I’m a beginner and the only thing is my collection rn is Sophia Sophia Sophia Love Ariana Cloud YSL Mon Paris Jessica Fancy which is super small but soon I’ll get there tho I’m lowkey embarrassed when I compare myself
If you love how the scents you own make you feel, that's perfection. They could be cheapies or high end, all that matters is that they work for you. I have a male colleague that has a vast collection and some of the scents he uses quite frankly don't smell that great on him (and they are super duper expensive). And then he has some that just elevate him to new levels- that I compliment him on sometimes 3 to 4 times in a day. As Eva said, sample sample sample. Do not buy a perfume because you liked how it smelt on someone or because it's the hype, I speak from some costly lessons I had to learn. At the end of the day remember that "Enough is a feast" Don't compare yourself, walk straight with your head held high knowing that you are perfect. And don't look back, believe me you are turning heads.
Hell Queen. I want to tell you that I love the way you speak. It's comforting, funny, informative, authentic. Thank for sharing that with us. I believe in samples. Every time I think of buying a fragrance based on a review, I pause. Then I get a sample. I couldn't bare it if I bought some expensive perfume that I thought I would like and then hated it. I would like to join a fragrance group, do you have any suggestions for us?
Thank you for this video! So informative! I just bought my first 'big girl' perfume a few days ago & already felt the itch to just buy buy buy 😂 glad this video popped up in my recommended. Subscribed 💖
I love the practicality of this video. Speaking of the hype train, nothing defines this more than PDM Delina. Her older sisters, Athalia and Darcy and that one that smells like her real daddy is Mugler Alien, Safanad, and the one on a tropical vacation, Cassili, all will make me stand tall for the hours ahead. Delina? She has a whole train of more Delina behind her, and yet that girl smells like Aquanet&roses.
🤣🤣🤣 This comment just made me celebrate side-stepping the hype train that is Delina and reaching for Athalia instead (Eva's recommendation had a lot to do with my choice).
Yes, I'm practicing restraints this year and haven't really bought any as yet. Will be going on a low buy or no buy until my bd in March. But for this year, I'm going for quality but still within my budget.
Is niche better quality? I would think they r the same. Some designer fragrances have an even better projection and last longer for a way cheaper price. I do love niches more tho. Less mainstream smells often less synthetic
I loved this video everything you said is so true!!! I wish you would’ve brought up knock-off fragrances because they’re out there and people get fooled by these bottles
practice self control....what does that mean? ha! lol. what i am doing is leaning hard into dupes & buying the cheapies because honestly...a lot of times...them crown and al rehabs are AMAZING...but I do understand that the beauty of fragrance is in the nostril of the sniffer.😉😉
You hit the nail on the head with this one! I really want 2021 to be the year that people commit to sampling more. If you can blind buy a bottle, you can surely blind buy a decant! You end up saving so much money in the long run. There are fragrances that I've just given up looking into because I couldn't find a way to sample them. Blind buying is super risky for me because it's not just about whether I like the fragrance (which isn't often because I'm picky), but also whether it's not too similar to something I already have because I hate redundancy lol. Also, yes to finding deals. I only pay retail when I absolutely have to!
Lol on the person that said you owe her money. It’s too funny. Girl I love Juliet has a gun. Well I bought the oil Tom Ford F Fabulous. My 11 years old son wants to eat my arm because how amazing it smell.....child I went to purchase it and I was shock at the price but I’m glad I have the budget but still shock. I looooovvvveee it
Thanks for caring! Do these discounted online stores (Fragrance X, Fragrance Net) carry the same quality products and the brick and mortars? If so, you just saved me a lot of money! 🙌🏽 It seems too good to be true!
