Veterans, if you were going to start all over, knowing what you know now, how would you build your collection/arsenal?
To answer my own question.
1) Clarify my "why"
- Am I buying cologne for the hoes?
- there's nothing wrong with buying cologne to pull random broads
- the chance of actually pulling a random broad and you look like toothless homeless bum are less than zero.
- Do I have just one woman in my life?
- Is she gonna give me grief for it
- Do I just like the way things smell?
- Am I looking for a signature scent?
2) Avoid the department store, even for a sniff.
3) Smallest Bottle Possible to sample (decants) - 1 or 2 mls' is enough for like a week of wearing it.
4) Only buy a bottle if I
actually finish the sample
5)
Buy the smallest bottle possible, at the cheapest possible price (which might be another decant)
6) Occasionally break the rules, but only occasionally.
7)
Wear your best stuff/favorites all the time - I typically only spritz 3-5 - and it takes me YEARS to finish a full bottle. I've been heavy in the game for like 5 years? And I've only finished 1 bottle, which I got a decade before I started caring about cologne.
Things that are unavoidable, imo
- Price/Rarity - doesn't mean good. Cheap doesn't mean bad.
- I got expensive colognes that are great, and some cheapies that are great. But also bad expensive and bad cheapies.
- Everyone likes it - doesn't mean good, does mean popular. So if you're trying to holla at hoes - Dior Sauvage
- Trying cheapies - some smell good, few will be something you always reach for
- Trying Dupes - Most cologne smells nice. A lot smell good. Dupes are good enough, but beware of
- Getting the dupe first and wondering about the original
- Trying Niche - it's not better, it's usually just different.
- and a lot of the time can be found for the low low
- Trying Indie - it's not better, just different and weird.
- usually not worth hunting down, but hunting stuff down is part of the fun of collecting.
- Trying Private Line of a designer- it's a lot like the designer stuff, just 3x the price. (Armani vs Armani Prive for example)
- Needing a scent for every possible scenario and season - you don't.
- Following influencers, forums, etc take everything with a grain of salt
