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Post by FeralJasmine

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I am a fiend for vanilla perfumes, and will try nearly anything along that line. It happened not terribly long ago that I got a sample from one of the decant houses of a vanilla perfume from an independent perfumer, never mind which one. It was a pretty little perfume indeed, with some jasmine and fruit notes, a bit of bergamot, and a pleasant base of vanilla and white musk. For evening wear I love Tihota, the contralto diva of the vanilla world, but this one warbled along in a pleasant little alto. I decided that it would be perfect for office wear where my stronger vanillas won’t fly, and because I found it online at a bargain price I bought two small bottles.

A Case of Perfume Tampering

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Unfortunately, it became clear when the bottles arrived that a rather major reformulation had taken place between the decant that I had previously purchased and the new bottles. Or maybe this perfume is subject to significant batch variation, but whatever the reason, I had two bottles of something that I did not care for at all. The opening was still pleasant and attractive, but the vanilla was rather distant and sour and faded quickly, leaving me with nothing much to notice after the first 30 minutes. Foolishly, I had opened and tried both bottles before I was sure that something was wrong, so there was no reasonable option of returning them.

After some thought, I decided that I had very little to lose, and so I began tampering with one of the bottles. Leaving the opening undisturbed, I added a little bit of vanilla CO2 extract, and a modest amount of a commercial perfumers accord called “vanilla bean accord,” which I obtained from The Perfumer’s Apprentice. After several good shakes, I had something that I could spray and enjoy in a low-key sort of way, and that ended in a lovely vanilla skin scent which lasted several hours. I will be able to use it as a work scent, and eventually will probably do the same to the other bottle. As a bonus, I wore it one evening at home, and my husband noticed early the next morning that it had bloomed into an even more full and beautiful vanilla skin scent.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

I have read arguments against a simple intervention like layering, with some people feeling rather strongly that the perfume should be worn as created. All very well for perfumes that you like, but this was not one that I would ever have worn exactly as it came to me. And I clearly acknowledge that it would not be in any way okay to give out the name of the perfume, since I have altered it beyond recognition. However, for those of us who have some bottles sitting around that we don’t really care for and will never wear in their present iteration, is it wrong to make some creative changes? I don’t think so. It’s like changing a recipe; you can do anything you want with it, as long as you acknowledge that it is not exactly the recipe that the writer intended.

So I say, if you have aromachemicals and accords and essential oils and absolutes sitting around, and like so many of us you also have some perfumes that you are not wild about, but which have no significant resale value, go to town!

Have you ever tampered with a perfume? Do tell.

FeralJasmine xx